The document provides an agenda for a corporate communication training that includes:
- A 10 minute presentation of a case study and 10 minutes for answers
- A 30 minute lecture
- A 20 minute activity
- A 10 minute recap of the day's work and discussion of homework
It then outlines the history and evolution of corporate communication, including the rise of public relations, spin doctors, key figures, and how scandals led to increased transparency and the elevation of communication to a strategic function.
2. Presentation Skills nuggets - 10 minutes
Presentation of Case Study - 10 Minutes
Presentation of answers to the previous case study, Toshiba Fraud
- 10 minutes
Lecture time - 30 minutes
Activity Time - 20 minutes
Recap todays work and discuss homework - 10 minutes
Todays Plan
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7. What is corporate communication?
A Department with many functions (Wednesday we will
learn the functions)
A process to communicate key messages
An attitude or set of mental habits
A set of communication products
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8. Corporations often had to respond to external constituencies which
meant they needed to manage the flow of communication
Public relations was a tactical function aimed at preventing the press
from getting too close to management
The first PR were asked to protect the company from bad publicity often
by spinning damaging news in a positive light
The term flak was used to describe what PR professionals were
practicing, preventing missiles fired at them from the outside.
The flak era lasted for many decades and took on different
responsibilities in the 60s like speech writing, annual reports and the
company newsletter. To do the job they hired former journalists
PR professionals where seen as being able to turn bad situations to good
ones.
The Rise of PR
From PR to CORP. COMM
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9. What does the
term spin doctor
mean?
a person whose job
involves trying to control
the way something (such
as an important event) is
described to the public in
order to influence what
people think about it
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10. Ivy Lee
Edward Bernays
Howard Rubenstein
Daniel Edelman
Fleishman - Hillard
Edelman
In addition to their corporate staff, the companies
sought the help of external sources. The legends of the
PR world, dominated the communication field, for
decades often demanding hefty fees for their services.
Some of these are:
Top PR Firms USA
The First Spin Doctors
Ivy Lee - dubbed
the originator of
crisis management
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11. In the 70s the business environments required more than the internal
PR functions guided by external communication firms. That came
with the rise and importance of special interest groups like:
A new function emerges
Ralph Nader Public Interest
Research Group
Advocating issues such as consumer
protection, public health and
transportation.
Environmentally oriented
NGO’s such as Greenpeace
Advocating issues such as
ecological contamination and
environmental destruction
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12. During the Arab - Israeli War in
1973, The OPEC imposed an oil
embargo on the US in retaliation to
its support to Israel. The entire oil
industry came under fire. People
were spending hours to fill the tanks
of their cars while they (oil
companies) were making obscene
amounts of money in profit. This
lead Mobil to establish one of the
most sophisticated PR departments
of its time.
The rise of the CorpComm function
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13. Led by Herb Schmertz
Mobil issue ads (a serires of bi weekly ads)
in the New York Times and Wall Street
Journal put the blame on the government
Directly attacked allegations of obscene
profits and hoarding oil to inflate prices.
Instead of reacting to these allegations he
shift the blame on the government.
He explained that obscene profits were
needed for the exploration of oil
Helped reshape the CEO communication
discourse so that its appropriate for the
shareholders.
Requested tens of millions of dollars that
created a new communication function that
changed Mobil from having PR to corporate
communication
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14. Corporate Communications Today
At the beginning of the millennium
and as a result of corporate fraud
and scandals such as Enron and
WorldCom, the Sarbanes - Oxley
Act of 2000 was founded.
It increased the publics
expectations of transparency,
responsiveness and corporate
responsibility for all companies
large and small
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15. Activities
Messages
Products
Investor conferences
Philanthropic activities
Annual reports
Advertising
The need to maintain this level of transparency has elevated the
level of communication to a strategic level.
Are all analyzed by regulators, investors and the public at large
with unprecedented scrutiny. The proliferation of online
communication vehicles has accelerated the flow of information
and the public access to it. Under todays higher-resolution
microscope, constituents perception on how companies address
social issues are of increasing importance.
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16. Centralized is when all
communication is handled under
one senior officer at the
headquarters. Advantages include
consistency and control over the
communication process.
Governments and NGO choose it
as a way to cut back costs
Centralized or Decentralized?
Decentralized is allowing individual
business units to handle the
communication activities. Some of the
advantages is flexibility. Disadvantage:
inconsistency of messages
GE sprawling activities from aerospace
to health, must have a decentralized
communication activities.
J&J - 132,000 employees, 260
companies, in 60 countries across the
world. Deals with over 20 companies
that handle different activities.
Depends on the companys size, geographical dispesion of its offices and
diversity of its products and services
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17. Who does the position report to?
Harvard Business' Review published a study in 2018, that indicates
CEO’s spent the majority of their time communicating. With 61% face
to face and 24% electronically.
If this says anything then it says that the Chief Communication Officer
(CCO) should have a direct line of reporting to the CEO.
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18. All companies benefit
from the strategic
partnership with
external agencies for
the following reasons:
When senior
management shows
commitment to
communication all
employees will
appreciate it as critical
management tool
Working strategically with external PR and
communication agencies
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19. Activity
Research Herb Schmertz and what he did for Mobil oil. And
reflect, has he solved the problem for the people or the
corporation?
Research local companies and how they have structured
their corporate communication function.
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20. Home Work
Continue Reading Chapter three
Presentation on who are the Public Interest Research
group? who is Ralph Nader and how did this movement
impact the improvement of Corporate Communication?
Next Class we discuss the final project.
I will allocate the groups
The lecture to follow - October 30th (quiz on Chapters 1 - 3)
Chapter 4
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