In general, communication can be defined as a bilateral process, where a sender and a recipient are exchanging information through a “common system of symbols and channels” (Kutera, 2011). One can argue that in every communication process at least a sender and recipient is involved. The sender is the initiator of this process and chooses the channel of communication as well as the system of symbols.
The recipient or audience, on the other hand, interprets the symbols and is able to perceive the message, when the symbols are known and the message could be decoded correctly. The whole process is very complex in detail and has been described by various communication models. With the introduction of mobile technologies, a new factor has become relevant for communication, the independence of the senders and recipient’s location (Kutera, 2011). Prior, all parties involved in a communication process were in some way bound to a location and, additionally, had limited access to information, when a secondary location had been chosen.
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This factor greatly influences business communication and are already widely used. For example, in 2011, the employees of 73.2% of Polish companies used mobile technology daily (Kutera, 2011). When mobile technologies are used correctly and are integrated in the communication process in a proper way, it can greatly increase the efficiency of the process itself. The communicated content can be structured by relevance through conditional prompts for example and might lead to a necessary quick reaction to “issues, problems and market opportunities” (Kutera, 2011). Also, mobile technology often leads to a higher integration of a wider range of employees, since information and communication can be spread wider.
Other functions of mobile devices, that can lead to a more efficient business communication are for example interfaces for videoconferencing/chat sessions/document sharing/etc., “comments and whiteboarding” for teamworking, using multiple ways of communication during one session, communication about the same content and topic other devices (Kutera, 2011). Think about the case, where the manager of a branch office, located on another continent is taking part of a meeting in the headquarters by utilizing the functionality of a videoconference and being able to make a presentation at the same time. The potential efficiency gain is enormous. All those functionalities and many more can help, especially in business environments of high dynamic. Therefore, the technology has to be integrated in the process in a proper way and should not lead to confusion. Also, often employees are complaining about being constantly accessible and connected with their work. Negative factors have to be taking in account as well as the potential advantages.
Business communication is communication happening in an environment with a lot competition, thus, using communication in an unethical way is one of the easiest ways of manipulation gain advantages over others. But good communication always played a crucial role in the success of companies. Therefore, companies have a high interest in their employees communicating in an ethical way. Next to the motivation to do so, there also has to be common understanding of ethical communication. Aspects of ethical communication are that all information are complete and in the communication included, that the information are true in every sense and not “deceptive in any way”, that the information are transferred in an appropriate language, without any kind of exaggeration, manipulation or discrimination, that negative information are not hidden by an optimistic attitude, that opinions are states as opinions and clearly distinguishable from facts and that graphic data are portrayed fairly, which means for example, that rations are not selected in a way, that the recipient will be lead to think about the meaning of the data differently (Raja, 2016). Those aspects can in general be derived from a “well developed sense of social responsibility” (Raja, 2016). Unethical communication will threaten the quality of communication and can have consequences the companies and their employees, while ethical communication in general shows respect, fairness and responsibility. Therefore, it often motivates and attracts high quality people in general.
Another factor of ethical communication is transparency. It is something that swings through all of the aspects. Utilized by mobile technology, social media are being widespread today. Social media has already greatly influenced our society and life in all areas. Through social media the number of recipients, that can be reached by almost every individual, is almost unlimited. This is a huge factor when it comes to a new awareness of transparency. It is argued that “individuals have turned a common Internet tool into a method of making inequities transparent” (Whitney, Meyer & Olds, 2011). Social media sites like Facebook are being used to promote free speech and share information also to countries, where the press is limited and traditional media is not free, being under some control or not even visible. Alone 52 million Facebook users were from America in 2010 (Whitney, Meyer & Olds, 2011).
The amount since then has kept growing, and Facebook users all over the world are connected with each other. While so many information of different sources is being shared on just one social media platform or at least just a few, it often is very visible and clear when information is standing in conflict to each other (Whitney, Meyer & Olds, 2011). Also due to social media, there is now a much wider range of potential sources. While the ways information would be passed from one country to another was very limited before the social media era, today even locals can report information directly to the world. The public has obtained an opportunity to not only rely on the information provided by traditional media and government.
