Chemists and chemical engineers throughout the chemical and chemical process industries play a role in . . .
^ i ^ i l ï t i l i c Relations Activities ofinaiMirv S"V-^s£c^*Ki'^fi &j£%&Îy "-;; * 4', /
Ε S E E M to be in an a g e of public rela tions. No matter what kind of business or professional group one may b e with, t h e subject of public relations inevitably comes into the discussion, and participants begin talking about ways to improve the public relations of their companies, industrial t r a d e groups, or professions. More a n d more companies a r e beginning formalized public relations programs. Still other companies which have spon sored such activities in the past are ex p a n d i n g . T h e great industrial trade groups m o v e forward in the direction oi more active public relations activities. In fields in which this group today is closely associated, great strides are being m a d e . T h e petroleum industry has been working public rclationswise for some years and the results of the day-in and day-out work are becoming apparent—to t h e benefit of the industry arid its com p o n e n t companies. T h e chemical indus try now is in its second year of activity and already progress is b e i n g registered. N o company of any importance whatso ever and n o industry group a t all can do without sound public relations activities based u p o n fundamentally sound policies. This s u d d e n interest in public relations seems rather strange to m e . Back some 17 or 18 years ago when I went to work in t h e chemical industry m y daily tasks were carried out in an atmosphere of considera tion of policies which always seemed to b e d e c i d e d in the final analysis of what would b e best for customer, employee, c o m m u n i t y , a n d shareholder. T h a t t h e continued weighing of proper public relations policies has been sound is indicated by the fact that this company which helped to pioneer in good public relations thinking and practice has, with 5352
equally farsighted research, development, production, sales, and finance thinking, m o v e d ahead steadily in an industry where t h e treadmill of progress is such that one m u s t run, a n d run hard, to keep from s t a n d i n g still. Industry, to its neighbors, its customers, its shareholders, a n d its workers, is con siderably m o r e than a local source ot r e v e n u e , a supplier, a dividend check, or a pay voucher. Industry is the shadow of a m m or a group of m e n . As this man or these men do. so does industry, and as t h e y are regarded, so is industry. In chemical a n d chemical process in dustries many of these men are chemists a n d chemical engineers. Therefore, the chemist and the engineer must be fully conscious of their community a n d other public relations responsibilities, both from t h e standpoint of obligation to employer a n d of their o w n individual advancement. As a company a n d the individuals which make it up work toward good objectives, they progress together. And as many companies a n d groups of individuals within an industry raise their sights a n d travel toward new and brighter horizons, that industry moves ahead. O u r specific industry's principal re sponsibility to t h e chemist and t o all oi its employees in their respective capaci ties as publie relations emissaries is to make managerial decisions that are truly in the public interest. Such managerial decisions are those that will stand up un der the bright light of public scrutiny. I think w e may say without seeming to be immodest that chemists, chemical en gineers, a n d members of other similar professions are among t h e best educated, most highly respected members of their communities. Because of the high regard
the general public holds for t h e pro fessional m a n , they are in a r a t h e r rare position to d o an invalu-abie p u b l i c rela tions job for their company, their industry, their educational institution and their pro fession. T h e more I get into the subject of puf>lic relations a n d the responsibilities of η company or an industry, the m o r e con vinced I become that t h e key t o good public relations for a company or an i n dustry is held tightly i n the hands o f management, because m a n a g e m e n t alone can encourage and m a k e the p o l i c y deci sions which govern the degree of estceiai m which a company or an industry will be regarded by its neighbors and tfcie pu£>lu as a whole. Lacking a proper public relations con cept at the top of the organizational struc ture, any public relations effort b y chem ists, engineers, public relations depart ments, and counsellors, t n e Manufacturing Chemists* Association ox the AMEEIUCA^N CHEMICAL. SOCIFTY can nave little lasting effectiveness. Each company in our industry has a n obligation to assist its chemists a n d otlner professional groups to» attain greater recognition. This, I believe, can b e broken down i n three ways: 1. To foster the internal development ot the individual within t h e industjry. 2. T o encourage his general technical development. 3. T o improve» the industry's rotationships with t h e community. Chemists, engineers, and m a n a g e m e n t alike must get into the habit of thinking of thUr products not in terms of chemleal molecules, but in terms of clothing, food, shelter, transportation, coirmmnicalloin,
CHEMICAL.AND
ENGINEERING
NEWS
comfort, security, and health. These are the actual contributions of our chemical plants. The most malodorous and unattractive of our products may very well be the bases of the most glamorous end products in great demand by the general public. U p until now, with a few minor exceptions, we haven't interpreted them as such. One of the greatest strides possible of accomplishment in any public relations effort exerted in behalf of our industry and the people who make it up will be made when management at the higher level, line supervision at the intermediate level, and all technical, professional, and sales personnel adjust their individual and combined thinking to adoption of prac tices which encourage discussion of our industry and its products in terms the
R O B E R T B. S E M P L E , Wyandotte
Chemicals Corp.
rank and file of the country can grasp, understand, and therefore appreciate. In considering the role industry can play in furthering the public relations of the chemist, we have a rather interesting platform on which to build. The chemist really is a widely respected individual. The profession as such has never had enough black sheep to cause a term com parable to "shyster" for lawyers, "quack" for doctors, "press agent" for public re lations practitioners to evolve and become a unit in the everyday language of the land. Among the leading professions, science is one of the few that has not been suc cessfully tagged with a negative symbol. Because of this, w e have in the chemical profession the means for extraordinary in fluence in the interpretation of science and industry to every segment of the public. On the management side, I suspect many of us can give more thought to fur thering the public relations activities of the chemist and engineer. Many of our companies long have had policies of encouraging attendance at technical society meetings, an'! have worked toward improved systems of in ternal communications to keep our tech nical people better informed about the company and thus better equipping them to carry the message of industry into the community. Some companies also have provided facilities and instruction for pub lic speaking classes participated in by
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technical rjersunnel. Through our local chambers of commerce, junior achieve ment, and other civic groups dedicated to what we believe to b e sound and pro gressive principles, w e have broadened the extra-professional experience of many of our technical people, and they have reaped measurable dividends in personal satisfaction from their work in such groups. More companies should adopt such prac tices. Now I think w e might as well admit that most moves management makes are taken because the profit dollar comes into the picture. Management isn't as mercen ary as that remark might lead you to be lieve, but management knows that re search, productive efficiency, development work, and resulting contributions to im provement of the national economy can be carried on only if profit dollars result. So with public relations. But here the dollars are more than cold cash—there is the spiritual profit—the dividend being the knowledge that a company has been of service to the people of the land and that more has been given than has been taken. And as is the ease in almost every cast ing of the bread upon the waters, unforeeast dividends come back. In encourag ing our chemists and our chemical engi neers to engage in public relations activi ties, we find that w e uncover hitherto hidden executive talent. In our industry we need technical people in many of our top management posts. Many times I have heard a company president or executive vice president remark that so-and-so is a brilliant chemist but lacks sales feel or sales ability, or that so-and-so is outstand ing in his engineering technical work on the production side, but doesn't have the touch that makes for good personnel rela tions. Some of this extra-curricular work the men and women of the professions are so interested in serve as training or finishing schools in which they acquire certain of the rounding experiences for which higher management always is hungry. Time away from tbe Inbnratnrv bench or the research notebook, time away from the fractionating towers or the «lipstick in behalf of community relations activities may well prove to be the catalyst that brings greater internal recognition and subsequent Improved compensation. However, there is such u thing as too much external interest activity to the rteg. lect of the responsibilities for which η man actually is charged and paid. The thinking professional will balance his In terest* and activities %o that neither field is neglected and the end result will be improvement ii\ both fields. In line with the above comment!, I am constantly intrigued by the way lawyers have been reeogntaiï as top managerial timber. In analyzing th© reasons why, I
* DECEMBER
2 2,
1952
find that those who leave law and successfully assume executive responsibilities m industry have that basic ability to be logical and analytical plus the more rare ability of being human. The combination of abilities makes up for any lack of actual industrial managerial experience. They start off as good administrators and gradually acquire intimate knowledge of their companies and product lines. We of the sciences would do well to study this. Arthur D . Little many years ago projected the thought that those concerned with the sciences be considered members of the "Fifth Estate." Two other leaders of our profession also have touched upon this theme. Wallace Cohoe, a distinguished president of the Society of the Chemical Industry, on the occasion of a Perkin Award dinner in New York, said of his fellow scientists, "We have allowed ourselves to become too much m e n in the cloister because we have used microscopic rather than telescopic vision." Another great technical mind, John Dorr, in the hectic early years of World War II remarked along this same line, "The engineer has played too small a role in the responsibilities of our own government. Men trained as engineers should take a larger part in the formulation of laws and the shaping of policies." Of course, our first and primary responsibility is to run our companies successfully and at a satisfactory profit so that w e can progress in a competitive •world. But our second and a major responsibility is to see that our companies are run in the public interest—not just that mythical unidentifiable public, but the publics w e have at our elbows all the time—employees, customers, plant city neighbors, shareholders. Public relations is an assignment that no one of us can carry out alone. It is the job of every man and woman of professional or supervisory rank in every company and throughout every industry. It is a job for which w e need professional guidance, but w e cannot lean back and let our public relations executives shoulder the blame for failure or accept the praise for success any more than w e can blame a personal physician for the fact w e are overweight or in ©truer ways unhealthy if we fail t o cooperate by working individually at diet and the taking of other medical advice. If w e of the sciences explore the reasons for good public relations and the techniques of public relations practise with the research and logical thinking we devote to solution of technical problems, the job will be accomplished much more easily and much more quickly than we might think possible. Tifg abova talk «a» civen at th» Sympoftlum m% I'utiUe ft nation* \wid at tti» 132ed {fueling el tïi© AMRAie^N OfPMie-41. Soeienr at AWmtiv City» Sept. 18. 1932.
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