Polyphony in Corporate and Organizational Communications: Exploring the Roots and Characteristics of a New Paradigm

Sa？etak This conceptual article examines the idea of polyphonic communication, which gained popularity as a new approach to integrate various voices and communicators in organizational settings. It argues that the metaphor of the organization speaking with many voices has not yet been clearly defined beyond metaphorical language, and the implications of polyphonic approaches for communication management have been rarely discussed – although empirical evidence shows that practitioners support this novel view. A review of the current use of polyphony in communications reveals key suppositions brought forward by authors like Christensen, Cornelissen, Falkheimer, Schultz, Zerfass and others. It also shows that a concise definition and operationalization is still missing. Thus, a broad literature analysis has been conducted to trace the root of polyphony across disciplines such as music, literature, psychology, politics and sociology. This lays the ground for a new, integrative definition of polyphony. Polyphony is understood as the integration of a multiplicity of internal and external voices into the communication activities managed by agents (i.e., communication departments or professionals) on behalf of a corporation or other organizations. Two approaches to managing polyphonic communication are identified and discussed in detail: deliberative-emergent and radical-emergent polyphony. This unveils the need for new and agile ways of communication management