Communication is vital for successful attainment of corporate goals in both profit and non-profit making organisations. Any organisation has a noble goal of fulfilling its set targets and attainment of its corporate objective; to attain this goal, the flow of information is essential (Wang, Hult, Ketchen & Ahmed, 2009). Communication in a business context cuts back and forth to all stakeholders; the major stakeholders affected directly by the quality of information flow are employees, customers and shareholders.
Yenkey, Christopher, in his article Transparency as an organizational characteristic: the critical role of information flow, presented to annual Meeting of American Sociological Association in Philadelphia, came up with a number of hypotheses to show the importance of communication in formal and informal organisations. This paper discusses hypothesis four and five of the article.
Hypothesis: Organizational Goals
The writer hypothesised that the kind of organisation that is receiving information dictates the form and kind of communication to take place; communication was hypothesised to be influenced by organisational goals (Yenkey, 2005). The hypothesis is true; this is so because the world has a number of organisations with different roles, goals and management strategies, the approach taken in profit making and non profit making organisation is different thus they mode of communication is special and unique to them (Whitaker, 2004).
Secondly communication is a management tool, there is no one management system that is applicable to all organisation, what prevails is an adjustment of a strategy to meet the needs of a particular organisation. Good business communications in relationships with either fellow staffs or customers is needed in order to prosper. Business success can be measured in terms of the practicability of business relationships, which is directly proportional to the quality of communication (Swamson, 2009).
Some social organisation like the security forces may have a one-direction flow of information in terms of commands (top-down communication), while other social institution, which are performance-driven, as hospitals will have a dual communication system. For example in military attacks, the commander orders are top bottom since the situation demand so (Guffey, 2009).
Hypothesis: Role of the Target Audience
In a communication, there is the recipient of the information conveyed; according to hypothesis five the qualities of the information outflows is dependent to the target audience (Yenkey, 2005). The above hypothesis is true; this is so because how well the audience can receive the information determines whether they will get the information right or not.
The target communication has a language and a culture that must be understood when passing the information, their values, qualifications, expectations and skills will be considered when passing certain information (Wheelen & Hunger, 1999).
If the team receiving information is competent in a certain field, the role of management information can be guidance and shaping an organisational pathway. When the audience are people who do not understand, the management is seen to teach them on the expected; this creates a difference in the channel used, tones and approach adopted.
Communication means more than just giving out messages; it involves speaking, listening, sending, and receiving messages; listening is the key to success for an effective communication the audience must be willing to listen and understand the message as conveyed and not distort the meaning. For business communication to be successful, listening has to be proficient. Listening simply means holding back one’s judgment and allowing answers to come from outside (Guffer & Almonte, 2009).
Conclusion
An effective communication strategy is a management tool where two-way flow of information is facilitated; it assists in the attainment of organisational goals and objectives. Different organisations have different communication approaches; target audience and organisation’s corporate goals influence the approach adopted.
References
Guffer, M. E. & Almonte, R. (2009). Essentials of Business Communication. New York: Cengage Learning.
Guffey, et al., (2009). Business Communication: Process and Product. New York: Cengage Learning.
Swamson, R. (2009). Foundations of Human Resource Development: Easy read Large Edition. San Franscico: ReadHowYouWant.
Wang, C., Hult, G., Ketchen, D., & Ahmed, P. (2009). Knowledge management orientation, market orientation, and firm performance: an integration and empirical examination. Journal of Strategic Marketing, 17(2), 99-122.
Wheelen, L., & Hunger, J. (1999). Strategic Management and Business Policy: Entering 21st Century Global Society. Massachusetts: Addison Wesley.
Whitaker, R. et al. (2004). Media writing: print, broadcast, and public relations. New York: Routledge.
Yenkey, C. (2005). Transparency as an organizational characteristic: the critical role of information flow. Web.