publications

Thinking Big, Staying Small

Thinking Big, Staying Small

by Dixie Shipp Evatt, Ph.D., Crispin Ruiz and Jan F. Triplett, Ph.D

Make your small business debut with a vital public relations strategy presented in usable terms for small business owners and employees. Thinking Big, Staying Small is one of the first dedicated reports on the communication and public relations functions of businesses with fewer than 20 employees. Readers discover how entrepreneurs and small business owners think about communication. Should you follow PR rules by the book, or adapt and improvise? Do you need expert PR training to communicate successfully?

Includes:

• Practical strategies for day-to-day public relations.
• Advice on when to make communication a formal strategy.
• Strategies for assigning and choosing communication leadership.

About the researchers:
Dixie Shipp Evatt, Ph.D., is a retired assistant professor of public relations at the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University. She has more than 25 years professional experience in news reporting and public relations, including experience in political and government affairs.

Crispin Ruiz is senior consultant for Group Solutions, RJW, an Austin-based public involvement firm specializing in strategic communications services for clients in the public and private sector.

Jan F. Triplett, Ph.D., is the COO of Business Success Center, the largest private small business development center in Texas. She is the co-developer of several national and international award-winning entrepreneurial and intrapreneurial programs and has been a public relations researcher, analyst, consultant and implementer since 1973.

Details: Softcover book
215 pages, ©2005

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements

List of Tables and Figures

Executive Summary

1. Introduction

2. Overall Study Design and Research Protocol

• Why Austin, Texas?
• Multiple methods approach
• Focus groups
• Surveys (mail and online)
• Interviews
• Q-methodology
• Diagnostic tool

3. How Small is a "Small" Organization?

• For-profit enterprises
• Government agencies
• Trade associations
• Nonprofit organizations

4. What the Literature Tells Us

5. Findings

• A day in the life of the small organization
• Section A: How do small organizations think about communication and public relations?
• Section B: How do small organizations practice public relations and communication day to day, and how do they define their publics?
• Section C: What are the communication skill levels of small organizations, and when, how and why do they outsource?
• Section D: How formal do communication operations of small organizations need to be, and when do they begin to take on formality?
• Section E: Who does the communicating, and how prepared are they to do it?
• Section F: How do small organizations view the media and manage media in a crisis?
• Section G: Can the Excellence principles and other public relations theories be applied to small organizations, or are new definitions needed?

6. Discussion and Conclusions

• Best Practices
• What is next?
• Conclusion

7. Appendices

• Appendix A: Description of focus group protocol and research design
• Appendix B: Description of mail survey protocol and research design
• Appendix C: Description of online survey protocol and research design
• Appendix D: Description of diagnostic online survey protocol and research design
• Appendix E: Description of Q-methodology protocol and findings

References

Biographies of Researchers