Journal of Communication Management

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to reconceptualize public relations roles, particularly the organizational conscience role, by examining practitioner involvement in organizational value setting.

Design/methodology/approach – Australian communication practitioners were interviewed to ascertain practitioner involvement in organizational value setting. The interview results were subjected to a multiple perspective analysis, which was used to develop a new framework for public relations roles.

Findings – The research found that most respondents were involved in organizational value setting, albeit at the implementation stage. The results also showed the potential for practitioners to extend their involvement to a more leadership-oriented critical inquiry role. Based on this analysis, this paper proposes three agency roles: agency of corporate compliance, agency of concertive control, and an agency of critical conscience.

Research limitations/implications – The small sample of Australian respondents and the novel approach used to analyse public relations roles require further research. The results offer new ways for practitioners to enact the conscience role through dialectical inquiry.

Practical implications – The paper includes implications for embedding dialectical inquiry in public relations roles, and for integrating leadership into the technician-manager role typology.

Originality/value – The paper examines practitioner involvement in organizational value setting through a multiple perspective lens and introduces a new public relations roles framework.