Date
9-25-2025
Department
Graduate School of Business
Degree
Doctor of Philosophy in Organization and Management (PhD)
Chair
Peter James
Keywords
internal communication management strategies, virtual employees, small businesses, leaders
Disciplines
Business | Entrepreneurial and Small Business Operations
Recommended Citation
Seymour, Krissandra, "A Multiple-Case Study Exploring Ineffective Internal Communication Management Strategies of Small Businesses" (2025). Doctoral Dissertations and Projects. 7508.
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/doctoral/7508
Abstract
The purpose of this qualitative, multiple-case study was to address a gap in the existing literature and to offer practical applications for small businesses with virtual employees regarding their internal communication management strategies. Previous research regarding internal communication management strategies predominantly concentrated on larger organizations. However, given the crucial role that small businesses play in the nation’s economy and the increasing employment of virtual employees, it was essential to explore the strategies employed by small businesses in the United States. For this study, 27 leaders from small businesses in the Midwest were interviewed. The findings indicated that organizations lacking effective internal communication management strategies tended to adopt inconsistent and informal practices, which resulted in frustration among leaders. These limited communication strategies created challenges in managing employee visibility, cohesion, and consistent messaging. The study also identified seven common barriers to effective internal communication management. These included inconsistent messaging, employee engagement issues, barriers to advancement for virtual employees, inconsistent and informal practices, difficulties in employee presenteeism and cohesion, employee overload, and the use of outward-facing indicators and personal familiarity rather than formal assessments. Furthermore, although it did not appear that ineffective internal communication management strategies negatively influenced job satisfaction, given that many of the organizations reported high retention rates, the potential negative influence of ineffective internal communication management strategies on job satisfaction could not be discounted, as only leaders were interviewed.
