A Comparison of University and Business Communication Practices

The university typically practices more effective communications than does industry. Neither the university nor industry is impressively successful in their communications efforts. Industrial leaders seem extensively concerned about, if not preoccupied with, effective communication. Nevertheless, the communications practices in many industries are commonly ineffective. University personnel, it is assumed, ought to possess the skills required to establish and maintain effective communications practices and patterns; however, the quality of the communications in contemporary higher education is disappointingly low. In both the university and industry, informal communications in informal situations seem to be the most significant. Rumors—their production, transmission and discussion—occupy an important, usually undesirable, role in industry. Industry tends to emphasize written communications more than does the university. The content of communications, both written and oral, is more varied in the university than it is in industry. Industrial managers are more concerned with the receivers of messages than are university leaders. Generally, neither group pays much attention to communications networks. Universities and industries are comparable in their reliance on small group communication.