Dr Claudine Provencher, STC. S312

Mainly for: MSc Social and Cultural Psychology; MSc Organisational and Social Psychology; MSc Social and Public Communication students. Students from other programmes can only access this course subject to space and discussions with the teacher responsible.

Corporate communication affects each one of us in various guises: as employees, customers, citizens, investors or, more generally, as observers of today's world. It is therefore essential to develop a critical understanding of the different practices associated with corporate communication, be it traditional public relations, corporate social responsibility, crisis management or internal communication. Future practitioners also need this critical perspective so as to understand better the challenges associated with the development and implementation of corporate communication programmes. This course provides an introduction to corporate communication, both internal and external and makes use of different social psychological concepts to improve our understanding of this significant aspect of organisational life. It combines a critical perspective on corporate communication with practical examples provided by invited external experts. Both theoretical and practical perspectives are discussed during the seminars that complement the lectures.

Ten x 1.5 hour lectures and 5 x 1 hour seminars in LT.

An essay plan of not more that 500 words.

J Cornelissen, Corporate Communications: A Guide to Theory and Practice. Sage, 2008; P J Kitchen, Raising the Corporate Umbrella: Corporate Communication in the 21st Century, Palgrave, 2001; R Heath (ed.), Handbook of Public Relations, Sage, 2001; J L'Etang & M Pieczka (eds), Public Relations: Critical Debates and Contemporary Problems, Routledge, 2006; J M T Balmer & A Stephen (eds), Revealing the Corporation: Perspectives on Identity, Image, Reputation and Corporate Branding, Routledge, 2002; Harvard Business Review on Crisis Management, Harvard School Press, 2000; C B M Van Riel & C J Fombrun, Essentials of Corporate Communication: Implementing Practices for Effective Reputation Management, Routledge, 2007.

A written assignment of not more than 3,000 words (100%).