SEC: Business Communication

: Dr. Shubha Dwivedi

Assistant Professor
Department of English
ARSD College
 Michael Esler is credited with leading the Walt Disney
Corporation out of financial decline to become the media
empire it is today. As an English major he has always loved
to write; but he believes that today email requires a new
set of skills, skills that today’s students are equipped to
elevate in the 21 st century. In his commencement address
at USC , he reminded the graduates, that the biggest threat
to a business these days is careless and misunderstood e
mail. And he advised them to take care that their e mail
messages are clear and cordial. Additionally, he told them
that it was equally important “bright potential for
productive and enlighten to know when to use email and
when to pick up a phone, get in a car, or board a plane. He
charged them with realizing email’s ed communication in a
new country and a new millennium.” Michael Esner, CEO
and chairman of the board, Walt Disney Corporation
 Communication In Practice
 Communication is vital to every part of business.
 Business needs good communicators.
 Communication takes many forms: oral, written and computer.
 All organized effort requires communication.
 Managers direct, coordinate, staff, plan and control through
communication.
 Good communication skills are required to share your results to
others, persuade colleagues to take action, and at review time sell
your successes to management.
 Good communication skills make the difference in your ability to
be productive and efficient when working in a team. With good
communication one can take advantage of collective knowledge
and shared resources.
 Good communication is necessary in order to continually apply
research findings and improve business operations.
Three categories of Communication in Business
 Inter-operational Communication- the communication done in conducting
work within a business. This occurs among the business’s workers to
implement the business’s operating plan .i.e. to manufacture products,
provide a service , or sell goods. It includes giving orders, oral exchange of
information assembling reports concerning sales, production, finance,
maintenance and so on.
 External-operational Communication- work- related communication with
people outside the business-suppliers, service companies, customers and
the general public. It includes salespeople's personal selling strategies,
descriptive brochures, telephone callbacks, follow-up service calls, radio,
television massages, newspaper and magazine advertising website
advertising and writing messages. Also in this category are all that a
business does to improve its public relations, the community service of its
employees, the courtesy of its employees and all the messages that the
workers write in carrying out their assignments.
 Personal Communication- non business related exchanges of information
and feeling among people. It affects employee attitudes which further
affects employee performance.
Verbal Communication
 The term ‘verbal’ denotes the use of words either in spoken or written
form. Thus verbal communication is of two types- Oral Communication
and Written Communication.
 Oral Communication- is the communication by way of uttering words. It is
used for day to day liaison, directions, exchange of information, progress
reviews, meetings, interviews, speeches, seminars, conferences and the
maintenance of inter personal relations. Verbal communication also
includes telephonic calls used for quick checkups and for imparting or
receiving information.
 It is the fastest mode of communication.
 Every time we speak our voice reveals our gender, age, geographical and
social background, level of education, emotional state, ideology and our
relationship with the person spoken to.
 While speaking we ‘encode’ important information about ourselves and by
listening to others we can decode important information about them.
Advantages of Oral Communication
 One can make instantaneous and direct contact with ones audience as there is no time
lag between the transmission and reception of message.
 The speaker can have much more command over the receivers attention.
 It allows instantaneous feedback where one can directly speak to the listeners, one can
sort out their queries by rephrasing or elaborating ones points. And one can also revise
and modify ones point of view depending upon the situation.
 Oral communication adds personal quality to the process of communication.
 It can maintain confidentiality of the matters as a does not create any documentary
records.
 Oral communication supplements the spoken words by adding persuasion and credibility
to them.
 Oral communication supplements the understanding of the message by providing non-
verbal cues to the recipient.
 Oral communication is economical both in terms of money and time.
 Oral communication is time saving device as instructions and directions can be
transmitted quickly to others.
 Oral communication builds up a democratic and congenial climate in the organization by
bringing the superiors and subordinates together.
 Oral communication helps in interacting with groups. While working in a group one can
understand the group members view points and reactions immediately.
 Oral communication covers the whole world.
 It is direct person to person communication.
 The information and skills which are available in one country can be utilized by others
and can thus bring foreign exchange.
Disadvantages of Oral Communication
 There is no documentary proof of transactions done through this medium and the
impact is purely temporary.
 Knowledge of a language can be a major obstacle to this form of communication
and even when the encoder and the decoder know the same language, the level of
competence of the non- native speaker can create a barrier.
 Accent, pronunciation, intonation and idiomatic expressions can form a barrier.
 Expensive and time consuming when the persons involved are at distant locations.
 When the message is too lengthy or complex or controversial, oral communication
may not be suitable.
 An oral message has more probability of getting distorted because of physical noise
like inaudibility of speech, somebody interfering in between and like wise.
 Oral message can not be retained for long time.
 Oral communication does not always save time and money as often meetings go on
without any results or agreements achieved.
 Serious decision making is sometimes not possible through oral communication and
its also difficult to assign responsibility for any mistake by omission or commission
in oral communication.