Business Communication in the 21st Century

This assignment examines the significant changes in business communication that have occurred within the last 20 years. It delves into the contemporary challenges faced by business communication in the 21st century, drawing upon a range of academic sources such as Communication Yearbooks and specialized journals covering topics like virtual teams, online political communication, and healthcare communication.

INTERPERSONAL AND E-
COMMUNICATION

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................5
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................6

INTRODUCTION
Social media is one of the effective tool or the communication funnel by which people
found ease to connect with world from every corner. Social media being a tool has played crucial
role in every individual life along with process of a business (Anderson, 2012). This has played
role in reaching out to the customers and playing advertising in marketplace. There is no doubt
that the world of business has been changed by the use of modern technology available in
modern scenario. Company taken for this essay is TESCO which is a multi national retail
company dealing in about 26 countries who has adopted social media as promotional tool.
MAIN BODY
Business Communication can be stated as data which is being shared among the people
within internal and external factors of company which is being performed for the commercial
benefit for the company (Bostrom, 2012). It is just not limited or confined to the media or the
messages but also to the interaction to the network of social relationships. There were traditional
methods Business communication before 20 years like written communication, notices, T.V and
radios. Business Communication media is a mixed system of mass communication along with
interpersonal channels along with mutual impact or in simple words mass media should not be
seen in isolation from other passages. One can, for example evaluate advantages and roles of
radio versus Internet for development along with democracy. Both the radio and internet which
are being featured by its inactivity. However, better access can be given to data, education and
knowledge which will b the best stimulant for the development. Internet is the latest technology
in a long succession for the technology of business communication.
Business communication technology over the 20 years are mass media like newspapers,
book publishing, radio or TV. But the relationship of business to an individual has been changed
by internet communication by technology and social interaction. Example can be taken up of 32
countries in which people are spending much more time online instead of using traditional
methods of communication (Burleson, 2012). There are still some placed where business uses
traditional methods like UK, India, Poland and Germany. Most digitalised form which is being
utilised is the Print Press and that too online. Businesses has been adopting the latest technology
and reducing the usage of traditional methods in order to have better communication funnel and
indirectly improve the ratios of profit and production. The world economic order went through a
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tectonic transformation, accompanied by, and in part caused by, groundbreaking advances in
science and technology and the rise of globalization.
From the communication with employees for reaching out to the customers and clients , it
has become huge factor for the business operations. There are various kind of challenges which
are being faced by business communication within the 21st Century. Possibly the most essential
factor for business communication is listening and it can become difficult for the managers to
develop the skill due to high pressure for having success within the company and this may have
the situation of no time to listen to every employee (Carroll, 2015). So this might can be the issue
for the business for having effective funnel. It is very easy for a business to depend upon the
technology for communication purposes.
Various ways like E-mail, fax, voice mail and intranet which can be much more effective
for the quick transfer of factual, direct data. But when utilising the technology there are some of
the factors which can create issues like face to face communication will not be there which can
create chances of misunderstanding the information. Besides this, tone, posture, facial expression
along with eye contact can not be expressed by using technology (Daim and et. al ., 2012).
Another issues which is being faced by business communication is the meeting which many of
the business owners think that it is waste of time but that is not the actual thing. Meeting can
mainly build teamwork and making employees feel part of something like company. Simple
challenge of having meetings within business communication is to create the meeting which are
mainly concise, informative, participatory and positive.
Besides this, there are various kind of signs which appears when there is issues with
challenges and those indicators can be like lack of cooperation, unreached goals, high level of
mistakes, casting the blame along with low motivation and loss of clients. All these can be the
symptoms (Deetz, 2012). Solution which can be proposed for these kind of issues and challenges
are various tools and techniques which can be adopted for determining the solution for issues and
thus work upon them as team and clear out the troubles which are the root cause for those
challenges. Besides this, neutral negotiator can be used for resolving issues among the company.
Company which is being used for case study is the TESCO which is multinational
company which deals in retail sector across the globe. Basically it is supermarket store which
provides groceries items. Being a global company which deals in most of the countries, it
becomes essential for them to utilise the business communication in effectual manner. This can
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be done by utilising various kind of tools and techniques which can allow company to face every
kind of challenge. There are thousands of employees at different places working for the company
and thus it is highly essential to communicate with them and keep them updated. There was time
when this company used traditional methods for internal and external communication like for
within company they used to drop faxes or send notices through couriers in order to keep them
updated about any kind of changes or any crucial data (Farber and et. al., 2012). For the external
factors the main techniques or tool which were being utilised by the TESCO was TV and radio
along with advertising in newspapers.
These were the methods which were being utilised by company for internal and external
factors. But with time they started developing and adopted the latest digital technology in order
to reach out every kind of customer and now they mainly target social media where they take
initiative of promotional activities so that brand awareness can be created among people who are
physically out of reach for company (Lilleker and Koc-Michalska, 2013). Besides this, in 21st
century company has been using ERP system for communicating within the workplace. This
kind of system mainly simplifies the internal communication including demand of sales along
with production which can be managed by number of sectors within company. This is also being
utilised for determining the level of performance of employees. More often than note, when
TESCO needs to adopt a system or make a decision on something regarding its organization, it
normally submit its proposal to the board meeting.
There are various modifications which are being done in business communication over
the decades by the businesses and thus it has mainly affected the communication which is highly
essential. There are positive and negative impacts which are being observed on the conduction of
business along with other ways for handling the process (Lim and Yi, 2014). With time, business
communication has made the business conduction much more faster and easier but along with it,
it has also made the process much more distracting and less clear.
In 21st century, whether its about having conversation with an employee who is another
state or the country or need to deal with client of the supplier who is in different state or country,
this all has been made easy by the technology which has been applied within the business
communication. Moreover, there are various languages which are being used in different
countries and for a global company like TESCO, there was an issue of communicating in earlier
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times but this issue has been solved by internet and communication can take place easily despite
of time zone or language issues.
Modifications within business communication has allowed process of business to have
better relationship without having any face to face meetings and even conference call can be
done instead of face to face meetings and deals can be made. Example can be taken like
emergence of virtual assistant or application for smartphones which has allowed to complete
tasks online without any kind of meeting present time (Lussier and et. al., 2016). There are
certain challenges which are being faced due to modifications within business communication
like business who uses the telecommuting and virtual offices needs to plan for communication
with individuals to reduce the loosing touch and ensure to work upon goals. momentary
correspondence with respect to speedy choices and reminders can't supplant particular
correspondence times where major choices are examined and advance reports given (Trevarthen,
2017).
Notwithstanding, when workers are conveying in various ways consistently, it can be
anything but difficult to neglect to plan these sorts of gatherings. Besides this, instant
communication can create much more difficulty for dealing with more then one tasks at single
time and those are being mainly interrupted by comments and questions which are highly related
to the other projects for personal issues (McCarthy, Trace and O'Donovan, 2014). As matter of
fact, there are some of the employees which needs to make the effort for turning devices off
while they working on deadline. So it can be stated that modifications which are being made
over the decades within the business communication has many of the benefits for conductions of
business operations and they have limitations as well which can bring certain barriers or the
challenges for the company for attaining aims and objectives in effectual way.
As per the case study of TESCO, they have mainly adopted the latest technology within
business communication in order to operate the business in much more effective way. There is
business communication technique which is being utilised by TESCO is the ERP system which
stands for Enterprise Resource Planning which helps in communicating with company. This kind
of system company utilise for simplifying the internal communication which includes the sales
demand and the production needed which can be managed by number of sectors within TESCO.
Moreover, this kind of system is also being utilised by the authority of company to evaluate the
level of performance from ERP.
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Company like TESCO who is a global company, its authority for examining the level of
performance for the divisions of the numerous nations as well. Along with this, there are
employees who can also communicate with various sectors in number of nations. So ERP is the
example of Modern business communication utilised by TESCO (Sutton, Hornsey and Douglas,
2012). Second example which can be stated that TESCO has adopted a system or the strategy
which is before making any kind of decision, the proposal needs to be submitted to the board
meeting. When the decision is being accepted, CEO of the company comes up with final
decision and thus is being passed to employees where it is being implemented in effective
manner.
These are some of the examples of business communication technique which TESCO
company mainly utilises for operating the business in better way and thus attain the objectives in
better and effective manner (Roy and et. al., 2012). Besides this, upcoming techniques for
communicating can be used are introducing insignia computers which can ease up the work and
help in making better relationship with internal and external factors. Along with this, it took an
initiative for developing the virtual store in number of regions across the globe which can allow
customers to use their phones and thus make a purchase of the products from the wall of
commodities.
CONCLUSION
From the above report, it can be concluded that the business communication has
undergone through various kind of changes from past few decades which in turn has enabled
business like TESCO to run the operations in much more ease and effective way. There is high
impact of the latest technologies like social media and internet on the business communication
which has made a new phase of era for the emerging companies. There are few factors which are
highlighted in this essay which are changes which took place within 20 years to business
communication and the challenges which are being faced by it in 21sty century.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Anderson, J.A. ed., 2012. Communication yearbook 14 (No. 14). Routledge.
Bostrom, R.N., 2012. Communication yearbook 8. Routledge.
Burleson, B.R. ed., 2012. Communication yearbook 18. Routledge.
Carroll, C.E. ed., 2015. The handbook of communication and corporate reputation (Vol. 49).
John Wiley & Sons.
Daim, T.U. and et. al ., 2012. Exploring the communication breakdown in global virtual
teams. International Journal of Project Management. 30(2). pp.199-212.
Deetz, S.A. ed., 2012. Communication Yearbook 17 (No. 17). Routledge.
Farber, B.A., and et. al., 2012. Children, technology, problems, and preferences. Journal of
clinical psychology. 68(11). pp.1225-1229.
Lilleker, D.G. and Koc-Michalska, K., 2013. Online political communication strategies: MEPs,
e-representation, and self-representation. Journal of Information Technology & Politics.
10(2). pp.190-207.
Lim, E.J. and Yi, Y.J., 2014. Comparison of operating room nurses and general ward nurses on
communicative competence and interpersonal relationship ability within the medical
team. Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing Administration. 20(3). pp.313-321.
Lussier, M.T., and et. al., 2016. The impact of a primary care e-communication intervention on
the participation of chronic disease patients who had not reached guideline suggested
treatment goals. Patient education and counseling. 99(4). pp.530-541.
McCarthy, B., Trace, A. and O'Donovan, M., 2014. Integrating psychology with interpersonal
communication skills in undergraduate nursing education: Addressing the
challenges. Nurse education in practice.14(3). pp.227-232.
Roy, P., and et. al., 2012. Using social network analysis to profile people based on their e-
communication and travel balance. Journal of Transport Geography. 24. pp.111-122.
Sutton, R.M., Hornsey, M.J. and Douglas, K.M., 2012. Feedback: The communication of praise,
criticism and advice. Peter Lang.
Trevarthen, C., 2017. The function of emotions in early infant communication and development.
In New perspectives in early communicative development (pp. 48-81). Routledge.
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