ارزیابی پیشرفت در تحقیقات روابط عمومی جهانی از سال 2001 تا 2014  An assessment of progress in research on global public relations from 2001 to 2014

1. Literature review 1.1. Global public relations vs. international public relations Although the terminology and constructs of international public relations and global public relations have been used interchangeably in the scholarship, each conveys a different meaning. International as defined by New Oxford American Dictionary as “existing, occurring, or carried on between two or more nations” while global is “relating to the whole world.” The meanings of the words are similarly reflected in scholarly definitions. For example, Wakefield (1997) defined international public relations as “a multinational program that has certain coordination between headquarters and various countries where offices and/or publics are located, and that carries potential consequences or results in more than one country” (p. 355). Wilcox and Cameron (2006) conceptualized it as “the planned and organized effort of a company, institution, or government to establish mutually beneficial relations with the publics of other nations” (p. 516). These definitions highlight that international public relations are strategic communication activities performed in more than one country beyond an organization’s country of origin. The term “global public relations” has gained momentum in the literature. Sriramesh and Verciˇ cˇ (2009) define public relations as “the strategic communication that differenttypes of organizations use for establishing andmaintaining symbiotic relationships with relevant publics, many of whom are increasingly becoming culturally diverse” (emphasis added) (p. xxxiv). To reflect the change of publics in the field, Szondi (2009) conceptualized global public relations as “the internationalization of the profession, including being practiced in more and more countries throughout the globe” (p. 119). In this sense, the term “global public relations” is broader, more inclusive, and holistic because the term “global” denotes the whole world. As global public relations represents strategic communications all around the world, this is a progression from international public relations.