Internal and External Communication in Organisations with the Example of Coca Cola - Research Paper Example

? Organizational Communication Table of Contents Introduction 3 Organizational behavior 6 Organizational control 7 Impact on performance 8 Organizational development and training 8 The emergence of company culture 9 Introduction Communication is an area of study which has received substantial amount of attention from the past (Hassall, “The Relationship between Communication and Team Performance: Testing Moderators and Identifying Communication Profiles in Established work teams”). In every aspect of life there is an existence of communication. Business being one of the aspects of human also requires a sound communication strategy. The term communication is derived from the Latin word ‘communicare’ which signifies ‘participate’ or ‘to convey’. Therefore during the time of participation there is a need of information flow from both the sides. However the process of communication can be in the form of interacting, talking and writing as well. The present world of business is more saturated and also the companies have global presence. Such endeavors make communication even more multifaceted. Communicating across borders requires sound communication abilities that would allow people from different areas to cooperate with each other. The communication process can be divided into 5 dimensions. The five dimensions are described below:- International or Unintentional. Verbal or Nonverbal. Internal or external. Communication which involves Humans or Machines. Communication among individuals or groups. In the context of the project, only internal and external communication within the organization will be portrayed. Internal communication refers to the way of communication that takes place within the organization. The communication between the employees of an organization is denoted as internal communication. It is also important to achieve organizational objectives (“Internal communications”). External communication on the other hand is the way an organization communicates with the outsiders is known as external communication. External communication is also an important phenomenon for conducting the business smoothly. Organization like Coca Cola uses Information Communication Technology (ICT) communication technique to communicate both internally as well as externally (Hodgetts and Hegar 88). The communications are:- The internal communication Employees: - The Company mainly uses E-mail and fax to communicate within the employees. The employees have their customized programs installed on their computers, so as to receive and send E-mails. Fax is also another medium which is being highly used in the company. Management: - In order to communicate with the top management of the organization pagers are mainly used. However customized E-mail programs are also used. Also the company in order to conduct vital meetings the company uses video conferencing. The external communication In this context the communication takes place among the company and its end customers, distributors and suppliers. The company in its external communication strategy uses various techniques, but remains transparent about the offerings. In order to portray the offerings the company used the promotions from the company is mainly TV advertisements and other trade and consumer schemes. Customers: - In order to directly communicate with the customers the company sends direct E-mail from the customer information database. Distributors and Suppliers of Coca Cola: - In this respect the company makes use of fax and video conferencing techniques. Now in the case of Pepsi, the internal and external communication also plays an important role towards the success of the company. In respect with its internal communication, the company mainly uses E-mail and also uses verbal communication. In order to communicate with the internal employees the company mainly uses meetings to communicate information within the team members. The external communication method of Pepsi is almost similar to that of Coca cola. Pepsi also uses TV advertisements and also uses different types of sales promotion such as Point of Sale (POS) display, trade and consumer schemes. However in the context of external communication the company enormously makes use of social media to portray its information to the external audiences. Also the employees are very much familiar with social media hence it helps the company to communicate externally as well as internally. The Global Internal Communications (GIC) team stated that social media training program would be the suitable way for ensuring the employees are updates about the policies. Also it helps to identify the employees who would be willing to campaign on behalf of the company, and finally it helps the staffs to partake effectively. Hence Pepsi and Coca Cola effectively uses both the internal as well as external communication in order to conduct the business more efficiently and also for remaining transparent. Organizational behavior Organizations have identified that their success is vastly dependent upon the efficiency of the system and the effectiveness of the communication process (“Introduction to Management”). Good communication plays an important role towards the organizational behavior. Thus the communication method is the most crucial tool for the progress of any company. The report will focus upon the communication within the organizational behavior. Employees are also responsible for the success of an organization. They exhibit different kinds of behavior which impacts the overall performance. In an organization managers need timely and accurate information for the process of decision making. The information also gets generated from the communication of the members. Hence communication is essential for the effective functioning of organization. Also interactive communication helps the employees of an organization to organize their tasks so as to achieve the overall organizational goals. Nowadays with the advancement of information technology the communication process of an organization has been modernized. MIS facilities E-mail and video conferencing techniques are high practiced in large organizations. Organizational control Communication also helps an organization in respect with the control measures. Effective management is important for the managers of an organization for fulfilling the basic function of planning, organizing, directing and controlling. However the controlling process purely depends upon the oral and written communication. Communication helps an organization to control the behavior of its employees in various ways. There are different levels of hierarchy and a certain set of guidelines and principle exist in an organization that should be followed by an employee. Therefore they must obey with the rules and regulations pertaining to the organization and convey their issues related to the job to the superiors. This will also ensure efficient performance from the staffs. Hence communication helps in controlling different functions of management. Impact on performance Employees devote most of their time for the process of communication. Studies even reveals that an employee spends 90% time towards communication on a regular basis. Good communication enhances the overall performance of the employees. Also an effective communication helps to understand a person better (“Effective Communication”). Apart from this an effective communication also reduces the chances of consequential errors, which enables an employee to get associated with the vision of organization. A sound communication also diminishes disharmony and dissatisfaction among the employees which leads to a healthy working environment. Organizational development and training The development of an organization immensely depends on the employees. The organization which has successfully imparted quality training to its employees gets early success. Now in the process of training and development of the employees, communication plays a major role. The training phase of an employee is also his/her development phase and an effective communication at that phase will lead the employee to the next level. This will also help the organization to gain profits in the long run. In the context of Pepsi, the company trains its associates through the frontline managers so as to ensure they hold knowledge and skills to achieve organizational goals (Pepsico, “Associate Learning & Development”). . The emergence of company culture Organization culture begins from the socialization of the employees and their perception about the company. When a new employee joins an organization the working environment of the company is communicated via programs such as employee orientation. Company culture is based upon the elucidation of the company’s goals, ethics and vision. The verbal and non verbal communication of the organization facilitates the working culture. Apart from this it also helps to shape up the behavior of an employee and gives insights about the principles of the organization. References “Associate Learning & Development.” Pepsico. PepsiCo Inc, 2011. Web. 09 July 2012. “Effective Communication.” Help Guide. Helpguide.org, n.d. Web. 09 July 2012. Hassall, Stacey L. “The Relationship between Communication and Team Performance: Testing Moderators and Identifying Communication Profiles in Established work teams.” Faculty of Business School of Management Queensland University of Technology. June 2009. PDF file. Hodgetts, Richard M., and Kathryn W. Hegar. Modern Human Relations at Work. Connecticut: Cengage Learning, 2007. Print. “Internal communications.” Idea. Local Government Improvement and Development, 2011. Web. 09 July 2012. “Introduction to Management.” Icmrindia. IBS Center for Management Research, 2012. Web. 09 July 2012. Read More