Media convergence

BY JOSHUA HELENA M

BAPRM 42571

 In this instance is defined as the interlinking of computing and other information technologies, media content, and communication networks that have arisen as the result of the evolution and popularization of the Internet as well as the activities, products and services that have emerged in the digital media space.

Many experts view this as simply being the tip of the iceberg, as all facets of institutional activity and social life such as business, government, art, journalism, health, and education are increasingly being carried out in these digital media spaces across a growing network of information and communication technology devices.

Also included in this topic is the basis of computer networks, wherein many different operating systems are able to communicate via different protocols. This could be a prelude to artificial intelligence networks on the Internet eventually leading to a powerful super intelligence via a technological singularity.

Convergent services, such as Smart TV, and others, tend to replace the older technologies and thus can disrupt markets. IP-based convergence is inevitable and will result in new service and new demand in the market. Generally, media convergence refers to the merging of both old and new media and can be seen as a product, a system or a process. Jenkins states that convergence is,

"the flow of content across multiple media platforms, the cooperation between multiple media industries, and the migratory behavior of media audiences who would go almost anywhere in search of the kinds of entertainment experiences they wanted

According to Jenkins, there are five areas of convergence: technological, economic, social or organic, cultural and global.

So media convergence is not just a technological shift or a technological process, it also includes shifts within the industrial, cultural, and social paradigms that encourage the consumer to seek out new information. Convergence, simply put, is how individual consumers interact with others on a social level and use various media platforms to create new experiences, new forms of media and content that connect us socially, and not just to other consumers, but to the corporate producers of media in ways that have not been as readily accessible in the past.

Advances in technology bring the ability for technological convergence that Rheingold believes can alter the "social-side effects," in that "the virtual, social and physical world are colliding, merging and coordinating, It was predicted in the late 1980s around the time that CD-ROM was becoming commonplace, that a digital revolution would take place, and that old media would be pushed to one side by new media. Broadcasting is increasingly being replaced by the Internet, enabling consumers all over the world the freedom to access their preferred media content more easily and at a more available rate than ever before.

Media convergence

BY JOSHUA HELENA M

BAPRM 42571

 In this instance is defined as the interlinking of computing and other information technologies, media content, and communication networks that have arisen as the result of the evolution and popularization of the Internet as well as the activities, products and services that have emerged in the digital media space.

Many experts view this as simply being the tip of the iceberg, as all facets of institutional activity and social life such as business, government, art, journalism, health, and education are increasingly being carried out in these digital media spaces across a growing network of information and communication technology devices.

Also included in this topic is the basis of computer networks, wherein many different operating systems are able to communicate via different protocols. This could be a prelude to artificial intelligence networks on the Internet eventually leading to a powerful super intelligence via a technological singularity.

Convergent services, such as Smart TV, and others, tend to replace the older technologies and thus can disrupt markets. IP-based convergence is inevitable and will result in new service and new demand in the market. Generally, media convergence refers to the merging of both old and new media and can be seen as a product, a system or a process. Jenkins states that convergence is,

"the flow of content across multiple media platforms, the cooperation between multiple media industries, and the migratory behavior of media audiences who would go almost anywhere in search of the kinds of entertainment experiences they wanted

According to Jenkins, there are five areas of convergence: technological, economic, social or organic, cultural and global.

So media convergence is not just a technological shift or a technological process, it also includes shifts within the industrial, cultural, and social paradigms that encourage the consumer to seek out new information. Convergence, simply put, is how individual consumers interact with others on a social level and use various media platforms to create new experiences, new forms of media and content that connect us socially, and not just to other consumers, but to the corporate producers of media in ways that have not been as readily accessible in the past.

Advances in technology bring the ability for technological convergence that Rheingold believes can alter the "social-side effects," in that "the virtual, social and physical world are colliding, merging and coordinating, It was predicted in the late 1980s around the time that CD-ROM was becoming commonplace, that a digital revolution would take place, and that old media would be pushed to one side by new media. Broadcasting is increasingly being replaced by the Internet, enabling consumers all over the world the freedom to access their preferred media content more easily and at a more available rate than ever before.

CREATIVE INDUSTRIES

BY JOSHUA HELENA M

BAPRM 42571

 Creative industry refers to a range of economic activities which are concerned with the generation or exploitation of knowledge and information. They may variously also be referred to as the cultural industries (especially in Europe (Hesmondhalgh 2002, p. 14)) or the creative economy (Howkins 2001), and most recently they have been denominated as the Orange Economy in Latin America and the Caribbean (Buitrago & Duque 2013)

Creative industries have been seen to become increasingly important to economic well-being, proponents suggesting that "human creativity is the ultimate economic resource," (Florida 2002, p. xiii) and that “the industries of the twenty-first century will depend increasingly on the generation of knowledge through creativity and innovation" (Landry & Bianchini 1995, p. 4)

 According to Caves (2000), creative industries are characterized by seven economic properties:

Nobody knows principle: Demand uncertainty exists because the consumers' reaction to a product are neither known beforehand, nor easily understood afterward.

Art for art’s sake: Workers care about originality, technical professional skill, harmony, etc. of creative goods and are willing to settle for lower wages than offered by 'humdrum' jobs.

Motley crew principle: For relatively complex creative products (e.g., films), the production requires diversely skilled inputs. Each skilled input must be present and perform at some minimum level to produce a valuable outcome.

Infinite variety: Products are differentiated by quality and uniqueness; each product is a distinct combination of inputs leading to infinite variety options (e.g., works of creative writing, whether poetry, novel, screenplays or otherwise).

A list/B list: Skills are vertically differentiated. Artists are ranked on their skills, originality, and proficiency in creative processes and/or products. Small differences in skills and talent may yield huge differences in (financial) success.

Time flies: When coordinating complex projects with diversely skilled inputs, time is of the essence.

Some creative products have durability aspects that invoke copyright protection, allowing a creator or performer to collect rents.

The properties described by Caves have been criticized for being too rigid (Towse, 2000). Not all creative workers are purely driven by 'art for art's sake'. The 'ars longa' property also holds for certain noncreative products (i.e., licensed products). The 'time flies' property also holds for large construction projects. Creative industries are therefore not unique, but they score generally higher on these properties relative to non-creative industries.

Globally, Creative Industries excluding software and general scientific research and development are said to have accounted for around 4% of the world's economic output in 1999, which is the last year for which comprehensive figures are currently available. Estimates of the output corresponding to scientific Research and Development suggest that an additional 4-9% might be attributable to the sector if its definition is extended to include such activities, though the figures vary significantly between different countries.

Taking the UK as an example, in the context of other sectors, the creative industries make a far more significant contribution to output than hospitality or utilities and deliver four times the output due to agriculture, fisheries and forestry. In terms of employment and depending on the definition of activities included, the sector is a major employer of between 4-6% of the UK's working population, though this is still significantly less than employment due to traditional areas of work such as retail and manufacturing.

Within the creative industries sector and again taking the UK as an example, the three largest sub-sectors are design, publishing, and television and radio. Together these account for around 75% of revenues and 50% of employment.

The complex supply chains in the creative industries sometimes make it challenging to calculate accurate figures for the gross value added by each sub-sector. This is particularly the case for the service-focused sub-sectors such as advertising, whereas it is more straightforward in product-focused sub-sectors such as crafts. Not surprisingly, perhaps, competition in product-focused areas tends to be more intense with a tendency to drive the production end of the supply chain to become a commodity business.

Real time marketing

Real Time Marketing is marketing that is based on up to date events. Instead of creating a marketing plan in advance and executing it according to a fixed schedule, real time marketing is creating a strategy focused on current, relevant trends and immediate feedback from customers. The goal of real time marketing is to connect consumers with the product or service that they need now, in the moment. Other industries that are affected by real-time marketing include online news and entertainment publications, reacting and responding to news as it happens. This includes updated stories on the website and “Breaking News” emails and texts to subscribers.

Why is Real Time Marketing important?

With developments in social media, real time marketing efforts are more effective than ever. With Facebook, Twitter, and other popular social sites, businesses can gather up-to-date information on their target audience. Within minutes, they can convert that info into a marketing message to be shared. Everybody wants to be a part of the latest trend or newest fad. When companies strategically structure their advertisements to reflect a current event or craze, their product or service may become more appealing to consumers.Today’s consumers are all about instant gratification, so by tailoring a relevant marketing message to consumers in a time of need, they are more likely to buy a product or service because they will recognize the immediate utility that they can receive from it. 

It is important to note that real-time marketing is both a technology and a marketing tool. Companies gather customer intelligence data such as online searches, demographics, shopping history, and what topics or products the customer clicks on while surfing the net. Once gathered, this information is used to create ads that appear nearly instantly to the customer and are directly related to the customer’s interests and preferences. This consumer intelligence data includes anything from emails to blog posts to podcasts, website visits, online searches and instant messaging. All of this information helps companies predict customer trends and choices, allowing them to create instant marketing messages that appeal to specific customer preferences. In addition, real-time marketing messages encourage consumers to spend both more time and money with that company. Part of a real-time marketing plan could include an “opt-in” feature on the company website for customers to join a membership or club. Members of this club might receive special text messages and emails with breaking news, important information, and exclusive offers.

Social media networks are also an important element in real-time marketing deployment. A social media manager can create a business profile page on sites such as Twitter and Facebook and then send an email or text to customers, encouraging them to “Like” or “Follow” the business. Once a following is established, the social media manager posts regular updates, news and special offers on their pages.

Conclusion, A marketing manager should understands how to design and execute strategic real-time marketing plans as well as traditional marketing campaigns. In addition, a marketing manager must have the ability to perform and understand both quantitative and qualitative research and data in order to gather and use this information to create real-time marketing advertising.

   By Segesela Blandina

    BAPRM 42663

Role of media in modern society

There are many different ways in which people communicate such as, through the phone, through personal encounters, and by attending work place, school, seminars etc. Though media is not the only communication medium used to dispense the flow of information, its importance in developed countries is worth mentioning as it has been the main source to inform people on political issues or current affairs as well as being as the main source of entertainment. The flow of information from one geographical location to another has increased in speed considerably with the advent in digitally enabled communication devices. Different network channels over cable or satellite TV, newspapers and radio channels are emerging at a very rapid pace providing the people with a medium to connect themselves with the outside world. Print media has always been a dominant medium throughout the decades in the western civilization, but it is the emergence of the television which has become the backbone of the global commercial development. Television contains the ability to produce multimedia content and thus has the immense power to change an individual's perception of reality. It is of no wonder that in order to believe in something, one has to have complete faith in the source of information. This source of information could be ranging from one person to any academic institution. However in today's connected society it is the media, which has become the main source of information The role media is playing as being the main source of information is a controversial issue. It is being debated what are the media functions in a society and what are its impact on an individual. The term media is a general term which is not restricted to a particular entity but in order to understand the term "commercial media", the US provides the best platform for critically analyzing the role of media in a society. Regardless of what type of sources of media are analyzed from newspapers to network channels, media's role in society is to reflect the interests of the elites and those who possess the power in a capitalist society like United States in order to maintain the status quo of a politically stable society.

Since the early 1980s the national media industries experienced a dramatic restructuring, the trend of deregulation and privatization in the media industry gave birth to "commercial media market". The control of the media saw a shift into the hands of private ownership from public ownership. "Public ownership is devoted to providing communications as a public service. On the other hand private ownership is devoted to providing communications for profit. The role of public sphere has played a very important role towards the formation of a democratic society providing "places and forums where issues of importance to a political community are discussed and debated, and where information is presented that is essential to citizen participation in community life. BBC is a good example which symbolizes the best of public broadcasting until 1996 when the channel decided that it's survival depends on commercial programming.

   By Mbogo Tausi

   BAPRM 42611

emergence of new media

Modern advertising

The emergence of digital media has created some very fundamental and important changes in the goals for advertising today. Digital technologies have empowered advertising in unique ways and provided a wide range of new possibilities for two-way communication and measurement. These changes should fundamentally redefine expectations for advertising in the digital age.
Capture interest and attention
Advertising is, of course, a specific communication strategy designed to shape consumer action towards, or opinions about, particular products or services. Advertising, like every other communication strategy, will not and cannot work unless it finds an audience and actually delivers its message. We live in an increasingly crowded media environment. The average consumer is exposed to thousands of different advertising messages every week. Many of those messages are repeated with a frequency that deadens the senses. Even finding the right potential customer and placing the advertising message in front of him or her does not guarantee interest or focus on what the ad message is trying to communicate.
The new media consumers have been taught that they are in charge of what, where, when, and why they will pay attention to an ad message. Nevertheless, capturing interest and focusing attention remains the prerequisite for a successful advertisement.
Reaching the customer where they are, where they spend their time, and where their attention is already focused requires advertising to consider many more simultaneous channel and platform executions than ever before.
Mobile, advergaming, social networks, and interactive sweepstakes are all gaining new currency as ad channels. These channels have increased appeal where the target market is a younger demographic, generally more web-savvy, more web connected, and more prone to multi-tasking. However, they are also more aware of their prerogatives to control the when, where, what, how and why they will consent to view an advertisement.
Intrusion, lack of express or implied "permission," and violation of online "etiquette" are all new or heightened sensitivities of the digital media user that have to be carefully observed when using these new channels to deliver ads.
Integrated advertising strategies and cross-promotional concepts that focus on placing advertising messages in multiple channels are increasingly being recognized as essential for success. Also, advertisers are learning to pool their resources to interest and capture the attention of a consumer with combination messages that build on the brand equity and interest in two or more products or services.
The power of promotions to cut through clutter and capture interest and attention is also beginning to blur the line between advertising and promotional marketing strategies. Increasingly, these two separate budgets are being considered as part of one single integrated strategy, with digital technologies and media being used more and more in concert with more traditional media approaches and media channels.
This trend will undoubtedly continue to increase as the battle for interest and attention is waged by competitive brands through new media channels and promotional concepts, since consumers  brought up online -- do not necessarily consider advertisements a mandatory part of their media. 
By Msele Musa
BAPRM42626

E-LEARNING

ADVANTAGES OF E-LEARNING

Digitization has changed the ways of learning that is called e-learning. This allows people to learn various courses online instead of staying in classes. For companies looking to incorporate a new training program it is very crucial to use e-learning. Many organizations are turning to e-learning to save money, time and energy. Digitization has led to use existing courses and resources in new or different ways. Apart from that it has enhanced e-learning opportunities to many scholars in every part of the world.

The following are some of advantages or benefits that company can gain for implementing an online training that are e-learning;

Easier access to information

E-learning materials are stored online, so employees can access important recourses anytime they encounter a question or difficult situation without consulting a lecturer or supervisor. This means that compared to previous years that only hand-written notes taken from lecturer during the training session, this was not more effective way of retain information. Also information can be retrieved just before it is required, rather than being learned once in a classroom.

Personalized learning

Even though the course materials are consistent for all users, e-learning allows each individual learner to control the pace of the course. Because of the flexibility e-learning provides, users can take the course in an environment more conducive to their learning style. E-learning helps companies to create a higher quality, more effective training experience for employees, all at more affordable costs.

Cost effective

E-learning training system reduces many costs that would normally be associated with classroom training including travel, learning materials, venue and catering. In past years, updating and reproducing learning material would be costly and timely. When learning through technology the training is less expensive, thus the moving of learning experience online helps an organization with both of those concerns.

Improves performance and productivity

Mostly in organizations people or employees look for opportunities to grow. Online training allows employees to get new knowledge pertaining to their industry. Employees can improve productivity and use their own time more efficiently, as they no longer need to travel or fight rush-hour traffic to get to a class Employees while learning their online courses it makes them to be better and grow well in their professionalism which enhances and improve performances and productivity of the company. Apart from that e-learning makes people within an organization to participate their online courses at any time from any location including at home or during down time at work hence this could not affect the performance of an organization.

Convenience and flexibility

E-learning means no boundaries. This means that employees have the ability to participate in online courses from anywhere with an internet connection. Internet connection is what is required for a person to access e-learning. This eliminates a lot of energy spent coordinating where and when a course will take place. E-learning gives both management and employees more flexibility with getting important training completed just-in-time as requirements change.

BY SHAYO ISSAH

THE CONCEPT OF INNOVATION

Meaning of Innovation

Innovation can be defined as the application of new ideas to the prod­ucts, processes, or other aspects of the activities of a firm that lead to increased value. This value is defined in a broad way to include higher value added for the firm and also benefits to consumers or other firms.

Forms of innovation         

i/ Product innovation

product inovation is the introduction of a new product, or a signif­icant qualitative change in an existing product.

Process innovation is the introduction of a new process for making or delivering goods and services. 

Some authors have emphasized a third category of innovation, that of organizational change within the firm, but we see this as being naturally included within the second category, as a type of process innovation.

ii/ Product innovations

This may include tangible manufactured goods, intangible services, or a combination of the two. Examples of recent tangible prod­uct innovations that have had a very significant impact on the way people live and work are personal computers, mobile phones, and microwave ovens. Intangible products that complement these types of physical equipment include the various pieces of computer software needed to control flows of information through these devices, leading to the deliv­ery of information, the supply of communication services, or the arrival of a correctly heated dinner. Equally,

iii/Process innovations,

Is the one in which are new ways of making and doing things, can arise from the use of new combi­nations of tangible and intangible inputs. A robotic machine to assem­ble cars can deliver welding services with even greater precision than a human welder, but is only as good as its computer control system.

Inherent in the above definitions of innovation is an element of novelty. The question then arises as to how much novelty is enough to identify any change as innovation. A key issue here is to distinguish innova­tion, the bringing to market of a truly novel item, from imitation, the adoption of a new technique or design that is already in the market. A product or process can be new to the firm new to the domestic market or new to the world market. Clearly, the last of these, global novelty, is sufficient to qualify the product or process as an innovation. For those goods and services that are not internationally traded whether due to the nature of the product prohibitive transport costs, or restrictions on trade the test of being new to the domestic market is sufficient to establish that there is an innovation within that economy. Being new to the firm  is an insufficient test for innovation, as the firm in question may simply be adopting a product design, or a production method, introduced by a competitor. In this book we call this the diffusion of innovation.

Conclusion, Definition of innovation as new to the firm and new to the relevant market whether this relevant market is local or global is dependent on the product or process in question and the degree to which it is traded in a competitive global or local environment in which the product exist.

By  Lyimo Joseph

BAPRM 42597

IMPORTANCE OF VIRTUAL COMMUNITY IN BUSINESS

Social media is about community and relationships. It is realized how important it is to increase businesses exposure your local community. Perhaps you belong to the local Chamber of Commerce, Rotary club or serve on the board of a charitable organization. Think of social media as an online extension of the many networking activities you may already participate in as part of the “real world.” Some of the more commonly known professional sites are LinkedIn. These sites are used for business networking and job hunting. Many people consider them to be customer lead generation vehicles as well. These sites share the common objective of building an online business community. They can support your business by strengthening and expanding its network of contacts.

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. Additionally, social media sites provide consumers with the opportunity to “follow” your products or services or to “tweet” about their experiences, thereby creating a more personal connection while building brand loyalty.
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. Social media sites are now used as a version of electronic word of mouth and provide a platform for your consumers to not only speak directly to your company, but also for consumers to communicate with each other, sharing reviews or testimonials about specific products or services. 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. Improved recruiting techniques the days of simply posting a job on a job board or running a newspaper advertisement is long over. Instead, recruiters today are increasingly turning to social media sites to attract and recruit top talent. In order to avoid being barraged with hundreds of resumes submitted by unqualified candidates, recruiters are choosing to perform targeted searches on professional social media sites, such as LinkedIn. Doing so allows recruiters to search for candidates with specific knowledge, skills and experience. Prospective employees are also using company profiles posted on social media sites to develop lists of companies where they would be interested in working. By creating a detailed profile, your company will be able to attract the best candidates and maintain strong ties with former valued employees who could be potential candidates in the future.
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 rely heavily on social media sites for peer reviews of businesses. 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. This method ensures that you reach a vast audience via social networks, and even better, doesn’t cost you a thing.

      By FOYA JOHN

      BAPRM 42553

The importance of Research in International Public Relations

International Public Relations

Refers to the strategic communications and actions carried out by private, government or non- profit organizations to build and maintain relationships with publics in socio-economic and political environments outside their home location. (William, J. 2002).

The following are importances of research in the practice of international public relations;

 Research is a fundamental part of identifying important issues to the organization, developing strategically based publicrelations programs, and measuring the impact of those programs on the organization. Without public relations research, practitioners are left with little but outputs and hunches to report. Without research, practitioners cannot show how public relations make a difference. So in the practice of international public relations this helps a practitioner to identify important issues like public awareness and perceptions towards an organization.

Researchgives the hard data necessary to provide value to the organization, and helps provide information to make decisions that have real impact. Research is critical to international public relations practice because it focuses on providing necessary and first important data that gives an organization a profit and provide a gate way for the organization to succeed in the international business.

Research helps to maintain the two-way symmetrical model, the role of researchin the practice of international public relations should not be simplyto deliver the organization’s messages, at times referred to as an inside out approach to communication. In the open systems model, public relations research also takes an outside-in approach by communicating the beliefs, feelings, and concerns of key publics back to the organization. So by doing that it helps an organization to understand the needs of the public and the type of the public they are dealing with so as to satisfy the needs of the customers.

Research provides a means for the organization to scan the environment to identify key publics and issues early. Research uncoverspotential areas of concern so that the organization can build relationships, develop programs and take corrective action to prevent small problems from becoming major issues. And by doing that an organization can be able to know different issues that facing an organization and solving those problems early before they become a crisis in the practice of international public relations. And also research helps an organization to know the targeted publics and their preferences a fact which helps an organization to succeed in the international business.

 Research helps in maintaining a good relationship between the public and the organization, research emphasizes that the organization and its publics should be engaged in an ongoing dialog to build mutually beneficial relationship, practitioners use research and dialog to bring about symbiotic changes in the ideas, attitudes andbehaviors of both the organization and its publics. So in the practice of international public relations research makes the relationship between organization ant publics to be effective and beneficial to both of them.

Research helps in gaining publicity, through research an organization in international business can able to influence the media to promote the business in a beneficial and effective manner. That means by doing research an organization will be well informed over different issues concerning the media and their policies and influence that particular organizational to promote that organization business in international market hence success on that particular organization.

Research helps identify the existing knowledge, predisposition or behaviors of key publics, their preferred information sources, and how best to reach them,Excellent public relations department scan the environment and continuously bring the voices of publics,especially activist publics, into decision making so as to make those decision reflect the needs of  the target public.

Public relations research is essential for helping to determine what an enterprise’s goals should be, identifying possible barriers to achieving those goals, and providing knowledge about the environment and key publics so the organization can achieve those goals. This will ensure success of the campaign and the overall performance of an organization.

By Madelemo Hardson
BAPRM 42694

The impact of the internet on business by Mwakinyuke Jeremia 37576

The Internet has dramatically changed the way people get informed, interact and communicate in the 21st century. Distribution of information and knowledge is nowadays carried out more and more via the internet. It is characteristic that new terms such as blogs, bots, wikis and podcasting were unknown some years ago, and are still not registered inmost (paper) dictionaries. Here lies the Internet

The Internet has a wide variety of uses. It provides an excellent means for disseminating information and communicating with other people in all regions of the world. While the greatest use of the Internet has been sharing information, other sources of use are rapidly developing.  The following are other examples of current Internet uses:

1. Technical Papers

Originally, the Internet was only used by the government and universities. Research scientists used the Internet to communicate with other scientists at different labs and to access powerful computer systems at distant computing facilities. Scientists also shared the results of their work in technical papers stored locally on their computer system in ftp sites. Researchers from other facilities used the Internet to access the ftp directory and obtain these technical papers.

2. Share Company Information

 Commercial companies are now using the Web for many purposes. One of the first ways that commercial companies used the Web was to share information with their employees. Sterling Software's Web page informs employees about such things as training schedules and  Guidelines. There is also some information which is company private and access is restricted to company employees only. Another company example is Sun Microsystems which similarily contains general information about the Sun Microsystems company.

3. Product Information

One of the ways businesses share information is to present their product information on a Web page. Some examples are: Cray Research and GM's Pontiac Site. The Web provides an easy and efficient way for companies to distribute product information to their current and potential customers.

4. Advertising

Along these lines, companies are beginning to actually advertise online. Some examples of different ways to advertise online are Netscape's Ad Page. Netscape has a list of advertising companies. They also use a banner for advertisements on their Yahoo Web Page. Starwave similarly uses banner advertisement. These advertisements are created in the established advertising model where the advertising is positioned between rather than within editorial items.

5. Magazines

Magazines are starting to realize that they can attract customers online. Examples of magazines now published online are Outside, Economist, and Business Week. These magazines are still published in hard copy, but they are now also available online. Many of these publications are available free sometimes because of the time delay (i.e. publications online are past issues) or usually to draw in subscribers for a free initial trial period. Some of these publications may remain free online if advertisers pay for the publications with their advertisement banners.

6. Newspapers

Some newspapers are beginning to publish online. The San Jose Mercury News is a full newspaper online, while the Seattle Times offers just classified ads and educational information. The Dow Jones Wall Street Journal publishes its front page online with highlighted links from the front page to complete stories. The Journal also provides links to briefing books, which provide financial information on the company, stock performance, and recent articles and press releases

Innovation

Is defined simply as a "new idea, device, or method" However, innovation is often also viewed as the application of better solutions that meet new requirements. And being innovative does not only mean inventing. Innovation can mean changing your business model and adapting to changes in your environment to deliver better products or services. Successful innovation should be an in built part of your business strategy, where you create a culture of innovation and lead the way in innovative thinking and creative problem solving. Innovation can increase the likelihood of your business succeeding. Businesses that innovate create more efficient work processes and have better productivity and performance.

The following are the characteristics of new idea

1. Relative Advantage is the degree to which an idea or product is perceived as better than the existing standard. Just how much of an improvement is it over the previous generation, the higher the Relative Advantage, the greater the chance of adoption. Many of the most renowned works of art are heralded for the way in which they dramatically moved their genre forward. Relative Advantage is what most people think of when they visualize something being “innovative.

2. Compatibility. How easily can I use my past experience to understand how this new product functions or what this new work means, the higher the similarity with existing norms, the better the chances of adoption, Ideas and people that miss the Compatibility factor are often described as “ahead of their time

3. Simplicity is how easy it is for people to understand the new idea or use the new product. Is this idea a simple extension of logic? Is it an easy-to-use product? If the work or product is seen as highly complex or difficult to grasp, people will shy away from engaging with the product or adopting the idea, let take an example of Instagram, the app actually started as an unpopular called Burbn with the photos as an added bonus. It was only after the complexity was reduced to a single-purpose that its popularity took off. 

4. Trialability How effortless it is for the target audience to interact with the new concepts or experiment with the product, How easily can they try it out, The more potential users or patrons can test the product or view the work, the more likely individuals will adopt it, Listeners try for free and demonstrate their support afterward. The more they can try it, the less uncertainty there is around committing to it.

5. Observability is the noticeable results of trying or consuming the idea. When new products are highly visible, it drives more people to share it and increases the likelihood of mass adoption.

JOSHUA HELENA M

BAPRM 42571

INTRANET AND EXTRANET

Intranet is the tool of communication used by an organization to facilitate communication between people or employees and also an intranet includes content and information that is only of use and value for the members of that organization, the need to have an intranet is driven by the need for security, privacy and controlled access. Much of information within an organization is private; it is intended for use only within the organization or only by certain members of staff.

An intranet is essentially a private version of the internet that organization is responsible for the content and maintenance and the users are solely the staff. Because it is a private website aimed at an organization internal staff. Beside company e-mail and intranet access, an intranet generally incorporates internet website, documents, databases, company news and personal information.

The following are the importance of intranet in corporate communication.

Productivity an intranet technology it helps to provide fast information to employees and helps to perform their various tasks with the employee’s example an employee can access any data from any database of the organization without wastage of time. Employee within an organization working and undergoing different project can collaborate easily and ensuring better and fast results.

In corporate communication you can use intranet to provide new employees with quick access to information about the company structure, policies and operation, as well as training and completing human resource paper work. And for a company that has grown extensively by acquisition, the ability to bring new employees up to speed quickly was of critical importance. Intranets can also be used to provide access to meeting minutes, key presentation that might be used by different sales people, and information on the current status of manufacturing operations and in short we can say that intranet help the corporate communicator to communicate with its people easily and it’s a powerful tool for communication within an organization.

Cost effective an intranet it’s important to corporate communication practitioner because it serve money which can be used for publishing so it’s paperless and as intranet support online publishing and it cuts down the printing and distribution cost as well because all document of the company can be published through the intranet using web pages as compared to spending money on printing document and also the information can be accessed from the respective work station of the employees.

Knowledge management in its very broaden sense, knowledge management means capturing, organizing and retrieving corporate information. With all tools and information within the intranet, and employees constantly adding new information in the form of comments, discussions, blogs, documents; the intranet serves as a centralized place to capture important corporate information. Tools like search ensure that employees across the company network can find just the information they need to perform their jobs.

Time saving, an intranet technology is so important to the corporate communication personnel because it saves time through allowing the distribution of variable information among the employees in a fast and efficient manner and also intranet saves time by interactivity example employees can access information at relevant time that suit them, rather than sending and waiting for email and emails to replies and also can serve time through intranet where by the employees could quickly locate information and application relevant to their roles and responsibilities.

Extranet

New Jersey (2009) describes the extranet as a private network connection which utilizes the internet technology and the telecommunication system to share certain information of the organization with the customers, vendors and business partners.

It can be explained as an internet that can be partially accessed by authorized external stakeholders and this enables both internal and external stakeholders to exchange information over the internet in a secure way by using Internet technologies to interconnect the intranet of a business with the intranets of its customers, suppliers, or other business partners.

Also its necessary to secure information, to make sure that only intended stakeholders gets information example Tanzania breweries when want to inform something their wholesalers so they use extranet and it will be secured to avoid unintended people to be reached with information.

The following are the importance of extranet in corporate communication.

It helps to improve the security in corporate communication between an organization and business partners since exchange can take place under a controlled and secured environment

Because information is the key of any company or an organization and with security the documents of customer and organization will be up to date and stored securely and that only those individuals in any given working group who need access to any particular document have the relevant permissions example password.

Extranet it helps in improving relationship with main or potential consumers  through getting an opportunity to attract new customers, clients, or business partners and to retain existing potential trading partners or customers and also extranet is that it enables the organization to respond to competitive new businesses entering the marketplace.

 The use of extranet for quality services and provision of information to the potential customers help to promote good corporate identity and image of the organization. Moreover, the successful use of extranet can help the organization gain positive relationship building and maintenance, from which trading partners can opt to remain loyal to the organization

Conclusion

As we already see the importance of  intranet and extranet in corporate communication also intranet and extranet has the following challenges like system access should be controlled and checked properly to protect the system and information going into the incorrect hands and also it can decrease personal face to face contact with clients and business partners