How communication departments contribute to corporate success: The communications contributions framework
Journal of Communication Management
ISSN: 1363-254X
Article publication date: 11 October 2018
Issue publication date: 24 October 2018
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to clarify and demonstrate the core contributions of communication departments to organizational success beyond traditional ideas of messaging or information distribution. The main aim is to develop a better understanding of the different facets of value that the communication function delivers by introducing a distinction between strategic and operational contributions, following established management models.
Design/methodology/approach
The research is based on an extensive literature review at the nexus of communication management and strategic management research and ten qualitative case studies in large, internationally operating German organizations from different industries, combining in-depth interviews and document analyses.
Findings
The newly developed Communications Contributions Framework demonstrates that communications serve the corporation in four strategic and operational dimensions and emphasizes the critical role of communications in reflecting and adjusting organizational strategies, i.e. through identifying opportunities to innovate or securing intangible assets.
Practical implications
The paper outlines different application scenarios for how the new framework can be used in practice, i.e. as a multi-faceted rationale for explaining the impact of communication departments in the language of top management and reporting communication success in the logic of business.
Originality/value
The framework provides the first theoretically and empirically based “big picture” of communications’ contributions to corporate success, designed to lay ground for further discussions both in academia and in practice.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This paper is based on results from the research program “Value Creating Communication” that has been funded by the Academic Society for Corporate Management and Communication in Germany, www.academic.society.net
Citation
Zerfass, A. and Volk, S.C. (2018), "How communication departments contribute to corporate success: The communications contributions framework", Journal of Communication Management, Vol. 22 No. 4, pp. 397-415. https://doi.org/10.1108/JCOM-12-2017-0146
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2018, Emerald Publishing Limited