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This paper seeks to contribute to the field of corporate communication by clarifying the theoretical basis of communication in issue arenas and proposing an agenda for research on issue arenas.

Drawing on insights from stakeholder thinking, network theory, issues management, and agenda-setting theory, the authors identify different levels of analysis that could explain the behaviour of organisations in the public debate on current issues.

The organisation-centred approach is replaced by a strong emphasis on interaction in networks of organisations, groups and individuals. Decision-making on communication strategies can be further developed by analysing the particularities of each issue arena, in particular the characteristics of the issue and the actors involved as well as the course of the debate and the communication strategies utilised in stakeholder interaction.

This theoretical approach calls for further research, but offers an agenda and suggests four starting levels for analysis.

This paper provides a timely approach to the analysis of corporate communication that may help understand the complexities of a rapidly changing organisational environment and, ultimately, assist organisations in developing customised communication strategies suited to each issue arena relevant to their operations.

Insights from various theories are brought together to serve as a starting point for the further analysis of communication in issue arenas.

This study aims to achieve a better understanding of communication quality and how it can be measured in the municipal context. A previously developed instrument for measuring communication in municipalities is tested and evaluated.

The instrument draws on the balanced scorecard of Kaplan and Norton and quality control procedures as utilised by the European Foundation of Quality Measurement (EFQM). For municipalities, communication quality can be defined as the degree to which communication contributes towards the effectiveness of municipal policy and how it strengthens the relationship between citizens and municipal organisations. Three communication functions are given, and for each function seven quality criteria, for example responsiveness, are defined. The latter serve as an umbrella for several indicators that are assessed on a Likert scale. The results for four municipalities in The Netherlands are presented and compared, and the instrument is evaluated.

The corporate communication scores were relatively high, while the policy communication scores were low. Of the quality criteria, accessibility and publicity scored high and responsiveness low. The instrument has mainly been developed on the basis of auditor and self‐assessment, as municipalities have, as yet, few facts and figures with which to support the assessment. The measurement instrument needs to be integrated in the organisation's planning cycle, as reflection on the results can help in implementing improvements in quality. The measurement process stimulates dialogue on communication quality and the priorities to be set for communication policy.

The study is based on four cases. The instrument needs to be tested across a range of governmental‐level organisations.

Municipalities can use this instrument to improve the added value of communication.

A detailed description of the results of applying an instrument, such as this, developed for assessing communication quality, has not until now been published.

The purpose of this paper is to clarify the aims, monitoring methods and challenges of social media monitoring from the perspective of international companies. Trends in the literature are also investigated.

Based on a systematic literature review, 30 key articles from 2008 to 2012 were further analysed.

International companies need real-time monitoring software, expertise and dynamic visualization to facilitate early detection and prognoses supporting strategy making. This is a costly affair, prompting questions about return on investment. A recent trend in the research literature concerns the development of models describing how issues spread in social media with the aim of facilitating prognoses.

The online databases used comprised refereed peer-reviewed scientific articles. Books were not included in the search process.

Because information spreads fast in social media and affects international companies, they need to identify issues early, in order to monitor and predict their growth. This paper discusses the difficulties posed by this objective.

Social media monitoring is a young research area and research on the topic has been conducted from many different perspectives. Therefore, this paper brings together current insights geared towards corporate communication by international companies.

This paper seeks to describe the changing organizational environment and stakeholder debate currently taking place in various “issue arenas” during a crisis. Organizations today need to find and monitor these arenas before being able to communicate with their stakeholders.

Communications of authorities and discussions by citizens are studied and analyzed in a case study related to the 2009 swine flu or influenza A (H1N1) episode in Finland. The organizational point of view is studied through media releases of the National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), and the citizen point of view through a content analysis of popular discussion online forums through which the authorities attempted an intervention.

The analysis of the media releases revealed that the crisis communication of the authorities was timely and factual, yet failed both in using understandable concepts and responding to the emotional needs of people threatened by swine‐flu and questioning the safety of the vaccination. These deficiencies intensified emotion‐driven discussion, and when people opposed to vaccination managed to secure the central “issue arenas” using the words “swine flu” online, this led to online speculations and exaggeration of threat, excluding the authorities and logical argument from the discussion.

This study only looks at the swine‐flu debate from the points of view of the authorities and citizens, and does not discuss the role of the legacy media, for example. Since this study focused on one country, a global comparison could be the next step.

This study argues that success in communication today depends heavily on using the right language, finding the right issue arenas, getting there early, and answering the needs raised in those arenas. It is crucial for authorities as well as public relations practitioners to acknowledge these changes in communication in order to be able to deliver their messages.

The concept of issue arenas can help to clarify changing perspectives in communication management. Moreover, the study is timely as it focuses on a global topic – pandemics and their communication. The results demonstrate how lack of monitoring and belated activity may lead to online issue arenas being dominated by extreme groups, who then strongly shape public opinion. Practitioners and scholars need to focus on identifying issues and stakeholder needs, and to understand the dynamics of the arenas concerning them.

To discuss topics that need future research in governmental communication; setting the research agenda.

Based on two studies by the Research Group for Governmental Communication.

The development of this field would benefit from research on monitoring methods, accountability and return of investment.

Focuses of governmental organisations.

Priorities to professionalise communication.

Based on two studies that are unique in Europe: trend study governmental communication and development of a balanced scorecard for communication in this field.

The purpose of this paper is to suggest that corporate communications is becoming less predictable as interaction with stakeholders is moving from organizational control toward “issue arenas”, places of interaction where an issue is discussed by stakeholders and organizations both online and within the traditional media. The role of corporate communications and public relations (PR) is broadening beyond the traditional relationship management to issue arena monitoring.

The paper takes a theoretical approach with six axioms suggested.

Several central theories of corporate communications are combined with issues management and stakeholder theory to argue for a multiplicity of new “issue arenas”, which require an increased amount of monitoring. Six axioms are suggested for future research on corporate communications, and a mosaic of multiple strategies for multiple publics moved by multiple issues is recommended.

The axioms suggested require empirical testing with different arenas across contexts and cultures, and the axioms may change over time as the virtual arenas expand. Future studies should focus on the process of arena formation as well as the division of voice on the arenas.

Monitoring becomes central as corporate communication is less controllable. Corporate communication and PR will play a key role in organizational survival in the future through the processes of finding the right issues and “issue arenas” for interaction, facilitating the organization‐public debate and through this managing organizational reputation. A change in thinking is required, as identifying issues should precede identifying stakeholders.

The paper argues that organizational survival depends not only on communicating with the right stakeholders, but also on finding the relevant issue arenas in which organizations should participate in discussion.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a current state of the art of government communication in The Netherlands which can help to promote a dialogue about how communication quality in this field can be improved further.

In 2006 a survey was conducted for the second time to trace the communication trends in ministries, provinces, municipalities and water boards. The survey was set up in association with sector representatives and it is implemented every two years. The respondents were the top manager and the communication managers of all organisations in the four public sectors. The questionnaire was answered online and the response was 33 per cent.

The paper finds that the communication budget remained reasonably intact, even in more difficult years, and is now regarded with cautious optimism. The principal goals of government communication are to make government action more transparent and to generate interaction with the outside world. The respondents saw the main tasks as: communicate from a wider societal perspective, make the organisation more communicative internally and (especially in the municipalities) do more work on citizen participation. What strengths should a communication professional possess? As in 2004, when a similar survey was conducted, the most frequently cited competencies were analytical insight and empathy. In the discipline‐specific competencies, advisory skills and knowledge of the target group were mentioned most often. Knowledge of the political environment scored slightly lower than in 2004. The section on the main developments in government communication met with a mixed response. The ministries said more unity and coordination. The provinces mentioned, amongst others, a shift from a re‐active to pro‐active approach. The municipalities stressed citizen participation and the water boards stressed staying closer to people and their living environment. As in 2004, a common denominator for all the sectors was more attention to digital communication. Now that government communication has further developed, coherence and differences in approach between the tiers of government have to be taken into account.

The survey provides insight into what the various public sectors (ministries, provinces, municipalities and water boards) see as the added value of communication.

This investigation focuses on government communication and gives insight into this area of communication.

This chapter seeks to better understand the skills and competencies that public relations (PR) professionals use in contributing to organisational decision-making processes. The data were collected by interviewing Finnish professionals using thematic semi-structured interviews. Overall, the results highlight a deep understanding of organisation management and decision-making processes. The most important competencies were business understanding and target group oriented thinking. The findings indicate that important skills are related to writing and social media. Regarding personal attributes, interaction and tolerance to criticism were acknowledged as most crucial. The conclusions suggest that if professionals analyse and review their skills, competencies and personal attributes related to decision making, this will support organisational performance and strengthen the added value of PR function. A reflection on the strengths and weaknesses of their own traits helps professionals enact their expected role in organisational problem solving and decision making.

The purpose of this paper is to better understand how issues may be framed in public debate. The outcomes of this debate affect organizations. The study is based on the seven types of framing identified by Hallahan and scrutinizes which of these types is utilized, and how this is done, in the case of human rights issues.

For this study a secondary analysis of academic papers on human rights issues was conducted. After a literature search, 40 papers originating from 23 different journals were further analyzed. Where the researchers described the framing of human rights issues, the type of framing was identified according to the typology and mode of utilization.

In the case of human rights, all seven framing types were found; however, the most common were the framing of attributes in which the economic or cultural context was emphasized and the framing of situations pointing out power differences between the actors.

The study underlines the complexity of framing and the importance of awareness of framing processes. It shows that the framing typology provides valuable insights into the debate on social issues, inspiring further research.

This study provides a better understanding of the processes of issue framing, an important part of corporate communication strategies.

The study adds to actor and audience awareness of framing.

Insights from framing theory are applied to the debate on social issues, thereby offering a fresh perspective on research in this field and relevant to corporate social responsibility.

The purpose of this paper is to test a measurement system with performance indicators to improve organizational learning about crisis communication by public organizations enhancing public safety in large scale emergencies. The tool can be used to conduct a preparedness audit or to evaluate communication performance in a real situation or in an emergency exercise. Evaluation is part of the strategic planning and development of crisis communication.

The construction of the instrument and its theoretical underpinnings are first explained, after which the series of empirical tests that were implemented to scrutinize the clarity and appropriateness of the indicators as well as the usability of the instrument are presented. The process approach to crisis management, in which the various phases of a crisis are seen as a continuum, and the stakeholder perspective, in which both the diversity of public groups and the network of response organizations are taken into account, are applied in the paper.

The tests of the instrument revealed much interest in its use, and it was seen as a potential tool for the improvement by public organizations of their crisis communication. The tests led to improvements in the structure as well as in the phrasing of the individual performance indicators and their explanation. The indicators were considered relevant and important but too many in number. Therefore, a possibility to use the instrument in three separate parts, relating respectively to the period before, during and after a crisis, should be offered.

This study addresses the main factors relevant for crisis communication with respect to the approach chosen, but does not report all the literature and empirical findings that validate the individual indicators as this has been done in other publications. It also presents a series of first test findings but not as yet the results of improvements initiated by using the instrument.

The instrument developed shows weak and strong points in crisis communication on the level of single indicators, but also allows comparison of performance in different phases and for the various stakeholder groups, showing where more attention is needed. The instrument developed will be available on an open web site and users will be asked to make the measurement results, rendered anonymous, available for its further improvement.

The paper contributes to effectiveness of emergency management by testing an instrument to facilitate learning about crisis communication.

Much of the crisis communication literature focuses on reputation crises. This paper discusses crisis communication supporting crisis management in the case of disasters and other emergencies that are handled by a response network instead a single organization. It provides a clear framework for analysing and assessing the quality of crisis communication and stimulates and thus enables learning and further improvement.