Only a few texts on communication management and on public relations critically
engage with the concept of strategy. Hallahan et al. (2007) aim at deconstructing the
concept of strategy in relationship to strategic communication. One of their central argument states that the development of strategies depends on organizational cultures
just as much as on societal cultures, implying that strategic decisions are not objective,
independent of culture and gender-neutral, but rather influenced by all of these factors.
This brief overview of the literature illustrates that in most cases it is simply assumed
that communication management is a strategic management task. The concept of
strategy, however, is rarely taken into consideration (Bronn, 2001). Likewise, the
process of strategy formation and the contribution of communication strategy to
corporate strategy are only marginally discussed. The following will develop a
theory-driven understanding of strategy which then will serve as a basis to describe
communication management as a strategic corporate function.