Excellence in Communicating Organizational Strategy (Suny Series in International Management)

Rating:
Summary: Piet Hein Coebergh
Review: As a management consultant, working for a communications & pr consulting firm, I was intrigued by the title and bought the book simply based on my hope that this would be the first book that I would read that indicates - maybe even proves - that it makes sense to communicate corporate strategy. I believe in open communication of corporate strategy, but I have experienced that this is a belief that still is in need of scientific evidence. Why?
Large scale organizations, profit and non-for-profit, are increasingly challenged to communicate effectively internally and externally. But at the same time, one can easily observe through various media how organizations and their leaders struggle to communicate where and how they want to lead their company. This paradox raises the question whether it is beneficial for a company to communicate their strategy. Because if it is, why do companies often seem so reluctant in communicating their strategy? And if it is not, why bother trying?
Although the title seems to exactly match my research problem, the collected articles mainly deal with a variety of management issues that have little or nothing to do with communicating strategy. The editors, both emeritus professors in communication, for example conclude that excellence in organizational communication has to do with "reducing the cycle time", involving "environmental scanning, value chain analysis and continuous improvement" (page 251). The only conclusion that comes close to my research question is that "Excellence in the communication of organizational leadership strategy involves the clear and complete articulation of a firm's visions, targets and implementing structures. The latter involves putting in place a proactive corporate culture, rapid-response communication system, and an effective continuous improvement system" (page 251). The last conclusion appears to be based on the much admired business success in general and articulate communication of corporate strategy in particular of General Electric under the reign of Jack Welch. This kind of reasoning has nothing to do with testing - let alone falsifying - a hypothesis, but rather with reproducing management myths. This book was a scientific disappointment. I gave it one star because I collected evidence for another hypothesis: that being a professor in communications management is no guarantee for quality.

Rating:
Summary: Piet Hein Coebergh
Review: As a management consultant, working for a communications & pr consulting firm, I was intrigued by the title and bought the book simply based on my hope that this would be the first book that I would read that indicates - maybe even proves - that it makes sense to communicate corporate strategy. I believe in open communication of corporate strategy, but I have experienced that this is a belief that still is in need of scientific evidence. Why?
Large scale organizations, profit and non-for-profit, are increasingly challenged to communicate effectively internally and externally. But at the same time, one can easily observe through various media how organizations and their leaders struggle to communicate where and how they want to lead their company. This paradox raises the question whether it is beneficial for a company to communicate their strategy. Because if it is, why do companies often seem so reluctant in communicating their strategy? And if it is not, why bother trying?
Although the title seems to exactly match my research problem, the collected articles mainly deal with a variety of management issues that have little or nothing to do with communicating strategy. The editors, both emeritus professors in communication, for example conclude that excellence in organizational communication has to do with "reducing the cycle time", involving "environmental scanning, value chain analysis and continuous improvement" (page 251). The only conclusion that comes close to my research question is that "Excellence in the communication of organizational leadership strategy involves the clear and complete articulation of a firm's visions, targets and implementing structures. The latter involves putting in place a proactive corporate culture, rapid-response communication system, and an effective continuous improvement system" (page 251). The last conclusion appears to be based on the much admired business success in general and articulate communication of corporate strategy in particular of General Electric under the reign of Jack Welch. This kind of reasoning has nothing to do with testing - let alone falsifying - a hypothesis, but rather with reproducing management myths. This book was a scientific disappointment. I gave it one star because I collected evidence for another hypothesis: that being a professor in communications management is no guarantee for quality.