CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1. BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

Trying to achieve good communication between an organization and its internal publics could be

similar to handling school children on an excursion: some would listen; some would hear but

misunderstand and others would neither listen nor hear and would later complain about not being

aware. Organizations have struggled to achieve the best way to get messages across to their

employees then how much more their other stakeholders who may not be so involved in the daily

activities of the organization?

Corporate communication is a multidisciplinary field with different theoretical disciplines such

as Mass Communication, Rhetoric and Management. As defined by Cornelissen (2004),

Corporate communications is a management function that offers a

framework and vocabulary for the effective coordination of all

means of communications with the overall purpose of establishing

and maintaining favourable reputations with stakeholder groups

upon which the organization is dependent. (P.23)

Corporate communication as it relates to company image and projection is,

The corporation’s voice and the images it projects of itself on a

world stage populated by its various audiences, or what is referred

to as its constituencies. Included in this field are areas such as

1
 corporate reputation, corporate advertising and advocacy,

employee communications, investor relations, government

relations, media management and crisis communications.(Argenti

& Forman, 2002:4)

Communication has always proved to be a very judicious part of every organization and right

now, growing numbers of top companies, corporations and institutions are reassessing their

communication budget. These companies are moving away from the conventional, purposeful

approaches to public relations and public affairs and are pursuing internal and external corporate

communication strategies. Corporate Communication, if approached with strategic integrity,

configuration and focus, is a very powerful management tool that disallows the confused and

contradictory messages to disseminate from management.

Corporate communication does not apply solely to profit-making organizations but to every form

of organization as long as that organization/body/institute has stakeholders who are affected by

whatever message the management of that particular organization passes across.

In times past, organizations have made use of various techniques in relaying messages between

an organization and its publics (internal and external) and one customary method include Public

Relations and advertising. Grunig and Hunt (1984) define Public Relations “as the practice of

managing communication between an organization and its publics” (p.6). Advertising according

to Ronald (1999), “is a message paid for by an identified sponsor and usually delivered through

some medium of mass communication. Advertising is persuasive communication, it is not

2
neutral; it is not unbiased” (p.41). Most organizations have the Public Relations and Advertising

departments headed by a Public Relations Officer.

Corporate communication is more than sending out newsletters, emails, memos, etc. It combines

public relations and advertising on a higher level to achieve better results.

1.1.2 COVENANT UNIVERSITY

Covenant University is a private mission university in Nigeria that was founded on October 21,

2002 in Canaanland, Ota, Ogun State. It was founded by the World Mission Agency of the

Living Faith Church Worldwide (Winners’ Chapel). The Chancellor, Bishop David Oyedepo is

the visionary behind the institution as well as the founder and presiding Bishop of the church.

The school has the vision of becoming “a leading world-class Christian mission university

committed to raising a new generation of leaders in all fields of human endeavour.” The mission

of the university is:

To create knowledge and restore man’s dignity through a human

development concept of the total man, employing innovative,

leading edge, teaching and learning methods.

Just like every organization, Covenant University, a school striving to become a world-class

university, has various departments including The Corporate and Public Affairs Office. This

3
office is responsible for whatever information the institution has to pass across. The department

has the mission of “charting strategic pathways for cultivating and building internal and

external groundswell and goodwill and positive image for the university in order to make it a

topmost global institution.”

The department has five sub-divisions namely:

 Media and Public Relations

 Strategic Communication planning, printing and publishing

 News gathering, news writing and editing

 Print publication and design

 Web-writing, development and content management

These five sub-divisions are jointly concerned with the following:

 Photographic services

 Event co-ordination and management

 Provision of multimedia facilities

 Logo and poster design, Covenant University brand protection

 Production of CU Update and The Covenant magazines.

1.1.3 THE BELLS UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY

The proprietor of the Bells University of Technology is the Bells Educational Foundation. It is

the dream of Bells Educational Foundation to establish a unique university where the good

4
foundation given to the products of its secondary school and other secondary schools could be

built upon.

To ensure uniqueness, the University offer courses that would:

 Support relevant and sustainable technology that is transferable and applicable especially

in the area of biotechnology

 Be ICT-driven and at the cutting edge of Science and Technology and

 Include studies that produce a balanced education

The vision of the university is “to be a world - renowned University that is committed to the

development and transformation of society through environmental friendly technological and

other innovations.”

1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

There are two ways of viewing the problem, from the perspective of the internal publics and the

perspective of the external publics but this paper would be focusing on just the internal publics.

Organizations tend to leave decision making at the managerial level and most times whatever

decisions are made are not communicated effectively to the publics, especially the internal

publics and this reduces productivity and performance on the part of the employees thereby

bringing the confusion of who should perform what task.

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Improper and ineffective communication on the part of an organization with its publics, both

internal and external make the organization’s publics to work and act based on assumptions and

this can pose a challenge as it builds incongruities between the company’s desired identity and

the identity its publics hold.

Also, it has been complained of that private universities communicate poorly with their publics

and this has given rise to the level of rumours that pervade the environment. There have been

little or no communication strategy in place to handle crisis in private universities in the past and

right now, there is very little evidence available of a strategy in place to handle any future similar

situations.

1.3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

Every organization that has foresight would always want to be world-class but the sad thing is

that most times, it may end up being a vision or just a wish because of lack of communication. If

the head of an organization brings to the fore the mission and vision for his organization, he may

be shocked at how much ideas his staff have as regards that vision and mission. Therefore, the

objective of this research paper is to:

1. Find out the existing corporate communications strategies already in place in Covenant

University and Bells University.

2. Discover the effectiveness of these corporate communication strategies in projecting the

image of the institution.

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 3. Determine the level to which the internal publics of Covenant University and Bells

University are aware of the activities at the institution.

1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1. What are the corporate communication strategies already in existence in Covenant

University and Bells University?

2. What differences (if any) exist between the corporate communication strategies of

Covenant and Bells Universities?

3. Do the internal publics of Covenant University and Bells University identify with the

corporate communication strategies of the universities? (8, 12,

4. How has the existing corporate communication strategies helped in projecting the image

of the institutions?

5. What is the internal publics’ perception of the corporate image of Covenant University

and Bells University?

1.5 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

This study is significant because it tends to show that an organization’s communication strategy

forms an integral part of the organization and also that the relationship an organization has with

its publics requires careful management.

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The study is beneficial to those interested in corporate communication or public relations as it

would show that the responsibility for communications is fast becoming a part of every

employee’s role and not just the function of the Corporate Communication Officer (CCO) or

Public Relations Officer (PRO).

This study is also beneficial to academics as it enables them an insight into the development and

practice of corporate communication.

The study would also benefit professionals already in the field of corporate communication as

they would discover that internal communication is important to the field of corporate

communication because the internal organization ultimately dictates what is communicated

externally.

Also, with the number of researchers in the field of corporate communication, this study would

help them discover that the field is not only developing into an important professional asset for

organizations, but also a movement towards a mature field of science, both in the research

methods employed and in the conceptual papers.

1.6 SCOPE OF STUDY

The hub of this study is on private higher institutions in Nigeria and how they handle corporate

communication. The study is limited to stakeholders of Covenant University and Bells

University and as a result the sample would be taken from students and academic staff of the

universities. In addition to this, the study would also evaluate the present corporate

8
communication strategies of the university by interviewing the Public Affairs personnel and the

Dean of Student Affairs, Covenant University and Bells University.

1.7 LIMITATIONS TO THE STUDY

A major limitation to this study was accessing the interviewees at Covenant University and Bells

University.

1.8 OPERATIONAL DEFINITIONS

1.9.1 CORPORATE COMMUICATION: This refers to a set of activities involved in

managing and orchestrating all internal and external communications aimed at creating

favourable starting points with stakeholders on which the company depends.

1.9.2 STRATEGY: A plan that is intended to achieve a particular purpose. It is the process of

planning something or carrying out a plan in a skilful way.

1.9.3 PRIVATE: Owned or managed by an individual person or an independent company rather

than by the state.

1.9.4 PUBLICS: This refers to the staff and students of Covenant University and Bells

University.

1.9. HIGHER INSTITUTIONS: This refers to post secondary/high school educational

institutions. They include polytechnics, colleges of education and universities.

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 CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 INTRODUCTION

Although corporate communication may seem relatively new in the business world, it has an

intriguing history as its roots can be traced to public relations. What is most commonly referred

to as the corporate communication department these days was in the past referred to as public

relations or public affairs. Today, the public affairs function is generally considered as one of the

elements of corporate communication. This review is going to cover the history of public

relations as regards the essentialities relating to corporate communication as well as a breakdown

of corporate communication.

2.2 THE EVOLUTION OF CORPORATE COMMUNICATION

Yamauchi (2001) believes the term ‘corporate communication’ came to the attention of the

general public more than 30 years ago when the US business magazine Fortune held its first

annual Corporate Communication seminar in 1972. However, throughout the 20th century, the

field of corporate communication has been developed in schools of communication and

journalism under areas called public relations or public affairs (van Riel, 1995).

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In a world that is getting more complicated with the upsurge of new communication technologies

and also a need for increase in transparency in work places, institutions cannot isolate themselves

from their environment. It is necessary for institutions to be in continuous communication with

their publics.

There are different ways a message can be conveyed to target recipient. As corporate identity and

corporate integrity play a very vital role in the overall image of an organization, a proper way of

presenting themselves to others is of paramount importance. There are also two kinds of

communication in a corporate environment and they are internal and external communication.

Internal communication is anything that needs to be disseminated only to internal parties within

the organization. This is usually composed of corporate updates, announcement to manage

employee issues, changes in organization structure, special events, etc. External communication,

on the other hand, is anything that the organization needs to convey to public. This may be to

promote an innovation or a new product, to make a public apology for anything that would

warrant this, to rectify gossips about the organization, to announce a bankruptcy, to publicly

signify an organization’s appreciation of public support, to do political campaign, etc.

Cornelissen (2008) is of the view that the evolution of corporate communication disciplines and

techniques that are used by organizations to promote, publicize or generally inform relevant

individuals and groups within society about their affairs began at least 150 years ago. With the

emergence of large industrial corporations during the Industrial Revolution during the 1930s, in

the United States and United Kingdom, there was a need for professional communication officers

and a more organized form of handling publicity and promotions. Corporate communication

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involved mainly printed documents until the 1990s, when the Internet opened up new modes of

communication, including the email.

Corporate communication contributes to the continued process of defining the organization’s

reason for being, by managing the relationships with internal and external stakeholders and by

influencing their cognitions, expectations and behaviors towards the organization and its

environment.

Unlike the conventional Public Relations department headed by a Public Relations Officer that

most organizations had in the past, corporate communication is a part of the whole organization

and the responsibility of communication is increasingly being seen as a part of every employees

job function and not just the task of the Public Relations Officer.

According to Moloney, this activity used to be known as ‘corporate identity’ work by PR people

in the 1990s, and before that in the 1970s, when management was an activity without its own

vocabulary, it was known as ‘It’s what we stand for’.

What most organizations do not understand is that developing corporate communications

strategy is not as difficult as starting out a firm neither does it involve scrapping out any existing

public relations department an organization might have, rather, as Riel and Fombrun (2007)

describe it,

Developing a corporate communication perspective does not

require establishing a new function in organizations. Rather, it

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 invites bringing down the traditional ‘Chinese Walls” that exist in

most organizations between segmented communication functions.

(23)

Corporate communication evolved out of problems Public Relations could not solve. According

to Argenti (1998),

As problems in the 1970s developed outside of companies,

requiring more than the simple internal PR function supplemented

by the outside consultant, the roots of the new corporate

communication function started to take hold (18).

Although the concept of corporate communication strategies was formulated in organizations in

the seventies in both America and Europe, the concept is still in its embryonic stage in Nigeria as

a country, let alone higher institutions in the country. What is seen are great advertising

strategies, brand strategies and very little communication strategies.

In a paper delivered by Steyn at the 9th International Public Relations Research Symposium,

(Lake Blend, Slovenia) she quotes Tibble (1997:77) as follows:

“Strategy and the communication world, particularly the PR part

of that world, just do not seem to go together. It is certainly

unusual to come across a cogent and effective communication

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 strategy. Not a brand strategy. Not a marketing strategy. Not an

advertising strategy-but a communication strategy.”

2.3 THE ELEMENTS OF CORPORATE COMMUNICATION

Corporate Communication is the art of orchestrating set of activities in communicating

information to both internal and external parties; thus, acting like a liaison between the

organization and its publics. Corporate communication encompasses a variety of functions that

have to do with relationships between various groups. The elements of corporate communication

also centre on relationships with various groups of individuals. Each of these different elements

of corporate communications has different responsibilities, but all work together to ensure that

messaging between employees, customers and the general public is consistent.

These elements are:

 Public Relations

 Community Relations

 Media Relations

 Shareholder Relations

 Employee Relations

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  PUBLIC RELATIONS

The First World Assembly of Public Relations Associations, held in Mexico City in 1978,

defined public relations as “the art and social science of analysing trends, predicting their

consequences, counselling organisational leaders, and implementing planned programmes of

action which will serve both the organisation and the public interest” (Kitchen 1997:7).

Public relations is concerned with “assisting organisations to both formulate and achieve socially

acceptable goals, thus achieving a balance between commercial imperatives and socially

responsible behaviour” (Kitchen 1997:8).

Public relations is a management tool. The aim of public relations is to establish and maintain a

positive image of the company among its various publics. Moore and Bertrand as quoted by

Belch and Belch (2004: 23) defines public relations as:

The management function which evaluates the public attitudes,

identifies the policies and procedures of an individual or

organization with the public interest, and executes a program of

action to earn public understanding and acceptance.

Ivy Ledbetter Lee (1877-1934) understood the importance of public opinion to the big

companies he served and he used it to their advantage. After working as a journalist in New

York, he created PR firm with George Parker in 1904.

Modern public relations (PR) practices first became popular in the United States in the early

1920s with the publication of Edward Bernays, nephew of Sigmund Freud, influential text

15
entitled ‘The Crystallization of Public Opinion’. Since then, the practice and management of PR

became a global enterprise that can no longer be ignored. Within a short period, PR gained

popularity not only in the United States but also amongst foreign governments and multinational

firms. Today, PR is practiced in most countries around the world and more importantly in non-

western developing countries.

Public relations has been around for thousands of years and may even be as old as human

existence. The Greeks referred to it as sematikos. Semantikos means semantics, which can be

defined as how to get people to believe things and do things. History has it that Julius Caesar

wrote the first campaign biography in 50 B.C. titled Caesar’s Gallic Wars. He publicized his

military exploits to convince the Roman people that he would make the best head of state.

Candidates for political office continue to publicize themselves with campaign biographies and

accounts of military exploits to this day.

Bowman and Ellis (1969) propose that practitioners exist to create and foster relations between

organisations and their publics. As Lauzen (1995) suggests they provide cultural cross-

fertilisation with their publics and relay organisational values to and from their audiences.

 PUBLIC RELATIONS IN NIGERIA

According to Cutlip, Center, & Broom cited in Ledingham and Bruning (2000), Public relations

is the management function that establishes and maintains mutually beneficial relationships

between an organization and its publics on whom its success or failure depends.

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Bates (2006), avows that the development of modern PR began with the publication of

newspapers and pamphlets. With this affirmation, it would be a statement of fact to say that PR

practices began in Nigeria on December 3, 1859, in Abeokuta when the Christian Missionary

Society (CMS) published the “Iwe Irohin”, meaning news journal (Salawu, 2004). This

newspaper, which is the first in Nigeria, performed the first PR function by providing up to date

information concerning missionary activities as well as socio-economic and political activities

affecting Anglican parishioners, Abeokuta indigenes, the settlers (Creoles) and Europeans at

large.

From the late 1960s to late 2000s, there was an invasion of well educated and highly trained PR

practitioners. In order to further raise the standard of PR practice therefore, the Public Relations

Association of Nigeria (PRAN) was renamed Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR) in

1969 (Amujo and Melewar, 2008).

The United African Company (UAC) is one of the early private sector operators to establish an

information dissemination department (Ajala, 1993; Abodunrin, 1995). This department, which

was set up in 1949 was initially headed by Charles E. Newham (Ajai, 2007). It employed more

PR officers from London to manage its Liaison Offices in Benin, Enugu, Kaduna, Jos, Calabar,

Ibadan and Kano (Ajai, 2007). Also, Shell-BP (now Shell Petroleum Development Company)

established its PR unit in the 1940s.

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  COMMUNITY RELATIONS

This is also known as corporate social responsibility, this is a planned activity with a community

to maintain an environment that benefits both the organization and the community. The World

Business Council for Sustainable Development defines corporate social responsibility as;

"Corporate Social Responsibility is the continuing commitment by

business to behave ethically and contribute to economic

development while improving the quality of life of the workforce

and their families as well as of the local community and society at

large"

Burke (1999) defines community relations as,

The state of relations between the company and the communities in

which it has a presence or impact. It encompasses programs that

advance the interests of both the company and its communities,

such as donations, employee volunteerism, and community

partnerships. It involves the impact of the operational activities of

the company on its communities as well as programs established to

develop relationships with groups and organizations in

communities.

Community relations is the function that evaluates public attitudes, identities the mission of an

organization with the public interest and executes a program of action to earn public

understanding and acceptance.

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  MEDIA RELATIONS

According to Johnston(2008), media relations involves working with various media for the

purpose of informing the public of an organization's mission, policies and practices in a positive,

consistent and credible manner.

Working with the media on the behalf of an organization allows for awareness of the entity to be

raised as well as the ability to create an impact with a chosen audience. It allows access to both

large and small target audiences and helps build public support and mobilizing public opinion for

an organization.

 STAKEHOLDERS RELATIONS

Stakeholders are individuals or groups are stakeholders when they are affected by the decisions

of an organisation or if their decisions affect an organization. (Freeman 1984). The receiver of

the communication’s message in a corporate organization is their stakeholders. In corporate

communication, stakeholders can be divided into two: internal or external stakeholders but for

the purpose of this research work, the focus would be on the internal stakeholders.

In a paper titled Corporate Communications: Audiences, Funding and Crisis Management by

Richard R. Dolphin and Ying Fan, the researchers are of the view that,

The audiences at which corporate communications are targeted is

determined by the activities of the organisation (Winner, 1993) and

by any current problem areas. Effective communication

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 management depends upon awareness of the many elements

forming the general climate and of the quarters in which turbulence

may be detected. Adequate funding ultimately decides what can be

done properly. Winner (1993) concludes that communications are

typically under-funded.

 EMPLOYEE RELATIONS

This is another element of corporate communication. Organizations usually have an employee

communications group that works in conjunction with the human resources department to create

strategies to engage and inform the company's employees. This group typically manages

newsletters and company intranet content and distributes information regarding company

policies, procedures and events.

Employee Relations involves the body of work concerned with maintaining employer-employee

relationships that contribute to satisfactory productivity, motivation, and morale. Essentially,

Employee Relations is concerned with preventing and resolving problems involving individuals

which arise out of or affect work situations.

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2.4 CORPORATE COMMUNICATION MANAGEMENT

Corporate communication management can be defined as a management of the perceptions of an

organization (Chaloner, 1990); which means that the perception of audiences or stakeholder can

be influenced from all internal and external information (message of communication) means and

measures (Schmidt, 1995; Cornelissen, 2008). The collective message from both sources through

every form, manner and medium of communications (Haynes, 1990) will convey organizations

identity (Gray, 1995; Gray and Balmer, 1998) to its stakeholder. A stakeholder is anyone who

has a stake in the organization’s success such as vendors, customers, employees and executives

(Goodman, 2000).

2.4.1 DETERMINANTS OF CORPORATE COMMUNICATION MANAGEMENT

There are three categories of determinants which include management communication,

organizational communication and marketing communication.

 MANAGEMENT COMMUNICATION

Management communication is determined by efforts to accomplish work through other people

(van Riel and Fombrum, 2007). The four basic functions of management comprise of planning,

organizing, coordinating and controlling. Smeltzer, Glab and Golen., (1983) on the other hand

looks at the functional of management communication, ‘viewing communication as a means to

an end, something to be exploited in the service of organizational objectives after weighing the

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cost-benefit considering’ (p.74). In fact, management communication is communication intended

to affect a manager’s decisions and the foundation for guiding the organization’s internal actions.

Argenti (1996) believes that “management communication focuses on communication strategy;

skills, including writing and speaking; process, including teamwork and interpersonal behavior;

the global environment, which focuses on cross cultural communications; and function, which

gets us to the connection with corporate communication” (p. 83). According to Pincus, Robert,

Rayfield and DeBonis, (1991), management communication is evident in all level of

organization. Van Riel (1995) summarized this to four functions which include: developing

organizational vision, organizational leadership, managing process of change and motivating

employee.

Developing organizational vision, mission and philosophies are important for the corporate

organizations. Goodman (2000) and Yamauchi (2001) agreed that with clear statements of what

the corporation stands for, its goals and its practices will create the positive image in the mind of

internal and external publics.

Secondly, on organizational leadership, Kouzes and Posner believe the charismatic leader would

influence the effectiveness of the organization as well as the performance by giving a clear

direction to achievement.

Third function of management communication is managing the process of change. A

management communication is most strongly correlated to responses to the managing process of

change in organizations (Nelissen and van Selm, 2008). Based on the research conducted by

Nelissen and van Selm (2008), employees who are satisfied with management communication

22
score high on positive responses and low on negative responses. That means the process of

change in organizations will affect management communication and corporate communication.

The fourth function which is motivating employees is one of the corporate communication

functions under management communication taken from a human resource function (Goodman,

2001). However, the communication practitioner needs to consider the styles of adult learners in

an effort to motivate this group of people.

 ORGANIZATIONAL COMMUNICATION

Shelby (1993) believes that organizational communications set its sights on corporate audiences,

such as shareholders, financial journalists, investment analysts, regulators and legislators. It has a

long-term perspective and is generally initiated by external parties. In organizational

communications, stakeholders generally decide whether the organization should communicate

with them (Grunig, 1992). In addition, Shelby (1993) pointed out, in its narrower definition,

organizational communication is a discipline discrete from, but complementary to corporate

communication.

On the other hand, van Riel and Fombrum (2007) denote a heterogeneous group of

communication activities under organizational communications have four characteristic in

common and encompass seven functions: public relations, public affairs, investor relations,

labour market communication, corporate advertising, environmental communication and internal

communication.

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  MARKETING COMMUNICATION

Marketing communication is an umbrella for a wide range of external communication which

includes five functions that can affect corporate communication i.e. advertising, sales promotion,

direct mail, sponsorship and personal sales. These five functions help the organization to

communicate effectively to their external stakeholder (van Riel, 1995).

2.5 CORPORATE COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES

Strategy could be seen as the thinking, the logic behind the actions (Robert 1997:22). Drucker

(1954) sees it as an indication of an organisation’s positioning for the future, deciding what

should be done rather than how it should be done. Strategy requires choices—deciding what

particular kind of value an organisation wants to deliver to whom (Porter, in Gibson 1997).

The medium of communication in the corporate communication process will depend on who is

their receiver (stakeholder), and media or channel of communication used by the organization to

transfer organizational messages to the stakeholder might be varied: internal mail, intranet, face

to face, circular or bulletin widely used by organizations to communicate to their internal

stakeholder. However, for the huge number of external stakeholder, mass communications

instruments such as electronic media (television and radio), print media (newspaper and

magazine) and new media (internet) is the most influential channel to persuade their

stakeholders. Corporate communication strategy is developed within the context of the

organisation’s vision, mission, corporate culture, policies and strategies (the internal

environment), but focuses on the view or perception its external publics have of it i.e. an

24
assessment of the external environment. It is the outcome of a strategic brainstorming process by

senior communication practitioners and top managers, taking strategic decisions with regard to

the identification and management of, and communication with, strategic stakeholders. It is

problem solving in unstructured situations, being able to recognise changing situations, selecting

the right problems to solve. It is therefore a mechanism that leads the function towards

effectiveness -which is doing the right things- rather than towards efficiency (which means doing

things right).

Corporate communication is an implementation of all communication measures which have an

aim to influence public opinion about one organization, association and institution and

organization climate by combining systematically. Corporate communication is a communication

that is implemented in a long term with the aim to create, protect or change an image (Kiessling,

1996: 19).

The question now is what are these communication strategies that can be put in place to

influence public opinion about an organization? What are the factors to be put in place to ensure

smooth flow of communication between an organization and its internal publics? In addressing

this issue, Oliver (1997) suggests that

“Any two-way communication system must be empowered to sense

what is going on, to code data in a usable form, to physically

process feedback and opinion, to regulate and control output and

measurement of productivity, to store and retrieve information, and

25
 to inform policy and corporate goals at any point in the

process.”(64)

In building effective corporate communication strategies, The Society For Human Resource

Management (U.S) proposes some basic points to consider and they are:

 The communication plan must flow from the organization’s mission, vision and values.

 The communication plan must tie to and support the organization’s strategic plan.

 Each element or objective of the strategic plan should be tied to key internal audiences

that need to be influenced in some manner.

 Influence should be tied to outcomes.

 Key messages that are likely to impact the desired end state should be identified.

 Tactics to deliver the key messages should be identified.

 A budget should be established according to the identified tactics.

 Methods of measurement should be identified and results tracked with modifications

made to the plan as appropriate.

The following are some effective tools that enhance corporate communication in an organization.

 E-MAIL

The electronic mail commonly called e-mail is a method of exchanging digital messages

from an author to more than one recipient. The e-mail is perhaps one of the most widely used

tools of communication for corporations. Email allows for timely, concise and explicit

communication with a controlled audience. Most organizations make use of Local Area

Network (LAN) which allows information to be passed only between users logged into the

same server infrastructure.

26
Email has changed the way businesses are done these days and has impacted business

positively and has an edge over some other methods of communication. The following are

some advantages in the use of electronic mail as outlined by Geld (2003).

Management of electronic mails is easy because management of correspondence is done on

screen. Proposals sent out can be answered, revised, stored and sent to others and all these

can be done without the use of paper.

Email is fast as it is delivered instantly from any point to any part of the world. No other

method of delivery can provide such speed. This speed allows businesses to work at a faster

pace and communicate more effectively, even in large organizations. Executives are able to

receive almost real-time status updates and can therefore make well-informed decisions.

Email can also be used to rapidly disseminate information to multiple employees at the same

time.

Email is inexpensive compared to telephone calls, faxes or overland mails. Also it is easier to

filter. This is made possible due to the fact that mails can be prioritized by looking at the

subject and sender before opening it. This is unlike overland mails that need to be opened

and reviewed or voice mails that need to be heard first before any decision can be taken.

The transmission of email messages is secure and reliable. The level of security in

transmitting email messages is very high and the industry is striving to develop even tighter

security levels. Email is a more secure method of communication than letters or faxes.

27
Letters or faxes can be intercepted fairly easily at a business since a physical movement of

the information must occur. Faxes with sensitive information can inadvertently be left on a

fax machine if the recipient is not aware of when the fax is sent. Emails can create a record of

the information in a safe environment that is easily backed up for future use.

Email effectively decreases the layers of management because everyone in a company can

email the company president with ideas, suggestions or comments. Management can obtain

opinions from the front lines of their business, which helps them stay in touch with the day-

to-day operations and field experiences of their employees. Suggestions and ideas received

from those at lower levels of the business organization can help spur innovation and create

new revenue streams for the business. Management can also take advantage of the ease of

spreading encouragement and business updates to all employees simultaneously.

Email allows for more teamwork in problem solving and business processes. Representatives

from various departments and functional areas can participate in helping advance the

business. Businesses can use emails sent to all team members as an ongoing dialogue without

having to meet in face-to-face meetings. Targeted emails can be sent for review to functional

areas such as information technology for feasibility of ideas generated by other departments.

 CORPORATE NEWSLETTERS

One corporate communication tool that is widely used is that of the newsletter. Some

newsletters provide news on the industry and other information while other newsletters are

28
extend advertisements and as well there is another type of newsletters that combine both

mentioned types. There are two types of newsletters, the manual or hard copy newsletter and

the electronic or soft copy newsletter.

A newsletter is a regularly distributed publication generally about one main topic that is of

interest to its subscribers. Newspapers and leaflets are types of newsletters. Newsletters allow

a company to regularly communicate with a specific demographic within a predetermined

field of information. For example, a company may send out a weekly, company-wide

newsletter about company goings on, or a monthly financial findings newsletter to its

shareholders.

Electronic newsletters are also used frequently because they are relatively inexpensive to put

together, can be assembled within a short amount of time and can be sent out simultaneously

to small or massive mailing lists. They also offer companies the opportunity to promote

additional products and services by including links to websites and web forms. Writing

corporate newsletters can be challenging. An organization has to know the right contents for

a proper newsletter. Allen (2001) provides some tips for writing a proper corporate

newsletter.

The newsletter should include anything the organization thinks would be of interest to their

publics. The contents must be fresh and useful. Newsletters should not be used to hard sell

the business to its readers. If a new service or product is introduced though, by all means let

29
them know. It is very necessary that the newsletters end with a short statement on the

organization’s products and services plus contact details.

Corporate newsletter is something more than simply announcing some news. A proper

corporate newsletter has to be as more employee oriented as possible. For instance, a

corporate newsletter could include such items as promotions and industry awards, release of

some new contract or services and so on.

The greatest advantage of a corporate newsletter is that it could reach the team where no one

other could. The corporate newsletter has to be the main source of all important information

and news for employees. They do not have to read only about any changes in the company

from some statements and reports.

 INTRANET

One of the increasingly popular communication tools for corporations is that of the intranet.

An intranet is similar to the internet but it is established for one distinct group of users and

has security so that others outside the group do not have access to it. Unlike the Internet,

which can be accessed by any user from any location, an intranet is an organizationally

controlled network where files, communications and data can be stored for access by a

controlled demographic. This helps to synchronize information and facilitate group work

between parties.

30
The benefit of having a corporate Intranet system is to help communication between

employees who will normally have no reason to meet or work on projects together. Intranets

allow for knowledge and idea sharing while also providing one reliable and secure way to

access the private information of the company that is needed. Intranets improve the ability of

a company to manage its information. It can also keep the distribution of documents

streamlined. Productivity is higher because the access to important information is improved

and cost reduction of printing and distributing information is likely.

Intranet enhances workforce productivity as it can help users to locate and view information

faster and use applications relevant to their roles and responsibilities. Users can access data

held in any database the organization wants to make available, anytime and from anywhere

within the company workstations, increasing employees' ability to perform their jobs faster,

more accurately, and with confidence that they have the right information. It also helps to

improve the services provided to the users.

The intranet also helps to save time. Intranets allow organizations to distribute information to

employees when needed. Employees may link to relevant information at their convenience,

rather than being distracted indiscriminately by electronic mail.

Intranets can serve as powerful tools for communication within an organization, vertically

and horizontally. From a communications standpoint, intranets are useful to communicate

strategic initiatives that have a global reach throughout the organization. The type of

31
information that can easily be conveyed is the purpose of the initiative and what the initiative

is aiming to achieve, who is driving the initiative, results achieved to date, and who to speak

to for more information.

 BLOGS

Blogs are journals that are read and maintained on the Internet. Although blogs are often used

for entertainment purposes, corporations now use blogs to facilitate dialogue and elicit

commentary from their customer base and potential targets. It is also a form of marketing

strategy for companies striving to position themselves as leaders in their sector. Topics may

be based on the latest market trends affecting a particular industry or best practices for users

of a particular product. Senior executives also update their employees using blogs by sharing

information that is relevant to various regions and departments, or by providing insight on

recent developments that impact their business.

A corporate weblog is published and used by an organization to reach its organizational

goals. The advantage of blogs is that posts and comments are easy to reach and follow due to

centralized hosting and generally structured conversation threads. There aremajorly two

types of blogs, internal blog and external blog.

An internal blog, generally accessed through the corporation's Intranet, is a weblog that any

employee can view. Many blogs are also communal, allowing anyone to post to them. The

informal nature of blogs may encourage employee participation, free discussion of issues,

32
 collective intelligence, direct communication between various layers of an organization, a

sense of community.

An external blog is a publicly available weblog where company employees, teams, or

spokespersons share their views. It is often used to announce new products and services (or

the end of old products), to explain and clarify policies, or to react on public criticism on

certain issues. It also allows a window to the company culture and is often treated more

informally than traditional press releases, though a corporate blog often tries to accomplish

similar goals as press releases do. In some corporate blogs, all posts go through a review

before they are posted. Some corporate blogs, but not all, allow comments to be made to the

posts.

2.6 THE AGENDA OF CORPORATE COMMUNICATION

In the introduction of the research study Is Corporate Communications A Strategic Function?

Management Decision, Richard R. Dolphin and Ying Fan state that

Over the past decade corporate communications has become

recognised as one of the most valued strategic tools; yet it is among

the most under-researched; as is the role of the director of corporate

communications. Is his role strategic, for instance? It is under

researched partly because, as Wright (1995) identified in American

research, there are only a small number of what he refers to as

communication executives in the US; they are busy individuals

33
 paid very large salaries and they are not noted for filling out

questionnaires or otherwise participating in academic research.

With respect to its definition, elements and history, the following can be extracted as the aims of

corporate communication:

 To get messages across to an organizations publics in a timely, effective and efficient

manner.

 To maintain smooth relationship with an organization’s stakeholders.

 To liaise between an organization and its publics.

All three of these objectives afore mentioned have the singular motive of boosting the reputation

of the organization. Establishing and sustaining the integrity and identity of an organization in

the eyes of every individual member of its publics is the agenda of corporate communication.

Andrea Agassi, a retired American professional tennis player, in his early 90s “Kodak”

commercial said, “Image is everything.” Corporate communication is designed to build the

prestige of an organization. The agenda of corporate communication is to help an organization to

maintain conspicuous and alluring images with its stakeholders, build a strong corporate brand

and develop reputation capital. To achieve those ends, all forms of communication must be

orchestrated into a coherent whole, and success criteria developed that enable measuring the

effects of the organization's communication on its reputation and value (Fombrun and van Riel,

2004).

Reputations are overall assessments of organizations by their stakeholders. They are aggregate

perceptions by stakeholders of an organization’s ability to fulfil their expectations, whether these

34
stakeholders are interested in buying the company's products, working for the company, or

investing in the company's shares. Corporate reputation is formed by the firm’s various publics

on the basis of information and experience.

It is obvious that most people are still unclear about the aim or function of corporate

communication because in the literature review of the same research work,

The role of the communications executive is still embryonic as an

established function (White and Mazur,1995). It is misunderstood in many

organisations. This makes the task less clear cut. Yet Moore et al (Quoted

by Kitchen, 1993) suggest that it is one of the most essential. Its importance

as an early warning system is beyond dispute (Lauzen,1995). However,

empirical research into the work of the director of communications is

painfully limited. Wright (1995) confirms this in producing his concept of

the communications executive. This suggests a dubitable role; and possible

equivocation about what one ought to be doing. Ambiguity is as possible a

source of anxiety and stress as being overloaded with work (Winner,1993).

Some practitioners consider that communicating presents the very least of

their problems (Simon, 1986). Jackson (1995) questions the role. There are

a variety of different descriptions given to essentially the same task.

Fombrum (1996) sees reputation as an element of considerable strategic value because it calls

attention to a company’s attractive features and widens the options available to its managers.

35
Internal communications is the “sleeping giant” of reputation management and is not yet

sufficiently well understood or strategically deployed within most companies and organisations.

Fombrun and Rindova (2000) emphasize in relation to this positioning process that it is

strategically important for firms to achieve alignment or ‘transparency’ between the corporate

identity (i.e. the image projected by the firm) and corporate reputation (i.e. the images held of the

firm by individuals and groups outside of it) which they consider as an ideal situation (in

comparison with a discrepancy between corporate identity and reputation).

2.7 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

Theories are explanations and predictions of social phenomenon that attempt to relate concepts

to various aspects of everyday life. For the topic under discussion, there is a need to refer to a

theory of relevance since it can explain and possibly predict the importance of the topic to aid

further understanding and most importantly show authenticity of the research.

Due to the similarity between public relations and corporate communication and in a bid to give

this study the needed theoretical supports, the theoretical framework that would be considered is

Grunig & Repper’s Model For The Strategic Management of Public Relations and the second

theory is the Stakeholder Theory.

36
2.7.1 GRUNIG & REPPER’S MODEL FOR THE STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT OF

PUBLIC RELATIONS

Strategic management is defined by Greene, Adam & Ebert (1985:536) as “a continuous process

of thinking through the current mission of the organisation, thinking through the current

environmental conditions, and then combining these elements by setting forth a guide for

tomorrow’s decisions and results”. Strategic management focuses on strategic decisions which

deal with the determination of strategy, provide the definition of the business and the general

relationship between the organisation and its environment.

According to Grunig and Repper (1992), stakeholders are broad categories of people who might

be affected by decisions of an organization and their decisions affect the organization, for

example, employees, consumers, investors, and community residents. Communicating with

stakeholders is important to build long-term relationships that an organization needs, especially

before unfavourable problems or issues occur. In this stage, stakeholders are passive; however,

they become publics as they are more aware or active on problems and issues.Grunig & Repper’s

model (in Grunig 1992:124-150) for the strategic management of public relations consists of

three stages: The stakeholder stage refers to the identification of strategic stakeholders through

environmental scanning and the need for ongoing communication with them. The publics stage

refers to the identification of groups/individuals who see the consequences of organisational

decisions as problematic, involving them in decision making. The issues stage deals with the

management of issues and the important role of the media therein. The author regards these as

stages in formulating corporate communication strategy, whereas stages four to seven

37
(objectives, planning, implementation and evaluation) refer to the operational level of corporate

communication.

With regards to developing effective corporate communication strategies in Nigerian private

higher institutions, institutions must first identify their stakeholders by reason of environmental

location. In Covenant University and Bells University, the stakeholders are people in the

university community i.e. staff and students. The university, according to this model should

identify their publics, i.e. people who have misgivings about decisions being made by the

management alone. These people may be students who complain about certain or staff who

grumble about welfare or other matters. In developing corporate communication strategy

according to Grunig and Repper’s model for the strategic management of public relations, these

groups of people should be incorporated into the decision making process of the institution. This

is necessary because by the time crises comes about in the issues stage, management of the issue

with the publics would become easy because most times they know “where the shoe pinches

most.” At this point, they decide what communication strategy would best handle the crisis.

In what can be seen as an elaboration of this model, Vercic & Grunig (in Moss, Vercic &

Warnaby 2000) describe corporate communication as being most effective when the

stakeholders/publics with whom they communicate are identified within a strategic management

framework and when the function is managed strategically at the departmental (functional) level.

Furthermore, it is their opinion that building symbolic relationships with stakeholders and

publics by means of communication programmes on the micro (implementation) level is not

sufficient for a contribution towards organisational effectiveness. To achieve the latter,

behavioural relationships must be built on the institutional (enterprise or macro) level. “The

38
institutional level obviously is the substance of public relations” (Vercic & Grunig, in Moss,

Vercic & Warnaby 2000:40).

In relation to the research topic, Vercic et al’s elaboration of this model holds that mere

communication between the management and staff and students of the institution is not enough

but a definition of staff and students of the university in accordance to the publics’ view of the

organization’s goals and mission statement is what is required to communicate effectively.

2.7.2 THE STAKEHOLDER THEORY

The traditional definition of a stakeholder is “any group or individual who can affect or is

affected by the achievement of the organization’s objectives” (Freeman, 2010). The stakeholder

theory is a theory of organizational management and business ethics that addresses morals and

values in managing an organization. It was originally detailed by R. Edward Freeman in the

book Strategic Management: A Stakeholder Approach, and identifies and models the groups

which are stakeholders of a corporation, and both describes and recommends methods by which

management can give due regard to the interests of those groups. In short, it attempts to address

the "Principle of Who or What Really Counts."

Stakeholder theory is the theory that it is possible for an organisation to promote the interests of

its shareholders without harming the interests of its other stakeholders such as its

employees, suppliers and the wider community. Stakeholders are identified by their interests and

all stakeholder interests are considered to be intrinsically valuable. Stakeholder theory is

39
managerial in that it recommends attitudes, structures, and practices and requires that

simultaneous attention be given to the interests of all legitimate stakeholders.

In relation to this study, we can see that the publics of these institutions are stakeholders and how

these institutions treat them goes a long way in determining how their attitudes and structures are

shaped. Based on this theory, it is very important to know that equal and simultaneous attention

be given to both staff and students of these universities.

40
 CHAPTER THREE
METHOD OF STUDY

3.1 STUDY DESIGN

This study “Corporate Communication Strategies In Nigerian Private Higher Institution: A

Comparative Study of Covenant University and The Bells University of Technology” was

carried out using the survey research method.

3.2 POPULATION OF STUDY

The population of this study are Covenant University students who are approximately 7,694, and

students of The Bells University who are approximately 2000. Also the staffs of the two

institutions form the population. The researcher chose to use this set of people as the population

for this study due to the fact that they are the people who are immediately affected by the

decisions the university makes.

The two universities were chosen due to the popularity they enjoy by reason of their proprietors

and also the fact that they are relatively close to each other in terms of geography. Also this is a

comparative study and the two universities have their differences; Covenant University is

missionary and The Bells University of Technology is secular.

41
3.3 SAMPLE SIZE

The sample size for this study was 250 respondents drawn from the total population of Covenant

University and Bells University students and staff and the interviewees from the Corporate and

Public Affairs Office of both universities. This selection was made due to the non feasibility of

studying the whole Covenant University and Bells University staff and students. The student

respondents from Covenant University were randomly selected from the two colleges in the

university namely College of Development Studies (CDS) and College of Science and

Technology (CST) while the student respondents from The Bells University were also randomly

selected from the College of Environmental Sciences and the College of Management Sciences.

The staff of both institutions were also randomly selected from the academic angles. The

researcher chose to use the above number of respondents as sample size for an efficient

management of questionnaire analysis and presentation in order to avoid any form of error and

ensure its validity.

3.4 SAMPLING TECHNIQUE

The sampling technique adopted in this research is the random sampling where each member of

the population has an equal and known chance of being selected. The two colleges in Covenant

University, CDS and CST are made up of 3 schools each hence a total of 6 schools. In order to

have an unbiased pick, the simple random sampling technique was used in selecting the schools

to be used. The names of the schools were written on pieces of paper, folded and put into a bowl

where they were shuffled before a pick was made and the researcher arrived at the School of

42
Human Resource Development for CDS and the School of Engineering was picked for CST.

Those picked were deemed to have been selected for the study.

The simple random sampling technique was also used to select Departments within the Schools.

The School of Human Resource Development (SHRD) has four Departments. The four

Departments were again written on pieces of paper, folded and placed in a bowl for a pick.

Through this process, Mass Communication, which is one of the Departments in the School was

selected. The School of Environmental Sciences has three Departments namely Architecture,

Building Technology and Estate Management. Using the drawing method, the names of the

Departments have been written on pieces of paper and placed in a basket, Estate Management

was selected.

The respondents (300 and 400 level students from the selected Departments) were then randomly

selected. The researcher and her trained assistants went to the classrooms 5 minutes before the

end of each lecture and distributed 25 copies of the questionnaire each for 300 and 400 levels.

This amounted to 50 for Mass Communication and 50 for Estate Management students.

Based on this population, the researcher went ahead to use the same departments in Bells

University but with the absence of the department of Mass Communication, the department of

Marketing was randomly chosen to replace it.

For the selection of staff, academic staff were used in both institutions. The simple random

sampling technique was also used to select Departments within the university. The researcher

randomly selected 25 lecturers from the School of Human Resource Development. At the Bells

University, the researcher randomly selected 25 lecturers from the College of Management

Science.

43
3.5 INSTRUMENT OF DATA COLLECTION
The survey research method was used. For the study, a questionnaire was issued to a selected
sample from the population of Covenant University and Bells University students and a separate
questionnaire for the staff of both institutions. The questionnaire had both open-ended and close-
ended questions that contained background information.

The second research instrument, the interview schedule was utilized to obtain the estimation of
the Public and Corporate Affairs Office of Covenant and Bells Universities in the area of
handling dissemination of information and also in boosting corporate identity. This particular
instrument is particularly suitable because there is consent by the respondent and the researcher
has an advantage which involves setting the agenda for the discussion.

Both the questionnaire and the interview schedule were personally generated by the researcher in

line with the statement of the problem, research objectives, questions and hypothesis that were

identified at the beginning of the study.

3.6 RELIABILITY AND VALIDITY OF THE INSTRUMENTS

Reliability and validity are vital issues in variable evaluation. Thus the questionnaire is always

evaluated to determine if they are valid and suitable measures to the concepts being questioned.

Validity in this study therefore necessitated a meticulous examination of the items in the

questionnaire as well as an examination of their correspondence with the theoretical literature on

consumption. On the other hand, reliability has to do with the consistency of a variable so this

study will be valid if the measure seems to identify what it claims and reliable if the measure

endures various reliable tests.

To check for consistency of responses and to ensure that the objectives of the study were met, a

pre-test of the questionnaire was carried out and the results led to the major amendments in the

44
questionnaire items. My supervisor also went through the entire instruments to ensure that the

major issues were adequately covered. This gave the instruments face validity or credibility.

3.7 METHODS OF DATA PRESENTATION

The data gathered from the fieldwork were arranged, tabulated and presented to show

meaningful and scholarly interpretation and analysis. Tables were used to present data as they

help in highlighting the connection between two or more variables and in showing the important

quality of a particular social or economic indicator.

The summary of the data collected in the field were thoroughly evaluated using the knowledge of

appropriate data analysis techniques.

3.8 METHOD OF DATA ANALYSIS

Data analysis involves compressing large data into smaller and simpler bits of data through the

use of frequency tables and percentages that will be easily explainable to anyone who comes in

contact with the work. In order to achieve this, the following will be used, percentages, standard

deviation which will be used to assess the degree of dispersion of the values around its mean and

also to find probabilities of events occurring in a given; chi square which will be used to test

hypothesis, and also correlation.

Also the interview was analysed qualitatively.

45
 CHAPTER FOUR

RESULTS

4.1 DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS

A sample size of 250 respondents was selected for this study and a total of 250 copies of

questionnaire were distributed among this sample size. In Covenant University 100 copies of

questionnaire were distributed to 300 and 400 level students and 25 copies to lecturers and the

same was done in Bells University of Technology. Out of the 250 copies of questionnaire

distributed, 219 were returned; 112 from Covenant University (87 from students and 25 from

staff) and 107 from Bells University (83 from students and 24 from staff). This resulted in a high

response rate of 88% and a mortality rate of 12%.

Taking a look at the demographics, beginning with the gender distribution of the student

respondents at Covenant University, there were 34 males and 53 females which amounted to

39.1% and which amounted to 60.9% while at Bells University, there were 36 males which

amounted to 43% and 47 females which amounted to 57%. As for staff, Covenant University had

18 males which amounted to 72% and 7 females which amounted to 28%while Bells had 17

males which amounted to 68% and 7 females which amounted to 32%.

46
 TABLE 4.1

DISTRIBUTION OF RESPONDENTS AWARENESS OF CORPORATE

COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES IN BOTH UNIVERSITIES

DISTRIBUTION COVENANT UNIVERSITY BELLS UNIVERSITY

VARIABLES STUDENTS STAFF (%) STUDENTS STAFF (%)

(%) (%)

YES 74.7 88 54.2 91.6

NO 25.3 12 45.8 8.4

TOTAL 100 100 100 100

n= 87 25 83 24

From the above table, we can see that 74.7% of the student respondents in Covenant University

are aware of the university’s corporate communication strategies while 25.3% are not aware. As

for the staff respondents, 88% are aware of these strategies while 12% are not. This shows that a

greater population of Covenant University are aware of the school’s corporate communication

strategies. In Bells University 54.2% of the student respondents are aware of the university’s

corporate communication strategies while 45.8% are not aware. As for the staff respondents,

91.6% are aware of these strategies while 8.4% are not. This shows that more people are aware

of the school’s corporate communication strategies.

47
The above table show that a greater percentage of the respondents are aware of their institutions’

corporate communication strategies because a total of 70.3% of the respondents are aware while

the remaining 29.7% are not aware.

TABLE 4.2

DISTRIBUTION OF RESPONDENTS RESPONSE TO THEIR UNIVERSITIES’ MEANS

OF COMMUNICATING WITH ITS PUBLICS

DISTRIBUTION COVENANT UNIVERSITY BELLS UNIVERSITY

VARIABLES STUDENTS (%) STAFF (%) STUDENTS STAFF (%)

(%)

E-MAIL 19.5 0 0 0

TELEPHONE 10.3 0 10.8 0

TEXT MESSAGE 12.6 100 0 12.5

FACE-TO-FACE 29.9 0 0 0

MEMO 3.4 0 74.7 87.5

BULLETIN 24.1 0 14.5 0

OTHERS 0 0 0 0

TOTAL 100 100 100 100

n= 87 25 83 24

The above table shows that among Covenant University students, 19.5% receive information

from the management via e-mails, 10.3% are communicated to through telephones, 12.6%

48
receive text messages from the school. 29.9% of them attest to the fact that Covenant University

engages them in face-to face communication, 3.4% say memo while the remaining 24.1% chose

bulletin. All the staff respondents, i.e., 100% selected text messages. Also from the above table,

we can see that among Bells University students, 10.8% are communicated to through

telephones, 62% say memo while the remaining 14.5% chose bulletin. As for the staff

respondents in Bells, 12.5% say they are informed via text messages while the remaining 87.5%

selected memo.

TABLE 4.3

DISTRIBUTION OF RESPONDENTS’ AWARENESS OF THE AFFAIRS OF THEIR

UNIVERSITIES

DISTRIBUTION COVENANT UNIVERSITY BELLS UNIVERSITY

VARIABLES STUDENTS (%) SATFF (%) STUDENTS(%) STAFF (%)

VERY AWARE 17.2 0 6.0 0

CONSIDERABLY 56.3 88 42.2 70.8

AWARE

SLIGHTLY 17.2 12 39.8 29.2

AWARE

NOT AWARE 9.2 0 0 0

TOTAL 100 100 100 100

n= 87 25 83 24

49
From the above table, we can see that among Covenant University student respondents, 17.2%

attest that they are very aware, 56.3% say they are considerably aware, 17.2% say they are

slightly aware and 9.2% say they are not aware. Among Covenant University staff, 88% confirm

they are considerably aware while the remaining 12% indicate they are slightly aware. Among

Bells University student respondents, 6% claim to be very aware, 42.2% attest that they are

considerably aware, 39.8% say they are slightly aware and 12.0% say they are not aware. Among

Bells University staff, 70.8% confirm they are considerably aware while the remaining 29.2%

say they are slightly aware.

One of the objectives of this research study is to determine the level to which the internal publics

of Covenant University and Bells University are aware of the activities at the institution. From

the above tables we can see that a greater percentage of the respondents are considerably aware

of the affairs of their institutions.

TABLE 4.4

DISTRIBUTION OF RESPONDENTS’ RESPONSE TO WHETHER THEIR

UNIVERSITIES DISCUSS ANY PLANS WITH THEM BEFORE IMPLEMENTATION

DISTRIBUTION COVENANT UNIVERSITY BELLS UNIVERSITY

VARIABLES STUDENTS STAFF (%) STUDENTS STAFF (%)

(%) (%)

YES 9.2 48.0 39.8 41.7

NO 90.8 52.0 60.2 58.3

TOTAL 100 100

50 100 100

n= 87 25 83 24
From the above table, 90.8% of Covenant University student respondents are not involved in any

form of discussion of plans with their school’s management before such are implemented. 52%

of the staff respondents are also not engaged in any discussion. The data from the above table

also shows that at the Bells University, 60.2% of the student respondents are not engaged in any

form of discussion of plans before implementation while 58.3% of the staff respondents are also

not engaged in any such discussion.

4.1.1 ANALYSIS OF RESEARCH QUESTIONS

RESEARCH QUESTION 1: What are the corporate communication strategies already in

existence in Covenant University and Bells University?

Information got from the interview sessions with the Public Affairs personnel of both institutions

would be used to answer this question.

FIG 4.1

EXISTING CORPORATE COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES IN COVENANT AND

BELLS UNIVERSITIES

CORPORATE COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES IN BOTH

UNIVERSITIES
51
 COVENANT UNIVERSITY BELLS UNIVERSITY

MEMO MEMO

TEXT TEXT
MESSAGES MESSAGES

BULLETIN BULLETIN

FACE-TO-FACE FACE-TO-FACE

E-MAIL

The figure above shows the common corporate communication strategies already in place in both

Covenant and Bells Universities. The e-mail is another strategy but it is only used in Covenant

University.

52
RESEARCH QUESTION 2: What differences (if any) exist between the corporate

communication strategies of Covenant and Bells Universities?

Since this is a comparative study, this question was asked so as to know if both schools have

different ways of running their communication system. In answering this question, items 4, 13,

16 and 18 from the questionnaire were used.

TABLE 4.5

RESPONDENTS RESPONSE TO THE REGULARITY IN COMMUNICATION BY

MANAGEMENT OF THE UNIVERSITIES

53
 DISTRIBUTION COVENANT UNIVERSITY BELLS UNIVERSITY

VARIABLES STUDENTS STAFF(%) Student (%) STAFF (%)

(%)

ONCE A WEEK 36.8 8 37.3 83.3

MORE THAN 36.8 32 3.6 0

ONCE A WEEK

ONCE EVERY 5.7 0 30.1 12.5

TWO WEEKS

ONCE A 0 0 27.7 4.2

MONTH

MORE 20.7 60 1 0

REGULARLY

THAN

MENTIONED

TOTAL 100 100 100 100

n= 87 25 25 24

The table above shows how regularly these institutions communicate with their internal publics.

In Covenant University, 36.8% of the student respondents say once a week, another 36.8% say

more than once a week, 5.7% say once every two weeks and 20.7% say more regularly than any

of the options mentioned. Among the staff, 8% selected once a week, 32% selected more than

once a week and the remaining 60% said more regularly than the options mentioned. From the

above table also, we can see that at Bells University, 37.3% of the student respondents selected

once a week, 3.6% went for more than once week, 30.1% went for once every two weeks 27.7%

chose once a month and 1% went for more regularly than any of the options mentioned. As for

54
the staff, 83.3% selected once a week, 12.5 selected once every two weeks and the remaining

4.2% went for once a month.

TABLE 4.6

RESPONDENTS’ RESPONSE TO HOW EFFECTIVELY THEIR UNIVERSITIES

COMMUNICATES CRISES ISSUES WITH THEM.

DISTRIBUTION COVENANT UNIVERSITY BELLS UNIVERSITY

VARIABLES STUDENTS STAFF (%) STUDENTS STAFF (%)

(%) (%)

STRONGLY 2.3 0 0 0

AGREE

AGREE 16.1 32 1.2 29.2

UNDECIDED 13.8 0 3.6 12.5

DISAGREE 26.4 68 49.4 58.3

STRONGLY 41.4 0 45.8 0

DISAGREE

TOTAL 100 100 100 100

n= 87 25 83 24

In the table above, 2.3% of Covenant University student respondents strongly agreed that the

school effectively communicates crises issues with them, 16.1% agreed to this, 13.8% were

undecided, 26.4% disagreed and 41.4% strongly disagreed. In the case of staff, 32% agree that

the school effectively communicates crises issues with them while 68% disagrees. From the table

55
above, 1.2% of Bells University student respondents agree that the university effectively

communicates crises issues with them, 3.6% were undecided, 49.4% disagreed and 45.8%

strongly disagreed. In the case of the staff, 29.2% agreed to this, 12.5 were undecided while the

remaining 58.3% strongly disagreed.

TABLE 4.7

RESPONDENTS’ RESPONSES TO WHETHER RUMOURS ARE WELL

CIRCULATED BEFORE MANAGEMNENT STEPS IN

DISTRIBUTION COVENANT UNIVERSITY BELLS UNIVERSITY

VARIABLES STUDENTS STAFF (%) STUDENTS STAFF (%)

(%)

STRONGLY 71.3 0 1.2 0

AGREE

AGREE 21.8 32.0 37.3 16.7

UNDECIDED 4.6 32.0 0 37.5

DISAGREE 1.1 36.0 61.4 45.8

STRONGLY 1.1 0 0 0

DISAGREE

TOTAL 100 100 100 100

n= 87 25 83 24

From the table above, 71.3% of Covenant University student respondents strongly agree that

rumours are well circulated before management steps in while 36% of the staff disagree with this

56
claim. The above table shows that in Bells University, 61.4% of the student respondents

disagreed with the fact that rumours are well circulated before management steps in while 45.8%

of the staff respondents disagreed as well.

TABLE 4.8

RESPONDENTS’ RESPONSE TO WHETHER THEY ARE GIVEN CHANCES TO

EXPRESS THEIR OPINIONS AND CONCERNS

DISTRIBUTION COVENANT UNIVERSITY BELLS UNIVERSITY

VARIABLES STUDENTS STAFF (%) STUDENTS STAFF (%)

(%)

STRONGLY 4.6 0 24.1 45.8

AGREE

AGREE 4.6 52.0 54.2 20.8

UNDECIDED 11.5 0 0 12.5

DISAGREE 23.0 48.0 14.5 20.8

STRONGLY 56.3 0 7.2 0

DISAGREE

TOTAL 100 100 100 100

n= 87 25 83 24

57
In the table above 56.3% of the student respondents at Covenant University strongly disagree to

the fact that they are given a chance to express their opinions and concerns while 52% of the

staff respondents agree to the fact. In the table above, 54.2% of student respondents at Bells

University agree that they are given an opportunity to express their opinions and concerns while

45.8% of the staff strongly agreed that they are given a chance to do such.

RESEARCH QUESTION 3: Do the internal publics of Covenant University and Bells

University identify with the corporate communication strategies of the universities?

TABLE 4.9
RESPONDENTS RESPONSE TO WHETHER THEY FEEL BAD WHEN BAD THINGS
ARE SAID ABOUT THEIR UNIVERSITY
DISTRIBUTION COVENANT UNIVERSITY BELLS UNIVERSITY

VARIABLES STUDENTS STAFF (%) STUDENTS STAFF (%)

(%)

STRONGLY 11.5 0 0 4.2

AGREE

AGREE 34.5 64.0 51.8 37.5

UNDECIDED 14.9 0 22.9 29.2

DISAGREE 18.4 36.0 22.9 29.2

STRONGLY 20.7 0 2.4 0

DISAGREE

TOTAL 100 100 100 100

n= 87 25 83 24

58
In the above table, we can see that only 11.5% of the student respondents at Covenant University

strongly agree that they feel bad when people say bad things about their school while 64% of the

staff agreed they feel bad. The table above shows that 51.8% of Bells University student

respondents agree that they feel bad when people say bad things about their university while

37.5% of the staff also agreed that they feel bad.

TABLE 4.10

RESPONDENTS RESPONSE TO WHETHER THEY MAKE DELIBERATE

ATTEMPTS TO EXPLAIN THE ACTIVITIES OF THEIR UNIVERSITIES TO PEOPLE

DISTRIBUTION COVENANT UNIVERSITY BELLS UNIVERSITY

VARIABLES STUDENTS STAFF (%) STUDENTS STAFF (%)

(%)

STRONGLY 11.5 0 0 4.2

AGREE

AGREE 34.5 64.0 47.0 45.8

UNDECIDED 14.9 0 28.9 20.8

DISAGREE 18.4 36.0 21.7 29.2

STRONGLY 20.7 0 2.4 0

DISAGREE

TOTAL 100 100 100 100

n= 87 25 83 24

59
The above table shows that 34.5% of the student respondents would agree to make deliberate

attempts to explain the activities of Covenant University and 64% of the staff respondents would

also agree to do same. From the above table, 47% of the student respondents would agree to

make deliberate attempts to explain the activities of Bells University and 45.8% of the staff

respondents would also agree to do same.

RESEARCH QUESTION 4: How has the existing corporate communication strategies

helped in projecting the image of the institutions?

TABLE 4.11

RESPONDENTS’ RESPONSES OF WHETHER CORPORATE COMMUNICATION

STRATEGIES HAVE HELPED IN THE PROMOTION OF THE UNIVERSITIES’

IMAGE

DISTRIBUTION COVENANT UNIVERSITY BELLS UNIVERSITY

VARIABLES STUDENTS STAFF (%) STUDENTS STAFF(%)

(%) (%)

YES 63.2 96 62.7 87.5

NO 36.8 4 37.3 12.5

TOTAL 100 100 100 100

n= 87 25 83 24

60
From the table above, 63.2% of Covenant University respondents are of the opinion that the

school’s corporate communication strategies have helped in promoting the image of the school

and also 96% of the staff also agrees. In the table above, 62.7% of Bells University respondents

attest to the fact that the corporate communication strategies of their school has promoted the

image of their school while 87.5% of the staff also attest to this.

RESEARCH QUESTION 5: What is the internal publics’ perception of the corporate

image of Covenant University and Bells University?

61
 FIG 4.2a

GENERAL SATISFACTION WITH THE CORPORATE COMMUNICATION

PERFORMANCE OF COVENANT UNIVERSITY

40

30
Freq
uen
cy
20

10

0
SA A U D SD

GENERAL SATISFACTION WITH THE CORPORATE COMMUNICATION

PERFORMANCE OF COVENANT UNIVERSITY

From the above bar chart, 33.9% of Covenant University internal publics strongly disagreed that

they are satisfied with the corporate communication performance of Covenant University, 16.1%

disagreed, 28.6% were undecided, 17.0% agreed they were satisfied while 4.5% strongly agreed.

62
 FIG 4.2b

GENERAL SATISFACTION WITH THE CORPORATE COMMUNICATION PERFORMANCE OF BELLS UNIVER

60

50

Freq
40
uen
cy
30

20

10

0
SA A U D SD
GENERAL SATISFACTION WITH THE CORPORATE COMMUNICATION
PERFORMANCE OF THE UNIVERSITY

From the above bar chart, 18.7% of Bells University internal publics strongly disagreed that they

are satisfied with the corporate communication performance of Bells University, 51.4%

disagreed, 4.7% were undecided, 21.5% agreed they were satisfied while 3.7% strongly agreed.

63
 TABLE 4.12

AWARENESS OF UNIVERSITIES’ SHORT-TERM, MID-TERM AND LONG-TERM

GOALS

DISTRIBUTION COVENANT UNIVERSITY BELLS UNIVERSITY

VARIABLES STUDENTS STAFF (%) STUDENTS STAFF (%)

(%) (%)

STRONGLY 8.0 36.0 0 25.0

AGREE

AGREE 28.7 44.0 21.7 41.7

UNDECIDED 23.0 20.0 7.2 20.8

DISAGREE 17.2 0 62.7 12.5

STRONGLY 23.0 0 8.4 0

DISAGREE

TOTAL 100 100 100 100

n= 87 25 83 24

From the above table, we can see that a total of 36.7% of the student respondents and 80% of

staff respondents of Covenant University are aware of the University’s goals. Among Bells

University respondents, 21.7% of the student respondents and 66.7% of the staff respondents are

aware of the university goals.

64
4.2 DISCUSSION

RESEARCH QUESTION 1: What are the corporate communication strategies already in

existence in Covenant University and Bells University?

In Fig 4.1, the various strategies already existing in Covenant and Bells University are presented

and these strategies were got from the interview sessions with the Mr. Emmanuel Igban, the

Head of Corporate and Public Affairs, Covenant University and also Mr. Hakeem Adeyemi, the

Information and Public Relations Officer, The Bells University of Technology.

According to Mr. Igban of Covenant University, “when students are going home for any break,

we provide them with the Information Bulletin that informs them about the past events and

upcoming events and they are to take this home to their parents as well so that they are equally

informed.” He also mentioned that they communicate with their staff using memos and text

messages.

Mr. Adeyemi of Bells University says that memos and bulletins for students are pasted around in

strategic locations so that no information passes them by while staff are communicated to using

memos as well as text messages.

The two universities have similar corporate communication strategies but as Drucker (1954)

says, strategy is an indication of an organisation’s positioning for the future, deciding what

should be done rather than how it should be done that is why the subsequent research questions’

discussion would be focusing on how these institutions have decided what should be done with

these strategies.

65
RESEARCH QUESTION 2: What differences (if any) exist between the corporate

communication strategies of Covenant and Bells Universities?

Tables 4.5, 4.6, 4.7 and 4.9 show the differences in the various ways of running corporate

communication strategies in both institutions. Table 4.5 shows the regularity in communication

by management in both universities. In the table, 36.8% of Covenant University student

respondents claim management communicates with them once a week and another 36.8% more

than once a week while 60% of the staff claim that management communicates with them more

regularly than any of the options mentioned. On the other hand, 37.3% of Bells University

student respondents say that management communicates with them once a week and 3.6% once a

week while 83% staff respondents of Bells University selected once a week. With the strategies

these universities have on ground, it is not so surprising to note that they communicate regularly

with their publics.

Tables4.6 shows how effectively each institution communicates crises issues with their publics.

In Covenant University, 41.4% of the student respondents strongly disagreed with the claim that

their institution communicates crises issues with them effectively while 68% of the staff

disagreed. In Bells University, 49.4% of the student respondents disagreed with this statement

and 58.3% of their staff disagreed as well. In Grunig and Repper’s Model for the Strategic

Management of Public Relations, the issues stage deals with the management of issues and the

important role of the media therein. Grunig and Repper also stated that communicating with

stakeholders is important to build long-term relationships that an organization needs, especially

before unfavourable problems or issues occur. Although it is very important that crises issues be
66
managed strategically, these two institutions have failed in achieving this although 32% of

Covenant University staff respondents and 29.2% of Bells University staff respondents agree that

the school effectively communicates crises issues with them. This could mean that greater

priority is given to staff than students.

Table 4.7 shows how far rumours circulate in Covenant and Bells University before the

management takes any action. From the perspective of students, 62% of Covenant University

students strongly agree that rumours are well circulated before management steps in while 61.4%

of Bells University students disagree with this. From the perspective of staff, 36.0% of Covenant

University staff respondents disagree with this acclamation that rumours are well circulated in

the institution before management steps in to take an action while 45.8% of Bells University staff

disagree as well. In the interview sessions with the public affairs personnel of both institutions,

both personnel stated that their corporate communication strategies have been very effective in

communicating with the internal publics but from the responses from the respondents, we can

see that their communication skills have not been that effective since rumours can still pervade

both schools long before management clears the air.

Table 4.8 show the level to which the internal publics of Covenant and Bells Universities are

allowed to share their opinions and concerns. 56.3% of student respondents at Covenant

University strongly disagree that they are given a chance to air their opinions and views. While

48% of the staff respondents of Covenant University disagree, 52% agree that they are given

such privileges. 54.2% of student respondents at Bells University agree that they are allowed to

share their opinions and concerns and also 45.8% of the staff respondents strongly agree that

67
they are allowed to share their opinions and concerns. The statistics from Bells affirms what Mr.

Hakeem Adeyemi said. According to him,

One major way we get feedbacks is through the forums we have

once a semester with the entire management, staff and students of

the school where people share whatever they have with us. Whether

they don’t like how things are being done or anything at all, they

can tell us during this forum.

The harmony between the responses of the publics of Bells and that of Mr. Adeyemi is in

consonance with Oliver (1997) who says that “Any two-way communication system must be

empowered to sense what is going on, to code data in a usable form, to physically process

feedback and opinion, to regulate and control output and measurement of productivity, to store

and retrieve information, and to inform policy and corporate goals at any point in the process.”

When asked if feedbacks were got from their internal publics, Mr. Igban said,

We harvest a lot of feedback. I would like to appreciate

management because in the recent past, management has created

avenues for getting feedback from students by organizing forums

for the students. On our own, when we interact with the students on

an informal level, we use it as part of our survey and research to

get feedbacks and then relay it to the offices or departments in

charge. Also, we have a department known as Protocol that meets

with new staff and also guests of the university and we provide

68
 them with pamphlets about the school and meet them on a regular

basis to find out what they think about the university and if they are

encountering any problems.

This is contradicting the data gathered which posits that a total of 83% of the internal publics of

Covenant University are not given a chance to express their opinions and concerns.

The preceding discourse has answered the researcher’s questions that differences exist between

the two institutions and those differences are firstly, Covenant University management

communicates more regularly with its publics than Bells University. Secondly, although none of

the institutions communicate crises issues effectively, Bells maybe seen as doing the job better

and this statement is gleaned from the comparison in respondents responses from both schools.

The third difference we can draw is that Bells University may have better strategies in

communicating crises issues effectively with their staff and students unlike Covenant University.

The fourth difference between the corporate communication strategies of Covenant and Bells

Universities is that unlike Covenant University, Bells University creates a better opportunity for

their publics to share their opinions and concerns.

69
RESEARCH QUESTION 3: Do the internal publics of Covenant University and Bells

University identify with the corporate communication strategies of the universities?

In answering this question, items 9 and 10 from the questionnaire were chosen because they

would help to best determine if the publics of these institutions relate with these strategies and if

they see themselves as part of the schools because of these strategies.

Table 4.9 shows that 46% of the student respondents at Covenant University feel bad when

people say bad things about their university while 64% of the staff respondents also feel bad.

39.1% of the student respondents don’t feel bad while 36% of the staff respondents don’t also

feel bad. In table Bells University, 51.8% of the student respondents feel bad when bad things

are said about their university and a total of 41.7% of the staff respondents have the same

feeling. In contrast, 25.3% of the students do not feel bad when bad things are said about their

university and an accompanying percentage of 29.2 of the staff respondents do not feel bad either

when bad things are said about their university.

In Table 4.10, a total of 46% of Covenant University student respondents would agree to make

deliberate attempts in explaining the activities of their school and so also would 64% of the staff

respondents. On the other hand, 39.1% of the student respondents would not make an attempt to

explain activities of their school to people. 36% of the staff respondents and 14.9% of the student

respondents were undecided. A total of 47% of Bells University student respondents would agree

to make deliberate attempts in explaining the activities of their school and so also would 50% of

the staff respondents. On the other hand, 24.1% of the student respondents and 29.2% of the staff

respondents would not make an attempt to explain activities of their school to people. 20.8% of

the staff respondents and 28.9% of the student respondents were undecided.
70
From the above discourse, we can see that a good number of the respondents can identify with

the corporate communication strategies of their schools and this in turn makes them hold the

corporate image of their institutions very high and that is why they are affected when bad things

are said about their institutions and would also make a deliberate attempt to iron out issues about

their universities with other people.

RESEARCH QUESTION 4: How has the existing corporate communication strategies

helped in projecting the image of the institutions?

In determining whether the existing corporate communication strategies have helped in

projecting the image of the institutions, tables 4.11would be used. In tables 4.11, 63.2% of

Covenant University student respondents said it the strategies had helped in projecting the image

of the institution while 36.8% did not think so. The staff of Covenant University believes that the

existing corporate communication strategies have helped in projecting the image of the

institution because 96% said yes and 4% said no. Likewise, Bells University had a similar result

as 62.7% of the student respondents answered in the affirmative and 87.5% of the staff

respondent also agreed. From the above, it is obvious that the existing corporate communication

strategies of both institutions have been helpful in boosting the image of the institutions.

Also in the interview with Mr. Emmanuel Igban, Head of Corporate and Public Affairs,

Covenant University, he said the existing corporate communication strategies of the university

have been very potent. According to him, the strategies which have been used overtime have

been proactive. He also stated that they carry out a kind of survey, interact with the university

71
public, know their thinking and know how they can promote the university and have positive

results. He also said that the strategies have been effective because it has helped them attract and

maintain a good relationship with the media and this would in turn put them in a good light.

In the interview with Mr. Adeyemi, the Information and Public Relations Officer at Bells

University of Technology says that the corporate communication strategies of Bells University

have been quite effective because their students and staff and even parents of the students are

aware of what is being done because these strategies are used to inform them. Also the strategies

have been effective for them because it helps them reach a wider coverage of the university per

time.

RESEARCH QUESTION 5: What is the internal publics’ perception of the corporate

image of Covenant University and Bells University?

In answering this research question, item 22 was used from the questionnaire. In fig 4.2a, 33.9%

of Covenant University internal publics strongly disagreed that they are satisfied with the

corporate communication performance of Covenant University, 16.1% disagreed, 28.6% were

undecided, 17.0% agreed they were satisfied while 4.5% strongly agreed. In fig 4.2b, 18.7% of

Bells University internal publics strongly disagreed that they are satisfied with the corporate

communication performance of Bells University, 51.4% disagreed, 4.7% were undecided, 21.5%

agreed they were satisfied while 3.7% strongly agreed.

72
The general satisfaction the respondents have with the overall corporate communication strategy

of their individual universities would translate into how they perceive the corporate image of

their universities. The statistics above show that a greater percentage of the internal publics are

not satisfied with the corporate communication performance of their schools and this lack of

satisfaction means that they are also not satisfied with the corporate image of their schools.

Table4.12 shows the level to which the respondents are aware of their institutions goals. 40.2%

of the respondents from Covenant University are not aware of the school’s short-term, mid-term

and long-term goals while at Bells University, a total of 71.1% of the student respondents are not

aware of their university goals and 12.5% of the staff respondents are not aware as well.

According to Goodman (2000) and Yamauchi (2001), with clear statements of what the

corporation stands for, its goals and its practices will create the positive image in the mind of

internal and external publics. Based on Goodman and Yamauchi’s findings, if these people do

not aware of what their schools stand for and do not have a clear picture of their institutions’

short-term, mid-term and long-term goals then they have a negative perception of their schools.

73
 CHAPTER FIVE

CONCLUSION

5.1 SUMMARY

This research study is titled ‘A Comparative Study of Corporate Communication Strategies In

Covenant University and Bells University of Technology.’ The study focused on assessing the

corporate communication strategies of the two universities.

Chapter one began with a background of the research topic, an introduction to Covenant and

Bells universities. Statement of the problem, research objectives, research questions, significance

of the study as well as limitation of the study are other areas that were discussed in the first

chapter.

Chapter two gave a review of relevant literature by various scholars who have worked in areas

relating to this study. Some of the topics include the evolution of corporate communication, the

elements of corporate communication, corporate communication management, corporate

communication strategies and the agenda of corporate communication. Two theories were used

here, one was the Grunig and Repper’s Model for the Strategic Management of public Relation

and also Stakeholders’ Theory.

74
Chapter three focused on the procedure for data collection and analysis. It looked at the study

design, the population, sample size, the technique used in selecting the sample, and the

instrument for collecting data gathered from the field and also at the viability of the data

collected.

In chapter four, all data gathered during the course and for the cause of this study were presented

for easy and meaningful analysis and interpretation. All data retrieved from the field were

presented in tables and diagrams.

5.2 CONCLUSION

There is no doubt that an institution cannot exist without people that is why it has publics,

external and internal. How an institution treats its publics goes a long way to determine how

much of its publics would remain. One major way that an organization or institution can attract

and sustain people is through effective corporate communication.

In evaluating this study, it was obvious that the management of both schools have similar

strategies that are put in place for communicating with their publics but yet they get different

results. In this comparative study, it is seen that the way the management of both schools

communicate with their staff is different from the way they communicate with their students. It

was noticed that more attention is given more to the staff than students, i.e. the staff are favoured

more than the students.

75
It was discovered that in comparing how regularly each school communicates with its publics

that The Bells University of Technology communicates less regularly with its publics but keeps

its students more informed than in Covenant University where rumours are allowed to proliferate

the community long before management steps in to take an action.

Though both interviewees mentioned quite a number of the various corporate communication

strategies they use in their university, just a few were selected by respondents as means by which

the management communicates with them, for instance in Covenant University all the staff

selected text messages. This signifies that though there may be many strategies, these schools

have stuck to just a particular few.

5.3 RECOMMENDATIONS

There should be a change in the way the students are being handled in Bells and Covenant

University. The students should be handled well in terms of how much informed they are about

the happenings in their schools. This can only be achieved if the management can define the

strategic place of students in running a university.

Covenant University should see the need to keep their publics well informed and should also be

willing to give out information rather than leave rumours to permeate the community. They

should pay more attention to the staff than students rather they should treat both parties with

uniformed interest.

76
Both institutions should ensure that their communication strategies are effective enough to make

their publics feel important so that the publics would always see a need to promote the image of

their institutions.

Bells University should communicate more regularly with its publics and since it is a

technological institute, it should be at the forefront of ICT (Information Communication

Technology) which would enable efficient and effective communication.

Covenant University should communicate more of progress reports to its publics so that they can

be tuned in to whatever may be happening in school per time.

Both institution should not fail in informing their publics about what they stand for, their

mission, vision and goals as this would help in moulding their positive perception of their

institutions.

5.4 SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER STUDIES

The discourse of corporate communication strategies cannot be exhausted in all its ramifications

in this particular research study therefore, there is a need for further research to be carried out in

other aspects such as:

77
1. The effectiveness of corporate communication strategies in federal and state owned

Nigerian private higher institutions.

2. Further study should be carried out in the new forms of technologically driven corporate

communication strategies.

3. There is a need to properly research on the strategic management of organizational

communication.

4. Further study can be carried out on the relationship between corporate communication

strategies and employee and stakeholder relations.

5. Further studies on public relations should be carried out in order to find out how to

establish and maintain mutual understanding between an organization and its publics with

the help of corporate communication strategies.

78
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Schmidt, K. (1995), The quest for iIdentity, London: Cassell.

van Riel, C.B.M. (1995), Principles of corporate communication. Hempstead: Prentice-Hall

van Riel, C.B.M. & Fombrun, C. (2007) Essentials of corporate communication, Abingdon:
Routledge.

JOURNALS
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Communication Quarterly, Vol. 10, No. 1, pp. 73-98.

Chaloner, N. (1990), Corporate communications: marketing dossier positive vibes, Marketing,

21 June, pp. 29–30.

Gray, E.R. and Balmer, J.M.T. (1998), Managing corporate image and corporate reputation,
Long Range Planning, Vol. 31, No. 5, pp. 695- 702.

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Grunig, J. E. (1984), Organizations, environments, and models of public relations, Public
Relations Research & Education, Vol. 1, No 1, pp.6-29.

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June, 31–33.

Moss, D., Warnaby, G. & Newman, A.J. (2000). Public relations practitioner role enactment at
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Nelissen, P. and van Selm, M. (2008), Surviving organizational change: how management
communication helps balance mixed feelings, Corporate Communications: An International
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Oliver, S. (1997), Corporate communication: principles, techniques and strategies. London:

Kogan Page Limited

Pincus, J.D., Robert, A.P.R., Rayfield, A.P.R. and DeBonis, J.N. (1991), Transforming CEOs
into chief communications officer, Public Relations Journal, November.

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approach. Boston: Pitman Journal, 15(3):286-296.

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Shelby, A.N. (1993), Organisational, business, management, and corporate communication: An

analysis of boundaries and relationships, Journal of Business Communication, Vol. 30 No. 3,
pp. 224-258.

Smeltzer, L., Glab, J., and Golen, S. (1983), Managerial communication: The merging of
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Yamauchi, K. (2001), Corporate communication: a powerful tool for stating corporate missions,

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 Corporate Communications: An International Journal, Vol. 6, No. 3, pp.131-136.

CONFEREENCE MATERIALS

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 APPENDIX I

INTERVIEW WITH MR. EMMANUEL IGBAN, THE HEAD OF CORPORATE AND

PUBLIC AFFAIRS, COVENANT UNIVERSITY

Do you communicate with your publics, that is, your internal publics?

Yes, our business is communication, we communicate. In fact, one of the greatest scholars that

ever lived led a team of scholars to research on human communication and they came out with a

finding that man cannot not communicate. So long as he is alive, man is always communicating.

For an institution to survive it needs communication and so the real essence of corporate and

publics affairs of Covenant University is to communicate so indeed we are the official image

builder and communication window of the university to both its internal and external publics.

We provide multiplicity of services to the members of the university community, communicating

with them to create goodwill among the internal publics.

So you are saying that the internal publics of the school are very much aware of the

happenings in the school?

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Yes, in fact we believe that charity begins at home. If we don’t carry the internal public along on

the happenings in the university, there is no way we can easily reach out to the external publics.

Because what we are doing inside has to be validated outside so we communicate.

Do you make use of any corporate communication strategies?

Yes, we are the ones who tell the story of the university to the staff and students of the

university. We tell them about the minds of management and the boards of regents. We correlate

the happenings from one end of the university and relate it to other wider spectrum of the

university. For instance, when students are going home for any break, we provide them with the

Information Bulletin that informs them about the past events and upcoming events and they are

to take this home to their parents as well so that they are equally informed.

Apart from the information bulletin mentioned, are there any other strategies that you

make use of?

We have a team made up of people from diverse backgrounds that bring up various ideas in

order to reach out to the internal public. We always meet in order to strategise on how to reach

out to the students and staff because we can’t reach out to the students the same way we reach

out to the staff. We have a monthly Covenant University Bulletin that comes in both hard and

soft copies. We also inform our staff using text messages. We have a database of all our staff

mobile numbers and during this past election, we decided to bring a voting centre closer home

85
and we mobilized the faculty and staff to go out and exercise their civic rights. We are also in

charge of the public address systems in the halls of residence of our students that are used to pass

out information. Also for our faculty and staff, we circulate memos and we train them to write

memos.

Sir, these strategies you mentioned, have they been effective? Like what have you been able

to achieve over the years using them?

Yes, I can say that the strategies we have been using have been very very effective, very very

potent. That Covenant University has become an institution to reckon with is as a result of our

activities, that we have been able to attract the best brains from within and outside the country is

because of our activities. We have our philosophy that we drew from the Scriptures which says

that no man lights a candle and puts it under a bushel rather he puts it on a lamp stand that it may

give light so we believe that we must put Covenant University on a lamp stand so it can glow.

We have also been able to attract and maintain a wonderful relationship with the media because

the media is a very potent tool that sets the agenda for public discussion and the opinion of the

public matters a lot in the any institution. Our strategy which we have used overtime is

proactive. We do not do a fire brigade approach to communication. We ensure that whatever we

are doing is proactive. We kind of do survey, interact with the university public, know their

thinking and know how we can promote the University and have positive results. So yes our

strategies have been potent.

Do you get feedbacks from your publics and what kind of mechanisms do you put in place

in order to hear from them?

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We harvest a lot of feedback. I would like to appreciate management because in the recent past,

management has created avenues for getting feedback from students by organizing forums for

the students. On our own, when we interact with the students on an informal level, we use it as

part of our survey and research to get feedbacks and then relay it to the offices or departments in

charge. Also, we have a department known as Protocol that meets with new staff and also guests

of the university and we provide them with pamphlets about the school and meet them on a

regular basis to find out what they think about the university and if they are encountering any

problems.

Do you think there is a need to improve the strategies you already have in place?

Yes, according to the chancellor, when you stop learning, you start dying. So we continue to

learn from other institutions and organizations to know the global trends in communication so we

can improve on our methods.

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 APPENDIX II

INTERVIEW WITH MR. HAKEEM ADEYEMI, INFORMATION AND PUBLIC

RELATIONS OFFICER, THE BELLS UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY

Do you communicate with your internal publics, that is staff and students?

Yes we do. As an institution, we need to keep everybody informed on the happenings around and

also to ensure that everyone within our community is aware of our daily work and progress and

we have various means of doing this.

Are there any corporate communication strategies in your university?

Yes, we have quite a number of them. For instance we have memos or bulletins for our students

which we paste around in strategic locations so that no information passes them by. We

communicate with our staff using memos as well as text messages. We also have meetings once

in a while with the entire school community.

How effective have these strategies been over time?

I can say they have been quite effective because our students and staff and even parents of our

students are aware of what we do because we use these strategies to inform them. Also these

88
strategies have been effective because it helps us reach a wider coverage of the university per

time.

How do you get feedbacks from your publics?

Well, one major way we get feedbacks is through the forums we have once a semester with the

entire management, staff and students of the school where people share whatever they have with

us. Whether they don’t like how things are being done or anything at all, they can tell us during

this forum.

Do you feel there is a need to improve on the communication skills of the university with its

publics and if so why?

Yes, there is a need because, I mean, no one can be perfect, there are always new things to add to

one’s self. So yes, there is room for improvement.

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 APPENDIX III
DEPARTMENT OF MASS COMMUNICATION, COVENANT UNIVERSITY

Dear Respondent,
This questionnaire seeks to get information on Corporate Communication Strategies in Nigerian
Private Higher Institutions. Please supply answers to the questions below without appending
your name on the paper. All responses are for academic purposes only and would be treated with
utmost confidentiality.
Thanks for your co-operation,
Yours faithfully,
Ngwodo MaryJane

Section A
Please tick ( ) your answers as appropriate
1. Are you aware of any corporate communication strategies in your university?
(a) Yes (b) No

2. Does your university, as an organization, communicate with you using any of the following
methods?
(a) E-mail (b) Telephone (c) Text message (c) Face-to-Face

(d) Memo (e) Bulletin (f) Other, specify……………………………..

3. Do you think the existing corporate communication strategies have helped in the promotion of
the image of your university?
(a) Yes (b) No

4. How regularly do any representatives of your university management communicate with you?
(a) Once a week (b) More than once a week (c) Once every two weeks

90
 (d)Once a week (e) More regularly than any of the above

5. How can you rate your level of awareness of the affairs of your institution?
(a) Very aware (b) Considerably aware (c) Slightly aware

(d) Not aware

6. Does your university discuss any of their plans with you before implementing them?
(a) Yes (b) No
7. Does your university involve you in any form of decision making?
(a) Yes (b) No

For questions 8 – 21, please tick in the appropriate cell in the table below.
Key:
SA = Strongly Agree
A = Agree
U = Undecided
D = Disagree
SD = Strongly Disagree

SA A U D SD

8 My university promotes a sense of community in

me because of its communication methods.

9 I feel bad when people say bad things about my

university.

10 I make deliberate attempts to explain the activities

of my university to the people.

11 I don’t inform the management when I hear

unpleasant things about the university.

12 My university has an effective internal

communication strategy.

13 My university effectively communicates crises/

issues with me.

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 14 I hear about crises in my university from the mass
media first.

15 Information about my university always comes to

me from management.

16 Rumours are well circulated before management

steps in.

17 I am aware of my university’s short-term, mid-term

and long-term goals.

18 The university gives me opportunity to express my

opinion and concerns.

19 The university responds promptly to complaints of

staffs and students.

20 I think the students and staff of this university have

a good rapport with the university management.

21 At present, the overall communication existing

between my university and its internal public is
excellent.

22 I am generally satisfied with the corporate

communication performance of the university.

SECTION B
Please tick your responses as appropriate
23 Sex
(a) Male (b) Female
24. Marital Status
(a) Single (b) Married (c) Divorced (d) Widowed
25. Highest educational qualification
(a)SSCE (b) B.Sc (c) MSc/ MBA

(d) PhD
26. Level (Student)

92
 (a) 100 (b) 200 (c) 300

(d) 400

27. Level (Staff)

(a)Graduate Assistant (b)Lecturer I (c)Lecturer II
(d)Assistant Lecturer (e) Professor

93
 APENDIX IV
CODING GUIDE

S/N ITEMS IN THE ATTRIBUTES CODES COLUMN

QUESTIONNAIRE
1 GENDER MALE 1 1

FEMALE 2
2 MARITAL STATUS SINGLE 1 2

MARRIED 2

DIVORCED 3

WIDOWED 4
3 HIGHEST EDUCATIONAL SSCE 1 3
QUALIFICATION
B.SC 2

M.SC/MBA 3

PHD 4

4 LEVEL (STUDENT) 100 1 4

200 2

300 3

400 4
5 LEVEL (STAFF) GRADUATE ASSISTANT 1 4

LECTURER I
2
LECTURER II
3
ASST. LECTURER

PROFESSOR 4

6 AWARENESS ABOUT YES 1

CORPORATE
COMMUNICATION NO 2
STRATEGIES
7 COMMUNICATION MEANS E-MAIL 1
BY UNIVERSITY
TELEPHONE 2

94
 TEXT MESSAGE 3

FACE-TO-FACE 4

MEMO 5

BULLETIN 6

OTHERS 7
8 IMAGE PROMOTION OF YES 1
UNIVERSITY BY
CORPORATE NO 2
COMMUNICATION
STRATEGIES
9 REGULARITY IN ONCE A WEEK 1
COMMUNICATION BY
UNIVERSITY MORE THAN ONCE A 2
MANAGEMENT WEEK

ONCE EVERY TWO WEEKS 3

ONCE A MONTH
4
MORE REGULARLY THAN
ANY OF THE ABOVE
5
10 AWARENESS OF THE VERY AWARE 1
AFFAIRS OF YOUR
UNIVERSITY CONSIDERABLY AWARE 2

SLIGHTLY AWARE
3
NOT AWARE
4
11 DISCUSSION OF PLANS YES 1
BEFORE IMPLEMENTATION
NO 2
12 INVOLVEMENT IN ANY YES
FORM OF DECISION
MAKING NO
13 PROMOTION OF SENSE OF STRONGLY AGREE 1
COMMUNITY
AGREE 2

UNDECIDED 3

DISAGREE 4

STRONGLY DISAGREE
5
14 BAD FEELING WHEN STRONGLY AGREE 1
PEOPLE SAY BAD THINGS
ABOUT THE UNIVERSITY AGREE 2

UNDECIDED 3

DISAGREE 4

STRONGLY DISAGREE
5
15 DELIBERATE ATTEMPTS STRONGLY AGREE 1

95
 TO EXPLAIN THE
ACTIVITIES OF MY AGREE 2
UNIVERSITY
UNDECIDED 3

DISAGREE 4

STRONGLY DISAGREE
5
16 NON- INFORMATION TO STRONGLY AGREE 1
MANAGEMENT
AGREE 2

UNDECIDED 3

DISAGREE 4

STRONGLY DISAGREE 5
17 EFFECTIVE INTERNAL STRONGLY AGREE 1
COMMUNICATION
STRATEGY AGREE 2

UNDECIDED 3

DISAGREE 4

STRONGLY DISAGREE 5
18 EFFECTIVE CRISES/ISSUES STRONGLY AGREE 1
COMMUNICATION
AGREE 2

UNDECIDED 3

DISAGREE 4

STRONGLY DISAGREE 5
19 INFORMATION ALWAYS STRONGLY AGREE 1
COME FROM MASS MEDIA
AGREE 2

UNDECIDED 3

DISAGREE 4

STRONGLY DISAGREE 5
20 INFORMATION ALWAYS STRONGLY AGREE 1
COME FROM
MANAGEMENT AGREE 2

UNDECIDED 3

DISAGREE 4

STRONGLY DISAGREE 5
21 RUMOURS ARE WELL STRONGLY AGREE 1
CIRCULATED BEFORE
MANAGEMENT STEPS IN AGREE 2

UNDECIDED 3

DISAGREE 4

96
 STRONGLY DISAGREE 5
22 AWARENESS ABOUT STRONGLY AGREE 1
UNIVERSITY'S SHORT-
TERM, MID-TERM AND AGREE 2
LONG-TERM GOALS
UNDECIDED 3

DISAGREE 4

STRONGLY DISAGREE 5
23 OPPORTUNITY TO EXPRESS STRONGLY AGREE 1
OPINIONS AND CONCERNS
AGREE 2

UNDECIDED 3

DISAGREE 4

STRONGLY DISAGREE 5
24 PROMPT RESPONSE TO STRONGLY AGREE 1
COMPLAINTS OF STAFF
AND STUDENTS AGREE 2

UNDECIDED 3

DISAGREE 4

STRONGLY DISAGREE 5
25 GOOD RAPPORT WITH STRONGLY AGREE 1
UNIVERSITY
MANAGEMENT AGREE 2

UNDECIDED 3

DISAGREE 4

STRONGLY DISAGREE 5
26 OVERALL STRONGLY AGREE 1
COMMUNICATION
EXISTING BETWEEN MY AGREE 2
UNIVERSITY AND ITS
INTERNAL PUBLIC IS UNDECIDED 3
EXCELLENT.
DISAGREE 4

STRONGLY DISAGREE 5
27 GENERAL SATISFACTION STRONGLY AGREE 1
WITH THE CORPORATE
COMMUNICATION AGREE 2
PERFORMANCE OF THE
UNIVERSITY. UNDECIDED 3

DISAGREE 4

STRONGLY DISAGREE 5

97