Purposive Communication

DR. MA. JULIETA B. BORRES

WATCH THE VIDEO AND
SHARE YOUR BRIEF
REFLECTIONS ABOUT IT
LATER
Lesson 1: The
Communication
Principles, Process and
Ethics
College of Arts and Letters
Bicol University
Describe the nature, elements, and function of verbal
and non-verbal communication in various and
multicultural contexts
 Communication, defined.

• The term communication is derived from the latin word

communis, meaning common.
• In general, communication refers to the reciprocal exchange
of information, ideas, facts, opinions, beliefs, feelings &
attitudes through verbal or nonverbal means between two
people or within a group of people.
 Communication, defined.
Communication is a process by which information
is exchanged between individuals through a
common system of symbols & signs of behavior.
- Webster’s Dictionary

Communication is interchange of thoughts,

opinions or information by speech, writing or
signs.
- Robert Andersion
Defining Communication

Communication is a systemic process in which

people interact with and through symbols to
create and interpret meanings. (Wood, 2004)
Defining Communication

• In its simplest form, communication is the

transmission of a message from a source to a
receiver (Baran, 2006)

• The sending or exchanging of thoughts, opinions

or information by speech, writing or signs
(Webster 1997)
Defining Communication

Communication is the transfer of information and

understanding from one person to another.
(Newstrom, 2011)

Communication is the transfer of information from

one person to another, whether or not it elicits
confidence. But the information transferred must
be understandable to the receiver. (G.G. Brown)
Defining Communication
• “Communication” is the interaction of a person with
other people, exchange of their ideas and feelings, and
transmission of information from one person to another.
(Hybel & Weaver)

• Communication is giving, receiving and exchanging of

ideas, facts, opinions, information, signals or messages
through an appropriate medium, enabling individuals or
group to persuade, to seek information, to give
information and to express emotions.
(Fred G. Meyer)
 Defining Communication
• Communication is the exchange of facts, ideas,
opinions or emotions by two or more persons.
(William Newman)

• Communication is a sum of all things one person

does when he wants to create understanding in
the minds of another. It involves systematic and
continuous process of telling, listening, and
understanding. (Louis Allen)
 Communication, defined.

A dynamic, systemic, or contextual,

irreversible, and proactive process
in which communicators construct
personal meanings through their
symbolic interactions.
 The Components of the
Communication Process
• We overlook questions such
as:
How the means of
communication are used
Why communication happens
Since communication
What happens when there is
involves people in
communication
interaction with others, to
say that to communicate is By knowing the answers to
to send and receive these questions, we can
messages does not tell us arrive at a clearer meaning of
much. communication
• In addition to transmission of
messages, communication involves
interpretation and meaning.

• Since communication is a human

phenomenon, all personal and social
relations are created and maintained
through communication.
Transactional Definition of
Communication
• Contemporary theory regards communication not only as
the dynamic process of exchanging meaningful messages,
but as a transaction between the participants, during which
a relationship develops between them.
• People communicating are mutually responsible for the
outcome of the communication encounter as they transmit
information, create meaning and elicit response.
• The focus is on the quality of the relationship tat develops
between the communicators, as well as on the transfer and
interpretation of messages.
Components of the Communication
Process
1. PEOPLE – usually referred to
as the message sender and
message receiver or.. as
“communicator” and
“recipient.”

Sender:
• A sender is a person who encodes & sends the message
to the expected receiver through an appropriate channel.
• A sender is the source of the message that is generated
to be delivered to the receiver after appropriate stimulus
from the referent.
 2. MESSAGE –.

The message is the content of communication &

may contain verbal, nonverbal or symbolic
language.
• Perception & personal factors of the sender &
receiver may sometimes distort this element & the
intended outcome of communication may not be
achieved. For ex, the same message may be
communicated or perceived differently by two
individuals.
Because people cannot transfer meaning
from one mind to another, they use signs
and codes to formulate messages.
Signs and Codes
• Signs – is something that
stands for something else
Verbal signs – spoken and
written words and sounds
Nonverbal signs – cues or
signals that are transmitted
without the use of sound.
• Codes – also known as social
convention, tells us what
signs to use and how to
combine them to
communicate meaningfully.
Encoding and Decoding
• The process of transforming thoughts and
ideas (messages) into verbal and
nonverbal signs is called encoding.
• The process of transforming verbal and
nonverbal signs back into messages is
called decoding.
Meaning
• Messages contain two types of information to
which we attach meaning:
1. Content level – refers to factual information
about the topic of the message – what it is
about.
2. Relational level – determines how the
participants understand their relationship – it
provides information about the feeling of the
communicator and how the content should be
interpreted.
“We have to talk about this”
• Friend • Boss
Interpretation

• Interpretation depends on both social (shared)

meaning and individual (personal or subjective)
meanings.
• To be able to communicate we must have
something in common
Medium and Channel
• Medium – is the physical BOTH can be regarded
means by which messages are as the links between
transmitted or transported the communicator
between people in and recipient.
communication.
Ex. Book, tv

• Channel – the route by which

the messages travel.
Ex. Lightwaves that carry signal
to TV, your five senses
Medium and Channel
Channel: •
A channel is a medium through which a message is sent
or received between two or more people.

• Several channels can be used to send or receive the

message, i.e seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, &
tasting.

• While selecting channels of communication, several

factors must be considered: availability of channel()s ,
purpose, suitability, types of receivers, types of message,
preference of sender & receivers, communication skills
of the sender, cost, etc.
Classification of channels of
communication:

• Visual channel: Facial expression, body language, posture,

gestures, pictures & written words, electronic mails, mass media,
etc.

• Auditory channel: Spoken words, sounds, telephone or mobile

communications, delivering audio content (radio, voicemail), etc.

• Tactile channel: Touch sensations, therapeutic touch, etc.

• Combined channel: Audiovisual media, consoling a person with

touch & spoken words.
 Noise
• Any stimulus that interferes
with the transmission and
reception of messages is
called noise.

• It is anything that interferes

with the success of the
communication by distorting
the message so that the
meaning received is difference
from that which is intended.
Types of Noise • External Noises – are
stimuli in the
environment that
distract your attention.
• Internal Noises –
thoughts and feelings in
people that may
interfere with
communication
• Semantic noise – are
interferences due to the
meaning of words.
Receiver:

• A receiver is an individual or a group of individuals

intended to receive, decode & interpret the message sent
by the sender/source of message.

• A receiver also known as decoder. •

He is expected to have the ability & skills to receive,

decode & interpret the message.
Feedback
• Feedback is the response
of the participants to each
other, and may take
different forms.

• Two types:
• Feedback is important
because it because it gives a. Positive feedback
communication its b. Negative feedback
dynamic nature.
• It is the means by which
we negotiate ideas and
exchange meaning.
Confounding elements:

• These elements are not a direct part of the flow of the

communication process but influence the communication
process significantly indirected.

• These elements are interpersonal variables of the sender &

the receiver & the environment where the communication
process take place.

• Interpersonal variables such as perception, beliefs, values,

sociocultural background, educational & developmental levels,
emotion, gender, physical & mental health, etc. may
significantly affect the communication process.
 Context refers to the
environment or Context
circumstances in which
the communication
encounter takes place.
Communication is always
situational and is
influenced by factors such
as the time, space and
physical properties of the
meeting place, as well as Communication does not take place
the roles, status and in a void.
relationships of the
participants.
 The Nature of
Communication
The Nature of Communication

1. Communication is a dynamic process

“Process”
 ever-changing, ever-moving and in a
state of flux.
 Also indicates that there are no clear-
cut markers when communication
starts and ends.
“Dynamic”
> It is a complex notion of dynamic change,
one in which an indefinitely vast
number of particulars interact in a
reciprocal and continuous manner.
 Nature of Comm.
2. Communication is
systemic
A system consists of parts or
elements that comprise a
whole. Communication is a
complex process and it takes
place within a set of systems.
Communicators relate to one
another in a system. The
social setting they find
themselves in is a system. A
systemic view of
communication has four (4)
vital implications.
a. Communication is
contextual – does not
transpire in a vacuum, it
occurs amidst background
or setting, requires an
immediate physical
surrounding.
b. A system has interrelated
parts – each component
relies and depends on one
another.
c. The whole is more than the
sum of its parts.
d. Constraints within systems
influence or affect
meanings.
Nature of Comm.

3. Communication involves communicators

Communicator Communicator
Nature of Comm.

4. Communication is irreversible.
Communicators have no way but to
go forward from one moment to the
next, from a present state to a
future one.

5. Communication is proactive.
Communicators are capable of seeing,
perceiving, analyzing, and shaping
situations.
Nature of Comm.
6. Communication is symbolic interaction – means
that communicators interact through language.
They assign and act upon meanings, not on
stimuli per se.
Nature of Comm.

7. Meaning in communication is individually

construed. Each individual interprets or assigns
value and meaning differently on the basis of
his past experiences.
Process of Communication
The speaker generates an idea
Then speaker encodes an idea or
converts the idea into words or
actions.
The speaker transmits or sends
out a message.
The receiver gets the message.
The receiver decodes or interprets
the message based on the
context.
The receiver sends or provides
feedback.
Example
Daphne loves Rico, her suitor, as a
friend
She thinks of how to tell him using
their native language.
She tells him, “Rico, mahal kita
bilang kaibigan.”
Rico hears what Daphne says.
He tries to analyze what she means
based on the content and their
relationship, and he is heartbroken.
He frowns and does not say
something because he is in pain.
Models of the
Communication
Process

COLLEGE OF ARTS AND LETTERS

Bicol University
Communication scientists have developed models to try to
illustrate the complexity and dynamic nature of the
communication process.

Models are diagrams that provide a picture of how the

components relate to each other during a real-life
communication encounter

Models represent a simplified view of the process.

Each model represents only the aspect of the

communication process a particular theorist wants to
emphasize
 Berlo’s SMCR Model
Berlo"s SMCR (SOURCE, MESSAGE, CHANNEL, and RECEIVER) model
focuses on the individual characteristics of communication and stresses
the role of the relationship between the source and the receiver as an
important variable in the communication process.
The more highly developed the communication skills of the source and
the receiver, the more effectively the message will be encoded and
decoded.

Berlo's model represents a communication process that occurs as a

SOURCE drafts messages based on one's communication skills,
attitudes, knowledge, and social and cultural system.
These MESSAGES are transmitted along CHANNELS, which can include
sight, hearing, touch, smell, and taste. A RECEIVER interprets messages
based on the individual's communication skills, attitudes, knowledge,
and social and cultural system. The limitations of the model are its lack
of feedback
Berlo’s SMCR Model
Shannon and Weaver Model

• Shannon and Weaver were engineers for the Bell

Telephone company
• They were interested in finding out how the
channels of communication could be used efficiently
– how to send a maximum amount of information
along a given channel.
• Shannon and Weaver concentrated on which kind of
communication channel carries the maximum
amount of signals or sounds and how much of the
signal is lost through noise or before it reaches its
destination.
Shannon and Weaver Model
Shannon and Weaver Model
• Although it is technical, the model is considered important because it
provided a basis for developing other models which study the process of
human communication.

• Limitations/Drawbacks to the Shannon Weaver model:

1. By providing only one channel or medium for transmission of messages,

it depicts communication as a one-way process from communicator to
recipient.
2. It assumes that only the communicator is an active participant in the
process.
3. It does not provide a channel for feedback, and thus implies that the
recipient plays a passive role.
4. It assumes that noise arises only in the channel – it only depicts only
physical or external noise as a distortion in the communication process.
5. The model is only concerned with the clarity of the message and not its
meaning.
 Osgood and Schramm Model
• Depicts communication as a circular process.
• The Osgood and Schramm model describes communication as a
dynamic interaction in which meaningful messages are exchanged
by two active participants. Communicator and recipient both
encode, transmit, receive, decode, and interpret messages. By
highlighting the importance of feedback, the process becomes two-
way instead of linear.

• The model moves away from emphasizing the channel through

which messages are transmitted to the interpretation of meaning
by the people in he process.
• Limitation:
suggests that communicator and recipient take turns to express
and interpret messages.
Interactional Model:
Osgood-Schramm’s Model

Message

Encoder
Decoder

Interpreter
Interpreter
Decoder
Encoder

Message
Transactional Model
• Depicts the simultaneous involvement of the participants in
the negotiation of meaning.
• The model highlights the differences between communicator
and recipient that make the negotiation of meaning
necessary.
• Highlights that the creation of meaning is negotiated between
the participants.
• Rather than depicting transmission and feedback as two
separate process, this model indicates that messages are
continually passing between the participants.
• The area around the communicator and the recipient
represent the context in which the process takes place.
• The one-to-one transactional model is a basic model of
communication.
Transactional Model
Dance Model
Dance Model
Depicts communication as a dynamic process. Mortensen: “The
helix represents the way communication evolves in an individual
from his birth to the existing moment.”

Dance: “At any and all times, the helix gives geometrical testimony
to the concept that communication while moving forward is at
the same moment coming back upon itself and being affected by
its past behavior, for the coming curve of the helix is
fundamentally affected by the curve from which it emerges. Yet,
even though slowly, the helix can gradually free itself from its
lower-level distortions. The communication process, like the helix,
is constantly moving forward and yet is always to some degree
dependent upon the past, which informs the present and the
future. The helical communication model offers a flexible
communication process”
 In Summary
 Early models showed that communication is
linear and that senders and receivers have
separate roles and functions.
 The interactional approach expanded that
thinking and considered communication as a
circular process where feedback is involved
between communicators. +
 The transactional approach refined our
understanding by stressing the importance of
the communicator’s field of experience, by
showing the simultaneous sending and
receiving of messages and by focusing on the
mutual involvement of the communicators to
create meaning.
Types of Communication
 Types of Communication

According to Mode

1)Verbal – the use of words

2)Non-Verbal – the use of symbols, pictures
and body actions
3)Visual – pictures and images
Types of Communication
According to Context

1)Intrapersonal – talking to oneself

2)Interpersonal – communication between and
among people
3)Extended – through the use of electronic media
4)Organizational – communication in
organizational contexts
5)Intercultural – communication between or
among people having different linguistic, ethnic,
social and professional backgrounds
Types of Communication

• Verbal communication: oral, written,

electronic, video

• Nonverbal communication: eye

movements, gestures, facial expressions
• Adds much of the feeling and emotion that a
sender wants to give to a message
• Often has more effect than verbal on the
meaning receivers give a message
Types of Communication (Cont.)

• Verbal communication
• Oral communication
• All forms of speech between a sender and
receiver
• Leaves no permanent, retrievable record of
the message and response unless recorded
• More effective than written when trying to
affect receiver's opinion on some matter
• Nonverbal communication can affect the
final interpretation of the message
Types of Communication (Cont.)

• Verbal communication (cont.)

• American Sign Language (ASL)
• Uses patterns of hand and finger movements for
communication
• Includes facial expressions and body movements to
express emotions and distinguish sentence types
• Country and regional differences in signing systems
Types of Communication (Cont.)

• Verbal communication (cont.)

• Written communication
• Any form of handwriting, printed memo, or report
• Includes messages sent over an electronic medium
• Receiver's response is more delayed in written than
in oral communication
• Receiver must first read the message before
interpreting and responding to it
Types of Communication (Cont.)

• Verbal communication (cont.)

• Written communication (Cont.)
• Advantages over oral communication
• Retrievable
• Almost permanent
• Comprehension is better because
of rereading
Types of Communication (Cont.)

• Verbal communication (cont.)

• Electronic or video communication
• Electronic and video communication
becoming more important
• E-mail, computer networks, fax machines,
computer conferencing, videoconferencing
• All now available as desktop systems
Types of Communication (Cont.)

•Verbal communication (cont.)

• Electronic or video communication (cont.)
• Advantages
•High speed transmission and reception
•Accurate transmission of a message
•Easy dispersal of the same message to
people in scattered locations
•Direct interaction and quick feedback
Types of Communication (Cont.)

• Nonverbal communication
• Behavior that communicates but does
not use written or spoken words
• Gestures
• Posture
• Seating position
• Pitch of voice
• Speed of speech
• Physical environment . . .
Types of Communication (Cont.)

• Nonverbal communication (cont.)

• Combine verbal and nonverbal

communication
• Create unique communication style,
often unknowingly
• Can contradict, amplify, or complement
verbal communication
Types of Communication (Cont.)

• Nonverbal communication (cont.)

Physical aspects of the person
• Voice: speed, fluency, references to
self
• Facial expressions: smile, frown
• Gestures: hand movements
• Body movements: distance
• Posture: leaning forward
Types of Communication (Cont.)
• Nonverbal communication (cont.)
Physical environment of communication
• All aspects of using space, including distance
between sender and receiver (proxemics)
• North America: 5 1/2 to 8 feet
between speakers
• Latin America: closer than North
America

See the “International Aspects”

section for more information.
Types of Communication (Cont.)
• Nonverbal communication (cont.)
Time - Orientation to and meaning of time
• North America: punctual
• Latin America: less punctual
• Swiss: precisely punctual
• Arab cultures: last person to arrive is
the most important

See the “International Aspects”

section for more information.
Types of Communication (Cont.)

• Nonverbal communication (cont.)

• Communication with signs and
signals
• Turn signals on motor vehicles, traffic
control signals, caution flags of highway
workers
• Hand signals for guiding aircraft
• Special situation: landing on an aircraft
carrier
 General Principles of Effective
Communication

Know your purpose in communicating.

Know your audience.
Know your topic.
Adjust your speech or writing to the
context of the situation.
Work on the feedback given you.
Principles of Effective Oral
Communication

Be clear with your

purpose.
Be complete with your
message.
Be concise.
Be natural with your
delivery.
Be specific and timely
with your feedback.
Principles of Effective Written
Communication (The 7 Cs)
Be clear.
Be concise.
Be concrete.
Be correct.
Be coherent.
Be complete.
Be courteous
Purposes of Communication

• To inform
• To persuade
• To entertain
Functions of Organizational
Communication

1. Share information
• Mission
• Strategies
• Policies
• Tasks, duties, responsibilities
• Both inside and outside the organization
Functions of Organizational
Communication (Cont.)

2. Feedback about performance

• Reduces uncertainty
• Integration and coordination of various
functions
• Especially important in global operations
Functions of Organizational
Communication (Cont.)
3. Persuasion
• Affecting the behavior of others
• Often the focus of improvement in
communication skills
• Related to business presentations
4. Emotional expression: let employees
express their feelings
5. Innovation. Communicate innovations to
those inside and outside the organization
Dysfunctions of Organizational
Communication

• Selective perception
• Receiver filters a message and then gives
meaning to it
• Block out information a receiver does not want
to hear
• Semantic problems
• Different people have different meanings for
words
• “Good,” “average,” “Do your best”
• Jargon: “burden”, “metrology”
Dysfunctions of Organizational
Communication (Cont.)
• Distortion of messages: different frames
of reference because of background
• Filter messages
• Intentional: sender is concerned about
receiver’s reaction
• Unintentional: sender does not fully know
what she or he wants to say
Dysfunctions of Organizational
Communication (Cont.)

• Information overload
• Too much information to process accurately
• Related to time available
• Message timing
• Too short of time
• Too early
Communication Ethics
• Uphold integrity - Be truthful with your
opinion and be accurate with your integrity.

• Respect diversity of perspective and privacy-

Show compassion and consideration with
beliefs, affiliations, and privacy of others.
• Observe freedom of expression effectively –
Be careful of what and how you say your
words depending on the type of people you
are communicating with.
Communication Ethics

• Observe freedom of expression effectively –

Be careful of what and how you say your
words depending on the type of people you
are communicating with.

• Promote access to communication – Give

others an opportunity to express what they
feel and think about the message being
communicated.
Communication Ethics

• Be open-minded – Accept that others have

different views or opinions, which may conflict
with yours.

• Develop your sense of accountability-

Acknowledge responsibility for all your actions,
good or bad.
Ethical Issues in
Organizational Communication
• Communication processes and an
organization's ethical image
• Internal and external
• Internal processes
• Newsletters
• Satellite television broadcasts
• Direct mailings
• Bulletin boards
Ethical Issues in Organizational
Communication (Cont.)
• Communication processes and an organization's
ethical image (cont)
• External processes
• Annual reports
• Press releases
• Public statements by executives

• What does the organization say and not say

about ethical behavior?
• Organization’s ethical image
Ethical Issues in Organizational
Communication (Cont.)
• Manage external impressions
• Offering own accounts of behavior that
protesters say was unethical
• Communication in any form designed to affect
the perception of others
• Tries to make the organization, or individual
members, look more ethical than charged
Ethical Issues in Organizational
Communication (Cont.)
• Disclosure to employees, customers,
suppliers, community
• Does the organization have an ethical
obligation to reveal negative information
about its plans to employees?
• How much should an organization tell its
customers or clients about product safety?
• Should an organization tell its suppliers how it
chooses among them?
Ethical Issues in Organizational
Communication (Cont.)
• Communication privacy
• Do employees have the right to private
communications in the work setting?
• Existing software lets network managers and
senior managers read employees' E-mail
• Do people's privacy rights extend to
computer surveillance?
 References:
• Barrot, Jessie S.,Purposive Communication in the 21st Century, C & E Publishing
Inc.,Quezon City, 2018
• Manalo, Paterna E. and Fermin, Virginia E., Fundamental Speech
Communication for Filipinos. Mandaluyong City: National Bookstore, 2006.
• Madrunio, Marilu R., Purposive Communication Using English in Multilingual
Contexts,C&E Publishing,IncQuezon City,2018
• Wood, Julia T., Communication Mosaics An Introduction to the Field of
Communication. 3rdEdition. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/ Thomson Learning,
2004.
• West, Richard; Turner, Lynn H., Understanding Interpersonal Communication.
International 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2009.
Intelligence plus character, that is the
goal of true education.
~Martin Luther King
Listening
•Different from hearing
•Hearing is a physiological process of
detecting and processing sounds
•Listening: mental process of assigning
meaning to sounds
•Communication professionals view it as a
primary skill for success
•People spend about 50 percent of their
time listening
Listening (Cont.)
• Intrapersonal and interpersonal activities
• Person receives message from another person
(interpersonal)
• Tries to interpret it (intrapersonal)
• Responds to other person to show meaning given to
message (interpersonal)
Active Listening
• Listener is responsible for the completeness of a
speaker's message
• Listener's role is not passive
• Absorbing spoken message
• Deriving meaning from it
• Accurately hear facts in message
• Understand speaker's feelings about message
Active Listening (Cont.)
• Deliberate effort to understand a message from
speaker's viewpoint
• Meaning of message includes both content and
speaker’s feelings
• Listener attends to all verbal and nonverbal cues
• Listener may ask questions for clarification
• Listener may rephrase speaker’s message
Improving
Communication Effectiveness
• Sender
• Understand receiver’s background
• Culture
• Education
• Social status
• Professional or technical training
Improving
Communication Effectiveness
(Cont.)
• Sender (cont.)
• Avoid jargon
• Knowledge of receiver helps sender form
messages with content that communicates
• Take special care when communicating with
people from other cultures
• Applies to oral communication, written
communication, and nonverbal communication
Improving
Communication Effectiveness
(Cont.)
• Sender (cont.)
• Ask for oral or written feedback to a message
• Gives sender observations on receiver's
perception and interpretation of message
• Formal training
• Improve written and oral communication
• Improve sender's effectiveness
Improving
Communication Effectiveness
(Cont.)

• Receiver
• Knowing and understanding sender
• Ask sender for clarification of jargon
• Receiver's knowledge of self
• Using jargon introduces noise
• Can distort messages received
Improving
Communication Effectiveness
(Cont.)

• Receiver (cont.)
• Receiver's perceptual process: alters
sender’s meaning of messages
• Ask sender to clarify message
• State understanding of message; sender
can react to that interpretation
Improving
Communication Effectiveness
(Cont.)
• Message
• Simple concise messages
• Language shared by sender and receiver
• Problem: jargon, in-group language,
foreign language

Simple concise sentences, in language shared by the

sender and receiver, are more effective than long
complex messages riddled with jargon.
Improving
Communication Effectiveness
(Cont.)
• Message (Cont.)
• Electronic message systems lack
nonverbal communication
• Emoticons ("smileys") add feelings and
emotions to text messages
Improving
Communication Effectiveness
(Cont.)

• Medium
• Little noise for effective communication
• Multiple channels
• Written memo follows an oral message
• Meet with receiver to discuss memo
Improving
Communication Effectiveness
(Cont.)

• Medium (Cont.)
• People perceive high-contrast objects faster
than low-contrast objects (see Chapter 5)
• Introduce high contrast into messages by using
paper or ink of different colors than normal
• Change the setting in which an oral message is
sent
Technology and
Communication
• Major changes from fiber optics and new
satellites
• Digital cellular telephone: easy communication
around the world
• Wireless facsimile devices and modems
• Laptop or notepad computers with digital
cellular facsimile devices and modems
• Unprecedented flexibility and mobility of
communication
Technology and Communication
(Cont.)
• Distributed computing
• Digital technology and data on a network
• Text
• Images
• Audio
• Video
• Numeric
Technology and Communication
(Cont.)
• Satellites, fiber optics, Internet, personal
computers
• High-speed connections among networks
• Global operations: move all forms of
information quickly to distant places
• Internet commerce
Technology and Communication
(Cont.)
• Satellites, fiber optics, Internet, Personal
computers (cont.)
• Students in different countries interact to
complete course work
• Transmit almost any media
• Lessen effects of time zone differences
Technology and Communication
(Cont.)
•Videoconferencing
•Face-to-face communication over almost
any distance
• See each other
• Speak to each other
• Show graphic images
• Send documents
•Substitutes for traveling to distant sites for
meetings
Technology and Communication
(Cont.)
• Desktop videoconferencing
• Two-way video and audio interaction
• Window on each person's computer screen
lets them see each other
• Text or graphics show on screen
• Interact to revise material for an upcoming
joint business presentation
Technology and Communication
(Cont.)
• Multimedia personal computers
• Manage information media of any form
• Computer features
• Scanners
• Sound boards
• Presentation software
• CD-ROMs
• Animation software
• Make large audience communication more dramatic
than in past
Communication Roles
in Organizations
•Initiators: start communications; send
more messages than they receive or pass on
•Relayers: receive and pass on more
messages than they start or end
•Liaison
• Connects two parts of an organization; not a
member of either part
• Helps coordinate organizational functions
• Can hinder message flow if they become
bottlenecks
Communication Roles in
Organizations (Cont.)
•Passive communication roles
• Terminators
• At end of a communication network
• Mainly receive messages
• Infrequently send or relay messages to others

•Isolates
• Usually outside normal communication
process
• Send, receive, or relay only a few messages
Communication Networks
• Structured communication system in
organizations
• Formal organizational design defines some
networks
• Informal social interaction defines others
• All communication forms: face-to-face,
electronic media, video media
Communication Networks
(Cont.)
• Pair-wise communication: Oral or written
communication between two people
• Each person in a pair focuses attention on the
other party
• Direction: top-down, bottom-up, lateral
Communication Networks
(Cont.)
• Small group communication
• Three or more people interacting
• Face-to-face or widely dispersed
• Occurs within departments, work units, teams,
informal groups
• Communication interaction rotates among members;
a structured or a random pattern
• Within a centralized or a decentralized network
Communication Networks
(Cont.)
• Centralized communication
• Single person is a key figure in sending and
receiving messages
• Only one or a few parts of the network get
information
• Faster and fewer errors when solving simple
problems
• Less effective with complex problems
Communication Networks
(Cont.)
• Decentralized communication
• Freely flowing communication
• Spread potential to get information throughout the
network
• No person in network depends exclusively on anyone
else
• Faster and more accurate with complex problems than
with simple problems
• Process more messages
• Higher satisfaction among network members
Communication Networks
(Cont.)
• Large audience communication
• Get a message from one person or a few people to
many people
• Sender designs message before sending it
• Usually sent continuously with no interruption from
audience
• Examples: department meetings, briefing sessions,
training programs
International Aspects of
Organizational Communication
• Nonverbal communication: a major role
across cultures
• Distance between people
• North Americans: stand 5 1/2 to 8 feet apart
• Latin American cultures: people stand much closer
• Reactions
• Latin American moves close to the North American
• North American backs away
• Latin American might perceive the North American as cold
and distant
International Aspects of
Organizational Communication
(Cont.)
• Time orientation
• Latin Americans view time more casually than
North Americans
• Swiss strongly emphasize promptness in
keeping appointments
• Egyptians usually do not look to the future
International Aspects of
Organizational Communication
(Cont.)

• Time orientation (cont.)

• South Asians view the long term as centuries
• Sioux Indians of the United States do not have
words for "time" or "wait" in their native
language
• Potential misunderstandings are large