Communicating Strategically

Communicating Strategically

Communication strategically starts of with various theories of Communication.Communication theories can be traced back to ancient Greece where it was referred to as rhetoric.Aristotle defines composition of speech into three parts: the speaker ,the subject and the person whom its addressed to.Strategic communications are the life blood of any corporate today. We all have seen example of how companies redeem, maintain/sustain, build and advocate to its constituencies. It rests with the company's communications team or department to keep in mind its vision and mission whenever communication to any of its constituents. Lasswell, Shannon & Weaver, Schramm, Westley & MacLean and Kincaid are some of the authors of communication models. All these models have three elements in common, which are:

1. Source

2. Medium of transfer

3. Destination

Shannon & Weaver's model introduced the concept of noise, which can be either physical or mental. Schramm had three variants of his model and also described feedback in his third model.

Whether an organization is trying to augment its reputation through corporate advertising or to communicate effectively with employees , consistent communication strategy is critical. Based on Aristotle model is slightly modified to suit the corporate structure. The communication structure is as follows
1) The organization.
2) Constituency.
3) Messages.


Setting an effective Organization Strategy:
The three subsets of an organization strategy include:-
1) Determining the objectives
2) Deciding what resources are available for achieving those objectives
3) Diagnosing the organizations reputation.

Changing Environment for Business

Changing Environment for Business


The Changing Environment for Business is one of the widely discussed topics in international and domestic Business. This chapter starts off saying that Business had never had a positive image in the United States. Big Business powerhouses like the Carnegies, Mellons and Rockfellers were known as “robber barons” because they were perceived by the public as corrupt business men who looked at their own vested interest rather than the good of the general public.
The 1920’s were exemplified by a rising stock market which created a further divide between the rich and the middle-class which lead to unstable economic conditions and finally lead to the great depression in 1929 when the stock market collapsed .This was not a good time for business and American citizens as well. By the mid-1940’s however, business started rebuilding from the depression and this stage was called as the “golden age” when Kennedy was the president of the United States . Over the next 30 years the American citizens were pretty happy and satisfied as they believed that business’s maintained a balance between profits and public welfare. Towards the end of the war in Vietnam, a rise in radicalism in America ignited the beginning for a long deterioration of trust in institutions .Later towards the end of the 20th century the economical boom restored the American faith in Business against what it was in the 1960’s.By the turn of the 20th century there was a wide gap between the company executes and the frontline workers because of the large differences in the pay packages each of them received.
Corporate fraud was becoming a common story in newspapers and was a highlight of Television shows as the media was playing a crucial role in putting light into corporate fraud and scandals, not only the media even Hollywood added to their woe’s by making movies related to such scandals and fraud. One famous movie was Wall Street which depicted the great scandals which took place in the stock market.

Global Village

Coming to the concept of the concept of global village Canadian Philosopher Marshall McLuhan quoted " The creation of a world is so interwoven by shared knowledge that it became a "Global Village" . I agree with Marshall because now business is no longer limited to a particular nation; with the increase in globalization and the decrease in trade barriers between countries its essential for these global leader to communicate not only their ideas but strategies appropriately before any damage is done.


Dealing with Competition

Dealing and trying to compete in a changing environment is essential because if you do not compete you will not exist. Companies face attacks from several groups and issues may be so small but the impact it makes tends to create waves all over the world .Recognizing the changing environment is a key strength that a modern day managers need to posses in order to compete successfully.

Personal Experience:
One example that I can think of is McDonald’s as they quickly realized that buggers filled with Beef would never sell in India as it’s a predominantly a Hindu nation who believe that Cows are holy. So McDonald’s smartly revamped its American menu to suit the local needs of Indian customers by serving chicken and mutton filled burger’s along with a host of vegetarian dishes.

Corporate Communication connected to strategy.

After seeing various examples in this chapter its evident that corporate communication should be strongly linked to company’s overall vision and strategy. Of late its common for head of corporate communication to report directly to the CEO.I personally feel this is a good idea as there are fewer channels for communicating the company’s strategy and so avoids ambiguity.