also called for future research that identifies organizational variables contributing to the use and effectiveness of communication management and public relations strategies. Accordingly, this study will (a) discuss a conceptual base of bridging strategy, (b) identify external and internal factors influencing an organization’s predisposition to bridging strategy, and (c) test relationships between those factors and bridging strategy. Regarding an external factor, environmental complexity is considered. Regarding internal factors, analysis orientation, top management’s attitude toward collaboration with stakeholders, and authoritarian culture are examined in this study. Finally, both theoretical and empirical implications of this study will be discussed. The following section will discuss the conceptual base of bridging strategy as a communication management and public relations strategy under the behavioral, strategic management paradigm. Conceptual Base of Bridging Strategy: a Behavioral, Strategic Management Approach Relatively limited knowledge exists regarding strategic management of corporate communication (van Riel, 1995) and communication management and public relations strategy (Steyn, 2003). Steyn (2007) suggests that public relations strategy “provides the focus and direction for an organization’s communication with its stakeholders and other interest groups in society” (p. 142). Yet less clarity exists than should in using the term strategy in communication management and public relations (Steyn, 2003; 2007) and this requires more scholarly attention. For instance, some scholars define communication management and public relations strategy as message strategy (Werder & Holtzhausen,
management’s attitude regarding collaboration with stakeholders. The bridging strategy they conceptualized, however, was based on public affairs and boundary-spanning activities to deal with an external environment. Although the role of public relations is considered also a boundary-spanning function, their work does not fully incorporate the characteristics of public relations and corporate-communication management strategies addressing relationships with stakeholders and the public. Further, their concept of public affairs does not distinguish between advertising and public relations, and is limited to government relations, community relations, press releases, and promotional efforts. Accordingly, this study will test the validity of Meznar and Nigh’s (1995) findings, in light of Kim and Kim’s (2015) bridging as public relations strategy, and Grunig and his colleagues’ concept of the behavioral, strategic management paradigm of public relations (e.g., Grunig, 1992; Grunig et al., 2002; Grunig & Kim, 2011; Kim & Ni, 2010). Then, based on the literature in management, corporate communication management, and public relations, this study will identify potential factors influencing bridging strategy, and will test hypotheses on the relationships between those factors and bridging strategy. Factors are categorized as external and internal, according to Mintzberg’s (1977) notion of strategy formulation as the interplay of its environment and internal factors. An External Factor Influencing Bridging Strategy Environment Complexity The relationship between an organization and its complex environment influences the choice of public relations worldviews and public relations functions (Grunig, 1992;
strength, while a culture preventing an organization from adapting to changing environments can lead to that organization’s stagnation and failure (Harvey, 1982). Thus it is important to distinguish the type of organizational culture that helps adapt to the needs of environments to increase the organization’s effectiveness. Based on the previous literature (Ernest, 1985; Gordon, 1990; Schein, 1985; Wallach, 1983), Sriramesh, Grunig and Buffington (1992) and Sriramesh, Grunig and Dozier (1996) have conceptualized organizational culture as a continuum in which authoritarian culture is at one end of the spectrum and participatory culture at the other, meaning that highly authoritarian culture can be interpreted as low-participatory culture and vice versa. Sriramesh, Grunig and Dozier (1996) attribute the following to authoritarian culture: a closed system with top down decision making based often on authority, tradition, and trial and error; little concern for the lives of employees outside the organization; placing value on tradition and conservative values; and employees tending to separate their personal goals from the organization’s goals. This authoritarian culture is similar to hierarchical culture (Deshpandé, Farley, & Webster, 1993), which emphasizes predictability, order, rules and regulations in a bureaucratic organization where the leader’s role is mainly an administrator. In contrast, participatory culture uses an open-system approach to management. An open-system approach assumes that organizations exist in a complex environment, and that firms continuously need to adapt to forces in the external environment (Harvey, 1982). As for the relationship with its environment, participatory culture is more likely to value knowledge about the organization, while authoritarian culture is more likely to
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