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The Organisation of External Communication Disciplines in UK Companies: A Conceptual and Empirical Analysis of Dimensions and Determinants

University of Amsterdam

Richard Thorpe

Manchester Metropolitan University, UK

The subject of the organisation of a company's external communications has been characterised by enduring debate exemplified in the discussions on the relationship between marketing and public relations as well as, more recently, in arguments for a greater "integration" or interaction between and consolidation of a company's communication disciplines. Despite this prolific attention to communication organi sation in the literature, having resulted in a number of normative prescriptions and suggestions, there has been little if any actual empirical research on aspects of communication organisation across companies. Moreover, within the little prior empirical research, scant attention has been given, firstly, to conceptual develop ment in the sense of defining constructs and developing valid measures of commu nication organisation, and, secondly, to the contextual factors that may make a particular organisational arrangement of communication disciplines either more or less appropriate for a particular company. This paper therefore develops and tests a number of literature-derived propositions relating organisational dimensions to conditions in a company's internal and external environments. Findings of an exploratory empirical study show that the organisational relationship (in the form of different types of interaction and their degree of formalisation) between the two primary departments involved in a company's external communication programmes are correlated with such internal environmental conditions as the departments' domain similarity and resource dependence, as well as the prevailing organisa tional norms and cultural conditions within a company.

Key Words: Public Relations • Corporate Affairs • Marketing Communications • Stakeholder and External Relations Management • Commumcation Organisation

Journal of Business Communication, Vol. 38, No. 4, 413-438 (2001)
DOI: 10.1177/002194360103800402


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