Business Communication
Semester I – Notes
Unit 1: Theory of Communication
Chapter I
Concept of Communication
The English word ‘communication’
... [Show More] has been derived from the Latin word, ‘Communicare’ which means
to impart or participate or to transmit. The word ‘Communicare’ is derived from the root ‘Communis’
which means to make common or to share.
Communication is 1) the activity or process of sharing or exchanging ideas, feelings, information,
experience between two or more persons; 2) an act or instance of transmitting; 3) the information
actually communicated by some means.
Definitions of communication:
1) The Oxford English Dictionary defines communication as “the action of conveying or exchanging
information and ideas.”
2) Peter Little defines communication as “the process by which information is transmitted between
individuals and or organizations so that an understanding response results.”
3) Allen Lui (Louis) defines communication as “ Communication is the sum of all the things one person
does when he wants to create understanding in the mind of another. It is a bridge of meaning. It
involves a systematic process of telling, listening, understanding and responding.”
4) Keith Davis defines communication as “Communication is the transfer of information and
understanding from one person to another.”
Business Communication:
William G. Scott defines business communication as “Administrative communication is a process which
involves the transmission and accurate replication of ideas ensured by feedback for the purpose of
eliciting actions which will accomplish organizational goals.”
The last definition covers 4 aspects of administrative communication, as follows:
1) The sender’s ability to transmit his own ideas accurately.
2) The receiver’s mental ability to get the same idea as were transmitted i.e. accurate replication.
3) The feedback or the receiver’s response.
4) Eliciting action which will help to achieve the goals.
The process of communication involves a series of stages:
1) An idea arises in the mind of the sender, which he wants to share.
2) The sender encodes the idea in the form of a ‘message’.
3) The sender chooses some medium / channel to put across the message.
4) The receiver receives the message.
5) The receiver decodes – absorbs, understands, interprets the message.
6) The receiver sends feedback or his response.
The components or elements of the communication process are as follows:
1) The sender or the communicator
2) The message
3) Encoding
4) The medium / channel
5) The receiver
6) Decoding
7) Feedback
Importance of feedback in the process of communicationEffective feedback, both positive and negative, is very helpful. Feedback is valuable information that will
be used to make important decisions.
After getting the meaning of the message‘, the receiver provides feedback‘ which he =encodes‘ in the
form of a response/reaction/reply to the message. Feedback plays an important part in the
communication process, because it is desired and expected by both the sender‘ and the receiver‘. The
sender‘ wants to know whether and how his =message‘ has been received, and the =receiver‘, either
consciously or unconsciously, usually provides a sign indicating that he has received the message. [Show Less]