Strategic Communication Institutionalized: A Scandinavian Perspective

The aim of this article is to discuss the strength of Scandinavian neo-institutionalism in general and the virus metaphor in particular as analytical lens when studying processes of institutionalization. The article addresses the following two questions: (1) How do we detect the very early stages of institutionalization when strategic communication is not yet visible as organizational practice, and how can such detections provide explanation for the later outcome of the process? (2) How can studies of strategic communication benefit from an institutional perspective? How can the virus metaphor generate a deeper understanding of the mechanisms that interact from the time an organization is exposed to a new organizational idea such as strategic communication until it surfaces in the form of symptoms such as mission and vision statements, communication manuals and communication positions? The first part of the article focuses on a discussion of the virus metaphor as an alternative to the widespread fashion metaphor for processes of institutionalization. The second part of the article provides empirical examples of the virus metaphor employed, examples that are drawn from a study of the institutionalization of strategic communication in three Danish art museums.