An analysis of the implementation of communication integration in Metropolitan Life Insurance in South Africa

Abstract

This study evaluated communication implementation within Metropolitan Life Insurance (“Metropolitan”) in South Africa. In the current volatile and competitive market setting where companies have similar offerings, compounded by easily accessible information due to technological advancement, having the best products and services does not warrant the success of an organisation. Organisations must invest in relationships with stakeholders to remain relevant to their needs and have a competitive advantage through effective and efficient communication. The prevailing economic headwinds, alongside the scepticism and lack of confidence in companies because of irrefutable corporate scandals, obligate organisations to conduct their business practices transparently. The South African insurance industry is highly competitive and dynamic, especially post-1994 when the reintegration into the international economy took place. The industry is one of those under constant scrutiny mainly because it offers risk management solutions in which the insurance company warrants payment for an uncertain future event. At the same time, they require the customer to pay a certain amount of money as a premium in exchange for the protection promised. They sell a promise. In this regard, insurance companies should implement communication integration (CI) to build their organisational stakeholder groups and intentionally coordinate stakeholder stakes into consistent and targeted communication behaviour. Qualitative and quantitative techniques were applied to collect the data for this study. The qualitative data was collected through telephonic and video interviews and analysed through thematic analysis, where repeated patterns in the data set were identified, while online surveys were used to collect the quantitative data, which was descriptively analysed. The study found that Metropolitan needs policies, frameworks or models that guide communication integration. Metropolitan also needs to learn how to implement it. The study also revealed that there are attempts to align internal messages for consistency; however, external messages are not consistent with internal messages. Lastly, it was found that the organisational strategic alignment of messages is aligned; however, the practical implementation thereof is not possible as these are not broken down into achievable objectives that employees can implement. The study, therefore, recommends that policies, models, and frameworks that guide the implementation of CI be developed at Metropolitan. The study recommends that Metropolitan syncs internal messages and external, procedural and product messages with internal messages so that CI is achieved. Again, the study recommends that Metropolitan breaks down its strategies, mission, and vision into achievable objectives so what it says externally is implantable internally. Furthermore, a measuring instrument should be developed to evaluate the extent of integrated communication as proposed by VanRiel’s model of organising and coordinating the communication process.