”It´s this position in between that´s very tricky.” – A comparative case study of the Swedish University of internal communication with employees The study aims to examine how three Swedish universities in Linköping, Lund and Umeå handle their internal communications with employees. The study intends to specifically examine communications concerning events surrounding the crime, ethics and morality, in gray scale in between crisis and everyday communication. The theoretical framework of the study was based on the organizational communication, crisis communication, the consequences of a lack of internal communication and preparatory actions. The empirical material that this study assumes consists of qualitative interviews with selected employees at the Universities of Linkoping, Lund and Umeå. A total of six interviews. The study shows that all three universities have a crisis organization that is represented by the different functions of the University. They have a similar approach where emergency aid is sewn together, depending on the nature of the crisis. But as social media rampage and information society of rapid change, universities must work proactively and consciously, and at the same time be able to quickly adapt to change. Furthermore, it strengthens the credibility of the organization as they also have obligations to the public. It is still unclear whether there are procedures to write down every single case of a sensitive nature. Whether it is about an anonymous threat or an employee accused of misconduct or sexual harassment needed more concrete to the work as well as possible in the future. The best is of course to try to avoid these situations at all, but if not crisis communication or daily routine functions optimally at these sensitive cases are part of the problem. Hence the need for written procedures for the gray scale in between crisis and everyday communication. That, along with a proactive approach, support groups at local level and clear accountability lines are steps in the right direction. Keynotes: Organizational communication, internal communication, crisis communication, consequences, crisis management
Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:umu-119109 |
Date | January 2016 |
Creators | Ullström, Camilla |
Publisher | Umeå universitet, Institutionen för kultur- och medievetenskaper |
Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
Language | Swedish |
Detected Language | English |
Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
Format | application/pdf |
Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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