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Saturday, April 28, 2012

SSPRA YAPATA VIONGOZI WAPYA

Uchaguzi wa kuwachagua viongozi wapya wa SSPRA kwa mwaka 2012/2013 umefanyika katika ukumbi wa B-1 mwanjonde lecture Theatre katika chuo kikuu cha Mt.Augustino. Uchaguzi huu umekuwa wa mafanikio makubwa sana kwa kuwa sheria zote za uchaguzi zimeweza kuzingatiwa na wapiga kura kuweza kulidhika na viongozi wote waliowachagua kwa kuwapatia idadi kubwa ya kura za NDIO kutoka kwa wapiga kura hao ambao idadi kamili ilikuwa ni 101.Yafuatayo ni majina ya viongozi wapya pamoja na vyeo vyao ndani ya SSPRA pamoja na idadi za kura walizozipata. 

MWENYEKITI - CHRISTOPHER T. NGONYANI (BAPRM 2) amepata kura 100 za NDIO na kupata kura 1 ya HAPANA,,katika nafasi hii ya Mwenyekiti alikuwa mgombea pekee. 

MAKAMU MWENYEKITI- MSEKWA B. CHEBY (BAPRM 2) amepata kura 99 za NDIO na 2 za HAPANA,katika nafasi hii alikuwa mgombea pekee. 

KATIBU MKUU-MLAY P.MZEE (BAPRM 2)amepata kura 63 zidi ya Mwema F. Kihengu ambaye amepata kura 38,hivyo basi MLAY P.MZEE ndio KATIBU MKUU mpya wa nafasi hii ambayo ilikuwa ikishikiriwa na Bw.Ngonyani ambaye kwa sasa amekuwa ndio Mwenyekiti.

KATIBU MKUU MSAIDIZI - ATHANAS MATHIAS(BAPRM 1) amepata kura 101 za NDIO. 

MWEKA HAZINA (TREASURER) - JACQUELINE P. KOWA (BAPRM 2) amepata kura 96 za NDIO na kura 4 za hapana katika nafasi hii alikuwa mgombea pekee.

 MWEKA HAZINA MSAIDIZI - SING'AMBI ATHANAS (BAPRM 1) amepata kura 96 za NDIO na kura 5 za HAPANA. 

MSEMAJI MKUU (PUBLIC RELATIONS OFFICER) AIDAN W. KAIJANANTE (BAPRM 2) amepata kura 68 zidi ya mpizani wake Bw. MBWAGA E. AMAN ambaye amepata kura 27 wakati kura 5 zikaharibika. 

MSEMAJI MSAIDIZI (ASSISTANCE PRO) - JOHN JAMES amepata kura 91 za NDIO na kura 9 za HAPANA. .
wanachama wa SSPRA wakiwa katika kikao cha pamoja kwa ajili ya uchaguzi wa viongozi wapya
 Makamu Mwenyekiti mstaafu Bw.Medard akitoa maelekezo mbalimbali.


Wanakamati wastaafu wakitoa maelezo mbalimbali kwa wanachama wa kawaida.

Kamati ya uhusiano wa vyombo vya habari na machapisho wakiteta nao jambo.




Makamu mwenyekiti Msekwa Cheby akijinadi mbele ya wapiga kura kabla ya uchaguzi
                                          Katibu mkuu wa SSPRA Bwana Mlay P. Mzee

Mwema F.Kihengu akimwaga sera zake mbele ya wapiga kura
         Katibu Mkuu msaidizi mpya  Athanas Mathias
Mweka hazina  Jacqueline P.Kowa
Msemaji mkuu (PRO) wa SSPRA Bw. Aidan W Kaijanante
Aman E. Mbwaga ambaye akijinadi mbele ya wapiga kura aweze kuwa PRO wa SSPRA


Thursday, April 26, 2012

Sunday, April 15, 2012

THE HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT OF PUBLIC RELATIONS PROFESSION

1 Introduction

Public Relations is an important and versatile marketing communications tool. It can be employed both within and outside the organisation. Many feel that public relations is an external marketing tool, with the firm attempting to communicate with a wide range of external ‘Publics’ in order to cast the organisation in a favourable light in peoples’ minds. 

This way of thinking is very limited, and fails to appreciate the great value of public relations as an internal marketing communications tool. Good internal marketing i.e. achieving the right internal organisational culture and getting everyone ‘pulling’ in the same direction in terms of marketing effort, is a vital prerequisite to effective external marketing, particularly those based on the concepts of long term ‘relationship’ marketing. Public relations has a vital role to play in the creation of an effective internal marketing culture within an organisation. In this sense it has seen a realisation of its importance as a strategic internal communication tool.

Public relations Is a very versatile communications tool and is today used by just about every type of organisation whether it be a charity, a political party or a commercial organisation. It is concerned with strategic management of information in such a way that certain publicity objectives are achieved. It is not always the case that positive publicity is the outcome of a managed public relations campaign, because it is often impossible to achieve a net positive outcome. For example public relations has a particularly important role to play in ‘crisis management’ scenarios. Where a catastrophe has occurred, especially where people have been injured or lost their lives, it is often a case of containing the situation, putting a fair and balanced account of events forward to the general public and mitigating the adverse effects of the disaster to the organisation concerned.

2 A Brief History Of Public Relations

Public relations (PR) is not new. Its modern day origins in the United States can be traced as far back as 1807 with President Jefferson’s address to congress, although evidence suggests that the ancient Greeks and Romans gave much attention to influencing public opinion. PR in the UK began as a Government information and propaganda machine during World war One and was then used more extensively in World war Two. Industry showed little interest in PR as a commercial communications tool until after 1945, but thereafter its use increased rapidly over the next 30 years in a sort of PR explosion. PR’s relatively poor image over these 30 years has been a result amateurish practitioners. In the 1970s the PR profession was referred to by derogatory terms such as the ‘gin and tonic brigade’. People who made up this ‘brigade’ often carried considerable social influence and were able to ‘open doors’ because they had the right connections. Their main function seemed to be the ‘wining and dining’ of important clients. 

The situation has changed a great deal in the late 1990s and now PR professionals are trained in the art of communications management. Unfortunately the profession still operates under its earlier shadow.

Public relations has now spread throughout industry and commerce. At first, full time PR appointments were less common than the use of the services of a PR consultant. Because of this slow internal adoption of professional PR practitioners by industry and commerce, external public relations firms quickly developed, many of them lacking skilled staff of sufficient expertise, but merely taking advantage of and exploiting the ‘boom’ in the PR profession. 

This phenomenon is common; it happened at the end of the 1980’s when ‘total quality management’ was the latest ‘fad’ and many became experts in the art of TQM virtually ‘overnight’. Consequently, because of the hasty expansion of PR firms, the poor reputation of PR among journalists, businessmen, politicians and the general public that persists today, can be traced back to this period of uncontrolled growth. In the last 20 years, however, many PR agencies have built reputations for highly marketing orientated practices. Many of these firms tend to specialise in consumer PR, trade relations, corporate PR, financial, industrial, service and technical PR. A number of firms are now offering PR services for ‘not for profit’ organisations such as charities and politics.

3 Recent Developments

From the mid 1970’s onwards a change has developed in the role and perceived value of PR, leading to a growth in this form of communication which has continued right up to the present day. Explanations for the upsurge in public relations activity are many and varied. Many in the industry identify the late 1970’s recession as a major turning point. Companies were keen to reduce costs in order to stay in business. As often happens in times of economic downturn, managers of many firms look to marketing budgets as a ‘first strike’ and regard marketing expenditure as a ‘luxury’ and a cost rather than a necessary investment. Many managers found that PR, with a much broader base and cost effectiveness, would be preferable to maintaining a conventional advertising budget.

The ‘cost saving’ aspect of public relations is certainly one of the major reasons for the growth of its popularity. Other factors include the increasing complexity of the business world that has produced a need for more complex communications to get the commercial or corporate message across. Another possible factor is the growth of fast-developing new business sectors such as information technology, financial services, travel and leisure which has lead to a ‘new breed’ of marketing manager who appreciates the value of PR as a communications tool. 

A further factor is a recognition that management, especially those working in business to business marketing, of the importance of creating and maintaining ‘relationships’ with a wide range of people and groups. There has been recognition for a number of years that in industrial and organisational marketing situations there are complex buyer-seller interactions involved in the marketing process. Some of these take place in the ‘official’ marketing channels of communications e.g. between the sales person and the official buyer or at least the purchasing team or committee within the buying organisation. However, interactions also take place on a less formal basis, amongst technical personnel from both the marketing and buying firms.

 It was recognised that these informal buyer seller interactions were just as important as the more formal contacts and that these too had to be managed and not left to chance. The recognition that organisational or business to business marketing involved an often complex web of formal and informal, but no less important, commercial interactions become known as the ‘interactive approach’, and was basically the precursor to what today is often referred to as the ‘relationship marketing approach’. Of course, throughout its development as a marketing communications ‘tool’ PR has always been first and foremost an instrument for establishing, crystallising, cementing and maintaining mutually beneficial relationships with various groups of people or ‘publics’. 

It is therefore, no surprise that as the recognition of the importance of the interactive and relationship driven nature of modern marketing practice became accepted and practised by firms. The adoption of public relations as a key marketing communications tool also grew in stature and importance, particularly in the area of corporate communications. 

The role of public relations in achieving sound relationship marketing practices as well as its contribution to achieving good internal marketing is examined later.

4 The Role And Nature Of Public Relations

4.1 Defining Public Relations

The task of defining the exact nature of PR is not easy. A plethora of definitions currently exists, each emphasising a slightly different approach and each attempting to arrive at a simple, brief and accurate form of words. The difficulty in developing a single acceptable definition reflects the complexity and diversity of the profession. For the purposes of this discussion two definitions are useful. The Institute of Public Relations (IPR) states:
‘Public Relations practice is the deliberate, planned and sustained effort to establish and maintain mutual understanding between an organisation and it’s public’.
The essential features of this definition is that PR practice should be deliberate, planned and sustained; not haphazard, and that mutual understanding is necessary in order to ensure that the communication between the organisation and its public’ is clear, i.e. the receiver perceives the same meaning as the sender intends.
An alternative definition is provided by Frank Jefkins who states:
‘Public Relations consists of all forms of planned communication, outward and inwards, between an organisation and it’s publics for the purpose of achieving specific objectives concerning mutual understanding’.
Jefkins is a modified version of the Institute of Public Relations definition and provides two new elements:
  1. ‘Public’ becomes ‘Publics’, since PR addresses a number of audiences:
  2. The inclusion of ‘specific objectives’, making PR a tangible activity.

4.2 Achieving a marketing orientation through PR

In marketing literature there is a lot about how it is important for an organisation to become ‘marketing orientated’, ‘customer focused’ and adopt the ‘marketing concept’. For a firm to be truly marketing oriented all the staff working for it have to be so. There is a saying adapted from Buddhist philosophy that states ‘for a forest to be green each tree has to be green’. This principle also applies to the marketing orientation of the firm for it comes from within the minds of the people making up the organisation. But how does senior management achieve this change in attitude and bring about the right customer focused ‘spirit’ within their organisation? Internal PR on its own cannot achieve this, but it can certainly make a significant contribution.