Stepping stones for building a model on organisational change communication

This dissertation examines the literature on job quality, organisational structures, organisational change, and internal communication in order to provide stepping stones for a model on organisational change communication. Starting from the importance of job quality for the well-being of employees and for the performance of the company, a definition is given of job content. Based on the Karasek model, job demands and job controls are distinguished to stipulate the key points of attention for a restructuring process. Then, a typology is provided of the most common organisational structures. The combination of the field of interest pointed out by Karasek and the organisational structures lead to the presentation of the Sociotechnical Redesign Theory, which aims at transforming traditional hierarchical structures into teamwork based organisations. In order to facilitate the organisational change, internal communication is specified as crucial. Even though the literature on these topics is well elaborated, an applicable model of internal communication seems lacking. Therefore, chapter two provides stepping stones for building such a model. In an attempt to link the elements described in the theoretical framework, this chapter follows the steps in the Sociotechnical Redesign Theory and completes these with possible communicative actions. By means of sociological, psychological, and information and communication theoretical approaches, this dissertation attempts to provide guidance through the existing literature regarding a wide range of aspects with which companies are confronted during organisational change processes.