PAPER BY INVITATION

Abstract: PR activities (Public Relations) have long been a mandatory part of global communication flows, as an important segment of business management. They represent a skillset and a set of processes that can influence the formation of favorable public opinion, thus affecting the realization of broader business objectives, which are more easily achieved with public understanding and support. PR flows form a kind of continuum, and the modern era suggests that they are predominantly framed within two main dimensions: crisis communication and the demonstration of socially responsible business conduct. The main focus of this article lies in this fact, as we seek to demonstrate that most business entities today operate communicatively within these frameworks, striving to maintain a desired public image and, in doing so, ensure business stability. Our main thesis, therefore, arises from this context, as we believe that business stability is conditioned by the public image, which largely depends on the PR success in the domains of crisis communication and the demonstration of socially responsible business practices – PR aspects that we will present in more detail. As a case study, we will use the Public Company Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia and examples of such PR activities in this case, given that it is a company with a broad business scope and public influence. Considering the operations and the public image of this company, the analysis of this case will serve to substantiate our thesis, simultaneously illustrating different situations and effects produced by this entity’s PR activities. In this way, the presented results may also be applicable to most other entities.
Keywords: Public Relations, Business Communication, Crisis Communication, Corporate Social Responsibility, Public Company Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia