Institut für Kommunikationswissenschaft

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hohpublica.uni-hohenheim.de/handle/123456789/26

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Am Puls des Wandels - Veränderungskommunikation messen und steuern : Entwicklung und Anwendung eines Controllingansatzes für Veränderungskommunikation.
(2014) Heyder, Daniela; Schweiger, Wolfgang
The objective of the dissertation lies in the development and empirical application of a controlling approach particularly for change communication. For the success of a company continuous change is essential. As fast as the environment changed through e.g. increasing competition, shift in values or innovative technologies, the strategies, structures and processes in enterprises have to change as well as the employees, their mindset and behaviors, in order to secure continuance and growth. For the success of organizational change a special form of internal corporate communication is of central importance – change communication. It can create attention, knowledge and acceptance for the change with the employees concerned by the change and activates a mindset and behavior modification. The journalistically coined role of internal communication changes itself from the passive observer and correspondent of enterprise developments to the master clock and active designer of change processes. An interdisciplinary connection of internal corporate communication with organizational development approaches and implementation instruments of change management is demanded in times of change. So there are characteristics of the goals, strategies, contents, roles and instruments of change communication, which distinguish change communication as a special form of internal corporate communication. In continuous corporate change and with the essential meaning of communication for successful changes the need grew to measure and to steer the performance and impact of change communication systematically with success-critical indicators. This need is encouraged by the increasing attention of the communication science and management for the evaluation of corporate communication. International communication scientists and managers deal with the pressure to justify for their efficiency, effectiveness and budgets as well as with questions for planning and optimizing the success of Public Relations, market and employee communication. As an answer communication experts and controllers together with scientists developed the communication controlling. Contrary to Public relations, marketing communication or internal communication there is so far no scientific or practical approach for controlling change communication, that integrates the characteristics of change communication as a special form of internal communication conceptually or methodically. The development and empirical application of a controlling approach for change communication makes a contribution to lock the shown research gap and to the current discussion in communication controlling. First the characteristics and specific objectives of change communication are illustrated on the basis of a literature analysis. The dissertation regards the phenomenon of organizational change and the special role of communication during change processes. Their goals and tasks, strategies, contents, roles and instruments supply success-critical and steering-related factors of change communication and thus first elements for a controlling system. As a further basis for the specific measurement approach of change communication selected existing controlling approaches of corporate communication as well as change management are outlined and reviewed regarding transferable elements on a change communication controlling system. Beside a controlling tool for internal communication as well as an approach of marketing communication, the PR evaluation plays a major role in this reflection. Additionally evaluation concepts and measurement instruments of the change management deliver valuable implications. Based on this reflection the work defines measuring constructs, indicators and inquiry methods for the controlling of change communication. They are structured in a theoretical framework and an action-oriented measurement system. With the developed controlling system change communication can be evaluated and steered accompanying. The progress of the change is made visible and a rolling wave planning for a continuous optimization of the change process is made possible. The practical applicability of the innovative controlling approach for change communication is tested empirically at a case study. According to the specific goals, strategies, contents, target audiences and instruments of the corporate change initiative „CustomerFirst“ the developed controlling system is modified and applied on two measurement times. From the results of the measurement concrete recommendations for action are derived for steering the change initiative CustomerFirst. The steering mechanisms prove an optimizing effect on the change progress. The development and empirical application of the controlling approach for change communication in the context of a case study make a contribution to the current discussion in communication and change controlling, which look for best practice examples to enhance the discipline.
Eröffnungskommunikation im Einzelhandel : Strategie und Effektivität von Kommunikationsmaßnahmen bei Filialeröffnungen
(2021) Mulack, Genevieve L. D.; Brettschneider, Frank
Due to the corona pandemic and the associated nationwide restrictions, German retailers are facing a particularly big challenge: not only specialist retailers but also large shopping chains are fighting for survival. Nevertheless, wherever shops close, there is also free capacity for new stores to open. This example shows how dynamic the retail market is. While location shutdowns can have a negative impact on a company´s reputation, branch openings demonstrate effective and lively competition. In contrast to the closure of a location, which can have negative consequences on the reputation of a retail company, openings are the sign of lively competition and a dynamic retail industry. Additionally, retail openings symbolize the economic success and growth of a company to an incomparable extent. As a result, the German retail industry has a high turnover and is therefore the most interesting market in Europe. That is why more and more international companies are attracted to the German retail trade and enter the market. Whenever new stores open, a special opening communication takes place. This specific type of marketing communication includes a longterm planning and design process, which includes the informal arrangements, the official announcement of the new location and the wideranged advertising campaign shortly before the final opening. In addition to entering the German retail market (Niemann (2016: 140), opening a branch in Germany is also complex. Sometimes store openings are accompanied by protests and postponements. The area of the opening communication shows how the individual retail topics, such as location criteria or local references, affect each other and how diverse different actors are involved. Despite its economic relevance, the communication of store openings has not received any attention in research so far. Nevertheless, an effective and efficient communication strategy as well as practical applications are important in many different areas. Companies benefit from a positive image and higher sales when applying a highquality communication strategy for store openings. The public is involved in the plans of the retail companies and municipalities. More information is published and citizens are having a say. This prevents conflicts and protests and determines the success of the new project. Store openings stimulate the economy by increasing the attractiveness of a location and stimulating the purchasing power of customers. Politicians therefore exploit retail openings for their own purposes, as their reputation and survey ratings increase with successful openings in their district. In addition, good communication can lead to a permanent establishment of a company, whereby the council benefits from trade taxes and new jobs. With this research paper, the company DECATHLON is described in the form of a case study. DECATHLON has opened a large number of new German locations during the economically strong years and has therefore expanded its business. The present work examines the area of opening communication with a descriptive study, which consists of two surveys. The first part of the study is a guided interview with eleven retail industry experts. The second study is a quantitative survey which targets 7.668 visitors of store opening events. The structure of the quantitative survey is based on the results of the expert interviews, which have been analysed beforehand. The studies build on the theoretical basis of combined communication approaches, such as Integrated Corporate Communication (IUK), Integrated Multi-channel Communication (IMCK) and Modern Marketing Communication. In addition, the basics of the theoretical field of successful communication in construction and infrastructure projects, such as the guideline 7001 from the Association of German Engineers (VDI 2014), as well as the basic rules for good communication which are contained within the guideline, are applied and checked in reference to opening communication in retail.
Intermedia agenda-setting from the far right? Three case studies on spillover effects by alternative media inGermany
(2023) Klawier, Tilman
Right-wing alternative media can increase their public impact if they succeed to set their issues on the mainstream media’s agenda. In three qualitative case studies, the present article explores whether and how such intermedia agenda-setting occurs in Germany. Special attention is given to spillover effects between different actors, both at the level of attention and tone towards the issues. Furthermore, the analysis of news articles is supplemented with Twitter data to account for the role of social media. Two of the case studies indicate that right-wing alternative media contributed to push pseudo-scandals into the mainstream. The analyses also reveal alternative news outlets with particular agenda-setting power and point to the crucial role of tabloid media as a bridge to the mainstream. The third study, however, which centered on the Global Compact for Migration, presents a case where intermedia agenda-setting failed. Against this background, the article discusses the conditions under which intermedia agenda-setting by right-wing alternative media is likely to occur and how journalists should deal with such attempts.
Issues Management unter veränderten Umweltbedingungen
(2023) Wnuck, Corinna; Schweiger, Wolfgang
The idea of issues management aims to ensure that companies actively exert influence on other environmental developments through early identification and strategically planned participation in publicly and organisationally relevant issues. The goal is to maintain their own room for manoeuvre and secure their corporate reputation. Environmental conditions play a central role in shaping issues management. These have changed noticeably since the first issues manage- ment approaches at the end of the 1970s. Digitalisation, medialisation, globalization, and the transformation of the public sphere through digital structural change are the drivers of these changes. Issues management has not yet been tested for its validity under changed environmen- tal conditions. The overarching research question of this study therefore is: How do companies shape issues management under changed environmental conditions? The empirical study uses qualitative, guideline-based expert interviews to examine how issues management is carried out today under changed environmental conditions. For this purpose, the research question is deepened on the basis of six issue management dimensions: the concept, the structure, the process, the management, the actor and the resource dimension. For the research, 22 experts from the agency/consultancy context and the corporate environment were interviewed. Conceptually, issues management has not altered under changed environmental conditions. It remains a preventive function that identifies issues in the corporate environment as early as possible in order to secure and enhance the companys reputation and to deal with these issues in a strategically planned manner. Issues management has a deprioritised existence in many companies, partly because the overlaps with other disciplines are high. Therefore, in many com- panies issues management is practised but not called such. At the structural level of issues management, changes due to digitalisation and globalisation are becoming visible. Modern is- sues management organisations have to work faster, more agile and more flexibly than before. They have to identify issues globally, in real time, and prepare them in a way that is appropriate for different cultural areas. This requires efficient and transparent information and knowledge management systems as well as flexible resource adjustment options. The study shows that changes due to digitalised environmental conditions are effective on the processual level. Due to the acceleration of environmental developments, the process phases run faster or parallel to each other. Reflection and reaction times have shortened with increasing issue complexity. Fol- lowing the sequences of the Scrum logic from software development, an alternative process model is developed in the study that maps the simultaneity and growing complexity of environ- mental developments. The management level is characterised by changes due to accelerated environmental developments, globalisation, medialisation and changed public structures, which are evident to different degrees in the individual phases of the management level. The study shows that the evaluation of issues management is still a challenge today and is only carried out with limitations in the companies. Agencies see a lack of will here, companies justify this with the lack of meaningfulness of the results about the actual performance of issues management. At the actor level, the transformation of the public sphere is having an effect. There is an in- crease in the number of situational, volatile and well-networked sub-publics, which are grouped around various issues and ensure that once an issue has arisen, it can no longer be laid to rest. In addition, the balance of power has shifted in favour of previously weakly represented groups. Furthermore, "journalism bypassing" is a frequently observed phenomenon. On the resource level, issues managers need a significantly expanded repertoire of competences and skills due to digitalisation and medialisation. Furthermore, the use of digital tools in issues management is increasing. At the time of the survey, these were primarily online monitoring tools, editorial management tools, collaborative work platforms and virtual team environments. AI and chat- bots, on the other hand, are the exception. Overall, the study concludes that the changed environmental conditions make the idea of issues management more relevant than ever. Although not always under the name, strategically planned early recognition and management of issues has become established in most compa- nies. At the same time, the environmental changes have a strong impact on implementation. Furthermore, there is a need to catch up especially in the area of digital and data-based corporate communication. This is where potential lies dormant to remedy some of the problems identified in the paper.
Konfliktkostenmanagement – Wirtschaftlichkeitskontrolle im Konflikt- und Kommunikationsmanagement
(2014) Audi, Manuel; Brettschneider, Frank
Conflict management is a method of limiting the negative effects of conflict while increasing the positive ones. Conflict cost management has not yet been considered as a major task of the conflict management process. The dissertation bridges this gap by developing a theoretical model which aims to ensure a systematical management of direct and indirect conflict costs. The conflict cost management model is being integrated into the conflict and communication management process. The model can be incorporated in the organizational management process as an independent approach to identify, measure and control conflict costs. Furthermore the model can be used to manage the profitability of different interventions aiming to prevent and/or to treat existing or potential conflicts.
Meinungsführer in Online-Diskussionsforen
(2016) Scheiko, Ljewin; Schenk, Michael
The study deals with opinion leaders in internet forums. Questions and hypotheses of classical opinion leader studies are transferred and adapted to the specific characteristics of the communication process in internet forums. Due to the width of the field of research, the study is divided into three research areas, each with a specific objective. In the first research area general findings on users of internet forums are obtained. In the second research area opinion leaders are profiled in detail and the relevance of shared information in internet forums is evaluated as well as the degree of influence of opinion leaders on other users is measured. In the third research area, the network structure of internet forums is analyzed and the network positions of opinion leaders are identified. To meet the different objectives optimally, a complex study design, consisting of an Internet-representative online survey and a triangulation of online survey and network analysis, is used.
Phänomen Shitstorm - Herausforderung für die Onlinekrisenkommunikation von Unternehmen
(2015) Salzborn, Christian; Schweiger, Wolfgang
Social media has found their way into society as well as the corporate world. But the more benefits the new platforms brings to the corporate communication, the more are their responsible members afraid about the potential loss of control over their communication. Customers and consumers communicate now on "eye level" and in the case of criticism it may lead to an accumulation of critical, sometimes gleeful comments in social media, which are directed against the company - the so-called Shitstorm. The term was chosen among others as the Anglizismus of 2011 in Germany and found its way into the “Duden” dictionary. But what exactly is meant by this? How long does a Shitstorm take? Which platforms are involved and how develop it? What topics make up a Shitstorm and how can the players involved be described? What are the consequences of a Shitstorm for the company and how can it react within a professional online crisis communication before, during and after a Shitstorm? The aim of the present communication science work was to answer these and other questions in the context of a theory-based empirical study to identify and describe key characteristics and structures of the phenomenon Shitstorm. For this purpose, a combination of methods was used, which combines the advantages of quantitative and qualitative content analysis. Based on the findings the author present also three Shitstorm types as well as a final definition and derives comprehensive recommendations for the crisis communication of the company.
Reputationsorientiertes Themen- und Issues-Management : Konzeption, Regelbetrieb, Weiterentwicklung
(2011) Fahrenbach, Christian; Brettschneider, Frank
The dissertation examines, how organizations can implement, operate and enhance an reputation oriented issues management. Therefore, the operational issues-management-model is linked to the strategic aim reputation and its parts. The first chapters proves the importance of reputation and issues management in general. Then a practical model is being developed, of how issues management with its substeps planning, acting, controlling can be organized. A detailed chapter explains the possible conceptualization and implementation of an issues management in an existing company. A detailed case study assesses the findings and develops them further.
Strategische Innovationskommunikation : ein phasenbasiertes Konzept für die Kommunikation von Innovationen in Unternehmen am Beispiel der digitalen Transformation und Industrie 4.0
(2019) Krugsberger, Stefanie; Brettschneider, Frank
The aim of this dissertation was to show how an integrated corporate communication can create acceptance for innovations. Innovations were especially studied in the field of communication science at the beginning of the 21st century. After that the research decreased. However, some research gaps remained open, which were not pursued to this day. This includes, for example, a strategic approach that takes into account the external perspective of the acceptance process, or concrete theories for the application of corporate communications in the form of concepts. In addition, it is questionable whether the findings from the 21st century are still valid. The present study thus contributed to complement the research field of innovation communications on new and current approaches. After discussing the fundamentals of innovation management and innovation communication, an interdisciplinary model was developed: the innovation processing model. With this model a new approach was defined, with which the processing of innovations in the individual can be explained in an interdisciplinary manner. In addition, the approach can supply derivations, how a corresponding communication must be designed so that they contribute positively to the acceptance development process of the individual. For this purpose, different phases of innovation development as well as the diffusion in the market were first defined, which represent a framework for the innovation processing model. A focus was placed on the diffusion phases, since only these are visible to the general public. The basis for the diffusion phases was the model of Rogers “Diffusion of Innovation”. For each of the five phases knowledge, persuasion, decision, implementation and confirmation - a specific communication goal has been defined that must be reached in the phase in order to eventually lead to acceptance. The aim of the knowledge phase is that a potential customer receives information about an innovation and perceives it as well. In the persuasion phase, this information is used so that a positive attitude towards an innovation is formed. In the decision-making phase, communication should help the user to make a positive decision for an innovation, such as purchasing. In the implementation phase, communication ensures that habits in dealing with the use of an innovation develop. In the confirmation phase, the last step is to create a positive attitude towards the innovation. Based on the five phases, interdisciplinary theories were integrated into the model that describe and explain the achievement of the respective communication goal: How do people get information about the innovation, how to form attitudes, how do people make decisions and how do they establish habits? The developed model states that an individual has completed acceptance for an innovation after positive completion of all phases. As this can be concretely implemented, the example of digital transformation and industry 4.0 revealed a fictitious automotive manufacturer, as this topic shows particularly well how currently the innovation communication is. The empirical part of this study consisted of a media content analysis, with which routines of reporting could be identified, that gave an idea on how a concept of strategic innovation communication on the topic of digital transformation and industry 4.0 should be designed. It was possible to find some evidence of how journalists are reporting on the topic of digital transformation and industry 4.0 as well as innovations from this topic area. In addition, the innovation processing model was used to formulate a new approach to the selection of news for innovation topics, which could already be strengthened with the help of the media content analysis. This could be confirmed in particular by qualitative expert interviews with three different journalists.The innovation processing model and the results of the media content analysis developed in the present work offer a further approach for the design of strategic innovation communication, which can be further expanded and validated in future investigations. This dissertation has taken the innovation research a step further.
Zeitungsjournalismus im Internetzeitalter : Umfragen und Analysen
(2011) Mast, Claudia

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