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Metrics—Measures That Determine Corporate Communication Success

This chapter demonstrates the importance of metrics to good corporate communication management. Objective and scientific information provides a context for evaluating performance, provides guidance for change, helps to overcome weaknesses, and creates a foundation for goal-setting. Setting clear research goals and objectives keeps an organization focused. Quality research, based in clear reasons and focused goals for the research, can articulate long-term strategy and operational tactics. Corporate communication executives can then determine appropriate and affordable metrics, tools, and techniques.

Based on their education and experience, many executives firmly believe that good metrics are essential to good management because they have been taught that they cannot manage what they cannot measure. As noted in the introduction and early chapters of this book, corporate communication professionals need to be experts in research design and practices as an important part of the competencies for the strategic management nature of the field. Objective analysis and scientific data, as opposed to anecdotal information, provide a context for evaluating performance, guidance for making mid-course adjustments, help to identify competitive weaknesses, define obstacles to overcome, and offer the basis for goal-setting. Regularly setting clear research goals and objectives with frequent assessment and updates keeps an organization focused. Quality research starts with a clear vision, a thorough understanding of the research perspective, a problem-solving driven reason for the research, as well as sharply articulated goals focused on solutions. That vision should underscore...