The significant standpoint in this study was that schools’ key role was to educate and yet this process would be severely impeded when a student receiving the education was at-risk. Agencies external to the school provide support in various forms to these individuals with the view of decreasing their at-risk status, thus providing an environment conducive to learning. Communication was posited to be a fundamental process essential to the provision of support and education to these at-risk individuals. The conceptual framework in this study acknowledged the complexity of school and organisational environments and was founded upon four key theoretical perspectives; organisational communication theory; a psychological orientation provided by Maslow’s hierarchy of needs; a social reconstructionist perspective; and constructs underpinning at-risk status causal factors. This research study sought to identify communication patterns existing within a selected school, and between the school (in this case) and associated agencies that were supporting the at-risk individuals. The results of this study, derived from in-depth interviews and questionnaires with agency personnel and school staff, demonstrated that although formal patterns of communication did exist they were inefficient and cumbersome. Formal patterns of communication were subsidiary to informal networks between colleagues. In this study, the school was frequently excluded from informal and formal agency communication patterns. Intra-agency and intra-school communication patterns were characterised by a top-down orientation with administrators tending to control the flow of information. A major finding was that there were considerable barriers to developing more effective communication patterns. / The greatest impediment to communication was case workers’ fear of breaching the Commonwealth Privacy Act 1988, even when dealing with such serious issues as children’s safety. Other less serious, but still substantial barriers, included agency territorialism, poor marketing of services, and individuals’ biases against particular support agencies. A surprising finding was that case workers’ and educators’ conceptualisations of the causal factors which contribute to an at-risk status were well aligned. The family factors, which included drug addicted, alcoholic, violent, criminal, disinterested and/or neglectful parents, problematic siblings, and coming from an English-as-a-second-language background were deemed to have the most significant influence towards creating an at-risk status. School-based factors such as stressed, intolerant, inexperienced, and/or non-supportive teachers, an inadequate and/or violent school environment, and a lack of individualised support were deemed to have the least impact on developing an at-risk status. As a result of this research a model has been proposed which outlines the creation of a State Support Brokerage Authority whose mandate would be to centralise, coordinate, and ensure quality of service to at-risk individuals across the state. This body would utilise a technological solution to enhance and coordinate the communication patterns between all potential stakeholders to facilitate appropriate and timely interventions.

Bakgrund: Ekonomistyrning fungerar som ett verktyg för att stödja chefer och styra medarbetare mot organisatoriska mål. Kommunikation som är kritisk för styrningen, är integrerad i organisationens processer, struktur, miljö och kultur. Intern kommunikation stöder anställdas förståelse för företagets mål, vilket påverkar deras beslutsprocesser och hur de bidrar till företagets framgång.  Syfte: Syftet med denna uppsats är att öka förståelsen för hur ekonomistyrning genom intern kommunikation utformas med hjälp av olika kommunikationsvägar. Dessutom är syftet att undersöka om medarbetare på olika nivåer förstår det som kommuniceras. Metod: I metoden förklaras hur denna studie är genomförd. Studien är en fallstudie på ett medelstort industriföretag i Småland. Forskningsmetoden är kvalitativ genom semistrukturerade intervjuer, datainsamling via direkt observation och från dokument.  Slutsats: I slutsatsen besvaras frågeställningarna. Första frågeställningen är “Hur är den interna kommunikationen för styrning utformad? ” vilket besvaras att den är utformad hierarkisk, med en stark möteskultur samt är transparent för den som vill ta del och lyssna. Den andra frågeställningen lyder “hur väl förstår medarbetarna det som kommuniceras?”. Detta besvaras att kommunikationen inte är anpassad för alla och därmed skiljer sig förståelsen mellan nivå, roll och avdelning. Strategisk och taktisk nivå, som har chefsroller, har hög förståelse medan operativ nivå, med underställda roller, inte förstår all intern kommunikation. De som arbetar på produktionsavdelningen har sämre förståelse än resterande operativ personal på andra avdelningar. / Background: Management control serves as a tool to support managers and guide employees towards organizational goals. Communication, which is critical for management, is integrated into the organization's processes, structure, environment and culture. Internal communication supports employees' understanding of the company's goals, influencing their decision-making and contributing to the company's success. Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to increase understanding of how management control through internal communication is designed using different communication pathways. Furthermore the purpose is to examine whether employees in different levels understand what is communicated. Method: The method explains how this study was conducted. This study is a case study of a medium-sized industrial company in Småland. The research method is qualitative, through semi-structured interviews, data collection via direct observation and from documents. Conclusion: In the conclusion, the research questions are answered. The first question is "how is the internal communication for management designed?" to which the answer is that it is designed hierarchically, with a strong meeting culture and is transparent for those who want to take part in the information and listen. The second question is "how well do employees understand what is being communicated?" This is answered by stating that the communication is not tailored to everyone, leading to varying levels of understanding based on role, level and department. Strategic and tactical levels, which include managerial roles, have a high level of understanding, whereas the operational level, with subordinate roles, do not understand all internal communication. Those who work in the production department have a poorer understanding compared to the rest of the operational staff in other departments.