An Introduction
"It is an admirable text that brings together theories from a number of fields. Indeed, the book is a veritable smorgasbord of interesting and relevant concepts. It rattles through them at a rapid rate, all within broad reflective, critical and holistic perspectives." Kevin Ruck, Co-founder of PR Academy and the author of Explroing Internal Communication (Routledge) "I think this book would be an excellent resource for anyone who wants a universal look at the practice of strategic communication." Linda Davies, TechComm
Jesper Falkheimer (Ph.D. Lund University, 2004), is Professor in Strategic Communication at Department of Strategic Communication, Lund University, Sweden. His research interests are strategic communication in general, and more specific, crisis communication, public relations, communication management, terrorism and place branding. Since several years he has combined research with university management positions and is now Executive Director for Division for Research, Collaboration and Innovation at Lund University, after six years as Rector for Campus Helsingborg, and two assignments as head of department. He is Editor-in-Chief for Journal of Communication Management, one of the leading research journals in his field, Honorary Fellow at Hong Kong Polytechnic University, an executive board member of one of the major communication agencies in Sweden and director for the premium executive education program for communication professionals in Sweden, based at the Swedish Communication Association. He is also an executive board member of University College of Halmstad, Sweden. He is co-editor (main editors Robert Heath and Winni Johanssen) for International Encyklopedia of Strategic Communication (2018, Wiley) and has published several books, anthologies and articles in different journals. Education Ph.D., Lund University, Lund, Sweden, 2004 Areas of Research / Professional Expertise Strategic communication, cris communication, public relations, communication management, terrorism and place branding
List of Figures and Tables, About the authors, Preface, Introduction, PART I: FUNDAMENTALS, 1 What is communication? The transmission perspective, The ritual perspective, Both perspectives matter, Theories of communication, The characterization of publics and the transformation of the public sphere, Asymmetry, symmetry or both, Strategic and communicative action, Dialogues, discussions and debates, 2 What is strategy? Tactics and strategy, Strategic schools and strategic perspectives, Whittington's typology of strategies, Summary of perspectives, Practical use in strategic communication, Consequences for communication practice, Concluding reflections, 3 What is strategic communication? The traditional research fields, An ambition to break traditional borders, Strategic communication as a knowledge and research field, Strategic communication as a practice, Research journals within the field, On becoming a reflective practitioner, PART II: COMMUNICATION PROCESSES AND ORGANIZATIONS, 4 Society, social change and strategic communication, Modernity: Rationalism, objectivism and individualism, Late modernity, 5 Organizational identity and culture, Three building blocks, Hierarchical communication, Mass media communication, Informal communication, Employees as ambassadors, Transmission communication is alive! What communication strategies are used? Some advice on the way, 6 Change and crisis communication, Organizational changes, Crisis communication, Handling a changing and complex world, 7 Mediatization: From traditional to social media, Special or general interest? News value, Sources and journalists, Strategies for sources, PART III: FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS, 8 Reflections and the communicative organization, Communication trends, Forward-looking reflections, The communicative organization, References, Index