ORGANIZATIONAL COMMUNICATION

Organizational Communication

Organizational Communication

Introduction

The need for competent communication dates back to the beginning of time. It has always been necessary to have effective and appropriate interaction among citizens who are equipped with the skills, knowledge, and motivation to sustain a progressive citizenry. The term communication competence applies to a range of interconnected fields of study that focus on broad aspects of socialization and interaction, including identity studies, as communication competence depends on an understanding of one's own identity and the identity of the other. Conceptually, communication competence stems from knowing appropriate rules and behaviors in various communicative contexts and being able to comprehend the outcomes for both conforming to and violating operative norms. Communication competence assumes an ability to choose communication behavior that is appropriate for a given situation.

In lay terms, communication competence can be defined as being able to communicate effectively with others in various contexts. The average person sees a competent communicator as one who can articulate a message to an audience with the intended message being understood by the audience. Communication competence also encompasses the ability to reveal appropriate communication in a particular setting. Communication competence has been described as being related to concepts such as accuracy, clarity, flexibility, success, affection, empathy, and effectiveness. This entry provides an overview of communication competence, a discussion of interpersonal communication competence, an examination of organizational communication competence, a description of intercultural communication competence, and a connection between communication competence and identity.

The ambiguous nature of communication has yielded studies with different quantitative measures. Despite differences in the conceptualization of communication competence, there is consistency in examining cognitive, affective, and psychomotor domains, with most research focused on the psychomotor and least on the affective domain. A plethora of scales in various different disciplines exists. This overview focuses on four measures. The communicative competence scale assesses communicative competence of an observed other (the target person); a respondent completes a battery of Likert-type scale items assessing the competency exhibited by the target person in various social settings. The construct of cognitive communication competence measures one's own cognitions about one's own communication performances. The communicator competence questionnaire assesses interaction between persons in specific roles within an organization. This instrument measures one's perceptions of others' competence within an organizational setting. The Self-Perceived Communication Competence scale is designed to permit the respondent to define communication competence, allowing one to reflect on how competent one feels in a variety of communication contexts. Many of these measures assume a connection to interpersonal communication, a specific area of research in communication competence.

Interpersonal Communication Competence

Brian Spitzberg has made many contributions to our understanding of interpersonal communication competence. He views interpersonal communication competence as neither a trait nor a set of behaviors but rather as a perception people have about themselves or another person. We make competence judgments based on how we act in conversation. Interpersonal communication competence marks a conversation that allows for interpretation, understanding, and response to a context. Interpersonal communication competence is a way to achieve a communication goal without ...