Corporation Communication Relevance

Corporate communication is the exchange of information with all stakeholders related to the corporation. Stakeholders might be internal or external. Internal stakeholders of a company are the employees and stock holders of the company. External stakeholders are clients, suppliers and government. Communication to internal or external stakeholders should be relevant. The communication for the internal stakeholders might be about the good progress the company is making or an honest confession during a scandal. For external stakeholders the communication is like an advertisement or statistics about the company.

Communication to internal stakeholders will be usually morale boosters in the form of newsletters or mail from management of the company. During my internship in EMC, I got newsletters showing the progress of the company, the recent customer wins and how EMC was staying ahead of competition. The newsletter also contained the steps taken by EMC to ensure employee satisfaction. I also got mails from the management in the company about the quarterly earnings of the company and the price of EMC stock. These mails also thanked us for our hard work. Usually these kinds of communications keep up the morale of the company and make the employees feel that they are contributing to the success of the company.
Communications to external stakeholders is very dependent on the stakeholder. For example the communication to the shareholders of the company will contain information about the general health of the company, company’s strategy and vision to stay ahead of the competition. It might also mention the initiatives the company is taking to increase its market presence. Companies might take up initiatives to improve the society and this is a way of corporate communication to show that the company is socially responsible. One of the most important communications to the external stakeholders will be in during times of crisis. Crisis may be a legal tangle the company has gotten itself into or bad publicity generated in the media due to some findings in the company. Effective corporate communication might make the difference of the company staying afloat during the crisis.

http://www.intranetjournal.com/articles/200510/ij_10_26_05a.html
The above article explains the relevant communication is important to internal stake holders

21st Century Communication Trends

There are five key organizational trends.




Globalization: has occurred due to decline of barriers among nations and role of technological change. It has reduced cost and improved quality of international transportation and communication, reduced search for unsaturated markets and exploit regional cost and expertise differences has led to increasing global sales, manufacturing, research, management. It has also led to a global labor market. It has expanded globally where direct exports are moved to sales offices in different countries and manufactures to all functions are spread across the globe.


Diversity: This occurs due to changing demographics, and globalization of the labor market. It has lead to workforce getting more heterogeneous sexually, racially, culturally, and individually, etc.; it is a source of both innovation and conflict/communication problems; it is also a need to cope with different styles of interaction, dress, presentation, physical appearance.

Well having worked on the topic diversity , I would like to add that the main factors influencing modern day economy are Cultures, Ethnic groups, Physical features, race - human variability ,Socio-economic backgrounds ,Religious beliefs ,Neurology. There is also a huge impact of culture in workplace. All these factors must be unified by doing an Assessment, followed by developing some strategy which should further be implemented. Everybody must foster an attitude of openness. They must encourage and Utilize diversity training and lastly promote diversity in leadership positions.

The following steps needs to be taken for adapting to diversity
Diversity encourages acceptance and respect. It must adapt integration of races, religions, cultures and organizations for worldwide synthesis. Development of interpersonal skills among employees




Flexibility: means that the organization is flexible regarding processes, people, rules, procedures, autonomy etc. Flexibility is needed to stay competitive, to adapt to new situations, and to compete with other organizations. It creates a healthier working environment.




Flat organizations: enable discussions, decision making of employees and increasing motivation among employees. I think a flat organization can be more flexible and more competitive than an organization with more hierarchical levels, as communication is necessary to adapt to new situations. It has lesser levels of hierarchy which leads for lesser confusion among the employees.




Network: An organization network can be defined as a group of people that have some kind of commercial relationship. According to experts, business networking functions best when individuals offer to help others to find connections, rather than "cold-calling" on prospects them. Business networking can take place outside of traditional business environments.


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

http://www.business-marketing.com/store/culturaldiversityartcile.html

http://www.yan-koloba.com/articles.html

The above mentioned articles talk about the importance of communication trends and the need for diversity in a workplace.

Communication Technologies

“Technological change has placed communication in the front lines of a social revolution.
William Paisley, 1985

The word technology comes from the Latin root texere, to weave or to construct. One kind of technology – communication technology is especially important in modern societies. Communication technology is the hardware and inbuilt technology inside the hardware that will help individuals collect and exchange information with other individuals. Some communication technologies go back to the start of human civilization like the invention of spoken language and written forms of these languages. As civilizations advanced, communication technologies like film, radio and television became important. These communications were due to the advances in the electronic industry. But these mass media technologies were unidirectional where a message was communicated to an audience of many. There was a need for a bi directional communication technology that was an exchange of information between two individuals. There was the telegraph which was being used for this type of communication, but there was a huge latency in the communication between the two individuals. The invention of telephone solved this latency in communication. The transfer of communication was instantaneous and immediately became hugely popular. It is still popular though in the wireless mode even in the 21st century. After the invention of telephone, until the invention of the internet, telephone dominated the any forms of bi directional technology. Advances in the electronic domain gave raise to alternate communication means and is setting the trend in the 21st century.

21st century communication technologies



• Telephone: One of the greatest inventions of the 19th century is still used in the 21st century.
• Mobile Phones: Variation of the telephone but wireless. Rapidly replacing telephones.
• Smart Phones: Mobile phones are being used to transfer information other than voice. Smart phones transfer information through the wireless technology.
• Internet: The most widely used means of communication in the 21st century so far. Information to mobile phones is sent through the internet. Internet passes information using the standard Internet protocol.
• Email: Email is one of the forms of communication facilitated by the internet. Various portals provide unique individual is to users and users can use this unique id to exchange text/picture mails. Most of the corporate communication happens through email and is most widely preferred.
• Instant Messenger: Another mean of communication through the internet. Unlike emails this communication mode is instantaneous. Instant messengers can be between individuals or group of individuals. Certain portals or instant messenger clients provide a group of users to communicate instantaneously in a chat room.
• Voice Chat: Voice chat is provided by various instant messenger companies so that users can talk through the computers to each other using speakers and microphones. The users need to use the computers and must be using the same voice chat provider.
• Web Blog: It is an online diary and is used by individuals to express their views. It is mostly unidirectional but other users can put in comments about the web log. Web blogs are hosted by various service providers.
• File Sharing: Users can store their files in a specified location hosted by one of the various service providers. Other users can download these files based on permission levels and information is exchanged.
• Internet Telephony: Traditional telephony is over fixed copper lines. But internet telephone is rapidly replacing traditional telephony. Internet telephony converts voice to digital information and transfers it over the internet. Also, unlike voice chat internet telephony is between two telephones.




• Satellite Telephone: Another form of traditional telephony by satellites are used to relay voice between two individuals.
• Streaming Media: Certain service providers host audio/video created by users. Other users can view and hear the audio/video through streaming. Audio/video streaming can be live or recorded.

http://jurnalistikuinsgd.wordpress.com/2007/04/19/communication-technology-the-new-media-in-society-everett-m-rogers-1986/

http://en.wikipedia.org/

The above mentioned articles gives a better view on communication technologies, it talks about communication technology as a new media in the society.

As technologies advance new forms of communication will be invented. Some might be feasible and could be used by most of the population, but others might be used by specific set of people only e.g.: satellite telephone. Also, due to the advancement in technology the means of communication is reliable most of the times. Due to the various communication technologies I am able to keep in touch with my relatives half way across the globe and most of these technologies are free or cheap. I can view them using the webcam while talking to them using microphone. I can keep in touch with my project team mates through email and instant messenger. For any instant communication I can call them using the mobile phone. Communication technologies have become one of the pillars of human existence.

Communication Theories

Communication is means for exchange of words and messages between two or more individuals. Communication theories are based on the notions that are traced back to years ago. In ancient Greece, the subjects now we refer to as communication was called rhetoric. Aristotle, the Greek philosopher is most associated with the development of rhetoric as an art.

In his Rhetoric, Aristotle tells us that we must consider three elements in communication:

the speaker
the speech
the audience
Lasswell's communication Model: The theory is as given below:Who-what-Channel-whom = effect. Here who refers to speaker, what is message, channel is medium, and who is audience. “Who says what to whom in what channel with what effect.” Since it was the first theory, the theorist did not pay attention to the noise, feedback, coding, encoding, etc




Shannon and Weaver Model
Shannon and Weaver suggested a linear model where a "information source sends a message that is transmitted through a signal which is received at a receiver and sent to its destination." The irony is that Shannon and Weaver were engineers at Bell Laboratories (Western Electric) and were trying to describe what happens during telephone conversations.




Schramm’s Model
His first model was shown as Source-Encoder-Signal-Decoder-Destination
His second model is shown that the first model is divided by field of experience
His third model Includes feedback. He was the first theorist to realize the value of feedback. Without feedback it is not clear to the sender of the message whether the information send by them is perceived properly or not.




Westley-McLean Model: This is communication for mass media. Event, advocate channel and audience are used. This model included feedback as well.




Kincaid’s Convergence Model:. This model is very dynamic and evolves over time. The communication process starts from interpreting, perceiving, information from one person to another. This model also includes physiological and physical reality




http://evolutionarymedia.com/cgi-bin/wiki.cgi?ModelsOfTheCommunicationProcess,template.html

http://www.cas.usf.edu/lis/lis6260/lectures
The above mentioned articles talk about the communication theories and give more in depth understanding of the various communication theories.

Crisis Communications

Crisis Communication
In this day and age you cannot predict when a crisis might hit your corporation. Crisis might be a terror attack, a major product recall due to death and injury, workplace violence or a nasty scandal. 9/11 terror attacks proved that companies should be prepared for anything. In the case of 9/11, the airlines industry lost out due to the fear of flying by the travelers got due to the terror attacks. Pharmaceutical companies are always on the toes afraid that one of its drugs might cause a death. It would be necessary for a product recall causing huge amounts of financial loss not to mention the loads of bad publicity generated due to the death. In today’s active media which is blood thirsty for news, any organization can be affected a great deal in a matter of hours or days. A scandal like in Enron might immediately undermine a huge corporation and rocket the stocks of the company downwards affecting thousands of stockholders and employees of the company. Any issue of public importance will be blown out of proportion by the media to get their TRP ratings up. In times of crisis like these companies should be ready with plans to deal with the crisis.

Crisis communication is part art and part science. It may be having the right people say the right thing in the media or accepting the reason for the crisis and diffusing before it gets big. But to have the right people in place to say the right thing people should be trained. Sometimes a corporate apology might diffuse the situation but somebody should decide if an apology is necessary because apology might be misunderstood as acceptance of responsibility. Brilliant communicators are needed to apologize for the crisis but ensure that the company is not accepting the responsibility of the crisis. A crisis communication plan should be in place to tackle the crisis. A plan will help the company because during times of crisis the company management might be frozen by indecision. An ideal plan will detail a step by step process to be followed during times of crisis. During indecision it is best to follow a process rather than following an ad hoc approach. But having a plan might also be dangerous because the plan might give media and the public that the company already knew the crisis and was ready with the necessary press releases. A defined process might not be suitable for all crisis situations. Hence there must be a team in every company who will handle communication in times of crisis.
Another important aspect of crisis communication is consistency. The actions of the company should follow the company spokespersons’ words. A company cannot call for recall of a product but do little to send out necessary communication to the users and not setup facilities to facilitate the recall. During times of crisis a team should monitor all communications going outside the company and communications sent internally to employees. All external and internal communication should be consistent and should follow the guidelines created by the crisis communication team. Crisis communication plan and teams plays a very vital role for a company during the times of crisis.



During the Tylenol scare of 1982, Johnson & Johnson handled the crisis very effectively. In 1982, seven people died after consuming extra strength Tylenol capsules. The capsules were laced with potassium cyanide by unknown perpetuators in supermarkets. Johnsons & Johnson after finding out about the deaths immediately distributed warnings to hospitals and distributors after immediately halting the production of Tylenol. It also recalled 31 million bottles that were in circulation which would have given Johnson & Johnson $100 million in revenue. It also advertised in the national media not to consume any Tylenol capsules. It also offered to exchange capsules for tablets. All these actions helped Johnson & Johnson to convince the media and public that J & J was intent on the safety of the public. By the recall it convinced the public that it was worried about them rather than its own financial health.

Some links that were used are
http://www.levick.com/resources/topics/crisis/corpCrisis.php

http://news-info.wustl.edu/news/page/normal/4352.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1982_Chicago_Tylenol_murders

Internal Communications

Managers and the top management in an organization have always paid attention the “customer care”, and “customer satisfaction”. Recently, they have realized the importance of employees of their own company. Employees have more to do with the success of the business than virtually any other constituency.
Employee communication is no longer a “soft function”, but rather a business function that drives performance and contributes to a company’s financial success. In the 21st Century, internal communications is more than just memos, publications, and broadcasts that comprise it; it’s about building a corporate culture and having the zeal to drive organizational change. Internal Communication strengthens relationships with employees who involve planning and staffing.
Organizing the Internal Communication Effort: the best way to measure the effectiveness of a company’s internal communication efforts is by determining what employee’s attitudes are about the firm. This can be done by conducting a communication audit. Based on audit results, communications professional can design the right program for the organization.
Goals for Effective Internal Communication: First the company has to determine some goals for effective internal communications. Ultimately, effective internal communications should reinforce employee’s beliefs that they are important resources to the firm.
Where Should Internal Communications Report? Earlier internal communications reported to the human resources area, now they report to the corporate communication area. Both areas have some involvement with the internal communications. It is also noticed sometimes companies look outside their own organizations for help with internal communications.



Implementing an effective Internal Communication Program:
Communicate Up and Down: The best approach to communicating with employees is through informal discussions between employees and supervisors. Employees need to feel secure enough in their positions to ask questions and offer advice without fear of reprisals from top management.Make Time for Face-to-Face Meetings: One way of ensuring that employees have the freedom to meet senior management is to hold regular, in person meetings with fairly large groups of employees on a quarterly basis.Communicate Online: Internet has delivered every one the cheapest mode of communication; from email to video conferencing everything is possible through the World Wide Web. Each company should have a provision for employees to communicate online.Create Employee Oriented Publication: another form of information sharing in many companies is through the print medium. Print communications are particularly important to prevent employees, without email access from feeling marginalized. Company could also send the publications to reach employees through postal services.Focus on Internal Branding: Internal branding is also important to building morale and creating a workplace where employees are “engaged” with their jobs. While communicators do inform employees about new advertising campaigns, they seldom recognize the need to “sell” employees on the same ideas they are trying to sell to the
public. Internal branding is especially critical when an organization is undergoing changes such as merger or a change in leadership.

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

http://www.nickfinck.com/presentations/bbs2005/08.html

http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/services/communications/internal/

The above mentioned articles give an insight on internal communications. The first article gives the basics to be followed, the second link is a presentation showing how internal communication can be enhanced and the third link is giving us a summary of the entire topic.




In my work experience at Emc data storage systems, I noticed that they maintained a very informal way for communication where any employee could approach the senior management with their queries and they would always have a lending ear for them.
We had weekly review meetings with our manager and director who would discuss all the developments taking place and would discuss our work and would suggest some ideas wherever necessary and always welcomed our views on the new developments taking place. Their was no sort of discrimination among employees all were treated as one.
Internal communication is very important for the success of the company.