ABSTRACT
Professional communication in and between organizations and their stakeholders continues to be researched from a multitude of theoretical perspectives. In communication science, public relations and organizational communication have evolved as multi-faceted paradigms with different starting points and foci, but overlapping questions, concepts and explanations. In business administration and marketing science, concepts such as integrated (marketing) communications, corporate reputation and corporate communications are broadly discussed. While every concept provides valuable insights, none of them has been able to establish itself as an overall paradigm for theory and practice. While this might not be a desirable end at all, it makes sense to find common ground by accentuating the common and core attributes of professional communication—the use of communications to reach the overarching goals of a specific organization or social actor. This is at the center of strategic communication, a concept used more and more often to guide research and inspire study programs around the world. This chapter will review the current state of the strategic communication discipline through an analysis of theoretical approaches to the field at three levels: (1) the macro level, which pertains to philosophical and meta-theoretical applications; (2) the meso level, which refers to theoretical analyses at the organizational level of practice; and (3) the micro level, which addresses the application of theories to understand how communication takes place in the strategic context. Based on this analysis, the chapter will conclude with suggestions how additional theoretical applications can extend the field.
