Communicating with the truth is always influential in gaining trust. Truthfulness has an
immediate and consequential effect on the credibility of communication which is foundational
when establishing relationships or creating agreements (Schuster & Copeland, 2008).
The case study dealing with the Sweet Leaf Tea beverage company, displayed a
fundamental breakdown with internal communication. After building the company and gaining
the internal trust of employees and customers of SLT, Clayton Christopher announced that he
was leaving the company (Argenti, 2013). The changes that might occur at the top of any
organization influences an amount of uncertainty within an organization, so it is vital to
communicate change to regain trust if it was previously lost during the transition. The changes
with the upper management sometimes influence changes to the mission of the organization, and
communication that new mission is very important for those that are affected. Directional control
of an organization is important for the internal focus of strategic communication. The managers
control the internal direction of an organization with their mission and vision, but they also
EFFECTIVE CORPORATE COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES
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infuse their personal directional control after taking over power. The teachings of God always
keeps his children reminded to seek his internal direction, and according to his word in the Bible,
“whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men” (Colossians 3: 23, ESV).
External Communication
External communication is a very broad topic that encompasses many variations of
corporate strategies of communication, external communication in this research is mainly
focused on the organizations external identity and how the organization is viewed. Corporate
strategists need to be both for structural mechanisms and for policies that recruit individuals that
fit these types of roles (Kleinbaum & Stuart, 2014). Maintaining the core internal values help
organizations to keep its focus on the mission and vision of the organization, so the identity of
the organization remains consistent with the direction. Communication can occur in multiple
ways and can foster integration different types of strategies. According to Morsing and Schultz
(2006), “a one way communication strategy, a two-way asymmetric communication strategy and
a two-way symmetric communication strategy, each of which is related to the processes of sense-
giving and sense-making (p. 326). Communicating continuously between upper level and lower
level managers, and doing this with the same level of authenticity can evenly distribute
information between management levels.
Communication requires an equal give and take method to provide different views of
possible unique situations to be resolved.
