Corporate Communication Summary
Week 1 Overview
Chapter 1
• Core task of corporate communication practitioner: build, maintain, and
protect a company’s reputation
o Determine events that are outside of control and identify opportunities
for engaging with stakeholders
• Public relations as the term to describe communication with stakeholders
(until the 70s)
o Communication with the press
• Corporate communication: management function responsible for coordinating
internal and external communication with aim to establish and maintain
favorable reputation with stakeholder groups
• Corporate communication (according to Van Riel): instrument of management
by means of which all consciously used forms of internal and external
communication are harmonized as effectively
• Consequence of corporate communication characteristic
o Complex in nature: often happens in multinational corporations where
coordination has to balance between corporate HQ and division units
o Demands an integrated approach: transcends the specialties of
individual communication practitioners
• Mission: overriding purpose in line with the values and expectations of
stakeholders
• Vision: desired future state/the aspiration of an organization
• Corporate objectives: statement of overall aims in line with the overall purpose
• Strategies: ways or means in which the corporate objectives are to be
achieved and put into effect
• Corporate identity: the profile and values communicated by an organization
• Corporate image: immediate set of associations of an individual in response
to one or more signals or messages from or about a particular organization at
a single point in time
, • Corporate reputation: individual’s collective representation of past images of
an organization established over time
o induced through either communication or past experiences
• Stakeholder: any group or individual who can affect or is affected by the
achievement of the organization’s objectives
• Market: a defined group for whom a product is or may be in demand (and for
whom an organization creates and maintains products and services)
• Communication: tactics and media that are used to communicate with internal
and external groups
• Integration: act of coordinating all communication so that the corporate
identity is effectively and consistently communicated to internal and external
groups
Case Example: Barclays Bank
How not to communicate with stakeholders
• Bartle bogle Hegarty (BBH) was hired to make a more humane campaign for
Barclays bank
• Barclays closed 170 branches in the UK (mostly in rural areas)
• Barclays Chief Executive wasp aid 1.3 million pounds for three months of
work
• Barclays justified their decision and explicitly addressed that they are an
economic enterprise thus, obliged to provide a decent return to the owners of
business
• Main idea: don’t explicitly admit to mainly focusing on shareholder returns
and larger customers
Different focuses of communication
• Corporate communication: on the organization as a whole and how an
organization is presented to all its key stakeholders
• Business and management communication: writing and presenting
interpersonal situations
, • Difference between business and corporate communication: business focus
on writing and looks towards individual manager/professional, corporate focus
on the entire company and management
Trends in corporate communication
• In the 80s, every function in an organization was assessed based on its
accountability and contribution to the organization
o Led to many organizations restructure separate communication
disciplines (e.g., media relations, ad, sales promotions, product
publicity)
• Fragmentation led to sub-optimization where each department optimizes its
own performance
• Organizations developed procedures (communication guidelines, manuals)
and implemented coordination mechanism (council meetings, networking
platforms)
• Downside of prioritizing corporate identity, reputation, and branding:
reinforced an assumption that the minds of stakeholders can be managed and
controlled
o Assumes that corporate communicators can plan and design their
messages to take up a reputational position in the minds of
stakeholders
o Assumes that message outcomes are predetermined
o Neglects stakeholders as active agents and considered as passive
agents whose role is to respond (or not) to communicator’s message
• More interactive forms of communication enabled by new tech and social
media are now expected by stakeholders
o This is a paradigm shift where one way structure of corporate
communication is replaced with a dynamic process
• When individuals value, favor, or invest in an organization they are more likely
to become genuine advocates and supporters
o Changes the old view that stakeholders can be managed and
controlled
Week 1 Overview
Chapter 1
• Core task of corporate communication practitioner: build, maintain, and
protect a company’s reputation
o Determine events that are outside of control and identify opportunities
for engaging with stakeholders
• Public relations as the term to describe communication with stakeholders
(until the 70s)
o Communication with the press
• Corporate communication: management function responsible for coordinating
internal and external communication with aim to establish and maintain
favorable reputation with stakeholder groups
• Corporate communication (according to Van Riel): instrument of management
by means of which all consciously used forms of internal and external
communication are harmonized as effectively
• Consequence of corporate communication characteristic
o Complex in nature: often happens in multinational corporations where
coordination has to balance between corporate HQ and division units
o Demands an integrated approach: transcends the specialties of
individual communication practitioners
• Mission: overriding purpose in line with the values and expectations of
stakeholders
• Vision: desired future state/the aspiration of an organization
• Corporate objectives: statement of overall aims in line with the overall purpose
• Strategies: ways or means in which the corporate objectives are to be
achieved and put into effect
• Corporate identity: the profile and values communicated by an organization
• Corporate image: immediate set of associations of an individual in response
to one or more signals or messages from or about a particular organization at
a single point in time
, • Corporate reputation: individual’s collective representation of past images of
an organization established over time
o induced through either communication or past experiences
• Stakeholder: any group or individual who can affect or is affected by the
achievement of the organization’s objectives
• Market: a defined group for whom a product is or may be in demand (and for
whom an organization creates and maintains products and services)
• Communication: tactics and media that are used to communicate with internal
and external groups
• Integration: act of coordinating all communication so that the corporate
identity is effectively and consistently communicated to internal and external
groups
Case Example: Barclays Bank
How not to communicate with stakeholders
• Bartle bogle Hegarty (BBH) was hired to make a more humane campaign for
Barclays bank
• Barclays closed 170 branches in the UK (mostly in rural areas)
• Barclays Chief Executive wasp aid 1.3 million pounds for three months of
work
• Barclays justified their decision and explicitly addressed that they are an
economic enterprise thus, obliged to provide a decent return to the owners of
business
• Main idea: don’t explicitly admit to mainly focusing on shareholder returns
and larger customers
Different focuses of communication
• Corporate communication: on the organization as a whole and how an
organization is presented to all its key stakeholders
• Business and management communication: writing and presenting
interpersonal situations
, • Difference between business and corporate communication: business focus
on writing and looks towards individual manager/professional, corporate focus
on the entire company and management
Trends in corporate communication
• In the 80s, every function in an organization was assessed based on its
accountability and contribution to the organization
o Led to many organizations restructure separate communication
disciplines (e.g., media relations, ad, sales promotions, product
publicity)
• Fragmentation led to sub-optimization where each department optimizes its
own performance
• Organizations developed procedures (communication guidelines, manuals)
and implemented coordination mechanism (council meetings, networking
platforms)
• Downside of prioritizing corporate identity, reputation, and branding:
reinforced an assumption that the minds of stakeholders can be managed and
controlled
o Assumes that corporate communicators can plan and design their
messages to take up a reputational position in the minds of
stakeholders
o Assumes that message outcomes are predetermined
o Neglects stakeholders as active agents and considered as passive
agents whose role is to respond (or not) to communicator’s message
• More interactive forms of communication enabled by new tech and social
media are now expected by stakeholders
o This is a paradigm shift where one way structure of corporate
communication is replaced with a dynamic process
• When individuals value, favor, or invest in an organization they are more likely
to become genuine advocates and supporters
o Changes the old view that stakeholders can be managed and
controlled
