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Chapter I

INTRODUCTION

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Chapter I

INTRODUCTION

1.1 INTRODUCTION TO STUDY

“A Study of Organizational Communication Practices and their role in Organizational

Development – with special reference to IT Industry in Pune”, this research study aims to

study the organizational communication practices followed in IT companies and their role in

organization development in Pune. This study is a proactive approach of understanding the

different organization communication practices and their role in organization development.

1.1.1 Organizational Communication

Organizational communication, broadly speaking, is: people working together to achieve

individual or collective goals. People can relate to each other only through some form of

communication. The survival of an organization depends on individuals and groups who are

able to maintain among themselves effective and continuing relationships. Stephen P.

Robbins (2001) defines an organization as a “consciously coordinated social unit composed

of two or more people that functions on a relatively continuous basis to achieve a common

goal or set of goals”1. We organize together to achieve what we cannot accomplish

individually. If we can understand organizational communication, we will understand the

organization itself. Communication plays a crucial role in the functioning of organisations. In

fact, just about everything an organization does require communication. It is an inseparable,

essential and continuous process just like the circulatory system in the human body. As a

result, communication effectiveness becomes a very vital factor in determining the efficiency

with which an organization performs as a whole (Jigisha Dholkia 2002)2. According to

Deborah Tannen, communication isn’t as simple as saying what you mean. How you say

what you mean is crucial, and it generally differs from one person to another, because using

language is learned social behaviour: How we talk and listen are deeply influenced by

cultural experience. Although we might think that our ways of saying what we mean are

natural, we can run into

___________________________________________________________________________

1. Stephen P. Robbins; Organizational Behavior; 9th edition Prentice Hall International, Inc.

2. Jigisha Dholakia; Some Aspects of Organizational Communication In India: An Empirical Study;

www.iimahd.ernet.in/publications/data/2002-03-02 JigishaDholakia.pdf

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trouble if we interpret and evaluate others as if they necessarily felt the same way we’d feel if

we spoke the way we did3.

Communication can be defined as "the transfer of meanings between persons and groups".

The purpose of communication may range from completing a task or mission to creating,

maintaining and satisfying human relationships. The word transfer means more than the

simple process of "packaging" an idea as conceived by a sender and transporting it to the

mind of a receiver, where it is "unpackaged". It implies the creation of meaning in the mind

of a sender followed by a re-creation of the same meaning in the mind of a receiver. If

something occurs along the way to change the sender's original meaning, the communication

has failed in its intent. Communication may be considered a functional part of an

organizational system, and it may be considered in an interpersonal context. Simon (1957)

puts it quite simply: “Without communication, there can be no organization”4

Kathryn A. Baker discussing its importance as “organizational communication, perhaps more

than any other aspect of organizational theory and practice, has been subject to dramatic

change. Before 1920, communication in small organizations was largely informal. As

organizations increased in size, formal top-down communication became the main concern of

organizational managers. Organizational communication in today’s organizations has not

only become far more complex and varied but more important to overall organizational

functioning and success”5.

Researchers have found that effective communication has a positive impact on employee

satisfaction, productivity, turnover, and morale. It is also observed that when employees have

access to open and better communication they will be highly motivated and give their best to

the organization. It is also found that when there is an adequate flow of information and ideas

among employees, productivity is enhanced and confusion, duplication and unproductive

conflict will be minimized. On the contrary ineffective communication results in

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3. Deborah Tannen; The Power of Talk: Who Gets Heard and Why; Harvard Business Review; September 1995

4. Simon, H. A. (1957). Administrative Behavior (2nd Ed.). New York: Macmillan.

5. Kathryn A. Baker; Organizational Communication; www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/doe/benchmark/ch13.pdf

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misunderstanding, damaged relationships, broken trust, anger and hostility. Ineffective

communication may stem from poorly aligned strategy, failure to execute the strategy, the

wrong communication vehicle, bad timing or even nuances such as word choice or tone of

voice.

Communication is the core process of organizing ((Weick 1979)6. Organizational

communication as an academic discipline embraces the study of symbols, messages, media,

interactions, relationships, networks, persuasive campaigns, and broader discourses within an

organization – be it a corporation, governmental agency, religious institution, social

movement, or the like (cf. Cheney et al. 2004)7. In an international perspective,

organizational communication is a flourishing field of research.

Freeman’s research identified a range of internal stakeholders including line

management (boss and boss’s boss), team members, and other internal groups (related

departments, subsidiary managers)8.

Welch and Jackson describe internal communication as “…the strategic management of

interactions and relationships between stakeholders within organisations across a number of

interrelated dimensions including internal line manager communication, internal team

communication, internal peer project communication and internal corporate communication”9

1.1.2 Key Functions of Communication

Neher (1997) identifies the primary functions of organizational communication as:

• Compliance-gaining

• Leading, motivating, and influencing

• Sense-making

• Problem-solving and decision-making

• Conflict management, negotiating, and bargaining. 10

______________________________________________________________________

6. Weick, K. E. (1979). The social psychology of organizing (2nd ed.). Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley

7. Catrin Johansson ; Research on Organizational Communication; The Case of Sweden; Nordicom Review 28 (2007) 1, pp. 93-110

8. Freeman, R.E. (1984), Strategic Management: A Stakeholder Approach, Pitman, Boston, MA.

9. Mary Welch, Paul R. Jackson, (2007) "Rethinking internal communication: a stakeholder approach", Corporate Communications: An

International Journal, Vol. 12

10.Neher, W.W. 1997. Organizational Communication – Challenges of Change, Diversity, and Continuity. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

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Neher (1997) and Rogers and Rogers (1976) emphasize the social and organizational

functions of organizational communication as a whole rather than focusing on the functions

of specific communication exchanges. Thus they combine the functions of informing,

directing, and regulating into the broader category of behavioral compliance. They also give

greater emphasis to the role of communication in managing threats to organizational order

and control, identifying problem solving and conflict management, negotiation, and

bargaining as key functions of organizational communication11.

1.1.3. Importance of Organizational Communication

Organizational communication becomes increasingly important to overall organizational

functioning. For example:

• Work is more complex and requires greater coordination and interaction among

workers

• The pace of work is faster

• Workers are more distributed

• Simultaneous, distributed work processes are more common

• Knowledge and innovation are more critical to an organization’s competitive

advantage

• Communication technologies and networks are increasingly essential to an

organization’s structure and strategy.

Communication between managers and employees has not changed, in spite of organizational

changes towards more decentralization and self-managed groups. New theories on leadership

emphasize the important role of sense-making, and both managers and employees speak of

the importance of dialogue. However this rhetoric is not put into practice, concludes

Simonsson (2002)12.

The study of organizational communication is not new, but it has only recently achieved

some degree of recognition as a field of academic study. It has largely grown in response to

the needs and concerns of business. The first communication programmes were typically

located in a key element of study. The study of organizational communication recognizes that

speech departments, but most business schools now include organizational communication as

__________________________________________________________________________

11. Kathryn A. Baker; Organizational Communication; www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/doe/benchmark/ch13.pdf

12. Catrin Johansson; Research on Organizational Communication; The Case of Sweden; Nordicom Review 28 (2007)

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communication in organizations goes far beyond training managers to be effective speakers

and to have good interpersonal communication skills. Moreover, it recognizes that all

organizations, not just business organizations, have communication needs and challenges.

Myers and Myers (1982) define organizational communication as “the central binding force

that permits coordination among people and thus allows for organized behavior,” and Rogers

and Rogers (1976) explain that “the behavior of individuals in organizations is best

understood from a communication point of view.”13

Employee communications: means the provision and exchange of information and

instructions which enable an organisation to function efficiently and employees to be

properly informed about developments. It covers:

• the information to be provided

• the channels along which it passes

• the way it is communicated

Employee/organizational communications refer to communications and interactions among

employees or members of an organization. Cutlip and Broom emphasized the terms internal

communications and organizational communications to mean the same thing.14

This researcher also used these terms interchangeably.

Internal communication also provides employees with important information about their jobs,

organization, environment and each other. Communication can help motivate, build trust,

create shared identity and spur engagement; it provides a way for individuals to express

emotions, share hopes and ambitions and celebrate and remember accomplishments.

Communication is the basis for individuals and groups to make sense of their organization,

what it is and what it means.

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13. Kathryn A. Baker; Organizational Communication;

www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/doe/benchmark/ch13.pdf

14.Cutlip, S. M., Center, A. H., & Broom, G. M. (2006). Effective public relations (9th Ed.).

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1.1.4 Purpose of Communication

“Communication is transfer of information from one person to another, whether or not it

elicits confidence. But the information transferred must be understandable to the receiver” –

G.G. Brown.

1.1.5. Process of Communication

A generation ago, it was perfectly acceptable for the leader of a business to work out of sight

in a plush office, only appearing for an occasional rally of the troops or to tackle a crisis.

These days, people want to see and hear their leader on a daily basis. Crucially, they also

want to feel that they know their leader, which means treading a fine line between creating

the distance that is necessary between leader and followers (necessary because, at some point,

you might have to exert your authority or fire them), while creating a sense of closeness and

intimacy.

Many leaders see communication as a one-way street. They often describe their

communication strategy in terms of “telling, informing, cascading or briefing”. When it is

coming to assessment of the quality or organizational communication, senior managers

always say it was excellent, but those at receiving end would complain that it was poor and

crucially, that no-one ever listens to them.

Obviously there is a world of difference between information and communication, and

between telling and sharing. There comes the two-way communication. The first is that two-

way communication is the only way that a leader can stay in touch with reality. A leader can

quickly become isolated from reality if they lose touch with what is really going on in the

business.

The leader is far more likely to earn the trust, respect and loyalty of their followers if they

listen to what their followers have to say. As we have seen, modern leadership is based on

forming a relationship of mutual trust and respect between leader and follower, and that

cannot happen if the leader does nothing but issue orders from above, without taking into

account the opinions of people who are doing most of the work. It's relatively common to

hear the complaint in business that a team is not listening to its manager, but that is usually

because the manager is not listening to the team.15

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15. Jeff Grout & Liz Fisher; What You Need to Know about Leadership, published by Capstone

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When communication is viewed as a two-way process, the understanding of meaning and

interpretations of messages is crucial to positive communication. To make the

communication, positive, individuals need to be responsible in both speaker and listener roles

so that they share a clear and accurate understanding of their messages.

The process of communication between two people includes seven basic elements:

1. The intentions, ideas, feelings of the sender and the way he/she decides to behave, all of

which lead to his/her sending a message that carries some content.

2. The sender encoding his/her message by translating his/her ideas, feelings, emotions, and

intentions into a message appropriate for sending.

3. Sending the message to the receiver.

4. The channel through which the message is translated.

5. The receiver decoding the message by taking it and interpreting its meaning.

6. The receiver responding internally to this interpretation of the message.

7. The amount of noise that interferes with communication.16

1.1.6. Communicating Vision & Mission

“Vision without action is a daydream. Action without vision is a nightmare.” - Japanese proverb

Organizations often devote extensive resources to developing a vision and strategic goals,

then do little to ensure that employees understand these objectives.

A recent survey, carried out by employee engagement company Tinypulse, revealed that just

42% of employees know their company’s vision, mission and values.

Now what are these vision and mission?

• A mission statement is a statement of the purpose of a company, which

should guide its actions, overall goals and decision-making.

• A company vision details the company’s ambitions: if the mission statement is the

“how”, then the vision is the “what”.The mission statement, vision and values are an

important way of defining what the company goals are, what the business stands

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16. Lauren Bressett, Debbie Cheever, Lisa Townson, Penny Turner Communications New Hampshire’s4-H Communication Series for

Leaders; University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension

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for and what makes it special. Even the company’s business plans change according to the

market, the values are most likely to remain the same. An integrated internal communication

strategy provides a focused plan for communicating the company’s mission, vision, values,

and goals and why they matter to employees.17

Successful businesses of all sizes have developed a workforce that understands the mission,

goals, values, processes and procedures of the company. This understanding is communicated

via formal two-way internal communication methods that support the business strategies of

the company with the same consistent message being conveyed externally.

Researchers use several terms at the same time: for example, organizational communication,

internal communication, and employee communication. In this study these three words used

interchangeably.

1.1.7. Effective Internal Communication

Effective communication is a lot more than just updating people with what is going to

happen. It is managers have to sell the benefits of the change. Effective internal

communication can ensure that all members of an organisation are working towards a

common goal and assisting each other effectively. Successful communication strategy should

be developed around the best media for reaching everyone, such as meetings, newsletters, e-

mail, and workshops.

Openness in communication:

Openness is the key to facilitate effective work communication in the workplace. Supporting

open channels of communication and team sharing, collaboration as well as creating an

environment for resolving conflicts supported by openness in communication.

Building trust through open communication requires sharing important information in a

timely and efficient manner. All the information required to complete the tasks of their

positions and establish clear guidelines for the dissemination of other company information

are crucial to practicing openness of communication in the organization.

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17. TINYpulse Engagement survey 2013

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Adequacy of information

Communicating too little creates a vacuum that causes distrust and speculation. However, too

much information can result in information overload or the paradox of plenty in which an

overabundance of information is ignored.

Effective internal communication strives for “information adequacy,” which is a measure of

the relationship between information needed and information received (Rosenfeld, Richman

& May, 2004)18.

Effective methods of communication

Selecting the optimal internal communication approach rests as much on expectations and

beliefs of employees as on potential efficiency of message delivery. Employees tend to

evaluate communication channels based on their expectations for those channels (Cameron &

McCollum, 1993).19

Face-to face communication which allows for nonverbal communication as well as for

immediate feedback is a richer communication vehicle (Daft and Lengel, 1986)20.

Many employees purport to prefer email as an information source, even while noting the

overload of messages they receive each day (Cubbage, 2005). 21

In this research, the researcher studied about the different methods are face-to-face,

telephone, intranet/e-mail, company website, internal newsletters, notice board, meetings,

staff handbooks, Brochures and Social media.

Some Benefits of Effective Internal Communication

When any organization is communicating effectively with its internal stakeholders, whether

they are employees, management or volunteers, it develops a cohesive culture where

everyone is focused on the same goals and has the same objectives. By working within a

cohesive culture; all these stakeholders can work more efficiently together and collaborate

more effectively.

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18. Rosenfeld, L.B., Richman, J.M. & May, S.K. (2004), “Information Adequacy, Job Satisfaction and Organizational Culture in a Dispersed-network Organization”, Journal of Applied Communication Research, Vol. 32 n. 1, . 19. Camoron GT, McCollum T (1993); Competing Corporate Cultures, A Multi Method Cultural Analysis of the role of the Internal Communication. Journal of Public Relations Research, Vol. 5 n. 4, 20. Daft, R. L. and Lengel, R. H (1986), “Organizational Information Rrequirements, Media Richness and Structural Design”, Management Science, Vol. 32 n. 5, 21. Cubbage, A.K. (2005), “Inside Voices”, Currents, Vol. 31,

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In this process

i. Employees can make more decisions themselves since they have the tools and

knowledge to know the "right" decisions in line with the organisation’s goals;

ii. Staff can identify better with the goals, mission and procedures of the

organisation, which can result in a sense of "making a difference" and increase

effort and efficiency;

iii. Programmes and departments share more resources and information resulting in

less duplication of work and stronger impact as a whole organisation

iv. Day-to-day conflict can be reduced since a lot of conflict is the result of

conflicting ideas on what is important to the organization;

Main Principles of Effective Internal Communication

Many organizations often fail to strategically plan their internal communication. They do not

give much important to internal communication like external communication. Often, internal

communication either arbitrary or incomplete and if planned, tends to be planned only in

reaction to specific events like downsizing. However, effective internal communication

should be planned, not only to deal with specific issues, but for the long-term well-being of

the organisation.

Some basic principles to keep in mind when creating strategic internal communication plan

are:

• Develop a long-term focus

• Identify clear values for organisation

• Define the specific goals for internal communication strategy

• Use comprehensive, pervasive methods

• Be consistent in messages

Goals of Internal Communication

The goals of internal communication include:

• Contributing to internal relationships characterised by employee commitment;

• Promoting a positive sense of belonging in employees;

• Developing their awareness of environmental change; and

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• Developing their understanding of the need for the organisation to evolve its aims in

response to, or in anticipation of, environmental change.

• Rethinking internal communication: a stakeholder approach.

Organizational Development

Organizational Development (OD) is an evolving set of techniques centered on changing or

creating an organization. OD has a basis in psychology and behavioral science. It builds on

the relationships between people, seeking to define and improve organizational relationships

between employees, customers, workers and the organization itself. OD emphasizes

employees as a company's strongest asset and encourages work toward protecting, enhancing

and mobilizing the human aspect of business. Not surprisingly, OD relationship-building

techniques require a good deal of open, consistent communication (Roslyn Frenz)

1.1.14. Organization Development – The Concept

Beckhard (1969) defines Organization Development (OD) as "an effort, planned,

organization-wide, and managed from the top, to increase organization effectiveness and

health through planned interventions in the organization's processes, using behavioral-science

knowledge."

Warren Bennis has referred OD as a response to change, a complex educational strategy

intended to change the beliefs, attitudes, values, and structure of an organization so that it can

better adapt to new technologies, markets, challenges, and the dizzying rate of change itself.

OD is neither "anything done to better an organization" nor is it "the training function of the

organization"; it is a particular kind of change process designed to bring about a

particular kind of end result.

In Pareek’s (1986) view, ‘OD is a planned effort, initiated by process specialists to help an

organisation develop its diagnostic skills, coping capabilities, and linkage strategies in the form of

temporary and semi-permanent systems, and a culture of mutuality’.

Organization Development deals with the gamut of “people problems” and “work systems

problems” in organizations - poor morale, low productivity, poor quality, interpersonal

conflict, intergroup conflict, unclear or inappropriate leadership styles. Poor team

performance, inappropriate organization structure, poorly designed tasks, inadequate

response to environmental demands, poor customer relations, inadequate alignment among

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the organization’s strategy, structure, culture, and processes, and like. In short, where

individuals, teams and organizations are not realizing their potential, OD can improve the

situation.

1.1.15. Organization Development Endeavor

Nowadays employees expect more form a days work than simply a day’s pay. They want

challenge, recognition, a sense of accomplishment, worthwhile tasks and meaningful

relationships with their managers and coworkers. When these needs are not met, performance

declines.

• Better adaptability of the organization to its environment.

• Willingness of members of face organizational problems and help solve them,

• Bring improvement in organization process like interpersonal and intergroup relations

openness, communication, trust and understanding, etc., and

• Improve organizational performance and innovativeness.

In this background, the factors of Organization Development dealt by the researcher are

i. Decision making: Decisions need to be made wisely under varying circumstances

with different amounts of knowledge about alternatives and consequences.

Decisions are concerned with the future and may be made under conditions of

certainty, conditions of risk, or conditions of uncertainty. Under conditions of

certainty, managers have sufficient or complete information and know exactly

what the outcome of their decision will be.

ii. Management Effectiveness: Management effectiveness is the degree to which

management actions are achieving the goals and objectives agreed for a protected

area. The evaluation of management effectiveness provides a formal way to learn

from successes and failures and help people understand how and why

management practices are being adapted.

iii. Goal Setting: Setting goals and priorities at the beginning of each performance

cycle builds the foundation for successful performance.Goal setting may be

organization-wide, department-wide, individual, or integration of the three. Goal

Setting specifies desired outcomes toward which individuals, teams, and

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organization should work. It is a collaborative process between the employee and

his manager or supervisor.

iv. Organization Restructuring: Restructuring is a common phenomenon,

undertaken by many organizations on a regular basis. In this volatile and ever

changing corporate world, companies reinvent their business strategies to remain

competitive and productive. Change is inevitable and organizations which are not

flexible or are unwilling to change eventually will become unstable with long term

stability and survivability is in question.

v. Teamwork: Mutual understanding and valuing of differences is important for an

effective work team. Team spirit emerges from shared values and purposes which

allow each person to contribute based on his or her strengths. Teamwork is a

mental and emotional preoccupation in individuals in group situations which

motivate them to help each other for achieving group goals and to participate in

the work responsibility. Teamwork is a tool for increasing working creativity,

which implicitly leads to consolidation of job satisfaction. Focus and attention to

effectiveness and efficiency of working teams requires teamwork spirit [13, 14] so

that members or elements of working teams are able to do team work and team

activity. The way of interaction and activity of members is important and crucial

in success or failure of the teams, thus teamwork culture should be

institutionalized in the organization prior to formation and establishment of

working teams.22

vi. Self-Directed Teams: Self-directed teams represent potentially one of the most

productive forms of employee involvement to ever come down the crest. Since

team roles within self-managed teams are much more fluid than in hierarchical

teams, team members may have increased discretion over their work, which can

lead to greater motivation and improved performance. Team members may also

have greater freedom to complement each other’s skills. Finally, team leaders can

act more strategically, resulting in fewer surprises and purposeful team

development, since they are freed from some of the management tasks required of

team leaders in hierarchical teams.

___________________________________________________________________________

22. Masoud Ghorbanhosseini; The Effect of Organizational Culture, Teamwork and Organizational Development on

Organizational Commitment: The Mediating Role Of Human Capital www.expertmagazine.com; ISSN 1330-3651(Print),

ISSN 1848-6339 (Online)

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Employee Empowerment: Employee empowerment is critical to any organization leads to

positive results for employees, their managers, and their organizations. Business leaders and

generally agree that empowered employees exhibit a higher degree of loyalty, commitment,

and productivity. Researchers say that employee empowerment ensure organizational

competitiveness is maintained and that an organization would be flexible, considering the

changing economy world-wide.

Some other OD features are

• Managing Change: Working across departments, committees, and various groups to

plan and facilitate change across the organization as a whole.

• Managing Talent: Helping the management properly assess the current workforce,

ensure that everyone is in the job that best suits their experience, and match abilities

to placement.

• Meeting Design: Designing and facilitating meetings which work efficiently, both in

terms of problem solving and time management.

• Redesigning Business Processes: Taking a discrete business process, analyzing it

with the relevant group, and making changes to optimize efficiency and utility.

• Group Problem Solving: Identifying a key problem, working with a group to

develop constructive problem solving techniques, and tackling the best solutions.

• Developing Team Cohesion: Bringing a team together for common purposes and a

common mission; ultimately, increasing efficiency and efficacy.

• Effective Communication

1.1.16. Role of Organization Communication in Organization Development

“The art of communication is the language of leadership.”— James C. Humes

Organizational Communication or Internal Communication has evolved over the last decade

yet its reputation as the soft touch of the communications family is difficult to shake.

The fundamental roles of Internal Communication in businesses today:

• Strategic Advisor,

• Tactical Advisor,

• Leadership Communications Coach, and

• Change Enabler.

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Organizational internal communication according to Scott Cutlip’s (1985) definition should

identify, create and maintain mutually beneficial connection between the organization and its

staff whom its success and failure depends on.

According to another definition (Bevan and Bailey, 1991) internal communication is such a

process, in which an organization shares its information, builds commitments and manages

the changes. As the main factor in the motivation and performance of staff, communication

plays an important part in the competitiveness of the organization.

Internal communication as a field of the work of the organization is made and changed in the

work connection among the members of the organization.

The components that contribute to Organization Development include organization structure,

vision, mission, communication practices, strategic goals, hierarchical structure, leadership

skills, daily operational activity, corporate knowledge, and the degree of success in

communicating these components within the organisation. Decision making, management

effectiveness, goal setting, organization restructuring, team work, self-directed teams,

employee empowerment play a major role in organization development.

Research by international consulting firm Watson Wyatt identified key communication

differences between high-performance and other organizations

• High-performing organizations focus on communicating with and educating their

employees.

• Communications programs in high-performing organizations place a greater

emphasis on helping employees understand their business, its values and culture,

its progress toward goals, and how employees can improve performance.

• High-performing organizations do a better job of explaining change.

• High-performing organizations provide channels for upward communication and

listen to what employees say.

1.1.17. IT Industry

India’s economic growth is rapid and happens as a result of focussing more on service-led

industries like IT, telecom, media, hotel, banking and other. These industries require the skills

of educated, young, and talented people. Here this research intended to IT industry which is

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young and growing industry with new age management. With entering of Business Process

Outsourcing, IT industry in India came in to contact with multinational companies all over

the world. The India the world probably knows as the world’s largest democracy and second

most populus nation (1.2 billion people). In the same time, India is to become worlds’ fastest

growing economy by 2014-15. The Indian Information Technology industry has 5.19% share

in the country’s GDP, is one of the biggest job creators in India (2.5 Million People). Half the

world’s outsourced IT services come from India, amounting to a $46 billion.

Work force in IT industry is relatively young and better educated. In the same time, attrition

rate is also high, as employers no longer have the devotion once they enjoyed from their

employees.

With tremendous growth, informing employees and empowering them to talk competently

about strategy and the direction in which the business is heading is crucial for IT

organizations. The most important is ensuring the employees fully understand business

decisions and are able to link these decisions with their everyday roles. One more challenge is

to make sure that the management’s effort putting in collating information and disseminating

them through various vehicles (e-mail, newsletters, employee handbooks, pod cast, etc.,) is

really worth it.

The internal communication space is still nascent in India. But, recently IT companies are

recognizing its importance and thriving for it.

In Aniisu K Verghese’s words attrition is looming as a challenge for the IT organizations,

especially in India. Unlike earlier, compensation isn’t going to be a reason for shifting

companies. Among the key drivers are avenues for growth, opportunities to learn, options to

accumulate wealth, get to work on challenging project, and receive real time recognition.

Internal communication therefore, will play an integral role in keeping employees aligned

and focused on the organizational goals, while emphasizing the staff’s role in the journey.23

This research aimed to find out the internal communication practices and its role in

organization development.

23.Aniisu K Verghese; Internal Communications: Insights, Practices and Models.; Sage publications

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1.2. NEED OF THE STUDY

Communication is the base to the functioning of organizations. Communication processes

play a part in maintaining and developing organizations. Organizational communication is

organized as the hierarchy of the organization; it is regarded as its interactional expression.24

Internal communication is a complex and dynamic process, any organization, which is

communicating effectively with its internal stakeholders, whether they are employees,

management or volunteers, it develops a cohesive culture where everyone is focused on the

same goals and has the same objectives. By working within a cohesive culture; all these

stakeholders can work more efficiently together and collaborate more effectively.

Considering the dynamic changes happening in the use of communication methods,

organization should follow these changes and change themselves according to.

Organizational development aims at creating a friendly and stress free working atmosphere

where workers are encouraged and motivated to work efficiently for the profitability of the

company. Such an atmosphere at the place of work facilitates better working environment so

that workers work enthusiastically. As a result, their efficiency as well as productivity is

enhanced; this is necessary for the healthy growth of any business enterprise.

The insights from Organization Communication and Organization Development theory can

teach us more about the different aspects of communication during organizational change and

provide ways for improving change communication. This is important because research

shows that poor communication is a major barrier to change

Organizations with highly effective communication and change management practices are

more than twice as likely to significantly outperform their peers’ verses organizations that are

not highly effective either of in their areas. Six activities influence overall change success are

leading, communicating, learning, measuring, involving and sustaining. 25

24. Eva Tariszka- Semegine, PhD; Organizational Internal Communication As A Means Of Improving Efficiency; European

Scientific Journal July edition vol. 8, No.15 ISSN: 1857 – 7881 (Print) e - ISSN 1857- 7431

25. Capitalizing Effective Communication -How Courage, Innovation and Discipline Drive Business Results in Challenging

Times Communication ROI Study 2009/10,

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1.3. STATEMENT OF RESEARCH PROBLEM

The study of Organizational Communication Practices and their role in Organizational

Development – with special reference to IT Industry in Pune researches the

organizational/internal/employee communication practices following in IT Companies.

Companies always strive for organization development. Here

organizational/internal/employee communication practices play a major role, as

communication is life blood of any organization. This study intended to find the role and

relation between Organization communication and organization development.

1.4 .OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

1. To study the organizational structure of the IT industries in Pune.

2. To study communication practices in IT organization

3. To study Organization Development practices in IT Industry

4. To study the role of communication in Organization Development in IT industry.

5. To develop communication model for Organization Development in IT industry.

1.5. HYPOTHESES

H1. Modern communication practices enhance the effectiveness of communication.

H2. Organization structure plays an important role for the purpose of communication

H3. Organizational communication practices contribute to Organizational Development

1.6. NATURE OF THE STUDY

Nature of the study is descriptive. This includes surveys and fact-finding enquiries. The

major purpose of descriptive research is description of state of affairs as exists at present. In

descriptive studies, the researcher gathers details about all aspects of a problem situation.

Irrespective of the problem’s complexity it is necessary to design the research efficiently.

Unlike exploratory studies, descriptive studies come under formal research, where the

objectives are clearly established, and the main characteristics of this research is that

researcher has no control over the variables, on can only report what has happened or what is

happening.

In the present study, the researcher put efforts to understand the organizational

communication practices following in IT companies. How effectively the modern

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communication practices and methods are useful for organization development in terms of

decision making, management effectives, goal setting, organization restructuring, teamwork,

self-directed teams and employee empower empowerment. The researcher made a model of

relation between organizational communication and organization development.

For this purpose, the researcher gathered details about various aspects of organizational

communication and organization development, and put best efforts to design research

effectively. Further researcher also aimed at framing clear research objective for the purpose

of detail investigation.

1.7. SCOPE OF THE STUDY

This study is applicable to all the IT companies situated in Pune. This study aimed at

studying organization structure of IT companies, understanding the different communication

practices using to communicate the relative work information to the employees, and to find

the effectiveness of different communication methods and practices following in IT

companies. This study also aimed to see how these employee/organizational/internal

communication practices are playing any role in organization development.

The effectiveness of communication in the sense of openness of communication, adequacy of

communication and effective methods of communication in the view of both employee, and

manager will help to know about the communication practices in the organization.

Organization development factors studied are decision making, management effectiveness,

goal setting, organization restructuring, teamwork, self-directed teams, and employee

empowerment

Further this study aimed to prepare a communication model for organization development in

IT industry in Pune.

1.8. SIGNIFICANCE OF STUDY

Dover (1964) identified three eras of internal communication.

The first is “Dealing with the employee” which was popular in the 1940s.

The 50s were characterized by “informing the employee” and 60s by “persuading the

employee”.

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Grunig and Hunt named the 70s and 80s the era as the symmetrical internal communication

or in other words “starting a communication with the staff”.26

Communication helps the employer to know how a job is being performed and to improve

performance if it is not up to the mark. Communication acts as a source of information and

helps in the decision making process and helps in identifying the alternative course of action.

In the current business scenario, no business can survive in isolation. Socializing is very

important and communication is the tool that helps in socializing. Apart from the other

functions of management, it also helps in the controlling process of management. It allows

the managers to know about the grievances of the subordinates and helps the subordinates to

know about the policies of the organization. Communication is one of the basic features of

management. It is instrumental in raising the morale of the employees.27

In organization development, internal/employee communication play a major role.

The research output of this study will focus and provide information about

• The communication practices generally used in IT organizations,

• How effectively these organizations are utilizing the modern communications

practices and

• How these communication practices are helpful for organization development.

• In this process, the researcher developed a model for the relation between

organization communication and organization development.

1.9. RESEARCH APPROACH

In this study the researcher has formulated statement of research problem, research

objectives, and hypotheses. In order to strengthen and develop the coverage of research study,

an effort is made to undertake the exercise review of literature. This helps to develop the

theoretical framework of research exercise. In review of literature, a selective structured tailor

made approach is adopted, the structured analysis of review of literature is categorised into

five spectrums. First spectrum focused on review of related research articles written by well-

known academicians and research scholars. The researcher meticulously selected different

books and research articles on organizational/internal/employee communication and

organization development to develop conceptual background.

___________________________________________________________________________ 26. Eva Tariszka- Semegine, PhD; Organizational Internal Communications A Means of Improving Efficiency: European Scientific Journal July edition vol. 8, No.15 ISSN: 1857 – 7881 27. http://www.edukart.com/blog/importance-of-effective-communication-in-an-organization/

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The second spectrum was about study of different organization communication theories

wherein the researcher has undertaken the exercise of review of benchmark theories of

organization communication theories proposed by various research scholars.

The third spectrum involves in study of organization/internal/employee communication

initiatives taken by selected IT organizations. Here an attempt was made by researcher to

review organization/internal/employee communication initiatives taken by top IT

organization around globe.

Fourth spectrum was developed to review communication techniques used for proper and

successful communication in IT organizations.

The fifth spectrum focuses on relation between organization/internal/employee

communication and organization development. This spectrum helped the researcher in

making an integrated theoretical approach, and making a model for the said relation.

Further for the purpose of logical and scientific enquiry the researcher developed ‘Research

Design’. It includes, Research Methodology, Sampling Design, Sources of Data Collection

and tool used for Data Collection, Statistical Tools used for Data Analysis and

Interpretations.

Primary data was collected from the employees of IT companies in Pune, which analysed by

using software like Microsoft Excel, SPSS 17. Based on the data analysis, interpretations

research outcome was identified and documented as findings and conclusions were drawn for

the research study. At the end, researcher’s own contributions were discussed. From the

research contribution researcher identified research limitations. This can be taken up as a

scope for further study by the same researcher or any other researcher.

1.10. LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

2. This study is conducted in IT organizations only situated in Pune City.

3. Demographical information not collected as majority of employees in IT

Organizations are youngsters and combination of male and female employees sharing

equal responsibility. This can be a limitation.

4. Many organizations are reluctant to give the information citing confidentiality.

5. The study period under consideration is restricted to three years (2011-2014) only..

6. This limited to employee internal communication.