ABSTRACT

This multiple case study investigates internal crisis communication in Finnish and Norwegian hotels and restaurants during the COVID-19 pandemic, contributing a Nordic leadership perspective to the research area. Due to the exploratory nature of the study, a qualitative research design was chosen, and 16 semi-structured interviews were conducted with hospitality leaders, middle managers, and employees. The multilevel analysis revealed that existing internal communication practices were challenged due to the urgency and uncertainty of the crisis. The findings show that managerial transparency and presence facilitated sensemaking processes and contributed to trust in the managers. Yet, limited autonomy among middle managers and lack of employee consultation when communicating about decision-making indicated a conflict between internal crisis communication and aspects of Nordic leadership such as cooperation, consensus-seeking, and delegation of responsibility. However, the findings suggest that the openness and transparency of Nordic leadership prevailed in the crisis and contributed to managerial learning and solution-finding through crisis communication and management. Furthermore, leaders should find a balance between control and participation when communicating about internal decision-making during a crisis. We conclude that transparency and participative communication are essential when striving for effective internal crisis communication, facilitating employees’ sensemaking, and building trust relationships during a crisis.

摘要

这项多案例研究调查了 COVID-19 大流行期间芬兰和挪威酒店和餐馆的内部危机沟通，为研究领域贡献了北欧领导视角。由于研究的探索性，我们选择了定性研究设计，对酒店业领导、中层管理人员和员工进行了 16 次半结构化访谈。多层次分析表明，由于危机的紧迫性和不确定性，现有的内部沟通实践受到挑战。调查结果表明，管理透明度和存在促进了意义建构过程，并有助于增强对管理者的信任。然而，中层管理人员的自主权有限，以及在就决策进行沟通时缺乏员工协商，这表明内部危机沟通与北欧领导力方面（例如合作、寻求共识和责任下放）之间存在冲突。然而，调查结果表明，北欧领导层的开放性和透明度在危机中占了上风，并通过危机沟通和管理促进了管理学习和解决方案的寻找。此外，在危机期间就内部决策进行沟通时，领导者应在控制和参与之间找到平衡。我们的结论是，在努力进行有效的内部危机沟通、促进员工的意义建构、