The changing business environment, defined largely by emerging digital communications platforms and stakeholder empowerment, continues to reshape the communications
profession, driving executives in the field to become thought leaders and counselors within their organizations. This trend, which was explored in the Arthur W. Page
Society's 2007 "Authentic Enterprise" white paper, was the centerpiece of the recent Academic Symposium, hosted by the Page Society in conjunction with the Tuck School of
Business and the Institute for Public Relations in Hanover, NH. The following is an exclusive glimpse into the meeting's proceedings, including the implications that a
heightened demand for authenticity and transparency has on corporate and agency communications professionals.
Setting The Stage
The Authentic Enterprise paper was created by the Page Society Mission Task Force as a means to extend the thought leadership and influence of the Page Society membership among
the C-suite audience. The paper focuses on three major drivers of change in our modern-day business environment:
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Globalization
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Stakeholder Empowerment
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The Digital Network Revolution
These changes are posing new threats to enterprises, including the demand for transparency and the rise of stakeholder activism. The paper emphasizes that an enterprise must be
grounded in a true sense of what defines and differentiates it through a clearly stated mission and values that are practiced through everyday action and behavior.
The authentic enterprise must define and instill company values, build and manage multi-stakeholder relationships, enable its people with new media skills and tools and
actively build and manage trust among its stakeholders.
In today's dynamic business context, Symposium participants agreed that stakeholders now demand proof of corporate authenticity in the place of authority. There was widespread
agreement on the power of the word "authentic" and its great potential to resonate within the C-Suite.
An overarching notion recurred throughout the symposium: To be truly authentic an enterprise must be grounded in a sure sense of what defines and differentiates it--based on a
set of definitive values constituting the groundwork for consistent actions touching all stakeholders.
Implications Of Authenticity For Communicators
Throughout the symposium, important related questions emerged regarding the implications of authenticity for both communicators and marketers:
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Whose job is it to manage corporate authenticity?
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More specifically, where does the CCO role begin and end, and how does it mesh or overlap with a chief marketing officer's responsibilities?
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Participants noted that such questions have led many communications and marketing executives to struggle with their respective identities.
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In today's environment, fears among marketing executives pervade, with worries of the function morphing into something largely advertising-focused.
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Many participants believe that the notion of authenticity does not contradict brand marketing and the aspirational element of marketers' work. To cut through the clutter of
today's business environment, delivering a distinctive brand and customer experience will continue to be essential.
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The notion of authenticity requires marketers to not only take responsibility for promise-making, but also promise-keeping.
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In this context, CCOs must be more astute about presenting the communicator's roles and functions to the rest of the corporation.
Many participants agreed that the notion of corporate authenticity is not functional, but must exist enterprise-wide--permeating all levels and areas of an organization--in
order to be genuine. This has a number of important implications for communicators:
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The notion of authenticity hands CCOs an excellent opportunity to step forward and assume leadership in defining a corporation's values--the cornerstone of the
corporation's character and authenticity--and instilling senior leader commitment and involvement (both formal and informal) to ensure success.
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A sense of mutual respect will facilitate this collaboration: CEOs today view the role of the CCO as more valuable than ever, and likely to increase in value, requiring
savvy executives who have a deep understanding of the business model to be an integral part of the executive team.
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CEOs now look for CCOs to move beyond reactive and proactive constituency outreach and help companies sustain and thrive through interactive relationship building.
The Corporate Response
While there was general consensus that the Authentic Enterprise paper offers strong ideas, the corporate response opened with agreement that implementation will present
challenges as well as opportunities:
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Corporate reactions to the report might be skeptical, including: "this is a pie in the sky"; "what's in it for me?"; "it's way too idealistic."
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The paper has many potential implications for the research agenda to bring its ideas to life within the corporation in the coming years.
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Qualitative modeling research could help define the future CCO role--mapping out what it looks like when the CCO lives the behavior expressed in the Authentic Enterprise
paper.
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Furthermore, research could be conducted to gauge whether or not the report's ideas are being implemented now--who is doing it and what representative case studies exist to
use as benchmarks or role models.
To be authentic, an organization needs to know what its responsibility is--creating a set of crisp expectations that will determine whether its actions are reflective of and
consistent with what the organization is at its core.
Participants agreed unanimously that the communication function will be critical to ingrain the notion of authenticity in a corporation:
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Communicators have the unique ability to reach across all functions and stitch an organization together.
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The discussion proposed that the same set of binding and guiding values should be articulated for the communications function itself. This will enable communicators to take
control of the function's definition within an organization, communicating what should be expected of communications practitioners while combating traditional criticism and
stereotypes.
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In this way, a philosophy of corporation communications could be established to present both inside and outside of the field.
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Participants highlighted the importance of marketing this concept to senior leaders, conveying how companies will tangibly benefit from communications founded on strong
values and ethical principles.
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A major challenge will be posed by public relations practitioners' current lack of widespread credibility--in direct contrast to the acknowledged clout of physicians, for
example.
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In the coming years, leaders and academics in the field have the opportunity to instill these values in students who constitute the next generation of communicators.
As a key part of the education process, the discussion noted that many professionals with enormous practical knowledge and experience have never gone into the classroom to
engage tomorrow's leaders. Participants agreed that it is equally important for professors to spend time in the workplace to better bridge the divide between the classroom and
boardroom.
Agency Perspectives
The agency response to the Authentic Enterprise paper focused on the host of communication challenges yielded by today's rapidly evolving business environment. These challenges
include:
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A radical shift in the balance of power for stakeholders
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Unprecedented personal empowerment, and
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Constantly shifting definitions of acceptable behavior.
This new environment has an enormous impact on how stakeholders view all corporations, regardless of their authenticity. Notions of who can be trusted continue to shift:
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Some now consider social media to be more trustworthy than professional sources.
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"A person like me" is the most trusted spokesperson for many.
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Rank-and-file employees are often more trusted than CEOs in a number of countries around the globe.
To boost trustworthiness and protect one's reputation in a world of democratized information access and communication, corporations must:
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Ramp up proactive outreach efforts
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Develop feedback systems
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Infiltrate the opposition to anticipate critiques, and
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Rethink organizational structure to maximize responsiveness.
Much discussion focused on the growing prevalence of blogs and the importance of thoughtfully engaging bloggers who are most influential, in the same manner one would engage
and build long-term relationships with journalists. Best practices include:
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Monitoring and engaging bloggers well in advance--responding when negative viewpoints are aired is too late.
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The blogosphere should not be viewed as a threat but as a unique opportunity for communicators: It can function as a bellwether, revealing legitimate truths which companies
can address before they are picked up and promoted by traditional media sources.
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The blogosphere can act as one of the best listening posts, demonstrating where companies are falling short on stakeholder expectations.
This underscores participants' belief that listening is more critical than ever in communications. A corporation's response to bloggers will fall somewhere along a spectrum of
engagement, with systematic listening and reacting to blog posts falling on the less interactive end and facilitating visibility, sustainable word-of-mouth and community building
falling on the most interactive end. Opportunity can also be created by engaging evangelists and mavens to amplify the views of these passionate consumers into more mainstream,
mass segments. Employees should not be overlooked when considering strategies for brand education--not only do they serve as brand ambassadors, but they are also personifications
of a corporation's values and underlying authenticity.
When considering stakeholders, the discussion noted the importance of recognizing that respective definitions of acceptable behavior are constantly in flux. Listening to myriad
sources of information will be critical for corporations to keep their fingers on the pulse of these changing expectations.
While certain watchdog responsibilities can be parceled out, the agency response revisited several questions of ownership central to the notion of corporate authenticity:
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Where does accountability reside within an organization?
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Whose job is it to change a corporation's reality when behaviors are out of step with public acceptance or expectations?
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Accountability and alignment with stakeholder views of acceptable behavior offer communicators new opportunities for leadership and can strengthen the function in
meaningful ways in the years ahead.
The challenge of communicating warning signs and consequences to senior level executives may be especially difficult for young communicators new to the field. Senior mentors
can play an important role in guiding younger professionals--the next generation of communications leaders--to navigate difficult decisions and establish credibility with an
organization's senior executives.
Looking Ahead
The symposium discussion concluded with a reinforcement of the Authentic Enterprise paper's strong call to action for today's communicators and academics:
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First and foremost, participants agreed that communication officers can play a defining role in ensuring that the leadership of organizations manage with an eye toward
the "conscience of the corporation." While no one individual can serve as this conscience, the CCO can serve as a leader in this effort.
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CCOs today must tackle the challenge of remaining the objective outside voice even when residing within the boardroom. Though there are many benefits when the role of the
CCO is seen as a decision-making member of senior management (also called the dominant coalition), this also presents a danger in the CCO being seen as the mouthpiece for the C-
suite.
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Academics can play a key role in introducing these concepts to new generations of communicators, particularly in teaching values within a business context. Their efforts
can help ensure that young communicators have a more comprehensive understanding of business, in addition to their essential role as its reputational stewards and guardians of
institutional values.
The more effective and integral the CCO is to the core of the organization--both in shaping its definitive values and in preserving its authenticity--the more compelling they
will be as role models to strengthen the caliber of future students entering the communication field.
CONTACTS:
The primary authors of this article are Kimberley Tait (Associate, Investment
Management at Goldman, Sachs & Co.) and Tom Martin (Executive-in-Residence,
College of Charleston). Visit http://www.prnewsonline.com
for the complete report.