Masters of Resilience: The Impact of Internal Communication in International Technology Companies

Abstract

Today's dynamic and unpredictable VUCA world raises the question of how organizations can react to sudden changes in the most resilient way. This paper examines the contribution of internal communication as a management function to building individual resilience and its impact on the organizational level. The literature review reveals a prevailing theoretical focus within the current state of research, further entailing a lack of empirical work on the contribution of internal communication to strengthening resilience. In order to fill this gap, twelve semi-structured interviews were conducted with internal communication experts from international technology companies. The findings confirm the contribution of internal communication to value creation by building resilience potential as an intangible success factor in an increasingly volatile market. Additionally, hypotheses for further quantitative testing are provided. The associated new understanding of the role of employees calls for a reorientation of internal communication itself.