Internal branding as a tool for organisational alignment.

Due to the increasing competitiveness between organisations to attract and retain internal and external stakeholders so as to increase organisational competitive advantage, it is vitally important to the long-term success thereof that the inherent importance of organisational communication, specifically internal communication, is taken into consideration within the context of a rapidly changing business environment. This is to make sure that an alignment exists between internal organisational core values and the external image the organisation portrays. Thus within the context of banking service organisations so as to ensure a successful internal organisational alignment strategy, which promotes employee satisfaction and participation, improvement needs to be made to internal communication strategies. Based on this, three key concepts are identified as pertinent; namely internal organisational communication, the corporate identity aspect of internal branding and the organisational culture aspect of organisational alignment. Thus, the overriding purpose is to determine what the role of internal branding as a tool for internal organisational alignment is amongst banking service organisations in South Africa that have undergone an amalgamation. The motivation for this research is the fact that numerous organisations do not realise the importance of internal communication and branding initiatives to the internal stakeholders’ satisfaction, service delivery quality and ultimate impact on the organisation’s profitability. Absa Bank is the subject for the one-shot case study as it recently implemented new internal branding initiatives so as to engage and align internal stakeholders with the core organisational values and culture, to improve the quality of service rendered, to retain external customers, and to impact positively on the bank’s profitability. Through the use of qualitative research methods, which are a one-shot case study utilising a documentation study and telephonic and e-mail interviews, the goal of the study is achieved. The theoretical chapters set the context by introducing and defining relevant key concepts, as well as presenting a theoretical discussion on these concepts. The case study on Absa Bank forms the basis of the integration of theoretical concepts and the practical application thereof. Finally, the research findings are discussed and further recommendations proposed. Based on the research, a key contribution is the conceptualisation of the term integrated organisational communication. Keywords: organisational communication, internal organisational communication, corporate identity, internal branding, organisational culture, organisational alignment.Andrea Crysta