Contemporary Issues In Professional Business Communication

You are required to write an essay on: “Contemporary issues in professional business communication.” Research, discuss and explain the fundamental opportunities and challenges that this creates for modern businesses.

For the purposes of this assignment you should also choose one core business as a case study and provide relevant examples to support your thinking and analysis.

Challenges in Professional Business Communication

Exchange of ideas and thoughts or information between two individuals for an organizational purpose within an organization can be referred as the process of business communication. The process of business communication is executed for the commercial benefits of the business corporation (Bovee, Thill and Raina, 2016). Additionally, business communication can also be termed as the process of generating awareness and spreading and conveying the messages to the potential consumers from a purpose of promotion of the products and services. The process is one of the vital components which aids the entity in developing and establishing the products and services in the market and targeted consumers. The process should be effective and for that, the business organization s should make use of appropriate strategies and plans. The business communication plays a vital and multi-faced role that is internally and externally. Internally it aids in bridging a gap between the lower level middle level and management level staff. And externally it develops a connection between the consumers and the company (Bargiela-Chiappini and Nickerson, 2014). Apart from these advantages the business communication process also faces some issues which are required to be tackled effectively by the organization.

The mechanism of professional business communication is very much crucial, from effectively communicating with the workforce to attaining the clients and the consumers. The communication process is a large success factor in each and every business functions. However, there is number of challenges associated with the communication process. For instance, technology is one of the examples which is one of an essential component in the process of communication but can also be proven as a curse if not used appropriately (Shaw and Barry, 2015). Business meetings are one of the media of communicating but can also be tedious and which can rise as an issue. There is number of such issues which will be faced by the business corporation in the process of professional business communication.

One of the empirical aspects of the process of professional business communication is listening. Listening is considered as one of the vital component or element in the procedure and it is one of the most crucial ones. As it requires the high level of skills to be a good listener, the managers or the superiors face difficulties while developing the skills in the staff for the execution of the communication process (Charter, 2017). And due to the intense pressure in the business operations, the managers may not get the time to sit and teach the staff about the skills of listening. An intense pressure may lead to avoidance of the needs and the requirements of the consumers or the clients. This ignorance towards the needs of the consumers will generate dis-satisfaction amongst the consumers and which will affect the brand equity of the business corporation. The consumers may also think of switching over the brands and which will also affect the goodwill of the entity.

Listening

Technological innovations are considered as the helping hands in the process of business communication. Email, Fax, Voice-mail, Intranet messaging etc. is some of the mediums which are considered as the contemporary means of professional business communication. Business corporations have a high dependency and rely on the technological advancements for communication purpose (DesJardins and McCall, 2014). Using the above-mentioned means of communication makes a process more effective and also enhances its efficiency which will lead to generating desired and bitter results. But a high reliance on the technology can develop situations of drama and dissent in the workplace. Communication executed by means of technological means and tools may be time-saving and accurate but when emotions are involved in face-to-face communication then this process proves better medium of communication. So, relying too much on technology can be proven problematic and can rise as an issue for the business corporation.

Meetings are considered as one of the most relevant and time-saving tools of communication and are also widely used by the business corporations for communicating the significant messages. This option saves time and also creates the high level of efficiency. But employees often see meetings as time waste (Fleischmann et al., 2014). No matter how challenging is making use of meetings as the tool for communication and that too in an effective manner, meetings form a significant part of business operations and also plays a crucial role in the process of professional business communication. Meetings also aid the entity in developing and building team-work and individuals also feel as a significant part of the business corporation. This tool of communication is considered as avenues for the employees and can provide their ideas and opinions. The most challenging part is managing and organizing a meeting and that too with concise information.

The multinational corporations are found to have a pool of diverse range of workforce (Grunig, 2013). The diversity has been considered one of the biggest strength for any of the business corporation but side by side ethnicity and lingual differences are also considered as one of the biggest factors which can come up as an issue in the process of communication. For instance, if a team is having members with different regions and they speak different languages then there will be difficulties to develop a communication process among these. Moreover, they will also differ in their thoughts and ideas. The differences between the teammates or the employees may develop chances of conflicts among and which can come up as disputes (Trevino and Nelson, 2016). This can be considered as an issue in the process of professional business communication.

Technology

Gender differences can also be counted in the list of the contemporary issues faced by the professional business communication process. Gender roles consist of gender behaviors associated with being male or female. There are differences in the communication patterns for males and females. Moreover, the business corporations face the number of issues while communicating with the individuals with disabilities. On the basis of the pass of ADA (Americans with disabilities act), there has been a rise in the number of physically disabled for entering and working at the workplaces (Fearn-Banks, 2016). This act provides guarantee that the individuals who are qualified and can perform the specific operation will not be discriminated on the basis of the disability. This has come up as an issue as dealing and communicating with the disabled individuals creates the number of problems and issues in the communication process.

Professional communication process can be complex and the language or the tools used can also be tough. For instance, some professionals have a habit of making use of Jargons in their language (Wild, Wild and Han, 2014). Use of jargons makes the language more complex and difficult to understand. And this can develop barriers in the communication process. If the decoder is unable to understand the message then the communicating process will be incomplete and this can be considered as an issue in the process of business communication. The language or the tools used during the communication process should be easy; this will make the decoder to understand the message quickly. In case of promotional events, if the company is making use of jargons in the promotional messages and slogans then it will be difficult for the consumers to understand. This may also bring a decline in the interest level and which may lead the consumer to switch over the brand (Polonsky and Waller, 2014). This will affect the growth and profitability of the business entity.

The management authorities are required to be polite towards the employees within the organization and also towards the consumers (Hartman, DesJardins and MacDonald, 2014). This will make the individuals approach the management or the seniors in case of any of the issues or problems. But if the authorities are strict and impolite then the employees will be less likely to reach to the management for their problems or for any other issue and there will be no communication. This can be same in the case of consumers. The consumers won't feel comfortable to give feedback on the experiences. No communication between the consumers or the clients and the company will develop chances of problematic situations for the company. And this can be considered as an issue.

In the limelight of the above-executed analysis, it has been concluded that the process of business communication is very much significant for each and every business organization and it should be executed with accuracy and efficiency. The communication process aids the entity on various grounds. But apart from the advantages, there is number of issues which are faced by the business corporation during this process. The above-analyzed essay has been presented to describe the contemporary issues of the professional business communication process.

References

Bargiela-Chiappini, F. and Nickerson, C.R., 2014. Writing business: Genres, media and discourses. Routledge.

Bovee, C.L., Thill, J.V. and Raina, R.L., 2016. Business communication today. Pearson Education India.

Charter, M. ed., 2017. Greener marketing: A responsible approach to business. Routledge.

DesJardins, J.R. and McCall, J.J., 2014. Contemporary issues in business ethics. Cengage Learning.

Fearn-Banks, K., 2016. Crisis communications: A casebook approach. Routledge.

Fleischmann, A., Schmidt, W., Stary, C., Obermeier, S. and Brger, E., 2014. Subject-oriented business process management. Springer Publishing Company, Incorporated.

Grunig, J.E. ed., 2013. Excellence in public relations and communication management. Routledge.

Hartman, L.P., DesJardins, J.R. and MacDonald, C., 2014. Business ethics: Decision making for personal integrity and social responsibility. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Polonsky, M.J. and Waller, D.S., 2014. Designing and managing a research project: A business student's guide. Sage publications.

Shaw, W.H. and Barry, V., 2015. Moral issues in business. Cengage Learning.

Trevino, L.K. and Nelson, K.A., 2016. Managing business ethics: Straight talk about how to do it right. John Wiley & Sons.

Wild, J.J., Wild, K.L. and Han, J.C., 2014. International business. Pearson Education Limited.