CHAPTER ONE: COMMUNICATION: An Overview

1.1. Communication Defined

There are different views on the etymological background of the word
communication. While some scholars in the area of communication and linguistics
suggest that it was originally derived from the Latin word “communis”, which
literally means sharing or making something common, others argue that it was
derived from the Latin word ‘communicare’ that means to impart, to participate, to
share or to make common. However, all agree that it is a process of exchange of
facts, ideas, and opinions. In other words, it is a transmission and interaction of
facts, ideas, opinion, feeling and attitudes.

This broad meaning gradually got its specific sense as communicating means
‘sharing of ideas’. Yet the word ‘idea’ itself is a little bit broader in that it refers to
ideas stored both in the short-term and long-term memories of mind.

So, to be more specific, communication can be taken as a means of sharing more

pieces of ideas kept in the short-term memory, which can technically be called
information, and ideas kept in the long-term memory, technically known as
intelligence or knowledge. Here, it should be clear that the information we receive
could be challenged to knowledge through repeated retrieval.

It is of great importance to note that communication is not limited to only human

beings. This is basically because communication is based on processing ideas in the
information processing unit of the mind or simply thinking. So thinking is something
shared among different animals including man. In fact, on the level of thinking man
and other animals differ as man thinks analytically by examining things from
different perspectives while other animals think instinctively by looking at things
plainly from one angle.

Thus, communication is one of the effective means through which man attempts to
satisfy his needs. Apart from this, understanding what others need characterizes an
effective communicator. A successful communicator speaks and writes with the
receivers’ needs in mind at all time.

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Abraham Maslow recommends that to send messages to potential receivers, one
must keep in mind the following five rungs of human needs.

A. Basic physical needs: air, food, shelter, sleep and clothing.

B. Safety and security needs: This is keeping oneself free from physical harm or
mental abuse.
C. The need to belong: Most of us want to feel that we are part of a group and
that we have friends and enjoy being with our co-workers, feeling comfortable in
the society in which we live.
D. The need to be someone: Most of us want to feel that we are good at doing
something, and we feel very pleased with the recognition we receive. We feel
that we are “somebody”. We have met the need of our ego.
E. The need to help others and be creative: If we are reasonably able to meet
all the previous needs, we will then seem to lose all our anxieties and fears. Two
things happen: (1) We are more willing to help people who are still struggling on
the lower rungs of the ladder; those who are still striving to meet their physical,
safety and security needs. (2) We become more creative, and want to create
people to improve the qualities of life for us all.

Hence, communication is important to most areas of our lives. Simply, we can say
that to live is to communicate.

In account of all these, different scholars have tried to define the term
communication in different ways. In fact, the common problem in most of the
definitions is that they do not clearly show all the features and nature of
communication. Let’s look at some of these.

‘Communication is any behavior that results in an exchange of meaning’.

(American Management Association)

‘Communication is the process by which information is transmitted between

individuals and/or organizations so that an understanding response results’.
(Peter Little)

‘Communication is an exchange of facts, ideas, opinions or emotions by two or

more persons’. (Newman and Summer Jr.)

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 ‘Communication is the process of passing the information and understanding
from one person to another. It is essentially a bridge of meaning between the
people. By using the bridge a person can safely across the river of
misunderstanding’. (Keith Davis)

‘Communication is the sum total of all the things that a person does, when he
wants to create an understanding in the mind of another. It involves a
systematic and continuous process of telling, listening and understanding’.
Louis A. Allen

Communication may also be defined as interchange of thought or information

between two or more persons to bring about mutual understanding and desired
action. It is the information exchange bywords or symbols. It is the exchange of
facts, ideas and viewpoints which bring about commonness of interest, purpose and
efforts.

However, the definition below can be taken as a workable definition as it treats and
encompasses most features and the nature of communication.

Communication is a continuous process through which ideas are shared

between/among a party or more with a common frame of reference in order to
satisfy both physiological and psychological needs.

Therefore, the main purpose of communication is to inform, or to bring around to a

certain point of view or to elicit action.

1.2. The Role and Importance of Communication

Communication is important particularly to the individual communicator and to the
organization at large.

1.2.1. Communication from the Individual Perspective

On individual basis, communication offers the following benefits toward meeting
personal responsibilities:

 Interpersonal role: It stimulates communication with others.

 Informational role: It assists to gather essential inputs.
 Decisional role: It helps to participate in discussions that lead to problem
solving.

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 Technical role: It links the different functions of management through effective
and efficient way.
 Conceptual role: It creates a vivid understanding of organizational functions
and achievements.

1.2.2. Communication from the Organizational Perspective

From the organizational perspective, communication provides the next critical
advantages of business development:
 Business grows in size.
 Business activities become extremely complex.
 Business becomes competitive.
 Spirit of understanding and cooperation becomes developed.
 It links the organization in different directions.
 It connects the organization with the external environment.
1.3 Purposes of Communication

A. For instruction: The instructive function unvarying and importantly deals with
the commanding nature. It is more or less of directive nature. Under this, the
communicator transmits with necessary directives and guidance to the next level,
so as to enable them to accomplish his particular tasks. In this, instructions
basically flow from top to the lower level.

B. For integration: It is consolidated function under which integration of activities

is endeavored. The integration function of communication mainly involves to bring
about inter-relationship among the various functions of the business organization. It
helps in the unification of different management functions.

C. For information: The purposes or function of communication in an organization

is to inform the individual or group about the particular task or company policies
and procedures etc. Top management informs policies to the lower level through
the middle level. In turn, the lower level informs the top level the reaction through
the middle level. Information can flow vertically, horizontally and diagonally across
the organization. Becoming informed or inform others is the main purpose of
communication.

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D. For evaluation: Examination of activities to form an idea or judgment of the
worth of task is achieved through communication. Communication is a tool to
appraise the individual or team, their contribution to the organization. Evaluating
one’s own inputs or other’s outputs or some ideological scheme demands an
adequate and effective communication process.

E. For direction: Communication is necessary to issue directions by the top

management or manager to the lower level. Employee can perform better when he
is directed by his senior. Directing others may be communicated either orally or in
writing. An order may be common order, request order or implied order.

F. For teaching: The importance of personal safety on the job has been greatly
recognized. A complete communication process is required to teach and educate
workers about personal safety on the jobs. This communication helps the workers to
avert accidents, risk etc. and avoid cost, procedures etc.

G. For influencing: A complete communication process is necessary in influencing

others or being influenced. The individual having potential to influence others can
easily persuade others. It implies the provision of feedback which tells the effect of
communication.

H. For image building: A business enterprise cannot isolate from the rest of the
society. There is interrelationship and interdependence between the society and an
enterprise operating in the society. Goodwill and confidence are necessarily created
among the public. It can be done by the communication with the different media,
which has to project the image of the firm in the society. Through an effective
external communication system, an enterprise has to inform the society about its
goals, activities, progress and social responsibility.

I. For employees orientation: When a new employee joins an organization at

that time he or she would be unfamiliar with the organization programs, policies,
culture etc. Communication helps to make people acquainted with the co-
employees, superior and with the policies, objectives, rules and regulations of the
organization.

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1.4 . The Communication Situation
The communication situation is said to exist when
 There is a person (sender/transmitter) who wants to pass some information;
 There is another person (receiver) whom the information passes to;
 The receiver partly or wholly understands the message or information passed
on to him;
 The receiver responds to the message or gives feedback.

1.5. The Communication Process/Cycle

The transmission of sender’s ideas to the receiver and the receiver’s feedback or
reaction to the sender constitute the communication cycle. The process of
communication begins when one person (the sender) wants to transmit an idea to
someone else (the receiver).

This fact, idea or opinion has meaning to the sender. The next step is translating or
converting the message into a language which reflects the idea. That is the

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message must be encoded. The encoding process is influenced by content of the
message, the familiarity of sender and receiver and other situation of factors.

After the message is encoded, it is transmitted through the appropriate channel or

medium. Common channels in organization include meetings, reports,
memorandums, letters, e-mail, fax and telephone calls. When the message is
received, it is decoded, by the receiver and the decoder gives feedback to the
sender.

The process of communication involves the following elements: Sender, Message,

Encoding, Channel/Media, Decoding, Receiver, Feedback/Response and Noise.
These elements of which are highly mutually inclusive interact and the process of
communication starts.
Sender

Channel
Idea Message Received Received
Encoding Decoding
Media Message Idea

Feedback
Receiver

Fig. 1.2: The Communication Process / Cycle

The process of communication involves the following elements:

1. Sender or transmitter: The person who desires to convey the message is
known as sender. Sender initiates the message and changes the behavior of the
receiver.
2. Message: It is a subject matter of any communication. It may involve any fact,
idea, opinion or information. It must exist in the mind of the sender if
communication is to take place.
3. Encoding: The communicator of the information organizes his idea into series of
symbols (words, signs, etc.) which he feels will communicate to the intended
receiver or receivers.

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4. Channel: The sender has to select the channel for sending the information.
Communication channel is the media through which the message passes. It is the
link that connects the sender and the receiver.
5. Receiver: The person who receives the message is called receiver or receiver is
the person to whom the particular message is sent by the transmitter. The
communication process is incomplete without the existence of receiver of the
message. It is a receiver who receives and tries to understand the message.
6. Decoding: Decoding is the process of interpretation of an encoded message into
an understandable meaning. Decoding helps the receiver to drive meaning from the
message.
7. Feedback: Communication is an exchange. For the exchange to be complete
the information must go back to the sender so that he knows the reaction of the
receiver. The reaction or response of the receiver is known as feedback.
8. Noise/Destruction: On the whole process of communication, there is a
possibility of misunderstandings which is called noise or destruction. It may arise on
the senders’ side if they do not choose the adequate medium for delivery of
message, by using default channel and it may also arise when the receiver does not
properly decode the message. In other words, we can say that it is breakdown of
the communication cycle at any level.

Note: Even though channel and media are taken to be similar, there is a slight
difference among them. The media is the carrier of the message, such as: written
words, spoken words, and the cannel is the carrier of the media like a memo,
magazine, radio, telephone, fax, telex, television etc. Visual communication media
are traffic lights, signs, etc.

1.6. General and Business Communication Distinguished

It is the ability of mankind to communicate across barriers and beyond boundaries
that has ushered the progress of mankind. It is the ability of fostering speedy and
effective communication around the world that has shrunk the world and made
‘globalization’ a reality.

Communication has a vital role to play in ensuring that people belonging to a

particular country or a culture or linguistic group interact with and relate to people
belonging to other countries or culture or linguistic group. Communication adds

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meaning to human life. It helps to build relationship and fosters love and
understanding. It enriches our knowledge of the universe and makes living
worthwhile.

While general communication is the exchange of message in a set of orders

generally applied to any setting that allows its application business communication
refers to the use of effective language for conveying a commercial and industrial
message to achieve a predetermined purpose. Being one of the many types of
general communication the later is simply concerned with business activities
(financial and psychological profiles).

1.6.1. Business Communication: An Introduction

These business activities business communication is highly concerned with are of
two types: internal and external.

1. Internal business activities

When people within the organization communicate with each other, it is internal
communication. They do so to work as a team and realize the common goals. It
could be official or unofficial. Modes of internal communication include face-to-face
and written communication. Memos, reports, office order, circular, fax, video
conferencing, meeting etc. are the examples of internal communication.

Internal business activities include:

 Maintaining and improving the morale of employees
 Giving orders to workers
 Prescribing methods and procedures
 Announcing policies and organizational changes
 Keeping the management informed
2. External business activities

When people in the organization communicate with anyone outside the organization
it is called external communication. These people may be clients or customers,
dealers or distributors, media, government, general public etc. are the examples of
external communication.

External business activities include:

 Selling and obtaining goods and services

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  Reporting to the government and the shareholders on the financial
conditions and business operations
 Creating a favorable climate for conducting business
Some of the main features that lend business communication a distinct identity are:
 It deals with various commercial and industrial subjects.
 It is characterized by certain formal elements such as commercial and
technical vocabulary, the use of graphic and audio-visual aids, and
conventional formats.
 It is impartial and objective as extreme care is taken to convey information
accurately and concisely.
 It has comparatively a high concentration of certain complex writing
techniques and procedures.

1.6.1.1. Role of Communication in Business

The term business communication is used for all messages that we send and
receive for official purpose like running a business, managing an organization,
conducting the formal affairs of a voluntary organization and so on. Business
communication is marked by formality as against personal and social
communication.

The success of any business to a large extent depends on efficient and effective
communication. It takes place among business entities, in market and market
places, within organizations and between various groups of employees, owners and
employees, buyers and sellers, service providers and customers, sales persons and
prospects and also between people within the organization and the presspersons.
All such communications impact business. Done with care, such communication can
promote business interests. Otherwise, it will portray the organization in poor light
and may adversely affect the business interest.

Communication is the life blood of any organization and its main purpose is to effect
change to influence action. In any organization the main problem is maintaining
effective communication process. The management problem generally results in
poor communication. Serious mistakes are made because orders are
misunderstood. The basic problem in communication is that the meaning which is
actually understood may not be what the other intended to send. It must be realized

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that the speaker and the listener are two separate individuals having their own
limitations and a number of things may happen to distort the messages that pass
between them.

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