The Handbook of Communication and Corporate Reputation

By Craig E. Carroll

With the latest insights from the world of communication studies into the nature of corporate reputation, this new addition to Wiley-Blackwell’s series of handbooks on communication and media reflects the growing visibility of large businesses’ ethical profiles, and tracks the benefits that positive public attitudes can bring.

• Serves as the definitive research collection for a fast-growing field featuring contributions by key international scholars
• Brings together state-of-the-art communication studies insights on corporate reputation
• Identifies and addresses the lacunae in the research literature
• Applies new theoretical frameworks to corporate reputation

• Language: English
• Publisher: Wiley
• Release date: Apr 10, 2015
• ISBN: 9781118335499

Book preview

About the Editor

Craig E. Carroll (PhD, The University of Texas at Austin) is a Visiting Scholar in Corporate Communication at New York University’s Stern School of Business and Senior Research Fellow with the Reputation Institute. He pre­viously taught at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the University of Southern California in the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. Carroll teaches on the adjunct faculty at IE Communication School (Madrid, Spain), Università della Svizzera italiana (Lugano, Switzerland), and the University of Florida. Dr. Carroll has been a visiting professor at Northwestern University, University of Amsterdam, Rotterdam School of Management, and the University of Cambridge. Carroll’s research examines the role of communication in facets related to corporate reputation, organizational identity, and corporate social responsibility, including their relationships with the news media and the individual’s role in their construction, meaning and management. His research in these areas has been presented in 16 countries outside of the United States.

Carroll is the editor of Corporate Reputation and the News Media (Routledge, 2011). His research has been published in Communication Research, Corporate Reputation Review, Journal of Business Ethics, Journal of Business Research, Journalism and Communication Monographs (China), Management Learning, Public Relations Journal, and Public Relations Review. He serves on the editorial boards for Corporate Communications: An International Journal, Corporate Reputation Review, Journal of Communication, Journal of Public Relations Research, Public Relations Inquiry, and Public Relations Review. He serves as the executive director of the Observatory on Corporate Reputation, LLC and was named PR News’ Educator of the Year in 2008. Professor Carroll is past chair of the Public Relations division of the International Communication Association. He is a member of the International Association of Business Communicators and the Public Relations Society of America, as well as their local chapters in New York City and Nashville, Tennessee.

Notes on Contributors

Susan Westcott Alessandri (PhD, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2002) is Associate Professor in the Department of Communication and Journalism at Suffolk University. She is the author of Visual Identity: Promoting and Protecting the Public Face of an Organization. Her research has also been published in several textbooks and journals, including Corporate Reputation Review, Corporate Communications: An International Journal, Education Review of Business Communication, Journal of Marketing for Higher Education, Journal of Advertising Education, and Journal of Employee Communication Management. Alessandri serves on the editorial boards of Corporate Reputation Review, Corporate Communications: An International Journal, Jour­nal of Advertising Education, and Newspaper Research Journal. She also serves on the executive committee of the Media Management and Economics Division of Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC).

Kathryn Anthony (MA, University of Kentucky) is a doctoral student in the Department of Communication at the University of Kentucky where she serves as a teaching assistant and a research assistant. Her research interests include risk and crisis communication, health communication, and organizational commu­nication. She has served as a research assistant for the Department of Homeland Security’s National Center for Food Protection and Defense (NCFPD) and for the National Center for Risk and Economic Analysis of Terrorism Events (CREATE). She has published in the Journal of Applied Commu­nication Research and Argumentation and Advocacy. Katie is also a member of the Lexington-Fayette county Community Emergency Response Team.

Jennifer L. Bartlett (PhD, Queensland University of Technology) is a senior lecturer in the School of Advertising, Marketing, and Public Relations at the Faculty of Business at Queensland University of Technology, Australia. Her research has been published in the Public Relations Review, Asia Pacific Journal of Public Relations, Journal of Communication Management, and Australian Journal of Communication. She serves on the editorial boards of Prism: The Online Public Relations Journal in Australia and New Zealand. Bartlett is the previous secretary and incoming vice chair of the International Communication Association’s Public Relations division. She is also a fellow of the Public Relations Institute of Australia (PRIA).

William L. Benoit (PhD, Wayne State University) is Professor of Communication Studies at Ohio University. He developed the image repair theory and applied it in a number of case studies. He has published over 10 books (including Accounts, Excuses, and Apologies) and over 200 articles and book chapters. He has published in such journals as Quarterly Journal of Speech, Communication Monographs, Human Communication Research, Public Relations Review, Journal of Applied Com­munication, Journalism and Mass Commu­nication Review, Communication Education, Critical Studies in Media Communication, and Political Communication. He is currently ranked as one of the most productive scholars in communication.

Bruce K. Berger (PhD, University of Kentucky) is Reese Phifer Professor of Advertising & Public Relations in the College of Communication & Information Sciences at the University of Alabama. His research interests include leadership in public relations practice and education, influence and power relations, and employee and organizational communications. He has coauthored a book about power relations in practice and published more than 40 articles and book chapters in academic and professional publications. He is a member of the Arthur W. Page Society and serves on the board of directors of The Plank Center for Leadership in Public Relations and the Institute for Public Relations. Previously, he was vice president of public relations for Whirlpool Corporation and president of the Whirlpool Foundation. He worked in international public relations for 20 years.

Peggy Simcic Brønn (DBA, Henley Management College) is Professor of Communication and Management in the Norwegian Business School’s Department of Communication, Culture and Languages, and associate dean of the school’s Bachelor in Public Relations. She is also director of the Center for Corporate Communication. Dr. Brønn has conducted research on relationship outcomes, reputation and reputation risk analysis, institutionalization of communication, motives for social engagement, and the strategic role of communication managers. Her works are published in the European Journal of Marketing, Journal of Communication Management, Public Relations Review, Journal of Communication Management (European editor), Corporate Reputation Review (editorial board), Corporate Communication: An International Journal (editorial board), Journal of Business Ethics, and Business and Society Review, among others. She is coeditor of Corporate Communication: A Strategic Approach to Building Reputation (second edition) and is coauthor of the first academic book on reputation in Norwegian. She is Norway’s academic representative to the Reputation Institute and consults in the private, public, and nonprofit sectors in Norway.

Craig E. Carroll (PhD, The University of Texas at Austin) is a Visiting Scholar in Corporate Communication at New York University’s Stern School of Business and Senior Research Fellow with the Reputation Institute. Professor Carroll is editor of the Handbook of Communication and Corporate Reputation.

Clarke L. Caywood (PhD, the University of Wisconsin-Madison) is Full Professor of Integrated Marketing Communications in the Medill School at Northwestern University. He published the second edition of the Handbook of Strategic Public Relations & Integrated Marketing Communications (McGraw-Hill, 2011). He was named by PRWeek as one of the most influential 100 PR people of the twentieth century (PRWeek, October 18, 1999), the top 10 outstanding educators in 2000 (PRWeek, February 7, 2000), and Educator of the Year by the Public Relations Society of America in 2002–2003. He has served as member of the Board of the Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art, the Advisory Board of the Chicago Symphony, the Direct Selling Education Foundation Board, and Co-Chair of the Awards Committee of the Public Relations Society of America. He is also a member and former trustee of the A.W. Page Society. He has worked for two past governors and the attorney general of the state of Wisconsin.

W. Timothy Coombs (PhD, Purdue University) is Full Professor in the Nicholson School of Communication at the University of Central Florida. Coombs is the 2002 recipient of Jackson, Jackson & Wagner Behavioral Science Prize from the Public Relations Society of American for his crisis research. His research has led to the development and testing of the situational crisis communication theory (SCCT). He has published widely in the areas of crisis management including articles in a variety of journals. His research includes the award-winning book Ongoing Crisis Communication. He has coauthored the award-winning books It’s Not Just Public Relations with Sherry J. Holladay and Today’s Public Relations with Robert L. Heath. He is also coeditor of The Handbook of Crisis Communication and coauthor of PR Strategy and Application: Managing Influence. Dr. Coombs had delivered presentations in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Hong Kong, Norway, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.

Jeffrey L. Courtright (PhD, Purdue University) is Associate Professor of Communication at Illinois State University. With more than 20 years in public relations education and research, he investigates the relationship between corporate reputation and message design across a variety of contexts, from environmental communication to community relations to inter­national public relations. He studies both for-profit and nonprofit organizations and has published multiple research articles, several with Dr. Peter Smudde as coauthor. He also has published with Dr. Smudde the books Inspiring Cooperation and Celebrating Organizations (2012) and Power and Public Relations (2007).

Sally Davenport (PhD, Victoria University of Wellington) is Professor of Management at Victoria University of Wellington and has a background in the physical sciences and research expertise in the areas of strategy, technology, innovation, and research management and policy. In April 2011, she was appointed as a commissioner with the New Zealand Productivity Commission. Her research interests center on organizational and stakeholder strategy and discourse surrounding the management of science, technology, and innovation, with a particular focus on the growth of high-tech firms. She has been a principal investigator/leader on three major research grants. Sally is currently a member of the editorial boards of four international journals and is Deputy Chair of the Advisory Board of the International Society for Professional Innovation Management. Her articles have appeared in journals such as Organization Studies, Human Relations, Research Policy, Discourse Studies, British Journal of Management, European Journal of Marketing, European Planning Studies, R&D Management, Technology Analysis & Strategic Management, and Science & Pubic Policy.

Marcia W. DiStaso (PhD, University of Miami) is an Assistant Professor of Public Relations in the College of Communications at Pennsylvania State University. Her research has been published (or accepted for publication) in the Journal of Public Relations Research, Public Relations Review, Public Relations Journal, Journalism Studies, Mass Communication & Society, in many books and through the Institute for Public Relations. She is an Arthur W. Page Center Senior Research Fellow, chair of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) Financial Communications division, chair-elect of the PRSA Educator’s Academy, co-chair of PRSA’s National Research Committee, a board member for the International Public Relations Research Conference, and an associate editor for the Social Science of Social Media Research Center.

Melissa D. Dodd (PhD, University of Miami) is Assistant Professor of Public Relations at the State University of New York in Oswego. She is the (co)author of multiple refereed journal publications and has presented award-winning papers at top-tier academic conferences. Her research interests include social capital theory, individual/interpersonal variables, social media, reputation, ethics, and measurement as they relate to public relations. She serves as an Advisory Board Member for the International Public Relations Research Conference and Book Review Editor for the Journal of the Association for Communication Administration. Dodd has held consulting positions with the Corporate Communication Department of Bacardi USA and the University of Miami’s Emergency Management Department.

Mohan J. Dutta (PhD, University of Minnesota) is Professor and Head of the Department of Communications and New Media at the National University of Singapore and Cour­tesy Professor of Communication at Purdue University. At NUS, he is the Founding Director of the Center for Culture-Centered Approach to Research and Evaluation (CARE), directing research on culturally-centered, community-based projects of social change. He teaches and conducts research in international health communication, critical cultural theory, poverty in healthcare, health activism in globalization politics, indigenous cosmologies of health, subaltern studies and dialogue, and public policy and social change. Currently, he serves as Editor of the Global Health Communication Book Series with Left Coast Press and sits on the editorial board of seven journals. Before arriving to NUS, he served as Associate Dean of Research in the College of Liberal Arts at Purdue University, a Service Learning Fellow, and a fellow of the Entrepreneurial Leadership Academy. Also at Purdue, he served as the Founding Director of the Center for Poverty and Health Inequities (COPHI).

Sabine Einwiller (PhD, University of St. Gallen) is Professor of Corporate Communication at the Department of Communication, Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz, Germany, where she is also responsible for a master’s program in corporate communication. Her current research interests focus on causes and measurement of corporate reputation, integrated communication management, and the effects of negative publicity. Her research has been published in various international journals such as the Corporate Communications: An International Journal, Corporate Reputation Review, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, and Journal of Consumer Psychology.

Magnus Frostenson (PhD, Stockholm School of Economics) is an Associate Professor of Business Administration. His dissertation focused on issues of ethics and culture in newly internationalized Swedish firms. He is currently a researcher with the Department of Business Studies at Uppsala University and is also a senior lecturer at the Örebro University School of Business. He is the author of several journal articles, books, and book chapters, primarily in business ethics and corporate social responsibility. He has published in the Journal of Business Ethics, Philosophy of Management, and Business Ethics: A European Review, among other academic periodicals. In 2011, he published a monograph on business ethics, to be followed in 2012 by a new book on sustainability reporting.

Dawn R. Gilpin (PhD, Temple University) is an Assistant Professor at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University. Her work has been published in the Journal of Public Relations Research, Public Relations Review, Journal of Communication Management, Health Communication, E:CO Complexity & Organization, Studies in Communication Sciences, Global Media Journal, and in several edited volumes. With Priscilla Murphy, she is coauthor of Crisis Management in a Complex World (Oxford University Press, 2008).

Karla K. Gower (PhD, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) is a Professor in the Department of Advertising and Public Relations and Director of the Plank Center for Leadership in Public Relations at the University of Alabama. She is the author of The Opinions of Mankind: Racial Issues, Press, and Propaganda in the Cold War (with R. Lentz), Legal and Ethical Considerations for Public Relations, PR and the Press: The Troubled Embrace, and Liberty and Authority in Free Expression Law: The United States and Canada. Her research has also been published in Communication Law & Policy, Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly, Journal of Public Relations Research, Public Relations Review, Journal of Communication Management, American Journalism, and Journalism History. She serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of Public Relations Research and Journalism History.

Robert J. Green (MA, Wake Forest University) is a doctoral student at the Brian Lamb School of Communication, Purdue University. His research has been published in Communication Teacher.

Anne Gregory (PhD, Leeds Metropolitan University) is Professor of Public Relations and Director of the Centre for Public Relations Studies at Leeds Metropolitan University, UK. She has authored over 70 publications publishing in Public Relations Review, Journal of Marketing Management, Journal of Marketing Communications, Corporate Communications, International Journal of Communication Ethics, Journal of Public Affairs and Journal of Communication Management. She is also, editor-in-chief of the Journal of Communication Management, and edits the globally available Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) series of 17 books, which she initiated. Anne also leads specialist commercial research and consultancy projects from the center working with public and private sector clients. Originally a broadcast journalist, Anne spent 10 years as a senior practitioner before moving on to academia. She was president of the CIPR in 2004, leading it to chartered status and was awarded the CIPR’s Sir Stephen Tallents Medal for her outstanding contribution to public relations in 2010. Anne is a committed internationalist and, in May 2011, was voted chair-elect of the Global Alliance of Public Relations and Communications Management, the umbrella organization of over 60 public relations institutes from around the world.

James E. Grunig (PhD, University of Wisconsin–Madison) is a Professor Emeritus of Public Relations in the Department of Communication at the University of Maryland College Park. He is the coauthor of Relações públicas: Teoria, contexto e relacionamentos (Public Relations: Theory, Context, and Relationships), Excellent Public Relations and Effective Organizations: A Study of Communication Management in Three Countries, Managing Public Relations, Public Relations Techniques, and Manager’s Guide to Excellence in Public Relations and Communication Management. He is editor of Excellence in Public Relations and Communication Management. Excellent Public Relations and Effective Organizations received the 2002 PRIDE award of the Public Relations Division of the National Communication Association as the best book in public relations in the previous two years. In addition to his books, Grunig has written 246 other publications such as book chapters, journal articles, reports, and papers. He has won seven major awards in public relations: the Arthur W. Page Society Distinguished Service Award; the Pathfinder Award for excellence in public relations research of the Institute for Public Relations Research and Education; the Outstanding Educator Award of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA); the Jackson, Jackson and Wagner Award for behavioral science research of the PRSA Foundation; the Alexander Hamilton Medal for Lifetime Contributions to Professional Public Relations of the Institute for Public Relations; the Lloyd Dennis Award for Distinguished Leadership in Public Affairs (with Larissa A. Grunig) from the Public Affairs and Government Section of PRSA; and the Dr. Hamid Notghi Prize for Career Achievement in Public Relations from the Kargozar Public Relations Institute, Tehran, Iran. He also won the most prestigious lifetime award of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC), the Paul J. Deutschmann Award for Excellence in Research. He was the forty-fifth Annual Distinguished Lecturer of the Institute for Public Relations in 2006. He has been awarded honorary doctorates by the Universidad San Martin de Porres in Peru, the University of Bucharest in Romania, Istanbul University in Turkey, and the University of Quebec at Montreal in Canada.

Kristen Guth (MA, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) is a doctoral student in the Department of Communication at the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism at the University of Southern California (USC). Her recent scholarly interests include organizational communication and technology. Kristen’s current research examines corporate social responsibility communicated on the Internet, Twitter sentiment analysis, and scenario planning for organizations. In 2012, Kristen researched youth, organizations, and information quality issues on the Internet with the Youth and Media Lab at the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University. In addition to prior roles as a journalist for Fox and NBC, she has professional experience in corporate and non-profit public relations for digital and traditional media contexts. She has taught undergraduate courses in public speaking and communication technology and society at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Kristen currently teaches undergraduate and graduate students in the experiential learning center at the USC Marshall School of Business.

Robert L. Heath (PhD, University of Illinois) is Professor Emeritus at the University of Houston, author of many books and articles on issues management, public relations, crisis communication, risk communication, organizational rhetorical theory, and narrative theory. Notable in the list of recent publications is the SAGE Handbook of Public Relations (2010), Handbook of Risk and Crisis Communication (2009, with H. Dan O’Hair), Rhetorical and Critical Approaches to Public Relations II (2009, with Elizabeth Toth and Damion Waymer), Today’s Public Relations (2006, with W. Timothy Coombs), and The Encyclopedia of Public Relations (2005). He is the lead editor and author of the lead article in a special issue of Management Communication Quarterly addressing external organizational rhetoric (2011, 25/3).

Sherry J. Holladay (PhD, Purdue University) is a Professor at the Nicholson School of Communication at the University of Central Florida in Orlando. Dr. Holladay’s research interests include crisis communication, corporate social responsibility, reputation management, activism, and stakeholder relations. Her work appears in the Journal of Public Relations Research, Public Relations Review, Management Communication Quarterly, Journal of Communication Management, and International Journal of Strategic Communication. She is coauthor of It’s Not Just PR: Public Relations in Society, Public Relations Strategies and Applications: Managing Influence, and Managing Corporate Responsibility: A Communication Approach, and coeditor of the Handbook of Crisis Communication.

Alex D. Holt (BA, The George Washington University) was, at the time of this writing, an undergraduate honors student majoring in political communication.

Chun-ju Flora Hung-Baesecke (PhD, University of Maryland at College Park) is the Associate Director of the Center for Media and Communication Research and Assistant Professor of the Public Relations & Advertising Option in the Department of Communication Studies at Hong Kong Baptist University. Her research interests are relationship management, strategic management, reputation management, crisis communication, conflict resolution, negotiation, and corporate social responsibility. Dr. Hung published her research in book chapters and in international refereed journals, for example, Journal of Public Relations Research, Journal of Communication Management, Public Relations Review, and International Journal of Strategic Communication, and has presented research papers in international academic public relations conferences.

Øyvind Ihlen (dr.art., University of Oslo) is Professor at the Department of Media and Communication at the University of Oslo. He was previously Professor of Communication and Management at the Norwegian School of Management and at Hedmark University College. Ihlen has edited, written, and cowritten seven books, among them Public Relations and Social Theory (Routledge, 2009) and Handbook of Com­munication and Corporate Social Responsibility (Wiley Blackwell, 2011). His award-winning research has appeared in numerous anthologies and in journals such as the Journal of Public Relations Research, Public Relations Review, Journal of Public Affairs, International Journal of Strategic Communication, Journal of Communication Management, Corporate Com­munications, Management Com­munication Quarterly, International Journal of Organizational Analysis, Environmental Communication, Sustainable Development, and Business Strategy and the Environment. He is on the editorial board of 9 journals and have reviewed for an additional 12 journals and publishing houses.

Laura Illia (PhD, Università della Svizzera Italiana) is Professor in Corporate Commu­nication at IE University and Academic Director of the Master at the same University (ES). Her current research focuses on how issues of organizational identity, social responsibility, corporate communication and branding are involved in organizational management and change. She has been doing research at the University of Cambridge (UK), London School of Economics and Political Science (UK) and University of Lugano (CH). Her works are published in journals like MIT Sloan Management Review, British Journal of Management, Journal of Business Research, Journal of Applied Behavioural Science, Corporate Reputation Review, Corporate Communication: An International Journal, Journal of Public Relations Research, and others. She currently serves on the Editorial Board of Business & Society (Sage), Corporate Reputation Review (Palgrave) and Corporate Communication: An International Journal (Emerald).

Rajul Jain (MA, University of Florida) is a PhD candidate in Public Relations at the University of Florida. Prior to coming to the United States in 2007, Rajul worked as a business analyst and communication coordinator at a multinational telecommunication firm in India. Rajul is a recipient of the 2011 Ketchum Excellence in Public Relations Research Award. She has several years of professional experience in corporate and nonprofit public relations, as well as teaching experience at the university level, which includes teaching public relations courses at DePaul University. Her research focus is on corporate and transnational public relations.

Pan Ji (PhD, University of South Carolina) is a postdoctoral research fellow at Nanyang Technological University (Singapore), his research interests relate to the effects and antecedents of mediated social connectivity, frame building within media organizations, as well as the behavioral or cognitive effects of media framing. Specifically, Ji examines the coverage of global events such as environmental crises, product safety issues or health perils, as well as the spread of related information and resources within established or emergent social networks. Current studies involve a social network analysis of blog hyperlink networks, framing of made-in-China products in Western media, and the impacts of SNS on job mobility and entrepreneurship among Singaporeans.

Hua Jiang (PhD, University of Maryland at College Park) is Assistant Professor at Towson University. She teaches both undergraduate and graduate public relations courses, including Principles of Strategic Public Relations and Integrated Communication, Public Relations and Integrated Communication Campaigns, Mass Communication Research, Theories of Public Relations and Organizational Communication, and Practice of Public Relations and Organizational Communication. Her research interests include work/life conflict issues in public relations, public relations leadership, relationship management, social media, public diplomacy, activism, and global public relations. Her work has been published or accepted to be published in peer-reviewed academic journals including Journal of Public Relations Research, Journal of Health Communication, Public Relations Review, Asian Journal of Communication, Public Relations Journal, Journal of Public Affairs, and Public Relations Inquiry. Dr. Jiang has also contributed book chapters to Handbook of communication and corporate reputation, Handbook of public diplomacy, and Gender and public relations: Critical perspectives on voice, image and identity.

Esben Karmark (PhD, Copenhagen Business School) is Associate Professor in the Department of Intercultural Communication and Management at Copenhagen Business School in Denmark. His research examines corporate communication, corporate branding (and particularly cultural dimensions and brand retail), organizational and corporate identity, and corporate culture. He has published his research and teaching cases in such edited books as Media, Organizations, and Identity and Corporate Branding Purpose/People/Process.

Robert Kerr (PhD, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) is Professor at the University of Oklahoma. His First Amendment research focuses on legal and public policy issues involved in maintaining a truly free marketplace of ideas for citizens in an age when corporate and government voices have grown more powerful than ever. He was the most honored participant over the past decade in national research competitions of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, a 2010 Musambira and Nesta study documented. In 2008, he was named a Presidential Professor by OU and the winner of the National Communication Association’s Franklyn S. Haiman Award for Distinguished Scholarship in Freedom of Expression. Kerr’s latest book – The Corporate Free-Speech Movement: Cognitive Feudalism and the Endangered Marketplace of Ideas – foreshadowed the recent economic crisis in global markets, as well as the 2010 US Supreme Court ruling in Citizens United v. FEC that removed virtually all limits on corporate spending in political campaigns.

Jeong-Nam Kim (PhD, University of Maryland at College Park) is Associate Professor in the Brian Lamb School of Communication at Purdue University. His research areas are strategic management of public relations, public behaviors, health/risk communication, and online and offline communicative actions among publics. Jeong-Nam and James Grunig of the University of Maryland developed a situational theory of problem solving (STOPS), a generalized version of the situational theory of publics. Currently, he is conducting research using the new situational theory in the areas of public relations, public opinion, and health, risk, and science communication.

Sookyong Kim (MS, Kansas State University) is a doctoral student in the Department of Advertising, Public Relations & Retailing at Michigan State University. She has worked as a research assistant at Michigan State University for the Advergame project funded by the National Institutes of Health. Sookyong’s work focuses mainly on food marketing to children, social marketing, deceptive product placement in media, and implications for public policy. She is currently teaching social marketing to undergraduate students at Michigan State University.

Yungwook Kim (PhD, University of Florida) is a Professor and Chair for School of Communication at Ewha Womans University, where he teaches crisis management and public relations. His current research focuses on the role of communication and culture in the context of crisis management and conflict resolution. He taught at Illinois State University prior to the current position. He was also a Fulbright Scholar at Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School. His research appears in the Journal of Public Relations Research, Public Relations Review, Cor­porate Communications: An International Journal, Journal of Promotion Management, Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly, Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media, Journal of Asia Pacific Communication, Journal of Business Ethics, and many other Korean scholarly journals. He wrote Korean books titled Understanding Crisis Management: Public Relationship and Crisis Communication; Public Relations Communication: Systems, Rhetorical and Critical Approaches; Risk, Crisis and Communication: Interpreting and Coping with Risks; Crises and Conflicts in Modern Society; and Nonprofit Communication: Communication Campaigns for the Powerless and Public Interest.

John C. Lammers (PhD, University of California, Davis) is Professor in the Department of Communication at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he directs the Health Communication Online Masters of Science Program. He teaches courses in organizational communication and communication in health organizations, professions, and policy. His recent scholarly work has focused on a formal theory of institutional influences on organizational communication. In particular, he has worked on a merger of the sociological tradition of studying institutions with the communication tradition of focusing on messages. This has resulted in a theory of institutional messages that may be applied in a variety of cases including corporate reputation, the social media environment of organizations, and interprofessional communication. Currently, he is studying the role of professionalism among first responders to disasters in the United States and the Netherlands.

Alexander V. Laskin (PhD, University of Flor­ida) is Associate Professor and director of graduate studies at the Department of Public Relations, Quinnipiac University. Laskin had most of his work experience in investor relations, international mergers and acquisitions, and marketing research. Today, Laskin’s academic research focuses on investor rela­tions, strategic corporate communications, social responsibility, and international communications. He is the author of two books and several book chapters. He also published his research in such journals as the Journal of Business Communication, Journal of Public Relations Research, Journal of Communica­tion Management, and others. His research on the value of investor relations was recognized by the Institute for Public Relations with 2006 Ketchum Excellence in Public Relations Research Award.

Shirley Leitch (PhD, University of Auckland) leads the Socially Sustainable Technology Flagship within the Swinburne University Institute of Social Research. Prior to joining Swinburne, she was dean of commerce at the University of Wollongong, served as pro vice-chancellor of Public Affairs at the University of Waikato and held a personal chair in corporate communication. Professor Leitch is an A-ranked scholar under the New Zealand PBRF research assessment system. Professor Leitch is a member of research teams that have received over $4 million in national competitive grants. With over 100 publications to her name, her work appears in the European Journal of Marketing, Journal of Management Studies, Organization Studies, Human Relations, Discourse Studies, Public Relations Review, Science and Public Policy, Australian Journal of Communication, International Studies in Management and Organization, and Journal of Brand Management, among others. Her research is focused on public discourse and change, including science–society engagement in relation to controversial science.

Paul S. Lieber (PhD, Louisiana State University) recently served as the strategic communications advisor to Special Operations Command – Australia, preceded by stints as the command writer for US Special Operations Command, head of information operations research for US Central Command, and on the faculties of the University of Canberra (Australia), the University of South Carolina (US), and Emerson College (US), respectively. Paul’s widely published research emphasis mirrors his several years of professional practice in global strategic communication, centered on creating valid, predictive models of persuasion within interactive and/or advanced technology environments.

Vilma Luoma-aho (PhD, University of Jyväskylä, Finland) is a researcher and scientific director of the research project What Is Expected of the Media at the Department of Communication at the University of Jyvaskyla, Finland. Her research has been published in Public Relations Review, Corporate Reputation Review, Corporate Communications: An International Journal, Business History, Business Ethics: A European Review, The International Journal of Public Sector Management, Ethical Space: The International Journal of Commu­nication Ethics, and Innovation Journalism. Luoma-aho serves as the secretary of the Strategic Communication – division of Nord Media.

Jarol B. Manheim (PhD, Northwestern University) is Emeritus Professor of Media and Public Affairs and of Political Science at The George Washington University, where he developed the world’s first degree-granting curriculum in political communication and later served as the founding director of the School of Media and Public Affairs. In addition to numerous books, his research has been published in the American Political Science Review, British Journal of Political Science, International Journal of Press/Politics, International Public Relations Review, Journal of Politics, Journal of Communication, Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly, Political Communication, Presidential Studies Quarterly, and Public Relations Review, and he has served in editorial positions or on the editorial boards of International Journal of Press/Politics, Journal of Politics, Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly, Policy Studies Journal, and Political Communication. Manheim chaired the committees that founded the journal Political Communication, and later served as chair of the Political Communication Section of the American Political Science Association. He was named 1995 CASE/Carnegie District of Columbia Professor of the Year; his work has also been awarded the Donald McGannon Research Essay Award for Social and Ethical Relevance in Communication Policy and the American Library Association’s Outstanding Reference Source of the Year.

Tina McCorkindale (PhD, University of Miami) is an Assistant Professor of Public Relations at Appalachian State University. Her research has been published in the Public Relations Review, Journal of New Communications Research, Public Relations Journal, Journal of Hospitality and Leisure Marketing, Feedback, and in several books. McCorkindale serves as the chair for the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) Educators Academy, co-chair of PRSA’s National Research Committee, a board member for the International Public Relations Research Conference, and an associate editor for the Social Science of Social Media Research Center. Her research focuses on social media, including transparency and authenticity, and measurement.

Linjuan Rita Men (PhD, University of Miami) is Assistant Professor at Southern Methodist University. Rita’s research interests include reputation management, employee engagement, and social media public relations. Rita’s work has appeared in refereed journals of the Public Relations Review, International Journal of Strategic Communication, Public Relations Journal, and Journal of Research in Interactive Marketing. She also coauthored book chapters in the IABC Handbook of Organizational Communication (second edition) and New Media and Public Relations (second edition). Rita won the Ketchum Excellence in Public Relations Research Award from the Institute for Public Relations in 2010 and Top Student Paper Award in the Public Relations Division of ICA in 2011. Rita’s professional experience includes corporate communication (Alibaba Group, Inc.), marketing campaign planning (L’Oreal, Inc.), and public relations research (Ketchum, Inc.). Rita is the former coordinator of the International Public Relations Research Conference.

Juan Meng (PhD, University of Alabama) is currently Assistant Professor in Public Relations in the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Georgia. Meng’s current research interests include the quantitative measurement of strategic leadership in public relations, the theory development in the field of public relations leadership, the combined use of qualitative and quantitative methods to study participation in leadership development process from an international perspective, and multinational corporates’ reputation and knowledge management strategies in emerging markets. Her most recent publications appear in Public Relations Review, Journal of Public Relations Research, Public Relations Journal, Journal of World Business, Journal of Promotion Management, Journal of Communication Management, China Media Research, and Social Science Journal. She teaches PR courses at both undergraduate and graduate levels at the University of Georgia.

Liz Merlot (PhD, Monash University) is Senior Research Assistant to Professor Leitch at the Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne, Australia. Merlot has published in the International Journal of Human Resource Development Management and The International Journal of Human Resource Management. Her research has focused on strategic international human resource management, international nongovernmental organizations, the experience of higher degree research students, and more recently, issues around productivity, science policy, and discourse.

Rahul Mitra (MA, Bowling Green State University) is a doctoral candidate and Alan H. Monroe Graduate Scholar at the Brian Lamb School of Communication, Purdue University. His research has been published in the Public Relations Review, Journal of Business Ethics, Journal of Business Communication, Journal of International and Intercultural Commu­nication, Journal of Research Practice, Com­munication, Culture & Critique, Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, and Journal of Communication Inquiry. Mitra serves as the student board member of the International Communication Association.

Juan-Carlos Molleda (PhD, University of South Carolina) is Professor and Director of Global Strategic Communication of the Department of Public Relations, University of Florida’s College of Journalism and Communications. He is a founding member of the Institute for Public Relations’ Commission on Global Public Relations Research, 2012–2013 chair of the International Communication Association’s Public Relations Division, and coordinator of the PR Landscape Project of the Global Alliance for Public Relations and Communication Management. Molleda’s research interests are in global corporate public relations; professionalism and social roles in Latin America; transnational crises; and the interplay among identity, authenticity, and reputation in a strategic communication environment.

Judy Motion (PhD, University of Waikato) is a member of the Journalism and Media Research Centre at the University of New South Wales (UNSW), Sydney, Australia. Professor Motion has written extensively on the power of public relations, public engagement processes, and branding. Funded research grants include leadership of a New Zealand research project titled Socially and Culturally Sustainable Biotechnology and membership of research projects titled Building our Productivity: Unders­tanding Sustainable Collective Productivity and National Demonstration Education and Engagement Program. Professor Motion’s work has been published in numerous journals including Public Relations Review, Journal of Public Relations Research, Media, Culture & Society, Organization Studies, Journal of Business Research, European Journal of Marketing, Public Understanding of Science, and Political Communication. She has contributed chapters to the SAGE Handbook of Public Relations, The Global Handbook of Public Relations, and The Encyclopedia of Public Relations.

Priscilla Murphy (PhD, Brown University) is Professor Emerita of Strategic Communication at Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Her work has appeared in the Journal of Public Relations Research; Public Relations Review; Chinese Journal of Communication; International Communication Gazette; Health Communication, Science, Technology & Human Values; Science Communication; Journal of Communication Management; Canadian Jour­nal of Communication; and Journal of Applied Communication Research. She is coauthor, with Dawn R. Gilpin, of Crisis Management in a Complex World (Oxford University Press, 2008). She has served on the editorial board of the Journal of Public Relations Research, Public Relations Review, International Journal of Strategic Communication, and Communication Quarterly.

James S. O’Rourke (PhD, Syracuse University) teaches management and corporate communication at the University of Notre Dame, where he is a teaching professor of management and the Arthur F. and Mary J. O’Neil Director of the Eugene D. Fanning Center for Business Communication. He is the author of numerous books, including Management Communication: A Case Analysis Approach, now in its fifth edition from Prentice-Hall, as well as The Truth about Confident Presenting from the Financial Times, and Effective Communication from Dorling Kindersley. He is the principal author or directing editor of more than 250 management and corporate communication case studies. O’Rourke is a trustee of both the Arthur W. Page Society and the Institute for Public Relations. He is a member of the Reputation Institute, and the Management Communication Association, and a regular consultant to Fortune 500 and midsize businesses throughout North America.

Josef Pallas (PhD, Uppsala University) is lecturer and researcher in the Department of Business Studies and the Department of Informatics and Media at Uppsala University. His research focuses mainly on the increased mediatization of the Western economy and the implications this has for the way modern organizations are governed. He is coauthor and coeditor of a number of books/book chapters as well as of journal articles and reports dealing with the topics of mediatization, corporate communications, and corporate governance.

Justin E. Pettigrew (MA, University of Georgia) is a former communications executive with 12 years of experience in both corporate and agency public relations. His corporate experience includes work for Turner Broadcasting Inc., The Weather Channel, The Travel Channel, and Landmark Communications. His work at Hill & Knowlton, Inc., a leading international communications consultancy, included clients such as Dornier Medical Systems, Inc., The Smithsonian Museum, Johnson & Johnson, and HP China. His research has been published in the Journal of Public Relations Research and Public Relations Review. He is currently a doctoral student in the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Georgia.

Magda Pieczka (PhD, Stirling University) is reader in public relations at Queen Margaret University in Edinburgh, Scotland. She is a joint coordinator of the QMUCentre for Dialogue. Magda’s research interests are focused on professionalization of public relations and, more broadly, communication management. She has written about public relations theory, PR consultancy industry in the United Kingdom, professional narratives in public relations, as well as the use of dialog and deliberation in science communication and public policy making. Magda is a coeditor of Journal of Communication Management, European editor of Public Relations Inquiry, and a member of the editorial board of Journal of Public Relations Research.

Matthew W. Ragas (PhD, University of Florida) is an Assistant Professor of Public Relations in the College of Communication at DePaul University in Chicago. His research has been published in Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, Mass Communication & Society, Public Relations Review, International Journal of Strategic Communication, and Web Journal of Mass Communication Research. Ragas is a recipient of the Nafziger-White-Salwen Dissertation Award from the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication.

Bryan H. Reber (PhD, University of Missouri, Columbia) is Associate Professor in the Department of Advertising and Public Relations, Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication, at the University of Georgia. His research has been published in the International Journal of Strategic Communication, Journal of Advertising Education, Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media, Journal of Communication Management, Journal of Public Relations Research, Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly, and Public Relations Review. He is the coauthor of Gaining Influence in Public Relations: The Role of Resistance in Practice, THINK Public Relations 2e, and Public Relations Writing and Media Techniques 7e. He serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Public Relations Research.

Robyn Remke (PhD, Purdue University) is an Associate Professor in the Department of Intercultural Communication and Management and the codirector of the EngAGE (Engaged, Applied, Global Education) Program at the Copenhagen Business School. Motivated by questions of social and organizational injustice and discrimination, her research uses a critical/feminist lens to explore the gendered nature of organizations and organizing. Her research focuses on the ways in which organizational members embody organizational practices such as leadership, diversity management programs, and parental leave policies through commu­nication. In addition, she studies alternative forms of workplace organizational structures and gendered identity in the workplace. Robyn has published journal articles in Communication Studies and Communication Monographs, and is a coauthor of several book chapters on leadership and dissent, applied communication, and diversity. Robyn is also the president of the Organization for the Study of Communication, Language & Gender.

Nora J. Rifon (PhD, City University of New York) is a Professor in the Department of Advertising, Public Relations & Retailing at Michigan State University, and director of the Children’s Central Research Collaborative. Professor Rifon uses cognitive processing paradigms to study consumer response to marketing communications. Her work focuses on cause-related sponsorships, the effectiveness of celebrity endorsers, consumer online privacy, food marketing, and public policy. Her research has been published in marketing, advertising, communication, computer science, and public policy journals, and has been funded by the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, Microsoft Research, and other foundations. She has served as consultant to industry and government including the Michigan Attorney General’s Office and the Department of Information Technology. Professor Rifon recently edited a special issue of The Journal of Advertising and serves on several editorial review boards. She lives in Okemos, Michigan, with her daughter Zoe.

Stefania Romenti (PhD, IULM University) is an Assistant Professor of Public Relations and Corporate Communication at IULM University (Milan, Italy) and Vice-Director of the Executive Master in Corporate Public Relations (IULM University). She teaches public relations at IULM University. She is also part of the teaching research commission of the PhD program on corporate communication at IULM University. Dr. Romenti centers her research on strategic communication, the influence of communication on corporate reputation, stakeholder management and engagement, dialogue, social media, measurement and evaluation. She published various academic articles in inter­national journals on previous themes for International Journal of Strategic Communication, Journal of Communication Management, Corporate Communication: an International Jour­nal, Public Relations Review, Sloan Management Review. She works as reviewer for the international journals Corporate Communication: an International Journal (Emerald) and International Journal of Strategic Communication, as well as for international conferences such as Euprera Annual Congress and The Annual Con­ference on Public Relations History.

Friederike Schultz (PhD, Free University, Berlin) is Assistant Professor in Organizational Communication and New Media at the Department for Communication Science at Free University of Amsterdam. She did her PhD (Dr.) at Free University Berlin and has been working as visiting scholar, lecturer, and assistant at several Europen universities (Cambridge, St. Gallen, Nottingham, Moscow). Her research has been published in the Journal of Management Studies, Public Relations Review, and Corporate Communication: An International Journal. She serves on the editorial board of Corporate Communications: An International Journal (CCIJ) and is coeditor of the Special Issue on CSR Communication in CCIJ in 2012 and a Special Issue on Responsible Business in the Blogosphere in Journal of Business Ethics. Schultz is the Secretary of the International Communication Association’s Public Relations division.

Craig R. Scott (PhD, Arizona State University) is an Associate Professor of Communi­cation in the School of Communication & Information at Rutgers University. His research examines anonymity and identification in organizational and mediated communication contexts. His work related to anonymous communication specifically has been published in Communication Theory, Management Communication Quarterly, Journal of Com­puter-Mediated Communication, Journal of Applied Communication Research, Communication Yearbook, Western Journal of Communication, Communication Quarterly, and Free Speech Yearbook. Portions of this chapter are drawn from his forthcoming book Anonymous Agencies, Backstreet Businesses, and Covert Collectives: Rethinking Organizations in the 21st Century (Stanford University Press). Scott is vice chair of the Organizational Communication Division of the International Communication Association and is also a member of the National Communication Association and the Academy of Management.

Timothy L. Sellnow (PhD, Wayne State University) is Professor of Communication and Associate Dean for graduate programs in communication at the University of Kentucky. His primary research and teaching focus is on risk and crisis communication. Much of his recent research focuses on strategic communication for mitigating the impact of and maintaining resilience in response to potential terrorist attacks in the United States. He has coauthored four books and published many refereed journal articles focusing on strategies for effective risk and crisis communication. He currently serves as theme leader for the risk communication research team at the National Center for Food Protection and Defense, a Center of Excellence sponsored by the Department of Homeland Security. He has also served on several occasions as a risk and crisis communication consultant for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Karen Smreker (MA, Michigan State University) a second year student in the Media and Information Studies Doctoral program at Michigan State University. She received a small grant from MSU’s Children’s Central, in conjunction with Michigan’s Children’s Trust Fund, to conduct research on cyberbullying. Last year, she was a research assistant on a grant funded by the National Institute of Health examining Advergames influence on children. She is now working as a teaching assistant and hopes to receive her PhD in Public Relations in 2014. Karen currently resides in East Lansing.

Peter M. Smudde (PhD, Wayne State University) is APR and Associate Professor of communication and public relations program coordinator at Illinois State University. He has published the books Public Relations as Dramatistic Organizing (2011) and Humanistic Critique of Education (2010). He has also published many articles, several with coauthor Dr. Jeffrey L. Courtright. With Dr. Courtright, he has published the books Inspiring Cooperation and Celebrating Organizations (2012) and Power and Public Relations (2007). His industry experience includes leading, planning, writing, editing, and evaluating a full range of public relations, marketing, executive, and technical communications for companies of various sizes and in many industries. He has held an executive-level position in public relations; worked in corporate, agency, and entrepreneurial enterprises; and has served numerous clients through his own consulting practice.

Don W. Stacks (PhD, University of Florida) has earned numerous academic and professional awards for teaching and research, including Professor of the Year and Provost’s Award for Scholarly Activity. His professional recognitions include the Pathfinder Award for programmatic research, the Jackson Jackson and Wagner Award for applied research, and the Public Relations Society of America’s Educator of the Year award. He has received the NCA’s PRIDE Award for best textbook of the year twice. His background is based primarily in corporate/governmental public relations and consulting. He has authored or edited numerous books, book chapters, and articles. His most recent works are in the area of public relations measurement and evaluation and include the Primer of Public Relations Research, second edition (Guilford Press), the Dictionary of Public Relations Research, Measurement, and Evaluation (Institute for Public Relations), and several articles in Public Relations Journal.

Cees B.M. van Riel (PhD, Erasmus University) is Professor of Corporate Communication at the Rotterdam School of Management/Erasmus University and is the vice chairman and cofounder of the Reputation Institute. Cees van Riel has published articles in Academy of Management Journal, Long Range Planning, Journal of Management Studies, and Journal of Marketing, and 10 books. His best known books are Principles of Corporate Commu­nication (1996), Fame & Fortune (2004), and Essentials of Corporate Communication (2006). His most recent book is The Align­ment Factor. Leveraging Total Stakeholder Support (2012) , was published in four different languages.

Sarah VanSlette (PhD, Purdue University) is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Speech Communication at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. VanSlette’s research focuses on communication of controversy or problematic PR, and she approaches her study of public relations and strategic communication from a rhetorical perspective.

Richard J. Varey (PhD, Manchester School of Management) is Professor of Marketing at The Waikato Management School, University of Waikato, New Zealand. His scholarly project is Marketing in and for sustainable society, including Society and Marketing, Relationship Marketing, and 21st Century Marketing Interaction. He coedited (with Professor Barbara Lewis) Internal Marketing: Directions for Management (Routledge, 2000) and authored Marketing Communication: Principles and Practice (Routledge, 2002) and Relationship Marketing: Dialogue and Networks in the E-Commerce Era (Wiley, 2002). He has published conceptual and review articles widely in international research journals. He is an editorial board member for a number of specialist journals and associate editor (Asia-Pacific) of the Journal of Customer Behaviour and founding member of the Editorial Advisory Board and Book Reviews Editor for Social Business. He is a member of the expert panel of TechCast, the virtual technology forecasting think tank.

Shari R. Veil (PhD, North Dakota State University) is Director of the Division of Risk Sciences and Assistant Professor of Communication at the University of Kentucky where she coordinates research, funding, education, and training programs specific to risk and crisis communication and teaches courses in risk and crisis, organizational, and mass communi­cation. Her research interests include organi­zational learning in high-risk environments, community preparedness, and communication strategies for crisis management. Her research has been funded by the United States Department of Agriculture, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Department of Homeland Security’s National Center for Food Protection and Defense and National Center for Risk and Economic Analysis of Terrorism Events.

Damion Waymer (PhD, Purdue University) is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication at Virginia Tech, where he teaches public relations, issues management, public relations campaigns, and organizational communication. His research uses issues management, public relations theory, and organi­zational rhetoric to explore issues of diversity in general and issues of race, class, and gender specifically. Representative works have been published in outlets such as the Journal of Applied Communication Research, Management Communication Quarterly, Public Relations Review, Journal of Public Relations Research, Communication Quarterly, and Journal of Com­munication Inquiry.

Jungeun Yang (PhD, Ewha Womans University, 2012) is a lecturer and researcher for School of Communication at Ewha Womans University. Her research focuses on the influence of culture on Koreans’ communication, especially in the context of conflict resolution. Also, she worked as a public relations practitioner at InComm Brodeur. Her publications include The influence of Chemyon on facework and conflict styles, The impact of cultural variables and third-party mediation on conflict resolution, and The effect of cultural predictors on perceived ethicality of negotiation behavior.

Sung-Un Yang (PhD, University of Maryland) is Associate Professor at School of Journalism, Indiana University Bloomington. Dr. Yang’s research focuses on organization–public relationship management; organization/country reputation management; and social media and communication effectiveness. Dr. Yang authored or coauthored numerous articles in leading refereed journals including Communication Research, Journal of Public Relations Research, Public Relations Review, Corporate Reputation Review, Jour­nal of Communication Management, Public Relations Journal, Higher Education, and Journal of Marketing in Higher Education, among others.

Theodore E. Zorn (PhD, University of Kentucky) is Pro Vice-Chancellor and Dean of the College of Business at Massey University in New Zealand. His teaching and research interests are organi­zational change processes, especially change-related communication and change discourses. Ted is the chair of the Organizational Commu­nication Division of the International Com­munication Association (ICA), past editor of Management Communication Quarterly, and the 2006 recipient of ICA’s Frederic Jablin Award for Outstanding Contribution to Organizational Communication. He has published more than 80 books, articles, and chapters, including recent articles in Human Communication Research, Communication Yearbook, Public Understanding of Science, Journal of Applied Communication Research, Management Communication Quarterly, New Media & Society, and Media, Culture & Society. He is also coauthor of the textbook Organizational Communication in an Age of Globalization, now in its second edition.

Acknowledgments

What an exciting project this was! It all started with a short meeting with Wiley-Blackwell senior editor Elizabeth Swayze in Singapore when we were at the annual meeting of the International Communication Association. Eliza­beth demonstrated a perceptive ear and eye and immediately saw the value in the project.

The people writing the chapters for this project made this handbook such a valuable contribution to the field. With 36 hours of meeting with Elizabeth, most of the contributors of this book, who were present at the conference, signed on. They are dedicated scholars, kind and compassionate people, and fun people to be around. I appreciate their belief in the project, the speed at which they said yes to participating, the work they did, and their flexibility, patience, and accommodation they demonstrated in bringing this project to fruition. I also appreciate the eleventh hour contributors who helped round out our book to make it complete and an even stronger collection of essays. That they came through under such compressed time has my deepest respect and appreciation.

Each and every member of this handbook has earned a special place in my heart. They deserve to be mentioned by name. They are, in order of chapters Cees van Riel, Sherry Holladay, Robyn Remke, Nora Rifon, Karen Smreker, Sookyong Kim, Peggy Brønn, Judy Motion, Sally Davenport, Shirley Leitch, Liz Merlot, James O’Rourke IV, Anne Gregory, Clarke Caywood, Richard Varey, Susan Westcott Alessandri, Karla Gower, Mattew Ragas, Priscilla Murphy, Dawn Gilpin, Stefani Romenti, Laura Illia, Jeong-Nam Kim, Chun-ju Flora Hung-Baesecke, Sung-Un Yang, Jim Grunig, William Benoit, John Lammers, Kristen Guth, Timothy Sellnow, Shari Veil, Kathryn Anthony, Øyvind Ihlen, Timothy Coombs, Vilma Luoma-aho, Sabine Einwiller, Juan Meng, Bruce Berger, Hua Jiang, Justin Pettigrew, Bryan Reber, Pan Ji, Paul Lieber, Friederike Schultz, Alexander Laskin, Bob Heath, Peter Smudde, Jeffrey L. Courtright, Jarol Manheim, Alex Holt, Juan-Carlos Molleda, Rajul Jain, Esben Karmark, Robert Kerr, Damion Waymer, Sarah VanSlette, Rahul Mitra, Mohan Dutta, Robert Green, Tina McCorkindale, Marcia DiStaso, Magda Pieczka, Ted Zorn, Jennifer Bartlett, Josef Pallas, Magnus Frostenson, Craig Scott, Don Stacks, Melissa Dodd, Linjuan Rita Men, Yungwook Kim, and Jungeun Yang.

In addition to Elizabeth, Julia Kirk’s time, energy, responsiveness, gentleness, and attention to detail helped bring this volume together. Caitlin Selle served as an editorial assistant and provided diligence, conscientiousness, focus, speed, and responsiveness making the coordination and orchestration of such a large global project an expedited and pleasurable one! She has a bright future ahead of her. Aileen Castell and Wesley Weed provided attention to detail and a close reading of the text, helping to make it a stronger volume.

At New York University’s Stern School of Business, Irv Schenkler has been a fantastic host and colleague. I’m grateful for Irv making the time, space, and resources available for me to concentrate on this handbook. At the Reputation Institute, I am grateful to Charles Fombrun, Seth Kerker and Cees van Riel.

I am blessed by a number of mentors who have shaped me in various ways over the years: George Cheney, Rod Hart, Cees van Riel, Charles Fombrun, Stephen Greyser, Felix Gutierrez, Max McCombs, Donald Shaw and Lamar Reinsch. Twenty years later, Buddy Goodall (who recently passed away) and Eric Eisenberg still inspire me with their original creativity, ingenuity, and most importantly, their friendliness, accessibility, and willingness to engage a young graduate student that first got me started down this path. Sandy Green has been a faithful friend and trusted colleague over the years. He is a constant and daily source of inspiration, radical ideas, and social support. Sandy has my deepest respect for his character, his relentless pursuit of knowledge, wisdom, and excellence, and his devotion to family and friends, and to living a balanced and full life. Nell Huang-Horowitz and Sun Young Lee deserve special mention for their friendship, collaboration, and insights over the years.

In Nashville and New York, I have found a special place and good mixture of thought leaders, experienced professionals, and colleagues: Amber Beckham, Geneva Brignolo, Beth Curley, Julie Davis, Marcia Dawkins, Stan Knott, Heather McDonald, Kay McDowell, Kimberly Pace, Gene Policinski, Bonnie Riechert, Vic Rivera, Irv Schenkler, Amy Seigenthaler, John Seigenthaler, Sr., Debbie Turner, Steve Tippens, Doreen Wade, and Tim Webb for making Nashville, Tennessee, the town I now call home, a joyous place to be. Thank you for your friendship, counsel, example, inspiration, and camaraderie. I am particularly indebted to to Daniel LeBreton from Peter Rock Consulting and Julie Davis for their valuable insights and counsel.

Out-of-town and out-of-the-country sources of support and inspiration deserving special mention during the completion of this project include Alan Kelly, Reid Walker, Sixtus Oechsle, Stephen Greyser, Elliot Schreiber, Rod Hart, Donald Shaw, Laura Illia, Friederike Schultz, Sabine Einwiller, Peter Kowalski, and Spiro Kiousis.

And finally, to mom, dad, and the fam. In the words of poet Gary Morris, We may no longer live in the same house, but you’re always in my heart. Thank you for home.

1

Corporate Reputation and the Multi-Disciplinary Field of Communication

Craig E. Carroll

New York University, USA

Corporate reputation’s development as a concept has been an interesting one to follow. Compared to most other communication concepts I am familiar with, it is one whose entry into the field began around the same time I was preparing to begin graduate work. Most of the other concepts I have enjoyed thinking about (organizational identity and identification, for instance) have rich histories with scholars and research that predate my time in the field.

When I was in high school and college, I enjoyed reading business histories and business reference books on organizational leadership and the best companies to work for. Peters and Waterman’s (1982) In Search of Excellence and Deal and Kennedy’s (1982) Corporate Culture were some of the early ones, and they happened to lead me into the study of organizational communication as an undergraduate. I also read various reference books on the best companies to work for so I could know where to look when pursuing summer internships, and I was fascinated by biographies written by company founders, entrepreneurs, and CEOs. Later in my career, I had the opportunity to work with business historian