ASSESSING EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION AS A STRATEGIC INSTRUMENT FOR ATTAINING ORGANIZATIONAL GOALS AND OBJECTIVES (CASE STUDY OF SOME SELECTED MANUFACTURING FIRMS IN DOUALA, CAMEROON)

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the Study

Communication plays a crucial role in human conduct, serving as a fundamental aspect of behavior. However, people use communication to interact, mingle, express opinions, communicate information, and convey emotions, among other things. In essence, communication is the exchange of information between a sender and a recipient that is shaped by the sender's requirements, wants, expertise, views, and opinions. 

Communication also serves as an instrument of social interrelation. It help us understand ourselves, to keep in touch with other people, to understand them and to  predict their response to situation, its means by which power is acquired, exercised and sustained.  By having established channels for informing people, (both formal and informal) all organizations promote efficient communication (Abiodun, 2021). All organizations need an efficient organizational channel in order to communicate its policies, programs, rules, and regulations (Benson, 2019). Additionally, it is necessary while interacting with clients, authorities, and the broader public. An organization sustains goodwill, develops, and becomes more effective through effective communication with its peers, peers' businesses, the board of directors, management, and subordinates. Similarly, according to Hanes (2020) communication is a tool for self-understanding, for staying in touch with others, for understanding them and anticipating their reactions to situations, and for acquiring, using, and maintaining power. Furthermore, it serves as a channel for the creation, maintenance, and extension of relationships. It also gives decision-making and material management in corporate policy. 

In manufacturing firms, communication serve as the mechanism by which objectives can be sought, accomplished, sustained, and improved. It also helps to orient employees to cooperate with one another and to achieve the organization's goals and objectives. Essentially, Brian (2021) asserts that communication acts as the lubricant that ensures the smooth functioning of an organization, identifying and assigning roles, and serving as the lifeblood that keeps the organizational machinery running. Therefore, a survey will be conducted to assess effective communication as a strategic instrument for attaining organizational goals and objectives.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

 Employees in a business that communicate effectively relate to one other's mode of communication in order to learn strategies that promote high-quality communication, which is essential to the success of any firm. Employers and employees must communicate with each other in a consistent, complete, accurate, and clear manner, according to Chiang, C-F. Jang, S-C. Canter, D. & Prince, B. (2018). One of the issues that firms nowadays face is trying to retain great employees but not knowing how to do so. There are about a number of reasons why workers leave their jobs, such as better compensation, greater perks, professional advancement, and so forth. However, McConell (2019) claims that these detrimental effects include lost productivity due to a vacant position, inefficiency brought on by the departing employee's coworkers taking on extra responsibilities, inefficiency on the part of the newly hired employee during training and orientation to the new position, and expenses related to human resource processing. Similarly, when there is a breakdown in communication, some of the hurdles that may arise are body language, cultural differences, emotions, and personality differences (Feigenbaum,2020). Consequently, this study aims to assess effective communication as a strategic instrument for attaining organizational goals and objectives. 

1.3  Objectives of the Study

The main purpose of this study is to assess effective communication as a strategic instrument for attaining organizational goals and objectives. Specifically, the study will;

1.Determine whether there is a significant relationship between communication and goal attainment in an organization.

2.Ascertain the role of effective communication in the attaining organizational goals and objectives in manufacturing firms in Douala, Cameroon

3.Identify the existing communication barriers in organizations in manufacturing firms in Douala, Cameroon.

4.Ascertain how communication breakdown negatively affect the performance of manufacturing firms in Douala, Cameroon

1.4 Research Questions

The following questions have been prepared for the study:

Is there a correlation between communication and the achievement of goals within an organization?

What is the impact of effective communication on the accomplishment of organizational goals and objectives in manufacturing firms in Douala, Cameroon?

What are the prevalent communication barriers observed in organizations within the manufacturing sector in Douala, Cameroon?

How does communication breakdown adversely influence the performance of manufacturing firms in Douala, Cameroon?

1.5  Research Hypotheses

H0: There is no significant correlation between communication and the achievement of goals within an organization.

Ha: There is a significant correlation between communication and the achievement of goals within an organization.

1.6  Significance of the Study 

This study will be of great importance to manufacturing firms in Douala, Cameroon,and their customers. It will benefit the firm by helping them to know the best media to use for effective communication. It will also expose their customers to the importance of communication in manufacturing firms. Furthermore, subsequent researchers will use it as a literature review. This means that other students who may decide to conduct studies in this area will have the opportunity to use this study as available literature that can be subjected to critical review. Invariably, the result of the study contributes immensely to the body of academic knowledge with regards to assessing effective communication as a strategic instrument for attaining organizational goals and objectives.

1.7 Scope of the study

The scope of this study is to assess effective communication as a strategic instrument for attaining organizational goals and objectives: (Case study of some selected manufacturing firms in Douala, Cameroon.  Empirically, this study will determine whether there is a significant relationship between communication and goal attainment in an organization, ascertain the role of effective communication in the attaining organizational goals and objectives in manufacturing firms in Douala, Cameroon, identify the existing communication barriers and ascertain how communication breakdown negatively affect the performance of manufacturing firms in Douala, Cameroon. 

Geographically, the study will be delimited to staff of some selected manufacturing firms in Douala, Cameroon.

1.7 Limitation of the study

In the course of carrying out this study, the researcher experienced some constraints, which included time constraints, financial constraints, language barriers, and the attitude of the respondents. In addition, there was the element of researcher bias. Here, the researcher possessed some biases that may have been reflected in the way the data was collected, the type of people interviewed or sampled, and how the data gathered was interpreted thereafter. The potential for all this to influence the findings and conclusions could not be downplayed. 

More so, the findings of this study are limited to the sample population in the study area, hence they may not be suitable for use in comparison to other schools, local governments, states, and other countries in the world.

 1.8 Definition of Terms

Communication: refers to the exchange of information, ideas, thoughts, or feelings between individuals or groups.

Organization: a group of people working together to achieve common goals or objectives.

Manufacturing Firm:  is a type of organization that is primarily engaged in the production of goods through various processes, such as assembling, processing, or fabricating raw materials.