Tesla Organizational Communications

Organizational Communications Part I: Description of the Organization Tesla is a niche-market company organization that manufactures electric vehicles and batteries to advance the green energy movement in the modern world. Guided by the vision of the CEO, Elon Musk, Tesla began its car business by provided luxury brand vehicles under two models, the Tesla Model X and the Tesla Model S. Recently, the company has been working on mass production of a lower-priced brand, the Tesla Model 3, for consumers not in the market for luxury vehicles.

Tesla’s mission statement is: “to accelerate the advent of sustainable transport by bringing compelling mass market electric cars to market as soon as possible” (Tesla, 2013). At the core of its business is the concept of providing a product that promotes sustainability and that does not rely upon the burning of fossil fuels for vehicle transportation. Tesla’s electric vehicles are battery powered rather than gas powered, which is how Tesla aims to support the sustainability initiative.

Evans (2017) points out that “sustainability is the ability to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” To support its mission, Tesla also purchased Solar City, a solar panel producing company, in an effort to broaden its scope and incorporate the solar panel business into its own productions.

By promoting itself as a company that is dedicated to the use of green or renewable energy, Tesla has found support from consumers who are interested in investing in a business that takes sustainability seriously and makes it the heart of its enterprise. So far, Tesla has succeeded in winning supporters, with its stock price soaring exponentially in recent years. However, the firm still has work to do in meeting production goals of its Model 3.

Part II: Strategic Communication in the Organization Tesla’s public relations strategy has been put to the test recently, as a string of bad news events have rattled investors. One appealing aspect of Tesla’s cars, aside from their battery power, is the self-driving capability that they are supposed to possess. By putting the car on autopilot, it should navigate traffic and get the individual to the destination safely.

However, accidents and deaths have occurred while Tesla cars’ autopilot was engaged, which has raised alarms about its dependability. To address this situation, Musk himself has used social media to calm the fears of the public, demonstrating how the autopilot works with himself sharing a ride in a Tesla with another passenger.

By uploading videos to Twitter and posting terse messages about how he expects the company to be cash flow positive by Q3 or Q4 of this year, Musk has used social media to convey the company’s expectations in ways that no company of Tesla’s market cap would have ever done a decade or two ago (Musk, 2018). However, part of Tesla’s appeal is its innovative approach to both productions and public relations.

By embracing social media as a platform, Musk is rivaled by no less a personage than the President of the United States who also uses social media as a public relations tool. Not every investor is happy about the way Tesla allows Musk to promote goals via Twitter, though, and some Twitter users have even asked whether the SEC will investigate Tesla if it does not meet the stated goal made by Musk via social media.

Misleading investors can, after all, have big repercussions—especially when a publicly traded company like Tesla has climbed rapidly in terms of share price. Another strategic communications method of Tesla is to manage its image and reputation using press releases and webcasts. Tesla has used press releases and webcasts to promote new products like the Tesla semi that the company is working on producing. This is how Tesla has gone about managing the company’s image and reputation.

It uses the Internet and social media to popularize its brand and win itself a following—much in the same way Apple has done. By creating a groundswell of support from followers who latch on to the idea of the company—which is promoted in Tesla’s mission statement and in numerous Musk social media Twitter posts—Tesla has managed its image and reputation effectively.

At the same time, some missteps have occurred: for instance, when Musk posted an April Fools joke that the company was “bankwupt” [sic]—investors did not care for the joke and the stock fell sharply at opening bell next day (Musk, 2018). Tesla’s branding has been its biggest form of strategic communication. By starting off as green energy luxury electric car manufacturer, Tesla identified a niche market that it could dominate.

It used this approach to the market to build its brand and develop a follower of supporters. Attracted by what the Tesla brand signified (the company was named after famed inventor Nikola Tesla, after all, who is considered a genius with respect to electricity), investors flooded the company with cash. Its branding strategy, in other words, has been very effective. In terms of risk and crisis communication, Tesla has sought to communicate issues with the public using the same methods of press releases and social media.

However, the company has failed to work with at least one investigative group regarding a recent crash of one of its model cars that resulted in a driver fatality. Tesla is in the habit of trying to play down risks and crises by always promoting some new development in the company to distract investors from what actually may be a significant problem underneath. Part III: Assessment and Recommendations Tesla’s use of strategic communication is both very effective and very possibly dysfunctional and destructive.

For instance, Tesla has managed to develop a very powerful brand using innovation, social media, and the popular appeal of its CEO to draw investors to the company. Musk is always communicating with the public everyday via social media, re-posting articles about electric vehicles, green energy, sustainability, and.