The coherence between organisational identity and corporate image: A case of change management in a health organisation

This paper discusses the results of an action-research in a local health organisation in Milan. The analysis of demand led to the formulation of intervention intervention: improve the corporate image in a time of strong structural and organiaational changes. The hypotheses of the project were: a. There were shortcomings in the flow of information. b. This led to a deterioration of organisational climate and corporate image. c. Educational activities focused on internal communication could improve the attractiveness of the organisation (Thomaz, 2010; Rao, 2009; Forman, Argenti, 2005). The extant literature is full of reports detailing that care providers, such as doctors and nurses, spend a significant proportion of their time obtaining or providing information (Henrich et al., 2008; Soto et al., 2006), and detailing the deleterious effects of poor interprofessional communication (Bokhour, 2006, Burd et al., 2002; Dechairo-Marino et al., 2001; Simpson et al., 2006). The hypotheses a. and b. were confirmed by qualitative and quantitative research: 22 semi-structured interviews were conducted on employees; a questionnaire composed of two scales, the Comunication Evaluation Survey (Winegarden, 2009) and 3 factors (autonomy, job involvement, dynamism) of MDQ13 (Mayer, D’Amato, 2005) distributed over a significant sample (177 subjects) of the workforce; a customer satisfaction questionnaire was distributed to 150 patients. The results helped to implement a training process and a system of internal evaluation, which involved 10 manager and 100 employees from HR and wards. This article briefly discusses the articulation of the training project and its impact on the corporate image.