01_Great Lakes Garments Teaching Note.pdfVIP

Eugene D. Fanning Center for Business Communication 92-02 Mendoza College of Business University of Notre Dame Great Lakes Garments, Inc. TEACHING NOTE Purpose of Case Study 1. To encourage students to think about the role of strategic communication within an organization. 2. To enhance understanding of managing a large-scale corporate communication effort in response to a negative situation. 3. To help students understand the role of media in focusing public attention on negative issues. 4. To give students an appreciation for the importance of effective communication, both internally and publicly, to the long-term success of any business. Identify the Business Problem The business problem in this case involves communicating a clear, precise message to employees of Great Lakes Garments (GLG). In addition, the company must also think about the implications of this message to other stakeholders (customers, business partners, the community at large). Successfully communicating the company’s position to its employees, customers, and the community is crucial to Great Lakes ability to sustain its business through the critical period of the layoff. This teaching note was prepared by Cynthia Maciejczyk under the direction of James O’Rourke, Concurrent Associate Professor of Management, as the basis for class discussion rather than to illustrate either effective or ineffective hand ling of an adm inistrative situation. Copyrigh t 200 1. Eugene D. F anning Cen ter for B usiness C omm unicatio n. All rights r eserv ed. N o part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, used in a spreadsheet, or transmitted in any form