Now I am sure most of you reading this have no idea who Raytheon is and what they do. Well, they specialize in defense technologies, homeland security and other government markets throughout the entire world. I chose Raytheon because not only are their corporate headquarters located in my hometown of Waltham, Massachusetts, but I feel that not a lot of people know who they are, what they do, and what they are famous for...Soooooo why not get their name out?
Raytheon was first discovered in 1922 in Cambridge, Massachusetts as the The American Appliance Company and have achieved much success in their near 90 year history. Some discoveries and inventions that Rayhteon is credited with include: Shipboard Radar, the discovery of microwave cooking as well as the first microwave, guided missiles, transitors and NASA communication systems.
Although Raytheon has had a successful corporation throughout its storied history, they have had to deal with some issues that have stood out regarding their reputation. The most recent incident which occurred almost 3 years ago in April of 2006 was when the current CEO of Raytheon Bill Swanson admitted to Plagiarism in his book, "Swanson's Unwritten Rules of Management," which he wrote. as far as the public relations people and the board of trustees handling the situation, it was only a matter of days before they ordered that the book be not published anymore and they took the action of not giving CEO Swanson a raise for the following year. "I mean honestly...he's the C-E-O of RAYTHEON, i think he'll be alright without a raise." However, the people in PR as well as the board handled the situation perfectly. Two other incidents that involved contract disputes both occurred within a 13 month span of each other in October of 1993 and October of 1994 when Raytheon had to pay settlements to the U.S. Government and U.S. Defense Department involving an inflated defense contract for antimissile radar and overpriced labor costs involving the production of Patriot missiles.
In order to communicate to maintain a positive reputation, Raytheon has had a reputable stewardship which includes its involvement in the community, employee safety (because after all they are working with explosives, and chemicals and some high powered machinery), and appreciation for the environment as far the disposal of toxic waste and pollution.
Finally, as finishing this brief (or not brief...) introduction of Raytheon, the challenges and opportunities that exist for the people in public relations for improving the company's reputation will include mainly just getting the name out obviously in a positive way through promotions, the continuation of community involvement, and sponsorships for example, Raytheon just yesterday, released a statement that they will unveil the new interactive experience in Walt Disney World at Epcot's "Innoventions." The name of the attraction is "The Sum of All Thrills" that will be opening this fall. This is a subject that I will expand more upon later on for future blog postings. Now that you have an idea of who Raytheon is and what they do, stay tuned for upcoming posts on the company. Peace!
Corporate Headquaters in Waltham, MA
Sources:
http://www.raytheon.com/ourcompany/
http://www.raytheon.com/ourcompany/history/leadership/index.html
Good start! Good content. I enjoyed reading this. Try embedding the links right in the middle of your writing instead of at the end. And, you don't have to use the URL language in your blog. You can creae other, more interesting labels to get the reader to those URL's. Enjoy and have fun with this!
ReplyDelete"Raytheon was first discovered in 1922 in Cambridge, Massachusetts..."
ReplyDeleteand then again in 1933...
Albert Einstein, peering through a microscope: Cripes! Teddy! Look here! This is a new species of venerial disease!
Teddy Kennedy: Albert! You've discovered Raytheon!
Sorry, Jim Beam and the internet are an unstable combination (hic).