Running Head: BUSINESS MANAGEMENT

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

Business Management

Table of Contents
Executive Summary.........................................................................................................................2
Introduction.....................................................................................................................................3
Importance of Communication in Organization..............................................................................4
Communication Process in an Organization...................................................................................5
Forms of Communication................................................................................................................5
Internal versus External Communication....................................................................................5
Formal versus Informal Communication.....................................................................................6
Communications link with Management Concepts.........................................................................6
Communication and Human Resources Management.................................................................6
Communication and Managing Innovation.................................................................................7
Communication and Performance Measurement.........................................................................8
Communication Technology............................................................................................................9
Communication of the Material Communications Group at Intel.................................................10
Intel Corporation Company.......................................................................................................10
Material Communications Group of Intel..................................................................................10
The Groups Communication Strategy.......................................................................................11
Conclusion and Recommendations................................................................................................12

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Executive Summary
The 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.

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Communication
Introduction
Communication 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

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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 Organization

Communication 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).

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Communication Process in an Organization

In 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 Communication
Internal versus External Communication
The 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

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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 Communication

Formal 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 Concepts

Communication and Human Resources Management
For 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

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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 Innovation

The 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

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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 Measurement

Performance 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.

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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 Technology
Those 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

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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.

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The Groups Communication Strategy

The 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
Specific reason for communicating

Define Communication Objectives

Gather information specific to the audience

Identify Key Audience

List Key Measures

Design action to motivate audience to take the action you need them to take

Understanding Communication Channels

Examine Cost

Test

Establish Indicators

Identify channels and plot timeline for each

Cost vary and depends on communication channels, technology and resource avail

Run the message and channel on small test audience

Determine success factor

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Delivery Channels and Communication Technology

As 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 Recommendations

Communication 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

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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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