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.
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.
The impact of effective communication in
every human organization cannot be over emphasized. It is reminiscent
to the function of blood within the human physiology. This is because it
is a process of creating, transmitting, disseminating and interpreting
ideas, facts, messages, opinions, feelings and information between one
person and the other. In fact, it is not an error of over claim to
contend that the standard of an organization’s productivity and
efficiency is directly and indirectly related to the standard of the
communication system and networks.
According to Andersen (2001),
enhancement of an organization's communication capabilities may
influence performance through improved strategic decision making, better
coordination of strategic actions and by facilitating learning from
strategic initiatives. The power of communication approaches is further
stressed by Juslin and Petri (2003) who studied the impact of
communication of emotions in vocal expressions on music performance.
In other words, communication is a
process that is essentially a sharing one - a mutual interchange between
two or more persons that would ensure that the entire system functions
as an organic whole (Hybel and Weaver II, 2001). It consists of the
content which can be the factual information, discussion points, formal
notices as well as the form of communication which are the memos,
reports and bulletins, just to mention three. The media which can be
face to face, written reports/memos, e-mail, fax, telephone, audio
(radio) and audio-visual which is the TV sets are also crucial. In fact,
in broadcasting, the medium is often said to be the message. This is to
underlie the role and importance.
Alexander Ode (2009); defines
communication as a process that makes common to two or several what was
the monopoly of one or some. It is also defined as the process by which
an individual (the sender) transmit stimuli to modify the behaviour of
other individual (the audience).
Many organization today have capsized,
some rapidly diminished, while some does not achieve the intended sales
level because they do not have a good communication system.
1.2 RESEARCH PROBLEM
The promotion and improvement in the
communication system of manufacturing industry is the sine qua non for
its strength of character, ability to withstand competition, flexibility
and profit maximization.
Further to this is the observation of
Andersen (2001) that enhancement of an organization's communication
capabilities may influence performance through improved strategic
decision making, better coordination of strategic actions and by
facilitating learning from strategic initiatives.
The primary aim of business organization
is survival, so to survive, business organization must not only design
an effective communication techniques or system but must also make a
substantial profit which Drucker (2000) refers to as “the cost of
staying in the business” in making sufficient sales volume, a business
organization must device a sound communication system which will be used
to evaluate their sales performance.
Therefore against this background, this
research intends to undertake and examine the impact of effective
communication on organization performance in manufacturing industry
using Global Soap and Detergent as a case study.
1.3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The objective of this study is to
critically examine the impact of effective communication on organization
performance of manufacturing industry in Nigeria with reference to
Global Soap and Detergent, Ilupeju, Lagos. The objectives of this study
are as follows:
1. To examine the relationship between effective communication and sales volume in the manufacturing industry.
2. To determine how effective
communication assists manufacturing organization to achieve
organizational goals and objectives in dynamic business environment.
3. To examine how effective communication affects profit maximization of manufacturing company.
4. To determine the contributions of effective communication on the organization’s productivity.
5. To examine how effective communication improves the manager-employee relation.
6. To determine the importance of effective communication in influencing employees to perform better.
1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
These are the research questions for this study:
1. How does effective communication assists an organization increase its sales volume?
2. To what extent does
communication assists manufacturing organization to achieve its goals
and objectives in dynamic business environment?
3. Does effective communications has significant effect on profit maximization of manufacturing company?
4. How does effective communication contributes to organization productivity?
5. To what extent does effective communication improves the manager-employee relation?
6. Does effective communication influences employees to perform better?
1.5 RESEARCH HYPOTHESES
H0: Effective communication does not have positive impacts on sales volume of Global Soap and Detergent.
H1: Effective communication has significant impacts on sales volume of Global Soap and Detergent
Ho: Effective communication does not contribute positively to organization’s productivity.
H1: Effective communication contributes positively to organization’s productivity.
Ho: Effective communication does not have significant impacts on organization profit maximization.
H1: Effective communication has significant impacts on organization profit maximization.
1.6 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
The ultimate aim of communication is to
develop management in pursuit of excellent. More over the outcome of
this study could be employed both in manufacturing industries and
service sector, which will enable them to device a good communication
system that will foster their sales volume and enhance their sales
output.
Effective communication will also be of
great importance to business organization by enabling them to determine
whether their sales performances are up to expected target. It will also
be of advantage to academics, as it will serve as foundation toward
greater in-depth and critical evaluation of effective communication in
an organization.
1.7 SCOPE AND LIMITATION OF THE STUDY
The scope of this study focused on the
impacts of effective communication on organizational performance in
Global Soap and Detergent, Ilupeju, Lagos. This project also covered
the concept of effective communication and its elements, conceptual
framework on communication, theoretical framework of communication,
communication efficiency, communication flow in the industry and
benefits of sound communication.
This study could have included other
aspects of communication but there was limited time available on the
part of the researcher to carry out an extensive investigation and high
cost of acquiring needed materials. Another constraint which served as
limiting factor was the unwillingness of the executives in the
organization to release their vital information without the approval of
the management.
1.8 DEFINITION OF TERMS
The researcher compiled some key terms used in this study which may be distinct from their conventional meaning.
Communication: The process by which ideas, feeling and information is expressed from one person to persons or between person to persons.
Effective: Adequate to accomplish a purpose; producing the intended or expected result.
Efficient: Performing or functioning in the best possible manner with the least waste of time and effort.
Conflict: This can be
defined as emotional or physical struggle when two or more people are
competing for the same resources, activities or goals which only one of
them can achieve expense of other.
Sales: is defined as
the pinnacle activity involved in selling product or services in return
for money or other compensation. It is an act of completion of a
commercial activity.
Employees: Longman dictionary of contemporary English (2001) sees employees as those who are paid to work for someone else.
Management: It is an act and science of getting things done through others.
Performance: Armstrong (2001) sees performance as the record of outcomes achieved.
Manufacturing: The process of converting raw materials, components, or parts into finished goods that meet a customer's expectations or specifications. Manufacturing commonly employs a man-machine setup with division of labor in a large scale production.
Industry: A basic category of business activity. The term industry is sometimes used to describe a very precise business activity (e.g. semiconductors) or a more generic business activity (e.g. consumer durables). If a participates in multiple business activities, it is usually considered to be in the industry in which most of its revenues are derived.