Importance of Communicating Sustainability and CSR Activities in an Organization

This article discusses the importance of communicating sustainability and CSR activities in an organization. It highlights the different methods through which the communication of sustainability and CSR activities can be done effectively. The article emphasizes the need for transparency and honesty in the communication of these activities.

Running head: COMMUNICATION
COMMUNICATION
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Answer to Question 1
Introduction
The business environment is largely dependent on the communication of the different
members in an organization. Effective communication is considered to be an effective part of
any workplace and thereby it becomes the duty of any manager to ensure that the effective
communication at a workplace is to be made a priority in order to ensure that the networking in
an organization remains stable and that there exists no communication barriers between the
different members of the organization so that the flow of information is sustained (Bargiela-
Chiappini & Nickerson 2014).
Interpersonal communication
With respect to communication, the interpersonal communication tends to form an
essential part of the organization whereby the information is exchanged between two or more
people. The interpersonal communication is often taken to be an area of study or research which
seeks to understand the manner in which an individual can achieve personal as well as
professional goals. According to Kernbach, Eppler and Bresciani (2015), the interpersonal
communication has contributed six distinct categories of inquiry and these have been discussed
as follows:
 The manner in which the humans tend to adapt to verbal as well as nonverbal
communication
 The way in which message is processed and produced.
 The manner in which uncertainty tends to influence the behavior of an individual
 Relational dialects

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 Deceptive communication
 The use of technology during the procedure of communication.
The interpersonal communication between two individuals and the knowledge sharing
which takes place between them is often considered to be the interpersonal communication.
However, it is important that in this communication style, the different individuals have a certain
knowledge about one another and tend to share details. The interpersonal communication takes
place between two sisters. Between a son and his father, an employer and the employer, the
teacher and the student and other such relations (Mai & Hoffmann 2014). Although this aspect
can be described to be dyadic in nature, but is generally between small and intimate people and
groups. According to Rubtsova et al. (2015), this type of communication can take place with the
help of face to face settings, media platforms, social media, and other related platforms.
As stated by Moshiri and Cardon (2014), the interpersonal communication looks out for
various elements which contribute to a positive experience for an individual. These elements are
elements like personality, knowledge structures, social interaction, languages, non-verbal signals,
emotional experience and the influence with respect to conflicts and other aspects. Moreover,
aspects like family relationships, communication across lifespans and other aspects also have a
strong influence on the interpersonal communication in an organization. The interpersonal
communication which takes place in an organization tends to have a positive influence on the
workplace environment and contributes to a better performance.
Personal communication
Personal communication can be described as the communications with the medium of
private letters, memos, emails, interviews and other telephonic conversation mediums. The

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personal communication can be described as more professional in nature which means that it is
done through mediums like private letters and memos. The personal communication is
considered to be a crucial part of an organization whereby the different members whether from
the senior management or the junior management tend to communicate with one another by
making use of various mediums (Thomas & Stephens 2015). This kind of communication is
generally used by the different firms in order to disseminate the information from one source to
another.
It can be rightfully stated that both the personal as well as the interpersonal
communication aspects are considered to be a crucial part of the organization as they go a long
way in ensuring whether the firm has been successful in its communications systems or not.
Communication as an Art of persuasion and influencing
However, although communication is believed to be used for disseminating the
information in an organization and to act as a medium to ensure that the different individuals in
an organization are able to communicate with one another effectively, communication is often
considered to be an art of persuasion and influencing. The art of persuasion is crucial in daily
life and at a certain point of time any business is either persuading someone or getting persuaded.
Based on this aspect, the advertising industry tends to survive whereby they persuade the
different people to purchase a product. Very often a relationship in an organization may largely
depend on the manner in which the parties tend to influence one another and persuade each other
as per their needs. According to Chaudhri (2016), the crucial aspect of persuading lies in in the
identification of a need. When a need is arised in a particular situation then it becomes

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considerably easier for the different members to see to it that their need is achieved. Once this
need is figured out, the persuasion becomes easier for any organization at large.
According to Young and Hinesly (2014), the art of persuasion in a business setting
becomes essential because the different patties in a firm need to be influenced upon the manner
in which these parties are required to carry out their business processes. Hence, to practice the art
of persuasion, a business manager needs to follow the adequate steps:
Identification of the goals of the organization
The first crucial step which is involved in the art of persuasion and influence is the
identification of appropriate foals of the organization. For instance, the goal of the organization
may be to ensure a work place stability in the organization and to achieve the sales target and
then it needs to plan for the same and form adequate strategies.
Determining the approach which has to be adopted by the organization
The next step involved the determination of the approach which is to be adopted by the
organization in order to approach the goals. The approach largely determines the long term
results and thus, there exists various ways with the help of which an individual or a business can
approach the solution. It may be done through logic, through factual information, through values
and emptions, through invoking of higher authorities or through the breakdown of work into
different segments. Determination of this approach is crucial.
Preparing evidence
In order to persuade anyone the business is required to ensure that they have adequate
evidence at their disposal so that their approach is backed by adequate evidence and support

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(Darics 2015). This means that in order to persuade someone, adequate proof of the service must
be provided. Moreover, the client in case needs to be provided with adequate proof that the
business will fulfill their needs. Moreover, the client must understand how the service provided
by the business shall benefit the client at large.
The use of the appropriate language
Appropriate language is required to be used in order to persuade someone to take in the
business deal or to ensure that the customer on the other side of the business feels that they will
be gaining in a business transaction. Moreover, the business language is required to be
appropriate in the sense that it needs to avoid the statistics and needs to be simple and gentle.
The person involved in the act of influence and persuasion needs to be assertive in nature but not
be very strict.
Personal network
Another aspect which is important to consider in the scenario of an effective
communication having been made a priority in an organization is that the individuals in an
organization need to prioritize whether to make use of a personal network, in order to influence
others or limit themselves to organizational networks only. A personal network can be rightfully
described as a set of human contacts which are known to a person and interacts with them on a
personal level. This personal network is a group which cares about one another, are dedicated to
maintaining a relationship with each other and perform a set of activities. In a personal network
it is very important for the organization to maintain string relationships for mutual development
and the growth of the organization (Kalugina, Volkogonova & Chaplitskaya 2015). In general,
the personal networks in an organization can be formed with the help of the knowledge about

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who knows you, the aspects you are aware about them, what information do they have about
you, what are the relationship goals and how do the two people bond with one another. The
personal networks are mutually beneficial in nature and is highly concerned with the concept of
peer group. Moreover, personal networking tends to ensure that the performance of the overall
organization improves. The large organizations often support this networking in a hope that
production improves and thus various tools are developed to ensure that effective communication
functions as a priority.
Another kind of communication is the grapevine communication whereby the
organization tries to learn something informally and unofficially by means of rumors and
gossips. This information is generally passed on through a word of mouth and in a confidential
manner using colleagues and friends (Mayfield & Mayfield 2017). Although the grapevine
communication also forms an integral part of the organization, the personal networking is largely
encouraged.
Conclusion
Therefore, from the given analysis on the different aspects of personal and interpersonal
communication and the different parts of persuasion and interests, it can be rightfully stated that
an effective communication forms a crucial part of any organization and that in order to ensure
success in a firm and make effective communication crucial, a business would be required to
ensure long term sustenance.
Answer to Question 3

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Introduction
Communication can be considered to be a crucial aspect of the organization. Hence, it
thereby becomes the duty of the manager to ensure that the effective communication becomes a
priority of the organization. However, communication cannot be just limited to the various
business aspects but also needs to be associated with the different sustainability as well as
corporate social responsibility activities. Moreover, the sustainability of the organization`s
communication activities also need to be considered effectively. Hence, with respect to this, the
following section will discuss the importance of communicating sustainability in an organization.
Communication of Sustainability
The communication and engagement of the organization`s sustainability aspects with the
stakeholders can be described as an integral part of the transformation process which is to be
adopted by the organization at large and it is crucial that the different mega businesses have a
strong impact on these activities (Pearson 2017). Effective communication as well as
engagement is a critical part of the organization so as to develop an adequate part of the
organizational strategy and provide a response to the environmental as well as social risks as
well as aspects. This also has a long term impact on the culture of the organization. The different
activities in which the organization engages in involves the employee volunteering, social and
equal opportunities good, and other related activities. However, these sustainability activities
have certain methods in the manner in which they are required to be communicated. These ways
are as follows:

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 Development of a brand identity in order to represent the manner in which the efforts
have been taken by the organization. Thus, the sustainability aspect of the organization
can be largely communicated or aligned with the efforts of the overall brand so that it
becomes well known and recognizable. This further adds to the reputation of the
organization in the long run (Golob et al. 2017). The image of the organization improves
in the eyes of the consumers.
 Creation of a memorable theme and title: In order to communicate sustainability, the
creation of a memorable theme and title are crucial which shall then go a long way in
ensuring that these competencies are largely linked to the organization. Sustainability
needs to be ensured in the organization and creative measures to approach the customers
need to be made.
 Moreover, another popular method in order to promote the sustainability aspects of the
organization comprises of taking advantage of the technology which is present. This
technology includes tools and measures like the use of Social media whereby the
activities as adopted by the organization can be shown to all the members. Secondly, QR
codes can be used whereby the sustainable messages and communication can be easily
spread around responsibly. Moreover, various online surveys and contests with rewards
can be held. This will not only serve as a proper measurement tool but also be able to
enhance the sustainability communications in an organization.
 Moreover, the organization needs to ensure that there exists transparency in the different
sustainability activities which shall communicate the main purpose of organization to the
different stakeholders (Golob et al. 2017). In addition to this, the activities of the

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organization need to be made positive so that the different stakeholders can understand
the primary purpose of the firm.
The next manner in which the organization needs to communicate its sustainability
activities to the stakeholders is through crowd sourcing. As the different members of the public
already have an adequate idea about the activities, the method of crowdsourcing needs to be
adopted to encourage the public to perform well (Andersson 2016). The context which needs to
be sourced is required to be quite relevant whereby the context and the message needs to be
made relevant. No big terms need to be used and the firm just needs to ensure that the message
goes across the desired target market.
Another method which may be adopted by the organization in order to ensure that the
organization is successfully able to communicate the different aspects of the organization related
to sustainability related to target audience is by forming strategic partnerships. A method to
communicate the message of the firm is to build the credibility of the brand and form mutually
beneficial partnerships which shall assist in ensuring that the sustainable by association works
well for the organization.
Lastly, in order to attain success it is important for the organization to understand the
target audience (Bortree 2014). Once the organization is able to understand the targeted
audience, then the communication style can be altered successfully and it can be made more
successful in nature.
Hence, communication of the sustainability activities is not an easy task and requires
adequate planning and related activities in order to ensure that the sustainability activities of the
organization are communicated effectively to the stakeholders.

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Communication of CSR Activities
As discussed previously, the communication of the sustainability activities is often
considered to be a crucial aspect of the organization however, even the communication of the
sustainability activities like the corporate social responsibilities can be a difficult task and in
order to ensure success any organization will be required to take considerable measures in order
to ensure that the members are successfully able to communicate with respect to the CSR
activities.
The different CSR activities have become highly popular in an organization, however, in
order to ensure success, it becomes important that the organizations communicate their CSR
activities reasonably. The CSR activities recently have become a primary activity to the main
business of the company and there has been a considerable increase in the different CSR
activities of the organization (Bortree 2014). Given that the different organizations have
increased their engagement into the CSR activities, it is important to communicate so that the
stakeholders are aware of their moves. However, an aggressive approach will be very poor for
the organization as they will be termed as greenwashing.
A righteous approach towards communicating the corporate social responsibility
activities of the organization will be that the company does not need to be afraid of the media as
the media goes a long way in assisting the organizations to use media as a medium to help the csr
activities come out to the public (Raina & Roebuck 2016). Moreover, a second approach which
an organization needs to ensure that the public does not need to be underestimated means that the
different CSR activities need to be properly communicated to the members as the interest of the
public has grown adequately over the last few years. Moreover, in case they understand the
topics then they get more inquisitive about the activity.

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Another procedure which must be used by the organization is that the different members
of the organization should check whether the message which is to be communicated with the
organization is successfully aligning with the different activities of the organization. In case any
company as any good CSR practices then then they can easily communicate with the
stakeholders. However, in cases these activities are no present in the organization then they
should not communicate (Tench, Sun & Jones 2014). It needs to be understood that the
companies who engage in such activities tend to be noticed adequately by the stakeholders but
even then they are required to undertake adequate steps so that they can become popular in the
eyes of the customers. Another aspect to be considered that the over dissemination in the
communication of CSR activities need to be avoided. The different messages by the organization
often face pressure from the stakeholders and thus this risk needs to be measured and adequate
steps need to be taken. They need to ensure that the portrayal gap is avoided and that the
different members of the firm tend to ensure that the issues are understood and their impact on
the different stakeholders are easily measured.
Sustainability of communication
With respect to the sustainability of the organizations functions it can be stated that with
the advent of technology, it is important for the organization to ensure that the different activities
of the organization are carefully saved and kept a record for in order to ensure that the
organization is successfully able to ensure the sustainability of the firm at large (Bell & Muir
2014). Moreover, it also needs to be ensured that sustainability of the activities ensures long term
achievement.

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Conclusion
Therefore, from the given analysis, it can be rightfully stated that business
communication within the organization as well as outside the organization tends to play a key
role as it goes a long way in ensuring that the company is able to portray its true image in the
business environment. The firm at large is largely dependent on the support of the different
stakeholders and thus for this reason, ensuring effective communication in all business aspects is
essentially crucial. For this reason, the communication of the CSR activities of the firm tends to
play a major role in a firm as it helps in building the image of the firm at large.
Answer to Question 4
Introduction
The managers should make the effective communication a main priority as this will help
in reducing the crisis from the organization in an efficient manner. Crisis management is one of
the critical organizational kind of function. The different kinds of failure will be resulting in
serious kind of harm to the different stakeholders along with losses for the organization. There
can be different kinds of crisis which can be faced by the different organizations and this will be
causing huge damage for the different shareholders along with the organization in a negative
manner. The crisis will be creating three kinds of related threats which is inclusive of financial
loss, public safety and loss of reputation of the organization.

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Importance of Crisis Management and Communication
In the times of crisis in the organization, this is essential for the organizations to
implement crisis management plan which will be helpful in reducing the different kinds of issues
in an effective manner. The effective kind of crisis management plan helps in handling he threats
sequentially as this is designed in such a manner which will help in protecting the organization
along with the different stakeholders from the different kinds of threats and reduce the entire
impact felt by the different threats as well (White 2016).
With the help of the crisis management and the communication plan helps in indicating
that the crisis management communication plan is designed in such a manner which helps in
preventing and lessening the damage of the crisis which can affect the entire organization along
with the stakeholders. It is suggested that the crisis management will be integral part of the
effective communication plan and the different businesses are required to have a crisis
management plan which helps in ensuring that the organization is successful in managing the
different kinds of issues in an efficient manner. It is critical in nature to communicate efficiently
with the different internal staffs along with the clients along with the media as well. In order to
be more precise, timely along with relevant information is essential in nature during the time of
emergency and crisis which can affect the overall productivity of the organization in an
appropriate manner.
Importance of Crisis Communication Plan in Internal Management
The internal crisis management communication goal is essential in nature as this will
provide a proper and detailed accurate and timely information which will help in preventing
rumours and the inaccuracies. The communication plays a major role wherein templates of
message must be kept ready all the time as this will help in saving energy and time as well. With

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the implementation of the same, this will assist in preventing the lot of errors that might occur
after the actual emergency has taken place (Coombs 2014).
Additionally, the business crisis communication plan is essential which will help in
setting up post disaster plan and schedule and the most essential information can be
communicated when this is essential in nature and gain more competitive advantage in it. The
crisis management plan is reference tool and it is not blueprint and the CMP helps in providing
lists of the different key contacts information as per the different steps which are required to be
taken in crisis as this will help in guiding and managing the crisis effectively. Moreover, this
helps in reducing the misinformation and this assures the effective communication flow which
will increase the timeliness of the messaging in an effective manner.
Importance of Crisis Communication Plan in External Management
On the other hand, this is difficult in nature in managing the crisis management plan is
handling the outsiders who may be the reason for misleading the entire information and this can
end up in damaging the reputation of the organization. The precise kind of crisis communication
plan is critical in nature during the crisis whether this is within the organization or to the public
in general as well. Moreover, the effective communication in the media is essential and the
excellent kind of public relation firm will help in developing strategy of communication which
will help in recovering from crisis and rebuild the organization.
Steps Used in Crisis Communication Plan
There are various kinds of steps which are being followed in the anticipating the crisis,
which is the pre-crisis stage along with the crisis management team and plan is required to be
analysed which will be helpful in handling the different issues in an appropriate manner. Boin,

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Stern & Sundelius (2016), has hypothesised that the there are few members who are common in
the crisis team such as public relations, security and operations along with human resources.
Proper training is essential which is required to be followed by the crisis management team in
order to communicate the different steps which are essential in nature in managing the overall
effectiveness and gain competitive advantage in an appropriate manner and aspect as well
(Lachlan 2016).
Spokesperson
The key component of the crisis management team training is the training of the
spokesperson. The different organizational members are required to be prepared in order to talk
to the different news media during the crisis as the media training are required to be provided
before the hitting of the crisis in the organization and this will be helpful in managing and
reducing the different challenges in an efficient aspect (Ulmer, Sellnow & Seeger 2017).
There are few steps which are required to be adopted by the organizations which are
inclusive of the following:
 The avoidance of the phrase named ‘No Comment’ as this will make the individuals feel
that the organization is guilty of their performance and they are trying to hide something
(Drennan, McConnell & Stark 2014)
 Brief all the different spokesperson on the information of the latest crisis and this will
help in conveying the different stakeholders in an efficient manner as well
 The information is required to be presented in an appropriate manner which will be
avoiding the nervous habits that the person interprets as deception (Fearn-Banks 2016).

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Pre-Draft Messages
The crisis management managers in the organization needs to pre-draft the different
messages which can be used by them during the time of crisis and the managers can use the
template during the time of crisis in analysing the different messages in an efficient manner. The
usage of the different templates can be done by the personnel of the PR wherein the legal
departments can provide the usage of the messages as this will help in saving the time during the
entire crisis situation as the specific kind of information is simply inserted and the different kinds
of messages are being sent and made available on the internet (Ki & Nekmat 2014).
Channels of Communication
There are various communication channels is required to be built by the different
companies in order to designate the proper web page which will be suitable for the crisis
management in the organization. Jin, Liu & Austin (2014), has hypothesised that the crisis web
sites will be helpful in managing the different kinds of crisis which will help in anticipating the
risks and this help in managing the same in an appropriate manner. The good PR firms can
provide the in-depth of training which will ensure that the spokespersons can effectively and
confidently communicate with the media and deal with the different situations in an efficient
manner.
Post Crisis Phase
In the respective phase, the different organizations are returning to the business as usual
and this will help the companies in handling the various crisis in an efficient manner. In this
respective stage, the crisis is no longer the focal point of the attention of the management and

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this will require a little attention as to ensure that such issues do not occur in the future. The
crisis managers in the organizations agrees that the crisis should be a learning process and
experience which will be helpful in evaluating wherein the improvement is required to become
more effective in their approach and become successful. In the post crisis management stage, this
is essential to follow the different stages which is essential in reducing the crisis by
implementing the crisis management plan and gain more competitive advantage as well. The
steps are inclusion of the following:
 Delivering all the different information which are being promised to the different
stakeholders as soon as the information is known
 Keeping the different stakeholders updated on the entire progression of recovery efforts
which will be inclusion of the corrective measures and gain more competitive advantage
ion the future to address the issues effectively (Booth 2015).
Conclusion
Therefore, from the above this can be concluded that it is crucial to recognize the crisis
communication is important in crisis management process. Furthermore, the effective kind of
communication is essential in nature in managing the crisis in the business environment. It is
imperative to keep the different stakeholders informed internally through the different kinds of
channels which will be used for the effective kind of communication and this is essential in
sending out the effective and personal communication to the different clients as well. The public
relations play a vital role in the crisis response which will be done by helpful in development of
the different messages which will be sent to the different publics effectually as well.

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