Positioning and role of public relations in large Belgian organizations

This paper studies the position and role of public relations in the hierarchical structure of Belgian organizations of at least 50 employees. Empirical data was collected from a web survey (n = 750) to find out to what extent principles of excellence in public relations are applied in Belgium.The results show that 43% of the organizations in the sample have an integrated communications department. Marketing and sales oriented communications managers are more likely to be member of the executive committee than PR-oriented communications managers. Female heads of public relations are, on average, younger than their male counterparts, hold lower positions within the organizational structure, and fulfill more often than men activities of the ‘communications technician’. The study suggests that the lower hierarchical position of female heads of public relations is not solely a matter of gender, but also of the low priority of public relations and communications activities within organizations.