Corporate Communication

Introduction

"Corporate communication" is being used to describe the management function and the effectiveness of how information is communicated internally and externally. (Grunig, 1992). Furthermore, corporate communication is also seen by some as referring only to an organisation's external communication.

Corporate communication strategy can best be described as the responsibility of the board and top management for the organisation's financial performance. The focus of corporate communication is mainly on the internal and external environment, with great emphasis on the financial sector.

This paper discusses the importance and the effectiveness of corporative communication, Communication plays a very important role in the acquisition and the integration of Barclays and Lehman Brothers.

According to the case study, the integration of the two businesses had to be done quickly to prevent the disruption in the business and mitigate the transfer of clients to other investment banks.

The paper also look at the cultural issues and the motivational issues that the company face during the integration process and how communication plays a great role in solving these issues, while creating a healthy working environment for the employees of both companies.

B&L Corporate communication strategy is based on assisting the organisation to adapt to its environment by achieving acceptable behaviour; identifying and motivating the demotivated employees, while managing the cultural differences facing the organization. Corporate communication strategy is based mainly on the 'corporate community' approach to strategic management where the organisation is viewed as a social-economic system and where employees and stakeholders are recognised as partners who create value through communication.

Corporate communication strategy entails formulating clearly what should be communicated to stakeholders to solve the problems created by the implications of a strategic issue or to capitalise on the opportunities presented. Communication goals to be addressed in plans/campaigns are developed based on the corporate communication strategy for each strategic issue. The major constructs of the concept corporate communication strategy are therefore seen to be environmental scanning, issues analysis/ management as well as stakeholder analysis/ management.

1.1: The purpose of a corporate communication strategy for B&L

Good communication is an important element to any organization; good communication can make or break an organization.

B&L face many challenges these include culture differences, employees lack of self-motivation B&L had to address the communication issues in order for them to create a healthy working environment. Communication help the management to understand the difference in cultures and it help them to implement correctional measures to reduce the problem created by cultural difference.

The Lehman's employees were very demotivated and demoralized due to a number of factors these include job security and cultural issues. Example, "Lehman staffs leaving to pursue other opportunities and others refusing to join Barclays, hence seeing them just leaving"

According to (www.livestrong.com, n.d) communication is the process of sharing information thoughts and feeling between people through speaking, writing or body language.

Effective communication creates awareness and gives a clear understanding of the direction the organization is heading. Effective communication helps with the motivational aspect of the organization therefore the company can gain competitive advantage over their competition through good communication; good communication was an important element to the successful acquisition and successful implementation of B&L. Example the, "Leadership of Barclays and Lehman played a critical role during the acquisition and integration and the process"

Companies have to think about their stakeholders, shareholders and customers and the impact their decision may have therefore B&L have to communicate effectively with their stakeholders/customers/ shareholders and investors about the company current financial position. Government bodies such as, HMRC is a stakeholder who is more interested in the revenue generated while the Financial Service Authority (FSA) is more concern with how the business conduct itself.

Stakeholders such as employees are more interested in job security and financial and non-financial gain, communication is and will remain an important element of any successful organization.

Base on the organizational behaviour theories cited in the case study cited by (Douglas, Zivnuska, 2008), it seems like the action going forward by Barclays is to build the organizational commitment of Lehman employees while ensuring the effectiveness of the leadership of Barclays senior managers. This will strengthen the communication and improve the support to Lehman staffs moving to Barclays.

1.2: The link between B&L's communication and its key objectives

According to (biznik, n.d) corporate communication is about managing perceptions about an organization, i.e. its corporate culture, it's corporate identity, its corporate philosophy, its corporate citizenship and it's place in the market.

The structure of both organizations was completely different in spite of having the same business objectives. After taking a look at both companies the major differences includes culture, work ethics and the flow of authority and the key objectives of B&L is to bring together two set of different work force to form one common workforce, that is, a healthy working environment. It was very challenging for the employees of both companies to work together, this was due to the cultural and work differences B&L manage to pull through by using their communication skills.

According to the case study, Barclays had to solve the conflicts between the employees of both organizations; this was achieved by strategically allocating resources to Lehman employees by providing relevant roles and responsibilities for the key employees.

The integration process was a bit challenging due to the cultural differences and the difference in work ethics. B&L had to form a communication strategy to motivate the staff of Lehman Brothers; the staffs were very demotivated because of the failure of the company and to worsen the situation their jobs were at risk. A strategy had to be put in place to effectively join both companies together through corporate communication; both companies were able to come up with a suitable solution