WHY AN ORGANIZATION NEED A PERFECT CORPORATE IDENTITY

WHY AN ORGANIZATION NEED A PERFECT CORPORATE IDENTITY

Originally, corporate identity was synonymous with organization nomenclature, logos, company house style and visual identification. Manycorporate identity practitioners had (and have) their roots in graphic design and understandably a good deal of importance were assigned to graphic design.

The authors contend that graphic designers have been hugely influential in two regards, in that they articulated the basic tenets of corporate identity formation and management and succeeded in keeping the subject on the agenda of senior managers.

The role of symbolism is now assigned a greater role and has grown from itsoriginal purpose of increasing organizational visibility to a position where it is seen as having a role in communicating corporate strategy.

The realization by graphic designers and marketers of the efficacy ofconsistency in visual and marketing communications led to a number ofauthors arguing that there should be consistency in formal corporatecommunication

The breadth, complexity, and importance of corporate communications was pointed out by Bernstein who argued that organizations should communicateeffectively with all of their stakeholders.

those made more recently by is that the corporate communication mix and its management is fundamentally different from and is more complicated than, the marketing communications mix.

The understanding of corporate identity has gradually broadened and is now taken to indicate the way in which an organization’s identity is revealed through behaviour, communications, as well as through symbolism to internal and external audiences.

Consultants, have decided not to give a definition of corporate identity but rather

a statement which articulates the multidisciplinary nature of the area and its difference from brand management.

Increasingly academics acknowledge that a corporate identity refers to an organization’s unique characteristics which are rooted in the behaviour of members of the organization. Many  scholars conclude that the management of an organization’s identity is of strategic

They argue that senior managers can narrow the gap between the actual and desired corporate identity through communications, symbolism and behaviour.

By Msele Musa

BAPRM 42626

CYBER ACTIVISM

BY JOSHUA HELENA M

BAPRM 42571

Cyber activism refers to the extensive use of the Internet to provide counter-hegemonic information and inspire social mobilizations is a new phenomenon in which a variety of new forms of movements and protests are using the most modern information technologies. Hence, cyber activism through the Net is seen in:  1) Internetworking, 2) Capital and information flows, and 3) Alternative media and theory: A. Alternative media and B. Alternative theory networks. Cyber activism in the Net is seen in: 4) Direct cyber activism (hacktism), 5) Contesting and constructing the Internet and 6) Online alternative community formation. We define the types of cyber activism preliminarily as follows.

1) Internetworking: The Internet has enabled the wide spread expansion of established movements. We would like to distinguish three types of internetworking: a) organization and network coordination, b) grass roots global internetworking, and c) direct action coordination. Regarding grass roots global internetworking: Various AGMs as alternative globalization movement protests are expressions of a form of political networking and internetworking, often across a wide variety networks/movements cooperating with others at odds that culminate in mobilizations and diverse sets of actions by a diversity of groups ,A fundamental change in social movement activity is the linking of diverse movements into super movement spheres for the networking of information and resources and the creation of universal social justice and rights charters.

        

2) Capital and information flows: We would distinguish three main types of net based economic activity, the sue of mainstream networked channels of capital distribution, solicitation, and management by social movements

Large mainstream movement organizations and NGOs raise funds o use of bureaucratic organization methods, new groups within and across various AGM networks do use net-based capital flows.

The propriety of digital information continues to be challenged by post-Napster peer-2-peer, p2p, distribution networks based on free/liberated software such as Gnuttela, Kazak, and WinMX.[1] Indeed, the attack on Napster may have been counterproductive to the goal of Media conglomerates to suppress digital piracy and counter culture competition in that the architecture of pirated and alternative noncommercial media distribution is now decentralized, hence much more difficult to control. Decentralized networks dedicated to sharing digital media are probably here to stay, as long as the net is a relatively open system. It should be noted that cultural media can be the carriers for encrypted political messages and were used as such as the use of messages in electronically transferred pornography by the Al Qaeda network. Various alternative media and distribution processes are of course used by a whole range of – from fascist to conservative to progressive to radical – politicized artists and musicians, can serve simultaneously as political organizing venues (political bands and protests/cyber activism go together, online media distribution, and alternative media.

3Alternative media and theory:

Alternative media: We note three types of alternative media on the net: a) alternative media, b) grass roots global media and information networks and c) counter-surveillance measures.

Alternative media including variously, online alternatives to mainstream media, social movement media, and local media online): Just as major newspapers now cultivate online readerships, established left/right media are using the net to distribute part or all of their publications stock of articles and recruit readers. Consider: Encyclopedia Britannica has moved online. Specialized professional publications are moving online. Many persons online now use the net as primary source of news.

Another aspect of alternative net media, more on the research and strategic organizing end, is making privileged communications and information increasingly transparent. This open character of information on the net (which rightly concerns privacy advocates relating to personal information) is the basis for an intriguing and powerful type of cyber-activism is the counter-surveillance measures that labor and interested groups have taken to object to corporate activities.

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CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS AND MARKETING

Corporate communication is a set of activities involved in managing and orchestrating all internal and external communications aimed at creating favorable point of view among which the company depends. It is the messages issued by a corporate organization, body, or institute to its audiences, such as employees, media, channel partners and the general public. Organizations aim to communicate the same message to all its stakeholders.Corporate Communications help organizations combine its many visions and values into a cohesive message to stakeholders. The concept of corporate communication could be seen as an integrative communication structure linking stakeholders to the organization. (Charles J. 2007).

The economic crisis underscores the need to rebuild trust in corporations and the critical of adapting to ever evolving media landscape. In this new age of media world has created requires more intense communication as a result of a more transparent and hyper connectivity amongst business today.

With the evolving market trends, there has been a growing integration of marketing and corporate communication especially with the growing importance of social media and other forms of unpaid media. Corporate communication and media relations is no longer confined within the organization but need to be addresses to various constituents to not only earn stakeholders trust to build public image and reputation for long term sustainability but to analyze the interdependence of strategy and communications in getting a strategy right and bringing it to a successful result.

Today’s businesses face the most complex corporate communications challenges ever. Building, maintaining and defending corporate reputation is not optional. It provides a license to operate and directly contributes to shareholder value. A strong corporate reputation helps sell more products and services, makes supply chains more reliable and attracts the best talent. With the challenges that that new media poses to corporate communications practitioners this conference will place you among peers in other professions by employing the latest trends and best practises to conquer the digital age.

     Shayo Issa

UNDERSTANDING OF CORPORATE COMMUNICATION

So the Fifth Golden Rule of Corporate Governance is that effective systems of stakeholder communication are in place to ensure transparency and accountability.

The other Golden Rules have focussed on there being an ethical approach to running the business (we define business ethics here), the need to align business goals, to have an effective strategic management process in place and an effective organisation capable of delivering the strategy and achieving the agreed goals. The underlying importance of corporate communication in all these rules is clear. From finding out what our stakeholders think of the company (including how good our communication is!) to disclosing full details of how it is run, (eg directors' remuneration), communication plays a vital role throughout.

The various codes on corporate governance have also honed in on the importance of corporate communication, though purely in this limited sense of disclosure. They require stakeholder consultation, but very little mention is made of incoming communication - it's all outgoing. This seems perverse to us as surely the only way we can really tell if the whole company and its culture is ethical and well run for allour stakeholders, is by talking and listening to all our stakeholders.

As we discuss in our third golden rule about the importance of strategic management, it is also logical that in order to know how well we are doing in implementing our strategy and achieving our goals, we need a monitoring and reporting system which is connected directly to the stakeholders upon whom that success depends.

The requirements of such a system and the resources required to put it in place will be part of the Business Plan. A good system provides the instruments whereby management and all the other stakeholders can be made aware of progress in implementing the agreed strategy. Without first-class systems there can be a dangerous lack of necessary information, or worse, wrong information. All too often, monitoring and reporting systems are designed without adequate regard for the big picture, and with an almost total focus on financial aspects.

In this Fifth Golden Rule, we are looking at setting up channels of communication and how these channels - and the reporting system as a whole (i.e. including internal, operations monitoring) - should be used to

• ensure all stakeholders are happy with the proposed strategy

monitor progress from point A to point B in the strategy

• ensure that stakeholders are receiving all the information they require

Logically, therefore, we need systems which have the following characteristics:

• they serve all the significant stakeholder groups, that is:
• customers
• owners
• employees
• suppliers and other trading partners
• local communities
• in total they communicate the intention to run the company under systems of good corporate governance, and in particular they have very specific objectives in relation to each target group. Following the methodology, then, They will thus include the four elements of:
• Ethics: projecting the ethos which permeates the company, and thus communicating to all stakeholders an image of the ethical company which the board is striving to create and operate
• Goal: reporting on the progress made by the company towards the agreed corporate goals, and in particular fulfilling the specific interests of the particular stakeholders addressed in the actual communications received by them
• Organisation: show that the company is organised effectively to achieve the goals that have been communicated to all the stakeholders, and to look after their individual interests
• Reporting: demonstrate through the high quality of the communications that the accountability and transparency rule of good corporate governance is both understood and being adhered to
• in their execution, high standards are in place to ensure that the communications are easy to understand and do indeed provide the information required by the recipients, in line with their expectations referred to above the systems provide regular communications to all stakeholder groups, and whilst there is an appropriate weighting between the needs of the various groups, no group is neglected, for instance through allowing address lists to become out of date.

 BY MUSA LILIAN BAPRM 42631

SOCIAL MEDIA

The use of social media has exploded in the last several years, so much so that it now touches almost every facet of our lives. Friendster, the first social media site, was launched in 2003. Myspace, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter soon followed. Facebook, the most popular of the social media sites, currently has over 500 million users. It is the second most popular website behind Google.

Social media workplace opportunities:

1. Promote your company’s brand—sales and marketing professionals can use social media to introduce and promote new products and services in a way that increases a potential target market exponentially. Social networking sites allow consumers to communicate with each other and to share their thoughts and ideas about your company’s products.
2. Engage your customers—whatever your company sells, whether a product or a service, it has a customer base that can be engaged through social media. But the manner of engagement is unique because social media has revolutionized the style of business-to-customer communications. Customers no longer want to be talked at. Instead, they are looking for organizations to listen, to appropriately engage, and to respond to them. Companies that join social media sites are able to create stronger relationships with their customers and are also able to improve customer service by utilizing social media to address customer service issues.
3. Employee engagement—Social Networking tools allow organizations to improve communication and productivity among employees. Professional social media sites such as LinkedIn, allow your employees to join specific work groups in order to engage in conversations with other professionals in similar industries. This kind of participation can broaden the employee’s knowledge base and help to generate new and innovative ways of meeting business challenges. Employees can also use social networking sites to build targeted professional networks that can help them stay current with market trends.
4. Cost effective—using social media as a sales and marketing tool is a very inexpensive mode of advertising because it reaches a vast audience for a marginal investment. Instead of spending large amounts of money on marketing and advertising campaigns, let your happy customers advertise for you. Many consumers are no longer going directly to the source for product information; they trust their peers to fairly review products for them. Therefore it’s a good idea to encourage your customers or clients to check-in at your business, or direct them to review your product online.

Share information about your company—both customers and potential employees use social media to research companies that they have an interest in knowing more about. Social media sites provide an excellent medium for companies to share positive information. It is important to leverage sites such as Facebook and Twitter to your advantage. If your company doesn’t already have a Facebook page you should challenge your marketing team to create one. Posting a Facebook page will allow your company to generate an online community of clients or customers that are familiar with your product. Encourage your customers to like your Facebook page. Each time an individual “likes” a page; all of their friends see that endorsement and may become motivated to visit your site. If you have a new product coming out or maybe you’ve been recognized for a current product or service let your customers know via Twitter.
   By Mbogo Tausi
           BAPRM 42611

WAYS IN WHICH PUBLIC RELATIONS CAN DEAL WITH NEW MEDIA

Ways in Which Public Relation Officer Can Deal with New Media

The emergence and development of new media, require Public Relation Practitioners to be equipped with knowledge know how skills on how to integrate with this development in order to get the advantage of it for the success of their organizations. Some of the activities Public Relations Officer officer can do with new media are;

To manage Online Audiences, Digital Media Relations and Public Reputations:

PR professionals must now do more than media relations; we also need to handle online audiences as well as digital media relations and manage our clients’ online public reputations. It used to be that clients relied on a PR agency to find an intermediary (i.e., journalist) to get their stories out, but now that “middleman” is not as necessary. It also used to be that our only job was to manage what our clients said to the media. As clients have more ability to write and say what they want online, PR professionals now need to help clients develop, produce and publicize good multimedia content, such as videos, podcasts and blogs to get as many impressions and as much engagement activity as possible. We also need to ensure that what our clients write and say is appropriate and on point with their personal and business brand's reputations within the digital media space.

To build Online Communities or Audiences:

Through Google, Yahoo! and other search engines rank content based on its relevancy and popularity. These search engines also judge that by how much is going on within social media channels: sharing, liking and commenting on content that is placed on social media channels (via media and blogger outreach). PR professionals must now support clients to build deep online audiences for their content to be shared. Media outreach now includes blogger and digital media professionals as well as audience relations within social media networks including LinkedIn, Twitter, Face book, Google+, and among others.

Enhance Digital Visibility and Target Audience Reach: 

Even then, stories are not usually archived or that “findable” as the years go by. Targeting a story in a smaller niche blog is likely to convert better and provide a much greater reach, especially if it is optimized with the right keywords and back links. Obviously, the best media coverage must land in both mainstream and new media (remember media are media). Many stories that may never have had a chance of being picked up or placed in the big mainstream channels now have a chance “to be seen and read” because of new media.

Search Engine and Social Media Network News Placement:

Most of our news and information world now also takes place on the Internet – from discovery and research to relationship- and business-building, Publicists are now charged with getting our clients’ information and news on the Internet alongside or not alongside traditional print and media channels like TV, radio or print. This means we also must know how to work/understand search engine optimization. The days of hiring a PR firm to write a news release and get you in your favourite magazine are over. Spreading word of mouth via content, social and targeted audiences is far more effective – and all of that is what PR professionals must handle. News releases now also have to “be found” online and be written a certain way. Press releases must be relevant and interesting, and include natural links and keywords so the content can earn a search engine’s vote of confidence.

     By Segesela Blandina

           BAPRM 42663

FUNCTIONS OF A CORPORATE COMMUNICATION OFFICER

Corporate communications departments play a key role in how investors, employees and the general public perceive a company. They often report directly to a company’s chief executive officer and serve as advisers in managing a company’s reputation. They help leaders prepare for media interviews, develop messages to deliver to investors and employees and suggest new initiatives to keep companies on the cutting edge of communication with their stakeholders.

Media relations

This may be the function for which corporate communication managers are best known. Media relations work includes writing and distributing news releases and responding to media inquiries. Corporate communicators oversee all planning for news conferences, including selecting the site for an event, arranging for banners and other graphics to be displayed at the event, preparing packets of information to distribute to the media and preparing executives to speak at news conferences. Media relations also involves arranging for spokespersons to appear on local television and radio programs. Corporate communicators monitor newspapers, television news broadcasts and other outlets to see what the media is saying about the company and to devise strategies to address misinformation.

Building mutual relations

Building relationships with customers and responding to inquiries from the public fall under the public relations function of corporate communications. Duties in this area include producing newsletters, brochures and other printed materials designed for the general public. Corporate communicators also manage a company’s website and social media presence, which includes monitoring what customers and clients are saying about the company on social networking websites and responding to inaccurate posts or requests for information. Communication professionals may respond directly to calls and emails from citizens and customers with questions about a company’s plans or activities. They arrange for speakers from the company to make presentations to local community groups and may facilitate group tours of a company’s operations.

Crisis management

When an event occurs that threatens public safety or a company’s reputation, corporate communicators function as advisers to CEOs and senior leaders in managing the crisis. Special training in the issues unique to crisis communication helps corporate communicators prepare for events such as chemical spills, violence in the workplace, an accidental death on the job, layoff announcements and allegations of company wrongdoing. They often work with staff throughout their organizations to develop crisis communication plans before disaster strikes. A crisis may require communications staff to work with attorneys, government regulators, political officials, emergency response personnel and communications staff from other companies when developing crisis messages.

Maintaining employees relation

In addition to conveying a company’s messages to external audiences, corporate communicators may also be called on to function as employee communications managers, which includes designing printed publications and writing emails to announce company news, benefits information and training opportunities. Corporate communicators may facilitate focus groups to learn what issues matter most to front-line employees. They advise senior leaders on how to improve relationships with their staff and gain support for their initiatives. The corporate communications staff may also manage a company’s Intranet and internal blogs.

By Foya John H.

BAPRM 42553

Innovation is the key to success!!"  Whatever you feel about this quote, whether you believe it to be true or whether you believe success comes from outside of innovation or maybe somewhere in between, innovation is a key driver for many successful businesses. 

Innovation drives engineers and scientists to think outside the box, to look for the angle that no one else has looked for.  It draws on solutions from the 'left field', but all too often innovation can be stifled before we even start, why is this a common place practice for so many companies, managers and leaders?

Sometimes the fear of innovation (or creating something new or different) is enough to stop or halt the attempt, even before we put pen to paper we should be free to innovate in our minds, we should be allowed to explore the world without 'buts and what ifs'.

Sometimes we do not fully understand where a person who has the innovation is 'coming from', we need to alter our mindset, to get into their frame of mind, this I have found to be the most challenging.

Sometimes we are told that the reward does not repay the risk!  We are told that it would cost too much if we failed and that your time would be better off spent doing something else.  But what do we encourage our children to do?  Experience the world, make mistakes and learn from them, and likewise we should encourage our young (and some older) engineers to make mistakes, have the freedom to explore, do the  'what happens if I try this...' and learn from it

And sometimes we could fear the result, what happens if this does work or if we do find the solution to the problem.  We can be told that it is easier and simpler to let things be or that to introduce a new way of working will require 'a considerable amount of effort to implement' so we will sit with the "Status Quo".

Whatever barriers to innovation you are experiencing continue to push, continue to work, continue to strive for the result, because when you succeed, when you get that result, when you finally make the breakthrough, that is when you can say "I made the difference and I did not give up"

When trying to be innovative, businesses can choose from a variety of different strategies. Each offers advantages and disadvantages. Among the different types of innovation processes business can employ: So the following are some types of innovation.

Open: Originated by Henry Chesbrough, a professor at University of California at Berkley and executive director for the Center for Open Innovation. Open innovation is when companies use internal and external ideas to help advance their operations.

Disruptive: Coined by professor, author and entrepreneur Clay Christensen. Disruptive innovation is when new products or services start out at the bottom of the marketplace but end up eventually moving up and displacing their competitors.

Reverse: Reverse innovation is when products or services are developed first for use in developing nations.
By Msele Musa
BAPRM42626

Importance of Internet

There is a big influence of technique on our daily life. Electronic devices, multimedia and computers are things we have to deal with everyday.
Especially the Internet is becoming more and more important for nearly everybody as it is one of the newest and most forward-looking media and surely “the” medium of the future.
Therefore we thought that it would be necessary to think about some good and bad aspects of how this medium influences us, what impacts it has on our social behaviour and what the future will look like.


The Internet changed our life enormously, there is no doubt about that. There are many advantages of the Internet that show you the importance of this new medium. What I want to say is that Internet changed our life in a positive way.

First we have to make a differentiation concerning the usage. You can use the Internet at home for personal or you at work for professional usage. Let’s come to the first. To spend a part of our day on the Internet is for many people quite normal. They use this kind of medium to get information about all kinds topics. Maybe some of them are interested in chatting, probably they are members of a community. Whatever you are looking for, you will find it. Even if you want to have very specific information, you will find it in a short time. Normally, you often have to send a letter, than you have to wait for the reception of the reply, or you have to make some telephone calls and so on. In any case, the traditional way is the longer one. To put your own information on the Internet is also possible. Create your own homepage, tell other users about your interests, what you want, that’s no problem at all.

As we all know, software costs a lot, if you buy it legal. Free software, free music is available on the Internet. You just have to download the program, the mp3-file or whatever and that’s it. Why do you want to pay more as you need to? Special websites are created just to give you the newest programs, or to tell you where you can get it from. Napster might actually be the most famous one.

The computer is a fix part of every modern office and the greatest part has also an access to the Internet. Companies already present their products, their services on the Internet and so they get more flexible.

The next advantage  is the faster development. Many universities and research institutions are also linked. They are able to exchange experiences, novelties and often they start new projects together. If they are linked, they can save time and money.
Especially at the business sector knowledge is power. If you are the leader of a product, of a technology or just of an idea you are able to make a lot of money. To get into this position, the Internet can play an essential part. Companies all over the world are online. If you want, it is no problem for you to exchange experiences, you will hear new things, you will see some facts from another point of view. For this reason you will find new solutions, new ways to go, so take this chance!

“Learning by doing”, everybody knows this phrase and its still an essential part concerning the Internet. Children also use the Internet, most of the time they will “play” over the Internet, but they learn to work with the computer. There is only one way to learn something, you have to do it. Even it’s the first contact with the computer, after a few minutes the person will know that the computer-mouse is no animal running on the monitor. He or she learns to write on the keyboard, to navigate, to open and close programs, to save data... within hours. Try to do that on a normal computer course for beginners, you will need more time and the most important fact, it’s not as funny as surfing on the Internet and so they participants are less motivated.

Let’s change over to another positive effect of the Internet.
In any case, everybody’s private situation is different. For many women their own children are the main reason for staying at home. Nowadays this won’t be a problem any more, you can do work on your computer at home, called tele-working. Also men take this opportunity to work at home. What are the consequences, the advantages of tele-working? Sure, if you have a family, you can spend more time at home, probably you can spend more time with your children. Next is, that you can organize every day in the way you want to. Meetings at the company are reduced to a minimum. Tele-working is also an advantage for the owner of the company. Official studies substantiate that people who work at home are more motivated than their colleagues at the office. .

You see, the Internet is really a very positive medium. Use the Internet and discover the advantages of this new, forward-looking medium!


Another advantage of the internet is that you can join a community.
You can create new social contacts all over the world, which you could not do so easy without the internet.
Such communities can also help people who can not go out to find friends in the real life because they are disabled. Therefore they can chat with other people via the internet. Sometimes it is also easier for people, who are afraid to look into the other’s face while talking, to chat with a person that they do not know. There is something between them which makes it easier for them to communicate. It also does not matter if you have a terrible appearance because you can pretend to be whatever you want. You can also change your gender and your age to talk about topics which you do not normally do.
However, there are no time and place limitations and there are no boundaries, both geographical and political. You can chat with people in Australia and you have freedom of your mind in a way.

Moreover the internet is much cheaper than the real life, e.g. phoning a friend in Australia costs more than to chat with him.
From my point of view the e-mail has replaced the traditional letter. You do not have to buy stamps anymore and it is much faster and also for free. You can also add files to your E-mail and that’s why a big data transfer is possible. Therefore you do not have to send disks with information around the world anymore and you have your information in a digital way.
Another free service of the internet is sending SMS. You can save a lot of money if you do not send it with your mobile phone especially from Austria to America. You also have the opportunity to register as a user. Then you can use more things, e.g. sending E-postcards, I-messages (messages between registered users), and lead an address book.
You can also place your digital photos in the internet. With a password and a login name your friends in America can look at your photos without sending them to them.
Another important part is online gaming. You can play with people from all over the world and share your knowledge. In my opinion it’s more exiting to play with friends than playing alone.

Additionally, another big advantage of the internet is the easy access to information. Online reference books and dictionaries replace the way to the bookshop or to the library. It is again cheaper to search for information in the internet than to buy a book, that is old after one year. In the internet a lot of information is renewed and up to date. You can also find information which is very new and a book does not exist yet.
Moreover you can read the daily newspapers from all over the world, sometimes for free. You do not have to buy them anymore. In addition, most newspaper sites have an archive in which you can search for old articles.
However, the internet is also a big “advertising company”. A lot of enterprises have a homepage with ads and support opportunities. On some of them you can order products online. Then you do not have to go to the city anymore. You avoid waiting in front of the cash because of a long queue.

Moreover, you can get the newest stock exchange courses because the stock exchange in the Internet is always the most current one. You also have the ability to tell the computer to buy shares when the course is down.
Besides you can learn with the internet. CBTs (Computer Based Training) already exist but you can also join an internet course with other members.
Furthermore you can hold videoconferences which means that e.g. your teacher is sitting in his office in America and teaching you in Austria.
This is very important in the medical sector because doctors from all over the world can join an operation. So specialists can give tips and help other doctors to complete the operation successfully. The patient has not to wait until a specialist will come from America.
But this is only available because of the internet 2 which is much faster.

The internet is a database full of information and offers us a lot of services, sometimes for free. This makes our life easier and sometimes also cheaper.
All in all I think that the internet is very useful especially for students.

          By Shayo Issah