Cultural Influence on Communication Processes

A country may be classified as either a high-context culture or a low-context Culture. The context of a culture is either high or low in terms of in-depth background information. This classification provides an understanding of various cultural orientations and explains how Process of communication is conveyed and perceived. North America and northern Europe (e.g. Germany, Switzerland and Scandinavian countries) are examples of low-context cultures. In these types of society, messages are explicit and clear in the sense that actual words are used to convey the main part of information in communication. The words and their meanings, being independent entities, can be separated from the context in which they occur. What are important, then, are what is said, not how it is said and not the environment within which it is said. Japan, France, Spain, Italy, Asia, Africa and the Middle Eastern Arab nations in contrast, are high-context culture. In Continue reading

Normative Theories of Mass Media

Normative theories  are theories that seek to locate media structure and performance in the milieu (environment) in which they operate, they are observation of situation within which the press operate. The basic assumption of the normative theory is that, “the press always take on the form and coloration of the social and political structure within which it operate” (Siebert, Peterson and Schramm, 1995). They are theories that explain the expected operation of media under political and economical circumstance The origin of normative theories of the press seen from two opposing view points, (1.) Radical libertarian (first amendment absolutist) and technocratic control, the first amendment absolutist takes the idea of “ free press” as literal and oppose government regulation while the technocrats do not trust the media and believes in use of regulators to act in the public interest, and (2.) Propaganda and mass society theories are used to justify media Continue reading

Business Report Writing – Meaning and Features

Report writing is an essential skill for professionals in almost every field. Each kind of report has its characteristics. An enquiry report or a survey report is essentially a fact-finding report and should bring out the facts clearly. A Directors’ Report, on the other hand, is the detailing of the developments or the progress relating to the business organization during a particular period. A committee report may not only bring out facts and figures, but also cover the alternative viewpoints expressed by the members and final recommendations. Notwithstanding these features specific to the reports, there are certain essential features of good business report writing: Issue in perspective:  The first essential for any good report is to bring out the issue in its proper perspective emphasizing the pros and cons. Be it a progress report; a survey report, an analytical report or an enquiry report, the subject should be presented in Continue reading

Selection interviews and it’s types

Interviewing is really an effective but highly complicated tool of selection. The process of interviewing is an oral examination with all its variations. The written examinations cannot trace the personal qualities, behavior, habits and character traits of the candidate. So in order to find out a suitable candidate, the interviewer has to seek more information about the candidate through interview techniques. Also, the other objective is to impart complete and accurate information about the job and its terms and conditions. The employment interview is usually observed in terms of its long-range effects on the employer, employee and the organization. The major source of information regarding the personality and background of the applicant is the observation of the candidate’s non-verbal reactions and his general behavior during the interview. The information sources of secondary importance would be to get all the essential information about the applicant’s performance and competence from his previous Continue reading

Listening Skills in Business

The importance of listening skills in business is enormous. The ability to speak well is a necessary component to successful communication. The ability to listen is equally as important. Good listening is an art. A good listener is generally interested in what the speaker has to convey. A good listener knows the art of getting much more than what the speaker is trying to convey. A good listener knows how to prompt, prod, persuade. A good listener puts a speaker at ease helps articulate and facilitates the speaker to get across the message in full and with clarity. A good listener should also not have any biases and should cultivate the right temperament. A positive attitude helps in making listening effective. Listening skills are very essential for business success Development of listening skills at various levels is very essential for business success. Every business has its stakeholders and there is Continue reading

Written Communication in Business

Need for Written Media of Communication The old style of communication did not have public relation, advertising, technology and many aspects of modern day communication. They would converse almost daily and instruction was given verbally to people who worked together in an organization. Also the number of people working together in any organization was less and so they could easily inspect, direct and judge the work of the employees. But today, organizations have a team of qualified person to carry out assignments. These specialists and experts have to communicate their ideas to one another and also to the management. This flow of information is necessary to be maintained through written medial because of the complexity of all these activities. The written media is like the human sensory organs and memory power, which receives analyses and records the information for the purpose of decision making in the future. Written media helps Continue reading