Corporate Communications Benchmarking Study

The Institute for Public Relations is collaborating on a survey with PR News looking at how companies organize and evolve their communications function. The survey will explore headcounts, reporting lines, strategic choices around structure and function, including size and areas of improvement. All responses will be kept confidential and no identifiers will be used in any way. The survey should take approximately 10-15 minutes to complete. If you have any questions, please contact Tina McCorkindale at tina@instituteforpr.org

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* 1. Whom do you report to?

Chief Executive Officer

Chief/SVP/VP Marketing Officer

Chief Operating Officer

General Counsel

Chief/SVP/VP Human Resources Officer

Chief/SVP/VP Information Officer

Chief/SVP/VP Financial Officer

Chief Communications Officer

I am the CEO/President

Other (please specify)

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* 2. Which of the following is your communications department/function responsible for? Check all that apply.

Advertising

Brand Building

Branded Merchandise

Business/market intelligence

Community Relations

Corporate Purpose

Corporate Social Responsibility

Crisis and Risk Communication

Customer Experience

Employee Communication

Executive Communication

Financial and Investor Communication

Government Relations

Human Resources

Issues Management

Marketing

Media Relations

Organizational Culture

Organizational storytelling

Philanthropy

Public Affairs

Reputation Management and Tracking

Sales

Social Media

Sponsorships

Stakeholder Management

Sustainability

Other (please specify)

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* 3. In the past two years, has the number of responsibilities in your communications department:

increased

remained the same

decreased

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* 4. In the next two years, do you anticipate the number of responsibilities in your communications department:

will increase

will remain the same

will decrease

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* 5. Is your department combined with any of the following functions? Check all that apply.

Marketing

Human Resources

Advertising

Public Affairs

Investor Relations

Legal

Other (please specify)

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* 6. How would you rate the quality of your relationship with the other departments/functions in your organization?

	Excellent	Above average	Average	Below Average	Poor	That function is part of the communications department	My organization does not have that function	Don't know
Advertising	Advertising Excellent	Advertising Above average	Advertising Average	Advertising Below Average	Advertising Poor	Advertising That function is part of the communications department	Advertising My organization does not have that function	Advertising Don't know
Finance	Finance Excellent	Finance Above average	Finance Average	Finance Below Average	Finance Poor	Finance That function is part of the communications department	Finance My organization does not have that function	Finance Don't know
Human Resources	Human Resources Excellent	Human Resources Above average	Human Resources Average	Human Resources Below Average	Human Resources Poor	Human Resources That function is part of the communications department	Human Resources My organization does not have that function	Human Resources Don't know
Investor Relations	Investor Relations Excellent	Investor Relations Above average	Investor Relations Average	Investor Relations Below Average	Investor Relations Poor	Investor Relations That function is part of the communications department	Investor Relations My organization does not have that function	Investor Relations Don't know
IT	IT Excellent	IT Above average	IT Average	IT Below Average	IT Poor	IT That function is part of the communications department	IT My organization does not have that function	IT Don't know
Legal	Legal Excellent	Legal Above average	Legal Average	Legal Below Average	Legal Poor	Legal That function is part of the communications department	Legal My organization does not have that function	Legal Don't know
Marketing	Marketing Excellent	Marketing Above average	Marketing Average	Marketing Below Average	Marketing Poor	Marketing That function is part of the communications department	Marketing My organization does not have that function	Marketing Don't know
Operations Management	Operations Management Excellent	Operations Management Above average	Operations Management Average	Operations Management Below Average	Operations Management Poor	Operations Management That function is part of the communications department	Operations Management My organization does not have that function	Operations Management Don't know
Public Affairs	Public Affairs Excellent	Public Affairs Above average	Public Affairs Average	Public Affairs Below Average	Public Affairs Poor	Public Affairs That function is part of the communications department	Public Affairs My organization does not have that function	Public Affairs Don't know
Sales	Sales Excellent	Sales Above average	Sales Average	Sales Below Average	Sales Poor	Sales That function is part of the communications department	Sales My organization does not have that function	Sales Don't know

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* 7. Approximately how many people are in your department/function?

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* 8. In the past two years, has the headcount in your department/function:

Decreased

Remained the same

Increased

Don't Know

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* 9. In the next two years, how much do you anticipate the headcount in your department/function will increase?

The headcount will decrease

The headcount will remain the same

>10%

10% - 25%

26% - 50%

51% - 75%

76% or more

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* 10. What’s the annual budget of your department/function?

< $500,000

$500,000 - $ 1M

$1M - $2.99M

$3M - $9.99M

$10M - $19.99M

$20M - $49.99M

>$50M

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* 11. Please select one from the following that best describes the budget of your department/function in the last two years:

Decreased dramatically

Decreased somewhat

Stayed about the same

Increased somewhat

Increased dramatically

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* 12. The next question will ask you the extent to which you agree or disagree with the following statements about your department/function.

	Strongly agree	Agree	Neither agree nor disagree	Disagree	Strongly disagree	N/A
My department/function is large enough to handle the responsibilities it's given	My department/function is large enough to handle the responsibilities it's given Strongly agree	My department/function is large enough to handle the responsibilities it's given Agree	My department/function is large enough to handle the responsibilities it's given Neither agree nor disagree	My department/function is large enough to handle the responsibilities it's given Disagree	My department/function is large enough to handle the responsibilities it's given Strongly disagree	My department/function is large enough to handle the responsibilities it's given N/A
My department/function is well structured compared to other departments/functions in my organization	My department/function is well structured compared to other departments/functions in my organization Strongly agree	My department/function is well structured compared to other departments/functions in my organization Agree	My department/function is well structured compared to other departments/functions in my organization Neither agree nor disagree	My department/function is well structured compared to other departments/functions in my organization Disagree	My department/function is well structured compared to other departments/functions in my organization Strongly disagree	My department/function is well structured compared to other departments/functions in my organization N/A
The structure of my department/function is effective	The structure of my department/function is effective Strongly agree	The structure of my department/function is effective Agree	The structure of my department/function is effective Neither agree nor disagree	The structure of my department/function is effective Disagree	The structure of my department/function is effective Strongly disagree	The structure of my department/function is effective N/A
I am satisified with the structure of my department	I am satisified with the structure of my department Strongly agree	I am satisified with the structure of my department Agree	I am satisified with the structure of my department Neither agree nor disagree	I am satisified with the structure of my department Disagree	I am satisified with the structure of my department Strongly disagree	I am satisified with the structure of my department N/A
My CEO values my department/function	My CEO values my department/function Strongly agree	My CEO values my department/function Agree	My CEO values my department/function Neither agree nor disagree	My CEO values my department/function Disagree	My CEO values my department/function Strongly disagree	My CEO values my department/function N/A
My department/function collaborates well with other departments/functions in my organization	My department/function collaborates well with other departments/functions in my organization Strongly agree	My department/function collaborates well with other departments/functions in my organization Agree	My department/function collaborates well with other departments/functions in my organization Neither agree nor disagree	My department/function collaborates well with other departments/functions in my organization Disagree	My department/function collaborates well with other departments/functions in my organization Strongly disagree	My department/function collaborates well with other departments/functions in my organization N/A

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* 13. What would you change about the structure of your department/function?

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* 14. What challenges do you anticipate your department facing in the next two to three years in terms of its structure?

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* 15. What is the name of your department/function?

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* 16. Which industry best represents your organization?

Consumer Packaged Goods

Entertainment/Media

Financial services

Manufacturing

Pharma/Health

Retail

Services

Technology

Transportation

Other (please specify)

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* 17. How would you describe your organization?

Public

Private

Non-profit

Government

Other (please specify)

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* 18. How many employees work in your overall company?

<500

501 - 2,500

2,501 - 10,000

10,001 - 50,000

50,001 - 100,000

100,001 - 250,000

250,001 - 500,000

more than 500,000

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* 19. What is the annual revenue of your company?

< $100 million

$100 million - $499 million

$500 million - $999 million

$1 billion - $24 billion

> $25 billion

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* 20. How would you describe your organization’s geographic scope?

U.S. local or regional

U.S. National

Multinational (home country plus up to four countries)

Global (home country plus more than four countries)

Home country only (non U.S.)

Other (please specify)

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* 21. We hope to compile a list of organizational charts. If you are willing to share your department/function’s overall chart, please send us an email to tina@instituteforpr.org or feel free to enter your email address below. We are happy to remove any identifiers, if requested. Your email address will not be tied to any of your above responses.

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* 22. If you would like to receive a copy of the report, please provide your email (your responses will not be tied to your email in anyway).

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* 23. Additional Comments (Optional)

Thank you for participating in this survey!