English Language
Business Communication
Deny A. Kwary
www.kwary.net
Today’s Topics
1. The importance of effective
communication to organisations
2. Challenges to effective organisation
communication
3. A simple model of communication process
4. Key dimensions of organisational
communication
5. Different perspectives on communication
Why is effective communication
important to organisations?
Helps an organisation to achieve:
 satisfied repeat customers;
 well-motivated employees;
 a positive reputation in the wider
community;
 innovative and creative strategies.
Consider the following story:
iRobot, Inc., is an engineering contractor based in Massachusetts.
Founded in the late 1980s, iRobot's mission statement is to build "cool
stuff" while making money and changing the world for the better.
The founders were accustomed to the academic environment of
MIT's Artificial Intelligence Lab. They worked for large companies or
governments that wanted them "to do something they [the clients] found
interesting but only wanted one of....
It was like being an artist working on commission. One of the projects
was a crab-walking minesweeper for the Department of Defense.
In the mid-1990s, iRobot pitched an idea for a storytelling machine to
toy maker Hasbro, Inc. The machine, a plastic-molded tableau with little
characters surrounding a child's book, could actually act out the story,
with dialogue and gestures. It was "unbelievably cool."
Had the company (iRobot, Inc.) practiced effective communication?
Did Hasbro, Inc. agree to finance the project?
The story continues…
Unfortunately, it was also unbelievably costly – total direct materials
alone cost $3,000. Clearly, this toy was not destined for Toys "R" Us with
a $19.95 price point.
Hasbro turned thumbs down on the project.
Source: Leigh Buchanan, "Death to Cool: How an R&D Boutique that Made Only Elite,
Sexy Products Became a Big-Time Mass Marketer of the Mundane," Inc. (July 2003)
Challenges to effective
organisation communication
Formal organisation structures;
 Cultural diversity;
 Intense political, financial and
time pressures;
 Etc.

To be discussed further in Week 37
A simple linear model of the
communication process
Figure 1.1
A simple linear model of the communication process
Source: Adapted from Shannon and Weaver (1995)
The linear model of the
communication with feedback
Figure 1.2
The linear model of the communication with feedback
Key Dimensions

Verbal and non-verbal communication

One-way and two-way communication

Inter-personal and mass communication
(to be discussed in Weeks 40 and 41)

Internal and external communication
(to be discussed in Weeks 45 and 46)
Verbal and non-verbal
communication

Verbal: coded in the form of words
• Spoken, Written, New hybrids
• Diction, Translation (cf. Resultatopgørelse)

Non-verbal:
• Kinesics (body language)
• Proxemics (physical distance between
people)
• Visual media (pictures and signs)
(to be discussed in Week 39)
Kinesics



Kinesics or body language is the language of
gestures, expressions, and postures.
The meaning of some gestures, such as a smile,
may be the same throughout the world. However,
the meaning of others may be different.
For example, what does “spitting on another
person” mean?
• a sign of utmost contempt in North America
• an affectionate blessing if done in a certain way
among the Masai of Kenya.
Proxemics
The study of interaction
distances and other culturally
defined uses of space that
affect communication.
Consider an extract from the
study by Remland, Jones
and Brinkman (1991) on the
Means of Distance Between
Heads in Inches (M-DHI)
The multiple dimensions of
organisational communication
What are
the
dimensions
of a
Website?
(Two-way)
Different Perspectives on
Communication

Modern perspectives

Interpretive perspectives

Critical perspectives

Post-modern perspectives
Modern perspectives




Decision-making underpinned by
rational calculations
Sees communication practices as
accessible to researchers
Communication practice changeable
through managerial control
Favours collection of quantitative
data
Interpretive perspectives




Less interested in generalisable
theory
Ethnographic studies collect
qualitative data
Findings in the form of an
individual’s narrative
‘The double hermeneutic’ (i.e.
double interpretation)
Critical perspectives


Interested in ways that communication
practices and channels are used to
exercise power over employees and
communities etc. under industrial
capitalism (Alvesson and Willmott
1996)
Explores role that language (e.g. the
use of euphemism) can play in
persuasion (Knights and Willmott 2000)
Postmodern perspectives



Challenge the assumptions of modern
perspectives
Argue that contemporary trends
(globalisation and Internet) mean that
people have increasingly multiple and
fragmented identities – impossible to
generalise
Take critical approach to established
communication practices
Hatch, M.J. 1997. Organisation Theory: Modern, Symbolic and Postmodern Perspectives. Oxford: OUP
The Brain Teaser
1. If there are 7 months that have 31
days in them and 11 months that
have 30 days in them, how many
months have 28 days in them?
12
2. Do they have a 4th of July in England?
Yes. It comes after the 3rd of July.
3. If there are 3 apples and you take
away 2, how many do you have?
2 (you took 2)
The Brain Teaser (2)
4. A woman gives a beggar 50 cents; the woman is
the beggar's sister, but the beggar is not the
woman's brother. How come?
The beggar is her sister.
5. If you have only one match and you walked into a
room where there was an oil burner, a kerosene
lamp, and a wood burning stove, which one
would you light first?
The match.
6. Divide 30 by 1/2 and add 10. What is the answer?
70
Summary
(1) Practising effective communication in different
organisational settings requires an open mind,
which means a willingness to take on new ideas
and explore new perspectives.
(2) Communication in organisations is particularly
challenging due to factors such as formal
structures, cultural diversity, political, financial &
time pressures, etc.
(3) Therefore, effective strategies are needed to
improve communication practices in order to
make a real difference to performance.
Summary (continued)
(4) The communication process: Messages are
encoded by senders, transmitted and then
decoded by receivers; they are also subject to
distortion, or ‘noise’.
(5) Message content, including a mixture of raw
data, facts, ideas, opinions, beliefs and
emotions, can be conveyed through various
channels, such as e-mail, interviews and
video-conferences.
Summary (continued)
(6) A holistic view of communication seeks to
integrate conventional dimensions, such as:
verbal and non-verbal, one- and two-way,
interpersonal and mass, internal and external.
(7) It also balances an emphasis on practical skills
development with deeper reflection on
communication practices in today’s
organisations. This is achieved by drawing on
different perspectives―modern, interpretive,
critical and postmodern.