Government and Corporate Communication Practices: Do the Differences Matter?

This study investigates the differences and similarities in communication practices between the public and private sectors. Through a survey of 976 government and corporate communicators, 12 organizational attributes previously identified in research on the government communication decision wheel (Liu & Horsley, 2007; Liu & Levenshus, 2008) were tested. The results indicated differences between the two groups in budgets, political influence, communication frequency, public pressure, interaction with other organizations, media coverage frequency, media coverage evaluation, and impact of legal frameworks as they relate to communication practices. No significant differences in diversity of publics, opportunities for professional development, participation in organizational leadership, or management support for communication between the two groups were found. The findings allowed for refinement of this developing model of government communication.