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COMMUNICATION INTEGRATION PROCESSES AND EVALUATION
CONTENTS
CONTENT
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QUESTION 1 COMMUNICATIONINTEGRATION PROCESSES

1.1 MORIATY’S AND DUNCAN’S 10 DRIVERS OF INTEGRATION
1.2 VAN RIEL’S MATHODS OF COMMUNICATION INTEGRATION AND MANAGMEENT

QUESTION 2

2.1 THREE DIMENSIONS OF INTEGRATED COMMUNICATION EVALUATION AND MEASUREMENT

2.2 MEASURES AND SUCCESSES OF COMMUNICATION INTEGRATION

2.3 RESEARCH TOOLS AND METHODOLOGY

SELF-ASSESSMENT

SOURCES CONSULTED

COMMUNICATION INTEGRATION PROCESSES
1 DUNCAN AND MORIARTY’S TEN DRIVERS OF INTEGRATION AND VAN RIEL’S FOUR METHODS OF MANAGING COMMUNICATION INTEGRATION
1.1 A functioning organisation needs to understand and implement communication integration culture. Duncan and Moriarty identify ten drivers in this regard. An analysis of Van Riel’s methods of managing communication integration will further elaborate on communication integration processes.. The following essay will explain the ten drivers and use them in a real-life situation and Van Riel’s methods will be substantiated with practical examples.
1.1.1 The first driver is relationship management, the management of relationships with the clients of rather than just making business transactions on a clinical level the national insurance company will ensure that clients remain. Loss of clientele will be minimised in this case because the company’ s employees will be able to manage its clients because of the knowledge acquired through knowing who the client is through the relation based driver, According to Duncan and Moriarty in Angelopulo and Barker ,know the customers and using that information in communication with them (2013:426). it also cost the insurance company less costs because through maintenance of the common clients, it is just a matter of continuing the relationship and ensuring that the client uses the [products and services of the insurance company repeatedly dealing with the same consultant and increasing the insurance company’s clientele base. More clients mean less cost to the company and more products cn be sold to the same client as the relationship strengthens and the client is affirmed of the company’s credibility and has developed a relationship with the company that goes beyond purchasing and leaving, there is now trust developed.
1.1.2 Stakeholder focus is pivotal because the various stakeholders can strengthen the company’s brand identity and credibility. Knowing what variables contribute to the success of relationships with stakeholder (Porter (1980) . groups could have a beneficial effect on a firm’s strategic actions.The proper information and messages need to be relayed to the stakeholders of the insurance company. We need to emphasise on relationships with stakeholders such the investors of the insurance company so that they are not confused by the events in the organisation. Being derailed in terms of messages can lead to a breach in contract between the investors and company management itself. There needs to be common communication messages flowing from the employees, management as well as clients that is received by the stakeholders. Stakeholder such the media need to gain a positive sense of the organisation this could also prevent the wrong messages being sent to clients in cases where promises are broken because the wrong messages of the products and services are given, this could be the lack of the right flow of information within the organisation where the stakeholders become affected even the suppliers of products cannot understand certain messages this could cost the insurance company more because of errors, time that has been consumed and poor delivery of services as well delays and unplanned messages beyond the company’s control.
1.1.3 The first of four derivers that represent operational processes is the strategic consistency, where we look at the continuity of a certain branding strategy rather than isolate messages. Duncan and Moriarty in Angelopulo and Barker point out that each area of brand contact should be infused with the ‘big idea’ (2013:49). When representatives communicate with clients, there should be awareness that the national insurance company’s messages whether through casual conversations and transactions with clients or actual planned communication messages communicated by the marketing and branding department in the enterprise at national insurance. By doing this, there is no miscommunication of information and even discussions of products are consistent. When clients think of National insurance company, they can identify with the brand through several contacts with the personnel themselves and different departments within the enterprise, they also become familiar with the brand.
1.1.4 There needs to be purposeful dialogue between personnel in the organisation such as employees apart from the orthodox mass communication messages parted by organisations and enterprises. This is proven by Duncan and Moriarty who state that purposeful interactivity should be generated instead of mere monologues (Angelopulo and Moriarty:2013).There needs to be a two-way communication process as within the purposeful dialogue because this allows the organisation to learn the ideas and thought processes in the clients minds resulting to their uses in improvement of products, services and related processes within the organisation to satisfy the customer’s needs.
1.1.5 The fifth driver is corporate mission marketing which ensures the stability and awareness of the mission held by the organisation. The personnel involved in the organisation need to be familiar with what the organisation intends to do. The national insurance company’s mission needs to be embedded in the minds of the representatives, managements and other employees as this helps with the branding of the organisation and functioning of the organisation since everyone knows what the organisation is aiming to achieve and in every aspect the employees and personnel will work in compatibility with the mission to fulfil goals objectives and goals. This also links with consistency of messages. There needs to be a focal plan that facilitates the distinction of the organisation in this case insurance company from any other.
1.1.6 A new planning system needs to be created through zero-based planning where planning is done from the foundation and not reviewed and all aspects of planning are analysed and re-enforced. The national insurance company needs to revisit their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats within the insurance industry and amongst the organisation’s personnel especially the representatives. A weakness in the case of the insurance company is the poor communication skills portrayed by the representatives. The company needs to instil techniques such as training programmes and systems that ensure consistent flow of credible information within and out of the organisation. The messages if not analysed could cause a poor sales of products and services which could result in disastrous outcomes for the organisation. There also needs to be an analysis of ht transition undergone by the organisation and tailor all communication systems according to the changes as well as help position of the organisation instead of following traditional strategies in organisational management especially with respect to communication within the organisation.
1.1.7 The cross-functional planning is the first of the infrastructural drivers focus on the process of planning should not be done in isolation according to functional areas in the enterprise rather as a unit. In the case of the national insurance company ,communication processes should not in compartments but fluid within the organisations through its planning as well as monitoring it out losing specific duties of the functional area. The functions within the company in the sales department, marketing and the servicing of customers and managerial decisions and messages passed to stakeholders need to be at the knowledge of the organisation so that there is no miscommunication and their accuracy in communicated messages to ensure maximum consistency in the organisation. There needs to be connectedness between all levels in the organisation and messages should be reciprocal.
1.1.8 Core competencies forms part of the second infrastructural drivers the focus should shift from stipulated functions of the departments .The insurance company needs its management to be weary of the departments of the organisation and understand its weaknesses, strengths, threats to its function and how opportunities can be found to enhance the functions that so that the information can be used to application of this data in the mix so that there is the maximisation of costs.
1.1.9 Database management affirms the availability of information of clients for future reference and income generation. Databases will allow the insurance company to keep track of its current and future clients and cut costs and representatives can focus on maintaining relationships with their clientele and the enterprise can expand .For the organisation, it assist in information available to the entire organisation in their different yet integrated functional areas it assist in operations and planning especially in marketing and branding departments where current information and the status of the organisation play a pivotal role in external and internal planned communication strategies and delivery of messages to the public and the personnel and stakeholders in the organisation.
1.1.10 The final driver is integrated agency already weary of the way the integrated environment functions ,at this point, the organisation should outsource services that also apply the integrated methods within its on environment. There needs to be uniformity and similarities in the way the organisations work so that they complement each other and there is no confusion in their interaction and transactions. They should also have ideas based on the ideas of integrated communication so that when communicating messages, to ensure the organisation’s objectives are fulfilled and there is consistency.
1.1.11 The ten drivers of communication by Duncan and Moriarty are evident in the communication integration aims in our case, the national insurance company. Importance of integration is essential in the corporate focus, processes within the organisation, the infrastructural levels accounting for the ten drivers responsible for integration. This will ensure the successful functioning if the organisational communication. Van Riel addresses four methods of integration management: rules or directives, sequencing, routines and group problem solving.
1.2.1 The rules of directives deal with the common ethos in the area of communication .Certain procedures of how the different departments should function are part of this method. The rules that are applied within the communication framework, standard information and communication systems that can be applied within the organisation or enterprise to ensure the thorough and accuracy in management of integration. By following such conduct, even the flow of information becomes integrated because there is coherence in the rules being applied. The first example is what Van Riel called the common house style where there is a standardised form of presentation within the organisation. The design of all materials outgoing and remaining within the organisation should be standardised so that the brand is identifiable and the system is also depicted as being integrated. The printed material for instance should have the same colours whether from marketing or other functional areas within the organisation to ensure correlation. Common starting points are also essential in the rules and directives of the organisation where the departments follow certain values and ideals of the main organisation. The sequencing could be situation should be applied. The third example is that of operational guidelines which deal with the way certain projects should be undertaken within the organisation.

1.2.2 The second method is sequencing where the communication plan is organised in more details and duties are assigned to the respective personnel and communication departments. This method allows for the maximisation of dialogue between constituencies. and how the messages are passed through to maximise accurate communication..Within the sequencing procedure there is the planning as well as implementation process until the output is overseen. This is a sequence,(quote an example here)
1.2.3 Routines are a the patterns of function within the organisation ad communication department. These are processes that have become part of the life of the professionals within the function, the protocols that have been inculcated through the experiences within the organisation that have been identified as tasks that need to be undertaken the the personnel to ensure that the organisation carries on functioning. An example of routines is the presentation of ideas at a meeting in developing effective strategies of planned communication in branding and or marketing the organisation. It cannot be derailed or forgotten to be undertaken and this occurs every time there is such a need and it has become a norm within the organisation that there is such a routine.
1.2.4 The fourth is the method is the group problem solving there needs to be a form of leadership to ensure that complex issues that may arise are dealt with and there is order and professional reasoning that is to the benefit of the communication process and management. integrated communication involves all parties within the organisation there will be personnel who are not directly linked to the communication function area who may have little or no understanding of certain protocols as well as behaviours expected from them at this point. There needs to be a structure that chairs the process. The first example of such a structure is the steering committee .
1.3 Communication integration processes thus need well thought out procedures to be undertaken in order for the processes to be successful. Stimulants of such a task such as the ten drivers need to be applied and so should the several management efforts of this task so that there is order and goals are attained through organised protocol.

QUESTION 2
INTEGRATED COMMUNICATION MEASUREMENT
2.1 Integrated communication needs to be measured in order for the integrators to evaluate its successes, failures and areas that need to be dealt with in order for the intended objectives to be met. The following essay will discuss the three dimensions of integrated communication evaluation and measurement; a real-life situation will be taken into account to provide a detailed outline of the measuring instrument to be used by Supa Technologies using the models of Duncan and Moriarty, Van Riel and Ehler and will discuss auditing tools and methodology for integrated marketing and stakeholder relationships .
2.2 Process of integration communication requires the corporation of the different areas of the communication department to work in a unit in order for the objectives to be achieved. When the different functions work together, then it becomes much easier for the department to evaluate and monitor the communication process and how effective or ineffective the various tools and systems are. It also measures how the engagement between the different functional personnel through the planning process, how the understanding of the different departments play a pivotal role in the integration process thus evaluating these core competencies benefits the department in the aim to ensure the successes of integration, Message consistency ensures for the consist flow of messages in the functional areas to ensure a common identity of the enterprise and overall branding experience is created .There needs to be a form of assessment with regards to brand messaging and what messages are being passed ,the mediums being integrated and how they complement each other to its maximum capacity and whether they fit into the integration process or should be replaced by a more integrated and non-traditional media form. Customer feedback is very important because it allows for the enterprise to get an understanding of their clientele’s experiences and opinions about the enterprise services and products. By evaluating customer complaints, compliments, suggestions this becomes possible. There is the matter of making sure the database is well maintained, updated and distributed to the functional areas using a common internal intranet work so that it is used effectively for the increased customer satisfaction and acceleration of sales and services.
The output of integration refers to the product that comes out of the planning of the brand messages found within the marketing function. When we look t output, it should not be mistaken for the results that these messages cause when implemented, but we should look at what messages are created, this is then the output..The various messages within the integrated communication range can be understood as output. Such as the products, services, planning messages involved. Evaluating the output deals with the consistency of the messages not the development aspect of these messages .
The third and final dimension is the outcomes also referred to as the effects of the integration deals with measuring the impact the various messages of communication have after the process in creating them and output. There can only be certainly of how effective this method is if there is an evaluation conducted where stakeholder’s relationships are analysed. By understanding the climate between stakeholders and the organisations after the integrated communication process then we can come to a conclusion of whether there has been any impact. Stakeholders are not like products which can be analysed by quantity of sales, thus when measuring impact on human beings such as stakeholders, the observation should be made on their behavioural patterns after the integrated communication process is conducted. By reviewing the entire process and our objectives then we can conclude to whether we have achieved our goals.
2.2. Reporting to the board of Supa Technologies about the successes and failures of the company’s failed efforts of communication efforts is a priority for a director especially in an evolving environment where all organisational aspects have to be measured. Communication integration aims to ensure consistency, co-ordination, alignment of messages within the communication process, stakeholder orientation and differentiation and sharing of information. The communication integration success or failure can be evaluated with regards to whether these objectives have been met or not and how the integration communication has become a custom in the organisation itself.
There needs to be a criteria that will run across the board and that will accommodate Duncan and Moriarty, Van Riel and Ehler’s models. Within the measurement tool there will be a criteria from one to five, the one being a fully functional integration system whilst a five meaning this function does not exist in anyway. The focus of measurement will be on the various areas and aims needing integration and how successful. Infrastructure for integration needs to be available for the process to be carried out efficiently. According to Van Riel, there needs to be. There needs to be liaisons who will be in charge of the entire communication integration process, policies need to be implemented at every level of the organisation and communication dimensions within the function, protocols to ensure that tasks such as analysis are undertaken, strategy drafting for measurement of message content the mechanisms needed in order for continuous interaction between the different groups as well as with the different stakeholders involved and for the reception of any responses provided.
He level of consistency will also reveal how effective the communication integration programme has been from the scale of one to five one being entirely consistent and in accordance with the plan, we are able to measure the certain dimensions of consistency what has to occur in that dimension in order for the organisation to figure out the way forward and plan on it. This can be the use of web pages to fulfil the visual identity aspect of the consistency framework and regularity of messages in the internal and external communication spheres.
Coordination, strategic alignment, and stakeholder orientation can also be ,measured o ma scale of one to five with one being the eventfulness o these aims whilst five on the score board becomes the lack of its occurrence at all. The dimensions of cross-functional planning and monitoring, zero-based planning and creation of core competencies have been identified by Duncan and Moriarty . There needs to be interaction between the different functional areas in every respect such as planning as well as budgeting and daily unplanned contact between the different role players in each area. The strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats need to be analysed and planning needs to be done from the foundation so that an discrepancies are eliminated on all organisational levels. In order for the organisation to function, its employees and those working within the structure need to be competent enough. Competency can be attained through proper training, proper educational protocol in selecting key integrators as well as experience should be evaluated and the staff should know the organisation’s mission and its various function so they have a holistic approach and understand of Supa Technologies to pre=vent future failures.
Strategy is an important factor, by using the corporate mission and consistency of messages this is attainable because those involved can apply the mission in all their duties and be aware of their objectives an the organisation itself. They can relate to the ideas .The brand needs to be looked at, whether the messages are in coherence with the brand and if the brand is strategically embedded in all aspects of the organisation as a whole..The stakeholders need to be focused on because stakeholders keep the organisation afloat .This can be done by the evaluation of stakeholder relationships, how the different stakeholders are treated in accordance with their capacity in the organisation and are they differentiated from each other, how often does the organisation interact with its stakeholders and by which means and at what level, there also needs to be management of these entities, how they are developed in the organisational context and whether the various divisions use stakeholder information to their maximum capacity especially in building relationships with them on personalised and or mass level..
The level of information sharing also d=says a great deal about the organisation’s potential to fail or to succeeded because it stabilises the information being produced and distributed in order for organisational functionality and communication. This can also be done on a scale of one to five with one being functional area and five not n function at all. The proper structures need to be in place such as the central systems within the organisation that allows for the flow of information, capturing of research and its conducting, and proper equipment to maintain databases of clients and stakeholders to every department and finally researchers and integrators need ti know how to interpret the data collected in the measurement tools using the mean and median techniques so that there is accurate conclusions made in order to know the way forward and how to apply the data.
As a director of Supa Technologies, it is best to review the outline of this measuring tool to ensure that the data collected is valid and sound and to the benefit of the organisation. Qualitative and quantitative data will be possible to collect if scaled and the aims allows for the research to be conducted in order for the interpretation of data to be possible, weaknesses to be discovered and areas of strengths to be indentified for planning and ensuring effective integration of communication in the organisation. The integrated marketing and stakeholder auditing tools and methodology are used to evaluate the organisation’s efforts to develop relationships and the measurement of the impact of the integrated marketing communication is effective on stakeholder relationships. The research tools used in the integrated marketing communication are questionnaires, communication network interviews and content analysis. Other methods based online include surveys, discussion groups and content analysis of the organisation’s website. In the stakeholder relationship audit, requires a survey under the integrated marketing communication bar.
Questionnaires are important because they allow the researcher to explore the thoughts of stakeholders and research sample. Within the integrated marketing communication function we also find this to assist the researcher in determining the key personnel’s cognitive understanding as well as knowledge of the various aspects of integrated marketing communication. This includes the brand, how effective or ineffective certain marketing tools are in promoting a product or service and how they can be improved after identifying their strengths and weaknesses, the priorities of the stakeholders are also evaluated together with the integration and evaluation of communication efforts are a few dimensions that the questionnaires tools seeks to research.
Communication network interviews are there to uncover how the different relationships within the integrated communication framework functions in terms of the dissemination of data amongst the internal stakeholders .The processes involved and systems used and nature of integration whether intense where the process has embedded in the the organisation or still primary level where the key players are still assuming their position within the process .
The third integrated communication tool is the content analysis to analyse previous communication transactions to evaluate consistency of messages as well as the marketing communication objectives.
Another tool is called the contact point analysis when stakeholders have encounters with the organisation itself and how this has an effect on them .Contact points can refer to the design of the enterprise, physical attributes that allows for the client to make judgements about the business itself and allow lee-way for research to be made. Through a contact point where the organisation or its products and anything that is part of it, there can be research conducted to see if the tool has any effect.
The online methods do not just look at customer relations like the previous tools do, rather, the online method of research looks at a more advanced and modern way of research. The first is the online surveys which can be conducted using space and time and the researcher does not have to be constrained by location, time and a small budget because more members can take part in the survey, in different locations, at the same time and results can be accessed instantly through the website. New technology has introduced certain platforms through the internet that allow for researchers to have a variety of people to be sampled and communicated with simultaneously. This is good because once again the researcher has access to a larger population and variety for the validity of the research conducted. It is also much easier for internal and external groups to communication with the researcher through video portals online in the comfort of their homes and or nearby internet access points and prevents absence and time consumptions .The online discussion groups give the organisation an added advantage because it allows for the exploration of the ideas of their stakeholders and attitude towards their products through an ongoing discussion forum. It makes way for the improvement of products, services as well as systems to improve the messages that are publicised by the organisation. The website content should also be analysed because its is the virtual meeting point of the organisation, clientele or potential clientele. It needs to be aligned to the integrated marketing communication objectives and the consistency factor for it to yield positive outcomes.
The stakeholder relationship audit deals with the effects or outcomes with integrated marketing communication. The use of attitudinal surveys and focuses on phases. The integrated marketing communication methodology focuses on client relationships whilst the stakeholder methodology is more concerned with stakeholders and how effective integrated marketing communication is.
The first phase of the stakeholder relationship audit is the founding of the stakeholders who will be part of the sample group to be part of the research and hate relevant issues that pertain to that sample are also identified and drafted. This becomes possible through the various gatherings and environments that are populated by stakeholders to make this possible.
According to Murphy and Murphy in Angelopulo and Barker, both research methods quantitative and qualitative are used (2012:435).

The second phase is where the researcher has the sample of stakeholders who will be involved in answering questions regarding the issues of concern. Four standard questions are asked. They are based on the importance, performance, analysis of the best performing organisation, and improvement of performance on a standardised scale. The highest numeral represents hte best performance and the lowest represents poor performance.

The third phase is used to finalise the study where calculations are done using the quantitative method. The mean values are then calculated taken from the various questions that have been asked in phase two..The higher the value means the organisation has a positive value then it means it has intensified relationships with the stakeholder and the lower the value the poor the performance.
According to Murphy and Murphy (2012:435):
The performance gap gap=organisation performance (question 2)-Importance of performance (question 1)
The best practice gap=organisation performance (question 2)-Best other organisation performance (question 3)

The stakeholder relationship audit can be used to analyse as well as to initiation purposes. The data produces certain aspects about the communication process and relationships between stakeholders and the organisation itself, such as the pitfalls within the organisation itself .Integrated communication models should thus be used to deal with the issues faced organisations in order to strengthen its stakeholder and organisational relationships and be used to measure the effects of integrated marketing communication.
In order for an organisation to accomplish its integration communication goals, there needs to be more than just strategy and functionality methodology. After implementation of certain plans towards integration communication actualisation ,a measurement has to be conducted so that the organisation is weary of its integration communication positioning. It also makes it possible for hte integrators to weigh the strengths, weaknesses, collect viewpoints and suggestions to improve relationships between stakeholders, internal and external personnel and also to improve sales and develop new techniques.

SOURCES CONSULTED

Angelopulo,GC AND Barker,R. (eds) 2013.Integrated Organisational Communication.2nd Edition.Lansdowne:Juta

Porter, M.E. 1980. Competitive strategy. New York: Free Press.