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©2007 by the McGraw­Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

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How Business Communicates

©2007 by the McGraw­Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

McGraw­Hill/Irwin

21st-Century Business Directions

The explosion of information available to businesses has created a maze of data for professionals to manage.

© Chad Baker/Getty Images

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21st-Century Business Directions

• Globalization

• The Maze of Information Management  Management information systems (MIS)

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 Management decision support system (MDSS)

computer network systems that enable users to access company information

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 Information overload

helps users make decisions through coordinated corporate databases that contain important company and industry facts

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◦ when too much information is received at once

21st-Century Business Directions

• The Way of Technology

 Intranets

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 World Wide Web (WWW)

Internal company computer networks that enable employees to communicate and share information

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 Wireless hand-held devices

service provided on the Internet to allow large and small companies to conduct business domestically and internationally

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small instruments that offer software features including spreadsheets, databases, web browsing, and e-mail

21st-Century Business Directions

• Change and More Change

• What Is Business Communication?

 Business communication

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process of creating structure, relationships, and meaning through the design and exchange of business messages

21st-Century Business Directions

FIGURE 2.1 Typical Organizational Structure

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21st-Century Business Directions

FIGURE 2.2 Tall Organizational Structure

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21st-Century Business Directions

FIGURE 2.3 Flat Organizational Structure

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21st-Century Business Directions

• Types of Business Messages

 Structural messages

 Relational messages

◦ relate to company operating policies or procedures

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 Change messages

interpersonal, in that they build rapport between employees and customers

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help the organization adapt and respond to the environment

Communicating Internally

 Internal communication

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exchange of messages between employees inside the organization

• How Do Business Messages Flow?

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how communication travels through channels in the organization  Structural channel

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role, position, or job occupied by an individual in an organization

• What Is a Communication Network?

 Message flow

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pathways through which messages travel among employees in an organization

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 Communication networks

Communicating Internally

FIGURE 2.4 Channels of Communication

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© McGraw-Hill

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Formal Communication Networks

 Formal communication network

◦ official channel or line of communication

  Downward Communication

◦ movement or path of messages from superiors to

 Message filtering and distortion

subordinates

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 One-way communication

noise resulting when messages are magnified, minimized, or altered as they travel through people

◦ message sender does not expect or encourage a

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response from the receiver

Formal Communication Networks

FIGURE 2.5 Flow of Messages

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Formal Communication Networks

  Upward Communication

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  Horizontal Communication

upward flow of messages from subordinates to higherranking employees

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 Jargon

lateral exchange of messages between people of roughly equal authority

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specialized words or language specific to a field or profession

Formal Communication Networks

American Golf operates more than 300 public and private golf courses. Its horizontal communication structure encourages all employees to share their ideas for improving business.

Royalty-Free/CORBIS

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Informal Communication Networks

 Informal communication networks

◦ messages that flow in all directions and

through all levels of authority

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Informal Communication Networks

FIGURE 2.6 The Grapevine

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Informal Communication Networks

• Heard It Through the Grapevine

 Grapevine

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• Grapevine versus Gossip

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oral and informal communication network comprised of various employees

Communicating Externally

 External communication

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 Input ◦

exchange of messages between the organization and the external environment

information the organization receives from the environment  Throughput

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 Output

organization’s analysis and evaluation of the input it receives and the transformation of that input into outputs

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◦ messages the organization transmits to the environment in response to received input

Communicating Externally

FIGURE 2.7 External Communication Process

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Questions

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