Public Relations Measurement and Monitoring at the Ministry of Railways Development, Ghana

Abstract

Monitoring and measurement has dominated the writings of scholars such as Grunig and Hon (1999), Grunig & Grunig, and Dozier (2002) watson and Noble (2014) among others. The concept seems to be portrayed in literature as an integral part of Public Relations practice in both the public sector and the private sector. Evidence from literature show how relevant monitoring and measurement are to organizations. With a focus on the Public Relations Unit of Ghana’s Ministry of Railways Development, this study gathers qualitative data from three officials from the ministry and the Ghana Railways Development Authority to explore the Public Relations monitoring and evaluation tools they employ in their organization. With the use of thematic analysis within the framework of the Excellence Theory and the Systems Theory, findings are analyzed in themes and further discussed with reference to theories and scholarly literature. The findings show that research, media monitoring and social media analytics are the major tools employed by the Public Relations Unit of the Ministry of Railways Development. However, the findings further reveal a conflict of roles between the Ministry and the Railways Development Authority. The study therefore recommends Public Relations efforts to establish the disparities between the two institutions in terms of roles.