First DCom in Communication Management awarded

Dr Meintjes at the Spring 2012 graduation ceremony, during which the DCom (Communication Management) degree has been awarded to her.

Corné is an alumni of Tukkies and studied at the University of Pretoria from undergraduate level. She obtained a BCom, BCom Honours and MCom at Tukkies. She is the first student in the history of the University of Pretoria to be awarded a doctorate in Commerce with specialisation in the field of communication management. All previous doctorates in this field were PhD’s. The title of her thesis was “A strategic communication approach to managing stakeholder relationships according to the King Report on Governance”.

In the thesis, Corné demonstrates the importance of communication management to business success by means of proposing guidelines for strategic stakeholder relationship management. Three phases guided the study. The first phase consisted of a literature review, the second phase included qualitative empirical research into the views and practices of selected South African senior communicators, while phase three consisted of establishing nine guidelines for the strategic management of stakeholder relationships. This was followed by a strategic stakeholder relationship management positioning framework with which companies may improve their competitive advantage.

Corné is a lecturer in the Department of Marketing of the School of Business and Economics at Monash South Africa.