I want to work there: how public relations agencies communicate organizational culture and identity on Instagram

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Brandi Watkins ◽  
Stephanie A. Smith
Keyword(s):  
Public Relations ◽  
Employee Engagement ◽  
Organizational Identity ◽  
Identity Theory ◽  
Organizational Image ◽  
Self Presentation ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Qualitative Thematic Analysis ◽  
Constant Comparative Analysis

PurposeThis study examined Instagram content shared by public relations (PR) agencies, through the sensitizing framework of organizational identity theory, to determine what messages related to organizational identity, culture and image were communicated to external audiences. This study highlights the various ways that Instagram can be used for strategic organizational communication.Design/methodology/approachA qualitative, thematic analysis of Instagram content was conducted. The constant comparative analysis was guided by organizational identity theory, which provided an individual-level perspective for interpreting organizational messages within the posts.FindingsPR agencies use hashtags, employee sharing and communicating about agency outreach efforts and accolades to communicate organizational identity. PR agencies communicate aspects of its culture through employee engagement and development, employee cohesiveness and through communicating a commitment to diversity, philanthropy and community service. PR agencies influenced its organizational image by communicating content related to promotion and support of creative efforts, having a public Instagram account and retelling the history of the agency.Originality/valueThis study extends our understanding of corporate self-presentation strategies on social media.

Organizational commitment: exploring the role of identity

2019 ◽  
Vol 49 (3) ◽  
pp. 774-790 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leila Afshari ◽  
Suzanne Young ◽  
Paul Gibson ◽  
Leila Karimi
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Commitment ◽  
Organizational Identity ◽  
Mixed Method ◽  
Organizational Image ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Mixed Method Approach ◽  
Identification Process ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Depth Analysis ◽  
Method Approach

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to enhance the understanding of how identification process is associated with development of organizational commitment. Design/methodology/approach A mixed-method approach incorporating surveys and interviews was employed. Data were obtained from a manufacturing organization in Australia. A clustering method was employed to identify commitment profiles. Respondents belonging to the clusters representing commitment profiles associated with desirable organizational outcomes were identified for the qualitative stage of the research. Findings The results showed that both organizational identity and professional/occupational identity are positively linked to the development of organizational commitment. An in-depth analysis of the qualitative data demonstrated that engagement of personal/individual level of self in identification process enhances the development of organizational commitment. Practical implications The findings suggest that human resource managers can build an effective identification process by strengthening feelings of organizational identity and creating a positive organizational image. Originality/value To the best of the author’s knowledge, this study is the first to employ a mixed-method approach to explore the relationship between organizational commitment and identification process. A mixed-method approach, on the one hand, enabled us to build on the existing objectivist commitment literature and explore commitment profiles, and on the other hand, it allowed us to provide a more complete and contextual portrayal of organizational commitment and identification process through qualitative interpretive strategies.

Using Twitter in crisis management for organizations bearing different country-of-origin perceptions

2015 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 239-253 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jie Xu ◽  
Yiye Wu
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Public Relations ◽  
Country Of Origin ◽  
Negative Evaluation ◽  
Amazon Mechanical Turk ◽  
Organizational Level ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Foreign Countries ◽  
The Individual

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of using Twitter on American stakeholders’ crisis appraisal for organizations originated from two foreign countries with distinctively different perceptions. Design/methodology/approach – This study uses a 2 (medium: Twitter vs news release)×2 (country-of-origin: China vs France) factorial experiment. The participants (n=393) are recruited through the Amazon Mechanical Turk system (Mturks). Findings – The findings suggest that using Twitter substantially mitigates participants’ negative evaluation of the organization undergoing a crisis. Country-of-origin affects how individuals perceive the organization after it has experienced a crisis. In addition, participants’ product involvement intensifies the reputational threat specifically for the organization with a less favorable country-of-origin perception. Originality/value – This study is one of the few empirically based studies in international public relations research, using an experiment to extrapolate the effects of social media and country-of-origin on consumers’ crisis appraisal. This investigation reinforces the need to consider social media not just at the individual level, but also as a form of communication that can have broader consequences at the organizational level. In addition, it is important for company leaders to understand that the organization’s home country image may exacerbate the negative management outcomes during a crisis. It is expected that this study yields theoretically indicative, empirically informative, and culturally relevant results.

A study of employees at SMEs in Jordan shows employee engagement fully mediates the relationship between HPWS and employee creativity

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Employee Engagement ◽  
High Performance ◽  
Organizational Innovation ◽  
Vital Role ◽  
Organizational Level ◽  
Causal Mechanism ◽  
Employee Creativity ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose The author said his study suggested a unique mechanism for the link between HPWS and organizational innovation and also filled a gap in existing research. Previous studies have tended to concentrate on outcomes at the organizational level rather than individual level. Design/methodology/approach The author sent the questionnaire to employees at R&D centers, where employees are expected to produce a lot of creative ideas. Each organization in the study had a maximum of three employees responsible for R&D. In total, 272 complete questionnaires were collected from 159 SMEs in Amman, in Jordan. Findings The study confirmed that employee engagement fully mediates the relationship between HPWS (high-performance work systems) and employee creativity. Results showed it accounted for 69.5% of the variance. The author of the report also revealed that perspective-taking also moderated the relationship between HPWS and employee engagement, and employee creativity predicted organizational innovation to moderate levels. Originality/value The positive results of the study have theoretical implications, the author argues. It proposed a causal mechanism of mediation, which was an original contribution. And it also focused on individuals, whereas other studies have tended to concentrate on outcomes at the organizational level. Management must also take into account the vital role HPWS play in shaping creativity and engagement. On the other hand, training can’t be offered for the sake of it, but in order to influence the employee’s view of the organization.

Hybrid working can help recruit and retain talent, upskill leaders and boost team working, suggests a case study from an international professional services firm

2022 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Summerfield
Keyword(s):  
Leadership Development ◽  
Employee Engagement ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Cultural Transformation ◽  
Professional Services ◽  
Corporate Values ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Team Working ◽  
The Way

Purpose This paper sets out the three-year people strategy at the core of a traditional professional services firm’s ambitious plans to transform into a progressive, agile and fast-growing business. The lynchpin of its acquisitions-led and people-centred cultural transformation programme is Project Zander, a pioneering hybrid working experience in its Jersey office that can be adapted to different geographic locations as the business expands. Design/methodology/approach Individual-level information gathered from the firm. Findings Nesting a hybrid working model within a clearly articulated people strategy aligned with corporate values appears to be setting the business well on the way to achieving its ambitions. Key is the ability of leaders to plan ahead for the future, mapping out a three-year journey with important milestones along the way. Although it is still early days, the business is already seeing a positive impact on collaboration, team working, staff recruitment and retention, leadership development, empowerment and creativity, employee engagement, and rebuilding the confidence of young people, many of whom have been negatively impacted by COVID-19 lockdowns. Originality/value The strategy has an innovative hybrid working approach as its cornerstone

The impact of dissonance in schema based leadership perceptions on employee engagement

2018 ◽  
Vol 47 (7) ◽  
pp. 1309-1329 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sugumar Mariappanadar
Keyword(s):  
Information Processing ◽  
Leadership Styles ◽  
Employee Engagement ◽  
Leadership Style ◽  
Leadership Perceptions ◽  
Supportive Leadership ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Differentiated Leadership ◽  
Perceptions Of Leadership

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the possible consequences of the intra-individual level-based perceptions of participative, supportive and instrumental leadership styles and the dissonance factors of leadership styles perceptions on employee engagement using the information-processing and connectionist perspectives of leadership perceptions. Design/methodology/approach Hypotheses relating to direct and moderated effects of perceptions of leadership styles on employee engagement were tested using a two-stage intra-individual level study (n=172 in each stage). Hierarchical regression analysis was used to test the hypotheses. Findings The findings revealed that perceptions of preferred and experienced supportive leadership styles are individually important predictors of employee engagement. It was also revealed that differentiated leadership styles have stronger (complementary) effect on employee engagement when the perceptions of experienced participative and supportive leadership styles were aligned with perceptions of respective preferred leadership styles. Furthermore, it was also found that the low level compared to the high level of dissonance factor or the difference between preferred and experienced instrumental leadership style acted as a complementer on employee engagement. Research limitations/implications This study has made contributions to facilitate scholars to build better information-processing models and implicit theories for differentiated leadership and employee engagement links. Finally, the study provides new information on the consequence of perceptions of leadership style and the dissonance factor of leadership perceptions on followers’ actions such as employee engagement. Originality/value This will be the first empirical study examining the relationships between the dissonance factor of leadership perceptions of participative, supportive and instrumental styles and employee engagement.

Role of organizational image in employee engagement and performance

2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 971-989 ◽  
Author(s):  
Swati Dhir ◽  
Archana Shukla
Keyword(s):  
Employee Engagement ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Quantitative Research ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Organizational Image ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Theoretical Support ◽  
And Performance

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of organizational image in engaging employees and improving their performance. The study has explored the role of employee’s perception about the organizational image, and its linkage with the investment of employee’s energies into their work roles resulting in employee engagement (EE) and hence performance. Design/methodology/approach Adopting a model that was built on the basis of research conducted in the form of surveys. By using cross-sectional data and following a quantitative research method, the study collected data from 701 managers in India holding various positions, in different industries. The study has used “Component-Based Structural Equation Modeling” by Smart PLS. Findings The key findings of the study help employees as well as employers to have a thorough, comprehensive understanding to improve EE and their performance by creating a positive and consistent organizational image. Research limitations/implications This study will be very useful for employers and policymakers to understand the value of organizational image in engaging the workforce effectively. Aligning with the organizational behaviors theoretical support, this study yields some important and useful suggestions for managers to engage and retain their workforce in the present dynamic work environment. Originality/value The paper tries to focus on one’s perceptions of the organization and its linkage between EE and performance. The positive perception of employees reflects that they identify themselves and feel connected with the overall vision of the organization.

Tailor the message and change will happen? An experimental study of message tailoring as an effective communication strategy for organizational change

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Florian Haumer ◽  
Laura Schlicker ◽  
Paul Clemens Murschetz ◽  
Castulus Kolo
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Change ◽  
Change Management ◽  
Employee Engagement ◽  
Success Factors ◽  
Personality Types ◽  
Individual Characteristics ◽  
Communication Strategy ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Message Tailoring

PurposeThis study strives to improve one’s understanding of tailored messaging as an organizational communication strategy that amplifies processes of organizational change at an individual level of personality traits.Design/methodology/approachA scientific experiment was conducted to test the effects of tailored messages on self-reported employee engagement during an organizational change process.FindingsThe results show that tailored messaging improves employee engagement for change when messages fit the specific needs of different personality types. Conversely, message tailoring can lower employee engagement when messages do not match personality types. Further, message tailoring has different impacts at different stages of a change project.Research limitations/implicationsAn employee's ability to change as a function of his professional skill set as well as the project type (e.g. digital transformation project, post-merger integration project, leadership change project) should not be neglected in an overall model that aims to explain the success factors of change management.Practical implicationsObviously, proper targeting, timing, as well as the implementation of a valid, legal and feasible method for identifying an employee's personality as well as other individual characteristics are equally important and challenging to improve change management outcomes.Originality/valueThis study adds value to the discussion on the efficacy of message tailoring as a communication strategy for organizational change.

Measurement and predictors of resilience among Latin American public relations professionals

2019 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 393-411 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angeles Moreno ◽  
Cristina Navarro ◽  
Juan-Carlos Molleda ◽  
M. Cristina Fuentes-Lara
Keyword(s):  
Public Relations ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Critical Incident ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Supporting Evidence ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Public Relations Practitioners ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Resilience Scale

Purpose It is well established that greater resilience buffers the negative effects of adverse events and conditions, allowing the affected individual to recover adequately. Resilience is a core trait for public relations practitioners, due to the challenging and pressure-laden nature of their work. However, as an individual-level trait, this phenomenon remains underexplored in the communication field. The purpose of this paper is to examine the dimensionality and measurement invariance of the 25-item Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (Connor and Davidson, 2003), evaluate the level of resilience and identify predictors of resilience among Latin American public relations practitioners. Design/methodology/approach A population of 898 public relations professionals from 18 Latin American countries working on different hierarchical levels, both in communication departments and agencies across the region were surveyed. Findings CD-RISC global scorings show direct correlations with age, years of experience, type of organization, hierarchy and social media skills. However, education, salary, gender or working in an excellent, successful and influential communication department were not predictors of resilience. Additionally, results provide supporting evidence that the CD-RISC has good psychometric properties and can be used as a reliable and valid tool to assess resilience among Latin American public relations practitioners. Research limitations/implications As in any study using self-report measures, the results may have been influenced by participants’ acquiescence and need for social desirability. Greater participation is needed from some countries to allow for a more comprehensive comparative analysis. Practical implications Identifying factors that protect against negative outcomes is important for the development of strengths-based approaches that emphasize resilience. Moreover, in predicting the ability to tolerate stress and its negative effects, this study may help in the selection of personnel who will manage tougher job demands. Originality/value Research on the concept of resilience has gained substantial momentum over the past decades and has become a multidisciplinary field of research spanning a variety of theoretical and conceptual positions. However, practitioner resilience has not formally addressed in the public relations research, with the sole exception of the qualitative research conducted by Guo and Anderson in 2018 using a critical incident technique approach. This field provides an intriguing context to study resilience because practitioners are regularly engaged in work that may require the ability to “bounce back” from challenging work.

Corporate social responsibility and employee engagement: making the case for international corporate-sponsored volunteering using a matched-sample analysis

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicole L. Gullekson ◽  
Anders Cedergren ◽  
Liz Arnold ◽  
Taggert Brooks
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Social Responsibility ◽  
Social Responsibility ◽  
Employee Engagement ◽  
Exact Matching ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Financial Investment ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Volunteer Program ◽  
Quasi Experimental ◽  
Corporate Social

Purpose This paper aims to contribute to the growing body of research which demonstrates corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives can be linked to individual-level outcomes, such as employee engagement, using a quasi-experimental field study to provide initial evidence of a casual effect for such programs. Design/methodology/approach The authors examined whether participating in an international corporate-sponsored volunteer program increased employee engagement by comparing a sample of employees, matched on their pre-trip engagement scores and other demographic variables, with employees who did not volunteer in the program and comparing the differences in this employee engagement after completing the volunteer experience. Findings Using an exact matching technique, the authors were able to isolate the influence of the volunteer program on employee engagement and demonstrate that the program was associated with increased employee engagement after the program ended. Originality/value This study provides additional, and stronger, support on the CSR and employee engagement relationship through isolating the causal influence of the volunteer program on engagement. Thus, it provides additional justification for the use of, and financial investment in, such programs by organizations.

Motivational antecedents, employee engagement and knowledge management performance

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mayuri Menike Atapattu ◽  
Twan Huybers
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Management ◽  
Performance Management ◽  
Employee Engagement ◽  
Structure Learning ◽  
Knowledge Workers ◽  
Employee Empowerment ◽  
Learning Performance ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Individual Level

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the causal relationships between organisational practices, employee knowledge management (KM) engagement and organisational KM performance. Design/methodology/approach Following a quantitative research approach, an online survey of 536 knowledge workers from multinational knowledge-based organisations located in Sri Lanka was carried out. The data were analysed with structural equation modelling. Findings Teamwork, reward structure, learning, performance management and employee empowerment are found to be motivational antecedents of KM engagement while, subsequently, organisational KM performance is affected by employee KM engagement. Research limitations/implications The findings of this study are based on the use of five key organisational practices derived from the literature. Further research is needed to establish whether the findings extend to other organisational practices such as resourcing strategy, organisational culture and communication. Further, the sample for this research comprised knowledge workers in Sri Lankan organisations which limit the generalisability of the findings. Practical implications Teamwork, rewards structure, learning, performance management and employee empowerment are organisational practices that foster employee KM engagement. Organisational practices and employee KM engagement are imperative for the organisational success of KM initiatives. Originality/value This research introduces the term KM engagement as the indicator of individual-level KM success and integrates the sequential linkage between individual-level KM outcomes (i.e. KM engagement) and organisational KM outcomes (KM performance) which has not yet been investigated.

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