Communicating through Non-Communication or 1 Over-Communication

6 Communication is a topic that, at present, represents one of the most in-depth issues at both 7 doctrinal and pragmatic levels. This issue is addressed both concerning interpersonal 8 relationships between individuals and regarding the communication that companies implement 9 within the entrepreneurial structure, and implemented between managers, employees and 10 collaborators, or aimed at third parties outside the companies. The paper seeks to highlight 11 some often underestimated observations regarding communication concerning the 12 dissemination of news and information to the outside world by companies. The article’s 13 purpose is not to examine all the elements relating to communication but to focus on some 14 specific aspects that are often not considered, not even at a doctrinal level, in the field of 15 communication. This usually has severe consequences for the company’s situation, which, 16 precisely because it does not consider these elements, sees its income, financial, sustainability, 17 and general conditions gradually worsen until it embarks on the dead-end road that leads to 18 voluntary or judicial liquidation.


1) Why Talk about Communication between us and others
and Not between me and others 24 After many publications on financial reporting, management control, auditing, corporate law, etc., I feel it is 25 only suitable to devote an article to the problem of communication between information providers and receivers. 26 When I explain that I teach financial statements and financial statement analysis, usually every interlocutor 27 of mine comes out with a 'what a dry subject'. That makes me laugh a bit because, in 90% of the cases, 28 my interlocutors say, 'I was never any good at maths, showing that they don't even remotely know what they 29 are talking about. This is particularly relevant in the communication between people trying to compare their 30 opinions; what you have pointed out above sounds like an almost ridiculous anecdote that has no place in an 31 academic and scientific article. In reality, however, if one reasoned about the communication that companies 32 must carry out to third parties outside the company, one would understand how this issue, which I posed as a 33 personal anecdote, has enormous relevance. When a company publishes a balance sheet and highlights accounts 34 that can only be understood if one has a basis in accounting, and people criticise the presence of these accounts 35 by stating that the balance sheet is not understandable, one understands how in communication, there is an 36 evident and considerable obstacle that prevents a clear and intelligible comparison between people's opinions and 37 between the communication implemented by companies and the opinions that third parties outside the company 38 have of that company. We will also return to this issue later because, although it may seem irrelevant, it identifies 39 an essential element in the communication, financial and sustainability that companies carry out towards the 40 outside world and third-party users who do not belong to the institutional setup. 41 I live in Mestre. Mestre is the city that represents the mainland of Venice. And it is evident that if a person a tremendous amount of news. In the first case, the information that is not intended to be given is not transferred. 242 In this case, the recipient has a perfect perception of the company's communication behaviour. In the second 243 case, very often, the information that the company would prefer not to communicate to the outside world is not 244 hidden from the recipients or not spoken to them but is included in a set of extremely analytical and peculiar 245 information added to a general analysis that often adds absolutely nothing to the information that is provided 246 through the company report. The latter case occurs, for example, when in a company's annual report, the first 247 few pages are devoted to an analysis of the economic sector to which the company belongs. A piece of complete 248 yearly information becomes more informative if, in the first two or three pages, the board of directors provides 249 an overview of the economic situation of the economic sector to which the company belongs. 250 An introduction on this subject is therefore also desirable to make comparisons with the situation of the 251 company that one intends to analyse and to which the balance sheet refers. It may happen, however, that when 252 analysing company balance sheets, one may find that this part of the report takes up 100 or 150 pages of the 253 balance sheet itself. The communication of a set of aggregated and disaggregated data on the sector places the 254 recipient in charge of a document that, from the outset, is complex to interpret and understand. This initial 255 operation of disseminating extremely general news about the sector, which is then transformed into a mass of 256 extremely specific, aggregated disaggregated news information, often executed by an exorbitant number that 257 illustrates the balance sheet is all that concerns the company, not giving the really useful information, but adding 258 to the legally obligatory news a series of accounting and non-accounting, financial and nonfinancial, quantitative 259 and qualitative data, such that the report essentially becomes a book. In all this news, there is usually also 260 information that the company did not want to disclose for various internal reasons. In this case, as has already 261 been pointed out in the previous pages, the information is not missing, and the news is included in the company 262 report. But the circumstance that this information is mixed in among hundreds of news items and disaggregated, 263 or aggregated, highly analytical information is particularly specific means that the information that the company 264 did not want to disseminate, even though it is present in the company report, is in fact as if it did not exist.

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The perfect communication is, therefore, not to communicate but, in the opposite sense, the same result is 266 obtained in the hypothesis that the information that the company did not want to be disseminated is obtained 267 by hiding the information itself among a mass of specific, disaggregated or aggregated news items that provide 268 so much information that it is impossible to identify the information that the company did not want to be 269 disseminated.

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Communicating by not communicating or by suffocating the recipient with useless information is, in reality, 271 the same policy, even though the two are entirely different and opposite. The result, however, is identical. The 272 recipient does not perceive the information that the company did not want to communicate. Of course, all this 273 happens unless a particularly punctilious recipient begins to analyse every piece of data and every value in the 274 company report. In this case, it can identify the information. Understandably, this is not done by a typical third 275 party outside the company, belonging to the community, who wants information on the company's situation, 276 but by experts with particular objectives. We use the concept of possible and not of certainty because when 277 data is highly detailed, synthetic, disaggregated, aggregated, re-aggregated, or disaggregated again in other ways; 278 an expert may miss the relevant information that the company did not want to be communicated outside the  Modern psychiatry has consistently pointed out that one of the ways of creating mental distress that can lead to 286 a subject going mad is the methodology of giving the subject synthetic but conflicting information. In addition, 287 if the issue has to decide which option to choose, if the two options are both negative, the mental discomfort 288 will increase to degrees and no longer be treatable. A method, therefore, to drive the interlocutor 'crazy' and 289 provide information, usually concise, contrasting with each other to enable the interlocutor to understand that

ALLY BETWEEN MANAGERS, EMPLOYEES AND COMPANY STAFF)
he is faced with two contrasting elements that cannot be interpreted because one is exactly the opposite of the 291 other. Let us leave aside, as this is not the place to deal with the subject, the case in which a topic has to choose 292 between two negative options. In this case, the mental consequences can also be serious, but this is not the place 293 to investigate this issue in depth. Consider, for example, the case of a company that is hit with a very large fine 294 for an environmental issue such as. Suppose that in the social report two years later, all the various actions that 295 the company's subjects have implemented to improve both the environment and the company's community made 296 up of workers and subjects that directly and indirectly collaborate with the company against these two pieces of 297 information, the recipient of the communication has to deal with two conflicting elements: on the one hand, he 298 reads that the company has been hit with a tax for environmental reasons.

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On the other hand, he reads a social report of dozens of pages on glossy paper with beautiful photos filled 300 with socio-environmental data showing the company's social and environmental commitment and faced with this 301 situation, if one asks: what reaction can the recipient has? A first reaction may be to disbelieve the sustainability 302 report and think everything in it is fake and made up of elements that are not entirely realistic.

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In this case, the recipient will notice the abundance of photos of smiling children, blue skies, white clouds, green 304 meadows, people working with an incredible smiles on their faces, comfortable and ergonomic work locations, 305 etc., it is evident that the recipient of the information, bearing in mind the information on the fine imposed for 306 environmental reasons, will see this report as a marketing tool. With further consideration, knowing the penalty 307 imposed for ecological reasons will make the whole thing almost absurd is ridiculous.

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For example, consider a company that is hit with a tax assessment showing tax evasion of millions of euros.

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Suppose this company produces a sustainability report in which, on glossy pages, it describes all the policies it 310 has implemented over the past year in favour of the environment of the community, its workers and all the citizens 311 living in the company's vicinity. Here again, the recipient of the information has to deal with two conflicting 312 communications: the first is that the company is evading tax for tens of hundreds of millions, obviously taking 313 away retro-economic elements from the state that would make it possible to improve the environment, society and 314 the community and, among other things, the citizens living in the vicinity of the company. The other information 315 is linked to a marvellous sustainability report, which, more than a report, looks like a critical bound book showing 316 the commitment to the community, the citizens and all those who have relations with the company through social, 317 environmental and, in general, pro-community policies around the company. In this case, too, the recipient has 318 to deal with two conflicting pieces of information: on the one hand, a company that takes away money that is 319 needed for the community, and on the other, a report that, through dozens of glossy pages, illustrates, usually 320 in a very pompous manner, the commitment made in favour of the environment and the community itself. It 321 is clear that the recipient of the information has two conflicting pieces of information, which can only create 322 mental discomfort. In this case, we are not talking about mental pain that results in mental illness because the 323 recipient of the information provided by the company that is conflicting will autonomously choose the one that 324 he considers more correct and will consider the other fraudulent or ridiculous or even absurd. But the basic 325 psychiatric principle is of considerable interest: mental distress is created when faced with two conflicting pieces 326 of information. It is repeated that we do not address the issue of mental pain resulting in mental illness. However, 327 there is no doubt that this contrast that there may be between the information creates at least an informational 328 discomfort for the recipient of the communication who can no longer distinguish what is real from what is a story 329 told to embellish and do the so-called Windows Dressing operation to the company. 330 The writer believes that scholars should take more explicit positions on this subject. Reading the articles and 331 books on these topics, one notices an almost fearful approach to them. Almost as if addressing such issues would 332 put the author at odds with the business world. The writer disagrees with this position and believes that, on 333 the contrary, these topics should be made explicit, studied, analysed and criticised. It should note that the two 334 examples given above are not fictional but represent real-life cases. For privacy reasons, it is not deemed necessary 335 to highlight the companies' names or the country to which they belong. Both companies are, however, companies 336 defined as significant, and therefore companies that have a global impact on the community, the environment and 337 society that is highly relevant, both on a practical and pragmatic level and in terms of information dissemination. intervenes directly with his activity. It is precisely the subject who manages that activity. The lack of clear, 358 correct, truthful, analytical and complete communication represents an element that can create severe work 359 discomfort that can directly or indirectly influence the subject's work activity. In this case, it is difficult for anger 360 and frustration to build up due to the lack of possible retaliation against subordinates. Therefore, it is difficult 361 for a latent state of mental discomfort due to the absence, as in the case of the ship's deckhand, of a subject 362 against whom to vent one's aggressiveness. It is a fact, however, that the situation of superficial and incomplete 363 communication given to issues in intermediate hierarchical positions which must, in turn, manage precisely that 364 data whose context and complexity they do not know exactly since the only hierarchical elements believe they 365 should not disseminate all the information of a strategic nature to the various subjects that make up the corporate 366 hierarchical structure, can have an extremely negative impact on the company's income, financial, equity, and 367 sustainability performance. And on the work performance in general of those who realises that they have to 368 manage data of which they only know a part and of which, not knowing the global context, they continue to find 369 great difficulty in making coherent the management actions to be implemented and the same decision-making 370 process to be developed over time.

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As can be seen, the communication issue also considerably impacts the level of the company's internal actors.

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This is where it can find the case cited in the title of this paragraph, i.e. communication can be structured 373 incoherently that, as a consequence, creates the basis for the interlocutor to go mad, from a metaphorical point 374 of view, or in any case to encounter work and mental discomforts that have nothing to do with the symbolic 375 but are real pragmatic and unfortunately very widespread. In the corporate communication of data that is 376 provided to the various subjects belonging to the different hierarchical categories, or to the different corporate 377 projects, or finally to the different matrices that can be created to aid decision-making, there is also the case 378 where information given to the same subject is conflicting. This can happen due to material or formal errors.

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In this case, the situation cannot be criticised in the extreme because error is always human and therefore the 380 circumstance that there is a material or formal error in the data is always possible. It may, however, happen that 381 the data that is provided to a subject is not perfectly consistent due to a different view of the data from which the does the business work suffer, but, in addition to that, even the worker will have a performance a productivity 397 that is certainly limited by the very circumstance that the conflicting commands that are given lead the employee, 398 whether manager or worker or clerk, not to understand exactly his role in the company and the command he 399 has to fulfil. And it is worth pointing out that this element of consistency in commands and communications to 400 individuals, especially those belonging to the middle part of the corporate hierarchy, is not only important but 401 indispensable. The absence of such consistency inevitably entails eh reductions in productivity, the performance 402 of incorrect work, and the achievement of objectives other than those that the company sets out to achieve. In 403 fact, if a subject receives from two different superiors two conflicting communications concerning the same object, 404 he cannot, on his own, decide which decision-making and management action he must take because in either case 405 he would be carrying out an operation that conflicts with one of the two commands.

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Corporate communication, therefore, must be consistent both when it is intended for third parties outside the 407 company and when we are talking about communication of information intended for persons within the company.

408
Failure to communicate causes problems that can lead to situations that first worsen the company's economic, 409 income and asset situation and then lead the company down an impassable road whose end is liquidation. It is 410 noteworthy that communicating conflicting information brings discomfort not only to the person receiving the 411 inconsistent communications, but also to the managers managing the decision-making process, as they often do 412 not understand what is happening in the company. As a mere example, it is interesting to analyse a case that 413 the writer of the article followed indirectly because of the consequences that this communication problem had 414 on the global business conditions the company was a company from a European country. i will not identify 415 article, as it would become a paper falling within the scope of marketing. Dealing, however, in general terms, with 478 how it corporate communication towards third parties outside the company should be implemented, considering 479 that this is the main topic of the article and the focus of the paper is undoubtedly not interpersonal relations 480 between individuals, identifies an essential issue to be addressed without going into too much analytical detail, but 481 highlighting, however, some elements that, though general, are indispensable for communication to be effective, which we discussed in the previous pages, implying an exact answer that can be summarised as follows: I am 509 not answering because I do not want to have contact with you. Or it can simply be a rude and unkind attitude 510 towards a person whose response from the company can affect a job that is being carried out (a student carrying 511 out field research) or the very life of the person (when for example, the email is a job application from a person 512 in serious difficulty). I think everyone agrees that companies are not non-profit organisations that must help 513 the community. Businesses' tasks are entirely different: generating income and ensuring fair compensation for 514 workers. This can do by managing the relationship with the community and third parties in a kind manner. 515 Honestly, I do not believe that when an email arrives asking for help from a student to fill out a questionnaire, 516 there is too much time spent on it to be able to say that there is no possibility of filling it out. If this were 517 the case, an email stating that, unfortunately, we cannot help you would be sufficient. I think that an email of 518 this kind, even in the case of job applications, takes 30 seconds of an employee's time, which implies a sort of 519 peace of mind for those who have to receive a reply. It is better to receive a negative response than no reply at 520 all. Kindness is also expressed in these small acts. Communication, therefore, not written but verbal, or written 521 but not in official documents such as the balance sheet sustainability report or other documents, must thus be 522 characterised by kindness only. In this way alone, overall corporate communication will be able to be evaluated 523 positively by the community and third parties outside the company.  In these small enterprises, creating communicative conditions towards the society and third parties outside the 533 emphasise that this is especially the case for companies whose economy is primarily aimed at the community 534 living within a 100 km radius of the company itself. In this case, the lack of an act of kindness, such as a reply 535 to an email, can have unexpected consequences on the company's situation. The perceived unfairness of those 536 who expect a response and receive no communication from the company is turned into a topic of conversation 537 between people who live within 100 km of the company and who, directly or indirectly, enable the company to 538 survive or develop. Suppose the company is small but operates in a larger territory. In that case, it might seem 539 that politeness in verbal or written communication but not concerning the balance sheet itself is less critical.

5) THE TEACHING OF BLUEBEARD AND CORPORATE COMMUNICATION TO EXTERNAL THIRD PARTIES OR INTERNAL COMPANY EMPLOYEES/MANAGERS
this is not the case, especially since the abnormal development of social media. A rude act towards someone 541 who addresses the company can become the subject of a debate involving thousands of people, even distant from 542 each other, as they are close through social media. Politeness, therefore, in verbal communication when there is 543 a direct relationship with a person addressing the company or in written communication that does not concern 544 the balance sheet, is not only desirable for obvious reasons but is an indispensable element for the company to 545 survive or, hopefully, live and develop properly.

546
At this point, one may ask oneself why in the title of this paragraph, one wondered whether, at times, it is 547 not necessary to communicate "in capital letters". In social media and written communications that can send to 548 any individual or employee in a company, the use of capital letters has a meaning that everyone now recognises: bracelets that were intended to be dog collars. The clothes were, of course, studded black leather with numerous 559 rips made voluntarily. At the end of the period, the undersigned pointed out that the girl would have to change 560 her bestiary at least and would also have to remove any piercing on her body as all girls had to enter 5-Star 561 luxury hotels in an Italian city as part of the reception. Nothing could be done about the tattoos, even though 562 my advice had been to cover them with a thick coat of foundation. The girl contemptuously pointed out to me 563 that 'she was like that and whoever wanted to offer her a job had to accept her being that way. To this reply, I 564 pointed out that she had made a mistake in looking for a job, as her outfit and appearance were optimal for a 565 disco but completely out of place for a reception desk in a 5-star luxury hotel. On the first day of work, the girl 566 showed up at the hotel reception dressed and decked out as was her custom. The head receptionist invited her to 567 leave the desk and move to a room near where the customers were dealing with the receptionists. After a brief 568 telephone conversation between the head receptionist and the hotel manager, the head receptionist asked the girl 569 to go home as the hotel had decided not to give the internship to her but to request other female students. In 570 this situation, the girl started to raise her voice, saying that even in a five-star hotel, they had to accept her When dealing with the issue of disclosure outside the company, there is a tendency to emphasise more the right 593 to disclosure of third parties outside the company than the right to corporate privacy. This tendency is due to thus, with 1°of politeness far below what might be expected in a hospitality establishment. Of course, this does 602 not only apply to accommodations but to all enterprises. When an employee is reprimanded two or three times 603 for acts that cause annoyance to colleagues next to his desk, the initial politeness must, absolutely, be replaced 604 by a communication 'in capitals' because, if this is not done, the polite communication will have no effect and 605 the disturbing acts will continue. economic, income, equity and sustainability situation is a right that is now 606 unanimously recognised by doctrine, companies and jurisprudence. Specific topics and issues represent elements 607 of a strategic nature that cannot be divulged outside the company in this way, as such behaviour would give 608 precious information, especially to the company's competitors. Or, it is also possible that the dissemination 609 of certain information, which is not contextualised, could be misinterpreted by the community or third parties 610 who are external to the business reality to which the data refers ap. This is why some aspects of information to specific companies, tend to disregard a company's right to privacy.

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In some cases, the groups formed by these subjects, which many times are structured into organisations, and 625 to be able to handle the demand for more corporate disclosure, require the dissemination of news that, for a 626 business expert, it is clear that can never be disseminated as it is strategic. At a conference dedicated to financial 627 statement disclosure and organised by non-specialists, the writer was able to see how the lack of knowledge 628 of these fundamental principles mentioned above can create situations that are not understood by those who 629 are faced with them or rather those who encounter them as non-experts do not understand the consequences 630 of what they are asking for. At this conference, which I repeat was organised by non-specialists in financial 631 statements, the question was clamoured as to why companies should not explicitly highlight returns and discounts 632 implemented. In Italy, the law requires that revenue from sales or services to third parties be recognised net 633 of voucher discounts and returns. This is because the amount of returns and of discounts granted to customers 634 represent sensitive information elements. Knowing, for example, the amount of returns could give an insight into 635 the company's difficulties in producing and delivering goods. Furthermore, understanding the discounts, and thus 636 disseminating the company's discount policy, would mean giving strategically very relevant information about 637 one of the marketing levers the company has at its disposal to increase turnover and increase market share. At 638 the conference I referred to above, I tried to emphasise these principles, but I was overwhelmed by criticism from 639 non-experts in business economics, company management and financial statements, in which it was assumed that 640 I was denying the right to disclosure to external third parties and fighting for a reduction in corporate disclosure 641 intended for the general public, and that I was trying to ensure as little corporate disclosure as possible for third 642 parties who, directly or indirectly, have an interest in knowing the situation in which a company operates. The 643 misunderstanding related to the above is evident. The writer believes that there is a right to disclosure for third 644 parties outside the company that has rightly increased over time. The writer believes, however, that companies 645 also have the right to have areas of perfect privacy for strategic reasons. Providing information in these areas inspireimagineinnovate.com/pdf/globesummary-by-michael-h-hoppe.pdf75 2007.