When the Credit Crunch hit in 2008, banks began to get a really bad showing in the media. The reputation of the banking industry was decreasing rapidly but Yorkshire Bank saw this as an opportunity to stand out from its competitors by going back to its routes and focusing the local community.
“A PR and Communications initiative that successfully dealt with community issues, achieving mutual benefit.” CIPR.
Best Practice PR is all about achieving mutual benefit between an organisation and its stakeholders. This is exactly what Finn demonstrated, by upholding Yorkshire Banks reputation and helping many members of the community.
This campaign was focused on the local community alone, so what about the rest of the stakeholder groups? An issue that organisations face daily is how to please all the stakeholders at the same time. Even Santa Claus, bearer of joy and happiness, must upset mums when he leaves muddy footprints as he sneaks across the lounge carpet to get carrots for his staff (reindeers!).
So how do organisations choose who the most important stakeholder is? Should they direct most of their efforts towards the investors, they are giving them their money after all? Or should they try to keep the media sweet to gain good publicity? Is it the customers, who should be the most important, or perhaps the suppliers or staff?
Who do you think organisations should value the most? Or should it be a healthy balance?
Let me know your thoughts!
I think it is important to please all stakeholders in an organisation. Although this is not the easiest of tasks, it does not mean that every measure should not be taken to ensure that every stakeholder has equal consideration.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I do consider that the customers opinion should be regarded with the highest value, it does not mean that the other stakeholders are any less relevant. Every opportunity should be taken to ensure that each individual stakeholder is happy as they are each vital to the success of the organistaion.
Laurence
I think that it is essential for organisations to consider all stakeholders, however I don't think that it is realistic to expect to keep everyone entirely happy at the same time. In my opinion the most important stakeholder group would be the customers, organisations need to make the customers feel valued and respected to ensure that they return. The media are also very important as they have such a big influence over the general public.
ReplyDeleteI think that the most important stakeholder group to consider varies according to the current issues surrounding an organisation and also the nature of an organisation.
ReplyDeleteFor instance, Finn were successful at keeping the local community content at a time when the banking industry was in turmoil in the public eye. The positive headlines generated, in turn, is likely to have kept local politicans happy because the bank was seen to be caring for their constituency, and their stakeholders happy because a positive image is likely to improve business.
I still don't think you can satify all stakeholders at once, but priorities should be constantly juggled in order to keep up the appearances of catering for everyone.
This is a bit of a tough one considering banks at the moment. Banks have lots alot of trust with customer stakeholders, considering the recession. So it is a great campaign to get this stakeholders trust back...then they may choose to join this bank. I don't really know too much about the banking world...but it is quite an obvious thing that without customers the bank would not be able to survive. So I think Yorkshire bank went down the right root when trying to gain the trust of its customers back.
ReplyDeleteI agree that all stakeholders should be of importance to an organisation, as each brings different values to the company. However in the credit crunch leaning the priority towards the local community would have mutual benefits for both the organisation and the publi
ReplyDeleteAswell I agree that the media has a huge influence on society, so by keeping them happy its ultimately going to effect the success of the business.
I think organizations should try to value all stakeholder equally but they can't please them all in the same time. In this case, they had to make a choice and to prioritize they stakeholders regarding the actual situation. This time, they focused on local communities, they will focus on an other stakeholder next. In a time of crisis for an organization, I think it is important to think step by step to separate tasks.
ReplyDeleteOh good one there Jo!
ReplyDeleteThis issue has once again been highlighted in today's news! The Twinings tea company is deciding at is AGM as to whether or not move its production to overseas.
This would mean loosing half the jobs in the UK, so some of these people stood in protest outside the AGM as the stakeholders were arriving.
The views of stakeholders were vast ranging from an older lady who wanted to keep it British to a businessman who saw it as an oppertunity!
There needs to be a careful balance to keep all stakeholders happy internally and externally in the company. But this always seems to be a struggle for most companies and many have failed.
Hope that gives you another insight to an interesting debate!
I think at the time of the campaign, for Yorkshire Bank the community were their most important stakeholder as their were perhaps some bridges to be rebuilt.. Depending on both environmental/external and internal factors which are occuring in the organisation at the time, they will direct their efforts towards which wvwe stakeholder group needs the most attention. Especially if some bad news reaches the media and crisis management is needed.
ReplyDeleteOverall though, no stakeholder group should be neglected or valued over another, it is difficult to keep them all happy at the same time and keep a balance but it is important for every organisation to show evidence that they have tried.
I think each stakeholder has a high level of importance, as they all have an effect on the company's success.
ReplyDeleteObviously the customer has a high level of value, and the company always has to stay in touch with their needs. But this doesn't mean that the investors should be ignored, as they help to support the company. The media are also important, as negative press can severely damage an organisation.
I think that all the stakeholder groups are just as important as each other, but some have a greater effect than others!
I think the healthy balance is the only way to go. If you don't keep your staff happy, they won't do a good job or they'll leave. If you don't communicate to investors well, they will sell the shares and won't be a part of the company that does not look after them. Following this idea, suppliers will stop providing products and customers won't buy them. That's why it is important to shuffle around all of them giving them as much atention as possible to make them feel important and looked after. That what makes a great communication I think.
ReplyDeleteI think it's important to have a healthy balance, but the way that Yorkshire Bank has approached this seems to have aided this. I think that by tackling the community they have come off well to the majority of stakeholders, showing their caring nature, to what could normally be considered quite a cold industry.
ReplyDeleteI think it's important to have a well rounded relationship with all their stakeholders, and that this charitable demonstration is a step in the right direction.
i feel in any business there should be a balance and everyone should be accomodated, that is one of the hardest parts of running a succesful business. if a business takes cares of all it stakeholder it should in turn gain good publicity from the people that leave satisfied from your organisation.
ReplyDeleteI do also feel that businesses should strive to keep investors happy all of the time as they are keeping you running and without them the company will have no sakeholders what so ever.
With careful management structures and well formed departments i feel that any company can connect with every type of stakeholder and make sure they are happy 100% of the time!
I definitely think it should be a healthy balance. Yorkshire bank have taken a golden oppurtunity while other banks have been out of sync beacause of the recession, they have used it to their advantage, which to be honest is a smart move.
ReplyDeleteAnyone that has anything to do with yorkshire bank and other banks should have the same importance, money is money and is what the bank needs to survive, therefore they should treat all stakeholders equally, as they are all investing time even if it is just a minute to deposit money.
The media could ultimately ruin lives and this is the same with banks, therefore getting good press is key, as anything negative written will have severe consequences for banks.
I personally think that all stakeholders are important! The investors are significant cause they fund the business, the customers need to be happy in order for them to purchase products and services. Employees have to be happy as well to reflect a strong working environment and team resulting in good corporate image.
ReplyDeleteThe media plays a vital role as a stakeholder due to its power and influence on society. The media can make a small issue into a crisis if the organization is not communicating in a transparent manner.
SO all stakeholders are important!
I think it is important to try and keep all stakeholders happy, I think possibly customers and employees are the most important as they are the ones who keep the business going. If a business focused on these two stakeholders they would surely be making more profit, therefore pleasing other stakeholders such as investors?
ReplyDeleteIn times of upset, like the credit crunch, businesses need to go out of their way to make sure customers are looked after properly so the opera and cricket idea was brilliant. Everyone loves getting stuff for free and this would have been a great way to ensure they were looking after the customers. once the customers have been looked after i think it should then be the stakeholders and investors who are kept happy as they play a big role in the running of the business.
ReplyDelete