ABSTRACT
This chapter presents a systematic study of the nature of communication and the barriers to effective communication. Less dramatic, but of equal importance, is the role that communication plays in the day-to-day work of every organization. The chapter explores a rich and complex network of channels through which orders and information flow. Viewing the communication process from a point in an organization where a decision is to be made, the process has a twofold aspect. These include: communications must flow to the decision center to provide the basis for decision; and the decision must be communicated from the decision center in order to influence other members of the organization whose cooperation must be secured to carry out the decision. Organizational communications fall in two categories: planned or "formal" communications and unplanned or "informal" communications. While internal and external communication sometimes overlap, the general administrative problems raised by them may be quite different.
