Internal communication is a prerequisite for organisational success as it underpins organisational effectiveness. Previous research (Albrecht, 2010; Andrew & Sofian, 2012; Hayase, 2009; Mamdoo, 2012; Markos & Sridevi, 2010; Meng & Berger, 2012; Ruck & Welch, 2012; Welch & Jackson, 2007; Welch, 2011) has linked this process to employee engagement, which generally refers to “a positive fulfilling, work-related state of mind that is characterised by vigour, dedication and absorption.” To illustrate how employee engagement can be achieved through internal communication, a quantitative research approach was used to obtain data from a sample of 300 respondents identified by means of systematic random sampling from a population of 1 322 employees from the case organisation. The findings point to the critical role played by internal communication in the achievement of employee engagement and specifically investigated the relationship between employee engagement and constructs such as: participative organisationalculture; supportive communication climate; participative leadership communication; quality and reliability of information; two-way asymmetrical communication and two-way symmetrical communication.

Including stakeholder approaches into mainstream strategy has been a topic of recent research in the disciplines of strategic management and strategic communication management. The King III Report on Corporate Governance for South Africa (September 2009) illustrates the pragmatic approach to this integration with its chapter on 'Governing Stakeholder Relationships'. This inclusive approach to governance creates awareness among business, government and civil society, of the role that stakeholder relationship management, and therefore strategic communication management, can play in the development, implementation and monitoring of corporate strategies in a sustainable manner. A theoretical framework for an integrated approach-as developed in this article-will guide responsible strategic communication management with specific reference to the governing of stakeholder relationships. It will demonstrate that communication management principles, such as stakeholder relationship management, can assist an organisation in achieving its objectives-even to a point of becoming objectives in themselves.

ABSTRACT

Universities have been forced to raise higher education fees with above inflation rates due to increasing operating costs and higher student numbers and decreasing real term government funding. While free higher education or other alternative funding models are being considered, the higher education sector is at stake: a sector that plays a vital role in creating improved lives for all South Africans. A sustainable framework is desperately required or universities will once again need to increase student fees at unreasonable rates to maintain quality. We therefore performed a mixed method documentary analysis to prove that fee-free higher education is not viable in South Africa as significant funds will either need to be reallocated from other sectors that also require funding, or it will have to be collected from already overburdened tax payers. The present study also developed a viable student fee regulatory framework with the use of grounded theory: subsidised higher education with the effective use of the already implemented National Student Financial Aid Scheme.

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