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similarities of quoted (listed) or unquoted
enterprise, Heath (1994) also states clearly
that people are the heart, soul and sinew of
companies: ‘through communication and the
creation of meaning they co-ordinate and
focus their efforts’ (Heath, 1994).
Argenti (1998) turned to Aristotle’s account
of the roots of modern communication theory
where Aristotle defines the composition of
speech and this is later applied to modern
communication needs in the Munter communication
theory (Figure 6.1). Munter extends the
Aristotle definition to managerial communication
and adds two other elements including
channel choice (or media) and cultural context.
Belmiro, Gardiner, Simmons, Santos and
Rentes (2000), when discussing communication
change in organizations, suggested a
much higher concern by management to the
issue of corporate communication: ‘it had
been constantly suggested that it is better
over-communicating with the workforce than
missing opportunity for lack of it’. Young and
Post (1994) in Belmiro, Gardiner, Simmons,
Santos and Rentes (2000) argue that the more
communication the better, the more informed
the better, and the better you train the people
in operating a feedback system to create discussion,
then the better will be the business’s
performance.
Standards
The Conference Board Europe (1999) preface
a comprehensive study of communication
practices by US communication officers in
forty-one industries and businesses with the
comment that failure to communicate effectively
can be a competitive disadvantage,
and argue that the public, the media, regulators
and special interest groups are intensifying
their examination of corporate activities
and demanding higher levels of accountability.
It is clear that in the early 1990s there was
concern in financial and corporate America as
to the valuable function of business information
and public confidence in it. The Jenkins
Report, commissioned by the American Institute
of Certified Public Accountants (1994) to
improve the value of listed enterprises, business
information and public confidence in it,
Message
Channel choice
Communicator
Audience
Response
Cultural context
Figure 6.1 Munter communication theory
Source: Mary Munter, Guide to Managerial Communication, 4th edn, (Upper Saddle River, NJ, Prentice Hall, 1997) in Argenti, 1998
© 2004 Sandra Oliver for editorial matter and selection;
individual chapters, the contributors