Masters Degrees (Communication Science)
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Browsing Masters Degrees (Communication Science) by Subject "Business management"
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Item Open Access The development of an Integrated Communication (IC) audit framework for a decentralized business enterprise(University of the Free State, 2016) Van Baalen, Annette; Mulder, D.English: Integrated Communication (IC) seems the ideal solution to engage in meaningful conversation with various stakeholder groups. Through the implementation of this strategy, companies can use two-way communication to ensure that the demands and expectations that both internal and external stakeholders have towards the company are met. This approach to stakeholder communication also increases stakeholder loyalty, as all the actions of the company are integrated to create a holistic view of the core values that differentiate the company from competitors. Unfortunately, the implementation of IC poses a great challenge to companies. Amongst these challenges are issues such as the complex structure of communication channels available to communicate with stakeholders and the lack of the necessary soft skills to engage in meaningful conversation with the identified stakeholders. This has left companies to perceive IC as an unreachable ideal. Over and above the mentioned challenges, one of the biggest is that no instrument is available that enables a company to determine whether the efforts made to pursue IC have reached full potential. Without a proper evaluation tool that encapsulates the essence of IC, companies will continue to get a distorted perception of what IC offers and might never discover its true potential. To provide a possible solution to the identified problem, five research questions were developed. The first research question was set from a conceptual perspective and was based on determining the basic constructs of IC to further an understanding of the essence of this approach. This was followed by the meta-analytical research question that emphasises the operational dimensions companies need to include in an instrument to evaluate IC efforts. Furthermore, a theoretical research question explored the possibility of existing models and theories that might support the development of an IC audit framework. Finally, a question developed from a normative research perception enabled the researcher to explore the ideal manner through which the feasibility of an evaluation instrument for IC could be implemented. These questions all culminated in the main research question to address the possibility of a company being able to determine whether all communication efforts are integrated. Based on the research questions, a primary objective and three secondary objectives were identified. The primary objective for this study was to develop an IC audit framework that companies can use to determine whether its communication efforts are truly integrated. This aim gave rise to three secondary objectives, which were addressed through three separate research phases. The first secondary research objective focused on determining the scope of IC through the analysis of the conceptual foundation that shapes the concept. This was done by means of a conceptual analysis of IC and it formed the first phase of the research. By using the data provided through the conceptual analysis, the scope of IC was developed, which not only included the domains in which IC should be implemented, but also highlighted constructs such as characteristics, drivers and rules that needed to be addressed during implementation. With this scope, the researcher was able to gain a clear understanding of the main concerns of implementing IC. During the second phase of the research, the data from the conceptual analysis of IC enabled the researcher to have an in-depth focus on the main constructs of the concept that companies need to be aware of. However, as the theoretical research question addressed the possibility of how existing models and theories could contribute to an IC evaluation instrument, another objective was set that focused on this issue. This objective set the challenge of discussing, analysing and comparing various prevailing models and theories of IC that could be shaped into auditing criteria. This research objective was achieved using a literature review. While analysing and comparing the different models, the researcher identified Kitchen and Schultz’s (2000) 8-step model of IC implementation as an appropriate foundational structure for the IC audit. After slight alterations to the steps suggested by Kitchen and Schultz (2000) had been made, an IC audit framework was developed that focused on the mentioned constructs identified through the conceptual analysis. The third secondary objective set for the study addressed the normative research question namely, what the ideal manner would be to test the IC audit framework. This objective was dedicated to ensuring that the implementation of the conceptual IC audit framework was tested with regard to its feasibility in practice. To test the feasibility of the framework, it was presented to the managing staff of a decentralised company, Central Media. The data necessary to reach this objective were collected by means of focus-group interviews and analysed. During the focus-group interviews with the respondents from the decentralised company, the steps of the conceptual IC audit framework were presented. Respondents were then granted the opportunity to provide feedback to shape the final IC audit framework. Respondent validation was then employed to ascertain whether the input provided by the respondents had been interpreted correctly. This process formed part of the third and final research phase. After the final secondary objective had been addressed, the data from the three different phases were combined to develop a final presentation of each step of the IC audit framework. The three research phases culminated in a 9-step IC auditing instrument. The execution of this study led to a binary set of contributions. First, the proposed IC audit framework can assist companies to determine whether they are indeed following an integrated approach to all their communication activities. Furthermore, this instrument can also be used to plan, prepare and develop an integrated communication strategy for a company. Ultimately, this study also strives to enhance the status of communication in the industry by showing the advantages of an effective IC approach that organisational communication can bring.