Portfolio

Academic work

Upcoming research:

Goldman Sachs and Greg Smith – an analysis of the explosive op-ed by a former employee published in The New York Times and the ramifications for financial institutions, already badly battered by the press and public disgust.

Big Pharma and social media – as a part of one of the most regulated industries in the world, pharmaceutical companies have had difficulty developing a presence on online social networks. My research here is intended to take a close look at why.

Corporate reputation, communications crises and The Toyota Way (Download as PDF)

In fall 2011, I decided to focus some of my MA research on corporate reputation and the effect that communications crises can have on a brand. As a native metro-Detroiter, I’ve been surrounded by the US automotive industry my entire life. I wanted to investigate how Toyota Motor Company had handled its sudden-acceleration crisis and the reputational issues that followed. Though it’s not an American car company, this crisis nonetheless had an impact on the entire industry and the company’s failure to respond appropriately will likely enter history – along with British Petroleum and Exxon-Valdez – as one of the most mishandled PR crises in recent memory.

Here, I perform a critical discourse analysis of press coverage surrounding Toyota during this time – late 2009 through the end of 2010.

Projects

 Canvas Creative Arts Magazine

From 2008-2009, I was director of an 80-page magazine that published the best student-submitted poetry, short fiction and artwork across the eight Indiana University campuses. I worked directly with the magazine’s designer and editor, and managed a staff of more than 15 students. This was both my first experience in project management and the direct management of a staff. I was successful in fundraising and allocating approximately $20,000 to fund the production of the magazine and the premiere release event that celebrated the final product.

This experience was formative in many ways. I learned that the best way to encourage and motivate my staff was to give them ownership of their tasks. Rather than micromanaging every aspect of the magazine’s production, delegating effectively proved to be the best way to accomplish all of our goals. I developed the editorial calendar, selection criteria and general governance of how we as a publication chose the work that we did. My other achievement was the creation of the magazine’s website, and our move to both a physical and digital distribution.