<p>The starting point for this study is the question of why organizational visions are often interpreted by employees as unintelligible and insignificant. The knowledge gap in this area makes the study of communication about vision and goals both urgent and interesting.</p><p>Accordingly, the purpose is to advance knowledge on communication processes in organizations through description and analysis of communication about strategy, encompassing vision, strategic objectives and common values, in a company.</p><p>A case study design was chosen and a longitudinal qualitative study was conducted in the company, from April 1998 to January 2000. A combination of methods were used, including participant observation, discourse analysis and interviews.</p><p>Communication about the strategy followed a typical top-down model, starting on group level and ending on department level. In this process, Balanced Scorecard was used as a tool to communicate the strategy.</p><p>It was concluded that visions formulated by top managers met different realities constructed by managers at lower levels in the company. Managers’ attitudes, knowledge and interpretations were important individual factors that influenced communication about the strategy. Employees did not have the same detailed knowledge of the strategy as the managers, nor were they given the same opportunities to obtain it.</p><p>The discourse analysis reveals power structures, conflicts, individual attitudes and perspectives. The study thus results in a deep understanding of communication problems in the organization.</p>

The tsunami in Thailand in 2004, 9/11 and hurricane Katrina in New Orleans 2005 are all reminders that no organization is immune to crises, which also means that all organizations should be prepared and know how to handle a crisis if one was to occur.   A case study has been conducted, on a crisis regarding a fire that occurred on the 31st of July 2014 in Västmanland, Sweden. Through Qualitative interviews empirical data was gathered and then analyzed together with our theories and previous research. The purpose of the study is to analyze how the municipalities affected and the County Administrative Board of Sweden handled and communicated with/to the public during the fire that spread in Västmanland 2014.   Our study shows that a risk analysis and analysis of surroundings is crucial in anticipating a crisis event and that it is essential for organizations to undergo training to prepare organization members on how to handle a crisis. Another conclusion is that the need for information is large during a crisis event and grows throughout the entire course of the crisis. The crisis that we studied had a lack of information, but at the same time the public’s need for information is a need that can’t be satisfied during a crisis. And if the organizations concerned do not satisfy the public’s need for information, rumors will start to disseminate to cater to the public’s needs. Rumors have always been a part of crisis communication but has with today’s technologies assumed a digital form which means that they can spread to a wider group of people. The digital and social media constituted of an essential tool for the affected stakeholders crisis communication and the local radio played an important role in managing the crisis.

Comment comprendre les dynamiques qui sous-tendent les changements des organisations? Le changement organisationnel fait partie de la réalité quotidienne des organisations et, comme en témoigne une vaste littérature, le sujet a été abordé à partir de diverses perspectives conceptuelles. Toutefois, plusieurs questions fondamentales demeurent quant à la façon dont le changement organisationnel est accompli (Tsoukas & Chia, 2002; Chia, 1999). Je suggère que la clé pour répondre à ces questions se trouve dans l’étude de la communication. Cependant, le rôle de la communication dans la production du changement reste peu exploré dans les conceptualisations actuelles sur le sujet. Ainsi, l’objectif principal de cette thèse est de décrire la façon dont le changement émerge dans la communication, en d’autres termes, comment il est accompli à partir des interactions. Dans cette recherche, je propose que la compréhension du changement passe par une vision de la communication comme un processus constant dans lequel les réalités sont créées, négociées et transformées de manière interactive. Cette conception est fondée sur a plurified view of interactions (Cooren, Fox, Robichaud & Talih, 2005; Cooren 2010) qui prend en considération la contribution d’êtres appartenant à diverses ontologies (e.g., ordinateurs, règlements, principes, émotions, règles, c.) dans l’action. En mobilisant cette vision de la communication, j’ai étudié les changements qui ont eu lieu à Koumbit — une organisation à but non lucratif basée à Montréal qui œuvre dans le domaine des technologies de l’information. L’observation, les entrevues ainsi que la révision de documents officiels ont été les techniques choisies pour cueillir les données. Ma recherche m’a permis de déterminer que le changement organisationnel est un processus progressif qui se matérialise d’interaction en interaction. C’est en composant et en recomposant des ensembles d’associations que se crée une différence dans l’état des choses. Si bien les interactions sont accomplies dans le ici et le maintenant, leur caractère hybride leur permet de rendre compte de ce que l’organisation a été et de ce qu’elle sera. Cette étude suggère que, d’un point de vue communicationnel, les mécanismes à partir desquels le changement organisationnel est accompli n sont pas aussi différents de ceux qui produisent les processus organisants (organizing). / Although organizational change is part of our daily experience of organizations and the literature that explores it is vast, we have limited knowledge of the ways change is actually accomplished (Tsoukas & Chia, 2002; Chia, 1999). I suggest that the key to answering this question can be found in communication. However, extant conceptualizations of change fail to account for the role that communication plays in the production of organizational change. Hence, the main goal of this dissertation is to describe how organizational change takes place in communication, that is, how organizational change is interactionally brought about. The understanding of organizational change I develop in this research conceives of communication as a process in which realities are interactively created, negotiated and changed. This conceptualization of communication is grounded in a plurified view of interactions (Cooren, Fox, Robichaud & Talih, 2005; Cooren, 2010) that acknowledges the contribution of beings of diverse ontologies (e.g., computers, bylaws, principles, emotions, rules, etc.) to action. Mobilizing this view of communication I studied the changes that were taking place in Koumbit, a Montreal based non-profit organization in the field of information technology. Data were collected by means of observation, interviews and archival research. The findings of this study show that organizational change is an incremental process, that takes place one interaction at the time, where a difference is created in the state of affairs by composing and recomposing sets of associations. While accomplished in the here and now, interactions account for what happened in the past and have a bearing for what will happen in the future. In turn, this study suggests that from a communication viewpoint, the mechanisms through which organizational change is accomplished are not very different from those that produce organizing.

Comment une organisation peut-elle agir ? Peut-elle être considérée comme un acteur en elle-même ou nécessite-t-elle que d’autres agissent pour elle ? Comment parler de son action sans présumer son existence ? Je voudrais proposer ici une approche proprement communicationnelle à la question de l’action organisationnelle. M’appuyant sur la narratologie de A. J. Greimas pour rendre apparentes certaines des idées centrales de la philosophie de l’individuation, je montre que l’organisation – et tout être social – agit en se faisant attribuer des actions. La philosophie de l’individuation est nécessaire ici pour dériver une théorie de l’action organisationnelle à partir de la manière même dont se constituent les organisations. Cela me permet notamment d’affirmer que l’organisation participe aussi elle-même à ces pratiques d’attribution, car en tant qu’elle existe déjà « plus ou moins et d’une certaine manière », elle appelle des actions particulières. À travers l’imbrication de mandats et de programmes d’actions, dans une logique d’appropriation/attribution, l’organisation peut effectivement agir tout en comptant toujours sur d’autres pour le faire. Nul besoin de s’en remettre à une ontologie essentialiste de l’organisation pour affirmer qu’elle agit elle-même, car il n’y a pas d’opposition entre affirmer que l’organisation agit et que d’autres agissent pour elle. En fait, loin de s’opposer, ces deux affirmations s’impliquent mutuellement. Les pratiques d’attribution sont nécessaires pour agir légitimement – il faut toujours agir pour autre que soi – mais aussi pour agir tout court, car la logique même de la propriété d’action, donc de pouvoir dire que ceci est mon action, suppose que l’action ne soit jamais tout à fait mienne. Les conséquences de cette proposition sur les questions de pouvoir et d’éthique sont brièvement abordées. En observant quatre terrains distincts, j’ancre cette proposition théorique dans l’empirique. Ces terrains sont une association de locataires, un projet de réforme d’un grand établissement d’enseignement français, quelques événements dans la vie d’un gestionnaire de gratte-ciel de New York et une réunion entre des représentants de Médecins sans frontières et des administrateurs de santé congolais. Compte tenu de la nature théorique de ma proposition, cette variété de terrains permet de montrer l’utilité de ces idées à l’étude d’une diversité de situations. / How can an organization act? Can it be considered as an actor in itself or does it need others to act on its behalf? How is it possible to address these questions without presupposing the organization? I would like to put forward a specifically communicational approach to the question of organizational action. Borrowing from A. J. Greimas’ narratology to make salient some of individuation philosophy’s most central ideas, I show that the organization – and any ‘social’ being – acts by being attributed actions. Individuation philosophy is necessary to derive a theory of organizational action from the very manner organizations are constituted. This allows me, among other things, to suggest that organizations themselves also play a part in attribution practices, for inasmuch as they exist “more or less and in a certain way”, they call for further actions. Through the imbrication of mandates and of programs of actions, in a logic of appropriation/attribution, the organization can act by always relying on others to do so. There is no need to invoke an essentialist ontology of organization to state that it acts by itself, for there is no opposition between stating that the organization acts and that others act for it. In fact, far from opposing, both statements imply each other. Practices of attribution are necessary for legitimate action – I must always act for someone other than myself – but also for acting at all. In other words, to be able to say that this is my action, I need this action not to be entirely my own. The consequences of this proposal on questions of power and ethics are also briefly considered. I provide my theoretical discussion with a firm empirical grounding through the study of four different fields. I analyse audio and video recordings from a tenants association, the reform project of a French higher education institution, events from the daily work of a New York skyscraper manager and a meeting between Doctors without border representatives and Congolese health administrators. Given the theoretical nature of my proposal, this variety of empirical data allows me to show the usefulness of those ideas to the study of a large array of situations. / Thèse réalisée en cotutelle entre le Département de communication de l'Université de Montréal (sous la direction de François Cooren)et le Centre de sociologie des organisation de Sciences Po Paris (Institut d'études politiques de Paris; sous la direction de Bruno Latour).

La thèse aborde le « trou noir de la genèse » dans l’étude des organisations, c’est-àdire comment une organisation en vient à exister pour la première fois. Elle montre comment la genèse s’accomplit à travers l’agencement de multiples composantes (humaines, symboliques, matérielles), articulées à travers les interactions. S’appuyant sur une analyse détaillée des interactions performées durant le congrès fondateur d’un parti politique au Québec tenu durant l’année 2006, elle identifie et discute les diverses stratégies et tactiques employés par les artisanes et artisans de cette fondation pour mettre en acte l’existence de ce nouvel agent collectif. Autrement dit, la thèse mène à une recension des manières de « communiquer la genèse ». Cela inclut l’usage de narratifs unificateurs, la gestion des identités, la mise en place de principes à travers des documents fondateurs, et la création d’une voix collective, à la fois partagée et négociée par les divers agents impliqués dans ce processus. Ces accomplissements mettent en lumière la dimension résolument rhétorique de l’organisation, conçus en tant que « stratégies pour rendre compte d’une situation », pour nommer sa structure et ses composantes primordiales à travers « l’usage du langage comme moyen symbolique d’induire la coopération ». La configuration rhétorique de discours, d’objets, de corps, de dispositifs spatiaux et physiques, et d’impératifs économiques, politiques et institutionnels à l’oeuvre dans les organisations procure un nouvel éclairage sur les modes d’existence de l’organisation. Par le fait de recenser les composantes « essentielles » ou « fondatrices » du parti politique investigué, et par l’analyse de celle-ci à l’aide des concepts de la théorie rhétorique du dramatisme, la thèse développe une perspective novatrice pour l’étude de la constitution communicative des organisations. / The dissertation addresses the “black hole of genesis” in organizational studies: how an organization gets constructed in the first place, and for the first time. It shows that an organization is founded through the interplay of various agencies (human, symbolic, material) articulated by communicative interactions. Based on the in-depth analysis of interactions performed during the founding convention of a political party in the Canadian province of Québec in 2006, it identifies and discusses the various strategies and tactics employed by members to enact the existence of a new collective agent, i.e., their ways of “communicating genesis.” Those include unification narratives, management of identities, institution of principles through founding documents, and the establishment of a collective voice, simultaneously shared and disputed by various agents. Such accomplishments are inherently rhetorical to the extent that they are “strategies for encompassing a situation,” for naming its structure and outstanding ingredients through “the use of language as a symbolic means of inducing cooperation.” This rhetorical configuration of discourses, objects, bodies, physical and spatial designs, economical, political, and institutional imperatives, that represents the heterogeneous agencies at work in organizations, bears new lights on what organizations come into being. By identifying the “foundational” or “essential” components of this political party, and by inscribing them in the concepts of the dramatist rhetorical theory, the dissertation develops an innovative perspective for the study of the communicative constitution of organizations.

The starting point for this study is the question of why organizational visions are often interpreted by employees as unintelligible and insignificant. The knowledge gap in this area makes the study of communication about vision and goals both urgent and interesting. Accordingly, the purpose is to advance knowledge on communication processes in organizations through description and analysis of communication about strategy, encompassing vision, strategic objectives and common values, in a company. A case study design was chosen and a longitudinal qualitative study was conducted in the company, from April 1998 to January 2000. A combination of methods were used, including participant observation, discourse analysis and interviews. Communication about the strategy followed a typical top-down model, starting on group level and ending on department level. In this process, Balanced Scorecard was used as a tool to communicate the strategy. It was concluded that visions formulated by top managers met different realities constructed by managers at lower levels in the company. Managers’ attitudes, knowledge and interpretations were important individual factors that influenced communication about the strategy. Employees did not have the same detailed knowledge of the strategy as the managers, nor were they given the same opportunities to obtain it. The discourse analysis reveals power structures, conflicts, individual attitudes and perspectives. The study thus results in a deep understanding of communication problems in the organization.

Enterprise social network software platforms (ESNs) are increasingly being deployed in firms across almost every industry as a means of fostering employee collaboration. Although benefits in increased productivity, innovation, and employee engagement are highly touted, there is a high failure rate of these deployments. This often occurs because (1) there is a misapplied focus on technology adoption rather than adoption of the employee behaviors that are ultimately required to obtain those benefits, and (2) it is unclear what those behaviors are and how to measure them. “Working Out Loud” is one possible framework for understanding and measuring the behaviors necessary to fulfill the promise that ESN vendors advertise. It is loosely described as doing work in a way that makes it visible to others, and is often associated with the use of social business tools. As these tools proliferate within organizations, the Working Out Loud concept is becoming increasingly popular as an organizational and individual goal and mantra among social software vendors, their customers, and leading pundits and consultants in this space. Many benefits have been associated with Working Out Loud; however the concept is still somewhat amorphous. No attempts have been made to quantify it and little research has been done on whether the benefits attributed to it really exist. The common industry definition of Working Out Loud identifies two separate behaviors: narrating one’s work in the form of blog posts, status updates, etc. (typically individual behavior), and performing work in a transparent and observable way through the use of an enterprise social platform (typically group or team behavior). This research hypothesizes that these two behaviors do exist and are related but distinct, and thus scales can be developed to measure each. A survey was given to employees of Lexmark International, Inc. (the author’s employer). Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses performed on the data confirmed the hypothesis and resulted in scales for individual and group Working Out Loud that are designed to be minimallyintrusive so as to enable both researchers and practitioners to track an organization’s Working Out Loud behavior on an ongoing basis.

Submitted by Liliane Rocha (liliane.rocha@gestaokairos.com.br) on 2017-11-10T18:19:05Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Trabalho Final - MPGPP _ficha catalografica 11.11.pdf: 1286985 bytes, checksum: f2dbf972ee33d0e44fd5bbdc161c4aa3 (MD5) / Rejected by Renata de Souza Nascimento (renata.souza@fgv.br), reason: Liliane, boa tarde Conforme conversamos, deverá realizar alterações: Retirar as informações referente à elaboração da ficha catalográfica e na contra capa alinhar as informações dos membros da banca ao lado direito. Em seguida realizar uma nova submissão. Att on 2017-11-10T18:26:52Z (GMT) / Submitted by Liliane Rocha (liliane.rocha@gestaokairos.com.br) on 2017-11-10T18:36:24Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Trabalho Final - MPGPP _Versão Finalissima 11.11.pdf: 1255192 bytes, checksum: 20b0c06a4727cfcfe0e4f1186de5bfee (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Renata de Souza Nascimento (renata.souza@fgv.br) on 2017-11-10T23:39:43Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Trabalho Final - MPGPP _Versão Finalissima 11.11.pdf: 1255192 bytes, checksum: 20b0c06a4727cfcfe0e4f1186de5bfee (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-11-13T11:58:27Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Trabalho Final - MPGPP _Versão Finalissima 11.11.pdf: 1255192 bytes, checksum: 20b0c06a4727cfcfe0e4f1186de5bfee (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-10-11 / A proposta deste estudo foi analisar a percepção das Diretorias Regionais de Assistência e Desenvolvimento Social (DRADS) do Estado de São Paulo em relação à implantação do Plano Estadual de Assistência Social (PEAS) concluído no final de 2015 e com validade até 2019. Apesar de reconhecido como um processo de construção participativa por todos os atores da Secretaria Estadual de Desenvolvimento Social (SEDS), o período pós-elaboração do PEAS tem se mostrado um momento desafiador no que se refere à implementação das diretrizes e projetos em âmbito regional. Consideradas como instâncias estratégicas no desdobramento das políticas estaduais de assistência social, as DRADS são responsáveis pela interlocução com os municípios do Estado de São Paulo e, portanto, a compreensão e corresponsabilidade pelas ações eleitas como prioritárias. A implementação depende da capacidade de cada diretoria regional em apoiar e comunicar as gestões municipais na busca pelos resultados definidos no PEAS. Buscou-se, portanto, o entendimento do processo vivenciado na elaboração do PEAS e posteriormente a identificação de questões não trabalhadas junto às DRADS para subsidiar uma adequada implementação do plano com os municípios. Dessa forma, ao definir o referencial teórico que subsidiou toda análise, partiu-se para as entrevistas semiestruturadas e, por fim, para a realização de um survey semiestruturado considerando o universo das 26 DRADS. Como referência para respaldar as considerações sobre a implementação da política estadual junto aos municípios, buscou-se a experiência do Estado do Paraná, que aponta várias estratégias na busca pela redução da extrema pobreza. Com o trabalho foi possível verificar lacunas na implementação do plano e, consequentemente, apontar sugestões de melhorias que envolvem conceder às DRADS o papel de protagonista na elaboração dos próximos planos estaduais de assistência social, melhorar a qualificação dos profissionais, avançar no uso de tecnologias e garantir maior periodicidade nos encontros para acompanhamento das ações das diretorias regionais. / The purpose of this study is to analyze the perception of the Regional Board of Social Assistance and Development (DRADs) in the State of São Paulo with regard to the deployment of the State Social Assistance Plan (PEASS) completed in the end of 2015 and valid until 2019. Although its recognition as a participatory construction by all the actors at the State Social Development Department (SEDS), the period after PEAS’s elaboration has been a challenging moment with regard to the deployment of the guidelines and projects in regional scopes. The DRADs are considered as strategic instances for the unfolding of the state social assistance politics and are also responsible for the interlocution with the municipalities in the State of São Paulo and, therefore, for the comprehension and co-responsibility for the priority actions. The deployment depends on each regional board’s capacity of supporting and communicating the municipality administrations in search for the targets defined by PEAS. Therefore, we seeked for the understanding of the whole PEAS elaboration process and then for the identification of not-worked questions next to DRADs in order to subsidize a suitable plan deployment with the municipalities. This way, while defining the theoretical references of the analyzes, we started the semi-structured interviews and, at last, to a semi-structured survey considering the 26 DRADs universe. As a reference to support the considerations about the deployment of the State Politics jointly to the municipalities, we used the State of Paraná experience, that points to several strategies to pursuit the extreme poverty reduction. It was possible to note the gaps in the plan deployment and consequently point to improvement suggestions that involve granting the DRADs a main role at the next steps elaborations of the state social assistance plans, enhancing the professional qualification, advancing in technology usage and ensuring more frequent meetings in order to monitor the regional boards’ actions.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-08-03T12:30:00Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 CamilaKrohlingColnago.pdf: 1625237 bytes, checksum: 55f3dcaebdabc5740e480ac6c76a4a8d (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-05-07 / The limited financial means and limited administrative structure are in part the shortcomings for the small start-up business in quickly achieving results. To overcome these shortcomings, small businesses must develop a communication strategy to reach the greatest number of customers and one of the vehicles to achieve the goal of strategically positioning the business is the use of the internet in cost effective manner. The objective of this thesis is to address the importance of developing an efficient and effective communication structure specifically as it applies to small emerging businesses with limited resources using the social networks and digital media and an in depth analysis of the elements to be employed to achieve the business objectives of individual business owner operators, micro enterprises and small businesses. As a preface, included are bibliographic studies in support of the research for the understanding of the infrastructures of small business and communication structures. These studies laid the foundation to the proposed model The Practical Guide for use Social Networks and Digital Media for Strategic Positioning for Small Businesses and the research was concluded with a qualitative analysis of: a) the use of the proposed model by three different small businesses over a period of three months; and b) the evaluation of the proposed model. The results of this research suggest that despite positive contributions of the Practical Guide for the use Social Networks and Digital Media for Strategic Positioning for Small Businesses in improving the strategic positioning for the small business, in general communications alone will not fall short because of the internal limitations small business structures. / A comunicação via mídias e redes sociais digitais é uma atividade estratégica de suporte para a consecução dos objetivos dos pequenos negócios que, em face de uma realidade de restrição de recursos financeiros, estrutura administrativa reduzida e necessidade de obter resultados no curtíssimo prazo, encontram nas ferramentas da internet alternativas viáveis para o posicionamento e a diferenciação de seus negócios. Os objetivos desta tese envolvem tanto a compreensão da importância da comunicação organizacional para os pequenos negócios quanto à identificação das particularidades dos pequenos negócios, o desenvolvimento de um instrumento para orientar a atuação estratégica dos pequenos negócios nas mídias e redes sociais digitais e a análise da colaboração deste instrumento para as atividades empresariais dos empreendedores individuais, das microempresas e das pequenas empresas. Realizaram-se, primeiramente, estudos bibliográfico e documental com vistas à fundamentação teórica da pesquisa e à compreensão dos pequenos negócios e dos aspectos contemporâneos acerca da comunicação institucional. Sucedeu-se o trabalho de desenvolvimento do Modelo de Aplicação Prática para Posicionamento em Mídias e Redes Sociais Digitais e, posteriormente, uma pesquisa qualitativa, compreendida por duas etapas: a) aplicação do modelo proposto a três empresas; e b) avaliação do modelo. Os resultados da pesquisa mostram que, a despeito de o Modelo de Aplicação Prática para Posicionamento em Mídias e Redes Sociais Digitais contribuir estrategicamente para o posicionamento dos pequenos negócios, de maneira geral, a comunicação nesse tipo de empreendimento não surte melhor efeito porque esbarra nas limitações próprias desse tipo de empresa.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-08-03T12:31:05Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 PRE-TEXTUAL.pdf: 42230 bytes, checksum: 954dca7e55b7a4e7817e8ba18b50aef5 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009-09-15 / The efficient management of organizational communication is a strategic differentiator for any organization, public or private. The awareness of the importance of the executive in charge of this area has increased, however, the new reality of organizations is of a reduced communication staff. This scenario has caused changes in the expectation of desired competence and professional performance. Along with the recognition, there is the requirement of the labor market to find "complete" people to practice. The Communications Managers, in the fulfillment of their goals, need a broad and ethic vision, covering the same time institutional and public interests. A professional performance in this area will require, of any individual, technical and theoretical expertise. Enable people to meet this demand has been the object of courses offered in institutions of higher education in all regions of the country. These initiatives, often, in most cases, are promoted in the graduate degree. Thus, part of this study will be devoted to contextualize this degree of education in the context of post-graduate courses, checking, including data relating to its regulation by the Brazilian Ministry of Education - MEC. In addition, the study seeks to examine the context and process of training of professionals / students who seek improvement through these courses. To meet this goal, we analyze the experience of 10 years of completion of Gestcorp Specialization Course in Strategic Management Organizational Communication and Public Relations. Gestcorp is a specialization course offered by the School of Communications and Arts at USP whose purpose is to train managers of organizational communication to work in public, private or third sector. We hope this study can clarify and / or answer some questions, including: What is the profile of the public seeking specialization in Management of Organizational Communication? What topics are demanding studies in this area? Where can these students serve?(AU) / A gestão eficiente da comunicação organizacional representa um diferencial estratégico para qualquer organização, pública ou privada. A conscientização sobre a importância do executivo que fica à frente dessa área aumentou, no entanto, a nova realidade das organizações reduziu ao mínimo o quadro de funcionários de comunicação nas empresas. Esse cenário provocou mudanças na expectativa das competências e atuação do profissional desejado. Junto com o reconhecimento, veio a exigência do mercado de trabalho em encontrar pessoas completas para exercer a função. O Gestor de Comunicação, no cumprimento de seus objetivos, necessitará de uma visão ampla e ética, que contemple ao mesmo tempo, interesses institucionais e interesses dos públicos envolvidos. A atuação profissional à frente dessa área vai requerer, de qualquer indivíduo, domínio de conhecimentos técnicos e teóricos. Habilitar pessoas para atender essa demanda tem sido objetivo de cursos oferecidos em instituições de ensino superior em todas as regiões do país. Essas iniciativas, na maioria das vezes, são promovidas no âmbito da pós-graduação lato sensu. Desse modo, parte deste estudo será dedicada a contextualizar esta modalidade de ensino no universo da pósgraduação brasileira, verificando, inclusive, dados que se referem a sua regulação junto ao MEC. Além disso, o estudo pretende conhecer o contexto e o processo de formação dos profissionais/estudantes que buscam aprimoramento por meio desses cursos. Para atender esse objetivo, analisaremos a experiência de 10 anos de realização do Gestcorp - Curso de Gestão Estratégica de Comunicação Organizacional e Relações Públicas. Trata-se de um curso de especialização oferecido pela Escola de Comunicações e Artes da USP cujo propósito é formar gestores de comunicação organizacional para atuarem em instituições públicas, privadas ou do terceiro setor. Esperamos que este estudo possa esclarecer e/ou responder algumas indagações, entre elas: Qual o perfil do público que busca a especialização em Gestão da Comunicação Organizacional? Quais temáticas estão demandando estudos nesta área? Onde podem atuar estes formandos?.(AU)