Knowledge Centre

Integrated management function is in vogue

Wayne Burns Three quarters of companies in Australia manage an integrated Public Affairs function — arguably the highest rate of integration internationally. The Centre for Corporate Public Affairs' 2009 State of Public Affairs, to be released shortly, reports that 75 per cent of Australia's largest organisations have...

socio political environment

The best of times, the worst of times

Wayne Burns In ordinary times, stewarding corporate reputation can be a hard task. In extraordinary times – which the International Monetary Fund now calls a great recession – this effort can be leviathan. Witness the community angst about and media and political focus on corporate job losses, bonuses and remuneration during...

socio political environment

Everybody’s business

George Onisiforou It now seems that for those big organisations receiving taxpayer bailout money from governments, economic troubles are the least of their worries; these companies have become increasingly vulnerable to reputation crisis, which can produce an even harder blow to their business. The American International Group (AIG)...

socio political environment

New power shift

George Onisiforou When Facebook tried to amend its user information policy last month, it found itself being the victim of its own dynamics — this is a company that thrives in giving its users the tools to organise themselves in groups and communicate their own messages. This is exactly what the unhappy users did — they created their...

socio political environment

Recovery dot com

George Onisiforou The recent global economic developments have given governments a new air of authority over other institutions, including businesses. The possibility of increasing public scrutiny in private businesses would have seemed unthinkable ten years ago. Now, it is not only a possibility, it is an expectation. Governments...

socio political environment

An era of responsibility

George Onisiforou There are lessons to be learned for businesses in Barack Obama's inaugural address, which was a call for restoring trust in government and a promise for an era of responsibility towards hard times. There is no doubt that the financial crisis has intensified a continuous decline of consumer trust towards businesses,...

socio political environment

2,408 words: powerful leadership messages

Wayne Burns As a communication tableua, President Barack Obama's Inauguration speech is a guide to good leadership communications because of its brevity, economic use of descriptors, and because it addressed pressing public and political policy issues without once using the word 'policy.' Good speeches like the President's...

socio political environment

Crafting the corporate message - pessimistic optimism

Wayne Burns The New York Times columnist David Brooks has been analysing the tone of language and messages from Barack Obama noting that he has become highly skilled in December and January in the art of 'pessimistic optimism'. Pessimistic optimism involves communicating that things are very tough, and are likely to get...

socio political environment

Don't vacuum

Wayne Burns Stakeholders are not likely to know about an organisation's activities unlesss thay see or hear about it in the media (including blogs and social networking sites), are involved directly in that activity, or hear about it from the organisation itself. At a time when most corporate activity in particular is perceived...

socio political environment

A clamour to yammer

Wayne Burns Many of us have not yet twittered, never mind yammered. But check out yammer.com, and think about whether this business only microblogging site could help you and your public affairs team do what you do better, and more easily. Yammer is a free online site launched in September 2008. It is compatible...

socio political environment