National Geographic Society Case Study. Research Paper
Case Study #2 National Geographic This case has two parts: 1. Situation analysis and stakeholder analysis 2. Communication plan Assume that John Fahey, National Geographic Society’s (NGS) CEO, has actually hired someone to assume the e-commerce role described in the case study. You are the communication adviser to this new senior vice president, who will be reporting directly to Fahey. Part 1: Situation Analysis (20 points) Your first task is to perform a situation analysis. What are the primary communication challenges, internal and external, that must be addressed by the new senior vice president? This is not a research paper, so you should not do any research on NGS! Rely only on the information in the case as the factual basis for your analysis. Be sure to reference material from the Gillis text, as well as the articles I’ve posted to help frame your analysis. Part 1: Stakeholder Analysis Matrix (20 points) Then conduct a stakeholder analysis using the attached matrix: Stakeholder Analysis Matrix(2).docx attached. You should decide on the 5-8 key internal and external target audiences for the e-commerce initiative. Word length for all of Part 1: 1000-1200 words Part 2: Communication Plan (40 points) The SVP has asked you to draft a communication plan in support of the ecommerce initiatives for the coming twelve months. Your plan should support two primary business objectives: 1) Strengthen the relationship with NGS subscriber/members in order to drive revenue growth; 2) Coordinate web-based offerings and outreach across NGS’s various departments in order to drive efficiency and promote cross-functional innovation. You plan should include: • A narrative description of your strategic approach, referencing appropriate course readings, including the principles of persuasion that you will apply • 1 communication objective for each business objective • Target audiences/influencers for each communication objective • One communication tactic to help achieve each of the communication objectives, including a description of each tactic, the channels/media to be used to implement the tactic, and 2-3 success measures Just like with Helix (I attached “Example Helix Assignment”), you should use the below expanded outline (do the below for each business objective). • Business Objective 1 • Communication Objective 1 • Target Audience 1 • Influencers Impacting Target Audience 1 • A narrative description of your strategic approach Ø Know, Think, Feel - Where is your focus? How are you hoping to impact your audience with your communication efforts? Ø Reference appropriate course readings Ø Include principles of persuasion Ø Tactics You Will Use to Accomplish Objective Ø What channel(s) will you use to accomplish this tactic? Ø What Principles of Persuasion relate to the tactics? Ø What are your success indicators? Make sure your metrics are SMART (reference SMART goals in the textbook if you need additional information) Word length for part 2: 1000-1200 words This is not a research paper – you should only reference (follow APA guidelines for in-text citations) readings from CMN6010 or other CMN courses. No reference list is required. IMPORTANT: For an excellent introduction to the case method, read John Hammond’s “Learning by the Case Method” article attached. I also attached the textbook of this course
National Geographic Society Case Study
Student’s Name:
Institutional Affiliation:
Date
National Geographic Society Case Study
Situation Analysis
Internal Communication Weaknesses
One of the challenges facing the internal communication network of the National Geographic Society is the lack of feedback. Research shows that whenever communication is unidirectional, the discourse instantly becomes ineffective. Feedback is very critical in any level of interaction. This is because it helps directors and managers to determine how well their subordinates have achieved the set targets (Duijn, van Buuren, Edelenbos, van Popering-Verkerk & Van Meerkerk, 2019). Also, feedback helps to establish the level of collaboration between employees and their co-workers, as well as how well they perform their assignments. Feedback allows managers to understand the ability of their workers to handle diversity and stress. In National Geographic Society (NGS), there is notably poor feedback, which has contributed to slack work attitude, demotivation of employees, increased absenteeism, and constant failure to finish daily workloads.
Secondly, NGS has been experiencing a constant overload of irrelevant information. Communication is one of the vital elements that determine and influence the success of every business. The success of the internal communication system in NGS hangs on the human resources and public relations’ decisions as to whether or not to communicate. The choice of information, just like the type of message to send around the firm, determines the willingness of potential recipients to receive the message (Jack, 2017). The communication system of NGS has developed a culture of sharing junk information without relevant content without considering the time and who will access the information. The firm has also failed to create open and closed groups where it can share specific information using predetermined channels that are meant to address particular problems.
External Communication Weaknesses
One of the challenges of external communication in NGS companies is the sharing of misleading information. Many companies use external communication to reach out to their potential customers as well as investors (Lazzari & Thompson, 2019). External communication is another avenue that companies use to create a public impression and paint a correct image of the organization and the goods it produces. However, the communication plan at NGS lacks the capacity to develop appealing newsletters and quotes that can help to improve the corporate revenue of the firm (Jack, 2017). The employees charged with this duty have also failed to understand the company image that would attract more customers and investors as well as understanding the demands of their customers.
The new senior vice president should formulate strategic plans that will help to improve the public perception of the company. The vice president should ensure that the firm does not only focus on promoting sales as the company’s only way of determining its success. Instead, the firm should also consider improving its public perception (Lazzari & Thompson, 2019). The vice president should ensure that the company installs proper communication channels as well as employment of qualified professionals that will help to define and shape the image of the company to the potential investors, clients, and the entire community (Jack, 2017). Additionally, the new director should ensure that the company embraces the latest technology to help the firm reach more customers and retain the current ones. For instance, the company should create a website where it can share its success and update its followers about the prospective and upcoming services and products that the firm plans to deal in.
Stakeholder Analysis Matrix
Stakeholders
Attributes
What we know:
What we need to find out:
Concerns/Expectations
(What’s on their minds?)
Communication preferences
Desired impact on:
Attitudes, knowledge, behaviors
Internal Stakeholders
Employees
Employees are among the critical stakeholders in a company.
They are the team players who cooperate with employers to the company’s goal. They form part of the communication system that ensures the efficient operation of the firm.
Employees expect accurate and timely payment of their wages,
Safe working environment and conditions,
An adequate explanation of company rules and policies,
Appropriate training and
Constructive and fair feedback from their seniors.
Different employees in NGS have different communication preferences. However, the most common ones include:
Paper memo,
Text messaging, emails, and PA announcements.
The attitude, knowledge, and employees’ behaviors are at NGS are primarily dependent on available motivations such as promotions, pay rise and mutual respect between the junior and senior staff.
Owner
Owners are usually disciplined entrepreneurs that are focused on making their businesses successful.
They are usually confident with their knowledge and expertise to become successful.
They are driven by the desire to make a profit and beat their competitors.
Owners are also creative. They strive to innovate new ideas to make their products unique in the market.
The sole expectation of most business owners is to make a profit.
Some owners expect to develop products and supply goods and services that satisfy customers’ expectations.
Some owners are concerned about creating employment opportunities that will help to improve the living standards of the community.
Like most employees, business owners in NGS have different communication preferences. However, the most common ones include:
Paper memo,
Text messaging,
emails and
PA announcements.
Owners of business usually desire to enhance the knowledge of their employees through training and sponsoring their academic studies.
They promote the attitude and behavior of the customers and employees by offering quality and equitable services to all. This helps to bolster confidence in trust.
External Stakeholders
customers
Clients are usually opinioned,
. They are generally driven by "I want it now" mentality,
They typically trust what they hear more than the brand,
They expect personal interaction with their se...
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