 |
Dr. Tudor Vlad speaking at Babes-Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. |
Associate Director Speaks At Babes-Bolyai University, Romania
Dr. Tudor Vlad, the associate director of the James M. Cox Jr. Center for International Mass Communication Training and Research at the University of Georgia, told faculty, students and public administrators at Babes‑Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania, that good communication is essential for management success.
Dr. Vlad was a speaker at the conference on Public Administration and Communication on October 8, at the College of Political, Administrative and Communication Studies at the Romanian university. The title of the presentation was The Importance of Effective Communication for Local Administration.
The conference was the result of the partnership between the Romanian college and the Cox International Center. About 60 faculty, students and Transylvanian public administrators participated in the two-day program.
The Cox International Center is the international outreach unit of the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Georgia.
“A survey in 2014 showed that chief executive officers think that 90 percent of their job is communication,” Dr. Vlad said. “I think the situation is not much different with senior managers working in public administration. They have to learn and understand the main attributes of efficient communication, which are: clear, concise, credible, and delivered with confidence.”
While being the guest of Babes-Bolyai University, Dr. Vlad gave two other lectures. One was for the journalism and mass communication students and faculty. The other was for the students enrolled in the English language Master’s program in public administration.
The journalism presentation focused on the impact of the economic crisis and of the new technologies on the professional journalists’ status.
An estimated 5,900 full-time jobs were cut in U.S. newspaper newsrooms in both 2008 and 2009, mainly as a result of the economic crisis, Dr. Vlad said. “Many of these people continue to use their communication skills, due to the Internet, and have become bloggers, community or citizen journalists.
Historically the work of the so called professional journalists was legitimized by the fact that they were writing or working for media institutions, Dr. Vlad said. “Now, the situation has dramatically changed,” he said, and journalists have to gain legitimacy through their own work.
The lecture in the Master’s program was part of the one-semester Strategic Planning course held by Dr. Calin Hintea and was on the role of communication in crisis management.
“Good communication requires skills that have to be learned,” Dr. Vlad told the students. “Many times in Romania, top managers think they are qualified to communicate only because they hold top positions in their companies. They don’t understand that crisis communication needs planning, coordination and coherence.”
Following a Memorandum of Collaboration renewed in 2013, the University of Georgia and Babes-Bolyai University have partnered in areas such as joint research, faculty exchange, international seminars, conferences and workshops.
