The Impact of Internal Communication on Business Processes in Local Governments in the Southeast European Transition Countries

Abstract

Local governments are basic units of government in both developed as well as underdeveloped, or transition countries. However, business communication in local governments represents the indicator of commercialism, protocol respect, as well as management
openness and willingness of the employees to, by meeting the standards of the internal communication, achieve set goals. The chaotic situation which arose as a consequence of the transition, as well as a comprehensive reform of the local government in the transition countries of Southeast Europe has contributed to the fact that the standards of business communication of the local governments vary, compromising the
standards of service quality and business processes. For the purpose of this paper, research has been conducted on the importance of the internal communication and on its impact on business processes in local governments in the Southeastern European transition countries. The goal of the research was to show how important the internal communication is for business processes and how big its impact is on the achievement
of the strategic goals of the local governments. The research included local governments in the Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Macedonia and Montenegro. It is interesting to say that despite varying laws, regulations and protocols, the communication problems have been almost identical in all the tested local governments.
One goal of reform processes is to contribute towards the development of communication models appropriate for local governments in individual countries. The model of business communication, based on efficient internal communication, needs to be established not only on the standards of European Business Practice, but sometimes also on the specific impacts of the local communities’ cultures.