©2007 by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 2/e PPTPPT

©2007 by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 2 How Business Communicates McGraw-Hill/Irwin

3 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

4 21st-Century Business Directions Globalization The Maze of Information Management Management information systems (MIS) ◦computer network systems that enable users to access company information Management decision support system (MDSS) ◦helps users make decisions through coordinated corporate databases that contain important company and industry facts Information overload ◦when too much information is received at once

5 21st-Century Business Directions The Way of Technology Intranets ◦Internal company computer networks that enable employees to communicate and share information World Wide Web (WWW) ◦service provided on the Internet to allow large and small companies to conduct business domestically and internationally Wireless hand-held devices ◦small instruments that offer software features including spreadsheets, databases, web browsing, and

6 21st-Century Business Directions Change and More Change What Is Business Communication? Business communication ◦process of creating structure, relationships, and meaning through the design and exchange of business messages

7 21st-Century Business Directions FIGURE 2.1Typical Organizational Structure

8 21st-Century Business Directions FIGURE 2.2Tall Organizational Structure

9 21st-Century Business Directions FIGURE 2.3 Flat Organizational Structure

10 21st-Century Business Directions Types of Business Messages Structural messages ◦relate to company operating policies or procedures Relational messages ◦interpersonal, in that they build rapport between employees and customers Change messages ◦help the organization adapt and respond to the environment

11 Communicating Internally Internal communication ◦exchange of messages between employees inside the organization How Do Business Messages Flow? Message flow ◦how communication travels through channels in the organization Structural channel ◦role, position, or job occupied by an individual in an organization What Is a Communication Network? Communication networks ◦pathways through which messages travel among employees in an organization

12 Communicating Internally © PhotoDisc/Getty Images FIGURE 2.4Channels of Communication © McGraw-Hill

13 Formal Communication Networks Formal communication network ◦official channel or line of communication Downward Communication ◦movement or path of messages from superiors to subordinates Message filtering and distortion ◦noise resulting when messages are magnified, minimized, or altered as they travel through people One-way communication ◦message sender does not expect or encourage a response from the receiver

14 Formal Communication Networks FIGURE 2.5Flow of Messages

15 Formal Communication Networks Upward Communication ◦upward flow of messages from subordinates to higherranking employees Horizontal Communication ◦lateral exchange of messages between people of roughly equal authority Jargon ◦specialized words or language specific to a field or profession

16 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

17 Informal Communication Networks Informal communication networks ◦messages that flow in all directions and through all levels of authority

18 Informal Communication Networks FIGURE 2.6The Grapevine

19 Informal Communication Networks Heard It Through the Grapevine Grapevine ◦oral and informal communication network comprised of various employees Grapevine versus Gossip

20 Communicating Externally External communication ◦exchange of messages between the organization and the external environment Input ◦information the organization receives from the environment Throughput ◦organization’s analysis and evaluation of the input it receives and the transformation of that input into outputs Output ◦messages the organization transmits to the environment in response to received input

21 Communicating Externally FIGURE 2.7External Communication Process

22 Questions