English Language Business Communication

1. English Language Business Communication Deny A. Kwary www.kwary.net

2. Today’s Topics • The importance of effective communication to organisations • Challenges to effective organisation communication • A simple model of communication process • Key dimensions of organisational communication • Different perspectives on communication

3. 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.

4. 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?

5. 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)

6. Challenges to effective organisation communication • Formal organisation structures; • Cultural diversity; • Intense political, financial and time pressures; • Etc. To be discussed further in Week 37

7. 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)

8. The linear model of the communication with feedback Figure 1.2 The linear model of the communication with feedback

9. 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)

10. 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)

11. 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.

12. 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)

13. The multiple dimensions of organisational communication What are the dimensions of a Website? (Two-way)

14. Different Perspectives on Communication • Modern perspectives • Interpretive perspectives • Critical perspectives • Post-modern perspectives

15. 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

16. 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)

17. 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)

18. 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

19. Hatch, M.J. 1997. Organisation Theory: Modern, Symbolic and Postmodern Perspectives. Oxford: OUP

20. 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)

21. 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

22. 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.

23. 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.

24. 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.

25. That's All for Today See You Next Week www.kwary.net