Communications Expertise Neglected in Boardroom; Few Global 500 Companies Have Corporate Communications Expertise on Boards.NEW YORK New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of -- At a time when publicly traded companies publicly traded company A company whose shares of common stock are held by the public and are available for purchase by investors. The shares of publicly traded firms are bought and sold on the organized exchanges or in the over-the-counter market. and their CEOs are under increased public scrutiny, the need for strategic, credible and straightforward communications has never been stronger. However, a new study reveals that only 15 percent of the largest revenue-producing Global 500 companies have corporate communications Corporate communications is the process of facilitating information and knowledge exchanges with internal and key external groups and individuals that have a direct relationship with an enterprise. expertise in boardrooms.(1) The research, released today by global public relations public relations, activities and policies used to create public interest in a person, idea, product, institution, or business establishment. By its nature, public relations is devoted to serving particular interests by presenting them to the public in the most and communications consultancy Burson-Marsteller, also found that having boardroom-level communications expertise yields tangible business results. According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. the research, Global 500 companies with communications experts on their boards generally produce superior stock-market returns. In a five-year period from 1999 to 2004, companies with resident board communications expertise delivered returns of 6.6 percent per year above stock-market averages. The 6.6 percent per year in additional returns is highly significant when compared to average S&P 500 companies' return of -2.3 percent per year in the same five-year period, ending in 2004. On a regional basis, the research showed that Global 500 companies in North America North America, third largest continent (1990 est. pop. 365,000,000), c.9,400,000 sq mi (24,346,000 sq km), the northern of the two continents of the Western Hemisphere. , Europe and Asia-Pacific do not differ significantly in their likelihood of having boardroom members with communications expertise.* "As boardrooms are being held accountable for corporate behavior and commitment to act in the public interest, there is an increasing need for public relations input in policy-making pol·i·cy·mak·ing or pol·i·cy-mak·ing n. High-level development of policy, especially official government policy. adj. Of, relating to, or involving the making of high-level policy: decisions," said Dr. Leslie Gaines-Ross, Burson-Marsteller's chief knowledge and research officer worldwide. "Informed board counsel on internal and external communications is essential - it's critical for safeguarding reputation and the bottom line." Communicators on Senior Management Teams Although Burson-Marsteller's research found that 85 percent of the world's largest global companies lack in-depth communications guidance among independent board members, it did find that a large number (81 percent) of these leading companies include corporate communications executives on their senior management teams. "There's no doubt that senior communications executives now have a seat at the top management table - the place where policy decisions are made," said Pat Ford, chair of Burson-Marsteller's Global Corporate/Financial Practice. However, Global 500 companies in Asia-Pacific (50 percent) are less likely to have communications expertise on their executive management teams than their North American North American named after North America. North American blastomycosis see North American blastomycosis. North American cattle tick see boophilusannulatus. (92 percent) and European (81 percent) counterparts. "As boards provide more rigorous oversight regarding the rise and fall of company reputations, communications input needs to happen at the highest level. It can't be an after-thought once key business decisions are made and issues make headlines," said Ford. "As guardians of shareholder value, board members need to evaluate the context of business decisions, be prepared to counsel executives on communications and guide the company to achieve the highest credibility standards."
Communications Gap
Communication Communication
Expertise Expertise
on Boardrooms in Executive
Management Team
TOTAL (All Fortune Global 500
companies**) 15% 81%
North America 16% 92%
Europe 12% 81%
Asia-Pacific 15% 50%
* Latin American companies were included in this Global 500
analysis; however, the sample size is too small to draw meaningful
conclusions.
** Fortune, July 26, 2004
(1)Research Definitions Expertise in corporate communications is defined in this research as a specialist who currently holds - or in a previous position held - responsibility for a company's external, government, public affairs Those public information, command information, and community relations activities directed toward both the external and internal publics with interest in the Department of Defense. Also called PA. See also command information; community relations; public information. or press relations. The research is based on an analysis of all Fortune Global 500 companies that release board-member biographical bi·o·graph·i·cal also bi·o·graph·ic adj. 1. Containing, consisting of, or relating to the facts or events in a person's life. 2. Of or relating to biography as a literary form. information. Public information on those companies varies widely depending on corporate policy and country. Results are based on the number of companies that made the information available. About Burson-Marsteller Burson-Marsteller (www.bm.com), established in 1953, is a leading global public relations and public affairs firm. It provides clients with strategic thinking and program execution across a full range of public relations, public affairs, advertising, and web-related services. The firm's seamless worldwide network consists of 45 wholly owned offices and 49 affiliate offices, together operating in 57 countries across six continents Six Continents is a large retail PLC in UK which split into Six Continents Retail known as Mitchells and Butlers plc. The hotels and soft drinks business of Six Continents PLC is now known as InterContinental Hotels Group PLC. . Burson-Marsteller is a part of Young & Rubicam Brands, a subsidiary of WPP Group WPP Group plc (LSE: WPP) (NASDAQ: WPPGY), based in London, United Kingdom, is one of the world's largest communications services groups (and one of the big six advertising holding companies, the others being Omnicom, Interpublic, Publicis, Dentsu and Havas) employing plc (NASDAQ NASDAQ in full National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations U.S. market for over-the-counter securities. Established in 1971 by the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD), NASDAQ is an automated quotation system that reports on : WPPGY), one of the world's leading communications services networks. |
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