The subject of the organisation of a company's external communications has been
characterised by enduring debate exemplified in the discussions on the relationship
between marketing and public relations as well as, more recently, in arguments for
a greater "integration" or interaction between and consolidation of a company's
communication disciplines. Despite this prolific attention to communication organi
sation in the literature, having resulted in a number of normative prescriptions
and suggestions, there has been little if any actual empirical research on aspects
of communication organisation across companies. Moreover, within the little prior
empirical research, scant attention has been given, firstly, to conceptual develop
ment in the sense of defining constructs and developing valid measures of commu
nication organisation, and, secondly, to the contextual factors that may make a
particular organisational arrangement of communication disciplines either more or
less appropriate for a particular company. This paper therefore develops and tests
a number of literature-derived propositions relating organisational dimensions to
conditions in a company's internal and external environments. Findings of an
exploratory empirical study show that the organisational relationship (in the form
of different types of interaction and their degree of formalisation) between the two
primary departments involved in a company's external communication programmes
are correlated with such internal environmental conditions as the departments'
domain similarity and resource dependence, as well as the prevailing organisa
tional norms and cultural conditions within a company.
Argenti, P.A. (1998). Corporate communication (2nd ed.). Boston: McGraw-Hill.
2.
Blau, P.M., & Schoenherr, R.A. (1971). The structure of organizations . New York: Basic Books.
3.
Bosman, C.M. (1997). Organisational change, management capital and business success: An empirical investigation of firm performance in the Dutch advertising industry 1984-1994. Published doctoral dissertation, University of Maastricht, The Netherlands.
4.
Broom, G.M., Lauzen, M.M., & Tucker, K. (1991). Public relations and marketing: Dividing the conceptual domain and operational turf. Public Relations Review, 17, 219-225.
5.
Carroll, A.B. (1989). Business and society: Ethics and stakeholder management . Cincinnati, OH: South-Western.
6.
Caywood, C., & Ewing, R. (1991). Integrated marketing communications: A new master's degree concept. Public Relations Review, 17, 237-244.
7.
Chaffee, S.H. (1991). Explication (communication concepts 1)Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
8.
Churchill, G.A. (1979). A paradigm for developing better measures of marketing constructs. Journal of Marketing Research, 16, 64-73.
9.
Cornelissen, J.P., & Lock, A.R. (2000a). The organizational relationship between marketing and public relations: Exploring paradigmatic viewpoints. Journal of Marketing Communications, 6, 231-245.
10.
Cornelissen, J.P., & Lock, A.R. (2000b). Theoretical concept or management fashion: Examining the significance of integrated marketing communications. Journal of Advertising Research, 40(5), 7-15.
11.
Cornelissen, J., Lock, A., & Gardner, H. (2001). The organisation of external communication disciplines: An integrative framework of dimensions and determinants. International Journal of Advertising, 20(1), 67-88.
12.
Dowling, G.R. (1994). Searching for a new advertising agency: A client perspective. International Journal of Advertising, 13, 229-242.
13.
Dozier, D.M., & Grunig, L.A. (1992). The Organization of the Public Relations Function . In J. E. Grunig (Ed.), Excellence in Public Relations and Communication Management (pp. 395-417). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Dun and Bradstreet (1997). Key British enterprises 1997: Britain's top 500 companies, volume 6: British business rankings. Buchs: Dun and Bradstreet .
16.
Duncan, T., & Caywood, C. (1996). Concept, process, and evolution of IMC. In E. Thorson & J. Moore (Eds.), Integrated communication: Synergy of persuasive voices (pp. 13-34). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
17.
Duncan, T., & Moriarty, S. (1997). Driving brand value: Integrated marketing to drive stakeholder relationships. New York: McGraw-Hill.
18.
Ehling, W.P., White, J., & Grunig, J.E. (1992). Public relations and marketing practices. In J. E. Grunig (Ed.), Excellence in public relations and communication management (pp. 357-383). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
19.
Fisher, R.J., Maltz, E., & Jaworski, B.J. (1997). Enhancing communication between marketing and engineering: The moderating role of relative functional identification. Journal of Marketing, 1, 54-70.
20.
Freeman, R.E. (1984). Strategic management: A stakeholder approach. Boston: Pitman.
21.
Gronstedt, A. (1996a). Integrated communications at America's leading total quality management corporations. Public Relations Review , 22, 25-42.
22.
Gronstedt, A. (1996b). Integrating marketing communication and public relations: A stakeholder relations model. In E. Thorson & J. Moore (Eds.), Integrated communication: Synergy of persuasive voices (pp. 287-304). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
23.
Gronstedt, A., & Thorson, E. (1996). Five approaches to organize an integrated marketing communications agency. Journal of Advertising Research, 36, 48-58.
24.
Grunig, J.E., & Grunig, L.A. (1998). The relationship between public relations and marketing in excellent organizations: Evidence from the IABC study. Journal of Marketing Communications, 4, 141-162.
25.
Grunig, L.A. (1989). Horizontal structure in public relations: An exploratory study of departmental differentiation. In J. E. Grunig & L. A. Grunig (Eds.), Public relations research annual (Vol. 1, pp. 175-196). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
26.
Grunig, L.A. (1992). How public relations/communication departments should adapt to the structure and environment of an organisation ... and what they actually do. In J. E. Grunig (Ed.), Excellence in public relations and communication management (pp. 467-481). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
27.
Heath, R.L. (1994). Management of corporate communication: From interpersonal contacts to external affairs. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
28.
Hollis Europe (1997). Hollis Europe: The directory of European public relations & public relations networks. Middlesex, UK: Hollis Directories.
29.
Johnson, J.D., & Chang, H. (2000). Internal and external communication, boundary spanning, and innovation adoption: An over-time comparison of three explanations of internal and external innovation communication in a new organizational form. The Journal of Business Communication, 37, 238-263.
30.
Kitchen, P.J. (1993). The developing use of public relations in fast-moving consumer goods firms. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Keele University, Staffordshire, UK.
31.
Kotler, P., & Mindak, W. (1978). Marketing and public relations: should they be partners or rivals? Journal of Marketing, 42, 13-20.
32.
Lauzen, M.M. (1993). When marketing involvement matters at the manager level. Public Relations Review, 19, 247-259.
33.
Lindlof, T.R. (1995). Qualitative communication research methods. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
34.
Maltz, E., & Kohli, A.K. (1996). Market intelligence dissemination across functional boundaries. Journal of Marketing Research, 33, 47-61.
35.
Miller, D.A., & Rose, P.B. (1994). Integrated communications: A look at reality instead of theory. Public Relations Quarterly, 39, 13-16.
36.
Moriarty, S.E. (1994). PR and IMC: The benefits of integration. Public Relations Quarterly, 39, 38-44.
37.
Moss, D.A., Warnaby, G., & Thame, L. (1996). Tactical publicity or strategic relationship management? An exploratory investigation of the role of public relations in the UK retail sector. European Journal of Marketing, 30, 69-84.
38.
Nunnally, J.C., & Bernstein, I.H. (1994). Psychometric theory (3rd ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.
39.
Olasky, M.N. (1987). Corporate public relations: A new historical perspective . Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum .
40.
Oppenheim, A.N. (1992). Questionnaire design, interviewing, and attitude measurement (2nd ed.). London : Pinter.
41.
Rao, H. ( 1997). The rise of investor relations departments in the Fortune 500 industrials. Corporate Reputation Review, 1, 172-177.
42.
Ruekert, R.W., & Walker, O.C. (1987). Marketing's interaction with other functional units: A conceptual framework and empirical evidence. Journal of Marketing, 51, 1-19.
43.
Schultz, D.E., Tannenbaum, S.I., & Lauterborn, R.F. (1993). The new marketing paradigm: Integrated marketing communications. Lincolnwood, IL: NTC.
44.
Sriramesh, K., Grunig, J.E., & Buffington, J. (1992). Corporate culture and public relations. In J. E. Grunig (Ed.), Excellence in public relations and communication management (pp. 577-595). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
45.
Van Leuven, J. (1991a). Corporate organizing strategies and the scope of public relations departments. Public Relations Review, 17, 279-291.
46.
Van Leuven, J. (1991b). Public relations and marketing: An overview. Public Relations Review, 17, 215-217.
47.
Van Riel, C.B.M. (1995). Principles of corporate communication. London: Prentice Hall.
48.
Workman, J.P., Homburg, C., & Gruner, K. (1998). Marketing organization: An integrative framework of dimensions and determinants. Journal of Marketing, 62, 21-41.
