Communication with people outside the company is called “external communication”. Supervisors communicate with sources outside the organization, such as vendors and customers. External communication comprehends all information developed by the company, which is related to its activity that is released in the press, for public knowledge. Such information is crucial in order to promote the company's image. External Communication is used for:
1. Through ensuring the information flow from various stakeholders to the organization, they help to meaningfully define the organization's environmental policy, targets, as well as operational performance, environmental condition and management performance indicators.
2. Through ensuring the information flow from the organization to various stakeholders they promote the credibility of the organization.
3. Image management is one of the company's most relevant concerns, not only because of its own presentation, but also because it is considered to be a success-factor.
It is commonly assumed that the most important image is the perception image, as far as impression formation is concerned.
4. Public relations include ongoing activities to ensure the organization has a strong public image. Public relations activities include helping the public to understand the organization and its products. Similar to effective advertising and promotions, effective public relations often depends on designing and implementing a well-designed public relations plan.
Key Principles of External Environmental Communications
External communication should be interactive and work in both ways. External communication should be sensitive to the needs of both the organization and its stakeholders with whom the organization intends to communicate. External communications should not discriminate different audiences based on their language, technical skills, race or other factors. Thus, the content and form of external