Employees’ Perceptions of Internal Communication Processes and Communication Satisfaction in a Northern Portuguese Higher Education Institution

• Autor(a) principal: Rodrigues, Ana Paula
• Data de Publicação: 2018
• Outros Autores: Cordeiro, Ana Cantante, António, Patrícia, Pires, Carlos, Madeira, Rui
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://u3isjournal.isvouga.pt/index.php/ijmcnm/article/view/281
• topic: Internal communication; Communication satisfaction; Job satisfaction; Employees’ perceptions; Higher Education Institution

This study explores employees’ perceptions about general organizational factors, internal communication (IC) processes and communication satisfaction (CS) dimensions, namely satisfaction with organizational integration (SOI), satisfaction with corporate information (SCI) and satisfaction with personal feedback (SPF). The main goal is to examine the aspects that influence the CS dimensions (such as general organizational factors and IC processes - overall IC evaluation, IC limitations, and effectiveness of IC channels), and to analyse the relationship between CS dimensions and some organizational outcomes (overall job satisfaction and institutional bond). A quantitative methodology was adopted, and data collection was done through a personally applied questionnaire to the employees of five functional units of a higher education institution, in northern Portugal. We have obtained 81 valid questionnaires. The statistical and analytical tools used included both descriptive and inferential analysis. One general organizational factor (relationship between organizational members/services/supervisor) was considered to be a determinant of the three CS dimensions (SOI, SCI and SPF). With regard to IC processes, the results show that the overall evaluation of IC and the effectiveness of IC channels have a positive impact on SOI, but the effect of IC limitations in this dimension is negative. Only the effectiveness of IC channels has a significant positive effect on SCI. The SPF is positively influenced by the effectiveness of IC channels and by the overall evaluation of IC. Furthermore, the findings suggest that as SOI and SPF increases, so does job satisfaction. SCI is not significantly correlated with overall job satisfaction. Positive correlations were found between the three dimensions of the CS and the institutional bond variable. Finally, it was observed that job satisfaction is positively correlated with institutional bond. This paper offers original findings and to the best of our knowledge this research is one of the few studies addressing the employee’s perceptions of general organizational factors and IC processes in explaining CS dimensions in the higher educational sector. Also, this study highlights the importance of CS dimensions in developing positive working attitudes, particularly job satisfaction and institutional bond.