McGraw-Hill/Irwin
Copyright © 2011 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Overview
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMcfrLY
Dm2U
• The importance of communication in business
• Current challenges
• The three main categories of communication
in business
• Formal and informal networks
• Business communication as problem solving
• The contexts of business communication
• The business communication process
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The Importance of
Communication Skills
• Ninety-four percent of over 2,000 surveyed
executives ranked “communicating well” as the most
important skill for success.
--NFI Research
• Recruiters who assessed MBA programs rated
“interpersonal and communication skills, a teamwork
orientation, personal ethics and integrity, analytical
and problem-solving abilities, and a strong work
ethic” as the most important attributes.
--The Wall Street Journal
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Example
• A woman without her man is nothing.
– A woman, without her man, is nothing.
– OR…
– A woman: without her, man is nothing!!
• Let’s eat, Grandma!
• OR…
• Let’s eat Grandma!
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Current Challenges for
Business Communicators
• Ongoing development of new information
technologies
• Increasingly global nature of business
• Growing diversity in the workplace
• Increased focus on ethics and social
responsibility
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Main Forms of Communication
in Business
• Operational
– Internal
– External
• Personal
Example of an Internal Portal (Intranet)
1-6
Communication Networks
• Formal Network
– Well-established, usually along operational lines
– Depends on certain established forms or “genres”
in the company
– Planned and managed
• Informal Network
– Complex
– Dynamic
– Breakfast Club?
1-7
The Communication Networks in a Division
of a Small Manufacturing Company
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Factors Affecting the
Communication in a Business
•
•
•
•
•
•
Nature of the business
Operating plan
Business environment
Geographic dispersion
People
Company culture
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Business Communication
as Problem Solving
• Most business-communication problems are
ill-defined problems requiring
– Analysis
– Creativity
– Judgment
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A Model of Business Communication
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The Contexts for Communication
• The larger context
– Business-economic
– Sociocultural
– Historical
• The relationship of the communicators
• The communicators’ particular contexts
– Organizational
– Professional
– Personal
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The Business Communication Process
• The sender . . .
– Senses a need to
communicate
– Defines the situation
– Considers possible
solutions
– Selects the best one
– Composes the message
(medium, content,
structure, style, form)
– Sends the message
• The receiver . . .
–
–
–
–
Receives the message
Interprets it
Decides on a response
Replies (becoming a new
sender)
The Bottom Line
“The goal of business communication is to
create a shared understanding of business
situations that will enable people to work
successfully together.”
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