Communicating mergers and acquisitions

Looking back at my own resume, three of my previous employers do not exist independently anymore. They were involved in either a merger or acquisition. Frequently, these two different business terms are used together and abbreviated to M & A.  But legally, they are different transactions.
Whatever they are called, when deals like these are struck [...]

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Narrative inquiry and corporate storytelling, twins separated at birth

In studying narrative inquiry as part of my Qualitative Research Methods class, I was struck by some similarities with my training in communication/public relations. The shared essence is storytelling.
The qualitative researcher seeks out the narrative, which may be oral or written and may be elicited or heard during fieldwork, an interview, or a naturally occurring [...]

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Education you can taste

In entered two of my classes Thursday to find most of the class reading our student newspaper, The Towerlight. That’s odd. Only one or two students are usually reading the new edition before class. And they don’t read the textbook assignments, so why the sudden interest in the printed word?
“It’s the article on flavored condoms,” [...]

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Who needs stimulus with NASCAR’s Daytona 500

For thousands of motor racing fans, including me, today is a very special day. The running of the Daytona 500 is Super Bowl and World Cup and World Series and Stanley Cup and Masters all in one spectacular event.
But in these times of economic turmoil, which has hit the auto industry particularly hard, would it be [...]

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Shovel-ready communication/PR/IMC projects

“Shovel ready” is the hot new buzzword for projects that, once congress funds them with our hard-earned tax dollars, are ready to begin.
Communication/PR/IMC professionals need ”shovel-ready” projects right now, too. So here goes:
1. Update your resume and generic cover letter. In this troubled economy, you never know when you will need them.
2. Activate your professional network. If you [...]

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Communicating trust in times of economic turmoil

Students in my Master’s class recently discussed the communication of organizational trust as “a fundamental leadership responsibility and a growing area of responsibility for communication professionals” as stated in the IABC Handbook of Organizational Communication  (Gillis, 2006, p. 44).
I think we’d all agree that trust and building trusting relationships are important to contemporary organizations. But [...]

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