Presenting the Competency Model of Public Relations Managers of Iran's Metropolitan Municipalities

The goal of this research is to present the competency model of public relations managers of Iran’s metropolitan municipalities. The research is fundamental in purpose and qualitative in data collection. It was done with grounded theory approach and Glaser’s emerging design. The target population included public relations managers, mayors and university experts 11 of whom were identified through purposeful sampling and semi-structured interviews were conducted with them. The data analysis was, also, performed using Depoy and Gitlin’s (2005) method. The reliability of interviews was checked in two modes: researcher release (92.9) and release by coder (79.3). The validity of the interviews was, also, verified by three methods of long-term involvement, questioning the colleagues and approval of the people under study. The competencies of public relations managers in metropolitan municipalities were identified in the form of eight main competencies including knowledge-related and methodical competency, professional ethics, media skills, managerial skills, meta-organizational interactions, organizational knowledge, varied thinking skill, and attitudinal skills. The first one is knowledge-related competency which signifies the features and knowledge of the public relations managers about basic and fundamental knowledge to authenticate the responsibility of management in the public relations sector. The data analysis results showed that managerial competencies including managerial skills, meta-organizational interactions, organizational knowledge, varied thinking skill, and attitudinal skills are more important for a successful public relations manager. Due to the fact that the identified competencies through data of this study are comprehensive and the issues and activities of public relations managers of the municipalities in metropolitans are similar to each other, the results of this study are practical for the public relations managers of the municipalities of other metropolitans, as well.