An examination into the role of corporate communication staff in the formation and implementation of business strategy and the facilitation of business innovation

Communication is increasingly gaining the status of a valuable, if not Indispensable management tool, together with the obligations that such status carries. Compared with about ten years ago communication managers are no longer seen as mere information conduits, rather they act as fully fledged strategic advisers to senior managers. In common with financial management, production management and human resources management, communication is expected to contribute to the achievement of company objectives. Until recently communication was seen as the exclusive territory of the 'public relations' and 'marketing communications' departments. However, this era now seems to have come to an end, as witnessed particularly in the rise of 'new' forms of communication within such functional management domains such as 'financial management' (investor relations), 'production management' (e.g environmental communication), and 'personnel management' (labour market communication) which communicate with internal and external target groups apparently outside the scope of influence of the 'traditional' communication departments. According to Van Riel (1995) corporate communication is an all embracing framework coordinating marketing, organisational and management communication - integrating the total business. Although much has been written on the subject, no empirical study on the role and tasks of the director of corporate communications has been found. Despite an increased academic interest in organisational communication and in strategy implementation this area has received scant attention to the role of organisational communication in the process of strategy implementation and often fail to address fully the issues relating to organisational communication in diverse, dynamic and complex contemporary organisations. It is interesting to note that there is no universally accepted definition of the concept, nor a unified title for the person who holds the office (Dolphin and Fan, 2000). The role of communication is still embryonic as an established function; it is misunderstood in many organisations. One word repeated throughout this literature is 'strategic', public relations managers should provide strategic counsel, they should take part in strategy formulation, and they must be able to implement strategies. Bronn (2001) then wonders why is it, however, that so many agree that public relations are still not making it to the top management teams. This makes the task less clear cut Academics seems to be undecided about what is expected of the PR practitioner. There are a variety of different descriptions given to essentially the same task. All put different emphasis on much the same job. There can be little debate that corporate communications has become a key competitive weapon. Organisations whether in the public or private sectors can gain and sustain competitive advantage form communicating successfully with their key audiences