A Study Of Public Relations Role In Promoting Corporate Social Responsibility In Select Telecommunications Companies In Ghana

Abstract

This study was premised on the notion that the act of practising public relations in a socially responsible organization played a vital role in advancing corporate social responsibility. Thus, public relations practitioners needed to have a deeper perspective about their work so as to effectively contribute meaningfully in projecting the image of their organizations through corporate social responsibility. The research therefore sought to find out the contributions of public relations in enhancing and promoting corporate social responsibility practice by studying two leading telecommunications companies in Ghana. Specifically, this study investigated the linkage between public relations and corporate social responsibility in Ghana; how public relations practitioners viewed their roles in corporate social responsibility; the contributions that public relations make in promoting corporate social responsibility; and some constraints that hinder public relations professionals‘ promotion of corporate social responsibility. This study was grounded in two theories: the stakeholders‘ theory and legitimacy theory. With the help of a semi- structured interview guide, the qualitative in-depth interview was the method upon which the research data for this study was gathered. The study‘s findings revealed a positive and a symbiotic relationship between public relations and corporate social responsibility because the two contributed extremely in the image building of the organization. The study also discovered four key roles played by public relations in the promotion of corporate social responsibility. The roles are: communicative role; advisory role; recommendation role; as well as monitoring and evaluation of effects. The significant contribution of this study is the empirical dimension it brings to the scholarship on the role public relations plays in helping organizations leverage their corporate social responsibility activities. Based on the findings of this study, it is therefore recommended that a mixed method approach be employed by future researchers to uncover all the missing link in this study.