ByStefania RomentiAssistant Professor, PH.D.IULM University

Theories in Corporate Communication

1. Publics & Stakeholders

2. Stakeholder engagement & Corporate reputation

3. Dialogue management

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Publics & Stakeholders

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Stakeholder engagement & reputation

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Granarolo’s reputation

Vision & Leadership

Social responsibility

Quality of products

Innovation

Financial performance

Internal climate

Employees engaged in re-definition and dissemination of core values

Multi-stakeholder workshops about

sustainability results

Partnerships with suppliers to enhance the quality of

products

“Groups of Change” to reflect on future

challenges

“Archimede’s Groups” to develop a more

cooperative internal climate

Partnerships with suppliers to reduce costs

Romenti S. (2010) «Reputation and Stakeholder engagement: an Italian case Study», Journal of Communication Management, 14(4).

Dialogue managementIn public relations studies, dialogue as an orientation, which highlights an ethical approach to manage relationships between organizations and publics (Kent, Taylor, 1998; 2002; Spooner, 2009)

Dialogue as a conceptual evolution of two way symmetrical communication (Kent, Taylor, 1998; 2002)

“Dialogue is defined not as a process, but a product of communication and relationships” (Kent, Taylor, 1998; 2002).

Five characteristics of dialogic orientation (Kent, Taylor, 2002):Mutuality

Propinquity

Empathy

Risk

Commitment

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Five strategic principles of online dialogic communication (Kent et al., 1998):

Dialogic loop

Usefulness of information

Generation of return visits

Ease of interface

Rule of conservation of visitors

Applications of dialogic principles to websites (Kent et al., 2003),

blog (Seltzer, Mitrook, 2007), Facebook (Sweetzer, Lariscy, 2008) and

Twitter (Ribalko, Seltzer, 2010)

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Dialogue in Organizational studiesDialogue and organizational learning and knowledge production

(Isaacs, 2001, Schein, 2003; Mazutis, Slawinski, 2008)

Dialogue as a critical mechanism or process through which organizations could build a

common experience or environment where participants can learn collectively

Dialogue and organizational development and change (Jacobs,

Heracleous, 2005; Skordoulis, Dawson, 2007; Barret et al. 2005; Ford, Ford, 1995)

Dialogue as enabler of organizational change, a means to cultivate critical thinking and to

stimulate participants involvement to change processes.

Dialogue and the organizing process (Gergen et al., 2004; Kuhn, 2008)

Dialogue as constitutive of organizations. It is “a discursive coordination that could bring

organization into being effectively”. Organizations as a “macro-conversation of interactions“

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Dialogue in Management studies

Dialogue and management learning (Cunliffe, 2002; Gray, 2007)

Dialogue as a useful tool to stimulate critical reflection and facilitate management

learning process

Dialogue, strategy development and decision making (Von Krogh, Roos,

1995; Huisman, 2001; Mosainder, Stenfors, 2008)

Dialogue as a mean that facilitates groups interactions in decision making processes.

Dialogue could also be considered an ideal locus where decision are discussed and taken.

• Dialogue, collaborative management and consensus building (Nielsens,

1981; Innes, 2004; Heath, 2007)

Dialogue as tool to improve relationships between stakeholders in collaborative groups.

Dialogue is also an useful medium to interact with key stakeholders in order to build

consensus.

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