Research Report: Corporate Communication and the Heart of Darkness Web Project

By Jonathan Pelleg, Heart of Darkness Project

Argenti, Paul.  Corporate Communication.  Boston: McGraw-Hill, 2007.

Abstract

 This is a book featuring the rhetoric of corporate communication.  It is a training guide in the multiple forms of communication to be created including memos, press releases, etc.  Corporate Communication focuses on the ideas of corporate identity and professional communication as it helps young entrepreneurs and writers create works which fit the common conventions of corporate communication. This book teaches readers how to write like a true executive, complete with political correctness and corporate double-speak in order to promote a high morale and successful business.

Description

    Paul Argenti has been a professor of Management and Corporate Communication at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College for 25 years.  With prior experience at Harvard and Columbia, Argenti has been a corporate consultant for huge companies and is equipped with more than enough experience which he tries to spread with the fourth edition of this book, an attempt at teaching business graduate students the numerous complexities of corporate communication.

    Corporate Communication breaks down the nuances of the numerous kinds of corporate communication while examining the numerous aspects necessary to keep a company successful.  From explaining the appropriate way to send an inter-office email to dealing the important large-scale topics like business reputation management, corporate advertising, media relations, and investor relations.  Each chapter, written for graduate students eager to receive their Masters in Business Administration, starts out simple and summarily before getting increasingly complex with appropriate forms and theories for internal and external communications and representations in the ever-changing modern day business environment.  The “Crisis Communication” chapter, for example, begins simple with a sub-section “What Is a Crisis?” before going on to list examples of corporate crises, crisis preparation, and finally a complex 8-step guide for communicating during a crisis.  By starting simply and getting increasingly in-depth, the book ensures that its reader can understand no matter what experience he or she may or may not have.

    This is the latest edition of the book, published in 2007, and has up-to-date information on the ever-shifting business world including emphases on web sites and mass media which are particularly turbulent technologies today.  Priding itself on its simplicity, Corporate Communication is a paper-back guide for young professionals who hope to have a successful business.  The secret to a successful business, according to the book, is communication.  Argenti sums up this idea stating “Every functional area at one time or another was the newest and most important.  But as we enter 21^st century, the importance of communication is obvious to virtually everyone” (vii).

Commentary

    In order to properly satirize something, one must know what is being satirized.  A book of common corporate conventions, especially one which most young professionals read in grad school, is a perfect place to learn the common practices of corporate communication and use them for ironic purposes.  Corporate Communication is the right book for a group of non-professionals to pick up and mock business style.  Written in simple terms and tackling most facets of business communication, the book will be a fundamental help in the crafting of the Company’s mission statement, press releases, and web pages for the web-based Heart of Darkness project.  The book is, however, not a direct asset to the project because it is not satire; Corporate Communication is a very serious and effective look at its subject matter.  It will thus take keen readers to dive into the book, pick up the points which deserve satire, and exploit these points.  The book will never declare any of its own advice to be “silly” so it will be up to the group members to carefully probe the book, find the conventions which would be particularly effective to satire, and use them.

    Corporate Communication changes the project from merely an undergraduate student’s look at business and changes it to a more legitimate look at business as actual field-tested communication strategies are used and abused in the web project.  The book will help add an authentic feel to the web site and ensure that group members understand exactly what conventions of corporate communications they are mocking.  In order to best satire, one must know what’s being satire and although the group members have all seen corporate web sites, a true understanding of corporate clichés and conventions can only be understood by studying the legitimate teaching manual for young entrepreneurs and executives.  Unfortunately, the book is just that: a teaching manual which is extremely text heavy and lacking of any particular writing flare or entertainment.  That is to say it will not aid in the satirizing of the corporate materials, but will let the group know of the serious version of their comedic efforts.  Seriously trained young professional writers writing business satire is a tall order for a five-week project, but with a limited knowledge of actual material hopefully the web project will bear sweeter fruit.

Additional Resources

Argenti, Paul. “Paul A. Argenti.” 2008.  Retrieved on February 20, 2008.  < http://oracle-www.dartmouth.edu/dart/groucho/tuck_faculty_and_research.faculty_profile?p_id=AAA21C>

Guffey, Mary Ellen. Business Communication.  Ohio: Thomson South-Western, 2006.

Stovall, James Glen.  Writing for the Mass Media. Boston: Pearson Education, Inc., 2006.

Thrush, Emily. “Corporate Culture and Communication: Clues You Can Use.” Suit101.com. June 5, 2000.    

    Retrieved on February 20, 2008.

     < http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/communications_skills/41097>