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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.

Despite the proven link between internal communication and more effective business results, only a few attempts have been made to answer the essential question of who is responsible for managing internal communication in an organisation. This paper aims to examine the presence of internal communication management (ICM) practices in companies in Latvia and launch a new discussion on who should manage internal communication in a modern company to support business strategy and development.

In the first phase of the study, a survey was conducted in three business sectors in Latvia involved in managing and implementing the internal communications function. Using the multiple case study method, the second phase of the study examined in-depth, ICM and the implementation practices in four different Latvian companies. In total, 13 in-depth interviews were conducted within 4 companies, and thematic analysis was used to analyse the material gained from the interviews.

The target companies and relevant professionals from different fields have divergent opinions about who should manage the internal communication function. From the research across four companies, it was concluded that internal communication was implemented in a fragmented manner. There was a weak understanding of the meaning and goal of internal communication. The potential of effective internal communication in reaching strategic goals has not been realised. Responsibility for ICM is often limited to the reactive performance of public relations departments, human resources or marketing specialists. The companies clearly did not have a defined scope of responsibilities for managing internal communication amongst the different parts of their organisations. It can be concluded that company managers should pay attention to how internal communication is conducted, clearly delegate this function to a manager and define the expected results that meet the company’s strategic goals. The results of this research can be used to inform recommendations for integrating the ICM function.

Only a few research papers have discussed responsibility for internal communication functions. This research particularly fills this gap and emphasises the need to assign responsibility for an organisation’s ICM function as it is the core factor in strategic implementation and input related to business goals.

This article's purpose is to explore the multidisciplinary nature of internal communications, and argue that an integrated approach to internal communications is beneficial when assessing knowledge sharing in organisations.

This article presents a review of relevant current literature, and explores the issue through qualitative interview data from a world‐leading multinational companies (MNC).

The empirical data provide support for the integrated view, and also enhance our understanding of knowledge sharing as an important and strategic function of integrated internal communications.

The integrated perspective here contributes to the understanding of internal communications in two ways. First, it draws from the domains of business, management, corporate, and organisational communication, which together incorporate both practical and theoretical knowledge. Second, it includes all formal and informal communication that take place inside an organisation.

The time is right for renewed and updated attention to the relationship between public relations (PR) and human resources (HR) departments in the context of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and sustainability. For too long, conflict between the two practice areas has obscured opportunities for collaboration which benefits organizations and stakeholders. This chapter offers theoretical underpinnings for examining an interdepartmental, cross-unit working relationship between HR and PR – and advances a vision for why it is needed now.

This paper comments on the findings of a new survey into the status of internal communication within British companies and organisations. It suggests that while many companies have opened the door to internal communication as a distinct business discipline — even given it a desk and a chair — most have yet to grant its practitioners a seat at the boardroom table. The authors put forward reasons for this, and identify some of the issues that internal communication managers should address to continue to improve their status.

This paper aims to understand if, and how, internal communication strategies can promote strategic employee communicative actions such as to disseminate positive information that enhances the company's reputation. These communicative actions sustain the competitive advantage of a company.

This paper is based on interviews with internal communication experts; internal communication managers in ten American and 22 Italian companies. Three focus groups in Italy comprised of internal communication managers, scholars and experts.

Employee communicative actions have been categorized into: exploration, interpretation, sharing and acting. Internal communication strategies enable employees to be effective communicators.

A survey among employees was used to investigate the link between employee communicative actions and internal communication and relationship quality.

Internal communication managers are expected first, to become enablers towards employees and line managers; and second, to facilitate sense-making processes and the quality relationship building.

This article provides empirical evidence of the emerging issues of employee communicative actions and the enablement function of internal communication. It adds a broader and validated range of employee communicative actions to those that had previously been studied, and develops a preliminary inventory of enablement strategies that have been adopted by leading companies.

The paper considers benchmarking internal communication. It starts by briefly describing benchmarking methods — metric and qualitative benchmarking — together with the objectives behind such a programme. It goes on to discuss an IC benchmarking club which has been launched recently. Details of the sample questions asked of organisations participating in the club to obtain qualitative and quantitative data are given in the Appendix. The paper concludes by listing traits commonly found by the author's company in best practice organisations.

This paper aims to explore the internal processes that can enable firms to identify and effectively respond to brand crises, with various groups coordinating and cooperating with each other, and also propose a guiding framework relevant for both managers and researchers.

A grounded theory methodology was adopted. Data collection included open-ended interviews with 13 executives representing the integrated marketing communications (IMC) function, the integrated corporate communications function and external agencies supporting firms while navigating crises.

Results revealed a three-stage process of internal coordination efforts during crises: sensing or scanning the environment and gathering insights regarding crises, informing or disseminating these insights throughout the organization to create transparency and responding or reacting to the event via a coordinated effort.

The framework does not directly incorporate input from consumers or customer contact employees, both of which may be relevant.

Findings offer direction for managers to establish processes that prepare for and potentially reduce crises’ negative consequences. In addition, this study reveals the importance of decision-makers being vigilant regarding social media’s influence on such a process.

The conceptual framework moves beyond previous brand crisis research, provides insight into the processes firms use to successfully manage crises and reveals the relevant factors related to internal coordination.

The purpose of this paper is to propose a definition of internal communication based on intangible resources rather than organizational boundaries.

The paper reviews the resource‐based theory of the company, the constructivist theory of communication and the situational theory of publics. It then proposes a resource model (RM) of internal communication based on interactive processes aimed at creating two catalytic resources for organizing: knowledge and allegiance. The field research explores whether this model captures the concept of internal communication prevailing in business, based on interviews with ten internal communication managers in Italian companies.

The companies in this paper display a strong awareness of how intangible resources, such as knowledge and employee attitudes, contribute to the company's success. Consequently, they seek to promote active communication behaviours among employees. The RM depicts many characteristics of the way managers currently perceive internal communication.

Because of the qualitative nature of the research, the results do not have universal validity.

The paper suggests that the main function of internal communication departments is no longer to transmit messages but to promote active communication behaviours at all organizational levels.

The paper suggests a definition of internal communication that would help to generate the intangible resources that fuel organizations: knowledge and allegiance. It supports a new focus on active communication behaviours of employees.

The purpose of this paper is to present the findings of a quantitative investigation into the major working fields of European communication professionals.

The paper build upon previous work done in roles research, but follow a grounded approach in using an explorative cluster analysis on a sample of 1,410 communicators from 30 different European countries.

The paper identifies five typologies into which the working fields of European communication practitioners can be categorized: negotiators, brand officers, policy advisors, internal communicators, and press agents. These clusters are distinctively different in terms of education, salary, and career, as well as job satisfaction.

This paper is focused on the typologies of the European communication profession, whereas differences regarding the cultural or national context of the communication profession as well as the particularities of the respective media systems are not discussed.

Following the five clusters, the research maps the field of professional communication on a European level and shows the various roles communication practitioners take, as well as their integration within organizations.

The study elicits on the state of the communication profession in Europe and brings forth five different roles communication professionals exert. In line with Dozier's and Broom's manager technician dichotomy the paper identifies two manager and three technician roles, whereas the technical activities to a small extent also contain some policy elements.