The Influence of Internal Corporate Communicationson Brand Pride: A case study

The Influence of Internal

Corporate Communications on Brand Pride:

A case study

Master’s Thesis 30 credits

Department of Business Studies Uppsala University

Spring Semester of 2019

Date of Submission: 2019-05-29

Rosol Elaies

Amanda Schreck

Supervisor: Virpi Havila

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to get a deeper understanding of brand pride as a phenomenon and a company’s influence on employees’ brand pride through their internal corporate communications processes. In order to do this, both primary and secondary data were collected and analyzed using a qualitative case study approach. A case company was chosen based on a previous internal survey that showed that the company’s employees exhibited brand pride. Semi-structured interviews were conducted and documents from the case company were collected in order to analyze according to the analytical model that was developed out of the theory. It was concluded that internal corporate communications processes can contribute towards brand pride in three ways: through clear and explicit communication, repetitive communication, and in matching internal and external communications. It was also found that employees identify with the corporate identity, and thus experience brand pride, differently, contributing towards two types of brand pride: collective and personal brand pride.

Keywords: Internal corporate communications, corporate identity, corporate image, reputation,

brand pride

Preface

First and foremost, we would like to thank Company X through which full access made this study possible. We would also like to thank the employees in the study who contributed valuable information and cooperation throughout this process. Furthermore, we would like to thank our opponents who have helped us in giving invaluable advice and constructive criticism. Finally, we would like to thank our supervisor Virpi Havila for her unwavering guidance and support during the writing of this thesis.

Uppsala, 29 of May 2019

--- ---

Amanda Schreck Rosol Elaies

Table of Contents

1. INTRODUCTION ... 1

1.1 P

ROBLEM STATEMENT

...2

1.2 P

REVIOUS RESEARCH

...3

1.3 P

URPOSE AND RESEARCH QUESTION

...4

2. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ... 5

2.1 I

NTERNAL CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS

...5

2.2 C

ORPORATE IDENTITY

...7

2.3 C

ORPORATE IMAGE AND REPUTATION

...9

2.4 B

RAND PRIDE

... 10

2.4 M

ODEL

... 12

3. METHOD ... 14

3.1 D

ESIGN OF STUDY

... 14

3.2 S

ELECTION OF CASE COMPANY

... 15

3.3 D

ATA COLLECTION

... 15

3.3.1 I

NTERVIEW GUIDES

... 16

3.3.2 I

NTERVIEWS

... 17

3.4 A

NALYSIS OF DATA

... 21

3.5 E

THICAL CONSIDERATIONS

... 22

3.6 M

ETHODOLOGICAL CRITICISM

... 22

4. FINDINGS ... 24

4.1 F

INDINGS FROM THE DOCUMENTS

... 24

4.2 F

INDINGS FROM THE INTERVIEWS

... 25

5. ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION ... 40

5.1 C

ORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS

... 40

5.2 C

ORPORATE IDENTITY

... 42

5.3 C

ORPORATE IMAGE AND REPUTATION

... 44

5.4 B

RAND PRIDE AND IDENTIFICATION

... 46

5.5 F

IGURE ON BRAND PRIDE TYPES AND INTERNALIZATION DEGREE OF ASSOCIATION

... 48

6. CONCLUSION ... 50

6.1 M

ANAGERIAL IMPLICATIONS

... 50

6.2 L

IMITATIONS AND SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH

... 51

REFERENCES ... 53

APPENDIX 1... 58

1. Introduction

Often in thinking about marketing campaigns or advertising, the connection is made between the company and the customer. However, employees represent a crucial stakeholder group that requires the same care in designing and implementing communications about the company (Sullivan, 2018). According to a recent Forbes article, less than 30% of employees believe in the brand that is employing them. This means that 70% percent or more employees are disdainful or indifferent altogether (Ibid.). In order to engage employees and make them feel connected to their company, Sullivan (2018) suggests consistently reinforcing the values of the company through internal corporate communications.

Internal corporate communications is a function of internal branding that aims to align a company’s identity with the perception and identification of that identity in employees (Vallaster

& de Chernatony, 2006). As Sullivan (2018) had suggested, these communications establish emotional connections with the employees when effectively executed (Balmer, 2017). This emotional response in relation to an employee being communicated the identity of the company is called brand pride (Kuppelweiser, Grefrath, & Dziuk, 2011). While the Forbes article highlights the need for companies to create internal corporate communications such as newsletters, companies must also be aware that they are communicating the identity through more than tailored corporate communications programs (Gray & Balmer, 1998).

The corporate identity is also communicated implicitly through a company’s reputation and the immediate mental picture one gets of the company, or its corporate image (Balmer & Gray, 2003).

Thus, brand pride may also be affected by those emotional connections an employee feels based

on the implicitly communicated corporate identity from their perception of the company’s

corporate image and reputation. In understanding what contributes towards brand pride, companies

can better understand how to affect change in establishing this emotional connection as proud

employees are known to be of direct value to a company. Links of proud employees to positive

employee behavior, satisfaction, creativity, and commitment to customer service have been

identified within the past 20 years in marketing and organizational research (Arnett, Laverie, &

McLane, 2002; Katzenbach, 2003; Gouthjier & Rhein, 2011). It is now understood that when an employee feels proud to work for their company, there are measurably beneficial outcomes.

1.1 Problem statement

Despite the links, brand pride (as it is referred by in this paper) has not been extensively researched;

though it has cropped up under different names in, of particular importance, branding theories (Arnett et al., 2002; Helm, 2011; Kuppelwieser et al., 2011; Helm, Renk, & Mishra, 2016). In order to study brand pride in relation to internal corporate communications, an understanding of brand pride must first be established. Brand pride, as it is used in this study, is the sense of pride employees feel in relation to the company for which they work. This definition was adapted out of branding and pride theories (Lea & Webley, 1997; Bouckaert, 2001; Arnett et al., 2002; Helm, 2011; Kuppelwieser et al., 2011) and is used in this paper to describe the sense of pride employees of Company X experience in relation to their company, and more specifically, their perception of the company’s corporate identity traits. Brand in this context is used to represent the brand associated with the company’s name as a whole (Company X), to which the corporate identity, its image, and reputation are attached.

This definition was adapted out of the connection in literature between internal branding and brand

pride, and internal branding and internal corporate communications. However, as the connection

is not entirely clear in previous research, the aim of this study is not only to explore the connection

between internal corporate communications and brand pride, but also to contribute to the

understanding of brand pride itself as a phenomenon. This is done through the use of a case

company that represents the phenomenon through its high levels of brand pride, as evidenced by

an internal employee survey conducted by the company at an earlier date. Though the survey uses

the word “pride” and not “brand pride”, the use of the word pride in the question will be taken to

mean brand pride in this study. This data, in addition to data collected by semi-structured

interviews will be used to analyze the phenomenon and its connection to corporate

communications to make theoretical and empirical contributions to the understanding of these

topics.

1.2 Previous research

Brand pride is a relatively new topic of interest in internal marketing, or even organizational research, and has mainly been used in customer-facing rather than internal contexts (Gouthier &

Rhein, 2011; Kuppelwieser et al., 2011; Helm et al., 2016). The word pride, used in the context of organizational research, came into the spotlight in the mid-’90s with Lea and Webley’s article,

“Pride in Economic Psychology.” In their article, they presented pride from a psychological standpoint and introduced how it was relevant in economic psychology, first framing it in the context of the seven deadly sins. While they launched the conversation of brand pride, their article mainly focused on pride as a hindrance, highlighting situations where an employee might feel “too proud” to accept benefits or handle negotiations properly (Lea & Webley, 1997).

While types of brand pride and the importance of maintaining it (Katzenbach, 2003) have been

discussed since Lea and Webley’s (1997) article, it is not entirely clear why brand pride exists in

employees and how corporate communications has affected it. Previous research reveals different

ways in which brand pride is created in employees: through internal corporate communications

from employers (Arnett et al., 2002; Kuppelweiser et al., 2011; Punjaisri & Wilson, 2011), from

an employee’s sense of their own accomplishments in relation to their company (Lea & Webley,

1997; Katzenbach, 2003), and from a need to identify with a highly esteemed and reputable group

(Gouthier & Rhein, 2011; Helm et al., 2016). All are discussed in the following theory section

where internal corporate communications can be found in its own section and the two latter are

described under the brand pride section. Though internal corporate communications has been a

prevalent topic in the previous decades, it has remained focused on understanding commitment or

loyalty as an outcome. Internal corporate communications has mainly been linked to pride in the

context of internal branding, neglecting the actual channels through which a company uses to

communicate its values or identity (Verbeke, Belschak, & Bagozzi, 2004). Although internal

branding and pride have been studied in the creation of beneficial employee behaviors, previous

research has not looked at corporate communications and pride as relational constructs, choosing

to view them as exogenous, possibly because of the quantitative nature of the studies (Verbeke et

al., 2004; Löhndorf & Diamantopoulos, 2014). This begs the question, does internal corporate

communications really affect brand pride in employees or do they experience pride solely off of

1.3 Purpose and research question

The purpose of this paper is thus to get a deeper understanding of brand pride as a phenomenon,

as well as a company’s influence on employees’ brand pride through their internal corporate

communications. As such, the following research question has been developed: How does a

company contribute to employees’ brand pride through their internal corporate communications

processes?

2. Theoretical framework

2.1 Internal corporate communications

Internal branding is the representation of a company’s internal communication efforts undertaken within the company to support a coherent view of its differentiating and desirable characteristics as an employer (Punjaisri, Heiner & Wilson, 2009). It is described as a precursor to employee loyalty and commitment as it aligns the company with its employees in terms of understanding what the company values and believes in. However, the success of internal branding is contingent on, not only the company’s internal corporate communications, but also personal variables of employees such as employment length (Punjaisri & Wilson, 2011). Punjaisri and Wilson (2001) suggest that the longer an employee stays with the company, the more the company needs internal branding to reinforce their identification with the corporate identity. When internal branding succeeds in communicating the identity, it can create pride in the employees (Ibid.).

Internal corporate communications is considered a necessary component of internal branding as internal corporate communications is the means in which internal branding goals of creating employee brand identification are met (Punjaisri et al., 2009; Sharma & Kamalanabhan, 2012).

Internal corporate communications, adapted from Welch and Jackson’s (2007) internal

communication matrix, is considered: “communication between an organization’s strategic

managers and its internal stakeholders, designed to promote commitment to the organization, a

sense of belonging to it, awareness of its changing environment and understanding of its evolving

aims” (p. 186). Employee commitment, or the degree of loyalty an employee feels towards the

company, and the promotion of a positive sense of belonging are two of the primary goals of

internal corporate communications. Commitment is a positive attitude in employees that is defined

by how they are identified and involved with their company (Welch & Jackson, 2007 pp. 188-

189). It can further be defined as affective commitment which is an emotional attachment to the

company where employees are in the company because they want to be. A positive sense of

belonging is a feeling of inclusion stemming from self-categorization or identification with the

company. Understanding the changing environment and therefore the company’s evolving aims

contributes towards the employee’s commitment to the company (Welch & Jackson, 2007).

Internal corporate communications is thus necessary for understanding the company’s aims, and can be considered as the process in which stakeholders’ perceptions of the company’s identity, image, and reputation are formed; described as: “Who do we say we are and to whom do we say this?” (Balmer & Gray, 2000; Balmer & Greyser 2006, p. 736). This process is the connecting factor between a company’s identity and its image and reputation and is important for maintaining positive relationships between the company and its internal stakeholders (Gray & Balmer, 1998;

Illia & Balmer, 2012). In internal corporate communications, the communication is predominantly one-way from strategic managers to employees, particularly in large organizations where consistency is important for corporate identity building as communications are carried out en masse. Clear and continuous communication from internal corporate communication managers is required in order to create employee engagement and effectively communicate the corporate identity (Gray & Balmer, 1998; Welch & Jackson, 2007). Clear and continuous in matching the expectation the corporate identity sets in employees, but also in matching that which is communicated externally to customers as employees can mistrust the company if these are not aligned (Gray & Balmer, 1998; Löhndorf & Diamantopoulos, 2014). However, strategic managers must be aware of the amount of information they are attempting to communicate through internal corporate communications as there is the risk of information overload which would negatively impact the ways in which the communications are received by employees (Welch & Jackson, 2007).

The corporate identity which is being communicated is delivered through both verbal and non-

verbal symbols developed for the purpose of conveying meaning (Sharma & Kamalanabhan,

2012). Balmer (2017) lists three dimensions of internal corporate communications: overt, latent,

and tangential. Of the three, overt is the only dimension that includes those communications that

are formal and completely controlled by the company. Types of overt channels include internal

corporate advertising programs, mission statements, annual reports, and company slogans. Latent

include those that are not directly controlled by the company but come out of the influence of the

company's corporate identity traits, including corporate activities and behaviors and product and

service quality. Tangential communications, like latent, are uncontrolled and stem from third-party

communications such as word-of-mouth communications on broadcast, printed, or social media,

competitor communication, and government/legal procurements (Balmer, 2017). Although not all

dimensions are under complete control of the company, all contribute towards the perception of its corporate identity in employees (Ibid.).

Effective internal corporate communications communicate the corporate identity in a way that allows employees to experience social identification with the company. In communicating the corporate identity, the company is communicating that which is exclusive to the company and differentiates it from others. This feeling of exclusivity and differentiation in connection to the corporate identity establishes the conditions for an emotional connection between the employee and company (Meyer, Paunonen, Gellaty, Goffin, & Jackson, 1989; Postmes, Tanis, & de Witet, 2001; Sharma & Kamalanabhan, 2012).

2.2 Corporate identity

Internal corporate communications is informed by an identity-based view of the company where importance is placed on the corporate identity, corporate image, and corporate reputation (Illia &

Balmer, 2012). Corporate identity includes those traits of an organization that make up its reality and uniqueness. They typically include, amongst others, the values and beliefs, strategies and purpose, culture, and employee behaviors (Gray & Balmer, 1998; Balmer, 2017). The traits established as a company’s core traits for its corporate identity should be strategically advantageous, beneficial to customers and stakeholders, critical to core activities, distinguishing from competitors, and effectual in that they are aligned with the business environment (Balmer, 2017).

Employees identify with a company’s corporate identity in different ways, which determines their attitudes towards the company. The more stable the corporate identity is perceived as, the stronger the employees will identify with it. This form of identifying with the company is called attributed identification (Balmer, 2017). When an employee has positive attributed identification, or positive identification, it means they have accepted and assimilated the company’s corporate identity traits.

As a result, this may mean they have a strong and committed relationship with the company that

is emotional in character (Ibid.). Having a committed relationship and identifying with the

company is especially beneficial when employees represent the front-line of a company. This is

Other than positive identification, employees can associate with the corporate identity through compliance and internalization. All three are varying degrees of association with the following order from lowest to highest: compliance, identification, and internalization. Compliance, the lowest of the degrees, is an association with the corporate identity that can be short-term and unmeaningful. Rather than being an emotional connection to the company, compliance is more about strategy and tact. Identification, however, is a meaningful identification with the corporate identity; while internalization is the highest degree in which the employee has strong feelings of belonging. In the internalization degree, the corporate identity can become adopted into the employee’s own persona, meaning they accept and internalize the corporate identity traits (Ibid.).

At its most extreme, internalization can cause employees to become devotees, even leading to the employee being unbalanced or “brainwashed”. Aside from these degrees of identification, employees can also experience negative (disidentification) and ambivalent identification.

Disidentification occurs when an employee rejects the corporate identity traits as they may not consider them meaningful. This can create a weak and even hostile relationship with the company where the employees may seek to distance themselves. Ambivalent identification refers to an unclear identification with the company, where an employee is uncertain and detached from the corporate identity (Ibid.).

The ways in which employees identify with their perception of the corporate identity also directly affects their behavior. If an employee positively identifies with the corporate identity, there is a positive impact on their work, as well as, their motivation and satisfaction. However, since the attitudes and behaviors are a result of their perception of the corporate identity, there might be discrepancies in terms of what the company has determined its actual corporate identity is versus how the employees are perceiving it. This is where the importance of creating an honest and achievable corporate identity is seen (Gray & Balmer, 1998; Balmer, 2017). The results of communicating a company’s corporate identity through internal corporate communications are corporate image and corporate reputation (Gray & Balmer, 1998). Corporate image is described as the “immediate mental picture” of a company that comes to mind when seeing its corporate name or logo and can be formed through effective internal corporate communications (Ibid.).

Companies have to ensure that in creating communications to shape corporate image, they are

being reasonable and accurate in their representation. In order to do this, companies must only

communicate that which is consistent, attainable and in line with their identity, otherwise risk negatively affecting the employees’ perceptions of the corporate identity and the company in itself (Ibid.).

2.3 Corporate image and reputation

The corporate image, the representation of what a company stands for and a translation of its corporate identity, is shaped through internal corporate communications (Balmer & Gray, 2003;

Helm, et al., 2016). The objective in managing the corporate image is to create the ‘intended image’ of the company. This intended image includes wide-spread name recognition as well as immediate identification of the company’s industry and main products (Balmer & Gray, 2003).

The corporate image can be created quicker and easier than a reputation can, and can be built from an image-building campaign, with the responsibility falling on senior management. This campaign includes formal internal corporate communication systems such as the name and logo, as well as, corporate advertising (Ibid.). While a strong corporate image is not necessarily representative of the success of the company, it is essential if a company wishes to grow in size.

Corporate reputation, however, is a value judgment about the company’s qualities and can only be reinforced, not directly shaped, by internal corporate communications. Corporate reputation takes longer to form and is evolved out of a meritorious identity that is molded by consistent performance (Gray & Balmer, 1998). Corporate reputation is important for attracting different stakeholder groups, such as employees, investors, and customers and there might be different reputational factors that are considered important for each group (Puncheva‐Michelotti & Michelotti, 2010).

Since it relies on individuals’ perceptions of how others view the company, corporate reputation

can be considered a socially shared impression (Helm, 2011). The general public and the

company’s own employees are amongst those considered most important for large companies to

have a favorable image and reputation with (Gray & Balmer, 1998). Though a company may have

a favorable reputation, high expectations or certain changes in the environment can damage the

reputation. This calls for continuous management of the corporate identity so as to sustain a

favorable reputation in the eyes of the stakeholder groups (Ibid.).

While building a strong corporate image and thereby reputation can be accomplished through image-building campaigns and programs, a communication system is needed to further maintain a recognizable image and positive reputation (Gray & Balmer, 1998). This communication should be created with each stakeholder group in mind in order to effectively translate the corporate identity to each group (Ibid.). Though the communications should be tailored, each group will likely have a slightly different perception of the company based on their interaction with the company and its products. In communicating the corporate identity, the employees must be kept in mind as a favorable corporate image leads to high morale and productivity in employees and employees represent the company externally: “both employees and the general public have an interest in the overall prestige of the firm and the reputation of its products” (Gray & Balmer, 1998, p. 699).

2.4 Brand pride

In the context of this paper, brand pride has been adapted to include the following components of pride theory in order to get a deeper understanding of the concept. Pride is an emotional response to a self-evaluation of a person's own competence and is crucial in order to understand human behavior (Lea & Webley, 1997; Arnett et al., 2002). Pride is based on other’s opinions, as well as, self-appraisals and in turn, represents beliefs that the individual is competent and that others view the individual as such (Harter, 1985). This association with achievement is described as an emotional peak that is realized through perceived performance and success (Katzenbach, 2003). A common characteristic can be identified in the different ways pride can be established; pride is based on a comparison between actual performance and expected performance. If the performance itself is higher or perceived as higher than the expectation, pride can be experienced (Kuppelwieser et al., 2011).

There are two different forms of pride: personal pride and collective pride (Tajfel & Turner, 1985;

Ashforth & Mael, 1989; Lea & Webley, 1997; Bouckaert, 2001). Personal pride consists of and is grounded in personal achievements, the quality of an individual's work, and the feeling of an individual's value and self-respect for their accomplishments and work (Lea & Webley, 1997;

Bouckaert, 2001). Collective pride is governed by social identity theory, which posits that

individuals use social groups as a form of self-reference and identification (Tajfel & Turner, 1985;

Bouckaert, 2001). What constitutes a group is defined by Tajfel and Turner (1985) as: “a collection of individuals who perceive themselves to be members of the same social category, share some emotional involvement in this common definition of themselves, and achieve some degree of social consensus about the evaluation of their group and their membership in it” (p. 283). The value and emotional attachment attributed to the group allows an individual to feel strongly that they belong (Tajfel & Turner, 1985; Ashforth and Mael, 1989). These social groups are used for self-reference through means of comparison with other groups that are considered better or worse than the individual’s own. Pride in this sense comes from the affiliation with the better, or in- group, and differentiation from the worse, or outgroup (Tajfel & Turner, 1985; Ashforth and Mael, 1989)When an individual experiences collective pride, they feel they are viewed from the outside world as meaningful, effective and important, due to their being a part of their social group (Arnett et al., 2002, p. 90). This form of self-identification in the company by the employee is the basis for brand pride (Helm et al., 2016).

According to Kuppelweiser et al. (2011), a company meeting or exceeding employee expectations about communicated attributes of a corporate identity also contributes to the creation of brand pride. This is the case not only when expectations about the communicated traits are met, but also when a company’s attributes are evaluated by the employee as being higher compared to others.

This is the result of an employee identifying with the corporate identity as the foundation of their in-group and feeling pride connected to their in-group being perceived by themselves and others, as better than the out-groups. However, when the expectations of the communicated traits are not met or perceived as being higher than others, the result is no contribution to brand pride based on the then negative identification of the employee with the corporate identity (Gray & Balmer, 1998;

Kuppelweiser et al., 2011; Helm, 2012). In order to perceive the traits of the company, they must have been communicated or identified either explicitly by the company or implicitly through its reputation or corporate image (Gray & Balmer, 1998).

There is a positive correlation between internal branding and brand pride (Kuppelweiser et al.,

2011). Internal branding includes specific employer branding efforts that contribute to a corporate

identity. As corporate communications is a necessary component of internal branding, internal

communications are aligned with the corporate identity. As Kuppelweiser et al. (2011) state: “the higher extent of the branding, the higher brand pride” (p. 42).

2.4 Model

A theoretical model has been developed in order to further explain the theoretical concepts and provide structure for the analysis.

This model shows the potential ways in which brand pride can be created based on the theoretical concepts. At the top of the model is internal corporate communications, from the company, and at the bottom is corporate reputation and image, which is interpreted by the employees. The top of the model shows internal corporate communications which can be linked to the creation of brand pride through successful controlled and uncontrolled internal corporate communications. The arrow is one-directional as brand pride is the end result of the internal branding process of internal corporate communications.

The arrow between internal corporate communications and corporate reputation/image represents

the corporate identity. This is because internal corporate communications communicates the

corporate identity through controlled and uncontrolled internal corporate communications which

shapes the corporate reputation and image. The line is dotted to signify that the corporate identity

from internal corporate communications is not the only factor affecting the corporate reputation or image and that the corporate identity is communicated implicitly through its corporate reputation and image. This arrow also exists to acknowledge the link between internal corporate communications and the corporate reputation and image and the link that is corporate identity between the company and its employees.

The last arrow in the model connects corporate image and reputation to brand pride. The arrow is

one-directional to signify that brand pride is an outcome of corporate reputation and image. This

suggests that brand pride can also be created as a result of the employee’s collective association

adapted from their perception of the company’s reputation and image. This implies that internal

corporate communications may indirectly affect brand pride the communication of the corporate

identity. While the arrows pointing towards brand pride are one-directional, it should be noted that

brand pride can also contribute towards the formation of a company’s corporate identity and

therefore its reputation and image. However, for the purpose of this study, the one-directional

model will be used to explore the influence of internal corporate communications and collective

association on the influence of brand pride in employees of a company.

3. Method

This study is grounded in the question of how internal corporate communications contributes to employees’ sense of brand pride. In order to understand how brand pride is influence by internal corporate communications, both primary and secondary data have been collected by means of a case study through which data was gathered from semi-structured interviews and company documents. The interviews were qualitative semi-structured interviews and were chosen as a means of data collection in this study as they provide rich, in-depth answers that can provide insights into feelings and emotions (Bryman & Bell, 2015). The purpose of the study can be considered both exploratory and explanatory in nature. Exploratory in that the creation of brand pride has been studied before, however is not fully understood; thus, this study seeks to clarify the understanding around brand pride and internal corporate communications by looking at the creation of brand pride in a new light. It can also be considered explanatory in that causal relationships between pride, internal corporate communications, and reputation/image are investigated with the aim of contributing towards existing research on these topics. In this study, an abductive approach was taken where movement between theory and data was a continuous process as the study progressed. This continuous movement allowed for the honing and refinement of aspects such as the research question, theory, and theoretical model as data was being collected and analyzed (Saunders & Lewis, 2017).

3.1 Design of study

This study follows the design of a case study as it is the research strategy most often used in exploratory and explanatory studies (Saunders, Lewis, & Thornhill, 2016) and is the best fitting in the fields of internal corporate communication and corporate identity (Oliver, 1997; Balmer, 2001). A case study is a strategy that involves investigating a particular phenomenon within its real-life context and is useful in gaining a rich understanding of the research (Saunders et al., 2016). Case studies provide a vehicle through which triangulation is possible as the focus is on a bounded system, and thus a more detailed and intensive analysis can be accomplished (Bryman &

Bell, 2015). As such, both the collection of documents and conducting of semi-structured

interviews were able to be used as forms of data collection. While multiple case studies are proved

to be more useful in theory creation and generalization than single case studies, single case studies

are useful in contributing towards research and expanding on existing theories (Yin, 2018), which has been the aim of this study.

3.2 Selection of case company

Company X is a leading company in the cosmetics segment worldwide, in terms of market share and sales (“Company X Annual Report”, 2019). This company operates in many different countries however their office in Stockholm, Sweden was the focus of this study. Company X was chosen as the case company as it is a global industry leader and brand pride was expected to be relatively high, in accordance with Arnett et al. (2002): “successful companies foster more pride in their employees than do average companies” (p. 92). This expectation of high pride was proved upon access to the company’s internal survey results in which brand pride felt by employees was measured (“Company X Internal Survey Results”, 2019). It is also a well-known company that most (evidenced by the data and general experiences) instantly recognize by name or logo. This was important to the study in order to understand the implications of corporate image and reputation on brand pride. This company was also chosen out of accessibility as one of the two researchers had done an internship at Company X 6 months prior to the study. Though the company houses many brands, the word brand in this paper refers to the brand associated with the company name as a collective name by which employees say they are employed.

3.3 Data collection

Data that is collected from an original source in order to get details, as well as in-depth information

from the empirical world is called primary data (Bryman & Bell, 2015; Saunders et al., 2016), and

has been gathered in this study qualitatively in the form of interviews. Data that has been gathered

by others is called secondary data (Bryman & Bell, 2015), and has been used in this study as a

complement to the primary data. In comparison to quantitative, qualitative research is focused on

the microenvironment and its participants to get a deeper understanding of the phenomenon of the

research (Denscombe, 2014; Bryman & Bell, 2015), in this study, an understanding of a company’s

influence on creating employees’ brand pride through internal corporate communications. Data

has been collected from semi-structured interviews with employees of Company X and documents

from the case company.

3.3.1 Interview guides

Two interview guides were created before the interviews with the research question in mind; and so as to accommodate the differences in roles with direct regards to the corporate communications function. The two interview guides were created based on the employee’s role in the company;

one for those responsible for internal corporate communications (see Appendix 1.1), and a second for those not responsible for internal corporate communications (see Appendix 1.2). The operationalization of the interview questions and their connection to the theoretical framework can be found in Appendix 1. The interview guide used the following theories from the theoretical framework: corporate reputation/image, brand pride, corporate identity, and internal corporate communications.

In the corporate communications function interview guide, found in Appendix 1.1, questions 2-5 belong to corporate reputation/image and were created in order to get an understanding of the employee’s current perception of the corporate image versus the corporate image they held of Company X prior to employment, the importance of corporate reputation to the employees, and how they identify themselves. Questions 6-8 were developed with brand pride theory in mind with the aim of understanding how employees emotionally connect and identify with the corporate identity of Company X. Question 9 concerns corporate identity theory and was used to identify what the corporate communications function wants to communicate about the corporate identity, while questions 10 and 11 seek to understand how and at what stage in employment this is communicated. Questions 12 and 13 belong to internal corporate communications and were asked to identify how their internal branding processes contribute towards brand pride.

In the employee interview guide in Appendix 1.2, questions 2-5 were the same as in the corporate

communications function’s interview guide for the same purpose. Questions 6-9 connected to

brand pride in order to get an understanding of how and with what the employees self-identify

with Company X. Question 10 refers to the identification of the corporate identity traits that the

employees have realized in comparison to the corporate image they held prior to employment. This

was intended to provide an understanding of how their perception of the corporate identity has

changed since employment, attributing that change to having then received explicit (or implicit)

communications from the company internally. Questions 11 and 12 referred to internal corporate

communications in identifying the ways in which employees perceive the way they receive information on the corporate identity.

3.3.2 Interviews

Primary data in this study is based on semi-structured interviews with general employees and employees with roles specifically in corporate communications. Semi-structured interviews refers to interviews where the interviewer uses a range of questions in an interview guide that consists of specific themes to be covered but also has the freedom of varying the sequence and asking additional questions not included in the interview guide (Bryman & Bell, 2015). This was common during the interviews, and additional supplementary questions were asked in the interviews to follow up on relevant insights and maintain the flow of conversation. The semi-structured interviews in this study were based on open questions as open questions are designed in a way that reveals attitudes by encouraging the interviewee to provide developmental and extensive answers (Saunders et al., 2016). Since open questions were used when designing the interview questions, most of the questions started with “how, what, and why”. Additionally, open questions regarding the employee’s employment in Company X were asked to establish a dialogue, understanding, and mutual trust (Patel & Davidson, 2011).

The qualitative study consisted of a total of 11 interviews with employees at Company X,

conducted in Sweden, either in person or over the phone. All interviews that were conducted face-

to-face were done so in the company’s office in Stockholm, Sweden. Table 1 below shows an

overview of the interviews.

Table 1. Summary of interviews

The selection of employees was chosen in accordance with the research question, How does a

company contribute to employees’ brand pride through their internal corporate communication

processes? Interviews with employees from different levels within the organization were

conducted as employees in different positions can be expected to possess different insights on

brand pride and corporate communications. A wide range of employee roles such as the corporate

communication managers, upper management, middle management, lower management, and sales

were chosen as a more diverse range of data could be collected. The corporate communications

employees were chosen to get corporate perspectives from those responsible for shaping and

communicating the corporate identity, in order to understand how Company X understands and

works with brand pride.

All of the chosen employees in this study were contacted by email with consent from the company itself. This email consisted of a description of the purpose of the study, as well as the request for the interview to be recorded and the option of anonymity. At the wish of all the interviewees, their identity and the identity of the company will be kept anonymous. The interviews were conducted at negotiated places that were chosen based on the employees’ wishes. While 7 of the 11 interviews were conducted face-to-face, there were 4 interviews that were done via telephone at the request of those employees. Telephone interviews are beneficial in that there are lower costs since it is over the phone and there is no need for travel back and forth and it is easier to reach participants that might not be within near enough physical distance for a face-to-face interview (Bryman &

Bell, 2015). During the interview, one interviewer was responsible for asking questions, while the other provided notes. Both interviewers asked follow-up questions. Such an approach was used to get more active conversations with the interviewees, which increased the amount of information that was able to be obtained.

It is possible for interviewees to be harmed throughout the research process, a responsibility that falls on the researcher/s to minimize possible harm to interviewees when collecting data.

Anonymity and confidentiality need to be discussed with the participants in the study before they participate (Bryman & Bell, 2015). To ensure anonymity and confidentiality in this study, the names of the employees and the name of the company will not be disclosed. Each interview was recorded, however, and each employee’s acceptance and understanding was first received to ensure their respect and care. The recording of interviews enabled the interviews to be transcribed after with the aim of facilitating the coding process. Transcribing is important as it allows for the opportunity to go back to the transcripts for reflection throughout the writing process (Saunders et al., 2016).

It should also be noted that all but three interviews were conducted in English, though the first

language of all interviewees was Swedish. This was done as the corporate language, and thus all

branded material from the company to the employees is in English. In using English in the

interviews, there was an opportunity for the employees to use similar language or wording in

communicated to them by the company. However, as English was not the first language of any of the interviewees, there might be implications on the quality of the data collected in that the interviewees may have not been as confident is explaining themselves or answered the questions to their fullest extent. With that said, this decision was undertaken keeping in mind that Sweden is rated as the top country in Europe for English proficiency according to Europeiska Ferieskolan or EF (“EF EPI 2018 - EF”, 2019). The three interviews that were conducted in Swedish were then translated to English when quotes were necessary. A copy of the translated quotes alongside the originals were sent to those employees to ensure that the intended meaning was not lost in translation.

Documents

The secondary data that was analyzed in this study was gathered from the public 2018 annual report of Company X, their intranet, and statistical results obtained from Company X’s own employee survey, an internal questionnaire used to measure employee satisfaction, engagement, and pride. These documents were collected and analyzed at the permission of Company X to further understand how the company communicates its corporate identity and how it is defined by the company (internally and externally) in order to analyze against the answers of the employees.

The 2018 annual report was retrieved online from Company X’s own website and the survey

results and access to the intranet was received directly from the company. The internal survey

results were a critical starting point in determining Company X as the case company for this study,

as they were evidence of high levels of brand pride in the employees. This was an important factor

in pursuing the research process as it was crucial the case company's employees exhibited brand

pride in order for the phenomenon to be studied. The annual report was used in understanding how

the company has communicated their corporate identity externally as a direct communication

example for understanding their implicit communications that would shape the reputation and

corporate image. The intranet was used explore a channel listed by the corporate communications

employees as being a means in which they communicate the corporate identity internally. The use

of the survey results, intranet, and annual report also contributed towards the credibility of the

study as multiple means of data collection allows for more insights and opportunities to analyze

the data more effectively (Saunders et al., 2016).

3.4 Analysis of data

The theoretical model was developed in order to further explain the theoretical concepts and provide structure for the analysis. The interview questions were thereby formulated and asked to the respondents in accordance with the model in order to analyze the collected data from both the primary and secondary sources.

Both authors participated in the primary data collection and each interview was discussed directly following its conclusion. The direct discussion of the interview results allowed for continuous analysis of the data while it was fresh in mind. Aside from the performance of those involved in the interview, the notes that were taken during the interview were among that which was discussed.

This process of discussing data directly after data collection is considered advantageous by Patel and Davidson (2011) who assert that there may be more insights to be had when the process is ongoing as opposed to only reviewing data after time has passed.

While analyzing the documents from the company, it was kept in mind that there may be a bias in

that those writing the documents (employees of the company) are likely to have a point of view

they may be trying to get across or may be more selective in what or how they are communicating

(Bryman & Bell, 2015). It was also noted that the documents used that were public (the annual

reports) may communicate the reality in a more positive light than what the reality may actually

be. While the documents are useful to the study and contribute towards the credibility of the

research, it was understood that company documents cannot be taken at face value and are not

transparent representations of reality (Ibid.). While a primary purpose for the inclusion of the

documents as secondary data was to build up a description of the case company, they were also

analyzed with the primary data against the theoretical model. In analyzing the data, the approach

of ethnographic content analysis was followed. This is a process that allows for re-coding and re-

interpretation throughout the data collection and analysis period. In starting with certain themes

and categorizations, the data is initially organized and directional with the allowance of the

emergence of new themes or meanings throughout the process (Ibid.). This form of coding, as a

part of grounded theory, is primarily used in qualitative research methods and was also how the

primary data of this study was analyzed.

The primary data that was collected followed a guided coding process whereby codes were given to concepts that appeared frequently in the data and then further organized in categories, reflective of those used in the theoretical model. In creating categories of concepts, the relationships between the categories could be explored (Bryman & Bell, 2015). Using the theoretical model as a guide in the coding process allowed for a starting point in the data analysis and provided direction.

However, the themes were not predetermined in a way that new themes could not be recognized, should they emerge from the data. This result of this coding process can be seen in the analysis where analytical tables were created out of the coding process from which to organize and analyze the data.

3.5 Ethical considerations

Steps were taken in this study in order to keep participants from being harmed and ensure an ethical research process. These steps included informing the employees prior to their participation and having them choose their anonymity and extent of participation in this study. This allowed for the protection of integrity of those employees that took part in the study, as well as, the data that was collected. The interview questions were also provided to participants prior to the interviews upon request.

It was kept in mind throughout the study that there could be potential biases from the researcher who had also done an internship with Company X before. As such, no information on the company or previous observations were used so as to ensure that all participants and the company were completely informed and in control of what data was collected and used for analysis. This researcher also did not participate in the asking of interview questions during the interviews, but rather took notes and handled the recording so as not to potentially influence the answers of those employees she may have previously worked with or known.

3.6 Methodological criticism

Case studies have been criticized as being less rigorous than other research strategies, in that there

is more opportunity to stray from procedure as well as more opportunity for bias on the part of the

researchers (Yin, 2018). They are also criticized as not being generalizable in their results,

however, Yin (2018) argues that this would also be the case for experiments as they, similarly are

very context specific. The ability to generalize the results theoretically applies only for multiple case studies where results can be compared and built upon; however, in single case studies (as this study is) the goal is to expand on theory and contribute towards further research. Thus, the results of this study cannot be generalized. Another criticism of qualitative research methods has been the lack of transparency due to the lack of procedural guidelines (Bryman & Bell, 2015; Yin, 2018).

In response to this, steps were taken to increase the transparency and reliability of this study. These steps included a detailed interview guide based on the theory and theoretical framework, an extensive method section, and the following of protocol in terms of how the interviews were conducted and the data was analyzed.

4. Findings

4.1 Findings from the documents

703 employees in the four Nordic countries filled out Company X’s internal survey in 2018.

Included in the results were how the employees felt in relation to the company with regards to brand pride, sustainability, and engagement. 88% of employees responded favorably to: “I feel proud to work for Company X,” and 84% of employees responded favorably to both “I am encouraged to think and act with an entrepreneurial mindset” and to: “I feel Company X in my country is actively engaged for a more sustainable world and makes a positive contribution to communities in which it operates” (Company X Internal Survey, 2018).

On the Company X intranet there are articles employees can access updating them on any news in the company, globally and locally. Included in the articles are reminders of current ethics and sustainability programs and updates on the programs’ success. There is a heavy focus in the content on their intranet on their one main sustainable development program, with that being the topic of many articles, including videos of the head of Nordic operations speaking on behalf of the program. In discussing the ethics and sustainability programs, certain company-specific programs were written about at the bottom of different articles to emphasize, or remind, the reader about the initiatives of the company. In this paper, two articles on Company X’s intranet were looked at in more depth. These two articles focused specifically on their sustainability program and the other on presenting and explaining the results of the internal employee survey.

Also, on their intranet is the “Company X-Spirit,” a type of corporate credo. Here they define the

identity and reputation: “Our identity and our reputation are built upon strong values and ethical

principles. Those values are passion, innovation, entrepreneurship, open-mindedness, pursuit of

the highest quality, and responsibility. The ethical principles are listed as integrity, respect,

courage, and transparency (“Company X-Spirit”, 2019). They also make promises as a corporate

enterprise, an employer, and a responsible corporate citizen. These promises revolve around

respect for others including employees, customers, and suppliers, as well as respect for their high

standards of quality, the environment, and those societies in which they operate (“Company X-

Spirit”, 2019).

Company X’s public 2018 annual report contains, amongst information on their values, information on their brands, technology, awards, and trends. Upon clicking on the Values tab, a wealth of articles and awards on sustainability, ethics, and responsibility are displayed. It is here where Company X states that their greatest source of pride comes from delivering a high performance financially while being a responsible corporate citizen (“Company X Annual Report”, 2019).

4.2 Findings from the interviews Internal corporate communications

Employee 1 (E1), 2 (E2), and 3 (E3) all belong to a Nordic corporate communications team in Company X, managing internal corporate communications within Sweden, Finland, Norway, and Denmark. E1 has been at the company for 10 years, but has only been in the corporate communications function for 1 year, similar to E2 and E3 who have been in corporate communications positions for 1 year and 2 ½ years respectively. While E2 has only worked in the corporate communication function for a year she is not new to the company having been at Company X for 8 years.

E1’s described her main ongoing tasks as writing articles for the company’s intranet and leading

or assisting in various projects that focus on engaging and enlightening the employees so they

know what Company X stands for. E2 listed crisis management, staff updates, the company’s

sustainability programs, and one annual event in sustainability in particular when explaining her

role. In regards to what her role does not include, she articulated that the creating and maintaining

of pride in employees is not something for which they (in corporate communications roles) take

responsibility: “I wouldn't say that we have picked it [pride] a part and actually made sure that

we know where this is coming from. I wouldn't say that we at corporate communications takes so

much not responsibility, we don’t take so much-I’m not sure. I think it’s mainly linked to the

everyday work with the brands, I’m not sure how much we see it as our work.” This is in direct

contradiction of E3 who included pride in her corporate communications responsibilities: “We

want to help build the pride or support the pride that’s already there.” E3 further described her

tasks as both internal and external corporate communications, crisis and issue management, and CSR (corporate social responsibility), responsibility, and sustainability programs.

Prior to their employment, E1 and E2 both had a negative image of Company X, associating (and assuming others associated) it with consumer brands and as a large damaging corporation. E1 noted that she was not attracted to Company X because of its reputation but in spite of it and E2 remarked that she did not relate Company X to ethics or sustainability. While E3 had thought of Company X as a tough work environment before working there, she saw it as a strong company that offered an exciting challenge because of the global change they were going through (strengthening the corporate identity). E3 also spoke about the shift that has occurred over the past 10 or 20 years where sustainability has become more of a topic and concern of customers. This is part of the reason why their corporate identity is focused around sustainability and ethics: “A sustainability story, it’s a corporate one because all of the progress we make we make in our supply chain, in our sourcing, in our transport, you know, in our packaging and all of that, that's obviously something that spans all brands. So in that sense, the unified corporate identity has become more important.” E2 spoke similarly about the corporate identity: “Because the group, and when I say the group I mean the headquarters, they really want to strengthen the corporate image and the corporate identity by telling some of the stories and the narratives that apply for all of the brands: the way we work, our ethics, our social responsibility, our work with sustainability, which kind of transcends all of the brands.” On how they go about creating a more unified corporate identity E3 said: “I think it has to start internally which is a different thing and then I would say we are globally in a process of defining what we call our sense of purpose which is the essence of the company and I don’t know, I mean they’re working on it at a global level.”

All corporate communications employees defined the corporate identity of Company X as being a

responsible corporate citizen, with a heavy focus on sustainability and ethics, however, in being

asked to define the company’s corporate identity, E2 prefaced her answer with a comment that her

understanding of the corporate identity is most likely affected by the things she is working with

every day. She went on to list the employee benefits that she considers reflective of the corporate

identity: “I think that's quite something that people are proud of and that most of us seem to take

our responsibility and being proud of that and seeing that it's kind of what Company X stands for

on top of the values that have kind of always been there, with the strong brands and the strong storytelling and the strong pride of the brands and the heritage of that.” These traits make up a strong and unique culture at Company X that E2 says will make people who fit in want to stay with the company throughout their careers. E2 also noted the importance of having physical examples of the company’s sustainability and ethical initiatives, such as the recent launch of a new ecological cosmetic line: “It’s quite important that you actually have this physical example with the products and the launches and the campaigns that it actually carries out the kind of the core value of being a responsible citizen for the environment but also for the full circle.”

E3 had a more structured view of the corporate identity, defining it as being made up of four distinct pillars that are the DNA of Company X: leadership (the company’s leaders, entrepreneurialism, and financial/industry leadership), citizenship (ethics & sustainability), love (love of brands, company, diversity, and talent development): “it’s also about how you love the company when you feel you get developed,” and pioneering (innovation). From a reputational view, she said Company X wants to be recognized as a leader in sustainability and a loved company. Her identification with Company X is tied to her role in working on and promoting these four pillars:

“I feel I’m part of shaping what Company X should be.”

“I really want to make our employees know about the efforts we do because if they don’t know about it then how can they be proud?” This quote by E1 is in reference to how they communicate the corporate identity and the importance of why they communicate the identity. However, she had a different perspective when it came to explicitly communicating the corporate identity traits to employees: “I think it’s also the intent of the group that from day one we should not say, ‘Company X is this and this and this and you need to say this and this and this.’ They need to build up their own kind of picture and feeling of the company.” With regards to the channels used by those working with corporate communications to communicate the company’s identity traits, E2 listed staff updates, their intranet, an employee-focused Instagram account, LinkedIn posts, mailings, and one annual event that is tied to ethics and sustainability.

E3 listed all of the same communication channels, with the exception of adding internal marketing

in communicating values and identity traits is in not overloading the employees’ email accounts:

“It is a bit of overload but still you want to make sure that all of this really important on top messages goes through so it’s something that we work with but we have some platform but I think we could do more and try out more.” However, despite the challenges in communicating she sees the employees as engaged in sustainability and ethics and wanting to take responsibility for themselves and their company. A further channel listed by E3, and briefly by E1, for communicating the corporate identity was an introduction program for new employees after they have been employed for 6 months or a year. At these introduction meetings, E3 said they go through the global program and local initiatives related to the corporate identity. In speaking about this introduction process. E1 was quick to say: “It’s not so much brainwash about the corporate identity, it’s more about feeling well and making sure newly arrived employees fit into the company and they know where to find things.” E1 described a much less effective introduction process where a new employee meets with two or three different managers within sustainability and ethics and is left to: “put the pieces together themselves to make up one uniformed image of the corporate identity.”

The goal of internal branding through internal corporate communications is to create pride by communicating the ethical and sustainable activities of Company X to its employees and customers without forcing it on them: “Not just, now we did this and this and this we’re so great, but really try to make it personal and make it proximate and then to make people proud” (E1). E1 continued with: “If our employees don’t know about it [sustainability and ethics initiatives] and they don’t feel proud about it, then it’s useless. So therefore it’s my first focus to create a sort of pride from the employees.” E3 reinforced this: “my goal is that all employees feel proud to work for Company X, I want all our employees to be aware of these, they don’t need to know the four pillars (laughs) but they need to know some of the programs that’s part of these four pillars so that they know that and feel that.” She followed with: “And for most of our employees there’s a lot of pride in the brand that they work with. So obviously then what we really try to put on top is this corporate topics that not everyone otherwise are familiar with. And we want to make, basically we talk about developing our employees as reputational activators.”

Upper management