Sponsorship the Award at the University IT Department - Literature review Example

Name: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Institution: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Course: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Tutor: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Date: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx © 2010 Executive summary Synergy is a huge IT corporation located in Adelaide. The corporation employs thousands of employees both locally in its base at Adelaide and other various nationalities in different countries around the world. As such, Synergy’s headquarters being located in Adelaide makes this corporation a member of the Adelaide community. Adelaide University on the other hand is among the best universities globally and provides upper edification to the students from this country in addition to students of other nationalities from around the globe. The Adelaide University IT department produces some of the best qualified IT professionals who work with major IT corporations around the world and even some of the department’s graduates work for Synergy. Introduction The Adelaide university IT department is organising an awards night to reward the top students from the department for their outstanding academic performance this year. This award giving event is the first of its kind in the IT department at the university and the organisers intend to make it an annual event where top performers from the IT department will be recognised and awarded for their exemplary performance in academics. The organisers of this event approached Synergy Corporation requesting that T become the major sponsors of this event. Given that this is not going to be a one time engagement since it is going to become an annual event, there is reluctance on the part of the involved department in this corporation to commit itself to sponsoring this event as doing so would imply the corporation’s willingness and attract the organisers to approach Synergy to be the sponsors in subsequent years. This report is addressed to the CEO of Synergy Corporation for a decision regarding Synergy’s support for the annual awards night. Discussion The education sector not only provides the future workforce for corporations like Synergy to tap from, it also produces the future consumers of the products that we produce. Association with the education system has benefits that far outweigh whatever resources the corporation could spend in sponsoring the annual award ceremony at Adelaide University. For starters, Synergy Corporation having headquarters in Adelaide makes this corporation a member of the Adelaide community. This means that the corporation has a duty to be a responsible corporate citizen by giving back to the Adelaide community in an effort to better the lives of the residents of the community in which we do business. In addition to all the other programmes that have been put in place in the bigger social responsibility programme for the Synergy Corporation, the opportunity to be associated with the annual award ceremony for the IT department of Adelaide university provides the best opportunity for an association that will provide more far reaching benefits than those most of the other programmes provide. Our being an IT corporation and taking this opportunity to associate this corporation with the city University’s IT department will show that we are not only interested in tapping the experts who pass through Adelaide University’s IT department but we are also participants in the nurturing of these young minds in their formative years. By supporting the annual event, we will be fulfilling our corporate social responsibility in a way that has a great impact to the society and longer term benefits for us. This yearly occasion is the basis outstanding prospect for Synergy Corporation to market its corporate image. The way we will be perceived as a result of associating ourselves with the Adelaide University IT department will benefit us immensely. Considering the fact that the Adelaide University IT department has students from all over the world means that our image will be enhanced not only locally but also internationally. The current students are the future leaders and their memory of Synergy Corporation being supportive of their department during their college days could translate to more business opportunities in the future when these students are the key decision makers in industry in their countries. By taking this opportunity, Synergy will be setting a good example to other corporations and at the same time giving ourselves a competitive edge over our rivals especially in the IT field. Supporting this annual award ceremony will cause ripple effects in that other corporations will invest in similar projects thus benefitting the community further. It will create friendly competition where the beneficiaries is anticipated to be a community where there is a mtual business. Supporting the Adelaide University IT department will also be a good marketing move for Synergy. These kinds of events attract media attention and as sponsors, we will gain airtime for supporting a good cause as it will be mentioned that the event is sponsored by this corporation. This information will reach people who are capable of bringing business our way and keeping a good name in the minds of the buying public will create a better image for us. Synergy Corporation will become popular as a result of sponsoring this event. Recommendations 1. Synergy corporation support this year’s Adelaide University IT department awards night 2. Synergy corporation makes the sponsorship a long term engagement Conclusion It is important for Synergy Corporation to sponsor the Adelaide University’s IT department awards night on a long term basis. This sponsorship is intended to derive benefits to student community of the university but it will also be of benefit to Synergy and will make more corporations to come out to support similar causes now and in the future. This event is an excellent opportunity for Synergy to fulfil its corporate social responsibility to the Adelaide community and also to enhance the corporation’s image. Justification The beginning of the report is marked by incorporating the executive summary which gives a brief background to the two organisations involved. There is an importance to let the chief executive officer whom the report is meant to brief know that the report involves his organisation which in this case is Synergy Corporation, an IT corporation with headquarters in Adelaide. The second part of the executive summary is a description of the organisation that needs support from Synergy Corporation which in this case is the Adelaide University IT department. Purpose There is a need for the chief executive officer to know that the department in question could be of benefit to his corporation which is why it is stated in the executive summary that there actually are graduates from the same department working at Synergy. This statement is also meant to brief him that this department produces top notch professionals some of whom work for rivals in business and thus arouse his interest as to the benefits that could result out of support for the department if Synergy moves to render its support before the rivals do. To effectively communicate the message to the audience who in the above report is the chief executive officer of Synergy Corporation, it is important to let him know what the purpose of the communication is according to the first of Locker and Kaczmarek’s principles, to seek his decision about sponsoring the awards night (Hamilton, 1996). In the introduction part of the report, the writer states that Synergy Corporation has been approached by the organisers of the Adelaide University’s IT department award night to be the sponsors of the event. By making this reference in the introduction, the chief executive officer is made aware that the subject of the report is sponsorship for an awards night (Masterman, 2007). Audience In the Locker and Kaczmarek’s principles, the second one is audience. When communicating, it is important to gain the attention of one’s audience so that the communication can be effective and can achieve its purpose. When someone does not consider himself to be concerned with the message being passed across, he is likely not to pay attention to the message at all. In the above report, the introduction part clearly states that the report is addressed to the chief executive officer of Synergy Corporation and that the purpose of the report is the CEO’s decision regarding the awards night. By stating that the audience is the CEO, the writer of the report intends to capture the CEO’S attention by categorically stating that he is the major party privy to the contents of the report (McGinness, 2005). Information Information is the third principle in the Locker and Kaczmarek’s principles. The report gives comprehensive information to the chief executive officer and details all the issues involved. In the introduction part of the report, the CEO is made aware that the long term nature of the sponsorship that is required is the reason behind the reluctance of the department involved to take a decision in the affirmative which is the reason he has been personally approached (Hamilton, 1996). The report also goes on to detail the possible benefits associated with Synergy Corporation taking on the initiative of supporting the award night. The discussion bit of the report lays down all the advantages both short term and long term and also gives the possible repercussions the sponsorship would have not only on the Adelaide University IT department but also on the wider community and other corporations. The report also states the recommendations that the writer makes and this further narrows down the information to tell the chief executive that his decision is required on the recommendations of the report (McGinness, 2005). Benefits According to Locker and Kaczmarek’s principles, communication needs to show the benefits involved for it to be effective. A listener may loose interest in a message being delivered to him if he does not see how that message benefits him. Listening or paying attention to the message may seem to be an unnecessary wastage of time on the part of the recipient if it does not show how it is beneficial to him. In the above report, the author goes into details about how sponsorship of the event is going to add value to the Synergy Corporation as it is not only going to be a fulfilment of corporate social responsibility but also a source of short term and long-term gains on the part of the corporation (Hamilton, 1996). The CEO is made aware that whatever resources are used in support of the annual awards night, there is going to be a return in terms of more business for the Synergy Corporation and even though this may no be immediate, the sponsorship will not be a source of loss to the organisation. Even though there may not be monetary gains, there is going to be an enhancement of the corporations image hence it is a win-win situation (McGinness, 2005). Objections The communication following the fifth of the Locker and Kaczmarek’s principles conveys to the audience that the reason their attention and input is needed is because there is an objection as far as the communication is involved hence their input is important (Masterman, 2007). In the report to the Synergy Corporation’s chief executive officer, the report writer makes him aware that there is opposing views as to whether Synergy should commit itself to supporting the awards night or not. The head of department has reservations due to the long term nature of the sponsorship yet the report makes recommendations that the event should be given full backing by the Synergy Corporation. By showing these objections, the writer makes the audience aware that there are other views and that his decision should take those views into consideration even though the report recommends otherwise (Hamilton, 1996). Context According to Locker and Kaczmarek’s principles, the sixth and the last is about the context in which the communication is made (Hamilton, 1996). The above report is written in the context of the opposing views that the report writer presents based on the reservations that the head of department has about Synergy taking on the sponsorship of the awards night. The report clearly shows that the views expressed by the report writer are personal and based on thorough examination of the opportunity that presents itself to Synergy Corporation. The report shows that sponsoring the awards night at the Adelaide University IT department presents numerous benefits to the organisation as opposed to what the previous views are which casts doubts as to whether the sponsorship would be beneficial (Masterman, 2007). Bibliography Hamilton, B., 1996, Twelve Step Sponsorship, London, Oxford University Press. Masterman, G., 2007, Sponsorship: for a return on investment‎, NY, McGraw Hill. McGinness, R., 2005, Sponsorship: the fine art of corporate sponsorship, NY, Sage. Read More