David Remund, assistant professor of public relations, will soon have work published in Journal of Leadership Studies, a peer-reviewed journal that explores leadership’s role in improving organizational practices and human life.
His study – “Asking the Right Questions, Involving the Right People: The Personal Responsibility of Corporate Communications Leaders” – takes an in-depth look at how senior public relations executives define responsibility and do work that is excellent in quality, socially responsible and personally meaningful. The study is modeled after the GoodWork protocol, designed by Harvard psychologist Howard Gardner in 1996 but not previously applied to public relations practice.
Using Q-sort exercises, in-depth interviews and diary analyses, Remund found that honesty/integrity, life balance and relationships matter most to corporate communications leaders when defining their sense of personal responsibility at work. The leaders involved in the study also emphasized the day-to-day importance of asking the right questions and involving the right people in company initiatives and decision-making.
These findings help build a foundation for further research on how communications leaders bridge excellence and ethics, particularly in the face of ever-increasing economic pressures.