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The issue of training and development of these practitioners is in part covered in
Chapter 6, but is also carried over and further discussed in Chapter 7, the last chapter
of the book. Chapter 7 also provides a number of directions and recommendations
for the function and profession of corporate communications in the future.
At this point, all of these themes and issues may seem a little overwhelming. I
hope that most readers feel a little overwhelmed. Corporate communications is an
exceptionally complex management function, and up until now the intricate strate-
gic, structural and political ideas and issues that characterize the function have been
largely uncharted territory. True, there is a large number of books, training pro-
grammes, and consultant gimmicks out there that depict effective corporate com-
munications as the simple application of a number of ‘proven’ tools and techniques.
Unfortunately, these depictions are as glib as they are misleading.There are a number
of principles, insights and tools that can be turned to in most corporate communi-
cations situations, but they are neither simple, foolproof, nor generally applicable to
every case. My goal in the remaining chapters of this book is to explain those prin-
ciples, insights and tools and indicate how communications practitioners can analyse
and understand the complexities that they face in their day-to-day work and choose
appropriate strategic responses.

Key terms

Business communications Operational management
Corporate communications Practice
Corporate identity Professional development
Corporate image Public
Corporate reputation Reflective practitioner
Integration Stakeholder
Issues Strategic management
Management communications Strategies
Market Theory
Mission Vision

Notes

1
Financial Times (2003),‘Schools look at ways to put their house in order’, special report
on business education, 20 January.
2
See for instance Holbrook, M.B. (1985),‘Why business is bad for consumer research’, in
Hirschman, E.C., and Holbrook, M.B. (eds), Advances in Consumer Research (volume 13).Ann
Arbor, MI: Association for Consumer Research, pp. 145–156; Botan, H. (1989), ‘Theory
development in public relations’,in Botan,C.H.,and Hazleton,V.(eds),Public Relations Theory.
Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, pp. 99–110.
3
Kover, A.J. (1976),‘Careers and non-communications: the case of academic and applied
marketing research’, Journal of Marketing Research, 13 (November), 339–344.
4
Cornelissen, J.P. (2000),‘Toward an understanding of the use of public relations theories
in public relations practice’, Public Relations Review, 26 (3), 315–326.