Corporate management and communication

Question: Discuss about the Corporate management and communication. Answer: Introduction The report discusses about the Bega Cheese Ltd., one of the biggest Dairy operator in Australia equipped with 23 varieties of product lines along with various production units in the areas of New South Wales (Bega Cheese, 2017). The corporate management of Bega Cheese is an area of focus for this report. The detailed analysis on the background of the company, the external environmental factors and the organizational structure are discussed in this report (Bega Cheese, 2017). The research focuses on the corporate reputation and the stakeholders relationship management of Bega Cheese to understand the reputation of the company in the Australian Diary Industry. Company background Bega Cheese is more than 100 years old public listed company and owned by their stakeholders. The company manufactures natural cheddar cheese and produces various flavored and textured cheese packs for the supermarket (Bega Cheese, 2017). Along with that, Bega produces milk powders and bio-nutrient products and supply cheese to few companies who manufactures products containing cheese. Bega has an advance department for RnD and they invest a big amount of their profit for this purpose. The company assures their customers about the quality of the products and the strategy helps to maintain reputation among the stakeholders and in the Australian Dairy Market (Farm Services, 2017). Factors Influencing Bega Cheese The company focuses on the various flavored and textured Cheese production to penetrate in the Dairy market of Australia. There are few factors which are influencing the performance of the company such as Positive Effect Negative Effect Strong sales and distribution network in Australia Efficient quality control schemes Skilled workforce in the factory High demand in the Australian Market for the products of the company Variety of product lines and more innovations Strategic pricing for the products Advanced Technology for Water recycling process in the factory sites The company has enough potential both internal and external to increase the growth rate in Australian Dairy market. Scattered factory set up Environmental problems like shifting climates Increasing price of milk and other raw materials Threat of competitors in the market Less scope in factory connectivity, Various challenges in production set up due to climate Price of raw material can effect on the cost of production and hence in the pricing strategy for the end-user products Organizational Structure The Bega Cheese operates their entire business through their dairy farm, the factory units and the corporate office. The organization has these three main division. However, the company has an organizational hierarchy. The company use to hire fresh graduate for their factory set up along with their corporate business and eventually trains them to build required skills in them. Bega Cheese always maintains their mentoring program to enable their employees for the success path. The objective of the organization is to motivate people for the perceived goals. Along with that, the company has an RnD set up by which Bega focuses on advancement in technological bases for the factory along with farming divisions. Stakeholders theory The study of organizational management includes the theory of stakeholders. It addresses the morals and business ethics to manage an organization (Harrison Wicks, 2013). The author Ian Mitroff first introduced this theory in the year 1983. The study focuses on the principle of counting the desired groups for the business management (Harrison, Freeman de Abreu, 2015). The book Strategic Management: A stakeholders approach by Edward Freeman suggests that the managers are not only answerable to the shareholders, they should value the stakeholders in the business (Hrisch, Freeman Schaltegger, 2014). According to the author, the stakeholders directory consists of various communities, target customers, the employees of the organization, the suppliers, trade unions and associations, political parties and the most important, the financiers. The author says, every business should create value for their stakeholders and maintain a good relationship with them to establish a better identity in the society and market (Harrison, Freeman de Abreu, 2015). In traditional view, the shareholders or stockholders are the owner of the firm and the firm is financially bound to provide valuation towards them (Hrisch, Freeman Schaltegger, 2014). However, stakeholders theory contends, the people considered as stakeholders including the government body, customers and employees and sometimes the industry rivals can equally affect the entire business process. The organizational management require to establish the concept of evaluation of strategic concepts regarding the stakeholders relationship management. The business ethics and morals addresses for the valuation of the stakeholders by all the business personnel. There are several model and frameworks to support the theory of Edward Freeman in his discussion of Stakeholders along with corporate governance (Hrisch, Freeman Schaltegger, 2014). Corporate reputation The corporate reputation is soft conception which needs to be handled by the organization sincerely. The concept is nothing but overall estimation about an organization held by the stakeholders of the company. A companys reputation depends on their presence over the mind of the target people of the business such as the customers (Wst Kreutzer, 2013). The reputation of a company get measured by the perception about a company to its target customers. The perception influences the growth path of the company and hence organizational accomplishments. Stakeholders of Bega Cheese Bega Cheese has applied the theory of stakeholders in their business and the company has acquired a high reputation in the Australian Dairy Market. The company runs a major business with extensive employees base (Corporate Governance, 2017). The company manages various Corporate Social Responsibilities for the local supporter and partners communities of Bega Valley NSW along with the regional Victoria. Apart from that, the company operates various media management strategies to express their growth and future business goals among their target customers base (Corporate Governance, 2017). The company enforces strategic management to please the local, national and the international media along with the customers and suppliers, distributors with the up to date information regarding business process of Bega Cheese Ltd. (Source: Created by author) There are various cheese companies in Australia who has grabbed reputation among the cheese lovers and competing an industrial battle with Bega Cheese, they are Montefiore Cheese Thats Amore Cheese La Vera Fine Cheese Unicorn Cheese Lion Dairys Cheese and many more. The Bega has played the role of the market leader from last century and it has built a very good reputation among their customers and it always keeps good relation with the media and trade unions (Business Review, 2017). Corporate Reputation Theory Corporate reputation is a valuable asset for an organization. In present day, the successful organizations considers the corporate reputation as their essential asset in their business. The corporate reputation of a firm lies with many branches of business operations such as Branding, Marketing, Social Media management and lastly the mass media management (Carroll, 2015). The concept of branding is related with establishing a crafted perception in the mind of the target customers. Along with that, branding means to build a unique image of the company and the product in the market through which the products can be distinguished among other similar products (Carroll, 2015). The Marketing concept relates with the management of the target customers along with the overall positioning of the company. The Social Media management means establishing an identity and communication with the supporters and the target customers over the social media or virtual platforms (Dijkmans, Kerkhof Beukebo om, 2015). The mass media management lies with the relationship building with the press and similar platforms. Company behavior and activities The company Bega Cheese always recognizes its stakeholders to maintain its corporate reputation in the market. The firm informs all the stakeholders in detailed manner about the major developments which affects the Bega Cheese. Along with that, the company maintains good relationship with all the investors to bring good image of the company in the market (Media, 2017). The company publishes on their website, the half yearly and yearly results statements and various notices and the general information about the company. Along with that, Bega Cheese maintain their presence over the social media like Twitter, Facebook and many more. In the official Facebook page, the company has maintained the growth in fan following along with the 2125 involvements in their daily posts. From the official site of Bega Cheese it can be identified that, more than expected people is following their page and regular updates, which means their target customers are taking interest in their products along with the company (Facebook, 2017). In the Twitter page, they are also regularly tweets about their activities and products and this influence their positioning and brand image in the market (Twitter, 2017). The company is participating in the battle of building brand image in the place of mass media. The company use to give various TV ads to generate more awareness about their product and the get more customers. The TV ads of Bega Cheese focuses on the quality of the raw materials they collects, the farmers with whom they are running their business and few of the real customers who reviews about their product in broader way (Media, 2017). The main focus in these TV ads is the yum factor and the creative textures of the cheese Bega made. Interpretation of Corporate reputation There are various factors influencing the corporate reputation of the company. The marketing strategies applied by Bega Cheese influences the presence over the Dairy market in Australia. The company has implied various marketing tools to acquire more customers, such as discounts and promotions on the products (Media, 2017). The company has introduced various push and pull promotion strategies to get more distributors for their products in the supermarkets of New South Wales and few areas of Victoria. The sales and distribution network of the company also effects their corporate reputation in the market and in front of their target customers. The company believes that, their major force are in the manufacturing process as they maintain the quality of the products with advanced technological tools. Along with that, the company has implemented various technological advancements in the fields of new and attractive product development and also adding more health benefits to their products (Sustainability, 2017). This production strategy also helps in building trust among the customers along with other stakeholders and influence the image of the company as a trustable loyal and honest organization in Australia. The presence over the social media also influence the corporate reputation of the company. Bega Cheese also considers their future employees as their stakeholders. For this purpose, they have made presence over the social media job sites like LinkedIn and naukri.com (LinkedIn, 2017). In these job sites they regularly updates about their company, the work life of the employees in the company and the opportunities for the new comers and future goals of the organization. This strategy makes the company serve the society with better employment and also makes the target customers about their presence over social media (LinkedIn, 2017). The press releases by the company over their websites about their future amenities, events and new product development makes the target customers get engaged with the company (Media, 2017). This strategy is implied to increase the awareness and get competitive advantage in the Australian Dairy market. Along with that, the company also focuses on the packaging and labeling of their product. The company carries a unique logo for all the products along with colorful packaging which can be easily notified by the target customers (Products, 2017). The marketing management, packaging is considered as necessary strategy to get identified among other various similar product. Bega Cheese follow this theory and strategically apply to get better identification in the cheese market of Australia (Products, 2017). Conclusion The report has gone through various analysis for understanding the corporate profile of the Bega Cheese in Australia. The researcher has understood that, the Bega Cheese is one of the biggest market player in Australian Dairy Industry and the company has achieves the success through various strategic decisions about their products. The company has also focused on their media management strategies and successfully maintaining good relationship with all their shareholders along with the stakeholders. The company puts effort to understand the taste and preferences of their target customers by maintaining their official pages over the social media. The report concludes that, Bega Cheese is a potential corporate business which is on the right track to achieve its organizational objectives. References: Bega Cheese. (2017). Begacheese.com.au. Retrieved 7 April 2017, from https://www.begacheese.com.au/ Business Review. (2017). Businessreviewaustralia.com. Retrieved 7 April 2017, from https://www.businessreviewaustralia.com/Bega-Cheese-Ltd/profiles/14/Bega-Cheese-Tastes-Victory Carroll, C. E. (2015). The handbook of communication and corporate reputation (Vol. 49). John Wiley Sons. Corporate Governance. (2017). Begacheese.com.au. Retrieved 7 April 2017, from https://www.begacheese.com.au/investors/corporate-governance/ Dijkmans, C., Kerkhof, P., Beukeboom, C. J. (2015). A stage to engage: Social media use and corporate reputation. Tourism Management, 47, 58-67. Facebook. (2017). Facebook.com. Retrieved 7 April 2017, from https://www.facebook.com/Bega-Cheese-377907365727800/?nr Farm Services. (2017). Begacheese.com.au. Retrieved 7 April 2017, from https://www.begacheese.com.au/farm-services/ Harrison, J. S., Wicks, A. C. (2013). Stakeholder theory, value, and firm performance. Business ethics quarterly, 23(01), 97-124. Harrison, J. S., Freeman, R. E., de Abreu, M. C. S. (2015). Stakeholder Theory As an Ethical Approach to Effective Management: applying the theory to multiple contexts. Revista Brasileira de Gesto de Negcios, 17(55), 858. Hrisch, J., Freeman, R. E., Schaltegger, S. (2014). Applying stakeholder theory in sustainability management: Links, similarities, dissimilarities, and a conceptual framework. Organization Environment, 27(4), 328-346. LinkedIn. (2017). Linkedin.com. Retrieved 7 April 2017, from https://www.linkedin.com/company-beta/1143000/?pathWildcard=1143000 Media. (2017). Begacheese.com.au. Retrieved 7 April 2017, from https://www.begacheese.com.au/media/ Products. (2017). Begacheese.com.au. Retrieved 7 April 2017, from https://www.begacheese.com.au/products/ Sustainability. (2017). Begacheese.com.au. Retrieved 7 April 2017, from https://www.begacheese.com.au/sustainability/ Twitter. (2017). Twitter.com. Retrieved 7 April 2017, from https://twitter.com/hashtag/begacheese Wst, C., Kreutzer, R. (2013). Corporate Reputation Management. Wiesbaden: Springer Gabler. Dialogkommunikation im digitalen Zeitalter, 47, 50-51.