Corporate Communication

Corporate & Communication

Latin word corpus meaning ‘body’ which signifies ‘relating to the total’. Therefore, corporate communication refers to the total communication requirements of a corporate organization rather than incomplete, half-hearted, part broken off or separated into fragments. The concept basic to corporate communication is like, it is applicable to both private and public enterprises and also to non-profit social service institutions. There is however, increasing realization that there is urgent need for government bodies and other similar organizations to give a good account of themselves. So, the need is to create a favorable image, whether the organizations are profit, non-profit or a purely governmental structure.

Business, industry, commerce, and even the NGOs pursuing social service activities do realize that success and failure depend entirely on public acceptance. And acceptance varies in terms of particular perception, which again will be revolving around how an organization communicates. The communication specialists and the professionals, therefore, must always satisfy the accepted norms of public approval.

Defining Corporate Communication

Definition: - Corporate communication is the total communication generated by a company to achieve its planned objectives and to create a favorable basis for relationships with groups upon which the company is dependent.

Corporate communication, therefore, implies a visionary look at the future of business and the enterprise. In this context, decidedly, every organization needs a mission.  And the mission is the kind of glue that holds all the communication functions and elements together. Inadequate and inappropriate communication result in an ambiguous corporate image inside and outside and lead to breakdown in the coordination of all contributing elements in an organization. Corporate communication as well as the functional modes of communication must effectively coordinate all the relevant factors of corporate image and identity programmes.

Image and Identity

In organizations, we may be familiar with the general perception about the image and identity factors. These are the essential inputs as well as the final output of corporate communication endeavors. The three most normal and truthful aspects are:

·         Image is in the eye and in the mind of the receiver

·         Identity refers to the image that a company strives to achieve

·         Image is transferable to identity and identity can be transmitted to build an image

Both corporate identity and corporate image are focus-based. It has three factors of corporate image and corporate identity.

                                       

Interconnection between identity and image

Image and Identity: Which Comes First?

The answer is not known. The generally accepted idea sees the image as a projection of corporate identity. Both are leaders and both can also be followers.

Similarly, it is also true that image is not a total reflection of identity. None is an end in itself but can be influenced by the affective factors of behavior, communication and symbolism that the corporate body pursues and practices.

In specific terms, identity is conveyed by outward display of a company’s name and logo, products and brands, stationary articles and dress patterns, services and performance, assets and buildings etc. identity must be able to create an inspiring vision not only for the employees but more so for all the other constituencies around the corporate. In short, identity means the sum of the all the ways and methods a company chooses to identity itself to its targeted public.

The role of identity and image that ultimately lead to corporate goodwill and reputation.

How do Goodwill and Reputation Count

These are the twin assets that go hand-to-hand together almost like image and identity in the corporate domain. Goodwill is the established reputation of a businesses or an organization which can be translated into huge sums of money. In fact, goodwill is an intangible asset for corporate reputation built through hard work and toil over a long period of time.

Corporate Image: Intrinsic Values

An image is a set of pictures and meaning by which a person, a group or a body of organizational entity will be known.  These are the attributes by which people view, describe, remember and relate to them. The impressions thus created will have influences as a result of a person’s thoughts, ideas, beliefs and experiences.

Image is an assortment of functional qualities and a host of psychological attributes in the mind of the public. The importance of image development for organizational excellence is due to the following:

  o   Image is representation of the company’s values in the mind. No organization can afford to ignore the intrinsic value of images with the different sets of publics.

  o   A positive organization image is a strategic instrument of success for the corporate management.

  o   The effect of a positive image is far and wide, extending help and support in all forms of organizational breakthrough, be it sales and marketing, employee performance, investor response, media communication, crisis management and may more.

  o   A favorable image attracts the best of talents in a proud feeling of ‘to belong’ and attrition rates of employees and executives to go down significantly.