Improving Information Access for Startups

This assignment discusses the significance of information access and knowledge management in start-ups. It highlights the need for employees to have proper access to systems of information to bring effectiveness, coordination, and improved knowledge. The report also emphasizes the importance of maintaining good relations with stakeholders and making changes in the communication process to ensure seamless information collection, storage, and dissemination.

Managing Communications,
Knowledge and Information

Table of Contents
LO1 Understand how to assess information and knowledge needs.............................................................3
1.1 range of decisions to be taken............................................................................................................3
1.2 information and knowledge needed for effective decision taking in starting up a business...............3
1.3 List internal and external sources of information and justify their suitability and reliability.............4
1.4 Recommend improvements in the selection methods and justify the information needed for startups.
.................................................................................................................................................................4
LO 2 Be able to create strategies to increase personal networking to widen involvement in the decision-
making process............................................................................................................................................5
2.1 Identify stakeholders whose actions may influence decision making processes, in startup business. 5
2.2 Which methods you would use to develop a business relationship with the stakeholders..................5
2.3 A plan to involve the identified people in the decision making process.............................................5
2.4 Design strategies for future improvements in this process.................................................................6
LO. 3: Be able to develop communication processes..................................................................................6
3.1 existing processes of communication in case study...........................................................................6
3.2 different communication processes which may be appropriate for growing the business..................6
3.3 appropriate communication processes to support future growth........................................................7
3.4 personal development plan for leader in business to improve your own communication skills.........7
LO4 Be able to improve systems relating to information and knowledge...................................................8
4.1 existing approaches to the collection, formatting, storage and dissemination of information and
knowledge...............................................................................................................................................8
4.2 changes to improve collection, formatting, storage and dissemination of information......................8
4.3 A strategy to improve access to systems of information to strengthen business and help it to
continue its future growth........................................................................................................................9

Introduction
It is very essential for the firms in present times to develop and manage the skill set related to
knowledge, information as well as communication. This is as the business environment carries
with it widespread information and only the required one is to be communicated. This technique
only promotes the growth of firm but also assist it to be in tune with the rapid changes in
technology (Rowley and Hartley, 2017). The present report has thus focused on assessing the
information needed by business so that strategies can be formulated accordingly. Part 1 deals
with the startup business involved in selling high quality foods and the information needed by
the company to carry out decision making. On the other hand part 2 deals with expansion plan of
the same firmthrough buying of awell-established café whose owner is about to retire. Emphases
will this be on the communication processes used by the company and how can they be improved
in the future. Focus will also be made on proper collection, formatting, storage and dissemination
of information.
LO1 Understand how to assess information and knowledge needs
1.1 Range of decisions to be taken
Variedrange of decisions is required to be taken while setting up a new business. The very first
decision to be done is with regard to deciding over the aims and objective of the business so as to
fulfill the mission of providing quality foods to the consumers. These include the need to decide
over what quality foods and services are to be offered to the client and what should be the pricing
strategy so as to gain sales and maintain profitability (Galliers and Leidner, 2014). The need is
also to promote the business hencedecision is required to be taken about means of promotion
which can be either through word of mouth publicity, use of flyers and advertisement on social
media. A decision is also required as to who will be the major suppliers of the company that will
offer quality foods. There is further a need to carry out recruitment or selection activities of new
employees followed by making relationships with business partners as well as implementing the
marketing strategies.
1.2 Information and knowledge needed for effective decision taking in starting up a business
Setting up of a new start up business often involves the need to make decisions hence various
information and knowledge is needed for the same.

 About competitors – information is required about what product and service offerings are
being sold by the competitors, who are there suppliers and what pricing strategies has
been adopted by them. If this knowledge is available with the company officials then
food products can be offered accordingly (Park and Lee, 2014).
 About market – information is needed about the overall market scenario with respect to
demand and supply conditions. This is in terms of what kind of quality foods are in
demand and who the major suppliers in the industry are. This will help the firm to
formulate strategies accordingly.
 About governmental policies –The policies such as taxation, quality standards, employee
rights, loan rates etc. are most likely to put a huge influence on the overall operations of
the company. Hence the managers must have a compete knowledge a d understanding
about the same so as to avoid any legal issues (Brezina and Smith, 2017).
 Internal knowledge –This refers to information about varied departments that are
functioning in the company and what objectives and targets have been set for them. There
is also a need to have awareness about future plans of the company so that it can be
implemented in the best manner and profits can be gained in long run.
1.3 List internal and external sources of information andjustify their suitability and reliability
Internal sources of information for the startup company are the supervisors and employees who
are dealing with the consumers. They can provide usefulinformation about consumer trends and
how they are reacting towards the quality foods offered by the company. Next are the internal
reports of business that can provide an overview about thesales and profit so that strategies can
be taken accordingly (Pauleen and Gorman, 2016). These are quite suitable as they can provide
the maximum amount of as well as accurate data about company and consumer trends.
Then is the external source of information is in form of carrying out consumer surveys to know
about their taste and preferences as well as theirreactions towards the product sold by startup up
company. This will be followed by making a study about industry reports in food retail sector in
order to assess the ongoing trends. The newspaper article written about the competitors can also
act as a huge source of information. These are quite suitable means in terms of easy availability
and they can provide trustworthy information (Obeidat, Al-Dmourand Tarhini, 2015).

1.4 Recommend improvements in the selection methods and justify the information needed for
startups.
As the company is a startup hence there is a need of several information collection methods so as
to get access to data in a proper manner. The methods used above are the good one but still the
company should ensure that the quality of information is an accurate and authentic one. Hence
the need is to develop a market research team within the company that can provide data about
ongoingmarket trends, consumers as well as government in the best possible manner. It should
also train its employees so that they find no difficulty in taking the feedback from clients. As the
business is newly set hence all the above mentioned information is required by the company.
This will not only help it in strategy formulation but also led to serving consumers in the best
manner without involving oneself in the legal issues.
LO 2 Be able to create strategies to increase personal networking to widen involvement in
the decision-making process
2.1 Identify stakeholders whose actions may influence decision making processes, instartup
business
There is a presence of many stakeholders that can put an impact on the overall decision making
process. These are;
Consumers are the heart and soul of quality food business and there change in taste and
preferences can drastically put an impact on the decision making process of the company. Then
are the suppliers who provide raw material to the company and if they stop producing quality
products at same price or increases there pricing then impact is likely to happen on the decision
making of company. There is further a need of skilled employees to run the company (Rowley
and Hartley, 2017). If they are not present or leave the firm then decision making process is
likely to get affected. Same is the case of government who may bring a change in laws and
policies which positively or negatively affect the decision taken by the firm.
2.2 Which methods you would use to develop a business relationship with the stakeholders.
Various techniques can be used by the company to formulate businessrelations with the
stakeholders. The employees can be contacted through notice boards, emails, phone calls etc. On
the other hand, the suppliers can be contacted directly either in a face to face manner or througha
phone call (Park and Lee, 2014). The consumers can be connected through website of the

company, press releases and also via advertisements released on TV and radio. Government can
be contacted through business meeting with the officials or through annual report of the
company.
2.3 A plan to involve the identified people in the decision making process
Varied approaches can be used by the startup business so as to involve the stakeholders while
making a plan for pricing and location. The middle management and board of directors of the
company can be involved through informal meetings that occur in small groups so as to discuss
about issues of mutual concern (Girard and Girard, 2015). The shareholders can be involved by
keeping a formal meeting where they can share their opinions about the approaches to be taken
by the company.
2.4 Design strategies for future improvements in this process.
Further improvement in above mentioned process as well as increasing personal networking can
be done by use of following strategies. There should always be a presence of clear
communication with the stakeholders as it will help the company in making a shared decision
after weighing the risk and opportunities linked to it. Personal contact should be made with all
group heads so as to avoid any confusion. This can also be done by making contact with the
representatives of the customers, employees, shareholders and government.
LO. 3: Be able to develop communication processes
3.1 Existing processes of communication in case study
As per the given case study, there was a use of informal communication with the owner of
neighborhood café who offered a chance to the company for buying the business. To be more
specific the communication followed a cluster chain network where the owner of café informed
about his plan to one of the representatives of the company (Ghobadi and Mathiassen, 2016).
The employee then passed on the information to his manager who then passed it to the owner of
quality food business. The information was thus transferred to all the concerned persons through
this network.

3.2 Different communication processes which may be appropriate for growing the business.
There is a need for the management to involve in different forms of communication so as to cater
towards the needs of growing business. As of now, the company has already adopted informal
communication as a part of expansion plan but as it did not took place directly between owners
of the companyhence there is a chances that some facts may have been altered on account of
improper understanding of the message. Hence even whileadopting an informal communication
both the business owners should take care that the communication has taken place between the
concerned individuals so as to maintain the accuracy of message. Other than this, the business is
also required to adopt formal communication (Park and Lee, 2014).This is required to be done
with business partners, employees and shareholders so as to inform them about the ongoing
expansion plans. Focus should also be given on adhering with two way communication where
the feedback of concerned parties is also taken into consideration (Khodakarami and Chan
2014).Other than this company should also make sure that all the details regarding takeover of
café is discussed in written format so as to have a copy of the same and avoid discrepancy in the
later stages.
3.3 Appropriate communication processes to support future growth.
The communication needs of a startup as well as an up and running business is quite different
from each other. This is as the startup firm is required to gather all kind of information by
indulging in both formal and informal communication. While this is not the case with a running
business where formal communication is majorly followed. The need on part of the quality food
firm is thus to focus on developing the existing processes so that business can be grown in an
effective manner (Rowley and Hartley, 2017). This can be in form of adopting tow way
communication in both vertical and horizontal formats. There is further a need to ensure a greater
integration of the communication system to support future growth (Bharati, Zhang and
Chaudhury, 2015). This can be done by making the deal with respect to buying of café clear one
in terms of the contractual agreement that is made with it. The communication is also required to
be descriptive so that both the buyer and seller of the café are aware of the basic criteria.
3.4personal development plan for leader in business to improve your own communication skills
Target Resources Date of accomplished How to check
progress

To make myself good
in English language
Language teacher
Online test on
grammar, spelling and
pronunciation
3 months Feedback given by
tutor
Scores on online test
No issue found by
management in my
grammar and
pronunciation(Galliers
and Leidner, 2014).
Improve my verbal
communication skills
Watching videos of
week known speakers
Practicing with
friends(Park and Lee,
2014).
4 months Increase in overall
confidence
Praise by management
Good impression on
clients
LO4 Be able to improve systems relating to information and knowledge
4.1 existing approaches to the collection, formatting, storage and dissemination of information
and knowledge
 Data collection – The provider of quality food focuses on information and knowledge
collection by referring to online sources such as annual reports of the company,
newspaper articles, newsletters etc. it also refers to hard copies of magazine to find out
the ongoing industry trends (Brezina and Smith, 2017). Other than feedback of
consumers and observations made by employees also act as a source of information about
taste andpreferences of consumers.
 Formatting –the formatting of information is done by preparing power point
presentations, reports etc. so that only the needed data reaches the concerned people
 Storage – Storage of the information that has been collected and formatted is done by
forming files and folders of laptops and taking their copies in Cds and pen drives
(Ghobadi and Mathiassen, 2016).
 Dissemination –The information is disseminated to the concerned people by emails,
meetings and placing information on notice boards.

4.2 Changes to improve collection, formatting, storage and dissemination of information
Various steps can be taken by management of the company to bring an improvement in the
above mentioned approaches. These are as follows;
Proper training should be provided to the employees and management who are involved in
collection, formatting, storage and dissemination of information. This will make sure that no
issues arise in the same and valuable time of company is also saved. The data formatting should
be done by taking the review of employee as well as top management so as to ensure that no
important data has been left out(Rowley and Hartley, 2017). The storage on information should
occur in a physical and virtual manner so that it never gets lost. The confidential data should
always be password protected and must be accessible to only a few employees. The password
should also be changed on a regular basis. The dissemination of data can further be done by use
of cloud computing. Accurate collaboration as well as interaction should be done among the
management as well as employees so that information and knowledge is disseminated in the best
manner.
4.3 A strategy to improve access to systems of information to strengthen business and help it to
continue its future growth
It is very essential that employees of the startup firm gets proper access to information which
would assist n bringing effectiveness, coordination and also improve their knowledge. But it is
also essential on part of the management to ensure that the data is password protected so as not to
cause any issues in terms of breaking the confidentiality norms(Park and Lee, 2014). The need is
further to arrange proper training for the employees so that they provide access only to the
necessary information. It should also be made sure by the senior managers that feedbacks are
gathered from the employees so that improvements can be made whenever the necessity
arise(Galliers and Leidner, 2014).External consultant can also be hired by the company so that
access can be made easy but secured. Moreover the systems should also be designed in such a
manner that there is userfriendly for the staff.

Conclusion
From the above report it can be concluded that start-up businesses are often required to take a
wide variety ofdecisions which can only be done if proper information and knowledge is present.
The sources of gathering the data can be internal and external in nature but which is to be used is
dependent on information to be collected by the frim. The process of decision making also
requires the involvement of stakeholders hence good relations must be maintained with them.
Same changes are to be made in the communication process as well as collecting, storing and
disseminating the information in a proper manner.

References
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