The Organisation of Integrated Communications - Article Example

PART ONE 1 INTRODUCTION This paper is in response to the article, “The organisation of integrated communications: toward flexible integration”. This section provides a road map for the paper and the sections that follow describe the various headings into which this paper is divided. The paper is divided into two parts. Part one concentrates on summarizing the article and part two consists of analysing the article from the point of view of literature review, research methodology and data collection apart from commenting upon the key findings and recommendations. For an article of this scope, it becomes imperative to critically evaluate the article from multiple perspectives. Hence the focus of this paper is to take a multi layered approach to the analysis of the articles. 1.2 THE ARTICLE SUMMARY In recent years, there have been a number of studies on how an organisation communicates with the rest of the world. Many of these studies have emphasized the fact that organisations tend to communicate in a wide variety of channels and across horizontal and vertical dimensions. This article considers the different facets of communications that an organisation undertakes as a means of broadcasting itself to the outer world. The article several issues pertaining to the concept of integrated communications that include critically evaluating the strategies and then providing an analysis of the same from different perspectives. At the outset, the definition of integrated communications can found in the article. “Integrated communications can be defined as the notion and the practice of aligning symbols, messages, procedures and behaviours in order for an organisation to communicate with clarity, consistency and continuity within and across formal organisational boundaries. Consequently, the project of integrated communications is an important marketing issue. Without the alignment of symbols, messages, etc., organisations reduce their potential impact and sub-optimise their communication budgets” (Smith, 1996). The emphasis throughout the article is on how the different components of organisational communication need to be aligned with the vision and mission of the organisation and the goals set out by the organisation. However, as the authors point out, increasingly there has been recognition that organisational communication is a complex issue and hence needs to be treated as such. As the article quotes two writers who have commented on the subject: The “command and control” structure of many organisations simply won’t let them integrate – it won’t permit them to combine or merge the systems, activities, people or much of anything else. Everyone and everything has been put in a box, and these boxes are connected with solid lines (and, in some cases, dotted ones). Those lines have become the strait-jacket in which the firm has encased itself – no movement, no change, no chance for integration” (Schultz and Schultz, 2003). .The point that the authors of the article are stating is that because of the existence of “silo” like structures, it becomes difficult for the organizations to integrate the horizontal and vertical dimensions of the communication channels. As the article states elsewhere, the difficult of presenting a unified face to the outside world is one major challenge that becomes an issue when one considers large organizations and the typical bureaucratic structure of large organizations. As the article emphasizes, “Since advertising, point-of-purchase, sales promotions, public relations, etc., address different audiences, these activities have often developed different operational practices, including media strategies, timing and the use of creative appeal, to the effect that the organisation’s communication is fragmented, organised in “functional silos” (Gronstedt, 1996; see also Prensky et al., 1996; Schultz et al., 1994). Hence, there is a need for the organizations to integrate their different channels of communication so that they present a unified message to the world. The point here is that there are multiple levels of contact and communication that an organization projects to the outside world and because of this profusion of interfaces with which it communicates, the organization tends to fall into the trap of speaking in multiple voices. And this is where the integrated communications would go a long way in projecting a unified image to the external world. In these days of brand conscious customers, it becomes necessary for organizations to market themselves effectively. Hence, there is a need to integrate all the facets of communication into a single unified whole and then project the unitary perspective. Communications play a vital role in ensuring the free flow of information within an organisation. While many studies have concentrated on the way the organisations communicate with the external world, this study has also focussed on the internal communications aspect. The focus of the article is in discussing the ramifications of “one voice, one look” kind of communications that the organisation needs to undertake if it has to be successful in promoting its image and enhancing brand value. The article also discusses the impact of horizontal communications on the way in which the organisation goes about its business and hence integrated communications play a vital role in determining the success of the organisation. Apart from the importance of horizontal communications, the article makes a strong pitch for integrating the various aspects of communications and the channels of communication that exist within an organisation. Till now we have discussed the importance for integrated communications as well as the need for organisations to speak in “one voice”. Now, we consider the modalities of such integration and the challenges that the organisations face in integrating their communications particularly for growing organisations. The authors recognise the need for integration as has been discussed, but, also emphasise the need to differentiate in line with increasing complexity of the external and internal environment. As the article points out, “This point had already been articulated cogently by system theorist W. Ross Ashby (1956, 1958) who argued that living systems need to develop and sustain sufficient systemic diversity in order to accurately sense variety in their surroundings”. Once this principle is applied to organizations, variety and differentiation of the organizational processes becomes crucial to the success of the organization. Hence, the point that command and control leads to better co-ordination is offset by the fact that organisations need to be nimble to adapt to an ever changing marketplace. This point is made in the article that states, “In a market where ideas and preferences change fast and where information as a result is uncertain, the organisation needs to be able to incorporate such uncertainty in its decision making operating, for example, with multiple scenarios and multiple solutions. The desire for control and predictability, however, means that requisite variety is frequently missing in organisations (cf. Weick, 1979). Hence, the overriding need to balance bureaucracy with agility so that the organisations have an edge in the market place is what the authors propose. Their version of integrated communications means a flexible integration approach as opposed to the conventional approaches on integrated communication. The authors of the article pitch for a combination of differentiation and variety along with weak and loose ties instead of the tight couplings favoured by the conventional approach. The authors conclude the article by discussing the implications of their findings on the practice and study of integrated communications. In their summary, they also point to the need for integrated communications to be practiced as a way of making the organisations competitive and agile in a complex business environment. The conclusions of the article are summed up in a structured and logical manner with further recommendations on how to get to the point of having an integrated communication strategy discussed as well. To conclude the summary of the article, it is worthwhile to remember the policy prescriptions that the authors are suggesting and follow the roadmap as articulated by them. Further, the salient points that the authors offer as suggestions can be considered as well and future action taken on the various suggestions. It is the contention of this writer that the points made by the author are well thought out and articulated and is presented in a linear and sequential manner. PART TWO: This part consists of a reflection and analysis of the paper from a critical perspective. I have answered the questions given in the assignment in the appropriate sections that follow. Here, I present a critical perspective to the analysis and reflect on the paper. The paper presents evidence of well thought out and reasoned analysis of the research question that is sought to be answered. The authors proceed in a deductive analysis approach wherein they start with the research question and attempt to answer it by means of following a logical and structured approach. However, the paper rambles on at times and the way in which the contrasting theories are presented could have been done in a more balanced manner. Further, the methods of analysis employed by the authors could have been more direct instead of tangential. To illustrate this point, the article explains the reasoning behind the conclusions but in a somewhat circular way. When the authors explain the weak ties concept, they do so more from the perspective of rebutting the tight coupling theory instead of presenting arguments in favour of their hypothesis. At other places, the authors quote from the studies that have been done as a means of validating their hypotheses. They could have gone further and analysed the findings of their peers in a more substantial manner. 2.1 RESEARCH PROBLEM FORMULATION In this section, I look at the way in which the research problem has been formulated along with a critical analysis of the same. As the article states, the research problem that the article is trying to address can be stated as, This paper addresses the organisational dimension of integrated communications at a theoretical level that does not determine a priori how the ideal integration process should unfold, and does not assume that integrated communications is the primary or only concern of contemporary organisations, or that the organisation necessarily must operate in the service of the marketing communications plan” (Christensen et al, 2008) . Hence, the paper does not make any assumptions regarding the way in which the organisational dimension of the integrated communication model should present itself. On the other hand, the authors formulate the research problem and then go on to address it by means of reviewing the literature, formulating their hypothesis and then testing it against the commonly held beliefs regarding the same (e.g. Deal and Kennedy, 1982; Peters and Waterman, 1982; cf. Martin, 1992) Though the research problem, by itself is not new and proceeds to elaborate upon the thesis, the alternative models of differentiation and variety that are presented certainly make for a new approach to the study of integrated communications. To put in other words, the research problem is not new but the conclusions arrived at by the authors are a significant contribution to the available literature on integrated marketing communications (Gronstedt, 1996). As to the question whether the prior theory and empirical work are clearly explained, it is my opinion that there has been a significant effort to include all the previous studies to the extent possible and though the authors do not provide a quantitative analysis of the previous works, they nonetheless provide a qualitative reasoning of the previous studies done in this regard. 2.2 LITERATURE REVIEW This section discusses the aspect whether the literature review done by the authors is comprehensive and pertinent to the subject matter. The literature that has been reviewed has been done in a systematic and comprehensive manner. The elements of literature review include quoting from the relevant works and citing them appropriately. The authors of the article review the IMC (Integrated Marketing Communications) literature in a comprehensive and thorough manner. To quote from the article, Interestingly, the IMC literature not only suggest that the overall responsibility of brand and marketing communications is concentrated in one central location, but also that the actual content of each communications programme is organised centrally in an effort to ensure conformity in messages and avoid the dispersion of communication resources (e.g. Schultz and Kitchen, 2000). The emphasis here is on the availability of literature that would support the contention of the authors and the review of the same. As was outlined in the section related to the summary of the article, the authors make a case for integrating the messages, procedures and behaviours, words and deeds. The above summary of the literature shows that the authors have reviewed the material that supports their contentions and presented the material for elaboration of their point. Further, the article makes the point that, “Although the literature on integrated communications does not articulate its ideal organisation in these terms, its notion of communication control seems to idealize a tightly coupled organising practice where the organisation operates in the full service of the (marketing) communications programme (cf. Motion and Leitch, 2002). Hence, it can be said that the literature reviewed by the authors is relevant to the issue being discussed as well as pertinent to the question that is sought to be answered. However, there could have been greater emphasis on contrasting the studies done by different authors as a means of detailing the opposing views on the subject. This could have lent some balance to the perspectives that were being discussed. 2.3 METHODOLOGY The methodology employed by the authors is qualitative in nature. The authors formulate the research problem and then go on to present their hypothesis by means of a structured reasoning and analysis based on their interpretation of the research problem and the conclusion reached by the authors is an explanation of their understanding of the theoretical framework used to answer the research problem. As stated in the section related to the research problem review, the question that they have answered is by the use of theory without use of questionnaires or surveys that would have otherwise resulted in a statistical analysis rather than the empirical analysis that they have done. As would be discussed in the section related to Data Collection, the authors do not rely on any methods of data collection and instead, resort to review of the literature and an empirical observation of the theory and suggest alternatives accordingly. The chosen methodology can be said to be appropriate to the extent that theoretical formulations and the answers for the same are considered. However, there could have a bit more emphasis on data collection and the need to address the research question in a quantitative manner rather than a purely theoretical or empirical manner. To quote from the article, “At a time when a growing number of consumers seek “customized” products and services (Pine et al., 1993), and even further, seek greater say in the design and feature combinations of what they consume, thus requiring degrees of involvement in the actual production of products (Fırat et al., 1995; Vargo and Lusch, 2004), the research agendas listed above are paramount” (Christensen et al, 2008). It can be mentioned that the chosen methodology concentrates on a narrow band of elements that include the study of dimensions and organisational structure among other things. So, the question as to whether too many elements have been involved is answered by the fact that the elements under consideration are not too many, though the fact that there are dependant variables that are sometimes analysed in detail can be said to detract from my assertion about a narrow range of elements. The point here is that the article depends to a large extent in identifying the connections between the dependant variables and the linkage between the interconnected set of research issues that have been considered in the article. Hence, though the methodology prima facie is simple and consists of exploring the main question, the fact that the complexity of the article increases along with its progress towards conclusion is certainly worth mentioning in this context. The article’s emphasis on “one voice, one look” is the crux around which the article rotates (Duncan, 1993). The authors demonstrate a good grasp of the methodologies and the techniques used to arrive at the conclusion and are familiar with the concepts and theoretical underpinnings of the arguments. The research design is sufficiently clear to undergo rigorous evaluation and the article can be peer reviewed with its emphasis on intellectual rigour and theoretical soundness. However, there might be issues with the purely theoretical nature of the article as contrasted with the other studies in the field that rely on data as well. 2.4 DATA COLLECTION The data collection for the article is at best perfunctory as the authors rely more on theory and empirical means of getting at the findings that they publish. As has been outlined throughout this paper, the data collection aspect is limited to review of studies and is not direct presentation of data or findings by means of questionnaires, surveys or interviews. The article is a theoretical response to the research question and does not attempt to answer the question by recourse to data. 2.5 FINDINGS The findings from the study are presented well and within a framework of reasoned analysis. The conclusions that the authors present are well articulated and lend themselves to rigorous scrutiny as well as analysis by independent reviewers. The findings point to a set of follow up actions that describe the actions that can accompany the findings and measures to take the conclusions from there. The findings from the study are presented in a logical and consistent manner with the authors making every effort to arrive at the same by means of deductive analysis that is the hallmark of the article. The reasoning behind the conclusions is structured and follows a consistent and logical flow of information and analysis (Baker and Balmer, 1997). For instance, I certainly felt the purpose behind the article as it relates to the research question about the need for integrated communications as a means of becoming agile in responding to the ever changing market conditions. The conclusion that the article states about the necessity for the marketing communications to integrate themselves with the organisational structure and align themselves with the vision and mission of the organisation is arrived at after due deliberation of the various theories and validating the findings of the other studies in this field. 2 - RECOMMENDATION The authors do recommend further research and provide a clear direction on what needs to be done for further action. The authors’ emphasis on making the study of this field as part of the courses in universities is well reasoned and should be taken as a recommendation to be acted upon. The policy recommendations that the authors suggest are more by way of suggestions rather than a prescription for policy changes. The target audience for the article is clearly the corporate organisations that would benefit from having an integrated view of communications within their setup. Hence, the recommendations that the authors’ suggest are in line with the needs of the target audience. In conclusion, the article is a valuable addition to the existing body of literature about integrated communications and the organisational principles that seek to implement the same. The article can be viewed as an attempt to provide a systems theory perspective to the study of integrated communications and is well worth the effort to read it and follow up on the recommendations as well. I have certainly benefited from reading the article and analysing the same from a critical perspective. References Aberg, L.E.G. 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