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Reviews evidence to support the view that improved internal communication facilitates business success. Details the content of what have been identified as successful internal communications programmes. Focuses on those behaviours which produce improved interpersonal relationships in the workplace, and which could be widely emulated by managers seeking to promote good practice in their own organizations. Considers attitudinal barriers to the implementation of such approaches.

The purpose of this paper is to offer a reconceptualization of the critical incident technique (CIT) and affirm its utility in management and organization studies.

Utilizing a case study from a leadership context, the paper applies the CIT to explore various leadership behaviours in the context of nonprofit boards in Canada. Semi-structured critical incident interviews were used to collect behavioural data from 53 participants – board chairs, board directors, and executive directors – from 18 diverse nonprofit organizations in Alberta, Canada.

While exploiting the benefits of a typicality of events, in some instances the authors were able to validate aspects of transformational leadership theory, in other instances the authors found that theory falls short in explaining the relationships between organizational actors. The authors argue that the CIT potentially offers the kind of “thick description” that is particularly useful in theory building in the field.

Drawing on interview material, the authors suggest that incidents can be classified based on frequency of occurrence and their salience to organizational actors, and explore the utility of this distinction for broader theory building purposes.

Principally, the paper proposes that this method of investigation is under-utilized by organization and management researchers. Given the need for thick description in the field, the authors suggest that the approach outlined generates exceptionally rich data that can illuminate multiple organizational phenomena.

The role of nonprofit boards is of major importance for those organizations and the clients that they serve. This paper shed new light on the leadership dynamics at the top of these organizations and therefore can help to guide improved practice by those in board and senior management positions.

The CIT is a well-established technique. However, it is timely to revisit it as a core technique in qualitative research and promote its greater use by researchers. In addition, the authors offer a novel view of incidents as typical, atypical, prototypical or archetypal of organizational phenomena that extends the analytical value of the approach in new directions.

Organizations seek to innovate in order to improve their effectiveness. There is, however, some confusion about what the concept of innovation actually refers to and what is involved in the process of innovation. Attempts to clarify the meaning and nature of organizational innovation and examines a number of key communication factors which innovators should take into account.

Argues for the importance of developing strategies for the management of communication between managers and staff. Examines the benefits which this produces and looks closely at the term “communication strategy”. Proposes a clear definition of communication strategy as a means of clarifying current management practice, and outlines key steps in transforming this definition into operational policies.

Given that staff‐management relationships are a core concern for communication management, upward feedback is emerging as a key theme in the literature. It is, however, most often associated with upward appraisal. This study looks at upward feedback in a more general sense, and in particular at whether such feedback is critical or positive in its response to senior management decisions. One hundred and forty‐six staff within a health care organisation (HCO) were surveyed, using a depth communication audit instrument. Fifteen staff were also interviewed in detail, and six focus groups each composed of six people were also convened. The results indicated that informal upward feedback was mostly absent; that where it occurred the feedback was inaccurately positive; that senior managers were unaware of such distortions and unwilling to contemplate the possibility that they did indeed exist; that they had an exaggerated impression of how much upward feedback they received; and that they discouraged the transmission of critical feedback. The implications for the practice of communication management, the development of upward influence within organisations and general theoretical reasons for distortions in feedback processes are considered.

This paper discusses the internal communication challenges facing a large manufacturing company in Northern Ireland. Employee surveys revealed unacceptable levels of dissatisfaction with communication, and a poor flow of information on key corporate issues. A communication strategy was developed, in response to these findings. The centrepiece of the strategy was a training programme for managers. This was designed to promote feed‐back‐seeking behaviours. This programme was piloted in one area, with a view to rolling it gradually throughout the rest of the organisation. The programme concerned is discussed in depth, and evidence presented as to its effectiveness. Its wider relevance, for other organisations, is also considered.

Reviews the relationship between internal communication in organizations and the effective delivery of service. Illustrates how quality internal communications can reduce the levels of uncertainty experienced by staff, especially at times of change, and describes a methodology ‐ the communication audit ‐ whereby organizations can monitor and evaluate quality in this sphere. Explains the core steps involved in implementing this type of audit and itemizes the main data collection tools.

This paper explores the benefits and pitfalls of a CEO’s personal messaging on Twitter.

The paper draws on recent professional and scholarly literature that has explored Twitter use by executives. For empirical support, some personal tweets of Uber’s CEO Dara Khosrowshahi and Tesla’s CEO Elon Musk are cited.

Twitter enables the exercise of leadership through language, especially by CEOs who learn how to harness its benefits and avoid its pitfalls. Communicating via a CEO’s personal Twitter account can help establish the actual and perceived organizational culture of a company; build and maintain the CEO’s reputation as an honest broker of information; and influence how a company’s business model and priorities are perceived.

This paper is one of the first to explore the implications of the use by CEO’s of their personal Twitter account for corporate purposes.

Communication is the lifeblood of any organisation. The need for effective internal communication systems is particularly crucial when organisations, such as schools, are operating in a turbulent environment of rapid and sustained change. Schools must be innovative to be able to respond and adapt to the challenges presented by such changes. It is now increasingly evident that those organisations which promote good internal communication reap positive dividends in meeting these challenges. However, there is a need for hard data on the nature, structure, flow and practice of communication to ensure that the most effective systems are put in place and are working to the optimal level. To achieve this a method of investigation, the communication audit, has been developed which allows for a thorough‐going analysis of internal organisational communication. Explores the principal tools utilised in the implementation of a communication audit, and discusses the benefits which this approach offers to school management teams.