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CCIJ
11,3

Theory and practice converge:

a proposed set of corporate
communication principles

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Bojinka Bishop
E.W. Scripps School of Journalism, Ohio University, Athens, Ohio, USA
Abstract
Purpose To report on empirical research which tested the use and value of ten specific
characteristics of communication, the principles of authentic communication, and based on the
findings, to recommend them as corporate communication best practices.
Design/methodology/approach The principles of authentic communication were grounded in
both professional and academic literature to establish their applicability in corporate communication
and their role in cultivating symmetrical communication. A survey was mailed to large US water
utilities to determine various aspects of their communication programs. Analyses were conducted
using SPSS.
Findings Data analyses showed that all ten principles of authentic communication were correlated
with communication success.
Research limitations/implications Limitations of the study include a fairly low response rate
and the self reporting of success. Suggestions for further research are testing the principles with larger
samples, in different industries, and/or in a multiple-industry mix. In addition, defining the concept of
success within the survey instrument might render insight into the respondents interpretations of the
term.
Practical implications Based on this study, it is recommended that the principles of authentic
communication be utilized to a high degree in professional practice.
Originality/value Although each principle has been recognized in communication literature, it is
the first time that these ten characteristics have been specified as a set of ten and have been shown
through empirical research to be correlated with success. The value of this work is that it provides
hard evidence to support the use and value of the principles of authentic communication in corporate
communication.
Keywords Corporate communications, Public relations
Paper type Research paper

Introduction
Why propose a new set of principles for corporate communication? Everyday,
professionals have to provide bosses, CEOs, and clients with answers to the question:
whats the best way to communicate this? This may be layoffs, the introduction of
a new product or service, building a new plant, a price increase, a drop in earnings, a
regulatory infraction, a product recall, or a host of other issues and topics depending on
the organization and industry. Upon being asked the question: whats the best way to
Corporate Communications: An
International Journal
Vol. 11 No. 3, 2006
pp. 214-231
q Emerald Group Publishing Limited
1356-3289
DOI 10.1108/13563280610680812

The author wishes to thank Dr Josep Rota, Associate Provost for International Studies and
Professor of Telecommunications, Ohio University, for his ongoing statistical analysis assistance
and Dr Aimee Howley, Professor of Education, Ohio University for her advice and support.
The College of Communication at Ohio University provided initial funding for this project and
the author also appreciates the support of the AWWA by providing mailing lists.

communicate this?, the corporate communication professional typically launches into

the following thought process: with whom should we communicate? What should we
say? Through what channels? And, especially if the organization practices two-way
symmetrical communication, when and how can we elicit and incorporate stakeholder
views? These considerations reflect the components of basic communication theory,
that is, the circular loop of source, message, channel, receiver, feedback. The questions
represent an example of theory merged with practice, of theory in action.
While scholars work on finding systematic research-based answers to the questions
above, professionals often are forced to answer them on the spot, without the benefit of
extensive research and analysis. Thus, it is useful for professionals to have guidelines,
rules, best practices, or principles to guide their answers. The notion of rules for
communication is neither unique nor new (Pearson, 1989b). Indeed, theories,
guidelines, and advice on corporate communication abound, from both scholarly and
professional perspectives. Books, periodicals, and conferences showcase a myriad of
research studies and experience-based ideas on communication campaigns, programs,
and projects, from strategy development to media relations tips. For example, the
Public Relations Society of Americas monthly broadsheet, Tactics, publishes how-to
and best-practices articles on a range of communication activities such as media
relations, internal communication, and web communication. On the scholarly side,
journals such as Journal of Public Relations Research publish both theoretical studies
and empirical research on communication policies and practices. Thus, how to
communicate appropriately, effectively, and successfully is the focus of much
professional and scholarly attention, some theoretical, some based on analysis of and
reflection on practice, and some supported by research.
This paper will add to this confluence by proposing a set of conceptual principles
that merge theory and practice, and can be used to develop answers to the question:
how best to communicate this? The paper will also report the findings of an empirical
study that provided some initial evidence that these principles contributed to the
success of corporate communication programs.
The set of communication characteristics proposed, the principles of authentic
communication, defined and explained below, specify that communication be: clear,
relevant, timely, truthful, fundamental, comprehensive, consistent, accessible, caring,
and responsive to feedback. To provide rationale and support for proposing them, first,
their theoretical bases will be explored, then the literature review will briefly show each
principles grounding in both scholarly and professional literature. In the final section,
a US-based national survey on the principles will be reported, including findings
regarding the effectiveness of the principles in professional practice.
Theoretical underpinnings
Especially relevant to the principles of communication proposed here is the work of
James Grunig and his colleagues. Grunig and Hunt (1984, p. V) introduced the two-way
symmetrical model of public relations, based on negotiation, compromise, and
understanding. Over the past 20 years, this model expanded the theoretical discussion
of public relations, much of which had focused on one-way advocacy and persuasion.
Grunig and Hunts model was dialogical and later was described as an inherently
ethical mode of communication (Pearson, 1989a; Grunig, 2001). In terms of practice,
the seminal excellence study (Grunig and Grunig, 1992b) added additional weight to

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the two-way symmetrical model by providing empirical evidence through a study of

more than 300 organizations (Grunig, 1992, p. 2) that symmetrical communication was
a factor in excellent public relations. It should be noted, however, that over the years,
the two-way symmetrical model has been the subject of criticism. One criticism stated
it was more a guideline for how public relations ought to be practiced than how it
actually was practiced by professionals in their everyday careers (Cancel et al., 1997).
Whether symmetry is a desired goal or is a practical reality stands as an interesting
debate. It is relevant to this paper because the principles proposed here may be
considered a recommended approach also. Similar to the excellence study, in which
evidence was found that two-way symmetrical communication was indeed used by
professionals, this study also found that the proposed principles were utilized in
varying degrees in practice.
Another aspect of the criticism of symmetry was that symmetry was only
applicable or appropriate in certain circumstances (Cancel et al., 1997). Regardless,
however, whether symmetry is a best-practices model or a circumstance-based
strategy, it has been a focal point of discussion by scholars for the past 20 years (Sallot
et al., 2003), so it has proven its importance and value to corporate communication
theory and practice.
The concepts of symmetry, dialogue, and ethics underpin the Principles of
Authentic Communication (Bishop, 2003a, b). The symmetrical model is especially
relevant to this paper not only because the principles have theoretical grounding in it,
but also because Grunig (2003) referred to the set of ten principles of communication
proposed here as a cultivation strategy for symmetrical communication. Although
the principles of authentic communication are not the only way for organizations
to develop symmetrical communication, their designation as an effective strategy to
cultivate it means they represent a merging of symmetrical theory with practical
application.
Additional relevant theoretical grounding grows out of basic systems theory which
addresses interdependence of organizations and their environments (Grunig et al. 1992),
the community-building construct of public relations (Kruckeberg and Starck, 1988),
and the communitarian view of public relations (Culbertson and Chen, 1997). Pearson
(1989a, b) explored those concepts in depth and linked two-way symmetrical
communication, organizational responsibility within the public sphere, and ethics to
public relations. These scholars argued in varying ways that organizations operate
interdependently with their communities and that, therefore, organizations should behave
as responsible members of those communities. That worldview of corporate
communication is compatible not only with the symmetrical models sense of
negotiation and mutual adaptation, but also with another relevant stream of scholarly
research and theory, the relationship school of thought (Bowen, 2005; Broom et al., 1997,
2000; Ledingham and Brunig, 2000). As organization-public relationship study developed,
dimensions of the relationships were identified as openness, trust, involvement,
investment, and commitment (Ledingham and Brunig, 2000, p. 58). Persuasive
arguments for this type of dialogic and relationship-building communication have been
made by Susskind and Field (1996, pp. 37-8) who promoted a mutual gains approach,
especially in conflict situations and offered six principles, including, Acknowledge the
concerns of the other side . . . act in a trustworthy fashion at all times . . . focus on building
long-term relationships. One could argue, as Zadek (2001) has, that not only in conflict

situations but as a general practice, dialogic communication is necessary for corporations

to operate in todays climate of active publics and demands for transparency.
An example of how these theoretical streams, symmetry, interdependence,
community-building, communitarianism, relationship-building, and ethics undergird
the principles is reflected in the name of the principles itself. Being authentic, according
to its simple dictionary definition, means being genuine, real, reliable and
trustworthy (Websters Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English
Language, 1996). The latter concept, trustworthy, or specifically trust, is considered
a dimension of organization-public relationships (Ledingham and Brunig, 2000).
Support for these theoretical streams can also be found in philosophic explications of
the term, authentic. In The Ethics of Authenticity, Taylor (1991, p. 91) argued that
because authenticity encourages individuals to hold diverse ideas, interests, and
values, authenticity must take into consideration connections and responsibilities to a
larger society. Thus, authenticity requires not only recognizing the interests and
individuality of stakeholders and publics, it also requires that we accept their right to
hold their own viewpoints and that we operate in a manner which respects and
considers those viewpoints. Particularly relevant to corporate communication is the
work of Terry (1993) who argued that people in social roles carry a greater
responsibility for putting authenticity into action than individuals acting alone. This
suggests that corporate communicators, in their roles as representatives of
organizations acting in the public sphere, have a responsibility for authenticity, that
is, a duty to use authenticity as a mode of action in their practice.
Although there are other theories and models relevant to corporate communication, the
theoretical streams noted above, two-way symmetry, dialogue, interdependence with
community, ethical communication, and relationship building, are the philosophical
underpinnings of the proposed set of communication principles, the Principles of
Authentic Communication. The literature review, which describes each principle
individually, will provide additional support for the principles connections to these
theories and models.
Literature review on the principles of authentic communication
In addition to the term authenticity, each of the principles finds rationale and support
in scholarly and professional literature. Because of the relatively high number of
principles (ten), and given the scope of the study and its focus on describing the
empirical research, the literature review for each principle provides selective references
to support their validity as communication characteristics but is neither
comprehensive nor exhaustive.
The principle, being clear, is a commonsense directive in communication which
takes the receiver into consideration. It is defined here as using language that is
appropriate and understandable for those involved, explaining technical terms, and
organizing and illustrating the information logically and understandably. Wilcox et al.
(2001) addressed clarity as one of the important factors in persuasion. Hendrix (2001,
p. 39) noted the two most important characteristics of effective language usage are
clarity and appropriateness. Risk communication literature (Hance et al. 1990) and
public participation manuals (Bishop, 1997) emphasized the need to be clear, simplify
the complex, eliminate jargon, and reduce the number of technical terms. Regarding the
organization of information, Burgoon (1989) noted Beighlys (1952) research, finding

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that people show more comprehension and retention of organized messages than
unorganized. Being clear allows people to understand the communication.
The next principle, is relevance. Relevance specifies that the communication take
into account and make connections with the interests of those involved. Relevance
allows readers, listeners, audiences in general, to connect to and more fully understand
the information in relation to their own lives. It has implications for attracting
attention, processing information, and understanding it. One way of expressing
relevance is that the communication must strike responsive chords in their minds
(Hendrix, 2001, p. 37). Additional support for the importance of relevance comes from
Petty and Cacioppo (1986) who stated that people pay more attention to messages
when the message is personally relevant. In his classic book on clear and effective
writing, Gunnings (1968, p. 148) advised, Tie in with your readers experience.
He counsels that relevance to the readers life and interests makes a difference in
whether the reader accepts the information. Because in symmetrical communication
there is an expectation that publics will participate in a dialogue about the information,
relevance becomes all the more important. Publics not only have to understand
information, they also need to engage with it, and discuss it in relation to their own
interests and communities.
The principle, timely, allows people to respond to and interact with information and
provide reactions to be taken into account by the organization. It requires that the
information be provided as soon as it is known and that there is sufficient time for
response and input before major decisions or actions are taken. This is a critically
important aspect for symmetry because it makes mutual adaptation possible. That is,
by providing information prior to decisions, the organization allows stakeholder and
public views to be considered, discussed, and incorporated. Atkin (1981) as cited in
Windahl et al. (1992) explicitly tied timing to the success of communication campaigns.
Other scholars connected timing to providing enough exposure to messages.
Van Leuven (1986) also cited in Windahl et al. (1992) addressed the notion of duration
of time for messages noting that messages should receive adequate exposure. This
implies the need to disseminate information early enough to allow time for decisions or
actions. Windahl et al. (1992) advised communication scientists and practitioners to
understand and be sensitive to the concept of time, addressing aspects related to how
long the information would be valid and noted the importance of allowing for
sinking-in periods or for interpersonal communication around the topics to take place.
These latter notions of timeliness support allotting time for dialogue prior to action.
The next principle, consistent, adds another characteristic to the communication,
that is, specifying that it does not oppose or contradict the organizations other words
and actions. It embodies the commonly heard dictum, walk the talk. Communication
and action should be congruent. Mishra (1996) equated being consistent with being
reliable and considered it a dimension of trust. And Terry (1993) addressed the
importance of consistency in his discussion of authenticity and stated that congruence
was one aspect of authenticity, of being considered real and genuine. In communication
literature, Gass and Seiter (1999) referred to a body of consistency theory and
addressed the need for psychological consistency regarding information and
communication. They stated that inconsistency is unpleasant and people seek
to avoid it, deny it, reduce it, or eliminate it . . . (p. 61). Of course Festingers (1964)
body of work on cognitive dissonance emphasized the psychological discomfort of

inconsistency. Because the principles of authentic communication encourage dialogue,

discomfort and avoidance are counterproductive.
The principle, truthful, focuses on being accurate and factually correct. This
definition of truthful is admittedly a narrow definition of the term. Telling the truth is a
complex concept that has been analysed and studied for thousands of years. Because
the term is packed with meanings and connotations, three separate principles are used
to explicate it. Factual accuracy, in addition to broader meanings of truthfulness, is
advocated in professional literature, especially in relation to crisis communication
(Fearn-Banks, 1996) and media relations (Howard and Mathews, 2000). Accuracy,
truthfulness, and honesty are promulgated as standards of professional behavior in the
codes of ethics or conduct of the Public Relations Society of America, the International
Public Relations Association, and the International Association of Business
Communicators. For example, a core principle in the PRSA Code of Provisions states:
Protecting and advancing the free flow of accurate and truthful information is essential to
serving the public interest and contributing to informed decision making in a democratic
society. (PRSA, 2005).

IABCs code states that members should engage in truthful, accurate and fair
communication that facilitates respect and mutual understanding(IABC, 2005). And
IPRA stipulates that members shall refrain from subordinating the truth to other
requirements; circulating information which is not based on established and
ascertainable facts (IPRA, 2005). On the theoretical side, several scholars argued that
truthfulness and factual accuracy are necessary to public relations communication
(Baker and Martinson, 2001; Edgett, 2002), even in the advocacy mode. Thus,
truthfulness has been considered important in both professional and scholarly areas.
While truthfulness focuses on the accuracy and veracity of the information, the
principle, fundamental, highlights the need to disclose core issues and central facts.
This distinction is important because an organization (or source) can be truthful, as it is
defined here and as it may be interpreted, by simply providing accurate, but peripheral,
facts. Much of the rationale for this principle came from systematic observations and
analyses of professional experiences. A common term for public relations is spinning.
Spin can be interpreted in several ways: as giving the positive side only and hiding
the negative, or twisting information so that the communication gives a different
impression or meaning, or outright lying. However, one defines it, there is an inherent
dishonesty. Dilenschneider and Kosmicki (1998) considered spin a deliberate and
reckless disregard for the truth and condemned it unconditionally. Spin is bad for
you, its bad for your company and its bad for your clients (1998). Spin in its mildest
form could be considered simply omitting basic information, which can be a form of
deception. Deception was explored in depth in the seminal work on lying by Bok (1989,
p. 6):
The moral question of whether you are lying or not is not settled [emphasis in original] by
establishing the truth or falsity of what you say. In order to settle this question, we must
know whether you intend your statement to mislead. [emphasis in original].

I submit that not communicating the real or core issues represents an intent to mislead.
The principle, comprehensive, adds yet another defining dimension to truthfulness.
It, too, is partially illustrated by the term spin, but adds refinements and
requirements to truthfulness. To be comprehensive means to tell the whole story,

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including the context, meanings, and implications of the issue in question, ensuring
there is no deception, and that communication can lead to genuine understanding. One
aspect of developing understanding is context. In his recent indictment of the television
news media, Fenton (2005, p. 7) stated:
Without full information, you cant build up context, and without context you cant judge the
importance of apparently haphazard information.

Cheney and Dionisopoulos (1989) declared that understanding context was necessary,
however, they considered it a responsibility of publics. They argued that publics must
be able to give an informed reading to organizational communication and must
consider the context of information from three perspectives, that of source, industry,
and the issue itself. Although Cheney and Dionisopoulos (1989) approach
understanding context as a responsibility of publics, this author contends that the
organization has a responsibility for providing contextual information to facilitate
understanding as an inherent requirement of symmetrical communication. Other
scholars supported the need for comprehensiveness as a responsibility of the
organization, for example, Day et al. (2001, p. 406) pointed out that:
. . . if a non-misleading presentation of information is to occur, then disclosure of all relevant
information would seem to be required.

And Edgett (2002, pp. 45, 15) cited the work of Martinson and noted that, he adopts a
model of substantial completeness in which the communicator is concerned more with
what needs to be communicated to achieve genuine understanding. Baker and
Martinson (2001) include the concept under their first principle, truthfulness
with the question, Is this communication substantially complete? (p. 161). Thus,
comprehensiveness has been identified as having importance in communication, and in
addition to the principles, fundamental and truthful, together comprise a necessary
foundation for honest and open dialogue.
The next principle, accessible, articulates a relationship aspect to the
communication, that is, it specifies that information and/or sources should be easily
available to all parties, ensuring that everyone has an opportunity to see or hear the
information and discuss it. This characteristic is important to facilitate dialogue.
The use of the worldwide web has made vast amounts of information openly available
to just about everyone and has built an expectation that information should be
available. It is now the expectation of members of the public to be able to access
earnings, plans, profit projections, policies, etc. on corporate websites. And publishing
e-mail addresses has made many more sources identifiable and reachable than ever
before. Recent corporate scandals in the United States, the most notable, Enrons, have
ushered in a new focus on accessibility, and a new law, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002,
legislates additional disclosure of corporate financial information (AICPA, 2005).
Another influence on the notion of accessibility comes from legal work regarding
physical accessibility, which emphasized issues of equal and fair access for the
handicapped. These legal discussions and decisions have influenced other public
policy areas as well. In an unpublished masters thesis, Roberts (2002) drew attention to
Executive Order 12898 noting that it was enacted to ensure equal access for all
citizens to federal information and decisionmaking that addresses environmental
justice. (p. 24). Thus, this principle has implications not only for access to people and

information, but also to decision processes and to the public places where
some decisions are made. The author argues for the importance of accessibility and
fairness, not only as necessary for symmetry and dialogue, but also as an ethical
consideration.
The next principle is caring, showing respect, concern, and compassion for the
circumstances, attitudes, beliefs, and feelings of everyone involved. Several scholars
have argued for the importance of caring in communication. For example, Windahl et al.
(1992) and Rogers (1995) used the term empathy to describe care for others this
capacity to understand how other people perceive and interpret reality. Reardon (1987)
refined the term empathy into two concepts:
(1) sensitivity to the thoughts and feelings of others; and
(2) social perspective-taking, the ability to understand the options available to
others.
Both of these are important in dialogic public relations. Coombs (1999, p. 125) reported
. . . a significant, positive effect for compassion on organizational reputation, honoring
accounts, and intended potential supportive behavior.
The next principle, responsiveness to feedback, makes explicit the feedback loop
that is part of the basic communication model. It assures that the organization seeks
and responds to feedback. It allows for and encourages mutual adaptation. Models of
communication that include feedback abound (Windahl et al., 1992). Hendrix (2001,
p. 39) wrote that:
Communication was once considered a linear process involving the transmission of a
message from a source through a channel to a receiver. Today, however, PR practitioners
must program two-way communication activities that permit audience response or
feedback . . .

Cutlip et al. (2000) stated that communication is a two-way process model. Thus, not
only in the definition and basic theories and models of communication does feedback
play a role, but dialogue, by its very nature, requires the give and take between parties.
What this principle makes explicit is that feedback should be taken to its logical
conclusion that is, that the source takes it into account and, in keeping with the
two-way symmetrical model, negotiates with publics for mutual adaptation.
Each of the ten principles has support in both professional and scholarly literature
and their explications contain evidence of symmetrical, dialogic, ethical, and
relationship-building language, for example, empathy, fairness, respect, and
understanding, thus supporting the previously noted theoretical underpinnings.
These ten principles, clear, relevant, timely, truthful, fundamental, comprehensive,
consistent, accessible, caring, and responsive to feedback, based on the concept of
authenticity, built on the symmetrical model of communication, and developed through
literature reviews and systematic observation and professional practice, are proposed
as a set of rules for corporate communication.
The study
Having established the theoretical and professional foundation for each of the
principles of authentic communication, the paper will report the findings of a national
survey in which their use and value in corporate communication were explored.

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The questions the research set out to examine were:

RQ1. To what degree did water utility communication programs incorporate the
specific characteristics of communication that comprise the principles of
authentic communication?
RQ2. Did the incorporation of these characteristics contribute to the success of
communication?
RQ3. Were other aspects of communication found to correlate with success?
Methods
The population chosen for the research was US water utilities that were members of
the American Water Works Association (AWWA), the largest professional and trade
association for the water supply industry in North America. This group was chosen
because of the researchers previous professional experience with the water utility
industry and the availability of mailing lists through AWWA.
According to the US Environmental Protection Agency (2005), the regulator for
water utilities, there are approximately 54,000 community water systems in the USA
but most (85 percent) are small, serving from 25 to 3,300 people. The remaining
15 percent of community water systems, approximately 8,100, are medium to very
large, serving from 3,301 people to 100,001 plus, with medium-sized water utilities
defined as serving 3,301 to 10,000 people (US Environmental Protection Agency, 2005).
The US EPA does not report the number of medium-sized systems, but we can
construe that they make up most of the 8,100. Small and medium utilities, those serving
fewer than 10,000 people, typically do not have a professional communication function.
Therefore, to test corporate communication practices, the research was conducted on
large water utilities which were more likely to have communication staff and ongoing
programs. In order to gather data on corporate communication programs, the AWWA
corporate utility member category was chosen and a mailing list of large and very
large utilities (serving more the 10,001 people) was secured.
Surveys were sent in spring 2000 to all 961 large water utility members of AWWA.
Respondents were asked to identify a difficult communication issue they had faced in
the past two years and answer the rest of the questionnaire on that specific
communication program. The survey instrument was a 24-question, 4-page
questionnaire with open- and closed-ended, checklist, and Likert-type questions. The
questionnaire covered a range of information regarding communication programs, for
example: the specific audiences and topics of the communication program;
communication tactics used; use of strategy teams; length of communication
programs; incorporation of the principles; levels of success; whether they modified
their position; and demographic information such as number of customers, title,
gender, education, and years of experience. The quantitative data were analysed using
the statistical package SPSS to calculate descriptive statistics and correlation
coefficients.
Representatives from 175 water utilities returned the questionnaire for a response
rate of 18.2 percent. With such a low response rate, it was important to try to ascertain
the representativeness of the sample. Two analyses were conducted to assess whether
the sample was representative of the population. The country was divided into four
regions by state:

(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)

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Northeast;
Southeast;
Midwest; and
West;

and the number of large water utilities in each region of the country (the population)
was counted and rendered into a percent of the total population. The number and
percent of actual respondents in each region were compared to the number and percent
of the population in each region to see if there were similar percentages represented in
the data. As Table I shows, the geographical distribution of the sample provides a
reasonable approximation of the geographical distribution of the population as whole.
So although the response rate as low, there is some evidence that the sample represents
the population distribution across the regions.
To further vet the sample, a x 2 crosstabulation to measure the size of the difference
between the sample distribution and the population distribution was conducted.
It showed a x 2 value of 1.79 and a probability value of 0.618, indicating that there was
not a statistically significant difference between the sampling distribution and the
population distribution.

223

Base line data on water utility communication

To better understand the communication practices of the sample, simple frequencies
for all questions were tallied. Most of respondents worked for municipally owned
utilities (78 percent) with the remainder private or regional. This reflects the fact that
the majority of water utilities in the USA are municipal. Sixty percent of the
respondents were the utility managers, 24 percent were communication professionals,
and the remaining were technical specialists or others. Seventy percent of the
respondents were male, and 30 percent female. Given that the water supply industry is
rooted in civil engineering, and about 70 percent of the sample was over 40 years of
age, it is reasonable to assume that the gender representation reflects the population.
For all questions related to communication activities, the sample proved to be quite
diverse. In terms of topic, respondents reported a range of issues: water quality
(30 percent), fiscal and rate issues (24 percent), regulations (16 percent), supply and
conservation (15 percent) and projects (11 percent). They also reported a variety of
audiences for their communication programs (many utilities indicated multiple publics
for their communication effort): residential customers (67 percent), business customers
(54 percent), elected officials and boards (39 percent), news media (26 percent), public
and voters (21 percent), citizens groups (19 percent), employees and regulators
(15 percent each), agencies (9 percent), and others (10 percent).

Region
1
2
3
4

Population

Percentage of total population

Respondents

Percentage of sample

178
213
282
288

18.5
22
29
30

27
44
48
51

16
26
28
30

Table I.
Regional respondents
compared to population

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In addition to the variety of topics and target publics, utilities used a wide range of
communication tactics. The questionnaire listed 57 tactics (plus a category other)
including: media tactics such as news releases, press conferences, and radio and TV
interviews; personal communication such as phone calls and one-on-one; electronic
communication such as e-mail and internet; public outreach tactics such as speakers
bureaus, telephone hotlines and open-houses; public information tactics such as
brochures, newsletters, and bill stuffers; participatory communication tactics such
as workshops, advisory groups, and consensus-building meetings; and research tactics
such as focus groups and surveys. All 57 tactics were utilized by the respondents,
showing a wide range of communication activities. The single most common tactic
reported was the news release, used by 67 percent of respondents. Respondents
reported one-on-one contact as the second most used tactic at 49 percent. Many
respondents used strategy teams (64 percent), and the length of the programs ranged
from months to years. Some respondents reported that the utility modified its position
a lot as a result of the communication program, some not at all, some a little, some
moderately. Thus, the sample showed a range of activities and practices.
Incorporating the principles of authentic communication
To ascertain the degree to which water utility communication programs incorporated
the specific characteristics of communication that comprise the principles of authentic
communication, that is, to answer the first research question, respondents were asked
to what extent their communication programs incorporated each characteristic on a
rating scale as follows: 1 not at all, 2 somewhat, 3 moderately, 4 fully. The
characteristics were listed with a few descriptive words and were not referred to as
the Principles of Authentic Communication as that term might have served to bias
the answers. It should be noted also that as discussed in the literature review these
characteristics of communication have received considerable attention as being useful
and important in professional and scholarly literature, so it would be reasonable to
expect a bias toward reporting utilization. As shown in Table II, respondents reported
using the principles in varying degrees in their communication programs. The number
reporting no incorporation is fairly low, two respondents (1.1 percent). Yet, aside
from truthful (87 percent full incorporation), the other nine principles range from
58 percent to only 26 percent full incorporation. And there are corresponding increases
in the somewhat or low incorporation category. The least used characteristics were

Characteristic

Table II.
Use of authentic
communication in
communication programs

Truthful, accurate
Core issues
Full story
Consistent
Made relevant to audience
Clear
Showed care
Accessible
Feedback
Timely

No.
(percent)

Somewhat
(percent)

Moderately
(percent)

Fully
(percent)

1
1
1
1
1
2
3
2
11
9

2
5
7
10
6
10
13
24
21
27

10
36
38
38
46
46
48
41
39
38

87
58
54
51
46
42
36
33
30
26

timely and responsive to feedback. From these data its clear that the principles of
authentic communication are, to varying degrees, incorporated into the corporate
communication of this sample of water utilities.
Success
As indicated above in the literature review, scholars and professionals have
acknowledged the underlying value of the principles individually, but there is little
hard data to support that view, and certainly none to date on the specific set of ten
principles of authentic communication. In an attempt to merge theory and practice, to
begin to test whether principles based on symmetrical concepts might become a useful
and practical set of guidelines for communication programs, the study explored
reported success in relation to the principles. Respondents were asked to assess success
on a 4-point scale (1 not at all, 2 somewhat, 3 moderately, 4 fully). Because this
was a self-reported assessment of success, one might expect a bias toward declaring
success. Although success data are skewed toward the higher end of the scale,
nevertheless, 5 percent reported no success, 15 percent reported low success, 55 percent
reported moderate success, and 28 percent reported high success. A plurality of
respondents reported moderate as opposed to high success.
Although these data on success are one-sided, i.e. from the corporate perspective,
and not clearly defined, they do at least give some indication that the utilities were
satisfied with the results of the communication. In future research, it would be useful to
define success within the survey instrument to more specifically determine
respondents views. In addition, the concept of success might be examined from
the audiences perspective. Obviously, this is a rich area of exploration. For the
purposes of this particular study which explores corporate views of communication,
however, the respondents assessment of success may be considered appropriate.
To answer RQ2, Did the incorporation of these characteristics contribute to the
perceived success of communication? that is, to ascertain the relationship between
each of the characteristics and success, correlation analyses (Spearman r) were
conducted. The analysis indicated a statistically significant relationship between each
of the principles and success. Table III shows the strength of the correlations.
This study, therefore, provided some statistical evidence that each of the principles
of authentic communication contributed to the success of the communication
Principle
Truthful
Consistent
Comprehensive
Receptive to feedback
Clear
Caring
Accessible
Fundamental
Relevant
Timely
Note: *Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (two-tailed)

Theory and
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225

Strength of relationship
0.233 *
0.227 *
0.309 *
0.315 *
0.346 *
0.348 *
0.365 *
0.365 *
0.367 *
0.455 *

Table III.
Principles of authentic
communication and
success

CCIJ
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226

programs. For example, 57 percent of those who reported their communication was
fully timely also reported high success. In the case of clear language, 43 percent of
those who reported high clarity also reported high success and 73 percent of those who
reported no success reported low clarity. Regarding accessibility, 47 percent of those
who reported their communication was fully accessibility also reported high success
whereas only 2.5percent of those who reported low accessibility reported high success.
Thus, the study found that those who incorporated the principles to a relatively high
degree reported more successful communication programs than those who
incorporated the principles to a lesser degree.
To explore whether there was statistical evidence to suggest the principles fit
together as an interdependent set, the principles were subjected to a Chronbachs a
analysis and were found to have a reliability statistic of 0.837 (with 0.6 showing
internal consistency). Thus, there was some statistical evidence to support the
conceptual notion that an internal relationship ties the principles together and that they
may be considered a group or set of characteristics.
Other contributors to success
Of course, there are other aspects of communication that affect the communication
process and its success, and RQ3 was designed to begin to explore some of these other
factors. One aspect affecting success may be the audience itself, perhaps some are
easier to communicate with for whatever reason, prior knowledge of the topics, for
example, or existing relationship with the organization. Another aspect may be the
topic itself, its complexity or salience, for example. Still another may be the use of a
strategy team. An aspect which elicits a lot of attention in communication literature,
especially on the professional side, is the channel, the actual tactic or communication
vehicle. Professionals discuss the efficacy of media tactics such as news releases, or
interpersonal tactics such as phone calls, electronic tactics such as websites, public
information tactics such as newsletters, outreach tactics such as speakers bureaus,
research tactics such as focus groups, or participatory tactics such as public
workshops. The question regarding the specific channels or tactics to use to achieve
desired goals and in what combination is at the core of the practice of public relations
and corporate communication. To test possible relationships between success and
some of these other aspects of the communication process, several analyses were
conducted. There was no correlation found between success and using a strategy team,
nor between topics and success, indicating that success was independent of the
actual issue being communicated. Regarding types of audiences, however, a weak but
statistically significant relationship was found between business customers and
success (Spearman r-correlation coefficient 0.167, significance 0.028, significant at
, 0.05).
In terms of tactics, however, there were some moderately weak but statistically
significant correlations with success for 8 of the 57 tactics. Table IV reports the use and
frequency of the tactics, and their correlations with success.
Comparing the correlation coefficients of the principles and tactics, on the basis of
the communication measures used in this study, in general, most of the principles
of authentic communication were found to be more powerful predictors of the success
of communication than the communication tactics used.

Tactic
News release
Letter to customers
Newsletters
One-time pub.
Bill stuffer
Open house
Press conference
Telephone hotline

Frequency

Percentage of sample

Correlation coefficient

117
59
53
47
44
29
29
25

67
34
30
27
25
17
17
14

0.176 *
0.262 * *
0.175 *
0.200 *
0.172 *
0.185 *
0.188 *
0.209 *

Notes: *Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level; * *correlation is significant at the 0.01 level

Discussion and conclusions

This study provides empirical support for the use and value of communication
principles based on symmetry and dialogue, inherently ethical modes of communication.
Given recent corporate scandals generating international attention, for example, Enron,
WorldCom, and Tyco, and the climate of public and consumer distrust in corporations
today, the finding that the principles of authentic communication are correlated with
success is particularly valuable now. It means that authentic communication as defined
here, and not one-sided communication, nor spin and deception, is not only good in the
moral sense, but also is effective. The specification of the ten characteristics and
hard-evidence results provide a set of rules or guidelines for corporations to follow. As
professionals seek to answer the question, what is the best way to communicate this?
the answer generated by this study is: be clear, relevant, timely, truthful, fundamental,
comprehensive, consistent, accessible, caring, and responsive to feedback.
The principles can be applied within the classic communication model noted above
as being a convergence of theory and practice. To illustrate, the source or organization
would incorporate all ten characteristics into communication programs, the message
would embody the principles, the channels would carry the principles to the receivers,
the receivers would engage with and respond to the communication in kind, and the
feedback loop would create a dialogue though which mutual negotiation and
adaptation would take place. In this regard, the principles are process-based, that is,
they operate in a continuing loop, thus supporting the two-way symmetrical model of
public relations in its role of building dialogue. The findings of this study support
Grunig and Grunigs (1992b) assertion that two-way symmetrical communication is
effective.
Given that this is a limited study, and the principles of authentic communication
were being tested for the first time, several points of discussion arise. One area of
exploration focuses on the number and inclusiveness of the principles and whether
they represent all aspects of communication. This research and this author do not
imply that these are the only characteristics of communication which contribute to
success. Indeed, given that they do not account for the totality of the success variable, it
is obvious there are other factors. Some may be stakeholder related such as prior
knowledge of the issue or existing relationship. There may be corporate factors such as
history of prior corporate actions. Tactics are a factor. And there may be some other
characteristics of communication not included. To give a blueprint for total success is

Theory and
practice
converge
227
Table IV.
Tactics and success

CCIJ
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228

beyond the scope of this research and indeed, would be a massive study. This study
identifies and suggests ten principles that contribute to success.
Another point of discussion relates to the concept and measurement of success
and its implication for two-way symmetrical communication. As noted earlier, success
was self-reported, that is, respondents themselves judged to what extent they
considered their communication programs successful. Receivers of the communication
were not asked, so admittedly, these data are limited. Therefore, a key discussion
question is: What criteria might have been used by respondents to judge success?
It would be reasonable to assume that success might have been construed as
acceptance of the message or action being communicated, for example, a rate hike was
approved, a water quality problem did not cause massive alarm, or people were
convinced to conserve water. But was that the case? If success were to equal
agreement, it would raise a critical point in regard to symmetry and mutual adaptation.
For example, if a rate hike were negotiated down, would utilities consider the
communication program unsuccessful? To shed light on this, correlations between the
degree of modification of position and the degree of success were re-examined to see if
there was any relationship, either positive or negative, that is, whether modification of
position may have been considered an element of success or of failure. Because no
relationships were found, it appears that mutual adaptation, or modification of
position, due to symmetrical communication was not considered a part of success, but
neither was it considered a failure of communication. Although success is a complex
concept and further research on how corporations define success is warranted, this
analysis indicated that success was considered not just convincing people of a
message. This study indicates that mutual adaptation through dialogue and
relationship-building did not in itself indicate either success or failure and therefore
may have become an accepted part of the communication process.
The third point that must be addressed regards the sample size and the
one-industry population. Certainly further research is needed on larger samples and in
other industries.
Although there is more ground to cover in researching the specific ingredients of
success in corporate communication, this study shows that at least ten characteristics
of communication, the principles of authentic communication, are correlated with
success. Thus, there is support for the recommendation for proposing the principles
as guidelines or best practices for corporate communication activities. Further, in
light of recent corporate scandals and lack of public trust, it may be that publicly
adopting and fully utilizing these ethically-based standards for communication
could enhance credibility and trust.
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Corresponding author
Bojinka Bishop can be contacted at: bishopb@ohio.edu

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