Corporate Identity Corporate identity is important both internally and externally to an organization. A healthy and well- defined corporate identity serves to unify and motivate employees. This in turn, is eventually reflected in the nature of the organization's interactions with other organizations and with the general public as well. It also helps to individuate and highlight an organization in its environment. Creating an effective corporate identity is partly the responsibility of the public relations team and partly the responsibility of the management team. The PR. team has to make sure that the level of internal awareness and education regarding the Space Solar Power Program is at least as good as that on the outside. Furthermore, as the organization grows it will become important to start an internal publication to inform the employees and friends of the Program about relevant events. The management team has to take steps to ensure a healthy, supportive atmosphere within the organization, an atmosphere with its own special “corporate culture.” Establishing various corporate traditions, rewards, enjoyable activities, good benefit packages, and a well-implemented feedback system, are all effective tools for evolving the kind of “corporate culture” we would like to see in the ISPO. We should seek to ensure that interactions between various levels in the organizational hierarchy are as non-confrontational and non-intimidating as is possible. Above all, it is vital that the organization be characterized by an atmosphere of trust, recognition for hard work, and cooperation. In general, the corporate identity of the ISPO will set the tone for the future evolution of the organization. This tone will have a profound effect on the intellectual and social environments within the organization. The corporate identity of the ISPO will effect the kinds of ideas that are suggested and accepted within the organization, the kinds of people who are hired and fired, and the behavior of the organization towards its employees, it's partners, and the general public. In this way, it should be evident that the corporate identity of the ISPO will be directly influential on the Space Solar Power Program. If the corporate culture is conservative and intimidating, then it is likely that the Program will turn out to be conservative and intimidating. If the ISPO corporate culture is innovative, open- minded, and socially aware, then it is likely that the Program will have these same characteristics. We suggest that in engineering the ISPO corporate culture, careful attention is given to those general qualities which the organization would like to see in the final Space Solar Power Program. Once these qualities have been determined, a corporate culture which also has these qualities should then be defined. Information Policy The information policy of the ISPO needs to be clearly defined. An ineffective information policy can lead to conflicts within the organization and when interfacing with the public, the scientific and political communities, and the media. There have been numerous examples of large technological projects with ineffective information policies. Mainly, this has been due to information flow problems. The Biosphere 2 project is a good case study for how things can go wrong in a scientific venture when the flow of information is mismanaged. The Space Biosphere Ventures corporation chose to implement a closed information policy due to the proprietary nature of its technology, however, this policy aroused the suspicion and indignation of the scientific community. Furthermore, the Biosphere management chose to delay reports of problems with the project, a practice which further aroused distrust. Although the problem is now being corrected, the damage done by this policy is slow to heal, and many members of the scientific community still feel disapproval towards the project. Clearly, the Space Solar Power Program is vulnerable to similar problems to those experienced by Space Biosphere Ventures, Inc. and steps must be taken to make sure that they do not materialize. This can be done by maintaining an information policy that is as open as is possible within legal limits. Access to all information about the organization and the project should be allowed and assisted wherever possible. In the case of confidential information, sanitized versions of the information should be created. In general, if information is missing or restricted, then people think something is being hidden. In some cases, such as proprietary technical specifications, and some financial and legal documents, it is acceptable that access to information will be restricted, but in many other cases, such as scheduling, safety and environmental considerations, status of projects, experimental results, etc., access to information ought to be invited and encouraged. Another important consideration is the flow of information. The Space Solar Power Program needs to have a central information clearinghouse, such as a public relations office, to coordinate both the internal and external release of information about the organization and its work. In general, information should flow from the bottom up and should be iteratively evaluated via this clearinghouse
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