ICOM : A study on leadership and feedback within a communication company

Abstract: Background IKEA Communications (ICOM) is IKEA’s communication company which creates communication tools, such as the IKEA catalogue and brochures. The company also functions as IKEA’s internal communication agency. In 2008, ICOM went through a reorganization adopting a matrix structure. This imposes challenges since the employees report to different leaders in different situations. The competence leaders (CL) have the traditional staffing responsibility while project leaders (PL) are the operating leaders and responsible for leading the projects. Purpose We will investigate how the leadership in terms of role clarification and area of responsibility of the CLs can be made more distinct in relation to their employees. Second, we investigate how the relationship between PLs and CLs can be further developed in terms of feedback. This involves sharing employee performance review and individual development after a project as well as how the CL can conduct employee performance review meetings. Method The study was performed with a qualitative method. A number of 13 semi-structured interviews were conducted with employees and leaders at the production department at ICOM. Conclusion Two areas of development have been identified at ICOM. It is evident employees are confused regarding the CL’s role and area of responsibility. The role of the CLs is clear in theory but not in practice. Hence, the first area of development is to increase the distinction of CL’s leadership in terms clarifying their role and responsibility. The study also discovered there is no common feedback routine used between PL and CL where they exchange information regarding employee’s performance within a project. The second area of development is regarding the usage of a structured feedback routine for providing this information.