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- Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
- Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
- Serie: Handbooks in Communication and Media
- Sprache: Englisch
A multidisciplinary collection on global public entity strategic communication
Research into public sector communication investigates the interaction between public and governmental entities and citizens within their sphere of influence. Today’s public sector organizations are operating in environments where people receive their information from multiple sources. Although modern research demonstrates the immense impact public entities have on democracy and societal welfare, communication in this context is often overlooked. Public sector organizations need to develop “communicative intelligence” in balancing their institutional agendas and aims of public engagement. The Handbook of Public Sector Communication is the first comprehensive volume to explore the field. This timely, innovative volume examines the societal role, environment, goals, practices, and development of public sector strategic communication.
International in scope, this handbook describes and analyzes the contexts, policies, issues, and questions that shape public sector communication. An interdisciplinary team of leading experts discusses diverse subjects of rising importance to public sector, government, and political communication. Topics include social exchange relationships, crisis communication, citizen expectations, measuring and evaluating media, diversity and inclusion, and more. Providing current research and global perspectives, this important resource:
- Addresses the questions public sector communicators face today
- Summarizes the current state of public sector communication worldwide
- Clarifies contemporary trends and practices including mediatization, citizen engagement, and change and expectation management
- Addresses global challenges and crises such as corruption and bureaucratic roadblocks
- Provides a framework for measuring communication effectiveness
Requiring minimal prior knowledge of the field, The Handbook of Public Sector Communication is a valuable tool for academics, students, and practitioners in areas of public administration, public management, political communication, strategic and organizational communication, and related fields such as political science, sociology, marketing, journalism, and globalization studies.
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Seitenzahl: 1339
Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2020
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Table of Contents
Cover
Notes on Contributors
Acknowledgment
Introduction to Public Sector Communication
Why Is Public Sector Communication Special?
Defining Public Sector Communication
What Is Our Current Understanding of Public Sector Communication?
Studying Public Sector Communication in Times of Change
References
Part I: Public Sector Communication and Society
1 Public Sector Communication and Democracy
Introduction
Defining and Distinguishing the Public Sector
Defining Public Sector Communication
Democracy and Public Sector Communication
Public Sector Communication and the Policy‐Making Process
Citizens' Discursive Engagement in Public Sector Policy‐Making Processes
The Public Sphere Foundations of Public Sector Engagement: The US Case
3
Concluding Thoughts: From Democratic Public Sector Communication to a Democratic Public Sector
References
2 Public Sector Communication and Organizational Legitimacy
Introduction
Organizational Legitimacy
Context
Legitimacy and Public Sector Communication
Critique and Challenges
Conclusions and Directions for Future Research
References
3 Trust, Fairness, and Signaling: Studying the Interaction Between Officials and Citizens
Introduction
Trust and Information Asymmetries in the Public Encounter
Signaling Theory and Its Applications
Signaling Trustworthiness in Public Sector Encounters
The Consequences of Misinterpretation
The Challenges of Signaling Trustworthiness
Future Research on the Role of Signaling in Public Sector Communication
References
4 Transparency and Corruption in the Public Sector
What Makes Public Sector Organizations Prone to Corruption?
Levels of Nontransparency
Public Sector Communication or Propaganda?
Fair Process, Less Corruption?
Better Communication, Less Corruption?
Critique for Research on Corruption
Challenges for Improving Transparency
References
5 Politics and Policy: Relationships and Functions Within Public Sector Communication
Introduction
Contextualizing Public Sector Communication, Politics, and Policy
Mapping the Field of Public Sector Communication, Politics, and Policy
The Broader Literature
Theoretical Perspectives
Key Issues in Politics and Public Sector Communication—the Relationships
Key Issues in Policy and Public Sector Communication—The Functions
Conclusion
References
Part II: Public Sector Communication, Organizations, Stakeholders, and Employees
6 Public Sector Communication and Publicly Valuable Intangible Assets
Intangible Assets in the Public Sector
Public Value
Merging Intangible Assets Research with Public Value for the Enhancement of Public Sector Communication
An Illustrative Example: Etorkizuna Eraikiz and the Use of Intangible Assets to Produce Public Value
Results and Discussion
Critical Issues and Further Research
References
7 The Influence of Weber and Taylor on Public Sector Organizations' Communication
Introduction
Weber and Taylor in Public Sector Communication
Conclusion and Suggestions for Further Research
References
8 Formal and Functional Social Exchange Relationships in the Public Sector
Introduction
Future Research Directions
References
9 How Does the Idea of Co‐Production Challenge Public Sector Communication?
Defining the Topic
Co‐Production and Public Sector Reform
Different Understandings of the Co‐Production Concept and Their Origins
Case Analysis: How a Co‐Production Experience Challenged the Patterns of Communication of a Finnish Local Government
“Target Groups” for Co‐Production
Scope of Interaction in Terms of Service Delivery Chain
Critique and Challenges
Conclusions and Future Research
References
10 Change Communication: Developing the Perspective of Sensemaking and the Perspective of Coworkers
Introduction
What Change Is: Definitions and Perspectives
The Research Field of Organizational Change
Exploring Communication
Critique and Challenges
Suggestions for Future Research
References
11 Public Sector Communication and Mediatization
Introduction
The Significance of the “Media”
Mediatization and the Organizing of Communication
Critique and Challenges
References
Part III: Public Sector Communication and Practices
12 Public Sector Communication and Performance Management: Drawing Inferences from Public Performance Numbers
Introduction
The Study of Performance Information as a Study of Numbers
State of the Art: Behavioral and Experimental Research
Conclusion and Future Research
References
13 Change Management and Communication in Public Sector Organizations: The Gordian Knot of Complexity, Accountability, and Legitimacy
Introduction
Context of Public Sector Organizations: Rethinking Services and Structures
Idiosyncratic Characteristics of Change Management in Public Sector Organizations
Change Management and Communication: Basic Understandings and Approaches
Managerial and Communicative Challenges Inherent in Public Sector Change Processes
Is Transparency the Solution to the Gordian Change Knot?
Suggestions for Future Research
References
Further Reading
14 Public Sector Organizations and Reputation
Introduction
Defining and Theorizing Approaches to Public Sector Organizations’ Reputation
Critique, Challenges, and Future Research
References
15 Public Sector Communication: Risk and Crisis Communication
Introduction
Risk and Crisis in the Public Sector
Defining Risk and Crisis Communication
General Perspectives
An Informational Perspective on Public Risk and Crisis Communication
A Political Perspective on Public Risk and Crisis Communication
An Institutional Perspective on Public Risk and Crisis Communication
Conclusion and Future Practice
References
16 Public Sector Communication and Strategic Communication Campaigns
Introduction
Public Sector Communication as Strategic Communication
Strategic Communication Campaigns
Theoretical Perspectives for Strategic Communication Campaigns
Challenges for Public Sector Communication Campaigns
Future Directions in Public Sector Communication Campaigns
References
Further Reading
17 Public Sector Communication and NGOs: From Formal Integration to Mediated Confrontation?
Introduction: NGO Communication and the Public Sector
Defining NGO Communication
Two Approaches to NGO Communication
NGO Communication: Insider and Outsider Strategies
Implications for Public Sector Communication
Five Avenues for Future Research
References
Part IV: Public Sector Communication and Citizens
18 Citizen Engagement and Public Sector Communication
Introduction
Defining Citizen Engagement
Citizen Engagement in Practice: Coproduction and Service Design of Public Services
Engagement, Coproduction, and Public Sector Communication
Critiquing the Concept of Citizen Engagement
Future Research
References
19 Understanding the Role of Dialogue in Public Sector Communication
Introduction
Defining Dialogue
Models, Methods, and Findings for Understanding Dialogue
Dialogue in the Public Sector
Research and Practical Challenges for the Future
References
20 Public Sector Communication and Citizen Expectations and Satisfaction
Introduction
Defining Citizen Expectations
Citizen Expectations and Public Sector Communication
Critiques, Challenges, Unanswered Questions, and Future Research Lines
References
21 Public Sector Communication and Social Media: Opportunities and Limits of Current Policies, Activities, and Practices
Introduction
PSOs in an Era of Social Media
PSOs' Social Media Use
How Social Media Shapes Public Sector Communication
Critiques and Challenges
Conclusions and Future Research
References
22 Citizen Communication in the Public Sector: Learning from High‐Reliability Organizations
Introduction
Defining High‐Reliability Organization Principles
Research in High‐Reliability Organizations
HRO Principles and Public Sector Communication
Challenges for Research and Practice
References
23 Public Sector Communicators as Global Citizens: Toward Diversity and Inclusion
Introduction
Advocating for Global Citizenship
Enabling Global Citizenship: Inclusive and Participatory Communication
Balancing Ideals with Realities
References
Part V: Public Sector Communication Measurement and Evaluation
24 The Fundamentals of Measurement and Evaluation of Communication
Introduction
The Communication Planning Cycle
Setting SMART Objectives
Evaluation Models
Effectiveness
Methodologies for Evaluation
Conclusion
References
25 Measuring and Evaluating Media: Traditional and Social
Introduction
Media Landscape at a Glance
Evaluating Media Relations
Evaluating Traditional Media Publicity
Evaluating Online and Social Media
Measuring Online and Social Media Publicity
Outcomes and Impacts of Media Relations
Conclusions
References
26 Measuring and Evaluating Audience Awareness, Attitudes, and Response
Introduction
Theoretical Issues
Communication Outcomes and Evaluation Methods
Timing of Evaluation
Types and Criticism of Evaluation Methods
Analysis
Reporting
Conclusion
References
27 Aligning and Linking Communication with Organizational Goals
Introduction
Communication Management and Communication Controlling
Evaluating and Measuring Communication Effects
Aligning Communication and Organizational Goals
Empirical Insights into Communication Evaluation
Challenges and Misunderstandings
Directions for Future Research
References
28 New Developments in Best Practice Evaluation: Approaches, Frameworks, Models, and Methods
Introduction
The
Status Quo
of Evaluation
Recent Developments and Advances
New Evaluation Frameworks and Models
A Taxonomy of Evaluation
The
Quo Vadis
of Evaluation
Conclusions
References
Part VI: Conclusion
29 Conclusion: A Vision of the Future ofPublic Sector Communication
Introduction
The Pervasiveness of Communication in the Public Sector
Disciplines, Topics, and Research Methods
Recurring Issues
Challenges, Further Research, and Still‐Unanswered Questions
Suggestions for a Future Vision
References
Index
End User License Agreement
List of Tables
Chapter 0
Table I.1 Definitions of Public Sector Communication and Related Terms.
Chapter 5
Table 5.1 Examples of Subdisciplines in Practice.
Table 5.2 Characteristics of Political and Apolitical Communication.
Chapter 9
Table 9.1 Interpretative Perspectives on the Co‐production Concept.
Chapter 11
Table 11.1 Mediatization Translated Through Managerial, Professional, and Bur...
Chapter 13
Table 13.1 Orders of change.
Chapter 15
Table 15.1 Distinguishing Features of Risk Communication and Crisis Communica...
Table 15.2 Approaches to Risk and Crisis Communication Research.
Table 15.3 General Perspectives on Public Risk and Crisis Communication.
Table 15.4 The Crisis and Emergency Risk Communication Model.
Table 15.5 Best Practices for Effective Crisis Communication.
Table 15.6 The Five Core Tasks of Strategic Crisis Leadership.
Table 15.7 Institutional Logics in the Crisis Preparedness of Local Governmen...
Chapter 16
Table 16.1 Summary of Theoretical Frameworks for Understanding Public Sector ...
Chapter 22
Table 22.1 The Characteristics of High‐ and Low‐Reliability Communication.
Chapter 23
Table 23.1 IAP2's Public Participation Spectrum.
Chapter 25
Table 25.1 Average Cost per Impression by Channel.
Table 25.2 Average Cost per Lead by Channel.
Table 25.3 Average Cost per Lead by Industry.
Table 25.4 Online Source of Information Measures.
Table 25.5 Quantity and Quality of the Space Occupied by the Content in the M...
Table 25.6 Benchmarking CTR in Different Industries.
Table 25.7 Metrics per each Accountability Aim.
Chapter 26
Table 26.1 Outcomes Evaluation Framework.
Table 26.2 Communication Outcomes and Methods.
Table 26.3 Summary Chart Assessing Outcomes.
Chapter 28
Table 28.1 The original Barcelona Principles of 2010 and the Barcelona Princi...
Table 28.2 A taxonomy of Communication Evaluation Stages, Key Steps, Mileston...
Table 28.3 The MINDSPACE Checklist of Influences on Human Behavior.
Chapter 29
Table 29.1 Topics Dealt Within This Handbook.
List of Illustrations
Chapter 0
Figure I.1 The publicness fan (Canel & Luoma‐aho, 2019, p. 29) showing the c...
Figure I.2 Major fields contributing to the understanding of public sector c...
Figure I.3 The topics covered in this handbook of public sector communicatio...
Chapter 1
Figure 1.1 The organizational infrastructure of public sector engagement.
Chapter 5
Figure 5.1 The field of public sector communication, politics, and policy.
Chapter 8
Figure 8.1 Conceptual model, social exchange relationships in the public sec...
Chapter 13
Figure 13.1 Steps to change transparency and their potential outcomes.
Chapter 15
Figure 15.1 The rhetorical arena.
Chapter 16
Figure 16.1 Continuum of campaign types according to purpose.
Chapter 20
Figure 20.1 The link between expectations and satisfaction.
Chapter 21
Figure 21.1 Major factors influencing PSOs' social media adoption.
Figure 21.2 PSOs' uses of social media.
Chapter 22
Figure 22.1 Organizing principles of high‐reliability organizations.
Chapter 24
Figure 24.1 The GCS Strategic Campaign Planning Model: OASIS (GCS, 2016a).
Figure 24.2 Two models that use permutations on the program logic approach. ...
Figure 24.3 Macnamara's (2002, 2005) pyramid model of PR research.
Chapter 25
Figure 25.1 Benchmarking CPC by industry.
Figure 25.2 Benchmarking CPA by industry.
Figure 25.3 Online source media/influencer value (cost per post according to...
Figure 25.4 An example of a digital ROI calculator.
Figure 25.5 An example of a digital ROI calculator.
Chapter 27
Figure 27.1 Communication controlling as a supporting function for managemen...
Figure 27.2 The DPRG/ICV framework for communication controlling.
Figure 27.3 Example of a generic value link model for media relations.
Chapter 28
Figure 28.1 The UK Government Communication Service evaluation framework (GC...
Figure 28.2 The NSW government evaluation framework (DPC, 2016).
Figure 28.3 The interface of the AMEC Integrated Evaluation Framework intera...
Guide
Cover
Table of Contents
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Handbooks in Communication and Media
This series aims to provide theoretically ambitious but accessible volumes devoted to the major fields and subfields within communication and media studies. Each volume sets out to ground and orientate the student through a broad range of specially commissioned chapters, while also providing the more experienced scholar and teacher with a convenient and comprehensive overview of the latest trends and critical directions.
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The Handbook of Communication and Corporate Reputation, edited by Craig E. Carroll
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The Handbook of Public Sector Communication, edited by Vilma Luoma‐aho and María‐José Canel
The Handbook of Public Sector Communication
Edited by
Vilma Luoma‐aho
María‐José Canel
This edition first published 2020© 2020 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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Library of Congress Cataloging‐in‐Publication Data
Names: Luoma-aho, Vilma, 1977– editor. | Canel, María-José, editor.Title: The handbook of public sector communication / edited by Vilma Liisa Luoma-aho, María‐José Canel.Description: First edition. | Hoboken, NJ : Wiley, Blackwell 2020. | Series: Handbooks on communication and media | Includes bibliographical references and index.Identifiers: LCCN 2019026623 (print) | LCCN 2019026624 (ebook) | ISBN 9781119263142 (hardback) | ISBN 9781119263197 (adobe pdf) | ISBN 9781119263173 (epub)Subjects: LCSH: Communication in public administration.Classification: LCC JF1525.C59 H364 2020 (print) | LCC JF1525.C59 (ebook) | DDC 352.3/87–dc23LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019026623LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019026624
Cover Design: WileyCover Image: © DrAfter123/Vetta/Getty Images
Notes on Contributors
Edited by Vilma Luoma‐aho and María‐José Canel
Kaidi Ahern is a doctoral student at the University of Jyväskyla, School of Business and Economics, Finland, where she researches public sector communication and change communication. She has previously published on public sector communication and change. She has been a public sector practitioner for 15 years and currently works as the head of the Communications Department of the Office of the President of the Republic of Estonia.
Xabier Barandiarán Irastorza holds a BA in Political Science and Sociology and a PhD in Sociology from the University of Deusto. He is currently a lecturer at the University of Deusto. He teaches BA courses in Communication and Social Work, specifically teaching the following subjects: – Institutional and Corporate Communication on BA courses in Communication. – Strategic Management of Business Communication on BA courses in Communication–Sociology on BA courses in Social Work, in Basque. His publications mainly focus on strategic communication and social capital. In recent years he has been working on subjects related to political culture and social capital.
Jan Boon is a postdoctoral researcher within the Politics and Public Governance research group at the Department of Political Science, University of Antwerp, Belgium. He has a background in political communication, performed his PhD on issues of collaboration and coordination, and is currently involved in a large‐scale project on comparative research on reputation in government.
Yvonne Brunetto Professor Brunetto is a professor in Management/HR at Southern Cross University, Queensland, Australia. Since obtaining her PhD in 2000, she has undertaken research examining the individual and organizational drivers of employee performance across public/NFP and private settings in Australia, England, Scotland, USA, Italy, Brazil, and Malta. She has a distinguished and contemporary record of international scholarly achievements, and has an extensive list of journal publications (comprising more than half at A/A* rank/high impact) and editorships of special issues providing evidence of an outstanding research record – approximately 90 journal papers (70 since 2011).
María‐José Canel, PhD, is full professor in Political Communication and Public Sector Communication, University Complutense Madrid, Spain. Winner of the Victory Award in 2016 (Washington DC), she is a leading scholar on public sector communication (journals: Political Communication, European Journal of Communication, International Journal Press/Politics, Public Relations Review), and has published in Spain, the United States, the United Kingdom, Italy, Poland, Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, and Argentina. She has a public sector practitioner background and experience in training public sector communicators. She has published nine books, including Public Sector Communication, Government Communication, and Political Scandals in Britain and in Spain.
Michael X. Delli Carpini, PhD, is professor of Communication at the University of Pennsylvania's Annenberg School for Communication, serving as dean from 2003 to 2018. His research explores the factors influencing citizens' engagement in democratic politics. He is author of Stability and Change in American Politics: The Coming of Age of the Generation of the 1960s; What Americans Know about Politics and Why It Matters; A New Engagement? Political Participation, Civic Life and the Changing American Citizen; Talking Together: Public Deliberation and Political Participation in America; and After Broadcast News: Media Regimes, Democracy, and the New Information Environment.
María de la Viesca is a consultant in quality in the health sector and has extensive international experience as a manager and adviser in the field of health. She is the outgoing chief executive (CEO) of Rome's Policlinico Università and member of its board of directors. In Spain, Maria was deputy director of the University Hospital of Navarra for 20 years and deputy director of its School of Nursing followed by 10 years as director of Quality and Safety for the Hospital. She was a pioneer in introducing the Joint Commission Accreditation process to Spain, which draws on many of the lessons of high reliability organizations. She is associate professor in the Department of Preventive Medicine and in the Department of Public Health and was also attached to the Quality Chair of the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration.
Finn Frandsen, PhD, professor of corporate communication, Department of Management, Aarhus University, Denmark. His primary research interests are organizational crisis management and crisis communication, meta‐organizations, stakeholders, intermediaries, and communicative institutionalism. His research has appeared in Corporate Communications: An International Journal, International Journal of Strategic Communication, Management Communication Quarterly, Public Relations Inquiry, Public Relations Review, and Scandinavian Journal of Public Administration. He is the co‐author and co‐editor of Organizational Crisis Communication; A Multivocal Approach (2017) and Crisis Communication (Handbooks of Communication Science no. 23) (2019).
Magnus Fredriksson, PhD, is associate professor at the Department of Journalism, Media, and Communication, University of Gothenburg, Sweden. His research focuses on strategic communication and mediatization in general and in public sector contexts in particular. He is the co‐editor of Public Relations and Social Theory and his work has been published in European Journal of Communication, International Journal of Strategic Communication, Organization Studies, Public Administration, Public Relations Inquiry, Public Relations Review, and elsewhere.
Leanne Glenny, PhD, is a lecturer in post‐graduate communication studies at the University of South Australia, with general research interests in the fields of government communication, ethics, and social media. She currently leads two research projects examining traditional and new media discourses about PTSD and stigma in the military and emergency services. A third research project investigates the use of mixed reality technology to build mental health resilience in first responders. Prior to her first academic appointment, she served for over 17 years in the Australian Army. She is a fellow of the Public Relations Institute of Australia.
Anne Gregory, PhD, is chair of Corporate Communication at the University of Huddersfield. She runs executive education programmes for public sector clients such as the UK Government and the European Commission where she leads training on evaluation and has been an adviser on evaluation policy. She is an international researcher, directing the seven continent team in developing the Global Capability Framework for the profession. Anne is the author of over 80 books, book chapters, and academic and popular journal articles and is a member of the AMEC Academic Advisory Board. She was awarded the Sir Stephen Tallents Medal by the Chartered Institute of Public Relations for her outstanding contribution to the profession.
Elena Gutiérrez‐García, PhD, is full professor of Corporate Communication at the University of Navarra, School of Communication, Spain. She is the principal investigator of a research project funded by Spanish Government on open innovation, communication, and stakeholders relationships. She has been a researcher of the international project A Global Capability Framework for Public Relations and Communication Management, supported by the Global Alliance on PR and Communication Management. She has published several papers and book chapters on strategic communication management and stakeholders relationships. She is currently member of the board of directors of the Spanish Association of Communication Directors.
Mats Heide, PhD, is professor in Strategic Communication at Department of Strategic Communication, Lund University, Campus Helsingborg. His research interests are strategic communication in general, and more specific crisis communication, change communication, and organizational learning. Heide has co‐authored 12 books (in Swedish) and 2 international books: Strategic Communication: An Introduction (with Jesper Falkheimer, Routledge, 2018) and Internal Crisis Communication (with Charlotte Simonsson, Routledge, 2019). Heide is also published in edited volumes such as Handbook of Critical Public Relations (2015), Encyclopedia of Strategic Communication (2018), Handbook of Communication Engagement (2018), and Public Relations and Social Theory (Sage 2019).
Heidi Houlberg Salomonsen, PhD, is associate professor at Department of Management, Aarhus University, Denmark. Her main research interests include public management, strategic communication in the public sector, in particular reputation management and leadership communication, as well as relationships between top civil servants, ministers, and political advisers. She has published on those topics in journals such as Public Administration, Public Administration Review, International Review of Administrative Sciences, Journal of European Public Policy, and Policy and Politics and International Journal of Strategic Communication
Helle Kryger Aggerholm, PhD, currently holds a position as head of research at the Danish School of Media and Journalism. Her research examines the role of strategic communication in change processes in public and private organizations, strategy communication within a strategy‐as‐practice context, organizational communication, and language as social interaction. Her most recent work in these areas has been published in Journal of Management Inquiry, the International Journal of Strategic Communication, Journal of Management Communication, Public Relations Review, Business Ethics: A European Review, and Corporate Communication: An International Journal.
Winni Johansen, PhD, professor of Corporate Communication, Department of Management, Aarhus University, Denmark. Her research interests include crisis management and crisis communication, social media, communication consulting, environmental communication and the institutionalization of strategic communication in private and public organizations. She is the co‐editor of Organizational Crisis Communication: A Multivocal, Approach (Sage, 2017), International Encyclopedia of Strategic Communication (Wiley‐Blackwell, 2018), Crisis Communication – Handbooks of Communication Science (Mouton de Gruyter, 2019). She has published articles in Management Communication Quarterly, CCIJ, International Journal of Strategic Communication, Journal of Communication Management, Public Relations Review, Public Relations Inquiry, Rhetorica Scandinavica, and Scandinavian Journal of Public Administration.
Marika Kylänen is project manager at the National Institute for Health and Welfare in Finland. Currently, she leads the project for evaluating the best models and practices of health and welfare promotion and equity. Previously, she was country manager and principal investigator of the European PACE project that was comparing the effectiveness of palliative care systems in Belgium, England, Finland, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, and Switzerland. In addition, her research focuses on public management, organization theory, cultural theory, co‐production, and service design. She is rewarded researcher and her background is based on health sciences and management sciences.
Asmus Leth Olsen, PhD, is a professor with speciale responsibilities at the University of Copenhagen in the Department of Political Science. He specializes in behavioral public administration and studies how citizens make inferences about public services and the connection between micro‐level dishonesty and macro‐level corruption. His work has appeared in journals like American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, Journal of Politics, Public Administration Research and Theory, Public Administration Review, Judgment and Decision Making, Political Behavior and many more.
Alessandro Lovari, PhD, is an assistant professor of Sociology of Communication at the University of Cagliari (Italy). He was visiting research scholar at Purdue University, University of Cincinnati, and University of South Carolina. His research interests are public sector communication, public relations, and health communication. He also studies social media impact on organizations and citizens' behaviors. He is member of the scientific committee of the Italian Association of Public Communication, and member of the committee of the European Project “Creative”. He has published in several books and international journals like Public Relations Review, International Journal of Strategic Communication, and Health Communication.
Vilma Luoma‐aho, PhD, is full professor of Corporate Communication, and Vice Dean of Research at University of Jyväskylä, School of Business and Economics, Finland. She currently leads major research projects related to young people and social media as well as strategic communication in the public sector. She has published widely in interdisciplinary journals ranging from Business History to Computers in Human Behavior, and her latest co‐authored book, Public Sector Communication – Closing Gaps between Citizens and Public Organizations (2019) deals with measuring intangible assets in the public sector. She has a public sector practitioner background and has helped develop public sector communication in Finland, Spain, and the European Commission.
Jim Macnamara, PhD, is a distinguished professor of Public Communication at the University of Technology Sydney. He is also a visiting professor at London School of Economics and Political Science, Media and Communications Department. He is internationally recognised for his research into evaluation of public communication and organizational listening. Jim is the author of 16 books, including The 21st Century Media (R)evolution: Emergent Communication Practices (Peter Lang, New York, 2014); Organizational Listening: The Missing Essential in Public Communication (Peter Lang, New York, 2016); and Evaluating Public Communication: Exploring New Models, Standards, and Best Practice (Routledge UK, 2018).
Grazia Murtarelli, PhD, is an assistant professor of Corporate Communication at Università IULM in Milan (Italy), where she teaches Digital Communication Management and Web Analytics. Her research focuses on the analysis of online scenario and, more specifically, on the following issues: social media‐based relationship management, online dialogue strategies, digital visual engagement processes, and social media measurement and evaluation. She is a public relations student and early career representative at the International Communication Association. She is also a faculty affiliate of the Center of Research for Strategic Communication at Università IULM.
Laura Olkkonen is a postdoctoral researcher in the School of Business and Management at LUT University, Finland. She is an expert on stakeholder expectation mapping and CSR communication. She has published in international journals such as Journal of Public Relations Research, Journal of Communication Management, Corporate Communications: An International Journal, and Public Relations Review. She teaches sustainable business and stakeholder relations at LUT and acts as a local coordinator of the UN's Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME).
Glenn O'Neil, PhD, is founder of Owl RE, evaluation and research consultancy, Geneva, Switzerland. He has been involved in some 100 reviews and evaluations in over 50 countries with a specialisation in communications and advocacy for governments, UN agencies and NGOs. Dr O'Neil lectures on evaluation and research at the University of Geneva, Webster University, Geneva, and the London School of Economics. His work has been published in journals including Evaluation and Program Planning, PR Review and PRism. His PhD is in social research and methodology from the London School of Economics and has an Executive Masters in Communications Management.
Kelly Page Werder, PhD, is an associate professor in the Zimmerman School of Advertising and Mass Communications at the University of South Florida in Tampa, Florida, USA. Her research has been published in Journal of Public Relations Research, Public Relations Review, International Journal of Strategic Communication, and the Handbook of Strategic Communication. Werder has served as editor of the International Journal of Strategic Communication (Routledge/Taylor & Francis) since 2012. She has taught courses as an international visiting scholar at universities in Italy and Switzerland, and she has presented lectures and seminars in strategic communication management throughout Europe.
Josef Pallas, PhD, Department of Business Studies, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden. His research focuses on the expansion, dynamics, and consequences of mediatization in a context of governance of public sector organizations in general and universities and governmental agencies in particular. He is the co‐editor of Corporate Governance in Action (Routledge forthcoming 2018), Organizations and Media: Organizing in a Mediatized World (Routledge 2014), and Det styrda universitet? (Makadam 2017). His work has been published in journals such as European Journal of Communication, International Journal of Strategic Communication, Media, Culture and Society, Organization Studies, Public Administration, and many others.
Paloma Piqueiras was graduated with a Bachelor of Journalism from Complutense University and she also holds a master of arts in Enterprise Communication. She currently works as predoctoral researcher at the Complutense University of Madrid, School of Communication, where she is completing her PhD thesis. Her main research line is focused on strategic communication in the public sector. More specifically, she studies the relationship between the intangible asset citizen engagement and the wealth of nations. She has participated in research projects and has published articles in specialized journals. Previously, she has worked in mass media and the private sector.
Nadine Raaphorst, PhD, is an assistant professor at the Institute of Public Administration, Leiden University, The Netherlands. Her research focuses on decision making by front line professionals, such as tax officials, prison guards, and nurses. Her research interests include uncertainty in decision making, stereotyping and categorization, and performance measurement in front line work. She is co‐editor of Inspectors and Enforcement at the Front Line of Government (ed., with S. Van de Walle; Palgrave Macmillan, 2019), and has published in journals such as Public Management Review, Public Administration, Administration and Society, and The American Review of Public Administration.
Stefania Romenti, PhD, is associate professor in strategic communication and PR at IULM university (Milan, Italy) and chair of the master of science in Strategic Communication (English Language). She is director of the Executive Master in Corporate Public Relations (IULM University) and adjunct professor at IE Business School (Madrid) in “Measuring Intangibles and KPI's in Communication.” She is founder and director of the Research Center in Strategic Communication (CECOMS) and member of the board of the European Association of Public Relations Education and Research Association (EUPRERA). Dr. Romenti centers her research on strategic communication, corporate reputation, stakeholder management and engagement, dialogue, social media, measurement, and evaluation.
Karen B. Sanders, PhD, is full professor of Politics and Communication and Dean of Research for St Mary's University, UK. She is co‐editor of the Routledge Companion to Journalism Ethics (forthcoming 2020) and member of an international group of scholars researching populist communication. Karen has a special interest in understanding and fostering respectful, effective communication in high‐risk organizations, and has run training courses on these subjects for hospitals, charities, banks, and universities. She has published widely in interdisciplinary journals including the European Journal of Communication, the Public Relations Review and the International Journal of Press and Politics. She has authored key texts such as Ethics and Journalism (Sage) and Communicating Politics in the 21st Century (Palgrave Macmilllan).
Kate Shacklock, PhD, was an associate professor at Griffith Business School's Department of Employment Relations and Human Resources, Griffith University, Queensland, Australia. Her research interests included the aging workforce, inter‐generational issues and human resource management generally. She was also a researcher at the Griffith University Research Centre for Work, Organization, and Wellbeing, and had over 20 years' practice in human resource management. Prior to joining Griffith University, Dr. Shacklock consulted extensively, in both the public and private sectors, in the areas of staff selection and performance management, and assisted organisations to implement systems and train staff in both areas.
Charlotte Simonsson, PhD, is assistant professor in strategic communication. Charlotte has served several years as the head of Department of Strategic Communication at Lund University, and she has also a background as senior consultant within strategic communication. Her main research interests are change communication, crisis communication, leadership communication, and roles and practices of communication professionals. Together with Mats Heide, she has written the book Internal Crisis Communication that will be published by Routledge 2019. Simonsson is the author of several books in Swedish, and her work is published in journals such as International Journal of Strategic Communication, Corporate Communications: An International Journal, Journal of Communication Management, Public Relations Inquiry, and Public Relations Review.
Marianne D. Sison, PhD, is a senior lecturer and program manager of the undergraduate public relations program (and former Deputy Dean, International) in the School of Media and Communication at RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia. Her research interests include diversity and inclusion, global public relations, cultural, and organizational values, corporate social responsibility, public relations education and international communication. She has published numerous journal articles, book chapters, and recently published a co‐authored book, Corporate Social Responsibility, Public Relations and Community Engagement: Emerging Perspectives from South East Asia with Routledge (2018). Marianne is convenor and founding chair of the Asia Pacific Public Relations Research and Education Network.
Christa Thomsen, PhD, is a professor at the Department of Management, Aarhus School of Business and Social Sciences, Aarhus University. Her research is within the areas strategic communication and stakeholder relations, cross‐sector social interactions, and social change in a national and international context. Rooted in this theoretical field, she has investigated corporate social initiatives in large private and public sector companies and organizations, small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) and cross‐sector social partnerships. Her studies are based on qualitative data (written material, interviews, conversations, observations) combined with discourse and dialogue/interaction analysis and to some extent also statistical surveys.
Katerina Tsetsura, PhD, is Gaylord Family Professor of Strategic Communication at the University of Oklahoma, USA. Dr. Tsetsura is internationally known for her work in global public relations and media transparency. She is the author of over 80 peer‐reviewed publications and is a co‐author of Transparency, Public Relations, and the Mass Media: Combating the Hidden Influences in News Coverage Worldwide. Currently, she is a chair of the PR Division of ICA and serves on editorial boards of Communication Theory, International Journal of Strategic Communication, and Public Relations Review, among others. Periodically, she helps companies and NGOs to develop and implement measurement and evaluation campaigns.
Sanna Tuurnas, PhD, comes from the field of public administration and management. Since 2018, she has been a research fellow at Public Governance Institute at KU Leuven, Belgium. Before that she worked in a cross‐disciplinary research collegium, Institute for Advanced Social Research and as a senior lecturer at the Tampere University, Finland. Her research focuses on public sector renewal, co‐production of public services and the “collaborative society.” She has published in journals such as International Journal of Public Sector Management, International Journal of Public Administration, International Review of Administrative Sciences, and European Journal of Social Work.
Tine Ustad Figenschou, PhD, is full professor of Journalism at Oslo Metropolitan University, Oslo, Norway. Figenschou has a journalistic background and training. Figenschou is currently involved in a number of cross‐disciplinary international research projects. She has published broadly in international journals such as The International Journal of Press/Politics, Journalism, Journalism Studies and Media, Culture, and Society. She has worked extensively on mediatization in public sector organizations and is currently working on media, lobbying, and interest groups. The present chapter is written as part of the Media Impact in the Public Service Sector (MIPS) project.
Chiara Valentini, PhD, is full professor of Corporate Communication, at University of Jyvaskyla, School of Business and Economics, Finland. Her research interest focuses on strategic public relations, public communication, and crisis communication in the digital environment. Her work has appeared in several international peer‐reviewed journals, such as Public Relations Review, Corporate Communication: An International Journal, International Journal of Strategic Communication, and International Journal of Press/Politics, to name a few. She is the editor of the Handbook of Public Relations (de Gruyter Mouton, forthcoming) and is currently working on a project on artificial intelligence, big data, and strategic communication.
Sophia Charlotte Volk, M.A., is research associate and PhD candidate as well as project manager in the research project “Value Creating Communication” of the Academic Society for Corporate Management and Communication at the Department of Strategic Communication at the University of Leipzig, Germany. In her doctoral dissertation, she is currently researching the state of the art of comparative communication research, with the objective of developing scientific quality standards for comparative research. She has received several awards for her research in Europe and the United States. Fields of research: communication management, value creation, evaluation and measurement of communication, and comparative and international communication.
Jari Vuori is currently Scientific Advisor of Headai Ltd, visiting professor Arizona State University, Center for Organization Research and Design and London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Department of Health Services Research and Policy. His research focuses mainly on the differences between public and private organizations and sectors at macro‐ and micro levels. In particular, comparative issues concerning public, private, and hybrid service delivery, self‐service design, and dialog have been interested him for years. His educational and scientific background stems from public management, business administration, and economics.
Steven Van de Walle, PhD, is Professor of Public Management at the Public Governance Institute, KU Leuven. His research focuses on interactions between citizens and public services, public sector reform, and public service failure. His work has been published in most of the leading journals in Public Administration. Recent books are Inspectors and Enforcement at the Frontline of Government, Palgrave, 2019 (ed., with N. Raaphorst) and Public Administration Reforms in Europe: The View from the Top, Edward Elgar, 2016 (ed., with G. Hammerschmid, R. Andrews and P. Bezes).
Arild Wæraas, PhD, is professor of organization studies at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences' School of Economics and Business. He conducts research on the translation of strategies into practice and has published in national and international journals on the symbolic and expressive dimensions of branding and reputation management in the public sector. Recently, he has also taken an interest in the internal organizational consequences of reputation management and branding.
Ben Farr‐Wharton, PhD, is a senior lecturer in the Management Department of University of Technology Sydney, Australia Business School and an associate professor in management at the School of Business and Law, Edith Cowan University. His research centers on the mechanisms by which organizations and managers can improve employee performance through well‐being and stress reduction. Ben has worked with a number of health care (hospital and aged care providers) and public management organizations (police and army), within Australia and abroad.
Ansgar Zerfass, PhD, is professor and chair of Strategic Communication at Leipzig University, Germany, and professor of Communication and Leadership (II) at BI Norwegian Business School in Oslo, Norway. He holds a doctorate in business administration and a habilitation (second doctorate) in communication science from the University of Erlangen‐Nürnberg, Germany. Ansgar Zerfass serves as editor of the “International Journal of Strategic Communication” (Routledge, USA) and lead researcher for the Global Communication Monitor series covering more than 80 countries. His published work includes 35 books and more than 330 journal articles on communication management, measurement and evaluation, and international communication.
Acknowledgment
We would like to thank Tom Corkett for his extremely helpful and professional aid in the editing of the manuscript. The text is of higher quality after going through his hands.
Introduction to Public Sector Communication
Vilma Luoma‐aho and María‐José Canel
Public sector organizations exist to make society function effectively. These organizations govern, serve citizens, and run the public sector and its services according to principles set by the government. In their communication, public sector organizations must balance the democratic communication aims of engaging citizens with organizational and institutional goals, as well as with survival in the midst of budget restrictions. The ultimate goal of public sector communication is to enable citizen welfare, but how this can be achieved in practice is both academically and professionally debated. In fact, public sector organizations' communication reflects the cultural and historical heritage of the society around them, and as such there is no one universal model of “good public sector communication.” Models and practices that are effective in one societal setting may actually be detrimental in another.
Despite this diversity, there appear to be similar challenges emerging for public sector organizations globally, and there is thus a need for a deeper understanding of how communication might be used to address these challenges. The aim of this handbook is to provide a comprehensive look at public sector communication. It describes and analyzes the contexts, policies, aims, issues, questions, and practices that shape public sector communication in order to understand the complex communication environment as well as the changing citizen and stakeholder expectations that public sector organizations are facing today. These chapters provide a comprehensive overview of current public sector communication research.
The structure of this introductory chapter is as follows. We first consider the relevance of the topic, discussing the specificities, relative to the conditions found in the private and third sectors, of the public sector as a subject of communication. We then introduce the issue of publicness in order to clarify and define public sector communication. Next, we position contributions from different research areas and disciplines to describe what we know so far about the topic. And finally, we explore the various changes that are affecting contexts and citizens, as well as how these shape public sector communication today, and present the structure of this handbook.
Why Is Public Sector Communication Special?
Public sector organizations are also known as public authority organizations. Authority can be characterized as legitimated power, and public sector organizations require public consent in democratic settings (or coercion in totalitarian regimes) to operate. Public sector organizations operate on several levels—national, regional, and municipal—and they have both politically elected and appointed officials and volunteers as public servants. Public sector organizations often provide public services funded by taxes or other forms of public funding.
What makes public sector organizations' communication special? Though there is much discussion of how the public sector is becoming more and more businesslike with its increased competition and satisfaction measures, there remain eight distinct traits of public sector communication:
The environment within which public sector organizations communicate is political, which affects resources, timing, personnel, and goals (Liu & Horsley,
2007
).
As there is more public pressure for transparency, public sector organizations often have a symbiotic relationship with the media (Fredriksson, Schillemans, & Pallas,
2015
), in which organizational actions and decisions are combined with negative media coverage (Liu, Horsley, & Levenshus,
2010
), narrowing the options for actions.
Public sector structures are more complex, diverse, and uncertain in terms of objectives and decision‐making criteria (Bjornholt & Houlberg Salomonsen,
2015
; Canel & Luoma‐aho,
2015
; Canel & Sanders,
2012
). Moreover, the public sector is less open to market competition than the private sector is, and it has fewer incentives to reduce costs and exhibits less concern about consumer preferences (Thijs & Staes,
2008
).
Public sector organizations are more constrained by legal and regulatory frameworks than corporations are; they are subject to a greater level of public scrutiny and are required to have a high degree of accountability to their constituencies. Public sector organizations cannot choose whom they serve, and nor can they tailor their services to meet the needs of their favored customers (Luoma‐aho,
2008
).
As their legitimacy depends on citizen approval, public sector organizations understand the important role of listening to citizens and how their success in listening can affect this legitimacy (Macnamara,
2016
).
The diversity and multiplicity of publics and stakeholders exceed that of corporations (Sanders & Canel,
2013
; Wæraas & Maor,
2015
).
As the services that public sector organizations provide are mostly intangible, measuring their success and the impact of their final products is particularly challenging (Cinca, Molinero, & Queiroz,
2003
).
The speed at which decision‐making occurs is slower for public sector organizations than it is for businesses.
This difference is due to public procedures and bureaucracy, as public sector organizations often have limited budgets that are influenced by multiple stakeholders. Public sector organizations have to operate under a variety of constraints and are required to balance political guidelines, national guidelines, international cooperation, ideologies management, the bureaucratic culture of administration, and ongoing citizen and customer feedback.
Communication has always been important, but public sector organizations have only begun to hire communication professionals in recent decades. These professionals operate in a dynamic and unpredictable environment, and they must combine organizational responsibilities with emerging citizen and employee needs: “As the end‐users represent a wide variety of individual needs and expectations, public sector organizations are often specialized into regions or areas of expertise, and must balance multiple goals” (Luoma‐aho & Canel, 2016, p. 598). Their vast responsibilities cover diverse fields, such as infrastructure, livelihood, transportation, education, and health care. Priorities are constantly renegotiated in public sector communication, as unexpected issues may lead to the emergence of new and unexpected stakeholder groups (Luoma‐aho & Paloviita, 2010).
It is possible to argue that public opinion and citizens' views are more important for public sector organizations than they are for corporations, as they serve as distributors of democracy in practice. Despite the complex operating environment, almost all citizens have an opinion about public sector organizations or their reputation. These opinions are formed through the interplay of public organizations' communication, achievements, expectations, and trust, and they are shaped by both the media and the cultural settings in which they emerge (James & Moseley, 2014; Liu et al., 2010). Moreover, although citizens may be able to assess services that they receive directly (Laing, 2003), several types of public services that produce social benefits require an understanding of complex interactions as well as professional knowledge, such as that held by analysts. Direct contact with public services and products helps citizens to evaluate these entities, but intangible products or services remain extremely challenging to understand (Van Der Hart, 1991).
Defining Public Sector Communication
In order to understand the topic of this handbook, we first need to explore the meaning of “public” and examine how various scholarly definitions of “communication” help to delineate the meaning of the “public sector communication” binomial.
Degrees of Publicness: The Publicness Fan and Its Implications for Public Sector Communication
As the environment around public sector organizations changes, one may question what counts as public within today's hybrid forms of organization and collaboration. If services are outsourced, or if organizations are more project based and funding is only temporary, who is ultimately responsible for their success? And what exactly defines whether an organization is actually considered public?
Elsewhere, we have discussed the issue of publicness (Canel & Luoma‐aho, 2019), reviewing scholarly contributions from political science and public administration studies about what has been called the “public puzzle” (Antonsen & Jørgensen, 1997; Bozeman & Bretschneider, 1994). The focus of the debate is the blurring boundaries between the private and public sectors, a process that further accelerated owing to the global economic and financial crisis, through which patterns of publicness have changed in unanticipated ways (Meier & O'Toole, 2011, p. 284). Publicness is relevant to the extent that differentiating the public from the private helps to establish criteria with which to conceptualize communication, as well as with which to compare and analyze its practice.
The most commonly accepted criteria to define publicness include ownership (private firms are owned by shareholders, whereas public agencies are owned collectively by the state), sources of financial resources (public agencies are funded by taxation rather than by fees paid directly by customers), and control (political forces versus market forces) (Andrews, Boyne, & Walker, 2011; Rainey, 2011; Walker, Brewer, Boyne, & Avellaneda, 2011). Scholars have introduced the “public purpose” criteria to measure the degree to which organizations adhere to public sector values (democratic accountability, production of collective goods, compliance with due process, and so forth), and in doing so they have highlighted not only the tasks performed but the values that organizations feel obligated to uphold. Thus “publicness” is indicative of a process of public values as inputs, which results in public values as outcomes (Antonsen & Jørgensen, 1997; Bozeman & Moulton, 2011; Meier & O'Toole, 2011).
Figure I.1 The publicness fan (Canel & Luoma‐aho, 2019, p. 29) showing the continuums of what is considered public.
We have illustrated the publicness of public sector organizations through the image of a fan (see Figure I.1), which shows a continuum of various degrees of publicness that are subject to change during the lifespan and evolution of a given public sector organization. The fan structure implies that actors involved in a specific communication situation or action can have different degrees of publicness. The center of the fan represents the “purely public” organizations, such as states or governments. The degree of publicness diminishes toward the outskirts of the fan. We suggest that publicness consists of several variables: funding, control, ownership, purpose, values, accountability, employees, and profit. We are aware that there is some overlap between these variables: for instance, “employees” (whether civil servants or otherwise) could arguably be considered a feature of “ownership”; “profit” (nonprofit versus for profit) is related to “funding”; and “accountability” relates to the “control” that an organization is subject to. The publicness fan separates these variables in order to give this tool the most analytical power possible. Finally, the variable “purpose” measures how oriented an organization or service is to the common good as opposed to individual gain. “Values” measures to what extent the values that guide an organization are set by society as opposed to their being independently constructed.
This fan is a tool that facilitates investigation of the way in which communication is conceptualized and practiced in organizations, and it provides assistance in establishing cross‐sector research questions and hypotheses to explore whether publicness makes a difference. For instance, following Walker and Bozeman's approach to cross‐sector comparative analysis (Walker et al., 2011, pp. 1–2), specific research questions about communication could include the following:
What are the specific constraints (in terms of strategies, structures, processes, and values) that affect the public sector's communication management?
How do these compare with the private sector's communication management?
