As part of an experiential learning program, Purdue University Northwest’s Problems in Public Relations’ students created a nonprofit consulting firm, Cybernetic Communication Consulting. The firm will prepare a communication audit for a local business during their fall semester.
Having worked with a pioneering corporate team, Dr. Thomas J. Roach, chairman of the Communication and Creative Arts Department at PNW, launched an experiment to see if corporate culture could be repeated in a microcosm.
“I knew what [the experiment] would do, if I could just get it started,” said Roach.
Twenty-nine years later, the program, a smaller-scaled version of a corporate culture, exceeded his expectations.
“The class is an experiment that proves correct every time,” said Roach. “Culture is communication. The theory of two-way communication and ongoing adjustment can be programmed into a business culture, resulting in an adaptive and increasingly more productive environment.
The students’ challenges are not for the weak-hearted. Now that the students have created their consulting firm, they will be asked to manage their business’ internal and external communication challenges while working with a client.
The communication audit will entail a detailed analysis of an organization’s internal and external communication and offer solutions to their client, if needed. To perform the analysis, students will conduct benchmark reports, interviews, surveys, and focus groups to collect and analyze data to strengthen the communication processes within an organization.
For more information about the services provided by Cybernetic Communication Consulting, please contact the firm at 219-501-0632 or email at cybercomconsulting@gmail.com.
