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This historical analysis investigates treatment of the important discipline of internal communication in a number of globally influential public relations education frameworks over time. The purpose of this paper is to develop insight with the potential to inform future education and professional development programmes.

The conceptual framework for the study is set via discussion of the historical approach, internal communication, professionalization, and knowledge. The historical critical analysis research methodology is used to study data sources including professional body reports and archival documentation. Deductive and inductive coding is combined with template analysis to ensure rigorous qualitative data analysis.

The study finds inconsistent treatment of the internal communication discipline in public relations education frameworks over time. Distinct inclusion was found in early frameworks, clear recognition of the growing importance of internal communication was evident in later guidelines, but the study discovers that the discipline has been excluded from recent frameworks.

While the study draws on relevant data sources credited with international influence, it is limited to sources published in English.

Practical educational and methodological implications of the research are discussed along with avenues for further research including surveys or qualitative research to investigate contemporary views held by practitioners and educators on internal communication curricula.

Social and management implications are discussed including a call for the reinstatement of internal communication in globally influential public relations education frameworks.

The discipline of internal communication is still understudied which is surprising given its impact on organisational effectiveness. Furthermore, little previous attention has been paid to the history of internal communication education. This paper tackles that void, finds inconsistent treatment of the discipline in education frameworks over time, and contributes discussion on why these inconsistencies have occurred.

The purpose of this paper is to respond to a call for academia to partner industry by offering new thinking on public relations research and practice.

The paper rethinks relationship management by broadening previous views on the dimensions of relationships. Distrust is proposed as a 12th dimension, adding to Ledingham's 11. It suggests that trust and distrust exist simultaneously within business‐to‐business relationships and that trust and distrust are employed in a coaxial view of relationships within a zone of approval. The paper draws on the work of relationship management theorists and those who identify trust as a key component of relationships. Conceptual considerations are coupled with empirical data collected in a qualitative case study of relationships between the communications team of a blue chip UK utilities company and service provider (SP) organisations.

Analysis supports the broader understanding of trust and distrust operating simultaneously in a zone of approval and may help managers to analyse their business‐to‐business relationships.

Findings of qualitative research case studies are not themselves generalisable. This paper uses those findings to develop relationship management theory which may be of interest to practitioners. The findings are also used to generate ideas for further research.

An embryonic model is suggested that may provide managers with a tool to use when considering the elements of trust and distrust in relationship management.

Contributes to a broader understanding of relationships by suggesting distrust as a 12th dimension in the coaxial view of relationships. Proposes a zone of approval model to enable the exploration of trust and distrust in relationship management.

The purpose of this paper is to make a contribution to corporate communication theory by considering the evolution of employee engagement and the role of communication in enhancing employee engagement.

Despite its importance for organisation leaders, there is considerable confusion about the meaning of employee engagement. This paper aims to provide a degree of clarity on the concept by identifying stages in its evolution and discussing its definition.

Surprisingly, corporate communication literature has not yet adequately considered the concept. This may be due to confusion concerning the concept, and to concerns about overlaps with other constructs such as commitment. This paper tackles the gap in the literature with a proposed model of the role of internal corporate communication in enhancing employee engagement.

The article discusses linkages between engagement and communication which suggest research potential for the communication disciplines.

There are practical implications of the model proposed here since it encourages communicators to consider potential engagement effects of communication strategies and tactics.

The paper encourages communicators to consider the communication needs of employees.

This conceptual paper provides an overview of employee engagement literature with a novel contribution identifying evolutionary waves in the development of the concept. It suggests a definition of organisation engagement as a dynamic, changeable psychological state which links employees to their organisations, manifest in organisation member role performances expressed physically, cognitively and emotionally, and influenced by organisation‐level internal communication.

Effective internal communication is crucial for successful organisations as it affects the ability of strategic managers to engage employees and achieve objectives. This paper aims to help organisations improve internal communication by proposing theory with the potential to improve practice.

This paper identifies gaps in the academic literature and addresses calls for discussion and definition of internal communication, for theory on its mandates, scope and focus and to counteract the tendency to treat employees as a uni‐dimensional “single public”. To address these gaps, internal communication is defined and positioned within the corporate communication school of thought.

The paper proposes an Internal Communication Matrix which could be used to supplement other forms of internal situational analysis and as an analytical tool which may be applied to the strategic analysis, planning and evaluation of internal communication.

Strategic communication practitioners are offered a fresh perspective from which to consider internal communication. The Internal Communication Matrix proposed here could be used to supplement other forms of internal situational analysis and as an analytical tool which may be applied to the strategic analysis, planning and evaluation of internal communication. The internal corporate communication concept offers a lens through which communicators can consider communication strategy and tactics.

This paper's theoretical contribution is significant as it addresses gaps in the literature on internal communication. It does this by conceptualising a multidimensional stakeholder approach summarised in the Internal Communication Matrix. This approach is significant since it broadens previous approaches. The paper introduces the concept of internal corporate communication and argues that it should be a key focus for corporate communication theory and practice as it concerns all employees.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the prevalence of suicide attempts and explore the suicide methods among community-dwelling Chinese older adults.

Data were drawn from the Population Study of Chinese Elderly in Chicago (PINE) study, a population-based epidemiological study of Chinese older adults aged 60 years and above in the greater Chicago area. Guided by the community-based participatory research (CBPR) approach, the study enrolled 3,159 community-dwelling Chinese older adults from 2011 to 2013.

The lifetime prevalence of suicide attempts is 791 per 100,000 and the past 12-month prevalence of suicide attempts is 285 per 100,000. Medication overdose is the most common suicide method both in the group of lifetime suicide attempts and 12-month suicide attempts. Lower income is positively correlated with lifetime suicide attempts and 12-month suicide attempts. Living with fewer household members is positively correlated with lifetime suicide attempts but not with 12-month suicide attempts.

The findings emphasize the needs for improved understanding of suicidal behavior among minority older adults and to develop culturally and linguistically sensitive prevention and intervention strategies.

Community stakeholders should improve the accessibility and availability of culturally sensitive mental health services and extend timely and effective suicide interventions in the Chinese community.

This study represents the first and largest population-based epidemiological study to investigate the suicide attempts and methods among US Chinese older adults. In addition, the implementation of the CBPR approach allows us to minimize the cultural barriers associated with suicide investigation. The study emphasizes the need for improved understanding on suicidal behavior among minority older adults to inform culturally and linguistically sensitive prevention and intervention strategies.

Purpose – This chapter attempts to provide a literary analysis of the various ways in which the importance of basketball in North American Native culture has been represented in literature produced by three Native American authors: James Welch, Stephen Graham Jones, and Sherman Alexie.

Design/methodology/approach – The foundation of this study is derived from Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s account of his experiences as a coach of Apache players in Arizona in A Season on The Reservation, and the example of Shoni Schimmel, from the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, who is featured in the documentary, Off the Rez. These documentary accounts are supplemented by a critical apparatus drawn from the ideas of the Anishinaabe critic, Gerald Vizenor.

Findings – The character of the Native basketball star functions as a complex signifier that resists Western conceptions of individual achievement and success in favor of Native conceptions of community and cultural survivance.

Research limitations/implications – The limitations of literary analysis stem from the engagement with a body of Native literature that is by no means comprehensive. In addition, the views expressed by each writer are necessarily punctuated by narrative ambiguity and indeterminacy.

Originality/value – The chapter provides a unique introduction to the motif of basketball in contemporary Native American fiction and the storytelling practices from which meaning emerges. The analysis of the works addressed highlights a Native-centered interpretive approach that reveals the complex meaning of basketball in Native American society. The use of this culturally responsive critical paradigm allows readers to approach Native literary achievement on its own terms, rather than from the perspective of the dominant culture.

Investigates whether leadership styles, particularly relating to the use of power and the sharing of goal information, differ between men and women in autocratic situations and whether such potential leadership model differences affect decision effectiveness. Reviews relevant research, and describes a subject‐blind experiment designed to favour an autocratic approach, involving 40 teams of US graduate business school students, who were given a limited time to complete a problem‐solving exercise using written correspondence as the only communication method. Finds that greater task‐information sharing behaviour existed where both leaders were female, and, surprisingly, that problem‐solving effectiveness was greater where the leader used a participative leadership style. Reveals no evidence that subordinates evaluated the competence of male and female leaders differently, but suggests that subordinates are happier to initiate correspondence where the leader is of the same gender. Discusses the implications of the findings, concluding that leadership styles are situation‐ rather than people‐based, and acknowledges certain limitations of the study.