Communication is the foundation for establishing a business vision, creating a corporate culture, setting the standard for ethics, building relationships and gaining support for new ideas and endeavors. With advances in technology, the face of communication has changed from a trusting handshake to Internet meetings linked across the globe. With all the changes, communications remains a vital element to the success of an organization.
Communicating through Change
Corporations must constantly adapt to changing environments. Whether change comes by as an acquisition, a new initiative, a growing or dying venture, or an increase or decrease in prices of goods, corporations need to communicate effectively through change to succeed. According to "Reframing Organizations" by Bolman and Deal, change is more likely to succeed if the approach aims for motivational, human, political and symbolic elements rather than reason and structure. The root of an organization is the people, and the people decide whether a change succeeds or fails.
Change Management
Corporations continually face the hardship of communicating through impacting changes. Some succeed, while others lose millions of dollars or entire empires. After many studies of successful and unsuccessful change processes in organizations around the world, Kotter and Cohen, the authors of "The Heart of Change," found eight key stages to successfully communicating through change. The change agent needs to create a sense of urgency; gather a skilled team to initiate and follow through with the change; create a motivating vision and strategy; communicate this vision and strategy through voice, actions and symbols; empower people to continue forward; remind people of successes along the way with symbols; stay steadfast with the goal even when it gets hard; and form a new corporate culture that is accepting of change to maintain the progress and reap its benefits.
Communicating in a Global Economy
With the expanding global business market, multinational corporations, foreign subsidiaries and international partnerships, corporations must learn effectively communicate through cultural differences. According to "Cultures and Organizations Software of the Mind" by Hofstede and Hofstede, the functioning of global business hangs on intercultural communication. Understanding cultural differences helps narrow the risk of misunderstandings. For example, according to Philippe Lasserre, author of "Global Strategic Management," business agreements in Japan many times are made through ambiguous verbal communication and not a written contract, which is highly valued in the United States. Body language is another form of communication that can easily be misinterpreted or accidentally offensive in foreign markets. For example, some cultures expect different levels of physical contact, such as a kiss on the cheek versus an acknowledging nod.
Communicating for the Future
A corporation's ability to look ahead and learn communicate to maintain a successful organization in the future helps it survive. According to "The Organization of the Future" by Hesselbein and Goldsmith, an organization's ability to deal with the uncertainty of the future comes from its internal strength, its employees and their values and beliefs. Organizations of the future will have cultures accepting of change, environments that encourage volunteering and helping others, and a strong core of valued employees.
Tags: accepting change, communicating through, corporate culture, cultural differences, global business, through change