Corporate Communication Scope and Relevance, Introduction, Meaning, Scope, Corporate Communication in India

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.