Reputation Management: The Key to Successful Public Relations and Corporate Communications

458 Pages·2006·7.48 MB·English

by  John Doorley

R
eputation
M
anageMent
The Key to Successful Public Relations
and Corporate Communication
John Doorley helio FreD Garcia
anD
Illustrated by Julie M. Osborn
New York London
Routledge is an imprint of the
Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
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Routledge Routledge
Taylor & Francis Group Taylor & Francis Group
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New York, NY 10016 Milton Park, Abingdon
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© 2007 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis Group, an Informa business
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International Standard Book Number‑13: 978‑0‑415‑97471‑4 (Softcover) 978‑0‑415‑97470‑7 (Hardcover)
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Contents
Preface ix
Acknowledgments xv
About the Authors xvii
About the Contributors xix
1 Reputation Management 1
This Chapter Covers 3
Reputational Capital 4
Identity 5
Can Reputation Be Measured? 7
Can Reputation Be Managed? 7
“Intangible Asset” – The Wrong Perspective 8
Comprehensive Reputation Management 8
Confusing Communication with Performance and Behavior 11
The Ten Precepts of Reputation Management 16
Reputation Management 21
2 Ethics and Communication 27
This Chapter Covers 29
Introduction: Why Ethics Matters 30
What is Ethics? 30
Ethics and Organizational Communication 35
Ethics of Communicating 38
Ethics of Running a Business 46
Ethics of Representation 48
Helping Companies Behave Ethically 51
3 Media Relations 67
This Chapter Covers 69
The Case for a Centralized Media Relations Function 69
Organizing the Media Relations Function 72
iii
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iv Reputation Management
Media Relations as a Lightning Rod 73
Moderating Expectations 75
The Journalist and the Spokesperson 76
Fear of the Press 78
The Press’ Right to Know 82
The Press’ Penchant for Bad News 85
The Good News About the Press 87
Press Relations from a Position of Power 88
Success in Media Relations 89
4 New Media 103
By AndreA Coville And rAy ThomAs
This Chapter Covers 105
A Different World 105
An Abridged History of New Media 106
New Media and the Consumer Electronics Revolution 107
A Sampling of Today’s New Media Tools 108
Are the New Media Truly Different? 114
Examples of Digital Marketing 116
The Impact of New Media on TV 117
New Media Terms 118
5 Employee Communication 127
By The AuThors, wiTh signifiCAnT ConTriBuTions By Jeff grimshAw
This Chapter Covers 129
Employee Communication: The Stepchild of Public Relations
and Human Resources 129
Making Progress: Employee Communication Today 131
Employee Communication Drives Organizational Performance 133
The New Role of Employee Communication 138
The Five Traits That Distinguish the Best Employee
Communication Shops 144
6 Government Relations 159
By ed ingle
This Chapter Covers 161
What Is Government Relations? 161
Case for a Centralized Government Relations Function 163
Organizing the Government Relations Function 164
Understanding the Key Audiences 166
Setting the Company’s Government Relations Agenda 169
Success and Expectations Management 170
Role of Third-Party Advocacy 170
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Contents v
Role of the Lobbying Consultant 173
Role of Political Contributions 175
State and International Government Relations 176
Government Relations Best Practices 179
7 Community Relations 183
This Chapter Covers 185
Hardy’s Relationship-Building Principle # 1: Be Involved. Be
Committed. 186
Hardy’s Relationship-Building Principle # 2: Building
Reputation, One Relationship at a Time, Is Good Business 187
Hardy’s Relationship-Building Principle # 3: Choose the Right
Projects. Be Strategic. 189
Hardy’s Relationship-Building Principle #4: Keep Moving Ahead 194
Hardy’s Relationship-Building Principle # 5: Embrace Diversity 196
Hardy’s Relationship-Building Principle # 6: When Things Go
Wrong, Make Them Right as Fast as You Can 200
8 Investor Relations 207
This Chapter Covers 209
What Is Investor Relations? 210
The Goals and Roles of Investor Relations 211
What Does “Public Company” Mean? 212
A Brief Introduction to the Securities Markets and Investment 213
Securities Analysts: The Crucial Intermediaries 220
Sell-Side Analysts 220
Buy-Side Analysts 222
IR’s Interaction with Analysts 222
IR’s Interaction with Investors 223
The Financial Media 224
IR and Corporate Disclosure 225
Materiality 227
Disclosure 230
9 Global Corporate Communication 239
By lynn AppelBAum And gAil s. BelmuTh
This Chapter Covers 241
The Global Imperative 242
The Global Corporate Communication Role 245
Standardize or Customize? That Is the Question. 246
The Global Communication Network 248
Internal Communication—Worldwide 249
External Communication 252
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vi Reputation Management
Working with Public Relations Agencies 260
Measuring the Success of Global Communication 261
10 Integrated Communication 267
By Tim mCmAhon
This Chapter Covers 270
Creating Enterprise Value through Powerful Brand Identity 271
Leadership: The Engine of Effective Integrated Communication 274
A Shared Vision Will Replace a Shelf Full of Policy Manuals 276
Culture: The Lever for Transformation 277
Communication Toolbox: The Devices Used to Move People to
Action 279
Marketing and Sales, What Is the Difference? Does It Matter? 282
The Corporate Brand: Differentiating the Company’s Approach
to Business 283
11 Issues Management 299
This Chapter Covers 301
Issues Management Overview 302
Establishing an Issues Management Function 302
Prioritizing Issues 303
Issues Management Planning Process 304
Developing an Issues Management Plan 305
What the Elements of the Issues Management Analysis
and Planning Template Mean 307
12 Crisis Communication 323
This Chapter Covers 326
Introduction 326
What Is a Crisis? 328
Timeliness of Response: The Need for Speed 331
Control the Communication Agenda 335
Dealing with Rumors 337
Controlling Rumors: A Mathematical Formula 343
13 Corporate Responsibility 353
By AnThony p. ewing
This Chapter Covers 357
Corporate Responsibility 358
Communicating Corporate Responsibility 368
Tools 376
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Contents vii
14 Challenges and Opportunities in Public Relations
and Corporate Communication 383
This Chapter Covers 385
Earning a Seat at the Table: Defining the Professional
Communicator’s Role 385
Historical Perspective: Edward L. Bernays and the Roots
of Applied Anthropology 389
The Future of Public Relations and Corporate Communication 391
Becoming Truly Strategic 400
Notes 409
Index 421
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Preface
Public Relations: The management of communication
between an organization and its publics.
(Hunt and Grunig)1
Corporate and organizational communication: The cen-
tralized management of communication on behalf of the
organization; the function is a critical contributor to an
organization’s reputation—and thereby its competitiveness,
productivity, and financial success.
(Doorley and Garcia)
This book on public relations and corporate and organizational commu-
nication is grounded on the simple premise that everything communicators
do should be respectful of, if not geared toward, the long-term interests of
the organization. Organizations that manage their reputations well benefit
not just in so-called soft, feel-good ways, but in quantifiable, bottom-line
ways as well. Organizations that ignore the reputational effects of their
actions pay the consequences over the long term, as the rash of business
scandals since 2002 has shown. And the consequences range from soft,
embarrassing ones to dissolution of the organization.
This book is unique because:
⇒ It covers each of the major disciplines in the field of corporate and
organizational communication, bridging real-world practice with
communication theory and history.
⇒ It covers the field from the perspective of reputation management,
and provides a new framework for managing reputation into the
future.
⇒ Each chapter was written by someone who has practiced the craft
successfully at a high level.
ix
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