Internal Communication

INTERNAL COMMUNICATION:
Internal communications, also known as employee relations, 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.
As companies focus on retaining a content workforce they must think strategically about how they communicate with employees through internal marketing. While strong internal communications have always generated a more engaged, productive, and loyal workforce the 21st century business trend of flat organizations, in which organizations have fewer levels of management and more empowered workers at all levels, has further necessitated strong communication channels between management and employees to maintain employee trust and loyalty. Often internal communications is a collaborative effort between the corporate communication and human resources departments, as it covers topics from employee benefit packages to the company’s strategic objectives. More and more, companies are making sure their employees understand new marketing initiatives being externally communicated and are uniting the workforce behind common goals and objectives.

Effective internal communication - which can be said to be "downward, upward, and horizontal" - is a vital means of addressing organizational concerns. Good internal communication helps to establish formal roles and responsibilities for employees.
To illustrateITC Windsor Manor Sheraton group of hotels as an example; heading the advice of a respected consulting group Winsor Manor for a two year period will focus primarily on improving its internal marketing in a large scale effort to improve its image. Having workforce, staff alike believing in and advocating a strong image of Windsor Manor will prove to be far more influential than any promotional campaign or television advertisement could dream of being. I think this philosophy holds true on a much grander scale, having employees believe in the organization and having them feel the organization is socially responsible is of utmost importance to its relative success. If your own employees do not believe in the message you’re selling it will be increasingly difficult to get your constituents to. I genuinely feel that having an open organization, in which information is freely shared, will help to avoid rumors and inaccurate information from being distributed and help create a more efficient communications environment.



Links

www.sieler.com/india/06.html
http://www.cnbc.com/
http://images.google.co.in/

Media Relations

In corporate communication, one of the most critical areas is the media relations department. This is only department from where investors, consumers, suppliers, retailers can receive information and build image of the business. It deals with issues rather than specifically with products or services. It involves two ways communication between organization and it’s public. Moreover, media relations require listening to the constituencies on which the organization depends and then it analyses and understands the behaviors of those audiences. Only then, organizations undertake effective public relations campaigns.

The main goals of the media relations are to create, maintain, and protect the organization reputation, to enhance its prestige and to present a favorable image .Media relation involves public, employee, financiers, community, government and political relations and consumer education. Media relation involve several tools with the proper use of each tool, an organization can reach its goal.

Corporate Advertising vs Product Advertising

CORPORATE ADVERTISING:
Corporate advertising can be defined as paid use of media that seeks to benefit the image of the corporation as a whole and it should “brand” company.

Corporate advertising campaign should be strategic and consistent. Corporate advertising should present a clear identity for the organization based on a careful assessment of its overall communication strategy .Many company’s use corporate advertising to strengthen their identity. If an organization identity is very different from how it is perceived externally for instance it can use corporate advertising to close the gap. A good corporate advertising campaign can stimulate their interest to take a close look at a particular corporation. Corporate advertising is paid from corporate communication department budget or it is paid by CEO’s office.

Example: Kotak Mahindra had lavish corporate campaign. And it tried to position itself as a one stop destination for all kinds of financial services. It has its tagline “Think investment, Think Kotak “.Kotak corporate campaign focuses on driving home the company’s philosophy of increasing the wealth of customer rather than merely preserving it.
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/catalyst/2006/02/16/stories/2006021600070100.htm
PRODUCT ADVERTISING:

Product advertising is undertaken by companies seeking to increase the sales of a particular product by emphasizing its features and benefits. A company’s marketing department is typically responsible for product related adds.

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Identity,Image and Reputation

IDENTITY:
A company’s identity and image are two most critical components of the corporate communication function has to deal with. Company’s identity is the visual manifestation of a company’s reality conveyed through organization name logo,motto,products,services,buildings,uniform,and all other tangible pieces of evidence created by the organization and communicated to a variety of constituencies. Identity should stand in line with the company’s core values, philosophies, standards and goals.

Methods used by many companies to manage identity process.
Conduct an identity audit: The company should find out how the public views the organization and what it symbols represent to different constituencies.
Set identity objectives :The goals should be set by senior management and must explain how each constituency should react to specific identity proposals.
Develop and design names: The company should ensure that name and logos continue to reflect the company’s reality.
Develop prototypes: Consultants develop models arising the new symbols or name.
Launch and communicate: Reporters should be informed about the new identity.
Implement the program

IMAGE:

Image is a reflection of an organization identity. An organization image is how constituencies perceive the organization based upon all messages , it sends out through names,logos,self-presentation ,employees etc.

Image is formed from some or many out of intended communication, unintended communication, word of mouth, reputation, transaction and post transaction experience. Many of these are out of control but with proper communication organization can build and improve an image.

REPUTATION:

When an organization identity and image are aligned ,the foundation for a solid reputation exists. Reputation is build up over time .A strong reputation is important for a firm because it calls attention to a company’s attractive features.

From my personal experience, when i go to buy any clothes the things which come to my mind is the advertisements of levis or the hordings put up. So this image, the identity and Reputation plays a vital factor in any situation, maybe in buying shoes, clothes or any products.

Corporate Communication Relevance

The importance of relevant communication is rising today. It is absolutely vital for a company to have a strong corporate communication function. This relates relevance to corporate communication. Corporate communication includes both internal and external communication. Internal communication deals with its own employees, employers, managers whereas external communication deals with suppliers, investors, shareholders, government and wider public. Nowadays the profit is not only the goal of a company . they are building good relationships with other corporate. The value of organization is the combination of what it receives and the way it receives. There are several reasons why relevance is particularly important when communicating with other corporate, such as,
To understand corporate needs
To get corporate attention
To target corporate selectively
To motivate corporate
To provide a superior corporate experience.
To create effective communication with corporate, an organization should pay attention to many factors such as demand of customers, employees needs etc. effective communication is costly and complex.

In corporate communication a critical question arises that is whether to keep all communications focusing on centralizing the activity under one senior officer at headquarters or decentralizing the activities and allowing individual business units to handle communications. Global events and economic trends effect decision about the structure of an organizations communication function. For example, September 11, 2001 attack teaches companies the importance of expecting the unexpected crises.

Effective design of corporate communication has many advantages:
It gives organization increased distinction, remembrance and recognition.
It gives organizations style, quality and personality.
It gives tangible representation of organization to constituents.
It helps the growth of organization in wide range of marketing.
It provides a focus that helps a group that defines its business mission and goals.

Communication Technologies

There are many forms of communication we use today. The use of internet ,phone, fax are in entire rise. Internet has changed the way the business function today .The internet enables the company executive to communicate extensively with the different constituencies: no matter where they are located. The use of e-mail today is becoming more and more effective form of communication and also it is easiest way of communication. The use of phone is becoming popular now-a-days. As many companies are spread world-wide, it is not possible for face-to-face communication as it involves high cost of travel. Video conference is also used extensively as this helps to who you are speaking to. The choice of communication channels is dictated by technology, one must carefully select the proper channel that would be best to reach the public.

Communication for a company consists of 2 parts:
INTERNAL COMMUNICATION: It occurs when the company communicates with the employees on a day to day basis. The employees need to be informed in order to align their vision with that of company’s. The company uses the communication technology to a great effect to communicate with the employees. The different technologies they employ are e-mail, video conferencing, instant messengers and blogs.
EXTERNAL COMMUNICATION: It occurs when the company wants to communicate with its constituencies outside the company. The different constituencies may be investors, community, consumers, shareholders, and partners. The communication technologies used to communicate with are the media, internet, and so on. The external constituencies’ needs to be kept informed to the company affairs in order to keep them with the company.

The advancement in technology has made the communication much easier, faster, and reliable and above all eliminated the geographical barriers of distance, time and region. The technology is developing so fast that still we are in process of understanding one; the other is ready and out in market.

Communication Theories

Communication root lies back to thousands of years to the ancient Greece. Communication was then called as Rhetoric. Rhetoric was considered the art of talking, using language to persuade the audience to do something. Aristotle defines the composition of every speech. It consists of a speaker, a subject, and a hearer.

Modern theorists have dealt with the communication theory .They have found out communication is a information related behavior. It is a necessary life process .There is 3 main types of communication. They are interpersonal communication, machine related communication and mass communication. Interpersonal communication is to compare it with other forms of communication with interpersonal communication, we can examine how many people are involved, how physically close they are to one another, how many sensory channels are used and the feedback provided. Machine assisted communication can be defined as communication with the help of different tools. Such as computer, mobile phones, and telephone. When a sender distributes messages to more than one person simultaneously is called mass communication.

There are various communication theories explained by different people.
Harold Lasswell explained communication model in 1948 referred to us as transmission model of communication. A speaker initiates a message and gives it through a medium /channel to the audience. The goal of communication is to get a desired effect from the audience.
Shannon & weaver’s model introduced in 1949. They are known as the fathers of information theories and they have focused on the noise source in communication.
Schramm’s first model was introduced in 1954 and focused on signal.

He has also introduced the second model with field of experience.


He also introduced the third model with feedback. He was known as father of information




Katz & Lazarsfeld’s model was introduced in 1955 . It was the first model to deal with mass media and communication in organization.
Kincaid’s convergence model was introduced in 1979 and included mutual understanding where participants create and share information to reach a common goal.
All these models are very useful in organization and offer convenient ways to think.

21st century Communication Trends

21ST Century is the century of information. To convey information an effective communication is necessary. We can also view 21st century as the communication century. The quality and speed of communication have changed quite a lot in 21st century.

The communication trends are changing rapidly along with the change of technologies. Because of the fast changes in the technology such as internet, E-mail, online chatting, blog, and mobile phones, communication becomes fast and effective. For business, it is very easy to convey or receive messages. To take competitive advantage from competitors and other organizations the must make use of the technology.
Each area of change will impact public education in significant ways and, as a result, demands a reasoned response from the education community.
According to the 21st Century Learning Initiative a profound rethinking of the structures of education will be necessitated by:

New understandings about the brain;
The potential of information and communication technologies;
Radical changes in patterns of work
Deep fears about social divisions in society
Consider the following
"Education has the ability to transform the various meanings of globalization ... the right to learn is itself at stake, and it is up to the world's educators to maintain the supremacy of this universal right in relations to any new international trade laws" Paul Cappon (2002), Director General of the Council of Ministers of Education, Canada.
Some of the new trends are
virtual weather presenter
Meet the virtual weather presenter. "Televirtual, based in Norwich, launched Metman and Metgirl initially for stations who cannot afford to have their weather presented by 'real' broadcasters. But managing director Tim Child said the implications for the future of broadcasting and the media in general were endless. He said the reason weather forecasting was chosen for the prototype was because of its relatively small knowledge base and its formulaic nature. The speech engine used for the voice is the most complex part of the creation and requires up to 30 hours programming input by reading sample forecasts."
Technology > E-Commerce Report: Blogging While Browsing, but Not Buying" http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/04/technology/04ecom.html
Blogging While Browsing, but Not Buying. "Online merchants are starting to test Web logs, which are akin to online diaries, in hopes of giving their stores more personality and giving customers a reason to return even when they're not in the mood to buy. But for companies like Bluefly.com, eHobbies, Ice.com and others, blogs are so far afield from typical retail functions that they will take time to master."
Podcasting Sneaks into Business. "Paradyne, the networking company, is diving into podcasts for internal communications. "We've seen such good results with podcasts," writes marketing manager Eric Knapp in an e-mail, "that we're thinking of issuing iPods to our entire sales force." Next up for Paradyne? Video podcasts for training within a month or two."Gizmodo.

My personal experience, when I was working in Winsor Manor there were different ways the CEO would communicate with the different hotels spread about in the globe. The ways used to communicate would be Flashing messages through the companies Intranet, Through Video conferencing.
Links:
http://www.byz.org/~rbanks/movableType/webLog/trends/archives/cat_403_new_communication_trends.html
www.emessagex.com/grab/archive/jan05.htm
www.comminit.com/trends/ctdigdiv/sld-2078.html
www.utexas.edu/vp/ecs/communications/webupdate2.01.05.ppt

Crisis Communication

Crisis is an unexpected event and something that is not anticipated by the company. Crisis may occur either naturally or a result of human error. Natural crisis is unavoidable while human error is avoidable. In crisis by human error a company is directly responsible and the constituencies will look to the organization response to the crisis before making final judgment

Characters of crisis:.
1. Element of surprise
2. Insufficient information
3. Quick pace of events
4. Intense scrutiny.

Before crisis occurring it is important to take necessary steps such as develop a crisis communication plan, create a crisis communication team.

How to communicate during crisis situation:

Management should take control of the situation. This involves defining the problem with the use of reliable information and then setting communication objectives accordingly. The Management should gather as much information as possible to understand the problem. Then the management should set up crisis management center .The managers should address the constituencies about the crisis and should take corrective steps.
At the time of crisis, communication goals should contribute to end the crisis, so that they can protect organization reputation, reducing tension, demonstrating commitment to values. To effectively cope with the crisis the media relations of the company plays a vital role. The media can be helpful for the company to revive its image that is disrupted during crisis.

Example- Coca Cola Company was accused of having traces of pesticides more than the specified levels in the colas. The company faced a severe crisis situation as sales went down drastically; disrupted reputation and finally consumers were loosing trust in the company. The company crisis communication strategy was in place quickly to educate various constituencies that the product is still safe for consumption.

http://www1.economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-1415051,prtpage-1.cms

Strategic Communications

Effective communication is critical to your organisation’s success. Many corporate and government organisations are excellent at taking action, but less confident about communicating with their various audiences.
A Strategic Communications Plan helps by organising your communications with a written blueprint for actions and activities: what, how, when, where, and to whom you should be communicating. From my point of view when communication is properly done, strategic communications planning takes into account all aspects of your organisation’s public image. It provides criteria for making day-to-day decisions about communications, and a template against which all such decisions can be evaluated. This leads to greater focus and effectiveness.

Strategic Communication is used to create awareness on HIV/AIDS epidemic
The communication channels used are radio for distance learning of health personnel, e-mail, telemedicine for providing support to practitioners in the field, text messaging as reminders to patients to take medicines
Information taken from http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3867/is_200501/ai_n11850221

When I was working in ITC Sheraton group of hotels, the training department used to conduct departmental meetings which inturn used to convey hotel goals and targets to the employees. This shows they had a strategic communication plan to convey their vision and goals to the newly recruited employees. By having a separate training department the management used an effective channel for communication.

The Changing Environment for Business

In a rapidly changing business environment, Corporate Communication plays a vital role in the growth of the company. Advancement in technology has helped the companies to grow into multinationals it also had their anti-corporate opponents coordinated campaigns having negative impact on them. So corporations have to communicate strategically to gain competitive advantage over others.

McDonald’s was accused of wrongfully selling its French fries as 100% vegetarian products when they contained beef flavoring. This led to the company's reactions and allegations. There was a settlement of the lawsuit. The company paid the damages to vegetarian groups and accepted that they had gone wrong. In the courtroom McDonald's announced that it would issue a new apology and pay $ 10 million to vegetarians and religious groups as a compensation for the lawsuits. By using the Media, McDonalds overcame this issue creating a trust to the Indian Consumers by posting ads in its outlets which said “We use pure Vegetable Oil”.

Link: http://www.icmr.icfai.org/casestudies/catalogue/Business%20Ethics/Business%20Ethics%20-%20The%20McDonald%20Beef%20Fries%20Controversy.htm