BC 532: Directing Corporate Communication

Overview

Corporate communication is defined as "the company's voice and the image it projects of the company to its multiple audiences" (Argenti and Foreman, 2002). Managers must insure that the organization speaks with one voice by aligning internal and external communications with corporate strategy. When all key constituencies of an organization perceive that organization's communication to be consistent, the result is usually a positive corporate reputation and thus successful execution of the organization's mission.

Often, major problems occur because of the lack of integration among key elements of corporate communication. This course will demonstrate the urgent need for a model of strategic corporate communication that allows the organization to "speak with one voice," offer a cohesive model, and provide opportunities for the student to apply that model to in real-world context.

Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• Determine how the goals of the organization (e.g., mission statement, executive decisions) drive the communication strategy of the company.
• Define the key constituencies (audiences) with whom the organization communicates through the distinct yet overlapping functions of corporate communication.
• Evaluate the effectiveness of corporate communication efforts to all constituencies (audiences) of the organization and in all functional areas.
• Design an organizational communication analysis to recommend implementation of key communication improvement recommendations to a specific organization. Your analysis will (1) speak with one voice to all constituencies (audiences) through all media, and (2) establish a consistent identity resulting in a consistent image (perception of identity) that yields a credible corporate reputation.
• Prepare a presentation for corporate leadership that outlines functional areas with focused and consistent messages, functional areas with unfocused and inconsistent messages, and proposed improvements.

Course Requirements

• PowerPoint
• Headset with microphone

Required Texts
BC 532 texts are available from the JIU/MBS bookstore