“If you set very high standards and then tell people, ‘Hit your numbers,’ you have to acknowledge that there are going to be difficulties along the way, there are going to be ethical dilemmas. Regular, honest, transparent conversation about how to deal with these issues is critical so as not to let deception destroy the trust that you’ve built with key stakeholders.” -Professor James O’Rourke (’68) teaches business communication and engages students in writing case studies of how businesses communicate during crisis situations.

Communications Exercise Simulates Media Pressure

During a crisis, a company’s reputation can hang on the first words out of the spokesperson’s mouth. Management Speaking students gained an inkling of this pressure during a classroom exercise that put them in front of a TV news crew for three-minute interviews about a theoretical crisis. Their taped responses were then analyzed by classmates and a professional journalist. “It’s important to have an opportunity to deal with media in a learning environment before they do it for real,” said Fanning Director James O’Rourke (’68).

Conference on Corporate Communications

Since 1997, the Fanning Center has hosted an annual conference for industry professionals and leading scholars to discuss corporate communication strategies. Communications executives from the Coca-Cola Company, Michelin North America, Burson-Marsteller and Sears, Roebuck and Company have addressed the conference in recent years.

More Than 175 Original Case Studies Compiled

Writing case studies provides MBA students with the opportunity to investigate authentic communication situations at major companies, identifying key issues and problems. Recent cases deal with topics ranging from Enron and the collapse of Arthur Andersen, to Walt Disney Co.’s establishment of a theme park in Hong Kong. The studies are used by more than 70 business schools around the world, including The Tuck School at Dartmouth College and Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania.

MANAGEMENT COMMUNICATION - BY THE BOOK Faculty and colleagues from Notre Dame's Fanning Center have written a series of eight books on emerging issues in management communication. Topisc range from managing conflict, to communicating in virtual organizations, to writing and presenting a business plan.

Notre Dame Takes Top Communications Awards

Brynn Harris (MSA ’06) and Allison Ogilvy (MBA, ’07) took the Grand Prize in the 2007 Arthur W. Page Society Case Writing Competition in Corporate Communications. Their case study, “Google: Entrance into the Chinese Market and Government Censorship” was selected from 39 entries sent by business school and communications students from the United States, Singapore and Spain. The Notre Dame team comprised of Meghan Carter, Matthew McHale and Thomas Triscari (all MBA ’07) also won First Prize-Business Schools with “Bristol Myers Squibb: Patents, Profits, and Public Scrutiny.”