Dr Ai Yu, STC.305

This course is available on the MSc in Organisational and Social Psychology, MSc in Social and Cultural Psychology and MSc in Social and Public Communication. This course is available with permission as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit.

Students from other programmes may access this course subject to availability.

The different activities encompassed by the concept of corporate communication affect 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.  Future practitioners also need this critical perspective so as to understand better the challenges involved in the development and implementation of corporate communication programmes. The objectives of the course are two-fold: 1) to provide an introduction to corporate communication, here understood as a set of activities undertaken by organisations in order to establish favourable corporate images and reputations with all of an organisation's stakeholder groups; and 2) to underline how a better understanding of key social psychological concepts can contribute to the overall management and effectiveness of organisations and corporate communication.

15 hours of lectures and 5 hours of seminars in the LT.

Students will be expected to produce 1 case study in the LT.

J Cornelissen, Corporate Communications: A Guide to Theory and Practice. Sage, 2011; 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. Ashforth, B.E., & Mael, F. (1989). Social identity theory and the organisation. Academy of Management Review, 14, 20-39. Kramer, R.M. (2010). Collective trust within organisations: conceptual foundation and empirical insights, Corporate Reputation Review, 13, 82-97. Hewstone, M.W., Strobe, W. and Jonas, K. (eds) (2012) Introduction to Social Psychology, 5th Edn. Oxford: Blackwell. Chapters 1, 12 and 13); Hogg, M.A. and Vaughan, G.M. (eds) (2012) Social Psychology, 6th Edn. Harlow: Prentice Hall. Chapters 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 15. 

Essay (100%, 3000 words) in the LT.