Corporate Communication Strategy: Applying Theory to Practice at Dow Corning
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Volume 1 Number 3
Corporate Communication Strategy: Applying Theory to Practice at Dow Corning Paul A. Argenti, Amos Tuck School of Business Administration, Dartmouth College
ABSTRACT This article examines the Dow Corning breast implant controversy in the context of a theoretical corporate communication framework. It begins with a discussion of relevant theoretical constructs for corporate communication strategy. It then presents a chronology of the controversy, based on field interviews and an exhaustive survey of relevant media coverage. The article concludes with insights about how corporate communication strategy has enabled Dow Corning to deal effectively with its ongoing reputational and financial crisis. INTRODUCTION Many people are familiar with the controversy over breast implants that has swirled around Dow Corning. However, few have had the opportunity to examine the company’s communication strategy and structure and its ability to deal with the controversy. This article begins by describing a conceptual framework for dealing with strategic issues such as Dow Corning’s. I then describe our research approach and provide a detailed overview of the case. I conclude by extracting some of the lessons learned and suggest avenues for further research.
Corporate Reputation Review, Vol. 1, No. 3, 1998, pp. 234–249 # Henry Stewart Publications, 1363–3589
Page 234
COMMUNICATING STRATEGICALLY Most of the theories people think about today in terms of communication are based on notions that are as old as language itself and the beginnings of social and political life. In ancient Greece, the subject now
referred to as ‘communication’ was known as rhetoric, using language to persuade the listener. Practising the art of rhetoric was highly regarded by the Greeks. Aristotle, who lived and studied under Plato and taught in Athens from 367–347 BC, is closely associated with the development of the art of rhetoric. In one of his major works, ‘The Art of Rhetoric’ (1982), we can find the roots of modern communication theory. Early in that seminal text, Aristotle defines the composition of every speech: . . . every speech is composed of three parts: the speaker, the subject of which he treats, and the person to whom it is addressed, I mean the hearer, to whom the end or object of the speech refers.’ Assessing the communicating organization Munter (1997) extends Aristotle’s threepart breakdown to all management communications, both written and oral. She widens his notion of ‘the speaker’ to include both writer and speaker, and describes the ‘hearer’ as the ‘audience’, in which she includes both readers and listeners. Munter also adds the notion of ‘channel choice’ or ‘medium’ (for instance, email versus telephone) and the ‘cultural context’ to her model, presented in Figure 1. Whether an organization is trying to develop a coherent image of itself through corporate advertising, to communicate effectively with employees about health
Argenti
Munter’s (1997) Communication Strategy Model
benefits, to convince shareholders
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