Organizational Communication and Conflict Resolution Essay

Organizational Communication and Conflict Resolution - Essay Example Under this new configuration, corporate communication is defined as "an instrument of management by means of which all consciously used forms of internal and external communication are harmonized as effectively and efficiently as possible to create a favorable basis for relationships with groups upon which the company is dependent (Van Riel, 1995)." This reflects a growing recognition by top management and corporate boardroom that the ability to succeed and rise above the competition depends upon the firm's capability to communicate effectively with its stakeholders, thus making corporate communication an absolute and integral part of top management functions. In line with this thinking, communication managers and departments are now assigned such loftier titles as corporate communications, public affairs or corporate affairs (Fombrum, 1996). It also gave rise to a new corporate communication vocabulary, which consists of words like stakeholders, identity and reputation, among others. Moreover, the work of corporate communication has widened in scope to take place at three dimensions: corporate, market and operational levels. This corporate work involves communicating the organization's mission and vision to its shareholders, employees, customers, etc., while the market-oriented activity explores and implement ways by which the company can compete best in a given market. At the operational level, the communication group is left to manage its own resources, processes and people, a function used to be done on its behalf by the finance department, the engineering section and the human resource department. Relationship to Management How corporate communication has wormed its way into the top rung of the corporate ladder may be seen at Siemens, whose productivity, profitability and corporate image continue to be the envy of its competitors. At Siemens, communication managers oversee a wide range of activities related to management and decision-making, including analysis and research, formulation of communication objectives for the entire organization, and counseling of senior management. The company maintains a corporate communication department that handles advertising, internal communication and media relations. In addition, there is a central corporate messages section that supervises the senior communication professionals responsible for developing and protecting the overall corporate image of Siemens, as well as copywriters for the speeches of senior managers. Such consolidation of communication activities in one or two departments is now commonplace in progressive companies, with the communication practitio ners having the ear of CEOs and senior executive teams, especially on stakeholder and reputation issues (Grunig & Grunig, 1998). The same importance is given to corporate communication by Philips, which keeps a large corporate communication department at its head office in Amsterdam that counsels the CEO and senior managers on