The goal of this study is to explore the conceptualization of public relations and corporate communication concepts by academicians and professionals and to contribute to the academic literature and its practice. To investigate perceptions, semi-structured interviews were conducted with practitioners as well as academics in Istanbul and Izmir. Data on how the concepts of public relations and corporate communication are understood and defined, how success is defined, and which factors affect success are gathered. Our findings reveal that all practitioners prefer corporate communication over public relations. They view corporate communication as more comprehensive, closer to the business function, and having more support from top management. The negative past of public relations is stated as another reason. Academics seemed to favor public relation over corporate communication. Academics who preferred the former explained that public relations includes the public, and it does not see its stakeholders as an economic unit only. Most interviewees did not emphasize a prominent difference between corporate communication and public relations. In general, the success factors involved in corporate communication and public relations were reported as being similar. It was mentioned that practitioners have similar qualifications, but some participants stress that corporate communication practitioners need to be knowledgeable about business practices. We also discuss the implications of our findings in terms of public relations education.

This study aims to investigate the opinions and perceptions of senior Turkish public relations practitioners on the knowledge, skills, competencies, and personal attributes of public relations academics and public relations curriculums. A total of 20 semi-structured interviews were conducted with public relations practitioners working in corporations or consultancies. Results show that the top knowledge areas for public relations practitioners include sociology, psychology, and communication, the most prominent skills include communication skills, IT skills, and visioning, the most important personal attributes include good image, sensitivity/humanity, and life-long learner, and the top competencies are performing and creating. Practical knowledge is as important as theoretical knowledge. Public relations professionals have respect for public relations academics, appreciate their input, but they suggest that the public relations curriculum should be improved and that the graduates should be better informed. This paper also reveals how a dialogue can be established between Turkish public relations academics and professionals. The collected data were analyzed under the guidance of Wengers’ communities of practice framework, and suggestions for forming communities of practice were proposed by taking the dimensions of events, leadership, connectivity, membership, learning projects, and artifacts into account. By providing data from Turkey, the findings of this work can help us improve industry–academia ties and subsequently contribute to the professionalization of public relations.

The aim of this study is to understand how the public perceives public relations and why it is perceived in that way by society. This research is related to the perception of public relations and is conducted in Türkiye. Semi-structured interviews with 30 people from different occupations/professions are conducted to identify their views on public relations. In addition to the perception of public relations, this study aims to find out the contribution of public relations to the organizations and society. Findings state that public relations is considered to have an important function for the organization and society. The Turkish participants of the study have an idea of public relations and are accurately describing some aspects of public relations. Their view is not negative, and they think that public relations contributes to society because it provides information to society from organizations. They also state that public relations should pay attention to the values of society. However, the public relations practitioner is perceived to favor the interest of the organization when a conflict between the organization and the public occurs.

Vision, mission, and value statements are important elements in every organization in communicating the core values and practices the organization follows. In higher education institutions, they play an important role in the road map of the institution and how the institution is engaged with all its stakeholders. The aim of the research is to examine the visibility of information about sustainability on the websites of UAE universities. Universities are important players when it comes to communicating Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), as they have an important role in societal awareness about sustainable development. To what extent do the mission, vision, and value statements reflect the sustainability of the higher educational institutions that are investigated? The study employs a quantitative content analysis method to explore elements of SDGs by looking for keywords that are associated with the terms ‘sustainable’ or ‘sustainability’ and associated with the 17 SDGs. The sample includes 27 local universities across the UAE. The collected data from universities’ websites are analyzed using AntConc, a software for textual analysis. Only nine universities included a general term for sustainability in their documents. There was a mention of only six SDGs, and SDG9, followed by SDG4, were the most mentioned ones. The performance of the higher educational institutions in sustainability and how these are communicated should be focused strategically. The study will show the way to look at local practices when it comes to SDG communication and be the catalyst for comparative studies that can help establish best practices and guidelines for universities in the region.

Böyle bir kitabın olması gerektiğini düşündüğümüzde 2020 yılının Mayıs ayındaydık ve Türkiye’de ilk COVID-19 vakasının tespit edilmesinin üstünden yaklaşık olarak iki ay geçmişti. Neredeyse yazılmış olan bütün iletişim kitaplarına baktığımızda iletişimin hayatımızı devam ettirebilmekteki eşsiz rolüne vurgu yapılır. İletişim; liderler için önemlidir, çalışanlarla ve müşterilerle ilişkilerde önemlidir, sivil toplum kuruluşları ve kurumlar ve hükümetler açısından önemlidir, ülkeler için önemlidir… COVID-19 süreci gösterdi ki dünya iletişimle döner, iletişim olmadan yönetim olmaz, iletişim olmadan üretim olmaz. Bu yüzdendir ki insanlar COVID-19 sürecinde iletişim kurmayı mümkün kılmak için yollar aramış ve dijitalleşmenin getirdiği olanaklarla yakınlarını görmek, işlerini yürütmek, ekmeklerini sipariş etmek için çözümler bulmuştur. Her ne kadar dijital çözümler iletişim kurmayı mümkün kılsa da, insanlar hiçbir zaman bununla yetinmemiş; bir araya geleceği, yüz yüze konuşabileceği günleri özlemle beklemiştir. Bu da bize göstermektedir ki, insanlar farklı yollarla ve istedikleri şekilde iletişim kurabildiğinde mutlu olabilmektedirler.