1
Strategic Communication (77641SP05Y)
part 1
LECTURE 1. INTRODUCTION STRATEGIC COMMUNICATION...................................................2
WHAT IS STARTEGIC COMMUNICATION?........................................................................................................... 2
LECTURE 1 SLIDES. INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................... 3
BUILDING THEORY IN PUBLIC RELATIONS: INTERORGANIZATIONAL RELATIONSHIPS AS A PUBLIC RELATIONS PARADIGM
(FERGUSON, 2018)................................................................................................................................... 4
TESTING AN ENVIRONMENTAL FRAMEWORK FOR UNDERSTANDING PUBLIC RELATIONS PRACTITIONERS' ORIENTATION
TOWARD RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT (LEE & KEE (2017)................................................................................5
CONNECTING POINTS BETWEEN (FERGUSON, 2018) AND (LEE & KEE (2017).......................................................8
FINAL REFLECTIONS STRATEGIC COMMUNICATION.............................................................................................. 8
LECTURE 2. SENSEMAKING AND DISCOURSE ......................................................................8
LECTURE 2 SLIDES. SENSEMAKING AND DISCOURSE.......................................................................................... 8
ORGANIZING AND THE PROCESS OF SENSEMAKING (WEICK ET AL, 2005)...........................................................10
INTERNAL CRISIS COMMUNICATION AND THE SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF EMOTION: UNIVERSITY LEADERS’ SENSEGIVING
DISCOURSE DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC (YEOMANS & BOWMAN, 2020)...................................................11
CONNECTING POINTS BETWEEN (WEICK ET AL, 2005) AND (YEOMANS & BOWMAN, 2020)...................................13
FINAL REFLECTIONS SENSEMAKING AND DISCOURSE......................................................................................... 14
LECTURE 3. ORGANIZATIONAL IDENTITY AND CULTURE......................................................14
LECTURE 3 SLIDES. ORGANIZATIONAL IDENTITY AND CULTURE...........................................................................14
IDENTIFICATION IN ORGANIZATIONS: AN EXAMINATION OF FOUR FUNDAMENTAL QUESTIONS (ASHFORTH ET AL. 2008) 16
"Identification: A Fuzzy Set"............................................................................................................ 17
Explanation of "Episodes of Emulation and Affinity"........................................................................18
Explanation of "A Process Model of Identification"...........................................................................20
ORGANIZATIONAL CLIMATE AND CULTURE (SCHNEIDER ET AL., 2013)................................................................22
WHAT IS ORGANIZATIONAL CLIMATE?............................................................................................................ 23
WHAT IS ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE?........................................................................................................... 23
CONNECTING POINTS BETWEEN (ASHFORTH ET AL. 2008) AND (SCHNEIDER ET AL., 2013)...................................24
FINAL REFLECTIONS ORGANIZATIONAL IDENTITY AND CULTURE...........................................................................25
LECTURE 4. LEADERSHIP COMMUNICATION.......................................................................25
LECTURE 4 SLIDES. LEADERSHIP COMMUNICATION.......................................................................................... 25
STRATEGIC INTERNAL COMMUNICATION: TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP, COMMUNICATION CHANNELS, AND EMPLOYEE
SATISFACTION (MEN, 2014)...................................................................................................................... 28
COMPLEXITY LEADERSHIP THEORY: SHIFTING LEADERSHIP FROM THE INDUSTRIAL AGE TO THE KNOWLEDGE ERA (UHL-
BIEN ET AL., 2007)................................................................................................................................. 28
CONNECTING POINTS BETWEEN (MEN, 2014) AND (UHL-BIEN ET AL., 2007).....................................................29
FINAL REFLECTIONS LEADERSHIP COMMUNICATION.......................................................................................... 30
WHAT IS SYSTEMS THEORY?....................................................................................................................... 30
LECTURE 5. VISIBILITY AND TRANSPARENCY.....................................................................32
LECTURE 5 SLIDES. VISIBILITY AND TRANSPARENCY......................................................................................... 32
MANAGING OPACITY: INFORMATION VISIBILITY AND THE PARADOX OF TRANSPARENCY IN THE DIGITAL AGE (STOHL ET
AL., 2016)............................................................................................................................................ 34
COMPUTER-MEDIATED COMMUNICATION IN THE AGE OF COMMUNICATION VISIBILITY (TREEM ET AL., 2020)..............34
CONNECTING POINTS BETWEEN (STOHL ET AL., 2016) AND (TREEM ET AL., 2020).............................................35
FINAL REFLECTIONS VISIBILITY AND TRANSPARENCY......................................................................................... 36
LECTURE 6. MEDIATIZATION............................................................................................. 36
LECTURE 6 SLIDES. MEDIATIZATION............................................................................................................. 36
DEALING WITH INCREASING COMPLEXITY: MEDIA ORIENTATIONS OF COMMUNICATION MANAGERS IN PUBLIC SECTOR
ORGANIZATIONS (JACOBS & WONNEBERGER, 2019)......................................................................................38
MEDIA CATCHING: A CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK FOR UNDERSTANDING STRATEGIC MEDIATIZATION IN PUBLIC RELATIONS
(ERZIKOVA ET AL., 2018)......................................................................................................................... 39
CONNECTING POINTS BETWEEN (JACOBS & WONNEBERGER, 2019) AND (ERZIKOVA ET AL., 2018).........................39
, 2
FINAL REFLECTIONS MEDIATIZATION............................................................................................................. 40
LECTURE 7. EMPLOYEES AS AMBASSADORS......................................................................40
LECTURE 7 SLIDES. EMPLOYEES AS AMBASSADORS.........................................................................................40
ACTIVE EMPLOYEE COMMUNICATION ROLES IN ORGANIZATIONS: A FRAMEWORK FOR UNDERSTANDING AND DISCUSSING
COMMUNICATION ROLE EXPECTATIONS (VERHOEVEN & MADSEN, 2022).............................................................43
EXPLAINING ONLINE AMBASSADORSHIP BEHAVIORS ON FACEBOOK AND LINKEDIN (VAN ZOONEN ET AL., 2018)..........43
CONNECTING POINTS BETWEEN (VERHOEVEN & MADSEN, 2022) AND (VAN ZOONEN ET AL., 2018).......................43
FINAL REFLECTIONS EMPLOYEES AS AMBASSADORS..........................................................................................44
GOLDEN IDEAS............................................................................................................... 44
OVERALL CONNECTIONS BETWEEN ARTICLES....................................................................47
SIMPLE EXPLANATIONS OF KEY THEORIES, FRAMEWORKS AND CONCEPTS (WITH EXAMPLES)
...................................................................................................................................... 49
CONNECTING COURSE THEORIES TO REAL-WORLD EXAMPLES...........................................57
ANALYSIS OF ADYEN’S CULTURE, LEADERSHIP STYLE, AND ORGANIZATIONAL IDENTIFICATION
BASED ON EMPLOYEE REVIEWS.......................................................................................60
MEDIA CATCHING & ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE................................................................62
LEADERSHIP & SYSTEMS THEORY....................................................................................64
Lecture 1. Introduction Strategic Communication
What is startegic communication?
Strategic communication is the purposeful use of communication by organizations, individuals or
institutions to achieve specific goals. It involves planning, executing and evaluating communication efforts to
influence target audiences, shape public perception and align with broader organizational or societal
objectives.
Key aspects of strategic communication:
1. Goal-oriented – focused on achieving specific objectives such as brand positioning, reputation
management, crisis response or behavioral change.
2. Audience-centered – tailored to specific stakeholders, including customers, employees, investors,
policymakers or the general public.
3. Integrated approach – encompasses various communication disciplines like public relations,
corporate communication, marketing, advertising, political communication and digital media.
4. Message consistency – ensures coherence across all channels (e.g., social media, press releases,
speeches, campaigns) to maintain credibility and trust.
5. Research-driven – relies on data, audience insights and communication theories to craft effective
strategies.
6. Ethical and responsible – considers ethical implications, transparency and social responsibility in
communication practices.
Examples of strategic communication:
A company launching a crisis communication plan during a PR scandal.
A government promoting public health campaigns (e.g., COVID-19 vaccination).
A nonprofit organization raising awareness about environmental issues.
A political candidate crafting a campaign message to attract voters.
Strategic communication is widely applied in corporate settings, public affairs, non-governmental
organizations (NGOs) and political contexts to drive engagement and achieve long-term success.
, 3
Lecture 1 slides. Introduction
Micro and meso-level: communication and sensemaking process (individual and group level),
stakeholders’ relationships.
Public relationships as a guiding paradigm for PR research and this course.
Ferguson (2018): Building theory in public relations
Introduction and key argument
Ferguson highlights the lack of a unified theoretical paradigm in PR research and proposes a shift
toward public relationships as the guiding framework. She critiques PR’s reliance on borrowed
theories and suggests interorganizational relationships (IORs) as a more structured and predictive
approach.
Theoretical foundation and paradigm shift
Drawing from Kuhn’s paradigm theory (1970), Ferguson critiques PR’s reliance on borrowed
theories from management, communication and psychology. She identifies three potential
paradigms:
1. Social responsibility and ethics – PR’s role in ethical decision-making.
2. Social issues and issue management – PR’s influence on political and societal issues.
3. Public relationships – The study of interactions between organizations and stakeholders.
She argues that public relationships offer the most promising paradigm, emphasizing
reciprocal engagement rather than one-way communication.
Framework for public relationships
Ferguson suggests PR scholars should:
Classify and measure relationships based on trust, control and mutual understanding.
Analyze how organizational structures and communication strategies affect
relationship-building.
Develop predictive models to explain how PR relationships evolve over time.
Conclusion
Ferguson advocates for a relationship-focused approach to PR, aligning it with strategic
communication disciplines. This paradigm shift strengthens PR’s scientific legitimacy and enhances
its ability to address real-world organizational challenges.
Lee & Kee (2017): Testing an environmental framework for relationship management in PR
Introduction and key argument
Seow Ting Lee and Amanda Kee examine how political, economic, and media environments shape
PR practitioners’ approach to relationship management. Their study, conducted in Singapore, tests
an environmental framework for understanding PR strategies.
Theoretical framework and methodology
The study builds on relationship management theory (Ledingham, 2003, 2010), measuring
trust, control mutuality, satisfaction, commitment, exchange, and communal relationships.
Using Hon & Grunig’s (1999) relationship quality scale, they surveyed 84 PR practitioners from
corporate, governmental, and agency settings.
Key findings
, 4
1. Democracy has the strongest influence on PR’s relationship management approach.
2. Economic development and economic freedom support strategic PR practices.
3. Media freedom does not significantly impact PR due to government influence and self-
censorship.
4. PR can function effectively in restrictive media environments, though its role adapts based on
institutional constraints.
Conclusion
The study supports an environmental framework for PR, showing that political and economic
conditions shape PR’s relationship-building strategies . While democracy and economic factors
promote strategic PR approaches, PR practitioners adapt even in controlled media environments.
These findings contribute to understanding how PR functions in different governance systems.
Building theory in public relations: Interorganizational relationships as a public
relations paradigm (Ferguson, 2018)
Introduction and key argument
In this article, Mary Ann Ferguson argues that public relations (PR) scholars lack a shared theoretical
paradigm, which hinders the field’s ability to develop cohesive theories. Influenced by Thomas Kuhn’s
paradigm theory, she suggests that PR scholarship should focus on public relationships rather than
organizations, publics, or communication processes in isolation. By making interorganizational
relationships the primary unit of analysis, PR research can move towards a more structured and
predictive theoretical framework.
What is a theory?
Ferguson explains that theory is more than speculation or conjecture—it is a structured system of
explanations supported by empirical evidence. Drawing from Reynolds (1971), she identifies three main
types of theories:
1. Set-of-laws theories, which establish universal principles (e.g., laws of physics).
2. Axiomatic theories, which derive conclusions from fundamental premises.
3. Causal-process theories, which explain relationships between variables.
Applying this understanding, Ferguson argues that PR needs a well-defined theory-building approach to
ensure practical and scientific legitimacy.
How is theory built?
Building a theory requires a paradigm—a shared set of assumptions, models, and problem-solving
approaches within a scholarly community. According to Kuhn, disciplines that lack paradigms struggle
to progress systematically. Ferguson applies this logic to PR, suggesting that without a central
paradigm, PR research remains fragmented and lacks a cumulative body of knowledge.
Public relations as a science?
Historically, PR research has been criticized for borrowing theories from other fields like management,
communication, and psychology rather than developing its own frameworks. Some scholars argue
that PR lacks the defining characteristics of a scientific discipline. However, Ferguson counters that PR
has the necessary components to become a scientific field if scholars adopt a paradigm that
centers on public relationships.
Paradigms in public relations research
Through a review of nine years of PR research articles, Ferguson identifies three potential paradigm
candidates:
1. Social responsibility and ethics – Examines how PR influences corporate responsibility and
ethical decision-making.
Strategic Communication (77641SP05Y)
part 1
LECTURE 1. INTRODUCTION STRATEGIC COMMUNICATION...................................................2
WHAT IS STARTEGIC COMMUNICATION?........................................................................................................... 2
LECTURE 1 SLIDES. INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................... 3
BUILDING THEORY IN PUBLIC RELATIONS: INTERORGANIZATIONAL RELATIONSHIPS AS A PUBLIC RELATIONS PARADIGM
(FERGUSON, 2018)................................................................................................................................... 4
TESTING AN ENVIRONMENTAL FRAMEWORK FOR UNDERSTANDING PUBLIC RELATIONS PRACTITIONERS' ORIENTATION
TOWARD RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT (LEE & KEE (2017)................................................................................5
CONNECTING POINTS BETWEEN (FERGUSON, 2018) AND (LEE & KEE (2017).......................................................8
FINAL REFLECTIONS STRATEGIC COMMUNICATION.............................................................................................. 8
LECTURE 2. SENSEMAKING AND DISCOURSE ......................................................................8
LECTURE 2 SLIDES. SENSEMAKING AND DISCOURSE.......................................................................................... 8
ORGANIZING AND THE PROCESS OF SENSEMAKING (WEICK ET AL, 2005)...........................................................10
INTERNAL CRISIS COMMUNICATION AND THE SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF EMOTION: UNIVERSITY LEADERS’ SENSEGIVING
DISCOURSE DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC (YEOMANS & BOWMAN, 2020)...................................................11
CONNECTING POINTS BETWEEN (WEICK ET AL, 2005) AND (YEOMANS & BOWMAN, 2020)...................................13
FINAL REFLECTIONS SENSEMAKING AND DISCOURSE......................................................................................... 14
LECTURE 3. ORGANIZATIONAL IDENTITY AND CULTURE......................................................14
LECTURE 3 SLIDES. ORGANIZATIONAL IDENTITY AND CULTURE...........................................................................14
IDENTIFICATION IN ORGANIZATIONS: AN EXAMINATION OF FOUR FUNDAMENTAL QUESTIONS (ASHFORTH ET AL. 2008) 16
"Identification: A Fuzzy Set"............................................................................................................ 17
Explanation of "Episodes of Emulation and Affinity"........................................................................18
Explanation of "A Process Model of Identification"...........................................................................20
ORGANIZATIONAL CLIMATE AND CULTURE (SCHNEIDER ET AL., 2013)................................................................22
WHAT IS ORGANIZATIONAL CLIMATE?............................................................................................................ 23
WHAT IS ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE?........................................................................................................... 23
CONNECTING POINTS BETWEEN (ASHFORTH ET AL. 2008) AND (SCHNEIDER ET AL., 2013)...................................24
FINAL REFLECTIONS ORGANIZATIONAL IDENTITY AND CULTURE...........................................................................25
LECTURE 4. LEADERSHIP COMMUNICATION.......................................................................25
LECTURE 4 SLIDES. LEADERSHIP COMMUNICATION.......................................................................................... 25
STRATEGIC INTERNAL COMMUNICATION: TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP, COMMUNICATION CHANNELS, AND EMPLOYEE
SATISFACTION (MEN, 2014)...................................................................................................................... 28
COMPLEXITY LEADERSHIP THEORY: SHIFTING LEADERSHIP FROM THE INDUSTRIAL AGE TO THE KNOWLEDGE ERA (UHL-
BIEN ET AL., 2007)................................................................................................................................. 28
CONNECTING POINTS BETWEEN (MEN, 2014) AND (UHL-BIEN ET AL., 2007).....................................................29
FINAL REFLECTIONS LEADERSHIP COMMUNICATION.......................................................................................... 30
WHAT IS SYSTEMS THEORY?....................................................................................................................... 30
LECTURE 5. VISIBILITY AND TRANSPARENCY.....................................................................32
LECTURE 5 SLIDES. VISIBILITY AND TRANSPARENCY......................................................................................... 32
MANAGING OPACITY: INFORMATION VISIBILITY AND THE PARADOX OF TRANSPARENCY IN THE DIGITAL AGE (STOHL ET
AL., 2016)............................................................................................................................................ 34
COMPUTER-MEDIATED COMMUNICATION IN THE AGE OF COMMUNICATION VISIBILITY (TREEM ET AL., 2020)..............34
CONNECTING POINTS BETWEEN (STOHL ET AL., 2016) AND (TREEM ET AL., 2020).............................................35
FINAL REFLECTIONS VISIBILITY AND TRANSPARENCY......................................................................................... 36
LECTURE 6. MEDIATIZATION............................................................................................. 36
LECTURE 6 SLIDES. MEDIATIZATION............................................................................................................. 36
DEALING WITH INCREASING COMPLEXITY: MEDIA ORIENTATIONS OF COMMUNICATION MANAGERS IN PUBLIC SECTOR
ORGANIZATIONS (JACOBS & WONNEBERGER, 2019)......................................................................................38
MEDIA CATCHING: A CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK FOR UNDERSTANDING STRATEGIC MEDIATIZATION IN PUBLIC RELATIONS
(ERZIKOVA ET AL., 2018)......................................................................................................................... 39
CONNECTING POINTS BETWEEN (JACOBS & WONNEBERGER, 2019) AND (ERZIKOVA ET AL., 2018).........................39
, 2
FINAL REFLECTIONS MEDIATIZATION............................................................................................................. 40
LECTURE 7. EMPLOYEES AS AMBASSADORS......................................................................40
LECTURE 7 SLIDES. EMPLOYEES AS AMBASSADORS.........................................................................................40
ACTIVE EMPLOYEE COMMUNICATION ROLES IN ORGANIZATIONS: A FRAMEWORK FOR UNDERSTANDING AND DISCUSSING
COMMUNICATION ROLE EXPECTATIONS (VERHOEVEN & MADSEN, 2022).............................................................43
EXPLAINING ONLINE AMBASSADORSHIP BEHAVIORS ON FACEBOOK AND LINKEDIN (VAN ZOONEN ET AL., 2018)..........43
CONNECTING POINTS BETWEEN (VERHOEVEN & MADSEN, 2022) AND (VAN ZOONEN ET AL., 2018).......................43
FINAL REFLECTIONS EMPLOYEES AS AMBASSADORS..........................................................................................44
GOLDEN IDEAS............................................................................................................... 44
OVERALL CONNECTIONS BETWEEN ARTICLES....................................................................47
SIMPLE EXPLANATIONS OF KEY THEORIES, FRAMEWORKS AND CONCEPTS (WITH EXAMPLES)
...................................................................................................................................... 49
CONNECTING COURSE THEORIES TO REAL-WORLD EXAMPLES...........................................57
ANALYSIS OF ADYEN’S CULTURE, LEADERSHIP STYLE, AND ORGANIZATIONAL IDENTIFICATION
BASED ON EMPLOYEE REVIEWS.......................................................................................60
MEDIA CATCHING & ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE................................................................62
LEADERSHIP & SYSTEMS THEORY....................................................................................64
Lecture 1. Introduction Strategic Communication
What is startegic communication?
Strategic communication is the purposeful use of communication by organizations, individuals or
institutions to achieve specific goals. It involves planning, executing and evaluating communication efforts to
influence target audiences, shape public perception and align with broader organizational or societal
objectives.
Key aspects of strategic communication:
1. Goal-oriented – focused on achieving specific objectives such as brand positioning, reputation
management, crisis response or behavioral change.
2. Audience-centered – tailored to specific stakeholders, including customers, employees, investors,
policymakers or the general public.
3. Integrated approach – encompasses various communication disciplines like public relations,
corporate communication, marketing, advertising, political communication and digital media.
4. Message consistency – ensures coherence across all channels (e.g., social media, press releases,
speeches, campaigns) to maintain credibility and trust.
5. Research-driven – relies on data, audience insights and communication theories to craft effective
strategies.
6. Ethical and responsible – considers ethical implications, transparency and social responsibility in
communication practices.
Examples of strategic communication:
A company launching a crisis communication plan during a PR scandal.
A government promoting public health campaigns (e.g., COVID-19 vaccination).
A nonprofit organization raising awareness about environmental issues.
A political candidate crafting a campaign message to attract voters.
Strategic communication is widely applied in corporate settings, public affairs, non-governmental
organizations (NGOs) and political contexts to drive engagement and achieve long-term success.
, 3
Lecture 1 slides. Introduction
Micro and meso-level: communication and sensemaking process (individual and group level),
stakeholders’ relationships.
Public relationships as a guiding paradigm for PR research and this course.
Ferguson (2018): Building theory in public relations
Introduction and key argument
Ferguson highlights the lack of a unified theoretical paradigm in PR research and proposes a shift
toward public relationships as the guiding framework. She critiques PR’s reliance on borrowed
theories and suggests interorganizational relationships (IORs) as a more structured and predictive
approach.
Theoretical foundation and paradigm shift
Drawing from Kuhn’s paradigm theory (1970), Ferguson critiques PR’s reliance on borrowed
theories from management, communication and psychology. She identifies three potential
paradigms:
1. Social responsibility and ethics – PR’s role in ethical decision-making.
2. Social issues and issue management – PR’s influence on political and societal issues.
3. Public relationships – The study of interactions between organizations and stakeholders.
She argues that public relationships offer the most promising paradigm, emphasizing
reciprocal engagement rather than one-way communication.
Framework for public relationships
Ferguson suggests PR scholars should:
Classify and measure relationships based on trust, control and mutual understanding.
Analyze how organizational structures and communication strategies affect
relationship-building.
Develop predictive models to explain how PR relationships evolve over time.
Conclusion
Ferguson advocates for a relationship-focused approach to PR, aligning it with strategic
communication disciplines. This paradigm shift strengthens PR’s scientific legitimacy and enhances
its ability to address real-world organizational challenges.
Lee & Kee (2017): Testing an environmental framework for relationship management in PR
Introduction and key argument
Seow Ting Lee and Amanda Kee examine how political, economic, and media environments shape
PR practitioners’ approach to relationship management. Their study, conducted in Singapore, tests
an environmental framework for understanding PR strategies.
Theoretical framework and methodology
The study builds on relationship management theory (Ledingham, 2003, 2010), measuring
trust, control mutuality, satisfaction, commitment, exchange, and communal relationships.
Using Hon & Grunig’s (1999) relationship quality scale, they surveyed 84 PR practitioners from
corporate, governmental, and agency settings.
Key findings
, 4
1. Democracy has the strongest influence on PR’s relationship management approach.
2. Economic development and economic freedom support strategic PR practices.
3. Media freedom does not significantly impact PR due to government influence and self-
censorship.
4. PR can function effectively in restrictive media environments, though its role adapts based on
institutional constraints.
Conclusion
The study supports an environmental framework for PR, showing that political and economic
conditions shape PR’s relationship-building strategies . While democracy and economic factors
promote strategic PR approaches, PR practitioners adapt even in controlled media environments.
These findings contribute to understanding how PR functions in different governance systems.
Building theory in public relations: Interorganizational relationships as a public
relations paradigm (Ferguson, 2018)
Introduction and key argument
In this article, Mary Ann Ferguson argues that public relations (PR) scholars lack a shared theoretical
paradigm, which hinders the field’s ability to develop cohesive theories. Influenced by Thomas Kuhn’s
paradigm theory, she suggests that PR scholarship should focus on public relationships rather than
organizations, publics, or communication processes in isolation. By making interorganizational
relationships the primary unit of analysis, PR research can move towards a more structured and
predictive theoretical framework.
What is a theory?
Ferguson explains that theory is more than speculation or conjecture—it is a structured system of
explanations supported by empirical evidence. Drawing from Reynolds (1971), she identifies three main
types of theories:
1. Set-of-laws theories, which establish universal principles (e.g., laws of physics).
2. Axiomatic theories, which derive conclusions from fundamental premises.
3. Causal-process theories, which explain relationships between variables.
Applying this understanding, Ferguson argues that PR needs a well-defined theory-building approach to
ensure practical and scientific legitimacy.
How is theory built?
Building a theory requires a paradigm—a shared set of assumptions, models, and problem-solving
approaches within a scholarly community. According to Kuhn, disciplines that lack paradigms struggle
to progress systematically. Ferguson applies this logic to PR, suggesting that without a central
paradigm, PR research remains fragmented and lacks a cumulative body of knowledge.
Public relations as a science?
Historically, PR research has been criticized for borrowing theories from other fields like management,
communication, and psychology rather than developing its own frameworks. Some scholars argue
that PR lacks the defining characteristics of a scientific discipline. However, Ferguson counters that PR
has the necessary components to become a scientific field if scholars adopt a paradigm that
centers on public relationships.
Paradigms in public relations research
Through a review of nine years of PR research articles, Ferguson identifies three potential paradigm
candidates:
1. Social responsibility and ethics – Examines how PR influences corporate responsibility and
ethical decision-making.
