Scale development and implementation study for digital corporate communication competency

The research, which is conducted on the basis of digital corporate communication competence, focuses on the appearance of the change in the understanding of corporate communication with digitalization in Higher Education Institutions and its level in the eyes of stakeholders. This research is a scale development and application study to determine the digital communication competency levels of organizations based on Rogers' (1983) "Diffusion of Innovations Theory". The research consists of three sections. In the first section, the concepts of corporate communication, digital communication, competence, innovation and the theoretical framework are explained with the help of literature and their importance in this research is emphasized. In the method section, which is the second part, the scale development process was carried out. Firstly, the draft scale developed in the pre-assessment and pilot study phases was tested. After the content validity and reliability were ensured, the field application was started and as a result of EFA analysis, the Digital Corporate Communication Competency scale consisting of 2 dimensions and 25 items was developed. The developed scale was confirmed by CFA analysis. It was observed that the model fit indices and Chi-square fit indices of the DCI scale were significant (X²/sd= 4.949). Other fit indices were RMSEA=.076, IFI=.923, TLI=.915, GFI=.866, and CFI=.922. Considering the fit indices, it was concluded that the fit indices of the scale were between good fit and acceptable fit index values. The Cronbach's alpha values of (α=.969), digital interaction sub-dimension (α=.958) and digital access sub-dimension (α=.926) indicate that the scale is reliable. With these results, a valid and reliable DCCC scale was presented for use. In the third part of the study, it was examined how the digital corporate communication competence of the university was evaluated by the internal stakeholders at Sakarya University of Applied Sciences and Sakarya University with the developed DCCC scale. As a result, it was determined that digital corporate communication competency levels did not differ according to gender, but there were significant differences between age groups. In particular, it has been determined that individuals between the ages of 18-21 and 22-25 evaluate the digital corporate communication competence of the university critically and do not find it competent enough. In addition, it has been observed that digital competencies are perceived differently as education levels change, and expectations are higher at undergraduate and graduate education levels. It has been concluded that students and academicians evaluate the level of DCCC with lower scores than administrative staff, and finally, all sociodemographic variables except status are effective on DCCC. Based on the results of the research, recommendations for institutions (practitioners) include developing digital corporate communication strategies of universities, determining digital corporate communication standards and creating guidelines, strengthening the communication offices of universities, eliminating the lack of mobile applications, developing digital access and interaction competencies, and expanding the digital corporate communication culture. Recommendations for researchers include testing the developed DCCC scale in national/international higher education and educational institutions and examining the factors affecting digital corporate communication competence in depth.