Since adopting “Public Diplomacy” – or “Corporate Diplomacy” – as my theme as IPRA President, people have been asking me to define its role in Public Relations and to cite examples. I have tackled the topic online in this month’s Frontline.
I believe that Corporate Diplomacy means at least two things. It means a company embeds the value of collaboration deeply into its operations and practices, and it means the company extends the reach of its relationships to include groups, cultures, organizations, even governments, which don’t necessarily involve the company or client directly but which ultimately affect the sustainability of the business.
So what does Corporate Diplomacy look like in action?
When I last traveled to Sydney, it was to explain and justify why my company’s bid to acquire a revolutionary treatment for liver cancer was not plundering Australian biotechnology. I argued that if Australian companies are to remain strong, it’s absolutely critical that they be globally competitive, and if you are globally competitive, it is easy to see why exporting innovation is what you do to survive.
The task of Corporate Diplomacy is not just to identify the differences between countries but to understand which ones matter the most in the industry of interest to you and your clients.
So how do we convince CEOs that building a company’s reputation with broader diplomatic reach is good for business? How do we distinguish between corporate diplomacy and corporate social responsibility?
Hope you’ll read my article and respond below.
Robert W. Grupp
Institute Trustee & IPRA President
Bob,
Thanks for differentiating between Public Diplomacy – a diplomatic process for governments and Corporate Diplomacy – a process of diplomacy for business.
My board public policy committee at BOC Group established that it was a fundemental tenet for the group and its operating businesses around the world were accountable to their host governments and should operate accordingly.
The idea that Public Diplomacy is something for business is an anethema to every diplomat and diplomatic school.around the world.
Best wishes
Peter L. Walker FCIPR
President CIPR – 1998
Congratulations on focusing on Corporate Diplomacy for your year in office. “Corporate Diplomacy” was around long before “Public Diplomacy” was coined to cover government propaganda.
The last seven years have shown the major global trading companies the need for a professional approach again to Corporate Diplomacy, as the policies of short term politicians can undo generations of goodwill, and damage relations with trading partners for years. It has become the focus of global trading companies to decouple themselves from extreme views of their political leaders, and foster a long term relationship with their trading partners, above the flavor of the week political environment.
The trends, restrictions and potential of Corporate Diplomacy can be seen clearly throughout history, from merchants, and trading companies such as The East India Company. The problem today is that most book and computer trained businessmen have no idea about the conventions and protocols around the world. As the power and wealth moves back towards the traditional trading nations, China, India, Japan and across Europe, away from the free flowing “Come as you are” business practices in the USA, the US finds itself at a disadvantage. We live in a time of change, and companies that can’t manage that change will fail. Governments too.
Alan J Simpson
Center for Corporate Diplomacy
Washington, DC
Hi,
I´m a student from Denmark studying at the University of Birmingham. I am attending a master in international studies with a focus on diplomacy. I am very interested in corporate diplomacy and I would like to write my dissertation about it. However the problem so far seems that there are not so much material about it. So I was wondering if you knew some scholars/journals where one can get more information about corporate diplomacy.
Best regards
Torben Hein Andersen.
Thanks for your inquiry, Torben. Much has been written about public diplomacy. There is less research and thinking about “corporate diplomacy” and the role of the private sector. Still less research has been done on the link between public relations and public diplomacy. I applaud your interest in writing your dissertation on the subject!
I would suggest several sources, for starters:
– An excellent collection of essays on the subject assembled by the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office. I can share a copy given to me by a colleague,Toni Muzi Falconi. Please contact me via my LinkedIn network (http://www.LinkedIn.com/robertgrupp) and I will send you a copy.
– IPRA recently published an excellent analytical paper—IPRA Gold Paper 17—on these subjects. It can be downladed free via http://www.lulu.com/content/4602019. Author Roger Hayes included a bibliography.
– The University of Southern California (USC) runs a very reputable Center on Public Diplomacy, with various resources and links (http://uscpublicdiplomacy.com/)
– I recommend the group Business for Diplomatic Action (http://www.businessfordiplomaticaction.org/). It will have an American point-of-view, but the concepts they promote can be applied or interpreted for many other countries. BDA’s explanation of the role of the private sector in public diplomacy is very clear, very solid thinking.
Bob Grupp, Institute Trustee
President, Grupp Global Partners LLC