Introduction: Communication is said to be one of the most important yet most challenging aspects of leadership. Today's globalized world creates new dimensions, requirements and higher demands are placed on managers' internal communication in order to be able to handle different cultural aspects and employees. Managers may face a myriad of challenges such as language barriers, cultural diversity through different values, behavioral patterns of team members and way of thinking. Previous research on communication shows that the focus has been on external communication, there has been limited connection between cultural impact and internal communication, and the concept of communication channels within internal communication, from a managerial perspective, is still rather unexamined. Purpose: By examining managers' understanding of cultural aspects in internal communication in multicultural settings, we aim to increase the understanding of what is required of managers, when communicating internally, so that the message is interpreted and understood by the various employees in a multicultural team. By adding the perspective of communication styles and communication channels into internal communication in multicultural settings, a broader understanding of the important tools for effective communication can be understood. Research methodology: The study is a case study based on a qualitative research method with an inductive approach. Twelve recorded semi-structured interviews with six main questions, and several sub-questions, were conducted with twelve various managers who lead multicultural teams in six different global companies. The theoretical framework is, from the empirical material, based on four themes- the importance of leadership, internal communication and communication style, the influence of culture and communication channels. Result and analysis: The result from the study shows that the role of leadership, internal communication and communication style, the influence of culture and communication channels are important aspects for managers to have knowledge of, in order to handle internal communication and successfully lead multicultural teams. Conclusion: The role of leadership, knowledge of culture, adaptation and the most beneficial communication channels are important factors for managers to have knowledge of for the effectiveness of internal communication. Culture plays an important role for communication,and it is essential to understand the meaning of culture. At the same time, the individual’s personality behind the culture has significance as well. It is therefore important for managers to be able to look beyond culture and also be able to navigate from other aspects. Keywords: Leadership, Communication, Internal communication, Multicultural teams, Culture, Communication channels, Communication style, Cultural diversity, Management

This study evaluates the perceived credibility of a technical chatbot based on its communication style - the way it interacts with its users embodied through text and emojis. A chatbot’s initial communication style was compared to a humble version. The humble communication style was developed from a design workshop held together with six participants and is presented in this paper as a design style guide. The perceived credibility was divided into six dimensions; Competence, Goodwill, Honesty, Predictability, Reputation, and Trustworthiness. The results from the evaluation of the two chatbot versions showed that the credibility was, in general, perceived higher for the chatbot using a humble communication style. Two exceptions were found; (1) the dimension of Trustworthiness stayed at the same level between the versions, and (2) the dimension of Goodwill was perceived higher for the chatbot not using the humble communication style. The satisfaction with the chatbot was measured and resulted in an NPS of 17 for the chatbot using the humble communication style compared to a negative score of -16 for the chatbot not using it. This study found that a more humble communication style would not harm the perceived credibility of a technical professional chatbot. / Den här studien utvärderar den upplevda trovärdigheten hos en teknisk chatbot baserat på dess kommunikationsstil - hur den interagerar med sina användare genom text och emojis. En chatbots initiala kommunikationsstil jämfördes med en ödmjuk version. Den ödmjuka kommunikationsstilen utvecklades från en designworkshop och presenteras i denna studie som en designguide. Den upplevda trovärdigheten delades upp i 6 dimensioner; Kompetens, Välvilja, Ärlighet, Förutsägbarhet, Rykte, och Pålitlighet. Resultatet av utvärderingen av de två chatbot versionerna visade att trovärdigheten upplevdes generellt högre för den ödmjukare chatboten. Två undantag påvisades dock; (1) Pålitlighet blev oförändrad mellan de två kommunikationsstilarna, och (2) Välvilja resulterade i ett högre värde hos den initiala kommunikationsstilen. Användarnas tillfredsställelse med chatboten utvärderades och resulterade i ett NPS värde på 17 för chatboten som använde den ödmjuka kommunikationsstilen igämförelse med ett negativt värde på -16 för chatboten som använde den initiala kommunikationsstilen. Denna studie visade att en mer ödmjuk kommunikationsstil inte skadar den upplevda trovärdigheten hos en teknisk professionell chatbot.

Speech and language pathologists working with aphasia therapy regularly encounter close relatives of people with aphasia. A common observation is that close relatives discern a connection regarding how the person with aphasia manages communication difficulties, related to their communication style before suffering from stroke. It is uninvestigated whether premorbid communication style and functional communication in people with aphasia are related to each other. This study aims to explore if there is a relationship between premorbid communication style, cognitive functioning, and post-stroke functional communication in people with aphasia. Premorbid communication style, functional communication and cognitive functions were measured in 47 participants with severe aphasia. Correlation analyses were used to examine if these areas are related to each other. No relationship could be demonstrated between communication style and functional communication, which could be explained by the unreliable measurements that was used to measure communication style. However, there was a statistically significant positive relationship between cognitive function and functional communication. Additional research is needed to reliably measure communication style in future studies. This study contributes valuable information for continued research examining the relationship between premorbid communication style and functional communication in people with aphasia. / Logopeder som arbetar med afasibehandling möter ofta närstående till personer med afasi. En vanlig observation är att närstående ofta noterar en koppling gällande hur personen med afasi hanterar kommunikationssvårigheterna relaterat till sin kommunikationsstil före insjuknande i stroke. Det är outforskat huruvida premorbid kommunikationsstil och funktionell kommunikation hos personer med afasi är relaterade till varandra. Denna studie syftar till att utforska om det finns ett samband mellan premorbid kommunikationsstil, kognitiva funktioner och funktionell kommunikation för personer med afasi. Premorbid kommunikationsstil, funktionell kommunikation och kognitiva funktioner har mätts på 47 deltagare med grav afasi. Korrelationsanalyser har använts för att undersöka om det finns ett samband mellan dessa domäner. Inget samband kunde påvisas mellan premorbid kommunikationsstil och funktionell kommunikation, vilket skulle kunna förklaras av de mindre tillförlitliga mätningarna som gjordes för att mäta kommunikationsstil. Däremot fanns ett statistiskt signifikant positivt samband mellan kognitiv funktion och funktionell kommunikation. Ytterligare forskning behövs för att kunna mäta kommunikationsstil med pålitliga resultat. Denna studie bidrar med värdefull information inför fortsatt forskning om sambandet mellan premorbid kommunikationsstil och funktionell kommunikation för personer med afasi.

Syftet med den här uppsatsen är att få en bättre förståelse för hur olika kommunikationsstilarkommer till uttryck i en kontext av globala virtuella team (GVT), genom att undersöka vad deinnebär för teamets effektiva kommunikation. Därutöver undersöks även vilken roll kulturellintelligens (CQ) spelar i sammanhanget. För att granska ämnet har en kvalitativ metodbestående av semistrukturerade intervjuer och Critical Incident Technique använts.Intervjuerna inkluderade medlemmar tillhörande ett GVT från SSAB, såväl som enskildaindivider som arbetar i GVT i andra företag. Resultatet visar att olika kommunikationsstilarinom ett GVT kan leda till missförstånd och därmed hindra den effektiva kommunikationen.Resultatet visar också att CQ kan hjälpa till att minska missförstånd i GVT. / The purpose of this study is to gain a deeper understanding of how different communicationstyles manifest in the context of global virtual teams (GVT), which is done by looking atwhat they entail for the teams effective communication. In addition to this, the role of culturalintelligence (CQ) in the context is also being explored. To examine this topic, this studyapplied a qualitative method consisting of semi-structured interviews and Critical IncidentTechnique. The interviews conducted included the members of a GVT from the companySSAB, as well as unrelated employees working in GVTs from other companies. The resultsdemonstrate that different communication styles in GVTs can lead to misunderstandings andtherefore hinder effective communication. The results also show that CQ can help reducemisunderstandings in GVTs.

This dissertation reports five experiments exploring the use of AI-based smart agents to support physician-patient interactions. In each experiment, a sample of female participants evaluates video tapes of simulated physician-patient interactions in a setting involving early stage breast cancer diagnosis. Experiment 1 manipulates communication style (empathetic/impassive) for both a human physician (played by an actor) and an avatar that mimics the human. Empathetic styles elicit more liking and trust from patients and are also more persuasive. The avatar loses less than the human physician on desirable patient outcomes when communication style changes from empathetic to impassive. A mediation analysis shows that the communication style and physician type effects flow serially through liking and trust to persuasion. Experiment 2 reports an extended replication, adding a new avatar with less resemblance to the human physician. The findings match those of Experiment 1: both avatars have similar effects on liking, trust, and persuasion and are similarly anthropomorphized. Experiment 3 examines whether the patient's mindset (hope/fear about the cancer prognosis) influences likely patient outcomes. The mindset manipulation does not influence patient outcomes, but we find support for the core serial mediation model (from liking to trust to persuasion). Experiment 4 explores whether it matters how the avatar is deployed. Introducing the avatar as the physician's assistant lowers its evaluations perhaps because the patients feel deprioritized. The human physician is evaluated significantly higher on all outcome dimensions. Experiments 1-4 focused on the first phase of a standard three-phased physician-patient interaction protocol. Experiment 5 examines communication style (empathetic/ impassive) and physician type (human/avatar) effects across the three sequential phases. Patient outcomes improve monotonically over the three interaction phases across all study conditions. Overall, our studies show that an empathetic communication style is more effective in eliciting higher levels of liking, trust, and persuasion. The human physician and the avatar elicit similar levels of these desirable patient interaction outcomes. The avatar loses less when communication style changes from empathetic to impassive, suggesting that patients may have lower expectations of empathy from avatars. Thus, if carefully deployed, smart agents acting as physicians' avatars may effectively support physician-patient interactions. / Doctor of Philosophy / Healthcare professionals often have the difficult task of breaking bad news to patients. Research has shown that physician's communication style influences patient outcomes (liking, trust, persuasion, and compliance). Some physicians may adopt an impassive communication style to avoid emotional involvement with patients and some others may be overly empathetic and are prone to be perceived as inauthentic. These deficiencies persist despite an emphasis on developing physician communication skills. As in other service domains, a new generation of humanoid service robots (HSRs) offers potential for supporting physician-patient interactions. The effectiveness of such Artificial Intelligence (AI)/smart agent supported physician-patient interactions will rest, in part, on the communication style designed into the smart agents. A patient interacting with a smart agent emulating a human physician may assess different cognitive capabilities (knowledge and expertise), attribute different motivations, and make different socio-cultural appraisals than when they interact with the physician in-person. This research examines whether communication style (empathetic versus impassive) implemented via facial expression and vocal delivery elicits different patient responses when interacting with a smart agent (a physician' avatar) versus the physician in person. Findings suggest that, an empathetic (vs impassive) communication style elicits more positive patient responses, avatar physicians fare at par or better than the human physician and lose less on the patient outcomes when the communication style changes from empathetic to impassive. The avatars' appearance does not play a role in persuasion. Avatars were similarly anthropomorphized and participants' mindset (Hope/Fear) did not influence the outcomes. However, if the avatars are introduced as assistants (versus standalone physicians) there is a possibility that patients may feel downgraded/deprioritized, leading to lower evaluations for the avatars than the human physician. The contrast created when the human physician introduces the avatar may have unintended consequences that lower the avatar's evaluation. Without a direct contrast, patients may be more receptive to avatar interactions, particularly as they become more familiar in service environments. Our findings suggest that, if carefully deployed, smart agents acting as physicians' avatars may effectively support physician-patient interactions. Indeed, patients may have lower expectations of empathy from an avatar versus a human physician. This can facilitate more effective physician-patient interactions and elicit positive downstream effects on patient liking, trust and compliance.