Corporate communication relevance

Communication is the passing on of ideas and information. In business, it is essential to have good clear channels of communication. Communication is only successful when the intended result is achieved. This effectiveness is dependent on the choice of recipient, the clarity of the message and the choice of communication medium. www.compad.com.au/cms/prinfluences/articles/
It would be inefficient and wasteful to send a message to every distributor regarding every single issue, particularly if some issues only concerned a few individuals.
Effective communication at Amway, therefore, involves making prior decisions about who needs to receive the message. Sometimes it is necessary to repeat a message.
For example: - In the classroom, a lecturer will attempt to explain a task in clear and simple terms, but if students are unsure about the message, he will rephrase it until the students understand. Repeating messages through a different communication channel can also aid the target market's understanding.
The Importance of Communication In Small Business: -
Many small businesses fail because of small communication mistakes that could have been easily handled by employees. This is not an uncommon occurrence in the business world. Some of the top companies that are out there have great communication. In fact, employers look for the communication as the top skill when hiring students, or employees. Why is it so vital to a company’s success that you have great communication skills? Well, think of it this way. If you cannot communicate an issue that is happening to your manager, then he cannot take care of it and the problem persists. This problem can be minute, or major. Either way, overlooking it and not voicing a concern can be detrimental to a small or even a large business.www.expresscomputeronline.com/20050207/technologylife01.shtml

How to Avoid Small Business Communication Problems
One way to avoid this is to hire college graduates. Many college graduates that have lived on campus have gained more than just a bachelor's degree. They have gained an enormous edge in communication. Many schools require a communication course as part of the curriculum. Otherwise, students interact in activities with a diverse college environment giving them the ability to voice concerns in a business setting. Communication that is learned in classroom, and other methods from a college environment can help your small business grow.
Relevance for employees: -
Today's employees want to participate in decision-making, or at least they want to be informed about decisions affecting them in a timely manner. Internal communications strategies, developed by the corporate communication function, make sure the workforce is more engaged, productive, and loyal - because it feels informed. Internal communications should make sure employees get information, which is affecting them before the public gets it. For example, when GM announced to lay off 30,000 workers in 2005, the company had to communicate this to its employees before informing the public (http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,176199,00.html
Relevance for investors
Investors need information about the company, otherwise the investments become too risky and they would withdraw their money. IR professionals interact with individual and institutional investors and are involved with the financial statements and annual reports. Look at the example of Boeing: the homepage's investor relation’s subsection offers a great deal of information for investors (http://www.boeing.com/companyoffices/financial/). In competition for capital, corporations need to communicate with investors and potential investors.
Relevance for communities
Companies increasingly take more responsibilities in communities in which they operate. Globalization and international corporate expansion have increased constituents' expectations for corporate citizenship. Many companies are publishing environmental and social performance information. The corporate communications department is involved in this task. For example, look at Exxon Mobil’s initiatives in corporate citizenship (http://www.exxonmobil.com/Corporate/Citizenship/gcr_mainpage_categories.asp).

Example: - 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 disaster as in case of Coors case.

Personal experience: - A businessman must travel overseas to another country for matters such as finalizing a merger, it is vitally important that he has knowledge of the proper communication methods and ways of conducting business. Corporate communication involves the strategy which outlines how the organization conveys information internally and externally, and it is considered more important now than ever before.
References: -
www.compad.com.au/cms/prinfluences/articles/
www.expresscomputeronline.com/20050207/technologylife01.shtml
(http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,176199,00.html
(http://www.boeing.com/companyoffices/financial/). http://www.exxonmobil.com/Corporate/Citizenship/gcr_mainpage_categories.asp)

Corporate Vs. Product Advertising

Advertising: - Advertising is paid, one-way communication through a medium in which the sponsor is identified and the message is controlled. Variations include publicity, public relations, product placement, sponsorship, underwriting, and sales promotion. Every major medium is used to deliver these messages, including: television, radio, movies, magazines, newspapers, the Internet, and billboards.Advertisements can also be seen on the seats of grocery carts, on the walls of an airport walkway, on the sides of buses, heard in telephone hold messages and in-store PA systems. Advertisements are usually placed anywhere an audience can easily and/or frequently access visuals and/or audio, especially on clothing. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advertising

Corporate advertising : -Corporate advertising is a very general form of advertising because it covers any product associated with a company. The goal is to shape an organization's image as a whole rather than the image of certain products or services, and to enhance the popularity of a company.

Corporate Advertising
•Think long-term
•Seek to benefit image
•Consistent with mission and vision

Categories of corporate advertising:

Image advertising: - Image advertising has the aim to reinforce a company's identity and to enhance its reputation. Especially when structural changes occur within companies, they frequently use corporate advertising to strengthen their identities. Corporate advertising is an efficient tool for changing or establishing impressions about organizations if structural changes have taken place. Further, it allows companies to differentiate themselves from rivals.

Financial advertising: - Companies arrange financial advertising campaigns to make themselves attractive as investment by enhancing their image in the financial community. Financial-relations advertising tries to stimulate interest of potential investors in a company's stock. Many corporate advertisers claim that a strong financially oriented advertising campaign can increase a company's stock price. Hence, professors at Northwestern University found out that there is evidence of a significant positive effect of corporate advertising on stock prices.


Issue advocacy: - companies to respond to threads exposed by the government or special interest groups use Issue or advocacy advertising. In this case, companies try to communicate directly with consumers, competing with journalists who also try to influence readers with their stories about the companies. Companies dealing with environmental issues use advocacy advertising very often. For example, oil companies like BP or Shell are continuously faced with allegations of non-government organizations to exploit the environment and not care about human rights. The companies often react with advocacy ads in the media, trying to convince the public of its environmentally and socially responsible behavior.

Importance of corporate advertising

To attract investment

To influence investors

To enhance reputation.

To influence opinions

Benefits of corporate advertising: -

Increase sales

create a stronger reputation

Recruit and retain employees.

Product advertising: -The goal of product advertising is to target a special focus group by advertising a special product and increase the sales volume of that product. Product advertising brands a certain product. In product advertising, companies directly promote their
Products. Companies mention the product with features, types and prices. The goal of the product advertising is to attract customer to buy products.

Example of product advertisement: -The ad of GARNIER FRUCTIS ANTI-DANDRUFF SHAMPOO. “Feel the power of Zinc pyrithione and achieve fruit concentrate. Washes dandruff away and prevent it from recurring. Keeps the scalp clean, right from the first use.

Example of corporate advertising: -The advertisement of accenture services pvt. Ltd. “it’s not how many ideas you have.it’s how many you make happen. So whether it’s your idea or accenture’s, we’ll help you turn innovation into results. This falls into “IMAGE ADVERTISING” category. This advertising is to reinforce identity and hence reputation.

Personal experience: -I worked with accenture services for two months and I found they use one common statement for their corporate advertising that is “what it takes to be a tiger” means they provide services which takes the enterprise to the success and they provide services more than customer expectations. The company deals in consulting, Technology, outsourcing and Alliances.

References: - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advertising
http://www.accenture.com/
THEORIES OF COMMUNICATION BTST 670(PPT)

Media relations

Everyone in public relations knows that good publicity is the best advertising. A well-placed article, a positive radio show or the right interview on TV are all what good publicists and media relation’s people dream about.

The Growth of business coverage in the media: -
Before the 1970s,business news was relegated to a few pages toward the back of the newspaper (consisting mostly of stock quotations) and to a handful of business magazines; it received virtually no coverage at all in the national and local television news broadcasts.
As public attitudes changed, however, the business news section in the newspapers gained recognition and began to expand

Six Tips for Better Media Relations
When pitching the media, it’s important that you know something about whom you are calling. If it’s a magazine read, not simply page through, and a couple different issues and if it’s a radio show, listen to it. http://www.mediarelationsblog.com/

• Identify who you are and why you are calling.
• Ask if this is a good time to talk. If it isn’t, ask the reporter to suggest the best time you should call back. Never ask a reporter to return your call. If it is a good time to talk, proceed to the next step.
• Let the reporter know you are familiar with the publication or with stories she writes about.
• Explain the idea in a sentence or two.
• Explain quickly why readers will care.
• Ask if the reporter is interested.

Blogger relations: -Bloggers are typically not going to write an article about pitched news, except in special situations involving breaking stories and big brand news. However, bloggers do like to link out to resources. So make it easy for the blogger to write about your news by providing a concise, informative summary with link(s) to additional information. The blogger can then paraphrase or add their own commentary along with a link to the source.
A popular Blog always has something to write about so if PR pros continue to pitch blogs the same way they pitch mainstream media, they will increasingly find themselves being ignored or worse, to have poorly written and executed pitches published and mocked for all to see. Make it easy for the blogger, while still being relevant and personal, and the job of gaining Blog coverage will become much easier.

Media Interview Tips

• Keep answers short
• Avoid “No Comment!” response
• Listen to each question
• Use “bridging” to move closer to your objective
• Use anecdotes
• Keep body language in mind
  
  Simple Techniques for Media Interviews

Walk the bridge: One technique is called a "bridge." This is a phrase that allows you to make effective transitions. A bridge is also a great metaphor. Picture yourself walking across a bridge to safety, away from dangerous issues. Also, picture yourself walking toward your goals, toward the key messages you are seeking to deliver.So, instead of answering a question with one message and stopping, you can bridge to each of your other messages.

Examples: "That's a good point, but the key issue is." " In addition, our research shows." "Not only have we grown profits, but we've also.

"Flag it: The other device is called a "flag." You use a flag to signal to your audience that a particular point is critical. The metaphor, of course, is waving a flag for attention.For instance, in answering a question about your area of expertise, you might say, "The most important thing for people to remember is." "The critical issue is." "The focus of the debate is."Gentle warning: It's important to note that these devices are best used with some subtlety. Don't be like a presidential candidate, leaping from one topic to another with no logical transition between.

http://www.aboutpublicrelations.net/ucmillen1.htm

Carry your flag, and cross your bridge, with finesse. You won't be elected president, but you'll find you've more effectively communicated with your key audiences.


11 tips for using photos and graphics for public relations.

1. Make sure you have good-quality, above-the-shoulders photos of all your experts who are likely to be interviewed by the media.

2. Consider asking your photographer to shoot "environmental portraits" of your experts. An architect, for example, might be shown holding several rolled up architect's renderings under her arm. A construction executive can be shown holding a hard hat or other tools of his trade. Weekly newspapers that don't have big photo staffs would probably welcome these photos.

3. Have interior and exterior shots of your company available for the media. The interior shots can show people at work. Please, no cliche "on the telephone" or "working at the computer" shots.

4. Submit photos with news releases about routine announcements such as new hires, promotions, retirements, awards, etc.

5. Pie charts, bar charts and other graphics can often help readers understand complicated issues such as budgets. Offer to supply information to media outlets so they can create their own graphics to accompany the article they're writing about.

6. If you're sponsoring an event that doesn't necessarily warrant a story, call the photo desk at your local newspaper and let photographers know what's happening.

7. If a photographer from a newspaper or magazine takes photos at your company, never demand to see the negatives, or dictate what photo they should use with the article, or ask for free copies of prints. The negatives are the property of the media outlet, and the media maintain full control over their use. If you want prints, expect to pay for them.

8. Make sure all photos are scanned at print-quality 300 dots per inch and available for instant download at your website, preferably under a button called "Media Room" that can be accessed from the homepage.

9. Avoid using big clunky photos at your website because they slow down the time it takes a page to load.

10. Never, ever ask a newspaper or magazine to take photos of a check passing, groundbreaking or ribbon-cutting ceremony. The media hate these staged events. And don't wimp out by uploading these cheesy-looking photos to your expensive website. http://www.aboutpublicrelations.net/ucstewart1.htm

11. Offer an architect's rendering instead of a groundbreaking shot. In place of a check-passing photo, take a photo that illustrates what the money will be used for. Instead of a ribbon-cutting photo, how about a photo of a businessperson with a customer on the first day of business?

Building a successful media relations program

1.Involve media relations personnel in strategy.
2.develop in-house capabilities
3.Use outside counsel sparingly
4.Developing an online media strategy.

Example: -Adolph Coors Company is a brewery company, which faced a big problem because of NATIONWIDE BOYCOTT. They were not having good relations with media, which creates a big problem for them at the time of BOYCOTT.

PERSONAL EXPERIENCE: Now a days all companies have established a separate department for media relations because of its huge importance. In all most all companies (specially in INDIA) personnel department performs this activity.

REFERENCES: -http://www.mediarelationsblog.com/
http://www.aboutpublicrelations.net/ucmillen1.htm
http://www.aboutpublicrelations.net/ucstewart1.htm

21st century Trends

“As we are moving towards Globalization from local production and distribution, diversification problem is also occurring.

Trends in FDI: -The past 20 years have seen marked increase in both the flow and stock of FDI in the world economy. In contrast to the long-term trend, between 2000 and 2002 the value of FDI slumped almost 60% from $1.3 trillion to about $543 billion. The most notable decline was in the level of cross-border managers and acquisitions.

Investment in Scientific and Technological Knowledge Creation
As nations have developed economically, they have tended to spend more on science and technology, and more specifically on research and development -- the creation of scientific and technological knowledge. The figure1 and figure 2 suggests that the most developed nations have already saturated the portion of GDP allocated to R&D, spending two or more percent of GDP on R&D. Those nations will spend more on research and development as their GDP's continue to rise, and may spend a greater portion of GDP on R&D if R&D productivity increases or if better means of translating scientific and technological knowledge into profits are institutionalized.

http://stconsultant.blogspot.com/2007/04/foresight-s-knowledge-trends-in-21st.html

Less developed nations, however, are not only increasing GDP, but increasing the portion of GDP spent on R&D as they progress economically. The BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China) are expected to enter the list of the most powerful economies of the world by 2050, and with other developing nations invest much more in research and development.Satellite communications

Satellite communications
Satellite communications have been in service for more than 40 years and represent by far the largest space industry, with annual revenues now at $30 billion a year and over 35,000 employees worldwide. Satellite technology may be viewed by some as a mature market; but this book will explore many exciting new technologies and services yet to be developed. A new demand for advanced Internet and IP services, entertainment, and multicasting services as well as advanced applications related to multimedia, telecommuting, etc. are the driving forces behind new satellite and communications research and development.

Economic trends: -

OPTIMISM INDEX
The Index of Small Business Optimism lost 0.5 points in April, falling to
96.8 (1986=100). The Index has been below its historical average (100.2)
For 11 of the past twelve months. Weaker, but no recession call.

LABOR MARKETS
Nationally, the unemployment rate remains at an exceptionally low level
Of 4.5 percent. Twenty-six (26) percent (seasonally adjusted) reported unfilled job openings, unchanged from March’s remarkable level. Over the
Next three months, Job creation plans were positive
In all industry groups, strongest in construction manufacturing and nonprofessional
Services (not seasonally adjusted).

CAPITAL SPENDING
Capital spending activity remained lethargic. The frequency of reported capital outlays
Over the past 6 months was flat at 60 percent of all firms. Forty-three (43)
Percent reported spending on new equipment, 23 percent acquired vehicles,
And 13 percent improved or expanded their facilities. Seven (7) percent
Acquired new buildings or land for expansion and 13 percent spent money
For new fixtures and furniture.

INVENTORIES AND SALES
A net negative two percent of owners reported a gain in inventory stocks
(Seasonally adjusted), four points lower than March. Now, more firms are
Cutting stocks than raising them. For all firms, a net negative three percent
Reported stocks too low (seasonally adjusted), a two-point improvement
From March. Twenty-six (26) percent reported higher sales and 31 percent
Reported lower sales, producing a seasonally adjusted net four percent of
All firms with higher sales in the most recent three-month period compared
To the prior three months, up four points from March.
This survey was conducted in April 2007. A sample of 10,799 small business owners/members was drawn.

INFLATION
So far, 2007 is not unfolding in the Federal Reserve’s favor. Growth is
Slower, but inflation pressures are increasing; “stagflation,” with a small
“S”. Since bottoming in December, the net percent of firms raising prices
Has risen from eight percent to 18 percent in April. Unadjusted, 31 percent
Reported raising average selling prices, up three points, and 11 percent
Reported lower selling prices, unchanged.

PROFITS AND WAGES
The net percent of firms reporting earnings improvements fell four points
From February levels in spite of a four-point gain in reports of higher sales
And nearly one in five owners reporting higher average selling prices. On
The negative side, 26 percent reported higher employee compensation.
And energy costs are on the rise. Labor compensation will be pressuring
Profit margins all year.

CREDIT MARKETS
Regular borrowing activity was reported by 37 percent of the owners.
There is no sign that borrowing activity has picked up, even with the
Problems in the housing sector. Reported borrowing activity among
Construction firms were 10 points lower than March. The net percent of
Owners reporting loans harder to get in recent months fell slightly,
Dropping two points to a net five percent (six percent said “harder,” one
Percent said “easier”), typical of recent readings.

Green Power: The environment trend has been around and been a struggle for many companies, such as automakers with electric cars trying to capitalize on the green awareness. The care of Mother Earth is still a big concern of society. According to a recent Harris Poll, over 74% of American adults believe in the global warming theory. Over 73% of U.S. citizens approve of the Kyoto agreement for countries to limit their carbon monoxide and greenhouse gas emissions. Although, the United States has not signed the accord, countries like Canada, that have accepted, the accord will be a watch place for the impact. http://sbinformation.about.com/cs/bestpractices/a/aa122202a.htm

Opportunities: This trend will be supported by businesses reducing reliance on oil & gas with new forms of energy like wind power. Wind power experienced a 1.7 billion dollar increase in new equipment during 2001 (American Wind Energy Association). Also, look to companies helping companies reduce energy consumption with new forms of energy saving products. For example, one small business is profiting from installing energy efficient shipping doors for corporate shipping operations.
Delivering High Customer Value
Consumers have varying degrees of loyalty to specific brands, stores, and companies. Oliver defines loyalty as "A deeply held commitment to re-buy or re-patronize a preferred product or service in the future despite situational influences and marketing efforts having the potential to cause switching behavior. The key to generating high customer loyalty is to deliver high customer value. Michael Lanning, in his Delivering Profitable Value, says that a company must design a competitively superior value proposition aimed at a specific market segment, backed by a superior value-delivery system.

Total Quality Management
The quest to maximize customer satisfaction led some firms to adopt total quality management principles. Total quality management (TQM) is an organization-wide approach to continuously improving the quality of all the organization's processes, products, and services.

Example: -Now a days all companies are expanding their business world wide.As WAL-MART’S established in Arkansas by sam walton.WAL-MART has grown rapidly to become the largest retailer in the world with 2002 sales of $218 billion,1.3 million associates and some 4500 stores.

Personal experience:-Dell computers are using internet for their supply-chain. They don’t have retail outlets, if one wants to buy dell computers.He has to place order on the dell website.because of internet facility they assamble computers at very low cost.

References: -
http://stconsultant.blogspot.com/2007/04/foresight-s-knowledge-trends-in-21st.html
http://sbinformation.about.com/cs/bestpractices/a/aa122202a.htm
International business (Charles W.L Hill)

Corporate identity, image and reputation

Identity

: -A company’s identity is the visual manifestation of the company’s reality as conveyed through the organization’s name, logo, motto, products, services, buildings, stationary, uniforms and all other tangible pieces of evidence created by the organization and communicated to variety of constituents.
Corporate identity is the reality of the corporation—the unique, individual personality of the company that differentiates it from other companies.
Corporate identity—the reality and uniqueness of the organization—may be broken down into four component parts:
Corporate strategy: - Strategy is the overall plan that determines the company's product/market scope and the policies and programs it chooses to compete in its chosen markets.
Corporate culture: - Corporate culture is the shared values and beliefs that the organization's members hold in common as they relate to each other, their jobs, and the organization. It defines what the firm's personnel believe is important and unimportant, and explains to a large degree why the organization behaves the way it does.
Organizational design: - Organizational design refers to the fundamental choices top managers make in developing the pattern of organizational relationships. It encompasses issues such as whether basic tasks should be organized by function or product division, the company's overall configuration, the degree of decentralization, the number of staff personnel, the design of jobs, and the internal systems and procedures.
Operations : -Operations, the fourth and final component of corporate identity, is the aggregate of activities the firm engages in to effect its strategy. These activities become part of the reality of the corporation and can influence its identity in a wide variety of ways.

Shaping of identity: -

A vision that inspires: -Most central to corporate identity is the vision that includes the company’s core values, philosophies, standards, and goals. Corporate vision is a common thread that all employees, and ideally all other constituencies as well, can relate to.
Names and logo: -Companies often institute name changes either to signal identity changes or to make their identities better reflect their realities. Logos and another important component of corporate identity-perhaps even more important than names because of their visual nature and their increasing prevalence across many type of media.

• How to manage the identity process
• Conduct an identity audit
• Set identity objectives
• Develop designs and names
• Develop prototypes
• Launch and communicate
• Implement the program

Image: -Image is a reflection of an organization’s identity .it is the organization as seen from viewpoint of its constituents. Depending on which constituency is involved, an organization can have many different images.

CORPORATE IMAGE:- Corporate image is the reputation of the firm with the various audiences that are important to it. These groups that have a stake in the company are known as stakeholders. Stakeholders are affected by the actions of the company and, in turn, their actions can affect the company. Consequently, its image in the eyes of its stakeholders is important to the company.

Theory of Corporate Image:-In the process of managing corporate image, the fundamental variables are:

• Corporate communication
• Corporate image
• Feedback

Corporate identity is the reality of the corporation—the unique, individual personality of the company that differentiates it from other companies.
Corporate communication is the aggregate of sources, messages, and media by which the corporation conveys its uniqueness or brand to its various audiences. Corporate image is in the eye of the beholder—the impression of the overall corporation held by its several audiences.

Objectives of corporate image

The objective in managing corporate image is to communicate the company's identity to those audiences or constituencies that are important to the firm, in such a way that they develop and maintain a favorable view of the company. This process involves fashioning a positive identity, communicating this identity to significant audiences, and obtaining feedback from the audiences to be sure that the message is interpreted positively. An unsatisfactory image can be improved by modifying corporate communication, re-shaping the corporate identity, or both.

The principal stakeholders with whom most large corporations must be concerned are:
Customers
Distributors
Retailers
Financial institutions
Analysts
Shareholders
Government regulatory agencies
Social action organizations
The general public
Employees.

Obviously, each of the various stakeholder groups is likely to have a somewhat different perception of the corporation because each is concerned primarily with a different facet of its operation. Thus, consumers are principally interested in the price, quality, and reliability of the company's products and services. Financial institutions are concerned with financial structure and performance. Employees are mainly concerned with wages, working conditions, and personnel policies. Logically, then, a company should tailor its communication to each stakeholder group individually to address the special concerns of that group.

However, maintaining a consistent image among the several stakeholder groups is also vital. Both employees and the general public have an interest in the overall prestige of the firm and the reputation of its products.

A social action group's criticism, whether economically effective or not, is bound to influence some customers and affect the company's public reputation. A regulatory agency such as OSHA would focus narrowly on the firm's safety record and policies, but the company's employees and their labor unions also have a stake in these matters.
Corporate image, or reputation, describes the manner in which outsiders perceive a company, its activities, and its products or services. A company that mismanages or ignores its image is likely to encounter a variety of problems.
"Reputation problems grow like weeds in a garden," Davis Young wrote in his book Building Your Company's Good Name. "Direct and indirect costs escalate geometrically."

Some of the warning signs that a business might have an image problem include: -
High employee turnover,
The disappearance of major customers,
A drop in stock value
Poor relationships with vendors or government officials.

If an image problem is left undressed, a company might find many of its costs of doing business rising dramatically, including the costs of product development, sales support, employee wages, and shareholder dividends. In addition, since the majority of consumers base their purchase decisions at least partly on trust, current and future sales levels are likely to suffer as well.

CORPORATECOMMUNICATION:- Corporate communication provides the link between corporate identity and corporate image. It should be defined in the broadest possible sense, because companies communicate identities in many different ways. Communication can include almost anything the company does; from the way telephones are answered to the involvement of company employees in community affairs. Some of the principal sources of corporate communication include company and product names and logos, formal statements (mission statements, credos, codes of ethics, annual reports, advertising copy, and company slogans), and behavior during important events. These events encompass scheduled events such as open houses and anniversary sales as well as unscheduled events such as lawsuits or negative press coverage.
FEEDBACK:- Feedback is essential to the management of corporate image. Business owners and managers need accurate information on how they and their company are perceived if they are to make sound decisions. Ideally, feedback should be continuous. As a practical matter, continuous feedback can be elicited from salespeople, clients, employees, and other local business owners. Based on such input, modifications may be made in the company's communication methods or, if warranted, a formal study of the corporate image may be initiated. In addition to systematically utilizing internal sources, it is prudent to undertake a serious review of the business's reputation (both internally and externally) on a regular basis.

Example: - The business climate in the United States has become one of environmental complexity and change. This has forced many business enterprises to significantly alter their strategies to better compete and survive. The acceleration of product life cycles is another vital dimension of the turbulent business environment. Globalization has been still another catalyst in the rise of corporate image programs, as companies have sought ways to spread their reputations to distant markets.

Personal Experience: -Now a days all companies are trying to enhance their corporate image by corporate Advertising or by doing social responsibility activities. All companies use logos and symbols. Example: -Accenture has a symbol (>), which explains that they provide services greater than customer expectations.

Reference: -
http://www.answers.com/topic/corporate-image?cat=biz-fin
http://www.corporatecommunicationsvoodoo.com/labels/Corporate%20Identity.html
Corporate communication by Paul A. Argenti

INTERNAL COMMUNICATION

Internal communication

Internal communication is the via media that links an organization. It is the foundation that holds the work culture, policy and processes, goals and vision together. Any blockage, wrong detour or mismanagement in this channel can be catastrophic for an organization—from spreading false rumours and impacting employee morale to hampering organizational productivity and smearing its brand name. The success of its internal communication programme is imperative for an organization. But the question is: how to quantify this success? http://www.expresscomputeronline.com/20070326/technologylife01.shtml

A lower rate of attrition, employee engagement and satisfaction levels (determined through surveys) are all pointers to an organization’s successful internal communication initiative. This success can be judged in three ways, believes Raja Gopalakrishnan, SVP, Global Service Delivery & Operations, and Managing Director, India; EFD eFunds:

Communicating a message: Top downwards in movement, this method could be used to communicate simple one-way messages from mission statements to medical benefits, from the organization’s goals to holidays for the year.
Assessing baseline: Bottom upwards; this method could be used to assess the current level of awareness, information and opinion among various employee groups on some key issues.
The spiral of success: Using a combination of both bottom-up and top-down processes, this would combine feedback to establish current baseline, define and design objectives for communication, and measure effectively to achieve objectives on an ongoing basis.

The fallout of bad internal communication: -

Short-term impact

• Spread of misinformation.


• Erosion of employee trust and confidence.


• Conflicts between employees and management.


• Misinformed employees can make wrong decisions.


• Internal brand image suffers.


• Long-term impact


• Dissatisfaction among employees leads to higher attrition.
  Lack of coherent and shared vision.


• Low employee morale results in lower productivity.


• Impact on company's stocks.


• Organization’s external brand value suffers.
  

The importance of internal communication

Ø Internal communication is essential for every organization, but very few are able to manage it efficiently.

http://www.expresscomputeronline.com/20050207/technologylife01.shtml
Ø Internal communication is considered a vital tool for binding an organization, enhancing employee morale, promoting transparency and reducing attrition. Ironically, while everybody understands and talks about the significance of internal communication, very few are able to manage it efficiently. Both the long-term and short-term fallout of ineffective internal communication can be damaging for an organization. It can start from the spread of rumors to disillusionment among employees to a gradual destruction of the company’s brand image. Worse, it may also lead to the slow death of the organization.

• Employees are inarguably a company’s greatest asset, yet often find themselves working in the dark with no feedback, little information and no map of corporate direction. Research shows that only 4 in 10 employees are satisfied with internal corporate communication and that internal communication correlates strongly with overall job satisfaction. Companies such as Nokia and GlaxoSmithKline are turning towards the development of Communities as a means of encouraging and managing internal communications to reach business objectives, with great success.
  Note:-It is well known that the root cause of most internal problems being faced by a company often stems from ineffective communication. “Industry standards like P-CMM in Level 2 include communication as one of the key process areas. In high-context cultures like India, the delivery of the message is as important as the message itself. It is therefore necessary to identify the best possible methods to reach your message to the target audience—in this case, your employees,” explains Sunder Rajan, general manager-HR, Infinite Computer Solutions.


• Whose responsibility?
  
  The responsibility of disseminating the information is not limited to a select few, the corporate communications team or the HR department, every individual in the organisation should be responsible. “Every employee has a role to play in the internal communications of an organisation; some may even have multiple roles. The roles and responsibilities of every employee should be so defined that they are aware of the kind of information they should and should not communicate and to whom, when, how and why. A healthy communication would have desired outcomes,” points out Khullar. Internal communication should take place as a series of steps and not as an isolated event. “Well-planned and delivered internal communication can drive the culture in an organization. The most important thing is the credibility of an information source. To get the desired result from the audience, the trust factor must be strong,” states Manoj Mandavgane, general manager, HR, ICICI InfoTech. He opines that while formulating internal communication strategy, the following factors should be taken care of:


• The purpose should be clear.


• The timing and medium are important.


• Language must be used carefully.


• The tools of communication should be effective.


• When people are vulnerable, their tolerance for ambiguity decreases, so

they need to be told clearly to feel secure.

• Communication has to be supported by action
  
  
  Ways and means
  The channels of communication are intranets, e-mail, newsletters, periodic speeches by the CEO / managing director, open house sessions, etc. Sridharan asserts that while formal channels are important, it is imperative to make informal communication a continuous effort.
  
  
  INTERNAL COMMUNICATION KNOWLEDGE & SKILLS MATRIX –
  TRAINING, DEVELOPMENT & RECOMMENDED READING
  
  GENERIC - BUSINESS & MANAGEMENT
  SPECIALIST - CORPORATE & INTERNAL COMMUNICATION
  
  BAND 1 – Entry level (six to 12 months)
  Entry-level practitioner (degree level). Learning core skills and acquiring basic knowledge in the wider context of communications and management.
  Who moved My Cheese – Johnson
  Idiot’s Guide to Project Management – Baker
  Broad reading of the quality press – FT, Times, Telegraph, etc
  The Economist Style Guide
  Inside organizations – 21 ideas for managers – Handy
  Handbook of Corporate Communications - Gower
  Writing for the web – IABC
  Essential English for journalists, editors & writers – Evans
  
  Copy-editing – a practical guide - Juee
  BAND 2 – 12 months to 2/3 Years
  Becoming effective as a practitioner, growing the skills set and deepening their understanding of business/management and internal comms.
  The Seven Habits of Highly Successful People – Covey
  First Things First - Covey
  Making the Connections – Quirke
  Work Psychology: Understanding Human Behaviour in the Workplace – Arnold, Cooper &
  Robertson (Financial Times/Prentice Hall)
  The Fundamentals of Corporate Communication – CIM Professional
  PR Week
  Inside Organizational Communication – IABC
  The Complete Guide to Integrated Change: Best Practice for Major Announcements -
  IABC
  The Communication Plan - IABC
  Introduction to Communication Studies – Fiske
  Simplicity – the new competitive advantage in a world of more, better, faster - Jensen
  Example: -Both star bucks coffee co. and Kinko’s inc.hired outside consultants to conduct internal communication audits to identify strengths and weaknesses in those companies existing communication practices. Detailed questionnaires uncovered precisely how employees viewed internal communications and helped management develop possible solutions to communication problems. In addition, Kinko’s used in-person interviews and videoconferencing facilities to conduct nationwide employee focus groups and uncover the sentiments of employees from region to region.
  
  Personal Experience: - I worked in IBM at my internship and I found they
  Use corporate intranet for internal communication and employees reports to their team leader and team leader reports to their manager for communication. Team leader cannot report directly to general managers. There is a proper structure of communication.
  
  Reference: - http://www.hlbcomm.com/internal.html
  http://www.expresscomputeronline.com/20050207/technologylife01.shtml
  http://www.knexuscommunity.com/KS/ourinsights/brainnuggets/BNsep05.asp
  
  

Communication technologies


Communication is a process that allows beings - in particular humans - to exchange information by one of several methods. Communication requires that some kinds of symbols from a kind of language are exchanged. There are auditory means, such as speaking or singing, and nonverbal, physical means, such as body language, sign language, paralanguage, touch or eye contact.
Communication happens at many levels (even for one single action), in many different ways, and for all beings, and some machines. Many or all, fields of study dedicate some attention to communication, so when speaking about

communication it is very important to be sure about what aspect of communication one is speaking about. Some definitions are broad, recognizing that animals can communicate with each other as well as human beings, and some are more narrow, only including human beings within the parameters of human symbolic interaction.
Note: - Between parties, communication content include acts that declare knowledge and experiences, give advice and commands, and ask questions. These acts may take many forms, including all variations of nonverbal communication. The form depends on the symbol systems used. Together, communication content and form make messages that are sent towards a destination. The target can be oneself, another person (in interpersonal communication), or another entity (such as a corporation or group).

Communication as information transmission

Communication can be seen as processes of information transmission governed by three levels of semiotic rules: Syntactic (formal properties of signs and symbols), pragmatic (concerned with the relations between signs/expressions and their users) and semantic (study of relationships between signs and symbols and what they represent). Therefore, communication is a kind of social interaction where at least two interacting agents share a common set of signs and a common set of semiotic rules. (This commonly held rule essentially ignores autocommunication, including intrapersonal communication via diaries or self-talk)
In a simplistic model, information or content (e.g. a message in natural language) is sent in some form (as spoken language) from a emisor/sender/encoder to a destination/receiver/decoder. In a slightly more complex form a sender and a receiver are linked reciprocally
Telecommunication is the transmission of signals over a distance for the purpose of communication. In modern times, this process typically involves the sending of electromagnetic waves by electronic transmitters, but in earlier yars it may have involved the use of smoke signals, drums or semaphore. Today, telecommunication is widespread and devices that assist the process, such as the television, radio and telephone, are common in many parts of the world. There are also many networks that connect these devices, including computer networks, public telephone networks, radio networs and television networks. Computer communication across the Internet is one of many examples of telecommunication.
Telecommunication systems are generally designed by telecommunication engineers. Early inventors in the field include Alexander Bell, Guglielmo Marconi and John Logie Baird. Telecommunication is an important part of the world economy with the telecommunication industry's revenue being placed at just under 3% of

Analogue or digital
Signals can either be analogue or digital. In an analogue signal, the signal is varied continuously with respect to the information. In a digital signal, the information is encoded as a set of discrete values (e.g. 1's and 0's). During transmission, the information contained in analogue signals will be degraded by noise. Conversely, unless the noise exceeds a certain threshold, the information contained in digital signals will remain intact. This represents a key advantage of digital signals over analogue signals.

Networks

A collection of transmitters, receivers or transceivers that communicate with each other is known as a networks. Digital networks may consist of one or more routers that route data to the correct user. An analogue network may consist of one or more switches that establish a connection between two or more users. For both types of network, a repeater may be necessary to amplify or recreate the signal when it is being transmitted over long distances. This is to combat attenuation that can render the signal indistinguishable from noise.

A local area network

Despite the growth of the Internet, the characteristics of local area networks (computer networks that run at most a few kilometres) remain distinct. This is because networks on this scale do not require all the features associated with larger networks and are often more cost-effective and efficient without them

Channels

A channel is a division in a transmission medium so that it can be used to send multiple streams of information. For example, a radio station may broadcast at 96 MHz while another radio station may broadcast at 94.5 MHz. In this case the medium has been divided by frequency and each channel received a separate frequency to broadcast on. Alternatively, one could allocate each channel a recurring segment of time over which to broadcast — this is known as time-division multiplexing and is sometimes used in digital communication.

Modulation

The shaping of a signal to convey information is known as modulation. Modulation can be used to represent a digital message as an analogue waveform. This is known as keying and several keying techniques exist (these include phase-shift keying, frequency-shift keying and amplitude-shift keying. Bluetooth, for example, uses phase-shift keying to exchange information between devices.
Modulation can also be used to transmit the information of analogue signals at higher frequencies. This is helpful because low-frequency analogue signals cannot be effectively transmitted over free space. Hence the information from a low-frequency analogue signal must be superimposed on a higher-frequency signal (known as a carrier wave) before transmission. There are several different modulation schemes available to achieve this (two of the most basic being amplitude modulation and frequency modulation). An example of this process in action is a DJ's voice being superimposed on a 96 MHz carrier wave using frequency modulation (the voice would then be received on a radio as the channel “96 FM”).[

Internet

The Internet is a worldwide network of computers that mostly operates over the public switched telephone network. Any computer on the Internet has a unique IP address that can be used by other computers to route information to it. Hence any computer on the Internet can send a message to any other computer using its IP address. These messages carry with them the originating computer's IP address allowing for two-way communication. In this way, the Internet can be seen as an exchange of messages between computers.An estimated 16.9% of the world population has access to the Internet with the highest access rates (measured as a percentage of the population) in North America (69.7%), Oceania/Australia (53.5%) and Europe (38.9%). In terms of broadband access, countries such as Iceland (26.7%), South Korea (25.4%) and the Netherlands (25.3%) lead the world.
The Internet works in part because of protocols that govern how the computers and routers communicate with each other. The nature of computer network communication lends itself to a layered approach where individual protocols in the protocol stack run largely independently of other protocols. This allows lower-level protocols to be customized for the network situation while not changing the way higher-level protocols operate. A practical example of why this is important is because it allows an Internet browser to run the same code regardless of whether the computer it is running on is connected to the Internet through an Ethernet or Wi-Fi connection. Protocols are often talked about in terms of their place in the OSI reference model — a model that emerged in 1983 as the first step in an unsuccessful attempt to build a universally adopted networking protocol suite.The model itself is outlined in the picture to the right. Although the Internet's protocol suite does not strictly adhere to this model, it can still be talked about in the context of this model

ARPANET development centred around the Request for Comment process and on April 7, 1969, RFC 1 was published. This process is important because ARPANET would eventually merge with other networks to form the Internet and many of the protocols the Internet relies upon today were specified through the Request for Comment process. In September 1981, RFC 791 introduced the Internet Protocol v4 (IPv4) and RFC 793 introduced the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) — thus creating the TCP/IP protocol that much of the Internet relies upon today.
However not all important developments were made through the Request for Comment process. Two popular link protocols for local area networks (LANs) also appeared in the 1970s. A patent for the token ring protocol was filed by Olof Soderblom on October 29, 1974 and a paper on the Ethernet protocol was published by Robert Metcalfe and David Boggs in the July 1976 issue of Communications of the Acm.
Example: Communication Technologies, Inc. (COMTek) is a leading-edge company focusing on Telecommunications/Broadband, IT Managed Services, and Training. COMTek leverages its advanced technology experience and expertise to help clients turn IT challenges into business opportunities.
http://www.comtechnologies.com/
personal experience:-All the companies now a days are using Internet or Intranet for the information sharing and for the world wide knowledge.As dell computers uses Internet for their supply-chain management.Even now a days companies can not survive in cut-throught competition if they don’t share knowledge.

References:-

Ø http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communication
Ø http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=5&hid=20&sid=4d722e53-c725-4f19-a0fe-60f86638c88b%40sessionmgr3
Ø Baumeister, R. F., & Leary, M. R. (1995). The need to belong: Desire for interpersonal attachments as a fundamental human motivation. Psychological Bulletin 117, 497-529.