Communication

Organisation charts show the structure of the business and help the firm to spot communication problems and allow employees to see their position in the firm

• By function
  • Usually in limited companies
  • Each functional area does one part of the work of the business
    • e.g. sales, marketing, finance, human resources
  • Specialists can concentrate on their particular job
  • Different departments may not work well together
• By product
  • Usually in large manufacturers
  • Splits into different sectors
    • e.g. toys, clothing and home furnishings
  • Managers can make decisions relevant to each product sector
  • Can be a wasteful duplication of resources between sectors
• By region
  • Usually in multinational businesses
  • Regional or national
  • Day-to-day control is easier
  • Can be a wasteful duplication of resources between regions

• Internal growth
  • More hierarchical
  • With more staff, managers will be needed to control them (this costs)
• Integration
  • Duplicate departments and positions eliminated
  • Job functions realigned e.g. organised by product rather than function
• Changes to products/services
  • Increased work flow- more staff- more managers
  • Existing product no longer provided: department removed
• Changes to customer access
  • Online shopping or delivery service
  • Need management (addition of a service)

Senior managers at the top of a hierarchy can become very powerful, but relying too much on them can be detrimental if they begin to make poor decisions. Few managers can lead to slow decision-making. A business may then delayer their structure.

Chain of Communication/Command (http://image.slidesharecdn.com/businessrevsion-120309083759-phpapp01/95/business-revision-aqa-5-728.jpg?cb=1331304086)

• Chain of people messages travel through to get from one layer of the hierarchy to another
• Long chains mean messages take a long time to travel up and down the hierarchy
  • Those at the top and the bottom may feel isolated or demoralised
  • Messages may get distorted along the way
  • Messages may not reach their intended destination
• Solved by delayering (removing tiers on management)

Span of Control (http://www.tutor2u.net/business/gcse/organisation_public_sector_clip_image004.gif)

• Number of workers who report to one manager in a hierarchy
• Wide span of control leads to a manager having to communicate with a lot of employees
  • Difficult to manage lots of employees effectively
  • Takes a long time to pass messages to all employees

Firms must find a balance between a tall and a flat organisation

• Written
  • Examples
    • Letters, e-mails, faxes, notice boards, memos, reports, social networks, texts
  • Advantages
    • Permanent record
    • Complex info can be studied 
    • Copies can be made and seen by many people
    • Can avoid confrontation
  • Disadvantages
    • Success depends on how clearly it was written
    • Feedback can be difficult to obtain
    • Can't check somebody understands the message
• Verbal
  • Examples
    • Telephone calls, group meetings, video conferences, face to face, radio, announcements, public address systems, voice mail, lectures or presentations

• Verbal
  • Advantages
    • Info given quickly
    • Body language and intonation give context
    • Feedback easily obtained
    • Can check message has been understood
  • Disadvantages
    • No permanent record
    • Message may be forgotten
    • May cause confrontation
• Visual
  • Examples
    • TV, diagrams, charts, films, posters, leaflets, body language
  • Advantages
    • Complex info can be summarised so info is absorbed quickly
    • Communicate feelings well (more impact)
  • Disadvantages
    • Images interpreted in different ways
    • Some people may find diagrams hard to understand

Video conferencing

• Saves people travelling long distances
• Connection can fail
• Equipment can be expensive or fail

Email

• No internet connection
• Can attatch read receipts
• Can send globally instantly
• Permanent record
• Info sent quickly
• Large documents can be attatched to save postage costs
• Limits on attatchment sizes

Social media

• Messages and images quickly communicated
• Cheap and popular

• Message may be badly worded or use technical jargon
• Language or cultural differences
• Staff physically separated, so less effective communication must be used
• Receiever may be distracted so misinterpret the message
• Contradiction between body language and words that confuses receiver
• Lack subject knowledge so terminology is used or interpreted incorrectly

Effect on Business

• Affect efficiency of business and motivation of staff
• Excessive communication may mean not enough time spent doing actual job
• Insufficient communication may result in poor decisions and low morale if workers are not being listened to
  • Leads to demotivation and decreased productivity