EFFECTS OF ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE AND CULTURE ON EMPLOYEE COMMUNICATION BEHAVIORS IN CHINESE ORGANIZATIONS

Abstract

Organizations realize the importance of employee communication behaviors (ECBs) in public relations contexts. Recently scholars conceptually advanced two types of ECBs-Megaphoning and Scouting. This empirical study examined effects of organizational structure (organicness) and individual cultural characteristics (collectivism and power distance) on positive and negative megaphoning, and scouting. A total of 277 Chinese respondents in various public relations professions participated in this exploratory research. Findings from this research showed that organicness of organizational structure positively affects employees’ positive megaphoning and scouting behaviors; power distance positively affects negative megaphoning, and scouting behaviors, but negatively affects positive megaphoning. On the other hand, individualistic or collectivistic cultural characteristics did not significantly influence ECBs. Overall, findings suggested that public relations practitioners should pay attention not only to how ECBs affect the excellence of public relations, but also how organizational elements influence ECBs.