Ángeles Moreno

Communicating CSR, citizenship and sustainability on the web

Purpose – The aim of this study is to deepen the understanding of corporate web sites – of which corporate social responsibility, corporate citizenship and sustainable development (CSR/CC/SD) issues are included – which stakeholders are privileged, and which mechanisms of inner and outer control are referred to in these web sites.Design/methodology/approach – A specific tool was developed to monitor the treatment of CSR/CC/SD issues on corporate web sites. Content analysis was applied to the complete spectrum of enterprises within the IBEX‐35, which is the selective index of the Spanish Stock Exchange.Findings – The research reported herein shows that the web has become an essential instrument for the communication of CSR/CC/SD issues, although its use is limited to certain content. There is also a disparity between the volume of information and its dispersion; communication is primarily unidirectional/expositive; and companies do not sufficiently use eternal criteria to guarantee the corporate behaviour ...

Communicating corporate responsibility through corporate web sites in Spain

Purpose – The main objective of this study is to examine the presence and organization of information on corporate responsibility that is on the corporate web sites of companies that belong to the index of the Spanish stock market.Design/methodology/approach – The authors have designed a specific tool to identify corporate responsibility issues and to analyse how information on such issues is organized and presented on corporate web sites. A content analysis methodology was applied to the web sites of the companies under study.Findings – The results suggest that the companies that were studied assign great importance to corporate responsibility on their web sites, even though they disseminate on those sites a limited conception of what corporate responsibility is and focus mainly on the topics of social and environmental action. Another relevant finding is the highly dispersed nature of the information that is related to corporate responsibility on corporate web sites.Research limitations/implications – T...

Balancing Public Relations with Socioeconomic and Political Environments in Transition: Comparative, Contextualized Research in Colombia, Mexico, and Venezuela

This comparative, contextualized research conducted between 2003 and 2004 summarizes and discusses the impact of the socioeconomic and political environments on the practice of public relations in Colombia, Mexico, and Venezuela. Sixty-one in-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted with top-level professionals in the capital and main commercial cities in these three countries where the profession thrives but is also challenged. The main conclusion is that public relations professionals have a role to play in the transformation of countries toward globalized economies and more ethical participative, political systems in which everyone has a public platform to voice their interests and achieve full social development.

Mapping communication management competencies for European practitioners: ECOPSI an EU study

Purpose – The principle focus of the European Communication Professional Skills and Innovation (ECOPSI) Research project reported in this paper is to develop understanding of the competences held by senior communication practitioners and the contributing knowledge, skills and personal attributes that are relevant to their role. The paper aims to discuss this issue. Design/methodology/approach – This paper is based on 24 months of desk and empirical work by the research team in three core phases: the benchmarking report based on literature reviews in each country region; quantitative data collection from communication practitioners in 42 countries across Europe; qualitative data from 53 interviews across four senior practitioner roles in the six regions of the study’s focus. Findings – The findings highlight the competencies needed by senior practitioners through the creation of the Communication Role Matrix with critical evaluation of the current contemporary issues faced by the sector. Research limitatio...

Big Data and Automation in Strategic Communication

ABSTRACT Big data and automation pose huge challenges for strategic communication. This article contributes to the limited body of knowledge in the field by introducing the concepts, outlining opportunities and potential problems, and identifying current perceptions and applications in the professional field. A large-scale survey, with respondents from across more than 40 countries, explores the expertise of communication professionals, applications within communication departments and agencies, and consequences for the profession at large. The study shows a large gap between the perceived importance and current practices, a lack of competencies and ethical reflection, and a limited use of opportunities. The full potential of big data analytics and algorithms has not been leveraged until now, which calls for new initiatives in the practice and further research.

Crisis response strategies in Finland and Spain

Crises are common in todays unpredictable environment rising the importance of crisis response strategies. Two societies in Europe are chosen: Finland, where trust in society is generalized to institutions, and Spain, where trust in society remains on the level of individuals. Using the results of the European Communication Monitor 2013 survey on crisis communication, we explored three hypotheses: “certain types of crises are often met with certain types of strategies,” “cultural context makes some crises more likely than others,” and “cultural context makes some response strategies more likely than others.” We find evidence for all three hypotheses and discuss our findings about perceived differences in the two societies. The results show that the cultural context plays an important role for crisis communication.

Mastering the dialogic tools: Social media use and perceptions of public relations practitioners in Latin America

Purpose Listening to and conversing with stakeholders has become a basic requirement for the survival of any organization in a society with insistent demands for transparency and dialogue. The aim of this paper is to examine how Latin American practitioners are using social media for corporate and networking purposes, and their perceptions about which social media activity is more relevant for organizational stakeholders. Design/methodology/approach A population of 803 public relations professionals from 18 Latin American countries working on different hierarchical levels, both in communication departments and agencies across the region, were surveyed as part of a larger online survey. For this research, five questions about social media usage have been included in the first edition of the Latin American Communication Monitor project. Findings The study shows that despite the massive incorporation of social media into communication strategies of organizations, Latin American professionals report less inte...

How the public and public relations professionals interpret leadership in Spain: Results from the ComGap study

The purpose of this paper is to compare the perspectives of public relations professionals against those of the general public in Spain with respect to which communications activities and organizational attributes are relevant to the leadership images of organizations, and what are the characteristics of effective leaders.,This study combines data from the European Communication Monitor (ECM) with the results of a representative online survey carried out by the global market research company IPSOS.,Results show that the general public sees TV interviews as well as TV advertising as communication tools with the biggest potential to shape the leadership image of organizations. When it comes to the attributes of effective leaders, communication professionals overestimate the role of an organization’s vision, while the population much more stresses basic attributes like leading by example and admitting mistakes. PR practitioners underestimate customer service and environmental responsibility and tend to favor more abstract attributes like innovation and CSR.,This paper touches only four sections of the ECM 2014/2015. Participant fatigue may have negatively impacted the quality of the data. A large sample of professionals was approached, but a much small number initiated and completed the online survey. The size of the sample of communication professionals makes it difficult to generalize the results. In addition, future research should extend the study to different groups of stakeholders, such as employees, investors, and suppliers.,While organizations face intensive pressure from evaluation by their stakeholders, discrepancies between the expectations of the general public in regard to leadership negatively affects the communicator’s work to position organizations in society, as well as CEOs and top executives as leaders. On this regards, getting closer to what the population expects will help to understand and improve leadership perceptions.,Very little work has been done in Spain regarding to leadership in public relations or public relations professional’s perceptions about leadership. Most research published to date has focused on the leader’s position in the company, participation in management levels, types of responsibilities assumed and their relative influence and leadership style. Even fewer public relations studies have tried to identify the communication activities that are relevant to the leadership image of organizations and compare the perspectives of public relations professionals on leadership against those of the general public. This dearth of knowledge about stakeholder expectations negatively affects the communicator’s work to position organizations and executive leaders in society.

Re-fuelling the talent tank: A qualitative study of key deficiencies, future needs, and life-long learning needs of communication management professionals in Europe

This paper originates from the results of the EU financed project, PROJECTNAME, which advanced understanding about the professional competences of European public relations and communication managers. The paper focuses on deficiencies in competences that practitioners identify for themselves and on the needs for the future generation that will perform four professional roles: chief communication officer (CCO), crisis communication, social media, and internal communication. Questions to understand the roles and their future requirements were defined around: means for achievement of current competences to perform the role, competence gaps, specialized competences, and future needs. They were explored with qualitative methodology through 53 in depth interviews. The analysis of data shows that European professionals understand and evaluate their way of performing the practice through a complex framework of competences. The findings provide evidence of synergies in the understanding and interpretation of the four roles and there is common identification of on-going gaps and future needs, suggesting that public relations is a maturing discipline with an accumulated set of standards in Europe. The study also targets the capacity of intervention for advancing the profession to an approach of knowledge acquisition and supporting the previous academic consensus about the necessity of a body of knowledge and specialized skills for professionalization

Relacionistas públicos colombianos: su punto de vista sobre la profesión en el Latin American Communication Monitor 2014-2015 / Colombians Public Relations: their views of the profession in the Latin American Communication Monitor 2014-2015

Los profesionales en comunicacion estrategica y relacionistas publicos colombianos que participaron en el Latin American Communication Monitor 2014-2015 expresan su posicion sobre los temas estrategicos a 2017, segun perspectivas especificas por tipo de organizacion, por genero y cargo ocupado, por el rol o por ambito de actuacion en el ejercicio profesional en su pais. En este articulo se presentan algunas coincidencias con los resultados por la region latinoamericana como particularidades nacionales, con el fin de analizar la realidad especifica del profesional en este pais, especialmente segun la distincion de los temas estrategicos.