Hello, can you
hear me?
BACHELOR DEGREE PROJECT
THESIS WITHIN: Business Administration NUMBER OF CREDITS: 15 ECTS
PROGRAMME OF STUDY: Sustainable Enterprise Development AUTHORS: Lucas Andersson & Caroline Sporrong
TUTOR: MaxMikael Wilde Björling JÖNKÖPING Spring 2021
A qualitative study on the internal communication
used by organizations to communicate their
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to acknowledge and thank those who have contributed to the progress and development of this study.
Firstly, we would like to thank and express our gratitude towards our tutor MaxMikael Wilde Björling for always coming with inspiring perspectives and feedback throughout this research process. In addition, we would also like to take the time to thank the students assigned to our
seminar group for their support and helpful feedback.
Secondly, we would like to express our appreciation to our interviewees, who took their time to share their views and stories on the topic, which has given us fruitful knowledge that has
enabled this research.
Thirdly, we would like to express our gratitude towards Anders Melander, director of the thesis project, for providing guidance and information who made this thesis possible.
Lastly, you who are reading this, who have taken your time and efforts to read this thesis and hopefully found it interesting, thank you.
Bachelor Thesis in Business Administration
Title: Hello, can you hear me? A qualitative study on how internal communication is being used to communicate sustainability work within organizations.
Authors: Lucas Andersson & Caroline Sporrong Tutor: MaxMikael Wilde Björling
Date: 18th of May 2021
Key terms: Internal Communication; Employee Engagement; Sustainability Communication; Corporate Sustainability; Communication Channels.
Abstract
Background: Since the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development establishment in 2015, the UN member nations have pressured organizations to improve their sustainability engagements in order to enable the nations to meet their agreed sustainable development goals. To ensure organizational transparency regarding an organization’s sustainability engagements, a regulation regarding financial reporting entered into force in 2016. However, the non-financial reporting is principally external-driven, and the communicated information is not received by the ones realizing these sustainability engagements, namely the internal stakeholders.
Problem: The fact that external communication of an organization’s sustainability engagements improves the consumption from consumers, together with the regulation of non-financial reporting, there is no coincidence that a lot of the sustainability communication from organizations is directed to external stakeholders rather than internal stakeholders. Furthermore, the internal communication of an organization’s sustainability engagements is an insufficiently researched topic, although it is of great importance to foster employee engagement.
Purpose: This study aims to discover how organizations within the food retail industry communicate their sustainability engagements internally throughout the levels of the organization, from top management down to all employee levels.
Method: The research is conducted through a qualitative research design with six semi-structured interviews. The interviewees represented three different levels of two different food retail organizations. Findings were analyzed and compared to previous research within the topic.
Conclusion: Findings show that the examined organizations do communicate their sustainability engagements to their internal stakeholders. However, this communication is done through communication channels where the actual information is not received by its intended receivers. This results in internal stakeholders being unaware of their organization’s sustainability engagements. Since awareness is a prerequisite for engagement, preferred communication channels from the receiver’s perspective and an organizational structure that enables top management to reach its intended receiver are identified as vital components to engage the internal stakeholders with its organization’s sustainability engagements.
Table of Content
1. Introduction ... 5
1.1 Background ... 5
1.1.1 The Background Behind Organizational Sustainability... 5
1.1.2 Internal Communication and Employee Engagement ... 6
1.1.3 Food Retail Industry... 7
1.2 Problem Formulation ... 7
1.3 Purpose ... 9
1.4 Delimitations and Definitions ... 10
2. Frame of Reference ... 12
2.1 Method for Frame of Reference ... 12
2.2 Definition of Sustainability ... 12
2.2.1 Corporate Sustainability ... 13
2.3 Internal Communication ... 14
2.3.1 Internal Corporate Communication Dimension ... 16
2.3.2 Employee Engagement ... 18
2.4 Communication model – The Linear Model ... 19
2.5 Communication Channels ... 21
2.6 Strategic Communication ... 23
2.6.1 Effective Internal Sustainability Communication ... 24
3. Methodology and Method ... 26
3.1 Methodology ... 26 3.1.1 Research Paradigm ... 26 3.1.2 Research Approach ... 27 3.1.3 Research Design ... 28 3.2 Method ... 28 3.2.1 Data Collection ... 28 3.2.2 Sampling method ... 29 3.2.3 Interview Design ... 30 3.2.4 Data Analysis ... 31
3.3 Ethics and Data Quality ... 32
3.3.1 Credibility ... 33
3.3.2 Dependability ... 33
3.3.3 Transferability ... 33
3.3.4 Confirmability ... 34
4. Empirical Findings and Analysis ... 35
4.1 Organizational Communication ... 35
4.1.1 Communication Channels ... 38
4.1.2 Communication of Sustainability... 42
4.2 Organizational Structure ... 47
4.2.1 Power of Top Management ... 47
4.2.2 Employee Sustainability Engagement ... 51
6. Discussion ... 55 6.1 Limitations ... 55 6.2 Practical Implications... 56 6.3 Theoretical Contribution ... 56 6.4 Future Research ... 57 Reference List ... 58 Appendices ... 64
Appendix 1: Questionnaire Top Management ... 64
Appendix 2: Questionnaire Supervisor ... 65
Appendix 3: Questionnaire Employee ... 66
Appendix 4: Operationalization Table ... 67
Appendix 5: Initial Codes Emerging to Themes ... 68
1. Introduction
___________________________________________________________________________ This chapter will introduce the concepts behind communication and sustainability reporting. Furthermore, the problem formulation and the purpose will be presented in order to understand the implications of the research questions. Lastly, delimitations and definitions will be provided for clarity.
___________________________________________________________________________
1.1 Background
1.1.1 The Background Behind Organizational Sustainability
In September 2015, at the United Nations headquarter, an agenda with global action initiatives for people, planet, and prosperity was established. During the 2015 convention, an agenda regarding sustainable development, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, was agreed upon by all UN member countries. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development includes 17 Sustainable Development Goals with 169 sub-targets with the objective of transitioning to a sustainable world (United Nations, n.d.). 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is a multilateralism action from all the worldwide nations to allied; promote prosperity for all human beings, protect the environment, tackle climate change along with other societal challenges such as quality education, reduced inequality, and resilient infrastructure, and sustainable economic growth (United Nations, 2015). For UN members to be able to meet the agreed goals, an organization’s operation is of great importance. An example that proves the organization’s part of the societal sustainable transition is the European Parliament and of the Council directive (2014/95/EU) issued in 2014, which included requirements of more transparency for an organization’s non-financial information. Hence to the European Union directive, the Swedish government has established certain requirements which state that any Swedish organization that meets more than one of the following criteria is obliged to do a sustainability report. These criteria are; exceeds 250 employees within the financial year or balance sheet value have, each of the last two years, exceeds 175 million SEK or its net sales, each of the last two years exceeds 350 million SEK (Prop. 2015/16:193).
Furthermore, the sustainability report is developed to raise the organization’s transparency and its societal commitment to its stakeholders. In the business world, the communication of an organization’s impact and contribution to a sustainable transition is a crucial factor for a stakeholder’s interaction with an organization (Nitti, 2020). This given, the sustainability report may be seen as a communication tool since Heide, Johansson, and Simonsson (2012) describes communication as a process where there is a message to be transferred between a sender and a receiver. Therefore, in the case of sustainability reports, it is seen as an organization’s communication channel with the message of their sustainability performance to their receivers, which are their stakeholders.
1.1.2 Internal Communication and Employee Engagement
One of the most fundamental and important components for an organization to achieve with is its internal communication (de Vries, Rowson &Vasse, 2020). de Vries et al., (2020) further describes internal communication as the component that holds the organization’s employees together by using internal activities that are similar to the components of external communication, with the distinction that an external communication process is the interaction between the organization and the external parties which may be seen as “guests” to the organization (Lings, 2004). In addition, internal communication is done to establish motivation and engagement amongst the employees and the well-being, which in turn may lead to higher customer satisfaction (Reilly & Larya, 2018). This given, it is seen to be of high relevance to invest in internal communication tools (de Vries et al., 2020).
According to de Vries et al., (2020), an organization that is determined to establish an open communication culture, will attract and develop engaged employees that in turn will put in efforts beyond the requirements in order to contribute to the organization. Furthermore, Mishra, Boynton, and Mishra (2014) state the importance of employee engagement since this includes the positive promotion of the organization from their employees, and results in employees often staying within the organization. Internal communication that is based on strong organizational values, often identifies key employees and transforms them into value-adding employees who are aligned and strives to reach the organization’s vision and mission. This, in turn, will lead to increased productivity and collaboration, which may increase profitability (Stegaroiu & Talal, 2014). Heide et al., (2012) state that, within the term of internal communication, the choice and usage of communication channels is of utmost importance to reach the objectives and the vision of the organization.
Stegaroiu and Talal (2014) highlight that organizations often have an extensive focus on the strategic role that external communication plays in the form of advertising and commercialization. However, there is often less emphasis on the strategic role that internal communication can have. As an organization consists of different individuals of different generations and cultures, it is of great importance to emphasize that everyone has their own preferred preference on how to communicate through different channels (Stegaroiu & Talal, 2014). When looking at internal communication as a strategic tool, the aim is to enable organizations to create a united culture and the factor that is the foundation for the organizational ability to function effectively and is therefore of great importance for an organization to focus on (Stegaroiu & Talal, 2014). Even though specific communication activities, such as administrative and organizational functioning or commercialization of products, may have different purposes, they communicate how to achieve their mission, which is the core for strategic communication (Hallahan, Holtzhausen, van Rules, Verčič & Sriramesh, 2007).
1.1.3 Food Retail Industry
One sector of importance when looking at business societal impact is the organizations operating in the food retail industry. The food retailing industry operates within the food industry, which is one of the most water-demanding industries and one of the sectors that contributes the most to the total environmental impact with approximately 20-25% (Naturvårdsverket, 2020). For organizations to be able to meet their goals, one of the most important conditions is that the whole organization is engaged with the sustainability engagements. Therefore, one useful technique is to make an organization's vision and values permeate through its internal communication.
1.2 Problem Formulation
According to Moore, Mascarenhas, Bain, and Straus (2017), sustainability is defined as capabilities being maintained in order to provide benefits to individuals and systems after a definite period of time. Further, implementing regulations concerning more extensive and greener requirements is frequently communicated to Swedish organizations to improve their sustainability work (Prop. 2019/20:188). Therefore, organizations covered by the proposition (Prop. 2015/16:193) must communicate their sustainable performance to be accessible for the external audience. According to Uusi-Rauva and Nurkka (2010), a lot of the research
emphasizes the external communication of an organization’s sustainable engagements, in the form of sustainability reporting. Landrum and Ohsowski (2018) further validate this in their study and elucidate sustainability reporting as a “feel good” message ensuring organizational operation complies with the regulations and exhibits beneficial results from their sustainable engagement to their external stakeholders. Furthermore, Reilly and Larya (2018) acknowledge in their research that external communication is much more extensively used to communicate the sustainability performance to the stakeholders outside of the organization, rather than internal communication is being used to communicate the sustainability performance to the parties within the organization. The fact that organizations put great emphasis on external communication of their sustainable work is not strange since studies indicate that increased communication of an organization's sustainability performance promotes both the judgment of the organization from editors, as well as, consumption from consumers (Dawkins, 2004). However, Dawkins (2004) further highlights that the internal communication of an organization’s sustainability work is the base for external communication.
Genc (2017) highlights the significance of both internal and external communication in sustainable strategies. While lack of external communication results in a loss in sales since sustainability is a growing trend in society, Genc (2017) further states that organizations that provide inadequate internal communication hinder the sustainable change of the organizations. According to Verčič and Vokic´ (2017), as well as Brunton, Eweje and Taskin (2017), there is insufficient research regarding internal communication of the organization’s sustainability work. This is considered to be worrying since it is acknowledged that internal communication is a key link for the organization to engage its employees with the organizational values and objectives.
From a strategic point of view, internal communication is of great importance, as the internal stakeholders are seen as representatives of the organization and have the power to affect the outcomes for the organization (Heide et al., 2012). Heide et al., (2012) further argue the importance of internal communication as it enables all the internal stakeholders of the organization to gain knowledge and to be involved in the organization's mission and vision. Whereas it is the organizational management and the leaders who are responsible for the message being properly communicated through the appropriate channels. Furthermore, communication which is characterized by a two-way dialogue, enables management and
employees of the organization to share the information, which in turn will result in organizational engagement (Verčič & Vokic´, 2017).
Brunton et al., (2017) argue for the importance of internal communication of an organization’s sustainability work in order to achieve the societal ethical expectations and walking the walk rather than just talking the talk. Furthermore, communication of sustainability engagement is of high importance. The communication strategy of an organization’s sustainability work must emphasize more on internal stakeholders in order to fulfill the organizational sustainability commitments (Brunton et al., 2017). There is an importance of having a communication strategy that includes the employees with the initiatives, which is essential for a permeated and functioning organizational culture (Stegaroiu & Talal, 2014). Given this problem formulation, the authors of this study will further examine the current process of an organization’s internal communication of their sustainability engagements.
1.3 Purpose
Internal communication has an important role within an organization in terms of uniting all the internal stakeholders to be aligned with the work of the organization. The study explores how internal communication is used for organizations to enable a permeated sustainability engagement. Additionally, this study will suggest how internal communication can be strategically used to enable more organizational transparency and a permeated sustainability engagement throughout the whole organization. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to discover how an organization communicates its sustainability engagements internally, from top management down to all employee levels. To enable the purpose, the following research questions will be answered:
RQ1: How do organizations use internal communication in order to communicate their sustainability engagements to their internal stakeholders?
RQ2: How can internal communication be strategically used to engage internal stakeholders with the organization’s sustainability engagements?
1.4 Delimitations and Definitions
The study will examine how sustainability engagements are being communicated internally from the perspective of organizations within the food retailing, who work actively with sustainability and report their sustainability engagements. Organizations within the food retail industry will be examined as it is an industry that affects societies by their operating activities and works actively for sustainability. Therefore, it is of interest to examine how their sustainability engagements are being permeated and communicated internally within the organization. The study has an emphasis on an organization’s stakeholders and will distinguish two kinds of stakeholders, external stakeholders and internal stakeholders. When referring to customers, suppliers, and investors, these will be stated as external stakeholders. When referring to all employees within the organization, this will be stated as internal stakeholders or all levels of employees. However, in chapter 4 and forward, the different internal stakeholders are divided. This means that when referring to the store employees, this is referred to employees, and when meaning all employees within the organization, this is referred to as internal stakeholders. Furthermore, when referring to sustainability engagement, this refers to an organization’s practical sustainability implementations and the organization’s sustainability mission and vision.
Table 1. Definition list
Internal communication is the processes used for effective flow of information to the stakeholders within an
organization (Verčič, Verčič & Sriramesh, 2012). Typical internal communication channels are intranet, emails and meetings.
External communication is the processes used for flow of information to stakeholders outside of the organization (Heide et al., 2012). Typical external communication channels are advertising, conferences and engagements. After a defined period of time, the capabilities are maintained to be delivered and produce benefits for individuals and systems (Moore et al., 2017).
A publication emphasizing on the organizations societal influence on the environment, social conditions, human rights, and anti-corruption (Svenskt Näringsliv, n.d). Swedish organizations covered by (Prop. 2015/16:193) are obliged to establish a sustainability report.
Employees that are well aware of the purpose of the organization and feel passionate and committed to fulfil its objectives (Bhuvanaiah & Raya, 2014).
“The extent to which a stakeholder perceives an
organization provides learning opportunities about itself”
(Parris, Dapko, Arnold & Arnold, 2016, pp.233)
Any individual or group that have interest or may affect the organizations performance (Hult, Mena, Ferrell & Ferrell, 2011).
2. Frame of Reference
__________________________________________________________________________________________
This chapter provides a deeper understanding and explanation of the subject of internal communication. Furthermore, this chapter examines multiple subcategories within the field of internal communication and additional fields that enable effective internal communication. Concludingly, the purpose of this chapter is to gain a deeper understanding of the field of study and to gain knowledge from previous research.
___________________________________________________________________________
2.1 Method for Frame of Reference
In order to find literature and research within the field of internal communication, Jönköping University’s library search engine Primo search together with Google Scholar were used to gather peer-reviewed articles and journals of relevance for this study. By using the keywords: internal communication, employee engagement, sustainability communication, corporate sustainability, organizational sustainability, effective communication and communication channels search engines generated literature of relevance within the topic. The majority of the chosen literature was written between the years 2006 and 2021. Some literature that has been chosen is older than the set time frame, this includes some fundamental models to the topic and is considered to be of relevance for the study. The authors have considered the obsolescence with these aged sources and have complemented and supported these models with more recent literature. Furthermore, the number of citations and whether the literature has been academically peer-reviewed were used as indicators to determine the quality of the identified literature.
2.2 Definition of Sustainability
The concerns for environmental degradation emerged in the 1960s and led to the UN conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm 1972. This was the first international convention regarding the environment and is considered as the “birth” of the sustainable development phase. At the UN conference in Stockholm, the priority of a sustainable environment, to the same extent as human development and peace, was established by the 113 nations represented (Andrews & Granath, 2012). However, Andrews and Granath (2012) explain that the definition of sustainable development was internationally communicated for the first time in 1987 in the Our Common Future report (World Commission on Environment and development, 1987). The concluded definition of sustainable development is “development that ensures that it meets the
needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (World Commission on Environment and Development, 1987). Although the term sustainable development is a commonly used and generally accepted term, Moore et al., (2017) argued that the definition of sustainability is inadequate and differentiates in its use. After examining 200 different studies with 24 various definitions of sustainability, Moore et al., (2017) established that sustainability defines capabilities that are maintained to be delivered and produced benefits for individuals and systems after a defined period of time. Continuing, Ukko, Saunila, Rantala, and Havukaninen (2018) demonstrates the concept of sustainable development from a triple bottom line perspective. The authors state that in order to develop sustainability, the development should simultaneously satisfy all the three pillars in the triple bottom line; environmental, social, and economic. The environmental pillar involves the environmental life-support that is vital for humanity and emphasizes that the development should be within planet earth’s planetary boundaries. The social pillar engages in more societal challenges related to the people’s sense of safety, education, health, and other social aspects. Finally, the economic pillar focus covers the traditional development measure, namely the maintenance of capital, business creation, and financial profits (Ukko et al., 2018). The importance of involving the sustainability concept when developing societies is acknowledged in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (United Nations, n.d.).
2.2.1 Corporate Sustainability
Montiel and Delgado-Ceballos (2014) state that corporate sustainability originates from the Our Common Future report (World Commission on Environment and development, 1987) and is highly linked to the definition of sustainable development since it emphasizes the importance of long-term thinking. Furthermore, Montiel and Delgado-Ceballos (2014) describe corporate sustainability as an interlinked approach of the economic, social, and ecological systems in its organizational operation. Organizations whose operations engage with the three pillars in the triple bottom line and recognize that the economic pillar is located within the social pillar, which in turn is located in the even larger environmental pillar, attain corporate sustainability (Mointiel, 2008). The exemplary sustainable organization designs their business model to not reduce the earth's natural resources faster than they are renewed by regeneration of natural resources or recycling (Montiel & Delgado-Ceballos, 2014). Landrum (2018) defines corporate sustainability as being an embedded systematic approach by organizations that create, rather than destroy, natural, the social, and economic capital. Furthermore, the embeddedness of sustainability engagements determines whether the organization operates on a strong level of
sustainability or a weak level of sustainability (Landrum, 2018). The importance of embeddedness is validated by Le Roux and Pretorius (2016), who state that the basis for corporate sustainability is the embeddedness of sustainability into the whole process of the organization’s value creation. Therefore, an organization has to realize sustainability within all its core processes and organizational objectives to facilitate sustainability embeddedness (Le Roux & Pretorius, 2016). This given, sustainability should be permeated at every level of the organization’s operations and in the mindset of all the employees (Le Roux & Pretorius, 2016). Continuing, Mointiel (2008) highlights that the term corporate sustainability differs from the term corporate social responsibility in one context, namely that the corporate social responsibility recognizes the triple bottom line as three independent pillars while corporate sustainability emphasizes a system connectedness within the three pillars.
However, for the organization to attain a sustainable balance of the three pillars, ten different criteria are of high significance: value creation for all stakeholders, shareholder value, customer relationships, ethical business practices, job creation, economic growth, product quality, decent work conditions, organizational reputation and prestige (Montiel & Delgado-Ceballos, 2014). Furthermore, organizations covered by Prop. 2015/16:193 are required to provide a sustainability report that displays an organization’s social, environmental, and economic performance. Nitti (2020) states that an organization’s societal impact and its sustainability inclusions is decisive for stakeholders’ involvement with the organization.
2.3 Internal Communication
The informal description of internal communication is that it concerns the organization’s communication with its employees with the mission to align the employees with the organization’s objectives (Verčič, Verčič, & Sriramesh, 2012). Welch and Jackson (2007) explain internal communication as the communication of the organization’s processes and is used to mediate a description of the organization. Continuing, internal communication involves strategic management of the interactions between all internal stakeholders at all levels of the organization. There is a discussion concerning the necessity of distinguishing whether the communication processes are internal or external. Further, there is an argument that the distinction between internal and external communication is meaningless since when the internally communicated message is shared at home or anywhere outside of the organization, it is no longer considered to be classified as internal communication. At the same time, external
communication is highly associated with public relations, marketing, and support management which undoubtedly differentiate from the attributes of internal communication (Welch & Jackson, 2007).
Internal communication enables the relationships between the employees operating in various divisions (Verčič & Vokic´, 2017). The primary objective of internal communication is the efficient distribution of information to all its intended receivers (Verčič et al., 2012), but some other objectives of internal communication include cognizance of change and its impact (Welch & Jackson, 2007). Therefore, it is necessary that internal communication is designed to develop an understanding of the organization’s required adaptiveness to a changing environment. Because employees without an understanding of the implemented strategic changes cannot be engaged with these changes or the organization implementing them (Welch & Jackson, 2007). The importance of internal communication is justified by Verčič et al., (2012) and de Vries et al., (2020), who demonstrate that internal communication encourages employee loyalty for the top-management decisions in an organization’s strategic transformations. Furthermore, Verčič and Vokic´ (2017) emphasize that high-level employee engagement is a great strategy for organizations to achieve competitive advantage since it is both characterized by high-level performance and is difficult to imitate by competitors.
Verčič and Vokic´ (2017) argue in their study that an organization’s internal communication regulates whether the employees feel an engagement or disengagement for the organization. Internal communication positively influences employee engagement since it includes the communication and involvement of organizational objectives, innovative communication, feedback, and information sharing, leading to engaged employees (Verčič & Vokic´, 2017). Mishra et al., (2014) further state the evidence in the positive relation between employee engagement and the organization’s internal communication. This given, internal communication is considered to be vital for the organization’s daily operations (Mishra et al., 2014). Further validation is presented by Verčič et al., (2012), who argues that greater motivation, loyalty, and employee engagement are positive effects from internal communication, which contributes to higher productivity, more innovations, and reduced cost.
This positive relationship between orderly internal communication and employee engagement continuously improves each other. At the same time, disordered internal communication has a contradictory influence and worsens the engagement of the employees, according to Verčič and
Vokic´ (2017). de Vries et al., (2020) further explain the importance of communication since it engages the employees, which in turn fosters higher-level performance and overall well-being in the workforce. Furthermore, well-performed internal communication is explained as the foundation to enable a permeated comprehension of the organization’s objectives, strategy, and vision, promoting an appreciation of the individual’s contribution to its organization and enhancing employee engagement (de Vries et al., 2020).
Welch and Jackson (2007) state that two-way communication is one of the characteristics to obtain an excellent level of communication within an organization. Continuing, Talal and Stegaroiu (2014) as well argue that in most cases, the preferred communication channel is face-to-face communication, as this often enables the message from the messenger to be understood correctly by the receiver. However, in large organizations characterized by multiple organizational levels, face-to-face communication may be difficult to execute, and therefore a choice of a technological communication channel may be more convenient (Talal & Segaroiu, 2014). Welch and Jackson’s (2017) study explain that internal communication, which only includes face-to-face dialogues, is argued to be unrealistic, and therefore a one-way communication from top management down to employees is required. The study by Welch and Jackson (2007) further states that although the symmetry from a two-way communication is distant in large corporations, internal communication is considered symmetrical if the message being communicated satisfies what the employee requires to know rather than what the top management needs to communicate. However, choosing the right internal communication channel or the right mix of channels is seen as a challenging task as it has to be adopted to fit both the messengers’ and the receivers’ preferences so that it enables the message of being communicated correctly and effectively (Talal & Stegaroiu, 2014). Continuing, Verčič and Vokic´ (2017) highlight the importance of top management’s role in the communication process and consider it to be vital in the development, or the maintenance, of engaged employees. Findings by Mishra et al., (2014) validates this and suggest exploring the most appropriate and preferred channel for the receiver, in this case, the employees, since top management has several channels to use when communicating their message.
2.3.1 Internal Corporate Communication Dimension
Welch and Jackson (2007) conducted a study concerning the different dimensions of internal communication within an organization. Four different dimensions including the internal stakeholders’ involvement in different organizational levels, as well as the direction of the
communication and the communicated content were identified by Welch and Jackson (2007). Firstly, the internal line management communication is a two-way communication related to employee’s role and team updates between the line managers and the employees. Secondly, the internal team peer communication includes two-way discussion between the colleagues in a particular team. Thirdly, the internal project peer communication concerns a two-way communication of the project’s objectives and issues and involves the colleagues of the project group. Fourth, the internal corporate communication is a one-way communication from the top management, also known as strategic managers, down to employees and includes the organizational objectives, developments and achievements, as well as organizational issues (Welch & Jackson, 2007). The fourth and last-mentioned dimension is of high relevance in this paper and will be further and more comprehensively examined.
The process of Internal corporate communication matrix (see figure 1 below) developed by Welch and Jackson (2007) displays the fourth dimension, internal corporate communication. The communication matrix is designed to improve the internal stakeholders’ engagement and belonging as well as increment the understanding of the organization’s purpose from a top management perspective. The four arrows carried out from the circle in the middle of the matrix constitutes the communicated message and the marks in the arrows demonstrate the internal corporate communication objectives. Furthermore, the dotted line designates the internal environment where all internal stakeholders are included. However, it is necessary that the internal environment is aware of the strategic changes the organization adopts in order to adapt to changes in the external environment, since employees with understanding of the strategic objectives result in greater commitment from the employee (Welch & Jackson, 2007). The fourth dimension includes the communication from top management to its internal stakeholders and researchers highlight that clear, frequent and coherent communication is of great importance in developing employee engagement. However, Welch and Jackson (2007) acknowledge that other scholars may criticize the matrix for being a one-way communication since a two-way communication process is of significance in order to perform advantageous internal communication.
Figure 1. The Internal Corporate Communication Matrix (Welch & Jackson, 2007)
2.3.2 Employee Engagement
Bhuvanaiah and Raya (2014) argue that employee engagement is an energy utilizer and further explains that organizations who achieve a high level of employee engagement have employees that are recognizing the purpose of the organization and feel committed and passionate to reach the organizational objectives. Some employee characteristics associated with employee engagement are adaptability, proactivity, persistence and significant performance to achieve objectives (Bhuvanaiah & Raya, 2014). This definition is validated by Mishra et al., (2014), who explain in their study that an employee that is committed to the organization and its objectives defines employee engagement. Their study continues to explain the term employee engagement as employees promoting the organization, continue to work in the organization, and help the organization to attain its objectives by consistently improving their efficiency and performance (Mishra et al., 2014). The study by Mishra et al., (2014) further highlights that engaged employees have a higher likelihood of establishing successful relationships with internal and external stakeholders, thus showing engagement. Bhuvaniah and Raya’s (2014) study points out that engaged employees obtain a significant focus in their work that improves their contribution to achieve the organization’s objectives.
Furthermore, internal communication is heavily supported by previous research as being vital for an organization to establish employee engagement (Mishra et al., 2014). According to Verčič and Vokic´ (2017), organizations that embrace high-quality internal communication are four times more likely to obtain highly engaged employees. Bhuvaniah and Raya (2014) further acknowledge the positive effect between internal communication and employee engagement. Continuing, findings from the study demonstrate that provision of information to the organization’s employees contributes to higher engagement (Bhuvanaiah & Raya, 2014). Verčič and Vokic´ (2017) state that an organization’s internal communication forwards the employees’ organizational values and objectives, which influence whether an employee feels engaged or disengaged to its employer.
2.4 Communication model – The Linear Model
Shannon and Weaver (1949) presented a communication model (see figure 2 below) that linearly displayed the process of communication, initiated with a message from the
information source until the message reaches its destination. The linear model starts from the information source, which can be an organization or an individual, who selects a combination of symbols that creates a message through a transmitter that modifies and encodes the
message to a signal which then is sent to its receiver through a communication channel. The receiver then decodes the modified signal into a message again to reach its destination (Shannon & Weaver, 1949). Shannon and Weaver (1949) further state that during the transmitter phase there may be added noises, in the form of distortions or errors that change the intended message. Although the linear model is simple and straightforward, the quality of the connections that transfer the message from the information source to its destination is crucial for the success of the communication process (Fill & Turnbull, 2016). However, three different communications problems are discussed, these are technical-, semantic- and
effectiveness problems (Shannon & Weaver, 1949). The technical problem emphasizes the accuracy of the symbols going through the transmitter phase in the communication process. The semantic problem concerns the question of whether the message from the information source is received by the destination remaining its intended meaning. Lastly, the effectiveness problem relates to whether the communicated message from the information source leads to the intended conduct by the receiver (Shannon & Weaver, 1949).
Figure 2. The Linear Model (Shannon & Weaver, 1949)
Furthermore, the model by Shannon and Weaver (1949) has been criticized for not including a
feedback loop in the communication process (Fiske, 2010). The concept “feedback” applies to
the receiver’s reaction or response to the message from its information source (Fiske, 2010). In human communication, the feedback process assists the sender to adjust its message so it meets the receiver’s preferred quality (Fiske, 2010). However, the communication channel determines the level of feedback returned to the sender. For example, in face-to-face communication, the sender has both ears and eyes available in their intake of feedback, while in communication through phone, exclusively hearing designates the intake of feedback (Fiske, 2010). The significance of including a feedback loop in the communication process is demonstrated in the developed version of the linear model (see figure 3)(Larsson, 2014; Fiske, 2010).
Figure 3. Developed version of The Linear Model - Feedback loop (Larsson, 2014)
Another setting of importance that the linear model by Shannon and Weaver (1949), as well as the developed version (Larsson, 2014), is missing in the realm of understanding (see figure 4) (Fill & Turnbull, 2016). The realm of understanding (e.g., perceptions, behavior, and experience) emphasizes the significance of a communication process in which the sender and receiver successfully understand each other (Fill & Turnbull, 2016). It is stated that the possibility of achieving effective communication is appreciably higher when there is a realm of understanding between both parties in the communication process (Fill & Turnbull, 2016). Furthermore, Fill and Turnbull (2016) highlight that the better the organization understands the
receiver, the better they can design the communicated message to be decoded and understood by its receiver in a way that reflects the source intentions.
Figure 4. Developed version of The linear Model - Realm of understanding (Fill & Turnbull, 2016).
2.5 Communication Channels
In a modern and constantly changing world, the employees of an organization are of importance when it comes to an organization’s strategic choices (Men, 2014). Men (2014) highlight the importance of identifying the employees’ preferred communication channel to receive a message. This is something that the findings of Stephens, Barrett, and Mahometa’s (2013) research confirms, as they suggest that there needs to be an emphasis on people’s different preferences on channels, as every individual has their own preferred channel. Welch and Jackson (2007) argue for the importance of having effective internal communication in order to have an organization that runs successful operations and development. Senior management can use internal communication channels such as intranet, presentations, e-mails, and newsletters, where they can control the chosen channel, message, and the delivery of the message, and this “controlled” content may be used as resources of strategic importance (Welch & Jackson, 2007).
Men (2014) acknowledges that employees often prefer face-to-face communication. However, there is strong support for e-mail as a communication channel as well amongst the employees.
Rhoads (2010) has similar reasoning, where he discusses that face-to-face communication is used in many operating activities within an organization, as it is identified as a method that may be seen as superior compared to other channels. However, Rhoads (2010) also acknowledges that channels that are computer-based also play an important role for organizations that want to enable a learning and a collaborative environment. Wright (2016) supports Men’s (2014) and Rhoads’s (2010) reasoning and highlights that members of an organization often prefer to have personal contact with their immediate supervisor, as they are often a person that they trust.
In the past decade, the internet and digitization have changed the way organizations communicate overall, nevertheless internally. Computer-based channels are expected to increase in the context of internal communication, due to the fact that it is an appropriate channel in a globalized world with many travels and business contacts all over the world. Computer-based channels also have large support from younger generations who are brought up with a culture highly permeated by technology-based mediums (Rhoads, 2010). However, according to Kovaitė, Šūmakaris, and Stankevičienė (2020), an increase in digital communication channels makes communication further decentralized. Kovaitė et al., (2020) also highlight that the digitalization of communication has enabled people to be available to answer and provide feedback at any time, which has developed a two-way communication. Men (2014) argues that even though e-mails may be a beneficial and efficient tool of communication in organizations, they may lack information richness and the ability to communicate urgency and persuasion. This reasoning is something that Stephens’ et al., (2013) research confirms, since when the respondents received a message through a channel of symmetrical characters, such as a phone call or a face-to-face meeting, the sense of urgency of the message is higher compared to the sense of urgency through a channel of asymmetrical characters, such as e-mail or a text message. A choice of symmetrical character enables the respondent to answer and ask questions faster compared to a channel of asymmetrical character (Stephens et al., 2013). However, Wright (2016) also discusses that there is uncertainty and a risk by solemnly using symmetrical channels of communication, and therefore suggests that there is no perfect model for conducting internal communication.
Kovaitė et al., (2020) support Wright’s (2016) discussion and agree with the effectiveness of physical communication channels, but further argue for the complementary importance of incorporating digital communication channels as well. However, Kovaitė et al., (2020) highlight that different communication channels of digital nature are more or less effective
depending on which stage of development and change the organization is currently in. Organizations who are able to customize their communication channels may be better able to design messages that capture the essence of urgency and may be seen as a strategic tool as well (Stephens et al., 2013). Wright (2016) states his concern regarding the choice of solemnly using channels of symmetrical character, and therefore a choice of redundant communication could be one possible reaction to the issue. Redundant communication is defined as “sending the same message to the same recipient through two or more unique media sequentially” (Leonardi, Neeley, and Gerber, 2012, pp. 98). It is suggested that managers who engage themselves in sending a message through different types of channels, redundant communication, do it based on two reasons, either as a strategic tool or to add more weight to the message (Leonardi et al., 2012).
2.6 Strategic Communication
Ruck, Welch, and Menara (2017) suggest that internal communication can be used to maximize organization’s strategic impact, as internal communication may increase activities such as coaching from the management side, that in turn enables their employees to have a willingness to listen and to give suggestions of improvement. Within communication, there is often a distinction between symmetrical and asymmetrical communication. Symmetrical communication is characterized by having a view on communication as open and employee-funded and by horizontal communication. This means that symmetrical information is a two-way communication approach, where the focus is to have an effective dialogue and open discussion between top management and employees. Asymmetrical communication is more commonly used in a context where top management aims to control their employees and their behavior, by having a communication approach that is characterized as a top-down communication method (Men, 2014). Welch and Jackson (2007) further acknowledge that it is the strategic managers (e.g., top management) that have the responsibility to use internal communication as a tool to engage employees and set the organization’s objectives.
Men (2014) further highlight that leaders that lead with openness, empowerment, and interaction often use symmetrical communication, where transformational leaders are more open to listen to their employees’ feedback. Men (2014) therefore identify transformational leadership as a leadership style that emphasizes symmetric communication and enables employees to state their impressions and feelings, which may lead to employee satisfaction and engagement towards the organization. Furthermore, Men (2014) suggest that if an organization
wants to enable transformational leadership amongst their leaders on different levels of the organization, the organization needs to provide appropriate information regarding their goals and values, but also the right training on how to be a transformational leader. Men (2014) claims that if transformational leadership is being achieved, there is a great chance that they also will achieve with their internal communication that will accomplish a strategic purpose as well.
2.6.1 Effective Internal Sustainability Communication
Barret (2002) stresses the importance of organizations realizing that any organizational changes are impossible without effective internal communication and describes it as the glue between top management and employees. In other words, the glue holding the whole organization together (Barret, 2002). This is also suggested by Young (2018), who argues that effective internal communication in organizational changes minimizes the employees’ uncertainty and ambiguity since it will eliminate the gap between top management and employees. Employees should be considered as a strategic division that the organization will keep well informed since non-informed employees will foster confusion and spread rumors that damage the organization. This given, understanding the employees, especially employees’ communication behavior, is of significant importance in effective internal communication for organizational change (Young, 2018). When talking about organizations’ sustainability performance, employees are, according to Uusi-Rauva and Nurkka (2010) key targets in an organization’s sustainability communication since external stakeholders consider employees to be a credible source for ensuring sincere activities by the organization. Uusi-Rauva and Nurkka (2010) further suggest that sustainability communication should originate with the employees so that it ensures their commitment.
To ensure employee commitment, the organization must explore the preferred communication channels from an employee’s perspective (Uusi-Rauva & Nurkka, 2010). Barret’s (2002) research validates this and states that although effective internal communication uses all available channels to communicate to its employees, direct face-to-face communication is suggested over indirect electronic media communication. It is also stated that employees should not be considered as a single party where all employees are communicated with the same information without any exclusion of non-relevant information for their working tasks. This given, Uusi-Rauva and Nurkka (2010) highlight the significance to structure the communicated sustainability message so that it is of relevance for the specific employee and their working
tasks, for example, what the specific employee does or can do to improve the organization’s sustainability performance.
Effective internal communication is of significance to organizational performance. However, for internal communication to be effective, it must be “meaningful” and accomplish two main objectives fostering “meaning”. Firstly, internal communication should inform and educate employees at all organizational levels. Secondly, it should also motivate and position the employees, so they support the organizational strategy and objectives (Barret, 2002). Delivering meaning in an organization’s internal communication with the previous two objectives, deepens the characteristics of internal communication with five more objectives for effective internal communication. Firstly, the communicated message should be a clear and distinct message that educates the employee with the organizational vision and strategic objectives. Secondly, it should motivate the employee and their support for the organizational strategic direction. Thirdly, the message should promote high performance and productivity. Fourth, it should not be ambiguous since rumors may harm the performance. Fifth, the communicated message should foster solidarity with the employees and the organizational vision and strategic objectives (Barret, 2002). Uusi-Rauva and Nurkka (2010) further stress the importance of sustainability communication being clear and distinct, practical and simple to realize in order to be encouraging for its employees. This is also argued by the research by Young (2018), which states that strategic internal communication should be both transparent and characterized with two-way symmetrical communication in order to be effective. Uusi-Rauva and Nurkka (2010) also suggest that each organizational department should have a person addressed for the communication of sustainability initiatives that are suggested from the employees.
3. Methodology and Method
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This chapter addresses the choice of methodology for this study and includes the choice of research paradigm, research approach, and research design. Additionally, the method will be discussed and include the collection and analysis of primary data conducted from interviews. Concludingly, the chapter will end by going through the ethical considerations of the study and the quality of the data.
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3.1 Methodology
3.1.1 Research Paradigm
When conducting scientific research, a philosophical framework such as a research paradigm is used in order to administer the research. The research philosophy is of great importance when conducting scientific research, as it is concerned with how the research is being carried out. The choice of paradigm reflects on multiple assumptions of the world, whereas there are considered to be two main paradigms known as interpretivism and positivism (Collis & Hussey, 2014). Positivism as a paradigm originates from natural science, whereas the goal is to conduct theories based on conducted experiments and observation and where the assumption is that the facts and results can be confirmed, and therefore the research is often carried out through quantitative research methods. On the contrary, Interpretivism as a research paradigm is based on the assumption that within our minds, social reality is created and whereas it is seen as subjective. An interpretive research paradigm is commonly used to gain understanding of interpretive nature, and therefore research embossed on this specific paradigm is commonly conducted by a qualitative research approach (Collis & Hussey, 2014). Since the purpose of this study is to investigate the internal stakeholder perception on organization's internal communication of their sustainability engagements, the authors have chosen to progress with interpretivism as the research paradigm for this study. This is due to the fact that the perception of internal communication within organizations is considered to be a complex phenomenon characterized by being subjective. Therefore, the aim for the authors was to explore the subjectivity of their perceptions rather than exploring the objectivity.
Debesay, Nåden, and Slettebø (2008) acknowledge that within interpretivism, the understanding of the social reality is firstly founded on the understanding of the individual itself, which is the self-understanding. Debesay et al., (2008) further highlight that this sort of understanding is being achieved when there is an engagement in interpreting the understanding in a circular process. This is known as the hermeneutic circle and is conducted by moving away from the whole, see, interpret and reflect on the individual parts, and then go back and reflect on the whole, and so it continues. In order to conduct findings of relevance for the study and its research purpose, interpretivism was used in order to gain further knowledge and understanding of the chosen phenomenon.
3.1.2 Research Approach
Deductive and inductive are the two main approaches by which the theory of the research may be constructed and tested (Collis & Hussey, 2014). An inductive research approach is considered when the theory is conducted by observing the reality and then establishing conclusions from these observations. An inductive research approach is commonly known to be used within research that is of qualitative nature since an inductive approach is about a movement from the specific to the more general (Hyde, 2000).
A deductive approach is the contrary to an inductive approach, as the general conclusions are the foundation from which the specific cases are being derived from (Collis & Hussey, 2014). A deductive research approach to existing theories is the foundation for the hypothesis and may be seen as the relationship between theories and research. This approach is considered to be a process that is theory testing, which has its foundation from an existing theory and aims to investigate whether the theory may be applicable for specific cases (Hyde, 2000). Although a deductive approach is commonly known to be associated with quantitative research (Collis & Hussey, 2014), the authors have chosen to apply a deductive research approach since the study is driven by theory. The aim of conducting a study with a deductive approach is to gain further knowledge from existing literature on the traditional topic of internal communication. However, the topic of internal communication of sustainability engagements has not previously been extensively researched. Therefore, the authors of the study have chosen to complement the deductive approach with some inductive components. Hyde (2000) supports the combination, as an extreme usage of either an inductive or deductive approach limits the examination of the subject under research.
3.1.3 Research Design
The research design has been conducted in a qualitative form. The collection of primary data for the study has been executed through semi-structured interviews, which is a commonly used method to gather primary data within research with a qualitative research design (Collis & Hussey, 2014). In order to be able to answer the research questions, semi-structured interviews were conducted to gather primary data that was compared and analyzed in order to understand the phenomena under study. According to Hyde (2010), qualitative research explores and investigates data that are narrative, and therefore the composition of words is of importance for the analysis rather than the data quantification. As the internal stakeholders’ experiences of internal communication are subjective, the emphasis was put on the composition of meanings and the meaning behind words (Collis & Hussey, 2014). A practical and rational view on how large corporations within food retailing uses internal communication to communicate their sustainability engagement to their internal stakeholders was gained by interviewing internal stakeholders. This was conducted in order to answer the research questions and to facilitate the research purpose as well.
3.2 Method
3.2.1 Data Collection
The authors of the study have collected primary data from interviews, which were presented and analyzed. Primary data is considered to be new data that the researchers have gathered and conducted from its original source (Collis & Hussey, 2014). The aim of collecting primary data is to generate findings that will contribute to new perspectives, insights, and understandings of an organization’s internal communication. Additionally, primary data is collected in order to answer the research questions regarding internal organizational communication with valid and reliable data.
The primary data within this study was conducted from six interviews with three internal stakeholders from two organizations operating in the Swedish food retail industry. The participants include top management, supervisors, and employees from each of the two organizations. The interviews were designed with a semi-structured approach with open-ended questions, which is advocated by Collis and Hussey (2014) to collect in-depth data, which is intended by the authors of this thesis. This enabled the authors to collect data that mediate the
participants' opinions, understanding, and attitudes on the topic. Concludingly, the interviews were conducted over the phone with approval for the authors to record the interviews to ensure correct and credible primary data collection.
3.2.2 Sampling Method
The first step in the sampling method is to consider the possibility to conduct research of the whole population or if the research will be a sample, meaning a portion of the population (Collis & Hussey, 2014). In this thesis, the authors have selected a sample of the population, which is advocated by Collis and Hussey (2014) when the possibility to examine the whole population is too extensive for the research. Secondly, it is suggested to decide whether the research will be a random sample, meaning generalizable from the sample to the population, or non-random sampling with the contradictory approach of the generalizability (Collis & Hussey, 2014). Although the authors of this research intended to apply relevant acknowledgments to other industries with similar characteristics of the Swedish food retail industry, the aim was not to be generalizable from the sample to the whole population, and therefore a non-random sample is suggested by Collis and Hussey (2014). Furthermore, with an interpretive paradigm, the aim is to collect rich data on a complex topic, and therefore a non-random sampling is commonly used (Collis & Hussey, 2014). Therefore, the authors chose to progress with a non-random sampling for this study.
This given, the authors have used purposive sampling, which is a non-random sampling technique where the participants are specifically selected based on their experience on the phenomena under study (Collis & Hussey, 2014). Since the research questions concerned the internal communication of an organization’s sustainability engagements from top management down to all employee levels, one participant from top management, one employee, and one supervisor were represented as participants from each of the two organizations. Certain criteria were set on the participants to strengthen the findings. Firstly, those that worked at the organization’s top management had to have worked in that position of the organization for a minimum of 6 months. The employment time-frame set for the supervisors’ and employees’ were set to a minimum of 3 years. The time-frames were set differently since the knowledge within the topic differentiates between the employment levels.
As the purpose of the study was to discover how organizations communicate their sustainability engagements internally from top management down to all employee levels, certain criteria had
to be fulfilled when selecting organizations. These criteria were: The organizations had to work actively with sustainability, the organizations had to have several employee levels, they had to have their main operating activities in Sweden, and they had to be organizations operating within food retailing. The selected two organizations fulfilled these criteria, which enabled the authors to fulfill the purpose of this study.
3.2.3 Interview Design
The prepared questionnaires for the semi-structured interviews were distinguished to both ask questions of relevance for the participants’ work position and the construction of phrases adjusted to be understandable for the participant. The prepared questions for top management (see appendix 1) were structured and designed to answer questions regarding how the organizations communicate to their employees, for example, the strategy behind the used and available communication channels for internal communication. The prepared questions for supervisors (see appendix 2) were structured to collect data concerning how and what information the supervisors receive in the communication from top management, and how the received information is forwarded to the employees. The prepared questions to the employees (see appendix 3) were designed to acknowledge how and what type of information is being communicated to the employees from both the top management and the supervisors. Although the prepared questionnaires differentiate, they all focused on answering the research questions of this study.
Furthermore, the semi-structured interviews followed the same guidance (see appendix 4) involving six parts: participants background, internal communication, communication channel, strategic communication, employee engagement, sustainability communication. As advocated by Collis and Hussey (2014), the authors began the interviews with general background and classification questions to both make the participant comfortable and ensure that the participant was of interest in the research before asking more specific and topic-oriented questions. Furthermore, the interviewer continually asked probing response questions to gather a greater understanding and validation of the participants' answers.
Since the research topic at hand is complex and of a sensitive character, face-to-face communication would have been the preferred interview method (Collis & Hussey, 2014). However, due to the restrictions of Covid-19 that interfere with face-to-face interviews and
