Syngenta's Muttenz manufacturing site, acquired from Novartis in 2020 and operational since 2021, offers flexible, multi-purpose production lines for new active ingredients and sits close to the Group's headquarters in Basel. Yet key decision-makers at headquarters do not have a complete or accurate picture of its capabilities. This perception gap is a strategic concern rather than a matter of image: the same people decide on investment, project approval and volume allocation, and the site's future depends on being chosen to industrialize new products.

The thesis investigated how internal communication and stakeholder management at Muttenz can strengthen the site's visibility and strategic positioning within Syngenta. It combined a literature review on internal communication, organizational attention and stakeholder legitimacy with thirteen semi-structured interviews across the five closest functions: Technology and Sourcing, Supply Chain, Procurement, Finance, Operations and Process Technology. Interviews were analyzed in MAXQDA by qualitative content analysis, grouped into six themes and read through three lenses: tenure, role, proximity.

The site is under-recognized not because it underperforms but because of how it communicates. Communication is organized around individual projects, so the site is visible while a project runs and largely absent between them. It reacts rather than initiates, and its visibility rests on a few personal relationships, above all the site manager. It is judged against its larger sister site in Monthey, and visibility diminishes with distance: it is least visible to Supply Chain and Finance, despite their seats on the committee that determines its resourcing. As perception is shaped jointly by role and proximity, no uniform message serves everyone. The thesis derives a low-cost communication plan: own a distinct position as the flexible, close-to-headquarters site that industrializes new active ingredients; distribute advocacy across a small group; use the closeness to Basel to bring deciding stakeholders on site; and keep a steady rhythm of contact through standing channels such as a shared drive and a flash report. A phased first-year roadmap sequences these measures from quick wins to structural change, turning the perception trap into a recognition loop.