The stakeholder-communication continuum: An alternate approach to internal and external communications

Abstract

Academic scholarship and professional literature have defined communications as existing in two groups: internal and external/public relations. However, globalism, technology, evolving communication practices, and the maturation of the public relations field have evoked changing attitudes and perceptions regarding stakeholder identification, publics, and communications. This researcher sent a broad, representative survey to university alumni, conducted in-depth interviews with university staff, and performed a content analysis of alumni-facing communications, resulting in an alternate method of viewing internal and external communications. Dubbed the stakeholder-communication continuum, the theory places internal and external communications on either end of a spectrum, with stakeholder groups plotted along the continuum based on their relationship to the organization and each other. ©Journal of Professional Communication, all rights reserved.