Internal communication: Definition,parameters, and the future

As an organizational function, internal communication is gaining in importance, meriting a special issue on the topic. This importance is evident in many recent efforts among practitioners in Europe and the US to seek recognition of this field as an independent domain. Scholarship on internal communication has not kept pace with these initiatives. This introduction to the special issue addresses several key issues related to this topic and presents findings from a Delphi study of the leaders of European associations on internal communication. Results of the study are fuzzy: respondents see internal communication as interdisciplinary management function integrating elements of human resources management, communication and marketing, but at the same time they see it primarily as a part of the organization's communication function that is simultaneously managerial and technical. However, they contend that internal communication is an independent research field.     

Paradigm shift of employee communication: The effect of management communication on trusting relationships

Even though normative contention suggests that a favorable organizational climate leads to efficient job performance, empirical research has not addressed the trusting relationship as a variable mediating organizational climate and job satisfaction or performance.Supportive oral communication relates positively to individuals’ perceptions of management's supportiveness and friendliness. Perceived support creates trust that the organization will fulfill its exchange obligations by rewarding employee efforts. The survey results indicated that trusting relationship was positively related to measures of communication management, suggesting that those employees receiving positive communication are more likely to be motivated to form trusting relationships with the management level.     

Managing human resource shortages in a unionized setting: Best practices in air traffic control

Human resource shortages require effective human resource management (HRM). Findings from research about ongoing labor shortages in air traffic control (ATC) are used to build a preliminary theory of appropriate HRM responses. Our international sample of major ATC agencies generally developed a set of best HRM practices to attract, motivate, and retain human assets. Key factors included (1) cultural and institutional norms, (2) technological change, (3) union responses, and (4) organizational form and structure (e.g., civil service versus commercial firms). While ATC’s rare human aptitudes, lengthy training to develop firm-specific human capital, and lifelong employment may limit the preliminary theory’s general applicability, crucial lessons emerge about human resource planning. This research was conducted with the support of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, the Rice Fellowship, the Ziegler Fellowship, and the Center for International Business Studies at the University of Alberta. We are indebted to the individuals interviewed.     

Language as an issue in international internal communication: English or local language? If English,what English?

The present paper discusses internal communication in the global context, with a focus on language as an issue for the organization. Although ‘language’, naturally, is a resource that enables any – internal or other – communication, it has not been examined in public relations research but has been taken for granted or as given. The current pace of globalization in all sectors has rapidly globalized internal communication and the language issue needs to be addressed. On the basis of two empirical studies we discuss language strategy and language use in international internal communication. Our findings show that although a common ‘corporate language’ – which mostly today refers to English – enables internal communication, it is not a straightforward solution but a number of issues need to be considered. For example, as international communication in a business context is today mostly conducted by non-native speakers of English, their language can be characterized as BELF (English as Business Lingua Franca), which differs from ‘standard English’ in many ways. Also, language issues need to be considered for organizational credibility and knowledge sharing and for constructing trust and rapport in international interaction.     

Human resource management,employee engagement,and nonprofit hospital performance

Human resource management (HRM) has been shown to impact organizational performance, but more research is needed on particular human resource (HR) practices in nonprofits and their effect on performance. In this article, we explore one HRM practice argued to influence performance, employee engagement in decision‐making, examining whether involving staff at different levels of a nonprofit affects nonprofit organizational performance. Drawing on data from a 2011 study of nonprofit hospitals, we find employee engagement has a positive influence on managerial and stakeholder perceptions of organizational performance. Employee engagement in decision‐making is also related to objective nonprofit performance measures, although the effects are less consistent. We conclude by discussing the implications of these findings for nonprofit research and practice.     

Growth and resilience of pioneering nonprofit human service organizations: a cross-case analysis of organizational histories

Knowledge of organizational history is important for recognizing patterns in effective management and understanding how organizations respond to internal and external challenges. This cross-case analysis of 12 histories of pioneering nonprofit human service organizations contributes an important longitudinal perspective on organizational history, complementing the cross-sectional case studies that dominate the existing research on nonprofit organizations. The literature on organizational growth, including lifecycle models and growth management, is reviewed, along with the literature on organizational resilience. Based on analysis of the 12 organizational histories, a conceptual model is presented that synthesizes key factors in the areas of leadership, internal operations, and external relations that influence organizational growth and resilience to enable nonprofit organizations to survive and thrive over time. Both cross-sectional and longitudinal examples from the organizational histories illustrate the conceptual map. The paper concludes with a discussion of directions for future research on nonprofit organizational history.     

Getting emotional: An emotion-cognition dual-factor model of crisis communication

The effect of emotional experience on cognitive processes is an under-explored phenomenon in crisis communication research, despite indications of the increasing importance of emotion-based communication in the digital era. Emerging evidence indicates that the emotional experiences of publics play a critical role during organizational crises and determine the degree to which organizations are able to successfully devise communications that help them deal with such crises. Yet no comprehensive, theoretically sound model exists for analyzing how emotions influence the cognitive processing of crisis information. Our study proposes just such a model, capable of describing how cognition and emotion, separately or interactively, influence the publics’ processing of crisis information and consequently their attitudes and behaviors. Our model describes how emotional variables determine whether the publics take a cognition-oriented approach or an emotion-oriented approach to information processing and subsequent formation of interpretations, evaluations, and judgments directed toward organizations. Moreover, our model explains how an emotion-to-cognition assessment of publics’ attitudes is possible and makes a case for how it is critical for predicting and influencing the publics’ behavior during organizational crises. The hope is that this model will aid practitioners and academics in understanding why the publics’ emotions matter during crisis communication as well as how to craft more effective communication strategies as a result. Finally, several avenues for future research are suggested in order to test the validity of our conceptual model in different contexts.     

TECHNICAL AND INSTITUTIONAL STATES: Loose Coupling in the Human Rights Sector of the World Polity

While human rights treaties have become increasingly popular over the past quarter century, there has not been a corresponding improvement in human rights practices. This discrepancy implies that a country's formal pledge to uphold human rights principles is "loosely coupled" from its actual performance. In this study, I develop a model of loose coupling based on organizational research and apply it to the human rights sector of the world polity. Empirically, I identify a set of institutional states whose human rights practices fall short of their treaty commitments, as well as a set of technical states whose practices exceed their commitments. Analyzing an unbalanced data set with a maximum of 755 observations across 167 countries during the 1975 to 2000 period, I use random effects models to predict a state's location on the Human Rights Decoupling Index (HRDI). The findings illustrate the importance of several organizational concepts for predicting a state's HRDI score. In particular, the analyses reveal the countervailing effects of globalization. While economic globalization (i.e., trade and foreign investment) is associated with the technical (positive) end of the HRDI, cultural globalization (i.e., memberships in international organizations) is associated with the institutional (negative) end.     

Advancing nonprofit organizational effectiveness research and theory: Nine theses

Drawing on the general literature on organizational effectiveness, the specialized literature on nonprofit organizational effectiveness, and recent research in the field, this article advances nine theses, or conclusions, about the effectiveness of public benefit charitable, nonprofit organizations (NPOs). NPO effectiveness is (1) always comparative, (2) multidimensional, (3) related to board effectiveness (but how is not clear), (4) related to the use of correct management practices but not in any simple “best practices” way, and (5) a social construction. Furthermore, (6) it is unlikely that there are any universally applicable best practices that can be prescribed for all NPO boards and management, (7) organizational responsiveness is a useful organizational‐level effectiveness measure, (8) distinguishing among types of NPOs is important and useful, and (9) level of analysis makes a difference in researching and understanding effectiveness. The article concludes by considering implications for organizational practice, boards and governance practices, program evaluation, including program outcomes assessment, and capacity building and capacity builders.     

Associations Online: Barriers for Using Web-Based Communication in Voluntary Associations

Despite the high adoption level of Facebook and other social network sites (SNSs) in Norway, local level voluntary associations have not embraced SNSs to the same degree. Regular websites are the main web representation, and information provision is the main function of the associations’ web representations. Using quantitative data on website content and organizational characteristics we have analyzed which factors hinder SNS adoption. The results point to size and complexity of associations and to age-based digital divides among members as important factors for having a profile on a SNS. It seems that a certain numerical point must be reached in terms of organizational and community size, for SNSs to be useful. Also, older members, smaller economy and a low degree of formalization in associations might hamper the implementation of SNSs in associations. Using Norway as a critical case, this article contributes new knowledge about web communication in voluntary organizations, an increasingly important field of research internationally.     

Extending the Bounds of Interpretive Inquiry: Toward a Performance Approach to Organizational Studies

In recent years, interpretive organizational communication scholars have utilized a variety of methodologies in their attempts to study the process of communication occurring within organizations. Underlying each of these assorted methods, however, is the desire to interrogate the meaning and symbols of organizational life. Regardless of their methodological preference, interpretive organizational scholars of all casts seek to understand the symbolic structures that constitute and reflect meanings of the human activity within their individual objects of study. A survey of interpretive organizational literature reveals that, although many contemporary organizational theorists have advocated the study of organizations as sites of cultural enactments, few organizational communication scholars to date have advanced the use of performance through enactment as a methodology for examining organizational activity. This essay seeks to do just that. It asserts that performance, when used in combination with other interpretive methods, is a useful research methodology, which enables researchers and organizational members alike both to know and to show the symbolic structures constituted by and reflected in their actions and practices.     

Extent and sources of occupational stress in university staff

Canadian higher education sector has undergone numerous changes during the past decades. Increased student enrolments, massive cuts in human resources and constant restructuring are changes likely to have had a considerable impact on all employees (e.g., administrative, trades, and faculty). While many studies conducted in different countries have shown that stress in universities is a problem of alarming proportions, to date, no study of the entire staff of a university has been carried out in Canada. This research uses an approach based on the prevention and management of the sources of occupational stress to study 1086 employees of a Quebec university. Data were collected by means of questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. It was found that the proportion of individuals who reported a high level of psychological distress was twice as high (40%) than that reported for a Quebec-wide sample (20%). Work overload, the relationship with one's superior and participation in decision making were systematically reported as high risks to employees' health. It was found that human resources management practices have not followed the rapid organizational changes which affected the university in the past years. The results are discussed in light of the risk management approach.     

A systematic analysis of research applying ‘principles of dialogic communication’ to organizational websites,blogs, and social media: Implications for theory and practice

The purpose of this study was to analyze peer-reviewed research that applied principles of dialogic communication to organizational websites, blogs, and social media. We identified 79 relevant studies and found that 83% reported the results of a content analysis. Only 25% of studies presented a theoretical implication; 75% discussed practical implications. Future research must distinguish between analyzing structural features of web-based organizational communication and studying dialogue. Differences in power and access to resources between organizations and publics should be incorporated into studies seeking to advance a dialogic theory of public relations.     

People Analytics: Datengestützte Mitarbeiterführung als Chance für die OrganisationspsychologiePeople Analytics: an organizational psychology perspective on data-oriented leadership

In times where change is a natural part of our daily corporate reality, global markets push international competition and demographic changes make it difficult to find qualified employees, the “human” as a major factor for organizational success receives raised attention. Companies have a great interest to know and to leverage the causal impact of emotions, needs and behaviors on strategic business areas (e.?g. employee recruiting, employee commitment, customer satisfaction, competitive advantage). With a growing volume and variety of data made available by IT-supported processes and new data sources such as mobile data or corporate social media data, a new field of practice emerges: people analytics. This growing area of data analyses on all kinds of different questions relating to employee issues and leadership in organizations overlaps in many ways with the empirical psychological research of the last decades. People analytics yields a unique chance for organizational psychologists to delve into corporate waters and contribute their expertise to corporate research projects.     

Surviving Mechanisms and Strategies of Gender Equality NGOs in Romania and Poland

What survival strategies, mechanisms and tactics do gender rights activists in Romania and Poland use, in an environment of changing foreign aid? In order to tackle these aspects, the first part of the article analyses the issue of foreign aid and civil society sector in the two countries. In the second part, the analysis focuses on organizational mechanisms and procedures aimed at replacing resources when donors withdraw aid. The last part discusses unintentional positive and negative effects of scarce financial resources on the local and national level and aid reduction from international donors. The article shows that regardless of financial aspects, activists struggle to keep organizations alive, while adopting similar strategies in different cultural and political contexts.     

中东非政府人权组织的特征与挑战

20世纪七十年代末以来,中东地区人权语境逐渐宽松,颁布了各种伊斯兰特色的《人权宣言》,不同层次的人权组织在伊斯兰国家开展活动,这都为中东非政府人权组织的产生提供了理论和组织上的准备。非政府人权组织推动了中东人权观念和人权批判精神的成长,提升了中东各国政府对人权关注程度,并成为国际人权标准内化的重要媒介,缓解了社会内部的对立。"人权依赖综合症"影响到非政府人权组织的特征,人权组织多为社会精英阶层所领导,其活动多限于特定群体和地区。在现代社会,人权组织虽面临诸多挑战,但无疑已成为推动中东政治民主化和人权发展的潜在力量。     

Entering new territory: A study of internal crisis management and crisis communication in organizations

The aim of this paper is to present and discuss some of the main findings from a large survey of internal crisis management and crisis communication conducted in the spring of 2011 among public and private organizations in Denmark (the ICMCC survey). The survey was conducted among the 367 largest private companies (selected from DK 1000, established by Børsen business magasin) and among 98 public organizations (municipalities). The overall goal was to get a preliminary idea of how these companies or organizations perceive, plan, coordinate and implement internal crisis management and crisis communication activities before, during and after a crisis. The survey questionnaire comprised 36 questions and was sent to respondents who typically are responsible for the crisis-preparedness of their organizations. The results from the survey show that the vast majority of organizations have a crisis or contingency plan, and most of these plans contain an internal dimension relating to the management and communication with the internal stakeholders during a crisis. Thus, the study shows a rather professional and formalized behavior towards crisis management in general, but also when it comes to managing a crisis in relation to the internal organizational stakeholders in specific. In addition, the results clearly indicate a strong relation between organizational size and crisis management; the larger the organization the more likely to have a crisis plan. This particularly pertained to the private organizations. The ICMCC survey forms part of a major collaborative research project, financed by the Danish Council for Independent Research/Social Sciences (2011–2014), entitled Internal Crisis Management and Crisis Communication in Danish Organizations. The purpose of this three-year long project is to shed light upon the role of internal crisis management and crisis communication before, during and after an organizational crisis and/or a societal crisis leading to downsizing or major changes within an organization or an organizational field.     

Gray and green?: Stewardship and sustainability in an aging society

The natural environment has been a missing part of the context in public policy forums and educational programs when discussing the implications of an aging society. We believe that stewardship and the sustainability of natural resources should be considered in addition to economics and health care when addressing the themes of well-being and quality of life for future generations. This article presents on overview of the usage of the concept environment in aging studies and presents critically important concepts such as sustainability, stewardship, natural capital, carrying capacity, and ecological footprint in recognizing the relevancy of including the natural environment in discussions about our aging society. Also we propose directions for future research and discuss advocacy and organizational activities related to ecology and aging studies.     

Enhancing Employee Engagement via Leaders’ Motivational Language in times of crisis: Perspectives from the COVID-19 outbreak

By bridging theoretical perspectives from diverse disciplines including public relations, organizational communication, psychology, and management, this study advances a sequential mediation process model that links leaders’ motivational communication—specifically, direction-giving, empathetic, and meaning-making language—to employees’ organizational engagement during times of crisis. The model incorporates employees’ psychological needs satisfaction and their subsequent crisis coping strategies so as to explain the process that underlies the effects of leader communication on employee engagement. We tested the model in a unique yet underexplored crisis context: organizational crises triggered by the global pandemic of COVID-19. The results of an online survey of 490 full-time U.S. employees provide strong support to the model’s predictions. Our research extends internal crisis communication scholarship in public relations by addressing what types of leader communication strategies as well as how these strategies contribute to employee engagement in a holistic fashion. It also advances theoretical development of the motivational language theory, self-determination theory, transactional model of stress and coping, and organizational engagement—the four theoretical bases of our study—in the context of organizational crises. Lastly, the study results provide timely practical insights on effective internal crisis communication.