JOUR 4259:
Cases in Strategic Planning and Thinking
View this Course Profile in PDF
Basic Information
Prerequisites
Course Description
Expected Competencies
Competency Goals
Assignments and Activities
Workload
JOUR 4259: Cases in Strategic Planning and Thinking (3 credits)
- Multi-section course.
- Lectures and discussion two or three times a week.
- Structured group work is also used in class.
Prerequisites
- Major status
- JOUR 3004W, JOUR 3201 or 3202, JOUR 3251
Course Description
Jour 4259 (Cases in Strategic Planning and Thinking) is a professional course focusing on strategic communication cases related to campaigns or issues in business, government, education, or community relations. This course uses a case study approach to advance comprehension and application of concepts and disciplines for the development, planning and evaluation of strategic communication campaigns.
This course focuses on strategic communications management with the objective of enabling students to develop their abilities in issue identification, research, analysis, strategy development, and tactical campaign implementation – as well as development of presentation skills to convey those abilities. This course is heavily oriented toward implementing and managing professional communications campaigns using a case study perspective.
Most of the students taking this course are first or second semester seniors and the course is intended to consolidate and apply what they have learned in the professional strategic communications track with emphasis in either advertising or public relations. The course has its roots in public relations, but now has a broader more integrative perspective.
Expected Competencies
Students who enroll in 4259 must have taken Jour 3004W, Jour3201 or 3202 and Jour 3251. All students should bring with them the following skills:
- Competency in strategic communication research.
- Adequate knowledge of the fundamental principles of strategic communication, marketing strategy and tactics.
- Fluency in the language of branding in addition to strategic communication.
- Oral presentation experiences can be helpful.
Competency goals for 4259
This course is designed to teach students the following interrelated skills:
- Improve analytical and critical thinking skills. Evaluate outcomes, determine value added and research alternative strategic communication recommendations.
- Develop an understanding of the important role values play in organizational effectiveness and in the integrative force of a brand.
- Improve secondary research, interviewing, report writing and creative development capabilities.
- Learn how to perform at a professional level – Students are expected to perform at a near-professional level in this course.
- Learn strategic planning and integrated communications management methodologies.
- Improve strategic communication assessment/measurement capabilities.
- Study successful/unsuccessful communications projects and campaigns that support or refute communications and social science theory.
- Identify and understand various influences affecting the outcome of communications projects – budget, competition, timeframes etc.
- Improve knowledge of various application software packages.
- Improve presentation skills and small-group leadership skills.
Assignments and activities
Typical assignments and activities include project assignments (individual or group work), exam, and a major case study research project and oral presentation.
Typical assignments include:
- Up to 12 written mini case studies and writing assignments.
- Development of a major case paper.
- Final presentations of a major case, generally in lieu of a traditional final examination.
- Optional: midterm exam and/or quizzes.
- Extensive class discussion.
Workload
Students should expect to spend about 9 hours in learning efforts per week (inside and outside of class) to satisfactorily complete this course. Basic tasks include:
- 20-30 pages weekly of reading course texts (50 percent of workload).
- Working individually or in a team on strategic communication case analysis (using library, textbook, and online resources) (30 percent of workload).
- Writing a major project case study report and making an oral presentation material (20 percent of workload).