University of Economics, Prague Faculty of Informatics and Statistics
ROLE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN COMPANY’S CULTURE
MASTER THESIS
Study programme: Applied informatics Field of study: Information management
Author: Bc. Maksym Leontiev Supervisor: Ing. Lucie Böhmová, Ph.D.
Prague, December 2020
Declaration
I hereby declare that I am the sole author of the thesis entitled “Role of social media in company’s culture“. I duly marked out all quotations. The used literature and sources are stated in the attached list of references.
In Prague on 06.12.2020
Bc. Maksym Leontiev
Acknowledgement
I hereby wish to express my appreciation and gratitude to the supervisor of my thesis, Ing.
Lucie Böhmová, Ph.D. I appreciate you taking me at the last minute and willing to share your feedback with me.
Abstract
Nowadays, the success of an organization depends not only on economic factors, but also on the ability to correctly regulate communications within the company. The goal of this thesis is to assess the dependence of the company's culture on the social media. To achieve this goal, the author sets several tasks:
• To study the theoretical aspects of internal communications (types, tools, features, ways of evaluating the effectiveness) – 1st chapter
• Examine 10 firms and explore internal communications in them - 3rd chapter
• To trace the relationship between the atmosphere in the company and the types of media used – 3rd chapter
• Work out recommendations about organizing internal communication in company–
4th chapter Keywords
company, culture, employee, social media
Abstrakt
V současné době závisí úspěch organizace nejen na ekonomických faktorech, ale také na schopnosti správně regulovat komunikaci v rámci společnosti. Cílem práce je zhodnotit závislost firemní kultury na sociálních médiích. K dosažení tohoto cíle autor stanoví řadu úkolů:
• Studium teoretických aspektů interní komunikace (typy, nástroje, funkce, způsoby hodnocení efektivnosti) - 1. kapitola
• Zkoumání 10 firem a prozkoumání interní komunikace v nich - třetí kapitola
• Sledování vztahu mezi atmosférou ve firmě a typy použitých médií - 3. kapitola
• Vypracování doporučení pro lepší mediální zařízení pro zlepšení klimatu ve firmě - 4. kapitola
Klíčová slova
společnost, kultura, zaměstnanec, sociální média
Content
Introduction ... 7
1 Theoretical part ... 8
1.1 Internal communications: concept, mission, goals, objectives ... 8
1.2 Types and tools of corporate communications ... 11
1.3 Corporate culture ... 17
1.4 Internal Communications Management ... 24
2 METHODOLOGY ... 30
2.1 Introduction ... 30
2.2 Research Design and Procedure ... 30
2.3 Research Instrument: Qualitative Study ... 31
2.4 Research Instrument: Quantitative Study ... 33
2.5 Analysis ... 33
3 Practical part ... 36
3.1 BluePool, s.r.o. ... 36
3.2 SALESDOCk ... 39
3.3 Slevomat.cz, s.r.o. ... 43
3.4 Denso Europe B.V. ... 47
3.5 Blueberry.cz Apps s.r.o ... 52
3.6 Flixbus CZ, s.r.o. ... 55
3.7 Qest automation s.r.o. ... 59
3.8 Neoris Czech Republic, s.r.o. ... 63
3.9 Mall.cz ... 67
3.10 Ambiente CZ, s.r.o. ... 71
4 Discussion ... 75
4.1 Analysis of SM usage in companies ... 75
4.2 Comparison of the selected companies ... 86
4.3 DO’s and DON’Ts from the chosen companies ... 89
5 Conclusions ... 92
List of references ... 95
Annexes ... 100
Annex A: Semi-structured interview with manager ... 100
Annex B: Audio from interviews ... 100
Annex C: Questionnaire ... 100
Annex D: Answers from questionnaire ... 102
Introduction
Nowadays, the success of an organization depends not only on economic factors, but also on the ability to correctly regulate communications within the company.
However, creating an effective system of internal communications is quite difficult, and managing them is even more difficult. For this purpose, there are many different tools, but they do not always fulfill their main goals and objectives. For these reasons, you can recognize the topic of this thesis - "The role of the social media in the culture of the company") - relevant.
The goal of this thesis is to assess the dependence of the company's culture on the social media. To achieve this goal, the author sets a number of tasks:
• To study the theoretical aspects of internal communications (types, tools, features, ways of evaluating the effectiveness);
• Examine 10 firms and explore internal communications in them;
• To trace the relationship between the atmosphere in the company and the types of media used;
• Work out recommendations for a better media device for improving the climate in the firm.
The object is allocated internal communications in a commercial organization. The subject of research is the effective management of internal communications in a commercial organization. The scientific novelty of this study is to use the company's online resources not only for external communications, as it usually happens, but also for managing internal corporate relations between employees and departments.
1 Theoretical part
1.1 Internal communications: concept, mission, goals, objectives
The concept of "communication" has a fairly large number of definitions defined in various domestic and foreign publications of specialists in public relations. To generalize and understand the definition of the term “communication”, the author reviewed and analyzed the works of authors from different countries on PR and management.
The analysis showed that all authors share the following position: communication is always an exchange of information. For example, M. Vasilik in his guide “Basics of the Theory of Communication” identifies “interpersonal communication in small groups, massive” [7, p.10], as well as “communication in organizations, political and intercultural”.
B. Kverk in his work “Creating Connections. Internal communications in business strategy
"divides communications into" external and internal "[8, p.11].
“Elements of General and Applied Communicology” I. Yakovlev share verbal and non-verbal forms of communication. In addition, the author of the manual separately considers
"corporate communications, which include formal communications, management, corporate media, external communications" [9, p.43]
F. Sharkov distinguishes the following types of communication: “depending on the scale of the process to the mass, medium level and local; in relation to each of the external subjects to external, intragroup, interpersonal and intrapersonal, according to the method of establishing and maintaining contact on direct and mediated; on the initiative of the communicator to active and passive; depending on the direction of flow on the descending, ascending, horizontal, vertical” [10, p.5].
Thus, it can be noted that some authors classify communications rather abstractly, while others distinguish many different types.
In the thesis, the author considers corporate (intra-organizational) communications from the perspective of Human Resources. This type of communication includes elements of both HR and management. In this thesis work internal communications will be considered from the point of view of all disciplines, but the focus will be on internal communication between employees.
According to the author of the textbook “Fundamentals of the Theory of Communication”
F. Sharkov, intra-organizational communication is “interaction within the organization. Such communications include the interaction of a member of the organization with its structural subdivisions, as well as the structural subdivisions among themselves” [10, p.10].
The internal public is made up of groups of people who are part of the organizational structure of the organization [11, p. 68]. These include personnel, managers, administration, shareholders, board of directors, representatives of trade unions and other public associations that are members of the organization's structure [12, p. 111] [13, p. 151].
S. Cutlip, A. Center and G. Broome also take the family of employees of the company as the internal public [14, p. 46].
The authors of the textbook "Modern Management: Theory and Practice" A. Komarov and A. Kudashev similarly define communications in an organization as "interactions between employees and departments" [15, p.12].
It can be concluded that communication between departments plays the same important role as between employees.
In the textbook I. Yakovlev, it is mentioned that the main goal of the organization is
“informing employees about the organization’s activities, its results and problems, the formation of corporate ideology. Internal communication connects all departments of the company together, through all levels, and forms a feeling of community” [9, p.44]. Company employees should be knowledgeable about management decisions regarding departments, as this strengthens the company.
L. Minaeva proposes the following definition of intercorporate public relations: this is “A built system of relationships in an organization that is based on the principles of corporate ethics, culture, internal communication [16, p. 13].
V. Maslova defines intercorporate public relations as “purposeful and structured information impact on personnel, designed to strengthen the image of the organization in his eyes [17, p.
354].
Z. Schick gives this definition of intercorporate public relations: this is “a managed activity for the development of a corporate culture, which is based on those ideas, views, fundamental values shared by team members [18, p. 30].
Having studied the positions of researchers from different countries, we can formulate the following definition of intercorporate public relations - this is a managed activity, which is aimed at developing a corporate culture and creating positive communications among the organization's personnel.
It is necessary to determine the main objectives of internal communications.
According to the works of the Russian researcher A. Chumikov, there are the following goals of internal communications:
"Formation and strengthening of a single corporate culture" [19, p.135]. The work of A.
Chumikov states that a single corporate culture creates a sense of community within the company, allowing employees to feel involved in the goals and objectives of the company.
"Building an effective system of information transmission within the company" [19, p.135].
This means that information must be accurately and timely delivered to all employees and departments.
"Strengthening the loyalty and involvement of staff" [19, p.135]. According to the author, the loyalty and involvement of staff, respectively, reduce staff turnover and allow you to perform tasks on time and efficiently.
In addition, there are also the tasks of internal communications in the company. We can distinguish the following tasks, according to M. Gundarin [20, p.151]:
“Explanation of the strategy, business goals of the company, corporate policy in the field of personnel training and development”. According to M. Gundarin, employees who are aware of the company's strategy and goals are aware of their contribution to its development.
"Overcoming communicative discontinuities and achieving mutual understanding."
According to M. Gundarin, information should equally reach all employees, as mentioned earlier.
"Formation of uniform standards of conduct in accordance with the corporate code and ethics of the company." The author also notes that “an organization is a single entity in which everyone must follow uniform standards.”
"Establishing effective feedback from company employees." Since it was previously established that communication is a two-way process, it also implies feedback.
The range of tasks is wide enough and in order to accomplish them successfully, it is necessary to establish a system of internal communications through public relations. In the works of F. Kitchenen studied by the author [21, p. 112-114], L. Minaeva, I. Sinyaeva [22, p. 152] there are four stages in the creation of intercorporate public relations:
• The stage of the study, which identifies the problems to be further solved;
• The planning stage at which strategies and tactics of the information and communication program are developed;
• The stage of communication in which all the planned communication activities are carried out;
• The assessment stage, during which the analysis of the results is performed.
It should be noted that in certain situations, intercorporate communications take on special significance. Such situations are: an unfavorable situation on the market that may affect the personnel structure of the organization, mergers and separations of companies, the reorientation of companies, personnel changes, emergencies, crises [23, p. 146-147]. In these situations, information transparency plays a special role, compliance with which allows to optimize the process of communication with employees. S. Maksimova, in her article
“Informational transparency as a characteristic of the quality of a company's organizational culture,” defines transparency as “timely and accurate disclosure of information about an
enterprise’s activity, containing information of both a mandatory and voluntary nature [24, p. 82].
Having defined the basic concepts of internal communications, their goals and objectives, as well as the mission, we can conclude that intra-organizational communications play an important role in any company. It is through internal communications that employees feel part of something bigger, understand the goals and objectives of the company and work more efficiently to achieve them. In addition, employees are connected by a single corporate culture, which is transmitted by intra-organization communications. Accordingly, employees who understand and adopt a corporate culture are the most valuable for an organization. Having considered the concept of “intercorporate communications”, it is necessary to single out their types and tools.
1.2 Types and tools of corporate communications
1.2.1 Types of internal communications
According to domestic experts in the field of Public Relations (M. Gundarin, F. Sharkov, A.
Chumikov, I. Yakovlev), corporate communications can be divided into the following types:
• Horizontal communications — between employees or departments of the same level;
• Vertical communications — between management and employees;
• Diagonal communications have horizontal and vertical properties;
• Organizational communication is between groups of people acting in the interests of the organization;
• Interpersonal communication — between two or more people;
• Formal;
• Informal.
It can be concluded that communication in the organization works in all directions and at all levels. Information is transmitted both horizontally and vertically between large groups (departments), in these groups themselves, or even interpersonally.
1.2.2 Internal communications tools
To determine the main tools of internal communications, the author of the thesis analyzed the work of such specialists in the field of public relations as: S. Katlip, G. Broome, E.
Blazhnov, I. Aleshina, A. Center and also textbooks on personnel management E. Borisova, Y. Chemyakin, K. Kharsky.
Next, we consider in more detail the tools of intra-corporate communications, highlighted by the authors listed above.
Corporate media:
A. Krivonosov, O. Filatov, M. Shishkin, corporate media are understood as “periodicals expressing corporate culture and philosophy, and reflecting the corporate culture of the subject” [25, p. 170].
There are certain goals and objectives of corporate media: “the declaration of values and policies of the company, its official position on certain issues, information, association” [26].
The corporate publication serves as a source of information for employees, all materials about the achievements of the company and individual employees are published there, about its culture, goals and objectives. A good corporate edition unites employees, inspires them, allows them to rally the team. According to the author of the corporate media tutorial Y.
Chemyakin differ in entertainment and entertainment features. “A high-quality corporate publication can become a powerful means of creating and maintaining a positive image, as well as an immediate component” [27, p.27].
According to the famous foreign specialist S. Black, the main task of the corporate publication is “creating a collective sense of a single family, strengthening trust in management, explaining the organization’s policies, engaging employees to cooperate with the administration, arousing their interest in the organization’s affairs” [28, p. 70].
S. Cutlip, A. Center and G. Broome in their handbook “Public Relations. Theory and practice", talk about the importance of highlighting the success of individual employees in the corporate edition.
The author of this work concludes that corporate media unite employees, attract them to cooperate with management, increase interest in the company's affairs. In addition, the publication creates loyalty, encourages success and achievement, informs about all the important events, goals and objectives of the organization.
Let’s consider the next effective tool - information boards.
Information boards
To understand the function of the information board, the author studied the textbook of E.
Blaznova Public Relations, in which the tools of internal communications are described in sufficient detail.
Information boards - an open source of information about the events of the organization (past and future). A board usually contains information about the company, such as goals and missions, corporate culture, successes and achievements, as well as more local data, such as birthdays of employees, dates and details of future events, competitions, etc.
In addition to corporate publications and information boards, it is necessary to mention the Intranet.
Intranet
It is necessary to mention one of the important tools of internal communications in the organization - the intranet. An intranet is “an internal network of an organization whose access to resources is open only to company members” [29, p. 269]. Among the technologies of social intranet, M. Polly stands for the following: file sharing, blogs, corporate portal, activity tape, document management system, employee profiles [30].
The intranet helps to track the achievements and successes of individual workers and reward them with praise and recognition, and since the intranet itself is social and public, other employees see the praise, who can not only praise their employees, but also receive an incentive Successes. Intranet is involved in both horizontal and vertical communications.
Thus, the positive behavior of workers is encouraged, and thanks are expressed for the work done [31].
Corporate communication
Virtually no modern company can do without a special corporate connection, often represented by various computer programs. In addition to computer programs, often used working network phones, which also provide instant communication.
The next method of communication in an organization is a corporate portal (website).
Corporate Portal
Many foreign and domestic experts distinguish the corporate portal as one of the most effective and rapidly developing in modern business. With the help of the portal, you can quickly post and see any necessary information, read the company's news, learn about upcoming events. The corporate portal in this sense is identical to the information board, however, it has much greater, almost unlimited resources and capabilities. The portal, unlike the information board, is not limited in size and methods of information transfer. If the board uses only text and image, then the portal can be placed videos or links to other resources with the necessary information.
Thus, if the information boards are only an indirect means of communication, then Internet portals have become one of the keyways of disseminating information in the organization.
The Internet portal is not only a repository of information, but also a vivid example of corporate culture, a tool for training employees. For example, the site often contains slogans, goals and missions of the company, its objectives and achievements. In addition, the Internet portal is an effective feedback tool.
According to A. Krivonosov, M. Shishkina, O. Filatova, who are the authors of the textbook
“Fundamentals of the Theory of Public Relations”, the Internet portal is “a necessary means of maintaining contact with all target audiences, having low cost and high efficiency” [25, p.
171].
Having studied various authors, it can be concluded that the portal is an effective means of internal communications. However, even such a modern tool has its drawbacks. For example, according to the head of marketing communications of SSE in Russia, Anna
Izmailova, “employees should have a certain motivation to visit such a portal” [32]. It is quite natural that not all employees are interested in the corporate portal, and for attracting it is necessary to fill the portal with relevant information, it must meet the requirements of employees and be of some interest. For example, on the portal you can post the results of competitions. In addition, to attract employees to the portal, they can themselves participate in its development.
The next method of internal communication are polls.
Polls
Surveys serve to determine the opinions of employees regarding various issues relating to the relationship between management and employees, for example, about working
conditions, pay, attitude towards management, and so on. The survey allows you to find out the level of employee satisfaction.
The next method of internal communication are social media.
Social media (SM)
Social media is a form of mass communication through the Internet. It has a number of significant differences from the traditional media of communication.
Social forms of communication through the Internet are a historically new type of communication between producers of content of messages (content) with consumers, who themselves are involved in its production, when every reader / blog subscriber can perform the functions of an author, including acting as a commentator for a reporter and / or the editor of this service.
This is a fast-growing set of communication technologies that allow people to communicate with each other through the Internet to achieve all sorts of goals. Communication can take various forms: users can share opinions, experience, knowledge, news, videos, photos, music and links to various websites, as well as establish contacts and interact to organize and conduct joint activities.
Andreas Kaplan and Michael Haenlein define social media ("media") as "a group of Internet applications on a particular ideological and technological base of Web 2.0, which allow social network members to create content ("content") and share it. According to some statements Unlike traditional SM, relying on authority, social media appeal to the feeling of belonging to a particular community. In reality, the problem of distinguishing traditional QMS from its new types is much more complicated Since its solution involves taking into account the actual complexity of the relationship that characterizes social networks. For example, according to Mike Murphy, to such a presence "
It does not take into account the fact that the advertising agencies themselves, operating through the Internet, create methods and ways of presenting advertising, often allowing them to succeed.
Some types of social media:
Facebook is the largest social network in the world and the eponymous company (Facebook Inc.) that owns it. It was founded on February 4, 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg and his roommates while studying at Harvard University - Eduardo Saverin, Dustin Moscovitz and Chris Hughes.
Facebook allows you to create a profile with a photo and information about yourself, invite friends, exchange messages with them, change your status, leave messages on your and other people's “walls”, upload photos and videos, create groups (communities of interests).
Slack provides features such as instant messaging by phone and chat, searching all your files and conversations in an accessible database and integrating with a growing number of practical bots and applications.
Skype is a free proprietary software with closed code that provides text, voice and video communication between computers (IP telephony) over the Internet, optionally using peer- to-peer network technologies, as well as paid services for calls to mobile and landline phones.
Email - technology and service for sending and receiving electronic messages between users of a computer network.
Trello is a small-group project management program developed by Fog Creek Software.
Trello uses a project management paradigm known as Kanban, a method that was originally popularized by Toyota in the 1980s for supply chain management.
MS teams is a corporate platform that combines chat, meetings, notes and attachments in the workspace. Developed by Microsoft as a competitor to the popular Slack.
Google Hangouts is an instant messaging and video conferencing software developed by Google. It replaces three instant messaging systems at once: Google Talk, Google+ Chats and Google+ video chat service, as well as an online broadcast via Youtube.
Yammer is used for private communications within organizations and is presented as an element of Enterprise 2.0 concept. Access to the Yammer network is provided depending on the user's Internet domain, so only individuals with specific email addresses can join the corresponding networks.
Wrike is a corporate online collaboration and project management service. It allows users to plan projects, prioritize tasks, track their execution schedule, and interact with the team.
Internal chat system is a means of real-time messaging over a computer network, as well as software that allows you to organize such communication.
Studying and analyzing the main tools of intra-organizational communications, we can conclude that they are all significant and effective, to one degree or another. The main mission of intercorporate communications is to increase loyalty and help employees understand corporate culture, respectively, the tools of these communications should be
effective and bring results. To manage communications in an organization, it is necessary to understand why this is being done and what result the efforts are aimed at.
Thus, the development and reporting of corporate culture is one of the main tasks, which is why the author considers it necessary to consider corporate culture in more detail and in depth.
1.3 Corporate culture
First you need to determine the meaning of the word "culture". Culture is what all or almost all members of a given social group share, what older ones convey to younger ones, which forms the behavior and ideas of a given social group about the world, for example, morality, laws, customs [34, p.319].
The concept of culture by L. White defines the meaning of culture in the following way: “It so happened that scientists viewed these objects and phenomena related to a person’s symbolism in two different contexts, which can be described as somatic and extra somatic.
In the first case, for the researcher, the relationship between these objects and phenomena and the human body is important. Considered in a somatic context, objects and phenomena associated with the symbolic ability of a person are called human behavior; more precisely, the behavior are ideas, attitudes, actions; axes and ceramics cannot be directly called behavior, but they are created by human labor, i.e. they are the materialized human behavior.
In an extra-somatic context, the relationship of these objects and phenomena with each other is more important than their relationship with the human body. And in this case the name will be culture” [35].
D. Newstrom suggests the following definition: “Corporate culture is a set of assumptions, beliefs, values and norms that are shared by all members of the organization” [36, p. 98].
According to the author of Corporate Culture, V. Spivak, culture is “a system of material and spiritual values, manifestations interacting with each other, inherent in a given corporation, reflecting its individuality and perception of themselves and others in a social and material environment, manifested in behavior and interaction, perception of oneself and the environment ”[37, p.15].
The success of an organization depends to a large extent on the extent to which its employees are united by common goals and a common attitude towards their work. A powerful strategic tool to orient all departments and individuals towards common goals, mobilize employee initiatives, ensure and facilitate communication, is a corporate culture. It forms the history of the company and the organizational structure, the rules of communication and decision- making, internal rituals and legends.
The culture of an organization as an economic entity is the level of development of its material and spiritual potentials achieved in the process of economic activity, manifested in the forms and methods of work organization and the degree of staff involvement in achieving its goals. Culture is divided into material and spiritual. Both of these components are in close and continuous interaction: the material culture reproduces the spiritual one, in turn, is improved by the development of the latter, step by step, gradually moving the organization's corporate culture to a qualitatively new level.
Principles, stages and methods of forming an organizational culture.
The principles of the forming of organizational culture, in general, reflect the characteristics of the organization, industry, etc., but also the basic properties and characteristics and the desired parameters of the formed organizational culture.
Forming an organizational culture, one should be guided by the following principles:
1. culture should reflect the basic ideas of the organization;
2. these ideas should carry a positive emotional charge;
3. the developed elements and activities should be in harmony with each other, confirmed by the behavior and attitude of the leadership to them (the behavior of the leadership should not contradict the declared values and norms);
4. the formed culture should correspond to the type, size and characteristic features of the organization, as well as the conditions of its existence;
5. one cannot deny the cultural experience accumulated by previous generations, one can gradually modify or use it as a basis, a springboard for a new culture.
Stages of the forming of organizational culture
To form an organizational culture that supports the organization’s development strategy, management must take several steps. The following main stages of work on the forming of an effective organizational culture can be distinguished.
1. The choice of the organization’s mission, determination of strategy, main goals and values (priorities, principles, approaches, norms and desirable patterns of behavior).
2. The study of the existing organizational culture. Determining the degree of conformity of the established organizational culture developed by the leadership of the organization’s development strategy, identifying positive and negative values.
3. Development of organizational measures aimed at the forming, development or consolidation of desirable values and behavior patterns.
4. Targeted impacts on organizational culture in order to eradicate negative values and develop attitudes conducive to the implementation of the developed strategy.
5. Assessing the success of impacts on organizational culture and making the necessary adjustments.
Forming of organizational culture
The external environment has a significant impact on the organization, which, of course, affects its culture. However, as practice shows, two organizations operating in the same
environment can have very different cultures. This is because, through their joint experience, members of the organization solve two very important problems in different ways. The first is external adaptation: what must be done by the organization in order to survive in conditions of fierce external competition. The second is internal integration: how internal organizational processes and relationships contribute to its external adaptation.
The process of external adaptation and survival is associated with the search for and finding by the organization of its niche in the market and its adaptation to a constantly changing external environment. This is the process of an organization achieving its goals and interacting with representatives of the external environment. The problems of external adaptation and survival include the following [38, p. 245]:
- mission and strategy (defining the organization’s mission and its main tasks; choosing a strategy for fulfilling this mission).
- goals (the establishment of specific goals and internal acceptance by their employees).
- funds (resources used to achieve goals; consolidation of efforts to achieve the chosen goal;
adaptation of the organizational structure, optimization of incentive and reporting systems).
- control (establishment of individual and group criteria for effective activity; creation of informing infrastructure).
- adjustment of behavior (creation of a system of encouragement and punishment, linked to the fulfillment or non-fulfillment of tasks).
Members of the organization should know the real mission of their organization, and not what is often declared from high stands for shareholders and the public. This will help them build an understanding of their own contribution to the organization’s mission.
In any organization, employees must participate in the following processes: 1) highlight from the external environment important and unimportant for the organization; 2) to develop ways and means of measuring the results achieved; 3) to find explanations for success and failure in achieving goals [5, p. 56].
The forming of the organizational culture, its content and individual parameters are influenced by a number of factors of the external and internal environment, but at all stages of the organization's development, the personal culture of its leader (his personal faith, values and style of behavior) largely determine the organization’s culture. This influence is especially strong if the organization is in its infancy, and its leader has outstanding personal and professional abilities.
The forming of a certain culture in an organization is connected with the specifics of the industry in which it operates, with the speed of technological and other changes, with the characteristics of the market, consumers, etc. It is known that companies in the "high technology" industries have a culture that contains "innovative" values and a belief in
change. However, this trait may manifest itself in different ways in companies of the same industry, depending on the national culture within which the organization operates.
An organization grows by attracting new members coming from organizations with a different culture. New members of the organization, whether they want it or not, bring with them the burden of past experience, in which the “viruses” of other cultures often lurk. The organization’s immunity from such “infections” depends on the strength of its culture, which is determined by three points [37, p. 138]:
- "depth";
- the degree to which it is shared by members of the organization;
- clarity of priorities.
The “depth” of organizational culture is determined by the number and sustainability of critical beliefs shared by employees. Cultures with many levels of beliefs and values have a strong “influence on organization behavior. In some cultures, shared beliefs and values are clearly ranked. Their relative importance and interconnection do not diminish the role of each of them. In other cultures, relative priorities, and relationships between shared values.
The clear priority of beliefs has a greater effect on people's behavior, as they are aware of what value should prevail in the event of a value conflict.
Thus, a strong culture has deeper roots in the minds of people, it is shared by many workers and priorities are more clearly defined in it. Accordingly, such a culture has a deeper influence on the behavior of workers in the organization.
A strong culture not only creates benefits for the organization but can also be a serious obstacle to organizational change. The “new” in culture is always weaker at first. Therefore, a moderately strong organizational culture seems to be optimal for reorganization.
Among the methods of maintaining organizational culture, the following should be noted [6, p. 74]:
1. Slogans declared by management, including the mission, goals, rules and principles of the organization, determining its attitude to its members and society.
2. Role modeling, expressed in the daily behavior of managers, their attitude and communication with subordinates. By personally demonstrating to subordinates, behavioral norms and concentrating their attention on this behavior, for example, on a certain attitude towards clients or the ability to listen to others, the manager helps to shape certain aspects of the organizational culture.
3. External symbols, including a reward system, status symbols, criteria underlying personnel decisions. A culture in an organization can manifest itself through a system of rewards and privileges. The latter are usually tied to certain patterns of behavior
and, thus, prioritize employees and indicate values that are of greater importance to individual managers and the organization as a whole. The system of status positions in the organization works in the same direction. Thus, the distribution of privileges (a good office, secretary, car, etc.) indicates roles and behavior that are more valued by the organization.
4. Stories, legends, myths and rites associated with the emergence of the organization, its founders or outstanding members. Many of the beliefs and values that underlie the organization’s culture are expressed not only through legends and myths that become part of organizational folklore, but also through various rituals, rites, traditions, and ceremonies. Rituals include standard and recurring team events held at a set time and on a special occasion to influence the behavior and understanding of employees of the organizational environment. Rituals are a system of rites; even certain managerial decisions can become organizational rites that employees interpret as part of the organizational culture. Such ceremonies act as organized and planned actions that have important "cultural" significance; their observance affects the self- determination and loyalty of the employees of their organization.
5. What (what tasks, functions, indicators, etc.) is the subject of constant management attention. What the manager pays attention to and what he comments on is very important for the forming of organizational culture. This is one of the most powerful methods of maintaining a culture in an organization, as the manager makes known to employees what is important and what is expected of them through repeated actions.
The measure of the participation of leaders in certain ceremonies allows subordinates to subjectively rank these events according to the degree of importance. This tool (measure of participation) can easily be used both to maintain and to change traditions in the organization.
6. Personnel policy of the organization. Personnel policy, including hiring, promotion and dismissal of employees is one of the main ways to maintain a culture in the organization. On the basis of what principles management regulates the entire personnel process, it immediately becomes apparent by the movement of employees within the organization. Criteria for staffing decisions can help, or can hinder the strengthening of the existing culture in the organization. So, the inherent conveyor production staff turnover on assembly lines prompted many companies to switch to either a group approach to work, or to a transition to group work methods inherent in Japanese management. An important role is played by the criteria for promotion and career growth. The ongoing demonstration that an organization invariably links employee incentives and career growth with their zeal and effectiveness can be of great importance in shaping employee behavior. Some researchers believe that the system of rewards and punishments is the most important in the forming of organizational culture.
The decisive influence on organizational culture is exerted by the actions of senior leaders.
Their behavior, the slogans and norms proclaimed by them, and, most importantly, organizational resources aimed at their implementation and approval in the minds of members of the organization, become the most important guidelines for employee behavior, which often serve as a more important factor in the organization of behavior than formalized rules and requirements.
Despite the importance of organizational culture for the effective functioning of the enterprise, its study, measurement and evaluation are of considerable complexity. As a rule, the study and generalization of specific manifestations of organizational culture is a long and time-consuming process, which includes an analysis of all seven of the above factors.
Organizational culture is often equated with values, suggesting that those values that prevail in the individual consciousness together create a common value atmosphere in the organization. This approach allows you to get a quantitative description of the ideas that dominate the organization. Indeed, values are directly related to organizational culture, however, dissolving them in the latter is hardly legitimate, since value orientations are, first of all, the most important elements of the personality’s internal structure. Therefore, the consideration of values is more related to the individual level [34, p. 85].
Methods for the forming of organizational culture
Further, the author of the thesis considers it necessary to highlight the main functions of corporate culture. For this purpose, the works of such public relations specialists as E. Shane
“Corporate Culture” as well as G. Zinchenko and E. Kapitonov “Corporate Culture. Theory and practice".
According to the above authors, the main functions of the corporate culture are:
• the accumulation and dissemination of values, goals and missions of the company;
• the formation and development of the system of internal communications;
• regulation of relations in the labor process; development of the system of external relations of the organization;
• increasing team cohesion, developing a sense of mutual help, belonging to a larger group.
It can be concluded that the corporate culture unites the organization, its members, brings their interests closer, increases loyalty. All this is achieved through the formation of a sense of identity, involvement, belonging to the goals and actions of the company. Corporate culture allows employees to feel involved in its traditions, certain norms and rituals, instills the desired pattern of behavior. Employees often follow a certain corporate style, which can be expressed in clothing and symbolism. In addition, according to E. Kapitonov, corporate culture allows separating a company from the external environment, “which ensures the loyalty of the company's employees and their loyalty and commitment to the company, and also serves as a barrier to the penetration of undesirable trends and negative values from the external environment” [38, p. 36].
It was found that the main purpose of internal communication is to help the employee in understanding the corporate culture, goals and values of the organization. It is important to determine exactly which elements of the corporate culture that employees need to inculcate.
Purposeful alignment of a certain corporate culture in accordance with the company's development strategy becomes one of the most important tasks, since the mismatch of goals, communication systems between employees can lead to serious problems. Corporate culture is first of all one of the levers of personnel management, which allows you to develop in the right direction, while allowing employees to feel comfortable and maximize their professional and personal ambitions. Moreover, a developed corporate culture is a powerful weapon in the fight against competitors, in particular, it solves such a problem as leakage / poaching of personnel, creates a positive image of the company in the market, and allows to preserve the
“gold reserve” of (key employees) of the company.
An important role in shaping the corporate culture is played by internal communications in the organization. Effective communication in practice is a prerequisite for the successful achievement of the goals of the organization. At the same time, it is communications that constitute one of the most controversial issues in the field of management, in relation to which clarity and clarity in understanding have not yet been achieved.
Communication in the organizational system is considered as a phenomenon and as a process.
As a phenomenon of communication reflect the established norms (rules, instructions, regulations), as well as the principles and patterns of relations between people in the organization. As a process, communication represents a special form of interaction between personnel for the exchange of information within and outside the organization, aimed at achieving the goals of the organization, as well as at staff development. Two functions of communication can be considered as fundamental: development of the organization and development of personnel.
According to E. Kaptonov, the most important elements of corporate culture are: “mission, corporate spirit, traditions and symbols, leadership and leadership styles, corporate ethics, corporate image and reputation, employee behavior patterns” [38, p.37]. The organization should strive for the listed elements, and having reached them, make sure that they are transferred to subordinates. It is for the dissemination of these elements that internal communications in the organization are needed.
As a result of the study, we can conclude that intra-organizational communication is inextricably linked with corporate culture. Accordingly, it is important to determine how effective the communications in the organization are and how exactly to manage them. That is why the next section will be devoted to the main methods of managing corporate communications in an organization, as well as evaluating their effectiveness.
1.4 Internal Communications Management
In this section, you will identify the main methods of managing communications in organizations, as well as ways to evaluate them.
One of the most important conditions for the realization of the company's goals is effective communication. At the same time, it is intercorporate communications that cause the most heated discussions and raise important questions. In-company communication, in addition to the previously mentioned roles, also performs management and impact functions, because it is, in essence, a way of shaping corporate culture, as well as strategy and values. Since communications play a crucial role, they require separate management tools.
According to the research of E. Surovtseva “Actual problems of managing organizational communications”, managing organizational communications implies “a set of continuous targeted management influences on internal and external processes of information exchange and non-information interactions ensuring the satisfaction of communication needs and the realization of long-term interests of enterprise development” [39, p. 125– 128].
Intercorporate communications are defined by the following principles:
• Focusing on the strategic goals of the company;
• Internal and external communications are related;
• Designation of spheres of influence and control;
• Required feedback.
Managing communications in a company is influencing its functions. In addition to standard communication functions such as information transfer, management, control, transfer of emotional messages, some experts also define specific functions.
According to T. Orlova, “the effectiveness of communication management manifests itself as a result of the qualitative filling of the classic functions of managing new content, as well as as a result of the implementation of a number of specialized functions that are due to the use of new managerial, marketing and information technologies, innovative activity of economic systems” [40]. T.M. Orlova identifies the following specific functions: integrating, contacting, ritual, educational, self-presentation function.
The author of the thesis believes that the above functions should be considered in two versions: as directed at individual employees, and at the organization as a whole.
Functions aimed at the development of the organization:
• Informational
• Administrative
• Integrative
• Regulatory
• Coordination
• Motivational
• Stimulating
• Educational
• Identification
• Representative
• Emotional
Functions aimed at staff development:
• Interactive
• Self-actualization
• Self-representative
• Adaptive
• Authoritarian
• Conversion
• Relaxation
The listed groups of functions are closely related to each other. For example, the interaction between employees to a large extent occurs due to the movement of information, however, depends not only on the information processes themselves, but also on personal assessments and interpretations.
Managing intra-organizational communications contributes to the efficiency of the company.
The strategy, based on the assessment, provides the communication and information needs of the organization at three levels:
• strategic needs;
• operational needs;
• tactical needs.
These needs are closely interrelated and complementary. At the same time, the achievement of strategic goals is possible only if the needs depend on these very goals of the company.
Of course, no less important is the evaluation of communications at the interpersonal level, because it determines the overall style of communication in the organization. The characteristics of this style are: the openness of employees with respect to each other and feedback, which allows the employee to express his opinion in relation to the organization and colleagues.
According to these characteristics, there are the following communication styles in the company:
• Openness (high openness, bad feedback);
• interaction (high openness, attention is paid to the impact on the partner);
• isolation (reduction of communication processes, one-way communication);
• protection (lack of initiative, only response);
• Compromise (openness is equally manifested in all employees, but no more than the rest).
Evaluation of internal communications should take place regularly, so you can select communication monitoring as a management tool that allows you to make adequate decisions of the situation.
The next stage in the management of internal communications is the development of a strategy for the development of organizational communications. To implement a communication strategy, it is necessary to choose the type of management, distribute responsibility and develop criteria for evaluating communication management. It is important to note the most influential factors influencing the choice of the type of management of communications: the size of the organization, the number of personnel, the type of structure, strategy, and the distribution of functions between departments and financial capabilities.
It is necessary to highlight the following levels of internal communications management:
strategic and operational.
The strategic level involves the creation of a communication strategy for the company, while it will be a long-term program to achieve the goals of the organization. The basis for such a program are general guidelines, criteria and guidelines adopted by the management.
The operational level includes the development, implementation and updating of a system of corporate norms and agreements focused on corporate values and regulating the interaction of employees at all levels both with each other and with the external environment.
Thus, the content and structure of formal communications are determined by the company.
Such a document is a complete description of communicative interaction.
It should be mentioned that the effectiveness of communication management depends on a number of functions (economic, managerial, social), as well as on the implementation of activities in accordance with the communication strategy adopted by the management.
Effective management of internal communications in an organization can be determined by the high level of economic and social efficiency of such events. In order to evaluate the effectiveness of communications, you can use the following criteria, according to N.
Morozova, “Economics and Management. No2 ":
1) The structure of the communication space (the degree of integrity of the communication system, the distribution and speed of information passing through hierarchical levels, the ability to control communication flows);
2) communication synergies (interconnectedness of communication processes, consistency of decisions, availability of communication climate, coordination of internal and external communication strategy);
3) quality of communications (completeness and accuracy of information transmitted, quality of written communications, effectiveness of communication activities);
4) feedback (the degree of openness of management to questions and suggestions of subordinates, the degree of interest and involvement of staff in the management process, the ability to make suggestions for the development of the organization at different levels of management, the level of feedback with the external environment);
5) communication needs (the degree of satisfaction of information and communication needs, the degree of awareness of employees about the state of the organization as a whole and the situation on the ground, the adequacy of information for the implementation of relevant functions);
6) communication support (provision of technical means of communication, level of expenditures on technical means of communication, level of knowledge of technical means of communication, compliance of the communication channels used with the specifics and goals of communications);
7) communication culture (presence of communicative standards and communicative regulations, level of communicative competence of employees, mentoring, traditions, satisfaction with communications, demonstrated communicative behavior).
According to the works of the authors M. Mekson, M. Albert and F. Hedouri, the cyclic model, in particular the connections between its elements [41], allows to investigate various types of problems in communications. According to the elemental composition of the model, the following groups of interferences are distinguished, related to:
• Communicator or communicator (biological, psychological, sociological);
• Communication (problems of message style and interpretation, as well as a language dictionary);
• Encoding/decoding a message;
• Feedback and direct link.
According to V. Schepel, there are six types of communication problems:
1) The discomfort of the physical environment in which the message is perceived. Other factors affecting the communication process, such as the wrong choice of artificial lighting, the place and time of communication, are also classified as communication interference of this type. The group of natural factors associated with natural phenomena may also interfere with or impede the process of communication;
2) inertia of inclusion: the listener's concern with other problems;
3) antipathy to other people's thoughts, stereotyped consciousness, ambitiousness;
4) the language barrier;
5) professional rejection: incompetent invasion of the communicator into the professional sphere of the communicator;
6) rejection of the image of the communicator.
S. Frolova, in her study “Sociology of Organizations”, defines two groups of internal corporate issues related to communications [43]:
The first is the problems of structural communications related to barriers arising in the process of information transfer;
The second is interpersonal communication problems related to behavioral aspects of the organization’s activities.
I. Sidorskaya defines communication as “any deviation from the organization’s specified parameters of the speed of information transfer and the degree of its adequacy, which naturally leads to the failure to achieve organizational goals, is not considered as a holistic and integrated research direction, but breaks down into many subproblems, each of which is studied in its own methodological and conceptual field” [44, p. 147–149].
Thus, it can be concluded that the management of communications in an organization is a complex and multi-level process with a huge amount of important details and nuances. In addition, the author of the thesis identified the criteria for evaluating the effectiveness of internal communications of companies.
The impact of internal communications on various aspects of a company's operation and its effectiveness was examined. Communication is part of any management activity, which is why it is advisable to call it a connecting element.
The causes of interpersonal communication problems are traditionally reduced to the following:
• differences in the perception of the message and its main idea and concept, that happens by virtue of: improper coding of the message by managers without taking into account the culture and attitudes of members of the organization (the message is written or transmitted in an incomprehensible language, contains many words belonging to another subculture, or special terms, the activity or knowledge, little known to members of the organization, etc.); the conflict between the areas of competence, the basics of judgment of the sender and the recipient of information;
selective perception of information depending on the range of interests, needs, emotional state and external environment of people; distortion or rejection of information that conflicts with previous experience or previously learned concepts;
various social attitudes of members of organizations, various value structures;
• semantic barriers arising from poorly worded messages, which can lead to loss of information during transmission by the recipient, especially many problems of this kind arise in a multinational environment;
• non-verbal interpersonal barriers (gestures, intonation, inner meaning and other forms of non-verbal symbolic communication);
• unsatisfactory feedback, which makes it impossible to establish whether the message received by the recipient is really interpreted in the sense that was originally given to it;
• inability to listen, reducing the accuracy of the received message.
Communication problems associated with human, behavioral aspects of the organization’s activities are manifested in socio-psychological tensions, conflicts, clashes of interests,
“gaps” in business communication, non-cooperation and other symptoms of an unhealthy moral-psychological climate of an organization.
Communication is embedded in all major types of management activities, so it can be called a connecting process. The communications system of an enterprise is one of the factors controlling the process of organizational development of an enterprise and requires an integrated approach to the study and formation.
In general, the paragraph can draw the following conclusions. Corporate culture is primarily one of the levers of personnel management, which allows you to develop in the right direction, while allowing employees to feel comfortable and maximize their professional and personal ambitions. It should be noted that today many Russian companies have achieved a high degree of formal regulation of their own corporate culture, especially its ideological component - most of the companies have documented mission and values.
An important role in shaping the corporate culture is played by internal communications in the organization. Communication in the organizational system is considered as a phenomenon and as a process. As a phenomenon of communication reflect the established norms (rules, instructions, regulations), as well as the principles and patterns of relations between people in the organization. As a process, communication represents a special form of interaction between personnel for the exchange of information within and outside the organization, aimed at achieving the goals of the organization, as well as at staff development. Two functions of internal communication can be considered as fundamental: development of the organization and personnel development.
The effectiveness of the communication management mechanism is determined by the complex effect (economic, social, innovation, management, coordination) of the implementation of activities within the adopted communication strategy. Evaluation of the effectiveness of communications is carried out in seven enlarged blocks: the structure of the communication space; communication synergism; quality of communications;
communication needs; communication support; communicative culture; feedback.
2 METHODOLOGY
2.1 Introduction
This chapter describes the meaning behind the use of the selected research, sets out the theoretical position of this thesis and delineates the way such instruments were applied in an attempt to identify the impact of SM&CT on organizational culture. Mainly this chapter is based on the three following literature:
• Mason, J. (2002) Qualitative Researching. 2nd Edition / Sage Publications, London, 2002.
• I.S.Shorohova, N.V. Kislyak, O.S. Mariev. Statistical analysis methods: [textbook manual] / Ministry of Education and science Rus. Federation - Ekaterinburg:
Publishing house Ural. University, 2015.
• Nivorozhkina L.I., Arzhenovskiy S.V. Multivariate statistical methods in economics / Textbook. - Rostov-on-Don: Science-Spectrum, 2009.
This research involved primary data collection through quantitative and qualitative approaches, enabling the study to avoid each approach’s pitfalls by exploiting the strengths of both.
2.2 Research Design and Procedure
The design of the research methodology was initiated by an exploration of the managers’
views through one-to-one interviews. The following stage involved sending out a number of questionnaires distributed amongst employees for self-completion. The notions of OC, management of employees’ talents and usage of social media were the main highlights throughout the entire fieldwork.
An approach that includes both qualitative and quantitative approaches provides more in- depth and meaningful research that would not be possible if either approach were used alone.
There are described the differences between qualitative and quantitative research in three main directions. First, their philosophy of reality is in contrast. While a quantitative researcher perceives reality objectively and can be divided into smaller parts, a qualitative researcher argues that there is no single reality that is whole and cannot be divided. Second, they look at the person completely differently. While a quantitative researcher views people in the same way and categorizes them, a qualitative researcher believes that all people are different. Third, quantitative research attempts to create general laws of conduct and to rationalize the situation in many conditions, while qualitative research provides a single designation for a given state or person.
A number of individuals contributed in the design of the research instruments in terms of the terminology that was used, ensuring (as much as possible) a proper interpretation of concepts.
All data collected from this study were considered equally important, regardless of the participant's role in the organization. Qualitative research yielded detailed results amongst management, while questionnaire was able to cover a wider sample. This part of the study cross-checked the views gained from interviews and survey, and the researcher looked for similarities, differences, and inconsistencies between different organizations, as well as between management and employee perspectives.
2.2.1 Qualitative Approach
The results of the literature review served as a basis for the development of research tools in a qualitative and quantitative approach. The first phase, including quality interviews with organizations, provided an initial understanding of how managers perceive organizational culture, employee talent, and how managers see the connection of culture and social media.
Qualitative data were collected through 10 face-to-face interviews with executives in 10 different organizations.
Qualitative data was collected via 10 one-to-one interviews conducted amongst senior managers in 10 different organizations.
These interviews helped to build the questionnaire for the quantitative analysis.
2.2.2 Quantitative Approach
Following an analysis of the findings gathered from the respective managers, the second part of the study dealt with gaining feedback from employees in order to gain insight about their perspective in the way their talents are managed. An analysis of the qualitative data, together with the deductions made in the literature review, supported the design of the two sets of quantitative questionnaires, intended to observe how employees look at their OC and the way it influences development as well as accountability on both the management and employees part in usage of SM&CT.
2.3 Research Instrument: Qualitative Study
2.3.1 Selecting the Design
One semi-structured one-to-one interview was designed and conducted with HR or project manager in each of 10 different organisations that were selected as part of this study. That person was always chosen based on his influence on internal communication – person is either in charge of it or has influence on decision-making regarding that process.
The reason of choosing such type of research was due to the nature of the interview, where questions could be altered or specified, if the answer was not enough.
