Week 1
February 6, 2020
What is Corporate Communication?
Corporation—owned by shareholders
The media talks about organizations as a “body” as if it’s a person; makes it seem like this
corporation can have emotions and feelings
• These corporations seem to have their own entity
Definition Corporate Communication: A management function that offers a framework for the
effective coordination of all internal and external communication with the overall purpose of
establishing and maintaining favourable reputations with stakeholder groups upon which the
organization is dependent.
--Corporations try to stand out with a distinct “identity/image”
--But because corporations are so large, there must be good communication between all the
branches in order to come up with the distinct identity
Essentially the aim is to create a favourable reputation—not just to consumers, but to the
employees, investors
Corporate Communication
• Aim is to oversee and coordinate all communication of employees and departments of
the organization
• CorpCom is integrated around on mission/vision/corporate identity
o A mission statement—what you want the corporation to be and where you
want to go
o Shows the goals and what the company is looking for in the future
o There is often monetary goals (profit) but Universities have different goals
(helping students to achieve their own goals; improve classes; etc)
• CorpCom is strategic
o Communication professionals are now sitting at the table to help the
reputation and image when coming up with a strategy
,Corporate Reputation: The collective evaluation of an organization (induced through either
communication or past experiences) established over time.
• Takes a long time and continuous effort to establish a good reputation
• A good reputation can buffer from bad news or a crisis; with good reputation—
benefit of the doubt
• Sectors (banks, industries such as meat) can have reputations as well
• People (public figures) have their own reputation as well—either positive or negative
o If a CEO doesn’t have a good reputation—they typically resign
Organization Communication—internal communication
(Go over top definitions)
Organizational communication:
• Recruitment
• Investor Relations
• Public affairs
• Media relations
Organization: A group of people working together to reach a common goal
Examples of organizations:
o Big businesses (Shell)
, o Non-Profit (The Salvation Army)
o Government (DigiD)
o Sports (soccer teams)
o Protest (Yellow Jacket protests in Paris)
o Civilian work (a group of people coordinating to save someone)
• Organizations are extremely flexible and can dismantle
• Organizations are like a container because people will collaborate for a common goal
• Organizations can exist apart from communication (people can be a part of an
organization without knowing everyone—think of branches)
• Without communication—there would not be an organization (easy things like
scheduling, etc)
Organizations AS Communication
Communicative Constitution of Organizations (CCO)
Organizations CONSIST OF communication
(look over YouTube Video)
Informative Approach:
• Communication is information transmission
, • Directly from sender to receiver
Persuasive Approach:
• Intended to influence people
• Effect is on cognitions and behaviors
• Reach people BUT ALSO cause an effect in people
• Marketing takes this approach often
• People with firm attitudes are not that affected by this kind of communication
o Communication effects are quite small
Relational Approach:
• Each party both sender and receiver
• Mutual trust created
• Both parties always keep each other’s interest in mind
• Society exists as a system which consists of smaller sub systems, these systems have
to collaborate with each other
• Rooted in psychological theories—system theory
o Systems include: media, law, etc.
o All systems must collaborate with one another
• Coordination must be made between systems and within a system
Interpretative Approach:
• Based on constructionism
• Construct through communication
• When we communication = we construct images of reality
o E.g. our political knowledge is derived from watching news
Critical Approach:
• What does communication look like?
• Through communication you build a certain society with power structure
• Communication can establish power
o E.g. Yellow jackets movement in Paris
• Idea: Look at how communication can contribute to a society
• Aim: Create a society that is free from power inequality
February 6, 2020
What is Corporate Communication?
Corporation—owned by shareholders
The media talks about organizations as a “body” as if it’s a person; makes it seem like this
corporation can have emotions and feelings
• These corporations seem to have their own entity
Definition Corporate Communication: A management function that offers a framework for the
effective coordination of all internal and external communication with the overall purpose of
establishing and maintaining favourable reputations with stakeholder groups upon which the
organization is dependent.
--Corporations try to stand out with a distinct “identity/image”
--But because corporations are so large, there must be good communication between all the
branches in order to come up with the distinct identity
Essentially the aim is to create a favourable reputation—not just to consumers, but to the
employees, investors
Corporate Communication
• Aim is to oversee and coordinate all communication of employees and departments of
the organization
• CorpCom is integrated around on mission/vision/corporate identity
o A mission statement—what you want the corporation to be and where you
want to go
o Shows the goals and what the company is looking for in the future
o There is often monetary goals (profit) but Universities have different goals
(helping students to achieve their own goals; improve classes; etc)
• CorpCom is strategic
o Communication professionals are now sitting at the table to help the
reputation and image when coming up with a strategy
,Corporate Reputation: The collective evaluation of an organization (induced through either
communication or past experiences) established over time.
• Takes a long time and continuous effort to establish a good reputation
• A good reputation can buffer from bad news or a crisis; with good reputation—
benefit of the doubt
• Sectors (banks, industries such as meat) can have reputations as well
• People (public figures) have their own reputation as well—either positive or negative
o If a CEO doesn’t have a good reputation—they typically resign
Organization Communication—internal communication
(Go over top definitions)
Organizational communication:
• Recruitment
• Investor Relations
• Public affairs
• Media relations
Organization: A group of people working together to reach a common goal
Examples of organizations:
o Big businesses (Shell)
, o Non-Profit (The Salvation Army)
o Government (DigiD)
o Sports (soccer teams)
o Protest (Yellow Jacket protests in Paris)
o Civilian work (a group of people coordinating to save someone)
• Organizations are extremely flexible and can dismantle
• Organizations are like a container because people will collaborate for a common goal
• Organizations can exist apart from communication (people can be a part of an
organization without knowing everyone—think of branches)
• Without communication—there would not be an organization (easy things like
scheduling, etc)
Organizations AS Communication
Communicative Constitution of Organizations (CCO)
Organizations CONSIST OF communication
(look over YouTube Video)
Informative Approach:
• Communication is information transmission
, • Directly from sender to receiver
Persuasive Approach:
• Intended to influence people
• Effect is on cognitions and behaviors
• Reach people BUT ALSO cause an effect in people
• Marketing takes this approach often
• People with firm attitudes are not that affected by this kind of communication
o Communication effects are quite small
Relational Approach:
• Each party both sender and receiver
• Mutual trust created
• Both parties always keep each other’s interest in mind
• Society exists as a system which consists of smaller sub systems, these systems have
to collaborate with each other
• Rooted in psychological theories—system theory
o Systems include: media, law, etc.
o All systems must collaborate with one another
• Coordination must be made between systems and within a system
Interpretative Approach:
• Based on constructionism
• Construct through communication
• When we communication = we construct images of reality
o E.g. our political knowledge is derived from watching news
Critical Approach:
• What does communication look like?
• Through communication you build a certain society with power structure
• Communication can establish power
o E.g. Yellow jackets movement in Paris
• Idea: Look at how communication can contribute to a society
• Aim: Create a society that is free from power inequality
