conference on corporate communication 2016

CONFERENCE ON CORPORATE COMMUNICATION 2016 May 31-June 3, 2016 Baruch College/CUNY New York

PROCEEDINGS Offered in association with Corporate Communications:An International Journal

Michael B. Goodman, Ph.D., Conference Chair & Director CCI - Corporate Communication International at Baruch College/CUNY, USA Regional Editor - North America Corporate Communications: An International Journal, UK Lancia Yan, M.A., Conference Coordinator &Assistant Director CCI - Corporate Communication International at Baruch College/CUNY, USA W. Timothy Coombs, Ph.D, Editor Corporate Communications: An International Journal, UK In partnership with … CCI – The Baruch Chapter, Master in Corporate Communication, Department of Communication Studies, Baruch College/CUNY, USA CCI – The Hong Kong Chapter, Department of Chinese & Bilingual Studies, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong Amsterdam School of Communication Research (ASCoR), University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands Centre for Corporate Communication, Department of Business Communication, Aarhus University, Denmark Corporate Communication, Department of Communication, Aalto University School of Business, Finland Department of Strategic Communication, Lund University, Sweden Department of Strategic Communication, University of Johannesburg, South Africa Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of Georgia, USA IULM University of Milan, Italy Richard T. Robertson School of Media & Culture, Virginia Commonwealth University, USA Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore Writing, Editing & Publishing Program, School of Communication and Arts, The University of Queensland, Australia Conference Proceedings Editor Yan Jin, PhD Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of Georgia, USA Proceedings Editorial Assistant Sungsu Kim, PhD student Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of Georgia, USA Published June 2016 by CCI - Corporate Communication International at Baruch College/CUNY, New York, NY Published June 2016 by CCI - Corporate Communication International at Baruch College/CUNY, NY

CONTENTS An Introduction: “Transformation of the Corporate Communication Profession – Leading Practices 2016” Michael B. Goodman, Ph.D., Conference Chair………………………………………………..iv Corporate Communication International’s Conference on Corporate Communication 2016…………………………………………………………………...………………..............i

The War on Tobacco: A PR Campaign for Good Rebecca Carriero Baruch College/CUNY, USA…………………………..................................................................1 Co-creating Polyphony or Cacophony? A Case Study of an Organization’s Current Brand Co-creation Process and the Challenge of Managing Multiple Voices Anna Karina Kjeldsen and Line Schmeltz, Aarhus University, School of Business and Social Science, Denmark…………………………………………...…………..19 Counter-Narratives and Organizational Crisis How LEGO Bricks Became a Slippery Business Marianne Wolff Lundholt University of Southern Denmark/Denmark………………………………………………………27

Creating Business Value through Corporate Communication A Theory-based Framework and Its Practical Application Ansgar Zerfass and Christine Viertmann, University of Leipzig,Germany……………………..44

Employee Communication in Open Innovation Communities on Internal Social Media The Perspective of Managers Responsible for Internal Open Innovation Helle Eskesen Gode, Department of Business Communication, VIA University College, Denm Ark…………...………………………………………………………………………………..…55 Employee Participation in Knowledge Sharing and Change Solutions through Enterprise Social Media Mona Agerholm Andersen, Annette Agerdal-Hjermind and Chiara Valentini, Aarhus University, Denmark…………………………… …………….......................................................................66

Explicating the Information Vacuum

Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page i

Contents

Stages, Intensifying Factors, and Organizational Implications Eugene Yong-Sheng Woon, Daryl Chin-Yong Chew, Alicia Ai-Ling Seah, Nazreen Muntaj, Augustine Pang, School of Communication and Information, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore………………………………………………………………………………………...73

Health Impact of Excessive Screen Time A Smoldering Crisis for Organization Ernest F. Martin Jr. Virginia Commonwealth University,USA………………………………….88 Internalizing Citizenship Behaviour through Internal Communication among Indian Public Services Employees Neha Sharma, SR Group of Institutions/UPTU, Sanjay K Khatri, Indian Administrative Services and T.J Kamlanabhan Indian Institute of Technology Madras, India………………………….102 Is Strategic Communication Too Important to Be Left to Communication Professionals? Jesper Falkheimer, Mats Heide, Charlotte Simonsson, Rickard Andersson, Howard Nothhaft and Sara von Platen, Department of Strategic Communication, Lund University, Sweden…...…...122 It’s Good for You Because It’s Good for Them Communicating the Costs of Participation in Volunteer Tourism Kathryn Lineberger, Macaulay Honors College, City University of New York, USA………...138 Managing Corporate Reputation Role of Corporate Communications in Reputation Work Emilia Mikola and Venla Väkeväinen, Aalto University School of Business/Department of Management Studies, Unit of Organizational Communication, Finland ……………..…….….163 Quality Visibility in CEO Crisis Management Response Using Nonverbal Communications to Connect to Authenticity and Stakeholders Following a Crisis Chigo Ugoalah, Royal Roads University, CU Communications, Canada …………………….179 Shifts in the Meaning of Corporate Brand Management A Theoretical Perspective Oluwayemisi Olomo and Olutayo Otubanjo, Lagos Business School, Nigeria………...……....194 Social Media Management across the Organization Building a Conceptualization from Engaged Research in a Danish Company Constance Kampf and Marjan Mohammadreza, Dept. of Business Communication, BSS Aarhus University, Denmark……………………………………………. ……………………….……..207 Trust in Internal Social Media Conversations Mia Leppälä, Aalto University School of Business, Helsinki, Finland ………..… ….………...230 Using Sustainable Social Marketing to Respond to Global Climate Change Stevina Evuleocha and Steve Ugbah, California State University, USA.....................................238

Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page ii

Contents

Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page iii

An Introduction Proceedings of the CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 “Transformation of the Corporate Communication Profession – Leading Practices 2016” Michael B. Goodman, Ph.D., Conference Chair Director, CCI – Corporate Communication International CCI – Corporate Communication International has conducted research on the leading practices of corporate communication officers for almost two decades. As part of its 2015 study, the Chief Communication Officer of a Fortune 50 Corporation, in response to the interview question about how corporate communication contributes to the overall success of the organization, said: ...reputation is your license to do business… We do help to protect that license to do business, enhance it… We also create opportunity for commercial success by telling the story about the outcomes that we produce with our products, our people, our services. We create additional commercial opportunities…We also help to build the network of stakeholders. We engage with the world. I like to call it the engaged enterprise. We create the relationships that ultimately can help you be successful. In The New CCO, The Arthur W. Page Society observes: The Chief Communications Officer (CCO) … is at a critical inflection point. The environment in which enterprises operate is fraught with challenges: emerging competitors reinventing traditional business models; changing demographic, regulatory and sociopolitical conditions; new modes of work; and an ongoing paradigm shift in how individuals engage with one another and with organizations. Spurred by these changes and enabled by social media, stakeholder groups have become more empowered, emboldened and organized. Evolution of the enterprise in the face of these new realities is required, and CCOs increasingly willbe central to guiding these changes. (The New CCO: Transforming Enterprises in a Changing World, NY: Arthur W. Page Society, 2016, p, 5.) The Corporate Communication Practices 2015 study builds on the CCI – Corporate Communication International Practices and Trends Studies conducted from 2000 – 2013. The goal of each of the CCI studies during that period was to outline and analyze the state of the art for corporate communication practice in publicly-traded, multinational companies. Background on The CCI Studies The first CCI study in 2000 focused on publicly traded companies for several reasons. First, information in such companies is public and more readily accessible. Second, public companies are in the vanguard of corporate practices because of – the pressures of the capital markets

Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page iv

An Introduction: Transformation of the Corporate Communications Profession

– their need to respond to the media – the realities of the global marketplace. And finally, public companies have a greater understanding that their “license to operate” comes from public approval and is maintained by public trust. The Contemporary Business Environment – Impact on Corporate Communication Practice Five forces of the contemporary business environment have transformed the practice of corporate communication:  Globalization—a quantitative shift in the globalization of the world economy that has created a qualitative change in how businesses need to communicate;  The Internet (Web 2.0)—a transformation in the adoption, use, and consumption of information technology;  Corporate Business Model—The Networked Enterprise—an evolution in the nature and purpose of the public corporation that is both influenced by, and at the same time, influences, the other two forces at work.  Uncertainty—the volatility of global financial and commercial markets, and political turmoil in Western democracies, as well as in the developing world, combines to make planning for the future filled with high levels of risk.  Privacy and “Big Data”—the impact and consequences of communication and information technologies. (Goodman and Hirsch, Corporate Communication: Critical Business Asset for Strategic Global Change, NY: Peter Lang, 2015, p.xx.) The issues facing corporations and their communication officers reflect the impact of these forces. When asked in the interviews to identify top issues, our 2015 survey respondents identified these: speed, consistency, employee engagement, the search for talent (the right people), the transition to digital, the convergence between marketing and public relations, the collapse of traditional news outlets, reputation management, crisis communication, transparency, authenticity, measurement aligned to business outcomes, being legally compliant, demographics (millenials and an aging population), alignment and integration across the organization, anticipating changes. Thought leaders who had recently retired, who were also interviewed as background for this study, echoed these issues and added these three: leadership, empowerment of audiences through technology, and determining the future of corporate communication and how it is structured with others in the C-Suite. When asked in the interviews to identify top trends, many of our respondents identified: social media platforms, employee use of social media and mobile technology, maintaining the value of face to face communication, leadership engagement in communication, proactive engagement of company critics, increased speed needed to react in a crisis, the demographics of a completely new workforce, integration of communication into business strategy. The thought leaders added: alignment with and acting in the public interest, self publishing and owned content, employee involvement in communication, contribution to the success of the business, and ethics. Defining Corporate CommunicationIn the 21st century, corporate communication has become “a critical business asset for meeting the challenges of global change” (Goodman and Hirsch, 2015). This study examines, analyzes, and discusses the impact of the confluence of these forces on the major communication needs in the lifecycle of publicly traded organizations. Considering the Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page v


transformative impact of these forces, for this study we use this definition of corporate communication in western publicly-traded companies: “Corporate communication is the term used to describe a variety of strategic management functions. Depending on the organization, corporate communication includes: public relations; crisis and emergency communication; corporate citizenship; reputation management; community relations; media relations; [social media]; investor relations; employee relations; government relations; marketing communication; management communication; corporate branding and image building; advertising.” Goodman, Michael B. “Corporate communication Practice and Pedagogy at the Dawn of the New Millennium.” Corporate Communication: An International Journal (11:3) 2006, p.197.in Goodman & Hirsch, 2010, p. 15. As the contemporary corporate performance of multiple communication and management actions, corporate communication has “great persuasive power, because it suggests a focus on the corporation as a whole.” (Wim Elving, Keynote, CCI Conference on Corporate Communication, June 2015). Corporate Communication represents the “significant, managerial ideal” for all its communication, its identity, and its messaging. Corporate communication has become “the central managerial activity involved in managing and orchestrating all internal and external communications aimed at creating favorable starting points with stakeholders on which the company depends,” as opposed to communicating with different “audiences or letting different departments handle their communications autonomously, the vision of corporate communication, in other words, is to manage all communications under one banner.” (Elving, 2015)This approach recognizes that the reality for an organization is to manage the projection of “images that are able to cover physical, symbolic, and behavioral dimensions of an organization’s life.” (Elving, 2015) Organization of the Survey Instrument The 2015 survey instrument contained seven sections. The seventh section, Company Profile – was an outline of the Industry Groups and SIC Codes of the survey participants by industry, company size, number of employees, securities exchange listed, equity index, market capitalization, and presence. Here are the other six sections of the 2015 survey discussed in the report:  Organizational Practices-- discusses the responses to questions about areas of responsibility, the role of the communication department, the challenges it faces, how the department is organized, its size, its staffing, any changes, its diversity, the skills it requires. It also discusses the department budget, budget changes, budget allocation, and the impact of cost-cutting efforts.  Leadership Practices -- discusses the background and qualifications of the chief communication officer – title, gender, age, education, professional credentials. It also discusses the level of compensation and length of time as the communication leader. It discusses the reporting lines for the communication officer and membership on the executive committee. It also discusses the recruitment of the communication officer.  Performance Assessment Practices -- discusses the types of communication measures, the performance metrics in use, and the methods of data collection. Also discussed are the measurement reporting and benchmarking practices, as well as any codes of ethics used by communication professionals.  Use of Agencies and Other Service Providers -- discusses the practices communication professionals use to engage agencies and other service providers by discussing the types Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page vi






of services used, the procurement policy used, and the use of pre-approved list of agencies and service providers. Also discussed in this section are the annual expeditures for the use of agenciess and outside service providers, as well as the disculosure of such expenditures. Internal Communication Practices -- discusses the length of time the company has been monitoring internal communication and who is responsible for it. This section also disucsses the communication channnels used for internal communication and employee feedback, as well as the efforts taken to protect employee anonymity. This section also discusses the use of social networks within the whole company. Social Media Practices -- discusses the corporate use of social media, the channels used, employee accesss to corporate social media accounts, and the use of crowdsourceing campaigns. Here, also, is a discussion of the personal use of social media – the corporate policy, the consultation with the Corporate Communication department, prohibitions on personal use during working hours and non-working hours, other prohibituions, training program for social media use, and the public disclosure of the company social media policy.

Goals of the 2015 Study Five goals for 2015 are: to outline & analyze the state of the art for Corporate Communication practice in public, multinational companies; to build on the CCI Studies from 2000 – 2013; to identify and analyze Corporate Communication current practices; to identify trends and determine leading practices in Corporate Communication; to continue to build the database for further study; to distribute Key Findings to the academic and professional communities through this publication of the study, as well as several professional presentations. Methods of the 2015 Study In January 2015, the survey was sent to the chief communication officer of companies in the Dow 30, the Fortune 500, the S&P 500, and the Russell 1000. Interviews The second phase of the study used telephone interviews to gather qualitative information. Interview responses often reveal insights into current and future practices and trends. Responses can often articulate actions, beliefs, and values that provide a context for quantitative survey questions. Two groups of interviewees were used. The first were the 2015 Study participants who indicated their willingness to be interviewed as part of the study. The second was a group of recently retired industry thought leaders who had participated in CCI’s previous studies from 2000 – 2013. The rationale for this group was to capture their long term perspective on the profession.Each of the two groups were asked the same questions. The interviews were recorded and transcribed. When asked in interviews about the future of the profession, corporate communication professionals said that they see a bright future for the profession as it faces a challenging transformation, increased business complexity, greater demands for engaging employees and the corporate culture, meeting higher requirements for transparency, and the increased importance of the profession to the overall success of the enterprise. The communication officers interviewed observed:

Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page vii


“It’s going to continue to be more strategic and intertwined in the organization and … They are going to have to wear a few other hats in order to be really more valuable to the business …” “…communication professionals who use data to drive a lot of their decisions are going to have a significant advantage over the communication professionals who don’t.” “… I think that those folks that continue to view it as it was viewed a decade ago are in for some trouble. I think those folks that understand how it's changing and can change along with it will be the ones that will be successful.” “… we are the storytellers, we are the reputation managers, we are the folks tasked with engaging employees... we have to change. We can be the architect of a lot of that change.” “…higher quality disclosures, higher quality communications, more substantive conversation … will be required…” “…we all get smarter about the technology and the opportunities and challenges that it creates for companies, that corporations will place an even higher value on the work that we do in providing resources to enable us to help the company be successful, by using the new technology … effectively.” “…increasing integration across stakeholder groups. I do see functions coming together, so that you have one architect of the best two that touches multiple stakeholders. I would call it a rosy future for integrated strategic communications.” One of our thought leaders, in an interview, put the future into sharp focus by observing, “The best prediction … is about communications being about the success of the enterprise.”

A preliminary report of the study was presented in June 2015 at the Corporate Communication International’s Conference on Corporate Communication 2015 in New York at Baruch College, and a report was presented on October 29, also in New York at Baruch College. (http://www.corporatecomm.org/studies/) The report analyzes corporate communication practices regarding a sample of public companies registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Corporate Communication Practices: 2015 analyzes findings from a survey of 45 business corporations issuing equity securities registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The survey was administered by The Conference Board in collaboration with CCI—Corporate Communication International at Baruch College, City University of New York (CCI). Each organization invited corporate communication, investor relations and public affairs officers from its network of member companies to participate in the survey, which was conducted in the spring of 2015. Participants were asked to provide information based on corporate practices existing at the time of the survey compilation or, in some cases, as of December 31, 2014.

Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page viii


The Corporate Communication Practices Study 2015confirms corporate communication as an essential strategic management function. Chief communication officers identified the strategic importance of corporate communication: “We're considered a strategic partner to the CEO, the CMO, the CIO, and we provide a wide range of strategic counsel and planning, and execution. Not only in areas where communications traditionally has played, like PR and internal communication, but also on things like culture, business development strategy, M&A.” “… the strategic importance is probably more reputationally focused. We’re viewed as an organization that is charged with considering the impact on our reputation of everything we actually do. But on top of that it’s also helping further the organization’s overall objectives… We're looked at as an organization … that is managing risk around reputation and is considering reputation in all things that the company does.” “… the importance is that nature deplores a vacuum. So, in a world where everyone has the ability to publish broadly through social media just about anything that they want to say, virtually with impunity, the importance of effective corporate communication is credible to people you need to have on your side.”

The results of the 2015 Study have significant implications for professional practice worldwide, centered on these fifteen key findings: 1) Transformation of the discipline continues with emphasis on internal (employee engagement, corporate culture, the Intranet) & external (media and reputation) communication functions We asked respondents to identify which of 32 possible corporate functions were the responsibility of corporate communication professionals. Considering their responses to questions about areas of responsibility, the role of the communication department, the challenges it faces, these functions were almost ubiquitous (above 90%):  Executive communication;  Crisis and emergency communication;  Employee (internal) communication;  Communication strategy;  Communication policy;  Media relations;  Public relations;  Reputation management;  Intranet communication; and effectively define the core of contemporary corporate communication practice. The transformation of the discipline accelerates with new emphasis on internal communication, specifically employee engagement, corporate culture, and the Intranet; as well as external

Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page ix


communication with an emphasis on media and public relations and corporate citizenship. The ubiquity of these functions defines the discipline of corporate communication in 2015. 2) More robust budgets (no change 38.6% or increased 36.4%) reflect the increased need for corporate communication. Steady staff increases (no change 37.8% or increase of 44.5%) reflect a new confidence to hire communication professionals. Most corporate communication departments had a budget between $1 – 5 million, or their budget was more than $10 million. We had asked for the total budget of the corporate communication department (including salaries, operating expenditures, fees to agencies and other service providers, etc.). We asked respondents if the budget for the corporate communication department had recent changes. On the whole the vast majority (75%) reported no change (38.6%) or an increase in their budget (36.4%). Almost a quarter (24.9%) reported a decrease. We asked respondents to estimate the allocation of the corporate communication department budget for the Current FY and the Last FY. Almost half the budget allocation for both was to salary and related allocations. Almost a quarter was allocated to fees to agencies and other serivce providers. We asked respondents how the budget of the corporate communication department was affected the last time the whole company had to cut costs. More than there quarters indicated “neither sooner nor later than other department budgets.” 3) The transformation of the profession has placed renewed emphasis on building positive corporate culture and employee engagement in response to uncertain global economic conditions, changing business and media models, “big data,” and the networked enterprise. This internal focus acknowledges the essential role that employees play in the networked enterprise, and it continues to drive the need to boost employee morale. Chief communication officers characterized the influence of uncertainty – political, financial, technological -- on the practice of corporate communication as “the economic realities [that] pervade our messaging,” “made transparency far more top of mind” as executives “communicate more, but carefully.” “It has made corporate communication a part of every important discussion and decision,” and executives now run their teams “like a never-ending political campaign with polling, qualitative listening, messaging and rapid response…” The opportunity to position the enterprise for a slow global economic recovery, or protracted global economic weakness is a result of the “focus on business imperatives,” corporate officers seek communication “…advice or counsel… more frequently.” 4) Diversity and minority representation among the top corporate communication professionals indicates greater female representation, with small strides within other groups. CCI found in its 2013 study a reversal of a then 6 year trend, the number of female communication executive officers who responded increased 16.1% from 2011. That trend continues with this 2015 Practices Study. Overall the top female communication officers make up 55.6% of our respondents, and 44.4% are male. 5) Communication executives continue to see their primary role as “manager of the company’s reputation” and “counsel to the CEO.” Communication executives continue to see their primary role as “counsel to the CEO” & “manager of the company’s reputation.” Strategic communication counsel has been cited as the primary role for corporate communication officers since the first CCI Study more than a decade ago. Executives now consider their employees as corporate ambassadors to external audiences, Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page x


and that shift in focus becomes an important element in reputation management. The survey provided a list of thirteen descriptive phrases and asked the respondents to rank order them as the best description of their communication department. The top seven in order are: • Manager of the company’s reputation • Counsel to the CEO and the Corporation • Manager of employee relations (internal communication) • Manager of the company’s image • Manager of relationships between the company and all of its key constituencies • Advocate or “engineer of public opinion,” in support of the company's policies • Driver of company publicity 6) Integrity, trust, and comprehensive understanding of the business and its constituencies are among the main success factors for reputation management. In interviews, communication officers and thought leaders identified several points necessary to manage the corporation’s reputation successfully: a formal process to track reputation, measurement, third party awards and recognition, company values emphasized internally, having a communication leader who understands the business environment. One communication officer observed, “Have ongoing insight on what different stakeholders believe about you, having knowledge of the levers that drive and influence their perceptions of you.” In interviews, thought leaders identified several concepts necessary to manage the corporation’s reputation successfully: One said, “Trust has certainly got to be the first. Comprehensive understanding of the business and its complexities …. Understanding of the industry and your competitive set and being able to forecast accurately what the expectations of the various publics may be more likely or not, in a given situation…advocacy and the expectations as, if you will, the perspective of the people you’re trying to connect with.” Another observed, “Insights into each of the organization's key constituencies, influence on the organizations behavior and relationships with those groups, and the skills, resources and organizational support to communicate those behaviors effectively.” For the CCO of a Fortune 50 company success is “Obviously, a clear understanding of your culture, and your purpose. A reputation isn't made by communicators. A reputation is made by [your] people. A reputation is the sum of all perceptions that people have of your organization. Our role is to help build a strong culture, to help align our values with broadly held social values.” Another CCO observed that “Alignment because everybody has to be clear on what direction we're going in, what we're really trying to accomplish.” And another added, “… leadership support and participation … preparedness … you can't anticipate every crisis that's going to come along, maybe you can't anticipate any of them. You can be in the position to respond effectively by understanding the fundamentals of what makes effective crisis communication. And that is filling the vacuum, don't let other people fill the vacuum. And being nimble. The world moves really, really fast, and you have to be in a position where you can react in minutes, not just hours or days, to changes in the market, to announcements by the government or what's happening on Wall St., or allegations of some scandal.” 7) Political, financial, technological uncertainty drives sharp focus on business imperatives and has led to running corporate communication like a never-ending political campaign.

Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page xi


Political, financial, technological uncertainty drives a sharp focus on business imperatives and has led to running corporate communication like a never-ending political campaign. The speed and complexity of information exchange and communication makes transparency and engagement more effective management strategies than command and control. The post-email environment offers an opportunity, as well as a strategy, to move beyond third party intermediaries and engage internal and external audiences directly. In interviews, the communication officers noted, that “uncertainty causes the company and communications in the company to do one of two things—either to freeze and not do anything, or to say we’re going to set our own course. I think we’ve done a bit of both … we’ve chosen most of the time when there’s uncertainty to take that as an opportunity to set our own course and to tell our own story.” For another, “political uncertainty is a big challenge… Ours is a very longterm industry [that requires] a lot of long-term planning and predictability in order to operate successfully. When we're doing so in an environment of political uncertainty, there's just a lot of implications to our business and our ability to plan… political uncertainty influences corporate communications … we increasingly are getting engaged in public affairs activities, so we've broadened our communications goal to include public affairs. Basically, government affairs in perfect communication, so we are supporting the company on things that are political in nature, through our public affairs activities.” Another observed, “With regard to technology, … we are not able to move as quickly as we'd like when it comes to the major systems that feed the business. … spending more time engaging the hearts and minds of our employees and our different stakeholders helps weather the uncertainty. … The uncertainty. I think you just have to be really smart and prioritize.” 8) Citizens United and Dodd/Frank have required greater transparency and disclosure efforts in reporting, more internal coordination with other corporate officers, and greater efforts to communicate the company position with investors and other audiences. In interviews, the communication officers noted that these rulings have created a greater need to coordinate with other corporate officers so that the required reports can be more transparent to investors, regulators, and other audiences. In interviews with thought leaders, one offers this insightful response: “… on corporate communications, it's had a big impact on our company, because we were at that time about half financial services. But from our practices, we've tried to simplify significantly… how we disclose the financial performance of the company both on an annual basis and through our quarterly earnings, rather than single spaced forty page financial filings to make them more contemporary and understandable with the visual aids to support the words…I think we were doing that anyway… but it certainly is consistent with Dodd-Frank, which is to help people understand the performance of your company in an objective way, whether good or bad. I think we were on that path already before Dodd-Frank was passed. We were more prompted, I would say, by the financial crisis in 2008 than Dodd-Frank. But our filings are simpler. They're more easy to read. We changed our 10-K filing this year to be less words, more graphics. Simpler, easier to understand. We've tried to just really make it easy for the average investor to understand the performance of the company.”

Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page xii


9) Corporate Communication departments use agencies and other service providers for advertising (corporate brand and product or service), the annual report, crisis and emergency communication, internet communication, media relations, public relations, and social media. Most have a procurement policy and pre-approved list for such engagements. The budget for almost half ot the companies is over $1,000,000. More than three quarters of the companies (75.6%) have a Procurement Policy that requires agencies or other providers to undergo a bidding process for these services, while the rest (24.4%) do not. Almost two thirds of the companies (61.4%) maintain a pre-approved list of agencies or other service providers, while the rest (38.6%) do not. Most of the companies (46.5%) spent $1,000,000 or more, and almost a third (32.6%) spent $100,000 to $499,999. Most (60.5%) reported fees paid for these services as a stand-alone budget line, the rest (39.5%) did not. 10) Top Corporate Communication officers are: middle-aged, paid very well, better educated. Top Corporate Communication executives (71.2%) were between 45 and 59 years old. There are a number (15.5%) of baby boomers (60 and older). They are paid comparatively well. Their salary remains high despite an uncertain economy. Slightly more than three quarters reported an annual base salary between $100,000 and $300,000; just over 16% between $300,000 and $500,000; slightly more than 7% reported a base salary over $500,000. None reported a base salary under $100,000. They are better educated almost all (97.7%) had completed an undergraduate (54.6%) or graduate degree (40.1%). In the survey we asked the gender of the head of the communication department. Overall the top female communication officers make up 55.6% of our respondents, and 44.4% are male. CCI found in its 2013 study a reversal of a then 6 year trend, the number of female communication executive officers who responded increased 16.1% from 2011. That trend of more female executives continues with this 2015 Practices Study. There are differences by industry (financial services 70% female communication executives), by annual revenue (mid-sized companies 61.5% female communication executives), and by number of employees (small companies 71.4% female communication executives). 11) Corporate communication professionals see the top issues that they face related to increases in techonology, speed, transformation of the discipline, alignment across the enterprise and with business outcomes, convergence, and transformation. In interviews, communication officers identified their top critical issues in corporate communication. Our 2015 survey respondents identified these: speed, consistency, employee engagement, the search for talent (the right people), the transition to digital, the convergence between marketing and public relations, the collapse of traditional news outlets, reputation management, crisis communication, transparency, authenticity, measurement aligned to business outcomes, being legally compliant, demographics (millenials and an aging population), alignment and integration across the organization, anticipating changes. Thought leaders who had recently retired, who were also interviewed as background for this study, echoed these issues and added these three: leadership, empowerment of audiences through technology, and determining the future of corporate communication and how it is structured with others in the C-Suite. 12) Corporate communication professionals see the top trends that they face related to social media, employee engagement, leadership, proactive engagement with company critics, demographics of the new workforce, and alignment with public intrerst. Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page xiii


When asked to identify top trends, many of our respondents identified: social media platforms, employee use of social media and moblie technology, maintaining the value of face to face communication, leadership engagement in communication, proactive engagement of company critics, increased speed needed to react in a crisis, the demographics of a completely new workforce, integration of communication into business strategy. Our thought leaders added: alignment with and acting in the public interest, self publishing and owned content, employee involvement in communication, contributing to the success of the business, ethics. 13) Social Media, no longer a novelty, becomes another part of the strategic management of corporate communication. In the survey we noted that Blogs, social networks, and websites have become important vehicles of communication with key external stakeholders of the company. We provided a list of 13 and asked which ones the company uses as official channels of communication. A large majority, more than a quarter, used LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube. In the survey we asked who, among 9 choices, at the company has access to and is authorized to use such channels of communication. A large majority (77.8%) indicated the corporate communication officer. We asked if the company conducted any crowdsourcing campaign in the last 12 months to gather ideas from and engage a large audience of customers or other stakeholders. A third (33.3%) indicated no such campaign. Slightly more than a tenth (11.1%) had used one to obtain ideas useful to the design of a communication campaign, and another (11.1%) used crowdsourcing as part of the communication campaign, to engage customers. A very small number (4.4%) used crowdsourcing as part of an issue management strategy. We asked if the company has a formal policy on the personal use of social media by employees, and more than 95% indicated that they did. 14) Most of the heads of communication report to the CEO, but reflecting the transition taking place in the profession, many report to the Chief Marketing Officer. All of our respondents indicated that they were responsible for the oversight of internal communication. Since 100% of our respondents were responsible for overseeing internal communication, there were no differences by industry, annual revenue, or by number of employees. We asked to whom the head of communication reports. Almost a third (31.1%) report to the Chief Executive Officer, and a fifth (20%) report to the Chief Marketing officer. Most of the heads of communication report to the CEO, but reflecting the transition taking place in the profession, many report to the Chief Marketing Officer. And many report to “other.” We also asked if the head of the communication department is part of the company’s executive committee. Most were not, but an important minority (28.9%) were. We asked if the corporate communication department is primarily responsible for internal communication, and if it does not oversee internal (employee) communication, what department, of the nine listed, did:  Human Resources (HR)  Information Technology (IT)  Marketing and Sales  Office of the CEO  Office of a C-Suite executive (other than the CEO)  Public Affairs

Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page xiv




The company has instituted a dedicated Employee Engagement department, which oversees internal (employee) communication  The company has instituted a dedicated Internal Communication (IC) department  Internal communication tasks are decentralized and conducted by individual departments or divisions None of our respondents indicated that they did not oversee internal communication. Since 100% of our respondents were responsible for overseeing internal communication, there were no differences by industry, annual revenue, or by number of employees. 15) Corporate communication professionals see a bright future for the profession as it faces a challenging transformation, increased business complexity, greater demands for engaging employees and the corporate culture, meeting higher requirements for transparency, and the increased importance of the profession to the overall success of the enterprise. One of our thought leaders, in an interview, put the future into sharp focus by observing, “The best prediction … is about communications being about the success of the enterprise.”

Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page xv

Corporate Communication International

Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 The annual Corporate Communication International’s Conference on Corporate Communication is an opportunity for corporate communicators to develop professionally and to bring value to their companies. It is also an opportunity for scholars to share their knowledge and research. It has been the premise of this conference that relationships among scholars and practitioners are an essential element of the social glue that binds civilized people together. And international meetings are important to build and maintain trust among professionals with common interests and goals, but who are disbursed around the world. It is in this spirit that once again corporate executives and university scholars met at Baruch College/CUNY in New York City, USAto exchange information and explore communication from a global perspective. CCI’sthree-day Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 is intended to:     

Illuminate the interest in corporate communication as a strategic function in organizational success. Explore the influence of globalization on the corporate communication profession as it relates to theory, practice, roles, processes, and ethics. Continue as a forum for the exchange of ideas and information among industry and university representatives. Indicate trends and provide analysis for communication professionals, university faculty, and others interested in corporate communication. Disseminate the conference discussions through the publication of the conference Proceedings, and selected papers in Corporate Communication: An International Journal.

The papers published here were selected based on a peer review process. We are also grateful to the members of the CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Program Committee for their insight and expertise in making this conference a success. They are: Norm Booth, D Litt,Coyne Public Relations, USA* W. Timothy Coombs, PhD, Texas A&M University ShuiDuen Chan, PhD,The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong* Wim Elving,PhD, Corporate Communications: An International Journal* Jesper Falkheimer, PhD, Lund University, Sweden* Finn Frandsen, Mag Art, Aarhus University Christina Genest, MA, CCI at Baruch College/CUNY (retired), USA* Roger Hutt, PhD, Arizona State University, USA* Yan Jin, PhD, University of Georgia, USA* Anne Kankaaranta, PhD, Aalto University School of Business, Finland Ernest Martin, Jr., PhD, Virginia Commonwealth University, USA* Alessandra Mazzei, Mag Art, IULM University of Milan, Italy* Augustine Pang, PhD, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page xvi

An Introduction: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016

Roslyn Petelin, PhD, University of Queensland, Australia* Pat Scott, PhD, University of Pennsylvania &Uhmms Corp., USA* Daniel So, Ed.D, Founder, CCI Hong Kong Chapter (retired)* Jo-annStraat, MA,Daichi Sankyo (retired), USA* Don Swanson, EdD, Monmouth University, USA* Sonja Verwey, PhD, University of Johannesburg, South Africa* *Abstract & Paper Reviewers

Additionally, we thank the following contributors to the Conference on Corporate Communication 2016: Conference Sponsors CCI – The Baruch Chapter CCI – The Hong Kong Chapter Tribe Pictures Conference Awards Sponsors Corporate Communications: An International Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited Uhmms Conference Panel Sponsors ABC – Association for Business Communication Journal of Communication Management, Emerald Group Publishing Limited CCI Chapters CCI - The Baruch Chapter, Department of Communication Studies, Baruch College/CUNY, USA CCI - The Hong Kong Chapter, Department of Chinese & Bilingual Studies, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong CCI Academic Partners CCI – The Baruch Chapter, Master in Corporate Communication, Department of Communication Studies, Baruch College/CUNY, USA CCI – The Hong Kong Chapter, Department of Chinese & Bilingual Studies, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong Amsterdam School of Communication Research (ASCoR), University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands Centre for Corporate Communication, Department of Business Communication, Aarhus University, Denmark Corporate Communication, Department of Communication, Aalto University School of Business, Finland Department of Strategic Communication, Lund University, Sweden Department of Strategic Communication, University of Johannesburg, South Africa Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of Georgia, USA Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page xvii

An Introduction: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016

IULM University of Milan, Italy Richard T. Robertson School of Media & Culture, Virginia Commonwealth University, USA Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore Writing, Editing & Publishing Program, School of Communication and Arts,The University of Queensland, Australia CCI Corporate Sponsors Amgen Inc. Apco Worldwide Inc. Honeywell The J.M. Smucker Company Pfizer Inc

Michael B. Goodman, Ph.D., Conference Chair& CCI Director Lancia Yan, M.A., Conference Coordinator& CCI Assistant Director

Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page xviii

The War on Tobacco A PR Campaign for Good Rebecca Carriero Baruch College/CUNY, USA [email protected]

Beyond the smoke and mirrors of big tobacco’s glamor stands a grim reality: each year, smoking kills 6 million people worldwide. In the U.S. it is the largest preventable killer and is responsible for more deaths than from car accidents, illegal drugs, murder, and AIDS combined. Tobacco costs the U.S. more than $170 billion in health care expenditures. While public relations and advertising contributed to the rise of the tobacco business – the good news is, the same tactics used to help promote tobacco are being used to curb it. This paper analyses the fight to change public perception, starting with the Surgeon General’s landmark study issued in 1964 that declared smoking a public health risk to the present. The multi-media rich paper also explores how the anti-tobacco movement’s messages and tactics have evolved and in what ways it needs to change particularly in the light of the emergence of electronic cigarettes, and the tobacco industry’s international growth. Research was conducted by analyzing historical documents including ads, press clippings, published books on the topic as well as original interviews conducted by the researcher. Keywords: Crisis communications, public health communications, public perception, advocacy.

Introduction What chance does the war on tobacco really have against the sophisticated, sleek and moneyed coffers of big tobacco? Smoking is cool. It’s seductive, ritualistic and rebellious. Characters chain smoke contemplatively in 1960s French New Wave cinema. Rough and tumble iconic smokers graced American dramas for years. Cigarettes practically sell themselves. As BR, the fictional tobacco salesman shouts in the movie, Thank You for Smoking, “We don't sell Tic Tacs, we sell cigarettes. And they're cool, available, and addictive! The job is almost done for us!” (International Movie Database, 2015) Beyond the smoke and mirrors of big tobacco’s glamor stands a grim reality: each year, smoking kills 6 million people worldwide (Center for Disease Control, 2015). Smoking is also the cause of respiratory illnesses for thousands of others1 (Center for Disease Control, 2015). In the U.S. it is the largest preventable killer and is responsible for more deaths than from car accidents, illegal drugs, murder, and AIDS combined (Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, 2015). In addition to death, tobacco use leads to premature aging, rotting teeth, hair loss, sagging skin and yellow eyes (Center for Disease Control, 2015). Big tobacco is an industry that puts millions at risk and ruins the lives of many others through second-hand smoke. And smoking causes a substantial burden to national health care costs. Tobacco costs the U.S. more than $170 billion in health care expenditures and $151 billion in lost productivity each year. (Xu, 2015)2 While public relations and advertising contributed to the rise of the tobacco business (Public Relations Museum Video, 2015) – the good news is, the same tactics used to help promote Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 1

The War on Tobacco: A PR Campaign for Good

tobacco are being used to reverse the growth of smoking. Coupled with leadership from the medical community, anti-tobacco advocates have used public relations to help change public attitudes towards smoking, raise awareness about the health risks of smoking, the policy regulations required for lasting change and have acted as watchdogs against the tobacco industry (Office of National Health & Smoking, Center for Disease Control, 1999). In efforts to shape policy and reduce smoking worldwide, the anti-tobacco movement has had to compete with the ever creative and resource rich tobacco industry. Anti-tobacco advocates have used former public smokers to speak out against the tobacco industry and health warnings in campaigns. Today they are using sleek-ads aimed at teen viewers and tapping into the Millennial generation’s brand awareness and social activism in order to stop another generation from getting hooked. Public relations campaigns exposing the risks of smoking have led to stronger legislative action restricting tobacco sales, protection against consumers from deceptive marketing practices, and public awareness campaigns that have contributed to the decline of smoking in the United States. But the fight continues as the industry finds ways to expand overseas in low and middle income countries where smoking is tied directly into the national economy. With the rapid expansion of new products sold worldwide like electronic cigarettes, the resilient tobacco industry is threatening to undo years of vital public health safeguards. Understanding the effectiveness of previous messaging campaigns will help shape future public relations strategies to combat the resurgence of smoking. This paper will act as an analysis of the fight to change public perception, starting with the Surgeon General’s landmark study issued in 1964 that declared smoking a public health risk to the present. The paper will examine tactics led by anti-smoking groups, the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids and the American Legacy Foundation which runs an innovative youth tobacco prevention campaign called, truth. The paper will also explore how the anti-tobacco movement’s messages and tactics have evolved and in what ways it needs to change particularly in the light of the emergence of electronic cigarettes, and the tobacco industry’s international growth. Smoking - A Known Health Risk since Before the 1964 Surgeon General’s Study In 1964, the U.S. Surgeon General published a landmark study that linked smoking to cancer. The report officially declared smoking a public health issue and led to a wave of civic action against the industry. While it was the first time that the U.S. government and the medical community established a firm line against smoking, the truth is, the threat caused by cigarettes was well known before then. In the decades leading up to the 1960s the tobacco industry experienced sixty years of solid growth, unencumbered by pressure from the public health community. It quickly became a profitable and unstoppable American pastime. Smoking rates in the U.S. skyrocketed in the early 20th century with improvements in mass production, the advent of the match and the rise of mass media advertising to promote cigarettes (Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 1999). Annual per capita cigarette consumption increased from 54 cigarettes in 1900 to 4,345 cigarettes in 1963, up until 1964 - the year that the Surgeon General’s landmark study linking smoking to health risks was published (Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 1994). 3 Cigarette smoking among women increased in the 1920s with the help of Edward Bernays’ brilliant public relations campaign which linked smoking to the women’s movement. The “father Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 2


of public relations,” Edward Bernays, turned cigarettes into “torches of freedom” and upended the social taboo against women smoking in public. (Amos, 2000) Bernays orchestrated letter writing campaigns, publicity stunts and shaped advertising messages that played into women’s concerns about health and beauty. While he inadvertently advanced the goals of the women’s movement – his main objectives were fueled by business interests. Removing the taboo against women smoking helped open a whole a large market for his client, Lucky Strike.4 (Bernays later tried to undo the damage by advising PR firms to stop working on behalf of the tobacco industry). (Bisbort, 2008) While scientific studies linking tobacco use with cancer and associated health risks were published as early as the 1940s, by analyzing advertisements one can infer that big tobacco was well aware of the health risks of smoking as early as the 1920s. Ads featured doctors and showed the cigarette industry hijacking the medical community to mislead the public about the risks of smoking. For example, a Lucky Strike ad from the 1920s positions cigarettes as a slimming device, and promoted the “toasted” cigarette. Lucky Strike differentiated themselves by promoting their “toasted” method of curing tobacco. The company claimed “toasted” smokes protected throats against irritation (A marketing ploy that was later discredited).

Image Caption: Cigarette ads from the 1920s-1950s playing on health concerns of the public indicating that big-tobacco was well aware that smoking was unhealthy long before the 1964 Surgeon General’s report. Yet the advertisement included disclaimer language. One ad with a shadowy image of an obese woman next to a thin woman says, “We do not say smoking Lucky’s reduces flesh. We do say when tempted to over-indulge, reach for a Lucky instead.” In 1930, Lucky Strike began running advertisements featuring physicians and by the1950s, campaigns even featured dentists and athletes. Despite the use of doctors in ads for cigarettes, some in the medical community were already making links to smoking and cancer. In 1919 lung cancer was such a rarely diagnosed disease Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 3


that at the Washington University’s Barnes Hospital, an entire medical school class was invited to witness the autopsy of a man who had died from the disease. The Professor leading the autopsy believed that no one in the class would ever again see another case. (Blum, 1999)

Image Caption: Ad from the 1940s marketing cigarettes to World War I soldiers, linking smoking to patriotism. Google Image search. Anti-smoking pioneer, Dr. Alton Ochsner, was amongst those students witnessing the lung autopsies. Nearly two decades later, Dr. Ochsner began to see an uptick of the once rare, lung cancer. The patients had a common thread. All were men who had taken up smoking during World War 1, just about the time that cigarettes were being newly mass-advertised and given to soldiers to ease the stress of warfare. In the trenches, soldiers did not have time to savor a slow burning cigar, or pack a pipe so cigarettes became the go-to source for nicotine and were even packed in their rations. (Warner, Pollack, 2014) In the 1940s Oschner began to publicize his theory that smoking was responsible for the increase in lung cancer. In 1952, he published an article in the Journal of the American Medical Association connecting science with his theory (Blum, 1999). More and more studies in the U.S. and in Britain were linking smoking to health risks. In 1950 the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) published one of the most robust studies linking smoking to lung cancer(Warner, Pollack, 2014). In 1952, Readers Digest published the JAMA findings in an article title “Cancer by the Carton” bringing the issue to the general public’s attention. (Warner, Pollack, 2014)5 In 1954 Eva Cooper filed the first civil lawsuit against the tobacco industry. She sued R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. for the death of her husband from lung cancer. Cooper lost the case but she became the first of many to put the industry on trial forcing big tobacco to reveal much about its business practices and products. (Curriden, 1994). As the debate about cigarettes and their links to public health begin to bubble, the industry began to innovate and market new gimmicks to obfuscate the risks of smoking. By 1954 tobacco companies began mass-marketing filtered cigarettes and low-tar formulations that promised a "healthier" smoke.6 Robert Proctor’s book, the Golden Holocaust published in 2012, draws on industry documents (made public thanks to litigation) and details how filtered cigarettes were one of many fraudulent tactics created to assuage the public’s fear.

Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 4


Image Caption: Kent Cigarette Ad marketing their filtered cigarettes as a “proven, healthier” smoke.7 The war on tobacco began to gain traction in the late 50s and led to a decade of strong, forceful action in the battle over public opinion and health. The tobacco industry knew it too. In 1953, competitive cigarette companies bound together to form the Council for Tobacco Research (later known as the Tobacco Industry Research Committee). Paul Hahn, president of the American Tobacco Company sent a telegram to eight other leading cigarette companies suggesting that they publically respond together against research and government action against smoking. Thus the creation of the committee was formed. The group was run by and out of the headquarters of the public relations firm Hill & Knowlton (H+K) in New York City (Kluger, 1997). Through this committee, the cigarette industry in a united front, issued statements and published pro-smoking research. Though bound together publically, many within the ranks disagreed with these approaches. For example, Kent Cigarettes chose to play into the health concerns and position their cigarettes as a “healthier choice” whereas other companies wanted to either vociferously deny links and or stay out of the debate all together (Kluger, 1997). While lawyers often argued that acknowledging any culpability could open up the industry to regulation, it was undeniable that the industry had to do something to show that it was aware of the public’s concern. While the Council for Tobacco Research rolled out rebuttal upon rebuttal, flooding publications with articles like “Heavy Smokers with Low Mortality” and cigarette companies’ annual reports or speeches to shareholders even included defiant words questioning “proof” to health hazards, the industry’s PR firm Hill and Knowlton attempted to position their client as acting responsibly in the face of the mounting public health concern. H+K proposed voluntarily advising smokers to use the product in moderation and putting health warnings on cigarette packages. The PR firm argued that warnings would protect companies from civil claims. Lawyers feared it would be an admission (Kluger, 1997). H+K’s idea did not gain any traction with cigarette companies, but warning labels became a requirement that health organizations advocated for and secured.



Of course, a coterie of lawyers and public relations consultants reviewed every piece of public material in efforts to protect cigarette companies from damaging litigation. No matter how much the industry spent on legal and PR counsel, the industry would face a barrage of lawsuits which would reveal many of the deceptive marketing and business practices employed by the cigarette industry. 1960 - The Decade that Put Tobacco on the Defense: In the midst of publically denying the health risks through clever world play (for instance saying there was no “proof” that smoking led to health risks and avoiding the word “evidence” for which there was plenty) and backhandedly funding studies by “objective,” credible medical institutions (for example giving a $25,000 three year gift to the leading cancer research organization in the 1960s Sloan-Kettering), Philip Morris was busy trying to engineer a “healthier” cigarette (Kluger, 1997) . In a lab memorandum dated, November 15, 1961 – Philip Morris researchers had confirmed trace amounts of 42 compounds in cigarette smoke identified as carcinogens and linked it to increased tumor growth. The researcher, Helmut Wakeham went on to produce a report titled “Research and Development Program Leading to a Medically Acceptable Cigarette” (Kluger, 1997). At the same time, leading anti-smoking crusaders at the American Cancer Society allied with three other health groups – the National Heart Association, the National Tuberculosis Association and the American Public Health Association. Together they pressured the newly elected president, John F. Kennedy to address the growing public health concern. When their letters barely elicited a response, they threatened to go to the newspapers to complain about Kennedy’s “foot dragging.” (Kluger, 1997). In 1961, reeling from the Bay of Pigs fiasco, President Kennedy could not afford any bad press. Kennedy punted the letters to his Health, Education and Welfare Secretary, who coordinated a meeting with the three organizations and the Surgeon General, Luther Terry. In 1962 President Kennedy was asked directly at a press conference what he was doing about the growing concern over smoking and health. He could not provide a satisfactory answer but he tasked the Surgeon General to find them. Two weeks later, Surgeon General Terry announced there would be a committee to review the links (Kluger, 1997). Within two years, the committee’s publically released findings led to a news firestorm that changed public health history. In 1964, on national television, the Surgeon General announced that the year-long study had indeed revealed a link to lung cancer, and declared smoking a public health issue.



VIDEO Image Caption: CBS News Archives, Harry Reasoner anchors a CBS News Extra "On Smoking and Health" following the 1964 release of the U.S. Surgeon General's report linking smoking with disease and mortality. Hover over the screen clipping & click CTRL Shift, to play the full video.8 The report remained one of the top news stories of 1964. The anti-tobacco advocacy groups finally had a strategic win against the war on smoking. But they picked a battle with a strong and crafty adversary. In 1964, the tobacco industry was an $8 billion a year industry responsible for $3 billion in local, state and federal taxes, as well as 96,000 jobs and $150 million in advertising (Center for Study of Tobacco and Society Video, 2014) In news story after news story, the anti-tobacco movement’s stance and the tobacco industry’s position became framed as a business versus moral issue9. Journalists interviewed southern business men lamenting the loss of jobs and priests speaking on the immoral role of smoking ads telling young children to “act like men” by smoking.

VIDEO Image Caption: News report features journalists interviewing southern business men lamenting the loss of jobs and priests speaking on the immoral role of smoking ads telling young children to “act like men” by smoking. Hover over the screen clipping above & click CTRL Shift, to play the full video. A War with Words: Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 7


By the 1970s, the cigarette industry moved on to other messaging. It was no longer trying to declare through ads – what brand was endorsed by doctors as it had in the 1950s – now, in the rebellious 1960s and early 70s, the industry tapped into the anti-authoritarian, individualistic undercurrent. Cigarettes were now marketed as an accoutrement to a pointedly defiant generation. Smoking ads played on the rebellious and notorious connotations of cigarettes. Cigarette Ads from Camel, Virginia Slim and Newport cigarettes used counter-culture arch-types to market smoking. The ads tapped into the burgeoning Women’s ‘Lib’ Movement, sexual liberation and the Black Power Movement. For example, Virginia Slims, a brand marketed towards women alluded to the fight for equal rights using the comic book heroine, Super Woman in one of their campaigns. The tagline was, “We make Virginia Slims especially for women because they are biologically superior to men.” Newport cigarettes picked up on the radical chic imagery popularized by the Black Panther movement.

Image Caption: Cigarette Ads from Camel10, Virginia Slim11 and Newport from the 70s12 using counter-culture arch-types to marketing smoking. The ads tap into the burgeoning Women’s ‘Lib’ Movement, sexual liberation and even a look popularized by the Black Panther movement The fight to smoke freely became once again, part of the rallying cry of a social movement, just as it had in the 1920s during the first wave of women’s rights. The message from the anti-tobacco industry had to compete with the aspirational tone of the cigarette industry’s ads. Whereassmoking ads were defiantly glamorous, the anti-tobacco ads brought it back to reality. Tobacco control advocates focused on exposing what was happening on the inside of a smoker’s body, where tobacco had free reign to destroy. The anti-tobacco industry began to push for restrictions that would ban cigarette ads on television but also invested in campaigns that showed celebrities speaking out against the deceptive marketing tactics and the health hazards of cigarettes. The first anti-smoking ad produced by the American Cancer Society featured children imitating their smoking parents. It was created in Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 8


1961 by political ad genius, Tony Schwartz, who was also responsible for creating the famous “Daisy Ad” widely credited for helping Lyndon Johnson win the presidency (Fox, 2008). Another ad created by the American Cancer Society in 1967 featured television star, William Talman who was best known for his role as Hamilton Burger, the district attorney who perpetually lost to Perry Mason. The ad struck a nerve. It intimately depicted the actor playing with his young children and young wife. In a pensive voice he talked about how cigarettes “would take [him] away” from his small children and wife. Four weeks after airing, the actor died of lung cancer (Center for the Study of Tobacco and Society Video, 2014). During the same year, warnings of the risks of smoking begin appearing on packs of cigarettes thanks to anti-smoking advocacy work.

Image Caption: Anti-smoking ads from the American Cancer Society begin to appear in the late 60s and 70s. They focus on the ugly health effects of smoking, countering big tobacco’s glamorous models in ads. Anti-smoking materials often featured vulnerable children exposed to harmful second-hand smoke. This was effective because they pulled at the heart strings of guilt-ridden parents. Restricting tobacco companies from marketing to children directly was always an important part of the anti-tobacco movement. It would ensure that the next generation would avoid getting hooked. Efforts also focused on educating the 18 and under set about the health risks of smoking – because that’s exactly the demographic tobacco marketers were targeting too. By the 1970s and 1980s, as restrictions against cigarettes and advertising gained traction, the tobacco industry became more sophisticated in their marketing techniques. Tobacco companies maneuvered around this by sponsoring major televised sporting events. Their branding appeared all over tennis courts and other sporting venues. Live action shots with cigarette logos could not avoid being shown on national TV and so the clever tobacco industry outsmarts regulators once again.



Another blow to big tobacco’s credibility would emerge in the 1980s. Research proving secondhand smoke is also hazardous would put a kink in tobacco’s messaging. While pro-smoking talking points from the 1970s and 1980s stoked a quasi-freedom rallying cry of smokers, now their right to smoke was undoubtedly infringing on others rights to clean air. (Watch the debate on CSPAN, between John Banzhaf, executive director of Action on Smoking and Health, and Brennan Moran, the assistant to the president at the Tobacco Institute, arguing the rights of smokers and the rights of non-smokers). With this new research and the Clean Air Act implemented by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), smokers could no longer freely impose their ill choice on others. (US Surgeon General, 2014). The American Lung Association’s anti-smoking materials broadened its message. Where smokers might have been deaf to the health risks highlighted by anti-smoking groups, non-smokers could be encouraged to be more protective about their own individual rights to clean air.

Image Caption: American Lung Association pins and posters from the 1970s and 1980s advocating that non-smoker’s rights to clean air trumped those of smokers’ arguing for their rights to smoke. Additional research to bolster the EPA’s Clean Air Act found links between second hand smoking and air-born carcinogens became fodder for other agencies like the Labor Department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). Research on second-hand smoke helped usher in OSHA regulations banning smoking in work places. By the 1990s, the public became more supportive of bans on smoking in other public places including restaurants and in the early 2000s, even public parks (see chart). In the face of ongoing denials and resistance from the tobacco industry, due to a combination of increased public education, policy reform and litigation, attitudes around smoking have turned the tide. But the war is hardly over.



VIDEO & TEXT TIMELINES: Click here to watch a video on a history of anti-smoking efforts, created by the Center for the Study of Tobacco and Society. Click here for a text timeline of major tobacco related events in the United States written by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

A Winnable War? According to the Tobacco Atlas, the largest cigarette companies in the United States spent $8.37 billion on marketing and $26 million in lobbying efforts in 2011and 2012 alone (Legacy Foundation, 2015). Yet the number of people who smoke have been trending downward dramatically especially amongst young people. From 2011 to 2014, the share of high school students who smoked traditional cigarettes declined substantially, to 9 percent from 16 percent (Tavernese, 2015). The American Legacy Foundation is the nation’s largest public health foundation devoted to tobacco use, prevention and cessation. Legacy envisions an America where tobacco is a thing of the past, where all youth and young adults reject tobacco use. Legacy’s proven-effective and nationally recognized public education programs include truth®, the national youth smoking prevention campaign that has been cited as contributing to significant declines in youth smoking; EX®, an innovative public health program designed to speak to smokers in their own language and change the way they approach quitting; and research initiatives exploring the causes, consequences and approaches to reducing tobacco use. Located in Washington, D.C., the foundation was created as a result of the November 1998 Master Settlement Agreement (MSA) reached between attorneys general from 46 states, five U.S. territories and the tobacco industry. The organization uses market intelligence, government outreach and unique public relations approaches to snuff out smoking in the U.S. For example, because most major cigarette corporations are publically held companies, tobacco companies are required to report marketing tactics and vulnerabilities. Additionally, Legacy also uses information gleaned from thousands of pages of tobacco industry documents that were made public by the tobacco settlement that created the foundation. Legacy funds were used to establish the online Legacy Tobacco Documents Library at the University of California, San Francisco. The Legacy Foundation strategically exploits their blind spots. The Legacy Foundation identifies who the tobacco industry is marketing to and counter markets directly to these audiences. The organization conducts research including scouring public investor Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 11


documents like 10-Ks and annual reports that exposes the marketing tactics of the tobacco industry. Then the Legacy Foundation undermines them. Additionally, it also details questionable business practices and contradictions to shareholders. Their paid advertising is currently created by 72andSunny – media buying agency is currently Assembly and the Public Relations firm of record for earned media is Ketchum (Bradley, 2014). They are sophisticated and differ greatly from the Public Service Announcements (PSAs) of previous years. The Legacy Foundation has clearly done its homework on what makes the Millennial and Gen Z audiences respond. Born in 1980-2001, Millennials account for 31% of the U.S. population outpacing members of Gen X (born in 1965-1979) and Boomers (1946-1964). Millennials are:  Civic minded and socially aware.  They feel compelled to make the world a better place.  Value being good people over career and even marital success.  Value brands that show the ability to change with consumer feedback.  Would rather spend on a desirable experience than on coveted gadgets. And they rely on social media to consume information and vet brands:  60% of millennials said social media was the top way they are influenced by brands where print media trailed behind at 31%. (Morrison 2003, Horowitz 2014) The current truth Campaign ads run on MTV, Vh1 and Bravo – networks among many others that have high ratings of young viewers. Millennials are a generation of savvy youngsters all too familiar with the overt marketing tactics of brands. truth ads tap into teenager’s awareness and cynicism. One of the ads called out celebrities for inadvertently market to young people and importantly, the entire ad campaign calls upon the generation to “end smoking now.”

VIDEO Image Caption: TMZ analyses the Truth Campaign ad which aired during the MTV Video Music Awards. CTRL Shift to Watch the video. They also are designed to visually appeal to Millennials, incorporating aesthetic trends popular with the demographic in music and technology. truth is also seen on computer, mobile phone and TV screens with aggressive electronic music, fast stats that stream onto the screen like a text message and an overall ethos that feels similar to the “occupy Wall Street” movement’s energy. Most importantly, the ads frame smoking as a curable epidemic that millennials can defeat – a message likely to resonate with a civic minded, socially active generation. Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 12


In an interview with the researcher, the challenge, says CEO & President of t Legacy Robin Koval, is reaching smokers who do not necessarily consume information in the same way previous generations have. “People with the most education and access to cessation tools are the people who have stopped smoking. Smoking has become a behavior that is more concentrated in lower socioeconomic groups,” she said. A long industry exposé in the New Yorker or the New York Times may not reach these smokers, but the good news is there are new ways to focus on this demographic. Koval added, “The way we can message to people has changed a lot. We don’t have to exclusively use mass approaches anymore. Through digital tools, we have the ability to tailor messages and reach folks that we never have before.” A perfect example is Legacy’s work with the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender (LGBT) community, a market long targeted by the tobacco industry. Through videos, panels and research (separate from the truth campaign) the foundation has been able to expose why and how bigtobacco profits from and harms the LGBT community. The foundation is also able to educate members of the LGBT community about resources available to help them quit. “Media has changed so much. We think there’s an opportunity to use the power of this generation, their social influence and peer to peer influencing.” And Koval thinks these efforts are sending a message to big tobacco. “The facts are, if you look at what public health and tobacco control efforts can do – decrease prevalence dramatically and we have done that with public education programs, clean air laws and [increased] pricing, it’s a winnable battle,” she said. “The tobacco industry knows that well. If you look at where they are focusing their efforts – it’s not hard to see the U.S. isn’t a growth market – they’re focused on outside the U.S. where tobacco control isn’t as advanced as it is here.” And that’s where big tobacco is going. Mark Hurley, the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids International Advocacy Director for Indonesia, is at the front-lines for tobacco-control in a country with some of the highest smoking rates in the world according to his organization. The Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids (CTFK) is a leading force in the fight to reduce tobacco use and its deadly toll in the United States and around the world. CTFK works in low and middle income countries – where over 80% of smoking related deaths occur. The organization supports governments and non-governmental organizations around the world in promoting and implementing public policies proven to reduce tobacco use. Hurley says that while there are some tactics and lessons that can be learned from the United States’ anti-tobacco work, the fact is that in low and middle income countries, there is a wide gap in cultural attitudes and understanding about the risks of smoking. “What we’ve learned from the U.S. are the elements that go into effective campaigns. You have to do good communications work that gets to the policy [leaders] and the public. You have to mobilize grass roots organizations so that you have a growing voice of people putting pressure on the public policy and you have to be good at direct political advocacy because the tobacco



companies are right there with lobbying,” he said during an interview for this report. But the question remains, how effective can advocacy work be on a limited budget? “A lot of the public messaging is starting to make a change, but the level of public awareness is not at the level it needs to be,” continued Hurley. Hurley says the problem is big tobacco has a good reputation in low and middle income countries. In many countries, the tobacco industry gives to charity and does a lot of work that governments can’t do. In Indonesia, Hurley says, the tobacco industry has done a lot of disaster relief. They even sponsor concerts. While graphic mass media campaigns showing the health impacts of smoking have had a tremendous impact in moving the needle, “Preventing tobacco use saves lives, but it’s not always the argument that gets you the furthest for policy change,” Hurley said. Tobacco control advocates in low and middle income countries, he says, are focused on helping governments understand how much tobacco is costing their countries in health care costs. In some regions, vital resources should be spent on eradicating deadly diseases. With big tobacco entering countries battling HIV or malaria, they are introducing an unnecessary and costly problem into these countries. Hurley explained, “We try to frame tobacco control as a national development issue. Showing how much a country is spending to treat all of the illnesses caused by tobacco use helps show that it’s money that should go elsewhere. In places like Africa where there is a huge burden of treating HIV and Malaria, they should drive down rates of tobacco use because it’s easy to do and it’s costing money.” Framing the health issue as a fiscal issue resonates with policy leaders, he says. “If you can raise [tobacco] taxes, you can raise tens of millions of dollars for your national budget. It’s a win-win because it’s a public and fiscal issue.” Conclusion While the public health community may not always agree on the same tactics and messages against the tobacco industry, the fact is smoking rates in the U.S. have declined steadily since the 1960s and internationally, countries are doing more to fight big tobacco. But there is a long way to go. Tobacco is both a legal vice and wealthy foe. Case in point, the tobacco industry is ramping up its use of international trade agreements to slow health gains made by countries. Since 2010, Uruguay has been fighting a legal challenge by Philip Morris International against the country’s graphic health warnings on tobacco products with support from Bloomberg Philanthropies and international tobacco control advocates. Australia is currently fending off both a World Trade Organization (WTO) challenge and a legal challenge by Philip Morris International against its national law that requires cigarette packs to be sold in drab colors with only the graphic health warnings – a tobacco control policy referred to as “plain packaging”. Numerous additional countries have been threatened by the tobacco industry, a tactic that can lead to delays by governments in passing and implementing the best-practice tobacco control laws called for in the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) – the Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 14


world’s first health treaty that has been adopted by more than 180 countries globally. (Bloomberg Philanthropies, 2015) To Mark Hurley, the solution to this is public support. “We’re asking countries not to shy away from this. We’re urging countries to think about large graphic health warnings. We know the industry is worried about it because they’re starting to sue. That means the tactic is working.” While the tobacco industry is a legal and profitable business that deserves to exist like any other vice – it also has earned every bit of skepticism from the public. As research in this paper shows, the tobacco industry has a long history of obfuscating the truth about the harms of smoking. It has the financial power and the political backing to survive for centuries to come. But it has also lost the public’s trust. In the ongoing fight against tobacco, public relations will continue to be a vital tool to ensure the tobacco industry cannot lie and hide the health risks of smoking as it once did. The need to change public attitudes towards smoking around the world, safeguard the gains made domestically, and protect the public’s health will not cease until the war on tobacco is over. By studying both the tobacco industry’s marketing tactics and the strategies that have been used to counter those messages, future public relations specialists will be able to prevent and curb the harmful effects of cigarette companies. Just as the industry continues to innovate with products like electronic cigarettes, and expand into new markets overseas, the public relations tactics used to keep the tobacco industry in check will need to evolve. From crafting the messages that resonate, to using new communications platforms reaching influential audiences, in order to impact the conversation– anti-tobacco public relations practitioners must understand the nuances, the debates and the tools necessary to render the tobacco industry’s messages mute.



References

“A brief history of tobacco” CNN.com. Web. Accessed 12 April 2015. “Achievements in Public Health, 1900-1999: Tobacco Use -- United States, 1900-1999 .” Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR). November 5, 1999. “Fact Sheet. Leading cause of death, illness and impoverishment.” World Health Organization. Web. May 2014. Accessed 12 April 2015 “Harry Reasoner anchors a CBS News Extra ‘On Smoking and Health’ following the 1964 release of the U.S. Surgeon General's report linking smoking with disease and mortality.” CBS News Archives. Web. Accessed 12 April 2014. “New Survey: Indonesia Has Highest Male Smoking Rate in the World.” Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids. 12 September 2012. Web. Accessed 21 April 2015. “Rights of Smokers.” CSPAN. 6 January 1988. Television. “Social Norms and Attitudes About Smoking 1991-2010.” Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Center for Public Program Evaluation. April 2011. http://bit.ly/1EZJcQS. “Surveillance for selected tobacco-use behaviors--United States, 1900-1994.” Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR). 18 November 1994. 1970s Vintage Yes I Mind if You Smoke Pinback Button, American Lung Assoc. Pinback, AnitSmoking Button. For sale on Etsy. Web. Accessed 15 April 2015 1972 American Cancer Society Anti-smoking Ads. Google image search. Amos, Amanda and Margaretha Haglund. “From social taboo to ‘torch of freedom’: the marketing of cigarettes to women.” British Medical Journal (BMJ), Volume 1. Issue 9 (2000). Anders, George “Millennials' Zesty New Identity: The 'Burning Man' Generation. Forbes.com 17 September 2014. Bisbort, Alan. Media Scandals in American History. Greenwood Press, 2008. Page 37. “Achievements in Public Health, 1900-1999: Tobacco Use -- United States, 1900-1999 .” Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR). November 5, 1999. Blum, A. “Alton Ochsner, MD, 1896-1981 Anti-Smoking Pioneer. The Ochsner Journal.” US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health. Volume 1 (1999) Bradley, Diana and Laura Nichols. “Legacy Selects Ketchum as PR AOR to Boost Truth antismoking Campaign” PR Week. 20 May 2014. Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids. “Toll of Tobacco in the U.S. Fact Sheet.” Web. Accessed 15 April 2015 Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids. “Tobacco-Free Kids' Ongoing Public Affairs Campaign Honored by the American Society of Association Executives” Web Press Release 20 December 1999. Carriero, Rebecca. Phone interview with Mark Hurley. Conducted 27 April 2015 Carriero, Rebecca. Phone interview with Robin Koval. Conducted 21 April 2015. Center for Disease Control (CDC). “ Fast Facts About Smoking.” Web. Accessed 15 April 2015. Center for the Study of Tobacco and Society. “ Blowing Smoke: The Lost Legacy of the Surgeon General's Report” Online video clip. YouTube. Published on 8 January 2014 . Accessed 12 April 2015. Curriden, M. “Inside the Tobacco Deal. “ PBS Frontline. 1994. Elkayam, Alona. “Best/Worst Brands: Breaking Good, Afros and Crowdfunding” Huffington Post. 26 April 2013 Fox, Margalit. “Tony Schwartz, Father of ‘Daisy Ad’ for the Johnson Campaign, Dies at 84.” New York Times. 17 June 2008 Google image search: cigarette ads to WW1 soldiers Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 16


International Movie Database (IMDB). “Thank You For Smoking Quotes.” Web. Accessed 15 April 2015 . Kluger, Richard. “Ashes to Ashes: the Hundred Year Cigarette War, the Public Health and the Unabashed Triumph of Philip Morris. “ Vintage Books (1997). Legacy Foundation Blog using Tobacco Atlas Stats. http://bit.ly/1FDd6u7 and http://bit.ly/1ErOmTT Markel, Howard. “The Very Deadliest Habit. Book Review of the Golden Holocaust.” New Republic. March 29, 2012 http://www.newrepublic.com/book/review/robert-proctorgolden-holocaust-origins-cigarette-catastrophe-case-abolition Morrison, Maureen. “Study: Millennial Parents Just Like Those From Previous Generations.” AdAge. 3 October 2003 Office on Smoking and Health, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, CDC. “Achievements in Public Health, 1900-1999: Tobacco PM Horowitz, Class Lecture and Presentation, “The millennial Effect How Gen Y is changing The Way Business communicates” Fall 2014 Public Relations Museum. Videos of Edward Bernays discussing work for Lucky Strike cigarettes to attract a new audience to tobacco, the "Torches of Freedom" and the Green Ball campaigns. Web. Accessed 12 April 2015 Respiratory Health Association. “50th Anniversary: Surgeon General's Report on Smoking.” Web. Accessed 12 April 2015. Tavernise, Sabrina. “E-Cigarette Use by Teenagers Soars, Even as Smoking Drops.” New York Times. 16 April 1 2015. This poster from the American Lung Association in 1985 addresses the problem of secondhand smoke (http://1.usa.gov/1OPo5oZ) United States. General. US Surgeon. The health consequences of smoking: 50 years of progress. A report of the Surgeon General (2014). Vintage 1980s Anti-Smoking Pin Badge. For sale on Etsy. Web. Accessed 15 April 2015 Vintage advertisement for Camel cigarettes, 1978 . Pinterest. Accessed 12 April 2015. Virginia Slim Superhero Cigarette Photo Ad "Biologically Superior" Vintage Advertising Wall Art Décor. Pinterest, Old Cigarette Ads...awful now. http://bit.ly/1QxXPhv Warner, Ken and Harold Pollack. “The Nicotine Fix.” The Atlantic. 13 November 2014 Xu, X et al., “Annual Healthcare Spending Attributable to Cigarette Smoking: An Update,” Am J Prev Med, 2014. HHS, The Health Consequences of Smoking – 50 Years of Progress A Report of the Surgeon General, 2014. Notes 1. 2.

3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

Center for Disease Control (CDC). “ Fast Facts About Smoking.” Web. Accessed 15 April 2015. Xu, X et al., “Annual Healthcare Spending Attributable to Cigarette Smoking: An Update,” Am J Prev Med, 2014. HHS, The Health Consequences of Smoking – 50 Years of Progress A Report of the Surgeon General, 2014. “Surveillance for selected tobacco-use behaviors--United States, 1900-1994.” Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR). 18 November 1994. Amos, Amanda and Margaretha Haglund. “From social taboo to ‘torch of freedom’: the marketing of cigarettes to women.” British Medical Journal (BMJ) Volume 1. Issue 9 (2000). Warner, Ken and Harold Pollack. “The Nicotine Fix.” The Atlantic. 13 November 2014 A brief history of tobacco” CNN.com. Web. Accessed 12 April 2015. Warner, Ken and Harold Pollack. “The Nicotine Fix.” The Atlantic. 13 November 2014



8.

9.

10. 11. 12. 13.

“Harry Reasoner anchors a CBS News Extra ‘On Smoking and Health’ following the 1964 release of the U.S. Surgeon General's report linking smoking with disease and mortality.” CBS News Archives. Web. Accessed 12 April 2014. Center for the Study of Tobacco and Society. “ Blowing Smoke: The Lost Legacy of the Surgeon General's Report” Online video clip. YouTube. Published on 8 January 2014 . Accessed 12 April 2015. Vintage advertisement for Camel cigarettes, 1978 . Pinterest. Accessed 12 April 2015. VIRGINIA Slim Superhero Cigarette Photo Ad "Biologically Superior" Vintage Advertising Wall Art Décor. Pinterest, Old Cigarette Ads...awful now. http://bit.ly/1QxXPhv Elkayam, Alona. “Best/Worst Brands: Breaking Good, Afros and Crowdfunding” Huffington Post. 26 April 2013 United States. General. US Surgeon. The health consequences of smoking: 50 years of progress. A report of the Surgeon General (2014).


Co-creating Polyphony or Cacophony? A Case Study of an Organization’s Current Brand Co-creation Process and the Challenge of Managing Multiple Voices Anna Karina Kjeldsen, Assistant Professor, PhD Centre for Corporate Communication, Department of Business Communication, School of Business and Social Sciences, Aarhus University [email protected]

Line Schmeltz, Assistant Professor, PhD Centre for Corporate Communication, Department of Business Communication, School of Business and Social Sciences, Aarhus University [email protected] Abstract The latest wave within branding theory suggests a move toward enterprise branding or co-created branding (cf. Hatch and Schultz, 2010; Johansen and Andersen, 2012; Karmark, 2013). This entails that organizations to a large extent involve both external and internal stakeholders in an ongoing, dynamic process of creating and developing the corporate brand. In theory, this approach holds great promise in terms of increasing organizational transparency, creating stakeholder engagement, as well as true stakeholder dialogue. But, a brand co-creation process also exposes the organization to danger, e.g. loss of control, dilution of identity, and potential disharmony between the multiple voices co-creating the brand. Therefore, this paper empirically explores how an organization endeavoring into a brand co-creation process struggles to orchestrate the many voices in practice. Implications focus on the role of the organization as either initiator, facilitator or director of the co-creation process. Keywords: Corporate branding, co-creation, strategic corporate communication management, identity, case study Paper type: Research paper - extended abstract

Introduction The latest wave within branding theory suggests a move toward enterprise branding or co-created branding (cf. Gregory, 2007; Hatch and Schultz, 2010; Iglesias et al., 2013; Ind, 2015; Ind, et al., 2013; Johansen and Andersen, 2012; Karmark, 2013). This entails that organizations to a large extent involve both external and internal stakeholders in an ongoing, dynamic process of creating and developing the corporate brand (Gregory, 2007; Hatch & Schultz, 2010; Iglesias et al., 2013) which in turn leads to a more fluid, ever-changing and organic brand, which is “conversationally co-created by many different stakeholders in a fluid space subject to constant negotiation and often develops beyond the strategic aims set by brand managers” (Iglesias et al., 2013, p. 670) In theory, this approach holds great promise in terms of increasing organizational transparency, creating stakeholder engagement and loyalty, as well as true stakeholder dialogue (see e.g. Hatch & Schultz, 2010; Ind, 2015). But, a brand co-creation process also exposes the organization to


Co-creating Polyphony or Cacophony?

e.g. loss of control, dilution of identity, and potential disharmony between the multiple voices cocreating the brand (Aspara et al., 2014; Cova et al., 2011; Fisher & Smith, 2011; Iglesias & Bonet, 2012; Ind, 2015). The existing contributions on brand co-creation mentioned above, all tend to focus primarily on the stakeholder group of consumers and the power struggles and negotiations between organization and consumers in constructing and developing the brand. This paper, however, takes an internal perspective by zooming in on the various internal stakeholder groups, and the different voices that they represent which are not always necessarily in harmony with one another. Therefore, on the basis of an empirical case study of the Danish National Gallery, this paper explores how an organization endeavoring into a brand co-creation process seeks to manage or orchestrate the many voices in practice. Focusing on the different internal stakeholder groups, and in particular the role of the communication professionals in this process, the paper thus seeks to explore firstly,what different voices are heard within (and around) the case organization in the midst of the process of co-creating a new brand, and secondly, how these voices are negotiated and managed in the process? The paper suggests implications for practice regarding the roles, and inherent challenges, of particularly the communication professionals when an organization embarks on a process of brand co-creation. When the communication department has to let go of control of the brand, and as such neither can nor shall any longer attempt to dictate the brand, what role do they then play instead? Theoretically, this study serves to illustrate the importance of considering not only consumers/customers as the stakeholders to be involved in the co-creation process, as it emphasizes how the negotiations and struggles over the brand’s new identity also takes place between stakeholders inside the organization. Co-Creation Introduced Prahalad and Ramaswamy (2000) introduced the notion of co-creation in their paper “Co-opting Customer Competence” by arguing that: “customers are stepping out of their traditional roles to become co-creators as well as consumers of value”. The notion of co-creation has later been further defined by Prahalad and Ramaswamy as a “joint creation of value by the company and the customer” (2004, p.8). Since then, the notion of co-creation has been embraced by several scholarly fields, such as service science, innovation and technology management, and marketing and consumer research (cf. Galvagno & Dalli, 2014, p. 643), as a term “to describe a shift in thinking from the organization as a definer of value to a more participative process where people and organizations together generate and develop meaning” (Ind & Coates, 2013, p. 86). Within recent years, the notion of co-creation has also gained growing attention in the field of corporate branding, albeit still focusing primarily on product innovation and development in e.g. brand communities (cf. Hatch & Schultz, 2010; Ind et al., 2013), and it is from this latter position that this paper explores co-creation and the role played by the communication department in this brand co-creation process. Co-Creation of Brands Since the beginning of this millennium, the academic field of branding has taken a dramatic turn as we see a growing number of contributions revolving around a break with the planned, Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 20


company-centric, inside-out, “industrial age paradigm of branding” (Christodoulides, 2007) focusing on alignment and speaking with one voice when ‘transmitting’ the qualities of the brand to outside receivers. Instead, recent contributions focus on moving towards a more emergent, constructivist and network-based perspective with a view to embracing and strategically managing the “real life” of brands in the minds of consumers (e.g. Fournier & Avery, 2011; Fournier & Lee, 2009; Keller, 2009). This development has been presented under many different names, e.g. “emergent”, “negotiated brands” (Gregory, 2007), “third wave branding” (Hatch & Schultz, 2010), “brand communities” or “tribes” (Cova & Cova, 2002; Fournier & Lee, 2009; Muniz & O’Guinn, 2001), and “enterprise branding” (Hatch & Schultz, 2008; Karmark, 2013). A common denominator here is the argument for a co-creational approach to building and developing a corporate brand, and thus a call for a more integrative (Johansen & Andersen, 2012), dynamic, or even organic, approach to brand building. Co-creation, even though not initially originating from the scholarly fields of branding and identity (cf. Galvagno & Dalli, 2014), has in this process been accepted as yet another way of describing, understanding, and arguing for this approach to branding e.g. by Christodoulides (2007: 292) who argues that “new age branding is fast moving from a predominant emphasis on marketing communications to a primary emphasis on relationships”. It has, however, been implied that despite the theoretically recognized positive outcomes of a co-creational approach to building brands, there might also be substantial, negative outcomes and potential challenges when co-creation becomes an organizational practice, i.e. loss of control, polyphony in brand identity, loss of ownership, and lack of involvement from stakeholders (see e.g. Aspara et al., 2014, Cova et al., 2011; Fisher & Smith, 2011). Co-creation as co-controlling All the benefits of co-creation in terms of e.g. strong brand communities and stakeholder relationships, stakeholder interaction, dialogue and knowledge, product development, valuable feedback, endorsement etc. come at a price. First of all, involving various stakeholders and seeing interactivity not “as consumers responding to the company, but the company responding to consumers” (Christodoulides, 2007, p. 293) may lead to various perceptions of the brand identity, i.e. brand polyphony or misalignment. Secondly, an overriding concern for companies embarking on a brand co-creation process is that of losing control over their brand (Aspara et al., 2014; Christodoulides, 2007; Fisher & Smith, 2011; Hatch & Schultz, 2010; Iglesias & Bonet, 2012). In this new reality, companies are of course still responsible for outlining and shaping the identity of the brand, but they must “also be willing to accept that brand meaning is constantly negotiated with many other stakeholders” (Iglesias et al., 2013, p. 671). This point is also argued by Christodoulides (2007, p. 292) who states that “there is a multitude of influences that brand managers simply cannot control, so they must accept the inevitable consequence, which is that they must let go!” Consequently, the communication professionals need to adopt a new way of managing not just the brand, but more so the relationships forming and shaping the brand identity. However, the focus is once again on external stakeholders as the ones that potentially take over control of the brand. But in some organizations, the power struggle may just as well take place between internal stakeholders, not solely between the organization and its external stakeholders. Christodoulides (2007) also suggests a broader focus involving more stakeholders than just customers in a future development of co-creation in branding by stating that “the use of the word people instead of customers in co-creation is useful” (Christodoulides, 2007, p. 292). Consequently, when co-creation is approached as something that all stakeholders potentially take Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 21


part in, and as a matter for the entire organization, then internal stakeholders also become equally important in the co-creational process. Co-Creation of Brands in the Public Sector As early as 2007, Gregory (2007, p. 64) argued that an emergent stakeholder involvement approach to corporate branding, vis-à-vis co-creation, would perhaps be more applicable for some organizations than for others. Especially organizations with a social purpose and public sector organizations can, according to Gregory (2007) benefit from a co-creative approach to building their brands. Many public organizations have indeed put the idea into practice (cf. Säve and Thelander, 2014), but to this day, still very few studies on co-creation in public sector organizations can be found (Aspara, et al., 2014; Galvagno and Dalli, 2014; Säve and Thelander, 2014). One example (Aspara et al., 2014), however, describes how co-creating a university brand turns into an intense power struggle between diverse stakeholders. As such, co-creational branding processes may on the one hand seem highly relevant to public organizations, while on the other hand, this specific organizational type may also, because of e.g. the “rigidity of government” (Gouillart & Hallett, 2015, p. 4) and the very complex power relations and diverse employee groups encompassed, put up more resistance than private organizations. In particular, it seems as if power struggles both inside and outside the organization may be more prevalent here at least when compared against studies on corporate branding processes in the corporate sector. Consequently, when viewed as a critical case, a study of co-creational processes in the public sector becomes all the more relevant. The study The case of the National Gallery of Denmark The empirical case in this study is the National Gallery of Denmark. The reason for choosing this case is that the Gallery initiated a branding process under the working title “From institution to brand” (Wentworth, 2013) around 2011, based on a desire to change its image among visitors and particularly non-visitors (Korsgaard, 2013). Informing this process was an aspiration to change the Gallery’s approach to communication and identity, heavily inspired by scholarly developments within corporate branding similar to what has been described above. This is stated by the head of communication in her explanation of the rationale behind the process: In order to reach the museums’ non-users part of the solution may be to reinvent museum communication, using it to bridge the gap between the museums’ content and a more diverse group of users. For this purpose it is relevant to look beyond the museum scene into a wider field of communication where traditional sender-oriented communication is currently being replaced by a more holistic approach to communication that places users (or recipients) at the center of things. The point of departure is the concept of “identity” (Korsgaard, 2013, p. 10). The approach taken by the National Gallery was therefore from the outset one of co-creation, initially focusing on getting visitors to participate in creating the (new) brand. Part of this attempt was a campaign entitled “What is SMK to you?”, targeting both existing visitors and potential visitors. A communication consultant involved in the process explains:



In order to overcome the preconceived notions of what the museum is – especially among the younger target groups – we needed to engage them. (…) we created an opportunity for involvement by inviting them to co-create the story of the acronym SMK [Statens Museum for Kunst/National Gallery of Denmark] and to contribute their experience of, and feelings about, the SMK (Knudsen, 2013). Taking point of departure in the outcomes of this campaign, the National Gallery has since 2012 worked on their branding process, recently moving into what they themselves describe as the more difficult phases of the process: They are now not only engaging external stakeholders in the process, but are initiating the internal dialogue about what the museum is and should be among the diverse groups of employees in the Gallery: Building a brand is a task that encompasses the entire museum institution – and a task that invites new ways of viewing the museums’ users throughout all fields of museum practice (Korsgaard, 2013). The National Gallery of Denmark lends itself as a particularly relevant case to our research interest, as the Gallery has clearly embarked on co-creation of its brand. The case is especially interesting, as many empirical studies of co-creation tend to deal with more product-oriented cocreation processes (c.f. Galvagno & Dalli, 2014; Ind, 2015) in a private, corporate context. In the case of the National Gallery of Denmark, we have the opportunity to study an organization making a radical change from a traditional transmission and marketing oriented approach to communication, to a dialogue-oriented corporate branding approach, while also attempting to build the new identity through co-creation, not only with customers, but with a wide range of stakeholders. Because we are dealing with a public organization, the case offers the possibility to address the research gap and potential stated by e.g. Galvagno and Dalli (2014). Moreover, exploring cocreation in the public sector arguably provides an even more complex organizational setting (cf. Aspara et al., 2014), as the National Gallery encompasses a wide range of stakeholders and stakeholder expectations, ranging from regulatory, non-profit matters such as specific demands for research, and collection of art, to much more commercial considerations of getting as many visitors and sponsors as possible, branding the country abroad, etc. Another interesting aspect of working with a museum as a case is that here, communication of the brand is continuously and simultaneously performed by many actors in the organization, not just the communication department and management. The curators communicate through e.g. the exhibitions, research publications and networks; the educators through e.g. tours, catalogues and exhibition texts; the artists on show may also take part in communicating the museum, and of course the management and communications department also communicate the museum. Thus, this type of public organization, like e.g. a university, and perhaps more so than private companies, embraces a range of communicational areas of practice; knowledge communication, management communication, marketing communication, corporate communication, etc., all communicating the brand simultaneously. Accordingly, co-creating the brand is not only a matter of the organization engaging external stakeholders, e.g. customers, in the dialogue, but also a matter of how all these different groups of employees react to a co-creational branding process, how they respond to e.g. being asked to share their power and control, to change their work



processes and ways of seeing their own profession in relation to the whole organization as well as their approach to communication. Research design The study is a single case study, characterized by being typical of the public organization and intense as it offers the possibility to generate rich and detailed information that fully illustrates the phenomenon at hand (cf. Neergaard, 2007). The empirical material generated consists of qualitative group interviews with all employees in the communications department, qualitative semi-structured interview with the head of communications, archival data (e.g. mission and vision statements, publications on the branding process), and finally a range of examples of communication revolving around the museum, collected between October 2015 and March 2016. The communication examples were sampled purposively and had to meet the following criteria of being either a) communication from different groups of employees within the gallery (curators, educators, communicators, management), or b) communication from the gallery on different platforms (social as well as traditional media). The analysis of the empirical material is inspired by framing theory (Goffman, 1974), applied as a means to identify the different voices, and hence identities negotiated and expressed, in the communication of the museum. Preliminary Findings and Implications When studying the sample of communication examples around the museum, the preliminary findings show that whereas the initial campaign that kicked off the co-construction of the brand in 2012 generated a lot of interaction among and with visitors and non-visitors, more recent examples of calls for interaction seem to generate rather limited interaction from outside stakeholders on platforms intended for this, e.g. Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. This indicates that the goal of getting outside stakeholders to participate in the co-creation of the brand has, over time, become increasingly difficult. However, when the museum explicitly “hands over” control to external stakeholders, by e.g. letting an artist take over their Instagram profile, the level of interaction and engagement rises. The analysis further shows that the museum has many, at times very different, internal voices communicating, and thus interacting in the dialogue, about their brand. These can broadly be divided into three overall groups: the organizational voice, the professional expert voice, and the user voice. These very different voices of the museum itself appear in our study simultaneously, potentially generating a picture of a museum not speaking with one voice. This internal dialogue about the brand, although very much a desired outcome of the museum’s explicit choice to enter into a co-creational dialogue both externally and internally, has, however, also resulted in a growing concern and heated discussion among the different groups of employees about how the museum can and should communicate (as expert, as layman or as populist, etc.). This leads to the preliminary conclusion, and practical implication, that as this co-creation process has evolved, the role of the communications department has changed dramatically, from initially initiating and opening the process primarily in relation to visitors, to facilitating the dialogue between the visitors and especially the management, to now, as the process moves into a more internal phase, functioning almost as a mediator and negotiator not only between external voices and the museum, but also, and most challenging, between internal voices.



In this respect, the study offers implications for the expanding theoretical field of co-creation of brands by empirically illustrating the growing recognition for a need to focus on more stakeholder groups than just customers. The study also suggests that especially when it comes to the role and influence that internal stakeholders play in processes of brand co-creation, we need to recognize employees, not as one homogeneous unit entering into the dialogue, but as a composite group with many, potentially diverse, voices in the co-creation of a brand, which in turn requires that the communications department take on a new role.

References Aspara, J., Aula, H., Tienari, J. & Tikkanen, H. (2014), “Struggles in organizational attempts to adopt new branding logics: the case of a marketizing university”, Consumption Markets & Culture, Vol. 17, No. 6, pp. 522-552 Christodoulides, G. (2007), “Breaking free from the industrial age paradigm of branding”, Brand Management, Vol. 15, No. 4, pp. 291-293 Cova, B. & Cova, V. (2002), “Tribal Marketing. The tribilization of society and its impact on the conduct of marketing”, European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 36, No. 5/6, pp. 595-620 Cova, B, Dalli, D, & Zwick, D. (2011), “Critical perspectives on consumers’ role as ‘producers’: Broadening the debate on value co-creation in marketing processes”, Marketing Theory, Vol. 11, No. 3, pp. 231-241 Fisher, D. & Smith, S. (2011), “Cocreation is chaotic: What it means for marketing when no one has control”, Marketing Theory, Vol. 11, No. 3, pp. 325-350 Fournier, S. & Avery, J. (2011), “The Uninvited Brand”, Business Horizons, Vol. 54, No. 3, pp. 193-207 Fournier, S. & Lee, L. (2009), “Getting Brand Communities Right”, Harvard Business Review, Vol. 87, No. 4, pp. 105-111 Galvagno, M. & Dalli, D. (2014), “Theory of value co-creation: a systematic literature review”, Managing Service Quality, Vol. 24, No. 6, pp. 643-683 Goffman, E. (1974), Frame Analysis: An Essay on the Organization of Experience, Northeastern University Press, Boston MA Gouillart, F. & Hallett, T. (2015), “CO-CREATION in Government”, Stanford Social Innovation Review, Vol. 13, No. 2, available at: http://ssir.org/articles/entry/co_creation_in_government (accessed February 5, 2016) Gregory, A. (2007), “Involving Stakeholders in Developing Corporate Brands: the Communication Dimension”, Journal of Marketing Management, Vol. 23, No. 1-2, pp. 59-73 Hatch, M.J. & Schultz, M. (2008), Taking Brand Initiative, John Wiley & Sons, Hoboken, NJ Hatch, M.J. & Schultz, M. (2010), “Toward a theory of brand co-creation with implications for brand governance”, Brand Management, Vol. 17, No. 8, pp. 590-604 Iglesias, O. & Bonet, E. (2012), “Persuasive brand management: How managers can influence brand meaning when they are losing control over it”, Journal of Organizational Change Management, Vol. 25, No. 2, pp. 251-264 Iglesias, O., Ind, N. & Alfaro, M. (2013), “The organic view of the brand: A brand value co-creation model”, Journal of Brand Management, Vol. 20, No. 8, pp. 670-688 Ind, N. (2015), “How participation is changing the practice of managing brands”, Journal of Brand Management, Vol. 21, No. 9, pp. 734-742 Ind, N. & Coates, N. (2013), “The meanings of co-creation”, European Business Review, Vol. 25, No. 1, pp. 86-95 Ind, N., Iglesias, O, & Schultz, M. (2013), “Building Brands Together: Emergence and Outcomes of Cocreation”, California Management Review, Vol. 55, No. 3, pp. 5-26 Johansen, T.S. & Esmann Andersen, S. (2012), “Co-creating ONE: rethinking integration within communication”, Corporate Communication: An International Journal, Vol. 17, No. 3, pp. 272288 Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 25


Karmark, E. (2013), “Corporate Branding and Corporate Reputation”, in Carroll (Ed), The Handbook of Communication and Corporate Reputation, Wiley-Blackwell, Chichester, pp. 446-459 Keller, K.L. (2009), “Building strong brands in a modern marketing communications environment”, Journal of Marketing Communication, Vol. 15, No. 2-3, pp. 139-155 Knudsen, M. (2013), “New Visual Communication”, in Linde, S. (Ed), SMK: Come on in, SMK, Copenhagen, pp. 32-39 Korsgaard, L. (2013), “Museums Welcome You!”, in Linde, S. (Ed), SMK: Come on in, SMK, Copenhagen, pp. 6-11 Muniz, A. & O’Guinn, T. (2001), “Brand Community”, Journal of Consumer Research, Vol. 27, No. 4, pp. 412-433 Neergaard, H. (2007), Udvælgelse af cases i kvalitative undersøgelser, Samfundslitteratur, Frederiksberg C Prahalad, C.K. & Ramaswamy, V. (2000), “Co-opting Customer Competence”, Harvard Business Review, Vol. 78, No. 1, pp. 79-87 Prahalad, C.K. & Ramaswamy, V (2004), “Co-creation Experiences: The Next Practice in Value Creation”, Journal of Interactive Marketing, Vol. 18, No. 3, pp. 5-14 Säve, F. & Thelander, Å, (2014), “The role of frames in a co-creation process”, International Journal of Quality and Service Sciences, Vol. 7, No. 4, pp. 442-457 Schrøder, K. & Kristiansen, E. (2013), “S.mart M.unter K.unstkampagne børster støvet af SMK”, K-forum, available at: http://www.kommunikationsforum.dk/artikler/statslig-kunst-har-faaet-farve-ikinderne (accessed February 3, 2016) Wentworth, J. & Marsh, J. (2013), “From institution to Brand”, in Linde, S. (Ed), SMK: Come on in, SMK, Copenhagen, pp. 20-31


Counter-Narratives and Organizational Crisis How LEGO Bricks Became a Slippery Business Marianne Wolff Lundholt University of Southern Denmark/Denmark [email protected]

This chapter examines the evolvement of counter-narratives in organizational crisis. With the overall aim to contribute with a deeper understand of counter-narratives, the chapter examines how counternarratives were established in Greenpeace’ campaign against the partnership between Shell and LEGO A/S. By providing an understand of how meaning is transformed through recontextualization, transtextuality, asymmetric power relations, narrative implicature and narrativization, the chapter provides a foundation for improving our understanding of the processes behind the evolvement of counternarratives. Apart from the theoretical implications generated by the understanding of meaning transformation, the chapter furthermore provides some practical implications with reflections on how organizations can better foresee potential crisis. Keywords: organizational crisis, counter-narrative, transtextuality

Introduction Children are our major concern and the central focus of our company. We are determined to leave a positive impact on society and the planet that children will inherit. Our unique contribution is through inspiring and developing children by delivering creative play experiences all over the world. A co-promotion like the one with Shell is one of many ways we are able to bring LEGO bricks into the hands of more children and deliver on our promise of creative play (Knudstorp, Jørgen Vig, 2014) In the above press release the CEO of the LEGO Group, Jørgen Vig Knudstorp, explains the strategic decision behind LEGO’s collaboration with the oil company Shell dating back to the 1960s. However, due to a three-month campaign run by Greenpeace, Knudstorp concludes the press release with the announcement that LEGO will not renew its co-promotion contract with Shell signed in 2011, in which co-branded LEGO toy cars are sold at Shell stations in selected countries in a deal valued at £68m. The Greenpeace campaign was a reaction to Shell’s recently announced plans to drill in the Alaskan Arctic. In August 2014 Shell submitted a new offshore drilling plan to US authorities to explore for oil in the Arctic in 2015, off the coast of north-west Alaska. As a response Greenpeace declared a global sanctuary in the Arctic with the intention of banning offshore drilling in the area. In order to draw attention to the initiative, Greenpeace created a three-month long campaign against the partnership between Shell and LEGO where LEGO toys were sold at Shell gas stations around the world. According to Knudstorp, the “LEGO brand and everyone who enjoys creative play, should never have become part of Greenpeace’s dispute with Shell” (Knudstorp, Jørgen Vig, 2014). Several media outlets concluded that Greenpeace humiliated and `won the battle´ over LEGO by running Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 27

Counter Narratives and Organizational Crisis

a campaign against LEGO’s agreement with Shell. So why did LEGO end up in this undesirable and seemingly unpredictable situation? In this chapter I will examine the dimensions of such organizational tensions and thereby develop an increased understanding of the process and content of organizational counter-narratives in a situation of organizational crisis. As pointed out by Andrews (2004, 1) “counter-narratives only make sense in relation to something else, that which they are countering. The very name identifies it as a positional category, in tension with another category”. The paper aims at examining in which ways counternarratives may not only destabilize an organization as illustrated in the LEGO case, but also how a deep knowledge of their dimensions may help better predict the evolvement of a crisis. The paper will be concerned with the following two research questions: 1) How do organizational texts1 produce counter-narratives resulting in organizational crisis? 2) How can an increased understanding of the dimensions of counter-narratives help in foreseeing a potential crisis? The research questions will be related to the conflict evolving in 2014 between the three organizations Shell, LEGO and Greenpeace. In order to increase our understanding of the potential of counter-narratives’ ability to help predict the evolution of organizational crisis, we need to understand the offspring of such crisis. Theories within crisis communication are mainly focused on external threats (environmental scanning) and internal factors (diagnosing the vulnerabilities of a specific organization). Environmental scanning strategies involve “watching the environment for changes, trends, events, and emerging social, political, or health issues” (Coombs, 45). Diagnosing an organization’s crisis vulnerabilities concerns the reflection on an organization’s specific industry, size, location, operations, personnel, and risk factors, all of which could lead to different kinds of crises. Within this field of crisis communication, little attention has been paid to organization’s own texts (i.e. organizational strategies) and actions as a source of potential organizational vulnerability. The chapter will be initiated by a reflection on the relevance of a narrative approach to organizational crisis communication. What are the mechanisms in narrative texts and how is meaning established through its various components? When applying narrative theory within an organizational context, communication is considered as constitutive of the organization. As will be illustrated this carries along an openness to interpretations. This openness will be explained further in the subsequent section where the transtextual nature of counter-narratives will be explored. The section will be followed by a reflection on crisis management related to counter-narratives and their narrativization processes in order to increase our understanding of the dimensions of counter-narratives in crisis situations. The paper will be finalized by a reflection on the predictability of organizational crisis and a conclusion where theoretical implications will be considered. Why a Narrative Approach to Organizational Crisis Communication? Although Bamberg (2004) states that narrative is not a privileged discourse genre when compared to other genres in everyday interactions (354), the narrative format stands out as it is “simply Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 28


there like life itself” (Barthes 1977, 79). The consideration of narrative as a natural part of human nature is further emphasized by MacIntyre who states that “man is in his actions and practices, as well as in his fictions, essentially is a story-telling animal” (MacIntyre 1984, 216). MacIntyre’s philosophy that social life is a narrative is also shared by Roland Barthes who explains that “the history of narrative begins with the history of (hu)mankind; there does not exist, and has never existed, a people without narratives” (1966, 14). Communication scholar Walter Fisher goes even further as he claims that “all forms of human communication need to be seen fundamentally as stories” (1987, xiii). According to this narrative paradigm, narrative is considered unavoidable and fundamental to human sense-making. To understand the authority of narrative a deeper understanding of its constituents is needed. A useful set of terms is Ryan’s (2004) distinction between `narrative´ and `narrativity´. Having narrativity means “being able to evoke […] a script” (9) whereas “The property of `being´ a narrative can be predicated on any semiotic object produced with the intent of evoking a narrative script in the mind of the audience” (Ibid.). Thus unlike other genres narrative is capable of igniting some kind of causality which may be inferred by the reader connecting events. With the definition of narrative as “a perceived sequence of non-randomly connected events” (Toolan 2001, 6), Toolan captures the relation between sequence and causality which can be traced all the way back to Aristotle. Polkinghorne explains that “Narrative meaning is created by noting that something is a `partóf some whole and that something is the `causeóf something else” (1988, 6). Temporality and causality are both at the core of Bamberg’s understanding of narrative as he explains that “because narratives order characters in space and time and, therefore, as a format, narrative lends itself not only to connecting past events to present states[…]but also to revealing character transformations in the unfolding sequence from past to future. In other words, narratives, as a particular speech genre, may be able to offer something to the presentation of selves (and others) that other speech genres don’t do so eloquently and directly” (354). Although Bamberg refers to `speech genre´ it seems reasonable to turn his observation on the connection between past, present and future to narrative in general. The representation of specific events – otherwise represented as lists or chronicles – brought into one meaningful whole is, according to Polkinghorne, the definition of a plot: When a human event is said not to make sense, it is usually not because a person is unable to place it in the proper category. The difficulty stems, instead, from a person’s inability to integrate the event into a plot whereby it becomes understandable in the context of what has happened … Thus, narratives exhibit an explanation instead of demonstrating it. (Polkinghorne 1988, 21) Polkinghorne defines plot as the basic means by which specific events, otherwise represented as lists or chronicles, are brought into one meaningful whole (1988). More recently, Kukkonen depicts plot as “that feature of narrative which facilitates the mental operations that translate story events into a meaningful narrative” (Kukkonen 2014, 707). A plot thus entails a suggested connection between events. Thus a narrative can simply put events closely together and thereby exhibit explanations (Czarniawska 2004). The nature of narratives as open to interpretation is also emphasized by Czarniawska (1997): “some kind of causality may be inferred, but it is crucial to see that narrative, unlike science, leaves open the nature of the connection (18). This mechanism may help explain why events that might not seem to be interrelated still are translated into meaningful narratives as illustrated with the LEGO A/S case, where Knudstorp states that the LEGO brand should never have become part of Greenpeace’s narrative of Shell’s drilling. Narrative as a Communicative Constituent of Organization Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 29


The consideration of organizational activity as narratives takes its outset in the view that organizations are constituted in and through human communication (referred to as the CCO approach – Communicative Constitution of Organization) (see Taylor & Van Every 2000; Taylor, Cooren, Giroux & Robichaud 1996; Fairhurst & Putnam 2004; Cooren, Kuhn, Conelissen & Clark 2011), where communication is considered the means by which organizations are established, composed, designed, and sustained (2011, 2). As a consequence organizations are portrayed “as ongoing and precarious accomplishments realized, experienced, and identified primarily – if not exclusively – in communication processes (Ibid.). Following this idea of communication as constitutive of organization, Cooren (2001) states that “any organizational form is structured ultimately as a narrative” and “any organizational activity can be anticipated prospectively and understood retrospectively as a narrative” (181). In this sense, the theoretical outset carries along an extended notion of narrative going beyond the traditional study of narrative as a way of understanding human interactions (Fenton & Langley 2011, 1174). Following this perception “A CCO perspective of organizational sensemaking considers organizations not as a given, but as emerging in, and indeed constituted by or incarnated in local episodes of communication. What this means is that organizations are constantly (re)produced, (re)incarnated, and (re)embodied in local interactions, and thus subject to change and renewal (Cooren et al. 2011, 1158). At the core of this methodological framework lies the assumption that organization documents and texts are constitutive in themselves. Cooren et al. (2011) remind us that “any performance will never be reducible to the way it was intended or meant by its producer[…]meanings that emerge (in ongoing fashion) from communication are unlikely to be isomorphic with the original intentions” (1152). In this view meaning is negotiated, translated and/or debated. Within the CCO frame, translation has been applied to explain “the articulation or organization of multiple interests within a same project without referring to any shared meaning or goals” (Cooren, 2001, 92-3). In what follows, some of the multiple interests among Greenpeace and LEGO A/S are examined. Transtextuality Interrelating Climate Change, Arctic Drilling and Social Acceptance When considering the various initiatives initiated by Greenpeace to draw attention to the partnership between Shell and LEGO A/S, it is interesting to note that Greenpeace have used LEGO A/S’s own products and strategies in their campaign. One example is the constructed illustration of the LEGO platform from the LEGO arctic product range which is partly covered by oil – published in a 14-page report developed by Greenpeace titled `Lego is keeping bad company´ explaining the main motives behind the campaign2:

Figure 1. LEGO arctic product range (`Lego is keeping bad company´, 9). Here the original arctic product range makes critical commentary on the partnership between LEGO and Shell3. Another example is the film “LEGO: Everything is NOT awesome” initiating the campaign. Here polar bears and LEGO figures are drowning after what seems to be an Arctic oil spill. By the use of 120kg LEGO bricks covered in oil depicting a pristine Arctic and with an Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 30


evocative cover version of the theme song Èverything is Awesome´ originating from `The LEGO movie´, the film instantly became a viral hit as it attracted more than 7.5 million views. The interrelation between texts as exemplified above, take on what the French narratologist Genette referred to as a `transtextual relationship´, i.e. all that set the text in a relationship, whether obvious or concealed, with other texts” (Genette 1997, 1). In other words, with the term transtextuality Genette points at the mechanism where one text prompts readers to be acquainted with other texts. He puts forward five types of transtextual relationships (1997): intertextuality, paratextuality, architextuality, metatextuality, and hypertextuality. When analysing the three-month long campaign run by Greenpeace against the partnership between Shell and LEGO A/S, the use of transtextual features is a recurring strategy applied by Greenpeace in an attempt to convince their stakeholders that “In addition to driving climate change, Arctic oil drilling also poses a huge threat to the Arctic itself” (`Lego is keeping bad company´, 12) and that “LEGO makes itself complicit with Shell’s destructive activities by allowing the oil giant to use this partnership to buy social acceptance” (Ibid.). As will be illustrated, transtextuality and other related features such as spoofing (Berthon and Pitt, 2012) enables Greenpeace to obtain a discursive interrelatedness between climate change/Arctic drilling (Shell) and social acceptance hereof by LEGO A/S. The word “spoof” means to trick, or deceive, and is often used to refer to a type of satire in which an original work is parodied by creating a similar but altered work. In the report `Lego is keeping bad company´ Greenpeace place themselves in the center of a LEGO brick in the following image:

Figure 2. Greenpeace placed in a LEGO brick (`Lego is keeping bad company´, front page). The intertextual relation not only alludes to LEGO’s main product i.e. the LEGO brick, but also to their own documents namely the LEGO A/S’ brand framework where text has been inserted a LEGO brick:

Figure 3. The LEGO Brand Framework (http://cache.lego.com/r/www/r/aboutus//media/about%20us/img/lego_brand_framework_2014_w650.png?l.r2=-1554869160). Furthermore, `Lego is keeping bad company´ also copy other visual effects from the LEGO Responsibility Report by using similar colors, graphics and set-up. This interrelatedness between Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 31


Greenpeace and LEGO A/S is furthermore obtained through metadiscursivity in the following headlines:      

Lego is keeping bad company (front page) No more playdates with Shell (2) Shell needs nice playmates (3) Lego is Shell’s number one playmate (4) Lego is too good for Shell (10) Shell is bad company (11)

The choice of wording (i.e. playdates, playmates, good vs. bad company) allude to LEGO A/S’s main stakeholder, i.e. the child, by using a discursive realm associated with childhood. Here Shell is portrayed as the villain exposing LEGO A/S to bad company while at the same time, Greenpeace position themselves in a parental role forbidding LEGO A/S to play with Shell. In addition, Greenpeace establish an oppositional and conflicting relation between LEGO A/S and Shell by putting forward their visions in a comparative discourse as pollution is constructed both as a figure of speech and used literally: “A first step to stopping Shell from polluting one of the most pristine places on the planet is to stop Shell polluting our children’s minds”. Intertextuality (i.e. a relationship of co-presence between two texts or among several texts for example in quotes or allusions) is also applied in `Lego is keeping bad company´, where the LEGO Group Responsibility Report 2013 is quoted several times:   

“Children – and their parents – should continue to have very high expectations of us” (10) “The LEGO Group firmly believes that only the best is good enough” (35) “LEGO’s vast consumption of paper for toy boxes has been minimized in recent years and will be 100% environmentally certified by 2015” (126).

These statements quoted in direct speech from the LEGO Group Responsibility Report are according to Genette’s understanding of transtextuality, an intertextual relation, as one text alludes to the other through quotations (Genette 1997, 1-2). The quotations are recontextualized in the sense that they are transferred from one discourse to another within the Greenpeace report and are thereby embedded in a new context transforming the original meaning (Linell 1998, 1445). It is worth noticing that the quotations listed above are not explicitly embedded in the text but placed at the bottom right corner in a yellow LEGO brick (creating paratextuality) as illustrated in the following example:



Figure 4. LEGO is too good for Shell (`Lego is keeping bad company´, 10). Although there is no explicit link between the quotation and the text in the image above, the two texts are interrelated and establish what Genette ´would refer to as a “textual transcendence of the text” (1997) creating a relationship between the involved texts. As will be illustrated in what follows, the relationship also involves a counter-relation. Narrative Cohesion and Intertextual Counter-Relation

As already touched upon a basic element of narrative is its ability to exhibit a meaningful whole and entail a suggestion of connection between events. The proximity between the texts exhibits a meaningful whole as the reader infers a causal relation. The narrative cohesion which is at the root of this causal link, ignites what Sperber & Wilson (1986) refer to as `narrative implicature´ - a concept derived from Grice’s understanding of implicature referring to what is suggested in an utterance but not strictly implied (Grice 1989). Toolan (2013) explains the concept of narrative implicature as follows: “the reader of narrative assumes the general cooperativeness of the teller, and draws on powers of inferencing to fill out the sense of the information conveyed by the teller where these seems calculatedly incomplete or indirect” (Toolan 2013, 28). In other words, the quote in the yellow LEGO brick is embedded intertextually in the meaning construction through the inference of causality established by the process of narrative implicature: Transtextual relation/Proximity of texts

Narrative implicature/Inference of causality

Meaning transformation However, in the example above there is more at stake than an allusion or embedding. The recontextualized text (i.e. the quotes from the LEGO Responsibility Report) creates a sense of what could be referred to as a `counter-relation´ because the textual interaction between the interconnected texts generates friction. This friction evolves as the statement ònly the best is good enough´ is ascribed a new meaning when embedded in the Greenpeace report – what Gabriel in this volume explains as a situation where a narrative travels i.e. crosses boundaries, “moving from one organization to another, from one discourse to another, and from one narrative space to another”. In other words, Greenpeace’s recontextualization (defined by Linell (1998) as “the dynamic transfer-and-transformation of something from one discourse/text-incontext. . . to another” (144–145)) of the LEGO statement results in a transformation of meaning as the quote Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 33


ends up serving Greenpeace’s intent of proving that LEGO’s words are inconsistent with its actions. This transformation of meaning is supported by the context (the aim of the Greenpeace Report) and the surrounding text where Greenpeace question LEGO’s willingness to lend legitimacy to Shell’s drilling plans. The example illustrates that the construction of inferences through narrative text comprehension in the situation of transtextuality may involve or generate a power dimension. This dimension is constituted by the recontextualization process which may give rise to an asymmetric power relation between the old text/original source (the LEGO Responsibility Report) and the new text/source (the Greenpeace Report) evolving into a counter-relation between the interrelated texts. As Greenpeace is facilitating the recontextualization of the quote from the LEGO Responsibility Report, an unequal encounter (as termed by Fairclough 2015) emerges; Greenpeace becomes the powerful participant in control of the meaning construction. This insight reveals a need to take the process of recontextualization and the transformation of meaning to a level beyond classic intertextuality theory and focus on chronology (Fairclough’s concept of ìntertextual chains´ encapsulating the predictability of the transformation occurring among series of types of texts (Fairclough 1992, 130)) and the ‘past-in-the-present’ where the past is the object of a retrospective commentary (Kristeva 1986; Fairclough 1992; Keenoy and Oswick 2003). In order to grasp the complexity arising in situations of such ìntertextual counterrelations´, the concepts of counter- and master-narratives seem to bring about an applicable frame for increasing our understanding of the meaning transformation as their very existence emerges from such asymmetric counter-relations: Narrative Recontextualization

Transtextual relation/Proximity of texts/Asymmetric power relation

Narrative implicature/Inference of causality

Meaning transformation

Counter- and master-narrative As has been stated by several contributors to this publication, there exists a reciprocal relation between the counter-narrative and the master narrative – one cannot exist without the other. With reference to Bamberg’s understanding of counter-narratives as a concept that only make sense in relation to something else, that which they are countering, Johansen in this volume observes that counter-narratives are intertextual by nature. Consequently counter- and master-narratives are relational and thus transtextual in a Genettian sense as they are interconnected by nature whether covert or overt. Kuhn in this volume depicts this reciprocal relation between intertextuality and counter-narratives as follows:



“Intertextuality provides a vehicle with which to make sense of counter-narrative. Counternarratives are those that reinterpret or challenge a plot line (Abolafia 2010); they disrupt canonical stories, oppressive identities, and master narratives, replacing them with alternatives[…]” (XX). Citing Bamberg and Andrews’ (2004) understanding of counter-narrative as only making sense in relation to that which they are countering and as a positional category in tension with another category (Bamberg and Andrews 2004, x), Jensen, Maagaard, and Rasmussen in this volume characterize master narrative on the backdrop of the definition of counter-narrative: “their [master narratives’] very status as ”master” depends on there being implicit variations, alternative ways of interpreting and telling that are to be controlled, suppressed or silenced — mastered” (XX). According to these definitions of the concept, the existence of a master-narrative – and eventually counter-narratives – evolves in the present case when the LEGO Responsibility Report is quoted and thereby recontextualized in the Greenpeace report establishing a transtextual relation. As such it is the asymmetric power relation and the recontextualizer’s (Greenpeace’) counterintentions that evolve into a master/counter-narrative relation. Before elaborating on the relation between recontextualization/transtextual relations and counter/master-narratives in an organizational crisis situation, we need to understand the nature of such crisis. Crisis Management and the Mitigation of Crisis As has been generally agreed upon, “the best way to manage a crisis is to prevent one” (Coombs & Holladay 2012). Crisis management theory offers a wide variety of theory on how to handle crisis issues but pays only little attention to the prevention of crisis. In order to better prevent crisis we need to understand what crisis are made of and how they are produced. According to Coombs (2015) a crisis is perceptual which means that if “stakeholders believe an organization is in crisis, a crisis does exist, and stakeholders will react to the organization as if it is in crisis” (3). In a press release published Knudstorp, on July 1, 2014, LEGO resisted Greenpeace’s protests: The Greenpeace campaign focuses on how Shell operates in a specific part of the world. We firmly believe that this matter must be handled between Shell and Greenpeace. We are saddened when the LEGO brand is used as a tool in any dispute between organizations. We expect that Shell lives up to their responsibilities wherever they operate and take appropriate action to any potential claims should this not be the case. I would like to clarify that we intend to live up to the long term contract with Shell, which we entered into in 2011 (http://aboutus.lego.com/en-gb/news-room/2014/july/lego-group-comment-ongreenpeace-campaign). However, as already mentioned in the beginning of the chapter on October 8, 2014, Knudstorp clarified that the company will not renew its co-promotion contract with Shell when the current deal ends. Considering the online reach of the events, the extent to which social media have amplified the impact of the organization and the concern for the reputation, the crisis can be categorized as what Owyang (2011) refers to as a `social media crisis´ (also quoted in Coombs 2015, 22), i.e. events that can harm an organization and arise in or are amplified by social media with specific Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 35


focus on reputational concerns. Seen within an organizational context, social media increase risk dynamics as the social media platforms expand the spectrum of reputation risks (Aula 2010, 45). As pointed out by Page and Bronwen (2011), web 2.0 technologies have given users with relatively low technical skills platforms to upload and manipulate texts with unprecedented ease (Page and Bronwen 2011, 2). The social media platforms challenge conventional reputation management in three ways, according to Aula (2010). First, social media is not just a channel for distributing corporate communications but rather an arena for participation in which organizations interact with the public creating an impression of the organization. Second, strategic reputation management should concentrate on ethics rather than pursuing short-term interests – an organization cannot just look good; it has to be good. Third, social media has the effect of presenting a collective truth as users create and search for information, gain knowledge, and make interpretations based on communication about an organization which they share with other users (45-46). Aula (2010) draws particular attention to the risk associated with unverified user generated information about the organization (both true and false), users putting forth ideas about organizations that conflict with an organization’s own idea of what it is or what it wants to be, users opinions on ethical business practices or the transparency of operations and finally the reputation risk resulting from an organization’s own communication activities, including their reaction to claims presented in the social media (45). Coombs (2015) categorizes three overall types of social media crisis: 1. Organizational misuse social media crisis (when an organization violates the norms of behavior in a particular social media channel) 2.

Dissatisfied customer social media crisis (when unsatisfied customers for example use an organization’s hashtag to complain, and the original intention was to provide customer service)

3.

Challenges (when stakeholders perceive that an organization’s behaviors and/or policies are inappropriate or irresponsible). i. An organic challenge (when an organization loses touch with changes in stakeholder values and interests) ii. An expose challenge (when stakeholders prove an organization’s words are inconsistent with its actions) iii. The villain challenge (when a stakeholder seeks to portray the organization as a villain that needs to reform its evil ways) (Coombs 2015, 23-4)

These types of social media crisis can increase our understanding of various ways in which counter-narratives may disrupt master narratives and thereby expose the dimensions of certain types of organizational counter-narratives. In òrganizational misuse´, the master narrative is disrupted by an organization’s unethical use of a social media channel (for example capitalizing on a charity or natural disaster to generate more ‘likes’ or buying followers). The dimensions of the counter-narrative in this strategy thus consists of ethical organizational behavior in tension with unethical behavior. `Dissatisfied customer´ involves tension between an organization’s original intentions of a specific post and customers’ reactions to it. `Challenges´ are transtextual by nature as they concern conflicts between stakeholders’ expectations to organizations and organizations’ actual behavior or policies. These expectations are typically constructed from CSR Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 36


strategies and reports as is also the situation in the LEGO case which falls into this final category: LEGO’s stakeholders prove that the organization’s words are inconsistent with its actions by the establishment of a transtextual relation between LEGOS responsibility report and its partnership with Shell. Thus LEGO’s decision of choosing what Matten and Moon (2004) refer to as àn explicit CSR approach´ where their CSR strategies are articulated to the stakeholders via their responsibility report – rather than àn implicit CSR approach´ where CSR strategies are not communicated explicitly – provides a good foundation for the evolvement of expose challenges (and thus counter-narratives) when being recontextualized as the very nature of challenge crisis involves conflicts. In the expose challenge, such counter-narratives consist of internal conflicts between an organization’s own intentions and actions, whereas the villain challenge counternarrative consists of a conflict between a villain (destroyer) and a hero (savior). Seen from an overall perspective, the general dispute between Shell and Greenpeace can be categorized as a `villain challenge´ as Greenpeace seeks to portray Shell as a villain, whereas the conflict between Greenpeace and LEGO A/S can be considered an èxpose challenge´, as Greenpeace intends to illustrate a conflict (established through the use of transtextuality) between LEGO’s own responsibility strategy (e.g. intentions of building a better world) and their actions (lend legitimacy to Shell’s drilling plans, as framed by Greenpeace). The partnership between Shell and LEGO A/S is depicted by LEGO A/S as “one of many ways we are able to bring LEGO bricks into the hands of more children and deliver on our promise of creative play” (Knudstorp, Jørgen Vig, October 8, 2014). However, in the narrative constructed by Greenpeace in `Lego is keeping bad company´, LEGO A/S is considered a partner used by Shell to condone environmental destruction in the Arctic and the strategy is depicted as a “carefully thought-out strategy by Shell to buy friends who can make its conduct look acceptable and misleadingly associate it with positive values” (`Lego is keeping bad company´, 2). Here it is evident how internal documents become subjects to a contested terrain serving Greenpeace’ strategic goals: Goal: to ensure the ability of the earth to nurture life in all its diversity Mission statement: to expose global environmental problems, and to force the solutions which are essential to a green and peaceful future (http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/about/our-core-values/)

When Greenpeace accuse LEGO A/S of putting sales above its commitment to the environment and children's futures they seek to invoke their mission statement, namely to expose global environmental problems by recontextualizing LEGO A/S’s responsibility report. Counter-Narratives and Recontextualization According to Cooren (2001) making sense of a conflict is coextensive with the creating of a narrative structure linking different actors through a process of translation. Moving beyond Greimas’s actantial model (see Humle and Frandsen) enables Cooren (2001) to depict the ongoing narrative processes taking place in organizing processes according to the CCO perspective: “By showing how Greimas’s model can be applied simultaneously to many different organizing processes, I have opened up its linear approach and shown how heterogeneous effects always contaminate and undermine organizational homogeneity” (196). In that sense, recontextualization can be read as simultaneous narrativization processes which can be illustrated in the two models below following Cooren (2001): Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 37


Deliver on the goal and mission by cancelling LEGO’s partnership with Shell

Greenpeace

LEGO’s organizational documents: - Recontextualization: e.g. quotations of the LEGO Responsibility Report 2013 in the Greenpeace Report - Transtextuality: Initiatives such as the report Èverything is NOT awesome´ and the constructed illustration of the LEGO platform product series covered by oil

Axis of desire

The subject

Axis of power

The quest

Other initiativese.g. sending e-mails to the CEO

The helpers

Figure 5. The narrativization process in the counter-narrative. This first model discloses how the subject (i.e. Greenpeace) seeks to achieve a specific quest (i.e. to cancel LEGO A/S’s partnership with Shell) through the use of helpers (i.e. LEGO A/S’s own responsibility report). As illustrated in the model, these helpers constitute the main ingredients in the establishment of counter- (and master-) narratives, i.e. recontextualization and transtextuality. It is, however, the subject (in this case Greenpeace) that is in charge of the recontextualization process and thereby ignites an asymmetric relation as LEGO A/S’s organizational documents are embedded in the subject’s documents transforming meaning. This meaning transformation emerges through what Linell refers to as the ambiguous nature of contexts as “they are partly outside of the discourse or text, but at the same time the discourses and their relevant contexts constitute each other. All this means that discourses and their contexts presuppose and imply each other, and that a piece of discourse cannot be taken out of a given matrix of contexts without changing its interpretations, or its potential of being interpreted in specific ways” (1998, 144). Thus the impact of the ambiguous nature of contexts can to some extent be illustrated through the narrativization model which provides an overview of a situation where an organizational text (the LEGO Responsibility Report) intended to increase the image of the organization turned out to be a `helper´ in an opponent’s quest to cancel a valuable business agreement. The intended process by LEGO A/S can be illustrated in the next model:

LEGO A/S

Positive image

LEGO Responsibility Report 2013 Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Partnership with Shell

Page 38


Axis of desire

The subject

Axis of power

The quest

The helpers

Figure 6. The narrativization process in the master-narrative. This case seems to suggest, that by comparing the two models, it is clear how counter- and master-narratives are interdependent. If we return to Jensen, Maagaard and Rasmussen’s definition of the concepts of counter- and master-narratives as a `master´ depending on alternative interpretations and telling, and Kuhn’s understanding of counter-narratives as reinterpretations or challenges of a plot line, the case implies that two narrativization processes need to be in place in order for a counter- and master-narrative to emerge: two different subjects serving two contradicting quests recontextualizing one or more helpers (this observation also corresponds with Humle and Frandsen’s finding in this volume, that one defining feature of counter-narratives is the creative re-casting or re-placement of actantial positions against the ones prescribed by dominant narratives). In the LEGO A/S case, the helpers are internal documents igniting challenge crisis. Conclusion and Theoretical Implications Returning to the first research question, i.e. `How do organizational texts produce counternarratives resulting in organizational crisis?´, some theoretical implications of the study emerge. The contemplations on how proximity leads to the construction of meaning, and reflections on the point of narratives’ openness to interpretations in an organizational context provide a useful foundation for understanding the mechanisms behind the establishment of meaning. To explain how proximity and openness to interpretation become key players in the formation of counternarratives, a turn to strategies that helps grasp the interrelation that occurs when texts are closely linked, seems to provide a useful framework for understanding their role. The examples from the Greenpeace campaign illustrate that particularly one strategy was applied repeatedly, namely that of transtextuality. However, the traditional understanding of intertextual relations does not enable an explanation of the friction that arises in the LEGO A/S case, namely how does a commentary on a text turn into a critical comment when recontextualized? To understand this transformation of meaning we need to understand the mechanisms involved in the recontextualization process. The findings suggest that the proximity of texts exhibits an inference of causality realized through narrative cohesion. Due to the principal of cooperativeness, narrative implicature evolves a meaning transformation. To catch the evolvement of the critical part, we need to turn our attention to the asymmetric power relation that occurs when another subject (following Cooren’s model (2001)) recontextualizes a text to serve their quest. This process generates meaning transformation and the evolvement of a master and a counter-narrative. The question is what we can learn about the nature of counter-narratives based on this knowledge? As stated counter- and master-narratives are intertextual by nature and counternarratives are characterized by their re-interpretion or challenge of a master narrative. To fully Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 39


understand the nature of these two concepts, we need to turn to the narrativization process behind recontextualization which illustrates how the role of the recontextualizer, or what Cooren refers to as the subject, generates friction when undergoing a narrativization process with the quest and the helpers. It is in this very process where one document is recontextualized and ending up serving a new subject (and thereby a new quest), that the counter- and master-narratives come into existence. When only one narrativization process exists, there is no conflict and thereby neither a counter- nor a master-narrative, as one only comes into existence through the other. To return to the research question and the link between organizational texts, counter-narratives and organizational crisis, there is a clear connection between the expose and villain challenges and the role of organizational texts and the evolvement of counter-narratives. This connection is strengthened by the fact that not only counter-narratives by also Challenge crisis are transtextual by nature. The reinterpretation that Kuhn in this volume mentions in his understanding of counter-narratives is eventually brought about by the subject position in the narrativization process depicted by Cooren (2001). As this research has taken outset in a case depicted primarily as expose challenges, the focus has been on the conflicts between inconsistencies between words and actions. It would be interesting to extend the research to look beyond this particular crisis category and examine whether counternarratives are established by other means in such cases. Practical Implications Returning to the research question `How can an increased understanding of the dimensions of counter-narratives help in foreseeing a potential crisis?´ some practical implications of the study emerge. It seems reasonable to draw the conclusion that when diagnosing the vulnerability of an organization regarding potential crisis, organizations need to pay careful attention to the ways in which their own documents may be recontextualized by its stakeholders, as this may ignite potential counter-narratives particularly those concerning CSR strategies as such documents according to Podnar is “the process of anticipating stakeholders’ expectations” (2008, 75). Such texts are particularly vulnerable due to the risk that stakeholders may not feel that their expectations are met and therefore may use them to recontextualize the organization and thereby transform meaning causing an expose or villain challenge. As illustrated the combination of an explicit CSR approach and social media generates a fruitful platform for the evolvement of counter-narratives. With Web 2.0, stakeholders have easy access to sharing unfulfilled expectations. The changing media landscape that has come along with this new era is a landscape signifying a “transfer of control of the internet, and ultimately the central platform for communication, from the few to the many” (Brown 2009, 1-2). As noticed by Voit (and referred to in Coombs (2015, 19)), social media share 5 common characteristics: participation, openness, conversation, communities and connectedness (Voit, n.d.) – all characteristics concerned with the involvement of stakeholders in the communication processes. This supports Brown’s observation that a shift from considering customers as audiences to a perception of customers as active participants in conversations is needed (2009, 23). Thus when Knudstorp states that the LEGO brand should `never have become part of Greenpeace’s dispute with Shell´ and that the dispute must be `handled between Shell and Greenpeace´, it is simply not Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 40


within his power to control the outcome due to the substantial reach of the campaign via the social media platforms: Consider the numerous e-mails send to the CEO and the film Èverything is NOT awesome´ which attracted more than 7.5 million views, was liked by nearly 61.000 Facebook members, shared on Facebook nearly 119.000 times and has received more than 2.500 comments not including the large number of threads attached to these comments (some of the comments have additionally generated over 100 comments). Thus with the changing media platform, stakeholders have numerous possibilities for recontextualizing organizations to support their own quests. The narrativization model can thus be applied as a tool to better identify the vulnerabilities of a specific organization. This suggests that in the process of deciding on strategic initiatives, the following question would be relevant: `What would be a potential quest among the organization’s stakeholders´? The answer should not only be sought among external conditions but should also be considered in relation to the organization’s own documents. Does this mean that organizations should avoid an explicit CSR approach in order to evade the vulnerability that such documents may evoke? As Boje (2001) rightly notices, “Each organizational text opens different lines of inter-relatedness to preceding and anticipated texts” (74). This means that texts naturally invite for transtextual relations. Thus the case seems to suggest that rather than aiming at overcoming interrelatedness, organizations should rather concentrate on scanning partnerships and other strategic initiatives for potential expose or villain challenges in order to better foreseeing potential crisis situations and thereby be better prepared. Notes 1. The concept of òrganizational texts´ follows Kuhn’s understanding of texts as “the `substances´ upon and through which conversations form” (2008: 1233) 2. Greenpeace activists also targeted the Legoland theme park in Windsor, England, dressing up as LEGO figures. The activists also got children to build giant LEGO animals outside Shell’s London headquarters “in playful protest of their favorite toy’s partnership with the oil company planning to drill the Arctic” (http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/news/Blogs/makingwaves/save-the-arctic-legodumps-shell/blog/50917/). In various cities miniature LEGO people held small protests against their LEGO bosses' partnership with Shell, and LEGO climbers held a protest banner at a Shell gas station in Legoland in Billund, Denmark. 3. It should be noted that Greenpeace also applied other mechanisms. As an example, on their website Greenpeace encouraged stakeholders to send an e-mail to Knudstorp encouraging the company to end its deal with Shell. According to Greenpeace, this resulted in more than one million e-mails.



References Abolafia, M. Y. (2010). Narrative construction as sensemaking: How a central bank thinks. Organization Studies, 31, 349-367. Acevedo, G., John Ordner and Miriam Thompson. (2010). ”Narrative inversion as a tactical framing device.” In Narrative Inquiry 20:1. 124-152. Andrews, M. (2004). “Counter-narratives and the power to oppose.” In Considering Counter-Narratives. Narrating, resisting, making sense. Eds. Michael Bamberg and Molly Andrews. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. 1-6. Aula, P. (2010). "Social media, reputation risk and ambient publicity management". In Strategy & Leadership 38:6. 43 – 49. Bamberg, M. (2004). “Considering counter-narratives.” In Considering Counter-Narratives. Narrating, resisting, making sense. Eds. Michael Bamberg and Molly Andrews. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. 351-371. Bamberg, M. & and Andrews M. (eds). (2004). Considering Counter-Narratives. Narrating, resisting, making sense. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins.Barthes, R. (1966). ‘Introduction to the Structural Analysis of the Narrative’ Occasional Paper, Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies, University of Birmingham. Barthes, R. (1977). “Introduction to the Structural Analysis of Narratives”, in Image, Music, Text, trans. Stephen Heath (NY). Boje, D. (2001). Narrative methods for organizational and communication research. London: SAGE. Brown, R. (2009). Public Relations and the Social Web: How to use social media and web 2.0 in communications. Kogan Page. Czarniawska, B. (1997). Narrating the Organization: Dramas of Institutional Identity. University of Chicago Press. Czarniawska, B. (1998). A narrative approach to organization studies. Thousand Oaks; London, Sage. Czarniawska, B. (2004). Narratives in Social Science Research. London: Sage Publications. Coombs, W. T., & Holladay, S. J. (1996). “Communication and attributions in a crisis: An experimental study of crisis communication”. Journal of Public Relations Research, 8(4), 279-295. Coombs, W. T. (2015). Ongoing crisis communication: Planning, managing, and responding (4th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Cooren, F. (2001). “Translation and Articulation in the Organization of Coalitions: The Great Whale River Case”. In Communication Theory 11:2. 178-200. Cooren, F. (2010). Action and agency in dialogue: Passion, incarnation and ventriloquism. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company. Cooren, F. (2012). Communication theory at the center: Ventriloquism and the Communicative Constitution of Reality. Journal of Communication, 62(1), 1-20. Cooren, F., Kuhn, T. R., Cornelissen, J. P., & Clark, T. (2011), “Communication, Organizing and Organization: An Overview and Introduction to the Special Issue. Organization Studies”. In Organization Studies 32:9. 1149-1170. Fairclough, N. (1992). Discourse and Social Change. Cambridge: PolityPress. Fairhurst, G. T. & Putnam, L. L. (2004). Organizations as discursive constructions. Communication Theory, 14(1), 5-26. Fenton, C & A. Langley. (2011)., “Strategy as Practice and the Narrative Turn”. In Organization Studies 32:1171. 1171-1196. Fisher, W. R. (1987). Human Communication as Narration: Toward a Philosophy of Reason, Value, and Action. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press. Forster, E. M. (1927). Aspects of the Novel. London: Edward Arnold. Genette, G. (1997). Palimpsests: Literature in the Second Degree. Channa Newman and Claude Doubinsky (trans.). Lincoln, NB: University of Nebraska Press. Greenpeace Core Values: http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/about/our-core-values/ Greenpeace Everything is NOT awesome: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhbliUq0_r4 Greenpeace Report: http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/news/Blogs/makingwaves/save-the-arcticlego-dumps-shell/blog/50917/. Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 42


Grice, H.P. (1989). Studies in the Way of Words. Harvard University Press. Habisch, A. (2005). Corporate social responsibility across Europe. Berlin: Springer. Keenoy, T. & C. Oswick. (2003). “Organizing Textscapes”. Organization Studies, Vol. 25, No. 1. 135–142. Klement P. (2008). Communicating Corporate Social Responsibility. Journal of Marketing Communications, Vol. 14, No. 2, April 2008, 75–81. Knudstorp, J. V. (CEO of the LEGO Group) (2014), http://aboutus.lego.com/en-gb/newsroom/2014/october/comment-on-the-greenpeace-campaign-and-the-lego-brand Kristeva, J. (1986). “Word, dialogue, and the novel”. In T. Moi (Ed.), The Kristeva reader. New York: Columbia University Press. 35-61. Kuhn, T. (2008). “A Communicative Theory of the Firm: Developing an Alternative Perspective on Intraorganizational Power and Stakeholder Relationships.” In Organization Studies 29(8/9). 1227-1254. Kukkonen, K. (2014). “Plot”. In: Hühn, Peter et al. (eds.): The living handbook of narratology. Hamburg: Hamburg University Press. 706-720. Latour, B. (1986). The Powers of Association. Power, action and belief. A new sociology of knowledge? J. Law. London, Routledge & Kegan Paul. 32. 264-280. LEGO Brand Framework, http://aboutus.lego.com/en-us/sustainability/our-approach Lego Responsibility Report. 2013. http://aboutus.lego.com/da-dk/lego-group/annual-report. Linell, P. (1998). “Discourse across boundaries: On recontextualizations and the blending of voices in professional discourse”. In Text, 18:2. 143–157. MacIntyre, A. (1984). After Virtue: A study in moral theory. Nortre Dame. Morsing, M, Schulz, M and Nielsen, K. U. (2008). “The `Catch 22´ of communicating CSR: Findings from a Danish study”. In Journal of Marketing Communications, 14:2. 97-111. Owyang, J. (2011). Social business readiness: How advanced companies prepare internally. Retrieved from http://www.web-strategist.com/blog/research/ [December 11, 2015]. Page, R and T. Bronwen (eds). (2011). New Narratives: Stories and Storytelling in the Digital Age. University of Nebraska Press. Podnar, K. (2008). Guest Editorial: Communicating Corporate Social Responsibility. In Journal of Marketing Communications 14(2), 75-81. Polkinghorne, D. E. (1988). Narrative Knowing and the Human Sciences. Suny Press. http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/oct/09/lego-ends-shell-partnership-followinggreenpeace-campaign Ryan, M. (2004). Narrative across media: The languages of storytelling. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. Sperber, D. & D. Wilson. (1986). Relevance: Communication & Cognition. Blackwell: Oxford. Taylor, J. R., Francois Cooren, Nicole Giroux and Daniel Robichaud. (1996).. The Communicational Basis of Organization: Between the Conversation and the Text. Communication Theory Vol. 6(1). 1-39. Taylor, J. R. & E. J. van Every. (2000). The situated organization: Case studies in the pragmatics of communication research. Routledge. New York. Toolan, M. 2001 (org.1981). Narrative, a Critical Linguistic Introduction. Routledge: London. Toolan, M. 2013. “Coherence”. In Hühn, Peter et al. (eds.), The living handbook of narratology. Hamburg: Hamburg University.http://www.lhn.uni-hamburg.de/article/coherence[view date:11 Dec 2015] http://www.uk.sagepub.com/upm-data/9690_023494Ch1.pdf http://brickfanatics.co.uk/ben-saunders-becomes-face-of-lego-city-arctic/ Frandsen, S., T. Kuhn & M. W. Lundholt. (2016). Counter-Narratives and Organization. Routledge. Jensen, A., C. M. Maagaard & R. K. Rasmussen. (2016). ”Speaking through the other”: Countering Counter-Narratives through Stakeholders’ Stories. In Frandsen, S., Kuhn, T., & Lundholt, M. W. Counter- Narratives and Organization. Routledge. Kuhn, T. (2016). Kuhn, T. (2016). “Communicatively Constituting the Unfolding of Organization through Counter-Narrative”. In Frandsen, S., Kuhn, T., & Lundholt, M. W. Counter-Narratives and Organization. Routledge. Nelson, H. L. (2001). Damaged Identities, Narrative Repair. Cornell. Cornell UP.


Creating Business Value through Corporate Communication A Theory-based Framework and Its Practical Application Ansgar Zerfass University of Leipzig, Germany [email protected] Christine Viertmann University of Leipzig, Germany [email protected] Empirical surveys across several continents show that communication professionals use a multitude of rationales to explain the value of their work to top executives. These range from building reputation, brands and identity to gaining thought leadership, boosting sales, motivating employees, preventing crises and listening to stakeholders. The multitude of stories told creates uncertainty among business leaders – explaining the value of communication continues to be one of the most important challenges for professionals and scholars alike. This article reports about a multi-step research project which explores concepts that explain communication value across different disciplines and builds a framework which identifies and systematizes generic communication goals linked to generic corporate goals. The application of the framework has been discussed with Chief Communication Officers from global companies and was used during a communication alignment process in a global healthcare company. Additional qualitative studies to verify the approach are proposed. Keywords: Corporate Communication, Communication Measurement, Communication Value, Shareholder Value, Stakeholder Value, Value-Based Management Paper Type: Conceptual paper

Introduction One of the key characteristics of corporate communication is its mission to serve the overall strategic goals of a company (Argenti, 2016; Goodman & Hirsch, 2015; Van Riel & Fombrun, 2007). However, linking communication to business strategy continues to be one of the key challenges for communication professionals around the globe. Recent surveys among more than 4,200 communication professionals in 82 countries across Asia-Pacific (Macnamara et al., 2015), Europe (Zerfass et al., 2015) and Latin America (Moreno et al., 2015) have identified the topic as number one or two issue for the upcoming years. Along this line, 4,483 professionals in the United States and other large economies around the world interviewed for the Global Study of Leadership in Public Relations and Communication Management ranked “Improving the measurement of communication effectiveness to prove value” among the four most relevant issues in the field (Berger & Meng, 2014). Empirical studies have also shown that practitioners lack a consistent understanding of communication value, as they use a multitude of rationales to explain the value of communication to top executives, ranking from building reputation and


Creating Business Value Through Corporate Communication

brands, gaining thought leadership and preventing crises to stimulating sales or employee motivation (Macnarama et al., 2015). As such, the obvious gap between the need to demonstrate value and missing practices might be related to the conceptual lack of a ’big picture’ of value creation in corporate communication – and not only to inadequate practices of measurement and evaluation on an applied level. We propose a new approach to close this gap. Instead of arguing from the perspective of the corporate communication function and looking for yet another magic formula of communication value, we suggest to start with a reflection on corporate strategy and its generic contribution to business goals. Based on this, the multitude of theoretical concepts explaining the contribution of communication to organizational goals can be analyzed and aligned to develop a comprehensive framework of corporate communication value. This article reports about the extensive literature survey, which has been conducted to build this framework; explains the framework named Communication Value Circle and its dimensions; and shows how the framework can be applied in practice. Limitations and requirements for future research will be outlined. The results presented here are based on a multi-step project conducted by communication and management researchers from two universities, supported by a sounding board of Chief Communication Officers from several global blue-chip companies. Literature Review In a first step, the variety of theoretical concepts which explain value creation through communication in academic literature have been identified and systematized. We conducted a literature review in the disciplines of corporate communication, organizational communication, public relations, marketing, and strategic management. The review focused on publications in the English and German language (the two most important linguae francae of social sciences) from the year 2000 onwards. We identified 815 publications in 36 international journals through a keyword search for the following terms: measurement, evaluation, controlling, reputation, value, audit[ing], scorecard, assets, strategy map, effectiveness, listening, audience, brand, intangibles, contribution, monitoring, impact, and effect. Additionally, seminal books and reference works in the field were taken into account (e.g. Watson & Noble, 2014; Stacks & Michaelson, 2014; Pfannenberg & Zerfaß, 2010). The review revealed that measuring the effects of communication in organizational contexts has been an important topic in communication research since the 1970s (Likely & Watson, 2013; Volk, 2016). The majority of contributions aim at explaining the influence of corporate communication messaging on stakeholder attitudes and behavior. Researchers in marketing and public relations propose various models for clustering communicative outcomes into different chunks and levels of effects like media output, stakeholder awareness, attitudes, etc. (e.g. Lindenmann, 2003; Kotler & Keller, 2012; Macnamara, 2015). Ex-post evaluation of corporate communication is intensively discussed in the realms of mass media, corporate media and social media. These approaches aim to track links between communication and stakeholder behavior, e.g. by influencing customer preferences or employee motivation. However, it is seldom explained or measured whether and how this contributes to organizational goals. Many situational factors have to be taken into account, and there are only few circumstances (e.g. product launches) where direct effects can be easily measured.



Another stream of research is related to the creation of intangible assets through communication. Key concepts introduced and discussed in the body of knowledge are reputation (Fombrun, 1996), brands (Kapferer, 2012), corporate identity (Balmer & Greyser, 2006); employee commitment or motivation (Meng & Pan, 2012; de Bussy & Suprawan, 2012), organizational culture (Henri, 2006), and relationships (Hon & Grunig, 1999; Grunig, 2006). Raising awareness and changing the behavioral dispositions of stakeholders are described as a driver for creating intangible assets for corporations. There is also a large portfolio of methods to measure and value intangibles, such as reputation, brands or social capital. However, there are no standards for combining these closely linked values and for explaining their connection to organizational strategy. Communication has also been identified as a reflective function which supports strategic alignment and positioning of corporations (Van Ruler & Verčič, 2005). Recently, traditional concepts like issues management, (social) media monitoring and customer insights have been developed further to the grand idea of building architectures for organizational listening (Macnamara, 2016), which complement integrated messaging platforms and strategies (Van Riel & Fombrun, 2007). This notion underlines that communication professionals can enable top executives, internal business partners and employees (Heide & Simonsson, 2014; Mazzei, 2014) to perform better in their own areas of responsibility by widening their understanding of communicative prerequisites and consequences of strategic decisions in the public sphere (Bentele & Nothhaft, 2010). This relates to, but is not limited to, innovation, change, crises and other contexts which are directly linked to corporate success. Those concepts have not been linked to predominant approaches of communication measurement and evaluation so far. However, the underlying conception of a communicative organization (Hamrefors, 2010) in which every member of the corporation should be enabled to collaborate with stakeholders are closely linked to modern approaches of strategic management (Baber et al., 2015). Another important stream in the literature focuses on the adaptation of business valuation and management concepts. Until today, many practitioners pretend to measure the return on investment (ROI) of communication. However, the complexity of communication processes, the close nexus with other functions and activities, and a lack of transparency about costs and investments for communication in most corporations hinder the utilization of such indicators (Watson & Zerfass, 2011). Most concepts based on the ROI formula in academic research (e.g. Likely et al., 2006; Meng & Berger, 2012) use a quasi-ROI that must not be confused with the original formula. Along this line, recent approaches which try to define standard metrics for communication (Macnamara, 2014; Michaelson & Stacks, 2011; AMEC, 2015) and seminal works in the field (Watson & Noble, 2014; Stacks & Michaelson, 2014) recommend measuring the impact on organizational performance, but do not offer applicable indicators or methods. A solution mainly propagated in Europe is the adaptation of management concepts like scorecards and value links (Kaplan & Norton, 1996; 2004; Zerfass, 2008b; Hering et al., 2004). They allow professionals to visualize the link between communication activities, media and channel outcomes, changes in stakeholder’s knowledge, attitude, behavioral disposition or behavior, and organizational impact. Based on these approaches, researchers and professional associations in the German-speaking countries have developed a joint framework to capture the value chain of communication from input to outflow/impact (DPRG & ICV, 2011). This framework is nowadays widely known and even accepted as a standard by many global corporations in the region.



To sum up, the question of how communication contributes to value creation for organizations has not been answered until now. There is a tendency among professional communicators and in the research community to focus on “soft factors” like creating reputation, brands or relationships. Many indicators, measurement methods and concepts for evaluation are available, but they lead to different results, and a coherent approach is missing. De Beer (2014) has called for “integrating the corporate communication process into strategic management, governance and value creation processes” (p. 136) to show and achieve benefits for the organization and the whole society as well. This has been done by constructing a new framework which combines the approaches mentioned above in a holistic approach. Developing a New Framework Value-based management and communication According to our literature review, most approaches dealing with the contribution of communication to organizational goals start by analyzing communication processes. However, not the capability of corporate communication but the requirements of corporate strategy define which values should be supported or created. Thus, it is important to start by explaining what ‘value’ means in the business world in general before discussing the impact of effective communication. Value creation describes the transformation of resources into goods or services with a higher financial value. This supports the foremost goal of every corporation – to work efficiently and effectively to create financial value today and enable value creation in the future. Value-based management is a well-known concept in business theory and practice, as explained in the works by Porter (1985) and other management scholars. It states that all corporate decisions should focus on increasing the overall value of the company and not only short-term objectives. Corporate value was traditionally equated with shareholder value (Rappaport, 1986) and only measured in economic terms like ROI. From this point of view, communication contributes to the overall value merely by positioning a company in the marketplace or creating a favorable corporate image among investors. However, it is common knowledge today that corporate success depends not only on shareholders, but also on sustainable relationships with employees, politicians, regulators, customers, mass media, social media influencers, and many others stakeholders. The concept of stakeholder value (Freeman, 1984) expands the notion of valuebased management by considering the expectations and legitimate interests of everybody who is affected by corporate strategy. Thus, any corporation will be positioned in the market as well as within its social and political environment (Zerfass, 2008a). In our understanding, strategically managing and measuring this positioning by communicative means is the primary task of the communication function. In this sense, corporate communication is an integrative part of the value chain in any company. Communication processes are part of primary activities (inbound logistics, operations, outbound logistics, marketing and sales, and service) as well as of supporting activities (firm infrastructure, human resource management, technology, and procurement) (Porter, 1985). Thus, communication is not just a function which helps top executives and other business managers to reach out to stakeholders. Corporate communication is also a valuable resource for listening and learning from the environment. It helps to reposition the organization and adjust strategies, and can be a key driver for creating a supportive overall framework for corporate activities. Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 47


Dimensions of value creation In order to build a consistent typology of corporate values and communication values, we searched for approaches which describe generic goals for business success. Strategic management theory distinguishes liquidity (financial dimension), success (operational dimension: profitable business models) and potentials for success (strategic dimension: resources which enable future success) (Gälweiler, 2005). In the light of stakeholder theory, this can be expanded and differentiated to tag four generic types of corporate value: (1) tangible assets, (2) intangible assets, (3) room for maneuver, and (4) opportunities for development. Corporate strategies prioritize and operationalize these values into concrete goals, based on the specific positioning and resources of a company. Corporate management strives to accomplish those goals. As part of these overall ambitions, corporate communication can support all four dimensions. These dimensions in turn help to structure the multitude of communication goals identified in the literature. They can be summarized to 12 generic types of communication value (see below). Goals for communication programs and campaigns can be subordinated below these dimensions and measured with established sets of evaluation methods and performance indicators. However, due to the different characteristics of communication and corporate goals contributing to stakeholder value, it is not possible to define an overall indicator and calculate an overall value of communication – just like management theory and scorecard concepts have long disbanded the simplified idea of using only top indicators like ROI to steer a company. The Communication Value Circle Description of the framework Our lines of thought are visualized in the Communication Value Circle (Figure 1), an interdisciplinary framework which explains the process of value creation through communication on the levels of corporate strategy, corporate management and corporate communication. The matrix can be read in its vertical and horizontal order. From the vertical perspective, (1) tangible assets and (2) intangible assets contribute to creating corporate value, whereas (3) room for maneuver and (4) opportunities for development contribute to enabling value creation. From the horizontal point of view, (1) tangible assets and (3) room for maneuver represent the current value creation of the corporation, while (2) intangible assets and (4) opportunities for development foster future value creation. Every function within the corporation supports these four types of corporate value on the first level of the framework. These generic values are applicable to human resources management, sales or, as in this case, corporate communication. The second level of the framework illustrates the 12 major values which can be achieved by corporate communication and which are linked to the four core corporate values:



(1) Enabling operations:Communication contributes to organisational objectives by supporting business operations internally and externally, e.g. through stimulating publicity, customer preferences, and employee commitment. By disseminating content and messages or raising attention and awareness for strategic issues, communication keeps an organisation running and enables the creation of material assets. By entering into dialogue with employees, suppliers, customers etc. on a daily basis, communication builds the basis for delivering value to key stakeholders. (2) Building intangibles:Communication helps to create intangible assets, such as reputation, brands or corporate culture. Intangibles are part of the overall company value. Reputation has to be managed for important representatives of the corporation (CEO communication) as well as for the whole company. Positive reputations and strong brands are not only relevant for the corporate environment. They also create a strong corporate identity. Integrating the specific culture and history of a corporation into its internal and external communications is a basic task of any communication department.

Figure 1. The Communication Value Circle.



(3) Ensuring flexibility:Being flexible as a corporation means having relationships that are based on trust or, at least, a perception of legitimacy of the corporation’s values and actions. Communication can build stakeholder networks which ensure room for manoeuvre, also in times of change and crisis. If the licence to operate is questioned by relevant stakeholders, every other value dimension will be affected negatively. Corporations have to face various situations of uncertainty during which nothing becomes more important than relational capital, trust, and public acceptance. (4) Adjusting strategy:Communication helps to make strategic management decisions by fostering thought leadership, innovation potential, and crisis resilience. This value dimension is built foremost on the communication department’s capacity to listen. Systematically monitoring public opinion in mass media, social media, markets, politics and society helps to adapt strategies to upcoming socio-political and economic developments. Thus, corporate communication contributes to identifying competitive advantages. Practical guidelines for using the framework In order to apply the Communication Value Circle in practice, it is necessary to adapt the framework to the multitude of possible variables and situations in the business world, such as  type and size of corporations (start-up company, SME, corporate holding, etc.)  functional areas and departments (communication department, marketing department, etc.)  field of action (public affairs, public relations, innovation communication, etc.)  stakeholders (customers, employees, journalists, etc.) or  situational contexts (product launches, crises, post-merger integration, etc.). As these variables vary, so does the significance of the four dimensions of value creation. Not every single goal is relevant for each communication department or situation. The framework should not be misunderstood as a normative representation of communication goals. Instead, it can help to align communication with the unique strategy of specific corporations or business units. For example, a small start-up company has to make itself known in the first place and, therefore, has to pursue goals like building a brand among customers and reputation among investors and potential partners. In contrast, a blue-chip corporation listed on the stock market with a unique history can probably leverage the value of communication much more by adjusting strategies through a consistent system for corporate listening and thought leadership. At the same time, a subsidiary of the same listed corporation in another country could rank other values at the top, such as supporting sales in the local market through consistent marketing communications and developing a partnership culture with retailers on the ground. The framework can be used as a management tool to identify, discuss, structure, and agree on value drivers and performance indicators in corporate communication. Along this line, the process of aligning corporate management with the management of corporate communication becomes increasingly transparent and manageable. Conclusion and future directions We have argued that the continuing quest for explaining the value of corporate communication might be supported by constructing a ’big picture’ which incorporates and systematizes the multitude of concepts and measurement methods in various disciplines. An analytical approach Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 50


based on an extensive literature survey was used to build such a framework – the Communication Value Circle. While there are some limitations, e.g. the omission of literature in additional languages, this procedure proved to be generally fruitful. Obviously, it is necessary to test the applicability and usefulness of the approach. To do so, we invited a group of senior scholars from strategic management, marketing, human resources, reputation management, public relations, journalism, and Chief Communication Officers from global companies headquartered in Germany to comment on the framework during a one-day workshop in autumn 2015. Secondly, the framework was tested in an applied research project with a global provider of healthcare products and services in 2015/16. The company achieves a turnover of approximately six billion US dollars with 54,000 employees in 62 countries. The framework was used to derive communication goals from the new global corporate strategy. It informed the construction of a strategic measurement system with value drivers and key performance indicators for the corporate communication department. Both exercises proved to be successful. The framework was generally approved and applicable. Comments and experiences were noted and will be used for fine-tuning the framework. Future research is needed for proving the capacity of the framework to explain links between communication and corporate goals on a broader scale. We propose a qualitative case study based on interviews and document analyses in corporations across different industries for this next step. It will be necessary to identify specific combinations of corporate values, business goals and related indicators, stipulated goals for communication departments and their leaders, as well as objectives assigned to communication activities and methods of communication measurement and valuation. The case studies can help to verify or modify the Communication Value Circle. In the end, it should be possible to use the framework for reconstructing empirical settings with the aim of describing specific approaches, identifying gaps, and outline best practices of value-creating communication in a common language. This in turn should contribute to the professionalization of corporate communication in theory and practice. Acknowledgements This article is based on results from the research program Value Creating Communication, which has been initiated by the Academic Society for Corporate Management & Communication in Germany in 2015. The framework has been developed by a research team at Leipzig University and Humboldt University Berlin supported by a sounding board of Chief Communication Officers from BASF, Bosch, Deutsche Bank, Osram, and Roche. The authors express their gratitude for valuable feedback and support to Karen Berger, Martin Binder, Maria Borner, Nicole Gorfer, Karolin Köhler, Daniel Ostrowski, Elisabeth Schick, Joachim Schwalbach, JanPeter Schwartz, Thorsten Strauß, Sophia Charlotte Volk and Christoph Zemelka.



References AMEC International Association for the Measurement and Evaluation of Communication (2015), Barcelona Principles 2.0, retrieved from http://amecorg.com/wpcontent/uploads/2015/09/Barcelona-Principles-2.pdf. Argenti, P. (2016), Corporate Communication (7th ed.), McGraw Hill, New York, NY. Baber, A., Waymon, L., Alphonso, A., & Wylde, J. (2015), Strategic connections: The new face of networking in a collaborative world, AMACOM, New York, NY. Balmer, J.M.T, & Greyser, S.A. (2006), “Corporate marketing”, European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 40, No. 7/8, pp. 730-741. Bentele, G., & Nothhaft, H. (2010), “Strategic communication and the pubic sphere from a European perspective”, International Journal of Strategic Communication, Vol. 4, No. 2, pp. 93-116. Berger, B.K., & Meng, J. (eds.), Public relations leaders as sensemakers. A global study of leadership in public relations and communication management, Routledge, New York, NY. De Beer, E. (2014), “Creating value through communication”, Public Relations Review, Vol. 40, No. 2, pp. 136-143. De Bussy, N.M., & Suprawaan, L. (2012), “Most valuable stakeholders: The impact of employee orientation on corporate financial performance”, Public Relations Review, Vol. 38, No. 2,pp. 280287. DPRG/ICV (German Public Relations Association & International Controller Association) (eds.) (2011), Position paper communication controlling, DPRG/ICV, Berlin & Gauting. Fombrun, C.J. (1996), Reputation. Realizing value from the corporate image, Harvard Business School Press, Boston, MA. Freeman, R.E. (1984), Strategic management. A stakeholder approach, Pitman, Boston, MA. Gälweiler, A. (2005), Strategische Unternehmensführung [Strategic management] (3rd ed.), Campus, Frankfurt am Main. Goodman, M.B., & Hirsch, P.B. (2015), Corporate communication – Critical business asset for global change, Peter Lang, New York, NY. Grunig, J.E. (2006), “Furnishing the edifice: ongoing research on public relations as a strategic management function”, Journal of Public Relations Research, Vol.18, No. 2, pp. 151-176. Hamrefors, S. (2010), “Communicative leadership”, Journal of Communication Management, Vol. 14, No. 2, pp. 141-152. Heide, M., & Simonsson, C. (2014), “Developing internal crisis communication. New roles and practices of communication professionals”, Corporate Communications: An International Journal, Vol.19, No. 2, pp. 128-146. Henri, J.-F. (2006), “Organizational culture and performance measurement systems”, Accounting, Organizations and Society, Vol. 31, pp. 77-103. Hering, R., Schuppener, B., & Sommerhalder, M. (2004), Die Communication Scorecard [The Communi cation Scorecard], Haupt, Bern. Hon, L., & Grunig, J.E. (1999), Guidelines for measuring relationships in public relations, Institute for Public Relations,Gainesville, FL, retrieved from: http://www.instituteforpr.com. Kapferer, J.-N. (2012), The new strategic brand management: Advanced insights and strategic thinking (5th ed.), Kogan Page, London. Kaplan, R.S., & Norton, D.P. (1996), Balanced scorecard. Translating strategy into action, MA, Boston. Kaplan, R.S., & Norton, D.P. (2004), Strategy maps: Converting intangible assets into tangible outcomes, Harvard Business Press, Boston, MA. Kotler, P., & Keller, K.L. (2012), Marketing management (14th ed.), Pearson Education, Harlow. Likely, F., & Watson, T. (2013), “Measuring the edifice: Public relations measurement and evaluation practices over the course of 40 years”, In Sriramesh, K., Zerfass, A., & Kim, J.-N. (eds.), Public relations and communication management – Current trends and emerging topics, Routledge, New York, NY, pp. 143-162. Likely, F., Rockland, D., & Weiner, M. (2006), Perspectives on ROI of media relations publicity efforts, Institute of Public Relations,Gainesville, FL, retrieved from: http://www.instituteforpr.org/topics/media-relations-publicity-efforts. Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 52


Lindenmann, W. (2003), Guidelines for measuring the effectiveness of PR programs andactivities (2nd ed.), Institute for Public Relations, Gainesville, FL. Macnamara, J. (2014), “Emerging international standards for measurement and evaluation of public relations: A critical analysis”, Public Relations Inquiry, Vol. 3, No. 1, pp. 7-29. Macnamara, J. (2015), “Breaking the measurement and evaluation deadlock: A new approach and model”, Journal of Communication Management, Vol. 19, No. 4, pp. 371-387. Macnamara, J. (2016), Organizational listening: The missing essential in public communication, Peter Lang, New York, NY. Macnamara, J., Lwin, M.O., Adi, A., & Zerfass, A. (2015), Asia-Pacific Communication Monitor 2015/16. The state of strategic communication and public relations in a region of rapid growth. Survey results from 23 countries, APACD, Hong Kong.  Mazzei, A. (2014), “Internal communication for employee enablement. Strategies in American and Italian companies”, Corporate Communications: An International Journal, Vol. 19, No. 1, pp. 8-95. Meng, J., & Berger, B.K. (2012), Measuring return on investment (ROI) of organizations’ internal communication efforts, Journal of Communication Management, Vol. 16, No. 4, pp. 332-354. Meng, J., & Pan, P.-L. (2012), “Using a balanced set of measures to focus on long-term competency in internal communication”, Public Relations Review, Vol. 38, No. 3, pp. 484-490. Michaelson, D., & Stacks, D. W. (2011), “Standardization in public relations measurement and evaluation”, Public Relations Journal, Vol. 5, No. 2, pp. 1-22. Moreno, A., Molleda, J. C., Athaydes, A., & Suárez, A. M. (2015). Latin American Communication Monitor 2015. Excelencia en comunicación estratégica, trabajo en la era digital, social media y profesionalización. Resultados de una encuesta en 18 países, EUPRERA, Brussels. Pfannenberg, J., & Zerfaß, A. (eds.) (2010), Wertschöpfung durch Kommunikation. KommunikationsControlling in der Unternehmenspraxis [Value creation through communication], Frankfurter Allgemeine Buch, Frankfurt a.M. Porter, M.E. (1985), Competitive advantage: Creating and sustaining superior performance, Simon & Schuster, New York, NY. Rappaport, A. (1986), Creating shareholder value: The new standard for business performance, Free Press, New York, NY. Stacks, D.W., & Michaelson, D. (2014), A practitioner’s guide to public relations research, measurement, and evaluation (2nd ed.), Business Expert, New York, NY. Van Riel, C.B.M., & Fombrun, C. (2007). Essentials of corporate communications, Routledge, New York, NY. Van Ruler, B., & Verčič, D. (2005). “Reflective communication management: Future ways for public relations research”, Communication Yearbook, Vol. 29, No. 1, pp. 239-273. Volk, S.C. (2016), A systematic review of 40 years of public relations evaluation and measurement research: Looking into the past, the present, and the future, Paper presented at the 19th Annual International Public Relations Research Conference, Miami, Florida, USA, March 2016. Watson, T., & Noble, P. (2014), Evaluating public relations. A guide to planning, research and measurement (3rd ed.), Kogan Page, London. Watson, T., & Zerfass, A. (2011), “Return on investment in public relations. A critique of concepts used by practitioners from communication and management sciences perspectives”, PRism, Vol. 8, No. 1, pp. 1-14. Zerfass, A. (2008a), “Corporate communication revisited: Integrating business strategy and strategic communication”, in Zerfass, A, Van Ruler, B., & Sriramesh, K. (eds.), Public relations research. European and international perspectives and innovations, VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, Wiesbaden, pp. 65-96. Zerfass, A. (2008b), “The corporate communications scorecard – A framework for managing and evaluating communication strategies”, in Van Ruler, B., Tkalac Verčič, A., & Verčič, D. (eds.), Public relations metrics: Research and evaluation, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Mahwah, NJ, pp. 139-153.



Zerfass, A., Verčič, D., Verhoeven, P., Moreno, A., & Tench, R. (2015), European Communication Monitor 2015. Creating communication value through listening, messaging and measurement. Results of a survey in 41 countries, EACD/EUPRERA, Helios Media, Brussels.


Employee Communication in Open Innovation Communities on Internal Social Media The Perspective of Managers Responsible for Internal Open Innovation Helle Eskesen Gode Department of Business Communication, Business and Social Sciences Aarhus University and VIA Business, VIA University College, Denmark [email protected]

Purpose: The aim of this paper is to explore the role of employee communication and internal social media (ISM) in open innovation. Design/methodology/approach: Explorative study based on 10 semi-structured interviews conducted in autumn 2015 with managers responsible for internal open innovation. Findings: Employees share ideas and valuable insights on ISM. Employee reactions to ideas (e.g. comments, likes and recombination of initial ideas) as well as accumulation of insights and ideas contribute to innovation. Research limitations/implications: According to the managers responsible for internal open innovation, employee communication and IMS have important implications for the open innovation process. Further research is needed taking an employee perspective. Originality/value: In contrast to open innovation communities on external social media, studies within open innovation on ISM are almost non-existent. Thus, this study offers some of the first insights into employee communication in open innovation communities on ISM. Keywords: Internal social media, open innovation communities, employee communication, organizational communication. Paper type: Research paper

Introduction Innovation is important for economic growth possibilities as innovation contributes to the competitiveness of organizations (Cantwell, 2005). Open innovation is an approach to innovation where organizations open up and use both internal and external innovation sources (Chesbrough, 2006). These sources are dispersed outside the company, as well as within the company across departments. All employees in an organization are important for the innovation process. In fact, according to Linke and Zerfass (2011), they constitute one of the most important resources for innovation. Moreover, organizations’ ability to create networks is central for their innovation possibilities (Piller et al., 2012). Thus, ISM may offer a significant contribution as they make it possible to create online open innovation communities. Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 55

Employee Communication in Open Innovation Communities in Internet Social Media

The open innovation literature has primarily had an external perspective focusing on the knowledge and ideas flowing from one organization to another (Vanhaverbeke, 2006). Only few scholars have included an internal perspective. This is the case of Dahlander and Gann (2010) and Van de Vrande et al. (2010) who considered collaborationwithin a firm to support the flow of innovative knowledge from its external environment. Research exists in relation to strategies for and communication in online communities, brand communities and open innovation communities, but again it is viewed from an external perspective (Casaló et al., 2008; Kozinets, 2002; Bateman et al., 2011; Antikainen et al., 2010). Scholars have not paid much attention to employee communication in open innovation communities on ISM. However, open innovation on external social media cannot just be compared or transferred to employee communication in open innovation communities on ISM. Employees may react differently than customers, fans or other external stakeholders, because employees have a closer relationship to the organization they are working in (Frandsen and Johansen, 2011). In addition, although from an organizational communication perspective, Rice and Leonardi (2014, p. 441) emphasized the need for more studies in the underexplored new context which is formed by the rise of the mass collaboration and the “technology-enabled large-group problem solving”. This paper aims to fill the gap in existing research within the field of organizational communication, open innovation, and ISM by exploring, from a management perspective, how employee communication in open innovation communities on ISM influences the open innovation processes in organizations. The paper does so by taking an internal management perspective upon open innovation, since managers responsible for the open innovation process are knowledgeable about the strategic intent of the organization, and the challenges and opportunities of this practice. Denmark was chosen as the research setting of this study, since Denmark in recent years experiences low productivity growth (cf. Erhvervs- og Vækstministeriet, 2016 – [Ministry of Business and Growth, Denmark]). With an increasing governmental focus on innovation, on new technologies driving productivity growth, on differentiation and competitive advantage, and more and more organizations that are actively using social media for innovation in collaboration with external or internal stakeholders (Networked Business Factbook, 2013), there are reasons to believe that this will create new opportunities and challenges to organizational communication and organizations in Denmark worth researching. The paper consists of five sections: introduction followed by theoretical framework, research design, main findings and discussions, ending with conclusion, implications for theory and practice and future research within this area. Theoretical Framework The research study has an interdisciplinary character, and is based on selected theories from four research fields each contributing in different ways to shed light on the topic: organizational communication, open innovation, internal social media and open innovation communities. Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 56


Organizational communication When researching employee communication in open innovation communities on ISM, it is relevant to take the approach that communication is constitutive of organizing (Putnam and Nicotera, 2009; Mumby and Stohl, 1996) since employee communication in open innovation communities is constitutive of the open innovation process. In particular, Lewis’ (2014) approach to innovation and change as socially constructed, can be used to discuss in what way employee communication in open innovation communities on ISM influence the open innovation process. Lewis’ approach is inspired by Weick’s sensemaking theory (Weick, 1995), and accordingly, employees’ communication in the open innovation process can be viewed as a construction of their environment through a process of social interaction and sense-making. When employees are part of an open innovation community on ISM, they communicate and interact in order to make sense of what is going on. Open innovation Open innovation is an approach to innovation where organizations open up and use internal and external sources for innovation, as the sources to contribute to the innovation do not only exist in the R&D departments (Chesbrough, 2006). These sources are distributed both outside and inside the boundaries of the organizations. Open innovation is defined by Chesbrough and Bogers (2014, p. 17) as a distributed innovation process based on purposively managed knowledge flows across organizational boundaries, using pecuniary and non-pecuniary mechanisms in line with the organization’s business model. This definition of open innovation is guiding the understanding of open innovation in the present study. However, the scope of the “flows across organizational boundaries” will be limited to across boundaries within the organization and between employees. Furthermore, these knowledge flows will be nuanced in the present study, when analyzing how employee communication in open innovation communities on ISM can influence the open innovation process. A variety of concepts and views upon open innovation exist in the research literature. This study considers a range of them to be complementing approaches to the organization’s open innovation process. Accordingly, open innovation can comprise e.g. user innovation (von Hippel, 2005), open source software (West and Callagher, 2006), open knowledge creating process (Nonaka, 2014), ideation platforms and ideation contests (Piller and Walcher, 2006; Adamszyk et al 2012), crowdsourcing (Howe, 2008), or co-creation (Prahalad and Ramaswamy, 2004). ISM ISM enables communication across organizational boundaries and facilitates creation of online communities that contribute with knowledge to the innovation process (Piller et al., 2012). Treem and Leonardi (2012) have specifically studied ISM and developed the theory of four affordances (visibility, persistence, editability, association) and their consequences to organizational communication processes. Due to these four affordances, ISM makes communication between employees across departments and geographies possible that were difficult or not possible to achieve before ISM entered the workplace. What is named “social media in organizations” (Treem and Leonardi, 2012), “enterprise social media” (Leonardi et al., 2013) or “intraorganizational social media platforms” (Vuori and Okkonen, 2012) is termed ISM in this study to Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 57


emphasize that only employees have access to this internal platform not open to external stakeholders. Open innovation communities From the communication networks research, the open innovation communities can be considered innovation networks (Monge and Contractor, 2003) communicating about new ideas. They are communities of practice because they are informally bound together by their common interest in the open innovation process (Lave and Wenger, 1991; Wenger, E., 1998). It is through their collaboration that the boundaries of the community are set, and these boundaries go across departments, divisions, geographies and other formal hierarchical structures of the organization. According to previous research, diversity is an important dimension within open innovation. Granovetter’s (1973) theory of the strength of weak ties suggests that networks consist of few strong ties and many weak ties. The weak ties are indirect contacts to relations outside one’s network, which can expand the possibilities for new knowledge, information and experience. Therefore, it can be expected that the more diverse profiles of the employees communicating in the open innovation communities across departments and geographies, the more diverse and different knowledge, information and experience will be available that can contribute to the open innovation process. Research questions Based on this theoretical framework and building on the managers’ perception of how employee communication in open innovation communities on ISM influence the open innovation process in organizations, the aim of this study is to answer the following questions: RQ1. How does communication among employees in open innovation communities on ISM contribute to innovation? RQ2. How does innovation occur when employees communicate in open innovation communities on ISM? RQ3. What are the managers’ expectations to the outcome resulting from employee communication in open innovation communities on ISM? Research Design and Methodology This study explores a new context in which employee communication and open innovation take place, and that is within open innovation communities on ISM. Managers responsible of internal open innovation are among the first to have observed how open innovation works on ISM. Therefore, an explorative study (Stebbins, 2001) has been conducted in order to investigate managers’ perception of how employee communication in open innovation communities on ISM influence the open innovation process in organizations, and thereby contribute with new insights into this underexplored area of technology-enabled large-group problem solving (Rice and Leonardi, 2014, p. 441). These managers also have knowledge about the strategic intent of their organization for inviting employees to participate in the open innovation community on ISM. They have this area as one of their key responsibilities, They also have considerable experience within the field of open innovation. Therefore they are able to reflect and share insights on this new field.



Sample Interviews were conducted in autumn 2015 with managers from 10 large (3,400-20,000 employees) private and public organizations within different industries (social care, IT, toys manufacturing, pump manufacturing, dairy, technology manufacturing, wind turbine manufacturing, fashion manufacturing, biotech, constructions). These organizations are considered first movers within employee communication in open innovation communities on ISM, as they are some of the first organizations in Denmark to use this practice. Nine of them are currently using ISM actively for open innovation, whereas one ceased after a year mostly due to lack of employee communication on the ISM. Through purposive sampling (Mason, 2002) participants who represent and have knowledge about employee communication in open innovation communities on ISM have been selected. In total, 11 managers responsible for employee communication in open innovation communities on ISM were interviewed. In one organization, the social department director was interviewed together with the manager responsible for the open innovation community. All interviewees were responsible for open innovation activities, although they were entitled in different ways and covering different functions: commercial innovation director, head of business innovation, head of digital innovation, innovation and business design manager, social department director, global project manager, open innovation senior manager, head of innovation development, and innovation manager. Common to all of them, they were experienced within innovation, and had career backgrounds and educations within areas such as innovation, business development, product development and online communities. In that way, they were assumed to have much knowledge about the researched topic. Seven interviews were carried out face-to-face, and three over telephone, each lasting from 45 to 90 minutes. It must be kept in mind that the interviewees can be biased in their responses, as they may want to position the employee communication in open innovation communities on ISM as a valuable contribution to the innovation process in the organization, being themselves responsible for this field. Interview guide and data analysis The study is based on semi-structured interviews (Brinkmann and Kvale, 2015) conducted according to an interview guide that focused on three themes: (1) strategic intent for implementing employee communication in open innovation communities on ISM; (2) managers’ observations of the employee communication in the open innovation community; (3) managers’ perception of how this practice contributes to the organization’s innovation processes. The theoretical framework inspired the three themes of the interview guide, and helped to cover main areas and collect comparable data from all interviewees (Daymon and Holloway, 2011). At the same time, the interview guide allowed for flexibility and development of new or unexpected themes, as it consisted of two types of interview questions. The one set of questions were open ended in order to encourage the interviewees to tell about their views of the topic. This was important, as the analysis of the interviews focused on meaning where rich and nuanced descriptions in the answers are important. When answers required more elaboration, they were followed by interpretive questions in order to verify the interpretations (Brinkmann and Kvale, 2015). The other set of questions were based on the critical incident questioning technique (Downs and Adrian, 2004), in order to make the managers describe both positive and negative incidents that they had met in relation to employee communication in open innovation



communities on ISM, in order to make specific challenges or opportunities from practice come forward. Prior to the interview, the interviewees were asked to fill in a questionnaire answering demographic questions such as age and education as well as general questions about prior experience with open innovation and start date of the employee participation in open innovation communities on ISM. The interviewees were briefly informed about the topic before the interview, but no definitions of e.g. open innovation or employee communication were provided in order to allow interviewees to elaborate on their own perception of themes relevant to their perceptions of employee communication in open innovation communities on ISM. The analysis of the interviews took place in two steps: First, the interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed, and coded using Nvivo. Next, the meaning of the text units was condensed and interpreted (Brinkmann and Kvale, 2015). All interviewees and findings were anonymized. Findings and Discussion This section is divided into four sub-sections. After a short presentation of the way the open innovation communities were established, and of the main barriers to make employees communicate in these communities on ISM, follow three sets of findings related to the three research questions about 1) how employee communication in open innovation communities on ISM contributed to innovation; 2) how the innovation occurred when employees communicated in open innovation communities on ISM; 3) managers’ expectations to the outcome of employee communication in open innovation communities on ISM. Organizing of open innovation communities and barriers to employee communication The organizing of the open innovation communities on ISM in the organizations participating in this research differed from each other. Some organizations had created open innovation communities open to all employees through an always open idea box, in other organizations it was about “challenges”, “events”, “campaigns” or “competitions” that were posted in open innovation communities open to all employees, whereas in a few organizations these activities were targeted a specific number of employees in the organization. In all of the organizations, employees were considered to be active communicators (Heide and Simonsson, 2011), able to contribute to the open innovation process. Whereas one of the managers told that over the years, they had experienced more and more employee communication in the open innovation community on ISM, another manager explained that they had to cease the practice in his organization mostly due to lack of employees communicating in the open innovation community on ISM. However, most of the interviewees wanted more employee communication to happen in the open innovation communities on ISM, since they experienced at least four different sets of barriers for the employee communication. The most important barriers were perceived to be a time issue: e.g. employees had other tasks to do; they were caught up in their daily work; they had their own priorities; other online activities competed for their attention. Second, it was a matter of selfcensorship (Detert and Edmondson, 2011): e.g. employees found that they did not know enough to contribute; some believed that only experts had the solutions; others were worried about Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 60


“exposing” themselves on ISM, they feared to lose expertise or respect or being made a fool of when communicating ideas visible to all employees. Third, some innovation challenges had a too broad topic, others targeted a too broad employee crowd, or the frequency of the innovation campaigns was too high and then considered as spam by the employees. Finally, it was due to power relations (Treem and Leonardi, 2012): e.g. the original idea contributor may lose control of the idea once it was developed in an ideation process; employees were afraid of their ideas being stolen; or it was not their preferred way of working with innovation. Despite these barriers, the interviewees still saw benefits in trying to make employee communicate in open innovation communities on ISM. RQ1 How does employee communication in open innovation communities on ISM contribute to innovation? The interviewees agreed that employees communicating in the open innovation community on the ISM contributed to innovation in different ways: Some employees posted ideas, and/or made comments to the submitted ideas, suggestions, or likes; they shared problems or challenges, or tried to recombine submitted ideas in new ways. Some of the interviewees found that most of the submitted ideas were either bad ideas, obvious ideas or similar ideas. Not only the bad ideas, but also the good ideas, could develop into something better through comments or a recombination of the submitted ideas. The obvious ideas served as a reminder of what was already known, but needed to be revisited to decide whether this was something, the organization still did not want to implement. The similar ideas were accumulated on the ISM, and served as an indicator of what was going on in the organization. The ISM allowed employees to communicate about ideas and suggestions in a new way visible to all employees in the community. Employees could comment, like, suggest, share problems, recombine and connect with similar ideas or other employees on a large scale and across departments and geographies; the open innovation process was dependent on this amount of activities. RQ2. How does innovation occur when employees communicate in open innovation communities on ISM? According to the interviewees, innovation occurred in two ways: either through the reaction to the submitted ideas (comments, suggestions, re-combinations of submitted ideas, etc.), or through the accumulation of the submitted ideas (similar ideas). Innovation through reactions: All interviewees found that for the open innovation process to work, the most important dimension was to have employees comment on the submitted ideas. One interviewee (iH) described this as the “enrichment phase” in the open innovation process. The submitted ideas developed into something more through employees’ comments, because, in this way, new perspectives were added to the original ideas. This perception was confirmed by one of the interviewees: “Sometimes, the idea is really a bad idea, but the reaction to the bad idea… it could be like “Hey, I think that we should do this”, and then somebody reacts on this and say “No, that is silly, what you should do is this and this”, and then somebody starts to react sto that, and you can argue that innovation happens in the reaction” (iF).



The interviewees also found that employees’ ideas, comments and likes to the submitted ideas created new connections between employees across organizational boundaries that helped improve their existing product portfolio, as they could discuss and develop the original idea. One interviewee mentioned the re-combination aspect occurring through the comments to the submitted ideas. To him, comments were crucial, because in this way employees added knowledge and recombined aspects of the initially posted ideas. Employees mostly discussed elements of knowledge already known, but they combined the elements in a different sequence: “…, it is more about the re-combinatorial aspect of innovation than going into solution mode finding the concept that actually is so new and so different and so actionable that you should find a patent. That is usually not happening in this early stage…” (iJ). The perception of the managers that innovation happened in reaction to different comments to the submitted ideas confirms the theory of the strength of weak ties (Granovetter, 1973). The more employees communicating on a large scale in the open innovation communities across departments and geographies, the more diverse and different knowledge, information and experience would be available, which contributed to the open innovation process. Innovation through accumulation of ideas: When many similar ideas were submitted in the community, they served as an indicator of what employees saw as opportunities or challenges. According to iJ, in this way, they got the organization closer to a better reason to believe in a specific concept. None of the similar ideas were things they would do, but similar ideas could still give the organization a hint about what mattered to the employees: “Nobody gave a good idea, but it shows us that out of 100 people, 60 are interested in that. So, that is an insight, and this insight leads to innovation” (iF). The perception of iB was also, that perhaps none of the posted ideas were the right ideas. However, they could indicate some challenges or opportunities, and point the organization in a specific direction: “But what I think is interesting is that out of the posted 1000 ideas, 381 are about retail and payment, well then there is something here that we have to investigate further” (iB). The value of the accumulation of similar ideas can be related to Leonardi et al. (2013) who describe one of the roles of ISM within the organizations, using the metaphor of an echo chamber. One of the positive sides of the echo chamber is that ISM may allow like-minded employees to connect to each other in order to communicate about their similar ideas. Thus, although they are echoing one another, this accumulation of similar ideas may lead to new insights and directions for the future. This confirms the approach of the wisdom of the crowds (Surowiecki, 2005), where a large group of people are considered smarter than few experts. RQ3. What are the managers’ expectations to the outcome resulting from employee communication in open innovation communities on ISM? The managers of the study had many expectations to the outcome of employee communication in open innovation communities on ISM, but one of the key findings was that all of them directly or indirectly told that they did not expect to uncover the one and only idea creating radical innovation or brand new patents. IF stated this in the following way: “… if all you are looking for is finding the big, large golden nugget, you will probably be disappointed”. In contrast, they expected “warning signals” or opportunities to emerge from the employee communication. Adding all these insights contributed to the innovation. Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 62


It was also expectations to change the way people work. Many encouraged their employees to submit ideas that were still not fully developed, such as iG: “Don’t hide your idea even though it is not 100% finished. If you have described it very detailed, there is no possibility of developing the idea. Your colleagues will find it difficult to develop your idea, because you have selected a direction and a solution. Make the idea 30% open, and ask some question that can further develop the idea. That is what brings dynamics to the idea”. A part from the expectations in relation to innovation, the managers expected the open innovation communities on ISM to create more collaboration between employees across departments and across geographies as expressed by iG like “It is about igniting sparks that can collaborate”. Conclusion, Implications and Future Research This explorative study provides some of the first insights into an emerging field: open innovation through employee communication on ISM. This study shows that innovation through open innovation communities and employee communication is not a matter of finding the one and only idea creating radical innovation or new patents. It is more about changing the way employees work to be able to work and share knowledge in an open and visible environment. Furthermore, it is about increasing the collaboration between employees across organizational boundaries and geographies. Despite the perceived barriers of employee communication in the open innovation community, the interviewed managers stated this practice to be worthwhile, as it had important implications for the open innovation process: First, the different ways in which employees communicated in the open innovation community on a large scale and across departments and geographies contributed to the innovation. Employees could comment, like, suggest, share problems, recombine and connect with similar ideas or other employees, and the open innovation process was dependent on this amount of activities. Next, innovation occurred in the reaction to the submitted ideas. Comments gave new perspectives to the original submitted ideas, and these ideas developed into something more. Ideas, comments and likes also created new connections between employees that helped improve existing product portfolio. The recombination of ideas already submitted in the open innovation community also added new knowledge and aspects. Finally, the accumulation of similar ideas submitted in the open innovation communities on the ISM could indicate some challenges or opportunities, and point the organization in a specific direction. These ideas might not be something the organizations wanted to implement, but they still gave hints about what mattered to the employees. According to the interviewees, this added or accumulated employee insight also leads to innovation. Since this study is based exclusively on the perceptions of managers, further research is needed in order to study what is actually going on, and adding the views of the employees.



References Adamczyk, S., Bullinger, A. C. and Möselin, K. M. (2012), “Innovation contests: a review. Classification and outlook”, Creativity and Innovation Management, Vol.21, No. 4, pp. 335 – 360. Antikainen, M., Mäkipää, M. and Ahonen, M. (2010); “Motivating and Supporting Collaboration in Open Innovation”, European Journal of Innovation Management, Vol. 13, No.1, pp. 100-119. Bateman, P. J., Gray, P. H. and Butler, B. S. (2011), “The Impact of Community Commitment on Participation in Online Communities”, Information Systems Research, Vol. 22, No. 4, pp. 841851. Brinkmann, S. and Kvale, S. (2015), InterViews. Learning the Craft of Qualitative Research Interviewing. SAGE Publications, Inc., Los Angeles, 3rd ed. Cantwell, J. (2005), “Innovation and competitiveness”, in Fagerberg, J., Mowery D. C. and Nelson, R. R. (Eds.) The Oxford Handbook of Innovation. Oxford University Press, Inc., New York, pp. 543567. Casaló, L. V., Flavián, C. and Guinalíu, M. (2008), “Promoting Consumer's Participation in Virtual Brand Communities: A New Paradigm in Branding Strategy”, Journal of Marketing Communications, Vol. 14, No.1, pp. 19-36. Chesbrough, H. (2006), “Open Innovation: A New Paradigm for Understanding Industrial Innovation”, in Chesbrough, H., Vanhaverbeke, W. and West, J. (Eds.). Open Innovation: Researching a New Paradigm, Oxford University Press, Inc., New York, pp. 1 – 12. Chesbrough, H. and Bogers, M. (2014), “Explicating Open Innovation. Clarifying an Emerging Paradigm for Understanding Innovation”, in Chesbrough, H., Vanhaverbeke, W. and West, J. (Eds.). New Frontiers in Open Innovation, Oxford University Press, United Kingdom, pp. 3 – 28. Dahlander, L. and Gann, D. M. (2010), “How open is innovation?”, Research Policy, Vol. 39, No. 6, pp. 699 – 709. Daymon, C. and Holloway, I. (2011), Qualitative Research Methods in Public Relations and Marketing Communications, 2nd ed., Routledge, London. Detert, J. R. and Edmondson, A. C. (2011),”Implicit voice theories: taken-for-granted rules of selfcensorship at work”, Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 54, No. 3, pp. 461–488. Downs, C. W. and Adrian, A. D. (2004), Assessing Organizational Communication, Strategic Communication Audits, The Guilford Press, New York. Erhvervs- og Vækstministeriet (2016), “Redegørelse om vækst og konkurrenceevne 2016” [Ministry of Busi-ness and Growth, Denmark (2016), “Report on growth and competitiveness 2016”], available at: https://www.evm.dk/publikationer/2016/16-02-04-redegoerelse-om-vaekst-og konkurrenceevne-2015 (accessed 10 March 2016). Frandsen, F. and Johansen, W. (2011),”The study of internal crisis communication: towards an integrative framework”, Corporate Communications: An International Journal, Vol 16, No. 4, pp. 347-361. Granovetter, M. (1973), The Strength of Weak Ties. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago. Heide, M., Simonsson, C. (2011), “Putting Coworkers in the Limelight: New Challenges for Communication Professionals”, Internal Journal of Strategic Communication, Vol. 5, No. 4, pp. 201-220. Howe, J. (2006). “The rise of crowdsourcing”, Wired, Vol. 6, No. 6, pp. 176-183. Kozinets, R. V. (2002). “The Field Behind the Screen: Using Netnography for Marketing Research in Online Communities”, Journal of Marketing Research, Vol. 39, No. 1, pp. 61-72. Lave, J. and Wenger, E. (1991), Situated Learning: Legitimate Peripheral Participation. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. Leonardi, P. M., Huysman, M. and Steinfield, C. (2013), “Enterprise Social Media: Definition, History, and Prospects for the Study of Social Technologies in Organizations”, Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, Vol. 19, pp. 1 – 19. Lewis, L. K. (2014), “Organizational Change and Innovation”, in Putnam, L. L. and Mumby, D. K. (Eds.), The SAGE Handbook of Organizational Communication. Advances in Theory, Research, and Methods. SAGE Publications, Inc., California, ed. 3, pp. 503-524. Linke, A. and Zerfass, A. (2011), “Internal communication and innovation culture: developing a change Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 64


framework”, Journal of Communication Management, Vol. 15, No. 4, pp. 332-348. Mason, J. (2002). Qualitative Researching. SAGE Publications Ltd., London, 2nd ed. Monge, P.R. and Contractor, N.S. (2003), Theories of Communication Networks. Oxford University Press, New York. Mumby, D. K. and Stohl, C. (1996), “Disciplining Organizational Communication Studies”, Management Communication Quarterly, Vol. 10, No. 1, pp. 50-72. Nonaka, I. (2014), Foreword: Open Innovation and Knowledge Creation, in Chesbrough, H., Vanhaverbeke, W. and West, J. (Eds.), New Frontiers in Open Innovation, Oxford University Press, United Kingdom, pp. v – vii. Piller, F., Vossen, A. and Ihl, C. (2012), “From Social Media to Social Product Development: The Impact of Social Media on Co-Creation of Innovation”, Die Unternehmung, Vol. 65, No. 1, pp. 7-27. Piller, F. and Walcher, D. (2006), “Toolkits for idea competitions: A novel method to integrate users in new product development”, R&D Management, Vol. 36, No. 3, pp 307 – 318. Prahalad, C. K. and Ramaswamy, V. (2004), “Co-creating unique value with customers”, Strategy & Leadership, Vol. 32, No. 3, pp 4 – 9. Putnam, L. L., and Nicotera, A. M. (2009), Building theories of organization. The constitutive role of communication. Routledge, New York. Rice, R. E. and Leonardi, P. M. (2014), “Information and Communication Technologies in Organizations”, in Putnam L. L. and Mumby, D. K. (Eds.), The SAGE Handbook of Organizational Communication, SAGE Publications, Inc., California, ed. 3, pp. 425-448. SocialSemantic.eu (2013), “Networked Business Factbook (2012-13)”, available at: http://socialsemantic.eu/downloadrapport.aspx?dokument=Factbook2012_13&collector=150%20o rganisationer (Accessed 10 October 2014). Stebbins, R. A. (2001), Explorative Research in the Social Sciences, Sage University Papers Series on Qualitative Research Methods, Sage, Thousands Oak, California, Vol. 48. Surowiecki, J. (2005), The Wisdom of Crowds, Anchor Books, A Division of Random House, Inc., New York. Treem, J. W. and Leonardi, P. M. (2012), “Social Media Use in Organizations: Exploring the Affordances of Visibility, Editablity, Persistence, and Association”, Communication Yearbook, Vol. 36, pp. 143-189. Van de Vrande, V., Vanhaverbeke, W., Gassman, O. (2010), “Broadening the scope of open innovation: Past research, current state and future directions”, International Journal of Technology Management,Vol. 52, No. 3, pp. 221-235. Vanhaverbeke, Wim (2006), “The Interorganizational context of Open Innovation”, in Chesbrough, H., Vanhaverbeke, W. and West, J (Eds.) Open Innovation: Researching a New Paradigm, Oxford University Press, New York, pp. 205 – 219. von Hippel, E. (2005), Democratizing Innovation, MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Vuori, V. and Okkonen, J. (2011),”Knowledge sharing motivational factors of using an intra-organizational social media platform”, Journal of Knowledge Management. Vol. 16, no. 4, pp. 592 – 603. Weick, K. E. (1995), Sensemaking in organizations, SAGE Publications, Inc., Thousand Oaks, California. Wenger, E (1998), “Communities of Practice. Learning as a social system”, available at: http://www.co-i-l.com/coil/knowledge-garden/cop/lss.shtml (accessed 18 February 2016). West, J. and Gallagher, S. (2006), “Patterns of Open Innovation in Open Source Software”, in Chesbrough, H., Vanhaverbeke, W. and West, J (Eds.) Open Innovation: Researching a New Paradigm, Oxford University Press,New York, pp. 82 – 106.


Employee Participation in Knowledge Sharing and Change Solutions through Enterprise Social Media Mona Agerholm Andersen Aarhus University, Denmark [email protected]

Annette Agerdal-Hjermind Aarhus University, Denmark [email protected]

Chiara Valentini Aarhus University, Denmark [email protected]

Purpose: This paper explores the relationship between the participative style of the immediate manager and employees’ motivation to participate on enterprise social media both in daily knowledge sharing activities and in relation to organizational change solutions. Methodology: This project is based on a quantitative study in a global Danish company with approximately 18,000 employees worldwide. The company has a strategic focus on implementing social collaboration platforms to create a global working culture. An online survey was conducted globally and a total of 1.046 employees replied (n=1.046). Findings: The data shows a positive relationship between the participative style of the immediate manager and the employees’ motivation to participate on enterprise social media both in daily knowledge sharing activities and in creating and discussing change solutions. Keywords: Internal social media, knowledge sharing, employee participation, immediate manager, organizational identification Paper type: Case study

Introduction Enterprise social media are increasingly being adopted by large organizations as a platform upon which social interaction occurs between employees (Leonardi, Huysman and Steinfield, 2013). Enterprise social media are Internet-based applications that allow for the creation and exchange of user-generated content and facilitate participation, openness, conversation (two-way interaction), communities, and connectedness (Kaplan and Haenlein, 2010; Valentini and Kruckeberg, 2012). Leonardi et al. (2013) argue that social technologies that are used for communication and social interaction between employees within an organization should be treated as part of an integrated enterprise social media platform instead of individual tools. For this reason they define enterprise social media as:


Employee Participation in Knowledge Sharing and Change Solutions Through Enterprise Social Media

“Web-based platforms that allow workers to (1) communicate messages with specific coworkers or broadcast messages to everyone in the organization; (2) explicitly indicate or implicitly reveal particular coworkers as communication partners; (3) post, edit, and sort text and files linked to themselves or others; and (4) view the messages, connections, text, and files communicated, posted, edited and sorted by anyone else in the organization at any time of their choosing” (Leonardi, Huysman and Steinfield, 2013, p. 2). More and more business organizations are using social media for communicating and sharing knowledge internally. Although research on social media use for internal communication purposes has started to appear (Wright and Hinson, 2006; Parry and Solidoro, 2013; Leonardi et al., 2013; Sedej and Justinek, 2013; Huang, Baptista, and Galliers, 2013, Madsen, 2016), knowledge on this phenomenon is still on an early stage and yet to be exhaustive. Overall, there is a great demand by the business community for better understanding and learning how to use social media for internal communications as well as monitoring and evaluating the outcomes of social media interactions, and how to strategically embed social media communications in organizations’ daily activities (Linke and Zerfass, 2013). The present study is aimed to shed light on how the immediate managers’ communications and behaviors affect employees’ motivation to participate on enterprise social media in relation to daily knowledge sharing activities and organizational changes. Theory and research hypotheses The research area of enterprise social media has recently gained attention among researchers. Studies on enterprise social media indicate that social media are important platforms for dialogue and sharing (e.g. Agerdal-Hjermind, 2014; Huang et al., 2013; Kent and Taylor, 1998), for generative learning communities (e.g. Lewis, Pea, and Rosen, 2010), for enriching internal communications and engaging employees (Parry and Solidoro, 2013), and employees’ construction of organizational identity (Madsen, 2016). In this connection, enterprise social media is increasingly adopted by organizations to enhance employees’ performance and especially their knowledge sharing activities through time and across borders. In particular, large multinational companies depend on “successful knowledge sharing among individuals, teams and units due to their high degree of geographical dispersion throughout locations and time zones” (Ellison, Gibbs and Weber, 2015, p. 104). However, knowledge sharing can be a complex process because individuals and larger groups of employees need to negotiate meaning among them when they e.g. interact to create new solutions to a problem or brainstorm on a subject. Further, they may not know who of their colleagues has the relevant expertise, and they may be reluctant to share or ask for information from employees that they do not know in other departments or job functions (Ellison, Gibbs and Weber, 2015). The employees’ motivation for sharing knowledge with their colleagues through enterprise social media may also play an important role. Additionally, employees’ perceptions of the leadership style of the immediate manager may have an important impact on their motivation to participate in knowledge sharing activities on enterprise social media both inside and outside their department. Research by Parry and Solidoro (2013) supports the notion that the success of social media in increasing employee participation is dependent on the attitudes and behavior of the organization’s leaders (p. 136). A manager with a participative style will typically provide guidance but also situations for employee participation in decisionmaking (Cheney, Christensen, Zorn, and Ganesh, 2011).



In order to motivate employees to participate in decision making activities, Cheney et al. (2011) suggest that a participative leadership style should include: 1) a collaborative debate “that involves one-to-one argument and explicit agreement and refutation for the purpose of collaboratively reaching decisions”, 2) autonomy that implies trusting employees and pushing control of the organization to the lowest levels, and 3) information gathering that includes staying aware of multiple points of views (Cheney et al., 2011, p. 192). Another sub-areas within the field of enterprise social media that remain under researched, is the area of enterprise social media use in change situations (Valentini, Andersen, and AgerdalHjermind, 2013). Today more than in the past, a number of organizations are experiencing financial and competition-related challenges that demand them to continuously change. Societies are in continuous evolutions and recent market instabilities are challenging how organizations operate and remain competitive. It is consequently important to change in order to survive the instability of markets and to remain competitive (Cheney et al., 2011). While some changes cannot be foreseen, others such as first-order changes can be planned and managed. Change management literature refers to first-order changes as those that refer to minor adjustments and improvements and those involving only certain parts of the organization and do not change the core of the organization. Especially when changes are meant to improve organizational performance, employees can play a key role in this process and social media could become relevant platforms to enable employees’ contribution to change solutions (Valentini, Andersen, and Agerdal-Hjermind, 2013). Research shows that employee participation is important for the success of any kind of organizational change. The employees’ opportunities for participation in decision making in the process of change may result in more positive attitudes and, hence, facilitate the implementation of the change (Heller, Pusic, Strauss and Wilpert, 1998). Further, managers have an important role to play in getting employees involved in participatory change activities. Employees who feel valued and trusted by managers are more likely to participate (Fuller, Hester, Barnett, Frey, Relyea and Beu, 2006). However, employees’ participation in decision making in relation to change through enterprise social media has, to our knowledge, not yet been investigated. We argue that the current economic situation makes this study timely relevant for investigating the use of enterprise social media in general and in specific change conditions in a real business context and that the results would be beneficial not only to the business community but also contribute to new scientific knowledge in the field of organizational communication, management communication, change management, and enterprise social media. In this connection, we tested the following hypotheses: Hypothesis 1. There will be a positive relationship between the employees’ perceptions of the participatory style of their manager and their knowledge sharing activities within their department through enterprise social media Hypothesis 2. There will be a positive relationship between the employees’ perceptions of the participatory style of their manager and their knowledge sharing activities outside their department through enterprise social media Hypothesis 3. There will be a positive relationship between the employees’ perceptions of the participatory style of their manager and the employees’ perceptions of the immediate manager’s use of enterprise social media. Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 68


Hypothesis 4. There will be a positive relationship between the employees’ perceptions of the participatory style of their manager and their motivation for using enterprise social media in their daily work Hypothesis 5. There will be a positive relationship between the employees’ perceptions of the participatory style of their manager and their participation in change related decisions in enterprise social media Methodology This project is based on a quantitative study in a global Danish manufacturing company with approximately 18,000 employees worldwide. The company has a strategic focus on implementing social collaboration platforms to implement a global working culture and social business. Questionnaire An online survey was conducted globally and the questionnaire was distributed to 4.000 employees worldwide in 2015. Of the 4.000 employees, a total of 1.046 respondents completed the survey. The constructs of the questionnaire have been measured using existing and tested scales and the wording of the items has been adapted to the context of the company. Since all constructs are based on five point Likert scale items (1= disagree, 5 = agree) with an optional “don’t know” the valid number of respondents varies depending on which scales are involved in the analysis. Immediate manager participative style We measured the immediate managers’ participative style using a five-item scale developed by Coyle-Shapiro (1999). An example of a sample item is “my manager encourages me to participate in important decisions in general using social technology”. To be able to measure the immediate managers’ participative style regarding employees’ participation in change decisions we added four new items to the scale, e.g. “my manager encourages me to use social technology to participate in important decisions related to changes in my department”.The four-item scale was developed on the basis of a theoretical framework proposed by Valentini, Andersen, and Agerdal-Hjermind (2013). Motivation The measure for employees’ intrinsic and extrinsic motivation for using enterprise social media was based on an eight-item scale developed by Cadwaller, Jarvis, Bitner and Ostrom (2010). An example of a sample item is “I think that using social technology is relevant for me”. Knowledge sharing The employees’ knowledge sharing activities in general and activities related to change was measured using a 12-item scale developed by Ho, Kuo and Lin (2012). The items asked employees about their knowledge sharing activities both inside and outside their departments. An example of a sample item is “I usually involve myself in discussions related to specific projects Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 69


using social technology” and an example of a sample item in relation to change “I usually involve myself in discussions on possible changes using social technology”. Employees’ perceptions of enterprise social media use The immediate managers’ use of enterprise social media as a one-way communication platform for information transmission, or as a two-way dialogic communication platform for sharing knowledge and jointly create change solutions was measured using a four-item scale. The scale was developed on the basis of a theoretical framework proposed by Valentini, Andersen, and Agerdal-Hjermind (2013). Reliability and validity Since the applied scales have not previously applied in relation to the enterprise social media context, the internal consistency of the multivariate scales was examined using Cronbach  reliability estimate. Table 1 shows the Cronbach  for the six scales and the hypotheses in which the scales are included Table 1 Cronbach’s for the Six Scales No Scale 1 Immediate manager participative style 2 Immediate manager participative style in change 3 Knowledge sharing within department 4 Knowledge sharing outside department 5 Motivation 6 Perceptions of enterprise social media use

Cronbach  0.8748 0.9429 0.9015 0.9232 0.7586 0.9517

Hypotheses H1,H2,H3,H4 H5 H1 H2 H4 H3

As seen, all scales have a good internal consistency with Cronbach  above 0.75. Findings This paper presents a preliminary investigation of the data with the focus on testing the aforementioned five hypotheses. At a later stage, the analysis will use confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling to investigate different models relating the scales to employee participation through enterprise social media. At the current preliminary stage, the analysis fits linear regression models to investigate if the data supports the five hypotheses. Table 2 shows the results of the linear model fits. Table 2 Hypotheses Test Results Hypothesis DF H1 826 H2 832 H3 800 H4 811 H5 745

F-stat 277.9 174.8 488.5 15.8 398.4

p-value 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.0001058 0.00

R2 0.2518 0.1736 0.3791 0.0184 0.3484

R2 adjusted 0.2509 0.1726 0.3783 0.0172 0.3475



As seen, all five hypotheses have p-values below 0.001, which rejects the null hypothesis that the scales have no effect on each other. Hence, our preliminary analysis reveals a positive relationship between the scales of the hypotheses H1-H5. Table 2 also shows the R2 values. As seen, the values are fairly high except for H4. As shown in Table 2, our results show that employees’ perceptions of the participatory style of their manager was significantly related to their knowledge sharing activities within their department through enterprise social media. Thus, H1 is supported. Moreover, Table 2 also shows a positive relationship between the employees’ perceptions of the participatory style of their manager and their knowledge sharing activities outside their department through enterprise social media. Hence, H2 is also supported by the data. Furthermore, the analysis also shows that the employees’ perception of the participatory style of their manager is positively related to the employees’ perceptions of the immediate manager’s use of enterprise social media. Conclusively, H3 is supported. Regarding hypothesis 4, Table 2 also shows a positive relationship between the employees’ perceptions of the participatory style of their manager and their motivation for using enterprise social media in their daily work. Finally, hypothesis 5 is also supported: There is a positive relationship between the employees’ perceptions of the participatory style of their manager and their participation in change related decisions in enterprise social media. Conclusions Our data reveal a positive relationship between the scales of the five tested hypotheses. In terms of theoretical implications, our findings add to our knowledge of the role of the immediate manager as an important factor in boosting employee participation on enterprise social media. Specifically, the data suggests that the immediate manager have a positive role to play in getting the employees involved in knowledge sharing activities and creating change solutions on enterprise social media.

References Agerdal-Hjermind, A. (2014). The Enterprise Social Media Relations’ Strategy: The Case of Maersk Line. Communication and Language at Work, 1(3), 3-17. Cadwaller, S., Jarvis, C.B., Bitner, M.J., & Ostrom, A.L. (2010). Frontline employee motivation to participate in service innovation implementation. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 38, 219-239. Cheney, G., Christensen, L. T., Zorn, T. E., & Ganesh, S. (2011). Organizational communication in an age of globalization. Issues, reflections, practices. Waveland Press, Inc. Coyle-Shapiro, J.A.M. (1999). Employee participation and assessment of an organizational change intervention. The Journal of Applied Bahvioral Science, 35(4), 439-456. Davison, R. & Ou, C. J. X. (2014). Digital Work in a Pre-Digital Organizational Culture. Paper presented at European Conference on Information Systems (ECIS2014), TelAviv June 9-11, 2014 Diga, M., & Kelleher, T. (2009). Social media use, perceptions of decision-making power, and public relations roles. Public Relations Review, 35(4), 440–442. Ellison, N.B, Gibbs, J.L. & Weber, M.S. (2015). The use of enterprise social network sites for knowledge sharing in distributed organizations: The role of organizational affordances. American Behavioral Scientist, Vol. 59 (1), 103-113. Eyrich, N., Padman, M.L., & Sweetser, K.D. (2008). PR practitioners’ use of social media tools and communication technology. Public Relations Review, 34(4), 412-414.



Fuller, J. B., Hester, K., Barnett, T., Frey, L., Relyea, C., & Beu, D. (2006). Perceived external prestige and internal respect: new insights into the organizational identification process. Human Relations, 59, 815–846. Heller, F., Pusic, E., Strauss, G. & Wilpert, B. (1998). Organizational Participation. Myth and Reality, Oxford University Press, New York, NY. Ho, L., Kuo, T., & Lin, B (2012). How social identification and trust influence organizational online knowledge sharing. Internet Research, 22(1), 4-28. Huang, J., Baptista, J., & Galliers, R.D. (2013). Reconceptualizing rhetorical practices in organizations: The impact of social media on internal communications. Information and Management, 50, 112124. Kaplan, A. M., & Haenlein, M. (2010). Users of the world, unite! The challenges and opportunities of social media. Business Horizon, 53(1), 59–68. Kent, M., & Taylor, M. (1998). Building dialogic relationships through the World Wide Web. Public Relations Review, 24(3), 321–334. Leonardi, P.M., Huysman, M., & Steinfield, C. (2013). Enterprise Social Media: Definition, History, and Prospects for the Study of Social Technologies in Organizations. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 19, 1-19. Lewis, S., Pea, R., & Rosen, J. (2010). Beyond participation to co-creation of meaning: mobile social media in generative learning communities. Social Science Information, 49(3), 351–369. Linke, A., & Zerfass, A. (2013). Social Media Governance: regulatory framework for successful online communications. Journal of Communication Management, 17(3), 270–286. Parry, E., & Solidoro, A. (2013), “Social media as a mechanism for engagement?”. In T. Bondarouk and M. R. Olivas-luján (eds.) Social Media in Human Resources Management - Advanced Series in Management (pp.121–141). Bingley, UK: Emerald Group Publishing Limited. Romenti, S., Murtarelli, G., & Valentini, C. (2014). Organisations’ conversations in social media. Applying dialogue strategies in times of crises. Corporate Communication: an International Journal, 19(1), 10-33. Sedej, T., & Justinek, G. (2013). “Social media in internal communications: A view from senior management”. In T. Bondarouk and M. R. Olivas-Luján (eds.), Social Media in Human Resources Management - Advanced Series in Management (pp. 83–95). Bingley, UK: Emerald Group Publishing Limited. Madsen, V.T. (2016). “Constructing organizational identity on internal social media: A case study of coworker communication in Jyske Bank. International Journal of Business Communication. 1-24. Valentini, C., & Kruckeberg, D. (2012). “New Media versus Social Media: A Conceptualization of their Meanings, Uses and Implications for Public Relations”. In S. Duhé (Ed.), New Media and Public Relations, 2nd edition (pp. 3-12). Peter Lang. Valentini, C., Andersen Agerholm, M., & Agerdal-Hjermind, A. (2013). Co-creating Organizational Changes in Social Media - A Theoretical Framework. In proceedings of the 16th International Public Relations Research Conference, available at http://iprrc.org/docs/IPRRC_16_Proceedings.pdf Wang, Z., Tchernev, J.M., & Solloway, T. (2012). A dynamic longitudinal Examination of social media use, needs, and gratifications among college students. Computers in Human Behavior,28(5), 1829– 1839. Wright, D. K., & Hinson, M.D. (2006). Weblogs and employee communication: Ethical questions for corporate public relations. In DiStaso (ed.) Proceeding of the 9th Annual International Public Relations Research Conference“Changing roles and functions in public relations”, pp. 588-600, available at: http://www.instituteforpr.org/wp-content/uploads/9th_IPRRC_Proceedings.pdf, accessed on October 29, 2013.


Explicating the Information Vacuum Stages, Intensifying Factors, and Organizational Implications Eugene Yong-Sheng Woon Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information Nanyang Technological University, Singapore [email protected]

Daryl Chin-Yong Chew Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information Nanyang Technological University, Singapore [email protected]

Alicia Ai-Ling Seah Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information Nanyang Technological University, Singapore [email protected]

Nazreen Muntaj Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information Nanyang Technological University, Singapore [email protected]

Augustine Pang, PhD Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information Nanyang Technological University, Singapore [email protected]

Purpose: Information vacuums (IVs) arise from organizational failure to satisfy stakeholders’ informational demands during crises. This study expands Pang's (2013) study of the phenomenon by investigating its nature, stages, intensifying factors, and resolution. Approach: Print and social media data of five recent international crises where IVs were apparent were analyzed. Findings: Poor crisis communications are intensifying factors that induce media hijacks and hypes, dissociation, and public confusion. A four-staged model maps the phenomenon into four configurations describing its development. IV termination begins when organizations respond with solutions, results, and/or compensation. Natural, Strategic, and Evasive silences were observed. Research Implications: The study lays the foundation for future examination of how media literacy, governments, and culture, both societal and organizational, induces/exacerbates the phenomenon.


Explicating the Information Vacuum: Stages, Intensifying Factors and Organizational Implications

Practical Implications: Immediate, adequate, transparent, credible, and consistent crisis responses manage the IV and crisis, diminish intensification of subsequent crises, and potentially reduce image and reputational damages. Keywords: Information vacuum, crisis, life cycle, strategic transparency Paper Type: Research Paper

Introduction The occurrence of a crisis is a ubiquitous anomaly, where publics’ search for more information spurs the media’s demand for answers; birthing the information vacuum (IV) (Coombs, 2012). Organizations could either pre-empt the IV by ‘stealing the thunder’ (Arpan & Roskos-Ewoldsen, 2005; Coombs, 2010), or escalate it by avoiding the media. As the IV is made increasingly public through widespread social media exposure, a deluge of misleading information would be detrimental to the organization (Coombs, 2015a; Pang, 2013b). Presently, few studies examine the stages of the IV. However, there have been studies that rudimentarily established its presence, nature, effects, and characteristics (Pang, 2013b), but they have not considered the prevalence, traction, and growth of social media hype. Holistically, both social media and media hypes will be examined in this study as factors influencing the IV. This study examines five international crises to discern the IV’s mechanics, probable stages, intensifying factors, and organizational actions that lead to its resolution. This study is significant because it provides new theoretical perspectives that attempts to further explicate the IV’s nature and the events that occur within it, and establishing new grounds for future research and exploration. It aids practitioners and organizations in understanding how poor initial actions could potentially escalate both the IV and crisis. Moreover, this study would interest practitioners as it provides them with an understanding of what could be done to resolve the crisis, as well as reducing the media and social media glare on the organization. Lastly, the study's findings allow organizations to plot their progress through the IV during a crisis and aid them in post-crisis learning for better management and communication. Literature Review Clarifying the Nature of the Information Vacuum Strategic crisis management perspective of the information vacuum From a strategic crisis management viewpoint, the responsibility to fill the information void (Coombs, 2012, p. 141; Timberg & Dehghanpisheh; 2012) rests with communication practitioners and their top management . According to Clark (2000), top management believes in their abilities to make strategic decisions for their organizations, symbolizing their power and control and indicating heuristic processing (James & Wooten, 2010). Monopolization of the crisis management planning process (Dandira, 2012) shows top management's disregard for full organizational involvement for successful strategic crisis management (Dandira, 2012). This leads to poor internal crisis communication, absence of crisis culture (Frandsen & Johansen, 2011), and barriers of access to top management (Bowen, 2009). The Contingency Theory identifies the management’s conservative and authoritarian characteristics as long-term internal Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 74


organizational threats (Pang, Jin, & Cameron, 2010), which could contribute to the IV. However, this paper focuses on organizations’ observable actions towards the IV manifested symptoms, rather than examining the IV’s organizational factors. Journalistic perspective of the information vacuum Gagging of the media was previously utilized by organizations to conceal information from the public and allow them to achieve their aim hidden behind a screen of information blackout (Mackey, 2014). Mackey (2014) describes the information blackout as information suppression efforts for concealing facts from the public, while Babchenko (2008) equates it to voluntary or enforced censorship. With internet and social media allowing widespread access by all, forced censorship or media gagging is nearly impossible (Gruber, Smerck, Thomas-Hunt, & James, 2015; Mackey, 2014; Pang, 2013a; Penuel, Statler, & Hagen, 2013). Therefore, today’s IV is likely due to deliberate self-censorship. Journalism perceives the IV as a news vacuum arising from surveillance limitations (Hermida, 2012) with media reducing its reliance on audience content as soon as news professionals provide crisis coverage (Bruno, 2011); This suggests that the IV is media driven rather than public-driven (Marra, 2004). However, the increase of information surrogates like online eyewitness accounts, photos, videos, and real-time social media status updates from the news vacuum (Hermida, 2012) suggests a public-driven dimension to the IV. Hence, there is a need to study social media’s roles and effects on organizations during crises. Information vacuum as mediated social pressure To avoid legal complications, criticisms or investigations that could worsen the crisis (Pang, 2013b), some organizations adopt intentional silence by shunning media queries with "no comment". Others remain silent to avoid lending credence to rumors and speculations (Pang, 2013b). Some others adopt unintentional silence when they lack confirming information (Dearstyne, 2007; Penuel, Statler, & Hagen, 2013), possess mixed information (Bagin & Fulginiti, 2005; Penuel, Statler, & Hagen, 2013), or believe that the problem will dissipate with their silence (Fearn-Banks, 2011; Penuel, Statler, & Hagen, 2013). As stakeholders’ curiosity causes them to prioritize legacy news media as their primary source of information during a crisis (Pang, 2013b), their clamor for answers motivates it to fulfil its surveillance role (Heath, 2006) by looking to organizations for answers, and turning to other avenues when that fails (Pang, 2013b). Contrary to Babchenko’s (2008) statement of “any action inevitably provokes a response; the blow is often returned with the same force” (p. 116), organizations' silence during crises provoke a response intensified by public dissatisfaction and media glare. This results in a “vicious cycle” (Pang, 2013b, p. 209) of societal pressure and informational demand exerted by media and stakeholders, birthing the information vacuum (Pang, 2013b, Penuel, Statler, & Hagen, 2013). Hence, the IV could be understood as a mediated societal pressure on a troubled organization due to informational demand and supply differences. Information vacuum as lack of situational favorability Misinformation and hearsays are formed during the process of information seeking and attempts to fill the void (Penuel, Statler, & Hagen, 2013) and the organization's silence and non-committal Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 75


remarks compound the IV. Susceptible media-reliant stakeholders are then exposed to inaccuracies, which affect their mental and emotive perceptions (Mackey, 2014; Pang, 2013b; Penuel, Statler, & Hagen, 2013). Besides organizational silence, IV also arises from insufficient and/or absent essential information and unsatisfactory replies. At a crisis' onset, adjusting and/or instructing information (Coombs, 2015b) may be needed to soothe emotions; in later stages, factual, credible, and verified information are for satisfying the need for knowledge. These indicate that different information is required at different stages of a crisis (Penuel, Statler, & Hagen, 2013), exemplifying Cook and Brown’s (1999) argument that knowledge is created by action rather than by mere possession. Thus, the IV is "neither a straightforward lie nor the withholding of facts” (Babchenko, 2008, p. 117) but exemplifies the organization’s inability to "get the right information to the right person at the right time" (Penuel, Statler, & Hagen, 2013, p. 529). Transparency issues in Information Vacuum Plaisance (2007) defined transparency as "openness in communication that serves a reasonable expectation of forthright exchange when parties have a legitimate stake in the possible outcomes or effects of the sending or receiving of the message" (p. 188). As organizational silence exacerbates the IV (Penuel, Statler, & Hagen, 2013), stakeholders would cognitively determine the organization as having failed in information-sharing, accountability, and participation (Kim, Hong, & Cameron, 2014). This intensifies the crisis’ and IV’s severity (Penuel, Statler, & Hagen, 2013), potentially generating a second vicious cycle within the IV. According to Kim et al (2014), transparency is categorized as passive, active, relational, and strategic. Active transparency is the information's extent of openness and public accessibility; passive transparency is the process for publicly introducing more detailed information (Kim, Hong, & Cameron, 2014); relational transparency is two-way symmetrical communication between organizations and publics based on trust and good faith (Pang, Jin, & Cameron, 2010); and strategic transparency is a one-way communication whereby public trust is based on evidence and information made available by the organization (Kim, Hong, & Cameron, 2014). As Kim et al (2014) stated transparency as cognitive content for determining trust, Pang’s (2013) advocacy guiding principles and rhetorical integrity in framing supported the use of strategic transparency to change public opinions (Kim, Hong, & Cameron, 2014). Contingency theory warned against “morally repugnant” stakeholders (p. 19) that might ethically complicate relational transparency (Pang, Jin, & Cameron, 2010). As prolonged organizational silence encourages negative public perception, hence IV could be understood as the lack of strategic transparency. RQ 1: How do organizations respond in an information vacuum? Information vacuum as violation of social expectation The Neo-institutional theory states stakeholders believe organizations’ behavior should be consistent with societal norms or expectations (Coombs & Holladay, 2011). Thus, expounding this theory, IVs could be considered violations of societal norms and expectations (Coombs & Holladay, 2011). Moreover, the IV contributes to the organization’s image damages because its silence causes stakeholders and media alike to view the organization as being guilty and/or secretive (Pang, 2013b). As the IV is caused by the lack of information and draws attention away from the crisis towards itself, the IV could arguably be considered a double crisis (Johansen &



Frandsen, 2007). In the situational crisis communication theory, IVs can be categorized as preventable crises with high attributed responsibility that damages the organization's image. RQ 2: What happens in an information vacuum and what are its intensifying factors? Scope of the Media and Social Media Hypes Due to strong feelings induced by a crisis, stakeholders, yearning for clarity and direction, would actively hunt and revisit information sources for updates (Westerman, Spence, & Van Der Heide, 2014) to cope with their situations. The publics' persistent and information-seeking efforts are proportionately represented by their demands for answers, as demonstrated by Coombs (2006) and White (2009). This supports the earlier notion that a strong informational demand must be met by a reciprocating supply by the organization. Because of an information scarcity, legacy and social media then become vital sources of crisis information (Coombs, 2014; Johnson, & Kaye, 2010;); where their public effort in seeking answers and attempts to fill the IV will result in noticeable manifestations of their respective hypes. Media hype The media hype is defined as a "media generated, wall-to-wall news wave, triggered by one specific event, and enlarged by the self-reinforcing processes within the news production of the media" (Vesterman, 2005, p. 515). During which, the salience of interpretations, definitions, emphases, presences, and absences of information are intensified by secondary-level agenda setting (White, 2009). Thus, generating either a magnified or an enlarged media hype; the former employing relevant, in-depth, episodic reporting and the latter utilizes broad thematic reporting (Vasterman, 2005). Vasterman (2005) then argues that four conditions must be present for the media hype to occur: 1) a key event that receives much media attention; 2) a rapid rise and gradual fall of a news wave; 3) the media keeping the news in the headlines instead of reporting new developments in the news by reporting "comparable incidents or linking them to key event" (p. 516); and 4) interaction between the media and newsmakers resulting in increased coverage of "social action" and "reactions from social actors" (p. 516). Social media hype The social media hype is defined as a "netizen-generated hype that causes a huge interest that is triggered by a key event and sustained by a self-reinforcing quality in its ability for users to engage in conversations. It involves a trigger event, followed by interest waves, and sustaining of the interests on different, social media platforms" (Pang, 2013a, p. 309). Recent vast and rapid advances in mobile communication technologies have exponentially improved connectivity, enabled two-way crossovers of hypes across platforms, and provided additional crisis “breeding grounds” (Pang, Nasrath, & Chong, 2014, p. 97). As social media become increasingly crucial for individuals and organizations to seek, create, and share content that reaches out to a wide audience (Penuel, Statler, & Hagen, 2013; Westerman, Spence, & Van Der Heide, 2014), it consequently allowed issues to gain traction and develop into social media hypes. Due to experiential and emotional resonance, stakeholders are motivated to create content and share their experiences, emotions, and thoughts, which magnifies the hype due to the medium's reach and stakeholders' vast relational connections (Austin, Liu, & Jin, 2012; Pang, 2013a).



Concept of the Information Vacuum Lifespan At present there is no research indicating how long an IV will last (Pang, 2013b). However, the IV is sustained by both media and social media hype. Media hype is expected to last about three weeks (Vasterman, 2005; Wein & Elmelmund-Praestekaer, 2009), while the social media hype experiences fatigue after two to three interest waves (Wein & Elmelmund-Praestekaer, 2009). Hence, it is reasonable to say that the IV’s lifespan exist on these two different measurements. RQ 3: Given that media hype and social media hype exacerbate crises, what are the stages within an information vacuum? RQ 4: What leads to the closure or termination of the information vacuum? RQ 5: What happens when an information vacuum remains unresolved? Method Limited available research on the IV prompts this exploratory study to adopt Wan et al’s (2015) narrative cum cross-sectional methodology based on five case studies, to enable the “prevalence and identification of associations, thus encouraging greater rigor in studies” (Mann, 2003). Data collection: Case selection and sources Five international cases were selected based on the following selection criteria: 1) the organizational crisis must have the existence of an IV due to either its inadequate initial response or its lack of response; 2) an IV must have existed for a period of time at some point in the crisis; 3) for purpose of range and diversity, only one case is selected per country; 4) the cases should occur no earlier than five years before this study; 5) it should display media hype on at least two legacy media, available for retrieval from the Factiva database. The cases are: Fonterra (New Zealand): On 3 August 2013, New Zealand’s dairy conglomerate had a massive recall due to a possible botulism contamination. It triggered accusations of the company withholding prior information and only informing the government two days later. Maggi (India): On 30 April 2015, Maggi noodles faced a recall after excessive lead and monosodium glutamate levels were found in the testing of a sample batch. After posting an official answer on its website and Facebook, Nestle kept quiet for weeks before further action. Singapore General Hospital (SGH): On 6 October 2015, SGH revealed 25 patients and seven deaths between April and June 2015 were connected to a viral Hepatitis C infection within the hospital.SGH suspected the use of multi-dose insulin vials might be responsible for the infection. Sony (USA): On 14 April 2011, Sony discovered its system was hacked and took the PlayStation Network (PSN) offline for security and diagnostic reasons. Sony broke silence six days later when it replied on its blog that the PSN will be under maintenance, amidst subscribers’ suspicion. MH370 (Malaysia): On 8 March 2014, when flight MH370 failed to arrive in Beijing, Malaysian Airline System (MAS) released a statement its official FaceBook page stating its disappearance. While multiple parties had made attempts to locate the missing flight, the underlying causes remain unanswered. Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 78


The analysis of the case studies focused on reporting by minimally two established legacy news outlets in the local context, and one social media site. The analysis of the social media platform also included posts, replies and comments on the organization’s official social media site, as well as one legacy news outlet online reporting. These were used to determine the IV’s expansion and contractionduring the period, and understand the causative factors and stages. The analysis period is a minimum duration of four weeks from the start of crisis. This follows Vasterman’s (2005) assertion that media hype is expected to last around three weeks which covers the height of the crisis. Data analysis This information is then studied to identify the key stages according to Glaser and Strauss (1967) constant comparative method for inductive data analysis by using the 4 stages: 1) Comparing the incidents in each case; 2) integrating the categories; 3) delimiting the theory; 4) writing the theory. These findings should also shed some answers to the raised RQs and the traits of the IV. Findings and Discussions RQ 1: How do organizations respond in the information vacuum? During an IV, the observed lack of response, denials, superficial consolations, instructing replies, ambiguous and inadequate information at the Beginning stage (Table 1) are initial actions adopted by organizations in the selected cases. The presence of silence (SONY, Fonterra, SGH) whereby organizations kept quiet for a number of days before announcing to the public (Seybold, 2011; Chapman-Smith, 2013) supports the arguments of Dearstyne (2007) and Penuel et al (2013) who believed the lack of response is unintentional as organizations lacked confirming information, therefore keeping quiet when possessing mixed information (Bagin & Fulginiti, 2005; Penuel, Statler, & Hagen, 2013). The provision of some form of adjusting and/or instructing information at the onset of their crises without further answers to the crisis, indicated their failure to understand that information is still required at different stages of a crisis (Penuel, Statler, & Hagen, 2013). This subsequently increases distress and anxiety in stakeholders, and in some instances like MH370, led to conspiracy theorizing. Thus, the IV in some cases (Sony, Maggi, MH370) could be due to unfavorable situations, causing organizations to be unable to communicate the needed information to the stakeholders (Penuel, Statler, & Hagem 2013).Also, “being where the action is” (Coombs & Holladay, 2012, p. 413) helped when Maggi and Sony broke their respective silences on social media through continued active online engagement with their stakeholders, addressing the hype, and mitigating the netizens’ initial negative and hostile tone towards that of a supportive one.



Figure 1. Information Vacuum Model and Information Vacuum Configuration Model. RQ 2: What happens in an information vacuum and what are the intensifying factors? While social media can be used passively to disseminate information (Lindsay, 2011), a spike is often witnessed at the initial stages of the IV. In crises, news organizations and social media can be two-edged swords (Picard, 2009) by amplifying the silence with their speculation and news, or hijacking the space by continual manufacturing of information that may not necessarily answer existing questions of the crisis; resulting in a confusing deluge of alternative answers, opinions, and information that expand the IV. Additionally, the uncertainty and misinformation in the IV can result in other parties distancing themselves from the crisis organization. This trend of dissociation was evident in majority of the cases such as dissociation by Tan Tock Seng Hospital and the National Kidney Foundation in SGH’s case (Nurses Follow, 2015; Lai, 2015), dissociation by Nestle in Fonterra’s case (Sethchem, 2013), and dissociation by the hacking group, Anonymous, in the Sony’s case (Tsukayama, 2011a). The cases showed that inadequate initial responses intensifies IV at the Beginning stage, fostering perceptions of a lack of active transparency, guilt, secrecy (Pang, 2013b) and organizational failure in information-sharing and accountability (Kim, Hong, & Cameron, 2014). This results in speculations and attribution of responsibility (Table 1), and the involvement of governments and/or other stakeholders to obtain information from the silent organizations for the affected parties (Rosenthal & Kouzmin, 1997). RQ 3: What are the stages within an information vacuum? Four stages of the IV (Table 1) were observed. They are not chronologically progressive but exist as periods within the IV; all organizations will start in “Beginnings” but may end differently. Through these stages, four types of possible configurations that can happen (diagram 1); Type 1 (Beginning, Escalation, Resolution), Type 2 (Beginning, Escalation, Limbo), Type 3 (Beginning, Escalation, Limbo, Resolution), and Type 4 (Beginning, Resolution).



The Beginning stage manifests along with the birth of a crisis when questions arise and is denoted by a prominent silence. Prolonged silence is apparent in Maggi’s case as the organisation kept quiet over 21 days (Maggi noodles timeline, n.d.), while Sony’s long silence was only interrupted by one announcement of adjustment and instructing information. For the cases of Fonterra and SGH, silence respectively began after providing misleading information on erroneous recall notices by Fonterra and speculations by SGH without confirmation regarding the cause of Hepatitis C infection. However, in MH370, its silence was due to the mystery surrounding the flight’s disappearance. While some of these organisations had issued initial statements early in the crisis, their silence and lack of action were pronounced, which led them into the Escalation stage. In the Escalation stage, IV is exacerbated by several intensifying factors. The first factor is the lack of information on the crisis, as demonstrated in MH370. The information shared was repetitive and obsolete, and the organization attempted to utilize speculations to answer questions that were asked of it (Eleftheriou-Smith, 2014). Second, attention on the crisis surges when the media hijacks the crisis. In the Maggie (India) case, the media offered differing angles spotlighting the crisis; such as police lodging action against endorsing celebrities (Jha, 2015), more states banning Maggi (Five more, 2015), Maggi’s withdrawal despite it being safe (Withdrawing Maggi, 2015), and political debates over its ban (Ambardar, 2015). Third, the reaction of the crisis’ stakeholders is another influential factor that escalates a crisis. In some cases, organisations had visible support from stakeholders while others experienced disassociation by relevant industry players and stakeholders, which further damaged the organisation’s image further. For example, former Maggi Spokesperson Amitabh Bachchan clarified that he was no longer the spokesperson (Amitabh Bachchan, 2015) when Maggi became embroiled in a crisis. Similarly, Anonymous, a group of hackers, disavowed responsibility for the intrusion of Sony’s systems (Tsukayama, 2011d). During the SGH crisis, Changi General Hospital and Tan Tock Seng Hospital distinguished themselves from the errant SGH by using the media to reassure the public of their safety procedures (Lai, 2015). Another form of escalation is when governments or authorities are called on or see fit to intervene, such as the Chinese Government’s intervention in Fonterra’s crisis (Scare makes headlines , 2013). All configurations share the Beginnings stage, with Type 1, Type 2 and Type 3 having the same initial two stages, but branch out to different stages hereafter. Type 1 (Beginning, Escalation, Resolution) In Type 1 Configuration, Resolution is the end stage, typified by satisfactory actions by the organisations or stakeholders. For example, government intervention and enquiries (Fonterra and SGH) alleviated the stakeholders’ worries and provided answers to the IV. This in turn suppresses the media hijacks in Fonterra’s case, while as the enquiry results culled speculations with verified answers in SGH’s case. Another observation in Resolution is the resumption to operational normalcy; Sony’s restoration of the PlayStation Network operations after 26 days of downtime (Tsukayama, 2011b) reduced concerns over the issue of the offline network, and terminated speculations regarding the restoration and further vulnerabilities of the system (Tsukayama, 2011c). Moreover, Sony’s sharing of compensation plans and insurance provision against identity theft facilitated the hacking crisis’s resolution, effectively tapering stakeholders’ interest.



Type 2 (Beginning, Escalation, Limbo) In Type 2 configuration, Limbo is the end stage, where organizations do not have or are unable to provide answers, as observed in MH370 when no agency was able to provide concrete information on the location of the missing plane (Tasnim, 2016). When all avenues are exhausted, the crisis then gradually becomes stale, which results in the media hype tapering down and stakeholders experiencing fatigue from the emotional toll of grief. This allows the IV’s transition into limbo. This supports Pang’s (2013b) suggestion of the IV disappearing when stakeholders are fatigued with the crisis. It is also suggested that a crisis’ unanswered questions in limbo would resurface when events related to the crisis occur, which renews memories of the crisis and reignites interest, such as the subsequent crash of MH17 from the same airliner (Nuradzimmah, 2015) or discovery of unidentified airplane wreckage over a year later (Hani, 2015). Type 3 (Beginning, Escalation, Limbo, Resolution) Type 3 configuration is a hypothetical extension of type 2 configuration, where new developments provide answers to the crucial questions and close the IV. For example, it is conceivable that if the black box for MH370 was to be found, the IV would be closed as stakeholder’s demand for certain answers and information is satisfied. Type 4 (Beginning, Resolution) A Type 4 configuration is a hypothetical one; an organization is well-prepared and has minimal limitation in obtaining and releasing information, thus avoiding Escalation and Limbo stages. Hence, Type 4 indicates a crisis whereby the organization responded swiftly and adequately to the IV and recognised as excellent example of crisis management; Singapore's People’s Association quick response (Wong, 2015) toward lapses uncovered by the Auditor General’s Office (Auditor General, 2015), and United States’ Burger King quick response (Dirty Lettuce, 2012) regarding errant workers who posted photos on social media of themselves standing on lettuce. RQ4: What leads to the closure or termination of the information vacuum? Closure of the IV, observed in the Maggi, Fonterra and Sony cases, begins with breaking the silence and the eventual provision of some form of resolution or compensation plan. For example, in Maggi’s case, proactive actions were taken to offer refunds for Maggi (MAGGI Noodles in India,n.d.) and a legal petition filed for a review on their product ban. (Maggi row, 2015). Moreover, when laboratory reports on Maggi cleared the safety tests (Arya, 2015), the media hype on Times of India declined 60-90% within two days of its release, with social media hype experiencing similar decline. Likewise, independent investigations conducted on Fonterra’s whey protein product showed it to be a false alarm (False alarm, 2013), and a similar fall was observed in the media and social media. In both cases, the released laboratory and investigation results adequately answered stakeholders’ and media’s questions, thus reducing their informationseeking efforts and demands (Coombs, 2006; White, 2009). Even though the organization was unable to "get the right information to the right person at the right time" (Penuel, Statler, & Hagen, 2013, p. 529), when it practices active transparency (Kim, Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 82


Hong, & Cameron, 2014) and releases factual, credible, and verified information, the need for knowledge is effectively satisfied and the IV works towards resolution. RQ5: What happens when an information vacuum remains unresolved? To answer the research question, the concept of perfect and imperfect types of IV is proposed. In a perfect IV, it follows a linear progression with a termination point, with all questions and doubts are accounted for by the end of the crisis or before the next crisis hits the organization. In other words, the IV could follow any configuration of stages that does not involve Limbo. Conversely, the imperfect IV consists of unanswered questions that survived the crisis' closure and continue to remain unresolved until the next crisis hits the organization. It manifests as a result of the crisis' unique complexity, causing organizations to face strong obstacles in obtaining necessary information. However, in the interim period between the closure of the first crisis and occurrence of the next crisis, the unanswered questions remain out of publics' and media's minds and attention. Stakeholders' and media interest wanes as a result of crisis fatigue, temporarily freezing the IV's growth. In other words, the surviving IV remains inert and possibly harmless, until a resurgence in interest due to new developments or a new crisis of similar nature. When this happens, the media is likely to magnify the crisis by relating the dormant unresolved queries with the new crisis' IV, resulting in an enlarged IV. However, if new information is supplied to satisfactorily answer existing questions, the imperfect IV becomes a perfect one and adopts a linear progression towards termination. Conclusion This study identified three silence types; natural, strategic, and evasive. First, natural silence by an organization due to situations and limitations preventing the organization from obtaining and releasing information to stakeholders, which is exemplified by MH370’s crisis. Second, strategic silence is manifested when organizations deliberately kept quiet but worked to acquire necessary results to break the silence with, as demonstrated in Sony, Maggi, SGH, and Fonterra cases. Last, evasive silence occurs when organizations deliberately maintained silence for as long as possible in hope that the crisis goes away (Penuel, Statler, & Hagen, 2013; Fearn-Banks, 2011). The examined cases demonstrated that an organization’s first formal response does not necessary quell the IV but exacerbated it; allowing its continued existence alongside the crisis until official replies satisfy the questions. Moreover, in the case of MH370, the IV’s prolonged existence is due to the crisis’ nature, which prevents the organization from providing closure. The case studies demonstrated stakeholders are satisfied when organizations provide immediate, adequate, transparent, credible, and consistent responses to stakeholders’ queries. In consideration of reviewed literatures and results thus far, the IV is hence defined as: The information vacuum is a period of persisting stakeholder and the media dissatisfaction and knowledge gaps between the onset of questions arising from a crisis and the organization's official satisfactory response to each of those queries. It is manifested as silence types and exacerbated by organization’s ability and willingness to provide timely and necessary information



Stages of the information vacuum The study, as a whole, allows practitioners to use it as a guide for navigating the IV and conceptualizing their crisis responses to mitigate the situation. Its results allow practitioners to identify their organization’s present stage in the IV and learn the IV’s mechanism to determine the appropriate actions necessary for contraction and resolution of the IV. As such, future research could investigate the extent of damages associated with the different configurations and efficacy of strategies employed in those permutations. Moreover, as the Type 4 configuration is presently hypothetical in nature, future research could test and verify Type 4’s viability and presence. As the cases are selected from different countries and societies, there is potential value in conducting future research that investigates the relationships between differing societal and/or organizational cultures and the IV. Finally, the findings can also help organizations improve on their preparation and planning of crisis responses and communications for effective management of the IV during a crisis and work towards a correspondingly swift and early closure of the crisis.



References Ambardar. S. (2015) “Ban Maggi or not? Panjab University hostels not sure” Times of India, Retrieved October 9, 2015, from Retrieved October 12, 2015, from Factiva news database. “Amitabh Bachchan clarifies that he had stopped endorsing Maggi two years ago”. (2015), Times of India, Retrieved October 12, 2015, from Factiva news database. Arya,S. (2015), “State FDA lab says Maggi is fine, but mum on MSG or lead”, Times of India, Retrieved October 12, 2015, from Factiva news database. “Auditor-General finds lapses at People's Association and Gardens by the Bay project“, (2015), Retrieved October 9, 2015, from The Straits Times:http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/auditor-generalfinds-lapses-at-peoples-association-and-gardens-by-the-bay-project. Austin, L., Fisher Liu, B., & Jin, Y. (2012), “How audiences seek out crisis information: Exploring the social-mediated crisis communication model”, Journal of Applied Communication Research, Vol 40, No. 3, pp. 188-207. Babchenko, A. (2008), “Information Vacuum”, Index On Censorship, Vol 37, No. 1, pp. 116-120. Bowen, S. A. (2009), “What communication professionals tell us regarding dominant coalition access and gaining membership”, Journal of Applied Communication Research, Vol 37, No. 4, pp. 427-452. Bruno, N. (2011), “Tweet first, verify later? How real-time information is changing the coverage of worldwide crisis events”, Retrieved October 12, 2015, from Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism: http://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/fileadmin/documents/Publications/fellowspapers/2010-2011/TWEET_FIRST_VERIFY_LATER.pdf. Chapman-Smith, B. (2013), “Farmer body chief backs Fonterra”, The New Zealand Herald, Retrieved 10 November 2015 from Factiva news database. Coombs, W. T., Holladay, S. J. (2011), The handbook of crisis communication, Wiley-Blackwell, Chichester, U.K, Malden, MA. Coombs, W.T. (2010), Parameters for crisis communication, In W. T. Coombs & S. J. Holladay (Eds.), Handbook of Crisis Communication,Wiley-Blackwell, Malden, MA. Coombs, W. T. (2012), Ongoing crisis communication (3rd ed.), Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA. Coombs, W. T. (2014), Ongoing Crisis Communication: Planning, Managing, and Responding: Planning, Managing, and Responding, Sage Publications. Coombs, W. T. (2015a), Ongoing crisis communication (4th ed.), Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA. Coombs, W. T. (2015b), “The value of communication during a crisis: Insights from strategic communication research”, Business Horizons, Vol58, pp. 141-148. Dandira, M. (2012), “Strategy in crisis: Knowledge vacuum in practitioners”, Business Strategy Series, Vol 13, No. 3, pp. 128-135. “Dirty lettuce photo gets 3 Burger King workers fired”, (2012), Retrieved October 9, 2015, from CBS News:http://www.cbsnews.com/news/dirty-lettuce-photo-gets-3-burger-king-workers-fired/ Eleftheriou-Smith, L. (2014, March 30). Missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370: Secret services involvement in investigation sparks speculation over terrorism. Independent. Retrieved from http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/secret-services-involvement-in-missing-malaysiaflight-mh370-investigation-sparks-speculation-of-9224282.html “Five more states ban Maggi, Karnataka gives it a thumbs up”, (2015), Retrieved October 9, 2015, from Times of India: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Five-more-states-ban-Maggi-Karnatakagives-it-a-thumbs-up/articleshow/47571019.cms Gruber, D. A., Smerck, R. E., Thomas-Hunt, M. C., & James, E. H. (2015), “The real-time power of Twitter: Crisis management and leadership in an age of social media”, Business Horizons, Vol 58, pp. 163-172. Hani. S.S. (2015) “Police await Philippine confirmation on claims of plane wreckage” Retrieved November 30, 2015, from New Straits Times: http://www.nst.com.my/news/2015/10/police-await-philippineconfirmation-claims-plane-wreckage?d=1 Heath, R. L. (2006), “Best practices in crisis communication: Evolution of practice through research”, Journal of Applied Communication Research, Vol 34, No. 3, pp. 245-248. Hermida, A. (2012), “Social journalism: Exploring how social media is shaping journalism. In E. Siapera & Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 85


A. Veglis (Eds.), The handbook of global online journalism” John Wiley & Sons, Inc, Malden, MA. “Hold your head up Malaysia” (2015), The New Straits Times, Retrieved November 13, 2015, from Factiva database. Johnson, T., & Kaye, B. (2010), “Choosing is believing? How Web gratifications and reliance affect Internet credibility among politically interested users” Atlantic Journal of Communication,Vol 18, No. 1, pp. 1-21. Kim, B., Hong, S. & Cameron, G. T. (2014),”What corporations say matters more than what they say they do? A test of truth claim and transparency in press releases on corporate websites and Facebook pages”, Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, Vol 91, No.4, pp. 811-829. Lai, L. (2015), “Public hospitals explain their infection control measures” The Straits Times, Retrieved 10 November 2015 from Factiva news database. Lindsay, B. R. (2011), “Social media and disasters: Current uses, future options, and policy considerations”. Lindsay, B. R. (2011). Social media and disasters: current uses, future options, and policy considerations”, Congressional Research Services Report 7-5700. Liu, B. F., Austin, L., & Jin, Y. (2011), “How publics respond to crisis communication strategies: The interplay of information form and source”’ Public Relations Review, Vol 37, No. 4, pp. 345-353. Mackey, R. (2014), “Rumor and Leaks Fill a Void as Israel Silences Press Over Killings” Retrieved October 9, 2015, from The New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/11/world/middleeast/rumor-and-leaks-fill-a-void-as-israelsilences-press-over-killings.html?_r=0 “Maggi noodles timeline of events”, (n.d.), Retrieved October 9, 2015, from Nestle Website: http://www.nestle.com/ask-nestle/maggi-noodles-india-msg-lead-ban-recall/answers/magginoodles-india-overview-timeline “Maggi row: Bihar court orders FIR against 3 actors, Kerala” (2015), Press Trust of India, Retrieved 10 November 2015 from Factiva news database. “Missing Malaysia Airlines plane: Timeline of events on Flight MH370” (2014), The Straits Times Online. Retrieved from www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/missing-malaysia-airlines-plane-timeline-ofevents-on-flight-mh370 Mann, C. J. (2003), “Observational research methods. Research design II: cohort, cross sectional, and casecontrol studies”. Emergency Medicine Journal, Vol 20, No.1, pp. 54-60. Marra, F. J. (2004),”Excellent crisis communication: Beyond crisis plans. In D. P. Millar and R. L. Heath (Eds.), Responding to a crisis: A rhetorical approach to crisis communication (pp. 311-326)”, Lawrence Erlbaum, Mahwah, NJ. Nuradzimmah, D. (2015), “RM231.45 million spent in search for MH370” Retrieved November 30, 2015, from New Straits Times: http://www.nst.com.my/news/2015/11/113579/rm23145-million-spentsearch-mh370 “Nurses follow strict procedures to ensure safety of patients: NKF”(2015), Channel Newsasia, Retrieved 10 November 2015 from Factiva news database. Pang, A. (2013a), “Social media hype in times of crises: Nature, characteristics and impact on organizations”, Asia Pacific Media Educator, Vol 23, No. 2, pp. 309-336. Pang, A. (2013b), “Dealing with External Stakeholders during the Crisis: Managing the Information Vacuum. In A. J. DuBrin (Ed.). Handbook of Research on Crisis Leadership in Organizations (pp.209229)”, Edward-Elgar Publishing, Northampton, MA. Pang, A., Jin, Y., & Cameron, G. T. (2010), “Strategic Management of Communication: Insights from the Contingency Theory of Strategic Conflict Management. In R. L. Heath (Ed.). Sage Handbook of Public Relations (pp. 17-34)”, Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA. Pang, A., Nasrath, B., & Chong, A. (2014), “Negotiating crisis in the social media environment: Evolution of crises online, gaining credibility offline”, Corporate Communications: An International Journal , Vol 19 No. 1, pp. 96-118. Picard, R. G. (2009), “Blogs, tweets, social media, and the news business”, Nieman Reports, Vol 63, No.3, pp. 10. Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 86


Procopio, C. H., & Procopio, S. T. (2007), “Do you know what it means to miss New Orleans? Internet communication, geographic community, and social capital in crisis”, Journal of Applied Communication Research, Vol 35, No. 1, pp. 67-87. Rosenthal, U., & Kouzmin, A. (1997), “Crises and crisis management: Toward comprehensive government decision making”, Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, Vol 7, No. 2, pp. 277304. “Scare makes headlines across Asia”, (2013), The New Zeland Herald, Retrieved on 16 October, 2015 from Factiva News database. Seybold, P. (2011), “Update on PlayStation Network and Qriocity”, Retrieved October 16, 2015, from http://blog.us.playstation.com/2011/04/26/update-on-playstation-network-and-qriocity/ Tasnim. L. (2016) “Search for MH370 will be completed by middle of next year; no more expansion of search area: ATSB”, Retrieved November 30, 2015, from New Straits Times: Tsukayama, H. (2011a), “PlayStation Network still down after ‘external intrusion’; PlayStation Network has been down for five days, following an outside attack”, Washington Post, Retrieved on 16 October, 2015 from Factiva News database. Tsukayama, H. (2011b), “Sony restores PlayStation Network, Sony Online Entertainment; After 26 days, Sony restores PlayStation Network, Sony Online Entertainment”, Washington Post, Retrieved on 16 October, 2015 from Factiva News database. Tsukayama, H. (2011c), “Sony: PlayStation network likely to take ‘a few more days’ to get back up; Nearly three weeks after shutting down its PlayStation Network, Sony has no solid timeline for when it will be back”, Washington Post, Retrieved on 16 October, 2015 from Factiva News database. Tsukayama, H. (2011d), “Anonymous denies breaching Sony servers, again; Anonymous said that it is not responsible for the credit card theft during a Sony breach and has never stolen credit card information as part of its attacks.”, Washington Post, Retrieved on 16 October, 2015 from Factiva News database. Vasterman, P. L. (2005), “Media-hype self-reinforcing news waves, journalistic standards and the construction of social problems”, European Journal of Communication, Vol 20, No. 4, pp. 508530. Wein, C. & Elmelmund-Praestekaer, C. (2009), “An anatomy of media hypes” European Journal of Communication, Vol 24, No.2, pp. 183-201. Westerman, D., Spence, P. R., & Van Der Heide, B. (2014), “Social media as information source: Recency of updates and credibility of information” Journal of Computer‐Mediated Communication, Vol 19, No.2, pp. 171-183. White, C. (2009), “Examining a crisis communication void: The role of context to mitigate issues”, Journal of Communication Management, Vol 13, No. 2, pp. 176-190. “Withdrawing Maggi from Indian market, but product safe: Nestle global CEO”, (2015), Retrieved October 9, 2015, from Times of India: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Withdrawing-Maggi-fromIndian-market-but-product-safe-Nestle-global-CEO/articleshow/47553120.cms Wong S. Y, (2015), “PA investigates lapses at grassroots organisations flagged by Auditor-General” Retrieved October 9, 2015, from The Straits Times:http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/painvestigates-lapses-at-grassroots-organisations-flagged-by-auditor-general


Health Impact of Excessive Screen Time A Smoldering Crisis for Organizations Ernest F. Martin Jr. Virginia Commonwealth University, USA [email protected]

Purpose: This paper is a review of research pointing to a smoldering crisis – the negative effects of computers and screen time among organizations employees. Approach: The approach is a review of screen time studies. Since limited research has specifically addressed impact on workers, research on other populations will be shown with implications to workers. We conclude by discussing recommendations to reduce hazardous impact and their controversies. Findings: The paper addresses research on health issues of excessive use of screen time: 1. Vision problems 2. Musculoskeletal problems 3. Sleep problems 4. Increased stress 5. Undesirable eating habits 6. Shortened life expectancy 7. Cardiovascular health problems and diabetes 8. Cognitive problems from atrophy of brain areas and functions negatively impacting: a) executive functions such as planning, prioritizing, organizing; b) our capacity to develop empathy and compassion for others and ability to integrate physical signals with emotion; c) the suppression of socially unacceptable impulses; d) the loss of communication within the brain; e) functions of movement, memory, pleasurable reward, attention, sleep, mood, and learning. Research implications: This review of previous research and the framework can be used for primary research on excessive screen time impact in organizations. Practical implications: Health impact of excessive screen time is a serious business problem for organizations -- it is not generally recognized but which may generate negative news coverage if or when it goes 'public' and could result in reputational loss and other costs. Keywords: Screen time; health impact; smoldering crisis Paper type: General review

Smoldering Crisis – Negative Effects of Computers and Screen Time among Employees A smoldering crisis is defined as a serious business problem that is not generally recognized but which may generate negative news coverage if or when it goes 'public' and could result in fines, penalties, legal damage awards, unbudgeted expenses, and other costs (Encyclopedia for Small


Health Impact of Excessive Screen Time

Business, 2016). Many smoldering crises have emerged in the past, including asbestos in the workplace (Goguen, 2016). Other categories include government regulatory actions, litigation, product recalls, and investor or consumer activism. This paper is an initial exploration of a smoldering crisis rarely talked about – the negative effects of computers and screen time among organization employees. We spend a great deal of our time connected to a screen – including computers, mobile devices and televisions. How much time do you spend in front of a screen? It is more than you think. When you review your day, taking into account that you watch the weather channel when you wake up, then check your email, then surf Facebook on your smart phone on the bus to work, then work 8 hours on a computer and checking Twitter on your smartphone, come home and put the TV news on over dinner, then tune into your favorite prime time shows while periodically checking in with Facebook, you realize that nearly all of your waking hours are spent in front of a screen. In 2014, average time spent per day for US adults in front of a screen with major media is 10 hours and 18 minutes. They are in front their televisions for an average of 4 hours 28 minutes per day. Online and mobile devices combined add 5 hours 46 minutes. Again, total is 10:18 minutes average per person (eMarketer, 2014). The trend toward more screen time is increasing and is about 1 ½ hours more per day than in 2010. Mobile (nonvoice) is the primary driver of the increased screen time. 64% of American adults now own a smartphone of some kind, up from 35% in the spring of 2011 (Smith, 2015). Industry analysts argue that it is “increasingly clear that consumers see no significant divide between digital and traditional media: what they want is more flexibility, freedom and convenience in when and how they consume any kind of content. Instead of a divided landscape, what we have is a fluid and multifaceted ecosystem – one where new digital offerings have created a bigger, more diverse content universe, and where digital has accelerated delivery across platforms” (PwC, 2016). Industry will continue to supply more of what the consumer wants, and consumer time spent with media will likely continue to increase. The work environment is also contributing. For many of the approximately 40 percent of American workers considered to be white-collar workers, work means staring at a computer for the better part of eight hours a day (Rickert, 2013). A large block of that time is spent in the workplace or work-related outside the office. Computers and mobile devices have transformed the workplace and society as a whole, providing countless tools for business and easier access to information. However, there are negative effects. Some are on processes, but the potential flashpoints are the health effects on workers. Clearly, we spend a great deal of our time connected to a screen – including work, television, Internet browsing and mobile phones. It is a fair question to ask. What is the harm in using screens all the time if they increase productivity and keep you connected to the world and to each other? This review of recent research on the hazards of excessive screen time indicates major impact – and it is not good.



Process Problems with Excessive Screen Time for Employees Three process problems with excessive screen time are highlighted: 1. Communication breakdowns, 2. Distractions; 3. Disconnectedness

Communication breakdowns Due to the prevalence of computers and smartphones in the workplace, email, texting and messaging are now common modes of professional communication – with many miscommunication issues. Many employees struggle with successfully communicating messages because of writing skills. Even the most-skilled writer, however, can fail in the tone in electronic messages. Messages meant as neutral can be interpreted as critical (Markovich, 2016). Distractions According to CNET News, office workers are interrupted approximately every three minutes by emails, instant messages, phone calls or other distractions. This decreases productivity as it takes eight minutes for the brain to achieve a creative state (Fried, 2005). In addition to legitimate work-based interruptions, technology-driven distractions such as social media, online games and news feeds distract employees. Disconnectedness A sense of disconnectedness can stem from a various areas. According to Communications Workers of America, “many jobs have become more fragmented and job tasks have been narrowed, leaving workers more disconnected from the final product.” This disconnectedness can lead to less workplace satisfaction and more workplace boredom. In addition, collaborating and communicating via computers instead of in person can leave employees feeling disconnected from their peers and superiors (Markovich, 2016). Health Hazards of Excessive Screen Time Computer-induced health problems can be an umbrella term for the various problems a computer user can develop from prolonged or incorrect computer use. It is the potential health hazards that create the smoldering crisis for organizations. There are eight categories: 1. Vision problems; 2. Musculoskeletal problems. 3. Sleep problems; 4. Increased stress; 5. Undesirable eating habits; 6. Shortened life expectancy; 7. Cardiovascular health problems and diabetes; 8. Cognitive problems Vision problems Eye strain from hours of screen time can result in eye irritation, dryness, fatigue, blurred vision, and near sightedness are increasingly common. Staring at a computer monitor for hours on end has also become a part of the modern workday. Inevitably, all of that staring can put a real strain on your eyes (Krivich, 2013).



The name for eye problems caused by computer use is computer vision syndrome (CVS). CVS is not one specific eye problem. Instead, the term encompasses a whole range of eye strain and pain experienced by computer users. Research shows computer eye problems are common. Somewhere between 50% and 90% of people who work at a computer screen have at least some symptoms of eye trouble (WebMD, 2015). Most digital screens are backlit and emit blue light, or high-energy visible (HEV) light wavelengths, which can cause irritation and possibly long-term damage to the retina. Blue light is also known to suppress the sleep hormone melatonin, causing an artificial feeling of wakefulness and disrupting sleep patterns, which can add to eye strain (Seidman, 2015). Dryness, caused by reduced blinking while staring at screens, is also a common factor in digital eye strain. A person's blink rate -- normally about 15-20 times per minute -- can decrease by up to half when people are fixated on what they're viewing on a screen. Just like other muscles in the body, the eyes need a varied "workout" and some respite from prolonged strain (Seidman, 2015). Findings, originally published in the American Journal of Human Genetics, point to lifestyle factors rather than genetics. In Sweden, 50% of 12-year-old children are shortsighted. That is expected to be 70% by the time they are 18. More than 34 million Americans have myopia, projected to reach 40 million by 2030 (Seidman, 2015). Musculoskeletal problems Another medical issue caused by the use of computers is back and posture problems. These problems relate to musculoskeletal disorders caused by the need for the user to be crouched and hunched. Wahistrom (2005) found that women are at a greater risk than men to suffer from musculoskeletal problems than men. Women may assume more taxing positions while working than men do due to differences in anthropometrics. Anthropometrics (human measurement) is concerned with the physical sizes and shapes of humans. Traditionally the medical problem associated with computer-related work is carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS). CTS is a stress-related injury caused by repetitive movement of joints, especially the wrist, and can lead to numerous musculoskeletal problems. It has become very common among computer professionals due to poorly placed computer components and extensive typing over a long period (Ali and Sathiyasekaran, 2006). Studies conducted show that one in eight computer professionals suffer from CTS(Anderson et.al., 2003). This study was conducted over 21 companies and the majority of sufferers said that they experienced acute and in some cases severe pain due to CTS. The main cause of CTS seems to be debatable, however, with some saying that the syndrome is predominantly caused by the acute positioning of the wrist while typing and this problem is exacerbated by the need for the user to be crouching towards the screen while typing. Others cite the mouse as being the main cause of CTS (Anderson et.al, 2003).



Employers in major companies are also taking measures to ameliorate CTS by implementing frequent work breaks and work rotation procedures to ensure that employees are not working on a single computer for hours on end. A higher level of intensity of computer work results in higher risk for CTS. In a study of the prevalence of health disorders among computer professionals and its association with working environment conditions, researchers used a sample of 200 computer professionals, from Delhi and NCR that included software developers, call center workers, and data entry workers (Talwar et. al., 2009). The prevalence of visual problems in the study group was 76% (152/200), and musculoskeletal problems were reported by 76.5% (153/200). It was found that there was a gradual increase in visual complaints as the number of hours spent for working on computers daily increased and the same relation was found to be true for musculoskeletal problems as well. Visual problems were less in persons using antiglare screen, and those with adequate lighting in the room. Musculoskeletal problems were found to be significantly lesser among those using cushioned chairs and soft keypad (Talwar et. al., 2009). Excessive use of smartphones and other hand-held mobile devices can also cause musculoskeletal problems. Kim and Kim (2015) investigated the use of smartphones by university students in selected areas, their musculoskeletal symptoms, and the associated hazard ratio. This involved the completion of a self-administered questionnaire by dental hygiene students in Seoul, Gyeonggido, and Gyeongsangbukdo. The 292 completed copies of the questionnaire were then analyzed. The most painful body regions after the use of smartphones were found to be the shoulders and neck. The use of hand held devices such as mobile phones, game controls, tablets, portable media players and personal digital assistants have increased dramatically in past decade. While sending a text message or using the controls of the handheld device, the users need to use their thumb and other palm muscles extensively. Deepak et.al. (2014) concluded that mobile phones and devices that promoted the predominant usage of thumb or only one finger while texting or using the controls were associated with a higher prevalence of musculoskeletal problems. Treatment using a sequenced rehabilitation protocol was found to be effective. Sleep problems An additional hazard of screen time is its effect on sleep for adults and children. Getting engrossed in a TV show, video game or Internet social media often delays bedtime and stimulates the brain, further delaying sleep (Cain and Gradisar, 2010). Exposure to the bright light radiating from a TV or computer screen close to bedtime inhibits the body’s melatonin production, making it more difficult to fall asleep (Van den Buick, 2010). Both evening and daytime screen time can adversely affect nighttime sleep for children. A study of 3 to 5 year olds found that sleep problems were more likely with exposure to violent content during the day and any screen time after 7:00 p.m. (Garrison et.al, 2011). Increased stress Learning new computer skills and programs can put stress on workers, especially older or lesseducated workers. In addition to this, employees are constantly connected to co-workers, clients, Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 92


vendors and business networks throughout the workday. Because interactions can happen instantaneously, often with a desire for instant responses, this can cause additional stress in the workplace (Markovich, 2016). Orman (2010) discussed 10 causes for computer related stress for employees. Most are employee failings, such as failing to anticipate problems. Undesirable eating habits The classic “coach potato” image -- becoming fat and unhealthy from watching too much TV – is well grounded in scientific research. In a study of 11,658 children aged 5-19, researchers collected information on height, weight and time spent watching television after school. They found that for every 30 minutes of average daily viewing of television, a child is 21 percent more likely to be obese (Tudor-Locke et.al, 2011). Food advertisements, in addition to lack of physical activity, often are blamed for childhood obesity. Fast food commercials are twice as common and candy commercials three times as likely during children’s programs compared with adult programs (Neville and Bauman, 2005). Another investigation found that ads for unhealthy foods are rampant during children’s TV shows around the world (Kelly et al., 2010). Do these commercials make a difference in how kids eat? Research suggests that they do. A study of fifth and sixth grade students revealed that those who watch more television have for positive attitudes toward junk food (Dixon et. al., 2007). Furthermore, teenagers surveyed in another study reported more consumption of heavy sugar beverages and foods, if they watched more than two hours of TV daily (Rey-Lopez et. al., 2011). An earlier study found for every two hours of daily TV viewing increases obesity risk by 23 percent and diabetes risk by 14 percent (Hu et. al., 2003). Commercials are not the only reason screen time is associated with poor eating habits. Distractions while eating seem to dull the sensory experience, resulting in less satisfaction and more likelihood of overeating later to compensate. College students who ate lunch while watching TV were less able to recall what they ate and consumed more snack food later compared with students who ate identical lunches without the TV on (Higgs and Woodward, 2009). Similar results were found when participants played video games while eating (OldhamCooper et. al., 2011). A 2012 U.S. Department of Agriculture publication (USDA 2012) noted, “strong and consistent evidence in both children and adults ... that screen time is directly associated with increased overweight and obesity.” Shortened life expectancy In one study, people who watch an average of six hours of TV daily have a life expectancy of nearly five years less than those who watch no TV (Beckford, 2011). Another shocking statistic from the study is that, on average, for adults over age 25, each hour of TV time takes 21.8 minutes off life expectancy (Veerman et al., 2012). Research also associates screen time with higher mortality from all causes (Dunstan et. al., 2010). Cardiovascular health problems and diabetes Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 93


Excessive screen time links with several health risks beyond obesity. Research connected watching over two hours of TV daily to increased risk of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease, blaming both unhealthy food choices and replacement of physical activity with TV. The study found that every two hours of daily TV viewing increases obesity risk by 23 percent and diabetes risk by 14 percent (Grontved and Hu, 2011). Even among younger people, cardiovascular risk is connected to screen time. A study of seventh grade students in Australia found significant increases in blood pressure for every hour spent in front of the TV or computer (Tohidi et. al., 2012). Cognitive problems A variety of screen time –brain linkages have been identified in the research literature. Lin and Zhou et. al. (2012) concluded about brain scan studies on Internet and gaming addiction: “Taken together, internet addiction is associated with structural and functional changes in brain regions involving emotional processing, executive attention, decision making, and cognitive control.” Studies indicating atrophy of gray matter areas where processing occurs in internet/gaming addicted subjects include Zhou et al (2011), Yuan et al (2011), and Weng et al (2013). Areas affected included the frontal lobe, which governs executive functions, such as planning, planning, prioritizing, organizing, and impulse control. Volume loss was also seen in the striatum, which is involved in reward pathways and the suppression of socially unacceptable impulses. Additionally, there is gray matter reduction in an area known is the insula, which is involved in our capacity to develop empathy and compassion for others and our ability to integrate physical signals with emotion. Studies indicating increased problems with white matter integrity include Lin et al (2012), Yuan et al (2011), Hong et al (2013) and Weng et al (2013). Reduced white matter integrity translates into loss of communication within the brain, including connections to and from various lobes of the same hemisphere, links between the right and left hemispheres, and paths between higher (cognitive) and lower (emotional and survival) brain centers. White matter also connects networks from the brain to the body and vice versa. Interrupted connections may cause signals to slow down, short-circuit or misfire. Several studies link cognitive impairment and screen time. Hong et al (2013), and Yuan et al (2011) found reduced cortical thickness (the outermost part of the brain) in the frontal lobe of online gaming addicts (late adolescent males and females) correlated with impairment of a cognitive task. Other studies have found less efficient information processing and reduced impulse inhibition (Dong et al, 2012), increased sensitivity to rewards and insensitivity to loss (Dong et al, 2013, and abnormal spontaneous brain activity associated with poor task performance (Yuan et. al., 2011). Uhls et al (2014) found that sixth-graders who went five days without even glancing at a smartphone, television or other digital screen did substantially better at reading human emotions than sixth-graders from the same school who continued to spend hours each day looking at their electronic devices.



Other findings in internet addiction include reduced numbers of dopamine receptors and transporters (Kim, 2011) and (Hou, 2012). Some notable functions of dopamine are movement, memory, pleasurable reward, attention, sleep, mood, and learning. Controversy about Recommendations for Screen Time Reduction For decades, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP, 2015) has warned that children need to cut back on their screen time. The group's latest prescription: Entertainment "screen time" should be limited to two hours a day for children ages 3-18. For 2-year-olds and younger, none at all. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reinforced the same time limit recommendations (CDC, 2002). Of course, there is some controversy. Even the AAP debates modifications (AAP, 2014) Zero to Three, a nonprofit research organization focused on infants, toddlers and their families, published “Screen Sense: Setting the Record Straight” (Zero to Three, 2015). The report summarized existing research and encouraged child-adult interactions. It concluded that screen time is most effective when adults and children use electronic devices together. As media multiplies, it is increasingly difficult to manage screen time. Decades ago, television and radio were the only tech distraction. Now have smartphones, tablets and laptops — not to mention electronic games. A recommendation from Summers (2014) is to media a part of our lives, but in a planned, sensible way. Families should encourage a "healthy media diet" for their children. Parents and kids should work together to decide how much time to spend with media every day, and to make sure good choices are being made about what media to take in. A sensible rule set for adults comes from Monahan (2013):  Establish three ½-hour intervals a day (outside of sleeping) to not look at a screen at all.  Never bring any device other than an electric toothbrush into the bathroom.  Three times a week pick up the phone to talk to a friend rather than text, tweet or Facebook message them.  Three times a week spend a whole commute (train ride) reading a book (not on phone or handheld device).  Once a week, take photos with an actual camera.  Once a month write three cards/letters to friends or loved ones.  Instead of immediately tweeting something you think is interesting or pithy, share it in a verbal conversation with a friend, colleague or family member.  Start a journal and commit to writing in it one Sunday a month. Writing does not have to be prose, could include germs of ideas, song lyrics, silly observations or drawings.

To reduce vision problems from screen time, recommendations are to follow the 20-20-20 rule. Every 20 minutes that you are on a computer or a mobile device, look away from the computer at an object at 20 feet away or further for 20 seconds or more. That will let those eye muscles relax. Just like other muscles in the body, the eyes need a varied "workout" and some relief from prolonged strain (Seidman, 2015). Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 95


As a final suggestion, which has support, but does need further research: meditation and/or yoga. Just look at three areas, musculoskeletal improvement, stress relief, and brain and cognitive function repair. Musculoskeletal improvement and pain relief Posture can help reduce the strain. Health.com (2016) has 10 ways to improve posture including yoga (health.com, 2016). Nassif et al (2014) evaluated the effectiveness of mindfulness meditation for managing chronic pain in U.S. military veterans who sustained a trauma brain injury during deployment to Afghanistan or Iraq. Musculoskeletal pain conditions were the most frequently diagnosed health condition in this military cohort, exceeding any other medical or psychological concern. Dr. Richard Miller developed iRest which promotes deep relaxation through breathing, guided imagery, and progressive relaxation techniques. Findings from this pilot study lend support for the potential effectiveness of iRest for pain. Stress reduction Mayo Clinic (2016) as well as many others, praise various forms of mindful meditation for stress reduction. Heading their web page, they pointedly state “Meditation can wipe away the day's stress, bringing with it inner peace.” Brain and cognitive function repair Sara Lazar, a neuroscientist at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School tested the possible benefits of meditation in brain scans. What she found surprised her — that meditating can literally change your brain (Schulte, 2015). Her first study looked at long-term meditators vs a control group. She found long-term meditators have an increased amount of gray matter in the insula and sensory regions, the auditory and sensory cortex. That makes sense. When you are mindful, you are paying attention to your breathing, to sounds, to the present moment experience, and shutting cognition down. It is reasonable senses would be enhanced. She also found they had more gray matter in the frontal cortex, which is associated with working memory and executive decision-making. Our cortex shrinks as we get older – it is harder to figure things out and remember things. Nevertheless, in this one region of the prefrontal cortex, 50-yearold meditators had the same amount of gray matter as 25-year-olds Lazar et al, 2005). Maybe the people with more gray matter in the study had more gray matter before they started meditating. It led to a second study by the team. They took people who had never meditated before, and put one group through an eight-week mindfulness-based stress reduction program. They found differences in brain volume after eight weeks in five different regions in the brains of the two groups. In the group that learned meditation, we found thickening in four regions: 1. The primary difference was found in the posterior cingulate, which is involved in mind wandering, and self-relevance. 2. The left hippocampus, which assists in learning, cognition, memory and emotional regulation. 3. The temporo parietal junction, or TPJ, which is associated with perspective taking, empathy and compassion. 4. An area of the brain stem called the Pons, where many regulatory neurotransmitters are produced.



The amygdala, the fight or flight part of the brain that is important for anxiety, fear and stress in general. That area got smaller in the group that went through the mindfulness-based stress reduction program. The change in the amygdala was also correlated to a reduction in stress levels. This data showed changes in the brain after just eight weeks. In a mindfulness-based stress reduction program, the subjects took a weekly class. They were given a recording and told to practice 40 minutes a day at home. Some did less. The average time was 27 minutes -- about a half hour a day (Holzel et al., 2011) Implications In organizations programs can be developed to assist employees in countering the potential negative effects of computers and screen time. The health impact can be: 1. Vision problems; 2. Musculoskeletal problems. 3. Sleep problems; 4. Increased stress; 5. Undesirable eating habits; 6. Shortened life expectancy; 7. Cardiovascular health problems and diabetes; 8. Cognitive problems. On a basic level, employees can be encouraged to follow the 20-20-20 and physical break times. Additionally, yoga programs may reduce the musculoskeletal impact. On a higher level to counter to brain and cognitive function impact of excessive screen use, mindfulness meditation programs can be implemented. Research needs to be conducted within organizations to fine-tune the programs and test their efficacy.



References Ali, KM and Sathiyasekaran, BW (2006). "Computer professionals and Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS)". International Journal of Occupational Safety and Ergonomics 12 (3): 319–25. PMID 16984790. American Academy of Pediatrics (2015). “Managing media: We need a plan” https://www.aap.org/en-us/about-the-aap/aap-press-room/pages/managing-media-we-need-aplan.aspx American Academy of Pediatrics (2014). “Digital divide: Pediatricians debate whether tots should have access to electronic devices” http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2014-10/aaopddp100314.php Andersen, J. H.; Thomsen, JF; Overgaard, E; Lassen, CF; Brandt, LP; Vilstrup, I; Kryger, AI; Mikkelsen, S (2003), "Computer Use and Carpal Tunnel Syndrome: A 1-Year Follow-up Study". JAMA 289 (22): 2963–9. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12799404 Beckford, M. (2011). “Every hour of TV watching shortens life by 22 minutes” The Telegraph August 15, 2011 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/health/news/8702101/Every-hour-of-TVwatching-shortens-life-by-22-minutes.html BBC News (2005). “TV daily limit call ‘unrealistic’” 3 October 2005 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4295272.stm Cain N, Gradisar M (2010) “Electronic media use and sleep in school-aged children and adolescents: a review”. Sleep Medicine 11:735–42 2010. doi:10.1016/j.sleep.2010.02.006 CDC (2002). “Decreasing Screen Time” 08-19-02 http://www.cdc.gov/youthcampaign/pressroom/article/decreasing-screen.htm Deepak, S., Mathankumar, M., Rameshkumar, R. and Jeena J. (2014). “Musculoskeletal Disorders of the Upper Extremities Due to Extensive Usage of Hand Held Devices” Annals of Occupational and Environmental Medicine 2014; 26: 22. Published online 2014 Aug 6. doi: 10.1186/s40557-014-0022-3 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4387778/ Dixon HG, Scully ML, Wakefield MA, White VM, Crawford DA. (2007). “The effects of television advertisements for junk food versus nutritious food on children's food attitudes and preferences” Social Science and Medicine 65(7):1311-23 Dong, G, Devito, E, Du, X. and Cui Z. (2012). “Impaired inhibitory control in ‘Internet Addiction Disorder’: A functional magnetic resonance imaging study.” Psychiatry Research 203:153–158. doi:10.1016/j.pscychresns.2012.02.00. Dong, G, Hu, Y. and Lin, X. (2013) “Reward/punishment sensitivities among internet addicts: Implications for their addictive behaviors.” Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology & Biological Psychiatry 46: 139–145. doi:10.1016/j.pnpbp.2013.07.007. Dunstan DW, Barr EL, Healy GN, Salmon J, Shaw JE, Balkau B, Magliano DJ, Cameron AJ, Zimmet PZ, Owen N. (2010). “Television viewing time and mortality: the Australian Diabetes, Obesity and Lifestyle Study (AusDiab)” Circulation. 121(3):384-91. doi: 10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.109.894824. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20065160 eMarketer, (2014). “Mobile Continues to Steal Share of US Adults' Daily Time Spent with Media”. April 22, 2014 http://www.emarketer.com/Article/Mobile-Continues-Steal-Share-of-USAdults-Daily-Time-Spent-with-Media/1010782 Encylopedia for Small Business (2016). “Crisis management” http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/small/Co-Di/Crisis-Management.html Fried, I. (2005). “Driven to distraction by technology Driven to distraction by technology: Workers drowning in e-mail, cell calls and IMs are finding ways to break free--and software makers are trying to meet their needs” CNET Tech Culture. December 5, 2005 http://www.cnet.com/news/driven-to-distraction-by-technology/ Garrison MM, Liekweg K, Christakis DA. (2011) “Media use and child sleep: the impact of content, timing, and environment” Pediatrics 128(1):29-35 doi: 10.1542/peds.2010-3304. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21708803



Goguen, D. (2016) “Asbestos exposure and mesothelioma risks on the job: the facts” Asbestos in the Workplace NOLO http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/asbestos-workplace-33066.html Grøntvd, A., & Hu, F. B. (2011). “Television viewing and risk of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and all-cause mortality: a meta-analysis” JAMA: the journal of the American Medical Association, 305(23), 2448-55. 10.1001/jama.2011.812 Health.com (2016) “10 ways to have great posture as you age” http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20446224_6,00.html Higgs, S. and Woodward, M. (2009) “Television watching during lunch increases afternoon snack intake of young women” Appetite. 52(1):39-43. doi: 10.1016/j.appet.2008.07.007. Hölzel, BK, Carmody,J., Vangel, M. Congleton,C. Yerramsetti, SM, Gard,T. and Lazara, SW (2011). “Mindfulness practice leads to increases in regional brain gray matter density” Psychiatry Research 191(1): 36–43. doi: 10.1016/j.pscychresns.2010.08.006 Hong, SB, Zalesky, A., Cocchi, L., Fornito, A., Choi, EJ, Kim, HH, Suh, JE, Kim, CD, Kim, JW, and Yi, S (2013), “Decreased Functional Brain Connectivity in Adolescents with Internet Addiction.” PLoS ONE 8, no. 2 (February 25, 2013): e57831. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0057831. Haifeng, H, Jia, S, Hu, S, Fan, R, Sun, W, Sun, T and Zhang, H. (2012), “Reduced Striatal Dopamine Transporters in People with Internet Addiction Disorder.” Journal of Biomedicine & Biotechnology 2012: 854524. doi:10.1155/2012/854524. Hu FB, Li TY, Colditz GA, Willett WC, Manson JE. (2003). “Television watching and other sedentary behaviors in relation to risk of obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus in women” JAMA 289: 1785-91. Kelly B, Halford JC, Boyland EJ, Chapman K, Bautista-Castaño I, Berg C, Caroli M, Cook B, Coutinho JG, Effertz T, Grammatikaki E, Keller K, Leung R, Manios Y, Monteiro R, Pedley C, Prell H, Raine K, Recine E, Serra-Majem L, Singh S, Summerbell C. (2010) “Television food advertising to children: a global perspective; American Journal of Public Health 100:1730-6. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2009.179267. Kim, HJ and Kim, SH (2015) “The relationship between smartphone use and subjective musculoskeletal symptoms and university students” Journal of Physical Therapy Science 27(3): 575–579.doi: 10.1589/jpts.27.575 Kim, SH, Baik, SH, Park, CS, Kim, SJ, Choi, SW and Kim, SE “Reduced Striatal Dopamine D2 Receptors in People with Internet Addiction.” Neuroreport 22(8): 407–411. doi:10.1097/WNR.0b013e328346e16e. Krivich, R S (2013), “Too much device screen time bad for the eyes” Ophthalmology Times http://ophthalmologytimes.modernmedicine.com/ophthalmologytimes/content/tags/computervision-syndrome/too-much-device-screen-time-bad-eyes Lazar,SW, Kerr,CE, Wasserman,RW, Gray, JR, Greve DN, Treadway, MT, McGarvey,M, Quinn, BT, Dusek, JA, Benson, H, Rauch,SL, Moore,CI and Fischld,B. (2005), “Meditation experience is associated with increased cortical thickness” Neuroreport 16(17): 1893–1897 Lin, F, Zhou, Y, Du, Y, Qin, L, Zhao, Z, Xu, J, and Lei, H. (2012), “Abnormal White Matter Integrity in Adolescents with Internet Addiction Disorder: A Tract-Based Spatial Statistics Study.” PloS One 7, no. 1 (2012): e30253. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0030253. Markovich, M. (2016), “Negative Effects of Computers in the Workplace” Chron (Houston Chronicle) http://smallbusiness.chron.com/negative-effects-computers-workplace-22023.html Mayo Clinic (2016), “Meditation: A simple, fast way to reduce stress” http://www.mayoclinic.org/testsprocedures/meditation/in-depth/meditation/art-20045858 Monahan, M, (2013) “Screen time rules, for the Adult Set” boston.com, September 13, 2013 http://www.boston.com/business/blogs/global-business-hub/2013/09/screen_time_rul.html Nassif, TH, Norris, DO, Soltes, KL, Blackman, MR, Chapman, JC and Sandbrink, F (2014) “Evaluating the Effectiveness of Mindfulness Meditation for Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain in U.S. Veterans Using the Defense and Veterans Pain Rating Scale (DVPRS)” http://www.painmed.org/2014posters/poster211.pdf Neville L, Thomas M, Bauman, TM (2005), “Food advertising on Australian television: the extent of children's exposure” Health Promotion International 20:105-12 Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 99


Oldham-Cooper RE, Hardman CA, Nicoll CE, Rogers PJ, Brunstrom JM. (2011), “Playing a computer game during lunch affects fullness, memory for lunch, and later snack intake” American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 93; 308-13 Orman, MC (2010), “Common causes of computer stress: A Special Report By Morton C. Orman http://www.stresscure.com/hrn/common.html PwC (2016), “Global entertainment and media outlook 2015-2019” http://www.pwc.com/gx/en/globalentertainment-media-outlook/overview.html Rey-López JP, Vicente-Rodríguez G, Répásy J, Mesana MI, Ruiz JR, Ortega FB, Kafatos A, Huybrechts I, Cuenca-García M, León JF, González-Gross M, Sjöström M, de Bourdeaudhuij I, Moreno LA. (2011), “Food and drink intake during television viewing in adolescents: the Healthy Lifestyle in Europe by Nutrition in Adolescence (HELENA) study” Public Health Nutrition 14:1563-9 doi: 10.1017/S1368980011000383 Rickert, C (2013), “Maybe it's the adults who need less 'screen time'” Wisconsin State Journal Dec 8, 2013 http://host.madison.com/news/local/columnists/chris-rickert/chris-rickert-maybe-it-s-theadults-who-need-less/article_af6df0c2-9c6e-52fb-94d6-f275d427b3b1.html Smith, A. (2015), “U.S. Smartphone Use 2015” Pew Research Center, http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/04/01/us-smartphone-use-in-2015/ Seidman, B. (2015), “What too much screen time does to your eyes” CBS News August 13, 2015, http://www.cbsnews.com/news/screen-time-digital-eye-strain/ Schulte, B (2015) “Harvard neuroscientist: Meditation not only reduces stress, here’s how it changes your brain” The Washington Post May 26, 2015 https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/inspired-life/wp/2015/05/26/harvard-neuroscientistmeditation-not-only-reduces-stress-it-literally-changes-your-brain/ Summers, J. (2014), “Kids And Screen Time: What Does The Research Say?” http://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2014/08/28/343735856/kids-and-screen-time-what-does-theresearch-say Talwar, R, Kapoor, R, Puri, K, Bansal, K and Singh, S (2009), “A Study of Visual and Musculoskeletal Health Disorders among Computer Professionals in NCR Delhi” Indian Journal of Community Medicine 34(4): 326–328. doi: 10.4103/0970-0218.58392 Tohidi M, Hatami M, Hadaegh F, Azizi F. (2011), “Triglycerides and triglycerides to high-density lipoprotein cholesterol ratio are strong predictors of incident hypertension in Middle Eastern women” Journal of Human Hypertension 26(9):525-32. doi: 10.1038/jhh.2011.70. Tudor-Locke C, Craig CL, Cameron C, Griffiths JM (2011), “Canadian children's and youth's pedometerdetermined steps/day, parent-reported TV watching time, and overweight/obesity: the CANPLAY Surveillance Study” International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity 25;8:66. doi: 10.1186/1479-5868-8-66. Uhls,YT , Michikyan, M, Morris, J, Garcia, D, Smalle, GW, Zgourouf, E, Greenfield, PM (2014) “Five days at outdoor education camp without screens improves preteen skills with nonverbal emotion cues”, Computers in Human Behavior, 39:387–392 doi:10.1016/j.chb.2014.05.036 USDA Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion “Screen Time and Body Weight: A Review of the Evidence” March 2012, http://www.cnpp.usda.gov/sites/default/files/nutrition_insights_uploads/Insight47.pdf Van den Bulck J. (2010) “The effects of media on sleep” Adolescent Medicine: State of the Art Review 21(3):418-29 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21302852 Veerman, J. Lennert, H, Genevieve N., Cobiac, L J., Vos, T, Winkler, E A H, Owen, N and Dunstan, DW (2012) “Television viewing time and reduced life expectancy: a life table analysis”. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 46 13: 927-930. doi:10.1136/bjsports-2011-085662 Wahlstrom, J (2014). "Ergonomics, musculoskeletal disorders and computer work" Occupational Medicine 55:168–176 doi:10.1093/occmed/kqi083 http://occmed.oxfordjournals.org/content/55/3/168.full.pdf Weng, CB, Qian, RB, Fu, XM, Lin, B, Han, XP, Niu, CS and Wang, YH (2013) “Gray Matter and White Matter Abnormalities in Online Game Addiction.” European Journal of Radiology 82(8):1308– 1312. doi:10.1016/j.ejrad.2013.01.031. Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 100


WebMD (2015) “What too much screen time does to your eyes” Computer Vision Syndrome http://www.cbsnews.com/news/screen-time-digital-eye-strain/ Yuan, K, Qin, W. Wang, G, Zeng, F, Zhao, L, Yang, X, Liu, P (2011) “Microstructure Abnormalities Adolescents with Internet Addiction Disorder.” PLoS ONE 6:6 (June 3, 2011): e20708. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0020708. Zero to Three (2015). “Screen Sense: Setting the Record Straight” http://www.zerotothree.org/parentingresources/screen-sense/ Zhou, Y, Lin, FC Du, YS, Qin, LD, Zhao, ZM, Xu,JR and Lei, H (2011) “Gray Matter Abnormalities in Internet Addiction: A Voxel-Based Morphometry Study” European Journal of Radiology 79(1):92–95. doi:10.1016/j.ejrad.2009.10.025.


Internalizing Citizenship Behaviour through Internal Communication among Indian Public Services Employees Neha Sharma SRGroup of Institutions/UPTU, INDIA [email protected] Sanjay K Khatri Indian Administrative Services/INDIA [email protected] T.J Kamlanabhan Indian Institute of Technology Madras, INDIA [email protected] Purpose – The primary objective of this paper is to understand theimpact of internal communication (IC)process on organizational citizenship behaviour (OCB) of employees in context of Indian Public Services organizations. Design/methodology/approach – Following anextensive literature review, a survey was executed and data was collected from wide spectrum of 564officersof Indian public services organizationsto test the hypotheses of the study. Findings – From the findings emerged the interconnections between IC dimensions and organizational citizenship behaviour (OCB) of employees with respect to altruism, civic virtue, courtesy, sportsmanship and consciousness. Practical implications- The study will help the managers to comprehend the IC process in developing citizenship behaviour which is the pertinent deliverable of public services organizations. Originality/value – There are very few studies on IC in public services and administrative organizations.Moreover, this is perhaps the first attempt to develop a measure that can capture the association between IC and citizenship behaviour of public services employees. Research limitations/implications – The study is restricted to citizenship behaviour of public services organizations, therefore there is a need to examine the relationships of IC and OCB dimensions in other sectors. Keywords: Internal communication, public service motivation messages, channels, feedback, training, visual identity symbol, communication relationships,organizational citizenship behaviour,public services organizations Paper type: Research paper Introduction Public services organizations worldwide are undergoing a transformation in their mode of management (Hood, 2000; Subramanian, 2014). As these governmental institutions have started operating like businesses, the managers play a central role and the employees’ effectiveness in public services has gained paramount importance. Furthermore, keeping in view the technological advancements, liberalisation, social activism and international work exposure; the public services organizations all over the world have started looking for more effective internal communication methods and employment relationships (Fadia, 2014; Lagvigna, 2014).The rising lucrative opportunities for employees in private sector; limited financial and career growth in public services organizations have shaken the basis of traditional,highlyprocess oriented and task focussed communication process in public organizations(Hood, 2000; Koul, 2009, Sharma and Kamalanabhan, 2012). Even though the bureaucratic organizational model creates problems with internal communication, yet public services organizations cannot develop without willing and effective participation of employees (Vajargah et al., 2013).In the modern administration literature, individuals’ conscious and willing behaviours are known as organizational citizenship behaviours (Organ et al., 2006) which areessential Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 102

Internalizing Citizenship Behaviour through Internal Communication

requirement for effective public services performance.(Organ et. al., 2006; Yildirim, 2014). There are different factors which can play a role in predicting organizational citizenship behaviour; one of the most important is internal communication (Yildirim, 2014). However, there have been few empirical studies in internal communication (IC) literature that have depicted the inter-linkages between IC dimensions and organizational citizenship behaviour (OCB) particularly in public services discipline. This study has tried to fill this gap by understanding how internal messages, channels, feedback, training, visual identity symbols and communication behaviour influence citizenship behaviourof public services employees. For this purpose, the study has collected the sample from 564 officers working in various Indian public services organizations. Indian public services and administrative organizations are responsible for taking intensive measures for improving quality of administration and responsive services and schemes for the citizens through a package of multifaceted initiatives related to rural development, employment guarantee schemes, healthcare, infrastructure development, education etc., all of which together help to alleviate poverty and promote accountable governance in the country (Fadia, 2014).Recently, Indian government has taken a great deal of measures to improve internal and external communication in these organizations, aiming at better employee behaviour and public services performance(Fadia, 2014). Therefore, the study holds sufficient significance, keeping in mind the rising emphasis onIC practices in public organizations and, to understand its nature and effect on citizenship behaviour of employees. Literature Review Internal Communication (IC) Researchers have advocated that IC constantly appears in the top five most serious concerns for organizations and is accepted as one of the most important strategic management issues (Goodman et al., 2011; Welch, 2015). Mazzei (2010) defined internal communication as a set of interactive processes to generate knowledge and allegiance. She further emphasized in her qualitative study that IC is responsible for creating a competitive advantage by building internal resources and encouraging active employee behaviour. Cheney and Christensen (2001) relate IC to employee relations, mission statements and organisational development. These suggest three levels of internal communication: day-to-day management (employee relations), strategic (mission) and project management (organisational development). Hood (2000) has described that leaders and other employees of public services organizations with bureaucratic set up have also started changing and adopting a new style of communication to improve employee behaviour and performance. Das, 2012 has emphasized that the leaders of public services organizations have started accepting that sharing information is not a whim but a very important motivational tool. However, authors (Goodman et al., 2011; Mazzei, 2010; Welch and Jackson 2007; Welch, 2015) impel that despite its relevance, IC is still understudied by communication scholars and this field necessitates further research to develop new approaches that differentiate the role of various internal stakeholder groups and highlight the tangible or intangible outcomes. Internal Communication Dimensions While proposing an agenda model of communication, Tukiainen (2001) has elaborated on four dimensions of internal communication. The first dimension describes how members of an organisation use the communication system of the working community and how they are seeking for information. The second dimension in his model describes the communicative way of conduct of employees which is an essential factor in creating organisation communication relationships. The third dimension of agenda model of internal communication describes the horizontal interaction between colleagues and the atmosphere based on human relations. The fourth dimension specifies the experience of general functioning of informationflow. Although Tukiainen (2001) model is comprehensive, it does not elaborate on thefeedback aspect that is discussed extensively by Grunig and Hunt (1984) who haveintroduced the two-way symmetrical model of public relations, based on “negotiation,compromise, and understanding”. Sinha and Bhatia (2016) in their empirical study of Indian services sector described messages, medium and stakeholder as three primary dimensions of strategic corporate communication and found that these dimensions have an impact on communication synergy, organizational reliability and value representation. However, the study of Sinha and Bhatia (2016) could not explain what are the preferred messages and medium for various groups of internal stakeholders. Furthermore, one of the findings of Davies (2008) is that communication training is crucial for convincing and motivating the employees to use communication channels and also to understand the corporate value messages like mission and objectives accurately. He explains that training along with other communication tools like messages, channels, feedback and conducive organisation communication relationships facilitates better understanding of corporate messages and helps to achieve employee behaviour outcomes. Internal communication and communication authors (Papasolomou and Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 103


Vrontis, 2006; Tukiainen, 2001) have also recognised training as a facilitator of corporate communication, targeted at developing strong organization awareness among the employees.Sharma and Kamalanabhan (2012; 2014) have formulated a framework that includes internal communication dimensions in relation with employee identification, loyalty, commitment and performance. They included the following dimensions that comprise internal corporate communication: 1 value statements 2 messages on employee benefits 3 visual identity symbols 4 technological channels 6 non-technological channels 7 employee to employer feedback 8 employer to employee feedback 9 communication training 10 Organization communication relationships Recently, Welch (2015) says that there is a need to understand more dimensions and content of internal communication to add to its existing empirically-based frameworks. In addition, Welch and Jackson (2007) have mentioned that IC research needs empirical verification to understand the exact IC dimensions with insights about different internal stakeholders’ needs and preferences for communication content and media. Organization Citizenship Behaviour (OCB) Organ (1988) has defined organizational citizenship behaviour (OCB) as “individual behaviour that is discretionary, not directly or explicitly recognized by the formal reward system and that in the aggregate promotes the effective function of the organization”. OCB refers to behaviour that is not formally requested or directly rewarded but can be functional to the operations of an organization (Smith et al., 1983). Organizations cannot survive or prosper without their members behaving as good citizens by engaging in all sorts of positive behaviours. Because of the importance of good citizenship for organizations, understanding the nature and sources of OCB has long been a high priority for organizational scholars (Organ, 1988) and remains to be area of interest for many researchers. In the opinion of Organ(1988), OCB is vital for the survival of the organization. Several studies have shown that OCB can have a positive impact on organizational success through improvements in productivity, better utilization of resources, better employee relationships, performance enrichment, employee retention and ability to adapt to environmental changes. OCB, also known as “good soldier syndrome” (Organ, 1988) is the behaviour exhibited by the committed employees in the organization. This type of behaviour includes punctuality, helping others, innovating and volunteering (Organ, 1988). Citizenship behaviours are distinct components of work behaviour and are not merely related to job (Dunlop and Lee, 2004). Borman and Motowidlo (1993) suggest that organizational citizenship behaviour of workers helps to improve the overall organizational performance. Organ (1988) conceptualized OCB into five dimensions, namely, conscientiousness, sportsmanship, courtesy, civic virtue, and altruism. (Refer Table 1 for definitions of OCB dimensions).Scholars in the field of public management argue that ifemployees have a strong motivation to serve the public, there also exists a strong likelihood that they will perform above and beyond what is expected of them (Kim, 2002). Scholars have also pointed out that those committed to serve in the public organization (because of its mission to help others) are more likely to engage in organizational citizenship behaviours. Moreover, they also exhibit relatively high levels of compassion, interest in local community affairs, and expectations to sacrifice their own personal benefits for the wellbeing of others (Vandenabeele and Walle, 2008). . ResearchObjectives While many relationships within the domain of IC have been examined, some of the more interesting involve those between employee perceptions of IC and work attitudes like employee commitment, loyalty, satisfaction and so on (Carriere and Bourque, 2009; Punjaisri et al., 2007; Teeni, 2001). This is because work attitudes are known to be related with significant and meaningful work outcomes at both the individual and organizational level. A more recent and less understood relationship is that between internal communication and organizational citizenship behaviour (Kandlousi et al., 2010; Yildirim, 2014). To fulfil the literature gaps this study has the following objectives: a)

To understand the important dimensions of internal communication in context of public services organizations.



b)

To evaluate the impact of internal communication dimensions on organizational citizenship behaviour with respect to consciousness, altruism, civic virtue, sportsmanship and courtesy.

c)

To understand the varying effect of internal communication on OCB among different internal stakeholders of public services organizations categorizedon the basis of age, gender, education, work experience, marital status and designation.

Theory and Hypotheses The relationship between IC and OCB is prescribed in the social exchange theory (Blau, 1964). This theory argues that people reciprocate the advantages that they receive from their organization. In other words, if employees are satisfied, then, they try to reciprocate by engaging in OCB (Bolinoet. al., 2002). In numerous researches, social exchange theory has been used as the primary theory to explain why employees perform OCB (Organ, 1988). According to Cropanzano and Mitchell (2005), the factors explaining employees engaging in OCB need not be voluntary but may be socially constructed by organizational norms and culture. This approach also emphasizes that communication is a social process of interaction or interpretation that gives sense and meaning to social reality, organizational actions, events and organizational roles and processes and formulate a strong organizational culture. A study conducted by Kandlousi et al. (2010) looked at communication satisfaction as an antecedent of OCB. Their findings suggest that communication satisfaction contributes to OCB and the study strengthened the usefulness of the social exchange theory. Additionally, a study conducted by Misner (2008) looked at OCB and communication satisfaction of middle school teachers. The study supports “a reasonable meaningful and strong relationship between formal/informal communication and OCB dimensions. Similarly, as other authors (Koys,2001; Yildirim, 2014) noted that internal communication would strengthen organizational citizenship behaviour (OCB) with respect to conscientiousness, sportsmanship, courtesy, civic virtue and altruism;therefore, we propose the following hypotheses (also indicated in Figure1): Internal Communication

Organization Citizenship Behaviour

Public Service Motivation Messages Conscientiousness

Employee Benefits Messages Organizational visual identity Symbols Technological Channels Non-technological Channels Leader to Employee Feedback

H1 H2

Sportsmanship

H3

Courtesy

H4

Civic Virtue

H5

Altruism

Employee to Leader Feedback Communication and value Training Organization Communication relationships

Figure 1: Internal Communicationand Organizational Citizenship Behaviour Framework H1 Internal communication dimensions are significantly related to organizational citizenship behaviour with respect to consciousness. H2 Internal communication dimensions are significantly related to organizational citizenship behaviour with respect to sportsmanship. H3 Internal communication dimensions are significantly related to organizational citizenship behaviour with respect to courtesy. Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 105


H4 Internal communication dimensions are significantly related to organizational citizenship behaviour with respect to civic virtue. H5 Internal communication dimensions are significantly related to organizational citizenship behaviour with respect to altruism. Table 1 (given below) demonstrates the operational definitions and meanings of variables and constructs of this study.

Table 1: Operational definitions and meaning of internal communication dimensions and individual organizational citizenship behaviour Construct/Variable of Study Internal Communication

Public Services Motivation Messages Employee benefits messages

Technological Channels

Definition/Explanation

Concerned Studies

The process of reciprocal exchange between organization’s managers and its internal stakeholders in order to develop individual’s system of beliefs; giving meaning to organizational actions, events, organizational roles and processes, and encouraging positive and wilful employee behaviour. Messages on values, organization’s mission, vision, objectives to encourage employees’ predisposition to work towards public servicegrounded primarily or uniquely in public institutions Messages on tangible or intangible benefits that an organisation has to offer to its employees in order todifferentiate itself from its competitors and build a mutually beneficial relationship (rewards, career growth and development programs, employee family communication and task/ business objectives). Internal communication channels reliant on technology like internet, intranet, audio-visual media, new media like blogs, chat, mobile, social networking sites etc.

Downs and Adrian (2004); Mazzei (2010); Yildirim, (2014) Perry and Wise (1990, p. 368), Paarlberg et al. (2008) Downs and Adrian (2004); Sharma and Kamalanabhan, (2012; 2014)

Sharma and Kamalanabhan (2012; 2014)


Internalizing Citizenship Behaviour through Internal Communication Construct/Varia ble of Study

Definition/Explanation

Concerned Studies

Nontechnological Channels

Internal communication channels that are not supported by technology like face to face conversations, meetings, official visits, family get-together, annual gifts on festivals etc.

Gruing (2001); Sharma and Kamalanbhan (2012; 2014)

Organization Visual Identity Symbols

A tangible asset of organization comprising of all the symbols and graphical elements that express the essence of an organization (logos, infrastructure, tag lines, national flags)

Melewar and Akel (2005) Sharma and Kamalanbhan (2012; 2014)

Leader to Employee Feedback

Relevant and consistent flow of ideas and beliefs on organizational objectives, task and individual performance from leader/supervisor/department heads to their subordinates or other employees.

Gruing(2001) and Welchand Jackson (2007)

Employee to leader feedback

Relevant and consistent flow of ideas and beliefs on optimization of organizational objectives, tasks, interpersonal conflicts from employees to their leaders/supervisors/department heads.

Downs and Adrian (2004); Sharma and Kamalanabhan (2014)

Communication and Value Training

A process to equip employees to understand organizational values, objectives and increase management credibility.

Jose (2008); Mishra et al., (2015); Sharma and Kamalanabhan (2012, 2014)

Organization communication relationships

The act of communication that builds a mutual understanding between sender and receiver of information and develop a strong communication relationship based on trust and cooperation amongvarious hierarchical groups within organization.

Downs and Adrian (2004); Sharma and Kamalanabhan (2014)

Organization Citizenship Behaviour

A distinct component of work behaviour of employees that is not merely related to job and is not directly or explicitly recognized by tangible or formal reward system, and in the aggregate promotes effective functioning of organization.

Dunlop and Lee (2004); Organ (1988)

Consciousness

Conscientiousness is a discretionary behaviour of employees that exceeds the minimum role requirements in organization.

Organ (1988)

Sportsmanship

The willingness of employees to tolerate less ideal circumstances without complaining.

Organ (1988)

Courtesy

The discretionary behaviour of employees that prevents work-related problems with other employees

Organ (1988)

Civic Virtue

The dutiful and constructive involvement in the political process of organization and contribution to this process by freely and frankly expressing opinions, attending meetings, discussing with colleagues the issues concerning the organization, and reading organizational communications such as mails for the well being of the organization.

Organ (1988); Podsakoff et al. (2000)

Altruism

It is discretionary behaviour of employees of helping others in organization related task or problem

Organ (1988)

Methodology Sample and Procedure Quantitative methodology was used in this study. The survey was cross-sectional. Questionnaires were distributed in August/September 2015 to public/civil services employees working in government development offices in North (Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan); Central (Madhya Pradesh) South (Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu) East (West Bengal, Bihar) and West (Maharashtra) of India. These public services organisations have undertaken several measures to improve IC practices recently, for instance developing public information web sites, portals, employees’ whatsapp/face book groups, employee soft skills training, video conferencing with department heads etc in order to improve employees’ citizenship behaviour and overall performance. Data was collected from various departments Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 107


dealing in health services, education, rural employment, youth and other district development programmes. For the ease of target employees and in order to generate authentic results, the questionnaire was translated in Hindi (Indian national language). Approximately, 60–80 employees belonging to various age groups and management positions were drawn as sample from each of the 9 public services organisations located in India in order to have a representative and unbiased sample. A nodal person was chosen for each organization that would in turn set in motion the snow ball sampling. All the selected offices are located in some of the largest states/cities of India. Total 830 questionnaires were distributed to public services development offices located in various cities of the country. Out of this, 564 questionnaires were returned usable for this study constituting a 67.95% response rate. The average age of the respondents was 35 years, average organizational tenure was 10 years and average educational background is graduation. Considering a low response rate, a non-response analysis was conducted by asking specific employee to describe the reason for not participating in survey. Results showed that employees did not participate because of lack of time, sickness leave and the fact that they already had to fill out a lot of questionnaires. This analysis does not suggest any severe bias in our sample.It is important to mention here that prior to the survey, 23 qualitative interviews were conducted with employees working in the office of Chief Development Officer (CDO), Jhansi (Uttar Pradesh), India. CDO, Jhansi has commenced series of development practices like constitution of help desk for customer feedback, defined vision, mission and core values of organization, started biometric attendance for employees, conducted management and soft skills employee training, initiated organization’s website and facebook page, monthly skills and behaviour based competitions and rewards for employees, published first employees’ magazinein 20142015. The purpose of conducting these interviews was to determine whether the forms of communication prevailing in Indian public services organizations are according to internal communication framework proposed in the study. A content analysis of the transcribed interview responses was performed to unveil the main themes of the study. According to Krippendorff (2004), units can be defined on the basis of categorical, thematic, syntactical, physical and propositional distinctions. In our study, units were defined on the basis of thematic distinctions. The responses of individuals were examined carefully and data were organized into meaningful categories. Table 2 gives an indication of research questions that were used for interviews and topics that emerged from the interviews for further analysis. Table 2:Themes emerged from the interview responses Research Questions Warm up questions What are the key functions of internal communication in your organization?

Topics/codes for analysis Starting point Current stage

What are the key messages that are communicated to the employees? How messages in terms of company vision, public services and mission are incorporated in daily communication? Do these messages motivate you to serve in public interest? How does your organization communicate its public service messages to the employees? Does organization collect the views of employees about the daily tasks or other organization issues?

Public Services Motivation messages, employee messages,visual identity symbols Channels

What are the initiatives your organization is taking to improve employees’ attitudes and performance? Do you share healthy relationship with other employees in the organization?

Training

How would you describe the changes that happened in the minds of employees regarding public service and overall job performance? Does management believe in taking initiatives to improve citizenship behaviour of employees? Are you willing to put in extra efforts to go beyond your daily tasks or roles? Do you often complain to your seniors or co-workers about lack of resources or other problems in organization? Do you have conducive relationship with your seniors and co-workers in organization?

Feedback

Organization Communication relationships Impact Citizenship Behaviour Consciousness Sportsmanship Courtesy



Research Questions Do you feel that you are responsible for improving your organization by giving honest feedback and undertaking responsible actions? Do you help your co-workers in his/her job task?

Topics/codes for analysis Civic Virtue Altruism

The key themes that consistently emerged from the responses of interviews conducted at public services organization are: 1) Consistent and innovative use of messages on public services motivation like values, mission statements, government or Prime Minister’s policies and expectations for public welfare etc. 2) Use of patriotic pictures, national flag, national leaders/heroes photographs in offices. 3) Use of contemporary channels of communication with key focus on non-technological channels. Lack of contemporary technological channels at Indian public services organization. 4) There is a structuredemployee feedback mechanism in organization. 5) Presence of conducive communication relationships between co-workers, supervisors and senior management. 6) Training improves internal communication and strengthens the use of communication channels like emails, websites, whatsapp, discussions and presentations.Training also helps in understanding needs of general public and motivates employees to serve well. 7) Employees of public services organizations take immense pride in the vision, values and achievements of their respective organization and are willing to work beyond what is expected from them. The interviews conducted in the preliminary phase of this study confirmed that public (Civil) services officers at senior positions were viewed as leaders representing the organisation. The value statements, performance objectives, employee benefit messages etc. were communicated on behalf of senior officers mainly department heads to their subordinates and other employees. Secondly, it was established that public services organizations in India were developing and improving citizenship behaviour of employees through IC practices.This is according to the conceptual model proposed in this study.Therefore, the hypotheses in its proposed form were tested on the sample collected from public services organizations across Indian states. It is important to mention, Indian public services organizations don’t have any corporate communication or internal communication department. The internal communication practices in these organizations are managed by government officers (usually Indian Administrative Services officer), supervisors or department heads. Measures/Survey Instrument To measure each construct, participants were provided with a five-point Likert scale ranging from 'not at all agree' to 'very strongly agree'. The variables of IC were measured using a combination of 47 itemsacross 9 dimensions which overlapped considerably with items typically included in measures of IC (Downs and Adrian, 2004; Sharma and Kamalanabhan, 2014). Several changes to Downs and Adrian (2004); Sharma and Kamalanabhan (2014) questionnaires were made to suit the context of current study. Most importantly, public service motivation messages (PSMM) have been included as a dimension of IC in this study.The public service motivation signals strong emotional commitments to the welfare of others. The motivation can be translated into citizenship responsibilities important for encouraging unselfish behaviours and building interpersonal relationships among co-workers within the organization (Goodsell, 2011). Goodsell(2011) explain that the reason that public employees have a favourable perception of public organization is their strong belief in the value of public service. In the organization that they serve, this value often translates into good citizenship behaviours. In order to measure public services motivation messages (PSMM) 5 items were added to value statement variable of Sharma and Kamalanabhan (2014) questionnaire. The items on PSMM were adapted from the studies of Vandenabeele and Walle (2008). Besides,efficiency of technology-based IC channels and non-technology-based IC channels were measured separately in this study. Three more items were added to Sharma and Kamalanabhan (2014) questionnaire with originally 5 items to measure leader to employee feedback and employee to leader feedback; two items were added to Mishra et al. (2015) questionnaire with originally 3 items to measure communication training. Two more items were added to Sharma and Kamalanabhan (2014) questionnaire with originally 3 items to measure visual identity symbols. These items were added to suit public services organizations and also on the basis of interviews conducted for this study. Organization communication relationships were measured using 6 items adapted from Downs and Adrian (2004); Sharma and Kamalanabhan, 2014. As detailed Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 109


in literature review section, the dimensions of OCB measured in this study are consciousness, sportsmanship, courtesy, civic virtue and altruism.Podsakoff et al.(2000) adjusted and validated a questionnaire to measure these five OCBs within a work context. This questionnaire includes 24 items through which the bosses can evaluate each employee’s behaviour in relation to altruism (five items), conscientiousness (fiveitems), sportsmanship (five items), courtesy (five items), and civic virtue (four items). Answers are provided by using a 7point Likert scale (from 1 = strongly disagree to 7 = strongly agree). Besides, respondents were asked to provide information relating to theirage, education, years of experience, gender, designation and marital status (control variables). Reliability and Validity The reliability and validity of the questionnaire to measure IC was carried out through tests of unidimensionality, reliability, content validity, face validity, convergent validity, and discriminant validity using CFA method (statistical package – AMOS 18) with maximum likelihood estimation. Results of the CFA for IC showed that χ2 value for the nine factor model was χ2 = 2,957, df = 1,106, p < .01.For nine factor model of internal communication, it was found that goodness of fit indices (GFI = 0.95) was above the generally acceptable 0.90 as suggested by various authors (Bollen and Long, 1993). Thus, we retained the nine factor model of IC for further analysis. Table 3(a) shows CFA results of 9 factor model of internal communication. Table 3a: CFA results of 9 factor model of Internal Communication 9 Factor χ2 df χ2/df CFI GFI BBNFI RMSEA ECVI Model 2,957 1,106 2.67 0.92 0.95 0.94 0.04 0.09 Note: df = Degrees of freedom; GFI = Goodness of fit index > 0.90 is considered an indication of a good fit; CFI = Comparative fit index > 0.90 indicates good fit; BBNFI = Bentler Bonett normed fit index, >0.9 indicators good fit; RMSEA=root mean square error of approximation, < = 0.08 indicates good fit;χ2/df between 2 and 3 indicates good fit

Face and content validity was established thorough a literature review and further reviewed by 18 experts, of which 11experts were from academia and 7 were practitioners (Indian Administrative Services Officers). Cronbach alpha was used to establish internal consistency. The Cronbach alpha coefficients for all the variables ranged from 0.784 to 0.971. Fit indices such as comparative-fit index (CFI, Bentler-Bonnet index), and root-mean-square error of approximation (RMSEA) were used to evaluate convergent and discriminant validity of all the variables of the study. Acceptable fit indices include CFI values above 0.90 and RMSEA values below 0.10 (Hair et al., 2007) for each variable [refer Table 3(b)]. Table 3 (b): Reliability and Validity tests results of variables Variables No. of items Cronbach’sAlpha CFI GFI RMSEA BBNFI PSMM 10 0.831 0.944 0.962 0.039 0.911 EBM 05 0.879 0.961 0.972 0.051 0.962 TC 04 0.822 0.971 0.965 0.074 0.961 NTC 04 0.857 0.936 0.914 0.042 0.931 OVIS 05 0.784 0.923 0.943 0.039 0.964 LEF 04 0.894 0.927 0.947 0.041 0.972 ELF 04 0.881 0.911 0.937 0.039 0.942 CVT 05 0.877 0.912 0.945 0.043 0.974 OCR 06 0.962 0.926 0.943 0.031 0.972 CO 05 0.971 0.933 0.944 0.034 0.931 SP 05 0.936 0.942 0.962 0.041 0.971 CU 05 0.911 0.924 0.934 0.038 0.935 CV 04 0.937 0.936 0.977 0.031 0.933 AL 05 0.971 0.931 0.943 0.042 0.961 Notes: n = 564;PSMM = Public Service Motivation Messages; EBM = employee benefits messages; TC= technological Communication; NTC = non-technological communication; LEF- leader to employee feedback, ELF= employee to leader feedback, CVT= communication and value training, OCR=Organization Communication Relationships, CO=Consciousness, SP= Sportsmanship, CU=Courtesy, CV=Civic Virtue, AL= Altruism

Results Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 110


The results of descriptive statistics and bi-variate correlations test are presented in Table 4 (a). Respondents were fairly positive about strengthening citizenship behaviour through IC practices in their organizations including the motivation and support they received from their supervisors and reported a high level of consciousness, sportsmanship, courtesy, civic virtue and altruism. However, most of the control variables except years of experience and gender, showed insignificant correlations with the proposed outcome variables.The correlations between predictor variables (public service motivation messages, employee benefit messages, organization visual identity symbols, technological and nontechnological channels, leader to employee feedback, employee to leader feedback, communication and value training and organization communication relationships) and dependent variables (consciousness, sportsmanship, courtesy, civic virtue and altruism)are very high which provide support for the hypothesized relationships among the predictors and the criterion variables in this study. However, more rigorous test like multiple-regression was used to test the hypotheses of the study. Among the predictor variables, significant correlations were obtained, indicating the possibility of multicollinarity. Although the correlation coefficients were not high as none of the correlations among the independent variables were above .90 (Weinstein and Mayer, 1986), a separate test of multicollinearity shown in Table 4 (b) was conducted to provide conclusive results. The multiple linear regression analysis was used to assess the relationships between IC and OCB dimensions. For each of the five dependent variables of this study, all 9 internal communication dimensions were examined as predictors. Results are presented in Table 4(b). The results of ‘F’ statistic for the five models have indicated that the models are significant at the 0.001 level. The adjusted R-square values for the five regression models are reasonably high, indicating a high amount of variation explained by the independent variables (refer Table 4b). Hence, the hypotheses 1, 2, 3and 4 can be accepted. Further, Table 5 gives the subjective interpretation of the strengths of associations between IC and OCB dimensions on the basis of regression results shown in Table 4b.


Internalizing Citizenship Behaviour through Internal Communication Age Edu Exp Gd Desg Mt St PSMM EBM TC NTC LEF ELF OVI CVT OCR CO SP

Mean 3.7 3.9 3.2 3.8 4.6 3.1 2.6 3.6 2.6 3.5 3.7 3.6 3.2 3.4 3.6 3.9 3.8

Std 0.6 0.4 0.7 0.7 0.9 0.4 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.8 0.2 0.3 0.2 0.2 0.5 0.4 0.3

Age 1 .03 .03 .04 .03 .03 .03 .44 -.03 -.29 .01 .04 .03 .04 -.01 -.02 -.03

Edu

Exp

Gd

Dsg

MtSt

PSMM

EBM

TC

NTC

LEF

ELF

OVI

CVT

OCR

CO

SP

1 -.03 -.04 -.04 .02 -.02 .01 -.04 .02 .02 .03 .04 .01 .03 .04 .01

1 -.06 .02 .04 .13 .24 .15 .22 .19 .15 .19 .14 .13 .14 .16

1 .04 .03 .08 .04 .06 .01 .06 .02 .03 .01 .07 .02 .03

1 .07 .03 .04 .04 .02 .03 .03 .03 .01 .02 .03 .02

1 .04 .03 .09 .05 .06 .04 .08 .09 .07 .05 .07

1 .15 .17 .16 .14 .12 .14 .16 .14 .09 .03

1 .18 .16 .18 .12 .16 .14 .13 -.09 -.06

1 .12 .13 .15 .19 .16 .14 .44 .46

1 .13 .13 .12 .14 .16 .35 .66

1 .16 .12 .17 .14 .25 .59

1 .19 .21 .23 .44 .36

1 .19 .23 .52 .43

1 .18 .41 .33

1 .14 .14

1 .12

1

CU

CV

AL

Table 4(a): Descriptive Statistics and Zero-order correlation coefficients of Variables Table 4(b) :Results of regression analysis between IC and OCB dimensions


Internalizing Citizenship Behaviour through Internal Communication CU CV AL Variables

Age Edu Exp Gd Desig Mt St PSMM EBM TC NTC OVIS LEF ELF CVT ORG

3.7 0.2 -.03 .01 3.8 0.3 -.02 .03 3.3 0.3 -.02 .04 Model 1(CO) adj R2 = 0.511; F = 56.29#; sum of square of regression= 110.32 SE=.22; residual= 103.74 Beta t value VIF 0.06 1.12 1 0.04 1.03 1.1 0.16* 2.12* 1 0.03 0.41 1 0.04 1.31 1 0.04 1.04 1 0.58*** 29.25*** 1 -0.06 1.18 1.3 0.03 1.02 1 0.40*** 18.09*** 1 0.52*** 28.56* 1 0.25** 16.21 1 0.27** 13.25* 1 0.57*** 23.28*** 1 0.23** 15.32** 1.3

.14 .09 .01 .03 .04 .15 .05 .04 .04 .19 .16 .06 .03 .05 .27 Model 2 (SP) adj. R2 = 0.421; F= 87.32#; sum of square of regression = 97.3288; SE= .38; residual= 68.34 Beta t value VIF 0.03 1.13 1 0.02 1.04 1 0.15* 2.35* 1 0.12 1.17 1.2 0.02 1.29 1 0.06 1.16 1 0.62*** 35.72*** 1 -0.01 1.03 1 0.07 0.04 1 0.52*** 29.03*** 1.3 0.35** 19.23** 1 0.35*** 34.21*** 1 0.31** 14.21** 1 0.31** 28.74** 1 0.36** 28.12** 1

-.08 .59 .39 .36 -.06 .53 .42 .39 -.04 .56 .53 .62 Model 1(CU) adj R2 = 0.491; F = 65.21#; sum of square of regression= 105.71 SE=.28; residual= 103.74 Beta t value VIF 0.06 1.12 1 0.04 1.03 1.1 0.16* 2.12* 1 0.01 .97 1 0.04 1.31 1 0.03 1.16 1 0.57*** 24.17** 1 -0.03 0.11 1.3 0.06 0.92 1 0.49*** 42.09*** 1 0.41*** 39.42** 1 0.62** 26.21*** 1 0.58** 23.15** 1 0.24** 17.68*** 1 0.52*** 42.71*** 1

.51 .53 .56 .15 .13 .57 .46 .43 .12 .21 .51 .41 .57 .12 .19 Model 2 (CV) adj. R2 = 0.439; F= 71.42#; sum of square of regression = 124.038; SE= 0.49; residual= 111.15 Beta t value VIF 0.03 1.13 1 0.02 1.04 1 0.15* 2.35* 1 0.02 0.91 1.2 0.02 1.29 1 0.06 1.31 1 0.54*** 28.72*** 1 -0.04 1.03 1 0.04 0.77 1 0.64*** 36.03*** 1.3 0.43*** 19.26*** 1 0.33** 16.21** 1 0.34** 27.21** 1 0.38** 24.79** 1 0.36** 15.18**

.16 1 .17 .12 1 .21 .18 .18 1 Model 3 (AL) adj. R2 = 0.472; F= 69.57#; sum of square of regression = 118.227; SE= .34; residual= 98.23 Beta t value VIF 0.05 1.19 1 0.06 1.04 1 0.21* 3.78* 1 0.04 0.76 1.2 0.03 1.27 1 0.04 1.04 1 0.56*** 31.10*** 1 -0.04 1.03 1 0.01 .77 1 0.30** 09.03** 1.3 0.29** 16.53** 1 0.63*** 34.61*** 1 0.61*** 22.34*** 1 0.22** 14.91** 1 0.61*** 31.68*** 1

Note: n = 564 *Significant at the 0.05 level; **Significant at the 0.01 level;***Significant at the 0.001 level; Edu=Education; Exp= Work Experience (in number of years); Gd- Gender; Desg=Designation ; Mt. St.= Marital Status; PSMM = Public Service Motivation Messages; EBM = employee benefits messages; TC= technological Communication; NTC = nontechnological communication; OVI= Organization visual identity symbols LEF- leader to employee feedback, ELF= employee to leader feedback, CVT= communication and value training, OCR=Organization Communication Relationships, CO=Consciousness, SP= Sportsmanship, CU=Courtesy, CV=Civic Virtue, AL= Altruism.


IC Dimensions PSMM EBM TC NTC OVIS LEF ELF CVT OCR

Internalizing Citizenship Behaviour through Internal Communication Organizational Citizenship Behaviour Dimensions Consciousness Sportsmanship Courtesy Civic Virtue Altruism Very High Very High Very High Very High Very High Negatively Negatively Negatively Negatively Negatively Insignificant Insignificant Insignificant Insignificant Insignificant Insignificant Insignificant Insignificant Insignificant Insignificant High Very High High Very High High Very High High High High Moderate Moderate High Very High High Very High Moderate High Very High High Very High Very High High Moderate High Moderate Moderate High Very High High Very High

Table 5: Strength of associations between IC and OCB dimensions Moderate=Beta value-0.1 to 0.29; High=Beta value-0.3-0.49;Very High= Beta Value-0.5and above (Beta values are taken from Table 4b for above interpretations); PSMM = Public Service Motivation Messages; EBM = employee benefits messages; TC= technological Communication; NTC = non-technological communication; OVI= Organization visual identity symbols LEF- leader to employee feedback, ELF= employee to leader feedback, CVT= communication and value training, OCR=Organization Communication Relationships

Discussion on Results and Managerial Implications As described in previous sections, one of the important objectives of this study was to understand the process of IC in public services organizations. The results of qualitative interviews and the survey conducted thereafter, are consistent with the findings of previous research studies that indicate public employees perceive effectiveness of IC in their organizations on the basis of public services motivation messages, channels used for communication, communication relationships existing in organization, training, visual identity symbols and feedback (Downs and Adrian, 2004; Sharma and Kamalanabhan, 2012). The other research objective of this study was to analyze the associations between IC and OCB dimensions. The findings of this study (refer Table 5) suggest that IC will encourage the employees of public services organizations to undertake responsibilities beyond their job descriptions and also motivate them to demonstrate high OCB (Bright, 2008; Yaldirim, 2015). Messages on public services motivation as shown in Table 5 have very highassociations with all five OCB dimensions. The findings are consistent with the arguments presented by scholars in developed countries. For instance, contenders of the cultural vision stressed that the aspects such as “shared values and meaning” among organisational members were seen as important for understanding the performance and motivational issues (Kim, 2006). Drucker (1993) argues that the public services motivation serves as a foundation for employees to take pride in their efforts and express a strong commitment to the organization. Public services motivation messages include the core purpose of public organizations, its reason for being and its core values, which grant a system of guiding principles (Collins and Porras, 1996). Public employees are also motivated to show strong citizenship behaviour in the public sector because of emotional attachments such as strong convictions about public interests communicated through various messages on public services (Bright 2008). The findings of this study urge the leaders/managers of all Indian public services organizations to communicate value statements to employees regularly and positively motivate them by making them realize their responsibility towards public service. It is interesting to find that messages on employees’ benefits are not only insignificant but also negatively associated with consciousness, sportsmanship, courtesy, civic virtue and altruism (refer Table 5). Perhaps, this can be understood by Castaing (2006) study in which they explained that expectations are not so important in prediction of work attitudes and only the civil servant officers’ perceptions of the reality can Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 114


predict commitment and other positive attitudes. Further, Hoogersvorst et al. (2004) explain that the explicit communication on employee benefits are jeopardised when certain inconsistent messages are transmitted from organization. For instance, referring to people in the annual report “as the greatest asset” makes little impression if employees’ experience that they are “the most expendable asset”(Hoogersvorst et al., 2004). This is also in line with the study of Vajargah et al. (2013) who have explained that organisation’s perception of internal stakeholder concerns differs from employee’s expectations from the organization in milieu of what they perceive as benefits. This finding is pertinent for managers of public services organizations as they need to take a more proactive approach in communicating the messages on organization’s objectives and other useful employee information. Public services officers should also give a serious thought over employee performance appraisals, rules, policies and procedures and the way they are accepted by employees in general. It is also evident from the results that the leader to employee feedback and employee to leader feedback have very highlyand significantly associated with courtesy and altruism dimensions of OCB (refer Table 5). Courtesy and altruism dimensions of OCB are related to helping others or tendency to resolve problems related to fellow colleagues (Nielsen et al., 2009). The strong relationships between feedback and courtesy or for that matter altruism can be understood by Sullivan and Feltz (2003)study whoreported that communication is a two way exchange between peers and other members of organization responsible for cohesiveness and individual commitment. They further emphasised that feedback or interpersonal communication develop acceptance among members for each other and resolve negative conflicts between them. Further, technological communication proved to be insignificantly related to all five OCB dimensions (refer Table 5). However, findings of the study reveal that non-technological communication channels like meetings, face to face conversations are far more effective in building citizenship behaviour particularly civic virtue. Civic virtue is related to information and knowledge sharing abilities of employees (Organ, 1988; 2006). Hood (2000) has described that one major challenge before attaining the objective of modernization of public services organization is development of information technology and changing the conventional style of office functioning in government organizations. The communication tools corresponding to non-technological or conventional channels of communication like team meetings, feedback forums, speak-up programs and interactive conferences, facilitate better and more authentic exchanges of ideas (Hart 1995). These arguments would recommend public services organizations to encourage their employees to use contemporary technical channels of communication, at the same time,reinforce formal and informal interactions and round table meetings. Another dimension of IC with respect to organization communication relationships showedvery high association with OCB dimensions mainly courtesy and altruism (refer Table 5). Fukuyama (2009, pg 66) has explained that public services employees are oriented towards acting in the broad public interest when in fact their behaviour is better explained by senior officers and experiences of other colleagues.The contemporary communication researchers have suggested that IC should be more than a simple exchange of information, but rather a cooperative effort across the various groups that exist within the organization (Teeni, 2001). An additional insight that emerges from this study is the impact of communication training on OCB dimensions, particularly with consciousness (very high-refer Table 5). Communication training helps the mangers to train employees on organization values, policies, business objectives and customer service expectations. Such training forums may also be used to roll out new programs and procedures and facilitate the justification of management action. Jose (2008) has emphasized that communication training gives a platform for discussion, consultation and even solves interpersonal conflicts and develops healthy employee-employer relationship. Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 115


Furthermore, organization visual identity symbols also turned out to be positively associated with OCB dimensions. Specifically, visual identity symbols showed very high association with consciousness (refer Table 5).Fredrickson and Kahneman (1993) maintain that individuals are more likely to remember pictures and picture-evoking words than abstract concepts. Miikkulainen and Sirosh (1995) explain this principle by suggesting that visual communications directly affect the interconnections between neurons in the visual cortex of the brain. This means that more often a message is looked at; more profound is the relay of content. Therefore, organization visual identity symbols like company logo, colour, national flags and other design elements are the tangible assets that are helpful in expressing the essence of the organization values (Balmer and Liao, 2007) and develop a sense of pride among internal stakeholders (Hawabhay et al., 2009; Sharma and Kamalanabhan, 2012). Another research objective of this study was to understand the varying influence of internal communication on OCB among different internal stakeholders. Most of the demographic variables (age, gender, designation, education, marital status) have been found to be non-significantly associated with internal communication and OCB in public services organizations (refer Table 4a and 4b). However, internal communication and OCB dimensions showed significant associations across employees’ work experience (refer Table 4a and 4b). The explanation for such a finding can be found in Carriere and Bourque (2009) study where their findings supported employee tenure to internal communication practices. They observed that people, who have spent more number of years in the organization, actively participate in IC as compared to those who have spent less number of years in the organization. In public services organizations with substantial goal complexity and monetary (Fukuyama, 2009), this study makes an important revelation to managers who ought to focus on encouraging interpersonal communication relationships between their employees and help them to understand their contribution to the organization or to the society. Fadia (2014) study on Indian civil services officers deliberate that commissioners (senior Indian Administrative Services officer) in districts have the knowledge, experience and time to devote for the probationers. Hence, these experienced officers are in a position to create the much needed esprit de corps in new generation and this will facilitate harmonious interpersonal relationships (Fadia, 2014). Conclusion and Research Limitations In general, theories and practices are not vast in offering empirically or theoretically investigations on the relationship between internal communication and OCB. Some studies (Organ, 1988) proposed communication satisfaction as the most dominant element in predicting OCB, however, an in-depth analysis of the associations between specific internal communication dimensions and OCB have not been studied by previous researchers. From the theoretical perspective, the present research has enriched the literature on the integration of a few distinct bodies of knowledge such as internal communication and OCB. Therefore, scholars and practitioners are encouraged to catch this opportunity and strive to highlight more on this issue. All this while, OCB has been taken as a key organizational behaviour that leads to organizational accomplishment. Therefore, it would be a major concern for public services managers to amplify employees’ participation in OCB. Overall, the findings of the present study would provide valuable insight for management to adopt various effective communication tools in their workplace to achieve organization’s mission and objectives and to establish citizenship behaviour.For practitioners particularly those who are in public services organizations, this study has demonstrated that IC tools like training, public services motivation messages, visual identity symbols, effective channels of communication, feedback and interpersonal relationships within organization will certainlyenhance the feeling of citizenship. Moreover, this study compels Indian and other public services organizations having highly bureaucratic and formal organizational structures,to adapt changes, become flexible enough to be able to connect with employees through contemporary IC practices and, understand employees’ needs and Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 116


wants through information sharing techniques. This study has also demonstrated that work experience will have a positive impact on employee’s behaviour patterns However, this study has some limitations. This is a cross-sectional study, so causal analysis is not possible. The causal relations are entirely theoretical and so the results present only associations and not causalities. Future research is also necessary to confirm or invalidate the hypothesis that internal communication and OCB relationships in public organizations are different from the private sector. To conclude, understanding and analysing associations between IC and OCB dimensions in the peculiar context of Indian public services organizations is important to improve the quality of employees’ attitudes and to increase academic knowledge about citizenship behaviour in such organizations.

References Balmer, J.M.T. and Liao, N.N. (2007), “Student corporate brand identification: an exploratory case study”, CorporateCommunications: An International Journal, Vol. 12 No. 4, pp.356–375. Blau, P. M. (1964),Exchange and power in social life. New York: Wiley. Bolino, M. C., Turnley, W. H., and Bloodgood, J. M. (2002), “Citizenship behavior and the creationof social capital in organizations”,Academy of Management Review, Vol. 4, pp 505-522. Bollen, K.A. and Long, J.S. (1993), “Testing Structural Equation Models”, Sage, Newbury Park, CA. Borman, W. C., & Motowidlo, S. J. (1993), Expanding the criterion domain to includeelements of contextual performance, in N. Schmitt & W. C. Borman (Eds.),Personnel selection in organizations (pp. 71-98). San Francisco, CA: Jossey Bass. Bright, L. (2008),“Does public service motivation really make a difference on the job satisfactionand turnover intentions of public employees?”,American Review of Public Administration, Vol.38 No 2,pp 149-166. Carriere, J. and Bourque, C. (2009), “The effects of organizational communication on job satisfaction and organizational commitment in a land ambulance service and the mediating role of communication satisfaction”, Career Development International, Vol. 14 No. 1, pp. 29-49. Castaing, S. (2006), “The Effects of Psychological Contract Fulfilment and Public Service Motivation on Organizational Commitment in the French Civil Service”, PublicPolicy and Administration, Vol .21 No. 1, pp. 8398. Cheney, G. and L. Christensen (2001),“Organizational identity linkages between internal and external communication”, in Jablin, F.M. and Putnam, L.L. (Eds), The New Handbook of Organizational Communication, Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA. Collins, J.C. and J.I. Porras. (1996),“ Building your company’s vision”, Harvard Business Review, Vol. 76, pp. 6577 Cropanzano, R.,& Mitchell, M.S. (2005), Social exchange theory:An interdisciplinary review.Journal of Management,Vol.3No.16, pp. 874-900. Das, G (2012),India grows at night: A liberal case for a strong state, Penguin, India Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 117

Internalizing Citizenship Behaviour through Internal Communication Davies, G. (2008), “Employer branding and its influence on managers”, European Journal ofMarketing, Vol. 42 No. 5, pp.667–681. Downs, C.W. and Adrian, A.D. (2004), Assessing Organizational Communication: Strategic Communication Audits, Guilford Press, New York, NY. Drucker, P. F. (1993), Post-capitalist society, Harper Business, New York Dunlop, P. D. and Lee, K. (2004), “Workplace deviance, organizational citizenshipbehaviour, and business unit performance: The bad apples do spoil the whole barrel”, Journal of Organizational Behaviour, Vol. 25, pp. 67-80. Fadia, K (2014), “Reforming India’s higher civil services: Agenda for 21st century reforms”, Indian Journal of Public Administration, Vol. l No. 1, pp. 61-76. Fredrickson, B.L. and D. Kahneman (1993),“Duration neglect in retrospective evaluations of affective episodes”, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Vol. 65, pp. 45-55. Fukuyama, F (2009), State Building, Profile Books Ltd, London Goodman, M.B., Genst, C., Keller, A., Cayo, D. and Gouy, S. (2011), “CCI corporate communication practices and trends: United States – final report”, Corporate Communications: An International Journal, New York, NY Graham, J. W. (1991), “An essay on organizational citizenship behavior”,EmployeeResponsibilities and RightsJournal, Vol. 4, pp.249-270. Gruing, J.E. (2001),Two-Way Symmetrical Public Relations: Past, Present, and Future, Handbook of Public Relations, Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA. Grunig, J. and Hunt, T. (1984),Managing Public Relations, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, New York. Hair, J. F. Jr., Money, A.H., Samouel, P and Page, M. (2007), Research Methods for Business, Wiley, New Jersey Hart, Norman A (1995), Strategic Public Relations, MacMillan Publishing Company, London. Hawabhay, B., Abratt, R. and Peters, M. (2009),“The role of corporate communications indeveloping a corporate brand image and reputation in Mauritius”, Corporate ReputationReview, Vol. 12 No. 1, pp.3–20 Hood, C. (2000), The Art of the State – Culture, Rhetoric, and Public Management, Oxford, Clarendon Press. Hoogervorst, J., Flier, H. vander. and Koopman, P. (2004), “Implicit communication in organization: The impact to culture, structure and management practices on employee behaviour”, Journal of Managerial Psychology, Vol. 19 No. 3, pp. 288-311. Jose, M (2008), “A study of the Impact of Psychological contract on Organizational commitment among Temporary and Permanent Employees in Organizations”, Journal of Contemporary Research in Management, April-June, pp. 112. Kandlousi, N., Ali, A., and Abdollahi, A. (2010), “Organizational citizenship behavior inconcern of communication satisfaction: The role of the formal and informal communication”, International Journal of Business Management, Vol.5 No.10, pp. 51-61 Katz, D., and Kahn, R. L. (1966),The social psychology of organizations, Wiley, New York. Kidder, D. L., & McLean Parks, J. (1993), The good soldier: Who is (s)he? In D. P.Moore (Ed.), Academy of Management Best Papers Proceedings, pp. 363–367. Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 118


Kim, S. (2002), “Participative Management and Job Satisfaction: Lessons for Management Leadership”, Public Administration Review, Vol. 62 No. 2, pp. 231–41. Koul, S. (2009), “Communication structure of the public sector in India: an empirical analysis”,Corporate Communications: An International Journal, Vol. 14 No. 3, pp. 320-32 Koys, D. J. (2001), “The Effects of Employee Satisfaction, Organizational Citizenship Behavior, and Turnover on Organizational Effectiveness: A Unit-Level, Longitudinal Study”, Personnel Psychology, Vol. 54 No.1, pp. 101114. Krippendorff, K (2004), Content analysis: An introduction to its methodology, Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA. Lagvigna, R. (2014), “Why government servants are harder to motivate”, Havard Busienss Review, available at: https://hbr.org/2014/11/why-government-workers-are-harder-to-motivate (accessed on 10 July 2015). Mazzei, A. (2010),"Promoting active communication behaviours through internal communication", Corporate Communications: An International Journal, Vol. 15 Issue 3, pp. 221 – 234. Melewar , T.C. and Akel, S ( 2005 ), “The role of corporate identity in the higher education sector: A case study”, Corporate Communications: An International Journal, Vol.10 No. 1, pp. 41 – 57. Miikkulainen, R. and Sirosh, J (1995),available at http://www.psc.edu/science/Miikkulainen/Miikkul.html. Mishra, N., Sharma, N. and Kamalanabhan, T.J. (2015), “Is internal communication important for sport commitment: A survey of Indian Cricket Players”, Communication and Sport, pp. 1-28. Misner, H. P. (2008),The effect of school communication on student achievement: Theneed for organizational citizenship behavior. (Doctoral Dissertation. NorthernArizona University). UMI ProQuest Digital Dissertations, No. 33343284. Nielsen, T. M., Hrivnak, G. A. and Shaw, M. (2009), “Organizational citizenship behaviour and performance: A meta-analysis of group-level research”,Small Group Research, Vol. 40 No. 5, pp. 555-577. Organ, D. W. (1988),Organizational Citizenship behaviour: The good soldier syndrome, Lexington Books, Lexington, MA Organ, D. W., Podsakoff, P. M. and MacKenzie S. P. (2006), “Organizational citizenship behavior: Its nature, antecedents, and consequences”, Sage, London. Paarlberg, L. E., Perry, J. L., and Hondeghem, A. (2009), “Motivation in public management: The call of public service” (J. L. Perry, & A. Hondeghem, Eds.), Oxford, New York Papasolomou, I. and Vrontis, D. (2006), “Using internal marketing to ignite the corporate brand: the case of the UK retail bank industry”, Journal of Brand Management, Vol. 14 Nos 1/2, pp. 177-95. Perry, J. L and Wise, L. R. (1990), “The motivational bases of public service”,Public Administration Review, Vol 50 No. 3, pp. 367-373. Podsakoff, P. M., MacKenzie, S. B., Paine, J. B., and Bachrach, D. G. (2000), “Organizational citizenship behaviours: A critical review of the theoretical and empirical literature and suggestions for future research, Journal of Management, Vol. 26, pp.513–563 Sharma, N. and Kamalanabhan, T.J. (2012), “Impact of internal corporate communication on internal branding: perception of Indian public sector employees”, Corporate Communication International Journal, Vol. 17 No. 3, pp.300–322. Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 119


Sharma, N., & Kamalanabhan, T. J. (2014), “IT employees’ brand attitudes and the role of internal corporate communication: A survey of Indian IT industry”,International Journal of Business Excellence, Vol. 7, pp. 52–75 Sinha, M and Bhatia, P(2016), “Strategic corporate communication and impact in Indian service sector”, Corporate Communications: An International Journal, Vol. 21 No. 1, pp. 120-140 Smith, C. A., Organ, D. W., and Near, J. P. (1983), “Organizational citizenship behavior: Its nature and antecedents”, Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol. 68, No. 4, pp. 653-663. Subramanian, T.S.R (2014),India at turning point, Replika publications, New Delhi, India. Sullivan, P., and Feltz, D. L. (2003),“The preliminary development of the Scale for Effective Communication in Team Sports (SECTS)”, Journal of Applied Social Psychology, Vol. 33, pp. 1693–1715. Teeni, D. (2001), “A cognitive-affective model of organizational communication for designingIT”, MIS Quarterly, Vol. 25 No. 2, pp. 251-312. Tukiainen, T. (2001), “An agenda model of organizational communication”, Corporate Communication: An International Journal, Vol. 6 No. 1, pp. 47-52. Vajargah, Somayeh Taghipour (2013), “The Relationship between Internal Marketing (Communications) and the Organizational Citizenship Behavior of Municipal Employees of East of Guilan”,Trends in Social Science, Vol. 7 No. 1. Vandenabeele, W., and Walle, S. V. (2008), International differences in public service motivation: Comparing regions across the world. In J. L. Perry, & A. Hondeghem, Motivation in Public Management: The Call of Public Service, Oxford, NY. Weinstein, C. E., and Mayer, R. (1986), The teaching of learning strategies. In M. C. Wittrock (Ed.), Handbook of research on teaching (pp. 315–327), Macmillan, New York. Welch, M. and Jackson, P.R. (2007), “Rethinking internal communication: a stakeholder approach”, Corporate Communications: An International Journal, Vol. 12 No. 2, pp. 177-98. Welch,M (2015), “Internal Communication Education: a historical perspective”, Journal of Communication Management, Vol. 19No. 4, pp.388-405. Yildirim, O (2014),The Impact of Organizational Communication on Organizational citizenship Behaviour: Research Findings, International Strategic Management Conference, doi: 10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.09.124


Is Strategic Communication Too Important to Be Left to Communication Professionals? Managers’ and Coworkers’ Attitudes towards Strategic Communication and Communication Professionals Jesper Falkheimer Lund University, Campus Helsingborg, Department of Strategic Communication [email protected]

Mats Heide Lund University, Campus Helsingborg, Department of Strategic Communication [email protected]

Charlotte Simonsson Lund University, Campus Helsingborg, Department of Strategic Communication [email protected]

Rickard Andersson Lund University, Campus Helsingborg, Department of Strategic Communication [email protected]

Howard Nothhaft Lund University, Campus Helsingborg, Department of Strategic Communication [email protected]

Sara von Platen Lund University, Campus Helsingborg, Department of Strategic Communication [email protected]

This paper is based upon empirical data from a current three-year research project, “The Communicative Organization”, in Sweden focusing the value of communication for organizations. The project is supported by the Swedish Association for Public Relations and involves eleven major public and corporate organizations (e.g. IKEA and the Swedish National Police). The aim of this paper is to describe and analyze the results from a quantitative survey study among the participating organizations. The survey was directed towards three groups: managers, coworkers and communication practitioners, aiming to find commonalities and differences in attitudes. In the paper we will review earlier research on management, managers and corporate communication, describe the results of the empirical study and analyze these results. The results are not analyzed yet (the survey ends early 2016), but one early indication is that a vast majority of managers view communication as critical for their organizations, but are unclear of what role communication practitioners have. Another indication is that managers highlight the importance of interpersonal communication and link the primary value of corporate communications to organizational branding.

Keywords:strategic communication, communicative organization, communication professionals Paper type: Research Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 121

Is Strategic Communications Too Important to Be Left to Communication Professionals?

Introduction The value and prominence of strategic communication1is attracting more and more attention in society and corporations. There is also a growing understanding of the vital importance of strategic communication for the survival and success of organizations. Yet, communication professionals and communication departments around the world continue to struggle with a rather low status in organizations. Georges Clemenceau (1841 – 1929), France's president during the later years of World War I, once quipped that war is too important a matter to be left to the generals. Clemenceau's aphorism has become a favorite with writers who want to point out that truly important affairs best not be left to experts. Along that line of thought, the following article explores the perceived importance of communication in contrast with the perceived expertise and status of communication professionals. It raises the question whether communication is on the verge of becoming too important to be left to communicators? Earlier research indicates that managers in general do not perceive strategic communication as important as sales, marketing or HR (e.g. Brønn, 2014; Zerfass & Sherzada, 2015). Earlier research (e.g. Sandhu, 2009) has also discussed whether strategic communication is institutionalized in contemporary organizations. Grandien and Johansson (2011; cf. Schultz & Wehmeier, 2010) propose a model of how to study the institutionalization process, but that the status of communication professionals is still an open question. Many practitioners experience that strategic communication often is taken for granted and that managers do not understand the complexity of communication (Axley, 1984), and the fundamental role that communication play in the continuous production and reproduction of organizations (Putnam & Nicotera, 2009; Weick, 2009). At the same time, communication professionals have been criticized for being stuck in an old communication paradigm emphasizing media, content and information distribution, leading to that strategic communications does not become a critical part of the organizational core activities (cf. Cowan, 2014). In the old communication paradigm, communication professionals were “doing as they were told rather than recommending or being a key strategic partner” (Cowan, 2014, p. 12). According to the same critique the old communication paradigm is ruled by the media logic, which leads to a strong focus on publicity and external messages. The anchoring in media logic prevents communication professionals from becoming core and strategic actors in organizations, according to this reasoning. In this paper we propose a mindset shift among communication professionals: from the media logic to the communication logic. The aim of this paper is to discuss two important issues regarding the problems sketched out above: (1) How do managers and co-workers value and view strategic communication? (2) How do managers and co-workers value and view communication practitioners? The theoretical framework is based on two conceptual models that will be developed and discussed: the communicative organization(Falkheimer, Heide, Simonsson, Zerfass, & Verhoeven, 2016; Nothhaft & von Platen, 2015) and the four-by-four model of strategic public relations(Gregory & Willis, 2013; Zerfass & Sherzada, 2015). The communicative organization is a normative concept developed by the international professional public relations community (Global Alliance, 2010, 2012). It is not yet a welldefined concept, but is used to describe the positive contribution that strategic communication might have for organizations and society. The four-by-four model of strategic public relations has similarities to the communicative organization since it is also a normative concept, but is a more clearly defined stakeholder-oriented model: “(…) a comprehensive methodology that allows for careful examination of Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 122


any type of organization” (Gregory & Willis, 2013, p. 36). These two concepts and models will be further discussed after a short review of earlier research relevant to this study. The paper is based upon empirical data from a current Swedish three-year research project entitled “Communicative Organizations” investigating the value of communication for organizations. The project is supported by The Swedish Association of Communication Professionalsand involves eleven public (governmental as well as municipal) and corporate organizations. In the paper relevant results from a quantitative survey (N: 6486) among ten of the participating organizations are described and analyzed.2 Differently from recent and similar studies we encompass both private and public organizations (e.g. Brønn, 2014; Zerfass & Sherzada, 2015). Further, and more important, is that we also involve coworkers in the study, since we regard them as important organizational communicators (cf. Heide & Simonsson, 2014; Heide & Simonsson, 2015). Many earlier studies have exclusively paid attention to communication professionals and managers, which leads to a biased understanding of strategic communication and the profession. The paper is divided into four parts. First we present earlier research and the two theoretical concept or models. In the next part we describe methodological issues and limitation, followed by a section that presents our research project. Finally, the results are analyzed and conclusions are made, answering the two main empirical questions but also reflecting on consequences for theory and practice.

Theoretical Framework In the paper strategic communication is used as a core concept, focusing targeted and formal communication processes planned and activated as means for organizations to reach overall goals (Falkheimer & Heide, 2014b; Holtzhausen & Zerfass, 2015). An organization in this context refers to private companies, public authorities and formal networks, associations and interest groups. Strategic communication has also been defined as” [t]he purposeful use of communication by an organization to fulfill its mission [...]. The concept further implies that people will be engaged in deliberate communication practice on behalf of organizations, causes, and social movements” (Hallahan, Holtzhausen, van Ruler, Verčič, & Sriramesh, 2007, p. 7). In other words, the objectives of a particular communication effort do not stand in the center, but the business-related and long-term goals. Hence, in order to achieve this strategic take on communication there is a great need of including the different forms of communication functions that exists in an organization, such as marketing, HR and IT. The last decades there has been a large interest in intangible aspects and assets such as brands, organizational identity, reputation, image and legitimacy (Falkheimer & Heide, 2014a). In order to work successfully with these aspects both internal and external communication must work seamlessly and integrated (cf. Cheney & Christensen, 2001). Another essential characteristic of strategic communication is the understanding of communication per se. It differs substantially from the general understanding of communication within the field of public relations. Several researchers (e.g. Ihlen & Verhoeven, 2012; Wehmeier & Winkler, 2013) have criticized public relations, which also is true for marketing communications (e.g. Pelsmacker, Geuens, & Bergh, 2010), for the robust functionalist emphasis and the strong applied nature (cf. McKie, 2001; Nothhaft, 2016). Apart from the integrative approach, the understanding of communication is a characteristic that differs from the general view within mainstream public relations research (Falkheimer & Heide, 2014a). Strategic communication has traditionally been viewed and used as an organizational support function (Grunig, Grunig, & Dozier, 2002; Verčič & Grunig, 2000), but due to the increased focus on intangible resources communications has become more relevant for organizational management. Normative models Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 123


in public relations point out the strategic management role, but some studies indicate that the ideals are not aligned with reality: Research indicates that public relations practitioners are seldom included in the dominant coalition, defined as the senior managers who control the organization. (Brønn, 2001, p. 315) Brønn (2001) means that the focus on role enactment in public relations research is not as relevant as understanding what strategic thinking is. Based on strategy research she, at a conceptual level, describes three attributes that are associated with strategic thinking: using research-based information, working with a plan and being involved with the top management. In an empirical paper several years later Brønn (2014, p. 59) presents the results from a survey ”(…) looking at how top leaders from the private sector in Norway view the communication function and their communication directors”. Following the same approach as in this paper, but limited to the private sector and managers, the study aims to give a different perspective compared to the several surveys that have been answered by communication professionals.3 The study of Norwegian corporate leaders view on communication professionals and executives is based on a representative sample where 1.343 respondents answered an on-line survey (Brønn, 2014). The total sample was 5.000 persons and the response rate is 27 per cent. Only 22 per cent of the respondents answered that their organization (several of them small-size firms) had a communications department or an individual responsible for communications, which means that the results of the study must be interpreted with some caution. The results show that the respondents viewed strategic communication as less important for corporate success than, in falling order, sales, finance, HR, strategic planning and marketing, but slightly more important than security, IT and legal affairs (Brønn, 2014). The respondents found that personal communication skills are the most important communication issue. 44 per cent of the respondents meant that communication managers had something to add to decision-making processes: ”Results indicate that leaders believe communication managers have something to add to the process but that they are not really ‘there’ when decisions are made” (Brønn, 2014, p. 67). When asking about the strategic decision-making competencies among communication managers, the respondents rate these at medium or below medium level. The two areas that are most appreciated are extensive knowledge of important issues within the organization and of issues and changes in the external environment. In another study Zerfass and Sherzada (2015) analyzed how top executives in German corporations conceptualize and value strategic communication. The analysis is based in a quantitative study with 602 CEOs and executive board members. While the Brønn (2014) study mainly involved small-and medium sized enterprises, this study concerns large corporations with big communication departments. The results are still not very different. The top executives’ communicative focus seems to be very traditional: primary stakeholders (customers and employees) and mass media (more than social media). Communication professionals are generally not viewed as crucial for strategic decision-making. ”In spite of the many future-oriented conceptions in academia and in the professional world, a traditional view of corporate communications is institutionalized in the business world - even in large corporations with dedicated and professional communication departments” (Zerfass & Sherzada, 2015, p. 305). Both studies still reveal a huge interest among managers and executives in communication issues, linked to organizational reputation and personal leadership. An interesting question is what this increased interest has led to in practice? One possibility is that this has changed the view on the communications professional, which in turn will lead to a move from the functional level to the top management level. Another possibility is that communications competence has been integrated as a necessary asset for all Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 124


kinds of management, but that communication professionals still will be viewed and used as support functions.

The communicative organization The Global Alliance launched the concept the communicative organization in 2010 at the 6th World Public Relations Forum (Stockholm Accords, 2010). The concept has gained increasing attention during the last couple of years, but there is no common definition. A frequent understanding is that “organizations that communicate well with their environment, including their internal environments, will enjoy a sustained competitive advantage” (Nothhaft & von Platen, 2015, p. 1). Another perspective of the communicative organization is that it implies an overall knowledge and awareness of the importance of communication for continuous organizing processes that enact and reproduce an organization. Thus, communication is not reduced to a tool for the transmission of messages from senders to receivers, but the transformative aspect of communication is emphasized (Dewey, 1916/2004). Today the term is used in research but mainly in professional organizations. As an example the concept is part of the vision of The Swedish Association of Communication Professionals where it is broken down into different characteristics:   

leaders are role models who use communication as an instrument to achieve goals, communicators have an important and natural role in various levels of the organization, employees are aware of the importance of how the organization communicates, both internal and external, to achieve high credibility.4

This means that strategic communications activities occur throughout the organization, not only in the communications department (Heide & Simonsson, 2015; Zerfass & Franke, 2013). We regard strategic communication as a practice as something that involve many organizational actors – managers, leaders and coworkers – which all act and communicate strategically and thereby produce and reproduce an organization (Falkheimer & Heide, 2014a). Consequently, it imposes a greater communicative awareness throughout the organization. Managers and coworkers at different levels and in different units often meet a large number of external people through their daily work and therefore the communicative skills and awareness need to be high among all employees (Heide & Simonsson, 2011). The communicative organization represents a post-industrial approach to organizations and society, where communication is a core for all forms of organizing, strategizing and managing. But we know far too little about what concrete meanings communication might have, how organizations actually work with strategic communication and how they organize and develop their communication activities (Falkheimer, et al., 2016). In this paper the normative definitions of a communicative organization will be compared with the descriptive results of the survey, especially the attitudes towards different aspects of communication among managers and coworkers. The four-by-four model of strategic public relations The four-by-four model consists of four organizational levels at which all organizations operate (functional, corporate, stakeholder/value chain and societal) and four strategic public relations strands (brand, leadership, core competence and planning) undertaken at all levels. The four organizational levels and strategic public relations strands are connected to stakeholders and stakeholder networks that frame the organization in different ways. The model is stakeholder-oriented and dynamic: “The stakeholders ultimately determine and define the nature of an organization, providing its license to operate and without whose cooperation it will cease to exist” (Gregory & Willis, 2013, p. 35). Below is a very short summary of how public relations contribute to the different levels. Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 125


At the societal level the role of the public relations practitioner is to contribute with contextual intelligence that ”(…) helps the organizations’ leaders to make sense of an external environment that is in a permanent state of flux” (Gregory & Willis, 2013, p. 36). Role: Orienter. At the corporate level the role of the public relations practitioner is to ”[…] build reputational and relational capital needed for an organization to meet its objectives […]”. This includes coaching and mentoring organizational managers and providing them with intelligence about stakeholders before decisions, and communicating with stakeholders (Gregory & Willis, 2013, p. 37). Role: Navigator. At the value-chain level the primary stakeholders (e.g. customers or employees) are put in center. ”The role of the public relations function is being attuned to and representing all these ’close’ stakeholder perspectives, internal and external, to senior managers in the organization is critical to organizational success” (Gregory & Willis, 2013, p. 39). Role: Catalyst. At the functional level the role of the public relations practitioner is to plan and align communication activities with organizational mission, vision and general strategy. Role: Implementer. The four attributes that are crucial for effective public relations are an excellent understanding of the brand (the role is to “act as a brand guardian and champion (…)” (Gregory & Willis, 2013, p. 42); being a part of the leadership; making sure that public relations is a core organizational competence (working with and mentoring senior managers and employee engagement); being excellent in planning, managing and evaluating public relations strategies and tactics. Also this model is normative but more concrete than the concept communicative organization, and we will also compare this model with the results of the survey.

Research Design As mentioned above, the empirical data used in this paper is part of a current, large Swedish, three-year research project entitled “Communicative Organizations”. After a short presentation of the overall purpose and design of this project, we describe the method and data used for this paper. The research project The overall objective of the project is to increase knowledge about the importance of communication for strategic goal achievement in organizations. This objective is divided into three overall themes with a number of questions exemplified below:  



Effectiveness and practice: The relation between communication goals and business goals, characteristics of communicative organizations, the role and importance of managers, co-workers and communication professionals in strategic communication processes. Organization: the organization of the communication function, the relation between the communication function and other business processes, such as HR, IT, CSR and Marketing/Sales, connection of center and periphery – focusing both vertical communication processes (top management/coworkers) and horizontal communication processes. Professionalization and future requirements: roles for communication practitioners as defined by the organizations, normative ideals versus descriptive reality, competencies needed for communication professionals aiming to develop a communicative organization.



The empirical work started with interviews with communication professionals in each of the eleven participating organization. In the next step, we have conducted a large quantitative survey with the same questionnaire in all the participating organizations, which will be followed by approximately 150 qualitative interviews with managers, coworkers and communication professionals.5 Data collection, survey and sample The empirical material is based on data from the survey conducted in ten of the eleven organizations. All organizations have chosen to sign up for participating in the whole research project as described above. In other words, the organizations have shown an interest in learning more about communicative organizations and how communication may contribute to overall organizational success. They have chosen to invest time and also some money in this project. Against this backdrop, it can be argued that these organizations probably have higher ambitions than many other organizations in the area of strategic communication, and the sample of organizations may in that respect include a positive bias. However, considering the overall purpose of the research project – to learn more about the role of communication for strategic goal achievement – we think it is more fruitful to study organizations with ambitions and well-established communication functions rather than the opposite (cf. Flyvbjerg, 2006). Four of the ten organizations are corporations within business areas such as retail, construction and property, energy supply and logistics. Six organizations are public organizations – municipalities and governmental organizations on national and regional levels. The smallest organization has about 250 employees, while there are a few really large organizations, comprising about 50.000 employees. Some of the corporations are even bigger, but in those cases one specific part or subsidiary has been included in the study. Most organizations are large and have more than 20.000 employees. The four corporations run businesses in other countries than Sweden, but only one company chose to conduct the survey outside Sweden, which means that most of the respondents are employed in Sweden. The sampling of respondents in the ten organizations have been made in different ways:    

simple random sample within the whole organization, simple random sample within one geographic area of the organization, simple random sampling and total population sampling within several different divisions/units in the organization (the latter kind of sampling was conducted in units with rather small populations; less than 1000 employees), total population sampling within the whole organization (only conduced in the smallest organization with 250 employees).

The choice of sampling selection was made based on the size of the organization and the preferences of each organization. Some of the large organizations did not want to disseminate the survey in all units of the organization, but preferred to conduct the survey in one specific geographic region or some specified unit that represented the different business areas of the organization. A general problem in all the organizations is that employees quite often are asked to participate in different surveys, which has led to a problem of “questionnaire fatigue”. The survey was conducted during October 2015–February 2016. Participants had two to three weeks to answer the survey and one or two reminders were dispatched in all organizations. The survey was distributed as an on-line survey except for one organization where a group of employees without access to computers received a paper version. The response rate in the ten organizations varies between 15 per cent and 50 per cent. The organization having the lowest response rate differ quite much from the other Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 127


organizations, the next lowest response rate is 26 per cent. In total, there are 6.486 respondents, which means a total response rate of 29 per cent. The survey was directed towards three groups: managers, coworkers and communication professionals, aiming to find commonalities and differences in attitudes towards different aspects of strategic communication. The questionnaire was divided into different sections covering areas such as background questions, internal communication channels, communication climate, managerial communication, top management communication, coworkers’ communication, the value of communication, communication professionals’ work and external stakeholders’ perception of the organization. Some of the questions were used in three different questions and not all questions were asked to all groups. For instance, a question about the role of the CCO in the top management group, was only asked to managers and communications professionals since the majority of the coworkers cannot be asked to have an opinion on that. In this paper we use the results from the section focusing on the perception of the value of communication and the role and work of communication professionals. The total group of respondents is composed of 20 percent managers, 73 percent co-workers and seven percent communication professionals. In several organizations there is a preponderance of managers among the respondents. One possible reason for this is that managers perceive participation in surveys as a part of their role, since as managers they are responsible for the development of the organization. Another reason could be that many co-workers in some of the organizations do not have easy access to a computer in their daily work, which all managers have. 77 percent of those who answered the survey are employed in a public organization and 23 percent in a private company. 64 percent of the respondents are female and 34 per cent males (it was also possible to reply “other gender identity” which 0, 3 percent did). More than half of the respondents, 57 percent, have an education from the university/college. The great majority, 87 percent, have answered that Swedish is their native language.

Results and Analysis Perception of communication The survey demonstrates that in general, communication is perceived as important in the participating organizations (see figure 1 below). For instance, 90 per cent or more of the respondents agree or partly agree that communication is an increasingly important success factor for organizations and that the ability to communicate well is essential in business life. Regarding the importance and value of communication, there are no major differences between the respondent groups even though, for obvious reasons, the communication professionals tend to rate higher on these items than managers and employees do. The managers are also slightly more inclined to agree to the general statements on the importance of strategic communication than the employees are. There is no significant difference between corporations and public organizations.



Figure 1. Perception of communication (percentage). Regarding resources spent on communication in relation to revenue, the amount of respondents that partly/fully agree or partly/fully disagree respectively is fairly balanced. Neither too much, nor too little resources are seemingly spent on communication. However, it is worth noticing that 75 per cent of the communication professionals partly/fully disagree with the statement “We put too many resources on communication compared with what we get out of it”, while only 37 per cent of managers and coworkers do so. To be sure, the communication professionals’ perception of this issue is not very surprising, since they are more acquainted with the communication budget as well as with the scope of their everyday work. The question here is rather what this discrepancy between groups of actors signifies in a larger context when it comes to proving the value of communication. Another interesting point here is that the pattern of about a third of the respondents disagreeing, agreeing or stating neither/nor (very roughly) is rather similar for all organizations (see Fig. 2). While this seems puzzling at first glance, it may be the reflection of the dynamic allocation of resources in organizations. If, say, 90% of the staff believed that too many resources are spent on communication, it is very likely that this, over time, would trigger a counter-reaction until a balance is restored. Thus, the pattern reminds us of the fact that the communication department competes with other departments for resources, no matter as how important communication in general may be perceived. Deviations from the dynamic balance, accordingly, should indicate a temporary special effort, e.g. an ongoing communication campaign. And that is indeed the case with organization F, where such an emphasis on strategic communication is currently ongoing, and where nearly 50 per cent of respondents indicate that the organization should spend rather less.



Figure 2. Resource allocation for communication (percentage, n=6,486). All in all, communication is highly valued by the respondents, a result well in line with the more general recognition of communication as an important asset in organizations. If a communicative organization in the most general sense is conceptualized as an organization which is “good at communicating”, the acknowledgement of communication as vital to organizational operations is an important prerequisite for communicative performance as well as for a greater emphasis on the communication professionals’ role as strategist rather than technician (Gregory & Willis, 2013). However, organizations are prone to adopt ideas on a discursive or rhetorical level without necessarily altering their practices or processes (Meyer & Rowan, 1977). Consequently, admitting the importance of communication is neither a sufficient condition nor a guarantee that communicative practices correspond to outspoken ideals. Turning to questions which concern the role, work and primary competence areas of the communication professionals’ issues arise that indicate that in practice, these and other organizations trying to adopt the communicative organization ideal may be facing some challenges.

The Status of Communication Professionals A role can be defined as the values, norms, behaviors, knowledge and attitudes associated with a certain position in a social network. Professional roles are socially constituted and they are shaped in everyday interaction as implicit and explicit expectations that are ascribed to the role by incumbents and other actors in the network (Ashforth, 2001). Roles are patterns of expectations and as such they guide action, assign rights and responsibilities. In addition, roles are relational and deeply ingrained with dimension of power and status. The underlying assumption here is that ideally, the communicative organization is characterized by sound mutual expectations on the communication professionals’ roles, their work and the value it contributes to organizational processes and outcomes. The survey shows that approximately 80 per cent of the respondents perceive that the communication professionals’ work contributes to effective internal and external communication. 61 per cent of the managers and employees also find that the communication professionals’ facilitate their work (figure 3 below). Regarding these questions there are no major differences between the respondent groups. Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 130


Figure 3. Clarity of task of the communication professionals’, by organization (percentage, n=6, 486). Less than half of the respondents (42 %), partly/fully agree to the statement “The task of the communication professional in the organization is clear”. The role is most indistinct for the coworkers, of which 35% partly/fully disagree with the statement above. With few exceptions, this pattern characterizes the responses from all participating organizations. Most notable concerning the clarity of the communication professional’s role, however, is that almost one fourth of the communication professionals’ perceive that the role is not clear. Even though 61 per cent do agree to the statement, these numbers indicate that the role is not very well defined for the communication professionals´ either. An unclear role does not necessarily make it more difficult to advance into a strategic position. But boundaries and differentiation is fundamental to role construction and if the role cannot be clearly distinguished it runs a considerably higher risk of encroachment and lack of recognition. Turning to the statements regarding the communication professionals’ provision of support to the managers in the organizations and the role in the management it turns out that 74 per cent of the respondents partly/fully agree to the statement “The communication professionals provide important support to the managers of the organization” and 79 per cent partly/fully agree to the statement “The head of communication has an important role in the management group”. Still, there are some interesting differences between the respondent groups (managers and communication professionals) regarding these issues. The survey shows that the communication professionals tend to estimate their role in the management group as well as their role as management support as more significant than the managers do. To a certain extent this mirrors the results from the studies carried out by Brønn (2014) and Zerfass & Sherzada (2015). For example, regarding the role of the communication manager in the management group, 95 per cent of the communication professionals’ partly/fully agree to the statement concerning their importance in the management group. This result can be compared to the corresponding figure for managers – 72 per cent. Discrepant perceptions of roles are normal and difficult to avoid. The same kind of differences would most likely surface if the questions were asked regarding other roles or professional groups as well. Nevertheless, the results raise questions about the consequences of discrepant views. One possibility is that if the communication professionals’ function and contribution is not perceived as Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 131


important, their access to and influence on organizational matters such as strategic decision-making will consequently be reduced. Other questions concern the causes of the gaps and, if relevant, how these gaps may be lessened. These are complex issues but at least two alternatives are viable. One is to increase managers’ appraisal of the communication professionals’ work and role by increasing their knowledge about what communication professionals actually do and how they add value to organizations. Another option is that communication professionals simply have to perform better if they are to gain higher recognition in their organizations.

Figure 4. The communication professional’s work and roles (percentage). Communication Professionals’ Primary Competence Areas The managers were asked to rank the top three competence areas of communicators. The survey shows that “Work with communication channels”, “Media relations” and “Writing and formulating texts” are perceived as the professionals’ primary competence areas. “Coaching managers in their communications role” is also fairly highly ranked, but it is not among the three most preferred alternatives (Table 1 below). It should be noted that the differences between the alternatives are small. Still, 46 per cent of the managers ranked the channel work as the primary competence area for the communicators.



Table 1 What Do You Perceive as The Communication Professionals’ Principal Areas of Competence (What They are Perceived to Be Best at)? Choose a Maximum of Three Alternatives (n=1,241) Areas of competence Work with communication channels Media relations Writing and formulating texts Coaching managers in their communications role Communication plans Change communication Crisis communication Brand communication Graphic design Supporting the communication of project groups (presentation, press information etc.) No particular area of competence Lobbying (Public Affairs) Financial communication (Investor Relations) Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Total

Percent 16,6 14,8 13,8 10,1 7,9 7,6 7,5 6,9 5,8 4,8 2,6 0,7 0,5 0,3 100

The figures in the table indicate that the managers primarily perceive the communication professionals to be skilled in managing communication channels and messages, tasks that are characteristic for the communication technician role. The communication professional thus appears to be valued as an “implementer” who assists in designing messages and material in line with organizational goals, rather than as an “orienter”, “navigator” or “catalyst” (Gregory & Willis, 2013). The communication professionals were not asked to rank what they perceived to be their primary competence areas. However, they were asked to characterize their role regarding the extent to which it is primarily focused on:   

Publishing information in different channels (59 % partly or fully agree) Working with plans, strategies and policies (67 % partly or fully agree) Acting as a consultant and support management (55 % partly or fully agree)

Even though the questions answered by managers and communication professionals are not identical, the figures may be carefully interpreted as if the communication professionals perceive their role to be primarily focused on strategic and advisory tasks rather than on more technical chores. Again, role perception varies between respondent groups. But it must be noted that one possible consequence is a problematic self-fulfilling prophecy: since communication professionals are seen as technicians by managers, they are not called or relied upon for strategic or consultative tasks e.g. in decision-making, consequently strengthening the impression of their primary competence area as dealing with communication channels. If this is the case, a vicious circle is at work that does not create a beneficial situation neither for a strategic use of communication nor for role enhancement on part of the communicators.

Conclusions As mentioned earlier the survey results must be analyzed with care. On the one hand side the empirical data is massive and meets scientific demands on reliability and validity. Compared to several other survey studies, this survey has used a random sample and the average response rate, 29 per cent, may be interpreted as satisfying. On the other hand side, the survey only covers ten self-recruited organizations based in Sweden, which means that the results may have a cultural bias. But contemporary empirical Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 133


studies (e.g. Brønn, 2014; Zerfass & Sherzada, 2015) in fact confirm the overall results which increases the possibility to generalize, at least in a North European context. Put simply, the survey shows that the self-identity of communication professionals and the normative model of strategic public relations (Gregory & Willis, 2013) partly mirror and partly collide with the perceptions of managers and coworkers. The study confirms that managers and coworkers find communication crucial for their organizations at a strategic level: for reaching business goals, for organizational success and so forth. The study also confirms that the work of communication professionals contributes to effective internal and external communications. The concept of a communicative organization is, as we have discussed earlier, rather abstract and needs to be developed further. But if we follow one of the professional concretizations of the concept, the one stated by The Swedish Association of Communication Professionals, we can tentatively discuss whether the organizations are “communicative” in the following sense:6 (1) leaders are role models who use communication as an instrument to achieve goals; (2) communicators have an important and natural role in various levels of the organization; (3) coworkers are aware of the importance of how the organization communicates, both internally and externally, to achieve high credibility. The survey indicates that there is a common understanding of the role of communication and leadership. It also indicates that coworkers are aware of the importance of how the organization communicates. The role of communication professionals is natural but rather unclear. A majority of the respondents do not understand the core role or roles of communication professionals. Most managers tend to view communication as highly important but communication professionals as channel producers or technicians, although one out of ten managers also pinpointed the role as a communications management coach. Referring to Gregory and Willis’s (2013) model the managers’ view on the communication professional does not match with the strategic roles, but with the implementer role at the functional level. Managers and communication professionals have different perceptions of the support to managers and the communication managers’ role in the management group. All together the survey gives reason for reflection. If one finds it important that communication is viewed as a critical and core asset in contemporary organizations, the results show that this perception is widely spread among both managers and coworkers. The communicative organization, viewed more as a mindset than a scientific construct so far, is emerging. If one finds it important that communication professionals employed in communication departments have a clear and strategic role in contemporary organizations (Gregory & Willis, 2013) the results show that the ideal does not match with reality. What Clemenceau's dictum captures, that a matter might be too important to be left to the experts, might be currently emerging as a pattern in strategic communication. If the professionals do not raise their game, strategic communication might soon be considered too important to be left to communication professionals.



References Ashforth, B. (2001). Role Transitions In Organizational Life: An Identity-Based Perspective. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Earlbaum. Axley, S. R. (1984). Managerial and organizational communication in terms of the conduit metaphor. Academy of Management Review, 9(3), 428–437. Brønn, P. S. (2001). Communication managers as strategists? Can they make the grade? Journal of Communication Management, 5(4), 313–326. Brønn, P. S. (2014). How others see us: leaders’ perceptions of communication and communication managers. [Article]. Journal of Communication Management, 18(1), 58–79. Cheney, G., & Christensen, L. T. (2001). Organizational identity: Linkages between internal and external communication. In F. M. Jablin & L. L. Putnam (Eds.), Organizational Communication: Advances in Theory, Research, and Methods (pp. 231–269). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Cowan, D. (2014). Strategic Internal Communication: How to Build Employee Engagement and Performance. London: Kogan Page. Dewey, J. (1916/2004). Democracy and education. Mineola, NY: Dover. Falkheimer, J., & Heide, M. (2014a). From Public Relations to Strategic Communication in Sweden: The Emergence of a Transboundary Field of Knowledge. NORDICOM Review, 35(2), 123–139. Falkheimer, J., & Heide, M. (2014b). Strategisk kommunikation: En introduktion. Lund: Studentlitteratur. Falkheimer, J., Heide, M., Simonsson, C., Zerfass, A., & Verhoeven, P. (2016). Doing the right things or doing things right?: Paradoxes and Swedish communication professionals’ roles and challenges. Corporate Communications: An International Journal, 21(2), 142–159. Flyvbjerg, B. (2006). Five Misunderstandings About Case-Study Research. Qualitative Inquiry, 12(2), 219–245. Global Alliance. (2010). Stockholm Accords: Final text. Retrieved 2016-04-20, from www.stockholmaccords.org/accords-text Global Alliance. (2012). The Melbourne Mandate. Retrieved 2016-04-20, from https://melbournemandate.wordpress.com Grandien, C., & Johansson, C. (2011). Institutionalizing communication management in organizations – A theoretical framework. Corporate Communication: An International Journal, 17(2), xx-xx. Gregory, A., & Willis, P. (2013). Strategic public relations leadership. London: Routledge. Grunig, L. A., Grunig, J. E., & Dozier, D. M. (2002). Excellent public relations and effective organizations: A study of communication management in three countries. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. Hallahan, K., Holtzhausen, D., van Ruler, B., Verčič, D., & Sriramesh, K. (2007). Defining Strategic Communication. International Journal of Strategic Communication, 1(1), 3–35. Heide, M., & Simonsson, C. (2011). Putting co-workers in the limelight: New challenges for communication professionals. International Journal of Strategic Communication, 5(4), 201–220. Heide, M., & Simonsson, C. (2014). Developing internal crisis communication: new roles and practices of communication professionals. Corporate Communicaions: An International Journal, 19(2), 128-146. Heide, M., & Simonsson, C. (2015). Struggling with internal crisis communication: a balancing act between paradoxical tensions. Public Relations Inquiry, 4(2), 223-255. Holtzhausen, D., & Zerfass, A. (2015). Strategic communication: Opportunities and challenges of the research area. In D. Holtzhausen & A. Zerfass (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of strategic communication (pp. 3–17). New York, NY: Routledge. Ihlen, O., & Verhoeven, P. (2012). A public relations identity for the 2010s. Public Relations Inquiry, 1(2), 159– 176. McKie, D. (2001). Updating public relations: “New science”, research paradigms, and uneven developments. In R. L. Heath (Ed.), Handbook of Public Relations (pp. 75–91). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Meyer, J., & Rowan, B. (1977). Institutional organizations: Formal structures as myth and ceremony. American Journal of Sociology, 83(2), 340–363. Nothhaft, H. (2016). A Framework for Strategic Communication Research: A Call for Synthesis and Consilience. International Journal of Strategic Communication, 1-18. Nothhaft, H., & von Platen, S. (2015). The communicative organization. Helsingborg: Lund University, Department of Strategic Communication. Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 135


Pelsmacker, P. d., Geuens, M., & Bergh, J. v. d. (2010). Marketing communications: A European perspective. Harlow: Prentice Hall. Putnam, L. L., & Nicotera, A. M. (Eds.). (2009). Building theories of organization. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Sandhu, S. (2009). Strategic Communication: An Institutional Perspective. International Journal of Strategic Communication, 3(2), 72 - 92. Schultz, F., & Wehmeier, S. (2010). Institutionalization of corporate social responsibility within corporate communications. Corporate Communications: An International Journal, 15(1), 9–29. Verčič, D., & Grunig, J. (2000). The origins of public relations theory in economics and strategic management. In D. Moss, D. Verčič & G. Warnaby (Eds.), Perspectives on Public Relations Research (pp. 9–58). New York, NY: Routledge. Wehmeier, S., & Winkler, P. (2013). Expanding the Bridge, Minimizing the Gaps: Public Relations, Organizational Communication, and the Idea That Communication Constitutes Organization. Management Communication Quarterly, 27(2), 280–290. Weick, K. E. (2009). Making sense of the organization: The impermanent organization. Chichester: John Wiley and Sons. Zerfass, A., & Franke, N. (2013). Enabling, advising, supporting,executing: A theoretical framework for internalcommunication consulting within organizations. International Journalof Strategic Communication, 7, 118-135. Zerfass, A., & Muschda, S. (2015). Corporate communications from the CEO’s perspective. [Article]. Corporate Communications: An International Journal, 20(3), 291-309. Zerfass, A., & Sherzada, M. (2015). Corporate communications from the CEO’s perspective. [Article]. Corporate Communications: An International Journal, 20(3), 291-309.

Notes 1.

2. 3.

4. 5. 6.

In this paper we use public relations and strategic communication as synonyms. We are aware of the different traditions and schools (and other concepts such as corporate communication and organizational communication) that exist, but our aim in this paper is not to discuss the differences. The survey in the last organization will be conducted in September 2016 due to an organizational change. European Communication Monitor (based on a convenience sample of communication professionals in 42 European countries), Corporate Communication International (limited to US Fortune 1000 companies) and University of Southern California Annenberg study of GAP (limited to US private and public organizations). https://sverigeskommunikatorer.se/kontakt/in-english/ These interviews will be done later in 2016. https://sverigeskommunikatorer.se/kontakt/in-english/


It’s Good for You Because It’s Good for Them  Communicating the Costs of Participation in Volunteer Tourism Kathryn Lineberger Macaulay Honors College, City University of New York, USA [email protected]

International volunteer tourism is an alternative form of travel whereby the tourist performs community service while vacationing abroad. Participants pay a fee in return for the experience, volunteering their money as well as their time in a foreign setting. The activity resides awkwardly between altruism and capitalism; organizations that offer such experiences may be non-profits operating with a mission to serve, while others are companies striving for profit. This content analysis examined the language of payment used by volunteer-sending organizations to communicate the traveler’s financial responsibility in taking such a trip. Organizations frequently used benefits to the host community to express the value of their programs, essentially saying "this trip is good for you because it's good for them." Using financial language, the organizations styled their communications for a more nonprofit-like, altruistic appearance. Regardless of the business model, the potential volunteer encountered messages that mimicked the language and labeling of nonprofit organizations.

Introduction Excavate prehistoric ruins in Mongolia, help a Ghanaian baker expand her business, examine a child’s teeth in Nicaragua: these purchased experiences represent just a few volunteer tourism options, planned excursions that allow travelers to serve within their host communities. Volunteer tourism does not have a universally applied definition, but three common components recur in its descriptions: travel, service and the promise of impact. The promise of impact refers to an implied goal by the activity to affect change for the host environment, for the volunteer, or for both. Volunteer tourist experiences are formed with missions of responsibility and altruism, but may also influence the volunteer’s personal development in some way (Wearing, 2001, 2002). Traveling overseas to volunteer one’s time is not new, but the activity has recently experienced steady growth as a byproduct of responsible or sustainable tourism, attracting more participants than in the past and inspiring a proliferation of organizations that create such trips, including nonprofit organizations, for-profit companies, university departments and faith-based organizations. As a relatively new type of tourism, many of its features have not been explored, but researchers recognize the activity’s blurred lines (Lyons & Wearing 2008), paradoxes and dichotomies (Sin 2009), often generated by features of volunteer tourism’s unusual business model. Objectives overlap as organizations with an altruistic mission operate as businesses, and participants take on opposing responsibilities both as volunteers and also as consumers of the trip. Volunteer tourists do not only sacrifice their time to engage in the activity. They also assume some of the financial responsibility for the cost of the trip, in the form of a fee charged by the volunteer tour operator—and fees are often substantial (Benson 2011). Volunteer tourism has


It’s Good for You Because It’s Good for Them

been scrutinized for the way it represents itself in public-facing messages, and a communication gap exists between its altruistic brand character and the reported outcomes (Sin 2009, 2010), in which some organizations overstate the benefits of the experience to volunteers who may become dissatisfied after the experience (Barbieri et al., 2012). But the role of the fee in these communications has not been explored, nor have the messages that volunteer tour operators use to signal that the volunteer is responsible for the trip’s cost. This research seeks to understand how the volunteer tourist organization positions the shared financial responsibility for the experience to potential volunteers. Responsibility is more than just a buzzword for volunteer tourism. It is at the heart of the activity (The International Ecotourism Society). This term represents a goal to minimize the environmental damage that tourism generates (in water and energy consumption, for example), spread the profits more equitably and preserve local cultures (Francis). Despite the importance of responsibility, Smith and Font (2014) found that an organization’s status did not necessarily guarantee responsible practice; and Sin (2010) cautions against ascribing responsibility to a single party, the developed world, because such labeling relegates the host community to the status of passive aid recipient. It is through this framework of assigned, assumed and accepted responsibility that the current research examined the language of volunteer tourist organizations in order to provide a more nuanced understanding of one of the activity’s many blurry areas. This study contributes to a greater understanding of how organizations work to convey the financial realities and seemingly conflicting objectives of volunteer tourism to those most essential to its operation: the volunteers themselves. Results indicated that volunteers are educated online about the financial realities through a process of information sharing, not a series of dictums. Volunteer tourist organizations used benefits to the overseas community to express the value of their programs to the individual volunteer in a roundabout rationale: Volunteers should pay to participate because their (dual) contributions of time and money positively impact the faraway other. For-profit companies in the study used financial language to style their communications for a more nonprofit-like, altruistic appearance and emphasize the benefits to the host community. The Lack of a Clear Definition or Universal Labeling System Among the blurred features of volunteer tourism is that it lacks a single definition that researchers or professionals universally apply to its many activities. Rather, a general characterization recurs throughout the literature (Smith 1995). This characterization contains three distinct components: travel, service and the promise of impact. Sin’s simple description includes the first two: “a form of tourism where the tourists volunteer in local communities as part of his or her travel” (2009), and reflects the tendency of the literature to refer to a balance of “travel” or “tourism” and either “service” or “volunteering” in definitions of volunteer tourism. The third and more amorphous component, the promise of impact, refers to the experience’s objective to affect change for the host environment, for the volunteer, or for both. This part of the definition reflects experiences that are formed with altruistic missions, but may also affect the volunteer’s personal development in some way (Wearing, 2001, 2002). This promise of impact on the host community is defined using a variety of terms: aiding, alleviating, restoring, contributing, making a difference, participating (e.g., Wearing 2001, p. 1; Barbieri et al. 2012; Hauch 2013; Maloney 2007). The Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 138


impact on the volunteer is defined by language such as educational, gratifying, positive (NTA 2014; Barbieri et al. 2012; Clerkin & Swiss 2014). In addition, current discussions in volunteer tourism center around the idea that the activity can (and should) have positive impacts (Sin, 2009). So even if this third component of impact does not explicitly enter into a researcher’s definition, it is an essential part of the larger framework. Existing within this broad umbrella are several specialized forms of volunteer tourism, each with altruism and travel allocated in different measures (McGehee 2014). Some forms offer a “combination of voluntary service to a destination and the best, traditional elements of travel…in that destination” (Voluntourism.org); while other forms focus solely on international service (Wearing & McGehee, 2013). Organizations may be focused solely on volunteer tourism, or it may be just one component of their activities, with other objectives as a priority (Tourism Research and Marketing, 2008). There are categories of travel that may (but do not always) include volunteering, such as gap year travel by students between their enrollment in secondary and tertiary levels of education (Lyons & Wearing 2008); international service learning, often called study abroad (Sin 2009); and WWOOFing, or volunteering which occurs on organic farms (WWOOF International). There are hundreds of NGOs, charitable bodies and commercial tour operators that offer a variety of volunteer tourism opportunities (Barbieri et al. 2012), with operations and projects that vary in location, size, participant characteristics, purpose, and even image (Coghlan 2012) and semantic usage. The vastly different labels used by organizations to describe the experiences they offer, to characterize the practice, or to address the stakeholders also bring inconsistency to the field. These organizations may use labels to indicate their operational processes; but researchers identify them by terms appropriate to the nature of their research. Tour operators are called “VT operators,” “sending organizations,” or “host organizations” (Smith & Font; Taplin et al.); while the trip itself may be referred to as an “adventure,” a “product,” an “experience,” an “excursion,” a “program,” a “tour,” or a “holiday” (Crystal Cruises; Sanchez et al. 2006; NTA 2014; Sin 2009). This research uses the terms volunteer tour operator, and focuses on organizations that recruit and send volunteers to host communities. Volunteer Tourism’s Brief History and Rapid Growth The merger of international service and travel is not new (Hammersley 2014). Americans have, for decades, volunteered overseas with religious missions, medical or military efforts to travel and help in communities far from their own (African Inland Mission; Hays 2005; Ardalan 2010; Carroll 1994). President John F. Kennedy established the Peace Corps in 1961, which recruited young adults to help in developing countries outside the US (Peace Corps). In the 1990s, the concept of sustainability took root in popular thinking and travel marketers responded with products that offered a participatory role for the visitor and a benefit for the local community— sustainable and alternative tourism emerged (Weaver 1991, 1995; Butler 1990, 1991; Cohen 1987; Pearce 1987). Wearing credits the current popularity of volunteer tourism with “the success of ecotourism (aligning the altruism for nature which has now moved to communities), the entry to the tourism market place of NGO’s offering these types of volunteer trips, and finally to the industry seeing this – leading to bigger providers also offering this option” (Milich 2011). Today, volunteer tourism is a popular new form of tourism, with participation, social interaction and community development high on its agenda (Vodopivec & Jaffe 2011).



Throughout its brief history, researchers have focused on revealing and understanding the relationships between the promise of volunteer tourism, the motivations of volunteers, and outcomes of the experience for volunteers (McGehee 2014). Recent study has expanded into examinations of the activity as it fits into a larger communication practice, including how charging a fee impacts volunteer perception of the experience (Clerkin & Swiss, 2014); creating a standard for evaluating the messages of volunteer operator operators (Smith & Font, 2014) and cataloging the pervasive messaging trends of volunteer tour operator online marketing (Wilkenson et al., 2012). There is no single, governing body or even an authoritative trade group that provides up-to-date statistics, oversight of volunteer tourist placements or consistent evaluation of the programs (Hammersley 2014); but information about similar activities helps put volunteer tourism in perspective. International tourism is one of those similar activities, a rapidly-growing business that contributes to many communities worldwide. The United Nations World Tourism Organization reported that 568 million people traveled internationally for leisure in 2013, a number that would include tourists from all countries traveling across borders to volunteer. This broader category of travel activity contributes 9% of the global gross domestic product and 6% of the world’s exports. Americans alone generated $229 billion from their overseas trips (UNWTO). With further growth expected in the sector, volunteer tourism is poised to shed its niche categorization and develop into a unique, and very large market segment. Very little current public data are available to gauge the extent of volunteer tourist activity, but statistics about similar activities may provide some perspective. Over 1 million people from the US volunteered internationally in 2008, with those aged 15-24 being the most prevalent and fastest growing group of participants. The activity attracts college students and other young adults, often to fulfill a curricular requirement, but Butcher and Smith maintain that the activity aligns with a current trend for young adults to search for their identity by seeking to make a difference in the world (2010). In addition to young adults, trips are marketed to families, teens, professional groups such as healthcare workers and retirees (CIEE). The Brookings Institution recently identified retirees as an important and untapped resource for organizations that depend on volunteers (Caprara 2014). The Variety of Volunteer Tourist Experiences and Organizations Volunteers wishing to serve overseas have a wide variety of options, such as contributing to scientific research, assisting with medical teams, promoting economic and social development, or participating in cultural restoration or conservation projects (Barbieri et al. 2012). The most common duration is 1-2 weeks (Lough 2010), but engagements may span years. Volunteers are placed by operators that function across a broad spectrum of operational objectives including non-governmental organizations, not-for-profit organizations, for-profit organizations, social enterprises, academic institutions, their governments, or faith-based organizations (e.g. TRAM, 2008; Coghlan & Noakes, 2012; Tomazos & Cooper, 2012; Taplin et al. 2014), whose motives for sponsoring volunteer tourism may be altruism, profit, religious conviction or political aims (e.g. TRAM, 2008; Coghlan & Noakes, 2012; Ong, Pearlman, & Lockstone-Binney, 2011). However, the variety and complexity of these operations have not been explored in any detail (Taplin et al. 2014). Regardless of the operational structure and priority of objectives, all volunteer tourist operators Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 140


provide opportunities for volunteers to experience altruism, self-development and a deepened cultural understanding (Coghlan & Gooch 2012; Zahra 2011). Researchers have noted the opposing motives of altruism and profit within the field, and debate whether volunteer tourism can truly meet its own objectives in that context. Sin found that instead of engendering strong convictions to perform further community service, volunteers are instead “passionate about travelling and going overseas” (2009). And despite its altruistic motivations, the rapid growth of volunteer tourism has resulted in a number of issues including exploitation of host communities, mismanagement of human, physical and financial resources and poor communication among the various stakeholders (McGehee, 2014; Guttentag, 2009; Palacios, 2010). Another, more complex communication issue stems from the way that volunteer tourist organizations describe their role as responsible and caring entities. Sin noted a framing of the activity wherein residents of the ‘‘first world” act responsibly and care for a poor, marginalized ‘‘third world” other: the authoritative giver bringing resources to the passive receiver (Barnett & Land) and establishing an uneven power dynamic and one-sided view that would seem to work against the stated objectives of cultural understanding and building community. Communication Challenges Facing Tour Operators Volunteer tour operators use communication and marketing tactics to differentiate their offerings and influence the desires and expectations of potential volunteers (Smith & Font, 2014), but the communication channels they choose and the outcomes that result have not been widely studied, and researchers have identified this as a significant gap in the literature. Communication material offered by operators can influence people considering becoming volunteers as well as those who have decided to volunteer and are weighing different programs. A tourist’s perception of his or her tour is holistic, and comprises an opinion based on what happens before, during and after the trip (Sanchez et al. 2006), with interactions that occur during the decision-making process also having an impact (Zeithaml, 1988). During that period—before any transaction occurs—the potential volunteer moves through a representative environment that has been professionally constructed to communicate the potential of the experience (Vodopivec and Jaffe 2011). With text and images, the tour operator creates a version of the actual travel experience that will take place. The operator cannot reasonably provide a complete picture of the situation and therefore must translate and edit it into conceptual forms that can be absorbed by potential volunteers (Escobar, 1991, p. 667). What results are websites, marketing material, videos, social media content, reports from the field and other content that follows the look and feel of mass tourism sites using dramatic destination imagery (Keese 2011)—an idealized version of the tourist experience (Choi, et al., 2007; Cohen, 1988). The language similarly is designed to have a wide appeal with generalized references to benefits such as “make a difference” that don’t provide education about the real situation that a volunteer would be entering (Xu, 2010; Mdee & Emmott, 2008). The material is created to influence what the volunteer expects will take place during the tour, and ultimately pique their desire to participate (Smith and Font, 2014) with that particular tour operator. But altruism, on which the entire field of volunteer tourism has built its mission, and marketing directly oppose each other on many levels (Grant, 2007). Communication with potential volunteers before the trip is an area where the volunteer tour operators have fallen short, overstating the benefits and engendering dissatisfaction (Crossley, 2012; Tomazos & Cooper, 2012). Volunteers embark with imagined ideas of their trip that include “simplistic, unrealistic and ultimately unattainable notions” that they will contribute their Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 141


skills and knowledge to the host community (Hammersley 2014) and then experience frustration or unmet expectations. Then, returning volunteers often position themselves as experts on the process, the host environment, and on the activity (Hammersley 2014); they would be well positioned to share their impressions and influence the decision of someone considering volunteer tourism. Educating tourists before the trip begins offers several positive outcomes including preventing disappointment that follows when what they experience does not match what was promised. Volunteer tourists do not only sacrifice their time to engage in the activity. They also assume some of the financial responsibility for the cost of the trip, in the form of a fee charged by the volunteer tour operator—and fees are often substantial (Benson 2011). Democratic Senator Russ Feingold believed that the high cost prevented interested volunteers from travelling overseas. In 2007 he introduced a bill to provide funding for low-income people wanting to participate in volunteer tourist activities (Feingold 2007). The cost to a volunteer for such a trip may be lower than for its mainstream counterpart, but price is still a prime consideration for volunteer tourists (Sin 2009), who must also pay for their own transportation to and from the overseas volunteer site. Literature review revealed no comparative data about the costs of the tours or study of volunteer sentiment about perceived value of their trip, but for some volunteers, the fee affects their overall satisfaction with the experience (Clerkin & Swiss, 2014) and is clearly an important consideration. Information about the trip’s cost could influence the choice of potential volunteers because, like most services, the tour will use extrinsic cues because intrinsic cues (the product itself) cannot be encountered by the customer (Zeithaml, 1988) until after the fee is paid. Tour operators may maximize their efforts by adopting a strategy of greater transparency and improved service in their promotions. For example, by providing more information about the programs and activities, the procedures involved, the benefits for volunteers and the system by which volunteer fees are allocated (Barbieri et al. 2012), but ultimately, cost is of real concern for potential volunteers (Clerkin & Swiss, 2014). Researchers have noted the gap between the altruistic promise and the actual outcome for tourists (Tomazos & Cooper, 2012) as well as the paradox of purchasing an experience that includes a donation of time, effort and/or skill (Sin 2009). However, the ways in which tour operators position these opposing objectives in their communication with potential volunteers has not been explored. This research explores the messages that volunteer tour operators use to communicate to the volunteer about his/her financial responsibility in the process and results in the following research question: How (if, at all) do volunteer tour operators use language in their public-facing communication materials to characterize the financial features of their programs for the potential volunteer? Research Design Researchers often opt for content analysis to understand marketing and communication practices because it provides a flexible and replicable framework for rigorous exploration of social science and business phenomena (Duriau et al 2007). Content analysis includes a broad class of methods that Shapiro & Markoff (1997, p. 14) characterize as "any methodological measurement applied to text (or other symbolic materials) for social science purposes". It offers a framework for layered study and accommodates a broad degree of exploration. It is an appropriate choice for the study of volunteer tourism communication because, without a rich history of previous research to guide current study or predict outcomes, an adaptable, data driven approach can help bring order Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 142


(Taylor-Powell & Renner, 2003) to the overlapping categories and blurred lines of this underresearched field. To understand how tour operators characterize the tourist’s role in financing the program, the study captured language used in public-facing communications targeted to potential volunteers, and then examined that language for surface meaning, deeper meaning, connections and relationships. The method revealed latent content embodied in the language and established a basis for several new interpretations. Specifically, this data reflects the tour operators’ efforts to inform volunteers about their financial responsibility and also to reflect their own operating principles or mission. The literature revealed very few appropriate content analysis tools, but Smith and Font (2014) explored the volunteer tourism industry’s portrayal of its “moral legitimacy” by creating a responsibility index that they applied to a sample set of organizations. The pair borrowed best practices established by a sustainable tourism trade organization and scored the digital content of several operators for simple comparison. Price created a matrix of words that marketers use to communicate value. These terms help consumers “visualize how good they’ll feel and what they’ll gain when they own your product or use your service” (Smith, 2013). Sample Selection and Data Collection The complexities of volunteer tourism create challenges for measurement of the activity (Taplin, et al.). The methodology of this study sought first to establish definitive criteria for the sample that would reduce bias in the selection of data and create a controlled sample and valid results. To facilitate comparison, we use a simplified classification employed by the Brookings Institution (Caprara, 2010) and also by Taplin et al. (2014) to delineate operators that send volunteers overseas. The system groups volunteer tourist organizations with similar operational models under the following labels: non-governmental organizations, corporations, universities and faithbased groups. Tour operators from each of the four categories were chosen for inclusion in the sample. The names of organizations came from published membership rosters of two trade associations that promote the activity. The Building Bridges Coalition is “a consortium of organizations dedicated to volunteering abroad” (2014) and International Volunteer Programs Association is an association of for-profit, non-governmental organizations comprised of international volunteer-sending organizations (IVPA). Both of these lists include groups from all four of the categories under study. A small number of other organizations named in the literature, popular media, or discovered through internet searches were added, bringing the total to 27 organizations. Market signals, information about the volunteer tours and about the tour operators, vary from industry to industry and from culture to culture (Gallarza & Saura, 2006), and the variety of volunteer tourist organizations is so great that applying conditions served to create groups with similar missions and objectives. A set of conditions was applied to the 27 organizations in the sample to create consistent sets and ensure that organizations under study met a single definition. Each organization was pre-screened by a checklist to establish its placement in one of the four groups, to confirm that it placed American volunteers in overseas roles, charged a fee, and recruited volunteers through publicly-accessible websites with a common list of features. These checklist requirements provide for replication of the study with other organizations or with the same organizations in the future. The organization’s US tax status was verified separately using Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 143


Charity Navigator, an evaluator of charities that publishes the financial documents of non-profits (2014). Next, content from the volunteer tourist organization’s publicly available material was selected to examine. The organization’s entire content offering was not included. Instead, only content that a potential volunteer might reasonably encounter in the process of making his or her decision about choosing that particular tour operator and paying for the tour was grouped into sets (Table 1). Table 1 Content from Organizations under Study that Was Included in the Sample The sample set for each organization The sample set for each organization also includes all of the following pages from their includes some of the following pages from websites: their websites: Content designed to help identify qualified Home page volunteers (e.g., “Is this program right for me?”) About us or mission statement page FAQ page Application instruction Instructions for preparing for the trip Program search page or program information Financial information (tax status) and costs page Financing, financial aid, fundraising or scholarship pages Other related pages

434 HTML and PDF files were identified to be included in the sample, and examined from both a quantitative and qualitative perspective. CATMA (computer aided textural markup and analysis) was used to capture and evaluate the text. Created by the University of Hamburg Department of Languages, Literature and Media, CATMA is a web application that allows for comparative markup of text files, including live URLs (2014). CATMA showed the appearance of keywords associated with financial responsibility, and to identify phrases and patterns of language that might also reflect communication on the part of the tour operator about the fees associated with their tours. 109 unique words and phrases indicating financial responsibility, financial relationship or financial impact were applied manually across the corpus. The list included explicit words such as “pay” and “fee,“ as well as words with implied financial meaning, or a set of broader meanings that include a financial definition, such as “reward,” “subsidize,” and “value.” The purpose of this wider inclusion was to capture subtleties and ambiguities of communication and of the language choices by the sample of volunteer tour organizations. The terms were examined in context to determine their meaning, ensure that they targeted potential volunteers. Words were also examined out of context to understand how they relate to one another, what positions they hold across our body of language, what their potential for ambiguity is and how they together and comprise a lexicon of volunteer tourism. 2065 instances of financial language were analyzed. In examining the contextual messages where the financial terms were embedded, a pattern of four Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 144


message types emerged: messages that set expectations for the volunteer about what they must pay, messages that convey how the actions of the volunteer tourist organization impact the overseas host community, messages that convey non-financial benefits for the volunteer and messages that describe financial responsibility by a third party. Results and Discussion Before any travel begins, the potential volunteer often takes a virtual excursion, browsing the content provided by the tourist organizations to gather information. Dewey (1910) identified this search phase as a key component in a larger process of purchase decision-making. The structure of this study’s content analysis follows that path of information gathering. Using the information gathering pathway as a framework, a potential volunteer might first encounter content about the organization, next about what the organization offers and then about how the transaction will take place. These three areas represent the crux in the process at which the volunteer sending organization introduces financial responsibilities to the volunteer. At each point in this information search, the organizations presented the idea of financial responsibility to the volunteer. The messages were often not overt, but did use words with financial meanings in a variety of ways. As the potential volunteer passes each of the information search phases, key financial messages construct a proposition of financial responsibility, building the concept through influential wordings, contextual placements and subtlety rather than through direct language. Table 2 shows the financial message types that are important to each part of the information search. Table 2 Financial Message Types that Are Key to the Volunteer's Search Information search phase Key financial message type Messages that convey how the actions of the 1. Information about the organization volunteer tourist organization impact the overseas host community. 2. Information about what the organization Messages that convey non-financial benefits offers the volunteer for the volunteer. 3. Information about how the transaction will Messages that set expectations for the take place volunteer about what they must pay. Some of the information may indicate a barrier to participation. For example, visitors to the DukeEngage website will learn that its programs are only offered to Duke undergraduate students who have completed two semesters and will spend at least one more semester back on campus after the trip (DukeEngage). The information search path reveals how the organization wants to be perceived, what language it uses to engage certain volunteers and what context surrounds the ultimate financial transaction. Additionally, at each subsequent point, the potential volunteer and the organization are investigating whether they want to engage in a transaction and establish a relationship. If forming a relationship is not appropriate for the organization, it will reject the volunteer; if the relationship is not the right fit for the volunteer, he or she will perceive a barrier and look elsewhere. 1. Information about the organization: Where are you in “About Us?”



A potential volunteer would likely visit the “About Us” section of an organization’s website to learn more about its operations. All but two of the websites in the sample offered such a page, with background information about the organization’s history, its mission and its activities. The impression that the organization makes on the potential volunteer during this pre-transaction phase is important because it influences his or her overall impression of the trip (Sin 2009). Even limited browsing may impact the organization’s ability to form a positive relationship, transforming a considerer into a volunteer, and later, into an advocate who shares stories about the experience with others. But some of the organizations were quite selective about the volunteers they wished to engage, and thus not all of the language on the “About Us” page focused on “us”—the organization. “You” was also important. Companies embedded “you” (the volunteer) in messages about themselves. They deftly combined language about how the volunteer fit into their brand and their operations, often by referring to their mission: ● “Our mission is to encourage young people to volunteer for worthwhile work in developing countries” (Projects Abroad). ● “Since 1995, we've made the volunteer abroad experience of a lifetime possible for over 30,000 international adventurers just like you” (Cross Cultural Solutions). The companies’ tactic of reaching out directly to a wide variety of web visitors contrasts with how faith-based organizations address potential volunteers. Those with spiritual affiliations used the About Us page to identify their religious connection, sometimes providing tenets or scripture as explanation, and then proffered messages that might discourage people of other faiths from participating: a) “Together, we’re committed to being and making disciples of Jesus Christ” (Africa Inland Mission, “Our Mission”). b) “We believe Jesus is the son of God” (Wycliffe Bible Translators). c) “The fellowship empowers American Jews to become leaders in our campaign for global justice” (AJWS). Every organization had barriers to participation such as the cost, the schedule, the immunization requirements or the perceived benefits. Faith-based organizations and universities have a similar barrier: affinity. Only current students can participate in programs through the universities in this sample, and only people of certain faiths are sent overseas by most of the faith-based organizations. Both of these groups use their “About Us” page to winnow the number of volunteers, whereas companies and non-profit organizations offer broadly inviting language to the potential volunteer, then reveal other barriers later in the process. For many of the organizations in the sample, the “About Us” page also contained information to bolster credibility or establish trust. All of the nonprofits list their 501(c)3 tax status on the page. Companies that sound like nonprofits A similarity emerged between for profit sending organizations and nonprofit counterparts. Volunteer tourist organizations that operate for profit face questions and criticism about their dual missions as companies that engage in altruistic activities. Content analysis revealed several ways that companies address these conflicting objectives, often modeling their communication tactics after those of their nonprofit counterparts. Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 146


Using language about the positive benefits to the host community All of the companies in the sample mentioned the impact of their programs on the host community, but with varying degree of detail: • “Travelers…give back in a meaningful way” (Vacations That Matter). • “Our goal is to make a positive impact in the places we visit” (Elevate Destinations). • “We provide new benefits and services for poor people living in the countries where we work by improving the social and physical environment around the developing world” (Projects Abroad). • “Volunteers work with local engineers and technicians to construct water systems custom designed for rural communities” (Global Brigades). The financial message type most important in this phase (across all organization types) described how the volunteer tourist organization impacted its overseas host community. “Through volunteer funding, we maintain full-time on-the-ground operations…” (Global Brigades). With statements like this one, the organization brought two ideas together—funding and impact—to create a circuitous value proposition. The volunteer’s payment benefits the host community, a real group of people, not merely a company, thus making the payment more akin to a donation than a purchase. Choosing a .org suffix The organization’s URL provided a clue as to how it viewed itself. The US Domain Name System requires that organizations meet certain requirements before being issued a domain with a particular suffix. The .edu domain is intended for accredited post-secondary educational U.S. institutions and is managed under the authority of the United States Department of Commerce (Educause). All of the university programs in this research posted their communication on pages with .edu, subtly confirming the accreditation. Domains ending with .org convey credibility because people associate that suffix with charities and other non-profit institutions. However, there is no legal restriction on their use (GoDaddy), and three of the seven companies in this study used.org, possibly indicating that they saw themselves as a charity—or would like others to. (Faith-based organizations in the sample had all chosen a .org for their URL.) Maintaining proximity to “real” charity The About Us page was not a place to mention that the volunteer funds the trip, but often used to promote nonprofit affiliations. By embedding nonprofit affiliations within their communication, organizations that were created as for-profit companies create a context of altruism that may imply a relationship or a similarity. These communication tactics helped situate the company next to non-profits: 1. Language about money that the organization donated to charities (Elevate Destinations; Vacations That Matter) 2. Names of charities that the organization claimed had benefited from its programs (Elevate Destinations) 3. Lists of foundations and nonprofits with no explanation of their relevance (Global Brigades) 4. List of “partners” with no information about the nature of the partnership. (GVI, Projects Abroad) Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 147


5. Describing the ways that the organization benefits host communities By emphasizing altruistic aspects of their operation in public messaging, the companies that provide volunteer experiences craft a façade that mimics the exterior of a nonprofit. The interior realities—management practices, financial operations, legal status or even mission—may not resemble a nonprofit at all. These communication choices may indicate a desire to not only to appear more altruistic, but to appeal to potential volunteer tourists who seek service opportunities and possibly woo socially conscious travelers who might find the organization’s for-profit status unappealing. Creating an image for one’s enterprise is generally not considered a deceptive practice, but companies that use a .org URL have been called “scams” in England (Charity Bags). In this initial phase of information search about the organization, an exchange is going on: the volunteer is learning about the history, mission, and values of the organization, but is also learning whether they are right for the organization. This is a nascent relationship, not unlike a first date where people exchange basic background information to determine if they want to continue the exchange and possibly begin a relationship or abort the communication altogether. 2. Information about what the organization offers the volunteer: “What do I get?” Research supports that volunteers are impacted in positive ways by their overseas experience (e.g., Coghlan & Gooch 2011; Zahra 2011; Wearing 2013). But in describing the benefits of the trip or providing rationale for its price, organizations, even universities, list another benefit first: impact. During the second phase of information gathering, the conversation shifts from a marketer’s proposition about the benefits of participation for the tourist to a revelation about how the host community is enhanced by the volunteer’s visit. Benefits to the volunteer such as increased confidence or a broader world outlook are difficult to communicate in images or headlines, but a freshly-painted school or a baby receiving a vaccine make a strong statement. Focusing on “what’s in it for them?” instead of “what’s in it for me?” provides proof of the organization’s altruistic activities and legitimizes the organization by highlighting its work, its nonprofit partners, its history, and its completed projects. This shift in focus allows volunteers to see how they, too, can enter the community that the organization creates and make a similar impact. This tactic may make the payment of a fee seem more like a donation. During this phase, financial messages that convey non-financial benefits for the volunteer are important. Many of the terms that this study has categorized as financial in nature have multiple meanings, conveying a range of benefits, sacrifices, or features that are non-financial in nature. For example, in “The time you spend abroad with us will be some of the most rewarding of your life” (GVI), the word "rewarding" has an ambiguous meaning that may include some future financial benefit. 3. Information about how the transaction will take place: “How will you pay?” Messages that set expectations for the volunteer about what they must pay were the most prevalent of financial message types. This category includes all the ways in which the organization communicated to volunteers about what their financial responsibilities would and would not be to participate in one of that organization’s trips. It includes language about fees that the organization charges, and also other language that refers to any financial sacrifice that the volunteer must make or might make. For example, “volunteers are responsible for their own Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 148


airfare,” or “meals are not included in the cost.” Volunteers bear the cost of their experience. Organizations communicated the details of this expected exchange in very different ways, and some even created entirely unique sets of processes or lexicons to handle the transaction. Companies, faith-based organizations and nonprofit organizations set out to reconcile the paradox of paying to perform altruistic service by asking—and then answering—the question in their messages. “Why Pay for an Unpaid Volunteer Placement?” asked one company’s headline; “Why do I need to pay to volunteer?” asks a nonprofit FAQ (Amerispan, Cross Cultural Solutions). The responses mentioned various program costs couched in language of benefits. “With CCS, you don’t pay to volunteer. You pay for the assurance of living in a safe and comfortable Home-Base; an opportunity to be completely immersed in a warm and welcoming community, and to find the family that you never knew you had” (Cross Cultural Solutions). “All of the revenue from the organization is put towards enhancing the volunteer experience and supporting host communities.” (United Planet). “This fee is used to support community development projects and the service program overall, including your costs for working on-site while serving as a volunteer" (GVI). “We believe that the most efficient way to organize people and resources for our activities is through a for-profit company; it allows for the pooling of resources and the dispersal of risk, and it encourages innovation” (Projects Abroad). Organizations often provided content to help volunteers generate funds to pay for their trip. A wide variety of tactics were offered including links to scholarship applications, ideas for fundraising events, instructions for requesting a matching grant from one’s employer, links to crowd-funding sites, reminders to pray, information about tax deductibility, or even recommending the volunteer take on a part-time job (Projects Abroad). Despite the significant amounts of money that a volunteer might have to raise, the tone was often lighthearted and engaging, as if making fundraising part of the adventure. “We encourage you to fundraise! Here are some fundraising tips and how you can get started. Also, be sure to check out our blog for fundraising and saving success stories…” (Cross Cultural Solutions) Of just three companies that didn’t provide fundraising information, two included “luxury” experiences as part of their offering, and clearly characterized the trips as tourism with embedded volunteering. These companies did not solicit donations from potential volunteers, possibly indicating that they perceive themselves as travel companies first and altruistic organizations second. Unique schemes and processes emerged from the content analysis: one faith-based organization chose to refer to the volunteer tourist experience as a “fellowship,” and the volunteers as “fellows.” The word has both religious and academic connotations and elevates the role of the volunteer beyond that of passive participant to one who is far more engaged in the organization and its work. “All other fellowship expenses—including international and domestic travel and all supplies and programs—are covered as a benefit of the fellowship” (AJWS). Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 149


Global Brigades, a large and complex association of entities, operates differently from all the other organizations. It only sends student volunteers in groups, requiring that interested individuals join one of its campus-based “chapters.” The chapters then commit to a particular trip and fundraise as a group to meet the financial goals set by the organization. Both volunteers and fundraisers must fund their trip using Empowered, an online fundraising platform owned by Global Brigades that allows chapters to track donations and funnel money to Global Brigades and collect transaction fees from donors (Empowered). Universities used the most straightforward language. For them, volunteers are always students, traveling and undertaking activities that fit into a larger academic objective. The cost takes the form of tuition and fees, just as it would with other courses. The student is responsible and can finance the excursion any number of ways: through loans, scholarship or family funds. Fees to participate had different labels, sometimes revealing intentions of the volunteer sending organization or muddying the meaning of the exchange. For universities, the cost is part of tuition but they also required additional payments that they called “fees.” Some nonprofit organizations used “payment” and “donation” interchangeably despite their very different meanings. “Donation,” with its altruistic association, reinforces the mission and refers to the activity’s impact on a host community. Using “donation” provides an opportunity to mention another benefit to volunteers: tax-deductibility. But donations are gifts and payments are obligatory, potentially confusing volunteers. One organization included a third term in its language. “We call the fee participants pay to join an expedition a contribution,” explained one nonprofit organization, “because it is actually considered a charitable donation” (Earthwatch). Conclusion The unusual business model and variety of volunteer tourist organization types contribute to the "blurriness" of volunteer tourism, and researchers have widely recognized paradoxes and dichotomies inherent to this activity (Wearing 2008; Sin 2009). This study examined the language of payment used by organizations to communicate to potential volunteers their financial responsibility in taking such a trip. Results indicated that engaging the volunteer through web content happened as a process rather than a series of announcements, and that the organization's perception of itself dictated some of the process features. As the volunteer embarks on a search for information, he or she moves through three phases online, learning about the organization, about what it does and finally about what is required to participate. The process of information gathering is not a one-way content dump; volunteers express their interest by visiting online documents and the organization expresses its interest by revealing requirements, which are experienced by the volunteer as barriers to participation. If the volunteer wishes to take the relationship to the next level, he or she will apply for a program. The process mimics the beginning phase of a relationship, where two parties search for common ground before one is permitted into the other’s network. At each point in the information search, organizations presented the idea of financial responsibility to the volunteer in a variety of ways, both subtle and explicit. Three types of key financial messages built the notion of financial responsibility and illustrated the concept with contextual placements, word choice and language. These included messages that described the volunteer's financial responsibility, messages that described non-financial benefits to the Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 150


volunteer using financial terms and messages that described the benefits to the host community using financial terms. Organizations invariably used benefits to the host community to express the value of their programs to the volunteer, essentially saying "this trip is good for you because it's good for them." Regardless of their mission, nonprofit, for-profit and faith-based organizations all chose to express this type of value far more often than listing the benefits to the volunteer. When they did refer to benefits that the volunteer would experience, vague financial terms such as "rewarding" or "contribution" were common. Benefit to host community is critical currency in the perception of value exchange, possibly because organizations can't find a way to engage volunteers with descriptions of how they'll benefit, or because bringing the host community into the conversation creates the pretense of altruism that may help justify the trip's expense. Not all the organizations in this study operate simply to serve. Some strive to profit, others to proselytize. Using financial language, the organizations styled their communications for a more nonprofit-like, altruistic appearance. Tactics included Inviting donations or placing the names of other charities on their pages, and especially citing the impact they have on needy, overseas communities. Even companies that offer luxury travel experiences and merely facilitate volunteering as part of the itinerary promote the trip’s value through benefits to the host. This research also found that companies created an exterior of messages that mimicked the language and labeling of nonprofit organizations, masking their true mission, often while emphasizing altruistic activities or associations. Further study might include an exploration of how a volunteer encounters these terms and how the communication tactics about payment influence perception of the trip’s value. Understanding the role that financial terms and language play in the volunteer tourist experience may aid organizations wishing to distinguish or streamline their offering, or to provide better service and a more informed volunteer.

References African Inland Mission. “About: Our Mission.” Web. 20 Oct. 2014. http://bit.ly/1tsQK9H AJWS. “Travel with American Jewish World Service: Travel Opportunities.” Web. 20 Oct. 2014. http://bit.ly/1zMzpds Amerispan. “Volunteer/Intern FAQ.” Web. 20 Oct. 2014. http://bit.ly/13V7nP9 Ardalan, Christine. "Clara Barton’s 1898 Battles In Cuba: A Reexamination Of Her Nursing Contributions." Florida Atlantic Comparative Studies Journal 12.1 (2010). Barbieri, Carla, Carla A. Santos, and Yasuharu Katsube. “Volunteer Tourism: On-the-Ground Observations From Rwanda.” Tourism Management. 33 (2012): 509-516. Web. 20 Oct. 2014. Barnett, C., Land, D., 2007. Geographies of generosity: Beyond the ’moral turn’. Geoforum 38, 1065– 1075. Benson, A. M. (ed.) Volunteer Tourism: Theoretical Frameworks and Practical Applications. New York: Routledge. 2011. Building Bridges Coalition. “BBC Supporter’s Circle.” Building Bridges Coalition.Web. 20 Oct. 2014. http://bit.ly/1nAXEX9 Butcher, Jim, and Peter Smith. “’Making A Difference’: Volunteer Tourism And Development.” Tourism Recreation Research. 35(1), (2010): 27-36. Web. 20 Oct. 2014. Butler, R. W. 1990 Alternative Tourism: Pious Hope or Trojan Horse?. Journal of Travel Research 3:40– 45. Butler, R. W. 1991 Tourism, Environment, and Sustainable Development. Environmental Conservation 18:201–209. Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 151


Caprara, David L. “@Brookings Podcast: International Volunteers and the 50th Anniversary of the Peace Corps” Brooklings Institution. Web. 20 Oct. 2014. http://bit.ly/1wrVc50 Carroll, Peter N. The Odyssey of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade: Americans in the Spanish Civil War. 1994. Stanford: Stanford University Press. Pp 54. Charity Bags. “Use (And Misuse) Of '.Org.UK' Web Addresses With Suggestions For Tightening Up The Rules.” Web. 20 Oct. 2014. http://bit.ly/1CQKw3i Clerkin, Richard M., and James Swiss. “Does Charging Nonprofit Volunteers Affect Their Satisfaction?” Nonprofit Management and Leadership. Vol. 2, No. 4 (Summer 2014): 487-501. Web. 20 Oct. 2014. Charity Navigator. “Overview.” www.charitynavigator.org. Web. 20 Oct. 2014. Choi, S., Lehto, X.Y., & Morrison, A.M. (2007). Destination image representation on the web: Content analysis of Macau travel related websites. Tourism Management, 28(1), 118–129. CIEE. “What We Do.” www.ciee.org/what Web. 20 October 2014. Coghlan, A. (2012), “Towards An Integrated Image-Based Typology Of Volunteer Tourism Organisations.” Journal Of Sustainable Tourism, 15 (3), 267-283. Coghlan, Alexandra & Gooch, Margaret. “Applying a transformative learning framework to volunteer tourism.” Journal of Sustainable Tourism 19 (6), 713-728. 2011. Coghlan, A., & Noakes, S. (2012). Towards a philanthropic continuum for volunteer tourism: A consideration of organisational drivers. Tourism Recreation Research, 37(2), 123–131. Cohen, E. 1987 Alternative Tourism: A Critique. Tourism Recreation Research 12:13–18. Cohen, E. (1988). Authenticity and commoditization in tourism. Annals of Tourism Research, 15(3): 371– 386. Cross Cultural Solutions. “About CCS.” Web. 20 Oct. 2014. http://bit.ly/1HUabt5 Cross Cultural Solutions. “FAQ.” Web. 20 Oct. 2014. http://www.crossculturalsolutions.org/faq Cross Cultural Solutions. “Discover What You Can Do.” Web. 20 Oct. 2014. http://bit.ly/1y9yG5H Crossley, Emilie. “Poor But Happy: Volunteer Tourists’ Encounters with Poverty.” Tourism Geographies. Volume 14 Issue: 2 Pages: 235-253 2012 Crystal Cruises. “Benefits Of Booking A Crystal Adventures® Shore Excursion.” Crystal Adventures Shore Excursions. Crystal Cruises website.20 Oct. 2014. http://bit.ly/1yIxyCZ Dewey, John. How We Think. Renaissance Classics. 2012. 1910 DukeEngage. “About DukeEngage: Frequently Asked Questions.” Web. 20 Oct. 2014. http://bit.ly/1HX29zJ Duriau, Vincent J., Reger, Rhonda K., and Pfarrer, Michael D. “A Content Analysis Of The Content Analysis Literature In Organization Studies: Research Themes, Data Sources, And Methodological Refinements.” Organizational Research Methods, 10(1), (2007): 5-34. http://bit.ly/1FKfIEj Earthwatch. “How We Build an Expetition.” Web. 20 Oct. 2014. http://bit.ly/1Afffqm Educause. “.edu General FAQ.” Web. 20 Oct. 2014. http://bit.ly/1tf8Juu Elevate Destinations. “5% of net costs go back to the destinations you visit.” Web. 20 Oct. 2014. http://bit.ly/1HX62oe Elevate Destinations. “Contribute to communities and the land you visit.” Web. 20 Oct. 2014. http://bit.ly/1JX7c6R Empowered. “Pricing Plans.” Web. 20 Oct. 2014. http://bit.ly/1Bjju3L Escobar, Arturo. Encountering Development: The Making and Unmaking of the Third World. 1995. Reprint. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. 2012. Web. 20 Oct. 2014. http://bit.ly/ZJQRz3 Feingold, Russ. “Fixing America's Broken Image Abroad.” The Hill Congress Blog. 24 May 2007. Web. 20 Oct. 2014. http://bit.ly/ZJQAfx Francis, Justin. “Responsible Tourism Definition.” YouTube. 22 December 2008. Fuller Center. “Global Builders – Ghana.” 20 Oct. 2014. http://bit.ly/1EMZRH4 Fuller Center. “Preparing For Your Trip.” 20 Oct. 2014. http://bit.ly/1tDiYPf Gallarza, Martina G., and Irene Gil Saura. “Value dimensions, perceived value, satisfaction and loyalty: an investigation of university students’ travel behaviour.” Tourism Management. 27 (2006) 437– 452. Web. 20 Oct. 2014. Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 152


Global Brigades. “Construct Clean Water Systems, Water Brigades Honduras.” Web. 20 Oct. 2014. http://bit.ly/1Bjuqhn Global Brigades. “Global Brigades Home Page.” Web. 20 Oct. 2014. https://www.globalbrigades.org GoDaddy. “Advance Your Mission: Build Trust With This Well-Known And Respected Domain.“ Web. 20 Oct. 2014. http://bit.ly/1ECzQtR Grant, J. (2007). The green marketing manifesto. Chichester: Wiley. Guttentag, D. A. (2009). The possible negative impacts of volunteer tourism. International Journal of Tourism Research, 11(6), 537-551. GVI. “Fundraise Your Fee” Web. 20 Oct. 2014. http://bit.ly/1K38PQw GVI. “Our Global Partners.” Web. 20 Oct. 2014. http://www.gviusa.com/ GVI. “Under 18 Volunteering.” Web. 20 Oct. 2014. http://bit.ly/1zyFAwH GVI. “Where Does the Money Go?” Web. 20 Oct. 2014. http://bit.ly/1vHEY6G Hauch, Valerie. “Voluntourism Concept Takes Flight: Course Details The Popularity And Pitfalls Of Mixing Travel With Volunteer Work.” Toronto Star. 10 Aug. 2013. Web. 20 Oct. 2014. Hammersley, Laura A. “Volunteer Tourism: Building Effective Relationships of Understanding.” Journal of Sustainable Tourism. Vol. 22 (2014):6, 855-873. Hays, Daniel H. “The Foreign Missionary Movement in the 19th and early 20th Centuries.” National Humanities Center. Sept. 2005. Web. 20 Oct. 2014. http://bit.ly/1wFtP8O International Volunteer Programs Association. “About IVPA.” International Volunteer Programs Association. Web. 20 Oct. 2014. http://bit.ly/12kzs1P Keese, J.R. (2011). “The geography of volunteer tourism: Place matters. Tourism Geographies, 13(2), 257– 279. Lough, Benjamin J. “International Volunteerism in the United States, 2008.” Research Brief. March 2010. CSD Publication No. 10-11. Center for Social Development, Washington University in St. Louis. Lyons, Kevin, and Stephen Wearing. “All For A Good Cause? The Blurred Boundaries of Volunteering and Tourism.” In K.D. Lyons & S. Wearing (Eds.), Journeys of Discovery in Volunteer Tourism: International Case Study Perspectives. Cambridge: CABI. 2008. Maloney, Stephen. “Voluntourism Steers Students, Conventions to New Orleans.” New Orleans City Business. 26 March 2007. Web. 20 Oct. 2014. McGehee, Nancy. “Volunteer Tourism: Evolution, Issues, And Futures.” Journal of Sustainable Tourism. Vol. 22, No. 6 (2014): 847–854. Web. 20 Oct. 2014. http://bit.ly/1D2Lo3w Mdee, A., & Emmott, R. (2008). Social enterprise with international impact: The case for Fair Trade certification of volunteer tourism. Education, Knowledge & Economy, 2(3), 191–201. Mihalcea, Rada. The Role of Non-Ambiguous Words in Natural Language Disambiguation Department of Computer Science and Engineering University of North Texas Milich, Leslie. “Volunteer Tourism: Interview With Dr. Stephen Wearing.” 16 June 2011. The International Ecotourism Society. Web. 20 Oct. 2014. http://bit.ly/1DFf2y9 Northwestern University International Program Development. “Public Health and Development in South Africa: About this Program.” Web. 20 Oct. 2014. http://bit.ly/1F0JXJi NTA. “Student & Youth Travel Market Reference Guide.” NTA. 2014. Web PDF. 20 Oct. 2014. Ong, F., Pearlman, M., & Lockstone-Binney, L. (2011). An examination of not-for-profit volunteer tourism sending organisations’ guiding considerations that influence volunteer tourism programmes. World Leisure Journal, 53(4), 296–311. Palacios, C. M. (2010). Volunteer tourism, development and education in a post- colonial world: Conceiving global connections beyond aid. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 18(7), 861-878. Peace Corps. “Peace Corps Interactive Timeline, 1961-2013.” Peace Corps History. Web. 20 Oct. 2014. http://www.peacecorps.gov/about/history/ Pearce, D. G. 1987 Tourism Today: A Geographical Analysis. New York: Wiley. Projects Abroad. “Mission & Values: Our Mission.” Web. 20 Oct. 2014. http://bit.ly/1wvj8lW Projects Abroad. “Membership & Partnerships with Other Organizations.” Web. 20 Oct. 2014. http://bit.ly/1xBl7ZO Projects Abroad. “The Impact of Projects Abroad.” Web. 20 Oct. 2014. http://bit.ly/1BeLchV Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 153


Projects Abroad. “How to Apply Online.” Web. 20 Oct. 2014. http://bit.ly/1x6ZYrO Sánchez, Javier, Luís Callarisa, Rosa M. Rodríguez, and Miguel A. Moliner. “Perceived Value Of The Purchase Of A Tourism Product.” Tourism Management 27 (2006): 394–409. Shapiro, Gilbert, and Markoff, John. Roberts, Carl W., ed. Text Analysis For The Social Sciences: Methods For Drawing Statistical Inferences From Texts And Transcripts. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1997. Web. 20 Oct. 2014. Sin, Harng Luh. “Volunteer Tourism—‘Involve Me and I Will Learn’?” Annals of Tourism Research. Vol. 36 No. 3. (2009): 480-501. Web. 20 Oct. 2014. Sin, Harng Luh. “Who Are We Responsible To? Locals’ Tales of Volunteer Tourism.” Geoforum. 41 (2010): 983-992. Web. 20 Oct. 2014. Smith, Jacquelyn. “Words and Phrases that Inspire, Motivate and Persuade at Work.” Forbes. 26 March 2013. Web. 20 Oct. 2014. http://onforb.es/YV4ImK Smith, Stephen L. J. “Defining and describing tourism.” In Tourism Analysis: A Handbook. 1995. Essex: Longman Group Limited. Second Edition: 20-41. Web. 20 Oct. 2014. Smith, Victoria Louise and Xavier Font. “Volunteer Tourism, Greenwashing And Understanding Responsible Marketing Using Market Signalling Theory.” Journal of Sustainable Tourism. Vol. 22 No. 6 (2014): 942-963. Web. 20 Oct. 2014. Taplin, Jessica, Diane Dredge, Pascal Scherer. “Monitoring and evaluating volunteer tourism: a review and analytical framework.” Journal of Sustainable Tourism, Vol. 22, No. 6 (2014): 874–897. Web. 20 Oct. 2014. Taylor-Powell, Ellen, and Marcus Renner. “Program Development and Evaluation: Analyzing Qualitative Data.” 2003. Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System. Cooperative extension Publishing Operations. Madison. 1-10. The International Ecotourism Society. “What is Ecotourism? The Definition.” 1990. Web. 20 Oct. 2014. http://bit.ly/1lKFbly Tourism Research and Marketing. (2008). Volunteer tourism: A global analysis. Barcelona: Association for Tourism and Leisure Education. Tomazos, K., & Cooper, W. (2012). “Volunteer Tourism: At the Crossroads of Commercialization and Service?” Current Issues in Tourism, 15(5), 405-423. United Nations World Tourism Organization. “UNWTO Tourism Highlights, 2014 Edition” UNWTO. Web. 20 Oct. 2014. United Planet. “Frequently Asked Questions.” Web. 20 Oct. 2014 http://www.unitedplanet.org/faq University of Hamburg Department of Languages, Literature and Media. CATMA Functionality. http://www.catma.de/functionality University of Michigan International Center. “Frequently Asked Questions.” Web. 20 Oct. 2014. http://bit.ly/146d2SM Vacations That Matter. “Impact.” Web. 20 Oct. 2014. http://www.vacationsthatmatter.com/partners/ Vacations That Matter. “Vacations That Matter Homepage.” Web. 20 Oct. 2014. http://www.vacationsthatmatter.com Vodopivec, B. & Jaffe, R. (2011). “Save the World in a Week: Volunteer Tourism, Development and Difference.” European Journal of Development Research, 23 (1), 111-128. Voluntourism.org. 20 October, 2014 http://www.voluntourism.org/ Wearing, Stephen. Volunteer Tourism Experiences That Make a Difference. 2001. New York: CABI Publishing. Web. 20 Oct. 2014. Wearing, S. “Volunteer Tourism: Experiences that Make a Difference.” Wallingford: CABI Publishing. 2001. Wearing, S. “Re-Centering The Self In Volunteer Tourism.” In G. Dann (Ed.), The Tourist As A Metaphor Of The Social World (pp. 237-262). Wallingford: CABI Publishing. 2002. Wearing, S. & McGehee, N. “Volunteer Tourism: A Review.” Tourism Management, 38 120-130. 2013. Web. 20 Oct. 2014. “Re-Centering The Self In Volunteer Tourism.” In G. Dann (Ed.), The Tourist As A Metaphor Of The Social World (pp. 237-262). Wallingford: CABI Publishing. 2002. Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 154


Weaver, D. B. 1991 Alternatives to Mass Tourism in Dominica. Annals of Tourism Research Weaver, D. B. 18:414–432. 1995 Alternative Tourism in Montserrat. Tourism Management 16:593–604. Webster’s Third New International Dictionary (1993) Wilkenson, Benjamin, Judith McCool, Genevieve Bois. “Voluntourism: an analysis of the online marketing of a fast-growing industry.” International Journal of Communication and Health. 2012 (4): 10-15. Web. 20 Oct. 2014. http://bit.ly/1wJPPPS WWOOF International Ltd. Association. “Welcome to WWOOF.” http://wwoofinternational.org Wycliffe Bible Translators. “About Us: Our Beliefs.” Web. 20 Oct. 2014. https://www.wycliffe.org/about/ Wycliffe Bible Translators. “Discover Benin.” Web. 20 Oct. 2014. http://bit.ly/1D6IxIk Xu, Jing Bill. “Perceptions of Tourism Products.” Tourism Management. 31 (2010): 607-610. Web. 20 Oct. 2014. Zahra, Anne. (2011). “Volunteer tourism as a life-changing experience.” Volunteer tourism: Theoretical frameworks and practical application, 90-101. Zeithaml, V.A. (1988). Consumer perceptions of price, quality, and value: A means-end model and synthesis of evidence. The Journal of Marketing, 52(3), 2–22.

Appendix I Listed Corporations with Leader Messages and Addresses in Greater China (2013) No 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30.

Index listed HKBC 01 HKBC 02 HKRC 01 HKRC 02 HKRC 03 HKRC 04 HKRC 05 HKRC 06 HKRC 07 HKRC 08 HKRC 09 HKRC 10 HKRC 11 HKRC 12 HKRC 13 HKRC 14 HKRC 15 SCI 01 SCI 02 SCI 03 SCI 04 SCI 05 SCI 06 SCI 07 SCI 08 SCI 09 TWI 01 TWI 02 TWI 03 TWI 04

Company Name China Life Insurance (Overseas) Company Limited CITIC Pacific Limited China Daye Non-Ferrous Metals Mining Limited China Gold International Resources Corp. China Nonferrous Metal Mining (Group) Co., Ltd. China Foods Limited Far East Horizon Limited CHTC Fong’s Industries Company Limited Founder Holdings Company Limited Franshion Properties (China) Limited China Minmetals Corporation Poly Property Group Co., Limited Sinofert Holding Limited Sinotruk (Hong Kong) Limited Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation Yue Da Mining Holdings Limited Yuexiu Transport Infrastructure Limited Baosteel Group Corporation China CNR Corporation Limited China State Construction Engineering Corporation China Merchants Bank CSR Corporation Limited China Hainan Rubber Industry Group Co., Ltd. China Kweichow Winery (Group) Co., Ltd. Shandong Gold Group Co., Ltd. China Petrochemical Corporation ASUSTEK Computer Inc. China Development Financial Holding Corporation Chunghua Telecom Delta Group



31. 32.

TWI 05 TWI 06

Hotai Motor Co. Ltd. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited



Appendix II Keyword List Generated by WordSmith Tools 6.0 for Interviewees’ Comment Keywords in English Development Business Group Company China Market Continue New Industry Management Growth Global Employee Corporate Value Work Shareholder World Resource Product Service Financial Enterprise Effort Economic Opportunity Customer Future Improve Strategy

Keywords in Chinese Social Create Good More Energy Look Time Achieve Core Government Asset Brand First Partner Property Promote Believe Build Full Further Holding Life Limited Metal Need Overseas Result Sustainable Actively Ahead

發展公司企業業務社會中國員工管理經營創新持續新市場成為大經濟不斷全球積極股東責任努力實現環境價值投資服務資源集團國際

資本品質堅持工作方面風險作為國內成長更加核心領先好營運行業策略節能取得支持效率獲得農業通過需求優質全體房地產提高治理理念



Appendix III 1) Summary of Concordance Results on Adapted Themes and Related Keywords (English) Word

Company Profile

Company Developm ent

Business Environm ent

Operating Philosoph y

Product and Service

Performa nce

Others

Development (Rank 1,Freq:115) Business (Rank 2,Freq:108) Group (Rank 3,Freq:103) Company (Rank 4,Freq:77) China (Rank 5, Freq:75) Market (Rank 6, Freq:59) Continue (Rank 7,Freq:55) New (Rank 8,Freq:50) Industry (Rank 9,Freq:48) Management (Rank 10, Freq:46) Growth (Rank 11, Freq:43) Global (Rank 12,Freq:42) Employee (Rank 13, Freq:40) Corporate (Rank 14,Freq:39) Value (Rank 15,Freq:39) Work (Rank 16,Freq:39) Shareholder (Rank 17,Freq:37) World (Rank 18, Freq:37) Resource (Rank 19,Freq:36) Product (Rank 20,Freq:34) Service (Rank 21,Freq:34) Financial (Rank 22,Freq:31)

7

73

11

12

5

6

1

13

52

10

16

4

8

5

10

58

9

2

5

13

6

16

35

1

15

0

10

0

33

15

16

3

4

4

0

4

23

26

0

1

5

0

1

38

5

3

3

3

2

0

36

4

2

6

2

0

26

6

6

5

1

4

0

7

22

1

11

1

3

1

3

22

7

3

0

8

0

13

3

14

1

1

10

0

1

2

0

32

0

5

0

9

7

1

16

2

4

0

4

12

1

16

0

6

0

3

8

0

24

0

2

2

2

5

0

25

0

3

2

15

7

6

1

1

5

2

4

15

2

12

3

0

0

0

2

1

2

26

3

0

1

3

1

6

23

0

0

8

11

7

1

3

1

0



Enterprise (Rank 23,Freq:29) Effort (Rank 24,Freq:28) Economic (Rank 25,Freq:27) Opportunity (Rank 26,Freq:27) Customer (Rank 27,Freq:26) Future (Rank 28,Freq:26) Improve (Rank 29,Freq:26) Strategy (Rank 30, Freq:26) Summary

8

11

0

6

0

4

0

0

16

0

0

0

10

2

1

2

18

4

0

2

0

1

7

17

2

0

0

0

0

3

4

14

3

0

2

0

22

2

0

1

1

0

3

13

1

4

5

0

0

5

17

1

3

0

0

0

Keywords : 26; Dominant keywords: 3; Freq: 198

Keywords : 30, Dominant keywords: 15; Freq: 546







2) Summary of Concordance Results on Adapted Themes and Related Keywords (Chinese) Word

Company Profile

Business Environme nt 14

Operating Philosophy

Product and Service

Performanc e

Others

18

Company Developme nt 78

發展 (Development) (Rank 1,Freq:143) 公司 (Company) (Rank 2,Freq:117) 企業 (Corporate) (Rank 3,Freq:105) 業務 (Business) (Rank 4,Freq:74) 社會 (Society) (Rank 5,Freq:62) 中國 (China) (Rank 6,Freq:54) 員工(Employee) (Rank 7,Freq:47) 管理 (Management) (Rank 8,Freq:47) 經營 (Operate) (Rank 9,Freq:47) 創新 (Innovative) (Rank 10,Freq:43) 持續 (Sustainable) (Rank 11,Freq:42) 新 (New) (Rank 12,Freq:41) 市場 (Market) (Rank 13,Freq:40) 成為 (Becoming) (Rank 14,Freq:40) 大 (Huge) (Rank 15,Freq:36) 經濟 (Economy) (Rank 16,Freq:36) 不斷 (Continuous) (Rank 17,Freq:35) 全球 (Global) (Rank 18,Freq:35) 積極 (Aggressive) (Rank 19,Freq:34) 股東(Shareholder) (Rank 20,Freq:34) 責任(Responsible) (Rank 21,Freq:34) 努力 (Effort)

30

1

1

1

18

52

3

20

0

21

3

15

32

3

38

0

17

0

18

49

1

1

1

4

0

0

6

3

50

0

3

0

19

7

15

4

1

8

0

3

11

4

26

0

3

0

8

23

0

9

1

6

0

7

19

5

10

0

6

0

2

10

0

24

5

2

0

2

24

3

10

1

2

0

4

25

6

3

3

0

0

8

13

15

1

1

2

0

7

19

3

8

0

2

1

8

13

3

5

3

4

0

3

6

21

5

0

0

1

4

21

3

6

1

0

0

6

6

7

5

0

10

1

4

15

1

11

1

1

1

7

10

0

15

0

1

1

8

4

0

19

0

3

0

1

17

0

7

1

7

0



(Rank 22,Freq:33) 實現 (Achieve) (Rank 23,Freq:33) 環境 (Environment) (Rank 24,Freq:33) 價值 (Value) (Rank 25,Freq:32) 投資 (Investment) (Rank 26,Freq:32) 服務 (Service) (Rank 27,Freq:31) 資源 (Resource) (Rank 28,Freq:31) 集團 (Group) (Rank 29,Freq:31) 國際 (International) (Rank 30,Freq:30) Summary

3

14

0

6

1

9

0

1

5

15

12

0

0

0

4

10

0

15

0

3

0

8

17

0

3

0

4

0

6

5

0

2

18

0

0

3

14

2

9

0

3

0

10

16

1

1

0

3

0

3

11

3

1

4

8

0

Keywords: 29; Dominant keywords: 1; Freq: 208

Keywords: 30; Dominant keywords: 17; Freq: 552

Keywords: 21 ; Dominant keywords: 3; Freq: 131





Managing Corporate Reputation Role of Corporate Communications in Reputation Work Emilia Mikola Aalto University School of Business/Department of Management Studies, Unit of Organizational Communication, Finland [email protected]

Venla Väkeväinen Aalto University School of Business/Department of Management Studies, Unit of Organizational Communication, Finland [email protected]

The overall objective of this research paper is to unfold the role and position of the corporate communications (CC) function and in particular, to focus on the impact of social media activities in establishing strong reputations. Applying a mixed research method combining 11 semi-structured interviews and a quantitative archive study, and by comparing corporations with stronger reputations to those with weaker reputations, the paper contributes to understanding the role of CC in reputation work. Although the findings did not indicate a clear distinction in resources, responsibilities or activities between companies with stronger and weaker reputations, they suggest that communications has a greater and more active role especially in (re)building the reputation. In addition to widening the scope of research to the communicational activities related to reputation work, this paper provides companies with practical examples on reputation management practices. Keywords: Corporate reputation, Corporate communication, Social media communication, Communications function

Introduction Over the past decade, the importance of corporate reputation has increased significantly in both academia and practice (see e.g. Helm, 2007; Shamma, 2012). Building and maintaining a positive corporate reputation is imperative in today’s environment that is characterized by high expectations of stakeholders, the expansion of social media, and increased requirements for transparency. Corporate reputation is, however, a complex concept and researchers have yet to agree on a uniform definition of the term (see e.g. Shamma, 2012). The most cited definition of corporate reputation is probably the one presented by Charles Fombrun (1996): A perceptual representation of a company’s past actions and future prospects that describes the firm’s overall appeal to key constituents compared to other leading rivals (Fombrun, 1996, p.72). Strong reputations stem from acting responsibly, i.e. doing the work well in the eyes of stakeholders (Aula & Mantere, 2008; Dowling & Moran, 2012). Dowling and Moran (2012) emphasize that actions should emerge from the strategy of the company in order for it to acquire a


Managing Corporate Reputation: Role of Corporate Communications in Reputation Work

superior reputation. Strategy should be built within an organization, and not emerge from noncore tactics unrelated to strategy, i.e. be bolted on (Dowling & Moran, 2012). Gray and Balmer (1998) add that actions should be strengthened by competent communication. Many scholars suggest that a key responsibility of the corporate communications (CC) function is to establish and maintain favorable reputations with the company’s stakeholders (see e.g. Cornelissen, 2014, p. 5; Forman & Argenti, 2005). Moreover, Cornelissen et al. (2006) argue that the way in which the CC function is organized affects communications’ possibilities of providing strategic input into the decision-making process at the corporate level, and also has an impact on the scope of activities that are carried out. Thus, it is essential to consider the role of communications to better understand the development of strong reputations (Fombrun & Rindova, 1998; Forman & Argenti, 2005), especially in an era of changing media landscape (Cornelissen, 2014). The expansion of digital communication in the past ten years has had a dramatic impact on the CC function and its capabilities to fulfil its central responsibility in reputation management (Cornelissen, 2014; Dijkmans et al., 2015). Interactivity and the inability of companies to manage the content has made it nearly impossible for companies to control the conversations on social media channels. Still, the popularity of social media has made it a platform that companies cannot ignore. (Aula, 2010.) Online reputation management (see Jones et al., 2009, p. 934) is a relatively novel concept increasing in importance and evolving continuously, making it an interesting and topical area of research, and thus the topic of this study. Hardly any empirical research exists on companies’ social media activities nor the position of the CC function and their relation to reputation management. Thus, there is a gap between the identified importance of the CC function in reputation work, and descriptive accounts of its actual activities in practice. The purpose of this paper is therefore to increase the understanding of the multidimensional relationship between communications and reputation management in Finnish business-to-business (B2B) companies, particularly in the complex environment where social media has changed stakeholder practices and behaviors. The focus is on B2B companies, since social media is changing their communication (Brennan & Croft, 2012) and previous social media as well as reputation research has mostly concentrated on the business-to-consumer (B2C) sector (Jussila et al., 2014). The study aims to answer the following questions: RQ1: How is the CC function positioned in terms of resources and responsibilities in public B2B companies in Finland? RQ2: How do communications and human relations directors perceive social media in corporate reputation work? RQ3: Are there differences in the activities performed, and the position of CC, between companies with higher reputation rankings and companies with lower reputation rankings? This study contributes to existing research by presenting practical examples of how CC functions are organized, what responsibilities they are granted, and how social media activities contribute to reputation work in companies with both stronger and weaker reputations. In the next chapter, existing literature on the structure of communications and its role in reputation work is briefly Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 163


reviewed. Following this we present findings from a quantitative archive study as well as 11 research interviews with communications and human relations (HR) directors. Literature Review This section covers existing literature on the topics of corporate reputation, position of CC, and its responsibilities and social media practices in reputation work. Corporate reputation In spite of the ambiguity in defining corporate reputation, most of the definitions emphasize that reputation is related to a specific period in time, and is therefore subject to change. Reputation combines the past actions of an organization, its current state, and future prospects (Aula & Mantere, 2008, p. 24; Dowling & Moran, 2012). Moreover, corporate reputation is comparative as companies can hold either a positive or a negative reputation (Walker, 2010, p. 369). Researchers support the idea that corporate reputation is turning into a strategic asset for companies (Fombrun & Van Riel, 1997; Melewar, 2008), as plenty of research has been conducted on the positive effects of a strong reputation. Corporate reputation has been regarded as an intangible asset (see e.g. Roberts & Dowling, 2002), giving the company a competitive advantage.Researchers have shown that reputation is linked to higher financial performance, such as increased stock price and lower cost of capital (Roberts & Dowling, 2002; Saxton, 1998). In addition, a strong reputation is argued to have a positive influence on non-financial business dimensions, such as the ability of companies to differentiate themselves, enabling them to lure and retain best customers and employees, and to achieve higher levels of satisfaction and loyalty towards their products and brands (Carreras et al., 2013; Forman & Argenti, 2005). Reputation by definition cannot be controlled, since it is formed by stakeholders, increasingly in the uncontrollable digital environment. However, companies can try to influence the perceptions of their stakeholders by acting responsibly and communicating effectively (Aula & Mantere, 2008; Floreddu et al., 2014). Scholars have indeed recognized that the CC function has a key role in establishing and maintaining favorable reputations with the stakeholder groups of the company (see e.g. Cornelissen, 2014, p. 5; Forman & Argenti, 2005). Dowling (2006) outlines three important roles that CC plays in driving a good corporate reputation: (1) raising awareness and generating appreciation towards the company among external stakeholders, (2) explaining or defending the company’s actions when necessary, and (3) engaging own employees through e.g. clarifying the company’s mission and employees’ role in it. Position of corporate communications The responsibilities granted to the CC function vary among organizations, but they commonly include a combination of media relations, crisis communication, community relations, ghostwriting for senior executives, management of social media, reputation management, internal communications, and government relations (Neill, 2015). Today, the communications unit is viewed more often as a strategic management function representing or being represented in the dominant coalition of the organization and participating in its decision-making process (Frandsen & Johansen, 2014, p. 229).



Research shows that both CEOs and board members highly value CC and its efforts for the overall objectives of the organization, and believe that the importance will even increase in the near future (Zerfass & Sherzada, 2015, p. 304). In 2013, the majority of communication professionals at the European Communication Monitor agreed that over the past years, communications had become increasingly vital for the overall success of their organization. However, only 61.6% said the influence and status of their present role as communication professionals had increased, and only 14.8% revealed that the communications budgets had been increased above average as compared to other functions (Zerfass et al., 2013, p. 91). The way in which the CC function is organized affects communications’ possibilities of providing strategic input into the decision-making process at the corporate level, and also has an impact on the scope of activities that are carried out (Cornelissen et al., 2006). Gregory (2015, p. 90) argues that the communications function should be structured in a way that serves the needs of the individual organization and allows communications to work with top management, and to communicate in a prompt manner with both internal and external stakeholders. Moreover, the communications function should be positioned so that the communications director has a comprehensive overview of the organization, and thus can consult top management in the best way possible (Gregory, 2015, p. 91). Kaninhan et al. (2013, p. 153) argue that if the communication director has a direct reporting relationship with the CEO, it increases the probability that the CEO is committed to the success of the communication function overall, thus increasing the likelihood that the communication director’s proposals are implemented. Reputation work on social media Organizational reputations are increasingly shaped by the content that stakeholders encounter on social media (Kietzmann et al., 2011). Social media has become an essential communications channel for practically all organizations, since it offers an efficient and low cost way for companies to engage in timely and direct contact with stakeholders (Kaplan & Haenlein, 2010). Social media enables stakeholder engagement in the company’s activities by facilitating relationship building, cooperation and dialogue between the organization and its stakeholders (Dijkmans et al., 2015), which is argued to enhance corporate reputation (van Doorn et al., 2010). Online reputation management encompasses e.g. interacting with stakeholders online, creating shareable content, monitoring what stakeholders are saying, and addressing possible negative content, with the aim of achieving enhanced trustworthiness and stakeholder commitment as well as positive attitude towards the company (Dijkmans et al., 2015; Jones et al., 2009, p. 934). Social media has challenged traditional reputation communication, as it enables users to easily communicate with one another and disseminate messages about companies (Aula, 2010; Floreddu et al., 2014). B2B companies have been slower to adopt social media than B2C companies, and research on social media utilization has focused largely on the B2C sector (Michaelidou et al., 2011). Jussila et al. (2014) recently studied social media adoption in the Finnish B2B sector and found that only 29.6% of companies used social media for their communication. The most commonly used social media platform among B2Bs were social networking sites, such as Facebook and LinkedIn (Brennan & Croft, 2012; Jussila et al., 2014), and blogs (Brennan & Croft, 2012). Moreover, in the B2B sector, social media is considered more as a means for relationship building and brand development than as a hard-sell vehicle (Brennan & Croft, 2012; Michaelidou et al., 2011). Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 165


The CC function is generally the department primarily responsible for strategic and practical social media communication (Neill & Moody, 2015; Verhoeven et al., 2012). Participation of the HR department has increased due to a growing use of social media for employer branding purposes (Neill & Moody, 2015), and is argued to help in building a strong reputation (Sivertzen et al., 2013). To summarize, corporate reputation has turned into a strategic asset for companies, and communications arguably plays a central role in establishing and maintaining favorable reputations among stakeholder groups. Moreover, CC is becoming more valued in organizations, as it is increasingly viewed as a strategic management function. Finally, organizational reputations are shaped more often by the content stakeholders encounter on social media, which has become an essential communications channel for organizations also in the B2B sector. Methods & Data Quantitative data were collected to determine whether the presence, or absence, of communications professionals on the executive teams was linked to the reputations of companies. In this paper the executive team is defined as the most authoritative team under the board of directors, which is led by the CEO of the company. Data were collected from annual reports of companies from the years 2004-2014, and from an annual reputation study of Finnish public companies, conducted by Arvopaperi, a Finnish monthly business magazine, and Pohjoisranta Burson-Marsteller, a communications agency. The sample consisted of 45 companies listed on OMX Helsinki that operated in the B2B sector, and had appeared in the reputation study in 20042014. Second, in order to gain more in depth insight of the topic, semi-structured thematic interviews were selected as the primary data-gathering method (see Gillham, 2005, p. 70). A total of 10 single interviews and one pair interview with representatives from six companies were recorded and analyzed. Three companies (A, B, and C) had a stronger reputation, i.e. they were in the top 15 of the above-mentioned reputation study (out of an average 77 companies) for eight consecutive years in 2008-2015. The remaining companies (D, E, and F) had a weaker reputation – i.e. they were either ranked below average in the same study over the same period, or their reputation had significantly weakened over time. All six companies operated in the B2B sector and were listed on OMX Helsinki. To gain a thorough view of the research topic, we interviewed both communications and HR directors from each company, with the exception of company C, where we were only able to interview the HR director. HR was chosen because of their close involvement in reputation work through employer branding, and their holistic viewpoint of the entire company and thus on e.g. the communications function’s resources. Additionally, one of the interviewees was a direct subordinate of the HR director. 10 interviews were conducted face-to-face and one was done over the telephone. Table 1 illustrates the company and interviewee profiles.



Table 1 Profile of Interviewees

Findings In this section, the findings of the study will be presented and discussed according to the research questions: (1) position of the CC function, (2) perceptions of social media in reputation work, and (3) comparison of companies with stronger and weaker reputations. Position of the corporate communications function Table 2 gives an overview of the descriptive statistics on the presence, or absence, of communications professionals on the executive teams and the ranking positions of the 45 companies in the Arvopaperi and Pohjoisranta Burson-Marsteller’s reputation study. Table 2 Reputation Scores & Presence of Communications Directors on the Executive Team

Over a period of 11 years (2004-2014), the minimum reputation score was 42 and the maximum reputation score was 88, within the range of 0-100. The reputation score mean value for all 495 cases was 64.65. In 157 cases the company had a communications director on the executive team. In these cases the reputation score mean value was 64.81, which is almost the same as the reputation score mean when a communications director was not part of the executive team (64.57). Thus, the presence of the communications director on the executive team did not seem to influence the mean reputation score. Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 167


Interestingly, the combination of both a marketing and a communications director on the executive team was the only case in which we detected an influence on the reputation score. Both marketing and communications directors were on the executive team in 48 cases (9.6%), and the reputation score mean value was 69.09 in such cases. The point differential compared to the overall reputation score is not large. However, it does affect the positioning of the company in the reputation ranking. For example, in 2014 a 69.09 point reputational score corresponded to 24th place on the ranking list, while a 64.81 score corresponded to 36th place. Moreover, we examined the change in communications directors’ presence on the executive teams between 2005–2009 and 2010–2014 (see Table 3). Interestingly, the percentage had decreased from 37% to 24%, which contradicts with some previous findings (EACD Publications, 2013; Procom 2015) on the presence of communications directors on the executive teams in Finnish companies. Table 3 Change in Communications Directors’ Presence on the Executive Team

In addition to examining annual reports and reputation rankings, we studied the position of CC by conducting 11 research interviews. Table 4 below encapsulates our main findings related to CC resources and social media presence for the six companies included in the study. Next, these findings will be discussed. As previous literature suggests (Zerfass & Sherzada, 2015), both HR and communications directors felt that the importance of CC had increased over the past years in most of the organizations. However, this notion was not recognized in the organizational structure, as only two companies had a communications director on the executive team. This result is in line with our findings from the previously presented quantitative sample. Table 4 Corporate Communications Resources & Social media presence



In addition to the two communications directors who had a seat on the executive team, three of the communications directors were asked to participate in the meetings of the executive team only when there was something related to communications on the agenda. This partial attendance was seen as a barrier to being part of strategic decision making and having more influence in the organization. B-Com described this structural barrier as follows: If you meet the executive team daily, or the important people, you will stay on their minds. However, if you are excluded from these daily interactions, you will be forgotten. (B-Com) Communications directors from three companies (B, D, and E) pointed out that there would be benefits for the CC function of the company if they were part of the executive team. Most of the worries were associated with not being able to take part in the decision making process, which limited proactiveness. This was reflected in the way the interviewees described the current situation of not being part of the executive team: “our work is reactive and not proactive”, “we are more of a support function for the organization rather than an advisory group for the top management”, “we are not able to utilize the possibilities of communications and to develop it further”, and “we are not included until the implementation phase”. Team sizes & budgets. The sizes of the CC functions ranged from three to nineteen employees (see Table 4), accounting for 0.10% to 0.30% of the total workforce of companies, and thus stayed nearly the same among all examined companies. In two of the companies (D and F), the human resources allocated to CC had increased, in two had decreased (A and B), and in one remained the same (F). Furthermore, two companies (D and C) planned to increase the resources. When the budgets of the CC functions were compared, four companies (A, B, D, and F) reported budget cuts over the past years. Since companies D and C planned on increasing their CC team sizes, they also expected increases in their budgets. Also, company F was going to increase its CC budget, due to investments in digital communications and content creation. Most of the interviewed communications directors felt that their resources were scarce. However, many of them highlighted that scarce resources allowed them to better prioritize their responsibilities. Moreover, the cost effectiveness of digital channels compared to printed media Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 169


was mentioned, as well as increased collaboration with marketing, which had enabled them to decrease the budgets. Responsibilities. The areas of CC responsibilities were mostly in line with existing literature (Goodman, 2015; Neill, 2015), as they included external and internal CC, investor relations (IR), brand work, marketing communications, corporate responsibility (CR), employee engagement, public affairs, digital communications, media relations, reputation management and strategy communications. Interestingly, all of the communications directors felt that communications had an essential role in reputation management, but only two of them mentioned reputation management when they listed their areas of responsibilities. Thus, it seems that in Finnish public companies, reputation management is not yet structurally included in the responsibilities of CC, even though its importance for the organization is recognized. Common feature among the companies was social media, as it emerged as an essential part of the CC function: five companies had included the responsibility of social media management in the CC function. In the past few years, the ownership of social media management has been up for debate, but recent studies indicate that both marketing and communications executives would allocate this responsibility to CC (Neill, 2015; Verhoeven et al., 2012). The position of IR turned out to be a differentiator between the companies. In three companies (A, E, and F) IR belonged to the CC function. In two companies (B and D), IR used to belong under the CC function but had been separated from it, although they still worked in close collaboration. These findings are somewhat in line with previous literature, which suggests that IR is still mostly treated as a financial function rather than as a communication function, but notes that synergy between these two areas is essential (Laskin, 2009). Finally, differences occurred regarding the shared responsibilities between marketing and CC. Company B was the only one where the CC and marketing functions were completely integrated. Three companies (A, D, and E) emphasized that they were in close collaboration with the marketing unit. CC and marketing shared responsibility especially in corporate brand-related work, for example through a brand committee, which has also been recognized by research (Neill, 2015). Perceptions of social media in reputation work In an attempt to develop further understanding of the role of CC in reputation work, the present sub-section examines the interviewees’ perceptions on social media in reputation management. In line with previous research (see e.g. Aula & Mantere, 2008, p. xi; Dowling and Moran, 2012), nearly all interviewees agreed that reputation is based on actions. This was reflected in the answers that the interviewees gave to characterize the companies’ communication principles. One or several of the following terms were used by all interviewees: truthfulness, consistency, single tone of voice, transparency and openness. This emphasis on action is demonstrated by the following quote: We have our own tone of voice at Company A, and we aim at being fact-based and not bragging or using too many superlatives. If we say we are leading in some area, the text has to justify that statement. (A-Com)



All companies used social media in their external communication, which could indicate an increase in social media usage among B2Bs, since Jussila et al. (2014) found that only less than 30% of Finnish B2Bs had adopted social media as part of their communication. Most of the interviewees highlighted the growing importance of social media activity in reputation work and thought it had facilitated delivering the true and honest image of the company. Five companies indicated that the responsibility of social media belonged to the CC function, even if the content was planned together with other departments. In one company (B), social media activity was led more by HR, accompanied by the digital marketing unit and communications (see Table 4). The sizes of the teams responsible for practical social media updating varied from one employee to four employees, but not all companies had designated a social media team. All interviewees emphasized that social media communication was not a sole responsibility of anyone. Some levels of social media monitoring occurred in all companies, but only two companies practiced round-the-clock monitoring. Social media channels & content. Social networking sites emerged as the most popular social media channels – all companies reported using Facebook and LinkedIn, and all except for Company C used Twitter (see Table 4). Half of the companies identified LinkedIn as their most important or most active channel. This is in line with Brennan and Croft’s (2012) finding that LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and blogs are considered most important social media channels for B2Bs. In all companies, Facebook and LinkedIn were to a large extent used for employer branding purposes and included e.g. recruiting and employment related content. Facebook was also used as a channel for “extended internal communication” as E-Com expressed it, meaning that the channel included content that was interesting and relevant for current, former, and potential employees. Twitter on the other hand was used for broader communication, like distributing company news and press releases. The above mentioned channels were complemented by Instagram, which interviewees from three companies reported using, and one was investigating its possibilities. For all these companies, Instagram represented a channel that by using certain hashtags, employees could express what it was like to work for the company. Two companies’ (D and F) channel selections also included Slideshare and YouTube. Although building relationships and engaging stakeholders on social media has been argued to be the key to strengthening reputation (Dijkmans et al., 2015), companies are not very far with it yet. Two companies (D and E) actively practiced engagement by e.g. being in dialogue with stakeholders, and another two companies (A and F) recognized the importance of engaging their followers and reported increasing their engagement practices in the future. Internal communication & employee ambassadorship. All interviewees mentioned internal communication and employee satisfaction and commitment as important in acquiring a good reputation, which is in line with earlier research (see e.g. Balmer & Gray, 2003). Reputation was said to originate from inside-out, as can be seen from the following quote: In my opinion, reputation work originates in every employee and every Company C’s employee is doing reputation work. By that I mean how our employees act in customer situations and handle Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 171


customer relationships. Going forward, how they talk about the company to their own stakeholder groups and everyone else that is the most important reputation work… (C-HR) Social media seemed to be also closely linked with internal communications and employee engagement, as five companies had adopted an internal social media platform. Three companies used a social network called Yammer to enable employees to share both work and non-work related content with each other. Moreover, employees were encouraged to share their knowledge and enter into industry-related conversations also on external social media channels. Indeed, the wide acknowledgement of ambassadorship in reputation work emerged as an interesting finding from the data. The interviewees from all companies mentioned employees as ambassadors of reputation, especially on social media. Employees’ work-related social media use is argued to add value for reputation and communication because of its credible and trustworthy nature (Helm, 2011; van Zoonen et al., 2014). The most progressive was Company D, which had established an ambassador program led by CC two years ago. The program included identifying potential ambassadors, and coaching and advising them on social media channels' nature and Company D's objectives in them. Also Company F had recently established a thought leadership program. The following quote illustrates the good results acquired through the ambassador program: If you activate your own people to share and produce good content that is easy to share, it creates a huge impact. … We have so many good examples of when people realize that they are also building their own professional brands while representing the company – it’s a win-win. (DCom) Companies E and A also mentioned encouraging employees to be active on social media. Most respondents said they provide employees with training and/or guidelines on responsible social media behavior. Indeed, O’Connor et al. (2016) emphasize the importance of thorough and effective social media policies and training sessions in organizations in order to avoid problems caused by irresponsible social media behavior. Comparison of companies with stronger & weaker reputations Based on the quantitative data, corporate reputation did not seem to be influenced by the presence, or absence, of the communications director on the executive team. Neither interview data yield any differences in reputation between companies that had the communications director as a member of the executive team and those that did not. Two companies (A and F) had a communications director on the executive team. Since Company A had a strong reputation, and Company F had a weaker reputation, we cannot argue that the presence of a communications director on the executive team would in itself have an influence on company reputation. Also, the interview findings did not indicate any drastic differences between companies with higher reputation and companies with lower reputation rankings in terms of their CC resources. Thus, it seems that there is no clear and straightforward relationship between the reputation of a company and its CC resources. Instead, CC resources were affected by a variety of factors such as ongoing projects and the market situation.



Regarding social media activities, no clear distinctions emerged from the interview data between companies with stronger reputations and companies with weaker reputations. All six companies had established social media presence and were active on multiple social media channels, and therefore the variety of channels does not seem to indicate the order of a company’s reputation. However, the social media performance of four companies (A, D, E, and F) was more extensive and systematic than the rest of the companies, including practicing stakeholder engagement and taking advantage of employee ambassadorship. This implies that companies with weaker reputations (D, E, and F) were on average investing more in their social media communication. These companies stated that their reputation was currently not at the desired level, and therefore it seems that communications plays a greater role in building reputation than in maintaining the present, good reputation. Additionally, Company A, which had a strong reputation, used social media comprehensively and systematically. Interestingly, companies A, D, and E were all in the middle of repositioning their companies in the eyes of stakeholders as they were associated strongly with their history, although the operations had recently changed. Thus, the stronger emphasis on social media communication seems to be associated not with strong or weak reputation per se, but with the objective of reinforcing or rebuilding the reputation. Conclusions In this paper, we have examined the position and social media activities of the CC function in reputation work. Altogether, this research does not suggest a clear distinction in resources, responsibilities or activities between companies with stronger and weaker reputations. However, differences emerged between companies that attempted to reinforce their reputation or change the corporate image and those that simply tried to maintain the existing reputation. Communications seems to have a greater and more active role especially in (re)building the reputation. Nonetheless, the present paper provides several valuable insights to the state of reputation management in the Finnish B2B sector. First, what could be observed very clearly was the utilization of social media in reputation work. The findings from the interviews indicate that B2Bs had developed their social media communication over the past few years. Also, the resources allocated to digital communications – workforce and/or budgets – had increased. It seems that companies have realized that corporate reputation is affected progressively by the content stakeholders encounter particularly on social media (see Kietzmann et al., 2011). This finding resonates with the results of previous research indicating that CEOs are placing increased importance on CC because of the growing importance of social media in shaping a company’s reputation (Zerfass et al., 2014). Second, reputation was perceived to take shape from inside out, which highlights the important roles of employees in reputation work. Employee ambassadorship stood out as a hot topic among the interviewees, and most of the companies had identified ambassadorship as an influential way to build corporate reputation. Employees’ work-related social media use has been argued to enhance reputation (Helm, 2011; van Zoonen et al., 2014), which is why encouraging employees to share company-related content and engaging in conversations online as experts representing their company is something managers should consider. Trainings on the use of social media and tools to facilitate employees’ content sharing were identified as effective in advancing ambassadorship.



Finally, the perceived significance of CC has grown, yet it seems that this development is not recognized in the organizational structures of Finnish B2Bs. Our data indicated that the status of communications directors in top management had not improved over the past years in terms of a seat on the executive team. Interestingly, other studies on the status of communications directors have found larger participation of communications directors on the executive teams. The Procom (2015) study indicated that 75% of communications directors had a seat on the executive team, and in the EACD Publications (2013) study the corresponding percentage was 50%. However, the differences might be partly due to the fact that the Procom study included not only public companies but also non-listed companies, public sector organizations, and associations, and the European EACD study included only two Finnish companies. Moreover, the construct of the executive team is not defined in these studies, and does not necessarily mean the most authoritative management team where the CEO is part of, but for example the extended management team. Indeed, the communications directors interviewed for our study felt that CC could be more effective and influential if they were included to the executive team, which is also pointed out by existing literature (Kanihan et al., 2013). However, based on the quantitative data, corporate reputation did not seem to be influenced by the presence, or absence, of the communications director on the executive team. Even though no influence on corporate reputation was identified, we have to bear in mind that the relationship between corporate reputation and organizational structure is extremely complex, and many internal and external factors affect reputation. Also, as the communications directors pointed out, their presence could affect important strategic choices and thus influence the company’s reputation in the future. Limitations of the study & suggestions for further research Using only one reputation listing upon which we based the reputations of companies does not perhaps indicate their overall reputation, as the respondents in the Arvopaperi and Pohjoisranta’s reputation study were mostly small-scale investors. However, using only one reputation study allows to compare companies, as their reputations vary on the same scale. Second, as in other qualitative research, our qualitative findings should be interpreted carefully, to represent the six Finnish B2B companies interviewed. Moreover, the quantitative data sample is rather small, and thus affects the ability to draw generalizations. Third, as social media and its use in organizational communication and reputation work are constantly developing, the findings and arguments presented in this research paper will need to be reviewed in the future. For now, they provide interesting insights into the topical theme of social media and its use in reputation work in B2Bs. As the interviewed companies had started investing more in their social media activities only over the past few years, the results of those efforts in the reputations of companies are not yet visible. Thus, in the future, it would be useful to study e.g. whether those investments and activities have, indeed, had an effect on the reputations of companies.



References Aula, P. (2010), “Social media, reputation risk and ambient publicity management”, Strategy & Leadership, Vol. 38, No. 6, pp. 43-49 Aula, P. & Mantere, S. (2008), Strategic Reputation Management: Towards a Company of Good, Routledge, New York. Balmer, J. M. & Gray, E. R. (2003), “Corporate brands: what are they? What of them?”, European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 37, No. 7/8, pp. 972-997 Brennan, R. & Croft, R. (2012), “The use of social media in B2B marketing and branding: An exploratory study”, Journal of Customer Behavior, Vol. 11, No. 2, pp. 101-115 Carreras E.; Alloza A. & Carreras A. (2013), Corporate Reputation, LID Publishing Ltd, London. Cornelissen, J. (2014), Corporate communication: A guide to theory and practice, Sage, London. Cornelissen, J.; van Bekkum, T. & van Ruler, B. (2006), “Corporate Communications: A Practice-based Theoretical Conceptualization”, Corporate Reputation Review, Vol. 9, No. 2, pp. 114-133 Dijkmans, C.; Kerkhof, P. & Beukeboom, C. J. (2015), “A stage to engage: Social media use and corporate reputation”, Tourism Management, Vol. 47, pp. 58-67 Dowling, G. R. (2006), “Communicating corporate reputation through stories”, California Management Review, Vol. 49, No. 1, pp. 82-100 Dowling, G. & Moran, P. (2012), “Corporate Reputations: Built In or Bolted On?”, California Management Review, Vol. 54, No. 2, pp. 25-42 EACD Publications (2013), The Chief Communications Officer and the C-Suite: Discussing the role of the executive communicator. Retrieved 1st March, 2016 from http://www.eacdonline.eu/sites/default/files/c-suite_brochure.pdf Floreddu, P. B.; Cabiddu, F. & Evaristo, R. (2014), “Inside your social media ring: How to optimize online corporate reputation”, Business Horizons, Vol. 57, No. 6, pp. 737-745 Fombrun, C. J. (1996), Reputation: realizing value from the corporate image, Harvard Business School Press, Boston, MA. Fombrun, C. J. & Rindova, V. (1998), “Reputation Management in Global 1000 Firms: A Benchmarking Study”, Corporate Reputation Review, Vol. 1, No. 3, pp. 205-212 Fombrun, C. J. & Van Riel, C. (1997), “The reputational landscape”, Corporate Reputation Review, Vol. 1, No. 1-2, pp. 1-16 Forman, J. & Argenti, P. A. (2005), “How Corporate Communication Influences Strategy Implementation, Reputation and the Corporate Brand: An Exploratory Qualitative Study”, Corporate Reputation Review, Vol. 8, No. 3, pp. 245-264 Frandsen, F. & Johansen, W. (2014), “The Role of Communication Executives in Strategy and Strategizing”, Edited by Holtzhausen D. & Zerfass A., The Routledge Handbook of Strategic Communication, pp. 229-243, Routledge, New York. Gillham, B. (2005), Research Interviewing: the range of techniques, McGraw Hill Education, Berkshire, UK. Goodman, M. B. (2015), A Review of Corporate Communication Practices and Trends in the USA and China. In Role of Language and Corporate Communication in Greater China. Springer Berlin Heidelberg. Gray, E. R., & Balmer, J. M. (1998), “Managing corporate image and corporate reputation”, Long Range Planning, Vol. 31, No. 1, pp. 695-702 Gregory, A. (2015), “Corporate Reputation and the Discipline of Communication Management”, Edited by Carroll C. E., The Handbook of Communication and Corporate Reputation, pp 81-93, John Wiley & Sons, West Sussex. Helm, S. (2007), “One reputation or many? Comparing stakeholders' perceptions of corporate reputation”, Corporate Communication: An International Journal, Vol. 12, No. 3, pp. 238-254 Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 175


Helm, S. (2011), “Employees' awareness of their impact on corporate reputation”, Journal of Business Research, Vol. 64, No. 7, pp. 657-663 Jones, B.; Temperley, J. & Lima, A. (2009), “Corporate reputation in the era of Web 2.0: the case of Primark”, Journal of Marketing Management, Vol. 25, No. 9-10, pp. 927-939 Jussila, J. J.; Kärkkäinen, H. & Aramo-Immonen, H. (2014), “Social media utilization in business-tobusiness relationships of technology industry firms”, Computers in Human Behavior, Vol. 30, pp. 606-613 Kanihan, S. F.; Hansen, K. A.; Blair, S.; Shore, M. & Myers, J. (2013), “Communication Managers in the Dominant Coalition: Power Attributes and Communication Practices”, Journal of Communication Management, Vol. 17, No. 2, pp. 140-156 Kaplan, A. M. & Haenlein, M. (2010), “Users of the world, unite! The challenges and opportunities of Social Media”, Business Horizons, Vol. 53, No. 1, pp. 59-68 Kietzmann, J. H.; Hermkens, K.; McCarthy, I. P. & Silvestre, B. S. (2011), “Social media? Get serious! Understanding the functional building blocks of social media”, Business Horizons, Vol. 54, No. 3, pp. 241-251 Laskin, A. V. (2009), “A descriptive account of the investor relations profession a national study”, Journal of Business Communication, Vol. 46, No. 2, 208-233 Melewar, T. C. (2008), Facets of corporate identity, communication, and reputation, Routledge, New York. Michaelidou, N.; Siamagka, N. T. & Christodoulides, G. (2011), “Usage, barriers and measurement of social media marketing: An exploratory investigation of small and medium B2B brands”, Industrial Marketing Management, Vol. 40, No. 7, pp. 1153-1159 Neill, M. S. (2015), “Beyond the c-suite: corporate communications’ power and influence”, Journal of Communication Management, Vol. 19, No. 2, pp. 118-132 Neill, M. S. & Moody, M. (2015), “Who is responsible for what? Examining strategic roles in social media management”, Public Relations Review, Vol. 41, No. 1, pp. 109-118 O’Connor, K. W.; Schmidt, G. B. & Drouin, M. (2016), “Helping workers understand and follow social media policies”, Business Horizons, Vol. 59, No. 2, pp. 205-211 Procom (2015), Johtavien viestijöiden tutkimus. Retrieved 1st March, 2016 from http://procom.fi/wpcontent/uploads/2014/01/Johtavien-viestijoiden-tutkimus-2015.pdf Roberts, P. W. & Dowling, G. R. (2002), “Corporate reputation and sustained superior financial performance”, Strategic management journal, Vol. 23, No. 12, pp. 1077-1093 Shamma, H. M. (2012), “Toward a Comprehensive Understanding of Corporate Reputation: Concept, Measurement and Implications”, International Journal of Business and Management, Vol. 7, No. 16, pp. 151-169 Saxton, M. K. (1998), “Where do reputations come from?”, Corporate Reputation Review, Vol. 1, No. 4, pp. 393-399 Sivertzen, A-M.; Nilsen, E. R. & Olafsen, A. H. (2013), “Employer branding: employer attractiveness and the use of social media”, Journal of Product & Brand Management, Vol. 22, No. 7, pp. 473-483  Van Doorn, J.; Lemon, K. N.; Mittal, V.; Nass, S.; Pick, D.; Pirner, P. & Verhoef, P. C. (2010), “Customer engagement behavior: Theoretical foundations and research directions”, Journal of Service Research, Vol. 13, No. 3, pp. 253-266 Van Zoonen, W.; van der Meer, T. G. & Verhoeven, J. W. (2014), “Employees work-related social-media use: His master's voice”, Public Relations Review, Vol. 40, No. 5, pp. 850-852 Verhoeven, P.; Tench, R.; Zerfass, A.; Moreno, A. & Verčič, D. (2012), “How European PR practitioners handle digital and social media”, Public Relations Review, Vol. 38, No. 1, pp. 162-164 Walker, K. (2010), “A systematic review of the corporate reputation literature: Definition, measurement, and theory”, Corporate Reputation Review, Vol. 12, No. 4, pp. 357-387 Zerfass, A.; Moreno, A.; Tench, R.; Verčič, D. & Verhoeven, P. (2013), “European Communication Monitor 2013. A Changing Landscape − Managing Crises, Digital Communication and CEO Positioning in Europe. Results of a Survey in 43 Countries”, EACD/EUPRERA and Helios Media, Brussels. Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 176


Zerfass, A.; Schwalbach, J.; Bentele, G. & Sherzada, M. (2014), “Corporate Communications from the Top and from the Center: Comparing Experiences and Expectations of CEOs and Communicators”, International Journal of Strategic Communication, Vol. 8, No. 2, pp. 61-78 Zerfass, A. & Sherzada, M. (2015), “Corporate communications from the CEO’s perspective: How top executives conceptualize and value strategic communication”, Corporate Communications: An International Journal, Vol. 20, No. 3, pp. 291-309




Quality Visibility in CEO Crisis Management Response Using Nonverbal Communications to Connect to Authenticity and Stakeholders Following a Crisis Chigo Ugoalah Royal Roads University, CU Communications, Canada [email protected]

This study investigates the use of body language as a measure of authenticity in a CEO’s visibility and crisis communications management following a disaster. It provides a qualitative content analysis of ten press conferences of two different CEOs who successfully handled deadly crises that could have resulted in extreme financial and reputational damages for their organizations, finding that there is a correlation between body language and what is perceived as authenticity in a crisis communications message. CEO authenticity is key to a successful crisis management and reputation recovery initiative. It shifts negative perception of the organization during a crisis and establishes trust with stakeholders. Current research into crisis communications has focused on planning, but with no attention on how nonverbal language shapes public perception of a CEO’s visibility following a crisis and what it means to be authentic. The results suggest that a CEO’s nonverbal behavior is more important than verbal language in determining how stakeholders will respond to a crisis and the impact on the organization’s reputation, suggesting that future research is needed to investigate the relationship between nonverbal communications, authenticity and crisis management. Keywords: crisis communications, CEO authenticity, body language, reputation

Introduction Organizational crises such as environmental disasters, corporate fraud, product recalls and deadly accidents can spell disaster for an organization’s reputation and bottom line. When such a crisis hits, effective communication and leadership become a priority given that poor crisis communications management and ineffective leadership can have long lasting and crippling consequences for a company’s or individual’s ability to repair, recover, and restore its reputation. This inability for an organization’s reputation to recover following a crisis can adversely impact its future by damaging its credibility, profitability, sustainability and market share. Following the public mishandling of several crisis events in recent years, organizations have adopted a proactive strategy to better manage their image and reputation following a crisis. Barton (2001) and Dowling (2002) argue that once that delicate reputation is marred “it is exceedingly difficult to rebuild consumer trust” (as cited in Lamotte, 2015) and consumer trust is critical to the sustainability of an organization. During the past decade many prominent corporations have faced events that threatened to derail their reputations. For example, the 2014 crash of Air Asia Flight QZ8501 and the 2008 Maple Leaf Foods listeriosis outbreak are two high-profile events that highlight what it means to effectively handle a crisis and emerge with reputation intact. What is notable about these two events is how the CEOs were used in the crisis communications strategy. The purpose of this investigation was to bridge the gap between CEO visibility and authenticity in order to enable a CEO to better understand what their nonverbal language is communicating Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 179

Quality Visibility in CEO Crisis Management Response

when facing a crisis and how it makes their visibility superficial. This article looks at CEOs as crisis management anchors and examines how they can add value to their visibility, ensuring they are holding onto consumer trust. Furthermore, it aims to understand why some CEOs and organizations are able to successfully recover from a major crisis while others suffer irreparable damage. Having a CEO physically visible at the scene of a crisis is no longer enough to sustain the public’s trust in the organization by providing reassurance there is no future imminent danger or threat and satisfying their need for answers – the quality of their response is what makes the difference between success and failure. However, there has been no research conducted into what it means to add value to that executive visibility. For that reason, this article focuses on the successful crisis communication of AirAsia CEO Tony Fernandes and Maple Leaf Foods CEO Michael McCain and their response to disasters in which their companies were involved, because each demonstrated excellence in how they handled themselves. As such, it is CEO behavior and its authenticity that is the focus of my research, which asks the question: How can a CEO facing a crisis achieve authenticity in their visibility and in turn inspire and maintain trust with their publics and shareholders? A secondary question asks: How is authenticity demonstrated and what role does body language plays in forming public perception of a CEO’s sincerity or lack of post crisis? This paper builds on Schoenberg’s (2005) findings that leadership is more important than preparation by delineating and exploring the concept I am calling Quality Visibility, which refers to a defining characteristic of successful crisis leadership that I believe will enable some CEOs to successfully lead their organizations through a crisis while others suffer irreparable reputational damage. Quality Visibility is the synchronicity of nonverbal language and the appropriate Situational Crisis Communications Theory (SCCT) strategy. Its purpose is to add a material dimension to Timothy Coombs’ (2007) Situational Crisis Communications Theory, which states, “crisis response strategies are used to repair the reputation, to reduce negative affect and to prevent negative behavior intentions.” These strategies all deal with verbal language, which can consciously be controlled and manipulated, and it is my hope that my research into the non-verbal dimensions of CEO crisis communication will help to further strengthen the value of SCCT. This study takes the form of a qualitative inquiry within the interpretive paradigm. Using Timothy Coombs’ Situational Crisis Communication Theory (SCCT) model and conducting a textual analysis of examples of authentic body language observed in Tony Fernandes’ and Michael McCain’s crisis communication, I identified measures that can be taken by a CEO to connect to authenticity, thereby adding value to their visibility and rendering it as quality. The analysis of the two CEOs has contributed to my development of the concept of Quality Visibility, a model that goes beyond mere CEO visibility to provide a tool for being conscious of matching behaviour to the delivery of the words. For a CEO facing a crisis, an alignment of nonverbal and verbal language will determine how stakeholders will perceive their visibility and whether they will receive the CEO’s crisis communications message as authentic. The results obtained in this study answer the research question of how a CEO can achieve Quality Visibility in their communication following a crisis.



Methods This paper used a qualitative approach within the interpretive paradigm to examine the verbal and nonverbal crisis communication responses of AirAsia CEO Tony Fernandes and Maple Leaf Foods CEO Michael McCain following crises that threatened the viability and reputation of their organizations. Publicly available literature on the 2014 AirAsia crash and 2008 Maple Leaf Foods listeriosis outbreak was reviewed including media and industry articles written about the events and video footage found on YouTube. In examining the strategies of both CEOs, it became evident that the authenticity in their behaviour played a vital role in their ability to successfully attend to the needs of their audience, thereby making it possible for them to repair, recover and restore any reputational damages experienced as a result of the crisis. The qualitative approach allowed me the opportunity to observe record and later interpret the language and behaviour of both Tony Fernandes and Michael McCain. I was then able to analyze their response strategies according to Coombs’ (2007) SCCT model and body language according to Lunenberg’s (2010) nonverbal language model searching for cues of authenticity in an attempt to provide a visual and physical illustration of what authenticity looks like. Data Collection After selecting my crisis events I collected the archival data about each CEOs response to their organizational crisis. The primary source for data was YouTube as well as news articles from CBC Radio Canada, CTVnews.ca, Health Canada, Wall Street Journal, Associated Press, The Guardian and blog articles from HKstrategies.com and Sharantoor.blogspot.ca. In the initial phase of data collection I isolated all the articles gathered from each media outlet. My data collection yielded 10 videos in total, eight of which featured Air Asia CEO Tony Fernandes and two of Maple Leaf Foods’ CEO Michael McCain. I used only two videos featuring Michael McCain because that is all that were available. It’s important to note that in 2008 videotaped news content was not as readily available to consumers as it was in 2014. Accessing raw footage presented unbiased accounts of the crisis management of both CEOs. Unlike those of Tony Fernandes, the videos of Michael McCain were professionally produced but, because they were released within 24 hours of the crisis, they captured him at a vulnerable state. It is also important to acknowledge the potential for bias in the media coverage of the events depending on who is reporting on the crisis, so using press from international news sources assisted in alleviating the likelihood of a bias in the media accounts of both events. The time frame for both press articles and video footage was restricted to within three days of the crisis, because, as identified by Knight and Pretty (1996), “the days immediately following a disaster are the most critical.” Data Analysis Summative qualitative content analysis was used to organize and code the data. Summative qualitative content analysis is a qualitative approach that “starts with identifying and quantifying certain words or context in text with the purpose of understanding the contextual use of the words or content” (Hsieh & Shannon, 2005). Summative qualitative researchers will look for how text is used. In my initial analysis I looked for occurrences of behaviour, words and phrases that signified transparency traits such as being truthful, being timely and responsive, sincerity, lacking speculation, and putting people first. I then looked for occurrences of behaviour, words and Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 181


phrases indicative of accountability such as focusing on action, accepting responsibility, and personalizing response with the use of the word ‘I’.” A chart was created and each occurrence was counted and documented. The second phase of analysis included charting examples of response strategies from the Rebuild and Bolstering SCCT response strategies utilized by Tony Fernandes and Michael McCain in their public addresses. In these clusters I looked for examples of compassion, apology, concern, ingratiation. Through the coding, I sought to establish patterns in the language and verbiage that aligned with the SCCT models. After analyzing the data, it became evident that although their crises occurred eight years apart and in different parts of the world, both CEOs managed the disasters in near identical fashion. Along with analysis of the Rebuild and Bolstering response clusters, I also identified non-verbal language consistent with Lunenburg’s (2010) table of body language and signifiers of authenticity. My rounds of analysis led to the development of Quality Visibility, a new model of crisis response that focuses on the synchronicity or harmonization of SCCT and non-verbal language in order to add value to a CEO’s visibility. I then analyzed the data on non-verbal communication using qualitative content analysis. Michael Patton (2002) described qualitative content analysis as “any qualitative data reduction and sensemaking effort that takes a volume of qualitative material and attempts to identify core consistencies and meanings (p. 453). Specifically, directed content analysis was used in an effort to “extend conceptually a theoretical framework or theory” (Hsieh & Shannon, 2005) and that theory was SCCT. Imparting meaning to the words and actions demonstrated by Tony Fernandes and Michael Mccain was crucial in order to ascertain if using the appropriate crisis response strategy and the appropriate non-verbal language made their visibility more authentic. It was important to verify this, as it was my hypothesis that Quality Visibility following a crisis is more important than mere visibility and that quality is witnessed in the non-verbal communication of a CEO. This round of qualitative content analysis allowed me to collect the information provided in the post-crisis news conferences given by Air Asia CEO Tony Fernandes and Maple Leaf Foods CEO Michael McCain. I first viewed each video, transcribed them and read the transcriptions multiple times before attempting to start coding based on the crisis response strategies in Coombs’ (2007) SCCT model. Using directed qualitative content analysis, I coded the body language and physical behavior of both CEOs during their news conferences immediately following the crisis. Here, I gathered examples of behavior that could be considered as “real or true” according to Heynan’s (2008) definition of authenticity. I chose to code the behaviour based on Lunenburg’s (2010) four types of nonverbal language: kinesics (use of body movement), proxemics (use of space), paralanguage (use of sounds, pitch and tone) and chromenics (use of time). I analyzed body language because more than 60 percent of communication is non-verbal (Zhou & Zhang, 2008) and the non-verbal communication pattern is a critical indicator in showing what authenticity looks like. Results Rebuild and bolstering strategies in authentic CEO visibility My data suggests that there is a definite link between the quality of a CEOs presence to how a crisis is perceived. To illustrate how the Rebuild and Bolstering clusters were utilized, I counted the occurrences of concern, apology, compassion and ingratiation response strategies. Rather than Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 182


do a comparative analysis, I opted to merge the responses because there was significantly more press conference material for Tony Fernandes than for Michael McCain. The table below shows the amalgamated frequency of response strategies from the Rebuild and Bolstering clusters. Table 1 Combined SCCT Response Strategies from Rebuild and Bolstering Clusters Used by Both Tony Fernandes and Michael McCain Apology Compassion Concern Ingratiation 15 3 29 19 20.27% 4.05% 39.18% 25.67% N=74 AirAsia crisis. AirAsia Flight 8501 vanished from air traffic radars on December 28 th, 2014 with more than 160 passengers and crew on board. Within hours of its disappearance, CEO Tony Fernandes arrived at the scene and immediately started responding to a flood of questions although he himself was still struggling to get reliable factual information (Wright, 2015). Right from the beginning of the crisis, he assumed control of the situation and spoke directly to everyone who was affected by the disappearance and later confirmed crash of the aircraft. What stood out in his strategy was how, rather than caving to the pressure by the media and providing misleading information, he admitted what he did not know and repeatedly refused to speculate. Authenticity is visible in the ability to admit when you do not know or have the answers to a question rather than providing incorrect or misleading information that will likely change during the course of the information making you appear unreliable and untrustworthy. For Tony Fernandes, this display of truthfulness and realism made him a trusted leader and a source of comfort for the victim’s families. Maple Leaf Foods crisis. In the summer of 2008 a significant public health event rocked a Canadian company. Listeriosis was linked to packaged meats produced at a Maple Leaf plant in Ontario. By the end of that year, there were 20 listeria related deaths across the country (Health Canada, 2013). In contrast to organizations that have confronted crises by avoiding the situation, deflecting blame, or keeping silent and maintaining a low profile, Maple Leaf Foods opted for a strategy of high visibility. Almost immediately, CEO Michael McCain released an apology-laden video explaining the crisis. This video was broadcast on all Canadian television stations as well as posted on YouTube. Against the counsel of his legal team, he publicly accepted responsibility for the outbreak and rejected accusations that the problem was the result of a failure in government policy or regulation. For Michael McCain, refusing to deflect the blame and publicly accept responsibility for the outbreak made him and his message authentic. Discussion of findings. Connecting with authenticity begins instantaneously after news of the crisis and because of technological advances crisis management is an evolving process. Today, a CEO is expected to be highly visible following a crisis but that visibility could prove detrimental to an organization if there is no value added to it. A timely response, even with limited information, is important to start establishing Quality Visibility and trust in the CEO’s behaviour as long as it is delivered truthfully. Both Tony Fernandes and Michael McCain demonstrated this first sign of authenticity by immediately taking control of their crisis situations. In a CTV.ca news (CTVnews.ca, 2008) article, Michael McCain was described as being “authentic and credible.” In an Associated Press (Associated Press, 2015) article, journalist Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 183


Stephen Wright reported the positive responses of analysts and family members of the AirAsia crash. “The human factor is definitely very genuine, from the words he chooses to the facial expression" (Wright, 2015). In the same article, family members praised AirAsia for being swift in responding to their needs and others reported “AirAsia has taken good care of us from day one” (Wright, 2015). The Rebuilding strategy proves to have been a successful approach for Tony Fernandes because even amidst grief and loss, a passenger who had lost a son refused to blame the airline. Rather he was quoted as saying, “This is a tragedy. What can we do? It’s fated. It can happen to any airline. I am not afraid of flying with AirAsia,” (Wright, 2015). This response from a victim grieving the death of a family member and the statements made by industry leaders are evident that the appropriate crisis response strategy and authenticity in actions will impact the public perception of a CEO and the organization. For Michael McCain, experts and analysts from industry publications such as inter alia Veritas Communications (2008) described his approach as a “bold, breathtaking communications play” (as cited in Greenberg & Elliott, 2009, p. 48). This response was a strategic approach that according to Owram (2009) earned Michael McCain honors as “the top business newsmaker of 2008” (as cited in Greenberg & Elliott, 2009, p. 48). Quality Visibility (QV): alignment of strategy and verbal/nonverbal signification As noted above, authenticity is about being real and having genuine regard for the feelings of the victims affected by a crisis and an understanding for the pain and suffering they and their families are experiencing (Heynen, 2006). From the summative qualitative content analysis that compared the response strategies within the SCCT strategy clusters, the CEOs clearly demonstrated the appropriate strategies of Rebuild and Bolstering. Both Tony Fernandes and Michael McCain readily accepted responsibility for their respective crises and demonstrated a “conceptual link between primary response to a crisis and the reputational threat of a crisis” (Coombs, 2007). Sincere acceptance of responsibility can be seen here as a sign of Quality Visibility. The concept of Quality Visibility is presented here as a model that goes beyond mere CEO visibility to provide a tool for being conscious of matching behaviour to the delivery of the words. Quality Visibility rests on the premise of adding value to presence. It is about bringing together all the different elements (transparency, accountability, honesty, vulnerability, the appropriate crisis response strategy and an awareness of non-verbal communications) of one’s being that signify realness in an individual. Therefore the equation for Quality Visibility would be: Appropriate Crisis Response Strategy (the verbal language that aligns with, in this case, the Rebuild and Bolstering strategies of concern, compassion, apology and ingratiation) + Appropriate Non-Verbal Language (kinesics, proxemics, paralanguage and chronemics) = Quality Visibility (ACRS + ANVL = QV). This equation allows the user to assess if they have Quality Visibility by way of words and actions matching. However, to achieve Quality Visibility, as demonstrated by Tony Fernandes and Michael McCain, a CEO must put people first and the sincerity behind that act will be evident in their nonverbal language. When analyzing Quality Visibility, it is important to remember that the equation begins with selecting the appropriate crisis response strategy. Appropriate crisis response strategy. The QV equation begins with employing the appropriate crisis response strategy (ACRS). To ensure their messages were authentic and able to connect with the public, Tony Fernandes and Michael McCain employed the crisis response strategies Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 184


from the SCCT model. Their approaches centered on the Rebuild and Bolstering clusters with the most frequently used response strategies being Concern (39.18 percent), Ingratiation (25.67 percent), Apology (20.27 percent), Regret (10.81 percent) and Compassion (4.05 percent). Each of these strategies were prominent in their responses and will be examined more closely based on Coombs’ (2007) definitions. Concern.In the immediate wake of their crises, Tony Fernandes and Michael McCain allowed themselves to be vulnerable in their words. They allowed themselves to be real and true. Showing concern for the victims allows the CEO to acknowledge their loss. During their press conferences and media interaction (their visibility) both CEOs often opened their statements with reference to the victims and their families. Compassion/Compensation. This strategy requires the organization to offer money to compensate victims for their loss or the damages they have suffered. While it was used infrequently, both CEOs did say that compensation would be provided, Apology. With the apology strategy, the organization is accepting all the blame for the crisis. Tony Fernandes and Michael McCain apologized to the victims, their families and all other stakeholders and publicly asked for their forgiveness. One of the first statements made by Tony Fernandes included public acceptance and a heart-felt apology to the families of the victims and all those affected by the crash. Michael McCain employed an identical Rebuild strategy through apology. In his videotape address he referenced and acknowledged not only the victims but also family members of the victims. In both cases, the CEOs were quick with apologies every time the opportunity to apologize was present and they were explicit in accepting responsibility for the crises. Ingratiation. This response strategy allows the CEO to keep the organization in a positive light by first praising victims for their efforts and reminding them of all the good the company has done. Again, both CEOs reiterated the positive contributions their organizations had made. For example Tony Fernandes mentioned he made air travel possible for millions of low-income people while Michael McCain mentioned the healthy quality of food Maple Leaf Foods had made available to Canadians. Through these response strategies, Tony Fernandes and Michael McCain were able to maintain transparency and accountability. Following their respective crises, Tony Fernandes and Michael McCain consistently demonstrated Quality Visibility in their behaviour and despite minor dips in stock prices, both organizations recovered with reputation in tact and public recognition for the CEOs. Appropriate nonverbal language. The second part of the equation for Quality Visibility is demonstrating the appropriate non-verbal language (ANVL). Appendix A (Examples of Nonverbal Language) provide qualitative examples of how Tony Fernandes and Michael McCain demonstrated the four dimensions of non-verbal language cues identified by Lunenburg (2011). A directed qualitative content analysis of the nonverbal language displayed by both Tony Fernandes and Michael McCain provided insight into the body language behaviour patterns that result in Quality Visibility in a CEO’s post-crisis presence (detailed results of the coding can be seen in Appendix A). Both CEOs demonstrated similar traits in their public behavior, and those traits are in alignment with the four dimensions of body language (kinesics, proxemics, Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 185


paralanguage and chronemics) outlined by Lunenburg (2010). Non-verbal language can then be seen as a pivotal element in a CEO presenting himself as vulnerable and that vulnerability is an essential aspect of an authentic response to a crisis. Vulnerability allows a CEO to be exposed with an unprotected presence. In the case of Tony Fernandes and Michael McCain, they let down their defense mechanisms and allowed themselves to be imperfect. It is that imperfection and self-exposure that emotionally connected them to their publics, rendering authenticity to their visibility. These behaviours demonstrated very personal care and concern for the pains of their stakeholders. Appendix B Figures A1 to B4 (Interpretation of Non-verbal Language) provides photo examples of Tony Fernandes and Michael McCain from the kinesics and proxemics groupings of non-verbal language behaviour. These two groups are the only two of the four that can be described in print as the other two are visual and aural in nature. Appendix B Table 3 offers an interpretation behind the non-verbal cue according to Lunenburg’s (2010) model. While aiming to identify behaviour that can be classified as authentic, Lunenburg’s (2010) model was analyzed looking for Heynan’s (2006) signs of behaviour that can be classified as “real and true.” Kinesics.Kinesics involves all the body movements such as gestures, facial expressions, eye contact, posture and mode of dress. Below are examples of each nonverbal movement demonstrated by both CEOs. Gestures.Observing Tony Fernandes and Michael McCain in video and photographs, there are no extreme physical gestures. They both stand or sit still subdued and appearing to be in shock, gestures which can be interpreted to represent openness, humility and vulnerability. Facial expressions. Sadness, anger, fear and even disgust are all evident in the photographs and videos of Tony Fernandes and Michael McCain. These expressions match their verbal language and are all in line with the severity of the crisis they are facing and therefore display authenticity. Eye contact. The emotions conveyed in the gaze of the two CEOs being studied are of extreme sadness, sorrow and weariness. Their eyes register remorse and that aligns with the crisis response strategies observed as well as the situation. Posture. Photographs and video of both Tony Fernandes and Tony McCain portray both men standing tall and straight. This stature shows they are in control of the situation. Mode of dress. As is evident in the analysis of the mode of dress of Tony Fernandes and Michael McCain, following their crises, both CEOs (who are normally photographed in suit and tie) opted for a less formal attire (no tie, golf shirt, dress shirt with top button open) as a way to show that during the crisis, they are not isolating themselves as executives, rather they dressed in a manner that made them appear approachable. They turned themselves into leaders that could relate to and share the pain of the families of their victims. Proxemics. Examining Tony Fernandes’ use of space, he chose to be right in the middle of his audience. By opting for such close proximity, he was not distancing himself from the crisis rather by being close he was acknowledging and legitimizing each person in his presence. In doing so he gave full access to himself not just to news media, but also to the families of the victims. Michael McCain used video as a medium to get close to his audience. The simplicity of the recorded apology, featuring Michael McCain in a non-descript room combined with other nonProceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 186


verbal cues from the kinesics and paralanguage dimensions made him appear approachable and accessible, and I believe, with the intention of allowing yourself to get close to your stakeholders. Paralanguage. Listening to Michael McCain’s taped apology, his voice is broken although it is evident he is trying his best to keep his voice steady and calm. The wavering in his voice indicates that he is truly apologetic about the deaths caused by his company and that he genuinely feels for the families. He is publicly sharing their pain and grief. He is being vulnerable. Chronemics. Tony Fernandes and Michael McCain reached out to their respective publics within less than 24 hours. This showed that they were putting the victims’ families before their own needs and nothing else mattered. For example, Tony Fernandes relied heavily on Twitter as a form of mass communication, providing information as it became available, although, at times, the details were rather scarce. The fact that he took to Twitter immediately after learning of the disappearance of Flight QZ8501 showed that he was ready to get in front of the crisis. He was timely and responsive in his initial action and that resonated with the world. This quick response to the crisis is crucial to authenticity because it allows the CEO to immediately become the trusted face of the crisis. Authenticity of CEO communication A third round of directed qualitative analysis of the video data was conducted to assess the level of authenticity demonstrated by the CEOs and to identify verbal and non-verbal signifiers of Quality Visibility and illustrated what authenticity looks and sounds like. This round of analysis was conducted to provide evidence of the actual words and verbiage that would render a CEO authentic. It revealed five signifiers of transparency – be truthful, be timely and responsive, don’t fake it, talk about what you know and admit what you don’t know, and think in terms of the wellbeing of the community – and three characteristics describing accountability – focus on action, take responsibility, make it personal through use of “I.” By isolating eight pictures of Tony Fernandes and Michael McCain exhibiting various kinds of body language, I was able to match their involuntary body cues to photographs that explained the meaning and message behind each nonverbal cue. Analyzing the response strategies from the Rebuild and Bolstering clusters (apology, concern, compassion and ingratiation) combined with an analysis of photographs of Tony Fernandes and Michael McCain for visual cues of non-verbal language (kinesics, proxemics, paralanguage and chronemics) followed with an analysis of signs of transparency and accountability, I was able to identify the signifiers of authenticity and what it means to have Quality Visibility. To have Quality Visibility is to match the verbal language to the four dimensions of non-verbal language, thereby adding value to visibility. Discussion CEOs have to be visible when a crisis hits (Coombs, 2007), but how do you add value to that visibility in an age where technology is so pervasive? Authenticity is the answer. My findings are meant to provide evidence that nonverbal language exhibited by a CEO is a defining factor of authenticity and therefore can be the difference between a positive or negative response by stakeholders, dictating how successfully an organization’s reputation recovers from a crisis. By demonstrating Quality Visibility, Michael McCain was effective in successfully restoring consumer trust and confidence to his brand. Tony Fernandes was also recognized for his hands on approach and “praised for providing accurate and frequent communication and an AUTHENTIC Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 187


heart-felt compassion often missing among market-driven CEOs” (Lines, 2014). The common theme between both of these CEOs is that they publicly put people before profits and that strategy was a move that connected emotionally with stakeholders. By connecting to authenticity, they added value to their visibility, making it quality. Quality Visibility is crucial to crisis communications because effective crisis communications is about engaging and connecting to stakeholders affected by a crisis. CEOs should know that, in such a crisis scenario, they are the ones that people want to hear from and that, if their visibility lacks quality, their messaging, no matter how good it might sound, will not hit its mark and their presence could inflict more damage. Tying Quality Visibility together are non-verbal communications and authenticity. These are qualities and strategies that will enable a CEO to engage and connect with an audience and influence their perception of not only the handling of the crisis, but also of the CEO and the organization. When that audience can walk away and even in their anger and grief, still think positively of the organization, value has been added to that CEO’s presence and Quality Visibility. Limitations/Exclusions There are several limitations to this study. For one, I only looked at the crisis response strategies of two major organizations with CEOs who already had positive reputations. With respect to using body language as a measure of authenticity, there is no conclusive scientific research to substantiate the meanings of certain body movements. This could potentially render the interpretation of body language as subjective and therefore not reliable in determining authenticity in behaviour. The subjective nature of body language analysis is also subject to human error because coding for content analysis is once again up to the individual and they are extrapolating information and details that they feel is relevant to their research question. However, since body language cues are culturally learned, for North Americans, the cues would remain consistent. Another limitation is whether a person can learn to control all aspects of their body language to appear authentic even when they are not. There are many other aspects and subtopics that could have been explored during the course of this research. Due to time and space constraints, I opted to focus on the relationship between body language and authenticity and its impact on just two CEOs with the aim of creating a tool for assessing the presence and degree of Quality Visibility in CEO behavior, and hope other scholars will be interested in following on this line of inquiry. Recommendations for Future Research Since body language is not a precise science, it is difficult to conclude whether the same signals would apply to both men and women. Future research should examine whether body language is gender neutral when managing a crisis meaning, do men and women transmit similar subconscious signals? There is also the opportunity to do additional work with non-Western cultures inside and outside North America because based on their body language analysis there could be a different measure of authenticity. Additional research can also examine if the size of an organization plays a role in the authenticity of CEO behavior. Would authenticity matter if the company involved in the crisis were a smaller lesser-known organization? Finally, research



should examine if the same conclusions regarding body language and authenticity can be reached if the CEO or organization had an unfavorable reputation before the crisis. Conclusion Of specific interest to this research is the question of why some CEOs are able to deliver their key messages, successfully engage with the public, and survive a crisis, while others do little more than anger and alienate stakeholders and create an environment that can turn hostile and make it more difficult for the organization to recover from the crisis. It is my belief that Quality Visibility provides a conceptual key that will make a CEO’s visibility an asset or for an organization during and following a crisis. Quality Visibility means going with your gut instinct to do the right thing and that is the best way to connect with authenticity. For a CEO demonstrating genuine responses in the face of a crisis, regardless of how their responses are perceived, authenticity is the one variable that cannot be disputed because it is a character trait that will position a CEO not only as a trustworthy leader but also as a credible source of information. As humans, not only is our body constantly sending out messages, we send and interpret those messages almost entirely subconsciously. In today’s electronic age, as was evident in the YouTube footage analyzed for this study, it is even more of a challenge for organizations to hide or provide misleading information pertaining to a crisis, meaning it is important for CEOs to be behave authentically when they are trying to contain an organizational disaster and position themselves as a trusted leader. This study found that there is a strong correlation between nonverbal language and a CEO demonstrating Quality Visibility in their presence following a crisis. Tony Fernandes and Michael McCain both suffered crises that could have destroyed their organizations. By being authentic and adding value to their visibility they successfully retained the reputation of their organizations. Regardless of how poised a CEO may appear, their nonverbal language will communicate to their audience whether or not they are sincerely remorseful. To have Quality Visibility, words have to align with actions and beliefs. Authenticity is a moot point until it is made visible and CEO engagement with victims, media and the public is critical to making it visible. The humanity of a CEO equates to the authenticity and the ability to recognize the humanness of others. It is not just about the bottom line. It is about understanding that there is justice needed. When a mistake is made, it is acceptable and even necessary to recognize it and admit that you are wrong. This remorse has to be evident in not just the spoken word but also in body language. During and following a crisis your audience is not just listening to what you are saying, they are subconsciously assessing your behavior and how you are delivering your message. Employing Quality Visibility, stakeholders will be protected, organizational reputation will be preserved and have a better chance at recovery, ultimately resulting in a stronger position in the market.



References Listeria in meat plant no surprise: Maple Leaf. (2008, October 9). CTV News. Retrieved February 5, 2015 from www.ctvnew.ca

Cooley, S. & Cooley, A. (2011). An examination of the situational crisis communication theory through the General Motors bankruptcy. Journal of Media and Communication Studies, 3(6), 204-211. Retrieved from http://www.academicjournals.org/article/article1380123355_Cooley%20and%20 Cooley.pdf Coombs, T. (2007). Protecting organization reputation during a crisis: The development and application of situational crisis communication theory. Corporate Reputation Review, 10(3), 163-176. Coombs, W. T., & Holladay, S. J. (2008). Comparing apology to equivalent crisis response strategies: Clarifying apology's role and value in crisis communication. Public Relations Review, 34(3), 252-257. doi:10.1016/j.pubrev.2008.04.001 Denzin, N. K., & Lincoln, Y.S. (1994). Handbook of qualitative research. London: Sage Flynn, T. (2012). Into the Crisis Vortex: Managing and communicating issues, risks, and crises. Journal of Professional Communication. 2(1), 43-52. Retrieved from https://escarpmentpress.org/jpc/article/view/113/65 Frey, L., Botan, C., & Kreps, G. (1999). Investigating communication: An introduction to research methods. (2nd ed.) Boston: Allyn & Bacon. Gaines-Ross, L. (2003). CEO capital. Executive Excellence, 20(2),20. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.royalroads.ca/docview/204607150?pqorigsite=summon Greenberg, J. & Elliott, C., (2009). A cold cut crisis: Listeriosis, Maple Leaf Foods, and the politics of apology. Canadian Journal of Communications. 34(2), 189-204. Retrieved from http://www.cjconline.ca/index.php/journal/article/view/2204/2087 Gephart, R. Jr, & Rynes, S. (2004). Qualitative research and the Academy of Management Journal. Academy of Management Journal,47(4), 454-462. Retrieved from http://web.a.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.royalroads.ca/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid =9a2bd84c-28bb-4918-9d580b9cd8ca3904%40sessionmgr4002&vid=1&hid=4206 Grant, A. D., & Taylor, A. (2015). It's more than just talk: Patterns of CEO impromptu communication. Business Communication Quarterly, 78(1), 55-73. Retrieved from: http://bcq.sagepub.com/content/78/1/55.full.pdf+html Health Canada (2013). Lessons learned: Health Canada’s response to the 2008 listeriosis outbreak executive summary. Retrieved from http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fnan/pubs/securit/exec-listeriosis-res-eng.php Hermann, C. F. (1963). Some consequences of crisis which limit the viability of organizations. Administrative Science Quarterly, 8, 61–82. Retrieved from http://www.voxprofessor.org/cfh/hermann-pubs/HermannSome%20Consequences%20of%20Crises%20Which%20Limit%20the%20Viabli ty%20of%20Org.pdf Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 190


Heynen,

H. (2006). Questioning doi:10.1080/14608940600842607

authenticity.

National

Identities,

8(3),

287-300.

Howell G.V.J & Miller, R. (2010) Maple Leaf Foods: Crisis and containment case study. Public Communication Review, 1(1), 47-56. Retrieved from http://epress.lib.uts.edu.au/journals/index.php/pcr/article/view/1297/1529 Hsieh, H., & Shannon, S. E. (2005). Three approaches to qualitative content analysis. Qualitative Health Research,15(9), 1277-1288. doi:10.1177/1049732305276687

Jaques, T. (2012). Crisis leadership: A view from the executive suite. Journal of Public Affairs, 12(4), 366-372 LaMotte, P. (2015, February 20). The importance of transparency during a crisis. The CEO Magazine. Retrieved from http://blogs.the-ceomagazine.com/guest/importance-transparency-during-crisis Lerbinger, O. (2006). Corporate public affairs: Interacting with interest groups, media, and government. New Jersey, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc. Lines, V. (2014, December 30). Air Asia CEO puts the compassion back into crisis communications. (Web log comment) Retrieved from http://www.hkstrategies.com/blogs/crisis/airasia-ceo-putscompassion-back-crisis-communications

Lunenburg, F. (2010). Louder than words: The hidden power of nonverbal communications in the workplace. International Journal of Scholarly Academic and Intellectual Diversity, 12(1), 1-7. Retrieved from http://www.nationalforum.com/Electronic%20Journal%20Volumes/Lunenburg,% 20Fred%20C%20Louder%20Than%20Words%20IJSAID%20V12%20N1%2020 10.pdf Merrigan, G., Huston, C. L., & Johnson, R. (2012). Communication research methods. Don Mills, ON: Oxford University Press. Patton, M. Q. (2002). Qualitative research & evaluation methods. Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publications. Radio-Canada (2008). Maple Leaf assume. CBC Radio Canada. Retrieved from http://www.radiocanada.ca/nouvelles/National/2008/08/27/004-Listeriose.shtml Rosenblatt, D. (2011). Maple Leaf Foods apology. Video retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIsN5AkJ1AI

Schoenberg, A. (2005). Do crisis plans matter? A new perspective on leading during a crisis. Public Relations Quarterly, 50(1), 2-6. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.royalroads.ca/docview/222400592/fulltextPD F/1091AB84CEF14F43PQ/1?accountid=8056 Sohn, Y. & Lariscy, R. A. (2012). Resource-based crisis management: The important role of the CEO’s reputation. Journal of Public Relations Research, 24(4), 318337.Retrieved from http://web.b.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.royalroads.ca/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid =f6fb7104-b8d8-4ea1-971e-97cb0cb36198%40sessionmgr115&vid=1&hid=109 Topham, G. (2014, December 28). Tony Fernandes, the millionaire entrepreneur behind Air Asia. The Guardian. Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/business/2014/dec/28/tony-fernandesairasia-tycoon Toor, S. (2011, March 6). LISTERIA recall…McCain apologizes for listeria outbreak in August 2008. (Web log comment). Retrieved from http://sharantoor.blogspot.ca/2011/03/listeria-recallmccainapologizes-for.html Ullmer, R., Sellnow, T., & Seeger, M. (2015). Effective crisis communication:moving from crisis to opportunity. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc. Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 191


Watts, J., Rachman, A., Curran, E. (2014, December 31). Air Asia Chief Tony Fernandes takes lead on crash response. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved from http://www.wsj.com/articles/airasiachief-tony-fernandes-takes-lead-on-crash-response-1419989212 Who is Tony Fernandes the Air Asia boss? (2014, December 31). News.com.au. Retrieved fromhttp://www.news.com.au/finance/work/who-is-tony-fernandes-the-airasia-boss/storyfn5tas5k-1227171009497

Wright, S. (2015, January 02). AirAsia’s CEO is becoming the model for airline leaders during a crisis. The Associated Press. Retrieved from http://skift.com/2015/01/02/airasias-ceo-is-becoming-the-model-for-airlineleaders-during-a-crisis/ Zhou, H. & Zhang, T. (2008). Body language in business negotiations. International Journal of Business and Management, 3(2), 1-7. doi: 10.5539/ijbm.v3n2p90. Retrieved from www.ccsenet.org/journal/index.php/ijbm/article/download/1680/1588


Shifts in the Meaning of Corporate Brand Management A Theoretical Perspective Oluwayemisi Olomo Lagos Business School, Nigeria [email protected]

Olutayo Otubanjo, PhD Lagos Business School, Nigeria [email protected]

This paper aims to provide an understanding for the shifts in meaning and management of the corporate brand by explaining these changes from a rational action theory perspective. The paper contributes to theoretical knowledge in corporate brand management literature by demonstrating that the changing business environment and evolving needs of consumers are largely responsible for the shifts in meaning of the corporate brand. This paper also argues that the foundation of the corporate perspective of brands was laid as far back as the early part of the twentieth century via the visual paradigm. The findings have implications for corporate brand managers because of the potential value of existing customers and other stakeholders as brand ambassadors. The findings also have implications for corporate communications managers because of the role of corporate communications in corporate brand management. Keywords: Corporate brands, corporate brand management, brand meaning Paper Type: Conceptual

Introduction A plethora of definitions have been accorded the corporate brand ranging from marks denoting ownership, image building devices, symbols associated with key values, to the means by which individual identities are constructed to a conduit by which pleasurable experiences may be consumed (Balmer and Gray 2003). According to (Stern 2006) the word “brand” first appeared as a noun (ca.1000) in the epic poem Beowulf and later as a verb (ca. 1400) in Wycliffe’s religious tract - An Apology for Lollard Doctrines. The word “brand” was used for 15 centuries before it entered marketing literature in 1922 (Stern 2006).Since its entry into marketing literature however, the meaning of the word “brand” has shifted from its initial sense as a trade or proprietary name (Stern 2006). The foundation for the corporate perspective of brands began to be laid during value –focus brand era of the 1930s - 1990s (Merz, He et al. 2009) when academics began to examine a brand’s symbolic benefit association, following the realization that consumers looked for the possibility of associating themselves with a desired group, role or self-image, in addition to functional benefits, when buying a market offering (Merz, He et al. 2009). Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 193

Shifts in the Meaning of Corporate Brand Management

Interestingly, the meaning of the term “corporate brand” has changed in the last two decades as it has been enlarged to cover nations (Anholt 2006), employers (Barrow and Mosley 2011), heritage (Urde, Greyser et al. 2007) and luxury (Vigneron and Johnson 2004).While useful insights have been provided with respect to classification of the various meanings, the reason for these shifts in meanings remain poorly understood. This paper seeks to explain these shifts in meaning from a rational action theory perspective, given that at the heart of all forms of rational choice theories lies the assumption that complex social phenomena can be explained in terms of the elementary individual actions of which they are composed (Scott 2000). Rational individuals according to Heath (1976), Carling (1991) and Coleman (1973) choose the alternative that is likely to give them the greatest satisfaction. This paper therefore analyzes the changes and shifts in the meaning of the corporate brand as follows: First, a comprehensive review of the definition of brands since the 1900s will be undertaken. This will involve investigating the evolution of brands from a theoretical perspectivethe dominant logic perspective. This will be followed by tracing the evolution of corporate brand management over the last two decades with a view to uncovering the factors responsible for the shifts in meaning. Thirdly, rational action theory is presented as an epistemological justification to explain the shift in the meaning of brands over the last two decades. Defining the Term “Brand” Knox and Bickerton (2003) note that the concept of “brand” can be traced to product marketing where the role of branding and brand management has been principally to create differentiation and preference for a product or service in the mind of the consumer. Tracing the evolution of brands from a theoretical perspective, Merz, He and Vargo(2009) identify a shift in perspective from a goods dominant logic perspective to a service dominant logic perspective, represented along four brand eras namely: the individual goods focus brand era (1900 -1930); the value focus brand era (1930s -1990); the relationship focus brand era (1990 2000) and more recently, the stakeholder focus brand era (2000 – till date). The four brand eras are discussed in detail below: THE individual-goods focus era (1900 – 1930):The concept of brand first entered marketing literature in the early 1900s (Room 1998; Stern 2006), and one of the earliest definitions of a brand was proffered by Copeland (1923) who described a brand as “a means of identifying the product of an individual manufacturer or the merchandise purveyed by an individual wholesaler or retailer.” Merz et al. (2009) observe that the central idea in the early 1900s was that brands were a way for customers to identify and recognize goods on sight. Consequently, brands were viewed as identifiers in marketing literature and academic research focused on examining the role of branded versus unbranded goods on consumer choices. Interestingly, although the dominant paradigm governing this period was the goods dominant logic view - which held that the product was the locus of value creation (Louro and Cunha 2001), there was another paradigm that held sway during much of the early 1900s, albeit implicitly - the visual paradigm. The visual paradigm involved the use of design by companies to express their identity (Olins 1990). Therefore brand value was not only created by firms and embedded in



physical goods, it was also embedded in visual style, which companies used to express their identity and define their relationship with their customers (Olins 1990). This paper therefore argues that the foundation for the corporate perspective of brands was laid as far back as the early part of the twentieth century, when a number of highly publicized organizations such as Germany’s AEG, the USA’s IBM and Britain’s London Transport launched and sustained identity programmes, in which commerce and industry were associated with art and design for the purpose of public instruction and corporate profits (Olins 1990). As strategic and holistic as the visual paradigm was, it was more of an exception than the norm in the twentieth century industrial scene, because most organizations then were more concerned with immediate commercial benefit, rather than longer –term economic and cultural benefits, within which commercial considerations were considered to play a part (p.50). Despite the attenuation of the visual paradigm in the twentieth century, it is important to point out that both the product and visual perspectives served as precursors to the emergence of the corporate brand paradigm which began to dominate brand thinking as from the 1990s. THE value focus brand era (1930-1990):From the 1930s onwards, the literature on branding expanded to include the description of brands not only as identifiers but also as images (Merz, He et al. 2009). Explaining the change in the meaning of brands, Merz et al. (2009) observe that in the individual goods brand era, brand academics initially focused on the functional benefits of brands, with related literature suggesting that consumers choose certain brands in order to solve externally generated consumption needs (Fennell 1978; De Chernatony and McWilliam 1989). Academics however began to examine a brand’s symbolic benefit association, when they realized consumers looked for the possibility of associating themselves with a desired group, role or selfimage, in addition to functional benefits, when buying a market offering (Merz, He et al. 2009).Brand scholars consequently began to break away from previous brand thinking which perceived value to be embedded in the physical product and greater emphasis was placed on the creation of a symbolic brand image (Merz, He et al. 2009). Brands were subsequently construed as symbolic devices and a means of projecting self image (De Chernatony and McWilliam 1989). The period 1970 to 1990 was marked by the development of the service sector (Roper and Parker 2006) which led to the study of brands along the themes of positioning (Ries and Trout 1981) and social marketing (Kotler and Zaltman 1971) in the context of the consumer. Dobni and Zinkam (1990) for instance describe a brand as “the sum of the total perceptions” while Jones and Slater (1986) note that it had become clear that brands would not succeed unless they had a unique benefit which satisfied real consumer needs. Coupled with the emergence of the service sector in the 70s was the wave of mergers and acquisitions in the 80s, especially Nestlé’s acquisition of Rowntree for 26 times its earnings (De Chernatony and McWilliam 1989; Kapferer 1992; Louro and Cunha 2001)which brought to the fore the economic value of brands. Brands subsequently began to be viewed from both relationship and equity perspectives (Gronroos 1989; Farquhar 1990) as a way of emphasizing the intangible features of products. Jones and Slater (1986) for instance, define the brand as ‘a product that provides functional benefits plus added values that some consumers value enough to buy’ while de Chernatony (1988) defines a brand as “an added value entity controlled by either a manufacturer or a packer, which portrays a unique and distinctive personality through the support of product development



and promotional activity.”Farquhar(1990)similarly describes a brand as “a name, symbol, design, or mark that enhances the value of a product beyond its functional purpose”. With the advent of the services marketing discipline, the meaning of brands began to take on a corporate dimension. For instance, Berry (1986) makes mention of the services company brand which the author describes as being distinctive and therefore sets the company apart from the rest of the competition. THE relationship –focus brand era (1990 – 2000):Drawing from the framework used by Fisk, Brown and Bitner (1993) in which the authors traced the development of the services marketing literature using an evolutionary metaphor, this paper similarly traces the literature on the corporate brand through three phases: the crawling out phase (pre-1990); the scurrying about phase (1991 -1994) and the walking erect phase (1995 – present) The crawling about phase has been discussed under the individual goods focus brand era and the value focus. The other phases are discussed in the sections that follow: 1991 – 1994: Scurrying about Balmer and Gray (2003) observe that prior to the 90s, the value and importance of corporate brands had been discussed in literature, albeit implicitly. This was because up till the 1990s, scholars had highlighted that brand value was created by firms and were embedded in physical goods. King’s (1991) work however, marked the turning point in the conception of brands from a purely product perspective to include a corporate perspective as he suggested the positioning of organizations as “brands” in the minds of actual and potential customers. King (1991) observed that the service economy was becoming a reality in the new Europe and that the norm was adding values, not basic production as had been the previous trend. King (1991) consequently posited that for brands to be successful, the service element would become more dominant, adding that in an era of rapid technological advances, the company brand would become the main discriminator. Further insights into the company brand were provided by Laforet and Saunders (1994) who argued that even though branding is conventionally viewed as consumer driven, other factors such as corporate history, corporate culture, company policy, product range and market structures play a part in branding. 1995 - Present: Walking erect Although King (1991) argued for a positioning of organizations as brands in the minds of customers, discussions about the company brand did not go into full swing until Balmer’s (1995) paper on “Corporate Brands and Connoisseurship” in which he suggested that the CEO is the de facto corporate manger and personnel are critical to the management of the corporate brand. Interestingly, Balmer (1995) traces discussions about corporate brand management as far back as the 1950s, however no explicit mentions about the corporate brand were made until the early 90s when it was then referred to as the ‘company brand” by leading branding and communications consultants (Balmer and Gray 2003). A plausible explanation for the slow pace of discussions about the corporate brand prior to 1995 probably has to do with the way marketing was perceived at the time. Doyle (1995) suggests that from the 60s through the 80s, marketing was seen as an independent function which led to the idea that the discipline that was tactical rather than strategic and generally superficial.



Consequently, when King (1991), Grewal and Baker (1994) and a number of experts made a case for marketing to be considered as an integrative business process, little consideration was given to their argument until the competitive landscape began to change. Doyle (1995) notes that the typical market structure was rocked by three factors in the 1990s namely: the shift to a new era of lower inflation and lower security of employment which made consumers more price-oriented – consequently many brands traded down from the premium brands; the emergence of new competitors with fundamentally reconfigured value chains throughout their entire channel. The new competitors offered value either on the basis of price or quality (p. 26 -27) and “many traditional market segmentation and positioning strategies proved vulnerable to the new competition because they depended on customers lacking the information and incentive to purchase rationally”. Coupled with these changes was the continuing high rate of technological change which had the double effects of first commoditizing and then rendering obsolete the products of companies that were not staying ahead. In response to the changes in the business environment and deeper insights into the nature and influence of the organization as an intangible element of the marketing mix (Balmer 2006), discussions focusing on the organization as brand went into full swing. As corporate brands took the centre stage, brands began to take on more sophisticated meanings such as destinations and luxury. THE stakeholder – focus brand era (2000s- till date):Merz, He et al. (2009) note that brand scholars began to examine the collective and dynamic processes that underlie brand consumption in the early 2000s by adopting a stakeholder perspective to branding. The shift in thinking which was driven by brand community literature led to the view of brands as a continuous social process (Merz, He et al. 2009), in which brand value was co-created through stakeholder- negotiations (Brodie 2009). Muniz and O’Guinn (2001) for instance describe brand as communities which they define as “a specialized, non‐geographically bound community, based on a structured set of social relationships among admirers of a brand.” It will be observed that the focus of thinking under the stakeholder brand era is not limited to customers as was the case with previous brand eras; rather scholars presently seek to take into consideration the views of other stakeholder groups who play albeit a minor but equally influencing role in the success of the organization. The stakeholder view has consequently extended the concept of brands to include constructs such as corporate reputation, employer brands, alliance corporate brands and co- branding. The meaning of the term “brand” takes on even more abstract descriptions as evinced by definitions such as Anholt’s (2006) who defines a brand as “a product or service or organization, considered in combination with its name, its identity and its reputation” and Urde et al.’s (2007) who define corporate heritage brands as “one with a positioning and a value proposition based on its heritage.” Brand Management Louro and Cunha (2001) define brand management as consisting of the process and locus for transforming brand value into superior market performance. Tracing the conceptual evolution of brands, Louro and Cunha (2001) identify four paradigms which the authors posit represent four core views regarding the role of consumers and brands in the process of value creation. The four brand management paradigms are discussed below: THE product paradigm:Within the product paradigm, emphasis is placed on the product as the centre of value (Louro and Cunha 2001). Consequently, brands are interpreted as logos and legal Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 197


instruments that depict ownership (De Chernatony and Dall'Olmo Riley 1998). Brands are subsequently managed as a group of loosely attached elements comprising brand name, logo, symbol, character, packaging and slogan in order to support the organization’s product strategy (Kapferer 1992; Keller 1993; Louro and Cunha 2001) THE projective paradigm:The projective paradigm, which draws on the resource based view and the dynamic-capabilities approach, builds on the product paradigm by highlighting the strategic dimension of branding (Louro and Cunha 2001). Within this perspective, brands are conceptualized as central platforms for articulating and implementing an organization’s strategic intent (Louro and Cunha 2001). Consequently, they are managed as companies or identity systems (De Chernatony and Dall'Olmo Riley 1998), with emphasis on the organization’s input activities as the primary generators of brand meaning (Louro and Cunha 2001) THE adaptive paradigm:The adaptive paradigm places emphasis on the role of consumers as key constructors of brand meaning (Louro and Cunha 2001). Consequently, brands in this paradigm are interpreted as performing consumer- centric roles (De Chernatony and Dall'Olmo Riley 1998) and brand image becomes the core theme underlying strategic formation (Kapferer 1992). Brand management is subsequently carried out as a deliberate process of gradually replacing brand identity with brand image to conform to the consumers’ representations of the focal brand (Aaker 1996). THE relational paradigm:While the adaptive paradigm focuses on consumers’ evaluative processes, the relational paradigm proffers a relationship between the brand and the consumer (Louro and Cunha 2001). Consequently, brands perform multi dimensional roles for both consumers and organizations (Keller 1993)and brand management is conceptualized as an ongoing dynamic process, in which brand value and meaning are co-created through interconnected behaviours, collaboration and competition between firms and consumers (Putnam, Phillips et al. 1996). Brands are subsequently interpreted as personalities that change within the context of consumer –brand relationships (Aaker 1997; De Chernatony and Dall'Olmo Riley 1998; Fournier 1998). In the foregoing section, the evolution of corporate brand management is explored in order to investigate the underlying factors responsible for the shifts in the meaning of corporate brand management. In the section that follows, these shifts in meaning are explained from a rational action perspective. The Evolution of Corporate Brand Management Balmer (2006) traces the evolution of the corporate brand from two perspectives – the marketing perspective and the multidisciplinary perspective. Starting from the multidisciplinary perspective, Balmer (2006) suggests that the development of the brand concept in marketing literature began with the definition of the corporate brand as an image (Shee and Abratt 1989). As further insights grew into the nature of organizational branding, the definition widened from image in a customer context (Shee and Abratt 1989) to personality in an employee context (Olins 1978; Barney 1986). Balmer (2006) observes that this phase led to the definition of the brand from an identity perspective in recognition of the need to create favourable perceptions beyond customers and employees and include all stakeholder audiences (Birkigt and Stadler 1986; Olins Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 198


and Council 1995; Balmer and van Riel 1997). According to Balmer (2006) more recent work in the organizational field focuses on corporate reputation which draws on contributions from management, marketing, accounting, economics and sociology fields (Brown, Dacin et al. 2006). The marketing perspective on the other hand evolved from the principle of consumer demand consequently the brand is construed as a strategic resource which can be used to drive the business processes that generate brand value for the consumer (Macrae 1999; Urde 1999). Therefore early attempts at brand management focused on creating a positive brand image in the mind of the consumer (Boulding 1956). This event was subsequently overtaken by the development of brand positioning (Ries and Trout 1981) due to the realization that consumer choices are made on the basis of comparison; consequently branding practitioners began to focus on creating a unique positioning of their brands in the minds of existing and potential consumers (Keller 1999). Just as McEnally and de Chernatony (1999)identify consumer and managerial considerations in the evolution of the brand, Balmer (2006) similarly identifies two domains – the customer focus and the organization focus as contributory factors in the evolution of the corporate brand and calls for a convergence between marketing theory (which drives the customer focus) and organization theory (which is derived from a multidisciplinary perspective) in order to help resolve the divergence in theory development. In the foregoing section, brand management paradigms, the evolution of corporate brand management and brand evolution models are explored in order to investigate the underlying factors responsible for the shifts and changes in the meaning of corporate brand management. In the section that follows, these shifts and changes in meaning are explained from a rational action perspective. Shifts In The Meaning Of Corporate Brand Management: A Rational Action Theory Perspective A look at the foregoing eras show a progression in thought about brands from identifiers as they were initially conceived in the 1900s to experiences in the new millennium. According to Berry (2000), for goods centric marketing, the product is the primary brand, while for service centric marketing; the company is the primary brand. In the last two decades however, new streams of research about brands has extended the corporate brand to include nation, employee, heritage and luxury brands. Below is a visual illustration of the progression in thought about brands since the beginning of the 20th century.



1922 Product

Nation

1991

Till date Till date

Employee brand Product 1922

1930 Heritage Product

1990

Corporate

1991

Till date

2000

Till date 1970

Luxury

Till date

Service Service

Till date

Figure 1. The progression of thought about brands. Two factors can be said to be largely responsible for the shifts and changes in meaning regarding the management of the corporate brand. The first is the changing business environment (Doyle 1995)which is characterized by a shift in the balance of power from the firm to the consumer due to the advent of new technologies, which empowers the consumers to make informed decisions as the result of access to information, which was once the exclusive preserve of firms. In addition, tougher international competition also tilts the scales of power towards the consumer as high value is now offered to the consumer in terms of lower prices, high quality, or both (Doyle 1995). In addition to these factors is the increasing sophistication of consumers and their needs, as managers strive to ensure their goals for the brands they develop match those of their target consumers (McEnally and De Chernatony 1999). A look at Maslow’s hierarchy of needs(Maslow and Herzeberg 1954) show an evolution of the consumer’s need from lower-order physiological needs as evinced in the initial perception of brands as serving purely functional purposes in the early 1900sto the present efforts of firms to satisfy higher –order needs such as status, style consciousness and self-fulfillment. From a rational action theory perspective, the consumer is said to possess power because he or she has the ability to exercise free choice. While there are no universal definitions of power, the essential ideas expressed by most power theories are as follows: power takes place within social relationships; power is the ability to affect social activities; power can only exist when there is resistance and power can be relatively balanced between parties (Denegri-Knott 2006). In light of the above ideas, this paper adopts Cook, Emerson et al.’s (1983) definition of power which is explained as follows: “in any dyadic exchange relation AX;By ( where A and B are actors, and x and y are resources introduced in exchange), the power of A over B is the potential of A to obtain favourable outcomes at B’s expense.” In this context, the customer is said to be A, while the firm or organization is said to be B, with x and y being the resources being offered by both parties which in this case are money and goods or services respectively. Bagozzi (1975) observes that people and organizations engage in social and economic exchanges in order to satisfy human needs. Bagozzi (1975) suggests that marketing exchanges harbor meanings for individuals which go beyond the mere use of media for obtaining results in interactions. Identifying media of exchange which people use to communicate to and influence Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 200


others in the satisfaction of the needs to include money, persuasion, punishment, power, inducement, activation of normative commitments (Parsons 1963) as well as products and services, Bagozzi (1975)opines that the reasons behind the exchange lie in the social and psychological significance of the experiences, feelings and meanings of the parties in the exchange (p.36) Bagozzi’s (1975)viewpoint is also shared by Scott (2000)who suggests that in rational choice theories, individuals are seen as motivated by the wants or goals that express their preferences. A look at the four brand eras from a rational action perspective reveals that overtime the needs of the consumer and the role of the consumer in the brand value creation process have played a key role in the changing definition of brands. For example, in the individual goods focus brand era (1900 -1930), the customer’s want was principally utilitarian; consequently brands were defined in the literal sense of being identifiers (Copeland 1923). In the value focus brand era (1930s -1990), the customer’s internally generated needs for selfenhancement, social position, group membership or self-identification (Park, Jaworski et al. 1986) were taken into consideration by firms along with functional benefits to help customers distinguish between brands. Brands were subsequently defined in the context of the customer’s functional and symbolic needs (Gardner and Levy 1955; Levy 1959; Dobni and Zinkhan 1990). In the relationship focus brand era (1990 -2000), the consumer’s role in the brand value creation process began to be examined (Merz, He et al. 2009) following the realization of the potential value of measuring brand value from a customer –based perspective (Keller and Lehmann 2006; Leone, Rao et al. 2006). Brands were consequently defined in increasingly metaphorical terms such as knowledge (Aaker and Equity 1991), relationship partners (Aaker 1997; Fournier 1998), promise (Berry 2000),employer (Barrow and Mosley 2011) and luxury (Nueno and Quelch 1998). More recently, in the stakeholder focus brand era (2000 – till date), the role of other stakeholders, in addition to the customer, is progressively being investigated, following the emergence of findings that a brand is actively created through social interactions and consequently has its value located in the minds of its customers, the wider group of opinion makers and stakeholders (Beverland, Lindgreen et al. 2007). The scope of definition of brands has subsequently been widened to accommodate new metaphors such as community (Muniz and O'Guinn 2001), heritage (Urde, Greyser et al. 2007)and place (Zenker and Braun 2010). Discussion The objective of this paper is to investigate the source of the shifts and changes in the meaning of corporate brand management as well as investigate the process by which these changes occur. In order to accomplish these afore mentioned objectives, the paper examined the meaning of the word “brand” since the beginning of the 20th Century till date and sought to explain the shift in meaning from a rational action theory perspective. The conceptualization, management and evolution of corporate brands were also investigated in this paper and it was demonstrated that the shifts in meaning are largely as a result of the increased sophistication of consumers as well as their needs. In addition, it was found that the evolving role of the consumer and other stakeholders in the brand value creation process have also contributed to the changes seen in the definition of brands overtime. From a rational action theory perspective, the consumer is a free and rational individual who has the ability to choose (Friedman and Friedman 1990). Consequently, the consumer is seen to possess power because of his or her ability to achieve intended effects or goals (Dahl 1957) which in this case are the consumer’s needs. According to Dwyer, Schurr and Oh (1987), A’s power Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 201


over B is determined by B’s dependence on A for valued resources, with B’s dependence on A being high when there are limited alternative sources of those valued resources. Central to the idea of rational action theory is that power is a property of social relations and in this context, the consumer is said to have power because the firm depends on the consumer for a valued resource, which is money. The firm can also be said to have power because the consumer depends on the firm’s products and services for the satisfaction of his or her needs, which may be functional, symbolic or experiential. However, the firm’s dependence on the consumer is high because there are no alternative sources for money apart from the consumer, whereas in the case of the consumer, other alternative sources can be sought to satisfy the consumer’s needs. With events such as technological advances, globalization effects and postmodernism(Roper and Parker 2006) tilting the scales of power towards the consumer, future research might investigate how consumers and other stakeholders can influence the choice of a brand for non-consumers of such a brand. Conclusion In this section, the theoretical contributions of the paper to the theory are presented. The managerial implications of the findings are also discussed in this section. The paper reviews the meaning of the term “brand” in order to reveal the source of the shifts in meaning. This entails the evolution in meaning from a dominant logic perspective and a historical analysis perspective. The second part of the paper then examines various brand management paradigms and investigates the evolution of corporate brand management with a view to isolating the factors responsible for the shifts and changes in meaning in corporate brand management. From a theoretical point of view, the paper is able to demonstrate an evolution in the meaning of the word “brand”, from its original sense as an identifier. Furthermore, a holistic view of the corporate brand construct is presented by examining various brand management paradigms and the evolution of corporate brand management. The paper also contributes to theoretical knowledge in corporate brand literature by arguing that the foundation of the corporate perspective of brands was laid as far back as the early part of the 20thcentury when a number of highly publicized organizations launched and sustained visual identity programmes, which saw commerce and industry being associated with art and design for the purpose of public instruction and corporate profits (Olins 1990). By offering some fundamental insights into the corporate brand construct, this paper stirs the thinking and interest of not only corporate brand academics but also corporate communication scholars because everything the company says makes an impact on its identity (Balmer 1995). As Balmer, Mukherjee et al. (2006) note, successful branding depends on consistency in communication, which in turn reinforces organizational credibility. The findings similarly have managerial implications, particularly for brand managers and business corporations because of the potential value of existing customers and other stakeholders as brand ambassadors. Having established from a rational action theory perspective that evolving consumer needs are the reason for the shifts in meaning, this finding should provide the necessary impetus for business corporations to involve consumers and other stakeholders in creating brands that are of high competitive advantage. In addition, due to the fact that corporate brand management incorporates corporate communications (Balmer 1995), the findings provide Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 202


corporate communications managers with a broader understanding of the organization as corporate branding depends upon the total corporate communications mix to help execute its strategy (Hatch and Schultz 2008) References Aaker, D. A. (1996). "Measuring brand equity across products and markets." California management review38(3): 103. Aaker, D. A. and M. B. Equity (1991). "Capitalizing on the Value of a Brand Name." New York. Aaker, J. L. (1997). "Dimensions of brand personality." Journal of marketing research: 347-356. Anholt, S. (2006). Competitive identity: The new brand management for nations, cities and regions, Palgrave Macmillan. Bagozzi, R. P. (1975). "Social exchange in marketing." Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science3(3): 314-327. Balmer, J. M. (1995). "Corporate branding and connoisseurship." Journal of General Management21(1). Balmer, J. M. (2006). Comprehending corporate marketing and the corporate marketing mix, Bradford University, School of Management. Balmer, J. M. and E. R. Gray (2003). "Corporate brands: what are they? What of them?" European Journal of Marketing37(7/8): 972-997. Balmer, J. M., A. Mukherjee, et al. (2006). "A reflective approach to uncovering actual identity." European Journal of Marketing40(7/8): 886-901. Balmer, J. M. and C. B. van Riel (1997). "Corporate identity: the concept, its measurement and management." European Journal of Marketing31(5/6): 340-355. Barney, J. B. (1986). "Organizational culture: can it be a source of sustained competitive advantage?" Academy of management review11(3): 656-665. Barrow, S. and R. Mosley (2011). The employer brand: Bringing the best of brand management to people at work, John Wiley & Sons. Berry, L. (1986). "Big ideas in services marketing." Journal of Consumer Marketing3(2): 47-51. Berry, L. L. (2000). "Cultivating service brand equity." Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science28(1): 128-137. Beverland, M., A. Lindgreen, et al. (2007). "Branding in B2B markets: insights from the service-dominant logic of marketing." Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing22(6): 363-371. Birkigt, K. and M. M. Stadler (1986). "Corporate identity, grundlagen, funktionen, fallspielen." Verlag Moderne Industrie, Landsberg am Lech. Boulding, K. (1956). The Image: Knowledge in Live and Society, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Brodie, R. J. (2009). "From goods to service branding An integrative perspective." Marketing Theory9(1): 107-111. Brown, T. J., P. A. Dacin, et al. (2006). "Identity, intended image, construed image, and reputation: An interdisciplinary framework and suggested terminology." Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science34(2): 99-106. Carling, A. H. (1991). Social division, Verso. Coleman, J. S. (1973). Mathematics of collective action, Transaction Publishers. Cook, K. S., R. M. Emerson, et al. (1983). "The distribution of power in exchange networks: Theory and experimental results." American journal of sociology: 275-305. Copeland, M. T. (1923). "Relation of consumers' buying habits to marketing methods." Harvard business review1(3): 282-289. Dahl, R. A. (1957). "The concept of power." Behavioral science2(3): 201-215. de Chernatony, L. (1988). "The fallacy of generics in the UK." Marketing Intelligence & Planning6(2): 3638. De Chernatony, L. and F. Dall'Olmo Riley (1998). "Defining a" brand": Beyond the literature with experts' interpretations." Journal of Marketing Management14(5): 417-443. Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 203


De Chernatony, L. and G. McWilliam (1989). "The strategic implications of clarifying how marketers interpret â€œbrandsâ€•." Journal of Marketing Management5(2): 153-171. Denegri-Knott, J. (2006). "Consumers behaving badly: deviation or innovation? Power struggles on the web." Journal of Consumer Behaviour5(1): 82-94. Dobni, D. and G. M. Zinkhan (1990). "In search of brand image: A foundation analysis." Advances in consumer research17(1): 110-119. Doyle, P. (1995). "Marketing in the new millennium." European Journal of Marketing29(13): 23-41. Dwyer, F. R., P. H. Schurr, et al. (1987). "Developing buyer-seller relationships." the Journal of Marketing: 11-27. Farquhar, P. H. (1990). "Managing brand equity." Journal of advertising research30(4): 7-12 Fennell, G. (1978). "Consumers' Perceptions of the Product. Use Situation." the Journal of Marketing: 3847. Fisk, R. P., S. W. Brown, et al. (1993). "Tracking the evolution of the services marketing literature." Journal of Retailing69(1): 61-103. Fournier, S. (1998). "Consumers and their brands: Developing relationship theory in consumer research." Journal of consumer research24(4): 343-353. Friedman, M. and R. Friedman (1990). Free to choose: A personal statement, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Gardner, B. B. and S. J. Levy (1955). "The product and the brand." Harvard business review33(2): 33-39. Grewal, D. and J. Baker (1994). "Do retail store environmental factors affect consumers' price acceptability? An empirical examination." International Journal of Research in Marketing11(2): 107-115. Gronroos, C. (1989). "Defining marketing: a market-oriented approach." European Journal of Marketing 23(1): 52-60. Hatch, M. J. and M. Schultz (2008). Taking brand initiative: How companies can align strategy, culture, and identity through corporate branding, John Wiley & Sons. Heath, A. (1976). Rational choice and social exchange: A critique of exchange theory, CUP Archive. Jones, J. P. and J. Slater (1986). "Whats in a name." Advertising and the Concept of Brands. DC: Heath and Company. Kapferer, J.-N. l. (1992). "Strategic Brand Management: New Approaches to Creating and Evaluating Brand Equity." Keller, K. L. (1993). "Conceptualizing, measuring, and managing customer-based brand equity." the Journal of Marketing: 1-22. Keller, K. L. (1999). "Managing brands for the long run: brand reinforcement and revitalization strategies." California management review41(3): 102. Keller, K. L. and D. R. Lehmann (2006). "Brands and branding: Research findings and future priorities." Marketing science25(6): 740-759. King, S. (1991). "Brand building in the 1990s." Journal of Consumer Marketing8(4): 43-52. Knox, S. and D. Bickerton (2003). "The six conventions of corporate branding." European Journal of Marketing37(7/8): 998-1016. Kotler, P. and G. Zaltman (1971). "Social marketing: an approach to planned social change." the Journal of Marketing: 3-12. Laforet, S. and J. Saunders (1994). "Managing brand portfolios: how the leaders do it." Journal of advertising research34(5): 64-76. Leone, R. P., V. R. Rao, et al. (2006). "Linking brand equity to customer equity." Journal of service research9(2): 125-138. Levy, S. J. (1959). "Symbols for sale." Harvard business review37(4): 117-124. Louro, M. J. and P. V. Cunha (2001). "Brand management paradigms." Journal of Marketing Management 17(7-8): 849-875. Macrae, C. (1999). "Brand reality editorial." Maslow, A. and A. Herzeberg (1954). "Hierarchy of needs." AH Maslow. ea., Motivation and Persona/ity. Harper, New York. McEnally, M. and L. De Chernatony (1999). "The evolving nature of branding: consumer and managerial considerations." Academy of Marketing Science Review2(1): 1-16. Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 204


Merz, M. A., Y. He, et al. (2009). "The evolving brand logic: a service-dominant logic perspective." Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science37(3): 328-344. Muniz, A. M. and T. C. O'Guinn (2001). "Brand community." Journal of consumer research27(4): 412-432. Nueno, J. L. and J. A. Quelch (1998). "The mass marketing of luxury." Business Horizons41(6): 61-68. Olins, W. (1978). The corporate personality: An inquiry into the nature of corporate identity, Mayflower Books. Olins, W. (1990). Corporate identity: Making business strategy visible through design, Harvard Business School Press. Olins, W. and D. Council (1995). The new guide to identity, Gower Aldershot. Park, C. W., B. J. Jaworski, et al. (1986). "Strategic brand concept-image management." the Journal of Marketing: 135-145. Parsons, T. (1963). "On the concept of political power." Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society: 232-262. Putnam, L., N. Phillips, et al. (1996). "Handbook of organization studies." Ries, A. and J. Trout (1981). "The battle for your mind." New York. Room, A. (1998). "History of branding." Brands: The new wealth creators: 13. Roper, S. and C. Parker (2006). "Evolution of branding theory and its relevance to the independent retail sector." The marketing review6(1): 55-71. Scott, J. (2000). "Rational choice theory." Understanding contemporary society: Theories of the present129. Shee, P. and R. Abratt (1989). "A new approach to the corporate image management process." Journal of Marketing Management5(1): 63-76. Stern, B. B. (2006). "What doesbrand mean? historical-analysis method and construct definition." Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science34(2): 216-223. Urde, M. (1999). "Brand orientation: A mindset for building brands into strategic resources." Journal of Marketing Management15(1-3): 117-133. Urde, M., S. A. Greyser, et al. (2007). "Corporate brands with a heritage." Journal of Brand Management 15(1): 4-19. Vigneron, F. and L. W. Johnson (2004). "Measuring perceptions of brand luxury." The Journal of Brand Management11(6): 484-506. Zenker, S. and E. Braun (2010). Branding a cityâ€“a conceptual approach for place branding and place brand management. 39th European Marketing Academy Conference, Copenhagen, Denmark.


Social Media Management across the Organization Building a Conceptualization from Engaged Research in a Danish Company Constance Kampf Dept. of Business Communication, BSS Aarhus University, Denmark [email protected]

Marjan Mohammadreza Dept. of Business Communication, BSS Aarhus University, Denmark [email protected]

The purpose of this paper is to explore social media across the organization, connecting internal and external communication perspectives in new ways. We use an engaged research approach, working together with a Danish social media and online team manager in this case study. Our findings suggest an empirical basis for the online reputation chain model, based on a metaphor of Porter’s value chain model. In this case, we also found that social media was approached more strategically from operational and tactical levels in the organization than within the dominant coalition of company leadership. The value of this research is to offer a systematic tool for approaching social media management that focuses on the building of corporate reputation, combining primary social media activities with organizational support activities. Thus, social media becomes an integrated part of a holistic tool for reputation management rather than a focus in itself. Keywords: social media, online reputation chain, organizational communication, strategy

Introduction As field, Corporate Communication focuses on coordinating communication across the organization to gain strategic value (Cornelisson, 2014). However, Social Media research in corporate contexts tends to focus on either internal (Friedl & Verčič, 2011; Huang et al, 2013) or external communication (Briones et al, 2011; Hanna et al, 2011; Saschi, 2012; Byrd, 2012; Kilgour et al, 2015), rather than addressing social media across the organization. This is problematic because of tensions arising from the diversity in perspectives about how social media should be deployed across the organization. This diversity emerges from competing department perspectives in organizations—for example, tensions can arise between employer branding and product branding. These tensions are not explicitly considered when internal and external approaches to communication are dealt with separately. These diverse perspectives lead to tensions between differing communication needs and practices used in different departments, affecting understanding of social media value and use. These differences also affect how social media fits with the communication of reputation in overall strategy planning. To address this issue, we have conceptualized the online reputation chain as a metaphor for understanding social media based on the structure of Porter’s value chain. This conceptualization


Socia Media Management Across the Organization

was inspired by Preece et al’s (1995) discussion of reputation across the value chain. Their discussion was limited because it focused on production of products, as the value chain is designed to do. In light of social media and new media technology, we refocused the value chain model on the production of reputation, leading to the conception of an online reputation chain. First, we begin the paper by exploring external, internal and combined approaches to coordinating social media uses across the organization. Second, we introduce the online reputation chain by demonstrating how both management and corporate communication social media literature can map metaphorically to Porter’s value chain with an emphasis on reputation. Third, we discuss the Danish company case and engaged research methodology. In the fourth section, we present and discuss our findings, demonstrating differences in approaching social media across the organization between the dominant coalition, the mid-level management, and the online team. Finally, we reflect on implications of these differences for the emerging field of social media management, and suggest how the online reputation chain model can be used to further develop our understanding of social media management from a holistic perspective. From External and Internal Perspectives on Social Media to Coordinating Social Media Uses across the Organization In this section, we begin by examining the gap in connecting external and internal communication perspectives in Social Media studies in the Corporate Communication Literature. Then we use the concepts from both internal and external communication to build a theoretical framework focused on reputation parallel to Porter’s value chain. This framework can be seen as a holistic approach to understanding how social media technologies permeate organizations, and affect work practices across the organization in both supporting and primary activities. Key social media concepts from an external communication perspective Responsibility for social media campaigns is a contested area, with Public Relations (PR) scholars claiming ownership of the area, and placing marketing as a subset of PR. Solis and Breakenridge (2009) claim that social media changes PR by “putting the Public” back in PR, and allowing PR to focus more precisely on relationship building connected to engagement in social media spaces. However, Macnamara and Zerfass (2012) point out the inherent tensions between management practices and the openness of social media based on Web 2.0 technology. They point out that PR and Corporate Communications as fields both overlap and oscillate between 1) understandings of communication as an open interaction with publics versus 2) a goal based interaction design to manage public responses. They lay out the issue of control as a troublesome issue for strategic approaches to communication, inferring external communication as the focus due to their survey sample with a PR bias. In their survey of German and Australian PR managers, key findings include a lack of systematic approach to social media governance. This definition of social media governance is elaborated by Linke and Zerfass in 2013 as having a basis in regulatory and broader regulatory frameworks. Regulatory frameworks include guidelines and social media policy towards ways in which employees use social media platforms, inferring an external communication focus. Broader regulatory frameworks begin to focus inside the organization including budgeting, training employees, organizational structures and organizational cultures supporting emergent social media. In 2015, Zerfass and Sherzada develop the notion further to Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 207


include a survey of German CEOs and their attitudes towards social media, finding that they prioritized their personal communication activities in the public sphere to professional communication activities at the organizational level. They also found that 70% of CEOs surveyed prioritized traditional media over social media as affecting reputation. This research trajectory for social media governance demonstrates tensions and issues within the organization related to external social media presences. In contrast, Tsai and Men (2013) assume that the purpose of strategic communication is to manage stakeholder relations through building long term relationships with stakeholders— relationships that start when corporate-community interactions have consequences for either party. From this vantage point, Tsai and Men focus on antecedents to social media engagement with corporate content, defined as social media dependency, parasocial interaction, and community identification. They also focus onshared areas where communications professionals can interact socially with stakeholders in social media to build long-term relationships, which they claim will contribute to corporate strategy. This stakeholder management approach does not directly address tensions between the participation and the openness of social media technology and the corporate need to represent their organizational perspective. Instead, it focuses on antecedents to stakeholder engagement on corporate social networking site pages, as well as types of engagement. This research focus has implications for internal organizational actions, but highlights external communication practices as well as understanding stakeholder motivations for engaging with companies in social media. A number of scholars focus on different aspects of external communication in social media. For example, Floreddu at al. (2014) focus on optimizing online corporate reputation by examining the link between social media communication strategy and online reputation. They define communication strategy in terms of types of external communication used in social media contexts (i.e. informal, customer engagement). Their definition of optimization rests on deployment patterns of these types of external communication. Other general external focuses include case and multiple studies of online crises with reflections on strategic risks and responses (Guidry et al, 2015; Etter & Vestergaard, 2015; Romenti et al, 2014;) and practitioners’ experiences of the Internet in crisis communication (Molesworth, 2006). Haigh et al (2013) examine Facebook as a public relations tool focusing on corporate presentation of information and effects on stakeholders. Dekay (2012) performs a cross-industry analysis of corporate reactions to negative comments on Facebook, discussing a general lack of corporate strategy in responses, and finding general negative fan reactions to explicit marketing postings. Zhang and Vos (2014) focus on reviewing the literature about monitoring social media, demonstrating three key areas—aims, methods and challenges in monitoring social media—laying a basis for developing social media data competencies. These key scholars describe social media contexts and demonstrate tensions inherent in diverse understandings of how the field of strategic communication addresses issues related to communication on social media. These tensions can be seen as related to control and the effects of long term relationship building on corporate strategy. These tensions point to an internal control issue within the organization regarding how companies can strategize across the organization for social media and its’ role in the production of corporate reputation. However, only Zerfass directly connects external social media to internal communication practices, laying groundwork for conceptualizing social media across the organization in a broad manner that can go beyond traditional PR and Marketing. Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 208


Key social media concepts from an internal communication perspective Acknowledging the limits of the external communication perspective, scholars have called for exploring implications of internal communication perspectives as a means of moving beyond the limits inherent in an external focus for social media use. Arora and Predmore (2013) argue for social media beyond the marketing function and consumer orientation, but they move to internal social media and democratizing leadership within the organization rather than looking at different ways that social media is employed to interface with publics and organizations outside the firm in relation to different organizational functions beyond marketing and PR. Agerdal-Hjermind (2014) focuses on the employee experiences of bloggers inside an organization, and how it affects their social media communication strategies through focus group interviews and thematic analysis of the responses. Key findings include discursive behaviors in blogging related to experiences inside the organization rather than in response to external stakeholders. Hearn et al (2009) use an action research approach in an organization, leading to a model for understanding new media production as co-evolving with social content and technology layers. They argue for approaching social and new media as a communication tool in line with fax, phone and corporate intranets— suggesting that social and new media competences should be developed inside and across the organization. Looking at effects of social media used as part of internal communication practices, Huang et al (2013) examine at social media effects on organizational rhetorical practices, conceiving of social media as an extension of the intranet. In their use of multiple case studies, they find that social media affects ways in which employees communicate publicly with each other. They find that in internal communication contexts, social media allows for multiple voices and targeted communication together, simultaneous wider reach and richness, and combined production and consumption of the rhetorical context. In their framework for internal crisis communication, Frandsen and Johansen (2011) include employee roles as ambassadors for the organization through their personal network connections in social media. Although the ambassador role involves external communication, their perspective on it focuses on internal communication processes, which take this social media role into account. These internal perspectives offer useful insights into social media as an internal communication tool, as well as content for internal communication. Finally, Madsen (2016) demonstrates how social media can be used internally to engage with and co-construct organizational identity among employees. Combining external and internal perspectives Zerfass and his co-authors implicitly approach this combination through their development of social media governance guidelines and concepts; however, their focus remains within the realm of PR as a field. (Linke & Zerfass, 2013; Macnamara & Zerfass, 2012; Zerfass & Sherzada, 2015). The combination of external and internal perspectives has been approached explicitly by several social media scholars, who bring in discussions about social media throughout the organization and cross-functional perspectives. For example, Edosomwan et al (2011) discuss the history of social media in business contexts, and conceptualize the importance of social media throughout the organization. At the same time, they focus on dividing external communication of PR & marketing and internal communication strategy into separate areas of social media use.



In contrast, Gur˘au (2008) focuses on a cross-functional approach to social media through internal collaboration at the departmental level, arguing that all employees are likely to communicate with a large range of stakeholders that could inform social media communication practices. Breakenridge (2012) also investigates different perspectives on cross-functional strategic roles through comparing human resources and public relations practitioners’ understandings and visions for their use of social media in their respective work areas leading to the identification of policing and employee recruiter roles. Building on Breakenridge’s work, Neill and Moody (2014) also explicitly address cross-functional social media practices through focus groups of PR and HR employees from across several organizations. This study covers several departments including PR, Marketing, Human Resources, Legal, IT, Sales and Customer Service. Here nine strategic roles for social media communicators include internal collaborator, policy maker, policing, technology tester, communication organizer, issues manager, relationship analyzer, master of metrics and employee recruiter. From a more holistic perspective, Dreher (2014) examines the risks of employee social media use and demonstrates an eight point strategy for encouraging social media use across an organization, based on a case of best practices from Domo—a business intelligence company. These eight points are research, access, commitment, social media team, guidelines & policies, training & education, integration, and goal setting & measurement. These points are unpacked through a combination of literature and the Domo case. These themes are useful in approaching social media across the organization, but they function as guidelines to follow more than analytical tools for optimizing communication for building corporate reputation in online and social media contexts. Although these roles and themes offer a more holistic perspective on social media practices across the organization, the overview of how they work together to produce reputation in organizational and online settings still needs to be understood. To build on Dreher, Breakenridge and Neill & Moody’s work, we propose also considering employee social media use in a holistic way, but suggest moving beyond guidelines and roles to understanding social media and online interfaces across the organization. These interfaces connect internal and external communication by demonstrating how employees in support areas of the organization use social media tools and knowledge in their daily work. The knowledge they gain through social media can be understood as influencing both their external and internal communication practices, as well as strategies for connecting external and internal information and knowledge needed to perform their work. For employees in areas of the organization that are not traditionally external communication-oriented, this implies the emergence of a set of new interfaces for external and internal communication. Over time, as social media competences are integrated in support functions across organizations, this can lead to PR and Marketing no longer being the gatekeeping external communication interfaces between the organization and publics using social media. This idea of the emergence of new interfaces also enables employees to access knowledge from social media sources that may be strategically communicated internally to enable the support functions to work more effectively. These new interfaces and enhanced access to knowledge via social media sources should be examined as part of understanding organizational reputation and developing strategy for improvement. To address this problem through a model for understanding social media use throughout the organization from a broad perspective, we suggest that the metaphor of Porter’s value chain can be fruitful. We came to this metaphor after our initial data analysis, and then used it as a lens for first revisiting the literature, and second, for Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 210


digging deeper in our analysis of the data. We explain it here to orient readers to key analytical constructs of the online reputation chain, based on the value chain metaphor. The value chain is activity focused, and connects primary activities around producing products to secondary activities that support the value creation process. Using the value chain as a metaphor, we shift the focus from activities for creating value through products to activities for creating reputation through communication. This enables us to coordinate findings in the literature around social media activities for a unified purpose—that of producing reputation. Introducing the Online Reputation Chain Porter’s value chain offers a key management strategy conceptualization of the organization in relation to the production of products. Applying Porter’s strategic framework to the production on online reputation, rather than projects offers a way of systematically analyzing communication interactions between companies and their publics on social media. Our online reputation chain emerged from a pilot project with a Danish company. We held focus group interviews with key staff about their perceptions, use, and engagement via social media related to their work (Kampf & Mohammadreza, 2015). Based on this preliminary study, we were able to map aspects of social media use to the core concepts in Porter’s value chain, which has a production/consumption-centered perspective. This metaphorical version of the value chain offers a reputation-centered perspective for social media communication across the organization, focused on articulating primary and secondary activities related to the production of corporate reputation. Across the organization does not refer to internal communication only, but rather, it refers to the connections between internal and external communication efforts both on and about social media. Therefore, we named it the online reputation chain. So, what does the online reputation chain enable us to see? Kaplinsky (2000) answers this question for the value chain, pointing out that it can be used to understand three key issues: barriers to entry, governance, and systemic efficiency. These issues can be approached through analysis of primary and secondary activities and how they interact with each other. Using the value chain as a metaphor, we can apply parallel issues for producing reputation to the online reputation chain. These can be expressed as barriers to social media effectiveness, social media governance(Zerfass et al, 2011, Linke & Zerfass, 2013), and systemic efficiency. The first two have been addressed in social media literature, and the third offers a future focus for aligning social media practices across the organization with overarching organizational strategy. Figure 1 demonstrates Porter’s value chain together with the online reputation chain. Respectively, each chain contains primary and secondary activities, which are interconnected and can be understood as supporting and affecting each other. As the value chain is a model providing an analytical basis for optimizing production value, the online reputation chain represents an analytical basis for optimizing corporate reputation.



Figure 1. From the value chain to the online reputation chain: Primary & secondary activities. In Figure 1, the value chain is shown above its’ metaphorical counterpart, the online reputation chain. These figures are adapted from Porter and Millar (1985). Each figure demonstrates support units and their secondary activities in the white background areas, and primary activities in the shaded areas. Porter’s model offers an overview that depends on understanding two-way interactions between primary and secondary activities, demonstrating that they shape each other and affect each other in terms of process and outcomes. This model not only offers a set of relationships among activities for building either value or reputation, but also offers the potential of leveraging the connections between these activities to understand our three key relationships— how can barriers to social media entry be addressed through these relationships? how is governance coordinated among these activities?; and finally, how can we leverage connections between these activities to optimize reputation? In order to clarify the online reputation chain, we will first explain the primary activities in the shaded boxes across the bottom of Figure 1, and then the secondary activities and supporting organizational structures in the white boxes just above. Table 1 demonstrates primary activities and their explanations. Table 1 The Primary Activities of the Online Reputation Chain with Supporting Literature Primary Activity Definition Support from the literature Inbound ideas from engaged Inbound ideas are about Ramaswamy & Ozcan (2016) stakeholders related to listening and taking an Organizations as organizing social media and online organizations online pulse. co-created experiences and Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 212


presence

This can include: data analytics, content analysis of stakeholder responses to social media initiatives, hashtags/bashtags shitstorms candystorms on any online platform

leveraging them, engaged cocreators working in synergy with organizations. Interfaces between platforms and brand experiences. Neill & Moody (2014) roles of issues manager, relationship analyzer, master of metrics and employee recruiter Berthon et al, (2012) Creative Consumers shifting value from organizations to consumers, creating inbound ideas Frandsen and Johansen (2011) Crisis communication, roles for dealing with inbound crisis information Tsai & Men (2013) Antecedents to social media engagement

Producing the social media and online presence

The production of the social media and online presence needs to rely on strategy, and align with corporate vision and initiatives in representing the organization. It also needs to work with open features of social media and balance these two concerns. (Macnamara & Zerfass , 2012) This could include actions such as: crisis responses, producing social media campaigns communicating recruiting designing videos or interactive games for marketing initiatives

Ramaswamy & Ozcan (2016) Co-created implies coproduction of online branding experiences, leading to co-production of value. Zerfass & Scherzada (2015) CEO personal communication activities in the public sphere Arora & Predmore (2014) Social media as a strategic tool beyond marketing Aichner & Jacob (2015) Strategic use of social media across the organization by



department, organizational strategy as point of departure for developing social media presence Effing & Spil (2016) The social media strategy cone. Benhaus et al (2016) difficulty of aligning social media accounts due to several purposes— communication, marketing, human resources or customer care.

Reach of the social media and online activities

Reach can be understood as a quantiative measure as well as a qualitative one— encompassing how many likes or shares, for example with the potential target audience of likes for Denmark. These are measured through KPIs, as well as evaluation related to return on investment (ROI). The qualitative aspect is about whether those doing the sharing or liking are the target audiences for products and services.

Aichner & Jacob (2015) Mathematical model for measuring the degree of corporate social media use (CSMU). Hoffman & Fodor (2010) ROI of social media marketing Benthaus et al (2016). Use of Social Media Management tools to monitor activity and response, connecting internal and external measures of social media activity, such as informing other departments about identified social media activity influencers. Lipizzi et al (2015) sociosentiment analysis Deighton & Kornfeld (2009) Interactive Marketing Paradigms with consumer and corporate roles— consumers act, corporations gather data and make assumptions.



Neill & Moody (2014) Master of Metrics Role.

Social media and online aspects of corporate and product branding

Understanding social media and online aspects of the marketing mix. This include alignment with strategy at the corporate level as a central element.

Arora & Predmore (2015) social media and marketing intertwined Constantinides (2014) Social media as providing strategic opportunities for marketers, integration of social media into marketing plans. Ramaswamy & Ozcan (2016) Brand value as being relocated to online & social media interactions between corporations and engaged consumers on brand platforms leading to brand experiences.

Service (CSR & society benefits)

Connecting social media presence with CSR initiatives across the organization.

Visser (2011) CSR 2.0 Galbreath & Schum (2012) CSR and firm performance are linked through customer satisfaction and reputation.

The primary activities of the online reputation chain are defined from a literature-focused lens, and presented together with clarifying and supporting concepts and sources. These represent primary activities related to the production of reputation. After our initial analysis of the data, we looked for support for a value chain metaphor for the production of reputation, and found it in literature from management as well as corporate communication. In Table 2, the secondary, or supporting activities are explained through examples, and mapped to support from the literature. All Supporting activities were also found to be present in both Corporate Communication and Management literature. Table 2 Support Activities with Examples Mapped to the Literature Secondary/Supporting Examples related to online Activity reputation Organizational Communication Processes



Distribution of the work responsibilities and communication practices

Support from the literature Gur˘au (2008) crossfunctional approach for managing social media and online activities





Organizational structure



Interdepartmental communication



Networks

Breakenridge et al (2012) 9 cross functional strategic roles Benthaus et al (2016) Social Media Management Systems supporting interdepartmental communication Aichner & Jacob (2015) importance of social media for different organizational functions

Employer/Employee Branding



Recruitment



Staff empowerment

Neill & Moody (2014) Employee Recruiter role Arora & Predmore (2015) Empowering employees

Multimedia Production Infrastructure



Ability to create interesting apps and other online content

Neill & Moody (2015) Technology Tester role Dreher (2014) Social Media team strategy Effing & Spil (2016) Social Media Strategy cone elements

Social Media Policy/Guidelines



Guidelines for global distributors



Internal guidelines



Customer support guidelines

Dreher (2014) Social media guidelines for all employees Neill & Moody (2014) Policing role Linke & Zerfass (2013) Social media guidelines for understanding boundaries and mitigating risks, and regulatory frameworks across the organization

This secondary mapping of the literature to the online reputation chain demonstrates that primary and secondary/support activities related to reputation have been researched from different fields. Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 216


We propose that coordinating concepts related to social media, new media, and corporate reputation through the reputation chain model will enable a holistic view of social media management activities that includes primary activities as well as supporting communication and organizational structures, and interactions between them. Research Methodology To investigate how we can understand and strategize for social media use across the organization, we used a case study (Yin, 2003). Within the case organization, we engaged in an action research approach (Whitehead & McNiff, 2006), which was participative and co-constructed in nature. This action research was designed so that both the client and researchers would be an active part of a learning community. Action research in organizational contexts can be understood as a form of engaged scholarship (Van der Ven & Johnson, 2006)—designed to lay the groundwork for a collaborative learning community. The three key research steps laid out by Yin (2003) include design, preparing, collecting and analyzing data, and analysis and conclusions. The way we used these steps in our research process can be seen in Figure 2.

Figure 2. Three key steps in the research process. Step 1: the social media manager agreed to an initial meeting, where we discussed issues and problems related to social media actions and perceptions in the organization, and came up with an initial project description, which was then approved by the management. The initial description was: How can you make sure you are not missing out on key information that your customers and stakeholders are giving away for free on social media? The purpose of this project is to use action research to look for opportunities beyond marketing to leverage knowledge available in social media. The project consists of a set of actions such as focus groups or workshops designed to support employees in dealing with social media. For example, in finding ways that social media content either affects or reflects their role in the organization. Expected outcomes include creating spaces and Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 217


work habits that include reflection on social media content, and leveraging information from social media sources to inform strategy across the organization. Step 2: In step 2, we prepared the data collection process, held and recorded focus groups, and did a preliminary analysis of key information, organized by theme. Our preparation process consisted of both social interactions with the social media manager to plan our project and the design of focus group questionnaires. Our interactions with the social media manager included decision-making meetings, establishing focus groups as the best approach for the context, and planning them for the coming month. The social media manager set up three focus groups—1) employees in the dominant coalition, including the owner, and C-suite level managers; and 2) mid-level managers across different company divisions including brand managers, the HR manager, Global Relations/Export manager, Logistics manager, and two employees working with merchandise displays and interpersonal customer marketing. The third focus group consisted of the social media manager and his assistant. In the third group, in addition to questions, we also discussed our preliminary observations from the two focus groups. As part of the analysis in this step, we listened to our recordings and pulled out preliminary findings. This led us to consider whether Porter’s value chain model could be a useful tool for coordinating and optimizing social media use across the organization. We then put together a draft report, adapting the value chain to social media use in order to offer a set of actions for the social media team to consider using in structuring their interactions about social media across the organization. This phase was under time pressure due to organizational constraints. We subsequently met and discussed the draft report, explaining the tool and receiving feedback from the social media manager. During this step, we used multiple frames of reference (Van der Ven & Johnson, 2006) including our theoretical basis for the questionnaires, the model that we built after initial analysis based on Porter’s value chain, and reactions and conversations with the social media manager. Step 3: Transcribing and coding the focus groups was the next step. After transcription, the coding was set up in four iterative stages. Using Corbinand Strauss (1998), Each piece of data was assigned an initial code intuitively. The codes were then grouped by their relationship to the online reputation chain model. These groups were then combined into overarching themes. Focus group data and codes at initial and cluster level were entered into Nvivo. This data was coordinated with literature concepts in the notes, and used both to demonstrate how the online reputation chain model aspects—both primary and secondary/supporting activities were present in the case as well as correlated with other social media study findings. Finally, perspectives from three levels in the organization were compared, with the first focus group representing the dominant coalition, the second group representing the managerial areas, and the third group the cross-functional social media team, who operationalized all social media initiatives at the tactical level. Engaged Research as a Process of Co-developing Research Questions Our research questions were framed by the notion of “beyond marketing” in the initial problem formulation with the social media manager. As we organized the focus group interviews, we developed the questions for participants with three key sections—relationships, perceptions of Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 218


social media & desired outcomes, and strategic orientation. These focus group general topics and sub questions were developed based on key findings in Arora and Predmore (2013), Aichner and Jacob (2015), and Valos et al. (2015). Questions were distributed to focus group participants 24 hours in advance to enable them to have time to reflect. Based on preliminary findings from the first two focus groups, we adapted focus group questions for the online team participants to allow them to reflect and comment on some preliminary findings. This led to an initial research question: How is social media understood and used across the organization? In addition, based on the initial findings, our model of the online reputation chain, and our coding scheme based on primary and secondary activities in the online reputation chain model, we were able to ask the following sub-question: Are the primary and secondary activities of the reputation chain model reflected in understandings of and uses for social media across the organization? As the focus groups were organized by the client into three groups at three different levels of management in the organization, we were also able to ask the following sub-question: Are there significant differences in ways that social media is understood and used between different levels in the organization? Not only did we build questions about the reputation chain itself, but also what the reputation chain enables us to see when we engage in analyses based on interactions between primary and secondary/support activities. Here, we coded with the concept of strategic approach to social media reflected in acknowledging these interactions. In the discussion section, we use the sub questions to guide our discussion of how social media is used and understood across the organization. The two tiered analysis process offers the opportunity to not only demonstrate an empirical basis for the online reputation chain model, but also offers a chance to analyze participant’s awareness and interest in interactions across primary and secondary activities, demonstrating a strategic approach to social media use. However, as this is a single case study, the findings specific to different levels in this organization cannot be generalized. The findings, however, do offer an opportunity for future studies to focus in on these three levels across organizations to see whether significant issues in this organization are present on a wider scale. Discussion of Key Findings: Reflecting on Social Media across the Organization Understandings of and ways in which social media is used across the organization can be affected by the complexity of attitudes and practices embedded in organizational structures and cultures. To begin to looking at social media across the organization in this case, our focus encompasses three key elements, demonstrating an empirical basis for primary elements of the online reputation chain, secondary/support elements of the online reputation chain, and differences in vantage points across the dominant coalition, mid-level managers and the online team. First, we compare and contrast themes addressed during the three focus groups in quantitative terms, looking at the frequency of comments related to each theme across the different group to examine the first sub question: Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 219


Are the primary and secondary activities of the reputation chain model reflected in understandings of and uses for social media across the organization? To answer this question, we grouped our initial codes into codes for each of the primary activities in the online reputation chain. We found that the majority of primary activities were mentioned in each of the three focus groups, demonstrating a shared awareness of how reputation was produced in combination with social media focused activities. Examples for the primary activity, inbound ideas, on the left end of the online reputation chain diagram in Figure 1 are: “I think that our online team is quite good at sharing the (social media) data with us in the marketing department and we can use it in our communication with audiences.” Focus Group B, Mid-level Managers “I would say for my part, I am normally going to check out new products, the feedback, because we get it instantly…from consumers on social media.” Focus Group B, Mid-level Managers Each of the 5 primary activities, and 4 support activities were present across the three focus groups. The only code not present in all three focus groups was the reach of the social media presence, which was absent from focus group B, the mid-level managers. Table 3 demonstrates the frequency of comments covering each of the primary and support activities by focus group. The groups demonstrate similar levels of awareness about each of the activities. Group A represents the dominant coalition, group B represents the mid-level managers, and Group C represents the online team. Table 3 References to Primary and Secondary/Support Activities in the Online Reputation Chain Model across the Three Focus Groups

The three focus groups’ frequency of related comments is fairly even in addressing both primary and secondary/support activities. Figure 3 compares the percentage of references to primary and secondary activities by focus group, demonstrating awareness of these different types of activities at all three levels in the organization.



Figure 3. Comparing percentages of comments related to secondary/support and primary online reputation chain activities. Although there are not significant differences in the proportion of references to the different types of activities included in the online reputation chain, to answer the following question, we found a combination of codes that differed substantially between the three groups. Are there significant differences in ways that social media is understood and used between different levels in the organization? The codes we used to answer this question are online environment analysis, building reputation, and social media as strategic. The combination of these codes produced a factor that demonstrates a strategic view on social media. This strategic view differed substantially between the three levels in the organization as seen in Figure 4.

Figure 4. Percentage of comments reflecting the strategic view on social media. Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 221


The percentage of total comments reflecting the strategic view on social media was greatest with the mid-level managers focus group and the online team focus group. We found substantially fewer comments of a strategic nature in the focus group with the dominant coalition, representing the company’s C-suite. To further explore this tension in detail, we created spider graphs demonstrating patterns for the frequency of focus group comments related to primary activities, secondary/support activities, and the strategic view factor. Figure 5 demonstrates the pattern of conversation content distribute among the primary activities, support activities, and strategic view for social media in the dominant coalition.

Figure 5. The dominant coalition’s pattern of comments related to primary and secondary activities of the online reputation chain and the strategic approach factor. The dominant coalition showed a strong focus on organizational communication processes. However, the comments focused on inbound ideas referred mainly to the online team as being responsible for primary activities in the online reputation chain. In contrast, focus group B, the mid-level manager dominated group, focused more strongly on strategy, and commented much less on organizational communication processes. Their pattern of comments can be seen in Figure 6.



Figure 6. Mid-level managers’ pattern of comments related to primary and secondary activities of the online reputation chain and the strategic approach factor. In Figure 6, the focus of mid level manager dominated focus group on the strategic approach to Social Media is quite strong. The figure demonstrates that the strategic approach was evident throughout the focus group, comprising almost three times as much of the conversation as any single primary or secondary/support element of the online reputation chain model. Finally, the online team focus group demonstrates an interesting combination of higher awareness of organizational communication processes than the mid-level managers, and a higher awareness of strategic approaches to social media than the dominant coalition. This can be seen in Figure 7.

Figure 7. The online team’s pattern of comments related to primary and secondary activities of the online reputation chain and the strategic approach factor. Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 223


The spider graphs of comments across the three levels of the organization demonstrate different focuses related to social media at different levels in the organization. The strategic view of social media is more dominant in terms of frequency at the tactical and operational levels of the organization shown in Figures 6 and 7, than in the leadership level of the organization shown in Figure 5. Another part of this tension was demonstrated through the response of each group to the online team after participation in the focus groups. In the dominant coalition, representing the company’s top leadership, focus group members expressed to the social media team that they felt our questions about social media were not interesting, and felt that they did not learn anything new about social media from participating in the discussion. During the focus group itself, they characterized social media strategy in terms of “authenticity”—referring to the CEO’s Facebook page and their CSR activity page that supported a sports team to associate their products with healthy lifestyles. They also resisted the notion of social media policy across the organization. Given that not all of the company’s products were branded as health focused, this was an incomplete presentation of authenticity. In contrast to the dominant coalition, the mid-level manager dominated focus group expressed how grateful they were to participate, and extended the discussion time by an extra 20 minutes, realizing in the process of answering questions that they had not yet put together a strategy for coordinating representation of their brands among their global network of distributors. This focus group discussion addressed strategy at both the brand level and the global level simultaneously, and the focus group discussion led to a project between mid-level managers and the online team focused on coordinating social media and online presences around their brands across the global network of distributors. This difference between the mid-level managers engaging with social media in a strategic manner, while the C-suite focused more on social media as representing their identity as an overall company identity, reflected a tension between the brand-level focus and the idealized parent brand. These findings also correlate with Linke and Zerfass’ findings that German CEOs see their personal online and social media communication as more important than professional communication throughout the organization (2013). In this case, the dominant coalition’s focus on their own social media activities as representing the authentic voice of the company demonstrated a tension between this C-suite level approach to social media as a place to build a holistic company image, and the brand managers’ more diverse approach to representing the company in social and online media—acknowledging not only their different brand target audiences, but also the substantial differences in age, identity and lifestyle between consumers of the company’s respective brands. Conclusion In looking at the understanding of and uses for social media across an organization, we have demonstrated an empirical basis for an online reputation chain model based on the metaphor of Porter’s value chain. We also found a need for a holistic strategy tool to engage in social media management due to the differences in understanding social media as demonstrated in this case across three levels of a Danish company. The key difference we found was a stronger strategic focus for discussing social media in the focus groups with mid level managers and the online team than with the leadership group that represented the dominant coalition. Other significant differences were related to differences in the combination of understanding organizational communication processes and a strategic approach to social media. Here we found that the online Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 224


team demonstrated more focus on both strategy and organizational communication processes across their focus group interview than any of the other groups. The online reputation chain offers a tool that can be used across the organization, to help coordinate and share outlooks on how social media can be understood and integrated into organizational structures and culture. This perspective on social media integrates internal and external perspectives on social media management, going beyond roles and strategies to interactions in social media environments that are both impacted by and have an impact on organizational support structures and associated support activities. It also offers a tool that opens up new ways to understand the emerging field of social media management. Directions for future investigation based on the online reputation chain model include key questions related to the analytical aspects of the value chain, which Kaplinsky (2000) reminds us can be seen through using connections and relationships between primary and secondary/support activities. These include investigating how the interactions between support activities and primary activities affect 1) barriers to entry on different social media platforms, 2) social media governance and 3) optimization of reputation building processes. References Agerdal-Hjermid, A. (2014). Organizational blogging: a case study of a corporate weblog from an employee perspective. Corporate Communications: An International Journal, 19(1), 34-51. Aichner, T., & Jacob, F. (2015). Measuring the degree of corporate social media use. International Journal of Market Research, 57(2), 257-275 Arora, P., & Predmore, C. E. (2013). Social media as a strategic tool: Going beyond the obvious. Social Media in Strategic Management. Bingley: Emerald Group Publishing, 115-28. Benthaus, J., Risius, M., & Beck, R. (2016). Social media management strategies for organizational impression management and their effect on public perception. The Journal of Strategic Information Systems. Berthon, P. R., Pitt, L. F., Plangger, K., & Shapiro, D. (2012). Marketing meets Web 2.0, social media, and creative consumers: Implications for international marketing strategy. Business horizons, 55(3), 261-271. Breakenridge, D. (2012). Social Media and Public Relations: Eight new practices for the PR professional. Pearson Education. Briones, R. L., Kuch, B., Liu, B. F., & Jin, Y. (2011). Keeping up with the digital age: How the American Red Cross uses social media to build relationships. Public Relations Review, 37(1), 37-43. Byrd, S. (2012). Hi fans! Tell us your story!: Incorporating a stewardship-based social media strategy to maintain brand reputation during a crisis. Corporate Communications: An International Journal, 17(3), 241-254 Constantinides, E. (2014). Foundations of social media marketing. Procedia-Social and behavioral sciences, 148, 40-57. Cornelissen, J. (2014). Corporate communication: A guide to theory and practice. Sage. Dekay, S. H. (2012). How large companies react to negative Facebook comments. Corporate Communications: An International Journal, 17(3), 289-299. Deighton, J., & Kornfeld, L. (2009). Interactivity's unanticipated consequences for marketers and marketing. Journal of Interactive Marketing, 23(1), 4-10. Dreher, S. (2014). Social media and the world of work: A strategic approach to employees’ participation in social media. Corporate Communications: An International Journal, 19(4), 344-356. Edosomwan, S., Prakasan, S. K., Kouame, D., Watson, J., & Seymour, T. (2011). The history of social media and its impact on business. Journal of Applied Management and entrepreneurship, 16(3), 79. Effing, R., & Spil, T. A. (2016). The social strategy cone: Towards a framework for evaluating social Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 225


media strategies. International journal of information management, 36(1), 1-8. Etter, M. A., & Vestergaard, A. (2015). Facebook and the public framing of a corporate crisis. Corporate Communication: An International Journal, 20, 163–177. doi:10.1108/CCIJ-10-2013-0082. Fjeld, K., & Molesworth, M. (2006). PR practitioners' experiences of, and attitudes towards, the internet's contribution to external crisis communication.Corporate Communications: An International Journal, 11(4), 391-405. Floreddu, P. B., Cabiddu, F., & Evaristo, R. (2014). Inside your social media ring: How to optimize online corporate reputation. Business Horizons, 57(6), 737-745. Frandsen, F., & Johansen, W. (2011). The study of internal crisis communication: Towards an integrative framework. Corporate Communications: An International Journal, 16(4), 347-361. Friedl, J., & Verčič, A. T. (2011). Media preferences of digital natives’ internal communication: A pilot study. Public Relations Review, 37(1), 84-86. Galbreath, J., & Shum, P. (2012). Do customer satisfaction and reputation mediate the CSR–FP link? Evidence from Australia. Australian Journal of Management, 37(2), 211-229. Gurau, C. (2008). Integrated online marketing communication: implementation and management. Journal of communication management, 12(2), 169-184. Guidry, J., Jin, Y., Haddad, L., Zhang, Y., & Smith, J. (2015). How health risks are pinpointed (or not) on social media: The portrayal of waterpipe smoking on Pinterest. Health communication, 1-9. Haigh, S. M., Barningham, L., Berntsen, M., Coutts, L. V., Hobbs, E. S., Irabor, J., ... & Wilkins, A. J. (2013). Discomfort and the cortical haemodynamic response to coloured gratings. Vision research, 89, 47-53 Hanna, R., Rohm, A., & Crittenden, V. L. (2011). We’re all connected: The power of the social media ecosystem. Business horizons, 54(3), 265-273. Huang, J., Baptista, J., & Galliers, R. D. (2013). Reconceptualizing rhetorical practices in organizations: The impact of social media on internal communications. Information & Management, 50(2), 112124. Hoffman, D. L., & Fodor, M. (2010). Can you measure the ROI of your social media marketing?. MIT Sloan Management Review, 52(1), 41. Kampf, C. & Mohammadreza, M. (2015). Final Report for Company X. Unpublished Manuscript. Kaplinsky, R. (2000). Globalisation and unequalisation: What can be learned from value chain analysis?. Journal of development studies, 37(2), 117-146. Kilgour, M., Sasser, S. L., & Larke, R. (2015). The social media transformation process: curating content into strategy. Corporate Communications: An International Journal, 20(3), 326-343. Linke, A., & Zerfass, A. (2013). Social media governance: regulatory frameworks for successful online communications. Journal of Communication Management, 17(3), 270-286. Lipizzi, C., Iandoli, L., & Marquez, J. E. R. (2015). Extracting and evaluating conversational patterns in social media: A socio-semantic analysis of customers’ reactions to the launch of new products using Twitter streams.International Journal of Information Management, 35(4), 490-503 Macnamara, J., & Zerfass, A. (2012). Social media communication in organizations: The challenges of balancing openness, strategy, and management. International Journal of Strategic Communication, 6(4), 287-308. Madsen, P. (2016). Tidens smerte og storbyens atmosfære. K&K-Kultur og Klasse, 6(24), 7-31. McNiff, J., & Whitehead, J. (2006). Action research: Living theory. Men, L. R., & Tsai, W. H. S. (2013). Beyond liking or following: Understanding public engagement on social networking sites in China. Public Relations Review, 39(1), 13-22. Neill, M. S., & Moody, M. (2015). Who is responsible for what? Examining strategic roles in social media management. Public Relations Review, 41(1), 109-118. O'Hearn, P. W., Yang, H., & Reynolds, J. C. (2009). Separation and information hiding. ACM Transactions on Programming Languages and Systems (TOPLAS), 31(3), 11. Porter, M. E., & Millar, V. E. (1985). How information gives you competitive advantage. Preece, S., C. Fleisher and J. Toccacelli: 1995, ‘Building a Reputation Along the Value Chain at Levi Strauss’, Long Range Planning 28(6), 88–98. Ramaswamy, V., & Ozcan, K. (2015). Brand value co-creation in a digitalized world: an integrative Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 226


framework and research implications. International Journal of Research in Marketing. Romenti, S., Murtarelli, G. and Valentini, C. (2014), “Organizations’ conversations in social media: applying dialogue strategies in times of crises”, Corporate Communications: An International Journal, Vol. 19, No. 1, pp. 10-33. Sashi, C. M. (2012). Customer engagement, buyer-seller relationships, and social media. Management decision, 50(2), 253-272. Solis, B., & Breakenridge, D. K. (2009). Putting the public back in public relations: How social media is reinventing the aging business of PR. FT Press. Strauss, A., & Corbin, J. (1998). Basics of qualitative research: Procedures and techniques for developing grounded theory. Valos, M., Polonsky, M. J., Mavondo, F., & Lipscomb, J. (2015). Senior marketers’ insights into the challenges of social media implementation in large organisations: assessing generic and electronic orientation models as potential solutions. Journal of Marketing Management, 31(7-8), 713-746. Van de Ven, A. H., & Johnson, P. E. (2006). Knowledge for theory and practice.Academy of management review, 31(4), 802-821. Visser, W. (2011). The age of responsibility: CSR 2.0 and the new DNA of business. John Wiley & Sons. Yin, R. K. (2003). Case study research: Design and methods (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Zerfass, A., & Sherzada, M. (2015). Corporate communications from the CEO’s perspective: How top executives conceptualize and value strategic communication. Corporate Communications: An International Journal, 20(3), 291-309. Zerfass, A., Fink, S., & Linke, A. (2011, March). Social media governance: Regulatory frameworks as drivers of success in online communications. In14th International Public Relations Research Conference Proceedings, Miami, USA. Zhang B. & Vos M. (2014). Social media monitoring: aims, methods, and challenges for international companies. Corporate Communications: An International Journal, 19(4) pp. 371–383.


Trust in Internal Social Media Conversations Mia Leppälä Aalto University School of Business, Helsinki, Finland [email protected]

Purpose: This paper aims to demonstrate how virtual knowledge brokers increase interpersonal trust in internal social media conversations. Approach/methodology: This qualitative case study draws on a comparative review of the literature on knowledge creation and trust in virtual teams, taking a communicative perspective. Findings: Virtual knowledge brokers facilitate knowledge creation and build interpersonal trust in organizational communications. Research implications: Adding to the extant literature on knowledge creation this study highlights the role of knowledge brokers in internal knowledge creation and building trust in interaction. Practical applications: This research indicates that internal social media provides a good platform for collaboration and open conversations throughout the organization, especially when facilitated by virtual knowledge brokers. Originality/value: This paper contends that not enough research has focused on the centrality of virtual knowledge brokers in building interpersonal trust. Keywords:Trust,knowledge creation, virtual knowledge broker, internal communication Paper type: Conference paper

Introduction In todays’ continually globalizing markets organizations need to extend their ability to absorb knowledge throughout the organization. Knowledge is regarded to be one of the most important competitive advantages (Kuhn & Jackson, 2008). Thus, all possible information and useful experiences have to be utilized in the organizations. Knowledge sharing, then again, cannot be taken for granted. Information hoarding, lack of confidence on the network or on oneself, may prevent employees from sharing their knowledge (Riege, 2005; Ardichvili, 2003). However, several studies support a variety of issues enhancing knowledge sharing (Pinjani & Palvia, 2013; Ridings et al. 2002; Järvenpää & Leidner, 1999). One of the triggers that has been found to contribute to knowledge sharing is trust in interaction (Sankowska, 2013; Ridings et al. 2002). The importance of trust increases in virtual communication where face-to-face interaction is missing and people might be strangers to each other. In organizational contexts internal communication technologies (Ahuja & Carley 1999; Järvenpää & Leidner, 1999; Powell et al. 2004) enhance the connectivity of employees at different departments and locations. Cooperation in these virtual environments postulates open and direct communication where trust plays a big role. Several studies on virtual teamwork (Hsu et al. 2011; Crisp & Järvenpää, 2013; Järvenpää & Leidner, 1999) and knowledge management highlight the centrality of trust in successful communications (Martins & Patricio, 2013; Ardichvili, 2008; Blackler, 1995). For the purposes of this study trust is approached from the perspective of social sciences: “One party (trustor) is willing to rely on the actions of another party (trustee)”, and refers to the willingness to take risk when counting on the other (Mayer et al. 1995).


Trust in Internal Social Media Conversations

The ability to develop relationships among colleagues is emphasized in virtual environments where physical connection is missing. Relationship building requires trust and regular interaction (Järvenpää & Leidner, 1999). The empirical part of this study supports the extant literature arguing that trust seems to be the primary determinant of knowledge creation when the location of the employees is dispersed and the technical systems set challenges for users (Järvenpää & Leidner, 1999; Robert et al., 2009). New technologies facilitate relationships among individuals in the virtual environment and knowledge brokers are seen to act as connectors in the process. Knowledge brokers create knowledge by combining existing information and finding new purposes for existing knowledge (Wenger, 1998; Pawlowski & Robey, 2004; Cillo, 2005). They also bridge people and find solutions to problems (Meyer, 2010). Virtual knowledge brokers use technical systems that enable knowledge creation, while connecting people from diverse communities of practice (Verona et al., 2006). By activating collaboration in virtual environments (Verona et al., 2006; Loew et al., 2004; Pawlowski & Robey, 2004), knowledge brokers facilitate knowledge creation. To being able to do this, knowledge brokers need to be able to communicate well and they seem to create trust among the participants. Background of the Study The focus of this paper is on the role of the knowledge broker in internal virtual communication building trust among the actors in the internal social media of an organization. In formulating its theoretical perspective, this paper draws on the theories of knowledge creation and trust in virtual teams. Virtual knowledge broker facilitating knowledge creation Knowledge creation involves bringing people together, creating new relationships and sharing ideas that can enable employees to perform their jobs better (Meyer, 2010; Hargadon & Sutton, 1997). Internal knowledge brokering occurs as participants in any collective practice share understandings about what they are doing and what this means in real time, and knowledge is coconstructed by participants through socially shared “webs of belief” (Brown et al., 1989). Knowledge broker, on the other hand, is the individual or group which connects the information or creates new ways of using existing knowledge (Verona et al., 2006; Cillo, 2005; Wenger, 1998). “Brokers are able to make new connections across communities of practice, enable coordination, and – if they are good brokers – open new possibilities for meaning”, Wenger 1998:109. Knowledge brokers facilitate the transfer of knowledge among organizational units, thereby contributing to organizational learning (Pawlowski & Robey, 2004). Several scholars have studied virtual knowledge brokers setting the role of the knowledge broker as a third person (Hargadon & Sutton, 1997; Verona et al., 2006). In this paper knowledge brokers are identified as individuals creating the relationships through the virtual communication and acting as participants in the groups. Interpersonal trust in knowledge creation In light of the risks of hindering knowledge sharing, various authors have studied how knowledge is created and shared in organizations. Some of them propose that knowledge creation is rooted in team member’s mutual relationships (Mitchell & Nicholas, 2006; Treem, 2012; von Krogh, 1998; Nonaka, 1994). This paper elaborates the roles knowledge brokers in knowledge creation and especially building interpersonal trust.



Variety of approaches to trust has been taken in psychological and sociological research. The complexity of trust resonates from the multitude of forms of trust. Trust can be seen as a state of mind or an action (Nooteboom, 2002). It can also be considered as a process forged from shared experiences (Al-Ani et al., 2013). In virtual team settings many studies focus on swift trust, which relates to temporary work teams (Crisp & Järvenpää, 2013; Debra et al. 1995). In virtual communication trust seems to be one of the most important factors dealing with the success of interaction. The ability to create trust has been widely recognized as hugely valuable because it can significantly reduce transaction costs and lead to the creation of new ideas, for example when knowledge is pooled in intraorganizational relationships (Bachmann & Inkpen, 2011). Many studies show that there is a lack of trust when using computer-mediated-communication (Henderson & Gilding, 2004). The findings of Ridings et al. (2002) support that trust is a significant predictor of virtual community member’s desire to exchange information, and especially to get information. The same was confirmed by Järvenpää and Leidner (1999) who highlight that regular communication is the best way to maintain trust in virtual teams. In the 90´s, also other authors, such as von Krogh (1998), Nonaka, (1994), Hollingshead et al. (1993), analyzed trust in interaction and virtual team work. The complexity of trust has become easier to understand after several approaches in literature. Trusting climate within the team is claimed to enable the building of commitment and cohesion, as well as, the development of new ideas and new creative ways of thinking despite diversity, differences in opinion or engagement conflict (Henttonen & Blomqvist, 2005). It seems that it is easier to trust people that one knows and who are sharing something personal (Ridings et al., 2002; Lin, 2008). Moreover, responsiveness is seen to contribute to the building of trust. Higher level of trust correlates with the speed of answers and the frequency, the more and the quicker others answer, the more there seems to be trust in the community (Ridings et al., 2002). Physical meetings enhance the feeling of trust (Järvenpää & Leidner, 1999), but as of today, virtual meetings are becoming more popular, trust needs to be obtained without face-to-face communication. However, as technical communication channels become general, people learn to share also emotions via technical channels, which enable a better possibility to create trust and among the team members in virtual teams (Henttonen & Blomqvist, 2005). Lin (2008) found that trust and sense of belonging have a positive correlation. Virtual teams seem to share knowledge most probably if there exists a positive atmosphere in the group and when employees see their knowledge as public good, belonging not to them individually, but to the whole organization (Ardichvili, 2008; Chua, 2002). One theory is that knowledge creation is more effective when relationships exhibit a high degree of care for the other (mutual trust, active empathy, access to help, leniency in judgement, and courage), particularly in situations where individuals share tacit knowledge (von Krogh, 1998). Moreover, situated and embodied knowledge is created and used in interaction (Rennstam & Ashcraft, 2013). Also the level of trust seems to correlate with the interaction. Those actors who seem to trust will share more and those who notice the trust in others will also trust more (Ridings et al., 2002). Thus, interaction with high levels of trust will create more trusting communication environment. Research Design Data The case company of the study is a large global company employing tens of thousands of people world-wide. The empirical data consists of internal discussion group conversations of the Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 230


employees during the years 2007-2012. The data set contains 39 937 message threads and over 156 278 posts out of which this study analyses closer 2,065 message threads and 11,884 posts. The discussions in this material were made using internal social media software, Socialcast. This study is limited to groups which were company-wide open. Information of the internal issues of organizations remains to be scarcely available and also in this study the material is analyzed in anonymous format throughout the process. Research question and methodology This study is an attempt to deepen our understanding of the communication of knowledge brokers in a virtual environment. The research question is “How knowledge brokers create knowledge and interpersonal trust in internal social media conversations?” To being able to get an understanding of the activities of knowledge brokers, the conversations were analyzed by Gioia method (Gioia et al., 2013). The initial coding consists of five categories: opening message, sender, sender group, recipient and response comments. The main discussion areas are related to marketing issues and product development processes. For the analysis purposes, the messages were coded according to the purposes of each message. The purposes were sharing experience, building team spirit and connecting people and issues in the conversations.

Findings The importance of sharing experiences seems to be central in knowledge brokering. Sharing experiences not only increase the level of trust among the participants, but also enables knowledge creation by increasing sharing (Ridings et al., 2002). The empirical evidence highlights that experiences are shared by storytelling and simple descriptions of each situation. In the example 1 the knowledge broker is Actor111, who shares a personal experience regarding the product of the company that the group is working for. Example 1. Sharing experiences Actor111: Hi – I like to share my experience about CompanyZ’s Product decision with a little personal anecdote. Pretty much a year ago I met with some of my dearest friends for our annual Xmas dinner. Lots of turkey, wine & laughter, all perfect - up to a rather awkward moment when the conversation turned to ‘The next ProductZ to upgrade to’. [I’m the only one in that group working in this field] After a lively discussion my friends noticed I hadn’t said a single word for the last 10mins, which is pretty unusual for me. That was when they remembered “Oh bugger! Sorry Actor111, sure you work for CompanyZ”. I embarrassingly smirked “not a problem” without any contribution to their topic. Their choice was between an ProductY, ProductQ & ProductX. A few weeks after the dinner my mate proudly presented me his new ProductY… Last week that ‘ProductYmate’ pinged me a message on Facebook: “Just got the CompanyZ Product4 – love it! Best Product I've had for .... eeerrr .... ever”. Our annual Xmas dinner is coming up this Saturday and what can I say I’m looking forward to it! Merry Xmas! Actor111 @group3 @group5 @group6 Comments Actor89: Cool, I hope you have Product4 as well? :)



Actor111: Yes @Actor89 I have a Product4 - which I actually bought yesterday after struggeling to get a sample. I'm in! Actor5233: I bought one as a Christmas present for my mother :) I think she will love it! Nice story Actor111! Actor2265: Nice story! I am also increasingly meeting ProductX owners who say 'wow my ProductX looks really old fashioned now!' Actor77: Lovely Xmas story, thanks @Actor111 :-) Ping @ProudtobeCompanyZ Actor1159: Thank you for sharing Actor111. We at CompanyZ Connects are seeing more and more of this type of stories. Actor5944: Thanks Actor111 for sharing the story with wider audience. You are really supporting the sales boost in UK! Trust is found to be created by increasing sense of belonging and building team spirit (Lin, 2008). Sense of belonging and team building was coded in this study to result from interaction that included jokes, cheering others and a relaxed conversation atmosphere. The example 2 presents one example of building team spirit. Example 2. Building team spirit Actor222: Got assigned to arrange "DiscussionGroup" for Product1 SOFTWARE RELEASE 1. Comments Actor222: ...and here's the draft 0.1 plan: http://wikis.in.CompanyX “DiscussionGroupAfterparty" was a fun addition to the plan, idea courtesy of @Actor4. Actor8021: @Actor222 - can you loop @Actor5414 and I in - so we can fast feedback into the next SOFTWARE RELEASE 1.11 Expert Review? Actor175: what is this madness of putting our best thinkers working together on our most important products and addressing issues before launch? new age hippie stuff. Actor28: Wow, do we get coffee and pea soup? :) Or special "participated to DiscussionGroup" "badge" to our TestLab? What about user segments, some are more edge cases than others? Schedule? Actor222: ...and a new Socialcast group is born @SOFTWARE RELEASE 1DiscussionGroup @Actor175 Ha! In all honesty, this wasn't my idea. It was born in the minds and hearts of key people in Product1 org. There is tremendous pull there, it blows my socks off. @Actor28 If pea soup is what you want, pea soup you will get :) Talk with @Actor365about your wishes for "DiscussionGroupAfterparty". If feasible, these will be arranged with local customs in mind. About badges, ask @Actor1158. I think we should somehow make the participation visible, both to motivate those participating, and to make it visible if somebody doesn't (without a good reason). About schedule, whever the software is good enough for mainstream use. I'd predict that to be late this summer. Not sure who makes this decision yet. Actor222: @Actor8021 and @Actor5414 Please join the @SOFTWARE RELEASE 1DiscussionGroup group and read the plan for starters! What else would you need in practice, at this point? (note: I'll be on holiday for the rest of the week) Actor35: @Actor222 - good to hear this is happening.



Finally, by connecting people from several communities of practice regarding a certain matter, knowledge broker enables knowledge creation. Collaboration in dispersed organization is traditionally time-consuming and vulnerable for misunderstandings. As employees are dislocated, employees who know what other employees are capable of and are able to connect these employees have the opportunity to increase collaboration (Stasser, 1995; Obstfeld, 2005). Connecting actors and issues is one of the characteristics of knowledge broker. In the example 3 actors are actively adding several other actors to the conversation and pointing out where they could help in the on-going discussion. Example 3. Connecting people and issues Actor115: Hmm... From pure trialling point of view, it's more effective to be evil and simply drop all proto owners. Most of us have production devices (at least out of Proto X users), and it is a fact that precious time of key stakeholders has been wasted for false alarms caused by early proto hardware. But on the other hand, I do understand how it is completely against our "everybody invited to help" ethos. Bad for the overall spirit. @Actor598 is the business owner here, so he has the power to reverse the decision if he so chooses. @Actor244 and @Actor1258 flagged as well. For this round, I'll send the update instructions to proto owners as well, pointing to this InternalSocialMedia post, and highlighting that they should indicate having prototype hardware in their R&D Intra site problem reports etc. Actor77: Actor133 - have a chat with @Actor675 and @Actor466- they are looking after in software ads and monetization 4 developers and are in touch with several solutions… Actor164: You might benefit talking with @Actor90 who is developing our digital marketing capability overall. See, e.g. http;//advertising3.wordpress.com/…

Conclusion and Discussion Both research and business have acknowledged the importance of virtual communication in organizations. There is a need for communication channels which enable cooperation in distant locations. Virtual knowledge brokers know how to utilize the new technologies and are able to connect people and issues. This paper focuses on their contribution to knowledge creation in internal communication and their ability to create interpersonal trust. From a theoretical standpoint, I believe that this paper is contributing to a better understanding of the importance of internal communication in knowledge creation, and the role of virtual knowledge brokers in building interpersonal trust. This paper contributes to a larger body of literature on virtual knowledge brokering which has traditionally adopted an external perspective and has centered mainly on the collaboration of third parties and the organization (Meyer, 2010; Dobbins et al. 2009). In this paper, knowledge brokers are members of the groups and collaborate in the daily work in the virtual environment. Adding to the extant literature on knowledge creation this study highlights the role of knowledge brokers in internal social media. Knowledge brokers seem to facilitate knowledge creation in virtual environments and contribute to building trust in the network by sharing knowledge, building team spirit and connecting people and issues. The findings can also be used in business purposes. The role of the knowledge broker in internal communications seems to be important in knowledge creation. Knowledge broker combines knowledge from different departments, enables collaboration between employees who would Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 233


otherwise not work together and acts in a way that increases trust in the community. Thus, knowledge broker acts as a mediator or translator connecting people and ideas. Proposing that by virtue of the different aspects on internal knowledge creation, there is a need for new practices in organizational communication. These new practices should support building a trusting communication network and prefer a relaxed atmosphere in interaction. Moreover, employees should be provided with abilities to utilize the new technological systems introduced to the internal communication.

This study is limited to conversations which are open for everyone in the organization. It would be interesting to get an understanding also of the conversations which are closed between certain actors. For future research I would suggest addressing motivational aspects of a knowledge broker in internal knowledge creation. References Ahuja, Manju K;Carley, Kathleen M. (1999). ”Network structure in virtual organizations”, Organization Science 10( 6): 741-757. Al-Ani, B., Bietz, M. J., Wang, Y., Trainer, E., Koehne, B., Marczak, S., ... & Prikladnicki, R. (2013), “Globally distributed system developers: their trust expectations and processes”. In Proceedings of the 2013 conference on Computer supported cooperative work (pp. 563-574). ACM. Ardichvili, A., Page, V., & Wentling, T. (2003). “Motivation and barriers to participation in virtual knowledge-sharing communities of practice”, Journal of knowledge management, 7(1), 64-77. Ardichvili, Alexandre (2008). “Learning and Knowledge Sharing in Virtual Communities of Practice: Motivators, Barriers, and Enablers”, Advances in developing human resources 10(4): 541–554. Bachmann, R., & Inkpen, A. C. (2011). “Understanding institutional-based trust building processes in interorganizational relationships”, Organization Studies,32(2), 281-301. Blackler, Frank (1995). “Knowledge, Knowledge Work and Organizations: An Overview and Interpretation”, Organization Studies 16(6): 1021-1046. Brown, John Seely; Collins, Allan; Duguid, Paul (1989). “Situated Cognition and the Culture of Learning”, Educational Researcher 18(1): 32-42. Chua, Alton (2002). “The Influence of Social Interaction on Knowledge Creation.” Journal of Intellectual Capital 3(4): 375–92. Cillo, Paola 2005). “Fostering Market Knowledge Use in Innovation: The Role of Internal Broker”, European Management Journal 23(4):404-412. Crisp, C. B., and Järvenpää, S. L. (2013). “Swift trust in global virtual teams”, Journal of Personnel Psychology. Dobbins, Maureen; Robeson, Paula; Ciliska, Donna; Hanna, Steve; Cameron, Roy; O'Mara, Linda; DeCorby, Kara and Mercer Shawna (2009). “A description of a knowledge broker role implemented as part of a randomized controlled trial evaluating three knowledge translation strategies”, Implementation Science 4:23. Debra, M., Weick, K. E., & Kramer, R. M. (1995). “Swift trust and temporary groups”, Trust in organizations: Frontiers of theory and research. Gioia, Dennis A., Corley, Kevin G. and Hamilton, Aimee L. (2012). “Seeking Qualitative Rigor in Inductive Research: Notes on the Gioia Methodology”, Organizational Research Methods 16(1): 15-31. Hargadon, Andrew, and Robert I. Sutton (1997). “Technology Brokering and Innovation in a Product Development Firm”, Administrative Science Quarterly 42(4):716–49. Henderson, S., & Gilding, M. (2004). ‘I’ve never clicked this much with anyone in my life’: trust and hyperpersonal communication in online friendships”, New Media & Society, 6(4), 487-506. Henttonen, K. and Blomqvist, K. (2005). “Managing distance in a global virtual team: the evolution of trust through technology-mediated relational communication”, Strategic Change14: 107–119. Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 234


Hollingshead, Andrea B.; Mcgrath, Joseph E. and O'Connor, Kathleen M. (1993). “Group Task Performance and Communication Technology: A Longitudinal Study of Computer-Mediated Versus Face-to-Face Work Groups”, Small Group Research 24(3): 307-333. Hsu, M. H., Chang, C. M., & Yen, C. H. (2011). “Exploring the antecedents of trust in virtual communities”, Behaviour & Information Technology, 30(5), 587-601. Järvenpää, Sirkka and Leidner, Dorothy (1999). “Communication and Trust in Global Virtual Teams”, Organization Science 10(6): 791-815. Kuhn, T. and Jackson, M. H. (2008). “Accomplishing Knowledge: A Framework for Investigating Knowing in Organizations”, Management Communication Quarterly 21(4): 454-485. von Krogh, Georg (1998). “Care in Knowledge Creation”, California Management Review 40(3): 133–53. Lin, Hsiu-Fen (2008). “Determinants of successful virtual communities: Contributions from system characteristics and social factors”, Information & Management 45: 522–527. Loew, Robert, Udo Bleimann and Paul Walsh (2004). “Knowledge Broker Network Based on Communication between Humans”, Campus-Wide Information Systems 21(5):185–90. Martins, Carla Sofia and Patrício, Lia (2013). “Understanding participation in company social networks”, Journal of Service Management 24(5): 567-587. Mayer, R. C., Davis, J. H., & Schoorman, F. D. (1995). “An integrative model of organizational trust”, Academy of management review, 20(3), 709-734. Meyer, M. (2010). “The Rise of the Knowledge Broker”, Science Communication 32(1):118–27. Mitchell, R and Nicholas, S (2006). “Knowledge Creation in Groups: The Value of Cognitive Di-versity, Transactive Memory, and Open-mindedness Norms”, The Electronic Journal of Knowledge Management 4(1): 67-74, available at www.ejkm.com Nonaka, Ikujiro (1994). “A dynamic theory of organizational knowledge creation”. Organization Science 5(1): 14–37. Nooteboom, B. (2002). Trust: Forms, foundations, functions, failures and figures. Edward Elgar Publishing. Powell, Anne; Piccoli, Gabriele and Ives, Blake (2004). “Virtual teams: a review of current literature and directions for future research.” The data base for Advances in Information Systems 35(1). Pawlowski, Suzanne D. and Robey, Daniel (2004). “Bridging User Organizations: Knowledge Brokering and the Work of Information Technology Professionals” MIS Quarterly 28(4): 645-672. Pinjani, P., & Palvia, P. (2013). “Trust and knowledge sharing in diverse global virtual teams”, Information & Management, 50(4), 144-153. Obstfeld, D. (2005), “Social networks, the tertius iungens orientation, and involvement in innovation”, Administrative science quarterly, 50(1):100-130. Rennstam, J. and Ashcraft, K. L. (2013). “Knowing work: Cultivating a practice-based epistemology of knowledge in organization studies”, Human Relations, 67(1): 3–25. Riege, A. (2005). “Three-dozen knowledge-sharing barriers managers must consider”, Journal of knowledge management, 9(3), 18-35. Ridings, C. M.; Gefen, D. and Arinze, B. (2002). “Some antecedents and effects of trust in virtual communities”, The Journal of Strategic Information Systems, 11(3), 271-295. Robert, L. P., Denis, A. R., & Hung, Y. T. C. (2009). “Individual swift trust and knowledge-based trust in face-to-face and virtual team members”, Journal of Management Information Systems, 26(2), 241279. Sankowska, A. (2013). “Relationships between organizational trust, knowledge transfer, knowledge creation, and firm's innovativeness”, The Learning Organization, 20(1), 85-100. Stasser, G., Stewart, D. D., & Wittenbaum, G. M. (1995), “Expert roles and information exchange during discussion: The importance of knowing who knows what”, Journal of experimental social psychology, 31(3): 244-265. Treem, J. W. (2012). “Communicating Expertise: Knowledge Performances in Professional-Service Firms”, Communication Monographs 79(1): 23–47. Verona, G.; Prandelli, Emanuela and Sawhney, Mohanbir (2006). “Innovation and Virtual Environments: Towards Virtual Knowledge Brokers”, Organization Studies 27(6):765–88.



Wenger, Etienne (1998). Communities of Practice: Learning, Meaning, and Identity, Cambridge University Press, UK.


Using Sustainable Social Marketing to Respond to Global Climate Change

Using Sustainable Social Marketing to Respond to Global Climate Change Stevina Evuleocha, Ph.D. California State University, East Bay, Hayward, CA, USA [email protected]

Steve Ugbah California State University, East Bay, Hayward, CA, USA [email protected] Purpose: This paper examines the implications of using sustainable social marketing as a tool to create global awareness of climate change issues and to encourage “pro-climate” attitudes and behavior towards climate change among consumers. Design/Methodology/Approach: This paper explores the framing of climate change messages using fear appeals as a conceptual framework. Findings: Social marketing tools are useful in global climate change communication designed to promote behavior change in the face of growing scientific consensus that climate change phenomenon is a reality. Research Implications/Applications: This paper encourages a sustained use of social marketing to address global climate change. Practical Application: To be successful, global climate change communication must target individual consumers and citizens, business and government at local, national and global levels. Keywords: Sustainable social marketing, climate change, eco-consumerism, fear appeal, social media storytelling. Paper type: Conceptual

Introduction Climate change continues to be one of the world’s most salient issues with its attendant global challenges. This phenomenon has come to dominate the sustainable development and sustainable consumption agendas such as global poverty, ecosystem damage, the loss of biodiversity, water distribution challenges, and long-term viability of global food production (Peattie, Peattie, & Ponting, 2009). The interest of the global community towards climate change was probably boosted by Al Gore’s Oscar-winning An Inconvenient Truth and George Monbiot’s Heat. The observable effects of climate change include various abnormalities such as extreme weather events, shrinking glaciers, vanishing arctic ice, rising sea levels, droughts and famine, and extinction of species (Chakrabarty & Wang, 2013; Bare, 2011; Bare & Gloria, 2008); and raging emissions of pollutant greenhouse gases, primarily from the burning of fossil fuels (IPCC, 2008). These effects and much more, collectively pose irreversible threats to the environment, prompting calls for humans to become more responsible toward the planet. The challenges of climate change have imposed immense pressure on decision makers in both governments and corporations. Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), social activists, and various advocacy groups are urging decision makers in governments and corporations to recognize Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 237


the dangers of climate change. As a result, institutional regulations and laws related to the impact of business operations on the natural environment are becoming more stringent (Chakrabarty & Wang, 2013). Gardiner (2010) notes that there is something special about climate change that makes it raise fundamental questions about conventional social and political practices, and that is the concern about human security. Adger (2010) claims that climate change is already having major effects on the security of households, communities, and nations and climate change policies must simultaneously address issues related to vulnerability, resilience, adaptation, and justice. By applying a human security lens to climate change it is possible to find new approaches that might lead to a more equitable and sustainable future for vulnerable households and groups (O'Brien, St. Clair, & Kristoffersen, 2010). However, a major challenge for global approaches to climate change justice is the lack of success of global economic, financial, political, and social institutions to articulate, manage, and coordinate these efforts (Gardiner, 2010). The Stern Review of Climate Change (Stern, 2007) was a turning point in global debates on climate change because it combined climate models with economic models. Stern (2007) claims that climate change is evidence of market failures and global externalities; so, the response must be greater cooperation on a global scale. To address global climate change, Stern (2007) presents two key elements that necessitate the adoption of the principle of common but differentiated responsibility—mitigation and adaptation:  Mitigation – attempts at reducing emissions reflected in these three components: Emissions trading: to support the transition to low-carbon development paths; technology cooperation: support for the deployment of new low-carbon technologies; and action to reduce deforestation: as a way to reduce emissions. Climate change mitigation refers to the actions undertaken to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs), with carbon dioxide (CO2) normally conceived as the major contributor to the abnormal levels of climate change (World Business Council for Sustainable Development [WBCSD] & World Resources Institute [WRI], 2004), and for enhancing sinks that absorb GHGs (IPCC, 1990).  Adaptation – a focus on the poor and vulnerable, that highlights the need to transfer resources from richer to poorer countries. Since the poorest countries are most vulnerable to climate change, it is essential that climate change be fully integrated into development policy, and that rich countries honor their pledges to increase support through overseas development assistance. Many entities, particularly multinational corporations (MNCs) often bear the brunt of these social and regulatory pressures because of their deep embeddedness and widespread presence in the global economy (Chakrabarty & Wang, 2013). However, managers at MNCs are often faced with the ethical dilemma of having to choose between mitigating the deleterious effects of their business operations on our planet’s climate and the need to maintain a healthy balance sheet (Porter & Kramer, 2011). Given the competitive business marketplace, these managers are of the opinion that “the combination of environmentally and competitively sound improvements” is not feasible (Klassen & Whybark, 1999, p. 599) and that “the more environment friendly they become, the more the effort will erode their competitiveness” (Nidumolu, Prahalad, & Rangaswami, 2009, p. 57). Stern (2007) advocates “collaboration on a global scale” and “global collective action,” to produce an effective, efficient, and equitable response which has served as an important wake-up call highlighting the need for more attention to inter- and intra-generational equity in the context of Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 238


climate change, and global solutions to this global problem using the most economically efficient approaches. Therefore, there is a dire need for sustainable mitigation and adaptation efforts to minimize the enormous threat from the deleterious effects of climate change. Some of the necessary tools to effectively fight global warming include: cooperative international policies, use of technology, and public engagement. An “engaged public “ will play a key role in developing sustainable solutions to climate change, enabling sustainable changes in individual attitudes and lifestyles such as emission reduction via discretionary energy use, consumer behavior, and active support for climate and energy policies. An engaged public according to Lorenzonia, et al. (2007), refers to “a personal state of connection with the issue of climate change, in contrast to engagement solely as a process of public participation in policy making, comprising cognitive, affective and behavioral aspects.” In other words, it is not enough for people to know about climate change in order to be engaged; they also need to care about it, be motivated and able to take action. Although energy conservation can be enacted without an understanding of climate change (e.g., if financially motivated) (Stern, 2007), mitigation policies risk being ineffective or rejected by a public lacking an understanding of the issue. To what extent can we say there is already public engagement with climate change? The literature on public understanding of climate change indicates widespread awareness of the issue and a general concern, but limited behavioral response (Lorenzonia, et al., 2007). This paper examines the implications of using sustainable social marketing as a tool in the push to create global awareness of climate change issues and to encourage “pro-climate” attitudes and behavior towards climate change among consumers; explores framing climate change messages using fear appeals; and explores the efficacy of using social media as a channel for story telling to disseminate climate change messages. Issues of Public Engagement with Climate Change Before examining how social marketing can play a role in climate change mitigation and adaptation, it is necessary to elucidate on the key phenomenon—global climate change and its impact on the natural and human systems. According to Bare, Norris, Pennington, and McKone (2003), global climate change refers to “the potential change in the earth’s climate caused by the buildup of chemicals (i.e., GHGs) that trap heat from the reflected sunlight, which would have otherwise passed out of the earth’s atmosphere” (p. 56). Two mechanisms that play a role in determining the extent of atmospheric concentration of GHGs are “sources and sinks” (Chakrabarty & Wang, 2013). Sources of GHGs stem from human activities and natural systems and contribute to increases in their concentration. Excessive release of GHGs from the sources results in an imbalance or destabilization in the optimal concentration of GHGs. Sinks, such as oceans and land vegetation, absorb the emitted GHGs. If sinks increase proportionately to sources, we can expect a restoration or maintenance of balance in the atmospheric concentration of GHGs. However, during the past few centuries, sources of GHGs have increased significantly (mostly due to the increased combustion of fossil fuels by humans) compared to a corresponding decrease in sinks (due to activities such as deforestation). According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC, 2001), atmospheric concentrations of CO2, CH4, and N2O have increased by over 30 percent, 145 percent, and 15 percent, respectively. Further, the average global temperature has increased at a rate of 0.13°C per decade between 1956 and 2005, almost twice that for the 100 years from 1906 to 2005 (Pachauri & Reisinger, 2007).



Research on climate change in several countries suggests that people are generally able to identify both anthropogenic and natural influences on the climate (DEFRA, 2002; Poortinga, Pidgeon, & Lorenzoni, 2006). However, this widespread awareness often does not translate into personal and/or public engagement. Mitigating the adverse effects of climate change is constrained by individual and social barriers. According to Lorenzonia, et al. (2007), individual barriers include: lack of knowledge; uncertainty and skepticism; distrust in information sources; externalizing responsibility and blame; reliance on technology; climate change perceived as a distant threat; importance of other priorities; reluctance to change lifestyles; fatalism; and helplessness. Social barriers include: lack of action by governments, business and industry; ‘free rider effect’; pressure of social norms and expectations; and lack of enabling initiatives. Hence the “value-action” gap (Blake, 1999)--the disparity between public awareness about climate change on the one hand, and the limited behavioral response. A useful tool to overcome some of these barriers is to use a social marketing approach to promote the adoption of behaviors that will improve the health or well-being of a target audience or of the society as a whole (Weinreich, 1999). Social Marketing and Climate Change Communication Social marketing approaches are becoming increasingly popular among governmental and nongovernmental actors seeking to engage the public on climate change. The effectiveness of social marketing in achieving specific behavioral goals is empirically well-supported. Social marketing campaigns have tended to focus on a variety of anti-social behavior by citizens who don’t toe the line of acceptable social conduct compelling them to change their behavior. Social marketing is the application of commercial marketing technologies to the analysis, planning, execution and evaluation of programs designed to influence the voluntary behavior of target audiences in order to improve their personal welfare and that of society (Burchell, Rettie, & Patel, 2013). Social marketing has been introduced as a method for social intervention within the past two decades (Lefebvre & Flora, 1988). There has been a growing acceptance that its integration of marketing and community engagements is an effective strategy for changing the behavior of people on a community-wide or population-wide level (Andreasen, 1995; Lefebvre & Rochlin, 1997; Novelli, 1990; Ogden, Shepherd, & Smith, 1996). Social marketing is based on the assumption that new behaviors can be adopted when they are seen as beneficial and achievable (Lefebvre & Flora, 1988; Lefebvre & Rochlin, 1997). However, effecting behavior change requires a more complex approach than the marketing of consumer products because the “price” of behavior change is steeper than the “price” of choosing consumer products (Lamptey & Price, 1998). Social marketing produces public health interventions that are culturally appropriate (Ling, Franklin, Lindsteadt, & Gearon, 1992; Flora, Schooler, & Pierson, 1997; Rao & Svenkerud, 1998) and particularly well-suited for “hard-to-reach” populations (McDermott, 2000). The utility of social marketing has been demonstrated in campaigns to promote seat belt use and smoking cessation, to reduce HIV transmissions in the U.S. gay male community and in the sexually active populations of Thailand and Uganda, and to promote condom use by American adolescents (Lamptey & Price, 1998; Bauer, Johnson, Hopkins, & Brooks, 2000; Fisher, Ryan, Esacove, & Bishofsky, 1996). Social marketing is a potentially effective approach for promoting “pro-climate change” behaviors because of its strong consumer orientation and the inclusion of the target audience in creative development and implementation of the program. Social marketing seeks to remove barriers by bringing pro-climate change messages to individuals in their own communities and by addressing the widespread denial of the existence of climate change phenomenon and issues surrounding it. Brennan and Snitow (2005) demonstrated that engendering compliance with social marketing callsProceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 240


to-action was a multifaceted problem, comprising of an integrated system of legal and regulatory processes, enforcement, and public education (usually in the form of advertising). Fear Appeals, Social Marketing, and Climate Change Communication Mitigation and adaptation to climate change requires targeted communication to achieve the desired outcome—compliant “pro-climate” change behavior. Brennan & Binney (2010) assert that compliant behavior is associated with conformity to institutional rules, and so, when people choose not to comply, they are answerable to consequences, which in an institutional or legal framework, could result in penalties such as fines, community service or legal action (cf. Harvey & McCrohan, 1988; May, 2005). Nevertheless, social marketing encourages compliance by using message appeals, and not simply message framing, to link the socially desired behavior to something that is of value to the individual. These appeals must be packaged or presented in a way that enables the individual to see the direct benefit (value) of their action. This value could be something which avoids negative consequences or which are positive incentives to behave in a certain way (Atkin, 2001). An individual could also be motivated by empathy rather than a personal motivation (Taute and McQuitty, 2004; Sturmer, Mark, & Omoto, 2005). Message appeals can be either positive or negative in nature, and they can additionally be divided into informational (or rational) appeals versus emotional appeals. In this paper, we argue that negative message appeals are powerful, since they create emotional imbalance in the targeted individual which can be rectified by engaging in the featured (desired) behavior, in this case regarded as compliant behavior (Brennan & Binney, 2010). Messages with built-in emotional imbalance cause psychic discomfort and are therefore a safe place to start when crafting fear appeals. Fear appeals are persuasive messages that emphasize the probable danger and harm that will befall individuals if they do not adopt a message’s recommendations (Dillard et al., 1996; Maddux & Rogers, 1983). While these types of messages are commonly used in political, public health and commercial advertising campaigns (e.g., smoking will kill you, Candidate A will destroy the economy), the urgency of climate change issues makes fear appeal a winning proposition. According to a comprehensive review of more than 50 years of research on the topic, fear-based appeals tend to be effective at influencing attitudes and behaviors, particularly among women (Tannenbaum et al., 2015). This comprehensive meta-analysis to date on fear appeals looked at 127 research articles representing 248 independent samples and over 27,000 individuals from experiments conducted between 1962 and 2014. They found fear appeals to be effective, especially when they contained recommendations for one-time only (versus repeated) behaviors and if the targeted audience included a larger percentage of women. They also confirmed prior findings that fear appeals are effective when they describe how to avoid the threat (e.g., get the vaccine, use a condom). Albarracin (2015) a co-author of the meta-analysis on fear appeals, believes that: “These appeals are effective at changing attitudes, intentions and behaviors. There are very few circumstances under which they are not effective and there are no identifiable circumstances under which they backfire and lead to undesirable outcomes.” Fear appeal literature denote that fear can be described by mood adjectives, including feeling frightened, anxious, or nauseous, and also via ratings of concern or worry (LaTour & Tanner, 2003; LaTour & Rotfeld, 1997; Henthorne, LaTour, & Nataraajan, 1993; Rogers, 1983). Fear thus motivates actions aimed at reducing these unpleasant emotions (LaTour & Zahra, 1989;Tanner, Hunt, & Eppright, 1991), it also relates to risk-taking behavior which is now often addressed by social marketing efforts (Tudor, 2003). A number of approaches are used for advertising campaigns Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 241


and promotional efforts to influence or change behavior. These appeals range from humor to selfidealization to the use of fear (Belch & Belch, 2004). Based on Leventhal's danger control/fear control framework, the Extended Parallel Process Model (EPPM) is an expansion of previous fear appeal theoretical approaches (Janis, 1967; Leventhal, 1971, Rogers, 1975, Rogers, 1983, Witte, 1992). According to the EPPM, threat motivates action, and perceived efficacy determines whether the action taken controls the danger (protective behavior) or controls the fear (inhibits protective behavior). Individuals typically weigh their risk of actually experiencing the threat against actions they can take that would minimize or prevent the threat (Witte, 1992; Witte, 1994; Witte, 1998; Witte & Allen, 2000). Efficacy is an environmental or message signal that may lead to perceived efficacy, which relates to an individual’s cognitions about efficacy. Messages that portray efficacy focus on the effectiveness of the suggested response (i.e., response efficacy), and on the target audience's ability to carry out the suggested response (i.e., self-efficacy) (Rogers, 1983). Similarly, perceived response efficacy refers to an individual's beliefs that a response effectively prevents the threat (i.e.” I believe condoms prevent HIV contraction"), and perceived self-efficacy refers to an individual's belief in his or her ability to perform a recommended response (i.e. "I think that I can use condoms to prevent HIV contraction") (Rogers, 1983). Justification of Social Marketing in Climate Change Communication Social marketing as a behavior change tool has been scrutinized intensely over the years. In the context of sustainability, Peattie and Peattie (2009) discuss the tensions inherent in the employment of techniques that are designed to increase consumption. Burchell, Rettie, and Patel (2013) reviewed social marketing in the context of marketing social norms. The review highlighted discussions regarding (1) the inappropriateness of many commercial marketing techniques when applied to social objectives which challenged the suitability of the 4Ps for social marketing and suggested that ‘proposition’ might replace ‘product’, ‘accessibility’ might replace ‘place’, ‘cost of involvement’ might replace ‘price’ and ‘communication’ might replace ‘promotion’ (Peattie & Peattie, 2003; 2009); (2) the lack of understanding of how ‘contemplation’ or ‘readiness-to-change’ of the Transtheoretical Model is best converted into action, a challenge that is understood in behavior change domains as the attitude-behavior or value-action gap (Andreasen, 2003; Blake, 1999; Jackson, 2005; Young et al., 2010); and (3) the assumptions of individualized linear relationships between knowledge, attitudes and values, and behavior that underpin most social marketing and behavior change work (Shove, 2010). These criticisms notwithstanding, practitioners, researchers, and policy makers across a range of policy domains continue to use social marketing as a tool for individual behavior change which the authors believe can be mobilized to tackle climate change communication challenges. Further, enormous opportunities and potential exist. Social marketing has a track record of experience as well as successes to draw on. Besides, there are many lessons to be learnt by observing traditional consumer marketing. The Internet has played a prominent role in rapidly leveling the playing field in the media marketplace. Reduction of distribution costs and the removal of the barriers of traditional corporate gatekeepers who limited the broadcast of messages that ran counter to consumerism's values are two of the ways the internet has influenced social marketing activities. Also, the emergence of social media has created a 'viral' distribution model through which an inspiring message can organically travel almost instantaneously and at nearly no cost through networks of mutual trust. Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 242


To play a role in the transition from consumerism to sustainability, social marketers will need to draw on the main lesson learned from consumer marketing in the 1950s: facts alone do not sell behavior change. Instead, people working to foster sustainable behavior must deploy storytelling to reach audiences on a human, as well as a personal scale. Story Telling and Climate Change Communication In crafting a strategy for this critical next decade, social marketers need to understand as well as harness the power of emotional storytelling. Iconic, story-based campaigns do not simply shift the perception of a product or activity. To change behavior on the scale they do, such campaigns have to shift how millions of people see themselves and how they are defined by, for example, their choice of cigarette, car, computer, or social behavior. But is it storytelling per se that makes these campaigns so successful? Writer and philosopher Joseph Campbell offers a compelling reason to believe that human-scale storytelling is key to opening people up to changing instinctive 'tribal' identities and altering behavior (cited in Sachs & Finkelpearl, 2010). Campbell's views even imply that social marketing may have an advantage over product marketing in this arena. In his seminal work, Hero with a Thousand Faces, Campbell presents a survey of mythology across broad cultural contexts and millennia and finds strong commonalities. He hypothesizes that human beings are, in fact, genetically hardwired to see their world in terms of stories. Furthermore, these stories are strikingly similar. They share certain archetypal characters like the hero, the nemesis, and the mentor, and they follow a plot of invitation to adventure, acceptance of that invitation, battle with the nemesis, and then return. What is of particular interest to social marketers about Campbell's theories is that the setting for these adventures is often a broken world in need of healing. What's more, the return involves the hero coming back to society with the wisdom to heal it. Seen through this lens, stories of a societal shift from consumerism to sustainability fit perfectly into humanity's pre-formed ideas of what a hero's journey is all about. A hero is someone who helps to heal society's ills. Although social marketers have had some stunning successes in harnessing the power of stories, when it comes to the most pressing environmental sustainability issues, the lesson has not been applied adequately. A survey of the web communications of the 'environmental G8', the foremost international nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) addressing climate change, reveals an approach that is still heavily devoted to the facts of the climate crisis, its dire consequences, and current policy proposals to address it. Therefore, emotional appeals that aptly reflect the reality of visitors' lives and concerns, as well as the frames through which they receive and evaluate information about the crisis, are sorely lacking. Conclusion and Policy Implications While there are many environmental challenges, from the change in habitats and ecosystems to the loss of marine life and the extinction of species, climate change stands out as an emergency because of its reach and the long time-lags involved. Carbon emissions released today persist in the atmosphere over the longer term, as if we were walking with our shadow lengthening on the ground in front of us. Responding to this challenge means acting at every level, from the individual in their lives as consumers and as citizens to business and government at local, national and global levels. Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 243


The latest research by Ipsos MORI is key to helping all concerned to understand and unpick these choices. Where are we now? How did we get here? And what are the possible solutions? The findings helpfully build on and update the work of the Sustainable Consumption Roundtable in a 2006 Report, I Will if You Will (Downing & Ballantyne, 2014). Yes, as consumers we now have more sustainable choices available to us than ever, even if they remain outweighed by unsustainable ones. Additionally, there are an ever increasing number of ‘ethical consumers’ who use their purchasing choices to reflect their concerns, values and beliefs. But the truth is that the complexity of information required to make a judgment on product sustainability can leave even the most dedicated green consumer confused and disempowered. So what is the way forward? As Ipsos MORI makes clear, we have to create the conditions in which people can act together. This means finding the right level for change. Consumer choice, for example, is a characteristic of systems and not just of individual interactions. Choices like travel to work, for example, are wrapped up in habits and routines - and system change, like the congestion charge in London or cutting energy wasted in transmission, can help to reset us on a more sustainable path. The sustainable choice, in short, becomes the easier choice. At an individual level, social marketing, which encompasses much more than simply communications and information, has a huge role to play in understanding consumer behavior and tapping into the motivations that can lead to a truly sustainable pattern of consumption. This is where a consumer focus can genuinely help. Social marketing is a disciplined but powerful toolkit that can help to harness public action on climate change. Climate change cannot be addressed on the quiet. There is no substitute for public action and, although there is a long way to go, we have to start from where the public is. Social marketing approach to climate change is similar to the health promotion approach to chronic disease. Population-level behavior, as well as that of individuals, social and physical environments all need to change. As Walker, Hassall, Chaplin, Congues, Bajayo, and Mason (2011) contend, population-level behavior is determined by people-related (e.g. individual behavior) and placerelated (e.g. availability of parks and walking tracks) factors. Most of the people and place-based drivers of population level behavior can be influenced by mass communication and social marketing interventions. Therefore, mitigation (primary prevention) and adaptation (secondary prevention) both need to be addressed when engaging in climate change communication. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s 4th Assessment Report (IPCC, 2007) presented unequivocal evidence that the warming of the global climate system is due to anthropogenic factors including greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from activities such as energy production and global deforestation. (IPCC, 2007). The core policy message from climate change evidence is that without major efforts at mitigating GHG emissions, dangerous global climate change will continue. The Stern Report on the economics of climate change framed climate change policy problem as one of decision-making under risk and uncertainty. Similarly, Pidgeon (2012) argues that climate change policy needs to involve aggressive moves to de-carbonize economies worldwide using new technologies, appropriate financial instruments, and changes to patterns of consumption and energy use. The implications of these moves at the individual consumer level are quite profound and will require engaging in climate change communication that informs consumers about the long-term adverse effects of avoiding GHG emission mitigation efforts. Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 244


The efficacy of social marketing in promoting behavior change has been amply demonstrated in health promotion literature. Social marketing tools are particularly useful in global climate change communication designed to sustain public perception of the dangerous effects of climate change, and to promote “pro-climate” behaviors, given the “falling” of concern about climate change in spite of growing scientific consensus that climate change phenomenon is a reality. Some of the factors adduced to explain the “falling” concern include boredom and fatigue due to the intense media coverage (Platt & Retallack, 2009), perception of exaggeration of the detrimental effects of climate change (Whitmarsh, 2011), changing global economic conditions such as the 2006 global financial crises that caused attention to be diverted, temporarily, from climate change discussions (Scruggs &Benegal, 2012), and gaining of greater prominence of climate skeptics by various rightleaning groups and individuals who question the veracity of climate change science (Dunlap & McCright, 2010; Oreskes & Conway, 2010). The intense negative press following the unauthorized e-mails from the Climatic Research Unit at the University of East Anglia, and allegations of errors in the IPCC assessments only exacerbated distrust of climate science and climate change communication. Global climate change mitigation efforts, before the landmark climate accord in Paris in 2015—the 2015 Paris Agreement—negotiated at the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP 21 or CMP 11, were characterized by fragmented policy response. The agreement, widely acknowledged as a breakthrough in climate change negotiations, on its own, will not solve global warming (Davenport, 2015); it will, at best, cut global GHG emissions by about half enough as is necessary to stave off a future of devastating consequences, including rising sea levels, severe droughts and flooding, widespread food and water shortages, and more destructive storms. The 2015 Paris Agreement poses a major challenge to climate change communicators in terms of how to communicate to the global financial and energy markets the shift away from investments in coal, oil and gas as primary energy sources toward zero-carbon energy sources such as wind, solar, and nuclear power. Compston and Bailey (2008) cited six factors they argue have contributed to the discrepancy in the responses by state actors in cutting GHG emissions—“the perception that individual countries can do little on their own; the influence of climate skeptics; a failure to implement potential technical and economic solutions; the problem of economic competitiveness between nations; fear of electoral retribution; and structural obstacles within government. As Pidgeon (2012) notes, these factors call for an urgent need to develop “new approaches representing climate risk and uncertainty, as well as to its communication, in ways that can support climate governance processes.” Hence, the need to develop and implement climate communication strategies that will address, simultaneously, structural issues--incentives, barriers to action, and social norms; and promote efficacy of sustainable behavior change (Spence & Pidgeon, 2009). Policy interventions should channel efforts at sustainable mitigation strategies and removing barriers to pro-climate behaviors. We therefore propose that climate change communication should:  

Focus on the impact of individual energy use on climate change. The content of the message targeted at individual behavior should incorporate fear appeals that the authors believe, will move people into pro-climate change behaviors. Focus on individual point of purchase or tax incentives for consumers who make energy efficient choices. Businesses and governments may institutionalize these incentives at all





levels. Incorporate strong fear appeal messages into social marketing campaign strategy by increasing references to the threat posed by climate change such as the magnitude of harm and susceptibility to the likelihood of the target population experiencing the threat. This can be accomplished through vivid language and pictures that describe the terrible consequences of global warming.

Some of these strategies are already in practice but without the backing of policy at the governmental level, will be presumed to be optional rather than required behavior. Once individuals begin to associate non eco-friendly choices as expensive, they are likely to moderate their behavior given an appropriate message strategy.

References Adger, W. N. (2010), “Climate change, human well-Being and insecurity,” New Political Economy, Vol. 15, No. 2, pp. 275–292. Albarracín, D. (2015, October), “Fear-based appeals effective at changing attitudes, behaviors after all,” American Psychological Association Press Release. Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2015/10/fear-based-appeals.aspx Andreasen, A. (1995), Marketing Social Change, Jossey-Bass: San Francisco. Andreasen, A. (2003), “The life trajectory of social marketing: Some implications,” Marketing Theory, Vol. 3, No. 3, pp. 293–303. Atkin, C. K. (2001), “Theory and principles of media health campaigns,” in R. Rice and Atkin, C. (Eds.), Public communications campaigns, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, pp. 49-68. Bare, J. (2011), “TRACI 2.0: The tool for the reduction and assessment of chemical and other environmental impacts 2.0. Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy”, Vol. 13, pp. 687–696. Bare, J. C., and Gloria, T. P. (2008), “Environmental impact assessment taxonomy providing comprehensive coverage of midpoints, endpoints, damages, and areas of protection”, Journal of Cleaner Production, Vol. 16, pp. 1021–1035. Bare, J., Norris, G., Pennington, D., and McKone, T. (2003), “TRACI—the tool for the reduction and assessment of chemical and other environmental impacts”, Journal of Industrial Ecology, Vol. 6, pp. 49–78. Bauer, U.E., Johnson, T.M., Hopkins, R.S., and Brooks, R.G. (2000), “Changes in youth cigarette use and intentions following implementation of a tobacco control program: Findings from the Florida Youth Tobacco Survey, 1998-2000”, JAMA, Vol. 284, pp. 723-728. Belch, G. E. & Belch, M. A. (2004). Advertising and Promotion. An Integrated Marketing Communications Perspective, 6th ed. McGraw-Hill/Irwin, New York, NY. Blake, J. (1999), “Overcoming the ‘value-action gap’ in environmental policy: Tensions between national policy and local experience”, Local Environment, Vol. 4, No. 3, pp. 257–278. Brennan, L. and Binney, W. (2010), “Fear, guilt, and shame appeals in social marketing”, Journal of Business Research, Vol. 63, pp. 140–146. Brennan, L. and Snitow, S. (2005), Social Marketing Success: A Case Study of Collaboration and Cooperation Between Enforcement, Legislation And Advertising Initiatives. 2nd Australasian Nonprofit and Social Marketing Conference: At the Threshold: Challenges and Developments in Social, Sport and Arts Marketing. Stonnington Campus: Deakin University. Burchell, K., Rettie, R., and Patel, K. (2013), “Marketing social norms: Social marketing and the ‘social norm approach”, Journal of Consumer Behaviour, Vol. 12, pp. 1–9. doi: 10.1002/cb.1395 Chakrabarty, S. and Wang, L. (2013, November/December), “Climate change mitigation and internationalization: The competitiveness of multinational corporations”, Thunderbird International Business Review, Vol. 55, No. 6, pp. 673-688. doi: 10.1002/tie Compston H. and Bailey, I. (2008), “Political strategy and climate policy”, in Compston, H. and Bailey, I. (Eds.), Turning down the heat: The politics of climate policy in affluent democracies, Basingstoke: Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 246


Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 263-288. Davenport, C. (2015, December 12), “Nations approve landmark climate accord in Paris”, The New York Times, retrieved http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/13/world/europe/climate-change-accordparis.html?_r=0 DEFRA. (2002), Survey of Public Attitudes to Quality of Life and to The Environment: 2001, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, London. Dillard, J. P., Plotnick, C. A., Godbold, L. C., Freimuth, V. S., and Edgar, T. (1996), “The multiple affective outcomes of AIDS PSAs: Fear appeals do more than scare people”, Communication Research, Vol. 23, pp. 44-72. Downing, P. and Ballantyne, J. (2014), “Tipping point or turning point: Social marketing and climate change,” Ipsos MORI Social Research Institute, retrieved from:http://www.ipsos.com/publicaffairs/sites/www.ipsos.com.publicaffairs/files/documents/tipping_point_or_turning_point_climate_change.pdf Dunlap, R. E. and McCright, A. M. (2010), “Climate change denial: Sources, actors and strategies”, in Lever-Tracy, C. (Ed.), The Routledge Handbook of Climate Change and Society, London: Routledge, pp. 240–259. Fisher, D. S., Ryan, R., Esacove, A. W., and Bishofsky, S. (1996), “The social marketing of Project ARIES: Overcoming challenges in recruiting gay and bisexual males for HIV prevention counseling”, Journal of Homosexuality, Vol. 31, pp. 177-202. Flora, J. A., Schooler, C., and Pierson, R. M. (1997), “Effective health promotion among communities of color: The potential of social marketing”, in Goldber, M.E., Fishbein, M. et al. (Eds.), Social Marketing: Theoretical and Practical Perspectives, Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, pp. 353-373. Gardiner, S. M. (2010), “Climate change as a global test for contemporary political institutions and theories”, in O’Brien, K., St. Clair, A. L., and Kristoffersen, B. (Eds.), Climate Change, Ethics and Human Security, Cambridge Press: Cambridge, retrieved from http://ebooks.cambridge.org/chapter.jsf?bid=CBO9780511762475&cid=CBO9780511762475A020 Harvey, J., McCrohan, W., and Kevin, F. (1988), “Is there a better way of improving compliance with the tax laws? Insights from the philanthropic literature”, Journal of Public Policy Marketing, Vol. 7, No. 1, pp. 138–151. Henthorne, T. L., LaTour, M. S., and Nataraajan, R. (1993), “Fear appeals in print advertising: An analysis of arousal and ad response”, Journal of Advertising, Vol. 22, No. 2,pp. 59-68. IPCC. (1990), Climate Change: The IPCC Response Strategies, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. IPCC. (2001), Climate Change 2001: Synthesis Report. Summary for Policymakers, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Geneva. IPCC. (2007), 4th Assessment Report, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. IPCC. (2008), Climate Change 2007 – Impacts Adaptation and Vulnerability: Working Group II Contribution to The Fourth Assessment Report of The IPCC, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. Janis, I. L. (1967), “Effects of fear arousal on attitude change: recent developments in theory and experimental research”, in Berkowitz, L. (Ed.), Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 3rd ed, Academic Press, New York, pp. 166-225. Klassen, R. D. and Whybark, C. (1999), “The impact of environmental technologies on manufacturing performance”, Academy of ManagementJournal, Vol. 42, pp. 599–615. Lamptey, P. R. and Price, J. E. (1998), “Social marketing sexually transmitted disease and HIV prevention: A consumer-centered approach to achieving behavior change”, AIDS, Vol. 12, Supplement l2, pp. S1-9. LaTour, M. and Zahra, S. (1989), “Fear appeals as advertising strategy: should they be used?” Journal of Services Marketing, Vol. 2, No. 4, pp. 5-14. LaTour, M. S. and Rotfeld, H. J. (1997), “There are threats and (maybe) fear-caused arousal: theory and Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 247


confusions of appeals to fear and fear arousal itself”, Journal of Advertising, Vol. 26, No. 3, pp. 4559. LaTour, M. S. and Tanner, J. F. (2003), “Radon: Appealing to our fears”, Psychology & Marketing, Vol. 20, pp. 377–394. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/mar.10078 Lefebvre, R. C. and Flora, J. A. (1988), “Social marketing and public health intervention” Health Education Quarterly, Vol. 15, No. 3, pp. 299-315. Lefebvre, R.C. and Rochlin, L. (1997), “Social marketing”, in Glantz, K., Lewis, F. M., and Rimer, B. K. (Eds.), Health Behavior and Health Education: Theory, Research, and Practice, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, pp. 384-402. Leventhal, H. (1971), “Fear appeals and persuasion: the differentiation of a motivational construct”, American Journal of Public Health, Vol. 61, No. 6, pp. 1208-1224. Ling, J. C., Franklin, B. A., Lindsteadt, J. F., and Gearon, A. N. (1992), “Social marketing: Its place in public health”, Annual Review of Public Health, Vol. 13, pp. 341-362. Lorenzonia, I., Nicholson-Coleb, S., and Whitmarsh, L. (2007), “Barriers perceived to engaging with climate change among the UK public and their policy implications”, Global Environmental Change, Vol. 17, pp. 445–459. Maddux, J. E. and Rogers, R. W. (1983), “Protection motivation and self-efficacy: A revised theory of fear appeals and attitude change”, Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, Vol. 19, pp. 469479. May, P. J. (2005), “Regulation and compliance motivations: examining different approaches”, Public Administration Review, Vol. 65, No. 1, pp. 31–44. McDermott, R. J. (2000), “Social marketing: A tool for health education”, American Journal of Health Behavior, Vol. 24, pp. 6-10. Nidumolu, R., Prahalad, C. K., and Rangaswami, M. R. (2009), “Why sustainability is now the key driver of innovation”, Harvard Business Review, Vol. 87, No. 9, pp. 56–64. Novelli, W. D. (1990), “Applying social marketing to promoting health promotion and disease prevention”, in Glantz, K., Lewis,F. M., and Rimer, B. K. (Eds.), Health Behavior and Health Education: Theory, Research, and Practice, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, pp. 342-369. O'Brien, K., St. Clair, A. L., and Kristoffersen, B. (2010), Climate Change, Ethics and Human Security, Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, UK. Ogden, L., Shepherd, M., and Smith, W. A. (1996), The Prevention Marketing Initiative, Washington, DC: Centers for Disease Control Monograph. Oreskes N. and Conway, E. M. (2010), Merchants of Doubt, London: Bloomsbury Press. Pachauri, R. K., and Reisinger, A. (Eds.), (2007), Climate Change 2007: Synthesis Report. Contribution of Working Groups I, II and III to The Fourth Assessment Report of The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. IPCC: Geneva, Switzerland, retrieved from http://www.ipcc.ch/publications_and_data/publications_ipcc_fourth_assessment_report_synthesis_r eport.htm Peattie, K. and Peattie, S. (2003), “Ready to fly solo? Reducing social marketing’s dependence on commercial marketing theory”, Marketing Theory, Vol. 3, No. 3, pp. 365-386. Peattie, K. and Peattie, S. (2009), “Social Marketing: A pathway to consumption reduction?” Journal of Business Research, Vol. 62, pp. 260-268. Peattie, K., Peattie, S., and Ponting, C. (2009), “Climate change: a social and commercial marketing communications challenge”, EuroMed Journal of Business, Vol. 4, No. 3, pp. 270-286. doi: 10.1108/14502190910992693 Pidgeon, N. (2012), “Climate change risk perception and communication: Addressing a critical moment?” Risk Analysis, Vol. 32, No. 6, pp. 951-956. doi: 10.1111/j.1539-6924.2012.01856.x Platt, R. and Retallack, S. (2009), Consumer Power: How The Public Thinks Lower Carbon Behaviour Could be Made Mainstream, London: Institute for Public Policy Research. Poortinga, W., Pidgeon, N., and Lorenzoni, I. (2006), Public Perceptions of Nuclear Power, Climate Change and Energy Options in Britain: Summary Findings of a Survey Conducted During October and November 2005, Understanding Risk Working Paper 06-02, School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK. Porter, M. E. and Kramer, M. R. (2011), “Creating shared value”, Harvard Business Review, Vol. 89, Proceedings: CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2016 Page 248


No. 1/2, pp. 62–77. Rao, N. and Svenkerud, P. J. (1998), “Effective HIV/AIDS prevention communication strategies to reach culturally unique populations: Lessons learned in San Francisco, U.S.A. and Bangkok, Thailand”, International Journal of Intercultural Relations, pp. 85-105. Rogers, R. W. (1975), “A protection motivation theory of fear appeals and attitude change”, Journal of Psychology, Vol. 91, pp. 93-114. Rogers, R. W. (1983), “Cognitive and physiological processes in fear appeals and attitude change: A revised theory of protection motivation” in Cacioppo, J., Petty, R. (Eds.), Social Psychophysiology, Guilford, New York, pp. 153-176. Sachs, J. and Finkelpearl, S. (2010), “Is social marketing our last chance to change people?”, retrieved From http://www.theecologist.org/campaigning/culture_change/462379/is_social_marketing_our_last_cha nce_to_change_people.html Scruggs, L. and Benegal, S. (2012), “Declining public concern about climate change: Can we blame the great recession?” Global Environmental Change, Vol. 22, No. 2, pp. 505–515. doi:10.1016/ j.gloenvcha.2012.01.002. Shove, E. (2010), “Beyond the ABC: climate change policy and theories of social change”, Environment and Planning, Vol. 42, pp. 1273–1285. Spence, A and Pidgeon, N. F. (2009), “Psychology, climate change and sustainable behavior”, Environment: Science and Policy for Sustainable Development, Vol. 51, No. 6, pp. 8–18. Stern, N. (2007), The Economics of Climate Change: The Stern Review, Cambridge Press. Sturmer, S., Mark, S., and Omoto, A. M. (2005), “Prosocial emotions and helping: The moderating role of group membership”, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Vol. 88, No. 3, pp. 532–546. Tannenbaum, M. B., Zimmerman, R. S., Hepler, J., Saul, L., Jacobs, S., Wilson, K., and Albarracín, D. (2015), “Appealing to fear: A meta-analysis of fear appeal effectiveness and theories”, Psychological Bulletin, Vol. 141, No. 6, pp. 1178–1204. Tanner, J. F., Hunt, J. B., and Eppright, D. R. (1991), “The protection motivation model: A normative model of fear appeals”, Journal of Marketing, Vol. 55, No. 3, pp. 36-45. Taute H. and McQuitty, S. (2004), “Feeling good! Doing good! An exploratory look at the impulsive purchase of the social good”, Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice, pp. 16–27. Tudor, A. (2003), “A (macro) sociology of fear?” Sociological Review, Vol. 51, pp. 238-256. Walker, R., Hassall, J., Chaplin, S., Congues, J., Bajayo, R., and Mason, W. (2011), “Health promotion interventions to address climate change using a primary health care approach: a literature review”, Health Promotion Journal of Australia, Vol. 22, pp. S6-S12. Weinreich, N. K. (1999), Hands-On Social Marketing: A Step-By-Step Guide, Sage Publications. Whitmarsh, L. (2011), “Scepticism and uncertainty about climate change: dimensions, determinants and change over time”, Global Environmental Change, Vol. 21, pp. 690–700. Witte, K. (1992), “Putting fear back into fear appeals: the extended parallel process model”, Communication Monographs, Vol. 59, 329-349. Witte, K. (1994), “Fear control and danger control: A test of the extended parallel process model (EPPM)”, Communication Monographs, Vol. 61, pp. 113-134. Witte, K. (1998), Theory-Based Interventions and Evaluation of Outreach Efforts, Seattle, WA: National Network of Libraries of Medicine, Pacific Northwest Region, retrieved from http://www.nnlm.nlm.nih.gov/pnr/eval/witte.html Witte, K. and Allen, M. (2000), “A meta-analysis of fear appeals: Implications for effective public health campaigns”, Health Education and Behavior, Vol. 27, No. 5, pp. 591-615. World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) & World Resources Institute (WSI), (2004), The Greenhouse Gas Protocol: A Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard (rev. ed.), Washington, DC. Young, W., Hwang, K., McDonald, S., and Oates, C. J. (2010), “Sustainable consumption: Green consumer behaviour when purchasing products”, Sustainable Development, Vol. 18, No. 1, pp. 21– 31.


Corporate Communication International At BaruchCollege/CUNY The first choice for information and knowledge on corporate communication. 55 Lexington Avenue, B8-233 New York, NY10010 Tel:646.312.3749

[email protected] www.corporatecomm.org