IMPACT OF WRITTEN COMMUNICATION ON ORGANIZATIONAL PERFORMANCE (A CASE STUDY OF AKWA IBOM STATE POLYTECHNIC)
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Communication is a means of bringing about change. It is the mainstream of any organization growth. There is need form interaction and understanding of management-employee relations this will bring about increased performance of all parties involued in the communication process or chain. According to Banihashemi (2011), communication as a medium, a means to performance ends, or as constitutive, as the end in itself. Written Communication is a process of transmitting information from one person to another in a written form. According to Stephen (2011), communication is a critical factor in directing and mobilizing the workforce towards the accomplishment of the organizational goals or objectives. By creating understanding it enhances co-operation and promote effective performance. According to Williams (2007) smart managers understand that the end effective, straight forward communication between managers and employees is essential for success.
According to (Mckinney,Barker, Smith& Davis,2004) written communication is essential to effective team performance and communications for any organization is like blood flow in the human body. Therefore any organization that understands the importance of communication uses it in their organizational environment. Since, it ensures coordination of factors of production and most importantly material and human elements of organization as an efficient network of change and advancement. According to Snavely (2001) as cited by Robins(2006), communication process is initialed through the following means the sender-encoding-the message-the channel decoding- the receiver- noise and feedback. It is estimated that managers spend over 80% of their day communicating with others. Since most of the basic management process- planning, organizing, leading and controlling – cannot be performed without effective communication most especially in a written form that is written communication to enhance future reference and evidence of communication.
Importantly, the relevance of communication keeps advancing as the world becomes a Global village. The need to become visible to the world has made many organizations to embrace new technology that would increase organizational performance. Many of sure organization is Akwa Ibom State Polytechnic, as it explores the e-learning and e- training to empower its staff and student in the use of the internet in communicating policies, lectures, staff development and lot more. This would stand as a mile stone for the polytechnic as a whole networked for effective communication and performance. Therefore it becomes important to emphasize on innovation and effective use of written communication medium or channel to bring about high performance rate. Hence any breakdown in communication process or chain can have serious adverse effects on organizational performance.
Furthermore knowing fully that poor communication rank as the single most important reason that people do not advance in their career as stated by Lepsinger & Luacia (1997) it becomes necessary that Governing Council of Akwa Ibom State Polytechnic determines the best “channel” in transmitting “messages” to their staff or student for effective and positive feedback. Thou there are many barriers to written communication; filtering, selective perception, information overload, personal bias, language and communication apprehension. Hence management must try to address these barriers for effective result.
Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to identify the roles played by management in transmitting and managing information to increase the performance of its staff. Written communication brings about high performance. However, the future of AK Poly to inform and weigh the opinion of its staff before introducing new methods and technology has adversely affected the relationship between the employer(management) and employee(staff) in the polytechnic. Firstly we shall explain briefly the concepts, importance of written communication, relationship between communication and organizational performance. Also empirical studies would be gathered and analysis would be made using our area of study; Akwa Ibom State Polytechnic, Ikot Osurua.
Many industrial disputes originate due to failure in written communication. Hence it is important to stress that in written communication, emotions, environment, psychological and technical characteristics of the medium is relevance to enhance the organizational performance. In the view of Okoye (2004), psychologically transmission goes beyond reception of information but understanding and feedback. Most organizational conflict has been traced to breakage in communication as supported by (Lee, 2003; Scott, 2004). According to Chudi –Oji (2013), In spite of the laudable roles of effective written communication in improving organizational performances, it is regrettable that some faculties pay lip service to the maintenance of effective written communication systems. Change is a gradual and continuous process, giving room for inputs and adjustments.
Furthermore, the constant delay in accessing information by staff seems to limit their academic performance, which could create maladministration in coordinating of organizational activities. Therefore, performance of employees in relation with their duties and responsibility seems to question their communication techniques in terms of performance in The Polytechnic.
Exposure of staff to the innovations in the Polytechnics in terms of communication channels have experienced shortcoming which if not adequately addressed may lead to poor performance of the Polytechnic in the stream of affairs among other tertiary institutions. These problems mentioned above, has posed the following questions that would guide the study and thereby enhance quality of impact of written communication in Akwa Ibom State Polytechnic.
- To find out if Akwa State Polytechnic make use of written communication.
- To find out whether written communication has hasten the organization performance in Akwa Ibom State Polytechnic.
- To assess the level of understanding of written communication in Akwa Ibom State Polytechnic.
- To find out how efficient are members of staff on written communication.
1.4 Research Questions
- Do Akwa Ibom State Polytechnic make use of written communication?
- Has written communication hasten organization performance in Akwa Ibom State Polytechnic?
iii. What is the level of understanding of written communication in Akwa Ibom State Polytechnic?
- How efficient are members of staff on written communication?
1.5 Scope of the Study
The research on the impact of written communication on organizational performance covers all areas of written communication and little on other forms communication in Akwa Ibom State Polytechnic.
1.6 Significance of the Study
