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Without doubt, communication management is an expanding and diversifying discipline and the demand for a strategic functioning is rising. Accumulation of knowledge can be seen as a major prerequisite for the development of its practice. The purpose of this paper is to examine the state of the art of, and trends in, communication management research in Germany and The Netherlands.

Following on from a Europe‐wide Delphi research project, this study focused on two countries – Germany and The Netherlands. The study was limited to PhD theses on communication management and compares the characteristics of the doctoral research of the two countries.

The range of disciplines that study aspects of communication management is enormous and most dissertations start almost from scratch, assuming that there is no relevant research that the project can take as a starting point. This fragmentation of research hinders the development of communication management as a theoretically sound and empirically grounded academic discipline.

By comparing the development and current trends in Germany and The Netherlands, the paper provides a context for transnational reflection of the relationship between research on communication management and the professional development of communication management as an occupational field.

This 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.

A 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.

All 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.

The 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.”

This paper aims to investigate the conceptualisation of corporate communication management (CCM) and its dimensionality from the practitioners’ perspectives. It proposes to validate an operational definition and dimensions of the CCM construct, which have not been identified in the literature.

The initial concepts are based on academic literature and followed by 12 face-to-face interviews with corporate communication practitioners and consultants from Malaysia to confirm the practicality of each dimension. QSR Nvivo Version 9.0 software is used to analyse the qualitative data. Then, the data are classified through deductive content analysis based on key words or themes.

The diverse perspectives are shown from the practitioners and consultants on the dimensionality of CCM. Most of the interviewees suggest that CCM dimensions include corporate advertising, corporate affairs, investor relations and employee communication within the corporate communication and other departments. They also found the public relations and media relations are clearly under corporate communications manager’s supervision. This research confirms the concept of CCM and its dimensionality to operationalise the CCM construct. The CCM dimensions also offer opportunities for further research to develop the measurement scales.

This research contributes to the clarification on the subject matter by developing clear concepts of the CCM and by offering insights about the role of the CCM dimensions, which help managers to more successfully incorporate the CCM dimension into the corporate management strategy. This paper also examines the concept of CCM and confirms its dimensionality, which helps in developing the CCM measurement for further quantitative research.

This paper describes how BP and BP Oil, its marketing and refining business, moved internal communication from being a soft option to being a strategic imperative to help turn the then ailing business around, with spectacular results. Recognition of the crucial bond between leadership and communication is highlighted, and a programme of cultural change at BP Oil is described, including some practical methods by which progress has been effected. The company's virtuous circle model of communication, the link made between management competence as communicators and the human resource management policy is discussed. The nature of corporate communication as a system of strategic communication management which focuses attention on relationships as core business assets for competitive strength and quality of working life is explored. A number of models are offered as explanation for the evolution in sophistication from discrete communication functions to coincident domains within a corporate communication system. BP Oil is well advanced in moving from the former to operating the latter for strategic communication management.

Development and expansion of the communication management function in organizations has recently been discussed in relation to the concept of institutionalization. Empirical evidence has illustrated that the role of communication executives and communication managers varies between organizations, and could also be subjected to change within an organization. The purpose of this paper is to conceptualize institutionalization of communication management as a process. It aims to develop a theoretical framework that integrates important factors that influence and regulate this process.

A literature review resulted in a number of factors potentially influencing the institutionalization process. These factors were attributed to three main theoretical areas and four different levels of analysis, using institutional theory as a guiding framework. The theoretical areas and analysis levels, were proposed to be mutually interdependent, and were compiled in a theoretical framework, illustrated in a model.

The theoretical framework includes three main areas: organizational structure, social capital, and perceptions of the profession; and four levels of analysis: the societal, the organizational field, the organizational and the individual levels.

This paper contributes to the study of institutionalization of communication management in organizations by providing a theoretical framework, which can be used to further investigate the development of the communication function and the role of communication executives and communication managers in organizations. By conceptualizing institutionalization of communication management as a process, and exploring and defining the important elements that influence and regulate this process, an important theoretical contribution to the field is made.

Given that staff‐management relationships are a core concern for communication management, upward feedback is emerging as a key theme in the literature. It is, however, most often associated with upward appraisal. This study looks at upward feedback in a more general sense, and in particular at whether such feedback is critical or positive in its response to senior management decisions. One hundred and forty‐six staff within a health care organisation (HCO) were surveyed, using a depth communication audit instrument. Fifteen staff were also interviewed in detail, and six focus groups each composed of six people were also convened. The results indicated that informal upward feedback was mostly absent; that where it occurred the feedback was inaccurately positive; that senior managers were unaware of such distortions and unwilling to contemplate the possibility that they did indeed exist; that they had an exaggerated impression of how much upward feedback they received; and that they discouraged the transmission of critical feedback. The implications for the practice of communication management, the development of upward influence within organisations and general theoretical reasons for distortions in feedback processes are considered.

The purpose of this paper is to identify factors influencing an organization’s predisposition to bridging strategy, and tests relationships between those factors and bridging strategy.

Online survey was conducted in South Korea. Hierarchical regression was used.

Identified factors are environmental complexity, top management attitude toward stakeholders, analysis orientation, and authoritarian culture.

By adopting the concept and measures of bridging as an organization’s public-engagement strategy, this study was able to capture an organization’s strategic approach for problem-solving in communication management.

Strong analysis orientation allows organizations to look into problems in their complex environments affecting their performance and their key stakeholders before deciding on strategies; resultantly, they are more likely to reduce problems and to improve their performance. In contrast, authoritarian culture discourages an organization’s adoption of bridging strategy.

This study is the first empirical study investigating the dynamics of factors influencing organizations’ strategic predisposition in communication management.

Briefly reviews previous literature by the author before presenting an original 12 step system integration protocol designed to ensure the success of companies or countries in their efforts to develop and market new products. Looks at the issues from different strategic levels such as corporate, international, military and economic. Presents 31 case studies, including the success of Japan in microchips to the failure of Xerox to sell its invention of the Alto personal computer 3 years before Apple: from the success in DNA and Superconductor research to the success of Sunbeam in inventing and marketing food processors: and from the daring invention and production of atomic energy for survival to the successes of sewing machine inventor Howe in co‐operating on patents to compete in markets. Includes 306 questions and answers in order to qualify concepts introduced.

The purpose of this paper is to clarify and demonstrate the core contributions of communication departments to organizational success beyond traditional ideas of messaging or information distribution. The main aim is to develop a better understanding of the different facets of value that the communication function delivers by introducing a distinction between strategic and operational contributions, following established management models.

The research is based on an extensive literature review at the nexus of communication management and strategic management research and ten qualitative case studies in large, internationally operating German organizations from different industries, combining in-depth interviews and document analyses.

The newly developed Communications Contributions Framework demonstrates that communications serve the corporation in four strategic and operational dimensions and emphasizes the critical role of communications in reflecting and adjusting organizational strategies, i.e. through identifying opportunities to innovate or securing intangible assets.

The paper outlines different application scenarios for how the new framework can be used in practice, i.e. as a multi-faceted rationale for explaining the impact of communication departments in the language of top management and reporting communication success in the logic of business.

The framework provides the first theoretically and empirically based “big picture” of communications’ contributions to corporate success, designed to lay ground for further discussions both in academia and in practice.

The purpose of this article is to introduce the research field of management tools to communication management scholarship and open up new avenues for the field.

The first part examines established knowledge from the strategic management literature about management tools as a means to support and facilitate organizational decision-making. The second part reports on a survey among 125 communication practitioners in corporate communication departments about the use of 32 tools for the analysis, planning, implementation and evaluation of communication.

The study sheds light on the perceived relevance and benefits of tools, as well as on knowledge and satisfaction and on general patterns of tool use. The findings demonstrate that tools are gaining in importance, but there is a lack of understanding, training and documentation of tools. Tools for planning and implementing communication are most widely spread, reflecting the operational focus of corporate communication.

Practitioners find value in the compilation of the most popular tools and implications on how to reflect about tool usage and outcomes.

The article provides directions for future research and reflects about tools as a means to bridge the divide between theory and practice.