Is Strategic Communication too important to be left to Communication Professionals?

Falkheimer, Jesper; Heide, Mats; Nothhaft, Howard; Platen, Sara von; Simonsson, Charlotte; Andersson, Rickard

doi:10.1016/j.pubrev.2016.10.011

Cited by 66 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…Additionally, the results indicate a positive relationship between perceived importance of communication and employees' predisposition towards taking communication responsibility. Previous research has identified that employees believe communication to be important for organizational and individual success (Falkheimer et al, 2017), and that increasing employees awareness of the contribution of communication for organizational success is important to encourage employees to become more aware and active communicators (Heide & Simonsson, 2011;Zerfass & Franke, 2013). This study extends these insights by showing that perceived importance of communication positively influences employees' predisposition towards taking communication responsibility.…”

Section: Structural Equation Model Analysissupporting

confidence: 58%

Employee Communication Responsibility: Its Antecedents and Implications for Strategic Communication Management

Andersson

2018

International Journal of Strategic Communication

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Although organizations increasingly acknowledge the communicative importance of employees, and increasingly frame communication as an employee responsibility, communication responsibility remains an unexplored topic in strategic communication research. To address this gap, this study introduces the concept employee communication responsibility and offers insight into factors influencing employees' predisposition towards taking communication responsibility. Data were obtained from 4,726 employees working in ten Swedish organizations. Half the sample (2,244) was used for exploratory factor analysis that enabled the identification of a smaller number of factors to construct a model with four hypotheses, and half the sample (2,482) was used to test the proposed model through structural equation modeling (SEM). Hypotheses formulation was informed by previous research examining factors influencing employees' communication. The study shows that all tested factors, internal communication climate openness, immediate supervisor communication, top management-employee communication, and perceived importance of communication significantly contribute to employees' predisposition towards taking communication responsibility. Thus, the study provide knowledge useful to researchers interested in employees' communication, and to strategic communication practitioners responsible for internal communication and employees' communication.

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Section: Structural Equation Model Analysissupporting

confidence: 58%

Employee Communication Responsibility: Its Antecedents and Implications for Strategic Communication Management

Andersson

2018

International Journal of Strategic Communication

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“…As other organizational members increasingly perceive communication as important for both individual and organizational success (Falkheimer et al, 2017), future studies on the profession could investigate the changing relationships as communication practitioners claim ‘strategic’ expertise and identify other organizational members as ‘producers’. Studies have shown that concepts such as ‘communicative leadership’ (Hamrin et al, 2016; Johansson et al, 2014) and the ‘communication responsibility’ (Andersson, 2019) of all organizational members are becoming increasingly common in organizations.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Being a ‘strategist’: Communication practitioners, strategic work, and power effects of the strategy discourse

Andersson

2020

Public Relations Inquiry

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This article analyzes communication practitioners’ accounts to interpret what power effects the strategy discourse has on their ‘way of seeing’ themselves and their work. Through an analysis of 26 interviews with communication practitioners, the findings show that strategy, understood as a discursive body of knowledge, has empowered practitioners by enabling them to produce an understanding of themselves as worthy ‘strategists’ possessing unique expertise and competencies essential to their organization, and empowered them to claim intra-organizational power and power over others. The article empirically shows how practitioners engage with the strategy discourse to construct accounts of themselves and their work, and makes a theoretical contribution by exemplifying the problematizing potential of the strategy as discourse perspective by discussing the power effects strategy has on the profession and practice. Thus, the article complements classical and emergent perspectives on strategy in public relations and strategic communication by offering an approach more attentive toward the constitutive effects of strategy on the practice of public relations and strategic communication.

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“…The last lines of the quote indicate the idea that if there is no direct link between the communication work and the organizational goals, then your work as a communication professional is of no strategic value and hence not that important. Even so, the emphasis on goals and goal alignment sometimes seems to be more a matter of bringing legitimacy to the profession than real value for the organization (Falkheimer, et al, 2017). Some interviewees also admit that goals and evaluations can be subject to post hoc rationalization.…”

Section: Communication Goals and Goal Alignmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Developing a Communicative Logic –The Key to Communication Professionalism

Simonsson

Heide

2021

International Journal of Strategic Communication

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Communication practitioners still struggle to increase their status and legitimacy, and the value of their work is often questioned. The general perception of the occupation is often related to the idea that communication practitioners manipulate with misleading information and primarily are involved in superficial activities such as image and reputation building. In attempting to defend themselves from criticism and enhance their status, communication practitioners have strived to be regarded as a management function, which comes with pressure to follow a managerial logic. However, the managerial logic works as a double-edged sword -it brings some status in the short run but takes communication practitioners further away from their core competence in communication. In this article, we challenge the one-sided belief in the managerial logic -managerialism -and explore its hidden, negative implications for the practice and professionalization of communications practitioners. The implications are illustrated with interviews with communication practitioners and survey data on communication practitioners' views and communication processes. Further, we propose that an alternative logic -a professional communicative logic -needs to be further developed and embraced to additionally advance the professional project.

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Is Strategic Communication too important to be left to Communication Professionals?

Cited by 66 publications

References 18 publications

Employee Communication Responsibility: Its Antecedents and Implications for Strategic Communication Management

Employee Communication Responsibility: Its Antecedents and Implications for Strategic Communication Management

Being a ‘strategist’: Communication practitioners, strategic work, and power effects of the strategy discourse

Developing a Communicative Logic –The Key to Communication Professionalism

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