Envisaging the future — scenarios and public affairs practice
In: Journal of public affairs, Volume 1, Issue 2, p. 113-123
ISSN: 1479-1854
AbstractPublic affairs in the third millennium will develop in three significant ways.
It will deal increasingly with global issues and authorities. 'The chief executive needs to be an entrepreneur with global vision. He needs political skills, to steer a course through the regulatory maze.'
The companies that succeed may be global, but many of the regimes of regulation and control will remain national. The ability to deal with them will be essential.
Public affairs will have to deal effectively not only with national and international regimes but also with organised 'civil society'. NGOs have now formed global alliances. They are recognised and consulted formally and informally and have begun to 'show their teeth'.
These developments create strong and specific challenges for corporate communications.'Sovereignty is what you belong to.' The European Union (EU) has developed as a model for global public affairs. Companies that have learnt to combine national with supranational public affairs in the EU will be well equipped in the fora of WTO, OECD, ILO and others yet to come.The communications challenges are two:
Support for mergers: As globalisation proceeds by merger, companies will need fluency in communicating the benefits of mergers, both internally and externally.
Trading identities: As countries go for national brands to achieve tourism and investment, mega‐merged global companies are using nation‐building techniques to achieve internal cohesion across cultures.
Copyright © 2001 Henry Stewart Publications
