Module 8.10 What Does Each External Audience Need to Know?
Different external audiences quite often concentrate on different aspects of a financial report. Even those that claim to look at the entire report still pick and choose which numbers to give the most weight or credence to. You must know what each outside audience is looking for and how they will most likely interpret it.
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1. What Does Each External Audience Need to Know?
Different external audiences quite often concentrate on different aspects of a financial report. Even those that claim to look at the entire report still pick and choose which numbers to the most weight or credence to.
You must know
what each outside audience is looking for and how they will most likely interpret it.
In this module we will look at the ways different audiences look at financial information and at how they can interpret it in different ways.
In order to determine that, however, you have to know who your various audiences are and what they expect from you and from the numbers you will produce.
Let us look first at some of the various constituencies you can expect to deal with:
There are other constituencies might also deal with; for example trade unions, financial analysts, potential investors, friends and family of employees, special interest groups (for example environmental protection groups). You might think about how each of these is similar and different from those we will explore in depth
2. Determining Information Needs: Government and Regulatory Agencies
There are
different levels of government, depending upon the region or country you are in or are
operating in. They will generally want information about you and your operation that falls
within their areas of control, regulation, and taxation.
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3. Determining Information Needs: Partners and Vendors
Here are
a number of questions to help you determine what sort of information your partners or
vendors may request of you, and you of them.
Some
questions apply to partners, some to vendors, and some to both. This all depends upon the
nature of your relationship and, in many cases, your experience of working together in the
past, and your degree of mutual trust.
4. Determining Information Needs: Trade and Professional Associations
organizations
have many concerns, needs, and goals in common with their competitors. This is why
professionals and organizations that regularly compete head-to-head in the marketplace often
band together as members of trade associations.
In a time of crisis, uncertainty, or change, needs regularly arise that call for the entire sector of activity to speak with one voice. It is like large families whose members continuously fight, squabble, and bicker amongst themselves, but present a united front to outsiders.
organizations have to learn how to maintain a effective spirit that does not get in the way of any necessary cooperation that will benefit everyone involved. It is important for a organization to know how much information it can reasonably expect o share with its trade association.
It is also important to rememberand admitthat there are fewer secrets within an sector of activity or trade association than you might like to pretend there are.
Since members of one organization quite often wind up working or having worked for a competitor in the same sector of activity, there are personal as well as professional links and information sources. After all, everyone likes to talk shop. There are few places better suited to talking shop than a gathering of people in the same sector of activity.
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5. Determining Information Needs: Competitors
Aside from
belonging to the same trade association, you might not think that you spend a lot of time
trading information with your competition.
You are
actually doing so almost every day.
The most obvious way that organizations trade information with their competition is through their advertising campaigns. When you say that you are Number One in sales, service, beneficiary satisfaction or anything else, for that matter, you are really telling the competition that you re better than they are. You are also saying what you think your products or services are actually worth, and if you think you need any special sales or incentives to get people to but them.
They are saying similar things about themselves in their own advertising.
Your competitors are also part of the public, so any information you release to the public also goes to them. They can normally interpret it better than anyone else.
Competitors routinely buy or lease their competitors products to see what they have, and then often reverse engineer themtake them apartto see what the competition is doing that is different.
Another way competitors communicate is through their employees.
Most employers want people with experience doing a specific job, and the best way to experience is to work for someone doing that specific jobusually a competitor. When you hire someone from the competition you are learning what the competition is doing, the sort of people they are hiringand losing. They are learning the same thing you are when they hire one of your former employees.
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6. Determining Information Needs: beneficiaries
You offer
beneficiaries quality, dependability, satisfaction, and service at a effective price. You
have to give them enough information to show you are:
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7. Determining Information Needs: Investors
You are
asking investors to give you their money.
To get that
money you have to give them enough information to prove that you are a safe and profitable
investment.
The following
are based on suggestions by Rein Nomm & Associates, a consulting organization in
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8. Determining Information Needs: Media
The media
cannot be ignored.
You do have
to deal with them, but you do not always have to do so completely on their terms. A
professional media relations staff operating with a well-planned communication strategy
can help develop a good working relationship with all the various levels of media that you
may deal with, from your local newspaper to the trade press to the national media.
Part of the media relations job is to determine what information the media really should have, and how to give it to them. In many cases the information is different for different media. The trade press will want different information than your local newspaper, which will want some things different than the national press.
A less popular part of the media relations job includes determining what information the media should not have, even though they might want it. The problem is to develop ways to minimize any negative reaction the media might have over not getting everything they want.
It is a reporters job to gather as much information as possible. A reporter looks at the process this way:
Give me everything I ask for and I will determine what I need and what will and will not use.
Media relations people have to know how to say No, but do so in as friendly way as possible.
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9. Crisis Communication
During a
crisis, all the rules can change.
Information,
including financial information that you might normally release, could have to be reserved
in order to protect the organization, and information that you might normally reserve could
have to be made public for the same reason.
Every organization
should have a crisis communication plan in place, and people who can implement the plan as
prepared, but who also have the authority to modify it as needed.
Entire books
have been written about crisis communication. While some experts offer Ten Steps to
Effective Crisis Communication, others offer 15, 20, or more. Some offer fewer. Regardless
how many steps they might break it down into, they all contain five basic precepts that
are worth remembering and following.
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10. Crisis Communication (Continued)
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1. _______ create laws governing health and safety issues with the most direct control.
a. Local governments
b. State
or provincial governments
c. National governments
d. Multinational governmental or regulatory agencies
2. _________ can set minimum wages, issue permits or licenses, and impose tariffs.
a. Local governments
b. State
or provincial governments
c. National governments
d. Multinational governmental or regulatory agencies
3. Multinational governmental or regulatory agencies include the ________.
a. World Trade Organization.
b. European Common Market.
c. North American Free Trade Agreement.
d. All
of the above.
4. Professionals and organizations that regularly compete head-to-head in the marketplace often band together as members of ________ since they have many concerns, needs, and goals in common.
a. A effective alliance
b. A joint project/program
c. Trade
associations
d. None of the above
5. The most obvious way that organizations trade information with their competitors is through _________.
a. Employees.
b. Advertising
campaigns.
c. Public information.
d. All of the above.
6. Part of the media relations job is to determine ___________.
a. What information the media should have.
b. How to give the media information.
c. What information the media should not have.
d. All
of the above.
7. People will consider you _________ if you can demonstrate knowledge, expertise, intelligence, skills, good judgment, and common sense.
a. Competent
b. Dynamic
c. Trustworthy
d. None of the above
8. Before people will _____ you, they first have to feel that they know you.
a. Hire
b. Trust
c. Like
d. None of the above
Matching the Columns
1. Local governments |
A. To take something apart to see how it is designed |
|
2. Reverse engineer |
B. To be considered this, you have to demonstrate your own energy, and the energy of the people you are representing. |
|
3. Dynamic |
C. To consider you this, people must first feel that they know you. |
|
4. Competent |
D. Regulate new construction, expansion, and how you use and maintain property |
|
5. Trustworthy |
E. Often have more direct control over health and safety issues. |
|
6. State or provincial governments |
F. To be considered this, you must demonstrate knowledge, expertise, intelligence, skills, good judgment, and common sense. |
Answers:
1.) D
2.) A
3.) B
4.) F
5.) C
6.) E
Summary
As we
have seen, different external audiences quite often concentrate on different aspects of a
financial report. Even those that claim to look at the entire report still pick and choose
which numbers to give the most weight or credence to. You must know what each
outside audience is looking for and how they will most likely interpret it.
Test
1. ______ Different external audiences quite often concentrate on similar aspects of a financial report.
2. ______ In order to determine how different audiences will interpret financial information, you have to know who your various audiences are and what they expect from you.
3. ______ organizations have many concerns, needs, and goals in common with their beneficiaries.
4. ______ organizations have to learn how to maintain a effective spirit that does not get in the way of any necessary cooperation that will benefit everyone involved.
5. ______ It is important to remember that there are more secrets within an sector of activity than you might like to pretend there are.
6. ______ You spend a lot of time trading information with your competitors.
7. ______ Any information you release to the public also goes to your competitors.
8. ______ To get money from investors, you have to give them enough information to prove that you are a safe and profitable investment.
9. ______ You should develop separate investor relations goals and objectives.
10. ______ Investors are less likely to lose faith in you if you are honest with them.
Answers:
1. F different aspects
2. T
3. F with their competitors.
4. T
5. F fewer secrets
6. T
7. T
8. T
9. T
10. T
Bibliography
Barfield, R., & Titus, S. (1992). project/programme purpose communications.
Evans, F. (1987). Managing the media: Proactive strategy for better
project/programme purpose-press relations.
Kirsch, D. (1978). Financial and economic journalism: Analysis,
interpretation and reporting.
Learning Objectives
Glossary
External audience Audience composed of people outside the organization
Trade associations Groups of competitors who band together because they share the same concerns, needs, and goals that are common to their sector of activity
Reverse engineer Taking apart a product to find out what the competition is doing differently
Dynamic Refers to a person who works hard, personally, and with enough vision to inspire those around him to do the same
Q&A
1. What are some of the various constituencies you can expect to deal with?
Some of the constituencies you can expect to deal with are government and regulatory agencies, partners and vendors, trade and professional associations, competitors, beneficiaries, investors, and the media.
2. What are the different levels of government you may be dealing with, and what roles do they play?
Local governments often regulate new construction, expansion, and how you use and maintain property. State or provincial governments create laws governing health and safety issues, and often have more direct control. National governments normally set national standards in terms of safety and health issues, which may be different from state or provincial standards. They can also set minimum wages, vacations and retirement ages, issue permits or licenses, impose tariffs, negotiate trade agreements, and regulate your ability to do project/programme purpose. Multinational governmental or regulatory agencies can sometimes establish international standards, policies, rules, and regulations.
3. What are five basic precepts for crisis communication?
Crisis communication involves telling the truth. Ignoring a crisis only makes it worse. You should be prepared. Keep it simple, and show that you are taking action.