Strategic predisposition in communication management : Understanding organizational propensity towards bridging strategy

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to identify factors influencing an organization’s predisposition to bridging strategy, and tests relationships between those factors and bridging strategy. Design/methodology/approach – Online survey was conducted in South Korea. Hierarchical regression was used. Findings – Identified factors are environmental complexity, top management attitude toward stakeholders, analysis orientation, and authoritarian culture. Research limitations/implications – By adopting the concept and measures of bridging as an organization’s public-engagement strategy, this study was able to capture an organization’s strategic approach for problem-solving in communication management. Practical implications – Strong analysis orientation allows organizations to look into problems in their complex environments affecting their performance and their key stakeholders before deciding on strategies; resultantly, they are more likely to reduce problems and to improve their performance. In contrast, authoritarian culture discourages an organization’s adoption of bridging strategy. Originality/value – This study is the first empirical study investigating the dynamics of factors influencing organizations’ strategic predisposition in communication management.