“Technology is shifting power away from the editors, the publishers, the establishment, the media elite. Now it’s the people who are taking control,” said media mogul Rupert Murdoch. Within this context, hard-hitting questions and truths were directed towards participants of the inaugural Institute for Public Relations - Singapore Management University (IPR-SMU) Asian Communication Forum, held at SMU’s School of Law on 9 November 2018.

Organised by the IPR-SMU Southeast Asia Alliance, a collaboration between the USA's IPR and faculty from the Corporate Communications academic group in SMU’s Lee Kong Chian School of Business (LKCSB), the Forum aimed to catalyse insightful discussions on challenges faced by practitioners and academics in corporate communications, public affairs and public relations industries.

The theme of the full-day Forum was 'Communication in an Age of Disruption'. Experts delved into how developments in technology, media consumption and conversations in the digital space have disrupted the communication and media landscape. More than 70 representatives from the corporate, non-profit, public and academic sectors attended the session, including current and past students of SMU's Master of Science in Communication Management (MCM) programme.

Given that it is the only university in Singapore where corporate communication is housed in its Business School, SMU is a proponent of the fact that communication drives business.

LKCSB, being the first business school in Asia to introduce a master of science in communication management, develops teaching and research content that is uniquely Asian and sought after by corporations around the world.

Prof Gerard George, LKCSB Dean and Lee Kong Chian Chair Professor of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, in his welcome address, expressed his confidence that with IPR, SMU will be well positioned to answer questions about the growing communication profession in Asia.  With a history of only 18 years, LKCSB is one of the youngest business schools in the world to hold the honour of being triple accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), AMBA and European Quality Improvement System (EQUIS).

Dean George commented that the city of Singapore is fortunate to have not one, but four business schools that are among the highest ranked universities. Case in point, SMU LKCSB ranked 22^nd globally in the recently published Financial Times (FT) Executive MBA Ranking 2018, in the same league as the business schools in Singapore that successfully secured spots in the global ranking’s top 25. Two decades ago, Asian business schools did not feature within the top spots of such global rankings; the pivot towards Asia in terms of business and education is evident today. In the same vein, technology is transforming the media business model, bringing up new questions on how the changing nature of influence affects institutions and media owners.

He commented that companies today, faced with ceaseless disruption, operate in a volatile and uncertain business environment. To be able to effectively communicate constant changes to multiple stakeholders online and offline have inevitably become a huge challenge for many organisations struggling to evolve and adapt. Unplanned activities or even mismanaged messages conveyed internally or externally could kill businesses in today’s digital era.

As a result, corporate reputation and trust in organisations and institutions among stakeholders are now at an all-time low. Given that trust serves as the underpinning of healthy relationships, exchanges and transactions, there is a growing concern globally for organisations to prioritise building and protecting relationships with stakeholders.

“IPR is thrilled to form an alliance with a prestigious university like SMU,” said Dr Tina McCorkindale, President and CEO of IPR. “We hope this partnership can help build IPR’s presence in the region while supporting research that matters to the practice, which is core to IPR’s mission.”

One of the greatest challenges facing modern business is disruption, and managing stakeholder relationships has become a core function of modern business. To this end, May Lam-Kobayashi, General Manager of Public Affairs in Swire Properties Hong Kong and China advocates an approach that combines 'communication, collaboration, celebration and connection'.

Collaboration was a key word echoed in a presentation by Andrew Pickup, Senior Director of Communications for Microsoft Asia. “The gatekeepers are changing,” he cautioned. “Collaboration is the new marketing model… this involves active dialogue with customers and communities.”

“The currency we deal in today are information and trust,” added Ketchum Singapore managing partner John Bailey. “Customers now have a voice (via social media) and if you upset them, they will share that with as wide an audience as possible.” To this end, he recommended a number of best practices, such as ensuring message and brand consistency across online and offline touchpoints, as well as to monitor ongoing conversations and be prepared to engage when appropriate.

The programme featured a stellar line-up of senior corporate communications and public affairs executives from some of the biggest organisations in Asia. They included:

• Tina McCorkindale, President and CEO, Institute for Public Relations, USA, who spoke on 'futureproofing the profession';
• Andrew Pickup, Senior Director of Communications for Microsoft Asia, who spoke on the changing nature of influence;
• Ivan Tan, Group Senior Vice President, Corporate & Marketing Communications, Changi Airport Group;
• John Bailey, Managing Director, Ketchum Singapore who touched on crisis communications in the digital age;
• Professor Misa Fujio of Toyo University, Japan, who presented on the changing landscape of businesses in Japan;
• Professors Kiranjit Kaur and Novi Kurnia, who discussed digital literacy development in Malaysia and Indonesia respectively;
• Alvin Tan, Facebook's head of public policy for ASEAN, Malaysia and Singapore, who shared how Facebook continues to innovate in the face of the ever-evolving social and digital space;
• Andrew Seah, Head, Corporate Communications & Marketing / Training & Talent Development (Commercial), DB Schenker Asia Pacific and Damien Ryan, CEO, Teneo Strategy APAC who highlighted the challenges of communication in an era of misinformation and fake news;
• Roh Sungjong, Assistant Professor of Corporate Communication, LKCSB who led a discussion on studies he conducted on public responses to fake news regarding the U.S. and South Korean Presidents;
• May Lam-Kobayashi, General Manager, Public Affairs, Swire Properties, Hong Kong & China, who shared how her team manages corporate reputation; and
• Edna Lam, Head of Communications Asia Pacific, Credit Suisse who discussed trust, influence and reputation in an evolving communication landscape in conjunction with Seshasaye Kanthamraju, Executive Director, Corporate Communications and Social Responsibility, Disney Southeast Asia & India.

About the IPR-SMU Southeast Asia Alliance

The Institute for Public Relations launched the IPR Southeast Asia Alliance at SMU on 27 Nov 2017 and is the very first regional alliance office that IPR has opened internationally. Assistant Professor of Corporate Communication (Practice), Prof Yeo Su Lin from SMU serves as director of the Southeast Asia Alliance. The goal of the IPR Southeast Asia Alliance is to help promote and foster research relating to the public relations and corporate communications industry in the Asia-Pacific region.

[Featured photo: Participants of the inaugural Institute for Public Relations - Singapore Management University (IPR-SMU) Asian Communication Forum, held at SMU’s School of Law on 9 November 2018.]