THE FOREIGN POLICY OF GLOBAL

BUSINESS
CORPORATE AND PUBLIC DIPLOMACY
F R O M P R O M O T I O N A N D P R O PA G A N D A T O
C O N V E R S AT I O N A N D C O L L A B O R AT I O N
D R R O G E R H AY E S @D R R O G E R H AY E S
SENIOR COUNSELLOR APCOWORLDWIDE
VISITING FELLOW HENLEY BUSINESS SCHOOL
VISITING LECTURER GREENWICH UNIVERSITY BUSINESS
SCHOOL
L K Y S C H O O L O F P U B L I C P O L I C Y, N U S
AUGUST 20TH 2015

MY PUBLIC DIPLOMACY JOURNEY

Corporations serve a diplomatic function
because of their political and cultural, as well as
their technical and economic clout.
Grupp R & Hayes R, ( 2008) Public Relations and
Collaboration in a Complex, Converging World. IPRA Gold
Paper ,delivered at PR World Congress, Beijing, PRC.

MY PUBLIC DIPLOMACY JOURNEY

What could help the global profession of public relations
(strategic communications) is to learn more from the cultural
sensitivity and geopolitical skills of diplomats, while government
specialists could do well to borrow the commercial and media
knowledge from the private sector. This is about combining
STAGECRAFT and STATECRAFT to transform
STATESMANSHIP.
Hayes R (2012) PR and PD in the Globalised World, Doctoral
Study of eight countries (including Singapore), Henley
Business School, UK.

MY PUBLIC DIPLOMACY JOURNEY

With boundaries between institutions blurred and those
between countries eroded, with more actors involved in
international policy, including companies and civil society, the
emphasis should be more on LISTENING, CONVERSATION,
COLLABORATION, DIALOGUE, DIPLOMACY rather than
targeting a message to markets.
Dr. Roger Hayes, (2013), speech to GLOBAL THINKERS FORUM
conference, Leadership and Collaboration, Athens, Greece,
December.

MY PUBLIC DIPLOMACY JOURNEY

The NEW normal must be NAVIGATED, NEGOTIATED,
NETWORKED and a NARRATIVE built around it. Narrow selfinterest is no longer a sustainable basis for companies needing
to deliver economic PLUS social value. COLLABORATIVE
LEADERSHIP is the most appropriate response to todays
wicked global problems.
Hayes R and Watts R (2015) REFRAMING THE LEADERSHIP
LANDSCAPE: Creating a Culture of Collaboration, Gower
Publishing.

DEFINITIONS
The NEW public diplomacy is no longer confined to
messaging or direct governmental contacts with foreign
publics serving foreign policy purposes. It is also about
building relationships with civil society actors in other
countries and facilitating networks among nongovernmental parties at home and abroad
Joe Nye (2010)

DEFINITIONS
Globalisation makes it impossible to shut out all
kinds of issues. Governments share power with their
citizens and the corporate sector, who can make their
views known in the virtual world.
Singapore interviewee from doctoral research (2009).

DEFINITIONS
It is possible for multinationals to set communications
strategies at the global level. The challenge lies in
applying these to suit the multiple local cultures.
Sriramesh K (2014).

DEFINITIONS
There is a qualitative difference between a spin
doctor and a corporate diplomat.
LEtang J. (1996)

DEFINITIONS
Corporate diplomacy means a company embeds the
value of collaboration deeply into its operations and
practices, extending the reach of its relationships to
include groups, cultures, organisations and government,
which affect the sustainability of the business
Grupp R (2008)

DEFINITIONS
In my view PR tends to be more about putting a
positive gloss, whereas PD deals with negative and
positive using more context, digging deep from a
detailed knowledge base.
Indian interviewee from doctoral research (2009).

COMMUNICATING &
COLLABORATING
Growing Convergence between PR & Public Diplomacy
Diplomats
using media relations, commercial activity &
broader stakeholder relations.
Communicators
understanding of geopolitics & culture.
Deal with new media, empowered stakeholders & complex
issues.
Command & control replaced by collaboration & conversation.
Public & private sector organisations slow to adapt structures,
strategies & styles.

THE END OF HISTORY

Human capitalism.
Corporations as a force for good
Investment, Jobs,
Technology.
Rise of knowledge society.
Widening Inequalities
Bad mood rising.
Single and multi-issue alliances
Coordinating coalitions.
Sophisticated consumer & citizen determines licence to operate.

THE FOREIGN POLICY OF GLOBAL BUSINESS

Communications without intelligence is noise. Intelligence without
communications is irrelevant (General Alfred Gray)
Contextual intelligence key to navigate the increasingly multi-issue,
multi-media, multi-cultural environment.
Cannot view the world from a home country perspective, especially
the West.
World affairs less about official business between States, more about
managing the effects of globalisation, integration, political uncertainty
& cultural divides.

LISTENING AND DIALOGUE

Now you have to have a two-way
conversation that connects deeply with
your citizens or customers or employees.
(Tom Friedman)
CEOs need to explain the context of decisions to establish a
vision based on values for the organisation & engage in social
programs with buy-in from employees.
Become statesmanlike by developing a broader, compelling
narrative.
Access to capital was the key differentiator in the 90s.
Relationships will be the major source of strategic
distinction in the 21st Century.

EXPANDING THE SPACE

TOMORROWS GLOBAL ORGANISATION
Redefining success in terms of positive impacts for
business & society.
Shared values essential.
Collaboration between government, business & NGOs on
sustainability issues.

BUSINESS BEYOND BOUNDARIES

NEW MINDSET, NEW TOOLS
FOCUSSING ON shared VALUE and convergence of interests creating
SOCIAL CAPITAL (climate change)
Reconciling CSR, sustainable development and a stakeholder approach
in a networked world, requiring navigational tools-a win-win for
shareholders and stakeholders.
RE Freeman (2003)
Journal of General
Management

BUSINESS BEYOND BOUNDARIES

NEW MINDSET, NEW TOOLS
Companies are increasingly viewed as a major cause of social,
environmental and community problems. Companies must take
the lead in bringing business and society back together. Leaders
and managers will require new skills and knowledge.
Porter M and Kramer M (2011) HBR

BUSINESS BEYOND BOUNDARIES

NEW MINDSET, NEW TOOLS
Companies are moving beyond ad hoc philanthropic acts.
They are committing to causes with sustained long term
initiatives.
The Business Times, (2014, April), Singapore.

EXAMPLES OF BUSINESS DIPLOMACY

Shell-stress nexus. Changing the narrative around natural
resources, joining the dots between food, energy & water via
collaboration & partnerships.
Coca Cola joined forces in a Private, Public Partnership with
WWF & African governments around sustainable water
management. (PPPs need to align business interest with
public policy & give voice to concerned civil society)
Israeli technology companies turned to West bank for
outsourcing joint ventures.

SUMMARY
Comparisons of PR and PD have been mainly confined to
the PR literature, which itself remains mainly Western
centric, despite the growth of the practice internationally,
including in high context cultures e.g. China/ Middle East.
Historical IR literature links PR to propaganda.

SUMMARY
PD relies heavily on the personal influence and relationship
models of PR, which are receiving increased focus in PR after a
long preoccupation with mass media communicated
communication.
Multi-stakeholder dialogues being conducted by vulnerable
industries e.g. mining are very much in the field of diplomacynegotiation and dialogue.

SUMMARY
PD is an emerging, multi-disciplinary field with theoretical,
conceptual and practical links to several disciplines such as
international relations, communications theory, public relations,
media studies.
PR has the opportunity to engage in the development of PD as
well as learn from PD to transform its global professionalism.

SUMMARY
The convergence of the two fields, at least in practice if not
theory, given their interdisciplinary nature and the
changing, more complex global landscape will lead to
closer links to LEADERSHIP, SUSTAINABILITY,
STRATEGY, CULTURE, SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, among
others. There are implications here for skills , teaching and
training.

SUMMARY
PD (notably NEW PD) is an emerging strategic
communications discipline which can be seen as
responding to growing agendas in business, government
and civil society, involving concepts of TRUST,
TRANSPARENCY and COLLABORATIVE GOVERNANCE.

THE NEW CADRE OF CORPORATE

DIPLOMATS
Its thinking ahead, involves skilful analysis of the
context, combined with astute networking and
relationship building
(Margery Kraus, CEO, APCOWORLDWIDE)

Anticipate
Act sustainably
Analyse and research
Network
Walk the Talk
Empathise
Communicate

authentically

THE FOREIGN POLICY OF GLOBAL

BUSINESS
CORPORATE AND PUBLIC DIPLOMACY
F R O M P R O M O T I O N A N D P R O PA G A N D A T O
C O N V E R S AT I O N A N D C O L L A B O R AT I O N
D R R O G E R H AY E S @D R R O G E R H AY E S
SENIOR COUNSELLOR APCOWORLDWIDE
VISITING FELLOW HENLEY BUSINESS SCHOOL
VISITING LECTURER GREENWICH UNIVERSITY BUSINESS
SCHOOL
L K Y S C H O O L O F P U B L I C P O L I C Y, N U S
AUGUST 20TH 2015