Monday, February 1, 2010

Public Affairs Defined and the Toyota Recall

What is Public Affairs? Public affairs are involved in community relations efforts, crisis communication programs, investor relations programs, and by nonprofit groups, the government sector, and associations, to name a few.

Because of the multitude of uses, there exist many definitions for this seemingly simple term.

A general definition may describe public affairs as communication efforts, programs, or observances that serve to respond to an event, win support or cooperation of people or organizations, influence public policy, or promote products and services.

Looking for a current example of public affairs? Just open a newspaper, search the web, or listen to the news. Let's look at the recent Toyota recall?

According to the Boston Globe, in the U.S. alone, the automaker has recalled 2.3 million vehicles and stopped production of eight models in North America.

The problem? Sudden acceleration.

Instead of overlooking the problem or recalling only those vehicles who have had issues, Toyota has stopped production of the models, recalled all of the potentially defective vehicles, and set to work to find the root cause. They have risked tarnishing their image and are facing reduced sales in order to fix the problem, to protect the lives and well being of people worldwide.

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