This study seeks to understand the relationship between corporate communication and perceived image of University of Ilorin among student publics. The survey method was used through the instrumentation of questionnaires to know the perceived image of the institution among University of Ilorin undergraduate student while the interview was conducted to know more about the structure, the practices and activities of University of Ilorin corporate affairs department. With the systematic sampling procedure, 380 respondents were selected in this study. Using Pearson correlation co-efficient and regression as well as paired sample t-test to test the hypothesis, the study shows that the use of corporate communication by the corporate affairs division contribute a lot in maintaining good image, academic stability of the institution through a better information management. Though media and government relations are well perceived, corporate communications practitioners should focus more on their employee and community relations. Finally, the study recommends that public relations practitioners and the top executives should ensure high excellence in the communication practice in the universities and other corporate institutions.
Keywords: corporate communication, corporate image, excellency theory, reputation etc.
ABSTRACT
This study seeks to understand the relationship between corporate communication and perceived image of University of Ilorin among student publics. The survey method was used through the instrumentation of questionnaires to know the perceived image of the institution among University of Ilorin undergraduate student while the interview was conducted to know more about the structure, the practices and activities of University of Ilorin corporate affairs department. With the systematic sampling procedure, 380 respondents were selected in this study. Using Pearson correlation co-efficient and regression as well as paired sample t-test to test the hypothesis, the study shows that the use of corporate communication by the corporate affairs division contribute a lot in maintaining good image, academic stability of the institution through a better information management. Though media and government relations are well perceived, corporate communications practitioners should focus more on their employee and community relations. Finally, the study recommends that public relations practitioners and the top executives should ensure high excellence in the communication practice in the universities and other corporate institutions.
Keywords: corporate communication, corporate image, excellency theory, reputation etc.
INTRODUCTION
Corporate communication refers to a kind of communication which is used for the promotion of a product, services or organization (Lehman, Dufrene, Cameron-Dow, Barret, & Murphy, 2012). These scholars added that modern paradigm of corporate communication is understood as “centralized management of overall company communication “, dealing with numerous stakeholders, and aiming at achieving the highest reputation possible (Schmid & Lyczek, 2006 cited in Christensen, Morsing, Cheney, 2008). Thus, corporate communication is important for a company or an institution because it is through communication that an organization make contacts with its stakeholders, staffs and other elements both internal and external of the organization (Verhoeven, Zerfass, & Tench, 2011). In another view, Argenti (1996, p. 77 cited in Christensen et al., 2008) sees corporate communication as a development of strategic corporate public relations concerned with: “image and identity, corporate advertising, media relations, financial communications, employee relations, community relations and corporate philanthropy, government relations and crisis communications.” This differs from van Riel's (1995, p. 26 cited in Christensen et al., 2008) view who defines the field of corporate communication as: “an instrument of management by means of which all consciously used forms of internal and external communication are harmonised as effectively and efficiently as possible, so as to create a favourable basis for relationships with groups upon which the company is dependent”.
In line with the above mentioned ideas and opinions, corporate communication "offers a framework for the effective coordination of all internal and external communication with the overall purpose of establishing and maintaining favourable reputations with stakeholder groups upon which the organization is dependent" (Cornelissen, 2008, p. 5). This is why Helm (2007), claims that corporate communication is both a means to securing reputation and organizational function. When addressed as a function, it is the integration and strategic alignment are central themes. The issue of integration in the literature relates to how to align or harmonize external communication activities with each other (Cornelissen & Lock, 2001 cited in Christensen et al., 2008) as well as with those of internal communication (van Riel, 1995). On the other hand, corporate communication is very important for an institution to create the best corporate reputation especially for tertiary institutions. This is to say that corporate communication establishes and maintains reputation and it is responsible for shaping of the external presentation of a company; as such, it is an important function of corporate governance, in terms of reputation management (Nobel, 2006). Consequently, reputation is a key resource to higher institutions of learning in all parts of the world. It is an important asset because with a good reputation, an educational institution can attract significant endowment, reputable sponsors, and bright scholars, among other incentives, which could boost its educational, economic, and other development programs. Dalton (2005) describes reputation, as the sum values that stakeholders attribute to an organization, based on their perception and interpretation of the image that the organization communicates over time. This means that with corporate communication, an institution's image or reputation is maintained and allows smooth functioning of activities in the institution. Buttressing this point, Gray and Balmer (1998) cited in Christensen et al., (2008) in the context of reputation management emphasize identity, communication and visual factors. These theoretical issues represent best the metaphor of reputation as an iceberg whose only top can be seen above the water.
From another dimension however, Eniola (2011) claims that Public Relations practice has become a matter of great concern to many individuals, institutions and corporate bodies in recent years. Notwithstanding, he buttressed his point by adding that the benefits of public relations to higher education, there are conflicting views about its significance to the operations of universities”. This is because Public Relations officers responsible for public relations are often left out of decision-making. On several occasions, they are called in to implement some decisions that they hardly understand because they were not part of the decision making processes. They are not accorded the status that will make them part of those decisions (Deephouse, 2007; Sarstedt, 2009; Greyser, 1999; Helm, 2007). As a result, this gives an impression of insignificance of their function as role players in the management of Universities.
Again, most people believe public relations as nothing than peddler of falsehood of an organisation or marketing image enhancer. While others are of the opinion that, it is all about arranging pretty ladies that lack moral principles to woo men to act against their wishes or just a mere rubber-stamp-boy of the organisation that carries bag for his boss. Others still see public relations practitioners as nothing than mere communication technicians which are far removed from managerial key stakeholders of tertiary institutions (Okoro, et al., 2010; Godwin at al., 2010; Nwosu, 1997; Grunig, 2001).
Apart from these, there are other significant challenges in developing effective corporate communication strategies and programmes (Argenti, 2013). And most of the researches on corporate communication are western based in nature in the sense that the generalizations did not take into consideration some factors that could determine the effectiveness of corporate communication in reputation management of all tertiary institutions. As such, this study seeks to gain a better understanding on the relationship between corporate communication and perceived image of University of Ilorin among students' public.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Corporate Communication
Etymologically, ‘corporate' originally stems from the Latin words for ‘body' (corpus) and for ‘forming into a body' (corporare), which emphasize a unified way of looking at ‘internal' and ‘external' communication disciplines. That is, instead of looking at specialized disciplines or stakeholder groups separately, the corporate communication function starts from the perspective of the ‘bodily' organization as a whole when communicating with internal and external stakeholders. Corporate communication, in other words, can be characterized as a management function that is responsible for overseeing and coordinating the work done by communication practitioners in different disciplines, such as media relations, public affairs and internal communication (Cornelissen, 2008). At this stage, the common features of some of the prevailing definitions of corporate communication have been synthetized in three points (Goodman & Hirsch, 2010; Cornelissen, 2008):
First, corporate communication is a strategic management function that takes a strategic approach to communication activities and is tied to the overall strategy of the company. Second, it integrates external and internal communication activities spread among a series of organizational practices to build, maintain, change and/or repair one or more positive images and/or reputations. Third, these entire activities take place inside relationships with the external and internal stakeholders of the company. These authors added that corporate communication encompasses and manages all company's communication activities as an integrated whole with the aim of building and maintaining a valuable corporate reputation across different stakeholder groups, markets and audiences (Christensen & Cornelissen, 2011; Cornelissen, 2008). This is to say that corporate communication paradigm therefore privileges the sender's point-of-view, assumes for itself an orchestration role, and justifies centralized control of the communication function (Christensen & Cornelissen, 2011).
Public Relations Programmes & Reputation Management
In public relations, there are different types of relations which are referred to as relationship with various stakeholders. Wells, Burnet, and Moriarty (2005) described the different types of public relations. The key publics addressed by relationship management are the following:
Corporate Relations: Corporate relations programs focus on organization's image and reputation. The purpose is to persuade the public to perceive the company in a positive light. According to Wells et al. (2005) the public relation expert Fraser Seitel has stated in the practice of public relations, that “it takes a great deal of time to build a favorable image for a corporation but only slip to create a negative public impression.” For this reason, the goal of reputation management in a corporate relations program is to strengthen the trust that stakeholders have in the company. Therefore, corporate reputation is a perception; it is earned through deeds, not created by advertising.
Public Affairs: Focuses on corporate communication with governments and with the public on issues related to government and regulations. Public affairs include both lobbying and communication efforts. Issue management is another term for this function. In addition to government relations, public affair programs also monitor public opinion about issues central to the organization's interest and develop programs for communicating to, and with the public on these issues.
Employees Relations: Employee's relations programs should be organized to communicate information to employees. The function of employee relations is both public relations and human resource management function. Employees' relations also involved internal marketing which communicate an effort aimed at informing employees concerning marketing programs as well as encouraging their support. This is because this goes a long way to affect the image of the organization (Frandsen & Johansen, 2013).
Media Relations: This focuses on developing a relationship with the media and finding out if the media is interested in the organizations story. The term “public relations” is sometimes associated with the term ‘publicity', which indicates the importance of this media function. The organization initiates publicity and provides relevant information to media. A successful relationship between a public relations person and the editor is built on public relations professional's reputation for honesty, accuracy and professionalism. When these qualities are tarnished or lost, the public relations professional cannot function effectively as a liaison between a company and the media (Wells et al, 2005). Besides , White and Park (2010) revealed in their study that public relations was perceived positively as against the negative perceptions portrayed by the mass media.
Community Relations: Organizations have obligations to their communities through various kinds of support including encouraging employees to do voluntary work, providing a grant to the local band or art museum, donating needed equipment to local schools and hospitals.
Therefore, active and continuing participation within a community helps to maintain and enhance cordial relationship to the benefit of both the institution and the community at large. Post, Preston, and Sachs (2002) pointed out that a company's wealth and its license to operate are influenced by its relationship with stakeholders. In this case, it is influenced by the company's relationship with communities. In this view, relationship building approach becomes very important in public relations activities.
Public Relations in the Universities
According to Tengilimoglu, Yesiltas, Kisa, & Dziegielewski (2008) public relations activities for all organizations can have an important effect on consumer decision-making when buying goods or services. Additionally, research by Tianping (2003) indicated that public relations is a basic function of a modern school's management and external public relationship is a basic element within public relations. Furthermore, in their study on Approaches to and Instruments of Public Relations in Higher Education in the Czech Republic, Garcia (2014, p. 23) found that the success of the new detached campus is accredited to skillful public relations. The researcher further urged higher education institutions to develop public relations capacities.
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