Large multi-national corporations experience more and more pressure to maintain good
relationships with their stakeholders, including employees. Concurrent with this, the focus
of Corporate Communication management has shifted from pure communication
management to relationship management.
Lonmin Platinum, a mining company within the South African mining and minerals sector is
no exception in this regard. In fact, due to the apartheid legacy and government
regulations that are aimed at safety and equity, it is especially difficult to manage
employee relationships in the mining industry. Apart from historical and environmental
factors, Lonmin Platinum's task is further complicated by its diverse work-force. At the time
of the study the work-force of approximately 20 000 employees consisted of literate, semiliterate
and illiterate employees. In addition, the company comprised five business units,
each with their own corporate identity.
In order to manage relationships effectively, a company needs to understand the nature
and quality of its relationships as well as which factors might influence its stakeholder
relationships. Studies have already indicated that a company's corporate identity can
contribute to the stakeholders' images of the company. Over time, the image impacts on
the company's reputation and consequently on the stakeholders' relationships with the
company. In the case of a company such as Lonmin Platinum, with an endorsed corporate
identity, it can be expected that corporate identity will also play a role in the nature and
quality of relationships, including employee relationships.
Previous studies have investigated the link between corporate identity and relationships
focussing on communication, and on behaviour elements of identity. Up until now, no
examples of research of the possible influence of symbolic corporate identity elements on
relationships in the South African mining industry could be traced. Against this
background, the following research question was asked: What is the relationship between
employees' perceptions of symbolic corporate identity elements and employer-employee
relationships at Lonmin Platinum?
Semi-structured interviews, focus group interviews and quantitative questionnaires were
applied as data collection methods. The results confirmed that Lonmin Platinum did not
have a good relationship with its employees in general. The lack of trust was seen as one
of the most apparent problems. It also seemed that the employees did not understand the
company's endorsed corporate identity. They, for example, did not understand the
company structure and identified themselves more with the symbolic corporate identity of
their respective business units than with the company itself.
With regard to the correlation between symbolic corporate identity and relationships, this
study indicated a relationship between employees' perceptions of how effective the
company reached it objectives and the quality of its employee relationships. Company
objectives, such as a safe working environment, a healthy working environment, socioeconomic
empowerment and accountability, as well as a company that unites its workforce
and creates a family feeling amongst the employees impacted most on employee
relationships. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Communication Studies))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2008.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:NWUBOLOKA1/oai:dspace.nwu.ac.za:10394/769 |
| Date | January 2007 |
| Creators | Holtzhausen, Lida |
| Publisher | North-West University |
| Source Sets | North-West University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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