Measuring Integrated Marketing Communication from Start to Finish

Many companies have taken a limited view of the impact that marketing communication can have on overall corporate objectives, reducing their understanding of the value of marketing communication. One reason for this resistance is that the value of IMC can be complex to measure in a world where marketing usually moves at a dynamic pace and is driven by a changing competitive landscape and seemingly unpredictable shifts in customer attitudes. The potential revenue and customer satisfaction benefits of implementing an IMC program can be so dramatic that companies shouldn't ignore the movement any longer.

Woods, Julie. Communication World Bulletin (2003). Articles>Business Communication>Marketing>Assessment

Measuring the Quality of Editorial Peer Review    

The quality of a process can only be tested against its agreed objectives. Editorial peer-review is widely used, yet there appears to be little agreement about how to measure its effects or processes. Ten studies used a variety of instruments to assess the quality of articles that had undergone peer review. Only 1, nonrandomized study compared the quality of articles published in peer-reviewed and non–peer-reviewed journals. The others measured the effects of variations in the peer-review process or used a before-and-after design to measure the effects of standard peer review on accepted articles. Eighteen studies measured the quality of reviewers' reports under different conditions such as blinding or after training. One study compared the time and cost of different review processes.

Jefferson, Tom, Elizabeth Wager and Frank Davidoff. JAMA (2002). Articles>Scientific Communication>Editing

Media, Symbolic Power and the Limits of Bourdieu's Field Theory  

Social theory (even when most concerned with media: ideological analysis, postmodern theory, systems theory) has failed to clarify how media affect its key concepts. The best starting-point is a modified version of Pierre Bourdieu's field theory. While analysing media production as a particular field (or sub-fields) is not new, field theory as normally practised is less comfortable with the idea that media representations impact on all social space simultaneously - precisely the issue in understanding media power. The solution is to draw on Bourdieu's less well known work on symbolic power and the state's prescriptive authority, drawing an analogy between contemporary media's social centrality and Bourdieu's account of the French state's 'meta-capital' across and between all fields. The resulting empirical research agenda is outlined and (in conclusion) a related theoretical issue (how do media affect Bourdieu's notion of habitus?) is anticipated, which the author intends to treat in a separate article.

Couldry, Nick. London School of Economics (2003). Articles>Communication

The Median Isn't the Message

Many people make an unfortunate and invalid separation between heart and mind, or feeling and intellect. In some contemporary traditions, abetted by attitudes stereotypically centered on Southern California, feelings are exalted as more "real" and the only proper basis for action -- if it feels good, do it -- while intellect gets short shrift as a hang-up of outmoded elitism.

Gould, Stephen Jay. Edward Tufte. Articles>Scientific Communication>Statistics>Biomedical

Medical Communications

In order to promote the results of their medical research to other healthcare professionals, researchers must publish their work. This is usually done by publishing manuscripts in medical journals and by presenting papers and posters at conferences. Medical writers may write these documents on behalf of the researchers that carried out the studies. This is termed ghostwriting. This is most common when studies are sponsored by pharmaceutical companies, but academic researchers sometimes also use the services of medical writers. The medical writer and researchers collaborate to determine what should be written and the researchers gain from the expert writing skills of the medical writer.

Dianthus. Articles>Scientific Communication>Biomedical

Medical Technical Writing  

In a multibillion-dollar-per-yearcindustry, medical technical writers are well situated between companies that manufacture drugs and medical equipment and the federal government, which regulates the manufacture of drugs and medical equipment. The government requires that these companies produce specific types of documents, which must be of a very high standard. This situation creates lucrative opportunities for technical writers.

English, Wayne A. Intercom (2003). Articles>Scientific Communication>Biomedical>Technical Writing

Medical Writers Give Career Changers Plans of Action

Those who are interested in breaking into medical writing received the inside scoop from L. Megan Day and Dr. Susan Dakin, the panelists at the chapter meeting on January 9 at Dreyfus Auditorium at Research Triangle Institute. Day has a bachelor's degree in chemistry, a master's degree in anatomy and has written for pharmaceutical companies for 10 years. Dakin has a bachelor's degree in biology and psychology and a Ph.D. in zoology. Self-employed since 1984, her specialties are scientific writing and proposal writing.

Harvey, Rachel A. Carolina Communique (2003). Careers>Writing>Scientific Communication>Biomedical

Medical Writing Forum

Forum for the discussion of medical writing.

WritersWrite.com. Resources>Scientific Communication>Biomedical

Meeting Student Needs by Incorporating a Career Planning Lab into a Managerial Communication Course: A Case Study  

This case study documents how a small business school, as part of a strategic planning initiative to improve career services, added a career planning lab to an existing managerial communication course. The lab guides students through a series of self-directed activities such as reading assignments, worksheets, Internet site visits, and completion of instruments. The process results in a summary document and a targeted resume that are reviewed during a one-on-one meeting with the school’s academic advisor and graded for course credit. The study includes a summary of student evaluations along with reflections on lessons learned.

May, Gary L. Association for Business Communication (2005). Articles>Education>Business Communication

Members' Tips for Writing a Compelling White Paper  

It takes time and a strong focus to create a solid white paper, according to TechRepublic members who shared tips and insight about white paper creation. Find out what should be your first step and your last for a successful effort.

Mottl, Judith N. TechRepublic (2003). Articles>Business Communication>Writing>White Papers

Memos

A memo is a concise document that conveys essential information about your accomplishment(s). All memos at Ohio University should be written in third person.

Young, V.L. and K.J. Sampson. Ohio University (2004). Articles>Writing>Business Communication>Technical Writing

Mentally Correct Product Promo Priorities

Use reponsivity to command or coax customers into acting on your offer.

Streight, Steven. Blogger.com (2004). Articles>Business Communication>Marketing

Message Severity Levels: How Much Is Enough?

This article describes how we investigated software message severity levels using surveys in a series of usability tests and how the results helped us create a standard set of severity levels. These findings can also be applied to other messages.

Schwirzke, Martin and Mayuresh Ektare. Usability Interface (2003). Articles>Usability>Risk Communication

Messy Problems and Lay Audiences: Teaching Critical Thinking Within the Finance Curriculum    

This article investigates the critical thinking difficulties of finance majors when asked to address ill-structured finance problems. The authors build on previous research in which they asked students to analyze an ill-structured investment problem and recommend a course of action. The results revealed numerous critical thinking weaknesses, including a failure to address the client's problem, use analytical tools systematically, construct rhetorically useful graphics, or translate finance concepts and methodologies into lay language. The present research aims to understand more deeply why students struggle with ill-structured problems. Using think-aloud protocols, audiotaped interviews, and other strategies, the authors explore causes of finance students' difficulties and suggest strategies for addressing them. The results suggest that the homework tasks typically given them, such as quantitative problem sets using algorithmic procedures, do not prepare them to confront ill-structured problems requiring disciplinary arguments aimed at specified audiences. Research further suggests that teaching audience adaptation--especially for nonexpert audiences--is helpful in promoting critical thinking.

Carrithers, David, Teresa Ling and John C. Bean. Business Communication Quarterly (2008). Articles>Education>Financial>Business Communication

Michigan Electronic Library: Science Writing and Publishing

The Michigan Electronic Library (MEL), sponsored by the Library of Michigan, is an online information system that provides residents of Michigan with no-charge access to a core set of electronic resources over the Internet. MEL's 'virtual library' is selected and evaluated by librarians and is designed to be a comprehensive electronic information tool for the state's libraries, schools and citizens.

Michigan eLibrary. Resources>Directories>Scientific Communication

Mirror, Mirror

A few months ago, I read with interest an article that indicated that executives are influenced more by the court of public opinion as a catalyst for making positive behavior changes than they are by even a court of law. So what contribution do we make to this discussion, as public relations and media relations practitioners? Do we shove our heads in the sand and say, "It's not up to us to influence the ethical behavior of our internal and external clients"?

Bergman, Eric. Communication World Bulletin (2006). Articles>Business Communication>Public Relations>Ethics

The Missing Metaphor    

To determine the metaphor that represents cloning, a contemporary scientific revolution, this study examines articles published in Nature, Nature Biotechnology, Science, and Time that describe the cloning of the sheep Dolly. A plethora of figurative language may be garnered from these articles, and this study describes a number of them: metaphor (dead, natural, and technical), simile, hyperbole, personification, irony, cliché, paronomasia, antithesis, metonymy, anthimera, oxymoron, the rhetorical question, and analogy. The significance and relationship to cloning are explicated. The article concludes that the figures do not support a central metaphor. Further research is suggested to determine if the lack of a metaphor is a fluke or a trend in the development of scientific research and what the difference may be between scientific and technical metaphor.

Giles, Timothy D. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication (2001). Articles>Scientific Communication>Biomedical>Tropes

The Mission Statement: A Corporate Reporting Tool With a Past, Present, and Future    

This article discusses a comprehensive study of the mission statements of Fortune 1000 higher-performing and lower-performing firms to assess the current state of the mission statement. After content analysis of these firms' mission statements, the components included for these two groups of firms were compared. The higher-performing firms included eight of the nine recommended components more often than did the lower-performing firms, and the differences were significant for three of those components. Also, using textual analysis methods, this study identified strategies employed by these firms to create a strong identity--or internal ethos--and image--or external ethos. The two groups used somewhat similar strategies for building corporate identities and images but differed in the values they emphasized and the goodwill recipients they targeted.

Stallworth Williams, Linda. JBC (2008). Articles>Business Communication

Mistakes Can Be Costly

In the aircraft industry, a number of factors have converged to highlight the importance of maintenance manuals.

Between the Lines (2007). Articles>Documentation>Engineering>Risk Communication

More Than Just Finding Policy Documents

Corporate policy documents have had a long and difficult history within many organisations. While much effort has been put into creating and maintaining them, they are often more ignored than followed. This briefing looks at the role of corporate policies within an organisation, and the need to better communicate their message to staff.

Robertson, James. Step Two (2004). Articles>Business Communication>Policies and Procedures

Moving Beyond the Moment: Reception Studies in the Rhetoric of Science    

Studies in the rhetoric of science have tended to focus on classic scientific texts and on the history of drafts and the interaction surrounding them up until the moment when the drafts are accepted for publication by a journal. Similarly, research on disasters resulting from failed communication has tended to focus on the history of drafts and the interaction surrounding them up until the moment of the disaster. The authors argue that overattention to the moment skews understanding of what makes scientific discourse successful and neglects other valuable sources of evidence. After reviewing the promises and limitations of studies from historical, observational, and text-analytic approaches, the authors call for studies of responses to research articles from disciplinary readers and argue for studies using a variety of qualitative and quantitative methodologies that will explore the real-time responses of readers to scientific texts, test the effects of rhetorical strategies on readers, and track the course of acceptance or rejection over time.

Paul, Danette, Davida Charney and Aimee Kendall. Journal of Business and Technical Communication (2001). Articles>Scientific Communication>Rhetoric