Exam 1 Flashcards
Ethics
- Moral principles that govern a person’s behaviors
- What defines you, can ruin reputation
PRSA Code of Ethics
- PR industry’s attempt to self regulate
- Members of PRSA HAVE to follow but it’s hard to enforce since all they can do to punish you is kick you out of group
- Professional value
- Principles of conduct
Employment Agreement
- More senior level employers
-Signature indicates agreement
-Offer letter: outlines terms and conditions of employment
-Employee manual: company policies and procedures
-Standards of conduct
-Contract wording is VERY important
Social Media
- Often outlined in employee agreement
- What can and cannot be done on social media
Why business acumen matters
- Money makes the world go round
- Businesses exist to make money, deliver value to owners (stakeholders)
- Nonprofit organizations need money to operate too
- Gov needs money
- Money decisions made by c suite (CEO,CFO,etc)
- Decisions reviewed/approved by owners
- Understanding money is difference between being a PR strategist and tactician
Arthur W. Page Society
Professional association for senior communicators, has a mission of strengthening the enterprise leadership role of the chief communications officer
Business acumen
Becoming knowledgeable about business functions, stakeholders and markets that are critical to organizational success; using this understanding to assess business matters through a communications lens; and providing informal strategic recommendations and actions
Business literacy
The ability to understand the vocabulary and language of business. May also be referred to as business fluency or business IQ. foundational to developing business acumen
Chief communications officer (COO)
The senior most communication executive in an organization, the CCO is tasked with leading the organization’s function and advising leaders
Chief marketing officer (CMO)
The senior most marketing executive in an organization, the CMO is tasked with leading the organization’s marketing function and advising leaders in the C-suite
Chief executive officer (CEO)
Top executive in an organization’s C-suite, tasked with setting and implementing firm strategy. The CEO often sits on the company’s board of directors
Commission on PR education (CPRE)
With representatives from across industry and academia, the commission provides research based recommendations for PR education
C-suite
The group of C-level executives that comprise the senior leadership team within an organization. These are the leaders in the “room where it happens”
Delphi panel method
A research method developed by the Rand Corporation originally for forecasting, which seeks to build consensus on a subject among a panel of subject matter experts
Executive committee
Also called the executive management committee or the management committee, this group comprises the most senior executives in an organization
Investor relations (IR)
A function in most public companies that serves as the primary interface for relationship building between the financial community, such as shareholders, and the company
MBA
Master’s in business administration is the most widely recognized graduate degree produced by business schools. First school to offer was Harvard
Page principles
A set of seven principles adopted and embraced by the Page Society and its members. These principles are drawn from the writings and speeches of Arthur W. Page
Strategic communications
The purposeful use of communication to help advance an organization’s mission and create value for the organization and its stakeholders
Economics
The study of cause and effect relationships in the economy
Macroeconomics
The economy as a whole
macro=big
The US, China, EU, etc
Microeconomics
micro=small
Specific organization or industry
Apple, IU, family
GDP
Overall measurement of economy
Market value of all goods produced over a specific period of time
Defines expanding/contracting economy
Two successive quarters of contraction=recession
CPI
Consumer price index
Price of a “basket of goods”
Indicator of inflation
Supply and Demand
Core principle, drives price
High supply, low demand= low price (WNBA games)
Low supply, high demand= high price (Pacers game)
Supply and demand drive stock price
Interest Rates
- Amount of interest you pay on a loan
- Cost of borrowing money
- Low interest rates promote economic growth and stimulate the economy
- But causes higher inflation
- High interest rates slow economic growth, slow economy
- But reduces inflation
Inflation
Rising prices for goods and services
Reduces purchasing power of a dollar
High inflation is bad for economy
Deflation
Prices fall
Devalues what you own/buy
Debt Ceiling
Limit set by congress on how much treasury can spend
Was just raised by .25%, was the first time we reached the debt ceiling
Fiscal policy
Government influencing the economy through changing levels of taxes and government expenditures
Very political (pres and congress)
Monetary policy
Fed reserve influencing the economy by changing levels of money supply and interest rates
Not supposed to be political
Federal Reserve
Central bank of the US
Bank for banks
Apolitical branch
Controls US monetary policy
How much money is available for use
Sets interest rates for banks borrowing from fed and other banks
By controlling interest rates, helps to grow economy (combat recession) or slow economy (combat inflation)
7 members
Nominated by President, confirmed by senate
Serve one 14 year term
Jerome Powell-current chair
Treasury
Finance department
Collects taxes (IRS), manages treasury bonds, prints currency (US Mint), monitors banks, used to oversee secret service
Treasury borrows money by selling bonds
Congress sets limit on treasury borrowing
Bureau of Labor Statistics
Government agency
Key economic report
employment/unemployment report
Unemployment benefits claims
Private company
Owners and investors (Cook Medical)
Ownership not available to all- no stock
Reports to owners confidentially, not public
Public company
Ownership (stocks) available on open market- apple
Anyone w money can be owner
Must report to owners in public, timely, consistent, full manner
Regulated by securities and exchange commission (SEC—>stocks)
Source of capital for private companies
Founders
Friends
Family
Other investors
Businesses
Angel investors
Venture capitalists
Businesses w a lot of money, looking to help
start ups for something in return
(equity/repayment)
Source of capital for public companies
Retained earnings vs paying dividends
Keep earnings within company, use later to
invest in company
Borrowing money (debt)
Selling bonds (debt)
Selling stock (ownership)
Stock market
Forward looking indicator
Reflection of what investors think will happen in the future
Supply and demand…more people want stock, price goes up
How companies use and control stock price
Delivering solid financial results
Buying back shares
By reducing supply of stock in a company, price
will increase
Conducting a stock split
Splitting stock for same amount, makes stock
more affordable
Issuing more shares (bad)
Usually done when a company is desperate for
cash
Stocks are a currency companies can use to acquire each other
Bond
Generally considered safer than stocks, a bond is a form of debt that pays interest to the holder. Unless a convertible bond, a bond does not represent ownership interest in a firm
Capital markets
Includes the stock market and the bond market. This is where organizations go to raise capital and where buyers and sellers trade securities like stocks and bonds
Corporate finance
Concerned with the rising and managing of funds (capital) with the goal of maximizing values for stakeholders, particularly shareholder and investor interests
crowdfunding
The process of raising small amounts of money through a large number of people (crowd). Popular crowdfunding platforms include GoFundMe
debt
A bond, loan note, mortgage, or other obligation, which states repayment terms on borrowed money and if applicable the interest owed as a condition of the borrowed money
direct listing
Also known as a direct public offering, a direct listing is a lower cost easy to become a public company without going through the traditional initial public offering process
EDGAR
All S public company disclosure documents are required to be made with the US SEC’s EDGAR system. Electronic Data-Gathering Analysis and Retrieval
Equity
A stock or other security that represents an underlying ownership interest in a company. More broadly, equity refers to ownership in an asset after all debts have been paid
Financial communication
A specialty area of strategic communication concerned with communicating financial matters to the financial community and other stakeholders
Index fund
A type of low cost investment product that tracks the performance of an index, such as the S&P 500, The Dow Jones Industrial Average, or the NASDAQ Composit
Individual investors
A small, private, non-professional investor that typically buys small blocks of stock when making investments. Individual investors are sometimes known as retail investors
Initial Public Offering (IPO)
Marks the first time that a company sells stock to the public and its shares are listed on a stock exchange and widely available for purchase by investors
institutional investors
A professional investor, such as a mutual fund, hedge fund, pension fund, or endowment, that typically buys large blocks of stock when making investments
Investor relations
A function in most public companies that serves as the primary interface for relationship building between the financial community, such as shareholders, and the company
Hedge fund
A type of private investment fund that manages capital for high worth individuals and institutions. Hedge funds have traditionally faced less regulation than mutual funds
Private equity
A type of alternative investment manager that may use leverage and invest capital in private companies and/or may engage in the buyout of public companies
Quiet period
As mandated by the US federal securities law, a company that has registered to sell stock (ex. Public initial offering) is limited in the public statements it can make. Many public companies also choose to voluntarily adopt “quiet periods” around the release of quarterly earnings reports
Road show
A series of meetings held online or in person when a company’s management team, investment bankers, and other advisors meet with prospective large shareholders
Securities
Financial instruments that represent some type of financial value such as an ownership interest in a company (stock) or money that is borrowed and must be repaid (bond)
Stock
A security that represents an ownership interest in a company and its future earnings. The two main classes of stock are common stock and preferred stock
Stock exchange
A market where securities, such as shares of stock in a company, are bought and sold. A company must meet listing requirements to have its stock listed on an exchange
Ticker symbol
A stock symbol or ticker is a unique series of letters assigned to a security for trading purposes. (APPL=apple)
Venture capital
Capital that generally invests in private, fast-growing ventures with a goal of generating an eventual return through a liquidity event, such as a sale of the business or an initial public offering
Wall street
A street in lower Manhattan that is the heart of New York’s financial district. Also used to refer to the US financial industry as a whole
Shorting stock
Betting on stock going down in value
Can only make maximum of what you spent on the stock
No limit on how much you can lose
Extremely risky
