What is communication?

1
What is communication?

• Communication is the process of sending and
  receiving messages
• Sender (idea)
• Message (encoded)
• Channel (transmission format)
• Receiver (decodes)
• Feedback (reaction)

2
Globalization and Communication

• Encourages businesses to cross national
  boundaries
• Diversifies the work force
• Requires businesspeople to understand the laws,
  customs, and business practices of many countries

3
Formal communication channels

• Horizontal communication
• Flows from dept to dept, peer to peer, and helps
  employees do their jobs more efficiently
• Upward communication
• Helps managers monitor performance and obtain
  ideas, make decisions
• Downward communication
• Lets managers direct activities of employees
• The official channels of communication are
  defined by the official chain of command

4
Informal Communication channel

• This channel has no hierarchical path
• This channel reflects the organizations actual
  communication practices
• This channel is often called the grapevine

5
Communication Barrier

• A communication barrier (or noise) is any
  interference in the communication process that
  distorts or obscures the senders meaning.

6
Perceptual Interference

• Language
• Culture
• Background
• Age
• Education
• Social status
• Economic position
• Religion
• Life experience

7
Communication Distractions

• Physical distractions (lighting, discomfort, bad
  connections, illegible copy, health)
• Poor listening
• Emotions
• Information overload

8
Effective Communicator

• Traits
• Perception
• Precision
• Credibility
• Control
• Congeniality

9
Ethical communication

• Ethics the principles of conduct that govern a
  person or group
• Ethical dilemma involves choosing among
  alternatives that are not clear cut
• Ethical lapse involves making a clearly
  unethical or illegal choice

10
How is your ethics?

• Is it legal? Does it comply with the law?
• Is it balanced? Is it fair to all concerned?
• Is it a message you can live with? Does it make
  you feel good about yourself?
• Is it feasible? Can it work in the real world?

11
Ethical dilemma

• The boss says, Change it and you have
  reservations, what should you do?
• You just completed a proposal promising delivery
  of a product to a customer by April 15. Your
  boss looks at the proposal and tell you to change
  the date of delivery to April 1 because the
  competition can meet that deadline. You
  seriously doubt whether you can meet the delivery
  deadline without sacrificing quality.
• Should you change the proposal?

12
Basic Skills

• Listening
• Speaking
• Reading
• Writing
• Thinking is intertwined in these basic skills

13
Listening Activities

• Receiving
• Interpreting
• Remembering
• Evaluating
• Responding

14
Nonverbal Categories

• Facial expression
• Gesture and posture
• Vocal characteristics
• Personal appearance
• Touching behavior
• Use of time and space

15
Nonverbal Languages

• Sign Language
• What speed are you going? How do you know which
  restroom to use?
• Action Language
• What is the sign for victory? Is it the same
  everywhere? What about the gesture to indicate
  everything is okay? Is it the same everywhere?
• Object Language
• What about the clothes one wears, the car one
  drives, the part of town in which one lives, the
  watch one wears, the corner office one has at
  work?

16
What is intercultural communication?

• The process of sending and receiving messages
  between people whose cultural backgrounds lead
  them to interpret verbal and nonverbal signs
  differently.

17
What is culture?

• A shared system of symbols, beliefs, attitudes,
  values, expectations, and behaviors.
• What is a subculture?
• Distinct groups that exist within a major culture
• Examples
• Mormons
• Wrestling fans
• Harvard graduates
• Russian immigrants
• CSLA business students

18
Cultural context

• Cultural context is the pattern of physical cues,
  environmental stimuli, and implicit understanding
  that convey meaning between two members of the
  same culture.
• High context cultures (Japanese, Chinese, Arab,
  Greek, Mexican, Spanish) tend to rely less on
  verbal communication and more on the context of
  nonverbal actions and environmental setting to
  convey meaning
• Low-context cultures (German, Scandinavian, North
  American, English, French) tend to rely more on
  verbal communication and less on circumstances
  and cues to convey meaning.

19
Low and High Context Cultures

• Low context values
• The written word
• Written agreements as binding
• Strict adherence to the law
• High context values
• Less emphasis on written word
• Personal pledges more important than contracts
• More flexibility with the law

20
Ethnocentrism vs. Stereotyping

• Ethnocentrism is the belief that ones own
  cultural background is superior
• Stereotyping is predicting individual behavior on
  the basis of membership in a group or class