Gray, David and Davies, Frank and Blanchard, Kevin (2004) Does use of public relations promote higher growth in small firms?: the case of Lincolnshire. Corporate Communications, 9 (4). pp. 294-301. ISSN 1356-3289

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Abstract

A survey was undertaken to identify the ways in which small businesses in Lincolnshire used public relations. For many of the 51 activities, techniques and skills examined, it is found that only a minority of small firms practise them. Analysis of the results of the survey highlight an interesting connection between those businesses with a high rate of growth and use of certain public relations activities and techniques. Specifically, based on Mann-Whitney tests and using a restrictive level of significance (0.1 per cent), it is found that managing government relations (local or central), mounting exhibitions (consumer), providing media news releases, and writing letters to the media are associated with growth. As these four are not commonly used it is suggested that these, among other uses of PR, should be included in skills programmes for small business development.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	A survey was undertaken to identify the ways in which small businesses in Lincolnshire used public relations. For many of the 51 activities, techniques and skills examined, it is found that only a minority of small firms practise them. Analysis of the results of the survey highlight an interesting connection between those businesses with a high rate of growth and use of certain public relations activities and techniques. Specifically, based on Mann-Whitney tests and using a restrictive level of significance (0.1 per cent), it is found that managing government relations (local or central), mounting exhibitions (consumer), providing media news releases, and writing letters to the media are associated with growth. As these four are not commonly used it is suggested that these, among other uses of PR, should be included in skills programmes for small business development.
Keywords:	Regions, Lincolnshire, Small businesses, Public relations
Subjects:	N Business and Administrative studies > N100 Business studies
Divisions:	College of Social Sciences > Faculty of Business & Law > Lincoln Business School
Depositing User:	Bev Jones
Date Deposited:	27 Sep 2007
Last Modified:	13 Mar 2013 08:22
URI:	http://eprints.lincoln.ac.uk/id/eprint/546

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