Course Description:

This course is designed to provide communications professionals with a deep understanding of the interplay between the many corporate communications functions and best-practice approaches to their strategic integration. We will examine how successful communicators leverage the skills of influence, persuasion and organizational awareness to establish themselves as true business partners and, ultimately, maximize their contributions to and impact on the business. In addition to completing the assigned readings, students will survey – and challenge – a broad range of best practices as we consider case studies compiled from organizations of all types and size. Every third class will serve as a lab practical to reinforce the concepts discussed during the prior two sessions, and to give students a chance to apply relevant theories, principles and experiences to real-life scenarios. Working in small groups, the students will devise original solutions to address their assigned issues. The solutions will be submitted for comment and analysis, and some work will be discussed and presented during class time. Upon conclusion of the course, students will have a timely, finely-tuned perspective on how to sell themselves and their know-how to senior teams by partnering with a business and its leaders to build strategies that enable and support business goals.