Department of Advertising and Public Relations

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Browsing Department of Advertising and Public Relations by Author "Allaway, Arthur Warren"

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    Communications management in athletics and the excellence theory: a case study of the University of South Alabama football program
    (University of Alabama Libraries, 2011) Esfeller, John Harry; Kinney, Lance T.; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
    Increasingly, universities across the country are adding college football to their athletics programs. The communications activities surrounding a football launch had never been examined relative to communications theory. The purpose of this case study was to investigate the football communications function of a university athletic program in its first years, and determine whether the theory of excellence in public relations (ET) or integrated marketing communication (IMC) theory was more reflected in the organizational structure, management, and goals of the program. The University of South Alabama (USA) was chosen as the subject of the case study, who added the sport in December 2007. To prepare, a review of ET and IMC theory and research that tested and analyzed those theories was conducted. During the course of this study, six members of the University of South Alabama's staff responsible for football communications were interviewed in person and asked questions about their experience, skills, responsibilities, their department, strategy development, decision making, and other factors that relate to ET and IMC. Three hours of interviews were transcribed, coded, analyzed, and compared back to ET and IMC to see which theory was more reflected at USA. During the analysis, it was discovered that USA implements a management structure and organizational culture that would be in line with the principles of ET, but that the technical duties, goals and objectives of their messages are highly reflective of IMC. During the course of this study, six members of the University of South Alabama's staff responsible for football communications were interviewed in person and asked questions about their experience, skills, responsibilities, their department, strategy development, decision making, and other factors that relate to ET and IMC. Three hours of interviews were transcribed, coded, analyzed, and compared back to ET and IMC to see which theory were more reflected at USA. During the analysis, it was discovered that USA implements a management structure and organizational culture that would be line with the principles of ET, but that the technical duties, goals and objectives of their messages are highly reflective of IMC.
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    Excellent leadership in public relations: an application of multiple-group confirmatory factor analysis models in assessing cross-national measurement invariance
    (University of Alabama Libraries, 2009) Meng, Juan; Berger, Bruce K.; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
    Prior research suggests that the construct of leadership and theory surrounding knowledge in terms of its content, use, and role within the organization are complex. Leadership spans many levels of analysis and can be approached from different perspectives and disciplines. However, to date no research has empirically explored the leadership construct and how it contributes to communication effectiveness from the perspective of public relations practice. Thus, the attempts made here are to define the construct of excellent leadership in public relations, to identify its key dimensions, and, more importantly, to develop measurement scales of the constructs from the perspective of quantitative methodology. More specifically, this dissertation addresses the following five questions: (1) How is excellent leadership defined in public relations? (2) As a complex, multifaceted phenomenon, what key dimensions does the construct of leadership in public relations encompass? (3) How are organizational structure and culture related to the achievement of excellent leadership in public relations? Given the importance of cultural influence on leadership effectiveness, (4) Are some dimensions of excellent leadership in public relations universally relevant while some are culturally specific? and (5) What core values and qualities of public relations leadership do different cultures emphasize? In order to answer these questions, both quantitative and qualitative research phases are involved. The first phase involves online surveys to different groups of public relations practitioners in multiple locations. The conceptual measurement model and structural model are tested by using the collected quantitative data. In the second phase, in-depth interviews with senior public relations executives in the U.K. and Singapore are conducted and the results further strengthen the findings revealed at the quantitative phase. Overall, the research findings present strong evidence regarding the multi-faceted nature of the leadership construct itself and indicate that the key dimensions of leadership are largely complementary and related in a meaningful way. Moreover, the impact of organizational structure and culture on the achievement of excellent leadership in public relations is confirmed and discussed. In sum, findings from this study will help enhance the theoretical development of leadership research in public relations, as well as provide concrete directions and managerial guidelines for public relations industry.
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    Multimedia rights holders and athletic sponsorship: a system theory case study of the University of Alabama
    (University of Alabama Libraries, 2012) Garrison, Elizabeth Brandt; Kinney, Lance T.; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
    This research offers a case study of sports multimedia contracts as awarded by the University of Alabama and executed by Crimson Tide Sports Marketing, a Learfield/IMG sports management subsidiary. This case study used system theory to investigate how the UA/CTSM sports contract is executed. System theory reviews complex organizations as composed of smaller units with specific responsibilities. System theory research involves observing and describing the operating units, how they interact and how each unit contributes to the organization's goals. Six system components were identified in the UA/CTSM system. However, the most frequent interactions were reported between the control, network distribution, and advertising units. These components work together to create revenue through their participation in the system.