M: Business Communication Chapter 1

Organizational culture

A given company's customary, but often unstated, ways of perceiving and doing things. It is the medium of preferred values and practices in which the company's members do their work.

Learning Objective 1-3: Describe the three main categories of business communication.

1) Internal-Operational Communication 2) External-Operational Communication 3) Personal Communication

Learning Objective 1-2: Describe the main challenges facing business communicators today:

1) New media literacy 2) Increasing diversity in the workplace 3) Globalism 4) Increased need for strong analytical skills 5) Increased focus on ethics and social responsibility

Relationship of the communicators

An important context for communication.

Genres

Communication channels/forms

Learning Objective 1-1: Explain the importance of communication to you and to business.

Communication is the number one soft skill sought after by many employers. Poor communication is a problem for small and mid-sized businesses, not just for big corporations. Business connections are achieved through communication.

Informal Network

Consists of the thousands of personal communications that may or may not support the formal communication network of a business. No pattern; they form an ever-changing and infinitely complex structure linking the members of the organization to each other and to many different external audiences.

Personal communication

Exchange of information and feelings in which human beings engage whenever we come together or when we just feel like talking to each other.

External-operational communication

External communication is the transmission of information between a business and another person or entity in the company's external environment. (e.g. customers, potential customers, suppliers, investors, shareholders, and society at large.)

Visual literacy

The ability to create and interpret graphics.

Computational Thinking

The ability to interact with data, see patterns in data, make data-based decisions, and use data to design for desired outcomes.

Grapevine

The informal network inside an organization. Spreads throughout the organization in a random, undocumented manner and is open to constant change with individual interpretation. Although unstable, the grapevine carries some importance to internal business communication. Benefits: Information from upper management that flows through the grapevine to lower-level employees can allow them to see, and possibly relate to, the struggles that management is facing. Cons: It is difficult for one to discern fact from fiction through the grapevine. Management must effectively monitor the grapevine and jump in to correct inaccuracies or falsehoods. The grapevine is unstable and unreliable; it can fuel anxiety, conflict and misunderstanding in small or large group situations.

Corporate social responsibility

The initiatives set by a company to assess and and take responsibility for the environmental and social well being.

Cross-cultural competency

The knowledge, skills, and affect/motivation that enable individuals to adapt effectively in cross-cultural environments.

Formal network

The main lines of operational communication. The bulk of the communication that the business needs to operate. The flow includes the upward, lateral, and downward movement of information in the form of reports, memos, email, and other media within the organization; the downward movement of orders; the broad dissemination of company information.

Internal-operational communication

The sharing of information within an organization for business purposes. (e.g. discussions about goals, orders, instructions, reports, etc.) Much of this is performed on computer networks. Much of this communication takes place via smartphones and other mobile devices.

Problem solving

Virtually every significant communication task that you will face will involve analyzing a unique set of factors that requires at least a somewhat unique solution.