International assignments for PR practitioners: Exploring success and the influence of organizational and national culture

This study is designed to develop an understanding of what influences the degree of success of public relations professionals in international assignments. It explores the degree of success in international assignments of public relations professionals in South Africa and the United States and determines the influence of any correlations to organizational and national culture.; The methodology for the study is to administer a survey to public relations practitioners in South Africa and the United States. All the participants in the study are members of the Public Relations Institute of Southern Africa (PRISA) and of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA). The survey instrument is sent to public relations practitioners in South Africa and the United States. Of the 2,253 distributed, 127 of the surveys are returned usable instruments.; For respondents with international experience, the findings of this study show that there is no statistically significant correlation between national culture or organizational culture and the degree of success in international assignments. The results of this study also show that there is a positive correlation between the level of preparedness for international assignments and the long-term orientation dimension of national culture and organic organizational culture, implying that a greater level of long-term orientation and a greater level of organic culture correspond to a greater level of preparedness for international assignments.