Communication as an Instrument for the Realization of Organizational Goals
Chapter One
OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY
The objectives of the study are;
- To ascertain the role of communication in organizational goal
- To ascertain the extent to which communication is an instrument for realizing the goal of an organization
- To ascertain what likely barriers communication for not realizing the set goal.
- To suggest ways of addressing perceived barriers in communication in any organization so as to avoid hindrance in achieving organizational goal.
CHAPTER TWO
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
INTRODUCTION
Communication has been widely accepted by scholars and academics as the lifehood of an organization, because communication is needed for exchanging information, exchanging opinions, making plans and proposals, reaching agreement, executing decisions, sending and fulfilling orders and conducting sales (Blalock, 2005; Alyssa, 2006; Kotler, 2006; amongst others). When communication stops, organized activity ceases to exist, and individual uncoordinated activities return in an organization. So, communication in an organization is as vital as the blood of life. According to Kotler, (2006), communication is the means by which firms attempt to inform, persuade and remind consumers – directly or indirectly – about the products and brands that they sell. In a sense, communication represents the “voice” of the brand and is a means by which it can establish a dialogue and build relationships with consumers. Blalock (2005) posits that good communication matters because business organizations are made up of people, and as Robert Kent, former dean of Harvard Business School puts it, “In business, communication is everything”. Research spanning several decades has consistently ranked communication skills as crucial for managers. Managers spend 75 to 80 percent of their time engaged in some form of written or oral communication. Although, often termed as ‘soft’ skill, communication in business organizations provide the critical link between core functions. According to Blalock (2005), three reasons why good communication is important to individuals and their organizations are: 1. Ineffective communication is very expensive. The ability to communicate was rated as the most important factor in making a manager “promotable” by subscribers to Harvard Business Review. 2. The changing environment and increasing complexity of the 21st century workplace make communication even more important. The collaboration that allows organizations to capitalize on the creative potential of a diverse workforce depends on communication. 3. The world’s economy is becoming increasingly globalized. By the end of the 20th century, 80% of U.S. products were competing in international markets. The direct investment of foreign-based companies in the U.S grew from $9trillion in 1966 to more than $300trillion in 2002. Many product assume to be Americans’, are made overseas while many brands thought to be international are made in the United States. According to the management study guide (1998 – 2001), business communication involves constant flow of information. Feedback is an integral part of business communication. Organizations these days are very large and they involve a large number of people. There are various levels of hierarchy in an organization. The greater the number of levels, the more difficult is the job of managing the organization. Communication here plays a very important role in the process of directing and controlling the people in the organization. There should be effective communication between superiors and subordinates in the organization, between organizations and the society at large, between management and trade unions, etc. Communication is essential for the success and growth of an organization. Therefore, communication gaps should not be allowed to occur in any organization. Business communication is goal-oriented (Management study guide, 1998 – 2001). The rules, regulations, and policies of a company have to be communicated to the people within and outside the organization. Business communication is regulated by certain rules and norms. In early times, business communication was limited to paper work, telephone calls, etc., but now, with the advert of technology, we have cell phones, video conferencing, emails, satellite communications, etc. to support business communication. Effective business communication helps in building the goodwill of an organization. Hence, it is necessary that you think before you communicate, be an active listener, be focused on your audience; and in your response, be brief and be gone. Basically, business communication encompasses a huge body of knowledge, and could be internal or external. Internal communication includes communication of corporate vision, strategies, plans, corporate culture, shared values, and guiding principles, employee motivation, cross-pollination of ideas, etc. While external communication includes branding, marketing, advertising, selling, customer relations, public relations, media relations, business negotiations, etc. Whatever form it takes, the objective remain the same, i.e. to create a business value. Furthermore, business communication can be of two types – oral communication, and written communication. An oral communication can be formal or informal. Generally, business communication is a formal means of communication. It includes meetings, interviews, group discussions, speeches, etc. An example of informal communication would be the grapevine. Written means of business communication includes agenda, reports, manuals, etc. The World Business Culture, (Internet) in analyzing Nigerian communication styles reports that Nigeria has over 300 ethnic groups each of which has its own language or dialect. In such a language–diverse country, English has come to be seen as the unifying language and although the dominant indigenous languages of the Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba tribes continue to enjoy wide usage, they are not universally understood.
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research design
The researcher used descriptive research survey design in building up this project work the choice of this research design was considered appropriate because of its advantages of identifying attributes of a large population from a group of individuals. The design was suitable for the study as the study sought to communication as an instrument for the realization of organizational goals
Sources of data collection
Data were collected from two main sources namely:
(i)Primary source and
(ii)Secondary source
Primary source:
These are materials of statistical investigation which were collected by the research for a particular purpose. They can be obtained through a survey, observation questionnaire or as experiment; the researcher has adopted the questionnaire method for this study.
Secondary source:
These are data from textbook Journal handset etc. they arise as byproducts of the same other purposes. Example administration, various other unpublished works and write ups were also used.
Population of the study
Population of a study is a group of persons or aggregate items, things the researcher is interested in getting information communication as an instrument for the realization of organizational goals. 200 staff of first bank, Benin was selected randomly by the researcher as the population of the study.
Sample and sampling procedure
Sample is the set people or items which constitute part of a given population sampling. Due to large size of the target population, the researcher used the Taro Yamani formula to arrive at the sample population of the study.
CHAPTER FOUR
PRESENTATION ANALYSIS INTERPRETATION OF DATA
Introduction
Efforts will be made at this stage to present, analyze and interpret the data collected during the field survey. This presentation will be based on the responses from the completed questionnaires. The result of this exercise will be summarized in tabular forms for easy references and analysis. It will also show answers to questions relating to the research questions for this research study. The researcher employed simple percentage in the analysis.
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
Introduction
It is important to ascertain that the objective of this study was to ascertain communication as an instrument for the realization of organizational goals
In the preceding chapter, the relevant data collected for this study were presented, critically analyzed and appropriate interpretation given. In this chapter, certain recommendations made which in the opinion of the researcher will be of benefits in addressing the challenges of communication as an instrument for the realization of organizational goals
Summary
This study was on communication as an instrument for the realization of organizational goals. Four objectives were raised which included: To ascertain the role of communication in organizational goal, to ascertain the extent to which communication is an instrument for realizing the goal of an organization, to ascertain what likely barriers communication for not realizing the set goal, to suggest ways of addressing perceived barriers in communication in any organization so as to avoid hindrance in achieving organizational goal. In line with these objectives, two research hypotheses were formulated and two null hypotheses were posited. The total population for the study is 200 staff of first bank, Benin. The researcher used questionnaires as the instrument for the data collection. Descriptive Survey research design was adopted for this study. A total of 133 respondents made up human resource, accountants, customer care officers and marketers were used for the study. The data collected were presented in tables and analyzed using simple percentages and frequencies
Conclusion
The literature has identified that the role played by communication during change in the business organizations is essential for successful change management. The employees are the key sources to bring about change in organizations. To encourage employees for desired change, organizations must address the apprehensions and issues related with them. Job insecurity should be decreased and a sense of community should be created so that employees may feel their responsibilities. The need for change and its advantages will motivate the staff to participate in change plan and execute it.
Recommendation
The study hereby recommends that for an effective and efficient organizational performance, management must embrace; more clarity of ideas before communicating; better understanding of the physical and human environment when communicating; purpose of communication must be thoroughly analyzed; when planning communication, consultation should both be top down and bottom up, and all facts must be implicit and explicit; consideration should be given to the content and tone of the messages; the languages must be messages the receiver would find valuable; communication with precise messages and are short run often possess long run importance; all interested parties in communication should be encouraged to be good listeners; immediate actions must be accompanied and accomplished with communication; and lastly effective feedback and follow up mechanism process must succeed effective communication
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