Foundations of Business Communication

This document discusses the foundations of business communication and the importance of sustainable approaches and corporate social responsibility (CSR) in management and business strategy. It explores different approaches to CSR for Micro, SME, and Corporate businesses and highlights the measures for the success of CSR strategies. The document focuses on the case of Coca Cola and its sustainable practices in packaging, water stewardship, sugar reduction, alternative energy, climate change, employee engagement, and environmental protection.

Foundations of Business Communication
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Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
PART-1............................................................................................................................................3
Sustainable approach for management and business strategy.....................................................3
Different approaches to CSR of Micro, SME and Corporate Business......................................6
Part 2................................................................................................................................................9
Reflection....................................................................................................................................9
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................11
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INTRODUCTION
Business communication is define as the process of sharing and communicating
information to employees and other people within and outside the organisation. The effective
business communication helps in achieving organisational goals and objectives where
management and employees establish good communication and work in coordination with each
other. Sustainable development is define as the approach which is effective in nature and is use
for managing the capital, revenue and resources, etc. in order to ensure effective use of resources
for current and future situations (Bovée, Thill and Raina, 2016). Organisations are using different
sustainable approaches in their business operations with the motive of becoming successful with
the support and cooperation of society. The organisation chosen for this report is Coca Cola. The
company was established in UK and is one of the large scale beverages company mainly dealing
in soft drinks. The report cover following topics- evaluation of various sustainable approaches
for management and business strategy, description of different approaches for CSR in context of
Micro, SME and Corporate business and several measures for the success of CSR strategies in
the operations of business effectively and efficiently.
PART-1
Sustainable approach for management and business strategy
Sustainable approach is an effective approach where management with the support of
staff takes initiative for the growth and development of organisation. The companies who
implement sustainable activities in their business operations that is execute them in their work
usually does not lead to any type of harm and damage to environmental resources. In context of
Coca Cola, they are using several sustainable approaches in their business activities in order to
ensure sustainable development and use of its products by consumers. Moreover also ensures
that their activities and practices in carrying business operations does not lead to misuse and
wastage of natural resources (Buono and Kerber, 2010). Moreover the primary focus of the
company is to use renewable resources in order to minimise its cost and expenses. Following the
sustainable approaches which are use by Coca Cola in its business operations-
Sustainable packaging
Sustainable packaging refers to the use of eco-friendly methods in the packaging of
products in order to protect the environment. It is been implemented with the motive to drive the
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focus of both consumers and retailers towards the environment and so many companies are
considering this and implementing them for maintaining sustainability. The packaging waste is
creating global problem which no business want to do. So its important to adopt the sustainable
packaging in the business operations as it is the most actionable way. The use of plastic in
packaging is effecting the global environment at massive level so it is suggested that companies
should use less plastic substances. Coca Cola always tries to use those materials in packaging
which are attractive and should not provide any damage to the environment and natural resources
like use of glass bottles (which are recyclable and are reused), tetra packs and aluminium cans.
These affords has provided benefited to company as with the implementation of these actions
they have gained competitive advantage within their industry.
Water stewardship
The company is dealing in beverages and liquid-able so its very important for them to use
high quality of water in its products. In order to ensure the continuous functioning of business,
the management of company focus on the needs and health of its employees by providing
required amount of water and other essential things so that workers should execute their roles in
right manner (Liu, 2013). Regarding sustainable approach it is observed that Coca Cola is taking
measures for saving water and other natural resources and also taking steps to minimise the
water pollution. Implementation of these practices has helped company in building positive and
attractive image in the eyes of customers which directly support the company in its development
and growth. Thus, all these practices has a positive result that is helped in increasing the sales
and profit volume.
Less sugar
Consumption of sugar has a negative effect on the health of people as it is recommended
to consume less quantity of sugar by doctors. More over in this scenario consumers are more
health concessions and prefer to consume health food and liquids. The company has considered
the factor as due to this they are facing downfall in its sales and have introduce new range in its
product line for health concessions customers. The beverage coke zero has been introduce by
Coca Cola which contains less quantity of sugar and contains natural ingredients. As a result, it
has helped company in maximising customer satisfaction and has provided benefit to company
as its sales volume has increased (Cucchiella and et.al., 2012).
Alternative energy
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The company is using secondary sources in its business operations that is using
geothermal power, natural gas and biofuels, etc in order to minimise its production expenses and
use methods which are ethical in nature. Moreover the focus of the company is to use those
resources and raw materials with do not effect the environment in negative manner.
Climate change
Changes in the climate affect the business operations as it has impact on the efficiency
and performance of the organisation. The presence of carbon dioxide and green gases in the
environment leads to the problem of water scarcity as decease in the water quality has negative
impact on the company. Due to decline in water quality the quality of company's products also
decline that is quality of beverages get down. Moreover with the fall in the water quality the
agricultural sector suffer as the production of raw material requires good quality of water and
fertilizers. In context of sustainable approaches, company is using renewable sources of
electricity in order to reduce its expanses and achieve environmental objectives as excessive use
of machines and electronic equipments leads to air and nose pollution (Sajjad, Eweje and Tappin,
2015).
Employee engagement
Employees are the most valuable asset of the organisation as their actions determine the
success of the company. So, its important for company to engage its employees in the decisions
and other important activities and should be consider as the part of the organisation. The
organisations should also focus on employee retention for longer time frame as old employees
has better understanding of operations in comparison to new employees. Moreover, the HR
department is responsible for maintaining healthy relations with employees and considers their
basic needs and wants at workplace. Its the function of the HR department to make employees
comfortable at workplace and provide positive working environment. For example, ROLI is a
medium scale organisation operating in business world where main focus of the company is to
provide proper training to its employees by conducting training sessions. The primary objective
of company behind this is to make its employees skilled and efficient in their job roles.
Environmental protection
Its the responsibility of the company to use environment friendly methods and techniques
in order to protect the environmental resources. These practices helps company in building good
image in the eyes of customers and society and also increased the market reputation and market
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share of the company. For example, Nomtex is the small scale organisation which is using
renewable sources of energy in its manufacturing process and producing its desire products
(Lawler III and Worley, 2011).
From the above study it has been concluded that Coca Cola is using various sustainable
approaches in its business operations in order to provide benefit to the environment and proper
use of natural resources and minimising the wastage and misuse of natural resources.
Different approaches to CSR of Micro, SME and Corporate Business
Corporate Social Responsibility includes activities conducted by businesses to provide
support to its employees and society. Corporate social responsibility is basically considered and
implemented in the operations of business whether it be small, micro or corporate level business
with the motive to improve the environmental and social impact of the company. It is the self-
regulation by the organisations where they achieve their societal goals and share profits with the
people. It includes charity, ethical governance of the organisation, voluntary participation of
employees so that they can contribute to the development of the society (Abad-Segura, Cortés-
García and Belmonte-Ureña, 2019). They contribute their share of profits and helps the
employees. The activities of CSR helps the organisations to achieve the organisational goals
ethically. The CSR activities helps organisations to achieve the name in the society and the
employees trust them. This makes them get the competitive advantage and attain their business
strategy. The different companies use different corporate social responsibilities and understands
the importance of people in achieving success. There are sectors which have different CSR
activities like Micro, SME and corporate business.
Corporate Social Responsibility approach of micro businesses
Micro organisations are business that have nine or less workers and they are termed as
small enterprises. The firms in this category are small and they are managed by family members
or the addition of 1-2 workers. There are approaches to the CSR activities of the firms. Defensive
approach is when the organisations focus on achieving organisational goals and maximising the
profits. They have small business with less profits so they do not share it with people. They focus
on achieving profits and the owner takes it and do not share. The maximum micro organisations
use defensive approach to CSR to achieve the organisational goals and it will help them in
growing. The owner of the firms takes profit and do not consider the people affected by the
organisations. Their business is small and they use profits to expand the business. Majorly it has
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been identified that micro level businesses are focused on its work operations and the
management of workforce and pay less attention to the CSR activities as they invest their major
time in formulating strategies for business growth and development. The activities related to
social responsibilities helps in enhancing and encouraging the micro level companies to
formulate positive changes. Basically it is an opportunity for business units to strengthen their
brand and to find right partner and right method to carry out activities. The sustainability
business practices provide support in the business profits. The higher profits means more
attention from society and majorly they are concern with protecting and enhancing their
reputation in the market place.
Example, The defensive approach to CSR is used by the micro business Nomtex and the
owner of the firm do not share profits while executing the operations of the business. The
organisation focus on maximising profits and achieving the success as they maintains profits and
do not achieve organisational or environmental goal. The owner gives preference to employees
than society. They do not use the resources of the organisation and perform the work effectively
with efforts of the owner and employees (Bénabou and Tirole, 2010).
Corporate Social Responsibility approach of small medium enterprises
The firms in SMEs are considered as the non-subsidiary and independent firms which
have equal to 250 or less employees who work together to achieve profits and effectively
contributing to the success of the organisation. They businesses who are in SME use
accommodative approach of corporate social responsibility. The organisations in SME have
moderate corporate social responsibility but more than micro organisations. They understand that
they have to contribute to the society as they use the resources. The business strategies focus on
achieving the success and maximizing profits of an organisation but they understands the societal
goals. The owners of the business manages the strategies of the business by helps the societies
and achieving their goals (Lindgreen and Swaen, 2010). The economic responsibilities of the
businesses in the case of small enterprises are usually fulfilled. It is because they are working as
a group and so able to use the resources in the most effective and efficient manner. They are
capable of identifying the local resources from the environment and use them in their operations
with the objective of fulfilling the demands and the needs of environment and the customers. The
ethical stage of CSR activities in context of small business units should be implemented ethically
where the policies and rules of the business organisations should be fair for the business growth
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and for the society and environment. It is quite difficult for small scale business units to become
the good corporate citizens and to match the performance level of large scale companies or
MNC's. But it is not impossible as all the small scale businesses can join hands together and
collectively work for social benefit causes, where they will get result in long run but still it will
be impactful.
Example, ROLI a small enterprise use the accommodative approach of corporate social
responsibility. The CSR of ROLI is contributing to the musicians and helping them by
organising programs for them so that they can show their talents. The have contacts with schools
where the musicians take classes for the children. They get the employment by taking classes and
helps them in achieving their corporate social responsibility. They are big organisations and the
business strategy is made by owners and operated by managers. They use the resources and it is
their responsibility to contribute to the organisation.
Corporate Social Responsibility of Corporate business
Corporate business are large organisations which have operations in international
markets. CSR of the organisations have the proactive approach where they contribute their share
of profits towards development and growth which will make their process effective. These
organisations are required by government to help the people who are affected by their operations.
The proactive approach has set rules which the organisations have to maintain. They focus on
achieving the goals and CSR is the part of the business strategy of the organisations (Barnea and
Rubin, 2010). Corporate groups requires investment at different levels in other to expand their
business. Many investment groups provide the funds to the companies after evaluating their CSR
activities that is their contribution and commitment towards the society, environment and
government.
Example, Coca Cola is one of the biggest soft drink company which is operating at
international level and is using various CSR approaches in its business activities. From the
activities of company it has been observed that they are taking steps in order to contribute
towards the environmental and social sustainability in the most desirable manner. The primary
initiatives taken by company is use of sustainable packaging, alternative source of energy, water
stewardship, etc in order to prevent harm and damage on environmental resources. Moreover, the
use of recyclable bottles and disposable canes has provided benefit to the company as it has build
the positive image of the company in society and enhance its goodwill in the marketplace. The
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use of recycling materials in its business activities and products has provided great support to
business as the expenses and cost of the company are minimised (Du, Bhattacharya and Sen,
2010).
From the above study on various CSR approaches implemented by the micro, SME and
corporate level business, it has been concluded that the growth and development of the
organisation directly depends on its size, mission and scope. The primary focus and motive of
the above mentioned companies is different from one another. It has been observed that the main
focus of the micro level organisations is to increase its profit margins and because of this they
put less attention towards CSR approaches. But the micro business consider CSR approaches at
certain stages of business operation and mainly use defensive approach. In context of SME, the
organisations use accommodative approach of CSR where main motive is to satisfy the social
responsibilities and their main attention is towards increasing its profit margins. In context of
corporate businesses it has been considered that managers of corporate businesses always tries to
use those methods and elements which do not effect the society in negative way. The proper
implementation of cooperate social responsibilities in the operations of the business help the
employees to learn the ethical way of conducting the operations and develops their skills so that
they can work in the most effective and efficient manner. Hence, it has been determined that the
primary focus of the corporate businesses is to develop its brand image and reputation in the
marketplace.
Apart form the above mentioned differences there are few similarity in the use of
approaches. One of the most used similarity by all the types of business (micro, SME and
corporate businesses) is to carry business operations in most effective manner with the focus of
not to damage or harm the environment and natural resources. Moreover, in order to operate in
this business environment it is important for all the organisations to follow all the legal rules and
regulations formulated by government and should focus on working in ethical manner.
Part 2
Reflection
I am pleased that I get chance for such great opportunity to evaluate and formulate my
initial project on one of the important topic that is business communication. I come to identify
and analyse all the aspected related to business communication and its impact on the operations
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of business and on the management of business. While studying the project I come to learn many
new things and able to enhance my skills, knowledge and abilities that is how to work in an
effective and efficient manner. Moreover I come to know that there are certain skills of mine
which act as my strengths along with some weaknesses which I need to overcome. This all
factors I come to know while working on project with my team members. Moreover I come to
know that I am quite good at communication that is I can interact with all the other team
members in proper manner and understand their viewpoints and also make them understand my
viewpoints. Hence, I am having good communication skills. This skills has helped in the
working as we in the team are able to interact properly and share our ideas as this provide
support in building strategies and decision making. The proper formulation and implementation
of strategies helps in attaining desire goals and objective of the assigned task and projects. In
addition to this I also come to understand that I'm having the ability and skills to work in team as
I can properly interact with other people and can understand their points and able to work
efficiently in team and provide desire results.
Along with all this I also get to know that there are some skills on which I need to work
and improve them for effective results that is I'm lacking at few points. These weaknesses need
to be improved as they will effect my career in near future. I am quite weak in numericals that is
I cannot do fast calculations and most of times make silly mistakes which effect the functioning
adversely. Due to this weakness I'm not able to perform connected tasks properly as well as I can
not take part in budget related problems and decisions as I am not able to get the things quickly.
Moreover, I'm quite week at ICT that is I'm not able to understand and have proper knowledge
related to the functioning and usage of Micro office programs which are essential for personal
usage and official usage. Micro office programs are play important role in studies as well as
workplace as major tasks are conducted on them only. At eduction level and at workplace, the
micro office programs are used in making of reports, presentations and files and improver
knowledge create problems. Hence knowledge of Microsoft office knowledge is crucial for
conducting tasks and activities in the most effective and efficient manner. Moreover I also get to
know that I am weak at solving problems that will negatively impact my communication skills at
some points. This is so as I am able to interact proper with other people and get to known their
viewpoints but when they share their problems and issues with me and want suggestions at that
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time I am not able to provide solutions to them. I become black at that time regarding what to
suggest and what strategy will work in that condition to provide relief to the other person.
Thus, in order to handle such situations in most effective way it's important for me to develop
and polish my skills which will make me strong enough to coup up with future problems and
situations. This will also help me in formulating appropriate strategies and plans according to
different conditions. For better understanding I can also adopt different theories and techniques
like Gibbs reflection learning model. This model helps in learning with the experience so that
before starting any work the process and techniques learn from different models helps in guiding
and provides experience to handle situations. Moreover this model is majorly described in three
phases where various type of questions according to situations which need to be answered by the
learner according to their knowledge and experience.
In the first stage I need to answer some questions such as what the project is all about,
key points of the projects, what was your contribution in the project, what are your findings and
results and many more.
In the second phase, I need to answer those type of questions which requires due attention
and is based on the exploring power of the learner that is questions are answered after exploring
the environment. The question in this phase will be like how do you feel during the project work,
with what type of problems did you deal and many more.
The third phase(last phase) is based the evaluation that is I need to analysis and conclude
regarding what I come to learn from the project and how's my experience while conducting the
project. By using this model in my work I come to enhance my skills and abilities and come to
know how to perform work in the effective way in order to accomplish the desire results.
CONCLUSION
From the above study it has been concluded that effective communication and
sustainability development are the important aspects in the operations of business. The business
managers are responsible for taking various decisions and actions at the different stages and
conditions of business with the focus on enhancing the sustainability of the business in the
market place for the success of the organisation. Corporate social responsibilities is considered as
the most effective strategy which provides great results to the business that is implementation of
CSR activities in the operations of business helps in better performance of employees and
enhance the good image and reputation of company in market place. Moreover the CSR
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activities adopted by businesses are different that is it depends the nature and size of the
business.
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REFERENCES
Books & Journals
Bovée, C.L., Thill, J.V. and Raina, R.L., 2016. Business communication today. Pearson
Education India.
Buono, A.F. and Kerber, K.W., 2010. Creating a sustainable approach to change: Building
organizational change capacity. SAM Advanced Management Journal. 75(2). p.4.
Liu, Y., 2013. Sustainable competitive advantage in turbulent business environments.
International Journal of Production Research. 51(10). pp.2821-2841.
Cucchiella, F. and et.al., 2012. Sustainable supply chain management across the UK private
sector. Supply Chain Management: An International Journal.
Sajjad, A., Eweje, G. and Tappin, D., 2015. Sustainable supply chain management: motivators
and barriers. Business Strategy and the Environment. 24(7). pp.643-655.
Lawler III, E.E. and Worley, C.G., 2011. Management reset: Organizing for sustainable
effectiveness. John Wiley & Sons.
Abad-Segura, E., Cortés-García, F.J. and Belmonte-Ureña, L.J., 2019. The sustainable approach
to corporate social responsibility: A global analysis and future trends. Sustainability.
11(19). p.5382.
Bénabou, R. and Tirole, J., 2010. Individual and corporate social responsibility. Economica.
77(305). pp.1-19.
Lindgreen, A. and Swaen, V., 2010. Corporate social responsibility. International journal of
management reviews. 12(1). pp.1-7.
Barnea, A. and Rubin, A., 2010. Corporate social responsibility as a conflict between
shareholders.Journal of business ethics. 97(1). pp.71-86.
Du, S., Bhattacharya, C.B. and Sen, S., 2010. Maximizing business returns to corporate social
responsibility (CSR): The role of CSR communication. International journal of
management reviews. 12(1). pp.8-19.
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