Towards a postmodern research agenda for public relations

Towards an emerging paradigm of strategic communication: Core driving forces

“…Some scholars (Holtzhausen 2002;Verwey 2010) are of the view that the communication professional is best positioned as an organisational 'activist', and should not necessarily desire to become part of dominant coalition structures. In this respect, they argue that the communication agency or agent is in a better position than organisations are, when it comes to playing an active strategic communication role in the organisation.…”

Project Communication Management in Complex Environments

“…However, from a complexity point of view, even the most experienced professionals cannot fully control Organizational structure (OV1) Clear hierarchy structure Centralized bureaucracy structure (BD 2009) Decentralized structure (BD 2009) Organizational culture (OV2) (Thorelli 1986) Open-mindedness environment for building mutually trust relationship (Thorelli 1986) Learning environment to constantly acquire and communicate knowledge within the organization (Coombs 2007;Zhong and Low 2009) Information technologies capability and information management system (OV3) (Thorelli 1986) Technology capability to innovate (Thorelli 1986) Style of leadership and management (OV4) (Ragins 1995) Manager's expertise to deal with crisis contingency (Finkelstein 1992; Robbins 2005) Manager's ability to influence over others (Finkelstein 1992;Robbins 2005) Control of authority leadership style (centralized) (Hinnings et al 1974; Pfeefer 1981) When a critical decision must be made, there is always someone in the project who has the power to delegate decision (Burton and Obel 2004) Delegation of authority leadership style (empowerment) (Burke 1986;Hinnings et al 1974; Pfeefer 1981) Participative decision-making process (democratic) (Newcombe 1996) Most decision are made through consensus (democratic) (Newcombe 1996) Sense-making capability of organizations and individuals (OV5) (Thorelli 1986) Employees hold trust and credibility towards each other (Thorelli 1986) Skill capability of members of the organization (OV6) (Ragins 1995) Some of the employees possess competent technical skills and expertise that would be difficult to replace (Greiner and Schein 1988;Ragins 1995) the crisis situation as the progression of multiple minor problems can aggravate the organizational crisis, but they can learn to work with adeptly (Zhong and Low 2009). However, instead of focusing on how to protect those already in power, the efforts should also be directed toward resisting domination and attending to the voices of those who are disemboweled and marginalized (Holtzhausen 2002;Martin 1990). Health and Millar (2004) suggested that a crisis can be viewed as ''a struggle for control'' and Coombs (1999) advocated establishing a ''crisis control center'' to facilitate ''crisis containment and recovery''.…”

Divided we stand: Defying hegemony in global public relations theory and practice?

“…Instead, communities who are otherwise marginalized or 'different' on the basis of their history, culture, class, gender, locality, etc., become the focus of interpretive analysis. The result will be not one central public relations theory, postmodern scholars predict, but multiple truths (Hatch, 1997, Holtzhausen, 2000, Holtzhausen, 2002and Pompper, 2005.…”