10-1 Small Group Discussion: Presentation Peer Review In 8 to 10 slides with voice narration, provide a brief overview of the situation and, using the key concepts from your strategic communication ca

Running head: STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS CASE STUDY 0

9-1 Final Project Submission: Strategic Communication Case Study

Yvonne Batchue

Southern New Hampshire University

August 20, 2020

This paper will be subdivided into four sections. The first section will be the introduction that will outline the context of the paper outlining the significant details of the case study and the problem in the case study brought to light, in addition to the specific communication goals, the target audience, and the need for the communication. The second section will address the internal communication that will discuss the mediums to be used to convey the message, the target audience, the message to be communicated, how personal needs of the employees were met, the considerations for continuous support, and the potential sources of conflict. The third section will address the external communication by discussing the medium, target audit audience, the message, and the potential sources of conflict. The final section will cover follow-up by discussing how the message and delivery complimented the mission, vision, and organizational goals, how to monitor and measure the way the message is received by the internal and external audiences, before concluding with a means to document the lessons learned.

1. Introduction

Context

The context of the case study titled “Research in Motion: Sincerely, a RIM Employee (A)” was based on an open letter that was written to Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis who were the CEO of the firm. The anonymous letter addressing the two CEO’s pointed out how the organization was missing out in the firm and the factors that contributed to the missing vital communication. Some of the issues that are prevalent in the case study include the need to address concerns over user experience, concerns over ineffective marketing strategies, lack of employee accountability, and safety concerns. Some of the issues identified targeted internal audiences while other issues targeted eternal audiences. Internal factors affected the employees and the management within the company while external factors involved external audiences like the community and customers. Examples of external factors in the case study include user experience, marketing strategies deployed, increasing investments, and recruitment of new employees. Most of the changes proposed in the case study could not be outsourced and thus had to be performed within the company. For example, communication between the employees and the management required to be changed, and this type of change cannot be outsourced.

One of the main issues that will be addressed in this paper will include the strategies that will be implemented to create a conducive environment to help employees enjoy working at the firm. To address this issue, some of the suggestions that could help employees enjoy working at the firm could include ensuring everyone is held accountable for their actions, allowing creativity from employees, reducing negative forms of interaction between the management and the employees, and listening empathetically to the employees. The other issue that will be addressed will be how the firm will create a competitive work environment. Some of the factors that will need to be considered include taking the initiative to invest in developers, developing effective marketing strategies, employing senior and experienced software managers, and giving attention to end-user experiences.

The Communication Goals

The anonymous letter that was addressed to the CEOs and posted online articulated the need to listen to and engage the employees in devising ways to make Research in Motion a better place by encouraging the input of the employees at ground level (Seijts & Bigus, 2012). The firm, through its two CEOs, could address this issue through several strategies. Using open meetings, observing and giving positive feedback to the employees, and using technological means like emails could engage the employees as the open letter required. This issue could thus be handled internally. Employees can be briefed every morning about the importance of being accountable through open brief meetings, where the management cites the expectations of each employee and allows the employees to respond and give feedback. Failing to hold the employees accountable for their actions and decisions could negatively impact their morale. Norris, Sitton, and Baker (2017), affirm that the lack of accountability in a firm could erode the loyalty of the staff and compromises the credibility of the management. This calls for the need to articulate the expectations and job descriptions of the employees to them during the orientation period and constantly reminding them during daily brief meetings before they start their jobs.

The employees at RIM felt that their ideas were not valued at all as their creativity was not appreciated. The firm should thus allow the employees to be creative appreciating and showing that the firm valued their ideas. According to Plotnikova and Romanenko (2019), companies that allow their employees to be creative are likely to have diverse problems solving capabilities, which make such companies very competitive. Creativity could be achieved by allowing the management to conduct brainstorming sessions with the employees to identify the most effective ways of handling some of the problems at the firm. Employees are more likely to be imaginative to derive products and services needed by the consumers, as well as devise new and effective strategies to market the products and services to the target population/consumers. Furthermore, Appu and Sia (2017) assert that creativity at the workplace could result in employee engagement, increased morale of the employees, increased interactions leading to fast problem solving before problems impact the productivity of the employees, and increased productivity due to collaborations and teamwork. On the other hand, employees will have a sense of security to be open without the fearing to loose their jobs. The firm could use suggestion boxes for confidentiality, open brief meetings, and even face-to-face communication to get honest feedback from the employees. Therefore, effective communication will benefit both the employees and the firm.

1. Internal Communication

Definition of Medium(s) Used

Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis could use an internal memorandum to communicate with the employees. An internal memo is most effective when communicating with the employees without involving the public as the company can keep track of the employees that received the emails and read it (Amor, 2017). To ensure all the employees get the memo, the firm could attach hard copies on the company noticeboards where employees frequently. The CEOs could also send the memo as attachments when sending the company’s emails to the employees. This will ensure the employees who may not pass by the noticeboards or maybe at home can still get the memo. Using internal memos is more efficient as the organization could take more time and resources trying to reach all the departments. On the contrary, a memo sent over the emails could reach more employees almost instantaneously. Furthermore, the email will convey the same message and a record will be kept of the communication to the employee to address non-repudiation concerns.

Target Audience

The targeted audience for the internal memo will be the employees working at Research in Motion. The employees will receive communication on the importance of making Research in Motion a better and more enjoyable place for them to work. By targeting all the employees of the firm, the employees who may have had similar thoughts about the firm will feel that the management of the firm valued their feedback and respected them.

Message

Consideration for Personal Needs and Development of Employees

One of the considerations that were prioritized to address personal needs and development of the employees was the need for the firm to ask the employees what they needed to improve their work environments. The firm also helped the employees that they were to work as teams and thus learn from each other. The firm will thus help the employees create a sense of peer and community learning through retreats and inter-departmental sporting activities. This will help the employees bond with each other and learn from each other too. The management could also offer the employees surveys and questionnaires on a regular basis to help the firm identify perceptions about their personal development and what could be changed or be maintained so that the employees could be at their peak performance and benefit everyone (Rigby & Ryan, 2018).

Considerations for Continuous Support

Changes within any organization may not be taken in a positive manner since the employees usually lack support as they cope with the impacts of the changes (Grama & Todericiu, 2016). It will thus be necessary to offer support to the employees to help them cope with the impacts of the proposed changes as the changes could be overwhelming. One of the support that will be offered will be retreats where the management and the employees will get to know more about each other, providing an opportunity for the management to convince the employees to fully support the proposed changes so that the firm could remain competitive in a global market. Employees will also develop trust as they learn from one another during the retreats. This will help establish a conducive work environment for the employees.

Furthermore, the firm could offer the employees a way to get feedback. As the employees present raw ideas, the ideas may not be an award-winning to get the $100,000 incentives. However, if the firm could volunteer to give the employees some feedback regarding their raw ideas, the employees will be able to be motivated to shape their innovative ideas to will the incentives. Employees could feel that they are supported for continuous development through open-door policy and suggestion boxes where they will get appropriate feedback. This is because they will have a direct link to connect with the management where their needs and fears about the proposed changes will be addressed. The employees will find it easy to accept and embracing the proposed changes.

Potential Sources of Conflict

Changes in the organization are likely to result in conflict because it is not easy to avoid conflicts. The management should ensure that conflicts are managed and do not get out of control (Pratt, Smollan, & Pio, 2019). At Research in Motion, the conflict had already occurred when one of the senior executives sent an open letter that was then published on the website of the Boy Genius Report. The potential conflict that arises is that the open letter that explained the failure of the management to listen to the employees and a lack of an enjoyable work environment was channeled to the public, but why was the firm using internal memorandum to address the issues. Another potential source of conflict is that the open letter cited the lack of a conducive work environment for the employees to enjoy working at the firm. But why was the management encouraging the proposed changes?

1. External Communication

External communication will be made to address the stakeholders and customers. The stakeholders and the customers form the external entities that the organization interacts with. The external communication will address such external entities to prevent damage to the reputation of the firm, which could tarnish the brand image. According to Wonneberger and Jacobs (2016), external communication helps a company get information about its products and services to the suppliers, stakeholders, and customers/consumers and positively influences brand reputation. Since the damage had been done and the message was out to the public, it would only be prudent for Research in Motion to respond to the message and reassure the consumers and the stakeholders. This would reduce the damage done to the reputation of the firm.

Medium(s)

Although the employee did not mean to damage the firm’s reputation but needed the firm to address them, the publication of the open letter on Boy Genius Report’s website damaged the reputation of the firm due to negative publicity as the message could be read by many people globally. According to Hughes, White, and Wilkinson (2019), a press statement is used to reach many people about events that have happened in a firm and the firm intends to make the matter public so as to clarify some issues. The two CEOs, therefore, needed a medium that could reach as many people as possible, and the most effective medium that was applicable was a press statement.

Target Audience

The target audience plays an important role in establishing the right message to develop in an organization. This is because the message derived for the employees will not be the same as the message derived for the consumers, as they have completely different needs. Therefore, for the external communication at Research in Motion, the target audience includes the consumers/customers, the developers, and the investors in the firm. The customers, the developers, and the investors all want to be kept in the loop due especially when the changes could impact the outlook of the firm. The message will outline that the proposed changes will affect the overall outlook of Research in Motion to validate the thinking of the stakeholders, customers, and suppliers. The firm could also use social media platforms to target certain demographics that may form a potential market for the firm’s products. Currently, Research in Motion could focus on the customers using its products to make them understand the misunderstanding and the proposed changes. Later on, the firm could devise marketing strategies to increase its customer base in other demographics.

Message

Draft Press Release

Sources of Conflict

Some of the possible conflicts that may arise towards the medium used is that social media has its own share of drawbacks. Although it allows the parties to communicate in real-time and could allow the firm to collect feedback from the customers, stakeholders, and suppliers. However, the conflict that manifests is that social media will only reach those people who are registered on social media platforms. Those who do not have access to social media will receive incorrect information as a result of various factors like misinterpretation and bias (Tallon, 2016). On the other hand, it allows the people to get responses in the comments section to the issues they may face.

The press statement could also be ineffective if the firm lacks a clear and concise message to communicate to the consumers, stakeholders, and suppliers. This raises a potential conflict. The apology offered through the press release may face resistance from the members of staff of the organization who may not take the apology well for the past business practices at the firm. The apology will seem to them as accepting they have been ineffective all the time. Therefore, the two CEO’s should ensure that all the staff and employees are on board regarding the press release apology and proposed changes.

1. Follow Up

Aligning the Message to the Mission, Vision, and Goals of the Firm

The messages that will be developed and be delivered to the internal and external audiences by the two CEOs should address the plans that they will use to solve the challenges at Research in Motion. The message should explain how they would ensure employees' happiness while achieving the mission, vision, and goals of the firm. The vision of the firm is to be the best telecommunication and wireless device company around the world using innovation and creativity to ensure high-quality products and customer satisfaction. Therefore, the firm will encourage innovation and creativity by encouraging employees to engage their creativity and earn incentives. On the other hand, the firm will use the creative ideas from the employees to make high-quality products for the employees, ensuring customer satisfaction. This way, the message will be aligned towards achieving the vision of the firm.

The lack of effective marketing skills was also another concern raised in the open letter. The message from the CEOs should thus reflect the improvement in customer services, including after-sales service. This will help the message from the CEOs achieve the vision of the firm that guarantees customer satisfaction. The vision of the organization requires the organization to seek a competitive advantage among other competitors in the telecommunications industry. The message explains some of the strategies that will be used to ensure the firm remains competitive. For example, engaging the customers, employees, and the stakeholders collects ideas and create a strong culture in the firm that could help attain a competitive edge in the telecommunication industry. The anonymous suggestion boxes, incentives, fitness centers, and questionnaires administered quarterly will promote a conducive work environment, which promotes productivity of the employees, helping achieve customer satisfaction and increased revenue for the firm. The message will address the issues facing the employees while addressing the vision and goals of the firm. This will be like killing two birds with one stone.

Finally, the mission of Research is to become a leader in the design and manufacture of wireless solutions for the global market (World Health Organization, 2016). Motivating the employees with incentives will increase their productivity. This way, the firm will be able to be a leader in the design and manufacture of wireless solutions. The message will thus have aligned with the mission of the firm.

Monitor and Measure the Reception and Interpretation of Message by Internal Audience

A survey and questionnaire are some of the easy ways through which one can use to monitor and evaluate how effective or ineffective internal communication has been in the organization (World Health Organization, 2016). Research in Motion should thus consider using an anonymous survey/questionnaire to ascertain the way the employees embraced the message or rejected it. The survey/questionnaire could help the management depict how the employees were coping with the changes, and if they found the changes effective. Feedback can be collected which helps the organization make the decision on whether to continue on the same route or whether changes were necessary. Since the survey/questionnaires are anonymous, the employees will be more confident and answer honestly without the fear of losing their jobs through termination or being judged.

Monitor and Measure the Reception and Interpretation of Message by External Audience

A survey and questionnaire could also be used to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of external communication. According to the World Health Organization (2016), surveys/questionnaires can be used to determine the perception of the consumers after changes have been implemented in an organization. Research in Motion will adopt a similar strategy to identify the effectiveness of the changes in terms of the quality of the products and services offered after the sale of a product. Social media has numerous metrics that Research in Motion could use to measure the online presence of the firm. This is important as it will help the firm track its progress as well as understand customer engagement.

Documenting Lessons Learned from Communication Plan

Documenting the lessons learned from the case study will be an important undertaking that will help the firm learn from the incidents and overcome those challenges in the future. In other words, documenting the lessons helps to positively influence decision-making. Documentation will entail how the two CEOs handled the incidences that occurred to help the customers receive quality and innovative products while building trust between employees and the management. The meetings held within the departments should also be documented. The documentation of the meetings will help the employees to know that their ideas and creativity were highly valued. It will also help the management get certain traits and practices to handle such incidents should they ever occur in the firm in the future.

One of the things that I could have done differently is that I could have used the threat posed by the open letter as an opportunity. I would use this instance to create strategies that would ensure the business attained resilience. Since the employees and the public were aware of the inefficiencies at the firm, using that as an opportunity to implement changes will be an effective strategy for the public to expect changes and the employees would less likely reject changes. The changes implemented will be embraced easily by the employees and the stakeholders, thus an effective opportunity for me to implement resilient strategies to help the firm attain competitive advantage and sustainability. This will not only help the firm restore trust to where the firm was before but emerge out of the situation better than it was before.

References

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