Strategic Communication as a Tool for Corporate Culture Change in Geospatial Industry the Case of Esri Eastern Africa

Abstract

Strategic communication is key in implementing culture change within organizations because it eliminates anxiety caused by lack of information that could therefore lead to change resistance. Many organizations however are yet to embrace strategic communication with most organizations concentrating on practical, monetary or task orientation during change initiatives. The objective of the study was to establish the role of strategic communication as a tool for corporate culture change in the geospatial industry with a focus on Esri Eastern Africa. Specifically, the study objectives were to: i) examine aspects of corporate culture practiced by employees at Esri Eastern Africa; ii) determine the extent to which strategic communication is utilized at Esri Eastern Africa; iii) establish the nexus between strategic communication and corporate culture change at Esri Eastern Africa; iv) identify challenges in uptake of strategic communication as a tool for corporate culture change at Esri Eastern Africa. The study was grounded on Communication Accommodation theory, Social Marketing theory and Systems theory. The study adopted a mixed method approach deemed as suitable for understanding individual or group experiences in an organization. The target population was 194 comprising 51 employees and 143 customers. For quantitative data; a census was used while for qualitative data; purposive sampling was used. Structured questionnaires were used in gathering quantitative data whereas semi-structured interview guides were used for qualitative data. Questionnaires were administered online through survey monkey platform while the interviews were conducted individually using online tools over the internet. The study found that the majority of the employees were moderately aware of the company’s culture. Further the findings were that the majority of the employees identified the culture of the organization through observation of the company activities, communication relayed on culture and through induction of new employees by the company. The findings also indicated that many of the employees strongly agreed that the corporate culture is customer-oriented, emphasizes on integrity and is result-oriented. From the interviews conducted, the employees, managers and customers were all in agreement that the corporate culture at Esri-EA is described on the basis of customer-orientation, integrity, result-oriented and adaptable. The study also found that the majority of the employees were of the opinion that the most used method of communication was email, meeting, telephones and charter. The study concluded that strategic communication is a valuable tool for corporate culture change at Esri-EA and that consistency of actions, coordination among employees and agreement about values given are the main determinants of a corporate culture. The study also concluded that email, meeting, telephones and charter are the key methods used in communication at Esri-EA. Regarding strategic communication of corporate culture change, the study concluded that meeting was the most used method despite the fact that emails were also used. Based on the findings, the study recommends that organizations, especially service-based companies should ensure that adequate orientation and communication of aspects of culture is done for new employees to ensure that they are knowledgeable and to influence their task performance. Further, implementation of a feedback mechanism should be regarded as a key aspect of strategic communication.