The need to link organisational objectives with communication strategy was the message that Professor Tom Watson of the Faculty of Media & Communication took to a Cambridge conference this week.
“Too often, communication activity is seen as a functional activity of organisations, whereas it should be at the core. All organisations are communicators and so they should involve communication expertise in the formation of objectives and strategies, not as a downstream message delivery activity.”
Professor Watson was speaking to the East Anglia conference of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR), which is the lead professional body for PR in the UK. He based his presentation on research into public relations measurement and evaluation which was a BU Impact Case Study in REF 2014.
“All research on communication effectiveness and the creation of value from communication demonstrates that the closer communicators are to organisational goal-setting and performance management, the better the results in terms of reputation, business and engagement with stakeholders,” he said.













BU students’ publishing success
BU presentation at the University of Bristol
Art and Design: History, Practice and Theory academics – would you like to get more involved in preparing our next REF submission?
UKCGE Recognised Research Supervision Programme: Final Deadline Reminder
The significance of Rights and Protocols in Disaster Response
Celebrate World Wellbeing Week This June
Horizon Europe Cluster 3 (Civil Security for Society) 2026 Calls Now Open
MSCA Doctoral Networks 2026 Call Information Webinar
ESRC Festival of Social Science 2026: Application Deadline Extended to Thursday 25 June 2026
Reminder: Register for the ESRC Festival of Social Science 2026 Information Session
ECR Funding Open Call: Research Culture & Community Grant – Apply now
ERC Advanced Grant 2025 Webinar
Update on UKRO services
European research project exploring use of ‘virtual twins’ to better manage metabolic associated fatty liver disease