Rally-around-the-organizational-flag? Internal communication in a professional organization during the Covid-19 pandemic crisis
Falkheimer, Jesper LU ; Heide, Mats LU
; Simonsson, Charlotte
LU
and Andersson, Rickard
LU
(2022)
In Corporate Communications
27(5).
- Abstract
Purpose: This study aims, first, to explore and analyze if and how organizational members’ professions or occupations influence perceptions of internal crisis communication. The second, related, aim is to discuss the role of internal communication in creating a strong organizational identity during a prolonged crisis such as the Covid-19 pandemic. Design/methodology/approach: This study is mainly conceptual but uses quantitative data from a survey conducted in a health-care organization in late 2020 to illustrate the theoretical reasoning. Findings: The results show that the administrative groups perceive factors in the internal crisis communication more favorably than the professional groups. The study suggests that organizational... (More)
Purpose: This study aims, first, to explore and analyze if and how organizational members’ professions or occupations influence perceptions of internal crisis communication. The second, related, aim is to discuss the role of internal communication in creating a strong organizational identity during a prolonged crisis such as the Covid-19 pandemic. Design/methodology/approach: This study is mainly conceptual but uses quantitative data from a survey conducted in a health-care organization in late 2020 to illustrate the theoretical reasoning. Findings: The results show that the administrative groups perceive factors in the internal crisis communication more favorably than the professional groups. The study suggests that organizational members perceive internal crisis communication differently depending on which intra-organizational group they belong to. This further points to the absence of a “rally-around-the-flag” effect and highlights the importance of working proactively with professionals and in internal crisis communication. Originality/value: This study highlights the role of professionals in crisis communication, which is an aspect that so far has been ignored. The internal professionalization processes and an intriguing power struggle between professions have obvious consequences for crisis communication. As shown in the overview of earlier research on internal communication, leadership and professional organizations, the prerequisites for creating an increased organizational unity among coworkers are challenging. The idea that a crisis may, as in certain political situations in society, create a “rally-around-the-flag” effect is still relevant, even if the case study is an example of how this did not happen.
(Less)
- author
- Falkheimer, Jesper
LU
; Heide, Mats
LU
; Simonsson, Charlotte
LU
and Andersson, Rickard
LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2022-12-06
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Internal crisis communication, Listening, Professional organizations, Rally-around-the-flag-effect
- in
- Corporate Communications
- volume
- 27
- issue
- 5
- publisher
- Emerald Group Publishing Limited
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85129381447
- ISSN
- 1356-3289
- DOI
- 10.1108/CCIJ-02-2022-0007
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 1d6e6c91-9daa-4164-87cc-ddfba1cbd26e
- date added to LUP
- 2022-04-06 22:25:33
- date last changed
- 2022-12-08 12:21:07
@article{1d6e6c91-9daa-4164-87cc-ddfba1cbd26e,
abstract = {{<p>Purpose: This study aims, first, to explore and analyze if and how organizational members’ professions or occupations influence perceptions of internal crisis communication. The second, related, aim is to discuss the role of internal communication in creating a strong organizational identity during a prolonged crisis such as the Covid-19 pandemic. Design/methodology/approach: This study is mainly conceptual but uses quantitative data from a survey conducted in a health-care organization in late 2020 to illustrate the theoretical reasoning. Findings: The results show that the administrative groups perceive factors in the internal crisis communication more favorably than the professional groups. The study suggests that organizational members perceive internal crisis communication differently depending on which intra-organizational group they belong to. This further points to the absence of a “rally-around-the-flag” effect and highlights the importance of working proactively with professionals and in internal crisis communication. Originality/value: This study highlights the role of professionals in crisis communication, which is an aspect that so far has been ignored. The internal professionalization processes and an intriguing power struggle between professions have obvious consequences for crisis communication. As shown in the overview of earlier research on internal communication, leadership and professional organizations, the prerequisites for creating an increased organizational unity among coworkers are challenging. The idea that a crisis may, as in certain political situations in society, create a “rally-around-the-flag” effect is still relevant, even if the case study is an example of how this did not happen.</p>}},
author = {{Falkheimer, Jesper and Heide, Mats and Simonsson, Charlotte and Andersson, Rickard}},
issn = {{1356-3289}},
keywords = {{Internal crisis communication; Listening; Professional organizations; Rally-around-the-flag-effect}},
language = {{eng}},
month = {{12}},
number = {{5}},
publisher = {{Emerald Group Publishing Limited}},
series = {{Corporate Communications}},
title = {{Rally-around-the-organizational-flag? Internal communication in a professional organization during the Covid-19 pandemic crisis}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/CCIJ-02-2022-0007}},
doi = {{10.1108/CCIJ-02-2022-0007}},
volume = {{27}},
year = {{2022}},
}