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1 – 10 of over 138000Little research exists on the effects of organisational structure on the public relations function. This study focuses on the effects of structural changes on an internal…
Abstract
Little research exists on the effects of organisational structure on the public relations function. This study focuses on the effects of structural changes on an internal communication function in a large South African organisation. In this organisation internal communication consultants were appointed at divisional level. They had to oversee the election of a communication champion in each cost centre in the division. Survey research conducted 18 months after the process implementation found the structural changes led to improved information flow and face‐to‐face communication. Employees made better use of organisational media and relied less on the grapevine. Although the process made employees less fearful to speak truthfully and improved employee‐supervisor communication, these effects were less pronounced. The research confirmed the important link between public relations strategy and organisational structure, particularly for communication managers and internal communication practitioners in large organisations.
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Research on behalf of the IABC into the potential links between business success and communication competence has suggested strongly that the communication function(s) can only…
Abstract
Research on behalf of the IABC into the potential links between business success and communication competence has suggested strongly that the communication function(s) can only contribute significantly to short‐ or long‐term business goals if it is focused on improving the communication competence of the organisation as opposed to that of the function itself. The implications of this research are considerable and have led researchers to begin to develop a body of theory, upon which further research will be based, around the concept of the communicating company. The communicating company is defined as “an organisation that actively integrates communication systems and processes across and between all its significant activities, with the intention of achieving competitive advantage”. This paper aims to explore: what the communicating company might look like and how it differs from today’s organisations; what structures and systems might underlie the communicating company and help it achieve/sustain competitive advantage; how the debate around this emerging topic and the future of the communication function might be progressed.
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Nora Denner, Thomas Koch, Benno Viererbl and Alicia Ernst
This study examines the functions of informal communication in organizations. Informal communication can be characterized as any interaction within an organization in which two or…
Abstract
Purpose
This study examines the functions of informal communication in organizations. Informal communication can be characterized as any interaction within an organization in which two or more individuals assume personal roles rather than their professional roles and in which employees do not intend to solve work-related problems. Despite its central role in organizations, a comprehensive understanding of the specific functions of informal communication within workplace dynamics is lacking.
Design/methodology/approach
We reviewed existing literature to identify the functions of informal communication and then surveyed employees (N = 1,380). We asked them to indicate their agreement with statements measuring the functions of informal communication that we derived from the literature.
Findings
Using exploratory factor analysis, we identified four core functions: stress management and recreation, nurturing private relationships, fostering a sense of belonging and connectedness and facilitating information exchange and coordination. We then examined how these core functions related to job-related and sociodemographic characteristics. Our findings underscore the importance of informal communication in organizations, particularly in facilitating the development and maintenance of social relationships as well as information exchange and coordination, both of which play critical roles in organizational success.
Originality/value
This study is among the first to systematize the functions of informal communication in organizations and to empirically extract core functions that can be used for further research. It is also highly relevant to practitioners of organizational management and organizational communication.
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Xi Zhang, Jiaxin Tang, Xin Wei, Minghui Yi and Patricia Ordóñez de Pablos
The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact of mobile social media functions on explicit and implicit knowledge sharing under the “Guanxi” system based on the framework of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact of mobile social media functions on explicit and implicit knowledge sharing under the “Guanxi” system based on the framework of stimulus–organism–response (SOR).
Design/methodology/approach
Combined with Guanxi theory, this paper designs an experiment to collect data from the new product development (NPD) teams.
Findings
Interestingly, the results show that the effect of social media communication function on employees is greater than the impact of collaboration on employees. Specifically, on the one hand, the more employees communicate in social media, the better their feelings will be, the less they will share knowledge. On the other hand, the collaboration function has a significantly negative impact on the psychological factors of employees. Excessively close cooperation and contact may instead create a contradiction between the employees, which is not conducive to the occurrence of knowledge sharing.
Originality/value
This paper extends SOR framework by combining Guanxi theory to examine the relationship between social media functions and knowledge sharing behavior (KSB). In practical, companies should pay attention to the frequency of employee using social media when it is introduced for NPD teams to control the negative influence of social media functions on employee KSB.
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Donald K. Wright and PhD
This paper reports on personal and telephone interviews with senior‐level corporate managers and executives from fields other than public relations and communications…
Abstract
This paper reports on personal and telephone interviews with senior‐level corporate managers and executives from fields other than public relations and communications (administration, engineering, finance and accounting, human resources, legal, marketing, sales and production) in three corporations. This qualitative study (n = 61) is a follow‐up to the author's earlier quantitative postal questionnaire survey of a similar group of subjects (n = 423). All interview participants were subjects in the quantitative research. The results add additional evidence to the author's previous findings suggesting that corporate executives from other fields do not understand the corporate communications or public relations functions. As was the case in the quantitative research, subjects interviewed in this qualitative study considered external communications — especially media relations — to be the most important task that their organisation's public relations professionals were responsible for. Technical public relations skills were considered more necessary than communications management abilities for public relations professionals. The findings also suggest that the public relations function needs to do a better job of being accountable by establishing metrics to measure the effectiveness of communications efforts. Public relations also needs to be managed in such a way that it will help organisations better to achieve business goals, especially those of the new global economy.
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Christian Pieter Hoffmann and Sandra Binder-Tietz
While several extant studies have discussed the strategic importance of investor relations (IR) for listed corporations, few have tried to apply findings from strategic…
Abstract
Purpose
While several extant studies have discussed the strategic importance of investor relations (IR) for listed corporations, few have tried to apply findings from strategic communication research to IR. Therefore, little is known about the planning and evaluation of IR programs, with even less data available on IR's involvement in top management decision-making. The purpose of this paper is to examine research on planning and evaluation practices in German Prime Standard corporations' IR departments.
Design/methodology/approach
The method entailed a survey of 51 heads of IR departments from the largest corporations listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange concerning the topic of measurement and evaluation.
Findings
The findings highlight an intermediate stage in the professionalization of the still-emergent IR function. While IR has been established as an independent function with some consideration in strategic leadership, strategic management of the function is still evolving. This study shows that while some form of planning is the norm, IR departments at smaller companies tend to focus more on departmental objectives than on deriving objectives from the corporate strategy. Also, systematic evaluation remains lacking in many smaller companies' IR departments. As a result, IR managers from smaller companies are consulted less frequently during top management meetings on corporate strategy.
Research limitations/implications
This study is based on data collected only from German Prime Standard corporations. While satisfactory in the context of quantitative IR studies, the response rate from the reported survey was only 32%. Furthermore, the average level of strategic IR management among German listed companies actually may be somewhat lower than reported in this paper, as large listed companies are somewhat overrepresented in the sample.
Originality/value
This study addresses an apparent research gap, i.e. to date, little is known about the strategic management of the IR function, especially in a non-US context. This analysis shows that theories and frameworks from strategic communication management can be applied to the IR function.
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This qualitative study investigated how small group communication influences the development of shared mental models in a committee of public librarians addressing a…
Abstract
This qualitative study investigated how small group communication influences the development of shared mental models in a committee of public librarians addressing a problem-solving task. It examines the influence of communication themes, functions, roles, and rules on the group's development of shared mental models about the task and about team interaction. Data were collected over the course of a year from group meetings, email messages, group documents, and participant interviews and then analyzed using existing coding schemes and qualitative coding techniques. The findings indicate that within the group there was a strong superficial convergence around the task mental model and the team interaction mental model but a weaker convergence at a deeper level. Analysis of the group communication data shows that the group focused discussion on understanding the problem and identifying tasks, enacting group roles and rules that facilitated sharing information. The functions of their messages focused on task communication. The findings suggest that, in this group, communication themes most heavily influenced the development of a shared mental model about the task, while communication roles, rules, and functions were more influential toward the development of a shared mental model about team interaction. Implications for practice include adopting intentional tactics for surfacing mental models at various points in the group life and anchoring the emerging model within the collective cognition of the group through devices such as narratives, objects, or documentary materials.
Jintao Wu, Junsong Chen, Honghui Chen, Wenyu Dou and Dan Shao
The purpose of this paper is to investigate how nonprofit service providers can better engage their customers through online communication. It identifies two communication styles…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate how nonprofit service providers can better engage their customers through online communication. It identifies two communication styles and three communication functions, and examines their impact on customer commenting, customer liking and customer sharing.
Design/methodology/approach
Similar to Python for Facebook, a software package for the automatic retrieval of web page content was developed specifically for this study to extract data from the microblog Sina Weibo. Following the successful retrieval of 1,500 randomly selected messages from 34 universities in China, a two-level regression was performed using Mplus 7 to examine the association between the proposed relationships.
Findings
The findings reveal that messages with a friendly communication style increase both the number of comments and their positive tone; an authoritative style has no effect on customer engagement. The functions associated with message content (spreading information, building community or promoting action) influence customer liking and sharing. Building community tends to engage more customers than spreading information; promoting action often generates the least customer engagement in social media settings.
Originality/value
The study fills an important research gap in the service marketing literature as it pertains to nonprofit service organizations (i.e. universities) by identifying two types of online identities based on the communication style and the messages posted on social media. This study is the first to investigate the relationship between identity type and audience engagement, and to analyze the moderating factors of this relationship.
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Suk Chong Tong and Fanny Fong Yee Chan
Based on both quantitative and qualitative analyses, this study revisits public relations (PR) and marketing practitioners' perceptions of PR function and its relationship with…
Abstract
Purpose
Based on both quantitative and qualitative analyses, this study revisits public relations (PR) and marketing practitioners' perceptions of PR function and its relationship with marketing function in the digital context.
Design/methodology/approach
An online survey targeting 234 PR and marketing practitioners was first conducted, followed by a total of 27 in-depth interviews with PR and marketing practitioners.
Findings
Results from the two phases of analysis show that both PR and marketing practitioners perceive market functions as sales-oriented, whereas media relations is interpreted as more of a PR function. Content marketing and influencer marketing via digital communication channels help to enhance the convergence of PR and marketing functions. PR and marketing practitioners believe that PR and marketing functions are integrative, and they are willing to work flexibly for both functions within workplaces.
Originality/value
This study presents a continuum of PR and marketing functions in the digital era that illustrates the role of digital communication in the convergence of PR and marketing functions. The results help to advance the theoretical discussion on both the functional (excellent PR practices and relationship management) and critical (the social role of PR in the participatory culture) approaches of PR in the digital context. Managerial implications are also discussed in addition to the theoretical contributions.
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