Page 155 - Corporate Communication

Cornelissen-05.qxd 10/11/2004 5:30 PM Page 143

The Organization of Communications 143

through all the various communications channels to stakeholders.A final point stressing
the importance of horizontal structure is that it may off-set the potential disadvan-
tages (functional silos, compartmentalization and ‘turf wars’) of the vertical structure,
allowing for cross-functional work processes, integration and sufficient flexibility.
Academic research has identified a number of elements of horizontal structure such
as teamwork, council meetings and documentation of work processes.

Overview of horizontal structures

Recruitment, training and job rotation. A first element that needs to be emphasized
is that the horizontal integration of communications work processes starts with the
profile and training of the communications practitioners within the company.When
these practitioners have a more general outlook and understanding of the commu-
nications profession, and know how work processes need to be integrated, they
will look beyond their own departmental boundaries and start appreciating other
communications disciplines and the professionals working with them. Recruitment
is therefore important as it can select practitioners who not only have an ability to
work in teams, to appreciate different communications disciplines, and fit into the
company culture, but also have a ‘generalist’ focus (instead of a purely specialist focus
on a particular communications discipline) that leads to strategic, integrated and
32
holistic thinking. Training is also important as communications practitioners who
receive ongoing skills training in different communications disciplines are gener-
ally found to be better able to integrate their work with people working in other
communications disciplines.An additional mechanism to support integration among
communications practitioners is job rotation.The benefits of rotating communica-
tions professionals among different work tasks and/or among different business units
of the company are increased appreciation for colleagues in other communica-
tions professions, personal networks within the company, and identification with the
company, rather than with occupational and technical specialization. Identification
with the company is important, as it may lead to practitioners thinking more strate-
gically about what communications can contribute to the company and the achieve-
ment of corporate objectives.
Recruitment and training of practitioners is thus important for the horizontal
integration of work, but, beyond this personal level of the communications pro-
fessional, there are a number of further horizontal structures and processes of coordi-
nation within and across departments: teamwork, process documentation, open
communication and networking platforms, council meetings and communications
guidelines.

Teamwork. Multifunctional teams are an important mechanism for the coordination
33
and integration of work of different communications disciplines. Teams can be
further distinguished within the natural work team, as permanent teams that work
together on an ongoing basis (e.g.a cross-company investor relations team),or as task
force teams, created on an ad hoc basis for specific projects (e.g. an internal communi-
cations team that guides a corporate restructuring). Task force teams are also assembled