In this course, you will build the business acumen to help you understand how and why management makes business decisions. You will learn how to offer valuable communications advice, make the case for communication investment, and demonstrate communications' business value to management. Topics that will be covered in this course include: fundamentals of macroeconomics and major economic indicators; government's role and impact as a regulator; the intersection of business, government and politics; the stock market; basics of microeconomics and financial management within the organization; organizational structure; and impacts of communication on the bottom line.
In this course, you will learn how to create communication strategies that address the wide range of stakeholder motivations affecting an organization. You will also be taught how to propose and deliver communications that are aligned with organizational goals, employing the Management by Objectives approach to stakeholder relations. You will be prepared to appreciate cultural, political and other differences that inform stakeholders' positions and perceptions and to communicate effectively with them to advance organizational objectives.
In this course, you will develop advanced skills in digital content strategy, creation and measurement specific to the Advertising, Marketing and Public Relations industries. Topics covered in this course include specialized videography, photography, and digital media design; multi-platform distribution; designing, collecting and acting on data analytics both mid-stream and at the end of a project.
In this course, you will learn how to apply advanced media strategy using an integrated Advertising and Public Relations approach. Topics covered in this course include evaluating traditional media opportunities; evolving developments in how media placements are sold; opportunities and approaches to media buying on digital platforms; integrating digital advertising with earned media in campaigns.
In this course you will build a solid understanding of the lines between the law and organizational, professional, and personal ethics. You will also be introduced to a decision-making framework to uphold and promote high standards of integrity. This course addresses developing professional approaches to the workplace that yield efficient use of time and resources, functional working groups, and successful navigation of challenging situations; cross-departmental collaboration; becoming a communications leader; mentorship and life-long learning. Topics include laws specifically pertaining to organizational communications; the "lawyers vs. communicators" balance; creating an internal risk-identification network; organizational crisis readiness; personal morals, ethics and the law: the communicator's role and responsibilities.
This course equips you with the knowledge, insights, and tools necessary to professionally, effectively, and efficiently propose and manage large-scale communications projects. Topics that will be covered in this course include practices of professional project management: project visioning; securing management/client support; planning; scheduling and logistics; budgeting; team leadership; working with agencies, clients and contractors; evaluation; reporting.
In this course, you will build an understanding of organizations' responsibilities to their internal stakeholders, enabling you to create successful internal communications programs and provide solid communication advice to internal managers within the bounds of the law and best practices. Topics include labour law; the roles of the human resources department and labour unions; approaches to managing internal conflict and controversy; approaches to internal change management.
In this course, you will reinforce your knowledge and skills by applying principles and practices learned in the first term about the roles of communicators and the communication function in an organization, to examine real-life case studies in-depth. You will research, report and present on specific cases, illustrating real-life outcomes when these principles are/are not followed.
In this course, you will learn how to develop organizational communication policies and procedures that will support positive long-term relationships with stakeholder publics, and to work with management to codify them organization-wide. This includes aligning communication activities with organizational priorities; executive motivations, concerns and considerations; principles and practices of change management; corporate social responsibility; pitching solutions and reporting on outcomes. You will also build your own managerial skills with an introduction to managing people, from volunteers to contractors and partners to direct reports. Areas of focus in this course include information protection and disclosure; organizations' media relations and social media policies; leadership; organizational policy development; and principles of personnel performance management.
In this course, you will apply your knowledge and the project management skills you developed previously in the post-graduate diploma program to independently plan a major communication campaign or project of your choosing (subject to faculty approval). This project will be of the sort a professional communicator might undertake in the regular course of business for a real-life client. You will also design, pitch, strategize, and create a professional workflow for the project.
In this course, you will independently execute a major communication campaign or project of your choosing (subject to faculty approval), of the sort a professional communicator might undertake in the regular course of business, for a real-life client. You will design, pitch, strategize, implement, and evaluate the project; provide status reporting; and then prepare a final report and formal presentation of the project's execution and outcomes. Course delivery will combine classroom instruction, one-on-one mentoring, group work and independent research and execution.
In this course, you will develop foundational knowledge in organizational responsibilities with respect to public reporting; legal requirements of public, private, and non-profit entities; partnerships and alliances in business. You will build skills in multidisciplinary problem-solving and examine real-life case studies in depth to articulate the business factors {including economic, political, and community pressure; government/regulator expectations; and legal considerations) that contributed to an organization's controversial business decision and how they influenced its outcomes. You will research, report and present on specific cases, connecting the contributing factors to the business outcomes, and analyze the communications fallout.