Normally, feasibility studies would be commissioned for industrial projects to assess the worth of undertaking them, in terms of their content, timing, costs, and internal and external stakeholder and environmental influences. The study concentrates on the corporate communications and public relations working environment, and uses the various elements of a feasibility study as a basis for investigating the extent to which the same or similar principles are used, or are applicable, or both, to corporate reputation management. The fieldwork phase of the study was conducted using an iterative, interpretive approach, consisting of two rounds of unstructured interviews. This type of research method was selected for its flexibility which matches the exploratory, developmental and unpredictable nature of the research. Several parallels were drawn between feasibility study elements and corporate reputation management, in particular the importance of maintaining stakeholder contact; looking at other organisations' experiences; paying attention to corporate objectives, culture and values; business operations; costs and benefits; timescales and resource; environment and risk identification and the strategy for resolving them. During the course of undertaking this research I discovered that one of the potential drawbacks identified with using feasibility studies was some lack of understanding of the formal and informal mix of processes among interview respondents within a corporate communications or public relations environment. This could also suggest that this type of environment is unsuitable for a rigid process due to its responsiveness and fluidity. I would argue, however, that feasibility studies are very adaptable and flexible and as a consequence, they can be regularly brainstormed and reviewed throughout a project's lifecycle. This can also apply to corporate reputation management concerns, since failure to regularly review these issues can result in manager being unprepared if a crisis hits. I believe that my research clearly shows that feasibility study principles, to a greater or lesser extent, can be applied to event management as an indicator of the robustness or otherwise of a firm's corporate reputation management. It also demonstrates that, despite their apparent incompatibility, the two disciplines of corporate communications and project management can comfortably co-exist, both academically and corporately.

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In light of the challenging environment within which businesses currently operate, it is increasingly important that organisational leaders recognise the value of communication. Guided by Organisational Communication Theory and Uncertainty Management Theory, this research explores the role of internal communication in the management of organisational uncertainty. Although previous studies have acknowledged the value of internal communication in the management of uncertainty, to date, there is a dearth of research into the relationship between the concepts in any significant depth. Additionally, there has been little examination of the impact on organisations of prolonged uncertainty emanating from continuous and sustained organisational changes, as opposed to uncertainty arising from large scale changes at a particular point in time. As such, this study seeks to redress these research gaps by investigating the nature, form, and effects of organisational uncertainties and the role of internal communication in their management. A multi-strategy approach incorporating quantitative and qualitative techniques was employed within the Northern Ireland subsidiary of a large multi-national corporation. Phase One of the research adopted a mainly quantitative approach, with participants completing two questionnaires, the International Communication Association (ICA) Questionnaire (Hargie and Tourish, 2000) and the Uncertainty Management Survey (Clampitt and DeKoch , 2001). In total, 440 employees completed the lCA Questionnaire whilst 485 completed the Uncertainty Management Survey. Phase Two of the study was qualitative in nature, with exploratory data obtained through 16 semi-structured interviews and 3 focus groups. In general, the results indicated that a complex and intricate relationship existed between internal communication and organisational uncertainty. The findings from the study suggest that effective internal communication is at the core of the successful management of uncertainty. The implications of these findings for Organisational Communication Theory in general, and Uncertainty Management Theory in particular, are explicated.

The aim of this study is to explore and describe linguistic strategies that help to create and maintain social cohesion in the workplace. Recent changes in the workplace have resulted in greater diversity within the workforce and changes in working patterns. This has led to nascent recognition of the importance and value of interpersonal communication at work. Many studies focus on miscommunication and pre-defined, normative notions of culture are often referred to in explaining communication difficulties. I argue that focus on effective communication and the individual's use of language is of greater value. Individuals are viewed as multifaceted rather than as adhering to one culture, whilst the notion of dynamic, emergent cultures within specific contexts replaces that of essentialist cultures. The study deals with native speaker and non-native speaker discourse in meetings. It draws on the roles of politeness, solidarity, affect and relational and transactional language in creating a suitable working atmosphere for goals to be achieved effectively. Module 2 deals with methodology and the pilot study, based on discourse analysis and a grounded approach. Module 3 focuses on exploring and analysing a narrow range of linguistic features relating to social cohesion in the workplace.

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Graphic designers encounter particular difficulties when undertaking work for small business clients. Identifying the core business values is an essential step to ensure that a successful design solution results. An initial case study involving the merger of two established businesses, highlighted difficulties that arose as a result of poor communication and a failure to identify the core business values and subsequently translate these into the design brief. The research aimed to gain an understanding of the key influences that surround the communication exchange concerning small business core values that inform the graphic design process. Graphic design, communication theory, business models and small business practice were drawn upon to inform this study. The literature review found that little formal research had previously been conducted on this topic. Participant observation and action research were the selected methodological approaches adopted, involving the author as researcher and also graphic design practitioner. Following a series of nine case studies that focused on the SME sector, a graphic design communication tool (CDT) was developed and evaluated with the help of four professional graphic designers. The CDT consists of a detailed questionnaire conducted with key stakeholders, developed through a formalised process of analysis, including the author as action researcher, graphic designer and facilitator. The resulting CDT represents an original contribution to the field. Using the CDT resulted in the responsibility for providing relevant information, which could be used to inform the design brief, moving away from the designer to the small business stakeholders. In addition, the role of a specialist facilitator/analyst might be developed in order to provide expert interpretation of core business values aligned to graphic design elements. The results of this research have particular significance for those working in the graphic design industry, educators and business advisors.

The purpose of this study was to explore the impacts of disconfirming managerial communication on employee felt emotions, and whether this impact was influenced by the employee's personality, emotion regulation strategies, and the quality of the manager-employee relationship. Two hundred and seventy-five working adults rated the extent to which their managers used disconfirming and confirming communication with them during disagreement discussions. They also rated the positive and negative emotions they experienced as a result of these discussions, their overall relationship quality with their managers, their trait positive and negative affect at work, and the degree to which they regulated their emotions by expressive suppression, and cognitive reappraisal. Results showed that, as hypothesized, 1) disconfirming managerial communication was positively related to employee negative felt emotion, and 2) the effect was mitigated (during disagreement discussions) by a high relationship quality between the manager and employee. 3) Also, even though disconfirming managerial communication was not found to be a negative predictor of employees' positive felt emotions, during disagreement discussions, confirming managerial communication was both a negative predictor of employee negative felt emotions, and a positive predictor of employee positive felt emotions. 4) In addition, during disagreement discussions, while the relationship between disconfirming managerial communication and negative felt emotion was stronger for employees with high trait negative affect (NA), the difference between the negative emotions associated with high disconfirming and low disconfirming communication was much greater for employees with low trait negative affect (NA). Finally, my results did not support my hypothesis that the relationship between disconfirming managerial communication and negative felt emotion would be amplified for employees who regulated their emotions using expressive suppression, and mitigated by employees who regulated their emotions using cognitive reappraisal. However, consistent with previous research, expressive suppression correlated negatively with relationship quality, and positively with trait negative affect, and scores were higher for males. Also, cognitive reappraisal correlated positively with trait positive affect and emotional stability. These findings contribute to theory and research within the fields of interpersonal communication, leader-member exchange (LMX), and emotions at work. Also, the study introduces a useful tool (the Confirming/Disconfirming Managerial Communication Indicator or C/DMCI) for, future research in this area, as well as applications in management development and appraisal. Using Affective Events Theory as the framework, previous research is both supported and extended through a more complex understanding of the specific communication behaviours involved in confirming, and disconfirming managerial communication. Findings suggest that in order to be effective, managers need to use more confirming communication behaviours, as well as fewer disconfirming ones. The results emphasize that if managers have good relationships with their employees, when they do communicate in a disconfirming manner, especially if the communication is in a disagreement context, the positive relationship will act as a buffer to the negative emotional impacts that are associated with disconfirmation. Also, the study finds that while employees with high trait negative affect personalities, who tend to be more tense and nervous, will experience more negative felt emotion during disagreements, it is the low trait negative affect employees, those who are calm and relaxed, that will notice disconfirming managerial communication the most.

The research efforts up to date have not been directed towards the study of the role of communication during an implementation of an enterprise system. However, some efforts are noted which stress communication as a critical factor and a problem in general during the implementation. During the scoping phase of this research, communication was proved to be of significance as a process in the realisation of embedding of an enterprise system into the business. Considering the complexity of an implementation of a system and consequently the complexity of its study, the research method based on processual approach was developed to enable a better understanding of the dynamics of this process. Three case studies have been conducted with the focus on the understanding of the role and significance of communication. They included interviews with the employees involved in the project or affected by the new system: project managers, top managers, system specialists, and users. The findings focus on the elements important to realise the communication process: communication strategy, management activities such as announcements, motivation to communicate, resources such as time, how informed the people who are involved are, communication across the project, communication structure and process, facilitators as people who enable the communication process, and communication about the technical issues. Special focus was on the effect of communication on the transfer of psychological ownership of the system, concerns about change and employee commitment. Additionally, several themes are found to affect communication. These are: organisational structure, team cohesion and trust. The role of communication confirms that all the parties need to use the same language to enable common understanding. The communication process is found to have direct and indirect influence on development of common organisational goals, positive attitude towards the new system, and embedding of the new system in current organisational functioning.

Crisis Communication frameworks are essentially restricted to Corporate Communications and Public Relations theory and are mainly developed for use in corporate settings. They therefore do not readily transfer to the public sector where " ... the notion of crisis as process, the transnational dimensions of contemporary crises, the politicization of crises, [and] the increasing importance of the media ... " exacerbates the complexity and longevity of these crises. (Rosenthal, 2003:129). To address this, I have chosen to conduct this study in the public sector, where the increased complexity and mutability of protracted crises and the ensuing impact on stakeholder relations provides an opportunity to extend debates' in Crisis Communication and Stakeholder Relationship Management. To do this, I embark on an analysis of the Goldenberg and Anglo- Leasing corruption Cases of Kenya and explore the impact of the resultant crises on the relationship between the Government of Kenya (GoK), and the Bretton Woods Institutions (BWI), as a keys stakeholder group. In what is a new approach' to a study of this kind, I combine Computer-aided Corpus Linguistic Analysis (CLA) and Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA). Starting off with the CLA, I analyse select' media texts, GoK reports and BWI reports, so as to: identify linguistic patterns within these texts; interpret what these patterns represent; and demonstrate how these representations lead to the emergence and mobilisation of concepts within the data. Secondly, I lift the study to the level of discursive practice, where my objectives are to: analyse the linguistic patterns over time; identify emerging and competing Discourses; explore what these Discourses represent as part of the GoK's sensemaking/giving efforts; and establish the impact on the relationship between the BWI and the GoK over time. Ultimately, based on the findings of this study, I suggest an arena model as an alternative to conduit models of communication where the crisis takes centre stage and the organisation, the public, the media and other stakeholders become active participants ih the crisis resolution process. I also make methodological contributions to Discourse Analysis by demonstrating that CLA can provide a more objective and standardised way of labelling discourses.