COMMUNICATING STRATEGICALLY

INTRODUCTION:

Communication is a vital component in the routine functioning of an organization.
Business activities would not take place without proper interaction between the members involved in it.

First of all, let’s see what communication exactly means. "Any act by which one person gives to or receives from another person information about that person's needs, desires, perceptions, knowledge, or affective states. Communication may be intentional or unintentional, may involve conventional or unconventional signals, may take linguistic or nonlinguistic forms, and may occur through spoken or other modes." E.g. informing employees of an organization about the changes in work timings involves transmission of information. Interpersonal communication is irreversible, complicated, and is contextual.


CORPORATE COMMUNICATION STRATEGY FRAMEWORK

Corporate communication involves the corporation, the message and the constituency that is the receiver. The corporation forms the message and transfers it to the constituency. The constituency needs to respond to the message.

A strategic communication decision to “foster interdepartmental
communication” can be accomplished by various methods such as job rotation and using
cross-functional teams.

The traditional questions of “who-what-when-where-why and how” are a reasonably
good starting point for developing a communication strategy:

With whom will executives communicate?
How will employees and executives communicate?
When will employees and executives communicate?
Where will employees and executives communicate?

DEVELOPING CORPORATE COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES:

I. Setting an effective Organization Strategy:

This process involves-

a. Determining the objectives for a particular communication.

b. Deciding what resources are available.

c. Diagnosing the Organization’s reputation

II. Analyzing the Constituencies:-
This analysis determines who the constituencies are, their perception about
the organization and what they know about the communication. Constituents
can be primary (employees, customers, shareholders and communities) or
Secondary (media, suppliers, Government, etc.).

III. Delivering Messages Appropriately:-
This involves proper structuring of the message. It involves choice of
communication channel and drafting of message.

IV. Constituency Responses:-
The communication process never ends without the constituent’s
response.

By creating communication strategy based on the time tested theories presented in this chapter , an organization is well on its way to reinventing how it handles communication.

Personal Experience:

Interpersonal communication is so vital in my everyday life. From greeting my parents in the morning to wishing them a good night, I use communication. Communication is important in conveying my thoughts to others.Even when I go to college, I interact constantly with my friends and professors. It usually starts with me asking a question to someone or vice versa.

Let’s take the instance of what I experienced at work. My boss gives me instructions from time to time. He asks me to get few print outs for him. He is the corporation in this case. His order to get a print out is the message. I am the constituency. When I oblige his orders, it becomes the response.

REFERENCES:

Paul A. Argenti, 2007. Corporate Communication, Fourth Edition.

Clampitt, P. 1991. Communicating for managerial effectiveness. Newbury Park, CA. 1991.

National Joint Committee for the Communicative Needs of Persons with Severe Disabilities, 1992, p. 2

LINKS:

http://www.unm.edu/~devalenz/handouts/defcomm.html
http://www.pstcc.edu/facstaff/dking/interpr.html

CHANGING BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT

The Global Business Environment has been dynamic. Over the years, it has undergone mutation. Businesses today are not the same as they used to be 50years ago.

The way business is perceived these days is different. Organizations cannot afford to be static. Usually, corporates hold a negative image in the minds of the public in the United States. The efforts of the corporations include mechanization of all their production activities during the industrial revolution in order to increase efficiency and reduce the cost of production, thus making the products cheaper for consumers. The consumers rather saw the negative side of this- the dangerous working conditions for the laborers. The Businessmen were perceived as corrupt individuals who were there for their own needs rather than the consumer welfare. Take the example of the accounting fraud of Enron and Arthur Anderson, their audior. Even the movies and Television shows, depicted Businessmen negatively.

In order to survive and compete in the market, managers need to:

· Recognize the changing environment.
· Adapt to environment without compromising their values and principles
· Not assume problems will disappear automatically
· Keep corporate communication connected to strategy

The business environment is constantly changing. Every business needs to deal with changes small or big. The way the businesses adapt to these changes will determine their success in the 21st Century.


REFERENCE:

Marshall Mcluhan and Bruce R. Powers, The Global Village: Transformations in World life and Media in the 21st Century.

Raskin, P., T. Banuri, G. Ga llopín, P. Gutman, A. Hammond, R. Kates, and R. Schwartz. 2002.

LINKS:

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


http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Privatization

The changing business environment has seen the emergence of three key policies.
Liberalization, Privatization and Globalization.

Globalization: It refers to the growing integration and interdependence between organizations around the world economically, politically, socially, technologically and ecologically. While some scholars and observers of globalization stress convergence of patterns of production and consumption and a resulting homogenization of culture, others stress that globalization has the potential to take many diverse forms.

Liberalization: In general, liberalization refers to a relaxation of previous government restrictions, usually in areas of social or economic policy.

Privatization: Privatization refers to the sale of publicly owned assets to the private sector. The trend of privatization is prominent in developing countries as well, where natural resources are often the assets targeted for sale.
These changes in Business environment has also led to the rise of technology, which has strengthened communication channels around the globe, integrating national borders to create a “Global Village”.

Personal Experience:
Global business environment can be compared to fashion. Business environment is changing similar to fashion.
The extent of liberalization can be seen in the Indian Television. Before Liberalization, only Indian channels like Doordarshan used to run in Televisions at home. Since Liberalization took place, foreign channels like Star Movies, ESPN, channel [V], VH1 are available in India. Same can be said about Globalization. Lot of Multi-national companies can be spotted having their offices in India today. Many Government organizations in India are also being privatized today.