To live is to communicate. Every facet of existence needs communication. Business

being one of the facets of human existence requires communication. The term

“communication” comes from the Latin word communicare , which means ‘to impart’

or ‘participate’. In the course of day-to-day living, we need to participate with other

human beings and also with things around us

During the course of participation it becomes necessary to receive as well as to give.

This process of participation can take different forms, such as talking, writing,

interacting, etc. All of this means communication. In business people from all walks

of life come together to perform tasks that requires interaction with one another. Such

a work situation makes communication necessary and imperative.

The business world today has become global, which makes communication even more

complex. Communication across borders and cultures requires communication skills

that would enable people from different lands to interact with each other so as to

achieve some common objective. Hence, it is necessary to develop good

communication skills. However, one of the neglected areas of human development is

communication. Peter Drucker has made these observations about communication.

“Colleges teach the one thing that is perhaps most valuable for the future employee to

know. But very few students bother to learn it. This one basic skill is the ability to

organize and express ideas in writing and speaking.

As soon as you move one step from the bottom, your effectiveness depends on your

ability to reach others through the spoken or the written word. And the further away

your job is from manual work, the larger the organization of which you are an

employee, the more important it will be that you know how to convey your thoughts

in writing or speaking. In the very large organization this ability to express oneself is

perhaps the most important of all skills a person can possess.”

Dimensions of communication:

To understand the nature of communication it is important to know its various

dimensions. Communication has five dimensions. They are as follows

1. Communication can be Intentional or Unintentional. Words are used to express

ideas and are intended to have a particular meaning. Sometimes these words

communicate other than what is intended –they have an unintentional meaning.

2. Communication can be Verbal or Nonverbal. Human communication is often more

nonverbal, involving the body and other objects and actions, than verbal, involving

words alone. Even when we do not speak, the way we walk, stand, and sit

communicates a message to others. It is told about Stalin that he worked on his

gestures that were so threatening and commanding that just a movement of his finger

was enough to pass death sentence on someone. Other forms of nonverbal

communication include letters, memos, arrangements of office furniture, and style and

condition of clothing.

3. Communication can be Internal or External. Internal or intrapersonal

communication is the way we talk to ourselves, i.e. without putting thoughts into

words. This involves

talking that takes place within ourselves without speaking out the words aloud. But

the words that are actually written or spoken are external communication. Nonverbal

objects that are chosen to express are also considered to be external communication.

4. Communication can involve Humans, Machines or Animals. Communication

obviously involves humans. It also involves machines – for example, computer.

Humans use computers to improve communication between them. We also need to

learn how animals communicate, because the nonverbal behavior of humans and

animals is quite similar.

5. Communication can take place between two people as well as within a group. A

conversation between two people is called interpersonal communication.

Communication within groups is classified as either small communication or mass

communication.

In order to be perceived as good company it is not just enough to have a good

reputation and results. It is also very important to create a good working environment

for employees and possess knowledge in attracting new customers. This is where the

term employer and employee branding emerges. But this aspect is relatively wide, and

rarely can be examined in one thesis. This is why narrower topic communication

processes have been chosen. It is very important that company knows it's internal and

external environment. These two things are crucial for company's long-term success

and very related to each other.

Companies should know their employees to prevent that they become dissatisfied

with working conditions, feeling unpleasant or unheard. This is the aim of internal

communication to prevent it, as from the internal communication processes in a very

straight way depends what image company's employees are going to deliver to the

external audiences. It is of the interest of company to know their customers, to be able

properly to advertise and promote their products, in the same time being able to attract

more customers continuously. On the other hand, relationships of customers and

employees are directly affected by their perceptions and attitudes towards the

company. So, the aim of external and internal communication is to form those

attitudes in accordance with how they want to see themselves in the future