BTEC L3: Evaluating Business Communication - Mark and Spencer PLC

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of business communication strategies employed by Mark and Spencer PLC, examining both internal and external communication methods. It delves into various types of business information, their sources, and purposes, highlighting verbal, written, and visual communication techniques. The report evaluates corporate communication approaches, comparing Mark and Spencer with Asda, and explores the legal and ethical considerations related to the use of business information, including data protection and freedom of information acts. Furthermore, it addresses operational issues such as information security and backup procedures. The study also outlines electronic and non-electronic methods for communicating business information, such as letters and memoranda, concluding with an overview of how effective communication contributes to the overall success and goodwill of the organization. Desklib provides access to similar solved assignments and resources for students.

BUSINESS
COMMUNICATIONS

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1 ...........................................................................................................................................1
P1 Types of business information, their sources and purpose of information...........................1
TASK 2 ...........................................................................................................................................2
P2 Internal business information using three different methods................................................2
P3- Corporate communication....................................................................................................3
P4) Evaluate the external corporate communications of an existing product.............................4
TASK 3 ...........................................................................................................................................4
P5) The legal and ethical issues in relation to the use of business information..........................4
P6) The operational issue in relation to the use of business information...................................5
TASK 4 ...........................................................................................................................................6
P7) Electronic and non-electronic methods for communicating business information.............6
CONCLUSION ...............................................................................................................................6
REFRENCES ..................................................................................................................................8
.........................................................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
Communication is neither the transmission of a message nor the message itself. It is the
mutual exchange of understanding, originating with the receiver. Communication needs to be
effective in business (Kernbach, Eppler and Bresciani, 2015). Communication is the essence of
management. The basic functions of management (Planning, Staffing, directing and Controlling)
cannot be performed well without effective communication. Business Communication is goal
oriented. The rules, regulations and policies of a company have to be communicated to people
within and outside the organization. Effective business communication helps in building
goodwill of an organization. Mark and Spencer is the most popular British multinational retailer
company. It is famous for providing home, clothing and luxury food products. Its mainly focuses
on establishing effective communication channel between customers and businesses.
TASK 1
P1 Types of business information, their sources and purpose of information
Verbal information can be argued to be the best way to communicate because it makes
sure that everyone has a full understanding of the information because questions can be asked
and the information can be discussed. Mark and Spencer uses verbal information to communicate
when they are coming up with new advertisements for the business.
Written information is the use of symbols to express speech. Written information is a
good way for people to have documented versions of information. Mark and Spencer will write
written terms and conditions ii that people will be sent when they take out a bank account with
Mark and Spencer . Written Written information is the use of physical symbols to represent
words. Words are sounds that make up speech.
Other forms of physical representation, such as diagrams, graphs and charts are also types
of visual representation. On screen On screen information may be produced on-screen. This can
be seen in multimedia TV and CD-ROMs that combine text, graphics, animation, audio and
video. Multimedia Multimedia information can be text, graphics, audio, animation, video, data
and many more (Hynes, 2012).
Information Purpose
It is critical in a business to measure and compare actual performance against what was
budgeted for. Using historical records is one method, to make comparisons; however, targets
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may be set to stretch the performance of an organisation. If costs are more than expenditure then
it must take action to remedy the situation. Market research reports can monitor altering market
conditions, or possibly an increase or demise in demand of products and services (Okoro, 2011).
Information Sources Information comes from four different sources:
Internal – An organisation’s own intellectual property, such as financial records, customer
records, order information, maintenance records, etc. usually gathered from their respective
department records – Production, Sales, Finance, Marketing, Maintenance, Administration or
HR.
External – Collected from outside an organization, such as market research, the Internet,
newspapers, bulletins, reports, publications, usually from the government, trade groupings, or
commercial databases.
Primary – Collected first-hand by the investigator, by possibly interview or questionnaire,
gathered for a specific purpose. It generally is a more costly method, but provides more specific,
quality information.
Secondary – Gathered second-hand, by someone else, for another purpose, however can still be
used – lower cost, though generally not as specific and of reduced quality.
TASK 2
P2 Internal business information using three different methods
Written communication: Written communication involves any type of interaction that
makes use of the written word. It is one of the two main types of communication, along with
oral/spoken communication. Written communication is very common in business situations and
they use this type of communication a lot. Written communication includes reports, orders,
memos, instructions, rules, policies, agreements, and minutes.
Visual Communication: Visual communication is direct face-to-face communication
between two or more individuals. Speeches, presentations, discussions, meetings are all forms of
oral communication. Face-to-face communication is very easy and useful and you could build a
rapport and get people to gain trust in you (Jones, 2011).
Verbal Communication: Verbal communication has more to do with listening than
speaking because you are always dealing with an audience.
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Mark and Spencer use very easy pattern of business just for making things easy for the
customers. Buyer having various different needs and wants, organisation are focused to fulfil the
demand of buyer. They set up very easy and comfort communication pattern for better help of
the buyers.
P3- Corporate communication
Corporate communication is a management function or department, like marketing,
finance, or operations, dedicated to the dissemination of information to key constituencies, the
execution of corporate strategy and the development of messages for a variety of purposes for
inside and outside the organisation (Sigmar, Hynes and Hill, 2012).
Previously called “public relations” or “public affairs,” corporate communication has
taken on new importance in the 21st century as a result of corporate scandals or crises at
companies like Enron and Toyota. The department usually oversees communication strategy,
media relations, crisis communications, internal communications, reputation management,
corporate responsibility, investor relations, government affairs and sometimes marketing
communication.
The person running the department is the chief communications officer of the firm, and
reports directly to the chief executive officer in many of the top global organisations due to the
critical importance of the function today.
Mark and Spencer and Asda comparing on the basis of their corporate communication
with their customers. The differences between them describes that how these two organisations
communicate with their audience. With the help of this comparison it is evaluated that which
company use effective corporate communication techniques.
Advertisement: This is a form of promotion where a business will advertise to let
people know about their product whether it is on TV, leaflet or email. This form of corporate
communication is directed at customers.
Advertising can be apply to show promotional offers or new products and even when a
organisation is implement a new service. So if Asda and Mark and Spencer advertise would be
to promote their goods, introduce a new service, and to encourage new offers. These are leaflets
form the two organisations Mark and Spencer and Asda.
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P4) Evaluate the external corporate communications of an existing product
External business communication is any information the company distributes to the
public, either about the organization itself or their products and services. A well-thought out
communications plan not only defines the target audience, but also focuses on how to reach it
effectively. Because the goal of external communications is to promote the company and
increase revenue, external communications are an important part of an overall marketing plan.
External communication is any communicative effort specifically for people and organizations
operating outside of the business (Alshare, Lane and Miller, 2011).
Adverts are the best source a company has to appeals to its target market. The aesthetic
and wording of these specific adverts are what will attract a person into reading and observing
these adverts increasing the likelihood of them then to invest in that precise product. Colours and
location of these adverts are also very important for a similar reason. This specific advert is
designed by Mark and Spencer as a visual attraction for its consumers to entice them to invest
into the brands products. The simplicity and deep red used make this type of advertisement very
eye-catching to a passer-by.
External communication, which focuses on spreading news and information about your business,
product and service to the public, customers and other business stakeholders. In developing your
corporate reputation, you are also developing trust in your business. Many healthcare
partnerships are based on trust, trust in your company, trust in your products.
TASK 3
P5) The legal and ethical issues in relation to the use of business information
Legal issues refer to different legislation to protect the business information from various
source of hackers. The types of legal law that exists are data Protection Act 1998, freedom of
information act 2000, Computer Misuse act 1990, Human Right Act 1998 and Privacy Act 1974.
The main three legal issues that I'll be discussing in detail will be Data Protection Act, Freedom
of Information Act 2000 and Computer Misuse Act 1990 (Robles, 2012).
Data Protection Act 1998 is the data Protection Act controls how your personal
information is used by organizations, businesses or the government. Everyone responsible for
using data has to follow strict rules called ‘data protection principles’.
 They must make sure the information is to used fairly and lawfully.
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 used for limited, specifically stated purposes.
 used in a way that is adequate, relevant and not excessive.
 Accurate.
 Kept for no longer than is absolutely necessary to handled according to people’s data
protection rights to kept safe and secure.
 Not transferred outside the UK without adequate protection.
In this case Mark and Spencer follows all of these data protection principles to keep
every bit of information safe and guided so nothing goes wrong within the business or outside of
the business. Mark and Spencer collect personal information such as names, email address,
billing address, delivery address, telephone number, credit card details and this is all kept for the
customer database (Toth, 2013).
Freedom of Information Act 2000: The Freedom of Information Act 2000 provides public
access to information held by public authorities. It does this in two ways: public authorities are
obliged to publish certain information about their activities; and members of the public are
entitled to request information from public authorities.
Ethical Issues
Business ethics are moral principles concerning acceptable and unacceptable behaviour
by businesses. Codes of practice exist in organisations to maintain business ethics on:
 Use of email
 Internet
 Whistle-blowing
 Organisational policies
 Information ownership
 Picture
P6) The operational issue in relation to the use of business information
In this report, it will state the operation issues in relation to the use of a business, it will
also state what they are and why they are important and also the benefits of doing it.
Well Security of information: Security of information, is when a organisation has to make sure
that all information held at the origination is safe and not accessible by unauthorised personnel
(Okoro, Washington and Cardon, 2011). If it is accessed by unauthorized personnel than the
organisation is liable The way that this relates to Mark and Spencer PLC is through the
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following, Mark and Spencer PLC are a organisation that holds information about their
customers and suppliers and in order to protect the information they have security procedures
that help Mark and Spencer PLC protect the information being accessed by unauthorised
personnel Backups: In information technology, a backup, or the process of backing up, refers to
the copying and archiving of computer data so it may be used to restore the original after a data
loss event This relates to Mark and Spencer PLC as they do hold information about suppliers and
customers and other organisational information and in case of a disaster they have to have
multiple backup storage facilities.
TASK 4
P7) Electronic and non-electronic methods for communicating business information.
The electrical and non-electrical methods of communicating business information, to the
different types of audiences Non-electronic- Letter: Mark and Spencer PLC uses letter in many
different ways in order to contact their many different departments and personnel. Mark and
Spencer PLC uses letter to contact their suppliers with invoices, they also use letters to contact
employees to inform them about personnel matters. Mark and Spencer PLC also use letters to
contact their customers if they are replying about queries or complaints Memorandum: Mark and
Spencer PLC don't use memorandums as they are out dated and they tend to use up to date
methods, memorandums is a written message in business that informs employees about a
particular matter (Guffey and Loewy, 2012). Memorandum have now largely been replaced by e-
mail and SMS Fax: Mark and Spencer PLC would use faxes in order to send through invoice
sheets to their suppliers, they would use faxes to message or contact their internal or external
customers.
CONCLUSION
As per the above report it has been concluded that Business Communication is regulated
by certain rules and norms. In early times, business communication was limited to paper-work,
telephone calls etc. But now with advent of technology, we have cell phones, video
conferencing, emails, satellite communication to support business communication. Mark and
Spencer would need to have meetings with people that are writing the advert and may use focus
groups to determine what customers want from the bank. In today’s global corporation, this
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function serves as the conscience of the corporation and is responsible for the organisation’s
reputation.
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REFRENCES
Books and Journals
Alshare, K. A., Lane, P. L. and Miller, D., 2011. Business communication skills in Information
Systems (IS) curricula: Perspectives of IS educators and students. Journal of Education
for Business. 86(3). pp.186-194.
Guffey, M. E. and Loewy, D., 2012. Essentials of business communication. Cengage Learning.
Hynes, G. E., 2012. Improving employees’ interpersonal communication competencies: A
qualitative study. Business communication quarterly. 75(4). pp.466-475.
Jones, C. G., 2011. Written and computer-mediated accounting communication skills: An
employer perspective. Business Communication Quarterly. 74(3). pp.247-271.
Kernbach, S., Eppler, M. J. and Bresciani, S., 2015. The use of visualization in the
communication of business strategies: An experimental evaluation. International Journal
of Business Communication. 52(2). pp.164-187.
Okoro, E. A., 2011. Academic integrity and student plagiarism: Guided instructional strategies
for business communication assignments. Business Communication Quarterly. 74(2).
pp.173-178.
Okoro, E. A., Washington, M. C. and Cardon, P. W., 2011. Eportfolios in business
communication courses as tools for employment. Business Communication Quarterly.
74(3). pp.347-351.
Robles, M. M., 2012. Executive perceptions of the top 10 soft skills needed in today’s
workplace. Business Communication Quarterly. 75(4). pp.453-465.
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
What is business communication? 2011. [Online]. Available through:
<http://www.managementstudyguide.com/business_communication.htm>. [Accessed
on 17th July 2017.]
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