Week 1 Discussion

According to the readings this week, the term strategic communication means a variety of different things, and it depends on your positio in an organization as to what strategic communication means for you. From my understanding of the readings, it seems the term strategic communication is a little all over the place, and there is not one nailed down definition for one specific type. In order to give the term more validation, I feel that it should be backed in theory so it can be thoroughly referenced between multiple companies and have a clear definition.

 Hallahan et al say the term strategic communication has taken on a myriad of meanings, and that there is even some backlash to the word strategic since people still liken it to war and physical combat (Hallahan et al, 2007).  Over the years, many corporations have adopted strategic communication and communication plans of some sort.

“By the beginning of the 21^st century, practically all corporations and most non-profit organizations in the United States, the European Union, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa had organized formal communication programs” (Hallahan et al, p. 16, 2007).

According to Belasen in Historical Foundations of Corporate Communication, there are many articles on a range of communication topics in a top communication magazine, including investor relations, customer relations, media relations, advertising, and so on. However, Belasen notes that each writer took a different stance and had a different audience for each article.  Looking at this piece, it’s clear to see how everyone has these ideas of corporate communication and strategic communication on a broad scale, but it has yet to be molded into a “one size fits all” term.

I believe the reason there is so much information on corporate communication is because in a corporate workspace, communication can mean many different things. For example, someone in the public relations department implements new way to brand the company and communicate appropriately with the public, while someone in the technical department of the company may be at a computer writing html code all day. In that sense, it’s difficult to compare the communication tactics since the end goals of each position are very different. I believe the role of strategic communication in that since can be looked at on a broad spectrum for the entire company as a whole, but then would need to be divided down to specific goals for each department.

As stated earlier, strategic communication should have more of a theory backing to so each corporation is on the same page when it comes to what is best for the company, but I also believe it should be broken down by each department so it fits accordingly.  Strategic communication does not have to be a right or wrong answer, but there should be steps in place in order to get each department to meet their goals so the company can succeed overall.

Belasen, A. (2007). Corporate communication as a field of study and a community of practice. In The theory and practice of corporate communication (pp. 3-8). New York: Sage.

Hallahan, Kirk, Holtzhausen, Derina, van Ruler, Betteke, Veri, Dejan and Sriramesh, Krishnamurthy (2007). Defining Strategic Communication. International Journal of Strategic Communication,1(1),3-35.