The double‐edged sword of legitimacy in public relations

Merkelsen, Henrik

doi:10.1108/13632541111126355

Cited by 30 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 59 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…The importance of organizational legitimacy has been substantiated within both institutional theory (Powell and DiMaggio, 1983) and in the field of communication management (Grunig, 1992;Metzler, 2001;Merkelsen, 2011). The concept of legitimacy addresses forces, both normative and cognitive, that constrain, construct, and empower organizational actors (Suchman, 1995).…”

Section: Institutionalization Of Communication Management 14mentioning

confidence: 99%

Institutionalization of communication management

Grandien

Johansson

2012

Corporate Communications: An International Journal

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Purpose -Development and expansion of the communication management function in organizations has lately been discussed in relation to the concept of institutionalization.Empirical evidence has illustrated that the role of communication executives and communication managers varies between organizations, and could also be subjected to change within an organization. In this paper, institutionalization of communication management is conceptualized as a process. A theoretical framework is developed, which integrates important factors that influence and regulate this process.Design/Methodology -A literature review resulted in a number of factors potentially influencing the institutionalization process. These factors were attributed to three main theoretical areas and four different levels of analysis, using institutional theory as a guiding framework. The theoretical areas and analysis levels, were proposed to be mutually interdependent, and were compiled in a theoretical framework, illustrated in a model. Findings -The theoretical framework includes three main areas: organizational structure, social capital, and perceptions of the profession; and four levels of analysis: the societal, the organizational field, the organizational and the individual levels. Keywords Institutionalization, Communication management, Theoretical framework Article type Conceptual paper INSTITUTIONALIZATION OF COMMUNICATION MANAGEMENT 3Communication professionals have attained executive positions and engaged in fields of practice that go beyond the traditional functions that originally defined the profession.Communication executives today have more legitimacy, power and responsibility than ever before. Alongside with the development in communication management practice, research in communication management and public relations has developed significantly over the past two decades (Botan and Hazleton, 2006; Botan and Taylor, 2004). However, scholars also have recognized the need for further development of theories that can broaden the field, such as social theory (Ihlen, Fredriksson and van Ruler, 2009) and institutional theory (Invernizzi and Romenti, 2009;Zerfass, 2009). The integration of institutional thought in communication management theory is proposed to offer a possibility to understand its core functions better (Sandhu, 2009). However, we still lack a comprehensive theoretical framework for the purpose of studying institutionalization of communication management. A similar framework concerning the institutionalization of corporate social responsibility (CSR) has recently been proposed by Schultz and Wehemeyer (2010).Institutionalization of the communication function in organizations has been compared to institutionalization of other corporate functions, such as finance, human resources, and information technology (Swerling and Sen, 2009). Four common indicators have been used to investigate the level of institutionalization: maintenance of a reporting line to the CEO; enhancement of senior management perceptions; integra...

show abstract

Section: Institutionalization Of Communication Management 14mentioning

confidence: 99%

Institutionalization of communication management

Grandien

Johansson

2012

Corporate Communications: An International Journal

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…By effectively integrating community relations, emergency management, and reflective management, high‐risk organizations can achieve legitimacy . Safe operations couple with effectively implemented emergency response protocols to co‐produce legitimacy.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Chemical Manufacturing and Refining Industry Legitimacy: Reflective Management, Trust, Precrisis Communication to Achieve Community Efficacy

Heath

Lee

2015

Risk Analysis

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Calls for emergency right-to-know in the 1980s, and, in the 1990s, risk management planning, motivated U.S. chemical manufacturing and refining industries to operationalize a three-pronged approach to risk minimization and communication: reflective management to increase legitimacy, operational safety programs to raise trust, and community engagement designed to facilitate citizens' emergency response efficacy. To assess these management, operational, and communication initiatives, communities (often through Local Emergency Planning Committees) monitored the impact of such programs. In 2012, the fourth phase of a quasi-longitudinal study was conducted to assess the effectiveness of operational change and community outreach in one bellwether community. This study focuses on legitimacy, trust, and response efficacy to suggest that an industry can earn legitimacy credits by raising its safety and environmental impact standards, by building trust via that change, and by communicating emergency response messages to near residents to raise their response efficacy. As part of its campaign to demonstrate its concern for community safety through research, planning, and implementation of safe operations and viable emergency response systems, this industry uses a simple narrative of risk/emergency response-shelter-in-place-communicated by a spokes-character: Wally Wise Guy.

show abstract

“…Las memorias de sostenibilidad desempeñan un papel fundamental en la mejora de la confianza que constituye la base de la legitimidad (moral) en la sociedad (Merkelsen, 2011). Esto es tanto más importante cuanto más relacionado esté un sector con las demandas básicas de la población, como es el caso de las industrias agroalimentarias.…”

Section: Introductionunclassified