Doing More with Less? Minus Growth, Workforce Capacity, Technology Support, and Communication Effectiveness at the Directorate General of Customs and Excise

Abstract

The pressure to “do more with fewer resources” has become an important feature of public-sector organizational reform, yet its implications for organizational communication capacity remain insufficiently understood. This study examined the relationships among perceived minus growth, workforce capacity, technological support, and communication effectiveness at the Directorate General of Customs and Excise. Cross-sectional data were collected from 166 respondents and analyzed using descriptive statistics, reliability analysis, exploratory factor analysis (EFA), Pearson correlation analysis, ordinary least squares (OLS) regression with HC3 heteroskedasticity-robust standard errors, and moderation analysis. The results showed that perceived minus growth was strongly and negatively associated with workforce capacity (β = −0.690, p < .001; R² = .477). Workforce capacity was positively correlated with communication effectiveness at the bivariate level (r = .226, p = .003), but its unique association was not statistically significant after accounting for technological support (β = .039, p = .615). In contrast, technological support demonstrated a positive and statistically significant unique association with communication effectiveness (β = .406, p < .001). The interaction between workforce capacity and technological support was not statistically significant (p = .209), providing no evidence that technological support moderated the relationship between workforce capacity and communication effectiveness. Descriptively, workforce capacity was relatively low (M = 2.22/5), whereas perceived communication effectiveness remained high (M = 4.14/5), indicating a performance–capacity puzzle. This study contributes to the literature by distinguishing perceived communication effectiveness from the workforce capacity supporting it and by positioning technology as a complementary enabling resource rather than as a demonstrated substitute for workforce capacity.