Corporate Identity

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Many people view the role of a public relations professional within an organization as one that involves “making the company look good” among other image enhancing functions. Whether they are called PR professionals, PR people, media relations folks, they are the ones typically called on to inform the public of updates or improvements, they are called to help change the perception of the public, help with rebranding efforts and in the event of negative press or other crises, public relations professionals are often called on to “fix things,” to wield that magic wand of words and press releases to make the bad stuff all go away in an effort to preserve or salvage a positive identity. Many would be surprised to learn that the role of a public relations professional is far more encompassing especially as it relates to a corporate identity.

According to the book Revealing the Corporation, there are three main criteria that help to define identity the first is a criterion of central character, this involves that element that can be used to differentiate one organization from another. The second, the criterion of claimed distinctiveness and thirdly the criterion of claimed temporal continuity. On a more elementary level a corporation’s identity has to do with the overall answer to the question “who are we?” Depending on the organization the focus of the definition of their corporate identity may be a strategic one. A strategic identity focuses more on the philosophical elements of a company’s identity and seeks to answer the question – “what do we stand for?” For some organizations, identity maybe more accurately defined by looking at the culture, for others the focus may be more on the communications policies, others have mor...

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...mportant before beginning to make changes that sufficient research be conducted to determine exactly why donors who make smaller gifts choose to support Emory and replicate this strategy.

In all the changes, Emory must be careful to do our homework very well and only adjust those areas that need improvement. Strategically looking at the University and the annual giving process and the way that it affects our corporate identity is an excellent start. While Emory not be well served to change elements of the institution’s culture, it is important for Emory to demonstrate to its constituents that the University values all contributions of time, service and money. This information needs to be communicated in a method appropriate for each constituent group.

Works Cited

John M.T. Balmer and Stephen Greyser. (2003). Revealing the Corporation. New York: Routeledge

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