Fundamentals of Organizational
Communication
Strategic Organizational
Communication:
Professional Applications of
Organizational Communication
Chapter 10
Describing Strategic
Organizational Communication
• “strategic organizational communication
involves the ability to analyze a
situation, select appropriate
communication strategies, and enact
those strategies effectively” (Conrad, 1994)
Describing Strategic
Organizational Communication
• Strategic communication is in fact a twoway, transactional process. Information
is received by management from
organizational members and the external
environment, and in turn messages are
sent by management to involved parties.
It is a dynamic interaction.
Describing Strategic
Organizational Communication
• Strategic organizational communication
is regarded as transactional processes
in which organizational messages are
deliberately generated; are based on
environmental data, analysis, and
strategy selection; and are guided by
organizational objectives.
Perspectives on Strategic
Organizational Communication
• Research has indicated it is more
effective to view strategic
communications from an outside-in
perspective. This orientation recognizes
the importance of an organization’s
environment and the need for
organizations to be aware of changing
environmental conditions.
Perspectives on Strategic
Organizational Communication
• Outside-in planning begins with an
analysis of the organizational
environment.
– Stakeholders – individuals or groups who
have an interest in the organization and are
able to influence the organization’s ability to
meet its goals
– Outside-in planning lays the foundation for
ongoing communication between an
organization and its stakeholders.
Perspectives on Strategic
Organizational Communication
• A strategic communication goal may be to
foster better interdepartmental and vendor
communication.
• Numerous tactics such as job rotations,
regular meetings, or teleconferencing may be
used in support of the goal.
• Strategy involves anticipating the reactions of
others. Strategy becomes the basis for action.
• Communication tactics are the actions that
determine whether or not the strategic
objective is realized.
The Organization and Its
Environment
• Multiple Publics
– A public is “a group of individuals tied together by
some common bond of interest and sharing a
sense of commonness.”
• “Dinosaur” organizations
– Lack of contact with the customer and environment
– Unwillingness to adapt to changing environments
• Organizations need to match their paradigms
and planning systems to their environments.
The Organization and Its
Environment
• Environmental Scanning
– “the acquisition and use of information
about events and trends in an
organization’s external environment, the
knowledge of which would assist
management in planning the organization’s
future course of action.” (Auster and Choo, 1994)
– Experts agree that to be effective, some
structure must be established to facilitate
the process.
The Organization and Its
Environment
• Environmental Scanning
– Boundary spanners serve at least three
main functions:
• They can access the opinions of people outside
of the organization and use that information to
guide organizational decision making
• Their awareness of subtle trends in the
environment can serve as a warning to the
system for environmental jolts
• They serve as important representatives of the
organization to its environment.
The Organization and Its
Environment
• Environmental Scanning
– One difficult aspect of environmental
scanning is the process of distributing the
information to appropriate organizational
members.
– The interpretation of information also
present challenges.
– Members who have responsibility for
external scanning often scan internally, as
well.
End of 10a
Strategic Management
• Strategic management is the process of
formulating and implementing an
organizational plan of action that sets
direction and guides the organization
among alternative courses.
• The purpose of strategic planning is to
strengthen the organization’s
competitive position.
Strategic Management
• Strategic management seeks to create
competitive advantage by using the
organization’s unique qualifications to
pursue opportunities existing in the
environment. (Kenneth Andrews)
Strategic Management
• S.W.O.T. Analysis
–Strengths
–Weaknesses
–Opportunities
–Threats
Internal
Internal
External
External
Strategic Management
• Competitive strategy is often described as the
unique quality or competence an organization
has to offer, the one that will create
competitive advantage.
• Common Competitive Approaches
–
–
–
–
–
–
Low cost leader
Differentiation strategies
Technical support
Custom-order
Customer Service
Parts availability
Strategic Management
Models have Common Phases
1. Scanning and interpreting the internal and
external environments
2. Formulating a mission or vision for the
future and transforming it into specific
objectives
3. Developing strategy and implementing
supporting programs
4. Monitoring, reviewing and revising the
plan and its implementation
Strategic Management
•
Although all organizational activities
are involved in supporting strategy, two
functions carry a major responsibility
for strategy communication and
implementation:
– Public Relations
– Marketing
Strategic Organizational
Communication
•
Effective Communication Strategy:
– Linking to organizational goals
– Legitimizing certain issues and delegitimizing others
– Shaping organizational memory
– Making sense of the confusing and
ambiguous
– Providing a proper point of identity
– Continuously evolving
Strategic Organizational
Communication
•
Public Relations
– Little agreement as to scope or purpose
– Contemporary definitions have emerged
promoting a mutually beneficial, two-way
interaction between an organization and
its publics.
– Excellent programs are based on
symmetrical, or two-way communication
presuppositions.
Strategic Organizational
Communication
•
Managing an Organization’s Image or
Reputation
–
–
–
Negative connotation of manipulation
It is important to recognize that not only do
multiple factors play a role in forming
reputations, but that organizations have
multiple, and sometimes conflicting,
reputations.
Organizations are challenged to ensure that
public relations not only make people think
well of organizations, but that they think well
because the reputations are deserved.
Strategic Organizational
Communication
•
Internal Communications
– Sometimes referred to as employee
communications, are often managed by
public relations departments.
– In most organizations, employees are
considered an important public.
– The function of internal communications is
planned and formalized communication
prepared and disseminated by
communication professionals to and for
internal organizational members.
Strategic Organizational
Communication
•
Public Affairs and Issues Management
–
–
–
Involves the shaping of public opinion
regarding social and political issues
important to an organization
Issues management, a proactive function of
public affairs, involves foreseeing emerging
public policy issues and responding with
strategies to resolve issues of importance to
the organization.
The purpose of issues management is to help
organizations anticipate social, economic,
and political issues.
Strategic Organizational
Communication
•
Media Relations
– Specialists who are often the gatekeepers
between their organizations and the media
– Publicity has the impact of a respected
third-party endorsement.
– Media relations heightens the impact of
other communications efforts.
– Five f’s: fast, factual, frank, fair, and
friendly
Strategic Organizational
Communication
•
Crisis Management
– The use of public relations to minimize
harm to the organization in emergency
situations that could cause irreparable
damage.
– A crisis is a situation of major importance
and visibility that presents elevated risk
for the organization.
– A common mistake made during crises is
an overall lack of action or
communication.
Strategic Organizational
Communication
•
Crisis Management
– Crisis Management Plan
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
A statement of principles
A comprehensive list of kinds of crises
Formation of a crisis team
Establishment of a crisis center
A list of key audiences
An analysis of resources for the crisis plan
A statement of media guidelines
Advance preparation of materials
Establishment of a “network alert system”
Strategic Organizational
Communication
•
Crisis Communication
Strategic Organizational
Communication
•
Marketing
– Management process that bears major
responsibility for communicating and
implementing strategy
– Marketing is usually directed at bringing
about an exchange between an
organization and a customer
Strategic Organizational
Communication
•
Traditional Marketing Approaches
– During the 1950s and 1960s organizations
tended to be product-oriented rather than
customer-oriented.
– From this situation, a dominant marketing
orientation emerged. Many companies
operated from a top-down, inside-out
perspective. The emphasis was on
producing and selling goods, with little
attention given to customer needs or
satisfaction.
Strategic Organizational
Communication
•
Marketing Today: The Customer Is
Central
– Most organizations have realized that to
survive, delivering value and satisfaction
to their customers is key.
– “It costs five times as much to attract a
new customer as it does to keep a current
customer satisfied.”
Strategic Organizational
Communication
•
The Marketing Mix
–
–
–
–
•
Product
Pricing
Place
Promotion
A.I.D.A.
– Attention
– Interest
– Desire
– Action
Strategic Organizational
Communication
•
The Emergence of Integrated Marketing
Communications
– “The process of managing all sources of
information about a product which
behaviorally moves a customer toward a
sale and maintains customer loyalty.”
– In a world where we are constantly
bombarded by information, it becomes
necessary for marketers to do all they can
to ensure that their messages are
processed by consumers.
Strategic Organizational
Communication
•
Relationship Marketing and the Use of
Marketing Databases
– The practice of using transactional
communication to build long-term
relationships with customers is
known as relationship marketing.
– The proliferation of database
marketing is accompanied by a
growing concern about invasion of
privacy.
Ethical Issues in Strategic
Organizational Communication
The Management of Development and
Change
•
•
Organizational development:
educational strategies intended to
change the beliefs, attitudes, values,
and structure of organizations.
Human resource development: sets of
activities that prepare employees to
perform their current jobs more
effectively; to assume different
positions in the organization; or to
move into jobs, positions, and careers
that are not yet defined.
The Management of Development and
Change
• The Purchase Model
• The Doctor-Patient Model
• The Process Model
The Management of Development and
Change
• Planned Development and Change
The Management of Development and
Change
• Data Collection (Communication Audit)
– Data Evaluation
– Planning and Implementing Solutions
– Evaluating Results
Fundamentals of Organizational
Communication
Strategic Organizational
Communication:
Professional Applications of
Organizational Communication
Chapter 10