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PROCEEDINGS CONFERENCE ON CORPORATE COMMUNICATION 2011 June 7 - 10, 2011 Baruch College/CUNY New York, New York Sponsored by … Corporate Communication International at Baruch College/CUNY Offered in association with … Corporate Communications: An International Journal Proceedings sponsored by … DISHART COMMUNICATIONS Michael B. Goodman, Ph.D., Director Corporate Communication International at Baruch College/CUNY, USA Associate Editor - North America Corporate Communications: An International Journal, UK Christina M. Genest, M.A., Associate Director Corporate Communication International at Baruch College/CUNY, USA Wim J.L. Elving, Ph.D., Editor Corporate Communications: An International Journal, UK In partnership with… ASB Centre for Corporate Communication Aarhus Business School, University of Aarhus, Denmark Australian Journal of Communication Faculty of English, Media Studies & Art History, The University of Queensland, Australia The Bilingual Corporate Communication Program Committee Dept. of Chinese & Bilingual Studies, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, China Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore Published June 2011 by CCI - Corporate Communication International at Baruch College/CUNY, New York, NY. Please contact the authors for permission to reprint. Editor Christina M. Genest Corporate Communication International at Baruch College/CUNY and students and alumni of the MA in Corporate Communication, Weissman School of Arts & Sciences Baruch College, City University of New York Anne Keller, Cynthia Chang, Darnide Cayo & Kate Jones Contents Introduction Michael B. Goodman, Conference General Chair……………………………….….…………...viii The Adaptation Task between Copywriter and Advertising Campaign Manager: Reconceptualizing Levels of Abstraction in Intercultural Integrated Marketing Communication Martin Nielsen, University of Aarhus (DENMARK)………………………………………...……1 Anatomy of Nonviolent Protest against Public Sector Corporations in India Krishna S. Dhir, Berry College (USA)………………………………………………………...…12 Assessing the Use of Communication Technologies as Effective Internal Communication Channels: Case Studies of Malaysian SMEs Chen Ean (Catherine) Lee, Taylor‘s University (MALAYSIA)………………………………….24 The Battle for Legitimacy: Corporate Communication Challenges in Implementing CSR Irene Pollach, Anne Ellerup Nielsen, Bo Laursen, Christa Thomsen, Leila Trapp, Line Schmeltz, Poul Erike Jørgensen, University of Aarhus (DENMARK)………………………….38 Beyond Identity Washing – Corporate Social Responsibility in an Age of Skepticism: Strategies of Identity Washing and Risks Wim Elving, University of Amsterdam and Mark van Vuuren, University of Twente (THE NETHERLANDS)………………………………………………………………………………..39 Building Positive Power into Strategy Narrative Minna Mars, Aalto University School of Economics (FINLAND)……………………………....48 CCI Corporate Communication Practices and Trends: US Study 2011 Michael B. Goodman, CCI at Baruch College/CUNY (USA)…………………………………...63 Character as Defence: A Study of Vattenfall‘s Communication Following an Incident at the Nuclear Plant at Forsmark, Sweden Maja von Stedingk Wigren, Örebro University and Orla Vigsø, Södertörn University (SWEDEN) (Abstract Only. Published in Corporate Communications: An International Journal,Vol. 15, No. 4, 2010)..........................................................................................................65 Conference on Corporate Communication 2011 Proceedings Page VIII Table of Contents Communicating Sustainability: Do Nordic Energy Corporations Exemplify a New Generation of CSR? Helle Kryger Aggerholm and Leila Trapp, University of Aarhus (DENMARK)……………......66 Communication Training for Corporate Clients Geraldine E. Hynes, Sam Houston State Unviersity; Tom Hajduk, Georgetown University; Sam DeKay, Bank of New York Mellon Corporation; Deborah Roebuck, Kennesaw State Univeristy; Katie O‘Neill, Rock-Tenn (USA)………………………………………………..…..82 A Comparison of English and U.S. American Communication Patterns in Work Settings: Applying M.A. Thesis Findings to Global Corporate Challenges Diane R. McGuire, Transcultural Communications (USA)……………………………………....83 Competing Discourses in Crisis Reporting and Management in China: The Case of The Milk Scandal Doreen Wu, Yu Huang and Ming Liu, Hong Kong Polytechnic University (HONG KONG)......84 Connecting Corporate Communications and Persuasion Theory: An Argument for The Theory of Reasoned Action and Beyond Brian J. Householder, Baruch College, City University of New York (USA)…………………...85 Controlling Unfavorable Feedback on the Wall: How Large Companies React to Negative Comments Posted to Corporate-Sponsored Facebook Pages Sam H. DeKay, BNY Mellon Corporation and St. John‘s University (USA)………………........91 The Conversation Age: The Opportunity for Public Relations Laura Berlin Kathryn Zipfel, New York University and Louis Capozzi, New York University PRCC (USA)……………………………………………………………………...………………98 Corporate Architecture - New Building Blocks of Brand Value: A Case Study of the UBS Head Office in Zurich Angela Bargenda, Ecole Supérieure du Commerce Extérieur (FRANCE)……………………..110 Corporate Communication and the Impact of Legislative Actions and Court Decisions on the Business Community Joseph Basso, Rowan University (USA)……………………………………………………..…124 Corporate Communication Officers and the Executive Board: An Empirical Study Irene Pollach and Ylva Hellberg, University of Aarhus (DENMARK)………………………...139 Corporate Communication Practices and Trends: China Study 2010 Jieyun (Wendy) Feng, Department of Business English, UIBE –University of International Business and Economics, (CHINA) and Michael B. Goodman, CCI at Baruch College/CUNY (USA)………………………………………………………………….140 Corporate Communicators Conceptualize CSR: A Working Study of Senior Practitioners Rachel Kovacs, College of Staten Island, City University of New York (USA)……………….162 Conference on Corporate Communication 2011 Proceedings Page ii Table of Contents Corporate Reporting: An Integrated Approach to Legitimacy Claims Marianne Grove Ditlevsen, Anne Ellerup Nielsen and Christa Thomsen, University of Aarhus (DENMARK)……………………………………………………………………………………163 Corporate Responsibility, Global Citizenship and Online Stakeholder Communication Management Deborah Rolland, Unitec University of Technology (NEW ZEALAND) and Jana O‘Keefe Bazzoni, Baruch College, City University of New York (USA)…………………………....…..170 Corporation as Civil Organization in a CSR Campaign: The Challenge of Maintaining Credibility Leila Trapp, University of Aarhus (DENMARK)…………………………………………...….182 CSR and Stakeholder Dialogue: A Case Study of a Sugar Cane Company in Thailand Suwichit (Sean) Chaidaroon, Nanyang Technological University (SINGAPORE)…………….183 Culture and Emotion in Crisis Communication: Indigenization of the Integrated Crisis Mapping (ICM) Model Lee-Ching Cheng, Yvonne Ai-Chi Loh and Augustine Pang, Nanyang Technological University (SINGAPORE)………………………………………………………………………193 Delivering New Strategic Imperatives in a Changing Business Environment: A Study of Internal Communication Best Practices in Leading Global Businesses Mary Streche, Gagen MacDonald, LLC (USA)………………………………………………...211 Determining the Sequential Relationship of Downward Communication, Job Satisfaction and Organization Commitment with the Propensity of Employee Churn: An Empirical Study of the Insurance Sector in India Reeta Raina, Management Development Institute and Arif Khan, Vertex Customer Services India Pvt. Ltd. and Vivek Sharma, Max Bupa Health Insurance Co. Ltd. (INDIA)…………………..225 The Doctor-Nurse Game in the Age of the Checklist: Seeking Collaboration in the Management of Health Care Michele Wender Zak, Saint Mary‘s College of California (USA)…………………………...…247 The Effect of Reputation, Awareness and Corporate Citizenship on Banking Propensity Fatma El Goully, Banque Misr (EGYPT) and Maastricht School of Management (THE NETHERLANDS) and Ahmed Taher, Solutions Consulting (EGYPT)…………………..……260 Enduring Image: Toward a Conceptualization Capturing Defining Moments in Crises and How These Impact Organizations Benjamin Meng-Keng Ho and Grace Xiao-Pei Au Yong, Nanyang Technological University; Jacqueline Dong, Ithaca College (USA); Liang-Tong Lau and Augustine Pang, Nanyang Technological University (SINGAPORE)………………………………………………………274 Evolution or Revolution: How is the Study of Communication Changing? Patricia Scott, Uhmms and Wharton School University of Pennsylvania (USA)……………....292 Conference on Corporate Communication 2011 Proceedings Page iii Table of Contents Exploring the Practice of CSR from a Corporate Communication Perspective Anne Ellerup Nielsen, Bo Laursen, Poul-Erik Flyholm Jørgensen, Irene Pollach, Line Schmeltz, Christa Thomsen and Leila Trapp, University of Aarhus (DENMARK)……………299 The Extent and Patterns of Multi-Stakeholder Communications in Annual Report Letters Roger W. Hutt, Arizona State University (USA)……………………………………………….311 The Functions and Roles of Public Relations (and Promotion) Offices of Public and Private Universities in the Turkish Republic of North Cyprus Serra Görpe, European University of Lefke (TURKEY)……………………………….....……319 Global Genres and Localized Discourses: The Construction of Vogue, Cosmopolitan and Bazaar in China Doreen Wu and Agatha Chung, Hong Kong Polytechnic University (HONG KONG)………...333 Hi Fans! Tell Us Your Story! Implementing a Stewardship-Centered Social Media Strategy to Maintain Brand Reputation During a Crisis L. Simone Byrd, Alabama State University (USA)…………………………………………..…334 Identification with Networks as Network Identities: Insights from Two Philippine TV Companies Fernando de la Cruz Paragas, Nanyang Technological University (SINGAPORE)……………346 The Image of The People‘s Republic of China (PRC) vis á vis the Military March of its 60th Anniversary Daniel W.C. So, Cindy Ngai and Patrick Ng, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (HONG KONG)…………………………………………………………………………………360 Image Work and Crises: Toward a Crisis Pre-emptive Image Management Model across the Crisis Life Cycle Augustine Pang, Nanyang Technological University (SINGAPORE)………………………….362 The Impact of Strategic Communication on Organizational Identity and Identification during Change: A Case Study of a Multinational Telecommunications Company in China Yi Luo, Montclair State University (USA)…………………………………………………...…378 An In-Depth Listening Exercise with Front-Line Employees in the Middle of a MultiBusiness Integration Generates Opportunities to Drive the Business Forward Tracy Benson Kirker, On the Same Page, LLC and Perri Richman, Ingersoll Rand (USA)……379 Information Literacy as a Sine Qua Non for Modern Public Relations in the Information Society Alireza Isfandyari-Moghaddam and Kobra Veisi, Islamic Azad University, Hamedan Branch (IRAN)…………………………………………………………………………………….…….380 Insights about Integrated Marketing Communication in Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises: An Exploratory Study Annamaria Esposito, IULM University of Milan (ITALY)…………………………………….390 Conference on Corporate Communication 2011 Proceedings Page iv Table of Contents Institutionalization of Corporate Social Responsibility within Corporate Communications: Combining Institutional, Sensemaking and Communication Perspectives Freiderike Schultz, Free University (Germany) and Stefan Wehmeier, Syddanskuniversitet Denmark (Denmark)………………………………………………………………………...…..404 Internal Corporate Communication and its Impact on Internal Branding: Perception of Indian Public Sector Employees Neha Sharma and T. J. Kamalanabhan, Indian Institute of Technology Madras (INDIA)……..405 A Key Corporate Communication Skill: Listening Critically to Language and its Representations Don R. Swanson, Monmouth University (USA)………………………………………………422 Leaders‘ Communication Strategies for Large-scale Gain Rod Miller, Executive Institutional Advancement Exchange LLC (USA)……………………..434 Localism, Regionalism and Globalism in ASEAN Public Relations Practice: Visions, Values and Practices across Nations and Cultures Graeme Domm, RMIT International University Vietnam (VIETNAM)…………………..…....442 Looking for the Roots of Future Success: Corporate Values to Drive Organizational Change in Natuzzi Group Alessandra Mazzei and Luca Quaratino, IULM University of Milan (ITALY)……………...…454 Ministers, Disasters, Twitter, and Volunteerism Usep Suhud, Universitas Negeri Jakarta (INDONESIA) and Edith Cowan University (AUSTRALIA)…………………………………………………………………………….……467 Multiplying Public Interest Information through a Communitarian Radio Casters Workshop Gilmar Jose dos Santos, Ministry of Social Development and Fight Against Hunger, and Federal University of Juiz de Fora and Ângela Carrato, Federal University of Minas Gerais (BRAZIL)……………………………………………………………………………………….481 Organizational Communication and Knowledge Management – Separated at Birth, yet Joined at the Hip Peter Kastberg, University of Aarhus (DENMARK)…………………………………………...497 People Just Like Me: The Rise of the Recognition Business and How it is Affecting Corporate Behavior Peter Michael Horowitz, Baruch College, City University of New York (USA)…………….....504 Personal Preference or Policy? Language Choice in a European-based International Organization Elizabeth de Groot, Radboud University (THE NETHERLANDS)…………………………….511 Conference on Corporate Communication 2011 Proceedings Page v Table of Contents Petrobras‘ Corporate Image Monitoring System: A Decade-long Development Effort and its Results Fernando Leite Ribeiro, University of São Paulo (BRAZIL) and Eraldo Carneiro da Silva, Petrobras – Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. …………………………………………………………....525 A Portrait of the Corporate Communication Officer in Turbulent Times: A Romantic Character with Multiple Identities Edoardo T. Brioschi, Rossella C. Gambetti and Mattia A. Giovanardi, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore (ITALY)………………………………………………………………………...…536 A Qualitative Study on Corporate Communication Management (CCM): Antecedents and Consequences Bahtiar Mohamad and T.C. Melewar, Brunel University (UK)………………………………...555 Relational Risk and Reputational Management: The Case of Pfizer and the Trovan Drug Test in Nigeria Ismail Adegboyega Ibraheem, Coventry University (UK) and Lanre Issa-Onilu, MMCC Group Limited (NIGERIA)……………………………………………………………………….…….568 Resistance to Change in Process Management: The Petrobras Case Alexandre Albuquerque Maranhao de Oliveira, Petrobras – Petróleo Brasileiro S.A (BRAZIL)…………………………………………………………………………………….....576 Revealing Corporate Identities – On the Annual Report as the Business Card of a Company (Extended Abstract) Marianne Grove Ditlevsen, University of Aarhus (DENMARK)………………………………591 The Role of Internal Communication in Employee Engagement James Kinneer, Indiana University of Pennsylvania (USA)…………………………………….599 A Staff-Student Research Initiative on Corporate Social Responsibility Valerie Priscilla Goby and Catherine Nickerson, Zayed University (UNITED ARAB EMIRATES)………………………………………………………………………………..…...606 Survivors‘ Discursive Construction of Organizational Identifications after a Downsizing Helle Kryger Aggerholm and Mona Agerholm Andersen, University of Aarhus (DENMARK)……………………………………………………………………………………614 Uncertainty and Corporate Communication Practices: The Forgotten Value of Communication Theory? Gideon de Wet, University of Fort Hare (SOUTH AFRICA)…………………………………..631 Use of New Media in Government Crisis Communication: Assessing Exigency, Effectiveness, and Expedience Cheryl Chong, Neha Mathur and Augustine Pang, Nanyang Technological University (SINGAPORE)………………………………………………………………………………….645 Conference on Corporate Communication 2011 Proceedings Page vi Table of Contents Utility Economic Development – A Leader in Community Growth and Sustainability Richard M. Struck, Orange and Rockland Utilities, Inc. (USA)……………………………..…659 The Voicing of ONE by Many: Rethinking Integration within Communication and Brand Management Sophie Esmann Andersen and Trine Susanne Johansen, University of Aarhus (DENMARK)……………………………………………………………………………………660 What Knowledge – What Skills? Perceptions of Finnish Corporate Communications Professionals and Top Management of Competencies Required in the 2010s Anne Kankaanranta, Leena Louhiala-Salminen, and Christa Uusi-Rauva, Aalto University School of Economics (FINLAND)……………………………………………………...………676 Women Managers as Primary Family Breadwinners: Workplace Communication Challenges Caryn E. Medved, Baruch College, City University of New York (USA)……………………...687 Workplace Friendship in Iranian Organizations Misha Teimouri, University of Putra Malaysia (MALAYSIA)…………………………………688 Conference on Corporate Communication 2011 Proceedings Page vii Introduction Michael B. Goodman, Ph.D., Conference Chair Director, CCI – Corporate Communication International [email protected] Change and Corporate Communication Rapid changes in global business practices, technology, and media require creative strategic integration of knowledge to ―connect the dots‖-- to see the patterns that others with more narrow training and experience do not. The general public is dauntingly skeptical about corporate business practices, and this global reality demands constant and consistent demonstration of ethical behavior by corporate professionals, over and above a clear understanding of the transformations in media and business practices. Issues for Multinational Corporations – Ethics In the light of popular opinion about business corruption and the perceived power gap between the corporation and the individual, corporations have struggled to re-articulate and reinvent the compact between the individual and the enterprise in a variety of formal and informal ways. Some of the more significant efforts in this direction set in the context of continuing concerns about business ethics. The result of these concerns has been the emergence of formal ―principles-based‖ codes of conduct, as well as the ongoing effort to rebuild public trust through the practice of Corporate Responsibility. The strategic adaptations taking place are an attempt to ―normalize‖ the relationships between these social entities by making them both more transparent and more explicit in the context of new regulatory schemes in foreign as well as domestic operations. Corporate strategies in these critical areas include: Concerns about Corruption and Fraud Corporate Responsibility and the Corporation as Citizen Governance and the Global Corporation The Regulatory Environment for Ethical Global Practice The growing perception of corporate communication professionals as counsel to the CEO and to the corporation suggests the nurturing of leadership capabilities in these critical areas. Technology and The Social Network The transformational impact of social media, Web 2.0, and the semantic internet, require corporations to cultivate media and technology expertise. Successful corporations adapt to this rapidly changing technological, mediated, and ethical environment. Sustainable corporations focus on information relevant to their success, and on being thought leaders in their business sectors through a tenacious pursuit of intellectual competence in the field. The complexity of operating in a multinational business environment with numerous constituencies also calls for professional expertise and familiarity with research tools and techniques. Conference on Corporate Communication 2011 Proceedings Page VIII Introduction The Internet has had a transformative influence on corporate communication from its beginnings to its current form as Web 2.0. That influence extends not only to the introduction of a wide array of new communication channels, but also to the very core of what we consider to be corporate communication. The extraordinarily high levels of interactivity and transparency enabled by the Internet have made the elemental practices of corporate communication – corporate reputation, employee communication, shareholder communication, community relations, and public affairs – unrecognizable to practitioners who entered the profession just a few years ago. The current transformation will continue, and it is likely that we will look back on this era as having changed not only the way companies communicate with these stakeholders, but the very nature of those relationships as well. We will be able to say in a few years that ―the medium is the relationship,‖ contrary to McLuhan‘s classic observation that the ―medium is the message.‖ Or perhaps we will adopt the concept proposed by Rich Teplitsky, head of the Public Relations Society of America‘s (PRSA) Technology Section that ―there are no more mediums, only messages.‖ Political Opportunities and Risks Within and Across Borders In the first decade of the 21st century, a more truly global marketplace was created than had existed at any time since the decade preceding the First World War. Notwithstanding some reversals of this trend created by the global recession that began in 2008, the global marketplace created through the emergence of countries such as China, India, Brazil and Russia has transformed the nature of global relations for multinational companies. There have been two principal drivers for this transformation. The first is the removal of regulatory barriers controlling foreign ownership of business assets in countries such as India and a parallel reduction in subsidies or protections for home grown ―industry champions. The second is the development of truly global supply chains involving wholly owned and wholly outsourced operations. The combined power of these two shifts has brought about the decline of global corporate infrastructures based on having autonomous country or regional business units in favor of globally matrixed organizations. In these matrixed structures, responsibility for managing a brand globally, for example, could be headquartered in one country and transportation and logistics in another. In this model, employees responsible for marketing or transportation would report both to the global manager of their function as well as a country manager in their own country. Multiple reporting relationships become even more complicated in some contemporary organizations where an individual could be accountable to a country managing director, a global function leader, a key client relationship manager, and to the captain of an ad hoc continuous improvement task force. All of these developments have profound implications for the practice of global corporate relations, creating some new and reinforcing some old obstacles to effective corporate communication. Focus on Recent Research The CCI Corporate Communication Practices and Trends Study 2011, now in its analysis and evaluation phase, will include in-depth interviews in addition to the series of survey questions, for the corporate communication officers who chose to participate in the interviews. This time open-ended questions asked: Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page ix Introduction What are the top three critical issues in corporate communication today? What top three trends in corporate communication do you see? We also added two questions on important regulatory and political developments for corporations: New legislation – Dodd-Frank – was passed in the summer of 2010. What impact, if any, have its provisions had on your corporate communication practice? Also in 2010 the U.S. Supreme Court handed down the Citizens United vs the Federal Election Commission decision. What impact, if any, has this ruling had on your practice of corporate communication? A preliminary report on the 2011 CCI Study will be presented at the conference. The full report will be reported in June 2011 and available at www.corporatecomm.org CCI Corporate Communication Practices and Trends: China Study 2010-2011 In 2006 CCI completed the Corporate Communication Practices and Trends Study: A China Benchmark 2006. http://www.corporatecomm.org/pdf/ChinaBenchmarkStudy.pdf. An article ―Tradition and Innovation: The China Business Communication Study‖ by Drs. Goodman and Wang based on the research was published in the Journal of Business Strategy, (Vol. 28 No. 3 2007, pp – 34- 41.) An additional study was completed in 2008, CCI Corporate Communication Practices and Trends: A China Study 2008 – Phase II. Dr. Jieyun Feng (University of International Business and Economics in Beijing, China) was the lead investigator on this latest study, with the assistance of Nan Zhang and Liyuan Tian. The 2010 China Study, underwritten by Prudential Financial, Inc., analyzes the evolving responsibilities of Chinese corporate communication professionals, and explores how the corporate communication function is structured in contemporary Chinese corporations. It combines current data with previous survey results to identify and analyze corporate communication practices and trends. A report of the findings is in this Proceedings. These two recent research studies by CCI Corporate Communication International focused on corporate communication practices and trends, and they build on the previous studies in South Africa, China, United States, and the European Union: CCI Corporate Communication Practices and Trends: South Africa Benchmark Study 2007 - 2008; CCI Corporate Communication Practices and Trends: A China Study 2008 – Phase II; CCI 2009 Corporate Communication Practices and Trends – United States; CCI Corporate Communication Practices and Trends: A European Union Benchmark Study 2008 - 2009 These six studies, taken together, form a global outline of leading practices for corporate communication professionals. Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page x Introduction The CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2011 The annual CCI Conference on Corporate Communication is a clear opportunity for corporate communicators to develop professionally and to bring value to their companies. It is also an opportunity for scholars to share their knowledge and research. It has been the premise of this conference that relationships among scholars and practitioners are an essential element of the social glue that binds civilized people together. And international meetings are important to build and maintain trust among professionals with common interests and goals, but who are disbursed around the world. It is in this spirit that once again corporate executives and university scholars met in Wroxton, England from June 4 – 7 to exchange information and explore communication from a global perspective. The CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2011 is intended to: Illuminate the interest in corporate communication as a strategic function in organizational success. Explore the influence of globalization on the corporate communication profession as it relates to theory, practice, roles, processes, and ethics. Continue as a forum for the exchange of ideas and information among industry and university representatives. Indicate trends and provide analysis for communication professionals, university faculty, and others interested in corporate communication. Disseminate the conference discussions through the publication of the conference Proceedings, and selected in Corporate Communication: An International Journal. The three-day conference features speakers from twenty-two countries: Australia, Brazil, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Hong Kong, India, Iran, Italy, Malaysia, New Zealand, Nigeria, Singapore, South Africa, Sweden, The Netherlands, Turkey, United Arab Emerites, United Kingdom, United States, Vietnam The papers, case studies, and presentation summaries that follow reflect the discussion of essential issues: • communication management • corporate governance and corporate communication • issues management • corporate communication leadership • green communication • corporate culture and identity • corporate branding • cross-cultural communication issues • corporate social responsibility • reputation and identity • global corporate relations • crisis communication • new media • corporate communication in China, South Africa, the EU, the U.S.A. And other issues such as: • stakeholder activism • health care communication Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page xi Introduction • • public relations and corporate reputation document cycling and gatekeeping The papers published here were selected based on a peer review process. They were edited for the Proceedings by Christina Genest, CCI Associate Director, and students and alumni of the MA in Corporate Communication, Weissman School of Arts and Sciences, Baruch College, City University of New York (New York, NY): Anne Keller, Cynthia Chang, Darnide Cayo and Kate Jones. We appreciate their hard work. We are also grateful to the members of the CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2011 Program Committee for their insight and expertise in making this conference a success. They are: Krishna Dhir, Ph.D., Berry College, USA Wim J.L. Elving, Ph.D., Conference Co-Chair, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands Finn Frandsen, Professor, mag. art., Aarhus University, Denmark Christina M. Genest, MA, Conference Coordinator, CCI at Baruch College/CUNY, USA Michael B. Goodman,Ph.D., Conference Chair, CCI at Baruch College/CUNY, USA John Leipzig, Ph.D., University of Alaska Fairbanks, USA Augustine Pang, Ph.D., Nanyang Technological University, Singapore Roslyn Petelin, Ph.D., Conference Proceedings Co-Editor, University of Queensland, Australia Jo-Ann Straat, M.A., Daiichi Sankyo, USA Pat Scott, Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania & Uhmms Corp., USA Daniel W.C. So, Ed.D., The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, China Don Swanson, Ed.D., Monmouth University, USA We also thank the following contributors to the Conference on Corporate Communication 2011: Proceedings Sponsor DISHART COMMUNICATIONS Best Paper Awards Sponsor Emerald Group Publishimg Limited Best Presenter Award Sponsor Uhmms Conference Academic Partners ASB Centre for Corporate Communication Aarhus Business School, University of Aarhus, Denmark Australian Journal of Communication Faculty of English, Media Studies & Art History, The University of Queensland, Australia The Bilingual Corporate Communication Program Committee Department of Chinese & Bilingual Studies, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, China Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page xii Introduction Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore CCI Corporate Sponsors CCI Honeywell Johnson & Johnson Medco Health Solutions, Inc. MMCC Group Limited Pfizer Inc Prudential Financial, Inc. Siemens Corporation NOTE: The CCI Conference on Corporate Communication 2011 is sponsored by Corporate Communication International at Baruch College/CUNY, U.S.A., in association with Corporate Communications: An International Journal, published by Emerald Group Publishing Ltd., U.K. In 2011 the conference venue is at Baruch College, City University of New York, New York, NY. For more information on CCI, visit its website at www.corporatecomm.org Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page xiii The Adaptation Task between Copywriter and Advertising Campaign Manager Re-conceptualizing Levels of Abstraction in Intercultural Integrated Marketing Communication Martin Nielsen Aarhus University, Denmark [email protected] The purpose of this research paper is to revisit and develop a theory of advertising campaigns in order to identify a level of abstraction at which cultural adaptations can be conducted. The methodological approach consists of a literature review of corporate communication, intercultural advertising and translation studies in order to extract the campaign theory, which until now has been somewhat undertheorized, and develop a campaign theory which enables and supports adaptations on the campaign level instead of the text level. Preliminary findings show that the well-founded translation theory, which deals with adaptation at the text level, does not correspond to a similarly well-developed campaign theory, which deals with adaptation at the campaign level. One major implication for further research is the intertwining of the strategic aspect(s) of the intercultural advertising campaign with translation theory aspects. Subsequently, both the organizational position of the person who will do the adaptation and the competencies of that person ought to be discussed and theorized more than has been done previously. Implications for business practice involve focusing on the levels of abstraction within intercultural integrated marketing communication, and for developers of study programmes focusing on new and interdisciplinary competencies. No ad is an island, entire of itself; every ad is a piece of the campaign, a part of the main. That is how you might re-write John Donne‘s (1572-1631) Meditation XVII. The printed advertisement, inserted in a mass medium, is the prototypical and classic example of advertising. The advertisement is a text, understood in the wide sense of the word, i.e. a genre including both verbal and visual elements. But it never stands alone. It is always part of the campaign, which consists of several advertisements, along with other advertisements, texts, or genres. And the campaign in turn forms a part of integrated marketing communication, a concept very closely related to corporate communication, with contributing to the overall corporate strategy. Those relations go also for adapted advertisements, for international campaigns, for multinational communication, and for global strategy. For some time now, globalization – and before that international trade in general – has necessitated cross-cultural marketing communication and advertising. Consequently, a need for conducting an adaptation of the original national, single-language advertisement is evident. This adaptation task, however, may be approached from different angles. Some campaigns are developed globally from the very beginning, some campaigns involve international advertising agency networks, some campaigns involve local advertising agencies, and some campaigns are adapted by translating the advertisements (Jettmarová, 2004; Smith & Taylor, 2004, 264-273; Framson, 2009; Torresi, 2009). So according to those different ways of handling adaptation in business practice, adaptation may take place at different stages in the adaptation process, at different places in the organization or outside the organization, and at different levels in the goal hierarchy of the organization. Conference on Corproate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 1 The Adaptation Task between Copywriter and Advertising Campaign Manager The purpose of this paper is to identify and discuss the levels of abstraction at which the adaptation task can be approached and to contribute to the understanding of adapting advertisements. This discussion comprises elements from strategy, integrated marketing communication, and translation theory. Hierarchy of Goals – Levels of Abstraction One overall goal at the corporate level is vital for all for-profit organizations, no matter if they also pursue growth and development goals or corporate social responsibility (CSR) goals, and that is long-term maximization of profits (Pearce & Robinson, 2000, 13; Lynch, 2005, 242). This view of trying to give the owners of a company, the shareholders, an optimum of return on their investment, represents a shareholder approach. Although there has been a well-renowned and meaningful alternative, namely the stakeholder approach (Freeman, 1984), for more than two and a half decades, I will assume for the purposes of this paper that the all-important goal of any commercial enterprise is the maximization of long-term profit. For even if growth and development goals and social goals (CSR) have challenged the supremacy of financial goals (cf. triple bottom line), the self-preserving character of securing long-term profit will make this goal stay at the top of other corporate goals. Strategy is hierarchical in structure (Fill, 2005, 325), and overall general corporate goals can be reached by subordinate business goals, which in turn can be reached by subordinate functional goals. This hierarchy of goals follows the same principle as the means-end-chains, which Rokeach (1973) assumes for human values: Human behaviour is guided by values that serve a higher purpose. Or, using another similar concept, namely the concept of laddering (Reynolds & Craddock, 1988; Reynolds & Whitlark, 1995; Gutman, 1997): You can ask a whyquestion to any given behaviour until you reach the top of the value hierarchy. At that point you have reached a value where you cannot anymore answer why it is important or if it serves yet another, higher purpose. These types of values are ―by definition end states that are universally regarded as desirable.‖ (Grunert, 2010, 36). This ―means-end-assumption of goals‖ (Meffert, 2000, 82) has resulted in different ways of dividing goals into one ultimate final goal and several various subordinate levels of instrumental goals, such as supergoals, interimgoals, and subgoals (Meffert, 2000, 71; Wöhe & Döring, 2002, 98); superior goals and action goals (Meffert, 2000, 71), or organizational goals, campaign goals, and auxiliary goals (Sepstrup & Fruensgaard, 2010, 206ff.). In that way it is possible to break down the final goal into instrumental subgoals at a still more subordinate level until the smallest unit, in this case the advertisement, is reached; and, starting this process from the bottom, it is possible to ask at every stage of the means-end-chain: ―Why do you do this?‖ until the top of the goal hierarchy is reached. The goal hierarchy can be established for all kinds of subgoals, e.g. for personnel, for production, and, as in this case, for marketing: Long-term maximization of profits The overall goal in for-profit organizations is long-term maximization of profits, and this overall goal is a ―survival‖ goal (Pearce & Robinson, 2000, 31; Lynch, 2005, 242) and therefore represents a goal in itself; it is not a goal which is a means to reach a higher goal. In that capacity, it is similar to a value at the top of a means-end-chain, where you continuously ask ―Why?‖ until ―the ladder has reached a level of abstractness beyond which it is impossible to continue.‖ Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 2 The Adaptation Task between Copywriter and Advertising Campaign Manager (Grunert, 2010, 32). In principle, profit maximization can be reached by either cutting costs or by increasing revenues. Increase in revenues – increase in sales Increasing revenues is a business goal, positioned at a medium level of the goal hierarchy below the ultimate corporate goals, but above the functional goals like marketing (Pearce & Robinson, 2000, 5-6; Lynch, 2005, 244). It requires that different subgoals be reached. If current and unsatisfactory sales figures are due to a lack of supply of manufactured goods, the company has to increase production. But if manufactured goods are in stock at a sufficient amount, an increase in revenues may be reached by marketing efforts. Marketing efforts Marketing efforts belong to the functional goals (Pearce & Robinson, 2000, 5-6; Lynch, 2005, 244). Marketing has several instruments at its disposal in order to help increase sales, usually called the 4 Ps: price, product, place (distribution), promotion (communication). Recently, new instruments have emerged to make it 5 Ps: people (staff) or even 7 Ps: physical evidence (buildings, uniforms, etc.) and processes (methods of producing, delivering and consuming a service) (Smith & Taylor, 2004, 7). For all these marketing instruments, goals are set to be reached, and each of these goals contribute to the next level in the goal hierarchy. Looking downwards in the hierarchy, if we follow the P for promotion, this is one of the instruments that compose the complete marketing goal. Communication The promotional part of marketing is communication. The goal of communication can be manifold. Percy and Elliott identify four communication objectives: reminding of category need, creating brand awareness, creating brand attitudes, creating brand purchase intent (Percy & Elliott, 2009, 194-198). Communication can take the form of an array of communication tools: selling, advertising, sales promotion, direct marketing, public relations, sponsorship, exhibitions, packaging, POS and merchandising, word of mouth, e-marketing, corporate identity (Smith & Taylor, 2004, 8). Depending on the specific goal, different campaigns (advertising campaigns, PR campaigns (Moffitt, 2005) can be launched, and these campaigns constitute the company‘s communication. Campaign The goal of a campaign is to create awareness, inform, persuade and influence behaviour (Pfau & Parrott, 1993, 13; Moffitt, 2005, 109; Röttger, 2008, 598; Andersen, 2009, 463). As one of the main characteristics of a campaign is the fact that it is time-limited (cf. paragraph 3 below), campaigns contribute to the general communication goals. A campaign consists of different concrete measures in the form of genres like advertising, TV spots, billboards, etc. Those tools are integrated (Hallahan, 2005; Röttger, 2008) because they pursue the same goals. That way each genre or text is part of the complete campaign. Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 3 The Adaptation Task between Copywriter and Advertising Campaign Manager Advertisement – text The goal of a single text (advertisement) is to create attention in order for the recipient to receive the message. The advertisement thus forms the basis for reaching the goals of the campaign. The text may be broken down to even smaller parts, like slogan, headline, catch visual, etc. Catch visual and headlines are meant to create attention, which in turn has the goal to make the recipient read the advertisement in the first place. In recent years, advertisements have begun to focus on creating an entertaining effect (advertainment, experiential marketing). Again, the goal of the specific advertisement (or TV spot) is then to entertain and to give the recipient an (intellectual and/or affective) experience, but not as an end in its own right: The entertainment effect is an instrumental goal, which is a means to make the recipient receive the whole text. The recipient is being ―rewarded‖ by the entertaining experience for exposing him- or herself to the complete ad, because information overload has made people reject receiving advertising messages. In conclusion, if we follow the supremacy of the economic goal, a hierarchy of organizational goals can be established that goes from the supergoal at the top of the goal hierarchy to the subgoals at the very bottom of the goal hierarchy: The overriding goal is longterm maximization of profits; that may be reached by an increase in revenue; that may again be reached by marketing efforts (the 4 Ps); one of the Ps is promotion (= communication); communication in turn is built of campaigns; and campaigns consist of texts (see also Nielsen, 2008, 143). This goal hierarchy is obviously a strongly simplified construct. First of all, it implies a neat, clean hierarchical linearity which probably does not reflect corporate reality since strategies are more complex, two- or more stringed (parallel), and sometimes even conflicting. Secondly, it is doubtful whether anyone at any level of that goal hierarchy is aware of the complete meansend-chain and his or her particular contribution to that hierarchy at the level of goals where he or she works. And thirdly, because this goal hierarchy is relatively detailed, literature that applies this approach usually skips one or more steps: ―Obviously, the ultimate objective of an advertising campaign is to make people buy the product and eventually make a (better) profit.‖ (de Pelsmacker et al., 2007, 281) or only focuses on a certain part of the hierarchy. But nevertheless, this means-end-chain constitutes a conceptual map that provides us with an overview of where adaptation can take place. Now, what is one of the main points of this paper is the fact that when crossing national (cultural) boarders with marketing communication, the translation or adaptation task has to be done at one point of this goal hierarchy. Translation, which is a quite well developed science, has in principle the theoretical framework for doing that. But all translation tasks, also the more adaptive ones (cf. Schreiber, 2004; Bastin, 2009), take their point of departure in the text. What is more relevant and probably much more realistic is that the actual authentic adaptation will take place at a higher point in the goal hierarchy, namely the campaign. And that has a number of implications, as I will argue in paragraphs 6 and 7 below. But before I do that, I will discuss the notion of campaign, because that is the crucial concept in the goal hierarchy in this paper. Campaigns Campaigns as the tool of communication are used throughout different areas and can be divided into commercial campaigns, political campaigns and social issue campaigns (Moffit, 2005; Frandsen & Johansen, 2008). Definitions of campaigns, irrespectively of their subject area, have a number of common characteristics that run across those subject areas. It is therefore fair to Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 4 The Adaptation Task between Copywriter and Advertising Campaign Manager say that there is such a thing as a general campaign theory or at least a general campaign definition which in principle can be applied to any campaign. The following definitions stem from different disciplines, some of which are rather affiliated with strategic and corporate communication disciplines like marketing, public relations, health communication, or political communication. The others are affiliated with linguistic disciplines like translation theory, text theory and text linguistics. By drawing on campaign definitions from both types of disciplines, it is the purpose of the following review and comparison of definitions to prepare an understanding of campaigns that allows campaign adapters to take into account several aspects of campaign adaptation. A very general, yet precise definition comes from communication scholars Sepstrup and Fruensgaard, who state explicitly that their campaign theory is valid for communication campaigns irrespectively of the fact if they are commercial, political, or social issue campaigns: ―Campaigns are traditionally defined as planned communication to a limited group of recipients during a certain period with a totality of communication products and with a certain purpose [original italics, translation M.N.].‖ (Sepstrup & Fruensgaard, 2010, 23). The same general validity of a definition of a campaign is implied by the title of the work of Michael Pfau and Roxanne Parrott (―Persuasive Communication Campaigns‖): „A conscious, sustained, and incremental process designed to be implemented over a specified period of time for the purpose of influencing a specified audience.‖ (Pfau & Parrott, 1993, 13). Several definitions are found in works within the area of health communication: „[…] communication campaigns can be defined as an integrated series of communication activities, using multiple operations and channels, aimed at populations or large target audiences, usually of long duration, with a clear purpose [original italics, M.N.]― (Flay & Burton, 1990, 130); ―Public Communications Campaigns are purposive attempts to inform, persuade or motivate behaviour changes in a relatively well-defined and large audience, generally for non-commercial benefits to the individual and or society at large, typically within a given time period, by means of organized communication activities involving mass media and often complemented by interpersonal support.‖ (Rice & Atkin, 2002, 427). From a public relations point of view, Moffit defines a campaign as follows: ―A campaign is the strategic design of a series of messages sent to one or more targeted populations for a discrete period of time in response to a positive or negative situation affecting the organization.‖ (Moffit, 2005, 109). A general definition of a (commercial) advertising campaign is provided by James Krum and James Culley: ―An advertising campaign is not a single ad, no matter how explosive. A campaign is a series or sequence of advertisements, carefully planned, coordinated, and executed over a period of time.‖ Weilbacher (1979) defines an ad campaign as ―the totality of advertising with a common look and appeal that a particular product, service, or company uses for a period of time― (pp. 184-185).‖ (Krum & Cully, 1983, 59-60). Where these definitions focus on strategic functions, marketing functions, time limitations, the following definitions acknowledge (some of) these traits, but focus more on the linguistic and textual integrative parts. Advertising language scholar Nina Janich positions the campaign as a ―meso-cosmos‖ between the ―macro-cosmos‖ of advertising and the ―microcosmos‖ of the individual advertisement, TV spot, radio spot etc. She combines campaign, mediality and texts in that a campaign is characterized by ―multimediality and networks of genres […] use of different media and advertising instruments, accompanied by direct marketing and sponsoring efforts, if needed […] [translation M.N.].‖ (Janich, 2010, 109f.). From a text linguistic point of view, Kirsten Adamzik produces a definition of a campaign without actually using the word, but by describing exactly the intertwining and the Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 5 The Adaptation Task between Copywriter and Advertising Campaign Manager relations between what you might just as well call advertising instruments through this example: ―In order to solve a communicative task, different genres may be used (i.e. they are in a paradigmatic relation like e.g. an advertisement, a poster or a sales letter); often you will also have to produce an array of genres successively or more or less ‘simultaneously‘ in order to fulfil a complex communicative goal [ translation M.N.].‖ (Adamzik, 2000, 109). If we look at the above-mentioned definitions across subject areas and disciplines, the following features can be extracted to form a prototypical definition or prototypical characteristics of a campaign. A campaign is thus characterized by 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. having strategic objectives, being intentional and purposeful being the result of (strategic, conscious, well-considered) planning and coordination aiming at a particular target group being limited in its temporal extension trying to reach its goals by means of communication integrating messages by means of intertextuality, intertwining/network of texts, and medial plurality This list of characteristics represents the state of the art within campaign definitions. For commercial campaigns, the dimension of integration of messages has been taken into account, following the emergence of integrated marketing communication (―Good marketing is integrated marketing.‖ de Pelsmacker et al., 2005, 3). However, recent developments within information and communication technology, multimedia, and communicative consumer behaviour have made it necessary to reconsider, differentiate and extend some of those characteristics. Integrated marketing communication campaigns no longer correspond completely to these theoretical characteristics: 1. Strategic objectives, intentionality, purposefulness: This feature of campaign still holds good 2. Strategic planning and coordination: This feature should be revised or at least differentiated. Viral campaigns, blogs, social media, internet, and consumer communities take some of the strategic power out of the hands of the campaign planners. So, although it is still an important characteristic of a campaign that it is initiated, managed, and controlled by the organization, there are clear indications that campaign managers are not always completely in control, e.g. if a viral campaign is launched by, say, a consumer community, or if extensive blogging sends out messages that are not integrated or do not correspond the strategic planned communication. Also, if e.g. media reporting leads to protest, boycott and eventually even violent actions in what could be called a ―runaway‖ campaign like the one regarding Shell and Brent Spar (Röttger, 2001, 16), the planning and coordination of communication efforts are out of control 3. Target group: This feature is still valid, but should be viewed more differentiated. One defined target group may have more than one stake in a company, e.g. employees who at the same time are shareholders, consumers who are at the same time neighbours, or suppliers who are at the same time sister companies 4. Temporal reference (time limit): This feature only holds good to some extent. Since some of the campaigns may be out of the hands of the campaign planners, e.g. viral campaigns may last shorter or longer than planned. Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 6 The Adaptation Task between Copywriter and Advertising Campaign Manager 5. Communication: Also this feature is under pressure. There are at least two strands of development that necessitate an extended and wider comprehension of communication. Firstly, events (e.g. sponsor events like release parties or tickets for sports games) can be integrated parts of campaigns although they are not communication in a narrow sense. Secondly, the emergence of experiential marketing (i.e. attempt at influencing stakeholders or target groups by means of tactile, olfactory, gustatory, verbal and auditory stimuli (Pine & Gilmore, 1999, 59-61)) challenges the notion of communication in a marketing perspective. The same goes for the idea of sensing, which can be expanded and comprise interactions that go beyond ―classic communication‖ like thinking, acting, feeling, relating (Schmitt, 1999; 2008). 6. Intertextuality, intertwining/network of texts, medial plurality: This feature is ambiguous. On the one hand, it is more valid than ever. It is the very essence of integrated marketing communication and corporate communication that they aim at consistent, synergetic, interlinked communication, and the more media and ―texts‖ that are available, the more important becomes the dimension of integration, intertextuality and interdiscoursivity. On the other hand, some scholars have expressed critical position on the univocality, consistency, unidirectionality and strictly organizationally controlled communication (Christensen & Cheney, 2000, Cheney et al. 2011). Those comments may be seen as a first step towards a development of a campaign definition and theory that takes into account organizational, medial, communicative, demographic and sociocultural conditions that have changed the basis on which the original campaign definitions have been developed. Texts Having gone through the purposes of different strategic, tactical and operative tools in the organizational goal hierarchy, having identified the different levels of abstraction in that hierarchy and having discussed the ―campaign level‖, I will now briefly turn to the lowest level in the hierarchy, the text. A text is a ―limited sequence of verbal signs which is internally coherent and which, as a whole, signals a recognizable communicative function [translation M.N.]‖ (Brinker, 1992, 17). The so-called pragmatic turn in linguistics in the 1970s widened the perspective and changed the main linguistic unit of investigation from the sentence to the text, coining the term text linguistics (de Beaugrande & Dressler, 1981). This textual paradigm shift was adopted by translation theory, where now the text is the principal unit of interest (Neubert, 2004). Interestingly enough, the possibly most prominent feature of a text is that it is coherent, or cohesive, and coherence/cohesion is precisely also what characterizes integrated marketing communication at the campaign level: Here, several genres with the same message ideally have to be joined together in order to form a campaign. There has been a large number of text definitions, and because many of them are very wide, they are open to include promotional genres and tools that usually are not seen as texts, such as events and experiences. Adaptation – Translation If the preparation of a campaign for a foreign market takes it starting point at the text level, translation theory would be an appropriate theoretical approach. Many translation scholars Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 7 The Adaptation Task between Copywriter and Advertising Campaign Manager distinguish between translation close to the text (i.e. what in laymen‘s terms would be called close translation) and translation more distant from the source text (i.e. what in laymen‘s terms would be called a free translation), e.g. ―documentary translation‖ vs. ―instrumental translation‖ (Nord, 1997), or ―overt translation‖ vs. ―covert translation‖ (House, 1997). Clearly, the translation of advertisements would call for an instrumental/ covert/ free translation, because the translation task would require a substantial amount of freedom and flexibility in relation to the source text. From a translation theory point of view, that kind of translation, particularly if it is very free, qualifies as adaptation, if not even re-writing, which is a borderline case of translation according to translation theory (Schreiber, 2004). Or, as Beverly Adab puts it: ―the most appropriate way to generate a useful and communicatively successful target language text of this type [i.e. advertising texts, M.N.] is by adapting the information and the product identity/ associated values/ key message in the light of the culture-specific features of perception.‖ (Adab, 2001, 135). However, an actual translation of advertisements will not necessarily be the typical solution in business practice since advertisements tend to be adapted through advertising agencies (Jettmarová, 2004; Framson, 2009; Torresi, 2009). The difference between a translation theory approach – even if it is dealing with adaptation, it originates from translation theory – and a marketing, advertising agency approach becomes clear when the following two definitions and statements are compared. Under the lemma ―Adaptation‖ in the Routledge Encyclopedia of Translation Studies we find that ―adaptation is a procedure which can be used whenever the context referred to in the original text does not exist in the culture of the target text, thereby necessitating some form of re-creation [...] strategy, employed to achive an equivalence of situations wherever cultural mismatches are encountered.‖ (Bastin, 2009, 3-4). That understanding of adaptation is based on a translational understanding of adaptation (original text – target text). In the same encyclopedia under the lemma ―Advertising‖ we find that there is a ―current practice, adopted by several multinational companies, of developing local campaigns simultaneously from a brief that avoids culture-specificity as much as possible. In this process [...] there is no single advertisement or campaign that can be easily recognized as a ‗source‘ text.‖ (Torresi, 2009, 7). That understanding of adaptation is based on an integrated marketing communication perspective. So whereas Bastin positions the adaptation task at the text level, Torresi seems to place it at the campaign level. It is exactly that distinction that this paper has been trying to explicate, and it is that distinction which, if it is acknowledged sufficiently, might lead to a better understanding of the implication of the adaptation task and subsequently to more conscious and better adaptation processes and results. Campaign Adaptation So in the light of the above, several questions arise: At which level of abstraction on the organizational goal hierarchy, i.e. on the text level or on the campaign level, should adaptation take place? If campaigns are developed ―internationally‖ in scope right from the beginning, where then does the transformation from the original, the source campaign into the adapted, the target campaign take place? Is it possible at all to conduct adaptation procedures at any other levels than at the/ a textual level? And who is going to do the adaptation: the campaign manager, the copywriter or the translator? And what is the ideal educational background, what are the ideal competencies for that task? No empirical research has been done on the actual conduct of adaptation tasks. Jettmarová, 2004, and Framson, 2009, claim – plausibly – that advertisements are rarely translated, the adaptation is conducted in advertising agencies. At which level the adaptation is Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 8 The Adaptation Task between Copywriter and Advertising Campaign Manager approached, who exactly is performing the adaptation task, let alone which theoretical considerations the adapters are basing their work on, is not at all being investigated. The following paragraph points out some of the possible consequences of the perspective outlined in the above. Consequences for Business Practice Consequences for Perspectives of Adaptation One of the first consequences for translating agencies would be to take the adaptation from the text level to the campaign level. It is not the texts that are to be adapted, it is the campaigns – or, in the terminology of linguists describing campaigns: net(work)s of genres, ―association‖ of genres, text conglomerates, or discourse (Adamzik, 2000; Nielsen & Ditlevsen, 2008; Janich, 2010). So instead of focusing on the single text, adapters must focus on the whole campaign in order to make the right decisions on the basis of objectives higher up in the organizational goal hierarchy (objectives not of the text, but of the campaign). Consequences for Education/Study Programmes The consequences for education and study programmes concern the competencies that have to be developed in order to live up to the demands which originate from adaptation tasks. That means that students of translation not only need knowledge about language, texts, genre conventions, and culture; but also about strategic corporate communication, integrated marketing communication, and corporate goal hierarchies. Consequences for Business – Practical implications Where practical implications may have the greatest impact is in translation agencies. Obviously, translation agencies employ trained translators, i.e. employees with a background in language, translation studies and cultural studies. With a greater knowledge of the corporate goal hierarchy in general, and of the specific corporate goal hierarchy for the specific company in question, translators (i.e. adaptors) of advertisements would be able to make more conscious, more free and more meaningful decisions. In the ultimate consequence, translations with that kind of knowledge and background might even chose to reject the adaptation task because they have discovered that neither the adapted version nor the original version fulfil the strategic communication or campaign purposes. Advertising agencies might be well-equipped in terms of adaptation at the campaign level, but they might be just as ignorant of the levels of abstraction as the translators. So becoming aware of the different levels in the goal hierarchy and consciously adapting at a deliberately chosen level would possibly enhance their adaptation results. And finally, the companies would be better off if they would have the knowledge of the goal hierarchy, not only because they need to know why they do what they do (cf. laddering), but also because they need to brief their suppliers if they want to outsource the adaptation task, be it to a translating agency or to an advertising agency. 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Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 11 Anatomy of Nonviolent Protest against Public Sector Corporations in India Krishna S. Dhir Berry College, USA [email protected] The purpose of this paper is to analyze nonviolent strategies adopted by a class of stakeholders – those who are victims of the process of development and modernization in India. Over the past few decades, India has established public sector corporations as developmental instruments. This paper presents a case study of protest against such a corporation set up to construct dams on the Narmada River. Human populations displaced by the dams have protested against the resulting adverse effects on habitats, natural resources, way of life, and indigenous cultures. These protests have deployed nonviolent strategies. This paper presents an analysis of conditions that define success and failure of these nonviolent protest movements. The analyses reveal prerequisite conditions that must be present in the protest environment, the protesting agents, and the protest methodology for nonviolent actions to succeed. In India, rivers are regarded as givers of life; as mother goddesses that sustains them, both physically and spiritually. Among the rivers of India, Narmada has unique powers: its sight is said to bring peace to the mind and salvation to the soul. Its name suggests that it is river of happiness and a source of merriment. Its virginal purity guarantees sweet taste to the water all the way to its dissolution into the Arabian Sea. The Narmada River flows from east of Jabalpur through the heart of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, meandering westward through the states of Maharashtra and Gujarat, emptying into the Gulf of Khambhat or Cambay. Its journey of 1,312 kilometers makes it the largest westward flowing river in India and the fifth largest in the country. The river offers enormous potential for development of water resources for civic, industrial, agricultural and environmental applications. In 1978, the Government of India received World Bank‘s assistance to exploit the developmental potential of the Narmada River. The Narmada Valley Development Authority was established in 1985, as a public sector organization of the Government of the state of Madhya Pradesh. The mission of the Authority is to develop water and energy resources in Narmada basin. The Narmada Valley Dam Project was instituted to build a series of 30 large dams along the river. Additionally, 135 medium sized dams and about 3,000 smaller dams. This system of dams could provide water to as many as 40 million people and produce 1450 megawatts of power. On full development, the Narmada has a potential of irrigating over 15 million acres of land (Kapadia 2004; Narula 2008), This project, first conceived of in the 1940s to increase irrigation and produce hydroelectricity, most of it in drought prone areas like Kutchch and Saurashtra. Of the 30 large dams planned on river Narmada, Sardar Sarovar is the largest. With a proposed height of 136.5 meters, it's also high on discord it generates among the various stakeholders. Let us first briefly examine the benefits to be derived from this dam. We will then examine the nature of discord generated by the project. Conference on Corproate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 12 Anatomy of Nonviolent Protest against Public Sector Corporations in India Benefits of the Sardar Sarovar Dam The benefits to be derived from the project are multi-dimensional, which explains the multi-disciplinary nature of the Narmada Valley Development Authority organization. The Sardar Sarovar Dam, by itself, would facilitate irrigation of 1.8 million square kilometres of land spread over 12 districts and 3393 villages in Gujarat and 730 square kilometres in the arid areas of Barmer and Jalore districts of Rajasthan. In Gujarat alone, 75% of the villages affected are presently drought-prone areas. The project would provide drinking water facilities to 8215 villages and 135 urban centres in Gujarat alone. These include 5825 villages and 100 urban centers of Saurashtra and Kutchch. In addition, 881 villages currently deprived of potable water due to high contents of fluoride will get relief. It will also provide flood protection to about 300 square kilometres of areas along to the river, benefiting 210 villages and including Bharuch city and 750,000 population. Besides generating 1450 megawatts of power, the project will generate 700,000 man-years of employment during construction and 600,000 man-years of employment post-construction. The Sardar Sarovar Dam is also expected to benefit the ecosystem, serving as a barrier to advancement of little Rann of Kutchch and Rajasthan desert. Various wildlife habitats will benefits as well, including the ecosystems of the Dhumkhal Sloth Bear Sanctuary, Wild Ass Sanctuary in the Little Rann of Kutchch, Black Buck Sanctuary at Velavadar, Great Indian Bustard Sanctuary in Kutchch, and Nal Sarovar Bird Sanctuary. Deepening of all village tanks will increase their capacities for development of fisheries projects, conservation of water, and replenishment of ground water. Other benefits include the elimination of the need to acquire costly lands access to earth for construction of canal banks and reduction of health hazards. The project will facilitate sophisticated communication system in the entire region served by the project. The scale of increase in additional annual production on account of the Sardar Sarovar Dam is impressive: The agricultural production would be in the order of Rs 9,000,000,000. The economic impact of the domestic water supply would be Rs 1,000,000,000. Power Generation would account for Rs 4,400,000,000. Thus, the total economic impact will be of the order of Rs 14,000,000,000. The Urgency of Large-Scale Development India in its entirety has a stake in the Narmada Valley Development Authority. In April 2010, the population of India was estimated to be about 1.18 billion, with more than half under 25 years of age. It is the second most populous nation in the world, accounting for over 17.5 percent of the world‘s population. India boasts more than two thousand ethnic groups, with hundreds of spoken languages and every major religion is represented in India. It takes the entire continent of Africa to exceed the linguistic, genetic and cultural diversity of India. Such is the nature of the astonishing diversity of the Authority‘s vast arena of stakeholders. It is remarkable that with all its multi-ethnic, multi-religious and multi-linguistic diversity, India has managed to maintain and consolidate a deep rooted democratic structure that guarantees peaceful transfer of power, professional armed and paramilitary forces that is loyal to the people and the government, an activist judiciary that proactively safeguards the rights of the people, and a deep sense of national identity that pervades its citizens. Nevertheless, the challenges the country faces, even at the level of basic necessities of life, are enormous. The very scale of these challenges stretches the imagination. Nearly 350 million people in India live below the poverty line. About two-thirds of the people lack basic sanitation. Nearly one-fifth of the people do not have access to safe drinking water. Although well endowed with a system of Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 13 Anatomy of Nonviolent Protest against Public Sector Corporations in India rivers, India‘s need for water outstrips its availability. Since its independence from the British rule in 1947, India‘s average annual per capita water availability has dropped by nearly 70 percent to about 1,800 cubic meters. India accounts for 2.4 percent of the world's land area. However, it is endowed with about 1.7 million square kilometers of arable land, which is more than what is available to any other country except the United States. It has over half a million square kilometers of irrigated land. India‘s water area, too, is more than what is available to any other country with the exception of Canada and the United States. Nevertheless, soil erosion, water-logging and salinity affect about 60 percent of the cultivated land in India. As per 2001 census, 27.8 percent of Indian population is spread across more than 5,100 towns and over 380 urban communities. India has 18 cities with population of over a million. The remaining 72.2 percent of the population lives in about 638,000 villages and engaged in agriculture and related sectors. In 2009, India was the fourth largest oil consumer in the world, after the United States, China, and Japan. Coal and peat account for nearly 40 percent of India‘s total energy consumption, followed by nearly 27 percent for combustible renewables and waste. Oil accounts for nearly 24 percent of India‘s total energy consumption, natural gas six percent, hydroelectric power almost 2 percent, nuclear nearly 1 percent, and other renewables less than 0.5 percent. Nearly 30 percent of India‘s total energy needs are met through imports. Roughly 400 million people do not have access to electricity in India. In light of the scale of the challenges, it is understandable that the central and state governments of India should seek to make the most of every resource to improve the lot of its people (US Energy Information Administration, 2011). Through the recent years, India has witnessed high economic growth rates. With 17.5 percent of world population, India is a significant consumer of energy resources. Through the recent years, India‘s energy consumption has increased at one of the fastest rates in the world. During the period between 2002 and 2007, the compounded annual growth rate of consumption of petroleum products was about 3.6 percent, compared to 7.6 percent corresponding growth rate in India‘s gross domestic product. Local Resistance to Large-Scale Development The Narmada River has a catchment area of about 100,000 square kilometers, 32 percent of which is covered with broad-leaf dense forest. With 40 associated tributaries, the river supports over 25 million people, who live a tribal lifestyle and are supported by a rural economic base of agriculture and fishing. The Sardar Sarovar Dam will create a reservoir 214 kilometers long that will submerge approximately 100,000 acres of land. Of this, 35,000 acres is forested and 27,000 acres is agricultural, dispersed through the states of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, and Maharashtra. The Dam will provide irrigation through 80,000 kilometers of network of canals, fed by a main 458 kilometers artery, running from the dam site in Gujarat to border with the state of Rajasthan. This network, too, will claim an additional 210,000 acres of land, complemented by significant resources (Turaga, 2000). At its very onset, the Sardar Sarovar Dam project attracted protests from those populations that would be displaced by it. However, impressed by the vision of bold development, the World Bank provided the three riparian states a loan of $200 million and a $250 million credit to finance the Sardar Sarovar Project. This support from the World Bank internationalized the arena of stakeholder activists opposed to the project. At its very onset, the Narmada Valley Dam Project got mired in what John Wood (1993) describes as ―a classic illustration of three highly complex [political] problems: (1) allocating a resource – and the costs and benefits of developing it – in a federation where two or more states and the central government are jurisdictionally involved; (2) sharing water in an upstreamConference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 14 Anatomy of Nonviolent Protest against Public Sector Corporations in India downstream conflict; and (3) resolving the conflict between human rights/environmental activists, on one hand, and government and predevelopment interests, on the other‖. In the context of the Narmada Valley Dam Project, the first two issues listed by Wood (1993) involve politicians, and civil and technical bureaucrats. These stakeholders are not affected by the damming of the Narmada at a level of personal subsistence. The first two issues listed by Wood (1993) are beyond the scope of this article. The focus of this essay is on the third issue above. This issue affects a class of stakeholders, the tribal population residing along the river of joy that are displaced by the reservoirs, canals, and other aspects of dam construction. The nature of their source of sustenance is eliminated and the nature of their being is altered by the construction of the dam. Scott (1998) explains the nature of state-initiated large-scale development in terms of ―convergence‖ of four elements. Routledge (2003) summarizes these four as follows: 1. To articulate the planning problem in a form that makes it workable, the groundrealities are described in simple terms. In the process, local knowledge is ignored and the ground-realities are overlooked. 2. Heavy dependence on ―modernist ideology‖ based on ―legitimacy of scientific and technological progress‖ results in large scale projects, such as huge dams. 3. States often deploy ―authoritarian and coercive practices‖ to implement such ―modernist‖ programs. 4. Often such planning process adversely affects ―a weakly developed civil society‖ that lacks the capacity to resist such planning. In the case of the Narmada Valley Dam Project, the first three elements are clearly present. However, as we shall see, the fourth element was not present. The ―civil society‖ was not weak. To the contrary, experienced in the practice of civil disobedience, they proved to possess great acumen in the practice of nonviolent resistance. Violence in Large-scale Development It would be fair to state that development in India has resulted in many successes. Production of food-grain has increased dramatically since India‘s last major famine in 1964. Its Diversified industrial base has produced an emergent knowledge economy. Life expectancy has risen from 40 to about 60 years over the past four decades. Although much progress has yet to be made, benefits of electricity, drinking water, public education, and health care is accessible to more citizens of rural India than ever before (Routledge, 2003). However, this development has been dear in terms of human suffering. Fernandes and Thukral (1989) have described that at least 15 million citizens in India had already suffered displacement caused by development projects within the first three decades of its independence. By the turn of the century, India had created 3600 large-scale dams. Yet, the country‘s flood and drought prone areas had increased since independence (Routledge, 2003). The term, displacement, may appear innocuous; however, its impact on the displaced is devastating. Along with associated loss of cultivation, grazing, fuel, and timber along with massive livestock and human populations relocated due to submergence, displacement represents a loss of culture and a way of being. Displacement does violence to the citizens for which they must have adequate compensation. But, to understand what compensation is to be given, their loss must be understood. A displaced fisherman described his plight to Routledge (2003) in the following words: ―If the dam is made and the water rises we are finished. We depend on fishing. Neither the contractors nor the government will discuss what happens to Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 15 Anatomy of Nonviolent Protest against Public Sector Corporations in India the people. We fish and collect silt from the river, which we sell as soil. With the water rising, we don‘t have the tools to fish. If the dam is built we are completely finished.‖ The Narmada Valley Development Authority has an elaborate plan for compensation of the displaced. In the specific case of the Sardar Sarovar Dam, the resettlement formula differs between the Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Gujarat. Families from Gujarat and those from the other two states willing to move to Gujarat, are eligible to receive a minimum of 5 acres or irrigable land. They are also provided house sites and some cash compensation. A family is defined as consisting of a married couple, their minor children and other dependent, such as widowed mother. Major sons over 18, and also unmarried major daughters, are treated as a separate family. Landless displaced families, too, are eligible to receive five acres of land. Madhya Pradesh, too, provides 5 acres of land to each family, as does Gujarat, however, landless displaced families, who choose to remain in Madhya Pradesh, are not eligible for any land. The government of Madhya Pradesh confesses that it does not have enough land to resettle all who would be displaced. In Maharashtra, the land to be provided to each family is 2.5 acres (Dwivedi, 1999; Narmada Water Dispute Tribunal, 1993; Routledge, 2003). Not only did the compensation vary between the three states, they were offered only to those who were in the catchment areas. Furthermore, thousands of families that were displaced by the canal infrastructure or were affected by the damming of the river but lived away from the catchment area were summarily ignored (Gandhi, 2003). The success of this resettlement policy is being questioned. World Bank, in an independent review of those resettled, has found that those who had been resettled due to the Sardar Sarovar Project related displacement have encountered numerous difficulties. They have experienced lack of grazing lands, firewood, drinking water, and other essential facilities. Some received plots that were less than the promised 5 acres, others found their land to be not irrigable or flood prone or otherwise of inferior quality. There were disputes over ownership of resettlement plots and hostility from host communities. Villages, communities and even families were split up among different resettlement sites, resulting in loss of social capital. Many were unable to integrate into the host communities. Subsequently to resettlement, many families leased their allotted plots to farmers in the host communities and returned to their original villages, the threat of submergence notwithstanding (Narula, 2008; Routledge, 2003). A Bhil tribesman articulated his dilemma succinctly in a conversation with Routledge (2003): ―Here we get things without money – fodder, fuel, wood for housing. In resettlement everything needs money therefore we must take loans and we are trapped in the cash economy. We have never had to migrate for work – everything we need is here.‖ Organizing for Protest The struggle against the large-scale dams through the Narmada Bachao Andolan (Movement to Save Narmada) was started by activists and researchers in early 1980s. At the start it was focused on obtaining adequate and equitable rehabilitation and resettlement for the displaced people. However, in the 1980s, evidence mounted of incompetency and systematic duplicity on the part of the bureaucrats and politicians, for example, coerced or illegal removals and providing resettlement on waterlogged or arid land. In 1988, the Narmada Bachao Andolan expanded its activities to demanding that the project be shelved all together. The movement adopted nonviolent strategies to accomplish its mission and suggested alternative approaches to development. Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 16 Anatomy of Nonviolent Protest against Public Sector Corporations in India Dwivedi (1997) described the organization of the protest movement as having a ―coreperiphery‖ structure. The movement had a group of 15 to 20 dedicated activists providing leadership and taking major decisions regarding strategies, resources, politics and rhetoric of the movement. These were well educated professionals, including many that had ―come from outside of the Narmada valley‖. They included engineers, geologists, economists, hydrologists, soil scientists, energy experts, and anthropologists (Amte, 1990). Operating from the movement‘s urban offices, they interacted with with various national and international activist groups, conducted research, documented and disseminated information, lobbied with the government, the press, and with international organizations. They mobilized protests in the valley, raised funds, and steered the movement. Peripheral support came from Indian activists groups and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) beyond the valley that were focused on human rights, the environment, and alternative development (Routledge, 2003). The Narmada Bachao Andolan implemented its plans through committees of small groups of local people who operated informally to provide logistical supports to the movement. These groups captured the diversity of the areas threatened by submergence, with representatives from rich and influential farmers and various poor tribesmen. These groups participated in activities ranging from fund raising to rallying and demonstrating. In this manner, the movement was effectively able to maintain and use their local knowledge of the valley to great effect. This structure and modus operandi facilitated communications between diverse communities. They also facilitated mobilization of as many as tens of thousands of peasants, as needed, to resist work on the dams through such strategies as blocking access to the villages and to dam construction sites. A full range of non-violent methods were deployed by the movement, ranging from demonstrations to hunger strikes, including fasts, occupations, and hunger strikes. In response to these protests, the World Bank withdrew its support of the Project. Japan, too, cancelled its aid. The Narmada Bachao Andolan has achieved success in certain areas and resistance continues in other areas. The Nature of the Protest The Narmada Bachao Andolan is not an anti-development movement. Its rhetoric is discursive, rooted in moral idioms and based on rational arguments that present alternatives to modernistic, environmentally unfriendly, large-scale dam projects. When inaugurating the Nangal Canal in July 1954, Nehru described India‘s large-scale developmental projects as ―temples of modern India‖ Narula, 2008). Later, when inaugurating the Hirakud dam in Orissa in January 1957, he was cognizant of the 22,000 families displaced by the project. But he articulated his rationale stating, ―If one should suffer at all, it is better that one should suffer for the general advancement of one‘s country‖ (Nilsen, 2008). The leaders of the Narmada Bachao Andolan did not subscribe to this ideology. The leaders of this movement believed that India should adopt developmental projects that protect the interests and welfare of every citizen of the country through alternative approaches that are humane, friendly to the environment, ecosystems, and populations. They had a vision of ―equitable, decentralized and sustainable development‖ (Amte, 1990). The movement adopted nonviolent strategies to counter the state and central governments. Nonviolence has generally been discussed in terms of two distinct traditions, namely (i) principled nonviolence and (ii) pragmatic nonviolence (Stiehm, 1968; Burrowes, 1996: 112-115). Principled nonviolence, exemplified by Gandhi and Tolstoy, is sometimes described as ideological, conscientious, or positive nonviolence that cites sanctity of life. Pragmatic nonviolence, espoused by Sharp (1973), accepts conflict as a normal phenomenon, and offers the Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 17 Anatomy of Nonviolent Protest against Public Sector Corporations in India rejection of violence as an effective way of challenging aggression, coercive power and oppression). Sharp suggests that nonviolent action should be motivated by pragmatism, not by religious or ethical motivations. While Gandhi‘s search for an alternative to violence ―had more to do with a perceived intrinsic rather than merely an instrumental value in nonviolence‖ (Weber, 2003). ―Nonviolent action is a technique by which people who reject passivity and submission, and who see struggle as essential, can wage their conflict without violence…It is one response to the problem, of how to act effectively in politics, especially how to wield power effectively‖ (Sharp, 1973: 64). The Narmada Bachao Andolan have adopted the pragmatic tradition described by Sharp (1973), in which nonviolent actions can be classified into three distinct categories, namely, (i) nonviolent protest and persuasion; (ii) non-cooperation; and (iii) intervention (Martin and Varney, 2003). Nonviolent protest and persuasion include picketing, displaying of banners, wearing of symbols, petitioning, singing, pilgrimage, fraternizing, teach-ins, mock funerals, and walk-outs. Such modes communicate to the opponents the strength of organizational purpose and the intensity of the activists‘ passion. They may bring about a conversion in the opponent, or at least a willingness to consider the activists‘ view-point with increased seriousness. Noncooperation includes strikes, boycotts, slow-down and stalling, stay-at-home, and countermeasures. Intervention includes fasts, sit-ins, overloading of systems or facilities, and seizure of assets (Martin and Varney, 2003). Yet, except for a few recent exceptions (Dhir, 2006; Dhir, 2007), students and scholars of strategic corporate communication have generally not examined the potential of nonviolence theory. Although we have described nonviolence in terms of two distinct traditions, in practice it is possible that one practices principled nonviolence with an unusual and sharp sense of timing, effectiveness and efficiency. This was the hallmark of Gandhi, and of Narmada Bachao Andolan leader, Baba Amte. Conversely, it is quite possible for one to be guided by principled tenets in the development of pragmatic nonviolent strategies. This is the tradition adopted by Narmada Bachao Andolan leaders today, including Medha Patkar. Indeed, underlying cultural values such as rejection of violence, sense of fairness, and other shared tenets underscore the existence of a link between the principled and pragmatic orientation (Dhir, 2006). It has been said that it is difficult to draw a clear demarcation between the theory and practice of nonviolence. The theory of nonviolence is, in fact, the technique of its application (Potter, 1971; Gorsevski, 1999; Dhir, 2006; Dhir, 2007). According to Potter (1971), specification of conditions under which nonviolent resistance may be practiced ―is not a matter of deciding when it is expedient to embark on a program whose moral worth is generically justified on some other grounds. Rather, the conditions under which nonviolence can operate are precisely the crux of the theory of nonviolence, setting limits to the very notion of what nonviolence is‖ (Potter, 1971: 93). Prerequisites of Nonviolent Persuasion Gandhi has discussed instances when conditions and context of action might necessitate violence. Violence, in certain circumstances, is not necessarily inappropriate (Gandhi, 1949). Potter cataloged the conditions under which nonviolence can or cannot occur. He examined Gandhi‘s statements on the nature of nonviolence and conditions that rendered nonviolence impracticable or impossible. Three such categorized were thus identified: (i) types of external circumstances that render nonviolent techniques inadvisable or unworkable or unlikely to succeed; (ii) characteristics of the agents, organizations, or individuals proposing nonviolent action that preclude success; and (iii) techniques which will defeat the purpose of nonviolence Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 18 Anatomy of Nonviolent Protest against Public Sector Corporations in India (Potter, 1971; Dhir, 2006). ―The question is not one of establishing…the absolute disvalue of violence and, therefrom, the absolute value of nonviolence. The theory of nonviolence is not a system of moral philosophy or even part of a system.‖ (Potter, 1971: 93). However, the basic operative assumption made by Gandhi (1949) is that nonviolence offers a positive procedure for bringing about social change. We shall now examine how the Narmada Bachao Andolan brought change by meeting the environmental, agency, and methodological prerequisites. The environmental characteristics Potter (1971) reported various environmental conditions which by their very existence render nonviolence impossible. The first condition he mentions pertains to the desired outcome. ―If the type of change that is contemplated is believed by the agent to be one which leads to a state less beneficial than the present one, the methods used to bring about this change can hardly be described as nonviolent.‖ Potter gives an example. Refusal by an individual to comply with a law, which the individual acknowledges to be just, does not constitute nonviolence, even if the individual is not violent. Just laws are enacted precisely to ensure more beneficial states through compliance. Actions are not nonviolent unless they are intended to lead to more beneficial states or, at least, to maintain the present level of justice (Potter, 1971). As stated above, the Narmada Bachao Andolan evolved out of demand for adequate and equitable rehabilitation and resettlement for the people displaced by the dam. However, in the 1980s, it became evident that indigenous populations being displaced were often coerced or illegal removed, to be resettled on waterlogged or arid land, and in host communities that were hostile to them. Additionally, evidence mounted of incompetency and systematic duplicity on the part of the bureaucrats and politicians. The protest movement expanded into a one of protecting the rights of the local populations to exercise control over their economies, societies, culture, and lives. The movement challenged the centralized planning process that ignored the ground realities and treated the people displaced indifferently. The central planners were removed and distanced from those directly affected by the plan. The ―modernist ideology‖ based on ―legitimacy of scientific and technological progress‖ destroyed local socio-economic and cultural structures. In 1988, the Narmada Bachao Andolan expanded its activities to demanding that the project be shelved all together. The movement adopted nonviolent strategies to accomplish its mission and suggested alternative approaches to development. The action taken by the Narmada Bachao Andolan against the Narmada Valley Development Authority was to improve the lot of the people who were living in an environment being exploited to their detriment. Their action was directed to bring about a more beneficial state, which in the final analysis, had the potential for being beneficial not only to the majority, but to all involved. Meeting their demands would require minimal effort on part of the Authority. According to Gandhi (1949), ―…nonviolence comes into play only when it comes into contact with violence.‖ He explained that, ―One who refrains from violence when there is no occasion for its exercise is simply un-violent and has no credit for his inaction.‖ Nonviolence is ―precluded unless the resistance is undertaken as a response to an instance of violence.‖ (Potter, 1971). The nonviolent initiative by the Narmada Bachao Andolan was executed in face of a history of violence and coercion by the Authority, resulting in displacement of the tribal people against their will. Another environmental factor that precludes the use of nonviolence is the absence of a ―true and substantial issue‖ (Potter, 1971). In this context, a number of questions remain unanswered: Would strong commitment to an issue make it true or substantial? Would such qualities be derived from the issue affecting a large number of individuals? Would the issues be Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 19 Anatomy of Nonviolent Protest against Public Sector Corporations in India true and substantial if more good were to come from the contemplated nonviolent action, for greater number of people, than what it might cost to others? (Potter, 1971: 95). Would extensive publicity afforded to a contemplated action qualify the issue as true and substantial? Would widespread interest suffice? What of issues that are private, affecting a handful of individuals, or even a single person? Nonviolent action could bring resolution of issues in situations that involve no publicity whatsoever and are quite private (Potter, 1971). In any event, there were a number of true and substantial issues involved in the case of the various tribal families displaced by the Dam Project. The characteristics of those protesting Gandhi described cowardice as being entirely inconsistent and incompatible with nonviolence. For instance, he does not see lack of violence motivated by cowardice as nonviolence. He described nonviolence in relative terms. ―What is one man‘s food can be another‘s poison‖, he stated, ―…Evil and good are relative terms…‖ (Gandhi, 1949). He also spoke of grades of nonviolence referring to the nonviolence of the brave – undertaken as a creed – and nonviolence of the weak – undertaken as a policy (Gangal, 1960), although Sharp took issue with Gandhi on such classification (Weber, 2003). Nevertheless, Gandhi‘s focus was on action. Even in situations where nonviolence was precluded, action was possible. He wrote, ―…where there is only a choice between cowardice and violence, I would advise violence…But I believe that nonviolence is infinitely superior to violence, forgiveness is more manly than punishment. Forgiveness adorns a soldier…But abstinence is forgiveness only when there is power to punish; it is meaningless when it pretends to proceed from a helpless creature. A mouse hardly forgives a cat when it allows itself to be torn to pieces by her ….‖ (Gandhi, 1949). Another condition discussed by Gandhi, that precludes nonviolent action is a lack of self-respect. ―I can only congratulate those who are spat upon, or assaulted, or had night-soil thrown upon them. No injury has happened to them, if they had the courage to suffer the insult without even mental retaliation. But it was wholly wrong on their part to suffer it, if they felt irritated but refrained out of expedience from retaliating. A sense of self-respect disdains all expedience.‖ Gandhi, 1949; Potter, 1971: 98). It is clear that Gandhi viewed indignities visited upon an agent by another party as constituting violence. He also clearly indicates that nonviolent response is appropriate and desirable. Passivity cannot be termed as a nonviolent response unless it is based on the principle of self-respect by those assaulted. That is, if their self-respect dictated to them that ignoring the insults was the most appropriate retaliation, only then would such inaction be an exercise of nonviolence (Potter, 1971). Potter concludes that Gandhi is making an appeal for a kind of wisdom on the part of the nonviolent agent that is considerably more than mere courage. It requires a rather mature and sophisticated person, indeed a wise individual, ―not to lose his head in such circumstances … The nonviolent resister must be honest with himself and others…‖ Potter, 1971: 99). The standards are high. ―It is of course assumed that the outward act is an expression of the inward intention. One who having retaliation in his breast submits to violence out of policy is not truly non-violent, and may even be a hypocrite if he hides his intention.‖ (Gandhi, 1949). Potter takes this stipulation as an ideal, observing as follows: ―For there is no doubt, it seems to me, that most of those who participate in nonviolent resistance are not free from anger toward their adversaries but feel that checking this emotion, sublimating it, perhaps, by adopting nonviolent means, will be more constructive and efficacious.‖ (Potter, 1971: 99-100). The Narmada Bachao Andolan is unusual in that it was and is not directed by a single, iconic leader. In addition to Baba Amte and Medha Patkar, a wide range of leaders have continued to Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 20 Anatomy of Nonviolent Protest against Public Sector Corporations in India seek redress in a dignified, festive, calm, rational manner, keeping their emotions in control, even when they deployed strategies that put their lives at risk. Potter infers from Gandhi‘s writings that the person or people against whom the nonviolent resistance is practiced must possess the intellectual capacity to be able to recognize in the agent the pure motives, which impel him to practice nonviolence. Gandhi has stated that, ―non-violent resistance can only follow some real disinterested service, some heart-expression of love. For instance, I would have no status to resist a savage offering animal sacrifice until he could recognize in me his friend through some loving act of mine or other means.‖ (Gandhi, 1949). Additionally, it would seem that nonviolence presupposes the ability to strike. ―Man for man the strength of non-violence is in exact proportion to the ability, not the will, of the nonviolent person to inflict violence.‖ (Gandhi, 1949). The Narmada Bachao Andolan had the capacity to inflict serious damage to the Dam and Project facilities through violent protests. ―Nonviolence…presupposes the ability to strike.‖ (Gandhi, 1949). The members of the movement refrained from destructive strategies. They had the ability and the opportunity to inflict violence, but demonstrated to the Authority that they did not will to do so. The Development Authority, the World Bank, and certain other agencies, too, clearly had the intellectual capacity to discern this nuance. The nonviolent course of action taken by the tribal people effectively transformed some of the players, such as the World Bank, into changing their minds. The characteristics of the methods of protest Acknowledging that violence is unavoidable, Gandhi spoke of the need to choose from among alternatives a course of action that minimizes violence (Gandhi, 1949). Potter (1971: 104) observes that, ―a specific application of this point occurs when one proposes to coerce another, even if the coercion is intended to stop the coerced person from violence.‖ As stated by Gandhi (1949), ―the man who coerces another not to eat fish commits more violence than he who eats it…The man who uses coercion is guilty of deliberate violence. Coercion is inhuman…‖ The point seems to be that the method adopted must avoid greater injustice than existed previously. The issue is confounded by the axiom that what is violent for one may not be so for another, and what was violent then may not be so now or vice versa (Potter, 1971: 105). As such, there exists a need for ongoing critical appraisal of the impact of the nonviolent action. Therefore, openness is essential to the practice of nonviolence (Potter, 1971: 103). Openness is a prerequisite for nonviolence. If the methods of the agent involve secrecy, they do not meet the requirements of nonviolence. This requirement emerges from Gandhi‘s assertion that truth and nonviolence were two sides of the same coin. Feedback is also essential because the objective of the nonviolent strategy is to bring about a change of heart in the opponent. One who practices methods of nonviolence to resist oppression must then be constantly aware of the effect these methods generate in the opponent. Indeed, the members of the Narmada Bachao Andolan had approached their opponents with an open agenda. Their strategy was transparent. Their demands were specific and well publicized. There were no hidden agenda. Their demands for revision of the economic development plans stood to the Development Authority‘s agenda as well. Conclusion This paper set out to analyze nonviolent strategies adopted by a class of stakeholders – those who are victims of the process of development and modernization in India through the use of public sector corporations as developmental instruments. This paper has presented a case Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 21 Anatomy of Nonviolent Protest against Public Sector Corporations in India study of protest against such a corporation, the Narmada Valley Development Authority, set up to construct dams on the Narmada River. Human populations displaced by the dams have protested against the resulting adverse effects on habitats, natural resources, way of life, and indigenous cultures. The case analyses reveal prerequisite conditions that must be present in the protest environment, the protesting agents, and the protest methodology for a nonviolent movement of protest to succeed. References Amte, B. (1990), ―Narmada project: the case against and an alternative perspective‖, Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 25, No. 16, pp. 811-818. Burrowes, R.J. (1996), The Strategy of Nonviolent Defense: A Gandhian Approach, State University of New York Press, Albany, New York. Dhir, K. (2006), ―Corporate Communication through Nonviolent Rhetoric: Environmental, Agency and Methodological Prerequisites‖, Corporate Communications: An International Journal, Vol. 11, No. 3, pp. 249-266. Dhir, K. (2007), ―Stakeholder Activism through Nonviolence‖, Corporate Communications: An International Journal, Vol. 12, No. 1, pp. 75-93. Dwivedi, R. (1997), People‘s movement s in environmental politics: a critical analysis of the Narmada Bachao Andolan in India, ISS working paper no. 242, Institute of Social Studies, The Hague. Dwivedi, R. (1999), ―Displacement, risks and resistance: local perceptions and actions in the Sardar Sarovar‖, Development and Change, Vol. 30, No. 1, pp. 43-78. Fernandes, W., and Thukral, E.G. (Eds), (1989), Development, displacement and rehabilitation. Indian Social Institute, New Delhi, India. Gandhi, A (2003), ―Developing compliance and resistance: the state, transnational social movements and tribal peoples contesting India‘s Narmada project‖, Global Networks, Vol. 3, No. 4, pp. 481-495. Gandhi, M.K. (1949), Non-Violence in Peace and War, Navajivan Publishing House, Ahmedabad, India. Gorsevski, E.W. (1999), ―Nonviolent theory of communication: the implications for theorizing a nonviolent rhetoric‖, Peace & Change, October, Vol. 24, No. 4, pp. 445-474. Library of Congress (2004), Country profile: India, United States Library of Congress Martin, B. and Varney, W. (2003), ―Nonviolence and communication‖, Journal of Peace Research, Vol. 40, No. 2, pp. 213-232. Kapadia, N. (2004), ―India‘s greatest planned environmental disaster: the Narmada Valley Dam Projects‖, Environmental Justice Case Studies Series, Schoolof Natural Resources and Environment, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan. Seen on September 20, 2010 at: http://www.umich.edu/~snre492/Jones/narmada.html. Narmada Water Dispute Tribunal (1993), ―Sardar Sarovar Project: review of resettlement and rehabilitation in Maharashtra‖, Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 28, No. 34, pp. 1705-1714. Narula, S. (2008), The story of Narmada Bachao Andolan: human rights in the global economy and struggle against the World Bank, in D. Ford, D. Hurwitz and M. Satterthwaite (Eds.) Human Rights Advocacy Stories, Foundation Press. Nilsen, A.G. (2008),‖Political economy, social movements and state power: a Marxian perspective on two decades of resistance to the Narmada dam projects‖, Journal of Historical Sociology, Vol. 21, No. 2/3, pp. 303-330. Potter, K.H. (1971), ―Explorations in Gandhi‘s theory of nonviolence‖, in P.F. Power (ed.), The Meaning of Gandhi, pp. 91-117, The University Press of Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii. Routledge, P. (2003), ―Voices of the dammed: discursive resistance amidst erasure in the Narmada Valley, India‖, Political Geography, Vol. 22, No. 3, pp. 243-270. Scott, J.C. (1998), Seeing like a state: how certain schemes to improve the human condition have failed, Yale University Press, New Haven, Connecticut. Sharp, G. (1973), The Politics of Nonviolent Action, Porter Sargent, Boston, Massachusetts. Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 22 Anatomy of Nonviolent Protest against Public Sector Corporations in India Stiehm, J. (1968), ―Nonviolence is two‖, Social Inquiry, Vol. 38, Winter, pp. 23-30. Turaga, U. (2000), ―Damming the waters and wisdom: protest in the Narmada River Valley‖, Technology in Society, Vol. 22, No. 2, pp. 237-253. U.S. Energy Information Agency (2011), http://www.eia.doe.gov/cabs/India/Background.html. Weber, T. (2003), ―Nonviolence is who? Gene Sharp and Gandhi‖, Peace & Change, Vol. 28, No. 2, pp. 250-270. Wood, J.R. (1993), ―India‘s Narmada River Dams: Sardar Sarovar under seige‖, Asian Survey, Vol. 33, No. 10, pp. 968-984. Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 23 Assessing the Use of Communication Technologies as Effective Internal Communication Channels Case Studies of Malaysian SMEs Cheng Ean, LEE (Catherine) School of Communication, Taylor‘s University Malaysia [email protected] or [email protected] Many companies have begun to treat new communication technologies as an important investment for creating a new paradigm for workplace communication. This paper examines the extent of using new communication technologies as an effective internal communication platform and its implications in workplace communication. A structured questionnaire survey was carried out with 300 employees of ten small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Malaysia and an in-depth interview was conducted with 50 employees drawn from the survey sample. The results revealed that employees of Malaysian SMEs use various types of communication technologies in the workplace. Despite the availability of various communication technologies, the employees perceive email as an effective and efficient internal communication tool. This study concludes that communication technologies are widely used as dynamic avenues for employee communication and demonstrate high effectiveness as a new form of communication culture in Malaysian SMEs. Technological innovations together with the broad spread of use of the Internet have sprouted numerous innovative ways of communication within an organisation as compared to the usual face-to-face interaction in the last two decades. Communication technologies have dramatically altered the way organisations and businesses operate because in this era of information and communication technologies, both computer and the Internet are basic infrastructures that every organisation needs to be equipped with. The recent advances in information technologies provide employees the freedom to work from any place and at any time. Such temporal and spatial dispersion means that communication technological devices and processes make workplace communication easier and faster. Therefore, with the adoption of communication softwares in the organisation, it helps improve the flow of communication among the employees as well as to the clients. The burgeoning interest in communication technology amongst organisations has provided a window for discussion on its effectiveness as a new form of communication culture in the workplace. Function and Importance of Internal communication An organisation could not exist without communication. Internal communication keeps employees informed about the organisation‘s business vision and strategy as well as helps every individual in the organisation to work together with a common purpose. It is central to organisations because it helps create shared meaning, norms and culture of organisation (Gumus, 2007). Internal communication is the catalyst if not the key to organisational excellence and effectiveness (Grunig, 1992). A communication process is considered effective not only when the message is received and understood but when the two-way communication process resulting in an action or decision Conference on Corproate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 24 Assessing the Use of Communication Technologies as Effective Internal Communication Channels (Kalla, 2005). There are two studies (Murphy, Hildebrandt and Thomas, 2000; Bertelsen and Nerman, 2001) which underlined the seven C‘s of effective communication. In Bertelsen and Nerman‘s (2001) study, the seven C‘s are: concreteness, concentrated on issues essential to receiver, coordination between various sources of message, consequent over time; contrast of communication to affect people‘s knowledge and feeling; create contacts that lead to a dialogue; and a continuous communication for creating credibility among employees. On the other hand, Murphy, Hildebrandt and Thomas (2000) underscore the seven C‘s of effective communication as: completeness, conciseness, clarity, concreteness, correctness, courtesy and consideration. This present study takes into account Murphy, Hildebrandt and Thomas‘s (2000) five C‘s of effective communication – completeness, conciseness, clarity, concreteness and correctness – because it is a more comprehensive criteria in evaluating the use of new communication technology as effective internal communication channel. The remaining two C‘s which are consideration and courtesy were not included in the analysis because the focus of this research is not to consider the emotions and feelings of the employees but to investigate the effectiveness of communication technologies as the means of communication employed by the employees in the workplace. Completeness refers to providing all necessary information, answering all questions asked and giving something extra when desirable; conciseness will be achieved if the content of the message is simple with relevant material, avoiding wordy expression and unnecessary repetition; getting the meaning from the head of the source into the head of the receiver by choosing precise, concrete and familiar words to construct effective sentences and paragraphs achieves the purpose of clarity; concreteness refers to specific action words used along with facts and figures; and lastly, correctness is the accuracy of the message with proper grammar, spelling and punctuation (Murphy, Hildebrandt and Thomas, 2000). Channels of internal communication There are various channels of internal communication. Organisations will select the communication channel based on how effective they are in achieving the bottom-line of the business goal and how they fit in a strategic internal communication process (Kalla, 2005). Traditional and online communication tools are two types of internal communication channels (Holtz, 2004). Face-to-face communication is a conversation that one has face to face with the other party which enables a person to hear and see the non-verbal communication conveyed by the sender and respond with feedback straightaway (Lee, 2010). Online media, on the other hand, are email, intranet, instant messaging, online chat rooms, e-forum, multimedia, databases, wireless network and social media (Holtz, 2004). Online media allow asynchronous communication and faster message transmission to geographically dispersed participants (Miller, 2009). Communication technologies in the workplace Technological change is one of the major aspects which have influenced communication approaches in organisations, especially the use of new communication technologies in the workplace. New communication technologies make it possible for instantaneous exchange of ideas and images with anyone around the world and increase the ability to transfer thoughts, images and sounds into electronic bytes thereby changing the way and speed we interact with people (Guth and Marsh, 2003). Miller (2009) asserted that the range of technologies introduced in the workplace in recent years – such as electronic mail, instant messaging, voice mail, facsimile, audio and video conferencing, computer conferencing, management information Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 25 Assessing the Use of Communication Technologies as Effective Internal Communication Channels system, group decision support system, Internet and World Wide Web as well as wireless networks – have made an impact on organisational communication in terms of communication content, communication patterns and organisational structure. Various studies have shown that many large organisations employ virtual communication across organisational boundaries, even to the extent of making decisions and solving problems via communication technologies (DeSantics and Gallupe 1987; Kiesler and Sproull 1992; Hinds and Kiesler, 1995). Furthermore, the emergence of technologies in organisations enhances collaboration at a distance and decreases the cost of communication (DeSantics and Fulk, 1999; Herbsleb et al., 2002; Cameron and Webster, 2005; Miller, 2009). In another study, Weston (2009) claimed that people are entering a network economy that is driven by information and communications technologies (ICT) and that the network will increasingly be made up of independent workers, which will change the employer-employee relationship. With the widespread use of cell phones and personal computers, technology has become a preferred communication channel to facilitate fast two-way communication despite geographical distances. Romm (1999) deduced that technological tools have the potential to transform communication networks by offering anyone in the organisation the capacity to communicate with everyone. Lee (2010) in her study claimed that many scholarly discourses in the twenty-first century – Steinfield (1992); Jonassen and Kwon (2001); Cameron and Webster (2005) and Arnesen and Weis (2007) to name a few – have made a significant shift towards technological adoption in their communication advocacy. However, these studies could not reach a consensus, instead giving a mixed perspective and conclusion on the efficiency of new communication technologies when compared to the more conventional face-to-face communication in the workplace. In Steinfield‘s (1992) study, it is revealed that employees use computer-mediated communication to organise social activities with their peers, play games and engage in entertaining conversation with other internal employees. Thus, the use of computer-mediated communication systems is encouraged as an intra-organisational communication medium, and as a tool for achieving strategic organisational objectives and competitive advantage (Steinfield, 1992). Steinfield only focused on the use of computer-mediated communication as the internal communication medium without considering the use of traditional tool such as face-to-face communication. Thus, Jonassen and Kwon (2001), in their study, compared the perceptions of participants, the nature of comments made, and the patterns of communication in face-to-face and computer-mediated groups in terms of problem-solving activities such as solving well-structured and ill-structured problems. Results showed that ―computer-mediated communication appears to support problem solving by eliciting more focused, on-task, and purposive communication‖ (Jonassen and Kwon, 2001, p. 50). This study however investigates the perspective of 18 undergraduate students on the use of face-to-face and computer-mediated communication of problem-solving activities in a large eastern university. Cameron and Webster (2005) on the other hand investigated the use of instant messaging (IM) in large and small organisations using a case study approach. It demonstrated that employees use IM not as a replacement for other communication media but instead as an additional method for reaching others. The study suggests that ―IM will likely be used simultaneously with other communication media or even that the communication itself may be performed simultaneously with other tasks‖ (Cameron and Webster, 2005, p. 99). Finally, Arnesen and Weis (2007) examined the growth in personal use of the Internet and email in the workplace by explaining the potential liability of both the employee and employer, monitoring employee Internet and email use as well as examining the required elements of an effective Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 26 Assessing the Use of Communication Technologies as Effective Internal Communication Channels company policy governing Internet and email usage. Their findings claimed that improper Internet and email use creates considerable liability for both employers and employees, thus, a successful company policy should provide for the responsible use of the Internet and email while allowing for some personal use, which can be beneficial for the employer and employee (Arnesen and Weis, 2007). Despite the availability of various communication technologies in organisations, Cameron and Webster‘s study is only focusing on the use of IM in organisations while Arnesen and Weis‘ study is on the use of Internet and email by the employees. Existing studies in a Malaysian context focus mainly on the adoption of ICT and ecommerce in supporting business needs (Alam and Ahsan, 2007; Hashim, 2007; Tan and Eze, 2008; Tan et al., 2009; Tan et al., 2010). Alam and Ahsan (2007) have examined the online experiences of managers or owners of SMEs from services industries in the southern region of Malaysia. The outcomes of the study showed that the investment of ICT in Malaysia SMEs is relatively low and the respondents are not willing to adopt ICT in the business (Alam and Ahsan, 2007). Hashim (2007), on the other hand, studied the extent of ICT skills, use and adoption among owners of SMEs in Malaysia. The results revealed that SME owners possess belowaverage ICT skills, seldom use the Internet and have a lower level of ICT adoption at their workplace (Hashim, 2007). Tan and Eze (2008) examined the factors and adoption patterns of Internet-based ICTs among SMEs in the southern region of Malaysia. The results indicated that the managers or owners of SMEs have used email and seek information y Internet, however, the adoption of Internet-based ICT is still low despite findings that indicate a possibility of SMEs adopting ICT in the future (Tan and Eze, 2008). Tan et al. (2009) investigated the innovative characteristics, benefits and barriers which influenced the adoption of Internet-based ICT among SMEs located in the two states in the southern region of Malaysia. This study concluded that most SMEs surveyed have not adopted ICT in their businesses due to lack of security; expensive investment in ICT hardware and software; low return on investment; and the need for government assistance (Tan et al., 2009). Lastly, Tan et al. (2010) examined the patterns and intention of Internet-based ICT adoption by service-based SMEs of different demographic characteristics as well as taking into account the dimensions of ICT benefits and barriers. The authors claimed that ICT adoption is no longer a choice but must cross the different types of SMEs operating in different sectors (Tan et al., 2010). The findings of these existing studies in a Malaysian context are incomprehensive because they were only investigating the owners and managers of SMEs in the southern region of Malaysia using a quantitative method, which was a questionnaire-based survey and dealt solely with the use of internet-based ICT and e-commerce in their businesses. The literature suggests that the usage of communication technology is definitely increasing in large organisations and its stakeholders enjoy using it because of its versatility and endless capabilities (Kiesler and Sproull, 1992; Steinfield, 1992; Hinds and Kiesler, 1995; Jonassen and Kwon, 2001; Cameron and Webster, 2005, Arnesen and Weis, 2007). Nevertheless, the majority of these studies were focused on American organisations with limited studies done in the Malaysian context. At the same time, prior researches conducted on Malaysian SMEs (Alam and Ahsan, 2007; Hashim, 2007; Tan and Eze, 2008; Tan et al., 2009; Tan et al., 2010) focused only on internet-based ICT and e-commerce and the unit of analysis is the SME owners or managers. The present study differs from previous ones as the respondents were employees of SMEs in the central region of Malaysia rather than the owners or managers of SMES in the southern region. In addition, the study on employees‘ use of communication technologies in the workplace is important because employees are concerned with the most efficient way of sending and receiving information which helps them make sense of their workplace situation. Thus, this Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 27 Assessing the Use of Communication Technologies as Effective Internal Communication Channels paper will examine the extent of using new communication technologies as an effective internal communication platform in the Malaysian SME and its implications in overall workplace communication. Small and medium enterprises (SME) in Malaysia SMEs constitute 99% of total business establishments in Malaysia and have contributed to the growth of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) from 29.4% in 2005 to 31.4% in 2008 (SME Corp Malaysia, 2010). This shows that SMEs have the potential to contribute substantially to the Malaysian economy (SME Malaysia Info, 2010). In addition, the Malaysian government has promoted SMEs in its various national development agendas, namely the Ninth Malaysia Plan (9MP: 2006-2010), Third Industrial Master Plan (IMP3: 2006-2015), Eighth Malaysia Plan (8MP: 2001-2005) and Second Industrial Master Plan (IMP2: 1996-2005). Given the importance of Malaysian SMEs in their role of providing a strong foundation for the growth of new industries as well as strengthening existing ones, this preliminary study attempts to empirically understand employees‘ use of and their attitude towards new communication technologies as an effective internal communication channel in ten service-based SMEs in Malaysia. Research questions The following three research questions form the basis of this study: RQ # 1: What types of communication technologies are used in the workplace? RQ # 2: What are the purposes for the use of each type of communication technology utilised in the workplace? RQ #3: To what extent are new communication technologies effective internal communication channels? Methodology A survey and in-depth interview were used to gather the data. A descriptive survey attempts to describe current conditions or attitudes and has several advantages. They can be used to collect a large amount of data with relative ease from variety of people at a reasonable cost despite the disadvantage of using inappropriate wording or placement of questions within a questionnaire and selection of wrong respondents which can bias the result (Wimmer and Dominick, 2006). The most important advantages of using in-depth interviews are the wealth of detail and accurate responses that it provides regardless of the difficulty in generalising the data (Wimmer and Dominick, 2006). Data collection and data analysis An online self-completion questionnaire survey was conducted with employees of ten SMEs in the Klang Valley (the state of Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Darul Ehsan), Malaysia. The sample for this study comprised respondents from SMEs from the services sector with between 5 and 50 employees. There are 16,920 SMEs in all business sectors in Malaysia, while the services- Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 28 Assessing the Use of Communication Technologies as Effective Internal Communication Channels based SMEs, which are the focus of this study, comprised 2,904 companies (SME Malaysia Info, 2010). Using a snowball sampling method, ten companies were selected as the final sample. An email with the survey link was sent to a total of 300 employees, who were given one month to respond to the survey. A total of 122 (41%) responses were usable. The survey sample comprised 59 males (48.4%) and 63 females (51.6%). The majority of the respondents are of a younger generation aged from 18 to 29 years old (68%). There was a rather equal balance of respondents hailing from managerial and rank-and file positions: 63 respondents (51.6%) are directors, managers and executives; while 59 respondents (48.4%) are assistant and clerical staff. Most of the respondents are Chinese (86%) and hold a Bachelor degree (62.3%). The questionnaire consisted of ten closed-ended questions. The respondents needed to provide demographic information (age, gender, race, education qualification and job title) as well as answer questions on their use of communication technologies in the workplace (types of communication technologies used, purposes of using the communication technologies) and provide their perspectives on the five C‘s of effective communication through a 5-point Likert scale which ranged from ‗Strongly Agree‘ to ‗Strongly Disagree‘. The survey data were manually analysed for descriptive analysis. Thereafter, in-depth interviews were conducted with 50 employees using a non-random volunteer sample drawn from the survey sample. The demographics of the interview sample comprised 30 males and 20 females. Majority of the interviewees are from the rank-and-file position with only 13 interviewees holding managerial position. This is because those employees in top management positions were unable to participate in the interview due to their tight schedule at work. Each face-to-face semi-structured interview was conducted at the participants‘ respective workplaces with an average duration of 30 minutes. Ten questions were discussed in the interview in which the interviewees were to provide their personal experience of using new communication technologies in the workplace and opinions on the five C‘s of effective communication by discussing the advantages and disadvantages of using the communication technologies as internal communication tool. Besides, the interviewees were also asked questions concerning (1) the extent to which the communication technology is able to increase the communication or interaction with peers in the workplace, (2) how communication technologies help enhance or improve the relationship among the employees and between supervisors and subordinates, and (3) how communication technology gets their jobs done quickly or speeds up the way they send messages. All conversations during the interviews were recorded using an audio recorder and were later transcribed for analysis. The data from the interviews were content-analysed following Miles and Huberman‘s (1994) approach of data analysis (cited in Creswell, 2007) by manually summarising the raw data into coding and themes; interpreting the displayed data by making comparison among the participants‘ responses; and finally answering the research questions set in this study. Results Finding1: Communication technologies used in the workplace Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 29 Assessing the Use of Communication Technologies as Effective Internal Communication Channels TABLE 1. Communication technologies used in the workplace Number of respondents Telephone 37 Facsimile 2 Email 22 Audio/Video Conferencing 1 Instant Messaging 23 Wireless Networks (mobile phone) 37 Others 0 Percentage (%) 30.3 1.6 18.0 0.8 18.9 30.3 0 The first research question addressed the types of new communication technologies used for workplace communication. In response to the survey question on the use of communication technologies in the workplace, the results are summarised as follows (in descending order): telephone and wireless network (30.3%), instant messaging (18.9%), email (18%), facsimile (1.6%) and audio or video conferencing (0.8%). The findings in Table 1 show that the respondents used a variety of communication technologies as platforms for everyday communication in the workplace. From the interviews, majority of the interviewees asserted that various types of communication technologies were used in the workplace, a result similar to that gleaned from the quantitative survey. In particular, two interviewees said: Umm…most of the time I would say that we use email to pass mass messages or notices around the office. We have our own personal email network. And the use of hand phone especially when one of us needs to leave the office for an event and we need to send quick texts or voicemails to keep everyone updated. We have recently started using *Skype for video-conferences with our counterparts‘ abroad. [Pause] From time to time we do also use *MSN Messenger and *Facebook to communicate but that is mostly for informal communication. (Interviewee 21, male, corporate training manager) The formal modes of communication would be through our company‘s personal email network, to discuss work matters and to send everyone mass messages. Then there‘s the fax machine, office telephones, hand phones, the informal ones would be through texting, instant messaging and on *Facebook postings. (Interviewee 23, male, event executive). Finding 2: Purposes of using communication technologies in the workplace Table 2. Purposes of using communication technologies in the workplace Purposes of usage Percentage (%) Building networking for business-related affairs 49.0 Non-work related (personal affairs) 32.0 Disseminate work-related information 29.0 Problem-solving 28.0 Decision-making 28.0 Others 0 Research question two addressed the purposes for the use of each type of communication technology utilised in the workplace. In this question, the employees were able to select more than one reason for their use of communication technologies in the workplace. The results in Table 2 show that the majority of the respondents use communication technologies for the purpose of building networking for business-related affairs (49%), followed by using for personal Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 30 Assessing the Use of Communication Technologies as Effective Internal Communication Channels affairs (32%), disseminating work-related information (29%), problem-solving (28%) and making decisions (28%). Results drawn from the interviews revealed that communication technologies such as email, intranet, instant messaging, social media and wireless networks are used for various reasons. In summary, most of the interviewees used them for sending and receiving work-related information from colleagues and clients or customers; communicating with colleagues in the office and also with those overseas on work and personal matters; posting information about the company, product and services; as reminders and proof of communication; as well as a tool for contacting existing and potential clients. Some of the interviewees‘ comments on the purposes of using the communication technologies include: Emails are used to contact our clients. Anything that requires or should be recorded in black and white is done via email. That way, we avoid miscommunication and we have proof of conversations in case someone has forgotten what they have said. (Interviewee 46, male, manager); I will use messenger with my peers sitting just a few tables away or to other employees from another country. (Interviewee 38, male, software development officer); Intranet is where all our working materials are kept. We usually get information and reminders through intranet. (Interviewee 17, male, sales and marketing officer); We have recently started using *Skype for video-conferences with our counterparts‘ abroad. (Interviewee 21, male, corporate training manager); We constantly use email and *YM to send and receive files and work-related information to our colleagues who are based outstation, so that they do not have to come back-and-forth as often. (Interviewee 4, male, sales assistant) Communication technologies provide me efficiency in obtaining direct information for clients who are at distance from us…having emails and video conferencing help my work a lot when communicating with tan International counterpart. (Interviewee 5, female, sales assistant). Finding 3: The use of new communication technologies as effective internal communication channel TABLE 3. The effectiveness of using communication technologies in the workplace Percentage (%) Using precise, concrete and familiar words. Helps me in understanding my task by providing simple and relevant content. Answers all my queries and provide all Strongly Disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Agree 0 16 0 72 12 0 2 0 84 14 2 4 0 86 8 Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 31 Assessing the Use of Communication Technologies as Effective Internal Communication Channels necessary information. The third research question addressed the use of new communication technologies as effective communication platforms in the workplace. In the survey, three statements were set to assess and understand how the respondents perceive the five C‘s of effective communication. The survey results in Table 3 illustrate that almost all of the respondents agreed and strongly agreed that: the communication technologies used in the workplace were able to provide all necessary information and answer all questions asked by the employees (94%); the content of the message transmitted via communication technologies is simple and relevant, with no wordy expressions or unnecessary repetition (98%); and they are able to understand the meaning of the message because of the precise, concrete and familiar words used (84%). During the interviews, the interviewees discussed the advantages and disadvantages of using the new communication technologies in the workplace. The advantages of communication technologies as discussed by the interviewees are: (1) time and cost savings; (2) convenience without the barriers of time zones and space; (3) speed of communication; (4) instantaneous and interactive; (5) efficient and effective work done; and (6) environmental-friendly. Interviewee 36 (male, manager/owner) quoted: I feel it‘s the efficiency and its speed is what makes it more attractive to use as other firms also use email and we use it to communicate en masse with our internal staffs and also our clients and suppliers. On the other hand, some disadvantages of using communication technologies in the workplace were also discussed. Firstly, some interviewees claimed that there is a lack of face-toface interaction and the absence of social cues when the company adopted communication technologies in the workplace. Next, misinterpretation or misunderstanding will occur if there is a discrepancy in the language used between the sender and the receiver. The interviewees further exerted that another drawback of the technology is the constant need for system updates and the risk of information leakage due to hackers. Finally, some interviewees were worried about the possibility of the management spying on their employees. One interviewee described: I think the problem could be the possibility of spying, although I don‘t object to the company screening my messages, sometimes I find that my customers, especially corporate customers, don‘t buy their items from my store but instead are hijacked by the corporate sales guys at headquarters. (Interviewee 33, female, sales personnel) From the interviews, communication technologies used in the workplace were able to increase the communication interaction among employees as well as between supervisors and subordinates due to the convenience of email, instant messaging and wireless networks. One interviewee stated: If I wanted to talk to my colleagues, I do not have to stand up and make my way to their seat, I will just buzz them a message on *MSN. Easy right? (Interviewee 11, female, marketing and advertising assistant) Other quotations from interviewees regarding the increased in communication interaction in the workplace due to the use of technologies include: Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 32 Assessing the Use of Communication Technologies as Effective Internal Communication Channels We network all the time with each other on a daily basis. If it weren‘t through technology, I don‘t think it would even be possible. (Interviewee 24, male, event executive) Talking about the speed of communication using email, the message gets sent in real time. Emails are quite reliable in a sense you know that the message will get through to the other person. (Interviewee 32, male, sales personnel) I think without technology it‘s hard to get everything done quick and easily. We have emails to pass bulk information around the office. Cell phones are used to instantly check on each other statuses and to pass along immediate information. We have video conferencing to save time in getting everyone together despite where their location is for meetings. Technology definitely helps a lot for us to communicate with each other. (Interviewee 25, male, event executive) Secondly, communication technology helps improve workplace relationships. An interviewee claimed that a better understanding between supervisor and subordinates can be achieved via email. He added: in a way, email does help us understand one another a little bit better, for example we get to know what the management wants of us, and how they expect us to be. (Interviewee 34, male, sales personnel) In addition, most of the interviewees noted that communication technologies allow many aspects of their work to be completed quicker as well as vastly increase the speed of getting messages sent through. One interviewee said: I can actually get my work done on time and meet my deadline because of emails. Like I said, imagine if I have to wait for two weeks for the artwork to come back to me by post, and then I have to edit the artwork and sent it again for the second time. I would have to complete next year‘s artwork today for it to be published on time. That‘s crazy. No one can run a business like that. So email has actually become very useful to me. (Interviewee 50, female, Head of Creative Department) The use of communication technology is fast, easy and immediate which helps to enable multiple channels of networking at the same time. It also leads employees to rely less on face-toface communication for overall internal communication. Commented by Interviewee 27 (female, human resources personnel): The world has developed in such a way that it has become very difficult to meet with each other frequently. Everyone is busy in securing their own life. In such case fax, emails or telephone calls have made our life easy. Technology has grown towards a peak which has kept everyone connected together. Even though people feel that by communicating face-to-face we can understand immediately the other person‘s expression or reaction, I do not believe that face-to-face communication is better than other types of communication. Now we have video calls which, in a way, could also be regarded as indirect face-to-face communications. Finally, communication technology serves to accelerate the communication process especially for quick decision-making, achievement of goals and plans, and also conducting of meetings. Through communication technology, time and location or even the physical presence Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 33 Assessing the Use of Communication Technologies as Effective Internal Communication Channels of a person do not affect the smooth flow of the communication process the way face-to-face communication can. One interviewee (Interviewee 26, male, event executive) described: Without technology, the office would be crippled. I can‘t imagine the void of not using technology and communicating with snail-mail instead. [Laughter] In a week we handle and produce at least five corporate events around the globe. Without technology to communicate swiftly in a timely manner, I think it‘s impossible to even have one event a week. Two other comments about the speed of communication using technologies include: Communication can be done with technology no matter where the person is. It is fast and immediate, and we can talk anytime without waiting for the other person to be present right in front of us. (Interviewee 30, female, marketing personnel) We run a very time constrained business and it‘s very important to make sure everything is done as quickly as possible. I can‘t imagine getting any work done without the use of technology. Then we couldn‘t communicate optimally and everything would be delayed. So I guess without emails, phone calls, texts, fax and et cetera everything would be at a standstill. (Interviewee 22, male, event manager) Conclusion With advancements in communication technologies, organisations are admittedly increasingly dependent on them to communicate, leading to face-to-face communication becoming rapidly less prominent in the workplace. With the barrage of technological device options available today, for example, *Blackberries and *iPhones, it is increasingly important for organisations to keep pace with these changes. This is a relevant consideration because as Orlikowski (2001) noted, there is a growing consensus that electronically based information technologies are altering the way we live, work, communicate, and organise our workforce. It can be concluded that the employees in service-based SMEs in the Klang Valley have used various types of communication technologies in the workplace, such as: email; instant messaging; wireless network, such as: mobile phones, smart phones; telephones, facsimiles; video or audio conferencing; social media, such as: *Facebook and blogs; as well as, Intranet. The utilisation of various communication technologies in the workplace is consistent with Miller‘s (2009) list of organisational communication technology introduced in the workplace in the recent years. Most of the time, communication technologies such as email, instant messaging and wireless network are used for disseminating work-related information as well as communicating business and personal affairs with their peers in the workplace. This finding corroborates with Tan et al. (2010), who concluded that service-based SMEs are more inclined to adopt internetbased ICT in the workplace. Despite previous research revealing a low to nil level of ICT adoption by SME owners in their business (Hashim, 2007; Alam and Ahsan, 2007; Tan and Eze, 2008; Tan et al., 2009), it is interesting to note that the employees in this study not only embrace communication technologies in the workplace, they also claimed that it is an opportunity for their companies to use communication technology as an effective communication platform within increasingly diverse organisational settings. In the words of Interviewee 2 (female, sales assistant): Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 34 Assessing the Use of Communication Technologies as Effective Internal Communication Channels I can‘t imagine working without it…our line of work requires us to communicate all the time. So to a large extent technology is effective. There is no doubt in my mind that technology, or as you call it, communication technology is very effective in the working world. When asked of the future implications of the heavy usage of communication technology in the organisation, the interviewees agreed that, although personal relationships will be harder to be forge through communication technology, communication technology will still dominate as the primary means of communication in the organisation and will remain as an integral part of the process. In a nutshell, members of organisations are easily eased into the technological environment in the workplace. New communication technologies are widely used as dynamic avenues for internal communication and have formed a new communication culture in Malaysian SMEs. This development is likely to pave the way for relationship enhancement among the members of an organisation. Limitations and Recommendation This study is conducted in the Klang Valley situated in the central region of Malaysia and results could not be generalised to all Malaysian SMEs. Nevertheless, the findings from this study could help shed insights into employees‘ use and attitudes towards new communication technologies and the related implications in the workplace. Thus, future research may examine the use of communication technologies by the employees in all Malaysian SMEs for better validity of the results. Another limitation is the nature of qualitative research used. Qualitative interview does not prove statistically the relationship between the variables under investigation and interviewees may answer a slightly different version of a question or withhold information. However, it does allow those interviewed to discuss their attitude, opinions and experiences of using new communication technologies in the workplace. Therefore, in order to build upon the results from this study, additional parameters of measuring effective internal communication channels – including availability of instant feedback, the use of multiple cues, personal focus of the medium, type of information sought, individual differences and cultural context – can be incorporated to help refine and guide the research going forward. References Alam, S. S. and Ahsan, M. N. (2007), ―ICT adoption in Malaysian SMEs from services sectors: Preliminary findings‖, Journal of Internet Banking and Commerce, Vol. 12, No. 3, pp. 1-11 Arnesen, W. and Weiss, L. 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Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 35 Assessing the Use of Communication Technologies as Effective Internal Communication Channels DeSantis, G. and Fulk, J. (1999), Shaping organisation form: communication, connection, and community, Sage Publications, California. DeSantis, G. and Gallupe, B. (1987), ―A foundation for the study of group decision support systems‖, Management Science, Vol. 33, No. 5, pp. 589–609 Grunig, J. (1992), Excellence in public relations and communication management, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers, London. Gumus, M. (2007), ―The effect of communication on knowledge sharing in organisations‖, Journal of Knowledge Management Practice, Vol. 8, No. 2, article 133, [available online at http://www.tlainc.com/article133.htm, accessed on 1 October 2010] Guth, D.W. and Marsh, C. (2003), Public Relations: A Values-Driven Approach 2nd Ed., Pearson Education Inc., Boston. Hashim, J. 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(1999), Virtual politicking: playing politics in electronically linked organizations, Hampton Press, New Jersey. SME Corp Malaysia (2010), ―Definition of SME‖, [available online at http://www.smecorp.gov.my/, accessed on 20 January 2011] SME Malaysia Info (2010), ―Importance of SME, [available online at http://www.smeinfo.com.my/index.php?ch=5&pg=14&lang=, accessed on 20 January 2011] Steinfield, C. (1992), ―Computer-mediated communications in organisational settings: Emerging conceptual frameworks and directions for research‖, Management Communication Quarterly, Vol. 5, No. 3, pp. 348–365 Tan, K. S. and Eze, U. C. (2008), ―An empirical study of internet-based ICT adoption among Malaysian SMEs‖, Communications of the IBIMA, Vol. 1, pp. 1-12 Tan, K. S., Chong, S. C., Lin, B. and Eze, U. C. (2009), ―Internet-based ICT adoption: Evidence from Malaysian SMEs‖, Industrial Management and Data Systems, Vol. 109, No. 2, pp. 224-244 Tan, K. S., Chong, S. C., Lin, B. and Eze, U. C. (2010), ―Internet-based ICT adoption among SMEs: Demographic versus benefits, barriers, and adoption intention‖, Journal of Enterprise Information Management, Vol. 23, No. 1, pp. 27-55 Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 36 Assessing the Use of Communication Technologies as Effective Internal Communication Channels Weston, M. (2009), ―The Changing Employer/Employee Relationship‖, [available online at http://digitalproducer.digitalmedianet.com/articles/viewarticle.jsp?id=919341, accessed on 1 October 2010] Wimmer, R. and Dominick, J. (2006), Mass media research: An introduction 8th Ed., Thompson Wadsworth, United States of America. Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 37 The Battle for Legitimacy Corporate Communication Challenges in Implementing CSR Irene Pollach, Anne Ellerup Nielsen, Bo Laursen, Christa Thomsen, Leila Trapp, Line Schmeltz, Poul Erik Jørgensen Centre for Corporate Communication, Aarhus School of Business and Social Sciences, Aarhus University, Denmark [email protected] This paper presents the findings from an interview study conducted among 16 CSR managers of large, industrial companies in Denmark that represent frontrunners in the field of CSR. The rationale for choosing CSR managers rather than corporate communication managers is that CSR managers are more likely to be involved in actively shaping CSR strategies, which is crucial for this study. The paper takes an interpretive, social constructionist approach, exploring how CSR managers perceive and frame the challenges present in CSR communication with a view to managing stakeholder relations, maintaining social legitimacy, and implementing their CSR strategies. Theoretically, the study is based on a holistic approach, grounded in strategy, organization, and communication. More specifically, it draws on the theories of competitive advantage, institutionalization, and auto-communication in order to study the companies' battle for legitimacy in the public sphere. (Paper was not available at time of publication.) Conference on Corproate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 38 Beyond Identity Washing - Corporate Social Responsibility in an Age of Skepticism Strategies of Identity Washing and Risks Wim Elving* ASCOR, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands [email protected] Mark van Vuuren* University of Twente, The Netherlands Organizations need good reputations among their stakeholders. One way of creating a better reputation may be to engage in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) or Corporate Responsibility (CR) programs. However, since some organizations are greenwashing their communication (suggesting a responsible attitude without actual backing in behavior) stakeholders have become skeptical when confronted with CR communications. We aim to help organizations who want to show their activities in this skeptical environment. In order to do so, 1) we describe the dynamics of skepticism, 2) we give examples of greenwashing and 3) we suggest ways to avoid the impression of greenwashing and give a fair hearing to real CR programs and strategies. Keywords: CSR, CR, Greenwashing, Skepticism, Conceptual paper *Authors are listed in a random order and contributed equally to this paper. A strong reputation is an important organizational asset. Favorable reputations enable firms to charge premium prices, enhance their access to capital markets and attract better applicants and investors (Fombrun, 1996). An organization can do several things in order to strengthen their reputation. For example, research has shown that the greater a firm‘s contribution to social welfare, the better its reputation (Fombrun and Shanley, 1990). In that sense, is seems logical to link Corporate (Social) Responsibility (CR) to reputation – and ultimately to overall corporate performance. However, a reputation reflects the perceived success of an organization in fulfilling the expectations of multiple stakeholders (Freeman, 1984; Fombrun, 1996; Bronn and Vrioni, 2001). A reputation refers to what people think of an organization, which leads to several potential problems: first, the expectations can be too high to be fulfilled. Second, the organization could be successful, but stakeholders do not know it. Third, something might be perceived as successful, but this success is not reflected in the actual policy of the organization, let alone behavior of its members. Especially in the latter case, knowing the importance of a good reputation, organizations can be tempted to brush up their reputation. They provide a better-looking picture of the organization than actually the case. Especially in times of crises, an organization can be tempted to engage in window dressing and portfolio pumping to save its face and try to gain short term advantage. In CR contexts, this type of window-dressing is called ‗greenwashing.‘ According to the Concise Oxford English Dictionary, greenwashing is disinformation disseminated by an organization so as to present an environmentally responsible public image. Conference on Corproate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 39 Beyond Idendity Washing – Corporate Social Responsibility in an Age of Skepticism Greenwashing Greenwashing is the use of marketing or public relations practices to create a misleading impression of an organizations environmental performance. Greenwashing often exaggerates good practices while downplaying or ignoring harmful activities. Broadly, greenwashing aims to deflect criticism and build reputational capital while allowing an organization to conduct business in ways that might be viewed as unacceptable if people knew about them. Specifically, companies use greenwashing in the hope of alluring eco-conscious consumers, allaying protests of activist stakeholders, enhancing their corporate reputation, increasing shareholder value, and circumventing government regulation through pre-emptive, voluntary campaigns. If greenwashing is found out, it has negative consequences. It creates cynicism among stakeholders, reducing credibility and trust in all corporate communications, making it more difficult for wellmeaning corporations to communicate their real CSR achievements. Greenwashing distorts markets by depriving consumers of the ability to make informed purchasing decisions, and it damages corporate governance, because shareholders cannot make informed investment and voting decisions. For all its many ills, greenwashing has had some positive effects on CSR – it has created an increase in the demand for independent certification bodies, increased the knowledge and sophistication of consumers, and increased the expectation of transparency and candor concerning corporate communications and behavior. One way this manifests is in the rising number of companies that publish annual CSR or sustainability reports aimed to communicate a full picture of a corporation‘s social and environmental performance. As more information on all aspects of corporate behavior becomes available, greenwashing will become riskier and less effective (Ivey, 2007). While in the short run greenwashing can seem to be profitable for organizations, it can have serious negative consequences in terms of trust. An audience that becomes aware of the misleading attempts by organizations can become skeptical and even cynical towards this organization, and towards all reports on environmental performances. As an influential blogger suggests, ―Be suspicious of all environmental claims. Don‘t trust anything unless you have verified them yourself.‖ (Unsuitablog, 2008). Dilemma A company of good will faces a dilemma in the rise of skepticism: Disinformation is in the eye of the beholder. A skeptical audience will see more greenwashing: Good practice will be seen as an exaggeration. Any good initiative will be received with questions about which harmful activities are downplayed or ignored. And this will become stronger every time. Skepticism breeds cynicism. Unsuitablog also stated,―Use your common sense and your instincts. If it doesn‘t feel right then it probably isn‘t‖ (Unsuitablog, 2008). Although skepticism might be seen as justified when a company is making claims which are not true, companies who are honest, and who put an effort of being a responsible company also have to deal with this skepticism. This presents a real dilemma for companies, who would like to present what they are doing to create or sustain a favorable reputation, but this might have a contrary effect because of the skeptic responses of stakeholders. The corporate communications of companies orchestrate the various forms of internal and external communication. This orchestration, or coordination on CR communication is very complex, considering that on various stakeholder levels interests and stakes differ. Corporate communications includes the presentation of the organization and it CR programs to employees (of course), shareholders (obligatory), and other stakeholders. Since most companies are present Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 40 Beyond Idendity Washing – Corporate Social Responsibility in an Age of Skepticism on the web, the websites almost all (Birth, Illia, Lurati and Zamparini, 2008) include separate pages on the CR programs of the companies. Besides the presence on the web, many companies issue annual reports, which almost all have chapters on their CR activities. Other companies issue separate annual CR reports. All these communications can create accusations of greenwashing, even when a company is not actively using marketing strategies to promote itself by its CR activities. In a skeptical environment, you cannot afford to engage in clumsy corporate communication. The perception of greenwashing can be easily created. Corporations who do not want to run this risk, might even refrain from communicating their green efforts, or even stop investing in green activities as it costs a lot of money, while the harvest of a cynical public will be suspicion! Their efforts may even be counterproductive. . Therefore, it is of utmost importance to understand greenwashing and cynicism in order to certify the positive consequences of honest good work. We want to stress that we do not aim to facilitate greenwashing in any way. If a company lies to its stakeholders about its efforts in taking responsibility for our earth, they have to be punished for it. A bad reputation is only the first result. However, companies that greenwash give rise to skepticism in society. For a cynical audience, clumsy communication is easily framed as disinformation, hence greenwashing. In this paper, we want to help organizations who deserve credit for their CR-efforts to be able to communicate effectively to attain it in this skeptical environment. In this paper, we want to make organizations aware of the dangers involved in the choice of CR-communication strategies in an age of skepticism. In order to achieve this, we will first show the dynamics of skepticism. Second, we will give some examples of some typical greenwashing strategies. Finally, we will suggest guidelines for communicating CR-efforts in a way that will diminish the chance of being accused of greenwashing by skeptical stakeholders. Skepticism When a company communicates about its CSR initiatives it is very likely that the initial response of the consumers will be one of suspicion. (Bae and Cameron, 2006). Suspicion is a state of mind of the individual, in which one actively considers different and possible contrary assumptions on the motives or the honesty of the behavior of someone else (Fein, 1996). Individuals get suspicious when the real motives are not clear or when contradictory motives are possible (Szykman, Bloom and Blazing, 2004). Consumers might get suspicious about the motives of a company when it is donating money for a good cause (Bae and Carmeron, 2006). The main purpose of a company continues to be to make as much profit as possible, while donating money to a good cause is usually motivated by a willingness to help society. These contrary motives are not easily linked in the cognitive process of an individual, so the real motives or intention of the company are not easy to unravel. This heightens the possibility of suspicion, which in itself will enhance the change of attributing the motives of the company externally. (Bae and Cameron, 2006; Becker-Olsen, Cudmore and Hill, 2006). Skepticism is defined as a tendency towards disbelief (Obermiller and Spangenberg, 2001; Pirsch, Gupta and Grau, 2006). Skepticism is frequently used in combination with the term cynicism (Mohr Eroğlu, and Ellen, 1998). Cynicism is perceived as a distrust in others which occurs when an individual thinks that the behavior of others is mainly based on egoistic motives. This distrust is almost always present. Cynicism can be viewed as a personality trait, whereas skepticism is not always present and is situation dependent (Mohr et al., 1998). Cynical people might react with more skepticism in certain situations. Heider‘s attribution theory (1958) can be Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 41 Beyond Idendity Washing – Corporate Social Responsibility in an Age of Skepticism used to analyze skeptic responses. Individuals give internal or external attributions concerning their own or others‘ achievements and or behavior. Consumers could understand CSR activities of the organization by attributing the motives of a company. Within this framework, internal attribution will have consumers focus on the honest, intrinsic motives of the company‘s CSR activities; whereas external attribution will focus on the external motives, like profits, improving the reputation, or the pressure of public opinion or from stakeholders (Forehand and Grier, 2003). When consumers make an external attribution for the motives of the company and perceive them as profit-driven, this would mean that consumers are skeptical about the (sincerity of the) motives of the company for initiating the CR activity. The effects of skepticism have been tested before and it has been shown that the levels of skepticism regarding the motives of a company engaged in CR are a main predictor of the ultimate success of a CR campaign. CR activities have a positive influence on the attitude towards the company when the motives are attributed as sincere (Bae and Cameron, 2006; Becker-Olsen et al., 2006; Forehand and Grier, 2003; Yoon Gürhan-Canli, and Schwarz, 2006). A negative effect was found when there was much skepticism, which also has an effect on the purchase intentions of consumers (Becker-Olsen et al., 2006; Ellen, Webb and Mohr et al., 2006). When consumers think that a company solely initiates CSR activities for profit reasons, then ultimately the purchase intentions will be lower. Greenwashing Strategies To give an impression of greenwashing strategies, we will show some examples of three indicators of greenwashing: vague words, suggestive pictures, and communication that is aimed for a superficial impressions without the absence of proof. The first strategy is the use of buzzwords, and vague or fluffy language. Take, for example, the word ‗eco-friendly‘, or ‗environmental friendly.‘ Without insights in how the product is friendly for the environment, this remains an empty statement. Savedge (2009) lists other words frequently used in marketing campaigns (see Table 1). TABLE 1. Frequently used greenwashing words in marketing (based on Savedge, 2009) Greenwashing Description term Biodegradable In reality it means nothing. Most products will biodegrade, or break down, eventually, but that doesn‘t mean they are eco-friendly. In addition, there are no independent agencies that certify this label as accurate. Cruelty-free Unless this label is accompanied by an certification it does not mean a thing, it is not legally defined, and there is no agency that verifies the claim. Free range The label brings to mind animals roaming free in an open pasture, grazing in clean fields and drinking from fresh, cool streams. Unfortunately, this is rarely the case. For a start, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has only defined the term for labeling poultry, not beef or eggs. So a ―free range‖ label on eggs is meaningless. The vague wording of the definition makes it meaningless for poultry as well. According to the regulations, in order for poultry to be labeled ―free range,‖ the chickens must ―have access to the outdoors for an undetermined period each day.‖ This means that having the door opened for a mere five minutes each day is good enough to get a stamp of approval from the USDA (even if the chickens never saw that it was open). Nontoxic Another pointless label that is neither legally defined nor certified. Recyclable Just because a product is labeled ―recyclable,‖ does not mean that you will actually find a place to recycle it. Contact your local recycling center to find out what products and materials are accepted in your area. Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 42 Beyond Idendity Washing – Corporate Social Responsibility in an Age of Skepticism Recycled The term ―recycled‖ is legally defined by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) however, it is not verified by the FTC or any other agency. So what‘s the point? Another problem with this label is that the FTC does not distinguish between pre-consumer and post-consumer waste. Post-consumer waste has already been used at least once and returned to the waste stream (i.e., yesterday‘s newspaper). Pre-consumer wastes, such as shavings from a paper mill, have never been used. Your best bet is to look for products that have highest percentage post-consumer waste possible. A second strategy for greenwashing is the use of suggestive pictures. Again, the message is fluffy or vague, but here a picture says more than a thousand words. For example, the advertisements shown below suggest positive effects of the organizations or the products for the environment. Especially in a skeptical environment, these suggestions give rise to serious doubts about the sender of the message. Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 43 Beyond Idendity Washing – Corporate Social Responsibility in an Age of Skepticism FIGURES: Examples of greenwashing pictures used in marketing campaigns A third typical indicator for greenwashing is the absence of proof. In a skeptical environment, suggestions will work counterproductively. In a similar vein, suggestions that a company is ―relatively green‖ (compared to the rest) are problematic. Such claims are superficial without evidence backing the statements of the company. ‗Scientific jargon‘ may look like evidence, but is also problematic. CR-Communication Strategies for Avoiding Greenwashing in an Age of Skepticism Given the importance of a good reputation and the skepticism in society toward CRcommunication, what can you do? We propose the following strategy: 1: Check your motives. In an age of skepticism, you will have to be very careful in your communication. If your motives of CR-communication are not fundamentally embedded in your organization, you better stay away from it. In order to look good, you have to be very good – and deserve the credit that you are claiming. If short-term image success is your hidden goal, think again. Other companies get in trouble for just such clumsiness, so half-hearted greenish activities will bring you into real trouble. Check your motives: don‘t get involved with greenwashing. 2: Find a fit between your business goals and your CR-goals. A logical link between the company and the CSR domain is of utmost importance. In a recent experiment in which fit was manipulated, we found less skepticism among consumers in the fitting condition compared to a non fitting CSR domain (Elving, van den Heuvel and Doets, Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 44 Beyond Idendity Washing – Corporate Social Responsibility in an Age of Skepticism 2009). The company has to be aware of company links with various CSR domains. Fit is in many cases obvious (an Energy company delivering Green Energy; a diapers company supporting pregnant women in the third world), but sometimes it is harder to find the fit between the company and the good cause. This fit has to be communicated in these cases, and probably should be the start of CSR communication. How does this good cause fit the company? Although fit showed reduced levels of skepticism (Elving, et al., 2009), companies need to be careful with fit. A tobacco company which is supporting a society of cancer patients, might be seen as a perfect fit, but probably will not lead to less skepticism from the stakeholders, because the fit is focusing on the unhealthy or damaging aspects of the product, which are controversial. A Dutch company can serve as a good example here. This organization has a long tradition in logistic services. It is currently very engaged in reducing its CO2 emissions, by informing its employees how to drive more energy effectively, and by encouraging them to use energy-efficient lighting in their homes. This choice of a green policy for a logistics company is difficult to communicate as it has thousands of cars and several planes. Their second CR program is acting as a logistics advisor for the UN world food program. Employees of the organization, for instance, have been helping this UN program with food and water distribution in the Darfur region in Sudan. By aligning their efforts with their daily business (travel and logistics), they were able to tell a coherent story. To show the fit between their goals, a symbolic action could help to make the point clear. For example, as a kickoff for the reduction of CO2, the CEO got rid of his Porsche sport car, which he traded for a hybrid car. 3: Start looking inside before going outside When companies start with thinking about adopting a CSR policy or strategy they normally start with an inquiry within the company to see what already is done. Especially large organizations normally find out that they already are supporting various local initiatives, like supporting a sport club, support of various environmental groups etcetera. These were initiated by local employees or managers, without the knowledge of top management. But don‘t be naïve in communicating local initiatives as company policy. Skeptical stakeholders will check whether this is really policy or just a local incident. Further, the start of a CSR program needs to begin within the company. The reputation the company has among stakeholders is also based upon the behavior and communication of the employees of the organization (Van Riel, 1995; Cornelissen, 2008, Elving, et al., 2009). A company who is advertising that service is of high quality, but whose servicepersons do not act in line with this slogan, will face reputation damage. CR can be used for motivational reasons as well. Employees will find extra motivation in doing good, and will be more proud of the company. Employees can act as brand ambassadors, and in the war for talent, a solid CSR program can attract the key talents for the company. Furthermore, since CR involves People, Planet and Profit (Carrol, 1991), the working conditions, wages and compensation are among the issues to be tackled when companies create an integrative CR policy. Corporate Responsibility has to do with the various responsibilities of organizations, which include economic, legal, ethical and philanthropic responsibilities (Carrol, 1991). For a global operating company, these responsibilities might be complex to handle. For instance, working conditions are regulated by law in most Western societies, but not in developing countries. It will be interesting to see whether working conditions in developing countries, as a result, will follow those in the Western world, when a company is operating in both worlds. Also top management compensation and Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 45 Beyond Idendity Washing – Corporate Social Responsibility in an Age of Skepticism bonuses should ideally be part of the CR policy or company strategy, because they may interfere with CSR communication, when the company compensates its managers in a way that stakeholders find extraordinary, resulting in skeptical responses. A small observation one of us had as a teacher can serve as an example. During class, the example was given of a bank who claims to have a very strong CR-policy (‗t Hooft, 2009). The bank indicated that they had changed their strategy to embed Corporate Responsibility into it. A student in the class indicated that she had worked at this bank for four years for 18 hours a week, but had never heard of it through the internal media of her bank. She was flabbergasted to hear her organization is one of the leading CR companies in the Netherlands. 4: Communication with external stakeholders: be clear and have your proof ready. When someone does good, he or she will probably want to tell that to the outside world. The same is true for companies. If they have a CR program which helps society, they will begin to communicate about it. As we concluded above, a CR program can motivate employees and attract key talent for the organization, but to do so, the results of the CR program needs to be told. Various forms of CSR communication have been adopted by companies. All are communicating to their employees, and a recent study showed that more than 80% of the Fortune 500 companies report on CR on their websites (Sen and Bhattacharya, 2001). As we have discussed before, companies need to be clear about their CSR. Buzzwords, jargon, scientific formulas and other greenwashing elements should be avoided. Companies can only benefit from their CRcommunication when they prove their claims and can demonstrate the success of their CR programs. Conclusion In this paper we aim for a better understanding of the challenges organizations face to avoid the impression of greenwashing in skeptical environments. More research is needed to find out exactly what kind of CR communication will inhibit or create skepticism. Does a choice for policies to reduce the carbon foot print always enhance the good behavior of an organization and its members on the whole spectrum of energy consumption? Does the CEO of a windmill company also need to drive in a car which supports this choice, or will (s)he be able to drive the environmental unfriendly sports car? Does a company who is operating globally need to pay the same wages in Bangladesh as it does in the UK or the US? Does a company need to reduce all its compensations and bonuses to be an authentic CR company? To limit the amount of skeptical responses from stakeholders our initial response would be yes; but we need more empirical studies on the effects of CR on stakeholders‘ attitudes to be sure. The consequences of organizational greenwashing activities have led to skeptical reactions from stakeholders to any CR-related activities. In order to get what is deserved, good projects need good communication to achieve a good reputation. In an age of skepticism, neither of these three ‗goods‘ can be taken for granted. Therefore we stress that good projects are important – you don‘t get away with greenwashing anymore, and rightly so. Organizations cannot afford clumsy communication, and engaging in corporate responsibility deserves a crystal-clear message. Given skeptical audiences, organizations have to be very aware of their public relations activities. It has to be better than just good in order to convince your stakeholders of your good intentions. Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 46 Beyond Idendity Washing – Corporate Social Responsibility in an Age of Skepticism References Bae, J. & Cameron, G.T. (2006). Conditioning effect of prior reputation on perception of corporate giving. Public Relations Review, 32(2), 144-150 Becker-Olsen, K.L., Cudmore, B.A. & Hill, R.P. (2006). The impact of perceived corporate social responsibility on consumer behavior. 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The development and testing of a measure of skepticism toward environmental claims in marketers‘ communications. The Journal of Consumer Affairs, 32(1), 30-55. Obermiller, C. & Spangenberg, E.R. (1998). Development of a scale to measure consumer skepticism toward advertising. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 7(2), 159-186. Pirsch, J., Gupta, S. & Grau, S.L. (2006). A framework for understanding corporate social responsibility programs as a continuum: an exploratory study. Journal of Business Ethics 70(2), 125140. Savedge, J., (2009). Don't get greenwashed, retrieved from www.mnn.com on December 9th, 2009. Sen, S. & Bhattacharya, C.B. (2001). Does doing good always lead to doing better? Consumer reactions to corporate social responsibility. Journal of Marketing Research, 38(2), 225-243. Szykman, L.R., Bloom, P.N. & Blazing, J. (2004). Does corporate sponsorship of a socially-oriented message make a difference? An investigation of the effects of sponsorship identity on responses to an anti-drinking and driving message. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 14(1-2), 13-20. t Hooft, E., (2009). Marketingtruc versus Onbaatzuchtigheid ?[Marketingtrics or philanthropical?]. Amsterdam: University of Amsterdam, unpublished MA thesis. Unsuitablog (2008). Retrieved on Novermber 15th, 2009 from http://thesietch.org/mysietch/keith/2008/04/10/how-to-spot-greenwash/ Van Riel, C.B.M. (1995). Principles of Corporate Communication. London: Prentice Hall. Yoon, Y., Gürhan-Canli, Z. & Schwarz, N. (2006). The effect of corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities on companies with bad reputations. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 16(4), 377-390. Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 47 Building Positive Power into Strategy Narrative Minna Mars Aalto University School of Economics, Finland [email protected] Purpose: This paper investigates communication in a strategic change. Building on a pilot study, which took a meaning centered perspective into examining change communication, this paper takes positive and negative language markers, and success/failure connotations as its lens into examining the language of the strategy narrative on different management levels. Approach: The data was drawn from CEO‘s letters to all employees, and from interviews and focus group discussions with managers from various organizatioal levels. The analysis combined content analysis and narrative thematic analysis with approaches from critical discourse analysis (CDA, Fairclough, 2003). Findings: The authored strategy narrative in CEO‘s letters demonstrated a dynamic cyclical structure, and produced a powerful story invigorating the organization to the change with its mix of negative and positive language markers, and combining early successes with change prompters to raise ambition level and drive continuous change. The CEO‘s salient positive lexical markers reflected distinctively back in middle managers‘ retold strategy narratives. Practical implications:The findings suggest that positive language and success connotations as empowering, motivational and energizing rhetoric elements in change communication may have received too little attention as constructs for creating constant change readiness in organizations. Keywords: strategic change; strategy narrative; change communication. This paper examines how positive and negative language markersand connotations to failure and success in the build a powerful, motivational narrative in the CEO‘s communication to the employees during five years of change. Additionally, this paper presents initial observations on how the discursive strategies and language use of the authored strategy narrative in CEO‘s letters were reflected in the middle managers‘ retold strategy narratives. The paper forms part of a research project on strategic change in a multinatioanl corporation. This paper builds on the pilot study (Mars, 2011), which discovered three main line narratives and a specific narrative structure in the CEO‘s communication but shifts the focus from the meaning processes to the language used in them. As its particular lens for examining the language, this study focuses on positive and the negative language markers, and on the other hand, connotations to successes and past failures/change needs fabricated into the CEO‘s strategy communication during the progress of five years of change. This experimental bracketing with different approaches to the same data was done in order to create a rich picture of how the communication was done in reality during a strategic change. The approach presented in this paper was inspired by the findings of the pilot study, and fuelled by the notion that the existing research often assumes a negative tone in its approach to change communication, focusing on how to manage uncertainty and how to overcome resistance to change (c.f. Hayes, 2002; Paton & McCalman, 2001) rather than on how to help the organization embrace change. Furthermore, empirical studies are dominated by examples of failures rather than showing case studies of successful changes (e.g. Johansson & Heide, 2008; Elving, 2005). On the contrary to these claims, the pilot study had exposed a fair amount of narrative elements in the CEO‘s Conference on Corproate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 48 Building Positive Power into Strategy Narrative communication aiming at conserving existing meanings (Mars, 2011), speaking for a positive attitude towards certain values and ways of working in the organization while also indicating needs for change. In addition, the findings of the pilot study showed that sharing successes was frequently used as rhetorical means for making sense of the change actions in addition of identifying issues where the organization had failed in the past i.e. specifying change items. These observations were further supported by the notions during the early examination of the interview data, which exposed recurrent use of expressions with positive connotations, and frequent lexical connections to ‘positive‘ when the managers shared their experiences about the strategic change. The paper is structured so that first, a short background is given to the entire research project. Then, building on the findings of the pilot study, the paper examines the authored strategy narrative and retold strategy narratives through the lens of juxtaposing negative/positive text markers and failure/success connotations in the discourse. The paper concludes its mission with reflections on the early findings drawn from the interviews and focus group discussions, comparing them with findings in the authored and retold strategy narratives. The Research Project Change has become constant in today‘s rapidly evolving and globally interlinked business environment, (c.f. Elving, 2005; Clampitt & al., 2004), and organizational leaders look for ways to encourage employees to embrace change and to develop the organization‘s readiness for change. The organization‘s ability to embrace change is connected to its strategic agility (c.f. Doz & Kosonen, 2008). Organizations need ―quick-thinking, knowledgeable employees who can attend to environmental shifts and work innovatively with paradox‖ (Barry & Elmes, 1997), and creating strategic agility in the organization calls for ―strong, active, internal dialogue around key strategic commitments.‖ (Doz & Kosonen, 2008, p. 23). This suggests that told and retold strategy narrative contributes to the strategic agility of the organization (e.g. Doz & Kosonen, 2008; Barry & Elmes, 1997) because employees who have enough knowledge about the strategy are more able to relate their work to it, and more able to attend to the environmental shifts in a strategy-aware way (Mars, 2011). Both organizational communication and organizational change scholars acknowledge the crucial role of communication in successful change management (e.g. Johansson&Heide, 2008; Elving, 2005; Jones et al, 2004; Taylor et al, 2001; Jackson & Callan, 2001; Kotter, 1996). Change management literature provides practitioner oriented n-step-models to help managing change (e.g. Kotter, 1996; Dawson, 2003; Heracleous, 2001), and also those underline the importance of communication. Amongst communication scholars, Elving (2005) suggests a theoretical model for change communication maintaining that the main elements of change communication are informing employees and building a community in order to create change readiness. Yet, there are few empirical studies providing detailed research on how communication was in reality done during the change (Johansson & Heide, 2008; Vuuren, M van & Elving, W.J.L., 2008; Elving, 2005), and, furthermore, empirical studies demonstrate more cases of failures than successful changes (e.g. Johansson & Heide, 2008; Elving, 2005). Strategy scholars have approached change from the sense-making perspective recognizing that change involves altering the current way of thinking and acting by the organization members (e.g. Balogun & Johnson, 2005; Gioia & Chittipedi, 1991; Orlikowski, 1996). These models draw on Lewin‘s seminal yet simplified model of organizational change (1951) presenting a change in three phases: unfreezing; moving/changing; and, refreezing again. The phases refer respectively to altering the current way of thinking; then providing a new frame Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 49 Building Positive Power into Strategy Narrative of thinking and acting; and, as the final phase, solidifying the new way. The scholars integrating the sense-making perspective into this model argue that because a substantive change leads to alteration of existing value and meaning systems, meaning systems should be in the focus of studying strategic changes (c.f. Sonenshein, 2010; Maitlis and Sonenshein, 2010; Balugun & Johnson, 2005; Corley, K.G. and Gioa, D.A. 2004; Gioia and Chittipedi, 1991; Gioia et al., 1994; Gioia, 1986). In organizational contexts, meanings for the strategy are negotiated by means of language mediating social contacts (c.f. Weick,1995, page 41) in e.g. meetings or manager-employee dialogues. Consequently, building an organization‘s strategic agility engages language use in strategic texts, and suggests that language use in strategic texts should be taken into research focus in order to create more understanding of strategy discourse as a resource for building strategic agility in organizations (Mars, 2011). Therefore, the research interest in this project about strategic change, was to learn about the language used in the strategy communication on various levels of the organization, in order to create further empirical knowledge about how strategy discourse can contribute to creating change readiness in an organization. Taking a discursive approach into strategy, the research examines the strategy narrative in a case company. Strategy narrative implies to the text and talks produced and used for sharing and explaining the strategy in the case company. The pilot study focused on top management communication, examining the authored strategy narrative representing the ‘official strategy story‘, sheding light onto the microdiscursive practices with which the CEO made and gave sense to the strategic change (c.f. Dunford and Jones, 2000; Gioia and Chittipedi, 1991) in his communication to the employees. The second part of the study, introduced in more detail in this paper, builds on the findings of the pilot study, and it uses both the documentary data and interview data, in order to provide further insights into how strategy communication was done on different levels of the organization. Case, Data and Method The empirical case study covers the five year period 2005-2009. The focal strategic change was initiated in 2005, shortly after the new CEO entered into his position. The main principle in deploying the new strategy was to get everyone in the company involved in the change actions, and therefore placing the strategy story as the central communication element. Employing several channels, both direct and indirect, the story was shared through the organization. CEO‘s letters to every employee became the most important direct communication tool in explaining and sharing the strategic change and its progress with all of the more than 30,000 employees. Additionally, managers on all levels were encouraged to engage in active strategy dialogues with their employees, supported by communications coaching and materials provided by the corporate communications unit. Material that formed the documentary data for examining the authored strategy narrative consisted of 41 letters in the period of 2005-2009, providing real-time data for examining strategy narrative over the time period of five years. Additionally, material from discussions with 26 management members in interviews and focus groups was used for examining the retold strategy narrative. Altogether 13 management members ranging from executives to managers in the middle of the organization, such as heads of various functions, country managers and their team members, were interviewed for an hour to two hours each. Also the strategy consultant playing a key role in the process was interviewed. Furthermore, three focus group discussions amongst middle managers were held in three locations, each lasting approximately an hour, and each entailing four middle managers who discussed with each the strategic change in their Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 50 Building Positive Power into Strategy Narrative company. Focus groups were used when collecting data from deeper in the organization, from managers who may not be so adept at talking about strategy issues as compared to higher level managers. It was hoped that the group context would facilitate personal disclosures through the solidarity and support of the group members (c.f. Wilkinson, 1997). The interviewees as well as focus group participants were first asked to describe the company‘s strategic change during 20052009, with their own words, and then reflect their own roles into it. In a narrative interviewing frame the purpose of the interviewer was to interfere only with a few guiding and/or clarifying questions in order to have the interviewee talk as freely as possible. For the purpose of analyzing the authored strategy narrative, the text of the letters was deconstructed, coded and organized into theory driven categories, which were then supplemented with categories occurring from the data. Then a multilevel analysis was taken combining contentthematic analysis with techniques of critical discourse analysis (Fairclough, 2003). The interviews and discussions were held in two languages, English and Finnish, producing original transcripts in both languages. Then a thematic narrative analysis was taken to start analyzing the data. For this paper, the Finnish language illustrations have been translated into English by the researcher. The Authored Strategy Narrative The findings introduced in the following were established partially in the pilot study (Mars, 2011) which examined the authored strategy narrative based on the meaning centered view into change (c.f. Sonenshein, 2010; Maitlis and Sonenshein, 2010; Corley and Gioia, 2004; Weick, 1995; Ghia and Chittipedi, 1991; Lewin, 1951), complemented by the focus of this paper on the language in the meaning processes. According to the findings, the authored strategy narrative demonstrated three lines of narratives as its main constituents; Existing Meaning Narratives, New Meaning Narratives; and, Sense Giving and Sense Making Narratives. This confirmed that building on the existing research by the strategy scholars, presenting a strategic change as a meaning process, was well suited for examining the related communication. Furthermore, the discourse analysis, using techniques to analyze metafunctions of language (Fairclough, 2003), revealed that the three main lines of narratives performed diverse communicative functions at the same time (Mars, 2011). Existing Meaning Narratives According to the pilot study, the Existing Meaning Narrative consisted of both breaking meanings and conserving meanings narratives. On the language level, breaking meanings was signaled with negative discursive markers, such as explicitly used ‗no/not‘ in an expression of the present status: We have not been as quick as some of our key competitors— (Letter 1/2005) Our productivity is not at the level it should be today—(Letter 5/2005) A few of the negative markers also embraced connotations linked to past failures, like the above two examples speaking about failure to be as quick as competitors, and failing to raise productivity on the level it should be today. However, it was rare that the CEO spoke explicitly about a failure in doing something; noticeably there were only two other instances in all letters analyzed; the other one relating to safety, and the other to customer loyalty survey results: Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 51 Building Positive Power into Strategy Narrative However the overall results (customer loyalty survey) were not quite what we expected. (Letter 32/2008) Most accidents happen due to deviations from defined methods, processes and procedures. (Letter 36/2009) This breaking of existing meanings with negative markers and connotations to past failure seemed to reverberate with change theories (c.f. Lewin, 1951; Gioia and Chittipedi, 1991). The purpose of these narratives seemed to settle on altering current ways of thinking, creating sense of urgency, and need for change within the organization. This purpose was confirmed in the contextualizing management interviews: First, we needed to create this kind of…status of inconvenience…need of change. (Executive team member, 2009) There was no crisis, the company was doing okay but there was no ambition for growth. (Executive team member, 2009) However, the CEO also used positive discursive markers from the very beginning of his communication, although the frequency of them increased during the progress of the time. In the beginning, his positive discursive markers were linked to maintaining certain meanings and values, such as: So far, I have been impressed by the commitment of the people. (Letter 1/2005) We are developing new strengths to complement our traditional competences, and I am very pleased with our convincing progress. (Letter 11, 2006) Sometimes he used lexical linkage to positive, like in this example, combining it into an implied change marker ‗better business results‘: However, it is evident that we need to address a few issues, if we want to turn this positive energy into better business results. (Letter 1/2005) This skillful interweaving of negative and positive discursive markers and lexical connotations to change actions continued in further communication during the process: I see many good developments but we have not reached our goals yet. (Letter 13/2006) We are moving forward and we have already gotten some good results. But we still have our burning platform, the reason why we need to change, because we still are globally number four. (Letter 15/2006) We need to continue on this good path and get an even better understanding of our customer and end user needs. (Letter 30/2008) With this alternating use of positive and negative, the CEO seemed to craft a powerful drive for the change, creating on one hand a positive connotation to some existing values as well as early achievements in the change actions, and on the other, putting a clear negative marker on issues that needed to change. This same rhetoric tactic was also used later during the change process, in order to maintain continuous change mode in the organization, forming thus a characteristic rhetoric strategy for the CEO. New Meaning Narratives Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 52 Building Positive Power into Strategy Narrative New Meaning Narratives consisted of change actions, on the language level embracing a lot of active, high commitment (Fairclough, 2003) verbs and change markers as well as of an abundance of lexical connotations to the corporate strategy and showing linkages to success. Action verbs and change markers: We must all pull together –. We must learn and get organized –. We must shift our focus from internal to customers. (Letter 4/2005) We need to turn every stone to create more appealing and more competitive solutions to our customers. (Letter 14/2006) We will continue to strive for market share growth. (Letter 33/2009) We have a clear need to increase our execution speed, work smarter, more dynamically and efficiently. (Letter 1/2005) We need a greater sense of urgency. (Letter 13/2006) We need to spend more time with our customers, and meet them more often – this will significantly help us in improving our… (Letter 17/2007) Lexical connotations to the strategy and success: I want to thank you for the positive spirit in which you have embraced the challenge. We continue to need this spirit. (Letter 4/2005) Strategic direction…Give performance edge…Globally aligned operational excellence. (Letter 2/2005) Together we can do it! (Letter 8/2006) I am confident that we have now a good opportunity to take the lead. (Letter 19/2007) Continue to grow faster than the market is a very important and inspiring target for us. There is a lot of energy, good cooperation across borders and real will-power to achieve results. Let‘s continue to fight positively. (Letter 31/2008) We are in a great position to end 2009 as a winner. The inspiring fighting spirit and Winning Together attitude that I see everywhere will help a lot in this! (Letter 40/2009) To support his change action narrative, the CEO frequently used a personal ‗I‘ in addressing ‗you‘, and an inclusive ‗we‘ in an effort to build a sense of community of us (c.f. Fairclough, 2003; Spencer-Oatey & Xing, 2003; Spencer-Oatey, 2000), as well as a modality of action ‗Let‘s..!‘ combined to a positive marker linked to thanking, or encouragement: I want to thank all of you for making this happen! We have a year full of action ahead of us. It is essential for every one of us to get involved. Together, we can do it again! (Letter 8/2006) I am confident that we have now a good opportunity to take the lead in the development of customer satisfaction and productivity in our industry. (Letter 19/2007) Let‘s continue to take care of our existing customers and increasing the service bases, ensuring conversion of new installations to our service, and winning contracts from Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 53 Building Positive Power into Strategy Narrative competitors by utilizing our third-party maintenance centers. There is still a month to go – let‘s continue to make our best efforts. (Letter 40/2009) The purpose of this change action narrative seems to have been to maintain the sense of urgency and motivational energy in the organization – the narrative is full of positive spirit and almost entirely lacks negative markers with absolutely no connotations to failures. This could have been a deliberately assumed rhetoric strategy, since one of the interviewed managers commented: In that way, all sarcasm, skepticism and even jokes about that ‗this won‘t succeed anyways‘, was cut away from our vocabulary. (Executive board member) Sense Giving and Sense Making Narratives The Sense Giving and Sense Making Narratives in turn, unfolded discursive strategies the CEO used when legitimizing the change actions to the employees. According to the pilot study findings, the CEO used three main strategies; reference to authority, to rationale and to moral and values (c.f. Vaara and Tienari, 2008; Vaara et al., 2006; Van Leeuwen and Wodak, 1999); and reference to the visionary future of the company for making sense of the changes with the already achieved benefits. Existing research has called this kind of legitimating for instrumental rationalization, which emphasizes benefits, purposes, or expected outcomes of the organizational change (c.f. Vaara et al., 2006). When the language used in these narratives was examined through the lens of positive and negative discursive markers, and connotations to failures and successes, the first observation was that the three sense giving strategies produced very neutral narratives concerning the juxtaposing of positive/negative. Narratives referring to authority as well as to rational consisted of fact based communication with very few positions in either. However, the sense making narratives, sharing already achieved benefits, embraced discursive success connotations as well as lexical markers for success, such as ‗the best, leading‘ - some examples: We have been able to benefit from the favorable market as a consequence of our competitive product and service portfolio and improved sales and customer management skills. (Letter 11/2006) We have all reasons to call this profitable growth! (Letter 13/2006) We have been able to outperform our key competitors in the development of our business performance. (Letter 25/2007) Despite the weakening business environment, our business progress has continued to be good. (Letter 29/2008) The best companies can do this. (Letter 8/2006) Our objective is to become the leading company in … (Letter 15/2006) The second observation related to a recurrent use of change markers for identifying issues that still need to change while at the same time sharing successes relating to change actions taken. This rhetoric tactic was used in the sense making narratives about the visionary future of the company, indicating that this vision is conditional to the changes that still needed to happen. For Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 54 Building Positive Power into Strategy Narrative this purpose, the CEO skillfully used a narrative combination of discursive connotations to success with change prompters. This resembled the way he fabricated the motivational and powerful balance of breaking and conserving meanings in the Existing Meaning Narratives discussed earlier. Examples: We are moving in a good direction. However, let‘s keep in mind that we still have a great opportunity to make this into a significantly better company. (Letter 17/2007) New methods will have the targeted impact on productivity and customer satisfaction only when they are fully in use. We are not quite there yet. (Letter 30/2008) These visionary narratives, simultaneously used for sense making of already made changes and for stimulating further change, formed links between meaning cycles in the CEO‘s strategy narrative. They functioned as connectors between sense making and existing meaning narratives keeping up momentum of change by not allowing a sense of gratification with the achieved circumstances to stall the change process, like the examples above illustrate. Summary Instead of a linear story, the authored strategy narrative seemed to consist of recurring narrative phases over time. These narratives formed a cycle with communication aims merging with each other in the recurring cycles from initiating the change with an empowering story weaved with a mix of negative and positive discursive markers; progressing to a change action narrative which motivates employees with its positive energy and sense of urgency, uttered with high commitment verbs and lexical connotations to strategy and success; followed by narratives legitimizing the change with a factual and neutral sense giving strategies, and making sense of the change actions by attaching positive markers to achieved benefits, while at the same time already stimulating further change preconditioning discursive connotations to further success with new change markers attached to topics where there still is a need for change, linking the narrative cycle to breaking meanings in the Existing Meaning Narratives, and starting the narrative cycle over again. Some of the findings of this study confirmed or supplemented existing literature on change management and change communication. Different from the existing change management and change communication literature, this data suggested that in the beginning of the change, the communication does not only focus on creating ‗sense of urgency‘ or the ‗burning platform‘ by breaking employees existing meanings (c.f. Sonenshein, 2010; Corley and Gioia, 2004) as is often proposed particularly in the practice oriented change management models (e.g. Kotter, 1996) but also explains what is good and worth sustaining about the existing situation. Also, the cycle form consisting of recurring narrative phases differs from the linear staging order of the phases of a change in Lewin‘s model (1951). Finally, the New Meaning Narratives contained textual means that are often used for building communities. This finding reverberated with Elving‘s (2005) conceptualization of the change communication where informing and building a community were presented as main functions of change communication. However, the findings of this study suggest that the authored strategy narrative was used to perform many more timely overlapping and simultaneously occurring communication aims than just informing and building community; such as managing employees emotional uncertainty and resistance to change (conserving meanings); telling not only what, but also, how and why to change (new meanings); assuring about the necessity and accuracy of the change actions by providing evidence of the Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 55 Building Positive Power into Strategy Narrative early results and benefits (sense giving and sense making); and, finally, provoking and speeding up continuous change by raising the ambition level with recurring narrative cycles during the process of change. Reflections on the Retold Strategy Narratives Next this paper discusses how the discursive strategies and language use of the authored strategy narrative were reflected in the middle managers‘ retold strategy narratives drawn from the interview and focus group data. The findings are based on a very preliminary examination of the data, and since the work is in progress, the conclusions presented here may still change. Within the interview data, elements of all three constituents of the authored strategy narrative – Existing Meaning Narratives, New Meaning Narratives and Sense Giving and Sense Making Narratives – could be identified. However, the interview and focus group discussion data produced a vast amount of New Meaning Narratives – stories of the change actions and experienced changes – whereas the mass of the content in the CEO‘s letters was on the Sense Giving and Sense Making Narratives. This was at least partly due to the interview and discussion agendas but could also reflect the managers‘ preference for talking about the change agenda and achievements they were proud of. The retold strategy narratives were studied through the same lens of positive and negative text markers and discursive connotations to failure and success as the authored strategy narrative, and the early findings are discussed in the following. The initiation phase of the change was typically described using a fair amount of negative markers; most of them related to internal circumstances like not functioning as one company, not experiencing strong leadership, not having a common direction; reflecting that these narratives attempted to break certain existing meanings, such as slowness and fragmentation of organization and leadership but also functioned as the organization‘s own motivation for change, legitimizing the change by referring to unsatisfactory circumstances, examples: We didn‘t function like one company, it was rather an entity of many functions …and also the leadership culture was divided…there was not strong leadership, no common direction. (Executive board member) It was kind of a …conflicting environment…we had the reality of the head quarters, and then the reality of the front-line companies, and there the life was living like in silos; common language was missing. (Focus group 3) We didn‘t have ambition to grow; we were good at planning but did not follow up the execution. We did not talk about the customer; the language to talk about the market was totally missing. (Executive board member) During all years I‘ve worked with the company, since I joined 1992, there wasn‘t any written strategy. For the first time, somebody wrote it, a good, explicitly understandable strategy, and wanted everybody to understand it! (Country manager) In this area, we had been blind, deaf and very slow. (Area director) Positive markers, in turn, were attached to values like the commitment of people as workers; the reasonably good performance of the company; the fact that the company was not in crisis but in ―fairly good shape‘ and had a successful history, in contexts such as: Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 56 Building Positive Power into Strategy Narrative The company had been a forerunner in the internationalization of the business and for a reason, proud of its advances in technology, having a strong innovation culture. (Executive board member) We were doing all right. (Executive board member) The company was in many ways a good company, had a healthy culture, and was very global. (Executive board member) At this point, it seems that managers in the middle, change recipients as much as change leaders in their change actor role in the beginning of the change, clearly sensed a need to change but did not necessarily tag (Huttunen, 2010) negative positions to the same issues as the CEO in the authored strategy narrative. In turn, the positive markers were linked to similar values; commitment of its people, pride of the company‘s past successes, culture and values in the company. When examining narratives reflecting New Meanings drawn from the interview and focus discussion data, a multitude of positive connotations and positive discursive markers were identified in the preliminary review. Positive connotations were unanimously linked to the manner by which the change was initiated, shared and conducted; and, a particular positive connotation was linked to the way everyone was involved into the change: … from the day zero, the critical mass was integrated to go along with the change, all the largest global units were behind it, leadership mass from them, and nobody was allowed to stay with a ‗wait and see‘ attitude but everyone was made part of it…The power and responsibility to participate in making the change happen was given to everyone. (Executive director) My perception was that we were actors in a bigger change. (Local country management team member) Main change was that everybody had the possibility to feel at the center of this process. (Focus Group 1) The amount, openness and accessibility of communication as well the clarity of the change concept in its building on priority action program (must-win battles) were tagged with implied positive markers: Communication was simplified, it was clear and uncomplicated, and started immediately, thus allowing no space for rumors or speculation but informed openly what we were doing and aiming at. We tried to be a step ahead in our communication. The same messages were repeated and repeated over again, and that helped units further repeat it. … the company decided to invest a lot in communication. Power points were available in all units, and using a common language for the reason of the change –defining must-win battles, values. (Local country management team member) Clear program and frame, and no need to change it…it‘s easy to build on. (Global function head) … it is important that you can communicate the same message over and over again. And there are new elements that come along, and good results with which you can prove that we are on the right way and produce results. (Global function head) Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 57 Building Positive Power into Strategy Narrative Direct communication, the CEO is doing it with his letter to everyone. It is really important for the people to see that the change is patronized by the top management. Their involvement is important. (Focus Group 1). However, some comments were labeled also with negative markers expressing confusion in the beginning of the process about the content of the communication: However, in the beginning it was so, that the message was heard and understood, but we didn‘t know what it meant for me. (Executive board member) In that period (2005) the impression was to have a lot of items, like legos, that were separate items, but day by day it became clear that we were building something different. More oriented to the market, more oriented to be competitive, more interested in the result of not only the [own] unit but also of the entire company, more a corporate than in the past. (Local country management team member) The last illustrating comment also took an implied positive position with a change marker working ―more‖ towards the market, competition and result ―than in the past.‖ The interviewees used more overt, often positive change markers in their specific narratives about the change actions and experienced changes. These change narratives partly represented new meanings while also merging with sense making narratives, particularly when describing change with a comparison between earlier and present. Illustrating examples: The first must-win battles defined the things were we need to change immediately in order to turn the company into the right direction. (Country manager) Clock speed has increased. You have to work harder/do more than two years ago. (Country manager) Culture has changed, we are more a community, and do more things together. (Country manager) People know more and better, where we‘re doing well where not. Visible speaking about what is right and wrong. (Country manager) We speak the same way. We believe in the same things. (Focus Group 1) The idea was: this was the time to move from a federation status to a corporate status. (Local country management team member) By 2007, I think we understood that there was only one way to work in the company; to work together, with more giving, more equality between the different functions. (Local country management team member) People know where we are – their general understanding of business is higher thanks to higher visibility. (Local country management team member 2009) We moved in my opinion from a static company—to a corporate more focused on the market, more focused to strategy. (Local country management team member) The direction is much more shared than in the past. (Area director) The most interesting observation made in this preliminary review of the data, however, concerned some of the empowering positive lexical markers, that the CEO had used in his strategy narrative, such as ‗positive‘ and ‗energy‘; they reflected markedly back in the managers‘ Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 58 Building Positive Power into Strategy Narrative own stories about the change. The record use of the word ‗positive‘ was discovered in one of the individual management interviews, where the interviewee used the word positive 13 times in an hours‘ interview. People have come along with a positive mind; everybody saw why we needed to change. It‘s been because we have had a clear program behind it, and we‘ve been able to communicate it that here‘s the target level, here were we are aiming at. (Global function head) My personal opinion is that we kind of opened a knot. We said aloud that we want to grow. It is crazy but I think, saying it aloud, already set off the growth. That we said we want to move forward, it released a lot of energy in the organization. (Executive board member) People oriented leadership releases a lot of energy for motivation. People do better, perform better. (Executive board member, 2009) When we deconstructed glass walls, it released a lot of positive energy. (Executive board member) It is this positive thinking. We are realistic but positive. -- We‘ve grown to see everything through opportunities. Supportive and positive attitude have been adopted as leadership criteria. (Executive board member) Different cultures are challenges but positive challenges. We have had one clear strategy that‘s been easy to communicate everywhere. We have held strategy workshops but nowhere has it been challenged of a language or culture. Indian person thinks a bit differently than a Finn but the basic strategy has been easy to communicate everywhere. (Global function head) Appreciation of quality issues raises, it‘s a positive opportunity instead of a disgusting negative issue. (Global function head) … all procedures, documentations are usually boring and dry must-dos, but now they are seen a positive drive in it, see them as enablers, when we put our management systems together, and build a solid basis. (Global function head) Conclusions and Management Implications After examining the data representing both authored and retold strategy narratives through the lens of juxtaposing positive and negative, and failure and success positions in the discourse, some preliminary considerations were perceptible. These early conclusions and potential management implications are discussed here. The CEO in his communication rarely if at all used connotations to failure. On the contrary, it seemed like his very conscious decision to avoid any connotations to negative outcomes, just like one of the interviewees remarked about ‗putting an end to even jokes about such‘. This decision refers to a strong desire to create a ‗Can do‘ mindset in the organization. Furthermore, even his use of negative language markers was tightly linked to explicit indications of issues that needed to change, and most often timely in connection with the beginning of the change process. Additionally, these negative positions were balanced with positive markers tagged on values and meanings worth preserving. This could refer to an attempt to comfort employees by telling that there were things that had been done right and not everything needs to change, thus helping organization to embrace change and to overcome resistance. Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 59 Building Positive Power into Strategy Narrative The narrative format, a cycle consisting of recurring narrative phases over time, produced a powerful story invigorating the organization to the change with a balanced mix of negative and positive discursive markers, motivating employees with a lot of positive energy and a sense of urgency; then sharing achieved benefits of already taken change actions, and stimulating further change with positive markers attached to future successes which however were conditional: achievable only if further changes took place. This way the authored strategy narrative attempted to keep momentum in the change process, not letting the organization grow comfortable with what was already achieved and put the continuous change at risk of stalling. The managers acting both as change recipients and change leaders articulated clear understanding of reasons to change but did not tag negative positions to the same issues as the CEO in his narrative; positive markers in turn were linked to similar values and mindsets, and thus reflected back in the retold strategy narratives. However, the difference in lexical and connotative linkages to negative change markers may refer to semantics rather than differences in understanding of the underlying reasons to change; the reasons tagged with negative change markers in the authored strategy narrative may have been symptomatic of those tagged by the middle managers, e.g. fragmentation of the organization and leadership may cause lack of speed in the organization. Furthermore, the empowering lexical markers the CEO had used were salient in the retold strategy narratives. Stories by the managers included language like ‗positive energy‘, ‗positive thinking‘, ‗positive challenges‘, ‗positive opportunity‘, and ‗positive drive‘. And, when they described the change process, particular positive connotation was linked to the way how everyone was involved from the beginning, and how the amount, openness and accessibility of communication made it apparently easier to share the strategy in the organization. However, as some comments underlined, accessibility did not necessarily lead to understanding immediately. However, the involvement and amount of communication may have contributed to empowerment and may have helped managers to drive the change further in the organization. As a summarizing conclusion, these initial findings seem to suggest a few practical management implications. First, the form of dynamic cycle instead of linear staging in the strategy narrative contributes to change impetus and to maintaining continuous change in the organization. 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Qualitative Research: Theory, Method, and Practice, London, California, New Delhi: Sage Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 62 CCI Corporate Communication Practices & Trends U.S. Study 2011 Michael B. Goodman MA in Corporate Communication & CCI -- Corporate Communication International Baruch College, City University of New York, USA [email protected] or [email protected] The CCI Corporate Communication Practices and Trends Studies provide critical information for academics and practitioners involved in the study and practice of Corporate Communication. The USA studies were recently joined by studies in China (2006, 2008, 201011) and South Africa (2007-2008). The 2011 research focused on US-based Fortune 1000 companies. This study is especially important considering current concerns involving leadership and communication practices in the aftermath of the world financial crisis begun in late 2008. The 2011 CCI study examines the unprecedented changes taking place in the communication, media, and business environments as reflected in the practice of corporate communication. The 2011 Study also examines the internal relationship between the Chief Executive Officer and the Chief Communication Officer. CCI -- Corporate Communication International conducted studies in 2000 and 2001 to set a benchmark for the practice of corporate communication in Fortune 1000 companies. The CCI Practices and Trends Study in 2002, 2003, 2005, 2007, and 2009 are subsequent studies. CCI surveyed Corporate Communication executives from the Fortune 1000 companies and asked twenty-seven questions. Several of these focused on the functions of their work and the budget responsibilities of those functions, emphasizing the importance the corporation places on the function by the assignment of accountability. Other questions asked about the executive profile – age, educational background, gender, salary. CCI also conducted phone and email interviews with selected respondents. In 2003, several site visits were added to the process of gathering information. The surveys gather information on past practices; the interviews allow discussion of more current actions; and the site visits allow for extended interviews and observations of the executives in their own work environment, and often give insight into plans for future strategies and tactics. These studies have held up a mirror to the profession, and the insights gained have implications for current practices at work. The CCI Corporate Communication Practices and Trends Study 2011 research team includes members from previous studies: Dr. Michael B. Goodman, Christina Genest, David Milley, Annie Keller, Darnide Cayo, and Sinyee Ng. Goals of the 2011 Study: Outline & analyze state of the art in Fortune 1000 companies; Continue the CCI Studies from 2000 – 2009; Continue to identify & analyze Corporate Communication practices; Continue to identify trends in Corporate Communication; Continue to build a database for further study. Conference on Corproate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 63 CCI Corporate Communication Practices and Trends Preliminary findings are presented at the 2011 CCI Conference. Final results will be shared initially with CCI members and sponsors, as well as Baruch College/CUNY faculty and graduate students, through special briefings. The results of the study will then be made available to the profession as a whole through the CCI website www.corporatecomm.org. Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 64 Character as Defence A Study of Vattenfall‘s Communication following an Incident at the Nuclear Plant at Forsmark, Sweden Orla Vigsø Department of Media, Communication and IT Södertörn University, Sweden [email protected] Maja von Stedingk Wigren School of Humanities, Eduction and Social Sciences Örebro University, Sweden [email protected] Purpose – The incident in 2006 at the Vattenfall owned plant in Forsmark turned out to be one of the most serious ever in Sweden. Vattenfall's communication during this crisis did not meet the accusations, instead their line of defence was not to engage in discussions of the accusations, but to refer only to their own character as safe, thorough and scientific. Apparently, this strategy worked; the company ranked high in public confidence before the incident, and according to polls this confidence remained unharmed throughout the crisis. This paper aims to analyze under which circumstances a defence built on character may meet the demands of the stakeholders, especially those of the general public. Design/methodology/approach – The purpose is reached through a mainly rhetorical analysis of both Vattenfall's press releases during the crisis, and the media coverage. Findings – The analysis shows that the success of Vattenfall's communication strategy relies on their use of the general reputation held by the company at the start of the crisis. With a high level of general trust, not addressing accusations directly can be a successful move. Practical implications – The paper shows that to a company facing a crisis situation, context analysis is crucial. The strategy adapted by Vattenfall could seem potentially damaging to themselves, but worked in the actual circumstances. Originality/value – The paper shows that not meeting accusations may work as an apologetic strategy, if the reputation established in the pre-crisis situation is sufficiently strong. Keywords – Corporate communications, Nuclear reactors, Public relations, Sweden Paper Type – Research paper Published in: Corporate Communications: An International Journal, Vol. 15, No. 4, 2010, pp. 365-379, Emerald Group Publishing Limited Conference on Corproate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 65 Communicating Sustainability Do Nordic Energy Corporations Exemplify a New Generation of CSR? Helle Kryger Aggerholm & N. Leila Trapp Aarhus University, Denmark [email protected] & [email protected] Heightened public interest in company efforts to address global issues, such as the climate issue, has influenced corporate social responsibility (CSR) and ethics programs (May, Cheney, & Roper, 2007). This interest has sparked a so-called ―third generation‖ approach to CSR which involves extending beyond company-bound issues such as fulfilling legal obligations, improving workplace conditions and supporting local communities, to addressing broader, universal issues which affect humankind in general (Stohl, Stohl, & Popova, 2009). Due to the scope of these global problems, and the impossibility of one company solving them alone, this shift has also inspired corporate collaboration with other companies, nonprofits, or governments (Austin, 2000). This paper aims at making an empirically based contribution to our understanding of this apparent contemporary evolution of CSR in the context of globalization. To do so, we examine the CEO introductions to sustainability reports in four Nordic energy companies and (1) evaluate the ways the companies position themselves thematically in a global issues framework, and (2) determine the extent to which they reflect engagement with the ideals of third generation CSR. The analysis reveals that although third generation thinking is apparent, it does not dominate. Approaches to CSR primarily reflect companybound second generation thinking, framed within a global domain in a ―Think global, act local‖ discourse. Globalization continues to be deemed a powerful force that shapes human behavior and understanding in a myriad of significant ways. It therefore also continues to inspire theoretical and empirical research in many fields, including business and communication-related fields. Within these realms, the emergence and growth of a global economy has been found to strengthen corporate incentives to address global social and environmental issues through corporate social responsibility (CSR) and ethics initiatives (Stohl, Stohl, & Townsley, 2007). Research has also indicated that due to the complex nature of global issues, corporate efforts to address them are increasingly becoming collaborative; in other words, corporations are either joining forces with other enterprises, or forming cross-sector partnerships with governments and non-governmental organizations (Austin, 2000; Selsky & Parker, 2005; Warner & Sullivan, 2004). The overall purpose of this study is to make an empirical contribution to the discussion about the contemporary evolution of CSR in the context of globalization. In it, we follow the lead of scholars who study trends in CSR and ethics by examining formal corporate communication efforts. Indeed, by examining formal corporate communication, it is possible to discern not only corporate engagement with CSR, but also underlying corporate values in a broader sense. In one recent study, for example, the extent to which a large number of major, global corporations were engaged and concerned with global CSR issues was evaluated on the basis of their corporate codes of ethics (Stohl, et al., 2009). The present study also involves an examination of planned, formal communication to evaluate the degree to which it conveys an emergent, corporate global consciousness, or, as will be discussed below, ―third generation CSR thinking‖. More specifically, we examine the CEO introductory texts of sustainability reports from four Conference on Corproate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 66 Communicating Sustainability international, Nordic energy companies: DONG Energy (Denmark), Statoil (Norway), Vattenfall (Sweden), and Fortum (Finland). We have chosen to focus on Nordic energy companies for several reasons. First, energy companies are at the epicenter of the global climate change issue. The companies examined here either produce or trade in one or more energy forms that lead to the emission of greenhouses gasses that are seen as being at the root of the climate change problem. Because of the potentially harmful nature of their business, global, public concern with the climate issue has certainly put pressure on energy companies to take a stance on this very pressing CSR-related issue. The second reason for our data choice is the research finding from a comparison of Global 500 and/or Fortune 500 corporations which states ―Western European‖ (and hereby presumably also Nordic) companies are leaders in terms of incorporating global, collective thinking about issues such as overall social good and a healthy environment into their ethical framework (Stohl, et al., 2009). Thirdly, companies in Nordic states are known for being particularly engaged in CSRrelated issues, at least when the companies are present in an international context (Gjoelberg, 2010; Morsing, Midttun, & Palmås, 2007). Finally, Nordic companies have a relatively strong tradition of addressing CSR issues through collaborative means (Albareda, Lozano, & Ysa, 2007; Gjoelberg, 2010; Letica, 2008). Reflecting this tradition, the companies examined here are members of the UN Global Compact, a collaborative initiative that encourages businesses around the world to follow10 principles in the areas of human rights, labor, environment, and anti-corruption. Further evidence of the Nordic collaborative tradition is a set of models of European government action in the development of CSR-endorsing public policies. Amongst this set of models is the ―Partnership‖ model that includes Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands and Sweden. It is mainly characterized by the widespread use of collaborative strategies between government and business sectors to meet CSR-related challenges (Albareda, et al., 2007; Letica, 2008). This model reflects the common practice of recognizing similarities between Nordic countries, which typically includes Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland and Iceland. Indeed, many disciplines including political science and sociology make reference to a ―Nordic Model‖ which characterizes Nordic countries as having well-regulated societies that are typically social democratic, with a strong tradition of collaboration between governments, capital and labor (Morsing, et al., 2007). In summary, in order to contribute to the discussion concerning the evolution of CSR in a context of globalization, we have chosen to examine the formal expression of corporate approaches to sustainability in companies that are at the epicenter of the global, climate issue and headquartered in countries widely recognized not only as particularly engaged with global, CSRrelated issues, but also likely to embrace collaborative means of addressing these issues. In short, we presume the CSR communication of these companies is likely to demonstrate corporate engagement that reflects the characteristics of third generation CSR as outlined above. Specifically, our analysis of the CEO introductions to corporate sustainability reports aims at addressing the following research questions: How do the CEO introductions position the companies thematically in a global issues framework, and to what extent do they reflect engagement with the ideals of third generation CSR? The structure of this article is as follows: we begin with a description of the shifting foci of CSR by presenting a first, second and third generation typology. This is followed by a presentation of the empirical study, and the findings from our thematic analysis. Finally, we Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 67 Communicating Sustainability discuss the relative weight given to the different generational approaches to CSR in terms of the potential influence of sustainability reports‘ communicative goals and targeted stakeholders. Three Generations of Human Rights and Corporate Social Responsibility The CSR typology described here includes a first, second, and third generation, and parallels descriptions of the evolution of international human rights during the last 500 years (Stohl, et al., 2007). In the following sections, we outline these parallels in order to portray the changing patterns of CSR conceptualizations, and the ways they reflect the dynamics of globalization. In the case of first generation human rights, focus is on individual benefits that arise when governments refrain from undesirable actions. For example, the right to freedom of speech, that is dependent upon governmental refraining from prosecuting those who speak freely. First generation benefits that citizens gain on the basis of government refrain can be described as negative rights or freedoms. In terms of first generation CSR, focus is also on refrain. Instead of government refrain, here the concern is for corporate refrain from misdeeds such as conducting bribery. The underlying viewpoint is that business can be conducted unhampered as long as corporations refrain from illegal or otherwise unacceptable behavior. A key example of first generation CSR is the well-known approach to CSR promoted by Milton Friedman in 1970: the social responsibility of companies is to make a profit (Friedman, 1970). According to this view, the right to secure profits for shareholders is solely contingent on corporations‘ refrain from illegal or improper behavior. In this way, first generation CSR is concerned with business principles and the legal basis for corporate behavior. As opposed to first generation rights that are secured through state refrain, second generation rights are those that are secured through state intervention, most often in the form of protective legislation. Examples include positive human rights that were secured as a result of social upheaval during the nineteenth century periods of western industrialization and strengthened capitalism: improved labor conditions, health care, and food and product safety standards. In a manner similar to second generation human rights, second generation CSR refers to corporate initiatives that secure positive rights for employees, their families, and local communities such as fair wages, health benefits, and safe working conditions. These corporate initiatives, depending on the national and thereby legal context, are either motivated by existing legislation, or are voluntary in nature. Finally, third generation human rights extend beyond a concern with individual and particular group rights, and are instead concerned with humankind in a collective sense. Indeed, key terms are ‗global‘ and ‗universal‘. Accordingly, the rights included in the United Nation‘s Universal Declaration of Human Rights are third generation rights that apply to ―everyone‖; for example, ―Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion‖ (United Nations, 1948). Due to the global, universal nature of third generation rights, another central characteristic of these rights is the complex nature of ―global participation, cooperation, and agreement‖ that is necessary in order to secure them (Stohl, et al., 2007). Indeed, these human rights cannot be universally secured by just one government, organization or corporation. These general characteristics of third generation human rights are of course also true of third generation CSR, which is described in greater detail below through a comparison with first and second generation CSR in terms of the generations‘ (1) domains; (2) concerns and activities; and (3) motivating factors and pursued outcomes. Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 68 Communicating Sustainability The domains First generation CSR is embedded within specific organizations. In other words, concern is with the functioning of organization itself, and therefore only the most central, organizationally linked stakeholders are in focus. Because much organizational activity is governmentally regulated, first generation CSR is also embedded within a national context. The domain of second generation CSR is also specific organizations in particular national contexts, but the conceptualization of organizations is more inclusive, reflecting the broader understanding of relevant stakeholders put forth in Freeman‘s stakeholder theory: ―any group or individual who can affect or is affected by the achievement of the activities of an organization‖ (Freeman, 1984). Second generation CSR initiatives often target, for example, local communities and families of staff. The national domains are still of central importance. Third generation CSR is much more far-reaching in its scope. It transcends corporate, local and national boundaries and instead is embedded in a global context, reflecting its concern with the international community or humankind in general. As noted earlier, the third generation domain often transcends sectors and is characterized by cross-sector collaboration and cooperation. Whereas CSR has traditionally been understood in terms of a growing business sector engagement with social issues, especially relative to the state (see Figure 1), third generation CSR entails a blurring of sector boundaries. FIGURE 1. The Relationship Between State, Business and Civil Society (Van Marrewijk, 2003) James E. Austin from the Harvard Business School has also noted these changes in CSR, and describes the increase in cross-sector collaboration as a contemporary ―search for new resources and more effective organizational approaches‖ to social problems that are increasing in scope and complexity while governments are downsizing (2000:69). In summary, the domain of third generation CSR typically transgresses individual companies and instead is characterized not only as global, but also by a conglomeration of actors from one or more sectors. The concerns and activities Basically, first generation CSR initiatives are concerned with upholding law and order and thereby protecting individuals from organizational misdeeds; for example, ensuring that Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 69 Communicating Sustainability suppliers comply with a company‘s code of conduct is a first generation CSR activity. Second generation CSR is primarily concerned with issues that can be directly influenced by an organization for the benefit of its stakeholders; for example, sponsoring local sporting events, managing volunteer programs, and ensuring healthy workplaces. Third generation CSR is concerned with ethical issues that ultimately affect humankind. This form of CSR activity can be spotted in the United Nations Global Compact. Examples are the abolition of child labor, and the undertaking of ―initiatives to promote greater environmental responsibility‖ (http://www.unglobalcompact.org/index.html). The motivating factors and pursued outcomes Both first and second generation CSR are more or less motivated by profit. In the case of first generation CSR, corporations are motivated to run a profitable business without legal risk. With second generation CSR, it is not uncommon for corporations to assert normative arguments for social initiatives, in other words, to claim that they are concerned with fulfilling obligations to society; however, corporate self-interest arguments tend to predominate. Indeed, in a typology of arguments for CSR developed by Lynn Sharp Paine (2000), one normative argument – a sense of obligation to society – and four business case arguments tend to dominate in CSR communication. The business case arguments are (1) risk management: CSR as a means to prevent corporate scandals or crises; (2) civic positioning: the corporate quest for social legitimacy and thereby attainment of a ―license to operate‖; (3) market positioning: CSR as a means of attracting customers; and (4) organizational functioning: CSR as a means of developing an organizational culture that can make it easier to attract and retain qualified staff as well as keep the organization responsive to changing stakeholder expectations (Paine & Lynn, 2002). Third generation CSR, on the other hand, is driven by ethical concerns that surpass corporate-bound legal and stakeholder interests. It involves an understanding of the complex interconnections between corporate activities and the greater, global context. In this way, third generation CSR approaches are based on a normative ethic that involves a sense of obligation to humankind and the global environment. Global Issues and Formal Sustainability Reports Social trends are of central importance in understanding the reasons for the publication of corporate reports on CSR-related activities. In particular, public concern with the negative effects of globalization, including NGO expressions of concern and pressure, have bolstered corporate efforts to report on non-financial, environmental and social issues (Kolk, 2003). This reporting, which is especially common amongst large, multinational companies, is said to have ―gotten off the ground‖ during the 1990s (ibid: 280). While focus was initially centered on environmental concerns in non-financial reports, social concerns have gained in importance, on par with broadening stakeholder interests. Therefore, environmental reports have given way to corporate sustainability reports, which typically integrate a broader range of CSR concerns. What is interesting in the context of the present study is that because sustainability reports are understood as responses to civic concerns about the negative effects of the global economy, they can be viewed as an obvious venue for companies to address the sorts of issues that have been described above as universal, third generation CSR issues. Indeed, since the early 1990s, sustainability reports have aimed at portraying corporate commitment to the prevention of human rights violations, environmental degradation, and other negative ―externalities‖ of international business activities (Kolk, 2003). Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 70 Communicating Sustainability The targeted readers and communicative goals of sustainability reports Non-financial reporting has been described as targeting several groups of stakeholders, and fulfilling several communicative goals. First, there is widespread agreement that it is a means of managing public impressions of the organization and thereby maintaining or improving the organization‘s legitimacy (Hedberg & von Malmborg, 2003; Neu, Warsame, & Pedwell, 1998). In other words, reports can strengthen company attempts to ―look after the company brand‖ (Hedberg & von Malmborg, 2003). Related to these aims is the widespread use of non-financial reports as a means of attracting investors. In fact, many see investors as the primary target group of sustainability reports, with the information provided in reports being used by investors in risk and return assessments (Hedberg & von Malmborg, 2003; Neu, et al., 1998). Besides financiers, other noted, targeted readers include the general public, and potential and existing employees. In these cases, the aims could include, respectively, opening up a platform for dialogue with critical stakeholders, and providing staff with educational material about company operations (Hedberg & von Malmborg, 2003). However, some companies see their sustainability reports as a form of corporate communication which targets ―an exclusive group of respected opinion makers – not the general public or… customers in general‖ (Morsing, Schultz, & Nielsen, 2008). In these cases, the reports aim to influence elite readers such as politicians, local authorities, the media, investors, and critical interest groups who have the clout to indirectly strengthen the company‘s public reputation amongst the general public. Another aim of reporting is reflected in the growing number of institutions which rank companies according to CSR-related criteria: to receive a third-party endorsed, positive CSR rating (Porter & Kramer, 2006). Indeed, a positive ranking in the highly esteemed Dow Jones Sustainability Index can attract investors, improve corporate reputation, and strengthen employee morale. Finally, in many countries, sustainability reports are increasingly being produced in order to comply with legal mandates. Indeed, the number of government mandates for social responsibility reporting is increasing (Porter & Kramer, 2006). The first environmental reporting requirements were instated in 1996 in Denmark, and in 2008 the Danish government mandated that all large companies report on CSR issues (ESRA, 2009). And the trend is growing: Sweden has mandated sustainability reporting for state-owned companies since 2007 (ethical corporation January 13, 2009); France mandates environmental reporting for companies listed on the stock market (ESRA, 2008 for France); and even the city of Buenos Aires has mandated sustainability reporting for companies with more than 300 employees (GRI, 2008). The prevalence of sustainability reporting Legally mandated or not, there has been a considerable increase in the number of companies that publish sustainability reports, either as a separate report or as part of the annual (financial) report. In 1998, 37% of the largest 250 companies from the Fortune Global 500 list published an environmental, social or sustainability report, whereas 50% did so in 2002 (Kolk, 2003). A more recent study found that 64% of the largest multinational corporations published sustainability reports in 2005, and that separate reports were the most common (Porter and Kramer, 2006). Studies which examine the distribution of sustainability reporting note that there are clear differences between countries and sectors: areas with high reporting activity are North Western Europe and Japan, especially amongst companies within the industrial sector (Kolk, 2004). Unsurprisingly, stakeholder concern with pollution is said to be the reason for the high Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 71 Communicating Sustainability reporting frequency amongst industrial companies, and level of social attention to sustainability issues and level of legislation are the factors seen to contribute to country differences (Kolk, 2003). Sustainability reports as planned, corporate communication Our decision to examine sustainability reports in terms of the extent to which they reflect a global consciousness is motivated by their status as reputation-enhancing reports on corporate engagement with CSR in general. Just as importantly, as a form of planned communication, sustainability reports can be expected to reflect company values such as an adherence to the ideals of third generation CSR. Indeed, theories within the field of corporate communication posit that a central purpose of planned forms of communication is to express an organization‘s identity, including its core values (Cornelissen, 2008). As Stohl, Stohl and Popova write, ―A fundamental indicator of the impact of globalization on corporate values is its influence on specific and intentional organizational communication‖ (2009:607). Research Design and Method The analysis is based on the most recent (2009) CEO-letters of the four major corporations in the Nordic energy sector: Fortum (Finland), Statoil (Norway), Vattenfall (Sweden) and DONG Energy (Denmark). In table 1 below the various corporations are described in more detail. TABLE 1. Overview of the four case companies Energy companies Characteristics Fortum (Finland) Statoil (Norway) Vattenfall (Sweden) Fortum‘s activities cover the generation, distribution and sale of electricity and heat as well as expert services for power producers. Corporate operations focus on the Nordic countries, Russia and Baltic Rim area. In 2010, Fortum‘s sales totaled EUR 6.3 billion and its operating profit was EUR 1.7 billion. Number of employees: 10,500 people worldwide. Fortum‘s shares are quoted on NASDAQ OMX Helsinki. Statoil is the second largest supplier of gas to Europe. Statoil trades in petroleum products, methanol, power and emission allowances. It ranks as the world's third largest net seller of crude oil. Statoil is an international energy company with operations in 34 countries. In 2009, Statoil‘s sales amounted to EUR 41.2 billion and its operating profit totaled EUR 3,26 billion. Number of employees: 20,000 people worldwide. Statoil‘s shares are listed on the New York and Oslo stock exchanges. Vattenfall is Europe‘s fifth largest generator of electricity and largest producer of heat. Main products are electricity, heat and gas. Vattenfall is a European company with operations in 8 countries. In 2010, Vattenfall‘s sales totaled EUR 24.2 billion and its operating profit was EUR 3.4 billion. Number of employees: 40,000 people worldwide. Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 72 Communicating Sustainability DONG Energy (Denmark) Vattenfall is 100% owned by the Swedish state. DONG Energy is one of the leading energy groups in Northern Europe. The business is based on procuring, producing, distributing and trading in energy and related products in Northern Europe. The company supplies energy to customers in the Danish, Swedish, German, and Dutch markets. In 2009, DONG Energy‘s sales totaled EUR 6.6 billion and its operating profit was EUR 1.2 billion (EBITDA) Number of employees: 6,000 people. 76.5% of DONG Energy is owned by the Danish state. Driven by the above stated research questions and our broader theoretical assumptions in terms of generational CSR, we apply the flexible method of thematic analysis (Aronson, 1994, Boyatzis, 1998) to identify specific themes in the CEO introductions. Through the use of thematic analysis it is possible to summarize key features of the data set and to highlight similarities and differences across the various texts (Braun and Clarke 2006). The theme selection is based on our theoretical framework described above, which outlines three generations of human rights and corporate social responsibility. Within the three generations, there are two theme groups that steer our thematic analysis: (1) concerns and activities, and (2) motivating factors and pursued outcomes for organizational activities. All together the three generations and two theme groups create the analytical framework outlined below: TABLE 2. Analytical framework 1st generation An immediate and specific organizational domain Upholding law and Theme group 1: order Organizational concerns and activities Theme group 2: Motivating factors and pursued outcomes for organizational concerns and activities Self interest arguments for profit without legal risks 2nd generation A broad organizational domain 3rd generation A global domain Providing beneficial conditions for stakeholders (e.g. employees and their families, local community members, shareholders) Improving social and environmental conditions for humankind Enlightened self-interest arguments for profit gained in a socially conscious manner Normative arguments to indicate an ethical concern for ensuring beneficial social and environmental conditions for mankind Normative arguments to indicate awareness of social obligations to provide beneficial conditions for organizational stakeholders Collaboration, including cross-sector partnerships between corporations, governments and civil organizations Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 73 Communicating Sustainability The aim of the analysis is to identify the comprehensiveness of the two themes based on the assumption that a strong focus on third generation themes in the various texts will give us an idea of the extent to which the different organizations truly embrace the ideals of third generation CSR. Thus, the analysis intends to reveal certain thematic patterns within each text rather than to facilitate a quantitative study of the two themes. Thematic Analysis Theme Group 1: Organizational Concerns and Activities Organizational Concerns In terms of organizational concerns, none of the companies positions themselves within the first and second generation paradigm, where the concerns are centered on compliance with the law within a national context. When stating their concerns, the energy corporations relate to a broader, international context by referring to concerns in relation to humankind in general. In this way, they position themselves within the third generation CSR paradigm. At first glance the Swedish company Vattenfall seems to be using a second generation discourse in that the CEO introduction relates to the stakeholder and organizational context. Initially in the text, the CSR initiatives are framed within a primary stakeholder context by the following statement, without mentioning more global concerns pertaining to humankind in general: Our journey alongside our stakeholders continues – towards the development of a more sustainable society. However, ‗society‘ can be interpreted as referring to society in general, and in this way the rhetoric no longer only pertains to the national context, but can be characterized as third generation. In the beginning of the DONG Energy CEO introduction, the Danish company frames its CSR initiatives within a global context with the following statement: Even though COP15 did not provide a powerful, ambitious political framework for a new climate agreement, the attendance of more than 100 heads of state and government was an indication of the change in mindset that has occurred during the last couple of years. The climate challenge has given momentum to a strong progress towards a greener economy. The third generation‘s global concerns, within the Norwegian energy corporation, Statoil, are illustrated in the statement below through the articulation of a paradoxical, global problem affecting mankind and, of course, the energy sector in particular: We find ourselves at the crossroads between two apparently irreconcilable challenges – the energy crisis, and the climate crisis. The Finnish company, Fortum, also rhetorically frames the climate change issue within a global context, where the outcomes of the corporate CSR efforts relate to humankind in general: Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 74 Communicating Sustainability In our opinion, global solutions are a necessity and global pricing of carbon, combined with market-based instruments, is the best way forward […]. Our ultimate goal is to be a carbon dioxide-free energy company […]. Our energy improves life for present and future generations. Thus, all four energy companies rhetorically position themselves within the third generation when it comes to framing the context or concerns surrounding their CSR efforts. Organizational Activities Depending on the types of organizational activities, the CEO introductions of several organizations focus on operations within the framework of the specific organization as well as partnerships with different actors. This discursive mix places them within the domains of both second and third generation. In his introduction, Anders Eldrup, the CEO of DONG Energy, mentions a series of partnerships between the organization and other companies, indicating that the CSR initiatives are carried out collaboratively. The excerpt below is not a classic example of third generation cross-sector partnerships (because focus is still on the organizational importance of this partnership); however, it reaches beyond the organization and thereby encompasses more than just the specific organization. As a result, the CSR initiatives foster a conglomeration of actors: In 2009, we opened an innovation centre, which will form the framework for a series of new partnerships. We believe new ideas develop through interaction between companies‘ different competences. […] DONG Energy‘s knowledge on energy production based on straw combined with Novozymes‘ and Danisco‘s [two Danish companies] knowledge on enzymes has resulted in sustainable fuel for the transport sector. In an effort to become more specific in terms of concrete CSR initiatives in the excerpt below, the CEO introduction makes reference to initiatives within the specific organization, which might suggest a second generation rhetoric. However, since the motivation of the activities is to deliver reliable energy without CO2, which benefits humankind, and not just immediate stakeholders, the text includes an element of third generation thinking: Our vision is to deliver reliable energy without CO2. […] In 2009, for example, we inaugurated the world‘s largest wind farm, Horns Rev 2. We also plan to extend the use of biomass and natural gas in our power and heat production. Furthermore, DONG Energy uses a purely third generation discourse in other statements in the CEO introduction, stressing the Danish company‘s main focus on the third generation, global domain. The excerpt below is an example of a CSR initiative by DONG Energy within the third generation domain of cross-sector partnerships based on knowledge sharing and collaboration between the specific organization, other businesses and public municipalities with the purpose of saving energy: Knowledge sharing and collaboration also form the basis of our climate partnerships. This is where we make our competences available to businesses and municipalities that want to take specific steps to save energy. In December 2009, we had 36 climate partners. Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 75 Communicating Sustainability With regard to the Swedish Vattenfall and the Norwegian Statoil, the domain of the specific CSR initiatives seems to lie within the specific organizations and the actions they take in their operations, thereby thematically revealing the organizations‘ second generation thinking. The statements from the Norwegian CEO focus solely on the specific organization and do not involve any outside actors. Along these lines the CEO of Vattenfall states: For us, this is not an abstract concept but a daily mission – to work with, to understand, prioritize, develop, and implement more sustainable solutions […]. Our role is to aid these technologies on their way from the lab to the market, and our future role as a provider of electricity and heat will be shaped by the technologies that our customers and society find most attractive. Again, the CEO introduction is framed within the specific organization but also includes mention of the importance of collaborating with society, giving an indication of third generation rhetoric. However, the CEO does not specifically mention examples of cross-sector partnerships, which is the reason why the statement is primarily second generation in terms of organizational activities. In terms of stating the domain of CSR initiatives, the Finnish company Fortum is the only company solely positioning its activities within a third generation framework. By mentioning both COP15 in Copenhagen and political initiatives from the European Union and the US administration, the CEO of Fortum indicates that the domain of CSR initiatives is constituted by the collaboration of business and government, i.e. cross-sector partnerships/conglomerations of actors, and not just within the specific organization. However, the text does not mention how these political initiatives relate to the organization or how the organization can actively support these initiatives: Although the road to the COP15 meeting in Copenhagen has not been easy, we are delighted to see global development going in the right direction: The European Union has set ambitious emission reduction targets […]. The new US administration has already stated its high climate ambitions and intention to establish new legislation as well as to be actively involved in international climate negotiations. Theme Group 2: Motivating Factors and Pursued Outcomes Motivating Factors Studying the arguments for CSR, which the paper terms motivational factors, one company, Statoil, seems at first glance to transcend all three generations relating to profit without legal risks (first generation); profit and self-interest with normative arguments, indicating a concern with corporate and societal obligations (second generation); as well as ethical concerns for issues affecting mankind in general (third generation): We believe that stricter regulations will make it a profitable investment to develop a strong performance on [Health, Safety and Environment] and social indicators such as local development and human rights improvements […].‖Sustainability is a way of doing business. However, analyzing the excerpt in detail, it becomes evident that the motivating factor is purely first generational as the regulatory argument lies at the root of the corporate performance Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 76 Communicating Sustainability on health, safety and environment, as well as human rights improvements. The various initiatives are primarily concerned with upholding law and order and thereby protecting the organization from committing any misdeeds. In the excerpt below, the CEO of Fortum articulates the relation between the sustainability effort and corporate success understood as profit. Thus, the motivating argument is clearly driven by self-interest, indicating second generation thinking: We believe that Fortum‘s continues success will be based on a benchmark performance and excellence in sustainability […] thus, climate change will continue to be a fundamental business driver for Fortum. The Swedish corporation, Vattenfall, uses both second and third generation arguments. As to second generation motivations, the arguments are quite normative using a financial rhetoric in terms of ―delivering affordable energy‖ and focusing on self-interests while securing benefits for primary stakeholders: Vattenfall must continue to contribute in the ways it always has – by building knowledge and resources that support the development sought by society […]. We must accept a similar challenge: to couple our long-term strategic direction to short-term actions that deliver what our various stakeholders require, namely, reliable, affordable electricity and responsible management of the social and environmental impact of our operations today. However, Vattenfall also applies third generation rhetoric. The mentioning of ‗society‘ is an indication of this third generation thinking, since society in general is a concern outside of the immediate organizational context. Moreover, by committing to the UN Global Compact, the company has pledged their ethical concern for issues affecting mankind such as human rights, labor standards, environmental protection and anti-corruption: Vattenfall embraces international guidelines and standards that are trying to improve how companies relate to their stakeholders – most importantly the UN Global Compact, of which we have been a member since July 2008. DONG Energy is the only company solely categorized as third generation in terms of the motivational theme. Along the same lines as Vattenfall, DONG Energy‘s commitment to the UN Global Compact indicates an ethical concern for global issues: We also commit to the UN Global Compact initiative and promote the ten principles for human rights, labor standards, environment and anti-corruption whenever possible. Pursued Outcomes As to stating the pursued outcomes of the various CSR initiatives, two companies, DONG Energy and Fortum, position themselves within both the second and third generation paradigms, in that they refer to specific organizational outcomes as well as outcomes on a greater, global scale. In the CEO introduction, DONG Energy lists specific outcomes in terms of both organizationspecific as well as partner-specific results. In the excerpt below, the focus is on partnerships. However, since these partnerships consist of ‗business‘ partners, the excerpt exemplifies a second generation, organization-specific stakeholder discourse: Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 77 Communicating Sustainability This involves, among other things, ongoing talks with our business partners to ensure that they understand and incorporate our requirements for responsible conduct. At the same time, we focus on our own corporate culture, and in 2009 we performed an internal health check of our ethical guidelines. Regarding Fortum, the outcomes of the corporate focus on sustainability straddle second and third generation paradigms in the sense that they are described in normative, organizationspecific terms as well as global terms: the solution to a given problem requires the cooperation of the entire energy sector as well as collaboration with politicians: Today, we rank among the least carbon-intensive power producers in Europe. This is a result of a long-term and determined effort to reduce emissions and to build an increasingly CO2-free generation portfolio. […] We have stepped up research and development with a strong focus on CO2-free technologies‖. […] Because most global greenhouse gas emissions are generated in the production and use of energy, our industry has the responsibility of assuming an active role in the mitigation efforts. The role of energy companies is to provide the political decisions makers with solutions. Another example of third generation outcome rhetoric is in the following statement from the Swedish Vattenfall, in which future outcomes are to a great extent linked to and referring to a sustainable world in general: Our role is also to invest our resources in the future: building a more sustainable world will require enormous investments in tomorrow‘s energy solutions. […] This includes major new investments in wind power that will double the amount of electricity we generate from wind in the next two years. However, in all of the texts, the outcomes are most commonly described in very organization-specific terms. Examples of such organization specific outcomes within second generation can, for example, be found in the text from Statoil. The CEO of Statoil states: In Canada we have great expectations for our oil sand test facility that will test several new technologies. We believe this will make significant inroads into improving the environmental footprint and operational viability of this operation. The above excerpt is an example of the second generation rhetoric in terms of outcomes, since the CSR initiatives are embedded within the domains of the specific organization without descriptions of obtained, specific outcomes. The textual content is very much founded on future expectations. Findings While the overall framing of CSR throughout all CEO introductions is mostly ‗global‘, the analysis of the descriptions of activities and the motivation for these reveals a straddling of both second and third generation thinking: CSR initiatives should aim to not only benefit the organizations‘ closest stakeholders, such as shareholders and consumers, but also society in general. However, ultimate importance seems to be given to organizational, second generation concerns and outcomes, and it is often left up to the reader to determine whether ―society‖ refers to a local, national or global context. Also, although most of the companies describe their engagement in collaborative partnerships - a key characteristic of third generation CSR - the Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 78 Communicating Sustainability outcomes of these partnerships are also primarily articulated in terms of second generation, corporate benefits. The analysis thus shows that collaboration and cooperation are not necessarily linked to third generation thinking, but may certainly also reflect second generation, profitfocused thinking. The analysis showed not only a straddling of second and third generational thinking, but also a stretching of second generation CSR, indicating a scalar difference between these CSR approaches rather than clean cut distinctions. In this way, we found many of the approaches to CSR as being more or less ―enlightened‖, but second generation just the same. For example, several CEO introductions revealed a broadening of the conceptual understanding of the ‗stakeholder‘ term, which nonetheless did not extend beyond groups that are of primary concern for the organization itself. Discussion This study set out to make an empirical contribution to the discussion of the contemporary evolution of CSR in the context of globalization. We found in the CEO introductions to four Nordic energy company sustainability reports strong indications that their participation in a global economy does indeed influence their approach to CSR. Care is taken by the CEOs to express concern with third generation global issues, especially the environment issue, and to place the company within a global framework. Once specific CSR-related activities, motivations and desired outcomes are presented, however, concern is divided between efforts to benefit humankind in general and efforts to benefit the companies‘ more immediate stakeholders. A recurring theme is: what is good for the company and its stakeholders is also good for the world. In this way, by straddling second and third generation approaches to CSR, the CEOs appear to be trying to please as wide a range of stakeholders as possible - both those concerned with organization-specific issues and those concerned with global issues. It is clearly the case that each company is adhering to the motto ―Think global, act local‖. Possible explanations for these findings can be found by considering the sustainability report as a genre in terms of its targeted readers and communicative purposes. As mentioned earlier, many believe investors are the primary target group (Hedberg & von Malmborg, 2003, Neu et al., 1998). The organization-specific, profit-oriented and normative description of CSR outcomes are more relevant to investors, who use the reports to assess investment risks and returns, than general references to ways in which humankind might benefit from the organizations‘ activities would be. It is difficult to communicate in an engaging and involving fashion if the sender – in this case the CEO – only relates their CSR activities to human rights in a collective sense beyond individual and particular group interests. Focusing only on third generation outcomes, domains and contexts might seem vague and impalpable not only for investors but also for stakeholders such as employees and government officials, and for the increasing number of sustainability ranking organizations. These stakeholders presumably want to be presented with specific, achievable CSR-related goals and an understanding of the company‘s role in fulfilling them. Importantly, in terms of the central role played by cooperation and partnerships in third generation CSR, it may be difficult for readers to grasp the responsibility individual companies take for CSR outcomes if too much stress is placed on a loosely defined shared responsibility. As pointed out earlier, it is becoming more common for sustainability reports to be mandated. In this light, one might argue that it is surprising that there is not more focus on first generation CSR concerns. Paradoxically, one of the most ‗enlightened‘ companies, DONG Energy, is headquartered in Denmark, where the reports are mandated. One could also expect Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 79 Communicating Sustainability more first generation, legal compliance thinking in formal communication efforts like sustainability reports, which are aimed at investors seeking to assess risk. Also, ownership might influence the CSR approach taken by the examined companies. As can be seen from Table 1, the Swedish Vattenfall and the Danish Dong Energy are fully or partly state-owned, which inevitably redirects the corporate attention away from investor concerns and towards addressing the public in general to gain social legitimacy. In other words, a ‗license to operate‘ is sought on par with Paine‘s (2000) notion of CSR as a corporate quest for creating a ‗civic position‘. Unsurprisingly in this sense, the Danish and Swedish companies allow themselves a more altruistic rhetoric in which they articulate their concern with fulfilling their societal obligations rather than focusing on financial interests as in the case of Finnish and Norwegian organizations. Finally, because the analysis revealed a strong tendency for the CEO introductions to straddle second and third generation concerns by relying heavily on a ―Think global, act local‖ rhetoric, we found clear support for the widespread agreement that this type of corporate communication aims at broadly managing public impressions of the organization, or ―looking after the company brand‖, and thereby maintaining or improving the organization‘s legitimacy and license to operate. Future Research The present study is only a small contribution to our understanding of current company approaches to CSR in a changing world. Because social, political and economic circumstances will continue to challenge and shape the CSR agenda, we suggest that ongoing examinations of corporate approaches to CSR should be carried out. Indeed, empirical studies of formal, planned CSR communication reveal not only trends that can inspire communicators, but they also provide us with some insight into the ways that corporations negotiate their role in society – both local, national and global - via ongoing communicative efforts for and with stakeholders. Larger, broader studies would of course be useful for this purpose, as would longitudinal studies. The discussion of globalization‘s influence on CSR approaches would also benefit from a study of corporate communication efforts of international companies that are not at the epicenter of a global issue such as the environmental issue, to give an indication of whether the present study‘s findings can be generalized. Also, we propose more studies on the sustainability report genre for two main reasons. First, it became clear during the course of this study how little corporate communicators really know about who reads sustainability reports and why. This of course makes it difficult for them to set out relevant communicative goals. Second, it appears that in the future, more companies will be legislatively mandated to produce sustainability reports. This could have a significant impact on company CSR approaches, thinking and communication. Will they, for example, shift again to more closely reflect first generation concerns, activities and contexts in order to appease legislators? References Albareda, L., Lozano, J., & Ysa, T. (2007). Public policies on corporate social responsibility: the role of governments in Europe. Journal of Business Ethics, 74(4), 391-407. Austin, J. (2000). Strategic collaboration between nonprofits and business. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 29(suppl 1), 69. Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 80 Communicating Sustainability Cornelissen, J. (2008). Corporate communication: a guide to theory and practice: Sage Publications Ltd. Freeman, R. E. (1984). Stakeholder Management: A Strategic Approach. Marshfield, MA: Pittman. Gjoelberg, M. (2010). Varieties of corporate social responsibility (CSR): CSR meets the Nordic Model. Regulation & Governance, 4(2), 203-229. GRI (2008). Buenos Aires mandates sustainability reporting, from http://www.globalreporting.org/NewsEventsPress/LatestNews/2008/NewsFeb08BuenosAires.htm Hedberg, C. J., & von Malmborg, F. (2003). The Global Reporting Initiative and corporate sustainability reporting in Swedish companies. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 10(3), 153-164. Kolk, A. (2003). Trends in sustainability reporting by the Fortune Global 250. Business Strategy and the Environment, 12(5), 279-291. Kolk, A. (2004). More than words?-An analysis of sustainability reports. New Academy Review, 3, 59-75. Letica, B. (2008). Three CSR Models in New European Union Member States and Candidate Countries. Milano: Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei. May, S., Cheney, G., & Roper, G. (2007). The Debate over Corporate Social Responsibility. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. Morsing, M., Midttun, A., & Palmås, K. (2007). Corporate Social Responsibility in Scandinavia: A Turn Towards the Business Case? . In S. May, G. Cheney & J. Roper (Eds.), The Debate Over Corporate Social Responsibility (pp. 87-104). New York, New York: Oxford University Press. Morsing, M., Schultz, M., & Nielsen, U. N. (2008). The 'Catch 22' of Communicating CSR: Findings From a Danish Study. Journal of Marketing Communications, 14(2), 97-111. Neu, D., Warsame, H., & Pedwell, K. (1998). Managing public impressions: environmental disclosures in annual reports. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 23(3), 265-282. Paine, L. S., & Lynn, S. P. (2002). Value shift: Why companies must merge social and financial imperatives to achieve superior performance: McGraw-Hill. Porter, M. E., & Kramer, M. R. (2006). Strategy and society. Harvard business review, 84(12), 78-92. Selsky, J. W., & Parker, B. (2005). Cross-Sector Partnerships to Address Social Issues: Challenges to Theory and Practice. Journal of Management, 31(6), 849-873. Stohl, C., Stohl, M., & Popova, L. (2009). A new generation of corporate codes of ethics. Journal of Business Ethics, 90(4), 607-622. Stohl, C., Stohl, M., & Townsley, N. C. (2007). A New Generation of Global Corporate Social Responsibility. In S. May, G. Cheney & J. Roper (Eds.), The Debate over Corporate Social Responsibiity. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. Warner, M., & Sullivan, R. (2004). Putting partnerships to work: strategic alliances for development between government, the private sector and civil society: Greenleaf Publishing. Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 81 Communication Training for Corporate Clients Geraldine E. Hynes Sam Houston State University, USA [email protected] Tom Hajduk Georgetown University, USA [email protected] Sam DeKay Bank of New York Mellon Corporation, USA [email protected] Deborah Roebuck, Kennesaw State University, Creativity Training Institute, USA [email protected] Katie O‘Neill Rock-Tenn, USA [email protected] Panel Discussion Sponsor: Association for Business Communication The purpose of this panel presentation is to explore new and leading practices and processes followed in corporate communication training and coaching. It will address the following topics: 1. What types of communication training are most companies offering their employees? 2. What communication deficiencies do incoming employees have, and how are employers responding? 3. What are the advantages and disadvantages of customized training programs vs. "off the shelf" or computer-based programs? 4. What are some differences between training programs sponsored by universities and those sponsored by commercial vendors? 5. What is the current model for needs assessment, program design and development, delivery, and evaluation of training programs? The practical implications of the answers to these questions will be identified. Issues that corporate clients face when considering hiring external suppliers of training and development will be addressed. The panelists are practitioners and scholars who are affiliated with universities as well as veteran communication trainers, consultants, and corporate coaches. The panelists are members of the Association for Business Communication and the Association of Professional Communication Consultants. Keywords - Business communication, Training Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 82 A Comparison of English and U.S. American Communication Patterns in Work Settings Applying M.A. Thesis Findings to Global Corporate Communication Challenges Dianne R. McGuire Transcultural Communications, USA. [email protected] The purpose of my presentation will be to highlight the findings of my M.A. thesis and apply the research to some of the challenges professionals face in the field of global corporate communication. My thesis focused on comparing communication patterns between English nationals and U.S. Americans in organizational settings and creating suggestions for effective interaction between the two cultural groups. After I interviewed thirty-two English nationals, several themes emerged from the research that can be applied to enhance cross-cultural communication in any multicultural setting. The themes I will discuss include: overcoming language barriers, managing diverse communication styles, and handling conflict in decision-making processes. (100) In the field of global corporate communication, complexities exist because of language, cultural differences, and challenges with understanding diverse expectations. The presentation will conclude with ideas for academics and practitioners to help mitigate these issues in face-toface interactions and in writing. Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 83 Competing Discourses in Crisis Reporting and Management in China The Case of Milk Scandal Doreen WU and LIU Ming The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, PRC [email protected] HUANG Yu Hong Kong Baptist University. PRC [email protected] The paper will focus on the tension between political-driven, market-driven, and professional-driven discursive systems in contemporary Chinese media practice and examine how these three systems are competing and affecting the strategies of reporting and managing the crisis of milk scandal (between 2007 and 2010) in China. The ―political-driven‖ discourse here refers to the prevalent media discursive system in China before it re-opened its door to the West in 1978. In the political-driven discursive system, journalists have been defined as being the servants of the state and the mouthpiece of the government or party and the functions of the media are primarily in advocating the opinions, attitudes and beliefs of the governments and/or the power elite of the society, resulting often in distorted, partisan or untrue information. Concomitant with the changing political environment and the country‘s transition from the totalitarian central planning economy to market-driven economy after 1978, a ―market-driven‖ discourse has developed in which features of media tabloidization with Chinese characteristics become evident. With further commercialization and increasing influence from the West, media professionalism is also being called for in China. In a ―professional-driven‖ discourse, journalists hold public stewardship and should be the watchdog of the government in which plurality of opinions, accessibility of information from various sources and outlets, objectivity and impartiality in reporting are emphasized to contribute to the development of a democratic society. The paper will examine in details how the three competing discourses have affected and have been represented in the framing of milk scandal crisis in China and presents discussions and explanation on the distinctive development of Chinese crisis reporting and management as it meets the global trends and challenges. Keywords: competing discourses, crisis reporting, milk scandal, China (Paper was not available at time of publication.) Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 84 Connecting Corporate Communications and Persuasion Theory An Argument for The Theory of Reasoned Action and Beyond Brian J Householder Baruch College/CUNY, USA [email protected] After a comprehensive review of Corporate Communication: An International Journal, a significant lack of reference to vital persuasion theories was discovered. This essay seeks to bridge persuasion theory and corporate communication. Specifically, a detailed review of the Theory of Reasoned Action is provided and the theories utility to corporate communication researchers and practitioners is discussed. Keywords - Theory of Reasoned Action, Theory of Planned Behavior, Persuasion and Corporate Communication. Elving (2010) examined the content of Corporate Communications: an International Journal and determined the majority of the content in the chief journal for corporate communication centered on: corporate reputation, stakeholder relations, internal and external communication advocacy. Miller (1980) succinctly defined persuasion as the ability to shape, reinforce and/or change an attitude or behavior. For corporate communication scholars and practitioners, much of what is studied and done in the field is closely related to the act of persuading various stakeholders. All of the major content areas outlined by Elving (2010), are by Miller‘s definition persuasion related (if not direct persuasion attempts). Dillard and Pfau (2005), published the comprehensive Persuasion Handbook. This text provided an in-depth overview of every major persuasion theory and quality literature reviews of current application of those theories. Using Elving (2010) as a baseline, a manifest content analysis of Corporate Communications (CC) was conducted using three databases (Academic Search Premier, Proquest and the journal‘s own search function). The manifest search targeted each of the 9 persuasion theories reviewed in the Dillard and Pfau (2005) text over the 12 year lifespan of CC. Surprisingly, none of the most popular persuasion theories of the last 50 years were directly reference in any CC articles. CC seemingly glaring omissions serve as the central rational of the following article. Specifically, this essay seeks to provide foundational bridges between persuasion theory, corporate communication research and corporate communication practice. Moreover, this piece seeks to expressly focus on the history and virtues of Fishbein and Ajzen‘s (1975) Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) and Ajzen‘s (1985) extension to TRA the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). Finally, this essay provides corporate communicators suggestions for integrating these theories into practice. An Overview of the Theory of Reasoned Action and Beyond The TRA (Fishbein & Ajzen, 1975) proposed that human behaviors are mainly the result of the rational and systematic use of information. The core of the TRA is the notion that the immediate determination of behavior or action is a person‘s intention to behave or act. According to the TRA, a person‘s intention to behave is a function of two constructs, attitude towards performing the behavior and perceived social approval or subjective norms (Fishbein & Ajzen, 1975). Moreover, the TRA posits that most relevant social behavior is under a person‘s volitional Conference on Corproate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 85 Connecting Corporate Communications and Persuasion Theory control. Thus, behavioral intention or planning to act a certain way is the most important predictor of actual behavior (Fishbein & Ajzen, 1975). The TRA has been tested with a wide variety of volitional behaviors or behaviors that a person can do voluntarily. Those behaviors include but are not limited to, reporting alien abduction (Patry & Pelletier, 2001), condom use (Greene, Hale, & Rubin, 1997) and dieting (Sejwacz, Ajzen, & Fishbein, 1980). More recently, TRA has been applied to Internet Instant message behavior (Peslakm Ceccucci, & Sendall, 2010), purchasing Nutraceuticals (Tsai,Chin, & Chen, 2010) and automobile repurchasing intentions (Ranjbarian, Saeed, & Kamali, 2010). At least six meta-analyses assessing the relationship of the TRA constructs of behavioral intentions and behaviors have been published (Hale, Householder, & Greene, 2002). The meta-analyses indicated that the antecedent elements of the TRA account for between 19% and 38% of the variance in volitional behaviors (Hale et. al, 2002). There is disagreement about the implications of the effect sizes. For example, Marks (1996) contended that the TRA has little utility in health contexts when judged against a standard of accounting for 100% of the variance. Conversely, Conner and Armitage (1998), and Sutton (1998), argued that in relation to conventional variances accounted for in social science research, behavioral intentions predict volitional behaviors satisfactorily. TRA skeptics have criticized the reported combined effects of subjective norms and attitudes on behavioral intentions. Yet, the multiple correlations (R) values have ranged from a low of .63 to a high of .71, and R2 values from a low of .40 to a high of .50 (Hale et al., 2002). Proponents of the TRA contend these data indicate that subjective norms, attitudes, and the combination of the two constructs predict behavioral intentions and subsequent volitional behaviors very well. The Theory of Planned Behavior: An Extension of the Theory of Reasoned Action. One of the major shortcomings of the TRA was the theory‘s inability to predict and explain non-volitional behaviors. Liska (1985) notes that the TRA excludes from its scope, behaviors that might require cooperation, special skills, lack of perceived opportunity, and/or lack of resources. People might want to perform a behavior, have strong subjective norms and attitudes towards a behavior, and still not engage in the behavior. For example, if one were asked to donate $50 to a charity, but had only $10, then the action of donating $50 is not volitional. To address the concerns of the limited scope of TRA, Ajzen (1985) and Ajzen and Madden (1986) offered the TPB to predict and explain behaviors that were not completely under an individual‘s volitional control. The TPB reflects the TRA with one major difference; the addition of a perceived behavioral control component. Perceived behavioral control is how easy or demanding a person perceives an action to be (Eagly & Chaiken, 1993). Ajzen (1991) related perceived behavioral control to the construct of self-efficacy (Bandura, 1982). Self-efficacy research has shown that perceived self-efficacy influences the behaviors people engage in, effort in preparing for those behaviors, and effort level during the behaviors (Bandura, 1982; 1991). In the TPB model, perceived behavioral control is a function of control beliefs and perceived power. Control beliefs are comprised of a person‘s beliefs about having the resources and opportunity to perform a behavior. Perceived power is the perceived ability to facilitate the performance of a behavior. For example, a stakeholder might not have the opportunity to volunteer five hours at a homeless shelter because s/he is overwhelmed by other obligations. Or, an employee may not have the resources to donate $10 to a charity because those resources were applied towards other financial obligations. Thus, stakeholders in those situations would have low control beliefs. For example, if Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 86 Connecting Corporate Communications and Persuasion Theory a stakeholder has the $10 and has the time, does he/she feel able to perform the desired behavior? Perceived power tends to be measured on a bipolar, easy-difficult scale (Ajzen, 1991; Terry,1993). Many of the findings related to TRA can be applied to TPB. Yet, it is important to examine the impact of perceived behavioral control on behavioral intentions, and the role perceived behavioral control plays when combined with subjective norms and attitudes. Some meta-analyses have examined the relationship between perceived behavioral control and intentions. The meta-analyses have examined exercise-related behaviors (Hausenblas, Carron, & Mack, 1997), condom use (Sheeran & Taylor, 1999), a wide range of health-related behaviors (Godin & Kok, 1996), and one where no content area was specified (Ajzen, 1991). More recently, TPB has been applied to staying at environmentally conscious hotels (Yunhi & Han, 2010), teacher adoption of educational technology (Jung, Cerreto, & Jihyun, 2010) and the exercise behavior of type 2 diabetics (Omondi, Walingo, Mbagaya, & Othuon, 2010). These studies reported a mean correlation between perceived behavioral control and behavioral intentions ranging from .35 to .53. Additionally, the studies demonstrated a correlation between perceived behavioral control and behavior; ranging from .39 to .45. Ajzen (1985, 1987) indicated that perceived behavioral control would have both a direct impact on behavior and be mediated by intentions. The ability of the TPB to predict intentions can best be seen when attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control are examined together. According to the meta-analyses of the TPB (Ajzen, 1991; Godin & Kok, 1996; Sheeran & Taylor, 1999), attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control account for between 40% and 50% of the variance in behavioral intentions. Additionally, Hausenblas et al. (1997) reported that TPB was significantly better than the TRA when predicting exercise intentions and behavior. Moreover, Sheeran and Taylor (1999) found that TPB explained 5% more of the variance in condom use than TRA. Overall, both TRA and TPB have considerable evidence demonstrating their ability to predict and explain both volitional behaviors and behaviors that are less than volitional (in a variety of contexts). From a TRA and TPB perspective, persuasive appeals can attempt to change belief strength, belief evaluation, normative beliefs, motivation to comply, control beliefs, and perceived power. Moreover, both of these theories have demonstrated great heuristic value with close to 40 years of extensions and refinements. Theory to Practice Now that a firm grasp has been established on what TRA and TPB are and what we know about these theories, we can now turn to a framework for practitioners to consider for applying them. Is it an issue of substance? Central to both the TRA and TPB is the idea of issue importance. Typically, individuals do not reason about or plan over things that are passing fancies. As corporate communication practitioner, critical choices need to be made about the application of this theory and if the application is appropriate for the issue of choice. One of the major communication barriers for practitioners is generating a belief in stakeholders that the issue of choice is one that is worthy of reasoning and planning. Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 87 Connecting Corporate Communications and Persuasion Theory Is a behavioral end desired? Beyond reasoning and planning, at the heart of these theories is a focus on action or a behavioral end. So much of what corporate communication practitioners do, might end with attitude. For example, as Elving (2010) noted a large amount of the scholarship in CC centers on reputation. The question here is: what lies beyond attitude? As corporate communicators the goal of our communication often lies beyond attitude formation or change. In today‘s corporate environment, communication officers may be asked to deal with issues like: compliance, attendance, best practices, sales, new policy adoption, cultures norms shifts and procedure changes (to name a few). Both the TRA and/or TPB could prove to be powerful persuasive tool when dealing with all of the above issues and other behavioral action issues. Are all the theory components being used? For the TRA, the questions being asked here as a practitioner is: Is my communication stimulating a positive valance of attitude toward the behavior and a positive valence toward subjective normative beliefs. Structuring communication around these concepts and pilot testing messages to make sure that these exogenous factors have support are the key to generation positive intentions and in the end, the desired behavior. More importantly, for the TPB is making sure messages address perceived behavioral control elements. As the model and prior studies suggest, perceived behavioral functions as a trump. In that, without a positive valance towards the perceived behavioral control dimension, no matter how positive the attitude or subjective normative beliefs; intentions and subsequent behavior can fail. Discussion This essay has provided insight into gaps between communication theory, corporate communication research and practice. In seeking to bridge this gap, a through overview of the powerful persuasion theories TRA and TRB were provided. Moreover, this essay provided important considerations for practitioners regarding the use of these theories. It is important to note, that although Fishbein and Ajzen‘s (1975) work started 40 years ago, the refinement and continued expansion of the application of these theories demonstrate their worth as both predictive and creative tools. Future research should empirically, examine the barriers that are keeping these theories and others like them from being as utilizes in corporate communication as in other communication related fields. Finally, a continued dialog needs to be started between theory and practice. Clearly, TRA and TPB do not exist in the vacuum of the ivory tower academe. Only in open dialogue, can the gap between academe and practice be bridged. References Ajzen, I. (1985). From intentions to actions: A theory of planned behavior. In J. K J.Bechmann (Eds.), Action control: From cognition to behavior (pp. 11-39). New York: Springer-Verlag. Ajzen, I. (1987). Attitudes, traits, and actions: Dispositional predictions of behavior personality and social psychology. In L. Berkowitz (Ed.), Advances in experimental social psychology (Vol. 20, pp. 1-63). San Diego: Academic Press. Ajzen, I. (1991). The theory of planned behavior. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 50, 179-211. Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 88 Connecting Corporate Communications and Persuasion Theory Ajzen, I. (2002). Constructing a TPB Questionnaire: Conceptual and methodological. Retrieved from: http://wwwunix.oit.umass.edu/~aizen/pdf/tpb.measurement.pdf# search='constructing%20a%20tpb%20measure' Ajzen, I., & Madden, T. J. (1986). Prediction of goal-directed behavior: Attitudes, intentions and perceived behavioral control. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 22, 453-474. Bandura, A. (1982). Self-efficacy mechanism in human agency. American Psychologist, 37, 122- 147. Bandura, A. (1991). Social-cognitive theory of self-regulation. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 50, 248-285. Conner, M., & Armitage, C. J. (1998). Extending the theory of planned behavior: A review and avenues for further research. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 28, 1430-1464. Dillard, J.P., & Pfau, M. (2002) The persuasion handbook: Developments in theory and practice. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Eagly, A. E., & Chaiken, S. (1993). The psychology of attitudes. New York: Harcourtt Brace Jovanovich. Elving, W.J.L. (2010). Trends and developments within corporate communications: an analysis of ten years of CCIJ. Corporate Communications, 15, 5-9. Fishbein, M., & Ajzen, I. (1975). Belief, attitude, intention and behavior: An introduction to to theory and research. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley. Godin, G., & Kok, G. (1996). The theory of planned behavior: A review of its applications to healthrelated behaviors. American Journal of Health Promotion, 11, 87-98. Greene, K., Hale, J. L., & Rubin, D. L. (1997). A test of the theory of reasoned action in the context of condom use and AIDS. Communication Reports, 10, 21-33. Hale, J. L., Householder, B. J., & Greene, K. (2002). The theory of reasoned action. In J. Dillard & M. Pfau (Eds.), The persuasion handbook: Developments in theory and practice. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Hausenblas, H. A., Carron, A. V., & Mack, D. E. (1997). Application of the theories of reasoned action and planned behavior to exercise behavior: A meta-analysis. Journal of Sports & Exercise Psychology, 19, 36-51. Jung, L., Cerreto, F.A., & Jihyun L. (2010). Theory of planned behavior and teachers‘ decisions regarding use of educational technology. Journal of Educational Teachnology & Society. 13, 152-164. Liska, A. E. (1984). A critical examination of the casual structure of the Fishbein-Ajzen model. Social Psychology Quarterly, 47, 61-74. Marks, D. F. (1996). Health psychology in context. Journal of Health Psychology, 1, 7-21. Omondi, D.O., Walingo, M.K., Mbagaya, G.M. & Othuon, L.O. A. (2010). Understanding physical activity behavior of type 2 diabetics using the theory of planned behavior and structural equation modeling. International Journal of Social Sciences, 5,160-167. Patry, A. L., & Pelletier, L. G. (2001). Extraterrestrial beliefs and experiences: An application of the theory of reasoned action. Journal of Social Psychology, 141, 199-217. Peslak, A., Ceccucci, W., & Sendall, P. (2010).An empirical study of instant messaging (IM) behavior using the theory of reasoned action. Journal of Behavioral &Apllied Management, 11, 263-278. Ranjbarian, B., Saeed, F., & Kamali, A. (2010). The factors affecting on consumers‘ repurchase intentions toward and automobile brand: an application of reasoned action theory. European Journal of Social Science, 16, 361-370. Sejwacz, D., Ajzen, I., & Fishbein, M. (1980). Predicting and understanding weight loss: Intentions, behaviors, and outcomes. In I. Ajzen & M. Fishbein (Eds.), Understanding attitude and predicting social behavior (pp. 101-112). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall. Sheeran, P., & Taylor, S. (1999). Predicting intentions to use condoms: A meta-analysis and comparison of the theories of reasoned action and planned behavior. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 29, 1624-1675. Sutton, S. (1998). Predicting and explaining intentions and behavior: How well are we doing? Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 28, 1317-1338. Terry, D. J. (1993). Self-efficacy expectancies and the theory of reasoned action. In D. J. Terry, Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 89 Connecting Corporate Communications and Persuasion Theory C. Gallois & M. McCamish (Eds.), The theory of reasoned action: Its application to AIDspreventive behavior (pp. 135-151). Oxford: Pergamon. Tsai, M.T., Chin, C.W., & Chen, C.C. (2010). The effect of trust belief and salesperson‘s expertise on consumer‘s intention to purchase nutraceuticals: applying the theory of reasoned action. Social Behavior & Personality, 38,273-287. Yunhi, K., & Han, H. (2010). Intention to pay conventional-hotel prices at a green hotel- a modification of the theory of planned behavior. Journal of Sustainable Touris, 18, 9971014. Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 90 Controlling Unfavorable Feedback on the Wall How Large Companies React to Negative Comments Posted to Corporate-sponsored Facebook Pages Sam H. DeKay BNY Mellon Corporation and St. John‘s University, USA [email protected] 79% of Fortune 100 companies use some form of social media to communicate with customers and other stakeholders. However, these media pose the risk of providing a forum for comments critical of corporate leadership, services, or products. Most marketing specialists recommend that negative comments should be treated as opportunities to resolve potential problems. This paper assesses if large companies adopt the recommended approach when reacting to negative comments. The study identifies all Facebook pages sponsored by the top 10 companies (as defined by the Forbes 2000 for 2010) in four industry groups— Banking, Retailing, Software & Services, and Household & Personal Products. The number of negative comments posted to these pages is calculated and corporate reactions to the comments analyzed. The study concludes that large corporations do not generally approach negative comments as public relations opportunities, but prefer to ―sanitize,‖ or censor, critical feedback. Practical implications of this strategy are discussed. When Facebook was launched in February 2004, the website was originally intended as a communications forum for students enrolled at Harvard; later, the site was expanded to include other universities. Following the site launch, however, the owners of Facebook commenced to implement a series of enhancements that greatly expanded the site‘s original scope. High school students were invited to join, and the posting of videos was promoted. A ―live chat‖ capability was added to the site. Eventually, corporations and other businesses were accommodated within the Facebook community. A recent survey indicates that, as of January 2011, 84% of the 200 fastest-growing private companies in the United States maintain a Facebook presence (Van Sack, 2011). Horton (2009) discovered that, of a randomly selected population of 33 companies in the 2009 Fortune 100, 73% were represented on Facebook. Business participation with Facebook and other social media sites is motivated primarily by the desire to utilize a global and popular marketing and recruiting channel that permits direct interaction with clients and potential customers or employees. Interaction is made possible by the ―Wall,‖ a component of the Facebook page maintained by every registered individual and organization. Corporations generally post five types of entries, or discussion threads, to their Wall: Direct marketing of products or services Promotion of sponsored events Surveys Informational announcements ―Fun‖ postings, usually in the form of questions related to recent or upcoming events (e.g., ―Who will win the Super Bowl: Steelers or Packers?‖) In order to comment on these entries, individuals must become a ―fan‖ of the company‘s page; being a ―fan‖ indicates that the commenter likes the organization‘s products or services, or has a Conference on Corproate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 91 Controlling Unfavorable Feedback on the Wall favorable opinion of the sponsoring business. Of course, many employees of the organization choose to become fans of their employer‘s page. Most companies also permit fans to initiate their own discussion threads that do not originate from the sponsor. Other fans, or representatives of the company, can post responses to these comments. Visitors to an organization‘s Wall can select to see only those discussions initiated by the sponsor, only those posted by fans, or the complete set of all comments. Social media and public relations specialists have admonished corporate sponsors of Facebook pages to analyze fan comments with considerable care. Although the individuals permitted to contribute to a company‘s Wall are putative friends of the company, some persons become fans merely to post comments of a negative, or even highly derogatory, nature. In addition, legitimate fans may write comments that are critical of an organization‘s products, services, or employees. Social media specialists have attained near-consensus concerning the most appropriate method of handling unfavorable comments: Do not delete (censor) negative postings; rather, attempt to respond to these remarks in as positive a manner as possible (Angermeier, 2010; Baird, 2011; Hinmon, 2011; Kiesow, 2010; McColough, 2010; Schiavone, 2010; Schwab, 2010; Social Rabbit, 2010; Wieting, 2010; Williams, 2008). Appropriate responses are intended to foster good public relations by assuring customers that their voices are being heard, their complaints are taken seriously, and problems are being addressed. Unfavorable comments must not be ignored, because this clearly demonstrates a lack of corporate concern for the opinions of current or future clients. The purpose of this study is to examine the Facebook pages sponsored by major international organizations to determine if the advice proffered by social media professionals is actually being adopted. More specifically, the study investigates if large corporations are responding to the unfavorable comments posted on their Facebook Wall, or if these businesses prefer to delete or ignore the critical voices. Method Between January 29, 2011 and February 20, 2011 I surveyed the official Facebook pages of the 10 largest organizations in each of the following four industries: Banking, Retail, Software, and Household Products and Services. The sample population was derived from the Fortune 2000 listing for 2010 (DeCarlo, 2010). Specific industries were selected because each serves a broad base of consumers, and consumer-oriented organizations are likely to have large numbers of Facebook fans and Wall comments. For each organization, the following information was collected: Whether or not the company has an official page. This information was derived from the ―Info‖ component of a Facebook page associated with a business. The fact that a specific page is branded with an organization‘s logo was not adopted as the primary criterion for determining the existence of an official page. The number of positive and negative comments posted to the company‘s Wall. ―Negative‖ comments were defined as remarks that evince criticism of an organization‘s products, services, employees, or social practices. ―Positive‖ comments were those remarks that were not clearly negative. That is, a ―positive‖ comment was not necessarily promoting or praising the company‘s products, services, employees, or social practices; rather, the comment lacked any negative content. For those sites that permitted only company-initiated discussion threads, Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 92 Controlling Unfavorable Feedback on the Wall comments posted on the first full page were counted. For pages that allowed both company- and fan-initiated threads, all comments on the first four full pages were counted. This methodology was adopted because the number of comments posted to company-initiated discussion threads is considerably higher than postings to pages containing a mixture of company and fan threads. The percentage of positive and negative comments included within the sample for each organization. The percentage of negative comments to which responses were posted by the sponsoring company. Responses may have been posted by representatives of the organization, by fans, or a combination of both. Results of the survey are included in the appendix of this study. Findings Censorship (deletion) of negative comments The study revealed that, at a minimum, 48% of the sampled corporations (N = 12) are likely to engage in the practice of deleting negative comments posted to official Facebook pages. It is difficult to obtain direct evidence of censorship, because this entails continual observation of a specific page and noting the absence of comments that were previously posted. During the course of the study, this occurred only once. However, two types of indirect evidence are available. First, many published posts refer to the names of individuals who have written unfavorable comments; careful review of the page indicates that no posts from the named individual are now available. It is likely that the original posting was deleted by the sponsoring organization. Second, five of the sampled pages contained only positive comments. Although it is conceivable that unfavorable postings were never submitted to these pages, this seems improbable. It is more likely that the sponsors have adopted a policy of deleting, or not permitting the posting of, negative remarks. Some Facebook participants—such as the official page of the British monarchy (The Vivid Consultancy, 2010)—have publically announced that negative comments will not be published. Also, many page sponsors inform their fans that profane, obscene, or other objectionable material will not be published. In addition, one of the sampled sites announced that it will not permit the posting of content concerning customer service issues; these matters must be communicated to the corporation via a dedicated telephone line or email address. Another sampled page explicitly refused to post comments that are not directly related to the main theme of the page. For example, remarks pertaining to poor (or excellent) service will not be published to a page whose purpose is to recruit employees. Thus, deletion of negative comments is an accepted practice within the Facebook community, and the conditions of deletion are often carefully explained by the sponsoring organizations. However, the high volume of censorship evinced by this study seems to indicate that unfavorable feedback is occurring for reasons other than those stated in published rules for posting. Responses to negative comments 36% of sampled pages (N = 9) never responded to negative comments, and 60% (N = 15) of the corporations responded to less than one-fourth of unfavorable remarks posted to their sites. Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 93 Controlling Unfavorable Feedback on the Wall For those organizations that issued responses, not all feedback was provided by an official representative of the page sponsor. In many instances, fans assumed the role of defender of the company‘s products, services, employees, or social practices. Because a large number of ―fans‖ of corporate pages are also employees of the organization, it is conceivable that these defenders are also employees. In fact, responders occasionally identify themselves as individuals employed by the corporation. The study revealed that a majority of negative comments were posted in response to explicit marketing efforts initiated by the sponsoring company. For example, a large retailer received 263 positive remarks and 88 negative comments in response to the promotion of new sportswear. This pattern was especially prevalent on Facebook pages associated with large retailers and major manufacturers of household and personal products. Discussion threads initiated by the page sponsor, but not having an explicit market focus, elicited the largest number of positive responses. For example, Target received more than 3100 positive responses when fans were asked: ―Which eye does the bullseye [Target‘s logo] appear on Bullseye the dog [Target‘s ―mascot]? No Googling.‖ Pages that allowed comments to be posted only to discussion threads initiated by the sponsoring company received fewer negative comments than those pages permitting fans to originate their own remarks. ―Company only‖ (N = 3) pages had a median average of 1 negative comment, while pages allowing discussion threads from all fans (N = 16) elicited a median average of 6 unfavorable remarks for the sampled pages. Discussion The study reveals that advice proffered by social media and public relations professionals is largely unheeded by major corporations sponsoring Facebook pages. Nearly half the sampled pages evinced evidence of censoring (deleting) unfavorable comments. Further, a significant majority (60%) of the sponsoring organizations responded to fewer than one-quarter of negative postings. These companies did not, apparently, envision responses as opportunities to enhance customer service or satisfaction. Partial explanation for the poor response rate is provided, ironically, by the social media specialists who recommend the practice of responding to unfavorable feedback (Baird, 2011; Kiesow, 2010). These specialists note that certain comments are posted by individuals (designated as ―haters‖ or ―trolls‖) whose comments do not invite genuine discussion between the poster and the sponsoring organization. For example, the remark ―You Suck!‖ is not necessarily intended to resolve a specific issue or to promote constructive interaction with the company. Thus, responding to such comments serves no useful purpose. However, it seems unlikely that three-fifths of the sampled corporations have low response rates because most of the comments posted to their pages originate from ―haters.‖ Public relations professionals also note that organizations with a social media presence may neglect to respond to unfavorable feedback for fear that the response will further incite fans and result in an ever-expanding thread of unpleasant communications (McCarthy, 2010). In 2009, Honda experienced this potential danger. One ―fan‖ posted the following comment to Honda‘s Facebook page dedicated to discussion of a specific product, the Accord Crosstour: If I had the cash, I‘d buy one of the most fully optioned examples, pay for a day‘s worth of insurance and take it straight to a crusher. I wonder if Fed-Ex can handle a crate that heavy addressed to Honda HQ (Herinckx, 2009). Soon, Honda posted the following response: Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 94 Controlling Unfavorable Feedback on the Wall Many of you don‘t like the styling: It may not be for everyone. Our research suggests that the styling does test well among people shopping for a crossover (Herinckx, 2009). A fan quickly replied: RE: Message to Fans…the styling might not be for everyone? Who DOES like it? Maybe Flintstones cartoon fans, because the front looks like Dino, the dinosaur (Herinckx, 2009). Honda continued to respond: There are more photos on the way. Maybe it‘s like a bad yearbook photo or something, and we think the new photos will clear things up (Herinckx, 2009). Honda‘s responses seem to have halted the barrage of negative comments. Rather than ignoring the irritated fans, Honda chose to recognize the unfavorable remarks and address them in a calming manner. However, unlike Honda, it seems that the majority of sampled corporations is uncomfortable with negative fan postings and has not developed a strategy for dealing with these challenges. The study indicates that companies seeking to avoid a high volume of negative comments should consider mixing explicit marketing discussions together with ―fun‖ threads that lack a marketing focus. Corporations with large numbers of positive responses—such as Nike, Walgreens, and Target—have adopted this strategy. Of course, the possibility of incorporating ―fun‖ threads into the Facebook Wall may be limited by the industry of the sponsoring company. Wells Fargo, for example, may have difficulties initiating a ―fun‖ thread. However, many organizations have resolved this problem by hosting pages dedicated not solely to the company and its products or services, but to a company-sponsored event (e.g., a charity walk, a campus recruitment page). The study also concludes that companies that permit fans to comment only upon discussion threads initiated by the sponsoring organization elicit less negative feedback than those pages that permit fan-initiated threads. Although the majority (N = 16) of sampled pages encouraged any fan to commence a discussion thread, establishing an environment that encouraged sharing and open communication, these pages exhibited a considerably higher level of fan discontent (as measured by unfavorable comments) than those pages that did not allow fan-initiated discussions. Social media, such as Facebook, present an opportunity for businesses to engage in realtime conversation with customers, and these conversations can be witnessed by millions of current and potential customers worldwide. However, the censoring of unfavorable comments and the refusal to respond to published negative feedback do not promote conversation. Unfortunately, it seems that many large organizations, as represented by the sample population of this study, have not adopted strategies that translate negative comments into useful opportunities for communication. References Angermeier, L. (2010, January 26). Protecting your Facebook page: how to handle negative comments. Retrieved from http://www.stepaheadinc.com/2010/01/protecting-your-facebook-page-how-to-handle-negative- Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 95 Controlling Unfavorable Feedback on the Wall comments/ Baird, S. N. (2011, January 6). What do you do with negative comments? Retrieved from http://www.dailycowbell.com/2011/01/06/what-do-you-do-with-negative-comments/ DeCarlo, S. (2010, April 21). The world‘s leading companies. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/2010/04/21/global-2000-leading-world-business-global-200010_land.html Herinckx, N. (2009, September 4). Watch & learn: Honda‘s response towards social media criticism. Retrieved from http://reputation-watch.com/online-public-relations/watch-learn-hondas-response-social-mediacriticism Hinmon, D. (2011, February 14). Don‘t let fears of negative comments paralyze your social media plans. Retrieved from http://www.hivestrategies.com/2011/02/don%E2%80%99t-let-fears-of-negative-comments-blockyour-social-media-plans/ Horton, J. L. (2009). Are corporations using Facebook? Retrieved from http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:HjnJqRejSYwJ:www.onlinepr.com/Holding/Are%252520Corps%252520Using%252520Facebook.pdf+number+of+corporatio ns+on+Facebook&hl=en&gl=us&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESgJp1qECAC3pvZkt2B0RFQQW1ZNF mephoya8kNknqy8cn59f5AXfqVb5Y5enMZNaAY7JhRpkw9AycdBqH7q7cNj8iSBKP9hkrg4K m1ZU5cDLaw9Ic_e3JQIHK1puvXkKa5vueE&sig=AHIEtbRe3zaZdACvQL4l8ZM7VUXKTLq5ag Kiesow, D. (2010, December 21). Dealing with negative Facebook comments? Respond nicely. Retrieved from http://www.poynter.org/latest-news/media-lab/social-media/111838/dealing-with-negativefacebook-comments-respond-nicely/ McCarthy, C. (2010). Nestle mess shows sticky side of Facebook pages. Retrieved from http://news.cnet.com/8301-13577_3-20000805-36.html McColough, J. (2010, February 5). Facebook: what‘s this negative comment doing here? Retrieved from http://blog.ragan.com/thepulse/2010/02/on_facebook_part_i_whats_this.html Schiavone, V. (2010, March 1). Nothing to lose: how to handle negative comments in social media. Retrieved from http://vincentonsocial.com/2010/03/nothing-to-lose-how-to-handle-negative-comments-in-socialmedia/ Schwab, S. (2010, May 17). Q & A Monday: responding to negative comments on Facebook. Retrieved from http://www.stephanieschwab.com/2010/05/17/qa-monday-responding-to-negative-comments-onfacebook/ Social Rabbit. (2010, June 1). Should I delete negative comments? Retrieved from http://www.socialrabbit.net/2010/06/should-i-delete-negative-comments/ The Vivid Consultancy. (2010, November 18). A right royal dilemma: dealing with negative comments on Facebook. Retrieved from http://thevividconsultancy.posterous.com/a-right-royal-dilemma-dealing-with-negative-c Van Sack, J. (2011, January 28). Study: more cos. using Facebook, Twitter for marketing. Retrieved from http://www.bostonherald.com/business/technology/general/view.bg?articleid=1312544 Wieting, L. (2010, April 15). Posts tagged ‗dealing with negative Facebook comments.‘ Retrieved from http://brandstand.cohnmarketing.com/tag/dealing-with-negative-facebook-comments/ Williams, T. (2008, November 7). Facebook fiasco—how to turn negative into positive. Retrieved from http://blog.innogage.com/blog/2008/11/inbound-marketing/facebook/facebook-fiasco-how-toturn-negative-into-positive/ Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 96 Controlling Unfavorable Feedback on the Wall Appendix Survey of Facebook Pages Sponsored by Major Corporations in Four Industries (1/29/2011 – 2/20/2011) Forbes 2000 Industry Ranking (2010) Company Name Official Facebook Page (Y/N) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 JP Morgan Chase Bank of America ICBC Banco Santander Wells Fargo HSBC-Students BNP Paribas-Students China Construction Bank Barclays-Recruitment Bank of China N N N N Y Y Y N Y N 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Walmart CVS/Caremark-Pharmacy Home Depot Target Lowe‘s Cos Walgreens Costco Wholesale PPR Best Buy Amazon.com Y Y Y Y N Y Y N Y Y 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 IBM Microsoft Oracle Google SAP Accenture Computer Sciences Yahoo! Tata Consultancy Computer Associates 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Proctor & Gamble L‘Oréal Group Christian Dior Kimberly-Clark Henkel Group Nike-Football Reckitt Benckiser Group Colgate-Palmolive SCA-Svenska Cellulose KAO # Positive Comments # Negative Comments % Positive Comments % Negative Comments % Negative Comments with Responses 28 94 23 4 0 0 87.5 100.0 100.0 12.5 75.0 0 0 Banking Retailing 1191 180 1405 9498 43 30 11 245 96.5 85.7 99.2 97.5 3.5 14.3 .8 2.5 4.3 10.0 18.1 2.4 3216 184 56 14 98.3 93.0 1.7 7.0 39.3 71.4 160 9 66.2 88.0 33.8 12.0 25.6 0.0 95.6 89.6 80.0 94.0 94.6 4.4 10.4 20.0 6.0 5.4 6.3 9.0 0.0 0,0 0.0 98.6 1.4 0.0 91.8 96.5 99.3 8.2 3.5 .7 0.0 0.0 0.0 100.0 95.7 100.0 4.3 0.0 313 66 Software and Services N Y 700 30 Y 95 11 Y 12 3 Y 31 2 Y 35 2 N Y 786 11 N N Household & Personal Products Y 67 6 Y 438 16 Y 513 4 N Y 26 0 Y 2213 100 Y 110 0 N Y 33 0 N 100.0 Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 97 The Conversation Age The Opportunity for Public Relations Laura Berlin Kathryn Zipfel, New York University Louis Capozzi, New York University PRCC, USA [email protected] The communication industry, as we know it, has changed dramatically in recent years. The channels through which we communicate have shifted rapidly towards an era rife with digital and social media. With over 100,000 blogs created every day (Wright & Hinson, 2008), new social networks are hatching like chicks, and who knows what‘s next, it is hard to overstate the importance social media is having on communication strategies. Organizations have realized they must interact differently with their audiences, particularly their customers, altering our current definition of ―two-way communication‖ and resulting in a shift towards customer-centric models of integrated marketing communication. Everywhere the new drivers of communication support the ―print is dead‖ motto touted by industry professionals, SEO and SEM gurus, and dogmatic T-shirts. Although there is some debate surrounding the ―new media over traditional media‖ perspective, it is evident to the authors that communication has entered ―The Conversation Age;‖ and that the skills of public relations professionals make them uniquely qualified to lead communication initiatives in this new environment. This paper will attempt to support that case. The Death of Trust A fundamental change has taken place in the nature of relationships between organizations (and brands) and their target audiences, which is due in part to shifts in consumer trust and brand loyalty. Sally Falkow, a social media strategist and author of The Proactive Report, notes that although most marketers believe that loyalty program participants are the most profitable customers, organizations are having a more difficult time extracting greater value from their loyal customers. (Falkow, 2010) In terms of an organization‘s financials, results from a 2009 study on brand-consumer relationships (Huber et al. 2009) indicate that strong consumer-brand relationships have a positive influence on consumers‘ repurchasing intentions. Falkow notes that the recent decline in loyal customer value may be due to the fact that loyal customers now expect deeper engagement and more personalized contact from brands and organizations. (Falkow, 2010) Research shows that trust and satisfaction play different roles in building customer-brand relationships, and that commitment to a brand is a multidimensional construct best measured in terms of the Trust-commitment model (Hess & Story 2005). The trust-commitment model confirms the importance of trust in building personal connections, and the influence that satisfaction has on functional relationship connections. Research also indicates that combining both trust and satisfaction in relationship building leads to a level of relational understanding that makes for more competitive market positioning. Brands that have well established functional connections in the marketplace, as well as strong personal connections with their customers, enjoy a more positive consumer response to premium pricing. The 2010 Edelman Trust Barometer lends further evidence to the importance of trust in brand-customer relationships with the finding that trust and transparency‖ are ranked the same as Conference on Corproate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 98 The Conversation Age ―quality of products and services‖ in terms of their importance to corporate reputation. This is the first time we have seen trust as such a strong indicator of corporate reputation, now outranking traditional predictors of corporate reputation (one being financial returns). The 2010 Edelman Trust Barometer also indicates a shift in perceived credibility, with academics, experts, and industry analysts ranked as ―most credible company voice.‖ Ken Doctor, author of Newsonomics wrote on the Nieman Journalism Lab‘s blog that we are now using our friends and colleagues as filters, and the Edelman Trust Barometer shows that trust in ―people like me‖ ranks well ahead of the credibility of CEOs, government officials or even regular employees. (Doctor, 2010) Trust and brand loyalty are heavily influenced by the brand personality as a whole, including all communication platforms in which the brand or organization operates. Communication professionals are confronted with an astounding array of new communication channels in the newly emerging world of social and digital media. The influence and implications of these new channels is exponential and increasingly more pervasive in the practice of public relations and corporate communication. Larry Weber, Chairman and CEO of the W2 Group, explains that the communications world is moving in a digital direction, and those who understand how to be part of the transformation will communicate much more effectively than those who do not (Weber, 2007). Jeff Jarvis, the blogger behind BuzzMachine.com, said at an Edelman Public Relations management meeting, ―Consumer is an old word, implying that we eat content and crap cash. If you give people control, they will use it--if not, you will lose them. We're living in the post scarcity era of media where the wars over content and distribution are over and neither won--in fact Trust wins. Trust is the organizing principle, utilizing the wisdom of crowds.‖ (Jarvis, 2009) The Rising Role of Customer Care Research indicates that the customer experience is becoming a major predictor of future purchasing decisions, and that blogs, rating systems, and discussion forums are so important and ubiquitous because they give consumers a greater voice in effecting changes in their own customer care (Barnes, 2008). Barnes (2008) research shows that 70% of consumers use social media ―at least some of the time‖ to learn about the customer care offered by a company before they make a purchase. In addition, 74% of customers choose companies based on customer care experience shared by others in online forums (Barnes, 2008). This viral factor, or ―word-ofmouse,‖ can be a boon for the communication professional, as it can increase brand awareness, brand recall, and propensity to buy. It also allows the company or client to generate more business from its existing customer base (Lake, 2009). The word of mouth environment requires a change in tone for corporate and marketing communications. According to Richard Edelman, ―we should modify our tone from selling to factual, our concept from one big bang to continuous conversation. We need to admit complexity and contradiction. We need to persuade our clients that less control, of the message and the messenger, means enhanced trust.‖ (Edelman, 2010) Jim Stengel, then global marketing officer of Procter & Gamble, said at the AAAA Media Conference, ―At P&G, we believe the Consumer is Boss. Consumer-centric marketing means putting the consumer first– how would she want to be marketed to? All marketing should be permission marketing. All marketing should be so appealing that consumers want us in their lives. We should strive to be invited into consumers‘ lives and homes.‖ (Stengel, 2004) Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 99 The Conversation Age The Viral Factor The viral factor also increases customer engagement, which Lake (2009) claims to be the most important metric in today‘s business environment, a feeling that is shared by many public relations and social media strategists. CScape‘s 2009 Customer Engagement Report found that engaged customers will recommend a company‘s brand, convert more readily, and purchase more often. Additionally, the report revealed that 75% of companies agree that the importance they attach to online customer engagement has increased in the last 12 months; and that improved customer loyalty and increased revenue are the main reason corporations implement customer engagement initiatives... While social media are important to consider in terms of tactics, the rationale behind it must be understood. The benefits of social media initiatives have been touted to be brand awareness and customer satisfaction, but the lack of consensus within the communication industry on measurement criteria for social media involvement often forces communication professionals to fall back on simple metrics, such as search engine rankings and web site traffic (Gillin, 2008). Although communication and public relations research continues to focus almost exclusively on quantitative metrics and nonparametric data, evidence suggests an increasing number of communication practitioners recognize the necessity for qualitative metrics. This upward trend in practitioner demand for metric development augurs the elevated role research will have in the Conversation Age. Wright and Hison (2008) view social media as an irrefutable benefit to the field of communication due to four key advantages: it‘s free, ―sticky‖ (draws people back), efficient, and humanizing. Brian Solis, Principal of FutureWorks, original member of the Media 2.0 Workgroup, and one of the leading voices in the Ad Age Power 150 index of worldwide marketing bloggers, predicts 2010 will be the year that social media proliferates mainstream business. In his blog post ―The 10 stages of social media integration in business,‖ Solis agrees that social media aids in brand humanization. He asserts that social media activity must be tied to the brand, and represent it in an authentic, transparent, and believable manner. Additionally, it must be tied to the purpose and objectives of a company, while also maintaining the company‘s culture and presence (an example being the company website). (Solis, 2010) Social media‘s capabilities provide very effective communication tools, but an effective tool becomes a waste of resources when used as an end in itself. Similarly, a tactic-focused blitzkrieg of a corporation‘s image into social media space can weaken its presence, lessen the effectiveness and quality of customer engagement, lower SEO ranking and the competitive advantage it brings, and even damage the brand‘s reputation. The burgeoning presence of social media and web-related conversation does not implicate it as a replacement for brand building. Even though it may be involved in organizational changes in terms of a company‘s ongoing efforts to ensure brand and product relevance, social media is still just one component of an integrated strategy. A company‘s ―social graph‖ is not symbolic of the brand‘s stature, loyalty, resonance, or advocacy, nor is it an indicator of business performance (Solis, 2010). Due to the importance of ROI, research suggests that social media will be increasingly tied to revenue in 2010. It can be argued that 2010 is the year in which CMOs will seek to establish a connection between social media and P&L business goals. This information, taken from MarketingProfs‘ recently published study (performed by Bazaarvoice and the CMO Club), indicates the adoption of three metrics: 333% surge in tracking revenue, 174% escalation in monitoring conversion, and 150% increase in measuring average order value (Bazaarvoice 2009). The Bazaarvoice (2009) study also reveals that CMOs find customer ratings and reviews to be the top marketing activities that deliver tangible ROI insight. Of those surveyed, 80% reported that Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 100 The Conversation Age customer reports and product suggestions shape products and services and lead to trust and loyalty. The final outcome of the survey showed that CMOs plan to include a 400% increase in the use of Twitter comments in making decisions regarding products and services in 2010. In addition, it is predicted that 2010 will see a 59% increase in the use of customer ratings and reviews, and a 24% increase in use of social media for pre-sale Q&A (Bazaarvoice, 2009). It is important, however, for an organization to remember the ―I‖ in ROI, and the possible opportunity cost of taking funds and time from other projects to focus on social media. Clutter and Noise Social media are part of a larger change in communication, which is driven by the influx of messages from myriad communication platforms. The competition for attention has reached a new level that requires intelligent and empathic messages that incite consequential action and response. Our messages need to be more directed, measured, and memorable so as to garner affinity, not just attention. People encounter a barrage of competing messages in their daily lives and the effects of one message might be blunted by messages advocating opposing viewpoints (Miller, 1989). Public relations and communication campaigns are dependent upon transmitting messages effectively to their target audiences, while overcoming obstacles such as the four rings of defense (selective exposure, selective attention, selective perception, and selective retention). For this reason, it is important to understand the element of exchange that must exist in consumer-brand relationships (Bauer 1964). Social media are only one aspect of the degree to which customers expect organizations and brands to be visible and easily accessible. In today‘s Conversation Age consumers want all of the elements that go into a conversation: accessibility, engagement, empathy, and results. Maurice Levy, Chairman of Publicis, described the environment well, saying, ―We can already see how modern communications work when we watch our children answering an SMS, surfing on the internet, watching a TV commercial and checking their e-mail and gaming all practically at the same time. The obvious consequence is that communications will become more widely scattered, more diffuse than ever before, with networks of influence branching out at breakneck speed to form an almost infinite array. Against this backdrop, consumers are increasingly bombarded with messages from every direction and it is increasingly difficult to attract and hold the attention that is vital to us and to our clients in order to get the return on their investment.‖ (Levy, 2006) Winning in the Conversation Age The Conversation age creates a new set of rules for successful communications. In this environment, the authors propose that public relations practitioners, among all the players in the communications arena, are in an advantageous position to seize the opportunities presented by the Conversation Age and its myriad communication platforms and diverse consumer needs. Aligning actions with words A new global perspective has emerged driven by technological advancements and the fact that what happens anywhere is instantly known everywhere. For this reason organizations need to be consistent with their messages and actions, establishing a more information-based dialogue that is begins with advice and consul, not communication. Advice must also be given in terms of an organization‘s actions and behavior, not just in terms of messaging. Harold Burson, founder and Chairman Emeritus of Burson Marsteller, is often quoted as defining public relations Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 101 The Conversation Age as the act of ―doing good and getting credit for it.‖ Recently, Ray Jordan, VP of Corporate Communications at Johnson & Johnson, has modified that definition, suggesting that corporations need to ―do good, and get caught doing it.‖ (Capozzi, 2008) In this climate, it is critical to cultivate the mindset of open conversation both within an organization, and also externally with an organization‘s target audiences. As Charlotte Otto, vice president of Public Relations at Procter & Gamble pointed out at the Arthur W. Page 23rd Annual Conference, public relations professionals are in the best position to exert this influence within organizations because PR practitioners are the people who take the inside of an organization out to its audiences, and they are also the people who bring the outside in. (Otto, 2006) Giving up Message Control The Conversation Age is based on today‘s consumer and the preference for conversation and engagement over messaging. According to Sally Falkow, customers want information available to them through multiple channels, and delivered to them in the most relevant, personal, and customized way possible. (Falkow, 2010) In this respect, the necessity for organizations to give up control to gain power has become increasingly germane. Roxie Merritt, Director of New Media Operations at the Office of the Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs in the U.S. Department of Defense recently said, "It's not about controlling the message any more. It's about giving people as much information and resources and facts as [your organization] can,‖ (Merritt, 2010) and many organizations are beginning to agree. Brian Solis, Principal of FutureWorks, agrees that organizations can no longer try to control a message from conception to distribution, saying ―virtual control reveals the actual control of the shaping of our story as it migrates from consumer to consumer. This chain reveals true reactions, perceptions, and perspectives. The conversations form a Human Algorithm that serves as the pulse of awareness, trustworthiness, and emotion.‖ (Solis, 2010) Henry Jenkins, author of Convergence Culture, agrees that people are taking media into their own hands, and that users are embracing the new democratization of information sharing. He describes this new convergence as both a top-down corporate-driven process, and a bottom up consumer-driven process. This means that organizations need to be aware of what is required of them, and what is required of them is that they relinquish their power. As Paul Holmes, editor of the Holmes Report, recently declared, ―Marketers must abandon their historic ‗command and control‘ model of brand building! Within the communications industry, public relations professionals are uniquely qualified to operate without control of the message. Public relations professionals have always worked through third parties to deliver their messages – whether that‘s editors, NGOs, patient advocacy groups, securities analysts, or the myriad of other intermediaries PR people interact with.‖ Richard Edelman reinforces this point, saying ―We should modify our tone from selling to factual, our concept from one big bang to continuous conversation. We need to admit complexity and contradiction. We need to persuade our clients that less control, of the message and the messenger, means enhanced trust.‖ (Edelman, 2010) Managing Relationships With Multiple Stakeholders In order to be successful in the Conversation Age of consumer-brand relationships, companies will need to listen to, and engage with, a wider range of stakeholders than in the past The 2010 Edelman Trust Barometer shows that there are new influencers across every channel (from bloggers to consumer enthusiasts) with whom organizations must engage in real-time Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 102 The Conversation Age conversation. It has become essential for corporations to demonstrate their ability to deliver profit and also enact a social purpose. In order to accomplish this, many companies partner with NGO‘s and create CSR programs. The Edelman Trust barometer has even indicated that 70% of respondents trust a company more when it partners with an NGO on important social issues. (Edelman, 2010) Again, this is an environment which has been part of the public relations portfolio for decades. In addition to stakeholder needs, communication avenues have also changed. The myriad platforms on which companies must establish communication with their audiences also require a different tone in the Conversation Age. Communication has become more about building relationships and cultivating dialogue. Consumers expect to be consulted in regard to company endeavors and product development. Additionally, they expect to be able to consult the company on their terms and have requests responded to in a timely manner through the platform of their choosing. Corporations also need to be aware that consumers are seeking information not just from them, but from also from their communities. Kane (2009) writing in the Harvard Business Review, points out that today‘s online communities actively post and vet information, and that consumers treat such community spaces as a first step in gathering data, requesting advice, and forming an opinion about a given company, brand, or product. It may seem like an overwhelming task to organizations, especially organizations that have operated for years under traditional means of communication. However, one good thing about the influx of new communication platforms is that they are additive. Henry Jenkins talks of ―media convergence,‖ which involves the flow of content across multiple media platforms and the cooperation between multiple media industries. The hardware may have diverged, but the content has converged and consumers access it through different platforms depending on their need and situational context (Jenkins, 2006). Steven Levy and Brad Stone, of Newsweek, agree that the boundaries of media are porous, citing ―mash-ups‖ as an example of how different platforms and different websites act in concert with one another. In his post ―Why Social, Mobile, and Email Are BFFs (Not Archenemies)‖ for MarketingProfs, Morgan Stewart talks about guarding against the assumption that ―the next big thing‖ will replace the communication platforms we use today. Stewart argues that the digital media trifecta of social media, mobile, and email are not in contest with each other, but instead are fueling one another. Smartphones act as a vehicle for email and social networks depend on email and text messaging to send updates and alerts. Consumers are increasingly relying on all types of communication, and they are doing so in ways that are dependent upon context and situation. (Stewart, 2010) Location seems to be taking precedence in campaign strategies as organizations and consumers tired of the faceless, excitement-less, glamour-less webosphere. Of course social networking sites and smartphone applications are by no means retreating or losing ground; instead organizations and brands are using them in tandem with location-based tactics to revamp their brand-consumer relationships. Location-centric platforms like Loopt and Foursquare have been gaining traction in the consumer world. As Paul Gelb, national manager of emerging media at Razorfish, the digital advertising agency that is part of the Publicis Groupe points out, ―to be that close to the actual sale or physical location is such a value for marketers, and something they‘ve been looking for out of mobile for a long time.‖ (Gelb, personal communication, March, 2010) According to Ray Kotcher, CEO of Ketchum Communications, PR people – by training and experience – are inherently closer to what keeps the CEO up at night than marketers. On a daily basis, PR people deal with issues affecting the entire range of constituents that are important to an enterprise: Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 103 The Conversation Age Consumers Trade customers Specifiers Shareholders Financial analysts Industry analysts Policymakers Public interest groups And of course, the media Collectively, says Kotcher, these audiences‘ perceptions impact a company‘s greatest intangible asset – its reputation. ―CEOs are keenly aware of the importance of maintaining and enhancing corporate reputation. And they routinely turn to their public relations professionals to help them do that.‖ (Kotcher, 2006) Communicating Without Prejudice The maturation of such diverse communication platforms requires an integration of marketing and communication strategies. When Henry Jenkins speaks of convergence he dictates the need for skills and practices within the communication and marketing industries that enable organizations to interact with a range of different media across technological and geographical boundaries. It is becoming increasingly necessary for communications professionals to possess the tools and capabilities to observe and predict consumer behaviors, needs, and desired mechanisms of response. This is done not only through mutually beneficial interactions, but also by establishing a foundation of fundamentally understood practices in convergent media and theory. (Jenkins, 2006) This new communications environment is causing marketers to shift dollars away from traditional media like TV, print and radio towards ‗new media.‘ GM, DaimlerChrysler, Unilever, Clorox, American Express and P&G – the bulwarks of TV advertising – are dramatically changing their media mix. As an example, J&J‘s national TV budget in 2008 was down by 25 percent or $254 million. (Capozzi, 2008) Much of this money is flowing to alternative channels – online, mobile, satellite radio, consumer-generated media, out-of-home and sponsorships. But it‘s also moving to PR. P&G‘s Stengel, shocked the advertising community in 2004 when he said, ―The traditional marketing model is obsolete. Holistic marketing is driving our business.‖ He promised to move 60% of P&G‘s massive television advertising budget into other forms of communication. (Ste3ngel, 2004) One driving factor in this trend is the lack of bias public relations professionals have toward any one particular communications tool. According to Kotcher, the key to success resides in content creation across a wide array of communications tools. ―PR people are expert content creators,‘ he says, ―who author Web sites, speeches, bylines, position papers, op-eds, brochures, Q&As and, of course, press materials. Marketers clearly respect this capability.‖ (Kotcher, 2004) Watson and Sreedharan (2007) believe that one key role of the communication professional will be to master the skills and dynamics of new communication platforms. They also assert that communication professionals have the ability to lead organizations in the Conversation Age, as they possess the abilities to interpret trends in communication practices and technologies. The Authentic Enterprise report issued by the Arthur W. Page Society also agrees that it is the professional communicator‘s role to lead organizations forward into this new era of Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 104 The Conversation Age communication. The report suggests that CEOs are looking for their CCOs ―to take a more strategic and interactive role within the senior leadership of the company.‖ (Arthur Page Society, 2008) Structural Changes This leads to a final trend worth noting. The Conversation Age is leading to organizational transformation, which creates even more opportunities (and challenges) for communication professionals. Practitioners will need to possess key skills adapted for the emerging communication platforms. In addition, organizations will require more creative and measurable techniques that deal with a convergence of tactics. This also means that organizations will be establishing more communication- related roles and developing more communicationoriented programs, such as formal social media and CRM programs. As Kane et. al. point out in the Harvard Business Review, ―a company‘s social media team must develop policies and strategies for managing online communities [both outside and inside the company] to mitigate negative consequences and to foster positive engagement‖ (Kane et al. 2009) However, it is always important to remember that such ―positive engagement‖ must be earned, and that a corporation‘s ―good works‖ must be communicated effectively. When this is done properly, consumers will respond positively towards an organization, thereby achieving good public relations, positive financials, profitable growth, and a respectful reputation. Several of the world‘s largest companies have reorganized their communications and marketing functions putting public relations professionals atop the marketing organization. Michael Bush, writing in Advertising Age (September 21, 2009) said, ―In some organizations, chief communications officers (CCOs) and their teams are playing a strategic role more closely aligned with the marketing function. Some companies think the two -- advertising and communications -- are so closely linked that their CMO and CCO are one in the same.‖ In May 2008 IBM announced the integration of its global marketing and communications organizations. Jon Iwata, formerly head of corporate communications, became senior vice president, marketing and communications. He manages the company‘s relationships with the media, industry analysts and employees and is responsible for corporate brand strategy and design, as well as the company‘s global intranet, which serves 380,000 employees. Iwata also coordinates IBM‘s corporate affairs initiatives and plays a leading role in instilling IBM Values into the company‘s practices and culture. Iwata is a member of the IBM Strategy Team, the IBM Performance Team, and the company‘s Intellectual Property Policy and Open Standards Advisory Council. He reports to IBM Chairman and CEO Sam Palmisano. Another corporate giant, American Airlines, has named Roger Frizzell Vice PresidentCorporate Communications & Advertising. He oversees Advertising, Corporate Communications and AA Publishing, the small business unit of American Airlines that publishes four publications including American Way. According to Frizzell, the airline's decision to bring both functions under one person was based on the idea that communications don't happen in a vacuum. He said the integration of the two, whether forced or natural, is happening for every marketer and it's due mainly to the advent and acceptance of social media and heightened social consciousness of Americans on environmental, governance and diversity issues. "When you're talking corporate reputation now you're talking marketing," Mr. Frizzell said. "As advertising budgets shrink and the economy gets tighter, you have to rethink your ad spend and PR can maximize that ad spend. In some cases it should complement creative work and replace it in others." (Capozzi, 2008) Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 105 The Conversation Age Harry Pforzheimer, chief communications officer and marketing leader, at Intuit, says most of the company's growth is actually driven by its PR function and its ability to quickly create and convey marketing messages. "It's a little harder to measure but when you know that roughly eight out of 10 customers bought your product because of word-of-mouth that's a pretty powerful tool," Mr. Pforzheimer said, noting that Intuit's customers are also its best sales people. "So engaging with our customers directly is part of our DNA and communicating with customers on a timely basis is critical. And that timely basis now is instantaneous." (Advertising Age, September 21, 2009). As Maurice Levy observed in a 2006 Speech to the American Advertising Federation: I think the key word of the future will be ―change‖. The speed at which everything is changing has never been seen before. And we can easily become dinosaurs if we do not notice it immediately. Everything can look fine and, all of a sudden, numbers and results can go down sharply. This world is calling for changes in everything we do and the way we do it if we want to stay alive. For the [advertising] agency it is all of the same: we need to brutally question ourselves on the layers of our operations, their structures, our organization, our ways of working. And change. Change is the substance of life for the future. The Challenges Ahead The Conversation Age is clearly reshaping the relationship between corporations and the publics they serve. This paper has attempted to describe that changing relationship and outline the skills required to succeed in it. Public relations professionals clearly have many of the skills required to succeed in this new ―Conversation Age.‖ (Capozzi, 2008) An article in the Economist entitled ―As Advertising Struggles, PR Steps Into the Breach,‖ quotes Al and Laura Ries, a father and daughter team of marketing consultants and authors of a book entitled ―The Fall of Advertising & the Rise of PR‖ as saying: ―PR has credibility Advertising does not.‖ Their advice is that a marketing campaign should start with publicity and shift to advertising only after the PR objectives have been achieved. Some PR firms see an opportunity to move up their clients' hierarchy—becoming not just service providers, but also purveyors of strategic advice to senior management. (The Economist: January 19, 2006). The Economist article goes on to say ―for business, PR is an increasingly vital marketing tool—especially as traditional forms of advertising struggle to catch consumers' attention.‖ In the opinion of the authors, though, the public relations profession faces some enormous challenges to live up to the promise presented by the Conversation Age. Principle among those is the search for talent. While some high-level PR practitioners already operate at the highest levels of management, many more do not. The public relations industry needs to sharpen its skills and develop new talent in several key areas if it hopes to emerge at the leaders in the ―Conversation Age.‖ Those include: Business acumen. Public relations tends to attract creative people with incredible ideas. But to effectively compete in an increasingly competitive environment, public relations professionals also need to become more serious business people. PR people need to be more capable of handling higher business relationships. And the industry needs to attract more people who are capable of working in this capacity. In considering the future of the Conversation Age, Watson and Sreedharan (2009) find it essential for communication professionals to adopt broader analytical and critical skills that will make them more flexible communicators and garner them more respect from the C-level. The future of the communication industry, they say, will also Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 106 The Conversation Age require more education, training, and mentoring. With the influx of academic programs in the communication field, it is clear that this step is already being taken. Marketing breadth. Many public relations professionals have very little knowledge of the elements in the marketing mix outside of PR or advertising. To truly understand the value of the industry and to seize additional opportunities in the communications business, public relations people need to understand all aspects in the mix, not just their own. Watson and Sreedharan (2009) reinforce this point, saying that communication strategy will become more tightly linked with business strategy, requiring interdisciplinary knowledge, competencies, and skill sets. It has become increasingly important for communicators to focus on corporate reputation and engagement with stakeholders, creating and maintaining a kind of ―social capital.‖ Global perspective. Today‘s PR professional needs to become more appreciative and accustomed to dealing with different cultures and geographies. Being multilingual is a valuable commodity now, and will become even more important down the road. Expect to see more crossborder promotions as well. The employee at an agency in Brussels who is more accustomed to dealing with different cultures will have a more competitive advantage than an American who lacks this experience. There is good evidence young people entering the profession understand this imperative. As Ray Kotcher said to the Boston University graduates, ―Already, one-in-five college-age students has traveled abroad in the past three years. More than one-in-three of you speak at least two languages. And your generation truly wants to help build this global community.‖ (Kotcher, 2006) Strategic alignment. Strategy has become a buzzword in the business world, but it still retains its meaning. Public relations professionals must continue to move away from the perception that they are just executors, and not creators, of a strategy. It isn‘t enough to say that a program is strategic – the programs must demonstrate this by ensuring that at its core, the work is rooted in strategic audience insights. And of course, those strategies must always link to overall business objectives and goals. A commitment to accountability. A recent PRWeek survey of in-house communications professionals showed that 47% of those polled don‘t include a specific budget item for measurement, and 37% spend none of their budget for metrics. But 27% of respondents said their budget for measurement has increased. (Capozzi, 2008) Communications professionals must fully understand the importance of measurement - and how best to measure a program‘s value and impact across industries and geographies. According to Jules Prast, former vice president of corporate communications at Philips, ―measurement is the start for a discussion between communication professionals and managers, and both can actually learn something from it.‖ (Prast, personal communication, 2007) As P&G‘s Stengle said to the AAAAs, ―The hard truth is, this is a $450 billion-dollar global industry and we‘re all making decisions with less data and discipline than we apply to $100,000 decisions in other aspects of our businesses. We lack an industry standard for measurement. We must be more proactive. Less talk, more action.‖ (Stengel, 2004) Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 107 The Conversation Age Conclusion The public relations industry has a great head start in the race to lead the new ―Conversation Age,‖ and public relations professionals have an enormous opportunity ahead of them to lead the next generation of marketing and communications activities around the world. By honing their business skills, motivating staff and attracting new talent to their industry, they can set the stage for a continuation of the fantastic growth and success enjoyed in recent years. It won‘t be easy, and it will take time, but as the late, great jazz singer Blossom Dearie once sang: ―the harder the soil, the sweeter the vine.‖ References ―The Authentic Enterprise,‖ Relationships, Values and the Evolution of Corporate Communication,‖ Arthur Page Society, 2008. Barnes, Nora Ganim. (2008). Exploring the Link Between Customer Care and Brand Reputation in the Age of Social Media. United States: SNCR Press. Bauer, Raymond A. (1964). The Obstinate Audience: The influence process from the point of view of social communication. American Psychologist 19 (5). 319-328. ―Bazaarvoice and CMO Club Survey: CMOs Look For Higher Social Media Measurability in 2010‖ Bazaarvoice. 08 December 2009. http://www.bazaarvoice.com/press-room/us-press-room/544-bazaarvoice-and-cmo-club-surveycmos-look-for-higher-social-media-measurability-in-2010 Capozzi, Louis, ―Who Will Win,‖: PRSA Global Conference, plenary presentation, Detroit, October, 2008. CScape (2009). 2009 Online Customer Engagement Report. Retrieved April 18, 2009 from http://www.cscape.com/services/Documents/CE_Survey2009_EMAIL-VERSION.pdf. Doctor, Ken. ―The Newsonomics of social media optimization‖ [Weblog.] The Nieman Journalism Lab. Harvard University. 11 Feb, 2010. (http://www.niemanlab.org/2010/02/the-newsonomics-ofsocial-media-optimization/). 11 Feb, 2010. ―Do We Have a Story For You,‖ The Economist, January 19, 2006 Edelman, Richard. ―Edelman Trust Barometer 2010- A New Mandate for Business‖ [Weblog entry.] Richard Edelman - 6 A.M. 25 Jan, 2010. (http://www.edelman.com/speak_up/blog/) 27 Feb, 2010. Edelman, Richard, [Weblog] ―I Am Even More Certain that Now Is Our Time.‖ December 13, 2005 Falkow, Sally. " Engagement – the new ROI?" [Weblog entry.] The Proactive Report: Anticipating PR Trends Online. 3 Feb, 2010. (http://www.proactivereport.com/) Gillin, Paul (2008). New Media, New Influencers and Implications for the Public Relations Profession. Journal of New Communication Research, 2 (2), 1-10. Hess, Jeff & Story, John (2005). Trust-based commitment: multidimensional consumer-brand relationships. Journal of Consumer Marketing, 22(6). 313-322 Huber et al, Brand midconduct: Consequences on consumer-brand relationships. J Bus Res (2009), doi: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2009.10.006. Jenkins, Henry. Convergence Culture. New York: New York University Press, 2006. Kane, Gerald C, Fichman, Robert G, Gallaugher, John & Glaser, John (2009) ―Community Relations 2.0‖ Harvard Business Review. Kocher, Ray, senior partner/Chief Executive Officer, Boston University Commencement Address, ―Join The Conversation,‖ May 14, 2006. Lake, Chris. ―10 ways to measure social media success.‖ [Weblog entry] Econsultancy. March, 2009. (http://econsultancy.com/blog/3407-10-ways-to-measure-social-media-success) Levy, Steven & Stone, Brad (2006, April). The New Wisdom of the Web. Newsweek. (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12015774/site/newsweek/print/1/displaymode/1098/) Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 108 The Conversation Age Levy, Maurice, ―Change, change or change: Options for the Agency of the Future,‖ presentation to the American Advertising Federation, June, 2006. Miller, Claire Cain. ―Selling a Celebrity Look: A Click on Photo Can Buy the Clothes of the Famous.‖ New York Times. February 21, 2010. Miller, Claire Cain. ―Take a Step Closer for an Invitation to Shop.‖ New York Times. February 22, 2010. Miller, Gerald R. Persuasion and Public Relations: Two ―Ps‖ in a Pod. In: C.H. Botan & V. Hazleton, Jr. (eds.) Public Relations Theory 1989, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc., Hillsdale, New Jersey, pp 45-66 Otto, Charlotte (2006) Proceedings from the Arthur W. Page 23rd Annul Conference: Leading in a ‗Let Go‘ World. Pham, Alex. ―Pop & Hiss.‖ Los Angeles Times. The L.A. Times mucis blog. 12 March 2010. http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/music_blog/2010/03/sxsw-location-location-location.html Solis, Brian. ―The 10 Stages of Social Media Integration in Business‖ [Weblog entry]. Brian Solis: Defining the convergence of media and influence. 22 Jan, 2010. (http://www.briansolis.com/2010/01/the-10-stages-of-social-media-integration-in-business/). Solis, Brian. ―ROI: How to measure return on investmnent in social media‖ [Weblog entry]. Brian Solis: Defining the convergence of media and influence. 22 Feb, 2010. (http://www.briansolis.com/2010/02/roi-how-to-measure-return-on-investment-in-social-media/). Solis, Brian. ―Time spent on social networks up 82% around the world‖ [Weblog entry]. Brian Solis: Defining the convergence of media and influence. 24 Feb, 2010. (http://www.briansolis.com/2010/02/time-spent-on-social-networks-up-82-around-the-wrold/). Stengel, Ed, Chief Marketing Officer, The Procter & Camble Company, ―The Future of Marketing, American Association of Advertising Agencies Media Conference, February 12, 2004. Stewart, Morgan. ―Why Social, Mobile, and Email Are BFFs (Not Archenemies)‖ [Weblog.] MarketingProfs. 23 Feb, 2010. (http://www.marketingprofs.com/articles/2010/3416/why-socialmobile-and-email-are-bffs-not-archenemies) Watson, T. and Sreedharan, C., 2009. The Senior Communicator of the Future – Competencies and Training Needs. In: 13th International Public Relations Research Conference: "Ethical Issues for Public Relations Practice in a Multicultural World", 10-14 March 2010, University of Miami, FL Weber, Larry (2007). Marketing to the Social Web: How digital Customer Communities Build Your Business. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons. Wright, Donald K., & Hinson, Michelle D. (April 2008). Examining the Increasing Impact of Social Media on the Publics Relation Practice. Gainesville, FL: Insititute for Public Relations. Wright, Donald K., & Hinson, Michelle D. (2008) How Blogs and Social Media are Changing Public Relations and the Way it is Practiced. Public Relations Journal, 2(2). 1-21. ―Understanding the participatory news consumer: News on the go – wireless access‖ Journalism.org: Pew Research Center‘s Project for Excellence in Journalism. 1 March 2010<< http://www.journalism.org/analysis_report/news_go_–_wireless_access>> Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 109 Corporate Architecture - New Building Blocks of Brand Value A Case Study of UBS Headquarters in Zurich Angela Bargenda Ecole Supérieure du Commerce Extérieur, France [email protected] Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the communicational relevance of corporate architecture (CA) as part of an extended marketing communications mix. As an integrated tool of the branding process, CA plays a significant role in visual identity-building, CRM, crisis communication, and reputation management. Approach - The paper presents several methodological approaches to the interpretation of architectural signifiers: semiotics, art history and architectural theory, applied to a case study of the UBS headquarters in Zurich. Findings - It can be asserted that CA plays an integral part in the formulation of aesthetic corporate discourse. CA conveys valuable tangibility to financial institutions and asserts the institution‘s cultural existence within the broader societal context. As a prime resource of corporate branding strategy, CA holds differential value by allowing institutions to project an idiosyncratic visual identity. The paper argues that CA substantially enhances confidence and credibility. Research implications - The paper makes the claim that the integration of CA as a central branding tool is gaining increased importance in the finance sector, especially with regard to digitally available financial services. In future financial marketing, added brand equity is accrued when CA is used as a transformative device, where banking space is redesigned as a space of social interaction. Practical implications - The strategic use of CA as a central corporate visual identifier opens up new opportunities for reputation management and image-building. Paper type - Case study. Keywords - Corporate Visual Identity (CVI), Corporate architecture (CA), banking sector, image-building, reputation management. Mais vous n‘avez rien compris: C‘est le mur lui-même qui est l‘œuvre d‘art! Le Corbusier Corporate architecture (CA) ranks as the most recent phenomenon in the taxonomy of corporate visual identifiers. Academically discussed as expressive systems since the 1980s, architectural features are explored for their communicational relevance beyond the fundamental parameters of construction, such as functionality, quality of materials, respect of environmental norms, etc. The construct of a distinct formal language through the symbolic impact of building façades and interiors has become a prime element of visual differentiation (Messedat, 2005, 13). As aesthetic articulation of corporate rhetoric, architectural features afford an idiosyncratic projection of corporate culture: ―Buildings not only have an existence in reality, they also have a metaphorical existence. They express meaning and give certain messages‖ (Conway and Roenisch, 1994, 21). Conference on Corproate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 110 Corporate Architecture: New Building Blocks of Brand Value While emphasizing the literally utopic fact that there is no reference to geographic location in critical literature on corporate identity construct, Melewar and Jenkins indicate that ―renewed interest in architecture is illustrated by the attention that firms give to the influence of architecture on how their identity is perceived‖ (Melewar and Jenkins, 2002, 82). In this context, banking institutions strategically formulate their architectural discourse to achieve sectorial positioning. By means of its significant branding potential, it is legitimate to consider corporate architecture as part of the visual communication mix, even if it is traditionally not included in the classical branding repertory. Architecture is not part of the marketing scholar‘s toolbox. Although we talk building brands, constructing networks, and structural models, there is little architectural discourse within marketing scholarship. There is a movement toward studying ‗servicescapes‘, some studies about design, and more on retailing atmospherics, but few studies […] place architecture at the center. […] However, […] architecture expresses psychological, and cultural and consumer values‖ (Schroeder, 2002, 91).. about In fact, the dual reality of architecture, both functional and iconic; material and metaphysical, offers considerable interpretive opportunities. Viewed as the metaphorical expression of corporate value systems, the architectural discourse affords the most visible and tangible reality of corporate presence: ―buildings are insistent, overpowering representations of society; they tower over all of us in a metaphoric image of the dominant powers, of all that society holds valuable‖ (Rykwert, 2008, 374). Analyzing the various modes of architectural expression ultimately leads to the creation of a corporate visual map, as the metaphorical process of image building can be correlated to basic cognitive processes of the human mind: ―Since all human thoughts must be worked out in the medium of perceptual space, architecture […] presents embodiments of thought when it invents and builds shapes‖ (Arnheim, 1977, 274). By creating a mental image of institutional identity, architectural expression transcribes an organization‘s visual paradigm. It serves as a vehicle of public perception and symbolically projects corporate values. If, according to French architect Christian de Portzamparc, ―words serve to see‖ (De Portzamparc, 2006, 25), buildings, on the other hand, offer visually encoded exegetical material. It can therefore be argued that the process of encoding corporate values through symbolic architectural codes offers significant economic value, as it creates affective brand value and unique aesthetic references anchored in the local environment. It is surprising that, despite significant investment and given the diverse possibilities of employing architecture as a central element of the communication of a company and brand contents, it is not used efficiently. The long-term cultural and emotional added value that can be achieved here is not appropriately reflected in economic calculations. Corporate architecture has become a strategic management instrument and can make a significant contribution to economic success. Businesses that miss this development run the risk of losing their position to competitors on the global market place‖ (Messedat, 2005, 15). The interpretive analysis of architecture as the matrix of institutional aesthetics is based on sensorial perceptions. Several classifying components constitute the core of the expressive system: structural components such as size, texture, shape, openings, supports, stylistic Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 111 Corporate Architecture: New Building Blocks of Brand Value references, as much as formal, functional, historical, and technological components (Bonta, 1979). As a symbol of corporate culture, the stylistic language of architecture connects semiotic signs with inherent behavioral codes. Therefore, the encrypting of corporate values through stylistic references is particularly effective, as it builds on common cultural heritage. Public recognition and recall, relationship and trust-building opportunities, and generally speaking, CRM value, is higher in buildings whose overall perception appears to be ―familiar‖ territory to the viewer. According to Umberto Eco, architectural codes cannot be interpreted like single linguistic units of morphemes or graphemes (Eco, 1972). Their meaning-generating potential emanates from an entire semiotic system that generates meaning as a compositional whole: ―Architectural semiotics has abundantly shown that architectural objects are expressions that vehicle functional and social contents (…). However it would be misleading to consider the architectural product as a simple sign: it is rather a text, in which various phenomena of semiotic production are interwoven‖ (Eco, 1988, 191). When the architectural discourse appears as the institutional DNA, corporations draw on the connotive semanticism of architecture as a structuring principle. The Japanese architect Kenzo Tange underscores: ―we need a symbolic approach to architecture and urban space in order to secure humanity, human meaning and human value in architecture and urban space‖ (Tange, 1970, 242-243). Thus, as an expressive sign system of human values, architecture represents a prime branding tool in the symbolic formulation of corporate identity. An iconic building that asserts a corporation‘s powerful presence in the urban fabric transcribes the institution‘s status in the competitive environment, as much as it projects core values associated with the business. It is therefore surprising that CA is a relatively new object of academic investigation in the field of organizational communication (Dreyer, 2007; Piper, 2006, 38-53). This article seeks to make a contribution to architectural exegesis in the financial services sector. Given the immateriality of financial products, banks are particularly concerned with creating brand equity through iconic architecture. Furthermore, the crisis-fraught sector is exploring innovative strategies to enhance its reputational capital, using the aesthetics of space as a prime image and confidence-builder. Corporate visual identity (CVI) can be discussed here by means of perceptual schemes such as symmetry or asymmetry, scale, rhythm, proportion, chromatic and formal composition, contrast, dimension, horizontality and verticality, open and closed space, material, topography, etc., that constitute universally valid patterns of architectural interpretation (Arnheim, 1977, 5). Arnheim considers the semeiosis operated in the presence of an architectural phenomenon as ―a fact of the human mind‖ (Arnheim, 1977, 4) and therefore subject to personal and situational variations. The objective of this study is to integrate architecture as a constitutive feature of an integrated marketing communication strategy. The creation of tangible institutional value will gain increased importance in the financial services sector, where perceptions of brand parity and competition from online services require the development of alternative communicational resources in the future. Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 112 Corporate Architecture: New Building Blocks of Brand Value Postmodern Hubris vs. Beaux-Arts Historicism The aesthetic arbitrage in the case of banking institutions is particularly relevant with regard to the expression of stylistic preferences. In fact, the option between traditional, 19 thcentury Beaux-Arts architecture and streamlined contemporary high-rise buildings is a central identifier. In the public mind, it is generally admitted that contemporary starchitecture conveys a sense of future-oriented values such as rapid development and growth, risk-taking, and innovation, whereas traditional banking architecture embodies more conservative institutional values such as safety, reliability, continuity, and permanence. These conflicting visual messages resonate differently with specific segments of the target market while contributing fundamentally to the institution‘s public legitimacy. For instance, contemporary architecture may be perceived very positively in the highly mediated environment of international metropolises. They stand out as high-profile iconic landmarks in an urban syntagm that is itself branded as a future-oriented business environment. On the other hand, the presence of these geosymbols in a more traditional urban fabric can signify architectural hubris and disrespect for the existing urban morphology. Buildings therefore are connoted not only for what they represent intrinsically, but also for how they integrate in the local planning context. Contemporary iconophilia for excessive architectural scenography may lead to a detrimental metamorphosis of the urban fabric, as aesthetic quality may be subordinated to excessive ostentation. As part of the regeneration process of business districts, eye-catching postmodern highrise buildings are perceived by Vittorio Lampugnani as ―metaphorical noise‖: ―[…] a deafening, or more precisely, an eye-dazzling crescendo, which merely emphasizes the most vulgar external aspects of the design to the detriment of substance: an absurd spiral, where each eye-catcher is immediately topped by another‖ (Lampugnani, 1995, 44-54).. The dichotomy between architecture of substance, created as a long-term, monumental expression of corporate identity, and ephemeral, trendy forms of architectural projection is at the core of the contemporary architectural debate. Plutocratic Architecture It is precisely in the interstices of various aesthetic options that architectural semeiosis receives its full communicational potential. The classicist building of UBS‘s headquarters in Zurich receives differential symbolic value within the oppositional system of existing architectural forms. Positive values of classical architecture are generated by its confrontation with Renaissance, modern and contemporary styles. Thus, when interpreting the symbolic value of stylistic references, the aesthetic arbitrage in favor of the classical style is to be offset against other stylistic alternatives. Intrinsic symbolic associations receive exegetic value by extrinsic criteria of the urban environment as architectural discourse signifies as much through what it is as through what it is not. The UBS headquarters in Zurich‘s Bahnhofstrasse exemplify the expressive value of institutional architecture within the urban context. At the beginning of the 20 th century, the Bahnhofstrasse was planned to become a sectorial hub of the banking industry, thus creating the city‘s myth as a center of international finance. Several other international banks are headquartered in the district of Bahnhofstrasse and Paradeplatz, signaling the prevailing position of the financial sector within the city‘s economic activity: ―Klare Symbole der Wirtschaft [wurden] in die urbane Landschaft gestellt‖ (Vetter, 2003, 241). UBS has occupied the so-called Münzhof, built in the historicizing Beaux-Arts style, since 1919. Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 113 Corporate Architecture: New Building Blocks of Brand Value This massive presence of financial institutions contributes to the design of an urban syntagm akin to Siegried Giedion‘s concept of spatial conception: A universal civilization is in the making […] It has in common a space conception, which is as much a part of its emotional as of its spiritual attitude. It is not the independent unrelated form that is the goal of architecture today but the organization of forms in space: space conception. This has been true for all creative periods, including the present. The present space-time conception – the way volumes are placed in space and relate to one another, the way interior space is separated from exterior space or is perforated by it to bring about an interpretation – is a universal attribute which is at the basis of all contemporary architecture‖ (Giedion, 1941/2008, xxxvii) In his study on urban architecture, Kevin Lynch shows how structured and organized space engenders greater semiotic readability than unstructured and chaotic space (Lynch, 1960). UBS aligns its architecture with the predominantly classical context of Bahnhofstrasse, as the classical formal discourse ideally lends itself to the projection of timeless and perennial values that are at the core of the banking activity: ―Banks […] adopted classical architectural form for strategic reasons. Classicism expresses stability, strength, and security, and communicates timeless values. […] A bank‘s appearance should convey an impression that reflects the institution‘s character by its air of stability, dignity and security. Thus, the less tangible attributes of a bank – its image – can be communicated through architectural form‖ (Schroeder, 2002, 92). Within this classical context, however, UBS sets a distinctive Greco-Roman accent with its remarkable frontal elevation of Doric columns. UBS headquarters, Bahnhofstrasse, Zurich.1 By adopting the genera of the Doric order, the bank symbolically projects a masculine repertory of style. In fact, Vitruvius links the Doric order to the male body, in contrast with the symbolic inferences of the Ionic and Corinthian orders, allusive of the female body (Vitruvius, De Architectura, IV, 1, 6-7). For Roger Scruton, the height of these Doric columns is indicative of the moral force of human posture (Scruton, 1979, 253). By means of its classical façade, connecting the building with its urban context through a propylea, the bank positions itself in the aesthetic heritage of civic buildings and temples of classical Greece. Vitruvius indicates that the anthropomorphic nature of the Doric order serves as a vehicle for archetypal values of spatial organization, such as physical strength, virility, sobriety and purity (Vitruvius, De Architectura, IV, 1, 7). The impressive façade, orchestrated by this 1 Source: www.ubs.com. Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 114 Corporate Architecture: New Building Blocks of Brand Value classical alignment, refers directly to secular paradigms of architecture: ―the column, the arch, the pediment represent by themselves a form of construction representative of the name of architecture‖ (De Portzamparc, 2006, 42). The individual perception of architecture varies according to the physical position of the viewer. When approaching the building, it first appears as an external phenomenon, but upon entering, the building superposes its spatiality to the subject‘s physical presence. Starting from a bi-dimensional external phenomenon apprehended visually, the building transforms into a 3Dparticipative reality as the subject enters the building. This phenomenological symbiosis between the subject and the architectural structure creates a time and space commonality, where exteriority becomes interiority, public spaces becomes private space (Vetter, 2003, 244). The outside façade represents the preliminary stage to this process of architectural appropriation by the subject, as it delineates the buildings in its environment. Prevailing classical visual identifiers prime the aesthetic experience through their symbolic power. In the case of UBS, the colossal volume and elevation of the columns stand out as a dominant frontal feature, signaling superior capacity, unrestrained might and overpowering institutional status. As the building‘s formal language derives directly from the classical vocabulary of the ancient world, it signals the pedigree of institutional history and thereby transcends purely functional aspects of banking architecture. Indeed, the classical genealogy clearly emphasizes the reference to the classici, the ruling class of Roman citizenry, symbolically conferring an elite status to the institution. In his dialogue Eupalinos ou l‘architecte, French poet Paul Valéry expresses the transcendental experience of architecture by lending voice to Greek philosopher Socrates, who considers the act of building as the most complete human act, as the architect shapes the chaos of the universe. The conformity between the architectural object and its use, creative and functional features, results, according to Valéry, in a perfect form, where beauty and necessity converge. The correlation of antique form and institutional function in the UBS building appears evident with the frontal colonnade. Formally, it places the institution in the lineage of ancient culture, and from a functional point of view, it is reminiscent of the rite of passage of the Greek temple. However, beyond the symbolic threshold, the place of worship is transformed into a sanctuary of financial power, where the capitalistic cult has replaced ancient myths. As a preparatory stage to the architectural experience, the columns establish a hierarchical perceptual framework, signaling, by means of an extremely narrow intercolumniation and a marked longitudinal accent, the bank‘s superior position. This quasi-religious semantization of space through architectural revival elements restores the collective memory of an archetypal western civilization. For instance, the formal language of columns indicates might and protection: ―Closely spaced columns serve to signal strength and protection, slender columns can signal grace and beauty, massive columns connote power and dominance‖ (Schroeder, 2002, 99). In ancient Greece, columns carry cultural meaning (Onians, 1988, 33). Architectural historians Tzonis and Lefaivre hold that ―classical architectural compositions are ingenious essays in stone, intelligently argued dialectics and hermeneutics‖ (Tzonis and Lefaivre, 1986, 275). Despite the stylistic references to the canon of classical architecture, the UBS building does not authentically replicate Vitruvian proportions. Classical axioms appear as stylizations and abstractions so as to carry the bank‘s institutional message more efficiently. For example, the imposing verticality of the front façade deviates from Vitruvian proportions to formulate corporate identity more forcefully through its unusually high elevation. As speaking compositions of stone, classical buildings articulate an immense expressive vitality, conveying symbolic and mythical power. The preponderance of classical forms has dominated western architecture for two thousand years. Through the symmetrical features of its Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 115 Corporate Architecture: New Building Blocks of Brand Value ordered and harmonious structure, the classical canon is a vector of metaphorical values in that it represents an ideal cosmic order. Thus, the sublimation of architectural material into a meaningful cosmogony significantly contributes to the institution of the corporate myth. To create its own mythological brand universe, UBS builds its identity on a secular semiotic system adapted to specific communicational needs. In fact, reputational issues are top priorities on the institution‘s strategic agenda: Our reputation is key to the success of our business. Our reputation has been severely damaged by our very large losses during the financial crisis and by the US cross-border matter. This has resulted in client attrition in different parts of our business and has negatively affected our financial performance. Restoring our reputation is essential to maintaining our relationships with clients, investors, regulators and the general public, as well as with our employees. Accordingly, it is critical to the success of our strategic plans. Reputational damage is difficult to reverse. The process is slow and success can be difficult to measure. We have taken what we believe are very important steps to restore our reputation, but it is possible that it will take longer to repair than we expect, particularly if further events were to occur that cause additional damage to our reputation. Any failure to restore or further damage to our reputation could have a material adverse effect on our operational results and financial condition. Even if our reputation is restored, we may not progress quickly enough to achieve our medium-term goals‖(UBS Annual Report, 2009, 25). The construct of reputational capital is inextricably linked to CRM. Positive reputation is a social phenomenon, where values such as trust, credibility, stability and security rank as critical competitive factors. Here again, the symbolic connotation of classical architecture serves the purpose of organizational communication. John Onians, in his study on the classical orders, shows that the haptic quality of the stone serves a reflexive human experience, facilitating social contact and interaction, as much as it allows for introspection and meditation: ―These forms were striking features of the buildings in which people in Western Europe formulated and developed their relationships to the gods, to each other, to themselves; and it was often through their use that these relationships were articulated‖ (Onians, 1988, 3). The articulation of constructive public relations, the development and management of a loyal customer base, the creation of a value-based community, are ideally embedded in the transitive, relational nature of classical architecture. As a place of social exchange, the spatial complexity oscillates between the sacred and the profane, hubris and measure, immanence and transcendence, public and private spheres. The dynamic quality of the UBS building results from the symbolic metamorphosis of its structural elements, with the high elevation of the front façade indicating longevity, stability, rectitude and might (O‘Gorman, 1998, 94). In addition, the narrative ornamentation also contributes to institutional storytelling, albeit on a more anecdotal level. The Power of Myth The single most poignant decorative motive of the UBS building explicitly refers to Greco-Roman mythology. In fact, Hermes, messenger of the gods, god of commerce and travel, appears on all lintels along the frontal colonnade, optically reinforcing the isotropic structure of the façade. By pervasively punctuating the architectural rhythm, Hermes occupies a semiotic centrality that places him at the forefront of the meaning-generating process. In Ovid‘s Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 116 Corporate Architecture: New Building Blocks of Brand Value Metamorphoses (Book 1), Mercury, the Roman version of Hermes, is outfitted with a helmet, a caduceus, winged sandals, and a purse. Likewise, the mascaron on UBS‘s central façade features several of his symbolic attributes. UBS headquarters, Bahnhofstrasse, Zurich.2 It is interesting to note, however, that Hermes‘s sculptured relief only partially reproduces the god‘s iconographic representation. Indeed, the purse is lacking from the composition, an omission that seems, at first glance, antagonistic to the bank‘s financial business. However, it is precisely through the missing purse that the motive‘s symbolic value is enhanced. Negatively signifying by its iconographic absence, the purse, as a metaphorical designation of material wealth, is provided to the customer by the banking institution. Thus, the bank places itself in the interstices of the incomplete iconography, filling the symbolic deficit by the eventual provision of capital. Through its financial services, UBS supplements the omitted pieces of the architectural composition, and restores the picture to its signifying totality. However, the sequential rendering of Hermes can also be understood, in an adverse interpretive context, as the manipulative power of the financial institution. Indeed, the iconographic insistence on the god‘s somniferous wand, flanking the bust on the right and on the left, could ironically symbolize narcotic influences and the transport of visitors to a dream world. Or else, Hermes, guide of souls to the underworld, could be seen as foreshadowing the calamitous financial crisis. In Charles Sanders Peirce‘s semiotic system, the interpretant, i.e. the effect of a sign on the viewer, is subject to an individual‘s predisposition and interpretive framework. According to the personal and cultural context, the semiotic process could result, in fine, in the final interpretation of a prosperous and powerful institution, or of a kleptomaniac and misleading entity. The various interpretive options of this classical architecture show that is an open, yet closed system, where narrative elements are inserted into a preexisting symbolic framework: ―Classicism, like language, is precise but flexible. It can suggest commercial probity, as we see in the classical architecture of bank buildings and above all, the New York Stock Exchange. It can radiate culture, as in the neoclassical art museum in Philadelphia and many other cities. In the 2 Source: http://specials.rediff.com. Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 117 Corporate Architecture: New Building Blocks of Brand Value early nineteenth century, the Greek temple form pledged allegiance to the democratic principles that Americans traced back to ancient Athens‖ (O‘Gorman 1998, 95). Accumulation Art UBS‘s massive colonnade on Bahnhofstrasse sets a distinct landmark in the urban environment. UBS headquarters, Bahnhofstrasse, Zurich.3 The isomorphic frontal alignment of the columns, creating a structural and decorative tautology, reiterates a series of architectural patterns that convey a strong sense of immutability and security. Furthermore, through the serialized rendering of identical motives, the connotation of wealth accumulation also appears in this iconography. By the preponderant citation of central classical motives, the façade represents what Vitruvius (De Architectura, I, 16) calls the logos opticos, i.e. an expressive link with the foundations of western civilization. Aristotle equally emphasizes the rhetorical potential of all classical structures (De Architectura, I). As the aesthetic vehicle of 19th-century bourgeois ideology, the neoclassical style optimally transcribes the aspirations of wealth and power of the emerging social class. Symbolic associations of economic freedom and democratic rule are expressed through the architectural arbitrage in a modern context. The shared predilection for classical references allows the bank to capitalize on its relationship with the most affluent consumers by connecting with their aesthetic value-system. A bank is not only an entity that transforms society through purposeful investment, but also a depository of money for the individual customer. Personal aspirations largely depend upon the financial support granted by the bank, placing the individual in a hierarchical relationship with the institution Brendan Gill very aptly describes as the captivating power of banking institutions as perceived by individuals: Whether we approached a bank in order to deposit money or to borrow it, we were made to fell humbly grateful – indeed, that we were allowed to cross the threshold of the Arcanum at all was in itself a reason for congratulation. Passing between majestic stone pillars and even through mighty gilded bronze portals, we would find ourselves at last inside a lofty chamber, vaulted and domes, floored and wainscoted in marble, and ringed around with tiny altars, each of which was set within a cage of slender, protective bars and presided over by a resident priest, usually male and wearing a habit of dark blue serge‖ (Gill, 1990, 4). 3 Source: www.yatedo.com. Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 118 Corporate Architecture: New Building Blocks of Brand Value Banks signal their vigor and solvency by the adoption of the classical form as a strategic communication tool. From a perceptive point of view, classical morphology is intended to project values of stability and strength sub specie aeternitatis. To gain institutional legitimacy, financial institutions must signal their perennial existence, as the sector first and foremost relies on trust. ―As Greece and Rome had come to be seen as the cultural sources of virtue, a return to classical architectural rules of proportionality, regularity, harmony, and decorum in the form of a neoclassical style would express this virtue in the form of a building‖ (McGoun, 2000,13). As the value of money itself is built on symbolic exchange value, the internal logic of financial institutions entirely depends on the public‘s perception of its stability. Nikolaus Pevsner underlines the association of security vehicled by the Greek style: ―Western banks were built to resemble classical temples, the severe Grecian style helped the often unstable institutions express security‖ (Pevsner, 1976, 202). Architectural historians, Tzonis and Lefaivre, point out the semiotic potential of classical architecture, where the built structure refers to a series of perceptual themes that invariably signify perfection and harmony. These works have been adored through centuries and continents for their persistence of ―balance‖ and ―symmetry,‖ ―focus,‖ and ―finality,‖ and ―proportionality and hierarchy;‖ their divisibility through distinct, elementary, concise themes; and their unity through explicit, computable, standard, generative, combinatorial plans. […] Indeed, what characterizes any work […] put together according to the rules of composition that originated in classical poetics and rhetoric is its identity as something ―complete and whole,‖ ―perfect,‖ whose particular order sets it off from its surroundings (Aristotle, Poetics, 2, 4)‖ (Tzonis and Lefaivre, 1986, 4) . The semiotic potential of architectural rhetoric also becomes evident in the criticism formulated by some contemporaries with regard to the opulent 19th-century Beaux-Arts style. Indeed, the classical architectural canon was severely questioned as the symbolic perpetuation of existing power structures, as ―Classicism visually reinforces the power structure in any period, today and yesterday‖ (Conway and Roenisch, 1994, 16). Considered as the emblematic outgrowth of early capitalism, the historicist style of the Greco-Roman repertory became the sign of an obsolete political system that was to be superseded by the more moral, transparent and socially responsible aesthetics of modernism: ‖In Europe, during the 1890s, a demand for morality in architecture arose in many different countries. As van de Velde puts it, people saw that the reigning architecture was a ‘lie‗, all posturing and no truth, and that greater purity of expression was needed‖ (Giedion, 2008, 25). Thus, the practice of neoclassical citationism (Tzonis and Lefaivre, 1986, 179), serves a retrospective meta-language, instituting a dialogue between contemporary aesthetics and the original antique model. However, it is not the result of a creative, innovative process, where architectural poetics are written ex nihilo. Therefore, by citing architectural vocabulary from antiquity, UBS places its visual identity in a referential frame of the past. The bank does not project a future-oriented CVI, but solidly anchors its institutional identity in a conservative, traditional, and historic model. In the postmodern society of the 21st-century, especially with regard to the current financial crisis, colossal and ostentatious classical architecture is often interpreted as pastiche, a simulacrum of past times. If the architectural signifier is devoid of content, aesthetic symbols lose their semantic substance and referential value. Architecture receives full symbolic meaning when container and contained, form and human substance are synthesized. In the economic environment of today, however, the conduct of Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 119 Corporate Architecture: New Building Blocks of Brand Value financial institutions may appear antagonistic to the implicitly virtuous and honorable architectural projection. In his article on image and substance in organizational communication, James Grunig points out that without behavioral substance, the visual representation turns into insignificant formalism. To avert cognitive dissonance, institutions have to align institutional ethics with their aesthetic projection. In order to create a coherent and credible corporate image, essential values, such as reciprocity, trust, credibility, legitimacy, transparency, satisfaction, and mutual comprehension, must fundamentally determine business governance (Grunig, 1993, 121139). A ny behavioral deficit could undermine the dignified architecture of the Beaux-Arts style and transform iconicity into irony. For instance, the prominent display of Hermes on UBS‘s façade could be satirically perceived as a phenomenon of the bank‘s kleptomaniac practices, as Hermes also was the god of thieves. Thus, architectural features could become detrimental to the corporate image when the institution falls short of behavioral expectations that are articulated through its architectural representation. The correlation between outside and inside, aesthetics and ethics, form and substance, is a condition sine qua non for positive image management and relationship building. Conclusion The UBS headquarters in Zurich are a prime example of classical banking architecture, as defined by Heinrich Wölfflin. In his binary model, Wölfflin presents a formal differentiation of baroque and classical styles, using defining criteria such as linear and painterly qualities, closed and open form, unity and multiplicity, plane and recession (Wölfflin, 1932). Indeed, the majestic frontal elevation very distinctly stresses the decorative elements of the lintels as autonomous and separate entities that converge into an overall unified structure. The harmony, symmetry and perfect balance of the building fuse with the accentuated verticality of the structure. By placing a structural emphasis on the vertical axis, the bank visually expresses the financial aspirations of the bourgeois elite, but also establishes a hierarchical relationship between the individual and the institution‘s central authority. The phenomenological dimension of space as an institutional signifier is manifest in the use of architectural metaphors that hold rhetorical power: Its [rhetoric] foundations in the metaphoricity of language gave it the power to communicate across the most distant levels of reality, from earthly phenomena to concepts and abstract ideas. In the hierarchy of communication, there was always a critical zone of ambiguity and tension between the invisible and the visible sphere of reality‖ (Vasely, 2004, 214). The meaning-generating process is based on the architectural reproduction of an ideal cosmic order, where the scale of building elements is correlated with the proportions of the human body. The regula e ordine of proportion and harmony govern the metaphorical expression of immutable and perennial values as referential principles of the classical style: Classical banks usually have little glass, thus protecting the inner contents from view, distinguishing the private nature of banking from public view. […] Each of these strategic banking values – stability, strength, and security – have a psychological dimension as well as a material solution. Stability, expressed in visual form by a sturdy architecture, provides a metaphor for long-term endurance‖ (Schroeder, 2002, 105). Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 120 Corporate Architecture: New Building Blocks of Brand Value The aesthetic qualities of the UBS building render the strategic banking values of stability and endurance. In the current instability of the financial markets, the communicational potential of classical architecture could serve as a prime resource for crisis communication: ―[T]his is why the posts, pillars, and columns which have assured people in many cultures of the buildings‘ structural stability have been just as critical in resolving other uncertainties and anxieties‖ (Onians, 1988, 3). However, the classical repertory could become farcical if there is no conformity between the dignified architecture and managerial techniques. Furthermore, classical architecture carries political overtones, as it is symbolically associated with the hegemonic power of dominating western countries: ―the whole language of classicism is very much associated with colonialism‖ (Sharoff, 1997, 43). For this reason, the classical style was rejected as a stylistic reference for the construction of the World Bank in Washington (Schroeder, 2002, 106). Parker and Hildebrand (1996) correlate the axioms of classical architecture with Aristotle‘s concept of ethos. Ethos signifies the credibility and legitimacy of the communicator and forms, together with the concepts of pathos and logos, the rhetorical triangle of persuasive communication. Persuasive communication strategy results from the universally recognized symbolic values inherent in the classical canon: Created by private capital to serve pragmatic functions for its owners, bank architecture at the same time turns a public face to its community in a vigorous attempt to communicate, persuade, assure, impress, and convince […]. Contemporary attitudes regarding money, respectability, security, and corporate aesthetics are reflected […] bank architecture thus communicates the importance of banks as institutions, assuring us of their stability, prosperity, and permanence and inviting us inside to do business‖ (Nisbet, 1990, 8). Financial communicators have long neglected the architectural phenomenon as an expressive means of corporate communication. And yet, the three-dimensional, physical nature of architectural space conveys a physical tangibility to financial institutions that serves as a valuable asset of Integrated Marketing Communications. In the highly aesthetisized, visually-oriented postmodern society, bank architecture distinguishes itself through the pervasive semiotization of space. Functional criteria are replaced by the symbolic mediation of institutional values, where the architectural discourse articulates meaning in the cultural landscape. As speaking icons of the urban fabric, banks project their identity in the public space, thereby linking their institutional identity to the collective memory of their constituencies. By establishing tangible cultural references, iconic buildings become pertinent visual identifiers to the point that they are reproduced by a vast amount of banks on their websites. Schroeder indicates that the headquarters of 60% of the largest banks are present on their homepages, and that 50% of banks add on supplemental architectural elements (Schroeder, 2002, 112). The symbolic value of architecture functions as a counterpoint to the ephemeral and volatile nature of financial markets, and to the virtuality of electronic platforms. Günter Abel holds that architecture is invariably apprehended through interpretation, as it is impossible to feel, to speak, to think and to act in a non-interpretive way (Abel, 1999). As a prime visual identifier, bank architecture not only transforms the morphology of urban space. Its rhetorical relevance makes it an essential ingredient of the contemporary marketing communication mix. The symbolic power of architecture enhances institutional Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 121 Corporate Architecture: New Building Blocks of Brand Value reputation, builds brand equity, formulates a new corporate message, and topographically anchors the institution in the narrative of its cultural heritage. References Abel, G. (1999), Sprache, Zeichen, Interpretation, Suhrkamp, Frankfurt/Main. Arnheim, R. 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(1976), A History of Building Types, Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ. Piper, J. (2006), ―Kritische Annäherung an die Peripherie der Architektur. Mercedes-Benz-Museum Stuttgart‖, Baumeister, July, pp. 38-53. Rykwert, J. (2008), The Judicious Eye, Reaktion Books, London. Schroeder, J. E. (2002), Visual Consumption, Routledge, London and New York. Scruton, R. (1979), The Aesthetics of Architecture, Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ. Sharoff, R. (1997), ―World Bank: Architecture as Diplomacy‖, New York Times, 6 March, p. 43. Sudjic, D. (2005), The Edifice Complex, Penguin Books, London. Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 122 Corporate Architecture: New Building Blocks of Brand Value Summerson, J. (1963), The Classical Language of Architecture, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA. Tange, K., ―Function, Structure and Symbol‖, quoted by Kultermann, U. (1970), Architecture and Urban Design, Verlag für Architektur, Artemis, Zurich. Tzonis, A., Lefaivre, L. 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Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 123 Corporate Communication and the Impact of Legislative Actions and Court Decisions on the Business Community Joseph Basso Rowan University, USA [email protected] The author conducted a qualitative study to ascertain opinions of members of the legal community concerning the impact of legilsative actions and court decision on the business community. In particular, the author studied this from the perspective of a Constitutional analysis and the government‘s reliance on the Commerce Clause as an authority in granting it powers to regulate business. Finally, the author addressed the First Amendment issues with respect to regulating the flow of information with respect to social media and emerging communication technologies. Results showed that respondents believe that the central role in governmental regulation must be reevaluated in light of the changing business environment. Corporate organization has become the most central institution in modern society. Everything from personal identity and use of natural resources to definitions of value and distribution of goods and services has increasingly come under corporate control. While the state‘s power is exercised primarily through restrictions, corporate organizations provide disciplinary structures embodied in routines and technologies that appear enabling and apolitical (Deetz, 1992). Corporate Communication drives the need for corporations of all sizes to meet the strategic goal of developing corporate image and culture through consistent and coherent messages disseminated through a variety of mediums. The complexity of modern corporate reality can be greatly attributed to the widespread explosion of communication mediums that have fueled the need for corporations to consider their communication functions as central and vital to their strategic plans. Author Michael B. Goodman, writing in Corporate Communication Theory and Practice, states that corporate communication is the total of a corporation‘s efforts to communicate effectively and profitably. Goodman adds that communication is more art than science. However, the complexities of modern corporate existence may now add one new dimension to the eternal balancing act between communication as art and science. Rather, modern corporate communication may be more legal than art or science. The role of corporate communication within organizations continues to help management articulate the strategic direction of the company and motivate audiences to adapt the direction the organization has taken. However, it also helps the organization and its key publics decipher the regulatory process in which organizations must operate. Regulatory legalism and unreasonableness cannot be dismissed as an occasional aberration. In fact, regulatory bureaucracies often exhibit an inherent propensity toward legalism and unreasonableness in the organizational dynamics of regulatory bureaucracies and in the politics of regulation. Yet, while that propensity is easily triggered, it also can be neutralized. Many regulatory agencies, in the United States as well as other countries, develop relatively nonlegalistic modes of enforcement. This model allows for use of coercive tools of the law when necessary, but also allows for intellectually just and sensible compromises that avoid regulatory unreasonableness and elicit cooperation. In fact, these non-legalistic modes of enforcement can Conference on Corproate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 124 Corporate Communication and the Impact of Legislative Actions and Court Decisions also be duplicated through self-regulation within industries through trade and professional associations. As the United States economy continues its attempt to rebound from economic strife, business in the US echo the sentiment that the growing cost and intrusiveness of regulation has made it increasingly controversial and often stagnates economic growth. In the United States, regulated businesses periodically accuse regulators of overreaching, demand statutory or regulatory changes that reduce financial burdens of regulation, and lobby for the appointment of regulatory officials who are more pro-business. However, pro-regulation activist groups often charge regulatory agencies with undue leniency, demand closer federal oversight of state and local regulatory agencies, and lobby for the appointment of aggressive regulatory agency heads, greater opportunities to participate in regulatory decision-making processes, and laws that facilitate legal challenges to regulatory decisions they dislike. A century ago, when Congress established the Interstate Commerce Commission, it initiated a new epoch in responsibilities of the federal government. For the first time, a national legislative scheme was enacted that provided for wide-ranging regulatory controls over an industry that was vital to the nation‘s economy—the railroads. Moreover, regulation of the industry was committed to an institutional mechanism that was virtually untested on the national stage, an independent regulatory commission. The modern age of administrative government had begun (Rabin, p. 1189). By the end of the 1930s, the bureaucrats were in charge. In expanding the federal government‘s field of play in preceding decades, Congress and the White House had transferred a remarkable amount of authority to agencies and commissions to handle this new and staggering workload. Local, state, and federal governments had exercised regulatory authority from the early republic on, and, beginning in the late nineteenth century, the Interstate Commerce Commission, the Federal Trade Commission, and a growing number of offices within the Department of Agriculture assumed regulatory authority over industrial and agricultural problems (Balogh, 2009). With the vast expansion of government authority during the Great Depression came new agencies -- including the Agricultural Adjustment Administration, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the National Labor Relations Board, and the National Resources Planning Board -that complemented and often overlapped the jurisdictions of older ones (Zeppos, 1997). The legislative tug-of-war that often exists between government regulations and strategic business practices often complicate the corporate communication function. Balancing business equity-- the owner's investment in the business after liabilities of a business are subtracted from the assets—against the need to stand firm for and against government intervention involves a blend of the science, the strategic management with the art, the communication function, coupled with a broad base understand of legislative process and requirements. Public opinion is not a very good guide when analyzing organizational effectiveness in dealing with, and reacting to, regulations. Public opinion is subject to change. Opinions, even on complex issues, are subject to change depending on variables often beyond the control of the organization. By its very nature, therefore, business ethics is embroiled in philosophical and operational difficulties that impact its ability to successfully communicate its position in light of governmental oversight—and occasionally governmental overreaching. The traditional concept of business based on Adam Smith's imagery of the market's hidden hand assumes that business entities bring about social goods by maximizing profits while operating within the law. Social goods are thus a by-product of market forces rather than an objective assigned to corporate management to meet. This viewpoint has been long asserted by free market economists like Milton Friedman. Friedman criticized those who insisted that executives and business owners had a social responsibility beyond serving the interests or their Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 125 Corporate Communication and the Impact of Legislative Actions and Court Decisions stockholders, saying that such views showed a fundamental misconception of the character and nature of a free economy. In such an economy, there is one and only one social responsibility of business—to use its resources and engage in activities designed to increase its profits, so long as it stays within the rules of the game, which is to say, engages in open and free competition, without deception or fraud (Smith, 1976). While social responsibility seems to indicate an anti-profit mode perpetuated by legislative actions that often seem punitive in nature, it may also indirectly fend off intrusive legislation. On its face, business that avoids extra costs associated with ethical behavior, and only bears the costs necessary to be compliant with the law, may seem to be operating at peek efficiency to maximize profitability. However, a more complex approach considers heightened ethical values as a key component in increased consumer acceptance and a decreased need for reactionary government regulation. In short, the Return on Values (ROV) may be synonymous with the Return on Investment (ROI). A key aspect of American government since 1937 has been the dramatic increase in the number of federal administrative and regulatory agencies and in the scope of authority they possess. The Supreme Court of the United States‘ broad definition of the commerce clause power facilitated this expansion. The Court held that Congress could set the terms for items shipped in interstate commerce. This includes virtually anything that potentially can travel across state lines. For example, the Court determined in United States v. South-Eastern Underwriters Association that Congress had the authority to regulate even intangible items such as insurance policies or stock under its commerce power. Two years later, the Court broadened Congressional power under the Commerce Clause in American Power and Light Co. v. SEC when it affirmed Congress‘s authority to regulate stock in public utilities. At the heart of all regulation rests Congress‘s power to regulate. A strong impetus for calling the Constitutional Convention of 1787 was the need for national controls over the nation‘s commerce, which had become chaotic, as many states had erected barriers to interstate trade in an effort to protect business enterprises for its own citizens. Thus, little discussion surrounded the adoption of clause 3 in Article I, section 8 of the Constitution, which empowered Congress to regulate Commerce with foreign nations, among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes. However, at the time of drafting the Constitutional provision, the framers could not have envisioned that this would generate more litigation between 1789 and 1950 than any other clause in the Constitution. In short, the Commerce Clause has become the single most important source of national power. In 1824 the Supreme Court strengthened the federal government's power to regulate interstate commerce with its decision in Gibbons v. Ogden, which involved the authority to license shipping. Steamboat operator Thomas Gibbons had secured only a federal license to run his business in New York State waters, which were controlled by a monopoly created through a state licensing system. A member of this monopoly, Aaron Ogden tried to shut down Gibbons's business by suing him for failing to have the proper New York State licenses. The Court ruled in favor of Gibbons and declared that commerce involved not only buying and selling but also transportation and navigation. By giving Congress the sole authority to regulate interstate transportation, this decision cleared the way for the United States to create a national transportation system that has continued to benefit business. By 1860 only a few transportation and banking enterprises remained in state hands. As the railroads enabled Americans to travel more easily from state to state, new state regulations were enacted to protect the interests of local businesses. The passage of stricter regulations kept out-of-state doctors, lawyers, and even barbers from competing with local practitioners. Laws governing the quality of major export products protected the reputation of a city or state. Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 126 Corporate Communication and the Impact of Legislative Actions and Court Decisions Regulation of railroad rates was attempted to benefit local shippers, but here the states ran into trouble with the commerce power of Congress. In 1866 the Fourteenth Amendment secured citizens against the deprivation of property or equal protection of the law without due process. By the 1880s the amendment was being interpreted by the Supreme Court to mean that property included the return on such intangible assets as stocks or bonds and that due process meant judicial review of the substance of law. This interpretation rendered the state regulation of national business completely ineffective and further encouraged federal action to correct problems in interstate commerce. This power permitted a long series of railroad regulatory acts, starting in 1887 that were generally advantageous to shippers. In the twentieth century, these acts would leave the railroads in a weak position in competition against the automobile and airplane. In Gibbons v. Ogden (1824), Chief Justice John Marshall set the stage for the future commercial development of the nation. In Ogden, Marshall spoke in broad, expansive language in holding New York‘s grant of a monopoly of steam navigation on its waters to be in conflict with a federal statute. Marshall maintained that commerce was not simply traffic but ―intercourse.‖ Marshall affirmed that the federal power is ―complete in itself‖ and ―acknowledges no limitations, other than are prescribed in the Constitution.‖ The Ogden decision ushered in an era of nationalism. Over the years, it has become a source of extensive authority for Congress to address new problems in the regulation of the national economy. At the turn of the nineteenth century, the public's dismay at business practices fostered further federal regulation. In 1906 writer and social activist Upton Sinclair published The Jungle, a novel that exposed the unsanitary practices of the meatpacking industry. The public furor created by this book motivated the federal government to pass the Pure Food and Drug Act (1906), which Congress continued to strengthen throughout the first half of the twentieth century. Social activists also promoted the cause of child labor reform, which was embraced by the Congress and presidents. The first child labor laws were passed during the administration of President Woodrow Wilson (1913–1921), but the Supreme Court struck these laws down. Similar laws passed in 1919 and 1935 were also ruled unconstitutional by the Court, which held that Congress had overstepped its authority by directly placing controls on state and local commerce. An amendment to the Constitution protecting children against abusive labor practices was passed by Congress in 1924 but failed to gain state ratification. Finally, the 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act, which regulated child labor and afforded other worker protections stood up to constitutional scrutiny in 1941. President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal legislation, enacted in an effort to revive the U.S. economy suffering from the stock market crash of 1929 and the ensuing Great Depression of the 1930s, effectively made the federal government the nation's chief regulator of business and the economy. Roosevelt's legislation reformed the banking system and securities industries, which had practically collapsed during the decade. He tried to jump-start the economy through massive government employment programs, many of which served to improve the country's business infrastructure. The massive military expenditures needed to fight World War II, however, were what provided the economic stimulus needed to end the depression. Apart from building and maintaining a national highway system, military spending continues to be the federal government's greatest direct involvement with the business community. As the twentieth century wore on, regulation by federal or state act with subsequent judicial interpretation was largely replaced by control through administrative orders of commissions. Between 1887 and 1940 the federal government created a score of commissions and boards governing aspects of business and labor, and from about 1900 on, the states followed suit. The most important of the national agencies came to be the Federal Trade Commission, Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 127 Corporate Communication and the Impact of Legislative Actions and Court Decisions which had broad regulatory powers over corporate practices. On the whole this change in regulatory enforcement pleased business. Commissions came to be staffed by members of the enterprises they regulated, who understood the problems involved. Appearance before a commission was quicker, cheaper, and generally more satisfactory than the slow and costly processes of legal proceedings in state or federal court. The federal government had been continually expanding its role in regulating business since the Sherman Act. After ninety years of almost uninterrupted growth, the 1970s proved to be a transitional period for federal regulation. The start of the decade saw the creation of three new federal regulatory bodies: the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the Environ-Mental Protection Agency (EPA), and the Consumer Protection Agency. From 1971 to 1974 the government directly intervened into the private sector with a series of wage and price controls designed to curb inflation that had been plaguing the U.S economy since 1965. However, inflation, combined with social programs and business regulations often criticized as excessive, and the huge federal budget deficits incurred to finance these programs and regulations resulted in political pressure that ended the expansion of federal business regulation. By the end of the decade, several regulatory agencies, including the Interstate Commerce Commission and the Civil Aeronautics Board, had been abolished, and the airline, telecommunications, railroad, trucking, and television and radio broadcasting industries had been deregulated. The 1980s and 1990s saw further Deregulation. Consumers as well as business have benefited from this trend, but there have been notable failures. Deregulation of the savings and loan industry led to a series of bank failures in the late 1980s that cost the federal government more than $1 trillion. In 2001, deregulation of California's power industry created electricity shortages, raised wholesale and retail prices, and forced two of that states largest utility companies to declare bankruptcy. The energy trading company, Enron, along with other energy brokers, which were all created because of deregulation, has been accused of conspiring to manipulate California's power supply and creating the state's energy crisis. In December 2001 Enron became the center of another scandal when its bankruptcy, the largest to date in the nation's history, revealed that the company had used deceptive accounting practices to inflate its earning reports and stock price. This was the first in a series of corporate bankruptcies to involve fraudulent bookkeeping that shook an already weak stock market in 2002. To restore investor confidence, the federal government exercised its regulatory authority to promote greater scrutiny of the securities, accounting, and power utility industries. The accounting scandals of the early twenty-first century recall the business scandals of the late 1800s and early 1900s when antagonism between business and government regulators became ingrained. Despite this antipathy, the two sides have, in fact, benefited from each other. Government regulations ensuring the enforceability of contracts and property rights are such basics that business in the United States could not function properly without them. Likewise, without the economic growth created by private business, the U.S. government could not sustain itself. Although the current system of federal and state regulations may sometimes be selfcontradictory, and, in addition, confusing to the business community, it is a relatively loose one, leaving the United States as one of the nations whose business welfare depends most on the decisions of private entrepreneurs. The power derived by Congress from the Commerce Clause often runs in direct contrast to the notion of Laissez-Faire Constitutionalism. Laissez-Faire Constitutionalism refers to an attitude among some justices of the Supreme Court that reflected classical liberal economics, with its commitment to market control of the economy, a preference for entrepreneurial liberty and hostility for government regulation. In fact, Laissez-Faire Constitutionalism was marked by an unconcealed hostility toward organized labor. The divide favoring Laissez-Faire Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 128 Corporate Communication and the Impact of Legislative Actions and Court Decisions Constitutionalism existed largely on the boundaries of the leading industrialized states, which favored less restrictive regulation. The pendulum continues to shift somewhat today as battlegrounds exist among various parties in the level and need for control of commerce. Compounding this grab for power is the changing definition of commerce, which now seems to include communication as commerce. This, of course, resurrects the First Amendment debate and the limitations placed on freedom of speech. Sarbanes-Oxley Act One of the most important extensions of legislative authority in business happened with the passage of the so-called Sarbanes-Oxley Act in 2002. The act address new compliance measures with respect to financial accounting rules. The act has global implications. A key section, Section 404, is designed to prevent financial malpractice and accounting scandals such as the Enron debacle. The Public Company Accounting Reform and Investor Protection Act (aka Sarbanes-Oxley) was named after the bill‘s co-sponsors Sen. Paul Sarbanes (D) Maryland and Rep. Michael Oxley (R) Ohio. The Act covers a whole range of governance issues, many covering the types of trade that are allowed within a company, with an emphasis upon keeping everything above board. For example, the Act forbids personal loans to officers and directors. Former WorldCom boss Bernie Ebbers had taken considerable loans from his company shortly before it became the center of a corporate scandal. Other measures regulate the responsibilities of audit committees sent in to check the health of companies' compliance. The Act also offers protection to whistleblowers. While much of this is common sense and achievable, the actual challenge of SarbanesOxley is ensuring it is observed and that compliance can be demonstrated and accurately monitored and reported. The most common area of focus is the archiving of all communications and the creation of transparent and auditable systems for recording transactions, dealings and any kind of business correspondence. This should mean traders can't contact one another or analysts on the quiet, and deals cannot be lost in the muddy waters of business. Applications such as instant messaging are also being singled out as areas that need to be secured and made clearly accountable. However, what has become particularly troubling to business and it attempts to comply with the act is the complexity involved in the security, accountability, logging and archiving of Instant Messaging. The voluminous nature of cataloging every e-mail, IM, and phone call makes adherence to Sarbanes-Oxley daunting. In fact, the nature of legal compliance with the act may be more about knowing what can be deleted rather than what needs to be kept. In an effort to insure compliance, many companies have started to work with accredited auditors and consultants to ensure compliance. In the United States, Ernst & Young and PricewaterhouseCoopers account for about a fifth of this market each, with KPMG and Deloitte and Touche accounting for about 13 per cent each. A successful filing from these companies is essential in maintaining compliance. Even if companies manage to operate efficiently and without troubles, they cannot afford to remiss with their compliance with the act for fear that they will encounter a large-scale public relations disaster. The obligatory fines associated with noncompliance pails in comparison to the public relations disaster associated with failure to comply with every provision of the act. Therefore companies now fear more the court of public opinion rather than the court of law. An ensuing public relations disaster of public naming and shaming could be colossal. Companies need to be able to demonstrate that they have shown due diligence. They may never be able to protect themselves against the actions of a rogue trader who goes offline, but they will be able to demonstrably prove they did everything they could to cover their backs and hit their compliance targets. Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 129 Corporate Communication and the Impact of Legislative Actions and Court Decisions Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission Overruling two important precedents about the First Amendment rights of corporations, a bitterly divided Supreme Court, divided on political ideology lines, ruled in 2011 that the government may not ban political spending by corporations in candidate elections. According to the majority opinion, the decision protected the First Amendment‘s most basic free speech principle — that the government has no business regulating political speech. The dissenters said that allowing corporate money to flood the political marketplace would corrupt democracy. The ruling represented a sharp doctrinal shift, and it will have major political and practical consequences. The decision will certainly reshape how political candidates conduct elections. The decision has widespread implications beyond the business world and also impacts how labor unions, often at odd with big business, contribute to elections. The justices in the majority expressed little concern that the decision would political speech by giving corporations a bigger, unregulated voice. Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, writing for the majority stated, ―If the First Amendment has any force, it prohibits Congress from fining or jailing citizens, or associations of citizens, for simply engaging in political speech.‖ The ruling overruled two precedents: Austin v. Michigan Chamber of Commerce (1990) that upheld restrictions on corporate spending to support or oppose political candidates, and McConnell v. Federal Election Commission (2003) that upheld the part of the Campaign Reform Act of 2002 that restricted campaign spending by corporations and unions. The 2002 law, often called the McCain-Feingold act, banned the broadcast, cable or satellite transmission of ―electioneering communications‖ paid for by corporations or labor unions from their general funds in the 30 days before a presidential primary and in the 60 days before the general elections. Joined by the other three members of the court‘s liberal wing, Justice Stevens said the majority had committed a grave error in treating corporate speech the same as that of human beings. However, eight of the justices did agree that Congress can require corporations to disclose their spending and to run disclaimers with their advertisements, at least in the absence of proof of threats or reprisals. The majority opinion did not, however, disturb bans on direct contributions to candidates, but the two sides disagreed about whether independent expenditures came close to amounting to the same thing. ―The difference between selling a vote and selling access is a matter of degree, not kind,‖ Justice Stevens wrote. ―And selling access is not qualitatively different from giving special preference to those who spent money on one‘s behalf.‖ The majority cited a score of decisions recognizing the First Amendment rights of corporations, and Justice Stevens acknowledged that ―we have long since held that corporations are covered by the First Amendment.‖ But Justice Stevens defended the restrictions struck down on Thursday as modest and sensible. Even before the decision, he said, corporations could act through their political action committees or outside the specified time windows. The McCain-Feingold law contains an exception for broadcast news reports, commentaries and editorials. But Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justice Samuel A. Alito, Jr. added that the exemption was ―simply a matter of legislative grace.‖ Justice Kennedy‘s majority opinion said that there was no principled way to distinguish between media corporations and other corporations and that the dissent‘s theory would allow Congress to suppress political speech in newspapers, on television news programs, in books and on blogs. Justice Stevens responded that people who invest in media corporations know ―that media outlets may seek to influence elections.‖ He added in a footnote that lawmakers might now want to Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 130 Corporate Communication and the Impact of Legislative Actions and Court Decisions consider requiring corporations to disclose how they intended to spend shareholders‘ money or to put such spending to a shareholder vote. The Supreme Court passed on an opportunity to rule that Citizens United was not the sort of group to which the McCain-Feingold law was meant to apply. Instead, it addressed the questions it proposed to the parties in June when it set down the case for an unusual second argument in September, those of whether Austin and McConnell should be overruled. The answer, the court ruled Thursday, was yes. ―When government seeks to use its full power, including the criminal law, to command where a person may get his or her information or what distrusted source he or she may not hear, it uses censorship to control thought,‖ Justice Kennedy wrote. ―This is unlawful. The First Amendment confirms the freedom to think for ourselves.‖ Cybersecurity Act of 2009 A proposed Senate bill would give the Executive Branch of the government emergency control of the Internet and may provide the President with a "kill switch" to shut down online traffic by seizing private networks. This proposed legislation introduced by Senator Jay Rockefeller, D-W.V. has caused concern among many cybersecurity experts who worry that it will choke off industry and civil liberties and create a dangerous government intrusion into First Amendment protection. According to Larry Clinton, president of the Internet Security Alliance, a trade association that represents the telecommunications industry, "In the original bill they empowered the president to essentially turn off the Internet in the case of a 'cyber-emergency,' which they didn't define." This broad sweeping power creates the potential for too much government control of speech, according to opponents. Clinton said the new version of the bill that surfaced this week is improved from its first draft, but troubling language that was removed was replaced by vague language that could still offer the same powers to the president in case of an emergency. The new legislation allows the president to "declare a cybersecurity emergency" relating to "non-governmental" computer networks and make a plan to respond to the danger-- a broad license that rights experts worry would give the president "amorphous powers" over private users. However, proponents of the Rockefeller bill claim that the legislation offers critical protection for everything from water and electricity to banking, traffic lights and electronic health records. The bill would also let the government create a detailed set of standards for licensing "cybersecurity professionals" who would oversee a single standard for security measures. Of course, industry experts question the government‘s ability to control the technology, beyond the obvious infringement of free speech. They argue that the legislation would centralize regulations for an industry that too varied to fall under the control of a single set of rules without endangering the economy and security. Government restriction on business whether in the form of financial regulation, political reform or limitation on broadcast crosses Constitutional provisions. However, at the heart of any limitation appears to be a fundamental right of freedom of speech protected by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. The First Amendment Until 1694, English society had an elaborate system of licensing that required all attempts at publication to first get a government granted license. Famed English Jurist and Professor, William Blackstone, in his commentary on the suppression of speech and of the press in English society, wrote, ―[To] subject the press to the restrictive power of a licenser…is to subject all freedom of sentiment to the prejudices of one man, and make him the arbitrary and infallible Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 131 Corporate Communication and the Impact of Legislative Actions and Court Decisions judge of all controverted points in learning, religion, and government.‖ In part, Blackstone‘s commentary served as the foundation behind the purpose of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, and the framers intent to abolish such prior restraints on publication. The founders were sensitive to restrictive speech, especially restrictions on seditious libel that made criticizing the government a crime under English rule. Simply, the framers wanted the First Amendment to empower expression rather than forbid punishment of seditious libel. Inevitably, though, freedom of speech is not an absolute. The courts must decide what speech the First Amendment protects, and what the government can regulate. Although the framers wrote the First Amendment with absolute language that Congress shall make ―no law‖ prohibiting speech, the Supreme Court of the United States has never accepted the view that the First Amendment prohibits all government regulation of expression. The authors intended this book to help hone writhers‘ technical skills. However, crafting effective prose cannot be accomplished without developing critical thinking skills, and understanding the freedoms and limitations of the laws of expression. Simply, freedom of speech is crucial in a democracy, but all too powerful to go completely unchecked. Society works best when informed citizens make decisions. Professional communicators, therefore, must be knowledgeable wordsmiths and protectors of free speech in order to serve both clients and society. The First Amendment is more than a constitutional guarantee against government interference; it is one of the country‘s foremost normative and cultural symbols. The First Amendment embodies the vital attributes of the American character. That character, of course, is rooted in the creation of sovereign power, or inalienable rights. In using the phrase inalienable rights, the framers of the constitution made it clear that people cannot alienate—sell or trade— their rights because do so would render the people less sovereign. The Founding Fathers believed that indispensable in liberty were people who had the freedom to think as they will and to speak as they think. Commercial Speech Doctrine As early as 1942, the Supreme Court of the United States held that commercial speech was not protected by the First Amendment. In Valentine v. Chrestensen (1942), the Court first articulated its commercial speech doctrine. The justices in Valentine upheld as constitutional a city ordinance prohibiting the distribution of "any handbill or other advertising matter in or upon any street.‖ Without analysis or explanation, the Court stated, "We are equally clear that the Constitution imposes no such restraint on government as respects purely commercial advertising.‖ In 1951 the Court further stressed the commercial feature of a transaction when it upheld the constitutionality of a law that prohibited sellers of goods from going door-to-door. In Bread v. City of Alexandria the Court clearly distinguished between what it deemed unprotected commercial speech from the circumstances of an earlier case, Martin v. City of Struthers (1943), which dealt with noncommercial speech. In Martin the Court declared unconstitutional a city ordinance which was used to punish a religious group that went door-to-door to solicit for religion. Here the Court emphasized that religious speech was not commercial. Commercial speech remained unprotected in American jurisprudence until 1975. Then, in Bigelow v. Virginia (1975), the Court held protected under the First Amendment advertisements for abortion services in newspapers. The Court stated that "speech is not stripped of its First Amendment protection merely because it appears as a commercial advertisement. Furthermore, the Court expressly held that speech that "does no more than propose a commercial Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 132 Corporate Communication and the Impact of Legislative Actions and Court Decisions transaction" is protected by the First Amendment. This proved a dramatic shift in the Court's interpretation of commercial speech. The ruling in Bigelow set the stage for the landmark case on commercial speech, Virginia State Board of Pharmacy v. Virginia Citizens Consumer Council (1976). Here the Court declared unconstitutional a statute banning the advertisement of prescription drug prices. The Court further reasoned that in free enterprise economy, consumers depend on the free flow of commercial information as a means of conveying vital information. However, the Court suggested that deceptive or misleading advertising, even if not false, did not serve any social interests and could be regulated. In recent years the Court has demonstrated a willingness to protect only speech that furthered the social interests in the free flow of information. Consequently, under the commercial speech doctrine, audience interest has taken priority over speaker's interests. Once the Court decided that the First Amendment protected commercial speech it needed to then tackle a seemingly more difficult task, defining commercial speech. Clearly, advertising the price and availability for a product is a form of commercial speech. However, advertising can also be purely political in nature. In New York Times v. Sullivan (1964) the Court extended the commercial speech doctrine to include political speech. This landmark case also signaled a critical shift in First Amendment jurisprudence by embracing a more speech protective analysis that focused on the danger that actions for libel might deter expressions that rest at the heart of the amendment. Of course, the foundation for any discussion of commercial speech begins with the language contained in the First Amendment. At its very core, the First Amendment advances the idea that government may not tell you to shut up just because it doesn‘t like the content of your message. It may, however, put reasonable restrictions on the time, place and manner of your speech, and it can also balance your rights of free speech against other important rights. The Supreme Court also ruled that free speech cannot be restricted merely because the speaker is a corporation rather than a natural person; nor is the corporation‘s right of free speech limited to matters that affect the company‘s business. In First National Bank of Boston v. Bellotti (1980), the court struck down a law forbidding spending for corporate advocacy. In Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corp. v. Public Service Commission of New York (1980) the Court addressed the issue of the constitutionality of a state law prohibiting promotional advertising by an electrical utility. Again the Court reaffirmed its stance that commercial speech is protected by the First Amendment but said that it nonetheless "recognized the commonsense distinction between speech proposing a commercial transaction, which occurs in an area traditionally subject to government regulation, and other varieties of speech.‖ In Central Hudson, the Court introduced a four-part test to help lower courts and business communities determine what commercial speech would be protected. 1. Does the commercial speech concern lawful activity, and, 2. Is the government interest in restricting the speech a truly important interest? If yes to these two then the court asks, 3. Does the proposed governmental regulation directly advance the interest asserted? 4. Is the regulation more extensive than necessary to serve that interest? In Board of Trustees of the State University of New York v. Fox (1989) the Court modified the fourth part of its four-part test. In this case, dealing with state regulation that prohibited commercial solicitations on campus, the Court stated that government regulation of commercial speech need not use the least restrictive alternative. However, in place of the least Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 133 Corporate Communication and the Impact of Legislative Actions and Court Decisions restrictive means requirement, the Court said that government must use a means narrowly tailored to achieve the desired objective. Content Neutral vs. Content Specific The Supreme Court of the United States frequently has declared that the very core of the First Amendment is that government cannot regulate speech based on its content. The distinction between content neutral and content specific speech is the first step in understanding restrictions on language. When the Court is determining the constitutionality of a restriction that is not based on content, it uses some form of a balancing test. That test employs three distinct levels— ordinary scrutiny, intermediate scrutiny, and strict scrutiny. Ordinary scrutiny requires the government to show that its restriction reasonably relates to a legitimate governmental interest. This type of restriction generally refers to economic and social restrictions. Intermediate scrutiny, sometimes referred to as heightened scrutiny, requires the government to show that the restriction is substantially related to an important government interest. Intermediate scrutiny applies to classifications based on gender and illegitimacy. However, the test for regulation of speech, a fundamental right expressed in the Bill of Rights, requires adherence to a much higher standard. The most rigorous of the three levels of scrutiny, strict scrutiny requires that for a restriction to pass constitutional muster the challenged government action must be closely related to a compelling government interest. The Distinction Between Content-Based and Content-Neutral Laws Perhaps the most central feature of First Amendment law is the distinction between restrictions based on the content of expression and restrictions that are not based on content. When the Court is determining the constitutionality of a restriction that is not based on content, it uses a balancing test. Once a forum is opened up to assembly or speaking by some groups, government may not prohibit others from assembling or speaking on the basis of what they intend to say. Selective exclusions from a public forum may not be based on content alone, and may not be justified by reference to content alone. The Court relies on an equal protection perspective in framing its distinction between content-based and content-neutral. In Turner Broadcasting System v. Federal Communication Commission, the Court reasoned that content-based restrictions on speech must meet strict scrutiny, while content-neutral regulation only needs to meet intermediate scrutiny. Writing for the Court, Justice Kennedy concluded that the level of scrutiny applicable to content-neutral restrictions that impose an incidental burden on speech is the intermediate level of scrutiny. The justice added, "Government action that stifles speech on account of its message, or that requires the utterance of a particular message favored by the Government, contravenes this essential First Amendment right.‖ As a general rule, laws that by their terms distinguish speech on the basis of the ideas or views expressed are content-based. By contrast, laws that confer benefits or impose burdens on speech without reference to the ideas or views expressed are in most instance content-neutral. The First Amendment prohibits not only content-based restrictions that censor particular points of view, but also content-neutral restrictions that unduly constrict the opportunities for free expression. The government must demonstrate that it is unable to achieve the infringement of speech by less restrictive means. Government action designed to merely suppress unpopular ideas or information or to manipulate the public debated is inherently risky. The Court has fashioned free speech doctrine around a principle that has two fundamental tenets: (1) free speech serves special and significant constitutional purposes, and (2) the First Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 134 Corporate Communication and the Impact of Legislative Actions and Court Decisions Amendment should not protect all speech but only speech of a certain quality. The free speech principle reflects a tension between two cardinal values in our constitutional system, liberalism and democracy. Liberal values stress individual liberty and beckon the Court to protect expression that does not constitute substantial direct harm to society, while democratic norms endorse the right of the majority to enact value judgments that limit liberty. The Court has relied extensively on the rationale developed in Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire. Chaplinsky was convicted under a New Hampshire statute for using offensive language toward another person in public. He contended that the statute was invalid under the United States Constitution because it placed an unreasonable restraint on freedom of speech and because it was vague and indefinite. The Court upheld Chaplinsky's conviction. In doing so, Justice Frank Murphy put forth a two-tier theory of the First Amendment. Justice Murphy concluded that certain well-defined and narrowly limited categories of speech fall outside the bounds of constitutional protection. Justice Murphy stated that lewd, obscene, profane, and libelous, speech, along with insulting or fighting words, failed to contribute to the expression of ideas and possessed no social value in search of the truth. However, subsequent cases have altered the broad-based opinion expressed in Chaplinsky. Whether the analysis is under equal protection or solely under the First Amendment does not matter. The government cannot regulate speech in a public forum based on the viewpoint or subject matter of the speech unless it can meet strict scrutiny. However, although strict scrutiny is rarely met, the Court occasionally finds the test is satisfied. In Burson v. Freeman the Court used strict scrutiny to uphold a law prohibiting distribution of campaign literature near the entrance to a polling place, concluding that the history of campaign workers intimidating voters creates a compelling interest to justify the content-based restriction on speech. Statement of the Problem During the fifty years following the post-New Deal era Congress expanded national regulation into myriad aspects of the national life, using the Commerce Clause as the constitutional basis, all with the Supreme Court‘s approval. However, today‘s economy is one of enormous complexity and interdependence. Even the smallest businesses may be tied to interstate markets by such commonplace items as the mailbox, the telephone, and the computer. The framers of the Constitution resolved to promote interstate commerce by centralizing the power to control commerce. They first imposed certain limits on the states‘ power. Since colonial times, government has regulated business. The need for more responsive and effective business regulation was at least part of the reason for the fight for independence and the establishment of the federal government. As the U.S. economy became more industrialized and the United States grew to be a world power in the nineteenth century, the federal government passed business laws that favored social reforms over the interests of big business. In the twentieth century, government involvement continued to expand until the 1970s, when both business and the public began to call for less regulation. Today, though, shifting political winds and a wave of anti-business sentiment has resulted in a trend toward expansive regulation. Government takeover of businesses, increased regulation on industry, and attempts to regulate the flow of information have placed the federal government squarely at odds with business. The author attempted to ascertain the opinions of members of the legal community toward increased governmental regulations toward business. In particular, the author sought to address the following questions. Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 135 Corporate Communication and the Impact of Legislative Actions and Court Decisions 1. Does expansive government regulation violate constitutional provisions established by the framers of the constitution? 2. Does expansive governmental regulation adversely affect the ability of businesses to grow and profit? 3. Should the role of government be less restrictive, more restrictive, or remain the same in today‘s business environment? Methodology The author conducted a series of four focus group panels with practicing attorneys the Philadelphia and southern New Jersey areas. A total 24 attorneys participated in the study—six attorneys on each panel. Sixteen of the attorneys were males and eight were females. The attorneys ranged in age from 31 years old to 60 years old. Participants were selected using a nonrandom method. Participants accepted an invitation from the author to participate in the study. Each focus group panel lasted approximately 60 minutes with the author serving as the moderator. The author engaged panelists in a series of questions in four categories. Category 1 pertained to the historical role of government in regulating commerce; Category 2 pertained to recent actions by the government in regulating commerce; Category 3 pertained to legislation that impacts fundamental rights to Freedom of Speech granted by the First Amendment; Category 4 addressed the future of regulation and the attempted to get respondents to draw conclusions and predict future trends. Results With respect to Category 1, respondents were split on the discussion pertaining to the historical role of government in regulating commerce. All respondents agreed that government regulation with respect to inter state commerce was necessary for the historical development of the country. However, respondents differed sharply on the level of federal involvement in regulating commerce. In the third focus group panel, one respondent impassionedly expressed his criticism at new deal legislation and claimed that the expansion of federal power at that time gave too much power to the federal government in contrast to the original intent of the framers. In general, respondents were in agreement that the complexities of today‘s business environment create the need for federal law governing commerce. However, respondents differed sharply on the role of federal regulation with several believing that the current political climate has caused governmental overreaching that has limited the ability of business to operate efficiently and in an fiduciary manner that best services its stakeholders. Finally, several respondents felt that the business community possessed the ethical and social responsibility for greater self-regulation and that expansive governmental regulation would inhibit economic growth. Category 2 questions caused the most heated exchanges and divergent views among respondents. The author found little middle ground among respondents. Respondent differed sharply with respect to actions by the federal government. The majority of respondents expressed concern that passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act has muddied the financial reporting waters more than it has helped. Respondents largely agreed that recent legislative decisions have been reactionary as opposed to well thought out. In doing so, respondents agreed that reactionary measures often create waste. However, respondents engaged in the most-lively discussions based largely on political ideology with respect to this category. The majority of panelists seemed to hold the possession that the federal government has overreached with recent legislation. Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 136 Corporate Communication and the Impact of Legislative Actions and Court Decisions However, a minority of respondents defended the need for greater governmental control claiming that business abuse created the need for increased governmental regulation. Respondents appeared most engaged when the discussion focused on restrictions of First Amendment Rights. Respondents universally agreed that social media and new channels of communication have created a complex system for regulating speech. Respondents agreed that freedom of speech is not an absolute and that government has always placed reasonable restrictions on speech. However, questions in Category 3 elicited more discussion rather than controversy. Respondents recognized the complexities of the emerging technologies and increased government restrictions that potentially infringe on free speech. However, they seemed to be unsure about the Court‘s decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission. Respondents largely agreed that campaign finance invites the potential for abuse, but they also expressed great doubt about the motivation and procedure for regulation of speech. The majority of respondents, regardless of their expressed or implied political ideology, questioned the Court‘s motives on both sides of its 5-4 decision. Finally, Category 4 focused primarily on the Cybersecurity Act of 2009 and the concern expressed by the majority of respondents that unfettered government control of emerging communication channels would be unconstitutional. However, respondents were unable to come to terms with a definitive proposal that would balance the rights granted under the First Amendment with the government‘s need to protect commerce. Furthermore, respondents seemed to agree that partisan politics often play a central role in governmental regulation and that traditional constitutional jurisprudence must be reevaluated in light of the changing business environment. Bibliography American Power and Light Co. v. SEC, 329 U.S. 90 (1946). Balogh, Brian, A Government Out of Sight: The Mystery of National Authority in Nineteenth-Century America (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009). Citizens United v. Federal Elections Commission, No. 08-205 (2011). Deetz, Stanley A. (1992). Democracy in an Age of Corporate Colonizations. Developments in Communication and the Politics of Everyday Life. State University of New York Press, Albany, New York. Gibbons v. Ogden, 9 Wheat. (22 U.S.) 1 (1824). Goodman, Michael B. (1994). Corporate Communication Theory and Practice. State University of New York Press, Albany, New York. Laffont, Jean-Jacques, and Jean Tirole. Competition in Telecommunications. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 2000. Lai, Loi Lei, ed. Power System Restructuring and Deregulation. New York: Wiley, 2001. Macey, Jonathan R., Geoffrey P. Miller, and Richard Scott Carnell. Banking Law and Regulation. 3d ed. Gaithersburg, Md.: Aspen Publishers, 2000. Peritz, Rudolph J. R. Competition Policy in America, 1888–1992: History, Rhetoric, Law. New York: Oxford University Press, 1996. Rabin, Robert L. (1986). Federal Regulation in Historical Perspective. Stanford Law Review. No. 5, May, 1986 pp. 1189-1430. Singer, Jonathan W., and Keneth E. Montague, eds. Broken Trusts: The Texas Attorney General Versus the Oil Industry, 1889–1909. Vol. 12, Oil and Business History Series. College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 2002. Smith, Adam. (1976). The Theory of Morals Sentiments, Vol. 1, Oxford University Press. United States v. South-Eastern Underwriters Association, 322 U.S. (1944). Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 137 Corporate Communication and the Impact of Legislative Actions and Court Decisions Viscusi, W. Kip, John M. Vernon, and Joseph E. Harrington Jr. Economics of Regulation and Antitrust, 3d ed. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 2000. Zeppos, Nicholas S. (1997). ―The Legal Profession and the Development of Administrative Law,‖ Chicago-Kent Law Review 72 (1997): 1119-57 Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 138 Corporate Communication Officers and the Executive Board An Empirical Study Irene Pollach & Ylva Helberg Centre for Corporate Communication, Aarhus School of Business and Social Sciences Aarhus University, Denmark [email protected] The corporate communication literature recommends that, ideally, the corporate communication officer should have a seat on the executive board (Cornelissen 2008, p. 123), but little knowledge exists as to what extent this is actually the case. Based on data collected from corporate websites and public databases, this project has the following two goals: (1) To determine to what extent corporate communication officers are actually board members and (2) to test whether a number of factors, including industry, financial performance, and organizational age correlate with the presence of a corporate communication officer on the executive board. This study will add to the literature on top management teams as well as to the literature on the organization of corporate communication and has implications for the organization of corporate communication in large companies. References: Cornelissen, J. (2008). Corporate communication. A guide to theory and practice. London: Sage. (Paper was not available at time of publication.) Conference on Corproate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 139 Corporate Communication Practices and Trends China Study 2010 Jieyun Feng University of International Business & Economics, China [email protected] or [email protected] Michael B. Goodman Baruch College, The City University of New York, USA. [email protected] or [email protected] With the assistance of Nan Zhang, Liyuan Tian, Yang Hu Wanna Zheng & Shiyin Huang Sponsored by: CCI – Corporate Communication International Baruch College/CUNY Underwritten by: Prudential Financial, Inc. Major findings from this study of China‘s corporate communication practice and trends in 2010 reveal a rapid development of this important management function: 1) Corporate communication is primarily to manage corporate branding and reputation, and to support marketing and sales; similar to the findings of the previous CCI studie. What they value most in corporate communication is whether it can improve corporate image and reputation, and whether it can support marketing and sales, rather than forge relationships with internal and external stakeholders; 2) Yet more than half of the companies reported not having set up an internal department specifically for crisis management; 3) The CEO in many Chinese companies is the top person responsible for corporate communication, and that suggests that Chinese companies are assigning much importance to it in the form of increased budget, staffing, and recognition of the importance of this function; 4) Corporate communication is not likely to bear the brunt of corporate cutback and its department would be impacted ―neither sooner nor later‖ than other departments; 5) It is acknowledged that the core competence of an excellent corporate communicator should include professional knowledge, good communication and interpersonal skills and PR abilities; 6) Chinese companies use third-party agencies or vendors mostly for advertising, training & employee development and brand strategy; 7) Some local Chinese enterprises have not fully recognized the importance of corporate communication and do not allocate enough budgets for it. In 2010 China became the world‘s second largest economy, and Chinese companies have served as one of the powerful engines driving the nation‘s economy forward. Since the Conference on Corproate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 140 Corporate Communication Practices and Trends implementation of reform and policies to open-up world trade in 1979, these companies have adopted the ―market-oriented‖ principle. They now compete fiercely in both the local and global marketplaces. Attitudes towards corporate communication in China have underscored these gradual changes, which at first it were not considered important. However, corporate image and reputation both are now assuming growing importance in the Chinese marketplace and many of the respondents to this research study consider it as an integral part in the survival and success of a modern company. Increasing interest in corporate communication and the recognition of its value has forced Chinese companies to confront the challenges of undertaking corporate communication functions within their organizations. Crisis communication management and corporate social responsibility (CSR) are two critically important functions. To address these challenges and to facilitate better communication among all its stakeholders, Chinese companies need to embrace more international dialogue and a greater exchange of ideas. Strongly driven by this need for global outreach, this study was accomplished in 2010. The 2010 study is an extension of the two previous studies conducted in China by Jay Wang and Michael B. Goodman in 2006 and in 2008. Project Objectives This investigation in 2010 identifies the corporate communication practices and trends in China. Specifically, this study addresses the following questions: 1. What are the main roles that corporation communication plays in China? 2. What are the main functions of corporation communication in China? 3. For what purposes do Chinese companies use third-party agencies or vendors in their activities and programs of corporate communication? 4. Is the top management in Chinese companies directly involved in corporate communication and to what extent is it involved? 5. To what extent is crisis management emphasized as part of corporate communication? 6. What are the core competencies that define excellence for corporate communication personnel practitioners? 7. What are the similarities in the three China studies concerning corporate communication practices? As the latest study concerning corporate communication in China, this investigation provides information and insight into the development of corporate communication practices in the world‘s largest emerging economy. How the Study Was Conducted This study was undertaken in September-December 2010, using a convenience sample of 114 Beijing-based Chinese companies. Ninety of the participants worked in a variety of industries and were part-time MA students in the School of International Studies, University of International Business & Economics, Beijing. The principal investigator and the assistants affiliated with the same university were able to talk with them face-to-face and administer the whole process while the participants filled out the forms. In addition, the other twenty-four participants were contacted and identified through their own social network by the investigators. Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 141 Corporate Communication Practices and Trends These twenty-four took part in the survey via e-mail and telephone. The inclusion of companies of varying sizes in a variety of industries was to provide a ―representation‖ of the Chinese enterprise landscape. See the ―Participant Profile‖ discussion below for details. The survey questionnaire consisted of two main parts. Part one was multiple-choice questions that focused on the structure and practice of corporate communication in China. The questions for the Chinese study were largely based on the corporate communication survey conducted by CCI -- Corporate Communication International among U.S. companies, and translated into Chinese and modified for Chinese cultural understanding of key concepts. Part two involved open-ended questions which address: the challenges facing corporate communication, its contribution to a company‘s success, and the core competencies of an excellent corporate communicator. The questionnaire was originally developed in English and translated into Chinese by professional researchers in Beijing. The Chinese translation was checked and reviewed by two bilingual researchers and discussions were held to reach an agreement on the final translation. As part of the data collection and analysis procedure, the names and affiliations of the respondents are held in strict confidence, and are not associated with individual responses. In order to motivate the respondents to provide detailed answers and spend adequate time on the questionnaires, they were informed that the research findings of the present study would be provided for them after the study was completed. The discussion of the research findings is in three sections. Section 1 discusses the answers that the respondents provided to the 27 multiple-choice questions; Section 2 presents the responses to three open-ended questions; Section 3 is a brief comparison of the three studies concerning corporate communication practices in China. SECTION 1: Discussion of the Multiple-Choice Questions Participant Profile Industry Sectors Represented Companies that took part in the study were from a cross-section of industry sectors. As shown in Figure 1 Participant Profile – Industry Sectors Represented, a majority of the participants came from two sectors -- business services (28.07%) and industrial/machinery/auto (28.07%). The other participants represented a wide range of industries such as high-tech (9.65%), pharmaceutical (8.77%), financial services (7.89%), real estate (7.02%), telecommunication (5.26%), hospitality (3.51%), and retail (1.75%). Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 142 Corporate Communication Practices and Trends Company Size The participating companies in the study represent businesses of various sizes. Companies were first defined by their total sales (RMB) for fiscal year 2009. Figure 2 Participant Profile – Company Size shows that almost half of the participating companies (44.86%) had annual sales that reached and exceeded one billion yuan; 23.36% had sales ranging from 10 million yuan to 99.99 million yuan; 17.76% had annual sales ranging from 100 million yuan to 499.99 million yuan; 8.41% had sales that were below 10 million yuan; and 5.61% had sales ranging from 500 million yuan to 999.99 million yuan. Also shown in Figure 2, companies were defined by the total number of employees in their organization. The companies were put into one of six categories: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 1-499 employees; 500-999 employees; 1,000-4,999 employees; 5,000-9,999 employees; 10,000-20,999 employees, or 20,000 and more employees. The majority of the participating companies (56.64%) for this survey came from the <500 category, 20.35% from the 1,000-4,999 category. The remaining participating companies accounted for a very small proportion. Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 143 Corporate Communication Practices and Trends Role of Corporate Communication Corporate communication often means different things to different companies. To better understand the role of corporate communication in contemporary China, respondents were asked to rate a series of statements on a scale of 1-5 (1 being strongly agree and 5 being strongly disagree). The primary responses in this category pertain to branding and brand perception, to managing the company‘s reputation, and to providing support for marketing and sales. Respondents also emphasized the importance of corporate communication in company‘s publicity Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 144 Corporate Communication Practices and Trends and in serving as a source of public information about the company, as it is shown in the positive rating of the four columns -- 1 refers to strongly agree. On the other hand, corporate philanthropy champion and corporate citizenship champion received negative responses --5 means strongly disagree. Figure 3, indicates that the majority of respondents disagree with these roles of corporate communication. The responses indicate that corporate communication is primarily to manage corporate branding and reputation, and to support marking and sales. Role of Corporate Communication Mean Std. Deviation branding and brand perception steward manager of the company's reputation support for marketing & sales driver of company publicity source of public information about the company manager of relations between the company and all of its key constituencies counsel to the CEO and the Corporation manager of employee relations(internal communication) manager of relationships between the company and its key non-customer constituencies corporate citizen champion corporate philanthropy champion 1.6250 1.6355 1.6881 1.7523 1.9817 2.0190 .73674 .69217 .72899 .78358 .88172 .86581 2.0935 2.2358 2.3019 .88523 .93148 .99685 2.3846 2.5000 .88469 .98113 * Mean scores on a 1-5 scale, with 1 being strongly agree and 5 strongly disagree FIGURE 3. Respondents Perception of the Role of Corporate Communication Function of Corporate Communication The concept and practice of corporate communication can be interpreted through a wide range of business functions and budgetary responsibilities, and we were also interested in finding out what specific functions constituted corporate communication in these Chinese companies. Respondents were asked to identify the ones they viewed as part of corporate communication in their companies from a list of more than 20 functions. Figure 4A reveals that brand strategy (mentioned by 76.6% of the respondents) and corporate culture (69.4%), were seen as the key functions of corporate communication among the respondents. Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 145 Corporate Communication Practices and Trends Figure 4A Functions of Corporate Communication Brand strategy, corporate culture, governm ent relations and corporate identity are m ost com m only viewed as the key functions of corporate com m unication. N=114 brand strategy 76.60% corporate culture 69.40% governm ent relations 61.50% corporate identity 58.60% On the other hand, corporate citizenship, community relations, and corporate crisis management were lower down on the list. Similarly, labor relations, and even investor relations received less than 50% of the responses. See Figure 4B. Figure 4B Functions of Corporate Communication Corporate citizen, community relations and corporate crisis management are not as central to corporate communication. N=114 marketing communication intranet communication training&employee development reputation management ethics code media relations communication policy communication strategy employee(internal) communication investor relations advertising annual report labor relations internet communication corporate philantrophy(citizenship) crisis&emergence communication corporate crisis management community relations corporate citizen other 49.50% 47.70% 45.90% 45% 44.20% 44.20% 40.50% 40.50% 40.50% 39.60% 36.90% 36.10% 31.50% 29.70% 27.90% 27% 20.70% 11.70% 3.10% 1.20% Use of Third-Party Vendors for Corporate Communication Activities It seems that companies are using external agencies and/or specialized vendors for select corporate communication functions, such as advertising (42%), training & employee development (41.1%), and brand strategy (30.4%). The participating companies were also using agencies for help with media relations and marketing communication. See Figure 5A Agency/Vendor Use for Corporate Communication. Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 146 Corporate Communication Practices and Trends Figure 5A Agency/Vendor Use for Corporate Communication Companies reported using agencies or vendors mostly for advertising, training & employee development and brand strategy. N=114 advertising training&employee development brand strategy media relations marketing communication corporate mission statement labor relations government relations corporate identity corporate culture communication strategy reputation management communication policy annual report ethics code investor relations employee(internal) communication 42% 41.10% 30.40% 22.30% 24.10% 22.30% 22.30% 18.80% 17% 17% 15.20% 15.20% 14.30% 14.30% 11.60% 11.60% 11.60% Figure 5B Agency/Vendor Use for Corporate Communication Internal/employee communication, internet communication, corporate philanthropy and crisis communication are not likely to be included in the “outsourcing” list. N=114 8.90% internet communication 7.10% corporate philanthropy(citizenship) 7.10% crisis&emergency communication corporate crisis management and communication 6.30% intranet communication 6.30% 5.40% community relations 4.50% executive communication speeches corporate citizen 0.90% other 0.90% On the other hand, corporate communication functions such as internal/employee communication, internet communication, corporate philanthropy, and crisis communication are not included in the ―outsourcing‖ list. See Figure 5B. It is likely that these are considered sensitive or confidential functions, and that they are best managed by ―internal‖ teams. In addition, also ranked low among functions that these companies used agencies or vendors for were community relations and executive communication or speeches. Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 147 Corporate Communication Practices and Trends Importance of Corporate Communication Corporate communication: An indispensable function? With Chinese businesses increasingly operating in a market-oriented environment, one of the first issues regarding corporate communication in Chinese companies is how important this function is viewed by communication executives. To gauge its importance within Chinese companies, respondents were asked whether their department would be the first to bear the brunt of corporate downsizing. Figure 6 shows that a majority of them (72.9%) reported that their department would be impacted ―neither sooner nor later‖ than other departments within the company. About 15% did believe that their department and its budgets would be the first to be cut in the event of financial misfortune, while 12.15% said that they would be the last to go. Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 148 Corporate Communication Practices and Trends Spending on Corporate Communication Activities The responses shown in Figure 7 reveal that nearly 60% of companies spend no more than 1 million yuan on corporate communication activities, and only 8.7% of companies are willing to pay more than 10 million yuan on corporate communication. The change of staff size in corporate communication To support the growing role of corporate communication, respondents were asked about the increase in their staff size in fiscal year 2009. Figure 8 shows that only 3% of the companies reported cutting staff size, while 54% of companies stayed unchanged, and 43% of companies reported an increase. Of those reporting an increase, 65.12% increased by a cautious figure of 5%, and 18.6% of companies increased by 10%. Figure 8 Bright Picture—The change of staff size in 2009 43% of companies increased their staff size in fiscal year 2009. N=114 Decrease 11.63% 4.65% 3% 15% or more Up to 15% 18.60% Up to 10% 65.12% Up to 5% 43% 54% Increase No change The change of budget in the year of 2009 Another indicator of the increasing importance of corporate communication among Chinese companies is the level of resources devoted to the function in each fiscal year. Compared with the year 2008, Figure 9 shows that more than half of the companies increased their budget in the fiscal year 2009, of which about half increased budget by 5% in 2009. Among the remaining companies, 29.09% and 10.91% of the companies increased by 10% and by 15% respectively. This positive trend in resource allocation certainly attests to the perceived importance of corporate communication in the executive suite. Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 149 Corporate Communication Practices and Trends Figure 9 Bright Picture—The change of budget in 2009 Most of the compa nies increa sed their budget in 2009 N=114 5.45% 10.91% Decrease 4% 39% No change 15% or more Up to 15% 29.09% Up to 10% 54.55% Up to 5% 57% Increase Top management involvement in corporate communication A further illustration of the importance that Chinese companies are assigning to corporate communication is that, according to the respondents as illustrated in Figure 10, the chief executive officer (CEO) is the top person responsible for corporate communication functions in most companies in this study (58.77%). This result continues to support the findings of Wang (2006, 2008), which suggests that corporate communication is not relegated to the lower echelon of the Chinese corporate hierarchy. Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 150 Corporate Communication Practices and Trends Employees involved in Corporate Communication As shown in Figure 11, 44% of the companies have less than 5 employees engaged in corporate communication, 21.5% have 5-9 employees, 19% have 10-29 employees and only 15.5% have more than 30 employees. Figure 11 Employees involved in Corporate Communication 44% of the compa nies ha ve less tha n 5 employees working on corpora te communica tion. N=114 44% 21.50% 0--4 5--9 19% 10--29 15.50% 30 and plus Crisis Communication Respondents were asked if their company had set up a dedicated function for crisis communication. Figure 12 shows that 57.89% of companies do not have a specific position to cope with enterprise crisis, and 40.35% of companies have such a position. This also supports the earlier finding by Wang and Goodman (2006) that crisis communication was not viewed as an integral part of the corporate communication function in China. The current study results show that companies in China have made some progress, however they are still inadequately prepared for crisis management. Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 151 Corporate Communication Practices and Trends Corporate Communication The title of the top management responsible for corporate communication Respondents were asked about what is the title of the highest-level person responsible for corporate communication. As shown in Figure 13, 47.06% of the companies gave the title ―chief officer‖, 38.82% used the title ―manager‖, and only 9.41% adopted ―president‖. Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 152 Corporate Communication Practices and Trends Gender Distribution for the top management involvement in corporate communication Figure 14 shows that in terms of the highest post for corporate communication in Chinese companies, the number of men is greater than the number of women. Men accounted for 47.37%, while women were 37.72%. It is apparent that men continue to play a larger role in the top management. Age Distribution for the top management in Corporate Communication Age distribution for the top management in corporate communication is as follows: 30 - 35 -- 26.32% 40 - 45 -- 25.44% 35 – 40 -- 21.93% 20 – 30 -- 11.4% 50 – 60 -- .88% Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 153 Corporate Communication Practices and Trends Educational Background for the top management in corporate communication Figure 16 shows that almost half of respondents (46.24%) reported having a bachelor‘s degree (BA) as their terminal degrees. About one quarter had an MA. About one-fifth had an MBA. Undergraduate majors ranged across communication, management, computer science, finance, engineering, international business, marketing, and language studies. Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 154 Corporate Communication Practices and Trends Overseas learning experience for the top management in corporate communication Figure 17 shows that 69.47% of respondents reported that top managers for corporate communication in their companies have not studied overseas, as opposed to 30.53% of people who reported to have had an overseas learning experience. Income for the Top Management in Corporate communication Figure 18 shows that 21.59% of top management in corporate communication received income of over 300,000 RMB, and 21.59% reported an income of 100,000-150,000 RMB. In addition, 20.45% of people earned 50,000-100,000 RMB; 15.91% of respondents had an annual income below 50,000 RMB. Only 6.82% reported an annual income between 200,000 RMB and 300,000 RMB. Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 155 Corporate Communication Practices and Trends SECTION 2: Respondents Answers to Open-Ended Questions Only 73 of the 114 surveyed gave answers to the three open-ended questions. The three questions were: 1. What are the biggest challenges or problems in corporate communication at home of China? 2. In what aspects does corporate communication make important contribution to the development and success of a company? 3. As a corporate communication employee, what core competencies or qualities should corporate communication personnel have? Figure19 the Biggest Challenges of Corporate Communication that Companies Face 15% 3% 33% 3% no awareness high cost 6% few channel lack of professional talents intervention of government 7% dull form lack of brand strategy lack of suitable agencies 13% 10% others 10% In response to the first question about what are the biggest challenges in conducting corporate communication, Figure 19 shows that more than one third of those surveyed thought that people at the higher level of management didn‘t recognize the importance of corporate communication and might even have little awareness of what is corporate communication, especially for entrepreneurs in the private sectors. One respondent wrote that, I have worked at PriceWaterhouseCoopers, one of the four biggest accounting firms in the world, and in a local financial institution. The former attaches great importance to corporate culture and public relations, while the latter doesn‘t take it seriously. And the biggest problem is that management does not recognize the value of corporate communication. By contrast, 13% of the respondents argued that corporate communication would cost a great deal of money, and most of the companies might not allocate enough budgets for these communication activities. And 10% of those surveyed said that even if some companies undertook some activities about corporate communication, they tended to choose some traditional channels and showed a lack in originality and creativity. This explained why 6% of the Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 156 Corporate Communication Practices and Trends respondents felt that the forms of doing corporate communication were dull and boring. Likewise, one person in ten thought that corporate communication employees lacked of professional knowledge. What‘s more, 7% of the respondents mentioned that some of the corporate communication activities needed the approval of the relevant government departments due to legal requirements, and that the government would sometimes strongly interfere with the company‘s communication efforts. Unfortunately, the respondent did not provide any specific examples. Of those responding to this question, 15% of them considered that the biggest challenges for corporate communication were: the lack of social responsibilities, intercultural conflicts, no awareness of charity, dishonesty, and no public relations building. The second question asked participants what they thought the contribution of corporate communication was to the success of a company. The following pie chart in Figure 20 shows different views of the respondents. Figure20 Different Views on the Contribution of Corporate Communication to the Success of Companies 3% 3% 4% the establishment of brand and corporate reputation expansion of business 3% 4% 7% 45% 8% 9% 14% enhancement of corporate competitiveness formation of corporate culture improvement of staff cohesiveness crisis management and publicity establishment of customer loyalty sense of corporate responsibility to facilitate internal and external communication others Also Figure 20 shows that as many as 45% of the respondents considered that corporate communication contributed a lot to the improvement of corporate brand and reputation, which was considered as an integral part of corporate assets. Only 14% of those surveyed said that wellplanned corporate communication could increase sales volume and bring more business opportunities, and consequently facilitate the future development of a company. Almost one tenth (9%) of respondents hold the view that successful corporate communication could enhance its competitiveness among the competitors. In addition, 8% of the respondents mentioned that corporate communication could boost the formation of corporate culture and create a good working environment for the staff. The third question asked respondents to identify the core competencies for corporate communication professionals. Figure 21 shows their responses. Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 157 Corporate Communication Practices and Trends Figure21 the Core Qualities That Corporate Communication Personnel Should Possess 15% relevent expertise on corporate com m unication good com m unication skills 13% good interpersonal skills and PR ability 12% to have an acute observation to m arket 12% 9% to have relevent w orking experience innovation ability 8% crisis m anagem ent 6% know ledge on corporate culture and characteristics 6% individual overall quality(leadership) 6% m arket analysis skills 5% executive pow er 5% 4% to have a global strategic eye intim acy 3% adaptability to changes 3% integration of inform ation 3% 0% 2% 4% 6% 8% 10% 12% 14% 16% Almost 15% of respondents hold that it was important to have some professional knowledge about corporate communication, followed by good communication skills (13%), and good interpersonal skills and PR ability (12%). At the same time, 12% of those surveyed considered that having a keen sense in market observation was as important as good interpersonal skills for the successful accomplishment of corporate communication. On the other hand, having some relevant working experience (9%) was considered as a key to its success. And 8% of people viewed having innovative ideas as important in conducting corporate communication. Apart from all these main qualities listed above, several respondents also mentioned the core competence of an excellent corporate communicator should include the following: good teamwork spirit, self-confidence, responsibility, learning ability, ethic code, working under pressure and hard work. SECTION 3: A Brief Comparison of the Three Studies Conducted in China The three studies concerning corporate communication in China were undertaken respectively by Jay Wang and Michael B. Goodman (2006), Jay Wang (2008), and Jieyun Feng and Michael B. Goodman (2010). The following is a brief comparison of the three studies and discussion of their similarities. Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 158 Corporate Communication Practices and Trends Role of Corporate Communication It is interesting to note that participants in the three studies seem to hold similar opinions concerning what are viewed as the first three important roles of corporate communication, in spite of a slight change in the ranking. See Figure 22. In a word, what they value most in corporate communication is whether it can improve corporate image and reputation, and whether it can support marketing and sales, rather than forging relationships with all internal and external stakeholders. Figure22 A Co mparison of Participants ’ Views on the Role of Corporate Co mmun ication degree of agree 3 the year 1 2 2010 branding and brand perception steward (1.625) manager of the support for company's marketing & reputation(1.635) sales (1.688) 2008 Driver of company publicity (1.58) Support marketing and sales (1.63) 2006 manager of the Driver of company's image company (4.61 ) publicity( 4.61) branding and brand perception steward (1.64) support for marketing & sales (4.52) ※Mean score on a 1-5 scale, with 1being strongly agree and 5 strongly disagree for 2010 and 2008, with 1 being strongly disagree and 5 strongly agree in 2006 Functions of Corporate Communication Figure 23 illustrates that brand strategy and management is most commonly viewed as the most important functions of corporate communication in the three studies, no matter what industry sectors the respondents come from. Again, it emphasizes the importance of branding and managing the company‘s image, while neglecting the other functions of corporate communication. This is consistent with the previous findings about the role of corporate communication in the three studies. Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 159 Corporate Communication Practices and Trends Figure 23 the Comparison o f K ey Functions o f Corpo rat e Communication that Parti cipants Consider in the T hree Studies Key functi ons the year 1 2 3 2010 brand strategy (76.6%) corporate culture (69.4%) government relations (61.5%) 2008 brand corporate management mission (73.3%) statement (73.3%) marketing communication &Internet communication (53.3%) 2006 brand strategy (87%) Internet communication (82.6%) media relations (87%) Use of 3rd-party Communication Service Providers It does seem that companies in the three studies would often use external agencies or specialized vendors for brand strategy. See Figure 24. The 2010 and 2008 studies reflected that companies tended to use agencies for organizing advertising activities and it witnessed an increase in 2010 (42%). Figure 24 A Co mparis on of Different Us e of Agency/Vendor of Corporate Co mmunication agency work 1 2 3 2010 Advertising (42%) Training &employee development (41.1%) Brand strategy (30.4%) 2008 Brand strategy (45%) Advertising (31.7%) Communicatio n strategy (31.7%) 2006 Brand strategy (65.2%) Corporate identity (56.5%) Public relations (43.5%) the y ear Importance of Corporate Communication Corporate Communication: An indispensable function? In response to the question ―if your company had to reduce overall costs, would cuts to the corporate communication department budget be among the first to be cut,‖ the three studies revealed that Chinese companies began to attach some importance to corporate communication. Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 160 Corporate Communication Practices and Trends In 2010, 72.9% of the respondents, 65% in 2008, and 73.9% in 2006 reported that their departments would be impacted ―neither sooner nor later‖ than other departments to cut the costs. These responses indicate that corporate communication is now regarded as an indispensable function in Chinese companies. Concerning crisis management, respondents in the three studies were all asked if their companies had set up a department specifically for crisis management and communication. It turned out that more than half of participants in the 2010 study and in the 2008 study said that they had not set up a crisis communication department. Another important similarity is that more than half of the participants in the three studies (58.77% in 2010), (76.7% in 2008) and (69.6% in 2006) pointed out that the CEO was the top person responsible for corporate communication. It again illustrates that companies in China assign much importance to corporate communication. Chinese companies, then, regard corporate communication primarily to manage corporate branding and reputation, and to support marketing and sales; similar to the findings of the previous CCI studies. They value the ability of the corporate communication function to improve corporate image and reputation, to support marketing and sales, rather than its capacity to build relationships with internal and external stakeholders. Chinese companies continue to lack a specific crisis communication capability. Overall Chinese companies value the importance of corporate communication through budget allocation and hiring, although local Chinese enterprises have not fully recognized the importance of corporate communication and do not allocate adequate budget for it. The core competencies of a corporate communicator include professional knowledge, good communication and interpersonal skills, and PR abilities. Sources CCI Corporate Communication Practices and Trends: 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009 www.corporatecomm.org/studies Goodman, Michael B. ―Tradition and Innovation: the China Business Communication Study,‖ with Jay Wang, Journal of Business Strategy, 28:3, 2007, 34-41. ―CCI Corporate Communication Practices & Trends: A China Study 2008 – Phase II,‖ Conference on Corporate Communication 2008, June 2008. ―CCI Corporate Communication Practices and Trends: A China Benchmark 2006,‖ Global Communications Forum, New York, NY. March 2007. ―Corporate Communication Practices and Trends in Greater China: A Benchmark Study 2006,‖ ABC International Convention, October 2006. Wang, Jay and Michael B. Goodman, Corporate Communication Practices and Trends: A China Benchmark Study 2006. www.corporatecomm.org/pdf/ChinaBenchmarkStudy.pdf Wang, Jay with the assistance of Michael B. Goodman, Vidhi Chaudhri and Deng Lifeng 2008 CCI Corporate Communication Practices and Trends: A China Study 2008 – Phase II www.corporatecomm.org/studies Yi-Ru Regina Chen. ―Effective public affairs in China: MNC-government bargaining power and corporate strategies for influencing foreign business policy formulation,‖ Journal of Communication Management. 8(4) 2004: pp. 395-413. Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 161 Corporate Communicators Conceptualize CSR A Working Study of Senior Practitioners Rachel Kovacs College of Staten Island, USA [email protected] This is the first stage of a working study of the ways in which senior communication professionals define and operationalize corporate social responsibility (CSR). While some norms are agreed upon, definitions for and conceptualization of CSR have changed over time and vary greatly. These differences can have significant impact on CSR practices. This study, in the context of a historical perspective, may assist both scholars and practitioners, many of whom bear direct responsibility for communicating CSR to both internal and external publics, in their professional roles. Given burgeoning stakeholder activism and a global focus on sustainability and environmental and human rights concerns, shedding light on CSR is both timely and universally pertinent. Countries' voluntary or less voluntary compliance with CSR norms may have, at its root, diverging views and degrees of prioritization of CSR Culture-specific factors may create differences in the way CSR is defined, interpreted, and implemented from nation to nation or even within a nation. This qualitative study will rely primarily on in-depth interviews. In spring 2010, an interview protocol was constructed, based on the author's preliminary, interdisciplinary literature review and studies of CSR. This initial protocol was designed to assess senior communication professionals' definitions and conceptions of CSR and the extent to which they influence the implementation of CSR initiatives in these practitioners' respective organizations. Using this protocol, the author conducted pilot interviews of practitioners in the U.S. and U.K. The author will conduct a follow-up review of work by scholars of public relations and other pertinent fields, as well as organizational literatures, for definitions and concepts of CSR, how they are used to construct CSR frameworks governing corporate behaviors and interactions, and their desired social impact. The data gathered in these initial interviews, from the literatures, and input from public relations practitioners and other knowledgeable parties will provide the basis for a revised questionnaire. Additional interviews with a cross-section of practitioners in public relations agencies and in-house senior communication professionals will be conducted in fall 2010/winter 2011. These initial interviews of "Anglo" and American-based global practitioners will hopefully develop into to a wider cross-cultural study to be completed within the coming one to two years. When the fall 2010/winter 2011 interviews are completed and the data analyzed, the author will work with colleagues abroad to expand the initial study into a comparative one, with variations in protocol and interview context according to what is feasible in any given location. Such a study might help identify a viable, consensusbased definition of CSR or determine if cultural relativism would make such a definition and associated norms impracticable to follow and measure. If the former is true, then consensus-based definitions that are at least, in part, culturally accepted and practicable might assist public relations professionals in their special role as their organizations' "social face." Keywords: Corporate social responsibility, Ethical frameworks, Practitioner, Organizational norms, Benchmarking, Sustainable practices Conference on Corproate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 162 Extended Abstract Corporate Reporting An Integrated Approach to Legitimacy Claims Marianne Grove Ditlevsen, Anne Ellerup Nielsen & Christa Thomsen Department of Business Communication, Aarhus University, Denmark [email protected], [email protected] & [email protected] One of the most important corporate issues today is legitimacy (e.g. Goodman and Hirsch, 2010). In order to obtain social legitimacy, corporations are concerned with the establishment of trust and credibility e.g. via the creation of transparency. Reporting is a major tool when corporations seek to obtain transparency. However, from a corporate communication perspective, reporting seems to be restricted to specific areas of communication like financial and CSR communication, which potentially might lead to ―disconnected reporting‖ at the risk that the quality of management and governance is being questioned (PwC, 2010). It is the aim of this paper to introduce the concept of corporate reporting as ―an issue of integration‖ within the framework of corporate communication and to discuss the opportunities and challenges of corporate reporting as a driver for gaining social legitimacy. One of the most important corporate issues today is legitimacy (e.g. Goodman & Hirsch, 2010). From a corporate communication perspective the claim is even made that the quest for social legitimacy is the driving force behind corporate communication seen as a strategic management discipline characterized by the issue of integration (Christensen, Morsing, and Cheney, 2008). In order to obtain social legitimacy, corporations are concerned with the establishment of trust and credibility e.g. via the creation of transparency. Reporting is a major tool when corporations seek to obtain transparency (e.g. Hooghiemstra, 2000). However, from a corporate communication perspective, reporting seems to be restricted to specific areas of communication like financial and CSR communication, which potentially might lead to ―disconnected reporting‖ at the risk that the quality of management and governance is being questioned (PwC, 2010). On the basis of the above, the aim of this paper is to introduce the concept of corporate reporting as ―an issue of integration‖ within the framework of corporate communication and to discuss the opportunities and challenges of corporate reporting as a driver for gaining social legitimacy. The remainder of the paper is organized as follows. Firstly, we will outline relevant aspects and tendencies of corporate reporting in order to identify possible gaps. Secondly, we present the context of modern businesses distilled into the legitimacy perspective on corporate reporting. Thirdly, we introduce corporate communication as our theoretical framework for an integrated approach to corporate reporting. Fourthly, we close the identified gap demonstrating how central concepts of corporate communication can be applied to corporate reporting from an integrated approach. Conference on Corproate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 163 Corporate Reporting On Corporate Reporting Reporting is a major tool when corporations seek to obtain transparency and legitimacy. Financial reporting in the form of for instance balance sheets, income statements, and cash flow statements, has traditionally been seen as the most important means of communication between a company and its (potential) investors that would allow investors to make informed investment decisions. However, financial reports are historically based and focus on tangibles. For that reason they have traditionally been accompanied by non-financial, narrative reports like ―the operational and financial review‖ (cf. Villiers, 2006). As is a well-known fact, the need for more comprehensive non-financial reporting with forward-looking, qualitative information on different intangible and ethical aspects on how companies are managed becomes increasingly important due to the increasing importance of issues like sustainability and legitimacy claims in general, cf. above. The Sustainability Reporting Guidelines by the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and the increasing number of articles in wellreputed journals like Corporate Communications: an International Journal and Journal of Business Ethics reflect this change. Even though a large number of companies understand the importance of both financial and non-financial reporting by issuing both financial and non-financial reports, their reporting is often presented in a disconnected manner. It may even be argued that financial reporting and nonfinancial reporting to a large extent are seen as two separated fields. This is supported by the fact that the standards that guide financial reporting and those that guide CSR reporting as an example of non-financial reporting are not only prepared by fundamentally different bodies (Financial Accounting Standards Boards / International Accounting Standards Board; Global Reporting Initiative / Institute of Social and Ethical Accountability). They also differ substantially with respect to the consequences in practice and in the way they have been developed (Aras and Crowther, 2008). However, in order to meet the new challenges of business today, integrated reporting is ―the way forward‖, as KPMG (2010 [2011]) states in a report on integrated reporting and presents a model for making decisions about the right ―integration road‖ with its two perspectives, i.e. the management perspective and the communication perspective. A4S (The Prince‘s Accounting for Sustainability Project) also calls for an integrated approach to reporting and for a model: that is capable of providing a more coherent, balanced and complete picture of performance, structured around the organization‘s strategic objectives, its governance and business model and integrating both material financial and non-financial information. (A4S, 2010 [2009]) Similarly, PwC (2010) warns that ―disconnected reporting raises questions about the quality of management and governance‖. They further ask the question: ―What does your reporting say about you?‖, and propose a model for reporting ―that provides a logical structure for thinking about the information needs of a business and the critical links and interdependencies that exist between the various [integrated] information sets‖. To the integrated information sets count external drivers, strategy, resources and relationships, and performance. However, integrated corporate reporting does not seem to have gained ground (yet) within theory and practice; for example, the study of financial reporting seems primarily to take place within the field of accounting, whereas CSR-reporting or sustainability reporting as examples of non-financial reporting seem to be the object of business and corporate communication studies. Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 164 Corporate Reporting To conclude, a shift towards integrated corporate reporting is taking place within business and industry. The integration of financial and non-financial reporting, of management and communication, the convergence of the organization‘s strategic objectives, its governance and business model, and the orientation towards the needs of the organization‘s stakeholders are some of the key elements in that shift. However, the development of integrated theoretical models of corporate reporting seems to be scarce, if not non-existent. As we see it, the field of corporate communication offers a wide range of tools that will help to enhance integrated corporate reporting. In light of this and other challenges facing organizations when transparency is a primary objective, we argue that there is a need to expand the domain of corporate reporting by including a broader range of aspects than previously found in the corporate reporting literature. In more general terms, we argue that there is a need to apply more strategic, integrated thinking to corporate reporting in support of the understanding of the concept within a social legitimacy tradition. This argumentation is supported by an ontological turn in the overall understanding of the organization. Organizations are no longer conceptualized as static entities but rather as dynamic, emergent and social co-constructions negotiated by all organizational stakeholders (e.g. Cheney et al., 2004). Thus, there is a need for a new framework for discussing the opportunities and challenges of corporate reporting as a driver for gaining social legitimacy and reputation. We argue that corporate communication constitutes a good framework for this discussion. Legitimacy: One of the Most Important Corporate Issues Today One of the most important corporate issues today is legitimacy (e.g. Goodman and Hirsch, 2010), and in particular social legitimacy. Corporate social behavior has become an increasingly important aspect of business management and communication (Carroll and Shabana, 2010). Not only are the press and society increasingly paying attention to it, the number of companies reporting on their social and environmental achievements has also increased over the years (Chen and Bouvain, 2009; Fombrun, 2005). Research generally stresses that companies engage in corporate social reporting to affect the public‘s perceptions of the company (op.cit.). This is particularly clear in studies using the legitimacy framework which currently is one of the dominating perspectives (Hooghiemstra, 2000; Laan, 2009). Authors employing this framework suggest that social and environmental disclosures are responses to both public pressure and increased media attention resulting from major social incidents (op.cit.). More specifically, these authors argue that the increase in social disclosures represent a strategy to alter the public‘s perception about the legitimacy of the organization (op.cit.). Thus, it has been suggested to use corporate communication as an overarching framework to study corporate social reporting in which concepts such as ―corporate image‖ and ―corporate identity‖ are central (Hooghiemstra, 2000). This article is in line with this research, the purpose being to demonstrate that the corporate communication framework can be used not only to study corporate social reporting (op.cit.) but also to conceptualize corporate reporting as ―an issue of integration‖. Central to legitimacy theory is the concept of a social contract, implying that a company‘s survival is dependent on the extent to which the company operates within the norms of society (Chen and Roberts, 2010). However, as the norms may change over time, the company continuously has to demonstrate that its actions are legitimate and that it behaves as a good corporate citizen, e.g. by adopting standards and engaging in corporate social reporting. Within this perspective, corporate social reporting may primarily be considered as a reaction to factors in the company‘s environment and notably public pressure (Hooghiemstra, 2000). Hooghiemstra Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 165 Corporate Reporting (2000) points at research indicating that the amount of environmental and social disclosures is particularly high when the organization or the industry in which it operates is confronted by issues such as environmental pollution, violation of human rights, prosecution of the company, etc. Companies‘ responses to such public pressure are aimed at reducing the exposure of the company to negative publicity and particular risks. Various strategies can be adopted to respond to public pressure (Lindblom, 1994; quoted in Hooghiemstra, 2000, p. 56), e.g.: (1) inform stakeholders about the intentions of the company to enhance its social performance, (2) try to influence stakeholders‘ perceptions concerning certain (negative) events, but without changing actual behavior, (3) distract attention away from the legitimacy threatening event by emphasizing more positive actions which not necessarily have to be related, and (4) try to influence external or stakeholders‘ expectations about its behavior. There is a general agreement that modern companies need to take account of their stakeholders and manage different and sometimes competing interests and that they must be constantly concerned with the establishment of trust and credibility, e.g. via the creation of transparency. Corporate reporting can be considered as a way to create transparency and as a channel for reaching key stakeholders. However, in order for the communication to be consistent, an integrated perspective is needed. Corporate Communication offers this perspective. Corporate Communication as Our General Framework The claim is made that the quest for legitimacy is the driving force behind corporate communication seen as a strategic management discipline characterized by the issue of integration (Christensen et al., 2008). However, as we have seen above, one of the major legitimacy tools, i.e. corporate reporting, do not fully profit from (recent) theories and models within the field of corporate communication. Although the basic strategy of corporate communication has existed for more than a century as a ―quest for a corporate soul‖ (Christensen et al., 2008) corporate communication has emerged as strategic management field during the last couple of decades. With the increasing focus on corporate branding and business identity studies (Balmer, 2001) the need for strategic integrated communication and relationship building has appeared. Prior to the emergence of corporate communication, organizations addressed communication with their stakeholders as ‗public relations‘ (Cornellissen, 2008, p. 4). However, in today‘s practice and research corporate communication is conceptualized as a broader concept that encompasses several internal and external communication disciplines. In his book from 1992, Cees van Riel addresses corporate communication as an umbrella concept for management communication, marketing communication and organizational communication, the latter including public relations, public affairs, investor relations, environmental communication, etc. (van Riel, 2005 [1992]). Following Cornellissen‘s definition corporate communication is ―a management function that offers a framework for the effective coordination of all internal and external communication with the overall purpose of establishing and maintaining favourable reputations with stakeholder groups‖ (Cornellisen. 2008, p. 5). It appears from his definition that key concepts of corporate communication are integration and relationships. Integration through bringing together messages, images, functions and personnel is described by Christensen et al. as a particular challenge for corporate communication Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 166 Corporate Reporting (Christensen et al. 2008, p. 20). Furthermore, framed as a policy issue emanating from the top management level and linked to the overall corporate strategy (Fergusson, 1999), corporate communication includes coordination and integration horizontally as well as vertically. However, it is pointed out that good practices of corporate communication imply bottom up processes of alignment between messages, symbols and designs that do not compromise the dynamics and sense-making processes involved in understanding and implementing organizational interaction with stakeholders (Christensen et al., 2008). From this perspective the strategic integrated approach to communication indicates that corporate self-presentations in the form of corporate profiles or corporate reports are not just conceptualized as mechanic transmissions of corporate annual activities, hence as an invitation to interactive relationship building whereby stakeholders may contribute to negotiate and co-create an organization‘s identity, reputation and legitimacy. Corporate communication is therefore concerned with identity management, stakeholder management and image and reputation management which are considered to be the key areas of corporate communication (van Riel, 2005 [1992]; Cornelissen, 2008). In order to improve their stance, organizations must know who they are (culture) and who they want to and can be in the future (vision). They must also have a clear picture of how they are perceived by their stakeholders (image), whether their image is consistent and how to maintain or change it (reputation). Stakeholder and reputation management are thus two sides of the same coin from a corporate communication perspective. They are paramount when organizations want to understand themselves through internal communication processes and flows and/or communicate and legitimize themselves to or with stakeholders through the use of informal and formal channels of communication including corporate reporting. Closing the Gap: Corporate Reporting - an Integrated Approach As demonstrated above corporate reporting is mainly addressed as a fragmented activity conceptualized by most practitioners and researchers as an annual response to corporate policy and regulation, despite the growing pressure towards more integrated procedures, cf. above. It is our claim that the new understanding of corporate reporting as an integration issue to a large extent calls for frameworks in which corporate reporting is addressed as a strategic integrated corporate issue. Our suggestion of how to support this understanding is to consider corporate reporting in a corporate communication framework. Doing so attributes a more holistic and dynamic function to corporate reporting, supporting its potential value as a relationship and legitimacy facilitator. The act of integrating corporate reporting into a corporate communication framework has implications at the strategic, organizational and operational level. From a corporate communication perspective corporate reporting is an activity that should be strategically aligned to the corporate mission, vision and values. This alignment may be ensured by connecting corporate reporting to the communication policies of the company and embed it in selected organizational values e.g. transparency, accountability, disclosure and dialogue, etc. Second, the integrated approach to corporate reporting may result in organizing it as a staff function in order to consolidate the coordination of relevant function including finance (e.g. economy, investor relations), production (e.g. logistics, environment), sales and communication (e.g. marketing, public relations, corporate communication) and human resources, etc. Only by coordinating the core areas that feed the reporting activity with relevant documentation and material, is it likely that companies can escape from the atomic practice of corporate reporting. Third, addressing corporate reporting as a corporate communication issue implies that companies start to consider reporting as a dynamic activity which covers much more than documentation and proof-writing. Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 167 Corporate Reporting Hence, as an integrative activity corporate reporting is likely to become an important motivator for establishing workshops, dialogue fora and networks in which reporting principles, strategies and standards are discussed, co-created and negotiated with relevant internal and external stakeholders. New reporting communication channels which are more interactive and open to knowledge sharing and negotiation may see the light of day and turn corporate reporting into a dynamic and meaningful activity to the benefit of employees, investors, NGOs, media and other stakeholders. The contribution of integrating corporate reporting into a corporate communication framework is thus twofold. Reporting gains more solid terrain in the overall corporate strategy and communication practice; corporate communication becomes a more substantial and well documented discipline. Both may contribute to a more effective exploitation of communication resources and to increase companies‘ legitimacy potential. References A4S (The Prince‘s Accounting for Sustainability Project) (2010[2009]). Governance & collaboration. Establishing an ―International Integrated Reporting Committee‖. Retrieved from www.accountingforsustainability.org , March, 2011. Aras, G. & Crowther, D. (2008). Developing sustainable reporting standards. Journal of Applied Accounting Research, 9(1): 4-16. Balmer, J. (2001). Corporate identity, corporate branding, corporate marketing – Seeing through the fog. European Journal of Marketing, 35, ¾, 248-291. Carroll, A.B. & Shabana, K.M. (2010). The Business Case for Corporate Social Responsibility: A Review of Concepts, Research and Practice. 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Building corporate Reputation Through CSR Initiatives: Evolving Standards. Corporate Reputation Review, 8(1): 7-11. Goodman, M.B. & Hirsch, P.B. (2010). Corporate Communication. Strategic Adaption for Global Practice. New York, Washington, D.C. / Baltimore, Bern, Frankfurt, Berlin, Brussels, Vienna, Oxford: Peter Lang. Hooghiemstra, R. (2000). Corporate Communication and Impression Management – New Perspectives Why Companies Engage in Corporate Social Reporting. Journal of Business Ethics, 27: 55-68. KPMG (2011[2010]). Integrated reporting. Closing the loop of strategy. Retrieved from www.kpmg.com , March, 2011. Laan, S.v.d. (2009). The Role of Theory in Explaining Motivation for Corporate Social Disclosures: Voluntary Disclosures vs ‗Solicited‘ Disclosures. Australasian Accounting Business & Finance Journal, 3(4): 15-29. Lindblom, C.K. (1994). The Implications of Organisational Legitimacy for Corporate Social performance and Disclosure. Paper presented at the Critcial perspective on accounting conference, New York. PwC (2010). Integrated Reporting. What does your reporting say about you? Retrieved from www.corporatereporting.com , November, 2010. Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 168 Corporate Reporting Riel, C.B.M. van (2005 [1992]). Principles of Corporate Communication. Edinburgh Gate: Pearson Education Limited. Villiers, Charlotte (2006). Corporate Reporting and Company Law. West Nyack, NY: Cambridge University Press. Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 169 Corporate Responsibility, Global Citizenship and Online Stakeholder Communication Management Deborah Rolland Unitec Institute of Technology, Auckland, New Zealand [email protected] Jana O'Keefe Bazzoni Baruch College, The City University of New York, USA [email protected] There is increasing strategic use of corporate web sites for communication and information management of CSR messages in order to build a credible organisational identity that also asserts organisational citizenship responsiveness to societal expectations (Werther & Chandler, 2011). If one function of corporate communication is to effectively link external and internal stakeholders in that organisational citizenship might be expressed, what role then do CSR reports play as online communication strategies and tactics for stakeholder communication and relationship management? Using an analysis framework reflecting stakeholder, stewardship and sustainability perspectives (Johnson, 2007), we critique corporate web sites in the financial sector for evidence of their stakeholder management and organisational citizenship. Conclusions will be reached regarding the role of CSR reporting within online stakeholder communication management practices that in turn indicate the degree of company acknowledgment of societal demands for acceptable organisational citizenship within a global economy. Current research in corporate communication indicates a significant rise in the use of corporate web sites for the reporting of corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities amongst companies attempting to acknowledge and respond to changing local/national and global societal expectations concerning business practices (Isenmann, 2006; Argenti, 2007). This significant rise reflects the increasing strategic use of corporate web sites for communication and information management of CSR messages, in particular, to build and maintain a credible corporate identity (Werther & Chandler, 2011). The usefulness of a credible corporate identity is that stakeholder perceptions of corporate reputation are formed from the corporate identity and image communicated to them. As corporate reputation is increasingly linked with competitive advantage, an organisation‘s actions, choices, behaviours and consequences must be evaluated as to their potential influence on stakeholder relationships (ibid). The use of the corporate web site in enabling such deliberate corporate identity creation presents a strategic way in which a corporation may respond to changing local and global societal expectations of corporate operations by asserting organisational citizenship responsiveness to stakeholder expectations (ibid). If one function of corporate communication is to effectively link external and internal stakeholders in that organisational citizenship might be expressed, what role then do CSR reports play as an online communication strategy and tactic for stakeholder communication and relationship management? This paper seeks to answer this question through an exploration of the contribution of online CSR reporting, corporate responsibility and citizenship to effective stakeholder relationship management. Conference on Corproate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 170 Corporate Responsibility, Global Citizenship and Online Stakeholder Communication Management Firstly, this paper explores corporate social responsibility and corporate citizenship within the context of the relationship between organisations, stakeholders and society. Using an analysis framework reflecting stakeholder, stewardship and sustainability perspectives of corporate citizenship (Johnson, 2007), we critique corporate web sites in the financial sector for evidence of their corporate citizenship that reflects commitment to social responsibility. Conclusions will be reached regarding the role of CSR reporting within online stakeholder communication management practices that in turn indicate the degree of company acknowledgment of global societal demands for acceptable corporate citizenship. Business and Society Relationship With the web becoming an essential instrument for the increasingly widespread communication of CSR and corporate citizenship to a globalised world, the responsibility of business to both itself (be that profit or non-profit organisations) as well as to global audiences continues to be widely debated. This debate centres on the role and responsibilities of such organisations within society as a whole with all stakeholders (internal and external) participating (Moreno & Capriotti, 2009). In essence, the debate concerning the appropriate relationship between society and business in terms of roles and responsibilities continues. CSR covers the relationship between corporations and the societies with which they interact; it includes the responsibilities that are inherent on both sides of these relationships; it includes all stakeholders and constituent groups that maintain on-going interest in the corporation‘s operations (Werther & Chandler, 2010). Responsibilities and Organisational Citizenship Larson (2010) defines responsibility as ―including elements of fulfilling duties and obligations, of being accountable to other individuals and groups, of being accountable as evaluated by agreed upon standards, and of being accountable to one‘s own conscience‖(p. 44). The implications of this definition are that companies must not only fulfil their social obligations but must also be accountable to external standards (such as global social reporting standards) as well as to their own values and principles. Johnson (2007) states that organisational citizenship comprises the following three aspects: A stakeholder perspective which acknowledges that all stakeholders have intrinsic value (Donaldson & Preston, 1995); that their interests are valid and worthy of respect; and that all stakeholders need to be treated fairly. If this is actioned then positive stakeholder relationships may develop that contribute to the overall common good of society. A stewardship perspective is one in which the company is seen to be acting on behalf of others. In particular, good managers will meet the needs of stakeholders and society through management processes. Covenantal relationships (in which organisational support for a societal group which may be unrelated to the organisation‘s purpose, but whose values are in agreement with the organisation) may also eventuate. Stewardship thus takes a more inside-out approach to managing internal and external stakeholders in that enabled managers or staff may share their expertise with appropriate community organisations. Finally, a sustainability approach sees sustainability as the primary standard or guideline for organisational development. Sustainable organisations adopt a long term perspective hoping to create conditions that foster decades of economic health and social responsibility (Johnson, 2007). Organisational citizens should then reflect the following criteria: Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 171 Corporate Responsibility, Global Citizenship and Online Stakeholder Communication Management Being responsible by accepting Carroll‘s model that states that the social responsibility of business encompasses the economic, legal, ethical and discretionary expectations that society will have at any given point in time of a business( Carroll, 1993) Developing on-going processes for environmental scanning / societal concerns/ issues Engaging in stakeholder dialogues Support convictions with concrete actions (i.e. actions that reflect fairness etc.) (Johnson, 2007). The sustainability approach is guided by the World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED)'s 1987 report entitled Our Common Future in which practical ways of addressing the world's environmental and development issues are outlined. In particular, the aim of the third of three general objectives (to raise the levels of understanding and commitment to action of individuals, voluntary organisations, businesses institutes and governments) has implications for organisational citizenship. Corporate Identity and Reputation Corporate web sites are a significant and influential communication channel, which allow a company to showcase commitment to CSR and simultaneously engage in two–way stakeholder communication. Such commitment and engagement may then allow company identity and reputation to be more strategically managed (ideally that the company is seen as socially acceptable to all stakeholders) (Rolland & O‘Keefe Bazzoni, 2009). Improving reputation through use of CSR is an important organisational objective- both internally and externally (Birth, Illia, Lurati & Zamparini, 2008). Fombrun (1996) states that a favourable corporate identity will result in improved organisational performance. Reputation and performance are thus influenced by the external environment (e.g. competitor behaviour) as well as stakeholders (e.g..customers, employees and government relationships). Consistency of organisational behaviour and corporate communication is needed for a positive corporate identity (van Riel & Balmer, 1997; Argenti, 2007). CSR Reporting The United Nations Declaration of Human Rights (UNDHR) forms the basis of an international social reporting benchmark (the UN Global Compact www.unglobalcompact.org) whereby a corporation agrees to honour human rights, labour rights and the environment by complying with the guidelines outlined in the Global Compact- and then, to publicly show evidence supporting its adherence to the Compact. Interestingly, as the Global Compact is now the largest voluntary corporate citizen group in the world with over 1700 members (Johnson, 2007), the implication is that while global companies are publicly measuring their social performance they are also looking for moral guidelines reflecting universal ethics that they agree with. The Global Compact provides such guidelines. Sutanoputra, (2009) states that firm disclosure of operations (including CSR) will include the use of credible and globally acknowledged reporting standards. Currently, there are two main CSR reporting frameworks including: GRI guidelines (http://www.unglobalcompact.org/COP/Performance_Indicators.html) Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 172 Corporate Responsibility, Global Citizenship and Online Stakeholder Communication Management AA 1000 (http://www.accountability.org/about-us/publications/aa1000.html ). The GRI is the world‘s most widely used sustainability reporting framework and is committed to its continuous improvement and application worldwide. This voluntary framework sets out 10 principles classified in 2 categories: 1. Principles for Defining Report Content: Materiality, Stakeholder inclusiveness, Sustainability context and completeness. 2. Principles for Ensuring Report Quality: Balance, Comparability, Accuracy, Timeliness, Clarity and Reliability. There are 79 indicators that organisations can use to measure and report their economic, environmental, social performance, and integrated performance indicators for the purpose of creating a global picture of the firm's sustainability. The focus is on human rights, suppliers‘ relationships and on product responsibility. Galbreath (2006) concluded that firms need to understand the options available with regard to CSR strategy – including the use of global reporting standards. Ornella Ponzoni, CSR researcher at Lundquist(Strategic Communications consultancy in Milan, Italy, specializing in online corporate communications and organiser of the annual study of online CSR communications worldwide) states that ―Many companies don‘t attribute sufficient importance to online CSR communications, even though the internet is a first port of call for many stakeholders" ( Lundquist CSR Online Awards, 2010). Stakeholder Theory & Relationships CSR activities that reflect stakeholder concerns must in turn attract and engage stakeholders (Birth, Illia, Lurati & Zamparini, 2008). Corporate strategising is increasingly and deliberately including social responsibility within its planning (strategic CSR). Whereas CSR has traditionally been about the economic, social, legal and philanthropic issues that stakeholders view as affecting a corporation‘s operation (Carroll, 1993; Chen & Bouvain, 2009), strategic CSR more specifically focuses on the aim or ends of economic viability (i.e. Strategy) and the means (i.e .CSR) of being socially responsible (Rolland &O‘Keefe Bazzoni, 2009). Galbreath (2006) acknowledges that while stakeholder theory places value on all stakeholders, and that organisations need to be aware in particular of their relevant stakeholders, in a globalised world discernment needs to be made about such relevant stakeholders as communication technologies take CSR reporting to a global audience. Globalisation and online communication channels have extended and shaped the reporting of current CSR activities. While these activities can still reflect traditional moral, economic and rational justifications and still operate within the established four categories of social responsibility (Carroll, 1993), there is an increased corporate and stakeholder awareness (and response) to societal concerns. CSR reporting allows an organisation to engage and manage its stakeholder relationships. Deliberate engagement with stakeholders indicates the importance of corporate identity and reputation (in particular, as a socially responsible organisation) as means of persuading stakeholders to accept and approve the corporation. Increasing corporate emphasis on social responsibility reporting and increasing corporate use of an ― outside –in approach‖ to selecting social responsibility initiatives to then convey to stakeholders is clearly evident (Johnson, 2007; Rolland & O‘Keefe Bazzoni, 2010). CSR reporting remains a key tool for stakeholder Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 173 Corporate Responsibility, Global Citizenship and Online Stakeholder Communication Management communication and subsequent management of stakeholder relationships (Golob & Bartlett, 2006). Evaluation of selected Corporate Web Sites We critiqued the descriptive data via a content analysis of 4 corporate web sites from within the global financial sector for evidence of organisational citizenship. All four financial organisations operate within a local country (New Zealand or USA) and also internationally via mergers / alliances. However, we critiqued the country pages for either New Zealand or the USA. Organisational citizenship as outlined by Johnson (2007) best describes what society expects from businesses, governments and not-for-profit companies. "Good citizens acknowledge their obligations to their communities" states Johnson (2007 p 264). Our framework of analysis was derived from Johnson's (2007) three perspectives that underpin organisational citizenship: A stakeholder framework - in that all stakeholders have intrinsic value, their interests are valid and worthy of respect , that all stakeholders need to be treated fairly and that positive relationships develop that contribute to the common good of society . A stewardship approach means acting on behalf of others. This entails a shift in focus from stakeholders to managers, in that good managers will deliberately seek to meet the needs of stakeholders and society as a whole, and that this focus will generally take a long term approach to organisational development rather than a short one for more immediate gains. Johnson ( 2007) outlines the characteristics that separate stewards from managers : o intrinsic motivation whereby they seek intangible goals such as personal development, achievement and self-actualisation o identification with organisational goals, mission and vision o use of personal power instead of positional forms of power In addition, covenantal relationships, in which commitment of parties to each other and commitment to shared values are evident. "Covenantal relationships are directly tied to social responsibility‖ (Johnson, 2007, p 270). A sustainability standard whereby sustainability is the primary standard or guideline for "Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs ―(World Commission on Environment and Development WCED, cited in Johnson, 2007). Here, sustainable organisations operate with a long-term perspective- an approach not always viewed as economically viable but one seen as inherent within a sustainability perspective. The following corporate web sites were critiqued: ANZ ( Australia and New Zealand Banking Corporation) : Personal Home page > About Us www.anz.co.nz DOR 10 /03/11 BNZ ( Bank of New Zealand) : Personal Home page >About Us www.bnz.co.nz DOR 10/03/11 BoA( Bank of America) : Personal Home page > About Bank of America www.bankofamerica.com DOR10/03/11 Chase (JP Morgan Chase Bank) : Home > Corporate Responsibility www.chase.com DOR 10/03/11 Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 174 Corporate Responsibility, Global Citizenship and Online Stakeholder Communication Management All quotes cited in the following tables and Discussion and Analysis section are sourced from the relevant web site. TABLE 1. Organisational Citizenship: Vision & Values via CSR Reporting Australia & New Zealand Homepage link to Customer Charter & values: Outstanding service Easy banking Fiscally responsible Supporting communities Contributing to your world This year we set out to develop a new corporate responsibility framework to support and strengthen our business strategy, brand and values and ensure we are making a significant and focused contribution to the world we live in. The new Corporate Responsibility Framework was released in September 2009. Framework: Individual prosperity Thriving communities Navigating responsible growth Key Priorities 2010 Responsible practices Education and employment opportunities Financial capability Helping bridge urban and rural social and economic divide Urban sustainability Bank of New Zealand What we do helps New Zealand businesses operate, grow and prosper so jobs are created, families and lifestyles are sustained, communities thrive, and individual New Zealanders are able to realise their home ownership, lifestyle, investment and retirement dreams. As part of National Australia Bank Group, we report on our performance in five areas of corporate responsibility community, people, customers, supply chain and the environment. This reinforces our commitment to being transparent, as well as our efforts to be recognised in the community as a good corporate citizen. Bank of America In the Community Community Development | Corporate Philanthropy |Environment | Sponsorships | Bank of America Community Volunteers Our Philosophy At Bank of America, we are committed to creating meaningful change in the communities we serve through our philanthropic efforts, associate volunteerism, community development activities and investing, support of arts and culture programming We‘re part of New Zealand and we‘re determined to help make our and environmental communities stronger. We listen to initiatives. what‘s needed and contribute in a CSR COMMUNITY ! number of ways from sponsorships ECONOMIC and employee volunteering to DEVELOPMENT ! improving the financial literacy of PLANET ! ARTS New Zealanders and making banking services more accessible. As our communities get stronger, "We're committed to everyone benefits. strengthening the economic and social health of the Supporting New Zealand communities we serve our organisations and activities. philanthropic efforts, associate volunteerism, Eg Save the Kiwi / Plunket/Literary community development lending and investing, Awards/ Super Rugby support of arts and culture programming and environmental initiatives. We believe that a healthy "Open communication of our community is important to efforts to be a good citizen". all of us. As part of our core company value to "do the right thing", we are committed to creating positive change in the places we live and work through our philanthropic JP Morgan Chase Corporate responsibility is about what we do every day in our businesses and how we do it. We are committed to managing our businesses to create value for our consumer and corporate clients as well as our shareholders, communities and employees and to being a responsible corporate citizen. CR is at the heart of the very architecture of our businesses: responsible lending and business practices and what we do every day for our clients — consumers, small- and medium-sized businesses, corporate and institutional clients, governments, not-forprofits — and communities around the world. WE ARE COMMITTED TO DOING THE RIGHT THING "be a catalyst for meaningful, positive and sustainable change within our highest-need neighborhoods and communities across the globe". Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 175 Corporate Responsibility, Global Citizenship and Online Stakeholder Communication Management efforts, employee volunteerism, and environmental initiatives". TABLE 2. Organisational citizenship: Indicators Indicators Australia & New Zealand ―Delivering outstanding banking‖ Stakeholders External Internal Stewardship Covenantal Relation ships Quick link from Home page to CR( rotating) ―Where you want, when you want –― Customer Charter Respecting and connecting with the community (Receiving donations to Christchurch Earthquake Fund) Careers‖ An excellent environment -Valuing our people‖ Volunteering ―Introducing our customer charter‖…. Service/ banking/ Responsibility/ Communities ―We are committed to helping New Zealanders improve their level of financial knowledge‖. Bank of New Zealand Bank of America JP Morgan Chase ―We aim to become a longterm trusted adviser to all New Zealanders on the financial realities of life and business.‖ ‖ to help everyone we work with realize their dreams. In fulfilling this purpose, a constant theme in our work has been ―opportunity.‖ ―balancing non-financial factors such as environmental and social issues with financial priorities is an essential part of good corporate citizenship, in addition to being fundamental to risk management and the protection of investors‖ ―Through major ―BoA brings the power of our human and financial capital to transform communities into vibrant, desirable places for people to live, work and raise families‖. sponsorships and a raft of community activities, BNZ is actively involved in the development and wellbeing of our nation, our people & our unique environment‖. Earthquake Appeal Careers:‖ freedom to grow and develop in whatever direction best suits your abilities & ambitions. We'll help you become a high achiever in your own right‖ Volunteering ―We‘re helping New Zealanders make informed judgments and effective decisions about how they use and manage money. The more that can be done to build knowledge about finance, the better the country will be‖. City Gallery Wellington Plunket /BNZ Partners Growth Programme/Working with government Video clips with personal stories ―BoA and its affiliates recruit and hire qualified candidates without regard to race, religion, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, age, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, veteran or disability status or any factor prohibited by law,‖ ―Create sustainable practices for the long haul‖ ―BoA brings the power of our human and financial capital to transform communities into vibrant, desirable places for people to live, work and raise families.‖ National Community Relationships; community development; nonprofits; trade associations; advocacy and constituency groups, government-chartered and originated organizations. 2006, partnered with the Harvard University Center for the Environment. Serving Consumers Serving institutions Community Development Eg Multi-Day, ForeclosurePrevention Events Global scale, world class talent and our commitment to diversity shape a culture of leadership within JPMorgan Chase. "a diverse and inclusive environment is critical to our success" Statistics of staff ethnicity ―our firm's unwavering commitment to making a positive difference in the communities where we operate. Low- and moderate-income communities Small businesses (particularly minority- and women-owned) Low-to-moderate-income individuals and families ―. Advisory services to community groups and nonprofit institutions Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 176 Corporate Responsibility, Global Citizenship and Online Stakeholder Communication Management Sustainability Int‘l Benchmarks ―our customer focus, our commitment to helping communities grow and strengthening corporate governance and creating a risk aware culture‖. Business management practices Energy-wise home programme Financial wellbeing programme Volunteering ANZ Foundation Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu- Maori Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) Lundquist CSR Online Awards 2010 ―We have fulfilled our ―Our 10-year, $20 billion commitment to become carbon neutral.‖ commitment is addressing climate change and helping to set opportunity in motion‖ ―Our environmental partners include government entities, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), universities and other businesses- as well as customers & clients.‖ Homeownership Preservation Office Environmental initiatives ― Kauri forest‖ ― kiwis‖ Sustainable buildings Dow Jones Sustainability Index GRI Initiative Ceres Principles FTSE4Good. "As one of the world‘s leading financial institutions, JPMorgan Chase recognizes that the health of the economy rests on the health of the planet. Our goal is to make a positive contribution to sustainability by integrating environmental principles into our business model" Support for indigenous communities- informed participation and collective decision-making. GRI Initiative Equator Principles( World Bank) UNDHR- commitment to values GRI Initiative Discussion and Analysis ANZ clearly indicates its role as an organisational citizen via its revised 2009 Corporate Responsibility Framework. This framework centres on: ―Individual prosperity, thriving communities and navigating responsible growth‖. Specifically, ANZ‘s priorities to support this framework involve responsible business practices, education and employment opportunities, and financial capability, bridging urban/rural social and economic divides along with urban sustainability. These priorities are applicable to both internal and external stakeholders and the new logo on the CSR page reflects this ―We live in your world‖. Subsequent reporting aligned itself with the framework, from stakeholder relationship development and maintenance, to clear evidence of stewardship and sustainability initiatives that underpin this 2009 revised Corporate Responsibility Framework. ANZ was assessed by the Dow Jones Index in 2010 as being a leading bank globally, the latest published CSR report ( interim)was also for 2010 and CSR newsletters ( monthly ) were archived but easily accessible. The GRI (G3) reporting standards are also used to guide presentation of CSR reports. Third party assurance of GRI reporting equates with ANZ's own self-assessment audit (A+). With regard to internal stakeholders, diversity, culture, flexibility and engagement along with learning, development and international opportunities are seen as valued characteristics of ANZ employee engagement. Customers (via the Customer Charter) and community were well addressed. In particular, the Australian indigenous community's social and economic well-being needs are being committed to via a Public Reconciliation Plan with public accountability. As well, ANZ adheres to GRI (G3) reporting standards. Interestingly, in the 2010 Lundquist Online CSR Global Leaders Awards, ANZ was ranked 18 = with Nokia (Finland) (Lundquist, 2010). Overall, navigation of the site was easy with text appropriately supported with graphics but not multi- media or video clips. Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 177 Corporate Responsibility, Global Citizenship and Online Stakeholder Communication Management BNZ clearly indicates its role as an organisational citizen through its goal of ―transparent communication that reports on our performance in; community, people, customers, supply chain and the environment‖. External relationships are shaped by major sponsorships and community initiatives within three core areas; wellbeing of people, nation and environment. Internal, staff relationships are shaped by the notion of becoming a "high achiever in your own right". Volunteering was a strong part of staff/ community relationships. Stewardship approaches are evident supported by the notion that if people have knowledge (ie fiscal knowledge) they make informed decisions that are sustainable, hence support for financial workshops. Covenantal-type relationships mentioned included; Plunket, Literary Awards and Save the Kiwi. BNZ also adheres to GRI (G3) reporting standards. The About Us page included both community and environment reports along with a "how we're tracking" button that lead to the latest ( 2009 CSR report ) and an easy to read bulleted list of the 2010 social and environmental goals underpinned by the statement: "It‘s part of our determination to be transparent in our actions as a good corporate citizen". The About Us page also has a button leading to "Get to Know Us" in which the BNZ philosophy was clearly stated as ―Champions for and enablers of a high achieving ,successful New Zealand." Overall, navigation of the site was straightforward and the CSR messages were helped by effective use of video clips, prominently placed on the About Us pages. Bank of America has a strong organisational citizen profile reflected in the phrase to ―help everyone we work with realise their dreams … in fulfilling this purpose, a constant theme in our work has been ‗opportunity‘". The About Bank of America page (NB Not 'About Us' as used in the other 3 sites) leads to Corporate Philanthropy and then to Overview, where readers finally get to see the scope of the CSR initiatives: "we are committed to creating meaningful change in the communities we serve through our philanthropic efforts, associate volunteerism, community development activities and investing, support of arts and culture programming and environmental initiative". The Careers page begins with an "Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action Statement" and lists positions available according to state or country. There is a strong emphasis on positions available and recruitment rather than displays of values and empowerment messages. Sustainability is reflected in the 10 year $20 billion programme addressing climate change and a link to this information was available from the home page. Stewardship is evident in the statement "leading financial partner, advisor and sponsor across the global sports landscape ". The very evident reporting on the Volunteer focus areas stated these areas are aligned with the company's philanthropic priorities of education, health and human services, community development, arts and the environment for greater community impact. However BoA's CSR reporting at times hides its profile via an emphasis on textual messages rather than text supported by images, graphics or multi media usage. Chase's home page has fairly standard, text-based information and it was only in the small fine print at the bottom of the page, that one can find the About Us link. From this link, video clips and graphics were utilised. However, it is the Corporate Responsibility page (not the About Us page) where CSR messages are located. These centred on serving customers, consumers and institutions, community development, work environment and human rights. Corporate citizenship was evident here with clear stakeholder oriented messages presented. Internal stakeholder messages did include staff profiles and graphic, with values indicated as per this stated goal "to build a healthy, vibrant company that treats people with respect and creates opportunity. Everyone counts, and we have to remember that we all support one another." Diversity characteristics were specifically outlined "We want individuals of any race, nationality, gender, sexual orientation, or physical ability to have the opportunity to excel based on their performance and contribution to the firm ". The Human Rights page made a strong statement Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 178 Corporate Responsibility, Global Citizenship and Online Stakeholder Communication Management about influence from the UNDHR across Chase operations ―.... relationships with our employees, clients and suppliers, and with the countries and communities in which we operate, are intended to reflect the principles, policies, codes and accords set forth and referred to in this Human Rights Statement". This Human Rights pages also included a strong statement about adherence to global principles such as those outlined on the UN website with regard to Environmental and Social Risk Management policies. Chase was the only bank to specifically devote a whole page to Human Rights and include appropriate links to reporting disclosures (e.g. Equator Principles). Chase's Corporate Responsibility page actually mentioned "being a responsible corporate citizen." along with a link to a PDF file for the 2009 CSR Report. This report included a selfassessed GRI rating of B "We are self-declaring a GRI G3 Application Level of B for this report". Overall, clear evidence reflecting Johnson's (2007) descriptor of corporate citizenship. Text based messages were also supported by some video, multi-media clips. Conclusions Our research question exploring the role then that CSR reports play as an online communication strategy and tactic for stakeholder communication and relationship management began to be answered. Stakeholder recognition of organisational citizenship is clearly important to these banks. The tactical use of online CSR messages allows for such recognition to flow from the corporate identity. The About Us pages in all four sites take the viewer to clearly constructed messages about CSR initiatives that reflect Johnson's description of the criteria for organisational citizenship. The reporting of each bank‘s vision and values as outlined in the About Us Corporate Responsibility pages indicated strong emphasis on being good corporate citizens via the use of descriptive language with a past, present and clear future - orientation that emphasised the importance of; responsible practices, community development, people ( i.e. staff and stakeholders ) and the environment. ANZ summarised these characteristics appropriately with the words within their CSR logo ―We live in your world‖. ANZ and BNZ were clearly strong in the stewardship and sustainability reporting. Images, graphics, video clips, the use of international and global benchmarking along with evidence of covenantal types of relationships (eg BNZ and Plunket – a New Zealand non-profit, government-supported organisation to support new born children and their parents) were in clear evidence. BoA and Chase also displayed much evidence reflecting a strong focus on stewardship and sustainability but with more emphasis on textual accounts of initiatives rather than graphical or multi-media presented ones. Stakeholder relationships were clearly focussed on and while this focus included both internal and external stakeholders, the external relationships were more prominent. This was evident in all four banks. However, a strong stewardship emphasis on staff development within all four banks was noted. This reflected Johnson‘s (2007) descriptor of ―stewardship‖ managers enabling personal development, achievement and self-actualisation. For example, the reports about staff volunteering (e.g. at BNZ / ANZ) conveyed via personal stories, the positive effects that staff gained from sharing their expertise and working within communities. Overall, while the four banks did show clear evidence of organisational citizenship characteristics, ANZ, BNZ and Chase used video clips to convey personal CSR stories and thus were more overt in the presentation of their reporting of this type of corporate identity. As well, easy navigation and presentation of information from the Home page to About Us helped here, although Chase has separated the About Us page from the Corporate Responsibility one (the other three have Corporate Responsibility within the About Us page). These organisational citizenship reports do convey ongoing and positive relationships between the organisation, its Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 179 Corporate Responsibility, Global Citizenship and Online Stakeholder Communication Management internal and external stakeholders - and society. Corporate commitment to social responsibility is clearly valued and conveyed via the use of CSR reports, thus resulting in effective communication to stakeholders of issues relevant to them. CSR reports certainly enable creation of a desired corporate identity – an identity also given credibility via the use of global reporting standards for the communication of CSR. ANZ's About Us links did however indicate a level of presentation of CSR messages and a resulting corporate citizenship that justified the Lundquist CSR Online Global Leaders Award rating for 2010. None of the other three banks rated in this survey. However, ANZ and Chase both published their GRI rating. We propose that a future direction for this research would be to conduct a longitudinal study and measure developments in organisational citizenship reporting over time in order to further assess its role and contribution to corporate identity creation. References Argenti,P. A. ( 2007)Corporate Communication (4ed) USA: McGraw-Hill Irwin. AA 1000 Accountability Principles Standards (2008) (http://www.accountability.org/aboutus/publications/aa1000.html ).DOR 13/03/11 Basil, D.Z., & Erlandsen, J.(2008) Corporate Social Responsibility website presentations: A longitudinal study of internal and external self-presentations Journal of Marketing Communications Vol 14, No 2 pp125-137. Birth, G., Illia, L.,Lurati F., & Zamparini,A. (2008)Communicating CSR: practices among Switzerland‘s top 300 companies Corporate Communications: An International Journal Vol 13, No 2, 2008 pp 182-196. 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(2010) Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility: Stakeholders in a global environment Thousand Oaks CA: Sage World Commission of the Environment and Development: Report (1987) UN document http://www.undocuments.net/ocf-cf.htm DOR 13 /3 / 11 . Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 181 Corporation as Civil Organization in a CSR Campaign The Challenge of Maintaining Credibility Leila Trapp ASB Centre for Corporate Communication Aarhus University, Denmark [email protected] CSR understandings and practices, including ways corporations communicate about CSR, are in constant flux due to innovation and changing stakeholder expectations, which in turn are influenced by inevitable changes in social, political and economic circumstances. In this paper, focus is on the growing expectation that companies address large, global issues (Stohl, Stohl & Popova, 2009). Through a case study of a unique and innovative CSR campaign that addresses global climate change, this paper revisits the understanding of CSR as a shift in roles and responsibilities between corporations, governments and civil society (Van Marrewijk, 2003). Within this framework, the case study contributes to our understanding of the motivation for the increasing number of CSR partnerships between business and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) (Googins & Rochlin, 2000). More specifically, the analysis reveals that if a corporate CSR campaign fosters and enacts a blurring, or even elimination, of sector boundaries to reach campaign aims, important inherent distinctions between business, government, and civil organizations ultimately remain salient to the public. Unless these sector distinctions are recognized and maintained in CSR campaigns, challenges to a company‘s credibility and reputation can arise. Key words - corporate social responsibility, corporate communication, cross-sector partnerships, corporate sustainability, campaigns, collaboration Paper type - case study Googins, B. K., Rochlin, S. A. (2000). Creating the partnership society: Understanding the rhetoric and reality of cross-sectoral partnerships. Business and Society Review, 105(1), 127-144. Stohl, C., Stohl, M. & Popova, L. (2009). A new generation of corporate codes of ethics. Journal of Business Ethics, 90(4), 607-622. Van Marrewijk, M. (2003). Concepts and definitions of CSR and corporate sustainability: between agency and communion. Journal of Business Ethics, 44(2), 95-105. (Paper was not available at time of publication.) Conference on Corproate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 182 CSR and Stakeholder Dialogue A Case Study of Sugar Cane Company in Thailand Suwichit (Sean) Chaidaroon Nanyang Technological University, Singapore [email protected] Engaging in a genuine dialogue with stakeholders seems to be a pressing issue that corporate communicators are facing in implementing their CSR initiatives (Hess, 2008; Kaptein & van Tulder, 2003; O'Rordan & Fairbrass, 2008). However, communication features of stakeholder dialogue have yet been empirically delineated. Based on a qualitative case study of CSR initiatives by a sugar cane processing conglomerate in Thailand directed towards the sugar cane farmers as their beneficiary stakeholders, this paper attempts to characterize the lack of stakeholder dialogue from both parties. Group interviews with managers and in-depth interviews with farmers were conducted separately to identify their different perceptions, concerns, and the expected nature of dialogue. Findings from the study highlight the needs for participatory feature of CSR dialogue (Maclagan, 1999) as well as the perceived power imbalance that may exist in implementing CSR initiatives. Implications are also provided for corporate communicators to engage in genuine dialogue with their stakeholders. Keywords - CSR, Stakeholder Dialogue, Case Study Research Type of paper - Research In recent years, it is almost undeniable that corporate social responsibilities (CSR) have gained interests among business sectors and their stakeholders. CSR has been developed from being a mere business practice to a muti-dimentional faceted concept that academicians have attempted to investigate and yet find it inconclusive (Cochran, 2007; Okoye, 2009). Many organizations treat their CSR efforts as a systemic organizational activity in response to social and environmental impact, rather than a process through which moral values and concern are genuinely articulated and negotiated among stakeholders (Maclagan, 1999). This systemic approach may allow organizations to meet fundamental social reporting requirements but it does not lead to a long-term citizenship mentality among corporations (Hess, 2008). To create a genuine dialogue with stakeholders, van de Kerkhof (2006) argues that all perceived constraints and opportunities must be articulated so that needs and concerns are addressed honestly (Kaptein & van Tulder, 2003). Any deliberation or assumed CSR needs singly from the organizational perspective does not suffice (van de Kerkhof, 2006) and the organizational motives behind CSR will be scrutinized (Burchell & Cook, 2008). As such, meaningful CSR initiatives emerge in a ―process, through which individuals‘ moral values and concerns are articulated‖ (Maclagan, 1999, p. 43). To reinforce the participatory nature of stakeholder dialogues in CSR decision making (O'Rordan & Fairbrass, 2008), this paper reports a case of perceived discrepancies between a sugar processing conglomerate and sugar cane farmers in Thailand as the company attempted to develop their CSR efforts. Based on the assumption that once the perception gaps are identified a genuine dialogue can be created, the paper uses this case as an illustration to delineate the challenges and opportunities for organizations to dialogue with their stakeholders in developing their CSR initiatives. Findings from the study also help establish a typology of dialectical tensions (Baxter, 1988), or opposing points, in CSR decision making. It is hoped that this Conference on Corproate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 183 CSR and Stakeholder Dialogue framework of dialectical tensions can be taken into consideration by corporate communicators as they conduct stakeholder dialogues to develop their CSR programs in the future. Dialogue, Corporate Communication, and CSR The dialogic nature of communication has appeared in philosophical and interpersonal communication for quite some time (c.f. Anderson, Baxter, & Cissna, 2004). Based on the work of philosophers including Martin Buber (1958) and David Bohm (1996), communication scholars have applied their ideas of dialogue to capture ideal interpersonal interactions. Johannesen (1971), one of the first authors who wrote about dialogic communication in the communication discipline, explicated that in dialogue, a speaker does not attempt to impose his or her own truth or view on another and he is not interested in bolstering his own ego or self-image. Each person in a dialogic relation is accepted for what he or she is as a unique individual … The essential movement in dialogue is turning toward, outgoing to, and reaching for the other. (p. 375) Stewart (1978) proposes four distinctive features of dialogue that distinguishes this genre of communication from others such as conversation, discussion, or debate. First, dialogue emerges in a ―dynamic, complex, context-dependent communicative transaction‖ (p. 184) where reciprocal bond and relationship is the focus of such an interaction. Second, dialogic communication is experiential as dialogue participants encounter the interactions and reflect to learn upon their direct experience. Consistently, the third feature of dialogic communication is its focus on self and subjectivity. As dialogue is learned through reflection, the notion of authenticity or sincerity as well as self-awareness and sensitivity becomes central to the emergence of dialogue. Finally, dialogic communication must be viewed holistically as it ―embraces a multitude of interdependent cognitive, affective, behavioral, and contextual variables‖ (p. 185). Given the primary of applications of dialogic communication in interpersonal settings, business scholars have adopted this approach to communication to enhance organizational cohesion among members and to prevent conflicts. Dialogue is believed to be instrumental for cohesive team building (Isaacs, 1999) as well as creating an organizational learning culture where individuals are open to new ideas (Senge, 1990). Not until recently, business researchers have paid attention to the applications of dialogue for organizations to deal with external stakeholders due to the pressures organizations are facing from NGOs, lobbyists, policy makers, more informed and educated consumers etc. Dialogic communication has a great potential for corporate communicators to successfully implement their CSR initiatives. For example, Pederson (2006) argues for the participatory approach to CSR initiatives whereby the ―company actually involves stakeholders in the decision-making processes‖ (p. 14). This author characterizes stakeholder dialogue with five features including inclusion, openness, tolerance, empowerment and transparency. These features of stakeholder dialogue are based on the author‘s compilation of previous literature. To better appreciate stakeholder dialogue for CSR initiatives as well as to create and engage genuine dialogic interactions, empirical evidences are essential and successful and non-successful cases are needed to confirm our understanding of stakeholder dialogue and to help build a repertoire of dialogic stakeholder engagement for CSR activities. Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 184 CSR and Stakeholder Dialogue Research Method and Data Collection The present research employed a qualitative case study approach to investigate the interested phenomenon in a real-life setting (Yin, 2009). Among the various applications of case studies, this type of research is used to demonstrate the phenomenon of interest (Stake, 1995). This project studied the bounded phenomenon, or the challenges of stakeholder dialogue, faced by the selected organization and their stakeholder as an instrumental case to illustrate the ways in which a corporation struggled to develop their CSR efforts by engaging the relevant stakeholder (Stake, 1995). Qualitative method was adopted given the exploratory nature of the study and it allows the researcher to explore the phenomenon holistically. Description of the selected case A major sugar processing conglomerate with its more-than-half-a-decade establishment in Thailand was chosen as a case in this study. The site for this project covered the northeastern part of Thailand, the country that was ranked as the sixth largest sugar producer and second largest sugar exporter in the world (Suksawat, Piewthongngam, & Tenglolai, 2008). This sugar company has set up various factories around the region to process sugar and to allow convenience for sugar cane farmers to distribute their canes to the company as transportation could be a major obstacle among them. Given a fierce competition in the sugar industry in this region, sugar cane farmers had several options to sell their harvest to other companies via several outlets. Therefore, the selected sugar processing company in this study attempted to conduct their CSR programs directed towards sugar cane farmers in order to improve the quality of sugar farming and processing as well as to establish the sense of loyalty among sugar cane farmer to their company at the same time. Their dual goals in CSR activities were perceived to create some challenges for them to be a ―good‖ partner with the sugar cane communities and to be a successful business enterprise in the region at the same time. Based on the interview in this study, the manager of the company who was in charge of their CSR initiatives for sugar cane farmers hopes to establish a sugar cane community where farmers are well equipped with knowledge and technology for their farming as well as using farming technique that is environmentally friendly at the same time. The company has attempted to reach out to sugar cane farmers by providing assistance including monetary loans, fertilizers, pesticides and insecticides, sending experts to conduct workshops for farmers, etc. However, the company did not seem to be successful in gaining collaboration from the farmers and hence they were interested in searching for a way to better dialogue with the sugar cane farmers in the region. Therefore, the relationship between this company and sugar cane farmers in this case serves as a good illustration of the lack of dialogic elements in their stakeholder engagement communication. It is important to note that this paper is a part of a larger research project that aims to understand the decision-making process of sugar cane farmers throughout their supply chain process. The research team determined that CSR efforts or initiatives of sugar cane processing companies could be one important factor that influenced sugar cane farmers to conduct business transactions with certain companies or agents. This paper focuses only on the study the CSR efforts of the selected case of sugar processing conglomerate and their sugar cane farmers as their beneficiary stakeholder to illustrate the importance and challenges of stakeholder dialogue in conducting CSR initiatives. This paper addresses the following research questions (RQs): Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 185 CSR and Stakeholder Dialogue RQ1: What communication challenges in CSR efforts were perceived by the sugar processing company and the sugar cane farmers? RQ2: How did perceived communication challenges enable and/or constrain the sugar processing company and the sugar cane farmers from engaging in a genuine stakeholder dialogue? Data collection and analysis Data were collected through two group discussion sessions with mid and high levels managers of the company to explore past CSR initiatives with sugar cane farmers as well as the organizational needs, motivations, and process in developing CSR programs with this specific group of stakeholders. In addition, eight in-depth interviews were conducted with sugar cane farmers in eight different villages in the northeastern part of Thailand. Among the eight interviewees, two were female and six were male participants. Their experiences in growing sugar canes ranged from two months to throughout their lifetime. Appendix I illustrates the basic demographic information of the interviewees from eight villages. Appendixes II and III display the interview guides for group discussions with the company managers and in-depth interviews with farmers. These group discussions and in-depth interviews were completed during August to October 2010. Based on the assumption of naturalistic inquiry (Potter, 1996), these participating farmers were purposively selected as they appeared to be opinion leaders who were willing to share their needs and concerns about sugar farming and industry and served as representatives of other farmers in their community (Frey, Botan, & Kreps, 2000). In addition these famers had experiences dealing with the selected company, the feature and process that was the focus of this study (Silverman, 2006). The analysis was conducted following the grounded theory procedure as interviews and filed notes were transcribed and coded inductively to respond to the research questions. Constant comparison was performed to develop emerging themes until saturation was reached (Strauss & Corbin, 1990). Findings As mentioned above, the lack of dialogic features in communication between the two parties in this selected case was evident throughout the interviews. In this section, findings are discussed in detail based on the two research questions. In particular, two themes, including intermediary stakeholders and the nature of communication, emerged as the communication challenges addressed by RQ1. At the same time, the perceived business needs and formal business transactions led both parties to avoid direct and honest communication with each other and hence emerged as responses to RQ2. RQ1: What communication challenges in CSR efforts were perceived by the sugar processing company and the sugar cane farmers? Intermediary stakeholders The first communication challenge that both the organization and sugar cane farmers faced in this case was the fact that there were three intermediary stakeholders that mediated the communication between the two parties. The first group was the other experienced sugar cane farmers or villagers in the community themselves who served as opinion leaders and/or Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 186 CSR and Stakeholder Dialogue persuaders of the sugar cane farmers. More than half of the interviewees in this study accepted that they turned to grow sugar cane because they were persuaded by their neighbors and these people who were more experienced served as role models for them. Farmer 3 in this study, for example, elaborated that he decided to grow sugar following his neighbor not knowing whether his neighbor really had knowledge about farming and that neighbor did not really teach him formally. In addition, some neighbors or other farmers in the village usually influenced each other to not communicate directly with the sugar cane company when the interacted with the agricultural experts sent by the company. For example, farmer 1 described that after the farmers in his village listened to a new farming technique from the experts and tried it out, they found that the technique did not work. So they just consulted among themselves and followed instructions from the more experienced farmers in the village and formed an informal group that taught each other new techniques in the village without providing any feedback to the experts. This showed that the villagers did not have ―trust‖ in the experts or CSR initiative by the company that attempted to educate them. The second intermediary stakeholder that was brought up by nearly all interviewees was the middlemen. In the supply chain process of sugar cane processing, some farmers sold their harvest to the middlemen who then delivered all the canes and sold them to the company. These middlemen seemed to be strong influencers among the farmers who decided to work with them. Farmers 4 and 6, in particular, indicated that they had grown other crops such as rice or beans but they were persuaded by the middlemen to turn into sugar cane farming. These farmers tended to have a great sense of loyalty to the particular middlemen. The female farmer 2 suggested that switching middlemen or deciding to communicate directly to the company almost seemed unethical to the farmers. The last stakeholder that sometimes served as an intermediary between farmers and the company was government agriculturalists who were based in the village or offices nearby. In the rural areas of Thailand, these agriculturalists were officials who were sent by the central government to work with farmers in the area and to help educate them. In reality, these agriculturalists even took more roles than specialized experts. Based on the interviewees, they were treated almost like leaders in the villages as farmers even relied on them for other personal issues more than just the farming problems. Farmers 7 and 8 elaborated that villagers sometimes turned to these agriculturalists to help with their family issues as the officials were regarded highly in the community and were expected to be able to handle all issues including the farmers‘ personal lives. Therefore, when the company sent their experts to conduct some workshops for farmers, these villagers tended not to listen to those sent by the companies that well because they relied more on their own governmental agriculturalists who were based in the villages. Interestingly, during the group discussions with the managers, it seemed that only middlemen were commonly perceived by the company as the intermediary stakeholder as this group of people was regarded as ―competitors‖ in their business process. The management team in this study primarily hoped to gain trust from farmers and established their genuine relationships with the villages in comparison the middlemen. Not much was discussed or brought up by the managers about the roles of other experienced farmers and government agriculturalists. This suggested that the perception of managers on intermediary stakeholders was still partial. Frequency, availability, and usefulness of communication The second theme addressing the challenge of communication between farmers and the company in this study was the nature of communication itself. Due to the long distance from the location of the company and villages, both managers and farmers in this study mostly agreed that Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 187 CSR and Stakeholder Dialogue they did not communicate with each other on a regular basis. Two farmers, in particular, explained that they relied on the middlemen, rather the company, when they have farming problems because those middlemen were available for them to consult almost anytime. ―The middlemen were like a 24-hour clinic that we can turn to whenever we want. Sometimes when the insects destroyed our harvests all of a sudden, the middlemen could help us right away within just a phone call. They could diagnose our problem and gave us solutions immediately unlike those experts from the company,‖ farmer 6 explained. In addition, farmers did not perceive the usefulness of communication with the company, especially when the agricultural experts from the company visited the villages to train them or to organize some gathering sessions. As mentioned earlier, there were incidents when the farming technique taught by the company expert did not work well and the farmers only relied on their neighbors to solve their farming problems and did not tell the company experts directly. Farmer 1 explained sarcastically that when he used the fertilizers that the expert suggested, it turned out that he had more weeds than usual. ―The fertilizer must have been too good and that‘s why it grows more weeds than sugar canes ha ha ha.‖ In addition, Farmer 8 shared that people in his village always attended the gathering sessions organized by the company or experts when they visited to conduct some workshops ―only to get some give-away stuff without really paying attention to what was discussed during the gathering session because they did not believe in the usefulness of those sessions.‖ RQ2: How did perceived communication challenges enable and/or constrain the sugar processing company and the sugar cane farmers from engaging in a genuine stakeholder dialogue? Business needs as the main motivation to communicate with each other Based on the discussions farmers and managers, it seemed that perceived business needs, rather than genuine intrinsic motivation, forced them to interact with each other. Unlike those farmers who worked with middlemen in their supply chain process, most famers explained that they dealt with the sugar cane processing company, rather than other local agents or middlemen, only because they were provided technical convenience in the supply chain flow. All of them seemed to lament that they had no other choices and they were stuck in this process that they had no control over. At the same time, during the group discussions with managers, the respondents also presented themselves in an ―underdog‖ position. Even the main manager mentioned that their company‘s survival depended primarily on whether or not the farmers decided to work with them directly. The management team felt ―hurt‖ because they had tried to provide any assistance they could but they were not able to gain trust from the farmers. In general, both parties in this case revealed that they felt they were in a ―losing‖ or ―powerless‖ position and they communicated with each other only to complete their business transactions and to merely achieve their business goals. This perception of their position in the communication process prevented them from having a genuine dialogue with each other. Formal business process hindered genuine dialogic communication among both parties While the company attempted to be transparent and offered loans as well as other assistances to the farmers with a formal written contract, farmers perceived the business deal to be ―negative‖ and money-minded transaction with the wicked will of the company. Farmers 3 and 5, in particular, seemed to have a strong negative view on the process of receiving assistance from the company and described themselves as ―being trapped‖ with the contract they signed with the Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 188 CSR and Stakeholder Dialogue company. Farmer 6 also juxtaposed the assistances he got from neighbors and explained that these assistances from neighbors made him feel more ―comfortable‖ and created a communal spirit. Among all interviewed farmers, only farmer 7 who came from a successful village that won the outstanding model of entrepreneurial community, felt comfortable with the business transactions and formal business contracts as they believed they were well prepared and had the bargaining power. It was obvious that the formal business process and the goodwill of the sugar cane company in being transparent were misinterpreted by the farmers. This conflicting view of the nature of business transaction prevented both parties from directly and honestly communicating with each other. Discussion Consistent with previous research, both sugar cane farmers and the company indicated explicitly that their relationships would be strengthened if the corporate social responsibility initiatives were mutually beneficial to both parties (Bhattacharya, Korchun, & Sankar, 2009). However, when asked about the discrepancies or challenges in CSR efforts, all participants revealed these challenges subtly through their unmet needs. Specifically, these challenges can be conceptualized into two dialectical tensions (Baxter, 1988), or opposing points that both parties struggled to balance as they articulated their needs for CSR initiatives. First, the both parties wrestled with the goal to be successful in their business while becoming a good citizen of the community. As both farmers and the company relied on each other in their business transactions, they hoped to maintain good relationships with each other. However, when asked how they communicated the way they balanced these two goals, the company appeared to employ traditional business tactics such as asking farmers to sign written contract when offering certain agricultural assistance to them. At the same time, the farmers tended to see the company mainly from their entrepreneurial side and yet still relied on the company for most assistance. They both hoped to work with each other on an equal partnership basis but their communication appeared to perpetuate the imbalanced roles. Second, when asked to discuss the previous CSR initiatives they hope to have received and provided, both parties struggled with the balance between material and intellectual assistance. Both parties saw the value in providing material assistance such as fertilizers, insecticides, or irrigation while how-to knowledge in sugar cane farming was also important. However, the way these assistances were presented led to some unintended consequences and misperceptions between the two parties. For example, while the company attempted to provide effective fertilizers and insecticides, farmers expressed their heartened fear for using chemical substances that will affect their health and environment. When asked about the ultimate goals of their business successes, both parties interestingly addressed similar hopes. The management team explained that they wanted a strong sugar cane community consisting of farmers who were knowledgeable of farming techniques to be developed and sustained so that they can rely on the farmers‘ harvests. At the same time, the farmers wanted to develop their strong communities to enhance their bargaining power in the business process. This similar goal was somehow obstructed from the lack of open communication among the two parties. Findings from this study also provide some implications for corporate communication in conducting stakeholder dialogue. The two parties, the management team and the farmers in this case, were both Thai and their cultural value in communication was supposed to be similar. Thai communication style is characterized as implici and receiver-oriented as the communicators Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 189 CSR and Stakeholder Dialogue usually want to maintain social harmony by lowering their selves through their indirect communication style (Chaidaroon, 2003). However, this case illustrated that when dialogue is needed to enhance participatory process of CSR initiatives, the implicit communication style may not work as it is hard for both parties to assume the needs from each other. Corporate communicators in such a situation need to find communication process that allows the beneficiary stakeholder to feel comfortable to voice their concern without any hesitation. Such communication process or mechanism should be a subject for future research. Conclusion This paper reported findings of an exploratory study to identify the lack of dialogic features in communication and role discrepancies between a sugar processing company and sugar cane farmers. Both parties faced communication challenges that prevented them from engaging in a genuine dialogue as they had other intermediary stakeholders that prevented them from direct contact with each other and the farmers, in particular, did not perceive communication with the company to be as useful. As a result, both management team and farmers were constrained from having an open communication with each other. Two dialectical themes were identified through qualitative data including (1) balancing business goals and becoming a good community citizen and (2) intellectual and material CSR initiatives. While these two themes are based on data from this sugar cane industry case, they seem to be useful for other organizations to consider as they engage in a dialogue with stakeholders to make a decision for their CSR initiatives. References Anderson, R., Baxter, L. A., & Cissna, K. N. (Eds.) (2004). Dialogue: Theorizing difference in communication studies. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Baxter, L. A. (1988). A dialectical perspective of communication strategies in relationship development. In S. Duck, Handbook of personal relationships (pp. 257-273). New York: Wiley. Bhattacharya, C. B., Korchun, D., & Sankar, S. (2009). Strenthening stakeholder-company relationshs through mutually beneficial corporate social responsibility initiatives. Journal of Business Ethcis , 85, 257-272. Bohm, D. (1996). 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Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 191 CSR and Stakeholder Dialogue Appendix I Demographic Information of Sugar Cane Farmers Participating in the Study Gender Age Range Length of Sugar Farming Farmer 1 Male 60-70 All his life Farmer 2 Female 40-50 2-3 years Farmer 3 Male 40-50 4-5 years Farmer 4 Male 60-70 2-3 years Farmer 5 Female 40-50 1 year Farmer 6 Male 40-50 2 months Farmer 7 Male 40-50 All his life Farmer 8 Male 20-30 10 years Appendix II Interview Guide for Group Discussion with Managers of Sugar Cane Processing Company 1. How is your company currently handling CSR activities? Who is in charge? 2. What CSR projects have you conducted over the past 3-5 years? Please describe the project. 3. Which stakeholders are important to the organization? Rank them in order. 4. Which stake holders appear to be difficult to deal with? Why? Please provide examples. 5. Describe your relationship with sugar cane farmers in the region. Explain how the relationship has been developed and maintained. 6. What forms of assistance have you provided for the farmers? 7. What areas of improvements does your company want to see in the area of CSR? Appendix III Interview Guide for In-depth Interviews with Sugar Cane Farmers 1. Who taught you how to grow sugar cane? When you have technical problems, whom do you usually consult? 2. What is your overall impression of the sugar processing company? 3. What forms of assistance have you received from the sugar processing company? Are they useful for your farming & community? 4. What other forms of assistance do you think the company can provide? 5. How do you communicate with the sugar processing company? Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 192 Culture and Emotion in Crisis Communication Indigenisation of the Integrated Crisis Mapping (ICM) Model Lee-Ching Cheng, Yvonne Ai Chi Loh & Augustine Pang Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information Nanyang Technological University, Singapore [email protected], [email protected] & [email protected] Arguably the first study that has tested the ICM model cross-culturally, this study addresses the call by Asian scholars (see Wang & Kuo, 2010) to test the relevance of and indigenise Western models to Eastern contexts. Essentially, this study seeks to examine how the American-centric Integrated Crisis Mapping (ICM) Model, an emotion-driven crisis model, can be applied to the Asian culture, in which four crisis cases from Singapore, a microcosm of Asian cultures, are studied. Findings showed conceptual rigor of the ICM model. However, differences in emotional responses between stakeholders in the West and Asia demonstrated that displays of emotions and cognition tend to be influenced by culture. While crisis strategies (see Benoit & Pang, 2008) are useful, practitioners should increasingly integrate emotions and culture in crisis responses. Recently, scholars are paying more attention to studying the reactions of audiences in crises for the simple fact that without such an understanding, their organisational strategies may not appeal to the hearts and minds of their audiences and therefore, may not be effective (Jin, Pang & Cameron, 2009b). They found emotion to be a critical stimulus in triggering interpretations of and reactions to crises (Jin, Pang & Cameron, 2007). This has prompted further study for an emotion-based crisis communication approach by Jin, Pang & Cameron (2007), which has culminated in the development of the Integrated Crisis Mapping (ICM) model as an alternative to existing situation-based approaches to crisis communication. The model has been subjected to several rounds of testing in America to prove its rigour and robustness. (Jin & Pang, 2010a; Jin, Pang, & Cameron, 2007, 2009a, 2009b). In this study, we examined the applicability of the ICM model in the Singapore context for three key reasons. It is hoped that the study will provide further testing for the applicability of the ICM model in an Asian context, thereby contributing to understanding how cultural influences might affect the appraisal of a crisis and its responses. Second, the study further examines variances between the West and East that might exist in the way individuals and organisations in crises express themselves and cope in a multicultural society with the purpose of identifying specific crisis responses that could be effectively employed to meet the demands of diverse audiences in a multicultural context. Third, as an international business centre, Singapore offers the potential for studying the multi-dimensionality of threats that exist in a crisis. Finally, it is hoped that this study will contribute towards the framework of developing a publics-based, emotion-driven conceptualisation in crisis communication. Conference on Corproate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 193 Culture and Emotion in Crisis Communication Literature Review ICM: An emotion-based conceptualisation of crisis response Current crisis communication strategies stem largely from situation-based responses to crises. Two dominant crisis strategies that are often quoted are Benoit‘s image repair theory (Benoit & Brinson 1994; Benoit & Pang, 2008), as well as Coomb‘s situational crisis communication strategies (Coombs 2008). While recognising that these situation-based crisis responses serve as vital roadmaps for understanding crisis situations, Jin, Pang & Cameron (2010b) argued for a more universal and systematic approach to crisis understanding using the emotion-based approach. They based their research on previous studies which found emotion to be the critical stimulus affecting perceptions of a crisis (Carver & Blaney, 1977, cited in Jin, Pang & Cameron, 2010b). A new conceptualisation for understanding the diverse and varied emotions likely to be experienced by key stakeholders in crises was developed by Jin, Pang & Cameron in 2007, called the integrated crisis mapping model (ICM) (Jin, Pang & Cameron, 2007; 2009a; 2010). It integrates works from psychology and crises literature and extrapolates them on two continua (Figure 1). On the X-axis is the publics‘ coping strategy (from conative to cognitive). The publics can engage in cognitive coping, i.e. determining a way of interpreting the crisis situation with regard to their well-being (Jin, Pang & Cameron, 2007; 2009a; 2009b), or they can engage in conative coping – trying to manage the situation to alter a troubled relationship or sustain a desirable position by taking actions or showing the tendency to take action. During the coping process, the publics can change their interpretations based on the demands of the situation (Jin, Pang & Cameron, 2007; 2009a; 2009b). The Y-axis depicts the level of organisational engagement, ranging from high to low. The researchers took different types of crises and mapped them into each of the four quadrants, with the dominant and secondary emotions shown (Jin, Pang & Cameron, 2007; 2009a; 2009b). In each of the quadrants are crisis types, hypothesised using three criteria: 1) Internal-external; 2) Personal-public; and 3) Unnatural-natural (Jin, Pang & Cameron, 2007; 2009a; 2009b). (See Figure 1). Jin and her colleagues reasoned that the analysis of the organisational engagement level in the crisis and primary public‘s coping strategy can also be observed through the four quadrants. They posited that for crisis management to be effective, the organisation must understand the primary public‘s emotional demands in order to communicate and align with the coping strategy of the primary public (Jin, Pang & Cameron, 2007; 2009a; 2009b). The ICM model was further tested for its validity in the Western context (Jin, Pang and Cameron, 2009b; 2010b). Results from the test revealed that anxiety is the underlying emotion felt by publics in crises (Jin, Pang and Cameron, 2009b) and there is a high likelihood that one emotion would co-exist with another. Besides anxiety, which may or may not be the primary emotion, the other prevalent emotions observed were anger and sadness (Jin, Pang and Cameron, 2009b). The test found publics to be engaged in more conative coping than cognitive coping. Conative coping is defined as the public trying to manage the situation so as to alter a troubled relationship or to sustain a desirable one by taking actions or at least show their tendency of action. In cognitive coping, the public would be trying to sort out a way of thinking or interpreting the meaning of the crisis with regard to their well-being (Jin, Pang & Cameron, 2009b). Jin and her colleagues (2009b) also found a strong basis that conative coping is the external expression of the internal cognitive processing that has already taken place - cognitive coping is thus the precursor of conative coping. As such, the revised ICM model is further advanced in Figure 2. Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 194 Culture and Emotion in Crisis Communication Jin, Pang & Cameron‘s (2009a; 2009b) studies integrated existing crisis classifications into the integrated crisis mapping model to test the organisations‘ engagement levels. The tests revealed that although both the public and the organisations established that the crises were relevant to the organizations‘ goals; they differed on who should assume more responsibility (Jin, Pang and Cameron, 2009a, 2009b). Overall, a moderately high level of organisational engagement was found to have sufficed (Jin, Pang & Cameron, 2009b). (See figure 2). Cultural effects on emotions & cognition – arguments for cultural indigenisation and universality In recent years, Asian researchers are questioning the basis for applying Western-centric communication theories for research studies in Asia, arguing for the adoption of a deWesternised, cultural specific approach (Wang, 2011). Wang (2011) had earlier posited that Eurocentrism is emerging as one of the primary factors leading to a serious imbalance in knowledge production, particularly in the arena of communication studies. The concept of ‗deWesternisation‘ goes beyond the simplistic definition of removing elements that are Western; rather, it is to enrich the value of Western methods and theories (Wang, 2011; Wang & Kuo, 2010, p.154). Asian researchers like Kuo and Han (2011) emphasised that individual attitudes and behaviour, institutional structures, and social phenomena should be understood and analysed within their specific cultural frameworks, essentially proposing a culture-centric approach at the centre of each research inquiry, arguing for the meaningful and constructive merger of Eastern and Western theories without either political or ideological biases. This merger is possible if we synthesise communication theories studied from ethnocentric perspectives; from phenomena that occur at the confluence of cultures, and an investigation of new communication landscapes (Kuo and Han, 2011). Specifically with regards to communication theories, evidences of culture affecting emotions and behaviour have led scholars to question the validity of Western communication theories and research as a paradigm for understanding human reality across all cultures (Kim, 2009; Wang, 2009). It has also led to the proposal of and further debates about the development of Asian-centric communication theories as counter-paradigms in the study of emotions and behaviours. Kim (2009) argued that cultural bias can appear in ethnocentrism and Eurocentrism as well, explaining that attempts to generalise conditions and patterns in the region had invariably showed up the vast differences and anomalies that arise from the diverse cultures, languages, religions and traditions. Just as evidence contradicts the universality of Western paradigms for the Asian context, Asian-centric theories tend to paint Asian communication styles with the same broad brush as collectivistic and thus reserved and indirect (Kim, 2010, p. 169-170). Therefore, as Wang & Kuo (2010) suggest, Western-centric biases and problems in communication studies must first be indigenised to take into account cultural specific influences in terms of the historical, social, cultural and sub-cultural context. When studying interpersonal communication in respective cultures, the ―incommensurability between concepts and theories of different origins (that is, West and non-West), should be fully explored and revealed‖ (Wang & Kuo, 2010, p. 160). After which, universality of concepts may be explored (Wang & Kuo, 2010). Kim (2010) further elaborated that those who adopt a culture specific approach usually aim at exploring particularities that are context-specific; while those opting for a culture-general approach are more inclined to search for universality, or contingent/conditional universality. Wang & Kuo (2010) cautioned against ―complete fragmentation of the field‖, instead advocating for an approach that draws similarity in concept with Mignolo‘s (2007, cited in Wang Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 195 Culture and Emotion in Crisis Communication & Kuo, 2010) ―pluri-universality‖ (Wang & Kuo, 2010, p.161). One of the reasons for doing so is that there is a ―growing tendency of transcultural adaptation as a result of modernisation and globalisation‖ (Wang & Kuo, 2010, p. 156). Reasons for indigenising ICM in Singapore With a history as an entrepot port, Singapore is well-exposed to the cultures of East and West, and features a microcosm of cultures in Asia and beyond. Friedman & Wu (2008) has described it to be intensively multicultural. (Friedman & Wu, 2008, p. 345) posited that cultural diversity has moved beyond being inclusive to become a process that occurs within an individual, enabling them to embrace the different cultural systems and demonstrate greater adaptability in terms of cognition, emotions and behavioural patterns than people from mono-cultures. As such, there are benefits that accrue to their emotion-management dexterity and cognitive and behavioural flexibility. This research intends to investigate the effects of an Asian-based, multicultural society on the ICM model. Singapore also proves to be different from its Asian neighbours (Wee, 2001). With its receptivity to globalisation and modernisation (Kim, 2010; Wang & Kuo, 2010), it is often quoted in international forums as a key point of reference. Its open economy and economic growth has created a unique Asian culture for itself. Cases proposed for the Singapore study Four crises cases have been selected based on its contrast on relevant independent variables (Swanborn, 2010) in the ICM model, namely, huge trading losses at China Aviation Oil that spooked investors and shareholders - reputational issue (Quadrant 1), Collapse of Nicoll Highway – industrial accident (Quadrant 2), the scandalous downfall of the CEO of National Kidney Foundation – forced retirement issue (Quadrant 3) and the escape of terrorist detainee, Mas Selamat - security issue (Quadrant 4) They present opportunities to examine Asian-style emotions and responses to crises. China Aviation Oil (CAO), case of reputational damage: CAO was on the brink of bankruptcy after shocking the financial markets on 30 November 2004 with USD$550 million in financial losses resulting from speculative trading activities. The ensuing investigations ordered by the market regulator, the Singapore Exchange, revealed fraudulent actions and lack of proper governance at CAO and regulatory violations (Lee, 2006a). Matters were complicated by the return of the CEO to China in the heat of the scandal and that several members of its Board, who hailed from Chinese state-owned aviation transportation logistics group, were aware of the brewing troubles. CAO was sued by debtors and almost collapsed had it not been for a taskforce put in place to handle settlement proceedings and restructure the company ("China Aviation," 2006) and participation by strategic new investors, including Singapore‘s sovereign wealth fund, Temasek Holdings (Gerald, 2005). The dominant publics in this case study would be the investing community and the involved organisation to be studied will be CAO. The data about this case was collected from 30 November 2004, when CAO let on that it was unable to meet some of the margin calls arising from its speculative derivative trades, resulting in the company‘s being forced to close the positions with some of its counter parties until March 2006 when the CEO, Chen Jiulin, was arrested with the charge of the insider trading and sentenced to 51 months imprisonment. Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 196 Culture and Emotion in Crisis Communication Nicoll Highway Collapse, case of an industrial accident: Disaster struck on 20 April 2004 when a 100-metre stretch of Nicoll Highway caved in, making the busy highway leading to the central business district inaccessible to traffic for seven months and causing power disruptions to 15,000 people and 700 businesses in the vicinity (Ahmad, 2004). Four workers died in the incident. The accident was caused by the collapse of a temporary retaining wall supporting the excavation site for the construction of the underground Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) tunnels (‖Update on repair works‖, 2004). The Land Transport Authority (LTA) was the developer and Nishimatsu, the main contractor of the MRT works. Immediately after the incident, government teams stepped in to manage the situation. Later, a government-led inquiry reported a string of ―lamentable errors‖ (―Government response‖, 2005) relating to the project. The primary publics comprise the families of victims, and those directly impacted by the incident. The key organisation involved in this incident would be LTA. The data about this case was collected from 20 April 2004, the day of the highway collapse, until May 2005 when the final report of the committee of enquiry into the collapse was published. Scandal at the National Kidney Foundation (NKF), case of the forced CEO resignation: In July 2005, a legal spat between The Straits Times and NKF CEO, T T Durai led to the newspaper revealing a series of the CEO‘s misbehaviour ("As donations dip," 2005), including mishandling and abuse of funds and a huge CEO salary package. Reports of his alleged abuse of donations for personal enjoyment, such as first-class air travel and the installation of a gold tap in his private bathroom in the office ("How NKF," 2005) incensed the public. 40,000 regular donors withdrew their support for the charity, in which the charity lost around $1.7 million that could fund kidney dialysis programmes were at stake. An online petition attracting thousands demanded the CEO‘s resignation. The scandal caused a big dent to public confidence in Singapore charities and to Singapore‘s ―clean image‖ ("Charity scandal," 2005) among the international community. Strong government intervention ensued – appointing a new NKF Board and CEO, with measures spelled out to ensure greater governance at charities ("Government okays," 2006; Tan, 2008).The publics identified in this case study will be the donors, the general public and the media while the organisation to be analysed will be NKF. The data about this case was collected from 12 July 2005, when revelations from the legal spat resulted in public disclosures about the CEO‘s misdemeanours, until 23 July 2005 when the public discourse declined upon the setting up of an interm leadership team in NKF. Mas Selamat’s escape from detention, case of a security threat: On Feb 27, 2008, the terrorist detainee escaped from the Whitley Road Detention Centre, causing great embarrassment to Singapore‘s internal security system, a country known for its tight security and organisational efficiency (Chua, 2008). A massive manhunt was immediately deployed in the vicinity of the area immediately after the escape although news about the escape was released only several hours later. The search which proved unsuccessful was wound down 17 hours later. It was subsequently found that Selamat‘s relatives gave him shelter and assisted in his escape to Malaysia ("Mas Selamat given shelter," 2010). The issue raised much debate in parliament ("Parliament: ‗Mas Selamat‘s extended," 2010) and discussions about Singapore‘s social fabric ("Social fabric," 2010). For this case study, the primary publics comprise the residents around the detention centre while the secondary publics would be the general public. The key organisation involved in this incident would be the Ministry of Home Affairs Singapore. Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 197 Culture and Emotion in Crisis Communication The data about this case was collected from 28 February 2008, when news of Mas Selamat‘s escape broke, until November 2010 when the inquiry about his escape revealed that he received help from his family during his escape. The four Singapore cases were studied using Jin, Pang & Cameron‘s (2009b) revised ICM model to test the applicability of the Western model against a non-Western setting. Research questions This study seeks to answer the following research questions: RQ1: What are the dominant emotions expressed by the primary publics in the Singapore cases? RQ2: What are the coping styles during the crisis? RQ3: What are the organisational levels of engagement during the crisis? RQ4: What is the difference in perception between the organisation and the primary publics on the dominant emotions experienced by the primary publics? RQ5: What is the difference in perception between the organisation and the primary publics on the coping styles adopted by the primary publics during the crisis? RQ6: Are there noticeable differences between how Singapore audiences express their emotions from the dominant emotions identified in the ICM model? RQ7: Are there noticeable differences in crisis coping styles between how Singapore audiences and those identified in the ICM model? RQ8: Are there noticeable differences in the way organisations in crisis engage their audiences in the Singapore context compared with the engagement levels observed in the ICM model? Method Data collection The case study method is chosen to allow for the descriptive construction of historical evidences that will contribute towards analytic generalization of the findings. Multiple sources of evidences gathered from news clippings, citizen blogs, organisational and government news releases and other publications were used to enhance the validity and reliability of the case study findings. Data from the cases were used to build a systematic database of converging information and a chain of evidence, to provide conclusions to research questions and explicit links among research questions (Yin, 2009). The ICM model characteristics and extent of news coverage were used as a guide in identifying relevant cases. LexisNexis was used to scan for cases from year 2000 till November 2010. Cases were finally selected based on the impact of crisis. Data analysis Analysis of the crisis events depended largely on past records that were publicly available, and include news and published literature, information on websites and blogs, organisational documents and archival materials such as news releases, annual reports, public forum discussions and commissioned reports (Yin, 2009). Two investigators simultaneously examined the literature for evidences. Sources and data examined were triangulated to arrive at convergence and consistency of findings. The units of analysis examined were (1) Dominant emotions – identification of emotions as anger, anxiety, sadness and fright (2) Coping strategies – Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 198 Culture and Emotion in Crisis Communication identification of coping as conative or cognitive (3) Organisational engagement – identification of the level of engagement, ranging from high to low, according to the categorisation of crisis types (Coombs, 2008; Coombs & Holladay, 1996; Jin & Pang, 2010a). Observations were then matched against the predictive propositions of the ICM model. Findings and Discussion Primary emotions – RQ1 Case of reputational damage: Anxiety was identified as the initial primary emotion arising from the China Aviation Oil financial crisis, with its huge financial losses described as ―sending out shockwaves‖ ("CAO's crash," 2004), to the investing and over-the-counter (OTC) trading markets. The sentiment was also highlighted in SGX‘s effort to ―calm investors unnerved by the CAO debacle‖ (Lor, 2004), particularly for retail investors whose CAO shares were suspended. Later, emotion that prevailed grew into anger, as ―…investors soon discovered CAO had been in serious trouble for a long time,‖ (Lee 2006b). Case of an industrial accident: ―Fright‖ was the primary emotional expression. Evidences included the experience of residents or workers in nearby buildings who were jolted by loud explosions, tremors and blackouts ("Blast...‖ 2004; "Huge blackout," 2004). When more information on the highway collapse was available, fright gave way to ―anxiety and concern as evidenced by their worry about cracks in their buildings caused by MRT tunnelling (―Residents near‖, 2004). A smaller group of primary publics, the families, friends and ex-colleagues of the death victims were both ―in deep shock (frightened) and grief‖ ("Family remembers," 2004) to first learn about the victims‘ trapped in the rubble and then have hopes of their survival dashed. Case of a CEO scandal: ―Anger‖ was the primary emotion as evidenced by substantial withdrawals of donations to the NKF following news reports of the CEO‘s misbehaviour (Henson, 2005), and his refusal to take responsibility initially (Klyne, 2005) and ―sadness‖ was the secondary emotion, as from the public empathized with kidney dialysis patients who might be negatively affected by the crisis (Toh, 2005). Case of a security threat: For the Mas Selamat case, ―fright and anxiety‖ were displayed as the primary emotions as residents in the vicinity fear for their personal safety over a terrorist at large (Skadian, 2008). ―Anger‖ was observed to be the secondary emotion, operationalised by the public attributing blame towards the Internal Securities Department for the ―security lapses and apparent negligence that resulted in the escape of a terrorist‖ (Chwee, 2008). The dominant emotions expressed by the primary publics in the Singapore cases were mainly anger, anxiety as well as some secondary emotions of sadness as in the case of the CEO scandal. Primary public‘s coping strategies- RQ2 Case of reputational damage: Conative coping was prevalent in all segments of the primary publics despite the presence of strong proscriptive variables in the form of court protection from creditors and share trading suspension. After CAO filed court affidavit for voluntary liquidation, more than 120 creditors ("CAO Corp staves off liquidation," 2005) Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 199 Culture and Emotion in Crisis Communication continued to actively negotiate with CAO on repayments. Some resorted to legal suits (Prystay, 2005). Retail investors approached the Small Investors Association of Singapore (SIAS) for assistance and considered class action suits (Gerald, 2005). Case of an industrial accident: The primary publics were observed to adopt conative coping when residents asked for safety checks on their buildings following the highway collapse and commuters avoided areas of MRT tunnelling (Lee, 2004). Workers involved ―were initially afraid to go back into a tunnel‖ ("Counselling helps," 2004). The families of the four victims were the ones who tried to cope with the crisis cognitively, as they grappled to accept the absence left by the demised. Case of a CEO scandal: In the NKF case, conative coping was evident as the primary publics showed their objection by petitioning for the CEO‘s resignation and cancelling their donations ("3,800 cancel monthly donations," 2005). Case of a security threat: In the Mas Selamat case, the residents and schools in the vicinity of the Whitley Road Detention Centre tended to use more conative coping like cooperating with the police and helping the authorities search for the fugitive (Skadian, 2008), as well as ensuring that their own kin are safely at home as much as possible (Quek, 2008). Other Singapore residents coped conatively by looking out for the fugitive around public places (Toh & Jaganathan, 2008) as well as cognitively by continuing with their daily chores, entrusting their safety to the Police. Therefore, the coping style used by the primary publics in the Singapore cases was predominantly conative coping. Organisational engagement - RQ3 Case of reputational damage: At the point when the crisis was announced (Chang, 2004), CAO placed a high appraisal on the relevance between its organisational goal and the crisis as it knew that it would determine its survival. Even though it kept the issue away from the public, it was quietly trying to plug the gaping hole in the finances since October 2004 (Lee, 2006b), demonstrating high engagement but low public responsibility. However, its engagement was selective, focusing on those who will determine its survival - the regulators, creditors and key investors. Its engagement with retail investors and minority shareholders was moderate. Following regulatory intervention, CAO assumed high crisis responsibility with an action-based stance (Chang, 2004; Tay, 2004) as operationalised in the return of its CEO to face incrimination charges and the formation of a taskforce to settle its debts. Case of an industrial accident: In the case of Nicoll Highway, LTA adopted an accommodating stance right after the crisis, organising road traffic and public transport diversions and worked relentlessly to re-open part of Nicoll Highway to traffic just five days after the incident ("Nicoll Highway partially," 2004). It kept the public constantly apprised through its engagement with the media but avoided discussing possible reasons for the collapse (Yeo, 2004,). The government as a whole was highly engaged in managing the situation, adopting an actionbased stance. Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 200 Culture and Emotion in Crisis Communication Case of a CEO scandal: In the NKF case, the organisation tended to dismiss the crisis; attributing the response to unfavourable media reporting; and, hence, engagement was initially low. This was evidenced by the denial of the CEO as he thought that ―the case would not have much impact on the public‖, maintaining that ―whatever (NKF) did was right ("T T Durai," 2005). It was only after intervention from the government that the engagement level went up, with the installation of a new Board of Directors and management. The government took steps to improved charity governance and worked with NKF to restore public confidence. Case of a security threat: The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) which oversees all security matters within Singapore perceived that the crisis was very closely related to the organisation‘s operation and reputation and readily admitted responsibility for the crisis (Ho et al, 2008). MHA wasted no time in launching massive manhunt immediately after the escape (Quek, 2008). Although it showed high engagement, the stance adopted by MHA was more rhetoricmixed (Jin, Pang & Cameron, 2010b) due to proscriptive nature of internal security work. The observations from the above cases have demonstrated that organisations who had higher perception of responsibility tended to be more highly engaged with their stakeholders. Organisations in the Singapore study were prepared to be highly engaged in resolving problems posed by their crisis. Difference in organisational engagement as perceived by the organisation and the publics- RQ4 Case of reputational damage: Although CAO saw a close relationship between the crisis and its organisational goal, it did not match up to the public‘s perception of its organisational responsibility, especially on its lack of corporate transparency. The higher public expectation was operationalised as public anger (Leong, 2004). Case of an industrial accident: The government seemed to perceive greater relevance of its organisational goals to the crisis than commuters, e.g. anticipating traffic jams following the incident (―Update on repair works‖, 2004) and devoting huge resources on inquiries, checks to MRT works, etc. The accommodating stance could be interpreted as efforts to reduce offensiveness on LTA‘s part. The primary publics, the victims‘ families, on the contrary, were less damning, possibly because they could not pin-point the responsibility for the road collapse before the inquiry findings. Case of a CEO scandal: The primary publics perceived greater social responsibility from the NKF than the organisation itself (Neo, 2005). Case of a security threat: Despite the immediate and massive manhunt organized by the Home Affairs ministry, the primary publics expected greater organisational engagement and felt the government was not forthcoming in releasing information about the fugitive crisis ("The 'toilet break' escape," 2008). In three of the four cases above, the public perceived the organisations‘ responsibility to be greater than the organisations‘ self-perception. Despite the organisations‘ willingness to assume corporate responsibility for the crises, they did not fully meet the expectations of their publics, leaving cause for public anger. Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 201 Culture and Emotion in Crisis Communication Difference in coping strategy perception – RQ5 Case of reputational damage: CAO correctly anticipated that its creditors would cope conatively by pursuing repayments, prompting it to apply for voluntary liquidation (Lee, 2006b). Retail investors of CAO were more resolute about coping conatively than CAO had anticipated. The perception difference can be attributed to retail investors‘ anger towards CAO‘s irresponsibility, causing them to explore the pursuit of a class action suit (Gerald, 2005). Case of an industrial accident: LTA and government agencies went to great lengths to convince next-of-kin that no effort was spared in the rescue operations and to ensure fast restoration of the site. In contrast, families of victims and commuters were observed to be more prepared to cope with the tragedy cognitively. However, LTA underestimated the reactions of other affected publics over related safety issues - the safety of their buildings and living environment. (―Nearby buildings‖, 2004). Case of a CEO scandal: NKF donors and the general public attributed higher responsibility for NKF‘s misdeeds than NKF‘s self-perception. Both parties used conative coping, e.g. donors cancelled donations, while the organisation set-up dedicated donation hotlines to handle the increased in cancellations, and scaled back solicitations for donations during the crisis period (Ng, 2005). Case of a security threat: There was no significant difference in the coping strategy adopted by the primary publics and the organisation. Therefore, it could be said that all the involved organisations under study showed a mixed understanding of their publics‘ responses to the crises. They, however, demonstrated dexterity in the use of coping strategies to match public expectations. Differences in Singapore publics‘ emotional responses versus the revised ICM model - RQ6 In the American study, anxiety was the underlying emotion identified in the revised ICM model and anger/ sadness co-existed as the other prevalent emotions (Jin, Pang & Cameron, 2009a; 2009b). Anxiety was the prevalent emotion in three of the four cases, with the exception of the NKF case, as the crisis did not pose a risk of loss or personal danger to its primary publics. Instead, anger was the primary emotion. However, anxiety was quite prevalent in the other Singapore cases. Other prevalent emotions were anger and fright. Emotional responses to crises did not show universality between East and West. Anxiety has been observed to be the underlying emotion across most of the cases. However, sadness did not stand out as a theme, perhaps reflecting the less sentimental nature of people in Singapore. Differences in Singapore publics‘ coping strategy versus the revised ICM model - RQ7 Similar to the American study, the primary publics examined in the Singapore cases tended towards ―problem-focused coping‖ (Jin, Pang & Cameron, 2009b). Only pockets of helpless publics, such as the families of death victims in the Nicoll Highway tragedy, used cognitive coping. Therefore, the Singapore publics were found to adopt conative coping strategy in crises, similar to the Western ICM model. Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 202 Culture and Emotion in Crisis Communication Differences in Singapore‘s organisational engagement versus the revised ICM model – RQ8 Based on existing crisis classification, organisational engagements are expected to be high when there is high attribution of responsibility, especially when the crisis is preventable (Coombs, 2008). In reality, the cases tested in the revised ICM model had shown that organisations were not always willing to adopt a high level of engagement (Jin, Pang & Cameron, 2009b, p.31). While the revised ICM model showed moderately high engagement by organisations, all the cases in Singapore except for NKF‘s case, were highly engaged with their publics, adopting an action-based stance and taking corrective actions to meet the publics‘ demands. CAO had to prioritize its resources to focus on influential publics but worked hard to ensure business continuity. For NKF who did not perceive high attribution of responsibility for the crisis, its level of engagement went up after government intervention. In general, organisations in Singapore seemed to be more prepared to be highly engaged in their crises. A strong contributing factor is the active interest by the Singapore government in taking corrective action. The Singapore study almost matches the ICM studies in the West which found anxiety to be the underlying emotion in most crises. The only exceptional case was the publics‘ crisis reactions in NKF, the nature of which did not pose perceived danger or threat to its publics. On the other hand, coping strategies showed a high degree of universality between East and West. Organisational in the Singapore study differed from the West in their attitude towards corporate responsibility as well as approach in engaging their publics. Unlike the Western study, organisations here placed greater emphasis in taking corrective action, less on rhetoric expression of apologia. Other variables influencing the validity of the revised ICM model in Singapore 1) Socio-political factors - the paternalistic government: In the Singapore study, swift government interventions followed each crisis incident as a ―problem-solving‖ coping response. These interventions were observed to trigger a change in emotions and coping strategy among the primary publics. For instance, in CAO‘s case, Temasek Holdings‘ willingness to inject funds into CAO was a strong factor in imbuing confidence among CAO‘s creditors and retail investors (Chang, 2004; Woon, 2005). In NKF‘s case, the government stepped in to appoint a new Board and CEO and to take measures to raise the standard of corporate governance at charities reinstated public support for NKF. The negative impact of each crisis was ameliorated and charity donations improved after three years (Tan, 2008). Scholars like Wee (2001) likened Singapore as a ―protective–interventionist state‖ known for its paternalistic government. Arising from this, its people have learnt to expect the higher authorities to step in to rectify any wrongdoings immediately. 2) Cultural factors: Slight variances were observed in the emotional responses of primary publics. This could be due to the nature of crises, e.g., variance in the NKF case where perceived personal risk is low. Organisations in the Singapore study also tend to adopt action-based accommodation, especially in cases involving the government agencies who were swift in taking corrective measures. Through their experiences, Singapore is reflected more as a action-based culture, where corporate responsibility is expressed as a willingness to make redress and resolve problems rather than focusing on rhetorical expressions of apologia (Jin, Pang & Cameron, 2010b). Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 203 Culture and Emotion in Crisis Communication A few interesting observations were made of the way emotions and coping were operationalised in Singapore. In the NKF case, objections to the misbehaviours of the CEO were expressed resolutely but peacefully, through withdrawals of donations and online petitions. In the Nicoll Highway tragedy, one of the death victims sacrificed his life for his workers, including non-Singaporeans, ensuring they got out of danger before him. His actions won the respect of Thai workers and strangers in the community, who visited his wake (―Over 500 pay last respects‖, 2004). The manner of expressions shows signs of a society sensitized by cultural diversity and moving towards a multicultural system (Friedman & Wu, 2008). In the case of the terrorist‘s escape, the effort by religious leaders to galvanise the public to ―come together as one multiracial team,‖ (Othman, 2008), is both evidence of a tendency towards a multicultural system in Singapore (Friedman & Wu, 2008) as well as the fragility of social harmony in a culturallydiverse society. Mas Selamat‘s escape, which was aided by his relatives, showed the prevalence of a collectivistic subculture existing in multicultural Singapore, In the CAO saga, while locals made demands for foreign ‗red chip‘ organisations operating in Singapore to conform to higher local standards of corporate transparency ("CAO chief quits," 2004), audiences showed tolerance and abandoned ideas of class action suits in the end, a situation that might have evolved differently in America. On the other hand, the Singapore regulators were able to work amicably with the other Asian neighbours to solve internal problems while maintaining an independent view on law. Chinese state-owned company, CAOHC, assisted with Chen Jiulin‘s voluntary return to Singapore to face incriminations according to Singapore laws. Similar experiences were observed in Mas Selamat‘s case when he was extradited back from Malaysia to face incrimination, made possible because of the two countries‘ friendly relations. The congenial cross-border relations reflect a broader underlying understanding and trust between the Asian economies while the ability to maintain regulatory autonomy reflect Singapore‘s dexterity in managing crisis challenges as a globalising, multiracial society (Friedman & Wu, 2008). Again, these pre-conditions may not exist in the Western world for similar outcomes to be experienced. Conclusion and Limitations The Singapore study is the first application of the American-developed ICM model in an Asian context. Variances in crisis emotional responses observed from this study prove that cultural differences could evoke different emotional and cognitive responses to challenging situations (Kim, 2010; Wang, 2009) and even the way emotional expressions are operationalised. Crisis coping strategies were observed to be more universal in nature. Conative coping in all four cases resonates with the US findings. However, the organisations in Singapore were more geared towards action-based stance and less rhetoric. This was especially evident in the cases involving government agencies; reflecting Singapore‘s commitment to social responsibility. The case studies also reflect a society that places high emphasis on social congeniality, which in turn influences the manner of coping and how emotional expressions are operationalised. This emphasis reflects Singapore‘s transcultural adaptation resulting from its history as an entrepot and its receptivity to globalisation and modernisation (Kim, 2010; Wang & Kuo, 2010.) Another study in the Asian context may yield yet different outcomes. Based on the four cases studied, the revised ICM model is partially applicable in Singapore. The active participation of the Singapore government is recognised as an influential variable. Without government intervention, organisational engagement by NKF was entirely different and the outcome of CAO could end in dire straits. As such, some modification to the ICM model is proposed for the Singapore experience (Refer to Figure 3). Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 204 Culture and Emotion in Crisis Communication The Singapore study was limited by several constraints. Firstly, data analyses in this study were based on reports in English. Reports describing emotions and coping strategies that are specific to a particular racial group, e.g. the ethnic Chinese or Malay communities, might have been missed. Second, the nationalistic media stance adopted by the Singapore media has a large bearing on the crisis reactions of individuals, contributing to variances observed between Western and Singapore audiences. The Singapore media places priority in balancing news coverage and upholding the credibility of information (George, 2003; To, 2004). The local media were also slow in writing about the reasons of the collapse, which means the public could not pin-point the source of responsibility for some time. Angry emotions were visibly subdued and peace and harmony maintained. 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Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 208 Culture and Emotion in Crisis Communication Appendix I FIGURE 1. Integrated Crisis Mapping (ICM) Model (Jin, Pang, & Cameron, 2007) FIGURE 2. Revised ICM Model (Jin, et al., 2009a, 2009b) Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 209 Culture and Emotion in Crisis Communication High O R G A NI S A TI O N A L E N Low G A G E M E N T With Government Intervention Mas Selamat Escape Fright Anxiety Anger Nicoll Highway Collapse Fright Anxiety China Aviation Anxiety Oil Anger/ Anxiety Without Government Intervention Primary emotion(s) NKF Scandal Anger Sadness CONATIVE COPING Secondary emotion(s) FIGURE 3. Proposed ICM Model for Singapore cases Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 210 Delivering New Strategic Imperatives in a Changing Business Environment A Study of Internal Communication Best Practices in Leading Global Businesses Mary Wallenfang Streche Gagen MacDonald LLC, USA [email protected] This paper explores how internal communication is evolving in leading global companies and how the function is organized for optimal execution through a three-part best practices review: a literature review, in-depth interviews with seven companies, and an electronic survey with 16 companies. The research revealed: 1) Internal communication is a strategic partner for leadership, helping to execute the business strategy and be accountable for delivering business results; 2) Internal communication is an increasing feature of the communications mix and is organized for maximum influence; 3) Internal communications provides the right information at the right time via the right delivery method that demonstrate value to the business; and 4) Internal communicators need to develop the right skills and competencies to be strategic advisors. The implications and application of the research are that global internal communication plans should: 1) Ensure that all communication activities are informed by a deep understanding of business objectives and are focused relentlessly on delivering business results; 2) Partner with senior leaders from the business to conduct communication planning and define the metrics to measure progress against the overall corporate business scorecard; 3) Define the values and behaviors required of the organization to achieve business results; 4) Develop communication strategies that are informed by a deep understanding of employees‘ needs and preferences; 5) Create an overarching global internal communication plan and utilize a global communications council to align messages, maintain regular touch-points and keep the global mindset in balance with local relevance; and 6) Develop an internal communication training and development path that reflects the unique needs of the company and improves financial acumen. A new business landscape is emerging and the role of corporate communication is changing in response to globalization, the emergence of digital networks and new levels of stakeholder empowerment (AWPS, 2007). Lines between ―inside‖ and ―outside‖ communication have blurred and are disappearing, and stakeholders demand new levels of transparency from corporations around internal actions and policies, particularly from financial institutions in the aftermath of the global financial crisis. In this dynamic environment, employees can have an even greater impact on a company‘s success and reputation – not only in executing against strategic imperatives, but also as ambassadors of the brand. And, in these trying economic times, employee motivation is down, employees have less confidence in their employers, and fewer employees are recommending their company as a good place to work (Towers Watson, 2010). The need for internal communications has never been greater. Little information is available, however, about how the internal communication function is evolving in leading-edge companies, where innovative approaches are transforming the organizational structures, operating processes, skills and competencies, and, indeed, the very nature of the work being accomplished. Conference on Corproate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 211 Delivering New Strategic Imperatives in a Changing Business Environment This report seeks to address this knowledge gap by examining best practices in internal communication at respected companies, and identifying key learnings for practitioners looking to improve their global internal communication practice. Gagen MacDonald, a strategy execution and employee engagement firm based in Chicago, with the support of APCO Worldwide, undertook a comprehensive best practice research study in 2010, targeting companies with global operations and a multi-national workforce comprised of primarily knowledge-based workers. All companies in the study have well-established and highly regarded internal communication functions and are well-known global brands. The best practice study research objectives were to: 1) Understand how companies manage and implement their internal communication; 2) Recognize key trends in internal communication and related business drivers that influence best-in-class planning and programs; 3) Identify the innovative programs and tactics used by leading companies to reach their employees, including social media; 4) Categorize how best-in-class internal communication functions are organized for optimal execution, including staffing, structure, roles and responsibilities; and 5) Draw out implications to consider in global internal communication planning. The areas of inquiry included: 1) The evolution of internal communication: How has the role of the function advanced and what‘s the future outlook? How are internal communication functions responding to the new digital environment and instantaneous global demands? 2) Internal communication scope and philosophy: What responsibilities are managed by the function? What metrics are used? What do we mean by best-in-class internal communication? 3) Internal communication structure: Structures of global teams, roles and responsibilities, and competencies and skills for continued success. 4) Innovative internal communication programs and tactics: What are the most effective channels (traditional to new media) and why? How are leaders and managers being leveraged? Methodology This report covers findings from two main areas of research: in-depth phone interviews with internal communication leaders at seven companies and an electronic survey administered to an additional 16 targeted companies. Furthermore, a comprehensive literature review provided a broad perspective on best practices in internal communication. Interviews were conducted in confidence, with the sources of the quotes promised not to be disclosed. In-depth phone interviews Seven internal communication leaders were interviewed to better understand how they approach employee communications in their companies. Based in North America and Europe, participants held internal communication positions in either the global corporate function or within specific lines of business. Four participants were drawn from the financial services industry, while the other three represented the professional services, IT and manufacturing sectors. Interviews were approximately 60 minutes long, and took place in August and September, 2010. The findings and quotes in this report are taken directly from the interviews. Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 212 Delivering New Strategic Imperatives in a Changing Business Environment Electronic survey Gagen MacDonald administered a targeted e-survey to discover best practices in internal communication at 16 companies. The survey consisted of 26 questions focused on four areas of internal communication: functional design and structure (including reporting lines); functional approach and philosophy; internal communication channels (including social media); and internal communication content. The companies who completed the survey represent a broad range of industries, including financial services (6), technology (3), healthcare/pharmaceutical (2), manufacturing (2), retail/consumer products (2) and consulting (1). The annual revenue of companies represented is as follows: 50 percent between USD$20 billion and USD$50 billion annually; 20 percent between USD$50 billion and USD$100 billion annually; and 25 percent with greater than USD$100 billion annually. Findings I. Internal Communication is a Strategic Partner for Leadership, Helping to Execute the Business Strategy and Accountable for Delivering Business Results In response to the changing business landscape, many companies have undergone dramatic changes in the way they conduct business. In fact, between 1994 and 2005, more than one in three Fortune 500 companies transformed their core business – some even reinventing themselves completely (Zook, 2007). In today‘s environment where strategy shifts are commonplace, executives are funding change communication and leadership communication efforts to drive successful strategy execution, including ―clear communication plans to change mind-sets and communicate how the new organizational model would work‖ (McKinsey, 2010). Internal communications is increasingly seen as a strategic business partner, providing critical and strategic counsel to help execute new business strategies and be accountable for delivering business results. The respondents in our survey indicated that they have a seat at the leadership table and share accountability for business outcomes, including driving growth and increasing sales volumes. For many, their internal communication strategies and execution through global channels are linked to the corporate scorecard. Explained one respondent, We‘re an equal partner at the table with [senior executives], so we get to hear from the ground up and provide counsel and input as they‘re planning their business objectives. [This] is invaluable because we‘re at the table; we‘re able to not only listen, but weigh in, as we go about building the strategies that are going to support those business initiatives. Participants in our e-survey also view internal communication as a strategic ally. When asked to rank internal communication on a five-point scale (1 = reactive, 5 = strategic), only one of 16 respondents characterized their function as reactive, while seven of 16 ranked themselves as a 4 or higher. Furthermore, all described the primary purpose of internal communication as ―to help deliver on company strategies.‖ Driving clarity and alignment around the business strategy Once viewed solely as the function that keeps people informed through information dissemination, internal communication teams today are a key function to help senior management drive transformational change and achieve business objectives more successfully by ensuring that Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 213 Delivering New Strategic Imperatives in a Changing Business Environment employees understand the vision and strategy, are motivated to act on it and then see how their day-to-day actions contribute to the company‘s success. Best in class internal communicators ensure that alignment and clarity exist between departments, and from the CEO and top leaders to the key managers who have daily contact with their teams. By articulating the business strategy in accessible language that aligns people with the business strategy, internal communication provides a line-of-sight between the corporation‘s goals and employees‘ individual actions. Internal communication not only helps employees understand the strategic direction, but engages the workforce in their work to inspire action. The function also maintains the momentum by proactively reporting out on the progress being made and reinforcing success. Explained one interview participant, It‘s about accelerating this change of behavior to support the company‘s growth efforts in the marketplace…[we] help people understand the company‘s strategic imperatives, connect with one another cross-functionally and ultimately drive up the opportunity pipeline and close business. Driving performance through culture, values, reputation and brand The internal communication function is viewed as integral to organizations who want to promote their values and culture. Increasingly, this is a strategic priority (McKinsey, 2009), and it relates to the need for authenticity in the face of increasing scrutiny from well-informed, activist stakeholders (AWPS, 2007). A company with a strong, values-based culture is easier to manage; employees are more highly engaged, and stakeholders are more likely to have consistently positive experiences interacting with the company‘s employees (Gagen MacDonald, 2010). Recognition between the importance of and strong relationship between values, culture, brand and reputation is growing. Corporate reputation depends on authentically living a strong set of values consistently across the enterprise (AWPS, 2007). Increasingly, companies recognize that reputation must be managed authentically from the inside out, and therefore internal communication is intrinsically linked to how the values are lived and the brand promise is delivered (Gagen MacDonald, 2010). Communicators in our study reinforced this link between the internal communication function and culture. They viewed promoting and protecting their company culture – broadly defined as its values and behaviors – as a key driver of business results. Respondents cited their role in driving new behaviors across the enterprise, for example, increasing collaboration and teamwork between employee groups or promoting a culture of innovation. In all the companies we studied, people are considered an important – if not the most important – asset, and having a values-based corporate culture is critical to attracting and retaining talent. One interviewee explained that their company‘s approach was to ensure that, ―employees at every single level are closely aligned with the company‘s mission and strategy….and highly engaged as ambassadors of our brand and our culture.‖ As the caretakers of the culture, internal communication drives for alignment between a company‘s actions and the values it purports to stand for, as well as ensuring that its people know about it. For example, in companies with a knowledge-based workforce that values meritocracy, a culture of transparency is critical in sharing how the company determines its people‘s rewards and recognition. Measuring for business outcomes Demonstrating the value of internal communication and the link between employee engagement and business results has been a challenge that corporate communication departments Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 214 Delivering New Strategic Imperatives in a Changing Business Environment have been grappling with for many years. With the added influence the internal communication function is having on the business comes an increased need to provide more than abstract benefits, but also demonstrate a strong business case that ties engagement to positive business outcomes. By supporting the bottom line, internal communication is garnering the resources necessary to invest in ongoing employee engagement programs. Best practice companies measure the success of internal communication by its impact on the company‘s reputation, influence and business metrics. Between one-third and one-half of our e-survey respondents use one or more of the following impacts as measures: corporate culture, corporate reputation, employee engagement/retention statistics, or stakeholder awareness/opinions. One respondent offered a precise example in saying, ―We are currently moving more toward measuring advocacy – our associates‘ propensity to speak out about the company in a positive way.‖ However, it can be challenging to obtain these more advanced impact metrics, and thus internal communication teams also use more conventional measures to evaluate the effectiveness of internal communication programs. According to the results of our e-survey, three success measures stand out as the most widely used: communication effectiveness surveys (75 percent), usage/distribution statistics (68 percent), and anecdotes from end users (68 percent). These three were the only measures being used by more than 50 percent of responding companies. A clearer picture of the value of internal communication can be drawn when output metrics are balanced with outcome measures – such as specific employee behaviors. II. Internal Communications is an Increasing Feature of the Communications Mix, and is Organized for Maximum Influence With an enterprise-wide view that is critical to corporate success, the corporate communication function is often viewed as equally, if not more, important than other corporate functions including finance, legal, marketing, human resources and information technology (Gagen MacDonald, 2010). As evidence increases of communication‘s growing influence on the business, more than half of the communication leaders in our e-survey (eight of 15) indicated that the corporate communication function reports directly to the CEO, providing it direct access and maximum strategic influence. Internal communication very often sits within an integrated internal/external corporate communication department to drive strategy execution. According the most recent GAP study conducted by the Annenberg School of Communication (2009), corporate communication functions that are integrated, both internally and with other communication-related functions (marketing, HR, etc.) are more likely to report support from the CEO, larger budget increases and participation in senior-level strategy decisions. Internal communication, viewed as a somewhat less important area than external relations in the past, is now increasing its prominence. Between 2007 and 2009, internal communication budgets increased by 3 percent, with the largest increases devoted to corporate intranets (Communications Executive Council, 2009). In that two-year span, external communications took a hit, with some of the largest decreases in budgeting taking place in the areas of corporate advertising and non-advertising marketing and communications (-3.54 percent and -2.41 percent respectively) (ibid.). In the same period, internal communication staff levels increased by 13 percent, with employee communication teams benefitting from the greatest increase in size (ibid.). Furthermore, the average internal communication budget (non-staff) for companies with more than USD$15 billion in revenue is USD$2 million (ibid.). Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 215 Delivering New Strategic Imperatives in a Changing Business Environment The participants in our e-survey indicated more mixed responses with regards to the growth of the internal communication function, perhaps a reflection of the current economic environment. Only one in four of the companies increased their staffing levels for internal communication in the last two years, while more than half reported decreases. Corporate communication structures vary, but most effective functions are aligned to business The organizational structures of the corporate communication function in leading companies vary widely, ranging from a centralized function that includes Centers of Excellence to a decentralized and/or matrixed function that focuses teams on geographies and/or business units. In most organizations, traditional departments are represented in one form or another, including: media or external relations; internal or workplace communication; executive communication; public affairs or issues management; corporate citizenship or community involvement; and business or geographic unit communication (Gagen MacDonald, 2010). New media or social media is a new function that is addressed with a dedicated unit, often as an assigned responsibility of one of the Chief Communication Officer‘s direct reports who has other responsibilities as well (Gagen MacDonald, 2010) or as a part of the internal communication function (Annenberg, 2009). Similar to the corporate communication function structure, companies in our survey organize their internal communication teams between three general approaches: centralized (37 percent), matrixed (25 percent), or decentralized by business unit (12 percent). The majority of the internal communication teams in our e-survey (13 of 16) report into a centralized corporate communication department. In line with the changes and strategy shifts that are occurring within the business, the majority of companies in our e-survey (12 of 16) are reorganizing or restructuring internal communication to better align with business needs. Nearly two-thirds of those respondents are changing the structure, ―to add more value to the business.‖ Coordinating and aligning between global communications and business unit communications To support their global business organizations, best practice companies invest significantly in planning, coordinating and developing the tools and processes to ensure that communication is integrated across the enterprise and aligned with corporate objectives (Gagen MacDonald, 2010). The internal communication leaders we interviewed operate from a global center, or Center of Excellence, that coordinates and integrates activities from the corporate level to the geographies and/or lines of business, including corporate messaging, global announcements and integrated planning. The global centers also provide guidance and best practice advice, which is then adapted to the local context. One company described the integration between their global and local, and internal and external teams in these terms: We‘re very much integrated in our approach. Once given a global priority, the external communication team will work on creating a conducive environment, encompassing the full ecosystem of stakeholders from media, bloggers, NGOs and other third parties, to encourage clients and potential clients to buy our solutions. In parallel, the [internal communication] teams will work on ensuring that the customer-facing teams are fully trained in being able to articulate what those solutions are, have all of the information at their fingertips, etc. This happens company-wide on global programs and priorities, with template internal and external communication collaterals developed and pushed out for Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 216 Delivering New Strategic Imperatives in a Changing Business Environment local tailoring and regionally/locally in support of specific priorities (that inevitably support the global ones). To this end, best practice companies create an overall global communications plan that is used as an umbrella strategy under which business-level communication strategies are created (Gagen MacDonald, 2010). This enables organizations to create a shared understanding and commitment to the vision for global communications; articulate shared principles for the global communication function; identify key global initiatives/campaigns where global communications can make a difference; and clarify how communications can support the business units and/or geographies (ibid.). To ensure their activities are supporting the annual business objectives, the companies we studied integrate their internal communications planning into the normal business planning cycle. Regular dialogue within the global internal communication team, and between the global center and the local teams, is critical to staying coordinated in company activities and planning. In fact, the research identified one common factor distinguishing internal communication departments that can effectively influence without direct authority: formal and informal networks within internal communication and the business that drive collaboration, innovation and ultimately business growth. Many companies establish global networks, or communication leadership teams, made up of a broader circle of leaders in the function who meet regularly to: develop the global communication strategy in alignment with the business strategy; manage the performance development and succession planning processes for the function; provide support and tools to frontline communicators across the company; foster collaboration and share best practices globally; and define decision-making power and clarify the roles/responsibilities of global versus regional/local communicators (Gagen MacDonald, 2010). In addition to global communication networks, other tools utilized to coordinate the function include: global communications calendars, regular conference calls and digital platforms. Interviewees talked about using digital, real-time communication calendars to identify potential integration opportunities between corporate events (e.g., earnings announcements and annual meeting), milestones related to company-wide initiatives, leadership travel schedules and line of business events. Furthermore, corporate communication teams use regular touch-base calls to align communication staff around programs and activities, and drive collaboration and dialogue with external communication partners (e.g., media relations, public affairs and marketing). Finally, intranet-based virtual spaces, discussion boards, instant messaging and communication portals are utilized to share tools, best practices and documents. The companies in our survey emphasized the critical balance between the role of the global internal communication team and the business unit-specific roles. All respondents recognize the need for localization to ensure that the corporate messaging is relevant to the local culture and business. While the global internal communication team develops the overarching plan, local teams drill down to create local execution for key initiatives and campaigns. The critical factor to providing a consistent global ―offering‖ for internal communication clients is the link between global and local (Melcrum, 2008). Said one respondent, The overarching challenge is that in an organization like ours with a strong leadership emanating from global HQ, those who are based there and who are often global leaders in their functions/business units…have a tendency to think that one size fits all. The challenge, therefore, is to make them understand that, actually, there are significant cultural differences from one region to the next and, indeed, from one country to the next within each region. And that there are many lessons to be learned from local experience and leveraged globally as best practice. Likewise, though, some local teams develop the Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 217 Delivering New Strategic Imperatives in a Changing Business Environment ‗not invented here‘ syndrome, thinking that they know best, that the global approach cannot work where they are, etc. But again, they need to realize that it is a great asset to have a company-wide strategy, focus areas and the ability to deploy global resources and know how to drive value locally. III. Internal Communication Provides the Right Information at the Right Time via the Right Delivery Method that Demonstrates Value to the Business To meet complex demands, internal communication has evolved to deliver the right information at the right time, via the right channels, to support leaders and help targeted employee groups perform better on the job. Internal communication teams are required to synthesize information and optimize the core channels to help employees avoid information overload yet deliver relevant business information to help employees perform better, with a clear line-of-sight to the business in their daily work. Previously, it was noted that many companies are making a shift in their organizational structure that enhances the role of internal communication; however, it appears that this structural shift is not producing immediate changes to the companies‘ channel strategy. When asked whether their company has plans to change its roster of internal communication channels in the coming year, only 36 percent of our e-survey respondents have plans to add new channels such as internal community sites and some controlled blogging. Only 33 percent have plans to eliminate channels this coming year (voice mail blasts and home mailings were listed as channels being eliminated). The survey participants adopt a consistent approach to the management of their internal communication content and channels at the corporate level. Three-quarters of our respondents indicated that their corporate-level internal communication team is a ―decision-maker‖ for all internal communication channels, while only 25 percent of respondents suggested that business unit or functional communicators owned the internal communication channels. Similarly, for more than 80 percent of our respondents, editorial decisions regarding the content of internal communication channels are managed by the corporate-level internal communication team. Leadership communications is a central pillar As masters of the core communication channels, internal communicators focus their efforts on optimizing those channels to facilitate more face-to-face interactions and to increase leadership visibility. The actions of leaders, from senior management to front-line supervisors, remain a key driver of employee engagement (Melcrum, 2005). Leaders in best practice companies make communications a top priority and utilize the internal communication function to turn insights into action, communicate a clear vision of the business strategy, and increase employee commitment to the business success (Gagen MacDonald, 2010). Similarly, internal communicators equip leaders at all levels to connect the company‘s larger story and values, and equip them to be authentic voices and agents of change (AWPS, 2007). Most of the companies represented in our interviews and e-survey indicated that communication delivered by leadership is the most effective channel. The internal communication function drives leadership visibility throughout the organization at both the CEO level and business unit level. Senior-level executives are critical in setting the vision for the organization and are best positioned to instill employee confidence and commitment to corporate goals. It is the managers and supervisors, however, who are considered the most consistent and employee-preferred providers of the message, and are credible messengers to ―cascade‖ important business information to employees deep within the organization. One participant said, Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 218 Delivering New Strategic Imperatives in a Changing Business Environment ―Ultimately, I consider the line managers as the most important vehicle, insofar as they have direct contact with our people and are the ones who can best contextualize company news to their respective teams.‖ Said another, ―Managers are the first point of contact and the most trusted source for information, especially to the field.‖ Leadership communication channels cover the full range of formal and informal channels, and include inter-personal communications that are designed to promote information flow within teams and among individuals (e.g., face-to-face, dialogue and discussion, listening, coaching and feedback); inter-group communication designed for information flow among teams, departments and functions (e.g., manager and supervisor support, intranets, print/publications, email); and mass communications that are designed for large group consumption (e.g., executive communication, town hall meetings). According to our survey and interviews, the most utilized leadership communication channels include CEO emails, global town hall meetings or webcasts, manager communication packages around business initiatives, and local manager meetings. Channels used less frequently include CEO roadshows, CEO-manager meetings, local leader emails, manager communication packages around results and video blogs/podcasts. Internal communication also provides the tools and training for CEOs and leaders to communicate more effectively. Many global companies are conducting leadership communication assessments and training to encourage strategic communication behaviors that drive business outcomes against core business initiatives. Other companies deliver consistent training to managers globally, and provide the tools and templates they need via online resource centers. Most interviewees find their leaders and managers very receptive to coaching and training, particularly around facilitating dialogue with their teams: What we‘re trying to drive is more two-way dialogue, so a big focus of that is really equipping and challenging leaders to get out there and communicate more, but also online. Yes, we provide training in how to do effective pod/webcasting and how to be an effective public speaker, for instance, and it is always well received. The internal communication leaders that we interviewed emphasized the importance of encouraging their leaders to model the values and behaviors required for success in the organization. ―Leading by example is key,‖ one respondent adeptly said. Electronic media is the ―go-to‖ channel Operating in a global setting that is both place and time-agnostic, our survey participants felt that the most effective means of reaching their tech-savvy workforce is through emails and intranets. After leadership, electronic communications was cited as the most important communication channel. Email is the most frequently-used channel and often tops employee surveys about channel preference, especially among a knowledge-based workforce. Companies spoke of a ―Blackberry addiction‖ in their corporate cultures and claimed it was the best way to get information in front of employees on a daily basis versus making them hunt for it. Said one respondent, ―They‘re not in offices, they‘re not together. They‘re virtual. They‘re on flights and they‘re on different times. So when you say, ‗How would you prefer that we reach out to you and give you company information,‘ they pretty much say email is still number one.‖ But respondents felt that the overuse of email in many companies has turned the most popular communication channel into one of the most ineffective, and a source of information overload. ―Too much email of all kinds has diluted the effectiveness of its use as an effective communication channel,‖ said one respondent. Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 219 Delivering New Strategic Imperatives in a Changing Business Environment The intranet is also a go-to resource with nearly a third of the e-survey respondents listing it as their most effective form of internal communication. All companies in our survey said they use intranets as either a news channel or information repository. Not only does our study confirm that intranets are prevalent and highly utilized, but they are also rated by respondents as highly effective and popular. According to one respondent, ―All content is delivered through our intranet, which has been a dominant communication channel over the last 15 years. It is embedded in our culture.‖ One respondent talked about turning the portal into the ―go-to‖ place that is not just based on the employee profile, such as location or business unit, but more specifically tailored to how the person prefers to receive information. Social media channels are still emerging While many of the companies are exploring social media activities, they are not yet considered an essential source of information, except where a specific business need exists and where the technology is relevant and fits within the company culture. Social media has not been used as much in industries that are highly regulated or where there is a more command and control culture in place. As one respondent told us, ―The key is to make social media use meaningful and ensure that it adds value to the business. It should not be ‗nice to have,‘ but be used to foster innovation and cross-functional teaming.‖ Many companies have used social media successfully to enhance shared connections among employees. As a result, these companies have increased collaboration and innovation, as well as knowledge management and sharing (SNCR, 2009). Many companies see a link between social media and improved retention, sometimes creating external Alumni sites to improve the hiring and onboarding experience. Indeed, according to the literature, social network adoption is growing. Employees expect similar tools inside the work environment that they utilize in their personal lives, such as LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter, and will often collaborate outside the firewall if these tools are not made available to them (ibid.). In companies that are adopting social media, it is often a part of their intranet rather than a separate, external tool, according to survey respondents. For instance, at all but two companies, the intranet (or a micro site) contains some form of internal social network (e.g, Yammer or Ning). Similarly, blogs housed on the company intranet are a popular form of communication, being utilized in some fashion at 93 percent of the companies we surveyed. Best practice intranets have a higher degree of social networking capabilities and mobile collaboration features (NNG, 2010). However, fewer than a quarter of responding companies use Twitter, wikis, or external social networking sites such as LinkedIn or Facebook as a way to communicate with employees on a daily basis. These social media outlets are more often used on an ad hoc or random basis, if at all. While these companies are approaching social media slowly, the vast majority are taking the necessary steps to delve further into social media use and lead governance inside the company. As an emerging technology, ―ownership‖ of social media activities can vary between companies, but a cross-functional team that includes representation from many different departments and that is responsible for social media strategy adoption is the most prevalent model (Forrester, 2009). The communication function is situated in the right place to facilitate and lead the development of an overarching digital strategy and the creation of guidelines in partnership with key functions across the organization, including IT, HR, marketing and legal. Internal communications also leads the way by educating employees on the appropriate use of social media, establishing guidelines and dispelling myths and fears about its use. Communications also trains and educates leadership and employees to ensure the technologies are Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 220 Delivering New Strategic Imperatives in a Changing Business Environment visibly connecting to business strategies. Nearly all (93 percent) respondents in our e-survey have crafted a social media policy for employees, most through a cross-functional team that includes Legal and IT. Ensuring the voice of the employee is heard Best practice internal communication programs are based on a sound understanding of a company‘s specific employee populations – what drives them, their communication preferences and their attitudes about the business. In a global setting, internal communication can use their employee insights to bridge cultural gaps and organizational silos, to create a consistent enterprise-wide view. A deep understanding of emotional and rational drivers of behavior, as well as how to leverage the employee value proposition in communication planning can help to drive results. Just as important is understanding employee preferences for receiving information that includes preferred channels, the type of information employees want to receive, and frequency of communication. Finally, internal communicators can understand employee attitudes and beliefs about the organization and its leadership that have an impact on performance, such as confidence in the business strategy, trust and belief in senior leadership and employee commitment to the company. Explained one interviewee, ―As the company gets bigger, we lose the ability to get at central intelligence from employees….with [hundreds of thousands of] employees, it‘s our job to make sure that the flow of information is coming back up the organization.‖ To gain these valuable employee insights, internal channels must be in place to tap that feedback on a regular basis. Some techniques for gathering employee feedback include: enterprise-wide engagement surveys that evaluate understanding of business issues and strategy and help identify gaps in and opportunities to drive employee engagement; leader and employee focus groups to gain regular, frank feedback about message penetration and specific activities; employee advisory boards comprised of a small cross-section of the employee population that are used to test ideas and gain insights on internal communications and business issues; and pulse surveys which can sample small populations ―under the radar‖ and get a feel for the state of employee perceptions about the company. All the respondents in our interviews and e-survey conduct an annual, enterprise-wide employee survey, and those results are a key input to the strategic planning process. Said one, ―We do an [employee opinion survey] on an annual basis across our entire firm…and that obviously informs action plans that we put in place throughout the year to improve where we have weaknesses or development areas.‖ By gathering regular feedback from employees, internal communicators act as the voice of the employee and are often regarded as the ―eyes and ears‖ of the workforce, helping leaders interpret and respond to employee feedback. Done well, feedback can be an executive-level decision-making tool and guide action planning and program development to have an impact on the business. IV. Internal Communicators Need to Develop the Right Skills and Competencies to be Strategic Advisors The new communication environment, where the focus is on delivering business results and being a true strategic business partner for leaders, is requiring teams to develop new roles, skills and competencies. The internal communication role has evolved from information Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 221 Delivering New Strategic Imperatives in a Changing Business Environment dissemination into strategy execution, storytelling, and being a strategic coach and partner to the organization and its leaders (Gagen MacDonald, 2010). As the company experts in strategy execution and change leadership, internal communicators need to align leadership teams and the broader organization around the corporate strategy, direction and progress, as well as the different actions that are required to deliver against changing strategic imperatives. As master storytellers, internal communicators are articulating the corporate strategy in a way that people can understand, enthusiastically support and see their role as contributing to success. This means helping to define who the company is, what it stands for, and how it will act in a way that is consistent with its reputation. As communication counselors, internal communicators support leaders with the tools and coaching they need to effectively communicate critical business information, industry insights and other operational information with employees. Internal communication can help the organization set priorities, educate business leaders and provide support for the highest value activities that are critical to overall success. Moving internal communication competencies beyond the traditional skill set To deliver on these evolving roles, communicators must demonstrate new competencies beyond the traditional skill set, such as writing, editing and speaking. Internal communicators must be experts on communication tactics, but they must also have the capability to think strategically about business objectives, and provide strategic counsel to the business. Five new skills include: 1) Business acumen to know the industry, market and business to enable valuable coaching; 2) Proactive mindset, in addition to reacting to current events or initiatives; 3) consultative skills from negotiation to influencing to relationship management; 4) Global mindset, or having knowledge of/sensitivity to cultural differences in emerging markets related to communication preference and drivers of employee engagement; and 5) Social media expertise – understanding of uses and value of established and emerging digital tools (Gagen MacDonald, 2010). Companies represented in our study are rethinking staffing requirements. A few companies are hiring more communication generalists that have strong business knowledge, sometimes filling business unit posts with professionals within the business rather than practitioners with a communications background. Another company embeds more experienced communicators in the business to add credibility: [Internal communicators] must have strong relationship skills, verbal communication skills, knowledge of the business, subject matter experts, really a huge emphasis on experienced consulting and influencing clients about communication. And, of course, excellent writing, and editing, and presentation skills. But also things like innovation, being able to generate new ideas, challenge the status quo, take risks – those kinds of skills are really important, too. For internal communication to be successful, respondents indicated a need to be highly regarded and credible, which requires the internal communication team to demonstrate an understanding of the business, to ‗talk the talk,‘ and possess additional skills such as persuasion and the ability to counsel senior leaders. They also must be able to influence decisions, sometimes having to bring a challenging perspective to the table. Communication can be seen as having a bit of a softer side to it— it‘s something everyone thinks they can do. And so to that point, communicators almost need to get to Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 222 Delivering New Strategic Imperatives in a Changing Business Environment grips with the business so you can stand toe-to-toe and ask the right questions, and so a subject matter expert will think, okay, they‘re not going to know everything, but they know certainly enough, or more than I thought. So that aspect of understanding the business I think is really, really important. We developed a competence framework for internal communication over the past year that includes a combination of hard skills and soft skills. You must write well across a number of media. Financial literacy is key – because you can‘t sham understanding of how the business works. Influencing and persuasion skills, having the credibility to push back on senior leaders and having the presence to do so is very important. Business training at the forefront Most successful communication organizations devote considerable resources to the management of the function, including ownership of talent, career development and succession planning, as well as education and training. While most of the companies we included in our study do not provide specific internal communication training, they do provide opportunities for on-the-job training or via external courses and seminars. Many encourage internal communicators to build their business acumen by participating in the business training provided to the rest of the organization. At one company, a customized internal communication training program was developed to cater to three levels of experience: 1) practitioner level for new internal communicators; 2) expert level for people with five to seven years of experience; and 3) master level for internal communication executive committee members (heads of internal communications in the businesses/functions). The head internal communicator saw a need for a program that would meet the specific needs of her organization and provide the development necessary within the company‘s internal communication competency framework. ―There‘s no secret in what we do in internal communication – what makes it successful is how it‘s done. It‘s being able to see if that idea will work within our organization and how to implement it.‖ Implications Internal communication functions are helping companies manage through the evolving complexities of the new business landscape. In response to the increased demand for corporate authenticity, companies are reasserting the organization‘s values and renewing the focus on employee engagement. This has elevated the role of internal communication to become strategic partners to the business, enabling the networks and relationships that drive business success and reshaping the structure of the global function. Internal communicators should consider the following guidelines when creating global internal communication momentum: 1. Ensure that all corporate communication plans and activities are informed by a deep understanding of business objectives and are focused relentlessly on delivering business results. 2. Partner with senior leaders from the business lines and functional areas to conduct communication planning, and define the metrics to measure progress against the overall corporate business scorecard. Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 223 Delivering New Strategic Imperatives in a Changing Business Environment 3. Define the values and behaviors required of the organization to achieve business results; resolve alignment issues between what a company says it values and what it does, and create a dialogue with the workforce to reinforce the desired behaviors. 4. Develop communication strategies that are informed by a deep understanding of employees‘ needs and preferences. It‘s not enough to obtain the voice of employees – internal communication must link employee feedback to a new set of actions. 5. Create an overarching global internal communication plan and utilize a global communications council to align messages, maintain regular touch-points and keep the global mindset in balance with local relevance. 6. Develop an internal communication training and development path that reflects the unique needs of the company and its lines of business and improves financial acumen. References Annenberg School of Communication (2009), ―PR GAP IV Study: Reports 1-3.‖ Arthur W. Page Society (AWPS) (2007), ―The Authentic Enterprise: Relationships, values, and the evolution of Corporate Communications.‖ Communications Executive Council (2009), ―Resource Allocation Benchmarks.‖ Forrester Research, Inc. (2009), ―How to Organize Your Company for Social Computing.‖ Gagen MacDonald (2010), ―Leading the Way to Meet the New Communications Paradigm: A benchmark study documenting how six Corporate Communication functions in leading-edge organizations are rapidly changing to meet the strategic needs of today‘s business world.‖ Unpublished paper. McKinsey & Company (2010), ―McKinsey Global Survey: Taking Organizational Redesign from Plan to Practice.‖ McKinsey Quarterly. McKinsey & Company (2009), ―McKinsey Global Survey: Leaders in Crisis.‖ McKinsey Quarterly. Melcrum (2005), ―Employee Engagement: How to Build a High Performance Workforce.‖ Melcrum (2008), ―How to Communicate to a Global Workforce.‖ Nielsen Norman Group (NNG) (2010), ―Best Practice Intranets.‖ Strategic Communications Research Forum (2010), ―What Does the CEO Want from Internal Communication?‖ Society of New Communications Research (SNCR) (2009), ―New Symbiosis of Professional Networks.‖ Towers Watson and WorldatWork (2010), ―Looking Toward Recovery: Focusing on talent and rewards.‖ 2009/2010 U.S. Strategic Rewards Report, originally published by Watson Wyatt Worldwide. Zook, Chris (2007). Unstoppable: Finding Hidden Assets to Renew the Core and Fuel Profitable Growth. Harvard Business School Press; 1 edition. Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 224 Determining the Sequential Relationship of Downward Communication, Job Satisfaction and Organizational Commitment with the Propensity of Employee Churn An Empirical Study of the Insurance Sector in India Reeta Raina Management Development Institute, India [email protected] Arif Khan Vertex Customer Services India Pvt. Ltd., India Vivek K Sharma Max Bupa Health Insurance Co. Ltd, India Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to identify the criticality of effectiveness of downward communication in organizations and its impact on job satisfaction. Job satisfaction as a determinant of organizational commitment is empirically established, which in turn negatively impacts the propensity of employees leaving organizations. The paper provides a comprehensive framework that can be used to minimize the propensity of employees leaving an organization. The research is carried out in the context of increasing attrition rate in the Insurance sector in India and provides empirical evidence that there is a sequential relationship between communication, satisfaction, commitment and employee churning. Design/methodology/approach – The paper employed survey research, using a sample of 105 employees from the Insurance sector. Findings – The paper establishes the direct negative effect of effective communication on the propensity of employees to leave organizations, and determines the sequential relationship of communication, job satisfaction and organizational commitment with regards to the propensity of employee churn. Research limitations & Implications – The findings may be used to gauge the communication effectiveness to take preventive actions for minimizing employee churn and help in retaining the talent. Originality/value – The paper provides a sequential relationship between communication, job satisfaction, commitment and employee churn. There are various references in the academic management literature to the diverse but critical role played by communication in organizations. The pioneering theorist Chester Barnard [(1938]) in his classic ―Functions of the Executives‖ was the first to develop the idea of Communication as the major shaping force in organizations. Today, all organizational communication theory and research indicate that the internal communication activities are a determinant of how effectively organizations meet their goals (Farace, et.al., 1977; Goldhaber & Rogers, 1979; Danowski, 1980). Effective communication in the workplace results in mutual understanding, harmony and action, while poor communication only wastes time and resources, and results in increased absenteeism, lower productivity, and grievances, and so on. Etgar (1979) suggests that conflict is caused by ineffective communication, which leads to ―misunderstandings, incorrect strategies and mutual feelings of frustration. Poor communication Conference on Corproate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 225 Determining the Sequential Relationship of Downward Communication, Job Satisfaction and … alone is a major contributor for most business and industrial organizations running at less than 12% efficiency ([Armour, 1998; Corrodo, 1993; Hargie & Tourish, 1999; and Hubbards, 1996.). ―Managerial work involves communication and collaboration across functions, across divisions and across companies... and having the knowledge, skills, and sensitivity to mobilize people and motivate them to do their best‖ (Kanter, 1991). It is through managerial communication that employees get their job instructions, and come to know about their job expectations, rationale behind the job, their contribution, performance feedback, etc. (Kanter, 1991; Luthans and Larsen, 1986, Raina, 2009). Managers generally spend between 60 % and 80% of their time communicating. Managers sending information downwards clearly have the main responsibility of ensuring that communication within an organization reaches everyone, flowing from management down, from operating levels up, and from staff to staff, keeping everyone right from top to bottom and across well informed and in the loop. Facilitating and encouraging open communication reduces barriers to communication and helps in achieving the overall mission of the firm. This brings into focus what and how the managers should communicate with their subordinates in order to create a working environment where employees feel satisfied with their respective jobs and committed to the organization. According to Boyett and Boyett (1998), ―inadequate information is the major cause of more than half of all problems with human performance. By improving the quality and timeliness of the information people receive, one can improve performance by as much as 20 to 50%‖. Traditional hierarchies created and maintained a power structure where managers made decisions, passed judgments, gave assignments, and determined success or failures, thus creating powerlessness in subordinates (French, et.al, 2000). Establishing rules to achieve predictability also means imposing control, using power, and rewarding or punishing. The consequence is a loss of critical employee input, commitment and motivation, especially given the changing workforce (Chambers, 1998) The more the coworker can depend on his or her boss, the greater the trust and comfort developed between the staff. Bovee et al (2003), Smith (1990), and Argyle (1991) have indicated that co-operation over work or in relationships could not occur at all without communication and social interaction. Thus, creating an effective communication system also involves integrating communication as a fundamental component of the management role, obtaining the commitment of top management, and evaluating the communication process of all its members on a regular basis. It has been established that effective communication is the process most central to the success or failure of an organization as well as to the successful leadership activities (Bennis, 1959; Clemes & Mayer, 1987; Drucker, 1998; Hackman & Johnson, 2000; and Miller, 1997). Achieving success in today‘s workplace is closely tied to the ability of employees and managers to communicate effectively with each other and with people outside the organization. While there is a vast range of literature available in the field of communication both in the West and America, research into the organizational communication area in the ―Indian context‖ is at an early stage. India was late in entering the industrial age. It was predominantly an agrarian state. Modern organizations were first set up in India under British rule. The British were the first to introduce the western type of administration in India. They were meticulously briefed to be strict with and to be distant from the Indian subordinates (Sinha, 2008). Hence, emotional aloofness combined with high control of subordinates characterised the British style of Indian management. This was the model that Indian managers inherited from the British when the latter left India in 1947 (Sinha, 1990). However, the economic, political, and social aspects of the Indian milieu underwent some drastic changes due to the liberalization and globalization of the Indian economy. One visible effect due to globalization was the increased awareness of the Indians about Western values, such as openness, collaboration, trust, authenticity, autonomy, and Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 226 Determining the Sequential Relationship of Downward Communication, Job Satisfaction and … confrontation for resolving conflicts (Pareek, ). The system of hierarchy, which is very strong in the Indian culture, finds itself being challenged by the notion of collaborative and team based organizations. The command-and–control style of colonial management structures are questioned by the new generation of employees who are increasingly becoming more demanding, expecting to be respected and valued as individuals in the workplace, and are quite vocal about it. They like open communication with their managers, want to make their own decisions, want to share their ideas and their enthusiasm, and not just be told what to do. (Schaefer, 1993; Offerman and Gowing, 1990; Loden and Rosner, 1991; Dean and Snell, 1991). However, Sinha (2004) reported that Indian managers in multinational companies behaved just as the expatriates did when relating with them, but showed typical Indian ways when dealing with Indians. The Insurance sector in India is lately facing the highest rate of attrition, conservatively put at 35-40%. Mr Rahul Sinha, Vice-President (Marketing) at Kotak Mahindra Old Mutual Life Insurance Company, says, "Last year, the attrition rate was much worse than 30 per cent. It has been a cause for worry and we are trying our best to stem it." 1 Multiple reasons are cited for the cause of attrition, and as for instance today, the employees have good opportunities in hand. As soon as they feel dissatisfied with their current employer or job, they switch over to the next job. It is the responsibility of the employer to retain their best employees. As discussed earlier in the introduction, employees look for organizations where communication and process are transparent. They expect straight-from-the-shoulder communication from their employers. Nothing is hidden and shared with the employees. Unexpected job responsibilities lead to job dissatisfaction. Literature Review In the past few decades, the scholars from various disciplines have shown a growing interest to study the role\ impact \relationship of communication with other measures like job satisfaction, job performance, organizational commitment, organizational effectiveness, outcome etc. A small but determined effort has gone forward to emphasize the importance of communication in the organizational setting as it results in a healthy and highly productive work environment, job satisfaction, firm growth rates etc. Organization use a number of human resource and quality initiatives to seek employee commitment, and one of these means is through employee communication. Extensive research has demonstrated the relationships between commitment and several other organizational variables, including: (a) absenteeism (Larson & Fukami, 1984; Steers, 1977); (b) leadership style (Morris & Sherman, 1981); (c) communication openness (Argyris in Housel & Warren, 1977); (d) job performance (Steers, 1977); (e) turnover (Angel & Perry, 1981). However, over the past two decades, the researchers especially have shown keen interest in the constructs of communication satisfaction and organizational commitment (e.g., Becker, Billings, Eveleth, & Gilber, 1996; Clampitt & Downs, 1993; Hunt & Morgan, 1994; Meyer & Allen, 1997; Putti, Aryee, & Phua, 1990; Wetzel & Gallagher, 1990, retrieved on 19Oct.2010 http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2005/03/10/stories/2005031001930600.htm.) Thornhill; Lewis, and Saunders (1997) examined the role of employee communication in helping to promote and manage employee commitment. They use survey data related to the attitudes of staff at a British higher education institution to discuss the linkage between communication, commitment and quality, and discusses key issues for those who manage communication in order to attempt to achieve commitment for quality. Varona (2002) investigated employees' and supervisors' conceptualizations of organizational commitment and communication satisfaction in three Guatemalan organizations. The study also examined differences and similarities in participants' views of management strategies based on levels of Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 227 Determining the Sequential Relationship of Downward Communication, Job Satisfaction and … commitment and satisfaction. The content analysis of responses revealed three major findings:first: First, employees and supervisors were very similar in their conceptualizations of organizational commitment and communication satisfaction. Second, communication satisfaction was conceptualized as a multidimensional construct, with the two most important dimensions the quality of the relationships among coworkers and between employees and supervisors. Third, organizational commitment was also conceptualized as a multidimensional construct, with identification with the organization's mission and work ethic as the two most important factors. Employees of a large service organization based in the Southwest were surveyed by Guzley (1992) to determine if individual levels of organizational commitment were related positively to perceptions of organizational climate and of communication climate. The results of the study suggest that employee perceptions of organizational climate and communication climate were correlated positively with the level of employees' organizational commitment. Specifically, multiple regression analysis indicated that organizational clarity, participation, and superiorsubordinate communication accounted for 41% of the variance in organizational commitment, with participation and organizational clarity emerging as significant predictors of commitment. Another variable that indicates positive correlation with organizational communication is job satisfaction. Jain‘s (1973) study showed positive correlations between communication effectiveness and job performance, communication frequency and job performance, employee communication satisfaction and supervisor job performance. The other studies (Downs, 1977; Foehrenbach & Rosenberg, 1982; Goldhaber, Porter, Yates & Lesniak, 1978, Muchinsky, 1977; Pincus, 1986; Ruch & Goodman, 1983; Thirty, 1977; Walther, 1988) further reinforce that the constructs of organizational communication and job satisfaction relate positively. Pincus‘s (1986) study using three dimensions of communication: informational, relational and informational\relational showed employee perception of organizational communication satisfaction related significantly to both job satisfaction and job performance, albeit the former link was shown to be stronger than the latter. Welsch et al (2007) tried to determine the unique combination of variables such as communication, extrinsic exchange, leadership satisfaction, intrinsic exchange, job characteristics and pay satisfaction to explain the greatest percentage of variance in both job satisfaction and promotion satisfaction. The three variables that explained the greatest percentage of variance in job satisfaction included: communication, intrinsic exchange, and leadership satisfaction. John J. De Nobile and John McCormick investigated the relationships between aspects of organizational communication and facets of job satisfaction. Multiple regression analyses identified several organizational communication factors that were predictors of job satisfaction. The results suggest implications for policy and practice with regard to communication in these schools. Another communication related problem that can affect job satisfaction is the management of communication demands that one faces on the job (Krayer, Westbrook, p85). If an individual does not receive enough input on the job or is unsuccessful in processing these inputs, the individual is more likely to become dissatisfied, aggravated, and unhappy with their work, which leads to a low level of job satisfaction. (Farace& Russel, 1997.) The relationship of a subordinate with their supervisor is a very important aspect in the workplace. Therefore, a supervisor who uses nonverbal immediacy, friendliness, and open communication lines is more willing to receive positive feedback and high job satisfaction from a subordinate, whereas a supervisor who is antisocial, unfriendly, and unwilling to communicate will naturally receive negative feedback and very low job satisfaction from their subordinates in the workplace (Weiss and Cropanzano, 1996).) The research has established that superiorsubordinate communication is an important influence on job satisfaction in the workplace. The way in which a subordinate perceives a supervisor‘s behavior can positively or negatively Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 228 Determining the Sequential Relationship of Downward Communication, Job Satisfaction and … influence job satisfaction. The manner in which supervisors communicate with their subordinates may be more important than the verbal content. Individuals who dislike and think negatively about their supervisor are less willing to communicate or have motivation to work, whereas individuals who like and think positively of their supervisor are more likely to communicate and are satisfied with their job and work environment. (Teven, 156). Thus, job satisfaction can be an important indicator of how employees feel about their jobs and a predictor of work behaviours such as organizational citizenship, (William and Anderson, 1991), absenteeism and turnover and deviant work behaviors, (Porter and Steers, 1973). Propensity to leave the organization, a behavioral intention that precedes actual salesperson turnover (e.g., Futrell and Parasuraman 1984), has consistently been found to be related negatively to job satisfaction and organizational commitment (e.g., Johnston et al. 1987, 1990). Empirical research has consistently shown that the propensity to leave is an effective predictor of salesperson turnover (e.g., Johnston et al. 1990; Sager, Varadarajan, and Futrell 1988) but has been inconsistent with respect to antecedent effects on the propensity to leave. Some researchers (e.g., Johnston et al. 1987; Fern, Avila, and Grewal 1989) have found that performance exerts a significant effect on the propensity to leave, whereas others (e.g., Futrell and Parasuraman 1984) have not. Similarly, some researchers (Sager and Johnston 1989; Sager, Varadarajan, and Futrell 1988) have found a direct effect of satisfaction on the propensity to leave, whereas others (e.g., Johnston et al. 1990) have not. Based on the review of literature, the following major conclusions can be drawn: Communication positively impacts job satisfaction and organizational commitment. Organizational commitment and job satisfaction have consistently been strongly and positively correlated Propensity to leave is negatively related to job satisfaction and organizational commitment Research Gap and Conceptual Framework There are numerous studies on job satisfaction and organizational commitment, communication and job satisfaction, and linking these to loyalty of employees. Very few studies have explored the causal relationship of downward communication with the propensity of employee churn. In addition to this, these constructs have not been studied holistically. There is a need to study the causal flow of relationship from effective downward communication to job satisfaction to organizational commitment and the propensity of employee churn. The present study attempts to find out if the employees in their perception are satisfied with the communication coming from a higher position in the organizational hierarchy to a lower position. And, if it impacts their job satisfaction, which in turn may influence their commitment to the organization, then they are less likely to leave organization. This study also explores the direct role of downward communication in minimizing employee churn. Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 229 Determining the Sequential Relationship of Downward Communication, Job Satisfaction and … Figure 1 showing Sequential relationship of communication, job satisfaction, commitment, and employee churn DC1 H2 DC2 H3 H1 DC3 Job Downward Organization al Commitment communication Satisfaction Propensity Of Employee Leaving DC4 DC5 DC6 Figure 2 showing direct impact of downward communication on Employee Churn DC1 DC2 H4 Downward DC3 communication DC4 Propensity Of Employee Leaving DC5 DC6 We put forward the following set of hypotheses in our conceptual model: H1: Effective Downward communication positively affect the level of Job Satisfaction H2: Employees Job Satisfaction positively impact the level of employees‘ organizational commitment Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 230 Determining the Sequential Relationship of Downward Communication, Job Satisfaction and … H3: Higher the level of employees‘ organizational commitment, lesser is the propensity of employees leaving the organization H4: There is a direct relationship between downward communication and the propensity of employees to leave the organization. The higher the level of effective downward communication, the lesser is the propensity of employees to leave the organization Research Methodology Sampling process The survey was conducted during 2010 with professionals working in major North Indian based Insurance firms. On seeking the permission from the respective heads of Deptt. of various Insurance firms, the questionnaire was administered to the employees working as sales managers, business development managers, Tele-sale managers, relationship managers, etc. The questionnaire was administered to 240 employees working in seven (7) different firms. Each employee identified by the respective Heads of Deptt. received the questionnaire along with a letter from the principal investigator of the study. The letter explained the research aim, emphasized the voluntary nature of participation, the anonymity of the data and elaboration of the findings. Respondents were asked to return the completed questionnaire to the email ID of the principal investigator. Out of 240 questionnaires administered, only 109 returned the completed questionnaires. After data entry and cleaning, the final sample consisted of 105 questionnaires. In the sample, heterogeneity was maintained in terms of respondents‘ age, gender, experience and total experience and their job profile. Respondent age was ranging from 20 years to 60 years and their service experience was ranging from 1 year to 22 years, from marketing and service supply chain wings of the organizations. Survey instrument and unit of analysis This study was based on the design and administration of a survey to address the hypotheses. As the study involved determining effectiveness of Downward Communication, job satisfaction, organizational commitment and the propensity to leave an organization in the insurance firms, the following tools were used: Downward Communication Scale (Gayatri, 2001): consists of twenty-six items having four (4) negative items and twenty-two (22) positive items and covers following six parameters, namely: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Communication about task direction Communicating the rationale behind the tasks being performed Communicating feedback about one‘s performance Using multiple channels of communication. Job Satisfaction was detected using a three (3) item scale by Neteyemer et al. (1997). The items are measured on a scale from 1=Strongly agree to 5=Strongly disagree. The scale describes the degree of satisfaction level with his/her job. 6. Organizational Commitment (Meyer & Allen, 1991) describes the involvement of the person in his/her respective organization. It is a six item scale. The three item (Colarelli,1984) scale measures if the employee is searching for a new job. Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 231 Determining the Sequential Relationship of Downward Communication, Job Satisfaction and … The reliability and the validity of these scales were established by following the procedures as suggested by Churchill‘s (1979) methodology of scale development. Reliability and Factor analysis was carried out for the four research constructs: downward communication, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment and the propensity of employee leaving. The following table summarizes the measurement scales related information. TABLE A. Measurement Scales Research Construct Number of items Chronbach Alpha Number of Dimensions Variance explained Downward communication 17 0.766 6 74.587 Job satisfaction 3 0.943 1 89.742 Organizational commitment 4 0.835 1 67.872 Propensity of employee Churn 3 0.808 1 72.449 Data Collection Data was collected on a five point likert scale with 1=strongly agree and 5 =strongly disagree and reverse scoring was done for the negative items Data Analysis Prior to data analysis, Cronbach's alpha test was carried out to measure the internal consistency of the scale items, and the alpha values were found to be more than 0.7 (Nunnally, 1978; Churchill, 1979), as shown in Table (A). Initial unidimensionality and discriminant validity were checked by exploratory factor analysis (McDonald, 1981; Hattie, 1985). Factor analysis of Downward communication yielded six factors with given values greater than 1, and they together explained a variance of 74.587. The variances explained by each of the six factors are shown in Table (B and C). The first factor, Multiple Channels of communication, was derived from 17 scale items. The latent variables that constitute the first factor were ―items stating that 16, item17, item18, item21‖(see annexure 1). The second factor was ―Communicating Feedback about one‘s performance‖ and its latent variables were ―item5, item, 11, item 12‖(annexture 1). The third factor, ―Communicating the rationale behind the task performed‖, was derived from the three scale items. The latent variables that constitute the third factor were ―item01, item06, item07‖9annexture 1). The fourth factor, ―Communicating suggestions directly for improving the performance was derived from three scale items, ―variable 13, 15, and variable 25 (see annexture 1). The fifth factor, ―Communicating clear job instructions, was derived from the two scale items. The latent variables that constitute the fifth factor were ―variable03, variable04, variable07.‖ The sixth factor, ―Communication about task direction.‖ was derived from two scale items, variable 08, and variable 09. Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 232 Determining the Sequential Relationship of Downward Communication, Job Satisfaction and … TABLE B. Factor Analysis of Downward Communication Total Variance Explained Component Initial Eigen values Extraction Sums of Squared Loadings Total % of Cumulative Total % of Cumulative Variance % Variance % dimension0 1 4.351 25.596 25.596 4.351 25.596 25.596 2 3.080 18.120 43.717 3.080 18.120 43.717 3 1.700 10.001 53.718 1.700 10.001 53.718 4 1.465 8.619 62.337 1.465 8.619 62.337 5 1.062 6.250 68.587 1.062 6.250 68.587 6 1.020 6.000 74.587 1.020 6.000 74.587 7 .815 4.795 79.383 8 .685 4.029 83.412 9 .578 3.399 86.811 10 .476 2.801 89.612 11 .403 2.373 91.985 12 .346 2.034 94.019 13 .279 1.641 95.659 14 .237 1.395 97.054 15 .221 1.298 98.352 16 .160 .939 99.291 17 .120 .709 100.000 Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis Rotation Sums of Squared Loadings Total % of Cumulative Variance % 2.382 14.013 14.013 2.367 13.922 27.935 2.245 13.208 41.143 2.172 12.775 53.918 1.775 10.443 64.361 1.739 10.227 74.587 TABLE C. Rotated Component Matrix of Downward Communication a Component 1 2 VAR00001 3 4 5 6 .761 VAR00003 .809 VAR00004 .893 VAR00005 .802 VAR00006 .842 VAR00007 .754 VAR00008 .829 VAR00009 .847 VAR00011 .820 VAR00012 .840 VAR00013 .755 VAR00015 .813 VAR00016 .732 VAR00017 .788 VAR00018 .696 Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 233 Determining the Sequential Relationship of Downward Communication, Job Satisfaction and … Component 1 VAR00021 2 3 4 5 6 .716 VAR00025 .685 Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis Rotation Method: Varimax with Kaiser Normalization a. Rotation converged in 7 iterations Factor analysis of Job satisfaction yielded a single dimension of Job Satisfaction with 89.74 variance explained shown in Table (D). Factor analysis of organizational commitment items yielded a single dimension with four items loaded and 67.87 variance explained, shown in Table (F). Factor analysis of the propensity of employee leaving yielded a single dimension with three items loaded and a variance explained of 72.44, shown in Table (F). TABLE D. Factor Analysis of Job Satisfaction Construct Total Variance Explained Component Initial Eigen values Total dimsion0 % of Variance Extraction Sums of Squared Loadings Cumulative % 1 2.692 89.742 89.742 2 .198 6.600 96.343 3 .110 3.657 100.000 % of Variance Total 2.692 89.742 Cumulative % 89.742 Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis TABLE E. Job Satisfaction Component Matrixa Component 1 Jobsat1 .957 Jobsat2 .954 jobsat3 .931 Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis TABLE F. Factor Analysis of Organizational commitment Total Variance Explained Component Initial Eigen values Total % of Variance Extraction Sums of Squared Loadings Cumulative % 1 2.715 67.876 67.876 2 .683 17.063 84.939 3 .418 10.439 95.378 4 .185 4.622 100.000 Total 2.715 % of Variance 67.876 Cumulative % 67.876 dimension0 Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 234 Determining the Sequential Relationship of Downward Communication, Job Satisfaction and … Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis TABLE G. Component Matrix of Organizational Commitment a Component 1 Orgcom1 .876 Orgcom2 .897 Orgcom4 .661 Orgcom5 .841 Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis TABLE H. Factor Analysis of construct Propensity of employee leaving Total Variance Explained Component Initial Eigen values Total % of Variance Extraction Sums of Squared Loadings Cumulative % 1 2.173 72.449 72.449 dimension0 2 .621 20.700 93.149 3 .206 6.851 100.000 Total % of Variance 2.173 72.449 Cumulative % 72.449 Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis Component Matrix of propensity of employee leaving a Component 1 Prop_leaving1 .918 Proo_leaving2 .891 Prop_leaving3 .732 Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis a. 1 component extracted Impact of Downward Communication on Employees Job Satisfaction: Multiple Regression Model Multiple regression model was run to test the following Hypothesis: H1: Effective Downward communication positively affects the level of Job Satisfaction H2: Employees Job Satisfaction positively impacts the level of employees‘ organizational commitment H3: The higher the level of employees‘ organizational commitment, the lesser is the propensity of employees leaving the organization H4: There is a direct relationship between downward communication and the propensity of employee leaving the organization. The higher the level of effective downward communication, the lesser the propensity of employees leaving the organization Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 235 Determining the Sequential Relationship of Downward Communication, Job Satisfaction and … To test the hypothesis H1: Effective Downward communication positively affects the level of Job Satisfaction, a multiple regression model was run. Factor scores of 6 dimensions of downward communication were regressed on the factor score of Job satisfation. The Model was significant at a level of significance of 0.05. Model Summaryb Model R dimension1 1 .744 R Square a Adjusted R Square .554 Std. Error of the Estimate .526 .68745629 a. Predictors: (Constant), CommF6, CommF5, CommF4, CommF3, CommF2, CommF1 b. Dependent Variable: Job satisfaction ANOVAb Model 1 Sum of Squares Df Mean Square Regression 55.196 6 9.199 Residual 44.424 94 .473 Total 99.620 100 F Sig. 19.466 .000a a. Predictors: (Constant), CommF6, CommF5, CommF4, CommF3, CommF2, CommF1 b. Dependent Variable: JobsatisF Coefficientsa Model Unstandardized Coefficients 1 a. B Std. Error (Constant) .026 .068 CommF1 .127 .069 CommF2 .591 CommF3 Standardized Coefficients Beta T Sig. .378 .706 .127 1.843 .068 .069 .592 8.597 .000 .037 .069 .037 .533 .595 CommF4 .219 .069 .219 3.182 .002 CommF5 .332 .069 .333 4.830 .000 CommF6 .165 .069 .165 2.398 .018 Dependent Variable: JobsatisF It is found that out of six factors of downward communication, five factors were significant. Only the third factor of downward communication is not found significant. This shows there is positive relationship/effect of communication on Job satisfaction. The R 2 value is found to be 0.554 and the p-value is less than 0.05. Thus, we accept the hypothesis that the five dimensions of downward communication positively impact the Job satisfaction level. Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 236 Determining the Sequential Relationship of Downward Communication, Job Satisfaction and … Impact of Employees Job Satisfaction on Organizational Commitment: Regression Model Regression model was run to test the following Hypothesis that H2: Employee Job Satisfaction positively impacts the level of employees‘ organizational commitment. To test this hypothesis regression analysis was carried out. Factor scores of Job satisfaction was regressed on the factor scores of organizational commitment. R 2 value is found to be 0.558 and the model is found significant. The result of the analysis is shown in below tables. The Analysis of variance shows the model is a good fit. The slope is significant and positive; it is equal to 0.745. Thus, we accept the hypothesis that Job satisfaction significantly impacts positively on employees‘ organizational commitment. Model Summaryb Model R R Square dimension1 1 .747a .558 a. Predictors: (Constant), JobsatisF b. Dependent Variable: OrgnCommitF Job Satisfaction on Organizational Commitment ANOVAb Model Sum of Squares df Mean Square 1 a. b. Regression 57.439 1 57.439 Residual 45.561 102 .447 Total 103.000 Predictors: (Constant), JobsatisF Dependent Variable: OrgnCommitF 103 Coefficientsa Model Unstandardized Coefficients 1 a. (Constant) B Std. Error -.005 .066 JobsatisF .745 Dependent Variable: OrgnCommitF Std. Error of the Estimate .66833513 Adjusted R Square .553 .066 Coefficientsa Model Unstandardized Coefficients B Std. Error 1 (Constant) .017 .090 OrgnCommitF -.394 .091 a. Dependent Variable: propensity_leaving F Sig. .000a 128.594 Standardized Coefficients Beta .747 Standardized Coefficients Beta -.395 T Sig. -.071 .943 11.340 .000 T .185 -4.340 Sig. .853 .000 Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 237 Determining the Sequential Relationship of Downward Communication, Job Satisfaction and … Impact of Effective Downward Communication on the Propensity of Employees to Leave: Multiple Regression The analysis was carried out to determine if there is a direct relationship between effective downward communication on the propensity of employees to leave. The assumption was that communication reduces the propensity of employees to leave. To test this hypothesis, H4 regression analysis was carried out. Factor scores of all six effective downward communication dimensions were regressed on factor score of employees‘ propensity to leave. R 2 value is found to be 0.136, weaker but the model is found significant. The result of the analysis is shown in below tables. The Analysis of variance shows the model is a good fit. The slope is significant and negative. All the beta coefficients were found to be negative. Beta coefficients of two communication dimensions, i.e. dimesion2 and dimension 6, are both negative as well as significant. This shows there is a direct impact of these two dimensions on propensity. Thus, the higher these two dimensions are, the lower is the propensity to leave. It can be seen that a direct relationship exists between the downward communication and employees‘ propensity to leave. All the dimensions are having an inverse relationship with the propensity. However the sequential relationships are very strong. The sequential relationship of downward communication impacting job satisfaction, job satisfaction impacting organizational commitments, and organizational commitments impacting propensity is very strong and high. Impact of Employees‘ Organizational Commitment on Propensity of Employees to Leave: Regression Model H3: The greater the employees‘ organizational commitment, the lesser will be the propensity of employees to leave the organization To test this hypothesis, regression analysis was carried out. Factor scores of organizational commitment were regressed on factor score of employees‘ propensity to leave. R 2 value is found to be 0.156 weaker, but the model is found to be significant. The result of the analysis is shown in below tables. The Analysis of variance shows the model is a good fit. The slope is significant and negative. This is equal to -0.394. Thus, we accept the hypothesis that there is a significant negative relationship of employees‘ organizational commitment and the propensity to leave. This shows that a committed workforce is less likely to leave an organization. Model R R Square Adjusted R Square dimension1 1 .395a .156 .148 a. Predictors: (Constant), OrgnCommitF b. Dependent Variable: propensity_leaving Std. Error of the Estimate .92044182 ANOVAb Model Sum of Squares df Mean Square F Sig. 1 Regression 15.956 1 15.956 18.833 .000a Residual 86.416 102 .847 Total 102.371 103 a. b. Predictors: (Constant), OrgnCommitF Dependent Variable: propensity_leaving Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 238 Determining the Sequential Relationship of Downward Communication, Job Satisfaction and … Model Summaryb Model R dimension1 a. b. 1 R Square .368a Adjusted R Square .136 Std. Error of the Estimate .080 .96565823 Predictors: (Constant), CommF6, CommF5, CommF4, CommF3, CommF2, CommF1 Dependent Variable: propensity_leaving ANOVAb Model Sum of Squares Df Mean Square F 1 Regression 13.755 6 2.293 Residual 87.655 94 .932 101.410 100 Total Sig. .030a 2.458 a. Predictors: (Constant), CommF6, CommF5, CommF4, CommF3, CommF2, CommF1 b. Dependent Variable: propensity_leaving Coefficientsa Model Unstandardized Coefficients B 1 a. Standardized Coefficients Std. Error Beta T Sig. .047 .963 (Constant) .004 .096 CommF1 -.049 .097 -.049 -.508 .613 CommF2 -.231 .097 -.229 -2.392 .019 CommF3 -.086 .097 -.085 -.887 .377 CommF4 -.039 .097 -.039 -.405 .686 CommF5 -.269 .097 -.267 -2.783 .007 CommF6 -.027 .097 -.027 -.281 .779 Dependent Variable: propensity_leaving Implications and Recommendations for Future Research The findings of the present study indicate that in order to increase effectiveness of downward communication, it is proposed that employees should be provided with necessary information related to their jobs. The communication should catch their interest and motivate and educate them about how their specific positions contribute to overall company success. Job instructions should be clearly spelt out so that there is clear understanding regarding job performance and job expectations. Preferably, complex job instructions should be in a written form or properly documented to avoid confusion. Clear and relevant messages should be formulated. In this era of information overload, employee communication must be simple, brief and relevant. It is also important to identify the appropriate vehicle for communication, such as memos, speeches, meetings, videos, newsletters, electronic message boards, training sessions, news releases, posters, and so forth, keeping in mind the rationale, the attitude and the limitations of the employees or the nature of the task involved. It should be borne in mind that individuals and groups at different levels and in different segments of an organization may perceive the same information differently as they are not homogenous entities. They vary in nature and in their Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 239 Determining the Sequential Relationship of Downward Communication, Job Satisfaction and … competence level. Therefore, it is important that messages that are appropriate to the intended audience be delivered effectively by selecting the right channel to the right person and groups at the right time. Message communication sent through different vehicles should be consistent across those vehicles to ensure credibility and avoid confusion amongst employees at various levels. Bypassing of formal channels of communication should be discouraged, as it leads to confusion regarding the real boss. Communication, as far as possible, should be sent by the immediate superior. Thus, the desired features of the downward communication will increase the level of job satisfaction among the employees, which in turn will make them more committed to their respective organizations, thus reducing their intent to leave the organizations Directions for Future Research: In the present study, job satisfaction and organizational commitment has been explored as a mediating variable between downward communication and propensity to leave. However, the scope of this research study can further be extended to find out if there is any sequential relationship between the effective upward communication or organizational communication and job satisfaction and organizational commitment, or take other mediating variables like employee engagement and job performance. Also, this was the first study of its kind in the Indian Insurance sector. This study can be further extended to other sectors in India. References Angel,H. and Perry, J. 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Welch,Mary.and Paul,R. Jackson.(2007), ―Rethinking internal communication: A stakeholder approach‖.Corporate Communications: An International Journal, Vol.12, No.2.pp.177-198. Welsch,Harold.p and Helen LaVan. (1990),―Inter-Relationships Between Organizational Commitment and Job Characteristics, Job Satisfaction, Professional Behavior, and Organizational Climate,‖ Human Relations Wetzel,K.W and Gallagher,D.G. (1990), ―A comparative analysis of organizational commitment among workers in the cooperative and private sectors,‖ Economic and Industrial Democracy, Vol.11. pp.93-109. Appendix I Instructions Age _____ Years Gender Male/Female Education Level (Highest/Latest) _____ Work experience (in Current Organization) _____ Years Total Experience _____ Years Marital status Single/Married Name of Organization ___________________________ Note: Please do not leave any item unmarked. You may kindly be assured that the this information will be used only for the research purposes and will remain confidential. Each statement describes how you perceive the downward communication of your project manager\ leader. Please indicate the extent of your agreement/disagreement with each statement. Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 242 Determining the Sequential Relationship of Downward Communication, Job Satisfaction and … S. No. Statement 1. Appropriate job instructions are given to the team members. 2. Through communication, the members in the team know what is expected out of their jobs. 3. Occasionally we find it difficult to understand job instructions 4. There are occasions when the team members got confused with their job instructions 5. Job instructions are precise and clear 6. The team members are kept informed about the importance of their contribution 7. Project requirements are met by explaining the rationale behind the task 8. The role of every team members is equally important for organizational functioning 9. The more a team member understands his job the easier it is to achieve goals/targets 10. Communication helps in understanding ‗what and why‘ a job is being done 11. Appropriate performance feedbacks are communicated to the team members 12. Knowledge of performance level help s improve skills 13. Suggestions help in improving task performance 14. Feedback enhances the quality of performance 15. Performance appraisals keep the team members on target Strongly Agree (SA) Agree (A) Indifferent Disagree (D) Strongly Disagree (DA) Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 243 Determining the Sequential Relationship of Downward Communication, Job Satisfaction and … S. No. Statement 16. Multiple channels of communication (written, circulars, notice boards, verbal simultaneously) increase the chances of the communication being received 17. Using various channels reduces the ambiguity of information 18. Communicating through various channels facilitates accuracy 19. Multiple communication channels occasionally cause confusion 20. Repeated message signifies importance 21. Important communication are repeated to ensure accuracy 22. Repeated messages are intended to ensure that it is correctly received and understood 23. When message is not clear formal channels of communication are bypassed 24. Sometimes bypassing formal communication channels saves time 25. Direct communication is always more effective 26. Bypassing formal communication channels cause confusion about ‗who is the real boss.‘ Strongly Agree (SA) Agree (A) Indifferent Disagree (D) Strongly Disagree (DA) Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 244 Determining the Sequential Relationship of Downward Communication, Job Satisfaction and … A.II. Each statement describes your satisfaction level with your job. Please indicate the extent of your agreement/disagreement. S. No. Statement 1. I feel fairly well satisfied with my present line of work. 2. I feel a great sense of satisfaction from my line of work. 3. All things considered (i.e., pay, promotion, supervisors, coworkers, etc.), how satisfied are you with your present line Strongly Agree (SA) Agree (A) Indifferent Disagree (D) Strongly Disagree (SD) A III Each statement describes your involvement with your organization. Please indicate the extent of your agreement/disagreement. Strongly Strongly Agree Disagree S. Agree Disagree Statement No. (A) Indifferent (D) (SA) (SD) 1. I would be very happy to spend the rest of my career with this organization. 2. I really feel as if this organization‘s problems are my own 3. I do not feel like ‗part of the family‘ in my organization. 4. I do not feel ‗emotionally attached‘ to this organization 5. This organization has a great deal of personal meaning (importance) for me. 6. I do not feel a strong sense of belonging to my organization Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 245 Determining the Sequential Relationship of Downward Communication, Job Satisfaction and … A IV Each statement describes your propensity to leave your job. Please indicate the extent of your agreement/disagreement. Strongly Strongly Agree Disagree S. Agree Disagree Statement No. (A) Indifferent (D) (SA) (SD) I frequently think of quitting 1. my job I am planning to search for a 2. new job during the next 12 months. If I have my own way, I will 3. be working for this organization one year from now. --- Thank you --- Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 246 The Doctor-Nurse Game in the Age of the Checklist Seeking Collaboration in the Management of Health Care Michele W. Zak Saint Mary‘s College of California, USA [email protected] Nursing is deeply rooted in the 19th century‘s preoccupation with a particular, one might say, peculiar, view of women. In an era when women - despite official and unofficial efforts to prevent it - sought higher education, this view permeated Western culture, including the medical profession. The center of female being was proclaimed to be the womb, and that organ must be protected from any incursions resulting from thoughtless efforts of the female mind and the body housing it. Whether in a physical education class at Vassar, or on fainting couches in Victorian living rooms, women were enjoined to exert themselves sparingly, to rest extensively. A popular short story of 1892, Charlotte Gilman‘s The Yellow Wallpaper, traces the journey to madness of a woman whose physician husband confines her to her bedroom for extended rest. ―Nothing to do‖ was the prescription. In her boredom-induced delirium, the novella‘s central character creates a fantasy life located in the bedroom‘s yellow wallpaper, and eventually withdraws from her bedroom to join that desperately imagined world. Of course, only women of means could be so indulged, even to madness. Little concern emerged for the wombs of women who developed occupational diseases in the largely female workforces in the pottery business; for example, or the textile industry; or, not to put too fine a point on it, among the teeming populations of unlucky women in the brothels and saloons. This gender-focused and class-based view of women formed the backdrop against which the occupation of nursing outside the home began to form itself. Florence Nightingale herself opened her 1860 manual, Notes on Nursing by declaiming that ―Every Woman is a Nurse‖ (Melosh, 3). This connection of women‘s domestic role with the practice of nursing in hospitals was echoed by a doctor sixty five years later: ―A hospital is a home for the sick, and there can be no home unless there is a woman at the head of it‖ (Worcester, quoted in Melosh, 3) A key purpose of this paper will be to trace the effects on contemporary practice of nursing of its beginnings in this gender biased and class conscious climate. The paper‘s thesis is that gender and class biases continued through most of the 20th century, supported by hospital management and its connection to a capitalist economy. I will propose that only in the last forty years or so has nursing been able to achieve any success in its efforts to become a profession, one that commands both respect and monetary reward. Larger cultural changes have been influential, as have feminism and the related influx of women into medicine as physicians and administrators. And, of course, the important role of the nurses‘ union and the nursing associations must be counted as forces of change. New financial and political pressures have played their parts. And, most recently, as we shall see, a very powerful change-inducer has emerged: a culture of patient safety, often overseen by nurses.1 1 The Stark Law,‖ was passed in the 1980‘s to control profit making referral services in doctor-owned hospitals and labs. More recently, that law has been repealed, but concern about federal payment to hospitals with those suspect referral services remain. Conference on Corproate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 247 The Doctor-Nurse Game in the Age of the Checklist Hospital Nursing in the Early Years In the late 19th century and early years of the 20th century, with the advent of antisepsis hospitals became increasingly places for sick people to be treated. Hospitals were then, and for many years into the future, private, for profit enterprises, usually owned and managed by physicians. Working-class girls, that class of the female gender who were never excused from working by the perceived fragility of their wombs, were minimally trained as nurses for these new hospitals. The informing principle of this occupation was that hospital nursing should replicate the maternal caregiving of the mother in the private home. Their job was to comfort, clean, and feed the sick, and to fulfill orders by physicians as appropriate. Only minimal training was deemed necessary to perform ‗. . . usual family chores, an extension of the domestic role‖ (Wolf, quoted by Roberts and Group, 205). These nurses, usually with only a few weeks training preceding their enrollment as nursing apprentices, often became the exploited pawns of hospital administrators who sought to enrich their coffers by hiring out these young women as private duty nurses. Their earnings were collected by the hospital, and their ―apprenticeships‖ were held in sometimes permanent abeyance as they worked off site with no supervision, never mind the benefits of teaching or mentoring (Ashley). In these early decades of nursing as a specific occupation, apart from the caregiving of mothers and nuns, nurses were separated from physicians by gender, class, education, occupational prestige factor, and socio-economic status. On every level, there was a socially determined logic to the ―master-servant‖ model that defined the working relationship of doctors and nurses. The model of male-dominated control in the hospital formed early on. Discipline and authority defined and exercised by male physicians and administrators and obeyed by the female nurse ―greatly influenced the function of the hospital‖ (Ashley, 17-18). Ashley goes on to claim that training in the hospital schools ―came to emphasize economic servitude‖ and thus the rationalized conception of the nurse as angel, unmotivated by interests of money or career was born and nurtured As hospitals became profitable, and hospital nursing schools became similarly profitable, the view of the nurse as obedient to the authority of the male physician and devoted to caring ministrations at the bedside, movement of nursing toward professional status was impeded. The venerable Florence Nightingale expressed pique at that view: ―No man, not even a doctor, ever gives any other definition of what a nurse should be than this – ‗devoted and obedient.; This definition would do just as well for a porter. It might even do for a horse.‘‖ (Roberts and Group, 14). The torchbearer of nursing‘s chastisement notwithstanding, efforts to establish independent schools of nursing were successfully frustrated for decades by the physician owners of the hospital schools whose unimpeded access to student apprentices for contracting as private duty nurses was at stake. Medical Culture Many of these factors have changed over the hundred plus years since nursing left the home and entered the hospital, and many of those changes will be tracked in these pages. At this point, however, the inescapability of the connection between gender and economics must be noted. Moreover, it emerges with increasing clarity that medical culture began with, and we will see, clung to, masculinity in its values, norms, and behaviors. In later decades, as nurses seek more education, status, income, and respect, the patriarchal culture -- the masculinity of the medical culture – will be a continuing and formidable opponent. Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 248 The Doctor-Nurse Game in the Age of the Checklist Winds of Change Traditional medical culture has sustained some serious challenges in recent decades. A fairly recent emphasis on patient safety is a critical one. This emphasis has emerged for a number of reasons. Among them is an epidemic of hospital acquired infections that kill thousands of people per year. Infections that sicken and kill patients, particularly in the ICU‘s, had long been grimly recognized as an inevitable risk of hospitalization, a resignation challenged by two contemporary phenomena. One is the decreasing effectiveness of antibiotics against the wily bacteria that bring staphylococcus infections, particularly MRSA (methicillin resistant staph infection) and vincomyicin resistant infections, the latter encountered only in the hospital environment. The second is a growing refusal of insurance companies to pay the medical costs associated with hospital acquired infections. Hospitals have taken on the charge of reducing, even eliminating, these infections that often begin in catheters, central lines, and other conduits into the body needed to care for the critically ill or the surgical patient. The most promising solutions to the problem, notably the ―checklist,‖ discussed below, and improved communication and teamwork, have drawn the physician and the nurse into new interactions requiring improved communication and collaboration. Patient safety has forged a new alliance with the economic survival of hospitals, and additional promising new alliances between the two primary providers of patient carry and guarantors of patient safety – doctors and nurses. The Doctor-Nurse Game In 1967, a psychiatrist, Leonard I. Stein, wrote an article that became a touchstone for thinking about the traditional relationship between doctors and nurses, grown out of historical patterns of development of the occupation of nurses discussed above. According to Stein, nurses and doctors play a game for enabling their relationships on behalf of the patient. In the ―masterservant‖ relationship shaped by the early hospital apprenticeship system, it has been challenging for a nurse to weigh in on patient treatment. Stein begins with the assertion that nurses and doctors play a game to enable their relationships on behalf of their patients without apparent violation of the hierarchical order. This ―game,‖ provides a means for incorporating the nurse‘s opinions and observations into the doctor‘s treatment of the patient: The object of the game is as follows: the nurse is to be bold, have initiative, and be responsible for making certain recommendations, while at the same time, she must appear passive. This must be done in such a manner as to make her recommendations seem to have been made by the physician (Stein, 699- 703). Does this ―game‖ still find players in contemporary hospitals? With all the changes in gender representation, in nursing education, and in the economics of medicine, do doctors and nurses find a game necessary to enable mutual respect and collaboration? As they seek to meet new standards of safety in hospital practice, using the ―checklist‖ and other tools, is a higher level of communication and equity emerging? A number of the changes that have occurred in the health care industry have certainly brought pressures to bear on that relationship, as have changes in the way nurses are educated, trained, certified, recruited, employed and rewarded. Proliferation of different levels of certification and skills and the development of other allied health professions such as the nurse practitioner and the physicians‘ assistant must have their effect on status and relationships. The following pages draw upon studies involving interviews with physicians and nurses in hospitals seeking to improve patient safety, including the checklist, in order to take the temperature of the Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 249 The Doctor-Nurse Game in the Age of the Checklist current state of the relationship between the two critical actors in the safety improvement effort. Criteria of gender, class, education and training, and employment policies, as well as the role of nurses‘ unions, are included in the analysis. Using the foregoing history and background of the doctor-nurse relationships, this paper advances a thesis regarding the present state of play of the ―game.‖ What is the current state of communication among doctors and nurses: how do the key players give and receive orders; how do consultations proceed; who communicates with the patient and the patient‘s family, who is in charge of the checklist, how is the checklist being received and implemented, and what efforts is the hospital making, if any, to improve communication among the players? Forty Five Years Later In the second decade of the 2000‘s, the masculinity of the medical vineyard in which, nurses labor, appears to have endured a thousand cuts. Nearly fifty percent of medical students are women. Hospitals are no longer owned almost exclusively by doctors, and community, religious, and not-for-profit hospitals, insurance programs, and other health-related administrators now exercise power in health care that once was entirely the purview of the physician. Nurses have achieved differentiated levels of education and training, including the RN (registered nurse) with a bachelor‘s degree or with a two-year degree, specialist nurses with master‘s degrees, and nurse practitioners who can write prescriptions and stand in for physicians in many activities. Moreover, nurses occupy powerful administrative roles and commandeer a collective bargaining organization that is the envy of the labor movement. Power, if it hasn‘t shifted in health care, has at least been busily redistributing itself. Still, nurses complain about their status in hospitals and about a lack of respect paid them by physicians. The concerns of this paper must incorporate the question of whether cultural change has occurred in contemporary hospitals and whether nurses enjoy something approximating equity. In nearly forty-five years after the publication of The Doctor Nurse Game, in an age of burgeoning technology that must be mastered by nurses, and when the categories of class, gender, and other elements have new meaning, is the game still being played? And more to the point of a query from the perspective of organizational behavior how are the key issues of patient care and safety in the modern hospital affected by the current status of the critical relationship between physicians and nurses? This question is not a purely historical one. The current epidemic of antibiotic-resistant infections in hospitals has led to an intense new emphasis on patient safety. That emphasis has, in turn, found a possible infection-control procedure in the ―checklist‖ (Gawande, 2009). A procedure that requires the collaboration of all medical staff in the careful attention to details of infection control from religious hand-washing before touching a patient to extensive draping of surgical sites or catheter insertion field, the ―checklist‖ often puts the nurse in the position of dictating action to a physician. That breaching of usual patterns of authority has, not surprisingly, been fraught, and has cast into relief the question posed by this paper. An examination of the current relationship and its effect on the quality of health care begins with a review of the history of nursing and its evolution into the profession we know today. That history is steeped in gender and class issues and in nuances of labor history in America. From the perspective of management studies, nursing provides a useful vantage point for looking at the development of hospitals into corporations and the effect of that development on doctors, nurses, and patients. A critical challenge to the hospital today is the control of hospital-acquired infection that contributes to tens of thousands of deaths a year. Are doctors and nurses able to establish functional alliances and teams to eliminate the insidious threat of Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 250 The Doctor-Nurse Game in the Age of the Checklist infection? Whether they can will determine the effectiveness of current efforts to bring hospitalacquired infections to zero. As nursing education has improved and the professionalism of nurses has sharpened, the relationship with doctors has become somewhat more open. But hostility still lurks. In my first interview for the work from which this paper is drawn, a physician known for his easy-going manner as well as his strong record of performance in his specialty, exploded when I asked him a question about the doctor-nurse relationship. ―Nurses are the unhappiest people I know‖ he declared. And when prodded to elaborate on that draconian pronouncement, he suggested that nurses with their own opinions about patient treatment should go to medical school. Why don‘t they? he asked rhetorically. Why settle for the ―lesser‖ role? His choice of words would be a knife in the heart of nurses who have long sought to make nursing a ―profession.‖ In the last few years, the stakes of collaboration between doctors and nurses have increased. As patient safety has moved to the forefront of public attention, strategies have been devised to protect patients from medical errors and hospital-acquired, often deadly, infections. Perhaps the most promising of those strategies is the ―checklist,‖ a process that requires doctors to yield to the questioning and corrections of the guardian of the checklist, most often, nurses. This innovation of the checklist has not yet achieved full acceptance at most hospitals, for a number of reasons, including its violation of the doctor-nurse game. Some radical changes in medical needs and in technology have created a new entrée for change that includes, it seems, the checklist and the traditional relationship between doctors and nurses. Over the last twenty-five years, two and a half million people have died from hospitalacquired bloodstream infections (Pronovost, 188), made significantly worse by the antibiotic resistance of many of these infections, particularly MRSA, an antibiotic resistant Staphylococcus infection, and vincomyicin resistant infections, found only in hospitals. A large percentage of these infections begin in surgical units and in the intensive care units where the very sick are cared for, along with those emerging from surgery. Many possibilities for infection lurk in these ICU‘s, including central line and bladder catheters. Pronovost states that in the year 2000 at his hospital Johns Hopkins University Hospital ―the rate of infection was 19 per 1000 catheters‖ (24). Worse than the rate of infection, though, was, he tells us, the attitude of the medical staff toward that rate, that they were unavoidable, part of ―the cost of doing business‖(25). Pronovost, who is widely regarded as the contemporary innovator of the use of the medical checklist, set out to update less-than-useful current guidelines on infection, to augment them by the ―tacit knowledge‖ possessed by physicians and nurses, learned on the job, and to produce a ―better system for translating scientific evidence into practice. These cumbersome guidelines must be combined with tacit knowledge and reduced to an unambiguous, behaviorally specific checklist that is high impact, low risk, cost effective, and most importantly, time efficient‖(27). Efforts to implement this process with respect to infections led to a five-item (probable capacity of the human mind to remember is seven) set of steps for placing central lines. The five steps were: Wash your hands using soap or alcohol prior to placing the catheter Wear sterile gloves, hat, mask, and gown and completely cover the patient with sterile drapes. Avoid placing the catheter in the groin if possible (these have a higher infection rate) Clean the insertion site on the patient‘s skin with chlorohexidrine antiseptic solution. Remove catheters when they are no longer needed. These steps were distributed to doctors for use. Nurses were then asked to observe the rate at which the doctors complied with the list. Shockingly, only a 38 percent compliance rate was Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 251 The Doctor-Nurse Game in the Age of the Checklist reported, ―putting two out of three patients at greater risk of infection and death‖ (28). Due diligence was the watchword for Pronovost and his colleagues after this shocking finding. What, they wanted to know prevented well-intentioned doctors from following well-known steps to infection control. And he found some answers, a number of which were mechanistic issues like the difficulty in finding the various items that went into a sanitized environment – masks one place, sterile drapes another, and so on. In the time crunch of a doctor‘s day, decisions to skip steps when such problems present, in order to finish and get on to the next patient, were likely. That was a problem easily fixed by organizational effort. The larger problem, the challenge that leads to what Pronovost calls doctors that lead to denial of problems, to a failure to listen, to listen to patients, to medical colleagues, and certainly to nurses. Pronovost, and later, Atul Gawande in The Checklist (.94) tell chilling stories of near death experiences of patients whose medical crises were denied and ignored by doctors who would not admit mistakes, or just by doctors who seem to have been trained not to listen. Gawande makes an apt analogy between these doctors, often surgeons, and the test pilots Tom Wolfe memorialized in The Right Stuff (1979). Our first astronauts, training in the 1950‘s, did unbelievably dangerous jobs, and a quarter of them were killed on the job. ―The pilots had to have focus, daring, wits, and an ability to improvise – the right stuff‖ (p.94). But, Gawande points out, as knowledge of how to control the machines and limit the dangers through use of checklists and flight simulators, the ―danger diminished, values of safety and conscientiousness prevailed, and the rock-star status of the test pilots was gone‖ (94). Something of the sort is taking place in medicine, Gawande, suggests. In surgery, in the ER, and in intensive care, work is being done more effectively and efficiently than ever. As with the test pilots, Gawande hypothesizes that this new, more broadly accessible world ―pushes against the traditional culture of medicine, with its central belief that in situations of high risk and complexity, what you want is a kind of expert audacity – the right stuff, again‖ (94). Checklists and standard operating procedures, he speculates, ―feel like exactly the opposite [of the right stuff], and that‘s what rankles many highly skilled physicians.‖ Does it especially rankle doctors, who in large numbers traditionally come from a class, a gender, and a socioeconomic and education level that has commanded authority and respect by the general population? Do doctors in any numbers now prickle at the notion of being held to account by a group of nurses, who are traditionally a poor second in all the categories listed above? Certainly the doctor-nurse game described by Stein suggested that the answer has traditionally been yes, as does the current resistance of many doctors to efforts to create standardization of care or accountability for treatment (Gawande, Pronovost). Brilliance, invention, and wit are valued individual qualities that will never be in sufficient supply. At the same time, as Pronovost says, ―we must provide care primarily based on intuition, to a place where this independent approach is properly balanced with care based on collective wisdom and proven scientific expertise (Provonost, p.54). The absence of recognition of the collective wisdom that includes nurses, can defeat the promise of the checklist. The Promise and the Threat of Change As any organizational behaviorist or change management specialist has likely observed, people don‘t fear change; they fear loss. And, again, it is the perceptive Pronovost who points out that . . . loss has two components, a real component and a perceived component, and the perceived is generally larger and more powerful. Yet it is often unproven, generally false, and grossly exaggerated. What leaders of change need to do is minimize real losses and demonstrate that perceived losses are mythical. Only then Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 252 The Doctor-Nurse Game in the Age of the Checklist can they successfully implement change (72).The ―right stuff‖ is certainly such a myth, and its relinquishment has been documented by the large number of doctors over the last decades. who have left the individualism of sole practice and moved to the collaborative shared practices that increasingly dominate medical practice today. This widespread movement was inspired and engineered largely by doctors who wanted a more regularized life with more predictable free time, who wanted to practice in highly desirable geographic areas where sole practices were difficult to establish, or by doctors who truly wanted the opportunity for shared knowledge and collective wisdom. In hospital practice, the increased prevalence of Health Maintenance Organizations (HMO‘s) now exist, some of which, like Kaiser Permanente, operate their own hospitals, as do universities who people their hospital house staffs with medical students, interns, residents, and medical faculty. In these hospital facilities, communities of doctors come with the territory. Unlike the doctor-owned hospitals of earlier years, or the private and community hospitals so familiar to us, many of these newer organizations employ doctors, nurses, and allied medical staff, all of whom are managed by an overseeing management structure. The ―shake out‖ period for these contemporary organizations has not been easy; operation of shared practice is not without its own set of difficulties, many of which are noted and analyzed in Cultivating Communities of Practice: A Guide to Managing Knowledge, by Wagner, McDermott, and Snyder (2002). Their work is particularly instructive in our efforts here to examine relationships between the internal communities of practice – doctors and nurses – within the larger community of these managed medical organizations. A critical question is whether fear of loss of autonomy and ―the right stuff‖ that may come with being jointly ―managed‖ has eased and professionalized the doctor-nurse relationship, inflamed it, or left it untouched. It is not within the purview of this paper to answer those questions comprehensively, but they provide a window into the connection between the new emphasis on shared responsibility for patient safety on the communities of practice of doctors and nurses. First, back to Pronovost, whose work concludes that, in order to facilitate the standardization of treatment and use of the checklist that have proven invaluable to improvement of patient safety, a change in hospital culture is necessary, particularly in surgery, from free standing individualism to consistent teams who work well together. While, he points out, such arrangement might be less efficient and immediately cost effective for the hospital, People who work together in the operating room are often strangers who don‘t even know each other‘s names. As a result, these ‗teams‘ are generally more confrontational than cooperative, more independent than interdependent. Interestingly, nurses almost always know the names of the surgeon and anesthesiologist. (In fact, they often know their first names but are afraid to use them). Conversely, surgeons and anesthesiologists often do not know the nurses‘ first or last names. This ancient custom only further exacerbates the cultural divides (73). Citing the aviation industry, the primary popularizer of the checklist for safety purposes, Pronovost suggests that ―Aviation learned this lesson the hard way. Studies that examined airline accidents and crew configurations revealed that in 75 percent of accidents the pilot and copilot had never flown together. Not being familiar with team members is perilous in the sky and in health care‖ (73). Pilots and surgeons are notable for having the ―right stuff,‖ and the egos that often accompany it. Putting the best face on it, Pronovost speculates that perhaps the requirement that surgeons act almost autonomously, or perhaps that they need this level of confidence to ―cut into someone‘s brain, heart, or intestines‖ (73). He regrets that there is ―no system in place that addresses culture and teamwork in the operating room, or in any part of the hospital, for that matter. Bad culture exists throughout Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 253 The Doctor-Nurse Game in the Age of the Checklist medicine. And it‘s not only doctors who are to blame. Poor communication and lousy teamwork are a problem in every level of health care, from administrative assistants to top executives. No person or department is immune to this problem‖ (77). Pronovost successfully built a program that focused on teamwork and culture improvement in the ICU ―in the hope that this would create a platform on which change would be not only possible but successful. It turned out to be just what we needed.‖ (79). Wagner, McDermott, and Snyder illuminate this discussion with their exploration of organized communities. Discussing ―distributed communication,‖ by which they mean diverse organizational or professional communities, the authors specify problems that often emerge: ―people from different cultural must relate to each other and to the larger community. They are ―. . . likely to cross cultural [methods and modes] for relating to each other and to the community‖ . . . ―People‘s willingness to ask questions that might reveal their ignorance, to disagree with each other in public, contradict known experts, follow others in a thread of conversation, all these vary greatly across cultures. For example, who has status or authority to speak to the community? What is the appropriate level of formality or style of interaction between members?‖ (118). A pervasive silence that discourages communication seems to exist in the medical community that is inimical to patient safety, not to mention the collaboration that fosters improvement and innovation. Gawande describes the health care industry as having ―a strange culture that drives people to believe they are perfect, invincible machines that can work long hours with little sleep and do everything perfectly‖ (p.98). It‘s an illusion, Gawande asserts, one that will not be revealed until ―. . .you develop systems designed to root out errors,‖ and then ―the rose-colored glasses fall to the floor. People finally admit to themselves that everybody makes mistakes and if we don‘t prevent or catch those mistakes, patients will be harmed. Indeed, until they admit this, we have little hope of improving patient safety‖ (98). Both Pronovost and Gawande, along with Wagner, et al., support the notion that communication, ranging from narratives in which stories of real patient harm are shared, to education and training of medical staff to adopt strategies for effective teamwork and communication. Doctors who have grown up in the lone hero, highly individualized culture of traditional American medicine, must learn to ―understand that teams make wise decisions with diverse and independent input‖ (Pronovost, 98). Teams are not possible without culture change. Research revealed that pre-checklist aviation, pilots, for the most part, didn‘t listen to co-pilots (Provonost, 82). Similarly, in medicine, where life and death decisions also take place, many surgical teams don‘t know the names and roles of their colleagues. Pronovost quotes a nurse who had tears in her eyes after working in the OR with a surgeon who had just left the room: ―I have worked for twenty years with him, I have bent over backwards to make this place work and his life better, and he does not even know my name‖ (83). Pronovost goes on to enumerate the myriad of mistakes that can occur in this toxic culture of anonymity and not listening. It is a silence that can kill. The Silent Treatment: Back to the Beginnings A study that examines the ―especially dangerous kind of communication breakdown: risks that are known but not discussed, or ―undiscussables,‖ ―The Silent Treatment: Why Safety Tools and Checklists Aren‘t Enough to Save Lives,‖ (Maxfield, Grenny, Lavandero, and Groah, 2011), is an update of research conducted in 2005 by the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN) and VitalSmarts (Silence Kills: The Seven Crucial Conversations for Healthcare, 2005). The new work opens with a compelling quotation from one of the 681interviews that were collected in the course of this research: Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 254 The Doctor-Nurse Game in the Age of the Checklist I think nearly every day we are faced with the hand-off allergy list. Frequently, the surgeons will order an antibiotic the patient is allergic to according to the safety checklist. When the patient is out of surgery, nurses have to call the surgeon, the anesthesiologist, and sometimes even the pharmacist before someone listens. Sometimes we go ahead and give the drugs anyway, but when you really listen to the patients story, sometimes that is not the right thing to do (Journal of the American Association of Critical- Care Nurses, April, 2011). The Silent Treatment is an examination of the effect of nurses‘ failure to speak up when risks are known on the effectiveness of current safety tools, notably the checklist at issue here. Using the model of business management theorist, Christopher Argyris, the paper draws upon the concepts of two categories of communication breakdown: honest mistakes and ―undiscussables.‖ ( Argyris, 205-213). Honest mistakes are, as the name suggests, those made inadvertently or unintentionally when barriers are present, such as poor handwriting, confusing labels, difficult accents, competing tasks, language barriers, distractions, and so on (p.1). Such mistakes are inevitable, and must be guarded against through dedicated strategies. The checklist is such a strategy. Another category of mistakes, however, called ―undiscussables‖ result from intentional behaviors. Someone knows or strongly suspects, that something is wrong, but chooses to ignore or avoid it. He or she may attempt to speak up but not quite when faced with resistance. It‘s not a slip or error; it‘s a calculated decision to avoid or back down from the conversation. Information-based solutions like protocols, checklists, and systems don‘t do much to solve the breakdowns in this second category. The literature of organizational silence suggests that solving undiscussables will require deeper changes to cultural practices, social norms, and personal skills. (Silent, 2). This deeper silence arguably has its roots in the early hospital culture discussed in this paper. The nurse as domestic head of the hospital, resurfaced in Stein‘s almost lighthearted styling of the ―doctor-nurse game,‖ and lives on in the first decade of the 21st century in a sometime life and death contretemps in the intense atmospheres of surgery or critical care, underwritten by failure to communicate, failure to speak, failure to listen. Those failures in turn are rooted in the class- and gender- laced beginnings of the usually working class ―apprentice nurse.‖ Her schooling and her ability to work depend on hospitals owned, managed, and dominated by the prosperous, better educated male doctor. A number of those barriers have changed shape over the century or so since hospital nursing began, including an improved representation of women in the doctor-ranks and men in nursing,2 although both of these are in their early stages of impact on medicine; and their effects thus far unpredictable. In the 2010 update of the 2005 Critical Conversations, it is clear that inequalities between doctors and nurses still rankle, and, in an age of complex, technology-driven hospital care, they do more than rankle, or wait upon a game to be overcome; they create organizational silences that endanger patients. In The Silent Treatment, both qualitative and quantitative data were used. A survey instrument produced useful quantitative data, but the richness of the study really resides in what the authors call ―The Story Collector.‖ Members of the American Association of Critical Care Nurses (AACN) and of periOperative Registered Nurses (AORN) were invited to contribute to the study, and 2,383 registered nurses participated. Of this number, 169 were managers. The 2 Not surprisingly, the men who go into nursing currently move disproportionately into administrative jobs, thus skewing management hospital nurses even more to male dominance (LaRocco, ―Recruitment and Retention of Men in Nursing,‖ in O‘Lynn and Trabarger, eds., Men in Nursing: History, Challenges, and Opportunities, 2007. Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 255 The Doctor-Nurse Game in the Age of the Checklist traditional survey part of the study was completed by 4.235 nurses, of whom 832 were managers. These sizable samples produced sobering results for proponents of hospital safety who have invested checklists and other safety tools with power to curtail dangerous and expensive hospitalacquired infections, mistakes in administration of medicines, and surgical errors. The Story Collector furnished respondents with a list of four safety tools designed to prevent slips and errors. The four were the Universal protocol checklist, WHO checklist, SBAR handoff protocol, and drug interaction warning systems. The nurse respondents were asked to describe any situations they had been involved in which one of the tools worked, and avoided a problem that might otherwise have been missed and harmed a patient. A gratifying 85 percent of the respondents confirmed the efficacy of these safety tools by testifying that they had been in such a situation at least once (29 percent claimed to have been in such a situation at least a few times a month). Soberingly, however, 58 percent had been in situations where it they felt unsafe in speaking up or in which they were unable to get anyone else to listen (a few times a month for about 17%). Using this methodology, the researchers documented 608 incidents, about 8 percent of which were what they called ―triple negatives,‖ that is, ―the kinds of communication breakdowns that systematically prevent safety tools from protecting patients‖(3). These communication breakdowns threatened patient safety, and three quarters of them involved standing up to a doctor. The stories are many; I quote just one example here: Inserting central line at bedside in ICU. Used checklist but surgeon refused maximal sterile barrier and in fact, ridiculed me and hospital staff for instituting (this precaution) when there is no ‗proof‘ it works. Hospital does not allow RN to stop procedures so it was inserted without maximal sterile barrier (3). Over and over, the current study and the 2005 study it updates, document the barriers to communication that repeatedly put patients at risk and now, sometimes overpower the checklist. The seven categories of conversations the original study cites as both difficult and essential for healthcare providers are: broken rules (including dangerous shortcuts), mistakes, lack of support, incompetence, poor teamwork, disrespect, and micromanagement. These barriers endanger patient safety because, as the research reveals, ―. . . fewer than one in ten [nurses] speak up and share their full concerns‖ (4). Not content merely to document the problem, The Silent Treatment study moves on to discover what nurses successful at breaching the ―undiscussable‖ had done, in response to a ―Story Collector‖ request to relate incidents in which they had been successful at speaking up and getting results. Not surprisingly to students of management and communication, these stories catalog use of familiar communication skills to handle difficult conversations effectively. They used Critical reasoning and argument, collecting facts and tests, and producing charts or worksheets to document their findings. Positive rhetoric, indicating concern for the doctor as well as the patient Tact in bringing doctors‘ attention to problems, avoiding defensiveness Positive language, avoiding accusations. Techniques for defusing anger and emotion ( 7) These classic communication skills are essential to a functioning organization, and need not be seen as tantamount to Stein‘s doctor-nurse game. Some of them are tenets of emotional and social intelligence including self-awareness and sensitivity to others‘ state of mind, and a Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 256 The Doctor-Nurse Game in the Age of the Checklist general social ability. The Silent Treatment comes to some conclusions about what healthcare organizations can do to overcome ―undiscussables.‖ Within a list of six ―sources of behavioral influence‖ they offer to ―overwhelm the problem of organizational silence‖ (7), the authors suggest particular strategies for improving these sources, and many of them are promising. Perhaps they should be guided more comprehensively, however, by some goals and processes that are long established for overcoming organizational silence, fragmentation, and conflict. They are trust and teamwork. Wood-Lockhart lists factors outlined by Henneman et al. (1995) which promote collaboration: Excellent communication skills Understanding each other‘s role Confidence in own role Mutual respect Trust Shared planning and decision making Team approach Non-hierarchical relationships Building Trust, Creating Teams Since Taylorism and Scientific Management evolved into the high commitment, high performance organizations we admire in the 21st century, management studies have recognized the need for people to be involved in shaping the nature of their workplace in alignment with cultural dynamics and unique needs. As Pronovost points out, ―checklists are useless if people don‘t use them, and people won‘t use them unless they own them‖ (p57). Perhaps checklists are made problematic in the context of doctor-nurse relationships under discussion here. If management imposes a checklist meant to guide the behavior of doctors, and puts the enforcement of that checklist in the hands of a nurse, issues of gender and differential power balances related to socialization and educational differences will play a negative role. Only the most evolved healthcare organizations and staff are going to avoid the surfacing of a century of unhealthy relationships between these two major arms of the medical enterprise. Resentment, defensiveness, damaged pride, and self-imposed silences might well be avoided by teams tailoring their own checklists through group discussions, and, as Pronovost suggests, telling real stories of patient harm. From that point, he goes on, these new teams ―systematically identify and mitigate barriers that prevent patients from receiving the interventions on the checklist … and…they monitor performance to see whether the checklist is used and/or whether patient outcomes improve. And, finally, ―. . . teams need to reorganize their work to ensure that patients always receive the items on the checklist‖ (57). We know that trust is critical to the functioning of a team, and that teams in medicine work more effectively than the disparate operating room personnel who don‘t even know each other‘s names, never mind share values, norms, and objectives. Pronovost confirms for us that ―Communication between doctors and nurses is poor, leaving some members [of the ICU team] care team feeling isolated and the plan of care often not clear.‖ (61-62). Our own interviews with intensivists have confirmed that procedures such as shared rounding by doctors and nurses in the ICU and on the floors has helped communication and development of shared care planning and real teamwork (Taharka, March 28, 2011). Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 257 The Doctor-Nurse Game in the Age of the Checklist The difficulties of achieving collaboration have usually been focused on the doctor, but nurses perhaps bear some of the burden. Collaboration, as a key element of teamwork is defined by Henneman et al (1995) as: A process whereby two or more people come together to discuss a common problem. Each participant has the self-confidence to share his/her knowledge/information on an equal basis with the other person and each has a mutual respect for the other‘s opinions. The participants focus on the needs of the patient when communicating with each other in order to negotiate the patient‘s plan of care. All participants should be satisfied that the relevant information has been shared. Such collaboration and/or teamwork between doctors and nurses have been problematic, as we have discussed. But a study of nurses‘ willingness to collaborate with physicians over patient care issues (Lockhart-Wood), found that the gender and education were key elements in that willingness in an emergency room setting. Male nurses were more likely to collaborate with medical staff, as were nurses with a higher level of educational preparation (276.). The power relationships tracked in this paper are underscored by Mackay who suggests that ―nurses‘ subservience is not an individual characteristic but rather a learned social role that is accepted by nurses nationwide.‖ (quoted in Wood-Lockhart, 277). Shared ownership of the patient safety strategy called the checklist can be the source of the trust and teamwork that will mean much more than the mechanics of a checklist, however complete and well intentioned. That is how culture is changed. We know that top down change efforts are usually doomed, that successful ones emerge from shared efforts to effect the change in most organizations. And given the problematic history of the doctor-nurse relationship, it seems the safety checklist may be a promising possibility for giving the lie to Stein‘s doctor-nurse game and creating the changed relationship between the two required for the shared outcome of patient safety. References Argyris, Christopher. Making the undiscussable and the undiscussability discussable. Public Administration Review. May/June, 1980; pp. 205-213. Ashley, JoAnn. Hospitals, paternalism, and the role of the nurse. 1976, Gawande, Atul. The checklist manifesto: how to get things right, 2009. ―The checklist.‖ new yorker magazine. 2007, 86-95. Gilman, Charlotte.The yellow wallpaper. The New England Magazine, January, 1892. Lockhart-Wood, Karen. Collaboration Between Nurses and Doctors in Clinical Practice. British Journal of Nursing, Mar 9-Mar 22, 2000; 9,5; ProQuest Nursing and Allied Health Source.276-280. Maxfield, Grenny, Lavandero, and Groah. The silent treatment: why safety tools and checklists aren‘t enough to save lives. Journal of the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses. April, 2011. Nightingale, Florence, from Notes on nursing, 1860, quoted in Melosh, Barbara,―The physician‘s hand‖: work culture and conflict in american nursing,.1982, 3. Pronovost, Peter and Eric Vohr. Safe patients, safe hospitals, . 2010. Roberts, Joan I. and Thetis M. Group. Feminism and nursing: an historical perspective on power, status, and political activism in the nursing profession. 1995. 14 Silence Kills: the seven crucial conversations for healthcare,. VitalSmarts. 2005 Stein, Leonard I., The doctor-nurse game. archives of general psychiatry,v.5, 16,.699-703, 1967. Taharka, Ananse. Interview at Kaiser Permanente Oakland (CA) Medical Center, March 28, 2011 Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 258 The Doctor-Nurse Game in the Age of the Checklist Wagner, McDermott, and Snyder. Cultivating communities of practice: a guide to managing knowledge. 2002 Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 259 The Effect of Reputation, Awareness and Corporate Citizenship On Banking Propensity Fatma El-Goully General Manager Corporate Communication, Banque Misr, Cairo-Egypt [email protected] or [email protected] Ahmed Taher Chairman and CEO Solutions Consulting, Egypt Maastricht School of Management, MSM Maastricht, the Netherlands Cairo Outreach Program, Egypt Corporate reputation affects relationships with key stakeholders; reputation building is a worthy attempt because organizations that deliberately manage their reputations enjoy significantly enhanced relationships with their constituencies‖ (Saxton 1998). This proposed research strives to answer the question raised about the importance of corporate reputation and its link to individual‘s propensity to bank, and investigates if corporate citizenship initiatives can influence the Egyptian unsophisticated community. This research also highlights the relation between communication efforts aiming at higher awareness in increasing the individual‘s propensity to use banks. The purpose of this study is to suggest an initial model to understand the relationships between the communication efforts featured through awareness, reputation and corporate citizenship, and the propensity to use banks. Investing in communications designed to improve corporate reputation is a worthy endeavour. The research is tackling the selected communication activities as vital elements to banking propensity, with no previous models or work in that area. Also, due to the currently observable deficiency in the related literature, the findings for this proposed research are thus expected to be useful to both scholars and practitioners alike. Keywords - reputation, corporate citizenship, awareness, propensity to use banks The need for communication activities addressed to Egyptian society has become major issue due to the fact that the market is unknowledgeable and more responsive to educational messages. The literacy rate in modern Egyptian society amounts to only 57% among the adult population (CIA World Fact Book 2004). And the percentage of people aware of the banking services and actually holding a bank account is down to only 10% of the population, that is, only 8 million of the total Egyptian population which amounts to 78,887,007 (CIA World Fact Book 2006). This low percentage of banked population (people holding a bank account) is negatively affecting the country´s total GDP, the individual income level, and the overall investment in developmental projects. The Egyptian banking market has been very competitive. This fierce competition is focused on the consumer who constitutes only 1 out of 10 Egyptians using banking services. In addition, the public‘s lack of knowledge regarding banks‘ security and trustworthiness still drives them to misplace their savings with individuals calling themselves Conference on Corproate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 260 The Effect of Reputation, Awareness and Corporate Citizenship on Banking Propensity entrepreneurs. This behavior has led to major deception cases, and the country is now suffering from multiple fraud cases in which a minority is stealing millions from unaware people. Banks‘ communication is expected to increase the Egyptian percentage of banked population, foster increased efficiencies in the economy, and increase market share for banks and hence develop healthy competition. In addition, the strong linkage and origination of communication tactics as part of the overall strategy is featured to be a sound practice of the organization. Argenti and Forman (2002) define corporate communication as ―the corporation‘s voice and the images it projects of itself on a world stage populated by its various audiences…‖ According to Argenti and Druckenmiller (2004), ―Corporate branding impact on positive reputation has been argued and related to the strategy implementation‖. Rindova and Fombrun (1999) discuss the link between strategy and communications, identifying the positive power companies can build through ―walking the talk‖ of building perception through interpretations using diversified communicational constituents (Forman and Argenti 2005). Empirical studies on corporate reputation have revealed the influence of corporate reputation on a business. These findings assist in understanding the importance of strategic positioning through corporate reputation and show how a firm can either benefit or be hindered in its operations. Although financial performance is considered one of the major predictors of reputation, it only accounts for 36-59% (Brown and Perry 1994), or, according to Roberts and Dowling (2005) to only 15% in reputation variance. Recent research has established new constructs as possible predictors of reputation allowing the differentiation of tangible and intangible resource assets, such as ―competence and sympathy‖ (Eberl and Schwaiger 2005) as well as ―perceived quality and prominence‖ (Rindova, Williamson, et al. 2006). All can directly influence reputation, achieve competitive advantage and increase financial performance. The main problem addressed in this study lies in lacking proper corporate communication initiatives, ranging from building a good reputation to awareness and corporate citizenship activities for multinational banks operating in Egypt; the absence of which leads to problems that range from minor to major. The minor problem is represented by individuals‘ (public) resentment to the banking sector market monopoly by multinational banks due to minimal awareness. Actually, we can claim that this is the sole minor problem. The reason supporting this claim is that all the complications that might result from lacking this tool are all major ones: 1. Subjectivity in evaluating the new Egyptian banking reform strategy. 2. De-acceleration of banking services trust leads to delay in banking awareness and acceptance and slows down the increase in the number of banked population; only 10% are dealing with banks while the rest prefer to keep their money at home. Research Objective The purpose of this study is to understand the relationships between and the impact of corporate communication efforts featured through awareness, reputation and corporate citizenship on one hand, and the individual‘s propensity to use banks in a developing country on the other hand. Additional independent, moderating, mediating, or dependent variables may be added to the initial model as dictated by the research findings. Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 261 The Effect of Reputation, Awareness and Corporate Citizenship on Banking Propensity Theoretical Framework FIGURE: Schematic Diagram for Proposed Variables Relations Source: Author The researcher recommends a model that engages the relationship between the corporate communications aspects, such as bank reputation, corporate citizenship and awareness and their influence on individual´s propensity use banks. The model encompasses a relative parameter of variables. As relates to the main problem addressed by the research the key is to engage a model that figures out the relationships and impacts, that can influence an n individuals potential to be banking clients, that is why propensity to use banks (to be banked) is selected. The variables selected for the model are based on the experience gained through the researcher‘s readings, and relevant theories and models, as well as the problem definition that explores the opportunity to reach potential banked individuals and their propensity use banks through key defined corporate communication activities. The particular corporate communication variables addressed by the researcher as the main independent variables were awareness, reputation and corporate citizenship. Awareness was selected based on the work of many authors who support the association between brand awareness and buyer behavior (Assael and Day 1968); (Hoyer 1984); (Macdonald and Sharp 2000); (Nedungadi 1990). The AIDA model describes the basic process by which people become motivated to act on a purchase and is based on external stimuli. Motivation to make a purchase depends on: awareness of the existence of a product or service; desire for the product; and interest in paying attention to the product‘s benefits. The fourth stage or mental state, action, is a natural result of moving through the first three stages which lead to the action stage. (Lavidge and Steiner 2000) designed the Hierarchy of Effects Model that recognizes two additional steps before the recipient becomes a purchaser and gives importance to cognitive stages. The individual is seen to start and move from the awareness of products existence to product knowledge. Then he proceeds to liking and being in preference for the product until he is convinced and reaches the final stage which is purchasing the product. Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 262 The Effect of Reputation, Awareness and Corporate Citizenship on Banking Propensity The ―hypodermic needle theory‖ implies that mass media has a direct, immediate and powerful effect on its audiences through awareness of reach and frequency of recall. The theory suggests that the mass media could influence a very large group of people directly and uniformly by ‗shooting‘ or ‗injecting‘ them with appropriate messages designed to trigger a desired response. People end up thinking what they are told because there is no other source of information (Davis and Baron 1981). Reputation has been selected as a main independent variable because the literature, exploring the value of communication and its proven direct effect on stakeholders‘ acceptance and profitability, in Saxton, for instance, is validated.,. Investing in communications designed to improve corporate reputation is a worthy attempt because research has shown that improved reputation positively affects not only financial performance but also customer and employee loyalty. […] Organizations that deliberately manage their reputations enjoy significantly enhanced relationships with their constituencies‖ (Saxton 1998). Empirical evidence confirms that a favorable reputation leads to higher financial performance as well as strategic advantages, such as reducing competitive rivalry and mobility barriers to prevent market entry (Caves and Porter 1977), (Milgrom and Roberts 1982); charging premium prices (Benjamin and Podolny 1999); creating greater stability in stock prices (Vergin and Qoronfleh 1998); reducing operating costs and attracting talent to a firm (C. Fombrun, Reputation: Realizing Value from the Corporate linage 1996). Firms with good reputations are more likely to sustain a superior financial performance over time (Roberts and Dowling 2002). Other research shows that reputation has a positive impact on capital gains (Vergin and Qoronfleh 1998), on the stock market (Jones, Jones and Little 2000), and on market value (Black, Carnes and Richardson 2000). In order to remove financial bias from the reputation rating, Roberts and Dowling decompose reputation into financial reputation and residual reputation, and demonstrate that corporate reputation contributes significantly towards firm profitability (Roberts and Dowling 2002). These studies document that reputation is an important intangible resource that enhances a firm‘s ability to gain a competitive advantage and achieve higher financial performance. Both Roberts and Dowling (2002) as well as Carmeli and Tishler (2004) recognize the importance of reputation (Roberts and Dowling 2002) (Carmeli and Tishler, The relationships between intangible organizational elements and organizational performance 2004) Andreassen and Lindestad (1998) argue that corporate image – which is part of the reputation – is an antecedent to customer loyalty (Andreassen and Lindestad, The effect of corporate image in the formation of customer loyalty 1998). Later, it is concluded that reputation may be loyalty‘s strongest driver (Andreassen, Satisfaction, loyalty and reputation as indicators of customer orientation in the public sector 1994); (Ryan, Rayner and Morrison 1999). Rogerson shows that a high reputation increases the likelihood that consumers will provide a recommendation (Rogerson 1983). Corporate citizenship has been chosen as corporate reputation has become progressively broader and more complex. It extends beyond the quality of products and services, treatment of employees, and brand values, to encompass ideas of corporate social responsibility and citizenship (The Public Affairs Group, Inc. 2001). Corporate citizenship is about understanding and managing an organization‘s influences on, and relationships with, the rest of society in a way that minimizes the negative and maximizes the positive (Marsden and Andriof 1998). Research by graduate students at the London Business School studied the returns over a five-year period, in which the impact of news coverage on corporate citizenship and on company stock performance was analyzed, companies that communicate positive corporate citizenship Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 263 The Effect of Reputation, Awareness and Corporate Citizenship on Banking Propensity messages accepted by the markets can expect to earn an increase in risk-adjusted returns – reaching on average gains of 1% per month. The process of setting a mode of communication that is built through continuous efforts of awareness and good corporate reputation as well as corporate citizenship programs are the main independent variables, as an independent variable is the presumed cause, whereas a dependent variable is the presumed effect. Reputation plays a role as an independent variable, where it impacts the interrelated stakeholders and influences their perception of acceptance to all the previously assigned communication activities with planned messages. Empirical studies on corporate reputation have revealed the influence of corporate reputation on business, as in Saxton (1998), for instance. Investing in communications designed to improve corporate reputation is a worthy attempt because research has shown that improved reputation positively affects not only financial performance but also customer and employee loyalty. Empirical research on reputation management strategies of leading US (United States) and UK (United Kingdom) companies has led Fombrun and Rindova (1998) to conclude that organizations that deliberately manage their reputations enjoy significantly enhanced relationships with their constituencies. The dependent variables are observed or measured for variation as a presumed result of the variation in the independent variables, and it is the individual´s propensity use banks. Research Questions The model aims to justify and support the understanding of the relationships between the communication efforts featured through ‗Awareness, Reputation and Corporate Citizenship‘ on one hand, and link it to the individual‘s propensity to be banked for multinational banks in a developing country on the other hand. Major Research Question The research aims to understand the relations and identifies if corporate communications featured through awareness, reputation and corporate citizenship can have an influence on the individual´s propensity use banks, in a developing country. This research aims to identify reasons behind low levels of banked population in Egypt. Minor Research Questions RQ1: Is there a positive relation between banking communication efforts ‗banking awareness‘ and individuals‘ propensity to use banks? RQ2: Is there a positive relation between reputation and individuals‘ propensity use banks? RQ3: Is there a positive relation between corporate citizenship and individuals propensity use banks for multinational banks operating in the Egyptian unsophisticated community? RQ4: Is there a positive relation between awareness and reputation? RQ5: Is there a positive relation between corporate citizenship and reputation? Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 264 The Effect of Reputation, Awareness and Corporate Citizenship on Banking Propensity Research Methodology In accordance with the purpose of the research and the choice of approach, a qualitative research approach was chosen. Using qualitative research makes it possible to dig deeper into the respondents‘ thoughts and experiences regarding the different perspectives, and to get an even deeper understanding of underlying thoughts, reasoning and behavior. Blaxter, Hughes, and Tight (1997) claim that the most advantageous reason for doing a qualitative research is to understand how people really assess and perceive topics (Blaxter, Hughes and Tight 1997). Holme and Solvang (1997) explain that using a qualitative approach to a study is the best approach in the case that the researcher wants to view the problem in a variety of ways in order to get a deeper understanding, and to identify causal connections (Holme und Solvang 1997). Further, it is claimed that a qualitative approach gives a more comprehensive picture as it generates more profound information by having a qualitative research approach with open discussions where the respondent is able (and expected) to freely discuss and reflect personal experiences. This research is tackling corporate communication activities as an academic vital performance and linking it to banking propensity, with no previous models or work in that area. Therefore qualitative research is selected and shall be followed, keen not to design a complex experiment with too many variables when the knowledge of the subject matter is not wellunderstood, as there are no previous models linking banking propensity with communication; also the model shall be revisited based on the three stages of work covering variant samples and multiple qualitative techniques giving opportunity to get deeper understanding and identify casual connections. General Findings Non-banked Individuals The non-banked population was questioned to determine their reasons for not dealing with banks. Respondents were asked to specify their reasons for not dealing with banks. The following causes were identified ranked in descending order from most important to least important. 1. Prohibited, Low Trust and Incompatibility with Shariaa: a. Bank dealings are prohibited, and do not conform to the rules of Islam b. Low bank credibility and lack of trust c. No guarantee that banks invest money in legitimate opportunities (may be against Shariaa) d. Do not feel comfortable dealing with banks e. Do not trust banks for confidentiality reasons f. Do not know where money goes, they might lose it in the stock exchange g. Global crisis might reach Egyptian banks h. Negative word of mouth 2. Expensive a. Fees and commissions for opening bank accounts are high, interest rates are low b. Individuals‘ investment yields higher returns than the bank offers Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 265 The Effect of Reputation, Awareness and Corporate Citizenship on Banking Propensity 3. No need a. No specific reason b. No extra money for saving c. Personal investment d. Invest in gold e. Financial interactions are with Egypt Post f. No need to deal with banks 4. Lack of Awareness a. Lack of knowledge about the benefits of dealing with banks b. Lack of transparency in banks‘ dealings c. Gamaea is better (known protocol in Egypt, were group of people agree to pay fixed monthly installment and take turns receiving the total collected) d. Haven‘t thought about the issue 5. Perception of bad service a. Due to the lengthy time it takes to visit the bank to make deposits and withdrawals b. Prefer financial liquidity (e.g. to keep money on hand) c. The need for cash due to the minimal availability of POS (Point of Sale) and ATMs (Automated Teller Machines) d. Negative experience(s) dealing with banks e. No nearby branch When investigating the reasons that might affect the non-banked populations‘ decision to deal with banks, as the respondents were asked about what types of activities can influence on the decision to be a bank client, the following factors were identified ranked in descending order from most important to least important: 1- Good image and reputation with frequent advertising a- Integrity in dealings b- Bank‘s credibility c- Good reputation d- Bank has frequent advertisements on radio and television 2- Islamic and safe banks a- Islamic bank (follow Shariaa) b- Safety 3- Corporate citizenship a- The bank acts as good corporate citizen 4. High returns with products and services that meet their needs a- Good word of mouth with no complaints b- Decency in dealing with customers c- Gives high interest d- Branches everywhere e- Money in banks is not taxed f- Products that cater to client‘s needs Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 266 The Effect of Reputation, Awareness and Corporate Citizenship on Banking Propensity ghij- Availability of extra money for saving Availability of ATMs (Automated Teller Machine) Speed of service To have bank facilities, mainly in loans Some of the respondents agreed that there is nothing to be done. Banked Individuals When investigating the importance of banks for banked individuals, through asking them to specify the importance of being a banked client, the following factors were identified ranked in descending order from most important to least important: 1- Safety 2- Increase money through interest 3- Offers banking facilities a- Facilitates transfer without bulk cash b- Convenience and ease of transactions (can get my money from any ATM) 4. Adheres to the rules of Islam and follows Shariaa When investigating about customer‘s reasons for developing relationships with banks (reasons to grow the relationships), the following factors were identified ranked in descending order from most important to least important: 1- Good reputation and integrity 2- Good service and products and high return a- Good customer service b- Speed of service c- Availability of more channels (branches and ATMs) d- Higher returns e- Offering good products that cater to clients‘ needs 3. Islamic banking and corporate citizenship a- Islamic options that follow Shariaa b- Good corporate citizenship of the bank Some of the respondents reported that they have no idea. A total of 97% of the banked population and 95% of the non-banked population believed consumer-oriented products are a pivotal tool needed by banks before engaging in marketing activities. They noted that without such products they would never engage in any relationship with the bank. Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 267 The Effect of Reputation, Awareness and Corporate Citizenship on Banking Propensity Analyzing the Variables To formulate a theory, the researcher used a systematic coding approach. Merriam (1998) defines coding as assigning some sort of shorthand designation to various aspects of the researcher‘s data, to help easily retrieve pieces of the data. The researcher‘s strategy follows the lead of Merriam (1998); the researcher begins with a particular occurrence from an interview and compares it with another occurrence. These comparisons lead to tentative categories that are then compared to each other and to other occurrences. Comparisons are constantly made within and between levels of conceptualization until a theory can be formulated (p.159). Open coding involves the analytic process through which concepts are identified and their properties and dimensions are discovered in the data, Strauss & Corbin (1998). Awareness A total of 99% of the banked population and 95% of the non-banked population responded that awareness about a bank would influence their decision to be a client. Nearly all agreed that awareness can influence their decision to great extent: 1- Awareness drives trust and credibility a- More publicity fosters clients‘ trust b- Good word of mouth proves credibility 2- Awareness is impactful only for Islamic banks 3- Awareness is impactful only if it promotes good products and services 4- It drives interest in banks‘ products thus impacts profitability Some of the respondents reported that there is no influence. When asked about specific awareness activities that could influence decisions in selecting a bank, the following factors were identified. In addition, it was mentioned that the frequency of exposure to messages improves a banks‘ influence and helps to drive greater awareness. 1- Awareness through different types of media a- Publicity and advertising in newspapers, magazines and various media b- Word of mouth a- Sponsorship activities b- Press releases 2- Corporate citizenship a- Establishing projects for society welfare b- Charitable activities - Activities to help everybody; to reduce unemployment through the projects undertaken by the bank c- Charitable projects - social enterprises d- Charitable activities - to help young people; to participate in low-income projects e- Charitable activities for poor people; helping cancer hospitals f- Charitable activities; economic activities 3- To publicize good products and services a- To publicize good products with fair prices b- To publicize banks‘ facilities that serve clients better c- To publicize better interest rates Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 268 The Effect of Reputation, Awareness and Corporate Citizenship on Banking Propensity Some of the respondents reported that they have no idea. A total of 99% of the non-banked and banked population noted that a bank‘s good reputation is an influential element in their decision to be a bank client. They outlined the components of reputation influence as follows: 1- Good reputation is a must to deal with banks a- No one will be a client of a bank with bad reputation b- It plays the leading role in creating the motivation in partnering with banks c- Reputation effects market knowledge and triggers the need for banking products 2- Good reputation builds on banks‘ credibility and trust a. Reputation gives reassurance on savings b. Reputation reinforces banks credibility c. Reputation builds trust in banks‘ dealings and products d. Reputation impacts desire to deal with banks e. Reputation impacts word of mouth 3- Good reputation influences the public perceptions about corporate citizenship a. Reputation engages the public with the bank as good corporate citizen b. Good reputation impacts the public when banks support major projects vital for economic growth 4- Good reputation influences loyalty and profitability a. Reputation effects a customers‘ lifetime relationships, and is a means for persuading others b. Customers are willing to pay a premium for banks with a good reputation Some of the respondents reported that it has no effect. When asked about the specific activities related to good corporate reputation that can influence non-banked decisions in selecting a bank, the following factors were identified ranked in descending order from the most important to least important. In addition, it was mentioned that the frequency of exposure to messages improves a banks‘ influence and helps to drive greater awareness. 1- Awareness through different types of media a- Publicity and advertising in newspapers, magazines and various media b- Word of mouth c- Sponsorship activities d- Press releases 2- Corporate Citizenship a- Establishing projects for society welfare b- Charitable activities - activities to help everybody; to reduce unemployment through the projects undertaken by the bank c- Charitable projects - social enterprises d- Charitable activities - to help young people; to participate in low-income projects e- Charitable activities for poor people; helping cancer hospitals Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 269 The Effect of Reputation, Awareness and Corporate Citizenship on Banking Propensity f- Charitable activities; economic activities 3- To publicize for good products and services a- To publicize good products with fair prices b- To publicize banks‘ facilities that serve clients better c- To publicize better interest rates Some of the respondents reported that they had no idea. The respondents mostly agreed that corporate citizenship defined as ―perceptions of the company as a good citizen in its dealings with communities, employees, and the environment‖ positively influences clients‘ opinions regarding banks‘ reputation. This can be evidenced by the perception of the institution as a vital contributor to the economy and welfare of society that builds on its credibility, trust, and support for long-term relationships with customers. Respondents also agreed that awareness, defined as ―the state of knowing about the bank and its products, various types of information from different sources can provide a sense of awareness. Brand awareness is represented as brand recognition or recall‖ – positively influencing the perception of a good reputation. If clients are not aware of a bank‘s products or services, they will not feel the urge to buy any of its products, and they will prefer to deal with known brands instead. Also, they might be influenced by awareness at any stage which could lead them to change the bank they are dealing with. Corporate Citizenship A total of 30% of banked population and 25% of non- banked population responded that banks that support good causes influence their decision to be a bank client. 1- Builds trust and credibility 2- Preference in selection 3- Proves customer care Some of the respondents reported that there is no effect: a- No value to CSR, it depends on the products and services b- No value, it depends on the interest value Corporate citizenship activities that can influence clients‘ decisions in selecting a bank were listed as follows; 1- CSR activities focused on community development (poverty- unemploymentdiseases) a- Projects that support the economy b- Donations and contributions to vital service providers (hospitals- orphanages) c- Support the youth 2- Treating staff fairly Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 270 The Effect of Reputation, Awareness and Corporate Citizenship on Banking Propensity 3- Good customer care with high return to clients 4. Publicity Some of the respondents reported that there are no specific activities. The respondents mostly agreed that corporate social responsibility defined as ―perceptions of the company as a good citizen in its dealings with communities, employees, and the environment‖ – positively influence clients‘ opinions regarding the bank‘s reputation to a great extent, and that can be realized by the perception gained by the institution as a vital contributor to the economy and overall welfare of society, which builds on its credibility, trust, support for longterm relationships. All the respondents were asked to specify if having consumer oriented products is a pivotal tool needed by banks before engaging in marketing activities. And they all agreed on its importance, validating that the product development and innovation are pivotal in reaching customer satisfaction and surpassing expectation. And that organizations could not engage in branding and advertising activities without creating the starting point of promoting the required essential products needed by the targeted audience. They expressed that banks should personalize their portfolio to cater to their needs as they had different needs for credit cards, loans, corporate facilities and small and medium partnership. Conclusion In order to guarantee a level of acceptance for organizations operating in potential markets, communication efforts should be realized to help convince the local market with their service offerings. Building this acceptance needs planned communication efforts. Accordingly, communication areas are suggested within this paper that, if followed, would guarantee local market acceptance which could confirm banking‘s sustainability under environmental recognition. Communication leads to the following expected results: Increase Egyptian percentage of banked population Foster increased efficiencies in the economy Increase market share for banks and develop healthy competition Enhance public interest to contribute to economy development through sharing in S&M (small and medium) enterprises partnering with banks Positive effect on country‘s GDP (Gross Domestic Product) Communication that makes a firm transparent enables shareholders to appreciate the firm‘s operations better, and thus facilitate ascribing it a better reputation (Burke 1998). As one of the primary roles of corporate communication is to ‗sustain, foster and develop an organization‘s reputation‘, it can be argued that enhanced reputation creates an advantage by reducing a firm‘s transaction costs (Forman and Argenti 2005). 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Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 273 Enduring Image Toward a Conceptualization Capturing Defining Moments in Crises – and How These Impact Organizations Benjamin Meng-Keng Ho, Grace Xiao-Pei Au Yong Nanyang Technological University, Singapore [email protected] & [email protected] Jacqueline Dong Ithaca College, USA [email protected] Liang-Tong Lau & Augustine Pang, PhD Nanyang Technological University, Singapore [email protected] & [email protected] In today‘s media environment, crises are magnified as media events and are rich sites for the inception of images. Particular images, like a gaffe or a photograph, can linger as representations of that crisis. This study seeks to examines the concept of an enduring image, that is the shared image of first mention, how it is engendered and how it impacts organizations through case studies of 5 crises: The Jack Neo Sex Scandal (2010); the AWARE Leadership Saga (2009); and the Singapore Airlines SQ006 crash (2000) in Singapore; the BP Oil Spill (2010) in the US; and the Sichuan Earthquake (2008) in China. The study is arguably the first study to examine the significance and potency of an enduring image in crisis. This paper can offer insights to practitioners on how to better manage both their organization‘s public image and media image after a crisis. Introduction Image and reputation have been subjects of intensive study in existing organizational and crisis literature. Previous literature has dichotomized the image discourse by differentiating between taking the organizational and public perspective. From the organizational perspective, image can be either constructed (Dutton & Dukerich, 1991), projected (Alvesson, 1990; Bernstein, 1984), or desired (Gioia & Chittipeddi, 1991; Gioia & Thomas, 1996). From the public‘s perspective, the understanding of image is subjective and mitigated by an individual‘s personal perception of the situation. It includes notions that can be classified under a continuum ranging from organizational identity and reputation — collective long-term judgments (Fombrun, 1996; Olins, 1989), to images — subjective, short-term transient impressions (Berg, 1985; Grunig, 1993). Many scholars have also discussed the interrelations between the dichotomous perspectives of how an organization/individual‘s identity or reputation, and the images from the media and public impressions of it, can together influence the overall perception of the organization/individual (Carroll & McCombs, 2003; Cooley, 1902; Deephouse, 2000; Dutton & Dukerich, 1991; Elsbach & Kramer, 1996; Gioia & Thomas, 1996). There are, however, some images that cannot be fully classified on either sides of the reputation-impression continuum. In crises, an image can be engendered, that exhibits not only the particularistic, subjective nature of transient images, but also a sense of permanence that is atypical to how transient images are classified. Conference on Corproate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 274 Enduring Image Therefore, our paper aims to contribute to existing image literature by introducing the concept of what Pang (2011) calls, ―an enduring image,‖ and examining its significance and potency in a crisis. Particular images from crises, like a gaffe or a photograph, can linger in the minds of the public, and be revisited by the media as prime representations of that crisis. These so termed, ―enduring images‖ are the shared image of first mention among the publics and the media, that can subsequently serve as memory cues for crisis recall. This paper seeks to explore the concept of an enduring image, what characterizes its engendering, and how it impacts the organization. A theoretical distinction between organizational image and reputation would be first established, and thereafter the notion of ―enduring image‖ would be situated alongside these concepts. The recall value (Charles, Mather & Cartensen, 2003), or how lasting a particular image is in the public eye, will also be examined to establish what characterizes this set of images. These themes form the theoretical underpinnings for the paper and yield credibility to the research direction. A total of five crisis cases and their respective enduring image are systematically examined to attain a deeper understanding of significant events that exacerbated the crisis, qualities that propelled certain events towards a defining moment, and how that led to the engenderment of an enduring image. Observations from these case studies would therefore serve as justification for the paper‘s exploratory theorization for the concept of ―enduring images.‖ The paper would also make recommendations for how organizations should respond to an enduring image. The concept of enduring image is relevant to image management literature as it implicates the way the public think about an organization and its members (Gioia, Schultz & Corley, 2000). Properly defined, it would lead to a more rigorous, precise and meaningful classification of images engendered from a crisis. A better understanding of the significance and power of these images would facilitate crisis and image management efforts and form an essential element for accessing an organization‘s image and reputation in the eyes of the public and also the media after a crisis. Literature Review Organizational image (reputation) Organizational image has been resituated from dominantly an the organizational function, i.e. as a desired image the organization and its members believe others view of the organization (Dutton & Dukerich, 1991), to a public function, which places emphasis on the public‘s perception. Benoit (1997) defined organizational image as: The perception of a person (or group, or organization) held by the audience, shaped by the words and actions of that person, as well as by the discourse and behavior of other relevant actors (p. 40). This posits organization image as a subjective interpretation of key experiences that the public has with the organization. An implication of that is that different members of the public will hold different images of a given organization (Moffitt, 1994). Berg (1985) placed focus on public impressions, which are beyond the organization‘s control. This is because while sources of image distortion can be managed, the public rarely has a complete understanding of the facts behind organization‘s actions. Furthermore, ―what they do know is filtered or interpreted by their personal attitudes and experiences‖ (Benoit & Pang, 2008, p. 245). Fombrun (1996) highlighted Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 275 Enduring Image the collective nature of these judgments held by outsiders of an organization‘s actions and achievement, using the term reputation in place of organization image. Arguably though, it is important to identify the most important audiences from the heavily inclusive scope of ―outsiders‖ and prioritize research on these key publics in a crisis situation. Reputation is formed through beliefs outsiders hold about an organization (Wartick, 2002) based on past behavior of the organization and what people say about the organization. Coombs (2000) brought in the concept of relational history (p. 73), which is built by ―consistent delivery,‖ or the lack of, ―valued outcomes to multiple stakeholders‖ (Fombrun & Van Riel, 1997, p. 10). This paper borrows from the theoretical framework of Fombrun‘s (1996) definition of reputation. He distinguishes reputation from image based on reputation having a more lasting, cumulative, and global assessment rendered over a longer time period. The implication is that reputations are built over time and not based on singular events, experiences or images. Fombrun (1996) used the concept of reputation capital to bring in the cumulative nature of reputation. It is the accumulation of different perceptual experiences (i.e. images of the organization) of the audience with regards to the organization‘s words and deeds. Ultimately, reputations are crystallized statues of an organization within an industrial social system (Shrum & Wuthnow, 1988), which considers a greater summation of factors as compared to transient perceptions and ephemeral events of images. Arguably, reputation can also be formed from within the organization by internal structures and statements that define what the company stands for. Mission statements or visions are examples of internal statements of this nature. However this paper argues that though these inside-out factors affect beliefs people hold about the organization, and reputation is still dominantly a function of the public‘s interpretations and judgments of the organization‘s behavior rather than statements of assertion from the organization to its public. The paper, therefore takes a stakeholder-centric perspective to understanding organization reputation. Importance of reputation to an organization Organizational reputation is an extremely valuable intangible organization resource. According to Frombrun (1996), reputation is valuable because it creates a mental bond and ―informs us about what products to buy, what company to work for or what stocks to invest in‖ (p. 4). To its stakeholders, an organization‘s reputation imparts confidence in the organization. Lyon and Cameron (1999) found that reputation is ―so powerful that individuals may make unfounded attributions about other aspects of an organization based on reputation‖ (p. 176). A favorable reputation is of ―considerable strategic value because it calls attention to a company‘s attractive features and widens the options available to its managers,‖ and guides ―investment decisions, career decisions, and product choices‖ (Fombrun, 1996, p. 5). Having a favorable reputation can therefore ―generate excess returns for firms by inhibiting the mobility of rivals in an industry‖ (Caves & Porter, 1977, p. 258). Therefore, in understanding the importance of reputation to an organization a corresponding emphasis must be placed on crisis management as a means of protecting reputational assets (Coombs & Holladay, 2002). Images of an organization in crises According to Coombs (2007), crises are perceptual, ―the perception of stakeholders that help to define an event as a crisis‖ (p. 3). Benoit & Pang (2008) argue that though some images may not be factual, reality by itself is unlikely to repair an ungrounded image. Crises are therefore seen as media events, when sustained negative coverage leads to pubic outbursts and are rich sites Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 276 Enduring Image for the creation of images. Images of an organization are ―all verbal, graphic, and symbolic representations of an organization‖ and its words and actions typically associated with ―specific contexts, events, issues, and audiences‖ (Gioia et al, 2000, p. 66). An image can exist both in the positive and negative dimensions, and a negative image can corrupt organizational reputation in the eyes of its stakeholders. According to Gioia et al. (2000), ―image is a wide-ranging concept connoting perceptions that are both internal and external to the organization as well as perceptions that are both projected and received‖ (p. 66). Grunig (1993) further explicates these perspectives by making a distinction between images that are ―created, constructed and projected … by the organization,‖ and images ―wherein receivers construct meaning, as some sort of composite in the minds of the public‖ (p. 126). Similarly, Wan and Schell (2007) found that there are two levels to images. On the first level, images are symbolic representations of the personality or character that the organization constructs for the public (p. 27). On the second level is the subjective knowledge structure where an individual‘s personal understandings mitigate this perception (Boulding, 1973). The paper‘s discussion on enduring image is primarily based on the latter. Importance of images to reputation Coombs (1995) argues that the ―primary objectives of crisis management is to maintain an organization‘s image‖ (p. 448). In Pearson and Clair‘s (1998) study on crisis outcome, crisis outcome was found to have a positive correlation with organization reputation. The satellite image of the oil booms surrounding marshland in the Gulf of Mexico in the BP oil spill crisis is an example of negative images that signify crisis outcomes. Such images affect beliefs held by the public of the organization and thus have a bearing on organizational reputation. According to Coombs (2004), ―reputation is developed through direct and indirect experience with an organization. People rely on and use smaller bits of information that are salient when asked to make reputation judgments‖ (p. 277). Therefore images from the above example, coupled with supplementary information could have a profound effect on the reputation of the company. This study focuses on images that are external to the organization, more specifically ―transient impressions‖ (Gioia et al., 2000, p. 66). By definition transient impressions are ―shortterm impressions constructed by a receiver either through direct observation or interpretation of symbols provided by an organization‖. However, Gioia et al‘s study lacked further differentiation of external images. Arguably some images are more significant than the rest, and certain images are not as ‗transient‘ as the term suggests. In this paper, the authors aim to identify such enduring images engendered during a crisis and investigate how it affects public perception. Enduring images of crises An enduring image (Pang, 2011) is a new concept that requires further elaboration. In any crisis, there will be many key events. These are termed as crisis moments. However, there will be certain moments that are most significant in the turn of events that define the crisis. These ―defining moments‖ arguably share several common characteristics, which the paper will elaborate on in subsequent sections. From these defining moments, an image is further distilled, which collectively endures in the minds of the public. More specifically, enduring images are ―shared image of first mention‖ (Pang, 2011), or the first image that comes to mind when stakeholders recall a certain crisis. The term enduring implies that the salience of the image remains the same over time, and that it has some form of permanency. It differentiates itself from the comprehensive nature of Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 277 Enduring Image reputation, and rather conveys the idea of a snapshot (Center & Jackson, 1995). However it shares the same sense of permanence in reputation, as contrasted to the fleeting nature of ―transient impressions.‖ (Gioia et al., 2000, p. 66) These enduring images thus become prime representations in the public‘s perception of the organization‘s response in a given crises. The importance of public perception and its corresponding effect on reputation has been well established in previous literature; therefore, the understanding of the formation of an enduring image during crises in public perception would contribute greatly to existing crisis management literature. Consequently the understanding of what engenders these enduring images and its effects on public perception would facilitate better response from the organization in managing their reputation with the public. Research Questions RQ1: What characterizes defining moments, which constitutes enduring images? What is an enduring image? RQ2: How does the enduring image linger on after the crisis? RQ 3: How should organizations respond to enduring images? Method The authors propose to examine the events that lead to a crisis‘s defining moment, and how the enduring image impacts the company‘s reputation through the analysis of case studies. The case study approach ―involves an in-depth, intensive and sharply focused exploration‖ of the case —―a situation, an incident or an experience‖ (Willig, 2001, p. 70). The case study approach is appropriate as it is ―important for the development of a nuanced view of reality‖ and because ―human behavior cannot be meaningfully understood as simply the rule-governed acts‖ (Flyvbjerg, 2006, p. 223). It also ―provides a method to study rare phenomena‖ (Jackson, 2003, p. 55). As the paper seeks to study a specific phenomenon of interest, namely, that of crises that constitute enduring images, the authors adopt the instrumental case study research design. To study the phenomenon, multiple cases with enduring images are reviewed to bring about better understanding of the subject for the development of probable hypotheses. This study falls under the descriptive case study category as it aims to provide an insight on the topic of enduring images. Case Studies Jack Neo sex scandal, 2010 - Local movie director Jack Neo‘s extramarital affair made front pages of three local Chinese newspapers on March 6 2010 after model Wendy Chong approached Chinese tabloid paper, Lianhe Wanbao with evidence of their affair. The article about the affair subsequently became the top news item on The Straits Time Internet webpage (―What‘s online most read and most commented on,‖ 2010). Neo admitted to the affair and more women appeared through the media with claims of having relationships with Neo (―More women linked to Neo,‖ 2010), Despite intense media scrutiny, Neo stonewalled the media. Five days later, a short press conference was held that culminated into the defining moment (Han, 2010). AWARE leadership saga, 2009 - On March 28 2009, a change of leadership of the ―Association of Women for Action and Research‖ (AWARE) got embroiled in further Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 278 Enduring Image controversy when it was uncovered that some among the electioneers attended the same church, and that the church was arguably involved in the election process. The incident led to vivacious debate in the media over the proper limits for religious activity in the public sphere (Wong, 2009a). The crisis attracted intense five-week news coverage on both traditional and online media platforms. The crisis eventually reached its climax in a subsequent extraordinary general meeting in which the AWARE members voted the new leadership out of office. Singapore airlines SQ006 crash, 2000 - On October 31, 2000, Singapore Airlines (SIA) flight SQ006 crashed in Taiwan en route to Los Angeles, killing 83 out of its 179 passengers because it attempted to take off from the wrong runway (Goh & Ng, 2000; Goh, 2000). The next day, SIA released the names and nationalities of victims to the media, despite the fact that 30% of the relatives have yet to be notified (―Deaths climb to 81, distraught relatives disrupt conferences,‖ 2000). On November 2, 2000, an angry relative interrupted SIA press conference in Singapore, demanding answers from the airline (―Hand of comfort,‖ 2000). BP oil spill crisis, 2010 - On April 20, 2010 the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig exploded while working on a well in the Gulf of Mexico. The accident resulted in the deaths of eleven workers, and an oil spill that soon became labeled as, ―the worst environmental disaster in United States history‖ (―BP Plc.‖ 2010). In June 2010, the United States Justice Department began investigations into criminal and civil charges related to the spill. The well gushed for three months before being capped and then permanently sealed in September 2010. Sichuan earthquake 2008 - An earthquake measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale hit Sichuan province in China on May 12, 2008. Within two hours of the earthquake, Premier Wen Jiabao flew to the epicenter of the quake (Wang & Yu, 2008). For the next two days, he visited many of the worst-hit cities and towns, spending time encouraging the survivors and volunteers. This initial survey was extensively covered by traditional and online media in China. Data Collection The five crisis case studies were selected based on the criteria that an enduring image of the crisis existed. Following case study selection, two sets of data were collected: Data set 1: to identify characteristics of the defining moment (See RQ 1) To ensure objectivity and reduce media outlet biases, two mainstream media outlets were chosen as primary news sources for the examination. News reports regarding the crisis were gathered by entering key search terms in the Factiva database and in online news publication archives. News articles of the crisis were compiled for data analysis; articles and key quotations were noted, saved in separate case files, and organized in chronological order by date published. Whenever possible the authors reviewed video archives of the enduring moment to acquire a holistic understanding of the event. Data set 2: to gauge media recall of the enduring image (See RQ 2) Traditional and online media outlets were chosen as primary news sources for the examination of each case study. News reports regarding the crisis were gathered in the same way as mentioned in data set 1. The searches were limited to news articles published within specific Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 279 Enduring Image time frames; at least a month from the date of the defining moment of the crisis, with references to its respective enduring image. Articles were compiled for data analysis and key quotations were noted, saved in separate case files, and organized in chronological order by date published. For supplementary data, the authors extracted information from informal media sources such as online blogs and forums (eg. OMY.sg, The Online Citizen, CNN news blog). Data Analysis Data set 1 was used to identify characteristics of the defining moment. The authors analyzed news articles and quotations from the case studies, noted the key events leading up to the defining moment of the crisis, and assembled the key events in chronological order. The key events that led to the defining moment were described in detail, and a timeline of events was constructed to better understand at which stage the enduring image first appeared in the crisis. Data set 2 was used to measure media recall of the enduring image. A longitudinal study was designed, and a second set of data was collected. By examining media reports and news articles published in traditional and online news sources after the engenderment of the enduring image, the authors aimed to gauge media references and understand the extent of recall value of the enduring image of the crisis. Informal media reports such as online public commentaries and discussions were also analysed to better understand the public recall value and would be referenced to as supplementary data. Findings and Discussion The paper seeks to gain a more holistic viewing of the case studies. The immediate events that led to the defining moments and what occurred during the defining moment would be described in the following paragraphs. The paper first reviews the preceding events, which contextualizes the defining moment of these case studies before describing what happened in the defining moment. The enduring images would also be identified and situated among the description of its respective case studies. RQ1 examines what characterizes defining moments which constitutes an enduring image. Case study 1: Jack Neo sex scandal, 2010 - On 6 March 2010, scandal-tainted director Jack Neo held a press conference after admitting to his affair with a 22-year-old model Wendy Chong, his visibly distraught wife was also present to make a statement. Enduring Image (gaffe): ―走开!‖ (translated: ―Go Away!‖) Neo‘s wife collapsed when the couple left the conference. Journalists and photographers immediately surrounded them. Amidst the chaos, Neo shouted ―Go Away!‖ and Ah Nan, a celebrity-friend of Neo, in an attempt to disperse the frantic media crowd, shouted the gaffe ―Go Away!‖ repeatedly (Han, 2010, para. 16 – 17). Following the press conference, the gaffe ―Go Away!‖ was found across in news articles from both media analyzed (The Straits Times and Channel NewsAsia). The video clip of the press conference, with 110, 285 views at time of writing, became viral through many blogs and Internet forums, attracting ridicule from the general public making the entire press conference seem like a farce. (Omgsingapore, 2010) Case study 2: AWARE leadership saga, 2009 - On May 2, 2009, close to 3,000 members were present at AWARE‘s Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM), mostly polarized according to their allegiance to either the old or new leadership. The EGM was held to decide if the new Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 280 Enduring Image leadership can retain leadership of the organization. The new leadership lacked experience managing an EGM of this scale, resulting in a state of confusion and disorganization (―How to lose an EGM vote,‖ 2009). Emotions were highly charged and proceedings were frequently interrupted by the audience (Au, 2009). Enduring image (gaffe): ―Shut up and sit down!‖ The ex-Honorary Treasurer Sally Ang‘s, visibly irritated by the heckling and disruptions of Ms. Lau‘s address at the EGM, sharply rebuked the audience shouting ―Shut up and sit down‖ through her mike. Her rebuke riled the crowd into howls of protest, most of them visibly angered by the outburst (Wong, 2009b). The moments scarred the saga and subsequently became an enduring image of the crisis. A Factiva search of the gaffe turned up 13 articles from various local news publications that made direct references to the image. The Youtube video hit over 25,000 views at the time of writing. T-shirts, sold online, bearing the gaffe became the best selling design among other designs made to ridicule the saga (Lim, 2009; Tay, 2009). Case Study 3: SIA Flight SQ006 crash, 2000 - A press conference, broadcasted live, was held in Singapore by the SIA to address the media. Tan Yin Leong, the brother of one victim, interrupted the press conference accusing the airline of not providing news to the families of the victims (―Despair. Sorrow. Hysteria‖, 2000). Enduring Image: Hug between Rick Clements and Tan Yin Leong Rick Clements intervened when security staff attempted to remove Tan from the press conference. He allowed Tan to stay while television news media broadcasted Tan‘s rant. Clements listened, before walking over to Tan and hugging him, (―Despair. Sorrow. Hysteria‖, 2000). This image was mentioned in at least 78 articles from local and international press the next day. While some reports were negative, most reports acknowledged that it was an act of compassion (―SIA‘s handling of crisis praised‖, 2000). Singapore Airlines benefitted from Clements‘ action, and still enjoys a reputation for excellent customer service today. Clements‘ action has also been cited as a positive example of how an organization should show compassion (Chee, 2010). Case Study 4: BP Oil Spill Crisis, 2010 - In the months following the accident, BP struggled to contain the spill and protect its image and reputation. Most criticism was targeted at the man at the helm: BP‘s British chief executive, Tony Hayward. Prior to Hayward‘s leadership, BP suffered from an already-tarnished reputation from two consecutive accidents (a fatal refinery explosion in Texas in 2005, and a pipeline leak in Alaska in 2006), as well as a highly publicized personal scandal surrounding former CEO, Lord John Browne. Hayward‘s promises for sustainability safety were ultimately overshadowed by the April 2010 oil spill crisis and a succession of public relations gaffes that led up to one defining moment. Enduring image (gaffe): ―I‘d like my life back‖ During an informal television interview in which Hayward apologized for the disaster he candidly added, ―There‘s no one who wants this thing over more than I do…I‘d like my life back.‖ The last statement, ―I‘d like my life back,‖ appeared repeatedly in media headlines, and was cited by the press, the public, and even the United States government when referring to the crisis from that point forward, thus becoming the enduring image for the crisis. The interview was broadcasted on national news networks and syndicated online. On YouTube, the search words "BP I want my life back," generate about 364 results, including the interview in which the original statement was made. The interview has 147,955 views at the time of writing. Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 281 Enduring Image Case study 5: Sichuan earthquake, 2008 - Within an hour of the earthquake, there were reports that more than of 8,500 people had died in Sichuan Province alone (―Up to 8,500 die in killer earthquake‖, 2008). The response from the China government was prompt. President Hu Jintao immediately pledged RMB$3.41 billion to aid with the rescue work (―Hu encourages victims to overcome difficulties‖, 2008). Enduring Image: Premier Wen Jiabao calling himself ‗Grandpa Wen‘ Within two hours of the earthquake, Premier Wen Jiabao flew to the epicenter of the quake to visit, and access the quake situation from the ground (Wang & Yu, 2008). At a collapsed school, he encouraged the trapped children by shouting: ―I am Grandpa Wen Jiabao. You will certainly pull through and be rescued" (―Premier moves Chinese amid quake effort‖, 2008, para. 9). The response on the Internet showed that Chinese were touched by Premier Wen‘s acts of kindness. A total of 79 videos were found on tudou.com (a Chinese video sharing site) with the Chinese search terms ‖Sichuan Earthquake Grandpa Wen.‖ From these cases, it is evident that there are several characteristics that lead to the formation of an enduring image. These characteristics are further categorized into three groups. Individual Meaningfulness: These characteristics are results of individual perception. 1) Spontaneity: This refers to the perceived context of delivery. The unrehearsed nature granted it authenticity in the eyes of the audience. In the BP case study, both the context (on site as opposed to a staged) and the delivery of his response (informal and candid, as opposed to rehearsed), made it seem authentic. Likewise, in the Jack Neo case study, the defining moment happened in what seemed like an instinctive outburst at the situation. Hence these actions are seen as a slice of true nature as opposed to crafted response that is perceived to have that additional layer of deliberation and control. 2) Unscripted: This refers to the organic nature of the message and/or image. The tone of voice and structure of speech can contribute to the unscripted perception. In the BP case study, Hayward‘s conversational tone and mid-sentence pauses suggests that the speech is natural and unrefined. In the Aware case study, Sally Ang‘s callous outburst seemed like a slip of tongue on her part. Due to the perceived authenticity of the outburst, it overshadowed other mitigating factors, such as apologies thereafter, becoming the definitive moment. 3) Provocative: An image becomes more memorable when it provokes a response from its public. In the Aware case study, the gaffe ―Shut up and sit down‖ borders blasphemous to members of an organization whose cause is for women‘s rights. Furthermore, it insinuates condescension between the new leadership and its stakeholders. Likewise in the Jack Neo case study, Neo‘s aggressive tone when he shouted at the media provoked reproach from the public as he was still under immense scrutiny for his deeds. Provocation invites public response and discussion and thus contributes to it becoming definitive. 4) Relational: Most defining moments are found to appeal emotionally as opposed technically. Emotions are instinctively comprehensible to the public without requiring further explanations or contextual knowledge. In the SQ case study, the hug was a compassionate moment that spoke volumes for the organization, though a simple gesture. In the Aware case study, it was also revealed that $90,000 was spent on the EGM. Despite the severity of such wastage to a non-profit organization, it required an understanding of financial processess to be taken into perspective. Therefore, Ang‘s outburst became the defining moment instead. Social environment meaningfulness: These characteristics are a result of the social context. Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 282 Enduring Image 5) Surprising/Shocking: This refers to when an act is unexpected or contradicts public‘s expectations, that is when events run contrary to typical ―rules of engagement‖ that governs what is normative and/or proper in that situation. This could also be doing beyond what was expected. In the Sichuan earthquake case study, a premier‘s visit is not typically how the Chinese government handled rescue efforts. In the Aware case study, prior to the outburst, the new leadership had maintained professional conduct despite the heckling and disruption. The defining moment hence run contrary to the typical rules of conduct expected by the public. 6) Symbolism: For most defining moments and enduring images, the individual morphemes would seem unremarkable when taken out of context. Hence, the reason a defining moment resonates with the public is the significance of its symbolism. In the BP case study, the defining moment became a self-serving declaration when Hayward said, ―I‘d like my life back,‖ despite the organization‘s actions affecting so many other lives. It portrayed the organization as arrogant, insensitive and impudent, to a public hungry for someone liable. The gaffe thus became an easy representation of the organization‘s nature regardless of whether it was justified or not. Media environment meaningfulness: These characteristics are related to the media environment. 7) Has Brevity: The simplicity and brevity of these enduring images aid recall and reproduction efforts by the media or the public as it can be perpetuated easily through both traditional and new media to an extensive audience. In the Aware case study, within minutes of the gaffe, the ―twitter networks went crazy‖ and the gaffe spread instantaneously even before the press covered it (Tay, 2009). Likewise in the Sichuan Earthquake case study, ―Grandpa Wen‘s‖ compassion became known to the world through pictures of his visit to quake hit areas. Furthermore, having brevity facilitated subsequent recall efforts for the public. The paper seeks to provide a working definition for enduring images. As mentioned in the literature review, our contention is that an enduring image is a ―shared image of first mention‖ (Pang, 2011). These images would likely define the organization or the individual in the public‘s minds when the crisis and/or the organization is recalled. The enduring image has some form of permanency, due to its representativeness. It conveys the idea of a snapshot, but shares a similar sense of permanence in reputation, as contrasted to the fleeting nature of transient impressions. Therefore, taking into account its nature, significance and potency, it cannot be fully classified under existing image classification systems. Enduring images are prime representations in public‘s perception of the organization‘s response of a given crises. The various characteristics of the defining moment contribute to the enduring image‘s creation. Characteristics identified in RQ1 constituted meaning in these moments to the public in the individual, social and media environment. The resonance between the enduring image and the public hence aided recollection and retention of these images. In the paper, public recall value is measured by media reports with references to the exact enduring image, or to notions related to its respective defining moment, which are addressed in RQ2. The paper took into account the chronology of when an enduring image emerges from the defining moment. The paper found that an enduring image only crystallizes after the crisis arguably from the media and also the public agenda. Another way to look at it is that an image cannot be deemed as ―enduring‖ until it has stood the test of time. The authors also propose that when a negative image is presented, as with Jack Neo‘s display of rage in ―Go away,‖ Tony Hayward‘s selfish notion of, ―I want my life back‖ or AWARE‘s shockingly impolite, ―Shut up and sit down‖ – the impact would be more lasting in terms of retention and attention. A negative image has the ability to sustain media attention, Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 283 Enduring Image provoke public response, increasing its exposure, thus making it more memorable and marking it as a common reference point (Charles et al., 2003, p. 319), and therefore is significant to image repair, restoration and reinvention efforts. Enduring image can be pervaded across different media outlets and forms. In the Jack Neo case study, the enduring image retains visibility in the news even two months after the crisis. In addition, it was further propagated by netizens through a ringtone from the audio of the gaffe (Junkai1995, 2010). In the BP case, members of the public, posters of protestors, and media headlines began quoting the gaffe irreverently. In the Aware case study, the twitter networks first spread the gaffe to the public even before the news media reported on it. Therefore while crisis events are marked by their defining moments, in some cases, defining moments are branded by the enduring image. An enduring image thus becomes the public‘s prime representation of the crisis and of the organizational response in the crisis. RQ2 explores how an enduring image lingers on after the crisis. The paper drew a second set of longitudinal data to investigate the extent of media recall for the defining moment and enduring image after the crisis. Using the Factiva database, news articles citing the crisis were collected in a chronological manner, from one month after the crisis occurred, to November 2010 and analyzed respectively. Jack Neo - News articles citing the enduring image were collected from Singapore English News sources (The Straits Times, The New Paper, TODAY, Channel NewsAsia), and supplemental data from news website and forums. 61 articles were analyzed, of which 29 had analyzable data. Two weeks after the crisis, the gaffe still appeared in the lead of a ―New Paper‖ article, demonstrating its ubiquity (Kwok, 2010). Frequent references to the enduring image are indications of its high recall value. Other reports also referenced the enduring image indirectly through descriptions of the scene (Tan, 2010). The gaffe was also propagated as a mobile ring tone, available from websites such as YouTube. After the crisis, reporters found it hard to disassociate Neo from the defining moment represented by the gaffe ―Go Away‖ (Lin, 2010). AWARE - Of the 28 articles collected for the AWARE case study (The Straits Times; 17 articles and Channel NewsAsia; 11 articles), 12 made references to the defining moment the latest dating fifteen months post-crisis. From informal news sources (news portals, blogs and discussion forums), direct references of the enduring image were more frequently found, with the latest dating eighteen months post-crisis. The AWARE crisis topped the news story of 2009 and the gaffe was highlighted for being ―memorable‖ (―The year in review: The top news of 2009 in Singapore,‖ 2009, para. 11). Lee (2009), a blogger, named the gaffe, ―the defining moments of this whole episode‖ (para. 6) In discussion forums, netizens adopted the popularized gaffe in a manner of sarcasm mostly used to mock differing opinions (Temujin, 2010; Alpha Tango, 2010). An article on the AWARE website (AWARE, 2010) quoted the gaffe casually, indicative of how proverbial the gaffe has become. The gaffe was so iconic and recognizable that it ―crossed over into advertising campaigns for Sabaru cars and the Botak Jones‘ chain of food outlets‖ (Yong, 2009, para. 7). Singapore Airlines Flight SQ006 - A total of four articles were found with reference to the enduring image for the SQ006 crisis, generally regarded as a well-managed crisis. The enduring image was representative in these reports. The latest mention of ―the hug‖ was found ten years post-crisis, in a public relations paper which brought up the enduring image as a positive Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 284 Enduring Image example of a corporation showing compassion (Chee, 2010). In news reports of Clements‘ resignation from SIA, Clements‘ work was represented by the enduring image, further demonstrating the recall value of the enduring image after the crisis (―SIA public affairs chief Rick Clements resigns‖, 2004). BP Oil Spill Crisis - A total of 30 news articles were found with reference to the enduring image of the BP Oil Spill crisis from Associated Press, BBC News, and CNN news. Supplemental data was collected from the CNN news blog, Just in Time. In most article, the enduring image was prominently referenced in the heading (―Profile: BP's Tony Hayward‖, 2010, para. 15) or the lead (Weber, 2010). President Obama‘s chief of staff Rahm Emanuel also quoted the gaffe (―Profile: BP's Tony Hayward‖, 2010, para. 22). On CNN news blog, the gaffe was used as part of Hayward‘s introduction; ―In May, he told the ‗Today‘ show that ‗there's no one who wants this over more than I do. I would like my life back‖ (―BP CEO Tony Hayward [Video) I‘d like my life back‖, 2010). The high visibility of the enduring image post-crisis is an indication of how pervasive and highly memorable the gaffe has become among the public and media. Sichuan Earthquake - A total of 24 chinese local articles were found using the search terms ―温爷爷‖ (Grandpa Wen) and "四川大地震" (Sichuan Earthquake). Further analysis was impeded due to language handicap. Instead another nine articles were found from international press and analyzed. In these articles, Premier Wen is frequently referenced as ‗Grandpa Wen‘, both in the media and by the public (―Why Grandpa Wen has to care‖, 2008). That enduring image contributed to the perception that the Sichuan Earthquake was a well-managed crisis, and one that boosted the reputation of China ahead of the 2008 Beijing Olympics (Graham-Harrison, 2010). The phrase, ―Grandpa Wen,‖ is portrayed as a symbol of the Chinese government‘s compassion towards the people (Bristow, 2010). The phrase is also symbolic of the personal touch shown by Premier Wen (Graham-Harrison, 2010), and has increased his popularity immensely (Coonan, 2008). From the analysis of these case studies, it is evident that these enduring images do linger on after the crisis, though arguably to different degrees and through different media outlets. The difference in extent of subsequent news coverage among the case study is not surprising due to the difference in magnitude and nature of these crises. The paper draws these general observations about how an enduring image lingers on after a crisis. 1) Lifespan: The frequency of mentions or visibility of an enduring image tends to gradually wear off in formal news sources, understandably as news outlet do not revisit old news unless there are significantly new developments. Comparatively, on informal news sources, mentions of the enduring image were more visible especially among news sources that were thematically associated with crisis and the respective enduring image. 2) Potency: Mentions of the enduring image are seldom accompanied by an explanation or back story, which indicates a certain degree of antecedent familiarity from the public. It functions like a symbol which signifies through convention and shared experience. Though the exact notions it signifies may differ perceptually, in cases examined, most enduring images instinctively represented the initial public reaction to that defining moment. 3) Organic development: In the cases studied, the organization and individual did little to influence, mitigate or address the enduring image after its engenderment. Likewise, media reports on the enduring image during its onset were nothing out of the ordinary. Enduring image seemed to develop naturally, arguably due to some of the characteristics raised in RQ1 but the purveyor seem to be neither the organization or individual nor the media. Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 285 Enduring Image 4) Forms: Enduring images linger in various media formats. While gaffe or image itself were found across print media, the authors also found it equally represented in a myriad of other media, including videos, blogs, discussion forums, ringtones and advertising campaigns. 5) Stability: An enduring image retains its function as prime representations of the crisis or organization even years after its engenderment. The longitudinal study conducted found that the general notions evoked by the enduring image remained fairly unchanged over time. RQ3 seeks to propose some guidelines for how organizations should respond to an enduring image in a crisis. Enduring images could be classified into two general categories; positive or negative enduring image. Examples of positive enduring images included the hug between Rick Clements and Tan Yin Leong, and the image of Grandpa Wen from the Sichuan Earthquake. When a positive enduring image is engendered, the organization involved should leverage upon the positive vibes created by the enduring image, and provide further support for such positive impressions constituted by that enduring image in the media. The enduring image of SQ006 painted SIA as a company with compassion and it supported that impression by providing generous compensations for the victims and the CEO of SIA and his senior team also attended every SQ006 victim‘s funeral in Singapore, whenever possible (―SIA‘s handling of crisis praised‖, 2000). These acts were congruent with the notion portrayed by the enduring image, intensifying the positive effect. In addition, organizations should seek to commit to these desirable notions and make it part of the organization‘s identity if possible. Conversely, negative enduring images or gaffes, are a threat to the overall image and reputation of the organization as they act like a memory device for people to recall an organization‘s misdeeds. The damage would not be fixed unless the organization seeks to close the image gap between what is represented by the enduring image, and the organization‘s desired image. In terms of image repair strategies, the significance and effect of an enduring image should be an important factor taken into consideration. Drawing from the Contingency Theory of Strategic Conflict Management (Pang, Jin, & Cameron, 2010), recognition of an enduring image would affect situational variables which in turn affects the stance and communication taken by the organization during the crisis. In particular, when a negative enduring image emerges its effect on the situational variables would move the organization towards more accommodative strategies such as corrective action, and mortification. Such strategies would be more effective as it would not further aggravate the public especially since the cloud of disaffection still lingers due to the effects of an enduring image. But for how long should these strategies be applied? Ideally it should continue till the negative perception people have of the organization is fixed. Organizations facing a persistent negative enduring image will have to straddle between image repair communication and the acknowledgment of their misdeeds, and moving on with their daily business. For example, it is not prudent for Jack Neo to issue a press statement apologizing for his action every time the media mentions his crisis. However, he still needs to ensure that the public understands that he remains apologetic for the incident, whenever the crisis is mentioned. Due to an enduring image‘s pervasiveness, and the manner it lingers in the media, organizations would have to commit even more time for effective image repair and public reacceptance. Any communication with the public should thus take a comparatively long-term approach. In addition, the media holds power to proliferate the enduring image, and thus, it is important for the organization to engage the media in order to ensure proper framing of an enduring image, especially a negative one. Framing is essential as a response to a negative Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 286 Enduring Image enduring image as it can simplify and mitigate the issue at stake to the readers, which can result in better management of the overall impression (Pang, 2010a). Organizations should not passively allow a negative image to snowball but rather address and mitigate possible negative impressions promptly, especially when questions come from the media. To facilitate the shaping of media image, it is prudent to understand that practitioners should first take on ―a proactive approach to understanding the journalist and journalism by practitioners‖ in which it would ―lead to a greater media access and stronger media relations, which lead to a stronger public presence and image for the organization‖ (Pang, 2010b, p. 193). Conclusion and Limitations Since the paper involved an examination of enduring images from the media‘s perspective, the authors were limited by how the media determined what was considered newsworthy, and writing style. Thus enduring images may not be recorded in its entirety and that possibly contributed to a lower number of articles collected, as the lack of direct quotations and subjective treatments across media outlets in their reports of the defining moment limits search effectiveness. It was a challenge to determine public‘s perception through an analysis of news reports, as the media‘s point of view may not necessarily reflect the public‘s perception or recall of the defining moments and enduring images. To bridge that gap, the authors supplemented the study by analyzing reputable internet forums and blogs for better understanding of public‘s perception. Furthermore, as Coombs (2007) puts it, crises are perceptual. Consequently an enduring image does not remain static, but can be subsequently influenced by changes in the reporting frames employed by the media. Because these notions and how they were represented were not found to be consistent but rather to be dynamic, the authors felt that it was difficult to determine conclusively the impact of the enduring image on the media perception. In this age of media proliferation, and the ease of propagation of images, an enduring image would influence how an organization is perceived and ultimately its reputation. A positive enduring image would benefit the reputation of the organization and its crisis response, while a negative enduring image becomes a thorn in crisis management efforts. The paper argues that certain images, when coupled with supplement information from the media, could have a profound effect on the overall impression of the company. These images have power to change beliefs held by the public of the organization and thus have a bearing on organizational reputation and should be addressed in crisis and image management strategies. Situating enduring images in the context of the defining moments would provide insights on the implications of these images to the organization. From our case studies, defining moments share several common characteristics, which facilitated the engenderment of enduring images. These moments contain rich information about the organization and their behavior and enduring images serves as memory cues that draws out these sentiments towards the organization. Future quantitative research could be conducted to understand and measure actual public‘s perception and recall after a particular crisis that constituted enduring images or how positive enduring images could mutate with time, thus requiring a change in image strategies. The relationship between public perception and media perception could also be studied in relation to these images. The paper presents an exploratory definition on the concept of ―enduring image‖ and further research would better situate this concept alongside image management literature. Ultimately, the understanding of enduring images can better prepare organization in managing images engendered from crises, and facilitate image recovery, repair and reinvention. 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(2009a, May 2). ―Pastor apologies for misusing pulpit‖, Channel NewsAsia. Retrieved November 12, 2010 from http://global.factiva.com.ezlibproxy1.ntu.edu.sg/ha/default.aspx Wong, K, H. (2009b, May 3). ―New Guard Ousted‖, The Straits Times. Retrieved November 12, 2010 from http://global.factiva.com.ezlibproxy1.ntu.edu.sg/ha/default.aspx Yong, D. (2009, May 10). ‗Upstanding‘ spinoffs from Aware saga.‖ The Straits Times. Retrieved November 12, 2010 from http://global.factiva.com.ezlibproxy1.ntu.edu.sg/ha/default.aspx Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 291 Evolution or Revolution How is the Study of Communication Changing? Patricia B. Scott, Ph.D. Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, USA [email protected] The Conference on Corporate Communication serves as a forum to ―exchange ideas and information on relevant issues facing the corporate communication profession.‖ What have we found over the past 10 years? What themes have been seen as ―relevant‖ and how has what we research changed? In order to examine how the central themes have changed over the years, a semantic network analysis was undertaken using the abstracts from all the presentations from each of the past nine years. The semantic network analysis examined the relationship among words to determine clusters of shared themes. This tool allowed the researcher the opportunity to capture the visible and quantifiable way in which themes are established in this community by noting a shared discourse among members that reflects common understanding of rules, a common belief of values and a way of life. The research found that over the course of the last decade, the study of corporate communication is not static. It is ever evolving as the world changes and continues to rise to meet the needs of this changing world. Key words: Semantic Network Analysis, shared discourse, communication research Ten years ago, Corporate Communication International (CCI) held its first international conference. The mission of CCI is to ―enhance the performance and reputation of corporate communication as a strategic management function; and to be the number one choice of both practicing professionals and scholars for information and knowledge on corporate communication.‖(Corporate Communication International, 2011) In order to fulfill that mission, a three-day international conference was established. This unique conference chose not only to showcase the latest research on Corporate Communication, but also as the mission states, included papers, experience and thoughts from practicing professionals. The conference attracted speakers from industries and universities across the globe and provided an opportunity to exchange ideas; challenge conventional thought and begin a continuous dialog on relevant issues in the field of corporate communication. The conference, however, did more than just become a forum for an exchange of ideas; it became a global community of researchers and professionals who in a truly collegial environment were able to share a common interest in enhancing the knowledge of and execution of corporate communication. In a very distinct way, CCI conference participants are very much like the subjects of a well-known ethnographic study of factory workers. Roy (1960) observed brief periods of interaction among factory workers and determined that this interaction, served an important role. These interactions led to the emergence of a distinct sub-culture through which membership could be identified. Although there are many differences between factory workers and today‘s communication professionals, there are some similarities. Like the CCI conference participants, Roy‘s workers were physically removed from the rest of their primary organization, and the Conference on Corproate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 292 Evolution or Revolution group had no established hierarchy or direction. The interaction when they were together provided the environment for a natural group to emerge over time. The content of their interaction had developed a pattern of reciprocal influence among the participants and formed a distinct sub-culture. In this group, since they were not bound by strict adherence to organizational goals and did not compete with any other group within their environment for resources, the group sustained itself solely in order to maintain the sub-culture and to fulfill their need for identity within their small work group. Cross, Parker, Prusak and Borgatti (2001), found that the interaction among workers is what facilitates knowledge creation and sharing. By assessing the relationships of 40 managers of Fortune 500 companies, they found that collaboration is central to organizational effectiveness. In other words, a significant portion of the information environment that the employee is in is the sum of the relationships that the employee can tap into to fulfill information needs. The managers that Cross et al. (2001) studied indicated that information that was critical to the company‘s success was obtained by contact with other people rather than impersonal sources such as the internet or databases. In this way knowledge workers rely not only on their own knowledge, but also on the knowledge possessed by their co-workers. This exchange of knowledge may, therefore, lead to a shared knowledge and a shared meaning. The participants of the Conference on Corporate Communication have had similar circumstances to the groups of workers that were researched in these studies. Because this collegial group consisted of a wide variety of professions and disciplines, when the participants came to the conference, they were removed from their primary organizations and had in this group no hierarchy or agenda to be restricted by. Even though the interaction between participants is relatively brief, a natural group has emerged and has formed a distinct sub-culture. The communication between members of this group serves as a means of reciprocal influence and builds a shared knowledge. The participants rely on each other and the shared knowledge and meaning to further the aims of the group. This communication also serves as the product of shared identity. The visible and quantifiable way in which identity is established through a shared discourse among members reflects common understanding of rules and a common belief in values and a way of life. It should be noted, however, that identity does not necessarily refer to the organization as a whole. There may be other targets within the organization with which individuals identify. If there is not pervasive, organizationally oriented targets, individuals are free to limit their frame of reference to a group or other object of identity. It follows, then, that individuals will adopt the frame of reference of those targets with which they most identify (Bullis & Bach, 1991). We can use this communication, this shared discourse, to quantify a common understanding of the field of corporate communication. By examining the formal ―communication‖ to each other via the proceedings of the conference we can track the changes in this field over the life of the conference. Methods When examining the words people use to describe themselves, events and concepts, it is believed that the words they use reflect their cognition due to the hierarchical association of these words in their minds (Collins & Quillian, 1969). These words and the context that surrounds them to make meaningful expression demonstrate that the words people use are representative of their shared meaning (Barnett & Woelfel, 1988; Chang, 1986). Corman, Kuhn, McPhee and Dooley (2002) explored how social organization and shared meaning is an emergent property of a complex structure of communicating individuals. In their work to create a new methodology to Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 293 Evolution or Revolution capture consistent patterns of co-occurrence between words that have been transcribed from conversations, they too concluded that since humans learn the meaning of words through reading and hearing them used in particular combinations, the examination of co-occurrence of words is a suitable basis for representing meaning. The belief that the examination of the relationship among words (not frequency of occurrence) will lead to the discovery of shared meaning is based on the early work of Collins and Quillian (1969). Their study proposed a hierarchical-network model of semantic memory. They found that knowledge is stored in the memory in a hierarchical way. In this model each word and the associations of the words that create meaning are not stored together on all levels of cognition, but are stored hierarchically so that words have pointers to other words to represent the word‘s meaning. They found that this organization of memory is efficient and economical. Semantic network analysis is a powerful method to uncover the communication that serves as the identity product. Through semantic network analysis, text is scanned to find the most frequently used words. The frequency of these words is placed into an adjacency matrix to see which pairs of words co-occur in a delimited amount of text. The matrix can then be analyzed using a variety of methods including clustering techniques to create dendograms and multidimensional scaling to better understand the relationships of these words and their associated meanings (Corman, et al., 2002). Semantic network analysis is similar to social network analysis in that it looks to provide structure to a network, however, it differs from network analysis in that the structure of this network is based on shared meaning instead of communication partners. In this network, connections are formed by the use of overlapping concepts instead of instances of interaction (Doerfel & Barnett, 1999; Doerfel, 1998). Rice and Danowski (1993) used semantic network analysis to determine whether differing conceptualizations of voice mail exist among different types of voice mail users. A large insurance firm was in the process of implementing a voice mail system and the authors distributed 458 questionnaires to all organizational members. The questionnaires contained openended questions regarding the new voice mail system. The authors used the full textual response to each question (no intermediate categorization of text) as the data. Their results indicated that there are different conceptualizations of voice mail among different types of users that must be taken into consideration so that implementation of the new system will be successful. In other words, some users characterized their use of technology in a distinctly different way from others. Semantic network analysis has also been used to examine concepts such as differences in national culture. Jang and Barnett (1994) looked at groups of American and Japanese stockholder reports. By examining the co-occurrence of words of these reports, distinct clusters of focus emerged that pointed out a strong difference between the cultures of the two countries. In this case, looking at the words themselves led to a rich understanding of the cultural differences between these two nations as is reflective of how they perceive themselves and what concepts they hold important. Stohl (1993) also examined cultural variation when she looked at managers‘ interpretation of worker participation. By examining the semantic network she could identify that there are greater shared interpretations of the concept of worker participation within countries than between them. While an alternate approach is traditional content analysis to arrive at the categories of concepts that communication practitioners and academics share, there are specific benefits of using semantic network analysis. The most important difference between the two methods is that semantic network analysis does not always require a priori definitions of the categories to be used. In content analysis, the researcher must create distinct categories based on theoretical foundations and then code the data into the appropriate category. The goal is to allow the Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 294 Evolution or Revolution emergent meanings to be identified within the structure of the network itself. Semantic network analysis allows the use of the natural language of the participants to determine their shared meaning and the errors of reliability or validity of the coders or categories is not an issue (Rice & Danowski, 1993). Procedure In order to examine how the central themes in the study of corporate communication have changed over the years, a semantic network analysis was undertaken using the abstracts from all the presentations from each of the past nine years of the Conference on Corporate Communication. The semantic network analysis examined the relationship among the words of the abstracts to determine clusters of shared themes. The abstracts from each year were gathered and cleaned to remove words that do not add to the content of the text. This ―exclude‖ file ignored prepositions, articles, conjunctions, plural forms, proper names or common variants of words. The ability of the software to ignore words that add no content, just function grammatically to clarify speech, allows the program to act more like a human brain. When a human reads or listens to communication, they do not remember or pay attention to every time the word ―and‖ is used. A person is more likely to remember and understand if a particular issue is addressed repeatedly. Once the data was cleaned, it was run through a word co-occurrence program known as CATPAC. This program counts the number of times each word pair occurs within a selected unit, in this case, an abstract. CATPAC is a self-organizing artificial neural network that identifies the most important words in a text and determines the patterns based on the way they are used. The patterns of connections show the associations among the words in the text and are representative of the similarities of all words in the text (Woelfel, 1998). CATPAC reads the text using a sliding window. For this research the window size was seven and the slide size was one, so CATPAC looks at the first seven words, moves one word over and looks at words two through eight, then three through nine, etc. until the entire text has been read. CATPAC then counts the number of times words co-occur within an abstract. It reveals the relationship among words (not frequency) in a hierarchical network. The output file once the data has run is a dendogram. A dendogram is a visual representation of a cluster. In semantic networks, since the network members are words instead of people, this type of cluster analysis will demonstrate themes that are hierarchically ordered through the examination of the text. Since there is a hierarchical structure to clusters, a dendogram, or tree diagram will show what words cluster at different levels of similarity. In this way, through a comparison of text, the themes that arise from the examination of the abstracts can be ordered to show what themes were dominant for that data set. By doing this for all the abstracts grouped by year, we can see how those dominant themes have changed over time. This is a sample dendogram for abstracts from 2008. In a dendogram, the clusters show the relationship among the words. Similar words get clustered and the stronger the link between words, the closer they are placed. The dendogram shows how strong the clusters are. Dips show a division between concepts and the height of the hills represent the strength of the relationships between the words (to allow inference of themes or concepts). Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 295 Evolution or Revolution A S I P C C N C C R O O O C G S I P P P S C M P R N T D R O U A E R O R R R O L O N R O R T O A U E A A E O R L T O I L G G G M O C T O L O R M N B L L K N J P T I . S E A A A P B I E F I C A P A L A Y E T E O U O . I . N N N A A A R E C E T A G I T S H I C R R N . S . I I I N L L N S Y S E N E C I I O T T A A A . . . Z Z Z Y . . A S . S G I M . O S L Y . T L L . . . A A A . . . L I . . I E E . N . D . . I . . . . . T T T . . . . O . . C S N . S . E . . O . . . . . I I I . . . . N . . . . T . . . R . . N . . . . . O O O . . . . A . . . . . . . . S . . S . . . . . N N N . . . . L . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S . A . . . . S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . L . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ^^^ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ^^^^^ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ^^^^^^^ . . . . . . . . ^^^ . . . . . . . . . . . ^^^^^^^ ^^^ . . . . . . ^^^ . . . . . . . . . . . ^^^^^^^ ^^^ . . . . . . ^^^ . . . . ^^^ . . . . . ^^^^^^^ ^^^ . . . . . . ^^^^^ . . . ^^^ . . . . . ^^^^^^^ ^^^ ^^^ . . . . ^^^^^ . . . ^^^ . . . . . ^^^^^^^ ^^^ ^^^ . ^^^ . ^^^^^ . . . ^^^ . . . . . ^^^^^^^ ^^^ ^^^ . ^^^ . ^^^^^ ^^^ . ^^^ . . . . . ^^^^^^^ ^^^ ^^^ . ^^^ . ^^^^^ ^^^ ^^^^^ . . . . . ^^^^^^^ ^^^ ^^^ . ^^^ . ^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^ . . . . . ^^^^^^^ ^^^ ^^^ . ^^^ . ^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^ . . . ^^^ ^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^ . ^^^ . ^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^ . . . ^^^ ^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^ . ^^^ . ^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^ ^^^ . ^^^ ^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^ ^^^^^ . ^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^ ^^^ . ^^^ ^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^ ^^^^^ . ^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^ ^^^ ^^^^^ ^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^ ^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^ ^^^ ^^^^^ ^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^ ^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^ ^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ This dendogram shows the clusters of themes that came from 2008‘s abstracts. The cluster on the right (companies – management – public – relations) is the strongest cluster of words that enable us to see the underlying concepts. There are other clusters (such as the hill second to the right) that draw our attention to other themes such as strategic – process – policy. Although the words come together to form a theme or concept, it is not as strong as the relationship between the companies – management – public – relations hill to the right. Each year‘s worth of abstracts were made into dendograms and examined in a similar fashion. In this way, we can visualize and track how the themes of study have changed over the life of the Conference on Corporate Communication. Results and Discussion The results of the analysis are summarized in the table below. The table below shows the dominant themes for each year of the conference. Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 296 Evolution or Revolution Year 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 Prominent Themes and Concepts of Study Business, Change, Major, Management, Strategic, Employee, Program Distanced, Identification, Management, Organizations, Team, Leader Corporations, Public, Relations, Processes, Organizational Analysis, Change, Business, Crisis, Theory, Management Business, Management, Environment, Public, Relations Identity, Public, Management, Relations Companies, Management, Public, Relations Advertising, Identity, Marketing, Strategies, Strategy, Stakeholder Branding, Employer, Social, Management By reading these word clusters and thinking about the themes and concepts they represent, it is easy to visibly see how the field of study of corporate communications has changed over the past ten years. These themes have emerged from the shared discourse of both practitioners and academics that have shared their thoughts and critique as a member of the distinct sub-culture formed by attending the CCI Conference on Corporate Communications. Although it is possible to see the change, the actual areas of study are subject to interpretation. The list could be interpreted in assuming the dominant issues in the field started with change and strategies, looked at how members of an organization identify when they are distant, examined public relations processes, then analyzed crisis theory, examined public relations in terms of the environment, identity and management and then during the past two years looked at strategies for stakeholder identity and branding through social media. It is possible, however, to have a different interpretation based on your experience with the field. This study, however, did not set out to quantify a research agenda or report on findings from our discipline. Instead, it set out to see if the field of corporate communication research has changed, or remained static over time. We can say with some certainty that if the Conference on Corporate Communication is reflective of the field as a whole, this field of study is constantly changing and evolving to attempt to understand and explain communication in our changing world and business environments. As a follow up to this study, there are two areas that may prove very interesting. The first would be to examine the semantic network analysis of a purely academic journal to see if the Conference on Corporate Communication mirrors other research vehicles in our field. In this way we would be able to see the effect that practitioners have had on the ―agenda‖ of the CCI group. This review would also allow us to see if other members of our field are on divergent research paths. The second follow up of interest would be to go back and examine the business literature for each year of the conference and see if we could pinpoint situations, or crises that would have led us to look at the concepts listed in the table above. Is there a correlation between what has happened in the corporate world and what we research? Are we reactive in our interests or do we as a group rather independently set our own research agenda? Although there are always more questions to pursue, we can be certain that the answer will always involve the constant change of focus on the role and execution of corporate communication over time. Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 297 Evolution or Revolution References Barnett, G.A., & Woelfel, J. (1988). Reading in the Galileo System: Theory, Methods and Applications. Dubuque, IA: Kendall/Hunt. Bullis, C.A., & Bach, B.W. (1991). An explication and test of communication network content and multiplexity as predictors of organizational identification. Western Journal of Speech Communication, 55, 180-197. Chang, T.M. (1986). Semantic memory: Facts and models. Psychological Bulletin, 99, 199-220. Collins, A.M., & Quillian, M.R. (1969). Retrieval time from semantic memory. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 8, 240-247. Corman, S.R., Kuhn, T., McPhee, R.D., & Dooley, K.J. (2002). Studying complex discursive systems. Human Communication Research, 28(2), 157-206. Corporate Communication International. (2011). Retrieved February 15, 2011, from http://www.corporatecomm.org/mission.html Cross, R., Parker, A., Prusak, L., & Borgatti, S.P. (2001). Knowing what we know: Supporting knowledge creation and sharing in social networks. Organizational Dynamics, 30(2), 100-120. Doerfel, M. (1998). What constitutes semantic network analysis? A comparison of research and methodologies. Connections, 21(2), 16-26. Doerfel, M.L., & Barnett, G. A. (1999). A semantic network analysis of the International Communication Association. Human Communication Research, 25(4), 589-603. Jang, H.Y., & Barnett, G.A. (1994). Cultural differences in organizational communication: A semantic network analysis. Bulletin de Methodologie Sociologique, 44, 31-59. Rice, R. E., & Danowski, J.A. (1993). Is it really just like a fancy answering machine? Comparing semantic networks of different types of voice mail users. The Journal of Business Communications, 30(4), 369-397. Roy, D.F. (1960). Banana time: Job satisfaction and informal interaction. Human Organization, 18, 158168. Stohl. C. (1993). European managers‘ interpretations of participation: A semantic network analysis. Human Communication Research, 20(1), 97-117. Woefel, J.K. (1998). Catpac II Version 2.0. User‘s guide. Amherst, NY: RAH Press. Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 298 Exploring the Practice of CSR from a Corporate Communication Perspective Anne Ellerup Nielsen, Bo Laursen, Poul-Erik Flyvholm Jørgensen, Irene Pollach, Line Schmeltz, Christa Thomsen, and Leila Trapp Centre for Corporate Communication University of Aarhus, Denmark [email protected] & [email protected] This paper investigates the challenges of framing Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) as a strategic issue. We address the following research questions: How do CSR managers motivate their corporations‘ engagement in CSR and how do they frame the role that the corporation‘s stakeholders play in the corporation‘s CSR activities? Based on theories of corporate communication, stakeholder relations and conceptual frameworks within CSR and CSR communication, an analysis of how CSR is approached and motivated among CSR managers in six Danish CSR frontrunner companies is undertaken on the basis of a qualitative interview study. The selected companies have been engaged in the CSR agenda during the last five to ten years. The purpose of the study is to draw a picture of how selected Danish businesses conceive of and practice central aspects of CSR and CSR communication in order to contribute to the discussion of how we can understand the global spread and local adaptation of CSR from a corporate communication perspective. CSR is a broad concept embracing issues ranging from legal compliance, philanthropy and community investment to environmental management, sustainability, animal rights, human rights, workers‘ rights and welfare, market relations, corruption and corporate governance (Blowfield and Murray, 2008). The way corporations practice CSR (selection of issues, internal organization of activities, communication with stakeholders, etc.) are determined by the situational context in which corporations operate (Dalsrud, 2008). As a result of globalization and the growing empowerment of corporations, consumers, NGOs and other watchdogs (e.g. the press), CSR has become an increasingly important issue in both management research and practice. The increasing stakeholder pressure on businesses to gain their ‗license to operate‘ by following the trends and standards of social engagement in society (e.g. Matten and Moon, 2008) has forced many companies to implement CSR strategies and policies in favour of their employees, suppliers, customers and the local and global community they operate in. Some of the larger corporations have acted quickly as innovators of the CSR movement and incorporated CSR into their overall business strategy and along the value chain, adopting a holistic perspective on CSR. Others have followed adopting CSR step by step from a more fragmented and adhoc perspective (Marewijk, 2003; Nielsen & Thomsen, 2009). In this paper we present an analysis of how central aspects of CSR are perceived and practiced by CSR managers in six Danish CSR frontrunner companies. Our theoretical basis consists of theories of corporate communication and stakeholder relations on the one hand and conceptual frameworks within CSR and CSR Conference on Corproate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 299 Exploring the Practice of CSR from a Corporate Communication Perspective communication on the other. Our data are six semi-structured face-to-face interviews with CSR managers in six Danish companies. We raise the following research question: RQ: How do CSR managers motivate their corporations‘ engagement in CSR and how do they frame the role that the corporation‘s stakeholders play in the corporation‘s CSR activities? This analysis is a pilot study and is part of an umbrella study of how CSR is managed and implemented in 16 Danish CSR frontrunner businesses, operating in different industries (food, health, energy, wind, water, etc.). Most of the participating businesses are large, well-established corporations that have subsidiaries on a global scale. They are all members of the Confederation of Danish Industry and have been engaged in the CSR agenda for five to ten years. The aim of the umbrella study is to track and collect CSR experiences in a segment of Danish industrial companies which have had the opportunity and challenge to practice CSR for a longer period than most small and medium sized companies (SMEs). In recent years SMEs have come under pressure from the Danish government to initiate processes of CSR as a means of strengthening Danish competitiveness and innovation. Collecting CSR experience from larger companies, which have drawn valuable experience from working with CSR, might therefore serve as a stimulating platform for second generation CSR oriented companies. The aim of this pilot study is to draw a picture of how six out of the sixteen businesses conceive of and practice central aspects of CSR and CSR communication. The paper is organized as follows: a brief introduction to our general framework based on corporate communication and stakeholder relations, followed by relevant CSR and CSR communication theories that we draw on for our qualitative analysis of interviews with CSR managers from six companies. In the final section, we present and discuss our findings followed by a conclusion which wraps up the paper. Corporate Communication and Stakeholder Dialogue as a Framework for CSR As pointed out by corporate communication researchers (van Riel, 1992; Cornelissen, 2008; Christensen et al, 2008; Goodman & Hirsh, 2010), adopting a strategic integrated approach to communication in an organisational context is a means of conceptualizing, structuring and organizing communication as a coordinated management discipline within the organization. Aligned to the corporate strategy, mission, vision and values, corporate communication is born as a management field while its ancestors, e.g. public relations and marketing communication, are mainly conceptualized and practiced as fragmented operational disciplines. Integration of internal, external, marketing, organisational and management communication is thus one cornerstone in corporate communication (van Riel 1992). Another cornerstone is the challenge of maintaining long lasting relationships with key stakeholders. Through corporate communication an organization aims at managing its identity as effectively and consistently as possible to establish and maintain favorable reputations with its stakeholder groups (Cornelissen, 2008, p. 5). For the same reason and in the light of the globalization and concentration Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 300 Exploring the Practice of CSR from a Corporate Communication Perspective waves that businesses experienced in the 80s and 90s, corporate communication has gained terrain in recent years within many large organizations in both the private and the public sector. Through its focus on identity, reputation and stakeholder management, corporate communication and corporate branding offer a framework for how an organization can reduce or close the gaps that may emerge between a) its aspirations (vision) and its organisational identity (culture), b) its culture and the way it is perceived by stakeholders (image) and/or c) its image and vision (Schultz and Hatch, 2001). CSR Communication – Motivation and Stakeholder Relations Developing and managing stakeholder relations is not only central in corporate communication; it is also at the heart of CSR, thus establishing a link between the two fields (Pollack et al. 2011). CSR is a broad and complex concept, which lacks unified criteria for delimitations (Dalsrud, 2008; Clark, 2000). Although CSR is defined as ‗voluntary‘ in the European approach to sustainable development (European Commission 2001), it is taken for granted that private and public organizations engage in CSR, because they are expected to do so. The general public believes that companies should be responsible to their employees, communities and other stakeholders, even if it requires companies to sacrifice part of their profits (Carroll & Shabana, 20010, p. 89). Motivations for engaging in CSR The literature on CSR tends two identify to main drivers for corporations‘ engagement in CSR: a) corporations have ethical obligations towards society (moral approach) (e.g. Carroll, 1999), vs. b) corporations‘ duty is to maximise profits (business approach) (e.g. Friedman, 1970). From a moral perspective stakeholders are framed as allies of corporations and CSR is conceptualized as an act of reciprocity based on the corporation‘s obligations towards its stakeholders, whereas from the business perspective stakeholders are considered partners in a market transaction and as a target of financial performance (Shar and Saidman, 2009, p. 51). CSR can contribute to increased innovation, enhanced market positioning, better reputation and ultimately increased profits. Therefore businesses can see an interest in integrating CSR with a view to creating a competitive advantage in the global market (Porter and Kramer 2006). From a business perspective the challenge of implementing CSR in today‘s corporations is therefore to be able to balance the societal vs. the business agendas in the corporations‘ behaviours and rhetorics. However, from a moral perspective, businesses are expected to live up to stakeholders‘ needs and expectations in order to gain their license to operate, addressing CSR as corporate social citizenship (e.g. Matten and Crane, 2005). Although the two perspectives are not necessarily in conflict, they reflect different sets of drivers for engaging in CSR: enlightened self-interest on the one hand and paying back to society by being a good corporate citizen on the other. When corporations communicate about CSR they generally evoke the latter perspective because they believe it to appeal to most stakeholder groups. However, research suggests that it is also important to reveal the business perspective to Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 301 Exploring the Practice of CSR from a Corporate Communication Perspective stakeholders; only this perspective cannot stand alone. Du et al. 2010 thus argue that by disclosing extrinsic motives (self- interests) together with intrinsic motives (moral interests) companies are likely to generate more credibility than if they focus on moral motives alone. Furthermore, according to Carroll and Shababa (2010), businesses like to think that their financial performance is not just something they are realizing for themselves, but also for society by accomplishing their mission to provide goods and services. This suggests that there may be a shift away from ethical towards more business orientated criteria for implementing and communicating CSR. Stakeholder relations management Engaging in stakeholder management processes challenges businesses to adopt open and transparent processes about how they conceptualize, implement, practice and communicate about their CSR inside and outside their organizations (Maon et al. 2010). Aligning corporate responsibility communications with stakeholders‘ concerns is crucial if companies are to break through the communications barrier and capitalize on the potential reputational benefits of corporate responsibility (Dawkins, 2004, p. 109). Moreover, framing CSR as stakeholder management has implications for how CSR is organized. Galbraith (2008) thus stresses the importance of organizing CSR as an issue managed by corporate executives rather than by marketing and public relations departments arguing that corporate executives are ultimately the ones who have to respond to society, shareholders and other stakeholders concerning decisions and strategies taken by the company (p. 121). Furthermore, as stated by Andriof et al. (2003)it is crucial that businesses leave compliance oriented management of social issues and adopt a more proactive boundary spanning approach to CSR in which collaboration, dialogue and interaction can lead to more engaging processes where businesses can profit more effectively . The focus on stakeholder dialogue and engagement is pointed out by several researchers in CSR communication (e.g. Maignan and Ferrell, 2004; Morsing et al. 2008; Du et al. 2010; Nielsen and Thomsen, 2011). Du et al. (2010) point out that instead of focusing on how companies themselves benefit from their CSR activities they should pay more attention to how stakeholders benefit from their CSR activities. But as indicated above, they also suggest that the conveyance of companies‘ social as well as business interests in CSR may enhance their credibility and reputation (p. 12). According to Morsing and Schultz (2006) it is important for businesses to acknowledge that some communication strategies are more appropriate than others, if companies want to implement CSR as a sense-making project and to create mutual understanding for their CSR strategy and processes with their stakeholders (p.328). These authors therefore distinguish between two communication strategies: 1) the information strategy based on one way-communication representing a sense-giving approach to communication, and 2) the involvement strategy based on two-way symmetrical communication and sensemaking. Both of these strategies are equally useful, but companies should acknowledge that they serve different communication purposes. Morsing et al. thus argue that the more a company wants to engage its stakeholders in its CSR strategy and processes the greater Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 302 Exploring the Practice of CSR from a Corporate Communication Perspective the need for adopting a dialogical sense-making approach to CSR through networking, negotiating and discussing potential projects and ideas with its stakeholders (p. 335). The benefits of integrating CSR into corporate communication seem obvious. Not only is CSR approached as a strategic issue through its connection to corporate communication which is strategically aligned to the overall corporate strategy of the company. Identity and reputation management, which are key in corporate communication, are also important dimensions in CSR and CSR communication. Unless CSR is anchored in a company‘s culture and values it is easily perceived as pure window dressing by skeptical stakeholders (Morsing et al., 2008, p. 104). Finally, building and maintaining strong stakeholder relations is equally important in both fields. In what follows, we take a closer look at why our six companies have engaged in CSR and how they have dealt with the challenges of implementing CSR together or without their stakeholders. Analytical Framework Drawing on the outlined theories and our interviews, we established two overall analytical categories in order to describe how the six CSR managers frame a) their corporations‘ motivations for engaging in CSR (category name: motivation) and b) the role attributed to stakeholders in the corporations‘ CSR efforts (category name: stakeholder relations). We subdivided the two categories according to, respectively a) types of motivations and b) the degree to which stakeholder relations are taken into consideration by the companies. Fig. 1 provides an overview of our analytical categories as well as of our findings. Motivation CSR as a necessity - CSR as a natural part of the corporation Stakeholder pressures Risk management - The way we are We can contribute positively to society Stakeholder relations Weak stakeholder focus - Limited interest for stakeholder input - Main focus on customers - Reactive, defensive stance Strong stakeholder focus - Valuing stakeholder input - Wide range of stakeholders - Proactive and dialogical approach FIGURE 1. Overview of analytical categories and findings Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 303 Exploring the Practice of CSR from a Corporate Communication Perspective The following section contains a presentation of the elements in our data on which our findings are based. Findings and selected Quotes from Data The below presentation of our findings and the quotes that substantiate our findings follows the categories established in the analytical framework in fig. 1. A) Motivation We have identified two overall frames for talking about why corporations engage in CSR activities: CSR as a necessity and CSR as a natural part of the corporation. A.1. Framing CSR as necessity 1) Stakeholder pressure you could say that in the past two years it's the requirement for increased openness and also the market development that has been driving our development (pharmaceutical company) I wouldn't have a mandate if it wasn't based in a need...business need, so it's because we perceive this as a business need (pharmaceutical company) you cannot operate...today you cannot operate a global pharmaceutical company without having a more or less comprehensive compliance program. You need a code of conduct, you need a code of ethics, you need to... (pharmaceutical company) we are actually being pushed by some of the investors to sign with the Corporate Disclosure process and that would be a very poor profile if you haven't done a climate risk assessment or opportunities assessment for the investments (producer of plant oil) (…) how can we be attractive, how can we be prepared when the requirements come from the consumers, the retailers, our customers (producer of plant oil) suddenly if Sydbank says, you know you are not doing enough on child labor issues you have to do more on it (producer of plant oil) 2) Risk management You need a code of conduct, you need a code of ethics, you need to...with our sourcing strategy, you need to, or in order to be competitive and safe...risk, you know, ensure you have a sufficient risk management when you source from the developing world you need supply standards (pharmaceutical company) Some of the activities particularly the code of conduct is, you know, the lack of this code of conduct is a risk element. We see today peers getting fines or making settlements within the billions of both dollars and Danish kroner (pharmaceutical company) We're not thrown into one scandal after the other. In some sense it's risk mitigation. There are some risks out there, we want to minimize those risks. That relates to all the governance structures, and the code of conduct, and all this. That's certainly a Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 304 Exploring the Practice of CSR from a Corporate Communication Perspective positive outcome if we can successfully manage those risks, I mean that would be tremendous...a tremendous success, to be able to sleep more, how do you say, safe at night (pharmaceutical company) A.2. Framing CSR as a natural part of the corporation 1) The way we are it actually began for, well now, almost 78 years ago when the company was founded. Because it has actually always been important to the founders of the company and the owners of the company that we behave as good citizens (toy producer) ‗Quality‘ has always stood out as the most important value for us. (…) you can actually extend it towards covering the CSR work as such (toy producer) I do see that it can help us differentiate ourselves, but that's not the most important reason we are actually doing it. That is not because the competition as such. It's more because it's just ,you know, an inherent part of the way we do business, and how we are as a company. (…) Because it is the right thing to do, again based on the values (toy producer) There is a very, very close match [between the corporate values and CSR]. I wouldn't say we go through a structured process, it just happened to be that way. So absolutely, our values are incorporated into our thinking around sustainability and CSR. (…) they [the corporate values] are perfectly aligned and what we need to do is continue to build on them, and continue to ensure that they are held up (shipping company) I think the values as they are, they can contain the CSR. So, I mean it‘s not like first we have the values then we have CSR. No, they go hand in hand (pump producer) 2) We can contribute positively to society But the reason why this [corporation X‘s CSR activity] is important is because this is something we can do, or this is something that we can do as a company (toy producer) we are very focused on, on the global challenges related to climate change, to energy savings, and to, to water constraints. I mean, we are an engineer technological company and actually I really believe that, this is a way where [company name] could provide a really good impact in providing the right technological solutions to solve some of these major challenges. (…) So we believe that the best we can offer the world somehow is our innovative products (pump producer). B) Stakeholders relations CSR managers talk about stakeholders in various ways. We have focused on the extent to which CSR managers report how they interact with stakeholders and on the way in which they describe the nature of this interaction. For the sake of clarity, we have set up two categories of stakeholder interaction, which can be seen as lying at the opposite extremes on a continuum labeled ―level of stakeholder focus‖. B.1. Weak stakeholder focus Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 305 Exploring the Practice of CSR from a Corporate Communication Perspective 1) Limited interest for stakeholder input Interviewer: Dialogues with the stakeholders? CSR manager: not much yet (producer of vegetable oil) 2) Main focus on customers Since we are business to do business, we do not really promote these things but, like I told you, if for example, the big customers says do you want to make a three years partnership with us, trying to reduce carbon footprint on the products you supply to us, then of course we would say, three years, that's an opportunity, we should go for it. So, of course, we would use CSR to get business, to link to the customers (producer of vegetable oil) we had some English customers who put some pressure on us regarding certified wood (…) we were behind the market so to speak (window producer) Interviewer: Do you engage with some of your stakeholders? CSR manager: Yes, we [do a] kind of reputation survey, we ask the sales companies and some of the customers how they rate [company name] according to a lot of issues, and many of the respondents tell us that they believe that we could say some more about environment and, or CSR (window producer) Interviewer: who has an influence on how you deal with CSR, and who do you talk to? CSR manager: What governs our strategy and, you could say, our approach is mainly our customers, so we try to align ourselves to the customers to the greatest possible extend. (…) So I think there would be a primary stakeholder (…) (shipping company) 3) Reactive, defensive stance So we were going to try to answer a lot of the questions that we received from the market regarding the environment. Nobody had the task of answering these questions. And one of the questions we're regarding is certified wood (window producer) we made a lot of analysis of where we could be getting some questions [from stakeholders] that we don't like (…) and (…) we have done what's necessary to answer the questions. We have been working with a lot of environmental issues that we not...we don't have to talk about, but we're doing quite well. (…) we want to be certain that we don't promise more than we can deliver (window producer) we have decided that we want to be certified. So all our products are now certified according to environment, ISO and also to health-safety-environment and also to wood certification. And it is a big help for us when we have customers asking us about what are you doing regarding environment, we say we're certified, and they are happy (window producer) Interviewer: What about NGO's? CSR manager: We don't...we talk a little with World Wildlife Foundation, but otherwise we don't engage with them. Interviewer: Is that something that you have been thinking about doing. Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 306 Exploring the Practice of CSR from a Corporate Communication Perspective CSR manager: No, we don't, sometimes we have been addressed by them and we try to answer their questions, and (…) we don't believe that we should be proactive in this matter. Interviewer: So you have been more sort of...you have been more reactive until now? CSR manager: Yes, yes... Interviewer: Waiting for the stakeholders to address (…) issues. CSR manager: Yeah, (window producer) B.2. Strong stakeholder focus 1) Valuing stakeholder input Interviewer: Can you tell me something about who has an influence on how you deal with CSR, and what kind of issues you work with? CSR manager: Well those who have an influence I would say are actually all our stakeholders because that's the way that we would like to work with it, to really listen to our stakeholders, internally and externally, to hear, so what are their expectations actually, when they know our company and the product that we make, how would they expect us to perform within this area. And not only meet [expectations] but also exceed (…) So we also listen very much to all the comments and good ideas that we get from our internal people, in that respect. And then, of course, we have our corporate management and also the board of directors involved in signing off on our strategy, within these areas, so that we are sure that it's also, so also the top is walking the talk, in this respect, so that we are aligned (toy producer) CSR manager :We get various input from our stakeholders (…) to make sure that we [have] looked into all the different aspects of CSR, so that it's not only something where we say, well I think we should do something in this area and this area and this area, and then maybe we had forgotten the most important. So, really also, to make a checklist, or to make a... Interviewer: So sort of a benchmark against...or... CSR manager: Not exactly benchmarking but more to have the list and say okay, what is important for our stakeholders, is that this and this and this, and because there are definitely, some of these issues that are less important also for our stakeholders based on the company that we are (toy producer) 2) Wide range of stakeholders Interviewer: Can you tell me something about who has an influence on how you deal with CSR, and what kind of issues you work with? CSR manager: Well, those who have an influence, I would say, are actually all our stakeholders because that's the way that we would like to work with it, to really listen to our stakeholders, internally and externally (…) (toy producer) 3) Proactive and dialogical approach we get input (…) from the different stakeholders, and (…) we do that in different ways. We have the possibility on our internet site (…) to...where (…) people interested in the company can enter in discussion at a blog. We have one to one Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 307 Exploring the Practice of CSR from a Corporate Communication Perspective meetings with NGO's for instance. We are discussing with our customers of course, and especially of course the biggest customers that we have like [company name] and [company name], and so on, and know what are they doing. We are reporting to them as well, some of them at least so that we also get a sense of what is it that they are interested in, what are they focusing on. We've had dialogues with our suppliers recently also to explain them about our code of conduct but also really to have a two way dialogue with them, so we do get input in various ways (toy producer) we‘re going out to our key customers but also broader out to about 4000 customers and ask for their needs and they've then given an input to that, we have then segmented the input trying to find out how do we then specifically support them, what are the issues that they feel are critical to their business. So there is a structured process for that, and engaging with them (shipping company) Discussion and Conclusion Although CSR is a widespread issue that has been along for a couple of decades, it is still addressed as a diverse and fluid concept. Thus, in response to the first part of the research question raised in the beginning of this paper (how do CSR managers motivate their corporations‘ engagement in CSR?) our findings suggest that the interviewed CSR managers do not share a clear and consistent motivation for engaging in CSR. Some of them frame CSR as a necessity, i.e. as an issue they have to engage in order to stay in business rather than a as a business opportunity to grab in order to develop and innovate their markets. The specific drivers mentioned by these interviewees include risk management and minimization, compliance, and stakeholder pressure. Other interviewees describe their CSR activities as a natural element of the corporation‘s identity, and as an element that has always been there or that follows naturally from the corporate identity and values. In such discourse CSR is not conceived of as something the corporation is pushed into but something that the corporation engages in because it wants to. Specific motivational elements in this discourse-type include congruence of CSR with corporate identity and values, CSR as the right thing to do, and wanting to contribute specific corporate know-how to solving global challenges. In response to the second part of the research question (how do the companies frame the role that the corporation‘s stakeholders play in their CSR activities?) we also see a mixed picture. Some corporations have a weak focus on their stakeholders, i.e. they take a reactive stance to stakeholders and don‘t involve them in their CSR activities unless they are pushed into doing so. Our results furthermore suggest that if corporations with a weak stakeholder focus seek stakeholder input, they focus on customers as dialogue partners, apparently disregarding other stakeholder groups (e.g. NGOs, politicians, journalists, etc) as potential interlocutors. However, other corporations have a much stronger focus on stakeholders. CSR managers from these companies explain that they approach their stakeholders proactively in order to become familiar with their stakeholders‘ views, needs and expectations. Contrary to corporations with a weaker stakeholder focus, these corporations thus value stakeholder input and seek dialogue not only with customers but with a wide range of stakeholders. Since stakeholder focus is a relative concept we expect that further research with a more solid empirical basis would show a distribution of corporations between the two extremes of the suggested continuum of stakeholder focus Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 308 Exploring the Practice of CSR from a Corporate Communication Perspective Further research is needed in order to establish whether correlations exist between discourse-types. One might hypothesize that corporations which express a strong stakeholder-focus would also be the ones that see CSR as a natural part of the corporation. Likewise one could imagine that corporations with a weak stakeholder focus are the ones that also see CSR as a necessity. Another issue for further research would be to investigate to which extent CSR managers‘ discourses embrace several positions (f.ex. extrinsic as well as intrinsic motives) at the same time, as it has been suggested by Du et al. 2010. Since the six corporations investigated in this study belong to different industrial sectors and are of different size in terms of market shares, number of employees, turnover, etc. we did not expect to draw a homogenous picture of the way the interviewed CSR managers conceive of and practice CSR. Nor did we expect them all to be pioneers in CSR just because they are members of a common CSR network. As mentioned in the introduction of our paper, CSR is both an unstable and contextual concept. So the question is whether the variations in conception and practices of CSR can be seen as representing different stages in a development process towards a sophisticated handling of CSR or as more stable positions/genuinely different approaches? Some of the not so advanced companies certainly have an ambition to become more competent in the field of CSR so their framing of CSR might mirror their current stage in a development process. We may conclude from our pilot study that CSR is conceived differently from one company to another. In at least some of the companies that our interviewees belong to, CSR seems to be addressed in a non-systematic and non-strategic way, rather than as a holistic corporate communication issue. In these companies CSR seems to be connected to inconsistent and fuzzy practices which is more an issue of ‖muddling through‖ than a question of strategic planning and goal orientation. The way some our interviewees frame CSR thus leaves us to conclude that although they belong to a CSR frontrunner group of companies in Denmark, some of the companies still have a long way to go, before CSR becomes an integrated part of their DNA, an issue of corporate communication and thus a competitive advantage that may turn CSR into a ‗business case‘. References Andriof, J., Waddock, S., Husted, B. and Rahman, S.R. (Eds.) (2003), Unfolding Stakeholder Thinking, Greenleaf Publishing, Sheffield. Blowfield, M. and A. Murray (2008). Corporate responsibility – a critical Introduction, Oxford University Press, Oxford. Carroll, A. B. (1999). ―Corporate social responsibility - evolution of a definitional construct‖. Business & Society, 38(3): 268-295. Carroll, A.B. and Shabana, K.M. (2010), ―The business case for corporate social responsibility: a review of concepts, research and practice‖, International Journal of Management Reviews, 12(1), 85-105. Christensen, L.T., Morsing, M. & Cheney, G. (2008). Corporate Communications. Conventions, Complexity, and Critique. London, Thousand Oaks, New Delhi: Sage Publications. Clark, C. E. (2000) ―Differences between public relations and corporate social responsibility: An analysis‖, Public Relations Review, 26(3), 363-380. Cornelissen, J. (2008), Corporate Communications: Theory and Practice, Sage, London. Dalsrud, A.: 2008, ―How corporate social responsibility is defined: an analysis of 37 definitions‟, Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management 15, 1- 13. Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 309 Exploring the Practice of CSR from a Corporate Communication Perspective Donaldson, T., & Preston, L. E. (1995). ―The stakeholder theory of the corporation: concepts, evidence, and implications‖. Academy of Management Review, 20(1): 65-91. Du, S., Bhattacharya, C.B. & Sen, S. (2010) ―Maximaizing business returns to corporate social responsibility (CSR): the role of CSR communication‖, International Journal of Management Reviews, 12(1), 8 – 19. European Commission (2001). ―Promoting a European Framework for Corporate Social Responsibility‖, Green Paper, European Commission, Brussels. Friedman, M. 81970). ―The Social Responsibility of Business is to Increase its Profits‟, The New York Times, 13 September 1970. Galbreath, J. (2009). ―Building corporate social responsibility into strategy‖. European Business Review, 21(2): 109-127. Hatch, M.J. and Schultz, M. (2001). ―Are the strategic stars aligned for your corporate brand?‖, Harvard Business Review (February): 128-134. Lindgreen, Adam; Swaen, Valérie; Maon, François (2009). ‖Introduction: Corporate Social Responsibility Implementation‖, Journal of Business Ethics 85: 251-256. Maon, F., Lindgreen, A., and Swaen, V. (2010), ―Organizational stages and cultural phases: a critical review and a consolidative model of corporate social responsibility development‖, International Journal of Management Reviews, 12(1), 20-38. Matten, D. and Crane, A. (2005). ―Corporate citizenship: towards an extended theoretical conceptualization‖, Academy of Management Review, 30 (1), 166-179. Matten, C. and Moon, J. (2008). ―Implicit and explicit CR: a conceptual framework for a comparative understanding of corporate social responsibility‖, Academy of Management Review., 23(2), 40424. Maingan, I. & Ferrell, O.C. (2004). ―Corporate Social Responsibility and Marketing: An Integrative Framework‖, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 32(1), 3-19.Morsing, M. and Schultz, M. (2006). ―Corporate social responsibility communication: stakeholder information, response and involvement strategies‖. Business Ethics: a European Review, 15(4), 323-338. Morsing, M., Schultz, M. and Nielsen, K. (2008). ―The ‗Catch 22‘ of communicating CSR: findings from a Danish study‖, Journal of Marketing Communications, 14/2), 97-111. Nielsen, A.E.; Thomsen, C. (2009). ―Investigating CSR communication in SMEs: a case study among Danish middle managers‖. Business Ethics: An European Review. 18(1): 83-93. Nielsen, Anne Ellerup & Thomsen, Christa (2011). “Sustainable Development: The Role of Network Communication”, Corporate Social Responsibility & Environmental Management , 18, 1-10. Pollach, I., Johansen, T. S., Nielsen, A. E. & Thomsen, C. (2011). ―The Integration of CSR into Corporate Communication in Large European Companies‖, the Journal of Communication Management (in print) Porter, M.E.; Kramer, M.R. (2006). ‖Strategy and Society: The Link Between Competitive Advantage and Corporate Social Responsibility‖. Harvard Business Review, 84 (12), 78-92. Scharp, Z. & Zaidman (2010). ―Strategization of CSR‖, Journal of Business Ethics, 93, 51-71. Schultz, M. & Hatch, M. J. (2001) ―Bringing the corporation into corporate branding‖, European Journal of Marketing, 37(7/8), 1041-1064. Van Marrewijk M. (2003). ―Concepts and definitions of CSR and corporate sustainability: between agency and communion‖. Journal of Business Ethics, 44, 95–105. Van Riel, C.B.M. (1995). Principles of Corporate Communication, Prentice-Hall, Harlow. Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 310 The Extent and Patterns of Multi-Stakeholder Communications in Annual Report Letters Roger W. Hutt W.P. Carey School of Business/Arizona State University, USA [email protected] Purpose – The purpose of the study was to find out if CEOs use multi-stakeholder communications in their annual report letters and to describe any patterns observed in those communications. Approach – Annual report letters of the ten largest U.S. companies were examined using content and text analysis procedures Findings – CEOs made little use of multi-stakeholder communications in their annual letters. Some variations were found among the sample companies‘ letters, including differences in word counts, reading ease scores, and number of word types. Research implications – A small sample of companies and one medium of communication were used in carrying out the study. Increasing the sample size, the array of industries represented, and the variety of media may yield more robust results. Practical implications – Suggestions for writing annual report letters for a multi-stakeholder audience are offered. Keywords – Annual report letters, Chief executives, Corporate communication, Multi-stakeholder approach, Text analysis Paper type – Case study Groups and individual affecting or who are affected by a firm are its stakeholders (Freeman, 1984). Stakeholders can pave the way and make it easier to execute a strategy. They can also create resistance and make it difficult or impossible for the firm to realize its mission. Establishing communication with them is critical and is one of the CEOs major responsibilities. Stakeholders abound. It would be a rare firm, indeed, where only one relevant stakeholder group was identified. Identifying the target groups from among the many possibilities is an essential prelude to communication. One way CEOs carry out this communication task is to address, specifically, the interests and needs of each individual stakeholder group. Another way, the multi-stakeholder approach, involves finding the commonalities in behaviors and interests among a complete set of stakeholders and then communicating to them as one audience. Customers, suppliers, employees, communities, and financiers --- all those in the value creation process --would typically comprise that set. This study examines both of these ways of viewing and communicating with multiple stakeholders through annual report letters. Descriptions of stakeholder groups The corporation‘s role as a social institution, with responsibilities extending beyond its shareholders, has been discussed in the management literature for decades (Davis, 1960; Drucker, 1946). The term has attracted the attention of an increasingly larger set of interested parties and Conference on Corproate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 311 The Extent and Patterns of Multi-Stakeholder Communications in Annual Report Letters volumes have been written about it. Some of the different ways of thinking about and describing stakeholders are: Normative classification, in which the extent of agreement is not considered: People or other entities were categorized normatively into stakeholder groups and were separated from each other by neat, rigid boundaries. Employees, customers, suppliers, and communities and other groupings became commonplace. The classification scheme was useful to firms, particularly when trying to understand and describe how various constituencies (i.e., stakeholders) might react to a particular corporate initiative. A firm‘s decision to use only recycled materials in the manufacturing process may delight environmentalists. The same decision might raise the ire of shareholders fearing reduced dividends. Normative classification, in which agreement is not assumed: It became clear to some observers that normative assignment to a group is convenient but does not ensure that members agree on the pertinent issues. Investors, for example, may not agree with each other and different employees will have different needs. From the above example, just because they are environmentalists does not necessarily mean that all in that group will be as supportive of the initiative. People may not even know they are identified with a particular stakeholder group. Multiple-roles: People and groups, depending on their roles, can occupy more than one stakeholder classification at the same time. Boundaries between groups have blurred as corporate relationships with stakeholders have grown more complex (Goodman, 2006; McVea and Freeman, 2005). Employees might also be shareholders. In this role they might view a corporate cost-cutting proposal differently than shareholders who are not employees. Multi-stakeholder approach: Attention is paid to the commonalities rather than the differences among a complete set of stakeholder groups. A complete set is a collection of readily-identifiable stakeholders involved in the entire value creation process (Freeman, Harrison, and Wicks, 2007). At a minimum customers, suppliers, employees, communities, and financiers are included. This set might be somewhat different in different organizations or at different times in an organization‘s life cycle, but most likely only slightly different. Whatever the case, the organization‘s commitment and communication must take the interests of all members of the complete set into consideration. The approach resembles Adam Smith‘s ideas of producing the greatest good for the greatest number in society (Freeman et. al., 2007). Communicating with multi-stakeholders is a matter of finding and understanding the commonalities that appeal to all relevant groups simultaneously. Annual report letters Annual report letters have become a multi-objective, multi-audience medium of corporate communication and could be considered elements of the mass media (Anderson and Imperia, 1992). They are often directed to large audiences as is the case of Procter and Gamble (see Table 1) with more than two million stockholders. And they deliver their messages without personal contact or immediate feedback. As Bowman (1984) observed, CEOs consider annual reports to be a major communication channel to reach many constituencies. Objectives include communicating the company‘s philosophy and its personality; announcing new product introductions, executive appointments and resignations; justifying mergers Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 312 The Extent and Patterns of Multi-Stakeholder Communications in Annual Report Letters and acquisitions; and reporting earnings, dividends, and new stock issues. Significant, high-profile topics are typically introduced by the CEO in the letter accompanying the report, with further details included elsewhere in the report. Audiences include stockholders, for whom the report was originally intended, as well a variety of others including potential customers, prospective investors, and financial analysts to name just a few. Who actually wrote the letter can make a difference when examining them down to the level of the actual words used and their frequency. Are they written solely by the CEO, by the staff, or a combination of the two? Without answering the question directly, Bowman (1984) observed that CEOs typically provide the outline for the report‘s contents followed by proofreading and changes. It is assumed in this study that the letters were written by CEOs. CEOs‘ use of multi-stakeholder approaches in communicating is examined in this paper. Patterns discerned in the approaches will be noted. Research questions The contents of CEOs‘ annual report letters for ten of the world‘s largest corporations were analyzed. The specific research questions addressed were: 1. Do CEOs recognize more than one group of stakeholders in their annual report letters? 2. To what extent do CEOs use a multi-stakeholder approach in corporate communications? 3. What patterns, if any, are noticeable when CEOs communicate with more than one stakeholder group, but outside the parameters of the multi-stakeholder approach? Methodology The sample in the study, as shown in Table 1, consisted of the ten largest U. S. companies in 2009, ranked according to market value, publishing an annual report letter. Market value or capitalization is determined by multiplying the per share stock price by the number of shares of stock outstanding. Apple Inc., which would have ranked fifth, is not included in the sample because the company does not publish an annual report letter. IBM, which would have ranked eleventh, was added to round out the list. Table 1 also includes shareholder and employee numbers for each company. Whole Foods Market was the model against which sample companies were compared. Its selection was based on the company‘s identification by R. Edward Freeman and his colleagues as ―a prime example of this multi-stakeholder approach‖ (Freeman et al., 2007) and not because it was comparable on any significant measures. The company‘s market value (see Table 1) at $6.23 billion is considerably smaller than IBM‘s, the smallest firm by that measure in the sample. With 45,300 employees and 1,547 shareholders, Whole Foods is smaller than all but one sample firm, Google, where the comparable numbers are 19,835 and 2,811 respectively. Content analysis was used to determine the presence of certain words, concepts, themes, phrases, characters, or sentences within the annual report letters. Findings were quantified in an objective manner; text was organized into manageable categories or themes. The existence of themes was established and the number of occurrences within the text was recorded. The results are then used to make inferences about the text or its author. For the research questions, text analysis was aided by AntConc (Anthony, 2007) text analysis software which was used to scan the letters. Referred to herein as individual analysis, Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 313 The Extent and Patterns of Multi-Stakeholder Communications in Annual Report Letters comparisons were made between companies one at a time and Whole Foods. Keywords or references were ordered according to Keyness, indicating statistical significance of their frequency in target files compared to the corpus. The statistical measure used to assess Keyness is log likelihood where G 2 is the value calculated. References to groups, organizations, and individuals reaching statistical significance at p < 0.01 or p < 0.05 are considered stakeholders (Hutt, 2010). For the second research question, stakeholders previously identified were compared to Freeman‘s minimum list for a multi-stakeholder approach: customers, suppliers, employees, communities, and financiers (2007). The Flesch Reading Ease measure was also used (2011). TABLE 1. Ten Largest U.S. Companies in 2009, in Market Value, with an Annual Report Letter* Company Mkt. Value ($bil) Shareholders** Employees** ExxonMobil 308.77 525,529 80,700 Microsoft 254.52 135,568 89,000 Wal-Mart Stores 205.37 292,983 2,100,000 Berkshire 190.86 27,900 222,000 Hathaway Procter & Gamble 184.47 2,311,000 127,000 Johnson & Johnson 174.90 185,121 115,500 General Electric 169.65 598,000 304,900 Google 169.38 2,811 19,835 Bank of America 167.63 257,307 284,000 IBM 167.01 543,807 437,776 Sample Range: 167.01 to 308.77 Range: 2,811 to 2,311,000 Range: 19,835 to 2,100,000- Med: 179.69 Med.: 275,145 Med.: 174,500 Whole Foods 6.23 1,547 45,300 * Retrieved January 11, 2011 from http://www.forbes.com/lists. Apple Inc., which would have ranked fifth, is not included on this list because it does not publish an annual report letter. IBM, which would have ranked eleventh, was added to round out the list. ** Retrieved January 11, 2011 from www.mergentonline.com. Flesch scores range from 0 to 100; the higher the number the easier the text is to read. College graduates should be able to understand text with scores from 0.0 to 30.0. Eighth and ninth graders find text easy to understand when scores are in the 60.0 to 70.0 range. For this study a ten point range bracketing the Whole Foods, because it‘s the model, score of 50.6 was used. Therefore, 45.6 to 55.6 was used as the standard range (neither difficult nor easy) for purposes of the analysis. Finally, Kendall‘s Tau was used to compute correlations and determine the strength of relationships between variables. Results and Discussion Annual report letters in the study exhibit some noticeable contrasts among the companies. Word counts ranged from 859 to 10,866, with a median of 2132.5 for the ten firms. A Kendall‘s Tau = -0.24 correlation statistic indicates a weak negative relationship between firm size and word count; that is, the larger the firm the fewer the words. Large ranges were also observed in other measures, such as 22.3 to 65.1 in Flesch Reading Ease scores. The spread in word types was Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 314 The Extent and Patterns of Multi-Stakeholder Communications in Annual Report Letters from 406 to 2652. Unlike any of those in the sample, the salutation of the Whole Foods Market‘s 2009 annual report letter was ―Dear Fellow Stakeholders.‖ Berkshire Hathaway Inc. was included in the study because it is the fifth largest U.S. firm based on market value. The company‘s letter stands apart from the others in the sample. Written by Warren Buffett, it is one of the best-read, and most-quoted, and most-anticipated documents each year. How popular is the letter? The banner across the top of the Business & Finance section of The Wall Street Journal included Buffett‘s photo with the phrase ―Online Today: Buffett‘s Annual Letter at WSJ.com‖ (2011). It is also the longest. Containing more than ten thousand words (see Table 2), it is five times larger than the median. Buffett is known for his successful investing and his billionaire status. He is also known for his writing ability, a way of making ordinary people think they, too, could learn the investing principles he uses. Buffett‘s letter attracts a following far beyond the shareholder ranks of the company. TABLE 2. Data from Annual Report Letter Analysis Companies Flesch Word Types Word Count Reading Ease in Letter ExxonMobil Microsoft Wal-Mart Berkshire Hathaway Procter & Gamble Johnson & Johnson General Electric Google Bank of America IBM Sample companies 38.6 22.3 64.1 55.4 406 721 529 2652 859 1,984 1,181 10,866 47.3% 36.3% 44.8% 24.4% References to Complete List* 1 1 1 2 51.7 740 2,187 33.8% 1 40.3 1277 3,832 33.3% 1 45.4 1275 4,797 26.6% 0 65.1 54.4 1013 586 3,232 1,521 31.3% 38.5% 1 0 40.6 Range: 22.3 to 65.1 Med.: 48.55 Whole Foods 50.6 Note: See Table 3 for the complete list. 1085 Range: 406 to 2652 Med.: 876.5 819 3,112 Range: 859 to 10,866 Med.: 2,132.5 2078 Word types/Word count 34.9% Range: 24.4% to 47.3% Med.: 34.4% 39.4% 1 3 The analysis of the ten companies‘ annual report letters found that CEOs recognized more than one group of stakeholders as shown in Table 3. Beyond merely acknowledging stakeholder groups, however, there is a need to address a complete set of stakeholders, readily identifiable, with a direct and vital interest in the firm‘s value creation process. The purpose is to satisfy multiple stakeholders simultaneously rather than summing initiatives for individual stakeholder groups. Thus, finding commonalities for appealing to and communicating with multiple stakeholders is important. As shown in Table 3, one company‘s letter referred to two stakeholder groups in the complete set, seven referred to one of the set, and two made no references at all. Those references did not confirm a multi-stakeholder approach in their corporate communications. Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 315 The Extent and Patterns of Multi-Stakeholder Communications in Annual Report Letters TABLE 3. Stakeholders Identified in Sample Companies Stakeholders* ExxonMobil industry, shareholders Microsoft industry, companies, employees, students Wal-Mart Stores associates Berkshire Hathaway businesses, companies, industry Procter & Gamble consumers Johnson & Johnson consumers General Electric businesses, companies Google users Bank of America clients, industry IBM clients, industry *Stakeholders identified were significant at p < 0.01 or p < 0.05. Stakeholder references in bold are a form of those found in the complete list. Reading ease measures and word type counts provide additional ways of looking at the multi-stakeholder approach. They also help frame the discussion of commonalities as well. This study uses 45.6 to 55.6 on the Flesch scale as the standard range (neither difficult nor easy). The assumption is that text in that range would be read with ease by the diverse group of stakeholders. Higher numbers indicate that the text is easier to read. Three companies were within that range as shown in Table 2, while two were above and three were below. This may indicate that the annual report letters were not written with multi-stakeholders in mind. Again, the point is that the target audience is comprised of a diverse and complete set of stakeholders. If it‘s too easy to read it may not be capable of addressing financial, technical, or related issues. If it‘s too hard it may cause some readers to skip over important content. Word types offer another method of analysis within the context of multi-stakeholders. Each uniquely different or separate word according to AntConc is a word type. A generic message for a mass audience, it is assumed, would contain fewer word types while one directed to a narrowly-defined group might be filled with jargon and technical language; that is, contain many word types. As shown in Table 2, the number of word types ranges from 406 to 2652.5, with a median of 876.5 words. Whole Foods Market‘s letter contained 819 words. Additional information can be gleaned from the data when combined with word counts to calculate word types as a percentage of word count also in Table 2. Whole Foods as the model is rated at 39.4 percent while the median for the sample is 34.4 percent. That comparison may suggest that the sample firm‘s letters may contain too few word types for addressing multi-stakeholders. More variation among groups in terminology used could be expected given that a complete set consists of customers, suppliers, employees, communities, and financiers. A multi-stakeholder approach targets a complete or minimum set of stakeholders for communication. In contrast, communicating with multiple stakeholders simply means that more than one stakeholder is referred to in communications. Yet CEOs seem to keep those acknowledgements to a minimum. For ExxonMobil it‘s the industry and shareholders, for Procter & Gamble it‘s the consumers, and for Wal-Mart it‘s associates (employees). ExxonMobil, the largest in market value had the lowest Flesch Reading Ease score, the smallest word count, and the highest ratio of word types to word count. Procter & Gamble had the largest number of shareholders, a reading ease score in the standard range, and a word count very close to the median. Wal-Mart had the largest number of employees, the highest reading ease score, and a letter with a word count well below the median. CEOs mention relatively few stakeholders to a level of significance in their letters. The possibility that they are addressing individual stakeholder groups through media other than annual report letters should be considered. Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 316 The Extent and Patterns of Multi-Stakeholder Communications in Annual Report Letters Summary and Conclusions Annual report letters have been described as a multi-audience medium of corporate communication. Evidence to support that claim, however, was not found in the present study. Even though the letters may have been widely-read, they appear to be directed to a narrowly-defined audience. A number of stakeholders were acknowledged, but in most cases only one was mentioned with significant frequency. The lack of recognition of more than one group also means that the study‘s CEOs were not using the multi-stakeholder approach. This would have required finding commonalities in behaviors and interests among customers, suppliers, employees, communities, and financiers and then communicating to them as one audience. Clearly, something they were not doing. Two companies did not give significant recognition to any of the five stakeholder groups, and none of the companies recognized suppliers or communities. CEOs may have used the multi-stakeholder approach in conjunction with multiple channels of communication, and it‘s possible that they did. However, that was not a focus of the study. A recommendation of the study is that annual report letters should be focused on the broader audience relying on it for information and knowledge about the company. Mostly, this involves writing to consumers, suppliers, communities, employees, and financiers in the one letter. To be most effective, the writer should refer frequently to the individual groups while also acknowledging what they have in common. Future research on the topic should include the redesign and replication of this study to produce more robust results. The sample size should be increased, the number of different industries should be expanded, and communication channels should be added to the single medium (i.e., annual report letters) used in the present study. More needs to be known about how different stakeholder groups relate to each other as members of a complete set. Also, how the complete set of stakeholders interacts with the company should be studied. Finally, the firm‘s growth, development, and changes in its environment are sure to impact its stakeholders. How these forces affect the multi-stakeholder approach are of particular interest and importance. References Anderson, C. and Imperia, G. (1992), ―The Corporate Annual Report: A Photo Analysis of Male and Female Portrayals‖, The Journal of Business Communication, 29 (2), 113-128 Anthony, L. (2007), AntConc 3.2.1w (Windows). Retrieved November 15, 2010 from http://www.antlab.sci.waseda.ac.jp/antconc_index.html Bowman, E. (1984), ―Content analysis of annual reports for corporate strategy and risk‖, Interfaces, Vol. 14, No. 3, pp. 61-71 Davis, K. (1960), Can business afford to ignore its social responsibilities? California Management Review, 2 (3), 70-6 Drucker, P. (1946), Concept of the corporation. New York: John Day and Co. The Flesch Reading Ease Readability Formula. (2011). Retrieved February 24, 2011 from http://www.readabilityformulas.com/flesch-reading-ease-readability-formula.php Forbes (2011), ―The Global 2000,‖ Retrieved Jan 11, 2010 from http://www.forbes.com/lists. Freeman, R. (1984), Strategic Management: A Stakeholder Approach. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 46 Freeman, R., Harrison, J. and Wicks, A. (2007), Managing for Stakeholders: Survival, Reputation, and Success, Yale University press, New haven, CT. Goodman, M. (2006), ―Corporate communication practice and pedagogy at the dawn of the new millennium,‖ Corporate Communications: An International Journal, 11, pp. 196-213. Hutt, R. (2010), Identifying and mapping stakeholders: an industry case study. Corporate Communications: An International Journal, 15, 181-191. Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 317 The Extent and Patterns of Multi-Stakeholder Communications in Annual Report Letters McVea, J. & Freeman, R. (2005), ―A names-and-faces approach to stakeholder management: how focusing on stakeholders as individuals can bring ethics and entrepreneurial strategy together‖, Journal of Management Inquiry, 14, 57-69 Mergent (2011), Mergent online database. Retrieved January 11, 2011 from www.mergentonline.com The Wall Street Journal (2011), February 26-27, 2011, page B1. Conference on Corparate Communication Proceedings 2011 Page 318 The Function and Roles of Public Relations (and Promotion) Offices of
