Экономические науки/6. Маркетинг и менеджмент

MEs, senior teacher Tashenova L.V.

Karaganda State University named after academician Y.A. Buketov

Public relations: image and reputation of the organization

The world of business is characterised by fierce competition and in order to win new customers and retain the existing ones, the firms have to distinguish themselves from the competition. But they also need to create and maintain a positive public image.

Public relations (PR) is the way organizations, companies and individuals communicate with the public and media.

In order to achieve success in establishing of the contacts with the outside world, organizations need in the appropriate image. With the creating a positive image of the organization begins any work on public relations.

Image is formed in the mass consciousness of emotionally charged image of anything or anyone.

«Black PR» is a hidden system of promotion of «their» subject PR and the simultaneous use of compromising material against a rival or competitor.

Black public relations (BPR), also called negative public relations, are a process of destroying the target's reputation and/or corporate identity. In other words, instead of concentrating efforts in the maintenance and the creation of a positive reputation or image of your clients, the objective is to discredit someone else, usually a business rival. Unlike the regular services in public relations, those in BPR rely on the development of industries such as IT security, industrial espionage, social engineering and competitive intelligence. A common technique is finding all of the dirty secrets of their target and turning them against their very own holder.

The building of a black PR campaign, also known as a dirty tricks or a smear campaign is a long and a complex operation. Traditionally it starts with an extensive information gathering and follows the other needs of a precise competitive research. The gathered information is being used after that as a part of a greater strategically planning, aiming to destroy the relationship between the company and its stakeholders [1].

There are several different types of images, each of which plays a role in the overall structure of public relations:

1. mirror image: this is what we ourselves think about them and that very often does not always correspond to reality.

2. current image: this is what they think about the organization (or person) outsiders.

3. personal image: the image of each person, the image that formed in the minds of people and is associated with the perception of a particular person.

4. corporate image: the image of the organization. This is the way in which the organization presents itself to outside world. Mental picture that springs up at the mention of a firm's name. It is a composite psychological impression that continually changes with the firm's circumstances, media coverage, performance, pronouncements, etc. Similar to a firm's reputation or goodwill, it is the public perception of the firm rather than a reflection of its actual state or position. Unlike corporate identity, it is fluid and can change overnight from positive to negative to neutral. Large firms use various corporate advertising techniques to enhance their image in order to improve their desirability as a supplier, employer, customer, borrower, etc. The image of Apple computer, for example, as a successful business has dimmed and brightened several times in the last 30 years. But its identity (conveyed by its name and multicolored bitten-off-apple logo) as an innovative and path breaking firm has survived almost intact during the same period.

5. reputation - provide a unified view of somebody or the merits or demerits.

First of all, we have to understand that a reputation of an organization is made by various groups of its stakeholders, such as investors, media men, employees, customers, etc. Thus, we may conclude that there is no such a thing as the reputation of a company. Every company has a number of reputations, as it is perceived very differently by different groups of its stakeholders. Investors, for instance, base their reputation of company opinions on the economic figures; when ordinary customers may base it upon their first hand experience with the company's products or upon its social performances [2].

It takes quite a long time to form a reputation of a company and the media coverage, sponsorship, PR and publicity may play the key part in this process. Companies view their reputation as an investment and their important asset. A reputation of an organization does not remain static Therefore; the matters of great importance are the check up of the reputation status and if there is a need, make some corrections. It is essential for a company to detect what factors form its reputation among various groups of its stakeholders. The next step would be to use those levers and to adapt a reputation of a company to the desired image of it.

A reputation of a company may play a key part in its business development and success. It may influence the decision making process of its stakeholders, concerning the company. For instance, a good company reputation may become another valid advantage for an investor, or it may become another strong cause for the customers to choose the products of this company, since a good reputation may secure the high quality of the company's products or the after service [3, p. 212-213].

It is important to understand that the construction of a reputation of a company includes not only some objective factors, such as the company's financial stability or social activities. It, in the great measure, contains an emotional factor. A reputation of a company is what people believe about it, their affinity to an organization. Hence, a proper approach has to be chosen to build up such reputation and to find a proper leverage for establishing and sustaining it. A positive company reputation is a precious company asset, able to produce it a rich dividend.

A US study showed that there are ten main components of corporate reputation used in reputation measurement systems:

1. Ethical: the organization behaves ethically, is admirable, is worthy of respect, is trustworthy.

2. Employees/workplace: the organization has talented employees, treats its people well, and is an appealing workplace.

3. Financial performance: the organization is financially strong, has a record of profitability, and has growth prospects.

4. Leadership: the organization is a leader rather than a follower, is innovative.

5. Management: the organization is well managed, has high quality management, and has a clear vision for the future.

6. Social responsibility: the organization recognizes social responsibilities, supports good causes.

7. Customer focus: the organization cares about customers, is strongly committed to customers.

8. Quality: the organization offers high quality products and services.

9. Reliability: the organization stands behind its products & services, provides consistent service.

10. Emotional appeal: (it is an organization I feel good about, is kind, and is fun.

11. Additional components were found in some of the systems studied. These included value, differentiation, presence, and communication quality.

Literature:

1. http://www.char.ru/books/2835210_Internationale_Public_Relations_in_der_IT-Branche_Grundlagen_der_internationalen_Unternehmenskommunikation

2. http://www.char.ru/books/2907320_New_Directions_for_Research_Instruction_and_Practice_Re-Thinking_Public_Relations_Ethics

3. Ronald D. Smith. Strategies planning for public relations. – England: Routledge, 2012. – 560 p.