BUSN3370 EXAM NOTES
SECTION A
LOBBYING
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Lobbying is the process of exerting influence on governments so that something will alter or bring about change.
Since 2008, lobbyists in Australia have been bound by a code of conduct.
o (Dept. Prime Minister & Cabinet)
o “For the purposes of the Register of Lobbyists, a lobbyist is any person, company or organisation who conducts
lobbying activities on behalf of a third-party client or whose employees conduct lobbying activities on behalf of
a third-party client.”
REPUTATION MANAGEMENT
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Reputation – 3 dominant conceptualisations:
o Reputation consists of familiarity with the organisation (being known)
o Beliefs about what to expect from the organisation in the future (known for something)
o Impressions about the organisation’s favourability.
Reputation is rooted in the organisation’s historical behaviour and associations but can be abruptly changed if new
information about the organisation’s past behaviour comes to light or if the organisation’s latest behaviours or
associations are jarring to observers.
An organisation’s reputation, and changes in its reputation, influences the organisation’s relationships with its
stakeholders.
Needs to be built and sustained for the organisation.
Corporate reputation is the perceptual (in the minds of others) representation of a company’s past actions and future
prospects that describes the firm’s overall appeal to its key constituents when compared to other leading rivals.
BEING KNOWN
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Organisational reputation is stronger if awareness of the firm is broader and if perceivers have a more distinctive
perceptual representation of the firm, irrespective of judgement or evaluation.
PROMINANCE – I.E., widely recognised:
o The level of awareness that the firm has been able to develop for itself.
o The way key external stakeholder groups or other interested parties actually conceptualise the organisation.
BEING KNOWN FOR SOMETHING
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Reputation entails perceptions that the firm has a particular attribute of interest or value to the perceiver.
An organisation has a reputation for something, such as having high quality products or being an aggressive price
predator.
Organisational reputation as “perceived quality”, meaning the degree to which stakeholders evaluate an organisation
positively on a specific attribute, such as ability to produce quality products.
The result of judgements with respect to “the firm’s demonstrated ability to create value.
FAVOURABILITY
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Esteem, regard in which the firm is held, and how attractive the firm is.
Generalised favourability conceptualisation entails perceiver judgements about the firm that are based on aggregated
multiple organisational attributes rather than being dependent on a given audience’s expectations for specific
organisation outcomes.
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The nonspecific evaluative impressions of the organisation as emanating from observers’ collective judgements of a
corporation based on assessments of the financial, social, and environmental impacts attributed to the corporation
over time.
REPUTATION – INTANGIBLE
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Reputation as an organisational asset or, more specifically, as an intangible organisational asset.
A reputation is a snapshot that reconciles the multiple images of a company held by all of its constituencies.
Reputation is objectively held by the organisation, even if it is, at least in part, subjectively created through the
cognitions and evaluations of third parties (i.e., held as a firm characteristic which is objective – a firm could also have
negative outcomes as well as positive!)
IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTITIONERS?
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To measure or manage organisational reputation:
o Determine who matters to the organisation’s reputation measurement and management.
o Who is the organisation’s current and potential stakeholders, and why?
o Different answers to that question will have dramatic implications for the organisation’s reputation along its
three dimensions.
BRAND CONNECTIONS WITH REPUTATION
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Brand equity = brand awareness and brand reputation
o So, reputation contributes to brand equity.
Reputation only has meaning if enough stakeholders have brand awareness.
Brand equity can contribute to shareholder values, since high brand equity is recognised by
shareholders/investors/media/government/employees as helping build ‘value’ (revenue, human capital, resources etc.)
IMAGE MANAGEMENT
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Branding is one aspect of corporate identity.
Positive corporate identity can contribute significantly to reputation.
Organisational identity (who we are) is typically defined as: “the set of beliefs shared by top managers and stakeholders
about the central, enduring and distinctive characteristics of an organisation”.
Shared organisational identity is a basis for processes of mutual social influence which allow people to coordinate their
behaviours in ways that lead to concerted social actions and collective products.
This is a little more complex than organisational brand (‘identifier’).
‘Brand as a vehicle of meaning’ = systematic efforts from top management to include and shape frames of references,
norms, and values among organisational members.
CORPORATE IDENTITY CHALLENGES
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New organisations need to establish corporate identity (takes time to be recognised and embedded with stakeholders).
Corporate identity makeovers sometimes needed to keep awareness and relevance with stakeholders.
Branding agencies can assist with corporate identify establishment and makeovers.
CORPORATE VISUAL IDE NTITY
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Corporate Visual Identity (CVI) plays a significant role in the way organisations present to internal and to external
stakeholders.
Elements of a CVI are:
o Corporate name
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o Logo
o Colour palette
o Font type
o Corporate slogan or tagline
o Symbols.
Applications: stationary, printed matter (brochures and leaflets), advertisements, websites, vehicles, buildings, and
corporate clothing.
Guidelines must result in a consistent set of visual cues that express the essence of an organisation.
CVI has positive effect on awareness of advertising, recruitment, familiarity with the organisation and its
goods/services, goodwill, sales, and market share.
CVI CONTRIBUTION TO REPUTATION
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CVI contributes to reputation using 5 reputation dimensions:
o Visibility
o Distinctiveness
o Transparency
o Authenticity
o Consistency
CORPORATE VISUAL IDENTITY FUNCTIONS
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CVI has several organisational functions:
o Provides symbolic power.
o Provides visibility/recognition.
o Expresses structure.
o Enhances employee’s identification with the organisation.
STRATEGIC MESSAGING AND CONTENT PLATFORMS
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Reputation-vision gap forms the basis for the formulation of a strategic intent.
Strategic intent is translated into strategic messages – content platforms.
Themed messages are direct ‘translations’ of strategic intent.
Emphasis is on an aspect of the organisation – an achievement, capability, or value.
STAGES IN FORMULATING THE CONTENT OF A COMMUNICATION STRATEGY
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Messaging starts from an organisation-wide assessment of their reputation in light of its vision at a particular point in
time.
What happens next is that the organisations strategic intent gets translated into strategic messages – content platforms
– which are designed to change or reinforce stakeholder perceptions in line with the vision of the organisations.
Themed messages are developed to transmit to stakeholders – that can emphasise an aspect of the organisation – that
the organisation wants to become associated with in the minds of the stakeholder group.
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The message theme guides the style of message.
MESSAGE STYLES
RATIONAL MESSAGE STYLES
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A superiority claim based on actual accomplishments or delivered benefits by the organisation.
Used when the point of difference cannot be matched by competitors.
Has a functional orientation.
Content = informational.
SYMBOLIC ASSOCIATION MESSAGE STYLES
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Based on psychological differentiation through symbolic association.
Used for organisations where differences are difficult to develop or easily duplicated. Also used for messages in the
areas of CSR or social capital that are difficult to communicate.
Content = transformational – uses imaging through association with culturally shared and recognised values and
symbols e.g., the way an organisation links themselves through sponsoring to values associated with a sport of certain
cause.
EMOTIONAL MESSAGE STYLES
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Attempts to provoke involvement and positive reactions through a reference to a positive or negative emotions.
Use depends on perceived authenticity of the professed emotion and relevance of the emotion to stakeholders.
Appeals to specific emotions e.g., romance, nostalgia, excitement, joy, fear, guilt, disgust, regret.
GENERIC MESSAGE STYLES
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A straight claim about industry or cause with no superior claims
Used when a company is dominant in the industry or has a monopoly.
Content = stimulates demand for the product or raises awareness of the cause.
PRE-EMPTIVE MESSAGE STYLES
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A generic claim with a suggestion of superiority
Used to allow a company to take position on an issue connected that industry.
Content = a claim of industry wide leadership on a relevant issues or capability.
POLITICAL CAMPAIGNS
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Public relations strategy and communications helps frame issues campaigns and election campaigns.
General public can be passive or active recipients of campaigns.
‘Active recipients’ are the ones mobilised to take actions (donate, protest, attend rallies, write emails, post in social
media etc.)
With elections, ultimate action is to vote!
Political issues and campaigns may involve multiple stakeholders.
Election issues and campaigns involve parties, candidates, media, and voters.
Political actors need to project that they are:
o Dynamic and responsive
o Able to read the interests of recipients/voters.
o In touch with the issue/s.
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o Highly personable.
Political actors effectively need to be branded.
Rituals and symbols can be used as tools of influence and persuasion.
STAGES OF POLITICAL CAMPAIGN
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Preliminary
o Developing the campaign platform – issues the candidates supports, what and who are they representing.
Nomination
o Interested in the level of media coverage received, informs the electorate.
Attack
o Mobilisation against opponents
Regroup & Deliver
o Undertaking PR evaluation process on the operational roll out of the campaign and the end result of it.
In PR, terms need to consider:
o Context
o Strategic objectives
o Channels of communication
o Impact of messages on stakeholders.
Remember: public relations work in conjunction with political campaign advertising.
CAMPAIGNS NEED TO FACTOR IN PUBLIC SENTIMENT
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Corporate public relations specialists in designing campaigns need to consider the following:
o Level of public interest in public affairs.
o Amount of information and knowledge the public possess.
o Prevailing ethical standards among the public.
o Ability of the public to observe accurately/draw conclusions.
o Engage in communication and discussion within the public.
o Extent to which the public consider community interests.
CAMPAIGNS NEED TO WORK WITH MEDIA
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Research how media frames campaigns and current issues.
Use different media for different issues.
Use controlled and uncontrolled media.
Analyse different media using content or textual analysis.
TONE OF THE CAMPAIGN
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Tone – a measure of the positives or negatives of the campaign.
Based on:
o Issues acceptance
o Education about the issue
o Image of the issue
o Media coverage of the issue
o Public perception of the issue
EVALUATION OF POLITICAL COMMUNICATION
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Formative
o Identifies and assesses the motivation for the existence of the campaign.
o All activities, the extent of the campaign.
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Process:
o Content and textual analysis of all media matter
Summative:
o Was the campaign adequately planned?
o Did we reach all stakeholders?
o Did we reach the objectives we set?
o Did the campaign fall within budget?
DEFINING AN ISSUE
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An issue often involves a matter that is in contention with another party such as:
o Activists
o Consumers
o Publics
Usually requires decisive action to maintain reputation.
A concern about the organisation’s decision and/or operations.
May also involve a point of conflict in opinions and judgements regarding those decisions and operations.
An unsettled matter which is ready for a decision.
Issues management = a specific management function that seeks to identify potential, emerging, or actual trends,
concerns, or issues likely to affect an organisation and its key publics = proactive.
Issues analysis:
o Describe the issue and develop a definition.
o List all stakeholders/publics affected by the issue.
o Decide on the possible timing and impact of the issue for the company.
o Provide the resources to undertake a thorough analysis of the issue.
THE DEVELOPMENT OF AN ISSUE INTO A CRISIS
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This is where practitioners can track an issue as it evolves into a crisis.
Issues send signals and if we don’t pick up on those signals early on – as in the latent or active stages as an issue
intensifies an organisation is more at risk of heading into a crisis.
FOUR KEY FUNCTIONS FOR ISSUES MANAGEMENT
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Anticipation and analysis of issues
Development of the organisational position on the issues
Identification of the key publics and those whose support is needed for the public policy issues.
Identification of the desired behaviours of the key publics.
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ISSUE IDENTIFICATION AND ANALYSIS
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Need to consider:
o Likelihood of triggering government action
o Likelihood of impacting public opinion
o Likelihood of the issue continuing
o Ability of the organisation to influence its resolution.
o Key stakeholder groups and publics that are involved with the issue.
ISSUE-SPECIFIC RESPONSE STRATEGIES
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Choice of strategy often depends on:
o The intensity of the issue.
o The importance of an issue to the organisation’s stakeholder groups.
o The values and beliefs of managers in an organisation.
Buffering strategy: an attempt to ‘stonewall the issue’ and delay its development.
Bridging strategy involves organisations being open to change and recognising the issue and its inevitability.
Advocacy strategy: an attempt to try to change stakeholder expectations and public opinions on an issue through issue
campaigns and lobbying.
Thought leadership: being proactive.
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SECTION B
KEY CHARACTERISTICS OF CRISES
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After an issue has become ‘active’, it may increase the pressure on an organisation to do something about it.
A crisis: an issue that requires decisive and immediate action from the organisation.
Are highly ambiguous situations where the causes and effects are not known (Dutton,1986; Quarantelli 1988)
Have a low probability of occurring, however, are a major treat to the survival of an organisation (Jackson & Dutton,
1987; Mitroff, Pauchant & Shrivastava 1988)
Provide only a short time frame in which to respond (Quarantelli, 1988)
Can be a surprise to stakeholders within an organisation (Hermann, 1963)
Create the need for decisions, which result in change for the organisation (Aguilera, 1990; Slaikeu, 1990).
Crisis management = crises are unpredictable events that can impact an organisation’s viability, credibility, and
reputation = reactive.
CRISIS LIFE CYCLE AND MEDIA COVERAGE OVE R TIME
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As each stage media will come in and out of the crisis depending on what is happening. And we need to be prepared to
respond.
CRISIS PLANNING
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It’s a 5-stage process:
1. Minimal planning around a few contingency plans drawn up for an emergency response.
2. More extensive planning but limited to natural disasters and potential human errors.
3. Extensive contingency plans with crisis procedures for probable natural disasters and human errors. Training is
provided for employees can implements these crisis procedures.
4. Similar to stage 3 but involves an organisation-wide consultation of potential crises and their impact on
stakeholders.
5. Involves all of the previous stages but also incorporates environmental scanning and early warning systems to
identify crises as early as possible.
Develop communication plan:
o For probable crisis scenarios
o Establishing key responsibilities for communication professionals
o Identifying the organisation’s key spokespersons
Media training
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CEO, executive directors, and key spokespersons
CRISIS TYPOLOGIES
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Natural disasters that have a negative impact on the organisation
Malevolence: When someone with no association to the organisation utilises extreme tactics to express anger toward
the organisation
Human breakdown: Crises that result from actions of individuals employed by an organisation.
Technical breakdown: Crises that happen because of poor technical support by an organisation or when products
supplied by the organisation fail or break down.
Challenges: Crises that happen when an organisation is confronted by discontented stakeholders.
Mega damage: Crises created when an accident creates significant environmental damage.
Organisational misdeed: Crises that occur when management acts it knows will harm stakeholders or place them at risk
of harm.
Workplace violence: Crises that occur when an employee or former employee commits violence against other
employees.
Rumour crises: Eventuate when false information is spread about an organisation.
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CRISIS COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES
NONEXISTENCE
Nonexistence Strategies
1. Denial
2. Clarification
3.
Attack and intimidation
Claim of Denying the Crisis
A simple statement denying that a crisis exists
An extension of the denial tactic with attempts to explain
why there is no crisis
A tactic of confronting the person or group who claims that a
crisis exists; may include a threat to use “force” (e.g., a
lawsuit against the accuser)
DISTANCE
Distance Strategies
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Excuse
2.
Downplay
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Claim of Distancing the Organisation from Direct
Responsibility for the Crisis
A tactic of denying intention or volition by scapegoating
others for crisis
A tactic of convincing stakeholders or the general public that
the situation is not that bad in itself or compared to other
crises.
The distancing strategy tries to deflect responsibly on to another party and away from the organisation - it it’s not our
fault – it theirs.
ASSOCIATION
Association Strategies
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Bolstering
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Transcendence
Claim of Connecting the Organisation to Things Positively
Valued by Stakeholders and Publics
Reminding stakeholders and the general public of existing
positive aspects of the organisation (e.g., reminders of past
charitable donations or history of fair worker treatment) in
order to offset the negatives, the crisis brings to the
organisation
Associating the negatives and loss arising from a crisis with a
desirable higher order goal (e.g., animal testing to develop
lifesaving)
SUFFERING
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Suffering Strategy
1. Victimisation
Claim that the Organisation Suffers From the Crisis
A tactic of portraying the organisation as victim of the crisis
in order to win public sympathy.
ACCEPTANCE AND ACCOMMODATION
Acceptance Strategy and Accommodation Strategy
Acceptance Strategy
1. Full Apology
2. Remediation
3.
Repentance
Accommodation Strategy
1. Rectification
Perception of High Level of Responsibility
Claim accepting responsibility or culpability for the crisis
Simply apologising for the crisis and accepting the blame
Announcing some form of compensation of help to victims
(money, goods, aid, etc)
Asking for forgiveness. The organisation apologizes for crisis
and asks stakeholders and the general public to forgive its
misdeeds
Claim promising to prevent the crisis from recurring again
Taking corrective action to prevent a recurrence of the crisis
INTERNAL/EMPLOYEE COMMUNICATIONS
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Management communication - Communication between a manager and subordinate employees
Corporate information and communication systems (CICS) - The broadcasting of corporate decisions and
developments to all employees across the organisation
MANAGEMENT COMMUNICATION
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Management communication is often directly related to specific tasks and activities, as well as to staff morale and
employee wellbeing.
Managers spend most of their time communicating.
o Face to face, verbal
o Email
o Video conferencing
o Enterprise software
Corporate communication professionals often support and advise managers on staff communication.
CORPORATE INFORMATION AND COMMUNICAT IONS SYSTEMS (CICS)
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Broader focus than manager-employee communications
Involve technologies and communications systems.
o Broadcast corporate decisions and development to employees across the organisation.
o Disseminating information about the organisation to employees in all ranks and functions.
Preserve of communication department
o Who are charged with releasing information to employees through:
 Intranet
 Emails
 Town Hall Meetings.
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COMPLEMENTARY NATURE OF INTERNAL COMMUNICATIONS
Downwards and upwards communications
 Downwards communications – information flows from the top of the organisational management hierarchy.
o Focus on what is important (mission) and what is valued (policies)
o Management communication and CICS (Corporate information and Communication Systems) central to
downward communications.
 Upward communications – information from employees flow upwards towards the managers within the organisation.
o Information that can help profitability and performance:
 To the employer, co-workers.
 Contents include practices and policies, what needs to be done, how can be done.
 Employees’ ideas and critiques and responses to their work environments.
WHY IS IT SO IMPORTANT?
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Employees want information. They crave communication.
Managers are more satisfied when employees are contributing.
Employees feel they can help business move forward.
Employees convey the brand.
Most admired organisations spend 3x more on employee communication than others.
Communicating routinely and effectively is key – productivity, commitment, performance, satisfaction, less likely to
leave.
A DIALOGIC PROCESS (DUAL, TWO-WAY)
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So Internal Communication is the dialogic (two-way) process between
o employees and employer, and
o employees and employees.
That’s the duality of it. So many times, that latter process is forgotten by strategists and PR professionals - They always
think it’s just about getting management’s message out.
It should always be remembered that communication between employees is very often far more powerful than any
communication from employer to employee.
o Whereas the ‘top-down’, employer-driven communication is great for setting a communication agenda or
discussion point it’s the peer-to-peer employee communications that determine the tone of the response back
to the employer.
o So, Internal Communication is the conversations that businesses have with their staff and those the staff have
with each other.
INTERNAL COMMUNICATIONS AND ORGANISATIONAL IDENTIFICATION
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Organisational identification = the perception of oneness with or belongingness to an organisation, where the
individual defines him or himself in terms of the organisation(s) of which he or she is a member.
Strong organisational identification leads employees to:
o Have higher job satisfaction.
o Be more cooperative in the workplace.
o Demonstrate helpful behaviour more frequently.
TRADITIONAL ACTIVITIES AND TACTICS
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Over the years there have evolved various ways of communicating internally.
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o
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We started with informal and formal one-to-one and one-to-many meetings, where ‘the boss’ would
communicate in a highly one-way fashion with employees.
o Of course, the employees would then informally discuss with each other their views and opinions, out of
earshot of ‘the boss’.
o Communication then evolved to include printed materials for formal, top-down message transmission newsletters, annual reports, memos, and so on.
o The advent of digital technology, and in particular the internet, introduced e-mail into the business setting and
with it the nature of communication radically changed.
No longer does a communication take a little while to produce, now anyone could ‘bang off an e-mail’ at a moment’s
notice, often without consideration of the impact of the message.
Those who are unskilled and untrained in the art and impact of communication suddenly find themselves causing more
angst than they realised.
Today, digital technology has evolved to the point where not only can employees and employers freely email each
other, forward messages without any editing (showing the whole conversational trail), and forward those messages
outside of the corporate walls, but also employees and employers can use these emails to bring about grievance
procedures, litigation, and dismissal.
Equally, employers now find themselves at the mercy of employees who may email each other with libelous comments
about competitors or fellow employees. Deleting these emails from personal inboxes has proven to be no defence
against litigation and investigation by external regulators and legal agencies.
What this also means is that employees can connect across time and space using Email, intranet, videoconferencing,
and podcasting. Blogs can be used by employees to share views or public grievances that can organise and demand
action from an organisation.
WHY COMMUNICATE?
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There are many reasons why communication is important in the organisation setting.
o First and foremost is that good employee communication has been shown to improve organisational
performance.
Better performance means a more successful (profitable) organisation. We will look at how it aids better performance.
o Smart organisations recognise that employees will always talk with each other, so it is better to set the agenda
and informal discussion points than have them dictated by an uninformed staff.
This is no different from external communications, where the role of the PR practitioner and business communicator is
to engage with and reflect the position of the employer or business to that employer or business’ larger group of
‘publics’ - that is, anyone who may have any impact on or be impacted by the organisation.
o Studies by both professional management groups and professional communications bodies consistently find
that ‘communicating with employees’ is a useful and powerful way of engendering greater ‘engagement’ - the
propensity of the employee to want to come to work and want to contribute to the success of the company
fosters retention.
Smart employers realise that in environments where employees can move from one employer to another with relative
ease, it is in the company’s best interests to retain the smarter and more productive employees; doing all they can to
communicate with them, inform them, influence them, and enter some sort of psychological contract with them is a
wise move.
WHAT EMPLOYEES WANT
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US communication expert, Roger D 'Aprix, believes employees are preoccupied by six basic concerns:
1. Job responsibilities -* What's my job? Employees want information about their job and the skills required, and
access to information to for them do their jobs.
2. Performance feedback - How am I doing? Employees want their supervisor to tell them how well they are
progressing and how to improve.
3. Individual needs - Does anyone care? Employees want to know about career development opportunities, training
and advancement avenues, salary packaging and work conditions. They want to be recognised and valued for work
well done.
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4.
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Work unit objectives, results - How is my unit doing? Employees want to know how they fit into the team and their
expected contribution, how the team is valued and how well it is progressing.
Vision, mission, and values - Where are we headed? Employees want to know what the organisation is trying to
achieve, how well it is doing, and how their work fits in with the organisational mission and goals.
Empowerment - How can I help? Employees want to know when they can use their initiative, they want their
opinions to be sought, and they want to contribute their ideas and to be consulted about work changes.
VOICE, SILENCE, AND EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT
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Voice – degree to which employees speak up, are listened to, and participate in organisational decision making.
o Employees want a say over their work lives.
o Powerful forces often prevent employees’ participation and form them to withhold information about
problems or issues.
o This withholding known as silence.
ORGANISATIONAL SILENCE
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Blocks negative feedback.
Stops organisation correcting or detecting errors.
May intensify/persist errors.
Impacts quality of decision-making
May lead to employees feeling unvalued.
Less likely to identify with organisation.
Consequences of organisational silence:
o Prickly peers – failure to confront rude, abrasive, defensive and disrespectful colleagues. Examples include
failing to confront harsh language, backbiting, bullying, harassment, withholding information, and resistance to
feedback and input.
o Strategic Missteps – failure to speak when proposals and procedures riddled with inaccuracies or faulty
thinking, The problem is exacerbated when leadership makes decisions without first consulting experts or is
unresponsive to employee concerns.
o Lazy and incompetent colleagues – failure to talk to peers and direct reports about poor work habits,
incompetence, and lack of engagement.
o Abusive bosses – failure to openly discuss damage done when people in power resort to control and reliance
on position to push their agenda.
o Management chaos – failure to get clarification when people feel uncertain around roles, responsibilities,
specs, and timelines. A perceived lack of safety to share concerns without retribution makes asking for
clarification feel risky.
ORGANISATIONAL CLIMATE
Open
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Information flows freely between individuals, groups, departments
Employees feel free to express opinions, voice complaints, offer suggestions.
Closed
 Information is blocked.
 Organisational silence
 Employees feel speaking out is of little use.
DEFINITION OF CSR
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Accountability towards the whole society
o Not just to shareholders and customers
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In a fully developed stakeholder model, the key objective is to coordinate conflicting interests and values of
stakeholders rather than controlling them.
Aligning community relations strategies = positive relationships.
THE LINK WITH CORP PR
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Corporate social responsibility and community relations have become increasingly important in the field of corporate
communications.
Corp PR specialists must be able to develop programs so that an organisation can communicate its CSR and engage with
communities with different ways with varying degrees of commitment.
CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP
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The portfolio of activities that organisations undertake to fulfil perceived duties as members of society:
o Pro bono activities
o Corporate volunteerism
o Charitable contributions
o Support for community initiatives
APPROACHES TO CSR
Approach to CSR
Main Vehicle
Defensive
Ad hoc interventions
Charitable
Charitable donations
Promotional
Public relations
campaigns and events
Strategic
Management systems
Transformational
Business models
Managerial
Responsibility
Public affairs team (as
part corp coms)
Communications
officer/team (as part of
corp coms)
PR & Events managers
Spread across the org.
(includes involvement
from corp comms)
Spread across the org.
(include involvement
from corp comms)
Primary Stakeholder Audience
Primary stakeholders:
shareholders and governments
Secondary stakeholders;
communities
Primary stakeholders (incl.
customers) and the public
Primary stakeholders (incl.
customers) and the public
Primary stakeholders, include
current and future govs.
CSR COMMUNICATIONS
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Three standard communication strategies:
1. Stakeholder information strategy: one way information flow
2. Stakeholder response strategy: mutual dialogue between a company and its stakeholders.
3. Stakeholder involvement strategy – multiple dialogue between an organisation and stakeholders.
Reporting and dialogue:
o Publish reports.
o Launch CSR campaigns.
o Public consultation.
o Ongoing surveys of stakeholder opinion.
CSR REPORTING GUIDELINES


Demonstrates the company is serious about CSR by setting clear objectives for social and environmental performance
annually, and by systematically reporting on the results achieved afterwards.
Objectives are progressive in bringing new aspirations and standards to bear upon business operations instead of
regurgitating of existing practices that may be seen as socially and environmentally viable.
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
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Objectives and targets include issues that are relevant to stakeholders, and are linked to clear benchmarks and
standards (at the industry and policy level)
Reporting in an honest, transparent, and full-scale self-assessment instead of a polishing of performance data.
Performance data are rigorously assessed and verified by credible auditors (accountants or consultants)
DEVELOPING A COMMUNICATION STRATEGY


Based on an assessment of the gap between how the company is currently seen (Corporate Reputation) and how it is
wanting to be seen (vision).
Identifies possible courses of action:
o E.g., bringing stakeholder reputations in line with the vision of the company
o Reinforcing existing reputation of stakeholders in line with how the company wants itself to be seen.
FROM STRATEGIC INTENT TO PROGRAMS AND CAMPAIGNS
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Strategic intent - formulates a change or consolidation of stakeholder reputations of the organisation and is based upon
the gap between how the organisation wants to be seen by important stakeholder groups and how it is currently seen
by each of those groups.
From this we develop the communication program and campaign activities
The Communication program is the set of activities towards targeted internal and external audiences, which may
include outreach activities, community initiatives and other ways in which organisations and their employees
communicate with stakeholder audiences, and has no pre-set end point and a Communication campaign is restricted
to the use of a mediated form of communication (e.g., mass media advertising) towards specific stakeholder audiences
and is restricted to a single point in time
COMMUNICATION STRATEGY

Lays out the direction for the organisation and describes the activities it will undertake to strengthen or maintain the
reputation it has amongst its stakeholders.
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
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Starts with formulating desired reputational position o How the organisation wants itself to be seen by its different stakeholders
Practitioners then ‘translate’ the aspiration into specific communication programs and campaigns.
Therefore, a communication strategy lays out the directions the organisation needs to go in order to engage with its
stakeholders.
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