Corporate Communication as a Discipline: Toward a Definition. - Management Communication Assignment

Internal Code: TV684

Management Communication Assignment:

Ten years ago, when Management Communication Quarterly asked me to write an article defining corporate communication as a discipline (Argenti, 1996), the field was relatively new to business schools and was transitioning in the business world from the media-oriented field of public relations into corporate communication, a more integrated, organizational function focusing on multiple constituencies. Now corporate communication is being reformulated again by the unprecedented technological change. When that article,“Corporate communication as a Discipline: Toward a Definition,” was published in 1996, fewer than 15% of Americans had Internet access; today, more than 60% have Internet access (Fox, Anderson, & Rainie, 2005). Worldwide, people use the Internet to communicate via e-mail; read the news; access medical, government, and financial information; participate in online auctions; buy and sell stocks, and make travel reservations. Users also communicate with corporations directly and indirectly through a growing list of Web sites, online chat rooms, and blogs. This commentary focuses on the changes, challenges, and Questions: Your boss is keen to understand the challenges and opportunities that technology has brought to corporate communication. She has asked you to prepare an executive summary giving a brief outline on how to embrace these challenges and opportunities in the workplace.