Business Communication Report: BTEC Unit 4, Business Communication

This report provides a comprehensive overview of business communication, encompassing various facets crucial for effective organizational operations. It begins by defining and explaining different types of business information, including verbal and written forms, their sources, and their respective purposes. The report then delves into the presentation of complex internal business information using diverse methods and explores the creation of corporate communications, exemplified by a Walmart poster. Furthermore, it evaluates external corporate communications, specifically analyzing ASDA's advertising strategies. The legal and ethical considerations surrounding the use of business information are also examined, along with operational issues. Finally, the report outlines both electronic and non-electronic communication methods, providing relevant examples to illustrate their practical application. The report concludes by emphasizing the importance of communication in fostering healthy employment relationships and organizational success.

Business communication

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
P1 Explain different types of business information, their sources and purposes...................1
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................2
P2 Present complex internal business information using three different methods ................2
P3Produce corporate communications...................................................................................2
P4 Evaluate the external corporate communications of an existing product or service.........2
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................3
P5 Explain the legal and ethical issues in relation to the use of business information..........3
P6 Explain operational issues in relation to the use of businesses information.....................4
TASK 4............................................................................................................................................5
P7 Outline electronic and non-electronic methods, using examples......................................5
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................7

INTRODUCTION
In the modern scenario, communication process plays an important role because with the
help of this two of more persons can easily interact with each others as well as share any kind of
informations. Effective communication process assist to increase understanding level also helps
to develop employment relationship. This research project will be discussing about different
types of information techniques (Bovee, 2010). Also corporate communication will be produced
for select organisation. In the addition of this, legal and ethical issues will be defining which
directly impacting upon business firm. Moreover, will be defining electronic and non-electronic
communication methods, which plays significant role every business organisation.
TASK 1
P1 Explain different types of business information, their sources and purposes
Verbal Information- Verbal communication can either be done face to face or over the
phone. The most effective way to communicate would be face to face, as there is less chance of
misunderstanding and it allows for verbal and non-verbal messages. The advantage of using
verbal information would be because it is much easier to communicate verbally that any other
way (Guffey and Loewy, 2010). This is because you can understand the body language used and
the tone, whereas in written information sometimes the tone can be misunderstood. You get to
understand every detail that it being spoken by the other person. For example Super drug
communicates with their staff verbally at staff meetings and appraisals, and one to one meetings
about new plans for the business or any changes being made.
Written Information- Written communication allows businesses to communicate
developments, expectations and legalities to employees and contracts in the outside world. It is
the symbols of verbal communication. Written communication involves any type of message that
makes use of the written word. It is the most important and the most effective of business
communication. An advantage of written communication is there is no need for personal contact,
you can tell an employee he or she has to work overtime through an email rather than wasting
time and doing it face to face (Decarie, 2010).
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TASK 2
P2 Present complex internal business information using three different methods
Covered in PPT
P3Produce corporate communications
Corporate Communication is a set of activities involved in managing and orchestrating all
internal and external communications aimed at creating favourable point of view among
stakeholders on which the company depends. It is the messages issued by a corporate
organization, body, or institute to its audiences, such as employees, media, channel partners and
the general public. Organizations aim to communicate the same message to all its stakeholders,
to transmit coherence, credibility and ethic (Usunier and Roulin, 2010). Corporate
Communications help organizations explain their mission, combine its many visions and values
into a cohesive message to stakeholders. The concept of corporate communication could be seen
as an integrative communication structure linking stakeholders to the organisation.
The piece of corporate communication that has produced is a poster advertising Walmart
Everyday Value range of products. It using the universal design code that cite company uses. It
could be a web based advertisement or it could be non-web based and put on billboards. As it is a
poster it needs to be simple and eye-catching so it can used a big image in the centre to catch
people’s eyes and show they what the product range looks like, this is also the reason used the
pattern. The name of the product and business is at the top in big so people know where they can
get the product from and what the product is called. Walmart mission statement is “we make
what matters better, together” and the advert highlights is trying to encourage and show people
what organisation can offer to them.
P4 Evaluate the external corporate communications of an existing product or service.
It will be evaluate a series of corporate communications in the form of posters, these
posters have all been created by ASDA to advertise products they stock.
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Illustration 1: Products of ASDA, 2017
(Source- Products of ASDA, 2017)
What do these corporate communications include?
These particular corporate communications from ASDA are very simple, the simplicity
comes in the fact that they only include the logo, strap line and some images. The simplicity
could perhaps be the most successful part about it because it gets straight to the point and people
won’t come away from seeing them and be confused about what the advert was actually
advertising. They are eye-catching without being confusing due to the use of colour and simple
images to complement the text (Cardon, 2010).
What is the purpose of these corporate communications?
The purpose of these corporate communications are to keep ASDA in people’s minds.
Brand recognition is imperative for a business’s success, and ASDA has to continually ensure
that they do not get forgotten about. ASDA does not just want people to know about them, they
want consumers to want to buy groceries from them instead of a different shop, so these adverts
try to make people see ASDA in a positive light and that they sell groceries that consumers will
“love every mouthful” without having to spend too much money.
TASK 3
P5 Explain the legal and ethical issues in relation to the use of business information
It will be explaining the legal and ethical issues that relate to the use of business
information. A person of personally think that legal and ethical issues are usually to do with
something that involves people having to abide to a law, in most cases there will be a
consequence for not abiding with the law. Most people do not feel safe in putting their personal
staff on different social networks like Facebook and Twitter, the reason being of many hackers
invading other people's privacy (Conrad and Newberry, 2012).
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Facebook tries to follow this Act, However recently a lot of people's personal accounts
have been hacked and people have been able to go on other people's accounts and post disturbing
information or pictures. This then breaks the Data Protection Act 1998 of obtaining personal
information fairly and lawfully. Facebook should have been able to stop those people invading
privacy. There is also Freedom of Information Act 2000 (that came to effect in 2005) this
includes Right of access to information held by public authorities.
The Computer Misuse Act 1990: it is a law that does not allow certain activities when
using computers, this include: hacking into other people's systems, misusing software or helping
a person to gain access to protected files on someone's else's computer. Recently we have seen
on the BBC news on how they were hackers on Facebook and how there was no password
protection on users Facebook as the flaw meant that many accounts were viewable with only on
click. Below is the website you can find more information.
P6 Explain operational issues in relation to the use of businesses information
At this time period, for effective communication every companies are using smart
communication technologies and methods. Such as Facebook being a social networking site
needs to take responsibility in the way it runs its business. Facebook has tried to follow the Data
Protection Act 1998, but the hackers still find ways off getting into people accounts, studying
people wall posts and saving pictures into their personal database or make fake identity to get
other people information . This then breaks the Data Protection Act 1998 of obtaining personal
information fairly and lawfully. Facebook should have been able to stop those people invading
privacy (Fall and et.al., 2013).
There is also Freedom of Information Act 2000 (that came to effect in 2005) this
includes Right of access to information held by public authorities. This is when a person request
information to public authority, the authority has to be informed in writing by the public
authority whether it holds information of the description specified in the request, and if that is the
case, to have that information communicated back to them.
The Computer Misuse Act 1990 it is a law that does not allow certain activities when
using computers, this include: hacking into other people's systems, misusing software or helping
a person to gain access to protected files on someone's else's computer. In the news on BBC
recently their has been an article about how easy it is for hackers to access people accounts, this
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is due to hackers hacking into people accounts and telling other hackers on how to do it (Robles,
2012).
TASK 4
P7 Outline electronic and non-electronic methods, using examples.
As technology progresses, new communications are born and old ones many of which
seemed new not so long ago fade away. When you're trying to connect with employees,
colleagues, bosses, clients, customers, suppliers or any other business contact, you may have
more choices than you realize. Whether for interpersonal or marketing communications,
electronic media are critical to getting business done efficiently and cost-effectively (Toth,
2013).
Mobile Devices
Although communication with mobile devices may be less formal than other forms of
communication, people are increasingly turning to text messages and short emails using cell
phones and personal digital assistants (PDAs). Text messaging in particular has strong appeal, as
anyone with a cell phone has texting capability. PDAs with Internet capability have changed the
way email works, often turning it into a
Social Networking Media
The capability and uses of social networking media continue to evolve. Some maintain
social networking represents a new frontier in marketing and business networking. Companies
promote events, communicate with customers, offer discounts and draw attention to sales using
social networking media.
A letter is a formal piece of documentation which can be used when ASDA is informing
or responding to someone outside the organisation. The letter has to be clear and concise because
people outside the organisation are reading it and will judge the organisation depending on how
well the letter presents itself ( Alshare, Lane and Miller, 2011). ASDA 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. They
can be used by ASDA 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. It is easier
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to send a memo to a department than to go find the person because they may not know who the
specific person they need to tell the information to. For example, a memo might be sent to a
department letting them know that there is an optional training course that employees can sign up
to, to enhance their skill range, this isn’t sent to a specific person so it could be put on a notice
board which is seen by the majority of staff in the department.
CONCLUSION
From the above mentioned this research project it has been concluded that,
communication is an effective process which helped to develop healthy employment relationship
in an organisation. This research project has been discussed about different types of
communication methods, with the help of them easy to interact with others. In the addition of
this, electronic and non-electronic communication techniques has been discussed.
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REFERENCES
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.
Bovee, C. L., 2010. Business Communication Today, 10/e. Pearson Education India.
Cardon, P. W., 2010. Using films to learn about the nature of cross-cultural stereotypes in
intercultural business communication courses. Business Communication Quarterly.
73(2). pp.150-165.
Conrad, D. and Newberry, R., 2012. Identification and instruction of important business
communication skills for graduate business education. Journal of Education for
Business. 87(2). pp.112-120.
Decarie, C., 2010. Facebook: Challenges and opportunities for business communication students.
Business Communication Quarterly. 73(4). pp.449-452.
Fall, L. T., and et.al., 2013. Intercultural communication apprehension and emotional
intelligence in higher education: Preparing business students for career success.
Business Communication Quarterly. 76(4). pp.412-426.
Guffey, M. E. and Loewy, D., 2010. Business communication: Process and product. Cengage
Learning.
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.
Toth, C., 2013. Revisiting a genre: Teaching infographics in business and professional
communication courses. Business Communication Quarterly. 76(4). pp.446-457.
Usunier, J. C. and Roulin, N., 2010. The influence of high-and low-context communication
styles on the design, content, and language of business-to-business web sites. The
Journal of Business Communication (1973). 47(2). pp.189-227.
Online
Business Communication Solutions, 2017. [Online]. Available through:
<https://www.a1comms.co.uk/business-communication-solutions>. [Accessed on 16th
August 2017]
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