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After facing the economic recession, the South–African and global business sectors started revaluating their human capital and the positions they represent within an organisation. Each individual now had to prove that they contributed towards the organisation’s bottom line, as each and every cent had to be counted and accounted for. Some functions within organisations could easily prove their contribution towards the bottom line by providing production or sales outputs. The public relations practitioners and the corporate communication efforts they offered, however, faced a bleak future, as their contribution towards the tangible assets was very rarely recognised (Kim, 2000:276). The financial services sector however, in which an advisor’s contribution towards the organisational bottom line is easily quantified, started to acknowledge the need for this sector to improve upon its ‘softer’ intangible assets such as client communication and client relationships. The sector believes that communication establishes relationships, and sound client relationships is the only way to sell financial products and services, as people seldom entrust their life earnings or financial dreams to strangers (Christiansen & DeVaney, 1998:7). Public relations practitioners know how to use communication optimally in the quest for building client relationships, and financial services need those skills in order to sell their products and contribute towards the bottom line. These two functions could thus work together towards the achievement of their goals - public relations to prove their bottom line contribution, and the financial services sector towards improving client relationships. These statements led to the general Research Question of this study: “What is the nature of the relationship between (i) corporate communication efforts, (ii) client communication satisfaction and (iii) client relationship satisfaction, and these concepts’ relationship to (iv) client economic contribution, within a financial services organisation?” This Research Question is answered from the systems theory as meta–theory with the support of the strategic communication, excellence and relationship management theories, and Futurum Financial Group (FFG) services as the financial services organisation for this study. A qualitative and quantitative research approach was followed to establish the constructs, and the relationships between the constructs. The Financial Advisors and public relations practitioner in FFG have a good understanding of the need for strategic communication efforts, and a relationship between their efforts and the client communication satisfaction and client relationship satisfaction could therefore be indicated. A further relationship between the client communication satisfaction and client relationship satisfaction and the client economic contribution was also established. Recommendations to improve the situation within FFG included a better focus on database administration, corporate communication consistency, Financial Advisor diligence, and providing clients with more frequent updates regarding their financial situation. The greatest strengths were client–advisor trust and corporate communication professionalism. This study thus contributes to the argument that communication efforts add tangibly, by means of client economic contribution, to the organisation’s bottom line, within the financial services industry. The study furthermore provides some recommendations for the financial services industry to improve their communication skills in order to build client relationships. / Thesis (M.A. (Communication Studies))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011.

After facing the economic recession, the South–African and global business sectors started revaluating their human capital and the positions they represent within an organisation. Each individual now had to prove that they contributed towards the organisation’s bottom line, as each and every cent had to be counted and accounted for. Some functions within organisations could easily prove their contribution towards the bottom line by providing production or sales outputs. The public relations practitioners and the corporate communication efforts they offered, however, faced a bleak future, as their contribution towards the tangible assets was very rarely recognised (Kim, 2000:276). The financial services sector however, in which an advisor’s contribution towards the organisational bottom line is easily quantified, started to acknowledge the need for this sector to improve upon its ‘softer’ intangible assets such as client communication and client relationships. The sector believes that communication establishes relationships, and sound client relationships is the only way to sell financial products and services, as people seldom entrust their life earnings or financial dreams to strangers (Christiansen & DeVaney, 1998:7). Public relations practitioners know how to use communication optimally in the quest for building client relationships, and financial services need those skills in order to sell their products and contribute towards the bottom line. These two functions could thus work together towards the achievement of their goals - public relations to prove their bottom line contribution, and the financial services sector towards improving client relationships. These statements led to the general Research Question of this study: “What is the nature of the relationship between (i) corporate communication efforts, (ii) client communication satisfaction and (iii) client relationship satisfaction, and these concepts’ relationship to (iv) client economic contribution, within a financial services organisation?” This Research Question is answered from the systems theory as meta–theory with the support of the strategic communication, excellence and relationship management theories, and Futurum Financial Group (FFG) services as the financial services organisation for this study. A qualitative and quantitative research approach was followed to establish the constructs, and the relationships between the constructs. The Financial Advisors and public relations practitioner in FFG have a good understanding of the need for strategic communication efforts, and a relationship between their efforts and the client communication satisfaction and client relationship satisfaction could therefore be indicated. A further relationship between the client communication satisfaction and client relationship satisfaction and the client economic contribution was also established. Recommendations to improve the situation within FFG included a better focus on database administration, corporate communication consistency, Financial Advisor diligence, and providing clients with more frequent updates regarding their financial situation. The greatest strengths were client–advisor trust and corporate communication professionalism. This study thus contributes to the argument that communication efforts add tangibly, by means of client economic contribution, to the organisation’s bottom line, within the financial services industry. The study furthermore provides some recommendations for the financial services industry to improve their communication skills in order to build client relationships. / Thesis (M.A. (Communication Studies))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011.

Theorists and management in the South African non-profit sector agree that strong stakeholder relationships are essential in negotiating the challenges faced by the South African non-profit sector. Despite the acknowledgement from the non-profit sector that strong relationships are key to achieving organisational goals, there is an apparent lack of knowledge and strategic thinking amongst them pertaining to the concept of stakeholder relationship management. Against this background the purpose of this study was therefore to develop a metamodern model for stakeholder relationship management, aimed specifically at the South African non-profit sector, that could be implemented by NPO management in a practical manner. The blurring lines between the opposing views of modernism versus postmodernism motivated the choice of metamodernism as a relevant worldview for this study. Metamodernism does not imply a balance between these poles, but rather a constant swinging of the pendulum during which metamodernism negotiates between modernism and postmodernism. It is the construction of a workable, interrelated worldview, recognising the intimate relationship between modernism and postmodernism. It was therefore concluded that a metamodern worldview in which both modernism and postmodernism feature, would not only make it possible for nonprofit organisation managers to understand and join the discussion on stakeholder relationship management, but also to implement the proposed metamodern stakeholder relationship management model. The resultant metamodern stakeholder relationship management model for non-profit organisations is framed by so-called modernistic communication and stakeholder relationship management theories, but it was done in line with the metamodern worldview of the study, allowing for initiative and innovation. The flexible, organic and cyclic nature of the proposed model echoes this worldview. A qualitative, exploratory and interpretative research design was implemented to test a conceptual framework and face-to-face semi-structured interviews were conducted with senior management in the non-profit sector. The design of the framework and subsequent model was guided by a number of assumptions and propositions arising from a thorough literature review, all of which were supported and confirmed by the research results. The most significant contribution of the study is the application of a metamodern worldview emanating from a reluctance to choose between a modern or postmodern stance when discussing communication science and stakeholder relationship management practices. It is therefore foreseen that it would offer the field of communication science new and creative means of combining modernism and postmodernism approaches when studying communication phenomena. It will also expand the responsibility for communication and stakeholder relationship management beyond that of the communication specialists to senior management in the non-profit sector. / Communication Science / D. Litt. et Phil. (Communication)

The purpose of this study was to explore and describe Kenya Power employees’ perceptions of their adoption and implementation of online internal communication tools as a means of creating and managing long lasting relationships among all employees in the organisation. The theoretical point of departure for this study was framed within online internal communication and relationship management while principles of e-government were also considered. A single case study design was adopted for the study which combined both quantitative and qualitative data collection techniques while data was triangulated using an online self-administered questionnaire, focus group moderator’s guide and an interview schedule. The results guided by the theoretical criteria indicate that the implementation of online internal communication tools was done at Kenya Power without considering the internal stakeholders’ needs and preferences. The consequence is that employees have developed negative perceptions about internal online communication resulting in low adoption for relationship management activities. The findings of this study could be useful for other public sector organisations in that it will help them to positively change employees’ perceptions as well as enhance the implementation and adoption of internal online communication tools for the purposes of relationship building which could result in better internal communication and public sector services. / Communication Science / M.A. (Communication)

How do Swedish and French corporate communication differ from a linguistic point of view? This paper compares corporate communication in the area of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and is based on extracts from Renault’s 2013 CSR Report. The original French report is compared to its Swedish translation made by the author of this paper. On the background of translation theories and works dealing with problematic aspects of translation the analysis focuses on three key areas: CSR terminology, buzz words, and syntactical differences.   The analysis of terminology examines the influence of English on French and Swedish CSR terminology and confirms that Swedish is open to English influence to a greater extent than French. The analysis of buzz words shows that although this type of words is common in Swedish corporate communication they are more frequently used in French. The analysis of syntactical differences deals with how lengthy French sentences are translated into Swedish and our study shows that in most cases Swedish translations tend to pass the semantic messages of such sentences by breaking them into several shorter sentences. Lastly, our analysis concludes that French, in many ways, is a more rhetoric language than Swedish.

This thesis deals with company design. The goal is to explain all relevant aspects, especially from company design project point of view. Practical case study of realization of company design project in company Filamos s.r.o. is a part of this thesis. First part explains the term company design, discusses its introduction in a company, administration and its changes. It deals with this term also in context of company identity or image, especially its line up to information strategy. Second part deals with preparation and realization of company design project in company Filamos s.r.o. while practical part deals above all with methodology of this project. The output of the project, "Graphical manual" of the company Filamos s.r.o., is attached.

El presente trabajo analiza los principios teóricos y conceptuales que componen el modelo “The Golden Stakeholder Circle”. La metodología empleada en este artículo corresponde al desarrollo de un paradigma naturalista e interpretativo, porque se estudia la gestión de las relaciones de las partes interesadas y se trata de comprender, analizar e interpretar la fenomenología de los conflictos sociales, centrándonos en la estructura del modelo, con el fin de comprender a cabalidad sus partes y generar nuevos conocimientos a partir del estudio de la literatura del modelo. Por ello se optó por recolectar y analizar el material bibliográfico empleado por Cesar Saenz para la elaboración de su modelo. Asimismo, se decidió analizar y comparar los datos e información sobre las teorías y conceptos empleados en dicho modelo con estudios y artículos de investigación en donde se desarrollaron casos en contextos similares y que exploraron algunas de las líneas de investigación que el autor empleó para construir su modelo. Finalmente, se complementó la información de los alcances del modelo con los aportes y descubrimientos de los otros estudios. / This work analyzes the theoretical and conceptual principles that make up the model “The Golden Stakeholder Circle”. The methodology used in this article corresponds to the development of a naturalistic and interpretive paradigm, because the management of stakeholder relationships is studied and it is about understanding, analyzing and interpreting the phenomenology of social conflicts, focusing on the structure of the model, in order to fully understand its parts and generate new knowledge from the study of the model's literature. For this reason, it was decided to collect and analyze the bibliographic material used by Cesar Saenz for the elaboration of his model. Likewise, it was decided to analyze and compare the data and information on the theories and concepts used in said model with studies and research articles where cases were developed in similar contexts and that explored some of the lines of research that the author used to build his model. Finally, the information on the scope of the model was complemented with the contributions and discoveries of the other studies. / Trabajo de investigación

<p>This research was a pilot study in a larger project that focused on how to retrieve knowledge from retiring long-term employees of a small university utility plant, incorporate that material into their existing training program, and during the process reduce the training time for current and future employees. Wade utility plant faced the retirement of eight employees with nearly 200 years of corporate knowledge within three years, but their current training program required seven to nine years to complete. The study utilized interviews, first-hand observation and partnership with current employees to explore how best to obtain the corporate knowledge that would be lost when the proletarian workers retired. The study revealed that the training program needed to be updated, and communication, trust and training evaluation continuity needed to be addressed. Due to these issues, trust was built through transparency by the researcher, and suggestions were made to management for moving forward. This study adds to the body of knowledge by utilizing knowledge capture techniques in a utility plant, highlighting effective knowledge capture techniques for proletarian workers, the importance of corporate planning for the effect of group retirements, and how incorporating proletarian workers into training creation can make a positive impact on company relationships.</p>

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