Corporate communication within organizations
Communication is an essential and integral part of everyday life both at the corporate level as well as on a personal and social level since it helps in creating sharing of information from the source to the recipient. Successful communication plays a very vital role in ensuring the proper positioning of an organization in its environment (both internally and externally). In essence, corporate communication plays a very fundamental role in ensuring that the organizational objectives, strategies, and the need for change are relayed to the stakeholders. Additionally, corporate communication equally enhances the balance between the image and identity of an organization as well as helping in creating awareness to all the stakeholders about the core values of an organization and the specific requirements for each stakeholder towards realizing these values (Belasen & Belasen 2019). There has been a growing concern over corporate communication with different scholars proposing different approaches. research in this field and the contributions from scholars in communication have added the impetus on the concern over the concept of corporate communication.
The purpose of this paper is to present a critical analysis of the concept of corporate communication within the organizations through a comparative analysis of integrated and differentiated approaches to communication. The paper also looks at the tenets both forms of communication are premised on and the practical values of evaluating various forms of communication.
Similarities
Despite the difference in approaches, both integrated and differentiated forms of communication perceive corporate communication from a holistic view in the sense that corporate communication is a unifying concept that cannot be divided into parts. For instance, in both cases, communication must take cognizance of all the relevant and important contact points. Furthermore, it is apparent that in both cases, communication is used as a tool for sharing information from one level to another to enhance effective decision making (Belasen & Belasen 2019). Another underlying similarity shared by both forms of corporate communication is that they are founded on relationships. Whether an organization is using multidisciplinary approach or interdisciplinary approach, the bottom line is that they depend on establishing relationship with the parties involved in the communication loop, for instance, when corporate communication is about marketing then irrespective of whether it is integrative or differentiated the emphasis will be on building working relationship with the customers: the target audience in this case. Therefore, it is apparent that the ultimate goal for corporate communication is to foster understanding and networking between the parties involved, irrespective of the approach adopted to accomplish this mission. As rightfully put by Mazzei (2014), the ultimate goal of corporate communication is to build relationships with all stakeholders of the company. Therefore, whether it is integrated or differentiated, the bottom line is that a connection(bond) shall be created between the various departments involved and the corresponding parties. Both approaches focus on developing intangible resources like understanding, trust, loyalty, reputation, knowledge, and positive image. Interdisciplinary communication involves bringing all stakeholders on board to discuss any matter of concern conclusively with the view of passing information or developing understanding. The sales and marketing department has the primary focus of developing confidence in the products that their company is trading on through communicating the value of their products/services to potential and prospective customers. In the same way, differentiated communication focuses on delocalizing communication to specific levels where specific actions take place for ease of understanding, trust, and creating a positive image.
Differences
The overriding difference between the two approaches to communication is that. In contrast, in interdisciplinary communication, the communication process is automated from one source, in multidisciplinary communication, the communication process is devolved to different departments. Under integrated communication, the overall communication is coordinated from one focal point, thus making the information standardized in nature. On the contrary, under a multidisciplinary approach, the various departments are responsible for organizing their communication with the target audience independently without involving the rest of the departments within the organization. In other words, under a differentiated approach, communication is devolved to the points where specific actions are taken, for example, the marketing department, procurement department, and HR departments (Mazzei, 2014).
Tenets of Communication under Interdisciplinary and Multidisciplinary Approaches
The two approaches to corporate communication have different tenets that distinguish them. For interdisciplinary communication, the underlying principle is establishing and maintaining a relationship with different players, namely the investors, government, employees, and media. ICC seeks to establish a relationship with each of these four components. Thus for ICC to be considered effective, it must be competitive enough to overcome the potential investor in the same market or line of business. The integrated communication also focuses on following the directions of the government regarding regulations while at the same time, ensuring that they use an approved media for their communication protocols.
On the other hand, multidisciplinary communication is premised on the purpose of communication. It thus views corporate communication to have different purposes depending on the level of communication. For instance, it stresses that at management level, the purpose of communication is to enhance sound planning, monitoring, and coordination of various activities and functions by the top echelons of administration (management) (Mazzei, 2014). It also posits that organizational communication is heterogeneous and encompasses different areas like PR, CSR, investor relationships, among others. It also suggests that marketing communication is specifically keen on developing value for the product through the use of four Ps of Promotional mix. From this point of view, it is apparent that the underlying principles behind each approach are different, thus creating a distinction between the two approaches to corporate communication.
Developing an adequate understanding of various approaches to communication is very imperative in the corporate world. It gives an individual a better understanding of the various avenues that can be exploited for achieving the desired objectives. Additionally, a sound understanding of communication strategies also assists the management with information on how best to organize their departments and the ability to make rational decisions on which approach is effective under different circumstances. Moreover, it enables an individual to develop an understanding of areas of overlap between the two approaches to communication and how they may be utilized for the successful performance of an organization in a real-world scenario. In other words, developing an understanding of communication strategies and approaches equips an individual with a dual-purpose understanding of the significance of communication: as a tool for sharing information such as giving out directives: and also as a tool for establishing and maintaining relationships between an organization and the stakeholders involved. Generally, Effective communication remains the backbone of organizational success to all forms of business corporations since it plays a part in the dissemination of information, creating value, and also establishing lasting relationships between corporations and the key stakeholders.
References
Belasen, A. T. & Belasen, A. R. (2019): The Strategic Value of Integrated
Corporate Communication: Functions, Social Media, and Stakeholders, International Journal of Strategic Communication. 1-19. DOI: 10.1080/1553118X.2019.1661842
Mazzei, A. (2014). A multidisciplinary approach for a new understanding of corporate communication. Institute of Economics and Marketing, IULM University, Milan, Italy, 216-226