Business Communication and Brand Image Analysis

This assignment is focused on analyzing business communication and its impact on brand image in industry. It requires students to explore the multifaceted role of language in international business, understand employer demands from business graduates, and apply concepts from PESTLE analysis. The assignment also involves a case study of a company's website and social media presence, requiring students to analyze their corporate social responsibility communication and human-computer interaction.

Foundations of
Business
Communication

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
Porter's Five Forces Model..........................................................................................................4
Key issues faced by organisation................................................................................................6
KEY FINDINGS..............................................................................................................................7
REFLECTION.................................................................................................................................8
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................10

INTRODUCTION
Business is the place where group of people are working to attain aims and objectives
i.e. good profits and revenues. In business organisation, there is important role of
communication which assist in creating synchronisation which is important and crucial to deliver
information to internal as well as external parties of association. In business, there are
stakeholders who invest money in organisation, hence it is responsibility of managers to give
best, so they can make positive and long term relations with them (Brannen, Piekkari and
Tietze, 2017).
This report is based on Patisserie Valerie which is chain of cafes operate in UK. The are
specialised in head made cakes, continental breakfasts, lunch, teas, coffee, etc. This
organisation was established in 1926. as per case study, this association face financial crises.
Hence to deal with it Chairman of Patisserie Valerie, Luke Johnson sell stake in below market
price. This creates dissatisfaction among existing shareholders and they want to sale their stake
to get money. This report covers PESTLE analysis, Porter's Five Forces Model, issues faced by
association such as management issues.
MAIN BODY
Key business:
Patisserie Valerie is a UK based company having its operations in chain of cafes. This
company is specialized in hand-made cakes it also includes continental breakfast, lunch, tea
and coffee. IT operation in UK was first started in 1926 in central London but in world war
second it has moved its office in Old Compton Street. This company also provides its facilities in
the store of Sainsbury's and does not allow online delivery of product.
Customers:
The targetted customers of Patisserie Valerie are middle class family. The company
chooses middle class family to provide them services in quick time. Since middle class is
working and has tires due to their work, therefore this company is providing tea without any
time. Company also provides nourishment in the tiredness of middle class workers (Burns,
2016).
Suppliers:
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Patisserie Valerie orders its raw materials from farmers of UK which grows the coffee in
organic way. The organic coffee beans does not contain any type of pesticides and fertilizers.
Therefore it has maintained its quality of service from the past years.
Competitors:
There are many competitors of Patisserie Valerie in UK. The competitors are those who
performs the same profession in UK. The competitors are Nestle, The Hershey's etc. These are
the companies which have competition with Patisserie Valerie (Cegielski and Jones‐Farmer,
2016).
Performance:
The performance of this company has been up to the mark from the time it has started
its business but in a recent time there has been complication of stakeholders with the company.
This reduces the performance of the company because the employees get demotivated and
thus performance hinders.
Strengths:
Patisserie Valerie has many strength of it from which it has successful track record of
launching new products. Apart from that, it has strong dealer community so that dealers can
provide better introduction of their products to the customers.
Weaknesses:
Patisserie Valerie requires more investment in bringing new technology. The inventory
of per day cost is high of this company a s compare to its competitors. Therefore company has
to focus on improving these services so that it can stand among its rivals (Gretzel, Werthner,
Koo and Lamsfus, 2015).
Challenges faced:
Apart form above strength and weakness it some challenges also which should be
overcome as soon as possible. Patisserie Valerie has shortage of skilled labour force and the
demand of high profitability is seasonal to the company which has to be improved as soon as
possible so that it can face those challenges to sustain itself.
PESTEL analysis of Patisserie Valerie:
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The PESTLE analysis is defined as the effect of external factors ion the organization.
These external factors although does not connect to the organization directly but there affect is
general to the organization. The external factors are as follows:
(Source: PESTLE Analysis, 2018)
Political Factor:
Political factor defined as the adverse affect of politics on the operations of business. In
case of Patisserie Valerie, the political stability and instability of government affects the
business of the company (Loock and Hacklin, 2015). If the government is stable than the
business will run to its full potential but if the ruling government is not in affect it can adversely
affect the operations of company. Since every government has its own policies to operate a
business in any country. In UK if a government fails to make policies in favour of Patisserie
Valerie than it will impact on its business. The change in policies could be increase in tax which
will increase the cost of product in market. Therefore customers will not buy the expensive
product and hence its operation is affected adversely.
Economic factor:
The economical factor of a country also impact on the operation of a business. In UK if
government is stable than it is possible than the economy will also be stable. The stable
economy include rate of development of country, the purchasing power of people and
population are the factors which affect the economy of a country. If country is developing with a
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Illustration 1: PESTLE Analysis

constant speed than its purchasing power and development will also increase this will increase
the selling of Patisserie Valerie so that it can sustain itself in the competitive market. Purchasing
power defines the flow of money in the hands of customer. If customer does not have enough
money than it will not be able to purchase the product of Patisserie Valerie which is not good for
the company (Lynch and Horton, 2016).
Social Factor:
This factor also plays an important in the operations of a company. Social factors are
those factors through which public's personal aspects such as skill level of population, culture
on the basis of races and gender and entrepreneurial spirit are included. In such factors, skill
level defines that people are skilful enough so that they can understand the business of
Patisserie Valerie. In case of races and gender, if people discriminates on the basis of races
and gender than a big community will not be able to consume the product of company. Another
aspect is the entrepreneurial spirit which are followed by the society or not. Some societies
follows the entrepreneurial concepts but some not. In case of Patisserie Valerie, the UK public is
skilful enough to support the entrepreneurial idea.
Technological factor:
Technology is the factor in which a company has to adopt the recent one. If a company
is not adopting recent trends and technology than it would be not beneficial for the company
because it will make its product outdated. Every customer has a need to use a latest
technological product which is most beneficial for it (McMurray and et. al., 2016). In case of
Patisserie Valerie, the technology can be a factor through which it can reduce its cost of
inventory. The inventory cost of company is higher so that its product cost is also higher. If
proper operating technology is used than it would decrease the cost of inventory and hence the
product will be available at cheaper rate.
Environmental Factor:
These are the factors which can affect the processing of company due to the nature and
external environment of company. The environmental laws are different from different countries.
In US Florida and Texas have different laws but in Europe government has regulated different
laws of environment. There are some factors of environment which affects the working of
Patisserie Valerie. The factors can be weather, climate change, waste management etc. The
operations of Patisserie Valerie can be affected by weather. Weather is changing, due to global
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warming the climate of UK gets hotter, it will also affect the operation of company. The
management of waste also affects its working.
Legal Factor:
The legal factors are the laws and regulations set by the government to regulate the
policies of business in a particular country (Ots and Nyilasy, 2015). These laws are created to
protect the rights of employees so that company will not discriminate among the employees.
These laws help the companies in maintaining the dignity of the culture in business
environment. The laws and regulations which can affect the operation of Patisserie Valerie can
be Discrimination Law, Copyright/patent Intellectual property law, consumer protection and e-
commerce etc. From the above laws, Discrimination Law help the employees in protecting their
rights so that it can help them in working with their full potential.
Porter's Five Forces Model
Porter's Five Forces model is effective technique of management through which
competitive analysis in environment can be done. With analysing external market, it is easy to
make changes in business environment which is relevant and crucial for improving performance
of Patisserie Valerie. In restaurant, there is competition, so it is essential to make long term
relations with customers. This helps to gain good profits which are relevant for making
stakeholders satisfied (Porter’s Five Forces of Competitive Position Analysis, 2018). There are
five elements in Porter's Five Forces Model. They are discussed as under-
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(Source: Porter’s Five Forces of Competitive Position Analysis, 2018)
Threat of new entrants- According to this force, there is threat of new entrants in
market. When there is good return in some business, then new entries happens in cafe industry.
Apart from this political norms, taxes, regulations, entry exist barriers, etc. are some factors
which also affects new entrances. In case more new entries happen in industry, then this affect
sales of existing firms (Quirke, 2017). Economies of scale, patent rights, etc. has to be
considered while making entry in market.
Bargaining power of buyers- As per this force, there is impact on performance of
Patisserie Valerie because of bargaining power of buyers. This association has good brand
image in market hence they have good consumer base. So it is not esay for buyers to affect
pricing strategy of Patisserie Valerie. If number of consumers in market are low, so organisation
has to low down there price to make consumer satisfied. While at the same time, if number of
consumers are more, then cost can not be affected.
As per case study, there is dilution in brand image of Patisserie Valerie, so consumers
can affect prices of products. This situation is not good for financial assistance of association
because profits gets affected in negative manner.
Threat of substitute- This forces talks about threat of substitute in industry. This is the
biggest threat for Patisserie Valerie and increases options of product and services for
consumers. When there are many close substitute in market, then it is easy to consumers to
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switch to other alternative. In this case power of suppliers gets reduces because it is easy for
Patisserie Valerie to choose other options (Ruesch and et. al., 2017). When substitute are avail
in market, then price of product remain stable. For instance: in case of cafes, there are many
substitutes, so managers of Patisserie Valerie must launching something new and unique.
Bargaining power of suppliers- As per this approach, there are some suppliers for
Patisserie Valerie which provide raw material to organisation such as coffee beans, bread, etc.
Hence this states about the power of supplier to drive prices. This can be affected if number of
suppliers in market are low. In case of Patisserie Valerie it is easy for suppliers to affect price of
raw material because managers of Patisserie Valerie collect raw stuff from some specified
farmers and other personnel.
If there is more than one suppliers, then it is tough for them to drive cost upwards
because managers of Patisserie Valerie can switch to other competitors. Hence in case of
Patisserie Valerie, there is imbalance between cost and profits. Hence this affects financial
position of Patisserie Valerie in negative manner.
Threat among existing competitors- As per this force, competitors are one of the
biggest threat in industry. They affects performance of Patisserie Valerie in negative manner. In
UK, there is competition in cafe industry, hence managers of Patisserie Valerie has to work
according to them. In case they do not accept changes which are taking in industry, then it is
tough to maintain long term existence in industry. For instance: there is need of varieties of tea
by consumers, so to compete in industry it is essential to provide it (Tang, Gallagher and Bie,
2015).
Key issues faced by organisation
From the case study, it is clear that there are some issues which affects performance of
Patisserie Valerie in negative manner. Some of the issues are as under-
 There is lack of planning hence there is lots of confusion. Managers are not able to give
appropriate decisions hence there is conflict in commercial activities of Patisserie
Valerie.
 Managers does not provide information to employees regarding change in policies, so
business operations are performed in specified manner. There is lack of interaction
among employer and employee so there are old benchmarks to conduct business
operations.
 In Patisserie Valerie, managers take their own decisions and do not convey to
stakeholders. This affects their satisfaction and they want to sale their stake. This is
because of lack of communication among stakeholders and managers (Tjosvold, 2017).
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 Managers do not analyse external market, so they are not able to take modifications in
product and services according to external market. There is lack of feedback provision
so they are not aware about weak points.
 Management structure of Patisserie Valerie is not good. Patisserie Valerie have
hierarchical structure, so there is gap between top level and lower level personnel. This
is barrier among communication with organisation. Sometimes policies are not clear to
employees and they are forced to perform operations.
 There is lack of skilled employees so they are not able to make cop up with external
changes taking place in business environment. Employees turnover rate is more which
affects brand image of Patisserie Valerie in negative manner.
 Decision making power of managers is not good, hence they are not able to take instant
decisions and perform operations in appropriate manner.
From the above discussion issues faced by managers of Patisserie Valerie can be
understood. This affects business activities in negative manner. There are some changes which
has to be done so brand image can be achieved. These days market analysis is oner of the
important aspect which has to be considered so product and services can be improved. There
must be performance appraisal of workers on the basis performance, so employees tries to give
best. This is significant and crucial for maintaining long term relations with employees (Zhang
and Galletta, 2015 ).
KEY FINDINGS
From the above discussion it is clear that external factors are not in control of managers
so they are legally abide to follow them and alter business policies. As per case study Luke
Johnson, Chairman of Patisserie Valerie perform business according to his personal benefits.
Manager perform operations according to their personal perceptions because there is lack of
planning which affects business operations in negative manner. There is lack of communication
which affects business operation in negative manner because managers do not inform about
unstable financial condition of company. This creates dissatisfaction among shareholders and
they do not prefer to be part of association.
There is lack of planning, leadership in organisation, so employees are not aware about
facts to perform business operations. There is lack of synchronisation in activities which affects
business operations and increase cost. It is recommended economic condition of organisation is
not good, then it is essential to convey information to stakeholders and further actions must be
done according. In order to achieve same brand image, proper planning must be done
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according to external environment. Managers of Patisserie Valerie must promote new and
innovative ideas which is crucial and relevant for providing satisfaction to consumers.
REFLECTION
With this report I am able to understand about role of communication in business. There
is requirement of changes according to market environment which helps to attain good brand
image in industry. With PESTLE analysis, I am able to understand role of external market
analysis for smooth running of business operations. I am able to understand role of government
in expansion and establishment of business in international market. I understand role of internal
strength and weakness which are relevant and crucial for achieving distant image as compared
to competitors. While performing business I aim at polishing brand image and take actions to
weaknesses.
I understand role of Porter's Five Forces Model in business organisation. As in cafe
industry, there is competition so managers has to analyse it and take actions. This helps to
maintain good brand image which is crucial and significant for retaining consumers. I
understand that there is important role of leadership, motivation which assist in creating
correlation in business activities.
CONCLUSION
From the above discussion it is clear that there are different barriers which affects
business growth. It is essential for managers of organisation to analyse external factors which
are relevant for attaining good profits and maintain long term sustainability in industry. With the
help of Porter's Five Force model it is easy to analyse competition in industry which helps to
modify commercial plans and policies. Economic factor of association affects business in
negative manner because in case of increment in tax rates, then managers are liable to pay.
Apart from this there is lack of motivation, leadership to employees, so there is lack of
motivation to employees to perform business operations. In order to achieve good brand image
in industry, managers has to make analyse market and promote innovations.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Brannen, M. Y., Piekkari, R. and Tietze, S., 2017. The multifaceted role of language in
international business: Unpacking the forms, functions and features of a critical
challenge to MNC theory and performance. In Language in International Business (pp.
139-162). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.
Burns, P., 2016. Entrepreneurship and small business. Palgrave Macmillan Limited.
Cegielski, C. G. and Jones‐Farmer, L. A., 2016. Knowledge, skills, and abilities for entry‐level
business analytics positions: A multi‐method study. Decision Sciences Journal of
Innovative Education. 14(1). pp.91-118.
Gretzel, U., Werthner, H., Koo, C. and Lamsfus, C., 2015. Conceptual foundations for
understanding smart tourism ecosystems. Computers in Human Behavior. 50. pp.558-
563.
Loock, M. and Hacklin, F., 2015. Business modelling as configuring heuristics. In Business
models and modelling (pp. 187-205). Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
Lynch, P. J. and Horton, S., 2016. Web style guide: Foundations of user experience design.
Yale University Press.
McMurray and et. al., 2016. Employer demands from business graduates. Education+
Training. 58(1). pp.112-132.
Ots, M. and Nyilasy, G., 2015. Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC): Why Does It Fail?:
An Analysis of Practitioner Mental Models Exposes Barriers of IMC
Implementation. Journal of Advertising Research. 55(2). pp.132-145.
Quirke, B., 2017. Making the connections: using internal communication to turn strategy into
action. Routledge.
Ruesch, J. and et. al., 2017. Communication: The social matrix of psychiatry. Routledge.
Tang, L., Gallagher, C. C. and Bie, B., 2015. Corporate social responsibility communication
through corporate websites: A comparison of leading corporations in the United States
and China. International Journal of Business Communication. 52(2). pp.205-227.
Tjosvold, D., 2017. Cross-cultural management: foundations and future. Routledge.
Zhang, P. and Galletta, D. F., 2015. Foundations of human-computer interaction in
management information systems: an introduction. In Human-computer interaction and
management information systems: foundations (pp. 15-32). Routledge.
Online
Porter’s Five Forces of Competitive Position Analysis, 2018. [Online]. Available through:
<https://www.cgma.org/resources/tools/essential-tools/porters-five-forces.html>.
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