Department of Informatics and Media Impacts of Strategic Communication
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Department of Informatics and Media Master Program in Social Sciences, specialization in Digital Media and Society Two-Year Master’s Thesis Impacts of strategic communication practices on local-level employees Heimstaden Flogsta: a case study. September 2019 Student: Alberto Sobejano Supervisor: Daniel Lövgren 2 Abstract Over the last three years, Heimstaden, a real-estate company based in Sweden, has gone through a complex process of redefinition of its identity, defining values and principles. This process is especially delicate in one of the neighborhoods managed by the company, Flogsta, where Heimstaden owns and administrates 2014 student apartments. In the context of this identity definition process, this study analyzes the communication strategies and the organizational identity transmission practices within the company, focusing on the local-level employees’ understanding and experience of Heimstaden’s identity and strategies. From a theoretical standpoint, the research parts from Hallahan, Holtzhausen, van Ruler, Verčič and Sriramesh´s (2007) initial ideas on strategic communication, and implements van Ruler´s (2018) approach to the role that communication plays within strategic communication, as well as to the dichotomy between one-way vs two-way strategies of communication. The analysis also incorporates Schinoff, Corley and Roger’s (2016) views of organizational identity. The research consists of 6 semi-structured interviews with Heimstaden employees. In addition to that, participant observations were also carried out daily over a period of 5 months, due to my position as a Heimstaden employee stationed in Uppsala. The findings of the study reveal that many of the one-way communication strategies currently in use within Heimstaden, are failing at making the local-level employees aware and participant of the company’s identity and changes. Consequently, this study identifies great differences in the way that local-level employees relate to the company’s new identity and principles with respect to the way in which top-level employees do. These differences, in turn, generate that the company’s identity and new way of doing things is not projected properly towards the clients, generating, arguably, reputational problems for Heimstaden in the studied area. Keywords: Strategic communication, organizational identity, local-level employees, bottom- up studies. 3 Acknowledgements I would like to thank all my co-workers at Heimstaden not only for participating in this study, but also for being always there for me, helping whenever I´ve needed something from them. I also want to thank my managers, starting with Johan Sandberg, who has always given me total freedom and all the facilities to combine this study with my full-time job, as well as María Petersson and Karmen Mandic for finding a space in their busy schedules to receive me and provide me with all the information required to carry out this study. Without the help of all my colleagues, this study would not have been possible. I would also like to thank my supervisor Daniel Lövgren for his assistance, as well as all the professors with whom I have had the pleasure to share class during this master’s degree. It has been a privilege. Last, I would like to thank my girlfriend, family and friends, who have encouraged me to keep giving my best during these tough months of work and study, even when my mood hasn't been the best. Your patience with me is priceless, and the merit of this study belongs to all of you. 4 Table of Contents Abstract……………………………………………………………………………………….3 Acknowledgments……………………………………………………………………….…...4 Table of Contents…………………………………………………………...………………..5 Table of Figures…………………………………………………………...………………….8 1. Introduction………………………………...……………………..……………………….9 1.1 Research Questions…….………………………………………………………………..12 1.2. Relevance and contribution to the field…………………………………………………13 2. Background……...………………………………………………………………………..15 2.1 Introduction to Heimstaden………………………………………………………15 2.2 Heimstaden’s communications…………………….…………………………….17 2.3 Heimstaden as a changing company……………………………………………..18 2.3.1 Heimstaden’s formal identity…………………………………………..19 2.4 Difficulties in the studied area…………………………………………………...20 3. Previous Research………………………………………………………………………..23 3.1 Strategic communication studies…….………………………………….………..23 3.1.1 Managerial perspective………..………………………………………..24 3.1.2 Employee’s perspective………………………………………………...26 3.2 Strategic communication and organizational identity studies……….…………...30 3.3 The research gap………………………………………………………………….31 4. Theoretical Framework……………………………………………………………….…33 4.1 The concept of strategic communication………….……………………………...33 4.2 Communication: One-way or Two-way model…………………………………..34 4.3 Strategy: managerial perspective vs alternative approaches……………………..36 5 4.4 Organizational Identity…………………………………………………………...37 4.4.1 The saying……………………………………………………………...38 4.4.2 The showing……………………………………………………………39 4.4.3 The staging……………………………………………………………..40 4.5 Summary…………………………………………………………………………41 5. Methodology……………………………………………………………………………...42 5.1 Operationalization of the purpose………………………………………………..42 5.2 The abductive approach………………………………………………………….42 5.3 The ethnographic research……………………………………………………….43 5.3.1 Participant observation…………………………………………………44 5.3.1.1 Time on the field and data gathering…………………………45 5.3.2 In-depth interviews……………………………………………………..46 5.3.3 Document analysis: The intranet……………………………………….50 5.4 Data analysis and coding………….……………………………………………...51 5.5 Limitations……………………………………………………………………….53 5.6 Research as an employee…………………………………………………………55 5.6.1 Challenges……………………………………………………………...55 5.6.2 Benefits…………………………………………………………………56 5.7 Ethics……………………………………………………………………………..57 6. Presentation and analysis of results………………………………………………....….59 6.1 An identified problem: communication………………………………………….59 6.1.1 One-way or two-way model?..................................................................61 6.1.2 Heimstadens Intranät…………………………………………………...64 6.1.3 Being left alone………………………………………………………...67 6 6.2 Heimstaden’s organizational identity. One company, different identities……….69 6.2.1 Feeling disenchanted..…….……………………………………………69 6.2.2 Saying, showing and staging…………………………………………...71 6.2.3 Old Heimstaden vs new Heimstaden, a changing identity……………..72 6.2.4 Awareness is key……………………………………………………….74 6.2.5 Awareness and reputation……………………………………………...78 6.2.6 To be perceived as one…………………………………………………80 6.2.7 Communicate the possibilities…………………………………………82 7. Concluding discussion…………………………………………………………...….……86 References………...…………………………………………………………………………89 Appendix…………………………………………………………………………………….94 I. Appendix 1. Invitation emails for the participation in the interviews……………..94 II. Appendix 2. Interview guide for managers…………………………………….....96 III. Appendix 3. Interview guide for local-level managers…………………………102 IV. Appendix 4. Interview guide for local-level employees………………………..104 V. Appendix 5. Customer Satisfaction Index (N.K.I.) 2019.……………………….105 7 Table of figures Figure 1. Organigram of all the employees of Heimstaden Uppsala………….…………16 Figure 2. Characteristics of the one-way and two-way models of strategic communication……………………………………………………………………………...35 Figure 3. The employees selected for the interview process, classified with respect to their position within the company…………………………………………………………48 8 1) Introduction Over the last 3 years, Heimstaden, a real estate company based in Sweden has gone through a complex process of redefinition of its brand, values and principles. During this time, the company entered a strategic communication process, aimed at implementing the company's communication tools and channels to carry information on the company's new identity from the headquarters, towards the different local offices from the cities in which the company is present. The main reason why Heimstaden has entered this redefinition process, is to establish a strong, unified corporate brand capable of speaking for itself and of making current and potential customers aware of the way in which things are done and prioritized within the company. This is, a brand culture that is identifiable by its values and principles, and by always placing the customer in the spotlight (Heimstaden, 2019). Brand and identity redefinition processes like the one that Heimstaden is going through are not simple, and in the majority of cases they are not uniform either. For Heimstaden, each of the 26 cities in which the company owns and administrates properties are different. The local- level employees from each city have their own way of understanding and doing things, their own routines, directives and action protocols. Due to this, although Heimstaden intends to unify all its cities under the same brand identity and values, the aforementioned redefinition process is not being received uniformly in the 26 cities. One of these 26 cities, and the one this study is going to focus on, is Uppsala. Uppsala represents one of the most important assets for Heimstaden when it comes to student accommodations, due to the 2014 student rooms and apartments that the company administrates in an area called Flogsta. This location also represents one of the biggest challenges for the company within the above-mentioned redefinition process, as it is a neighborhood where the reputation of the company has been facing difficulties over the last few years. Additionally, the customer-company relationship, although better than in the past, is still challenging