Internal Communication : A Guiding Star for Sustainability
(2024) BUSN09 20241Department of Business Administration
- Abstract
- In the last few years sustainability has become a priority for many organizations, as the sustainability performance of companies has received increased attention from investors and customers. However, organizations have mainly focused on whether they are perceived as sustainable externally, while fewer organizations have thought about how they are perceived internally. This study investigates employees' perception of an organization's sustainability initiatives and how organizations can use internal communication to influence perception of and engagement with these initiatives. By conducting a single case study on a company known for their sustainability focus, data was gathered by interviewing 10 employees in the chosen case company. The... (More)
- In the last few years sustainability has become a priority for many organizations, as the sustainability performance of companies has received increased attention from investors and customers. However, organizations have mainly focused on whether they are perceived as sustainable externally, while fewer organizations have thought about how they are perceived internally. This study investigates employees' perception of an organization's sustainability initiatives and how organizations can use internal communication to influence perception of and engagement with these initiatives. By conducting a single case study on a company known for their sustainability focus, data was gathered by interviewing 10 employees in the chosen case company. The coding and the analysis of the data was done in NVivo, following the Gioia approach.
The findings of this research indicate that a multifaceted internal communication strategy is important to ensure that the sustainability messages delivered through various communication channels are clear, consistent, and accessible. This is important as it creates a deeper understanding of sustainability among employees as well as enhances their engagement in sustainability initiatives. Another point derived from the findings is the role of leadership in regards to communication effectiveness. The findings point out the need for transparent internal communication from leaders about sustainability initiatives as it positively influences employees' trust in the leadership of an organization as well as their perceptions of sustainability initiatives. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9164139
- author
- Kristjánsdóttir, Nikólína Dís LU and Alfonsson, Sigurdur Örn LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- BUSN09 20241
- year
- 2024
- type
- H1 - Master's Degree (One Year)
- subject
- keywords
- Internal Communication, Communication Channels, Employee Perception, Employee Engagement, Sustainability Initiatives, Leadership Support
- language
- English
- id
- 9164139
- date added to LUP
- 2024-06-25 16:15:42
- date last changed
- 2024-06-25 16:15:42
@misc{9164139,
abstract = {{In the last few years sustainability has become a priority for many organizations, as the sustainability performance of companies has received increased attention from investors and customers. However, organizations have mainly focused on whether they are perceived as sustainable externally, while fewer organizations have thought about how they are perceived internally. This study investigates employees' perception of an organization's sustainability initiatives and how organizations can use internal communication to influence perception of and engagement with these initiatives. By conducting a single case study on a company known for their sustainability focus, data was gathered by interviewing 10 employees in the chosen case company. The coding and the analysis of the data was done in NVivo, following the Gioia approach.
The findings of this research indicate that a multifaceted internal communication strategy is important to ensure that the sustainability messages delivered through various communication channels are clear, consistent, and accessible. This is important as it creates a deeper understanding of sustainability among employees as well as enhances their engagement in sustainability initiatives. Another point derived from the findings is the role of leadership in regards to communication effectiveness. The findings point out the need for transparent internal communication from leaders about sustainability initiatives as it positively influences employees' trust in the leadership of an organization as well as their perceptions of sustainability initiatives.}},
author = {{Kristjánsdóttir, Nikólína Dís and Alfonsson, Sigurdur Örn}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Internal Communication : A Guiding Star for Sustainability}},
year = {{2024}},
}