The practices and challenges of public relations within two Ethiopian Towns: Harar and Dire Dawa

Abstract

This paper examined the practices and challenges of public relations within two government organizations in Ethiopian towns. It assessed the roles and functions of public relations within the organizations in Harar and Dire Dawa towns, pertinent to the contemporary global views of the practices of public relations. The paper observed that the issues of public relations is still at its pre-historic stage which deals with propaganda, publicity, and manipulation. This is seen as a serious problem been practiced by employees of the public relations organizations. The paper is based on quantitative data generated through an introspective Likert-Scale questionnaire. The respondents in the study were selected using simple random sampling technique. A descriptive data analysis of the practices and challenges of the public relations was used to communicate the findings of the study. The paper revealed that the practice of public relations in the towns under study is very deprived and highly challenging for effective performance and implementation of public relations activities. The reason being that the major perspectives of public relations roles and functions are not clearly identified. Hence, public relations practitioners should get involve in strategic management, decision making and implementation of organizational planning.

Keywords: Harar and Dire Dawa, management, marketing, organization, public relations