Whistle Blower

Having a profession as public relations is a job that is also requires the person to build a good relation, not only with internal but also external people around the company. There are some type of works that should be done by a public relation practitioners, one of them is clarified a problem, rumor or crisis that been happened in a company. This usually called as a whistle blowing.

“Public relations is a strategic communication process that builds mutually beneficial relationships between organizations and their publics.” (Yann, 2014)

A crisis that happen to a company can happen anytime, and in this situation public relations has a job to analyze and be aware with every little thing that might make company’s good reputation becomes bad. Whistleblowing is when someone reports suspected wrongdoing in our company, and the whistle blower can be anyone from outside or even inside the company. Officially this is called ‘making a disclosure in the public interest’.

I’ll take an example of Solaria case related to the whistle blower. In early August 2013, an issue about Solaria came up to the public. The rumor was arise by an article in www.arrahman.com with a headline “Solaria sudah haram, arogan pula” this article telling a story about an accounting lecturer, Prof. Tjiptohadi Sawarjuwono, Ph.D. from University of Airlangga (UNAIR), who was wanting to open ‘franchise’ Solaria Restaurant in his hometown. But unexpectedly, he said that the owner of the Solaria said he must use the pork fat in some of Solaria menus. Then the lecturer was shock and tell the owner that its haram, but the owner of Solaria answered him with a very arrogant way “Here, in Solaria, we usually use that (the pork fat). You know we don’t put a Halal logo in our restaurant, but if you don’t want it then it’s ok with me.”

After that article published to the public, people finally realized that in every Solaria restaurants do not have a Halal label. These things made people in Indonesia, who are majority are Moslem, trust that issue and choose not to eat in that restaurant. But, at that time, the public relations from Solaria restaurant did a quick respond towards the rumor that happened to them. Their statement to respond about the false information from the article is;

“From 1995 until now, Solaria is not a franchise business. Until today, there is only one person who actually own and has responsible to all of 130 Solaria stores in Indonesia, it is also one of the factors that makes the price of food in Solaria relatively low-priced but not ‘cheap. Because of this rumor, we are now is in process to get the Halal certificate from MUI. We believe that all the raw materials Solaria uses are already using halal products, either ice cubes or spices that imported are all Halal. You can check it if you want.” - Mr. Dedy Nugrahadi, Operations Manager of Solaria.

According to Solaria case, a public relations practitioner should always give their attention to things that might damage the company reputation. Even before the crisis becomes big, they also should give a quick respond to clarify the whistle blowing. They also should make a Crisis Management Plan (CMP) which contains some steps that will help the public relations staff as anticipation when the crisis strikes.

Dika P. Fauzia Putri

1501197111

References

Arrahmah.com,. (2014). Solaria sudah haram, arogan pula. Retrieved 7 November 2014, from http://www.arrahmah.com/news/2013/08/26/solaria-haram-arogan.html

Yann, A. (2014). What is Public Relations? PR Definition: PRSA Official Statement. Prsa.org. Retrieved 7 November 2014, from http://www.prsa.org/aboutprsa/publicrelationsdefined/#.VFw3FPmUeSo

CSR and CSV

Large companies that already exist must be very familiar with the term of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Creating Shared Value (CSV). These two things are similarly have a positive impact on the image of the company that has been done it. Even though both of these things have a great impact, but they actually have significant differences. A company is required to conduct CSR as a form of their social responsibility towards the community. On the other hand, company is free to choose whether they want to do CSV or not.

According to Ghillyer (2010:78) CSR is:

            “CSR is the actions of an organization that are targeted toward achieving a social benefit over and above maximizing profits for its shareholders and meeting all its legal obligations.”

Based on that definition, Corporate Social Responsibility is an act which is done by an organization and it has been aimed to achieve the social benefit between the community and the company and maximize the profit of the shareholders, also as a part to fulfill their legal obligation. For example, in Indonesia there are lots of big companies that have a well-known CSR program. Such as Pertamina with their 4 kinds of CSR program that each of them has their own concentration in the education field, social community, health, and environment. The other large Indonesian company is Djarum, with their Sumbangsih Sosial program, Djarum Beasiswa Bulutangkis, Djarum Trees For Life, Djarum Beasiswa Plus, and Djarum Apresiasi Budaya.

Creating Shared Value (CSV) by Porter and Kramer is:

“…policies and operating practices that enhances competitiveness a company while simultaneously advancing the economic and social conditions in the communities in which it operates.”

According to that statement, it is very clear that every company has their own competitor. Therefore, there will be a strong competition to get a successful label for the company. In process of reaching that successfulness, a company is required to compete in a healthy manner and one of the strategies is by using the CSV program. Some companies that already use CSV program in running their business are Nestle, Google, IBM, Intel, Wal-Mart, Johson & Johnsons, and Unilever.  For example, Nestle use CSV for their business because they think that to have a long term existence, the community which they serve is also has to be prosper. Therefore, they are not only taking the natural resources and hire people to work, but they also educate, manage and take care the shared value that contains three separate aspects: nutrition, water and rural development.

In conclusion, both of those programs are very positive things that are done by each company to maintain their image. CSR is an obligation that must be carried out as a form of responsibility towards the environment and society. While CSV is one of great strategies to be a company that has longevity but still have their awareness to educate and taken care valuable aspects to be a better company. 

Dika P.  Fauzia Putri
1501197111

What is Philosophy?

Philosophy is a term given for the process of thinking to find the right or the closest answer for the question itself. We think about the answer based on the basis or as well link it to the other factors that can support and bring us to the right answer, such as science, logic, experience and psychology. Curiosity will be something that can also be categorized as a fundamental philosophy, such as finding out why we could end up or live in this world, what goals we want to accomplish in our life or what can motivate us to be better and so on. In my other opinion, one person can also have a philosophy of his/her life. Philosophy for a human being is a point of view of an individual or a basic concept that can be their leader to reach the dream that they have believed or they surely can get it. In the other word, it is an attitude of a mature person that think really deeply before they do or chase the dream they want, because every single step they take will bring various types of consequence and responsibility.

Even though philosophy means the process of finding the answer, but not everything that related to thinking can be called philosophy. Philosophical thinking is thinking by asking questions about the topic you really want to know the answer. The questions itself should also refer to some certain rules so every topic or problem that been questioned will get in depth analysis. By doing that, we might get the closer answer for every topic, problem or even situation we have interested with. There are also several factors that can be categorized as a philosophical thinking, there are radically thinking (deliberate the answer until the root of the question), systematic thinking (finding the answer by thinking logically and do it step by step), and universally thinking (do not restrict any questions that may arise).

Based on my opinion, every human being in this world should have their own philosophy for their life. Because, an individual that uses his/her mind to find out what he/she is trying to achieve might feel satisfied enough when what they are thinking before successfully be reached or close to what he/she expected.