The organizational communication of a firm can be considered as one of its determining factors that can helps in seamless running of its operations. The organizational communication encompasses the flow and exchange of information with both the external and internal stakeholders (Blakeman, 2014). This as a result allows creating seamless transmission of message from one entity to another, thereby leading to communication of instructions, feedback, creating a corporate image, etc. The idea of organizational communication can also be used as a tool to create an integrated network of closely associated stakeholders (Anderson and Narus, 2007). The internal communication determines how well the employees are interconnected and coordinated, whereas the external communication helps dictates how the organization interacts with the customers and shareholders. This paper discusses about the organizational communication of Microsoft in theoretical perspective. It covers both the internal and external communications conducted by the company and its implication on the company.
Microsoft is one of the biggest information technology companies that operates globally and runs multiple business units across different domains of technology. It is associated with development and marketing of software, applications, offering services and hardware devices (Marketline, 2015; Statista, 2015). Microsoft is known worldwide owing to its versatile operating system for personal computers and other professionally used applications like MS Office, Skype, etc. The company has established its offices in more than a hundred nations. Microsoft operates through two primary business segments, which are Device and Consumer (D&C) and Commercial.
The mission statement of Microsoft is based on practical implications of the constantly changing world of technology. According to the reports of McAllister (2015) the current CEO of Microsoft Satya Nadella has stated that the organization is looking forward to empower every individual and business entity and help them to achieve more. It has been further stated that Microsoft seeks to move forward with the changing trend in the consumption and behavioural pattern of the customers. The CEO has further stated that the company will move in to a “mobile-first, cloud-first” environment, thereby bringing drastic transformation in the organization to improve their competitive advantage (Microsoft, 2015).
In terms of future visions, Microsoft has stated that the company is looking forward to create value generation for the stakeholders by leveraging the diverse workforce at its disposal. It has been stated that Microsoft is gradually moving towards a customer centric approach, and is willing to offer value proposition which is oriented towards creating business intelligence (Microsoft, 2010).
The communication process of the company is focused in creating an unobstructed flow of information, so that the transfer of information between the stakeholders can help the organization to mission and vision goals. According to the reports of Hower (2014) Microsoft believes in empowering of the employees by generating value for them. The employees can easily gain access to organizational data, coordinate their activities with each other, leveraging the fast transmission of data and feedback across the hierarchy. On the other hand the external communication made to the stakeholders is also strategically designed to deliver the desired result. The brand and corporate image of the company is essential to attract the customers and the investors.
The internal communication of an organization is essential to ensure that the employees, supervisors and the higher authority are well connected to each other. This connectedness should allow them to conduct exchange or transfer of information in a short period of time thereby helping them to achieve the deliverables within a short period of time (Anderson and Vincze, 2008). The managers and higher authority can guide the employees regarding day to day activities and at the same time the employees can also communicate with their supervisors and send them feedback about their progress or any queries.
Microsoft is known to have an efficient organizational workflow. A major portion of it is contributed to the presence of a robust internal communication system that binds thousands of employees of the company across several nations. This helps the company to leverage the work force of the employees in a holistic manner. According to the report of SMU (2012), the organizational structure of Microsoft is of Matrix type. This type of organization is a combination of vertical and flat organizational structures. The presence of hierarchy is associated with the presence of interconnection among the employees of each hierarchy. This as a result makes it important to focus on both upward-downward and horizontal communication within the organization.
Microsoft, being one of the most well established technology giants, has used communication and networking technology to bring the people together, in a more intuitive and efficient way. The traditional ways of communication includes daily emails, newsletters, etc. These method of communication has although proved to be quite effective in interacting across and within the hierarchies, but the presence of clutter has clouded the importance of the information and its retention among the employees. According to Conrad and Poole, (2011), the communicational noise can act as a hindrance to seamless transfer of information. There are three types of communicational noise, which are psychological noise, physical noise and semantic noise. The psychological noise is associated with distractions experienced by the receiver caused from distress or tiredness, which can make an individual to be disengaged (Shockley-Zalabak, 2011). Secondly, the physical noise is associated with the environment in which the communication is being made. Physical noise often distorts the message while it is being sent from the sender to the recipient. Finally, the semantic noise is responsible for the technical fault of the sender, and is perceived in a different way by the recipient, thereby changing the underlying information.
