The importance of internal communication in organizational change: Case study of the structural change in a Belgian government agency

Internal communication is an essential element to create willingness to change in organizations (Elving 2005a, 2005b; Clampitt et al. 2000; Armenakis et al. 2007). In this paper, we present the results of a mixed method research assessing change communication in a Belgian governmental institution which recently implemented a change in its organizational structure. Our approach to the data was twofold. The descriptive, quantitative first part of the research relies on a survey of 718 staff members involved in the change. The survey consists of 30 questions assessing the internal communication about the change, and the staff’s willingness to change. The questionnaire is based on existing instruments - such as the ICA audit, the scales of Armenakis et al (2007) and Wanous et al (2000). We addressed the following research questions: RQ1 - To what extent are staff members willing to go along with the change? RQ2 - To what extent are staff members satisfied with the internal communication regarding the change? Second, we conducted 14 semi-structured in-depth interviews with staff members, in which we further explored notable findings of the survey. The interviews (each about 20 to 30 minutes) were conducted in the period from June 25, 2014 to July 9, 2014 and aimed at answering the following research question: RQ3 - To what extent has the internal communication had an impact on staff members’ willingness to change or change resistance ? Our findings confirm that a negative assessment of the internal communication correlates with a higher degree of change resistance, but also -if not more so- the results reveal the the extent to which individual self interest acts cause resistance to change. In conclusion, we open up the debate about the role of internal communication in signaling and preventing this from happening. __________ 50-word summary: This paper presents the results of a mixed method research assessing change communication in a Belgian governmental institution which recently implemented a change in its organizational structure. The main finding is that a crucial role is reserved for internal communication in preventing self-interest acts as a brake on change readiness

Strategy and ritual in institutional encounters: a linguistic ethnography of weekly meetings in the British Embassy in Brussels

This study enters the closed and secluded community of a British embassy. It enters a cultural milieu, a setting where a group of self-identifying people with certain shared beliefs engage in a set of distinctive and mutually intelligible practices and tries to gain a more complete understanding of its norms, values and expectations. In particular, it investigates the role of the weekly gathering of Heads of Section as organizational ritual and symbol of collective experience, conveying cultural norms, interpretations and expectations. The work is essentially anthropologically-informed and inspired, while at the same time guided by a profound interest in and concern for language and communication. Apart from linguistics and anthropology, the study relies on and expands upon existing methods and views in a variety of other independently established disciplines. It draws on the sociological writings of Goffman, the philosophical work of Durkheim and Turner, the political ideas of Marx and Weber and many others

Business meeting training on its head : inverted and embedded learning

This article explores the value of using embedding to extend the notion of first exposure learning in flipped classroom practices. It describes a preclass assignment for a meeting and negotiation skills course, in which students are instructed to observe an authentic business meeting, interview participants of the meeting, photograph the boardroom, draw a sketch of the seating arrangement, and write a reflective account. Its main argument is that immersion in corporate culture before class makes business communication training not only more authentic but also produces richer in-class discussions, ultimately leading to a level of metacognition associated with deep learning

Endoskopische minimalinvasive Herzchirurgie

The present report extends the currently available literature by providing detailed insights on the characteristic advantages of 3D-FE and VA minimally invasive MVR, referring to a head-to-head comparison using a large and well-balanced sample size. Three-dimensional fully endoscopic surgery provides excellent visualization of valvular and subvalvular structures. Both approaches, video-assisted and 3D-fully-endoscopic, are suitable for providing good results in terms of hard clinical endpoints. Three-dimensional fully endoscopic MIMVS is associated with higher repair rates. In degenerative mitral valve regurgitation, 3D fully endoscopic surgery shows higher repair rates compared to the video assisted approach. In our cohort, the 3D-fully-endoscopic approach was associated with a lower rate of failed MV repair and MV replacement, at the price of longer operative times.Einleitung: Ziel dieser Studie war der Vergleich der klinischen Ergebnisse zwischen der dreidimensionalen vollendoskopischen (3D-FE) und der videoassistierten (VA) minimalinvasiven Mitralklappenoperation bei Patienten mit degenerativer Mitralinsuffizienz (DMR). Methodik: Von 2014 bis 2020 wurden insgesamt 710 Patienten mit Carpentier Typ II Mitralregurgitation (MR), die sich einer minimalinvasiven Mitralklappenreparatur unterzogen hatten (36,5% (n = 259) 3D-FE und 63,5% (n = 451) VA), zunächst in die Studie aufgenommen. Nach fünffacher multipler Imputation und anschließendem 1:1 Propensity Score (PS) Matching unter Berücksichtigung relevanter Ausgangsvariablen wurde eine ausgewogene Endkohorte von 484 Patienten gebildet. Alle klinischen Ergebnisparameter wurden auf einer Intention-to-treat-Basis analysiert. Ergebnisse: In der gematchten Kohorte wies der 3D-FE-Ansatz eine signifikant längere Aortenquerklemmungszeit (3D-FE: 74min [63-89], VA: 60min [50-77]; p<0,001), eine längere kardiopulmonale Bypasszeit (3D-FE: 118min [103-142], VA: 86min [73-116]; p<0,001) und eine längere Gesamtoperationszeit (3D-FE: 179min [158-210], VA: 126min [110-169]; p<0,001) auf. Der 3D-FE-Ansatz war mit einer signifikant niedrigeren Rate an fehlgeschlagenen Mitralklappenreparaturen (3D-FE: 0,4% (n=1), VA: 2,0% (n=5); p=0,007) und Mitralklappenersatz (3D-FE: 0,8% (n=2), VA: 5,4% (n=13); p=0,008) verbunden. Beide Gruppen zeigten hervorragende Ergebnisse in Bezug auf Myokardinfarkt (3D-FE: 0,0% (n=0), VA: 1,2% (n=3); p=0,250), Schlaganfall (3D-FE: 1,7% (n=4), VA: 1. 7% (n=4); p=1.000), 30-Tage- (3D-FE: 0,0% (n=0), VA: 0,4% (n=1); p=1.000) und 1-Jahres-Mortalität (3D-FE: 0,8% (n=2), VA: 1,2% (n=3); p=1.000). Schlussfolgerung: Der 3D-FE-Ansatz bei der minimalinvasiven Mitralklappenreparatur ist mit einer geringeren Rate an Reparaturversagen verbunden, allerdings zum Preis einer längeren Gesamtoperationszeit

'Soldiers for a joint cause': a relational perspective on local and international educational leagues and associations in the 1860s

De Maatschappij tot Nut van ’t Algemeen slaagde er in de periode van het Verenigd Koninkrijk der Nederlanden (1815-1830) niet in om duurzame afdelingen te vestigen in het katholieke Zuiden. Dertig jaar later flakkerde de wens opnieuw op om inhet ondertussen onafhankelijke België zusterverenigingen op te richten. Vooral de internationale contacten tijdens de congressen van de International Social Science Association (issa) tussen 1862 en 1865 voedden dit verlangen. Deze bijeenkomsten brachten experts vanuit verschillende landen samen en waren laboratoria voor de uitwisseling van informatie over sociale experimenten. Tijdens deze samenkomsten werden ook de verschillende organisatievormen van diverse verenigingen bestudeerd. Zo werden de Belgische pleitbezorgers voor seculier onderwijs tijdens het issa-congres in Amsterdam (1864) sterk beïnvloed door het organisatiemodel van Tot Nut. Kort na dit internationale contact werd in België de Ligue de l’Enseignement gesticht, een vereniging die het openbaar onderwijs wilde hervormen en openbare bibliotheken wilde institutionaliseren. De structuur van deze Belgische vereniging toont veel gelijkenissen met die van Tot Nut. Carmen Van Praet en Christophe Verbruggen onderzoeken deze transfer om een beter zicht te krijgen op de effectieve uitwisseling van deze organisatievorm en analyseren de internationale contacten van de Ligue om na te gaan welke impact deze Belgische vereniging had in het bredere netwerk van verenigingen die streefden naar onderwijshervorming.Between 1819 and 1830, the Dutch moral reform society Maatschappij tot Nut van ’t Algemeen [Society for Public Welfare] failed to establish any long-lasting local branches in the Catholic southern part of the Netherlands. Thirty years later, an upsurge in the number of international social reform congresses rekindled the desire to establish southern sister organizations. In this article, Carmen Van Praet and Christophe Verbruggen argue that the congresses of the International Social Science Association (issa) from 1862 to 1865 played a vital role in bringing together intermediaries from across Europe. These international congresses offered a transnational space where attendees not only exchanged information about social reform experiments, but also contributed to the dissemination of association structures. During the Amsterdam congress of the issa in 1864, the principal Belgian advocates of secular education were strongly influenced by contacts with the advocates of Tot Nut. Shortly after this contact, the Belgian Ligue de l’Enseignement, an association aimed at improving education and establishing public libraries, was founded and was modelled on the associational structure of Tot Nut. The Ligue also maintained contacts with other single and multi-issue European organizations, resulting in an educational reform network of sibling associations