In the information age of the 1980’s, are effective communication skills important for

executive success? To answer this question, a study was conducted of executives in selected
Fortune 500 companies throughout the United States. The general consensus of the executives
was that effective communication skills are more important now than ever before for business

success and these skills will continue to be a critical component of the information society.

Educators should give serious consideration to the findings of this research when reviewing
and developing realistic business communication curricula.

Executive Priorities for Effective Communication

in an Information Society
James C. Bennett
The University of Texas at Austin
Robert J. Olney
Southwest Texas State University

A QUESTION OFTEN ASKED by today’s educators is what academic

preparation is needed by business administration students if they are to
become successful executives in an information society-the society that
Alvin Toffler considers &dquo;the third wave of civilization&dquo;i and John Naisbitt
calls a &dquo;megatrend.&dquo;2 Much research has been done to try to answer that
question, and in many of the studies conducted to determine what specific
skills or courses businesspersons use most frequently, communication
skills and courses have ranked at the top. For example, a study conducted
by H. W Hildebrandt at The University of Michigan revealed that when
business executives were asked which college courses best prepare one
for business leadership, oral and written business communication was
selected as &dquo;very important&dquo; more often than any other of the 13 courses
surveyed.33

RESEARCH IN BUSINESS COMMUNICATION

COURSE CONTENT

These conclusions from the Hildebrandt study lead to another very

important question: What should be included in the course content of
the oral and written business communication courses that are considered
so important?
A number of studies have been conducted to try to answer that question.
One such study by Stine and Skarzenski, established the most important
communication skills as clarity, conciseness, organization, grammar, and
spelling. Memos, letters, and reports were the most important forms of
communication.4 Another recent study by C. Gilbert Storms showed a

similar finding that business school graduates write memoranda, letters,

and short reports more often than any other type of communication.

13
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Letters were written at least &dquo;sometimes&dquo; by 92 percent of the respondents,

memoranda at least &dquo;sometimes&dquo; by 90 percent, and short reports at least
&dquo;sometimes&dquo; by 74 percent of the respondents.55
Another study by Jerald Carstens dealt with the perceptions of 71
presidents, personnel directors, training directors, and other corporate
officers in 45 corporations regarding communication practices and listening
behavior. Results indicated that sending messages was perceived as more
important than receiving them; however, listening, a receptive skill, was
considered more important than reading and speaking. Receptive skills
were more important in the oral medium, while expressive skills were

more important in the written mode. Overall, oral was the more important

medium.66

COMPARATIVE COMMUNICATION PRIORITIES

FOR THE 70’S AND 80’S
A study conducted in 1970 and published in The Journal of Business
Communication in 1971 seems to have given some guidance for curriculum
development at a time when many collegiate schools of business were
expanding their communication programs. This study involved a survey
of the attitudes and perceptions of top executives of the 58 California
based companies that were among the Fortune 500 largest U. S. industrial
corporations. There was a 60 percent response in this survey, and all of
the respondents believed that effective business communication skills had
played a part in their advancement to a top executive position in their
7
company.
Because this study was conducted in 1970, the decision was made to
replicate it in order to make comparisons regarding executive perceptions
in the 1970’s when the information revolution was in its early stages and
in the 1980’s when the information society is an economic reality. The
decision was also made to expand the scope from
geographic a limited
area to a national one. For the current
study, questionnaire was sent in a

1983 to executives at the vice-presidential level in 100 randomly selected

Fortune 500 corporations throughout the United States. A 54-percent
response was received from the 100 companies surveyed.
Although the current study was designed to make some comparisons
with the 1970 study, it was also expanded to get more in-depth perceptions
of executives’ attitudes regarding the importance of communication now as
well as for the future. More specifically, the study was designed to provide
data concerning the role of business communication in the corporate
environment and to give guidance for curriculum review. The consensus
of the executives responding was that effective communication is more

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 15

important now than ever before and that this importance will continue

into the future. Effective communication is a critical component for success

in an information society.

THE IMPORTANCE OF COMMUNICATION SKILLS

FOR EXECUTIVE SUCCESS

All of the respondents in the 1970 survey and 97.7 percent in the current
one, believed that communication skills had affected their advancement
to a top executive position. Table I shows a comparison of the results from
the two studies, and the comparison reveals that the effect is stronger
now than in 1970. An additional question in the current study revealed
that 93.5 percent of the respondents believed that effective communication
skills will have a &dquo;major effect&dquo; on the upward mobility of future executives.
Table I
EFFECT OF COMMUNICATION SKILLS ON ADVANCEMENT
TO A TOP EXECUTIVE POSITION

COMMUNICATION EDUCATION OF EXECUTIVES

In 1970, only 69 percent of the respondents had taken a formal course

in business communication either in college or since college. However,
in the current study, 85.6 percent of the executives had taken such a
course. Also, in 1970, 49 percent of the executives had taken a company-

taught course in business communication, but in 1983 only 41 percent of

the respondents had taken such a course.

MOST WIDELY USED COMMUNICATION FORMS

Executives from both surveys indicated that they used, at least to some
degree from &dquo;sometimes to frequently,&dquo; a variety of forms when
communicating in a business situation. Table II shows much similarity in
the forms that were used in 1970 and those currently used; the greatest
differences are seen in the use of the letter and the analytical report.

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 16

Table II
BUSINESS COMMUNICATION FORMS USED BY EXECUTIVES

In the current survey, the executives were also asked how frequently
various forms of internal and external business communications were used
in their companies. Table III shows the various forms being used and the
frequency of use of these forms. The &dquo;traditional&dquo; forms are still the most
frequently used.
Table III
INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL BUSINESS COMMUNICATION FORMS
USED IN BUSINESS IN THE 1980’S

IMPORTANCE OF WRITTEN, INTERPERSONAL,

AND ORAL COMMUNICATION SKILLS

The executives were asked to what extent were &dquo;written&dquo; skills, &dquo;inter-
and &dquo;oral&dquo; skills important in their present positions. Table
personal&dquo; skills,
IV shows the percent rating based on a four-point scale. All of the skills
were significant to the executives in their present positions, and only one

person in the entire survey rated any skill only moderately important.

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 17

Table IV
THE IMPORTANCE OF COMMUNICATION SKILLS

PROBLEM AREAS OF COMMUNICATION

The executives were asked what problems they encounter with

individuals in business organizations. Lack of clarity and lack of conciseness
were encountered more than any of the others. Table V shows the ranking

of all 14 problems.
Table V
COMMUNICATION PROBLEM AREAS ENCOUNTERED
IN BUSINESS ORGANIZATIONS

The executives were asked to select from the list of fourteen the five
problems that they believe would have the most negative impact on
communication. Table VI shows the top five problems as those most
frequently ranked as being the most serious problem.

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Table VI
EXECUTIVES’ RANKING OF THE FIVE
MOST SERIOUS COMMUNICATION PROBLEMS

POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS FOR COMMUNICATION PROBLEMS

The executives were also asked to rank the potential effectiveness of

possible solutions to communication problems. Company-taught training
sessions were ranked number one by 42.5 percent of the respondents,
and college courses in business communication received a number one
ranking by 35.7 percent of the respondents. Communication consultants
as a possible solution was ranked as the most effective by only 10 percent
of the executives.
Various types of programs were being used in the companies of the
responding executives to improve the communication abilities of their
employees. The type of programs and the percent of companies using
them are shown in Table VII. Only 11 percent of the companies were not
using any type of program to improve employees’ communication abilities.
Table VII
TYPES OF PROGRAMS BEING USED TO IMPROVE
EMPLOYEES’ COMMUNICATION ABILITIES

SUGGESTED CONTENT FOR

BUSINESS COMMUNICATION COURSES

A major objective of this type of research

is to try to obtain data that
will giveguidance for curriculum review and development. With this goal
in mind, the executives in the 1970 survey and in the current survey were

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 19

asked toindicate what they thought should be included in the course

content for a formal collegiate course in business communication.
Some interesting comparisons may be made between the 1970 survey and
the current study relative to the areas of course content that were recom-
mended by the executives to be given strong emphasis. Table VIII shows
these comparisons as well as suggested curricular emphasis for the 80’s.
Table VIII
BUSINESS COMMUNICATION COURSE CONTENT

The comparisons shown in Table VIII are very limited because the 1970
study did not break course content into as much detail as the current
study. For the 1980’s, the executives were asked to indicate which of 30
areas of content should be given &dquo;strong&dquo; emphasis in a course, which
&dquo;

should be given &dquo;minor&dquo; emphasis, and which should &dquo;not be included.&dquo;

The 14 areas of content that were suggested for &dquo;strong&dquo; emphasis by
at least 50 percent of the respondents are shown in Table IX. The more
traditional aspects of business communication were all rated highest.
Table IX
AREAS OF STRONGEST EMPHASIS
FOR COMMUNICATION COURSE CONTENT IN THE 1980’S

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 20

Table IX (Continued)
AREAS OF STRONGEST EMPHASIS
FOR COMMUNICATION COURSE CONTENT IN THE 1980’S

The 16 content that should be given minor emphasis in a business

areas

communication course are shown in Table X. All of these areas were rated
lower than the 50 percent level for &dquo;Strong&dquo; emphasis by the executives
responding. Note that technological developments are beginning to have
an impact on communication processes. This was evidenced by the finding
that almost 50 percent of the executives recommended that word processing
techniques be given emphasis.
Table X
AREAS OF MINOR EMPHASIS
FOR COMMUNICATION COURSE CONTENT IN THE 1980’S

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 21

Both of the tables show that the executives responding believed that
all 30 of the content areas should be included in a business communication
course or courses. No area received the recommendation to &dquo;not include&dquo;

by a majority of the respondents. One of the executives commented on

the questionnaire, &dquo;I find a single business course in communication totally
inadequate for today’s needs.&dquo; This executive shares the concern of many
communication educators that covering all 30 content areas in a &dquo;single&dquo;
course is virtually impossible.

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

The major conclusion that may be drawn from this current study of
executive priorities is that communication skills are more important than
ever before for business success and that they will continue to be a critical

component of the information society. Other specific conclusions are:

. communication skills have a major effect on advancement to
top
executive positions;
0 communication skills will have a major effect on the upward mobility
of future executives;
. traditional forms of communication are still the most
frequently used,
but technological developments are beginning to have an impact on
communication processes;
0 the three skill areas of interpersonal, written, and oral are considered

of critical importance to the executives in their present positions;

0 the most serious communication problems are lack of
clarity, poor
listening skills, lack of conciseness, poor speaking ability, and poor
analytical skills; and
0 a variety of course content areas should be given major emphasis
while others should be given minor emphasis. The areas of greatest concern
involved oral skills, memorandum writing, grammar, listening, and report
writing.
One of the executives commented on the questionnaire, &dquo;We find com-
munication skills, both oral and written, are often lacking in the graduates
&dquo;

we employ, and it is encouraging to know the schools have equal concern.&dquo;

There must be &dquo;equal&dquo; concern in collegiate schools of business if the

responsibilities to the students and to the business community are fulfilled.
Educators should give serious consideration to the findings of this type
of research when reviewing and developing realistic business communi-
cation curricula. Some recommendations are:
0 all business administration students should be offered a course or
courses in business communication;

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 22

0 major emphasis in course content should be on oral presentations,

memorandum writing, and report writing-both analytical and informa-
tional types of reports. A wide variety of additional course content areas
should also be considered;
. because all 30 content areas were recommended for a business

communication course, more than one course may actually be necessary

to cover all 30 areas. For example, a sequence of three courses could
emphasize the written, oral, and interpersonal communication processes;
. and, finally, business communication educators should emphasize to

their students the critical role that effective communication plays in

achieving executive success in an information society.

NOTES

Toffler, The Third Wave (New York: William Morrow & Co., 1980).
1. Alvin
Naisbitt, Megatrends: Ten New Directions Transforming Our Lives
2. John
(New York: Warner Books, 1982).
3. H. W Hildebrandt, et al., "An Executive Appraisal of Courses Which Best
Prepare One for General Management," The Journal of Business Communication,
19 pp. 5-15.
(Winter 1982),
4. Donna Stine and Donald Skarzenski, "Priorities for the Business
Communication Classroom: A Survey of Business and Academe," The Journal of
Business Communication, 16 (Spring 1979), pp. 15-30.
5. C. Gilbert Storms, "What Business School Graduates Say About the Writing
They Do at Work: Implications for the Business Communication Course," The
ABCA Bulletin, 46 (December 1983), pp. 13-18.
6. Jerald Carstens, "Perceptions of C. E.O.’s, Personnel Managers, and Training
Directors of Communication Practices and Listening Behavior in Large-Scale
Organizations," paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Speech
Communication Association, Louisville, Kentucky, November, 1982.
7. James C. Bennett, "The Communication Needs of Business Executives,"
The Journal of Business Communication, 8 (Spring 1971), pp. 5-11.

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