Title - Corporate Communications & Value Creation: A Marketing Approach

Title - Corporate Communications & Value Creation: A Marketing Approach

Table of Contents

Contents

Part I

i.) Executive Summary

1. Introduction

     1.1 Research Problem

     1.2 Objectives of the Study

     1.3 Research Questions

     1.4 Significance of the Study

2. Literature Review

     2.1 Introduction

     2.2 Corporate Communications

     2.3 Marketing Communications

     2.4 Merging Corporate and Marketing Communications

     2.5 Marketing and Corporate Communications: Strategic Relationship

     2.6 Corporate Communications and Profile Marketing Strategy

     2.7 Corporate Communications: The Management of Corporate Identity

     2.8 New Strategic Corporate Identity Approach

          2.8.1 Objectives of Corporate Identity Management

          2.8.2 Lack of Corporate Identity Management: Disadvantages

     2.9 Corporate-Level Concepts: Personality, Identity, Image and Reputation

          2.9.1 Corporate Personality

          2.9.2 Corporate Identity

          2.9.3 Corporate Image

          2.9.4 Corporate Reputation

     2.10 Public Relations (PR)

     2.11 Corporate Public Relations (CPR)

     2.12 Public Relations (PR) and Corporate Sustainability (CSU)

     2.13 Corporate Sustainability

     2.14 Conclusion: Literature Review

3. Research Methodology

     3.1 Research Problem

     3.2 Types of Research

     3.3 Research methods

     3.4 Type of this Research

     3.5 Data Collection Methods

     3.6 Limitations of the Study

4. Analysis and Findings

     4.1 Survey Results

     4.2 Results Analysis

     4.3 Data Interpretation of the Results

     4.4 Discussion

     4.5 Findings

5. Conclusion

     5.1 Recommendations for Further Research

Part II

i) Appendix A

ii) Appendix B

iii) References and Bibliography

1. Introduction

There is a general consensus that the health of the economy depends on the health of the earth’s socio-ecological system. Empirical evidence (IPCC, 2007) reveals that the factors causing the biodiversity to be lost and earth’s atmosphere to warm are in continuous rise. An understanding of the interdependence and relationship between the environmental, economic and social systems will enable organizations to think strategically and act proactively in order to mitigate their negative impacts on the environment and society through devising new organizational models and alternative solutions for the fulfillment of human needs and the renewal of the biosphere. Dunphy et al., (2003) argue that many corporations need to change the way they do business; new circumstances require new responses. In response to the changing business environment, companies are being forced to take externalities into account in management behavior (Lo and Sheu, 2007). The emerging change requires finding new ways and forging new patterns of conducting business operations and increasing financial and social capital. It has been suggested that to maximize value, companies should not only focus on their financial capital, but should also consider ethical and social capital. In line with that, there are good theoretical reasons for believing that practicing good behavior is beneficial to the organization (Murphy & Laczniak, 2006). However, a company’s value creation requires a deeper understanding of ethical standards than the typical economic approach of short-run profit maximization (Brickley et al., 2002). Nevertheless, the economic value of sustainable corporate strategies is a lot more elusive and hard to pin down, since it only materializes in the long term (Salzmann et al., 2008). This materiality issue might be the reason why sustainability is a slow process. As an emerging economic paradigm shift, sustainability is gradually reshaping corporate culture and strategic choices. The environmental change can’t be ignored as it is a key factor when it comes to developing corporate strategies such as communications and marketing.

However, in order for its thrust to be forward-looking and its scope to be holistic, corporate communications strategy must be sophisticatedly conceived and well planned because it has a central role with respect to influencing a wide variety of stakeholders and is interlinked to various corporate activities including “marketing, organizational, and management communications” (van Riel, 1995). Further, corporate marketing communications has attracted increasing attention over the past years, and this is epitomized by several special issues on this topic in European Journal of Marketing (Wei He, 2008). A well-planned corporate communications program helps craft a company messages to all stakeholders on which its failure and success depend. Organizations must understand and act upon the demands and concerns of all stakeholders, including consumers, communities, clients, and local authorities, etc. Understanding who the stakeholders are, how they think, what motivates them and how they relate to each other is fundamental for an organization to ensure enduring and favorable partnership, thereby achieving its objectives. That being said, it appears that the inherent relationship between an organization and stakeholders could, if built on trust and commitment, create an environment where cooperation is stimulated to fuel changes designed to promote social and environmental sustainability. If organizations integrate human and ecological sustainability into their business planning, then community, marketplace and workplace concerns can be addressed alongside those of the planet (Dunphy et al., 2003).

As corporate communications plays a pivotal role in building and maintaining favorable relationships between the organization and the constituencies of society, the process of formulating communications strategies should involve a solid assessment of external environment such as societal and ecological forces in order to respond positively to rapid changes and accommodate to stakeholders demands and concerns pertaining to sustainability issues. Ballou et al., (2006) challenge that organizations are, due to increased pressure from internal and external stakeholders, measuring and reporting more on their social and environmental performance (SEP) as well as the usual financial reporting measures. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is becoming a vital part of staying competitive, partly because it helps to satisfy stakeholders’ expectations (Gardiner et al., 2003).

Therefore, the primary task of corporate communications is to seek solutions that will ideally achieve the goals of all stakeholders and deal with the challenges of the current complex dynamic business environment. The skill of the communications planner is to sense the environmental forces that may be inconspicuous now but which may overtime gather strength and impact the organization in the future (Fill, 1999). ‘The force with which ecological issues impact upon consumers and organizations can only intensify’ (Ibid, p.165). Marketing planners and managers, according to Dunphy et al., (2003), are now making decisions influenced by sustainability factors.

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