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Nature, Value and Process of Communication

INTRODUCTION

The word communication is derived from the Latin communis, which means “common”. It refers to a natural activity of all humans, which is to convey opinions, feelings, information, and ideas to others through words (written or spoken), body language, or signs. George Vardman defines effective communication as “purposive symbolic interchange resulting in workable understanding and agreement between the sender and the receiver”.¹ This interchange of information, ideas, and thoughts may occur via different modes: words (oral and written), signs, and gestures.

 

Emphasizing the processes of telling, listening, and understanding involved in the act of communicating with other people, Keith Davis² says that communication is “the transfer of information and understanding from one person to another person. It is a way of reaching others with facts, ideas, thoughts and values. It is a bridge of meaning among people so that they can share what they feel and know. By using this bridge, a person can cross safely the river of misunderstanding that sometimes separates people.”

BUSINESS ENGLISH AS LANGUAGE OF BUSINESS COMMUNICATION

Business English may be defined as the form of English used for the purpose of business correspondence, and writing business memos and reports. It is English used in the areas of accounting, sales, finance, export, management, manufacturing, marketing, banking and insurance, international trade, etc. for communicating with their customers and clients. And it is used also by us when we write to firms on matters of business.

Is Business English a Different Kind of English?

First of all, remember that there is no special kind of English known as Business English or commercial English for writing business letters, etc. It is generally held that good English is good business English and good English is the standard correct English which is normally spoken and written by the educated English speaking people.

However, before we discuss the essentials of business English, it would be helpful to clear two points regarding business or commercial English having its peculiar use of expressions, not found in the ordinary writing of letters. And the other belief that every area of business has its own set of English of course, it is true that in the early twentieth century the business letters were written in an impersonal, unnatural and high flown style in which firms were referred to as “your good selves”, and writers always “begged to remain your obedient servant” or “yours obediently”, and the letter was itself referred to as “for the favor of your kind consideration.”

However, such phrases and expressions are no more used in contemporary commercial or business English. The present day business correspondence is done in natural English and personal form and tone. We will discuss the features of natural language form and tone later.

Now, let us clarify the second impression about business English that every business has its own set-type of English.

Every language has two aspects: structure and texture. The structure is the manner in which a thing is constructed as syntax; it refers to the arrangement of the different parts that form a sentence, such as subject and predicate or sub-subject, verb and object.

The texture refers to the choice of words, specially the technical words and phrases, such as “under warranty”, “invoice”, “shipping cost”, “Performa”, etc. in business English the standard English have the same structure: S-V-O (Subject-Verb-Object). But, the texture differs from business to business and from ordinary English to technical words which belong to the specific business, words, such as “remittance”, “account payee”, “debited”, “indemnity”, and likewise, make the language of business writing sound different from normal English, and, because of the use of the same set of technical words, the letters written within the same area of business read alike.

SCOPE OF BUSINESS ENGLISH

Broadly speaking, in business, we communicate to: (a) inform and (b) persuade. These two goals are usually present in the mind of the person initiating the communication, as is seen in sales letters and advertisements. However, he or she may at times seek only to inform—as scientific writings do. Conversely, the person initiating the communication may aim more to persuade the reader, as journalistic writings and opinion editorials do.

Communication to Inform

Communication to inform (expository communication) is directed by the desire to expose, develop, and explain the subject. Its focus is the subject of the communication. For example, consider these short, expository pieces of writing:

1. Farming provides most of the food we eat. Our chief food crops are cereals or grains. Cereals include maize, rice, and wheat. We also grow barley and gram.
2. Flies are our deadly enemies because they feed on dirt and rubbish. When they crawl over meat, sweetmeats, and cakes with their dirty legs, they leave all kinds of germs behind and, thus, poison our food.

Clearly, in these two passages, the focus is on the subjects “our food” and “flies, our deadly enemy”. The logical presentation of facts informs us about the topics being discussed, and the danger associated with flies in the second passage is clearly conveyed.

Communication to Persuade

A communicator may seek primarily to persuade the reader or receiver of the message. In such a form of communication, the focus is on the receiver. Essentially, all communication is a deliberate and intentional act of persuasion. A persuasive communicator wants the reader to understand the message and to be influenced by it.

Consider HDFC's “Savings/Current Account” advertisement in Exhibit 1.1, which says: “Now opening a Savings/Current Account with HDFC Bank is extremely rewarding.” This handbill is reader-centric. The purpose of the message is not just to inform readers about a new savings and current account, but to persuade them to open such an account with HDFC Bank. Note how different adverbs and adjectives are chosen to draw the reader's attention. The adverb “now” is placed at the head (beginning) of the advertisement. This is the most important position in the structure of the sentence or paragraph. In the subject position, the adverb “now” seeks to persuade readers that until now no bank offered the convenience, benefit, and satisfaction of HDFC Bank's savings/current account. Similarly, the phrase, “extremely rewarding” aims at impressing the reader with the extraordinary operational convenience, monetary benefit, and personal satisfaction HDFC Bank offered its savings and current account holders.

 

 

As one can gather from the HDFC advertisement, business communication often needs to be persuasive. Exhibit 1.2 analyses an example of a persuasive business letter.

 

BASIC FORMS AND TYPES OF COMMUNICATION

One way to classify communication is according to the number of persons who receive the message.

• Intrapersonal communication is talking to oneself in one's own mind. Examples are soliloquies or asides in dramatic works.
• Interpersonal communication is the exchange of messages between two people. Examples are conversations, dialogues, or interviews in which two persons interact (others may also be present as audience). An author communicates interpersonally with his or her reader, who is always present as a silent audience in the author's mind while writing. A letter is also an example of interpersonal communication between the writer and the person to whom it is addressed.
• Group communication can be among small or large groups, such as an organization, club, or classroom, in which all individuals retain their individual identities.
• Mass communication is when a message is sent to large groups of people, for example by newspaper, radio, or television. In this process, each receiver is a faceless individual with almost no opportunity for response or feedback.

Communication can also be classified on the basis of the medium employed.

• Verbal communication means communicating with words, written or spoken. Verbal communication consists of speaking, listening, writing, reading, and thinking.
• Non-verbal communication includes the use of pictures, signs, gestures, and facial expressions for exchanging information between persons. It is done through sign language, action language, or object language.

   

  Non-verbal communication includes the use of sign language, action language, or object language. It is present in all acts of speaking and writing.

  Non-verbal communication accompanies the acts of speaking and writing. It is a wordless message conveyed through gestures (signs), movements (action language), and pictures/clothes (object language). Further, non-verbal communication is characterized by personal space (proxemics), body language (kinesics), touch (haptics), eyes (oculesics), sense of smell (olfactics), and time (chronemics).

  All these aspects of non-verbal communication need to be understood as they affect and, at times, contradict verbal communication. We shall discuss them in detail in Chapter XX.

• Meta-communication is when the speaker's choice of words unintentionally communicates something more than what the words themselves state. For example, the remark, “I've never seen you so smartly dressed” could be a compliment, but could also mean that the regular attire of the listener needs improvement.

BASIC ELEMENTS OF COMMUNICATION PROCESS

The process of communication begins with a person's desire to share or exchange an idea, thought, or feeling with another person or persons. It basically involves a sender, a message, a medium, and a receiver.

The Linear Concept of Communication

The earliest conceptualization of communication by Harold Lasswell involved the following five basic questions:

1. Who?
2. Says what?
3. To whom?
4. In which channel?
5. With what effect?

Early ideas of communication considered it a one-way (linear) process marked by the flow of information from a sender to a receiver (see Exhibit 1.3).

 

According to this linear view, the receiver passively receives the message and acts as directed or desired by the sender. Communication is intended to control/manipulate the receiver. It is assumed that the message, while passing through the medium chosen by the sender, reaches the receiver without any distortion or change.

The Shannon–Weaver Model

C. E. Shannon and W. Weaver³ were the first to point out that in actual practice, messages can be changed or blocked. Shannon's model of communication was first published in the Bell System Technical Journal. It was based on the mathematical or mechanistic view of the communication process, in which the basic problem is that the message received is not the same as the message sent. He attributed the loss to noise. The Shannon model, co-authored with Weaver, was brought out later in The Mathematical Theory of Communication in 1949. Weaver introduced the idea of feedback as a corrective counter to noise. However, in The Shannon–Weaver Model, feedback was not considered to be an integral component because the model conceived the communication process as a linear act and feedback as a new act of communication. This is why in The Shannon–Weaver Model shown in Exhibit 1.4, feedback is represented by dotted lines.

 

 

The model is based on the idea that communication occurs only when the message has been received and that it should be received unchanged, as far as possible. This is, of course, a theoretical concept of perfect communication. In real life, filters in the minds of both the sender and the receiver affect the content of the message. To an extent, feedback corrects the distortions and helps complete the cycle of communication (see Exhibit 1.5).

 

 

The Shannon–Weaver Model comprises the following basic elements:

• Information source (ideation): The communication process begins with the information source. The sender has some raw information in the form of outside experience. His or her intent changes that information into a message to be communicated. The source of a message, therefore, is the information source of the communication process.
• Encoding (transmitter): After having thought about the message, the sender puts it into words (verbal symbols or any other symbolic form of expression). This process is called encoding.
• Channel (transmission): An appropriate medium—oral, written, or electronic, in code, or a signalling system—chosen to send the message is known as the channel.
• Receiver (decoding): The receiver gets the message through decoding—by receiving, understanding, and interpreting the message.
• Acting: The communication process ends with the receiver putting the interpreted message into action, as intended by the sender.

We see that communication completes a full circle, bringing together the sender and the receiver to become two aspects of a single purpose. It is this unifying process and role of communication that has made modern management organizations consider communication as an essential skill for successful managers. According to Davis⁴, “The only way that management can be achieved in an organization is through the process of communication.”

 

• Noise: The process of communication is, however, open to “noise”, which prevents or distorts communication. Noise may be described as any distortion or hindrance that prevents the transmission of the message from the (mind of) the sender to the (mind of) the receiver.

  For some communication theorists, noise basically refers to any external disturbance in the physical environment surrounding the act of communication, or noise in the machine used for communicating the message, such as telephone disturbances, poor print, or bad handwriting.

  Communication distortions caused by subjective factors, such as the mindset of the sender or the receiver, are attributed to filters.

• Filters: Filters are mental in nature. They include attitudes, beliefs, experiences, consciousness of personal status, and the ability to think clearly. Misunderstandings and different problems may arise as the message is transmitted through the filters of both parties, such as low interest or involvement in the message or distraction and fatigue causing loss of concentration.

The Elements of Communication

The various elements of communication are briefly described to explain the process of communication.

 

• Message: The message is the information, written or spoken, which is to be sent from one person to another. Here, the word person represents the two ends of a system and may represent an individual, a group of individuals, or even electronic machines.

  The most important characteristic of a message as an element of communication is that it is organized, structured, shaped, and selective—a product of the pre-writing or pre-speaking stage. It exists in the mind of the sender (communicator).

• Sender: The person who transmits, spreads, or communicates a message or operates an electronic device, the one who conceives and initiates the message with the purpose of informing, persuading, influencing, or changing the attitude, opinion, or behaviour of the receiver (audience/listener). He or she decides the communication symbols, the channel, and the time for sending the message after carefully considering the total context in which communication takes place.
• Encoding: Encoding is the process of changing the message (from its mental form) into symbols, that is, patterns of words, gestures, or pictorial forms or signs. In short, it means putting ideas, facts, feelings, and opinions into symbols, which can be words, actions, signs, and pictures. The communication symbols are selected by the sender keeping in mind the receiver's ability to understand and interpret them correctly.
• Receiver: A receiver is the targeted audience of the message. The receiver understands, interprets, and tries to perceive the total meaning of the message as transmitted by the sender.
• Decoding: This is the act of translating symbols into their ordinary meanings. However, the total meaning lies in the meanings of the words (symbols) together with the tone and attitude of the sender as reflected by the structure of the message and the choice of words used by him or her (the sender).
• Acting: Communication manipulates the receiver to act in a desired manner. A receiver's response action shows that he or she has understood the message. Finally, the receiver completes the chain of communication by responding to the message.
• Feedback: This is the loop that connects the receiver with the sender, who, in turn, acts as a feedback receiver and, thus, learns that communication has been accomplished. Feedback plays an important role in communication. It helps the communicator know if there are any corrections or changes to be made in the proposed action. It also ensures that the receiver has received the message and understood it as intended by the sender.

In management, the decision-making process is greatly helped by receiving feedback from those who are directly concerned with the changes proposed in the communication. The process of feedback assures the initiator of the action of its correctness and impact.

TWO-WAY COMMUNICATION

More recent conceptualizations of the communication process look at communication as a two-way process. A group of people are involved in completing the cycle of communication, in which the receiver also acts as the sender of feedback to the original transmitter (sender). Thus, both the sender and receiver play reciprocal and reversible roles, as in telemarketing or call-centre communications. Consider the two-way flow of communication illustrated in Exhibit 1.6.

 

 

The two-way concept of communication is more contemporary. It considers communication essentially to be a reciprocal process and a mutual exchange of messages. It makes no sharp distinction between the roles of the sender (source) and the receiver, because the same person plays both roles, often simultaneously.

 

The earlier linear view treated the sender as the determiner of the message and its meaning. The two-way concept involves the receiver as an active agent in constructing the meaning of the message. The meaning of the message is perceived in the context of the receiver‘ s experiences, beliefs, and feelings. The intended and received meanings may result in common interpretations of situations, ideas, schemes, and events to the extent that people live and work together and develop common attitudes and viewpoints with regard to their organization or society. The two-way communication process is also known as transactional communication, which has been explained in Exhibit 1.7.

Communication source	An organization's news bulletin containing a policy to be circulated among all employees
Encoder	The editor/person who writes the policy
Message	The content (policy details) and the words/pictures used to convey the policy to employees
Channel	The medium—in this case the news bulletin
Decoder/receiver	The audience of the message—those for whom the policy is intended and who read the bulletin
Feedback	Impact/effectiveness of the communication in achieving its objectives

 

Exhibit 1.7 Transactional Communication

Communication is purposive in nature. It achieves success by manipulating the target audience through information and persuasion to effect the intended action.

VALUE AND SELF DEVELOPMENT

The skills of effective communication do not come automatically to most people. As a result, human beings are often poor communicators. Many people rarely realize that failure to achieve one's objectives in relationships, negotiations, or decision-making processes, is, to quite a large extent, owing to a failure in communicating one's purpose and ideas accurately to others. This may be a failure to communicate the content of the message, the form of the message, or both. Instances of such failures in communication are common in personal and organizational communications. It is common to hear colleagues or friends say something like, “Sorry, I did not realize that you wanted me to…”, “I would have changed the arrangement, but nobody told me…”, or even, “Well, I did not know you were to leave so soon…” and “But what was the point of this discussion?” Each of these remarks indicates the regret and disappointment felt by the speaker for having failed to live up to what was expected of him or her. Such remarks indicate a failure in communication. And when communication fails, the intended result is adversely affected. For instance, consider a situation in which the vice-president of a company asks his secretary to call an urgent meeting of all the managers, but, to his surprise, learns that the meeting has been scheduled for the next morning instead of the same day as he had expected. The secretary thought the “urgent” meant “serious” and not “immediate”. In this instance, the receiver missed the purpose of communication because the vice-president did not clearly and precisely specify the time of the meeting. The secretary must have regretted that the vice-president's intended purpose was not accomplished because of this miscommunication. Sometimes, the failure to communicate successfully can be very disappointing, as can be seen in Communication Snapshot 1.1.

Executives seeking global business shores often join formal classes to get a feel for local cultures. Sensitivity to local cultures is necessary to stay in business. For instance, dinner diplomacy in China is often more effective than boardroom meetings for securing business. Those who understand this, like M&M, often manage to clinch deals over less-sensitive rivals.

Awareness about a client's cultural sensitivities often results in a positive advantage in business relationships. The phrase “cultural sensitivity” was first used in the Harvard Business Review in 2004, in the context of the cultural intelligence quotient (CQ). Shital Kakker Mehra, founder of Soft Skills International, defines cultural sensitivity as “an ability to interpret unfamiliar and ambiguous gestures in the way compatriots of the same culture would.” Here, the term gestures stands for the whole range of non-verbal cues that accompany verbal communication between persons from two different cultures. In interpreting gestures, one can consider the human body to be part of the code for communication of symbolic messages that reveal an individual's thoughts and feelings. Gestures are often expressive of cultural context.

Here, it is important to understand that culture is not just behaviour. Culture is the received and accepted set of rules guiding human behaviour. These rules are absorbed and eventually become engrained in each individual's mind to the point where they are second nature. Persons with similar sets of social rules tend to behave in the same manner, which then becomes the normal behaviour expected in different situations. It is interesting to know that an individual's behaviour is noticed only when it deviates from the norm and becomes a noticeable behaviour in a particular culture. Thus, cultural sensitivity, which is measured by the cultural intelligence quotient, helps us to understand cultural differences. It enables us to interpret different gestures according to the rules of normal behaviour in that culture.

For example, here is a scenario illustrative of significant differences between cultures: a man travelling alone in a cab in New York will sit in the back seat, but in Australia, if a man is travelling alone in a cab, he will occupy the front seat next to the driver. According to Beatty and Takahashi, most New York cab drivers hold that if a single male attempted to get in the front seat, next to them, they would get out of the cab. For them, such an act would likely mean that the entering passenger is a thief. Australian cab drivers, on the other hand, feel that a man getting in the back seat alone is rather unfriendly and distant.⁵

Cultural sensitivity is considered to be very important in helping a person adapt to a foreign culture. This is why most nations include questions about their culture in their citizenship tests, assuming that a person who is aware about their culture will be able to adapt to it successfully. Exhibit 1.5 shows a few sample questions that a person may be required to answer as part of a U.K. citizenship test.

Meetings and Social Visits

People's behaviour at meetings and social gatherings is nearly a ritualized act in various cultures. At a formal meeting between two persons or groups from different cultural backgrounds, people might behave according to their own culture. For example, in English one may say “Pleased to meet you” or “How do you do?”, whereas in Japanese one says “Hajimemashite” (it is beginning). Differences in cultures are seen in the way people from different cultures behave on meeting someone for the first time. Japanese executives first exchange business cards instead of verbally introducing themselves. The card is handed over to the receptionist, without an introduction. The purpose of giving or showing the card is to announce the visitor's arrival for the appointed meeting. No verbal exchange takes place because the Japanese believe that verbal exchange should be for prolonged interactions. The exchange of visiting cards involves no time as such. American businesspeople find this practice rather surprising. Americans and Europeans usually approach the receptionist and verbally announce, “I am so and so” and “I have come to meet so and so”. On meeting the person concerned, they would greet them with a “Good morning/afternoon/evening” and “how are you doing?”, which is followed by an introduction

 

Group Behaviour

Cultural differences are also noticeable in the way people in groups act when they are joined by a new person. In America, when a group of persons is talking and someone joins the group, the group drops the ongoing discussion as it is believed that the newcomer would have little interest in it or would fail to join in the discussion. In this matter, the Japanese follow the practice of continuing with the ongoing discussion and wait for the moment when the newcomer is able to join the conversation. Of course, if the newcomer has high status, the group drops the discussion to pay attention to the newly arrived person. Thus, one could say that “Americans regroup, whereas Japanese join an existing group.” Our attitudes, values, beliefs, social behaviour, and language crystallize in the crucible of culture. Therefore, to be able to act and respond correctly in intercultural situations, it is important to know the other individual's cultural background.

 

 

Exhibit 1.10 Sample Citizenship Test

Verbal and non-verbal communication should be explained with reference to their cultural contexts. Edward T. Hall, an anthropologist, propounded the theory of strong linkage between culture and communication. While teaching intercultural skills to foreign service personnel in the 1950s, he developed the concepts of “high-context culture” and “low-context culture.”

The kind of communication that dominates in a given culture relates directly to the type of the culture it is or, to be more precise, to the role of social context in that culture. Social context is interpreted as the network of social expectations that determine a person's behaviour. The rules act as social context and guide behaviour almost spontaneously, with little conscious effort on the part of the participants in the interaction. Context is a key factor in determining the effect of culture on communication. It implies consideration of the framework, background, and surrounding circumstances in which communication takes place.

High-context Cultures

In a high-context culture, there are many contextual elements that help individuals understand the rules. Much is taken for granted while communicating. A person who does not know the unwritten rules of the culture may find communication confusing. High-context cultures are found in many Asian countries and much of the Middle East, South America, and Africa. People from these countries are more likely to be relational, collectivist, intuitive, and contemplative. This means that people in these cultures emphasize interpersonal relationships. Developing trust is an important first step to any business transaction. According to Hall⁶, these cultures are collectivist, preferring group harmony and consensus to individual achievement. People in these cultures may be less governed by reason than by intuition or feelings. Words are not as important as context, which might include the speaker's tone of voice, facial expressions, gestures, posture, and even the person's family history and status. A Japanese manager explained his culture's communication style to an American in the following words: “We are a homogeneous people and don't have to speak as much as you do. When we say one word, we understand ten, but here you have to say ten to understand one.” High-context communication tends to be more indirect and more formal. Flowery language, humility, and elaborate apologies are typical.

 

Low-context Cultures

In a low-context culture, very little is taken for granted. Therefore, explicit statements and explanations are required. The chances of misunderstanding by those outside that culture are minimized. Low-context cultures include those of North America and much of Western Europe. These cultures tend to value rationality, logic, action-oriented behaviour, and individualism. They emphasize reason, facts, and directness. Solving a problem means lining up the facts and evaluating them. Decisions are based on facts rather than intuition. Discussions end with actions. Explicit contracts conclude negotiations. Communicators are expected to be straightforward, concise, and efficient in explaining all actions literally. This is very different from communication in high-context cultures, which depend less on precise language and legal documents. Businesspeople from high-context cultures may even distrust contracts and be offended by the lack of trust they suggest. Knowledge of the culture of one's business associates helps set realistic expectations regarding the type of communication that is likely to happen. Exhibit 1.11 compares the characteristics of high and low-context communication.

 

 

Time As a Cultural Factor

According to Hall, another significant characteristic of a culture is how time is viewed in that culture. In his book The Silent Language, Hall coined the terms polychronic, to describe the ability to attend to multiple events simultaneously, and monochronic, to describe individuals and cultures with a preference for doing things sequentially. The main differences between the two are highlighted in Exhibit 1.12.

 

Monochronic Time

M-time, as Hall calls it, means doing things in a sequential manner, one thing at a time. Monochronic people tend to carefully plan and schedule their work. They are known for their time management skills. A monochronic sense of time is more common in low-context cultures.

 

Polychronic Time

In a polychronic culture, human relationships are valued more than time. Polychronic people do not hurry to get things done, and they get things done in their own time. They are high-context people in their overall attitude towards information sharing.

 

Within western cultures people have different attitudes towards time. For instance, Americans and Germans are highly monochrome, whereas the French tend to be largely polychronic. Hence, being late to a business meeting is a much bigger faux pas for a German or American executive than for a French executive.

Space As a Cultural Factor

Different cultures vary in their concern for space and social relationships within it. Hall calls the study of human concern for space proxemics. Concern for space primarily suggests personal body space. But, it also relates to space in other situations such as in one's room, in traffic, and in the office.

People are extremely sensitive to any intrusion into their personal space by others. But, the area of personal territory differs from culture to culture and relationship to relationship. This concern for proper personal space will be discussed in greater detail in Chapter XX. However, here we will consider it as one of the cultural factors affecting human relations and levels of comfort. For instance, a Japanese person may need less space and may stand too close for an American's comfort without realizing it.

This concern for space may extend to the level of territorial possessiveness. In fact, perhaps all territorial feuds and wars result from an overzealous concern for space. This is often seen in offices, where some individuals with territorial tendencies fight for exclusive use of their office desks, behaving as if they possessed the desk and were not simply using it.

People of high territoriality tend to be from low-context cultures. People of low territoriality tend to have less of a sense of ownership of personal space and, accordingly, boundaries have less meaning for them. They readily share their territory and space. For example, in buses or trains some persons offer to share their seats with others with little hesitation.

This cultural analysis should help us understand an individual's actions in the context of the type of culture to which he or she belongs. For example, the reason for a person being late to a meeting may not be laziness or lack of respect, but, rather, his or her having a polychronic cultural background and a more flexible attitude towards timings.

MEDIA OF COMMUNICATION

Channel is the vehicle or medium that facilitates the sending of the message to the receiver. The medium of communication can be written, oral, audio-visual, or live. Again, the written medium can be in the form of letters, memos, reports, manuals, notices, circulars, questionnaires, minutes of meetings, and so on. Similarly, the oral medium can be in the form of a dialogue, a face-to-face interview, a telephone conversation, a conference recording, and so on. The channel (medium) can also be visual, such as hoardings, posters, slides, documentary films, television programmes, and advertisements.

Communication and Electronic Media

The electronic media have made communication instantaneous and immediate across the world. The use of telephones, voice mail, phone conferencing, video conferencing, cell phones, and e-mail as preferred modes (channels) of communication has greatly accelerated the decision-making process at all levels. Their use connects the sender and receiver in a timeless and spaceless web of communication. In a way, the online message and its immediate feedback give distant communication the force and advantages of face-to-face communication.

In business, all these electronic modes of communication are used according to the need and purpose of the communicators. E-mail, however, is the most commonly used global medium of interaction today. Even within the same organization, managers and executives prefer to communicate via e-mail instead of phone calls. These modes of communication will be discussed in detail in Chapter XX.

Communication and Social Media

Social media, according to Dave Evans⁷, “involves a natural, genuine conversation between people about something of mutual interest, a conversation built on the thoughts and experience of the participants. It is about sharing and arriving at a collective point, often for the purpose of making a better or informed choice.” These emerging online social media, according to Susan Bratton, richly reward⁸ “our innate desire to connect with each other at a human level.”

Internet forums, weblogs, Twitter, message boards, Wikis, podcasts, picture-sharing sites, and other online media connect and share information in a collaborative manner. Examples of social media applications are Google (reference, social networking), Wikipedia (reference), MySpace (social networking), Facebook (social networking), Last.fm (music), YouTube (video sharing), Second Life (virtual reality), and Flickr (photo sharing).

As a social web participant, the channels one is likely to use today are SMS (texting), blogs and microblogs, video sharing, photo sharing, personal social networks, event services, e-mail, white label social networks, Wikis, podcasts (audio) and collaborative tools.

Social media are popular because they allow collaboration and creativity. The audience of social media can participate by adding comments or changing the stories themselves. The empowerment and freedom of the audience to add or create new content makes social media a process and not a static medium. Unlike direct mail or television advertising, social media are “a collaborative process through which information is created, shared, altered, and destroyed.”⁹ In business, politics, and personal life, social media act as a “feedback loop”. As the audience, we listen to it, learn from it, and follow it. For example, in the purchase funnel of “awareness—consideration—purchase”, social media influence the customer's consideration to quite an extent by offering the experiences of other customers of that product. Participants believe the social message because it is based on natural, genuine conversation informed by the experience and wisdom of the multitude.

REVIEW YOUR LEARNING

1. Why is communication important for good relationships and effective management?
2. Do you believe that the English used in business translations is a separate kind of English? Give reasons for your view on business English.
3. What is meant by standard English? Discuss its chief characteristics, with examples.
4. Discuss communication as a two-way process of exchange of ideas.
5. Comment on the importance of feedback in communication.
6. Discuss Shannon-Weaver Model of Communication.
7. Analyze the elements of communication.
8. Discuss the major difficulties in having effective exchange of ideas, information, and feelings.

REFLECT ON YOUR LEARNING

1. Why have communication skills become an essential requirement for a successful career in any profession? Discuss with examples.
2. How does an interview/discussion conducted on television become an act of communication? Explain.
3. Show how feedback acts as an essential element in the communication process.
4. “The principle of completeness in communication requires that we answer all questions that may be put to us.” Elaborate.
5. Why are human beings, in general, poor communicators? Can communication skills be improved?