Business Management 2Running Head: BUSINESS MANAGEMENT

Communication[Name of the Writer][Name of the Institution]

Table of ContentsExecutive Summary2Introduction3Importance of Communication in Organization4Communication Process in an Organization5Forms of Communication5Internal versus External Communication5Formal versus Informal Communication6Communications link with Management Concepts6Communication and Human Resources Management6Communication and Managing Innovation7Communication and Performance Measurement8Communication Technology9Communication of the Material Communications Group at Intel10Intel Corporation Company10Material Communications Group of Intel10The Groups Communication Strategy11Conclusion and Recommendations12

Executive SummaryThe initial section of the report analyses and describes the basic concept of communication as a two-way process of share ideas, thoughts and information with other person. It further discusses the primary elements of communication and touch upon the aspect of evolution of communication over the years. The next part of the report sheds light on the importance of communication from organizational perspective. As organization consists of different types of people and depends on their collective performance, it is very important to integrate the workforce through effective communication system. It further explains the traditional communication processes in an organization where communication takes place in both upward and downward spiral. After that, forms of communication have been discussed which include internal, external, formal and informal communication. The next section of the report is discusses the link of communication with other management concepts of human resource management, innovation and performance evaluation. After that, different kinds of communication technology have been discussed which assist in employees to communicate in an effective, efficient and timely fashion. The final section of the report analyses the communication strategy and communication technology used by Intel Corporation Company. It relates latest technological tools and techniques used for communication by the company with the increased productivity of the employees in the organization.

CommunicationIntroductionCommunication is a way or process to share your feelings, thoughts, ideas and information with the other person and to have those feelings, thoughts, ideas or information understood by the other person. Communication can be a one-way or two-way process and it comes in many forms like written words, oral communication or body language. These are all the ways we utilize in order to get our message across. Similarly the approach we use for these techniques and the way others perceive it can greatly influence our relationships with others. Perhaps, interpersonal communication is the most important form of communication which establishes our trust and credibility with other humans (Douglos, 2013, p. n.d). The elements of communication include the communicator, the receiver, the message and the medium through which that message is been send across. It should also be acknowledge the role of technologies here that have significantly reduced interpersonal communication. These technologies have assisted us to communicate anytime from anywhere and in a timely fashion. The communication itself and the means to communicate have evolved significantly over the past several thousand years. From cave paintings to the development of signs, speech and postal service, and now with the technological inventions such as telephone and computers, the communication standards have been transformed drastically.It is a widespread belief that in todays management world, the future of any organization depends on the key stakeholders and those stake holders include internal as well as external ones. They are the employees of the organization, its investors or shareholders, its costumers, its partners or the member of the community in which the company operates. Hence, organizational communication is a method usually deliberated among people, groups and organizational levels within organization in order to accomplish both individual targets as well as collective ones. Therefore maintaining relations with them is the key responsibility of an organization and these relations are made through the effective use of communication (Shulman, 1984, p.206-208).

Importance of Communication in OrganizationCommunication plays a critical role in the performance of an organization. In fact, communication is what the organization primarily requires. It is an indispensable, inseparable and continuous process in the functioning of an organization, just like the circulatory system of human body. Therefore, communication effectiveness is necessary to bring along all the separate units and people in an organization as a whole a single body. The very existence of organization depends on a number of things like teamwork and leadership, delegation of authority and responsibility and unity of command, each one of which depends on the effectiveness of communication. An open communication can be defined as a working atmosphere in which all the work force feel safe and confident, are encouraged to contribute ideas at every level of the organization, and be given timely information they require to outshine at their jobs (Sullivan, 2009, p. 89).Communication lays the groundwork for fostering and grooming the atmosphere of an organization. The effective communication helps to maintain relations, collaboration and clarity within an organization which eventually leads to the fulfillment of business or organizational goals. Therefore, communication is always associated to the success of the company. An organizations endurance as well as its overall reputations is linked with its ability to successfully communicate with its employees and other central stakeholders (Seth & Sethi, 2009, pp. 32-36).Communication Process in an OrganizationIn a mainstream organization, the head office develops the main communication processes which are also communicated with the regional offices. The communication is performed through variety of ways which includes written, verbal as well as through technological tools that includes telephone, fax, internet and so on. In the same way, the managers in the organizational hierarchy work as intermediately and they are entitled to build up links with the whole organization. The communication takes place in both downward and upward spiral. Mission, vision, management decisions and assignments travel down to the employees through middle-level managers. Similarly, the reports and responses to those decision and assignments from the employees drive upwards through the same managers. So when we talk about the flow of information within an organization, the primary elements includes the encoder (person who is sending the message), decoder (person who is receiving the message), and means of channelling (the tools used to deliver that message) along with the feedback mechanism. The message is transferred from source towards the target.

Forms of CommunicationInternal versus External CommunicationThe internal communication is the process to exchange information with the employees and other internal participants working in various divisions and departments within an organization. Both horizontal and vertical communication takes place in internal form of communication. While on the other hand, the external communication takes place when we communicate or share information with the outside players, groups and partners of the organization. These partners might include the suppliers, costumers or other external stakeholders of the organization.

Formal versus Informal CommunicationFormal communication takes place in the form of meetings, reports, manuals or forms. This kind of communication flows along the lines of authority and management, whereas informal communication does not follow any rules or formal guidelines. In can be a casual or privately-held communication between co-workers, employee and manager, and so on (David et. al, 1994, pp. 111-115).

Communications link with Management ConceptsCommunication and Human Resources ManagementFor any organization, people are the most important resource. The human potential needs to be highly motivated and also trained to their best to comply with the organizational goals. Every person is different from another with respect to his personality, attitude, family history, and the culture he belongs to. If managed properly, these differences can prove to be constructive for the firms. Communication plays an important role in the management of human resource. The most important responsibility of the human resource manager is to create a conducive environment for effective communication between the employees and to manage an atmosphere in the company that is favorable for it. Therefore the manager should be a really good listener and the employees should be encouraged talk openly about the work-related issues or any other concerns. Effective communication is also utilized to explain the employees about their respective position in the organization, while organizational mission and goals should be clearly communicated with them. Positive communication with the employees can really prove to be beneficial for the company as it motivates the employee and give boost to employees morale too. In short, effective HR communication leads to learning, teamwork, reduced ambiguity and increased productivity (Bordean, 2011, pp. 119-121).

Communication and Managing InnovationThe ingredient that is vital for an organization to become an innovation driven company is communication. I would like to quote an old parable here. It goes like, One day while wandering, a man came across three brick. He asked the first worker about what he was doing. The worker replied that Im laying brink. He then asked the same question from the second worker. He replied that Im a brick wall. Then he asked the third one and he replied that Im building a cathedral. In spite of all the communication tools that came up in the past decade, there are still many companies that communicate with their employees like the first bricklayer. Employees are asked to lay brinks, but they are not being informed that we they are laying bricks. This way the employee wont be able to make much of a creative contribution to the firm. How can he suggest ideas when he himself hardly knows what the organization is doing.Similarly many organizations today treat their employees like the second brick laying worker, where employees know that they are a part of a team that is building a wall. They also know their place in the department. But they are still not sure about the purpose of building that wall or where actually they fit in the bigger picture. Although such employees are involved in providing with creative ideas, but they are limited to making better walls. They should have the proper idea that cathedral walls are indifferent to house walls. A precious few firms communicate to all of their employees the way third brick layer knew about the complete concept of his work. Here, most of the credit goes to the cathedral makers who have communicated their plans and goals which will in return benefit them. Because those bricklayers are not just brick laying workers, but they are versatile human beings with their won personality, experience, compassion, knowledge and pride. One bricklayer might have travelled Eastern Europe and have seen many different styles of cathedrals, so he can share and contribute all kind of ideas. Therefore there is a strong link between communication and innovation. Therefore if an employer wish to seek innovate ideas from its workforce, it should effectively communicate the organizations vision.

Communication and Performance MeasurementPerformance measurement and control is the mechanism of collecting, critically evaluating and reporting information linked with the performance of an individual, or a group of employees in an organization. It can involve analyzing and studying the strategies of the organisation, and to evaluate whether the output is intact with the requirement of what was intended or should have been achieved (Gopinath, 2009, pp. 1-9). Again communication is crucial for the whole performance measurement and control system. The first step of communication in this area involved the clarity of the message and information delivered to the employee regarding his or her recent assignment. The employee should know what he is needed to do. The second step is about informing the employee about the performance perimeters set by the organisation and the benefits involved if the employee has been able to reach that benchmark. Similarly, the employee should also be informed about the penalty or consequences he or she is going to deal with if that employee fails to comply with the set benchmark. The final step is about informing an employee about his or her performance status, while employees with good quality work are appreciated as it would boost their morale. While weak areas are brought into the knowledge of those who are lagging behind the performance standards set by the firm. Similarly, those employees are further facilitated on how they should improve in those areas. Therefore an open communication culture in an organisation does away with all the ambiguity in employees mind regarding their job description and performance benchmark, which automatically results in enhanced performance from the worker.

Communication TechnologyThose days are long gone when people had to rely on just face-to-face contact in order to communicate. When a piece of information had to go from one hand to another in order to get to its target working at a distance. Todays world provides us with many ways through latest tools such as telephone, fax machine or e-mail. Other modern ways to communicate large audience are through the use of presentations, letter, reports or memo (Sullivan, 2009, p. 89). Each communication style has its own benefits. While face-to-face provides us with the clearest shape of communication, this method has been deemed useless in large organizations. Where as e-mail is a fitting way to communicate which saves time also, it can also be used to send information to many employees at a single time. Video conferencing and telephones are utilized to interact directly with a person of a group sitting anywhere in the World. Similarly, presentations are used to convey your research and data in a well-structured tabular form to the large audience while having face-to-face contact also. While letters and memos are sent through fax in order communicate important information inside organization. IT has totally revolutionized the communication framework by integrating all the internal and external segments of organization which has helped in nurturing timely information for all the departments (Christensen, Firat & Torp, 2008, pp. 423-425).

Communication of the Material Communications Group at Intel Intel Corporation Company Founded in 1968, Intel Corporation is an American multination corporation based in Santa Clara, California. It is the worlds largest and highest valued producer of semiconductor chips. It is also the architect of x86 series of microprocessors that are found in most personal computers today. It employs around 107,000 employees that are spread all over the globe and it has recorded $52 billion revenue in 2013 (Intel, 2013, p. n.d). Intel believes that organizations that are eager to accomplish its strategic goals should first of all establish well-defined and clear communication strategies. According to them, a well-defined strategy is the one that engages its employees and also aligns them with the organizations strategic business goals.

Material Communications Group of Intel The Materials Communication Group was created at Inter to assure and guarantee that employees received timely, consistent and useful communication. They partnered with performance technologist in order to ensure that communication enhance and sustain performance within the organization. This groups communication strategy and its technology driven delivery channels have been successful in casting a positive impact on the performance of the organization.

The Groups Communication StrategyThe Material Communications strategy is to deliver information to the employee that is accurate, effective and most importantly timely. The objectives of their communication are to create, maintain and increase its effect. The strategy encompasses new awareness and a fresh behavior. It is about a change that creates motivation and excitement. The communication that seeks growth, lessens criticism, increases favorable attitudes, reduces disharmony and decreases turnover. Therefore, Intel has developed a seven-step needs assessment framework in order to assess needs for each communication, that assist in getting a quick-start on planning and designing communication (Simmons, 2009, p. n.d). The table below illustrates planning step used by Material Communications

Define Communication ObjectivesSpecific reason for communicatingList Key MeasuresDesign action to motivate audience to take the action you need them to takeIdentify Key AudienceGather information specific to the audienceUnderstanding Communication ChannelsIdentify channels and plot timeline for eachExamine CostCost vary and depends on communication channels, technology and resource availabilityTestRun the message and channel on small test audienceEstablish IndicatorsDetermine success factor

Delivery Channels and Communication TechnologyAs one can tell that communication is the backbone for such a large organization like Intel, it uses appropriate communication and delivery channels compatible with their business needs. The company uses orthodox tools for communicating such as telephone, fax and e-mail. Similarly video-conferencing is used to communicate with executives in different regions. The Material Communications Group provides a range of online tools to help Intel with its communication needs. Material Voices is a biweekly electronic newsletter delivered to all the employees. The links within the newsletter takes an employee to a voice mail or a video that informs him about new information. There is also a chat room named CyberTalk where people from different business units are available online assist employees with their concerns and queries. For fulfilling the communication needs, communication trainings are also provided to the employees. Moreover, a simple portal has been developed and connected through the internet where each and everything is communicated to the employee. From his recent assignments to his next and from his performance to his next team meet, everything is there on each employees own portal. Last but not the least IT-based customized business solutions that include ERP and SAP are utilized in order to integrate all the internal and external stakeholders of the company. The above mentioned technological aspects show us that how much technology has contributed to establish and develop communication structure in Intel Corporation.

Conclusion and RecommendationsCommunication is the essential part of human life and theres a human need to communicate every time. Organizations are run by the group of people and without proper communication, the very concept of the organization would seize to exist. The relationship and interaction between the employees in an organization greatly affects its performance. Therefore most of the organizations support open communication environment where employee is well connected and interlinked to the supervisor. Despite the importance of effective communication in an organization, many companies are still struggling to practice this concept properly. Some of the reasons include the issues of strategy; others include strategy not properly communicated to the employees because it is considered confidential, while some organizations fail to develop appropriate lines of communication from top to bottom. So organizations should communicate its strategic goals with the employees in order to give boost to their morale and motivation. It also helps in contribution with respect to innovation from employees. Apart from that, every organization has its own communication needs and a customized plan needs to be devised by the management of that organization after analyzing the structure of organization and its communication needs. Communication practitioners should have the proper idea about what kind of information is needed by each employee and which technology seems best to deliver that information. The technology should be simple to use, timely and effective. Fast information exchange also increases the readiness of employees towards internal or external environment changes and effective communication also results in better crises management. Therefore, proper communication management coupled with the appropriate, easy to use technology contributes towards integrating all the department and employees within those department which leads to the fulfillment of organization goals.

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