Public relations, passive aggression and critical social auditing: reflections on organisational inaction in stakeholder engagement

• Author: Paul Willis
• Published date: 01 May 2015
• Date: 01 May 2015
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/pa.1522

■Academic Paper

Public relations, passive aggression and

critical social auditing: reflections on

organisational inaction in stakeholder

engagement

Paul Willis*

Centre for Public Relations Studies, Leeds Metropolitan University, Leeds, UK

This article explores issues associated with organisational governance in the context of stakeholder engagement. It

argues that both public relations (PR) research and practice have yet to address systematically the challenges inherent

in this area, particularly how organisations exert power over stakeholders. Prompted by a consideration of the situa-

tional theory of power put forward by the sociologist Steven Lukes, it introduces the concept of passive aggression

to PR practice. This is cited as an example of a wider phenomenon, which the author calls dark dialogue. The insights

generated by these perspectives are used to highlight how theoretical approaches in the PR field that seek to under-

stand and promote the role of dialogue in organisational-stakeholder relations face an empirical challenge. This insight

is then used to highlight the limitations of what has been traditionally termed as social auditing. It is suggested that PR

and social auditing practice share the same blind spots when it comes to assessing how organisations exercise power

and behave towards their stakeholders. The article goes on to advocate collaboration between PR professionals and

academics to practically address these issues through a reconfigured social auditing process. It ends by suggesting that

action research provides a methodological framework through which these theory-practice interactions can be facili-

tated productively. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

INTRODUCTION

This article explores issues associated with organi-

sational governance in the context of stakeholder

engagement. It argues that both public relations

(PR) research and practice have yet to address

systematically the challenges inherent in this area,

particularly how organisations exert power over

stakeholders. Prompted by a consideration of the

situational theory of power put forward by the soci-

ologist Steven Lukes (2005) the paper introduces the

concept of passive aggression to PR practice. This is

cited as an example of a wider phenomenon, which

the author calls dark dialogue.

The insights generated by these new conceptual

perspectives are used to highlight how theoretical

approaches in the PR field that seek to understand

and promote the role of dialogue in organisational-

stakeholder relations face an empirical challenge.

That is, the practices designed by organisations to

deliberately suppress dialogue with stakeholders

are less susceptible to observation than dialogue

itself. This insight is then used to highlight the limi-

tations of what has been traditionally termed as

social auditing. Indeed, it is suggested that PR and

social auditing practice share the same myopic ten-

dencies when it comes to assessing how organisa-

tions behave towards their stakeholders. The article

then advocates a role for PR practitioners to instil

critical thinking about power into a reconfigured

social auditingprocess. It ends by suggesting thatac-

tion research provides a methodological framework

*Correspondence to: Paul Willis, Centre for Public Relations

Studies, Leeds Metropolitan University, Leeds, UK.

E-mail: p.a.willis@leedsmet.ac.uk

Journal of Public Affairs

Volume 15 Number 2 pp 220–226 (2015)

Published online 25 June 2014 in Wiley Online Library

(www.wileyonlinelibrary.com) DOI: 10.1002/pa.1522

Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.