Yeunjae Lee, Katie Haejung Kim and Jeong-Nam Kim
The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of different types of corporate issues and employee–organization relationships (EORs) on employees’ perceptions of the issues…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of different types of corporate issues and employee–organization relationships (EORs) on employees’ perceptions of the issues and on their communicative actions. Specifically, this study investigates how employees who have experienced an internal or an external issue within their organizations differently perceive the organizational issue and engage in positive and/or negative communicative behaviors.
Design/methodology/approach
An online survey was conducted with 363 full-time employees in large-sized companies in the USA who have experienced any internal or external issues within the past six months.
Findings
Employees are more cognitively aware of and feel more involved and less constrained in solving an internal company issue than an external one. Experiencing internal issues has led employees to share negative information about their organization externally. The quality of EORs pre-issue significantly increases employees’ involvement and positive communication behavior and decreases constraint levels and negative communication behaviors regarding an issue.
Practical implications
Corporate communication and public relations practitioners should incorporate strategic internal communication strategies to preemptively manage internal issues and to avoid them from evolving into internal crises.
Originality/value
This study is among the first to distinguish internal and external issues perceived by internal stakeholders and to examine their impacts on employees’ issue-specific perceptions and communicative behaviors. This study also provides significant practical guidelines for corporate communication practitioners and leaders by explicating the strategic role of issue type and employee behaviors in issue management.
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Keywords
Yeunjae Lee and Katie Haejung Kim
To advance the theoretical understanding of employees' advocacy on social media, this study aims to propose and test an integrative model that incorporates individual and…
Abstract
Purpose
To advance the theoretical understanding of employees' advocacy on social media, this study aims to propose and test an integrative model that incorporates individual and organizational antecedents. Drawing from the relationship management theory in public relations and online behavior literature, the model specifically examines the collective impacts of the social media-related behavioral motivations of individuals and the quality of employee–organization relationship (EOR) on their positive information-sharing intentions about their company on personal social media.
Design/methodology/approach
An online survey was conducted with 419 full-time employees in the USA who use social media.
Findings
The results of an online survey with full-time employees in the USA showed that the EOR influenced by symmetrical internal communication significantly increases employees' advocacy intentions and social media-related motivations. Considerable and distinct effects of individuals' positive behavioral motivations on social media (i.e. self-enhancement, altruism, enjoyment) on advocacy intentions are also found.
Originality/value
This study is among the first attempts to test the value of strategic internal communication and relationship management approach in enhancing employee advocacy on the digital environment, social media and their motives of using such channel for benefiting their company.
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Keywords
Katie Haejung Kim and Myoung-Gi Chon
As new work environments have been created and accelerated due to technological advances, after-hours work communication has become one of the prominent features of the…
Abstract
Purpose
As new work environments have been created and accelerated due to technological advances, after-hours work communication has become one of the prominent features of the technology-enabled work environment. Grounded in the conservation of resources theory, this study aims to uncover the effects of after-hours work communication through communication technologies on employees' burnout and extra-role behaviors.
Design/methodology/approach
The study conducted an online survey of 315 US full-time employees from a wide range of industrial sectors.
Findings
The findings of the study show that after-hours work communication through communication technologies increases employees' negative extra-role behaviors, specifically counterproductive work behavior and negative word-of-mouth. Furthermore, emotional exhaustion partially mediated the relationship between after-hours work communication and negative extra-role behaviors.
Practical implications
The study provides practical implications for an organization's effective optimization of work-related communication to overcome adverse consequences for employees and organizations. Corporate leaders and communication professionals are encouraged to establish clear guidelines related to the use of communication technologies after hours and exercise leadership practices to prevent after-hours communication through communication technologies from contributing to employees' burnout.
Originality/value
The findings enhance the understanding of the role of after-hours work communication through communication technologies in the workplace by revealing how the effects of after-hours work communication enabled by communication technologies on employees' psychological well-being spills over to organizational effectiveness.