Handbook of Corporate Communication and Public ... - Blogs Unpad

national differences, and they may say one
thing and do another. For example, they
might use the rhetoric of diversity and then
insist upon common approaches. Some executives
talk about internationalization but make
sure that all key positions are in the hands of
nationals of the ‘home country’.
Winners avoid the imposition of standard
solutions that are inappropriate in particular
locations. Wherever possible, they tailor their
approach to local circumstances and individual
requirements. They communicate with
customers and prospects in ways and using
languages that are acceptable to them.
Diversity can be a spur to creativity.
Successful companies recruit and develop a
multinational cadre of managers. Opportunities
go to those who are best qualified for
each role. Internationalization is not forced
down people’s throats. It occurs naturally and
problems are tackled as they arise.
Losers tend to sweep difficulties under the
carpet or hope they will go away. Winners let
people network. They allow them to forge
whatever cross-border relationships will best
enable them to achieve their objectives.
Losers also impose a single corporate culture
on employees, customers and suppliers
regardless of differing local conditions and
unfavourable circumstances. Winners strive to
adjust their management style to match how
the people they wish to develop closer relationships
with operate.
People should be equipped to handle joint
ventures with overseas businesses before they
are set up. Time has to be devoted to making
them work. Because of the effort involved
winners select their prospects with care. They
also learn both from their own mistakes and
from their customers, suppliers and business
partners.
Communicating for change
More demanding customers, competitive
markets and tough trading conditions may
trigger reviews of corporate aspirations,
approaches, capabilities, structures and operations.
Change is generally assumed to be
necessary, desirable and beneficial. The ‘management
of change’ has become a priority for
many organizations.
During the recent downturn in economic
fortunes many companies initiated a new
wave of restructuring and redundancy. Despite
a decade of re-engineering, a succession
of management fads, heavy investments in
new technologies and the extensive use of
external management consulting services
many boards and management teams were
caught flat-footed.
Communicators need to address the reality
of the context in which they operate. Despite
the rhetoric about flexibility, the ambitious
claims made by corporate leaders and the
hype of their advisers, many companies struggle
to cope with adverse circumstances.
Because so many corporate change programmes
have failed to produce greater
resilience and responsiveness, sudden and
dramatic readjustments may be thought
necessary.
Employees are laid off and contracts are
cancelled. Recruitment, training and the
placing of advertisements are frozen. People
are expected to do more with less. As a consequence
they may feel jaded and insecure.
Many managers do not seem to have learned
from previous experience of the consequences
of severe cutbacks.
There might be various reasons for individual
and collective amnesia. People may be
overloaded with initiatives, inundated with
information, and confused by competing
© 2004 Sandra Oliver for editorial matter and selection;
individual chapters, the contributors