Rethinking internal communication: an interpretive dynamic glance

Over the last few years the rapid growth of the importance of internal communication (IC) (Invernizzi and Romenti 2009; Zerfass et al. 2011), both with reference to its diffusion and to the strategic role attached to it, has called for a new and in-depth reconsideration of its contribution in organizations. Indeed, recent perspectives in the debate state that IC is currently facing a complex phase of redefinition of its identity (Christensen and Cornelissen 2011; Hiebert et al. 2011; Groysberg and Slind 2012). However, scholarship on IC seems to have sensed the significance of this evolutionary step in the identity of IC with some delay (Verčič, Verčič, and Sriramesh 2012). So far, literature has depicted a dramatically fragmented picture of IC, failing also in providing a broad empirical exploration of the phenomenon. Acknowledging the demand for a wider and cohesive perspective on IC, this study aims at participating in the debate on the evolution of IC identity by investigating its changing dynamics, exploring the foundations of its identity, and mapping its specific dimensions as organizational agent. As for the method, an interpretive multi-phase and dynamic research design has been developed in order to cast a new, holistic (Daymon and Holloway 2002), and context-based (Creswell 2007) glance on a phenomenon whose evolutionary dynamics requires a new point of view (Bosio 2009) in order to grab the nuances of its complexities (Richards and Morse 2007). Therefore this study develops three interconnected and complementary levels of mapping of IC thought, perceptions, experiences, and practices (see figure 1). Based on findings, IC is revealed through narratives of evolutions, changes, and tensions, which depict IC as a phenomenon in transition between the inadequacy of its current positioning and the aspiration to take on an ideal mandate.