1.

7 COMMUNICATION FOR GLOBAL MANAGERS

1. “Ineffective communication is the fault of the sender.” Do you agree or disagree?

Discuss. Explain how ineffective communication disturb doing business globally.
Ans:
Business communications involves stakeholders, defined by the Oxford Dictionary as
someone “with an interest or concern in something, especially a business.” Ignoring or not
researching your stakeholders’ needs and habits, combined with an absence of good
communications techniques and skills, can lead to ineffective communications that can be
costly to your business.
Effective communication is important in both personal and business aspects of our lives,
particularly as ineffective communication can create short- and long-term hostilities as well
as decreased work productivity. We often don’t think about the process of communicating
while we are doing it, but paying closer attention to how you both send and receive
information can eliminate problems and improve relationships.
We are taught to communicate from birth, without thinking of it as a process. If you initiate
the communication, you are the sender, attempting to convey messages to a receiver. You
encode your information in terms you think the receiver will understand, such as words,
laughter and facial expressions. How you communicate is called the transmission, which can
be verbal, written, or even silence. The receiver has to decode or decipher the information
you send, and then he offers feedback, which gives you an indication of whether he
understood your intent.
The study of communication is the study of the process of one person transmits information
by speech, signs, or actions to another. In addition, the information is often expressed
nonverbally and verbally.
The non-verbal communication is the person deliver information without speaking single
words but with the act like facial gestures, body language, appearance of one person to
impress others and the tone of voice. The tone of voice, for example, a same sentence with
different tone of voice will reflect different feeling to the listeners, such as yelling and crying
while saying okay. The verbal communication is the person speaks out with words directly.
The ability to communicate and interact with others is the most important skill to achieve
success in both of our personal and career lives. However, some of us were not good in
communicating with others and unaware that communicating had become a necessary
activity in our daily life of known as human need. Nobody can survive in this world without
communicating to others. Therefore, due to the level of importance it has, communication
aspect had been selected as the main character of this research study.
The result of interaction of involved parties can be determined by the level of effectiveness of
communication, either positive or negative. If the result is negative, that mean
communication between parties was ineffective, then some difficulty or side effect will be
arising. Besides, the side effect bring by ineffective communication cannot be underestimate.
Due to several factors that caused ineffective communication, certain skill and understanding
should behave in everyone.
Other than that, different level of skill and understanding were involved in different forms of
communication such as downward communication. The managers and employees are in the
form of downward communication in an organization. However, there are also existing
interpersonal communication between managers and employees. If we want to increase the
level of skill and understanding, we should focus more in interpersonal communication.
Interpersonal communication is a person to person, two way verbal (written and oral) and
nonverbal interaction that includes sharing information and feeling between individual or in
small group that establishes trusting relationship.
The communication is the most essential single skill in this fast changing world. John Harvey
stated that the managers everywhere should have to improve their ability to communicate in
order to be effective in their job. Besides, the employees will feel confidence when the
managers effectively communicate their vision, in the end, the communication satisfaction
between managers and employees will get improve.
Furthermore, the communication among managers and employees also can be known as
managerial communication. The efficient managerial communication is to communicate, to
transmit information, opinions, decisions, and receive answer at the same time by managers,
also known as the new spirit of business. By this statement, the managers have to fulfil
his/her duties by sending the messages to the employees, the messages such as the company
mission and goals, the cost of such, the quality and economy issues, and the task that need to
be fulfilled to attain the set goals. Hence, the effectiveness of communication will influence
the result of the goals directly.
Communication is effective if everything in the communication process goes as planned: the
receiver understands the message in the way you intended. Professionally, this allows proper
procedures to be executed correctly and on time, increasing productivity and saving money.
Personally, it prevents misunderstandings and can enrich relationships. Understanding
strategies for effective communication such as listening, focusing on the others in the
process, and asking questions for clarification all improve your chances for effective
communication.
Any disruption or failure in the process can create ineffective communication. Language is an
obvious example; if you as a sender speak in a language the receiver doesn’t understand, the
communication fails. Writing a message to a person who has difficulties reading is also
ineffective communication. These are called barriers, and they are not all so obvious. For
example, if you have an idea but lack confidence to speak up, that is a barrier. Body
language, such as slouching in a chair so that it looks like you are bored, is also a barrier.
Ineffective communication can always occur and lead to communication breakdown as both
parties fail to deliver or process the received message. Without constant sending and
feedback in communication, the parties will not be able to understand and respond
appropriately to the idea of the others and thus, cannot co-operate. Without good
communication, there will be no teamwork in the workplace and there sure to be
misunderstandings and conflict. The video below is a comical example of how language
barrier in communication and assumptions might lead to a whole lot of misunderstanding. 
Removing barriers will increase your odds of communicating effectively. Both senders and
receivers should pay attention to others in the process, making eye contact, listening intently
and avoiding distractions. By being empathetic, you are imagining what it is like to be in the
other person’s situation, which helps the communication process. Stereotypes, generalizations
and inaccurate perceptions are also barriers, and are harder to remove since you must be
aware of them. Watching and listening to others can help you gauge your stereotypes and
perceptions in relation to others and help you improve your communication.
The critical difference between effective and ineffective communication is the ability to
connect with the audience. If the speaker fails to connect to their audience, having a good
speech doesn't matter.
As a sender, communication must be based on:
 Knowing your subject thoroughly - The sender must take ownership and responsibility of
what is being said
 Respecting the listener - Making ideas clear and concise, Showing concern for the
listener, Asking for feedback from the listener
 As a listener, good communication cannot be complete without: Preparation and
willingness to listen * Encouraging the sender to say more (show interest, verbal and
nonverbal), Assimilating the information, and reflecting on it before giving a response,
Showing respect for the sender, being open minded, Clarifying information received, by
repeating back and paraphrasing information received
 Without the above ingredients, both sender and listener can be at fault of ineffective
communication.
Ineffective communication is seen as a problems cause by different 'barriers'. Those barriers
includes: 
 Physical distraction: The elements of the surrounding such as poor lighting, background
noises, atmosphere, etc can really drive off your focus span during communication. 
 Attitude: If you feel strong emotions like angered or unhappy, you will most likely feel
uncomfortable to listen or even speak with someone. This will not only halt the
effectiveness of your communication but also make you less productive and co-operative.
Emotions can also interfere with your confidence in facing others and thus, make you less
of a dependable person in other's eyes. 
 Channel barriers: How you channel your message is very important. For example: If
you are trying to send instruction to someone, it would be more ideal to have it in written
form rather than telling them verbally, or else it would be difficult to follow through.
People who are unaware of how they should communicate could get in a lot of problem.
 Stereotype: When you have stereotypical thoughts about someone base on their
background and culture, it would be hard for you to communicate effectively as you
won't have enough trust in them. Holding stereotypical thoughts about someone else who
simply put a barrier between you and them. 
 Language barrier: In communication, language barriers can happen anytime. Everyone
have their own mother tongue language as well as their own interpretation of certain
 words and phrases. Thus, conflicting language might occur and the communicators might
not be able to understand each other.  
 Time barrier: Let say you complete a great design for a new car and you wanted to
report it to your boss, when will it be better to tell him? Midnight right after you finish
your design? or next morning when your boss is at work? Choosing when to approach a
person to discuss something with them is very important because if you do not choose the
appropriate time, the person whom you are trying to deliver the message to might not be
interested in listening to you. 
 Structural problems in the organization: If the structure in an organization is unclear,
then members of the organisation might have problems communicating as they don't
know who and when to communicate. New members should be instructed clearly  to
prevent any communication mishap or confusion.
 Lack of knowledge on the subjects: Lack of understanding on the subject would make
communication difficult for both the sender and the receiver. Usually, people
communicate easier when the subject of matter is something that both of them are
familiar with. If the sender is not sure about the matter he is communicating, then the
receiver would be troubled in understanding as well. 
 Information overload: Processing information takes time and if communication does
not goes at a pace where both parties can have enough time to carry out their thought
process, then it will cause communication breakdown as concentration and interest might
be haltered. 
 Assumptions: Assuming something without clarification is a very dangerous thing to do.
When you assume the wrong information, it is very likely that you will make wrong
decisions and conclusion. This could cause many extended problems and lead to conflicts
as well. 
Ineffective communication hampers organizational success. Ineffective communication
results when the managers are not in regular touch with their employees. There may be
miscommunication taking place. Lack of 3 C's (Clarity, completion, conciseness) also leads
to ineffective communication. Often the managers are surrounded with a pool of information.
In such case, they tend to ignore the messages or communication of the subordinates. At
times, wrong perception also hampers communication, i.e., the employees might perceive the
message in different meaning which was not intended by the manager. Thus, there can be a
problem in encoding and decoding of message.
Organizational structure can also result in communication being ineffective. The more
complex the organizational structure is, i.e., the more are the number of hierarchical levels in
an organization, the greater are chances of loss or misinterpretation of messages. Grapevines
tend to develop in such an organization which obstructs effective communication. In absence
of healthy open door policy, communication may be misunderstood.
Poor listening (i.e. when the receiver is not focused to what the sender of message is saying)
also leads to ineffective communication. Emotions like anger and stress may also lead to
communication breakdown as messages may be interpreted in wrong manner when a person
is angry and frustrated than when he is relaxed. Sometimes, the messages are not carefully
planned (For example, the medium of transmission of message and the time of message
delivery are not chosen rightfully). This again makes communication ineffective. Linguistic
differences are a great obstacle in effective communication. This is perhaps due to ambiguity
of language. Managers should try to overcome all the causes for ineffective communication
so as to ensure organizational success.
We all communicate throughout our lives. To think I will surely find myself an excuse for
each situation is possible, though not recommended. Reaching the best results requires
preparation, training and also knowing my self - how I am going to react in various
situations. Sadly, every situation we might get into is a little different each time. The more
situations we have been through and successfully finalized, the more possibilities that
potentially lead to success we know, and, likewise, the better our communication/presentation
skills and habits get.
Communication barriers are not impossible to overcome at all. They can be avoided if you
know how to deal with them correctly. Here are some advice for you to overcome these
problems 
Be attentive: of who you are communicating with. If they have trouble getting your message,
you should know how to adjust your communication method in order to get through with
them. 
Be patience: is the key to effective communication. You must never rush anything and take
your time in order to make communication work thoroughly between you can your partner
Never assume: because you could interpretative the foul information and carry out wrong
decisions or responds. Always clarify something if you are unclear. 
Be friendly and open-minded: towards others you are co-operating with. You must never
judge others or let your feelings towards someone interfere with your work. Also, you must
be emphatic towards other to work out the problem rather than just let things be. Workplace
often encourage those who co-operate well with others no matter what.  
Be aware: of who you are communicating with and how you should communicate with them.
This would help you approach that person and approach in a better manner and style and
prevent and problems that might occur. 

3. Draft a speech on “Business Ethics” to be delivered in a meeting of Chamber of

Commerce and industry at Chennai.
Ans:

Dear Friends.
Welcome to the annual meet of Chamber of Commerce and industry, Chennai. Today
we are going to share our thoughts ion Business Ethics in corporate world.

Discussion on ethics in business is necessary because, business can go unethical, and there
are plenty of evidences as in today on unethical corporate practices. Even Adam Smith, in
whose name neo-liberal laissez-faire is advocated opined that 'People of the same trade
seldom meet together, even for merriment and diversion, but the conversation ends in a
conspiracy against the public, or in some contrivance to raise prices' Business does not
operate in vacuum. Firms and corporations operate in the social and natural environment. By
virtue of existing in the social and natural environment, business is duty bound to be
accountable to the natural and social environment in which it survives. Irrespective of the
demands and pressures upon it, business, by virtue of its existence is bound to be ethical, for
at least two reasons: one, because whatever the business does affects its stakeholders and two,
because every juncture of action has trajectories of ethical as well as unethical paths wherein
the existence of the business is justified by ethical alternatives it responsibly chooses One of
the conditions that brought business ethics to the forefront is the demise of small scale, high
trust and face-to-face enterprises and emergence of huge multinational corporate structures
capable of drastically affecting everyday lives of the masses.
Ethics represent the eternal and prevalent moral standards, personal values, corporate code of
conduct and are generally part of the cultural tradition of a country. Business ethics are moral
principles that guide the way a business behaves. The same principles that determine an
individual’s actions also apply to business. The conduct of an individual citizen or a
corporate citizen involves the destiny of one or more individuals or corporate bodies in the
society and affects others. It is like the state taking taxes from the people, only to ensure their
own prosperity in return; just as the sun takes up the moisture only to give back in thousand
fold measure.
One should devote oneself to perform with a spirit of dedications; the pursuit of excellence
through efficiency in work is held out as the highest form of yoga and improves the quality of
life. In this context, ethics can be defined as a self-generated system of moral standards in the
realm of business, to which a substantial majority of executives give voluntary assent;
genuine differences of opinions and dissidence should not be stifled as indiscipline.
The concept such as ‘work is worship’, ‘action is the duty-fruit is not thy concern’, ‘trust
begets trust’ and other ideals should be practiced by institutions and not discarded as
theoretical slogans.
Business ethics can be denoted as written or unwritten codes of morals, values, and principles
that governs actions and decisions in a company. In the business world, standards are set for
determining good and bad behavior and decision-making. Business ethics is a broad topic,
covering everything from corporate governance to corporate social responsibility.
Business ethics is a subjective term. However, it is easy to identify unethical business
practices in an organization, such as employing child labor, taking bribes, or illegally using
copyrighted materials.
When ethical guidelines are followed, trust is developed between the employees and
management, as well as the public and the corporation. Thus, business ethics leads to a more
productive workplace.
Acting in an ethical way involves distinguishing between “right” and “wrong” and then
making the “right” choice. It is relatively easy to identify unethical business practices. For
example, companies should not use child labour. They should not unlawfully use copyrighted
materials and processes. They should not engage in bribery.
However, it is not always easy to create similar hard-and-fast definitions of good ethical
practice. A company must make a competitive return for its shareholders and treat its
employees fairly.  A company also has wider responsibilities. It should minimise any harm to
the environment and work in ways that do not damage the communities in which it operates.
This is known as corporate social responsibility.
Business thrives on (good) reputation. Treating one’s client unfairly strikes at the root of
one’s reputation. Deterioration in reputation leads to decline in the number of clients a
business organisation has, with adverse implications for its top and bottomlines. Yet, bad
treatment of customers continues.
Every company has spoken and unspoken rules about how to act within a company
environment. Give lucid explanations about what is okay and what is not okay. This includes
behavior towards other employees, customers, and the public. Sometimes these guidelines are
different for different companies.
It is the duty of the Human resource department to ensure that the employees are equipped
with adequate tools which enable them to behave ethically in the organization.
Strengthening the behavior in an employee is an easy task. Offering awards and recognition
is one of the best ways to encourage the ethical behavior you want to reinforce in an
employee. To create a strong ethical culture in an organization, there has to be a constant
communication about ethical values among the members. You can also specifically explain
about the behaviors you do not want to inculcate
Create workshops which improve the ethical culture in the company. It is the duty of the
organization to build and develop ethical skills among the members rather than just stating
the behaviors which you encourage and behaviors which you do not. This should also
develop ethical behavior and problem-solving skills in an employee.
Businessmen observe business ethics on account of the consequences that would result due to
their non-compliance. Here, some of the regulations are presented briefly:
1. Legislative Measures
Enforcing the legislative measures is one of the ways of making businessmen to follow
business ethics. The purpose of enforcing the Acts is to protect the public interests including
the business and the businessmen. The Companies Act, Consumer Protection Act, M.R.T.P.
Act, Environmental Pollution Act, and the like are some of the legislative measures.
2. Goodwill of Business Unit
Generally, businessmen work hard to earn goodwill by adopting the principles of business
ethics. Thereafter, they follow the same practice to maintain the earned goodwill.
3. Social Status of Businessman
Businessman thinks that he gets recognition from the public in a place where he does
business. It is always ethical for a businessman to keep social status. Then, he enjoys social
status continuously by avoiding unjust or immoral business activities.
4. Trade Union
There are a number of trade unions functioning in India. A trade union may be a registered or
unregistered one. Trade union has to suffer a break if business ethics are not properly
followed. Trade union acts as a watchdog to ensure observation of business ethics.
5. Business Association
Business association also guides the business as how to observe business ethics, stating the
reasons for doing so. A business unit may be isolated from the business association if the
particular business unit fails to comply with ethics.
6. Consumer Movement
Now-a-days, the consumer movement has developed so much to protect consumer interests.
As a matter of fact, business ethics deals with morality in the business environment.
Nevertheless, consumer movements take active part in the adoption of business ethics.
For example, if a purchased product is not up to the standards as specified, the consumer
movement claims damages or takes steps to replace the product to the consumer and insists
the business unit to maintain the quality as specified by it.
A survey undertaken by Prof. Monappa of 115 business executives, attending the middle and
senior management programme of the I.I.M., Ahmedabad and belonging to different
industries, ages, educational standards, religious affiliations and income groups, has revealed
some notable results regarding Indian managers’ attitude towards “Business Ethics“.
The findings are given below. A new realization has been dawned upon businessmen about
their responsibilities towards the employees, shareholders, etc.
Most of the Indian business managers believe in good business ethics; various circumstances
like unnatural competition, Policy of the company and a excessive rules and regulations often
prevent the mangers from putting this belief into practice.
1. ‘Buying business’ by way of bribes as gifts and personal favor are a major concern for
managers. Personal problems also caused anxiety, but mostly due to a conflict of the head
and heart when emotions came in the way of responsible decision-making.
2. Before executing an action, managers generally analyze the ethical implication of decision
making.
3. Managers emphasis the importance of company policy primarily in influencing ethical
action. A man’s personal code of conduct is considered secondary.
4. The influence of supervisors, through whom the company policy is most often transmitted,
was considered important in influencing ethical action.
5. Dishonest methods used by competitors and the unethical climate in the industry were
often cited as deterrents to the honest transaction of business.
6. Corruption and greed of government officials, red-tapism, nepotism, and suffocating
regulations were considered obstacles to ethical business behavior.
7. The attitudes and reactions of the older business managers to situations demonstrated a
greater ethical awareness than those of younger ones.
8. The size of the company, by and large, had no discernible influence on ethical decision
making by managers.
9. Managers were dissatisfied with the idea that profits should be the only guidelines for a
businessman in decision-making.
10. Formal education and training to managers did not seem to have stimulated the desire to
act honestly.
11. The ethical attitudes of the managers who belong to a religion which was more organized
were no better than those in whose religion there is no much scope for guidance.
12. Certain areas (construction, engineering, research and development, banking, investment
and insurance) seemed more prone to encouraging unethical practices than others.
13. A majority of the managers welcomed the idea of a code of conduct and felt it would help
to improve the ethical climate in the country.
14. Managers felt that the management of each company (i.e., self-regulation) would be the
authority best suited to enforce the code.

To conclude In a welfare-oriented democratic polity like ours, the government cannot remain
a mere spectator. A system of online filing of complaints will improve complaint registration
and empower unorganised customers against unethical business practices.
Further, India needs tough regulators for high complaint sectors, like real estate and travel
and tourism. Tightening tort laws and providing for class action suits will dent fraudulent
business practices.
However, tough regulation alone will not be enough. Attitudinal changes are needed if one
wants value for one’s money. Aggrieved customers must raise their voice against deficiency
in services at all forums, starting from social media to consumer courts.
Above all, businesses must realise that the key to sustained growth in top and bottom line is
ethical business practice. They can ignore it at their own peril in an intensely competitive
business environment.