ABSTRACT Date: [2023-05-31] Level: Bachelor thesis in Business Administration, 15 cr  Institution: School of Business, Society and Engineering, Mälardalen University  Authors: Mohammed Alkhateeb (97/01/04) Erik Duné (96/01/20) Ead Akriem (99/07/14) Title: The Impact of AI On Internal Communication Within An Organization - A Critical Examination of AI Adoption Supervisor: Lampou Konstantin Keywords: AI, Communication, Employee Engagement, Collaboration, Information,     Technology, AI Adoption Research question What are the advantages and disadvantages of adopting AI in internal communication within a company? Purpose: This study seeks to provide insights to help organizations make informed decisions about incorporating AI into their communication processes. Method: An exploratory approach was applied within its qualitative method to align the study with its purpose. The data collection is based on semi-structured interviews. The authors adopted an interpretive research paradigm and analysis through a thematic analysis. Conclusion: The authors conclude that AI can enhance intra and interdepartmental communication, and improve team interactions, efficiency, and flexibility. It offers advantages such as shorter and clearer communications, translations, and increased productivity. However, drawbacks include the lack of personalization and the potential for communication gaps, disengagement, and loss of the human touch. A balance between the benefits of AI and human interaction is crucial for effective communication. Organizations should develop strategies for adopting AI to consider employee readiness and monitor data quality to ensure accuracy. This will allow organizations to leverage AI's advantages while mitigating potential disadvantages.

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This quantitative study examines the interaction between technology-based instant messaging applications (technology applications) and employee engagement. Technology applications are frequently used as a mode of communication between managers and employees. Internal communication is cited as an antecedent of employee engagement and employee engagement is positively correlated with productivity and organisational success. Hence, the study is directed at understanding the impact of communication technology on employee engagement, due to the indirect link between internal communication and organisational success. In the current context of the global Covid-19 pandemic, this topic is of renewed interest as leaders and employees grapple with new ways of working and communicating. The existing literature provides contradictory conclusions on the relationship between technology use and employee outcomes. A quantitative, deductive approach was adopted to measure (i) the relationship between the frequency of use of technology applications (independent variable) and the antecedents of employee engagement (psychological climate, affective commitment, perceived supervisor support), (ii) frequency of use of technology applications as a moderating variable on the relationship between the antecedents of employee engagement and employee engagement (meaningfulness, safety, availability) and (iii) frequency of use of technology applications as a moderating variable on the relationship between the employee engagement and the outcomes of employee engagement (discretionary effort and intention to turnover). The correlation test revealed a weak correlation between frequency of use of technology applications and the antecedents of employee engagement. The moderated regression analysis revealed that frequency of use of technology applications does not moderate the relationship between (i) the antecedents of employee engagement and employee engagement (meaningfulness, safety, availability), and (ii) the relationship between the employee engagement and the outcomes of employee engagement (discretionary effort and intention to turnover). The findings have relevance for academic research and practical implications for managers. / Mini Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2021. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / MBA / Unrestricted

Leader-member communications and employee engagement (EE) are critical for organisational success (Barhite, 2017; Kelly, 2021; Kohntopp & McCann, 2020). With a nearinstantaneous shift to remote work during the Covid-19 pandemic, the nature of communication between leaders and followers has changed (Alexander et al., 2020; Braier et al., 2021). In turn, there is uncertainty as to how leader-member communication exchanges and associated EE are facilitated among workers in the remote context (Abowd et al., 2020; Zeuge et al., 2020). Moreover, there is limited research on how to achieve appropriate leadership communication quality and EE enhancement in the virtual leadership-employee interactional context (Bark et al., 2015; Chanana, 2020). It is against this background that the proposed study sought to examine the extent to which leadership communication quality (LCQ), across different channels, affects the level of EE among South African remote employees. The present study assessed LCQ across the following channels: videoconferencing, telephone/audio-conferencing, e-mails, and companies' intranet instant messaging (IIM) channels. This study was founded in the theoretical integration of Social Exchange Theory (Homans, 1958) and Media Richness Theory (Daft & Lengel, 1984). The study hypothesised that greater perceived LCQ, through the use of richer channels, would increase EE among employees in the virtual workspace. A descriptive, cross-sectional, quantitative research design was conducted to examine the study's hypotheses. Data was gathered via an online self-report survey from South African (SA) employees that engaged in full-time and part-time remote working schedules (N = 179). Pearson correlation analyses confirmed positive relationships between the LCQ of each channel and EE. However, once all channels were combined in one multiple regression model, only the LCQ of video-conferencing channels was found to be a unique predictor of EE levels. Friedman tests revealed that the respondents' mean rankings of the two LCQ sub-facets assessed (communication clarity and leadership behaviour transmission) were higher for video-conferencing channels than for the other channels. Cumulatively, the research revealed that the channel associated with the highest LCQ was video-conferencing, and that leaders could most likely increase EE among their remote employees by using this channel compared to the other channels assessed. These results may contribute valuable insight to inform the development of digital leadership strategies and connectivity interventions in organisations for the future world of work.

This study investigates the phenomenon of internal communication, which is a mainstay of successful companies. Good internal communication has many positive effects, one of them is employee engagement. Previous international research supports the importance of internal communication for employee engagement, but it is still a relatively unexplored area in Sweden. This study therefore aims to fill this knowledge gap, and by using the AVID framework investigate whether there is a relationship between perceived good internal communication and employee engagement in Sweden. The questions that the study answers are as follows:  Is there a correlation between customized information and the feeling that the individual work effort contributes to the success of the organization, and increased employee engagement? (Alignment)  Is there a correlation between employees' ability to make their voice heard, and increased employee engagement? (Voice) Is there a correlation between employees' understanding the company's future goals and vision, and increased employee engagement? (Identification)  Is there a correlation between employees whose company encourages dialog, and increased employee engagement? (Dialogue)  All questions are based on the AVID framework, which is a theoretical framework for achieving good internal communication within organizations. The framework is based on four dimensions that are linked to each question, indicated in parentheses after each question. These dimensions are alignment, voice, identification and dialogue. Additional theories discussed concern the importance of internal communication, the importance of good internal communication and its link to employee engagement. The study is based on a quantitative survey study that includes 114 answers. The results of the survey have been analyzed in relation to theory and previous research and show that there is a connection between the first question linked to alignment in the AVID framework, and increased employee engagement. There is also a strong correlation between the second question, which is linked to voice, and increased employee engagement. However, the results do not show a correlation between the third question linked to identification. Nor does the fourth question linked to dialogue have a connection with increased employee engagement according to the results of the study. The conclusion is that we cannot draw a general correlation between all dimensions of the AVID framework and employee engagement, due to the different results of the study. However, we can note that two of the four elements of the framework have a clear correlation with increased employee engagement. Regarding the two remaining parts where it is not possible to discern a correlation, it is important to keep in mind that engagement depends on many different aspects and thus the importance of identification and dialogue for engagement in a larger context is not excluded. / Denna studie behandlar fenomenet internkommunikation, vilket är en grundpelare för framgångsrika företag. God internkommunikation har många positiva effekter, en av dem är medarbetarengagemang. Tidigare internationell forskning som gjorts stödjer internkommunikationens betydelse för medarbetarengagemanget, men det är ännu ett relativt outforskat område i Sverige. Denna studie syftar därför till att fylla denna kunskapslucka och med hjälp av AVID-ramverket undersöka om det finns ett samband mellan upplevd god internkommunikation och medarbetarengagemang i Sverige. De frågeställningar som studien besvarar är följande: Finns det ett samband mellan att information anpassas samt känslan av att det enskilda arbetet bidrar till organisationens framgång, och ökat medarbetarengagemang? (Alignment) Finns det ett samband mellan de anställdas möjlighet att få komma till tals på arbetet, och ökat medarbetarengagemang? (Voice) Finns det ett samband mellan de anställdas förståelse för företagets målsättningar och framtida planer, och ökat medarbetarengagemang? (Identification) Finns det ett samband mellan anställda vars företag uppmuntrar till dialog, och ökat medarbetarengagemang? (Dialogue) Samtliga frågeställningar är formulerade utefter AVID-ramverket, vilket är ett teoretiskt ramverk för att uppnå god internkommunikation inom organisationer. Ramverket bygger på fyra dimensioner vilka är kopplade till varsin frågeställning, angivna i parentesen efter respektive fråga. Dessa dimensioner är alignment, voice, identification och dialogue. Ytterligare teorier som tas upp berör internkommunikationens betydelse, vikten av god internkommunikation samt dess koppling till medarbetarengagemang. Studien är baserad på ett empiriskt material från en kvantitativ enkätstudie som inkluderar 114 respondentsvar. Resultaten av enkätstudien har analyserats i relation till teori och tidigare forskning och visar att det finns ett samband mellan den första frågeställningen kopplad till alignment i AVID-ramverket, och ökat engagemang. Det finns även ett starkt samband mellan andra frågeställningen, som är kopplad till voice, och ökat engagemang. Däremot visar resultatet inte ett samband mellan den tredje frågeställningen kopplad till identification, och ökat engagemang. Inte heller den fjärde frågeställningen, kopplad till dialogue, har ett samband med ökat engagemang enligt resultatet i studien. Slutsatsen är att vi inte kan dra ett generellt samband mellan alla delar i AVID-ramverket och medarbetarengagemang, på grund av studiens skilda resultat. Däremot kan vi konstatera att två av fyra delar i ramverket har ett tydligt samband med ett ökat medarbetarengagemang. Vad gäller de två resterande delarna där det inte går att utläsa ett samband är det däremot viktigt att ha i åtanke att engagemang beror av många olika aspekter och därmed utesluts inte betydelsen av identification och dialogue för engagemanget i en större kontext.

There is a rapidly increasing need for companies to work sustainably. A key driver to decrease environmental impact is to raise sustainability awareness among employees. One way to increase sustainability awareness among employees may be through the use of digital tools. This study aims to explore different ways digital tools may increase environmental awareness among employees at Ericsson’s headquarters in Kista, Sweden. Interviews were conducted with experts and a brainstorming session with employees was moderated. The study resulted in a creation of three design concepts for increasing sustainability awareness among employees. The three proposed sustainable initiatives involve using digitalization: to save food waste, to create a green competition among colleagues and to form a community to connect people on Kista campus. / Det finns ett ökat behov för företag att arbeta hållbart. En nyckelfaktor för att minska miljöpåverkan är att öka anställdas medvetenhet om hållbarhet. Ett sätt för att öka medvetenhet om hållbarhet kan vara genom nyttjandet av digitala verktyg. Den här studien utforskade olika sätt som digitala verktyg skulle kunna öka anställdas medvetenhet om miljöpåverkan. Studien utfördes med anställda på företaget Ericssons campus i Kista, Sverige. Intervjuer med experter och idégenerering med anställda utfördes. Studien resulterade i tre digitala designkoncept för att öka anställdas medvetenhet om hållbarhet. De tre koncepten nyttjade digitalisering med: minskandet av matavfall, ökandet av engagemang genom en hållbarhetstävling och ett sätt för att skapa gemenskap kring hållbarhet på Kista campus.

Although the commercially-popular construct of employee engagement has gained attention in scholarly work in recent years, several questions about the construct remain unresolved. In the current paper, I addressed several issues with previous engagement research by (a) meta-analyzing the relationship between employee engagement, task performance, contextual performance, absenteeism, and turnover, (b) using these meta-analytic estimates to fit a series of models in which engagement predicts both specific and broadly-defined work behaviors, and (c) estimating the unique predictive validity of engagement above and beyond job attitudes. Several regression equations and structural equation models were tested using a combination of previous meta-analytic correlations (k = 95) and original meta-analytic correlations (k = 12). Results of the study found that engagement does offer unique incremental validity over several work-related behaviors (task performance, ∆R2 = .037; contextual performance, ∆R2 = .025; turnover, ∆R2 = .083), however this incremental validity has been over-stated in previous research. Results also found that the A-factor (higher order attitudinal construct) is strongly related to behavioral engagement (higher order behavioral construct) (Γ = .62) suggesting that when attitudes and behaviors are examined on the same level of specificity there is a strong predictive relationship between the two. These results suggest that although engagement may not be as unique as previous research has implied it does offer utility in the sense that it acts as a proxy for the A-factor

This thesis tries to provide a comparative study and complimentary data analysis into the effectiveness of game design patterns such as LEGO Serious Play, Leaderboards and Collective voting in terms of the impact that gamification has in change management framework. The study is looking at how gamification impacts employees from a motivational and engagement, in change management tasks, perspective. In a first instance, the researcher/author references and reviews key theories such as theory of fun for game design, motivational theory and change theory. Furthermore, a literature search/review for those theories has taken place to identify what the current scientific base has captured around gamification impact in engagement, motivation and performance of individuals and all potential limitations as well. This led to a clear and specific existing baseline framework. At a later stage, researcher/author describes the research strategy and methodology used to apply three specific gamification techniques to a real organisation (participants – n=20) which delivers change and is going through a transformation process. This included two different data collection methods; semi-structured interviews with organisation’s employees and participant observations within the organisation’s headquarters offices. The participant observation data collection compliments the interviews’ one, which acted as the primary method. The study examines the impact the gamification techniques had on the organisation’s employees while they deliver change daily, their interactions within sessions and meetings, decision making events and other. Findings, through the thematic analysis process, include the participants’ feedback on their overall experience, reward and joyfulness when use gamification. Results show that gamification tools and techniques compliment positively employees within the change management framework, increasing the enjoyment of participation in change activities without increasing competitiveness and also enables more effective decision making. It is important to highlight that creativity seems that is increased as well, through gamification application. It is hoped that knowledge and understanding of the impact of gamification techniques in change management framework could be found useful in an industry related environment and the results of this study could be extended to other areas as well.

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