Due to the increasing competitiveness between organisations to attract and retain internal and external stakeholders so as to increase organisational competitive advantage, it is vitally important to the long-term success thereof that the inherent importance of organisational communication, specifically internal communication, is taken into consideration within the context of a rapidly changing business environment. This is to make sure that an alignment exists between internal organisational core values and the external image the organisation portrays. Thus within the context of banking service organisations so as to ensure a successful internal organisational alignment strategy, which promotes employee satisfaction and participation, improvement needs to be made to internal communication strategies. Based on this, three key concepts are identified as pertinent; namely internal organisational communication, the corporate identity aspect of internal branding and the organisational culture aspect of organisational alignment. Thus, the overriding purpose is to determine what the role of internal branding as a tool for internal organisational alignment is amongst banking service organisations in South Africa that have undergone an amalgamation. The motivation for this research is the fact that numerous organisations do not realise the importance of internal communication and branding initiatives to the internal stakeholders’ satisfaction, service delivery quality and ultimate impact on the organisation’s profitability. Absa Bank is the subject for the one-shot case study as it recently implemented new internal branding initiatives so as to engage and align internal stakeholders with the core organisational values and culture, to improve the quality of service rendered, to retain external customers, and to impact positively on the bank’s profitability. Through the use of qualitative research methods, which are a one-shot case study utilising a documentation study and telephonic and e-mail interviews, the goal of the study is achieved. The theoretical chapters set the context by introducing and defining relevant key concepts, as well as presenting a theoretical discussion on these concepts. The case study on Absa Bank forms the basis of the integration of theoretical concepts and the practical application thereof. Finally, the research findings are discussed and further recommendations proposed. Based on the research, a key contribution is the conceptualisation of the term integrated organisational communication. Keywords: organisational communication, internal organisational communication, corporate identity, internal branding, organisational culture, organisational alignment. / Andrea Crystal

Doctorat en philosophie et lettres / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

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The purpose of the study was to conduct an evaluation on the effectiveness of the change communications distributed to the occupants of Barclays Towers West, Barclays Africa‟s first green building, in ensuring the sustainability of the change after the move into the building. In addition, recommendations are made to improve the change communications directed towards the building occupants to ensure the sustainability of the change and for future moves to green buildings. The research paper is made up of the following three distinct sections: Section One – Evaluation Research Report: this section outlines the organisational and research context for the study, the objectives of the research and rationale for conducting the research. A brief overview of the key theories and models on change communication that were utilised in the study are discussed, and definitions of important terms are presented. The research methodology is also described which includes an explanation on the evaluation research approach utilised as well as the use of both qualitative and quantitative data in the study. In addition, the results from the research conducted are presented, based on three data collection methods utilised: document analysis, semi-structured interviews and a survey. The results are then analysed and discussed in relation to the literature reviewed on change communication. Recommendations are made on improvements that can be made to the change communications to ensure the sustainability of the change. Section Two – Literature Review: the literature, theories and important concept definitions of organisational change management, change sustainability, change communication and green buildings which are relevant for the research topic and have been used as the theoretical base of the study are explored in this section. A key component of the literature review is the description of the change communication theories and models: communication theory, Armenakis, Harris and Field (2007) Model, and the Barrett (2002) Model. An understanding of the theories and models is imperative, as the effectiveness of the change communications after the move into Barclays Towers West is assessed based on the elements of the change communication theories and models. Section Three – Research Methodology: the research methodology for the study is described in this section. Specifically, the research aims and objectives, the research paradigm, the population and sampling, data collection, data analysis and ethical considerations are outlined. A key component of the section is the explanation on how the data was collected and analysed in the study and the sequence. The post move communications and artefacts and meeting presentations were collected first. The qualitative data was analysed and used to determine the questions for the semi structured interviews. Semi-structured one on one interviews were then conducted. The qualitative data and the change communication theories and models used in this study were used to determine the questions for the online survey. An online survey tool was used to administer a predominantly five point Likert scale questionnaire with an invitation to participate emailed to the building occupants. The quantitative data was analysed using descriptive statistical analysis. Research Findings: The key research findings revealed that the messages communicated to the occupants after the move into the building have been mainly focused on operational matters and rarely on educating occupants on the green aspects of the building. A large majority of the survey respondents were aware of the building facilities, details and required behaviour. However it was found that the occupants, Line Managers and Senior Management are not displaying the required behaviour for a green building and do not know how to use some of the building facilities. A major gap was found in communicating with people moving into the building. In addition it was found that some of the information communicated to occupants is outdated. Written communications are used extensively and face to face communication is rarely used to communicate with the occupants. As a result, a number of changes are required to improve the effectiveness of the change communications to the occupants of Barclays Towers West. The improvements include communicating to new occupants; utilising additional communication channels; focusing communication messages on educating occupants on the strategic objectives for the building; rationale for building features and facilities; how to use the facilities and the impact of their behaviour on the building objectives being achieved.

The correlates of organizational communication to other organizational constructs have been scarcely researched. Two constructs of interest to management researchers and practitioners are job performance and job satisfaction. This interest arises from the fact that the quality of organizational life and effectiveness may be determined by the quality of the two constructs. This study investigates the moderating influence of organizational communication on two models involving the variables of performance and satisfaction: (1) the relationship between performance and satisfaction and (2) the relationship between the congruence of the individual and the job with performance and satisfaction. Organizational communication is assessed in terms of ten dimensions: trust in superiors; influence of superiors; accuracy of information; desire for interaction; communication satisfaction; overload and underload information; and upward, downward, and lateral communication. Executives, research and middle management people, office workers, and manufacturing individuals from two firms provided the data for the study. An expected moderating influence was evaluated through differential validity or differential predictability, as appropriate, and moderated regression analysis. Organizational communication received very weak support as a moderator of both the relationship between the target variables of performance and satisfaction and the individual-job congruence association with the same target variables. Accuracy of information, desire for interaction, and directionality of communication—upward, downward, and lateral—received support as moderators of particular performance/satisfaction relationships. Trust in superiors, influence of superiors, accuracy of information, and desire for interaction acted as moderators of specific individual-job congruence relationships with performance and satisfaction. Organizational communication received moderate-to-strong support as a predictor of the two relationships researched. Thus, either as a moderator or as a predictor, communication constitutes an avenue for improving the quality of organizational life and effectiveness; the performance and satisfaction of individuals may he fostered through communication.

This study investigated what helps and what hinders RCMP officers in being meaningfully engaged in their work. Experiencing workplace engagement is becoming increasingly meaningful and important for both workers and employers in the new economy. The study is important to the field of counselling, and related fields such as organizational psychology, in terms of both theory and practice, as it concretely expands our understanding of the experience of workplace engagement for workers. In this study, the participants consisted of 14 male RCMP officers and 11 female RCMP officers. Participants were all posted in the Greater Vancouver area at the time of the study, although officers had previously been posted at a variety o f locations throughout Canada. Officers were individually interviewed using a semi-structured, open-ended interview consistent with Flanagan's (1954) Critical Incident Technique. In total, 370 critical incidents were elicited from the 25 participants. Critical incidents helping officers experience meaningful engagement in their work totaled 197. Critical incidents hindering officers in experiencing meaningful engagement in their work totaled 173. The critical incidents were then grouped into 19 categories based on the nature of the incident and the meaning the incident held for the officer. To address reliability in categorizing incidents, two independent judges categorized a sampling o f incidents. In both cases judges agreed with the researcher's categorization in over 90% of incidents. Four participants were also presented with their own critical incidents, and asked to categorize them. Again participants agreed with the researcher's categorization in over 90% of incidents. The main categories identified in this the study were supervision, police incidents, perceived organizational support, transfer, personal circumstances, and peers. In each of these categories both helping and hindering critical incidents were identified by participants. This study provides a detailed description and analysis of the critical incidents that help or hinder RCMP officers in being meaningfully engaged in their work. / Arts, Faculty of / Psychology, Department of / Graduate

M.A. / This study determines the role of public relations as a marketing communication function in RAU's integrated marketing communication approach. The research topic was selected for numerous reasons. Firstly, dramatic changes have occurred in the tertiary educational domain, which causes universities to adapt their marketing communication approaches. Based on these environmental changes, the Public Relations Division at RAU commissioned the study on the research topic, which is the second consideration for the study. The debate on integrated marketing communication shows, in the third place, that this approach is increasingly important. On closer investigation there is a definite need for a thorough literature review with an authentic integrated marketing communication approach, driven by the integrated organizational functioning and processes. From a public relations perspective, on closer investigation, there is a need for the direct empirical examination of the role of public relations as a contributing function of integrated marketing communication in order to narrow the gap between literature and empirical evidence. To achieve the research objectives, an extensive literature study had to be undertaken. Integraled marketing communication had to be researched in depth, to achieve a thorough understanding of the philosophy of integrated marketing communication. Hence, the contextualization of integrated marketing communication was examined to understand how the concept is applied within an organizational setting. Following from this, it was established that the integrated marketing communication programme can be seen as the advanced application of integrated marketing communication within the organizational context. The role of public relations as a marketing communication function was then explored within this integrated marketing communication approach. It was established that a shift towards a more marketing:oriented approach to public relations was increasing, thus the importance of marketing public relations. The study was enhanced by two phases of research conducted within RAU to meet the objectives of the study. The first, quantitative phase determined the extent to which RAU's communication activities is integrated. The measuring instrument used is the integrated marketing communication mini-audit scale. It is essential to note that all organizations are integrated to a certain extent (Duncan & Moriarty, 1997:14). Therefore, this study did not focus on establishing whether RAU as an organization is integrated. In the second, qualitative research phase, the role of public relations as a marketing communication function within RAU's integrated marketing communication approach was determined. The issue that became apparent throughout this study was that integrated marketing communication in any organizational context is of strategic importance for the "unity of effort" of the greater well-being of the organization. It was found in this research project that there are fundamental concerns for RAU regarding integrated marketing communication, and that public relations is practised on a technical, traditional level. The results of this study are primarily based on three key findings: firstly, the lack of core competency within the Division of Public Relations, secondly, the lack of cross-functional planning and operations within this department, and thirdly, a lack of interactivity with stakeholders. It is put forward that RAU should concentrate on the basic requirements and infrastructure necessary to utilize integrated marketing communication and that marketing public relations should be an integral part of the functioning of RAU as a tertiary educational institution.

M.A. / This dissertation is an explorative study of the importance of participative communication conducted at one South African organization. The influence of the external democratic environment on the internal organizational environment was discussed within the broad parameters of the open systems approach. The new labour legislation in South Africa, the new Labour Relations Act (NLRA), emphasizes democratic principles and values. Participative management is emphasized as a management style that should be encouraged. Access to information and employee participation in organizational operation are indicated as key components in the move towards more participative organizational environments. The renewed importance of an organizational context that supports worker participation processes emphasizes the need to investigate how a participative environment can most effectively be established. Information sharing and participation in decision-making require effective communication structures and an environment that supports and encourages employee involvement. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of effective communication in participative organizational contexts with specific focus on South Africa. The newly emphasized democratic external democratic external environment requires the encouragement of effective participative management. The study advocated that communication structures as mechanisms for participation in organizational decisionmaking should therefore be critically analyzed. In order to ensure effective communication in participative environments, communication effectiveness was formulated in terms of specific research objectives that were explored, namely information efficiency (availability of information), communication channels available for information and the number of channels available for participation. Variables that could possibly influence these theoretical constructs were identified and explored, including job level, union membership, workplace forum membership, workplace forum participation, fear of participation and communication climate. In the literature study consideration was given to recognized theories related to the systems approach, climate and culture and participative management. The organizational internal culture was also discussed and considered, as cultural change should play a major role in the move towards a participative culture. The empirical part of the study was conducted as a case study at Columbus Stainless. Research objectives in terms of the aim of the study were explored indicating the importance of participative communication by measuring specific theoretical constructs as formulated in terms of the theoretical framework. The most prominent findings can be summarized as follows: • In terms of information efficiency variation between junior and senior level employees existed. Availability of information, both current and desired, was indicated as a theoretical construct that should be measured. • Variation existed in the perception of organizational information efficiency (amount of information) between organizational members who are scared of participation and members who are not scared of participation. Employees with less access to information were more scared of participation. • Wider access to communication channels providing information on micro level was related to more positive perceptions of the communication climate. • A correlation existed between fear of participation and the number of channels used for participation on macro level. Respondents who on average participated in fewer channels on macro level were less scared of participation. • Communication channel usage on macro level was almost statistically significantly related to positive perceptions of the communication climate.

The purpose of this project was to examine the perceptions of junior faculty members as they relate to roles and expectations related to the tenure process. The study utilized a mixed methods approach to gain a multifaceted perspective of this complex process. I employed a quantitative and qualitative survey to explore junior faculty perceptions regarding roles related to promotion and tenure policies. In addition, I conducted fantasy theme analysis (FTA) to explore the organizational rhetoric related to these policies. Findings from the study illustrate the continued presence of the "publish or perish" paradigm, as well as issues related to role conflict within the context of organizational rhetoric.

Artisanal and/or illegal mining occurs throughout the African continent and is affected by government institutions and their policies, mining companies and their activities as well as the communities where it occurs. Mining companies, in particular, make significant investments in the communities around their mines via corporate social responsibility (CSR). Mining companies choose to either acknowledge that illegal miners are in fact a stakeholder in the community around the mine, and manage the relationship proactively, or they choose to accept that the activity is illegal and/or opt for the government and police to get involved in managing the relationship. The research explores the possibility of mining companies and illegal miners cooperating with each other, instead of competing, and the nature of the mining companies CSR and stakeholder engagement (SE) strategies that make for a more transformational relationship. The research establishes the environmental and organisational factors that drive this relationship. Ten interviews were conducted with CSR practitioners, sustainability managers, asset protection experts, consultants and geologists working for gold mining companies operating throughout Africa. Qualitative data was collected through the use of semistructured interviews and the data was analysed using content analysis. Through this research, a stakeholder identification and engagement tool has been developed for mining companies and their managers to use throughout their global operations. This tool can be used to report and manage the relationship with illegal miners globally, as the relationship is highly dependent on the country setting and context. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / lmgibs2015 / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / Unrestricted