Communication Systems in Modern Business Management Structures - Needs, Requirements and Solutions

Politechnika Wroclawska

Communication Systems in Modern Business Management Structures – Needs, Requirements and Solutions

Michael Kuhn

Table of contents

1. Introduction ... 1

2. Modern approaches to communication systems in business management ... 2

2.1. Communication and communication models ... 2
2.1.1. Communication ... 2
2.1.2. Communication models ... 2
2.1.3. Classification of communication ... 4
2.1.4. Communication scenario ... 5
2.2. Communication systems ... 6
2.2.1. Development and evolution of business communication systems ... 6
2.2.2. Types of communication systems ... 8
2.2.3. Features of communication systems ... 9
2.3. Modern Business ... 10
2.3.1. Modern Business ... 10
2.3.1. Modern business and e-business ... 11
2.3.2 Fields of modern business ... 11

3. Business Structures and Communication Needs ... 13

3.1. Communication in modern business ... 13
3.1.1. Communication flow in modern companies ... 13
3.1.2 Relation between company size and business communication ... 14
3.1.3. Integration of different media ... 15
3.1.4 Knowledge management ... 16
3.1.4.1. General knowledge management ... 16
3.1.4.2 Explicit and implicit knowledge ... 16
3.1.4.3 Structural, organizational and technical needs ... 17
3.1.5. Communication policy ... 17
3.1.5.1 Communication policy ... 17
3.1.5.2. Communication charter ... 18
3.1.5.2. Security ... 19
3.1.5.3. Openness ... 19
3.1.5.4. Rational communication ... 20
3.2. Hierarchy and management in modern business ... 20
3.2.1. Hierarchy and management in modern business ... 20
3.2.2. Hierarchy and communication flows ... 20
3.2.2.1. Hierarchy and communication flows ... 20
3.2.2.2. Virtual structures ... 23
3.2.2.3. Logistics and supply-chain-management (SCM) ... 25
3.2.3. Management style and communication ... 25
3.2.4. Business process standards ... 26
3.2.5. Workflow and workgroup oriented communication ... 27
3.2.6. Value of communication and economical aspects of communication systems ... 28
3.3. General needs and requirements ... 28
3.4. Summarizing overview of needs and requirements ... 29

4. Communication systems in departmental business management and some proposals ... 32

4.1. Comparison of communication systems for modern business ... 32
4.1.1. Comparison of communication systems for modern business ... 32
4.1.2. HiPath 3000 ... 32
4.1.2.1. HiPath 3000 and its applications ... 32
4.1.2.2. Summary ... 35
4.1.3. Octopus F650 ... 35
4.1.3.1. Octopus F650 and its applications ... 35
4.1.3.2. Summary ... 37
4.1.4. SOPHO 2000 IPS ... 38
4.1.4.1. SOPHO 2000 IPS and its applications ... 38
4.1.4.2. Summary ... 39
4.1.5. Conclusion ... 39
4.2. Examination of the company XYZ and the HiPath 3000 communication server ... 40
4.2.1. Description of the company XYZ ... 40
4.2.2. Handling analysis of requirements and needs by the HiPath 3000 communication system in the company XYZ ... 40
4.2.3. A SWOT analysis for the company XYZ ... 44
4.3. Conclusion ... 45

5. Conclusion ... 46

6. References ... 47

6.1. Books ... 47
6.2. Scripts and other sources ... 47
6.3. Internet sources with data and time of accession ... 48

8. List of tables ... 56

7. List of figures ... 56

9. Table of abbreviations ... 57

1. Introduction

Since the beginning of mankind until today uncountable many inventions took place and prepared the base for an unbelievably fast development. Compared to the age of our planet the time period between the invention of the wheel 5000 BC [50] and the first computers like the British “Colossus computer” or Konrad Zuse’s “Z machine” is not more than a tiny moment. This development would have been impossible without directed communication, as well as sharing and storing of knowledge.
The invention of the computer laid the foundation for the change from the industrial age to the today’s information age. As the term “information” already implies, the economical focus in this age has changed from industrial production to information and information processing. This means that today the value of information is significant for economics and business. However, information gets a value just when it is exchanged, which makes it necessary that communication takes place. Otherwise nobody would be interested in buying or selling information. In today’s business information can be exchanged in various ways. Communication can take place between people; it can be an interaction between a person and a computer or between computers only. For all these interactions communication systems are necessary. They have a wide range of structure and specification, depending on the media and contents which have to be communicated. These systems shall provide the infrastructure for an effective work which helps to save money and time and at the same time helps to remain compatible and to develop further.
In the here presented diploma work I will focus on “Communication Systems in Modern Business Management Structures – Needs, Requirements and Solutions”. This means that I will examine needs and requirements which are set by modern companies to communication systems and which solutions are offered to them. Therefore, I will focus in the next chapters on the following aims:

1. Definition of communication systems and modern business
2. Description and definition of needs and requirements which are set by business structures and communication processes in modern business management
3. Presentation of three communication systems and comparison of their possibilities with defined needs and requirements
4. Conclusion about the application of communication systems in modern business

In my diploma thesis I will not deal with the exact hardware and software details, but give a general overview about today’s communication needs and requirements in modern business.

2. Modern approaches to communication systems in business management

2.1. Communication and communication models

2.1.1. Communication

Communication is “something” which is done everyday and everywhere in the world and not only by human beings. It also takes place in the flora and fauna and even between somatic cells. The communication scientist Klaus Merten has counted around 160 different definitions for communication [116], which leads of course to dissimilar ways of understanding when using this term. The basic definition for the term “communication”, as it will be used in this diploma work, is the following one:

Communication (Latin communicare „share, communicate, let participate, make together, unify) means at the human level the interactive exchange of thoughts by speech, gestures, facial expressions, writing or pictures.
In a more extended meaning communication is an interactive transmitting of data or signals which have defined a meaning, between animals and plants and technical objects or systems. [43, translated into English by myself]

In a general understanding one may say that communication is the exchange of information between a transmitter and a receiver. This means that without information no communication takes place and without communication no information can be exchanged. Norbert Szyperski, a German professor, states that communication and information have a Siamese twin character [7, p.7] and therefore information and communication have to be treated together. This detail explains also the fact that the term “information management” is much more common than “communication management”, as both terms implicate the idiom “information and communication management”. As the title of this diploma work contains the words “communication system”, the content of this thesis focuses mainly on the question how systems communicate and which features these systems need for a successful application in modern business. Obviously it is not possible not to refer to the term “information”, but it is limited to the in my understanding necessary minimum.

2.1.2. Communication models

Scientists have developed many different communication models and theories which are necessary for the understanding of the processes connected to the event “communication”. A very popular communication model was developed by Claude E. Shannon and Warren Weaver. Originally this model [133] was created in 1948 for optimal communication in military, but was later used for scientific explanation of interpersonal communication. The model shown below in figure 2.1. presents the communication process by Shannon and Weaver with its single elements. These are:

• information source/ transmitter
• encryption
• message
• channel
• decryption
• destination/ receiver

Figure 2.1.: Schematic diagram of a general communication system (only available in download-version)
Source: [133, p.2]

The aim of Shannon and Weaver was a free of loss data transaction via electronic channels. This means that data signals are split from background noise and it is being tried to recognize errors which appear during the transmission and to correct them.
The following example of a telephone call shows how communication scientists understand this model. The message of the information source is encrypted into impulses and transmitted via the telephone cable to its destination. There it is decrypted into language when it leaves the telephone receiver and then the message reaches its destination. The noise, which can interfere or disturb the communication, can have various appearances like for example a bad telephone connection or different languages or cultural backgrounds between source and destination.
Both interpretations of Shannon’s and Weaver’s communication model have a big meaning for the use of communication systems in modern business management, as the later chapters will show more clearly.
A great importance for communication and its understanding has not only the noise which can appear, but also the transmitted message itself, like the model of the communication cube in figure 2.2. shows. This model was developed by Friedemann Schulz von Thun, who expanded and combined the research results of Paul Watzlawick [49] and Karl Bühler [48]. The communication cube is also called “4-side-model” and presents the four levels of a human message, which are always included during the communication of a message.

Figure 2.2.: Communication Cube (only available in download-version)
Source: [110], translated into English by myself

These levels are the content of the message, the self-revelation (I-message), the relation between the transmitter and the receiver (you-message and we-message) and the appeal (what the transmitter wants the receiver to do.) [142]. Often not all four levels are considered by both the transmitter and the receiver, which leads to misunderstandings and misinterpretations. Watzlawick states that it is not possible not to communicate [49]. The communication cube proves this statement, as during the social contact between two people “something” is exchanged, which can be verbal and/or nonverbal.

2.1.3. Classification of communication

Communication can be classified in various ways. Therefore the following list can just be considered as a collection of examples, which have in my own opinion high relevance for the topic of this work.

1. One method is the breakdown of communication into vertical (asymmetric) and horizontal (symmetric) one. This means that the communication takes places between elements which are either not on the same hierarchical level (asymmetric) or on the same hierarchical level.
2. Communication can also be classified as verbal or nonverbal. Thereby verbal includes the words, which we say, and nonverbal communication involves gestures, facial expressions, pitch, volume and intonation. Sometimes nonverbal communication is split up into paraverbal (how we say words) and nonverbal (body language) communication. Scientists estimate that between 80 to 93% of communication is realized by nonverbal communication [3, p.8] [128]. This amount has a significant meaning for the use of technical communication systems, as the possibilities to use nonverbal communication is quite limited depending on the single communication media.
3. The differentiation into small group and large communication has a great influence on the communication need of modern business since small groups interact and communicate in another way than global enterprises. Therefore requirements of communication systems in enterprises depend in a large scale also on the company’s size. This will be discussed in detail in the next chapter.
4. The time and position components of communication are features which have become very important factors. Communication may be divided into synchronous and asynchronous communication. Synchronous communication happens at the same place, for example a business talk in the office, or takes place over a long distance, for example a telephone call between Poland and Germany. The opposite one is the asynchronous communication, which is normally connected with a location difference, for example an email which is sent to someone and which is saved on a server until this person picks it up. Communication through a blackboard in a company is also asynchronous, as employees will read the information when they pass by and not necessarily immediately after the message has been written down on the board.

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