Communication plays an important role in the management of organizations and the achievement of their goals. A manager passes information to employees working at different levels orally and in writing also. He receives the replies in the same manner.

The different media of communication used in an organization are :
(i) Oral Communication
(ii) Written Communication
(iii) Visual Communication
(iv) Non-Verbal Communication.

What ever be the media of communication it should maintain the clarity of facts, opinion and information. It should presented in a decent manner with proper wording and timing. The information must be clear without any confusion and ambiguity. The communication of information must be well worded, properly timed and transmitted in decent manner. It is also necessary that the message must be consistent i.e. the action must coincide with saying. It the supervisor makes a lot of promises, but not fulfill them in such a case it would be called that consistency does not exit. Feedback of information is necessary to adjust the action to desired objective.

Oral communication:
In most of the cases oral communication is more effective than any other method of communication. Managers, supervisors and executives use oral communication with their subordinates. As it is more informal in nature it is like by the employees. But oral communication can not be used in some cases; like for legal purposes and for maintaining records.

Different forms of oral communication are discussed below:
(i) Talking: Talking is the most common form of communication. It is the easiest, quickest and the most economical way of communication. A person can talk to another person or to a large number of a person. Talking is very helpful in situations like when a supervisor is talking to the employees while resolving a dispute. Such disputes can be solved through oral or verbal communication only and written communication can not provide speedy solution to such disputes.

(ii) Interview: An interview is also a form of oral communication. It serves three purposes. (i) to obtain information (ii) to provide information and (iii) to motivate people. Interviews provide and appraisal of the training, educational qualifications, working experience and personality of the interviewee. It helps in checking the responsiveness, alertness, presence of mind and manners and poise of the persons being interview.

(iii) Tours: Business organization commonly send their representatives like salesmen, advertising agents, market surveyors and research personnel to get quick information. During these tours the representatives discuss the matter, provide information and also collect information for the organization. The dealers may ask several questions or certain matters regarding their commission on sales or the acceptability of the products of the company are also discussed during these tours.

There are some other forms of oral communication: These are group discussion, seminars and telephone.
Group discussion: A group of trainees is assigned a problem much in advance together with necessary reference of books to be consulted. The group prepares a paper for discussion. The leader of the groups discussion the problem and the rest of the trainees can contribute come ideas during the course of discussion which is controlled by the leader of the class. Group discussion is possible along persons of equal status. In that case the chairman of the group shall act as group leader. Most of the time the attitude of the leader is passive and most of the discussion is made by group members.

Seminars: Oral discussions are a main part of seminars also. The seminars are used to collect information to deal with a problem. Usually the research scholars are informed in advance about the research methodology. The familiarity with the proper methodology of research helps in dealing with the problem in hand quickly and accurately. The names of the participants and their assignments are announced well in advance.

Telephone: Telephone is the quickest and easiest method of conveying information to persons within the organization and outside also. The organization has to pay to the service provider for the use of external telephone service.

Other than these oral communication can also take place through a public address system, radio telephone, speaker tubes, tele-printer and messengers.

Written Communication:
In a business organization written communication is sent to following persons, organizations or agencies. These could be the employees, consumers, management, labor, suppliers, distributors or the stock holders of the company. Written communication is also sent to government departments, bankers, insurance companies and security agencies. The different forms of written communication are:-
(i) Reports: Reports are prepared to show the working results of the organization, department, factory, plant or any other institution. These are also prepared to show the result of an enquiry. Many institutions like banks, insurance companies, educational institutions and other business enterprises prepare annual reports which show their achievements in the past year an also the obstacles, the impact of economic conditions, working results and the plans for the future. Some reports are of confidential nature also. A report must be based on facts and cover a specific period of time. It must serve an objective and suggests the future course of action.

(ii) Business Letters: The business letters are also an important form of written communication. A business letter should be written in a formal way and in simple language without any scope for confusion. It should be polite and courteous but should also convey and idea impressively. Usually business letters are written on printed paper containing the name and address of the company along with the date and reference number. As business letters can be used for legal purposes also, these should be written with grate care.

(iii) News letters: Business houses often use business letters to inform their customers about new products, change in channel of distribution, enhancement of commission for distributors, improvement in the quality of the produce, reduction in price, improvement in packaging, increase in weight and a new use of their product etc. News letters are used for promotional activity. They must be lucid, impressive, forceful simple convincing and precise.

(iv) Advertisements : Advertisements are meant to inform the people, of company products and service ; The more a company carries on advertising campaign, the more it succeeds in increasing its sales Advertisements are made in newspapers, magazines, periodicals, evening issues, radio commercials, T.V. programmes, cinema slides and sales demonstrations. All advertisements must be appealing, attractive, convincing and should succeed in achieving the objectives of the company i.e., increase in sales. Advertising is not a waste of money but it helps both the company as well as the customers. By advertising the sales of the products and services of the company increase, providing the company with economies of large scale production consequently the profits increase, cost of production falls down and the company enjoys ability to complete.

(v) Manuals : Job manuals are a form of written communication and help in defining duties and responsibilities of the employees. All big companies have job manuals. In the absence, they follow standard job manuals. The specific duties of an executives or high officials of the company can be ascertained, through job manual. A job manual denotes exactly what are the powers and duties of the person. How many people would work under him? What would be the reporting relations and who would be responsible to whom ? Job manuals also mention the levels of structure of wage and salaries.

(vi) Signs : Signs are also used to communicate information. If a van with ‘+’ sign in red colour passes on the road it indicates that it belongs to hospital or Red Cross. A signal over the railway track also indicates the arrival or non-arrival of the train. If the signal is down passengers shall get ready and wait anxiously for the arrival of the train.

(vii) Annual Reports:Usually all the companies publish their annual reports for the consumption of their shareholders, employees, public and government agencies. These reports consist of working results, information about public liking and admiration of company products and services. Annual reports also mention the economic problems faced by the company and efforts of the directions to solve them. What company’s plans are for future action?

(i) Bulletins :
Some companies publish their bulletins informing people about the products and services provided by the company, the standard of workmanship and technical know-how, place of the company in reaction to share of the market, future plans and efforts of the company to fulfill its obligations towards social responsibility. Universities also publish bulletins mentioning their educational progrmames, areas of specialization, names of degrees, diplomas, tuition fee for each programme, other charges, hostel facilities provided, scholarships and fellow-ships offered and mode of admissions.

(ii) Charts, Graphs and Diagrams
Charts, graphs and diagrams are also used for written communication. Doctors use graphs to indicate the changing temperatures of the patient in morning, noon and evening. Statisticians use graphs to show the results over a period of few years like India’s exports and imports as compared to those of last year. Banks use charts for public consumption and to invite more bank deposits. Banks provide charts showing the amount invested, duration covered and the amount of interest to be earned etc.

Memoranda:
Memoranda are of a great use to the executives. These are sent to the concern executives so that they are well informed and their decisions may be appropriate under the circumstances. The memoranda also called memo could contain information concerning the industry or the industrial enterprise, employees, laour productivity, cost of production and such other matters. Other than the technical information the memo’s could also contain information about the employees. This could be regarding a fring benefit or a revision in wages or any other matter concerning the employees. The memos supply upto date information to the executives and also make them aware of the on going trends in the business. This is a low cost of method of keeping the executives well informed.

This method is a combination of discipline and creativity and is a guide to affective communication. PRIDE is and acronym for five “how – to” elements for skillful planning and carrying out any oral or written communication.

P. The purpose that the sender is trying to achieve : the target of mission of the communication. Unless you know your exact purpose, communication failure is automatic.

R. The receiver (or receivers) to whom the communication is directed : the willingness and ability of the reader or listener to understand and accept your message. You must know the psychology and competence of the receiver in order to get anything across to him.

I. The impact which is needed: how your communication must affect the receiver if you are to achieve your purpose and influence him as needed. In other words, you must know what picture you want into the receiver’s head.

D. The design of the communication: how it should be organized and develop to achieve the desired impact. Obviously, you must design your communication in light of the specific situation your confront.

E. The execution of communication : the actual carrying out of your plan from the four preceding steps) to a successful conclusion, Even if you have succeeded in planning purpose, recognizing the receiver, knowing the needed impact and constructing the appropriate design, communication will fall unless it is properly carried out.

The proper use of PRIDE can help in developing method useful throughout the life once this method is learnt and its sequence become habitual.

The communication that takes place within groups – informal channels is called the grapevine. It is a carrier of news and gossips and affects the affairs of the organization in a big way. Some managers considered grapevine as an evil because they think that it spreads rumors and can destroy the morale of the employees. But since grapevine can not be eliminated we must learn to live with it. We can not control it completely but we can certainly influence grapevine.

The main characteristics of grapevine are :
(i) Speed:
As compared to formal communication, the speed of grapevine is fast. In a study it was found that in the case of manager who had an addition in his family at a local hospital at eleven O’ clock at night, by 2 P.M. next day 46% of the whole management group knew of the event. The news had traveled via the grapevine, coffee break in the morning contributing the most.

(ii) Degree of Selectively:
Contrary to general belief grapevine shows a highly selective and discriminating path way. It chooses what interests it.

(iii) Locale of operation:
The company grapevine mostly operates at the place of work, Since management has control over work environment, this phenomenon can be made use of tremendously in influencing worker opinion.

(iv) Relation to Formal Communications:
Formal and informal communication systems trend to be jointly active or inactive. If formal communication is slow, grapevine is slow too. The two supplement each other; formal communications step into stamp seal of authority to it.

Grapevine has certain advantages like the grapevine chain is highly flexible and it travels very fast. Managers should not try to abolish grapevine as it is the nervous system of the communication process in an organization.

What is business environment?
A business organization can not exist a vacuum. It needs living persons, natural resources and places and things to exist. The sum of all these factors and forces is called the business environment.

Business environment is of two types-
(i) Micro environment or the internal environment
(ii) Macro environment or the external environment

(i) Micro environment / Internal Environment of Business
Micro environment comprises of the factors in the immediate environment of the company that affect the performance of the company. In includes the suppliers, competitors, Marketing intermediaries, customers, pressure groups and the general public. Supplier form an important factor of the micro environment of business as the importance of reliable sources of supply are obvious. Supplier include the financial labor input. Stock holders, banks and other similar organizations that supply money to the organization are also termed as suppliers. Managers always strive to ensure a study flow of inputs at the lowest price. Customers are also an important factor in the internal environment of business. The customers or the clients absorb the output of an organization and a business exists to meet the demands of the customers. Customers could be individuals, industries, government and other institutions. Labor force is also an important part of the internal environment of business. Other than these the business associates, competitors, regulatory agencies and the marketing intermediaries are also a part of the micro business environment.

Macro environment / External environment of Business :
The forces and institutions out side of the organization that can potentially affect the performance of the organization come under the external environment of Business. The macro environment of business consist of the economic, demographic, natural, cultural and political forces. The external environment of business is often categorized into the economic environment, political and government environment, socio cultural environment and the international environment.

Socialism is a type of economic system in which the state totally owns or controls the resources and means of production. The basic stress is on the use of these resources for the overall welfare of all members of the society.

The socialistic system followed in Communist countries is characterized by state capitalism but in the democratic socialistic nations a dominant private sector is also present. Under the socialistic system the workers in sectors like industry, agriculture and transport become the joint owners of the means and results of production. As the non-human resources of production are mainly owned by the state or the society it ensures better allocation and utilization of these resources, elimination of unemployment and class struggle. It also reduces the inequality in income. On the other hand socialism can increase Red-tapism, corruption and Bureaucratization.