Collaboration, continuity and emergence: Change-orientated from a postmodern strategic communication perspective

Abstract

The pressure on organisations to become more global and information intensive and the increasing uncertainty and complexity of the organisational environment have increased the convolution of organisational change. Globalisation and interactive technologies such as Web 2.0 have transformed traditional media and created a communication environment of connection, convergence, and collaboration which is labelled as the ‘collaborative turn’. This changing communication landscape has stimulated postmodern thought in the field of strategic communication and emphasises purposeful communication of the communication agent on behalf of the communicative entity in the public sphere. As a starting point towards developing the concept of change-orientated communication from a postmodern strategic communication perspective (termed as ‘strategic change-orientated communication’), this literature paper aims to provide a contextualisation of this conceptual problem. Furthermore, since communication professionals are ostensibly slow in the uptake of postmodern developments in communication, this paper aims to expand the body of knowledge on the changing communication landscape with specific focus on change orientated-communication. By doing so, the paper provides an elaboration on the changes in the field of strategic communication with an emphasis on contemporary postmodern thought which serves as basis to emphasise the necessity for change-orientated communication from an emergent change context and, most importantly, the subsequent conceptual development thereof. This paper will conclude with a proposition of preliminary attributes of ‘strategic change-orientated communication’ which not only serve as one of the first steps in the concept development process, but also a heuristic for future research.