BTEC Unit 4 Business Communication Report: Luton International College

This report delves into the multifaceted realm of business communication, examining its crucial role within organizations. The report begins by dissecting different types of business information, from transaction processing systems to decision support systems, and elucidates their respective purposes. It then moves on to analyze corporate communications, both internal and external, using Tesco as a case study to illustrate concepts like mission statements, goals, and objectives. Furthermore, the report addresses legal and ethical considerations in the use of business information, including data protection, with eBay as a practical example. Finally, it explores operational issues related to information management, such as security, backups, and the importance of adhering to organizational policies and legislation. The report emphasizes the significance of effective communication in fostering smooth operations, maintaining stakeholder relations, and ensuring ethical practices within a business context.

BUSINESS
COMMUNICATION

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
Project 1 – Types and Purpose of Business Information................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
P1) Different types of business information and the purpose of the information and analyse
them.............................................................................................................................................1
PROJECT 2 - CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS OF AN ORGANISATION.......................2
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................2
P2) Internal business information including mission statement, goals and objectives..............2
P3) corporate communications for your organisation................................................................3
P4) External corporate communications of an existing product or service...............................4
PROJECT 3 - LEGAL AND ETHICAL ISSUES OF AN ORGANISATION, EXPLAINING
OPERATIONAL ISSUES...............................................................................................................5
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................5
P5) legal and ethical issues in relation to the use of business information................................5
P6) operational issues in relation to the use of business information.........................................6
PROJECT 4 ELECTRONIC AND NON-ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATION.........................7
TASK 4............................................................................................................................................7
P7) Electronic and non-electronic methods for communicating business information, using
examples for different types of audience....................................................................................7
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................7
REFERENCE...................................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
Communication is the nervous system of an organisation. It keeps the members of the
organisation informed about the internal and external happenings relevant to a task and of
interest to the organisation. It co-ordinates the efforts of the members towards achieving
organisational objectives. It is the process of influencing the action of a person or a group. The
present report is based on understanding business communication aspects for transferring
information and managing operations efficiently. In this regard, different types of business
information, their sources and purposes and complex internal business information using three
different methods appropriate to the user’s needs are to be described. However, corporate
communications and legal as well ethical issues in relation to the use of business information is
to be presented through this assignment.
Project 1 – Types and Purpose of Business Information
TASK 1
P1) Different types of business information and the purpose of the information and analyse
them
Types of business information:-
 Transaction processing systems (TPS): These are basic business systems that serve the
operational level of the organization by recording the daily routine transactions required
to conduct business, such as payroll and sales receipts (Craft, 2013).
 Management information systems (MIS): These serve middle managers' interests by
providing current and historical performance information to aid in planning, controlling,
and decision making at the management level. MIS typically compress TPS data to
present regular reports on the company's basic operations.
 Decision support systems (DSS):- Business intelligence systems, help managers with
non-routine decisions that are unique, rapidly changing, and not easily specified in
advance. DSS are more analytical than MIS, using a variety of models to analyze internal
and external data or condense large amounts of data for analysis (García and Conde,
2014).
Purposes of communication:
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In this age of competition communication is the number one problem of the management.
Competition, complex methods of production, large scale operations and specialisation in
production functions have increased the importance of communication (Zsambok and Klein,
2014). Without effective communication a manager cannot perform his duties well. S m o o t h W o r k i n g o f a B u s i n e s s F i r m : Communication is necessary for
the successful smooth and unrestricted working of an enterprise. All
organisational interaction depends upon working of an enterprise (Ruff and Pert, 2013).
All organisational interaction depends upon communication. The manager co-ordinates
the human and the physical elements of an organisation into an efficient and working unit
that achieves common objectives. Beit an activity of purchase or sale or
production or finance it is the process of communication that m a k e s
c o o p e r a t i v e a c t i o n p o s s i b l e .
 Contacts with External Parties: Communication is essential not only for the internal
management of the organisation but it also helps contacts with the outside world.
Contact with outside agencies such as customers,associations, other
manufacturers, advertisers, suppliers, trade unions,, research councils and
institutions, etc. are necessary for furthering the interests of the organisation.
PROJECT 2 - CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS OF AN
ORGANISATION
TASK 2
P2) Internal business information including mission statement, goals and objectives
The three different methods that I am going to use to present Tesco’s internal business
information are a presentation, a short report and a leaflet.
Presentation planning
To plan my presentation, I will need to list my objectives, audience, and remit. I will then
need to figure out my main points and my supporting information. By working out these
points I will be able to successfully talk about the internal business information of Thorpe
Park for five minutes (Salama and Collins, 2013).
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My objectives are to ensure that I explain the complex internal business information at a
level that my audience will understand. My audience is a group of business journalists. They
likely know a bit about internal business
information in general but not of Tesco and not to the standard of business analysts and they
don’t need the detail that the business directors need.
The remit is a five-minute oral presentation.
Main points
 Tesco has had a difficult financial year (2014-2015)’
 The prices of shares have continually fallen over the past few years, starting when Sir
 Terry Leahy stepped down as CEO in 2010.
 The share prices didn’t start to properly fall until towards the end of the 2011-2012
 tax year.
 In April 2012 the profits fell 1% for the first time in 20 years
 Share prices began to recover towards the end of the 2012-2013 tax year
 The share prices hit a low in the middle of the 2014-2015 tax year.
P3) corporate communications for your organisation
Corporate Communication is a set of activities involved in managing and orchestrating all
internal and external communications aimed at creating favorable point of view among
stakeholders on which the company depends. Organizations aim to communicate the same
message to all its stakeholders, to transmit coherence and ethic (Gu and et.al., 2013). 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.
Responsibilities of Corp. Communication-
Managing communication or fulfilling the communication management function-
Dealing with controlled and uncontrolled media- Serving both internal and external audiences-
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Proactive communication planning- Advocating communication strategies and tactics-
Dissemination of persuasion and information- Branding images and reputation.
Employee Relations- Internal communication is the key: informed employees are happy
and they spread the good news through their families and friends- Never surprise employees;
make them a part of the planning process and keep them informed (Hill and et.al., 2013).
P4) External corporate communications of an existing product or service
External communication is the transmission of information between a business and
another person or entity in the company's external environment. Examples of these people and
entities include customers, potential customers, suppliers, investors, shareholders, and society at
large (Malik, Awais and Khursheed, 2016).
Advertising – Advertising is a way to inform in a way of notice or announcement to the
public or businesses about promotions, services and products. Other can be information about
upcoming events or a massive sale. Advertisement can be informed through TV, leaflets and
Radio. CWOA inform their customers about new events taking place via Television
advertisement as well as posters on public transport vehicles and on their websites (Marshall and
et.al., 2016).
To build better relationships with the media, organizations must cultivate positive
relations with influential members of the media. This task might be handled by employees within
the company's media relations department or handled by a public relations firm.
The role of the PR specialist therefore also consists of issues management, namely the
"set of organizational procedures, routines, personnel, and issues". A strategic issue is one that
compels a company to deal with it because there is "a conflict between two or more identifiable
groups over procedural or substantive matters relating to the distribution of positions or
resources"
Building relationships with customers and responding to inquiries from the public fall
under the public relations function of corporate communications (Moonen and et.al., 2013).
Duties in this area include producing newsletters, brochures and other printed materials designed
for the general public. Corporate communicators also manage a company’s website and social
media presence, which includes monitoring what customers and clients are saying about the
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company on social networking websites and responding to inaccurate posts or requests for
information.
PROJECT 3 - LEGAL AND ETHICAL ISSUES OF AN ORGANISATION,
EXPLAINING OPERATIONAL ISSUES
TASK 3
P5) legal and ethical issues in relation to the use of business information
Any businesses store and use information about people. The Data Protection Act protects
information held about people from being misused. The information stored by businesses on
databases must be:
Obtained fairly and lawfully Used only for the purposes stated during collection
Adequate, relevant and not excessive in relation to the intended use Accurate and up to date Not
kept for longer than necessary Processed in line with your rights (Morris and Shin, 2016).
Subject to procedures to prevent unlawful processing, accidental loss, destruction and
damage to personal data.
The organisation I have chosen to use in this as is eBay. I will be taking a close look at
the company and then rebrand it under three main headings; access, availability and business
efficiency. More quotient Ebay communicate with their customers via emails (Noguera and Pert,
2015). At some rare occasion they also contact the buyer individualised through their phone
numbers. When a customer purchases a product from the seller the confirmation communications
is sent to the customer run-through email. This helps build a trusting relationship between the
buyers and seller as they do not need to tar that their money has been conned or stolen. As a
result the customer a ions IPS. ll come back to use easy as they feel that the site is trustworthy In
the long term building relationship with customers is seen as a positive outcome as customers
will come back to use the site again or recommend it to other people. This enables eBay that the
y will not be losing out on profit. To make a profit from. The marketing mix used here could be
people are eSay tnes really hard to earn the trust of its customers and build relationship with
them. Use of EBaysends emails to registered customers (Ruff and Pert, 2013).
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P6) operational issues in relation to the use of business information
Organisations have to store and manage countless pieces of information, with some being
far more important than others (Salama and Collins, 2013). Lying at the heart of any information
system are two fundamental issues of ensuring that:
 the organisation receives the information it requires
 the appropriate member of staff receives the information
To make sure that information is managed appropriately, a number of policies and procedures
have to be put in place, concerning:
 security of information
 backups
 health and safety
 organisational policies
 business continuance plans
Information security management deals with maintaining the integrity and availability of
organisational information and knowledge. Many companies keep their information on IT
systems, but as the reliance on technology increases, so does the risk posed by system failure and
malicious attacks (e.g. viruses). The IT security policy should take account of the common risks
to the information that their business relies upon. This might include secure login ID for using IT
systems (Sutherland and Holstead, 2014).
Policies help make sure that staff have guidance to help them comply with legislation
(Data Protection Act for example). They should also help ensure that consistent decisions are
made, which can be as important in internal communications as they are in handling customers.
Legal issues are various items of legislation (law) to protect the use of business
information.
Data protection act 1998 (Uechi and et.al., 2015). Many business store information about people,
whether it’s for potential customers or previous clients.
The data protection act protects the information held about people from being misused.
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The information businesses store on databases need to be obtained fairly and lawfully, they must
only be used for the purposes started during collection, it must be accurate and up to date, not
kept for longer than necessary, processed in line with your rights, subjects. They should also
make sure consistent decisions are made which can be as important in internal communications
as they are in handling customers.
Operational issues:- Organisations have to store and manage countless pieces of
information, with some being far more important than others. Business need to ensure that the
organisation receives the information it requires and the appropriate members of staff receives
the information (Zsambok and Klein, 2014).
PROJECT 4 ELECTRONIC AND NON-ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATION
TASK 4
P7) Electronic and non-electronic methods for communicating business information, using
examples for different types of audience
Non- electronic communication involves the distribution of a message usually in the form
of: Reports, Letters, Flow Charts, Invoices and even Verbal Communication amongst employees.
This form of communicating is not as popular as it once was, but it provides businesses with
other avenues to communicate instead of electronic communication (Morris and Shin, 2016).
Furthermore, different types of communication suit contrasting businesses in addition to, the
preference of people involved within a business.
Electronic and Non- Electronic Sources of Business information
Sources of business information can come in a variety of different forms which include:
Newspapers, Websites, Books, Posters, Directories, Databases, Government Statistic (Business
Communication, 2016).
CONCLUSION
I The report is concluded that business communication is essential for sharing ideas, views
and opinions from one place to another through information. In this regard, different information
systems are described that are used to exchange data as well electronic and non-electronic
methods are presented for business communication. In this regard, issues occurred in
organization during communication is obtained that affects on quality of expressing opinions.
When a company has employed a new employees they make them sign a non-disclosure
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agreement, this will prevent any member of staff from discussing information which they have
gained from within the organisation with anybody outside of the business. This covers all
information such as: information about suppliers, customers and employees.
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REFERENCE
Books and Journal
Craft, J.L., 2013. A review of the empirical ethical decision-making literature: 2004–2011.
Journal of Business Ethics. 117(2). pp.221-259.
García, F.J. and Conde, M.Á., 2014. Using informal learning for business decision making and
knowledge management. Journal of Business Research. 67(5). pp.686-691.
Ginevičius, R. and Podviezko, A., 2013. The evaluation of financial stability and soundness of
Lithuanian banks. Economic Research-Ekonomska Istraživanja. 26(2). pp.191-208.
Gu, H. and et.al., 2013. RAMSY: Ratio analysis of mass spectrometry to improve compound
identification. Analytical chemistry. 85(22). pp.10771-10779.
Hill, R. and et.al., 2013. Indigenous land management in Australia: extent, scope, diversity,
barriers and success factors.
Malik, M.S., Awais, M. and Khursheed, A., 2016. Impact of Liquidity on Profitability: A
Comprehensive Case of Pakistan’s Private Banking Sector. International Journal of Economics
and Finance. 8(3). pp.61-69.
Marshall, N.A. and et.al., 2016. Advances in monitoring the human dimension of natural
resource systems: an example from the Great Barrier Reef. Environmental Research Letters.
11(11). pp.114-220.
Moonen, P.J.J. and et.al., 2013. Compositions and methods for reducing scar formation in wound
healing. U.S. Patent. 8(5). pp.377-881.
Morris, S. and Shin, H.S., 2016. Illiquidity component of credit risk. Princeton University
William S. Dietrich II Economic Theory Center Research Paper. 19(4). pp.81.
Noguera, P. and Pert, C., 2015. Quantification and distribution of Anisakis simplex sensu stricto
in wild, one sea winter Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar, returning to Scottish rivers. Journal of the
Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom. 95(2). pp.391-399.
Ruff, M.R. and Pert, C.B., 2013. Cellular Immunology Section, Laboratory of Microbiology and
Enkephalins and Endorphins: Stress and the Immune System. 9(4). pp.387.
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Salama, N.K.G. and Collins, C.M., 2013. Development and assessment of a biophysical dispersal
model for sea lice. Journal of fish diseases. 36(3). pp.323-337.
Sutherland, L.A. and Holstead, K.L., 2014. Future-proofing the farm: On-farm wind turbine
development in farm business decision-making. Land Use Policy. 36(5). pp.102-112.
Uechi, L. and et.al., 2015. Sector dominance ratio analysis of financial markets. Physica A:
Statistical Mechanics and its Applications. 420(5). pp.488-509.
Zsambok, C.E. and Klein, G., 2014. Naturalistic decision making. Psychology Press.
Online
Business Communication. 2016. [online]. Available through:
<https://www.saylor.org/site/textbooks/Business%20Communication%20for
%20Success.pdf>. [Accessed on 11th July 2017].
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