Conference Proceedings - School of Nursing & Midwifery - Trinity ...

School of Nursing & Midwifery, Trinity College Dublin: 8 th Annual Interdisciplinary Research Conference
Transforming Healthcare Through Research, Education & Technology: 7 th – 9 th November 2007
Conference Proceedings
and organisational levels at the time of the research. It focuses on
the openness of the organisation’s culture to change by presenting
data on the core aspects of its internal and external communication.
Various elements of organisational communications are analysed to
see what impact they might have on the organisation’s capacity to
manage change effectively, at a time when such significant changes
were taking place.
Aim of the study
The aim of the research was to explore staff’s views on
organisational culture in a former health board and this paper
presents data on the nexus between communications and
organisational culture. The research findings can be used,
therefore, as a baseline, describing the nature of communications at
both corporate and local levels in the organisation at a certain point
in time. Given the interdependency of organisational culture and
change, the data have particular applicability for staff with
managerial responsibility for addressing significant changes in the
organisation’s internal and external environment.
Methodology
Using a quantitative methodological approach, a self-administered
questionnaire survey was sent to a random, representative sample
of 1,500 staff in June 2004. The overall response rate to the survey
was 46 per cent, representing just under one fifth of the
organisation’s employees. The questionnaire comprised mostly
closed-ended questions but a small number of open-ended
questions were also included.
Analysis
SPSS was used to analyse the quantitative data. Univariate and
bivariate analyses were conducted; frequency distributions in
tabular and chart format were analysed and crosstabulations
highlighting significant associations between variables were used to
explore different perspectives based on respondents’ occupation and
level of direct, frontline contact.
Summary of key findings
Noticeably more positive opinions of locally-based communications
were found compared to views and experiences of corporate level
communications. Problems were expressed regarding the flow of
organisational communications as well as the timeliness of, and
access to, pertinent work-related information. A lack of knowledge
about organisational communications with external stakeholders
was found. Furthermore, the organisation was perceived to have a
negative public image. The sub-group analysis highlighted a need
to address various communication aspects with particular
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