Mapping the Strategic Continuity: An Analysis of Objective-to-Evaluation Alignment in Real-World Communication Cases

Overview

Extant research has discussed the application of strategy in communication research and practice. Despite its extensive application, the concept of strategy has been undertheorized and approached with taken-for-granted assumptions. According to Andersson (2024), strategy emerges from everyday activities and strategizing exists in all the activities within the communication practice. Meanwhile, more research is needed on strategizing in communication as the “black box” of strategic making, especially how it unfolds in different contexts. As such, this study addresses this gap by examining how strategy is unfolded in organizations’ engagement programs. Using the strategy-as-practice (SAP), this study will create a framework designed to measure strategy continuity – the unbroken alignment from an objective, through a strategy, down to the tactics, and finally into the evaluation tactics through an analysis of real-world communication cases. This project will require (a) literature review, (b) design of a coding framework for content analyses, and (c) coding. It is expected that the student on this project will become a co-author on an academic publication.

Research engagement

o Extant literature frequently discusses the application of strategy in communication research. However, despite its extensive use, the concept of strategy remains undertheorized and is often approached with taken-for-granted assumptions. Through the lens of Strategy-as-Practice (SAP), scholars like Andersson (2024) argue that strategizing exists within all everyday activities of communication practice. Yet, more research is urgently needed to unpack the "black box" of strategy-making and understand how it dynamically unfolds across different organizational contexts.

o Conducting a focused literature review on SAP and strategic alignment.

o Assisting in the design and refinement of a coding framework for textual content analysis.

o Conducting the primary data coding of the selected case studies.

Research activities

o The student researcher will be integral to the methodology and data collection phases.

o Using SAP, this study will create a novel framework to measure Strategic Continuity—the unbroken alignment from an objective, through a strategy, into the executed tactics, and finally concluding in the evaluation metrics. We will test this framework through a rigorous content analysis of real-world, award-winning communication cases. To test the framework created, interviews will also be conducted with industry professionals.

o The student will be working with Dr. Lisa Tam.

Research skills

o To conduct literature review

o To develop a codebook

o To understand how to use the codebook to analyse industry reports

Outcomes

It is expected that the student's contributions on this project will result in a co-authorship on a peer-reviewed academic publication.

Skills and experience

The student must have prior knowledge of advertising and/or public relations.

Start date

2 November, 2026

End date

19 February, 2027

Location

Online/WFH

Keywords

• advertising
• public relations
• strategy

Contact

Dr Lisa Tam

(07) 31381777

l.tam@qut.edu.au