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This is a comprehensive introduction to modern business communication which integrates communication theory and practice and challenges many orthodox views of the communication process. Business Communication analyses how effective communication can be achieved in organizations that are changing to meet new social, economic and technological demands. The subjects covered include: I Interpersonal communication, including the use and analysis of non-verbal communication I Group communication, including practical techniques to support discussion and meetings I Written presentation, including both paper and electronic documents I Oral presentation I The use of electronic media As well as developing their own practical skills, readers will be able to: I Understand important principles underlying modern business communication I Apply these principles in varied business and corporate contexts I Critically analyse these principles, and their applications I Evaluate the role of communication in the changing business context While many other texts simply suggest that there is only one best way of approaching a specific communication task, this book points out alternatives and highlights controversies. This is an ideal text for undergraduates and postgraduates who are studying business communication at degree level, or as an advanced professional qualification. Through its direct style and practical relevance, it will also satisfy professional readers at work who want to develop their understanding and skills. Peter Hartley is Professor of Communication at Sheffield Hallam University. He has published widely and was a part of the team that developed the first British degree in communication studies. Clive G. Bruckmann has held positions in industry and research, and until his retirement was Head of the Communication Studies Division at the University of the Witwatersrand. He is currently an examiner in business communication. 1111 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 411 5 6 7 8 9 20111 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 30 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 40 1 2 3 4111 Business Communication LondonandNew York Peter Hartley and Clive G. Bruckmann Business Communication • T a y l o r & F r a n c i s G r o u p • R O U T L E D G E First published 2002 by Routledge 11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 29 West 35th Street, New York NY 10001 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group © 2002 Peter Hartley and Clive G. Bruckmann All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Hartley, Peter. Business communication / Peter Hartley and Clive G. Bruckmann. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Business communication. I. Bruckmann, Clive G., 1946– II. Title HF5718 .H2915 2002 658.4′5–dc21 2001048113 ISBN 0–415–19549–7 (hbk) ISBN 0–415–19550–0 (pbk) This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2007. “To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.” ISBN 0-203-93004-5 Master e-book ISBN List of figures vii List of tables viii List of boxes ix Preface xi Acknowledgements xv Introduction 1 Part one COMMUNICATION FUNDAMENTALS 9 1 Analysing communication 11 2 Communication codes and meaning 29 3 Intercultural communication 47 Part two COMMUNICATION AND ORGANIZATIONS IN CONTEXT 67 4 Organizational culture and communication 69 5 Information and communications technology (ICT) in organizations 90 6 Organizational structure and communication 112 Part three WRITTEN COMMUNICATION IN ORGANIZATIONS 137 7 Business writing: planning and organizing 139 8 Effective writing style 163 9 Effective design and visual aids 185 10 Effective business documents 209 Part four INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION IN ORGANIZATIONS 239 11 Effective interpersonal communication: defining interpersonal skills 241 12 Interpersonal skills in action: communicating face to face 264 13 Meetings and presentations 286 14 Building effective teams 311 1111 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 411 5 6 7 8 9 20111 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 30 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 40 1 2 3 4111 v Contents Part five COMMUNICATION AND CHANGE 333 15 Understanding organizational change 335 16 Making communication work: summary principles 349 Bibliography 354 Index 371 vi CONTENTS 1.1 Action plan 16 1.2 Model of a communication process 18 1.3 Systems model of communication 20 4.1 Determinants of organizational culture 87 5.1 Winston’s model showing restraints on the acceptance of new technology 93 6.1 Simple organization chart of a manufacturing company 113 6.2 Basic matrix structure of an organization 123 7.1 Sharples’s model of writing as creative design 143 7.2 Structuring information: the planning triangle 145 7.3 Structuring information: pyramid structure 153 7.4 Spider diagram used to plan this chapter 153 9.1 Comparing sales and profits in Departments A and B 197 9.2 Example of line graph 202 9.3 Example of bar chart 203 9.4 Line graph with label to suggest the important conclusion 203 9.5 Line graph with suppressed zero 205 9.6 Line graph without suppressed zero 205 9.7 Sales data expressed as bar chart 206 9.8 Sales data in 3D cylinders 206 9.9 Fitting a line 207 10.1 The memo matrix 213 11.1 Hartley’s model of interpersonal communication 243 11.2 Hargie’s revised model of social skills 245 11.3 Styles of behaviour 252 11.4 Crossed transaction 256 13.1 Dimensions of meetings 289 1111 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 411 5 6 7 8 9 20111 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 30 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 40 1 2 3 4111 Figures vii viii 1.1 The ‘essential components’ of communication? 19 2.1 Differences between spoken and written language 37 4.1 Components of organizational culture 71 4.2 Harrison’s model of cultures and structures 77 5.1 Development of IT in business organizations 106 6.1 Organization subsystems and their communication 116 7.1 Suggested steps in business writing, as proposed by various authors 141 7.2 Main strategies used by writers 144 7.3 Paragraph structure 156 7.4 Elements of a persuasive letter 161 8.1 How a letter can be improved 169 8.2 Agreement on Plain English 174 8.3 Inappropriate corrections recommended by Word 97’s grammar checker 178 9.1 Levels of heading in this book 193 9.2 Sales data 197 9.3 Matching story to visuals 198 9.4 Forms of visual aid 198 10.1 Basic report structure 223 10.2 Different report structures 227 11.1 Interpersonal communication as a staged process 261 12.1 The ladder of inference 269 12.2 The interview as planned communication 277 12.3 Stages in the selection interview 278 12.4 Appraisal as planned communication 281 13.1 Tropman’s seven categories of agenda items 293 13.2 Group decision-making methods 297 13.3 Planning a presentation 303 13.4 Planning electronic presentations 308 14.1 Tuckman’s four-stage model of group development 315 14.2 Wheelan’s model of group development 317 14.3 Working through Wheelan’s stages of group development 317 14.4 Comparing leadership and management 320 14.5 Team roles, as identified by Belbin 322 Tables 1.1 Simple messages can fail 13 1.2 What do we do with this? 15 2.1 Language and social identity 32 2.2 A compilation of registers 33 2.3 Marilyn Monroe – the voice of safety? 35 2.4 The business card as communicator 38 2.5 Corporate-speak: new words or new actions? 44 3.1 The need for intercultural training 50 3.2 Different cultural approaches to rhetoric 54 3.3 Is the organization a system or a group? 57 3.4 The gender issue in English: an answer from another culture? 60 3.5 When talk is different 63 4.1 Organizational culture and creative design 72 4.2 A new company culture is announced 74 4.3 But how do the workers experience the culture? 75 4.4 The McDonaldization thesis 80 4.5 Expressions of the company culture 86 5.1 The technology has changed – what do we do now? And how do we continue to make money? 94 5.2 Commingling bits 95 5.3 Software with ‘intelligence’? 97 5.4 IT can transform a business 98 5.5 Hypertext on the Web 103 5.6 Writing for the Web – the twenty-first-century version of desktop publishing? 104 5.7 The three waves of IT 105 5.8 The computer is in charge: nothing can go wrong, go wrong, go wrong . . . 109 6.1 Communicating with stakeholders 115 6.2 The re-engineering process 121 6.3 Does the representative system communicate effectively? 125 6.4 The changing face of the office 130 6.5 Using new technology to support structural change 132 7.1 How should we plan Web sites? 142 7.2 Are you a bricklayer or an oil painter? 143 7.3 Who is your ‘model communicator’? 146 1111 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 411 5 6 7 8 9 20111 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 30 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 40 1 2 3 4111 ix Boxes 7.4 Structuring documents 158 8.1 Contenders for the Golden Bull 165 8.2 The politics of language style 172 8.3 This organization has rules 173 8.4 Where Plain English disrupted the organizational structure 175 8.5 Simplified English 177 8.6 Microsoft may not know what you mean! 178 8.7 Why doesn’t my word processor know I’m British? 181 9.1 The PC is not a typewriter 187 9.2 Typefaces in action 191 9.3 Example of a design grid 195 9.4 Using Ehrenberg’s principles for presenting data in tables 201 9.5 Practical guidelines for producing graphics 204 10.1 Changing patterns of business correspondence 215 10.2 Bad letters can be expensive! 217 11.1 Can we teach the British to use more body contact? 248 11.2 Different types of assertive behaviour 254 11.3 Attending to culture 259 12.1 How important are the physical surroundings in the ways we communicate? 267 12.2 Communication can destroy a relationship in one easy sentence 270 12.3 Selection practices vary across cultures 273 12.4 Fair treatment or incompetent practice? 274 12.5 360-degree feedback 284 13.1 When Machiavelli comes to the meeting 298 13.2 Why don’t the trainers agree? 301 13.3 Strategies for opening and closing a presentation 305 13.4 How to shoot your presentation in the foot in just the first few minutes 307 14.1 How not to move to teams 314 14.2 Groups can develop differently 317 14.3 Diverse views of leadership, from parable to starship 318 14.4 The leader as communicator 321 14.5 Belbin’s recipe for success 323 14.6 Multiple views of reality 327 15.1 Environmental change and the Japanese convenience store 336 15.2 Who do you consult about change? 338 15.3 All change on British railway lines 341 x BOXES People in organizations spend a lot of time communicating. For example, research studies regularly find that managers spend over 60 per cent of their time in meetings (Hargie et al. 1999, p. 1). In some cases they spend over 80 per cent of their day involved in communication (Hales, 1986). We also know that there are significant differences among organizations and cultures. In his study of European managers, Peter Collett (1998) found that Czech managers were most communicative (68 per cent of their time). British managers were average at 62 per cent but French and Bulgarian managers were much lower – 56 per cent and 52 per cent respectively. But how important is communication to the organization’s well-being? Is there enough evidence to support the claims that ‘business communication is a critical success factor for any organization’ (Misiura, 1996, p. 6) or that ‘good management depends on effective communication’ (Bovee and Thill, 1995, p. 15)? The answer is clearly ‘yes’: ‘research overwhelmingly suggests that improved internal communication brings large scale organizational benefits’ (Tourish, 1997, p. 109). These benefits can include significant financial savings, both direct and indirect. For example, Scott et al. (1999) have shown that employees who feel satisfied with the communication they receive are less likely to leave their organization. Decreased staff turnover obviously reduces the expenditure on recruitment and selection. Other outcomes of effective communication are the less quantifiable benefits of a committed workforce. And we must also emphasize the ethical considerations. Don’t all employees have a right to receive adequate communication? Communication is time-consuming and important. But we believe it is often neglected in organizations – staff at all levels can ignore basic principles and create unnecessary misun- derstanding and conflict. This does not mean that improved communication will always lead to less conflict or less work from the organization’s point of view. David Bernstein tells how his company was employed to analyse and revise the communications of a public-sector organization. They revised the organization’s newsletter into a newspaper format. After a couple of months, they had an ‘annoyed client’ – the organization was receiving more complaining letters from the public than before. The improved format meant that the information was easier to understand. This meant that the public were better informed of their rights – and they knew whom to contact about problems (Bernstein, 1984, p. 5). This story 1111 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 411 5 6 7 8 9 20111 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 30 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 40 1 2 3 4111 xi Preface illustrates that communication can be improved if it is worked on. It also illustrates the ethical aspects: the organization had a moral obligation to communicate as effectively as possible. How would you have felt as a member of the public if it had gone back to the old format to disguise the information? Communication is also complex. You need to understand the process to decide on the most appropriate strategy and behaviour. In a large organization, you will also find different responses to the same message. For example, DiSanza and Bullis (1999) investigated employees’ responses to the company newsletter, which was designed to increase their sense of belonging and identification. They found that the newsletter ‘worked’ in the desired direction for employees who had positive experiences in the past and already felt positively towards the organization. But the newsletter actually made things worse for employees who already felt disenchanted – they interpreted the newsletter’s stories in ways which rein- forced their negative views. This book aims to show both the complexity of communication and how it can be improved. But we do not offer simple recipes for success. Because of the complexities, you need to apply principles in ways which suit your specific context. We shall try to explain how this can be done. THE AIMS OF THIS BOOK After reading this book, you will be able to: I outline basic principles underlying modern business communication, and apply these principles in varied contexts; I critically analyse these basic principles, and their application; I review the nature and role of communication in the changing context of modern business organizations. It covers a wide range of business communication which has international relevance, and reflects the current and developing impact of information technology. WHO SHOULD READ THIS BOOK? This book is designed for undergraduate and postgraduate students who need a textbook on business communication. We use a direct style of language to make it relevant and attrac- tive to people already working in business/commerce. So it can be used by: I anyone studying business communication as part of a university or college degree course (both undergraduate and postgraduate) or as part of a post-school professional qualification; I anyone working in a business or non-commercial organization who would like to review their ideas about and their own practice in communication; I anyone who is studying communication as part of an advanced-level business course at school and has some experience of work. xii PREFACE CONTENT This book offers the following features. Practical examples and theoretical principles The book explains both theoretical and practical aspects of communication, so it provides a framework you can use to assess your organization’s and your own communication. It is as academically sound as we could make it, offering valid practical perspectives and techniques for business communication which arise from current theory and research. Broad coverage We offer a broad approach which covers all aspects of the communication process. For example, whereas some other business texts emphasize language much more than media, audience and structure, we cover each component. We also cover important aspects of interpersonal and group communication, including different types of group and their decision-making. Not just one best way We emphasize that communication depends upon the specific social and cultural context. As a result, we are critical of some other business texts which simply suggest that there is ‘one best way’ to approach a specific communication task. We always try to point out alternatives and highlight controversies. Multicultural and structural factors We emphasize the diverse multicultural composition of modern organizations, and identify practical implications for communication. We also summarize current and developing trends in organizational structures, and their impact on corporate and international communications. Use of information technology We incorporate up-to-date and progressive use of information technology whenever relevant. For example, use of Internet technology is emphasized. Features We have included the following features to make this book as useful as possible: Boxes Within each chapter, we include extra explanations, examples and illustrations in separate boxes to enhance the main arguments. We have tried to include a range of examples from different parts of the world and from different cultures and types of organizations. 1111 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 411 5 6 7 8 9 20111 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 30 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 40 1 2 3 4111 xiii PREFACE Chapter summaries Each chapter is summarized in a bullet list to highlight the main points. Exercises Every chapter includes practical exercises where you can apply the theories and techniques to your own situation. Further reading As well as the full list of references at the back of the book, each chapter suggests three or four specific texts so that you can further develop the ideas in that chapter. Further materials We are continually updating the materials and references on the topics in this book to support our own teaching and consultancy. Some of this additional material will be available through the World Wide Web. As Web addresses can change from time to time, please consult the Routledge Web site for details on this. xiv PREFACE