Publicity and public information : a case study of the public relations activities of VMW automated apparel equipment before and after the implementation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)

VMW Automated Apparel Equipment of Knoxville, Tenn., manufactures and sells automated production systems for the garment manufacturing industry. This descriptive case study documents changes in the public relations activities of VMW in relation to the initiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). J. Grunig's concepts of organizational linkages to publics as well as his four models of public relations provide the basis for an evaluation of VMW's efforts before and after the implementation of NAFTA in 1994. The study assumes that changes in linkages as a result of a relocation of jeans manufacturing from the United States to Mexico have created new publics and public relations problems for VMW.

The study documents changes in organizational linkages and identifies the publics and public relations problems for VMW. The study assumes that Grunig's publicity/press agentry and public information models best identify VMW's activities before and after the implementation of NAFTA. A planned program based on Grunig's two-way symmetrical model is suggested as a solution to address the new publics and public relations problems which have been created as a result of this phenomenon.