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Commandment 7

Sagacious: Knowledgeable, Reflective and Shrewd

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Abstract

‘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 professionalisation? We will argue: yes. Using the ten-year data set from the European Communication Monitor alongside contemporary debates about professionalisation we are able to identify what it means to be a professional communicator in Europe today. And which problems practitioners encounter in executing their activities professionally.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Zerfass et al. (2016), pp. 13–14.

  2. 2.

    Cooper (2004), pp. 61–63.

  3. 3.

    Zerfass et al. (2011), pp. 19–29.

  4. 4.

    Zerfass et al. (2012), pp. 36–41.

  5. 5.

    Zerfass et al. (2012), pp. 38.

  6. 6.

    Tench et al. (2013a, b); Tench and Moreno (2015).

  7. 7.

    PRSA (1999, 2006).

  8. 8.

    Katz and Kahn (1978); Goodman (2006); PRSA Public Relations Society of America (1999, 2006); Gregory (2008).

  9. 9.

    Proctor and Duttan (1995), p. 18.

  10. 10.

    Jeffrey and Brunton (2011), p. 69.

  11. 11.

    Boyatzis (1982); Bartram (2012); Gregory (2008); Jeffrey and Brunton (2011).

  12. 12.

    Jeffrey and Brunton (2011), p. 61.

  13. 13.

    Adapted from Tench and Moreno (2015).

  14. 14.

    Winterton et al. (2005).

  15. 15.

    Szyszka (1995).

  16. 16.

    Zerfass et al. (2014), pp. 44–59.

  17. 17.

    Empirical results on development needs and qualifications are reported in Zerfass et al. (2014), pp. 76–99; Zerfass et al. (2016), pp. 84–97.

  18. 18.

    Tench et al. (2016).

  19. 19.

    Simonetti et al. (1999).

  20. 20.

    Hunt and Michael (1983), p. 483.

  21. 21.

    Friday et al. (2004), p. 629.

  22. 22.

    Zerfass et al. (2014), pp. 44, 54–59.

  23. 23.

    Kiesenbauer, Burkert and Zerfass (2015).

  24. 24.

    Zerfass et al. (2014), p. 55.

  25. 25.

    Anderson-Gough et al. (2006); Hanlon (1994, 1998).

  26. 26.

    Giddens (1991).

  27. 27.

    Ouchi (1980).

  28. 28.

    Allen and Eby (2010).

  29. 29.

    Seibert et al. (2001).

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Leeds Beckett University, Leeds, United Kingdom

    Ralph Tench

  2. University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia

    Dejan Verčič

  3. University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany

    Ansgar Zerfass

  4. Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Madrid, Spain

    Ángeles Moreno

  5. University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Piet Verhoeven

Authors
  1. Ralph Tench
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  2. Dejan Verčič
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  3. Ansgar Zerfass
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  4. Ángeles Moreno
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  5. Piet Verhoeven
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Tench, R., Verčič, D., Zerfass, A., Moreno, Á., Verhoeven, P. (2017). Commandment 7. In: Communication Excellence. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-48860-8_7

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