TITLE:
An Assessment of the Challenges of Internal Communication and Its Relationship to Successful Product Implementation in a Commercial Bank
AUTHORS:
Oscar Sakala, Jackson Phiri
KEYWORDS:
Internal Communication, Implementation, Shannon and Weaver Model
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Business and Management,
Vol.8 No.4,
July
13,
2020
ABSTRACT: When internal communication is not efficient and effective in an
organisation, it can lead to low product uptake, disconnect between knowledge
of products and services on offer, bad customer experience and even penalties
and sanctions due to lack of proper information flow on product pricing and
modifications. It is on this basis that this study aimed at assessing the
challenges of internal communication and its relationship to successful product
implementation at Stanbic Bank Zambia. A quantitative approach was used in the
study and data was collected using a survey questionnaire that was administered to bank
staff. The researcher received responses from 41 staff. The data was analysed
using Pearson correlation coefficient and P-value
analysis with the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS version
16.0) and Microsoft Excel. This involved the use of frequencies and percentages
on relevant data, as well as the application of Pearson correlation and two
tailed significance (0.05 level of significance) tests on necessary variables
identified in the hypotheses. The independent variables that were analysed in
relation to effective communication included: biological factors that are gender and age, communication skills, social systems (department/branch and
time with the bank), technology/channel used and feedback. Whereas the
dependent variable was effectiveness of internal communication. Through
analysis of data and correlation of variables it was found that biological
factors and social systems did not have significant influence on effectiveness
of the internal communication, while communication skills of sender or
receiver, technology or channel used to communicate and feedback in the
communication process all had significant influence on the effectiveness of
internal communication.