Analyzing Communication Strategies and Their Impact on Zara's Business

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of communication strategies within the business environment, using Zara, the Spanish fast-fashion retailer, as a case study. It explores the advantages and disadvantages of both written and verbal communication, differentiating between important and urgent communication types. The report examines the purpose of written business communication, the collation of necessary information, and the creation of appropriate written communications for various audiences, including making amendments and proofreading. It also delves into verbal communication, covering reporting ideas, active listening, asking clarifying questions, agreeing on future actions, and summarizing discussions, including body language and voice tone. The report further evaluates the effectiveness of communication, summarizes its positive and negative aspects, and proposes a plan for improving communication skills. The report concludes by emphasizing the importance of effective communication in a business setting, as demonstrated through the Zara case study, and includes references to relevant academic sources.

Communicate in a
business environment

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
1.1 Advantages and disadvantages of written communication in a business environment.........1
1.2 Advantages and disadvantages of verbal communication in a business environment.........1
1.3 Difference between an important communication and an urgent communication................2
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................2
2.1 The purpose of a specified written business communication...............................................2
2.2 Collate information needed to create a specified written communication............................2
2.3 Create a written business communication that is appropriate for a specified audience .......2
2.4 Make amendments to the communication to accommodate different audiences..................3
2.5 Proofread the communications before sending, correcting any errors..................................3
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................3
3.1 Report own ideas verbally to others......................................................................................3
3.2 Actively listen to others, responding appropriately..............................................................3
3.3 Ask questions to confirm understanding...............................................................................4
3.4 Agree future actions, taking into account own views and those of others...........................4
3.5 Summarise, with others, the main points of the discussion..................................................4
3.6 Appropriate body language and voice tone throughout the discussion.................................4
TASK 4............................................................................................................................................5
4.1 Feedback on whether a communication has achieved its purpose........................................5
4.2 Summarise the positive and negative points of the communication.....................................5
4.3 Develop a plan to improve own communication skills.........................................................5
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................5
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................6

INTRODUCTION
Communication refers to an act and way by which a person or firm can understand its
views to other and deliver a message (Pearson, 2017). This report is related to Zara which is a
Spanish fast fashion retailer which was found in 1975 by Amancio Ortega and Rosalia Mera.
This report will discussed about communication, its types and how its is beneficial within a
business environment.
TASK 1
1.1 Advantages and disadvantages of written communication in a business environment
Advantages
Clear understanding- It is beneficial because it provide a clear image to the receiver
about the information which the sender actually want to say.
Permanent record- It help in providing and maintaining proper and correct record of
information to the management department of Zara.
Disadvantages
Time consuming and expensive- In Zara, written communication is a time consuming
process because when a person share any information then firstly it write it on a paper, message,
mail and others which consumer time and cost.
Lack of flexibility- In this type of communication there are some formalities to be
maintained and there no adjustment possible.
1.2 Advantages and disadvantages of verbal communication in a business environment
Advantages
Time saving- It is time saving method of communication because in it people make direct
interaction with other and share information.
Immediate feedback- In it, the speaker can get feedback immediately form the receiver.
Disadvantages
No record- In this type of communication, there are no record of message and
information so it is impossible to secure and preserve message for future.
Expensive- In Zara, sometimes it is expensive when organisation use communication tool
such media to transfer message to customers and others (Nohria, 2017).

1.3 Difference between an important communication and an urgent communication
In Zara, urgent communication refers to that kind communication which are urgent
consist important information and it is necessary to share that information on time or deadline.
Urgent communication refer that it is urgent to transfer information whereas it can be important
or not (Botha, Kourie and Snyman, 2014). On the other hand, Important communication refers to
that information which is important to transfer but not urgent and there is not any deadline and
time for it. It can be share with the employees when all are free.
TASK 2
2.1 The purpose of a specified written business communication
Written communication refer to the information which is transfer with the employees by
using memo, message, e-mail and others tools. In Zara, the management department of the
company mostly use email for sharing and delivering any information with its employees.
Because it is an effective tool for transferring information. The main purpose of written
communication is transfer information with others so that they can easily understand it. In it the
data and information can be record and when it will be required in future, it can be recollect.
2.2 Collate information needed to create a specified written communication
In Zara, if the written communication is designing for the top management, employees
and customers then it required different information for each. For example, if the written
communication is creating for top management then it required a way by which it transfer
information such as email and others, formal language, purpose of communication, rules of
writing formally, style and grammar (de Salas and Huxley, 2014).
2.3 Create a written business communication that is appropriate for a specified audience
DATE: 23 April, 2019
To: All Staff
From: Stephan Jake, Director, Product Development
Subject: Changes in Organisational Polices
I am writing to inform you that there are some change make in the polices related to business of
the firm. Because last few days the organisation will not achieve its set business objectives in
set period of time. This decrease the sells so it had been important necessary to make change in

it.
So I deliver this information to all of you and hope you will support in it.
2.4 Make amendments to the communication to accommodate different audiences
In Zara, the management department use different types of communication such as verbal
and written according its audiences. When it, transfer and making discussion on some important
topics then it should involve its stakeholders or employees by organisation or conducting
meetings and conferences. If the purpose is share information then by using email, message and
others, they can share it (Joyce and Paquin, 2016). When they transfer information to customers
then they can make changes in their communication process such as they can use oral and written
communication. They can share information on their website and by providing advertise through
promotional channels.
2.5 Proofread the communications before sending, correcting any errors
It is important factor during the time of delivering information to others. Fro example, In
Zara, if the manger of the company transfer any information to top management then it is
necessary that they must proofread it so that they can analyse their mistakes and make correction
in it. By doing it, the top management will get correct information and not misguide re4garding
information.
TASK 3
3.1 Report own ideas verbally to others
In Zara, when the management department design memo then they should consider some
ideas. They are as following:
 Make sure that they have a crazily easy to understand request before writing memo.
 Include important and essential information in the shortest space.
 The memo is capable to transfer all the information in the smaller amount of text.
 The information which is mentioned with in it, must be relatable and correct.
3.2 Actively listen to others, responding appropriately
After transfer they ideas, it is important to listen carefully others that what are they
responding towards the ideas. For example, in Zara, the assistant marketing officer provide ideas
to its employees regarding memo (Hillary, 2017). Then it is important for the officer that the

person listen they respond if they want to say in respond of their ideas such as they are good and
important for designing a memo or want to suggest extra for improvement in it.
3.3 Ask questions to confirm understanding
In Zara, the officer can ask question to the employees and staff to confirm that they
understand the concept of ideas related to memo designing. For example, The individual can
asked to employees that they know about the process of memo creation or the steps of it (Raziq
and Maulabakhsh, 2015). The marketing officer can asked to employees that if there are any
requirement in future related to memo design then they all can create it or not.
3.4 Agree future actions, taking into account own views and those of others
In it, the they all are agree that if there are any requirement in future they all can help or
independently design a memo and they are agree for the future actions. For example, after
sometime, there are make changes in the promotional strategy then to convey this information a
n employee chose by the marketing officer for deigning memo and the person create a good
memo which consist all needed information.
3.5 Summarise, with others, the main points of the discussion
In the discussion the employee who are participate in the discussion clearly understand
the ideas of memo design which are orally convey by the assistant marketing manger. They
provide their views and the officer confirm about the information which is transfer by the
individual by asking questions to them. In future action, the officer designed a memo to an
employee.
3.6 Appropriate body language and voice tone throughout the discussion
Some points which are related to body language are as following:
 People follow and use positive body gestures which show sign of confidence and
security.
 Walking upright and shaking hands confidently.
 Voice tone must be clear and understandable.
 Good English knowledge and soft tone which did not feel shout (Nair and Paulose, 2014).

TASK 4
4.1 Feedback on whether a communication has achieved its purpose
Yes, the communication achieved its object because the message which transfer by the
Assistant marketing manager, are transferred and understand by the employees (Glavas and
Mathews, 2014). The information is clear and the message which is actually and deliver by the
person, convey by the verbal communication in a effective manner.
4.2 Summarise the positive and negative points of the communication
The message is shared by verbal communication which is time and cost saving. The voice
is soft and motivating so the employees are able to clearly understandable. The message was
convey in group so there are little noise so it create confusion and distraction in context of verbal
communication.
4.3 Develop a plan to improve own communication skills
There are some steps that can be following by a person to make improvement in their
communication skill (Pearson, 2017). They are as following:
 Learn the basics of non-verbal communications
 Ask honestly for feedbacks
 Provide chance to participate the audience in discussion
 Get to know the audience
 Be a listener
 Reading books, blogs and magazines etc.
CONCLUSION
From the above information, it can be concluded that communication it important in
business environment for transferring information to employees as well as audiences. Different
types of communication and their advantages and disadvantages are defined in the report.
Positive and negative points of communication and a plan for improving communication skills
are described in the assignment.

REFERENCES
Books & Journals
Pearson, R., 2017. Business ethics as communication ethics: Public relations practice and the
idea of dialogue. In Public relations theory (pp. 111-131). Routledge.
Nohria, N., 2017. Fast forward: The best ideas on managing business change. Business Review.
9. p.10.
Botha, A., Kourie, D. and Snyman, R., 2014. Coping with continuous change in the business
environment: Knowledge management and knowledge management technology.
Elsevier.
de Salas, K. and Huxley, C., 2014. Enhancing visualisation to communicate and execute
strategy: Strategy-to-process maps. Journal of Strategy and Management. 7(2). pp.109-
126.
Joyce, A. and Paquin, R. L., 2016. The triple layered business model canvas: A tool to design
more sustainable business models. Journal of Cleaner Production. 135. pp.1474-1486.
Hillary, R. ed., 2017. Small and medium-sized enterprises and the environment: business
imperatives. Routledge.
Raziq, A. and Maulabakhsh, R., 2015. Impact of working environment on job satisfaction.
Procedia Economics and Finance. 23. pp.717-725.
Nair, S. and Paulose, H., 2014. Emergence of green business models: The case of algae biofuel
for aviation. Energy Policy. 65. pp.175-184.
Glavas, C. and Mathews, S., 2014. How international entrepreneurship characteristics influence
Internet capabilities for the international business processes of the firm. International
Business Review. 23(1). pp.228-245.
Online
Communication. 2019. [Online]. Available Through: <https://www.skillsyouneed.com/ips/what-
is-communication.html>.