Corporate Identity and Competitive Edge

Introduction

In modern times greater emphasis has been paid to corporate character, corporate culture and corporate identity. There has been greater emphasis on those aspects of the company due to the high level of competition that exists within any industry. In modern times, consumers can easily access substitute products from the company’s competitors. As such, a company has to find a means through which they can differentiate themselves from their competitors, and one of those ways is focusing on improving corporate character, identity and culture. By focusing on corporate character, identity and culture, a company will gain a competitive advantage over its rivals which will translate in more customers, higher productivity from employees, and greater revenue and profitability. It is essential to understand current literature concerning corporate culture, identity and character. A critical evaluation of the University of Wolverhampton will be carried out. It will focus on the organization’s corporate personality, culture and identity and its strengths and weaknesses. Recommendations for a new corporate identity strategy for the organization that will strengthen and protect its reputation will also be carried out.

Literature Review

Corporate Character

The current business era has given customers an unprecedented view and visibility into companies. The transparency that exists between the business and their customers means that companies needed to ensure that their characters are beyond reproach more so if they seek to gain the trust of their customers. Mathews-Wadhwa (2013) notes that character is essential more so when a company aims to differentiate themselves from their competitors. It involves thinking about the way customers will perceive the brand and finding ways to keep the company at the forefront of the customer’s mind. According to Seidman (2013), businesses cannot afford to have a less than pristine corporate character due to the fact that customers can judge and experience goods and share their judgements on the products immediately on social media platforms. The unprecedented rate of information sharing means that businesses always have to present the best version of themselves to the public. According to Chun and Davies (2006), corporate character is: the differentiating attributes that makes the company distinct from their competitors; more than the vision of the company, the logo and advertising; the sum of everything that the organization and its employees do and the beliefs that the company holds and the ways which the organization expresses what they believe. Davies et al. (2004) note that there are seven traits that define corporate character, agreeableness, competence, enterprise, ruthlessness, chic, informality, and machismo. When the above character traits are in an organization, there is higher customer satisfaction and greater employee satisfaction too. Therefore, corporate character not only relates to the views that customers have on the company but also the opinions that employees have in working for the company.

Corporate Culture

Corporate culture defers from corporate character in the sense that one is a function of the other. Montanez (2018) notes that corporate character has significant implications for the type of culture that a company will have. Organizational culture refers to the shared beliefs, values, standards, and attitudes that are rooted in the company’s goals, structure, goals, approaches to labour and the way that they deal with their customers (Tsai 2011). Campbell (2011) continues to note that companies with robust corporate cultures can have 20-30% greater performance than company’s that do not invest in corporate culture. According to Coleman (2013), there are six common components that influence a company’s corporate culture. First, vision. The vision of the company guides the company and gives employees a purpose that will guide their everyday decisions. The vision will not only help in guiding employees but will also offer customers a general idea of what the company stands for and what their overarching reason for carrying out business. Second, values. Values are at the core of the company in the sense that they offer a set of guidelines on the behaviours and the mindsets that are needed for the company to achieve their vision (Rossi 2015).

Third, practices. Practices are the physical crystallization of the company’s values. The company may state that they care about people, but if their practices do not reflect a caring attitude towards their people, then they are not meeting their values. At the same time, if a company’s corporate structure is “flat” then they should encourage more junior members of the staff to object during meetings without any fear of repercussions. Basically, the practices of the company should reflect the values that the company purports to embody. Fourth, people. It goes without saying that it is employees who make up a company. It is the employees who will carry the vision of the company, who will live the company values and carry out practices that reinforce company values (Alton 2017). Fifth, narrative. The company must have a unique description that sets apart from its competitors. The narrative may involve how the company was started and the various strategic moves that the company has made so that they can differentiate themselves from their competitors. Sixth, place. Place is vital for a company’s culture and may grow or perpetuate it. Coleman (2013), notes that there is a reason why technology companies congregate in Silicon Valley and why architectural firms set up in Dubai. It is because those specific places reinforce company culture because the company is surrounded by many other companies that perform the same thing. Deloitte (2019) also notes that company culture is essential in the sense that it reinforces aspects such as strong ethics and compliance with market policies. Therefore, company culture is important because it differentiates a company from its rivals.

Corporate Reputation

Corporate reputation is a by-product of corporate character and culture. According to Wiedmann and Buxel (2005), corporate reputation is critical since it helps a company reduce employee turnover while at the same time increasing customer loyalty. In modern times, corporate reputation is significant due to the straightforward manner through which individuals can share news. If and when a company is hit by a scandal, information spreads very fast, and the only thing the company can do is mitigate the damage that will be caused to the corporate brand. Kassabov (2018) notes that organizations should care about their corporate reputation because of the significant influence that it has on the company’s brand. With the advent of the internet age and the age of social media company’s also have to manage the way their brand is perceived on online platforms. Attuluri and Mehta (2018) note that in modern times, the online presence that the company presents online is a determining factor on the number of clients that the company will have. As such, it is essential for a company to formulate a social media strategy (Gillin and Gianforte 2012). Therefore, a company should control the lens through which their corporate reputation is viewed to protect their company brand, to earn greater customer loyalty, and to attract more customers.

Critical Analysis of the University of Wolverhampton

The University of Wolverhampton is a leading university in the UK. The mission of the university is “Maximizing opportunity through generating knowledge, innovation and enterprise” (University of Wolverhampton 2019). The ambition of the university is “To be a progressive and influential sector leader, championing diversity, growth, and creating life changes for all while enhancing the economic impact and accelerating ambition across the entire University community” (University of Wolverhampton 2019). The university has three critical pillars that act as a guide: “Students first; skills and knowledge for economic and social transformation; and significant influence and impact” (University of Wolverhampton 2019). The commercial objective of the university is to admit more students, since having more students will translate into more money for the organization. Admitting more students is guided by the critical pillar of student’s first. The organization has used that crucial particular pillar as a guide to its brand. They have built their brand around providing a better university experience for the students who will attend the university. They have also established their brand around maximizing the individual potential of all students while at the same time creating better opportunities for their students to take part in world-leading research and professional practice. Moreover, the organization has built its brand around diversity and equality showing that their target market is not only students from specific backgrounds but students from all kinds of backgrounds, religions, political affiliations and many other different characteristics. Therefore, the organization has organized its brand around students, and that may help them in achieving their critical commercial objectives and fulfilling them at the same time. Below is the organizations cultural web.

Positioning Map

The product and the corporate brand of the company have improved, but there is also the potential for them to develop further. The University of Wolverhampton has been around for more than 190 years (University of Wolverhampton 2019). It was chiefly concentrated on teaching art; then it expounded to teaching science and engineering; it was later transformed into a polytechnic with five faculties, applied science, art and design, arts, engineering, and social sciences ((University of Wolverhampton 2019). In 1992 it was granted university status, and currently, the different faculties teach a cumulative of 70 different subjects and more than 4,000 students graduate from the university every year (University of Wolverhampton 2019). Additionally, the university is currently investing more than £125 million on various developments such as teaching facilities and accommodation. The corporate brand has improved over the years, and the range of products has improved too. The term “range of products” in this context refers to the number of subjects that the university teaches. As seen above, the university has grown from teaching only arts and technical subjects to one that teaches over 70 subjects spanning across 18 schools and 4 main faculties (University of Wolverhampton 2019). There is potential for the brand to improve in the sense that the university can increase the number of subjects that it teaches. However, such an increase would have to happen over a relatively long timeframe since there are many factors that have to be considered before such plans are put in motion.

The university’s key brand influence lies in the Education sector. The impact could be expanded into research which will improve the organization’s brand awareness, regionally, nationally and internationally. The brand is relatively strong in the sense that there are other better university’s that are considered to be Ivy league. However, the university is ranked as the 124th best university in the world, and that is highly commendable and one that bolsters their brand (University of Wolverhampton 2019). The brand is optimally structured for the university because it has focused on maximizing its strengths. The key strength of the university and one of its major selling points is accessibility. The university is 18 minutes from Birmingham; 70 minutes from Manchester and 90 minutes from London (University of Wolverhampton 2019). That means that if some students wish to commute daily, they can. Also as stated above the university teaches more than 70 subjects which when synthesized further translates to 250 undergraduate courses and 120 postgraduate courses of which many of them are accredited by various professional bodies (University of Wolverhampton 2019). The university has also received a TEF silver which notes the excellence level that an institution has in relation to teaching. Additionally, the university has positioned itself as an international institution. It currently has more than 2,500 international students from more than 100 countries (University of Wolverhampton 2019). Moreover, the university boasts of an impressive 96% employability of their graduates (University of Wolverhampton 2019). Individuals attend university so that they can acquire employable skills. As such, a student is more likely to attend a university which increases the chance that they will be employed and the University of Wolverhampton is one of those universities. Therefore, those are the key strengths that augment the corporate brand of the University of Wolverhampton.

The university has a relatively strong brand community based on the course that the student will apply for and that needs to be further developed. The university started as an art school; therefore, it as a robust arts program. A strong brand community revolves around its arts program. In relation to technical courses and deeply convoluted courses, the institution does not have a strong brand community due to the fact that students know they can get into more competitive faculties in other schools. The university can improve the brand community in relation to technical courses by improving their curriculum or investing in further training and development of current staff or investing in hiring more qualified staff. The brand community of the university is reinforced by the Corporate Social Responsibility that the university directs towards the community. The university believes in creating a “sustainable community where people want to live and work, now and in the future” (University of Wolverhampton 2019). There are a number of factors that guide the university’s CSR and that is ecological integrity, economic security, a high quality of life, and citizen empowerment. Ecological integrity refers to evaluating how the business is affecting the environment and the university ensures that they take of the environment within which their campuses are located (University of Wolverhampton 2019). Economic security refers to running the university with the wider community in mind and that is what the university does. The high quality of life is specifically tailored to the faculty of the university who are well remunerated beyond their monthly salaries by giving them flexible working hours, childcare schemes and a pleasant working environment (University of Wolverhampton 2019). Citizen empowerment also relates to the staff where they have a voice and the university does value the input of its staff (University of Wolverhampton 2019). All in all, the university has applied the CSR model and that has helped in improving and bolstering its brand community.

The number of products that the university offers given its relative size is optimal. As said above, the university teaches more than 70 subjects which when synthesized further translates to 250 undergraduate courses and 120 postgraduate courses of which many of them are accredited by various professional bodies (University of Wolverhampton 2019). For the company to add more products(courses) into the mix, they have to increase their ability to take in more students, invest in more teaching facilities and invest in more teachers. If the university manages to improve on those aspects, they can then increase the number of courses that they offer. However, as it stands that the number of products(courses) that the university offers are more than enough. The university does not communicate its brand and its branding effectively. It has a less than optimum social media presence given the fact that the world is in the social media era. The company should thus invest in communicating their brand and their branding efforts on various social media platforms. Improving the manner through which they express their brand on social media will increase the university’s visibility which may translate into more student’s applying.

Recommendations

If the current corporate identity of the University of Wolverhampton was being rated on a scale of 1-10, they would receive a 6 at best which means that there is a great room for improvement. The organization should consider improving its online presence. Daisyne (2016) notes that it is crucial for organizations to enhance their online presence if they want to remain competitive in the market. The university has a website that lists all the information about it, and that is a good thing. The site has listed the various strengths that the university has as well as why a student should consider applying to university. However, unless an individual visits the website with the express intent of finding out the strengths, they will never know about it. As such, the university should break that information in an easy to access manner and then post it on various social media platforms with their target audience. Improving social media presence will improve brand visibility which may translate into more people applying to the university.

The university should consider setting up programs with various local high schools within their community. The purpose of the programs will also be to increase brand visibility and brand awareness. It is the students from high school who will transition into university. Therefore, it is crucial to capture their attention before they begin contemplating or when they are considering which universities they should apply to. The programs may involve the university sending various students and staff to the schools during career fairs. If the high school does not have such a program, it will be an opportune moment of the university to set up and run the program in a manner that will improve their brand visibility. Moreover, visiting the schools will be an opportunity for the university to show their corporate culture, character and reputation and by doing so, they will control the narrative in their favour. Conversely, the university can have a program where high school students can visit the campus and view various facilities such as teaching halls, accommodation facilities and game facilities. By visiting the university, the students will get a general understanding of how attending the school will feel like. Carrying out such programs will have a two-fold effect, it will show that the university cares about Corporate Social Responsibility and it will improve the organization’s brand awareness and visibility. Finances will be required to run the programs, and dedicated personnel will also be necessary for planning purposes. In terms of staff, the university may encourage current students to participate in the planning and execution process.

Conclusion

Corporate character, culture and reputation are inextricably linked. The corporate character is the differentiating attributes that make the company distinct from its competitors. Organizational culture refers to the shared beliefs, values, standards, and attitudes that are rooted in the company’s goals, structure, goals, approaches to labour and the way that they deal with their customers. Corporate reputation refers to the perception that people have on the organization. Corporate character and culture tend to be internal and corporate reputation are external. The University of Wolverhampton was critically analyzed in relation to its corporate character, culture, and identity. The commercial objective of the university is to get more students and their brand is guided along those lines. One of the university’s key pillars is that the student is first and they have built their facilities and selected the personnel with that in mind. In terms of products(courses), the company teaches over 70 subjects, with 250 undergraduate courses and 120 postgraduate courses. The university has a relatively strong brand community based on the course that the student will apply for and that needs to be further developed. The number of products that the university offers given its relative size is optimal. In terms of communication, the university does not communicate its brand and branding effectively. Relating to recommendations, the university should improve its online image by sharing more information, and it should start programs with the local community to improve on CSR and improve its brand awareness and image.

References

Attuluri, S. & Mehta, A., 2018. A review on online reputation management for doctors at Indian corporate hospitals. International Journal of Advanced Research, vol. 6(6), pp. 194-198.

Chun, R. & Davies, G., 2006. The influence of corporate character on customers and employees: Exploring similarities and differences. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, vol. 34(2), pp. 138-146.

Davies, G., Chun, R., da Silva V, R. & Roper, S., 2004. A corporate character scale to assess employee and customer views of organization reputation. Corporate Reputation Review, vol. 72(2), pp. 125-146.

Gillin, P.& Gianforte, G., 2012. Attack of the customers. Why critics assault brands online and how to avoid becoming a victim. Washington: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform.

Wiedmann, K. & Buxel, H., 2005. Corporate reputation management in Germany: Results of an Empirical Study. Corporate Reputation Review, vol. 8(2), pp.145-163.