Business Communication Report: Tesco and Information Analysis

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of business communication, focusing on various types of information, their sources, and purposes within a business context. The report uses Tesco as a case study to illustrate external corporate communications, evaluating their effectiveness. It further delves into the legal and ethical issues surrounding the use of business information, including relevant acts and codes of practice. Operational issues related to information management, such as security and backups, are also discussed. Finally, the report examines both electronic and non-electronic methods of communicating business information, considering factors like audience and purpose. The report concludes with a summary of key findings and references supporting the analysis.

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 Covered in PPT.................................................................................................................2
P3 Covered in poster..............................................................................................................2
P4 Evaluate the external corporate communications..............................................................2
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................3
P5 Explain the legal and ethical issues in relation to the use of business information..........3
P6 Explain the operational issues in relation to the use of business information..................4
TASK 4............................................................................................................................................5
P7 Electronic and non-electrical methods for communicating business information............5
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................6

INTRODUCTION
In business world, communication is very necessary for conducting business in a
successful manner. Communication refers to sharing or exchanging information with each other.
On the other hand business communication means in what manner a business firm exchange or
share its information with its customers (Bovee, 2010). In Tesco business firm, there are many
employees working and the communication in this company is good at every level. It is a retail
company and deals in clothing, electronics, food items, books, internet service provider etc. In
this report mentioned about the various types of business information and their main sources. In
company, there are some ethical and legal issues in relation too the use of business information.
TASK 1
P1 Explain different types of business information, their sources and purposes
Communication is the cornerstone of every good business, it helps the business run by
allowing different departments of the business to talk to each other so that the business runs
smoothly, helps the business tell customers about changes they are making or about the deals
they currently have amongst many more things. The types of business communication are:
 Verbal
 Written
 On screen
 Multi-media
Verbal – Communication is simply the act of transferring information from one place to
another; sharing information between individuals by using speech. Individuals working within a
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Illustration 1: Source: Communication methods,
2017

business need to effectively use verbal communication that employs readily understood spoken
words, as well as ensuring that the enunciation, stress and tone of voice with which the words are
expressed is appropriate.
Written – Written information is the use of symbols to express speech (Cardon, 2010).
Written information is a good way for people to have documented versions of information.
Onscreen- This is where information may be produced on-screen. this can be seen in
multimedia Tv and cd-rom's that combine text, graphics, animation, audio and video.
Multi-media- Multimedia communication involves showing information in multiple
media formats. Images, video, audio and text all are part of multimedia communication.
TASK 2
P2 Covered in PPT
P3 Covered in poster
P4 Evaluate the external corporate communications
External business communication is the exchange of information and messages between
an organization and its external customers outside its formal structure.
Tesco communicates to its external customers on their website. There are many different
methods used by the company’s website and these are: the use of images, the use of fonts,
Packaging and the page layout (Dyrud, 2011). The use of images can enhance a communication
to an audience, as we tend to remember more of what we see than what we hear, therefore
showing images is a better way of communicated the message to the public, and also helps the
audience remember the message.
These particular corporate communications from Tesco are very simple, the simplicity
comes in the fact that they only include the logo, strapline 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.
The purpose of these corporate communications are to keep Tesco in people’s minds.
Brand recognition is imperative for a business’s success, and Tesco has to continually ensure that
they do not get forgotten about (Guffey and Loewy, 2010). This company does not just want
people to know about them, firm wants consumers to buy groceries from them instead of a
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different shop, so these adverts try to make people see Tesco 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
A problem or situation that requires a person or organization to choose between
alternatives that must be evaluated as right (ethical) or wrong (unethical) is known as ethical.
Ethical Issues
Codes of practice exist in organisations to maintain business ethics on:
Use of email- Many organisations today have a code of practice on the correct use of
email.
Internet- Tesco has a code of practice on the use of the internet and what their
employees can and cannot use the internet for. There are also codes of practice which govern
selling on the internet, which many businesses adhere to.
Government makes some rules and policies under which company has to work. If firm
does not follow them then it can impact on business of Company. Tesco firm work under the
government regulations (Laster and Russ, 2010). In Tesco business firm, there are various types
of laws that exists such as data Protection Act 1998, freedom of information act 2000, Computer
Misuse act 1990 and Privacy Act 1974. Computer Misuse Act 1990 is also a legal issue used for
business information.
Data Protection Act 1998- The Data Protection Act 1998 (c 29) is a United Kingdom
Act of Parliament designed to protect personal data stored on computers or in an organised paper
filing system. Tesco business firm use the data and information of customers fairly and there are
certain points which company need to take care:
Everyone responsible for using data has to follow strict rules called ‘data protection
principles’. They must make sure the information is:
used information fairly and lawfully
used for limited, specifically stated purposes
handled according to people’s data protection rights
kept safe and secure
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Computer Misuse act 1990- This recognised the following new offences: Unauthorised
access to computer material. Unauthorised access with intent to commit or facilitate a crime.
Unauthorised modification of computer material. Making, supplying or obtaining anything which
can be used in computer misuse offences.
Freedom of information act 2000- This is an Act of Parliament of United Kingdom that
creates a public "right of access" to information held by public authorities (Meredith, 2012). It is
the implementation of freedom of information legislation in the United Kingdom on a national
level. 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.
P6 Explain the operational issues in relation to the use of business information
Business operations are those tasks and activities that an Tesco undertakes to produce the
services or goods that it provides to its customers. Efficient operations help companies reduce
costs, and they might improve customer satisfaction. Technology can be used to automate many
operations and improve efficiency.
Tesco has to store and manage countless pieces of information, with some being far
more important than others (Ru-Chu, 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 the information is managed properly, a number of policies and
procedures have to be put in place, concerning:
Security of Information- 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.
Backups- The service provider of Tesco ensures that the core IT services are backed up
to ensure recovery of the core data stores from loss or corruption to any point in time (Sigmar,
Hyne and Hill, 2012). The service provider also ensure that an premise copy (Archive) of the
data is kept up to date on a daily basis.
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Organisational policies- Policies that relate to use of information of business that can
helps sure that decisions affecting staff:
◦ Understandable and consistent
◦ Meet legal requirements
TASK 4
P7 Electronic and non-electrical methods for communicating business information
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 Tesco 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
Memorandum is more informal than a letter is, they are often referred to as memos (Toth,
2013). They can be used by Tesco 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 this firm uses fax is for people to contact them if they have an issue
with Tesco. 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 (Usunier and Roulin, 2010). Fax is used by Tesco 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. The VAT invoice shows what the person bought, how much tax they
spent and the date.
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CONCLUSION
It is concluded from the above report that communication is very important to make the
business successful. In this present report studies about the legal and ethical operational issues in
context to use of business information. There are some effectiveness of business information and
its communication as key contributors to success of company.
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REFERENCES
Books& Journals
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Cardon, P. W., 2010. Using films to learn about the nature of cross-cultural stereotypes in
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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-
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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.
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
Communication Methods, 2017. [Online]. Available through:
<https://www.tutorialspoint.com/management_concepts/communication_methods.htm>.
[Accessed on 16th august, 2017].
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