History of Communication Studies
Communication theories identify the way of explaining and analyzing the process, key events, and commitments that together constitute effective communication. Most business schools and courses have included communication theories as a field of study as it is becoming an important requirement for successful businesses in the world. Operational managers, supervisors, human resource managers, and employees, especially customer relationship managers or supervisors, it is very important to learn about communication theories as they need to attend meetings with the clients or the customers for the majority of their working hours(Baker, 2007).
This paper critically analyzes the importance of communication studies in the present time and how improvement in communication skills helps people to improve their operations in the workplace. This paper also explains how communication theories can be helpful for achieving my personal goals. The personal development plan quadrant is also attached in the appendix section.
According to Eadie, & Goret (2013), the history of communication studies as an academic discipline is quite short. The use of communication theories as a separate discipline started with the field of socialism and journalism and then emerged as a dominant factor in both of the mentioned fields.
During the first and second world wars, for the first time, people started to think about studying the effective way of communicating with the general public in the interest of the government. Communication as a way to improve language use started in the twentieth century in both the United States and Europe. Some authors emphasized the requirement for communication studies to be able to understand the effect of cultural differences on communication style. Later, the idea of Mead regarding symbolic interactionism was persuaded by communication scholars. Following the Second World War, scholars in the United States focused on the collection and transmission of information. That is the process of receiving ad delivering a message from one point to other points in the most possible intact way. This is the time when the telephonic way of transmission and the use of computers were changing the world.
Scholars and researchers of many disciplines started to study communication studies for quenching different interests. Behavioral researchers and clinical psychologists started to establish communication as a way of building relationships with others. Even qualitative analysis of relational communications has been done through personal narratives, various narratives, and ethnographic approaches. Years of research regarding communication technics have produced various theories and communication styles. In the later sections, the importance of those theories and styles in the organizational structure of the present day has been discussed.
I have been working as a supervisor of the customer service team of a car navigation system maker. The head office of this company is situated in Tokyo, Japan. The customer services are provided over the telephone and digitized medium. Communication is an important part of this job. I am a supervisor and have to deal with my team members and others in the office as well as communicate with customers. However, I would like to progress further in my career and take up the job role of corporate communication manager. This means that I need to have intricate knowledge and professional understanding of communication theories, strategies and skills. As the role of the corporate communication manager deals intricately with various forms of communication and looking after the organizational communication strategy I would require to have a strong professional knowledge of the fields such as being aware of various worldviews and learning about different communication strategies. I know that my current job role is far different from the job roles that I am aspiring hence I would require to understand and learn more about communication and communication theories. Hence I have applied for in Master’s degree in the arts of communication through an online course. To apply for a Master’s degree in arts in communication the eligibility criteria is the completion of a Bachelor’s degree in any subject. I have a Bachelor of Science degree in Business administration from the University of the People, California in 2022. Hence, I am eligible for this job.
Importance of Communication Theories in Organizational Structure
The current industry I am in is the car navigation system industry. Japanese government invests a lot of money to improve the infrastructure of the car navigation system. In 2017, Japan launches a new satellite to improve the GPS which works with more accuracy (Eandt. theiet, 2017). The basic function of the car navigation system is to provide guidance to the driver about directions and roads. This system continuously gives instructions to the driver while he is driving. Innovations of this system have included some other features too such as playing video and music, locating nearby shopping malls, and restaurants, and delivering and receiving emails (Web-Japan, n.d). The value of total production of the car navigation system industry in Japan is 222.3 billion Japanese Yen in 2020 (Statista, 2021). Navigation system providers are still thriving to provide more entertainment through their services. This sector in Japan is continuously growing. Although the growth of production of this sector fell during COVID as people were restricted in the home by following the government-mandated stay-at-home order this sector is expected to grow in the future. Hence, I want to expand my career options in this industry by improving my professional communication skills.
As I have enrolled on the course of Master of Arts in communication studies program, I will get a lot of professional knowledge and skills throughout the course. The Master’s degree course includes a wide variety of subjects and topics that allow me to get accustomed to different types of communication theories, strategies, and policies. Per the course given to me, the course includes topics such as communication regulation and policy (STCM 6033). This subject will tell me about the different types of regulation policies all across the globe and help me get accustomed to most of the international communication policies. This would help me sharpen my strategy building skills and help me be more aware while performing the duties of a corporate communication manager. The next subject that has been proposed to us is advertising account management. This course is majorly related to advertising budgeting and account management. This would include handling the advertising budget and finances and looking after various advertising strategies of my organization and how I could improve the same. This course would get me accustomed to topics such as the AIDA model, and that is promotional strategies and policies. Throughout the course, I would also learn about strategic communication in the seminar on strategic communications, which would enhance my ability for communicating strategically.
As managerial rules also require some strategic communication techniques and policies, there is also a course for strategic communication management (STCM 6533). The subject will help me get accustomed to the barriers communication management strategies and how I could utilize the organization’s communication plan and policies to meet the strategic goals of the organization I am working for. Apart from that, courses on Communication theory (COMS 6103) will also be provided to us as this would help me clear my basics for various communication theories and strategies. The ports on communication stories would help me understand the basic foundations of various communication strategies and their working styles. It would help me develop more effective communication strategies while performing the job roles of the targeted job position. during this course; I will also learn how to analyze the target audience and develop strong communication strategies. The course Audience Market analysis (COMS6253) will teach me about the target audience and help me analyze the same.
Communication Skills for Career Advancement
Apart from all this, I would also be taught about conducting research in communication during the entire course of my Master’s in arts degree in communication. There’s a specific topic titled qualitative research methods in communication (CMAC 6253). This topic would detail me about communication research methods that I need to know to conduct communication research. I would also be taught about various applications of privacy laws and the use of different technology for communication while remaining in the purview of current legal criteria. I would also be learning about different legal and policy problems that I may get into if I do not plan my ammunition strategy.
To establish my personal development plan (PDP), the first step is to identify the areas which need further development. These are patience with others while communicating and proficiency in communication with others (both verbal and written). Patience with others is essential for my job as I have to assign tasks to my juniors and freshers who are more likely to make more mistakes and get confused with the task at hand and in such situations, a supervisor should try to help them in understanding the task and improving their ability to complete the task. However, in my case, sometimes I get irritated with the freshers if they ask me questions that are detrimental to their confidence in interacting with me, and hence I have to improve this area as fast as possible. In order to share some message or to motivate my team members, I have to communicate with them by conducting meetings and sending emails or letters. Thus, I want to improve my communication skills so that I can engage the audience in the topic more intensely.
Both of the above-mentioned areas can be developed by improving my professional communication skills which will, in turn, help me to improve my operational efficiency and managerial skills. The detailed PDP quadrant (consisting objective of doing the course on communication studies, resources required for this course, ways of measuring success, and the required time for this course) is attached in the following section:
|
Objective |
How I will achieve this |
Resource required |
Potential obstacles and the ways to overcome them |
Ways of measuring success |
When will I achieve this? |
Who can help me achieve this? |
|
Improve my professional communication skills |
By doing a master’s degree course of arts in communication |
Offline and online resources |
Obstacles: To opt for a course and continue my Job at the same time may become difficult to manage hence I would require to manage my time properly so that I can balance my job and studies |
The success of learning from the course can be assessed by the marks obtained in the exam conducted by the university |
After 2 years |
The professor, classmates seniors, and others of the university where I will take my admission for the course |
|
Improvement of my operational efficiency and management skills |
By applying the gained knowledge from that course |
The assistance of the experts in communication studies |
Ways to overcome the problem: as it is difficult to continue the work and the degree course efficiently, I will plan my time accordingly and follow a strict routine so that the difficulty and the negative impact of continuing my job and studies simultaneously could be mitigated |
The success of learning from the course can be also measured by applying the learned knowledge in real work and assessing the improvements |
After 5 years |
The senior and junior staff of the organization that I am currently in. |
Conclusion
The aim of this paper was to provide insight into the importance of communication studies in improving professional skills in the field of customer services. The academic journey of communication studies is quite short as the importance of communication studies as a distinct discipline was recognized gradually. The above discussion showed the importance of communication styles in enhancing employee engagement from which the implications for the management team of any organization can be realized. Next, my present job and my target job or personal career goals are discussed with a description of how knowledge of communication styles can be helpful for achieving my career goals. At the end of this paper, the areas of further development have been identified followed by the Personal Development Plan. Thus the paper concludes by revealing the relevance of communication studies and knowledge of different communication styles in achieving professional skills and providing a Personal Development Plan with it.
References
Baker, K. A. (2007). Organizational communication. Management Benchmark Study, 1-3. https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.448.8283&rep=rep1&type=pdf
Bucata, G., & Rizescu, A. M. (2017). The role of communication in enhancing the work effectiveness of an organization. Land Forces Academy Review, 22(1), 49.https://www.armyacademy.ro/reviste/rev1_2017/Bucata.pdf
Eadie, W. F., & Goret, R. (2013). Theories and models of communication: Foundations and heritage. Theories and models of communication, 1(2), 17-36. https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783110240450/pdf#page=27
Eandt.theiet. (2017). Japan launches its own GPS system with better accuracy than US. Eandt.theiet.org. Retrieved 5 April 2022, from https://eandt.theiet.org/content/articles/2017/06/japan-launches-its-own-gps-system-with-better-accuracy-than-us/.
Falkheimer, J. (2014). The power of strategic communication in organizational development. International Journal of Quality and Service Sciences. https://www.sobtell.com/images/questions/1502186007-201612150313547c.pdf
Othman, A. K., Hamzah, M. I., Abas, M. K., & Zakuan, N. M. (2017). The influence of leadership styles on employee engagement: The moderating effect of communication styles. International Journal of Advanced and applied scienceS, 4(3), 107-116https://www.academia.edu/download/57896388/IASE_IJAAS2017_Comm_styles_Engagement.pdf
Statista. (2021). Japan: car navigation system production value 2020 | Statista. Statista. Retrieved 5 April 2022, from https://www.statista.com/statistics/976608/japan-car-navigation-system-production-value/.
Web-Japan. Driving the Information Highway | Science and Technology | Trends in Japan | Web Japan. Web-japan.org. Retrieved 5 April 2022, from https://web-japan.org/trends/science/sci030502.html.
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