Introduction
In the modern business environment, marketing is viewed as a way of doing business rather than a function of business and touches on every aspect of life. Due to the emergence of a hypercompetitive economic environment, marketing in contemporary business is often characterized by increased dynamism, which requires organizations to adjust their marketing strategies to meet the ever-changing consumer needs.
Scholars have put forward numerous definitions of marketing in an attempt to explain what marketing really entails. The Chartered Institute of marketing defines marketing as a management process that involves identification, anticipation, and satisfaction of consumer requirements in an effective and efficient way (Kermani 1).
Marketing involves establishment and maintenance of healthy relationships between a company’s products and its customers through extensive promotion of company’s brand name and products, which in turn increases sales.
On the other hand, public relations is defined by the chartered institute of public relations as the discipline that guards a company’s reputation with the aim of earning understanding and support and influencing opinion and behaviour of potential consumers; it is a planned and sustained effort through which organizations seek to establish and maintain goodwill as well as mutual obligation between them and the general public (Kermani 1).
Public Relation is a controllable and cost-effective way through which a company can build the visibility and credibility of its product to the target market. Its efficiency has further increased due to improvement in technology and communication, which has allowed companies to easily penetrate and venture into potential markets.
Modern public relations encompass press relations, client relations, investor relations, and staff relations. Organizations’ PR aims at developing these relations in order to portray the appropriate image for the company and its products to the relevant stakeholders (Kermani 2).
Marketing and public relations tools are essential in enhancing success in any organization. Therefore, companies evaluate their marketing and public relations strategies on a constant basis in order to assess their effectiveness and ensure that they serve their intended purpose.
However, for these strategies to perform effectively, the companies have to ensure that they provide superior quality products to their consumers in order to build consumer confidence and loyalty and to achieve sustainable competitive advantage in their respective industries.
Public relations and marketing differ in the sense that marketing concentrates on efforts to establish a relationship between the customer and the organization by strongly emphasizing on consumer satisfaction and the company’s objectives while public relations covers a broader range of relationships with stakeholders from within and outside the organization (Kermani 2).
Consequently, public relations contribute to the marketing effort by maintaining goodwill with all the relevant stakeholders. Good public relations within an organization translate to a good image for the company and its products hence PR plays a major role in strategic marketing.
The role of general public in overall business performance should not be underemphasized. In addition to being the ultimate consumers, the general public has become increasingly conscious of the role of companies in community and general welfare issues.
In response to this, organizations have put more emphasis on the improvement of public relations through corporate responsibility and social welfare maintenance. In small business organizations, public relations activities are handled by the marketing personnel, while large organizations often form an independent department which deals with a wide range of relationships between the company and other stakeholders.
Public relations managers engage in extensive analysis of the public and other related parties that directly or indirectly affect operations and performance of the organization. The PR managers then formulate strategies that provide a deliberate and sustained effort to promote an understanding between an organization and its external and internal relations.
This generates a positive interest towards the organization, which encourages enquiries into the organization’s activities, re-establishes dormant contacts and reinforces the company’s image with the existing customers. Public relations serves as a powerful promotional tool since some of its aspects are free in comparison to marketing forms such as advertising.
However, public relations require dedication and substantial amount of time and resources. These high costs often discourage organizations to implement public relations strategies, which results in loss of opportunities and damage to the company’s image. Successful implementation of public relations in organizations has served to promote the image of a company in its internal and external environment.
Saudi Aramco, one of the largest oil and gas producing companies in the world has experienced rapid growth and impressive performance over the years and this can be partly attributed to the development of its public relations. Our study will, therefore, focus on the role of public relations in marketing Saudi Aramco brand name and promoting its performance.
Brief History of Public Relations
Some scholars view the Middle East as the origin of public relations with the discipline’s history dating back to thousand years ago (Stokes & Freitag 168).
Cuneiform tablets found in Iraq have been dated back to 4000 years ago and appear to be some sort of news release providing advice to farmers (Stokes & Freitag 168). The leaders in the ancient Middle East, such as Pharaoh have also been known to have used various seasons and ceremonies to communicate certain information to the people.
The Arab culture was also characterized by events such as Okadh Souk where people met, discussed, debated, and delivered public speeches (Stokes & Freitag 168).In Islam, communication was encouraged, especially when it involved converting new followers and the Islam annual pilgrimage to Mecca further enhanced and nurtured public relations in the region.
In addition, public relations in the Middle East were evidenced by majlis, which were open forums where citizens were presented with an opportunity to air their grievances to the high officials and in some cases make public speeches.
In Saudi Arabia, the region’s economy has significantly improved with the rapid increase in global demand for oil. However, public relations in the country have faced a lot of challenges over the years due to conflict arising between some of Saudi Arabian religious leaders and the advocates and implementers of progress and innovation in the region.
Nevertheless, PR has gained momentum in the recent past and numerous public relations and advertising firms have been established in the region (Stokes & Freitag 169). These firms borrow hugely from western media and utilize advanced technology in order to effectively and efficiently meet their objectives.
However, limited support from senior management and limited resources has derailed the development of public relations in Saudi Arabia. In addition, research has revealed that PR in the region emphasize more on specific crisis rather than exploring the public relations models suitable to the region’s context.
Further, some of the top management in Saudi still conceptualize PR as propaganda rather than a valued contributor to effective business decision making (Stokes & Freitag 169).
Public Relations in Saudi Aramco
Emergence of contemporary public relations in Saudi Arabia has been evident in Saudi Arabian Oil Company (ARAMCO), which is one of the largest oil companies in the world. ARAMCO commenced its operations in the1930s under joint ownership by American and Saudi Arabian oil companies.
Since the American managers and workers failed to understand, accept and accommodate Saudi culture and values, serious communication and cultural issues emerged, which led to the urgent need to establish a public relations function within the organization in order to avoid incidences of culture clash (Stokes & Freitag 168).
The PR function was charged with the responsibility of training the Arabs on how to associate with the US Americans in the workplace and to teach the Americans on how to accommodate and adapt to the Saudi culture. Through this function, the company further sought to establish various research tools which aimed at promoting effective communication between the two cultures (Stokes & Freitag 168).
Introduction of a public relations function in Saudi Aramco in the early times led to improved relationships between the workers at ARAMCO and this greatly enhanced the performance of the company.
Currently, Saudi Aramco is owned by the Saudi Arabian government and it is a world-renowned petroleum enterprise that specializes in exploration, refining and distribution of oil and its related products in local and international markets. Saudi Aramco has experienced remarkable growth over 77 years of its existence making it one of the largest oil-producing companies in the world.
The company has highly boosted the economy of Saudi Arabia due to its significant contribution to overall GDP of the country. In addition, Saudi Arabia is among the largest oil-producing countries in the world.
According to Barker Hughes, in 2005, Saudi Arabia had the highest number of recorded oil rigs in the world (In absence of the former Soviet Union) with 350 oil rigs. The pie chart below is a clear representation of the numerical count of oil rigs working around the world in October/November 2005.
Saudi Aramco owns and manages oil reserves, which contain an approximate 260 billion barrels of crude oil and also owns one of the largest gas reserves in the world (Saudi Aramco par1). In addition, the company owns the second largest tanker fleet, which promotes efficient transportation of crude oil across the world through its affiliate Vela Marine International Ltd (Saudi Aramco par1).
Saudi Aramco has ventured in diverse markets by opening up its affiliates in countries such as China, Japan, UAE, Netherlands, and the UK, among other countries. In addition to meeting the domestic demand in Saudi Arabia, the company produces oil and gas to meet the increasing global demand.
As shown in the diagram below, the amount of oil produced in Saudi Arabia for the duration between 2000 and 2006 exceeded 7000 barrels per day, as estimated by the gas and oil journal and the joint data oil initiative.
Today, Saudi Aramco has established a vibrant public relations department that is charged with the responsibility of transmitting relevant and desirable information to its employees, customers, and the general public. The department formulates strategies which aim at promoting the company’s image to the internal and external stakeholders who may influence the performance of the company both directly and indirectly.
The PR department further seeks to attract and retain employees who posses a wide variety of skills and expertise necessary for efficient operations in Saudi ARAMCO (Saudi Aramco par 2).
Through the maintenance of a skilled pool of labour, the company is able to deliver quality service to its customers across the world hence enhancing consumer confidence and loyalty.
In addition, the public relations department seeks to establish a two-way communication channel between Saudi Aramco and its audiences in order to emphasize on its operational excellence both locally and internationally (Saudi Aramco par 2).
Therefore, the company’s public relations currently focus on the improvement of its human resource relations, customer relations, community relations and investor relations in order to promote the image and brand name of the company in the global market.
Developing Human Resource Relations at Saudi Aramco
Saudi Aramco heavily invests in its human resource component in a bid to promote public relations within the organization (Annual report 32). The company strives to develop its human resource sector by ensuring that the existing pool of labour possesses the required skills and competencies to deal with the challenges and complexities arising in the petroleum industry.
In order to remain at par with the company’s impressive growth and performance, Saudi Aramco aims at expanding its pool of skilled human resource by extensive training of existing employees and recruiting more specialists and experts to work on its numerous innovative projects. The company emphasizes on its corporate values throughout its operations.
These values include the strive for excellence, human resource development through continuous training, promotion of fairness and integrity, teamwork, ensuring safety of environment, responsiveness to consumer needs, stewardship, trustworthiness, accountability and citizenship (Annual Report 32).
Upholding these values in company’s activities depict an image of corporate responsibility and concern for community and employees’ welfare rather than the company’s self-interests. Consequently, adherence to corporate values improves the company’s image and promotes consistency within the organization.
Saudi Aramco invests heavily on extensive training and career development of its human resource component, which has earned it increased worldwide recognition (Annual report 32). The company’s professional engineering development division is a clear indication of its global recognition for human resource development. The division received accreditation by ACCET, a US-based organization in 2008.
The company has also sought to develop its leadership, which is essential in improving the overall performance of human resource in the company. In response to this, Saudi Aramco has developed a series of leadership development programs that plays a major role in the improvement of leadership competencies among the company’s human resource.
In 2008, more than 10000 employees benefited from the leadership development program, which was a significance increase from the previous years. Saudi Aramco promotes self-development among its employees through extensive training and e-learning, establishment of learning centres, learning initiatives and programs such as business events, degree recognition, and education refund plans (Annual Report 32).
A skilled and professional pool of labour enhances effective communication within the organization and portrays a positive image for the company hence improving its brand name.
The company further supports education in the Saudi community through sponsorship of selected students in local universities and other parts of the world (Annual Report 32).The rate of excellence among these students is further intensified by the college preparatory program which assists students in gaining admission to universities where they can undertake degree courses.
In addition, Saudi Aramco college degree program for non-employees Benefits the company’s sponsored students undertaking university degree programs by providing them with the opportunity and resources to pursue different careers.
Saudi Aramco apprenticeship program offers eligible high school graduates with an opportunity to train in technical and clerical careers in order to meet the company’s requirements and labour market demands. The company has also outsourced some of its training activities to the local institutions (Annual Report 33).
The company utilizes domestic education institutions to improve the capabilities of their employees through training.
The purpose of this initiative is to develop strategic training relationships between Saudi Aramco and the local educational institutions in order to enhance the company’s image among potential employees and the local community at large. Graduates from these institutions are often hired by Saudi Aramco as apprentices through the vocational college graduates non-employee program (Annual Report 33).
Further, the company places some of its employees under internship programs while others are sent for specialized training and this promotes specialist development hence enhancing efficiency in business operations. Participation in community development through provision of employment and training improves internal relationships and promotes the company’s image both locally and internationally.
Further, highly knowledgeable and skilled human resource component promotes internal and external relationships in Saudi Aramco.
Investor Relations at Saudi Aramco
Saudi Aramco was initially jointly owned by several oil companies in the United States and Saudi Arabia. It was known as the Arab American Oil Company. Therefore, its initial concerns primarily focused on oil production and development of US-Saudi relations under the leadership of United States ambassadors (Federal research Division 170).
However, in 1968, the minister of petroleum and mineral resources suggested the idea of Saudi Arabian participation in the activities of Saudi Aramco. In response to this, long negotiations were held, which led to Saudi government acquisition of 25% ownership in 1973 (Federal research Division 170).
The ownership fraction doubled in 1974 and by 1980, the government of Saudi Aramco had fully acquired all the four Aramco parent companies. The government then acquired full ownership of Saudi Aramco in 1988. Under government management, the company was put in charge of all domestic exploration and development in Saudi Arabia (Federal Research Division 171).
Currently, the company’s management reports to Saudi government through the supreme council for petroleum and mineral affairs whose members are appointed from both government and private sectors in Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Aramco partners with international firms to in order to promote its performance and gain access foreign markets. In 2007, China, one of the fastest-growing economies in the world allowed Saudi Aramco to establish and control 600 gas stations at Fujian (Pigato & World Bank 100).
In addition, a state-owned Indian oil corporation partnered with Saudi Aramco in the construction of a secondary refinery plant in India (Pigato & World bank 100). Further, the company grants concession to foreign companies such as Sinopec to explore the country’s oil resources.
Exploiting such partnering opportunities in the global economy enhances international relations and formalizes relations between Saudi Aramco and other potential markets. Through partnering, public relations managers at Saudi Aramco can easily coordinate campaigns in foreign countries in order to promote their brand name.
Further, physical presence in foreign markets promotes the emergence of cultural and social relationships between Saudi Aramco and its consumers in foreign regions (Pigato & World Bank 111).
Since it is essential for the company to address consumer needs and respond to their grievances, partnering with foreign companies provides an opportunity for Saudi Aramco to establish direct contact and coordinate communication networks with foreign customers.
Developing Customer Relations
Despite the fact that Saudi Aramco is one of the largest oil-producing companies in the world, the company faces stiff competition from other companies in the hydrocarbon industry around the world.
Therefore, Saudi Aramco has to formulate strategies which are aimed at ensuring that it attracts and retains its customers through impressive customer care. Developing good customer relations improves public relations and enhances overall performance of a company.
Information technology is the driving force of all activities in Saudi Aramco. The company’s information technology customer care centre provides support for all information technology and network communication for over 70000 employees, partners, and contractors in the region (Saudi Aramco par 1).
The customer care addresses IT issues in the company and handles over three thousand calls per day with an average resolution time of ten minutes. In addition, Saudi Aramco ensures that its industrial practices remain the most desirable in the petroleum industry. Its estimates of approximately 260 billion barrels of proved oil reserves do not rely on any pressure maintenance (Saudi Aramco par 3).
Consequently, Saudi Aramco has reduced chances for production collapse, which increases consumer confidence in their supplies. The company’s impressive performance is often attributed to Saudi Aramco efficient production and delivery of products to its customers.
Developing Public Relations through Corporate Responsibility
Maintaining Safety and Promoting Health within the Organization and Community
Saudi Aramco advocates for the creation of a safe environment for its employees and the community at large. To achieve this, the company has developed an advanced safety program which aims at protecting workers and the community from the negative implications associated with its industrial activities. Development of a skilled pool of human resource in Saudi Aramco has facilitated the development of a safe culture within the company.
Participants in any of the company’s training programs undergo a 54-hour safety course which covers safety issues relating to driving, fire, and personal safety (Annual Report 36).
All the students have to pass in the safety course in order to successfully graduate from their respective programs and acquire employment in Saudi Aramco. In addition to the extensive training, the apprentices have to attend a safety camp which covers a wide range of safety precautions and minimum safety standards.
The corporate loss prevention program at Saudi Aramco incorporates every aspect of the organization’s safety and has achieved remarkable success in prevention of accidents, environmental degradation, and property loss in the communities in which the company operates. The company seeks to assure safety and health to the people despite the raging controversy on health issues in the petroleum industry.
In response to these shortcomings, Saudi Aramco provides its numerous employees and dependents with wellness programs, improved healthcare through their state of the art health care facilities, and satellite facilities among other safety and health-promoting measures (Annual Report 36).
In addition to offering training programs to the employees and other stakeholders, the company provides incentives to employees who demonstrate safety-conscious attitudes hence promoting healthy living and compliance to safety standards in the company. To further promote safety, the company conducts independent health inspections at all company community ands industrial communities.
Saudi Aramco encourages healthy lifestyles among its employees and the community at large. The company conducts health campaigns, presentations, and publications which emphasize on the importance of healthy living to individuals.
Aramco commitment to health is further emphasized by its participation in global health matters such as polio eradication campaigns, health campaigns, and organ donor awareness campaigns (Saudi Aramco par1).
In order to further promote the wellbeing of the workforce at Saudi Aramco, the company has established numerous industrial hygiene programs which aim at protecting the workforce against injury and promoting efficiency in production.
In addition, the company ensures that the safety standards within the facilities are met by conducting constant self-assessments in order to evaluate its performance and mitigate health and safety risks that are likely to occur.
Safety standards protect the workers from unsafe exposure to hazardous materials such as chemicals, radioactive materials, and biological agents, which may affect the long term health of workers within the organization and the external community.
The company’s comprehensive hazardous materials communications program assists in risk assessment, hazard information and proper training on handling and disposal of hazardous materials hence considerably minimizes risks of environmental contamination (Saudi Aramco par 1).
In addition, the company has established programs covering areas such as ergonomics and personal protective equipment and seeks to ensure compliance with these standards by conducting random inspections and monitoring of its facilities.
Promoting Environmental Preservation
Arab countries especially in the Middle East face major environmental challenges most of which emanate from population growth and industrial activities which increases pressure on natural resources (Sale 136). The energy sector is often associated with substantial environmental degradation which results from toxic gas emissions and fossil fuels depletion.
Saudi Aramco demonstrates its commitment to environmental conservation through its environmental protection department (Sale 136). The environment protection department is charged with the responsibility of handling environmental issues and ensuring that all the company’s facilities are complying with environmental standards as they go about their activities (Saudi Aramco par1).
To efficiently conduct its activities while still maintaining environmental standards, Saudi Aramco has developed a broad array of operational requirements and engineering standards which are aimed at directing the company’s employees towards achievement of this objective. These programs include waste management programs, oil spill contingency plans, and hazardous materials handling processes.
For instance, towards the end of 2010, Aramco Overseas supported the efforts to drill an oil spill in Egypt (Saudi Aramco Par 2). This exercise allowed the company to implement and assess the effectiveness of the oil contingency plan in risk containment.
In order to prevent air pollution emanating from its industrial processes, Saudi Aramco operates a number of sophisticated air monitoring stations which ensure that all its facilities across the region operate within the national air quality standards (Saudi Aramco par 3).
The air monitoring stations record parameters such as toxic gas levels in the atmosphere, which provides the environmental protection department with the necessary information to formulate an action plan. In addition, Saudi Aramco closely monitors the toxic gas emissions from its facilities by stack monitoring and process control monitoring and responds to the results accordingly (Saudi Aramco par 5).
The company further utilizes the air dispersion modelling in order to determine the nature of facility control required to reduce emissions up to an appropriate level (Saudi Aramco par 5). To preserve the limited water resources, Saudi Aramco ensures that water, which is also vital for human survival is protected against pollution, which may result from the company’s industrial activities.
The company ensures that the water being discharged from plants is purified thoroughly to free any biological or chemical contamination. The company has established treatment plants and water wells which are constantly inspected to ensure that they comply with the environmental standards outlined by environmental protection department as well as the government.
Saudi Aramco further monitors its industrial wastewaters and ensures that it is properly treated hence free from organic and non-organic pollutants, which may cause detrimental effects to the environment. They also engage in recycling of industrial wastewaters, which after extensive treatment is used in agricultural projects for irrigation (Saudi Aramco par1).
Saudi Aramco established an industrial waste management program which oversees proper handling of industrial waste in the company’s facilities for environmental protection. This plan has received international recognition and the company has earned numerous environmental awards which act as a marketing tool for the company and its products.
The company makes use of various environmentally friendly methods of waste management as a means of disposing off its waste products (Saudi Aramco par 1). Solid waste materials from the plants are disposed off in landfills while other wastes are handled accordingly to minimize environmental damage.
Through these waste treatment plants, the company is able to recycle some of its industrial waste and treat the rest of the waste such that it does not pose any danger to the environment.
In addition, Saudi Aramco waste minimization program has significantly contributed to the reduction in amount of waste generation within the company’s facilities. For instance, the company use of flue gas oxygen analyzers optimizes fuel consumption and to minimize emissions hence promoting environmental preservation.
Environmental preservation demonstrates high levels of corporate responsibility and is often used by companies as a means of gaining competitive advantage. By engaging in environmental preservation initiatives, the company promotes its image in the energy industry where environmental concerns are constantly raised.
This, coupled with environmental award recognition promotes the company’s image to the external world hence increasing popularity and demand for their products in the global market.
Interaction with the Economy
In Saudi Arabia, Saudi Aramco is one of the major sources of revenue for the government. In addition, the company produces adequate oil to cater for domestic consumption as well as exports.
The company has significantly contributed to industrial growth in the region by providing power to drive plants and enhancing development of tertiary industries. Oil production in Saudi Arabia has promoted economic diversification in the region’s economy and has assisted in job creation hence improving the standards of living of the country’s population.
Source: Bullet Journal – How to track your energy. Web.
In support of the local economy, Saudi Aramco awards the majority of its contracts to Saudi Arabian contractors. For instance, in 2008, eight hundred contractors were registered with Saudi Aramco most of which were awarded to domestic contractors and Saudi owned subsidiaries (SA 08 Annual Report 39).
The company engages both foreign and domestic engineering firms in a bid to promote efficient execution of the company’s innovative projects. The company’s contribution to the economy of Saudi Arabia has promoted its image in the local context and has also earned increased recognition across the world as one of the most successful oil and gas companies of the time.
Further, Saudi Aramco significant contribution to the development of education in Saudi Arabia has led to the development of a healthy and beneficial relationship between the Petroleum Company and the region’s academia (Annual Report 39). This has led to emergence of a diversely knowledgeable society which contributes to overall development of the region’s economy.
Saudi Aramco has influenced the formation of industry and business associations in the Middle East region. Through the actions of the company’s finance organization, Saudi Aramco made significant contribution to the founding of GCC board director institute, which focused on understanding and creating awareness on issues and challenges that face organization’s boards in the region (SA 08 Annual Report).
Business associations promote national and regional cohesion and any company promoting such values gains favour from both local and international community. In addition, Saudi Aramco utilizes the nation’s oil resources efficiently and aims at producing oil and gas at the lowest possible cost (Saudi energy 1).
Saudi Arabia and possibly Iraq incur the lowest cost of oil and gas production amongst the major producers of oil in the world (Ramady 222). Consequently, reduced oil prices and the current slowdown in global demand for oil positively impacts on the Saudi Arabian economy in the short run.
Scarcity of financial resources discourages further exploration and boosts efforts for development of alternative sources of fuels, which not only assist the company to survive through the global crisis, but also creates an opportunity for development of environmental friendly sources of energy (Ramady 223).
As demand picks in the future, the company will be better positioned to meet the global demand hence promoting its dominance in the petroleum industry in the future. Saudi Aramco ability to withstand the adverse effects of the global financial crisis and fluctuating oil prices has renewed investor confidence, promoted customer confidence, and attracted more international customers.
Saudi Aramco aims at ensuring that its industrial and economic activities do not conflict with environmental and welfare standards. In 2005, Saudi Arabia was estimated to produce 10.9 million bbl/d of total oil which indicated a sharp increment from the production levels in previous years (Saudi Energy 1).
Source: Bullet Journal – How to track your energy. Web.
Evident from the graph above, the company produces a variety of crude oils with 65-70% of the total production being considered light gravity (Saudi Energy par 1). The company’s major long term goal rests on its ability to develop lighter crude oil reserves.
With the global demand for energy shifting to more environmentally friendly fuels, production of light fuels by Saudi Aramco will not only increase demand for its products but also enhance its image by demonstrating its efforts in environmental preservation.
The company’s performance has continued to improve over the years hence continuously strengthening the economy of Saudi Arabia. In 2005, the company projected an increment in total oil production to 12 million bpd by 2009 and the company’s senior vice president expressed Saudi Aramco intention to double the number of drilling rigs operating in 2004 in the subsequent years (Saudi Energy 1).
The company further planned to invest more than $ 130 billion during the period between 2008 and 2012 in order to expand the country’s production capacity to 15 bpd by the end of the period (Ramady 223).
The capacity will enable the company to meet any unprecedented increases in demand without experiencing any lags in supply, which will increase the preference for the company’s products and services among international customers.
Challenges Facing Public Relations Efforts in Saudi Aramco
Saudi Aramco has experiences a lot of difficulties emanating from global financial crisis and fluctuation in oil prices. This reduces the amount of revenue available to finance public relations initiatives. One of the key energy-related challenges facing the company is volatile political environment in the Middle East.
The government of Saudi Arabia has had to increase its security spending due to the increasing number of terrorist attacks since 2003 (AnneKelly 93). The threat posed to Saudi oil facilities raises a lot of concern in the international context hence damaging the image of the company to major international customers such as the United States.
In addition, the monopolistic nature of Saudi Aramco also raises a lot of concerns regarding its independent operations.
In addition, the company portrayed an image of continuous increase the oil exploration in Saudi Arabia while global industrial analysts and major financial institutions claim that the oil production was approaching its peak as of 2005 (AnneKelly 93). This issue has raised a lot of controversy around the world and has resulted to reduced confidence in the company’s operations.
Conclusion
The purpose of public relations is to establish, develop and maintain healthy relationships in organization’s activities. Organizations seek to establish and maintain good public relations with all its stakeholders by creating an environment that creates room for development of healthy relationships and promoting public satisfaction through consumer satisfaction and corporate responsibility.
This is primarily due to the fact that the impact that a company’s activities have on the public directly affects the company’s overall performance. Developing good public relations requires a clear understanding of key public relationships and the impact of such relationships on consumer behaviour.
Saudi Aramco has sought to establish good public relations through development of its key relations with the customers, owners, employees, and the economy. This has promoted the company’s image in the global market making it the most competitive petroleum company in the world.
Public relations act as a promotional tool and its effectiveness is further highlighted by its ability to serve as a marketing tool as well as a tool for building healthy relationships in organizations.
In Saudi Aramco, developing public relations has been achieved through extensive training of the human resource component, development of customer care programs, participation of the company in environmental and social welfare issues in the communities in which it operates, and developing partnership with foreign companies in order to gain access to foreign markets.
These initiatives have promoted the company’s brand name both locally and internationally leading to the company’s impressive performance.
Consequently, companies seeking to promote their brand name should consider improving their public relations and adopt such strategies in order to improve their image. Implementing strategies that aim at improving an organization’s relations with its stakeholders evidently leads to improved business performance.
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