There is strong interest in Betteke van Ruler’s ideas on integrating communication processes into organisational strategy.
Renowned strategic communication researcher Prof Emeritus Dr Betteke van Ruler has celebrated a milestone of 150,000 downloads of her research paper on communication theory published in the International Journal of Strategic Communication in 2018.
It’s an important research paper that goes to the heart of the weakness of theory to support corporate communications and public relations practice and its role within management. van Ruler is also the author of an essay I frequently cite, “Professionals are from Venus, and scholars are from Mars”, but that’s another story for another day.
van Ruler seeks to answer an important management question about the role of strategic communication within an organisation.
Is strategic communication a one-way process and a means of meeting organisational goals, or is it a more enlightened two-way process that involves an audience or public as part of the process?
It seems obvious. Not so. Strategy is often developed in isolation within an organisation and viewed as a one-way activity.
I’d argue that strategy development in management and communication contexts should be a continuous process based on testing assumptions and constant adjustment.
Corporate communications or public relations can play an important role as van Ruler suggests in supporting management by continuously building, defining, presenting, realising and rebuilding strategy. An insight from my research is that often, management undertakes these tasks as part of the planning process but does not recognise them as public relations activities.
van Ruler asserts that strategic communication should be a form of agile management in which a mix of communication processes are applied in a continuous loop. It’s no surprise the paper is so widely read and cited.
Betteke van Ruler (2018) Communication Theory: An Underrated Pillar on Which Strategic Communication Rests, International Journal of Strategic Communication, 12:4, 367-381, DOI: 10.1080/1553118X.2018.1452240
Diary of a PhD student 