Thesis (M.A. (Communication Studies))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2007.

Having a functioning internal communication is necessary for the survival and existence of every company. Traditional communication channels are for example meetings, noteboards and personnel newspapers. During the last ten years we have witnessed an explosion of new channels, who are based on information technology. IT is a natural part in new IT-companies, like Framfab and Icon Medialab, but what role does IT have in a large, manufacturing company with a long history? The purpose with this thesis is to investigate how IT has influenced the internal communication in a company. With this thesis we want to contribute to a developed understanding of communication within companies and discuss what role IT can play for internal communication in the future. We have chosen to study Akzo Nobel and have interviewed employees in different business units to investigate their view on communication and the influence of IT. We found that IT has had a relatively great impact on the internal communication and that the new technology often work as a complement to the traditional communication channels. We believe that IT will lead to an increased amount of written communication and that the communication will be detached from persons. There is a risk that the amount of information will increase and that this will make it harder for the individual to find relevant information. For IT to be an efficient channel for companies in the future, we believe that companies must educate employees regarding technology, pedagogic and written presentation.

Purpose/aim: To investigate individual experiences of how a new communication technology, e-mail, influences a) the structure of the internal communication – does it for example make networking any easier? – and b) the form of the persons everyday language. Material/method: A theoretical framework gathered through a literature study and empirical data gathered through interviews with two persons. Main results: Differences and similarities exist between the experiences studied in this paper. The most unexpected result is that the system of e-mail does not seem to be able to create new channels of communication. If anything, it reinforces the structure that already exist. An aspect of decisive importance is the original rules and norms concerning internal communication within the organization.

This bachelor thesis in business administration investigates the employee branding process of Company X in order to gain an understanding of how the company works with and can utilize this as an efficient tool. Recent research shows that Swedish companies that focus on building their brands are more profitable than companies that do not. Furthermore, re- search show that relationship building is an increasingly important area of marketing, which means that employees have a key role in creating a brand through the relationships they build. As Company X to some extent relies on relationship building in a multi- stakeholder environment, where pharmaceutical companies traditionally have competed through innovation, employee branding could be used as a competitive advantage for Company X. The process of employee branding is used to align employee’s internal view of the com- pany brand with the desired brand image in order to make the employees project it consis- tently. According to the theories used, the key drivers to successful employee branding are, through consistent communication, (1) ascertaining employee knowledge of the desired brand image and (2) making sure employees want to project this image through an upheld psychological contract. This investigation therefore covers how Company X works with the process of employee branding, how employees perceive what the management wants to communicate and any potential discrepancies between management and employee views. From a qualitative and interpretative approach, four interviews have been conducted with the top management at Company X and a survey has then been distributed to employees with customer contact at the company. The findings show that Company X has successfully implemented its values in the minds of employees, but lacks a clear focus on building its brand. Therefore, while the psycho- logical contract in general is found to be upheld, to a high extent, the knowledge of the de- sired brand image does not seem to be at a satisfactory level.

Abstract Title: Internal Communication at a large mobile operator (Internkommunikation hos en mobiloperatör - en studie av motivation och upptagningsförmåga av information hos butikschefer) Number of pages: 43 Author: Helena Isaksson Tutor: Peder Hård af Segerstad Course: Media and Communication Studies C Period: Fall term 2006 University: Division of Media and Communication, Department of Information Science, Uppsala University. Purpose/Aim: The purpose of this essay is to gain an insight in how a corporations store managers motivation affects the degree of information they absorb from information channels. Material/Method: The method that had been used in this essay is quantitative. It is based around a questionnaire aimed towards store managers and consequently used it to run regression analysis using the software package SPSS. Main results: The main result of the essay is that the motivation among store managers is positively related to the degree to which they absorb information. Thus, a possible problem exists for the corporation in that they need to make sure that the store managers are and stays motivated. Further, it seems that the longer a store manager has been employed by the corporation the less information is absorbed. The reader should although interpret the results with caution, since the limited sample could bias the estimates. Keywords: Internal communication, organizational communication, motivation, information, information channels and absorption of information.

Abstract Title: Communicating diversity – A study about communication and involvement in The National Council of Swedish Youth Organizations. Number of pages: 58 Author: Frida Samuelsson Tutor: Peder Hård af Segerstad Course: Media and Communication Studies C Period: Autumn 2006 University: Division of Media and Communication, Department of Information Science,Uppsala University Purpose/Aim: The general purpose of this essay is to analyse how the member organizations of LSU – The National Council of Swedish Youth Organizations, see the communication,activities and their influence over the organization. I aim to do an analysis of the target group to find out if the lack of involvement in LSU is caused by communication problems. Material/Method: The method of this essay is quantitative and is based upon a web-survey.The chairmen of the member organizations have been asked to answer a survey about the communication in LSU. To get an idea of how widespread different opinions about LSU are the empirical data has been made into graphs to show the frequencies and also cross tabulations to find out if there are any correlations between the variables. Main result: This study has shown that the problem with involvement in LSU is only partly a communication problem. One important result is that many member organizations feel that LSU doesn’t listen to their opinions and they express a wish to have more influence over the organization. The broad target group is both a strength and a weakness to the organization. It is a hard task to communicate in such a differentiated organization, since the members have many views on LSU and have different degrees of involvement. But it is also a strength to be able to create meeting points where different organizations can learn from each other. Keywords: Communication problems, internal communication, involvement, non-profit, organizations, umbrella organization, youth organizations.

Abstract Title: Effective internal communication –A case study on communication between a manager and the employees in a sportsclub. Number of pages: 40, without enclosures Author: Susan Andersson Tutor: Peder Hård af Segerstad Course: Media and Communication Studies C Period: Second term 2005 University: Division of Media and Communication, Department of Information Science, Uppsala University Purpose/Aim: I aim to do a case study of a work situation, where there is no natural or direct form of feedback between the manager and the employees, and compare the purpose of the information efforts with how it is perceived by the employees. Material/Method: Qualitative research method, including an assembling method in the form of interviews, and a processing method of those interviews. Main results: All the used channels combined together (except one channel) seem to have created the right condition so that the content of the information can be perceived and used as the way it was supposed to, even though there’s no direct feedback of the information. The manager gets feedback indirectly and can therefore adapt the messages, or the information efforts, to the receivers. Keywords: Organizational communication, Internal communication, Information, Feedback.

Abstract Title: Internal communication at IKEA – A functional analysis of IKEA Uppsalas internal communication (Intern kommunikation på IKEA – En funktionsanalys av IKEA Uppsalas interna kommunikation) Author: Fredrik Johansson Aim: The purpose of this study is to analyze the internal communication at IKEA Uppsala. Are the channels of communication working efficiently? How is the information received by the employees? Finally I will make a few suggestions on how the internal communication can be improved. Method/Material: The method used in this study is quantitative. The internal communication at IKEA Uppsala is analyzed based on the results of a questionnaire. 75 employees at three different divisions were given questions on how they appreciate the communication channels at IKEA in Uppsala. 50 answers were received. Main results: The results clearly show that even though the internal communication at IKEA seems to work well in general, a few of the channel needs to be improved. A major difference between the channels has been observed and firstly, the internal e-mail is not used as it could be. Secondly, the Intranet is also used by very few of the respondents. However the verbal communication from the nearest manager is regarded by over 50 per cent of the respondents as very much practical indeed. Also the IKEA staff paper, Arosposten is read by many and is regarded as a useful source of information. Number of pages: 63 Course: Media and Communication Studies C University: Division of Media and Communication, Department of Information Science,Uppsala University Period: Autumn 2006 Tutor: Göran Svensson Keywords: Information, communication,internal communication, information channels

Abstract Title:A study of the internal communication at The Swedish Department of Taxes (En studie av den interna kommunikationen på Skatteverket) Number of pages: 36 (52 including enclosures) Author: Emma Kreü Tutor: Peder Hård af Segerstad Course: Media and Communication Studies C Period: Atumn 2006 University: Division of Media and Communication, Department of Information Sciense,Uppsala University Purpose/Aim: To resarch the internal communication within The Swedish Department of Taxes and the relationship between information sender and reciver. Material/Method: By contedning critical discourse analysis on The Swedish Department of Taxes’ policy for internal communication and accomplish interviews with co-wokers in position of reciving information, in position of sending information and section managers. Main Results: The co-workers in position of reciving information felt they had a good communicational relastionship with their closest section manager, but not with the upper management. Keywords: Internal communication, communicational leadership, organizational communication.

Title: Internal Communication Approach – A study of the internal communication-channels of the ICA Administration.   Background: The ICA Administration is in the process of generating an organizational change with the purpose of improving their external communication. The internal communication, on the other hand, has been put aside and is missing guidelines at the present.  Since the ICA Administration does not know how the staff uses the internal communication-channels they cannot optimize nor develop them. As the literature shows, it is important to choose the channel that is most appropriate for the type of information that it is meant to communicate. Choosing the wrong channel, or using it wrongly, can bring problems consisting of the staff experiencing to receive less information than needed in their daily work.   Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to explore and describe the internal communication between the employees of the ICA Administration from the existing communication-channels and their usage.   Method: Through the initial interviews with the staff, the internal communication-channels of the ICA Administration were determined. The channels were later studied through further interviews where the real communication and the managers’ vision of the communication were presented.   Result: The communication-channels that can be found at the ICA Administration are formal reports, manuals and folders, the Intranet, formal meetings, the email, the telephone, Instant Messenger, face-to-face, and rumors. The study showed that the channels are being used differently. The email for example is believed to be sharing a remarkable excess of information while the telephone on the other hand is hardly being used by the staff in the office. The managers’ vision of how the channels ought to be used is, in large extent, accurate with the employees’ real usage of them. The largest differences between the guidelines consist of channels like the email, the manuals and the formal meetings. These channels are not used, nor do they contribute with information, in the same extent as the managers would want them to.   Conclusion: The conclusion that has been drawn, parting from the analysis and result, is that the staff does not use the channels of the ICA Administration in the same extent as their managers feel they should. To solve this problem, guidelines for the internal communication need to be established as well as an updating of the existing channels. / Titel: Internal Communication Approach - En empirisk undersökning av de interna kommunikationskanalerna på ICA Butiksadministration   Bakgrund: ICA Butiksadministration genomgår en omstrukturering som skall generera i en förbättrad extern kommunikation. Den interna kommunikationen har i sin tur hamnat i bakgrunden och saknar i dagsläget riktlinjer. Då ledningen inte vet hur personalen använder de interna kommunikationskanalerna kan de inte heller optimera eller utveckla dem. Som även litteraturen påvisar är det viktigt att välja den kanal som bäst lämpar sig för den typ av information den skall förmedla. Vid felaktigt kanalval, eller felaktigt användande av densamma, kan problem uppkomma då medarbetare kan uppleva att de får för lite information i sin arbetsvardag.   Syfte: Syftet är att undersöka och kartlägga den interna kommunikationen mellan medarbetarna på ICA Butiksadministration utifrån de existerande kommunikationskanalerna och hur de används.   Metodplan: Genom inledande intervjuer med personalen fastslogs ICA Butiksadministrations interna kommunikationskanaler. Kanalerna undersöktes sedan genom ytterligare intervjuer där den reella kommunikationen samt chefernas syn på kommunikation skildrades.   Resultat: De kommunikationskanaler som återfinns på Butiksadministrationen är formella rapporter, manualer, pärmar, intranät, formella möten, e-post, telefon, Instant Messenger, personlig kontakt och rykten. Undersökningen visade att kanalerna används i olika omfattning, där bland annat e-posten anses ha ett informationsöverflöd medan telefon knappt används mellan medarbetarna på kontoret. Chefernas syn på hur kanalerna bör användas stämde överlag överens med hur personalen verkligen använde sig av kanalerna. De största skillnaderna mellan riktlinjerna och reella kommunikationen utgjordes av kanaler som e-posten, manualer och formella möten.   Slutsats: Utifrån resultatet och analysen kunde slutsatsen dras att medarbetarna inte använder ICA Butiksadministrations alla kommunikationskanaler såsom cheferna tycker att kanalerna bör användas. För att lösa problematiken bör riktlinjer för den interna kommunikationen upprättas och en uppdatering av de befintliga kanalerna genomföras.