Grazia Murtarelli

Measuring online dialogic conversations’ quality: a scale development

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to develop a measurement scale for assessing the quality of dialogic conversations among companies and digital publics in social media. Dialogic conversations are defined as sequences of communicative actions and counteractions taken by social actors for different purposes based on specific linguistic choices and characterised by diverse communicative approaches and the role played by the involved parties. Design/methodology/approach A multidimensional scale for measuring dialogic conversations is developed from relevant literature concerning dialogue and public engagement in the fields of corporate communication, public relations, management studies and conversation analysis. The scale is built on three main dimensions: organisation turn-taking, sequencing of conversation, repair strategies and procedures. A pilot study was conducted to purify it from irrelevant variables. Findings Results of the pilot study show a general good level of reliability for the majority of the proposed variables for Facebook but not for Twitter. This may indicate that Facebook is a more dialogical forum than Twitter. Originality/value This is the first study proposing a systematic measurement of the dialogue orientation of online conversations that takes into consideration the role of language and communicative actions. The proposed measurement offers corporate communication managers a concrete tool for evaluating the quality of their online communications and for identifying those areas of their online communication that need improvement.

The Role of Corporate Communication in the Digital Age: An Era of Change for the Communication Profession

The author analyses the role of Corporate Communication in the digital age. Building on the concept that Big Data is not limited to production sectors and data-driven business models, the analysis shows that Big Data implies fundamental changes in the way information in all fields of professional communications will be handled. Especially in the context of Corporate Communications, employees and executives alike face four main challenges associated with the use of Big Data in communication contexts: The “why” challenge encourages a look at how Big Data can help organisations to differentiate in their competitive environment. The “what” challenge is about reinventing content as the basic fuel of communication. The “how” challenge deals with tools for communication professionals to work with Big Data and become masters of algorithms in addition to their traditional tools. Finally, the “who” challenge reflects the changing role of communicators in the emerging new world of communication.

Creating Shared Value through Communication: A Case Study Analysis of Barilla

The strategic role of corporate communication within modern organisations is recognised by both scholars and practitioners. Corporate communication supports management in interpreting contextual dynamics or in aligning corporate strategies with stakeholders’ needs. However, despite the growing acknowledgement of communication relevance, contributions about how professionals could effectively support organisations in creating value lack empirical examination. To fill this gap, this chapter adopts a managerial perspective for examining how communication strategically contributes to create shared value. In particular, it introduces the Creating Shared Value approach to the body of knowledge in strategic communication. A qualitative case study research design has been implemented. It was focused on Barilla Group, the international food company. This chapter enriches the strategic communication perspective by better defining the contribution of communication to the value creation process. It also outlines specific strategic competences that practitioners should acquire if they want to play a strategic role within organisations.

Il ruolo della comunicazione per la competitività delle imprese manifatturiere in Italia

Obiettivi . La ricerca esplora il ruolo che la comunicazione puo svolgere nelle imprese manifatturiere italiane, con particolare riguardo al suo livello di istituzionalizzazione e al contributo strategico che la funzione puo dare ai processi decisionali aziendali. Metodologia . Lo studio presenta i risultati tratti da un’indagine quantitativa condotta alla fine del 2013, e che ha coinvolto i Direttori Comunicazione di 300 grandi imprese italiane, con un tasso di rispondenza pari al 61%. Attraverso analisi descrittive e statistiche sono stati esaminati il grado di sviluppo della comunicazione sia in termini di struttura, sia in termini di attivita svolte. Risultati . Dall’analisi emerge una situazione paradossale relativa allo stato della comunicazione nel settore manifatturiero italiano: da un lato il settore si distingue dagli altri settori analizzati per quel che concerne gli indicatori formali del processo di istituzionalizzazione; in termini invece di attivita e contributo strategico della comunicazione non emergono relazioni significative che lo distinguano dagli altri settori esaminati. Limiti della ricerca . L’approccio quantitativo adottato nel lavoro di ricerca ha limitato gli autori nell’analisi delle possibili cause dei comportamenti dei comunicatori e delle ragioni alla base delle loro scelte. Questo limite puo essere superato attraverso l’integrazione, in fasi successive, dello studio quantitativo con analisi qualitative di casi aziendali rilevanti. Implicazioni pratiche . Il nostro studio consente di delineare un quadro preciso dello stato dell’arte della comunicazione delle imprese manifatturiere che ci permette di evidenziare punti di forza e di debolezza e possibili aree di miglioramento per i Direttori Comunicazione che operano in tali aziende. Originalita del lavoro . Lo studio fornisce spunti utili sul nuovo ruolo che la comunicazione puo svolgere per il successo delle moderne imprese.