THE EFFECT OF COMMUNICATION BARRIER ON ORGANIZATIONAL SUCCESS AT AIR PEACE AVIATION COMPANY
ABSTRACT
Communication skills help organization to achieve its established purpose and to stand the ground in challenging other competitors in the modern business environment. However, barriers to effective communication within an organization can occur as a result of; improper planning owing to inadequate thinking, lack of sound objectives, vague words, selecting improper platform; defective organization structure arising from lack of clarity of responsibilities and authority delegated and so on. This study seeks to examine the effect of communication barrier on organizational success at Air Peace Aviation Company. The study employed descriptive research design. The population of the study comprises of all staff of Air Peace Aviation Company. Data for the study were collected through the sued of questionnaire. The data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics of frequency and percentage which were used to evaluate the opinion of the respondents. Correlation analysis were used to test the hypotheses of the study. The result of the data analysis revealed that factors that led to communication barrier has negative effect on organizational success at Air Peace Aviation Company, communication barrier has negative influence on organizational goals at Air Peace Aviation Company and strategies put in place towards enhancing communication have significant impact on organizational goal at Air Peace Aviation Company. The study recommends that Air Peace Aviation Company should develop effective communication strategies since it will facilitate passing of information both within and outside the organization thus improving performance.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study
Every interaction by mankind is a form of communication. In a contemporary world of business, organizations cannot achieve their set goals and objectives without having effective communication with its workforce, suppliers, clients and customers. Every successful business organization and individuals in the world are entities that have understood the effectiveness of communication. In today’s global and challenging business environment, for an organization to stay profitable, it must be able to manage wisely all factors of productions (i.e. men, machine and materials), and for this to be achieved, effective communication is needed among all personnel involved in the process. Therefore, it can be said that, effective organizational communication plays an important role in this challenge.
Communication can be seen as a vital tool that has impacts among work groups towards attaining organizational goals. According to Eisenberg (2007), organizational communication is defined as the effective communication with one another in the environment of a business organization, which involves a number of activities such as sending and receiving of message via various layers of authority, using various message platforms, and discussing a range of topics of interest to the group or organization a person belong to. Air Peace Aviation Company is an organization where the importance and significance of effective communication is of utmost importance in the day to day running of the business operation.
Air Peace Aviation Company widely used communication in running almost all areas of its business operation, such as pilot communication to passengers, management communication to employees, employees’ communications to individuals and many more. Effective communication in Air Peace Aviation Company is essential for its business to succeed amidst other rivals. It cuts out on wasted time and provides both passengers and employees with the needed tools to succeed and find satisfaction in the company. Generally, when organizational communication is defective, the consequence will lead into an increase in production time and a decrease in the bottom line. Therefore, to avoid this end result, organizational management must ensure that effective communication is in place.
According to Kinicki and Kreitner (2011), communication is seen as the conveying of message or information from a person (sender) to another person (recipient or receiver) and the inference (perception) of meaning between the persons concerned. The breakdown of this connotes that communication is a two way process consisting of consecutively linked elements. Therefore, organizational management that understands this process can analyze their own communication patterns as well as design communication programs that fit into their organizational requirements. Effective communication isn’t just a crucial tool to Air Peace Aviation Company, but also, it is an important element in the day to day activities of mankind. Gamble (2010) as well opined that, communication is the heart of every business organization, and that, the way employees within an organization communicate with one another shapes our lives and business world. So, communication skills help organization to achieve its established purpose and to stand the ground in challenging other competitors in the modern business environment.
However, barriers to effective communication within an organization can occur as a result of; improper planning owing to inadequate thinking, lack of sound objectives, vague words, selecting improper platform; defective organization structure arising from lack of clarity of responsibilities and authority delegated, too broad spans of control and too long chains of command cause communication breakdown; semantic barriers occur when words are understood and interpreted in a different way by both sender and receiver; technical jargon, that is, using words or symbols that are odd to new fields like ICT with receivers having different educational and social background may cause misunderstanding of message; information overload occurs when an individual receives too much information within a limited time; sender using too many assumptions and wrong encoding of messages do not aid effective understanding, and as well as noise pollution within the organization.
It can be observed that communication will improve a business organization success, as it influence on the perception and opinions about its products and services, communities, governments, and even the society at large. Communication as a managerial tool is expected to share information with employees, to direct activities, to ease unnecessary managerial burdens and, rules and finally to enhance the performance of organization. Communication can be classified into two which are; verbal and non-verbal. Verbal communication connotes the use of words by mouth while communicating, while nonverbal communication connotes using mediums like writing, body language, etc. (Gamble & Gamble, 2002). The entire process of communication involves the information source (sender), the transmitter, noise source, recipient and destination. The information source is the sender of the message or information, which then uses a specific type of transmitter or medium like oral, written, telephone, etc., the recipient receives the message or information, however the message or information can be affected by a particular noise source, which can be a disruption from anyone or anywhere. The recipient afterward interprets the message and ultimately puts the communicated message in its destination, (Bryant & Heath, 2010).
Based on the forgoing investigation, it is quite essential to note that the managerial function and activities of Air Peace Aviation Company involves some kind of direct or indirect communication, which could be in the area of organizational planning, directing, and leading, where management find themselves communicating with and through others to achieve set goals and objectives. On the other hand, ineffective communication can obviously affect the performance of Air Peace Aviation Company; thereby leading to passengers’ dissatisfaction in the level of service delivery. So, effective communication is vital for employee job motivation and satisfaction towards organizational success, (Kinicki & Kreitner, 2011).
Convincingly and based on the above, it can be noticed that in all human organization, the understanding of communication cannot be overemphasized; this simply connotes that, it is the means through which individuals interact and work with another. Just like blood stream in individuals, communication embodies the bloodstream of a business organization. This implies that, without effective communication in the service industry, Air Peace Aviation Company cannot achieve its primary objectives. Therefore, communication skills are essential in all human and organization endavours.
It is on this note that, this study will examine the effect of communication barrier on organizational success at Air Peace Aviation Company.
1.2. Statement of the Problem
A number of business organizations disputes emanate due to barrier or failure in communication. Communication in organization is meant to be communicated in a manner that will be understood by both the sender and receiver. A successful communication will produce an effective result for the organization, customers, clients, and suppliers.
However, despite the commendable roles of effective communication in enhancing the performance of organization, it is quite unfortunate that a number of departments in several organizations still lack communication problems to their subordinates. Many organizations today are faced with communication barrier such as lack of effective communication process between leader and employee, improper way of transmitting information, the use of vague words and many others. To proof this point, a study conducted by Riccomini (2015) in a number of organizational study, reveals that the better the managers'''' communication, the more satisfied the employees will be in all areas of their work life. This simply connotes that, building a positive communication with employees is very paramount simply because employees are the best ambassador that represent the organization to the outside world.
Air Peace Aviation Company as a service company will require an effective communication towards organizational success. In order to achieve this, it is important that the management perform its key roles such as controlling, motivating, emotional expression and decision making. In a large organization like Air Peace Aviation Company, communication barrier is inevitable. Therefore, this study will attempt to identify some factors that led to communication barrier in Air Peace Aviation Company and to proffer solutions to it.
1.3. Research Objectives.
The general objective of this study is to investigate the effect of communication barrier on organizational success at Air Peace Aviation Company. More specifically, the study sought to:
- determine the factors that contribute to poor communication at Air Peace Aviation Company;
- find out the effects of these communication barriers in achieving organizational goals at Air Peace Aviation Company; and
- determine the various strategies used to improve communication barrier at Air Peace Aviation Company.
1.4. Research Questions
To achieve the objectives of the study, the research sought to answer the following questions:
- What are the factors that led to communication barrier at Air Peace Aviation Company?
- Does the effect of communication barrier have an influence on organizational goals?
- What are the strategies/ways of enhancing communication in the company?
1.5. Research Hypothesis
The following research hypotheses were poised in their null form for the study.
Ho: Factors that led to communication barrier has no effect on organizational success at Air Peace Aviation Company
Ho: Communication barrier has no influence on organizational goals at Air Peace Aviation Company.
Ho: The strategies put in place towards enhancing communication have no impact on organizational goal at Air Peace Aviation Company.
1.6. Scope of the Study
The scope of this study is restricted to the effect of communication barrier on organizational success. However, Air Peace Aviation Company, Lagos State will be selected as the study case. This study will make use of a structured questionnaire which will be administer to respondents as the primary source of data involved in the study.
1.7. Significance of the Study
The aim of this study is to examine the effect of communication barrier on organizational success at Air Peace Aviation Company. It is believed that, the findings of this study will help organization management to identify the weakness in its communication process, and how to overcome these weaknesses. In addition, it is expected that the findings of this study will not only benefit the management of Air Peace Aviation Company but as well as its employees, customers, suppliers, contractors and other organizations especially in identifying the origin, effects and ways in which communication is relayed.
1.8. Definition of Terms
Communication: is the process by which information is exchanged and understood by two or more people usually with the intention to motivate on influence behavior.
Communication Barrier: is anything that prevents us from receiving and understanding the messages others use to convey their information, ideas and thoughts.
Aviation: refers to the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry.
1.9. Organization of Chapters
This study is organized into five main chapters. Chapter two consists of the literature review that reveals the findings and research that already exists on the topic. Chapter three summarizes the scope and methodology used to organize and carry out this study. The discussion of the results after analysis of the findings and comparison to the information revealed within the literature review is conducted within Chapter four. Chapter five provides a summary of the study, its limitations and further recommendations.