BUS 204: Business Communication

Introduction to Communication
Thompson O. Ewata Elizade University Ilara-Mokin, Ondo State, nigeria

What is (Business) Communication?

Knowledge of business communication presupposes an understanding of both business and communication ... Although courses in business communication have their roots in the business English and business correspondence courses common in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, business communication has evolved over the years into a broad discipline providing an overview of all communication that occurs in organisational settings (Bowman, 2003).

 Without communication, it will be difficult for two people to get along. Whatever the relationship in any human dealings business, friendships and family affairs communication is the vehicle through which the dealings are determined. Communication is so important that it has been said to be the next most important thing, apart from the basic necessities- food, clothing, shelter etc. this is because communication determines how one gets along with others; as without communication, human interaction is doomed.

 Despite the importance of communication to man, defining it is a very problematic venture. Communication scholars stress that it is difficult to define communication because it is something we perceive and do everyday of our lives that we have taken it for granted yet cannot say with certainty what it is as communication is:

a phenomenon that is at one and the same time ubiquitous yet elusive (Hargie and Dickson 2003:11).

 Communication is a 'fuzzy' concept, with boundaries that are blurred and not altogether certain (Ellis & Beattie, 1986) . Holli and Calabrese (1998) attribute the problem of not having a precise definition to the vast range of activities that can legitimately be subsumed under this label and pointed out that the Journal of Communication has published no fewer than fifteen different working definitions of human communication...

 A Note of Warning: any definition of a topic as broad as communication would be too general, too complex, or too fragmented to be of much use (http://www.ais.msstate.edu/AEE/Tutorial/comm_process.html)
However, communication can be defined as the process by which people share ideas, experience, knowledge and feelings through the transmission of symbolic messages. when you communicate, you are trying to establish a commonality with another person, organisation, country etc (Overton, 2007, p. 6).

Characteristics of Communication