Indiantelevision.com Team

(25 Janiary 2008 3:00 pm)

MUMBAI:A new study conducted by global executive search firm Spencer Stuart and global public relations firm Weber Shandwick with KRC Research identifies a strong correlation between a company's corporate communications organisation and the company's ranking on Fortune magazine's "World's Most Admired Companies" list.

The survey, The Rising CCO finds that the professional background, communications priorities and inter-organisational relationships of the chief communications officer (CCO) are meaningful indicators of the ability of a corporate communications organisation to make a positive impact on a company's reputation.

The survey compares responses from communications officers in the "world's most admired companies" with those in "contender companies." The 141 survey participants were top corporate communications executives from Fortune 500 companies in the US and Europe.

"In a fast-paced and dynamic business environment, communications officers are increasingly seen as a business partner for the CEO and leadership team in the stewardship of a company's reputation," said Spencer Stuart's corporate communications practice leader George Jamison. "CCOs are expected to create value and mitigate risks for the corporation by developing innovative strategies to proactively communicate with a company's myriad stakeholders."

The study also finds that communications executives in the world's most highly regarded companies have more prominent organisational status and longer tenures than their counterparts in contender companies. Additionally, approximately one-third of CCOs from the most admired companies cite corporate reputation as their number one priority for 2008, compared to fewer than one-quarter of CCOs from contender companies. During the survey, contender company communications executives said they were spending more time working on product-related issues and crisis communications, while most admired CCOs said they spent more time on corporate social responsibility and building corporate reputation.

"Our research identifies how the corporate communications function can be a critical force in driving a company's reputation in good times and bad," said Weber Shandwick's chief reputation strategist and leading corporate and CEO reputation expert Dr Leslie Gaines-Ross. "With the right organisational structure and partnership at the top, the best CCOs can significantly contribute to building shareholder value and corporate reputation."

Other key findings of the study include

• CCOs' responsibilities will increasingly shift from tactical to strategic
• CCOs hold prominent positions at the world's largest companies
• CCOs and chief marketing officers (CMOs) are friends and rivals
• Measurement of CCO effectiveness is predominately qualitative.