Globalization Of Multinational Public Relations Strategy

Jack Welch, Chairman and CEO of General Electric once said that globalization has already become a realty that can not be ignored. There is only one measurement of success: global market share. Successful corporations normally depend on their ability to capture markets all over the world. Corporations venturing out utilize their global resources to conduct international operations. That also signifies that they will distribute products, invest capitals, and exchange technology in various countries and cultures.Under this circumstance, corporations must undertake two types of communication. Firstly communication aiming at various markets with distinctive cultures has to be carried out. The other one is internal communication and coordination with organizations. Effectivecommunication between head offices and branch offices will facilitate develop strategies and guidelines so as to maximize the benefits for corporations.Public Relations (PR) strategy of corporations integrates the two kinds of communication. The execution of public relations strategy and goals drives corporations to interact with the global market. To achieve the set goal, head offices must work with individual branch office to come up with PR strategies beneficial to both local market and entire organizations. Consequently the study of executing international companies' PR strategies is thus of great value, theoretically and practically.Under this argument, the objectives of the thesis will be analyzing whether multinational corporations with a global presence will develop global PR strategies. If they do, how will they carry them out?The study has conducted a quantitative survey with a sample size of 80 international companies' PR department in Taiwan and a qualitative in-depth survey to interview four international tobacco companies in Taiwan. The survey was focused on reviewing internal communication processes, systems approaches, models and issues between head offices and branch offices. Do multinational corporations in different industries adopt different measures? The study will lead to a better understanding of cross-culture management and communication.The findings of the study are as follows.It is not exactly true that globalization is a form of new imperialism and detrimental to underdeveloped countries. The study found out that well-developed international companies do not make significant impacts on local society, but they will take local attributes into consideration instead. Nevertheless, corporations with strong sense of chauvinism shall not only elicit very much criticism but also are regional-focused and of less globalization.Additionally it is learned that constrained by large organizations the internal communication of international companies are not very streamlined. Branch offices very often do not share common understanding and agreement with head offices regarding companies' goals. It has as a result caused gaps of interaction among corporations, consumers and stakeholders and created an inconsistent global image.The study has concluded following four main factors that may influence the communication within organizations.1. Attributes of international companies: The more globalized companies are, the more comprehensive and sophistic communication they will have. So are companies of more open culture and the more respect paid to local companies. 2. Communication vehicles with organizations: With the development of high technology, more and more international companies have replaced traditional face to face meetings with email, intranet or eRoom, video conferences and tele-conferences. The result of the study indicates that the usage of new technology does not guarantee two-way communication which is the key that important messages could be effectively and correctively delivered to audience of branch offices.3. Branch offices' full comprehension of requirements from head offices: The study has learned that how much branch offices can fully capture head offices' requirements considerably influence their decision of implementing head offices' strategies. International companies consequently would establish clear guidelines or scope of PR activities so that their global PR strategies can be understood and executed.4. Meaningfulness of head offices' strategies towards branch offices: According to the findings, there are two main reasons accounting for whether strategies developed by head offices will be implemented by branch offices. It is subject to whether it's mandatory or how effectively head offices' strategies will help branch offices achieve business goals.Confined by time and resources, the study is next to comprehensiveness. The analysis of internal communication within multinational organizations was made from a local's viewpoint. The results may be varied if it's from head offices' perspective. It is suggested that issues resulting from internal communication with international organizations can be investigated from head offices' point of view in the future.