PurposeThe purpose of the present review of communication approaches to organizational change is to identify and further develop the range of perspectives available in the literature and to present a framework on communication and change that could underpin future research.Design/methodology/approachResearch on communication, narratives, stories and discourse, which have mapped new terrain in the study of organizational change, is reviewed and discussed.FindingsThe authors conclude that despite the vast academic and popular change literature, communication approaches to change still remain underdeveloped and communication scholars are, with few exceptions, remarkably absent in the field. Three challenges for the future are proposed, that researchers of communication and organizational change need to consider.Originality/valueThis paper provides a comprehensive literature review in the field of communication during organizational change. By integrating these studies in a new framework of communication as tool, process and social transformation, the authors offer a new foundation for theory building in this area. Further development and integration of these three different communication approaches is suggested, which would offer better conditions for research and practice to embrace the complex processes of organizational change.

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Purpose – The concept of “communicative leadership” is used in organisations that analyse and develop leaders' communication competence. A scholarly definition of this concept is lacking, and the implications of leaders' communication and the development of communication competence for organisations are rarely discussed. The purpose of this paper is to create a theoretical framework around the concept of “communicative leadership”, which can contribute to future research and development of leaders' communication competence. Design/methodology/approach – Three research questions were addressed: what communicative behaviours are central to leaders? How can “communicative leaders” be characterised? What is a “communicative leader”? Literature from the leadership and communication research fields was reviewed and related to these questions. Findings – Four central communicative behaviours of leaders (i.e. structuring, facilitating, relating, and representing), eight principles of communicative leadership, and a tentative definition are presented. A communicative leader is defined as someone who engages employees in dialogue, actively shares and seeks feedback, practices participative decision making, and is perceived as open and involved. Practical implications – A theoretical foundation to the practice of analysing and developing leaders' communication competence is provided, which is related to employee engagement and organisational performance. Originality/value – Communicative leadership is a concept emerging from organisational needs, articulated by corporate and public organisation leaders. This article links its core constructs to academic quantitative and qualitative research in an integrated framework, which can guide further research and the development of leaders' communication competence.

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Purpose -Development and expansion of the communication management function in organizations has lately been discussed in relation to the concept of institutionalization.Empirical evidence has illustrated that the role of communication executives and communication managers varies between organizations, and could also be subjected to change within an organization. In this paper, institutionalization of communication management is conceptualized as a process. A theoretical framework is developed, which integrates important factors that influence and regulate this process.Design/Methodology -A literature review resulted in a number of factors potentially influencing the institutionalization process. These factors were attributed to three main theoretical areas and four different levels of analysis, using institutional theory as a guiding framework. The theoretical areas and analysis levels, were proposed to be mutually interdependent, and were compiled in a theoretical framework, illustrated in a model. Findings -The theoretical framework includes three main areas: organizational structure, social capital, and perceptions of the profession; and four levels of analysis: the societal, the organizational field, the organizational and the individual levels. Keywords Institutionalization, Communication management, Theoretical framework Article type Conceptual paper INSTITUTIONALIZATION OF COMMUNICATION MANAGEMENT 3Communication professionals have attained executive positions and engaged in fields of practice that go beyond the traditional functions that originally defined the profession.Communication executives today have more legitimacy, power and responsibility than ever before. Alongside with the development in communication management practice, research in communication management and public relations has developed significantly over the past two decades (Botan and Hazleton, 2006; Botan and Taylor, 2004). However, scholars also have recognized the need for further development of theories that can broaden the field, such as social theory (Ihlen, Fredriksson and van Ruler, 2009) and institutional theory (Invernizzi and Romenti, 2009;Zerfass, 2009). The integration of institutional thought in communication management theory is proposed to offer a possibility to understand its core functions better (Sandhu, 2009). However, we still lack a comprehensive theoretical framework for the purpose of studying institutionalization of communication management. A similar framework concerning the institutionalization of corporate social responsibility (CSR) has recently been proposed by Schultz and Wehemeyer (2010).Institutionalization of the communication function in organizations has been compared to institutionalization of other corporate functions, such as finance, human resources, and information technology (Swerling and Sen, 2009). Four common indicators have been used to investigate the level of institutionalization: maintenance of a reporting line to the CEO; enhancement of senior management perceptions; integra...