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Subject: Business Communication Course Code: BBA-206 Author: Dr. B.S. Bodla Lesson: 1 Vetter: Dr. Karam Pal
COMMUNICATION AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE
STRUCTURE
1.0 Objectives 1.1 Introduction 1.2 Meaning of communication 1.3 The communication situation 1.4 The communication process 1.5 Objectives of communication 1.6 Significance of communication in business 1.7 Summary 1.8 Keywords 1.8 Self assessment questions 1.9 References/suggested readings
1.0 OBJECTIVES
After going through this lesson, you should be able to-
- Define communication and business communication.
- Understand the process of communication.
- Explain nature and significance of business communication.
1.1 INTRODUCTION
We are living in a world which is totally networked with communication. With the advent of fast technology, the world has become a global village. The information sharing among various groups in society at national and international levels has become very smooth,
effective and efficient. With the click of small button on computer, you can easily get any information according to your needs and choice. You cannot just think of a world or situation where there is no exchange of ideas, feelings, emotions, reactions, propositions, facts and figures. From time immemorial, communication has been the most important activities of the human lives. The integration of the world economy has been made possible with strong and efficient channel of communication. The nature of communication has gone a significant change during the last dealers. Now the economic power lies in the hands of the countries having very sound information technology network. Communication is important from the point of view of understanding it in terms of a process, system, interactional base and structuring. There are various objectives of communication in business organisations.
1.2 MEANING OF COMMUNICATION
There are various definitions and meaning interpreted by different scholars. T.S. Matthews says that Communication is something so difficult that we can never put it in simple words. But we do need a definition to understand the concept. In his book Communication in Business, Peter Little defines communication as the process by which information is transmitted between individuals and/ or organizations so that an understandable response results. W.H. Newman and C.F. Summer Jr. defines communication as, “Communication is an exchange of facts, ideas, opinions, or emotions by two or more persons”.
Obviously, ‘information’ is the key word in the first definition. But this definition does not indicate the objects about which information is to be transmitted. This is precisely what is provided in the second definition. Communication transmits information not only about tangible facts and determinable ideas and opinions but also about emotions. When a communicator passes on or transmits some information, he may
- Even in administrative communication the purpose may not always be to elicit action. Seeking information or persuading others to a certain point of view can be equally important objectives of communication.
1.3 THE COMMUNICATION SITUATION
The communication situation can exist in any of the following four components:
- There is a person (sender or transmitter) desirous of passing on some information;
- There is another person (receiver) to whom the information is to be passed on;
- The receiver partly or wholly understands the message passed on to him; and
- The receiver responds to the message, i.e., there is some kind of feedback.
Two gentlemen greeting each other with folded hands constitute a communication situation, for (a) there is a person desirous of sending a message (greeting); (b) there is another person to receive this message; (c) when the first person folds his hands, the second one understands that he is being greeted; and (d) the second person immediately responds back by folding his own hands.
But if an English speaking person addresses a Hindi-speaking person in English, the communication situation does not exist, for though there is a person desirous of sending a message, the message is not understood and consequently there is no feedback.
1.4 THE COMMUNICATION PROCESS
How do we describe communication process? “The transmission of the sender’s ideas to the receiver and the receiver’s feedback or reaction to the sender constitute the communication process”. The main steps of this cycle are as follows:
- Input : the information or ideas the sender wants to give the receiver.
- Channel : letter, fax, phone call, electronic mail, etc.
- Message : the actual message that is sent.
- Output : the information the receiver gets
- Feedback : the receiver’s response (or non-response) to the message
- Brain drain : the possibility of misunderstanding at any step (or Breakdown)
We can illustrate this process with the help of the following illustrations:
SENDER Input Channel: message RECEIVER Output
Idea Letter, fax, phone call, E-mail, etc. Idea Feedback Brain drain Brain drain Brain drain FIG. 1.1: COMMUNICATION PROCESS
There are several barriers to the understanding of a message, and, as the figure suggests, misunderstanding can occur at any stage.
Let us take the following illustration 1.1:
is kept high. All this requires constant two-way communication between the managers and the employees. Then at the assessment stage, the manager is again required to communicate with various sources, both internal and external, to assess the success of the project, and if a need is felt, to envisage modifications in the future plans. In view of this elaborate and complex commercial structure, communication can be used for any or more of the following objectives:
- Information
- Education
- Advice
- Warning
- Order
- Raising morale
- Suggestion
- Motivation
- Persuasion
1.5.1 Information
Passing or receiving information about a particular fact or circumstance is one of the most important objectives of communication. It can be done either through spoken or written language or by using any other system of signs or signals. Managers need complete, accurate and precise information to plan and organize; employees need it to translate planning into reality.
Information on the following aspects is very essential for the existence and welfare of any organization:
- Consumer response to its products in comparison with competing products with reference to quality as well as price.
- Whether they are being produced in conformity with the latest trends?
- The nature of the various financial institutions and the terms and conditions on which credit is offered by them.
- How better quality raw materials can be procured on easier terms, or if there are any cheaper substitutes available?
- What kind of effect, the rules and regulations of the government and the changing political scene can have on the product policy of the organization?
- Information about the efficiency, suitability, relative merits and the expenses involved on the advertising media.
- Information about the latest developments in the fields of science and technology.
Information about the precise nature of every employee’s job, its scope, and the procedures governing it should be readily available with every employee as well as in the files of the organization.
Managers whose primary job is planning need detailed information of the following kinds:
- Information about the political, social and economic conditions.
- Information about the cultural milieu; geographical and climatic information.
- Information about the production and sale capacity of the organization; detailed information about the members of the staff, their academic and professional qualifications, their efficiency and reliability, their limitations, etc.
- Information about the rival companies and their products, their strong and weak points, their past and present performance.
- Information about the popularity of a company’s products and their general perception in the market is often collected by circulating carefully prepared questionnaires among the consumers and the retailers.
- Trade fairs and exhibitions have become a regular feature of the twentieth-century life. They are organized with one particular theme at the center. They may highlight agricultural development, book production, electronic industry, or any other such theme. All information related to that theme is collected at one place. In this way they become an important source of information.
- Current electronic communication media, in particular, internet computer network now offers access to latest information on all subjects under the sun almost at the flick of your finger.
1.5.3 Advice
Giving advice is another important objective of communication. Information is always factual and objective. But advice, since it involves personal opinions, is likely to be subjective. Information is neutral in itself. When it is offered to a person, he may use it as he likes. But advice is given to him either to influence his opinion or his behaviour. It may prove helpful, but it may also lead to disaster.
Commercial activities in the modem world have become extremely complex. Each individual activity needs specialized handling, which cannot be expected from people working single-handed. However competent a businessman may be, he cannot have specialized knowledge of all branches like finance, taxation, publicity, engineering, public relations, etc. If he wants to run his business successfully, he will have to seek expert advice quite frequently.
Within the organization, the supervisory staff is required to advise the junior employees. Supervisors being in close contact with their superiors (usually the board of directors) are well familiar with the policies and functioning of the organizations. They are, therefore, in an excellent position to guide, counsel or advise their subordinate staff.
Advice, by its very nature, flows horizontally or downwards. Expert advice from outside flows horizontally. The board of directors advising one another on some policy matter are also engaged in a kind of horizontal communication. But advice soon starts flowing down to the management personnel, the supervisory staff and the subordinate staff or the operatives.
While offering advice, the adviser should keep the following points in mind:
- Advice should be both man-oriented and work-oriented, i.e., it should be related to a specific piece of work, and should be given in such away that it suits the individual needs of the recipient. It means that while explaining the complexities of a job, the adviser ought to keep in mind the understanding power of the person he is advising.
- Advice should not be given to a person to make him feel conscious of his inferior knowledge or skill. If the adviser assumes a patronizing tone, the other person is bound to recent it. So the adviser ought to be very friendly in his attitude.
- The only justified motive of giving advice is the betterment of the worker. The adviser should genuinely feel this motive. And he should give this very feeling to the worker. He should so mould his tone and phrase his language that he makes the other person feel absolutely at ease.
necessary for it. The downward flow of information is dominated by orders. We can classify orders in various ways:
(a) Written and oral orders
Written orders are usually given when:
- the order is of a highly responsible nature;
- the task is repetitive in nature, and it is cumbersome and inconvenient to issue oral orders every time the task is to be done;
- the person being ordered is remotely situated and it is not possible to give him oral orders.
Oral orders are given when:
- the job is required to be done immediately;
- it is an ordinary job and there is no need of maintaining any written record;
- there is a kind of permanent superior-subordinate relationship between the giver and the receiver of the order and the order-giver does not feel the need of entering into the cumbersome process of issuing written orders.
(b) General and specific orders
If orders are related to one particular activity, they are specific. If there are a number of activities having operational similarities, general orders may be issued to cover all of them.
(c) Procedural and operational orders
Procedural orders specify procedures to be adopted. They are general by nature. Operational orders are more closely related to the job in hand. They specify how a particular job is to be done.
(d) Mandatory and discretionary orders
Mandatory orders have to be obeyed. Discretionary orders are usually in the nature of recommendations. They suggest what is desirable, what should be done. But it is up to the receive; to see their feasibility and to decide whether he ought to carry them out or not. The Head Office may issue discretionary orders to the branch manager, for the branch manager, being present on the spot, knows better whether the orders are to be carried out or not.
An effective order possesses the following characteristics:
- It must be clear and complete.
- Its execution should be possible.
- It should be given in a friendly way.
Steps in the order-giving operation
Paul Pigors has outlined the following seven steps in a complete order-giving operation:
- Planning: Before an order is given, the order-giver should be sure about the following points: (i) Exactly what action is required? (ii) Is it feasible? (iii) Who is to perform it? (iv) In how much time is it to be performed?
- Preparing the order-receiver: This should, in fact, be considered a part of planning. Preparing the order-receiver is necessary for the satisfactory accomplishment of any specific order. But it also requires continuous education of the receiver so that he receives the order in the right spirit and correctly interprets the intention and motives behind issuing it.
the accounts officer asks one of his clerks to prepare a voucher, he has issued an order. If he shows the clerk how to prepare a voucher and then asks him to prepare more, he has issued instructions. All instructions are implied orders, but all orders cannot be instructions.
1.5.7 Suggestion
Suggestion enjoys one great advantage over other means of communication like advice or order. Advice comes from an expert; order comes from a higher authority. In either case, the recipient of the communication is slightly conscious of his inferiority and may resent it. Accepting a suggestion is at his discretion, so a suggestion is usually welcome.
Suggestion is supposed to be a very mild arid subtle form of communication. Still, since it flows horizontally or vertically upwards, it may hurt someone’s ego to recognize its utility and readily accept it. But enlightened executives should set aside the ridiculous notions of false self-importance and welcome positive, constructive suggestions with an open mind.
Some business houses make a provision for suggestion boxes, which are placed at some convenient place in the office or the factory. Workers are encouraged to drop their suggestions into these boxes. Sometimes these suggestions have to be written on specially prepared cards. If an employee does not want to reveal his name, there is a provision for it. These suggestion boxes are opened at regular intervals, the suggestions received are scrutinized and the employees offering the best suggestions are awarded prizes.
- Suggestions can be voluntary and anonymous; submitted through suggestion boxes.
- Employees should be encouraged to give suggestions.
1.5.8 Persuasion
Persuasion is an important objective of cor.L1munication. It may be defined as an effort ‘to influence the attitudes, feelings, or beliefs of others, or to influence actions based on those attitudes, feelings, or beliefs’. Buyers have often to be persuaded to buy a particular article available with the seller in place of the one they actually wanted to buy. In the office or the factory, the lazy, the incompetent and the disgruntled workers have to be persuaded to do their work.
It is better to use persuasion than compulsion. But even persuasion seeks to change beliefs and attitudes, which people do not like at all. So in order to be successful, persuasion has to be indirect and suggestive. The buyers and the workers should be so manipulated that they change their mind without getting conscious of the change, or if they are conscious, they believe that the change is to their advantage. Persuasion is an art, which has to be learnt with great care.
Persuasion needs conviction on your part. You should be genuinely convinced that the alternative course of action being suggested by you is in the interest of the organization as well as in the receiver’s interest. You must not try to persuade others from a purely selfish motive. Do not impose yourself on the receiver of your communication. Give indirect hints and subtle suggestions. Bring yourself to the level of the other person. Try to look at the issue from his point of view and mould your arguments accordingly. The art of persuasion consists of four important steps:
- Analyzing the situation: This is the preparatory step. The communicator analyses the situation to find out why the need of persuasion has arisen and what will be the advantages and disadvantages of the new course of action
case studies, study tours, etc. Junior managers have to be educated to assume responsibility when they succeed to higher positions.
- Education for the employees: Just as the managers are required to keep abreast of the latest innovations in the field of commerce and technology, when these innovations are introduced in the office or the factory, the employees have to be educated to use them. Such a programme of education is called re-orientation. Employees can be educated through talks, demonstrations, bulletins and house organs.
- Education for the outside public: The outside public needs knowledge on the new products being introduced into the market, the relative merits of the various brands already existing, the availability of the substitutes, complementary and supplementary products, comparative prices, concessions and discounts, if any. This useful knowledge is offered through advertisements, specially sponsored features in the newspapers, information talks and articles.
1.5.10 Warning
If employees do not abide by the norms of the organization, or violate the rules and regulations, it may become necessary to warn them. Tardiness, negligence, tempering with the records, mishandling equipment, lack of regularity and punctuality, gossiping, pilfering office stationery and material, spreading rumours, misleading new employees are some of the actions that call for a reprimand or a warning. Warning is a forceful means of communication, for it demands immediate action. But in order to retain its effectiveness, it should be used sparingly and discreetly. While issuing warnings, the following points should be kept in mind:
Some warnings are general. ‘No smoking’, ‘No talking’, ‘Beware of the dog’ are general warnings. They are not aimed at any particular person, nor are they likely to hurt anybody’s feelings. Such warnings are usually given in the form of notices. They are almost akin to information.
More often, warnings are given to particular persons. They involve disciplinary action in the form of reprimand. Reprimands are very demoralizing; they may also evoke resentment. Before reprimanding an employee, it is very important to ascertain the truth of the charges leveled against him. Reprimand should never spring from personal prejudices.
Reprimand should not be administered to a person in the presence of others. It will make him fell humiliated and nobody likes to be humiliated. The worker should be summoned in the privacy of the supervisor’s room and dispassionately talked to.
It is also useful to investigate the causes of the worker’s undesirable behaviour. He may be burdened by some domestic or personal problems. Or he may be nursing some personal grudge against the supervisor or the organization. If the supervisor can succeed in taking him out of his problems, the warning given to him will become constructive.
The aim of giving a warning should be the betterment of the organization. It should not be used to cause disruption. It is very important to be judicious in the choice of words used in administering warnings and reprimands.
1.5.11 Raising morale
Morale is the sum of several qualities like courage, fortitude, resolution and confidence. High morale and efficient performance go hand in hand. It acts as a kind of lubricant among people, binds them
