UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS HO CHI MINH CITY International School of Business Cao Mai Anh PROBLEM OF INTERNAL COMMUNICATION AT INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL OF BUSINESS (ISB) MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION Ho C[.]
UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS HO CHI MINH CITY International School of Business - Cao Mai Anh PROBLEM OF INTERNAL COMMUNICATION AT INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL OF BUSINESS (ISB) MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION Ho Chi Minh City – Year 2018 UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS HO CHI MINH CITY International School of Business - Cao Mai Anh PROBLEM OF INTERNAL COMMUNICATION AT INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL OF BUSINESS (ISB) MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION SUPERVISOR: Prof Tran Ha Minh Quan Ho Chi Minh City – Year 2018 Acknowledgement The final thesis in business administration is a valuable chance for me to consolidate, improve and enhance my knowledge Through this dissertation, I have been able to use the academic knowledge that I have gain and acknowledge over the past three years in the International School of Business (ISB) Therefore, I would like to express my great gratitude to all wonderful people who have provided huge contribution through my journey First of all, I would like to show my deepest thanks to Prof Dr Tran Ha Minh Quan, my professor, my thesis supervisor Without his advices, my paperwork never can be accomplished There is no word to describe how grateful I am, from the appropriate structure to which theories should be used as well as how to contact with relevant staffs for interviewing Step by step, he not only formed my study but also provide such catastrophic knowledge to me Secondly, I would hope to indicate my appreciation for all the ISB’s staffs who spent their precious time for my interviews in being so proactive to deliver information more honesty The thesis would be less valuable and realistic without their helps Finally, I would like to express my profound and sincere thanks to all the students who took part in this thesis by spending time to complete the first survey, answer the questionnaires and provide such useful comments The ideas from such small conversations formed the basic stand for my idea of identifying symptoms Contents Executive summary Chapter 1: Introduction 1.1 Background and problem statement 1.2 Background information of ISB 1.3 Survey objectives 1.4 Scope of survey Chapter 2: Survey design and findings 2.1 Educational service quality 2.2 Survey design 2.2.1 Determine scale for survey 2.2.2 Scale adjustment 2.2.3 Data collection 2.3 Data analysis and findings 2.3.1 Students’ characteristic information 2.3.2 Descriptive statistics 10 2.4 Chapter conclusion 13 Chapter 3: Problem identification 14 3.1 Symptoms 14 3.2 Initial cause – effect map 15 3.3 Problem identification 18 Chapter 4: Problem justification 21 4.2 Problem definition 21 4.2.1 Internal communication 21 4.2.2 Internal communication measurement 22 4.3 Problem existence 22 4.3 Problem importance 23 4.4 Causes validation 25 4.4.1 Causes informed by the theory 25 4.4.2 Causes validation 27 Chapter 5: Conclusion and Recommendation 31 5.1 Recommendation for the issue “Lack of Top management support” 31 5.2 Recommendation for the issue “Poor internal communication channels” 33 References 35 Appendices 37 Appendix 1: Survey 37 Appendix 2: Interview guide to clarify symptoms 43 Appendix 3: Interview guide to draw initial cause-effect map 45 Appendix 4: The consequences of “Internal communication” in the context of ISB 46 Appendix 5: Causes validation 47 PROBLEM OF INTERNAL COMMUNICATION AT ISB List of tables Table – List of scales used for measuring service quality Table – Five dimensions of HEdPERF scale Table – The scale for measuring educational services quality of ISB Table – Students’ characteristic information Table – Statistics of describing students’ perceptions about ISB services quality 11 List of figures Figure – Main major of ISB students Figure – MBA program pie chart 10 Figure – ISB’s services quality elements 12 List of diagrams Diagram – Initial cause-effect map 17 Diagram – Updated cause-effect map 19 Diagram – Final cause-effect map 29 INTERNAL COMMUNICATION AT ISB Executive summary Nowadays, as the development of education industry, universities found graduating high school students are struggling from the problem of selecting a post graduated institution The International School of Business (ISB) with its advantage of available brand of the University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City (UEH) has more and more confirmed educational service quality in the industry Hence, students’ demands about service quality have been known as the decisive element that effect on students’ satisfaction as well as the institution’s reputation Recognizing and identifying the real problems that are existing in the institution are the purpose and goal of this paperwork Through the results of a survey of ISB students’ satisfaction with MBA program and indepth interview with two staffs from Students Service Department, author found out most of MBA students were not satisfied with ISB’s non-academic staffs, which came from “internal communication” Author continued to analyze the problem based on theory as well as discussion with some ISB staffs to determine the real causes: “lack of top management support” and “poor internal communication channels” Finally, author recommended simple actions so as to improve as much as possible the two causes mentioned above INTERNAL COMMUNICATION AT ISB Chapter 1: Introduction This chapter is designed to give the general introduction about the background of the study as well as the reasons for choosing the research topic The research problems, research objectives will be clearly defined The overview of research methodology will be also introduced Finally, the chapter will end up by explaining the scope of the research 1.1 Background and problem statement Higher education represents a critical factor in innovation and human capital development and plays a central role in the success and sustainability of the knowledge economy [6] Hence, higher education has become increasingly important on national agendas and has undergone profound mutations and reforms worldwide over the past decades, as portrayed in a recent OECD review of tertiary education policies [19] Nowadays, universities consider students as the center of their services, which will result in the satisfaction for their “customers” However, students’ demands are changing Learners increasingly seek courses that enable them to update their knowledge throughout their working lives In addition, as learners seek to acquire particular knowledge or skills to satisfy labor market needs, more and more prefer to pick and choose courses from the most suitable providers, rather than studying a traditional clearly defined program at one institution [19] The pressure from the market and customers (parents and students) force universities increasing not only their quality but also their reputation to attract new comers In the case of International school of business (ISB) – a new educational organization, school’s leaderships have had to try hard to improve their service quality in order to create competitive position in educational market As a MBA student of ISB, I did this study with the purposes of contributing to ISB’s development in the future as well as enhancing ISB’s image and reputation in comparison with other universities With the objectives above, I conducted a survey with a purpose of evaluating current ISB students’ perception about educational service quality which has supplied by institution ISB Thence, exploring the real problems existing in the process of supplying educational services will help the institution perceive the limited aspects and improve them The institution’s image and reputation are enhanced if its degrees become more valuable INTERNAL COMMUNICATION AT ISB 1.2 Background information of ISB International School of Business (ISB), known as a part of University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City (UEH), was established in 2010 with the purpose of create a modern and dynamic educational environment with English has been the main language The institution has not only experienced Vietnamese lecturers but also professors from many famous universities around the world Hence, they can support to students a range of practical experiences Nowadays, the institution runs undergraduate as well as post-graduate programs In addition, ISB also has a closest relationship with several of international universities to create opportunities for students can go abroad and receive international degrees 1.3 Survey objectives Specifically, the topic set out the following objectives: i) Identify the real problems that existing in The International School of Business (ISB) in the process of supplying educational services through the survey of students’ satisfaction with service quality of ISB’s MBA program ii) Recommendation potential solutions for each problem iii) Creating the action plan through cooperation with ISB 1.4 Scope of survey As mentioned above, the scope of the survey is the perception and satisfaction of MBA students about ISB’s current educational service quality Hence, the survey is aimed at students in the 6th and 7th course of MBA program at ISB This condition is more appropriate with the research’s purpose compared to the other years as at the time of registration, students already had enough information to make decision because they are experiencing the MBA program In addition, the survey was conducted in different systems of ISB’s MBA program: ISB-MBA and WSU-MBA in order to understand what the different factors in students’ perception about ISB’s service quality INTERNAL COMMUNICATION AT ISB Chapter 2: Survey design and findings This chapter is designed to give the literature reviews of service quality in education After that, a survey questionnaire was studied and designed based on the last research in order to identify the problems of the institution It can be said that this chapter is very important because it helps to clearly identify the latent problem of the organization and plays a role of a prerequisite for finding causes as well as solving them in the following chapters 2.1 Educational service quality According to research of Parasuraman (1985) in [1], service quality was known as the result of comparison that customers make between their expectations about a service and their perception of the way the service has been performed In the sector of education, [13] defined educational service quality as a student’s overall evaluation of services received as part of their educational experience This mean students were clients who were to be given a service and whose needs were to be met [11] 2.2 Survey design 2.2.1 Determine scale for survey Quantitative method was used to gather data which measured the ISB students’ satisfaction about service quality of the institution’s ISB-MBA program in order to find out the abnormal points The scale used for measuring educational service quality is quite important because it will reflect the students’ satisfaction, attitudes with the service supported by the institution The data were collected on the web database such as Emerald, Science Direct, by searching “scales for service quality of higher education” or “scales for service quality of MBA program” in the topic field The results were shown in the table below: INTERNAL COMMUNICATION AT ISB Reputation: These students confirmed that they didn’t need the recreational facilities Their target was completing the MBA program as soon as possible, which was a difference between students’ perceive from under graduation and higher education Therefore, the statement “The recreational facilities are adequate and necessary” was cut from the questionnaire guide The statement “The institution’s graduated students are easily employable” did not explicitly evoke the university’s image in the students’ mind It leads student to think about the practical function that university’s training service offers students after graduation Therefore, this statement was also cut on the questionnaire guide Programme issues: These students from in-depth interview confirmed that they didn’t need the health care services because they only take about or hours a day for studying at institution, which was too short time for experiencing every services not related to their education Therefore, the statement “The health care services provided by the institution are adequate and necessary” was also cut on the questionnaire guide The results of scale adjustment were expressed in the table below: Table – The scale for measuring educational services quality of ISB Academic aspects The teaching staff is knowledgeable for answering my questions regarding course syllabus The teaching staff assists me in a careful and polite manner The teaching staff is never to busy to refuse my requests for assistance When I have a problem, the teaching staff is sincerely interested in solving it The teaching staff has a positive attitude towards students The teaching staff communicates well in the classroom The teaching staff is highly qualified and experienced in its respective field of knowledge The teaching staff creates inspiration for students to join the group discussion Non-academic aspects When I have a problem, the institution's clerical staff is sincerely interested in solving it 10 The institution's clerical staff provides individual attention 11 Questions and complaints are dealt with quickly and effectively INTERNAL COMMUNICATION AT ISB 12 The clerical staff is never to busy to take my requests for assistance 13 When the clerical staff promises to something within a certain time, they it 14 The working hours of administrative services are convenient 15 The clerical staff has a positive attitude towards their work and the students 16 17 18 19 The clerical staff communicates well with the students The clerical staff is knowledgeable of its systems and/or procedures I feel secure in my relationships with this institution The institution provides services within the expected deadlines Reputation 20 The institution has a professional appearance and/or image 21 The academic facilities are adequate and necessary 22 The institution executes programs of excellent quality 23 The sizes of groups allow personal classroom assistance 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 Access The students are treated equally and respectfully by the institution The students are free to express their opinions The clerical staff respects the confidentiality of information I disclose to them It is easy to contact the clerical staff by telephone The institution appreciates feedback from students in order to improve the delivery of services The institution has a standardized and simple procedure for providing services Programme issues The institution provides programs with flexible structures and study plans The institution provides an excellent counseling service Source: Author’s synthesis 2.2.3 Data collection Questionnaires were used to collect primary data in order to conduct this research The plan is to hand-out the questionnaires to 100 students in both ISB-MBA and WSU-MBA programs so as to reach the target of 60 to 70 valid candidates The questionnaires were designed in Google form and would be sent through email After all the necessary data was available, the author will apply Excel software to collect the findings 2.3 Data analysis and findings 2.3.1 Students’ characteristic information There were 100 questionnaires sent through email However, there were only 59 questionnaires returned and analyzed Demographic information included students’ main INTERNAL COMMUNICATION AT ISB majors, their MBA programs and genders Achieved result was presented in the table below: Table – Students’ characteristic information Frequency (students) Main Major Accounting Business Administration Business Law Engineering Finance - Banking Foreign Trade Information Technology Professional Communication Rural Development MBA program ISB-MBA WSU-MBA Gender Male Female Total 10 22 15 1 16.95% 37.29% 1.69% 6.78% 25.42% 5.08% 3.39% 1.69% 1.69% 42 17 71.19% 28.81% 24 35 59 40.68% 59.32% 100.00% Source: Author’s calculation Figure – Main major of ISB students Source: Author’s calculation % INTERNAL COMMUNICATION AT ISB 10 Table showed that among the 59 students interviewed, there was an existence of majority of students’ majors related to economic sector with 27.29% students in Business Administration, 25.42% students in Finance – Banking and 16.95% students in Accounting sector Students from Engineering with 6.78% and other sectors ranked for negligible proportion This means not only students from economics sectors but also other sectors have paid attention on MBA programs Figure – MBA program pie chart Source: Author’s calculation 2.3.2 Descriptive statistics The next data analysis refers to descriptive statistics on factors, including academic aspects, non-academic aspects, reputation, access and programme issues The author would like to use a rule of thumb which is provided by Sekaran (2006) whether if mean value is higher than 6.9, the respondents have high agreeing level with the statement; if mean value is between 4.9 and 6.8, the respondents have slightly agreeing with the statement; if mean value is between 3.9 and 4.8, the respondents have neutral attitude with the statement; if mean value is from 2.0 to 3.8, the respondents have slightly disagree with the statement; and if mean value is lower than 2.0, the respondents have high disagreeing level with the statement Table showed the description of ISB services quality The variables of academic aspects, reputation, access and programme issues were known as good services quality with the mean values in turn of 5.5, 5.24, 5.36 and Meanwhile, the remaining factor – INTERNAL COMMUNICATION AT ISB 11 non-academic aspects – though reaching a high value of 4.7 (neutral), was lower than other aspects Obviously, this factor needed to be paid more attention Table – Statistics of describing students’ perceptions about ISB services quality Mean Academic aspects The teaching staff is knowledgeable for answering my questions regarding course syllabus The teaching staff assists me in a careful and polite manner The teaching staff is never to busy to refuse my requests for assistance When I have a problem, the teaching staff is sincerely interested in solving it The teaching staff has a positive attitude towards students The teaching staff communicates well in the classroom The teaching staff is highly qualified and experienced in its respective field of knowledge The teaching staff creates inspiration for students to join the group discussion Non-academic aspects When I have a problem, the institution's clerical staff is sincerely interested in solving it The institution's clerical staff provides individual attention 5.500 Standard deviation 5.814 0.880 5.492 1.006 5.424 1.037 5.153 1.014 5.695 5.627 0.895 0.889 5.729 0.868 5.068 0.962 4.700 4.932 1.298 4.593 1.261 4.373 1.564 5.017 1.320 4.153 1.659 4.424 1.354 4.797 1.229 4.814 1.345 4.831 1.354 5.153 4.610 5.242 5.169 5.169 5.254 1.297 1.260 20 21 22 Questions and complaints are dealt with quickly and effectively The clerical staff is never to busy to take my requests for assistance When the clerical staff promises to something within a certain time, they it The working hours of administrative services are convenient The clerical staff has a positive attitude towards their work and the students The clerical staff communicates well with the students The clerical staff is knowledgeable of its systems and/or procedures I feel secure in my relationships with this institution The institution provides services within the expected deadlines Reputation The institution has a professional appearance and/or image The academic facilities are adequate and necessary The institution executes programs of excellent quality 23 The sizes of groups allow personal classroom assistance 5.373 1.097 24 Access The students are treated equally and respectfully by the 5.364 5.593 1.002 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 1.220 1.085 0.958 INTERNAL COMMUNICATION AT ISB 12 institution 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 The students are free to express their opinions The clerical staff respects the confidentiality of information I disclose to them It is easy to contact the clerical staff by telephone The institution appreciates feedback from students in order to improve the delivery of services The institution has a standardized and simple procedure for providing services Programme issues The institution provides programs with flexible structures and study plans The institution provides an excellent counseling service 5.797 0.943 5.424 0.951 5.203 1.270 5.119 1.176 5.051 1.238 5.000 4.898 1.185 5.102 1.199 Source: Author’s calculation Figure – ISB’s services quality elements Source: Author’s calculation In the factor of non-academic aspects, most observational variables had a mean value of less than 5, except that “The clerical staff is never to busy to take my requests for assistance” and “I feel secure in my relationships with this institution” It was clear that there were existence of lowest score value of three statements that related to nonacademic staffs: “When the clerical staff promises to something within a certain time, they it” with the mean value of 4.1, “Questions and complaints are dealt with quickly and effectively” with the mean value of 4.3, “The working hours of administrative services are convenient ” with the mean value of 4.4 INTERNAL COMMUNICATION AT ISB 13 The results of descriptive statistics showed that all the issues related to non-academic aspects need to pay more attention, especially non-academic staffs of ISB However, the mean value of non-academic aspects was 4.7, which was neutral Therefore, I would continue to conduct an in-depth interview with some people who have done this survey with the purposes of deep down their thought about this issues and understanding their dissatisfaction with non-academic staffs 2.4 Chapter conclusion To cut the story short, the results of the survey about measuring the ISB students’ satisfaction with the institution’s services quality showed the existence of non-academic issues that related on non-academic staffs of ISB There is undeniable that non-academic staffs are professional employees who contribute very significantly to the success of an institution, including ISB Indeed, non-academic staffs are known as assistances to the institution in the processes of supporting institutional knowledge, providing essential resources, working alongside of academic staffs or professors, especially administrating in realizing the institution’s mission In the purpose of contributing on improving ISB services quality in the future, nonacademic issues was essential problem that ISB’s leaders should pay more attention to solve these issues as soon as possible so as to provide students better and more professional services quality INTERNAL COMMUNICATION AT ISB 14 Chapter 3: Problem identification This chapter showed clearly about all the symptoms of the institution ISB based on the findings from the last chapter as well as information from one more in-depth interview with some students who finished the survey After that, an in-depth interview with some staffs in the department of student services was conducted in order to identify potential problem Finally, potential causes were pointed out through theory and validation 3.1 Symptoms Although the results of descriptive statistics from Chapter showed that all the issues related to non-academic aspects need to pay more attention However, non-academic aspects with their mean value 4.7 was also high in the Likert scale Therefore, author continued to effectuate another in-depth interview with MBA students (1 student of WSU-MBA and students of ISB-MBA) who represent for different years of work experience groups, respectively named of 1-5 years, 6-10 years and more than 10 years so as to have more objective view about these issues The in-depth interview aimed at their first expectation of studying MBA program at ISB, the reasons why they chose this institution for their master degree and their evaluation about ISB services in order to explore the differences in thinking as well as expectations between groups of work experiences Thence, identifying symptoms became easier The interview results showed the main symptoms that students complained the most First of all, “unprofessional attitude of staffs” was complained with the staffs’ expression of lacking of enthusiasm, not deep grasping students’ needs as well as lacking of matter knowledge to help students Secondly, “late responses” was pointed out through staffs’ late responses to students’ questions or problems, inconvenient working hour of non-academic staffs, which was difficult for students and staffs can met and discuss together about their problem Finally, “not accurate solutions from staffs” was expressed in the inconclusive ways staffs responded to students The details of in-depth interview with students were shown in Appendix INTERNAL COMMUNICATION AT ISB 15 3.2 Initial cause – effect map The author continued to conduct another in-depth interview with ISB Student Services Manager based on available symptoms that pointed out from previous parts to make the initial cause – effect map There was an existence of main symptoms that led students’ satisfaction with non-academic staffs: (1) Unprofessional attitude of staffs First of all, students complained that ISB non-academic staffs had had unprofessional attitude in process of supporting students They had not deep understood students’ needs as well as lacked of knowledge about students’ issues, which led to their late responses as well as their unconvincing answers In the case of ISB, most of issues would be sent through email by students; therefore, there were an existence of lacking of communication face to face between students and non-academic staffs, which led to not grasp clearly the students’ needs In some cases, inconvenient working hours of administrative services also the reason of difficulties in communication with students This mean all Master classes were hold in evening or in weekends that were not working hours of non-academic staffs Therefore, it was difficult for students can meet staffs for their issues (2) Late responses There were various reasons that led to late responses of non-academic staffs It could not deny that lacking of communication with students as well as inconvenient working hours of staffs caused their late In addition, lacking of internal communication made the staffs had not had enough knowledge and information to response to students convincingly because of late responses from relevant departments In addition, the institution has not had an system of potential problems that may occur during supporting service to customers Hence, it is difficult for administrative staffs to solve quickly and efficiently all the problems that students’ complains or students’ needs In the results, late responses have made students feel dissatisfied with non-academic staffs (3) Not accurate solutions from staffs INTERNAL COMMUNICATION AT ISB 16 All of the symptoms mentioned above led to not accurate solutions from non-academic staffs This mean all the issues related to inconvenient working hours of administrative services, lacking of internal communication as well as lacking of communication between staffs and students effected directly or indirectly to staffs’ convincing answers The initial cause-effect map was shown in the diagram below: INTERNAL COMMUNICATION AT ISB 17 Diagram – Initial cause-effect map Source: Author’s synthesis INTERNAL COMMUNICATION AT ISB 18 3.3 Problem identification Besides all the symptoms that mentioned in initial cause – effect map above, author continued to collect more symptoms to complete clearly and fully the map based on literatures: (1) Workplace conflict According to the study of [18] about “Workplace conflict, bullying, and counterproductive behaviors”, “a breakdown in communication can quickly lead to conflict, when in fact, the only issue may be a misunderstanding of another party’s expectations” We can have an example of collaborative efforts, when the team leader had not defined the roles, missed deadlines, fingered pointing and blamed to their subordinates, there would experience conflict between team leader and other members Furthermore, the workplace conflict has also occurred when a department fails to coordinate with another department on a major project, the result could be a degree of miscommunication that not only derailed progress but also led to infighting Indeed, the workplace conflict can make employees feel stress with working environment, which affects on their performance as well as organization’s success Tải FULL (53 trang): https://bit.ly/3TXa5hf (2) Reducing employees’ innovation Dự phòng: fb.com/TaiHo123doc.net According to [22], ineffective internal communication would result in decreased employees’ innovation levels, loss of productivity, absenteeism, sabotage…, which reduced employees’ performance or turnover (3) Poor performance of staffs Workplace conflict and reducing staffs’ innovation could result the poor staffs’ performance, which led to the demotivation in the business According to [22], with poor performance of staffs, bad decisions could occur which result the customers’ dissatisfaction as well as organizational reputation INTERNAL COMMUNICATION AT ISB 19 Diagram – Updated cause-effect map Source: Author’s synthesis Tải FULL (53 trang): https://bit.ly/3TXa5hf Dự phòng: fb.com/TaiHo123doc.net INTERNAL COMMUNICATION AT ISB 20 Potential central problem (1) Lack of internal communication The updated cause – effect map shown most of the symptoms that led to students’ dissatisfaction with non-academic staffs related to the problem of “ineffective internal communication” Besides, in the in-depth interview with ISB Student Service Manager and two ISB staffs from Student Service Department, they have admitted that there was an existence of weak interaction of departments in the institution That mean they have met some difficulties in contacting with other departments because of the distribution of place Indeed, ISB has places and of course ISB’s staffs have also distributed in many places, which was difficult for them to contact others as fast as possible to solve problems In addition, in some cases, they had to contact with UEH to ask about their problems but they did not the persons who was responsible for their related issues Therefore, the issue “lack of internal communication” was essential problem that the institution ISB should pay more attention to solve as soon as possible so as to provide students better and more professional services quality (2) Lack of communication between staffs and students In the in-depth interview with ISB Student Service Manager and two ISB staffs from Student Service Department, they have also admitted that there was an existence of lacking the interaction between staffs and students, that led to their inability to deep understanding what students needed because of the difference between their working hours and students’ learning hours However, the working hours of ISB are stable That mean changing this issue was difficult for them However, in the map, solving the problem “ineffective internal communication” also help the institution avoid the issue related to “lack of communication between non-academic staffs and students” Indeed, in the case of ISB, many students complained about unprofessional attitude, late responses and not accurate solutions from non-academic staffs, which will be improved if ISB has the efficient internal communication Summary, the inefficiency of internal communication is the potential central problem that led to issues about non-academic aspect in institution ISB INTERNAL COMMUNICATION AT ISB 21 Chapter 4: Problem justification 4.2 Problem definition 4.2.1 Internal communication In the study of [22] about Internal communication challenges and issues, internal communication was defined as communication within an organization and it is the lifeblood of all organizations “It includes official and unofficial communication Official communication in an organization can be in the form of policies and procedures, Communiques, Reports, bulletins and newsletters and others Unofficial communication is the form where employees exchange messages with one another within an organization in all departments” Indeed, nowadays internal communication has been recognized as a strategic focus for business of organizations Therefore, strong internal communication cultures promoted a shared identity among staffs, so they breeded loyally and motivation as well as transformed place of work into place of collaboration and connection [22] On the contrary, lacking of internal communication was a major concern for organizations since it resulted in workplace inefficiency [18] According to Postmes & Tannis (2001) in [22], the most popular types of internal communication were horizontal communication which related to the informal interpersonal and socio-emotional interaction with colleagues in the organization who are at the same level; and vertical communication which referred to communications between managers and their subordinates [22] also pointed out that internal communication’s function included dimensions First of all, “internal line management”, which occurred in the team of briefings and appraisals, was communication between supervisors and their subordinates Secondly, “internal team peer communication”, which occurred in team discussions, was kind of communication between team colleagues Next, “internal project peer communication” was communication which occurred between employees in a project Finally, “internal corporate communication” was the way that top management communicated with all employees within organizations 6676895 ...UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS HO CHI MINH CITY International School of Business - Cao Mai Anh PROBLEM OF INTERNAL COMMUNICATION AT INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL OF BUSINESS (ISB) MASTER OF BUSINESS. .. consequences of ? ?Internal communication? ?? in the context of ISB 46 Appendix 5: Causes validation 47 PROBLEM OF INTERNAL COMMUNICATION AT ISB List of tables Table – List of scales used... COMMUNICATION AT ISB 21 Chapter 4: Problem justification 4.2 Problem definition 4.2.1 Internal communication In the study of [22] about Internal communication challenges and issues, internal communication