Internal Communication Practices Impact on the Institutional Brand During Institutional Transition

Abstract

Progressive higher education institutions, in a competitive environment, evaluate brand positioning to navigate through communication, economic and globalization challenges. Literature in Sub-Saharan Africa hardly interrogates how public universities manage institutional brand for competitive advantage (Sulkowski, Wozniak, & Seliga, 2019) from an internal communication perspective. In Kenya, rapid university expansion and funding reduction enhanced competition. In a complex and dynamic context, vibrant institutions align corporate strategy to internal communication and position institutional brand. Thus, this study interrogates how the internal communication practices of an emerging university in Kenya impact institutional brand during transformation. A total of 153 Questionnaires were administered and 18 in-depth interviews were undertaken. Data as collected from 18 middle-level management who were purposively selected and the 153 self-administered questionnaires using stratified random sampling were administered on MMU faculty and administrative staff. The findings suggest that effective communication be through employee participation in decision-making (90%), conflict management (73%), brand management (mean 3.3), and corporate storytelling for institutional memory. However, management communication practices did not effectively communicate corporate objectives, marketing and branding strategy during university transition which negatively influenced image building and employee trust. The study recognized the importance of an internal communication policy, during transition, to provide a systematic and structured process which incorporates employee participation and empowerment. Employee participation strategy that integrates induction, interpersonal activities and interactive channels such as social media to communicate institutional strategic elements and enhance relationship management. Empowerment contributes to institutional brand management through mid-manager training, information inclusion, diversity management through internal stakeholder sessions, the use of mediated communication embracing social media, intranet and website to sensitize institutional management and employees. Upcoming public universities, like organisations, are expected to survive and thrive, through strong corporate branding to counter progressive forces arising from global, curricular, policy, technological and generational transformations. The study recommends an internal communication policy and management practice for effective communication of institutional messages to enhance employee participation and empowerment to improve brand positioning during institutional transformation.