COMMUNICATION

“Communication takes place with every action, every word, every

statement – oral or written-which management makes. Organizing,
planning, directing, controlling and evaluating in all their
ramifications have their life lines firmly rooted in organizational
heartbeat of communication”.
-Schneider
Channels of Communication :
Face to Face A B

Chain A B C D E
 A B
Circle

E C

B C

A
Wheel
D E
Direction of Communication

Downward ( Policy, Directions, Information)

Upward ( Grievances, Problems, Information )
Horizontal ( Co-ordination, Information)

Business Communication Media

Personal talk Committees, meetings

Directions – notices, memos Market surveys, Research
Letters Union Publications
Pamphlets, handbills Social and cultural programmes
Advertising
Reports Electronic Media
House Magazines Telephone, Telex, Fax, PCs, E-mail
 Barriers and Filters to Communications
Most barriers involve a tendency to evaluate and to approve or disapprove the
message.

Communication barriers arise because :

Poor responsibility and credibility

Left out feeling
Instructions getting lost
Censoring of upward communication
Problems in getting higher ones to listen
Inability to inform properly and timely
Lack of knowledge, technicalities involved
Victim of conspiracy
Semantic barriers
Social and cultural perceptions
Communicator’s skill
Listen’s interest, attitude and motivation
Reciprocity - Feedback
Information may be filtered / given different direction than originally
meant by managers and also union leaders

Filtering of Communication

Communication
Prism- Reflecting or
Deflecting messages

More filtering and misdirections possible with layering and greater

length or span of communication.
Managers/ union leaders may also colour the information-
internationally or unintentionally.
Communication Models

Aristotelian Persuasion Model

(Speaker oriented model)
Communication should be persuasive in nature – advocacy in court
rooms, assemblies, public meetings.
Weakness – one way process from speaker to listener
Strength – emphasis on setting
Persuasiveness depends on : Logical appeal – scientific in nature,
backed by facts and figures, quotations, Emotional – unscientific
inform of strokes, hypothetical illustrations and Ethical – unscientific
reference to moral, intellectual and social attributes.

Speaker Message Listener

Setting
Newcomb’s Interpersonal Communication Model
The model assumes that when person A communicates to person B
about something X, both A’s and B’s orientation toward X will be
determined not only by X itself but by the relationship of other person to
X as well as described as ‘Persistent strain towards symmetry’.

The situational factors which can affect A-B-X

i). Nature of association – constrained or voluntary one
ii). Prescribed role differentiation – symmetry may involve
complementarity rather than sameness.
iii). Possibility of symmetry being threatened – one may like to develop
good relations with his supervisor, but this may annoy union leader

A B
Traditional Approach : Engineering Model

It deals with information devoid of meaning i.e. the information theorist is not
interested in what is communicated, but only in the fact that this information is
communicated both accurately and correctly.

The basic information theory model involves an information source which

selects a desired message, a transmitter which changes the message into a
signal which can be sent over some communication channel to a receiver, a
destination to whom message was originally intended, and finally a noise
source which can introduce extra uses information into the signal.

Information Transmitter Signal Receiver Destination

Source

Message Message

Noise Source
As viewed by information theorists, communication problems can arise
at any one of three levels :

1. Technical Level how accurately can the symbols of

communication be transmitted.

4. Sementic Level how precisely do the transmitted symbols

convey the desired meaning.

7. Effectiveness Level how effectively does the received meaning

effect the conduct in desired way

Information theorists are primarily concerned with problems at

technical level.
Organizational Communication Model

Organizational
Technical
Interpersonal
Intrapersonal
LEE THAYER Four levels of communication as above have their origin
in physiological, psychological, sociological and technicals.

There are three basic information system within an organization which

maps the flow of information relating to :

Operational Information System : Production, Inventory etc.

Regulatory Information System : Goals, objectives, policies

Maintenance and Development Information System –

Maintenance and support of all common
characteristics
e.g. payroll, evaluation.
HOVLAND MODEL
(Receiver or Listener Oriented)
Internal
Observable Mediating Observable
Communication Predispositional Process Communicat
Stimuli Factors ion Effect

Content
Content bound
Characteristics: Opinion
Topic bound
Topic, Appeal, Change
Argument, Features Appeal bound
Attention
Style bound

Communicator
Characteristics:
Communication Perceptio
Roles, Affiliations bound n Change
Intensions
Comprehen-
sion

Media
Characteristics:
Media Bound
Direct/Indirect Affect
Interaction, Sense change
modality

Acceptance

Situational Situation Bound

Action
Surrounding:
Change
Social Setting
The stimuli to communication are : content, communicator, media and
situation. The predispositional factors enumerated in the model
represent prior opinion, attitudes, values and beliefs that we bring with
us to any communcation situation, they represent the result of our past
experiences.

Attention, comprehension and acceptance are all tightly interrelated.

The effect of communication is observed in changes which may occur
in attitude, opinion, perception, effect and action of the listener.