The Importance of Communication During Organizational Transformation : A Case Study at AstraZeneca about Communication Barriers

Abstract: In today’s rapidly changing environment, organizational change is more important than ever before for companies to remain competitive. Additionally, there is an increasing need that change leadership theory needs a new perspective which emphasizes the need to further investigate the area. Communication is a part of change leadership theory. Although leadership communication is a thoroughly researched theoretical field, the dynamics of the communication process is limited and needs to be further investigated. This thesis has therefore focused on leadership communication during organizational change. By designing a dynamic communication model, this study aims to develop an increased understanding of communication barriers in companies during organizational change. This thesis is based on a case study at AstraZeneca. Data in this study have been retrieved through a survey and interviews conducted at the company. The communication process has been identified to consists of three phases; Explaining the Change, Getting Others Along, and Anchoring the Change. Based on these three phases, three barriers to leadership communication during organizational change have been identified; Lack of Understanding, Lack of Requesting, and Lack of Time. By understanding these barriers and comparing them to existing literature, a dynamic communication model has been proposed. This model consists of the theoretical anchored communication phases; Sender, Message, Receiver, and Feedback together with the three identified communication barriers; Lack of Understanding, Lack of Requesting, and Lack of Time. This model is considered as a foundation for future studies intended to develop a dynamic communication model suitable for organizational change. The model can also be viewed as a tool for managers in organizations characterized by change who want to enhance their communicating ability and overcome these communication barriers.