Business Communication

Syed Imad Shah

Learning Outcomes
Communication and the Communication Process Why Business communication is different than social communication Understand the environment organizations work in Understand the levels of management, types of communication channels, & decision making types at different levels in organizations Sources, importance, and uses of information in organizations

Communication The process of sending and receiving messages

Syed Imad Shah, 2013

6. Audience Provides Feedback/Responds to the message

The Communication Process

1.Sender has an idea

2. Sender Encodes the Idea in a message

3. Sender Transmits message through a channel

4. Audience Receives the message

5. Audience Decodes the Message

Syed Imad Shah, 2013

How business communication is different than social communication? It is: More demanding, More complicated, Environment is more complex Higher expectations, Legalities,

Syed Imad Shah, 2010

Figure 1.2

The business environment of an organization and the main factors that influence
Syed Imad Shah, 2013

it (Source: Bocij et al., 2008, Business Information Systems, 4th Ed., Prentice Hall)

Organization Chart
CEO Board Of Directors (BOD) Mr A

Manager Production Dept

Manager Sales Dept Manager Finance Dept Mr B

Manager Admin Dept

Manager IS Dept

Manager R&D Dept

Production

Head of Sales in Home country

Head of Sales in Europe

Human Resource Mgt Accounting Dept

Programmers

Packaging

Head of Sales in Swis

Operators Maintenance of Building Facilities

..... etc Quality Control

Aux personnel

Employees

What does Organization Chart demonstrate?

Shows the Organization Structure Shows the Position, names, & designation of key Personnel Shows the level of authority (i.e. Who reports to whom) Shows the Organization Size But most importantly shows the flow of Information (the lifeblood of organizations) through the Formal and Informal Communication Channels

 Formal Communication
Upward Communication Downward Communication Side Ways/ Horizontal Communication

Informal Communication
Grapevine Communication

Formal Communication
CEO Board Of Directors (BOD) Mr A

Manager Production Dept

Manager Sales Dept Manager Finance Dept Mr B

Manager Admin Dept

Manager IS Dept

Manager R&D Dept

Production

Head of Sales in Home country

Head of Sales in Europe

Human Resource Mgt Accounting Dept

Programmers

Packaging

Head of Sales in Swis

Operators Maintenance of Building Facilities

..... etc Quality Control

Aux personnel

Employees
Syed Imad Shah, 2010

Informal Communication (Office Grapevine)

CEO Board Of Directors (BOD) Mr A

Manager Production Dept

Manager Sales Dept Manager Finance Dept Mr B

Manager Admin Dept

Manager IS Dept

Manager R&D Dept

Production

Head of Sales in Home country

Head of Sales in Europe

Human Resource Mgt Accounting Dept

Programmers

Packaging

Head of Sales in Swis

Operators Maintenance of Building Facilities

..... etc Quality Control

Aux personnel

Employees
Syed Imad Shah, 2010

Channels of Communication
Internal Communication
Upward, Downward, & Horizontal
Face to Face Telephones Memos (mostly downward) Reports (mostly upward & in reply to memos) Internal Emails Fax etc Mobile

External
Media Advertising Websites Meetings Telephones Emails

What do Mangers Do?

Managers job is to forecast, plan, organize, coordinate, and control (Henri Fayol, 1841-1925)

Manager do all this by making

Decisions!
And to make decisions managers need Information Information Information! (and communication Channels are sources of information)
Decision Types: Structured
Where rules and constraints governing the decision are known; decisions are Repetitive & have low uncertainty associated with them, i.e. The outcomes of decision are fairly known) Where rules and constraints governing the decision are not known or are complicated; decisions are unique & have high level of uncertainty associated with them, i.e. The outcomes of decision cannot be predicted) Decisions that lie between structured and unstructured decision types
Syed Imad Shah, 2013

Unstructured Semi-structured

Decision Making at Different Level in Organizations

Unstructured Decisions with Long Term Implications

Strategic

Infrequent, Not easily reversible, External information e.g. Start export? Multinational? Move to new market? e.g. What budget to allocate to a dept? What resources to delegate? etc

Semi-structured Decisions with Medium Term Implications

Tactical

Structured Decisions with Short Term Implications

Operational
Internal Information

Frequent, daily basis, Internal Information e.g. Setting up production schedule

Types of Decision Makers

Analytical: That rely on
analytical information, can justify their decision based on information, require hard statistical data They examine fine details but overlook the broader, wider issues, too narrowly focused

Intuitive: Rely on prior Unstructured Decisions

Strategic

experience, judgement & intuition. Adopts Holistic view & examines situation as a whole. Do take qualitative information into decision making

Sometimes may miss finer tactical, details

Structured Decisions

Tactical

Operational

Organizational Resources
Tangible Resources
Land Labour Capital Infrastructure Machinery etc

Intangible Resources
Experience Motivation Ideas Judgement Data and Information

Businesses need information to

Maintain efficiency of internal operation Forecast future events Familiarize with new industry sectors Counter competitors strategies Innovate and develop new products Identify environmental trends, products, customer preferences, govt regulation etc Innovate Create new market niche

Information can be used for Management Control Process in Organizations

4 3

Take corrective actions if required

Compare actual results with standards

Establish standards of performance 1

Syed Imad Shah, 2013 Adapted from: Taylor & Farrell, 1994, Information Management for Business

Measure Performance

Sources of Information
Types of Information in Organizations (Taylor & Farrell, 1994, Information
Management for Business)

Financial Non-financial

Sources of Information
Internal Sources
Sales records, purchase records, wages & salaries, budgetary control, cash control, payroll, inventory control, accounts, general ledger, internal databases, meetings, stock control, supplier records,

External Sources
Annual reports & financial statements of competitors, newspapers, magazines, journals, libraries, virtual resources, patents, laws and govt regulations, external databases, emails, customers, suppliers, partners

Systems Theory
System: a collection of interrelated and sometimes
interdependent components that work together towards a collective goal.

Components of System
Input (data in business) Processes that input Output (information) Feedback mechanism Control mechanism

System Model
Control

Feedback

Input

Process

Output

Source: Bocij et al., 2008, Business Information Systems, 4th Ed., Prentice Hall)

System Characteristics
All components work towards a collective goal Systems operate within a larger environment Open systems and closed systems Systems are made up of smaller Subsystems (which support the higher purpose of the main system) A system itself can be part of a larger system (hierarchical) Subsystems interact with each other and output of one subsystem can be input of another subsystem Open-looped system vs. Closed -looped system Feedback control mechanism (reactive) vs. Feed-forward control mechanism (proactive)) Hard systems have specific objective & are governed by fixed rules. Soft systems operate in unpredictable environment where rules and conditions are uncertain Deterministic (mechanistic): systems results can be predicted. Probabilistic (stochastic): results cannot be fully predicted Discuss: The Chaos theory and the Ripple Effect

Systems applied to Organizations

Management

IS

Input

Process

Output

Adapted from: Bocij et al., 2008, Business Information Systems, 4 th Ed., Prentice Hall)

Syed Imad Shah, 2010

Business Information Systems

Def: A system composed of interrelated components that work collectively to carry out input, processing, output, storage and control actions in order to convert data into information products that can be used to support forecasting, planning, control, coordination, decision making and operational activities in an organization (Bocij et al., 2008, Business Information Systems, 4th
Ed., Prentice Hall)

Information systems existed before the era of microprocessors! But the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) give specific advantages to BIS:
Speed Accuracy (human error free) Reliability Programmability Repetitive tasks

Also they lack in some areas such as:

Judgement Flexibility Innovation Intuition Qualitative information

Brief Overview of classifications of main types IS according to the decision type to different levels of management in decision making
Management Level Strategic Tactical Operational Decision Type Information Systems Support Executive Information System (EIS) Decision Support System (DSS); Expert Systems (ES) Transaction Processing System (TPS) Office Automation System (OAS)

Source: Bocij et al., 2008, Business Information Systems, 4th Ed., Prentice Hall)

Non-Verbal Communication
The interpersonal process of sending and receiving information both intentionally and unintentionally, without using written or spoken language. Three Important roles of non-verbal communication: 1. To complement and strengthen verbal communication if non-verbal communication matches the words being spoken Or weaken the verbal communication when the non-verbal signals do not match the words being spoken Or it can replace words entirely 2. Second non-verbal cues and signals is to reveal the truth (though not a100%) 3. Third non-verbal signals convey information more efficiently such as nuance and rich amounts of information in a single instant

Recognizing non-verbal communicaiton

Syed Imad Shah, 2010

Barriers to Effective Communication

Syed Imad Shah, 2010

Communication Barriers Anything that gets in the way of clear communication process

3 Types of Barriers

Physical Barriers

Semantic Barriers

Psychological Barriers

Organizational Barriers

Status and Position

NOISE
Physical appearance of communicator, the context of the document or the presentation. Illegible documents, jammed margins, faulty typing, unclear photocopies all are physical barriers. Other physical blocks include mumbling, speaking too fast, distracting gestures, noise inside the room such a ringing telephones etc or outside the building such as traffic or aeroplanes. Your message may be blocked because people in your audience are uncomfortable, they cannot hear because of bad sound system and cannot see because of inadequate lighting Gender Differences

Communicating Cross-Culturally
Culture A shared system of symbols, beliefs, norms, attitudes, values, expectations, and norms of behaviours.

Ethnocentrism
Is the tendency to judge all other cultures and groups according to customs, standards, and behaviours of ones own group or culture

Related to ethnocentrism is Stereotyping

Which is assigning a wide range of generalized attributes to an individual based on their membership to a particular group or culture

Overcoming Cultural Barriers to Communication

While communicating with an individual or a group, use a language they are familiar with.
Have respect for people from other cultures and their values and beliefs. While communicating, do not include terms or references which are exclusively related to a specific culture. A knowledge of different cultures and traditions helps you get along with people from other cultures. With regards to corporate communication, the management can arrange for cross-cultural training sessions, which contribute to clear communication in people from different cultures. Be it a hobby class or workplace training, make sure the training material has an easy-to-understand language for any group of individuals. Having the working knowledge of an additional language is also an effective way to reduce the impact of cultural barriers in communication. Treat people from other cultures with respect; doing so will enable healthy communication between you.