Management of organizational communication in The Netherlands: glass ceiling and encroachment

In the practical and theoretical literature a new field is apparently emerging, focusing on the co-ordination and steering of all marketing communications, public relations, and internal communications at a strategic level known as Management of (Organizational/Corporate) Communication. These various activities can be summarized as the co-ordination and management of the communications of the organization, and interpreted as representing strategic action for which specialized managers must be hired. A survey among 25% of all Dutch organizations with more than 50 staff members shows that in the majority of these organizations communication activities are indeed coordinated in a single department, which is generally positioned high in the organization's hierarchical structure. In few organizations, however, it is such a specific task that it can justifiably be called "Communication Management" and regarded as a specialism at the managerial and strategic level. Half of the departments responsible for co-ordination of communication activities are not visible as such within the organization and do not have their own budget for communication activities. The question we want to address in this chapter is what causes these discrepancies between literature and practice. The first factor we will explore is the feminization of the communication profession and the so-called "glass ceiling" effect. The second factor we will explore is the profile of the managers of these communication activities and "encroachment" by non-communication managers. Our analysis shows that encroachment offers a better explanation than the "glass ceiling" effect.