Defining Organisational Character: Global

Transcript:Defining Organisational Character: Global:
Defining Organisational Character: Global Alliance, September 2012 An organisation’s character, like those of people, is determined by its history, but largely by the values it adopts and pro-actively lives by. No-one imposes these values, they are self-determined. The actual values an organisation lives and operates by shapes its culture, frames the interactions it has with all stakeholders and ultimately how it acts. As with a person, if an organisation does not live by the values it purports to, then stakeholders are entitled to question its authenticity. Any gap that exists between how an organisation says it should act (its declared values), and how it actually acts (its real values), or put more simply the difference between stakeholder s’ encouraged expectations and the organisational reality, raises questions about the organisation’s authenticity which in turn generates potential reputational risks and other issues. With the explosion of communications technology, the impact of digital and social media and increasing pressure for organisational transparency, the magnifying glass has never been so acutely focused on organisations and how they operate. Organisational authenticity and integrity is public relations’ territory and is why practitioners should be involved in helping determine and/or test the ‘character’ as expressed in the values that underpin how an organisation makes decisions and behaves. Does the organisation truly live by its values? Does it have the proof points to back this up? If not, what strategic options does this generate? And, do the values stack up against what stakeholders expect of it? In our working group we will develop a visual aid that will help practitioners think through what is required of them when considering and communicating organisational character, and a practical tool (possibly called an Integrity Index) that helps organisations to identify if and how they live up to their values. The tool can be used not only as a measure of integrity, but as a means for stimulating discussions and actions that address issues that affect the purpose, strategy and operations of organisations. We believe this will provide a significant and practical outcome from the Mandate discussions and help further move public relations up the strategic value chain. Copyright © 2012 Global Alliance for Public Relations and Communication Management. All rights reserved. Mission The Why PR Role: Check that values are being lived by the organisation and have external support PR Role: Questioning/ testing/ re-asserting/re-legitimising purpose PR Role: Help communicate mission, model