PUBLIC RELATIONS AND THE PERFORMANCE OF PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN PORT HARCOURT

PUBLIC RELATIONS AND THE PERFORMANCE OF PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN PORT HARCOURT

The overall aim of this research is to examine the influence of public relations on the performance of primary schools in Port Harcourt.

1.1 Background of the Study

No organization (whether profit or nonprofit) wants to have a bad public image, this is a result of the benefit that could arise from having a good public image which includes increasing opportunity, increase in brand identity, goodwill, firm credibility, etc.

Image is nothing more than what people think of themselves and what others think of them. Generally, the firm strives to create value that satisfies its customers, after this has been achieved there would need to tell the public about this achievement, and this is where public relations come in.

In recent times the need to establish a reputable relationship between the organization and the public had been unnoticed and hence not being acted upon; meanwhile, other organizational activities such as production, Accounting, selling and others have been given more attention on the assumption that they provide more valuable contributions to the performance of any organization.  Smith(2001), public relations is performance recognition and this statement indicates that public relations are highly needed to show organizational performance to the public as it helps to build relationships between the firm and the public. Ogbuji (2012) stated that based on the current climate public relations should be professionalized and it should be added to graduate and undergraduate school programs.

Organizational performance is gotten from a comprehensive report of the organizational activities as well as the values created by the organization, and also the responses got in return; then public relations gather these reports and transfers it into a well-placed and understandable form before communicating it down to the public. Public relations has often been described as a promotional toll intended or planned to create goodwill for a person, product, or institution.

Primary schools are organizations that strive to impact on society through their impact on children by providing standard educational materials and qualified teachers.

Primary schools generally have a wide range of sponsors who can contribute to the development of the organization, these sponsors include parents, alumni, firms, government, wealthy individuals, etc. The researcher observed that there is a strong relationship between public relations and primary schools because individuals or parents at all times want to give their wards the best education, and the only way to identify the best set of schools is to scout for a school with a good and better public image. The public image can only be observed if the organization engages in public relations activities.

Hence this study tends to examine the relationship between primary schools and public relations as it does reflect on the performance.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

This paper observed that primary schools in Port Harcourt are facing a challenge of having little or no support from the community in which they reside and the public in general despite having a wide range of sponsors who can contribute to the development of the organization. Most times the only direct support gotten by these primary schools is the sponsorship of the parents(in the fees) and social groups (Alumni) most times just to show the extent of their success.  The researcher observed that the support (scholarships, educational materials, etc) that comes from the government, firms and wealthy individuals are most times awarded to schools that have a direct and mutual relationship with those who work in the firm and the government, and most times it is not merited.

The major cause of this challenge is the inability of primary schools in Port Harcourt to identify ways to create and maintain a good relationship with the host community and the public at large, To a larger extent most primary schools in Port Harcourt are not practicing public relations at all despite widespread agreement that public relations has not always been successful (Ogbuji, Marketing Parade 232) and this has led to inefficiency in performance, thereby creating an unfavorable public image or no image at all. They have failed to identify their key audience and ways to engage these audiences. They have also failed to measure the importance of public relations activities and need to establish a long term supporting relationship with the key drivers. These problems have initiated an impetus to call for re-organization of public relation activities in primary schools to affect their performance.

1.3 Aim and Objective of the Study

The overall aim of this research is to examine the influence of public relations on the performance of primary schools in Port Harcourt. Other specific objectives include:

1. To determine the extent to which media relations affect the market share of primary schools in Port Harcourt.
2. To determine the extent to which media relations affect the grant volume of primary schools in Port Harcourt.
3. To determine the extent to which community relations affect the market share of primary schools in Port Harcourt.
4. To determine the extent to which community relations affect the grant volume of primary schools in Port Harcourt.
5. To determine the extent to which sponsorship affect the market share of primary schools in Port Harcourt.
6. To determine the extent to which sponsorship affects the grant volume of primary schools in Port Harcourt.

1.4 Research Questions

To achieve the aims and objective earlier stated, the following research questions are considered:

1. To what extent do media relations influence the market share of primary schools in Port Harcourt?
2. To what extent do media relations influence the grant volume of primary schools in Port Harcourt?
3. To what extent do community relations incline the market share of primary schools in Port Harcourt?
4. To what extent do community relations influence the grant volume of primary schools in Port Harcourt?
5. To what extent does sponsorship influence the market share of primary schools in Port Harcourt?
6. To what extent does sponsorship influence the grant volume of primary schools in Port Harcourt?

1.5 Study Variables and Conceptual Framework

The study variables for this work are public relations as the independent variable and performance as the dependent variable, with its measures as media relations, community relations, sponsorship, market share, and grant volume respectively.

P = F(PR) ——————————————— (1)

P = (MS, GV) —————————————– (2)

PR = (MR, CR, SO)  ———————————- (3)

Where P= Performance,

PR = Public Relations,

MR = Media Relations,

CR = Community Relations,

S = Sponsorship,

MS = Market Share,

GV = Grant Volume,

P is a function of PR. 

Conceptual Framework

Figure 1.1: Conceptual framework of public relations and performance of Primary Schools in Port Harcourt.

Source: Desk Research, 2019.

1.6 Research Hypotheses

Based on the research questions; the following hypotheses were formulated.

1. There is no significant relationship between media relations and the market share of primary schools in Port Harcourt.
2. There is no significant relationship between media relations and grant volume of primary schools in Port Harcourt.
3. There is no significant relationship between Community relations and the market share of primary schools in Port Harcourt.
4. There is no significant relationship between community relations and grant volume of primary schools in Port Harcourt.
5. There is no significant relationship between sponsorship and market share of primary schools in Port Harcourt.
6. There is no significant relationship between sponsorship and grant volume of primary schools in Port Harcourt.

1.7 Significance of the Study

The finding of this research will redound to the benefit of Port Harcourt society considering that public relations play an important role in organizational management today. The greater demand for standard organizational performance justifies the need for more research on public relations.

Students:  It will provide a complement to the few existing texts on public relations and the performance of primary schools.

Primary Schools:  It will serve as a tool and guideline for a better strategy formulation and effective implementation because it realizes that all that concerns the organization should be known to the public.

The Economy: The research helps the economy by identifying worthy students and schools to be offered scholarships and grants, and in turn promote the educational standards of the economy.

1.8 Scope of the Study

The scope of the study is centered on three basic areas namely, the geographical scope, content that scope, and unit of analysis scope.

Geographical scope:  The study covers some selected primary schools in Port Harcourt.

Content Scope: The content scope consists of the variables of public relations and performance of primary schools in Port Harcourt, this includes media relations, community relations, sponsorship, market share, and grant volume respectively.

Unit of analysis: the unit of analysis involves the management of primary schools in Port Harcourt.

1.9 Limitation of the Study

This study is relatively new and so getting data from primary and secondary sources will be difficult because limited research has been done in the area of public relation and performance of primary schools, Also obtaining the desired information from the define target population shall equally pose some challenges, worthy of note is the difficulty experienced by researchers in trying to get the management and employees of the schools to understand the academic nature of the study and give unbiased answers and information as regards to their school.

1.10 Operational Definition of Terms

Public: People in general or the public.

Public Relations: Public relations is the practice of creating, managing, and maintaining communication between an organization and the public.

Primary School: A school for children between the ages of about 5 and 11.

Performance: This is the actual output or accomplishment of a given task of an organization as measured against its intended output (goals and objectives).

Image: The opinion that people have about an organization, it is what comes to the mind of the public when an organization name is mentioned.

1.11 Organization of the Study

This research is made up of five chapters, chapter one is made up of the introduction, statement of problem, aim and objective of the study, research questions, study variables, conceptual framework, research hypothesis, and significance of the study, the scope of the study, limitation of the study and definition of terms. Chapter two is a review of relevant literature. Chapter four is data presentation and analysis and finally chapter five which includes a discussion of findings, conclusion, recommendation, and suggestions for further studies.