Ralph Tench

Leeds Beckett University | LEEDS MET · Leeds Business School

This study investigates the phenomena of semantic drift through the lenses of language and situated simulation (LASS) and the word frequency effect (WFE) within a timed word association task. Our primary objectives were to determine whether semantic drift can be identified over the short time (25 seconds) of a free word association task (a predicte...

The European Communication Monitor 2023 (ECM) Report provides an overview on the field’s changing status and on emerging or disappearing trends over more than 15 years. It presents and interprets data from almost 40,000 respondents in 50 countries collected in surveys between 2007 (when Twitter took off) and 2022 (when ChatGPT entered the scene)....

Purpose Governments around the world have shown poor capabilities in responding effectively to the COVID-19 health emergency outbreaks. After the declaration of COVID-19 as an international pandemic by the World Health Organization on January 31, 2020, three countries experienced the greatest initial impact in Europe. Sequentially Italy, Spain and...

The 16th annual edition of the European Communication Monitor – the world’s longest-running survey of the communications profession – is based on interviewing 1,672 communication professionals from 43 European countries. It provides valuable insights for public relations, corporate communications and public affairs. The study examines whether and...

This article serves as the introduction article of the special issue, titled Strategic Communication and the Global Pandemic. This special issue of the International Journal of Strategic Communication (IJSC) has one primary purpose – to stimulate serious scholarly research on strategic communication and its management and execution during challengi...

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the pressures to publish facing European public relations (PR) and communication management scholars across career stages. Design/methodology/approach The Delphi method was used with PR and communication management scholars at associate professor level or higher across Europe. An online survey was th...

Strategic communication is becoming more relevant in communication sciences, though it needs to deepen its reflective practices, especially considering its potential in a VUCA world — volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous. The capillary, holistic and result-oriented nature that portrays this scientific field has led to the imperative of expand...

The 15th annual edition of the European Communication Monitor - the largest academic study worldwide on the strategic communications and PR profession - is based on interviewing 2,644 communication professionals from 46 European countries, providing valuable insights for public relations, corporate communications and public affairs. As well as dig...

This study develops models capable of finding empirical relations between social factors in practitioners’ private lives, that is to say, extra-organizational or external factors to the work environment that affect the career promotion of female professionals in public relations. The aim is to analyse some gender issues at a global level by explori...

This paper proposes the theory of integrated gendered work evaluation in public relations (IGWE). It holds that gender inequalities in the workplace are intrinsically linked to work-related evaluations, specifically measured through levels of satisfaction and stress. We theoretically place our proposal in the integrative phase of feminist theory th...

Objective To explore the #SugarTax debate on Twitter to assess actors involved, their connections and the topics being discussed during the implementation and first anniversary of the UK Soft Drink Industry Levy. Design The structure of the #SugarTax debate on Twitter was assessed using social network analysis. The actors involved, their connectio...

One of the core problems of misinformation and post-trust societies is, indeed, trust in communications. The undermining of the credibility of media as the backbone of democratic societies is becoming a serious problem that affects democracy, business and all kinds of public institutions and organizations in society(ies). This paper explores percep...

Objective The National Child Measurement Programme (NCMP) is a mandatory initiative delivered in England to children in reception and year 6. To date, no research has explored the methods used to deliver the NCMP by Local Government Authorities (LGA) across England. Design An online survey was administered between February 2018 and May 2018 to exp...

In this dynamic global economy countries face increasing pressure to uphold their reputations. Communications play a significant role in this regard, and many outlets frequently report on other countries’ affairs. The aim of this paper is to explore and analyse the reputation of Brazil as projected in international news outlets. To build understand...

Purpose The purpose of the article was to explore changes in CSR policies in food, soft drinks and packaging industries to capture changes in CSR implementation given increased environmental activism. Design/methodology/approach A comparative website analysis was used to analyse CSR policies of companies in the food, soft drinks and packaging in...

Objective: News media play a role in politics through the portrayal of policies, influencing public and policymaker perceptions of appropriate solutions. This study explored the portrayal of sugar and sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) taxes in UK national newspapers. Findings aid understanding of the role newspapers play in shaping understanding and a...

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explain and better understand some of the challenges and even contradictions in relationships between CSR and stakeholder attitudes by comparing consumer and practitioner perspectives on social responsibility, its role in organisations and its influence on consumer attitudes towards companies. The objective i...

Purpose Artificial intelligence (AI) might change the communication profession immensely, but the academic discourse is lacking an investigation of the perspective of practitioners on this. This article addresses this research gap. It offers a literature overview and reports about an empirical study on AI in communications, presenting first insight...

Die Bedeutung von Qualitätsmanagement und Business Excellence hat für Unternehmen unter intensiveren Wettbewerbs- und unsicheren Umweltbedingungen deutlich zugenommen. Das gilt für die Unternehmenskommunikation in einem besonderen Maße, da Kommunikationsverantwortliche häufig intern um Ressourcen und Einfluss mit anderen Abteilungen ringen und sich...

In this research, we investigated whether the perception of the importance of certain types of media, strategic issues, and excellence in the professional field of strategic communication in Europe differs across countries and across generations. Data were used from the 2007 (N = 1,087) and 2016 (N = 2,710) editions of the European Communication Mo...

We identified a lack of theoretical concepts and empirical knowledge about the perception and usage of social bots from the organizational and communication management perspective. Therefore, we first introduce social bots in the realm of communication and information management by using a profound literature review. Second, by building on mediatiz...

The 13th edition of the European Communication Monitor sheds light on five pressing issues for communication leaders: trust, transparency, advocacy, content strategies and artificial intelligence in communications. Empirical insights show how societies, organisations and individual practitioners are affected. The study also identifies drivers of ex...

In this dynamic global economy countries face increasing pressure to uphold their reputations. Communications play a significant role in this regard, and many outlets frequently report on other countries’ affairs. The aim of this paper is to explore and analyse the reputation of Brazil as projected in international news outlets. To build understand...

This paper analyzed the coverage on the anti-sugar debate and the supermarket industry in the British press, in a period between 2014 and 2015. Using social responsibility of the press theory and a qualitative two-tier content analysis, we first conducted a documentary analysis of public relations materials (press releases and surveys published by...

The National Child Measurement Programme (NCMP) measures the prevalence of childhood obesity in England. The guidelines recommend that parents receive feedback and thus, the NCMP offers a platform for childhood obesity interventions. However, there appears to be varied practice and management of the NCMP across Local Authorities (LAs). Thus, the ai...

The National Child Measurement Programme (NCMP) is delivered by all English Local Authorities (LAs). The programme measures the body mass index of children aged 4-5 (RY) and 10-11 years (Y6) to identify the prevalence of childhood overweight and obesity. The NCMP can be adapted, delivered and fed back through a range of methods. The aim of this res...

Organizations are increasingly facing pressures to professionalize the workforce to be able to cope with constant changes in technology and growing expectations from stakeholders. This has subsequently influenced scholarly and practitioner interest in these discussions and led to a growth in the recognition and importance of designing appropriate c...

Purpose – Contemporary debates on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) are framed in a global context; however, there is ample evidence that national and institutional frameworks define CSR practices. Questions about the activities of Transnational Companies (TNCs) in their host countries further highlight growing CSR concerns, developments and ch...

Based on responses from almost 3,100 senior professionals from 48 European countries, this years’ edition of the European Communication Monitor (#ECM18) reveals that despite the persisting debate about fake news across Europe (agreed upon by 55.8% of the respondents), this does not filter into the day to day experiences of communication practitione...

This article raises the question of whether European public relations (PR) and communications professionals perceive a cultural transformation in the direction of hypermodernity, and if so, attempts to assess how this influences their organizations and their work. Questions were asked in the European Communication Monitor 2017, an annual survey amo...

This chapter provides a detailed theoretical overview of deliberative engagement (DE) and sets out the normative arguments that highlight how it can be used to address wicked problems (WPs). It highlights how the SME Leaders and Sustainability: Deliberative Engagement (SME‐DE) project's findings suggest that an important antecedent to the DE proces...

Public relations agencies are an important part of the public relations industry, but their relations with client organizations are rarely studied. There is more literature and studies in agency-client relations in advertising than in public relations. This paper reviews literature and reports results of an empirical study into perceptions of publi...

This article discusses results of the largest European survey among communication and public relations (PR) practitioners regarding the position of women in the industry. The survey was conducted online among communication and PR practitioners from 42 European countries. Using communication theories on differences in communication styles among men...

This edition of the world's largest study on strategic communication and public relations explores the status quo and trends across 50 countries. Topics include visualisation, social bots, hypermodernity and benchmarking for strategic communications. Based on responses from 3,387 senior professionals from every European country, this years’ editio...

This paper originates from the results of the EU financed project, ECOPSI, which advanced understanding about the professional competences of European public relations and communication managers. The paper focuses on deficiencies in competences that practitioners identify for themselves and on the needs for the future generation that will perform f...

It has been well established that Public Relations is a gendered industry, and nevertheless the one in which women earn less and face glass ceiling. Recently, researchers also reported on problems with networking and mentoring. Many of these findings have been reported in annual European Communications Monitor (ECM), the largest European research p...

Excellent organisations are more open to influences from wider environments than non-excellent organisations. It is precisely this openness that gives them a competitive, strategic advantage. This holds not only for companies, but also for governmental and non-governmental organisations. Survival and success are functions of adaptation, and excelle...

You hear the language of strategy in all walks of modern life: in sport, politics, travel, dieting, personal finance, economics and, of course, business. Everybody it seems wants to be strategic today. And, especially, inside contemporary organisations. Business, government, non-profit and non-governmental organisations alike, they all have strateg...

In a professional environment research is indispensable. Successful strategies depend on research and so does the evaluation of the success of policies and interventions. Additionally the amount of data and information has grown exponentially in the last decades. Today’s question revolves around what to do with all this data? How do we analyse and...

Let’s be honest. Successful communication is difficult to achieve, especially when mass media are involved. Today media are almost always involved in the communication process. When the Canadian philosopher Marshall McLuhan described the world as a global village due to media causing its implosion there was no Internet, and the Internet changed eve...

We all love to be connected. Today we are saturated with opportunities to make friends, meet up with colleagues, find new partners and search for old ones. It is surprising we can keep any relationships as we solicit, pursue, build, relocate and re-establish numerous individual and group relationships. And this is just in our private lives. As comm...

‘What is it you do, exactly?’ A frequently asked question of communication professionals by friends over dinner, or colleagues inside the company and, worryingly, sometimes senior managers. Will they ask the same of medical doctors, lawyers or accountants? Probably not. Does it mean that strategic communication and public relations needs more profe...

In the previous chapters we have seen how communication helps the organisation to be related to the dynamic of the world. To make this happen communication departments need also to be completely embedded into the organisation they work for. That is the fourth commandment in this book: excellent communication departments are embedded in the organisa...

We live in a globalised world. Like it or not, we affect people living on the other side of the globe and they affect us. We are interdependent. And public relations is a profession concerned with management of interdependencies between organisations and their stakeholders. Political, economic, social and technological changes in the second half of...

Personal solidity, with all its ups and downs, is one of the storylines in the famous Danish television series Borgen. The series revolves around the female Danish Prime Minister Birgitte Nyborg, her ‘spin doctor’ Kasper Juul and Katrine Fonsmark, the anchorwoman of the most important Danish news show. These three characters symbolise politics, pub...

‘This powerful, practical and highly relevant book is a must read for both communication scholars and practitioners.’ —Harold Burson, Professor of Public Relations, College of Communication, Boston University, USA ‘This book provides a compelling case that effective communication for an organization is as much about the outside-in as the inside-out...

This chapter attempts to critique the role of mentoring relationships which are identified by Levinson et al. (1978) as ‘one of the most com-plex and developmentally important relations’. Providing psychosocial and career support (Kram, 1983, 1985) public relations practitioners, employers and professional bodies could benefit from the literature a...

The 2016 edition of the largest annual study in strategic communication, corporate communications and public relations worldwide is based on responses from 2,710 communication professionals from 43 European countries. Conducted by an international research team from renowned universities, the research provides insights about big data, algorithms a...

The purpose of the paper was to investigate whether Lidl uses CSR communication in their Advertising and Communication Campaigns in two different business contexts, and if so, how. The paper built upon existing analyses of CSR Communication by analysing Lidl’s websites in both countries, and went step forward and analysed TV adverts of the company...

A considerable amount of literature has been published on nation brand and yet not much regarding measurement. The purpose of this article is to examine nation brand indexes and explore the unbalanced outcomes of a country’s position in these recognized instruments. Although research has been carried out on nation brand, no single study exists comp...

Purpose: This synopsis of the European Communication Professional Skills and Innovation (ECOPSI) benchmarking Interim Report explains the complex landscape of competencies required by European communication practitioners and explores the underlying constructs that contribute to competence namely skills, knowledge and personal attributes. Design/met...

This paper aims to explore and identify the trends and main streams of digitalization and cognitive info-communications in the field of communication management in Europe. The analysis based upon the database of European Communication Monitor (ECM)1 2007–2015 which is the largest study on strategic communication worldwide. The paper focuses on the...

This chapter attempts to critique the role of mentoring relationships which are identified by Levinson (1978) as ‘one of the most complex and developmentally important relations’. Providing psychosocial and career support (Kram, 1983, 1985) public relations practitioners, employers and professional bodies could benefit from the literature and empir...

The 2015 edition of the largest annual study in strategic communication, corporate communications and public relations worldwide is based on responses from 2,253 communication professionals based in 41 countries across Europe. Conducted by an international research team from renowned universities, the research provides insights about the future re...

As organisations seek legitimacy in a fast-moving, interconnected and changing world, how do public relations help them to manage their identity, responsibilities and impact on society? In a more interactive society, organisations need to align their actions with social demands and values. If the main role of public relations is to build trust and...

Purpose – The principle focus of the European Communication Professional Skills and Innovation (ECOPSI) Research project reported in this paper is to develop understanding of the competences held by senior communication practitioners and the contributing knowledge, skills and personal attributes that are relevant to their role. The paper aims to di...

A key aspect for understanding and explaining online communication is the micro level of communication practitioners’ social media usage and their general attitudes towards digital platforms. This paper investigates how public relations practitioner's personal and professional use of social media is related to their perceptions of social media. A q...

The purpose of this paper is to review recent research into country brand models and identify the most common and shared dimensions. Based on the literature review, this study establishes a conceptual framework to consider the complex interaction between the core constructs of country branding, country brand models and country image. This paper att...

New technologies have been considered one of the main changing forces for the profession of strategic communication (DiStaso, Stacks & Botan, 2009; Taylor, 2011) and social media use is one of the current challenges for the profession. One of the key drives for organizations to obtain the maximum advantage from these new tools is the competence of...

PurposeThis chapter is to introduce to the reader the background, purpose, core themes and structure of the volume. Brief summaries of all the following chapters in the book are provided. Design/methodology/approachLiterature review and desk research. FindingsThis chapter suggests that CSR communication as a cross-section of communication studies a...

In this paper, we argue that trust is an important aspect of social reality, one that realist social theory has paid little attention to but which clearly resonates with a realist social ontology. Furthermore, the emergence of an interest in trust in specific subject fields such as organization theory indicates the growing significance of issues of...

The aims of the paper and presented research are to monitor trends in communication management and to evaluate specific topics that include decision-making style, leadership style, role enactment and the power of communication departments in Europe. This paper is based on data from the European Communication Monitor (ECM) annual research, the most...

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How should we approach the challenges created by the increasing professionalization of public relations across Europe? Historical and cultural interpretations are not always sufficient to explain the fast and diverse developments of the public relations profession in our cosmopolitan and digitalized world. This book aims to pinpoint and address the...

Although there are research focused on the skills, knowledge and characteristics of communication experts, there is no research that combines all of these elements together in a European study. This paper examines: (1) that the socio-economic issues shaped the communications profession in Turkey (2) the disconnect between the competences required b...

Purpose – This paper aims to posit the central argument that traditional media of old presented a clear, ordered world of communication management for organisations to extol their corporate social responsibility (CSR) credentials. In contrast to this, new Web 2.0 social media is increasingly being used by activists and hactivists to challenge corpo...