create a complete Communications Plan using the attached document company with an accompanying PowerPoint presentation for key stakeholder group(s). The Communications Plan should focus on a specific

Communications Policy

David Roberts

Argosy University

Dr. Roger Fuller

Communication Policy

Microsoft Corporation is a multinational technology company that develops market software's, services, and devices in order to transform the way people learn, play and communicates. Microsoft Corporation has revolutionized the way it conducts its activities especially on how the information flows from top-level managers to the employees, investors, and customers (Kim, & Kim, 2001). The purpose of drafting communication policy documents is in order to explain types of communication messages utilized by the company, the audience targeted, the social media platform used, the appropriate approval required for the communication to flow effectively and the tools and tactic to be employed.

Microsoft Corporation provides email and computer facilities to its staff and the main goals of availing this communication component are in order to improve communication within the organization by ensuring the company saves on cost and serves their customers more effectively. The company has put several limitations on the kind of information which should be shared to the public because some of this information is protected under the copyright policy and therefore nobody has the rights to reveal that information. Essential information is protected as a way of protecting patent rights of the company.

Microsoft Corporation Audience

Microsoft Corporation communication documents target a variety of audience differentiated by behaviors, age, and location and other factors. The target audiences are categorized into two, for example, primary audience and secondary audience. The primary audience includes those audiences the company communicates in a day to day activities. Examples of primary audience include employees, customers, and shareholders. Effective communication is essential to employee’s productivity because all tasks are shared through the communication channel. Microsoft also training their employees by utilizing various communication tools such as video conferencing.

The company also track work progress, communicate to employees through web conferencing hence reducing movement within the organization because employees and line managers can talk via the social web. Customers are also part of the primary audience of Microsoft Corporation. Customers differ in term of age and social networks and educational background and therefore the company uses various methods to reach this audience. Whenever the company launches a new brand of products the communication is shared through various sources such as social platform, media, and company new letter. Company social media targets to inform the youth about the brand.

The newsletter or written article of the company target professional customers and students who may need the information for research. The media such as television targets parents who are not active on the social media platform. By utilizing this communication strategy the company is able to inform its customers about current news in the company and be able to address the needs of its customer despite the age and demographic backgrounds. Shareholders are also part of the primary audience and therefore they receive communication via Skype and company newsletter. The shareholder can attend boardroom meeting through Skype or by use of web conferencing.

The shareholders receive stock performance daily by accessing the company websites on the investor’s updates. The creditors and suppliers need daily information from the company in order to plan way forwards, therefore, they are part of the company primary audience. The secondary audience includes those audiences who have less importance to the company success and therefore they receive annual updates about the company performance through sharing financial performance. The company financial analysts depend on the company annual financial performance or quarterly financial statements to analyze the company financial performance. Government agencies do not receive daily updates by quarterly communication update.

Electronic Media and Social media Used:

Microsoft Corporation utilizes various media platform while providing information about company product performance, financial performance and also through advertisements. The commonly utilized electronic media include Television advertisements whereas the social media platform include Facebook company page, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn. Facebook pages are a social networking platform where the company shares its information about any activities going on in the company. This platform is essential to youth as they are considered as the majority users of the platform. The company announces the new products release through social media.

YouTube video is mostly used for advertisements and during products recall via press release. Twitter social platform is used for sharing information about the company brand and events going in the company. Additionally, a LinkedIn platform is composed of professionals in a particular field and therefore the company uses the platform to communicate about potential job opportunities in the company. This social platform helps the company in getting qualified and skilled employees. The websites, on the other hand, contains information about products, newsletter, and financial performance and other information which may be accessed by other audience for free.

Also, the company uses live stream to allow all shareholders to participate and votes via the virtual at the shareholders meeting. In addition, Microsoft CEO communicated with customers via live webcast where he articulated his goal in the company. This is also a better strategy of articulating goal and a plan to the customers and investors around a wide range even though the method does not guarantee an immediate response from the customers. The communication is still available to the customers even after the CEO goes offline. This kind of communication strategy can be applied by managers in order to monitor work progress.

Microsoft Corporation Approval required.

The company offers some limitation on the personal use of the company communication tools. For example, the communication facilities are governed by terms and policies put in place in the company communication policy. Some rights are limited or withdrawn especially when an individual violates the rights (Delgado-Ballester, Navarro, & Sicilia, 2012). The company collects personal information about their customers and how the customers interact with company products. Therefore, it is the responsibility of the company to protect their customer from rogue employees who may expose the information to untrusted people.

Email and Websites

Email passwords are used to grant access to employees. Passwords are essential because it protects employees from receiving threats from unknown people. Besides, password prevents employees will ill motive ideas from interfering with the company data. Therefore, the appropriate methods protecting the company information is by requiring them to have secret passwords. Additionally, employees are required to be cautionary on how they use their personal email. Personal emails should not interfere with their performance in the company activities. Also, all personal email send should be marked personal in order to avoid confusion. Personal emails should not cause unwarranted expenses or liability to the company.

In this case, the organization communication policy offers guidelines on approved emails and when to use them. To avoid more complication, company emails are more approved in transacting official duties and updating seniors about work progresses. The company websites are protected through encryption as a way of protecting the company from hackers. Some websites require users to sign in so that they can access the company information. This is a better method of granting approval to those who are supposed to view company information and those who are not allowed to view the company information.

Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter:

In order to be able to be part of the company Facebook fan page, the users are only required to like the pages. Liking the company pages depends on the individual opinion about the brand and therefore some may decide not to like the pages. If a client does not like the company Facebook page then he or she would not receive notification from the company Facebook pages. In order to grant approval for company video notification, the users of YouTube are required to subscribe in order to be receiving notification. The user has total rights to unsubscribe at will. Users of Twitter social platform, are required to follow the company Twitter pages in order to be able to receive the company information. This is a better method of filtering of the users.

Internal communication:

Internal communication is only approved to internal stakeholders. Sharing information, in this case, is controlled by managers and company policies. Only the relevant information should be released to the public. For example, speculation of poor performance of the company is prohibited within the company because it interferes with stock performance and therefore official information is more reliable than speculative information (Delgado-Ballester, Navarro, & Sicilia, 2012). The company channel of communication should be properly followed and should flow in accordance with the chain of command in order to avoid insubordination.

Personal blogs and Article of the company:

Employees interested in writing about the company in their personal blog or writing article about the company are required to conducts themselves appropriately and in the manner which is consistent with employee's employment contracts. The company requires the individual to reveal their portrait and their real names as a better way of identifying them. If the writer expresses his opinion then he or she is required to add a disclaimer indicating that the information expressed above is the not the real truth about the situation but it's just his or her personal view about the company. If a writer fails to adhere to the communication organization policy he or she may be treated as have committed gross misconduct which may lead to dismissal.

Tools and tactics to be used

The communication tool used in Microsoft Corporation include social media, press release, press meeting, and company tools such as web conferencing and Skype. All these tools are effective in how they are utilized. Social media platform include Facebook, Twitter, and others. Press release involve allowing company spoke person to speak on behave of the organization. These individuals are required to stick to points and ensure their messages are clearly and understandable. This strategy is usually applied when the company is about to enroll new products or want to clarify something to the public. The social media is used as a tactic of attracting a huge chunk of potential and actual customers. Speaker bureaus outline milestones the company has achieved and this strategy is a tactic of explaining the relevance of the company to the public. Internal communication tools help in improving communication pattern within the organization and also as a tactic of improving customer experiences, improving workplace efficiency and productivity.

References

Kim, J., & Kim, Y. (2001). Issues evaluation: the case of Microsoft. Corporate Communications: An International Journal, 6(2), 76-81.

Carlini, B., Miles, L., Doyle, S., Celestino, P., & Koutsky, J. (2015). Peer Reviewed: Using Diverse Communication Strategies to Re-Engage Relapsed Tobacco Quitline Users in Treatment, New York State, 2014. Preventing chronic disease, 12. Cornelissen, J., & Cornelissen, J. P. (2017). Corporate communication: A guide to theory and practice. Sage.

Denning, S., Hoiem, D., Simpson, M., & Sullivan, K. (1990, October). The value of thinking-aloud protocols in industry: A case study at Microsoft Corporation. In Proceedings of the Human Factors Society Annual Meeting (Vol. 34, No. 17, pp. 1285-1289). Sage CA: Los Angeles, CA: SAGE Publications.

Delgado-Ballester, E., Navarro, A., & Sicilia, M. (2012). Revitalising brands through communication messages: the role of brand familiarity. European Journal of Marketing, 46(1/2), 31-51.

Navarro, M. A., Delgado, E., & Sicilia, M. (2010). Integrated Marketing Communications: A Test for Different Levels of Strategic Consistency. In Advances in Advertising Research (Vol. 1) (pp. 3-20). Gabler.

Navarro-Bailón, M. Á. (2011). What is the Best Communication Strategy (Integration vs. Repetition) to Persuade Consumers? An Analysis of Levels of Brand Familiarity. In Advances in Advertising Research (Vol. 2) (pp. 325-340). Gabler.