Scan 09 Jun 2022
Scan 09 Jun 2022
communication networks.
The process of
communication facilitates interaction
Business Communication
Image . Communication is the process of 1. 'to make common', which is probably derived
exchanging information from meaning number 2 or 3 below
2. cum +munus, that is, havinggifts to share in a mutual donation
3. cum +munire, that is, building together a defence, like the walls of a city
Therefore, in essence, communication entails the act of spreading information. When a person
communicates, he/she establishes a common ground of understanding. In the organizational context,
it brings about unity of purpose, interest, and effort. Communication can also be defined in the fol-
lowing ways:
.The process by which information and felings shared by people through an exchange ofverbal
and non-verbal messages
.The successful transmission of information through a common system ofsymbols, signs, behav-
iour, speech, wricing, or signals
.The creation of shared understanding through interaction among two or more agents
Communication depends on the interpretation ofa message by the receiver. Shared understand-
ing evolves through detection and correction of misunderstandings (as opposed to a one-way trans
mission of data). The understanding created through one communication cycle can never be absolute
or complete. It is an interactive and ongoing process in which common ground, that is, assumed
murual beliefs and murual knowledge. is accumulated and updated (Clark & Brennar
communications. Mchrabian established the following statistics (Fig. 1.1), which have now becom
classic, for the effectiveness of spoken communication:
. 7 per
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cent of meaning is in the words that are spoken.
2. 38 per cent of
The Mehrabian model meaning is paralinguistic (the manner in which words aresaid)
stresses the importance 5. 55 per cent of meaning is conveyed through facial expressions.
of non-verbal factors in
This model, though widely referenced in communications, should not be
communication.
*********** oversimplified or used indiscriminately to cover all manner of situations. Whie
Nature and Scope of Communication5
7% it serves to
underline the importance of non-verbal
(Spokenwords) factors in a
communication situation, it is
55%
tant to consider the impor
(Facial context of the
communication
38% when
expressions)
email, memos, etc.), is to infer that in the absence inputs absent (telephone
are
tions, due lack of visual inputs, are inevitably ineffective. For instance,
to
legal
documents, written contracts, and public notices when well written convey
their meaning in no uncertain terms. Also, signs such as 'NO ENTRY' or
VISITORS ONLY' convey their meaning perfectly well (Fig. 1.2).
In a telephonic communication, words and tone of voice are conveyed,
but facial expressions are missing.'Therefore, ifa telephonic discussion is ofa
No entry sensitive or emotional nature, according to Mehrabian's model, this commu-
nication is not an effective one, as without facial expressions only 45 per cent
of the meaning can be conveyed successfully. However, this conclusion can-
not be extended to all such communications. For example, if one is calling
Fig.1.2 A 'No entry' sign home to ask for the address ofa friend, telephonic communication is pertecty
drive all the way back home ask
adequate. It is also far more efficient and cost effective than to just to
Thus, it is more than clear that the Mehrabian model gives us tremendous insight into the nature
of human communications and helps explain the importance of caretul and correct communication.
lhe basic principles can be used as a guide and an example. However, it should not be blindly applied
to every communication situation.
BUSINESS COMMUNICATION
constitutcd to achieve certain specihc objectives.
The achieve-
organizarion is a group of persons
coordination and integration ofhuman cfort
nt of these objectives largely depends upon
proper
their activities arc also inter-
in an organization. People working in an organization are interrelated;
"
DD
Business activities
Internal
External
Improving employee morale Sale and
purchase of
goods and services
Policy changes
Information dissemination to Information dissemination
various to various stakeholders
employees and the top
management and governments
Communication
Importance of Business
Better Communication is the most vital ingredient of an
quality of Enhanced
documents professional organization. In fact, an organization cannot be
Lesser
image run without an effective communication system
misunder-
in place. It is widely known that the achievement
standing Increased
Increased productivity of organizational objectives largely depends upon
proper coordination and integration of human
awareness Effective
effort in an organization.
among communication
employees Stronger Effective communication is an essential com
decision- ponent of organizational success whether it is at
Improved making the interpersonal, inter-group, intra-group,
orga-
customer
nizational, or external level. Communication is
relations Healthier Quicker
the essence of organizational effectiveness and
problem
business acts as a social glue that
solving keeps an
organization
relationships together. In short, the ability of the executives to
communicate effectively increases not only their
Fig. 1.5 Benefits of effective communicationn own
productivity but also the
productivity of
their
organization.. Communication effectiveness
also fetches several other benefits
organization (Fig. 1.5).
to an
FUNCTIONSOF cOMMUNICATION
Civen the importance of communication in
80 per
organizations, it is not surprising that managers spend
mch as cent of their time
communicating, such as giving press interviews, reading reports,
listening to employees grievances, preparing proposals, etc. It will not be that the
to
wrong
say
and success of any organization can be gauged by the quantity and quality of information growth
that fows
through its personnel
Communication serves four major functions in an organization-information, control, motiva-
tion, and emotional expression..
Information
Information refers to the role ot communication in facilitating decision-making and problem solving
Managers, by means of adequate and effective communication, receive and transmit information that
enables them to solve problems and make decisions. For instance, in case of a strike in an organization,
it is the duty ot the manager to call workers for interaction-listen to them,
explain the organization's
stand, etc. These communication activities enable managers to solve a problem in a better manner.
Likewise, when managers have to take any decision, say, whether a particular location is suitable or
not for setting up a branch of their company, they need to go through the field reports and related
documents before arriving at a final decision.
Control
In the organizational context, control refers to the power to infuence people's behaviour. When the
employees are required to comply with company policies and procedures, adhere to their job descrip-
tion, or first communicate their job-related grievances to their immediate boss, communication per-
forms the control function. Similarly, when two managers do extraordinarily well in whatever project
they take up and if some other manager teases them in an informal manner, and if it affects their
behaviour in some way, the latter is not only communicating with the two managers but also control-
ling their behaviour.
Motivation
Motivation refers to the fostering of motivational spirit among the employees. Effective communica-
tion is needed in setting and deining clear goals.giving feedback on the progress
made in achieving these goals, and reinforcing the desired behaviour. Consider
Communication serves
four major functions the function of the vice president of a company in motivating his/her junior
in an organization: executives to accomplish a project related to setting up ot a training division
information, control, in the company. The vice president should define the goal clearly at the first
motivation, and instance. Once some work is completed, along with giving feedback on the prog
emotional expression. ress made, he/she should specify the steps for implementation. In all these rasks,
An employee's
an extremely significant role.
Communication
skills acquire utmost
communication plays
importance in this Emotional Expression
changing business the function
of communication in
scenario. Finally, emotional expression relates to
and emotions of employees under various
expressing or letting out the feelings
Manager's roles
Decisional
Interpersonal Informational
Monitor Entrepreneur
Figurehead Disturbance handleer
Leader Disseminator
Resource allocator
Liaison person Spokesperson
Negotiator
Message
Response Message
Step 6
Step
Step 5
Step 2 Channel
Message Message
Step 4
Step 3
Message
Fig. 1.7 Steps in the communication process
12 Business Communital
manner, as
and as shown in Fig. 1.7.
follows,
of communication.
Sender conceives an idea depending on the purpose
Step1
encodes the idea, and formulates the message
Step 2 Sender chooses appropriarte symbols,
Sender sends the message through a suitable channel (oral or written).
Step 3
Step4 Receiver receives the message.
Step 5 Receiver decodes the symbols, and comprehends, and interprets the message.
The entire communication process takes place within a communication environment, which is also
called communication context or frame of reference. Table 1.1 gives us the components and fun-
ctions of communication.
Both the sender and the receiver should be familiar with the
context. If even one of them is
not
aware of the context, communication
may suffer, and hence, lead to ineffectiveness. For example,
when the managing director of a
company gives press
a interview on TV, he/she is the
sender and the
TV viewers are the receivers,
though implicit
the receiver is the person who interviews.
At the time of
elecasting, the interviewer must initially provide a briet
company to prepare the viewers for the interview. If thisbackground
of the
managing director and the
context is not
find it dificult to
comprehend what is being said in the interview. established, the viewers may
When a sender (A) selects a channel
and sends a
world of the receiver (B) from where message through it, it first enters the
he/she
cannot
it
gather all the information that exists in the world picks up through his/her senses. However, B'ssensory
senses
gather depends on various factors such as the around him/her. How
much he/she can
and touch-mental
alertness, his/her cultural
ability of his/her
senses-sight,
unique mental make up is formed from background, and his/her will. In hearing, smell, taste,
his/her experiences, other words, his/het
Table I.I knowledge, prejudices, emotions, cultural
Components and functions of communication background, etc.
Components Functions/Nature
The mental make
up of
Sender (encoder) the
a
receiver
influences
Selects, composes message and filters it. Besides the
Message the receiver's
sensory world
message
Channel Verbal/non-verbal/combination
Oral/written
nal noises, may contain exter
movements of objects, the
Receiver (decoder) signals perceived, etc. In fact, the non-verbal
ldentifies, comprehends, interprets tal filter receiver's men
Response and feedback continually picks up such
Verbal/non-verbal/combination the world
around him/her. Hence, thingsis fro
there po a
sibility that these things affect
may the messa
Upward Communication
Uoward communication reters to the flow of information from lower levels to higher levels within
an organization, such as messages containing information, proposals, and feedback
requests, reports,
Downward Communication
communicationrefers to the flow of information
from the supcriors to subordinates
Downward
communication channcls comprisc information
In general, messages that flow through downward subordinates what thcy should be
nstructions, directions, and orders, that is, messagcs instructing
downward direction. When a
doing. You may also find fecdback on past performance flowing in a
company introduces a new policy or proccdure, it sends the information using the downward chan
hcl. A Sales manager, atter going through market surveys, may tell members of his/her sales force what
products they should be promoting. A production managcr may instruct his/her subordinatcs about
the operational details of a new
production process.
When kormal information slowly trickles down from levelone organization to the next low.
of an
est levelthrough adownward communication channel, it becomes less accurate. This is more so when
the information assumes a
spoken form. In such cases, it is not unusual for at least part of the message
to get distorted and/or
omitted as it works its way down from one
person to the ncxt lowest-ranking
person. When the message passes down several lines of hierarchy, therc is a possibility of
tortion, as shown in Table 1.2. message dis-
There may be various for this
reasons distortion, which will be discusscd at
length in the section
on communication barriers.
Horizontal Communication
In case of horizontal
communication, messages How not only up and down the organizational
but also sideways. When communication takes place among charr.
among members of work groups at the same level, the members of the same work oroa
among mana8ers at the same level, or u ,
laterally equivalent personnel, we describe it as lateral or amona any
a
horizontal
Table 1.2 Extent of message distortion type are communieffortscation-MMessages of this
characterized by
at
attempts to work
together. coordination or
For
Message Amount of Message ing department of an example,
organization
the market-
Passed (%) its efforts with has
people in other coordinate to
Written by board of directors 00
launching advertising campaigndepartments while
an
Received by vice president 63 uct. This necessitates the for a
at different orga-
fows among
the parties
same level.
communication
while vertical
the
o r i z o n t a l c o m m u n i c a t i o n
communication
involves people at
nizational levels, horizontal casual in tone and
role
friendlier. It also is more
Says a
organizations where
fewer barriers between
parties. This
the
Occurs m o r e frequently as
there are
without its potential pittalls.
nctions are decentralized.
c o m m u n i c a t i o n is
does not mean that horizontal other
sometimes feel that they are competing
against each
in difterent departments another. When
Indeed. people them show resentment towards one
resources, leading to
sufter.
for valued organizational cooperative one, work
is bound to
antagonistic, competitive
orientation replaces friendly,
a
communication save
an
horizontal channels of organizational
Nevertheless, messages Howing through beneficial since strict
adherence to
is more
cooperation. Lateral
communication
and facilitate transter
time
communications can impede
the efficient and a c c u r a t e
vertical s t r u c t u r e for all
the formal conflicts when the formal
channels are over-
it create dysfunctional
of information. However,
can
or when bosses
find out
around their superiors to get things done,
above or
looked, when members go
their knowledge. Horizontal communica
actions have been taken or decisions made without as there are
that functions are decentralized,
role in organizations where the
tion plays a more significant
various divisions.
in communication among the
increased possibilities of the gaps
Communication
Spiral or Diagonal horizontal directions, communication also
downwards-and
Apart from the vertical-upwardsand Ifthe management circulates the copy ofa
n e w bonus
Research and
development
manager
Product Regional
manager (sales)
managers
Market Diagonal
researchers communication
Vertical
communication
cal choices. Despite all the negative publicity, the level the company
is familiar with
Hewlett-Packard are making s u r e that every employee
years. Firms like ethics broadd game to solve
trains itsemployees using an
standards for business conduct. Citicorp software that answers
to interactive
quandaries. General Electric employees have access
hypothetical column on ethics through an
ethics. Texas Instruments employees get weekly
a
their questions on
feedback. After
tion, then organizations should encourage
of information. However,
we
all, feedback is a prime source
be afraid of
because it is natural for workers to
say 'in theory'
when being extremely open
the repercussions they may face
1.3 Open feedback encourages officials may be
Image with their superiors. Likewise, high-ranking
communication what is really on their
somewhat apprehensive about hearing
give and receive tecd-
in organizations may be reluctant
to
workers' minds. In other words, people
communication.
back-a situation that can wrcak havoc on organizational
in which top othcials openly
These problems would be unlikcly to occur in an organizational climate
thcir mind with impunity.
and honestly scek fecdback and lower-level workers believe they can speak
tor opening
several successful techniques
How can this be accomplished? Although this is not casy,
are some of the techniques:
feedback channels have becn uscd by organizations. The following
levels give feedback to others
360-degrec feedback Thesc are formal systecms in which people at all
customers and sup-
at different levels and receive feccdback from them as well as outsiders-including
Hewlett-Packard, Motorola, and 3M.
techniquc is uscd in companics such
as
plicrs. This
which is com-
film boxes onto cards that hang from display stands,
For example, the idea of mounting
came from a Kodak employec.
mon today, originally
Thesc are telephone lines staffcd by corporate officials ready to answer ques-
orporate hotlines
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