Kommunikatsioonijuhtimine kohalikus omavalitsuses

Date

2005

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

Tartu Ülikool

Abstract

Description

The present Master’s thesis views the role of communication management in the administration of local governments, based on the examples of Vaasa, Pärnu and Jurmala town governments. In spring 2003 the author of the thesis defended a Bachelor’s thesis on public relations as an administrative function, based on the example of Pärnu Town Government, in the University of Tartu. A local government is a public institution which, in order to meet its aims, relies on legislation and the attitudes-expectations of target groups towards primary power. The author claims that the more a local government communicates with its target groups and takes into account their expectations at the decision-making level, the more successful it is. Therefore skilled communication management always forms a part of administration. While Finnish local governments have used PR for years, Estonian and Latvian local governments have functioned according to the European model for only 15 years. As to professional public relations, the local governments in the Baltic States have even less experience. The author of this Master’s thesis has analysed the administrative practices of two local governments in the Baltic States and one in Finland and conducted surveys for the assessment of the efficiency of communication management in those institutions. Relying on the practices of the local governments in question, the author tries to find the best administrative solution and construct the best PR model for the local governments. The thesis is also of practical value, and the author believes that all of the three local governments have something to learn from this thesis to improve their practices; especially given the fact that the three countries are member states of the European Union and their local government administration follows the European model. The thesis consists of four parts. The first part views the theoretical aspects of public relations and communication management, introduces the comparison objects of the survey and describes their administrative processes, communication management principles and organisation. On issues of management and communication management, based on the works of J. E. Grunig, N. A. Hart, S. Black, R. Alas and others. As an expert, the author uses a considerable amount of information collected by himself or drawn from his own experience. The author has worked as a PR expert in the public service for more than 10 years. For the last four and a half years he has been the PR manager of Pärnu Town Government. He has also been introduced to the PR work of the other two countries. In the second part, the author introduces the subject and task of the thesis, research methods and practices. The most important questions of the thesis are: which communication management practices are effective in local governments against the background of the development of different countries and what is the role of communication management in the successful administration of a local government? In the third part, the author presents the outcome of the conducted surveys and analyses the results of questionnaires. The fourth part contains a summary on the topic and highlights answers to the questions raised in the thesis. The author also gives his recommendations to local governments for better organisation of communication management, i.e. for the use of the best possible model for local government administration. Important materials forming the basis for the treatment of the topics presented in the thesis and providing the research with necessary details have also been annexed to the thesis.

Keywords

H Social Sciences (General), magistritööd, suhtekorraldus, kommunikatsioonijuhtimine, haldusjuhtimine, kohalikud omavalitsused, efektiivsus, eurointegratsioon, standardimine, Pärnu, Vaasa, Jurmala

Citation