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Suggests that active learning can benefit students in public relations and integrated communication courses at the graduate level. Describes how three active learning approaches--research and field work, student accountabilities for learning, and student reflection and reflexive exercises--were used in a graduate class project to help a Fortune 50 consumer products company identify and address real-time merger communication issues. (SG)

Although millennials have been extensively examined in the popular and academic literature, there have not been sufficient studies in strategic communication that help us fully understand this unique and influential cohort in the communication profession. The purpose of this research is to take a talent management approach to gain a deep understanding of millennial communication professionals’ (MCPs) generational attributes as related to their workplace values, and how such values would affect key phases such as recruitment, engagement, development and retention in talent management in strategic communication. Two national panels were recruited to run comparative analyses with one panel consisting of MCPs and the other panel consisting of communication managers and executives who have direct working and/or supervising experience with MCPs. The comparative results provide a detailed report on perceptual gaps on generational attributes, as well as different expectations on talent management. Research and practical implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this research is to investigate how senior communication executives measure the effectiveness of organizations' internal communication efforts and link the efforts with organizations' business performance. Design/methodology/approach – An online international survey of 264 experienced business communicators was analyzed to identify those specific aspects of internal communication initiatives that have been measured by the organizations on a regular basis. In-depth interviews with 13 senior communication executives were used as a supplementary approach to share their experiences and insights about measurement challenges in communication practices. Findings – Results suggested that most business communicators and organizations recognized the importance of measuring organizations' internal communication initiatives; however, limited metrics have been applied to the assessment process. Several specific aspects of internal communication initiatives (e.g., improved job performance, changed employee behaviors, concentrated employee engagement, etc.) have been given special attention in measurement. Research limitations/implications – Future research would benefit from the discussion and findings in current measurement challenges and focus on testing the causal relationship between effective internal communication and improved business performance. Practical implications – Business communicators should demonstrate a stronger request for a consultative leadership direction in the organization to be able to develop and test sets of reliable and consistent metrics and measurement approaches. Originality/value – This research investigated the measurement challenges that senior communication executives have faced. It is important to recognize current trends and constraints in measurement to be able to leverage the value of communication practices in the organization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the study which examines the role of editor and newsletters content in building relationship in an activist setting in Sierra Club in the U.S. The study analyses the opinions of newsletter editors to better understand the roles of gatekeepers to build relationships within the activists settings. In addition, the goals of the study involve examination of the editorial decision making in the activist organization and the role of interpersonal interaction as part of an organizational-public relationship (OPR).

By qualitatively content analyzing the news coverage of SARS in Beijing Review, Time, and Newsweek, this study examined the Chinese government's interventions in crisis management during the 2003 SARS epidemic. Empirical findings show that the interaction of increasing external pressure and internal self-awareness forced the Chinese government to change its crisis management strategies. Different administrative levels (local, regional, national, and international) were cooperatively involved in taking actions and controlling the crisis. Implications for future research were also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Symmetrical public relations theory acknowledges primacy of the dominant coalition in making organizational decisions and influencing public relations practices but reveals little about this powerful inner circle. Drawing from interviews with 21 public relations executives, this article opens up the dominant coalition and reveals its complex power relationships and a matrix of constraints that undermine and limit the function, rendering it difficult for practitioners to do the"right"thing, even if they want to. If public relations is to better serve society, professionals and academics may need to embrace an activist role and combine advocacy of shared power with activism in the interest of shared power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chief executive officers (CEOs) help define an organization's image with internal and external stakeholders. The importance of the CEO in communications and image making with external stakeholders has long been acknowledged by practitioners and academics. In line with this, a study was conducted to examine the media coverage of CEOs in four leading U.S. newspapers from 1990 to 2000 to assess trends in the salience and valence of CEO coverage, topics of coverage and dimensions of CEO images presented in the press coverage. Newspapers were selected for the study because they are important sources of CEO-related information and public affairs news and information for people in the U.S., despite declining readership. This research documented a steady increase in the number of news stories about CEOs in the four newspapers during the 1990s, perhaps due to increased public attention to business, the personalization of CEOs, and practitioner reputation-building activities. The dominant topic of coverage in all four newspapers was the reporting of changes in the CEO office. Researchers have also suggested that media portrayals of CEOs prior to the 1990s were frequently critical. The study suggests some tactical considerations and strategic role implications for practitioners. Such is the need for practitioners to be less concerned with increasing the volume of coverage and more concerned with what CEO image dimensions are highlighted in interviews, news releases, features and other channels.

Examines communication and information technologies from a strategic public relations management perspective. Responsibility of public relations practitioners; Typology of communication channels; Benefits from technologies.

Relationships between economic power and political influence have long been of interest to scholars in several disciplines. Despite an extensive literature and rich theorizing on the topic, however, we still know little about how economic producers attempt public policy influence and the extent to which they may be successful. In this chapter, the authors argue that a communication perspective on the public policy process sheds new light on relationships between business organizations and political influence. Drawing from the political science, agenda-setting, framing, and issues management literatures, three interrelated communication processes that bear heavily on public policy formation are elaborated--issue selection, issue framing, and issue management. The literatures are critically reviewed and then integrated in a series of 36 propositions regarding what we think we know about the communication strategies and tactics business actors employ in the policy process and the conditions in which such approaches may yield favorable outcomes. A framework for future communication research studies is presented in the form of a business model of political influence. The model highlights complex communicative aspects of policy making and a multifaceted concept of influence in public policy formation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research examines attempts by the Business Roundtable (BRT) to influence federal policy agendas regarding four private issues (i.e., policy issues not salient on media and public agendas). BRT's information subsidies are studied along with media coverage, public opinion, and policy agenda developments. Results suggest that BRT uses information subsidies to control the scope of issue conflict and that these subsidies influenced the policy agenda for study issues. Corporate influence on private issues may alter the traditional agenda-setting process, and an alternative, elitist model is proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study conceptualizes organizational public relations as attempts to construct ideological world view. Three aspects of ideological world view—distortion, legitimation, and terrain of struggle—are elaborated and then grounded in a case study of the public relations practices of The Upjohn Company, a pharmaceutical manufacturer and researcher, during the Halcion® (sleeping pill) crisis in the 1980s. The case study reveals how such practices helped create a supportive scientific world view for Halcion, which may have contributed to the product' s steady growth in sales and profits during the decade, despite intense media scrutiny and criticism and the restrictive actions of health authorities in some countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]