Communications officers and the C-suite: a study of Financial Times Global 500 companies

A content analysis of the websites or annual reports of the 2012 Financial Times Global 500 companies was performed to examine the position of communications officers (COs) on their executive boards. Almost one quarter of the companies examined had a CO on the executive board. Their distribution differed by region, with North America leading, followed by Europe. No significant differences were found between business to business (BtB) and business to consumer (BtC) companies or between sectors with more or less regulated communication. Economic indicators did not predict whether a company would have a CO on the executive board.