**2. The interconnectedness of CSSPs, strategic communication and dialogue**

In their article from 2012, Koschmann et al. [16] introduce the concept of *collective agency* - the capacity of strategic communication practitioners, e.g. CSSP managers, to influence a host of relevant outcomes, e.g. social, economic and environmental change, beyond what individual organizations could do on their own. The authors argue that partnerships develop depending on "how people interact" [pp. 339–340]. Thus, the conventional conception of dialogue—in which the term references endsoriented talk that advocates a simplistic openness, urges personal sharing, and gives precedence to consensus and common ground over conflict and argument— is not likely to be helpful according to the authors [who refer to [18–20]]. This is because dialogue is seen only as a special case of communication used when groups are forced to overcome differences. The conventional conception of dialogue also assumes that meanings are private and internal and can be expressed more or less productively if the situation is structured well, forming the basis for compromise as a decisional procedure [and outcome]. The authors argue that a more richly communicative conception portraying dialogue as implicit in communication such as meanings, identities, and agendas (e.g. [21]) is more helpful. This view of dialogue acknowledges that participants hold different [and often deeply opposed] positions. Further, a simultaneous ethic of inclusiveness and confrontation is more likely to generate the meaningful participation needed for the creative, integrative, and legitimate

#### *How to Do CSR with Dialogic Meeting Talk: A Conceptual Framework for Managing Change… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.94345*

solutions participants seek [22]. The research by [16] is supported by research by e.g. Brennan et al. [23]; Crane and Livesay [24] and [15].

In this article, we will follow [16] and argue that a more richly communicative conception portraying dialogue as implicit in partnership-wide meeting agendas is helpful for understanding for example how common understanding of the need for social change is created in and among stakeholders in a CSSP.

In a more general discussion of the agency of strategic communication practitioners, [25] introduce the *principal-agency theory*, which holds that principals [i.e. owners or shareholders] appoint agents [i.e. managers] to act on their behalf through contracts, output measurement and rewards. Hence, within the field of strategic communication there seems to be an implicit notion that communication agents due to the purposeful and instrumental nature of this particular communication activity act and speak on behalf of someone else. Overall, the guiding principles in any strategic communication, change and learning process, whether in the public or private sector, are about understanding what changes are needed, and how to manage and communicate them [26]. Creating vision, showing wholehearted and visible support for the change, maintaining buy-in to mission, sense-making and feedback, communicating goal achievement and establishing legitimation have been seen as pivotal to maintaining commitment to corporate change programs [27, p. 128]. Especially, the creation of common understanding and legitimation is a challenge in organizations where change is driven by changes in dominant values and practices [28–30], which is most often the case in organizations that have chosen to engage in a cross-sector social partnership. Thus, managers in such organizations need to navigate between the heterogeneous discourses expressed within the organization and the discourses expressed at the partnership level. Research has demonstrated that the strategic use of communication, e.g. in the form of narratives and metaphors plays a pivotal role in attempting to facilitate the disruption of taken-for-granted practices and confront or overcome potential adversaries [31–34]. Our focus is not on narratives and metaphors as strategic communication but on dialogue structure.

Overall, the field of strategic communication positions itself at the intersection of management strategy and communication [35]. Argenti et al. [36] define strategic communication as "aligned with the company's overall strategy, to enhance its strategic positioning" [p. 83], whereas [37] define it as "the purposeful use of communication by an organization to fulfill its mission" [p. 3]. Both definitions rely on the ideas of rationality, predictability, and *free agency* [38], and as such the term "strategic communication" implies an overall focus on the purpose of the message as well as the intentions of the sender, as the communicator, according to the definitions, seems to have decisive influence over the communication process. The elements of purposeful intent inherent in strategic communication clarify the purpose-driven nature of an organization's messages, and hence according to such understanding of strategic communication, a manager is "apt to enter a conversation, make a statement, prepare a document, or deliver a presentation with a preset goal, a strategic intent, in mind" [39, p. 124]. Hence, strategic communication recognizes that purposeful influence is the fundamental goal of communication by the senders, i.e. managers in CSSPs, and within such instrumental view, communication is characterized as something managers do to accomplish something else [40–42]. This line of research is supported by CSSP research, e.g. [7, 9–11, 13, 43] in discussions of the effects of interactions across sectors with the aim of unpacking key processes that lead to success.

In this article, we will argue that the study of strategic communication encompasses more than goals, means and outcomes at a partnership level solely conducted by managers on behalf of a principal entity. From our perspective, strategic communication is also conducted at a meso and micro level with the purpose of for instance gaining support towards corporate changes and new organizational practices

through the creation of common understanding. As a result, we will pursue the idea that strategic communication is not merely a macro-organizational discipline but can also be seen as a particular micro-level mode of communication, which can be applied with the strategic intention of gaining common understanding and legitimation among the organizational members. In specific, we will pursue the idea that dialogue as a particular mode of communication is a key element of building relationships, common understanding, learning and commitment at both a micro and a macro level [44–48]. We argue with [49] that agents, i.e. CSSP managers, have the potential to deliberately and effectively choose and carry out certain [communicative] actions. As such, from Gidden's perspective, the communicator is able to reflexively play an active role in shaping the organization and its members through his/her strategic communication role in the organization [37, 40]. Within this line of thinking, it becomes blurrier who is the communicator who is able to play an active role in shaping the partnership, its members – and ultimately social change.

On the basis of the above, we argue that managers in CSSPs deliberately and effectively choose and carry out certain communicative actions which will help them to obtain common understanding and legitimation in relation to internal and external stakeholders. In addition, we argue that managers in CSSPs acting as change agents navigate between the heterogeneous texts and talks expressed within the organization and the texts and talks expressed at the partnership level*.* Hence, the struggle for common understanding can be seen as a strategic communicative endeavor conducted at both a textual, discursive and interpersonal level and a more overall, formalized organizational level. By use of our exemplary analysis we will expand the understanding of the management and communication of change in a CSSP to also encompass the more agency-and dialogue-oriented discipline of strategic change communication in CSSPs. Below, we elaborate on the concept of dialogue and how to analyze dialogue.
