The consonance between diplomacy and public relations work adds to a broader understanding of the strategic communication role internationally, nationally, and culturally as part of power relations. Scholars in public diplo-macy (Snow & Taylor, 2008; Zaharna, 2009) have noticed a growing interest in public diplomacy literature for dialogue, transparency, trust, and commit-ment. Zaharna (2009) also highlighted that “public diplomacy is as much a communication phenomenon as a political one” (p. 86).
Van Dyke and Vercic (2009) stated that, “for decades, scholars and prac-titioners have debated the issues of separation or convergence between pub-lic relations and pubpub-lic diplomacy” (p. 832). L’Etang (2009) found strong connections and similarities between public relations and diplomacy. Both public relations and public diplomacy are responsible for communications with other organizations, maintaining relations with multiple stakeholders, and shaping public opinion (L’Etang, 2009). Signitzer and Wamser (2006) rationalized public relations and public diplomacy as, “strategic communica-tive function of either organizations or nation-states, that typically deal with the reciprocal consequences a sponsor and its publics have upon each other”
(p. 441). Analyzing the relationship between the two fields and summarizing the international public relations literature, the following propositions can inform the practice of corporate diplomacy.
Proposition 1: Corporate diplomacy efforts by organizations in host countries will identify, respond, and monitor all stakeholders based on their
association, traits, and participation with the organization to maximize its legitimacy, influence, and power.
Proposition 2: Corporate diplomacy efforts by organizations in host countries in the form of communication and action will be representative and authentic of the organization’s core values to be accepted and authenticated by its stakeholders.
Proposition 3: Corporate diplomacy efforts by organizations in host countries will be responsive to adjust and adapt according to the local politi-cal, economic, social, cultural, and legal conditions.
Proposition 4: Corporate diplomacy efforts by organizations in host countries will focus and be proactive in their transnational crisis management efforts addressing the type of economy, industry, issue, and stakeholders in-volved.
Proposition 5: Corporate diplomacy efforts by organizations in host countries will display increased sensitivity and responsibility across all corpo-rate functions and exhibit socially responsible practices.
Proposition 6: Corporate diplomacy efforts by organizations in host countries will create alliances and partnerships with multiple sectors to sus-tain social and long-term community change and to reinforce its corporate reputation.
In conclusion, special focus in the practice of corporate diplomacy must be placed on developing strategic communications for host nations includ-ing government, NGOs, local influencers, and specialized news media; in creating and maintaining a brand reputation through corporate advocacy programs for environment; and developing rapid response crisis communi-cation strategies. The chapter restates the requirement of a comprehensive, strategic communications plan to execute successful corporate diplomacy efforts.
The chapter acknowledges the importance of understanding both the grassroots and the elites of the population an organization engages with in order to convey authentic, consistent, and targeted message and engagement systems. The need to engage with the stakeholders for mutual respect and mutual interest is also signified as a precursor to long-term relationships, which is at the core of the integrated public diplomacy model (Golan, 2013).
The chapter also specified new roles and responsibilities for corporate diplo-macy practitioners and outlined numerous international public relations the-oretical concepts to contribute to the understanding of corporate diplomacy as a political function of MNCs.
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