TECHNOLOGY AND COMMUNICATIONS

Using technology in communication has become a necessity, its now part of our lives. People
communicate through emails, faxes, Mobile phones, texting services, video conferences, video
chart-rooms and social media channels. As time goes on, more emerging technologies will
change the way we communicate and it will be up to us to embrace them or not. Lets look at the
impact or use of technology in communication both to individuals and businesses. Because
technology has completely changed how these two parties are communicating?
Impact of technology in communication to a business: Today, every business uses
technology in its own way to reach the media and targeted consumers. Also businesses have
embraced technology by easing communication with in companies and among investors and
suppliers. Below are a few uses of technology in communication to a business.

Easy Product Launch: During the past, companies and small business used to face a lot
difficulty in informing their consumers about a new product. A company had to pay for
expensive door to door marketing which could even take time to yield results. Now days,
things have become simple, through email subscriptions, companies will have data for
most consumers, so if they introduce a new item or service. The company will draft one
email with details about a new service or product and that message will be delivered to all
consumers in a minute. Now there companies online specializing in this type of
communication. A good example is .mailchimp. With their massive mail submission,
all your clients will receive the same message in a minute via email.

Product or service surveys: Before the invention of the internet, it was so difficult to
conduct a survey, most companies would pay money to magazines and place survey
forms and offer gifts to users who filled those surveys and mailed them back to the
company. Taking a survey is very important to a business, because that is how you will
know what your clients want and know areas of improvement. Now days, a business can
conduct a survey using social networks and provide users with incentives like gift
cards. This produces quick response and saves the company money and time.

Social interaction with consumers: With the recent invention of social networks like
facebook and twitter, business can create business pages then get followers for these
pages. The process is so simple and free. For some business , they set a budget for
building a fun base for their pages, so they use these pages to update and communicate
with their followers. A good example is Nordstrom this is one of the largest fashion
retail businesses in America. Nordstrom used its facebook page to update followers about
new items and discounts. A of today its facebook page has over 1,667,162 likes. See
page facebook.com/Nordstrom

Video Conferencing: Gone are the days when you had to wait for your boss to be in the
meeting to start a presentation. New technology enables your boss to be in the business

meeting while in a hotel in Hawaii preparing for a partnership or investors meeting. This
has been made possible by the invention of video conferencing.

Use of digital networks Phones and printers are all digitized, not like before when
communication was hindered by telephone lines. During bad weather, most the lines
would go off. Now with satellite and broadband transmissions, you can communicate
with any one at work or off work via their mobile phones. You can also send a file to a
printer while your at home and some one in the office gets the print out.

Impact of technology in communication to individuals.

Technology has changed the way we interact and communicate with other. With the
increased use of social based networks, people can create new relationships and also
discover old friends. With technology, parents can communicate and keep track of their
children. So communication has become easier and cheaper. Below are a few uses of
technology towards individuals.

Text messaging services: Keeping in touch with friends is very important, so text
messaging services have solved this problem by creating mobile phone apps, which
enable you text your buddies on instant for free. A good example is ebuddy . The buddy
chat service will allow you to chat with your close friends via text for free.

Social networking platforms: These social interaction networks have helped individuals
discover old school friends and also get new friends based on interests and region. Before
this technology, it would be next to impossible for you to find all your old friends and
interact with them on instant, share life and your past on instant. It would even be
difficult to get new friends from other countries. But now that barrier has been removed
by social networks like facebook.com

Parental security apps: Gone are the days when you had to lie your parents about your
location. Now with GPS tracking mobile apps, your parent will install this GPS enabled
app, and they can see where you are. These apps, also have maps which indicate red
zones, so you can tell if your child is in that area. When some thing wrong is detected, the
App will notify the parent that their child might be in danger. See example of such App.
SecuraTrac

Free internet calls: Friends can call each other for free using free internet call centers. A
good example is SKYPE. With skype software installed on my laptop, I can communicate
with my friends for free if they also have skype on their laptops. This software can also
be installed on smart phones. Get this software from skype

Use of emails: Even though social networks are trying to replace email communication;
there is certain information which users can not exchange via social networks. So email
services like yahoo mail, hotmail and Gmail. Have eased communication. Its now very
rare to find a person writing a letter, because that will involve posting it to a postal office
and paying delivery fees, which is not the case when you use electronic mail.

In conclusion, technology has transformed the way we communicate , it has created a big impact
in how businesses interact with consumers and how friends interact with each other.

There are 7 Cs of effective communication which are applicable to both written as well as oral
communication. These are as follows:
1. Completeness - The communication must be complete. It should convey all facts
required by the audience. The sender of the message must take into consideration the
receivers mind set and convey the message accordingly. A complete communication has
following features:

Complete communication develops and enhances reputation of an organization.

Moreover, they are cost saving as no crucial information is missing and no

additional cost is incurred in conveying extra message if the communication is
complete.

A complete communication always gives additional information wherever

required. It leaves no questions in the mind of receiver.

Complete communication helps in better decision-making by the

audience/readers/receivers of message as they get all desired and crucial
information.

It persuades the audience.

2. Conciseness - Conciseness means wordiness, i.e, communicating what you want to

convey in least possible words without forgoing the other Cs of communication.
Conciseness is a necessity for effective communication. Concise communication has
following features:

It is both time-saving as well as cost-saving.

It underlines and highlights the main message as it avoids using excessive and
needless words.

Concise communication provides short and essential message in limited words to

the audience.

Concise message is more appealing and comprehensible to the audience.

Concise message is non-repetitive in nature.

3. Consideration - Consideration implies stepping into the shoes of others. Effective

communication must take the audience into consideration, i.e, the audiences view points,
background, mind-set, education level, etc. Make an attempt to envisage your audience,
their requirements, emotions as well as problems. Ensure that the self-respect of the
audience is maintained and their emotions are not at harm. Modify your words in
message to suit the audiences needs while making your message complete. Features of
considerate communication are as follows:

Emphasize on you approach.

Empathize with the audience and exhibit interest in the audience. This will
stimulate a positive reaction from the audience.

Show optimism towards your audience. Emphasize on what is possible rather

than what is impossible. Lay stress on positive words such as jovial, committed,
thanks, warm, healthy, help, etc.

4. Clarity - Clarity implies emphasizing on a specific message or goal at a time, rather than
trying to achieve too much at once. Clarity in communication has following features:

It makes understanding easier.

Complete clarity of thoughts and ideas enhances the meaning of message.

Clear message makes use of exact, appropriate and concrete words.

5. Concreteness - Concrete communication implies being particular and clear rather than
fuzzy and general. Concreteness strengthens the confidence. Concrete message has
following features:

It is supported with specific facts and figures.

It makes use of words that are clear and that build the reputation.

Concrete messages are not misinterpreted.

6. Courtesy - Courtesy in message implies the message should show the senders
expression as well as should respect the receiver. The sender of the message should be
sincerely polite, judicious, reflective and enthusiastic. Courteous message has following
features:

Courtesy implies taking into consideration both viewpoints as well as feelings of

the receiver of the message.

Courteous message is positive and focused at the audience.

It makes use of terms showing respect for the receiver of message.

It is not at all biased.

7. Correctness - Correctness in communication implies that there are no grammatical errors

in communication. Correct communication has following features:

The message is exact, correct and well-timed.

If the communication is correct, it boosts up the confidence level.

Correct message has greater impact on the audience/readers.

It checks for the precision and accurateness of facts and figures used in the
message.

It makes use of appropriate and correct language in the message.

Business Communication And The Ethical Context

Outline

B.

C.

A.

Background to Ethical Context

Ethical Situations

Ethics As a Communication Issue

Ethics in Corporations An Historical View

Communication on Ethical Issues

Legal Issues

Key Areas for Ethical Communication

Ethics and Organizational Responsibility

Influences on Personal Ethics

People

Culture

Philosophy

Law

Religion

Ethical Situations

An Ethical dilemma is a complex situation that often involves an apparent mental conflict between moral
imperatives, in which to obey one would result in transgressing another. This is also called an ethical
paradox. Making ethical decisions is relatively easy when all the facts of a situation are known.

Ethics As a Communication Issue

We communicate our values and beliefs to others via verbal and nonverbal behavior.
We are defined in the eyes of others according to the way we behave.
We also need to communicate to others the importance and necessity of good ethics.
It follows that we have a responsibility to act in ways that promote honesty and fairness to maximize the
personal worth of each person in the organization

Ethics in CorporationsA Historical View

Companies have long fought the battle of corporate corruption. Because corporations are run by people and
no human being is morally perfect, ethical issues are bound to arise. How these issues are handled is the
best indicator of a corporations ethical commitment. Establish ethically moral behavior in your corporation
by taking the task seriously.
When company executives behave unethically, that behavior often ends up in the news. While most
companies have ethics policies, they don't necessarily enforce or even follow them. By incorporating ethics
into the very heart of the business and reinforcing the idea of ethical behavior, businesses can run
efficiently, legally and ethically.

Communication and Ethical Issues

Communicating ethically in the business arena challenges you on several levels.
Legal issues have an impact on you personally and on the organization to which you belong.
Legal issues in business communications become more complex with the advancing improvement to
technology. Use of new devices increases efficiency and allows for more productivity, but it also raises
legal concerns as a business worries about the erosion of privilege, interception of data or storage of
communications

Key Areas for Ethical Communication

Ethical treatment of a subject takes time, thought, and preparation. As a manager. It is important for you to
focus on ethical communication in three key areas:
Personal Written and Spoken Messages
Cross-Cultural Messages
Advertising Messages

Personal Written and Spoken Messages

Your messages, both written and spoken, demonstrated not only the message, you intended but also a message
regarding your values and integrity.
Use the guidelines to evaluate your purpose and motives in each situations.
The guidelines are:
1.

Message purpose

2.

Research methods

3.

Selection of material

4.

Development of ideas

5.

Use of language

6.

Ethical context

7.

Self-analysis

Cross-Cultural Messages
Never before have so many people from different cultures lived and worked together.
The world has become a global village, and the work force reflects that diversity. Because we have such
different customs and ways of communicating, it is natural that misunderstandings occur in the workplace.
The cross-cultural ethical outline will help you assess your ethicality in multicultural situations.
Cross-Cultural Ethical Guidelines:
1.

Cultural context

2.

Misunderstandings

3.

Language

4.

Accountability

Advertising Messages
It is ethically wrong to advertise products in ways that confuse. Whether promoting a college jazz event, a
gateway weekend, or a line of products for a multimillion dollar company, the rule for ethical advertising is
consistent:
Tell the truth, dont misrepresent , and dont manipulate language to create a false impression.
Ethical Guidelines for Advertising:
1.

Language

2.

Graphics/print

3.

Omission

4.

Truth

5.

Accountability

A resume is also known as CV or curriculum vitae. Resume is an influential and credible

summary of an individuals employment qualifications. There is no standard format for a resume.
It gives an idea to the reader that how you can be an asset to their organization. A resume should
be:
- Neat
- Have factual and relevant information
- Self describing
- Clearly indicate why you are best suited for this job
- Up to date
Resumes should be written not for yourself but for the reader. A good resume must be properly
planned, drafted and finally revised. Regard your resume as work in progress and give it a polish
every couple of months. You never know when you will be asked for it. Your resume needs to
recap and capture the spirit of our competency/whats best about you.
Resumes are of two types:
i.

Chronological Resume- These resume gives a quick brief up of what the candidate has
done in a timeline-beginning with the latest events and moving back in reverse
chronology. It stresses upon the degrees, job headings and the dates. Such a resume
demonstrates steady development/movement to the current time.

ii.

Skills Resume- These resume stresses upon the skills and competencies possessed and
used by the candidate, rather than the job and the date in which those skills have been
used. It is generally prepared when the candidate frequently changes his job or when his
education and experience do not harmonize/match with the position for which the
candidate is applying.

Dos and Donts in your Resume

1. Shouldnt be too long. It should not exceed two pages generally.
2. CV should be true and factual.
3. The first page should contain enough personal details for a recruitment consultant or
potential employer to contact you easily.
4. Choose a format that highlights key skills, key competencies, key achievements or key
attributes.
5. Your employment background should begin with your current job and work backwards.
6. List all relevant qualifications.
7. Do not include negative or irrelevant information.
8. Include details of training or skills development events attended.

9. Include personal details.

10. Use a very good quality paper.
11. Do not use a type size less than 11pt.
12. Typefaces such as Times New Roman or Arial should be used.
13. CV should be carefully typed. No spelling errors should be there.
14. Use bulleted paragraphs. This will save space and make the CV more effective.
15. Emphasize achievements that are recent, and are most relevant for the position for which
the candidate is applying.
16. Items in resume must be concise and parallel.
17. While submitting a resume, it must be accompanied with a cover letter to make the
readers aware of what is being send, and how can it be beneficial to the readers.
18. Include references if possible in a resume. If giving references, use three to five. Include
atleast one lecturer, and at least one employer.
19. To stress upon the key points in a resume, put them in appropriate headings, list them
vertically, and provide details.
FORMAT OF RESUME

Introduction

Research has shown that recruiters on an average have about thirty to forty seconds for each
resume they screen before they decide whether to take it to the next round or discard it.
Therefore, it becomes imperative that you prepare a resume that is as compelling and as
attractive to recruiters as your work would be if you were recruited. Many management
graduates have worked for months on their resumes before placements, as the resume becomes
the passport that either would let you into the next round or are discarded. Therefore, this
article focuses on how you can prepare a classy and compelling resume with suggestions on how
to format each section of the resume according to some established practices that have been
arrived at after due research and due diligence.
Skill Set

This is the first section of your resume and must explain your core skills and accomplishments
that are relevant to the job that you are applying for. You can tailor this section according to the
job that you are applying for, as the skill, set requirements are different for each recruiter. For
instance, if you are applying for a managerial position you must highlight the people
management and project management skills that you might have whereas if you are applying for

a technical position, you might like to highlight your coding skills or any specialized skills that
you might have technically.
Highlights

This section is similar to the previous section and must be the place where you let the recruiter
know how relevant you are to the job position. In other words, the previous section, this section,
and the next section are the places where you would like the recruiter know the salient points of
your candidature and the fit between them and the job that you are applying for. This section
should ideally tell the recruiter what kind of a superlative person you are in terms of what you
have achieved in life so far. Therefore, you must mention all the points that make you the best
person for the job and this is the section where you would like to leave the competition behind
and outpace them. Further, this section is also the place where you talk about your personal
attributes such as your go-getter nature and your attitude as well as talk about the value that you
can add to the organization, in other words, you must add value to your resume as well as
mention that you can add value to the organization by mentioning the relevant details in this
section.
Areas of Specialization

This section is sometimes optional as most jobs are generalist in nature and hence, the previous
two sections should have covered all the details that are needed by the recruiters. However, we
recommend that you keep this section so that you can delineate the areas that you excel at and
the areas where you can shine with respect to the competition. Of course, it is your call as to
whether you would like to merge this section with the previous one or keep it separate. No matter
what you decide, it is important to note that your resume must be as truthful and honest as
possible and the best resumes are those that can polish the details without resorting to
misrepresentation. As we note subsequently, the temptation to misrepresent facts is very alluring
and so, one must be careful and cautious when preparing the resume.
Professional Experience

This section is the meat of your resume and perhaps the section that can make or mar your
chances at getting into the next round. This section should list all companies that you worked for
any the years in which you worked as well as any other details like the position in which you
worked and how many people were reporting to you and whether you had additional
responsibilities. In case you are a fresher, you must mention that fact and concentrate on the
academic details which we would be covering in the next section. Before that, we must caution
you that for many candidates it is tempting to resort to unacceptable practices like faking the
professional experience details. This practice has become so rampant that companies the world
over have taken the help of agencies who perform background checks as well as the companies
subscribe to a database that contains the professional details of the workforce. Though you might
still think that you can get past these gatekeepers, we wholeheartedly recommend that you desist
from any sort of misrepresentation of your professional experience, as it does not pay in the end.

Academic Details

This section is where you mention where you studied, the grades you got, and the years in which
you studied. In other words, while the previous section indicates your professional experience
and where you worked since graduation, this section indicates what you did prior to graduation
and where and the kind of accomplishments that you accumulated during your education. You
need to remember that this section is where many candidates are usually given the green light for
the next round or discarded as many recruiters often look for consistent academic and
professional record and not flashes in the pan. In other words, it is better to highlight the fact
that you have been consistent throughout your education and that you have had a stellar record
throughout. In case you feel that your educational achievements are lacking, then you must
mention other relevant information such as whether you participated in extracurricular activities
and any other accomplishments.
Personal Information

This section is where you mention your personal details like gender, date of birth, marital status,
nationality, and any other information about yourself. Remember that recruiters are usually
neutral about these details but yet they need to know these details in order to process your
candidature. Of course, there are many who believe that these details are irrelevant as the
recruitment process is supposed to be equal opportunity based in the sense that these personal
details are usually not taken as the basis for evaluation. However, in the real world as it so
happens with so many other things, recruiters tend to get swayed by these details and hence, it is
better to mention them though in a judicious manner.
Contact Information

Perhaps this is the most important part of your resume as far as the non-content matter is
concerned. What we mean is that a resume without contact information is useless since the
recruiter has no means of contacting you for follow-up and contact. Therefore, you must provide
the latest, most relevant, and up to date contact information on your resume which would
indicate to the recruiter the means of taking the process forward.
Professional References

Last but not the least, professional references are very important in any resume or job
application. There is a school of thought that recommends professional references to be given on
demand or when the recruiter asks for it. However, there are others who believe that professional
references ought to be mentioned in the resume before the recruiter asks for it as this indicates
credibility and seriousness on the part of the job applicant. It is better to play it safe by
mentioning 1-2 people as those who can vouch for your expertise and attitude as well as
commitment. This is an indicator that you are not shying away from telling the recruiter that you
do not have anything to hide and that the recruiter can refer to the professional references as the
need arises.

Conclusion

This article has touched upon many of the relevant aspects of how to prepare ones resume and
the points that need to be taken into consideration when preparing the resume. The bottom line
for any resume is the narrative which you as the candidate tell the story of your life to the
recruiter and hence, it is important to note that your story must be as compelling and spellbinding
as the stories by popular authors are. While we certainly do not recommend that you must resort
to fiction in your resumes, the point remains that you must try and prepare a resume that has a
thread of consistency and a theme of excellence running through it. Finally, the format suggested
can be varied according to the requirements though the principles behind each section remain as
relevant and pertinent to whatever format you might choose. Good luck and good wishes in your
job hunt as you begin the exciting journey into your professional life.