A Situational Perspective on Employee Communicative Behaviors in A Crisis: The Role of Relationship and Symmetrical Communication

ABSTRACT

This study investigates the intertwined effects of the employee-organization relationship (EOR), internal communication, and employees’ situational perceptions on individuals’ communicative behaviors – seeking and voicing – during periods of organizational crisis. Using the situational theory of problem solving (STOPS), the current study investigates employees’ cognitive reactions as well as how their communicative behaviors are affected by the pre-crisis EOR and organizations’ symmetrical communication effort in a crisis. An online survey was conducted with 410 full-time U.S. employees working in large corporations. Results indicated that a favorable pre-crisis relationship between an organization and its employees significantly affects how they perceive a crisis and their communicative behaviors. Employees’ perceived symmetrical communication strengthens the relationship between the pre-established relationship with employees and their crisis perceptions. Findings provide a comprehensive picture of the process by which the EOR directs employee behaviors in a crisis, as well as the positive effects of symmetrical internal communication. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.     

Using Social Media to Engage Employees: Insights from Internal Communication Managers

The growth of social media in organizations is reshaping internal communication strategy. This article explores the value of internal social media with a focus on employee engagement, which is defined as employees who are connected to the values and mission of the company, feel empowered, bring energy, passion, and discretionary effort to their jobs, and serve as advocates. Interviews were conducted with 27 senior-level internal communication practitioners working for global companies. Practitioners said they use a variety of communication channels, including social media, to drive employee engagement. The findings revealed best practices in using internal social media to engage employees, including providing clear social media policies and employee training; empowering employee social advocates; involving leadership and securing endorsement; social media listening; sharable, relevant, and practical content strategies; and, authenticity and consistency. Future trends and evolvement of internal communication around social media are also discussed.     

Strategic Communication of Israel’s Intelligence Services: Countering New Challenges with Old Methods

This study sheds light on the strategic communication of intelligence services in the new media age. Intelligence services operate in the dark, as far away as possible from the attention of the media and the public. However, in the new media age, intelligence services face a fresh set of unfamiliar challenges, including a dramatic change in the concept of time, the presence of alternative voices in the new media and a dramatic reduction in the ability to manage and control information. Using a case study approach, three traditional methods employed by Israeli intelligence services when addressing situations of exposure are examined: censorship, gag orders and the Editors’ Committee. The study addresses the organizations’ dilemmas, choices and difficulties in adjusting to the new media environment. On a broader theoretical level, the research demonstrates the importance of recognizing the differences among the diverse actors in the field of strategic communication as manifested within the well-established concepts of strategic communication, adaptation and adjustment. Since the field of strategic communication aims to include so many types of organizations and actors, it is crucial that nuances and differences among them are identified and analyzed within their specific context.     

The Co-Presence of Clarity and Ambiguity in Strategic Corporate Communication – An Exploratory Study

The purpose of this article is to examine the co-presence of clarity and ambiguity in the formulation, interpretation and implementation of corporate communication strategies. Following a growing scholarly interest in how ambiguity can be seen as a productive strategic resource in strategy work, this article focuses on the interdependency of clarity and ambiguity in corporate communication strategies. Through an exploratory study, using interpretive discourse analysis of interviews with employees at a corporate communication department, the present article analyses how the employees perceived the writing, reading, and enactment of their organisation’s new corporate communication strategy. The analysis reveals that the employees sometimes use shared understandings to produce ambiguity in relation to engagement and responsibility, and how they use ambiguity to create a shared understanding of objectives and practices. Though this co-presence might cause the members to feel a lack of ownership, it does not impede the department’s ability to execute strategy-work.     

The Role of Social Capital for Organizational Identification: Implications for Strategic Communication

Scholars in the fields of organization and strategic communication have long been interested in organizational identification as a phenomenon favoring employees’ alignment with corporate values and consequently achievement of the organizational mission. To date, most studies on the subject have relied on social identity theory, which focuses on cognitive categorization processes but overlooks the role of employees’ relationships within their organization. In this research, we introduce a social capital perspective into organizational identification models. We propose and test a model looking at the influence of an individual’s social capital, a variable deriving from different dimensions of an individual’s communication network (i.e., prestige, resourceful others, friendship), on organizational identification, mediated by the attractiveness of perceived organizational identity. The results from a survey conducted in a business organization suggest that a person’s social capital influences organizational identification, both directly and through the attractiveness of perceived organizational identity. Our organizational identification model contributes to extend knowledge on the complementarity of the cognitive and relational perspectives of strategic communication and on the role of relationship building and networks in strategic communication management.     

Strategic Leadership Communication for Crisis Network Coordination

In large-scale societal crises, organizations involved in saving lives and protecting the public need to collaborate and coordinate their crisis communication to minimize damage and increase resilience. This study analyzed strategic leadership communication fostering such coordination in a network consisting of 24 members representing a variety of authorities, organizations and units established during a large forest fire in Sweden. As the crisis unfolded over a two-week period, 10 network meetings were observed and audio recorded. Discourse analysis was employed to analyze network leaders’ and members’ communication during the meetings. Findings illustrate that leadership communication strategies that fostered networked coordination of organizations’ crisis communication differ in significant ways from leadership communication in noncrisis and team contexts. Salient leadership communication strategies of directing/structuring and encouraging/facilitating were employed during crisis network meetings and functioned to coordinate involved organizations’ crisis communication efforts during time pressure. The study contributes with new knowledge of strategic leadership communication for crisis network coordination, which is important to crisis management and can be used in crisis preparation to enhance resilience.     

Cultivating Quality Employee-Organization Relationships: The Interplay among Organizational Leadership,Culture, and Communication

Based on a random sample of employees (n = 391) working in various industrial sectors in the United States, we examined the respective linkages between employee–organization relationships (EORs) and authentic leadership, symmetrical internal communication, and organizational culture. Results indicated that authentic leadership, organizational culture of supportiveness, emphasis on reward, and stability were significant predictors of the symmetrical internal communication system of an organization and EORs. Symmetrical internal communication cultivates quality EORs and mediates the effects of authentic leadership and cultural dimensions of supportiveness on EOR outcomes. The theoretical and practical implications of the findings were also discussed.     

Strategy and Tactics in Strategic Communication: Examining their Intersection with Social Media Use

While public relations industry leaders have proposed a strategic approach to social media, industry research has found that social media practices may be more tactical than strategic. Likewise, scholarly research has focused more on specific parts of strategic planning, such as message—and channel-level communication in social media, but little research has been done to understand program-level communication planning. The purpose of this study was to examine the confluence of current trends in social media use with strategic communication processes through in-depth interviews and a national survey of public relations practitioners. The in-depth interviews revealed two overarching themes: (1) social media use should be guided by strategic planning and (2) social media tactics should revolve around conversations. The survey results showed that practitioners are involved in social media strategy development and tactical implementation, yet see their involvement as linked mostly to their organizations’ strategic rather than tactical social media activities. In addition, practitioners delineate social media strategies and tactics differently than theoretical conceptualizations.     

Where Grass Has No Roots: The Concept of ‘Shared Strategic Communication’ as an Answer to Unethical Astroturf Lobbying

As researchers pursue connections between strategic communication and management, they need to critique practices to develop norms that increase strategic communication’s long-term contribution to society. Norms of strategic communication are shaped by socially constructed standards of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and guide how strategic communication fosters organization-public relationships (OPR). Such norms are particularly important regarding deliberative strategic communication, which uses political CSR to guide corporations’ political role. Although principles of OPR and political CSR should foster more ethical strategic communication, some practices weaken such standards. To make that case, this article (1) reviews the historical foundations of deliberative discourse, (2) examines principles of OPR and political CSR, and (3) applies normative principles of deliberative discourse (4) to critique three cases of strategic political communication, known as astroturf lobbying, a deceptive lobbying practice that undermines and fakes grassroots movements. We conclude by integrating the findings into theory building that shifts CSR outcomes from advantaging individual organizations adding value to society. This theme uses ‘creating shared value’ to advocate shared strategic communication. This notion includes the normative claims of political CSR (open discourse, participation, transparency, accountability) to arrive at shared strategic communication that supports the ‘good’ organization and society simultaneously.     

Insights from Industry Leaders: A Maturity Model for Strengthening Communication Measurement and Evaluation

Much scholarship has been devoted to identifying barriers that prevent the advancement of communication measurement and evaluation. This research focuses on the characteristics, objectives, and practices of chief communication officers (CCOs) with successful measurement and evaluation programs. Three key dimensions of practice emerged from in-depth interviews: communication executives’ measurement practices and evaluation programs were used to adjust communication strategies; were aligned with other business units; and were integrated with business priority plans. Interviewees also focused on the ability of communication measurement practices and evaluation programs to provide insights for executives, to align communication with the work of other business units, and to connect the organization with the outside environment and stakeholders. This study extends strategic communication scholarship by discussing how overcoming barriers and advancing measurement and evaluation work relates to roles adopted by organizational leaders. This article also offers a preliminary, scalable maturity model that aids in the development, formalization, and optimization of strategic communication measurement and evaluation. This study demonstrates the capacity for communication evaluation to overcome perceived barriers, realize appropriate stature with organizations, and grow communication functions accordingly.     

Social Media Influencers as a Crisis Risk in Strategic Communication: Impact of Indiscretions on Professional Endorsements

ABSTRACT

Social media influencers (SMIs) are increasingly employed by organizations to amplify their strategic communication efforts. Yet, little is known about the impact an SMI’s personal indiscretion has on their endorsing organizations. This article examines the factors that trigger these crises and their effects on the organizational image. Five cases – PewDiePie (U.S.), Munroe Bergdorf (UK), James Charles (U.S.), Grace Mongey (Ireland) and Sarah Bowmar (U.S.) – were analyzed using Rapid Issue Tracking, a method to capture stakeholders’ sentiments. Findings showed that SMIs’ personal indiscretions trigger paracrises. Organizations typically used distancing strategies but adopted image repair situationally. Anchored on image repair theory, we propose a framework for crisis identification and response strategies. With the increasing use of SMIs in marketing, their potential as a new type of crisis trigger warrants attention.     

Organizing and Disorganizing Strategic Communication: Discursive Institutional Change Dynamics in Two Communication Departments

This article explores the institutionalization of strategic communication as a dynamic interplay between macro- and mesolevel discourses. The change processes in the two cases of this study involved both a reorientation of the purpose of the communication function and a physical relocation of the professionals to a centralized department. In both organizations, the transformation toward a strategic management function failed and the communication professionals are now working in ways similar to those before the change was initiated. The analysis illustrates that the institutionalization of strategic communication is effected by organizational-level processes and mechanisms that are not always controlled by communication professionals. The institutionalization of strategic communication is bound by organizational discourses as well as by the actions of communication practitioners and general managers. The study also shows that macro- and mesolevel discourses influence the ways in which change initiatives are translated and strategic communication effected on an organizational level. Hence, institutionalization processes of strategic communication will comply with management trends but can change direction when these trends are challenged. Our results expose that new ideas or practices of strategic communication are translated discursively within organizations in processes of recontextualization, reinterpretation, and reframing. Consequently, new ideas and practices of strategic communication are adjusted to organizational discourses and organizational settings. The translation of a new idea or practice will therefore change the initial meaning of that same idea or practice. For that reason, institutionalization of strategic communication should not be reduced to a unidirectional process but conceptualized as a dynamic interplay between discourses on different levels that moves institutionalization in multiple directions.     

Social Media Influencers in Strategic Communication: A Conceptual Framework for Strategic Social Media Influencer Communication

ABSTRACT

Strategic social media influencer communication has become a major topic in strategic communication. However, despite the growing relevance of this new strategic communication instrument, research has paid only limited attention to elaborating its basic concepts. In this article, we adopt a strategic communication perspective to develop a conceptual framework for strategic social media influencer communication. Particularly, we draw on research findings that identify the external resources social media influencers contribute to organization-influencer cooperation. We use these findings to systematically develop functional definitions of social media influencers and of strategic social media influencer communication. We define social media influencers as third-party actors who have established a significant number of relevant relationships with a specific quality to and influence on organizational stakeholders through content production, content distribution, interaction, and personal appearance on the social web. Subsequently, we define strategic social media communication as the purposeful use of communication by organizations or social media influencers in which social media influencers are addressed or perform activities with strategic significance to organizational goals. We then situate these definitions within the broader framework of strategic communication by discussing related concepts and by describing the strategic action field that has emerged around strategic social media influencer communication.     

Strategic Communication through Social Media Influencers: Current State of Research and Desiderata

ABSTRACT

This article provides an overview of the current state of research in strategic influencer communication and highlights research desiderata. We conducted a systematic literature review of 39 peer-reviewed articles published between 2011 and 2018. Using Lasswell’s transmission model of communication as an approach to systemize communication acts, we identified, systematized, and synthesized main findings from existing literature. The review reveals a rag rug of fragmented research questions, combined with a lack of theoretical integration and a widespread methodological monism. Moreover, questions related to the implications of influencer communication for strategic planning are understudied. Hence, more research is required to understand underlying cause-and-effect relations and managerial implementation of strategic influencer communication. In conclusion, we encourage researchers to investigate the concept of social media influencer communication from a strategic communication perspective, including applying multidisciplinary approaches and a broader range of empirical methods, which would foster a deeper understanding of strategic influencer communication.     

Corporate Communications from the Top and from the Center: Comparing Experiences and Expectations of CEOs and Communicators

Common viewpoints as well as divergences between top executives and communication professionals influence the institutionalization of strategic communication. However, there is little empirical evidence on the accordance between both groups. Most research explores either communication professionals or chief communication officers (CEOs). Very few studies have combined both perspectives. This article identifies the research gap, explores insights from previous research, and contributes to the body of knowledge in strategic communication with an original study that is based on two surveys with replies from 602 CEOs and executive board members as well as 1,251 communication managers from companies in the largest European country, Germany. Although top executives rate the information and motivation of employees as the most important objective of corporate communication, communication professionals focus on the creation of a positive image. Respondents from both groups also state different opinions about dealing with the demand for transparency. Both top executives and communicators give most support to a role model that describes communication professionals as a facilitator between an organization and its publics. Nevertheless the overall conclusion is that perspectives diverge quite often and attention should be directed towards a better alignment between top management and those leading the strategic communication function.     

Towards Comparative Research in Strategic Communication: A Systematic Analysis of Cross-National Studies and Future Directions

ABSTRACT

Comparative cross-national research permits scholars to understand how strategic communication is impacted by environmental conditions in different countries. Although the field has burgeoned enormously over the past two decades, there has been little discussion about what comprises an excellent comparative study, and little is known about the state-of-the-art of comparative research in the field of strategic communication. This article suggests a set of general scientific criteria for solid comparative research and applies these to assess the quality of comparative studies in strategic communication. Based on an analysis of 75 studies located through a systematic search in 16 journals, this article sketches the contours of a fast-emerging research field, which is increasingly driven by European and Asian scholars. The results identify common deficiencies and indicate that the potential of comparative research to contextualize and explain strategic communication in different countries has not yet been fully exploited. Future directions for engaging in more advanced comparative strategic communication research are given.     

The Impact of Corporate Communication on Company Evaluation: Examining the Message Effects of CSR,Corporate Ability,and Hybrid Strategies

This experiment examines how three corporate communication strategies (i.e., corporate ability (CA) strategy, corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategy, and hybrid strategy) positively affect consumers’ evaluation of a company. It also tests whether consumers’ involvement with the company’s products moderates these effects. Additionally, in the context of hybrid strategy, the order effect of receiving CA and CSR messages is discussed. Results of the experiment support the value of all three strategies in cultivating positive company evaluation. Findings pertaining to hybrid strategy scenarios generally show that a single CSR message performs as well as hybrid strategies because of the transferring effect of CSR. In addition, CSR was found to have an additive effect on CA when CA is the first message. However, the positive effect of CSR is discounted when CSR is the first message. Meanwhile, the moderating effect of product involvement is not supported. This study contributes to current strategic communication scholarship on corporate communication through proposing and empirically testing an interdisciplinary model that articulates the contingent relationship of corporate messages to consumer reactions. Its findings can aid in future theory building efforts and assist strategic communication professionals in determining the types of corporate communication messages, as well as the order in which they are presented, that will have an impact on consumers’ perceptions.     

Live Streamers on Twitch.tv as Social Media Influencers: Chances and Challenges for Strategic Communication

ABSTRACT

Twitch.tv is one of the most successful online live streaming platforms in the world, with 200 million viewers, 2 million regular “streamers,” and a market value of over $1billion. In this paper, we offer a first conceptualization of streamers as social media influencers, and how effectively they can perform strategic communication for sponsors. We draw on extensive ethnographic research and over a hundred semi-structured interviews with streamers to address two questions: first, how does Twitch operate as a platform for strategic communication; second, what skills do streamers need to be successful influencers? In the first case, we show Twitch is well suited to influencing, in large part due to its integration of data analytics, while streamers are using these tools to adopt a business-oriented mindset; in the second case, we show the importance of authenticity to both streamers and clients, and how channels of different sizes offer strategic communication opportunities. The article contributes to the emerging literature on Twitch, developing insights from influencing and strategic communication, but given the increasing scope of live streaming, we also argue the phenomenon – particularly when combined with the economic dynamics of influencing – is just as important for making sense of the wider media landscape today.     

Strategic Social Media Use in Public Relations: Professionals’ Perceived Social Media Impact,Leadership Behaviors,and Work-Life Conflict

Using the E-leadership theory as the conceptual framework, the study examined strategic communicators’ perceptions of the impact of social media use on their work, leadership behaviors, and work-life conflict. Through a national sample of communication professionals (N = 458), this study revealed the following key findings. The use of YouTube in professionals’ work, social media use in media relations, employee communications, and cause-related marketing/social marketing were significantly, positively associated with participants’ perceptions of the enhancing impact of social media use. Social media use in crisis management and employee communications significantly, positively predicted professionals’ perceptions of social media’s aggravating impact (e.g., extended work hours, increased workload) on their work. The use of Facebook and YouTube in strategic communication, the use of social media in environmental scanning, as well as the positive and negative impact of social media use all significantly and positively predicted communication professionals’ leadership behaviors. When the unintended negative effects of social media use happened, professionals perceived a low control over their work and thereby experienced a high level of time-based and strain-based work-life conflict. Finally, public affairs/governmental relations professionals who were frequent users of social media for their work reported a high level of strain-based work-life conflict.     

A Framework for Strategic Communication Research: A Call for Synthesis and Consilience

This essay suggests that the conceptualization of strategic communication as a field uniting several disciplines was an important step forward, but progress in absolute terms has been disappointing so far. Individual researchers open up new avenues of exploration and regularly arrive at answers to questions internally consistent with their respective perspectives. But the body of reasonably verified scientific knowledge that goes substantially beyond common sense remains underdeveloped. The author argues that biologist Edward O. Wilson identified the key characteristic of progressing fields correctly as consilience, i.e., the commitment to the unity of knowledge from physics to chemistry to biology and beyond: “a seamless web of cause and effect.” The article proposes that strategic communications research follow Wilson’s program, as other disciplines have done. For the field to mature, leading researchers need to work towards a consilient synthesis, i.e., a theoretical framework that contains nonrelativistic conjectures about the world which form a nucleus for research to accumulate around. It is furthermore necessary to reconnect strategic communication research to the rapidly progressing and highly relevant hybrid disciplines such as cognitive science and evolutionary psychology.