Aerial view of campus with Williamsport, the Susquehanna River and Bald Eagle Mountain as a backdrop

Corporate Communication Learning Goals

Students who major in corporate communication can expect to achieve the following learning goals:

  • Corporate Communication Ethics & Law
    • Grasp and apply core legal and ethical mandates for corporate communication, as they pertain to personal behavior; to business, non-profit and public sector institutions; and to client and agency relationships
    • Understand and evaluate the responsibility of corporate communication as a broker of information, ideas, opinion and attitudes within a democratic and global society
    • Appraise and incorporate to communication planning best practices in corporate responsibility, sustainability, and enterprise economic, social and environmental commitments
  • Information Literacy
    • Recognize when information is needed and have the ability to collect, evaluate and use effectively the needed qualitative & quantitative information, within the corporate communication environment
    • Evaluate information and its sources critically and incorporate selected information into one’s knowledge base and values system
    • Exercise the basic principles, terminology and methodologies related to consumer, market, stakeholder and issues research
    • Use information effectively for a specific purpose, demonstrated by the completion of an original capstone project on a current topic within corporate communication or integrated marketing communication
  • Corporate Communication Strategy
    • Conceive and develop public relations and integrated communication plans to engage stakeholder audiences in pursuit of organizational and business goals
    • Articulate and analyze consumer and stakeholder research findings in order to discern priorities in the development of a communication strategy
    • Interpret market and societal expectations for sound corporate economic, social and environmental commitments that yield a return to the organization and society
    • Grasp and use appropriate creative and strategic communication skills in ways appropriate to enterprise/client goals, business outcomes and practical considerations
  • Corporate Communication Tactics & Execution
    • Grasp and use effective marketing, messaging and persuasion communication techniques in ways appropriate to enterprise/client goals and business outcomes
    • Understand the importance of listening and two-way communication within an enterprise and with an enterprise’s stakeholders
    • Execute a public relations or integrated communication plan appropriate to enterprise/client goals, business outcomes, plan strategy and practical considerations
    • Understand, implement and execute public relations tactical materials and advertising concepts in a variety of traditional and digital media, and as part of an integrated marketing communication plan, as appropriate
  • Business and Enterprise Environments
    • Understand the role of communication in fostering business and enterprise success
    • Understand the functional disciplines within corporate communication and how each contributes to a corporation’s success
    • Know why corporations exist, how they are organized, and how they are governed, through the duties of top corporate officers and the Board of Directors
    • Understand the sources and uses of corporate information. Evaluate the concepts of disclosure, materiality and transparency as each applies to corporate information, at an introductory level
    • Participate in defining enterprise values, principles, strategies, policies and processes, at an early management level
    • Understand the macro environment of business and economics
  • Corporate Communication Profession, its Theory & its Historical Underpinnings
    • Understand the primary terms, key concepts, history and organization of corporate communication, advertising and public relations professions
    • Understand basic elements of communication theory, including theories on mass media, digitization, persuasion and information
    • Evaluate the power and capacities of corporate communication to affect, maintain or change global, modern and post-modern society, through rhetorical means
  • Career Skills
    • Acquire and demonstrate proficient oral and written communication and presentation skills, as for an entry-level to early-management position in advertising, public relations or corporate communication
    • Develop the entrepreneurial and business skills needed to establish a freelance public relations or advertising venture
    • Critique, analyze and improve work product-in-development, working either alone or as part of a team