Introduction

Citation

Goodman, M.B. (2007), "Introduction", Corporate Communications: An International Journal, Vol. 12 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/ccij.2007.16812aaa.001

Introduction

Michael B. GoodmanPhD is the Founder and Director of the Corporate Communication Institute, and Professor of Corporate Communication at Fairleigh Dickinson University, serving as Director of Graduate Programs in Corporate Communication for 16 years. He has taught business and corporate communication courses at Aarhus School of Business (Denmark), Bangkok University (Thailand), Baruch College CUNY, New York University, New York Institute of Technology, Northeastern University, and SUNY at Stony Brook. Since, 1981 Dr Goodman has been a consultant in corporate communication, managerial communication, problem solving, new business proposals, change, and corporate culture. He has published widely, most recently: Work with Anyone Anywhere: A Guide to Global Business; “Today's corporate communication function” in Handbook of Corporate Communication and Strategic Public Relations; Corporate Communication for Executives. He is at work on “While You Were Looking the Other Way – Forces Redefining Corporate Communication Strategy” with Cleve Langton and Peter Hirsch. He is a member of the Arthur W. Page Society, a Fellow of the RSA (The Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce), and a Fellow of The Society for Technical Communication. He is VP Eastern Region and Member of the Board of Directors of the Association for Business Communication. He received his BA from the University of Texas at Austin, and his MA and PhD from the State University of New York at Stony Brook.

The corporation is profoundly different than it was a 100 years ago – a vehicle created to acquire and manage enough capital so that owners could build the hardware to run a plant and to maintain a manufacturing operation.

A contemporary corporation is a way of harnessing and focusing human capital. It is capable for people with smart ideas, who know how to innovate and run things. It is about people, and a network of people. Individual corporations are powerful because of their alliances. When there is a question or concern, people expect responsiveness from the corporation, and speed and transparency in its communications.

In a crisis it is the corporation that has to step up, not its products or brands

The role of corporate communication is fundamental to the success of the corporation.

In our CCI corporate communication practices and trends study for 2005 www.corporatecomm.org/pdf/MergedReport2005.pdf, comments from respondents highlighted the Value of the corporate communication function:

“In our organization, the Global Communications Department is centralized and supports virtually every business and corporate function by providing communications counsel and execution.”

Indeed, in our CCI corporate communication China benchmark study 2006, corporate communication is perceived as critical to the success of the organization and their leaders by 100 percent of our respondents (73.9 percent strongly agree and 26.1 percent agree with this statement: “In a complex environment, honest, clear and coherent communication can drive the rewards of success toward the organization and its leaders.”)

Since, the first CCI study when we asked interviewees to identify the skills and capabilities needed for corporate communication, our respondents consistently identify writing as the core skill for corporate communication, as well as a thorough knowledge of the company, and clear understanding of business principles.

The skill set necessary for success as a corporate communicator in a global business environment also includes (Goodman, CCIJ, Vol. 11 No. 3, pp. 203-4):

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  integrity and honesty;

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  global mindset; objective perspective;

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  business orientation; project management;

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  critical and analytical thinking; problem-solving; synthesizing;

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  communication and media skills; listening; persuasion;

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  “Grace under pressure” – confidence, composure, compassion;

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  resilience; positive attitude;

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  energy, discipline, passion;

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  leadership; team player;

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  intelligent; innovative; creative;

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  social-ability; emotional intelligence;

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  mentoring and coaching; quick study; and

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  strategic thinking.

The annual CCI Conference on Corporate Communication is a clear opportunity for corporate communicators to develop professionally and to bring value to their companies. It is also an opportunity for scholars to share their knowledge and research. It has been the premise of this conference that relationships among scholars and practitioners are an essential element of the social glue that binds civilized people together. And international meetings are important to build and maintain trust among professionals with common interests and goals, but who are disbursed around the world. It is in this spirit that once again corporate executives and university scholars met in Wroxton, England from June 2-5, 2006 to exchange information and explore communication from a global perspective.

The CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2006 was intended to:

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  illuminate the interest in corporate communication as a strategic function in organizational success;

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  explore the influence of globalization on the corporate communication profession as it relates to theory, practice, roles, processes, and ethics;

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  continue as a forum for the exchange of ideas and information among industry and university representatives; and

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  indicate trends and provide analysis for communication professionals, university faculty, and others interested in corporate communication.

“The Role of Business in Public Diplomacy” was the subject of the keynote panel, headed by Dr Alison Holmes, Former Director of British American Business, Inc., Dr Nicholas D.J. Baldwin, author of Parliament in the 21st Century, and myself. The discussion focused on the issues raised in papers presented in the Journal of Business Strategy: Special issue on the role of business in public diplomacy (Vol. 27 No. 3, 2006).

The three-day conference featured speakers from Australia, Brazil, Denmark, Finland, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia, Portugal, South Africa, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, and the USA.

Two of the papers presented at the 2006 CCI Conference were published in CCIJ Vol. 11 No. 4, 2006: Riikka Fredriksson's “The multinational corporation as a multilingual organization: the notion of common corporate language” and Michael Meath's “taking time to care: best practices in long-term care communications.”

The six papers that follow reflect some of the presentations and discussions of essential issues: communication management, workforce issues – motivation and worklife balance, corporate governance and transparency, issues management, communication measurement, integrated corporate communication, corporate culture, corporate branding, cross-cultural communication issues, corporate social responsibility, reputation and identity, communication gatekeeping, global corporate relations, crisis communication, corporate communication in Greater China. And other issues such as: driving stakeholder activism, disclosure on the internet, case studies of blogs and compliance, the increasing role of corporate social responsibility, the complexity of global corporate relations, the necessity of understanding of cross cultural teams.

J. Paulo Kutueev-Moreira's “issues in corporate communication management: public health crisis and risk communication” explores a new model for major crisis management issues faced by world organizations responding to major public health scares and risks.

Anne Ellerup Nielsen and Christa Thomsen's “Reporting CSR – what to say and how to say it?” apply critical discourse analysis to the growing requirement for corporations to report publicly their corporate social responsibility actions. And Constance Kampf's “Corporate social responsibility on the internet: Wal-Mart, Maersk and the cultural bounds of representation” investigates the cultural interaction of corporations using the Internet to report social responsibility and their public audiences.

Miranda Y.P. Lee and Daniel W.C. So's “Corporate slogans of corporations operating in greater China with reference to those with bilingual versions” investigate the use of corporate slogans by Chinese corporations in greater China – Chinese Mainland, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Taiwan – and determine that there are more shared commonalities, and that there are major patterns of phrasing bi-lingual slogans.

The experience of the women of the Niger Delta with non-violent action against oil producers is the focus of Krishna Dhir's “Stakeholder activism through nonviolence.” He concludes that non-violent action offers a viable alternative for persuasion of the multinational oil corporations in the region.

Joseph Basso and Randy Hines' “Leading the charge for consumer acceptance: a rhetorical analysis of consumer perspectives of organizational effectiveness” is a qualitative study of the efforts of organizations to project positive images and influence consumer perceptions of organizational effectiveness. They call for businesses to use a proactive approach to build lasting relationships and to meet the growing demands of consumers.

Michael B. GoodmanGuest Editor