Institut Supérieur de Langue et des Affaires (ISLA)

Bachelor - March 2024

Lecturer : Kodjo Victor Toulassi

BUSINESS
PRINCIPLES OF
COMMUNICATION IN
 COURSE METHODOLOGY

1. Purposes of Communication
2. Using an Appropriate Medium and Channel
Choosing the Medium
3. How Relationships Affect Communication
Communications Structures
4. Communications Systems

Principles of Communication
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In Business
 ASSESSMENT CRITERIA

1. Apply knowledge of the purposes of

communication.
2. Explain why a particular medium is
appropriate or inappropriate in a given
situation
3. Explain how relationships between people
affect communication
4. Describe simple communications structures.

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 1. Purposes of Communication
Successful communication depends on a variety
of factors, which are unique to each situation.

We have to take account of these factors before

and during every communication.

Among these “variables” we can include:

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• Is the message spoken, written or nonverbal?
• Is the message formal or informal?
• Is the message being sent to (or received by) an
individual, by a small group or by
many people?
• If the message is for many people, are they
similar to each other, or is it a diverse
audience?

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• How much time is available for the
transmission or reception of the message?
• At what time of day (or night) is the message
being transmitted?
• Where are the participants (e.g. at the same
table, in the same room, in the same
building, in a different company, in a different
country)?
• How well do we know the person or people
with whom we are communicating?
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• Is this the first time that we have
communicated with this person/these
people?
• What is their status relative to us (i.e.
superior, subordinate, equal)?
• What is their level of language skills?

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• Why is the communication taking place?

• Gender, age, race, creed, nationality, cultural

background, personal appearance of all
participants,

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We begin with this particular question because you
must know the purpose of a communication in
order to decide on the best way to send it. We will
concentrate here on the sending of the message,
because it is nearly always the initiator of a
communication process who decides on its form;
that is to say, the reply to a communication is
normally done in the same form as the one used by
the sender e.g. if someone asks you a question, you
will normally reply in the same form, that is, by
speaking.
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 Here are three examples to illustrate
The form of a communication depends on its
purpose. That is, before you begin to
communicate, you should ask yourself, “What
do I want to achieve? What result do I want
from this?” Then, once you know the answer,
you should ask, “What will be the best way to
achieve this result?”

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Example 1
You may be giving or requesting information, or
teaching. If you are giving information, or
teaching, your purpose may be to ensure that
the receiver clearly understands your
information so that he or she will act upon it in
the way that you want. If you are requesting
information, your purpose may be to confirm or
gather more details on information you already
have.
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Example 2
You may be involved in buying or selling or
advertising. As a buyer you want to be sure that
you are purchasing the most suitable product at
the best price. As a seller or advertiser you will
try to persuade other people to buy your
product or service.

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Example 3
You may need someone to co-operate with you,
or you may be communicating to build a closer
relationship with other people. In these
situations you will concentrate on creating a
personal rapport with the other party.

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To be successful, you have to try and achieve
your desired outcome each time you
communicate. But while you are doing that,
remember that everyone else is trying to
achieve their own desired outcomes, too!

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So, how can you achieve your purpose? As
stated above, you must first know what that
purpose is. Then, taking into account all other
factors from among those listed near the
beginning of this section, you will decide on
which means of communication is going to be
most effective.

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However, always prepare to be flexible. A series
of communications between people develops as
it continues, as does the relationship between
them.

You need to be alert to these changes, so that

you can respond to them and stay on course to
achieve your purpose.

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 2. Using an Appropriate Medium and
Channel
When you have decided what the purpose of
your communication is, you must then encode it
in the most effective medium.

“Encoding” simply means choosing the

vocabulary that you will use, while the
“medium” is the nature of the expression of the
communication.

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A medium can be one of three types:
oral,
written or
non-verbal.
After you have selected the medium, you will
then choose the channel of communication.

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Do not confuse these terms
The “channel” is the actual way in which a
message is passed.
For instance, an oral medium can use a
telephone call as the channel.
A letter is an example of a channel used for
sending a message in a written medium.
A non-verbal message does not use words and
the channel for a non-verbal message might be
a road sign, or a logo, or a gesture.
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The choice of medium will depend on a number
of factors, among them the formality of the
message and the amount of detail that it
contains.
In general, a detailed message is best sent using
a written medium, since that allows the receiver
to study the detail carefully.

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If you pass too much detail orally, it can easily be
forgotten. A formal message is also more
effective if it is delivered using a written
medium, since that makes it a matter of record.

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The urgency of the message is another factor.
Although oral communication is usually faster
than written and is better for urgent messages
because it provides instant feedback, the use of
emails is increasing in business, as they are fast
and leave a record. However, feedback may be
delayed if the recipient is not at the computer
when the message is sent. So the need for
feedback must also be considered.

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Example
Zoom, Skype and many other video
conferencing tools have become very popular in
business too, because you can send messages in
written form, or you can hold live conversations
and also see the other party if your computer
has a webcam. You can send attachments using
Skype and Zoom, too, just as you can with
emails.
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The size of your audience is another factor. If
you need to pass the same message to a large
number of people, it will not be efficient to use
a telephone as the channel. But giving a speech
(oral) or using a notice (written) or an email
(written) will allow the same message to be
passed to many people without repeating it.
Newspapers, television, radio and billboards can
also reach large numbers of people easily.

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So, there are many options available to the sender of a
message. Here is a grid showing the most common
communication channels.

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