Communication Management
- LAST REVIEWED: 14 September 2023
- LAST MODIFIED: 26 February 2020
- DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780199756841-0244
- LAST REVIEWED: 14 September 2023
- LAST MODIFIED: 26 February 2020
- DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780199756841-0244
Introduction
The question of what comprises communication management has caused numerous discussions among communication scholars representing different theoretical and disciplinary angles. Communication management is generally defined as steering communication processes in organizational contexts along the phases of analyzing, planning, organizing, executing, and evaluating with the aim of contributing to organizational goals and value creation. The term has however often been interpreted in different ways, and it is used inconsistently throughout the literature: first, as an umbrella term for all types of goal-oriented communication encompassing the related concepts of public relations, corporate communication, or strategic communication; second, as an equivalent or as a replacement for the term public relations; third, as a specific stream of research within these fields in the tradition of managerial functionalism. In view of the inconsistent use of terminology, scholars have discussed what uniquely defines and distinguishes the concept of communication management from public relations, corporate communication, or strategic communication. The field of communication management does not have its own distinct monographs, anthologies, or textbooks per se, but continues to share close ties with the disciplines mentioned above. Therefore, this entry aims to offer a broad collection of references relevant to the discussion of communication management. Characteristic of communication management scholarship is the theoretical orientation toward management research and the empirical reflection of how communication professionals manage the organization’s communication with stakeholders and publics. The core contribution of a managerial understanding of communication is the notion that communication management is an organizational function embedded in the overall governance and steering of an entity, oriented toward securing the efficiency and effectiveness of all activities and the sustained increase in value of the organization. At base, such a managerial logic applies to all forms of communication (internal or external, media or customer relations, marketing or product communications, etc.), all instruments of communication (campaign, program, channel, etc.), and all types of organizations (companies, governmental institutions, non-profits, etc.). Whereas communication goals or target stakeholders will inevitably vary depending on the type of organization and the publics involved, the basic processes for managing the function will remain the same. Typical research endeavors in this tradition focus on questions related to different aspects and phases of the management process, such as: formulation and alignment of communication strategies and plans; structures and resources of communication departments; implementation of communication programs and messages; professional roles and types of leadership; evaluation and measurement of communication success and value creation through communication; specific professional tasks such as managing crisis communication and reputation, or planning integrated communication; usage of methods, tools, and frameworks in practice.
Reference Works
There are currently two encyclopedias that encompass a plethora of aspects related to communication management. Heath 2013 is specifically focused on the theory and history of public relations scholarship, while Heath and Johansen 2018 is located in the growing research field of strategic communication.
Heath, Robert L., ed. 2013. Encyclopedia of public relations. 2 vols. 2d ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
The second edition of the two-volume Encyclopedia of Public Relations, first published in 2005, contains nearly 450 entries spanning all aspects of the public relations field, including concepts and theories, history of the profession, changing practices, and key practitioners. It was and remains the first and most authoritative compilation on public relations, and includes many articles focusing on managing public relations or—in a broader sense—any communication activities of organizations.
Heath, Robert L., and Winni Johansen, eds. 2018. The international encyclopedia of strategic communication. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley.
The three-volume International Encyclopedia of Strategic Communication, written by a multidisciplinary team of authors, provides a broad overview of strategic communication research, including theory, definitions, concepts, and professional trends alongside a specific focus on the four major areas of strategy, organization, management, and sociocultural impact. It examines strategic communication from different scholarly perspectives and addresses a diverse readership, including academics and professionals in communication management, public relations, corporate communication, or marketing. Aspects of managing communications are discussed in many articles.
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Article
- Accounting Communication
- Acculturation Processes and Communication
- Action Assembly Theory
- Action-Implicative Discourse Analysis
- Activist Media
- Adherence and Communication
- Adolescence and the Media
- Advertisements, Televised Political
- Advertising
- Advertising, Children and
- Advertising, International
- Advocacy Journalism
- Agenda Setting
- Annenberg, Walter H.
- Apologies and Accounts
- Applied Communication Research Methods
- Argumentation
- Artificial Intelligence (AI) Advertising
- Attitude-Behavior Consistency
- Audience Fragmentation
- Audience Studies
- Authoritarian Societies, Journalism in
- Bakhtin, Mikhail
- Bandwagon Effect
- Baudrillard, Jean
- Blockchain and Communication
- Blogs
- Bourdieu, Pierre
- Brand Equity
- British and Irish Magazine, History of the
- Broadcasting, Public Service
- Capture, Media
- Castells, Manuel
- Celebrity and Public Persona
- Censorship
- Civic Duty
- Civil Rights Movement and the Media, The
- CNN
- Co-Cultural Theory and Communication
- Codes and Cultural Discourse Analysis
- Cognitive Dissonance
- Collective Memory, Communication and
- Comedic News
- Communication Apprehension
- Communication Campaigns
- Communication, Definitions and Concepts of
- Communication History
- Communication Law
- Communication Management
- Communication Networks
- Communication, Philosophy of
- Community Attachment
- Community Journalism
- Community Structure Approach
- Computational Journalism
- Computer-Mediated Communication
- Content Analysis
- Corporate Social Responsibility and Communication
- Crisis Communication
- Critical and Cultural Studies
- Critical Race Theory and Communication
- Cross-tools and Cross-media Effects
- Cultivation
- Cultural and Creative Industries
- Cultural Imperialism Theories
- Cultural Mapping
- Cultural Persuadables
- Cultural Pluralism and Communication
- Cyberpolitics
- 3D Media
- Death, Dying, and Communication
- Debates, Televised
- Deliberation
- Developmental Communication
- Diffusion of Innovations
- Digital Divide
- Digital Gender Diversity
- Digital Intimacies
- Digital Literacy
- Diplomacy, Public
- Distributed Work, Comunication and
- Documentary and Communication
- E-democracy/E-participation
- E-Government
- Elaboration Likelihood Model
- Electronic Word-of-Mouth (eWOM)
- Embedded Coverage
- Entertainment
- Entertainment-Education
- Environmental Communication
- Ethnic Media
- Ethnography of Communication
- Experiments
- Families, Multicultural
- Family Communication
- Federal Communications Commission
- Feminist and Queer Game Studies
- Feminist Data Studies
- Feminist Journalism
- Feminist Theory
- Focus Groups
- Food Studies and Communication
- Freedom of the Press
- Friendships, Intercultural
- Gatekeeping
- Gender and the Media
- Global Englishes
- Global Media, History of
- Global Media Organizations
- Glocalization
- Goffman, Erving
- Habermas, Jürgen
- Habituation and Communication
- Health Communication
- Hegemony
- Hermeneutic Communication Studies
- Heuristics
- Homelessness and Communication
- Hook-Up and Dating Apps
- Hostile Media Effect
- Identification with Media Characters
- Identity, Cultural
- Image Repair Theory
- Implicit Measurement
- Impression Management
- Indexing
- Infographics
- Information and Communication Technology for Development
- Information Management
- Information Overload
- Information Processing
- Infotainment
- Innis, Harold
- Instructional Communication
- Integrated Marketing Communications
- Interactivity
- Intercultural Capital
- Intercultural Communication
- Intercultural Communication, Tourism and
- Intercultural Communication, Worldview in
- Intercultural Competence
- Intercultural Conflict Mediation
- Intercultural Dialogue
- Intercultural New Media
- Intergenerational Communication
- Intergroup Communication
- International Communications
- Interpersonal Communication
- Interpersonal LGBTQ Communication
- Interpretation/Reception
- Interpretive Communities
- Journalism
- Journalism, Accuracy in
- Journalism, Alternative
- Journalism and Trauma
- Journalism, Citizen
- Journalism, Citizen, History of
- Journalism Ethics
- Journalism, Interpretive
- Journalism, Peace
- Journalism, Tabloid
- Journalists, Violence against
- Knowledge Gap
- Language Ecology
- Lazarsfeld, Paul
- Leadership and Communication
- LGBTQ+ Family Communication
- LGBTQ+ People and Media Industries
- Mass Communication
- McLuhan, Marshall
- Media Activism
- Media Aesthetics
- Media and Time
- Media Bias
- Media Convergence
- Media Credibility
- Media Dependency
- Media Ecology
- Media Economics
- Media Economics, Theories of
- Media, Educational
- Media Effects
- Media Ethics
- Media Events
- Media Exposure Measurement
- Media, Gays and Lesbians in the
- Media Literacy
- Media Logic
- Media Management
- Media Policy and Governance
- Media Regulation
- Media, Social
- Media Sociology
- Media Streaming
- Media Systems Theory
- Merton, Robert K.
- Message Characteristics and Persuasion
- Mobile Communication Studies
- Muckraking
- Multimodal Discourse Analysis, Approaches to
- Multinational Organizations, Communication and Culture in
- Murdoch, Rupert
- Narrative
- Narrative Engagement
- Narrative Persuasion
- Net Neutrality
- News, Fake
- News Framing
- News Media Coverage of Women
- NGOs, Communication and
- Online Campaigning
- Open Access
- Organizational Change and Organizational Change Communicat...
- Organizational Communication
- Organizational Communication, Aging and
- Parasocial Theory in Communication
- Participation, Civic/Political
- Participatory Action Research
- Patient-Provider Communication
- Peacebuilding and Communication
- Perceived Realism
- Personalized Communication
- Persuasion and Social Influence
- Persuasion, Resisting
- Photojournalism
- Political Advertising
- Political Communication, Normative Analysis of
- Political Economy
- Political Knowledge
- Political Marketing
- Political Scandals
- Political Socialization
- Polls, Opinion
- Priming
- Product Placement
- Propaganda
- Proxemics
- Public Interest Communication
- Public Opinion
- Public Relations
- Public Sphere
- Queer Intercultural Communication
- Queer Migration and Digital Media
- Race and Communication
- Racism and Communication
- Radio Studies
- Reality Television
- Reasoned Action Frameworks
- Religion and the Media
- Reporting, Investigative
- Rhetoric and Communication
- Rhetoric and Intercultural Communication
- Rhetoric and Social Movements
- Rhetoric, Religious
- Rhetoric, Visual
- Risk Communication
- Rumor and Communication
- Schramm, Wilbur
- Science Communication
- Scripps, E. W.
- Selective Exposure
- Semiotics
- Sense-Making/Sensemaking
- Sesame Street
- Sex in the Media
- Small-Group Communication
- Social Capital
- Social Change
- Social Cognition
- Social Construction
- Social Identity Theory and Communication
- Social Interaction
- Social Movements
- Social Network Analysis
- Social Protest
- Sports Communication
- Stereotypes
- Strategic Communication
- Superdiversity
- Surveillance and Communication
- Symbolic Interactionism in Communication
- Synchrony in Intercultural Communication
- Tabloidization
- Telecommunications History/Policy
- Television
- Television, Cable
- Textual Analysis and Communication
- Third Culture Kids
- Third-Person Effect
- Time Warner
- Transgender Media Studies
- Transmedia Storytelling
- Two-Step Flow
- UNESCO
- United Nations and Communication
- Urban Communication
- Uses and Gratifications
- Video
- Video Deficit
- Video Games and Communication
- Violence in the Media
- Virtual Reality and Communication
- Visual Communication
- Web 2.0
- Web3 and Communication
- Web Archiving
- Webcare
- Whistleblowing
- Whiteness Theory in Intercultural Communication
- WikiLeaks
- Youth and Media
- Zines and Communication