7001MKT: Corporate Reputation and Identity Audit of Samsung Australia

This report provides a corporate communication and identity audit of Samsung Australia, examining its image and stakeholder perceptions. It explores Samsung's CSR policies, factors influencing its reputation, and the connection between Samsung Australia and its Korean headquarters. The analysis incorporates stakeholder theory and corporate reputation theory, evaluating Samsung's behavior, activities, and communication strategies. The report also discusses the implications of Samsung's actions and provides recommendations for improving its corporate reputation. Desklib offers similar solved assignments and resources for students.

Running Head: HEALTH WELLBEING AND AGEING 0
Corporate Communication
JULY 31, 2018

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Executive Summary
Samsung has been recognised and considered the leading brand in the electronic
industry. The company is operating on a large scale caters to the needs of a large number of
customers. The company implements effective policies, strategies and plans for the
betterment of the society and the customers worldwide. Therefore, Samsung has initiated
well-developed communication strategies and effectively achieved goals and objectives. In
order to discuss the long-term success and corporate reputation, Samsung is one of the
reputed companies and achieve the best CSR policies, thereby maintaining the customers
and shareholders, enhancing goodwill.

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Contents
Executive Summary....................................................................................................1
Introduction...................................................................................................................3
Company background.................................................................................................3
Factors affecting working of Samsung.....................................................................3
Organisation structure................................................................................................4
Stakeholder Theory and Corporate Reputation......................................................4
Stakeholders of the Organization.............................................................................6
Corporate Reputation theory.....................................................................................6
Behaviour and Activities of Samsung.......................................................................7
Interpretation of Corporate Reputation................................................................8
Relationship between Samsung Australia with Korean Headquarter.................9
Implications and Recommendations........................................................................9
Conclusion....................................................................................................................9
References..............................................................................................................11

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Introduction
The report includes the discussion majorly on the topic corporate communication and
the identity audit of a large-sized company, based on Australia. There is a description of the
company’s image and the perception of the stakeholders towards it. With the progression
and growth of the electronics business of the company, Samsung is recognised globally as a
leader in the industry in terms of technology, and ranked in the top ten global brand. There is
a description of the company’s CSR policies and the factors, which influences the reputation
followed by the corporate reputation theory. Therefore, the underlying principle of Samsung
is “Create the Future”, which defines the vision for the future electronics (Bloomberg, 2018).
Company background
Samsung is a South Korean multinational company headquartered in the Samsung
town, Seoul, founded in 1983 by Lee Byung-chull as a trading company. In the later years,
the group diversified the operations into many areas, which consist of food processing,
textiles, insurance, securities, and the retail sector. Samsung Electronics Australia Pvt
limited performs the operations of importing and selling the household electrical appliances
and the information systems. The products in which the company deals include mobile
phones, television, and audio-video products. In addition, the company carry out the
operations worldwide in the household items that include washing machines, refrigerators
cooking appliances and others (Academic scope, 2017).
Factors affecting working of Samsung
Every organisation operates in an external environment, thus encounters societal
impact on the working of the business. These factors affect the business and the image of
the company among the various competitors in the industry. The factors include social,
technological, political, legal, and certain environmental influences. In terms of the political
factor, Samsung faces political pressures in African and Latin American countries. As these
countries, face frequent changes in their governing structures leading to the unstable
political environment (Shaw, 2011).
Social factors influencing the company states that ‘Samsung’ is a South Korean Chaebol,
therefore it is a family-owned multinational. The company has to change the global
operations according to the customer’s preferences and the local needs accordingly.

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Economic factors have a critical impact on the success of the operations of the company.
The level of employment and the economic recession play major role in the functioning of
the Samsung. The role of technology in the business of the Samsung is very big and the
company makes huge investment in the digital technology for better customer service.
Samsung has been a major manufacturer of electronic components; therefore, it is a part of
the electronics industry, more specifically consumer electronic industry. They manufacture
electronic components such as semi-conductors, flash memory, chips, and the hard drive
devices for their clients (Chesnotes, 2018).
Organisation structure
The company is the flagship of the Samsung Chaebol, and the structure in Samsung
is centralized, as the lower-level employees do not have authority to take decisions. The
company is a family owned multinational company in Korea. The key elements in the
organisational structure are formalization, division of labour, span of control, centralization,
and decentralization. As these elements play a key role in the effective functioning of the
organisation. Samsung has a geographically dispersed structure but the decision-making
authority lies with the top-management of the company. The other companies associated
with the Samsung include Apple, Sony, Dell, Hewlett-Packard, these are the major clients of
the company. In addition, the Samsung owns other companies such as Ad Gear, Nexus,
Smart Things, YESCO, and others.
Stakeholder Theory and Corporate Reputation
Stakeholders are the key persons in any organisation, whose interests have been
influenced by the organisation and who affect the working of the organisation. Therefore, a
basic understanding of the relationship between the stakeholders and the organisation is
essential, that can be obtained by analysing the Stakeholder theory. The stakeholder theory
is a business ethics and the organisational management theory that addresses the values
and the morals for managing the organisation. It has been emphasised that in order to
become sustainably competitive over time, the executive must focus on the interests and the

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needs of the suppliers, communities and the government.
(Source: Stakeholder theory, 2008)
Samsung follows a client-centred management approach, thereby meeting their
requirements. In addition, the company engages in the activities through conducting
shareholders meeting. These help in communicating the management status and issues on
a regular basis. Despite the direct impact, the stakeholders hold an indirect impact on the
organisation’s reputation. The stakeholder analysis of a company is associated with the
long-term reputation and the growth in the future. There is a relationship between the
stakeholders and the corporate reputation, as the reputation/image of any organisation is the
result of the interaction between the stakeholders and the management (Matuleviciene &
Stravinskiene, 2015).
It has been found that the stakeholders have impact on both the financial
performance as well as the reputation of the company. Therefore, all the stakeholders in the
organisations must be involved for the development of the corporate reputation. It is
essential to include them because they can influence the company’s image, reputation and
revenue through their decisions, tax and restricting the use of resources. Improved and
healthy relations with the stakeholders lead to enhanced corporate reputation. Hence,
gaining an understanding of the stakeholder theory contributes to the improved reputation of
the company in the corporate world (Chenne, 2018).

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Stakeholders of the Organization
Stakeholders of the company include media, consumers, government, employees,
business partners, shareholders/investors, and the local communities. In an advanced
manner, the stakeholders of the company are enlisted with the help of stakeholder mapping.
Stakeholder mapping is a collective process to facilitate the research, debate and the
discussion that draws multiple alternatives to list a number of stakeholders across the whole
stakeholder spectrum. Mapping includes four phases or stages, Identifying, Analysing,
Mapping, and Prioritizing.
(Source: BSR, 2011)
To identify the stakeholders primary to the success of the organisation, the company
can use the stakeholder mapping process that will help in identifying the list of stakeholders,
it is a visual exercise that helps an organisation to identify the stakeholders who are
important to the organisation. This process enables to evaluate the potential of stakeholders
to contribute towards the organisational goals.
Corporate Reputation theory
Corporate Reputation theory states that an organisation’s past actions and the
expected future performance collectively determines the corporate reputation. Corporate
reputation affects organisational performance and vice-versa. Building an effective and
positive business reputation requires every organisation to satisfy their customers and
stakeholders. The corporate reputation acts like a magnet to an organisation which tends to
attract the technical, financial, and human resources (Meaning cloud, 2018).

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(Source: Meaning cloud, 2018)
Discussing the corporate repuattion of the organisation, Samsung is recognised as
one of the leading brand in terms of reputation amongst top 10 companies. According to the
statistical data of the Reputation Insititue survey (RI), Samsung has been ranked among the
top three reputed companies in the US. Also, the company focusses towards improving the
CSR policies, emphasising on the environment, social values, and philanthropy. The survey
designated Samsung as the No. 1 company in the CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility)
that aligns business with the investment values. Corporate reputation strategies of samsung
brings about the effective position of the company amongst other companies. Samsung
maintains healthy relations with the public and the media and the employee communication
is effectively strategised by the company (Lloyd, 2011).
Behaviour and Activities of Samsung
Samsung is one of the leading brands in the electronic industry, and judiciously
manages the resources and activities to enhance the company reputation.The organisation
manages employees by introducing the training programs, to increase their skills and
abilities. Samsung has implemented effective CSR policies, with the vision statement of
‘Global Harmony with People, Society and Environment’, the company aims to create a
positive change in the environment for the customers and the society. With the effort towards
establishing sustainable development and better quality life (Samsung, 2018).

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In addition, the company initiates in some other programmes, such as education
program. Samsung created the smart class program that supports education thorugh their
technology and services.Samsung also focuses towards developing sustainable
enterpreneurship which is supportive to corporate reputation of the busieness. The firm has
adopted a global approach towards involving the stakeholders in the development products
and services, thereby imprving corporate reputation (Bohatala, 2018).
The building blocks of the reputation of the company refers to the internal influences,
benchmarks or standards set and the percieved importance by the stakeholders, which
constitutes effective corporate reputation of the Samsung. Corporate reputation has been
enhanced by engaging in maintaining high ethical principles. Following ethics and the
government rules and regulations the organisation builds the brand image. Samsung
involves in maintaing an effecttive flow of communication, to reduce the chaos and confusion
regarding work (Samsung life, 2018). To foster better communication samsung uses several
media such as print and media advertising, sales promotion, and public relations. Therefore,
Samsung communicates to their customers, users and employees in an effective manner
(Burton, 2018).
Interpretation of Corporate Reputation
Corporate reputation and the stakeholders perceptions are linked to each other.
Every stakeholder in an organisation assess and interprets the company’s reputation in a
different manner. In order to move ahead with confidence and succeed in the future, an
organisation must know how it is percieved by the stakeholders.Managing the corporate
reputation through the stakeholders is a difficult and challenging process. Stakeholders have
huge impact on the reputation of the business, regardless of the extent of their involvement
in the organisation. Therefore, different stakeholders of the organisation percieves the
importance of reputation in a different manner (Leader, 2015). For the customers a
company’s brand image will be effective if they are delivering valuable products and
services. There are a number of factors that affect the reputation of the Samsung, internal as
well as external factors, such as economic, political, legal, technolgical advanacements and
the environmental changes. More importantly, the internal factors affect the company
reputation, i.e. resources and the political affairs within organisation. An organisation’s
reputation can be improved by improving the social engagement, fulfilling customer needs
and the social responsibility (Samsung Newsroom, 2018).

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Relationship between Samsung Australia with Korean Headquarter
Samsung is a South Korean multinational, which is situated in Seoul. Therefore, and
the President of Samsung Australia Mr. Harry Lee, is the member of the Korean
Association , therefore there is a connection or the relationship between the Australian
company and the Korean headquarters (Samsung, 2018).
Implications and Recommendations
Analysing the Samsung CSR policies and the stakeholder management, it can be
stated the company has a well establiashed management policies, but faced problems in
their latest released smartphones. The major implications were related to the better
advancement of technology. Although the company effectively communicates the plans and
strategies to the employees and reach out the customers well, but there is a room for
improvement for the organisation’s long term success. A huge communication failure was
noticed in the company regarding the recall of Note 7. Therefore, the company has been is
advised to become more open and transparent that would further lead to enhanced
reputation and goodwill.
Conclusion
To conclude the above discussion, the company Samsung has been considered as
one of the leading brand amongst other companies in the industry. The company has a well
maintained organisation structure catering to the needs of the various customers and the
stakeholders. Despite the problems, in the technology and the other areas, company has
been growing consistently. With the well established CSR policies and the customer
satisfaction, there is a wide acceptance of their products and services. This helps in
developing and sustaining a better corporate image or reputation ensuring long term survival
and success.

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References
Academic scope. (2017). Samsung: Background, PEST Analysis, Recommendation.
Retrieved from: https://www.academicscope.com/samsung-background-pest-
analysis-recommendation/
Bloomberg. (2018) Company Overview of Samsung Electronics Australia Pvt Limited.
Retrieved from: https://www.bloomberg.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?
privcapId=28384046
Bohatala. (2018). Samsung Strategic Brand Reputation Analysis Report. Retrieved from:
https://bohatala.com/samsung-strategic-brand-reputation-analysis-report/
BSR. (2011). Stakeholder Mapping. Retrieved from:
https://www.bsr.org/reports/BSR_Stakeholder_Engagement_Stakeholder_Mapping.fi
nal.pdf
Burton, J. (2018). Samsung’s Communication Strategy. Retrieved from:
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/opinon/2016/10/197_216407.html
Chenne, S. D. (2018) Reputation management: what is the stakeholder’s role? Retreived
from: https://www.businesslive.co.za/redzone/news-insights/2018-01-16-reputation-
management-what-is-the-stakeholders-role/
Chesnotes. (2018). Samsung Pestle Analysis. Retrieved from:
https://www.cheshnotes.com/2017/10/samsung-pestel-analysis/
Leader. (2015). 5 Key factors to improve your corporate reputation. Retrieved from:
http://www.leader.co.za/article.aspx?s=6&f=1&a=5871
Lloyd, S. (2011). Triangulation Research to inform Corporate Reputation Theory and
Practice. Corporate Reputation Review, 14(3) 221-233.
Matuleviciene, M. & Stravinskiene, J. (2015) The Importance of Stakeholders for Corporate
Reputation. Inzinerine Ekonomika-Engineering Economics, 26(1), 75–83.
Meaning cloud. (2018). Corporate Reputation. Retrieved from:
https://www.meaningcloud.com/products/corporate-reputation

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Samsung life. (2018). Stakeholder communication. Retrieved from:
http://www.samsunglife.com/companyeng/pdf/2010_SR_eng_stakeholder_communic
ation.pdf
Samsung Newsroom. (2018). Samsung Catapults into the top 10 Reputable Companies in
the U.S. Retrieved from: https://news.samsung.com/us/samsung-top-10-reputable-
companies/
Samsung. (2018). Executives in Australia. Retrieved from:
https://www.samsung.com/au/aboutsamsung/company/executives/executive-team/
Samsung. (2018). Vision 2020: “Inspire the World, Create the Future”. Retrieved from:
https://www.samsung.com/au/aboutsamsung/vision/vision2020/
Shaw, A. (2011). The Key forces that impact on a Company’s Reputation. Retrieved from:
http://www.strategic-planet.com/2011/03/the-key-forces-that-impact-on-a-company
%E2%80%99s-reputation/