Until recently, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) was a quasi-government organization administered by Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and responsible for implementing technical cooperation programs abroad under Japanese Official Development Assistance. Only 28% of ordinary Japanese recognized JICA and even fewer knew its role. Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi’s administrative reforms ended the agency’s days of sheltering anonymously under foreign ministry tutelage when JICA was ordered to become an “Independent Administrative Institution”. PR Consulting Dentsu successfully remodeled JICA’s image, transforming the agency from faceless bureaucracy into a visible, accountable and accessible organization recognized by nearly half the Japanese population.

Problems

JICA was among 105 quasi-government organizations including institutions and special corporations targeted for Independent Administrative Institution status under the Koizumi government’s program of administrative reforms. The status change was deemed necessary to improve the organizations’ efficiency, replacing the virtually assured annual budget disbursements with rigorous target-setting, project evaluation and transparency.

JICA, like many of its counterparts, had never needed to promote its activities widely nor court public opinion. Yet in now the agency found itself forced to convey information about itself or put its continued survival at risk.

With programs in more than 150 countries, an annual budget of over $1.2 billion, and the responsibility of supervising nearly 30,000 training experts, study team members and volunteers worldwide, JICA was facing the greatest test in its 50-year history.
PR Consulting Dentsu’ experience with risk management had first attracted JICA’s attention but the organization’s urgent request was for a program to make Japanese citizens more aware of JICA and to correctly evaluate the agency’s worth.

The project that became “The JICA Public Awareness Campaign” identified six key issues and opportunities:

• – Low recognition of the JICA name
• – Improperly maintained JICA logo mark
• – Inconsistent explanations defining JICA and no organizational philosophy
• – Poor internal communications
• – Image from outside of a “staid, local-government-style organization”
• – Insufficient understanding of the importance of public relations among staff and no sense of crisis about the impending change of status

Research

The program was launched with the first 17 months allocated for thorough research of both JICA’s internal and external images. The research consisted of in-depth surveys first of the general public’s image of JICA, followed by some focused on existing employees at all levels in the organization, and other persons formerly associated with JICA.

The research found that only 28% of Japanese recognized the JICA name and only 5% knew the organization’s role.

Within JICA, 58% of staff admitted that communication between divisions was poor, rising to 64% when communication between the headquarters and JICA branch offices was considered.

Planning/Execution

First stage:Outside looking in

Conducted nationwide citizens’ survey, group interviews, and media hearings to determine JICA’s positioning “from the outside”.

March 2001: Presentation for employees of survey results

Second stage:Inside looking out

Conducted surveys including those with former staffers to determine how JICA was viewed “from the inside”

March 2002: Presentation for employees of survey results

Third stage:Organizational Audit

Conducted research including case studies of related organizations and internal audits to determine PR strategies leading up to the change of status

Strategy

After analyzing the gap between how JICA was perceived externally and how the organization saw itself, we developed and implemented several public relations strategies. Among these were:

Operations to involve employees

– Established investigation committee incorporating senior and middle management to define the “new face” of JICA

– Appointed “PR Agents” from volunteers in each department to speed dissemination and sharing of current public relations information within   the organization

Development of JICA’s “new face”

– Requested employee views of JICA, incorporating responses using ‘text mining’ in the agency’s first ever organizational philosophy and mission statement

– Sought staff suggestions for slogans, and developed slogans and questionnaire