How Employees’ Distance to Headquarter Affects the Influence of Internal Vs. External Communication on Employee Behavior

This study examines the effect of internal and external communication on commitment and brand behavior of employees. The authors propose that distance to headquarter moderates the impact of internal and external communications, so that the positive relationship for internal (external) communication is stronger for employees in roles that are more (less) proximal to the headquarter. Results from an empirical study of 1,291 employees from 6 subsidiaries of a large industrial organization support this notion. The findings of this study suggest that external communication is important to increase employees’ commitment and their willingness to behave on brand.