Since its emergence (approx. 1960) until today, organizational communication has undergone the changes pertinent to the development of corporate management models. For this reason, this type of evolution should be taken into account when making a management proposal in terms of internal communication.
Classic organizational communication
This reference is taken from the beginning of studies of internal communication in organizations carried out by Elton Mayo towards the 1960s. At that historical moment, the organization is a closed system where the communicator is the defender of the image of the heads visible from the organization.
For this industrial moment, the organization is focused on the product and assumes a pyramid structure by hierarchies.
Among other authors of this trend, the representatives of written works are recognized under what became known as “Industrial Journalism” whose main author was James McCloskey, or others such as Michael Bland.
The intermediate stage of the 70s
Towards the end of the 70s with the entry into the west of quality models and the impact of Ouchi's Theory Z with its proposals for participation and continuous improvement, communication has a more integrating drive under what was known in the West as Development Organizational, Under this trend, works by authors such as Mexicans Homs Quiroga and Fernández Collado were known.
Contemporary organizational communication
Since the beginning of the information age was declared in 1984, communication concepts have changed, how to rethink communications towards the 21st century?
Authors of this trend such as Goldhaber, Regouvy, Drucker, Van Riel, Costa, visualize a more comprehensive and strategic communication, focused on objectives and with a clear focus on supporting the productivity and competitiveness of the organization.
In this sense, Contemporary Organizational Communication has been influenced by administrative schools such as management by objectives (North American), Total Quality (Asian) and Kaizen (Asian).
Conceptual differences:
| Classic communication | Contemporary communication |
| Information. linguists of the 50s | Information. 90s school of systems |
| Communication as a descending cultural element from the top of the organization | Communication as a management element, horizontal and as a strategic resource. |
| The media communicator | The communicator as a process strategist |
| Massive communication. Mac luhan and the mass media | Interactive communication. Negroponte and interactive media |
| Communication focused on directing management. | Communication focused on adapting the organization to its users. |
Contributions of the quality school to the network models:
- They propose the open system focused on the market and with it They change the focus of product management to the customer They propose information as a vital resource of the organization to adapt to the market They raise the need for adaptation and organizational flexibility They establish the need for participation, to have the human capital, their knowledge and their contributions to generate continuous improvement.
Organizational communication in the information age
Modern communication is a mixture of the Japanese management schools and the marketing management of the United States that first reached business organizations and until now begins to take up the academy.
Under this new approach, the first step that the organization needs to enter the information age is to have a solid communications department that allows it to interact with its market and be skillful in processing the information it obtains.
Therefore, whoever manages a communications office must take into account that, under the new school, this unit must basically fulfill three functions: Obtain information from the market to get to know it and make products and services according to its needs, make the organization transparent so that such information circulate inside and be exploited, and finally, control the information flows that the organization emanates so that they impact the market in a positive way towards the products and services offered.
Therefore, whether they are aware of it or not, the communications offices, in addition to promoting the change that is required in people to make them more skilled in the treatment of information, also pressures to change organizational structures by adopting new concepts.
The organization is an open system that is vital to the extent that information flows.
Pillars of internal communication today:
Some of the characteristics of organizations that strengthen their communication today:
- The organization is focused on the client. The communicator is the defender of the company's image. The organization assumes a spherical structure and behaves through management networks. There must be information flows that vitalize the organization and maintain its management dynamics.
What tasks are managed from a modern communications department?
Organizations in the information age are undergoing a dramatic restructuring in their organization chart. And it is especially the communications area that faces the most drastic change, given the need to achieve the simultaneous interaction of five basic areas: Press, Public Relations, Marketing, Internal Communication and of course, Systems.
The latter is the fundamental tool to support the strategic information flows to be managed in the internal network (Intranet)
The Marketing Department must also join since it must respond to the organization's general media strategy, and finally Public Relations, given its direct influence on corporate marketing, the impact of future markets is decisive.
Internally, the organization must enhance communication skills as an added value; Nowadays it has been demonstrated that in addition to knowledge, for an organization to be truly competitive it must be solid in teamwork and for this it needs the facility to interact of its members and their abilities to interrelate with each other.
Finally, it must have clearly defined and put into practice its rules of the game, that is, its mission, values, principles, etc. that they give solidity to their organizational culture, thereby generating confidence in their consumer market.
These new scenarios are and will be for some time the daily coexistence of the communicator that companies expect.
Interdisciplinary work
Communication, being an element present throughout the organization, requires the communications department to carry out interdisciplinary work, internally with human management and systems, and externally with marketing and customer service.
It is in this sense that Costa designates the communications department as an internal advisory body for other dependencies of the company that require their criteria to carry out their functions.
