Megan Beard / Q79730558/CCA502 How successfully does Virgin Atlantic Airways, Investor Relations Officers communicate performance and success to other key Virgin Stakeholders? Virgin Atlantic Airways Investor Relations Officers necessitate the requirement to communicate performance not only to shareholders but also to all Virgin Atlantic stakeholders. Virgin Atlantic’s performance and success can be determined by flight efficiency in relation to runways, customer sales/tickets purchased destinations and Jets supplied. ‘Stakeholder analysis is a clear way of defining those groups and individuals who have a significant relationship with an organisation and those with a vested interest in organisations operations’, Tench and Yeoman’s (2009, pg. 105). Virgin Atlantic has a large quantity of stakeholders and it is the Investor Relation Officers job to communicate information what they know best to everyone involved in the Organisation. To get the voice of Virgin Atlantic heard the Investors need to begin by setting out who to communicate to and how. The Virgin Atlantic stakeholder map (see appendix a) gives a detailed list of who the stakeholders are. Obviously, the main target for the investor relations team is investors, but every other stakeholder group will be interested to some degree about how the company is doing in terms of financial performance. The second part to this process will be determining which channel is used to communicate with each stakeholder group. To successfully communicate with Shareholders in an Organisation, the most effective way is through an annual report. The law requires this; however, most Organisations go the extra mile to reveal their performance but also involve their Corporate Social Responsibility. Financial PR increasing importance is reflected in the Economist statement: ‘to keep share price up, it is no longer enough merely to have a strategy. The strategy also needs to be articulated smartly as any manager at BT, Ford or Marconi tell you,’ (The Economist 2001:75). This suggests Organisations have increasing pressure to develop their annual reports to the highest standard. As the investor relations team is aiming at keeping investors informed, who the investors are is crucial. In the case of Virgin Atlantic, this is actually quite easy, as it is not listed on a stock exchange, and is owned by only two investors- the Virgin Group and Singapore airlines. So, there is no legal need to publish an annual report. That said, other stakeholders need to know about the organisation's financial performance, which the Investors should communicate efficiently. Cultip et al (1994) 7 c’s of
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Megan Beard / Q79730558/CCA502
How successfully does Virgin Atlantic Airways, Investor Relations Officers
communicate performance and success to other key Virgin Stakeholders?
Virgin Atlantic Airways Investor Relations Officers necessitate the requirement to
communicate performance not only to shareholders but also to all Virgin Atlantic
stakeholders. Virgin Atlantic’s performance and success can be determined by flight
efficiency in relation to runways, customer sales/tickets purchased destinations and Jets
supplied. ‘Stakeholder analysis is a clear way of defining those groups and individuals who
have a significant relationship with an organisation and those with a vested interest in
organisations operations’, Tench and Yeoman’s (2009, pg. 105). Virgin Atlantic has a large
quantity of stakeholders and it is the Investor Relation Officers job to communicate
information what they know best to everyone involved in the Organisation. To get the voice
of Virgin Atlantic heard the Investors need to begin by setting out who to communicate to
and how. The Virgin Atlantic stakeholder map (see appendix a) gives a detailed list of who
the stakeholders are. Obviously, the main target for the investor relations team is investors,
but every other stakeholder group will be interested to some degree about how the
company is doing in terms of financial performance. The second part to this process will be
determining which channel is used to communicate with each stakeholder group.
To successfully communicate with Shareholders in an Organisation, the most effective way
is through an annual report. The law requires this; however, most Organisations go the extra
mile to reveal their performance but also involve their Corporate Social Responsibility.
Financial PR increasing importance is reflected in the Economist statement: ‘to keep share
price up, it is no longer enough merely to have a strategy. The strategy also needs to be
articulated smartly as any manager at BT, Ford or Marconi tell you,’ (The Economist
2001:75). This suggests Organisations have increasing pressure to develop their annual
reports to the highest standard. As the investor relations team is aiming at keeping investors
informed, who the investors are is crucial. In the case of Virgin Atlantic, this is actually quite
easy, as it is not listed on a stock exchange, and is owned by only two investors- the Virgin
Group and Singapore airlines. So, there is no legal need to publish an annual report. That
said, other stakeholders need to know about the organisation's financial performance,
which the Investors should communicate efficiently. Cultip et al (1994) 7 c’s of
Megan Beard / Q79730558/CCA502
Communication 5) Channels: different channels should be used for reaching different target
audiences. Different channels are associated with different values and this should
considered by the public relations practitioner.’ This emphasises the need to use the correct
channels to communicate effectively to each stakeholder group as the wrong channel may
cause the audience to receive the information in the right form.
Customers
Customers are an important stakeholder in your organisation as they are the key group to
benefit from the organisation as you aim to sell your product towards and drive your sales
to result in great performance and overall profit. As customers drive the sales of an
organisation, they have the right to know how well you are doing, as they are a contributing
factor to performance. The investors of Virgin Atlantic use different channels to
communicate with their customers. ‘The internet continues to gain ground as the preferred
means for companies to manage registered shareholders accounts’ (trade journals, 2003),
even though this is aimed towards providing financial information online for shareholders
via annual reports, this also relates to using the internet as an effective channel to
communicate services. Virgin Atlantic communicate most successfully with stakeholder
group by using channels such as their online travel website (www.virgin-atlantic.com), blogs,
social media and the Virgin group website as a whole (www.virgin.com).
The Virgin Customers who travel with them can find information in terms