2.

2 Organizational
Structure
Hoang p.142-162 (3rd) or p.151-171 (4th); Kognity 2.2

2.2.4
Communication (Culture and Innovation)
(Hoang p.156-159 (3rd) or p.165-168 (4th); Kognity 2.2.4)
Learning Outcome - Day 4

● Discuss how cultural differences and innovation in communication

technologies may impact on communication in an organization
(AO3).
Communication

• What is communication?
• The transfer of information from one party to another.

• Purposes or objectives of communication:

• To instruct, clarify, interpret, notify, warn, receive feedback,
review, and inform.

• Why is effective communication so important?

Communication can be with
both internal and external
stakeholders.

• Internal → Staff are aware

of their roles and
expectations of them;
Managers can gather and
act upon feedback
• External → Feedback
from customers and other
stakeholders
Methods of Communication in a Business
• What are the different methods that businesses use to communicate?
Why is Effective Communication Important?

● Aid motivation
● Enhance problem solving
● Speed up decision-making
● Speed up response to market changes
● Reduce risk of errors
● Lead to effective coordination between departments
Review: What is Culture?
• The norms, attitudes, practices, goals and values that characterizes
an organization, a country, or a region of the world.

• Cultural ignorance is an unawareness and/or insensitivity to cultural

differences in communication.
• This can cause offence and harm business negotiations.
• For example, https://youtu.be/6_WAmt3cMdk
 Cultural Differences in Communication

Barriers to Communication
● Language
● Cultural knowledge
● Non-verbal communication

One solution: Businesses recruit

bilingual or multilingual
employees.

Image Source: https://www.slideshare.net/jigneshthehero/cross-culture-comunication

● The potential impacts of cultural differences in communication for a business:
● Edward Hall’s ‘High’ and ‘Low’ context communications

Image Source: https://www.workingvoices.com/intercultural-communication-high-context-cultures/

Review: What is Innovation?
• Creating a product that is new, better, and of commercial value.
• It stems from either:
• Invention – creating a product that is completely new to the market, such as
the iPhone smartphone in 2007.
• Iteration – creating a change/improvement in a product that already exists,
such as the iPhone X in 2017.

• Innovations in communications technologies have a direct impact

on communications in business organizations.
 https://youtu.be/kAG39jKi0lI

Innovation in Communication Technologies

● Internet has allowed businesses (especially multinational ones) to

communicate quickly across different time zones despite the huge distance.
● Email, mobile devices (phones, tablets), networks, intranet/internet, cloud
computing, video-conferencing, and social media.

● What are the drawbacks of innovation in communication technologies?

● Staff training
● Reduces social contact and promotes isolation
● Security issues
● Information overload