Corporate Reputation and the Discipline of Communication Management

This chapter looks at the management process of organizing and managing communication within organizations. It looks at this from three perspectives. First, it examines the organizational context that sets the backcloth for organizing and managing communication. Second, it looks at the contribution of communication at four strategic levels: societal, organizational, program, and individual. Finally, it looks at the structural options for communication departments. The chapter argues that a well-structured and managed communication function in itself is an indicator of how seriously an organization takes the specialism that has formal responsibility for managing relationships and corporate reputation. It also argues that the way communication is organized and managed has an impact on how effectively communication can undertake its work: this too can make a significant contribution to the reputation of the organization as a whole.