Activities Across Multiple Mediums Internal And
Social media (e.g., LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest) is changing corporate communication strategies. Discuss how social media has changed the way corporations communicate with their stakeholders and the impact this has had on corporate communications strategy. Explain how a company could use social media for both internal and external communications. The communications would need to inform and thereby facilitate informed decision-making by its readers, clarify, that is, explain the corporation’s role rather than just put a gloss on the situation, and illustrate that the corporation is able to explain its goals to the target audience; in other words, demonstrate a degree of corporate literacy.
Illustrate this by generating examples of both internal and external communications, explaining your target audience and which media you would use and why. Alternatively, provide real-world examples of both internal and external communications, identifying and explaining the target audience, the media that was used, and why you consider the media to be suitable.
The following critical elements must be addressed specifically:
Informed Decision-Making: Does the communication create informed decision-making? In other words, does it clarify the situation and provide and explanation that enables its reader to make decisions based on easy-to-understand and reliable information?
Stance Clarification: Does it help clarify PR and corporate spin? In other words, is the communication just promoting the corporate line, or is it actually explaining the position of the corporation and providing a reasoned justification for its approach?
Corporate Literacy: Does help improve literacy? In other words, does the communication demonstrate that the corporation can explain its goals in a manner that its target audience can understand and relate to?
Guidelines for Submission: Short paper should be formatted to be a double-spaced Word document, with 12-point Times New Roman font, one-inch margins, and APA format. Page length requirements: 1-2 pages, not including title page and references.
Introduction
Business leaders today are faced with a multitude of challenges when it comes to corporate communications. For many, these challenges are unlike anything they faced as they climbed the corporate ladder and require a re-examination of the purposes of any communication and its potential consequences. Additionally, how business leaders communicate with stakeholders and what they communicate about have and continue to undergo rapid changes.
Communication Challenges for Today’s Business Leaders
In order to effectively communicate with various groups (e.g., customers, suppliers, employees, investors, and supporters), corporations must cross international and cultural divides that present leadership with a host of new global communication issues. For example, manufacturers of sport clothing need to have a policy in place regarding child labor, internet search facilities need to explain their position on freedom, and, finally, retailers need to justify how much taxes they pay, both in U.S. totals as well as in the countries they operate.
The rapidly changing nature of the global economy along with the revolution in communication channels and usages has altered perceptions of what corporations are and should be. As a result, corporations today are required to explain their vision in a broad social context in a manner that enables them to disseminate it across multiple mediums and social networks, reaching audiences anywhere and everywhere.
This course will illustrate the types of challenges a person responsible for corporate communications is likely to face in the business world in today’s environment. This course is designed to provide you with an opportunity to:
- Craft communications appropriate in various real-world situations encountered in today’s corporate environment
- Discuss the potential implications of any format of communication, based on the audience and type of message
- Craft communications for audiences from a variety of cultures, some of them culturally sensitive
- Apply the concepts of the course as you develop a communication plan for an international corporation to utilize as it addresses real-world scenarios
Public Scrutiny and Corporate Reputations
Today, scrutiny of business can be intense and unrelenting. If disillusionment has developed over a particular issue, it quickly grows in intensity by spreading rapidly as it encompasses both mainstream media and social networks. Therefore, gone are the days when a problem could be isolated and information dissemination controlled. Today an issue or problem in one facility at a particular location or country can all too quickly become a problem on a global scale, impacting all stakeholders, both internal and external. Questions on issues such as executive pay, accounting practices, labor practices, corporate social responsibility, or dealings with government agencies can rapidly permeate across corporate boundaries, placing any and all corporations under a microscope.
As a result, corporate executives are required to not just build a corporation’s reputation, but maintain the reputation as the company grows and evolves, while protecting it in an ever-changing global environment. One example would be Apple. Today Apple is a completely different company than it was 10 years ago, yet despite the challenges created by these changes (e.g., moving into new markets, facing controversies over issues such as the work practices of some suppliers, patent disputes with Samsung, to say nothing of a change in corporate leadership), it is still one of the most valuable brands in the world today (Interbrand, 2014).
Historical Context of Corporate Communication
Until the 1970s, communication with stakeholders was considered a public relations activity or responsibility. Communication strategies were usually not strategic in nature; instead, they were often reactive, which meant that they invariably revolved around communicating with the press. Gradually, demands for information grew from internal and external stakeholders, and the whole nature of communication changed, forcing it to become more strategic and proactive in nature. This evolution brought about changes in corporate needs, which led to the requirement for new and evolving disciplines to address these corporate needs, such as corporate design, corporate advertising, internal communications, issue and crisis management, media relations, investor relations, change communication or change management, and, of course, public affairs (Cornelissen, 2014). In other words, this evolution encompassed communications with all stakeholders, internal and external, and this new approach can be used to inform those stakeholders about an issue or new product, to educate stakeholders about a company policy or how a product can serve their needs, or to persuade them that the corporate position is appropriate or that the products and services offered by the corporation are superior to those of its competitors. Consequently, corporate communication is something that has evolved and developed to encompass all these functions. Corporate communication can be defined as “a management function that offers a framework for the effective coordination of all internal and external communications with the overall purpose of establishing and maintaining favorable reputations with stakeholder groups upon which the organization is dependent” (Cornelissen, 2014, p. 5). Furthermore, it can be considered as “an integrative communication structure linking stakeholders to the organization” (van Riel & Fombrun, 2006, p. 14). As a result, corporate communication today is likely to be complex and multifaceted in that it has to serve many purposes.
Ramifications of Corporate Communication
With any communication, corporations must consider the implications of the communication. They must consider whether or not there is a potential for legal compliance or brand ramifications. This is particularly the case in organizations with a wide geographical range, such as multinational corporations or those that have a wide range of products or services. In such instances, the coordination of communication requires some balancing between the needs of the corporate headquarters with the divisions and business units involved, some of which could be located thousands of miles away with additional local issues and values to consider.
Accordingly, corporate communication has evolved to meet the necessities of the twenty-first-century corporate environment. It utilizes a wide range of methodologies, including advertising, public relations, community relations, corporate literature, corporate hospitality, exhibitions, event management, new media, crisis management, lobbying, investor relations, research, sponsorship management, traditional media, and integrated marketing communications (Fernadez, 2004). Moreover, it is targeted at both internal and external stakeholders as it is delivered through almost all types of media. However, efforts must be made to ensure that the message is both consistent with the brand and appropriate for the audience to which it is directed.
Conclusion
Business leaders today face a multitude of communication challenges as the methods they use and the content of their communications undergo a constant evolution. Due to advances in technology and the growth of globalization, corporations have to explain their activities across multiple mediums reaching audiences all over the world. A problem in one location can all too quickly become a problem on a global scale, affecting both internal and external stakeholders. Consequently, corporations must consider any potential for legal compliance or brand ramifications resulting from any communication, not just in their home market, but in any market where they operate.
References
Cornelissen, J. (2014). Corporate communication: A guide to theory and practice. London, UK: Sage.
Fernadez, J. (2004). Corporate communications: A 21st century primer. New Delhi, India: Sage India Pvt Ltd.
Interbrand. (2014). Best global brands 2013. Retrieved from http://www.interbrand.com/en/best-global-brands/20…
van Riel, C., & Fombrun, C. (2006). Essentials of corporate communications. Florence, KY: Routledge.
Reading and Resources
Required Resources
Textbook
Corporate Communication: A Guide to Theory and Practice, Chapters 1, 2, and 3
While you read, consider the following questions:
- Who are the various stakeholders the corporation is trying to communicate with?
- How does a corporation communicate with its stakeholders?
- How do the stakeholders communicate with the corporation?
- Do the communications from the corporation support the brand?
eBook: Handbook of Corporate Communication and Public Relations: Pure and Applied
New Technology and the Changing Face of Corporate Communication (pp. 243–252)
While you read, consider the following questions:
- Do you think that social media will be an important avenue for corporate communication moving forward?
- What sort of information do you think corporations should make available via the internet?
- Should corporations pay attention to what people say about them on social media?
eBook: Reputation Management: The Key to Successful Public Relations and Corporate Communication
Chapter 4: Social Media
While you read, consider the following questions:
- Can social media be used to effectively communicate with all stakeholders, some stakeholders, or none at all? Why?
- Can the increase in the use of technology for corporate communications become a double-edged sword? If so, how?
- Are corporations using the new mediums effectively? If not, what should they be doing?
While you read, consider the following questions:
- What does stakeholder engagement actually mean in practice?
- Do companies tailor their engagement strategies to align with each
project they are engaged in, or do they adopt a “one-size-fits-all”
approach?