communication Archives - Page 2 of 2

Articles Tagged with: communication

24 June 2020

Norwegian Communication Research Group Goes Nordic

BI Norwegian Business School initiates a Nordic research group to stimulate work at the intersection of communication and management with close ties to leading Nordic CCOs .

All organizations face increasing demands for contributing to solving societal and environmental problems. As a result, the way organizations communicate and engage with their stakeholders is rapidly changing. Sustainable organizational performance and success is dependent not only on managers’ ability to understand how they relate to their organizations but also on their understanding of the impact of their personal communication along with that of their organization, both internally and externally. In this sense, management and communication are natural allies.

Building on the legacy of BI’s Centre for Corporate Communication, communication researchers at BI Norwegian Business School are launching a new regional and cross-disciplinary research group: The Nordic Alliance for Communication & Management #NORA (www.bi.edu/nora) brings together the academic disciplines of communication and management. The Alliance’s focus will be less on public relations and corporate communication and more broadly on communication as a strategic driver of sustainable organizational performance and success to combine perspectives from a wider range of fields.

Nordic expertise

NORA will harness the brainpower of leading Nordic communication researchers working specifically at the intersection to management research, e.g. on leadership, finance and accounting, intercultural management or governance. To date the alliance includes scholars from Jyväskylä University in Finland, Mid-Sweden University and Lund University in Sweden, and Copenhagen Business School and University of Århus in Denmark. An interdisciplinary approach is key and other researchers and scholars interested in joining are welcome to get in touch.

Connecting academia and management practice

The alliance aims specifically to link academia and practice by developing research through continuous dialogue with industry partners. The group brings together leading communication executives in the Nordic region with researchers from communication and management to jointly identify emerging trends and topics and develop new research-based knowledge. Industry feedback will serve as inspiration for the researchers, and industry partners have access to latest research and its practical implications.

Key activities of the Alliance are joint workshops and seminars with researchers and CCOs. All events are developed around a joint agenda to work towards common topics. Research topics are identified together in meetings and workshops to ensure that the projects will be both useful for organizations and conducive to advancing academic research.

Expanding from a strong position

The BI Centre for Corporate Communication, established by Professor Peggy Simcic Brønn, has been a primary contributor to the research-based development of the public relations and corporate communication fields in Norway for over 13 years. The Centre has been supported throughout the years by leading Norwegian organizations and interests. The new Alliance’s ambition is to build on this foundation to work towards the management field more broadly and do so in a wider Nordic context. #NORA is currently funded by: DNGV GL, Orkla, The Research Council of Norway and BI Norwegian Business School.

6 October 2017

Book "Communication Excellence": get 20% discount!

Communication Excellence – How to Develop, Manage and Lead Exceptional Communications
by R. Tench, D. Vercic, A. Zerfass, A. Moreno, P. Verhoeven
Make sure to get your discounted copy (printed book or e-book) ordering it on Palgrave website from October 12 to November 12 only – get your code here.

The book identifies characteristics of a high performing communications department
Employs a new method to identify ‘excellent’ communication functions
Analysis based on 21000 surveys with senior communication professionals and multiple case studies
Presents research partnered with the European Association of Communication Directors

More info

26 September 2017

Bachelor Degree in Cyber Communication and Network Science, Croatia

VERN’ University of Applied Sciences, the biggest private University in Croatia, has developed a bachelor study programme on “Cyber Communication and Network Science”, unique in Croatia and to a certain extent also in the whole European Union.
The focus of the study programme is to familiarize students with sociological, communicational, political and psychological theories and knowledge and to develop critical thinking. Additionally, it also focuses on training students for the advanced use of computer skills and on combining acquired theoretical and computer knowledge for creating various content in cyberspace. The new study programme is predicted to start in approximately one year. More info

11 September 2017

Open position as Guest Professor in Organisational Communication, Uppsala University, Sweden

Guest Professor in Organisational Communication (temporary position)
at the Department of Informatics and Media, Uppsala University
The Department of Informatics and Media (IM) is part of the Faculty of Social Sciences at Uppsala University. The members of the Department develop knowledge on the current and future modes of communication and information distribution. The Department incorporates three subject areas: Information Systems (IS), Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), and Media and Communication Studies (MCS). MCS teaching is located in the Bachelor Programme in Media, Communication and Journalism Studies, 180 credits (from autumn 2017), in our one-year Journalism programme, in Digital Media and Society (a specialisation within the Master Programme in Social Sciences) and in the Master Programme Management, Communication and IT (MCIT). MCS research is structured by three thematic focal points: 1/Communication, and material and discursive power dynamics; 2/Communication, participation and empowerment; and 3/Communication, identity and difference.
MCS has a vacant temporary position as a Guest Professor in Organisational Communication. The emphasis rests on Organisational Communication but the position’s thematic focus also includes Strategic and Corporate Communication.
Duties: At the level of research, the Guest Professor is expected to engage in a research leadership role and initiate new research projects in the field of Organizational Communication (and/or Strategic and Corporate Communication), in support of, and in collaboration with, other members of the Department. The Guest Professor’s work is expected to result in high-quality research and publications, again in collaboration with other members of the Department.
Apart from research development and leadership, the Guest Professor’s assignment also includes responsibility for teaching academic courses and course development and administrative work at the Department of Informatics and Media. The teaching component consists out of 50% of the work load, with teaching and course development at the undergraduate and master’s level, and with the supervision of theses. The Guest Professor is expected to be responsible for courses in the indicated thematic fields, but other areas may be included.
Requirements: To be eligible, candidates for the position of Guest Professor must hold a Ph.D. or possess equivalent scholarly competence. Moreover, the candidate must have demonstrable teaching and research expertise, including research project development and management, at the level of a Professor. The candidate must have completed relevant teacher training, or have acquired the equivalent knowledge. The candidate must possess the necessary social and collaborative skills that allow functioning well within, as well as outside, the Department.
The ideal candidate will have specific knowledge in Organisational Communication but also be proficient in Corporate and Strategic Communication, and more general in Communication and Media studies theories, models and methodologies.
Procedure: Candidates are required to send in the following documents:

their full CVs (including: 1/their publication list, 2/their list of successful project applications, 3/earlier held positions, in particular those as Professor)
a teaching statement (that describes the pedagogical principles dear to the candidate)
a research statement (including a research development plan)
two or three references from relevant people

Candidates may be invited for an interview, or to do a test lecture, as part of the application procedure. In cases where no formal position as (full) Professor has been held previously, but the candidate’s expertise is still deemed to be situated at the level of a Professor, the candidacy may be subjected to an external review.
Additional qualifications: Existing or upcoming involvements in externally financed research projects will be considered when formalizing the temporary position.
Uppsala University strives to be an inclusive workplace that promotes equal opportunities and attracts qualified candidates who can contribute to the University’s excellence and diversity. We welcome candidacies from all sections of the community and from people of all backgrounds.
The candidate needs to be fluent in English. Knowledge of Swedish is an advantage, but not a requirement.
Pay: Individual salary
Starting: 2018-01-02 or as otherwise agreed.
Type of employment: Temporary position ending 2019-06-01
Working hours: 100%
For further information about the Guest Professorship please contact: Dr. Therese Monstad, administrative director of studies (MCS), therese.monstad@im.uu.se, +46 (0)18-471 10 18.
You are welcome to submit your candidacy no later than 2017-11-15.
Please send your candidacy to: therese.monstad@im.uu.se

13 July 2017

Communication Management Forum brings research results on crisis management

Bernays’ international scientific conference on “Living in crisis mode: Time to reconsider definition, meaning and practice” was attended by 200 participants this year.
Communication Management Forum 2017 was opened by Bernays’ President of Board of Governors Mario Petrović, who pointed out that Bernays in 2015, organizing its first international scientific conference, has positioned itself as the educational vertical in public relations and communication management and that it is now time to move the boundaries into new branches of science. This year’s Forum was also supported by Assistant Minister of Science, Assistant Professor Tomislav Sokol and Assistant Director of the Agency for Science and Higher Education MSc Sandra Bezjak, who welcomed the holding of scientific conferences of this kind and Bernays’ contribution to information and communication sciences. Bernays’ Dean, Damir Jugo, PhD stressed in his speech the responsibility that Bernays has at this moment, not only as a higher education institution educating future communication experts, but also as a scientific institution.
The first day of Communication Management Forum 2017 was marked by the presentations of experienced experts from public relations and crisis communication, Associate Professor Piet Verhoeven and Full Professor Ana Tkalac Verčič, the round table on the topic of “Reflection of a Crisis Situation on the Image of a Tourist Destination”. Assoc. Prof. Verhoeven emphasized in his presentation that, in crisis situations, media interest grows rapidly, however, a crisis, depending on how an organization approaches it, can also be an opportunity at the same time. Full Prof. Tkalac Verčič pointed out that crises in the time in which we live has become a “normal phenomenon”, and this claim has been supported by examples of recent events in Croatia. She noted that, in Croatia, information is often provided by spokespersons in times of crisis, when it should actually be given by the head of the organization.
In addition to the keynote speakers, the round table was attended by Katarina Miličević, PhD and G.L.A. Van der Meer, PhD, and the discussion was moderated by Romana Lekić, PhD and Ivan Pakozdi, MA. Ms Miličević, from the Institute for Tourism, emphasized that Croatia has the image of a safe country, and the great influence of social networks and the adequacy of choice of different channels opens the possibility of communication of “everything we want”. Speaking about Croatia’s image, Ms Miličević, also mentioned the research she carried out with her team, where they analysed 28,000 articles, in which they found that Scandinavian countries continue to associate us with the war period. Van der Meer, PhD pointed out in the example of the flood in the Netherlands that countries in the crisis should act as organizations and that it is always advisable to emphasize positive aspects in country-related crises.
As the only college in Croatia that provides full-fledged public relations education and communication management, with the organization of its, now, traditional scientific gathering, Bernays seeks to contribute to the further development of information and communication sciences. With the latest public relations and communication management research, Communication Management Forum 2017 also brings the results of interesting research in marketing, media, politics and related disciplines, and the value of the project has been recognized and supported by Atlantic Grupa, Lider, Zagreb Tourist Board, Blitz -CineStar, Croatian National Tourist Board, Millenium promocija (MPR +), Magis tim and Catering Kvatrić.
Visit the Communication Management Forum website

1 July 2017

New Challenges of Communication in the Age of Post-Truth

by Alexandra Crăciun, Associate Prof. Dr., University of Bucharest
A research analysing the penalty records of the National Football League and The National Hockey League in United States during a time frame of fifteen years, carried at Cornell University, was proving that the teams wearing black uniforms were penalized more often than the teams wearing other colors. The result was confirmed by another experiment, displaying two identical videos with the same sequence of a football game, one version with players wearing black, and one version with players wearing white. The videos were showed both to professional football referees, and to college football fans, asking them to assess the game. No matter if the viewers were professionals or fans, they decided to penalize the team wearing black more often than the team wearing white.
Can we really “frame” the reality by using colors, sounds, textures? Can we use uniforms, logos, and videos to “program” a certain response of specific targets? Can strategic communication, branding, or public relations really change the public opinion about a specific subject? Can we provide different “versions” of truth switching from black to white, from penalty to reward? Can we generate alternative patterns of behavior, altering just the colors of the T-shirts? The answer, coming from emerging fields of research such as behavioral economics and neurosciences, seems to be: YES. But there is one more question. Where is the truth? Or better said – who is right, in the end: the ones judging the team wearing black uniforms; or the ones that were judging the team dressed in white?
The Oxford Dictionary’s word of the year in 2017 seems to bring another perspective. The adjective ‘post-truth’ is opening a new realm where questions like this are becoming irrelevant. Do we really need to see who is right?
With 2000% increase in usage compared with 2015 (after Brexit and the US elections) the term seems to be coined by Steve Tesich, in an essay published in The Nation magazine in 1992. The ‘post-truth’ adjective is defined as ‘relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief’.
As the philosopher Timothy Williamson was putting forth in a recent conference held in Bucharest, ‘post-truth’ is neither a synonym with truth, nor an equivalent of lies, and falsehood, since it is simply making the distinction between truth and untruth irrelevant. According to the The Oxford Dictionary: ‘In this era of post-truth politics, it’s easy to cherry-pick data and come to whatever conclusion you desire’. In other words, ‘reality’ just a matter of ‘interpretation’ within an age of disruption.
Basically, the idea is not new, but deeply related to the concept of ‘deconstruction’ – one of the “basic” post-modern ideas launched in 1967 by Jacques Derrida (Of Grammatology).
Reality, truth, are no longer based on scientific evidence, there is no need of facts, or better said – facts might be altered, distorted and transfigured. The new frames of communication where the Web provides a parallel ‘media eco-system’, where the network of users are generating ‘echo chambers’ where everybody’s voice is legitimate – makes experts and expertise useless. Clickbaits based on ‘curiosity gaps’ are fueling alternative media narratives where scientific information is replaced by emotionalism.
‘My science is named Evan, and he’s at home. (…) The University of Google is where I got my degree from.’ These phrases used in 2007 and quoted by Matthew d’Ancona in his book The New War on Truth and How to Fight Back (Ebury Press, 2017) were used by the model Jenny McCarthy on Oprah Winfrey’s show, referring to her boy called Evan, and arguing against vaccination. The perspective is paradigmatic for the age of ‘post-truth’. ‘Mommy instinct’ or ‘Google University’ are becoming personal and emotional alternatives challenging the history of scientific research on vaccination. ‘Web had digitally turbo-charged false science’, argues the same author, but it is also clear, that an empowered consumer has “turbo-charged” the references of our world.
In the article entitled ‘Valuable Virality’, published by the Journal of Marketing Research (2017), Ezgi Akpinar and Jonah Berger are explaining that ‘compared with informative appeals, emotional appeals are more likely to be shared.’
The results were just confirming a trend identified by the ECM since 2013 as the most important challenge of international communication (Zerfass et. al, 2013, quoted in Communication Excellence: How to Develop, Manage and Lead Exceptional Communications by Tench, Verčič, Zerfass, Moreno, Verhoven, 2017). In 2013 already, 73,7% of the communication professionals believed that ‘developing communication strategies with social, cultural and political sensitivity’ was the most important challenge in their field.
From ‘social, cultural and political sensitivity’ to emotionalism was just one step. Strategic communication and public relations are dealing with challenges related to the new fragmentation of the media sources, with facts that are just altered to fit. The ‘emotional-pack’ becomes more and more the new standard for getting viral and generating buzz. Binary oppositions between facts and opinions, good and bad, real and fake, truth and lie – seem to lose relevance in front of the emotional appeal that turns into ‘likes’ and ‘shares’. The role of the Communication Manager (see Communication Manager Roles Grid in ‘How to play the game’, Volk et. al, Communication Insights, Issue 3, 2017) seems to turn from a “multiplicator” of knowledge, more and more into “multiplicator” of ‘strategic’ emotions.
Relativism, emotionalism, alternative media narratives are mapping the current world of communication in the age of ‘post-truth’ bringing new challenges for the public relations profession, in a world of augmented possibilities.
Beside these, the question is still open. Who was right in the end: the ones judging the team wearing black uniforms or the ones that were judging the team dressed in white? Where is the truth?
Basically, it depends.
In the age of ‘post-truth’ this is anyhow not relevant, because a communicator with some visual communication skills might be able to use Photoshop or an app to adjust colors of the uniform, right on the screen.

29 June 2017

European Communication Monitor 2017 results presented today

World’s largest survey in strategic communication demonstrates increasing influence of the communication profession in organisations and societal debates.

Professionals working in communications are fully aware of the trend towards increased visualisation in society, however every second professional has limited visual competencies
Social bots are seen largely as a threat for society and organisations – an explanation why only a few organisations already use social bots
A cultural turn towards hyper-modernism changes the way organisations communicate with their stakeholders

Brussels, June 29^th 2017 – The European Communication Monitor has been surveying trends in strategic communication for more than a decade. This year’s edition is based on a record number of 3,387 respondents from every European country, ensuring it makes once more an outstanding contribution in the area of strategic communication and providing valuable insights for professionals working in public relations, business or political communication. Moreover, this year’s Monitor deals with the cultural transformation towards hypermodernity and offers detailed insights for everybody working as communication managers for small, medium or large organisations in the public or private sector. Comparable global data for the Latin American and Asia-Pacific regions make the Monitor even more relevant.
Visual trend offers huge potential for strategic communication
The fact that we live in a visual society and social media and mobile communication boost all types of visuals is clearly observable and broadly recognised by European communication managers. However, 53.3 per cent of the surveyed professionals have low visual communication skills – compared to 12.1 per cent with high visual competencies. That is also true at the organisational level. More than 80 per cent of the professionals have implemented standard guidelines for their visual communication. However, only 36.7 per cent have developed advanced guidelines and less than five per cent have advanced management processes for visual communication.
ECM17-Graphic02
Personal competencies of communication professionals are low in nearly all fields
of visual communication – also in the areas of online videos and infographics
Source: European Communication Monitor 2017

Social (ro-)bots are largely neglected in Europe
Despite the growing commercial and political application of social bots findings from the ECM 2017 data demonstrate that this phenomenon is largely neglected by many communication professionals in Europe. Only one third follow the debate about social bots and 15.9 per cent have no idea about the topic at all. In this context social bots are mainly seen as a threat for public debates and organisational reputation alike, although four out of ten respondents do also see opportunities arising from them. 73.2 per cent of all respondents agree that social bots present ethical challenges for the profession.
ECM17-Graphic03
Communication practitioners in the German speaking countries are more attentive to the debate about social bots
Source: European Communication Monitor 2017

Hypermodernity challenges old paradigms in strategic communication and for organisations
A hypermodern society is a society in overdrive, characterised by a culture of hyper consumption, hyper change, and hyper individualism. A large majority of 71.5 per cent of the European communication professionals witness the cultural transformation towards a hyper modern culture in their country. The transition from a postmodern to hypermodern culture is the strongest in consultancies (57.2 per cent) and private companies (51.8 per cent). Organisations with postmodern and hypermodern characteristics are ahead in sensing the trend towards an overarching consumer mentality. Most of them think that it has already changed communication with stakeholders and a large majority thinks that it will change their communication in the next three years.
Quality management and Benchmarking
Quality management and continuous improvement is less common in communication departments and marketing, compared to other organisational functions. If communication departments assess their activities at all, they focus predominantly on the performance or impact of messaging activities. Holistic benchmarking approaches against externally validated standards seem to be less relevant.
ECM17-Graphic05
Quality management and continuous improvement is less common in communication departments, compared to other organisational functions
Source: European Communication Monitor 2017

Statements from the EUPRERA lead researcher and the president of the EACD
Zerfass Professor Ansgar Zerfass, lead researcher of the survey, explained: “During the last 12 months we have experienced significant events on the world geo-political stage with impact and implications for strategic communication. While the European Communication Monitor continues to track the specifics of the communicator’s role we are also interested in mapping and monitoring the influence of wider societal issues, from economic and cultural developments to technological change, and understand their implications on practice.”
“What stands out most of all from this year’s Monitor is the recognition of the important operational and strategic contribution that communications makes to an organisation’s success, with more than 70% approval rates, with the communications function emerging as a key supporter for daily management and the operations of other departments,” said Herbert Heitmann, president of the European Association of Communication Directors (EACD). He added: “However, top management is not aware of the full range of contributions that communications can deliver. More efforts are necessary to close this expectation gap.”
A joint study by academia and practice, the ECM is organised by the European Public Relations Education and Research Association (EUPRERA) and the European Association of Communication Directors (EACD), supported by partner PRIME Research, a global leader for media insights, and media partner Communication Director magazine. The communication monitor series is known as the most comprehensive research in the field worldwide covering more than 80 countries – the European survey is complemented by bi-annual surveys in other regions like Asia-Pacific and Latin America.

A PDF report with full results as well as a video featuring highlights
from the study is available at http://www.communicationmonitor.eu/

Press contact for interviews and more information

Professor Dr. Ansgar Zerfass, Lead Researcher, EUPRERA, zerfass@uni-leipzig.de
Dr. Herbert Heitmann, President, EACD, herbert.heitmann@eacd-online.eu