PTC 642: Corporate Communication

Instructor

Professor Norbert Elliot

Course Description

This seminar approaches the corporate communication as integral to the success of the modern business enterprise. As such, the study of corporate communication must encompass the study of the modern corporation from the last quarter of the 19th century to the first decade of the 21st century. Information-based management principles-vision, ethical conduct, structure, motivation, assessment, and research-are therefore treated in the seminar in both their historical and communicative aspects. Special attention will be paid to organizational theory, the roles of global capitalism, the creation of community through discourse, and the impact of technology on corporate communication. Because documents are critical to the creation, maintenance, and continuous quality improvement of the contemporary corporation, students will be required to assemble a seminar portfolio including critical business documents such as vision/mission statements, proposals, business cases, press releases, policy/procedure documents, and risk analyses.

Prerequisite/Corequisite

PTC 601. Students must have graduate standing and are usually enrolled in the PTC Certificate or the MS in PTC. If you are not part of these programs, permission of the instructor is required.

Texts

Paul A. Argenti. Corporate Communication. 4th ed. New York: McGraw Hill, 2007. ISBN: 978-0-07-299054-6

Jeffry A. Frieden. Global Capitalism: Its Fall and Rise in the Twentieth Century. New York: Norton, 2006. ISBN: 0-393-05808-5

A variety of peer-reviewed articles will also be required from journals such as Journal of Business and Technical Communication, Technical Communication Quarterly, Management Communication Quarterly, Management Science, and Harvard Business Review.

Students will also be expected to work up their case studies using the search engines and full-text databases at the Van Houten Library.

Case Study Approach

The seminar will use a case study approach. While a number of corporate situations will be examined in group discussion, students will be encouraged to base their own document design and analysis on a case study that they select. By this method, students will use each document to build their portfolio of corporate communication strategies.

Assignments

Weekly Student-Led Discussions (20 pts)

Assignment 1: Corporate Reflections (10 pts)
Assignment 2: Identification of Individual Case Studies (10 pts)
Assignment 3: Identification of Communication Documents for Case Studies (10 pts)
Assignment 4: Vision/Mission Statement (10 pts)
Assignment 5: Proposal (10 pts)
Assignment 6: Business Case (10 pts)
Assignment 7: Press Release (10 pts)
Assignment 9: Risk Analysis (10 pts)
Assignment 10: Assembling and Submitting the Document Portfolio (Cumulative)

Sample Syllabus

Part 1: Historical and Conceptual Background; Selecting the Case Study

Week 1

Discussion: What We Talk About When We Talk About Capitalism

Reading: Argenti, Chapter 1: The Changing Environment for Business; Frieden, Prologue: Into the Twentieth Century; Chapter 1: Global Capitalism Triumphant

Group Case Discussion: Arthur Anderson; Cardinal Health

Assignment 1: Corporate Reflections

Week 2

Discussion: Corporate Communication--Case Study Selection

Reading: Argenti, A Note on the Case Method; Chapter 2: Communicating Strategically; Friden, Chapter 2: Defenders of the Global Economy, Chapter 3: Success Stories of the Golden Age, Chapter 4: Failures of Development, and Chapter 5: Problems of the Global Economy

Group Case Discussion: Carson Containers

Assignment 2: Identification of Case Studies

Week 3

Discussion: Corporate Communication-Document Function

Reading: Argenti, Chapter 3: An Overview of the Corporate Communication Function; Friden, Chapter 6: "All that is Solid Melts into Air . . . ," Chapter 7: The World of Tomorrow, Chapter 8: The Established World Order Collapses, Chapter 9: The Turn to Autarky, Chapter 10: Building a Social Democracy

Group Case Discussion: Dell Computer Corporation

Assignment 3: Identification of Communication Documents for Individual Case Studies

Part 2: In Action-Identity, Image, Reputation

Week 4

Discussion: Mission Differentiation and Identity

Reading: Argenti, Chapter 4: Identity, Image, and Reputation; Friden, Chapters 11: Reconstruction East and West, Chapter 12: The Bretton Woods System in Action, Chapter 13: Decolonization and Development, Chapter 14: Socialism in Many Countries, Chapter 15: The End of Bretton Woods

Group Case Discussion: Muzak

Assignment 4: Vision/Mission Statement

Weeks 5 and 6: Planning the Launch

Reading: Argenti, Chapter 8: Investor Relations, Chapter 9: Government Relations; Friden, Chapter 16: Crisis and Change, Chapter 17: Globalizers Victorious, Chapter 18: Countries Catch Up, Chapter 19: Countries Fall Behind, Chapter 20: Global Capitalism Troubled; Conclusion

Group Case Discussion: Steelcase; Disney

Assignment 5: Proposal

Weeks 7 and 8: Advertising

Reading: Argenti, Chapter 5: Corporate Advertising

Group Case Study: Corporate Ad Samples

Assignment 6: Business Case

Weeks 9 and 10: Media Relations

Reading: Argenti, Chapter 6: Media Relations

Group Case Study: Adolph Coors Company

Assignment 7: Press Release

Weeks 11 and 12: Internal Communications

Reading: Argenti, Chapter 7: Internal Communications

Group Case Study: Westwood Publishing

Assignment 8: Policy/Procedure Document

Weeks 13 and 14: Risk Communication

Reading: Argenti, Chapter 10: Crisis Communication

Group Case Studies: Morton Thiokol and the Challenger Explosion; Coca-Cola India

Assignment 9: Risk Analysis

Part 3: The Portfolio

Week 15

Assignment 10: Assembling and Submitting the Document Portfolio