As a discipline, business communication draws on linguistics, semantics, rhetoric, psychology, sociology, graphic design, management, marketing, economics, and information technology. For this reason, different authors typically select specific aspects of communication in business on which to focus. The following related areas of study have evolved over time:
- Managerial Communication:
The term, managerial communication, usually refers to an emphasis on communication strategies for achieving specific short-term objectives.
- Organizational Communication:
Organizational communication usually refers to established communication networks and the communication flow within organizations.
- Human Relations and Team Building:
Over the past 30 years or so, business and industry have increasingly recognized the importance of good interpersonal communication between and among those who work together. Such skills are also important to the success of customer relations programs and strategic alliances. By whatever name, courses on these topics typically cover the fundamentals of understanding other people, differences in perception, differences in motivation and other common behavioral strategies, establishing rapport, developing mutual respect, and reaching consensus.
- Sales Communication:
Sales communication includes all communication specifically designed to produce sales, from media-based advertising, to telephone solicitation, to direct-mail advertising.
- Report Writing:
As the term suggests, report writing focuses on written reports, typically including everything from short, informational memos to letter reports (basically long letters that include headings and other report-writing techniques), to complete analytical reports. Books on this subject often include the fundamentals of primary and secondary research, techniques for data analysis, and analytical and presentation graphics.
- Communication Technology and Electronic Communication:
Whether word processing, page layout and graphic design, electronic mail (email), electronic conferencing, Internet-based services, audio or video conferencing, or multimedia presentations, the technology we use to communicate—information technology—has changed radically over the past few years.
These changes, especially since the advent of the computer, have altered the way we think about communication, and we have yet to see the end of these changes. The ways in which information (computer) technologies and other communication technologies, such as enhanced telephone services, are becoming increasingly interdependent is typically referred to as digital convergence or technological convergence. Car phones, cell phones, and pagers help ensure that one can communicate from virtually anywhere to virtually anywhere else at any time, and email has recently become the principal means of exchanging written communication.
As the volume of communication increases, the chance of information overload also increases, which reduces the impact of individual messages.
- International Communication:
International communication, also referred to as intercultural communication, focuses on the ways in which cultural differences influence communication expectations and behavior, including the length of time it takes to establish business and personal relationships, differences in the conception of time itself, differences in nonverbal communication, and differences in perceptions as they are influenced by language and culture.
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