Month: November 2020

A manager is responsible for ensuring that his employees are able to effectively communicate with one another and with management. This includes establishing specific communication channels, managing expected use of communication tools and trouble-shooting when communication issues arise. Effective communication in the workplace can help ensure employees are sharing and exchanging information in a way that’s conducive to smooth business operations.

Communication in true sense is the lifeline of every organization. Individuals irrespective of their designation and level in the hierarchy need to communicate with each other for accomplishment of work within the stipulated time frame and also for better relationships at workplace. Half of the problems disappear when discussed. It is really essential for people to come out with their ideas and strategies.

• Managerial communication plays a pivotal role in knowledge sharing. Managers must communicate with their subordinates to share whatever they know. A unique idea is of no use, if not shared. Managers need a medium which helps them interact with their immediate team members and vice a versa. Here comes the role of effective managerial communication. Managers need to communicate with their team members to make them clear as to what is expected out of them. Managerial communication helps managers to extract the best out of team members. Employees need to be told their key responsibility areas.
• Managerial communication plays an important role in completing tasks way ahead of deadlines. Individuals ought to work together in teams to complete tasks at a much quicker rate. It is really essential to discuss ideas, evaluate pros and cons of strategies to reach to something which would benefit not only the employees but the organization on the whole. Managers before implementing any new policy must sit with their team members and take their suggestions as well. You never know when someone comes up with a brilliant idea?
• Effective communication leads to transparency among team members. Employees who do not communicate are generally prone to stress and anxiety. Managerial communication enables the manager to delegate roles and responsibilities to their subordinates as per their interests and also allows the employees to ask whatever they have not understood. Managerial communication helps managers to know what their team members are up to and thus prevents overlapping of work.
• Managerial communication also goes a long way in motivating employees. A sense of loyalty towards work and organization develops if managers communicate with their team members on a regular basis. Remember problems if not attended at initial stages lead to critical situations later. Employees should have the liberty to discuss their grievances with their team leaders. Communication helps to sort out differences among employees in a healthy and positive way.
• Managerial communication also plays an important role during crisis and critical solutions. Managers ought to be in constant touch with their employees for them to deliver their level best. Managerial communication in simpler words gives a sense of security to the employees.
• Human beings are not machines who can work at a stretch. We need people around with whom we can discuss lot many things apart from routine work. If you do not communicate; you would never know what is happening around you. An individual working in isolation often treats his work as a burden. Communication keeps an individual abreast of the latest developments at the workplace.
• Managerial communication also plays an important role in stress management.

Manager’s Role

Establish Communication Channels

There are a variety of ways to communicate, and the manager’s responsibility is to ensure employees understand the company’s best established communication practices. If you don’t have a communications policy in place, create one, and put it in writing for training and reference use. Consider policy for using email, including when to forward or copy other parties. Outline rules regarding inner-office communication, intranet and memos. Also establish guidelines for communication such as text messaging, voice mail, instant messaging and video-conferencing.

Trouble-Shoot Communication Issues

When communication issues arise, it’s the manager’s job to intervene and mediate a resolution. A manager must have an understanding of the different communications styles of individual employees. Whereas one employee may prefer the ease and personal nature of face-to-face discussions, another may prefer to put details in writing to ensure accuracy and track-ability. The manager is charged with helping these colleagues find a happy medium. For example, the two employees in this example might be urged to talk face-to-face, and then summarize the conversation in a follow-up email to ensure clarity on all sides.

Teach Communication Skills

Some people have a difficult time articulating thoughts and ideas, and a manager is charged with helping employees develop their communication skills. This can be done through role-playing, job training and mentoring. Managers may also consider the value of sending employees to a public speaking development forum such as Toastmasters International, which helps professionals hone their communication skills.

Issue Communication Checks

Even with a comprehensive set of communication best practices in place, there are still bound to be occasional breakdowns in the way people share and exchange information. Managers should periodically review internal policies, request employee feedback and conduct a “performance check” to ensure communication strategies are on track. This may be accomplished during an all-staff meeting, individual or group performance reviews or through an employee survey or focus group.

Media Relations and Information Subsidy

Information Subsidy consists of information that is provided to the press as supplemental material to help present their reporting. This includes information such as press releases, advertisements and videos of related news events. An advantage of using information subsidies is that they can decrease or eliminate the need for completing additional research on the part of the media. Subsidies can be a good source of information for the media; however, it is important that the media vet the source for accuracy and bias.

By presenting ready-to-publish data, information subsidies can save journalists time and money. A study completed in 1999 estimated that nearly half of the information reported in newspapers came from information subsidies. Yet another survey suggested that most of the information received by journalists is never published. Trust in the source and content of the data are the criteria journalists use when determining whether or not they will use the material provided.

Media Relations and Public Relations Practitioners (PR)

Media and Public Relations Practitioners are very similar in many ways. Both parties aim to share information with the public. This information is intended to benefit the public by educating them on news and other events. Public Relations Practitioners attempt to expand their client’s media coverage by staying up to date on news and current events that are relevant to their client. Because PR practitioners are usually focused on a client, some would argue that they are biased or attempt to sway public opinion. The media is constantly looking for a new story. PR practitioners are a good, reliable place for the media to go to for newsworthy events. They often provide newsworthy or public service data, which can save the media the time required to complete their own research and sourcing.

The fact that PR specialists have been providing the news mass media with information for years has not really changed the trust level that the media has for the sources. Trust is a critical component between the media and PR practitioners and it must be present for their to be a successful working relationship. It has been said that part of the problem between journalists and PR Practitioners is the perception that PR Specialists have not been good at providing journalists with newsworthy material. Journalists should express their thoughts and concerns to these PR Specialists to allow for better communication and improvement of the type and quality of news data. As with any relationship, both parties must be committed to working together to achieve success.

Ethical Pitfalls

The words ‘fake news’ bombard news outlets today. It is now more important than ever for Public Relations Practitioners to provide honest, truthful, and accurate information to the media. It is equally important that journalists themselves authenticate information that they have been given. There is much pressure for a Public Relations Practitioner to embellish the truth for their client to make news appear better than it really is. PR Practitioners could help the communication process by providing more detail about specific news. For example, if a client calls the recall of a product, the reason for the recall should be thoroughly explained.

One way a PR Practitioner can avoid ethical issues is to be upfront with their clients and the media regarding any potential ethical issues. The pressure for a PR Practitioner can be great because of the need to work with multiple entities in order to produce their information. Having a basis for their personal and professional ethics will go a long way in helping a PR Practitioner. This basis should include considering the interests of themselves, the media, and the entity they are representing. Respect for those involved and social responsibility should also be an inherent part of ethics. Another approach to ethics is based on virtue. This includes learning from others, being prepared to take risks, and practicing complete honesty in their reporting.

5 tips to improve employee communication 

Most organizations plan meticulously how to best engage their external audience, but they conveniently forget about their most important constituency: employees. High performing organizations make sure employee communication is their priority and this is one of the reasons they stand out! 

Here are the top 5 tips to improve employee communication in your organization

1. Communicate with clarity 

Overusing jargon or technical terms will only lead to more misunderstanding. Be clear while communicating.

2. Set the tone

Management and leadership of the organization need to set the tone right. The need to be accessible and they need to understand that there is a certain relation between strategic employee communications and organizational goal achievement. 

3. Know your employees 

You don’t need to communicate differently with different employees, you just need to know your employees. To understand the perception of your employees surveys them regularly. 

4. Use multiple channels 

Most people need to hear or read the message multiple, least the message is lost in translation. Distribute your message through various channels so that it reaches people well within time. 

5. Measure the effectiveness

No communication should be without a set objective, else the purpose of communication is entirely lost. There are many ways to facilitate communication, but what’s the point if it falls on deaf ears. Make sure you regularly measure the engagement and ask employees if the communication strategy works.

There are a few key steps to take when building an effective internal communication strategy. These steps will ensure that your strategy is airtight and has the maximum benefits for all employees.

1. Review Your Current Strategy

Before revamping your internal communication strategy, it’s important to take stock of what’s currently in place.

Evaluate your current IC strategy to identify its strengths and weaknesses. Find out what you’d like to improve on. Ask yourself questions such as:

• How is your current strategy being implemented?
• What software and channels are you currently using?
• How effective is it?
• What impact does it have on company culture?
• What are the chief complaints you’ve been receiving about it?

Answering these questions will give you a good baseline to start with. You can then build and improve on this with your new strategy.

2. Define Your Audience

Before coming up with a plan for your internal communication, it’s important to identify your audience.

Most companies make the mistake of treating their employees as one large, homogeneous demographic. This is problematic as different divisions of your company will want different things out of their communication channels.

For example, your software development and sales teams will have very different communication needs. Spend some time and segment your audience into different groups so that it is easier to give them what they need.

3. Set Clear Goals

It’s important to have concrete goals and timelines in place to add some structure to your planning process.

Devise reasonable timelines for planning, ideation and execution to set yourself up for success.

Goals should lay out what you want your internal communication efforts to achieve.

When coming up with goals, it’s essential to follow the SMART formula:

• Specific: Your goals need to be concrete, not vague.
• Measurable: Your goals must be quantifiable.
• Attainable: Ensure that your goals are realistic with your current resources.
• Relevant: Goals must be directly linked to your company’s aspirations.
• Time-bound: Your goals must have deadlines to keep yourself on track.

4. Define Your New Strategy

Now it’s time to hash out your vision for your new internal communication strategy. Your new internal communication strategy should include:

• Clear goals
• An Audience segmentation
• Clear metrics
• Realistic timelines
• Ambassadors
• An internal communication solution
• The right content types
• An effective content distribution

Objectives of Public Relations

It achieves following objectives for the organisation:

(i) It facilitates smooth functioning of business and achievement of organisational objectives.

(ii) It builds corporate image and creates a favourable impression and creditability of company’s products.

(iii) It helps in launch of new products and maintain interest and confidence in the existing products.

(iv) It acts as a supplement to advertising in promoting existing and new products. Thus, it helps business and its associates to sell products easily.

(v) It lowers the promotional cost as it has to simply maintain staff to develop and circulate information with media or manage events.

Scope of Public Relations

Community Relations:

A business should be seen as a responsible citizen of the community it operates in. A comprehensive community relation programme should focus on building a respectable image for the company in the community in the long run. Many organizations implement educational and health related programmes for improving quality of life of the community members. Such activities help to build their reputation along with benefiting the society.

Employee Relations:

Employees are the most valuable assets of the company and the organization had to create employee goodwill for maintaining a loyal workforce. Loyal employees are more productive and interested in the well-being of the company.

Customer Relations:

The most important component of external public is the customer. The customer is the reason behind the existence of the organization. Public relations inform the customer about introduction of new products or changes in existing ones. Public relations play a crucial role in attracting the attention of the buyer towards the company’s offerings and helps to differentiate the product from those of its competitors.

Financial Relations:

A segment of the company’s public consists of those individuals and institutions the company has financial dealings with. These include the shareholders, creditors, potential investors, banks, financial analysts, etc.

These parties have to be informed about the company’s finances, plans for expansions, plans to raise share capital, etc. A well-planned financial relations programme is necessary to improve the organization’s image and increase the value of its stock.

Political and Government Relations:

The Company has to function under the control of government rules and regulations. It has to forge proper relations with various government officials and political parties to ensure smooth functioning of the enterprise.

Crisis Communication:

The role of public relations takes on vital significance during crisis situations like an accident, financial scams, bankruptcies, etc. It is the responsibility of the public relations to give the honest and accurate information to the concerned publics and assure them of remedial measures taken to control the crisis.

Significance of Public Relations

Advantages:

Public Relation should be an important but subtle part of the promotional mix, not just an adjunct to advertising.

The most important advantages to be gained are:

1. Credibility: If the public are made aware of the benefits to be gained from a company’s products from an independent source, and that source is not being paid by the com­pany in question, then the credibility factor is that much greater.
2. Greater readership: When glancing through a newspaper it is seldom that a great deal of attention is primarily paid to advertisements. Much more attention is given to editorial or news sections. Similarly, people are more likely to divert attention from the televi­sion to do other things while the advertisements are being shown.
3. Contain more information: Public relation is able to impart more information to the public than advertisements can. A glance is all that is usually given to an advertisement, whereas public relation, when presented as news, is given more attention and is therefore able to contain much more detailed information.
4. Cost benefits: No direct payments are made to the media for public relation. There are obvi­ously costs involved, but PR budgets are far less than those for advertising.
5. Speed: Public relation has an advantage of speed. Information on a major development can often be issued and reported in a short space of time. Public relation can also be flexible and reactive.

Disadvantages:

Public Relation is generally looked upon as being of benefit, but sometimes both companies, and famous personalities, wish that they could avoid public relation. If there is a major acci­dent on the premises of a company, or an oil leak from one of the oil companies’ installations offshore, that company will be on the receiving end of some very bad pub­lic relation.

They can try to minimise this by breaking the news to the media themselves, and being as helpful as possible, but damage to their reputation will still be incurred.

1. Message distortion: A company has no control over what the media report about them. A press release, which a company hopes is reported in full, may in fact not be used at all, or may have only a small portion of it reported.
2. Repetition: With advertisements a company can ensure that there is frequency of the message. Public Relation does not have this advantage and the message may only be given once, if at all.

The functions and decision of public relations (PR) are influenced by internal and external environment. The internal environment is generated within the organization which influences in the decision making of PR. They are controllable factors and comprise of personnel, infrastructure facilities, organization facilities etc.

The external environment is not under the control of an organization. It may include competition, industry problems, a threat of substitutes, social cultural factors, political factors, economic factors and many others which are externally related to an organization. It is uncontrollable factors and the business entity can only try to minimize it but can’t control it.

Social and Cultural:

The societal perspectives/trends by PR practitioners can be understood from at least four perspectives.

Stakeholder Part of Society: stakeholders are also a part of society. Their values and beliefs come from broader societal influences. For instance – the interest of society in health and fitness developed ample opportunities for fitness centers, nutritional products, fitness industries.

Socio-Cultural trends: A social system with high degree of civilization, mobility industrialization and urbanization are the primary factors impacting the business. Business depends on the social environment for all the needed inputs. Therefore, it is rightly said that business is one unit of the total social system. No business can control the social belief, culture, heritage, family systems, religion etc. but, they can influence them to a limited extent. Therefore, it is imperative for PR practitioner to develop a social connection with the public.

E.G. in the late 1990s, Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft, was facing rising societal concern about the extraordinary profits generated by Microsoft therefore in 1999, he donated $ 3.35 Billion to the William Gates Foundation, which provides grants for health and human service organizations. The Gates Learning Foundation, today gives software, computers, and services to libraries in low-income areas.

Restrictive Legislation: It is essential for PR practitioners to guide the organization to follow the ethical paths. It will help them to avoid any serious legislation activity. For E.G. when many companies started generating profits and revenues, at that time they split their businesses or diverse it into some other field too.

Demographic and Economic Change: Due to the changes in demographic and economic changes, many companies have garnered the opportunity. The concept of “DINK (Double Income and No Kids)” has brought significant changes in couple lifestyles, the standard of living, etc. today, as many women aspire to achieve high in their life, therefore, they choose too baby later in their life. This led them to spend more on baby accessory items, giving a better life, child care midwives and education. It also opens a way to movies and television shows to produce serials center for families and children.

Economic:

The growth in an economy, interest rates, government policies, support agencies, contributions, inflation rates, fiscal policies, foreign exchange rates, and foreign trade balances are among the most critical economic factors. The economy also has an impact on consumer demand for products and services. Mostly, organizations to assess the effect of economic factors model their business environments using different scenarios. The major economic factors which have a considerable influence on business include growth strategy, labour legislation, industrial relations, stock exchange and its regulations, commodity exchange, price policy, exit policy, export promotion, technological environment etc. the PR should be well versed with all these terms and use it while making their PR decisions in a company.

Political Issues:

Politics and business have a close connection. The government itself is a political boy created by a political system. There are numbers of business legislation enacted by the government which regulates business transactions. The current changes in political dynamics impact the businesses on a larger scale. The government who is in power makes the suitable or favorable changes in the economy which benefit the businesses and large, the nation. A successful PR analyze the prevailing political environment and then formulate strategies to avail of the opportunities emerging out of a political system.

Legal Environment:

Legal aspects of business regulate both economic and non–economic issues. For E.G. the announcement by the government to demonetize Indian rupee has drastically impacted many business sectors. Many times, government passed the acts to bring changes in the Indian economy and give benefit to the masses. Therefore, PR professionals have to take a keen interest in the legal aspects affecting the performance of the functions and have to adopt a constructive role in this relationship.

There are many acts passed by India government related with business and economy aspects like The Indian Contract Act 1872, Indian Partnership Act 1932, Sale of Goods Act 1930, Negotiable Instrument Act 1881, Law of Insurance, Arbitration Act, 1899, Law of Carriage, Essential Commodities Act, 1955, The Securities Contracts (Regulation) Act, 1956, and the Consumer Protection Act, 1986.

Theories explain how to make public relations more effective for organization and society. Theories provide an understanding of the relationship between actions and events. PR practitioners consider several theories when they make decisions about how they can build a successful relationship with their public.

This chapter introduces four basic theories that public relations practitioners use:

Systems theory:

• Systems theory is made up of interrelated parts, adapting and adjusting to changes in the political, economic and social environment in which they operate.
• It is used to explain how public relations helps understand and manage the relationships an organization has with its stakeholders and publics who make up its environment.
• Generally, the organization who focus on their clients, customers and other stakeholders are the part of open systems. They are open to new ideas and positive criticism.
• We use system theory not only to examine the relationship with our external stakeholders but also to look at the internal functions and stakeholders of our organization. Based on the requirement of organizations, they decide to give the leverage to be given to unit or department.
• In systems theory, public relation practitioners advise the dominant coalition, the primary decision makers of the organization, about problems and opportunities in the environment and help these decision makers respond to the changes.
• In systems theory, as it is based on relationships, therefore, it is interconnected. The environment imposes constraints on the organization.
• The decision maker’s organization mostly influences the policies of businesses. Here, the decision makers of an organization allow for the two-way flow of resources and information between the organization and environment.

Pat Jackson’s Lasting Contribution to Public Relations: Any profession exists by public consent only. Public relations provides an overriding social benefit t when people have a voice. Harmony is an outcome of public relations practiced over a long time. Harmonious relationships, not just relations, fortified with trust require co-authorship.  Remind managers that their communication role is to transmit not only information but also emotions and intuition.

Grunig, Grunig, and Dozier state that the systems perspective emphasizes the interdependence of organizations with their environments, both internal and external to the organization.

• We can use systems theory not only to examine relationships with our external stakeholders but also to look at the internal functions and stakeholders of our organizations. Organizations structure their employees by specific jobs and functions. Many different departments, such as accounting, legal, and public relations, make up the managerial function.

The monitoring of relationships is a major one for public relations people. Through systems theory, we think of public relations people as boundary spanners, straddling the edge of an organization—looking inside and outside of an organization. Public relations practitioners are the go-betweens, explaining the organization to its stakeholders and interpreting the environment to the organization. Public relations people advise the dominant coalition, the primary decision makers of the organization, about problems and opportunities in the environment and help these decision makers respond to these changes.

Situational Theory:

As the term suggests, it is about identifying a group of people within the group who can influence the larger sections of society. They are the active people who have an influence on the larger people.

Grunig and Repper agreed that it was a good start to use the concept of stakeholders as a way of describing relationships. However, they concluded that not all people in stakeholder groups would be equally likely to communicate with an organization. They felt that public relations people could more effectively manage communications by identifying specific publics within stakeholder groups.

Grunig and Hunt theorized that public range from those who actively seek and process information about an organization or an issue of interest, to those publics who passively receive information. According to these researchers, three variable predict when public seek and process information about an issue: Problem Recognition, constraint recognition, and level of involvement.

Problem recognition: It is important for people to first recognize an issue and its potential impact on them. E.g. 3s is an organization which works in the area of sanitation. They have understood that many Indians, especially in rural areas, do not have toilet facilities.

Constraint recognition: Describes the way people see the problems which stand before the solutions. E.g. they have tried to identify the reasons and did connect to the access to the reason for it.

Level of involvement: Actually, here the organization seeks the involvement of people in the cause. E.g. they actually identify the group of people who has an high involvement with an issue and suggest the solutions to them. 3s came up with a concept of moving toilets which are highly accepted and appreciated initially by some regions but now they have major clients in all over India.

• Using these three variables, Grunig and Hunt described responses that follow from being high or low in these dimensions. For example, those publics who have high problem recognition, low constraint recognition, and high involvement in an issue are much more likely to actively engage in communication about it.
• The situational theory actually explains and useful to understand that public wants rather than organization choice of information to distribute. It also assumes that public will pay attention and seek out information that is in their best interests.

Theories of Persuasion and Social Influence:

Pfau and Wan define persuasion as “the use of communication in an attempt to shape, change, and/or reinforce perception, affect (feelings), cognition (thinking) and/or behavior. Public Relations people try to persuade audiences to learn new information, to change emotions and to act in a certain way. Miller and Levine stated, “At a minimum, a successful persuasive attempt generates some type of cognitive, effective, or behavioral modification in the target.”

We will discuss two most prominent theories in theories of persuasion and social influence i.e. Social Exchange Theory and Diffusion Theory.

Social Exchange Theory:

• Social Exchange Theory uses the economic metaphor of costs and benefits to predict behavior.
• This theory was propounded by John Thibaut and Harold Kelley applies to many fields of study, including interpersonal communication, public relations, and theories of organizations.
• People always have the expectation to get their reward high and cost low. But, not at the cost of their customers. Sometimes, it is difficult for organizations to look for a long term. In that case, it is essential for public relations practitioners to let the decision maker of an organization analyze the whole range of options along with the associated costs and rewards.
• For E.G. A company who supplies a product to their customers and understand that there is a defect in their products that has already been shipped to customers. In that situation, a company has to take a decision which helps them to save their customers and costs and give them high rewards. A public relations practitioner will analyze the whole situations and suggest the best possibilities for an organization which will help them to save huge loss in future.

Diffusion Theory:

• Diffusion theory is another way to look at how people accept and process information.
• They have identified the following five steps to accept the idea of diffusion:

1. Awareness. The individual has been exposed to the idea.
2. Interest. The idea has to arouse the individual.
3. Evaluation. The individual must consider the idea as potentially useful.
4. Trial. The individual tries out the idea on others.
5. Adoption. This represents final acceptance of the idea after having successfully passed through the four earlier stages.

• This theory helps to reach important decisions. Here, the first importance is given to mass population than the personal contacts.
• For E.g. an amusement park wants a maximum family to visit their parks with family. They understand that cost of their park is very high therefore they came up with a scheme for students to visit their park free along with their I- card and whoever accompany them, will get 10 % discount in their tickets.  A company wants more students to visit their park. So, in that regards, they started promoting their ideas through various colleges and send them flyers (Awareness). After sending them flyers, they have started highlighting the most interesting concepts or theme for which students should visit the place (Interest). After that, they give them possible alternatives so that they decide the best for them (Evaluation). After that, few students visit and get the nice feel of the park (Trial) and give mouth publicity to their groups and all known people. And suddenly, the find that many people have started visiting the park and it has become a huge hit.

The concept of PR is not new in the world. It is as old as 1000 of years. The Greek Word “Samatikos” which means to “Signify”, “to mean”. Semantikos means “Semantics” which can be defined as how to get people to believe things and o things. The whole concept of tracing the growth of PR is divided into 4 parts as per Grunig and Hunt Models (1984) that describes the field’s various management and organizational practices. These models serve as a guideline to understand the brief history of PR.

In 50 BC, Julius Caesar in his campaign biography “Caesar’s Gallic Wars” publicized his military exploits to convince the Roman people that he would make the best head of state.

In 394 A.D., St. Augustine, A professor of rhetoric in Milan, Italy considered as an in charge of PR who propagated the regular eulogies to the emperor.

In 1776, Thomas Paine wrote “Crisis” a pamphlet to convince the Washington army soldiers to stay and fight. Paine was considered as a master of political propaganda whose writings was giving a strong impact on people to do things and believe things.

Benjamin Franklin, who used to give lots of positive assertions pioneered the rules for ‘Personal Relations’ before mass media.

P.T.Barnum in 19th Century in the U.S. was a master of promotion. William Saward, Lincoln’s secretary in 1861 was an expert to handle the press. In 1903, Ivy Lee officially became the first PR to advise John D. Rockefeller on PR issues. Lee professionalized PR by following these principles:

• Tell the truth
• Provide accurate facts
• The PR director must have access to top management and must be able to influence decisions

Ivy Lee defined PR quote, “PR means an actual relationship of the company to the people and that relationship involves more than a talk.”

In 1923, Edward Bernays, another stalwart in PR set up principles of PR and focus more on crystallizing public opinion. He also stressed that PR is a public service, should promote new ideas and progress to build public conscience. Edward Bernays, known as the father of PR and Ivy Lee, the first PR as a counselor.

Later in the 1960s and 1970s, the definition of PR has got widened and viewed as a function that transcended both the journalistic publicity and persuasive communication campaign traditions. Companies started using two – way Asymmetrical method wherein focus was to win public confidence, continuous and planned programme using institutional advertising. The company went directly to the public and feedback of public was adjusted as per organizational interest.

The 1980s and 1990s brought a significant change in PR tactics and approaches. Involvement of external and internal stakeholders, competitions, the PR function has become more dynamic. PR geared not only to persuade public but establish a mutual understanding, compromise and creatin win-win situations for organisations and their affected publics and stakeholders. This model of mutual understanding is considered as two–way symmetrical method.

Public Relations in India:

The India Economy Reform in 1991 opened the door of LPG i.e. Liberalization, Privatization, and Globalization. That was the period when PR got its rightful place in India. The emergence of multi-national corporations in the early 1990s, an increase of foreign direct investment and the deregulation of industries, has made market competitive and businesses felt to build their reputation. Those who were new entrants, keen to create their identity and image and those who have been existing long, started focusing to build their repute. This led to the beginning of PR and advertising agencies in the country.

PR in India: The Pre- Independence Period:

The growth of PR as a profession in India is a very debatable topic. Many scholars have analyzed the historical evolution and growth of PR in India from the varied perspective for instance:

J.M. Kaul chronicles four stages of historical evolution of PR – Early Stage, The stage of Conscious PR; the third stage of PR and finally professionalism in PR.

Another author Rahul Jain, in his paper ‘PR Landscape’ published by ‘Global Alliance for PR and Communication Management’ for information only categorized PR in 3 broad phases, propaganda, publicity and public information. During the struggle of the freedom movement, the political leaders used the different forums to disseminate information and appeal to common masses to participate in the freedom movement. Mass Media especially newspapers played a great role in creating national enthusiasm among Indians. The British Government in 1921 established a Central Publicity Board to function as a bridge between government and the media. The nomenclature of Central Publicity Board got changed in 1923 as the Directorate of Public Instruction and in 1939, it became the Directorate of Information and Broadcasting.

It is believed that Tata Iron and Steel Company (TISCO) opened their public relations department in 1943 in Bombay (now in Mumbai). It also started a monthly publication next year for employee communication.

Some also believe that systematic function of PR started with the Indian Railways. The reason for building the railways, carrying raw materials from one part of the country to another seems to be a riskier affair, therefore, they started using promotional messages for passengers inside the train to recover the cost.

PR in India – Post Independence:

India opted for mixed economy model post-independence. The government gave lots of preference to Public sector organization. This led to the start of Industrial Policy Resolution of 1948 and followed by Industrial Policy Resolution of 1956.

The Government implemented policies based on import substitution industrialization and advocated a mixed economy where the government-controlled public sector was expected to co-exist with the private sector.

A decision at the top government level was taken around that time that all the central public sector enterprises (CPSEs) that now number about 250 would have a public relations department headed by a professional. It was also conveyed to the public sector chiefs that for informing and motivating the employees, every public sector undertaking under the Central government would bring out a house journal for employee communication.

When we look at the media scene in India from its Independence time until the 70s when many public sector companies were being set up, the television and radio were under the government control. Now with more than 350 news channels in the private sector also, Doordarshan competes with them but at the same time reflects government’s perspective rather than being an independent news broadcaster. All India Radio still has the monopoly on the news. The print media has always been independent and vibrant and continues to be so. Efforts at gagging the print media from time to time have not really succeeded.

Professionalism in PR:

The establishment of Public Relations Society of India (PRSI) in the 1970s gave a huge impetus to the public relations industry. As we mentioned in the introduction that reform in the Indian economy in the 1990s gave the entrance to many MNCs to come in India which led companies to focus on their reputation and building a positive image. That was the time when many PR and advertising companies started getting set up to help companies to hang of the situation, finding the strategy to deal with difficult times, and responding to criticism from adversary groups etc.

Current State of PR in India:

Public relation is a thriving profession in India. There are hundreds of large and small PR consultancies in the country, employing thousands of practitioners. Most companies in private sector and almost all companies in the public sector have public relations departments.   According to a survey conducted by the Associated Chamber of commerce and Industry in India (Assocham, 2012), the PR industry in India is growing at an annual rate of 32 percent. Many believe the definition of traditional PR has undergone a change. PR in its new avatar not just encompasses media relations and employee communication, but is used increasingly for strategic communication, brand building, customer relations, and crisis management. From an executive function, PR is now becoming a part of the high-level management job touching upon the core values of an organization. PR in India is fast emerging as an institution especially with its growing acceptance as a skilled and specialized profession.

Reasons for Emerging International Public Relations:

IPR is undergoing major changes in its purview. In the 1960s, John Hill was the one who conceptualized the first international public relations office. After two decades, international public relations was defined as: ‘’the planned, and organized effort of a company, institution, or government to establish mutually beneficial relations with the public of other nations. (Wilcox 1989). In the 20th Century, both perceptions and practices relating to international public relations changed dramatically. Newson (2000) explains the term as:

“The globalization of news media, the unification of the world’s economy and the emergence of multinational companies have helped to expand this area of public relations. International public relations are not today limited businesses because many non-profit organizations and associations are included in its scope.

The reasons for emerging International Public Relations are as follows:

1. Integrated and independent economy: The concept of free trade policy, single market, and fewer investment barriers have connected countries globally. Therefore, the existence of multinational negotiations among nations, GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade), the international organizations to monitor an develop international trade and monitory system, World Trade Organizations, International Monetary Fund and World Bank are few entities to represent the trend of the world economy. But, the open door of other countries to enter into foreign markets has also developed lots of complications in economic environment related to employee, clients and political and economic factors as well. This resulted in the organization to consider public relations counselor more seriously. It is imperative for an organization who do business across the sphere because they help an organization, individual, social organization to deal with absentee ownership, handle sensitive matter related with cultures of other peoples, combat ethnic and religious hatred of centuries. Today, the government also employ PR practitioners to win the world support for their foreign policy goals, promote tourism and establish nation’s identity in the world community.
2. New Communication Technologies: Today, the world is full of information thanks to the availability of various sources of electronic media and sites at an exponential rate. The internet, satellites, supersonic jet travel gives lots of accessibility to people to get inform and aware. New communication technologies have given lots of benefit to PR professionals too in their work, content, flatten the organizational structure and more connect with the public.

Brian Solis is a PR consultant and avid blogger who offers advice for PR firms eager to tap into social media. Solis emphasizes that social media represents more of a sociological change than a technical one. This generation prizes honesty, engagement, and transparency over anything else. For a company to get its message to an online community, it must join that community. And not as a spectator, but as a passionate participant; a real fan. Utilizing emerging digital platforms yields measurable Marketing PR results, which is the underlying goal for every client.

The power to communicate with corporations’ employees and customers carries considerable responsibilities. Organizations including the International Association of Business Communicators and the Public Relations Society of America develop ethical standards essential for the professional communicator. The content varies by organization, but the principles are the same.

Honesty

Professional communicators are honest, accurate and candid in all communications. This practice encourages the free flow of important information in the interest of the public.

Confidentiality

Protecting the confidences and privacy rights of employees and customers is the duty of professional communicators. Additionally, they must abide by legal requirements for disclosing information that affects the welfare of others.

Credit

When content is borrowed from another source, professional communicators give credit and identify that source. In many cases, communicators must request permission from the original source before sharing the borrowed information.

Free Speech

Professional communicators support the principles of free speech and free ideas. These practices encourage open competition.

Courtesy

Sensitivity to cultural values and beliefs are crucial for the professional communicator. It’s important to understand your audience and encourage mutual understanding.

Code of ethics

A code of ethics is a guide of principles designed to help professionals conduct business honestly and with integrity. A code of ethics document may outline the mission and values of the business or organization, how professionals are supposed to approach problems, the ethical principles based on the organization’s core values and the standards to which the professional is held. A code of ethics, also referred to as an “ethical code,” may encompass areas such as business ethics, a code of professional practice and an employee code of conduct.

Both businesses and trade organizations typically have some sort of code of ethics that their employees or members are supposed to follow. Breaking the code of ethics can result in termination or dismissal from the organization. A code of ethics is important because it clearly lays out the rules for behavior and provides the groundwork for a preemptive warning.

Regardless of size, businesses count on their management staff to set a standard of ethical conduct for other employees to follow. When administrators adhere to the code of ethics, it sends a message that universal compliance is expected of every employee.

Compliance-Based Code of Ethics

For all businesses, laws regulate issues such as hiring and safety standards. Compliance-based codes of ethics not only set guidelines for conduct, but also determine penalties for violations.

In some industries, including banking, specific laws govern business conduct. These industries formulate compliance-based codes of ethics to enforce laws and regulations. Employees usually undergo formal training to learn the rules of conduct. Because noncompliance can create legal issues for the company as a whole, individual workers within a firm may face penalties for failing to follow guidelines.

To ensure that the aims and principles of the code of ethics are followed, some companies appoint a compliance officer. This individual is tasked with keeping up to date on changes in regulation codes and monitoring employee conduct to encourage conformity.

This type of code of ethics is based on clear-cut rules and well-defined consequences rather than individual monitoring of personal behavior. Therefore, despite strict adherence to the law, some compliance-based codes of conduct do not promote a climate of moral responsibility within the company.

Value-Based Code of Ethics

A value-based code of ethics addresses a company’s core value system. It may outline standards of responsible conduct as they relate to the larger public good and the environment. Value-based ethical codes may require a greater degree of self-regulation than compliance-based codes.

Some codes of conduct contain language that addresses both compliance and values. For example, a grocery store chain might create a code of conduct that espouses the company’s commitment to health and safety regulations above financial gain. That grocery chain might also include a statement about refusing to contract with suppliers that feed hormones to livestock or raise animals in inhumane living conditions.

Code of Ethics Among Professionals

Financial advisers registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission or a state regulator are bound by a code of ethics known as fiduciary duty. This is a legal requirement and also a code of loyalty that requires them to act in the best interest of their clients.

Guidelines for developing code of ethics

Development Process

The first step in developing a code of conduct is to establish the purpose of the codes and why they matter. In a KPMG survey of Fortune Global 200 companies, the three most common reasons for adopting business codes were to comply with legal requirements, create a shared company culture, and protect and improve the organization’s reputation. KPMG’s survey also found that the most commonly cited core values of Fortune Global 200 companies are integrity, teamwork, respect, innovation, and client focus. Schwartz also recommended that code provisions should be consistent with “six universal moral values” (trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring, and citizenship), which should prevail over financial objectives.

Once the purpose is established, the framework for developing a code requires a full understanding of the operational and reputational risks an organization faces. These issues define the organization’s objectives when developing code content, policies, communication, and training that address individual and collective responsibilities regarding risk management.

To achieve the organization’s risk management standards it is important to draft a code that clearly states expectations and guidelines for acceptable behavior, and provides options for seeking advice and for reporting concerns or suspected misconduct. In his research on the many dimensions of code development, Schwartz found that employees, managers, and ethics officers consider codes more effective when they are readable, relevant, and have a positive tone.

In addition, choosing your language carefully is important, as the authors of an article analyzing Lehman Brothers’ Code of Ethics concluded: “finding the right words to express ideas and behaviors is a key strategic action for an organization.” The authors studied Lehman Brothers’ code using the Competing Values Framework (CVF) to reveal the rhetorical elements of the message, and the Erwin method to rate the code’s tone, readability, and style. They found that Lehman Brothers’ code’s strengths were on the relational (trust) and informational (facts) side, as opposed to the transformational (change) and instructional (action) side, of the CVF. This led to their conclusion that:

The Lehman code of ethics and internal code of conduct do not offer much vision or guidance to the reader. . . . While it lays out the basic rules expected of all Lehman employees, executives missed the opportunity to create a unique code expressing strong ethical principles. A more transformational code might have identified their unique strengths and values, but this would have to be coupled with transformational leadership and a culture of strong communication. The Lehman code did a basic job of protecting the organization against illegal actions by employees, but it did little to advance an ethical culture that might have sustained them.

One of the things the authors found lacking was guidance for employees who are faced with difficult decisions. The American Management Association proposes using the code of conduct to guide employees who are conducting business and making decisions in business dealings and relationships around the globe, by simply recommending that employees ask themselves two questions:

1. Does this comply with the law, the Code of Conduct and the company’s policies?
2. How would customers, shareholders, general public and co-workers view it?

The best practices for drafting codes of conduct that emerge from these studies include:

• Obtain buy-in across the organization with input from a multidisciplinary team
• Include the organization’s mission statement, vision, and values that reflect its commitment to ethics, integrity, and quality
• Clarify that the organization expects individuals to act with honesty and integrity in addition to compliance with legal requirements
• Describe expected behaviors rather than stating prohibitions
• Cover relevant risks, employment practices, protecting corporate assets, and managing third-party relationships
• Make it user-friendly and applicable to all individuals covered by the code
• Use simple, concise, and easily understood language (and provide translated versions as needed)
• Describe enforcement and disciplinary procedures
• Solicit feedback on the code from all levels of the organization
• Update to improve content and address new issues or risk areas

But the mere existence of a code of ethics, without more, will not create a sense of shared values and commitment to ethical behavior.

Implementation

Based on their analysis of the effect that Lehman Brothers’ code of ethics had on its corporate culture, the authors concluded that “silence can be deadly,” “codes fail when poorly communicated,” and “codes themselves cannot create ethical organizations.”

In fact, their research found that these two actions are key to code implementation:

• Communicate codes through the right channels and explain why they’re important
• Integrate codes into the organization’s practices and back it up with enforcement

Once drafted, an organization needs to embed the code into its culture. The KPMG report recommends that the code become a “living” document to guide and create ethical behavior throughout the organization through:

• Communication and training
• Personnel and other policy measures
• Monitoring, auditing, and reporting

At the companies KPMG surveyed, training courses were commonly used to:

• Explain the importance of the code
• Reinforce ethical behavior
• Strengthen the moral compass
• Identify and deal with dilemmas
• Provide guidance on how to implement the code more effectivel

At Lehman Brothers, the ethical code contained the phrase “compete aggressively in furthering the interests of the firm.” However, the authors raise the question of whether explaining to employees the level of acceptable risk in “competing aggressively” would have avoided leveraging the company “into a lethal situation.”

Effective implementation requires ethical leadership and support, training, and continuous reinforcement and updates to keep the code current. Ongoing administration and reinforcement of code standards embeds an organization’s values into its culture, which stimulates ethical reflection and action, and encourages compliance so that employees speak up when they see others engaging in unethical behavior. And for the skeptics who question whether an effective code of ethics is worth all this effort, the bottom line is that good ethics are good for business.

Today, no business can sustain without having a strong internal and external tool of communication. The emergence of new technology and strong power of digital platform help the corporate to realize,  to keep intact their corporate communication so that their stakeholders and shareholders perceive their existence positively. Today, corporate communication as a profession is not only challenging and creative but very rewarding and recognized. Corporate communication as a tool either can brand or Debrand any business organization.

As per world report 2015, the corporate communication profession is gaining around 14 % as compared to 2014. Every sector whether it is a PSU or private sector, manufacturing or service sectors, education or NGOs, they are giving lots of importance to strengthen their Corporate communication department which ultimately helps an organization to manage their internal and external communication.

In the dynamic scenario, it is imperative to note that corporate communication practitioners are the people who manage extremely complex and varied operations of an organization. The function of corporate communication and management functions are aligned together for the benefit of an organization and to achieve a desirable public exposure.

Meaning and Definition of Corporate Communication:

Philip Kitchen and Don Schultz in “Raising the Corporate Umbrella” defines, ‘‘Corporate communication at its simplest is primarily a mechanism for developing and managing a set of relationships with public or stakeholders who could affect the overall performances. These relationships must be viewed in a long-term strategic fashion.”

Thus, according to the above definition, corporate communication is used to build the image among its audiences to enhance its overall performances.

As per Median Online, an organization who works in the area of corporate communications globally defines that, “Corporate communication is the strategic initiative taken by a corporate organization to communicate the corporate brand and its core messages to a spectrum of growing audiences in a globalized market environment. At its core, corporate communication is very simple, the way a corporate communicates.”

Further, it identifies that as a strategic initiative, corporate communication helps a brand/firm to create their identity, build the brand and manage its reputation. It goes beyond the traditional method of communication and harnesses the potential of the print, audio-visual and digital media for the company’s reputation. It uses advertising, public relations, community relations, corporate literature, exhibitions, event management, research, sponsorship management, traditional media and IMC (integrated marketing communication) to place organization, products, and services the global marketplace.

Scope of corporate communication:

• Create an identity: The success of many companies in India like Reliance industries, Tata, Kirloskar group of companies portray that all these companies have created their identity as an organization which is for their people. In the current scenario, where every day, the function of corporates is complex and unvivid, finding an audience for their products, services or companies determine the growth of an organization. Therefore, a company gives preference to use the tools of communications wisely and timely. The corporate communicator/public affairs manager/public relation officers/media liaison officer/media advisor, and corporate communication manager, they all ensure that their corporate connects build an audience group for the growth of an organization.
• Build a brand: corporates in their day to day affairs interacts with two kinds of an audiences, internal and external. The internal audience who may be in form of shareholders, stakeholders or employee of the company carry the pride of association with an organization wherein the external audience are crucial for the future growth of a brand. To balance both the audiences, corporate communication practitioner needs to follow the simple approach in mind.
• Manage the reputation: Nowadays, the media intervention is very high. The rumour spreads and impacts on organization’s reputation, therefore the corporate communicate practitioner manage the task of building the organization reputation and keep its prestige intact.
• Develop a communication model: No organization will make a progress in their isolation approach. It is crucial to communicate with their people on a timely basis. An effective communication model will help an organization to build a strategy which will be beneficial for them in a long run.

Corporate Communication in India:

In India, the business and corporation has come a long way. As it is found that corporate communication is very complex in nature and dynamic in an economic context. The journey of corporate communication has been changed from time to time. In the 1950s, when industrialization just commenced, the focus was more on production and need-based but this concept has kept on changing from time to time and today, the corporate communication is all about corporate branding and reputation management. India, as a country is a brand driven consumer market. Each phase of industrialization has come up with a new medium of communication and vision as well. The objective of the company moved from attention seeking to relational capital (reputation + bonding). Today, every corporate want to manage their stakeholders through various medium of communications.

In India, corporate communication has seen the phases of industrial revolutions wherein the communication paradigm also differed between business and society. Today, the company wants to control and manipulate public opinion to build trust and reputation through digital media. Corporate communication has quite advanced today over the course of more than a century. Be it political, social, economic, legal, business, no one can deny its importance and relevance today in the context of India.

Need/Relevance of Corporate communication in modern contemporary scenario:

The father of public relations, Edward Bernays & Arthur Page spoke about the relevance of corporate communication. Bernays said that internal and external communications to be the engineering of consent in the interest of the company. Arthur Page focused to build the goodwill of the company. It is important for a business to influence society through persuasion or convince. Today, corporate communication is not considered just as a job in a company but a department that is fundamentally creating the social environment of economic value creation and challenge our traditional understanding of communication management.

It is extremely relevant in today’s flat worldwide interconnectedness world. Corporate communication helps to develop a culture of dialogues, feedback, and flexibility. Any organization who works and go ahead along with its people is bound to get success and excel in the field.

The success of Tata, Reliance, Facebook, Mahindra & Mahindra and many other companies define their way of communicating values to their people. Today, mid to large organization understand the importance of corporate communication and it is imperative for them to incorporate into their organization.

Thus, the future of corporate communication will be more targeted, effective, interactive and informative. It has a potential to shape culture, enable better decisions and significantly move the need for building an engaged workforce to capture the value. It is important for every corporate to recognize the need for communication category and usage of communication tools which has the greatest impact on building a strong organization socially and economic point of view.