Corporate and Communication

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Corporate Communication

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Chapter I

Understanding Communicat ion: the Definitions,

the Proc ess and the Elements

Learning Objectives

Reading this cha pter would enab le you to und erstand :

What co mmunica tion means

The proce ss through which c omm unic ation occurs

The eleme nts involved in communication

Contents

1.1 Meaning of Communication

1.2 Definitions of Co mmunica tion

1.3 Proce ss of Com munica tion

1.4 Business CommunicationSum ming Up

Self-a ssessment

1.1 Mea ning of Communication

Communication is a means of exchanging ideas, thoughts, feelings and

knowledge. All living things have the natural ab ility to com municate but man

alone is capab le of using language fo r communication. Animals and b irds use

non-linguistic forms of communication such as sounds and other sensor y

modes of exchange. The histo r y o f civilisation shows that human progress

dependsuponeffective communication.

Man b eing a soc ial a nimal, the desireto communicate with other human beings

is a natural urge in him. Communication enables us to grow, to learn, to share

our thoug hts and feelings, to receiveand impa rt knowledg e and thereby adjust

to our environment.

The word communication'ha s its origin in the Latin word communis' which

means sharing knowledge or information. The most common medium ofco mmunic ation for human be ings is language. However, non-linguistic forms of

c omm unic ation such as physical gestures, nodding, or moving our hands or

facial exp ressions suc h as smiling or disap proval o ften accompany speech-acts

andinfluence communication.

1.2 Definitions of Communication

Diffe rent sc hola rs have defined communication in d iffe rent te rms. The

following aresome oftheimportant definitionsof communication.

Ac c ording to New ma n and Summer, communication is an exchange of facts,

ideas, opinions or emotions by two or more persons. Communication is also

defined as intercourse throug h w ords, let ters, symb ols or messag es and as a


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wa y through which the member of an organisation shares meaning and

understandingwith another.

According to Leland Brown, communication is the tra nsmission and

interchang e offacts,ideas,feelingso rcourseofaction.

Allen Louis says communication is the sum of a ll the things one pe rson does

when he wants to create understanding in the mind of another. It involves a

systematicand continuousprocessoftelling,listening and understanding.

Ordway Tead thinks, communication is a c ompo site of information given and

received,of a learning experienc e in which certain attitudes, knowledge, and

skills change, ca rving with them alterations of be haviour, of listening ef fort by

all involved , of a sympathetic fresh examination of issues by the co mmunica tor

himself, of sensitive interacting points of view, lea ding to a higher level of shared

understanding and common intention.

According to M. T. Myers and G.E. Myers, communication refersto a special

kind of pa tterning: a pa tterning whic h is expressed in symbolic form. For

communication to take place between or a mong peop le, two requirements must

be met:(1)asymbolic system mustbeshared bythepeopleinvolved (w eneed to

speak the same language or jargon or dialects) and (2) the associations between

thesymbolsandtheirreferentsmustbeshared .

In view of Katz and Kahn, c ommunic ation is the exchange o f information and

the transmission of meaning. It is the ve r y essence of a social system of an

organisation.

Davis, opines that communication is a process of passing information and

understanding from one another. Davis also believed that the only wa y that

management ca n be achieved in an organisation is through the process of

communication.

Chester Barnard believes that in the exhaustive theor y of organisation,

com munica tion would occ upy a cent ra l place because the struc ture,

extensiveness and sc op e of orga nisa tions are a lmost ent irely dete rmined by

co mm unic ation tec hnique s.

1.3 Proc essof Communication

The main components of c om municat ion are: Send er, me ssag e, c hannel (o r

medium),receiverandresponse.

The Processofcommunication c anberepresented in adiagram.


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COMMON FRAME OF REFERENCE

SENDER MESSAGE RECEIVER RESPONSE

CHANNEL

MEDIUM

SENT RECEIVED

SEMANTIC GA PFEEDBACK

Figure1.1 The communication process

a. Communication requires two p arties - a sender and a receiverwho interac t

within a co mmon frame o f reference or a com mon bac kground c onsisting of

shared social, cultural, religious and national emb lems, and ab ove a ll a

common purpose. Apart from this shared common understanding, it is

necessar y that the sender and receiverco-operate with each other and are

willing to speak and listen. In the Indian context, lamp lighting signifies

inauguration whereas in the west, ribbon cutting is used for the same

purpose. In Australia, the Koala is a national emblem. In the USA the White

House is no t merely the residence of the President but implies global

authority.

b. Channel is the te rm used fo r the specialised use of Language. In a scientific

c onference, pa rticipa nts are likely to use technical language which is not the

language that is spoken in the home environment. Geo graphica l locations

are a lso responsible fo r variations in language. The Eng lish spoken in

Canada is different not only from the Asian dialect of English but is d istinc t

from Americanor British Eng lish.

c. The med ium of co mmunication may be a langua ge or a non-linguistic code

suc h asadiagram,chart orasystem of signssuchasthe morse codeused by

the National Cadets Corps (NCC). The Choice of a channel or a medium is

determined by the situation. A manager may decide to speak to his

subo rdinate overthetelephoneratherthansend him awritten memo.

d. When the sender transmits a messag e, he e xpe c ts a response. The response

maybe immediate,as in the caseof anappointmentletter, oradelayedone, as

is likely to happ en in the case of a letter asking for funds. The responsemay

be a favourable one, viz., a leave application is sanctioned or an unfavourable

one, such as funds not be ing sanc tioned . Suc c essful c om munica tion takes

placewhenthemeaning ofthemessage reachesthe receiver.


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e. Feedback is not the sam e as response but is the sender's observation of the

receiver'sresponse.An NGO is in urgent need of funds. When it receivesa

negative responsefrom thePersonnelOfficer it maytryto obtainsome clues

as to w hy this response was generated. The feedback is hence a partial clue

to the successo rfailureof a communication.

f. The semantic gap in the diagram is the misma tc h be twe en the sende r andthe receiverdue to improper communication. A message may fail to produce

a desired response, fo r instance a teac her announces in the class that

students should begin maintaining a diar y for their academic activities.

However, the students fa il to comply with this instruction. Why ha s the

communication failed? It maybe due to severalreasons.

a. Lac k of com munic ation ab ility on the pa rt of the teac her. He has not been

ableto emphasise theimportanceof his message.

b. He is not clear about his a ims. He himself doe s no t know why exac tly hewantsthestudentsto maintain thiskind ofadiary.

c. The students(thereceiversin thiscase)haveno tbeenableto understand

themessage properly.

Ef fectiveCommunicationskillsarenecessaryto reduce thissemantic gap.

1.4 BusinessCommunication

Business Communication is a spe cialised branc h of g eneral Comm unic ation.

The principles and p roc ess of General Communication apply to BusinessCommunication as well. The major difference betw een the two is that while

General Comm unica tion is used in the world at large, Business Communication

is specifically concerned with the b usiness or of ficia l ac tivities of an

organisation, which are we ll-de fined . Com munica tion fo r official purpose is

result oriented, messages are sent with the specific purpose of receiving a

positiveresponseand afeedback.

Business activitiescan be bo th internal and external. Internal activitiesrelate to

the communication among the employees and va rious de pa rtments within an

organisation. For instance, the Human Resource Department attempts tomaintain and improve the employees' morale. The Production Managers are

concerned with g iving instruc tions to wo rkers. The Administration announces

policies and organisationa l chang es and the Research and Development

prescribesmethodsandprocedures fo rproduction.

External communication of the organisation includes interaction with outside

organisationssuchasGovernment Authorities,Shareholders and othergeneral

concerns.

Business communication hence deals with commercial and industria l subjec ts.

It is characterised by certain formal elements such a s a commercial or a

technical vocabular y, use of standard formats and audio-visual aids all

organisa tions have standard form a ts for memos, requisitions, leave


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Communicated Meanings and the ir Prob lems

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applications, etc. Audio-visual aids are used fo r quick, concise

and speedy communication. Business communication aims at

avoiding vagueness and am biguity a nd ma intains an impa rtial a nd

objective point of view. At times, it adoptscomplexwriting techniques

and procedures.

Organisations require both oral and written

communication.

The following tableshowshow the choiceof mediao rchannelof oral

and written af fectsasender'sresponse:

Oral Written

Immediate feedback Delayed feedback

Shor ter sentenc es; shorte r words longer w ords,

sentences; Conversational FormalFocus on interpersonal relations Focus on content

Prompt action Delayed ac tion

Less detailed te chnica l information Moredetailed technica l information

Morepersonal pronouns

Simpler constructions Few er p ersona l

pronouns Moreimperative, interrogativeand Useful fo r

permanent record; exclamatory sentenc es detailed

documentation

Possib ility

of review

Tab le 1.1 Choice of me dia or channel and a sender's response

Summi

ng Up

Communication is the process of transforming meaning from one

person to another. The different definitions of communication

enable us to understand both communication in the general senseand communication in the specific context of business. The process

of co mmunic ation and the elements involved in this process, the

sender, the message, the channel, the receiver, the feedback and the

context require careful study. The stand ard diag ram displaying the

comm unication proc ess enab les a quick and clear understanding

of these elements. Communic ation c an be either oral or written

depending upon the requirements within and outside an

organisation. Contextual factors such as nature of the message and

choice of the med ium play an impo rtant role in business

communication.


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Self-

assessme

nt

1. The writer/speaker of a message is known as.

2. Communicationcodesc anbe both and.

3. The receiver/decoderof the me ssage is expected to give a to theencoder.

4. The media is suitablefo rdetailedtechnicalinformation.


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Chapter II

Communicated Meanings and their Problems

Learning ObjectivesReading this chap ter would ena ble you to understand :

The important conc epts of communication

The prob lems of m isco mmunica tion

The problems o f the pe rc eption of reality

Contents

2.1 Introduction

2.2 Conventions of Meaning

2.3 Problems in Conventions of Meaning

2.3.1 Mis-communicated Instructions

2.3.2 Denotations and Connotations2.4 Perception of Reality

2.5 Problems in Percep tion of Reality

2.5.1 Abstracting

2.5.2 Infe rring

2.6 Values, Attitudes, and Opinions

2.7 Prob lems Reg arding Va lues, Attitudes, Opinions

Summing Up

Self-a ssessment

2.1 Introduct ion

No tw opeople in theworld areexactlyalike,and no twocultureso rcountriesare

thesame. For example,thedecision-making proc ess in India takesmore time by

Western standards. You mayalso wonderwhyGermans are so thorough in their

reports; why the Frenchare so polite in letter writing, and why Midd le Eastern

business people are less concerned with t ime . The reason is that in those

c ultures, these d ifferent a ttitud es a re acceptable and appropriate. All these

differences, however,c ancauseprob lems in conveying intended meanings.

Each person's mind is a unique filter. Problems with communication are more

likely to occur when the communicators' filters are sharply different. The

message , the send er's me anings and the receiver's response are affected by

numerous factors, such as an individual's c onvention of mea ning, percep tion of

reality,values,attitudes,and opinions.

2.2 Conventions of Meaning

A fundamental principle of communication is tha t the symb ols the send er uses

to communicate messages must have essentially the sam e mea ning in both the

sender's and receiver'sminds. You can never a ssume that the messag e in your


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mind will be p erfec tly transmitted to your receiver. The same symbols (the

same words or sentenc es) ma y c onvey a different mea ning to the receiver

c reating sem antic misunde rsta nding (misunde rstand ing at the level of

meaning).

A wa y of clarifying semantic problems is to view the sem ant ic triang les (Figure

2.1). In thisview, asymbol is asignfo rsomething that exists in reality. Thus yourname is reallya symbol or word that representsyou. Only through common

experience can a connection be mad e between the symbol or word attached to

you and the person you really are. The c loser the common experiences

surrounding the symb olsand their objects (referents) in t he minds of the

senderandreceiver,thecloser is thelevelof understanding.

Lesscommon experienc es

Common expe rienc es

Symbol Referent

(reality)

Figure2.1 The CommunicationTriangle

For exam ple, many ac ronyms have become accepted into Standard English and

are gene rally und erstoo d by m ost people, such as laser' (light amp lifica tion by

stimulated emission of radiation) and sonar' (sound navigation ranging).

Others, however, are pa rticular to certa in fields, such a s FIFO (first in, first out)

and LIFO (last in, first out) in ac co unting. Peop le w ho are not ac countants may

no tunderstandsuchacronyms.

2.3 Problems in Conventions of Meaning

The meanings of words (sem antics) are c onstruc ted within one person'sexperience of reality. The knowledge we eac h have about a subject or word

affects the mea nings we attac h to it. Different word interpretations are

especially notable in mis-communicated instructions and in reactions to

denotations,connotations,and euphemisms.

2.3.1 Mis-communicated Instructions

When the message sender and receiver attribute different meanings to the

same words or use different words though intending the same meanings,

miscommunication occurs. Many English and foreign words have severaldictionar y definitions; a few have over 100. For example, in one abridged

dictionary, the w ord 'run' has 71 meanings asa verb, ano ther 35 asa noun, and 4


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more as an ad jec tive. Moreove r, for certain words many peo ple have their own

unique meanings, ba sed on their experienc es, and such pe rsona l mea nings are

not in a dictionar y. Thus, confusion sometimes arises, as these listening'

incidents illustrate:

1. A legislator hires a new office manager with instructions to turn in a

bi-monthly report on a ll the ac tivities tha t have occ urred in the p reviousperiod. After a month goes by with no report, the legislator asks the office

manager why he ha s not turned in the report as requested. The office

manager replies that he thought the legisla tor wanted the report only

ever y 2 months. After a short d isc ussion on the d efinition of bi-monthly,

the two look the word up in the dictionar y. They d isc ove r that bi-monthly

meansbothtwiceamonth and everytw o months.

2. A woman sells a piece of property and asks her attorney to draw up a

contract of sale. When she receives the document for her signature, she

reads: the party of the first pa rt ag rees to sell to the p arty of the sec ond partthe tenement. She q uickly telephones her atto rney to po int out that the land

she is selling has no tenement. But tenement in the law means only a

holding ofhand.

Miscommunic atio n ca n occur anywhere , anytime . To avoid

misc om munica tion when you give instructions or d isc uss issue s, be sure

that your words co nvey the intended mea ning to the recipient.When you are

the recipient of some unclear instruc tions, before acting on them, ask

questionsto determine the sender'sintended meaning.

2.3.2 Denotat ionsand Connotations

We all have experienced on some occasion or other that a remark intended as a

compliment, a matter-of-fact statement, or a joke is interpreted as an insult. As

words have both d eno ta tive (d ic tionar y meaning) and c onno ta tive

(contextualised meaning) meanings and as a sender may no t consider the

receiver's prob ab le interpretations and reactions, miscommunication may

occur.

a . Deno ta tions: Most people agree on de notative m eanings. It often is the

dictionar y de finition. Denota tive me anings inform the receiver, naming

objects, people, or events without ind ic at ing po sitive or negative qualities.

Suc h words as car',desk',house',and water'co nvey denota tive meanings,

provided, ofcourse, that the communicators are using the same language

and provided that the receiverhas a similar understanding of the context in

whichthewordsare used.

b . Connotations: In addition to lite ra l de nota tive mea nings, some words

have conno tat ive meanings a s we ll those that a rouse qua litat ive judgments

and personal reactions. The te rm house' is denotative. Mansion', villa,'

home,' cottage', firetrap', shack' though they a ll denote a place of

residence, have c onnotative me anings. The word student' is denotative.

The senderevaluatesthe subject.Somewords,suchasef ficient',gentle',


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Prompt', usually have favourable connotations. Others, such as lazy',

cowardly',rotten',delinquent',usually have unfavourab le c onnota tions. Some

words have po sitive conno tat ions in some contexts and nega tive in others. For

example, free enterprise' and free manners' (meaning, rude,bold); sucker'

(meaning, customer) and sucker' (meaning candy); cheap product' and

cheapprice',

slim chance'and fatchance'.

The connota tive meanings of words are also affec ted by the communicator's

varied backgroundsand interests.

2. 4 Perception of Reality

Complex, infinite, and c ontinuously c hang ing, the ma terial world provide s a

special realityto each individua l. Also, human be ings' sensor y perceptions of

touch, sight, hea ring, sme ll, ta ste are limited , and each person's mental filter is

unique. We make various abstractions, inferences and evaluations o f the world

around us.

2 .5 Problems in Perception of Reality

2.5.1 Abstracting

Foc using on some de ta ils and omitting others is a process called abstracting. In

countless instances, abstracting is necessary. However, you should be cautious

aboutslanted statements.

a . Necessar y, desirable abstracts: Whether you write or speak, you areusually limited by time, expense, space, or purpose. You need to select facts

thatarepertinentto accomplishyourpurpose andto omitthe rest(a syoudo,

fo rexample, in aone-pageapplicationletterabout yourself.)

b . Slante d sta tem ents: Conscientious communicators, bo th send ers and

receiversof messages, should tr y to determine whether the facts they are

acquainted with, are truly a representationof the whole. Slanting is unfair in

factualreporting. For example,thenewsreporte r is taughtto include quoted

statements in context and to avoid expressions of personal approval or

disapp rova l of persons, ob jec ts, or occurrencesbeing described. Not only

the language you use but a lso the type of information you include and

exclude can result in slanting, revealing your own biases. Although total

objectivity is not possible, you should tr y to no t let personal preferences

influence your factualreporting of information.

2.5.2Inferring

Conclusions made by reasoning from evidence or premises are called

inferences. Everydaymostof us find it necessaryto ac tonsome inferences. We

ma ke assump tions and draw co nc lusions e ven though we are no t able to

immediately verify the evide nc e. Som e inferenc es a re bo th necessar y and

desirable;othersare risky, even dangerous.


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a . Necessar y Desirable Inferences: For business and professional pe op le,

inferenc es a re essentia l in ana lysing m aterials, solving p rob lems, and planning

procedures. System ana lysts, marketing spec ialists, adve rtisers, architects,

engineers, designers, and numerous others all must work on various premises

and our leg al proced ures allow inferences after they have gathered as much

factual data as possible. Even our legal procedures allow inferences from

experts as ac ceptable evidence. In our everyda y ac tivities, we ma ke inferences

that are necessar y and usually fairly reliable: (a ) when we land at a foreign

airpo rt, we assume we will be treated hospitably; (b ) when we send a fax to

Frankfurt, Germa ny, w e assume it will reachthe intende d receiver;(c) when we

drop a letter into the ma ilbox, we infer that it will be d elivered to our intended

reader;(d) when we enter an elevator in our building, we hope it will take us to

thedesired floor.

When we base our inferenc es on direc t observation or on reasonableevidence,

they are likely to be quite dep endab le; but even so, there are disappointing

exceptions. The c onc lusions we ma ke ab out things we have no t observeddirectlyc anoftenbe untrue.

b . Risks of Inferenc es: As intelligent communicators, we must realise that

inferences may be incorrec t or unreliable and a nticipate the risks before ac ting

on them.

Supp ose a pe rsonnel ma nag er sees that Mohan Joshi, a new management

trainee,ha sbeenstaggering into his office everydayfo rthe pastweek,he might

infer t hat the trainee ha s a drinking problem. But if the reasonfo r his unsteady

movement were the presenc e ofMenier'sSyndrome (a diseaseof theinner ear),themanagerwould bewrong to assume adrinking problem.

You should tell those who m ay be ac ting on your inference s whic h p ortions of

your statements are mere assumptions. If you a re presenting a reporton which

an imp ortant executive d ec ision ma y rest, be careful to distinguish clearly

among verifiable facts,inferences basedonfacts,andmere guesses.

2.6 Values, Attitudes, and Opinions

Effectiveness of communication is a lso influenced by values, attitudes, and

opinionsthecommunicatorshave in theirmental filters. Peoplereactfavourably

whenthe message theyreceiveagreeswiththeirviewstoward stheinformation,

thefacts,and the sender.

2.7 ProblemsReg a rding Values, Attitudes, Opinions

Receivers' views of the information presented will affect their response; which

couldbewhatthesenderdesiresor just the opposite.

a . Favourable or Unfavourable Info rma tion : The effective com munica tor

considers the receivers, will regard informa tion as favo urab le or beneficial.Receivers often reactto unfavourable information by rejecting,distorting, or

avoiding it.


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b . Inadeq ua te or Incorrec t Informa tion: Occasionally people react

according to their attitude towards a situation rat her than to the fac ts. For

example, a c ustome r ma y be happ y over an ad justment that a company ha s

extende d, but angr y when learning that someone else receiveda better deal

for wha t the customer assumed (perhaps wrongly) to be the same

c ircumstanc es. This customer may have incomp le te or incorrec t

information.

c. Closed Minds: Some pe op le hold rigid views on certain subjects. These

peo ple do not c onside r fac ts or ad ditional information and ma intain their

rigid views regardlessof the c irc umstanc es. Suc h a closed-minded person is

ve r y difficult to com munica te with, and often you ca n't co mmunica te with

thatpersonatall.While dealingwithsuchaperson,youmayhaveto resort to

amediatororacourt of lawto resolve disputes.

d . Sender's Cred ibility: Often people reactmore, ac cording to their attitude

towa rd the source of information, tha n to itself. In general, people reactmorefavourablyto acommunicatorwho ha scredibility -someonewhomtheytrust

and respect. An effective c ommunica tor builds credibility by writing and

speaking in a fair andjust manner and by c onsidering the receiver'spoint of

view.

e. Other Circumstances Affecting Attitudes, Opinions, and Responses:

Whenpersonal,b usine ss,orenvironmental stressors occur,attitudestoward

a message may be affected. On a day when p ersona l prob lem s seem

overw he lm ing , a c ommun ic a tor's message m ay seem gruf f, or

unco-operative. Life's stresses affect our ab ility to send ef fec tive messagesand c olour our responseswhen we receive them. Sensitivity to your own

state of m ind as well as to tha t of your receiverhelps you communicate your

message in apositiveway.

Summing Up

Several fac tors affect co mmunication be tween the sender and the receiver.

Someofthem being differenc es in conventionsofmeaning,perce ption ofrealityand values, a ttitudes and op inions. Suc c essful c om munic a tion implies a perfect

understanding between the sender and the receiver, but this happens ve r y

ra relyasthetwodono tshareacommon experience.

Misco mmunica tion oc c urs due to varied connota tions and denota tions of

words. In order to maintain efficient communication in an organisation, skills

suc h a s abstrac ting, inferring, are necessary. But both these should be b ased on

fac ts. Values, attitudes, and op inions influence c om munica tion de pe nding on

whe ther the y a re positive or nega tive. Inade quate or incorrec tinformation can

reduceeffective communication.


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Self-a ssessment

a . Answer in a single sentence

1. Give an exam ple of mis-communication.

2. What are slanted statements?

3. What is an inference?

b . Fill in the blanks

1. Information can be either or .

2. People who maintain a rigid view regardlessof circumstanc es a re said to

be having .

3. Words have both and meaning.


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Chapter III

Nature, Sc op e and Imp ortance of Communicat ion

Learning Objectives

Reading this chap ter would ena ble you to understand :

The nature, sco pe and importance of communica tion

The internal and external co mmunica tion at organisation level

Benefits of communication at the p rofessional level

Benefits of communication at the w orking place

Contents

3.1 Introduction

3.2 Nature of Communication

3.3 Sco pe o f Communication3.4 Purpo se of Corporate Communication

3.5 Principles fo r Ef fectiveCorporate Communication

3.6 Impo rtance o f Com munica tion

3.7 Communication as Lifeblood of an Organisation

3.7.1 Internal Communication

3.7.2 External Communication

3.8 Benefits of Ef fectiveCommunication

3.9 Communication as a Valuable Job Requirement

Summing Up

Self-a ssessment

3.1 Introduction

In order to understand co rporate c ommunic ation, it becomes rather imperative

to understand the nature of communication and how it functions in the

corporate world. As fa r as the scope of communication is concerned,

co mmunica tion has been an instrument of our sur vival and leads to our overall

progressand advancement in a llwalksof life and organisation.

3.2 Nature of Communication

An o rganisa tion is often represented as a c om munica tion system. It is a formal

process to accomplish the desired common goa ls. It is an exchange of

information between individuals, groups, departments, etc. Every organisation

ha s its own sub-systems and there is always interac tion and interfac e betwe en

the sub-systems to achieve goals. Communication transmits information and

data to the sub-systems as well as to the total system. The management

information system op erates ef fec tively through c om munica tion. It involves

informationgathering,storage,processing, monitoring.

Com munic at ion inc ludes bo th present and p ast information. It is a tool and vital

aspec t of the manag ement process. As a matter of fac t the superior-subordinate


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relationship c an exist only with effec tive and meaningful co mmunic ation.

Theremust be two pa rties to the proc ess of co mm unic ation. The communicator

orsenderortransmitterofthemessage constitutesone party and the receiver or

recipiento rlistenerorreaderconstitutesthe other.

The purpose of communication is to make others understand. Communication

is effective when the message is shared and understood. There can be no

communication if the informa tion is not unde rstoo d by the receiver in the sam e

sense as it was intended by the communicator. It is not necessar y in

effectivecommunication, thatthe receivermustagree oracceptthe information.

It is sufficient if the information is understood even though information is

rejected, or some kind of disagreement exists between the sender and the

receiver.

3.3 Sc op e of Communication

The scopeofcommunication is wideand comprehensive. It is asubjectof almostunlimited dimensions and is an inter-disciplinar y one. It is a two-way process

involving both transmission as well as reception. It is a c ontinuous proc ess of

exchange of facts, ideas, feelings, attitudes, opinions, figures, and interactions

with others. In the process, it uses a set of symb ols; which may be words,

actions, pictures and figures. Communication, however, does not mean

downwa rd movement of send ing d irec tions, o rde rs, instruc tions, etc. It is only

onone-way communication.

Two-waycommunication representsthe upward movement of communication.

Internal communication flow s in different directions viz. vertic a l, ho rizonta l,diagonal, ac ross the orga nisa tion struc ture. Interna l com munica tion may be

formal and informa l. Externa l communication is conc erned with transmission

of messages outside the organisation with the government, its departments,

c ustom ers, dea lers, inter-c orpo rate b od ies, gene ral public investors, etc.

External communication promo tes good w ill w ith the public . Int ernal

communication helps in discharge of managerial functions like planning,

direction, coordination,motivations,etc.

The broad po licies and objec tives flow downw ard from the top management to

the lower one. Both written and oral or verbal media can be used to transmitmessages. Written media consist of instruc tion s, o rders, lette rs, memos, house

journa ls, poste rs, bulletins, boards, information racks, handbooks, manuals,

annual reports, union pub lic a tions, etc. Verbal media may consist of fac e-to-fac e

c onve rsat ion, lectures, c onferenc es, mee tings, interviews, counselling, public

address system, telephone, grapevine, etc. Recently, a number of sophisticated

co mmunic ation tec hnologies have emerged , bo th in oral and written

communication onaccountof technologicaladvancement.

3.4 Purpose of Co rpo rate Communication

Ac c ord ing to communication exper t Lee O. Thayer, the purpose of

communication in an orga nisation c an be classified into five broad activities:


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a . Becoming informed or info rming others: This is the ba sic purpose of

routine, da y-to-da y co mmunica tion. Comm unic ation provides a means of

af firming the joint purpose of organisational members, tha t is, a ll the

members will work towards complementar y goals. When decisions have

been ma de, they will have to be implemented and reflected in organisation

operationsonlyaftermembersinvolved havebeen informed.

b . Evaluating one's own Input and another's output or som e Ide ologica l

scheme: The dynamic nature o f function dem and s that c onstant evaluations

be mad e of a ctivit ies in orde r that prog ress tow ards the desired ob jectives

can be evaluated. Thus, the comp lete communica tion process is necessar y,

with feedback be ing p articularly imp ortant. Feedback tells us the effect of a

communication oraction.

c . Direc ting others or being d irec ted or instruc ted: The manager's

function of directing the combinations of pe rsons and ma terials tow ards

goals requires that communication occur between the manager and the

human and physical resourc es within her/ his authority. Job trainingdepends upon communication; delegation of authority cannot occur without

communication.

d. Influencing others or being influenced: Motivation must be present as

one of the e lementa l forces in providing fo r a dynamic organisation. Any

mot ivationa l forces, not inherent, are provided to an individua l and then

stimulated through communication. The ba lanc e between efficiency and

inef ficiency lieswiththe abilityto persuade or influence.

e. Seve ra l inc identa l, neut ra l func tions: Many communications within theorganisational c ontext have no direc t co nnec tion with the ac c omp lishment

of the ob ject ives of the orga nisat ion. How eve r, a n auxiliar y or contributing

communication may contribute indirectly to organisational objectives and

directly to the satisfaction of individua l need s that are co mp atible with

orga nisa tional g oa ls, providing soc ial contact within the orga nisat ion is an

example.

3.5 Princ iplesfo r Ef fec tive Co rpo rate Communication

The following areprinciplesfo reffective corporate communication:

1. Theremust be a clear line of authority runningfrom the top to the bottom of

the organisation.

2. No one in the organisation should reportto more than one line autho rity.

Everyone in theorganisationshould know whom he should reportto .

3. The responsibility and authority of each department should be clearly

defined, if necessary in writing .

4. Responsibilityshould alwaysbe coupledwithc orresponding authority.

5. The responsibilityof the highe r a uthority fo r the a cts of its subordinates is

absolute.

6. Authority should bedelegated asfa rdownthe line aspossible.

7. The numberoflevelsofauthorityshould be keptatthe minimum.


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8. The work of ever y person in the organisation should be confined as far as

possible to the performanc e ofasingle leading function.

9. Whenever possible, the line func tion should be sep arate d from the staf f-

functions, and a deq uate emp hasis should be placed on important staff

objectives.

10.There is a limit to the numberofpositionsthatc anbeco-ordinated bya single

executive.

11.The organisation should be flexible so that it can be adjusted by changing

conditions.

12.The organisationshould bekeptassimpleaspossible.

3.6 Importance of Communication

The ab ility to com munica te well is an asset to those who possess it. Tobe able to

co mmunica te ef fectively in speaking and writing is a highly valued skill. In

numerous sur veys, business exec utives rank the ability to comm unica te first

among the personal factors necessar y for promotion. The use o f effectivecommunication extends to all areas of business, including management,

technical,clerical,andsocialpositions.

The purpose of communication is to get your message across to others. This is a

proc ess tha t involves bo th the send er of the message and the receiver. This

process leaves roo m fo r error, with messag es often misinterpreted by one or

more of the parties involved. This causes unnecessar y confusion and counter

productivity.

In fact, a message is successful only when bo th the send er and the receiver

perceive it in thesamewa y.

By successfully getting your message across, you convey your thoughts and

idea s ef fec tively. When not suc c essful, the t houg hts and ideas that you convey

do not necessarily reflectyour own, ca using a co mmunic ation breakdown and

creating roadblocks that stand in the way of your go als, bo th persona lly and

professionally.

In a sur veyconducted bythe University of Pittsburgh's Katz BusinessSchool, in

the U.S., rec ruiters from companies with more than 50,000 em p loyees c ited

communication skills as the single most important decisive factor in choosingmanagers. It also pointed out that communication skills, including written and

oral presenta tions, as we ll as an ab ility to work with o thers, are the main fac tor

contributingto job suc c ess.

In spite of the increasing imp ortanc e given to communication skills, many

peoplecontinue to struggle with this, unableto communicate theirthoughtsand

ideas effectively whether in the verbal or the written format. This ina b ility

makes it nearlyimpossible fo rthem to competeef fectively in theworkplace,and

standsin thewayofcareer progression.

Getting your message across is pa ramount to ac hieving succ ess. Todo this, you

mustunderstandwhatyourmessage is, whataudienceyouaresending it to ,and


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Furthermore, communications to the public regarding social accountability

have become significantly more important during the past two decades.

Because of demands by many special interest groups (labour unions,

environm enta l group s, governmental agencies political action committees, and

others), the media, business organisations, political groups are seriously

concerned about enhancing their pub lic ima ge. Imp ortant are well-planned

public speeches, tactful replies to comments and c ritic isms, free informative

pa mp hlets, annual reportsand image-building interviews with the ne ws me dia.

All these messages should be transmitted with an emphasis on honesty,

openness,and concernfo rthe public.

3.8 Benefits of Ef fective Communication

Ef fectivecommunication skill is a prerequisite fo r success in any job or field.

What is more essential is that you must have effec tive communica tion skills to

gain advantage in your career graph and co nsequent ad vancement in

employment. Your job , p rom otion, and professiona l reputation often dependupon how well you write and is influenced by how effec tively you ca n spea k. It is

avaluableassetfo rpersonalgrowth.

3.9 Com munic ation as a Valuab le Job Requirement

If your career requiresmenta l rathe r tha n ma nual lab our, your p rog ress will be

strongly influence d by how effec tively you can co mmunica te your knowledge,

proposalsand ideasto otherswho needorshould receive them.

The following table lists a host of jobs that strongly requirecommunication

skills.

Job Title Desired Communication SkillsFinance Associate

Fisca l Offic er

Product Manager

Senior Sales Representative

ContractsAdministrator

Must be ab le to com munica te clearly to

c lients a nd othe r financ e professionals

Superior writing and presentation skills

Develop and communica te product

objectives and strategies

Excellent communication and follow-up

skills, ability to write proposals andquotations

General knowledge of proposal

preparation, good oral/written

communication skillsTable 3.1 Jobs and their desired communication skills

Communication is a primar y responsibility in many careers, such as

customer relations, labour relations,marketing, personnel, public relations,

sales and teaching. Also technical and scientific fields need editors,producers, researchers and writers. Advancement can be made to

management,research,training and consulting positions.


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Even if your work is mainly with figures, as in the ac counting profession, the

abilityto communicateto those who rea dyourfinancialreports is essent ia l.

Summing Up

Ef fective communication is necessar y for managing information systems. It

enables the smooth transmission of information and data to the various sub-

systems. In a corporate organisation ever y message is expected to generate a

response,either favourable or unfavourab le. Internal c omm unic ation within an

organisation may be formal or informal and c an flow in vertical, horizontal and

diagonal directions. Communication can be both oral and written. The purpose

of communication in an organisation consists of informing others or being

informed, directing others or being directed, influencing others or being

influenced. Thereare several principles for effective corporate communication,

regarding delegationofresponsibilityand authority.

Business communication has its source in the ancient traditionsof the East and

the West. Governments of Greec e, Rome , as we ll as China knew about the

importance of commun ic ation and had formulated the princ ip les o f

communication.

Ef fective internal communication can be downward, upward, and horizontal. It

helps to increase job satisfaction, safety, productivity, and profits by eliminating

misunde rsta nding am ong emp loyees. Upw ard co mm unic a tion is becoming

inc reasingly imp orta nt, asexecutivesrequirefeedbackfrom subordinates.

External communication should be carefully monitored and made as error-free

as possible because it has far reachingeffec ts on the reputationand success of

the organisation.

Ef fective communication skills provide e mp loyees a co mpetitive edge fo r

career advancement. Job positions such as Finance Associate, Fisc a l Officer,

Prod uc t Ma nager, Sa les Ma nager, and Administrators require strong

communication skills.


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Self-a ssessment

a.Answer in asingle sentence

1. Whicharethecomponentsofmanagementinformationsystem?

2. In whichdifferent d irections doesinternal communication flow?3. What is the purpose of internal com munic ation?

4. What is external c omm unica tion?

5. What is the imp ortanc e of horizontal co mmunic ation in an organisation?

6. How do co mmunic ation skills increase your chances of p romotion?

7. What is mea nt by professional de velopme nt?


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Chapter IV

Non-verb a l Com munic a tion

Learning Objectives

Reading thischapterwould enableyouto understand:

The conceptofnon-verbalcommunication

The importanceofappearance in communication

The importanceofbodylanguage in communication

The conceptofsilence,time,and space in communication

Contents

4.1 Introduction

4.2 Communicating withAppearance

4.3 Communicating withBodyLanguage4.3.1 FacialExpressions

4.3.2 Gestures, Postures, and Movements

4.3.3 SmellandTouch

4.3.4 Sound

4. 4 How Silence,Time,and Spa ce Communicate

4.4.1 Silenc e

4.4.2 Time

4.4.3 Space

Summing Up

Self-a ssessment

4.1 Introduction

In the preceding chapters while d isc ussing co mmunication proce ss we have

focused upon the verbal' aspect of co mm unic ation written or spo ken symbols,

usua lly wo rds. We a lso c ommunic ate non-verba lly' without wo rds. Som etimes

non-verbal message contradict the verbal; often they express feelings more

accuratelythanthespokenorwrittenlanguage.

As per sur vey study, 60 to 90 pe rcent ef fec t of a messag e co mes from non-verbalcues. In this chapter we briefly d isc uss the important aspects of non-verbal

communication in terms of appearance, body language, and silence, time, and

space.

4.2 Communicating with Appearance

App ea ranc e co nveys non-verba l impression that affects receivers' attitudes

toward stheverbalmessage evenbefore theyread o rhear them.

An envelope's appearance, size, co lour, weight, and postag e ma y impress thereceiveras important',routine'or junk'mail.Telegrams,Mailgrams, Express

Mail, and private courier mail also have distinctive envelopes that signal

urgenc y a nd imp ortanc e. Next, the letter, report, or title page communicates


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non-verba lly be fore its contents are rea dby the kind of p ap er used, its length,

format, and neatness. Finally, the language itself, apart from its content,

communicatessomething aboutthe sender.

Whether you are speaking to one person face-to-face or to a group in a meeting,

personal ap pea ranc e and the appearance of your surroundings convey non-

verbal stimuli thataf fectattitudestoward syourspoken words.

a . Persona l App ea ranc e: Clothing, hairstyles, neatness,jew ellery,cosmetics,

po sture, stat ure are part o f pe rsona l appearance. They convey impressions

regarding occupation, age, nationality, social and economic level, job status,

andgoodorpoorjud gement ,depending on circumstances.

b . Appearance of Surroundings:Aspe c ts of surroundingsinclude roo m size,

location, furnishings, machines, architecture, wall decorations, floor

(carpeted or bare?), lighting, windows, view, and other related features

wherever peo ple c omm unic ate o rally. Surroundings will va r y according to

statusand according to countryandculture.

4.3 Communicating with Bod y Language

4.3.1 Facial Expressions

The eyes and fac e are espec ially helpful mea ns to co mmunica te non-verbally.

They c an reveal hidden emotion, including anger, confusion, enthusiasm, fear,

joy, surp rise, uncertainty and others. The y c an a lso contradict verbal

statements.

For example,on his first day in anewjob anembarrassed employeemayanswer,yes, to something. But an intelligent senior w ill notice the employee's

be wilde red expression and hesitant vo ice and will guess that the answer is

actuallyano.

In formal situations, direct eye contact is c onsidered d esirab le w hen two p eop le

converse. The person whose eyes droop or shift away from the listener is

thought to be either shy or dishonest and untrustworthy. But because people

d if fe r,we must becarefulno tto makeafalseinference abouteyecontact.

It is always ad visab le to collec t add itiona l fac ts be fore judg ing a person's facial

expressionsconclusively.

4.3.2 Gestures, Postures, and Movements

In some o cc upa tions, ac tions spe ak loude r tha n words. Traf fic Police who direc t

traffic in crowded streets or people who guide trucks when backing up in

na rrow places effectively communicate by pointing arms or fingers or by

tap ping on the side of the vehicle to indica te the desired direc tion. Deaf peop le

communicate with a language primarily composed of hand , finger, and eye

movements.

Gestures and movements are c ulture-spec ific . Co ntinua l gestures and

move ment such as pa c ing ba c k and forth ma y signa l ne rvousness and may be

d istrac ting to listeners. Handshakes reveal att itu des (and some times

handicaps)bytheirfirmnesso r limpness.


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Posture and movement ca n convey self-co nfidenc e, status or interest. A

confident executive may have a relaxedpo sture, and yet may stand more erec t

than a timid subord inate . An interested listener ma y lean fo rward toward the

speaker;one who is bored mayleanaway, slump,orglanceatthe clock.

4.3.3 Smell and Touch

Various o dours and frag ranc es som etimes c onvey the emo tions of the sender

and sometimes affect the reactionsof the receiver,especially if the receiveris

sensitive to scents. Also, touching peop le can com munica te friendship, love,

approval, hatred, anger, or other feelings. A kiss on the cheek, pat on the

shoulder, orslap ontheback is prompted byvariousemotions.

4.3.4 Sound

Your voice quality and the extra sounds you make while speaking are also a part

of non-verbal co mm unic ation c alled Paralangua ge. Paralanguag e includes

voice, volume, rate , articulation, pitc h, and the other sounds you ma y ma ke,

suchasthroa tclearingand sighing.

The wo rds You d id agreatjob on thisproject! c ould be acompliment. But if the

tone of voice is sarca stic and said in the co ntext of criticism, the true meaning is

anger.

A loud voice often communicates urgency while a soft one is calming. Speaking

fast ma y sugge st ne rvousness or haste. A lazy articulation, slurring sounds or

skipping oversyllablesorwords, mayreducecredibility. Alackofpitchvariation

becomes a monotone, while too much va riation can sound artific ial or overlydramatic. Throa t cleaning ca n distrac t from the words. Emphasising certain

wo rds in asentencec anpurposelyindicateyourfeeling aboutwhat is important.

4.4 How Silenc e,Time, and Spa ce Communicate

Silence, time and spac e ca n com munica te more than you may think, even

causing hard feelings, loss of busine ss and profits. It pays to know these

differences across cultures, as you will see in the cha pter dealing with cultural

d if fe rencesin co mm unica tion.

4.4.1 Silenc e

Consider how you feel when you ma ke an oral requestthat is met with silence.

Or think ab out the confusion you feel when your written messag e generates no

response.

Supposeyo uwrote arequestto yoursupervisor fo radditionalfundsfo rap roject

you are developing. If you receive no answer fo r several weeks, what is your

reaction? Do you a ssume that the answe r is negative? Do you wonder if your

super visor is merely ver y busy at the mom ent and hasn't be en ab le to answer

your request?Do you think your super visor is rud e or considers your request

unworthy of an answer?

All the abovereactionsarevalid withgivenc ircumstances.


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4.4.2Time

Waiting fo r an important request,which is igno red, ma y c ause prob lems and

attitude changes. In the preceding example, after the long silence, should you

ask again?Time is important in many ways. How do you feel when you are kept

wa iting two hours after the sc hed uled time fo r an interview? Conc ep ts of time,

however,va ryacrosscultures.

4.4.3 Spa c e

If youstep intoanemptyelevator,where doyo ustand? If theelevatorthen fills up

with peop le, where d o you move? The need for personal space decreases as the

numberof peopleincrease.

The distanc e betw een two p ersons talking varies according to culture. For

example, in America,the needfo rpersonalspace in atwo-personconversationis

ab out 18 inches. Howe ver in many Asian cultures, including India, this space is

ve ry less.

There is this interesting stor y ab out an America n and a Saud i Arabian who fell

into conversation. The Arabian takes a step fo rward; the American edges

backward; the Arabian advances; the American retreats. By the end of the

conversation,theAmericanfeelsbullied,and theArabianfeels insulted.

Ef fective communicators must learn to adapt to both send ers' and receivers'

expectations regarding space. The key to be successful communicators is to be

aware of the differences.

Summing Up

Non-verbal communication includes appearance, body language and concepts

of silence, time and space. Non-verbal communication often accompanies verbal

communication and a ffects the receiver'sattitude towards the message as they

generate non-verba l stimuli. Facial expressions, gestures, posture and relevant

sensor y impressions, quality of voice while speaking, as well as the sense of

time , spac e and s

ilenc e

in commun

ic at

ion have a way of affec t

ingcommunication.

Self-a ssessment

a.Answer in single sentence

1. Giveanexampleofgesture that is culture-specific.

2. Mentionafewemotionsthatc anbe communicated byfacialexpression.

b.Fill in the blanks

1. Clothesand lifestylesareexamplesof .

2. Silence c anbe interpreted asbo th or .


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Chapter V

Cross-cultural Communicat ion

Inanyorganisation,there a retheropesto skip and theropesto know.

R. Ritti and G. Funkhovser

Learning Objectives


The conceptofcross-cultural communication

The guidelinesto improvesuchcommunication

The significanceof communicating internationally

Contents

5.1 Introduction5.2 Cross-cultural Communica tion

5.3 Imp roving Cross-Cultural Com munica tion

5.3.1 Maintaining Similarity

5.3.2 Emphasise Descriptions

5.3.3 Empa thy

5.3.4Working Hypothesis

5.4Communicating Internationally

Summing Up

Self-a ssessment

5.1 Introduction

Culture plays an important role in the organisational environment. In recent

years, organisational theorists have begun to emphasise the significance of

culture playing a crucial role.Organisationsare institutionalised; they take on a

life oftheirown,apartfrom anyof theirmembersand thusorganisationsacquire

value support.

5.2 Cross-cultura l Communication

Organisational culture refers to a system of shared meaning held by the

members that distinguishes the o rganisat ion from othe r organisa tions. One of

the c harac teristics of o rga nisationa l c ulture is the com munica tion p attern. It is

the deg ree to which organisational communications are restricted to the formal

hierarchy of authority. Ever y organisation ma y have a dominant culture and a

numberof sub-cultures. Adominantculture representsthecore-value shared by

a ma jority of the membe rs of an organisation. Whenever it is referred to as the

organisation'sculture, it meansadominantculture.

A sub-c ulture, on the other ha nd, may inc lude the c ore value of the dom inant

culture plus ad ditional values, p articular a nd pec uliar to the memb ers of that

subgroup. In large organisa tions, there are bound to be sub -cultures, which

reflect common problems, situations or experiences that members face.

Depa rtment d elega tions and geog raphica l sep arations would give rise to sub-


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c ultures. A sub-culture is uniquely shared only by the members of that

dep artme nt. Individua ls with different backgrounds and levels will tend to

desc ribe an orga nisa tion's c ulture in similar te rms. Thoug h an organisation

culture has common properties, it doe s not mea n that it is withou t sub -cultures.

It is ave rydifficult taskto maintaineffective communication in asituationwhere

dom inant sub -cultures prevail. Cross-c ulture presents communic a tionproblems. According to N. Adler, cross-culture factors clearly create the

potential fo r inc reased co mm unic a tion prob lems. Different individua ls in the

organisationsmayp ossessdifferent cultural backgrounds.

Difference in perception, degree of understanding makes a difference in

encoding of the messag e by the sender and dec oding of the m essag e b y the

receiver into arbitrar y symbols. Because of the difference in cultural

ba c kgrounds, theperception o rmeaning ofthemessage is no tthesamefo reach

person. If the d egrees of difference in the backgrounds of the members of the

organisation are grea ter between the sende r and the receiver,greater is thedifference in the meanings attached to particular wo rds or behaviour. S. P.

Robbins writes: People from different cultures see, interpret and eva luate

thingsdifferently, andconsequently ac tuponthem differently.

Th e resu lts o f c ross-c u ltura l c om m u n ic a t ion are m isp erc e p t io n,

misinterpretation,misevaluation and misunderstanding.

5.3 Improving Cross-cultural Communication

The follow ing are some of the method s through which you m ay imp rove c ross-

culture communication.

5.3.1 Maintaining Similarity

It is alwa ys de sirab le to p resume the existenc e of differenc es until similarity is

established. People always think that others are similar to them. But actually,

pe op le w orking in an organisation with different cultural backgrounds va r y

from one another. The sound princ iple is to assume the existenc e o f d if fe rences

until similarity is proved.

5.3.2 Empha sise Descriptions

Another imp ortant rule is to empha sise de sc ription rathe r tha n interpretation or

evaluation. It is advisable to delay judgment until the obser vation and

interpretation of the situation from different perspectives of a ll the cultures

involved arecompleted.

5.3.3 Empathy

Empathy is different from sympathy. Empathy is feeling with the other person,

not feeling sorr y for him, w hic h is sympathy. Empathy can be regarded as the

primar y prerequisite fo r a satisfying experience in any relationshipwhere a

certain degree of depth of understanding is expected. The sender of the

me ssage should put himself in the recipient'sshoe s befo re send ing a message.


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He ha s to understand the values, experience the frame of reference of the

recipient.Heha sto seeandunderstandthe otherpersonashe is.

5.3.4 Working Hypothesis

Another Rule for improving cross-cultural communication is to trea t

interpretationasahypothesisthatneedsfurther testing.

5.4 Communicating Internationally

With more and more companies globalising, employees in various international

locations now have day-to-day c omm unic ations with each other. Given d if fe rent

culturalcontexts, thisbringsnewcommunication challengesto the workplace.

Even when these employees speak the same language (for instance,

c orrespondencesbetweenEnglish-speakers in the U.S. and English-speakers in

Ind ia), there are som e cultural differenc es tha t should be co nsidered in an

effort to optimise communicationsbetweenthe tw oparties.

In such cases, effective communication strategy begins with the understanding

that the sender of the message and the receiver of the message are from

different c ultures and backgrounds. Ofcourse, this introduces ace rtain amount

of uncertainty,making communicationsevenmore complex.

Without getting into cultures and sub-cultures, it is perhaps most important to

realise that a basic understanding of cultural d iversity is the key to effective

cross-cultural communication.Without intentlystudying the individual cultures

and languages, we must a ll learn how to communicate better with individualsand groups w hose first language, or language of choice, does not match our

own.

Lea rning the ba sic s ab out c ulture and a t least something about the language of

communication in the host c ountr y is necessary. This is necessar y even for the

basic level of understanding required to engage in ap prop riate greetings and

physicalcontact,whichc anbe atrickyarea inter-culturally.

While many companies now offer training in the different c ultures w here the

company conducts business, it is imp ortant that emp loyees be thrust intocommunicating across cultures, practice patience and wo rk on their own to

increasetheirknowledgeandunderstandingofdifferent cultures. This requires

the ab ility to see that a person's own behaviour and reactions are mostly

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Summing Up

Different employees in an organisation may belong to different cultural,

religiousand social backgrounds. Toimprove c ross-cultura l communication, it

is necessaryto understand and sympathise withd if fe rencesin c ultures.

The key word here is tolerance without any hostility. In ca se of international

communication,culturaldiversityshould be assumed andtreatedwithrespect.

Self-a ssessment

a.Answer in asingle sentence

1. Wh y is cross-cultural communication being stressed in recent times?

2. What is paralanguage?

b.Fill in the blanks

1. Verbal media may consist of , , , ,

,etc.

2. Comm unica tion princ iples o riginating in the East were d eveloped mainly in

.

3. When a n organisation communica tes with the pub lic at large, it is known as

communication.


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Chapter VI

Barriersto Communication

Lea rning Ob jec tives


The variousbarriersto Communication

The effec ts ofsuch Barriers in Co mm unica tion

Contents6.1 Introduction

6.2 Wrong Choice of Medium

6.3Typesof Barriers to Communication

6.4 Physica lorMechanicalBarriers

6.4.1 Defectsin the medium

6.4.2 No ise

6.4.3Time and Distance

6.4.4 Defectsin theOrganisation'sCommunication System

6.5 Semantic orLanguageBarriers

6.5.1 Different Comprehensionof Reality

6.6 PersonalSocio-PsychologicalBarriers6.7 Socio-PsychologicalBarriers

6.7.1 Self-centred Attitudesof Interest

6.7.2 Sense ofBelongingto aGroup

6.7.3 Selfimage

6.7.4 SelectivePerceptionofInformation Content

6.7.5 Defensive Behaviour

6.7.6 Filte ring of Message

6.7.7 StatusConsciousness

6.7.8 Resistanceto Change

6.7.9 Closed Mind

6.7.10 PoorCommunicationSkills6.7.11 StateofHealth Conditions

6.8 Cross-cultural Barriers

6.8.1 NationalCharacter

6.8.2 Langua ge

6.8.3 ValuesandNo rmsof Behaviour

6.8.4 SocialRelationships

6.8.5 ConceptofTime

6.8.6 ConceptofSpace

6.8.7 Thought Proc esses

6.8.8 Non-verbalCommunication

6.8.9 Para language6.8.10 Perception

6.9 Rem ed ies

6.9.1 Follow-upsand Feed ba ck

6.9.2 KeepingtheChannel in GoodWorking Condition


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6.9.3Timing

6.9.4 Attentionto Language(Semantic and LanguageBarriers)

6.9.5 RemovalofPersonalBarriers

Summing Up

Self-a ssessment


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6.1 Introduct ion

Barrier is the hurdle or problem that we face while performing a task. Like any

other task, communication ha s also its ba rriers. Due to these barriers, m is-

communication occurs.

We fac e ma ny problems in our business and pe rsonal lives resulting frommiscommunication. What the receiver receives from a message many no t

always be the same wha t the sender intende d. Several communica tion barriers

exist betw een the sende r a nd the recipientand they ma y be responsible fo r a

message notbeing understoodc orrectly,o ramessage becoming distorted.

Communication will be effec tive only when the recipientunderstands, accepts

and a cts upon the informa tion that has been transmitted to him. The sender of

the message must know the various barriers that can impede not only

tra nsmission of informa tion but also affect understanding and acc eptance o f it.

Communication barriers cause the breakdown of the communication processleadingto manymanagerialproblems.

6.2 Wrong Choic e of Medium

Com munication may fail fo r a variety o f reasonssuc h a s poo r vocabular y, poor

communication skills, lack of pre-judgment or wrong c hoice of medium and so

on. Various mode s of com munica tion a re ava ilab le to us, suc h a s oral, written,

visual,audio-visual,computer-based,etc. All thesehavetheirrelativemeritsand

demeritsor limitations.

Aproperlyselectedmedia c anadd to theeffectiveness ofcommunication.At the

same time a wrong choice of medium m ay act as a barrier to it. For instance, a

field salesperson has to submit a detailed report to the sales manager ever y

fortnight for the prog ress mad e by him in ob ta ining sa les orders. If he presents

his report in writing in a lengthy paragraph and transmits the reportto the sales

manager through e-mail, it will reach the sales manager within minutes,

provided the sales manag er has an internet c onnec tion. At the sam e time, if he

mailsthereportthroughpostaldelivery, it maytakefewdaysto reachthereport

to the sales manager. Therefo re, the best choice of medium will increase the

ef fectivenessofthe communication.

6.3 Types of Barriersto Communication

The modern com munica tion theor y offers different types of communication

barriers.

According to McFarland, the important barriers to communication are:

unsound ob jectives, organisation bloc ks, semantic bloc ks and huma n relation

barrierscaused bystatusandposition,language and generalinclinationto resist

change.

KeithCavisha sc lassified the communicationbarriersinto three typ es:personal

barriers, physicalbarriersand semantic barriers.


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Some othe rs like Urmila Rai and S.M. Rai classified communication barriers as

physical barriers, semantic barriers and socio-psychological barriers. Keeping

a ll these categorisations in mind, the communication barriers can be divided

into:

a. Physicalo rMechanicalBarriers

b. Semantic orLanguageBarriersc. PersonalSocio-PsychologicalBarriers

d. Socio-PsychologicalBarriers

e. Cro ssCulturalBarriers

6.4 Physica l or Mechanica l Barriers

These are obstacles or barriers that prevent a message from reaching the

intended recipient. Some ca nnot be controlled bec ause they are in the

environment, whereas some can be controlled by the management. Suc h

physicalbarriersare:

6.4.1 Defects in the Medium

Defects in the devices used fo r transmitting communication are external and

usually not within the control of the parties engaged in communication. The

telep hone , the posta l system , the c ourier ser vice or even elec tronic med ia may

sometimefailorbreak down.

A partial failure of the mechanical equipment is more dangerous than a

co mplete failure, bec ause a pa rtial failure c arries a n inco mp lete or distortedmessage,whichmightcauseawrong actionto be taken.

The only way to overcome this barrier is to postpone the c ommunication or use

analternative medium.

6.4.2 Noise

A typ ic al physic al b arrier is a sudd en d etrac ting noise that te mp orarily drowns

out a voice messag e. In face-to-face c omm unica tion, the air may be disturbed by

noise in the environment, such as traffic, factor y work or people talking.

Organisations with sound-proof roomscan overcome this barrier. In a factor y,

oral communication is ve rydifficult due to the noiseof the machines.

6.4.3Tim e and Distance

Time and distance also act as barriers to the smooth flow of communication.

Some times, mec hanica l breakdo wns render the use of telephones along with

computer technology, ineffective. In suc h cases, the distance between the

transmitter and the receiverbecomes a grea t ba rrier. If telecom and network

facilities are not a vailab le, peop le working in d ifferent shifts in factories, faulty

sea ting arrang eme nts in the exa mination hall, etc. can create physical barriers

to effective communication.


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6.4.4 Defects in the Organisation'sCommunication System

Within an organisation, oral messages and informa tion tha t pa sses through

ma ny levels of authority are often delayed by the system itself. The y are a lso

likely to be d istorted, bec ause, at eac h level, they are edited and interpreted

be fore being p assed on. As a result,som e p ersons in the organisation may no t

get some information, which they need for their works due to thecommunication gap.

Manygapsarecreated in upwardand downwa rd com munica tion. Subordinates

do not send all informa tion upwa rd; they tend to send up only such information,

which will show them in a favourab le light, and hide such information that may

no tbe favourable to themselves.

In dow nward com munica tion, the loss of informa tion is said to be so grea t that

many emp loyees at the lowe st level receiveonly 20 pe rcent of what they should

get. Too much dependence on written co mmunic ation is one of the reasons fo r

this. Circulars, bulletins, notices and even lette rs are not rea dcarefully. Many

emp loyees are unab le to rea d and understand long messag es. Even educ ated

employee s at higher levels do not alwa ys give prope r atte ntion to a ll written

co mmunica tion. Other physic al barriers include distances between people, or

static that interferes with radio messages. People recognise when physical

interfe renceoccursandtryto adjustwiththeinterfe rence.

6.5 Semantic or Language Barriers

Communication consists of the ma nipulation and interpretation of symbols.

Semantic barriers arise from limitat ions in the symb ols with which we

communicate. Symbols have a va riety of mea nings. A ma jor set o f symb ols we

employ is language. A problem here is that many words c omm only used in

communication carryquite different meaningsfo rdifferent people.

Twogeneralkindsof semantic problems present barriersto communication:

a. Some words and phrases a re so c ommo n or abstrac t that they invite va r ying

interpretation

b. When different groups develop their own tec hnica l langua ge, some words

like present , transfer , rec ord , are used as verbs and as nouns with a

differences in stress in speaking, but no difference in spelling. Similar

sounding words like ac ce ss and excess, flour and floor, cite, site

andsight c a ncausemisunderstanding in speech.

Besides, adjectives and adverbs like far, fast, few, early, easy, convey

different meanings to different pe rsons d ep end ing on their daily activities and

wa y of life. The meaning of descriptive adjectives like beautiful and ugly

dependsentirelyonpersonal taste.

Evenaconcrete noun like table maysuggestawriting tableoradining table or

a sta tistica l ta b le to different persons; chair could be something to sit on, or apositionto occupy.

Sentenc es c an convey entirely d ifferent mea nings de pend ing on how they are


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spo ken. Consider the sentenc e, What c an I do fo r you? It means something

different with ever y shift of emphasis from one word to another. In oral

co mmunication, the spe aker c an signify the mea ning by em pha sising particular

wo rds; but in written communication, the reader is in control and may rea d with

different emphasis.

Moreimportantly, semantic b a rriers a rise because words mea n different thingsto different persons. It is sa id, meaning is in people, not in words. Age,

ed uca tion, c ultural ba ckground and many other factors influence the meaning

we give to words.

In brief, semantic barriers ma y occ ur, if the transmitter and the receiver assign

different meanings to the same word or use different words for the same

meaning, or words carr y d ifferent flavoursor sha des to the transmitte r and the

receiver.

Tominimise or to avoid semantic barriers, you should use wo rds, which are

familiarto thereceiver. If youfeelthatawordbeingused is likely to be unfamiliar

to thereceiver,tryto explain it in the context.

6.5.1 Dif ferent Co mp rehension of Reality

Reality is not a fixed co ncep t; it is c omp lex, infinite and continually c hang ing.

Therefore, the realityof an ob jec t, an event, or person is different to d iffe rent

people.No tw opersonsperceivereality in anidenticalmanner.

The barrierscaused bydifferent comprehensionsof realityare:

a . Abstracting: It means picking a few details and leaving or om itting o thers. In

a numb er of ca ses, ab strac ting is both necessar y and desirab le, for it may

save va luable time, spa ce and money. We c an overcome this barrier if you tr y

to make your abstract as fairly representative of the whole situation as

possible.

b. Inferring: It mea ns drawing inferenc es from observation. What we directly

see, hear, taste or smell we immed iately verify and confirm the constituents.

But the state ments that go beyond fac ts and conclusions ba sed on facts are

c alled inference s. For instance, if we drop a letter in a letterbox, we assume

that it will bepicked up and c arried to the postoffice fo ronward transmission

to its destination place. Suc h inferences are also drawn out in business.

Being experts in their fields, their inferences are accepted as legal evidenc e.

A wrong calculation of inference ca n ce rtainly be a barrier to perfect

communication.

6.6 Personal Socio-Psychological Ba rriers

Personal ba rriers in communication arise from human emotions, values, and

poor listening. They are common in work situations. Personal barriers often

involve apsychologicaldistance betweenpeoplethat is simila r to actualphysical

distance. Our emotions also act as filters in nearly all our communications. Wesee and hear what we are emotionally tuned to see and hear, so

communication cannotbe separated from ourpersonality.


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Peop le have persona l fee lings, desires, fears and hopes, likes and d islikes,

attitudes, views and op inions. Som e o f these a re formed by family b ac kground

and soc ial environm ent; som e a re formed by the individua l's ow n intellige nc e,

inherited qualities, education and personal experiences. They form a sort of an

emotional filter around themind,andinfluencethe wa ywe respondto messages

we receiveand to new experiences. Factors like time, p lace and c ircumstances

of aparticularcommunication also influenceourunderstandingandresponse.

Problems of understanding, interpretation and response to communication

arise partly from our soc ially lea rned a ttributes and partly from our personal

attributes. These are called socio-psychological barriers. Tosom e e xtent, these

barriers may be overcome by an effort of the will. Persons in responsible

po sitions need to overc ome their barriers in order to be ab le to manage their

work.

In order to o verco me soc io-psychological barriers, you must know how we deal

withareceivedmessage. Wereceiveamessage atthree levels:

a . Noticing: We notice the message at the p hysica l leve l with our senses; w hen

we bec ome aware that a message is ad dressed to us, w e foc us attention on it.

It is quite possible that our eyes or ears miss it on ac count of other competing

messages, which claim our at tention. Som etimes we ma y no t notice a

message ad dressed to us.

b . Understanding: We must be ab le to unde rstand the lang uag e or any other

symbols used in the messag e. Also, the ide as and conc ep ts in the message

mustbewithin ourunderstandingand knowledge.

c . Acceptance: There is usually an emotional responseof plea sure, dislike orindifference to ever y message that we receive. If the me ssage a rouses a n

unpleasantfeeling,we mayreject it, prevent it orforget it.

6.7 Soc io-Psyc holog ic a l Ba rriers

Elementsofsocio-psychologicalbarriersareasfollows:

6.7.1 Self-centred Attitudes of Interest

We tend to see a nd hear everything in the light of our own interests and desires.

We pay attention to messages, which are useful to us, and often, do not pay

enoughattentionto those thatdono tinterest us.

6.7.2 Sense of Belong ing to a Group

People have a sense of belonging to a group , suc h a s fam ily, the la rger family of

relatives, locality or city, religion, lang uag e, ag e group, nationality, ec onomic

group and so on. Many of our idea s, attitudes a nd values are picked up from the

g roup.

People tend toreject an idea that goes against the interest o f the group.

Som etime s it is d ifficult for parents and children to agree because of the

different age groups. Sometimes employeesand the management ca nnot come


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to an agreement bec ause the interests are different. It is d iffic ult for pe rsons of

one group to understand how persons of another group think and feel. This

becomesabarrierto communication.

6.7.3 Self-image

Self-image is our idea ab out what we are, what we look like and what impressionwe make. It is usually based on some truth and some exaggeration of our good

points.

A self-image is built up over the years and it is quite difficult to accept any idea

that goes against it. This makes it partic ula rly diffic ult for us to give a nd take

feedback.

If you make a good self-assessment, it would be easier fo r you to e ndure the

stress of an assessment by others. A systematic self-a ssessment gives you a

balanced self-image.

6.7.4 Selec tive Perc ep tion o f Information Content

Sometimes, we fail to receivea complete messag e sent to us. We see, rea d or

hear selectively according to our own needs, interests and experiences. We

project our expec tations into the c om munica tion as we interpret the messag e.

While doing so, some of the aspects and content of the message may not be

perceivedby us.

6.7.5 Defensive Behaviour

If we feel threa tened by a messag e, we bec ome defensive and respond in such

ways that reduce understanding. We may question the motives of others or

become sarc astic or judgment al. Such de fensive behaviour prevents

understanding.

6.7.6 Filtering of Message

Filtering is the process of reducing the details or particular aspects of a

message . Eac h p erson who passes on a message, reducesor colours a message

according to his/ her understandingofthe situation.

In the role of the sender, we tend to edit information so that it will appear

favourable to ourselves; som e information is changed and lost in this way.

Information to be sent t o the higher authority has to be condensed and

integ rated so tha t the senior ma nag ers are not overloa de d with information. At

each level, the information gets ed ited a c c ording to wha t the person thinks is

important. The more the levelsof hiera rchy in an organisation, the greater is the

filteringand lossof information.

6.7.7 Sta tus Consc iousne ss

A bo ss who is conscious of status finds it difficult to receive favourably, any

suggestions from subordinates. People in senior positions o ften deve lop the


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feeling that they know everything ab out how to run the business. They do no t

agree that ajunior may have some good idea s. Many good idea s are wasted only

because they come from junior employees who are considered to be too young

and inexperienced.

The ideas of workers are most likely to go unheard because of the social

distance between them and the managers. A subordinate may be too ne rvous tospeak to a ver y senior ma nage r. Soc ial d ista nc e sometime s makes workers too

shy or frightened to speak to their senior bosses. Soc ial and of ficia l status

distance c anra ise adifficult barrierwhichbothmaybe unableto overcome.

Sugg estion schemes are meant to overcome this status block. Good managers

personally tr y to overcome it by developing friendly contact with their

subordinates or by maintaining a n of fic e whic h do es not frighten them b y its

status symbols of expensive dcor and furnishing, or b y following an open

door policy.

6.7.8 Resista nc e to Cha nge

This is a serious psyc holog ica l ba rrier. Som e people strongly resist new ideas,

which are against their established opinions or traditions or social customs.

They may avoid new ideas because they feel insecure or afraid of changes in

methods or situations. Peo p le bound by traditions have their own emotions,

attitudes, standards and convict ions and do no t ac cep t anything that goes

againsttheircherished ideas.

6.7.9 Closed Mind

Limited intellectual background, limited reading and na rrow interests c an

make a person's mind na rrow. This limits the ab ility to take in new ideas.

Persons with a closed mind do not ta ke to a ny sugg estions fo r change. Young

employees with bright ideas and fresh app roac h feel frustrated by the closed

mind oftheseniorsin an organisation.

Persons with a c losed mind have limited unde rstanding of huma n nature; this

makes it difficult for them to receive communication with sympathy. This

becomesaseriousbarrier inreceiving grievancesand appeals.

These barriers can be overcome to some extent by organisational procedures

like grievancecommittees,counsellingand suggestion schemes.

6.7.10 Poor Communication Skills

Lack of skill in writing and spe aking prevents a person from framing a message

properly. Oral communication ca n be handica pped by a number of problems.

Ne rvousness in facing an audience may affect a person 's cla rity in speaking.

Even excitement ab out an ac hievement or a new idea may ma ke a person's

spe ec h inc oherent. Written communication can be handica pped by poor skills

in using language.


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Writing andspeaking skillsc anbedeveloped bytraining and practice.The o the r

two communication skills, reading and listening, are reallythe mo re important

skills. Unfortunately, these two skills do no t receive enough attention in

business training schools. Poor reading hab its a nd faulty listening are both

psychological and need careful training to ove

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