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Introduction
Practitioners see internal communication as an important, challenging area ([63] Robertson, 2004, p. 17; [19] FitzPatrick, 2004, p. 19) which affects the ability of organisations to engage employees ([43] Kress, 2005, p. 30), and business writers see it as a core process for organisations ([60] Quirke, 2000, p. 21):
In the information age an organization's assets include the knowledge and interrelationships of its people. Its business is to take the input of information, using the creative and intellectual assets of its people to process it in order to produce value. Internal communication is the core process by which business can create this value ([60] Quirke, 2000, p. 21).
Internal communication happens constantly within organisations and includes informal chat on the "grapevine" as well as managed communication. This paper looks at managed communication and attempts to develop theory to assist in the management of internal communication. Despite its importance to practice, there are considerable gaps in internal communication theory and theorists have called for research on its mandates, scope and focus ([21] Forman and Argenti, 2005, p. 257). Poor internal communication is a major concern for organisations since it results in workplace inefficiency ([58] Profile , 2006, p. 4). To offer strategic communication managers a fresh perspective from which to consider internal communication management, this paper will discuss gaps in the literature, review the few existing definitions and offer a fresh approach.
Scholarship emphasises the need to be aware of alternative keywords associated with a research area ([31], [32] Hart, 1998, p. 6, 2001, p. 23). The term internal communication is used throughout this paper because it is preferred by corporate communication theorists ([78] Van Riel, 1995, p. 13; [21] Forman and Argenti, 2005)[1]. However, alternatives are used in the literature, sometimes interchangeably, including: internal relations ([28] Grunig and Hunt, 1984, p. 240) employee communication ([2] Argenti, 1996, p. 94; [69] Smidts et al. , 2001, p. 1051) internal communications ([11] Cornelissen, 2004, p. 189) employee relations ([28] Grunig and Hunt, 1984, p. 240; [2] Argenti, 1996, p. 94; [60] Quirke, 2000, p. 198) internal public relations ([38] Jefkins, 1988, p. 287; [82] Wright, 1995, p. 182) and staff communication ([73] Stone, 1995, p. 115).
Grunig et al. (1992, p. 557) provide a review...