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Papers by Sandra K Evans

This study examines the distinction between power imbalance and mutual dependence to better under... more This study examines the distinction between power imbalance and mutual dependence to better understand how NGOs manage resource dependencies in their relationships with civil society partners. The NGO leaders we interviewed emphasized mutual dependence in the relationships they developed with other NGOs regarding access to financial and information resources. In contrast, discourse about their relationships with IGOs focused on the acquisition of legitimacy and access, and was dominated by power imbalance. NGOs were largely accepting of both forms of dependence in pursuit of the community’s shared goals and for the greater good of constituents. Our finding that NGOs refrain from terminating suboptimal relationships also reflects the extent to which mutual dependence governs NGOs partnering strategies.

This essay addresses challenges facing journalism in the information age by advocating for the st... more This essay addresses challenges facing journalism in the information age by advocating for the study of journalism from an organizational communication perspective. The field of communication has maintained an illogical divide between journalism and organizational communication scholarship. First, I present an overview of sub-disciplinary identities. Second, I argue for an organizational communication approach to the study of journalism, and refer to an empirical study as an exemplar of this approach. Finally, I present ideas for future research regarding the study of journalism and these sub-disciplines. This approach is applicable to settings like newspapers, television news, and other media organizations. Analyzing journalism from an organizational communication perspective can connect academic sub-disciplines and aid practitioners in understanding a rapidly evolving media landscape.

“Innovation” is a ubiquitous and value-laden term in many journalism organizations, and one that ... more “Innovation” is a ubiquitous and value-laden term in many journalism organizations, and one that is often ill-defined or unquestioned. This study examines the management and meaning of innovation within public radio organizations. The question I address is, how do employees and managers make sense of innovation within their organizations in relation to a rapidly evolving digital media environment? I apply an interdisciplinary body of literature on innovation stemming from strategic management and journalism research to data from interviews with 56 employees and experts from 11 different public radio stations. Results show how people in public media organizations make sense of innovation by relying primarily on process-oriented, rather than product-oriented frames. I also introduce the terms “autodisruption,” or how organizations attempt to disrupt themselves, and “storytelling innovation,” a hybrid way of operationalizing process and product innovation in this industry context. The findings provide insight into the meaning and practice of innovation within the understudied environment of public service broadcasting, and contribute to innovation research in journalism institutions more broadly.

Because of disruption stemming from digital media products and services, radio stations across th... more Because of disruption stemming from digital media products and services, radio stations across the country are enacting organizational changes to provide digital content while maintaining a strong radio broadcast presence. This study asks: How do views on organizational competition correspond with organizational identity discourse? And, how do cognitive competitor networks differ among public media organizations, and among people in similar roles across different organizations? Theories of organizational identity, networks, and strategic groups are applied to interview data from 75 people in 14 organizations. The way individuals perceived competitors encapsulated the connection between organizational identity and strategy. Descriptive network analysis of cognitive competitor networks showed that people in similar departments across organizations had similar views about competitors, but there was divergence among these role-based groups. This study demonstrates how views about competitors inform organizational identity discourse and produces dialectical tensions with regard to strategy that, if ignored, can potentially hamper innovation.

In this study, evolutionary theory is used to analyze and critique the strategic process of scena... more In this study, evolutionary theory is used to analyze and critique the strategic process of scenario planning. We argue that scenario planning can be strengthened as a theory- and practice-oriented process through the incorporation of evolutionary theory in the scenario narrative process, and in the subsequent implementation phases in response to environmental change. First, this paper addresses scenario planning in relation to theoretical perspectives on strategic planning and forecasting. Then, the concepts of variation, selection, retention, organizational learning and inertia are used to analyze scenario planning as a strategic process. This study argues that because scenario planning mirrors modes of variation and selection at the organizational level, evolutionary theory is a useful approach for assessing the plausibility of scenario narratives and strengthening the theoretical foundation of scenario planning as a process. By utilizing an evolutionary framework throughout the scenario planning process, this method has a better chance of encouraging exploratory strategic thinking without reinforcing non-blind variation or inertial practices. Concepts including inertia can also be used to better address bias and myopia in the scenario planning process. Additionally, evolutionary theory can be used to assess how entities learn from the outcomes of scenario planning as the environment changes over time.

Conference Presentations by Sandra K Evans

Slides questioning our approach to how we study affordances of technology from an organizational ... more Slides questioning our approach to how we study affordances of technology from an organizational perspective. This was part of a panel presentation at the 2015 International Communication Association Annual Conference in Puerto Rico.

This study examines the distinction between power imbalance and mutual dependence to better under... more This study examines the distinction between power imbalance and mutual dependence to better understand how NGOs manage resource dependencies in their relationships with civil society partners. The NGO leaders we interviewed emphasized mutual dependence in the relationships they developed with other NGOs regarding access to financial and information resources. In contrast, discourse about their relationships with IGOs focused on the acquisition of legitimacy and access, and was dominated by power imbalance. NGOs were largely accepting of both forms of dependence in pursuit of the community’s shared goals and for the greater good of constituents. Our finding that NGOs refrain from terminating suboptimal relationships also reflects the extent to which mutual dependence governs NGOs partnering strategies.

This essay addresses challenges facing journalism in the information age by advocating for the st... more This essay addresses challenges facing journalism in the information age by advocating for the study of journalism from an organizational communication perspective. The field of communication has maintained an illogical divide between journalism and organizational communication scholarship. First, I present an overview of sub-disciplinary identities. Second, I argue for an organizational communication approach to the study of journalism, and refer to an empirical study as an exemplar of this approach. Finally, I present ideas for future research regarding the study of journalism and these sub-disciplines. This approach is applicable to settings like newspapers, television news, and other media organizations. Analyzing journalism from an organizational communication perspective can connect academic sub-disciplines and aid practitioners in understanding a rapidly evolving media landscape.

“Innovation” is a ubiquitous and value-laden term in many journalism organizations, and one that ... more “Innovation” is a ubiquitous and value-laden term in many journalism organizations, and one that is often ill-defined or unquestioned. This study examines the management and meaning of innovation within public radio organizations. The question I address is, how do employees and managers make sense of innovation within their organizations in relation to a rapidly evolving digital media environment? I apply an interdisciplinary body of literature on innovation stemming from strategic management and journalism research to data from interviews with 56 employees and experts from 11 different public radio stations. Results show how people in public media organizations make sense of innovation by relying primarily on process-oriented, rather than product-oriented frames. I also introduce the terms “autodisruption,” or how organizations attempt to disrupt themselves, and “storytelling innovation,” a hybrid way of operationalizing process and product innovation in this industry context. The findings provide insight into the meaning and practice of innovation within the understudied environment of public service broadcasting, and contribute to innovation research in journalism institutions more broadly.

Because of disruption stemming from digital media products and services, radio stations across th... more Because of disruption stemming from digital media products and services, radio stations across the country are enacting organizational changes to provide digital content while maintaining a strong radio broadcast presence. This study asks: How do views on organizational competition correspond with organizational identity discourse? And, how do cognitive competitor networks differ among public media organizations, and among people in similar roles across different organizations? Theories of organizational identity, networks, and strategic groups are applied to interview data from 75 people in 14 organizations. The way individuals perceived competitors encapsulated the connection between organizational identity and strategy. Descriptive network analysis of cognitive competitor networks showed that people in similar departments across organizations had similar views about competitors, but there was divergence among these role-based groups. This study demonstrates how views about competitors inform organizational identity discourse and produces dialectical tensions with regard to strategy that, if ignored, can potentially hamper innovation.

In this study, evolutionary theory is used to analyze and critique the strategic process of scena... more In this study, evolutionary theory is used to analyze and critique the strategic process of scenario planning. We argue that scenario planning can be strengthened as a theory- and practice-oriented process through the incorporation of evolutionary theory in the scenario narrative process, and in the subsequent implementation phases in response to environmental change. First, this paper addresses scenario planning in relation to theoretical perspectives on strategic planning and forecasting. Then, the concepts of variation, selection, retention, organizational learning and inertia are used to analyze scenario planning as a strategic process. This study argues that because scenario planning mirrors modes of variation and selection at the organizational level, evolutionary theory is a useful approach for assessing the plausibility of scenario narratives and strengthening the theoretical foundation of scenario planning as a process. By utilizing an evolutionary framework throughout the scenario planning process, this method has a better chance of encouraging exploratory strategic thinking without reinforcing non-blind variation or inertial practices. Concepts including inertia can also be used to better address bias and myopia in the scenario planning process. Additionally, evolutionary theory can be used to assess how entities learn from the outcomes of scenario planning as the environment changes over time.

Slides questioning our approach to how we study affordances of technology from an organizational ... more Slides questioning our approach to how we study affordances of technology from an organizational perspective. This was part of a panel presentation at the 2015 International Communication Association Annual Conference in Puerto Rico.