Evaluating the Communication Strategy adopted by Yahoo

Founded in 1994 by Stanford Ph.D. students David Filo and Jerry Yang, Yahoo! began as a hobby and has evolved into a leading global brand that changed the way people communicate with each other, conduct transactions and access, share, and create information. Today, Yahoo! Inc. attracts hundreds of millions of users every month through its innovative technology and engaging content and services, making it one of the most trafficked Internet destinations and a world class online media company. The majority of Yahoo! offerings are available in more than 30 languages. The company is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, with a presence in more than 25 countries, provinces, and territories. Yahoo!’s vision is to be the centre of people’s online lives by delivering personally relevant, meaningful Internet experiences (Yahoo, 2010)

“Yahoo! operates the web portal http://www.yahoo.com which provides content including the latest news, entertainment, and sports information. The portal also gives users access to other Yahoo! services like Yahoo! Mail which is the most popular product, Yahoo! Maps which provides the user with maps of cities and town , Yahoo! Finance enables user to have achieve to financial trade and stock market, Yahoo! Groups is a large collection of online discussion boards and Yahoo! Messenger which offer free communication . The majority of the product offerings are available globally in more than 20 languages.”

When any organisation is formed is main objective is to serve a certain purpose or need. “Yahoo aims to be the center of peoples online lives”.

Customer is king and it is always important to provide a personal responsibility in order to maintain the customer’s loyalty and trust. Customer are always regards as the number one priority and keeping them satisfied is main goal always.

Main body

External And Internal Communication

Corporate Communication is an essential aspect of an organisation and one that can determine the success of the organisation. “It is the management function that offers a framework for the effective coordination of all internal and external communication with the overall purpose of establishing and maintain favourable reputations with stakeholder groups upon which the organisation is dependent on “( Joep Cornelissen 2008)

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Markwick and Fill model helps with explaining how an organisation presents itself to each stakeholders and how it enables to distinguish itself from all other organisation

In every organisation employers are the one of the key assets that helps the business establish itself in the market. Yahoo! believes that Work and play join forces to revolutionize the web When Yahoo! Started it was a directory of websites. They pioneered a new profession for its employees called Web Surfer which involved categorizing sites of every stripe in which they have to decide what to include, where to arrange the information and how to describe things in a clear point of view.

In embarking on the task of bringing order to so much information, Yahoo! established foundational principles which are as relevant today as they were when the Web was new: Be simple, clear, direct. Be useful, inclusive, and provide context, not judgment.

Employers are not confined to their offices for hours. Yahoo! believes that Work and play join forces to revolutionize the web. Forbes magazine has named Yahoo one of the best companies to work for. Yahoo! believes humor is essential to success and it applauds irreverence and don’t take ourselves too seriously. We celebrate achievement. The company fosters an environment of teamwork, offering video games and Foosball, and celebrating achievements and milestones with company parties.

Environment – Yahoo! has a strong commitment to corporate citizenship, and strives to conduct business in an environmentally responsible manner. Yahoo! is constantly trying to give back to the community in a lot of ways. It ranked number one environment corporate citizen in the Corporate Responsibility Officer’s 10 Best Media list in 2007

We use ingenuity and technology to reduce our dependence on natural resources such as energy, materials, and water. And each Yahoo! employee pitches in to help reduce waste. This teamwork makes decreasing the overall environmental impact almost as much fun as yodeling. We endeavor to use our global reach to promote the story of sustainability. As a result, we are increasing value to our customers and shareholders, providing an example to other companies, and contributing to a more sustainable future. Yahoo believes in sharing the success with the communities it lives and works in and strive to do our very best for their employees, shareholders, customers and the environment. Yahoo is committed to provide the best online user experience to all individual disable or non-disabled alike. In 2008 Yahoo! developed the accessibility lab which designers and engineers studied how disabled children and individuals soon computers and assess the internet Yahoo!’s commitment to accessibility is not only socially responsible but also a reflection of our mainstream business practices. Yahoo! fundamentally respects its customers.

Identity, Reputation and Image

Every organisation has an image that gels with its reputation.By establishing an identity in a market a company is able to distinguish itself from other corporations in the market. Apart from being a leading global internet brand Yahoo!s When is come to identity Yahoo regards itself a corporate citizen it has associated itself with two charities which are Trans Tanz And Hope HIV. Tranz Tanz charity in Tanzania that aims to provide people living with HIV and AIDS with drug treatment and testing facilities in regional health centers without charge. But since many people cannot afford public transport .Trans Tanz provides free bus service transporting patients to and from the health centers and their homes. In 2010 on world aids day it plans to use motorbikes to deliver the drugs and test kits from the Health Center’s to the patients home.

Hope HIV supports people in sub Saharan Africa who have been affected or orphaned by HIV/AIDS by providing education and emotional support to the victims. HopeHIV aims to make the victims future one of hope rather than despair. By being associated with such charities Yahoo! is able to project its image of itself as a caring and responsible corporate citizen contributing to the fight against one of the deadliest diseases around. This enables to boost Yahoo! brand recognition and royalty to its customers (Yahoo 2010)

Culture

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Every organisation has a culture which generates the image of an organisation to the outside world. It determines how the corporation presents itself. Hofstede Framework for assessing culture helps us in identify Yahoo’s culture. One of factor for cultural assessment is Power Distance in Yahoo the level between the top level management and employees is low which means ideas and view are encouraged and accepted by the management to surfaces anywhere within the organisation. All employees are treated equally and are encouraged to communicate openly (Yahoo Code of Ethics)

Individualism is hugely prevalent in all Yahoo ! companies since it an American establishment. With regard to the Masculine and femininity approach Yahoo! adopts both the styles.Yahoo is committed to being a leading global company and strives to do so with integrity. They execute the task flawless and dislike any shortcuts on the other hand Yahoo adopts a famine approach towards its relationship with its employees .Yahoo employers are regarded as valuable assets and the company takes good care of them by providing them with all of perks (dental medical insurance etc).When it comes to uncertain factors affecting the environment Yahoo is able to adapt to it. Yahoo always tries to anticipate the trends in the market and quickly embrace it.

Role Of Human Resource Management

Human Resouce Management is regarded as one of the most important functions in an organisation. It acts as a guideline for the organisation to add value to its business. One of the main roles of Human Resource management is to meet the needs of management, HRM is a strategic management tool that links people in an organisation towards the goals and objectives of the business.

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The Harvard analytical framework explains how the organisation operates in a business environment. Situational factors influence the organisation’s HR strategy choice. With reference to the work ethics of Yahoo! it conducts itself with integrity that upholds the values of the organisation. The style of management adopted is different from most business organisation they believe that humour is essential for success. The power distance between the top management and employers is low as Yahoo accepts view, ideas and opinions from anywhere within the organisation. By enabling employers to express themselves will lead to more dedication and commitment which in turn helps Yahoo to achieve their targets.

Stakeholder’s interest is an essential aspect in an organisation. Yahoo’s management consist of high skilled and qualified people. To name a few one of them being Micheal J. Callahan who is the executive vice president of Yahoo! his role is to advise the company’s

management and board of directors on strategic and corporate matters. When it comes to Yahoo’s marketing strategy Elisa Steele is in charge Elisa handles the global marketing strategy as well as global communication and regional marketing. Yahoo! considers itself to be an equal opportunity employer and believes in treating it employers with courtesy and respect. With the wide number of employers working in Yahoo! coming from different backgrounds the organisation has zero tolerance towards unlawful workplace harassment and always strives to maintain an environment where all cultural backgrounds are embraced.

The HRM policies of Yahoo! provide guidelines on how the organisation accepts its staff to conduct themselves and how communication between various departments should be carried out in a structured manner so that it is complaisant with the laws and regulations which are applicable to all their worldwide operations.

David who works as the Chief Human Resouces Officer say “I constantly listen to feedback from employees on how the HR processes can improve and do my best to address Yahoos concerns.”

Employers are encouraged to take up new challenges to learn more about the business and with that exposure they will be able to contribute immensely to the team and Yahoo! as a whole

HR Outcomes

The HR outcomes revolves around the commitment the employers have towards the organisation, The staff views and ideas are always considered by the management and discourage them to be spectator in the organisation this helps with developing an emotional bond between the employers and the organisation itself.

Long Term Consequences

It has been 15 years since Yahoo! established itself and during its time period it was been able to emerge as one of the top most successful companies in the world .With all the success it said gained Yahoo! has not forgotten the staff who have been with the organisation from the start and their efforts haven’t gone unnoticed .

Conclusion

In light of the above analysis undertaken by me for Yahoo! I feel that the communication strategy adopted by the firm is extremely efficient .Yahoo has adopted an excellent corporate strategy that enable the organisation to communicate corporate messages to all its stakeholders. Yahoo is one of the most successful media and communication enterprises in the internet industry. People from all over the world come to Yahoo to find information that matters to them the most and Yahoo never fails to deliver that to their customer. All the employers in yahoo are recognised and rewarded thereby sustaining their contribution towards the success of the company.With regard to corporate reputation Yahoo has consistently communicated and projected its corporate images towards the stakeholders as being authentic , unique and responsible with its association to a large number of charitable organisation and fight against AIDS.