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116 Corporate Communications in Practice

awareness, attitude and reputation, or behaviour) rather than relying on interim
measures of communications effects such as media coverage or simple exposure, 27
and to evaluate the effects achieved against the target or benchmark set with the
initial objectives of the communications programme. Such evaluation will then also
provide important insights as to whether and how the communications programme
has worked, whether it has contributed to the achievement of corporate and market
strategies, and whether changes or alterations to communications strategy need to be
made for the following period(s).As part of a formal evaluation of the communica-
tions programme and the period in which it has run, it is often also important to
consider how emergent issues or crises were handled through communications.
Here, one may look at the effectiveness of the issue handling (e.g. whether the
potential for damage to the corporate reputation was minimized) and the operational
costs involved; and whether the response and handling of the issue was in line with
the general scope and direction of the communications strategy.
Tracking and evaluating for both process and communications results through
research, and improving on them, is also politically important within the organiza-
tion for showing the accountability of communications, and for garnering executive
support.While at times it may be difficult, for instance, to measure and pin down
communications effects or to single out the effect that communications has had
upon stakeholder behaviour amid other factors of influence (such as news media and
peer support), continuous efforts at evaluation are nevertheless essential for ensuring
that senior managers consider communications as valuable and as being used in a
responsible, professional and accountable manner. Being perceived as valuable and
accountable is essential for ensuring that communications continues to play an
important role alongside other business functions like finance or human resources
within the overall strategic management of the organization.
The whole process of communications strategy making is illustrated in Box 4.3
with a case study of Wal-Mart, the US retail group.

Box 4.3 Case study: Wal-Mart and its communications strategy 28

From the beginning, the Wal-Mart retail firm and its founder, Sam Walton, have been
enormously successful. Sam Walton opened his first Wal-Mart discount store in 1962,
the company became a public company in 1970, SAM’s Clubs were rolled out in the
1980s and became super-centers in the 1990s. Today, Wal-Mart is the largest retailer
in the world and easily topped the latest Fortune 500 list of the world largest corpo-
rations in 2003.
Wal-Mart’s success and its exemplary growth first and foremost within the US
market has been attributed to the large size of the US market, founder Sam Walton’s
inspirational leadership, an associate-focused organizational culture, a capacity for rein-
vention and innovation, low cost operations, vendor partnering, an efficient logistics
system, extensive internal communications, continuous merchandising, a customer
service orientation and competitor inattention. But, one important and previously
overlooked cause for Wal-Mart’s phenomenal growth seems to be its communica-
tions strategy, which is linked to its corporate mission and identity of serving