Business Communication Report: Luton International College, Unit 4

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of business communication strategies, focusing on Walmart as a case study. It begins by exploring different types of business information, their sources, and purposes, and then delves into methods of presenting complex internal business information. The report examines the production and evaluation of corporate communications, including both internal and external aspects. A significant portion is dedicated to the legal and ethical issues surrounding the use of business information, including data protection, freedom of information, and computer misuse. Operational issues related to information use are also discussed. The report concludes with an outline of both electronic and non-electronic communication methods, providing examples and highlighting their applications within a business context.

Business Communication

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
P1 Different types of business information, their sources and purposes....................................1
TASK 2...........................................................................................................................................2
P2 Present complex internal business information using three different methods ....................2
P3 Produce corporate communications.......................................................................................2
P4 Evaluate the external corporate communications of an existing product or service..............3
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..........................5
TASK 4............................................................................................................................................5
P7 Outline electronic and non-electronic methods, using examples...........................................5
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................7
.........................................................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
In the recent modern era, technologies are regularly developing due to most of companies
are using smart and new techniques and methods. So they can effectively provide services to
customers as well as easy to attract towards firm and their products as well. Business
communication refers to, in organisation have to implement better and effective communication
systems so employees and employers are systematically interact with each others as well as
casually share information (Bovee, 2010). In this research report will be discussed about
different types of information systems and also their has some major purpose in enterprise. Its
impacted by various issues and problems such as legal and ethical that's why it is very necessary
to properly analyse and identify them in appropriate way. Walmart is one of the famous and
leading company in UK, which is dealing with all types of products and goods(Guffey and
Loewy, 2010).
TASK 1
P1 Different types of business information, their sources and purposes.
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. The problems with verbal communication is that it is time-
consuming and in certain situations may be difficult to tell the masses (Crews and Stitt-Gohdes,
2012). Walmart uses verbal information to communicate when they are coming up with new
advertisements for the business.
Verbal communication has many advantages including it is the least likely types of
communication to be misinterpreted when it is used to communication between one person and
another. Most people are more confident communicating verbally because it is the first
communication skill that they learnt when they were young, it is also the easiest way to get your
point across.
Written information is the use of symbols to express speech. Written information is a
good way for people to have documented versions of information. Walmart will write written
terms and conditions that people will be sent when they take out products and goods of with
cited company.
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TASK 2
P2 Present complex internal business information using three different methods
ASDA is a global supermarket which sells groceries, electrical equipment, general
domestic equipment, toys and clothing. It is now subsidiary of the American store Wal-Mart.
Today they are the UK’s second-largest chain by market share.
Written- Written communication involves any type of interaction that makes us use the
form of a written word. It is one of the main types of communication used. Written
communication is used a lot in a business as written communication involves reports, letter,
instruction, agreements, memos and policies. Written communication is the most appropriate
when detailed instructions are required, when something needs to be documented, or when the
person is too far away to easily speak with over the phone or in person (Meredith, 2012).
Verbal communication- It has more to do with listening then speaking as you are always
dealing with an audience. Verbal communication is best when you need to discuss something in
detail. There are two types of verbal communication. One is through an electrical device and the
second is face-to-face. With verbal communication it allows quick response. Walmart uses
verbal communication because you can say precisely what you mean without any confusion. It
allows passage of accurate information.
P3 Produce corporate communications
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 (Ru-Chu, 2013).
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P4 Evaluate the external corporate communications of an existing product or service.
There will be evaluate a series of corporate communications in the form of posters, these
posters have all been created by Walmart to advertise products they stock.
What do these corporate communications include?
These particular corporate communications from Walmart 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 (Sigmar, Hynes and Hill, 2012).
What is the purpose of these corporate communications?
The purpose of these corporate communications are to keep Walmart in people’s minds.
Brand recognition is imperative for a business’s success, and Cited company has to continually
ensure that they do not get forgotten about. It 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 Walmart 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
Legal issues refer to different legislation to protect the business information from
different source of hackers. The types of legal law that exists are data Protection Act 1998,
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Illustration 1: Walmart products

freedom of information act 2000, Computer Misuse act 1990, Human Right Act 1998 and
Privacy Act 1974. The main three legal issues that there will be discussing in detail will be Data
Protection Act, Freedom of Information Act 2000 and Computer Misuse Act 1990.
Data Protection Act 1998 is the data Protection Act controls how your personal
information is used by organizations, businesses or the government (Usunier and Roulin, 2010).
Everyone responsible for using data has to follow strict rules called ‘data protection
principles’. They must make sure the information is:
 Used fairly and lawfully
 Used for limited, specially stated purposes
 Used in a way that is adequate, relevant and not excessive
 Accurate
 Kept for no longer than is absolutely necessary
 Handled according to people’s data protection rights
 Kept safe and secure
 Not transferred outside the UK without adequate protection
In this case Walmart 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. Cited company 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 (Cardon, 2010). Walmart's complies with the Data Protection Act 1998 by
keeping the data from the customers secured so no one from outside of the business has access to
it, furthermore Walmart's are using the data in a right method with helping them with their
services. Furthermore this would be very useful for cited company, because this act will be
protecting all the Walmart staff information.
Freedom of Information Act 2000: It 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. This act would also affect Walmart because the staff would not want all
their personal information to spread outside of the business. There are many examples of this
such as one of the staff members may have some sort of disability. The human resources staff are
not allowed to publish certain information or else they will get sued and they will lose money.
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P6 Explain operational issues in relation to the use of businesses information
Walmart's complying with Legislation & Ethical Issues cited company's privacy policy
shows customers that the business complies with legal regulations; they state that all information
gathered about customers meets the term of data protection legislation. Here is an extract from
Walmart privacy policy:
Sharing of Personal Information
It may share personal information within the Walmart's Family; by this expression, it
mean Cited firm Corporation and each of its subsidiaries, together with their respective
franchisees and certain selected companies (Dyrud, 2011). Those selected companies are either
our partners who perform a function such as prize-provision within our promotions and offers, or
are agencies and suppliers whom we have retained to assist us to more effectively fulfil orders,
manage and conduct promotions and offers, provide technical assistance and support and
perform other functions to support our marketing activities. All selected companies may have
access to personal information if needed to perform such functions, but will only be permitted by
us to use such personal information for the purpose of performing that function and not for any
other purpose.
TASK 4
P7 Outline electronic and non-electronic methods, using examples.
The way that information is sent depends on the audience, the factors of the audience
include; age and attention span, gender and ethnicity, special needs and accessibility, reading
ability, legibility, interest, distraction avoidance, and business relation experience and
knowledge. A letter is a formal piece of documentation which can be used when Walmart 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. The letter may also need to be impartial if the
sender is relaying information that the person they are sending it to needs to learn and respond
from (Laster and Russ, 2010).
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Memorandum is more informal than a letter is, they are often referred to as memos. They
can be used by Walmart 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
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.
An example of when Walmart uses fax is for people to contact them if they have an issue
with their Walmart. Fax isn’t as commonly used as it used to be due to the increasing use of
email, email may not be as easily used by older people. Fax is used by Walmart for other things
and is more widely available than the internet is, so if an employee is sent to a country to
organise a trade deal then the contracts can be faxed over if no internet is available. Cited
company uses VAT invoices so other businesses can buy from them and then claim back the tax
that they spent. VAT invoices can be requested from Walmart Direct, or then can be requested
from in store at customer services if the person has got their receipt on them. The VAT invoice
shows what the person bought, how much tax they spent and the date. The audience for VAT
invoices are people that are able to claim back tax because they are buying supplies for a
business that is VAT registered (Toth, 2013).
CONCLUSION
As per this research report, communication is an effective process because it includes two
and more persons are systematically can interact with each others as well as they can share any
kind of informations. It helps to create understanding among them also assist to develop healthy
and friendly environment. In this research report has been discussed about different types of
information sources and their legal impact which can be impacting on on business environment
which can be negative and positive in nature.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
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.
Crews, T. B. and Stitt-Gohdes, W. L., 2012. Incorporating Facebook and Twitter in a service-
learning project in a business communication course. Business Communication
Quarterly. 75(1). pp.76-79.
Dyrud, M. A., 2011. Social networking and business communication pedagogy: Plugging into
the Facebook generation. Business Communication Quarterly. 74(4). pp.475-478.
Guffey, M. E. and Loewy, D., 2010. Business communication: Process and product. Cengage
Learning.
Laster, N. M. and Russ, T. L., 2010. Looking across the divide: Analyzing cross-disciplinary
approaches for teaching business communication. Business Communication Quarterly.
73(3). pp.248-264.
Meredith, M. J., 2012. Strategic communication and social media: An MBA course from a
business communication perspective. Business Communication Quarterly. 75(1). pp.89-
95.
Ru-Chu, S. H. I. H., 2013. Effect of using Facebook to assist English for business
communication course instruction. TOJET: The Turkish Online Journal of Educational
Technology.12(1).
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.
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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 14TH
August 2017]
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