CHAPTER ONEINTRODUCTION1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDYCommunication is very important to the existence of human organization.The environment in which organization operate today is complex and comprisesphysical, cultural psychosocial, economics, legal, political, technical and othercharacteristics.It is in this environment that all organization must operate their business.They must among other analysis the character of economics and social problemand acknowledge that their policies are adopted and administered in a politicalsystem where concentration of power and self-interest has to be tacked.In addition, good communication network in the form of postal andtelecommunication has been interpreted by various meaning. Some regard it asmessage itself. Some feel it is the channel along which the message is passedwhile other term it as the cut off message, passing communication can thereforebe rightly defined as the process by which information is passed betweenindividual or organization by means of a previously agreed method (eitherverbal or written). In everyday life one seeks information from or passesinformation to them. This communication can be verbal (face to face ortelephone). Written (letter, memos, reports etc) or mechanical (secondingoriginal documents instead of transmitting the message in them). The most vitalmeans of receiving or sending information is oral communication.Osiegbu (1983:40) said that the factors that contribute to failure inimplementation of organizational objectives include lack of clarity of purposeand failure in understanding of objective policies and tasks at any level by anygroup or individual. Failure in communication or perception clashes of interestof value, gap between anticipated and actual event, degree of flexibility andcapacity of organization to respond to the unexpected all those by no means arepossible constraints to organizational intention but the major concern here is thebreakdown in management function due to no communication. In other wordhow “effective communication improves managerial performance”.Communication function is the means by which organized activity isunified. The means by which social input are fed into the social systems ororganization, the means by which behaviour is modified, change is effected,information is made productive and goals are achieved, be it business, themilitary, the government and so on.In a similar form, communication relates to exchange of facts, opinion oremotions by two or more persons in an organization. It could be word, letters,symbols or messages in a way that one-organization member shares meaningand understanding with another. On the other hand management is themanaging of a complex system of men, machine, money and the physicalstructure whose effective coordination is necessary in the production of aproduct or service that have economic value to the society. The practice ofmanagement also rest to a large extent on the role or part which individuals andgroups in the organization play and of course the way their activities areharmonized.Human beings are essentially crucial for the development growth andsuccess of any organization for it is the human beings that get things done. Thepractice of management involve taking charge and streamlining the activities oforganization member to ensure that as far as possible desired objective areactive.The activities are carried out by human being (personnel) and physicalfactors involve the equipment, tools and other material factors used to aid theachievement of the desired objective.Effective organization performance is realized when all persons andresources are synchronized, balanced and given direction whether managerialjob is accounting, selling, designing, engineering, the managers effectivenessdepends on his ability to listen and to read, or his ability to speak or write. Heneeds skill in his thinking across to other people as well as skill on finding andwhat other people are after.This implies that communication is needed to convey informationnecessary for the ongoing operation, and that it can have effect on the attitudesof people on the organization. Therefore communication is essential for bothinternal and external functioning of the enterprises because it integrates themanagerial function. It needs internally, include to develop plans for theirachievement, to organize resource in the most effective and efficient way to14select develop and appraise members of the organization to lead, direct,motivate and create climate in which people want to contribute and to controlperformance. It needs externally include, on the other hand the following firstand foremost. It is through information exchange that the managers becomeaware of the needs of customer, aware of the availability of supplies, the claimsof stockholder, the regulation of government and the concerns of thecommunity.In this way, the manager is aware of his opportunities and threats on hissurrounding environment and therefore knows his does and don’t e.g he thenknows whether to recruit staff or not, other managerial decision.The importance of communication cannot be over-emphasized. It can becompared to the blood that runs through the veins and arteries of human bodybecause the function of integration, maintained, orientation, decision makingand the growth of organization member are performed through it.1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEMThe environmental of managing may differ between large and smallbusiness, between business and other kinds of organized enterprises andbetween differing cultures in areas of economic and social development.The researcher therefore believes that managerial functions are basicallythe same but at various degree of performance. The researcher wants to examinehow effective communication holds the key to improved managerialperformance. Individuals with little or no qualifications find themselves holdingmanagerial positions in a company. This lack of a competence leads to wrongdecision making especially when subordinates are not consulted.Organizations also have some complicated chain of command, difficultand most times the chain of command is not strictly adhered to, the company assuch have overlapping authorities and responsibilities as subordinates becomeaccountable to more than one superior.Also most companies lack intra-communication facilities like intercomsand memos. This leads to ignorance on the part of the subordinate, about theaim and the objective of the company as well as the standard expected of them.This could lead to liaises-faire attitude to work, which is harmful to thegrowth and progress of the company. As a result of all the above problemsdiscussed, the researcher intends to help such companies by elaborating on howeffective communication can improve their performance.1.3 OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY(1) To describe the communication system in an organization.(2) To develop a model of the communication process.(3) To explain how communication improves managerial performance.(4) To identify barriers and breakdowns in the communication system.(5) To suggest approaches and techniques to improve the communicationsystem.