When implementing integrated communications, communications agencies often act as external
service providers. These agencies are often not informed about the requirements that
the companies contracting them expect, yielding unsatisfactory results for the companies. So
far, no study, backed by a well-founded methodology, has yet investigated the requirements
Die Unternehmung, 65. Jg., 3/2011 215
http://dx.doi.org/10.5771/0042-059X-2011-3-215
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demanded of agencies for integrated communications. The goal of this article is therefore to
identify which agency requirements are set by companies in the context of integrated communications
implementation. Another goal is the investigation of the relevance of these requirements
for the IMC implementation.
The results of this study are based on qualitative expert interviews and the use of structural
equation modeling. The latter is based on a written survey of communications and marketing
managers of large-scale Swiss enterprises. The expert interviews lead to the identification of
content requirements set for performance capability, employee requirements set for performance
capability, content requirements set for collaboration, organizational requirements
set for collaboration and employee requirements set for collaboration. The findings of the
structural equation modeling underscore the importance of satisfying the requirements that
generate collaboration and fulfil achievement potential. Examples of such requirements are
the presence of specialist knowledge, full-service performance and a shared understanding
of integrated communications. The results show that the fulfillment of the organizational
requirements (e.g., a regular, institutionalized exchange of information) is of subordinate
importance for the successful implementation of integrated communications.