Public relations professionals market brands and ensure that their clients maintain a positive public image. Simple issues like delays in responding to customers’ queries or a failed product can damage a company’s reputation. The professionals control such crisis and ensure that a company retains its customers as it expands its customer base. One misconception among public relations professionals is that they do not need an MBA to do their jobs effectively. Some assume that the knowledge acquired in the degree program is irrelevant to their professional, which is untrue. Every public relations professional should consider getting an accredited online MBA for the following reasons.
1. Understanding the Business Context
Public relations involves analyzing information from different sources to understand the context of every issue. Such an approach enables the professionals to see the bigger picture and give the right recommendations to their clients. The professionals cannot place things in the right context without basic business administration skills such as accounting and economics. The professionals cannot interpret the trends in an industry correctly without business administration skills. Hence, any public relations officer with a desire to grow his or her career should enroll in an online executive program and acquire the necessary skills.
2. Accounting Skills
Some managers have used their accounting skills to bring down companies or embezzle funds without the knowledge of other leaders. Most leaders rely on the reports of internal and external auditors to determine the company’s financial status. Auditors can make mistakes or exaggerate figures to their advantage. Public relations professionals need accounting skills to advise a company on the best adaptive strategies based on its financial status.
3. Interpreting Financial Statements
Public relations professionals do not only need accounting skills but also financial skills. Finance is among the core courses of an online executive masters in business administration. Financial statements like a cash flow statement, balance sheet, and an income statement give the true position of a company’s profitability. A company could be recording high sales every month but financial analysts can degrade its stock based on its financial statements. Public relations officers require financial skills to read financial statements and predict a company’s future profitability accurately. Such predictions are necessary when looking for business partners and venture capitalists.
4. Understanding Economics
Economics goes beyond supply and demand. The performance of any company depends on its business model. A public relations professional can only understand a business if he or she can interpret its business model accurately. A business model guides every decision and strategy in an organization. In addition, studying economics helps the professionals understand the external business context including the competitors’ strategies.
5. Professional Credibility
An MBA is marketable in all business-related fields and beyond. Employers know the nature of skills that an employee gains after attaining an MBA degree. A public relations professional gets a new set of skills to add to their professional portfolio. Consequently, they qualify for better jobs than their colleagues with basic public relations training do.
Public relations professionals can improve their performance and credibility by getting an online MBA. The professionals attain skills such as financial, accounting, and economic skills that enable them to understand their clients’ business. The PR professionals can also use the skills attained to run their own businesses.
