Public Relation Theory and Practice for United Airlines

This report discusses the importance of public relations for organizations, with a focus on the case of United Airlines. It analyzes the negative impact on the brand image of the organization due to recent mistreatment of passengers and provides recommendations for effective public relations.

Running head: Public relation theory and practice
Public relation theory and practice

Public relation theory and practice
Executive summary
Public relation plays a great role to enhance the productivity and profitability of the organization. If the
organization do not have effective public relation then it can be very difficult to attain profitability and
growth in the organization. In this report, the discussion will be made on the case of the united airlines.
The main focus is given on the public relation of the united airline. The company should have proper
public relation, so that the goals and objectives can be accomplished.

Public relation theory and practice
Table of Contents
Executive summary.....................................................................................................................................1
Introduction.................................................................................................................................................1
Public relations goals and issues..................................................................................................................2
Public Relation and Communication model followed..................................................................................2
United Airlines taken into consideration alternative solutions....................................................................3
Research, Planning, Implementation and evaluation activities the company take into consideration to
resolve the issues........................................................................................................................................3
Concept of Open and closed communication..............................................................................................4
Public relation plan of the United Airline....................................................................................................4
Background..............................................................................................................................................4
Objectives................................................................................................................................................4
Goals........................................................................................................................................................5
Message..................................................................................................................................................5
Strategies.................................................................................................................................................5
Tactics......................................................................................................................................................5
Evaluation................................................................................................................................................5
Objectives to be attained by the organization.............................................................................................5
Analysis of the factors in the organization..................................................................................................6
Conclusion...................................................................................................................................................6
Recommendations.......................................................................................................................................6
Introduction
Public relation is essential to be maintained for an organization so that growth can be attained. With the
increase in the economic changes it is evaluated that if the organization do not have effective public
relation, then it can be difficult to survive in the competitive environment. By taking into consideration

Public relation theory and practice
public relation, it is seen that there are many problems that are faced by the organization. In this report,
the discussion will be made on the topic that is based on United Airlines recent mistreatment of
passengers and how the company has faced the issues for attaining goals and objectives.
This case has given focus on how public relations of united airlines have provided assistance in analyzing
the negative impact on the brand image of the organization.
Public relations goals and issues
The case study discusses about the United Airlines passenger. In this case, the passengers
are asked to leave the flight on a Chicago- Louisville Flight, removal of the first class passengers
on a Hawaii- La Flight. This case gives a reflection on the American biggest case that was
circulated by the social media. In this, the people are dragging the passenger due to the
overbooked flight (Van Dijck, 2013). It has given negative impact on the image of the company
and also there is lack of public relation issues faced by the United Airlines. The main emphasis
should be given to enhance the public relation and also on the PR issues related to the
organization. The business can enhance its effectiveness if the public relations are maintained
properly (Pritchard & Howard, 2015).

Public relation theory and practice
Public Relation and Communication model followed
It is important for the organization to increase the public relations with the stakeholders.
If the company does not have effective public relations, then it can be very difficult to attain
profitability and growth. There are various methods that can be taken into consideration by the
organization, so that there can be an increase in the public relation with the stakeholders. The
company takes into consideration social media methods like newspaper, a cyber-computing
system that assists the company to interact with the customers and other stakeholders (Killian &
McManus, 2015).
It is analyzed that the CEO of the company take into consideration social media and
various methods, so that the actual happening cannot be accessed and also that why the
employees were forced to leave on a Chicago Louisville flight, removal of first-class passengers
on a Hawaii – La flight. By taking into consideration the social media, the company was not able
to attain the targets. The social media crisis began on April 9th Aboard Flight 3411. In this flight,
the four members were said to leave the space for the crew members (Boyd, 2014).
The incident that took place was recorded and the videos and pictures were viral on the
social media sites. This incident has given negative impact on the image of the company. The
video was viral due to the lack of public relation. The public relation is not so good and the video
and pictures went viral on the national and international level. The CEO of the company also
conducted an online meeting. In the meeting, the discussion was made and also he apologizes to
the public and explained the case to the people by taking into consideration social media
channels.
United Airlines has to take into consideration alternative solutions
The CEO of the company should consider various methods so that the public relation
effectiveness can be enhanced. The company has to face many issues due to the ineffective
public relation. It is seen that the social media and web information channel was found not so
effective, when the discussion is made with the public (Wittman, 2014). The negative impact
was given on the image of the company and also people considered the services ineffective. The
response to the public was not so good and also they face many issues. The public relation of the

Public relation theory and practice
organization is not so good, and it has given direct impact on the profitability and goodwill of the
company (Pepe, 2014). It is also seen that the management and CEO of the company declined to
justify the incident which has given a bad position to the company in the market. There are
many clients who opposed the services that are offered by the company and this is all due to the
ineffective public relation in the company. It is important for an organization to have proper
public relations, so that the company can effectively conduct the activities and achieve the goals
and objectives (Ruths & Pfeffer, 2014).
Research, Planning, Implementation and evaluation activities the
company takes into consideration to resolve the issues
The company has faced the disaster of the public relation due to the incident of the
American third biggest carrier which was being viral online for dragging the passenger due to the
overbooking in the flight. By having the negative impact on the image of the company, the
airlines faced many issues. The negative impact was due to the video that was uploaded to the
social media. The company established various public relation policies on which the company
has given emphasis. The policies were introduced in the press conference and also the important
information was circulated by taking into consideration effective social media, so that the
negative impact of the video can be minimized (Chang et al., 2015).The case that took place was
evaluated and proper information was shared by taking into consideration the entire scenario at
that moment. The CEO said that the information that is spread is false and half of the incident
was present in a wrong manner. When the program was implemented, proper views and
thoughts are taken into consideration to describe the business operations (Holloway, 2017).
Google image section was also considered, so that the images can be presented in a correct
manner.
United airlines tried their level best to enhance the goodwill in the market. For the
betterment of the stakeholders, the actual information was publicized. The share of the company
and also the brand image goes down on a high amount. The activities that have been
recommended by the company is related to the cyber computing enterprises resources planning

Public relation theory and practice
to communicate effectively all the details to the public. This will help to enhance the level of
productivity and profitability of the organization (Bamber et al., 2013).
Concept of Open and closed communication
Open and closed communications are two types of organization in which the entrepreneur
conduct the day to day operations in an effective manner. It is seen that the open system
organization is connected with disclosing all the information with the society and the
stakeholders by taking into consideration systematic reporting frameworks (De Neufville, 2016).
The open system organization tries to keep the organization transparent and also enhance the
activities of the organization. An open organization tries to interact with the environment by
taking into consideration the concept of giving and receiving the information. By taking into
consideration closed organization it is seen that the overall efficiency is enhanced in the
business. It also enhances the efficiency and effectiveness of the organization (Cacchiani et al.,
2016).
The impact of open and closed organization gives impact on the reporting framework of
the organization. There are many open system communication that is conducting the activities
on the international level. If the closed organization is compared then it is seen the company is
less inclined towards the sharing of the information with the public (Chen et al., 2017).
By proper evaluation of the annual report of the company, it is seen that the company has
followed the concept of an open organization that takes into consideration harmonization in its
IFRS rules and domestic accounting standards to enhance the transparency of the organization.
The public relation will be affected by taking into consideration the open and closed
organization. It is seen that the public relation is related to build and maintain the internal and
external relations. Public relation helps the organization to enhance its value and also the
profitability can be achieved in an effective manner.
If the organization has proper public relation then profitability can be easily achieved.
The focus should be given on adopting the effective public relation in its value chain activities,
then the company can easily save from the disaster that is taking place in the company. After

Public relation theory and practice
uploading the video it is seen that the company face many problems and also the negative impact
is given on the image of the company (James & Rajendran, 2013).
Public relation plan of the United Airline
Background
The crisis takes place on April, 9th aboard flight 3411 in which total 4 members are asked to
leave the seats and to make a space for the crew members. The company takes into consideration
social media and cyber computing system so that the strength can be maintained by the CEO of
the company.
Objectives
The main objective of the company is to maintain the brand image in the market, so that the
company can easily accomplish the goals and objectives.
Goals
To enhance the effectiveness of the public shared information, the company should follow proper
cyber computing enterprises resources planning. If the focus is given to cyber computing then
the communication can be conducted effectively (Blain, 2017).
Message
The company has reduced its brand image and also the overall outcome of the business.
Strategies
The company gives focus on the strategies that give a positive impact on the image of the
company. The company tries to take into consideration newspaper and also computing system so
that the effectiveness of existing communication channel can be enhanced. Effective strategies
should be adopted by the organization, so that the activities can be conducted inefficient manner
and also the positive impact is given on the image of the united airlines. If the company adopts
proper strategies then it can help to grow and also enhance the market share in the competitive
environment (Clark, 2017).

Public relation theory and practice
Tactics
The company should give focus on enhancing the effectiveness by adopting new cyber
computing enterprises resources planning system in its public relation methods. It is seen that
existing working activities of the company failed and also the public relation was less effective.
Public relation is essential to be considered by the united airlines, and then only it can be
possible to survive in the competitive environment (Cook & Billig, 2017).
Evaluation
The case of the united airline was related to the use of social media and also other advertisements
methods like newspaper, a cyber-computing system that failed to use at the time of giving
justification of the incident (Vasigh et al., 2014). When the CEO of the company analyzed the
downfall in the turnover and efficiency, then he has taken into consideration web information
system and social media so that the public relation can be increased. It is essential to disclose the
case and also to discuss about the incident that why employees were forced to leave Chicago –
Louisville flight, removal of the first-class passenger on a Hawaii – La Flight. The negative
impact is due to the video that was viral and it can create negative impact in the mind of the
consumers (Kousoulidou & Lonza, 2016).
Objectives to be attained by the organization
By analyzing the situation of public relation, it is seen that the company has failed to attain the
goals and objectives of the organization. The company has taken into consideration various
methods that help to enhance the goodwill in the market. If the goodwill is enhanced, then
profitability can easily be attained. The action plan also played a great role to implement new
public relation system in the organization (Zou et al., 2017).
Analysis of the factors in the organization
By giving emphasis on the annual report, it is seen the public relation of the company was not so
strong and also the image of the company was affected due to the video that went viral on the
domestic and international level. The organizational culture of the united airline is not client
oriented and also many customized services are failed. The public relation of the company is not

Public relation theory and practice
so good and also the communication methods that are taken into consideration by the
organization are not so effective to survive in the competitive environment. United airlines faced
many issues related to the revenue. The revenue of the company falls and it has affected the
image of the company. Advertisement and web pages are used by the company, so that proper
communication takes place with the stakeholders. It has also given a reflection on the public
relation system of the organization.
Conclusion
By taking into consideration the case study of the united airlines it is seen that negative impact
was given to the image of the company. The profitability of the company is also affected by the
incident that took place. It is seen when the image of the company become negative, then it is
very difficult to build it again in the competitive environment. By evaluating the annual report it
is seen that overall profitability and growth of the organization is decreased which has given
effect on the working pattern. The public relation introduced by the company is not so effective,
that failed to attain the objectives and the goals. It is analyzed that if united airlines could not be
able to adopt new cyber computing enterprises in the business.
It is important for an organization to take into consideration effective communication and
cyber computing enterprises planning for accomplishing the goals and objectives. Now, in the
end, it is seen that to enhance the efficiency of the business and also to maintain goodwill in the
organization. To increase the image of the company in the market, it is important for the united
airlines to operate the activities in an efficient manner. Now, in the end, it is concluded that
united airlines have to enhance the efficiency of its business and also to enhance the overall
effectiveness to mitigate the negative impact of that case.
Recommendations
By analyzing the case study of the united airlines, it is seen that the company should take into
consideration new cyber computing enterprises, so that the growth and profitability can be
enhanced in an effective manner. It is essential for an organization to give focus on maintaining
the public relation, so that the goals and objectives can be accomplished in a proper way. If the

Public relation theory and practice
company does not have proper goodwill in the mind of the consumers, then it can lead to serious
problem in accomplishing the profitability and growth.
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