Corporate Communications & Public Relations

This report discusses the concept of corporate communication and public relation, their importance for organizations, and focuses on conflict management and effective team communication for Mary's Aussie Adventure Tours.

Running head: CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS & PUBLIC RELATIONS
CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS & PUBLIC RELATIONS
Name of the student:
Name of the university:
Author note:

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Introduction:
It is understandable when a person uses corporate communication and public relation
(PR) interchangeably for they have too many similarities and commonalities among them. They
are often considered under the same group in universities or employers who seek communication
positions (Pearson 2017). The job roles are often seen as having the same criteria and the same
requirement. Both require excellence in fundamental communication skill including speaking as
well as writing and the ability to know the exact information that should be conveyed to the
people who needs it. Therefore, it is the job of building the company’s image by ensuring that
the right information is passed. Mary’s Aussie Adventure Tours is a company that operates from
Australia’s city Sydney. Ms. Mary Lee, the proprietor of the company, has recently come across
several corporate communication and public relation areas which according to her needs
attention. In this report, two of the essential areas of corporate communication and public
relation will be discussed among the other corporate communication and PR areas. The two areas
of corporate communication and public relation where the report will have the significant focus
are conflict management and effective team communication. It is essential for organizations to
focus on its conflict management as it is one of the vital aspects of making the organization. It is
well known that team management is one of the most crucial issues of organization that builds
the potential of an organization or company. Therefore, to ensure the corporate communication
and public relation of Mary’s Aussie Adventure Tours the report will highlight the importance of
the mentioned two areas.

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Aim and objectives:
Corporate communication and public relation are to a great extent deals with the
same aspects of organizations. The aim of the report are:
 To explore the concept of corporate communication and public relation.
 To understand the importance of the communication and public relation for organizations.
 To find out the areas of concern for Mary’s Aussie Adventure Tours and provide
recommendation.
Discussion:
Mary’s Aussie adventure Tours is a Tour company. The company is from Sydney,
Australia the company is operated. The company possesses an administrative depart that
involves answering the queries from potential clients, preparing corporate communications and
advertising materials. The company also performs the normal administrative tasks with a team of
tour guides. The company has clients from diverse backgrounds and there are mostly
international clients. A number of different activities are conducted by the company along with
tours of the outback. Asians are the main clients the company deals with among international
clients.
Conflicts may arise for various reason in a company, and if not addressed appropriately it
may lead to severe consequences. Conflicts are natural and can occur anywhere anytime despite
time or situation (Meade 2013). Although it is mostly considered as a harmful factor to the
organization, it is also an important factor that helps in the organization’s growth. However,
conflicts are a significant and complex subject. Conflicts do not happen without reason however
it is often much harder to find the reason for conflicts (Durkheim 2018). The prime reason that

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can be considered as the primary cause for conflicts is the fact that people are different from one
another. Also, people work to fulfill their self-interest which interprets as the differences in
goals. When individuals or groups do not work for the collective goals and seek ways for their
own self-interest. Often individuals are not aware of the need, and they begin to act out. Also,
there are times when individuals are aware of their actions and work actively to achieve it
(Berger 2017). It is best to identify conflicts in the early stages and come to an understanding of
the reasons leading to conflicts. Since the concept of conflict is controversial, there are different
meaning assigned to it.
As a consultant, it is essential to look at every aspect of the organization. There are high
chances of conflicts in the present company. Mary’s Aussie Adventure Tour is a company that
operates from Sydney while their main clients are from Asia. The company is very likely to have
cultural barriers as one of the main problems. The administrative department of the company
answers the questions of the clients along with suggestions. The primary issue that the company
is likely to face is the cultural barriers, and it is important for the company to pay heed to it for
most of the clients of the company are international (Ferraro and Briody 2013).
It is important to note that the characteristics of the conflict help to understand the
conflict. Conflicts are inevitable, and it cannot be avoided by avoiding the conflicts. However,
the reasons causing conflicts may result in avoidance of conflict. It is certain that no two persons
are the same therefore they may have individual differences (Stark 2015). Also, conflict is a
process, and it occurs in several layers. The most frequent reason of conflict that is considered as
the first layer is the misunderstanding. Therefore, the company needs to invest its time
understanding that there should be no scope of misunderstanding. A misunderstanding leads to
more significant problems when the appropriate information is not identified and communicated

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in different ways. Especially when two people are from a different cultural background, the
scope of misunderstanding is more. The other layer of conflict is the difference in values,
viewpoint, interest, and interpersonal differences. It is mainly arising from the fact that people
having to belong to a different culture is undoubtedly to have different perspectives. Therefore,
when the people misunderstand the information communicated or the information in many ways
is against the cultural values. Cross-cultural conflicts are when conflicts arise whenever there are
cultural differences. The company is prone to such conflicts and its corporate communication
and public relation needs to consider the following for the company’s growth (Diller 2013).
There are differences in cultural practices, cultural ignorance, and insensitivity. Therefore, the
public relation area needs attention in order to ensure the company is not faced with unnecessary
or damage causing events (Rober and De Haene 2014.).
According to Hofstede, culture differs in many ways depends on its past experiences and
events or in due to its historical records. He has provided with six dimensions of culture on the
basis of which differences between cultures can be made. The six cultural dimensions are,
individualistic and collectivistic, masculine and feminine, uncertainty avoidance, power distance,
time perspective and lastly, indulgence and restraint (Samovar et al. 2015). The importance of
the six dimensions is valuable while there are business communication between two or more than
two cultures. It is vital for the companies to utilize the six dimensions before in case the business
involves dealing with people from other cultural backgrounds.
Employees working in the company are recruited based on their skills and qualifications
however not utilizing the productivity of employees may result in the company’s loss (Viberg
and Grönlund 2013). Despite the size of the company, it is certain that a company works as per
the departments. Each department has a vital role, and it is necessary that each of the

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departments work together to achieve the goals of the company. Effective team communication
is essential for corporate communication and public relation. The changing technology is
bringing many changes to the workplace and displaying the essentiality of team communication.
In the specific company mentioned, the team communication is vital. Clear communication helps
in making appropriate decisions by knowing what their fellow member wants. The managers are
responsible for making the most of its team members. An effective is capable of solving every
problem. The accountable person needs to ensure the relationship between communication and
performance. Several types of research have proved that when more than three people are
working on a project, it is more effective than a single person working on it. However, the
research also shows that to gain the benefit of teamwork. Teams that communicate well are the
can complete project quicker and produce best results. Effective communication also allows each
member their roles and the roles of their co-workers (Hextall and Mahony 2013).
It helps increase production, marketing, and growth. In the same way, it is essential for
Mary’s Aussie Adventure tour to segregate its functions accordingly in order to have more
efficiency. Although it is essential to differentiate the section, the sections need to be work
together for the organization. Each team has to communicate well to make progress and move
towards the goal. It is not depended on the size of the company, departments are needed to
operate correctly (Kuratko, Hornsby and Covin 2014). Business without organized structure have
will certainly face problems. Implementation of policies and operating at efficient production
levels will become problematic for the company which is the reason the departments are needed.
The company possesses an administrative depart that involves answering the queries from
potential clients, preparing corporate communications and advertising materials. The company
will require to make decisions and require experts to make the decisions (Baumann-Pauly et al.

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2013). In order to make the decisions, the company would require to hire the experts as the
managers of the departments. Diversities will help make decisions in better ways and through
various department company can make decisions that would consider every aspect of the
company including internal and external factors (Dozier, Grunig and Grunig 2013). The
departments would require effective communication between them to make effective decisions
building effective team communication.
Recommendation:
As identified, the two of the major areas that would improve Mary’s Aussie Adventure
Tour are conflict management and effective team communication. The two areas can be
improved in the company by different strategic methods. In the coming paragraphs, the ways
Mary’s Aussie Adventure Tour can improve will be discussed. The recommendation is on the
ways a company can avoid the issues they are prone to face as well as the ways to overcome if
they are faced with such problems.
Conflicts are inevitable, and it is an important part of good management. People clash
with each other disputing over different ideas and goals. However, the conflicts are one of the
best tools to bring out the best performance (Redpath et al. 2013). There are some benefits of
conflict in an organization which the organization should encourage, such as increased
understanding, better group cohesion, and improved self-knowledge. The company should focus
on the reasons for the conflicts. When the reasons are found, a company would be able to fix the
issues and reduce the frequency of conflicts. For Mary’s Aussie Adventure Tours the company
needs to expand its knowledge regarding the Asian tourists which would help them understand
their culture. Understanding the culture difference will ensure less or no mistake of cross culture
conflict. Hiring a person from an Asian background may become easy as well as effective way.

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In order to build effective team communication, Mary’s Aussie Adventure Tour would
have to have commitment. The effective team communication can be enhanced by increasing the
time of communication and interaction. More involvement and engagement would be appropriate
to increase communication.
Timeline:
The modern office in recent years has initiated several changes that have changed the
ways of working. The changes are as per the employees’ demands, expectation, policies, norms,
rules as well as working cultures. The success of the company depends largely on the working
culture of the company. Therefore, considering the variable factors, the time period needed for
the change should be within a year.
Conclusion:
Corporate communication is involved in all the communication activities that possibly an
organization takes place. It helps in building management bridges between different departments
that exist in organizations. A healthy corporate communication let the management operate
functions smoothly. It is the responsibility of public relation to work closely with management to
identify, build and nurture the relationship between various publics and the company. Public
relation is majorly related to media since it helps in deciding the information that would be
provided externally. Mary Lee can invest special attention in the two areas that involve conflict
management and effective team communication. Considering the two facts would increase the
company’s profit and allow a more organized system in the workplace. Both of the aspects are
highly depended on communication, and therefore, it is the way of communication that would
help in appropriate corporate communication.

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9CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS & PUBLIC RELATIONS
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