Asia Pacific University College of Technology and Innovation

Learning Outcomes:
Business Communication
Research Audit
BM006-3-M

To understand the role of research and audit for a

business organisation
To identify forms of research strategies and tactics
for business & management

Chapter 1
Research and Audit in
Organisations
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Research and audits

Research is concerned with developing and testing
hypothesis, generalising from one or more studies and
contributing to the development and refinement of theories
about wider social systems.
Audits can be used in research.
Audits are often used to evaluate the applications of research
findings in a given context.
Their purpose is to answer questions such as: Is
communication in this organisation are acceptable level of
competence?, are our customers are receiving the
information which they need, or not?

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Research and audits

Audits have the potential to become useful toolkit of those
pursuing research into organisational studies.
A wide range of research strategies and tactics are already
employed in business and management research.
Audit can be used in longitudinal or cross sectional studies,
provide a snapshots to researcher about the company over a
period of time.
They are useful in the forms of following research:
In action research, comm audits enables researchers to
manipulate organisational variables (i.e information flow,
channel utilisation, source frequency)

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Research and audits

While in case studies, the approaches will look at a particular life event,
organisation or sub-system, and eventually seek to generalise the findings
to more substantial population. CS are therefore used to make causal
deductions.
CS argument is advanced in that their in-depth nature, and emphasis on
situational embedded processes.
In focus group, evidence is collected from specialised and carefully
selected groups of individuals.
In the in-depth surveys, a great deal of evidence are being extracted from
a small no. of informants,
In large scale surveys, the audit questionnaires might be employed to
evaluate practices across a significant no. of organisations.
In participants observer approach, a researcher joins the group of
individuals under discussion and engages in their activities, observing how
the group functions.
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Research and audits

Audits are helpful in explorations of a wide range of research
questions.
Goldhaber (1993) has identified six main categories under
which such questions can be group:
In homophily studies: various phenomena are similar or
dissimilar to each other, and connection with communication.
Questions such as:
Is perceived similarity between message source and recipient
a determinant factor of communication needs, or likely levels
of participation? Or, are highly cohesive teams are more or
less likely to require high information inputs from people
outside the group?
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Asia Pacific University College of Technology and Innovation

Research and audits

Research and audits

In apprehension studies: concerned with the interaction
between levels of anxiety in which people feel about where
they work, or the businesses they deal with, and their
corresponding feelings about communication. Such questions
are:
Do measures of apprehension predict frequency of
interaction, its quality and consequences?, or can anxiety
about communication be reduced, either through the process
of audit?
Or, what is the relationship between group cohesiveness and
communication anxiety? (Groups may create a strong support
environment which reduces anxiety, or reinforce each
members hostility to the outside world, thereby enhancing
it).

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Credibility studies: explores the relationship between

credibility and the quality of communication. Thus,
questions such as:does information which comes
from sources with high credibility produce greater
overall communication satisfaction? or, what is the
relationship between interpersonal trust and the
quality of information flow? (Frequently found that
high levels of interpersonal trust between staff and
managers, combined with strong information, deficits
the key issues.), or what determines credibility in the
eyes of customers, who possess limited contextual
information about the source they are dealing with?
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Research and audits

Research and audits

While in contingency theory studies: explores the extent to
which effective communication depends on such variables as
age, gender, ethnicity, status and length of employment. And
thus,
Does any of the above variables contribute to levels of
satisfaction with communication?, or do different cultures
possess different communication needs?, or can
organisational cultures be manipulated to resolve problems
of securing accurate upward feedback? or, does extending
communication skills training throughout an organisation
increase overall levels of satisfaction with the communication
process?
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Network studies: explores connection between group

affiliation and peoples ability to sustain networks and
their view of communication. Thus, questions are like:
to what extent is information about effective or
ineffective communication episodes involving customers
shared within local communities? or, through what
channels and what effects is such information
exchanged? or, does people defined as isolates have a
heightened perception of communication difficulties?,
or, does strong identification with a particular team, or
sub-section of the workplace, reduce or enhance overall
company loyalty?
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Research and audits

In communication and organisational effectiveness studies: look
at the extent to which internal and external communication
impact upon organisational effectiveness, and thus some
questions like: Does customer satisfaction with communication
strengthen organisational practice, or produce satisfaction? or,
does employee with high level of satisfaction levels have lower
levels of absenteeism, sickness and turnover? Are they more
productive and innovative than their colleagues?
Communication technology change: concerned with impact of
specific new technologies. Questions like what are the impacts
of communication technologies on existing pattern of
communication? or, do intranet, internet and telephone
technologies helps organisations improve their profits? How?.
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Conclusion:
Communication is increasingly recognised as a
crucial variable in determining organisational
success, and as a vital issue requiring further
research.
Conducting research require thorough skills,
understanding the issue and carefully select required
audits techniques.

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Asia Pacific University College of Technology and Innovation

Q&A

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