ISBN: 9781529600025
Corporate Communication (7th)
ISBN 9781529600025 | Chapter 1
Total Questions: 10
Multiple Choice (5)
Q1. [Multiple Choice]
A company’s mission can be defined as
a) A desired future state: the aspiration of the organization
b) An overriding purpose in line with the values and expectations of stakeholders ✓ correct
c) The profile and values communicated by an organization
d) A statement of overall aims in line with the overall purpose
Q2. [Multiple Choice]
An individual’s collective representation of past images of an organization established over time is called
a) Corporate image
b) Corporate identity ✓ correct
c) Corporate reputation
d) Mission
Q3. [Multiple Choice]
A stakeholder is
a) A defined group for whom a product is or may be in demand
b) Any person that owns stock of an organization
c) Any group or individual who can affect or is affected by the achievement of the organization’s objectives ✓ correct
d) A defined group that is able to influence the strategic direction of an organization
Q4. [Multiple Choice]
What is the difference between corporate communication and management communication?
a) Corporate communication only focuses on external stakeholders, while management communication focuses on both internal and external stakeholders.
b) Corporate communication focuses on a particular part of the business, while management communication focuses on the company as a whole.
c) Corporate communication mainly deals with reputational crises, while management communication also includes positive communication, such as marketing.
d) Corporate communication focuses on both external and internal stakeholders, while management communication is mostly focused on internal stakeholders. ✓ correct
Q5. [Multiple Choice]
The stakeholder engagement paradigm emphasizes
a) Interactivity, authenticity, transparency and advocacy ✓ correct
b) Corporate identity, corporate reputation and corporate branding
c) Interactivity, corporate identity, transparency and corporate branding
d) Dynamic communication, new media, advocacy and positioning
True/False (1)
Q6. [True/False]
True or false? Corporate communication started as a strategic tool in the 1900s and evolved into a tactical support function in the 2000s.
a) true
b) false ✓ correct
Correct answer: False
Short Response (4)
Q7. [Short Response]
What is the core task of corporate communication?
Suggested answer: The objective of building, maintaining and protecting the company’s reputation.
Q8. [Short Response]
How can corporate communication be described?
Suggested answer: 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.
Q9. [Short Response]
What were the most important changes between the publicity/promotions/information dissemination model and the following positioning model of corporate communication?
Suggested answer: In many firms, the previously separate communication disciplines such as advertising, sales promotion and media relations were integrated into one communication department. Therefore, communication became more strategically managed, with the aim of positioning the organization in the minds of important stakeholders.
Q10. [Short Response]
What are the main differences of the stakeholder engagement model compared to the positioning model of corporate communication?
Suggested answer: The stakeholder engagement model dismisses the view that stakeholders’ views can be managed and controlled. Also, instead of just sending messages, organizations need to engage with stakeholders through various platform, in an interactive way.
Lecturer Resources
Cornelissen, Corporate Communication: A Guide to Theory and Practice, 7e SAGE Publishing, 2023
Teaching guide
Introduction
How to use this guide?
This teaching guide is offered as a support to educators using the book as a preferred or prescribed reading for their course. It offers materials in the form of case study answers and video materials that supplement the cases and frameworks discussed in each chapter.
The guide offered here does not prescribe a particular design for a course on the subject of corporate communication given that requirements may vary between groups and study programmes. Rather, it offers a number of resources that can be flexibly used as part of small or large group teaching and that recognizes that you are the subject expert with your own thoughts on what works (or not) and what fits with your overall pedagogical approach. For example, the case study answers and related video material may be used as part of a seminar or case study session with students, or alternatively could be embedded in the lecture slides.
Besides this teaching guide, the companion website to this book also features a set of PowerPoint slides for each chapter that you can use as well as a test bank for each chapter. The test bank is a bespoke aid to help students track their learning and understanding of the concepts and frameworks across each chapter. This test bank can either be made available as a separate resource to students (for them to assess their own learning), but can also be integrated into (online) quizzes provided by you as the educator as a formative assessment tool.
Finally, each chapter also features some discussion questions at the end of each chapter; these can of course also be used as a basis for class discussion.
In any case, I hope that some of these materials will be useful to you and I wish you all the best and every success with teaching your course!
Joep Cornelissen, March 2023
Lecturer Resources
Cornelissen, Corporate Communication: A Guide to Theory and Practice, 7e SAGE Publishing, 2023
Chapter 1: Defining corporate communication
Introduction
This introductory chapter is all about setting the scene and introducing students to some of the corporate terminology involved with this area of practice. Particularly students new to the area or with a non-business background, this may be challenging and it often pays to work through many different case examples and have class exercises where they try and relate the different concepts mentioned (such as in Table 1.1) to case examples of their own choice.
Teaching tip
Given that this introductory chapter is largely about defining the area and its key concepts, class exercises may be based around the reflective questions listed at the end of the chapter (Pick a company with which you are familiar or that you may have worked for in the past. Describe the company’s corporate communication in terms of its reputation management and stakeholder engagement; In your experience, how good is this company at communicating and engaging with its stakeholders? And how does the company compare on this with its direct competitors?). Having them either pick and discuss examples on the spot in small groups in class or as preparation ahead of the session is often a good way to start to introduce students to the basic terminology.
Case study answers
Discuss the communication challenges for Apple: will the company be able to ride out the recent storm of criticism and requests for more transparency on the back of its strong reputational position, or do you think it now needs to engage differently with its customers and stakeholders on various issues and talking points?
A good answer will note that there is a trend in corporate communication towards transparency and engagement with stakeholders. The answer will critically reflect on the fact that in the late 1990s and early 2000s, corporate identity and branding were priorities in corporate communication, but there is now a shift towards transparency and stakeholder
Lecturer Resources
Cornelissen, Corporate Communication: A Guide to Theory and Practice, 7e SAGE Publishing, 2023 dialogue. It will also use terms that have been introduced in this chapter such as corporate identity, image and reputation.
An excellent answer may bring in issues around consumer interest and awareness of the protections and safeguards that are in place for an Apple product. Apple has long suggested that it aims to operate in the interest of protecting consumer privacy, but has not always transparently explained updates or changes to its products to its consumers clearly enough in these terms. There is a risk that if Apple because of economic interests keeps communicating in such limited ways that more consumers might revolt.
Additional web-based materials
What is corporate communication?
https://sk.sagepub.com/video/embed/skpromo/jsQGK3/corporate-communications
The difference between corporate identity and corporate image https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwuV8VcNvQI
Apple Inc.
Apple to pay up to 500M US dollars as a result of a lawsuit over slowing iPhone batteries after an Apple update.
https://edition.cnn.com/2020/12/02/tech/apple-iphone-slowing-europelawsuit/index.html
Euroconsumers class action against Apple and planned obsolescence. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TsJ0quKrMqY&t=50s