Advancing Public Diplomacy during Cold Sino-Japan Relations A Case Study of the Confucius Institute at Ritsumeikan

Tense political relations are seen as a barrier to China's public diplomacy with Japan.Despite various setbacks,Confucius Institutes,a classic example of public diplomacy,have continued to stay open in Japan.This paper uses the Confucius Institute at Ritsumeikan(CIR) as a case study to explore how public diplomacy can be carried out when political relations between China and Japan are cold.It concludes that cold political relations do not necessarily mean public diplomacy will fail.Good cooperation with Japanese partners can bring positive results.Also,choosing the right partner is important;government "interference" should be avoided.Finally,China should deal with each Confucius Institute differently,and Japanese universities' enthusiasm should be stimulated through encouragement and retreat mechanisms.

Ethical Perceptions and Moral Values of Public Relations Practitioners in the United Arab Emirates

This paper investigates the perceptions, values, and considerations of ethics among public relations practitioners in the United Arab Emirates （UAE）. A questionnaire was distributed to 372 practitioners in various private and government organizations. Practitioners were asked how influential and relevant public relations ethical factors were on the practitioner＇s perception of ethics. Findings suggest that the daily practice of public relations day-by-day professionally practice learning, senior practitioners, senior executives, and managers along with religion play a major role in shaping the meaning, philosophy, and conception of the practitioner＇s ethics. Respondents were asked to describe the level of support they would give to the controversial public relations practices that may generate some ethical problems. The majority of the respondents did not agree on the use of ＂spreading rumors＂, ＂providing false information to satisfy the public＂, ＂misinformation and manipulation＂, ＂giving false promises＂, and ＂would not approve favoring personal interest over public interest＂.

Public Relations and Image Management Strategies of Nigeria Security&Civil Defence Corps After the Infamous “Oga at the Top” Incident

This paper evaluates the place of public relations in the image management strategies of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) particularly after the infamous “Oga at the Top” interview by the Lagos State Commandant of the Corps. The paper uses questionnaire and the interview schedule as instruments to gather data from members of the public who are familiar with the “Oga at the Top” incident and the public relations officers (PROs) of the NSCDC respectively. From the data gathered, we conclude that the NSCDC adopted different image management strategies to salvage the corporate image of the Corps;that the image management strategies have engendered a cordial relationship between the media and the Corps;and that the infamous “Oga at the Top” incident brought some fame to the Corps as free advertisement as well as questioned the capacity of its officials to discharge their duties effectively. As a fallout of this evaluation, it is recommended that NSCDC management should endeavour to engage only professionals in the field of public relations who would understand and implement public relations objectives and functions in the organisation and that all ranking officers of the NSCDC should endeavour to involve the public relations unit in all their engagement with the external publics to avoid a repeat of the “Oga at the Top” incident that affected the Corps’ image negatively.

Making Sense of Public Relations as Culture Policy

Culture is a process in which meaning is produced, distributed, consumed, materialised, re-produced infinitely and discussed with society. As meanings generally disperse extensively in different social groups through different associations, they display certain changes in time depending on their usage. Meanwhile, it is hard to define the public relations concept, because it may refer to different meanings even in the same culture. According to the assumptions pertaining to the public relations practices shaping the dominant discourse of the USA, language which produces certain cultural meanings also shapes the way we think and act. Thus, due to its ideological and discursive nature, public relations functions as a culture policy. Being an integral communication management configuring and directing the social sphere and the practices related to it, public relations refers to the concept of habitus introduced by Bourdieu inasmuch as habitus resides in the situations formed by actions that individuals learn throughout their lives. Culture policy; on the other hand, purports the effective participation of people in cultural life, their development in social, economic and cultural areas as well as the creation of convenient conditions to sustain it, which can be achieved with public relations practices. Public relations determines the culture policies in a society with regard to the structured discourses and actions and also acts as the mouthpiece of these policies. The purpose of public communication that is necessary for development and sustainability is to inform the public objectively in cultural, social, political and economic senses by obtaining feedback form them. For the purpose of administering sound public communication strategies in a society, public relations should direct the forms of public discourse. The purpose of this study is to put forth a critical evaluation based on the idea that for the realisation of effective and sensible communication policies in a society, the perception and practice public relations in that society should be regarded as a culture policy. According, this study focuses on whether or not public relations as culture policy serve the development of democracy and public sphere.

Digital Public Relations in the Russian Governmental Communication： 2011-2012 Typology and General Situation

The paper deals with the development of digital public relations （PRs） in the Russian govemmental communications in the years of 2011-2012. Empirical study is based on the content-analysis of on-line public activities of Russian federal governmental bodies and regional governors in October-November, 2011. It has shown the coexistence of two basic models of governmental communication in the Russian Federation--old-fashioned bureaucratic and new interactive.

Future of Public Relations Curriculum： Searching for the Ideal Undergraduate Public Relations Curriculum

This study analyzes the public relations curricula of 44 American colleges that have a Public Relations （PR） Student Society of America （PRSSA） chapter. Through content analysis, this study examines general requirements, core public relations courses, requirements of public relations programs and strategic communication programs, and optional public relations courses offered by the colleges. The findings of this study reveal that very few public relations programs offer courses involving new media, crisis communication, and PR ethics. In order to keep in touch with the fast-changing public relations landscape, more PR programs should require and integrate new media, crisis communication and ethics courses.

The research of Chinese Government Public Relations-- Based on the idea of the Balanced Scorecard

Through analyzing the problems of Chinese government public relations, using the idea of the Balanced Scorecard, we analyze the reasons of these problems and discuss the countermeasures from four aspects that conclude financial, internal operations, customers, learning and growth to achieve the all-round and balanced development of public relations and establish a high level of government public relations organization, regarding the overall strategic goal of government public relations that aim to strengthen the communication with various public, establish an innovative, pragmatic, honest and efficient government image in the public and the international community as the center.

The NGO Relations Section of the UN Department of Public Information

History The importance of working with and through NGOs as an integral part of United Nations information activities was recognized when the Department of Public Information was

Matching Consequences and Causes in Crisis Public Relations

This exploratory study examines the phenomenon of consequence cause matching,which is based on the representativeness heuristic,from cognitive psychology,upon crisis management and public relations.A 2(Large Scale Crisis vs.Small Scale Crisis)×2(Large Scale Cause vs.Small Scale Cause)mixed factorial design experiment was conducted based upon a hypothetical crisis scenario.This study found initial evidence that consequence cause matching is a phenomenon that can impact the process of attribution for a crisis.It highlights a potential new area of theoretical growth for the situational crisis communication theory.

Relations among the Practitioners,Researchers and Disseminators of Public Diplomacy

The Report of the 18thNational Congress of the CPC pointed out that we must earnestly promote public diplomacy.The key phrases here are"we"and"earnestly".Who are"we"?What kind of organizations and people does it refer to?How can be"earnest"?These questions are worth the contemplation of people like us who are performing China’s public diplomacy.

China's Public Relations and Soft-power

China's foreign strategy and foreign policy have changed tremendously. China began to build up soft-power of national culture and embark on public diplomacy, which aimed at: 1, increasingly exposing China to the world in terms of the state of affairs, policies and values, 2, creating a more objective and amicable milieu of opinions and 3, enhancing China's international image. The author offers her personal perspectives on how to handle relations between pursuing public relations and building up national soft-power, how to advance national soft-power by public relations and the need to obviate ideological barriers.

Realities of Reflective Practice Skill among Public Health Nurses in Japan and Related Learning and Lifestyle Factors

Background: According to the diversification of the health needs and the expansion of health disparities, it is necessary to raise their reflective practice skills so that PHNs present more appropriate activities. The purpose of this study was to elucidate the realities of reflective practice skills among public health nurses in Japan and identify related factors. Methods: This study covered 1725 public health nurses in the Chugoku/Shikoku area. We conducted an anonymous self-completed questionnaire survey. As reflective practice skills (RPS), we adopted the six components of the six cycles of the Gibbs reflective model. We used the 20 criteria of the Scale for Practical Competence (SPC). We set 25 learning history/daily lifestyle items. The study plan was approved by the Ethics Committee of Okayama University. Results: We analyzed the 962 (55.8%) valid responses. Although years of experience as a public health nurse was highly correlated with practical skills as measured by SPC, with a correlation coefficient of 0.627, it was not closely related with RPS, with a correlation coefficient as low as 0.129. A logistic regression analysis of the eight learning history items and six daily lifestyle items associated with RPS, with the introduction of the high/low RPS groups as dependent variables, showed a convergence to five factors (odds ratio of 1.38 - 2.29). Conclusions: Going forward, we will need to consider how to accumulate learning on a daily basis and how to include positive health practice in PHN education, in connection with exploring the curriculum and method of training.

Investor Relations （IR） in Business Communication on the Example of Poland

This paper focuses on investor relations （IR） as an element of companies＇ communication with the external environment. It shows the place and role of IR in communication with the general market, and the stock exchange market in particular. The study is illustrated with an example of IR in Poland, a relatively new European Union （EU） member state and an emerging market. As can be seen, IR goes beyond the traditionally understood maintenance of communication with the capital market. It is also shown that the main role of IR ought to be the reduction of investment risk and enhancement of the companies＇ value, which is of particular significance in light of the current globalization of capital markets. It has been found that Polish companies, especially those listed on the Warsaw Securities Exchange （WSE）, commonly rely on IR as a means of communication with the environment. And yet, as the results of the analysis show, the quality of that communication is still far from satisfactory, despite efforts undertaken by various external entities to encourage more focus on the development of IR, or understanding of the company＇s relevant staff of its important role.

Public Relation Practices in Polytechnic Libraries for Effective Service Delivery in North-Central,Nigeria

This study investigated public relations practices for effective service delivery in polytechnic libraries in North-Central,Nigeria.The study was guided by two research questions.The descriptive survey research design was adopted for this study.The population of the study was 107 library staff consisting of both federal and state polytechnic libraries in North-Central,Nigeria.There was no sampling as all the population of the study was used as sample.Two sets of instruments were used to collect data for the study:questionnaire for library staff and interview guide for the polytechnic librarians.The instruments were subjected to face validation by two experts.Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics while the qualitative data were transcribed,coded,and analyzed through document analysis as confirmatory to the quantitative data collected.The formulated hypotheses were tested using t-test.The findings revealed that public relations practices used by librarians were attending to users’enquiries on the public information desks and providing suggestion boxes to collect users’opinions,etc.(X=3.20,Sd=0.77;X=3.10,Sd=0.73);Projectors and bulletin boards were the facilities employed in public relations practices(X=3.21,Sd=0.86;X=3.18,Sd=0.69).Based on the findings,it was recommended that,the library management should create awareness on the public relations practices used for effective service delivery through such fora as workshop,orientation,and seminar to educate library users on the relevance of public relations;also librarians should use every possible avenue to be abreast with state-of-the-art facilities that can be employed in public relations practices in polytechnic libraries for effective service delivery,among others.

Actual Status of Healthy Lifestyle Habits of Public Health Nurses in Japan

Background: The public health nurse should make efforts to keep his/her own mental and physical health good, which is the professional responsibility. However, a variety of challenging issues have been pointed out with regard to well-being of healthcare professionals. Public health nurses are likely to face some difficulties in their habits of leading healthy lifestyles. The purpose of this study was to identify how Japanese public health nurses actually live their healthy lives. Methods: This study covered 1725 public health nurses in the Chugoku/Shikoku Region. We conducted an anonymous self-completed questionnaire survey. As basic attributes, the following 6 categories were set. The health practice indices used in this research consisted of the 7 practices of Breslow’s Health Practice Index (B-HPI), the Morimoto’s 8 practices, and 6 practices related to lifestyle habits that have been developed independently by the authors of this research (Health Lifestyle Index (HLI)), that is, 16 practices in total. The study plan was approved by the Ethics Committee of Okayama University. Results: We analyzed the 960 (55.7%) valid responses. This survey has demonstrated that the healthy life-style practices of public health nurses are generally good. However, there were some practices such as eating between meals, having little physical activity, and not having a good rest/sleep, that need to be improved. None of the assessment tools correlated with the length of experience. Conclusions: This survey has clarified that the healthy lifestyle practices of public health nurses did not correlated with their length of experience, indicating that the healthy lifestyle practices are not intensified by the accumulated career experience as public health nurses.