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The Theory and Practice of Corporate Communication
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The Theory and Practice of Corporate Communication
A Competing Values Perspective



October 2007 | 304 pages | SAGE Publications, Inc
How does a company's internal communication help to create its identity in the minds of its employees and stakeholders? In what ways does a company's external communication affect its reputation in the market at large?

Corporate communication is a dynamic interplay of complementary and often competing orientations: unity and variety; consistency and creativity. The Theory and Practice of Corporate Communication offers a coherent, integrative approach by examing the topic and tasks from the framework of the Competing Values Perspective. This perspective allows for the exploration of corporate communication as a unified, highly interdependent function.

 
Introduction
 
Foreword by Elliot Luber: The Science of Corporate Communication
Gods and General Managers

 
L'essence de L'elephant

 
Just in Time...

 
A Brave New, Flat World

 
The Take Away

 
 
A. Why a New Book on Corporate Communication?
 
1. Corporate Communication as a Field of Study and a Community of Practice
The Missing Link of Corporate Communication as a Field of Study

 
Corporate Communication as a Community of Practice

 
Attempts to Integrate the Field of Corporate Communication

 
The Challenge to Identify the Construct Space of Corporate Communication

 
Overhauling the Field

 
The Need for a Theoretically Based Organizing Framework

 
Summary

 
Review Questions

 
 
B. Strategic Corporate Communication: An Integrated View
 
2. Competing Values Framework for Corporate Communication (CVFCC)
Communication Perspectives

 
Functionalism

 
Interpretivism

 
Critical Approaches

 
Self-Efficacy

 
Communication as Organizing

 
Apollo 13

 
High Reliability Organizations

 
Communication Systems and Goals

 
Balancing Competing Tensions

 
Summary

 
Review Questions

 
Case Study: Satellite Systems

 
 
3. Strategic Corporate Communication: External Image, Internal Identity
Integrated Corporate Communication

 
Sustaining and Managing Identity Programs

 
Primary Functions of Corporate Communication

 
Media Relations

 
Employee Relations

 
Government Relations

 
Investor Relations

 
Summary

 
Review Questions

 
Case Study: Starbucks Coffee Company

 
 
4. Identity, Reputation, and the Functions of Corporate Communication: A Strategic View
GE: Managing Image and Corporate Identity

 
Target: Managing Corporate Reputation

 
McDonald’s: Promoting the New Image

 
Effective Communication Strategies

 
External Communications

 
Summary

 
Review Questions

 
Case Study: The Power of Symbols: Creating Corporate Identity at Agilent Technologies

 
 
C. Functions of Corporate Communication
 
5. Media Relations
Reputation and Media Relations

 
Enhancing Public Image through Issue Management

 
Branding the Image and Identity

 
Public Relations and Media Relations

 
Johnson & Johnson

 
Public Relations and Investor Relations

 
The Corporate Spokesperson

 
Summary

 
Review Questions

 
Case Study: Adolph Coors Company

 
 
6. Investor Relations
Stakeholders

 
Working with Financial Analysts

 
Managing Stockholder Confidence

 
Financial Reporting

 
Investor Relations and Corporate Reputation

 
Corporate Social Responsibility

 
Financial Performance and Corporate Reputation

 
Investor Relations Success Story

 
Financial Ethics

 
Summary

 
Review Questions

 
Case Study: The Press and the Stockholders

 
 
7. Government Relations
Externally Derived, Internally Enforced

 
Policy Fields

 
Firms Rush to End Reform

 
Importance of Government Relations

 
Altria

 
American Red Cross

 
Regulations and Boundary Spanning

 
Interdependence

 
Shaping Favorite Policies through Issue Management

 
Supplier Relations

 
Summary

 
Review Questions

 
Case Study: The Anti-Trust Case against Microsoft

 
 
8. Employee Relations
Aligning Identity with External Image

 
Strategic Conversation

 
Asking the Right Questions Rather than Giving Solutions

 
Motivating Employees

 
Integrating and Assimilating Employees—The Role of Culture

 
Mapping Culture in the Training Organization

 
Avoiding the Trap of Knowing-Doing

 
Positive Communication Relationships

 
Message Orientations

 
Mapping Message Orientations

 
A Diamond Model of Interactions

 
Managing for Organizational Integrity: The Social Contract with Employees

 
FedEx

 
Summary

 
Review Questions

 
Case Study: Hanover Software

 
 
D. External and Internal Communication
 
9. Marketing Communication and Corporate Advertising
Integrated Marketing Communication

 
Southwest Airlines

 
Sustainability

 
Issue Management and Corporate Advertising

 
PR and Corporate Advertising

 
Nonprofit Organizations

 
Managing Organizational Constituencies

 
Marketing Communication in Nonprofit Organizations

 
Marketing to Employees in Nonprofit Organizations

 
E-Channels for Nonprofit Organizations

 
Marketing Communication and Ethical Advertising

 
Summary

 
Review Questions

 
Case Study: Wal-Mart and Its Communications Strategy

 
 
10. Financial Communication and Corporate Social Responsibility
Enron: The Corporate Tactics

 
Arthur Andersen: Turning the Blind Eye

 
Tyco: Stealing the Vanity

 
WorldCom: The Giant Falls

 
Union Carbide

 
Financial Communication: The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002

 
Implementation Challenges

 
Enforcement

 
Summary

 
Review Questions

 
Case Study: Illinois Power and “60 Minutes”: Communicating About the Communications

 
 
11. Organizational and Management Communication
Rule Theory: Rationalistic Approach to Communication

 
The Humanistic Approach

 
Rationalistic and Humanistic Communication Roles: A Competing Values Perspective

 
Facilitating Vertical Communication

 
Information Communication Technology

 
The Role of Informal Networks in Management Communication

 
Aligning Communication with Structures

 
Horizontal Management

 
Aligning Communication Processes in Loosely Coupled Structures

 
Managerial Ethics and Social Responsibility

 
The CEO and the Board of Directors

 
Structural Regulations

 
Policies and Standards

 
Reforms

 
The Ethical CEO

 
Communication between the CEO and Board Members

 
Building an Effective Board of Directors

 
Summary

 
Review Questions

 
Case Study: The Paradoxical Twins—Acme and Omega Electronics

 
 
E. Analysis and Control
 
12. Stakeholder Analysis
Communicating with Stakeholders: A CVFCC Approach

 
Firm-Stakeholder Relationships

 
StarKist

 
Principles of Stakeholder Management

 
Communicating Messages to Stakeholders

 
Steps in Stakeholder Analysis

 
Sources of Power

 
Assessing Stakeholders’ Perceptions Using the CVFCC

 
Summary

 
Review Questions

 
Case Study: Granite City: Doing More with Less

 
 
13. Communication Audits within Organizations
Functionalism

 
Interpretivism

 
Uncertainty Reduction

 
The Process of a Communication Audit

 
Benefits

 
Identifying Communication Activities Across Managerial Levels

 
The Importance of Contextual Factors

 
Assessment of Managerial Communication Roles and Skills

 
Diagnosing Organizational Culture

 
Cultural Types

 
Cultural Audit in a Health Care Organization

 
Summary

 
Review Questions

 
Case Study: Planning the Project

 
 
F. Crisis Communication and Patterns of Corporate Response
 
14. Crisis Communication and Message Strategies
Fire at Deloitte Office Tower in Madrid: Deloitte Spain Maintains Activity

 
Southwest Airlines

 
Communication Failures

 
Failure at Dow Corning

 
Failure at the University of Maryland

 
Success for NASA

 
Success for Texas Eastern Transmission Corporation

 
Verizon: Effective Corporate Communication

 
Protecting the Image

 
Organizing the Exchange of Information

 
Restoring the Image

 
Stages of Crisis

 
The Importance of Culture in Managing Crises

 
Summary

 
Review Questions

 
Case Study: Tylenol Tampering Scare

 
 
15. Conclusion
Corporate Communication: The Maestro

 
Strategic Corporate Communication

 
The Theory and Practice of Corporate Communication

 
Integrative Case Study: The Acquisition of Abbott Hospital

 
Case Study: Mt. Mercy Acquires Abbott

 
Case Study: The End of the First Six Months

 
Integrative Case Study: BelBeck Production

 
 
References
 
Index
 
About the Author

"His framework for CC's "system and goals" has "innovation, information, regulation and integration" in the four quadrants, with associated words "transform, perform, conform, and reform", to answer important questions...a book that can add pep to the hassled in "corp comm"!"
—Businesslike

Businessline
Businessline

It is excellent, informative and very well structured. The book gives excellent insight into the structure of corporate communications. Thank you

Mr Lefteris Emmanuel Heretakis
Communications , Izmir University of Economics
November 12, 2015

This book is very well written and the concepts of trade-off and stakeholder analysis are key to understanding corporate communication (especially when dealing with foreign students).

Dr Jennifer Breese-Vitelli
Communication, Lasell College
July 16, 2013

A useful book to provide students with a more varied and up-to-date understanding of corporate communication. This book covers a large section of the students curriculum and will be highly recommended.

Miss Katie Angliss
Plymouth Business School, University of Plymouth
May 16, 2013

Comprehensive, well-written guide to corporate communication.

Ms Anne Stuart
Communications , Lasell College
April 19, 2012

Excellent text; very suitable for course

Dr Barry Eisenberg
Business Mgmt Economics Dept, Suny Empire State College - Saratoga
March 11, 2010

Sample Materials & Chapters

Chapter 1

Chapter 3

Chapter 12


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Paperback
ISBN: 9781412950350
£143.00