Download What is communication?

What is communication?
• Communication is the process of sending
and receiving messages
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Sender (idea)
Message (encoded)
Channel (transmission format)
Receiver (decodes)
Feedback (reaction)
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
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
Informal Communication channel
• This channel has no hierarchical path
• This channel reflects the organization’s
actual communication practices
• This channel is often called the grapevine
Communication Barrier
• A communication barrier (or noise) is any
interference in the communication process
that distorts or obscures the sender’s
meaning.
Perceptual Interference
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Language
Culture
Background
Age
Education
Social status
Economic position
Religion
Life experience
Communication Distractions
• Physical distractions (lighting, discomfort,
bad connections, illegible copy, health)
• Poor listening
• Emotions
• Information overload
Effective Communicator
• Traits:
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Perception
Precision
Credibility
Control
Congeniality
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
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?
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?
Basic Skills
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Listening
Speaking
Reading
Writing
– Thinking is intertwined in these basic skills
Listening Activities
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Receiving
Interpreting
Remembering
Evaluating
Responding
Nonverbal Categories
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Facial expression
Gesture and posture
Vocal characteristics
Personal appearance
Touching behavior
Use of time and space
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?
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.
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:
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Mormons
Wrestling fans
Harvard graduates
Russian immigrants
CSLA business students
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.
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
Ethnocentrism vs. Stereotyping
• Ethnocentrism is the belief that one’s own
cultural background is superior
• Stereotyping is predicting individual
behavior on the basis of membership in a
group or class