Communication science : an integral part of business and business studies?

Communication is at the center of any business transaction. Unfortunately until recently, communication has rarely been assigned its proper relevance in traditional business studies at German universities. This paper attempts to demonstrate why communication science can and should be an integral part of all business studies. Without understanding the pertinent communication principles, it will not be possible to fully understand specific business relationships. With understanding, more effective and efficient use of communication in business relationships will become possible. This paper, therefore, briefly outlines the role of communication in some areas of business and then proceeds to sketch a succinct communication model to illustrate how communication affects business relationships. The paper ends with a concrete example, namely that of the TU Bergakademie Freiberg, of how communication science may be integrated as a distinct subject into the curriculum of business studies.