The document discusses key concepts from organizational communication literature including the dominant coalition theory. It defines the dominant coalition as the social network within an organization that has the greatest influence over goal setting and strategic decision making. This influence derives from members' control over important resources and their ability to work interdependently. While coalition members may have some differing interests, side payments are made to maintain coalition unity and advance the overall status quo.

1.  “The management of communication between an organization and its
publics” by Grunig and Hunt.
 “The management function that establishes and maintains mutually
beneficial relationships between an organization and the publics on whom
its success or failure depends.”
 Public relations is the profitable integration of an organization’s new and
continuing relationships with stakeholders including customers by
managing all communications contacts with the organization that create
and protect the brand and reputation of the organization

2.  Is a fundamental and defining statement about what effective public
relations is.
 To determine what are the characteristics of excellent communications
and of the companies that do excellent public relations.
 Incorporates a number of middle-range theories of Public
relations, including theories of publics, public relations and strategic
management, models of public relations, evaluation of public
relations, employee communication, public relations
roles, gender, diversity, power, activism, ethics and social
responsibility, and global public relation.

3.  Explained the value of public relations to organizations and social based
on social responsibility of managerial decisions and the quality of
relationships with stakeholder publics.
Eg : For an organization to be effective, must behave in ways that solve the
problems and satisfy the goals of stakeholders as well as of management.
 Public relations loses its unique role in strategic management if it is
Sublimated to marketing or other management functions.
Eg : Sublimation to another function resulted in attention only to the
stakeholder category of interest to that function, such as consumers for
marketing.

4.  Symmetrical system of internal communication increased employees'
satisfaction with their jobs and with the organization. However, internal
communication generally was not practiced unless organizations had a
Participative rather than authoritarian culture and a decentralized, less
stratified(organic) structure rather than a centralized, stratified
(mechanical) structure.
 Effect of the growing number of women in public relations and evidence
that women had difficulty entering managerial roles.
Eg : Organizations with excellent public relations valued women as much
as men for the strategic role and developed programs to empower women
throughout the organization. Emphasis on gender also led to inclusion of
diversity of race and ethnicity.

5.  Modernism is that its concerns lie not simply with scientific forms of
reason that privilege a foundational epistemology but also with forms
of reason grounded in our linguistically mediated sense of being-in-the-
world.
 A state of emphasis on individuality, of human beings who believe they
could operate purely out of their own will without any outside influences.
 Modernism maintains that there is one reality or truth, called a dominating
ideology. This one reality is affixed through social science research or
positivism. This approach has been called rational because it values
objectivity and believes it possible to avoid values in research. Modernism
is associated with linearity or progression passing from one stage to the
next.

6.  Examples from public relations principles that reflect modernist thought
include a focus on goals and objectives or management-by-objectives,
breaking down into more and more measurable parts the process through
which public relations can achieve such outcomes as behavior change, but
also change in awareness, comprehension, and attitudes.

7.  Holtzhausen provides an overview of postmodernist thought that includes
five characteristics:
An emphasis on individual realities rather than one; an ethically
responsible society: accommodation of many diverse ideas and
perspectives, including modernism; resistance to positivism; and, a
philosophy of the immediate rather than seeking the ideal state of society.
 The first of postmodernism’s stances is the importance of the influence of
history, culture, society, class, and gender on the individual.
Example: People from different ethnic, social, class, and gender
standpoints see very different realities. This approach extends to publics
and organizations, viewed by each within specific realities rather than one
reality or one dominant ideology, such as patriarchy, democracy or
capitalism.

8.  Second, postmodernist thought calls for an ethically responsible society
because of our various cultural, class, and ethnic differences. “The ethically
responsible society supports science and technology but also emphasizes
imagination, sensitivity, emotion, humanity, and an appreciation of
differences.”
 Third, postmodernism fears dominating ideologies or metanarravies
because of their controlling natures.
Example: Public relations, it is assumed in postmodern thinking, has a role
in reinforcing dominating ideologies, whether consciously or
unconsciously. Holtzhausen describes postmodernism as “extremely
multifaceted, drawing on all theories that might be applicable to the
question under scrutiny.”

9.  Fourth, postmodernism resists positivism. Mumby describes positivism as
the discourse of representation and its “correspondence theory” of truth
that is most often associated with mainstream social science research.
 Fifth, postmodernism focuses on the immediate problem rather than on
reaching for some ideal state in society.
Example: Postmodernists see fragmentary and multiple worlds in constant
and continuous change. L’Ltang and Pieczka argue that there is not one
overall standard to be found, particularly in the practice of public relations
or the interests of those on behalf of which public relations operates.

10.  The dominant coalition is the social network of individuals having the
greatest influence on the selection of an organization's goals and strategies
Pfeffer & Salancik, 1978; Ansoff, 1983; Pearce & David, 1983; Pearce &
DeNisi, 1983; Neilsen & Hayagreeva Rao, 1987; Charan, 1991).
 It derives this power from the unequalled, collective, and synergized
influence of its members.
 These members, in turn, derive their power from their ability to influence
the acquisition and distribution of strategic resources
 the term "resources" is used to include not only material, capital, and
human factors, but also less tangible resources such as
prestige, community legitimation, and knowledge

11.  The dominance of the coalition is partially secured by its ability to
institutionalize its power.
 This does not imply that the coalition's strategic directions or membership
are immutable. They may change when new individuals control strategic
resources or when new resources become strategic. However, the
institutionalized nature of dominant coalition power is likely to support
the status quo (Thompson, 1967; Pfeffer & Salancik, 1978).
 A coalition is held together by the members' recognition of some common
interests (Pfeffer, 1981), and by explicit or implicit agreements about the
type of behavior which should be followed (Pennings, 1981; Pondy &
Mitroff, 1979)

12.  Furthermore, the dominant coalition is bound by the fact that the
achievement of member goals usually requires interdependent action by the
coalition members (Thompson, 1967)
 However, not all of the interests and orientations of dominant coalition
members are compatible.
 "Side payments" are sometimes made to influential dissident members of the
dominant coalition in order to hold the coalition together (Cyert & March,
1963).
 Example : These side payments are often in the form of commitments to
policies that may be somewhat incompatible with other coalition objectives.
Such incomplete rationalization is possible because goals most often receive
sequential, rather than holistic attention. Thus, some incompatibility in goals
and strategies is ignored. The conditions under which compatibility is
enforced are important and will be explored in a later section.