Business Communication

INTRODUCTION
The word communication originates from the Iatin word "communis", which means "common" and
the word business stands for any economic activity which is undertaken with a view to earn profit
and the communication undertaken in the process of this activityis termed as "business
communication.
Business communication skills are critical to the success of any organization despite its size,
geographical location, and its mission. Busines communication is interlinked with internal culture
and external image of any organization. So it is the determining factor to communication inside the
organization.
Good Business communication practices assist the orBanization in achieving its goal of intorming.
persuading, favorable relationship, and organizational goodwill. Organizations can only survive if
they accept the rapidly changing global challenges and the communication processes are structured
and delivered.

DEFINITION
According to Keith Devis "Communication is a process of passing information and understanding
from one person to another."
According to Wikipedia "Communication is generally defined as the activity of conveying
information. Communication has been derived from the Latin word "communis", meaning to share.
According to Wilbur Schramm "Communication is something people do. To understand hunman
communication process, one must understand how people relate to each other.

MEANING
Communication is defined as "The flow of material information perception, understanding and
imagination among various parties".
Business includes those organizations, which are engaged in the production and distribution of
goods and services to earn profit. Therefore Business communication means, "Flow of information,
perception etc. either within a business organization or outside the organization among different
parties".

OBJECTITVES &PURPOSE OF COMMUNICATION

The objectives of business communication would include the following:
> To give and receive information
Paper code: 203 Page 2
 Business Communication

> To provide advice

> To educate and train customer
> To issue orders and instruction
> To persuade target audience
> To receive suggestion
> To motivate and to integrate
> To relate and to entertain

Importance of Business Communication

Persuasion is one of the factors of marketing communications. Persuasion is the main reason
buy their
companies engage in marketing: to persuade their target audience to take action, as in,
product or subscribe to their services, make a phone call, or donate money.
Allmarketing communication is goal oriented, as the predetermine objective helps to create
effective marketing communication strategy. Every successful marketing communications helps
plan the marketing message at every contact point.
Importance of Business Communication
> Building a strong bond
> Boosting productivity
>Making informed decisions
> Resolving conflicts
> Improving customer service
> Building a positive image
> Facilitating innovation
> Improving employee engagement
>Managing change
> Ensuring compliance

NATURE OF BUSINESS COMMUNICATION

It is a process.
> It is inevitable.
º Meaning based.
> Communication could be intentional and unintentional.
> Communication is systematic.
> A tw0-way traffic.
> Communication is a social process.

Paper code: 203 Page 3

 Business Communication

> A dynamic process.

> Continuous process.
> It is spiraling process.
Process of Communication
IN COMMUNICATION

1. Sender:
being
who is sending the message to someone else. For example, in ad the brand
Someone of the advertising
'Pantaloons'. Naturally, the maker of this brand is the sender
advertised is
message.

2. Encoding:
these
visuals. body gestures, etc. to communicate. AIl
When we address someone, we use language. encoding. In a
process of putting our thought into symbolic forms is called
are called symbols. The headlines which simply say:
following Ad, you see a face full of wrinkles. Then you read the
"Wrinkle free." This process of communication is called encoding.

3. Message:
The symbols themselves constitute the message. Hence, the visuals, headlines thebody copy, tag line,
brand name, logo, etc., are all parts of the message. If you have already heard name of
'Pantaloons', then the message being given to you is that are dealing with a known company.

4. Media:

The channels used for sending the message across to the receiver (customer) is called medium (or
media; note that media is also singular). This Ad has appeared in the print media (just for the sake
of knowledge, TV is an audio -visual medium, radio is an audio medium, etc. You will learn more
about media in the second year). An individual member of the medium is called a vehicle. Here,
India Today is the vehicle. Avehicle is the carrier of the message.

5. Decoding:
Once we receive the message, we start interpreting it. For example, when you look at the wrinkled
face shown in the Ad, you realize how bad it looks. The implication is that your clothes willalso
look as bad if they were not wrinkle free. Likewise, there are visuals of ashirt anda pair of trouser.
These immediately give you the message that the Ad is perhaps for readymade clothes. At the
bottom, the message given is that the brand is available at various cities and Pantaloons Shoppes.

Paper code: 203 Page 4

 Business Communication

6. Receiver:
example, any reader
A receiver is one who reads/listen hears the message of the communicator. For
of India Today who is likely to sce this Ad, is the recciver of the message. It may be noted,
however, that the communicator (in our example. the manufacturer of Pantaloons) is not interested
in just any receiver (i.e. any reader of India Todav) but only those who would be interested in using
his produCt. Thus, if never wear trousers, then the company will not be interested in me.

7. Feedback:

Every communicator waits to know whether the message (a) has reached the target audience or not,
and (b) whether it has been accepted or not. In other words, one waits for feedback from the
audience. The most desirable form of feedback from the marketer's point of view, of course, would
be the purchase of the product by the customers. Thus, after this Ad is released in the media, if the
sale of such trousers goes up significantly, the fcedback is said to be positive. Similarly, if the
company conducts a surveys and questions about the intention to buy; and customers say that they
will buy the brand, again, the feedback is positive.

8. Noise:

It refers to any obstruction that is caused by the sender, message or receiver during the process of
communication. For example bad telephone connection, faulty encoding, faulty decoding inattentive
receiver, poor understanding of message due to prejudice or inappropriate gestures, etc.

Sender
Message
Feedback Encoding Noise
Media
Decoding
Paper code: 203
Receiver
Page 5