A few weeks ago, I wrote of a study from the UK on the debate as to where the communications function is best situated within a business. A notable addition to the debate also comes from the UK’s the Internal Communications Alliance. In an article on their site, they describe the situation as the “insoluble conundrum”. Nicely put. The article is not dated, so I am unsure as to whether this is a lead or lag thread of the discussion, but worth a look: http://www.cipr.co.uk/groups/special/ica/events/stories_main.htm#insoluble
Also worth a look in the same context is the controversial Fast Company article from last year on why business hates HR:
http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/97/open_hr.html
This is as useful to communicators if for every mention of the HR function we substitute the communication function (well, almost every mention). What it does do is provide a clear view of the challenges faced by the organisational software functions – culture, human resources, communications.