In the past two years, six National Football League players have died by suicide. Investigations into most of the deaths revealed that the players suffered from brain damage likely caused by repeated concussions. As is the case with many health issues, tragedy often precedes action; the suicides of these high profile football stars have catalyzed action on concussion policy and practice, as well as opened up the conversation about the overall mental health of athletes. This thesis joins the conversation around mental health and athletes, specifically Canadian varsity football players. Mental health problems and illnesses are presented as especially common, affecting about 1 in 5 Canadians. That is not to underestimate the severity of mental illnesses, which can deteriorate an individual’s quality of life, significantly impact friends and family and, in the most severe cases, also lead to death by suicide. That said, this thesis adopts a theoretical perspective that focuses on the promotion and protection of good mental health. This thesis is primarily concerned with investigating the social, political, and external factors that negatively impact how football players conceptualize mental health and mental illness, and also the recommended behaviour to seek professional help if needed. The growing body of research concerning the negative impact of mental illness stigma is compelling and leaves no doubt that stigma is a significant barrier to recovery. This thesis explores the stigma process as well as its social function in groups. Next, it investigates how the already powerful stigma around mental illness is further exacerbated by gender and more specifically, how traditional masculine ideology (i.e. men should be strong and powerful) conflicts with stereotypical beliefs about mentally ill people (i.e. weak and/or incompetent). Gender and health are further linked in terms of behaviour. In other words, rejecting health behaviours becomes a strategy some men utilize to project their masculinity, paradoxically contributing to the creation or worsening of many health problems. A health behaviour that is explored in detail is psychological help-seeking, and the psychosocial processes of help-seeking, which are also mainly regulated by masculinity. An overview of the most common mental health problems and illnesses found in male varsity athletes is provided. All of the above components are then applied to the unique context of varsity football players. The thesis draws on the literature as well as qualitative interview data that explores the experiences of 8 varsity football players at the University of Ottawa. Regarding mental health promotion, the findings show that football players may require adapted communication approaches. To that end, the thesis transitions into an early-stage health communication plan supported by the literature and the primary data. The plan proposes overall outcomes, short term/intermediate objectives, a communication strategy, and a tactical approach. Next, a web-based health resource is suggested as a primary communication vehicle and is outlined in detail. The plan then suggests potential partnerships for extending the strategic communication plan’s reach and credibility. This is followed by suggestions for evaluating both the short term/intermediate objectives as well as the strategic communication plan’s overall impact. This thesis concludes with a chapter exploring the contributions lifted from the eight qualitative interviews, as well as suggested directions for research, policy and practice.

Previous studies have shown that football is getting more commercial and together with increased digital possibilities football clubs can bypass traditional media and attract audience via their own media channels. With strategic communication and agenda setting as a theoretic background I wanted to investigate how Swedish top football clubs used their own media channels, what affected the media strategy of the big clubs in Sweden and how sports journalists perceived the football club’s communicative development. I choose AIK as a case and I observed them and sports journalists before, during and after the local derby against Djurgården. Furthermore, I analyzed AIK´s content in their own media channels and media’s coverage of AIK-Djurgården. Finally, I conducted qualitative interviews with representatives from AIK and three sport journalists at three Swedish newspapers. My study revealed that the AIK significantly planned and applied strategic content and messaging across their media channels, consistent with the techniques used by more mature and traditional media organizations. When it comes to access to the club and players there are tendencies and signs of less accessibility, but in general Swedish sport journalists see the Swedish Allsvenskan as open and not as commercial and controlled as the major European football leagues. In the end journalists believe that the material which is produced by AIK and the other big Stockholm clubs (Djurgården and Hammarby) can be seen as a compliment, but also a competitor to the material that media produce.

p. 1 - 146 / Submitted by Santiago Fabio (fabio.ssantiago@hotmail.com) on 2013-01-16T18:24:20Z No. of bitstreams: 1 bbbb.pdf: 2239906 bytes, checksum: af23645c603dc9381fa90c100d84922d (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2013-01-16T18:24:20Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 bbbb.pdf: 2239906 bytes, checksum: af23645c603dc9381fa90c100d84922d (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009 / Este trabalho de pesquisa aborda o estudo do alinhamento estratégico de projetos executados na IBM Brasil na área de Global Delivery. Entre os diversos fatores que contribuem para que os projetos se tornem um reflexo das estratégias corporativas, este estudo volta suas atenções para quatro componentes fundamentais: a efetividade da comunicação da estratégia, a eficiência das práticas de gerenciamento de projetos, a seleção e priorização de projetos no portfólio e o comprometimento dos gerentes com a organização. O principal objetivo estabelecido é a análise da relevância da contribuição destes fatores para o alinhamento estratégico dos projetos. Utilizou-se como referencial teórico principal para as análises as obras de: Mintzberg (2006) e Andrews (1980) referentes a estratégias corporativas; Shenhar (2007) e Kerzner (2001) relacionadas à problemática do alinhamento estratégico dos projetos; Meyer e Allen (1991) e Meyer, Allen e Smith (1993) sobre comprometimento organizacional; e os trabalhos de Thayer (1979) e Deetz (2008) sobre comunicação estratégica. Realizado a partir de pesquisa de campo descritiva, neste estudo foram aplicados questionários de coleta com retorno de 105 profissionais atuantes na gestão dos variados projetos da organização. Estes dados nos serviram de base para a aplicação de métodos quantitativos para teste das hipóteses desenvolvidas. A análise dos dados permitiu concluir que, dentro da unidade de negócio estudada, existe uma forte contribuição das percepções da efetividade da comunicação e das práticas de gerenciamento de portfólio para o alinhamento estratégico dos projetos. Este trabalho apresenta, além das principais conclusões extraídas a partir dos dados obtidos, recomendações de melhores práticas para alinhamento de projetos e sugestões de abordagens para futuras pesquisas na área. / Salvador

A Comunicação Organizacional é um instrumento precioso e imprescindível tanto como ferramenta auxiliar no planejamento estratégico integrado quanto na prevenção ou resolução de uma crise de imagem, sendo esta definida como uma entidade externa e uma construção mental que inclui ideias, sentimentos, atitudes, conceitos mentais e expectativas, e que pode afetar diretamente a relação da organização com o seu público (STERN; ZINKHAN; JAJU, 2001). As estratégias de Comunicação Organizacional interferem diretamente ainda na recuperação da credibilidade e na reconstrução da imagem corporativa após um incidente de crise. Este estudo apresenta estratégias de Comunicação Organizacional e de Gestão de Crise de Imagem adotadas pela Assessoria de Comunicação do Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia do Rio Grande do Sul – Campus Caxias do Sul. Dois anos depois de ter sido instituído, em 2010, o IFRS Campus Caxias do Sul enfrentou uma crise ocasionada pelo atraso na conclusão da obra da sede definitiva, fato que ocasionou protestos dos alunos, pais e servidores da instituição e que foi amplamente divulgado pela imprensa O início do trabalho de Comunicação Organizacional se deu em 2013, a partir de um planejamento de comunicação estratégica. Inicialmente, foi realizada uma pesquisa qualitativa exploratória com os stakeholders (alunos, servidores, pais ou responsáveis e profissionais da imprensa), a fim de ampliar os conhecimentos sobre o contexto da crise. Após o diagnóstico da situação, foi realizado um Planejamento de Comunicação Organizacional e um Plano de Gestão de Crise de Imagem, com base no modelo de Timothy Coombs, elaborados para que a instituição pudesse recuperar a imagem abalada e a credibilidade do seu público de interesse. A implantação das estratégias de comunicação e do Plano de Gestão de Crise de Imagem foi planejada e executada em conjunto pela assessoria de comunicação e os gestores responsáveis pela instituição e resultaram em maior proximidade com o público e maior transparência nas relações, despertando o sentimento de pertencimento dos stakeholders em relação à instituição. / Organizational Communication is a precious and indispensable instrument as an auxiliary tool in integrated strategic planning and in the prevention or resolution of an image crisis, defined as an external entity and a mental construct that includes ideas, feelings, attitudes, mental concepts and Expectations, and that can directly affect the organization's relationship with its public (STERN; ZINKHAN; JAJU, 2001). The Organizational Communication strategies directly interfere in the recovery of credibility and in the reconstruction of the corporate image after an incident of crisis. This study presents strategies of Organizational Communication and Image Crisis Management adopted by the Communication Department of the Federal Institute of Education, Science and Technology of Rio Grande do Sul - Caxias do Sul Campus. Two years after it was instituted in 2010, The IFRS Campus Caxias do Sul faced an image crisis caused by the delay in the completion of the definitive headquarters work, a fact that provoked protests from students, parents and employees of the institution and was widely publicized in the press. The beginning of the work of Organizational Communication occurred in 2013, from a strategic communication planning. Initially, a qualitative exploratory research was carried out with the stakeholders (students, servants, parents or leaders and the press) in order to increase knowledge about the context of the crisis After the situation was diagnosed, an Organizational Communication Plan and an Image Crisis Management Plan, based on the Timothy Coombs model, were prepared so that the institution could recover the shaken image and the credibility of its target audience. The implementation of the communication strategies and the Image Crisis Management Plan was planned and carried out jointly by the communication advisor and the managers responsible for the institution, and resulted in greater proximity to the public and greater transparency in the relations, arousing the feeling of the stakeholders in relation to the institution.

This study explores how the complicated and nuanced identity theory, intersectionality, can be implemented as a communication strategy for sexual health professionals. From interviews with sexual health professionals in Oregon, this research indicates that through the adaptation of a reproductive justice lens professionals can practice intersectionality in their day-to-day work. Strategic communication has longed focused on the “cash value” of theory and suggested that theory is best when it can be applied in real world instances. This research identifies three strategies for application: the use of explicit language, the building of transformative coalitions, and the centering of marginalized voices, stories, and lived experience. This, in combination with an exploration into how sexual health professionals see their own professional and personal identities, indicates that there are very real world applications of intersectional theory that benefit practice.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-08-03T12:30:01Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 ALINEROSSI.pdf: 3571280 bytes, checksum: b1065e7ea62afe868d3bc311a91abe8d (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-09-02 / This dissertation is about how the organizational communication is carried out under the Labor Court of Brazil and aimed to see how they perform their main activities in this area in regional labor courts, relating them to the strategic performance of the institutions. To achieve this goal, we made use of literature search, highlighting aspects of the judiciary in our country and also the main theories of strategic business communication. We also performed the analysis of documents that helped get historical data on communication in this branch of justice. Finally, we proceed to the questionnaires and conducting interviews, through which we can obtain an overview of the current situation of communication departments in the TRTs. The analysis performed showed the evolution experienced by the areas of communication of the courts in recent years. We found that most departments develop strategic plans and executes the actions planned, providing relevant services to the organization and also to society as a whole. However, we found that such planning is not conducted on the basis of diagnosis and that the courts have not yet consolidated a culture of research neither a culture of communication. We seek, therefore, to point out ways that communication can be performed in these institutions increasingly strategic and integrated way to manage activities and projects. / Esta dissertação trata da comunicação organizacional realizada no âmbito da Justiça do Trabalho do Brasil e teve como objetivo verificar como se realizam as principais atividades dessa área em tribunais regionais do trabalho, relacionando-as à atuação estratégica das instituições. Para atingir tal objetivo, fizemos uso de pesquisa bibliográfica, evidenciando aspectos do Poder Judiciário em nosso país e também das principais teorias acerca da comunicação empresarial estratégica. Também realizamos a análise de documentos que ajudaram a obter dados históricos sobre a comunicação neste ramo da Justiça. Por fim, procedemos à aplicação de questionários e à realização de entrevistas em profundidade, por meio das quais pudemos obter um panorama da atual situação dos departamentos de comunicação nos TRTs.A análise efetuada evidenciou a evolução vivenciada pelas áreas de comunicação dos tribunais nos últimos anos. Apuramos que a maior parte dos departamentos desenvolve planos estratégicos e executa as ações previstas, prestando relevantes serviços ao órgão e também à sociedade como um todo. No entanto, identificamos que tal planejamento não é realizado com base em diagnósticos e que os tribunais ainda não consolidaram uma cultura de pesquisa e tampouco uma cultura de comunicação. Buscamos apontar, assim, caminhos para que a comunicação nessas instituições possa ser realizada de forma cada vez mais estratégica e integrada.

This study explores how social media contributes to the relationship between community and non-profit organizational communication in the scope of marginalized women’s sports. The analysis of the data is based on a theoretical framework of social identity and self-categorization theories in imagined communities from a non-profit, strategic organizational communication perspective. The methods used to gather the data involved a qualitative content analysis process that consisted of conducting in-depth interviews and analyzing the organization’s Facebook posts. The findings concluded that in this case study, social media aids in achieving the organization’s goals for developing softball in Europe by communicating ways to overcome the challenges through informing about softball and development programs, fostering a community for softball in Europe, and encouraging followers to take action. In addition, the organization uses social media to reinforce the identity and values of the European softball community that consists of defining its place, interest and communion through symbolic and linguistic communication strategies. As a whole, this study reveals the importance of the organization using communication to sustain the community online and offline in order to achieve its goals of developing softball in Europe. Further implications would focus on understanding how organizations can build and maintain communities through strategic communication within other fields outside of the non-profit sports sector.

A Comunicação Organizacional é um instrumento precioso e imprescindível tanto como ferramenta auxiliar no planejamento estratégico integrado quanto na prevenção ou resolução de uma crise de imagem, sendo esta definida como uma entidade externa e uma construção mental que inclui ideias, sentimentos, atitudes, conceitos mentais e expectativas, e que pode afetar diretamente a relação da organização com o seu público (STERN; ZINKHAN; JAJU, 2001). As estratégias de Comunicação Organizacional interferem diretamente ainda na recuperação da credibilidade e na reconstrução da imagem corporativa após um incidente de crise. Este estudo apresenta estratégias de Comunicação Organizacional e de Gestão de Crise de Imagem adotadas pela Assessoria de Comunicação do Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia do Rio Grande do Sul – Campus Caxias do Sul. Dois anos depois de ter sido instituído, em 2010, o IFRS Campus Caxias do Sul enfrentou uma crise ocasionada pelo atraso na conclusão da obra da sede definitiva, fato que ocasionou protestos dos alunos, pais e servidores da instituição e que foi amplamente divulgado pela imprensa O início do trabalho de Comunicação Organizacional se deu em 2013, a partir de um planejamento de comunicação estratégica. Inicialmente, foi realizada uma pesquisa qualitativa exploratória com os stakeholders (alunos, servidores, pais ou responsáveis e profissionais da imprensa), a fim de ampliar os conhecimentos sobre o contexto da crise. Após o diagnóstico da situação, foi realizado um Planejamento de Comunicação Organizacional e um Plano de Gestão de Crise de Imagem, com base no modelo de Timothy Coombs, elaborados para que a instituição pudesse recuperar a imagem abalada e a credibilidade do seu público de interesse. A implantação das estratégias de comunicação e do Plano de Gestão de Crise de Imagem foi planejada e executada em conjunto pela assessoria de comunicação e os gestores responsáveis pela instituição e resultaram em maior proximidade com o público e maior transparência nas relações, despertando o sentimento de pertencimento dos stakeholders em relação à instituição. / Organizational Communication is a precious and indispensable instrument as an auxiliary tool in integrated strategic planning and in the prevention or resolution of an image crisis, defined as an external entity and a mental construct that includes ideas, feelings, attitudes, mental concepts and Expectations, and that can directly affect the organization's relationship with its public (STERN; ZINKHAN; JAJU, 2001). The Organizational Communication strategies directly interfere in the recovery of credibility and in the reconstruction of the corporate image after an incident of crisis. This study presents strategies of Organizational Communication and Image Crisis Management adopted by the Communication Department of the Federal Institute of Education, Science and Technology of Rio Grande do Sul - Caxias do Sul Campus. Two years after it was instituted in 2010, The IFRS Campus Caxias do Sul faced an image crisis caused by the delay in the completion of the definitive headquarters work, a fact that provoked protests from students, parents and employees of the institution and was widely publicized in the press. The beginning of the work of Organizational Communication occurred in 2013, from a strategic communication planning. Initially, a qualitative exploratory research was carried out with the stakeholders (students, servants, parents or leaders and the press) in order to increase knowledge about the context of the crisis After the situation was diagnosed, an Organizational Communication Plan and an Image Crisis Management Plan, based on the Timothy Coombs model, were prepared so that the institution could recover the shaken image and the credibility of its target audience. The implementation of the communication strategies and the Image Crisis Management Plan was planned and carried out jointly by the communication advisor and the managers responsible for the institution, and resulted in greater proximity to the public and greater transparency in the relations, arousing the feeling of the stakeholders in relation to the institution.

This study focuses on how the internal communication within Region Uppsala and their administrations has been conducted and perceived during 2017 as the organisation went from being the county of Uppsala to becoming Region Uppsala. The goal and the research questions have been to understand how internal stakeholders interpret the strategic change communication from the management of Region Uppsala and how the management also interpret their own communication. The study relies on three main questions which has been - What goals have the management of Region Uppsala had with the communication during the change? - How has the management of Region Uppsala interpreted the communication during the change? - How has internal stakeholder interpreted the communication during the change? The study uses Laurie K. Lewis (2011) studies of organisational change as a theoretical framework while the study also has a perspective on communication as sense making and constitutive of the organisation, which has helped to clarify the meaning of strategic communication. The methods being used has been qualitative interviews as well as a qualitative content analysis of printed material. The results from the empirical data shows that it is within the interpretation of communication that meaning is created and that meaning can differentiate depending on the interpretation. This study contributes to the field of strategic communication and strategic communication during change.

Organisations experience increased social, political and economic pressure that is evident in the increased pressure that stakeholders place on organisations. Organisations increasingly realise that stakeholders’ values and objectives need to be incorporated into organisational strategy as well as the day-to-day management of the organisation. Organisational success and survival consequently depends on the organisation’s network of relationships, which provide the organisation with otherwise inaccessible resources and a competitive advantage. Organisational relationships offer the best solution towards illustrating the value of public relations and communication in the organisation. These relationships enable the organisation to attain its long- and short-term goals. Communication is a key influencer of the success of these relationships and communication managers are consequently better adept to manage these relationships. The relationship perspective of communication posits that public relations and communication managers should act in a boundary spanning role by balancing the interests of companies and stakeholders through effective relationship management. A shift has consequently occurred from purely communication management towards building mutually beneficial relationships between an organisation and its key stakeholders. There has also been an increased recognition of the need for strategically managed communication programs that can effectively contribute to organisational success. Strategic communication assists an organisation to adapt to its stakeholder environment by feeding into the organisation’s strategy formulation process intelligence with regards to strategic stakeholders, which, in turn, assists in building mutually beneficial relationships with these stakeholders. Communication managers’ efforts towards the effective management of organisational relationships has been hampered by the lack of current literature on organisational relationships, a lack of knowledge regarding the factors that influence these relationships, as well as the lack of a reliable and quantifiable definition of organisational relationships. Knowledge on these key areas could enable communication managers to manage these relationships effectively through strategic communication that is characterised by open and two-way communication. This study aimed to determine the connection between organisational relationships and organisational success by investigating the relationship between organisational alliances (as a specific form of organisational relationship) and goal attainment. The three-stage model of organisational relationships proposed by Grunig and Huang (2000:34) was applied to organisational alliances in order to determine this relationship, as well as to determine the influence of key constructs like type of industry, type of alliance, duration of the alliance and the size of the organisation. The reliability of using this framework, specifically the relationship outcomes proposed by the three-stage model, was investigated. The relationship outcomes (trust, commitment, relational satisfaction and control mutuality) were positively related to perceptions of goal attainment. This implies that if trust, commitment, relational satisfaction and control mutuality increases in an organisational alliance, the perceptions of goal attainment also increase within that organisational relationship. These findings suggest that effective communication contributes to perceptions of goal attainment within organisational relationships. It offers public relations and communication practitioners a means to demonstrate the contribution of this function to organisational success. High correlations between the relationship outcomes reflected current findings on these outcomes and a factor analysis indicated that only one factor was being measured – the organisational relationship itself. The study proposed an improved measurement instrument for reliably measuring organisational relationships (Cronbach Alpha = 0.93). The type of industry, type of alliance, duration of the alliance as well as the size of the organisation did not have a significant influence on the relationship outcomes or the proposed measure of organisational relationships. This implies that the current proposed measurement instrument can be applied to numerous contexts. A general linear model was applied to goal attainment (as the dependent variable) and the relationship outcomes (as the independent variables) in order to determine the specific contribution of each relationship outcome on perceptions of goal attainment. The regression analysis indicated that control mutuality was the greatest influencer of perceptions of goal attainment within alliances. A noticeably low influence of trust was also measured. These findings were obtained through the use of an e-mail survey that obtained cross-sectional data, where 154 alliances were observed (n=154). The study contributed to present literature on organisational relationships by using Grunig and Huang’s (2000:43) three-stage model to explain the relationship between perceptions of goal attainment and the relationship outcomes in alliances within the South African context. Strategic communication management provides a solution to a key organisational issue – the organisation’s interdependence with the stakeholders in its environment and how these stakeholders can better be managed in order to more effectively contribute towards organisational success. Communication managers can demonstrate their value by effectively managing key organisational relationships like alliances by integrating these relationships into organisational strategy. These successful organisational relationships also contribute towards organisational sustainability by enabling the organisation to attain its long- and short-term goals. / Dissertation (MCom)--University of Pretoria, 2008. / Communication Management / MCom / Unrestricted