Effective Business Communication Techniques

This assignment discusses the various ways businesses communicate with their stakeholders, including the use of letters, memorandums, and other forms of written communication. It highlights the importance of considering factors such as age, attention span, gender, ethnicity, special needs, reading ability, legibility, interest, distraction avoidance, business relation experience, and knowledge when choosing a writing style or format. The assignment also references relevant research papers and books in the field of business communication to provide a comprehensive understanding of the topic.

Business Communication

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
PROJECT 1 .....................................................................................................................................1
P1 & M1 Different types of business information......................................................................1
D1 Appropriateness of business information used to make strategic decisions.........................2
PROJECT 2......................................................................................................................................3
P2 Present complex internal business information ...................................................................3
P3 corporate communications for chosen organisation (Leaflet)...............................................3
P4 Evaluate the external corporate communications of an existing product or service.............4
D2. Evaluate the effectiveness of business information and its communication........................5
PROJECT 3......................................................................................................................................5
P5 & M2Legal and ethical issues in relation to the use of business information......................5
P6 & M2 Operational issues in relation to the use of business information...............................6
P7 Electronic and non-electronic methods for communicating business information................6
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
Business Communication is any communication used to promote a product, service, or
organization – with the objective of making sale. In business communication, message is
conveyed through various channels of communication including internet (Bargiela-Chiappini and
Nickerson, 2014). In business, communication is considered core among business, interpersonal
skills and etiquette. Report will cover different types of business information and its
effectiveness. Complex internal information will also be studied in the report.
PROJECT 1
P1 & M1 Different types of business information
To carry out various operations within Tesco Company, it is required to have data and
information related to that particular segment. Some of them are discussed below: Verbal Information - The best way to communicate but not always the most efficient. It is
immediate and can solve most problems. Written Information - Can be words, diagrams, graphs and charts. Can come from a wide
range of sources - newspapers, books, trade journals and government publications
(Burégio, Maamar and Meira, 2015). On-Screen Information - Information may be produced on-screen. This can be seen in
multimedia TV and CD-ROMs that combine text, graphics, animation, audio and video. Multi-Media Information - This means multiple forms of media integrated together.
Media can be text, graphics, audio, animation, video, data etc. An example could be a
webpage with interactive guide and narration. Web-Based Information - This displays many benefits of multimedia technology. Today's
fast broadband speeds allow you to stream sophisticated content to a computer anywhere
in the world.
Purposes of information
Without this reliable information a business will have no idea of where it stands in its
market, its financial and sales figures or how to proceed in the future. Updating knowledge - It is vital that businesses keep up to date with changes within their
markets. Information is required so that businesses know:
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how their markets are developing
how labour markets are changing Informing future developments - A business that does not adapt, develop and grow will
quickly find itself left behind by the competition. But developments need to be based on
informed decisions (Den Hartog and et.al., 2013).
Sources of information
 Internal : Internal information could come from a variety of sources within the
organisation.
 External : External data exists in the form of published materials, collected by someone
else outside the company.
 Research - Organisations continually conduct research to find out about their markets,
customers and views of their staff. Market research always incorporates some form of
data collection, whether it is secondary research or primary research.
D1 Appropriateness of business information used to make strategic decisions
Tesco is a global company that operates in 12 different countries across the world. They
are a public limited company that operates in the private sector. The marketing finance of Tesco
mostly requires types of information such as how the business is performing overall. This
department uses on-screen communication which allows them to create information like how
many profits Tesco has made in their sales the past year, month or even week (Fleischmann,
2014). They will also be concerned with types of information like how much lost occurred after
their sales and overall performance.
Once Tesco finds out and analyse their overall profit figure how much lost they made,
they use this information to make strategic decisions for the future of the business. The
marketing department at Tesco will need information regarding the marketing activities that
Tesco performs in order to attract new customer, to promote new products and services and to
communicate offers and deals to customers. This department within Tesco needs all sorts of
information including on-screen information, written information, verbal information etc.
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PROJECT 2
P2 Present complex internal business information
Table 1: Financial report of Tesco
52 Weeks ended
25 February 2017
On a continuing
operations basis
2016/17 2015/16 Year-on-year
change(Constant
exchange rates)
Year-on-year
change (Actual
exchange rates)
Group sales £49,867m £47,859m 1.1% 4.3%
Revenue £55,917 £53,933m (0.8)% 3.7%
Tesco Bank £157m £162m (3.1)% (3.1)%
Cash generated
from retail
operations
£2.3bn £2.1bn
P3 corporate communications for chosen organisation (Leaflet)
The piece of corporate
communication that I have
produced is a leaflet
advertising Tesco’s Everyday
Channels of communication
played a key role in TESCO. It
has established various
channels, formal, informal
verbal, non-verbal oral,
written, technological different
electronically means to
facilitate the transmission of
information throughout the
organization. Tesco’s mission
statement is “we make what
Keep the message simple,
but deep in meaning
This tends to influence
strategy, decision-making and
behaviours at executive levels,
but often isn’t well articulated
for employees.
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Value range of products. The
purpose of communication
within an organisation such as
Tesco would be to give
information to its public and
employees e.g. to perhaps
inform staff of a future
meeting, or to provide
customers with details of a
promotion. (He and Da Xu,
2014).
Communication can take
place internally (through
bosses and employees,
subordinates, colleagues) or it
can take place externally
(Customers, Suppliers, Media,
Shareholders).
matters better, together” and
the advert highlights is trying
to encourage and show people
what Tesco can offer to them
(4). The slogan of Tesco is
Every Little Helps in its
particular font which is
memorable and lots of people
recognise the brand from it.
Build behaviour based on
market and customer insights
For employees to fully
understand how your strategy
is different and better than the
competition they need to be in
touch with market realities
(Istepanian, Laxminarayan and
Pattichis, 2014). By building
internal campaigns based on
market and customer insights,
you bring your strategy to life
for your employees through
this important lens.
P4 Evaluate the external corporate communications of an existing product or service
External business communication is the exchange of information and messages between
an organization and its external customers outside its formal structure.
One way McDonald’s communicates to its external customers is their website. There are many
methods used by the company’s website and these are: the use of images, the use of fonts,
Packaging and the page layout.
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The use of images can enhance a communication to an audience, as we tend to remember
more of what we see than what we hear, therefore showing images is a better way of
communication (Jussila, Kärkkäinen and Aramo-Immonen, 2014). A logo is a visual symbol of
an organisation, this could vary from the signatures of the Coca-Cola and Cadbury’s to the pure
creation of the golden arches Logos are a necessary part of a company’s image and the key to
their marketing success.
The designs of the leaflet meet the purpose which to allow people to know that they
deliver to your home and that is what it says on the van. The format on the Tesco one is better
because if the van is moving people are still able to read.
D2. Evaluate the effectiveness of business information and its communication
I am going to look at two different companies to see how they use corporate
communication and compare them to my chosen organisation (Tesco). The companies that I plan
to look at are Vodafone and asos.com, the types of corporate communication that I am going to
look at are advertising, packaging, logos and straplines. Vodafone communicates information to
its shareholders to keep the company in their minds.
If a company is successful at communication, then they tend to be a successful in general.
Vodafone, like most businesses, has a set of principles that are there to show people what the
company is about and what the company strives to achieve (Mishra, Boynton and Mishra, 2014).
The principles that they have will be a baseline to use for all their corporate communication, this
is also similar for asos.com. Vodafone advertises in many ways and for many things. They
advertise their products, their company and their jobs.
PROJECT 3
P5 & M2Legal and ethical issues in relation to the use of business information
Data Protection Act 1998
Many businesses store and use information about people. The Data Protection Act
protects information held about people from being misused. The information stored by
businesses on databases must be:
 Obtained fairly and lawfully
 Used only for the purposes stated during collection
Freedom of Information Act 2000
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This Act provides individuals or organisations with the right to request information held
by a public authority (Pedersen, 2017). The public authority must tell the applicant whether it
holds the information, which it must supply within 20 working days, in the requested format.
Computer Misuse Act 1990
This is a law in the UK that legislates against certain activities using computers, such as
hacking into other people's systems, misusing software or helping a person to gain access to
protected files on someone else's computer.
P6 & M2 Operational issues in relation to the use of business information
Organizations have to store and manage countless pieces of information, with some being
far more important than others. Lying at the heart of any information system are two
fundamental issues of ensuring that:
 The organisation receives the information it requires
 The appropriate member of staff receives the information
To make sure that information is managed appropriately, a number of policies and
procedures have to be put in place, concerning:
 security of information
 backups (Polonsky and Waller, 2014)
 health and safety
 organisational policies business continuance plans
Security of information
Information security management deals with maintaining the integrity and availability of
organisational information and knowledge. Many companies keep their information on IT
systems, but as the reliance on technology increases, so does the risk posed by system failure and
malicious attacks.
P7 Electronic and non-electronic methods for communicating business information
There are many non-electronic methods that can be used to communicate business
information, these methods include letters, memorandum, fax, invoice, flow charts and publicity
material.
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A letter is a formal piece of documentation which can be used when Tesco is informing
or responding to someone outside the organisation. Tesco will need to make sure that the letter is
printed in a big enough size or braille if a person has sight issues.
Memorandum is more informal than a letter is, they are often referred to as memos (Utz,
Schultz and Glocka, 2013). They can be used by Tesco to write down information within
departments if the person it is being written to will not be seen face-to-face or sent to different
departments which is easier than going over to the different departments and finding the right
person to tell the information.
CONCLUSION
The way that information is sent depends on the audience, the factors of the audience
include; age and attention span, gender and ethnicity, special needs and accessibility, reading
ability, legibility, interest, distraction avoidance, and business relation experience and
knowledge. Reliable and valid information is essential to all businesses and organizations.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journal
Bargiela-Chiappini, F. and Nickerson, C. R., 2014. Writing business: Genres, media and
discourses. Routledge.
Burégio, V., Maamar, Z. and Meira, S., 2015. An architecture and guiding framework for the
social enterprise. IEEE Internet Computing. 19(1). pp.64-68.
Den Hartog, D. N., and et.al., 2013. HRM, communication, satisfaction, and perceived
performance: A cross-level test. Journal of management. 39(6). pp.1637-1665.
Fleischmann, A., Schmidt, W., Stary, C., Obermeier, S. and Brger, E., 2014. Subject-oriented
business process management. Springer Publishing Company, Incorporated.
Goetsch, D. L. and Davis, S. B., 2014. Quality management for organizational excellence.
Upper Saddle River, NJ: pearson.
Grunig, J. E. ed., 2013. Excellence in public relations and communication management.
Routledge.
He, W. and Da Xu, L., 2014. Integration of distributed enterprise applications: A survey. IEEE
Transactions on Industrial Informatics. 10(1). pp.35-42.
Istepanian, R., Laxminarayan, S. and Pattichis, C.S., 2014. M-health. John Wiley & Sons.
Jussila, J. J., Kärkkäinen, H. and Aramo-Immonen, H., 2014. Social media utilization in
business-to-business relationships of technology industry firms. Computers in Human
Behavior. 30. pp.606-613.
Mishra, K., Boynton, L. and Mishra, A., 2014. Driving employee engagement: The expanded
role of internal communications. International Journal of Business Communication. 51(2).
pp.183-202.
Pedersen, P. ed., 2017. Routledge handbook of sport communication. Routledge.
Polonsky, M. J. and Waller, D. S., 2014. Designing and managing a research project: A
business student's guide. Sage publications.
Utz, S., Schultz, F. and Glocka, S., 2013. Crisis communication online: How medium, crisis
type and emotions affected public reactions in the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster.
Public Relations Review. 39(1). pp.40-46.
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