COMMUNICATION AS AN ESSENTIAL INGREDIENT IN THE QUEST FOR GROWTH AND SURVIVAL OF COMMERCIAL ENTERPRISE

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1   Background to the study

One of the uniqueness of the human person is the ability to objectify his thoughts and ideas through language. With the social evolution of language, especially speech language, man was able to widen the gap between him and the rest of the animal kingdom. Thus, language can be seen as a system of sounds, symbols and words for purposes of communication.

Organizational communication can be broadly defined as communication with one another in the context of an organization (Eisenberg & Goodall, 1997; Shockley-Zalabak, 2006).This type of communication, in turn, includes activities of sending and receiving messages through various layers of authority, using various message systems, and discussing various topics of interest to the group we belong to or the company we work for.

Communication touches every aspect of human activity. Business communication is any communication used to promote a product, service or organization, with the objective of making sale. In business communication, messages are conveyed through various channels of communication, including internet, print (publication), radio, television, outdoor, and word of mouth Alysa (2005).

Communication represents the key to efficiency within an organization, along with motivation and professional competence. All the members of a company spend most of their time communicating in a form or another, no matter their position within the hierarchy of the company. Due to the fact that nowadays the number of employees from services and offices is bigger than the number of production workers, a need for improving communication has been noticed because it is necessary to have a deeper collaboration between work colleagues and the hierarchical levels as teamwork has been spreading. Working in a team can’t be efficient without collaboration between all the members. Moreover, technology changes have brought new trends in the structure and activity of the organizations. That’s why communication practices and technologies have become more and more important for all types of organizations. Furthermore, the role of the manager in the organizational communication process has increased; on one hand, the manager is the one who is dealing with processing internal and external information, and, on the other hand, the manager communicates this information to his / her subordinates (he / she is a disseminator) and to the ones outside the company (he/she is a spokesperson).

In this context, on the road towards an increased efficiency, an organization needs to handle continuously internal and external communication with the aim of improving and perfecting it.

Effective communication processes lie in a background of every company that wants to be successful in a long term (Purves, 2005). Usually with the word communication people understand the interaction with others on everyday basis with the aim of exchanging information. On the organizational level, communication is divided more narrowly in external And internal communication. Internal communication is communication among organization's management and internal stakeholders (Welch, Jackson, 2007), whereas external  communication is the one focusing on the audiences outside the organization (Saunders, 1999). Both  internal and external communications together are being identified as corporate communication.

Linking together the above said, this research will examine communication as an ingredient in the quest for growth and survival of commercial enterprisev in Key  Stone Bank Plc and 7up bottling company Plc.

1.2   Statement of the problem

Business all over the world today is very challenging. To stay profitable in the highly challenging and competitive global market economy, all factors of production, i.e. men, machine and materials, should be wisely managed. Among the factors of production, the human resource constitutes the biggest challenge because unlike other inputs, employee management demands skilful handling of thoughts, feelings and emotions to secure highest productivity. Communication within enterprise plays an important role in this challenge.

Managers have traditionally spent the majority of their time communicating in one form or another (meetings, face to face discussions, memos, letters, e-mails, reports etc.). Today, however, it has become an indispensible part of their work. An effective management of production processes requires greater collaboration and teamwork among workers in different functional groups. Hence, to manage the existing performance of the employees and to motivate them for better performance, efficient communication practices have become more important in all organisations.

This study therefore aim at assessing the extent to which communication act as ingredient in the quest for growth and survival of commercial enterprise: A case study of Key  Stone Bank Plc and 7up bottling company Plc.

1.3   Objective/purpose of the study

        The objective of the is to investigate communication as an essential ingredient in the quest for growth and survival of commercial enterprise in King Stone Bank Plc & 7up bottling company. Specifically, the study is designed to examine the extent to which

i.             Effective communication can enhance the growth and survival of commercial enterprise.

ii.           Internal communication contributes to the growth and survival of commercial enterprise.

iii.         External communication contributes to the growth and survival of commercial enterprise.

1.4   Research questions

        To guide the direction of this study, the following research questions were posed:

i.             How does effective communication enhance the growth and survival of commercial enterprise?

ii.           To what extent does internal communication contribute to the growth and survival of commercial enterprise?

iii.         How does external communication improve the growth and survival of commercial enterprise?

1.5   Statement of hypotheses

        The following hypotheses will be formulated to for the study:

i.             There is no significant relationship between effective communication and the growth/survival of commercial enterprise.

ii.           There is no significant relationship between internal communication and growth/survival of commercial enterprise.

iii.         There is no significant relationship between external communication and growth/survival of commercial enterprise.

1.6   Significance of the study

        It is often imperative to ask what would be the significance of any endeavour, be it academic or otherwise. This is also true of this study. The researcher anticipates that the study shall be of invaluable and great benefits to administrators, the students and general public.

To the administrators, the study shall be of great importance to them since it unravel the role of communication enterprise growth and survival, they would work hard to improve their condition of service and establish good working relations.

        Since the study has its implication on communication both internal and client-communication and enterprise growth, there are certain factors that when fulfilled in working life of staff would improve their productivity. These factors will be highlighted in the study and administrators shall then be prepared to device all means at their disposal to effect business communication that could enhance the growth and survival of commercial enterprise.  

        The findings will also serve as a vehicle and useful guide to future researchers in the field of industrial and labour studies and other disciplines.

1.7   Scope/limitations of the study

The scope of this study is restricted to only Kingstone bank plc and 7up bottling company Plc. The study is also limited to the variables under study.

The major limitation of the study will be the poor attitude of the respondents towards responding to the questionnaire item due to mixed feeling.

        Though time was also a limitation to the study being that the researcher combined the research work with other academic activities.

        Other limitations encountered will be human relations, such as peoples’ indifference and negative attitude towards researches.

1.8   Definition of terms

        To avoid confusion of terminologies, certain terms used in the study are hereby defined.

Communication: This refers to face to face interaction between the management and the employees or employees and the client (customers)

Internal communication: is the transmission of information between organizational members or parts of the organization.

External communication: this is the transmission of information between a business and another person or entity in the company's external environment. Examples of these people and entities include customers, potential customers, suppliers, investors, shareholders, and society at large.

Growth: Growth refers to a positive change in size over a period of time.

Survival: the state of continuing to exist in spite of competition and economy.

Commercial enterprise: the activity of providing goods and services involving financial and commercial and industrial aspects.

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