• Investment World
• eWorld
• Catalyst
• Mentor
• Life
• Canvas
• Praxis
• Urban Pulse
• Brand Quest

R. Devarajan

CORPORATE image is in the eye of the receiver. A company transmits a message about itself to its employees, shareholders, customers and other stakeholders. An organisation may assume that it communicates only when it wants to. Whereas, in reality, it communicates through everything it says and does.

Corporate communication has a vital role to play in image formation. It can publicise a company's success and strengths. Further, it may be the primary vehicle to tell the stakeholders that what the company is doing supports their values.

Both intentional and unintentional messages are communicated all the time, and undermines other forms of communication — which are controllable — such as advertising, public relations campaigns, sponsorships and so on. Advertising has two broad facets — corporate and product. Corporate advertising typically focuses on issues concerning the company, while product advertising highlights the company's products.

Creating a corporate image is a never-ending and all-encompassing process. It is not simply the creation of a logo, the conduct of a campaign, or an event management; it is a commitment to a corporate lifestyle — the character and intrinsic personality of an organisation.

On a personal level, an individual's image and reputation is a valuable asset. The same is true for companies. To enhance the value, it is necessary to manage the factors that combine and contribute to the image. Typically, an image takes a long time to form: But once the gestation is over, it works like a flywheel — delivering a sustainable stream of power to whatever it is connected. A good image can be a long-term strategic asset to an organisation. But a bad one can be a crushing liability.

If a company has a good image, it can always be used to support the company's business. Conversely, a company with a bad image has every reason to improve it. The task of building a good image starts at the top. The company's top management establishes a vision and a strategy, and moulds the overall corporate culture. They provide the leadership, direction and impetus to the employees for creating an organisation. Managing the image of the enterprise held by the employees is significant to organisations that go through drastic and dramatic changes, such as downsizing, de-layering, or deregulation. In such circumstances, the employees' image — if well managed — can build and consolidate a sense of belonging, trust, and commitment.

The next step is to externalise the development. In other words, to communicate the fact that the company is on the threshold of improving its image, and that it wants to become a super-brand. Therefore, the operation moves to the outside only after a strong internal foundation. Most benefits of a good image relate to an organisation's external activities.

A good corporate image has strategic value if it is used to add an extra element to the company's marketing mix. This add-on will subsequently reinforce the firm's financial performance as well.

All of us have different information about, and experiences with, organisations. If the beliefs and feelings about a company fit with a person's norms and values about its corporate behaviour, then that individual forms a good image of the company. This applies both to the internal (employees), and external (customers) stakeholders. While employees and customers are the most important, others should not be ignored.

Most people form their links with an organisation on the basis of how such links can fulfil their needs. It is important to understand these needs, because they influence the set of factors which shape the organisation's image among such stakeholders. Operationally, the route to a good image is through designing a desired image (band of beliefs and feelings), and then linking it to one or more values important to the stakeholders. While it may not be possible to change a person's values, his perceptions and, to some extent, even his emotional attachment can be changed.

The vision and mission of a company constitute the soul of its corporate image. In some organisations, managers articulate a clear image by their action and interaction which will be obvious to an outsider. In others, the visitor may see a copy of the vision statement prominently displayed in the lounge, but there will be little evidence of the employees subscribing to it. Vision statements per se are not important. What is important is that the leadership style in an organisation must inspire and motivate a high level of commitment from its employees.

Further, the managers need to understand the dynamics of how employees interact with one another, and communicate information. The way in which some individuals can amplify the credibility of some information and expedite its diffusion within the network is astounding. Since such opinion-makers can make or mar the positive aspects of information. It is important that they are identified and handled well.

Successful organisations also learn how to read the environment and dovetail their strategy, business systems, and structure to deliver value to the employees and customers. The consistent presentation of an organisation to the stakeholders, based on a clear understanding of its business strategy, is essential to the formation of a distinctive image.

An organisation's strategy defines how it wants to compete. The strategy is implemented by developing a supportive organisational structure and a set of appropriate systems. An integral component of competitive strategy is the organisation's positioning relative to its rivals. This, in turn, will depend on how an organisation is able to distinguish itself favourably vis-à-vis other organisations. Good competitive positioning is usually based on the functional and psychological benefits that the organisation can offer to the customers.

When corporate image management disappears from a company's agenda it is vulnerable to image loss. Generally, there are a couple of reasons for this. Some managers do not appreciate the value of a good corporate image. They just have a fuzzy understanding of how images are formed, and what people think about the company. Beyond this, they do not relate to the image's significance.

There are others who realise that business, in general, and their company, in particular, does not receive the social standing it deserves; but they have no clue how to solve the problem. While they may be conscious of the malady, they are not aware of any remedy.

This lack of a conceptual framework leads to the next issue, that is, how to measure the public image of a company? What we cannot measure, we cannot manage. Measuring a corporate image is a complex and difficult phenomenon. The only way to gauge accurately what people think of an organisation is by asking them.

This is more easily said than done. It takes time, and costs money. Further, measuring slippery constructs such as corporate image requires many compromises in terms of balancing the amount of information one would like to collect against what is realistic to obtain.

Many organisations have discovered that a key success factor in the management of the external image is the management of their internal culture. An organisation's culture is similar to a country's: It is nurtured, reinforced, and improved over time. It is embedded in the countless details of the organisational life and existence — how rewards are administered, conflicts resolved and so on. Building a strong culture, that adds a positive and emotive attribute to the desired corporate image may be all that it takes to get ahead of the competition. The last word on the subject belongs to William Shakespeare. In Richard the Second, he writes:

"The purest treasure mortal times afford is spotless reputation; that away, men are but gilded loam or painted clay."

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication

Stories in this Section
Powering up hydel projects

Copyright © 2003, The Hindu Business Line. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu Business Line