Public Relations: Investigating the Impact of Internal Public’s Engagement on Megaphoning and Scouting Behaviors

Authors

  • Khalid Bourrouk Faculty of Letters and Human Sciences - Sais, Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah University, Fez, Morocco.
  • Adiba Bousfiha Faculty of Letters and Human Sciences - Sais, Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah University, Fez, Morocco
  • Adnane Mrabti Faculty of Letters and Human Sciences - Sais, Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah University, Fez, Morocco

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.52218/ijbtob.v3i2.265

Abstract

While previous studies in the literature have concentrated extensively on investigating employee engagement and communication behaviors in relation to other organizational variables, very little research has examined the association between the two constructs. Therefore, the present study aimed to address this deficiency in the literature of public relations by examining the effect of engagement on employee communication behaviors. Specifically, forms of engagement, including alignment, affective and action-orientation (Shrotryia and Dhanda, 2020) were posited as antecedents to Kim and Rhee’s (2011) two dimensions of employee communication behavior, namely megaphoning and scouting. Using non-probability snowball sampling, a total of three hundred and seventy eight Moroccan employees who currently work for Moroccan private organizations participated in the study by filling out a 20-item questionnaire. By deploying Pearson-product moment correlation and linear regression, all three dimensions of engagement were found to be significantly associated with employees’ megaphoning and scouting behaviors.  The study highlights the critical role of enhancing cognitive, affective and behavioral engagement of employees in influencing megaphoning and scouting behaviors. Important implications of the findings are discussed. In addition, the study’s limitations and recommendations for future research are addressed.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Alias, N. E., Noor, N., & Hassan, R. (2014). Examining the mediating effect of employee engagement on the relationship between talent management practices and employee retention in the Information and Technology (IT) organizations in Malaysia. Journal of Human Resources Management and Labor Studies, 2(2), 227-242.

Balakrishnan C., Masthan D. & Chandra V. (2013). Employee Retention through Employee Engagement - A Study at an Indian International Airport. International Journal of Business and Management Invention, 2 (8), 9-16

Bhuvanaiah, T., & Raya, R. P. (2014). Employee engagement: Key to organizational success. SCMS journal of Indian Management, 11(4), 61-71.

Bourrouk, K., & Bousfiha, A. (2022). Organizational Commitment Dimensions as Predictors of Employee Communication Behavior in Moroccan Private Organizations. African Scientific Journal, 3(10), 227-250.

Center, A., & Jackson, P. (2003). Public Relations Practices: Management Case Studies and Problems. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Creswell, J. W. (2014). Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches (Fourth ed.). SAGE Publications.

Erkmen, E. (2018). Managing Your Brand for Employees: Understanding the Role of Organizational Processes in Cultivating Employee Brand Equity. Administrative Sciences, 8(3), 1-15.

Gangai, K. N., Agrawal, R., & Gupta, M. (2015). Relationship between workplace motivation and absenteeism among employees in retail industry. Int J Retail Rural Bus Perspect, 4(3), 1773-1780.

Grunig, J. E. (1977). A situational theory of publics: Conceptual history, Recent Challenges and New Research. Public Relations Research: An international Perspective, 3-48

Helm, S. (2011). Employees' Awareness of Their Impact on Corporate Reputation. Journal of Business Research, 64(7), 657-663.

Jeon, H., & Choi B. (2012). The Relationship between Employee Satisfaction and Customer Satisfaction. Journal of Services Marketing, 26(5), 332-341.

Kang, M., & Sung, M. (2017). How symmetrical employee communication leads to employee engagement and positive employee communication behaviors: The mediation of employee-organization relationships. Journal of Communication Management, 21(1), 82-102.

Kataria, A., Rastogi, R., & Garg, P. (2013). Organizational effectiveness as a function of employee engagement. South Asian Journal of Management, 20(4), 56-73.

Kim, J. N., & Rhee, Y. (2011). Strategic Thinking about Employee Communication Behavior (ECB) in Public Relations: Testing the Models of Megaphoning and Scouting Effects in Korea. Journal of Public Relations Research, 23(3), 243-268.

Lee, O. F., Tan, J. A., & Javalgi, R. (2010). Goal Orientation and Organizational commitment: Individual Difference Predictors of Job Performance. International Journal of Organizational Analysis, 18(1), 129-150.

Madsen, V. T., & Verhoeven, J. W. (2019). The Big Idea of Employees as Strategic Communicators in Public Relation. In Big Ideas in Public Relations Research and Practice. Emerald Publishing Limited.

Min, H., Lim, Y., & Magnini, V. P. (2015). Factors affecting customer satisfaction in responses to negative online hotel reviews: The impact of empathy, paraphrasing, and speed. Cornell Hospitality Quarterly, 56(2), 223-231.

Park, Y. J., Choe, Y. J., Park, O., Park, S. Y., Kim, Y. M., Kim, J., ... & Jeong, E. K. (2020). Contact tracing during coronavirus disease outbreak, South Korea, 2020. Emerging infectious diseases, 26(10), 2465- 2468.

Schaufeli, W. B., Salanova, M., González-Romá, V., & Bakker, A. B. (2002). The measurement of engagement and burnout: A two sample confirmatory factor analytic approach. Journal of Happiness Studies, 3(1), 71-92.

Shantz, A., Alfes, K., Truss, C., & Soane, E. (2013). The role of employee engagement in the relationship between job design and task performance, citizenship and deviant behaviours. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 24(13), 2608-2627.

Shen, H., & Jiang, H. (2019). Engaged at work? An employee engagement model in public relations. Journal of Public Relations Research, 31(1-2), 32-49.

Shrotryia, V. K., & Dhanda, U. (2020). Development of employee engagement measure: experiences from best companies to work for in India. Measuring Business Excellence, 24(3), 319-343.

Shuck, B., & Wollard, K. (2010). Employee engagement and HRD: A seminal review of the foundations. Human Resource Development Review, 9(1), 89-110.

Sonne, H., Guerreiro, J., & Wohlschlegel, B. (2018). Increasing Awareness and Reputation of MERCK SA Portugal through Employee Advocacy. In Academy of Marketing Science World Marketing Congress (pp. 619-633). Springer, Cham.

Thelen, P. D. (2020). Internal Communicators' Understanding of the Definition and Importance of Employee Advocacy. Public Relations Review, 46(4), 1-11.

Zameer, H., Wang, Y., Yasmeen, H., Mofrad, A. A., & Waheed, A. (2018). Corporate image and customer satisfaction by virtue of employee engagement. Human Systems Management, 37(2), 233-248.

Downloads

Published

30-04-2023

How to Cite

Bourrouk, K. ., Bousfiha, A., & Mrabti, A. (2023). Public Relations: Investigating the Impact of Internal Public’s Engagement on Megaphoning and Scouting Behaviors. International Journal of Business, Technology and Organizational Behavior (IJBTOB), 3(2), 86–95. https://doi.org/10.52218/ijbtob.v3i2.265