As empresas buscam, além da sobrevivência, diferenciar-se em um ambiente marcado pela competitividade. Deste modo, as operações de F&A (fusão e aquisição) tornam-se comuns, trazendo mudanças estruturais e culturais às empresas e afetando o comportamento organizacional. Isso se reflete em resistência às modificações propostas, o que pode determinar o fracasso dos processos. Nesse contexto, a comunicação pode ser fundamental, auxiliando nos processos de mudanças como um todo. Esta pesquisa teve por objetivo analisar a relação entre comunicação e o comportamento organizacional em uma empresa de processamento de proteína animal, que passou por constantes mudanças após um processo de aquisição. O método foi exploratório (estudo de caso) e quantitativo, sendo a população escolhida formada pelos funcionários operacionais, totalizando 584 pessoas. A coleta de dados foi realizada por meio de 258 questionários distribuídos por sorteio. Os dados foram analisados com auxílio do software SPSS versão 22.0. Os principais resultados indicam que a comunicação possui correlação positiva e significativa com as dimensões motivação, oportunidade de participação, incertezas sobre ambiente futuro e comprometimento organizacional. Na análise dos dados demográficos, foi possível concluir que o comprometimento organizacional apresenta variabilidade significativa em relação à idade dos respondentes e a dimensão motivação por recompensas externas apresenta variabilidade significativa em relação aos respondentes que residem ou não na vila da empresa. O grau de escolaridade responde por variabilidade significativa nas dimensões comprometimento organizacional e motivação pela satisfação das necessidades básicas. / Companies seek, in addition to survival, differentiate themselves in a competitive environment. In this way, operations of M&A (merger and acquisition) are common businessevents, bringing structural and cultural changes and affecting organizational behavior in affected companies. This may cause resistance to the proposed changes, which can determine failure of the M&A process. In this context, communication can be critical and can help the change process as a whole. This research aimed to analyze the relationship between communication and dimensions of organizational behavior in an environment of changes by way of acquisition. The method was exploratory (case study) and quantitative. A survey questionnaire was applied to 258 people randomly selected from a population of 584 front line employees. The data were analyzed using the SPSS software version 22.0. Main results indicate that communication has positive and significant correlation with motivation, opportunity to participate, uncertainty about the future and organizational commitment. In the analysis of demographic data, it was observed that organizational commitment has significant variability in relation to age of the respondents. Motivation due to external rewards had significant variability in relation to respondents who reside or not in the village built on the company's property. Level of education responded for significant variability in organizational commitment and motivation due to satisfaction of basic needs.

The purpose of this study was to examine the current research on mergers and acquisitions which includes organizational factors, such as communication processes, and their impact on employee reactions. The current study addresses this issue through a simulated M&A announcement laboratory experiment with 156 CSUSB undergraduate students.

Orientador: Roseane Andrelo / Banca: Raquel Cabral / Banca: Ivone de Lourdes Oliveira / Resumo: Nos últimos anos, nota-se a crescente preocupação da sociedade com questões como responsabilidade social, inclusão e diversidade nas práticas corporativas, o que faz com que surjam pressões para que as organizações se posicionem a respeito desses temas. Nesse contexto, o presente trabalho buscou responder ao seguinte questionamento: como as interações entre sociedade e organização, articuladas pela comunicação organizacional pautada pelo tema da diversidade, reconstroem o discurso organizacional? Portanto, o objetivo da pesquisa foi investigar o sistema de resposta social de atores nas redes sociais digitais a partir de estratégias midiatizadas da C&A no Facebook na campanha "Entre na Mistura Jeans", relacionadas à temática da diversidade. A investigação consistiu em uma pesquisa bibliográfica sobre diversidade, mídias sociais digitais, paradigma relacional da comunicação, discursos organizacionais e abordou o conceito de sistema de resposta social proposto por Braga (2006), transpondo-o para o âmbito da comunicação organizacional. Na segunda parte do estudo, foi realizada uma pesquisa exploratória sobre a campanha e a empresa, além da análise qualitativa da intencionalidade do discurso nas postagens selecionadas segundo os conceitos de mensagem conotativa, denotativa e linguística de Barthes (1982; 1996). A terceira etapa consistiu na análise de conteúdo dos dados colhidos nas redes sociais, como comentários, compartilhamentos e demais interações nas publicações. Por fim, a ... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: In recent years, society has been increasingly concerned about issues such as social responsibility, inclusiveness and diversity in corporate practices, which puts pressure on organizations to show their position about these issues. Considering the current context, the present work aims to answer the following question: how do interactions between society and organization articulated by organizational communication guided by the theme of diversity rebuild organizational discourse? Therefore, the objective of the research is to investigate the social response system of actors in digital social networks considering mediatized strategies from C&A on Facebook in "Entre na Mistura Jeans" campaign, related to the theme of diversity. The research consisted of a bibliographical research on diversity, digital social media, relational paradigm of communication, organizational discourses and it has discussed the concept of social response system proposed by Braga (2006), transposing it to the scope of organizational communication. In the second part of the research, an exploratory research of the campaign and the company was carried out, and also a qualitative analysis of the intentionality of the discourse in the selected posts according to the concepts of connotative, denotative and linguistic message by Barthes (1982; 1996). The third stage of the study comprised a content analysis of the data collected in digital social networks, such as comments, shares and other interactions on th... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Mestre

This thesis contributes to research that informs the studies of organizational management and organizational anthropology. It examines the internal hierarchy and organizational practices of a Tech Company and describes how findings contributed to policy recommendations aimed towards supporting a “guild” model for organizational success. The data collecting and research were undertaken while working as an employee of the Tech Program and subsequent analysis continued past the end of that phase of work. Methods included semi-structured interviews which captured the sentiments and understandings of employees within the organization, and a questionnaire which revealed sentiments and experiences from former employees. These were buttressed with participant observation engaged through a participatory action research methodology. Findings add to the work directed towards understanding the effect of Founder’s Syndrome within organizations. Additionally, this thesis contributes to a growing body of research centered on best practices for fostering positive organizational growth by creating lines of communication from front-line employees to management level employers.

Scholars have paid increased attention to the impact of social technologies on organizational communication but have yet to explore how their use has influenced organizational socialization, a process in which organizational newcomers transition into the organization. To fill this gap, this thesis investigates the use of social networking applications, a type of social technology, and its relation to three key processes in organizational socialization: information seeking, identity work, and workplace relationship development. Drawing on the concepts of affordance and paradox, this thesis examines how technological features and human factors such as mobile communication culture, technological frames of users, and organizational contexts shape processes of using social networking applications during organizational entry. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with Chinese organizational newcomers regarding their experience of using WeChat, the most popular social networking mobile application in China. Findings suggest that WeChat provides communicative opportunities that are otherwise not available in other communication platforms or channels. The participants obtain official and unofficial information from using WeChat. In addition to conventional, direct information seeking, the participants rely on persistence of information afforded by WeChat to indirectly access information. The participants seek information about identity expectations through indirect methods such as observation and experiment with their provisional identities using WeChat Moments. Details of mundane everyday work life and achievements are the most frequently mentioned content for identity construction. For workplace relationship development, the participants develop metaknowledge of their coworkers through browsing their coworkers' posts from WeChat Moments. WeChat work groups provide opportunities for newcomers to initiate and develop relationships with their coworkers with low social costs. Despite that WeChat provides lots of benefits, the participants describe WeChat as a problematic tool in that they could be trapped in paradoxical situations when they are concerned with engagement in organizational communication flows, construction of flexible identities, genres of professional communication enabled by WeChat, and blurred boundaries between professional and personal life. Dealing with these paradoxes provides opportunities for newcomers to learn technology culture of their organizations, reflect on their technological frames, and adjust their expectations and behaviors with respect to WeChat use. This technologically occasioned learning is an unexpected outcome of responding to the paradoxes of using WeChat during organizational entry. This thesis extends organizational communication research to provide an initial exploration of the use of social technologies in organizational socialization, uncovering how social networking sites and applications both enable and constrain information seeking, identity work, and workplace relationship development. It also provides insights into how various individual, interpersonal, and organizational factors influence the perceived affordances of social networking mobile applications and how these factors interact to shape the paradoxical user experience. With their wide adoption in the contemporary workplace, social networking sites and applications have huge potential to help newcomers transition into new organizations and have become an important aspect in organizational socialization. By learning and adapting to the norms of use for social networking sites and applications in new organizations and making sense of paradoxes in their user experience, newcomers can begin to understand the technology culture of their new organization. This thesis argues that it is necessary to reconceptualize organizational socialization, taking into consideration distinctive processes enabled and constrained by social technologies, and to reflect upon how organizational tactics and the design of social technologies can help newcomers to learn, to adapt, and to thrive in their organizations.

The research adopts the technological affordance approach and the theory of planned behavior (TPB) to examine the role of enterprise social media (ESM) in employee communication and its effects on employees in the context of mainland China. The research postulated that organizations can actualize affordances of ESM to influence employees' cognitive perceptions of ESM (i.e., attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control) that further affect their ESM use intention and relationships with organizations (i.e., employee-organization relationships; EORs). Using a mixed-methods approach to examine Enterprise WeChat (EWeChat), the research interviewed 36 participants to explore organizational actions of EWeChat affordance actualization and employee perceptions about EWeChat use in mainland China. An online survey with 427 mainland Chinese employees adopting EWeChat was conducted to investigate the role of ESM affordance actualization in forming the employees' intention to continuously use EWeChat, as well as in cultivating their EORs through their attitude, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, and habits of EWeChat use. Key results of the research include the following. Thirteen EWeChat affordances and means of actualization (i.e., association, control, diversity, feedback, outeraction, perpetual contact, persistence, personalization, portability, privacy, social presence, synchronicity, and visibility) for specific organizational goals were identified. The influence of EWeChat affordance actualization on employees' intention to continuously use EWeChat was mediated by their perceived benefits and risks of EWeChat use. The utilitarian benefit, hedonic benefit, avoidance of work-life conflicts, social concerns, privacy concerns, and perceived behavioral control were positive indicators of the continuous EWeChat-use intention, while performance risk was a negative indicator. The effects of affordance actualization on EORs were partially mediated by employees' perceived utilitarian benefit and perceived professional image related to EWeChat use. The research extends the TPB to predict ESM use in Chinese workplaces. It explicates ESM affordance actualization as the interaction between ESM and organization (actor 1), and also between ESM and employees (actor 2). It also evidences that ESM can be used as a relationship cultivation tool. The research sheds light on how organizations in mainland China can effectively configure their ESM to maximize the efficacy and relational outcomes of its mobile application in employee communication

The research adopts the technological affordance approach and the theory of planned behavior (TPB) to examine the role of enterprise social media (ESM) in employee communication and its effects on employees in the context of mainland China. The research postulated that organizations can actualize affordances of ESM to influence employees' cognitive perceptions of ESM (i.e., attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control) that further affect their ESM use intention and relationships with organizations (i.e., employee-organization relationships; EORs). Using a mixed-methods approach to examine Enterprise WeChat (EWeChat), the research interviewed 36 participants to explore organizational actions of EWeChat affordance actualization and employee perceptions about EWeChat use in mainland China. An online survey with 427 mainland Chinese employees adopting EWeChat was conducted to investigate the role of ESM affordance actualization in forming the employees' intention to continuously use EWeChat, as well as in cultivating their EORs through their attitude, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, and habits of EWeChat use. Key results of the research include the following. Thirteen EWeChat affordances and means of actualization (i.e., association, control, diversity, feedback, outeraction, perpetual contact, persistence, personalization, portability, privacy, social presence, synchronicity, and visibility) for specific organizational goals were identified. The influence of EWeChat affordance actualization on employees' intention to continuously use EWeChat was mediated by their perceived benefits and risks of EWeChat use. The utilitarian benefit, hedonic benefit, avoidance of work-life conflicts, social concerns, privacy concerns, and perceived behavioral control were positive indicators of the continuous EWeChat-use intention, while performance risk was a negative indicator. The effects of affordance actualization on EORs were partially mediated by employees' perceived utilitarian benefit and perceived professional image related to EWeChat use. The research extends the TPB to predict ESM use in Chinese workplaces. It explicates ESM affordance actualization as the interaction between ESM and organization (actor 1), and also between ESM and employees (actor 2). It also evidences that ESM can be used as a relationship cultivation tool. The research sheds light on how organizations in mainland China can effectively configure their ESM to maximize the efficacy and relational outcomes of its mobile application in employee communication

Key elements found in areas of organizational commnication which develop into the foundational structure for the comprehensive list of best practices for communication is discerned from the wide array of practices existent in American companies. To remain among the most competitive globally, it is increasingly important to understand how best practices can be utilized to maintain a lead. This can be accomplished by recognizing the importance of American efforts to share knowledge and strategies for competitiveness. The Federal program under the directive of National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) manages a program called the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award (MBNQA). Using the award summary profiles of the 68 MBNQA recipients, the best practices are studied to reveal the tactics and strategies that influence the best American companies to achieve the highest productivity and successful communication models. The practices measured within the profile summaries of winning organizations are comprehensively packaged for senior leader use in strategic planning and vision deployment. Exploring reoccurring communication models found in the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award Program contributes to the body of knowledge in organizational communication studies; by comprehensively providing the practices used for organizational excellence. The seven principles integral to organizational communication methods employed by top national companies can be categorized by these essential communicative functions: adapting to change, adapting new technology, managing information effectively, mentoring for leadership, organizational culture, performance feedback, and supervisor and employee communication. MBNQA recipient application profiles principle attributes were calculated by degrees of contribution to the successful application to organizational communication models. Success is identified by the award criteria with regard to aspects of business which exemplify quality improvement in their approach to deployment, integration, and learning. These areas are looked at in terms of relevance to key factors in varied levels concerning strengths, opportunities, and results.

A research report submitted to the faculty of Management, University of the Witwatersrand in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Management (in the field of Public and Development Management) / The democratisation of local governmsnt requires effective communication structures. The current methods of communicating changes and developments to employees of the Sebokeng Town Council are: top management discussions, notice-boards and informing those affected. Their ineffectiveness is shown by the poor knowledge of local government issues revealed in a council characterised by adversarial union-management relations. Management appears to play a minimal role whilst shopstewards dominate the process of communicatlng changes to employees and the grapevine is said to provide information most timeously. The quest for change and for a two-way cornmunlcatlon process were endorsed strongly. Consultative meetings, discussions involving union representatives and informal worker discussions are the preferred methods of communication. It is recommended that a change management process be triggered by the researcher facilitating a more inclusive management-employee workshop to discuss the findings, establish an internal communications structure and explain how to disseminate information through briefing groups. / Andrew Chakane 2018

A research project submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for a Master of Arts degree, by coursework and research report, for Organisational/Industrial Psychology in the Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, August 2017 / Organisations cannot function without communication, however, it is the effectiveness and appropriateness of the communication that is vital to organisational effectiveness. The undisputed need for the assessment of communication competence skills is evident in selection and recruitment, job profiling, performance evaluation, and the development of focused skill orientated training. However, no existing individual instrument adequately measures communicative competence in South African workplaces as a number of unique barriers to interpersonal communication within SA workplaces are unaccounted for in established conceptualisations of workplace communication competence, informing communication assessment approaches and methodologies. Thus, the overarching aim of the current research is to develop a workplace communication assessment scale of routine verbal task-related communication skills, which is contextually and representationally valid, and accommodates contextual social features of South African organisations, relevant in judgments of communication competence. In realising this aim the development of an alternative conceptualisation of SA workplace communicative competence was required. The future establishment of criterion referenced norms for specific jobs would be of practical utility to Human Resources (HR) in the customisation of organisational and job specific communication assessment tools and focused interventions. Method In Phase 1 a broad, inclusive representative item pool was reduced by frequency analysis and collapsing/deleting semantically similar items to 69 retained routine SA workplace communication behaviours. In Phase 2, the 69-item experimental scale was administered to a 303 SA working sample. Competing factor structures were evaluated according to exploratory factor analysis (EFA) model fit indices, pre and post item deletion, followed by confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to differentiate superior model fit. Lastly, the psychometric properties of the resultant scale, in terms of convergent and divergent validity with two existing measures (CCQ (Monge, Bachman, Dillard, & Eisenberg, 1982)) and the SRC (Cupach & Spitzberg, 1981)), as well as reliability, were evaluated. Results The 63-item eight factor model demonstrated the best fit in terms of an even distribution of primary factor loading across the factors, a single non-loading item, no theoretically incompatible item crossloadings, an even distribution of variance across factors, and the most conceptually interpretable pattern of factor loadings. Additionally, Phase 2 provided evidence of the scale's content, structural, convergent, and discriminant validity, and reliability. Discussion SA respondents differentiated eight subcategories as a basis for evaluating how they communicate at work. This suggests greater dimensionality relative to other workplace communication competence measures. The differentiation of the Higher Order Language subscale (i.e. the understanding of abstract and inferential language) suggests a broader conceptualisation of workplace communication skills as required by competent communicators in SA workplaces. Conclusion This research has offered an alternative conceptualisation of workplace communication competence, and developed a valid, reliable, communication assessment scale, from diverse disciplines and theoretical orientations, that measures all dimensions of routinely occurring interactional task-related communication skills within SA workplaces. This communication competence framework facilitates the efficient production of tailored job-specific criterion referenced norms for the immediate customisation of job-specific communication assessment tools and focused interventions. The utility of the new scale extends beyond Industrial/Organisation Psychology practice to inform return to work (RTW) rehabilitation in Speech Language Pathology. / XL2018