PR Firms and their Mission

Looking at how public relations practitioners advertise their services, they do not primarily seem to be followers of the "social engineering" approach. Burson-Marsteller, the worlds leading PR agency, for example sells itself as a specialist in "... public affairs, government relations, crisis communication, investor relations, environmental issues and marketing communications ... experienced at orchestrating effective campaigns, which motivate the right behaviors.". Porter Novelli, third largest international PR company, somewhat more aggressive promises, that their marketing-based public relations "... penetrate the consumer psyche - where - your target audiences work, learn, play or shop, through everything they read, hear and see.". While Porter Novelli seems to be specialized in psychological warfare, Fleishman-Hillard highlights its know-how and experience in government relations programs. "We have handled some of the nation's most challenging public policy issues, including issues affecting the environment, from clean air to agricultural chemicals; aviation safety; regressive taxes; international trade; and human rights.". To handle those difficult tasks, Fleishman-Hillard maintains "... an effective, professional lobbying team that includes registered lobbyists recruited from the Senate and the House."

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Automation

Automation is concerned with the application of machines to tasks once performed by humans or, increasingly, to tasks that would otherwise be impossible. Although the term mechanization is often used to refer to the simple replacement of human labor by machines, automation generally implies the integration of machines into a self-governing system. Automation has revolutionized those areas in which it has been introduced, and there is scarcely an aspect of modern life that has been unaffected by it. Nearly all industrial installations of automation, and in particular robotics, involve a replacement of human labor by an automated system. Therefore, one of the direct effects of automation in factory operations is the dislocation of human labor from the workplace. The long-term effects of automation on employment and unemployment rates are debatable. Most studies in this area have been controversial and inconclusive. As of the early 1990s, there were fewer than 100,000 robots installed in American factories, compared with a total work force of more than 100 million persons, about 20 million of whom work in factories.

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