Title: Public Perceptions of the Performance of Public Relations Function in the Ministry of Finance and Planning.
The paper set out to explore public perceptions of the role of public relations in service delivery in the Ministry of Finance and Planning.
The study relied on a mixed-methods approach,
where a few guided interviews were conducted with the paper’s editors and
senior journalists. This was supplemented by a quantitative document review of the articles that were covered by
both newspapers on obstetric fistula in the country.
Meanwhile, the majority of the
respondents (63%) were dissatisfied with the way public relations officers
undertook their jobs at the ministry. This was also evidenced when the majority
of the respondents (62%) ranked the PR services at the ministry as so poor. In
short, it means that there is still a big job to be done to overhaul the public
relations department to improve service delivery.
This
paper contributes to an area that has not been adequately researched but holds
the potential to improve public relations in the public sector since
this is at the heart of good governance. This
paper used system
theory, public relations, and the public sector.
1. Introduction
Public
relations practice has been widely
recognized as an essential part of
modern life and has made a significant contribution in various sectors, including government
ministries, departments, and agencies, globally. Public relations (PRs) refer to the planned and sustained effort
to establish and maintain goodwill and mutual understanding between an organization and its public (Seitel, 2007). It entails
building sustainable relationships between an organization and all its public to create a positive
brand image.
Public
relations have become an important tool for governments following the push for
good governance and fledgling democracy. Governments have also used public
relations to assist the news media in coverage of their activities. Access to
information is essential for democracy since it ensures that citizens make
responsible, informed choices rather than acting out of ignorance or
misinformation. Information
serves a "checking function" by ensuring that elected representatives
uphold their oaths of office and carry out their oaths of office wishes of
those who elected them (Keghku, 2014).
Public
relations have been practiced
sporadically since the earliest times, even though the name is comparatively recent. The
earliest concrete roots of Public Relations can be traced back to approximately 1800 B.C. in the
Middle East when archaeologists found a farm bulletin in Iraq that advised
farmers of the time on how to sow their crops, how to irrigate, how to deal with
field mice, and how to harvest their crops (Martson, 1979).
On
the African continent, the application of PR techniques dates back to the
beginning of African civilization. According to Metera and Artigue (2000), the
concept of PR was practiced in Africa before the era of colonialism. In ancient
Egypt, the pharaohs proclaimed their achievements through word pictures on
impressive monuments (Newson and Carrel, 2001).
In
Tanzania, according to Okaka (2009), the evolution of public relations is closely tied
to the civilisation of Tanzania’s more than 120 ethnic communities. In the
official and corporate world, public relations has been used by many organizations, including
government agencies. However, in Tanzania, unlike its neighbors Kenya and
Uganda, public relations was not taught in many higher learning institutions
until recently,
when many universities started mainstreaming PR as a standalone course. This
has created a demand for more demand for public relations professionals in the
private sector; however, the same speed has not been experienced in public
sectors such as government ministries
that are responsible for ensuring effective service delivery. It is hence the
gist of this paper to examine how people view the function of public relations
in the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning.
2.
Literature Review
Regarding the theoretical framework, this paper is
based on systems theory, as originally propounded by
early researchers such as László (1974) and Thomé (1993). Systems theory is a
transdisciplinary, interdisciplinary, and multiperspectival endeavor that borrows from various
disciples, including ontology, the philosophy of science, physics, biology,
engineering, political science, and public relations. The theory was first identified in
the 1940s before it was later popularized by the likes of László (1974) and
Thomé (1993). The relevance of this theory explains how public relations
facilitate PR practitioners, such as public relations officers, in
understanding and managing the relationships an organization enjoys with its
stakeholders and the public who make up its environment. Systems theory allows
decision-makers in the ministry the two-way flow of resources and information
between the ministry and the public. Early researchers of public relations such as Grunig (1978) and Dozier (1989) state
that the systems perspective emphasizes the interdependence of organizations
with their environments, both internal and external to the organization.
Zeqiri
(2021) studied the function of public relations and how it affects interethnic
interactions in terms of building trust and satisfaction. The essay examines
public relations and describes how it helps build relationships and foster
trust between the government and the community. In-depth qualitative interviews
served as the primary research approach for this study's qualitative
investigation. A total of 39 interviews were conducted: 12 with Macedonian
government employees, 8 with Albanian government employees, and 19 with
Albanians themselves. The results of this study demonstrated that more
effective public relations initiatives encourage people to trust and use
government services. The study also demonstrated how government agencies could
more quickly obtain feedback through the use of social media campaigns, which
helped to raise the standard of services.
To
better understand how public relations might raise the standard of government
services, Kraaier (2016) conducted a study. A series of 17 qualitative semi structured interviews with
communication specialists who were either formerly employed or are presently
employed in the Dutch public sector served as the study's foundation. The
results showed that it has become increasingly difficult for public relations
specialists in the Dutch public sector to uphold the strong division between
political and government communication that is used to characterize their work.
Anyijuka
(2016) focused on Microfinance Support Centre Limited in Kampala when examining
the role of public relations in promoting government development programs.
Three methods of data collection
were used in the study: a questionnaire, key informant interviews, and
secondary data sources. Campaigns, lobbying, propaganda, professional ethics,
and corporate social responsibility were identified as PR techniques in the
findings, while product marketing, special event management, crisis management,
and handling negative press were mentioned as ways to include PR. Public
relations are impacted by the implementation of public policy, media coverage
of government activities, citizen reporting on agency actions, and increasing
agency internal cohesion. Government Development Programs and the media are
related (r=0.011, 0.310, 0.380). Given that certain organizations do not have
fully functional public relations units, the study concluded that there is very
little information accessible regarding public relations practices in Ugandan government
institutions. The research was carried out in Kampala with a particular
interest in Microfinance Support Centre Limited. This current paper, however, concentrates on how the
public perceives the public relations function of the Ministry of Finance and
Economic Planning.
In
tertiary institutions in Ashanti, Boakye, Celestinatabi, and Awuah (2012)
reviewed how public relations help organizations achieve their goals. The purpose
of the study was to evaluate how public relations strategies support
organizational objectives at tertiary institutions. The goal was to ascertain
how public relations may be improved at private tertiary institutions. The case
studies used in the study included Christian Service University College, Ghana
Baptist University College, Garden City University College, and University
College of Management Studies. The survey solicited the opinions of people who
work as public relations specialists at the cited private tertiary schools.
Three out of the four target institutions, according to the study, lack a
public relations department. The survey also discovered that all four tertiary
institutions concur that public relations are crucial for interacting with the
internal and external publics of the various universities and attaining
organizational objectives. The study, which was conducted in Ghana,
concentrated on the role of 58 public relations in achieving organizational
goals, whereas the current study emphasizes sensitization.
Karani
(2012) examined how public relations
could improve the Department of Lands: Ministry of Lands' institutional image.
The research was descriptive, and the researcher conducted a poll on how public
relations may improve the Ministry of Lands' institutional image. Customers and
staff members of the Ministry of Land made up the study's target audience. The
population was sampled using a stratified random sampling technique to select
respondents. Job Groups in the Department of Land served as the study's strata,
and a pro-rata sample of 651 respondents was selected from each stratum.
Primary sources employed by the researcher to gather the data included
questionnaires. Responses were used to gather both quantitative and qualitative
data. The study's findings lead the researcher to the conclusion that the Ministry of Lands has been given
a mandate that it lacks the resources to effectively handle. The longer the
Ministry struggles with capacity issues, the worse the problems get on the
ground, thereby keeping this nation perpetually on the path of making amends
for the past and demanding reform. The Ministry of Lands performed the study,
which was primarily concerned with the impact of public relations in boosting
the institutional image.
Omondi
(2012) investigated the effectiveness of public relations techniques in Kenyan
government ministries. Determining
the
value, function, and impact of public relations in government agencies and
ministries was the aim. The analysis sought to determine whether public
relations professionals were doing their jobs effectively, identify 59 elements
that affected PR performance, and make suggestions for enhancing PR efforts in
government departments. The research approach employed was a survey. Seventy-nine public relations
officers made up the sample, which was collected from government ministries and
divisions. A targeted sampling strategy was used. It was shown that government
agencies and ministries are significantly impacted by PR strategies. Only 19%
of respondents said that PR practices had a significant impact on businesses,
while the majority said that these impacts were ordinary. Two percent of respondents claimed
that PR strategies have little impact on the company. While the study concentrated
on evaluating the effectiveness of PR strategies, this paper focuses on their
function in raising public awareness of government initiatives.
In
the Red Cross Society of Kenya, Shamsan and Otieno (2015) investigated the
relationship between strategic PR and organizational effectiveness. The
objective was to ascertain how strategic PR impacts company performance. The
Kenya Red Cross Society workforce was surveyed to gather first-hand
information. The effect of PR on business performance has been examined in the
literature. Descriptive statistics were used during the analysis. The outcomes
demonstrated a strong impact of strategic PR on business performance. This
study focused on the Kenya Red Cross Society and how it affected business
success.
The
researcher applied a mixed-methods approach to effectively utilize all the
tools of data collection available in both methods rather than being restricted
to those types typically associated with quantitative research or qualitative
research. The researcher employed a case study design by concentrating on the Ministry of Finance to obtain people’s views regarding
the conduct of public relations at the ministry. The study relied on a sample
of 103 respondents. Data were
collected using both interviews and a questionnaire, including a review of
documentary sources, which helped to enrich the study in obtaining varied sources of
information concerning the implementation of the public relations function at
the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning. The researcher employed both
qualitative and quantitative data analysis strategies. The researcher employed
narrative and descriptive data analysis to analyse data that were obtained from the field. For quantitative data, the
researcher used a descriptive data analysis methodology where data were analyzed and presented
using graphs and tables. On the other hand, qualitative data were analyzed using content
and thematic analysis and presented in a verbatim form.
The findings are based on the analysis of the data based on the main objective and its sub objectives, which sought to examine the functions of public relations at the ministry in light of the current technological changes. The findings are accordingly presented in the figures and tables that follow below:
The
majority of the respondents (63%), when asked whether they were satisfied with
what the public relations officers were doing at the ministry, said they were
not satisfied, while 23% of the respondents were neutral, with 13% being the
only ones showing that they were satisfied with what the PR officers at the
ministry were doing. From these findings, it can be said that like the public
relations function, many clients (citizens) visiting many government
institutions, including ministries, do always get treated well and do not get the
services that take them in time, something that, indeed, makes them unsatisfied. This is further amplified
by Figure 4.10,
which indicates that the majority of the
respondents tended to rate the services rendered by the PR officials very
poorly.
The
majority of the respondents (62%) tended to rate the services rendered by the
public relations officers at the ministry so poorly, with 13% being rated at
the average level, while 12% were ranked below the average, with 9% saying good
while only 3% said the services rendered by the officers were excellent.
The
majority of the respondents (62%) disagreed when asked whether they were
satisfied with the services provided by the public relations officers at the
Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning. Moreover, 21% of the respondents
strongly disagreed with the proposition, while 14% of the respondents were
partly satisfied with the services. In short, many of the respondents were not
at all happy with the public relations services provided by the
government-hired public relations officers at the ministry.
The
majority of the respondents (62%) show that it was not easy at all for them to
access information from the ministry whenever the time arose, with 17% of the
respondents remaining neutral, while only 12% indicated that it was easy. This
could be attributed to the bureaucratic tendencies that might arise whenever
one tries to acquire information from the responsible authorities at the
ministry, such as those
responsible for public relations. Under normal circumstances, public relations
officers are the custodians
of all information of the organization, including government institutions such as ministries. Therefore,
having compliant and understanding managers facilitates the flow of information
from the responsible organization to citizens who might be curious to obtain certain information from
the responsible institution. This applies to situations of achievements and
crises.
For
instance, let us say that a certain building belonging to the ministry has been
gutted by fire, or there has been theft, the citizens are always curious to
know what was the cause of the fire, the extent of the damage caused by the
fire, and the extent of the success of the responses applied, and in case of
any theft, what was stolen from the institution, and its corresponding value.
After all, in any democratic and accountable government, sharing information
with citizens is one of the key ingredients of a democratic society and implies
that officers in charge of information/communication to the public, such as public relations
officers, ought to be people of
quality and demonstrable qualifications.
The
majority of the respondents (57%) were dissatisfied with the level of public
relations by officers at the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, with
16% of the respondents reporting that they were not sure, while 11% were very
satisfied. From these general results, it surfaces to show that the state of
public relations in public institutions such as at the ministry is not that
satisfactory.
The majority of the respondents (50%) were of the
view that for better public relations from the Ministry of Finance and Economic
Planning, the officers in charge of public relations needed to ensure that they
improve online services, especially social media, with another 17% calling
for the improvement of the quality of services, while 14% called for the
improvement of the timelines for giving feedback to the public on matters of
the ministry. This marks the end of the presentation of the study findings
based on the specific objectives as was set out in Chapter One of the study.
What follows is the presentation of the study summary, discussion of the study
findings, and conclusion.
5.
Conclusion
From
the reviewed literature, it has become clear that the role that public
relations play is significant and cannot, in any way, be overlooked, be it in the public or
private sector. The paper has
shown that there is limited use of social media.
It is worth underscoring the fact that for any organization—bringing or small—to thrive in this twenty-first century,
it must adopt the use of social media in its public relations campaigns.
Indeed, many organizations have adopted social media not because it is
fashionable but because social media institutions view the use of social media
as beneficial since it provides a significant contribution to the overall
project performance in terms of improving communication and service delivery,
ensuring timely feedback, sporadic public engagement, customer acquisition and
flexibility of project teams by breaking out the barriers of geographical
locations.
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