Reputation Management - Report Example

REPUTATION MANAGEMENT Current trends have seen more major companies and corporate explore ways of developing an outward public image that describes them favorably to their stakeholders. Reputation of a company is an intangible asset and many boardrooms have realized the potential it has as a major competing tool in the market despite the varying risk factors. This key process requires a solid foundation, sound management and various attributes that will enable creation of a corporate image that defines the company. This paper seeks to outline the whole process of building a corporate reputation as part of a company’s public relations strategy. Key Words: Corporate reputation, Risk, Image CONTENT 1. Introduction 2. Market analysis 3. Reputation risk audit 4. Message 5. Objectives 6. Audiences 7. Tactics 8. Strategy 9. Timeline 10. Budget 11. Evaluation 12. Appendices INTRODUCTION Corporate communication is an integrative communicative structure, which builds a cohesive link between a company and its chief stakeholders. One acceptable definition of corporate reputation is that it is, ‘the sum of a perception of a corporate past actions, current performance, and future prospects that results from the corporate ability to deliver valued outcomes to multiple stake holders and gauges a corporate standing both internally with employees and externally with stakeholders in both its competitive and institutional environment’ (Fombrun & Rindova,1996;Wiedman&Buxel,2005;Walker;2010).Organizations use corporate reputation to set ethics, standards , cohesive and harmonious working relationship with stakeholders. Effective corporate communication is vital and critical in establishing and maintaining a company reputation both internally and externally. The main stakeholders in most organizations will include but not limited to, employees, media, channel partners and the public in general. With this approach organizations have the opportunity to state and explain their mission, incorporate their visions, values, ethics and strategies in a comprehensive message format to key stakeholders. Studies show that organizations that enjoy good reputation in relation to their stakeholders have better performance, which translates to higher returns. Indeed there exists a correlation between increased levels of corporate equity and the frequency with which the name of the company is in the limelight. Reputation therefore gives an organization a competitive advantage over its rivals in the market. Good qualified and well-motivated employees are the backbone of any successful venture. Hill and Knowlton( 2002 :1) indicates that ‘the reputation of an organization is critical in attracting talented employees.’84% of MBA students in leading universities put a company’s reputation as one of their criteria in joining organizations. Customers are also more likely to buy or recommend products from companies with good reviews in terms of corporate reputation as opposed to those that lack. In drawing up a corporate reputation for BT (UK), a thorough assessment and audit of operating environment, risks and current corporate reputation attributed to the company has to be undertaken. Basing our assessment on research, we have been able to identify gaps in the perception of different stakeholders and reality. BT is a global brand and its reputation should transcend the international market with the same form of reputation it enjoys at the company’s headquarters, the UK. MARKET ANALYSIS Current market trend indicate considerable growth of the smart technology and telephony industry. Indeed forecasts indicate that by the year 2015, there will be over 320 million tablet sales. In the UK, the tablet market is dominated by Apple, which controls about 28% of the market with over 8.6 million users. Samsung with 11.5% of the market share follows this closely. The Amazon Kindle is also a potential market disrupter going by the good sales volume upon its launch. Entering such a market and competing with global brands like Samsung and Apple will require a professional approach to the launch and subsequent marketing of the device. Proper and strategic market will take precedence together with enhancing good public image and reputation to the potential market. Entering such a market will call for thorough audit of potential risks and unexpected game changers in the future. REPUTATION RISK AUDIT Reputation risk refers to “any action, event or circumstance that could adversely or beneficially impact an organization’s reputation,” (Rayner, 2003).To evaluate BT’s potential reputation risk, an in-depth focus on key issues has to be undertaken. Key issues will be the five main forces including economic, environmental, political, social and technological innovations. Others are media publicity, corporate reputation elements and corporate risk measures. Economic forces are the key drivers behind the quest for improving a company’s reputation. Strategic advance planning and corporate governance are the key indicators under the economic pillar. This then requires a company to demonstrate ability in management and professionalism in corporate affairs. Environmental issues that call for change of reputation include environmental audit and management system audit. This may call for implementation of a new system or a partial overhaul of the existing manages. Key issues to be considered under the element are employee satisfaction, good health and safety. Another issue would be corporate social responsibility (CSR). Companies seen to be involved in community projects appear more favorable to the public than those that do not. Under political concerns, companies tend to be more concerned on the legislations emanating from the political arena which directly or indirectly affect them. Perhaps the greatest risk is eventuality that unforeseen circumstances or eventualities occur. If an appropriate action in timely manner is lacking, it could be a potential crisis for the company. This entails that every company have a crises management in place even before any problem arises. AIMS Support BT in achieving its key goals and objective Implement a clear and strategic brand that will different BT’s products in the UK Grow BT’s reputation locally, and the UK branch being the headquarters, it also entails growing regionally as well as internationally. Ease communication with stakeholders with ease in relaying timely messages in relation to the company, new products, existing products and general developments in the company, Encourage both positive and negative feedback from stakeholders so as to be able to mutually benefits from insights coming from the different stakeholders. To protect BT’s reputation both internally and externally by coming up with innovative and engaging routes of reaching and engaging key stakeholders. Coordinate and integrate communication for effective and maximum effect on the market. BT is customer friendly, performance oriented and a globally competitive company. This is the corporate reputation that BT intends to project to all its stakeholders. To be able to do this, BT has to take a paradigm shift and employ communication that is accurate, cost effective, easily accessible, responsive and concise. Communication channels should specifications and requirements of each stakeholder in relation to BT. BT’s Company Public Relations department should ensure all the interests are met when coming up with messages to the public. All stakeholders are in consideration and thorough analysis put on any form of communication chosen, whether online or offline. AUDIENCES To be able to undertake all these vital strategy, it is important to identify the different stakeholders and the vital role they play in shaping the company’s course. The media is one of our key audiences with regard to corporate reputation. This includes both local, regional and international print and visual media. Having a good working relationship with the media ensures favorable coverage that works to BT’s advantage. The local population is also a key audience as they form a big number of BT’s customer base. Market research and data on demographics of market segmentation should be taken into account. This segmentation is to be based on age, sex and gender. Employees are another group of important audience. BT has an employee base of over 75000 people in the UK. This is a huge number and they should be actively involved in major strategies of the company. Outside BT’s offices, it is the workers who project the image and to a large extend the reputation of BT; hence their role is crucial when coming up with future communication strategies. BT shareholders are the owners of the company and their role in the affairs of the company should be clear. The ability to convince a third party who are at times skeptical is an indication of the ability of the company to steer itself out of mishaps. Government agencies and industry regulators Suppliers Partners of BT. OBJECTIVES A decision of the consumer to consumer a particular product can be dissected down into what information the product relays to the consumer (message) and the mode of communication (medium). Future objectives will be based on accredited market research with strategies aimed at achieving the following set objectives: To assume a brand that is perceived as both as a community leader and market leader which is performance oriented, innovative and customer friendly. Create a communication system that will keep all its shareholders well informed and engaging. The strategy will also work on increasing the number of people that see BT as improving and maximize on the new customer base. Have an effective mechanism for coordinating information and communications that will lead to increased exposure and controlled information flow. Use accurate and concise information to create a reputation internally and externally. The same criteria should apply to protect the company’s reputation in the event the need arises. MESSAGES BT will use various channels in communication to its stakeholders. Every method chosen be based on its effectiveness to have a timely impact on the company stakeholders. Channels to use include: 1. Websites Websites have a wide reach and relay information in real time. Use of newsletters and promotional brochures will be a major communication strategy to enhance reach. This will also create a platform for stakeholder to engage BT in any issues affecting their relations with BT. Our web designers will create an informative cost effective and user-friendly website to maximize on reach. 2. Social Media For any organization seeking to stay relevant in today’s business environment, presence in the social media is necessary. When used in the right context and with the right content, social media has the potential to reach all stakeholders. At the same time it can engage the customer or other stakeholders. The reach of social media has no boundaries and can be used to spread awareness of the company to new interested parties. However, the reach of social media to older members of the population may be limited. 3. Print media Statistics indicate that quite a large number of people still prefer the traditional print media as their main source information. To reach this group of people, newspapers and magazines will carry out reviews of the company .Important information touching on the performance of BT will be printed in newspapers. 4. Television and Radio These two also have a very wide reach and hence the potential of reach new interested parties to BT. To create and maintain the right corporate reputation, BT will have to adhere to its core principles and develop new ones that ensure accountability and responsibility to its stakeholders. These principles include: 1. Honesty and integrity Maintain honesty by ensuring spokespeople have all the necessary information that is factual. Speculation should be discouraged as much as possible. 2. Cost effectiveness Effective forward planning will enable limiting the cost to a minimum while maximizing on the exposure. 3. Creativity and originality The public relations department in conjunction with the marketing department will come up with creative and original ideas on marketing and changing people’s perception of BT for the better. 4. Accessibility and openness BT’s performance and financial statements will be in the public domain to enhance openness and transparency especially to shareholders and investors. 5. Clear and consistent Use the one message, one voice module whereby the spokesperson is able to deliver consistent messages without any contradictions. Official communication will be in simple clear English concise and up to date 6. Proactive personal and responsive BT will initiate campaigns that are innovative and timely to attract potential customers and make them appreciate what we offer and the way we do it. This will call for increase in exhibitions and platforms that engage customers. TACTICS At the heart of our thinking is that corporate reputation is a daily routine and just like weather, reputation exists whether we measure it or not. Unlike the weather though, reputation is controllable. This reputation should be upheld to convey a good review of the company in the minds of people. Corporate reputation unfolds in three scenarios regardless of the strategy employed: 1. Attention generation-This is where a new company creates a profile or an existing company rebrands and seeks to establish itself alongside a new operating profile. 2. Reduction of uncertainty- Here a company explains to its stakeholders the measures it has in place to minimize uncertain market trends from having a large impact on the company as a whole. 3. Evaluation- whereby the company is able to show its strategy in steering itself towards better performance. At BT we will have a four-prong strategic approach towards devising a workable corporate reputation that will encompass all aspects of the company. 1. Reputation Pyramid This will include all qualities attributed to creating awareness, familiarity and following. Under this strategy the confidence and trust of stakeholders will be paramount to every undertaking by each and every employee of BT. Under this model, reputation will have to have value and mean something. This will be measured by tangible results arising from the trust created with stake holders. These input variables must have a method of measuring the output variables for each audience. 2. Reputation pillars. These are the key elements of the company tasked with the responsibility of ensuring that corporate reputation is maintained. Thorough audit of these pillars will give pointer to the agents and forces driving BT’s reputation and areas to improve on. The management and the Public Relations department of the BT will come up with the composition of these pillars that base on the company’s goals and values. 3. Context Variables This model will gauge the response and opinions of key stakeholders and the public towards the company. We will therefore create a channel of communication to facilitate correspondence from these interest groups. Different scenarios will call for different measures as these variables will vary with audience and nature of issues forwarded. These may be a number of issues including public opinion of the company, perception of the public, issues related to developmental undertakings, environmental issues or choice of management at the company. 4. Message Testing This vital process will enable BT to construct future scenarios with relative ease. Measurement parameters should be static or poised only on current trends. Ability to be able to be able to predict future trends and act on unexpected scenarios will instill confidence on the stakeholders and the public. This will ensure BT’s reputation remains. The message fit triangulates whereby the message is aligned in regard to the messenger and the audience. Message testing will also enable BT to advise its clients and other stakeholders on future trends and matters touching on their interest in the company. It is therefore possible to ascertain with a certain degree of accuracy about the course of strategic messaging. 5. Fairness objective Studies show a direct proportion exists between corporate reputation and the fairness objectives. The fairness objectives comprise of three key principle attributes: i. Compliance with the law ii. Fair treatment of employees iii. Improving the performance of the employee STRATEGY Analysis of market research gives the following statements as the best suited to give BT the kind of public image that is in lieu with its core objectives and values. In coming up with the strategy to be employed, key dimensions were identified and strategies developed in regard to the specific dimension at hand. 1. Leadership A company’s Management team and all its employees have a huge influence on the way the outside world perceives the company. This calls for further training to all BT’s staff on professional conduct and customer relations. Cohesion within the top leadership assures potential customers and stakeholders of good reliable services. It instills confidence, which breeds a good reputation. 2. Corporate conduct BT will follow its own code of conduct and ethics, which form part of the standard of acceptable conduct code. Corporate conduct is an overall indicator of a company’s behavior and an indictment on its core values. Therefore every employee is expected to uphold 3. Customer engagement Under this strategy, focus will be put on product delivery to the customer and brand optimization. This will ensure that customers are well tended to since without customers; there could be no BT. to maximize on this strategy, giving customers value for their money makes them want to be associated with a particular and tend to be mo loyal. In this approach, the aim will be to facilitate customer engagement by ensuring clear communication channels. Effective communication that allows immediate feedback to customers’ queries, opinions, suggestions or criticism 4. Financial performance Studies done on the relationship between financial performance and the corporate reputation of the company indicates that indeed a company’s image will affect overall financial performance. Financial performance in itself also enhances the reputation of a company. This is because most people want to be associated with the winning team. Therefore shareholders will favor BT if it has high profit generating ability rather than if its ability was diminished... 5. Corporate governance The company will undertake to develop a community based initiative that will oversee it carry out CSR activities.BT can further enhance its corporate reputation especially to those stakeholders from local communities by supporting various programs such as corporate enterprise. The company should also include shareholder in day-day management of the company and not in public relation only. 6. Crisis management BT will have an elaborate crisis management program that will ensure that the company can handle any unforeseen crisis or eventuality. This is crucial so as to instill confidence and trust of stakeholders to the management team.’ Everyone accepts that things go wrong from time to time. What most organizations will be judged on is not that something has gone wrong, but on how they respond to the situation.’(Regester & Larkin: 2008, 4) TIMELINE This strategy and subsequent action plan will be reviewed in July 2013 with any additional strategy based on the existing company value and set objectives. BUDGET The budget of the corporate reputation building will be arrived in two-fold. One is the necessary initial budget for preliminary activities the implementation phase. These projects include advertising, buying necessary equipment and facilities, employing more stuff and other miscellaneous expenses. Subject to variations and fluctuations occasioned by a number of factors, the total budget of the one-year plan proposal will be USD EVALUATION Evaluating and assessing the gains a company makes out of corporate reputation can be somewhat a challenging affair in that there are no clear parameters to be measured. However the following factors can be used to gauge and assess the impact. i. Asset Specificity This is based on the indicator value in which BT’s reputation is valued in relation its character. ii. Asset accumulation Based on the visibility and prominence level of BT in relation to its competitors. iii. Asset codification This is strictly based on the rankings carried out by various reviewers and rank based on likability or reputation. iv. Breadth of appeal This is simply the number of stakeholders who access the company or the number of new customers in a certain period. REVIEW Many of the global leading brands as well as startup companies have used the proposed corporate reputation programme and corporate plan. The implementation of the module is the most important aspect of the plan. Well-implemented strategies guide by BT’s core value will yield insurmountable results. APPENDICES Our practices will help fine tune the product launch by incorporating the following activities into our launch: 1) Review current product launch practices Our review will identify system requirements, core values, goals, organizational responsibilities and interfaces. Framework of this review will be based on our our model Product Development and assessment criterion. 2) Develop better improved processes Based on the findings of the above review we will work with BT’s marketing department to create a better channel of product release. This process bases on process output, activities, responsibilities, gate and design reviews. 3) Integrate the organization We will work towards integrating ideas and processes behind the product launch to facilitate common direction. We will identify key organizational impediments, determine responsibility and facilitate necessary changes. 4) Determine necessary system integration requirements Our expertise on Product Data Management and Enterprise Resource Planning the best time to integrate the product in an ERP system. We can also facilitate migration from the limited PDM to the much diverse Product Lifecycle Management. 5) Develop and assess launch plan template This will be based on our new revise processes and systems. We will be able to incorporate calculated plan templates using available tools such as MS Word, MS Project and PD Track. 6) Introduce and Implement Improved Processes an Tools This will be deployed on pilot projects of any product being released by BT prior to the launch of the tablet device. This exercise will provide an audit of the entire pre launch preparations and identify insights into areas that would require further studies. 7) Develop product launch plans This will include facilitating discussions and providing marketing expertise on the whole product launch. BIBLIOGRAPHY Audiences, People and Brands New Jersey: Pearson. Boje, D. (2008) Storytelling Organizations London: Sage Cornelissen, J (2011), Corporate Communication; a guide to theory & practice. 3rd ed. London: Sage Doorley, J and Garcia, H (2011), Reputation Management: The key to successful PR and corporate communications, Routledge Griffin, A (2008), New Strategies for Reputation Management, Kogan Page Heath, R L (2001) Handbook of Public Relations, Thousand Oaks: Sage Mathews, R. & Wacker, W. (2008) What’s Your Story: Storytelling to Move Markets Oliver, S. (2009) Public Relations Strategy. 3rd ed. London: Kogan Page Regester, M. & Larkin, J. (2008) Risk Issues and Crisis Management. 4th ed. London: Kogan Page Tench, R and Yeomans, L (2009) Exploring Public Relations, Harlow: Prentice Hall Van Riel, C and Fombrun, C (2007), Essentials of Corporate Communication, Abingdon: Routledge Zerfass, A, Van Ruler B, Sriramesh (2008), Public Relations Research, Netherlands: Verlag Read More