Importance Of Writing, Speaking And Listening In International Business Communication
Communication is one of the basic thing in life. People may buy product and using services with communication. In the business world, communication become more and more important. It is the essence of organisation to lead forward among its competitor. According to Mary Ellen Guffey by good communication in organisation one may be able to work successfully in all team environments especially if members do not meet face to face (Guffey, 2007). Therefore, communication skills are very important in business. Writing is the most popular method being used in business activity such as meeting, writing report and presentation. But there are also other communication skill that are important while doing business such as listening, speaking skills and other non-verbal communication. This essay aims to elaborate and analyse which communication skills are more important in business rather than writing in international business communication.
It is undeniable that writing is very important in international business communication especially in other businesses include email, Internet websites, letters, proposals, telegrams, faxes, postcards, contracts, advertisements, brochures, and news releases. All of this can be evidence because it is detail and can become an evidence in legal cases to proof something. Writing is so straight forward because the reader can see the words and do not need to ask the writer to write again because the message is clear (Hartley & Bruckmann, 2002). According to Fayol, instruction from manager to workers to do a job through writing is the best method in maintaining organisation efficiency (Miller, 2009). In example, a manager can tell his employee to work overtime through an email. This can also saves time to go talk face to face with the employee. Same goes to if an organisation want to discuss about their business with their partner in other country. They can just email to them instead going to their country just to discuss several issues.
Nevertheless, there are also some disadvantages of writing. For instance, unlike oral communication, wherein impressions and reactions are exchanged instantaneously, the sender of written communication does not generally receive immediate feedback to his or her message. This can be a source of frustration and uncertainty in business situations in which a swift response is desired. Another thing is written also open to individual interpretation, that mean the reader may also misunderstand the message if the words are not clear and this will lead to misunderstanding of the message. A written message can also be exposed to leak of company information. Therefore, a written communication in an organisation also have some disadvantages although it have great advantages.
Another method of communication that is important in international business communication is speaking. By speaking the receiver of the message can observe not only the message but also the gesture of the speaker and how they react while sending the message. According to Schermerhorn, Hunt, Osborn and Uhl-Bien in their books Organizational Behaviour, speaking which is a two way communication have a faster feedback than writing and it is more effective although it will be more costly and time consuming (Schermerhorn, Hunt, Osborn, & Uhl-Bien, 2010). Speech is a more powerful means of persuasion and control. Therefore, executives often prefer to transmit messages orally especially with the help of variations in the tone, pitch and intensity of voice, the speaker can convey shades of meaning. This factor also contributes to the effectiveness of oral communication.
Spoken communication have many advantages but there is also some disadvantages of spoken communication. In speaking, messages are difficult to record. So it is impossible to preserve the message for future (Miculka, 1999). It is also expensive media of communication. On the other hand Technological devices that are used in this system are also costly. Sometimes the receiver also confused with the message that the sender trying send. This can be affected by speaker gesture and face expression. In addition, speaking have a good advantages in business communication but still there are also disadvantages from other factor depending on the situation.
Another important factor of communication in business is listening. This is considered important because without listening an employee might do their work not effective as it would because of the wrong interpretation of messages being sent. Most importantly is when the organisation are dealing with other organisation that have different cultures and languages. They have to be more careful when dealing with other organisation with different accent which is so hard to understand but by good listening this will override any misunderstanding that might occur. According to Hayes Poor listening undermines the ability to communicate with others’ (Hayes, 1991). In order to be a good listener, one must give full attention and eliminate any barrier that could occur and prevent the listening process.
But still, there are also some disadvantages of listening such as too many barriers, different culture, and language and very hard to adapt the listening skill. For example if the listener lose his focus just for a while in an important meetings, this could ruins the meeting especially when dealing with international business. Therefore, a listener must really concentrate and adapt the listening skill such as following skills where the listener gives some respond while a person is talking and eye contact so the speakers know the listener is paying attention to him.
After comparing three kind of communication that can be used in international business communication, we can see that all of the communication are seems to be important and very related in international business communication. But we will analyse the use of these communication in some situation which will show which communication are the best to be used for.
On decision making, the most important is to collect information on how to make a business decision and this usually needs writing and speaking skill to make it work. The writing skills were used to collect information and speaking were used after the data being collected. While discussing, listening will take part to ensure the discussion will achieve their target which is decision making. This process shows how important these three communication skills in business activity.
In giving instructions or making a guidelines for employees, writing may be the best channel to interpret the instruction so the message will be clearly state what the organisation want and this will also be a proof if there is a disputes. This is also useful when dealing with a person that have a low level of English and written message such as email can have a quicker feedback and precise information on what to discuss. There is also a situation where speaking is more efficient than writing, in example in the small organisation, speaking is more efficient than writing because of small office and in that situation listening play an important role on following the task given by the employer (Beamer & Vamer, 2001).
In conclusion, the choice of channel can have an important impact on the communication process. Some people are better at using certain channels over others, and specific channels are better able to handle some types of messages. In the case of the team leader communicating with the division manager, for example, it can make quite a difference whether the message is sent face to face, in a written memo, by voice mail, or by e-mail. Therefore, it is important to get rid of the communication barrier by choosing the most effective communication depend on the situation and person especially when dealing internationallly. But still a lot of important data such as report, company guidelines, business profiles and prospectus is still using the writing channel because these documentation were needed in legal activities. Although it is a classical way of communication it is still considered most important nowadays. In addition, a mix of communication channel are important depending on person, culture and situation of the business organisation.
 
References
Beamer, L., & Vamer, I. (2001). Intercultural Communication in the Global Workplace. New York: McGraw-Hill Irwin.
Guffey, M. E. (2007). Essentials of Business Communication. Ohio: Thomson.
Hartley, P., & Bruckmann, C. G. (2002). Business Communication. London: Routledge.
Hayes, J. (1991). Interpersonal Skills: Goal-Directed Behaviour at Work. London: Routledge.
Miculka, J. (1999). Speaking for Success. Cincinnati: South-Western.
Miller, K. (2009). Organizational Communication. Boston: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.
Schermerhorn, J. R., Hunt, J. G., Osborn, R., & Uhl-Bien, M. (2010). Organizational Behaviour. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons Inc.