To maintain a company’s reputation it is essential to achieve alignment between the corporate image, corporate vision and corporate culture . One of the reputed brand names that never fails to keep up it’s reputation is “BMW”. As it has forever been able to engage its employees and satisfy the customers.
The brand holds strong identity, marketing campaigns and has been rated as the most valuable automotive brand in the world. The four core values of the company : dynamism, aesthetics, exclusivity and innovation have been included into its commercial design and stakeholders in order to align customers’ mission , vision and culture. One of the key factors contributing to good alignment of vision, culture and image is an organized flow of information between the senior management staff, stakeholders and it’s employees, which BMW has already mastered.
A lot of work has been put by the company to establish a sustainable reputation. Many successful advertisements have been made by the corporation which align perfectly with the brand’s vision and also features the company’s tagline , “The ultimate driving machine”. There are three interfaces to measure the alignment of a company’s vision, culture and image : 1. The gap between vision and culture, 2. Culture and image gap and 3. Image and vision gap and the elements . In the context of BMW the company has been practicing what they preach so it does not possess any of the above mentioned gaps and it is clear that the company’s vision, culture and image are well aligned. They have a strong and well mapped out vision. The gap between image, vision and culture has not been seen. The core values of the company have also been consistently communicated across all it’s corporate communication, corporate design and consumer advertising as well as through behaviors of managers, designers and retail staff.
BMW has placed strong belief in sustainability as a core to innovation which has been incorporated into the company’s identity and brand. The company has given high importance to it’s internal and external stakeholders. Therefore, in an attempt to foster and coordinate stakeholder dialogue sessions , a stakeholder engagement policy has also been set up by the company, it aims to listen to its stakeholders on important issues through which it has been able to maintain effective alignment between it’s vision and strategy, it’s internal culture , it’s external image or reputation.
Corporate vision is the leadership’s aspirations for the company, which is a shared belief within the corporation. BMW has been managing it by being the number one brand, inspiring people and by shaping tomorrow’s individual premium mobility. Second factor i.e. corporate culture are the organization’s values, behaviours and attitudes. The brand (BMW) has been managing it by adding passion and enjoyment, doing teamwork and personnel development. Third factor is corporate image , which is how the outside world sees the organization. In order to manage it BMW produced quality products , made an effort to engage stakeholders and became innovative.
All in all the company has a well aligned mission, vision and culture. It has been working very hard to manage all the three elements continuously in order to grow and continue to keep its name.
