Public relations,passive aggression and critical social auditing: reflections on organisational inaction in stakeholder engagement

This article explores issues associated with organisational governance in the context of stakeholder engagement. It argues that both public relations (PR) research and practice have yet to address systematically the challenges inherent in this area, particularly how organisations exert power over stakeholders. Prompted by a consideration of the situational theory of power put forward by the sociologist Steven Lukes, it introduces the concept of passive aggression to PR practice. This is cited as an example of a wider phenomenon, which the author calls dark dialogue. The insights generated by these perspectives are used to highlight how theoretical approaches in the PR field that seek to understand and promote the role of dialogue in organisational‐stakeholder relations face an empirical challenge. This insight is then used to highlight the limitations of what has been traditionally termed as social auditing. It is suggested that PR and social auditing practice share the same blind spots when it comes to assessing how organisations exercise power and behave towards their stakeholders. The article goes on to advocate collaboration between PR professionals and academics to practically address these issues through a reconfigured social auditing process. It ends by suggesting that action research provides a methodological framework through which these theory‐practice interactions can be facilitated productively. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Social process in grizzly bear management: lessons for collaborative governance and natural resource policy

In this study, we analyze a case of governance in natural resource management. Building on the limited body of literature on termination and using methods of problem orientation and social process mapping, we examine a stakeholder engagement process designed to address conflicts in grizzly bear management in Banff National Park, Alberta. Terminated in 2009 after several years of collaboration, this stakeholder engagement process explicitly used the policy sciences framework to cultivate dialogue, improve participants?? decision-making skills, and make consensus-based recommendations for grizzly bear management. Our analysis demonstrates the utility of undertaking social process mapping and problem orientation in order to understand a natural resource policy problem. We include recommendations to foster a social process that allows for clarification and advancement of the common interest in stakeholder groups, insights into how social process can contribute to policy termination, and reflections on the practical, collaborative use of the policy sciences to solve problems of governance. This analysis complements other articles on this case that examine stakeholder perspectives, initial outcomes, and decision process, collectively providing a thorough policy analysis.     

Global governance and communicative action: a study of democratic participation during planning for the Lyon–Turin rail link

Organisation–stakeholder engagement during planning of a high‐speed rail link between France and Italy is described and analysed in this paper. Conceptualising organisation–citizen engagement as a form of deliberative democracy, the study's theoretical framework draws upon literature from communication, social and political science. Following a review of governance for transnational organisation–stakeholder engagement, communication methods used by one transnational organisation, Lyon‐Turin Ferroviaire (LTF), to engage in ‘discursive legitimacy’ with affected parties, is studied. A qualitative case study approach examines whether LTF's engagement with stakeholders provides opportunities for democratic participation rather than creating a democratic deficit in the public sphere. Results point to a lack of mechanisms through which transnational policy makers can be held accountable‐leading in this case, to a legitimacy crisis for institutions involved, threatening their ability to justify the economic and transportation viability of the project. This article is of interest to academics in communication and social sciences, managers working in an international context and communication professionals. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Integrating public affairs information strategy with organizational practices in healthcare delivery organizations

To develop and implement policy, lawmakers rely on the input from external experts and stakeholders. Public affairs professionals are responsible for monitoring the sociopolitical environment and responding to public policy proposals on behalf of firms and organizations. However, how public affairs operate intraorganizationally and develop information strategies is not clear nor consistent in the literature. The purpose was to explore how public affairs engage with internal stakeholders to leverage their knowledge for information strategies in responding to policymakers. Knowledge transfer served as a theoretical framework through a qualitative multiple case study of 3 not-for-profit healthcare delivery organizations. Primary data were collected using semistructured interviews from public affairs (n = 11) and healthcare professionals (n = 18) along with a review of organizational documents and public records. Patterns and themes emerged through cross-case synthesis, presented as a process-based model and theory. Public affairs structures and decision-making processes varied across cases indicating no coherent approach by practitioners. Intraorganizational engagement and knowledge transfer processes were managed both consistently and ad hoc, through informal and formal methods. Practitioner strategies and tactics were identified to facilitate internal interaction such as filtering policy issues and effective communication methods. Common institutional barriers were identified that made stakeholder engagement a challenge. This study provides insight into understanding how public affairs practice internally and supports the fundamental importance of linking knowledge into public policymaking.     

Diversity and constructive conflict in stakeholder dialogue: considerations for design and methods

Diversity is generally recognized as a key issue for learning in stakeholder dialogue on wicked sustainability issues. Yet the question on how design of stakeholder dialogue and supporting methods actually enhance learning in stakeholder dialogue deserves more attention. This paper presents constructive conflict as a central design issue for stakeholder dialogue. This means that a dialogue entails the articulation of a diversity of perspectives and the confrontation of claims and ideas based on these perspectives. Building on three properties of diversity (variety, balance and disparity), the methodological implications of constructive conflict as a central design issue will be derived. These implications are structured according to three design steps: stakeholder identification and selection, articulation of perspectives and confrontation of claims and ideas. It is argued that social scientific methods are needed to support design of stakeholder dialogue. Q methodology is presented as an example that was used in a stakeholder dialogue on sustainable biomass in the Netherlands to identify stakeholder perspectives, to select stakeholders and to structure the dialogue. The paper wraps up with conclusions on constructive conflict as a design issue.     

Reputational impact of Covid-19 pandemic management on World Health Organization among Indian public health professionals

Organizational reputation is critical for successful stakeholder engagement. A crisis can affect the organizational reputation and alter stakeholder perception about organizations. The current study investigates the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and its management on the World Health Organization's (WHO's) reputation among Indian public health professionals (PHPs). The study applies the situational crisis communication theory (SCCT) model to investigate the reputational impact of the pandemic on WHO among the study subjects. The study results indicate that most Indian PHPs attribute the current Pandemic to WHO. Their current reputation has dropped compared to their earlier reputation among Indian PHPs. The same is reflected in their behavioral intent, with the PHP's willingness to follow WHO guidelines on public health issues significantly reduced. The study also finds empirical support for the SCCT Model.     

Rethinking Academic Entrepreneurship: University Governance and the Emergence of the Academic Enterprise

The theory and practice of academic entrepreneurship, like many domains of public management, requires active recognition that context affects individual behavior. In this Viewpoint essay, the authors contend that the operational logic of a university affects the values and activities of actors within that university in ways that shape the broader entrepreneurial activities of the university. The authors describe a new entrepreneurial organizational logic, termed the “academic enterprise,” and situate it in relation to the more established academy, bureaucratic, and market logics. The academic enterprise is inherently entrepreneurial in terms of the management of the university and its reliance on faculty and student entrepreneurship as a tool for broad-scale social and economic transformation.     

Green Tape and Public Employee Rule Abidance: Why Organizational Rule Attributes Matter

Ever since Max Weber identified formal rules as one attribute of bureaucratic organizations, scholars have uncovered a range of cooperative and uncooperative behavioral responses to organizational rules. The question for public management theory and practice is how to design and execute organizational rules in ways that elicit cooperation rather than resistance. Green tape, a theory of effective rules, provides one answer to this question. Green tape theory argues that the cooperation of stakeholders—individuals who comply with, explain, or enforce rules—depends on the presence of five rule attributes. This article tests the relationship between these attributes and stakeholder rule abidance using mail survey data obtained from the employees of four cities in a Midwestern state. The results indicate that employee perceptions of four of the five theoretical green tape attributes are correlated with higher rule abidance. Thus, stakeholder perceptions of organizational rules appear to matter because they alter the extent of cooperation in rule implementation.     

Leadership and Organizational Culture: Sustaining Dialogue between Practitioners and Scholars

Few topics in the study of contemporary public organizations better illustrate the burdens—and potential benefits—of sustaining dialogue between practitioners and scholars than the interplay between leadership, organizational culture, and public sector performance. Following two decades of intensive research and advocacy, the last 10 years have seen diminished scholarly attention to this subject, while efforts to shape culture remain central to the leadership of public organizations. This essay reflects on the 8 Cs of organizational culture: complicated, control, competence, commitments, credibility, conflict, context, and change.     

The situational public engagement model in a municipal watershed protection program: information seeking,information sharing,and the use of organizational and social media

In an extension of the situational theory of publics, we tested a situational engagement model to answer how situational factors affect public engagement via both communication behaviors and the use of social media and organizational media. As part of the evaluation of a collaborative stormwater outreach and education campaign, a campus‐wide survey, assisted by a large public university's public affairs office, was conducted to identify key predictors of public engagement in a watershed protection program. A path analysis for the proposed situation engagement model revealed that problem recognition was the key to predicting both information seeking and sharing. The path analysis also yielded a significant association between communication behaviors and public engagement, mediated by the use of organizational media in seeking information on the issue. Further, the analysis showed a significant direct effect of involvement on engagement. The current study provided a preliminary framework that explains individuals' environmental behaviors in today's participatory and user‐generating media environment. Theoretical and practical implications were discussed. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The five capabilities of socially responsible companies

This paper develops and tests a model that integrates processes of public affairs management with stakeholder engagement and dialogue, business ethics and social reporting to explain social responsibility capabilities in organisations. The model, called Corporate Social Responsibility Management Capacity, describes social responsiveness as arising from a firm's social responsibility orientation and its public relations orientation. The paper shows how the model can be used by managers to measure, manage and improve their company's ability to be socially responsible. Copyright © 2004 Henry Stewart Publications     

State-led bricolage and the extension of collective governance: Hybridity in the Swiss skill formation system

This paper explores the extension of collective governance to sectors without collective governance tradition. We introduce the concept of state-led bricolage to analyze the expansion of the Swiss apprenticeship training system – in which employer associations fulfill core collective governance tasks – to economic sectors in which training had previously followed a school-based and state-oriented logic. In deindustrializing societies, these sectors are key for the survival of collectively governed training systems. Through a mixed-methods analysis, we examine the reform process that led to the creation of new intermediary organizations that enable collective governance in these sectors. In addition, we compare the organizational features of these organizations with the respective organizations in the traditional crafts and industry sectors. We find that the new organizations result from state-led bricolage. They are hybrid organizations that reflect some of the bricoleur's core policy goals and critically build on the combination of associational and state-oriented institutional logics.     

Changing Planning by Changing Practice: How Water Managers Innovate Through Action

ABSTRACT

In this study, we show how water managers who were not in strategic decision-making positions strategized in order to innovate water management practice. They undertook actions in order to infuse water management with a pragmatic logic that in their view would be better able to handle complexity. They addressed the requirements of an organizational context dominated by rational comprehensive planning as the model for acceptable action and associated forms of organizing that honor formally regulated responsibilities. Existing organizational practices and the logics grounding these were the counterpoint of their strategy, as well as the source on which they drew. Conventional forms of planning and organization were changed from within, through insider action woven into existing organizational process and form. Although acting from a logic that competed with established practices, these managers avoided confrontation and battle on the level of logic. They rather strategized by harnessing existing practices.     

运动模式下的基层标准化治理困局与突破--基于三维制度逻辑的多案例研究

带有运动模式特质的标准化治理在提升管理效率的同时,也遭遇了基层实践困境,表现为痕迹主义与有效监督并行、形式主义与标准管理共生。把握基层标准化的尺度,将实现基层行政的系统性平衡作为改革探索的重点,研究建立“科层控制、专业化管理和社会协同”三维制度平衡的分析框架,并以此作为解局与破局的理论模型。研究发现,运动模式下的标准化治理困局缘于科层控制逻辑下基层产生的邀功与避责的心态,标准化治理在运动模式下的实践中经常呈现为“悬浮”状态;而专业化管理逻辑打破了原有的制度平衡,使天平一端倾向于科层逻辑,最终导致基层标准化治理的困境;社会协同逻辑作用发挥需要相关主体及时参与到反馈机制中,但实际与前两者脱离。当前需要从制度逻辑平衡的角度出发,自下而上地构建起基层标准化框架,真正解决基层标准化治理困境。     

BNFL National Stakeholder Dialogue: a case study in public affairs

This case study explores the very early days of the British Nuclear Fuels Ltd (BNFL) National Stakeholder Dialogue. The dialogue is arguably the most intensive, consistent and difficult engagement with stakeholders ever undertaken by a UK company. It involves a wide range of individuals and organisations interested in or concerned about nuclear issues and aims to inform BNFL's decision‐making process around the improvement of their environmental performance in the context of their overall development. The process is designed and convened by The Environment Council, an independent third party with expertise in stake‐holder dialogue. The aim of this paper is to examine how the dialogue came about, why stakeholder dialogue was used as a process, some of the problems encountered by the process and the link that can exist between public affairs and stakeholder dialogue. Copyright © 2003 Henry Stewart Publications     

Spanning “Bleeding” Boundaries: Humanitarianism,NGOs, and the Civilian‐Military Nexus in the Post–Cold War Era

How do nongovernmental (NGO), international (IO), and military organizations cope with their dependencies and address their perceptual and real differences in order to coordinate their field operations? This question is addressed through the creation of a matrix grouping civilian (NGOs and IOs) and military operations into four general types: peacekeeping; disaster relief; complex humanitarian emergencies/warfare; and stabilization and reconstruction. Second, using Galbraith's information processing approach to organizational design, a range of formal coordination mechanisms that organizations use at the strategic and operational levels to help them cope with their dependencies in different field operations is identified. Third, the author underscores how communities of practice are emerging as informal mechanisms of coordination among civilian and military organizations. And finally, a framework of organizational forms that views communities of practice as an alternative to hierarchy and markets is offered. Believing communities of practice hold the most promise for coordination in the human security domain when hierarchies are politically untenable and markets lack accountability, the author concludes with implications for interorganization coordination research and practice.     

Communicating the Vision: How Face‐to‐Face Dialogue Facilitates Transformational Leadership

For public managers facing political and structural constraints, transformational leadership promises to meaningfully improve outcomes by communicating an inspiring vision of the organization. But this promise rests to a great degree on the communication skills and behaviors of the leader. A better understanding of how transformational leadership functions in organizations therefore requires a deeper application of theory from the field of communications. This article explores the question of what communication behaviors facilitate transformational leadership. A media richness framework is applied to propose that transformational leaders will be most effective when employing a face‐to‐face dialogue approach to communication. Using a multisource longitudinal research design, the authors find support for this proposition in an empirical test of 256 Danish tax units, lower and upper secondary schools, child care centers, and bank branches. The findings also show that size matters, with diminishing effectiveness of face‐to‐face dialogue in larger organizations.     

Rational and Compassionate Information Processing: A Conceptual Framework for Authentic Dialogue

Authentic dialogue is a key component of deliberative democracy. Public administration scholars and practitioners have focused on institutional settings for authentic dialogue, but they have paid less attention to behavioral aspects, especially the emotional component, of authentic dialogue. The author proposes a conceptual framework for authentic dialogue that highlights the three dimensions of its social‐behavioral foundation: epistemic, social, and compassionate information processing motivation. The article reviews the discourse on authentic dialogue in public administration and provides a conceptual framework for authentic dialogue, with a discussion of the three behavioral dimensions, their relationships, and their effects. This framework may be used in empirical analysis of authentic dialogue and the design of institutions for deliberative democracy.     

The impact of online media on stakeholder engagement and the governance of corporations

Online tools such as social media provide new opportunities for citizens and stakeholder groups to be informed, identify common interests, express and share opinions and demands, organize, and coordinate interventions. Therefore, the Internet could be expected to increase stakeholder engagement in corporate affairs and facilitate good governance. In order to provide an overview of current findings on the impact of online media on governance and stakeholder engagement, we conduct a systematic literature review. Our analysis reveals five topical categories of inquiry. We analyze studies from the field of business participation and find a strong bias towards consumer engagement and marketing issues. Only few studies are found to critically explore the effect of online media on power and value distribution between corporations and stakeholders. We then turn to the more established field of political and civic participation in order to further analyze antecedents, forms, and outcomes of online engagement in civic affairs, and derive a framework for future research. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.