Purpose Artificial intelligence is increasingly embedded in strategic communication infrastructures, yet limited empirical research has examined the institutional conditions under which AI contributes to communication effectiveness. This study develops and tests a socio-technical, governance-centered model examining how AI professional competency, organizational AI support, perceived value of AI and perceived AI-related risk relate to communication effectiveness among public relations professionals in the United Arab Emirates. Design/methodology/approach A cross-sectional quantitative survey was conducted among 234 public relations and communication professionals in the UAE. The study employed validated multi-item measures to assess AI professional competency, organizational AI support, perceived value of AI, perceived AI-related risk, and communication effectiveness. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, independent-samples t-tests, one-way ANOVA, Pearson correlation, hierarchical multiple regression and reliability analysis. Findings Organizational AI support emerged as the only significant predictor of communication effectiveness, explaining substantial variance beyond organizational controls. AI professional competency, perceived value of AI and perceived AI-related risk did not exert independent effects in the regression model. No significant differences were found across AI training exposure or organizational sectors. The findings demonstrate that governance structures, leadership commitment, and institutional readiness are more influential than individual competencies or technology perceptions in explaining AI-enabled communication effectiveness. Research limitations/implications The study is limited to a cross-sectional survey of communication professionals in the UAE and therefore cannot establish causal relationships or be generalized to all national contexts. The reliance on self-reported perceptions may also introduce response bias. Future research should employ longitudinal and cross-national designs and incorporate objective organizational performance measures to further examine how governance frameworks influence AI-enabled communication effectiveness. Practical implications The findings suggest that organizations seeking to enhance communication effectiveness through AI should prioritize institutional enablement over technology acquisition alone. Leadership commitment, governance frameworks, organizational support and ethical oversight appear more critical than individual AI competency in translating technological capabilities into communication performance. The study offers practical guidance for communication leaders developing AI governance strategies within digitally mediated organizational environments. Social implications Effective AI integration in strategic communication requires governance structures that promote transparency, accountability, and responsible organizational use. Strengthening institutional support for AI can improve communication quality while helping organizations address ethical challenges, misinformation risks, and stakeholder trust in digitally mediated environments. These findings contribute to broader discussions on responsible AI adoption in communication practice. Originality/value This study advances strategic communication scholarship by conceptualizing AI as a governance-conditioned communicative capability rather than merely a technological resource. Drawing on a socio-technical systems perspective, it demonstrates that institutional enablement – rather than professional competency or perceived technological value – is the principal mechanism linking AI integration to communication effectiveness. The study extends digital corporate communication research by providing empirical evidence from the UAE and offering a governance-centered explanation of AI-enabled communication performance.
Purpose This study explores public relations (PR) consultants' interpretation, prioritisation and application of instructing and adjusting information – the base response strategies prescribed by situational crisis communication theory (SCCT). Design/methodology/approach Based on semi-structured interviews with senior PR consultants in Johannesburg, South Africa, the study adopts an interpretivist design to explore consultants' reasoning, constraints and strategic judgements. Findings While South African PR consultants strongly endorse base responses as ethically and strategically crucial, their tone, calibration and blending of instructing and adjusting information vary by crisis type. Guidance and reassurance dominate victim crises, regret is emphasised in accidental crises, and responses become more explicitly apologetic and corrective in preventable crises. Legal advice, client risk aversion and media pressures frequently disrupt ideal sequencing, suggesting that deviations from SCCT prescriptions may result from structural constraints rather than practitioner neglect. Originality/value Providing rare Global South, practitioner-centred insight, the study reconceptualises base responses as crisis-type-calibrated professional judgements rather that static message features, extending SCCT by showing how perceived crisis responsibility shapes the tone and integration of instructing and adjusting information under real-world constraints.
Purpose Everyday workplace dining conversations function as a form of informal organizational communication within the US public relations industry. Drawing on Bourdieu's concepts of cultural capital, habitus, and taste, the study explores how conversational norms enacted during shared meals shape professional belonging, civility, and interactional boundaries in contemporary communication workplaces. Design/methodology/approach Semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with 23 US public relations practitioners working across organizational sectors. Interview data were thematically analyzed and interpreted abductively to identify retrospective accounts of conversational practices, social background, and cultural dispositions shaping workplace interaction during shared meals. Findings Workplace dining conversations were marked by a high degree of neutrality, professionalism, and conversational restraint, with discussion largely confined to work-related topics or light personal exchange. Rather than generating exclusion or conflict, shared meals reproduced a homogeneous communicative environment reflecting shared middle-class habitus and professional norms among practitioners. These dynamics are conceptualized as a form of “vanilla” workplace culture, in which civility, moderation, and safety regulate informal organizational communication. Originality/value The study contributes to communication management scholarship by demonstrating how mundane interactional settings, such as workplace dining, operate as informal mechanisms through which professional communication norms and symbolic belonging are reproduced. The findings apply Bourdieusian theory in the organizational communication context and offer insight into how civility and neutrality function as communicative resources within public relations workplaces.
Purpose This study analyzed how online publics advanced three disparate issue-oriented narratives during #NetflixWalkout. Drawing on social identity theory, antecedents/consequences of identification, rhetorical identification strategies and collective action, tweets from each narrative were dissected to determine how publics used communicative actions to signal identification and advance their respective issue-oriented narrative. Design/methodology/approach Content analysis of 1,000 tweets. Findings Analysis showed that each narrative displayed a distinct identity shaped by the contributions of its participants. Findings elucidate connections between the theoretical frameworks that explain how divergent narratives emerge in a hashtag activism campaign. Originality/value This study presents a conceptual model for analyzing online issue-oriented discourse and highlights the ways in which intended and divergent narratives develop around a hashtag activism campaign.
PurposeThe significance of dialogic and participatory methods for effective learning has been widely recognized. The objective of this paper is to present three distinct pedagogical approaches – collaborative inquiry, the flipped classroom and case-based learning – and to evaluate their respective merits and limitations in teaching strategic communication. The intention is to address the specific needs of students pursuing a minor in communication, as well as those in programs where they may have limited exposure to communication units, as is often the case in business schools. Design/methodology/approachThe paper presents a foundation, application and evaluation of the three pedagogical approaches and their combination. FindingsThe paper proposes recommendations for the implementation of three pedagogical approaches in the context of strategic communication and offers an evaluation of the benefits and challenges these approaches present for instructors and learners. The paper argues that pedagogical leadership is necessary to enhance the effectiveness of new pedagogical teaching modes. Practical implicationsThe paper offers practical advice for instructors interested in using collaborative inquiry, flipped classroom or case-based teaching methods in strategic communication courses. Originality/valueThe paper presents pedagogical approaches that are applicable to the enhancement of students’ motivation, engagement and learning in strategic communication, organizational communication, or public relations study units.
PurposeThe purpose of this study is to explore the roles that researchers and communicators adopt when they interact with each other in the context of science communication. By using role theory as a theoretical lens, the study focuses on how these roles are shaped in various situations based on researchers’ and communicators’ motivations and expectations of their own and each other’s roles in science communication. Design/methodology/approachThis study employs a qualitative, interview-based research design. Fifteen interviews with researchers and communicators working at a small university in Sweden were conducted. The interviews were structured around four real life constructs (RLCs), which enabled participants to reflect on concrete science communication situations related to newsworthiness, message, prioritization and visibility, allowing their motivations and expectations to surface. FindingsResearchers and communicators navigate multiple and overlapping roles shaped by context and interactions. The Gatekeeper and Supporter roles are related to communicators, while researchers adopt the Personal brand builder role. The roles of Networker, Partner, Coach and Co-opetitor are shared across both professional groups. The adoption of these seven roles illustrates role multiplicity and fluidity. Originality/valueThis study captures how two professional groups perceive their own and each other’s roles by using RLCs that depict specific science communication situations. Understanding the roles adopted by researchers and communicators while interacting with each other is valuable for universities addressing organizational challenges related to science communication and its impact.
Purpose Chief communication officers (CCOs) face increasingly complex challenges due to dynamic developments in the technological, sociopolitical and economic spheres. Consequently, they are forced to continuously develop their competencies to innovate at a high speed, future-proof their teams and create communication excellence. While learning on the leadership level is well-studied from a management perspective, little is known about how CCOs practice managerial learning, the challenges they experience and how they manage and evaluate these obstacles. This study tries to fill this knowledge gap. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative approach was applied to explore this under-researched topic. In-depth interviews with a sample of 30 CCOs from the 300 largest European companies were conducted, covering 10 different countries. The qualitative design was supported by a standardized pre-questionnaire. Findings The interviewees recognize the need for continuous learning, but their activities are mainly limited to peer exchange and experimentation. While the professional discourse is often driven by agency studies that many do not take seriously, academic research is seen as disconnected from practice. Structured learning opportunities for experienced communication leaders are scarce, which might explain why most interviewees acquire additional competencies in general management but not in corporate communications. Originality/value This empirical study is the first to examine how CCOs develop their competencies. It highlights the significance of managerial learning for advancing corporate communications and explores the challenges leaders face in adopting different learning styles. The findings reveal both strengths and gaps in existing learning practices, offering valuable insights for academic research and professional discourse.
Purpose - Following his acquisition of Twitter, Elon Musk's conduct towards journalists, employees and other stakeholders has been widely characterised as openly contemptuous. From the perspective of stakeholder and communication management theories, such leadership is problematic both normatively and in terms of organisational performance. However, Musk's conduct is not simply a case of managerial failure but reflects a distinct managerial and normative orientation grounded in Ayn Rand's Objectivism. Design/methodology/approach - Using an interpretive approach, the article analyses Ayn Rand's Objectivism as a management fashion, a political ideology and a value system embedded in platform governance and infrastructure. This lens illuminates how Objectivist principles align with Musk's leadership of X (formerly Twitter) and, more broadly, with patterns of Silicon Valley platform governance - specifically through an emphasis on self-interest, resistance to regulation, rejection of altruism and an absolutist conception of free speech. Findings - The analysis indicates that Musk's actions align closely with Randian ideals. He can further be interpreted as an embodiment of Randian archetypes such as Howard Roark and John Galt - figures characterised by the rejection of obligations towards others and resistance to external interference. Rand's influence thus emerges as a largely implicit but structurally significant force shaping leadership communication and governance norms in the tech industry. Originality/value - The article advances an original interpretation of communication and management practices in the tech industry as a coherent normative alternative to prevailing communication and stakeholder ethics, grounded in key principles of Ayn Rand's Objectivism - a philosophical strand largely overlooked in communication and stakeholder research, particularly in European scholarship.
Purpose The article suggests that decision-making, and especially epistemic duties in the formation of a basis for sound decision-making, should receive more attention in the didactics and pedagogy of strategy communication. Design/methodology/approach The article is conceptual-theoretical in nature but takes inspiration from a prior analysis of course contents of English-speaking strategic communication programs around the world. Findings The authors argue that the interaction between academic theory and practice, on top of the interplay between strategy and ethics, is highly confusing for students of strategic communication. They suggest an understanding of strategic communication as a flow visible only through theoretical lenses, but warn against the dangers of adopting unreflected compromises. Originality/value The solution suggested is original in the sense that it builds on metamodern theory. Strategic communication will not become a coherent discipline by resolving the tensions, i.e. by developing a theory that integrates the problems of an applied discipline, but by learning to oscillate, and consequently also by teaching how to oscillate.
Purpose This study examines strategic issues, capabilities and professional development among communication professionals in three African countries, addressing a significant gap in global research on how capability development enhances practitioners' integration into organizational leadership. Design/methodology/approach A quantitative cross-sectional survey of 530 communication professionals across Ghana, Ethiopia and Tanzania assessed perceived strategic issues, channel importance, capability levels and training needs using an adapted questionnaire. Descriptive statistics and one-way ANOVA tests were used to analyze country-level differences. Findings Digital evolution and the social web emerged as dominant concerns, but capability development remained uneven. Professionals expressed greater competence in operational tasks, such as content delivery, but weaker performance in strategic positioning, financial management and measurement and evaluation. Ethiopia reported stronger analytical capabilities, while Ghana emphasized digital deployment and Tanzania interpersonal communication. Practitioners across the countries perceived a misalignment between development needs and organizational training support, with evaluation and strategic advisory roles receiving consistently lower self-assessment than operational capabilities. Originality/value The study extends global communication management scholarship by demonstrating that capability development is context-dependent rather than universal, with African institutional conditions advancing theory beyond a Western context.
PurposeThis study examines the impact of corporate identity on employee job satisfaction within retail organizations. Specifically, it investigates (a) the impact of corporate identity constructs on employee job satisfaction and (b) the relationship between corporate identity constructs and employee brand identification and their effect on employee job satisfaction.Design/methodology/approachThe study employs a mixed-methods research design that combines qualitative and quantitative methodologies. Semi-structured in-depth interviews with retail corporate directors supported by a literature review are conducted to develop a conceptual model. We then tested the theoretical model using empirical data collected from employees of retail organizations, and performed statistical data analysis using structural equation modeling.FindingsCorporate identity constructs are found to affect employee job satisfaction both directly and through the mediating role of corporate culture and the employee brand identification construct.Research limitations/implicationsThe study proposes an integrative conceptual model that incorporates constructs from the corporate identity, internal branding, and job satisfaction literature, which have often been viewed in isolation. However, future research could extend the corporate identity framework to assess the influence of the construct on other marketing or financial areas, such as reputation, word of mouth, and financial performance.Practical implicationsThe study indicates that decision-makers should be cautious about designing and implementing corporate identity strategies, as corporate identity directly impacts employees' perception of the organization they serve in.Originality/valueThe study enhances our understanding of how corporate identity affects job satisfaction and offers insights for internal branding by understanding the interplay between corporate identity, job satisfaction, and employee brand identification.
PurposeThis study examines the conditions and challenges faced by governments in communicating during prolonged, with the COVID-19 pandemic as the illustrative case. Particular attention is given to the perspectives of actors directly involved in communication efforts, especially in how they make sense of their experiences, challenges and strategies.Design/methodology/approachUsing an international comparative design, the study draws on in-depth interviews with 60 representatives from executive, public health and public relations sectors across six countries (Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States) and multiple levels of governance. The representatives were asked to describe the obstacles in government communication during the pandemic, how they sought to address them and the solutions they proposed for future protracted crises.FindingsThe findings reveal a wide range of intra-, inter- and extra-organizational challenges shaping crisis communication. More than 20 obstacles are identified and organized into four domains: (1) the nature of the crisis, (2) intra-organizational factors, (3) inter-agency and inter-governmental coordination and (4) a complex, multimodal and polarized communication environment. Despite this diversity, seven key challenges emerge consistently across countries and governance levels.Practical implicationsThe study proposes a framework that highlights structural and contextual factors shaping government crisis communication and provides strategic recommendations for improving communication in prolonged crises.Originality/valueBy foregrounding the perspectives of government communicators across countries (rare in existing research), this study offers a comparative, empirically grounded understanding of crisis communication challenges and advances theory through a typology and explanatory framework.
PurposeThis article problematizes the dominant functionalistic and organization-centric view of employees’ communication engagement on social media and challenges the assumption that such engagement merely reflects managerial success or failure. Adopting an employee-centered, relational approach, the study advances the understanding of employees’ communication engagement by foregrounding the tensions between competing meanings and discursive logics that shape communication (dis)engagement beyond the traditional employee–organization relationship. Design/methodology/approachAdopting a qualitative case study approach within a talent management program at a Swiss corporation, the empirical material was collected through 20 semi-structured interviews, supported by photo-elicitation and descriptive observations of participants’ LinkedIn profiles. FindingsThe study indicates that employees’ communication (dis)engagement on social media is embedded within three dialectical tensions rooted in their relationships with their organization, a broader professional network and the platform itself. The tensions arose from competing meanings around visibility, representation and boundaries. These tensions then fostered impression vulnerabilities – unresolvable dilemmas around employees’ impression management online – that often lead to disengagement. Research limitations/implicationsThe findings underscore the need for a relational understanding of employees’ communication (dis)engagement in the digital sphere that moves beyond managerial success or failure and foregrounds the communicative dynamics and relations shaping communication (dis)engagement. Practical implicationsThe study highlights the importance of organizational sensitivity to relational dynamics and the discursive struggles employees encounter when engaging on social media. Originality/valueThis study contributes to a critical, relational perspective on employees’ social media communication engagement, offering insights into the dialectical tensions that underpin their communication decisions.
Purpose This article proposes a conceptual extension of the READINESS model (Jin et al., 2024, 2025) by introducing well-being as a foundational, transversal dimension that underpins READINESS as a mindset, multilevel efficacy and dynamic process. Design/methodology/approach Anchored in insights from genAI risk research and communication theory, the well-being-enhanced READINESS model reframes READINESS as a human-centred capacity driven by emotional sustainability, psychological safety and ethical reflexivity. Findings By integrating leadership communication, perceived organisational support and health-oriented infrastructures, the model offers a more inclusive and sustainable roadmap for genAI READINESS. It challenges both theory and practice to recognise well-being as a strategic imperative in the face of technological disruption. Research limitations/implications The article concludes by outlining implications for communication research, leadership development and genAI governance, advocating for systemic support that bridges operational efficacy with emotional and ethical sustainability. Originality/value While traditional crisis management models focus on preparedness and resilience, they often overlook the psychosocial tolls imposed on communication professionals navigating genAI-mediated environments, where emotional strain, ethical ambiguity and cognitive overload converge.
PurposeThis study explores the integration of storyboarding and role-play, as authentic assessment methods, within a communications programme, to address the narrative of age inequity (Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 10).Design/methodology/approachThis action research considers the experience of 28 postgraduate students of an advertising communications programme at a British university. It synthesises literature on storyboarding, role-play and authentic assessment, and employs a phenomenographic approach to capture variations in students' responses to a communications brief.FindingsThe combination of storyboarding and role-play for authentic assessment effectively engages students in fostering creativity, critical thinking, presentation skills and peer-learning, resulting in high levels of participation, engagement and satisfaction. These methods serve as beneficial tools for encouraging students to self-reflect on their lived experiences of real-world challenges and develop self-efficacy, demonstrating variation in creative storyboard approaches to address age inequality (SDG 10) in role-play simulation.Research limitations/implicationsFuture research could consider how role-play and storyboarding, as authentic assessment methods, can address SDG challenges within communications across different student cohorts.Practical implicationsDrawing on the main findings from embedding storyboarding and role-play as authentic assessment methods, we advocate for six core characteristics that considers authentic assessment by design, utilising relevant real-world challenges to enhance engagement, understanding and competency, application of theory to practice, encouraging research active students, supporting the enhancement of creative freedom, embedding critical thinking and creativity and instilling opportunities for peer-learning and reflection.Originality/valueTo the authors' knowledge, this is the first study exploring the combination of storyboarding and role-play as an authentic assessment to address the challenge of reduced inequalities (SDG10). The study contributes to the understanding of the pedagogic use of these methods in communication programmes and addresses ageism as a communication and societal problem. It offers characteristics for enhancing programme effectiveness and provides pedagogic guidance on utilising storyboarding and role-play in SDG approaches.
PurposeArtificial intelligence (AI) has been used in employee recruitment through resume screening, interviewing, and decision-making in recent years. Communicating with job candidates about the use of AI is crucial for organizations' hiring practices. The study examines the predictors of AI acceptance and objection in the AI-driven hiring process and explores the role of anxiety in AI technology's acceptance.Design/methodology/approachWe conducted an online survey (N = 463) to explore the predictors of individuals' AI technology acceptance and objection in hiring by employing the AI device use acceptance (AIDUA) model. Structural equation modeling was used to test the proposed model.FindingsSocial influence, hedonic motivation, and novelty are positively associated with performance expectancy, while anthropomorphism is positively associated with effort expectancy. Performance expectancy directly impacts individuals' acceptance of AI use in hiring as well as objection to using AI in hiring. The relationship between effort expectancy and behavioral intentions was mediated by anxiety without significant direct effects.Practical implicationsThe important role of anxiety in shaping individuals' acceptance and objection to AI technology in hiring suggests that organizations should aim to reduce job candidates' negative emotions associated with using AI technologies. The significant role of performance expectancy highlights the need for organizational practitioners to emphasize the perceived benefits of AI.Originality/valueThis study offers valuable insights into the role of emotions in shaping individuals' acceptance of AI in hiring processes and highlights the necessity of effective AI communication to increase job candidates' acceptance of AI use in hiring. By extending the AIDUA model, the findings contribute to the theoretical understanding of AI adoption and rejection while providing practical strategies for communication management practitioners.
PurposeInformal communication plays a vital role in workplace functioning, yet research has largely overlooked how it shapes colleagues' perceptions of those who engage in it. This study addresses this gap by examining how the frequency and depth of informal conversations influence evaluations of the communicator and their perceived job performance.Design/methodology/approachUsing a 2 & times; 2 experimental design, we test whether employees who frequently engage in informal conversations are perceived differently from those who do so less often and whether the content of these interactions - superficial or meaningful - affects these perceptions.FindingsEmployees who frequently engaged in informal conversations were perceived as more likable but less competent and were rated as less productive and diligent. Conversation content (superficial vs. meaningful) did not significantly affect these perceptions.Originality/valueUnlike prior work that primarily examines how people communicate informally at work, this study focuses on how such communication is evaluated. It reveals a systematic bias: individuals who frequently engage in informal communication are seen as warmer but less competent. These insights underscore the need for organizations to recognize and manage perceptual biases so that informal communication is appropriately valued rather than misjudged.
Purpose This study proposes a conceptual model of organization-issue dynamics that explicates how organizations identify, sustain and recalibrate their stances on sociopolitical issues. The model reconceptualizes stance-taking as a dynamic process shaped by a connection between an organization and a given sociopolitical issue, involving interactions, transactions, exchanges and negotiations. Design/methodology/approach Employing theory synthesis, this conceptual work integrates grand public relations theories – specifically the contingency theory of strategic conflict management and issue management – with emerging frameworks on organizational advocacy, crisis READINESS, strategic silence and cross-cultural conflict. The model is further illustrated through a real-world case. Findings The OID model is anchored by two central dimensions – organizational commitment and issue complexity – whose intersections define distinct positions and stances. Positioning is governed by a stance calculus in which situational, organizational and environmental factors shape decision thresholds. Organizational identity-issue congruence, legitimacy pressures and stakeholder feedback loops explain how organizations oscillate among advocacy, accommodation and strategic silence. Practical implications The model provides a diagnostic tool for communication leaders to evaluate, forecast, and optimize strategic positioning on sociopolitical issues, aligning organizational values with stakeholder expectations across global contexts. Originality/value By conceptualizing organization-issue dynamics as an interactive relationship between an organization and an issue, the study advances communication management theory and offers a framework for future empirical validation.
PurposeThis study examines the evolving role of global public relations leaders, highlighting the interconnection between leadership and followership across diverse cultural contexts.Design/methodology/approachBased on in-depth interviews conducted around the world, we examine the priorities of 38 senior public relations professionals and analyze the various factors that influence decision-making and expectations.FindingsFindings highlight a shift toward community-centered leadership grounded in knowledge sharing and succession planning. The research extends transformational leadership theory by proposing a hybrid model that integrates transactional strategies and emphasizes relational dynamics, including psychological safety and co-creation. Additionally, the study contributes to cross-cultural leadership scholarship by highlighting the importance of cultural intelligence and boundary dwelling for effective global practice.Originality/valueThese insights offer both theoretical and practical implications for fostering inclusive, adaptive and ethically grounded leadership in public relations.
