CRISIS MANAGEMENT

A crisis is a sudden emergence of a uncontrollable situation which cannot be resolved easily and if left unchecked might be the end of the organization. It can include concrete destruction, such as the loss of lives or assets or intangible destruction, such as the loss of an organization’s credibility or other reputation damage. To handle such a scenario every organization must have a plan of action if confronted by a crisis. It is very important to know how to manage a crisis very artistically and tactfully if not might result in further damage or even the death of the organization. When a crisis occurs the company is initially dumbfound, they find themselves in a alienated situation with lack of information and are forced to intense scrutiny by the media and other constituents.

It is very important to realize that a crisis may occur to any organization irrespective of how big and reputed they are and it should be ready to face a crisis. Organizations should assess the risk it might cause to each constituency and accordingly make a contingent plan for each constituent separately as a overall plan might fail to satisfy all constituents. They must be more focused on solving the crisis rather than talking to the media giving excuses and explanation. The selection of channel is very important and should be analyzed carefully, and the corporate communication approach should be centralized to maintain consistency.

There next few lines tell us an ideal course of action during a crisis and how to tackle it effectively and minimize damage. Most importantly first get control of the situation and stop the crisis, gather as much information as possible so that you are prepared to face your constituents and set up a centralized crisis management centre. Communicate early and often to prevent suspicion and understand the media’s mission and focus in a crisis. Communicate directly with affected constituents, remember that business must continue, make plans to avoid another crisis immediately.

REFERENCES

Corporate communication, by – Paul A. Argenti

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crisis_management

http://www.managementhelp.org/crisis/crisis.htm

21st CENTURY COMMUNICATION TRENDS

There was a different scenario when the business leaders of today grew up from the one they find today. The difference between the world these executives knew in their childhood and the ones which their children or grand children will face in the 21st century is extremely dynamic and more technical. Public scrutiny of business is constant and intense and in the past decade, disillusion has grown over excesses in executive pay and morale laxity on the part of corporation. A dynamic change in the field of technology has made it difficult for the corporations to prevent both positive and negative news about the company from reaching the individuals literally in all corners of the world. Therefore the managers today have to be well versed not only to handle the international media spotlight but also to proactively counter the advocacy groups who look forward to use the media environment to compromise their corporate reputation.
The five trends according to Brigitte which is shaping the communication objective of any organization would be discussed as follows.

GLOBALIZATION
This is nothing but the whole globe considered as a single market. This can be achieved by using effective communication skills between the countries. The globalization is one of the communication trends of the 21st century. Through globalization the corporate can understand the cultures of the other country which makes it easy to get the goods and services of the foreign country in your home country; this makes the globe a single market for the traders. Buying and selling in the global market is easier with good communication skills.

DIVERSITY
Diversity refers to the different kinds of people in an organization. There are various styles and attitude of these people and it is very important for the company to understand and respect these differences. If a company knows to cope up with these differences then there will be success in maintaining a good organization culture which is very important for a company’s development and success.

FLEXIBILITY
The only thing that is permanent is change and it is vital for organizations to understand this. It is impossible to survive in this present competitive market if an organization is not flexible enough to adapt to these changing environment. They should be flexible in their process, product and culture to be able to cater the needs of the various constituents.

FLAT
A flat organization basically is a horizontal where all the employees as well as the employers are at the same level. Any employee can approach his employer irrespective of his designation in the organization. This is the best form of organization which creates a feeling of equality within the workers and eventually results in motivation and efficiency.

NETWORK
Network provides better linking of two computing devices. It is a mix and blend of Hardware and software. It is the success of network which will result in better Technology, better transportation and better exchange of information through efficient Communication which is a must for any organization.

Over the past few decades the growth of these above trends has created a revolution in every organization. All those companies which have kept up have become successful like Reliance, TATA. Sharing of information has become much easier and vital. Some years back if you had to convey some information to someone from another country would at least take a few weeks or a month but now with the injection of these trend its become so simple and easy that it can transfer anything in just a matter of minutes.

REFERENCES

www.google.com

www.wekipedia.com

INTERNAL COMMUNICATION

The communication within the organization among the executives, managers and employees is called as internal communication of an organization. Today internal communication is more than the memos, publications and broadcasts that comprise of information and it is also about building a corporate culture. Internal communications includes all communication within an organization.

Internal communications may be oral or written, face to face or virtual, one-on-one or in a small group. Effective internal communication - which can be said to be "downward, upward, and horizontal" - is a vital means of addressing organizational problems and concerns. Good internal communication helps to establish formal roles and responsibilities for employees. Employee communication is referred as a business function that drives performance and contributes to a company’s financial success. Managers are increasingly recognizing that if they provide information to employees and also listen to them those employees tend to be more excited of their work, always be connected towards corporate vision and be able to work hard for the organizational goals.

The internal communication effort can be organized by setting goals for effective internal communications and it should support the overall mission of the firm. The communication design should encourage more communication among employees it should not just be with the superiors; it should be a mode of communication within the organization. The sense of responsibility and belongingness should be built among the employees which will boost their morale towards better performance. Also measures should be taken to make time for some face-to-face meetings and one to one interactive sessions for the better understanding of the employee’s needs and wants. Certain organizations and cultures prefer face-to-face above the use of technologies of mailing.

The organizations should adapt various means through which they can communicate with employees and these means should be effective in passing on the information. Companies communicate online with their employees, create employee oriented publications, communicate visually, and at times consider the grapevine system. Today the employees need high tech and sophisticated communications, but they also want personal contact with their managers.

The internal communications department should be responsible for developing and maintaining a number of channels that allow effective communication to take place. These channels include: intranet websites, a regular town hall( and informal session where employees can listen to and talk to the organizational representatives such as a Managing Director or a Director), conference calls, video conferencing, internal newsletters, emails, message boards, print materials and virtual meetings which can be browsed and facilitated online.

REFERENCES

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internal_communications

http://www.expresscomputeronline.com/20050207/technologylife01.shtml

http://www.managementhelp.org/mrktng/org_cmm.htm

MEDIA RELATIONS

Media relation has an important role to play in building a company’s image amongst the various constituents. Media is the most preferred channel through which companies convey their message to the constituents. The decision of making a choice of the right media is also very necessary. Maintaining good relationship with the media enhances the company to be open to the public and it leads to greater success as this shows that the company is not hiding any information from the constituents and the media. The openness helps the company to preserve its corporate image, enhancing reputation, and maximizing organizational potential. Earlier there was no much importance given to the media relation person or spokesperson but with the development of communication technologies their role has become very important and media relation is become crucial. The measures of success in media can me measured by the amount of Ink it gains whether by in-house professionals or an outside consultant.

While creating relation with media the company has to select the best people who are most likely to be helpful for the organization. Maintaining good relation and being open about the information most of the time creates a better image of the company, a strong public image can be observed rather than following the “no comments” policy with the media. Media relation helps the public to know and understand the company and its purpose of origin, its offerings to the public.

Organizations indulge in designing media plans. The plan is inclusive of the decisions as to what to convey to whom, how to convey the message, who will be involved in the activities and how much time should be taken, and how much money is budgeted for these activities. This plan is very important and should be designed by every company. Major step is to do research on the reporters and to finalize the target media. The next step is to handle the request for information by media. Many times when companies say “no comment” it can end up as a costly mistake for the company as using the “no comment “strategy might mean that the company is hiding certain information which might act as a negative impact on the company’s image. A well trained spokesperson should be made to answer to these requests. The other functions of the media relations department is to prepare representatives of the company for the media interviews, maintaining ongoing relationships, involving the media personnel in strategies and most important is handling the negative news effectively and trying to convert it into an opportunity.

The Coors case is considered as the best example for media relations, this company which never was open to the public once faced a crisis when there was negative news spreading across them and they were being accused of discrimination , and hence they got an opportunity to go to media and become more open and share information with the public and try to change their opinions. They did a great job by attending an interview on the TV and they created a good media relationship. This helped them over come the crisis and build in a strong reputation. I personally was shocked to see the Coors brothers in the video shown to us in the class, the Coors brothers handled all the questions put forward to them by the investigation in the right manner. They never gave any answer which answered as “no comments.

REFERENCES.
http://www.managementhelp.org/pblc_rel/pblc_rel.htm
http://www.experiencemediaconsult.com/
www.google.com

CORPORATE ADVERTISING

Corporate advertisement is the paid use of media which is concentrated towards benefiting the image of the corporation as a whole rather than exhibiting just its products and services. Corporate advertisements aim at reinforcing its identity and enhancing their reputation. These advertisements are targeted to attract investors, to influence opinions, increase sales and to recruit and retain employees. Corporate advertisements are also used to show the social work carried on by the organization. Corporate advertisements are found in business journals, magazines and business section of news papers. These advertisements are the responsibility of the CEO of the companies. Advertising that is more public relations than sales promotion. Its objective is to build a firm's corporate image, reputation, and name-awareness among the general public or within an industry. See also institutional advertising. Corporate advertising is in the Advertising, Marketing, & Sales and Business Communications & Presentations subjects. Corporate advertising appears in the definitions of the following terms: corporate image and institutional advertising . these are the few images of corporate advertising.

http://modernmediapartners.com/content/wp-content/uploads/2007/09/cmp-corporate-ad.jpg

http://thecopykat.files.wordpress.com/2007/10/36.jpg

Product advertisement is the paid form of presentation which seeks benefit at a particular product or service offered by the company. These advertisements concentrate on exhibiting the attributes of a particular product to increase its demand and sales. They are targeted to the customers to increase their market share in that particular market. One can never imagine world without advertisements today. Open the paper, magazine you will find advertisements, turn on the TV you will find them, walk across the streets you will find them. All these are the product advertisements. The responsibility of creating product advertisements is on the marketing department. these are the few product advertisements.

http://www.photoshopsupport.com/photoshop-blog/07/12/photoshop-blog/martin-waugh-smirnoff-big-1.jpg

http://pzrservices.typepad.com/advertisingisgoodforyou/images/2007/09/22/crayons_juice.jpg

The difference in these advertisements is not known by every individual. The corporate advertisements are always general speaking out their vision or showing their social work and creating good reputation in the minds of potential investors. We learnt the difference in depth by the help of an assignment which was to differentiate between the two and identify the constituents who were targeted.


REFERENCES:
http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/corporate-advertising.html
http://www.allbusiness.com/glossaries/corporate-advertising/4965093-1.html
http://www.answers.com/corporate+advertising?cat=biz-fin

IDENTITY, IMAGE AND REPUTATION

Identity is the visual appearance of the company, mainly revealed as its name, logo, motto, mission, vision, goal, products, services, and all other tangible pieces created by the organization to communicate it self to its various constituents. The company personifies itself through its identity. Once the organization builds strong perceptions about its reality it proves success in creating an identity. The factors which help in shaping the identity are an inspirational corporate vision, careful corporate branding, and the most important is to be consistent in presenting it self.

Image is the organization as seen from the viewpoint of its constituents. Image can be said as the reflection of an organization’s identity. Image is the perception of people towards an organization, and it can be changed with continuous efforts. The strong image of an organization strengthens its brand awareness among all the various products. Organizations strive hard to create a good image which makes the company survive easily. A corporate image refers to how a corporation is perceived. It is a generally accepted image of what a company "stands for". The creation of a corporate image is an exercise in perception management. It is created primarily by marketing experts who use public relations and other forms of promotion to suggest a mental picture to the public. Typically, a corporate image is designed to be appealing to the public, so that the company can spark an interest among consumers, create share of mind, generate brand equity, and thus facilitate product sales.
A corporation's image is not solely created by the company: Other contributors to a company's image could include news media, journalist, labor union, environmental organizations, and other NGO's

http://www.linneygroup.com/images/linney-design/corporate-identity/corporate-id1.jpg
Corporations are not the only form of organization that create these types of images. Governments, charitable organizations, criminal organizations, religious organizations, political organizations, and educational organizations all tend to have a unique image, an image that is partially deliberate and partially accidental, partially self-created and partially exogenous.
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporate_image"


Corporate reputation is the belief in the organization or what the people think about it generally. Every company strives to build a positive reputation among all its constituents. Reputation is built up over time and is not simply a perception at a particular time. Reputation is built with the help of both internal and external constituents. Companies with strong, positive reputations can attract and retain the best talent, as well as loyal customers and business partners which all together contribute for the growth and commercial success.

The first name which comes to mind when one says burger is Mc Donald’s, talk about crispy chicken and we friends think of going to KFC these are the outcomes of creating a good identity, image and reputation. To be in business or to be in demand companies should focus on creating and maintaining corporate identity, image and reputation. They can be the reason for the success or failure of a company. Hence plenty time and resources should be allocated to create and maintain these factors.

REFERENCES
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporate_image
http://www.corporateimage.net/
http://www.corporateidentitydesigner.com/
http://www.valuebasedmanagement.net/methods_corporate_reputation_quotient.html

COMMUNICATION RELEVANCE

In the corporate world or environment there are a numerous application for the distribution of information through documents both internally and externally to the various constituents like the various departments in the organization, employees, and management and the external constituents like the clients, prospective clients, suppliers, investors and government. The actual power of relevance unleashes when it is applied to corporate-wide communications, it also stands on its own advantages with exhaustive features set that is ideally suited to traditional sales and marketing related application.

http://www.ehponline.org/members/2002/suppl-2/155-159ofallon/figure1.jpg

Appropriate relevance can turn the static, impersonal document into highly effective and efficient customised communications. Corporate relevance includes a wide area including content management and distribution, knowledge management, channel management, channel management, compliance management, data integration and corporate communications.

Some people think that all a corporation has to do is communicate efficiently with the employees to get all the work done efficiently and skilfully. So they think that HR function is sufficient for all its communication need. But as we see that the business environment has changed dynamically since last couple of decades. Communication function is no longer confined within the organization. Now companies need to address various constituents in order earn their trust and build image, identity and reputation. For example in the Coors case the Coors brothers handled the investigation on a right note by not following the ‘no comment’ policy. They answered all the relevant questions and they did not have any spokesperson on their behalf they had a personal interview and this gave the public a sign of trust and that the Coors brothers were not doing any illegal activity and all the allegation on them were false
Corporate communication has various functions such as corporate advertising, media relations, marketing communications, investor relations, government relations, crisis management, internal communication, image, identity and reputation etc. The best corporate advertising creates goodwill and enhances reputation by letting constituents know what the organization is all about. Good media relations help a company to gain advantage during crisis. Company may want to use marketing communication to advertise product or use investor relations to show company’s value to the investors. For example, Wipro technologies India use various corporate communication campaigns such as ‘Innovations’ campaign, environmental campaigns, industry expo, corporate advertisements, in order to build good corporate image and reputation, advertise products and build investor relations.
One of the important functions of corporate communication is crisis management. If a corporation does not have proper crisis management system then the situation may turn into a chaos. Significant crises that involve the loss of human life (Tylenol) pose enormous challenges for companies trying to make the damage that has been done and to regain public trust and confidence. Another example of crisis management is the airline industry’s recent work with the government to enhance safety measures post-9/11. Examples also include situations such as Enron, where the post-scandal strategy appeared to be one of closing ranks and attempting to prevent damaging information from leaking into the public domain.
So we can see that “Corporate Communication” function is very important and relevant to today’s business practice. Without proper communication function it is very difficult to survive in the competitive business world.

http://lamar.colostate.edu/~shimoda/Pages/hicss39/communication_graph.png
REFERNCES

http://amitava82.blogspot.com/2007/07/corporate-communication-relevance.html
http://www.z11communications.com/
www.google.com

COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES

In the ancient days the communication used were just verbal and written. But with the innovation and invention of newer technologies today one has many options or ways to communicate. Informal communication between two or more people is very simple and much thought is not applied to choose the appropriate technology. The different communication technologies available for organizations are fax, e-mail, voice mail, web conferencing, video conferencing, external websites, web logs intranets and intercom. While an organization is selecting the channel for communication it has to consider the reason of communication that is the objective of communication, the audience(constituents) to whom it wants to communicate, the effects a channel will have(constituents response), many such issues should be addressed even before making the rite choice of technology to be used in an organization.

Technology has played a vital role in the growth of business and globalization mainly. With the help of technology it is easy to connect with different nations, ease in decision making, faster correspondence, effective communication, and also helps in maintaining good relationship with constituents. For the organizations to make decision about the right and effective communication technology is a tough task because they have to communicate to a huge mass of people and every time their objective is to have an effective and efficient communication with their constituents. The explosion of new technologies in communication field has made the need for a common platform to share the ideas, Up-date knowledge and look for new partners to work with, in frontier areas of Communication.

Dell have a wonderful pattern to place order for the computers, the customer need not go to any outlet but instead use the technology and place an order through internet. This makes it very convenient for the customer as well as the company. Both benefit by this method of using technology. Hence, technology simplifies work and makes things easier. This has reduced the query clarification time of the customers. Wherein they can interact with the people directly via internet and there is always special care taken since it includes direct sales and customer satisfaction plays an important factor in inducing sales of dell.

REFERNCES
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet#Collaboration
www.google.com
www.dell.com

COMMUNICATION THEORY

There is so much hype and hoopla in the academic world of communication as to what actually constitutes communication. Currently, many definitions of communication are used in order to conceptualize the processes by which people navigate and assign meaning. Communication is also understood as the exchanging of understanding.by communication one can understand and deliver the required goods and services effectively and effeciently.
One might say that communication includes transmitting information from one person to another. In fact, many scholars of communication take this as a working definition, and use Lasswell's maxim, "who says what to whom in what channel with what effect," as a means of circumscribing the field of communication theory.

A simple communication model with a sender transferring a message containing information to a receiver. This is the simple mode of communication which a single level organisation will follow. Other commentators suggest that a regular process of communication and updating the technologies used for communication will make the communication easy and efficient.
Communication stands so deeply rooted in human behaviors and the structures of society that scholars have difficulty thinking of it while excluding social or behavioral events. Because communication theory remains a relatively young field of inquiry and integrates itself with other disciplines such as philosophy, psychology, and sociology, one probably cannot yet expect a conceptualization of communication across disciplines and cannot expect every theory to be perfectly accurate.

Inspection of a particular theory will help us provide a framework of that particular theory and how it can be applied into practical organization.Theories can also be studied and organized according to the ontological, epistemological, and axiological framework imposed by the theorist.
Ontology: essentially poses the question of what, exactly, it is the theoristic way of examining various ideas and stuffs in an organization. One must consider the very nature of reality. The answer usually falls in one of three realms depending on whether the theorist sees the phenomena through the eyes of a realist, nominalist, or social constructionist. Realist perspective views the world objectively, believing that there is a world outside of our own experience and cognitions. Nominalists see the world subjectively, claiming that everything outside of one’s cognitions is simply names and labels. Social constructionists straddle the fence between objective and subjective reality, claiming that reality is what we create together.
Epistemology: is an examination of how the theorist studies the chosen phenomena. In studying epistemology, objective knowledge is said to be the result of a systematic look at the causal relationships of phenomena. This knowledge is usually attained through use of the scientific method. Scholars often think that empirical evidence collected in an objective manner is most likely to reflect truth in the findings.
Axiology: is concerned with what values drive a theorist to develop a theory. Theorists must be mindful of potential biases so that they will not influence or skew their findings.

REFERENCES
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communication_theory
http://www.mhhe.com/mayfieldpub/westturner/student_resources/theories.htm
www.google.com

COMMUNICATING STRATEGICALLY

Communication is a process which has come in existence from the time of human existence in the world. The medium of communication has changed but the basic process remains the same. In organizations the communication process should be carried on in a sequence, it is very different from the usual informal communication which does not involve much of thought and planning. A standard way is where the corporate communicates its message through the most appropriate medium to its constituencies and there after they respond to it. Any communication is of no use until it receives a feedback from the constituencies. Corporations set an effective organization strategy which involves him determining of objectives of communication, then deciding upon the resources available and diagnosing the organization’s reputation. The focus of corporate communication is primarily towards employees, customers, shareholders and communities and also secondary at media, suppliers, government and creditors. At the time of communication the corporate first has to set certain objectives and the message too should be well formulated and the best medium to deliver this message should be chose. The two very old forms of communication were through writing and speaking. But today there are many forms of communication such as fax, e-mail, voice mail, web conference, video conference, intranets and web logs. Once the message has been sent to the constituents the last step for the corporate is to analyze if the message has been reached and conveyed the same message it wanted to. They should see if the responses match to the expected response and if not then the appropriate steps should be taken.

There are 3 steps involved in the ways in which one can determine the communication strategically:
1. To determine the corporate objectives or goals. This helps in setting the targets for the company.
2. To determine the message which the communication strategy must deliver .
Determine the constituencies. Decide the people to whom it must be communicated.
3. The constituencies’ response to the decisions taken by the public.

The example I would like to give is, when the company decides to change its working hours from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm rather than having classes from 9 :00 am to 2:00 pm. The organization has to be first sure of why it is trying to communicate something.
The next stage is to identify the resources available to communicate. The resources such as money, time and human resources should be taken into consideration.
The next stage is to identify the constituency to whom to communicate like employees, customers etc
Then in the end get the response or feedback from the targeted customer or constituncies.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Encoding_communication.jpg#file

REFERENCES
http://www.xebecindia.com/

http://www.google.com/

http://www.wikipwdia.com/

THE CHANGING ENVIRONMENT FOR BUSINESS

The business environment never remains the same it is very dynamic, it constantly keeps changing. With the change in technology, change in human needs and wants, taste and preferences it is very obvious the business also takes a new shape to be competitive. The environment in which businesses are operating now is no where close to how the environment was few decades ago when my grand parents or parents worked. Companies who operate in the present business environment which is full of competition need to be very flexible and need to be quick in assessing any new trends taking place any where in the globe. The companies should not forget their basis of formation while adapting to changes, their focus should remain the same but the way of doing things can change accordingly to the changing trends. Communication plays a vital role in defining a corporate mission, vision and goal communicating them to its internal and external constituencies. Only if the employees are well aware about what the company is striving for they can contribute towards it and do their part of the work. Even the best idea or plan in the world is useless and not worthy until it is not communicated properly and interpreted in the right sense.

An automobile company where I had a small experience doing my internship was dealing with the well know version of the car which was doing good across the globe but the growth was very slow and the consumers in India were not showing great interest in the products but they were more interested in certain features of the car than the car as a whole. The growing IT sector and professionals in the country made the company think and they came up a great innovative strategy of communicating the car to the people. The company there after was doing a great job by communicating about this product first to all its employees and advisors who worked as part time and were great source for business. Good promotions took place which communicated to the public, later every customer to whom they approached was first told about this product and it is still doing really well. The main reason for its success was its communication to all the members of constituencies. And the employees themselves being a part of the constituency.

REFERENCES

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_business_development

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_environment

http://education.zdnet.com/?p=722