Good Essay On Managing Corporate Reputation

Managing Corporate Reputation

1.0 Introduction
The management of corporate reputation is an emerging topic especially in the Chartered Institute of Marketing. The reputation of any firm in the market is an important intangible asset that affects the firm’s overall performance in terms of profitability and market shares. The theory of managing corporate reputation asserts that the reputation of the firm relies on all the processes and activities of the firm as an entity.
It also has a connection with the type of stakeholders that the company has and the relationships with other firms in the market. If the form has a close relationship with organizations with a bad reputation, then it is difficult for customers and stakeholders to hold such a firm in high regard. The prominence of the management of the reputation of an organization stems from recognizing the holistic function of the reputation of the organization and the different strands it draws regarding the activities of the organization to make the firm acquire a positive perception. The case of Ryanair Airlines is a typical example of the effects that reputation has of the organizations ("Welcome to Ryanair!" 2013). It draws the concerns of the important stakeholders of the organization given that it may lead to the ultimate collapse of the firm.
2.0 Analysis
2.1
Ryanair is facing numerous reputational challenges because of the poor services offre3d to the customers regularly ("Simplicity," 2014). The company is renowned for paying inadequate attention to the needs of the clientele. On numerous occasions, Ryanair has been at the bottom or near the bottom of every survey centering on the satisfaction of customers by service providers. Amidst the complaints and poor performance in the surveys, the CEO of the company, Michael O’Leary, dismissed the criticisms leveled against the company. He asserted that he and the company were giving the customers the precise services that they required. He added that the company’s customers do not emphasize the need for quality services. Instead, they prefer to have cheap flights to their various destinations.
The element of cheap prices over quality services was evident as the company recorded a 3 percent rise in the number of customers after in lowered its flight prices between 2013 and 2014. As such, the company had a positive turnover with respect to the customers due to its pricing model and the conditions were set to improve in the future. However, the company faces the problem of imbalance between reducing the flight charges and maintaining an increase in revenues generated within the years. The company’s situation triggered the reaction of the shareholders. They confronted the CEO and demanded that the staff must improve the quality of services. He CEO agreed to make 2014 the year of revolutionary change and improve service provision using its staff of 25("Ryanair insists it’s ‘changing in 2014’ with weekly Twitter chats and new Irish ad | The Drum," 2014). The rate of employee is low because the company rewards them reasonable remuneration. The fact that has been in the market for a long period also guarantees that the employees have job security(Castillo-Manzano, López-Valpuesta, &Pedregal 2012). Improving the customer experience in 2014 enabled the company to record a high of 51.3 million customers, one month after it made its profit forecasts.
2.2 Current Situation
The models of public relations can be used to assess the position of this company. In this case, the issue centers on is the diminishing revenue of the company despite the increased number of clients It is caused by the lack of attention to the client needs hence they have to pay lesser for flight tickets because the company was not emphatic on quality services. However, there is significant improvementfollowing the betterment of customer experience. The communication theories of public relations explain the situation such that the company must use the element of the public opinion to set its agendas (Burke, Martin, & Cooper 2011). The move will enable the management to point out the factors that matter the most to the customers. As such, it will use these factors to set its objectives especially regarding the manner in which it handles its customers. The company has used the systems theory very effectively. The stakeholders were concerned about the failure to meet the standards expected by the customers. They came and compelled the management to revolutionize the customer experience. All these integrated systems worked together for the good of the company’s audience, the shareholders, and the customers(Dalton & Croft 2003).
3.0 The Challenge
3.1 Customer Satisfaction
Customer satisfaction has been one of the significant challenges facing the company. That is; some of the customers have complaints about the services provided by the company. Nevertheless, this challenge has both positive and negative aspects with reference to the strategic and organizational perspectives (Gray & Balmer, 2011). From the organizational and strategic perspective, and according to the CEO, as the consumers allegedly complained about the services, they did not point out the quality of the services provided as low. For this reason, it reduced the organizational constraints of the company from the customers, which facilitated the company’s success. On the other hand, failure to satisfy the wants of the customers has been negative for the consumers. That is; they spend their resources expecting to attain or satisfy their wants, only to end up disappointed (Kim, Bach, & Clelland, 2007).
Reputational issues, especially the corporate reputational issues affect the organization as well as its stakeholders. Reputational issues encompass the multi-stakeholder concepts, which are reflected in the viewpoints that the stakeholders have the organizations. As such, the corporate leadership of the company is tasked with maintaining the reputation of the company (Omar, Jr, & Lingelbach, 2009). The company has to maintain this reputation with a variety of stakeholder groups consolidated with the business operations and functions of the company. This reputation, especially with the employees is deemed to have an effect on the reputation of the communities and the customers, hence, the stakeholders. When the company manages its corporate reputation, it has account for the relationships with the stakeholders as wells as monitor the influence of each of the stakeholder groups on each other.
Reputational issues encompass the challenges of the corporate management to maintain corporate reputation and fulfill the stakeholder theory. This theory develops from the strategic management of organizations. This theory postulates that the business organizations have obligations to the group of stakeholders of the company. The failure of the company to fulfill the perceptions of the stakeholders is likely to result in the withdrawal of the stakeholders of the company (Resnick, 2004). As such, this withdrawal can affect the assets of the company as well as the resources and revenues.
4.0 Proposals
In order to develop the company’s long-term corporate reputation, the company has to develop actions to promote this reputation. First, the company has to adapt to the rapidly evolving corporate reputation environment. Under this segment, the company has to identify the various transformations in the reputation environment and the measures to satisfy and align the operations of the business in relation to the perceptions of the stakeholders (Will, Probst, & Schmidt, 2001). The evaluation of the financial crisis is an elemental aspect of this action, which seeks to equip the company with the required measures of dealing with the significant organizational changes in the environment of reputations such as the influence of the indirect stakeholders, including community activists and NGOs, and the proliferation of the media outlets and technologies along with the emerging web-based platforms to improve scrutiny.
Second, the company should adopt outmoded approaches to the reputation management. In these environments, the company has to collect information concerning the reputational threats in the organization, evaluate this information, and address the issues through mitigation actions (Will, Probst, & Schmidt, 2001). Third, the company can also adopt integrated response mechanisms that will enhance the engagement with the stakeholders. Last, the company has to understand its stakeholders as well as their concerns to develop an in-depth understanding of the various reputational issues that affect the stakeholders.
5.0 Conclusions and Recommendations
Corporate reputation is an elemental aspect of business organizations. It brings together all the stakeholders of these organizations and considers their perceptions towards organizational change. For Ryanair, the company should develop a firm leadership and management structure that will encompass the values and issues of reputation (Zyglidopoulos & Reid, 2006). Second, the company should diversify its scope of corporate reputation by taking into consideration all its stakeholders. Last, the company has to invest in research concerning corporate reputation. This research will allow for the identification of the required approaches to fulfill and adapt to the rapidly changing reputational environment. As such, the company will be successful in its corporate reputation management.

References

Burke, R. J., Martin, G., & Cooper, C. L. (2011). Corporate reputation: Managing opportunities and threats. Farnham, Surrey: Gower.
Castillo-Manzano, J. I., López-Valpuesta, L., &Pedregal, D. J. (2012). How Can the Effects of the Introduction of a New Airline on a National Airline Network be Measured? A Time Series Approach for the Ryanair Case in Spain.
Dalton, J. M., & Croft, S. (2003). Managing corporate reputation: A specially commissioned report. London: Thorogood.
Gray, E. R., & Balmer, J. M. (2011). Managing Corporate Image and Corporate Reputation. Long Range Planning. doi:10.1016/S0024-6301(98)00074-0
Kim, J., Bach, S. B., & Clelland, I. J. (2007). Symbolic or Behavioral Management? Corporate Reputation in High-Emission Industries. Corporate Reputation Review. doi:10.1057/palgrave.crr.1550042
Oliver, S., & Chartered Institute of Public Relations. (2010). Public relations strategy. London: Kogan Page/CIPR.
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Ryanair insists it’s ‘changing in 2014’ with weekly Twitter chats and new Irish ad | The Drum. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.thedrum.com/news/2014/01/17/ryanair-insists-it-s-changing-2014-weekly-twitter-chats-and-new-irish-ad
Simplicity. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://simplicityindex.com/2014/region/global
Welcome to Ryanair! (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.ryanair.com/en/news/ryanair-announces-customer-service-improvements-over-next-6-months
Will, M., Probst, M., & Schmidt, T. (2001). Who's Managing Corporate Reputation? A Survey of Leading European Companies. Corporate Reputation Review. doi:10.1057/palgrave.crr.1540088
Zyglidopoulos, S. C., & Reid, D. M. (2006). Managing Corporate Reputation Within the Chinese Context: Future Research Directions. Corporate Reputation Review. doi:10.1057/palgrave.crr.1550028