Assessing the Value of Executive Leadership Coaches for Cybersecurity Project Managers

With the complex nature of impacts of cybersecurity breaches, it is critical that organizational have cybersecurity project managers that can make sound managerial and leadership decisions. Often cybersecurity project managers act quickly with managerial decisions at work. When time is of the essence, strategic thinking, strategic communication, and strategic decision making are critical to organizational effectiveness and productivity. Decision making and strategic communications are just a few skills that executive leadership coaches can teach. This article explores the values and potential benefits of executive coaching as a leadership development tool for information technology and cybersecurity project managers.

Strategic Communication for Sustainable Environmental Development in the Northern Nigerian Arid Zone

Nigeria is one of the world's most vulnerable countries to extreme weather conditions and natural disasters linked to climate change, the impacts of which are exacerbated by rapid population growth, a fragile economy, high dependence on rain-fed agribusiness, and the country's weak adaptive capacity. The lack of or poor application of environmental communication in a strategic approach is critical to all of these. Using a thematic conceptual review of existing literature, this chapter shows that strategic environmental communication can be applied more easily to mitigate the impacts of climate change and environmental degradation through the use of well-established communication strategies and instruments to save the environment for socio-economic development.

“Listening” to Science: Science Podcasters’ View and Practice in Strategic Science Communication

We have witnessed an increasing amount of science podcasts, and it has emerged as an important venue for science communication. From a strategic science communication perspective, this study investigated how science podcasters view science communication–related goals and objectives, as well as the tactics they use in producing science communication content based on the theory of planned behavior. A survey ( N = 147) with science podcasters showed that they see excitement and interest in science as their most prioritized objective and present the value of science over time. In addition, our results showed that podcasters frequently use communication tactics, but it may not have resulted from planned strategic communication action. The findings of this study provide initial insight into podcasters’ views and practice as part of the science communication effort.

Balancing Bureaucracy and Communal Values in Diffusing the Innovation Process: Strategic Communication Challenges from the Malaysian Perspectives

The transmission of agricultural messages such as innovation in agricultural settings requires good planning from a strategic communication viewpoint. Moreover, there has been a call from various quarters that demand a holistic approach to solve this miscommunication issue. Thus, this study aims to understand the experiences of senior officers who are in charge of managing transmission of agricultural knowledge and training in various agriculturally based organisations. In-depth interviews were conducted with experts representing local and federal research-based and execution agencies. The data were analysed thematically. The interview protocol was developed from a literature review and tested on an expert who was also in the field of agriculture. The findings indicate that the bureaucracy system negates transfer of technology to the recipients, while communal culture presents as stimuli for successful diffusion of innovation. Thus, balancing bureaucracy and communal values offers a positive impact on the transfer of new technology to the recipients. The results offer a new understanding on the complexity of transfer of innovation knowledge and practices in terms of planning and implementing phases faced by the officers. To add, within the context of the study, top-down and bottom-up communication strategies need to be realigned to ensure the sustainability of effective innovation transfer in Malaysia. Future research could address the different scope of communication aspects in these organisations and extend our in-depth interview approach to various officers at national and regional levels. Keywords: Bureaucracy, communal values, strategic communication, experts, innovation.

Influence Operations: Conceptual Dimension

The article focuses on the meaning and features of influence operations. It is shown that this term does not have precise and widely accepted definition. The researchers tend to consider influence operations as general term for any activities of international actors in information environment, or as a modern form of information operations that exceed military campaigns. The analysis of researchers’ publications made it possible to highlight some features of influence operations. The core of influence operations is perception management. The success of such operations depends largely on understanding vulnerabilities and adaptation to the specifics of target audiences. One of key features of influence operations is synchronization and coordination of activities in information and physical environment. The idea is that communication activities should be reinforced by appropriateactions that also aim to affect perceptions, opinions, and behavior of target audiences and not to obtain advantages in physical environment. Influence operations are also characterized by the use of various combinations of “soft” and “hard”, legitimate and partly legitimate influence techniques. The scenarios of influence operations are long lasting and may take different formsthat involve the participation of state and non-state agents of influence. Influence operations cover all aspects of information operations and strategic communication, but they are used in more complicated and subtle way. So, it makes sense to regard influence operations as long-term and advanced form of information operations. The emergence of this term may mark the necessity torevise and updateexisting terminology in the field of information warfare,taking into account moderntrends in the development of international relations.

Foreign Political Image of the Chechen Republic in Foreign Media

The article examines the external media image of the Chechen Republic, which is formed, among other things, through publications in foreign media. It is noted that the issues of its formation and adaptation to the conditions of external positioning are important points of strategic communication in the media policy of the region. The results of the research will help to develop criteria for the effectiveness of submitting materials for foreign authors, as well as to identify the main trends in the strategy and tactics of media policy in relation to foreign media.The purpose of the study is to identify criteria and trends in the coverage of the life of the Chechen Republic by foreign media. The objectives of the research were to study the techniques and tonality of coverage of the life of the Chechen Republic in foreign media, as well as to identify the most popular and effective tools for working with foreign authors.The methodology and methodology of the research is determined by the set goals and objectives, the author used thematic monitoring, comparative analysis, content analysis as a standard method of research in the field of social sciences, the subject of analysis of which is the content of text arrays and products of communicative information.The hypothesis of the study was generally confirmed: the fragmentary coverage of events and the life of the Chechen Republic was revealed, the media image of the republic in foreign media is formed spontaneously. The opportunism of the media image is formed under the influence of political events in the world that are not directly related to the life of the region.

Predicting Communicative Behavior of Higher Institutions Employees during COVID-19 Pandemic: A Conceptual Assessment

Over the last three decades, a series of research has revealed how strategic communication may have a profound effect on how members of society behave. More precisely, communication theories have documented the media's ability to determine the agenda in society. The situational theory of problem-solving is particularly interesting because it explains why and how individual members of society communicate during a problematic situation. This hypothesis has been evaluated in a variety of contexts to determine its efficacy. However, few studies have been conducted to examine the influence of communication from corporations or governments to community members. The character of persons, particularly employees' information seeking and sharing behavior, has been significantly overlooked in the context of COVID-19. The purpose of this study is to investigate theoretically how employees to process, seek, forward, filter, choose, and exchange information regarding COVID 19.