Public relations in Ghana: professionalism and impacts of globalization.

Wu, Ming-Yi ; Baah-Boakye, Kwame

Introduction

In the last two decades, the area of international public relations has grown fast. Public relations practices in different cultures have drawn much scholarly attention. Specifically, much has been written about public relations practices in European and Asian countries. However, public relations practices in African cultures have not been adequately studied by researchers (Rensburg, 2007; Taylor, 2001). In order to close this gap, this study aims to explore the professionalism of public relations in a West African country, Ghana.

As yet, academic research about the public relations practices in Ghana is very little. Public relations practice is also under studied in local academia. Steyn (2005) did a database search of African Theses and Dissertations (a project of the Association of African Universities). Only one master's thesis (Gyan, 1991) in public relations was found. Gyan (1991) discussed public relations practices in Ghana in her master's thesis. When Gyan's study was conducted about 2 decades ago, public relations was not regarded as a profession and practitioners have played insignificant roles in their organizations. In order to create an updated profile, Wu and Baah-Boakye (2008) conducted a study to explore various issues about public relations practices in Ghana. They discussed public relations practitioners' roles, most important skills for practitioners, relationship to marketing, and gender equality issue in the field. Wu and Baah-Boakye (2009) also conducted a quantitative study to explore work-related cultural values and public relations models in Ghana. Wu and Baah-Boakye's (2008, 2009) studies provided some preliminary information about public relations practices in contemporary Ghanaian society. However, how professionalism is evolving in the field and the impacts of globalization have not been fully investigated by their study. In order to extend the knowledge about public relations practices in African and build on Wu and Baah-Boakye's studies, this current study will further discuss such issues.

Public Relations Practices in Africa

Taylor (2001) reviewed academic research about international public relations and predicted the trends of international PR research in the 21st century in the Handbook of Public Relations. She found that public relations research on the African continent is extremely rare although the Africa is even bigger than Europe in terms of its size and population. She predicted that more public relations research will be done in this region as economic and social development occurs. Rensburg (2007) also argued that social science research in African cultures has been omitted from the research agenda in world stage for a while mainly because of lack of information. However, many countries in Africa have been developed as independent and post-colonial countries. Thus, more studies should be done in Africa. Rensburg identified key research topics in Africa, including cultural identity, Africanity, Africa in the world economy, conflict resolution, global knowledge, reputation management, and health issue of HIV/AIDS. After identifying current research topics in Africa, Rensburg argued that "globalization has become a dominant issue in the research debates in Africa" (p. 42). In order to address this important research issue, this study aims to explore how globalization influences the practice of public relations practices in an African country, Ghana.

There are more than 50 countries in Africa. However, public relations practices in very few African countries, such as South Africa (Holtzhausen, Petersen, & Tindall, 2003; Holtzhausen, 2005; Tindall & Holtzhausen, 2011; Rensburg, 2003) and Nigeria (Ayeni & Adedeji, 1992; Molleda & Alhassan, 2006), have been well studied by scholars and published in academic journals or international public relations books. Apparently, public relations practices in more African cultures need further exploration.

Public Relations Practices in Ghana

As yet, very few articles (e.g., Wu & Baah-Boakye, 2008, 2009) published in mainstream U.S. journals have discussed public relations practice in Ghana. As mentioned earlier, public relations practice is also under studied in Ghana. Gyan (1991) interviewed and surveyed 51 participants (including both management and public relations practitioners) in Accra, Ghana when completing her Master's thesis in Ghana. The results of her study suggested that public relations was not considered as a profession in Ghana at that point of time. Even public relations practitioners themselves had cognitive dissonance about their professional roles in their organizations and in the society. Public relations practitioners' positions on the organizational chart were very low although both management and practitioners viewed public relations as a management function in their organizations.

In order to provide updated information, Wu and Baah-Boakey (2008) conducted an empirical study to explore the actual public relations practices in Ghana. They surveyed both in-house and agency public relations practitioners. The results of their study indicated that public relations is moving toward professionalism in Ghana because most of their participants are playing managerial roles in their organizations and have decision-making power in their organizations. In addition, male and female practitioners perceived that they are treated fairly in their organizations. They also found that the most important skill for public relations practitioners is interpersonal communication. Similar to previous international public relations studies (e.g., van der Merwe & Venter, 2006; Wu & Taylor, 2003), the relationship between public relations and marketing is discussed in their study. The result indicated that public relations and marketing are interdependent functions in Ghana.

Wu and Baah-Boakye (2009) also conducted a quantitative study to explore the practices of public relations models in Ghana. They found that public relations practitioners in Ghana tend to utilize international public relations models. The most frequently practiced models in Ghana were cultural interpreter and personal influence models. Public relations professionals who practice the cultural interpreter model help their international organizations get familiar with the local environment. Public relations practitioners who practice the personal influence model help clients network with key publics. According to Wu and Baah-Boakye, the practice of cultural interpreter model demonstrated the increasing impact of international trade in Ghana.

Wu and Baah-Boakey's (2008, 2009) studies have provided more updated information about contemporary public relations practices in Ghana. However, some other issues, such as education, training, research, and impacts of globalization, have not been explored. Specifically, it will be interesting to further explore how public relations practitioners help international clients overcome obstacles in response to the trend of globalization. In order to offer additional insights into public relations practices in Ghana, this study aims to build on Wu and Baah-Boakey's (2008, 2009) studies by focusing on professionalism and the impact of globalization in the Ghanaian public relations field.

Professionalism

To understand the development of public relations as a professional field in a specific culture, international public relations researchers (e.g., Wu & Taylor, 2003) focused on practitioner experiences and professionalism issues in their studies. The term, professionalism, can be defined and measured by a variety of ways. In the last few decades, public relations scholars attempted to distinguish public relations as a profession, instead of an occupation. Different standards and characteristics of professionalism were proposed. Marston (1968) seems to be the first public relations author who proposed several characteristics which distinguish a profession from an occupation. "These were: a defined area of competence, an organized body of knowledge, self-consciousness, competence of entrants determined by controlled access, continuing education, support for research, aid in education of competent replacements, and interdependence" (As cited by Wright and Turk, 2007, p. 574).

Grunig (1990) stated that professionalism can be measured by education, specialized training, and professional involvement. Professional involvement includes membership in professional associations, attending meetings of those groups, and holding offices in them. Grunig, Grunig, and Dozier (2002) further explained the characteristics of professional and successful public relations practices based on the Excellence Theory. They argued that "excellent public relations is managerial, strategic, symmetrical, diverse, and ethical" (p. 306). In their view, excellent public relations professionals have direct access to and provide advice to the dominant coalition in their organizations, have external contacts and have problem solving and strategic professional capacities. Excellent public relations departments have distinct organizational functions, promote diversity, and practice the two-way symmetrical public relations model, which requires a degree of sophistication in research.

Cutlip, Center, and Broom (2006) summarized criteria of professionalism in public relations. "In summary, for public relations to achieve professional status, there must be specialized educational programs, a body of knowledge, community recognition, individual accountability, and commitment to abide by established codes that protect public interest and spell out social responsibility" (Cutlip et al., 2006, p. 126).

Wright and Turk (2007) reviewed how professionalism in public relations has evolved in the United States. Their focus is public relations education, including formal professional education and continuing education provided by professional associations. According to Wright and Turk, strengthening public relations education is a key for promoting professionalism in the field. However, they found that there is a disconnection between public relations education and practice. What the formal education provided by universities is different from what the practitioners want. Closing this gap between knowledge and practice has become a challenge for future public relations educators.

Wu and Taylor (2003) conducted a qualitative study to explore the development of professionalism of public relations in Taiwan by exploring practitioners' roles and job activities. According to Wu and Taylor, "the managerial role and the concept of professionalism are closely related with each other" (p. 481). Respondents of their study ranked planning and conducting events, working with media and writing as the most important activities. Thus, Wu and Taylor argued that public relations practitioners in Taiwan tend to practice technician-oriented, instead of management-oriented roles.

Previous literature has told us the definitions and criteria of professionalism in public relations. Although professionalism can be defined by a variety of ways, previous researchers (e.g., Grunig, 1990; Cutlip et al., 2006; Wright & Turk, 2007; Wu & Taylor, 2003) all looked at public relations education, professional associations, and practitioners' actual practices. The next section of this paper will provide the background information about education and professional association of public relations in Ghana.

Public Relations Education in Ghana

There is formal public relations education in Ghana. The most significant institution in Ghana that provides training in public relations is the School of Communications Studies at the University of Ghana. Established in 1973, the School offers a post-graduate program in communications, including public relations. Another institution which has trained many practitioners in Ghana who are involved in public relations functions is the Ghana Institute of Journalism (GIJ), established soon after independence as a training ground for journalists which attracted students from many African countries, especially Nigeria. It was one of many institutions that reflected President Nkrumah's Pan-African perspectives. The institution is devoted to improve its degree program in communication studies and offer an evening session of the diploma in communication studies responding to increasing demands. In addition, about four times in the year, GIJ runs short courses in which public relations features; two short courses are for people who are new to the profession and two for those who are already in the field. One of such programs organized recently at the institute had 85 participants; a number almost as much as the annual in-take for the mainstream courses.

There are also continuing education opportunities for public relations practitioners in Ghana. For example, the Africa Institute of Journalism and Communications (AIJC) also came onto the scene about five years ago. AIJC is affiliated to GIJ, taking its certification from the Ghana Institute of Journalism. A public relations consultant agency, Stratcomm Africa, has also recently established Practical Communications Africa Ltd. (Practcomm), intended for fresh PR graduates as well as practitioners already in the field who need to upgrade and enhance their PR skills through exposure to practical PR approaches. There are other private communication institutions providing training in journalism and public relations fields. These include Manifold Tutorial College, Transafrican College and JAYEE institute. However, these are not specialized PR institutions and have yet to gain industry recognition.

Professional Association and Specialized Training

The Institute of Public Relations (IPR) in Ghana has also been established as a regulatory professional body for public relations practitioners. This professional association also provides professional training opportunities for its members. Professional development seminars and short courses extending from one to four weeks are organized to sharpen the knowledge of practitioners as well as amateurs. An interaction with different level of IPR members showed that these activities have contributed greatly in enforcing professionalism among practitioners.

Research Questions

Public relations is moving toward professionalism in Ghana because both formal and informal public relations education is now available. There is also a well-established public relations association, IPR, which provides professional development and training opportunities for public relations practitioners. The processes of democratization and internationalization are also driving forces which shape the development of the field in Ghana. In order to get further information about public relations professionalism in Ghana, the researchers questioned our participants on two major areas of professionalism: practitioner experiences and impacts of globalization. Two research questions guiding this study are proposed:

RQ1: What are the actual practices of public relations in Ghana?

RQ2: How globalization influences public relations practices in Ghana?

Research Methods

Research Instrument and Data Collection

An English questionnaire was distributed to participants during winter 2005 and spring 2006. The questionnaire with both quantitative and qualitative questions was distributed to 120 organizations in Ghana. In order to get both in-house and agency PR practitioners' views, the purposive sampling method was used. The questionnaire was purposively distributed to both organizations with in-house PR department and PR agencies. One hundred questionnaires were distributed to top 100 organizations (based on Association of Ghana Industry Rating) have been selected to represent companies with in-house PR setups. In addition, 20 questionnaires were distributed to 20 public relations agencies. In each organization/ agency, one public relations practitioner served as the representative of the organization/agency and filled out the questionnaire. The one who filled out the questionnaire for the organization needed to perform public relations activities for the organization on a daily basis.

Similar to previous international public relations studies (e.g., Wu, Taylor, & Chen, 2001; Wu &Taylor, 2003), well-connected public relations practitioners served as key informants and helped the researchers with data collection. After the questionnaires were mailed to participants, one of the key informants personally visited the organizations which received the questionnaires through mail and collected the completed questionnaires in sealed envelopes.

With close follow-up interpersonal communication, the total number of questionnaires collected was 64 (53% response rate). These respondents answered the demographic questions and quantitative questions in the questionnaire. Among these 64 participants, 29 (45%) participants answered the open-ended questions in the questionnaire. Compared to previous international public relations research, the response rate in this study seems to be desirable. For example, Wu and Taylor's (2003) Taiwanese public relations study reported a 44% response rate. Kent, Taylor, and Turcilo's (2006) public relations study reported a 38% response rate.

Participants

The data is based on responses from 64 participants. Forty-one (64%) participants are male. Twenty three (36%) participants are female. Fourteen (22%) participants work for local PR agencies. Five (8%) participants work for international PR agencies. Thirty-two (50%) participants work for for-profit organizations. Eleven (17%) participants work for nonprofit organizations. Two (3%) participants work for government offices. The average age of participants is about 32 years old (M=31.8). The average years working in the public relations field is about four years (M=3.7). Respondents' titles include communication manager/executive, marketing manager/executive, and public relations manager/executive. Two (3%) participants have a junior college degree. Nineteen (30%) of the respondents are public relations mangers. Forty five (70%) of the respondents are just public relations practitioners, not managers. Because the sample include both mangers and practitioner, the results of this study can represent opinions about public relations practices across organizational levels. Forty (63%) participants have a four-year college degree. Twenty (31%) participants have a master's degree. One (2%) participant has a Ph.D. degree. One (2 %) participant does not answer the question about educational level. Thirty-six (56%) participants' educational background is communication. Twenty-six (41%) participants' educational background is in management. Two (3%) participants did not answer the question about educational background. The majority of the participants have a college degree or above and have educational backgrounds either in communication or management.

Measures

Practitioners' actual practices reflect professionalism of the field. To understand the actual practices of public relations in Ghana, the researchers asked our participants five questions: (1) What is your general job description? (2) Please rank the top four most important activities in your job. (3) Who are the most important publics for your communication efforts (Please put them in order.)? (4) How the management in your organization views the public relations function? (5) What types of research you perform before a PR effort and after a PR effort? These questions were drawn from Wu and Taylor's (2003) study.

To understand global impacts on public relations practices in Ghana, two more questions were asked in the questionnaire: (1) What kinds of obstacles would international organizations have when entering the Ghanaian market? (2) How public relations agencies help them to overcome these obstacles? These two questions were asked because many international/global organizations, such as Unilever, Shell, Barclays Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, have offices and divisions in Ghana. These two questions were asked also because the quantitative results of Wu and Baah-Boakye's (2009) study reported that the Cultural Interpreter Model is most frequently practiced model in Ghana. The cultural interpreter model reflects global impact of public relations in a country because public relations practitioners who perform this model helped their international clients overcome obstacles and get familiar with the local environment. These two questions were created by the researchers.

Results

Practitioner Experiences

In order to know Ghanaian public relations practitioners' actual experiences, our respondents are asked to list their general job description. Twenty nine participants answer this open-ended question. The most popular answer of this question is related to "communicators' and mediators' functions". Fourteen (48%) participants indicate that "mediating between the publics and management", "acting as connection rob between the organization and its publics", "communicating with the publics", "promoting harmony between management, employees, and publics", "developing mutual understanding between the publics, management, and organization as a whole", "coordination of investors, management, employees, and consumers", "finding ways of solving communication problems", "pertaining to what the public wants" is part of their general job description. The second most popular answer is related to either marketing research or marketing communication. Ten (34%) participants mention "survey the market", "conducting consumer behavior research", "educating the public about our products", "promoting our organization's goods and services, or "monitoring the consumption level" as one of their job descriptions. The third popular answer is "image management". Three (10%) participants mention "image management of the organization" as their general job description. In addition these popular answers, two (7%) participants have different views about their general job description. One participant mentions "strategic management" and specifies "outlining steps in strategic management and organize programs". Another participant mentions "public relations officers are the only ones mandated to speak on behalf of the organization if needed".

Two close-ended questions are asked in the questionnaire to get further information about the way in which public relations is practiced in Ghana. First, our participants are asked to rank the most important publics for their communication efforts. Table 1 summarizes the results.

The researchers first identify the most important publics for Ghanaian public relations practitioners to communicate with. Media is the most popular answer because it is chosen as the most important public 45 times. Employee is the second popular answer which is chosen 10 times as the most important public. Then, the researchers analyze the top four most important publics for the respondents' communication efforts. Again, media is the most frequently chosen answer. Media is chosen 57 times as one of the top four most important publics. Employees and domestic clients are identified as the second most frequently chosen answers. Both of them are chosen 46 times. Interestingly, the third popular answer is international clients, which was chosen 33 times. The fourth popular answer is investors, which is chosen 31 times. The fifth popular answer is community residents, which is chosen 27 times. Government official is regarded as the least important publics for communication efforts. This answer is only chosen 11 times.

Second, our participants are asked to rank the top four most important activities in their jobs. Table 2 summarizes the results.

The researchers first analyze the most important activities our respondents chose from. The most popular answer is planning and running events. This answer is chosen 19 times. The second most popular answer is offering advice to management, which is chosen 11 times. The third popular answer is research (before and after a program). Then, the researchers add up the frequencies for the top four choices for each answer. Planning and running events remains the most popular answer, which is chosen 47 times. Offering advice to management is still the second most popular answer, which is chosen 43 times. Research (before and after a program) is consistently to be the third popular answer, which is chosen 37 times. Negotiating directly with external stakeholders is the fourth popular answer, which is chosen 32 times. Working with the media is the fifth frequently chosen answer, which is chosen 28 times.

To better understand the status and function of public relations in Ghanaian organizations, an open-ended question is asked: How the management in your organization views the public relations function? Fifteen participants have answered this open-ended question. Five (33%) participants provide a general answer and stated that management view public relations as a "very important" department. One of them mentioned that public relations "has power is decision making". Four (27%) participants state that management views public relations as "mediator". For example, a participant wrote, "a mediator between the customer, employee, and the management". Another participant specified that public relations is viewed as "the link between the public and the agency". Three (20%) participants mention that public relations is viewed as a "research department". One participant specifies that "it helps them to know what the public thinks and how they react to the product". It seems that public relations department in Ghana is also doing marketing/consumer behavior research for their organizations. In addition to these popular answers, there are some other individual answers. One (7%) participant says that public relations is viewed as "the media outlook". One (7%) participant refers public relations department as "not very necessary of a unit, but could play auxiliary roles". One (7%) participant writes "sometimes needed" as the answer.

A final question about practitioner experiences which reflects professionalism of the field is asked: Please describe what types of research you perform before and after a PR effort. Fourteen participants have answered this open-ended question. The researchers first analyze the answers about research "before" the PR efforts. Seven (50%) participants mention conducting "questionnaire survey" as the research they conducted before a PR effort. Similarly, seven (50%) participants mention "interviews" as the primary research method before a PR effort. The result implies that both quantitative and qualitative research methods are used by Ghanaian public relations practitioners. Interestingly, three (21%) of these participants mention "consumers" as their major research participants no matter they adopt the questionnaire survey method or interview method. For example, one participant writes "consumer base research". One participant writes "interview consumers". One participant writes "distributing questionnaires to consumers". Then, we content analyze our participants' answers about research "after" a PR effort. The most popular answer is "assessment of responses". Eight (57%) participants' answers are either "evaluation of responses" or "assessment of responses". The second popular answer is "secondary research". Three (21%) participants write down this answer. One of them elaborates on this answer and writes "secondary research which involves reference from initial research". Two (14%) participants mention "survey". One (7%) participant writes "interviews".

Global Impacts

In order to understand how public relations practices in Ghana are affected by the trend of globalization, two open-ended questions were asked. The first question asks our participants to identify the obstacles international organizations would have when entering the Ghanaian market. The second question asked our participants to describe how public relations agencies help international clients to overcome these barriers.

Twenty participants have answered the first question. The most popular answer is related to cultural differences. Eight (40%) participants' answers are related to cultural and economical differences. For example, one participant writes, "different regulations, cultural, and economic backgrounds Another participant writes, "being unsure about the Ghanaian market and how it can be interpreted to them". Similarly, a participant writes, "unsure of how to deal with sensitive issues, such as political and socioeconomic issues". A participant elaborates on the importance of interpersonal relations in Ghanaian culture and writes, "It's time consuming to convince the media and to research. It is generally based on who you know." The second most popular answer for this question is "language barriers". Six (30%) participants write down this answer. The third most popular answer is "the fear of being accepted". Four (8%) participants write down this answer. Two (4%) participants mention "currency differences".

Following the previous question, our participants are asked to describe how public relations agencies help international clients to overcome barriers. Four participants answered this question. One (25%) participant indicates that PR agencies help their clients "understanding the Ghanaian market and how it operates and our way of understanding things". One (25%) participate writes, "information and education should be transparent". It seems to imply that Ghanaian PR practitioners help their international clients to gather market information and educate them. One (25%) participant writes creating a "friendly atmosphere" with the media. A (25%) participant specifies that "PR can help to translate languages".

Discussion

Prevalent Public Relations Activities

The results of this study have described specific aspects of contemporary public relations practices in Ghana. For example, the important publics for communication efforts are ranked. There are several implications from the results regarding the most important publics in Ghana. First, the result indicates that the media industry is fast developing in Ghana because media becomes the most important public for Ghanaian PR practitioners. Second, Ghanaian organizations communicate with both external and internal publics because employees (internal publics) and domestic clients (external publics) have gained equal importance from participants answers. Third, the result demonstrates the impacts of globalization and the increasingly internationalized corporate environment in Ghana because international client is regarded as one of the most important publics. Finally, the result is consistent with the trend of democratization in Ghana. Ghana is now a democratic country with a multiple party political system. The country is no longer under military control. In such as democratic environment, governmental officials in Ghana do not have as much power and control over economic activities as they did before. Thus, governmental officials are regarded as the least important publics. This result is very different from a previous international study. In Taylor and Kent's (1999) study, government officials were the most important public in Malaysia. Both Ghana and Malaysia are developing countries. However, the most important publics for communication efforts are different. This result is significant because it implies that might be several different variables which determine the most important public for public relations activities. The developmental stage of the country is only one of them. Other factors, such as economic growth, democratization of the political system, media liberalization, and impacts of globalization, may be possible environmental factors which help explain the result.

Comparing with Gyan's (1991) research result, the result regarding the most important jobs for our participants clearly indicates the public relations field in Ghana is moving fast toward professionalism. Gyan's study conducted about two decades ago showed that public relations practitioners have played insignificant functions in their organizations. At that point of time, offering advice to top managers seemed to be impossible for Ghanaian public relations practitioners because their organizational rank was at the bottom of the organizational chart. However, offering advices to top managers becomes one of the most important jobs for our participants. In addition, when being asked about how management view the public relations function, several of our participants have pointed that public relations is viewed as a "very important" function. Our participants' qualitative answers also reveal that public relations practitioners have performed decision-making and strategic communication functions. Furthermore, few participants mention that management viewed public relations department as a "research" department. Thus, Ghanaian public relations practitioners are now playing managerial roles in their organizations.

Research Effort and Implications for Professionalism

Another significant finding of this study is that our participants are conducting research for their organizations and their clients. The implications for professionalism are clear. Conducting research indicates that public relations practitioners have used a more sophisticated approach to understand and communicate with the key publics of their organizations. This result also indicates that two-way public relations models are practiced based on the Excellence Theory (Grunig et al., 2002).

Our participants conduct both quantitative (e.g. questionnaire survey) and qualitative (e.g., interviews) research before and after a communication event. However, the qualitative data of this study reveals that Ghanaian public relations practitioners conduct consumer behavior surveys which support important marketing decisions. This result is consistent with Wu and Baah-Boakye's (2008) argument that public relations and marketing are overlapping functions in Ghana. The close link between these two disciplines is not unique in Ghana in international public relations literature. Wu & Taylor's (2003) study in Taiwan and van der Merwe and Venter's (2006) study in South Africa showed similar results. Wu and Taylor's (2003) research result suggested that public relations and marketing are complementary corporate functions. They also predicted that the future development of public relations in Taiwan will be closely linked to marketing. van der Merwe and Venter's (2006) surveyed 112 public relations practitioners in South Africa. Their research result suggested that public relations was viewed as a necessary part of marketing, but should not be managed by marketing. Public relations practitioners in South Africa are also expected to receive training in marketing. The similarities among these three studies have suggested that public relations and marketing are complementary, instead of distinct corporate functions in many countries. Future studies may tell us what environmental and cultural factors can explain this phenomenon and whether the close link between these two disciplines will help or hinder the development of public relations professionalism in these countries.

Global Impacts on Professionalism

In response to Rensburg's (2007) argument about the importance of researching globalization in Africa, this study also explored the impacts of globalization on the development of public relations professionalism in Ghana. The quantitative data shows that international client is one of the most important publics for our participants. The qualitative result of this study also suggests that international organizations have to overcome cultural, language, and economical differences when entering the Ghanaian market. This provides Ghanaian public relations practitioners opportunities to help their international clients overcome obstacles and get familiar with the local environment. They can be translators for both local languages and the symbolic meanings of things in the Ghanaian culture. The result is consistent with Wu and Baah-Boakye's (2009) quantitative finding which suggested that the cultural interpreter model is the most frequently practiced public relations model in Ghana. Indeed, the processes of globalization and internationalization have provided both challenges and opportunities for global organizations. Different political, economical, cultural environments in different countries do create uncertainties for these organizations. Thus, getting professional help from local public relations practitioners in order to reduce uncertainties and effectively communicate with key publics becomes the key of success for international organizations. This may explain the emergence and practice of the cultural interpreter model in Ghana and in other cultures.

Conclusion

The public relations field in Ghana is moving toward professionalism. A positive factor which affects its development is globalization. Many international corporations are interested in the African market, including Ghana. However, they unavoidably encounter cultural and language barriers when entering this market. Thus, Ghanaian public relations practitioners helped them to conduct research, work with media, understand Ghanaian publics' points of view, and facilitate two-way communication between the organizations and their publics. Apparently, international corporations can hire native Ghanaian public relations practitioners to as cultural interpreters to help them customize their communication strategies and fit in well with the local culture.

By collecting empirical data in Ghana, the significance of this study is that builds on Wu and Baah-Boakye's (2008, 2009) studies and provides additional insights about public relations development in an African county. This study also reviews and discuses various issues which reflect different aspects of professionalism, such as public relations education and training, actual practices, research activities, and the impact of globalization. One of the most significant findings is that globalization has influenced the development of the Ghanaian public relations field.

Although the researchers attempt to cover a variety of research issues and provide a broad picture about emergent practices in Ghana, this exploratory study has limitations. His exploratory study can serve as a first step to understand professionalism of the field in Ghana. However, the answers of some questions can be probed deeper in the future. For example, some participants mention that Ghanaian public relations practitioners help international clients overcome cultural obstacles and understand the Ghanaian way of understanding and interpreting things. However, they do not explain the details and provide examples when filling out the questionnaire. Future studies may use different research methods, such as in-depth interviews or focus group interviews, to further explore what kinds of obstacles international corporations have encountered in the Ghanaian market and what kinds of strategies can be developed to overcome these challenges and create new opportunities.

* The authors thank Ms. Esther Amba Numaba Cobbah and Mr. Ebenezer Tetteh of Stratcomm Africa for data collection.

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Ming-Yi Wu

Northeastern University and Gallup, USA

Kwame Baah-Boakye

ERL Systems Ltd., Ghana

Correspondence to:

Ming-Yi Wu, Ph.D.

Northeastern University and Gallup 360 Huntington Ave. Boston, MA 02115

Email: mingyiwu@att. net

Kwame Baah-Boakye ERL Systems Ltd. 28 Samora Machel Road Asylum Down Accra, Ghana

Email: [email protected]

Table 1. Most Important Publics for Ghanaian
Public Relations Practitioners

Top Four Most Important Publics   1    2    3    4    Total

Media                             45   8    3    1    57
Employees                         10   22   10   4    46
Domestic Clients                  2    1    10   23   46
International Clients             1    --   19   13   33
Investors                         2    16   5    8    31
Community Residents               2    2    16   7    27
Government Officials              4    1    4    2    11

N = 64

Table 2. Most Important Activities for
Ghanaian Public Relations Practitioners

Top Four Most Important Activities      1    2    3    4   Total

Planning and Running Events             19   12   9    7   47
Offering Advice to Management           11   17   6    9   43
Research (Before and After a Program)   10   10   12   5   37
Negotiating Directly with               3    10   14   5   32
  External Stakeholders
Working with Media                      4    5    9    8   28
Supporting Marketing Activities         4    2    6    8   20
Writing                                 8    3    4    4   19
Socializing                             1    3    2    9   15
Communicating with foreigners           1    1    2    6   10
Facilitating intercultural              2    --   --   3   5
  Communication Program
Making African Corporate Gifts          1    1    --   --  2

N = 64