Bridging research and practice: Helena Stehle joins the Board

We are introducing Prof. Helena Stehle, professor for Strategic Communication at the University of Münster, who joins our Scientific Advisory Board as a new member.

In her research, she does not only focus on strategic communication, but also on organizational, sustainability, and energy communication. Digital (in-)visibility and journalism fall into her area of research as well.

To welcome Helena Stehle, we asked her a few questions to get to know the person behind the name. First up were a few quick choices to break the ice.

This or that?

Beyond the quick picks, we wanted to dive a little deeper and asked her about her personal thoughts and interests.

In your own words:

What motivated or inspired you to join the Scientific Advisory Board?

The Academic Society for Management and Communication connects researchers and communication professionals to discuss the latest topics and challenges in strategic communication. It is this exchange and the high degree of currentness that motivate and inspire me to be part of the Scientific Advisory Board.

What does successful knowledge transfer mean to you?

Meaningful knowledge transfer for me is about exchanging ideas and learning from each other.

Which topic in strategic communication research do you personally think should receive much more attention in practice?

An increasing amount of insight has been gained into how strategic communication is perceived, interpreted, and experienced by different stakeholders, both inside and outside an organization, as well as the effects that result from it. The boundaries of strategic communication are also becoming more apparent. These findings are relevant not only for research, but also for communication practice, offering interesting insights.

What research project would you like to realize one day – regardless of time and money?

Research has shown that how stakeholders perceive communicators and their communication is significantly influenced by their expectations of them. We already have some insight into these expectations in specific areas. However, if time and money were not an issue, I would enjoy conducting a thorough, comparative study of these expectations in various areas, settings, and situations of strategic communication, exploring the questions: Do stakeholders have expectations? If so, what are they, and why? Do these expectations change? Linked to this would be the question of the consequences of fulfilling or violating these expectations. It would be a bit of work, but an intriguing project.

You can find all the researchers on the Scientific Advisory Board here.