Melanie B James

The University of Newcastle, Faculty of Education and Arts, School of Humanities and Social Science, Department Member

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I am a communication and public relations specialist with a career spanning more than three decades. My award-winning national campaigns, skilled high-level relationship management, crisis handling, and innovative problem solving are underpinned by my strengths in strategic thinking, analysis and ideation.

I entered the academic ranks of the University of Newcastle, Australia, in 2006 as a multi-awarded professional in strategic communication. My track record was strong and included executive level roles in sectors including government, finance, tourism, and health. In 2011, I attained a PhD in media and communication.

My scholarly book, “Positioning Theory and Strategic Communication: A new approach to public relations research and practice” (Routledge UK, 2014) has become a key resource for applying positioning theory in strategic communication, and also across diverse areas including health, education, and public diplomacy.

The “Framework for Intentional Positioning in Public Relations” works as the centrepiece of the book. It is the launch point for guiding strategic positioning analysis and design in all areas of communication practice and research, driving analysis and practice that is both innovative and agile. More resources for
guiding interpersonal, cultural, political, and business strategic communication positioning will be available soon.

Since leaving the University of Newcastle in 2018, I work on selected professional and scholarly projects. I remain fascinated by the possibilities offered by positioning theory for strategic communication in all its facets.

However even more fascinating to me is how positioning theory can be applied to many other areas of life where power is wielded for good or ill, providing a dynamic way to guide analysis and inform immediate and longer terms actions. She is lead author of the chapter “Using Strategic Communication Discourse Processes in Positioning Practice”. James, M. and Wise, D. In (Eds. M. McVee, L. Van Langenhove, C. Brock, and B Allesøe Christensen). The Routledge International Handbook of Positioning Theory (pp. 367-380). Routledge.

More about Melanie James:

Melanie James (PhD) has won international, national and state awards for her communication campaigns, innovative course design, and academic work.

Having held various academic positions at the University of Newcastle, Australia from 2006 to 2018, she now undertakes selected communication and research projects.

Her past professional senior management roles in strategic communication have been in the government, health and financial sectors.

She began her career in health. She has worked a specialist CCU/ICU registered nurse, nurse educator, health project officer and senior medical feature writer on medicine and society for major Australian newspapers. She has undertaken tertiary studies in nursing, science, education, communication and journalism, achieving her PhD in 2011.

Melanie James’ academic research builds on Positioning Theory, which originated in the field of social psychology, focusing on strategic communication. Her academic book (Routledge, 2014), Positioning Theory and Strategic Communications: A new approach to public relations research and practice is viewed as one of the contemporary foundational texts within Positioning Theory, and is regularly cited in multidisciplinary research contexts.

Melanie is also is a published creative writer, and has been a finalist in the Australian Vogel Literary Award and the 2016 University of New Orleans Press non-fiction/memoir competition.

Other Highlights include:

Melanie was an invited contributing author for the Wiley International Encyclopedia of Strategic Communication (2018) and her major entries on the subjects of “Emergent Strategy” and “Strategic Readiness” are increasingly cited in multidisciplinary contexts.

Melanie chaired the University of Newcastle’s Massive Open Online course (MOOC) steering committee. She both project-managed and led the team that built the first international MOOC for the University of Newcastle. The course won the EdX global award “MOOC of the Year” in December 2017 for Exceptional Contribution to Online Learning – global award “MOOC of the Year” for Exceptional Contribution to Online Learning by Edx.

In 2017 Melanie was an invited Visiting Research Fellow at UTS (July – December) and was a Visiting Researcher at the United Nations University – Centre for Regional Integration Studies, Bruges, Belgium.

Having been awarded the National Educator of the Year Award 2015 by the Public Relations Institute of Australia, Melanie’s third year students, with technical officer, George Hyde, made this video as a tribute to her teaching: View here (30 secs).

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Papers by Melanie B James

Using Strategic Communication Discourse Processes in Positioning Practice

The Routledge International Handbook of Positioning Theory, 2024

This chapter draws from Positioning Theory and scholarly definitions of strategic communication t... more This chapter draws from Positioning Theory and scholarly definitions of strategic communication to examine how organizations use communication acts and discourse processes to construct strategically advantageous positions. Two strategic communication episodes from NASA are used as illustrative examples of positioning analysis, providing evidence of a strong interrelationship between Positioning Theory and strategic communication. These analyses suggested that a strategic communication skill, not previously articulated, is how practitioners choose to employ discourse based on its likelihood to exert sufficient social force to construct strategically advantageous positions. It was also shown that applying the positioning triangle in strategic communication research could break complex organizational positions into smaller components, aiding in identifying how and where social power within practice is mobilized. Future-oriented perspectives informed by Positioning Theory are presented to guide theory-informed ways to teach, practice, and research strategic communication. Further research is recommended to ascertain to what degree practitioners’ choices to employ discourse processes, without accounting for their social force to construct intended positions, impact the accomplishment of an organization’s mission.

Talking back: Reflecting on feminism, public relations and research

Public Relations Review, 2015

Strategies to proactively manage activity

Not everyone's aboard the online public relations train: The

Autoethnography: The story of applying a conceptual framework for intentional positioning to public relations practice

Public Relations Review, 2012

Driving learning through blogging: students' perceptions of a reading journal blog assessment task| NOVA. The University of Newcastle's Digital Repository

Getting to the heart of public relations: the concept of strategic intent| NOVA. The University of Newcastle's Digital Repository

The Use of Intentional Positioning Techniques in Government Agencies’ Communication Campaigns

The strategic construction of intended meaning in Australian public relations campaigns through the use of key messaging and positioning techniques| NOVA. The University of Newcastle's Digital Repository

The construction of intended meanings: Furthering understanding of the purpose of public relations

A review of the impact of new media on public relations: Challenges for terrain, practice and education

Trialling PR2. 0: an exploratory study of the non-capital city practitioner’s social media use

The Asia Pacific Public Relations Journal is sponsored by, 2011

This exploratory study examined how public relations practitioners based outside capital cities a... more This exploratory study examined how public relations practitioners based outside capital cities are using social media. Forty-eight practitioners based in one of Australia's largest non-capital city regions were surveyed in 2010. It was found that these practitioners are trialling how social media can be used to achieve public relations objectives. Practitioners are more likely to be using social media in their personal lives and for their own professional development, than for their organisation or clients. However, this research ...

Trialling PR2. 0: an exploratory study of the non-capital city practitioner’s social media use

The Asia Pacific Public Relations Journal is sponsored by, 2011

Positioning a price on carbon: Applying a proposed hybrid method of

by Deborah Wise and Melanie B James

Public Relations Inquiry, 2013

The primary aim of this research was to explore whether the conceptual framework for intentional ... more The primary aim of this research was to explore whether the conceptual framework for intentional positioning in public relations proposed by James in 2010–11, which is underpinned by positioning theory, could be used to guide a discourse analysis of strategic positioning tactics. Positioning discourse analysis is designed to examine how discourse is being used to strategically position something in order to gain an advantage, or to achieve a goal in a public relations context. In this study, a sample of speeches by the two leading politicians in Australia on the topic of carbon pricing was analysed. Both politicians worked to position a carbon price/tax as good and bad for Australia respectively. Guided by James’s framework, the positioning goal, positioning type and positioning purpose were identified along with the discursive strategies used. However, one of the positions was not as strongly held in the public debate as the other. Applying positioning theory, it could be seen that although other factors in the strategy and tactics were basically sound, it could also be argued that the right to position in a certain way had not been sufficiently established in the opinion of Australian voters. Undertaking a positioning discourse analysis offers another way of examining practice and sheds more light on the role of discourse in strategic public relations. This was a small study with generally encouraging findings that indicate further testing of the method is warranted.

The broader field of strategic management plays out in a dichotomy of emergent and deliberate str... more The broader field of strategic management plays out in a dichotomy of emergent and deliberate strategies. Emergent strategy differs from deliberate strategy in that it focuses on strategic learning and moves away from notions of direction and control, the latter being the focus of deliberate strategy (Mintzberg & Waters, 1985). Strategic learning is centered on the organization's ability to receive and interpret messages from its operational environment in a dynamic way, which enables the organization to adapt its actions and direction, if deemed appropriate. Developing and applying emergent strategy means that once the intent is known, the organization determines where and how to adapt to evolving real-time situations. (It does not preclude having a specific goal but it does provide for the organization to take advantage of new opportunities by increasing its agility to adapt to changing circumstances.) This differs from deliberate strategy that focuses on how to realize a static strategic plan, which is the prescriptive approach to strategy making (strategizing). The concept of "emergence" comes from complexity theory which suggests that all organizations are complex adaptive systems that continuously self-organize and coevolve (albeit at different rates), and that this is the inherent nature of complex systems. Organizational strategy making is being under-taken in increasingly complex and turbulent environments. Research indicates that strategy is most often regarded as a plan, that is, some kind of intended course of action or guideline to deal with a situation. However, this is a dated and narrow definition of strategy, which can be conceived as much more than a plan. In 1987, Mintzberg suggested that the view of strategy as a plan was just one of the "5 p's" that could be defined as strategy-the others being a ploy, a pattern, a position, and a perspective. A ploy is a maneuver that can be executed to gain advantage over a competitor; strategy as a pattern refers to a pattern emerging from a stream of actions; position as strategy is a means of locating an organization in external environments; and, strategy as perspective is inwardly focused on the organization and the way in which it perceives the world. When organizations perceive their environments as complex, that is, as concerning nonlinear relationships between constantly changing entities, they ideally acknowledge that a plan developed to guide their actions over a 3-month, 12-month, or 5-year period is not optimal. Plans that detail a deliberate strategy to be followed often become out of date before they can be implemented (Mintzberg & Waters, 1985). The alternative approach is for the organization to embrace the idea of "emergence," a construct originating from the dynamics of change emphasized by complexity theory. Goldstein (1999) defined emergence as a dynamical construct, arising over time, that

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Autoethnography: the story of “doing a MOOC” or knowing “the beast” from within.

Massive Open Online Courses and Higher Education: Where to Next?Chapter: 6Publisher: AshgateEditors: Bennet, Kent, 2017

This autoethnography is an account of how I negotiated the challenges of undertaking the MOOC. I ... more This autoethnography is an account of how I negotiated the challenges of undertaking the MOOC. I acknowledge that even though I was a student member of a MOOC, this status conferred “only a partial vantage point for observation of the social world under study” (Anderson 2006, p. 381). In spite of this, I anticipate that my work will provide insights for academics and policy makers, and by presenting this research it will also add to the body of knowledge about autoethnography. I will firstly present my autoethnography, secondly I will discuss the analytic autoethnographic research approach (Anderson, 2006) and finally will apply Anderson’s five requirements of an analytic autoethnography in the discussion section.

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Positioning Theory and Strategic Communication: A new approach to public relations research and practice

In strategic communication and public relations, people talk about positioning an idea, a persona... more In strategic communication and public relations, people talk about positioning an idea, a persona, a political ideal, an ideology – but what are they talking about? Why do some positions taken by organizations crystallize in the minds of audiences, while others fail? Whilst positioning is not something new in public relations, this book is the first to explicate what it involves, how it works and how to do it. This is the first in-depth exploration of the possibilities of Positioning Theory for the public relations field and it adds a new perspective to the growing body of multidisciplinary work in this rich theoretical area, moving the discussion away from the traditional communication plans of previous decades, which fail to accommodate the changing media and opinion landscapes. The author pulls together various strands of socio-cultural theory into an analytical framework, providing readers with a tool to analyse the organizational implications of public relations decisions, guid...

Situating a new voice in public relations: The application of positioning theory to research and practice

Media International Australia incorporating Culture and Policy

The role of speech acts in public relations practice, and how they are used by entities to intent... more The role of speech acts in public relations practice, and how they are used by entities to intentionally position themselves and others, are examined through the application of positioning theory. Studies have found that successful positioning is achieved when there is congruence between the position taken or assigned, the speech acts used to enact it, and the storylines used as support. This triad is central to positioning theory, which is a social constructionist approach that defines a position as a cluster of rights and duties that limits the repertoire of possible social acts available to a person or person-like entity (such as an organisation). Examining public relations using positioning theory articulates practices relating to the power to position self and others, and can inform decision making in communication program design. It moves away from organisation/management-centric theory that has dominated the field, and situates public relations firmly in the communication dis...

Would You Like Popcorn with That Download? A Uses and Gratifications Study Into the Motivations of Legal and Illegal Film Consumption

Quarterly Review of Film and Video, 2015

Using Strategic Communication Discourse Processes in Positioning Practice

The Routledge International Handbook of Positioning Theory, 2024

Talking back: Reflecting on feminism, public relations and research

Public Relations Review, 2015

Strategies to proactively manage activity

Not everyone's aboard the online public relations train: The

Autoethnography: The story of applying a conceptual framework for intentional positioning to public relations practice

Public Relations Review, 2012

Driving learning through blogging: students' perceptions of a reading journal blog assessment task| NOVA. The University of Newcastle's Digital Repository

Getting to the heart of public relations: the concept of strategic intent| NOVA. The University of Newcastle's Digital Repository

The Use of Intentional Positioning Techniques in Government Agencies’ Communication Campaigns

The construction of intended meanings: Furthering understanding of the purpose of public relations

A review of the impact of new media on public relations: Challenges for terrain, practice and education

Trialling PR2. 0: an exploratory study of the non-capital city practitioner’s social media use

The Asia Pacific Public Relations Journal is sponsored by, 2011

Trialling PR2. 0: an exploratory study of the non-capital city practitioner’s social media use

The Asia Pacific Public Relations Journal is sponsored by, 2011

Positioning a price on carbon: Applying a proposed hybrid method of

by Deborah Wise and Melanie B James

Public Relations Inquiry, 2013

Autoethnography: the story of “doing a MOOC” or knowing “the beast” from within.

Massive Open Online Courses and Higher Education: Where to Next?Chapter: 6Publisher: AshgateEditors: Bennet, Kent, 2017

Download

Positioning Theory and Strategic Communication: A new approach to public relations research and practice

Situating a new voice in public relations: The application of positioning theory to research and practice

Media International Australia incorporating Culture and Policy

Would You Like Popcorn with That Download? A Uses and Gratifications Study Into the Motivations of Legal and Illegal Film Consumption

Quarterly Review of Film and Video, 2015

Posturing, or Public-spirited? A case study applying Positioning Theory to open communication in Science Diplomacy

by Melanie B James and Deborah Wise

International Communication Association 70th Annual Conference Refereed full papers, 2020

As part of the growth of public diplomacy and soft power, there continues to be a growing need to... more As part of the growth of public diplomacy and soft power, there continues to be a growing need to organise science diplomacy at a level beyond the interests of individual states, particularly to solve global-level issues. Open communication and open science can be seen as part of the global commons that are part of the multilateral system of international relations between states. Nevertheless, in 2019, there still exists a need for a greater understanding of Science Diplomacy (SD) and ownership of scientists' potential role in the governance of the global commons and the operation of public diplomacy. In the absence of an existing conceptual framework for such an undertaking, this paper reports on taking a social constructionist approach and adapts a strategic positioning framework to a SD case study. We examined how SD was discursively constructed in four submissions, submitted to a public call for contributions to inform the 2018 Australian Government White Paper on Foreign Affairs. Our study examined if these actors employed SD discourses in strategically positioning the concept, themselves and others. We found the submissions' authors applied deontic power to self-assign, or assign to others, an array of rights, duties, obligations, requirements and entitlements. In so doing, they proactively self-positioned as SD actors, with a stake (or seeking a stake) in future developments in this area. An array of practices that fostered the concept of 'Diplomacy for Science' were enacted as an intentional positioning strategy with goals ranging from solving global science challenges, through to strategically positioning individual people and organizations for future funding success. Whilst this study is exploratory and small scale, it shows how applying a strategic positioning framework allows for the conceptualization of SD under the wider umbrella of public diplomacy. In so doing, the structures of public diplomacy are made more open, and thus open to critique and discussion, as well as making more transparent the processes by which actors seek to shape those same structures.

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