Research Proposal For Effective Communication In Business Organizations

Literature Review

Discuss about the Research Proposal for Effective Communication.

The exchange of information between two or more persons is defined as communication. The importance of effective communication cannot be overemphasized in the sphere of the business world. There is no gain stating the fact that a business manager is required to adopt effective style of communication for leading, guiding, controlling and even motivating his employees. Besides, even the employees working within the organization are required to have an assertive and most suitable style of communication, for sharing their knowledge and formulating and implementing the immediate business strategies (Cornelissen, 2014). Hence, this research is being conducted to analyze the role of effective communication in business organizations, with special reference to the employees of Accor hotel.

In order to run an organization, the manager must ensure that the employees are able to comprehend the strategies, goals and objectives, the organization intends to achieve, within the short span of time. Hence, proper mode of communication must be adopted by the management authority, so as to inform and clarify the business strategies formulated by the organization, to the respective employees (Mowday et al., 2013). This is the reason why most of the critics and scholars emphasize the importance of organizing regular meetings and interactive sessions, that help the managers communicate the mission, vision and the benefits of the implemented goals to the concerned employees. In fact reports suggest that communication of strategies not only helps in discussing the plans and business strategies with the employees, but also aids in the process of persuasion. In case, a few employees are reluctant to accept any form of organizational change, effective, clear and eloquent style of communication can help in convincing the employees, about the benefits of the proposed or newly introduced change (Coombs, 2014).

Again, well-motivated employees are always eager to participate in organizational activities with greater enthusiasm, and it should be remembered that communication plays an important role in motivating the employees. The management authority of the organization must consider the views, opinions and suggestions of the employees, so as to enable them participate in the decision-making process (Kaufer&Carley, 2012). Hence, those organizations which initiate discussion of the future business plans by communicating with the employeesare able to improve the motivation of the employees.

Effective communication also helps in strengthening interpersonal communication among the employees, thereby enabling them to work in a more coordinated and integrated way, towards the business problems. This is the reason, why interpersonal communication skill is being regarded as one of the most impressive qualities present in an employee. Research reports suggest that as much as 75 % of the employers place great emphasis on the importance of oral communication, while recruiting the employees (Argenti et al., 2015). A recent study conducted by Watson Wyatt, shows that those business organizations which employ effective style of communication, are able to boost the morale of the employees, as a result of which these organizations suffer from low rate of absenteeism and low rate of employee turnover. Research studies state that communication helps in the effective exchange of innovative and creative ideas, that contribute to greater organizational success (Arnold &Boogs, 2015).

Research Questions

The organizational communication is not only required for the managers and the employees of the organization, but the Human Resource managers of an organization are also required to communicate in an effective way. The HR manager is expected to communicate with the management authority of the company, for gaining an insight into the immediate organizational goals of the company. Once this is done, the HR manager is required to communicate the strategies, to the employees, while also making them aware of the shared benefits associated with the accomplishment of the goals (Bloom et al., 2014).

While business communications are usually divided into two broad categories- the face-to-face communication and the verbal communication, the former remains the most effective form of communication in the business organizations. Though, with the advent of technology, social media tools, emails, web conferences and Voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP), remain the most important tools of communication, the face-to-face communication strategy is regarded as the most efficient method of communication tool (Goetch& Davies, 2014).

According to the research reports, the barriers to communication should also be considered. While communicating the organizational objectives and goals to the employees, the managers may encounter trouble in the form of communication barriers. While some of the barriers occur, owing to the technological errors, a few errors can also result from poor communication style. This is the reason, why most of the organizations, have been employing the effective use of training sessions, workshops and seminars for improving the communication style of the employees. The poor listening skills of the employees, the lack of clarity in expression of thought, the problem of presenting a concise and well-articulated expression, are some of the common barriers of communication, occurring because of poor communication style of the employees or the managers involved. Besides, the difference in linguistic or cultural backgrounds can also potentially distort and prevent effective communication at workplace. In case of online or virtual communication, physical separation can also play an important role in preventing the possibility of an effective communication. Besides, in case of virtual communication, steps must be taken to eliminate the possibility of the technological errors, interrupting effective communication.

The research also has few objectives that it seeks to examine. The research intends to examine the role of effective communication, in bringing about the organizational success. For this reason, the research is being conducted on the employees of the Hotel Accor.   In accordance with the research objectives, the research questions are being formed. The research questions that this research study intends to explore are as follows:

• Does good communication help the organization, motivate its employees?
• What are the common tools of communication, employed by the employees of the company?
• Do the employees of Accor Hotel encounter any form of communication gap?

Research Methodology

The research employs the use of both qualitative as well as the quantitative method of research. The qualitative research method is being employed, as it helps in gaining an in-depth into the research problem, with the help of a variety of research articles, journals and published books. In this case, the research intends to analyze the impact of communication on employee satisfaction, and hence different literary articles will be reviewed, to understand the relation between the two variables (Taylor et al., 2015). However, the quantitative method of research is equally important, as it helps in objective measurements and statistical analysis of the situation, in the light of the present context (Brinkmann, 2014). Since, the research intends to understand the relation between effective communication and employee satisfaction in the Accor group of Hotels, the research will also conduct a questionnaire survey, on the employees of the hotel.

The research will be conducted by collecting the data with the help of literary articles and journals, and by conducting a survey on the employees of the Accor group of Hotels. The plan of the research has been summarized below:

The research will be done by employing the primary as well as the secondary data collection method. The primary data is being collected by conducting a personal survey on the employees of the Accor group of hotels. The advantage of this method is that it facilitates in collecting the data, that is specifically tailored to the needs of the research (Smith, 2015). Again, on the other hand, the research also employs the use of secondary data collection method, whereby the literary articles and the journals will be reviewed for gaining a comprehensive insight into the situation.

The secondary data will be collected by reviewing the articles and recently published journals that deal with the relation between effective communication and employee satisfaction, as observed in the recognized organizations, such as Woolworths, Nike, or Tesco. Next, the primary data is collected with the help of Random Sampling method, whereby 30 employees of the Accor group of Hotels, are selected randomly, and are provided with the questionnaires. The questionnaires will consist of questions, related to the research questions, the research intends to examine. Once the raw data is being collected, it will be recorded in the Ms Excel sheet, and will be analyzed, by representing the same, with the help of the pie charts and graphs (Gioai et al., 2013).

The research intends to examine the relation between the two variables- organizational communication and employee satisfaction. The probable outcome of this research is that it will establish a positive impact between the two variables. When the organization and its managerial representatives  adopt an effective communication style, they are always able to inform and motivate the employees in a positive way, and the same holds truth for the Accor Group of Hotels. However, it is also expected that the research study will enlighten on the extent to which the issues such as semantic distortion, cultural and linguistic barriers, wrong perception or unclear assumptions can affect the communication process of the chosen organization.

Reference List:

Argenti, P. A. (2015). Corporate communication.McGraw-Hill Higher Education.

Arnold, E. C., & Boggs, K. U. (2015). Interpersonal relationships: Professional communication skills for nurses. Elsevier Health Sciences.

Bloom, N., Garicano, L., Sadun, R., & Van Reenen, J. (2014).The distinct effects of information technology and communication technology on firm organization. Management Science, 60(12), 2859-2885.

Blumberg, B. F., Cooper, D. R., & Schindler, P. S. (2014). Business research methods.McGraw-hill education.

Brinkmann, S. (2014). Interview (pp. 1008-1010). Springer New York.

Coombs, W. T. (2014). Ongoing crisis communication: Planning, managing, and responding. Sage Publications.

Cornelissen, J. (2014). Corporate communication: A guide to theory and practice. Sage.

Flick, U. (2015). Introducing research methodology: A beginner's guide to doing a research project.Sage.

Gioia, D. A., Corley, K. G., & Hamilton, A. L. (2013). Seeking qualitative rigor in inductive research notes on the Gioia methodology. Organizational Research Methods, 16(1), 15-31.

Goetsch, D. L., & Davis, S. B. (2014). Quality management for organizational excellence.pearson.

Kaufer, D. S., &Carley, K. M. (2012). Communication at a distance: The influence of print on sociocultural organization and change. Routledge.

Mowday, R. T., Porter, L. W., & Steers, R. M. (2013). Employee—organization linkages: The psychology of commitment, absenteeism, and turnover. Academic press.

Smith, J. A. (Ed.). (2015). Qualitative psychology: A practical guide to research methods. Sage.

Taylor, S. J., Bogdan, R., &DeVault, M. (2015). Introduction to qualitative research methods: A guidebook and resource. John Wiley & Sons.