Pub Date : 2022-08-10DOI: 10.1108/jcom-04-2022-0041
B. Asdourian
PurposeThis study proposes a description of the civil society diplomacy that emerged in the early solutions found to fight the COVID-19 crisis. The author analyses this concept as the intersection of the social movements of individuals and civil society organisations' and international health care. Its purpose is to determine the international structure of the connective actors aimed to find concrete solutions against COVID-19 and to characterize the communication visible on Twitter towards this civil society engagement.Design/methodology/approachBased on a data-driven approach, the author collected a large dataset of tweets from Switzerland between March and June 2020 and conducted a computational text analysis methodology.FindingsThe results showed who the participants were, provided a visualisation of the digital networking process between engaged and mentioned participants at national and international levels, and determined the emotions that emerged during three event phases.Originality/valueThe study reveals that features of connective social care actions and strategic collective communication can illustrate civil society diplomacy for a shared cause in times of health crisis.
{"title":"Civil society diplomacy: characterizing collective and connective actions for a shared cause","authors":"B. Asdourian","doi":"10.1108/jcom-04-2022-0041","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/jcom-04-2022-0041","url":null,"abstract":"PurposeThis study proposes a description of the civil society diplomacy that emerged in the early solutions found to fight the COVID-19 crisis. The author analyses this concept as the intersection of the social movements of individuals and civil society organisations' and international health care. Its purpose is to determine the international structure of the connective actors aimed to find concrete solutions against COVID-19 and to characterize the communication visible on Twitter towards this civil society engagement.Design/methodology/approachBased on a data-driven approach, the author collected a large dataset of tweets from Switzerland between March and June 2020 and conducted a computational text analysis methodology.FindingsThe results showed who the participants were, provided a visualisation of the digital networking process between engaged and mentioned participants at national and international levels, and determined the emotions that emerged during three event phases.Originality/valueThe study reveals that features of connective social care actions and strategic collective communication can illustrate civil society diplomacy for a shared cause in times of health crisis.","PeriodicalId":51660,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Communication Management","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2022-08-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47897281","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-07-20DOI: 10.1108/jcom-01-2022-0011
Hyelim Lee, X. Zhang, Yoon Hi Sung, S. Lee, Jeong-Nam Kim
PurposeThis research aims to examine how two management strategies (symmetrical communication and inclusive management) work in handling workplace conflicts (interpersonal/organizational levels), especially with regard to employee advocacy and job turnover intentions.Design/methodology/approachA total of three employee survey datasets were used to test hypotheses and research questions. Two secondary datasets were obtained in South Korea (N = 600 and N = 285), and one dataset was collected in the USA (N = 381). A series of hierarchical multiple regressions were performed for each dataset.FindingsAll three studies showed that interpersonal workplace conflict increased not only job turnover but also advocacy. In addition, in South Korean employees, both symmetrical communication and inclusive management increased employee advocacy and decreased job turnover intentions. However, in the US data, only symmetrical communication had such effects, enhancing employee advocacy and lowering job turnover intentions.Originality/valueThe study provides insights for practitioners into how to handle workplace conflicts from the perspective of communication (symmetrical communication) and/or behavioral strategies (inclusive management). Also, as an index to examine the effectiveness of management strategies, this study suggests advocacy behavior of employees given its effect of “rallying the troops.”
{"title":"Symmetry, inclusion and workplace conflicts: conflict management effects of two leadership strategies on employee advocacy and departure","authors":"Hyelim Lee, X. Zhang, Yoon Hi Sung, S. Lee, Jeong-Nam Kim","doi":"10.1108/jcom-01-2022-0011","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/jcom-01-2022-0011","url":null,"abstract":"PurposeThis research aims to examine how two management strategies (symmetrical communication and inclusive management) work in handling workplace conflicts (interpersonal/organizational levels), especially with regard to employee advocacy and job turnover intentions.Design/methodology/approachA total of three employee survey datasets were used to test hypotheses and research questions. Two secondary datasets were obtained in South Korea (N = 600 and N = 285), and one dataset was collected in the USA (N = 381). A series of hierarchical multiple regressions were performed for each dataset.FindingsAll three studies showed that interpersonal workplace conflict increased not only job turnover but also advocacy. In addition, in South Korean employees, both symmetrical communication and inclusive management increased employee advocacy and decreased job turnover intentions. However, in the US data, only symmetrical communication had such effects, enhancing employee advocacy and lowering job turnover intentions.Originality/valueThe study provides insights for practitioners into how to handle workplace conflicts from the perspective of communication (symmetrical communication) and/or behavioral strategies (inclusive management). Also, as an index to examine the effectiveness of management strategies, this study suggests advocacy behavior of employees given its effect of “rallying the troops.”","PeriodicalId":51660,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Communication Management","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2022-07-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41818629","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-07-15DOI: 10.1108/jcom-12-2020-0164
Michael C. Jackson, Ella Chorazy, M. Sison, Deborah Wise
PurposeTo conduct a systematic review of public relations ethics (PRE) research and scholarship in the 21st century and suggest future research directions. The study is prompted by macro-level phenomena that have impacted societies since the beginning of the 21st century—notably globalisation 4.0 and the fourth industrial revolution.Design/methodology/approachA systematic review was used to search academic literature. Articles discussing PRE in nine leading English-language public relations and business ethics journals between 2000 and 2019 were reviewed. A code-frame facilitated data extraction and subsequent quantitative analysis; qualitative analysis identified key themes.FindingsThe review identified 288 articles, with discussions involving PRE increasing over time. Most works approached the topic generally, rather than from a specific sub-disciplinary perspective, and drew from professional settings. Works were dominated by authors from North American institutions and North American samples. Research became increasingly empirical and intra-disciplinary and discussion about ethics was broadly categorised as part of public relations practice or from the perspective of the “academy”. Overall, the field can be described as of notable size, maturing, yet unbalanced in some regards.Originality/valueThe review helps to identify whether PRE research reflects major changes in the 21st century and augments the sparse recent reviews of PRE research.
{"title":"Public relations ethics in the 21st century: a state-of-the-field review","authors":"Michael C. Jackson, Ella Chorazy, M. Sison, Deborah Wise","doi":"10.1108/jcom-12-2020-0164","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/jcom-12-2020-0164","url":null,"abstract":"PurposeTo conduct a systematic review of public relations ethics (PRE) research and scholarship in the 21st century and suggest future research directions. The study is prompted by macro-level phenomena that have impacted societies since the beginning of the 21st century—notably globalisation 4.0 and the fourth industrial revolution.Design/methodology/approachA systematic review was used to search academic literature. Articles discussing PRE in nine leading English-language public relations and business ethics journals between 2000 and 2019 were reviewed. A code-frame facilitated data extraction and subsequent quantitative analysis; qualitative analysis identified key themes.FindingsThe review identified 288 articles, with discussions involving PRE increasing over time. Most works approached the topic generally, rather than from a specific sub-disciplinary perspective, and drew from professional settings. Works were dominated by authors from North American institutions and North American samples. Research became increasingly empirical and intra-disciplinary and discussion about ethics was broadly categorised as part of public relations practice or from the perspective of the “academy”. Overall, the field can be described as of notable size, maturing, yet unbalanced in some regards.Originality/valueThe review helps to identify whether PRE research reflects major changes in the 21st century and augments the sparse recent reviews of PRE research.","PeriodicalId":51660,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Communication Management","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2022-07-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46753306","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-07-13DOI: 10.1108/jcom-10-2021-0117
Benno Viererbl, Nora Denner, Thomas Koch
PurposeThis study aims to analyze the structures, forms and functions of informal communication in telecommuting settings. Previous research on telecommuting has not considered the influence of telecommuting settings on informal communication, and research on informal communication has mainly focused on face-to-face communication while working in a physical office. This article aims to bring these two research strands together by analyzing the informal communication behavior of employees working from home.Design/methodology/approachThe authors conducted qualitative interviews with 21 employees who were working from home. The participants were recruited using quota sampling and the data were analyzed following the procedure for examining qualitative data proposed by Mayring (2014).FindingsThe findings reveal similarities as well as differences between those working in an office and those working from home in terms of informal communication with co-workers: Informal communication fulfills similar functions in both cases, but remote work leads to less informal communication and hinders incidental exposure to other employees. Informal talks need to be planned in advance or strategically initiated. The authors identified five informal communication scenarios in telecommuting settings that partly, but not fully, overlap with scenarios in regular office settings.Originality/valueThe present study is one of the first to examine informal communication in telecommuting settings. Previous studies have either excluded the aspect of informal communication or the situation for employees working in telecommuting settings. The results provide new insights into informal communication behavior in remote work.
{"title":"“You don’t meet anybody when walking from the living room to the kitchen”: informal communication during remote work","authors":"Benno Viererbl, Nora Denner, Thomas Koch","doi":"10.1108/jcom-10-2021-0117","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/jcom-10-2021-0117","url":null,"abstract":"PurposeThis study aims to analyze the structures, forms and functions of informal communication in telecommuting settings. Previous research on telecommuting has not considered the influence of telecommuting settings on informal communication, and research on informal communication has mainly focused on face-to-face communication while working in a physical office. This article aims to bring these two research strands together by analyzing the informal communication behavior of employees working from home.Design/methodology/approachThe authors conducted qualitative interviews with 21 employees who were working from home. The participants were recruited using quota sampling and the data were analyzed following the procedure for examining qualitative data proposed by Mayring (2014).FindingsThe findings reveal similarities as well as differences between those working in an office and those working from home in terms of informal communication with co-workers: Informal communication fulfills similar functions in both cases, but remote work leads to less informal communication and hinders incidental exposure to other employees. Informal talks need to be planned in advance or strategically initiated. The authors identified five informal communication scenarios in telecommuting settings that partly, but not fully, overlap with scenarios in regular office settings.Originality/valueThe present study is one of the first to examine informal communication in telecommuting settings. Previous studies have either excluded the aspect of informal communication or the situation for employees working in telecommuting settings. The results provide new insights into informal communication behavior in remote work.","PeriodicalId":51660,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Communication Management","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2022-07-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48671673","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-07-11DOI: 10.1108/jcom-01-2022-0006
Alan Abitbol, Nicole M. Lee, Matthew S. VanDyke
PurposeThis study examines perceived transparency of direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetic testing communication and measures its impact on consumers' trust, attitudes, and the intention to recommend the test to others.Design/methodology/approachAn online survey of US–based adults (over 18 years of age) (N = 271) was administered by the online panel company Qualtrics Panels. The sample consisted of participants who have taken a DTC genetic test previously because only existing consumers could provide insight into companies' transparency about the entire genetic testing process (including the communication before, during, and after) as they experienced it. Participants were asked questions that measured intention to recommend DTC genetic tests to others, trust, attitude toward the DTC testing, and perceptions of transparency of the DTC companies' communication.FindingsResults indicated that consumers who perceive DTC genetic testing companies to be transparent in their communication tend to trust the genetic testing process more, have more positive attitudes toward DTC genetic tests, and are more likely to recommend the tests to others.Research limitations/implicationsThis study integrates corporate communication and science communication through the theoretical framework of transparency. It empirically demonstrates that message transparency is key to increasing the publics' trust, attitude and behavioral intentions toward companies that involve sensitive health information or online privacy.Originality/valueThis paper answers previous calls to explore the organizational approach of science communication in the context of the under-examined companies in the science and health sectors, specifically the DTC genetic testing industry.
{"title":"Examining the perceived transparency of DTC genetic testing company communication and its impact on consumer trust, attitude and behavioral intentions","authors":"Alan Abitbol, Nicole M. Lee, Matthew S. VanDyke","doi":"10.1108/jcom-01-2022-0006","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/jcom-01-2022-0006","url":null,"abstract":"PurposeThis study examines perceived transparency of direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetic testing communication and measures its impact on consumers' trust, attitudes, and the intention to recommend the test to others.Design/methodology/approachAn online survey of US–based adults (over 18 years of age) (N = 271) was administered by the online panel company Qualtrics Panels. The sample consisted of participants who have taken a DTC genetic test previously because only existing consumers could provide insight into companies' transparency about the entire genetic testing process (including the communication before, during, and after) as they experienced it. Participants were asked questions that measured intention to recommend DTC genetic tests to others, trust, attitude toward the DTC testing, and perceptions of transparency of the DTC companies' communication.FindingsResults indicated that consumers who perceive DTC genetic testing companies to be transparent in their communication tend to trust the genetic testing process more, have more positive attitudes toward DTC genetic tests, and are more likely to recommend the tests to others.Research limitations/implicationsThis study integrates corporate communication and science communication through the theoretical framework of transparency. It empirically demonstrates that message transparency is key to increasing the publics' trust, attitude and behavioral intentions toward companies that involve sensitive health information or online privacy.Originality/valueThis paper answers previous calls to explore the organizational approach of science communication in the context of the under-examined companies in the science and health sectors, specifically the DTC genetic testing industry.","PeriodicalId":51660,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Communication Management","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2022-07-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42058324","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-06-17DOI: 10.1108/jcom-08-2021-0094
S. Tong, F. Chan
PurposeWith the prevailing use of online communication platforms, this study revisits the definitions of trust in an online context. By exploring organizational online communications from a practitioners' perspective, a conceptual framework that illustrates the nature of trust and its relationship with dialogic communication between organizations and organizations' stakeholders in the digital era is proposed.Design/methodology/approachA total of 27 in-depth interviews were conducted with public relations and marketing practitioners involved in coordinating organizational online communications in Hong Kong.FindingsFrom the practitioners' perspective, stakeholders' online trust toward an organization, which is a hybridity of initial and rapidly evolving trust, begins with stakeholders swift and initial judgment of the organization according to category-based cues (including knowledge-based attributes of the organization, institutional cues, and particular attributes of online dialogic communication) available on online platforms and further develops over time. Practitioners regard the integration of online and offline communication platforms to be the most effective way to build trust in organization–stakeholder relationships in the digital era, while dialectical tensions can hinder trust formed in online communication.Originality/valueAlong with the proposed conceptual framework, this study advances the discussion of online trust in public relations practices from the practitioners' perspective. A qualitative approach provides rich descriptions that may help to enrich theories in public relations and communication management regarding the interplay of trust and dialogic communication in organizational practices in the digital era.
{"title":"Revisiting trust in the digital era: the interplay of online trust and online dialogic communication from the practitioners' perspective","authors":"S. Tong, F. Chan","doi":"10.1108/jcom-08-2021-0094","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/jcom-08-2021-0094","url":null,"abstract":"PurposeWith the prevailing use of online communication platforms, this study revisits the definitions of trust in an online context. By exploring organizational online communications from a practitioners' perspective, a conceptual framework that illustrates the nature of trust and its relationship with dialogic communication between organizations and organizations' stakeholders in the digital era is proposed.Design/methodology/approachA total of 27 in-depth interviews were conducted with public relations and marketing practitioners involved in coordinating organizational online communications in Hong Kong.FindingsFrom the practitioners' perspective, stakeholders' online trust toward an organization, which is a hybridity of initial and rapidly evolving trust, begins with stakeholders swift and initial judgment of the organization according to category-based cues (including knowledge-based attributes of the organization, institutional cues, and particular attributes of online dialogic communication) available on online platforms and further develops over time. Practitioners regard the integration of online and offline communication platforms to be the most effective way to build trust in organization–stakeholder relationships in the digital era, while dialectical tensions can hinder trust formed in online communication.Originality/valueAlong with the proposed conceptual framework, this study advances the discussion of online trust in public relations practices from the practitioners' perspective. A qualitative approach provides rich descriptions that may help to enrich theories in public relations and communication management regarding the interplay of trust and dialogic communication in organizational practices in the digital era.","PeriodicalId":51660,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Communication Management","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2022-06-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47470228","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-06-10DOI: 10.1108/jcom-06-2021-0066
Shawn Porter, T. Hunter
PurposeThe authors' work examines whether coercive forces in the general regulatory environment lead to similarity in social media policy across industries and if memetic forces of industry-specific values and norms lead to greater similarity of social media policy within industries.Design/methodology/approachCorporate social media policies were analyzed using a convergent parallel mixed method design to assess and identify themes and similarities. Using an institutional theory lens, this paper examines whether coercive forces in the general regulatory environment lead to similarities in social media policies across industries, and if mimetic forces from industry-specific norms lead to greater similarity of social media policies within industries. Findings suggest that industry-specific, institutional field-level mimetic forces have a greater effect on social media policy isomorphism than environmental-level coercive forces. This study represents the first assessment of corporate social media policies across organizations and industries.FindingsFindings suggest that industry-specific, institutional field-level mimetic forces have a greater effect on social media policy isomorphism than environmental-level coercive forces.Research limitations/implicationsLimitations related to sampling were primarily related to policy collection. To deal with these limitations, the sample was planned to allow for the inclusion of both randomly selected North American companies from the Fortune 500 list and another random selection of 35 companies from within a convenience sample of 100 North American firms who had a publicly available social media policy online.Practical implicationsThe authors' research speaks to management, directors and researchers who work with policy, governance or risk management as the authors demonstrate the effect regulatory and normative institutions have on social media policies: stakeholders within and without given industries are forcing firms to develop legitimacy-providing social media policies by penalizing those that do not. The authors' findings demonstrate that firms respond to the 21st Century potential corporate risk of unsanctioned social media communications by developing corporate social media policies with similar themes. By identifying the themes common in corporate social media policies, the authors have identified best practices constituting a risk mitigation tool for boards.Originality/valueThe authors' approach is innovative in focus and approach. First, using an institutional theory lens, the authors assess the influence of regulatory and memetic forces on social media policies as a formal structure within an institutional field. Second, the authors' approach includes the first major assessment of North American social media policies across a wide array of organizations and industries, adding to understanding about approaches currently used to manage increased social media use in the workplace.
{"title":"Boards and social media: the institutionalization of corporate social media policy","authors":"Shawn Porter, T. Hunter","doi":"10.1108/jcom-06-2021-0066","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/jcom-06-2021-0066","url":null,"abstract":"PurposeThe authors' work examines whether coercive forces in the general regulatory environment lead to similarity in social media policy across industries and if memetic forces of industry-specific values and norms lead to greater similarity of social media policy within industries.Design/methodology/approachCorporate social media policies were analyzed using a convergent parallel mixed method design to assess and identify themes and similarities. Using an institutional theory lens, this paper examines whether coercive forces in the general regulatory environment lead to similarities in social media policies across industries, and if mimetic forces from industry-specific norms lead to greater similarity of social media policies within industries. Findings suggest that industry-specific, institutional field-level mimetic forces have a greater effect on social media policy isomorphism than environmental-level coercive forces. This study represents the first assessment of corporate social media policies across organizations and industries.FindingsFindings suggest that industry-specific, institutional field-level mimetic forces have a greater effect on social media policy isomorphism than environmental-level coercive forces.Research limitations/implicationsLimitations related to sampling were primarily related to policy collection. To deal with these limitations, the sample was planned to allow for the inclusion of both randomly selected North American companies from the Fortune 500 list and another random selection of 35 companies from within a convenience sample of 100 North American firms who had a publicly available social media policy online.Practical implicationsThe authors' research speaks to management, directors and researchers who work with policy, governance or risk management as the authors demonstrate the effect regulatory and normative institutions have on social media policies: stakeholders within and without given industries are forcing firms to develop legitimacy-providing social media policies by penalizing those that do not. The authors' findings demonstrate that firms respond to the 21st Century potential corporate risk of unsanctioned social media communications by developing corporate social media policies with similar themes. By identifying the themes common in corporate social media policies, the authors have identified best practices constituting a risk mitigation tool for boards.Originality/valueThe authors' approach is innovative in focus and approach. First, using an institutional theory lens, the authors assess the influence of regulatory and memetic forces on social media policies as a formal structure within an institutional field. Second, the authors' approach includes the first major assessment of North American social media policies across a wide array of organizations and industries, adding to understanding about approaches currently used to manage increased social media use in the workplace.","PeriodicalId":51660,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Communication Management","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2022-06-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41830139","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-05-17DOI: 10.1108/jcom-12-2020-0162
Marjon Elshof, B. Hendrawan
PurposeMany organisations wrestle with how to develop value-oriented businesses and societies. A humanistic communication approach that promotes understanding and dialogue amongst stakeholders can contribute to a solution. Communication professionals play a pivotal role in achieving a humanistic communication process. This paper aims to determine the significance of humanistic communication professionals and their characteristics.Design/methodology/approachA literature review was conducted to identify the characteristics of humanistic communication professionals. Thereafter, the extent to which such characteristics have been implemented in competency models in the Netherlands was investigated. This country’s strong tradition of developing competencies for communication professionals has resulted in competency models that serve as standards for professional development.FindingsThe literature review shows that a humanistic approach to communication is characterised by dialogic engagement and social listening to build and maintain trust, foster transparency and create engagement with stakeholders. Communication professionals can act as “cultural interpreters”, “organisational listeners” and “stewards of meaning”. The human element plays a key factor in the competency standards for communication professionals in the Netherlands, although the extent to which they are embedded varies. The analysis shows a shift from passing on a message towards dialogue and engagement.Originality/valueMost studies of communication professionals’ competencies have been based on roles or tasks they perform. Little scholarly attention has been paid to competencies that add to developing value-oriented businesses and societies. This paper focuses specifically on how communication professionals can contribute to creating humanistic organisations.
{"title":"Humanistic communication professionals: dialogue and listening skills as core competencies of humanistic communication professionals in the Netherlands","authors":"Marjon Elshof, B. Hendrawan","doi":"10.1108/jcom-12-2020-0162","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/jcom-12-2020-0162","url":null,"abstract":"PurposeMany organisations wrestle with how to develop value-oriented businesses and societies. A humanistic communication approach that promotes understanding and dialogue amongst stakeholders can contribute to a solution. Communication professionals play a pivotal role in achieving a humanistic communication process. This paper aims to determine the significance of humanistic communication professionals and their characteristics.Design/methodology/approachA literature review was conducted to identify the characteristics of humanistic communication professionals. Thereafter, the extent to which such characteristics have been implemented in competency models in the Netherlands was investigated. This country’s strong tradition of developing competencies for communication professionals has resulted in competency models that serve as standards for professional development.FindingsThe literature review shows that a humanistic approach to communication is characterised by dialogic engagement and social listening to build and maintain trust, foster transparency and create engagement with stakeholders. Communication professionals can act as “cultural interpreters”, “organisational listeners” and “stewards of meaning”. The human element plays a key factor in the competency standards for communication professionals in the Netherlands, although the extent to which they are embedded varies. The analysis shows a shift from passing on a message towards dialogue and engagement.Originality/valueMost studies of communication professionals’ competencies have been based on roles or tasks they perform. Little scholarly attention has been paid to competencies that add to developing value-oriented businesses and societies. This paper focuses specifically on how communication professionals can contribute to creating humanistic organisations.","PeriodicalId":51660,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Communication Management","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2022-05-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41704367","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-05-04DOI: 10.1108/jcom-04-2021-0039
Dron M. Mandhana
PurposeThis paper discusses the communicative process of messy talk that enables collaborative problem-solving and tacit knowledge sharing among interdisciplinary team members. The paper aims to (1) trace relevant literature and lay out the conceptual and operational definitions of messy talk, (2) highlight messy talk as an enacted communication competence and (3) discuss the antecedents of messy talk and offer empirical propositions to guide future research.Design/methodology/approachThis conceptual paper traces and integrates relevant literature from the construction, management and organizational and group communication disciplines to promote and foster research on messy talk.FindingsBased on extant research on messy talk, the paper first provides clear conceptual and operational definitions of the messy talk construct. Second, using practice perspective, messy talk is presented as an enacted communication competence that focuses on the ongoing demands of the context and the situated practices of organizational members. Third, several factors including team members' technical expertise, task routineness, team history, time pressure and information sharing systems that influence the amount of messy talk conversations in teams are discussed. Lastly, the paper underscores the key implications of considering messy talk as an enacted communication competence on the performance and training of knowledge workers.Originality/valueThe presentation of messy talk as an enacted communication competence is a deliberate consideration of knowledge as an emergent, intersubjectively negotiated phenomenon that is deeply rooted in practice.
{"title":"Messy talk: an unanticipated process of problem-solving and knowledge creation","authors":"Dron M. Mandhana","doi":"10.1108/jcom-04-2021-0039","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/jcom-04-2021-0039","url":null,"abstract":"PurposeThis paper discusses the communicative process of messy talk that enables collaborative problem-solving and tacit knowledge sharing among interdisciplinary team members. The paper aims to (1) trace relevant literature and lay out the conceptual and operational definitions of messy talk, (2) highlight messy talk as an enacted communication competence and (3) discuss the antecedents of messy talk and offer empirical propositions to guide future research.Design/methodology/approachThis conceptual paper traces and integrates relevant literature from the construction, management and organizational and group communication disciplines to promote and foster research on messy talk.FindingsBased on extant research on messy talk, the paper first provides clear conceptual and operational definitions of the messy talk construct. Second, using practice perspective, messy talk is presented as an enacted communication competence that focuses on the ongoing demands of the context and the situated practices of organizational members. Third, several factors including team members' technical expertise, task routineness, team history, time pressure and information sharing systems that influence the amount of messy talk conversations in teams are discussed. Lastly, the paper underscores the key implications of considering messy talk as an enacted communication competence on the performance and training of knowledge workers.Originality/valueThe presentation of messy talk as an enacted communication competence is a deliberate consideration of knowledge as an emergent, intersubjectively negotiated phenomenon that is deeply rooted in practice.","PeriodicalId":51660,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Communication Management","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2022-05-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43052511","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}