Chapter 7: What is PR? Flashcards
What is corporate identity and corporate image?
The strategic development of a distinct and coherent image of an organization that is consistently communicated to stakeholders through symbolism, planned communications and behavior
What is the difference between Corporate identity and corporate image?
Corporate identity = what the organization communicates
Corporate image = how the public actually views the organization
How can you control corporate image?
Cannot be controlled, but a well managed corporate identity could influence it
How to manage corporate identity?
Embracing all aspect of CI mix:
- Symbolism
- communication
- Behavior
What model can help to determine what constitutes to identity?
Corporate identity taxonomy (adapted)
And looking at the current issues (EPISTLE)
What are the steps to take when researching the corporate identity?
- Identify gap and what is needed to make them coherent (current image and identity)
a. Use an Audit: extensive communication study of the organization.
* Internally and externally
* Interviews, observations, content analysis.
* Visual audit
b. Increasing importance of the role of Social Media
* Questions: what platforms, what content, what interaction etc - Goals of Corporate Identity strategy can be:
a. Maintain present position
b. Adapt the present situation
c. Develop a new position
What is the essence of identity from a cultural perspective?
- We create the identity within our discourse.
- How do we view the organization and communicate about it
- Role symbolism
What is the essence of identity from a organizational perspective?
- What is central to the organization?
- What makes it distinct from competitors?
- What element has been stable in the past, and will be in the present and
future?
What is the relation between consistency and transparency?
Transparency is seen as a new pressure to police for consistency in corporate communication
Why is transparency important?
- Because of critical media looking for gaps
- Organizations use transparency claims to discipline organizational voices
What makes consistency hard?
Different stakeholder and different therefore different interests
What is also part of the corporate identity? (Think of “This is the way we do around here”)
Organizational culture
Which tool can we use for mapping and understanding organisational culture?
the cultural web (Johnson & Scholes, 1992)
Which topics does the cultural web model for mapping organisational culture consist of? (johnson & Scholes, 1992)
- stories
- Rituals
- Control systems
- Organizational structures
- Power structures
- Symbols