Types of Business Information and Communication Methods

This document provides an overview of different types of business information, their sources, and purposes. It also explains the methods of presenting complex internal business information. Additionally, it discusses the legal and ethical issues related to the use of business information. Furthermore, it outlines electronic and non-electronic methods for communicating business information.

BUSINESS
COMMUNICATION

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
P1 Explain different types of business information, their sources and purposes..................1
P2 - Present complex internal business information using three different methods appropriate
to the user’s needs..................................................................................................................2
TASK 2 ...........................................................................................................................................2
P3 Produce corporate communications for your chosen organisation. .................................3
P4 The external corporate communications of an existing product or service.......................3
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................4
P5 Explain the legal and ethical issues in relation to the use of business information.........4
Ethical Issues .........................................................................................................................5
P6 The operational issues in relation to the use of business information. .............................6
TASK 4............................................................................................................................................7
P7 Outline electronic and non-electronic methods for communicating business information7
WWW.....................................................................................................................................7
Non-Electronic Communication.............................................................................................8
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
Communication plays a major role in the development of any multinational organization.
The communication flow is controlled by a hierarchical system of managers making the
decisions from higher to lower levels in the hierarchical In this process the generated responses
and reports communicate from lower to higher level in the organization. Managers also spend
time communicating with their peers. Therefore, the upward and downward of the
communication indicates its effective functionality in a lateral direction. TESCO as services
produced in the one or more countries but established as a head office in one country. Here, the
functionality of Communication plays a vital role in TESCO.
P1 Explain different types of business information, their sources and purposes
Business information comes from a wide variety of sources and an effective business
person will research information from a range of sources before making decisions. It is one of
the three main segments of the information industry.
Verbal information is literally face to face which is seen as the best way to communicate. This
way there is less scope for misunderstanding and it allows for verbal and non verbal messages.
However, with the constraints of time and budgets in business, it is not always possible or
practical to meet in person ( Bovee, 2010). It is a common way individuals transfer their message
to other individuals and businesses. Its methods may include meetings, in-person interviews,
telephones and video conferencing. It may be the best information method because it allows
people to assess the verbal or non-verbal inferences by individuals giving a message. It may also
create a more comfortable environment for receivers to ask questions and get feedback from
individuals giving the message. The increasing use of global business operations has created
challenges for verbal information. These challenges may include language barriers, cultural or
social barriers, and time differences when giving messages. These challenges must be overcome
for verbal abstraction to present a clear-cut message that receivers can act on quickly with little
to no confusion.
Written information includes internal business memos, formal letters, bulletin boards or
posters and other various written communication forms. TESCO may choose to use written
communication if they need to reach multiple individuals at different locations with a similar
message (Guffey and Loewy, 2010). This information may also help senders conveyed technical
messages that have several instructional steps individuals must follow or diagrams and charts
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needing to be reviewed for receivers to understand the message. It also creates a paper trail for
important messages. Individuals may be required to acknowledge receipt of the message or
respond within a limited time frame. TESCO often use written communication to ensure they
have documentation when correcting an issue or dealing with important legal situations.
P2 - Present complex internal business information using three different methods appropriate to
the user’s needs
Companies, like TESCO, that enjoy long-term success, are focused businesses. They
have a core vision that remains constant while the business strategies and practices continuously
adapt to a changing world. In an increasingly competitive global environment, without a clear
vision a business will lack direction and may not survive. TESCO has a seven part business
strategy to help it achieves its vision (Toth, 2013).
A vision is an aspirational view of where the business wants to be. It provides a benchmark for
what the business hopes to achieve. TESCO is a company built around customers and colleagues.
Its vision guides the direction of the organisation and the strategic decisions it makes. TESCO’s
vision is:
‘To be the most highly valued business by: the customers we serve, the communities
in which we operate, our loyal and committed colleagues and of course, our
shareholders.’
TESCO’s vision has five elements
TESCO’s vision has five elements which describes the sort of company it aspires to be. These
are to be:
The vision, mission statement and goals are interrelated and state what an organisation is seeking
to achieve whereas the strategies and tactics show how it will achieve them. TESCO’s core
purpose (mission) is simple:
‘We make what matters better, together.’
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TASK 2
P3 Produce corporate communications for your chosen organisation.
‘ Corporate' refers to complete, entire or total entities of the organization, while
‘communication' means to impart, share or make common. Therefore, ‘corporate communication'
can be defined as a total communication of the organization or integrating different messages of
organizations under one banner. Definition of corporate communication as ‘the total
communication activity generated by a company to achieve its planned objectives' (Decari ,
2010). That total communication represents all the different forms of communication that is
occurring within the organization, including marketing, managerial and organizational
interaction. An organisation such as Coca-Cola's corporate communication strategy plays an
important role in aiding stakeholders understanding of the organization and communicating the
organization's identity.
The piece of corporate communication that have produced is a poster advertising TESCO
Everyday Value range of products. It has been produced by using the universal design code that
TESCO uses. It could be a web based advertisement or it could be non-web based and put on
billboards. As it is a poster it needs to be simple and eye-catching . It is used as a big image
(1) In the centre to catch people’s eyes and show they what the product range looks like, this
is also the reason of using this pattern (Sigmar, Hynes and Hill, 2012).
(2) The name of the product and business is at the top in big so people know where they can
get the product from and what the product is called
(3) TESCO mission statement is “we make what matters better, together” and the advert
highlights is trying to encourage and show people what TESCO can offer to them.
The slogan of TESCO is Every Little Helps in its particular font which is memorable and lots of
people recognise the branding.
P4 The external corporate communications of an existing product or service
Advertising: Advertising is a way to inform in a way of notice or announcement to the
public or businesses about promotions, services and products. Other can be information about
upcoming events or a massive sale. TESCO will inform families and their loyal customers about
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this new and exciting service that they will start providing over the Easter Holidays through TV
advertisement, leaflets and their website (Cardon, 2010).
Packaging – Packaging is a process to which business follow in order to protect their products
from damages and ensure the product is safe and clean which stays fresh. Packaging sells a
product more effectively for a business that it would without it. For example their T-shirts will
have the TESCO logo and will be in a clear plastic package for the customer to see and handle
properly whilst the t-shirt also being protected from dirt.
Logos – Logos are a form of identify to differentiate a business from its competitors. It helps
consumers recognise all types of businesses and therefore competition rises as well. If one logo
is better than another either because of the way its name is or the style, it makes a lot of
difference to the sales and profits of a business. For example the Armani logo is very famous and
therefore has expansive products (Fall and et. al., 2013).
TASK 3
P5 Explain the legal and ethical issues in relation to the use of business information
Legal Issues
Data Protection Act 1998
Many businesses store and use people's information but, the data protection act prevents
business from misusing people's information. The information held by people must be:
 obtained fairly and lawfully
 only used for the purpose that it was collected for
 accurate and up to date
 not kept for longer than necessary
 processed in line with your rights
 Subject to procedures to prevent unlawful processing, accidental loss, destruction and
damage to personal data (Legal, ethical and operational issues "do's and dont's", 2017).
Freedom of information act 2000
The freedom of information only came in full effect in 2005. It gives individuals and
businesses with the right to request information held by a public authority. The public authority
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must tell the applicant requesting the information whether they have it or not. They must supply
the information within 20 working days if they have the information within the requested format
(Lewis, 2010).
Ethical Issues
Codes of practice exist in organisations maintain business ethics on:
 use of email
 internet
 whistle-blowing
 organisational policies
 information ownership
Emails
TESCO can use email to give standard information to a large group of people. However,
businesses can't use emails to send large documents to a large group of people (Pullin, 2010).
Internet
Many businesses have codes of practice that prevents people in the organisation from using the
internet for wrong purposes such as watching pornographic videos etc.
Whistle blowing
A whistle blower is an employee who raises concern about a business practice either to a
management within the company or to an outside organisation (Martin, Davis and Krapels,
2012).
Emails
Businesses can use email to give standard information to a large group of people. However,
businesses can't use emails to send large documents to a large group of people (Martinez-
Estrada, P.D. and Conaway, 2012).
Internet
Many businesses have codes of practice that prevents people in the organisation from using the
internet for wrong purposes such as watching pornographic videos etc.
Whistle blowing
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A whistle blower is an employee who raises concern about a business practice either to a
management within the company or to an outside organisation.
P6 The operational issues in relation to the use of business information.
Operational Issues
TESCO has store and manage countless pieces information and in some cases, some
information are important than others. To make sure that the information is managed
appropriately, different procedures are put in place such as:
 security of information
 backups
 health and safety
 organisational policies
 business continuance plans
Security of information
Businesses need to make sure that their information are protected and secured. They can
do this by storing information on IT systems that will enable them to access the information
anytime they want. It is important for businesses to have the right information when needed,
because it helps make good decisions (Madlock and Kennedy-Lightsey, 2010). Therefore, if
TESCO doesn't take care of their information properly, it may lead to bad decision making.
Backups minimises the losses of important information. So many businesses use back ups to
prevent information from being lost. TESCO create information every hour in order to be on the
safe side. This means that if the information is destroyed or damaged, a copy is available so the
business can continue as little disruption as possible.
Health and safety
Although computer equipment in itself is unlikely to be dangerous but businesses still
make sure that workers aren't using computer equipment throughout the day. For example,
staying on the computer for the whole day maybe bad for the eyesight (Christensen, 2014). Bad
posture, incorrect positioning of equipment and susceptibility to repetitive strain injury are health
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and safety risks that employers are legally required to take seriously.
Organisational policies
Organizational policies that relate the use of business information can help make sure that the
decisions made are not affecting staff in any way.
Business continuance plans
These are the plans that a businesses sets in order to make sure that the business is capable of
surviving the worst case scenario (Collis, and Hussey, 2013). One plan that business may make
is to create back up for information they have, in order to prevent the losses of important
information.
TASK 4
P7 Outline electronic and non-electronic methods for communicating business information
Electronic communication
WWW
It is globally used and can be accessed to anyone. It is primarily used in TESCO as a
medium for communication to anyone. The subheading of electronic communications are the
screen-based and email. The target audience is basically anyone with access to the Internet.
There are massive amounts of information on the WWW. Thanks to the Search Engine such as
Google, it is easier to search for information on the World Wide Web.
Email
It is an electronic form of letter. It is used heavily nowadays. It is however a double edged as one
person can view an email as factual and precise whereas other can view it as rude and blunt. It is
not very reliable form of communication. It is only used for Q&A. The audience target are the
young people and teens.
Phone Call
It is more personal than email and there are less scope for misinterpretation and
misunderstanding. Everything can be resolved faster by phone call than the written
communication. The audience can be either employee, friend, or customer.
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Non-Electronic Communication
Face-to-Face: It is the most efficient form of communication between anyone. It allows both
parties to express what do they want to say and responding to each other. It also enables both
parties to exchanges hard copies as well. The target audience is pretty much wide.
Invoice: The invoice lists the quantity of each item, the prices, service description, and a contact
address for payment. It is a legal document which can be used as evidence of an incurred debt.
The target audiences are mainly the buyer of the item and those with outstanding pay.
Memorandum: It is used for internal communication in between the departments within an
organisation. The target audience can be the employees within the organisation.
Letter: It must be of high standards of communication. It must be clear with the information and
should have introduction, details, and how should the reader respond to the letter. It may give
rise to the legal liability. It can be formal or informal, specialised or simple, impartial or
emotional, and/or reasoned or strongly advising. The audience can be anyone as long as they
have literacy skill.
CONCLUSION
In this report, it has been recognised that the organization business information comes from a
wide variety of sources and an effective business person will research information from a range
of sources before making decisions. It is one of the three main segments of the information
industry. There are various forms of communication used in the TESCO to communicate within
the department in the organization. In this we have analysed various regulations which are to be
followed by the firm in marketing of the products and services. It has been recognized that these
regulations must be followed by the firm to sell their products in market. The legal, ethical and
operational issues are described to understand the regulations. At last electronic and non-
electronic mode are described to analyse various ways to communicate in the organization.
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REFERENCES
Books and journals
Bovee, C.L., 2010. Business Communication Today, 10/e. Pearson Education India.
Cardon, P.W., 2010. Using films to learn about the nature of cross-cultural stereotypes in
intercultural business communication courses. Business Communication Quarterly. 73(2).
pp.150-165.
Christensen, M., 2014. Communication as a strategic tool in change processes. International
journal of business communication. 51(4). pp.359-385.
Collis, J. and Hussey, R., 2013. Business research: A practical guide for undergraduate and
postgraduate students. Palgrave macmillan.
Decarie, C., 2010. Facebook: Challenges and opportunities for business communication students.
Business Communication Quarterly. 73(4). pp.449-452.
Fall and et. al., 2013. Intercultural communication apprehension and emotional intelligence in
higher education: Preparing business students for career success. Business Communication
Quarterly. 76(4). pp.412-426.
Guffey, M.E. and Loewy, D., 2010. Business communication: Process and product. Cengage
Learning.
Lewis, R.D., 2010. When cultures collide. Nicholas Brealey Publishing.
Madlock, P.E. and Kennedy-Lightsey, C., 2010. The effects of supervisors’ verbal
aggressiveness and mentoring on their subordinates. The Journal of Business
Communication. 47(1). pp.42-62.
Martin, J.S.C., Davis, B.D. and Krapels, R.H., 2012. A comparison of the top six journals
selected as top journals for publication by business communication educators. The Journal of
Business Communication . 49(1). pp.3-20.
Martinez-Estrada, P.D. and Conaway, R.N., 2012. EBooks: The next step in educational
innovation. Business Communication Quarterly. 75(2). pp.125-135.
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Pullin, P., 2010. Small talk, rapport, and international communicative competence: Lessons to
learn from BELF. The Journal of Business Communication. 47(4). pp.455-476.
Sigmar, L.S., Hynes, G.E. and Hill, K.L., 2012. Strategies for teaching social and emotional
intelligence in business communication. Business Communication Quarterly. 75(3). pp.301-
317.
Toth, C., 2013. Revisiting a genre: Teaching infographics in business and professional
communication courses. Business Communication Quarterly. 76(4). pp.446-457.
[Online]
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