Communication measurement and evaluation
– Goal-orientation, agility or fumbling in the dark?
The interest of organizations in assessing stakeholder relationships and expectations, intangible assets, and social impact has grown strongly in the 21st century. This change is linked to new views on the strategic role of communication and strategic management. We examine the development and current state of the measurement and evaluation (M&E) of communication through research literature and empirical material. We suggest that the models of M&E used in organizations can also tell us about their views of strategic communication and the connection to organizational strategy. Present practices of M&E are dominated by logical models as well as summative evaluation, which are connected with a functionalist view of strategic communication. The data also provide indications of agile evaluation. Many organizations also engage in practices that we call blind measurement: metrics are not directly linked to the goals of communication.
