Research Korner: Management Communication

Crisis and issues management and reputation management are inextricably linked Critically argue whether you agree or disagree with this statement, providing practical and theoretical evidence to support your standpoint                 I agree that crisis and issues management as well as reputations management are linked as it implies imperative aspects that give organizations reasons to discuss certain issues concerned from within like when companies experiencing crisis in terms of operations and delivery for instance that incur motion issues within employees and the management and that the reputation of the company are to be in place (1992; 1994). If presume to define corporate communication with these ideas in mind, there would say that it is the act of effectively conveying to a company’s stakeholders the corporate philosophy that the company regards as the ultimate expression of its corporate culture. Since corporate communication involves selectively communicating the company’s views and objectives to those stakeholders whom it regards as important, it can therefore be described as management strategy as managers consider corporate communication not as just an information activity but as a corporate management issue. If a corporation is to develop and expand its business, it must constantly be looking to the future.                 Formulating a philosophy, vision or plan of what management hopes the company will one day become is a constant requirement for any corporation and is itself an important corporate activity. The prime concern is to develop the know-how to pursue a future oriented strategy and make a deliberate and conscious effort to use that know how skillfully.  As changes in personal values and behavior are producing changes in the communication of corporate values, a company will win business opportunities in the global marketplace only if it is able to anticipate these changes and has a clear vision of the future, one that is intelligible to society at large and acceptable to its stakeholders. New standards for assessing corporate performance such as rankings of the most admired, the most ethical and the most environmentally friendly corporations, for example, are now being published in most countries; companies are aware of these rankings and try to redefine themselves accordingly (1999). To be more precise, the use of corporate communication to convey management’s clear vision accurately to the company’s stakeholders has made it possible to build a common ground between them.         Financial public relations is a public relations specialism, but what is it exactly that makes it a specialism? Additionally, what parts or aspects of this area of practice are common to other areas of PR practice? Argue your response making reference to theory and practical examples as relevant.                 Public relations is the business, organizational, philanthropic or social function of managing communication between an organization and its audiences. There are many goals to be achieved by the practice of public relations, including education, correcting a mistruth, or building or improving an image.” () According to , public relations is a “form of communication that is primarily directed toward gaining public understanding and acceptance. It tends to deal with issues rather than specifically with products or services. Public relations uses publicity that does not necessitate payment in a wide variety of media and is often placed as news or items of public interest. Because public relations communications are placed in this manner, they offer a legitimacy that advertising does not have, since advertising is publicity that is paid for.                   The practice of PR is used to build rapport with the various publics a company, individual or organization may have. Publicity releases, employee-training seminars and house organs are examples of instruments used in public relations. Financial public relations, a specialized branch of the profession, is concerned with corporate annual reports, stockholder communications, and the disclosure rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission. (2007) Public relations not only entail good communication skills but also the ability to make your audience feel empathy on whatever subject you are talking about. It may also be the process of aligning the thought of your audience to your thoughts and advocacies. The financial public relations integrates a sense of specialism since, it does follow a desired pattern for organization and creation, it connects and links to the organization’s finances that will be related to levels of the organization and informed those involved such as by means of financial statements and annual financial reports respectively. In the PR area, the financial public relations are being discussed by the top management team and that they inquire meetings and conferences with the organization board of executives as possible.                 As a company’s stakeholders diversify, societal expectations will change from time to time and from place to place. Heterogeneous societies demand that a company satisfy the varying interests of their members. The most important of the values a company communicates is its basic philosophy, in short, its basic value system and corporate objectives, a public relations professional, believed that a company could only maintain good relations with society by actively and accurately disclosing its policies, plans and problems without concealing anything; in other words, forming common ground between a company and society was conducive to the company’s growth. As suggests, a company’s stakeholders are growing steadily more diverse. When a company communicates a new mission statement to society, it takes into consideration the diverse responses to it that are generated by a diverse society, then makes sure these ideas are reflected in its next management strategy.               The cycle is only achieved by creating common ground with society as a corporation needs to accept social change and make use of the intelligence and good sense of its stakeholders to produce a business model that will create added value; to be more precise what is needed is the creation of values that will foster a win-win relationship between the company and society. A company’s information services are often ineffective because they are carried out as a jumble of separate projects advertising, public relations, investor relations, customer satisfaction policies, recruiting and social responsibility activities, to name just a few. The entire organization must instead be united behind a single philosophy and information must be communicated on both a permanent and daily basis this means linking divisions to one another as a strategy to unify the entire company by breaking down barriers and producing synergies among divisions (2000).       In the current business environment it is not uncommon for an organisation to change or modify its corporate identity. Discuss why this is common/and why organisations enter into such programmes. What are the potential pitfalls of this change? Ensure that in responding to the question you make reference to practical examples and relevant theory.                 Organization business environment is a critical aspect that has positive outcome to corporate identity as it is important because it provides the organization ample security in terms of business stability and growth assumptions as the organizations enter into various programs to foster and strengthen its public relations and corporate communications in order to discover potential business partners or alliances and increase the work and production demands from within. Change within organization is not a novel issue for organizations to always update and modify its business identity to relate to their partners, employees and its desired customers such as for instance, Dell Corp. enter into environment programs as well as social programs to develop more on the relevant side as they have enough social responsibility to people and the society as a whole.                         Management communication will try to persuade individual subordinates that the goals of the organization are desirable. Its specific purpose is to transmit authority and to achieve cooperation with the organization and more precisely: developing a shared vision of the company maintaining trust in the organizational leadership, managing the change process and motivating employees. In the face of this heterogeneous group of communications, it is essential to obtain a durable coordination between the different forms of internal and external communication. A strategic approach of corporate communication implies a new vision of the role of communication both within the organization and between the organization and its environment. Identity and image constitute two key concepts of corporate communication in the field of project marketing, the ultimate goal being the creation of a positive and durable basis for relationships with the multigroups on which the company depends. Concerning the particular dimensions of corporate communication, it appeared that the traditional communication mix arrives late after the management communication and the organizational communication. Concerning the tools, the relational network seems to be the best adapted to the particular situation and the targeting allows a good despatching of the resources at this level.       Internal communications is best practiced using formal methods of communication Critically argue whether you agree or disagree with this statement, providing practical and theoretical evidence to support your standpoint.               I agree to the statement that internal communications is best practiced using formal methods in communication process due to the fact that business organizations do follow specific sets of standards and principles in forms of legal documents and there is a certain level of communication protocol to follow providing every business the decency to operate its business plans and realize actions and objectives. The method of communication in formal way can be in terms of weekly and or monthly reports set by a formal meeting handling as it is mostly done by the public relations department or within the HR team. The realization of a company’s aims based on its values and determined by its global strategy and policy might be endangered by aims originating from society and based on quite different values. Company behaviour may aim at influencing the decision makers or background to protect the company’s values (1998). This behaviour of a company is clearly determined by its position in society, or by relations established with politicians which mean an alliance for the company for a given period of time or in respect of one particular issue. The popular belief is that the aim of lobbying is to maintain protectionism and to abuse all its advantages (1998).      (2000) define corporate identity as who we (the organisation) area and what we stand for and corporate image as how we are perceived and it is generally accepted that image forms a key part in the underpinning of corporate reputation. Making reference to theory and practical examples explain how image and identity interrelate and how this relationship can lead to a positive or negative reputation.               Image and identity are considered significant and crucial factors in keeping the standard ways and norms of the organization as there maintains the process cycle of trust and empowerment among staff and management groups and one example of keeping organizations in its definite status and business giving competitors such enough reasons to think and test their business tactics. The image for example of Cathay Pacific being one of trusted carrier in Asia is always up to the challenge maintaining better and useful venue for its business identity to be always known and remembered by the people and to those loyal to their services offered every now and then. Communication is strategic – now more than ever. Many company executives consider communication as purely tactical in both its nature and its execution. In an information driven age, communication is an integral part of the corporate strategy. Strategic issues include an orientation of communication to an organization’s priorities, as well as toward the external environment. Integrity and credibility are the pillars of strategic communication. Realistic measurement systems and processes for improvement are strategic tools for success.               The internal system directs activities of organising to accomplish goals that are based on the gathering and interpretation of data on expectations and attitudes, and on conditions, from the corporation’s relevant environment through external channels of communication. External systems of communication are also used to present relevant information about the internal processes of the corporation to the relevant external environment to attempt to influence the behaviour of the various publics. Internal communication processes are directed towards establishment of structure and stability in organising, while external communication processes are directed towards innovation by facilitating identification of directions for corporate development (1990). Managers and leaders seek co-operation for a productive balance between stability and innovation. Departments should not be allowed to seek independence and the concern of managers is not to be encroachment, but how to remove barriers to real co-operative working so that communicating really can add value to business enterprise. The model we seek to build and deploy does not promote the engagement of non-specialists in competition to manage traditional communication departments. Rather we seek to foster greater recognition of corporate dependencies, the need for wider participation in constructing meanings, identity, and knowledge (1992) and shared organisational goals.               The corporate communication approach enables the reconciliation of social and economic interests, for business is in reality a socio-economic institution upon which we are all dependent, and may allow the vista of a “life ethic” to temper the debilitating effects of the mutation of citizens into consumers.  (1993) stakeholder view of the firm requires that managers see stakeholders’ groups and their sub-groups, at least until the legitimacy of claims and respective power have been examined, as both: -       those who the management group thinks have some stake in the firm -       those groups that themselves think they have some stake in the firm It is then necessary to examine the nature of each relationship, as well as recognising that some stakeholder groups also have relationships with each other. Stakeholder expectations cannot be ignored, but can be missed and/or misinterpreted. Corporate community is the new form of organisation governance that shifts emphasis from profit to democracy by unifying the goals of all parties by focusing on the needs of the corporation’s constituents (1995).     Public relations and marketing should always be equal and distinct communications functions in organizations Critically argue whether you agree or disagree with this statement, providing practical and theoretical evidence to support your standpoint.               The interests of employees, customers, and other stakeholders were not really goals of the company, but simply a means to meet the interests of shareholders – to make money. If the goal of enterprise is to make money, then the interest of business is opposed to the interests of society. Even the concept of “corporate social responsibility” has not remedied the problem. It has proven useful in educating people in business about their social obligations, but in focusing on social service, the economic realities of productivity, revenues, and profits have been ignored. (1996) proposes a stakeholder model of the corporation, which views the corporation as a socio-economic system composed of various equally important constituencies: employees, customers, suppliers, the public and its government representatives, and investors.                 The stakeholder has obligations to the corporation as well as rights. The view is gaining wide acceptance because managers realise that they need the support of these groups. Halal’s return-on-resources model shows that all stakeholders invest financial and social resources, they incur costs and expect gains these resources are their stake in the organisation (1994). Corporate managers are dependent on stakeholders because the economic role of the firm is to combine as effectively as possible the unique resources each stakeholder contributes: the risk capital of investors; the talents, training, and efforts of employees; the continued patronage of customers; the capabilities of business partners; and the economic infrastructure provided by government (1996). Public relations is a necessary and complementary overhead in a responsible enterprise. The marketing concept views the business enterprise as an organised process designed to create and keep a customer (1969).               Marketing is a two-way mediating process between the customer and the corporation balance is needed between management, which focuses on stabilising the corporation’s transformation processes, and leadership, which seeks to innovate by focusing attention on the external environment (1990). The part of management concerned with the management of relationships is public relations, which may also be described by the terms public affairs, corporate communications and corporate affairs. These terms do have different meanings: public relations is the practise of managing important relationships, and public affairs deals with relationships involved in public policy development and with issues management. Corporate communications recognises the importance of managed communication in relationships and includes forms of communication used for corporate purposes. Communication is central to the tomorrow’s company approach, and communication between people is the core of business activity. The traditional emphasis of marketing, however, does not fit this philosophy.               Corporate communication (1994, 1997) is a vital management function in contemporary organizations. It is the total of a corporation’s efforts to communicate effectively and profitably. It is a strategic action practiced by professionals within an organization, or on behalf of a client. It is the creation and maintenance of strong internal and external relationships. The actions any particular corporation takes to achieve that goal depend in large part on the character of the organization and its relationship with its suppliers, its community, its employees, and its customers. Depending on the organization, corporate communication can include such traditional disciplines as: public relations, investor relations, employee relations, community relations, media relations, labor relations, government relations, technical communication, training and employee development, marketing communication, management communication. Many organizations also include philanthropic activity, crisis and emergency communication, and advertising as part of corporate communication functions. Understanding corporate communication provides the vision a company requires in an information driven economy for strategic planning. Since global business is based on information, customers, employees, investors, suppliers, and the general public now expect a high level of communication and candor from the companies that operate in their community.                 Corporate communication promotes strong corporate culture; a coherent corporate identity; a genuine sense of corporate citizenship; an appropriate and professional relationship with the press; a quick and responsible way of communicating in a crisis or emergency situation; an understanding of communication tools and technologies; a sophisticated approach to global communication. Organizations committed to employees and to the community have a definite communication philosophy. Companies may refer to it as their communication policy, or their mission statement. The philosophy may be articulated through statements of commitment to employees, customers, and other stakeholders. The written statement of corporate commitment to goals and values is often the external manifestation of the communication philosophy. It is not necessary for a written statement to exist to have a philosophy, but if the written statement does not represent corporate behavior and values, its hollowness will be apparent to everyone. For companies operating globally, a strong corporate communication philosophy offers the foundation for an international code of ethics. Companies that have commitment to social responsibility are rewarded with greater name recognition, more productive employees, lower R&D costs, fewer regulatory hurdles and stronger synergy among business units (1994, 1997). Nevertheless, an organization’s culture plays a powerful role in its success, and in its failure as the discussion of a corporation’s culture offers a foundation for the understanding the group’s behavior and suggests ways to perpetuate or change the cultures.   Is Corporate Social Responsibility part of the domain (an area of / function/ creation) of Public Relations in organisation; if not what is the relation of PR to CSR? (Critically reflect on your response and your viewpoint).               Public relations are an unavoidable function in any organization. As  (1984) notes: An organization has no choice whether to 'have' public relations. All organizations are communicating with all audiences that are of importance to them. The decision is not whether to have public relations, but whether these relations will be handled in a planned, organized manner or allowed to be accidental, haphazard and possibly inconsistent. No industry probably agonizes more over how to make its clients comprehend what they are buying than the public relations business like public relations consultancy. Presidents and counselors of public relations agency worry about the difficult partnership with clients just as much as clients also worry about their relationship with their agency (1992). In any organization, not only in the public relations department, loyal clients are an intangible asset that adds value to the balance sheet. They represent the goodwill earned by the company. Loyal and repeat clients not only contribute revenue by returning again and again to avail of services from the same company, but act as advocates, referring new customers and reducing acquisition tools. Corporate Social Responsibility or CSR is one of the leading theories relating to corporate governance. The theory talks about the responsibility of the corporation, or any organization for that matter, to all its stakeholders, which comprises mainly of its customers, employees, etc. The theory mainly states that the organization should keep in mind the interests of their shareholders and not only the possibility of making higher profit. The significance of the role of communication in a company implies the recognition and transfer of values from the environment by the external component and the integration of these values into the company’s attitude through the processes of the internal component result in changes in attitude towards values, and changes in the company’s values and priorities. Consequently, there affect corporate output and efficiency (1998; 1998;  1999).             The concept of high quality goods or service will be transmitted by marketing communication for the other activities of the company, and the product and process innovations should promote the image of the company accordingly. As (2000) note, investment in CSR promotes product differentiation contributing to a socially responsible corporate image. The image of a company is present in the reputation of the company beside the guarantees built into the products and service. The reputation of a company might be considered to be its distinctive social position based on values and which is attainable only by continuous value-creating activities in all the operational fields of a company. Critically evaluate the relationship between Public Affairs and democracy.               Communication is the key to a mutually profitable relationship. Company management has to be willing to tell the agency its specific needs and desires. Without knowing management’s expectations, it's impossible to meet the goals. To create an effective campaign, the agency has to know everything about the product or service how it works, its benefits and features, its shortcomings, its channels of distribution, as well as products and features offered by the competition. It's impossible for the agency to learn this information by mind reading or through osmosis (1997). The concept of relationships between organizations and stakeholders is central to their theory of public relations and organizational effectiveness. A growing number of public relations consultancies in many parts of the world have come to recognize the importance not only of measuring communications efforts, but also measuring how effective they have been in building good relationships with key internal and external constituencies such as the clients themselves. It has never been easy for public relations practitioners to measure communications effectiveness. Similarly, it is not any easier to measure how effective an organization such as a consultancy has been in building and maintaining sound client relationships, good deal of thought and care needs as relationships development and management in the field of public relations still has ways to go.               The relationship between public affairs and democracy I believe, is just simple if only every nations and sectors are united and one to keep a healthy and effective society as well as ideal business milieu as public affairs is not possible without the assimilation of democracy in control like for instance, in politics it is imperative for the politicians and people in government authority to embrace public affairs such as engaging into platforms agenda and meeting de avance’ also, in broadcast journalism the notion of public affairs is considered to be as the main skeleton in order for the news programs to run smoothly into the radio and television sets of the audiences’ homes and because it is possible to achieve implies, a sense of value for embracing democracy as it reflects the power as well as influence of the people, by the people and for the people.

Corporate and Specialist Public Relations (MA module)

Crisis and issues management and reputation management are inextricably linked Critically argue whether you agree or disagree with th...