Introducing the stakeholder-oriented strategic communicative control approach

Abstract

It is undisputable that strategic communication is the cornerstone for the achievement of organisational goals. It is also a fact and a well-documented stance that the problems bedevilling most African organisations emanate from heavy reliance on non-African strategic communication theories in order to solve organisational communication problems. Even though the role and impact of theories emanating from Africa is viewed as important there is a dearth of such tools. Western informed dominant theories are not best suited to solve Sub-Saharan communication problems. In the mode of reconceptualising strategic communications, this chapter introduces a home-grown approach, the stakeholder-oriented strategic communicative control approach (SOSCCA). The approach emanates from the perspective that stakeholders strive to be in control of organisational activities. The aim of the approach is to predict elements impeding effective stakeholder communication with managers and the entire workforce. It also aims to show the importance of stakeholder control communication in ensuring the survival of organisations in stiffer competitive and crisis induced environments. The SOSCCA intends to make managers, researchers and stockholders realise the need to shift focus on managerialism. Qualitatively collected and analysed data from organisations in Sub-Saharan Africa informs this theory. Participants and organisations were conveniently sampled.