Developing a Communicative Logic –The Key to Communication Professionalism

Abstract

Communication practitioners still struggle to increase their status and legitimacy, and the value of their work is often questioned. The general perception of the occupation is often related to the idea that communication practitioners manipulate with misleading information and primarily are involved in superficial activities such as image and reputation building. In attempting to defend themselves from criticism and enhance their status, communication practitioners have strived to be regarded as a management function, which comes with pressure to follow a managerial logic. However, the managerial logic works as a double-edged sword -it brings some status in the short run but takes communication practitioners further away from their core competence in communication. In this article, we challenge the one-sided belief in the managerial logic -managerialism -and explore its hidden, negative implications for the practice and professionalization of communications practitioners. The implications are illustrated with interviews with communication practitioners and survey data on communication practitioners' views and communication processes. Further, we propose that an alternative logic -a professional communicative logic -needs to be further developed and embraced to additionally advance the professional project.

Digital internal communication: An interplay of socio‐technical elements

“…Social media platforms are highlighted most frequently in the data set supporting teamwork, and communication between internal F I G U R E 3 Conceptual model of the interplay between DIC's socio-technical elements and communication levels stakeholders at low cost, providing opportunities to engage and fostering corporate learning (Schuchmann & Seufert, 2015). Hence, DIC allows the shift from communication being produced and executed to communication enabling and facilitating organisational members' communication (Simonsson & Heide, 2021).…”

“…The central theme of 'Developing competencies' entails dynamic, rich and complex learning processes, and innovative forms of thinking, interacting and organising, which, from a managerial point of view, lead to new processes, services, and products. Adopting the perspective of a social constructionist communicative logic (Simonsson & Heide, 2021), the interplay model illustrates how people in DWP settings co-create shared sensemaking of technological elements. This sensemaking process helps them develop competencies in a climate of trust.…”

“…However, we consider limiting DIC to digital channels and internal social media as problematic because it does not capture the scope and depth of the concept. In particular, such a technology‐focused vision falls short because it excludes the human ‘software’ side of DIC including the interactive sensemaking process informing actions and creating organisational identities (Flanagan & Walker, 2021; Simonsson & Heide, 2021). Therefore, our research uses a meaning‐centred approach to comprehensively investigate DIC, which has evolved from IC based on technological affordances.…”

“…As a result, our review will generate a comprehensive understanding of DIC, consolidating technological and human perspectives towards an ‘interplay’ of the various elements. Such an interplay goes beyond the fast digital development of technological tools in IC and expands on the slow socially constructed sensemaking process of people relating to each other in digitalised organisational workplace environments (Dahlman & Heide, 2020; Sharma & Khatri, 2019; Simonsson & Heide, 2021). Moreover, the interplay illustrated as a conceptual model explains how IC is a precursor to DIC, which also integrates digital affordances.…”

“…Such a dialogue may empower employees as ‘coworkers’ to participate in communicative organisational initiatives supported by technological affordances, such as enterprise social media to enhance communication; establish particular co‐workers as communication partners; allow them to edit and publish texts about themselves and others; and provide access to messages at any time (Leonardi et al., 2013). Furthermore, the emerging conceptual model can help researchers consider adopting a communication logic that understands DIC as value‐laden social constructions (Dahlman & Heide, 2020; Sharma & Khatri, 2019; Simonsson & Heide, 2021), and thus inspire scholarly discussions and move research forward.…”