Forms of Information Communication to Stakeholders in Organizations - Literature review Example

Name: xxxxxxxx Tutor: xxxxxxxx Title: Forms of Information Communication to Stakeholders in Organizations Course: xxxxxxxx Institution: xxxxxxxx Date: xxxxxxxx Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 Executive summary 3 1.0 Introduction 4 2.0 Stakeholders in organizations 5 3.0 Communication procedure 6 3.1 Setting objectives of communication 6 3.2 Developing a message 6 3.3 Choosing format of communicating 7 3.4 Getting feedback on effectiveness 7 4.0 Methods of information communication in organizations 8 4.1 Fax 8 4.1.1 Advantages 8 4.1.2 Disadvantages 8 4.2 E-mail 9 4.2.1 Advantages 9 4.2.2 Disadvantages 10 4.3 Video conferencing/teleconferencing 10 4.3.1 Advantages 11 4.3.2 Disadvantages 11 4.4 Letters/memos/reports 12 4.5 Television 12 4.6 Radio 12 4.7 Face-to-face 13 4.8 Intranet 13 4.9 Meetings 14 4.10 Newsletters 14 5.0 Effective form of communication in reaching their target audiences and why 15 6.0 Conclusion 15 7.0 Recommendation 16 8.0 Bibliography 17 Executive summary Corporate operations constitute a range of stakeholders that are entitled to know what is happening in the organization as far as their role is concerned. In this paper the different types of communication used to present information in the organization has been clearly discussed. The role of the media of communication in relation to target audience is crucial in the organizational context. The paper has also looked at the advantages and disadvantages of the types of communication channels that are presently used within the organization. The term stake holder is defined with precision and accuracy. The effective methods for particular stakeholders have been outlined. Finally there is a recap of the paper content in the conclusion and the proposed recommendation. This paper will be vital to organization stakeholders and the learning fraternity as an additional source of information on communication in organization and their respective stakeholders. 1.0 Introduction The various stakeholders within the organization have to be communicated to in the most appropriate ways as possible. The stakeholder analysis is an important step towards establishing a formidable communication strategy. Fielding (2005) points out that for effective communication, it is a crucial step to identify what should be said, whom the message is addressed to and what is the desired outcome of the action. Communicating and involving key stakeholders is important when it comes to effectively managing change. This paper looks at the various means of representing information to stakeholders within and outside the organization. The significance of each method of communication has been discussed. 2.0 Stakeholders in organizations A stakeholder is any person who the capability of affecting or being affected by the activities of an organization or a group. Corporations and non-profit making organizations give significant attention to stakeholders, whose behaviors and attitudes can define the difference between failure and success of organizational mandate of a particular company. Communicating with various stakeholders is crucial to the running of the organization; however, more often than not it has not been done effectively or easily (Grunig, Grunig, & Dozier, 2002). It is vital to identify the various stakeholders and choose the most effective ways to communicate to them. Every entity or organization interacts with the rest, in a technical way to the extent that anyone interacting with the organization can be regarded as a stakeholder. Assessment of each stakeholder to determine his importance is paramount particularly when developing a communication channel with each one of them. In a traditional organization some of the stakeholders will include: suppliers, customers, employees, management, subcontractors, contractors, the shareholders (owners), local community, lobby groups, and workers union. In an academic or non-profit setting the various stakeholders may consist of students, citizens, elected officials, workers, municipal leaders, other non-profits, management and staff (Boone & Kurtz, 2010). 3.0 Communication procedure The procedure of communicating to any organization’s stakeholder will involve identification of the stakeholder as mentioned above, setting communication objectives, developing a message, choosing a communication format, and getting feedback concerning its effectiveness. These stages can be explained as follows: 3.1 Setting objectives of communication Before a messaging campaign is developed; it is vital to make clear the reasons underlying any type of communication intended. According to Boone and Kurtz (2010), the goal of communication should be ascertain in order to assess if communication targets informing the stakeholders, to engage them, to seek their involvement in an initiative, or to overcome or prevent opposition. If the organization is only attempting to raise awareness or just inform, as opposed to influencing behavior or affecting perceptions, the approach used for communication will be totally different from each other (Lundgren & McMakin, 2009). 3.2 Developing a message The communication should put into consideration the audiences or audience alongside the communication objectives. For instance, if the audience is composed of people of local business and the communication objective is to engage their cooperation in an initiative that is new, the type of communication will need to take care of their special concerns and show an elaborate benefit to them as a result of taking part in the cause. If the objective is just an attempt at increasing organization awareness in the market place or community, the channel or way of communicating can be general and targeting a broader audience (McPhail, 2006). 3.3 Choosing format of communicating The manner in which the message has to be passed around can range from mass communication to personal encounters. For general communication, one-way information to inform stakeholders, magazines or newspapers ads, flyers, or announcement on radio or television may be the appropriate selection. 3.4 Getting feedback on effectiveness To know whether a certain means of communication has yielded the desired effect it is vital to get the feedback from the stakeholders themselves. Research has to be conducted with all relevant constituencies in order to establish whether the designed message has been received and if the desired results or outcome has been attained. The research could be inform of telephone or internet interviews or may be mail (Persse, 2006). 4.0 Methods of information communication in organizations 4.1 Fax A fax machine creates a copy of the message being communicated. The facsimile machine will permit the transmission of a copy of graphical or written information through the telephone network. It work the same way as a photocopier and the difference is only that the copy is transmitted to another machine over a distance using the telephone network (Sypher, 2007). 4.1.1 Advantages Fax machines are cheaper as compared to computers and they do not need the installation of any cables that are expensive as they make use of telephone lines that exist. Secondly, they permit handwritten and graphical information to be transmitted without having to design it in a very special way. They are easy to use and they do not need any specialized training. As long as the machine receiving the message is switched on, desired messages can be transmitted and consequently received any time of the day. 4.1.2 Disadvantages It is able to tie up the telephone line, if a fax number that is dedicated is not used. This is able to prevent telephone callers from getting through or the calls being made in the first place. There will be no instant feedback or response from the person receiving the message as a result of absence of telephone conversation. The quality of the document transmitted is in many circumstance poor as compared to the original, which make it unsuitable media for conveying technical information or complex data (McPhail, 2006). 4.2 E-mail An E-mail system avails one with the chance of typing out a message on her or his computer. The message is usually addressed to another person or individual, and when it is complete, it is cent to a computer that is central. When the person whom the message is addressed to logs on, he is able to download or copy the e-mail to his or her own computer. It is also possible for the sender to attach additional files to the message being sent. Large files will often be compressed prior to being sent. Some e-mail systems are designed in such a way that they automatically generate and send an e-mail back to the writer stipulating the time when the recipient read the message. Using e-mail for communicating is more convenient as compared to ordinary mail. The addressee can reply by easily clicking on the reply button and type the desired response to the mail, he then click on the send button and the mail will automatically be uploaded to the mail server. So long as a computer is connected with internet one can opt to use e-mail as means of communicating. Each e-mail possess a mail box having unique addresses where messages can be sent ready for the intended person to read the message so long as he has an email address and his computer has internet connection (Depamphili, 2002). 4.2.1 Advantages This kind of communication is very cheap as compared to telephone conversation. Moreover, as many individuals as possible can create their own personal e-mail addresses to receive mail. The messages are sent instantly making e-mail to be among the fastest means of communicating. The messages intended to be send by e-mail can be prepared in advance and stored as draft so that transmission time can be greatly reduced. In this case the cost of sending the message is reduced significantly making the method to be very affordable. If the person being communicated to is not at that time on-line, the mail server automatically stores the message for retrieval at a later time. A single message can be prepared and send to many people at the same time and therefore increasing the pace of communication. Document files, videos, sounds and pictures can be attached. 4.2.2 Disadvantages If the person whom the message is being send to does not check his e-mail box regularly then the message will be missed or it will be read when its intended purposed is already passed and thus making it useless. This makes this kind of communication to be unreliable. The e-mail inbox may receive other junk mail from uncontrolled sources and people may miss important message owing to too much ‘spam’ or in some circumstances a genuine e-mail can be deleted by mistake. 4.3 Video conferencing/teleconferencing Teleconferencing method of communication gives a chance to groups of people found in different locations to talk over communication lines as though they were seated together in a meeting, despite them being miles away. This is a significant way to cut on travelling time and travelling costs. It is a convenient method of communicating save for it being difficult to exchange ideas when people can not see you face to face. Video conferencing is very much similar to teleconferencing except that in this case, people taking part in the meeting can see one another via video cameras which have been put in place. For tele/video conference to take place a computer having a large memory and a processor that is fast and can handle huge amount of data that has video pictures has to be acquired. A digital camera is used to capture the video pictures found at the end of the link. A telephone hand set or a microphone is needed to capture the sound that accompanies the pictures. An ISDN telephone line has to be accessed. This due to the fact that the ordinary telephone lines are not designed to cope with the huge amount of data that needs to be send together with them for typical video conferencing. Special software for video conferencing has to be put in place (Boone & Kurtz, 2010). 4.3.1 Advantages In this type of communication method it is possible to communicate with other people separated with long distances. Video conferencing is more effective as compared to a telephone call since one is able to read the non-verbal communication signs. Businesses are able to hold top management meeting involving numerous people without having to meet in person and this method is very effective for multinationals that have branches allover the world. This reduces the need for people travelling around to go to meeting and hence savers on time and costs. 4.3.2 Disadvantages The particular software and hardware needed for videoconferencing is exorbitantly expensive making its accessibility very difficult. It is a fact that not many people have videoconferencing systems and consequently limiting the numbers of people that can be communicate to. The ISDN lines used are utterly expensive for use and set up. This kind of communicating is not a substitute for face to face meeting since it is the most effective. 4.4 Letters/memos/reports Despite the surge in electronic communication there is also increased communication inn written material. Letters, memos and reports will be used if there is need for an audit for the hard copy. Internal communication in the organization make used of these methods. Promotion or demotion is often communicated through letters. Warnings to errand or nonperforming employees are communicated to using letters. Internal meeting in the organization mostly will use circulars and memos. Reminders for meeting are particularly conveyed through memos. Communications for important events or short notification among departments of the organization are made through circulars. Sometimes the shareholders are called for annual general meetings by sending each one of them a letter enclosing the agenda of the meeting. Reports are used to give investigative reports to the top management or the specific supervisors who have asked for them. Audit reports are issued by internal or external auditors (Tafoya, 2009). 4.5 Television Communication through TV is vital when communicating to the general public when trying to create awareness within the community or the market. Gathering for shareholders or communicating annual general meetings can be done through television. TV receivers are available in people homes and the workplaces. Organizations that have large branch networks use satellite to convey TV programs to the workforce. TV can be used for general communication for getting across information to a huge audience. This is appropriate way of communicating outside the organization when intending to reach out to the general public. 4.6 Radio Having existence of available frequencies being limited, radio is exclusively utilized for public broadcast channel and has limited uses for business communications. Radio receivers are not found commonly at the workplace. The profit marking organizations can use radio for advertising and public relation campaigns just to create a good name for the organization. The annual general meetings can also be communicated through radio for the shareholders to attend. Radio as a means of communication is cheap and reaches to a large audience indiscriminately. Radio can not be used in communicating to stakeholders within the organization since mostly radio receivers are absent at the organization level and many individuals will miss the information intended to them (Pfarrer, 2008). 4.7 Face-to-face This involves people communicating in person and responding to the message being communicated instantly. The big advantage is that non-verbal signs like smiling, wincing and frowning can be interpreted and hence leading to the information being rightly interpreted. According to Anthony (2009), face to face will require some to set apart time and place of meeting and hence leading to a lot of inconvenience. Some employees in the organizations are reprimanded or warned or praised using face to face encounters. Some disciplinary measures against employees involve them meeting a disciplinary panel or meeting and explaining oneself in person. 4.8 Intranet An intranet uses the same technology like that of an internet but operates within the precinct of a single organization. Usually an intranet is used in delivering images and texts, although the technology is capable audio, video, animation, and real-time 3D graphics (sometimes called ‘virtual reality’). The principal constraint on the media that an intranet can make use of the bandwidth or capacity of the network of the organization, although it is also the same for the desktop PCs are currently capable of playing audio. In this case it is much expensive to maintain and distribute with an intranet than with the paper equivalent. This means of communication is important in sharing of information within the organization among the staff and the various levels of management (Anthony, 2009). 4.9 Meetings One of the most common ways of communicating within the organization is through meetings. They can range from one person to thousands of them based on audience and message appropriate. Meetings are the appropriate ways of communicating important message to the departmental heads. The annual general meeting is particularly used to convey important message about the performance of the organization to the shareholders and other interested parties like the government. There could be meeting also between the departmental heads and the various suppliers to discuss the quality of their delivery or their timing. 4.10 Newsletters News letters can be written from time to time to inform the various stakeholders about the developments within the organization. Tafoya (2009) adds that Newsletters also can be used for public relation purpose just to pass across a positive message concerning the organization to the general public. Some organizations have periodicals printed quarterly to communicate its performance to the society as a whole. The news concerning the organization performance are more often published in the company or organization quarterly newsletter or yearly newsletter. This is an effective way of communication to the citizens in the market place and the surrounding community. 5.0 Effective form of communication in reaching their target audiences and why The effectiveness of a method of communication will be determined by the target audience. Radio communication will appeal to reaching out to the general public while circulars and memos will be appropriate to communicating to staff within the organization. When choosing the appropriate form of communication it is good to look at the kind of desired outcome anticipated. Face to face form of communication is the most appropriate means of communication since the outcome is instant (Griffin, & Moorhead, 2011). 6.0 Conclusion Communication is a very vital aspect that makes up one of the paramount goals of meeting organization objectives. Every organization can only implement its short term and strategic plans effectively if it can communicate in the appropriate way to yield the desired results. This paper has looked at the various types of representing information to stakeholders, discussing the advantage and disadvantage of each one of them. The connection between a certain means of communication and the desired stakeholder is also outlined. The organization commences with a brief summary in the executive summary and goes on to introduce the topic of discussion in the introduction. The recommendation drawn from the discussed topic has also been stated just after the conclusion. The paper will be useful as an academic resource and as guidance to the management of organization in the quest to select the most appropriate way of communicating to stakeholders. 7.0 Recommendation It is important that each organization must assess its needs in relation to the stakeholders and come up with an effective way of communicating to each of the stakeholder in an apt way. The needs of the stakeholders must be met in the means of communication strategy that has been chosen. One stakeholder may be reached effectively with a certain means of communication as opposed to another. The desired outcome from a particular means of representing information should determine the communication type that should be utilized. The significance of research in finding out the effectiveness of the target audience feedback should not be understated. Time to time appraisal of the communication channels should be done to see if the means of communication is yielding the desired results. Television, radio, newspaper and periodical are effective means of addressing a huge audience indiscriminately. The methods that are used for communication within the organization can not equally effective when used outside the organization. Whatever methods the organization will use to communicate outside the organization are expected to be different from those used inside the organization. Prior to choosing the channel of communication there should enough research should be done to determine the effect of the previous methods used. Every method of communication should be evaluated and its outcome determined to see whether the organization will continue using the same method for the particular stakeholders. 8.0 Bibliography Griffin, W.R. & Moorhead, G., 2011, Organizational Behavior. London: Cengage Learning. Anthony, R, 2009, Organizations, People & Effective Communication - Most Good and Bad Consequences Come Down to People and Communication. Cambridge: University Readers. Fielding, M, 2005, Effective Communication in Organizations. Pretoria: Juta and Company Ltd. Grunig, A.L, Grunig, J.E, & Dozier, M.D, 2002, Excellent public relations and effective organizations: a study of communication management in three countries. London: Routledge. Tafoya, D., 2009, The effective organization: practical application of complexity theory and organizational design to maximize performance in the face of emerging events. London: Taylor & Francis. Boone, E.L & Kurtz, D.L, 2010, Contemporary Business. New Jersey: John Wiley and Sons. Sypher, D.B., 2007, Case studies in organizational communication 2: perspectives on contemporary work life. New York: Guilford Press. McPhail, T.L., 2006, Global communication: theories, stakeholders, and trends. London: Wiley-Blackwell. Pfarrer, D.M., 2008, Information in the marketplace: Two essays on firm strategies and stakeholder perceptions. Hilton Riverside: ProQuest. Persse, J.R., 2006, Process improvement essentials. San Francisco: O'Reilly Media. Depamphili, D., 2002, Mergers and Acquisitions Basics: All You Need to Know. Massachusetts: Academic Press. Lundgren, E.R. & McMakin, A.R., 2009, Risk communication: a handbook for communicating environmental, safety, and health risks. New Jersey: Wiley-IEEE. Read More