Internal Public Relations Piece
Dolphin Club is a new firm that plans to offer swimming services to clients in the United Arab Emirates. The new company is getting into an industry that already has a number of players, a sign that there will be competition for the existing customers. To manage this rivalry, the management will need to develop effective strategies that will enhance its competitiveness in the market. The following internal public relation issues will be observed.
The strategy
The management will come up with clearly defined and easily understood strategies for the staff. The strategy must go beyond the mission and vision statement to include corporate structure, change management, ethics, and sustainability plans (Aras and Crowther 56).
The corporate structure
Defining organizational structure helps the internal stakeholders to understand the management system and the chain of command. Below is the organizational chart that is appropriate for Dolphin Club.
Change Management
According to Saloner, Shepard, and Podolny, change is one of the organizational factors that cannot be avoided in the current society (71). Inasmuch as the stakeholders may be tempted to react negatively to change because of the fear of the unknown, it is necessary to make them appreciate that change is very important and must be embraced at all times. The management of Dolphin Club will have to develop change management tools for all the stakeholders.
Ethics
The strategy of this new firm will embrace ethical behavior. For instance, all employees, irrespective of their managerial positions, will be valued as integral part of the firm. There will be systems that will enable everyone to speak out and be heard by the relevant authorities.
Short-Term versus Long-Term Sustainability Plans
The implementation of long term plans will be planned in a sustainable manner. The best way of doing this is to break the long-term plans into short-term tasks to be accomplished within a period of one month. The management will then monitor how well these short-term plans are accomplished and strategies that may be needed to address areas of weakness.
Different internal governance mechanisms
Transformational leadership principles will be introduced within this firm as a governance mechanism to inspire employees. It will be necessary to ensure that employees can work effectively without strict supervision. They should always strive to challenge their own record achievements in their respective departments.
A section for both staff and executives
In this new firm, the staff and executives will have a forum where they can interact and share ideas that can help in propelling the firm to greater heights. Such forums will be organized frequently to promote constant interaction between top managers and junior employees. The management will also embrace open communication system where junior employees can share their thoughts with top managers without having to pass their messages to their immediate supervisors.
The corporate values
In the firm’s mission statement, there will be values clearly defined. These values will include commitment to customers, transparency, accountability, open communication system, and social responsibility.
Corporate image, trademark and slogan
Dolphin Club will use the following image as its trademark in the market. The trademark has the name, slogan, and brand image of the firm.
External Justification Piece
Dolphin Club will also need to maintain an effective system to manage external stakeholders such as the government, regulatory bodies, and public in general. In this section, the researcher will look at how this firm can do this successfully.
The strategy
Coming up with an effective corporate strategy may sometimes be complex based on the nature of an organization. Crowther and Selfie say that communicating with external stakeholders who have limited knowledge about the firm may be challenging (28). The management is justified to find effective way of communicating with the external stakeholders to promote the firm’s public image.
The corporate structure
The organizational chart for this firm will not be different from the one developed in the section above. The managing director will be the chef spokesperson of the firm. The corporate structure provided will enable this firm to communicate with both the internal and external stakeholders.
Change Management
The reaction of the external stakeholders, especially the government agencies and public, may affect the capacity of the firm to implement some of its change strategies. Change is unavoidable, and the managing director will be justified to come up with unique ways of managing it. This may include proper communication with the internal and external stakeholders through the firm’s public relations department.
Ethics
Ethical practices are issues that are very important for the firm’s external stakeholders. One of the ways through which a firm can gain support of the external stakeholders is by maintaining ethical practices at all times. As a firm that will be offering swimming services, Dolphin Club will always aim at providing its customers with unique experience that will earn it a positive image in the market. This image will earn it customer loyalty in the market.
Short-term versus long-term sustainability plans
The external players may not be keen to monitor short-term sustainability plans that an organization has, unless something catastrophic happens within that period (Jeffs 94). However, it will be keen and will react to the long-term effects of the firm’s activities. Dolphin Club will be careful when it comes to issues such as clients’ safety when they come to swim, the impact of the firm’s activity on the environment, and the relationship the firm has with the public.
Different internal governance mechanisms
The managing director will need to maintain regular public presence not only through the use of advertisement but also through introduction of corporate social responsibility. In this case, corporate social responsibility may involve supporting environmental initiatives. This will convince the public that Dolphin Club is not only after profits, but also interested in supporting public interests. The justification of this strategy is to make clients to develop trust with the firm.
A section for both staff and executives
According to Freeman, both the staff and executives should be empowered to represent a firm within the society (113). Not everyone who stays in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Al Ain knows about this firm. Its employees should be its ambassadors to the external stakeholders. They should strive to give a positive image of the firm and inform the public about its effort to transform the society.
The corporate values
Corporate values of the firm are critical when it comes to achieving accreditation and earning public trust. In most of the cases, firms always have their vision, mission, and value statements neatly written on board and placed on strategic locations where visitors can easily read. However, the management should go beyond displaying these statements. It should be seen that it is implementing them in its daily activities (Christensen, Allworth, and Dillon 20).
Corporate image, trademark and slogan
The corporate image, trademark, and the slogan given above will give this firm a unique identity in the market. These symbols will be used to differentiate this firm from other existing companies in the market. The firm will use its corporate image, trademark, and slogan in its promotional campaigns.
Works Cited
Aras, Güler, and David Crowther. A Handbook of Corporate Governance and Social Responsibility. Farnham, Surrey, England: Gower, 2010. Print.
Christensen, Clayton, James Allworth, and Karen Dillon. Is Your Strategy What You Say It Is? Rotman Management Fall 617.7860 (2013): 17-21. Print.
Crowther, David, and Shahla Selfie. Corporate governance and International Business. New York: Ventus Publishing, 2011. Print.
Freeman, Edward. Strategic Management: A Stakeholder Approach. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010. Print.
Jeffs, Chris. Strategic Management. Los Angeles: SAGE, 2008. Print.
Saloner, Garth, Andrea Shepard, and Joel Podolny. Strategic Management. New Delhi: Wiley India, 2011. Print.