Effective Communication and Stakeholder Management in HMRC: A Report

This report delves into the crucial aspects of communication management within the context of a hypothetical coffee shop business and the existing processes within HMRC (Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs). The report begins by exploring the decision-making process, outlining the range of decisions required for a new coffee shop, the information needed for effective choices, and the use of internal and external information sources. It then examines stakeholder involvement, differentiating between internal and external stakeholders, and discussing methods for fostering strong business relationships. The report further explores the current communication processes within HMRC, identifying areas for improvement in appropriateness and implementation. It also includes a personal communication and development plan. Finally, the report addresses the collection, formatting, storage, and dissemination of information and knowledge, proposing changes to enhance these processes and improve access to information systems. Overall, the report provides a comprehensive overview of communication management principles and their practical application.

Managing
communication
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Table of Contents.............................................................................................................................2
Introduction......................................................................................................................................4
Task 1...............................................................................................................................................4
1.1 Range of decisions to be taken by David...............................................................................4
1.2 Information required to ensure effective decision making....................................................5
1.3 Internal and external sources of information.........................................................................5
2.1 Stakeholders in process of decision making..........................................................................6
2.2 Methods to develop business relations with stakeholder.......................................................7
2.3 Discussion on how stakeholders can be involved in process of decision making.................7
1.4 & 2.4 Strategies for improvement..........................................................................................8
Task 2...............................................................................................................................................8
3.1 Existing processes of communication within HMRC............................................................8
3.2 Ways to improve appropriateness..........................................................................................9
3.3 Implementation of the improvements in the communication process.................................10
Task 3.............................................................................................................................................10
3.4 Personal communication and development plan.................................................................10
Task 4.............................................................................................................................................13
4.1 Existing approaches to the collection, formatting, storage and dissemination of information
and knowledge...........................................................................................................................13
4.2 Changes for improving the process of collecting, formatting, storage and dissemination of
information and knowledge.......................................................................................................13
4.3 Strategy to improve access to systems of information and knowledge...............................13
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................14
References......................................................................................................................................15
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INDEX OF TABLES
Table 1: Difference between internal and external stakeholders.....................................................6
Table 2: Personal SWOT Analysis................................................................................................10
Table 3: Personal Communication and Development Plan...........................................................11
ILLUSTRATION INDEX
Illustration 1: SWOT Analysis.......................................................................................................11
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INTRODUCTION
Communication is defined as the process of exchanging information with the help of
various mediums. Further, managing communication has become one of the major and most
important tasks for managers in every business enterprise. Along with this, managers are also
required to take effective decision on time in order to achieve the aim and objectives of
organization (Balsen and Heinrichs, 2007). This report demonstrates the range of decisions that
need to be taken for successful running of new business of coffee shop. It also includes various
information and knowledge that are required to make effective decisions. Other than this, the
report highlights the assessment of internal and external stakeholders in decision making. This
report also explains the existing process of communication which has been implemented within
HMRC. Some of the ways through which appropriateness of communication process can be
enhanced are also mentioned in this report.
TASK 1
1.1 Range of decisions to be taken by David
Decision making plays an important role in the growth and success of any business
enterprise. The process of decision making consists of five major stages which are need
identification, information search, evaluation of alternatives, purchase decision and post
purchase behavior. As per the provided case scenario, David is looking forward to establish his
own business of coffee shop in the central location of London (Bell and Smith, 2010). Therefore,
he will be required to make various kinds of decisions in order to establish his business and make
it successful. He needs to take decision regarding the operation level. This includes decisions
regarding the objectives of shop, quality standards which will be maintained, desired outcomes,
requirements of resources and staff etc. David will be also required to determine how timetables
will be implemented and how the entire process of monitoring will be carried out in the coffee
shop. Other than this, he needs to make decisions related to his day to day operations which will
include procurement of raw materials and other related products, how the cleaning and
maintenance in shop will be carried out etc. Along with this, decisions related to strategic level
will be also required to be made. This will include activities such as marketing, advertisement
promotion, budgeting etc. All these decisions will have a direct impact on the entire operations
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and activities of David's business. Effective decision will result in making the coffee shop
successful and earn higher profits (Beranek, 2006).
1.2 Information required to ensure effective decision making
In order to establish new business of coffee shop, David will be required to access
various kinds of information and knowledge. It is also suggested that individual needs to have
proper information as well as knowledge before making any kind of decision. The reason behind
this is that it directly enhances the overall quality and effectiveness of decisions. Further, it can
be stated that David will be required various kinds of qualitative and quantitative information
before making decisions related to his new business (Dawson, Madera and Neal, 2011).
Qualitative information will be a sort of descriptive information regarding the taste and
preference of customers, current marketing trends and changing business environment. On the
other side of this, quantitative information will be in the form of numerical or statistical data. It
will include data regarding the total number of customers in the market, consumption rate of
coffee in the central location of London, number of competitors along with their sales and
profitability data of last 4 to 5 years etc. All these information and knowledge will help David in
making decisions regarding who will be targeted customers, what marketing tools and techniques
should be adopted etc.
1.3 Internal and external sources of information
To acquire quantitative and quantitative information for effective decision making, there
are various kinds of internal and external sources available for David (Dodd, 2012). Further, as
per the need and requirement of data or information, both the above mentioned sources can be
accessed. Internal sources such as employees and managers can provide very useful information.
Further, employees are the one which have direct interaction with customers. This means that
they have better and more accurate information related to the taste and preferences of customers.
On the other side of this, managers can provide information regarding the competitors, their
strategies, market share and current operations. Thus, it can be stated that data form internal
sources can be very helpful in making decision regarding production, quality, strategies,
marketing and sales. On the other hand, David can also use some external sources such as
customers, government and researchers. The information from customers can help in getting
aware about their taste and preferences. In addition to this, data from government can be used to
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identify the laws, rules and regulations which are required to be followed in order to conduct
business smoothly (Dow, PMP and Taylor, 2010). Other than this, information can be also
accessed from the databases and researches. This will enhance the level of operations and
activities of new business.
2.1 Stakeholders in process of decision making
Stakeholders play an important role in increasing the sales and profitability of business
enterprise. Further, they are the people or parties which are directly or indirectly affected by the
activities and strategies of organization. For David's business, there will be two types of
stakeholders which are internal and external. These stakeholders are considered as very useful at
the time of decision making (Grosse, 2002). The internal stakeholders of David's coffee shop can
be its employees, managers and owners. On the other hand, external stakeholders include
government, suppliers and customers. It is suggested that businesses should take these people
and parties into consideration at the time of making any decision or developing strategy.
Different between internal and external stakeholders is mentioned below as:
Table 1: Difference between internal and external stakeholders
Internal stakeholders
 Internal stakeholders are directly
affected by the operations and
performance of businesses
 These will be within the David's new
business
 Example: owners, managers and
employees
 The coffee shop will have primary
responsibilities towards its internal
stakeholders.
External stakeholder
 External stakeholders are indirectly
affected by the operations and
performance of businesses
 These stakeholders will be outside the
David's business
 Example: customers suppliers and
government
 The coffee shop will have secondary
responsibilities towards its external
stakeholders (Grunig, 2013).
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2.2 Methods to develop business relations with stakeholder
Businesses use various kinds of methods to communicate with their internal and external
stakeholders. Further, there are some formal and informal ways which can be used by David to
communicate with all the stakeholders (Jameson, 2007). The ways are discussed below as:
Formal ways Meetings- Meetings are often termed as one of the most common and best ways to
communicate with internal and external stakeholders. Further, one on one or group
meeting can be carried out by David in order to interact with the various stakeholders.
 Emails and newsletters- Emails and newsletters can be also used to communicate
message and information to stakeholders. Even though feedback and response in this
method are not received immediately, it is considered as one of the most effective formal
ways to communicate with stakeholders (Mazzei and Ravazzani, 2011).
Informal ways Sports events- The coffee shop can also conduct a sports event where it can invite all its
internal and external stakeholders. This will help in developing between relationship
between organization and stakeholders.
 Lunch meetings- Lunch and dinner outside the business enterprise can also help in
enhancing relationship with stakeholders. Environment in such meetings is so casual that
helps in getting better ideas, feedback and also enhances work supports.
2.3 Discussion on how stakeholders can be involved in process of decision making
Every business is required to involve its stakeholders in its process of decision making.
The reason why it is required is that it creates a sense of satisfaction among all the stakeholders
as they start perceiving that business is really taking care of them. Internal stakeholders such as
employees and managers can be involved with the help of meetings and conferences. Further,
with the help of questionnaire, surveys can also be conducted for workers and managers. Their
suggestions and views can be asked at the time of decision making process (Nervold and et. al.,
2013). This will also help businesses in retaining its employees and making them more loyal. On
the other hand, external stakeholders such as government and suppliers can be involved with the
help of meetings. Business can communicate its strategies with the government official and
important suppliers. Further, their suggestions can be encouraged in order to get the best possible
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outcome and make effective decisions. On the other hand, customers can be involved with the
help of carrying out surveys and feedback. They can be asked about what kind of changes and
modification can be done in the existing products and services. On the basis of those feedback,
decisions can be taken (Ruff and Aziz, 2012).
1.4 & 2.4 Strategies for improvement
Strategies which are used to involve internal and external stakeholders in the process of
decision making are always subjected to modification. Further, along with the changing business
environment and market trends, David's business will be required to make changes in its existing
strategies. Improvement can be done on the duration of carrying out customer surveys. Further,
coffee shop can carry out survey at regular intervals in order to get aware about the changing
market trend. Further, an open door policy can be adopted by David's businesses for all its
internal stakeholders (Tripathi, 2009). The rationale behind this is that, if employees or manager
feels that there should be some changes done in the strategies or decisions then they can directly
communicate the same with management. This will make workforce more effective and
productive. Along with this, it will also create more satisfaction and loyalty among the human
resources of business. These improvements will enhance the level of relationship between
organization and all its stakeholders. Thus, it can be stated that in order to earn profits and
increase sales in long run, coffee shop is required to involve all its stakeholders in its decision
making process. Further, it also needs to ensure the fact that decisions that are made do not have
any kind of negative impact on any of its stakeholders. David's business will also require to make
changes and modification in its strategies at the regular intervals.
TASK 2
3.1 Existing processes of communication within HMRC
HMRC is a public limited company which is located in UK and it is an Inland Revenue
company. It collects tax and provides tax credits to the people of UK in order to create an
environment where every citizen contributes for the development of UK society and economy.
This company communicates about the tax revenue to the internal stakeholders and also to the
external stakeholders (Young and et. al., 2003). Existing process of communication of this firm
is that internally the communication with the employees and top management using written
format that is memos, notices, etc. Moreover, within the organization, oral communication is also
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done in which employees and management communicate with each other using phones. Further,
the workforce and supervisors or leaders also communicate face-to-face in which team meetings,
presentations, and briefings is done. For the communication aspect, online procedure is also used
in which employees of the company communicate with each other using emails, Intranet, etc.
On the other hand, company also communicates with their customers by using these
formats such as in written format that is sending mails which includes information about all the
tax liability and schedule (Gold, Malhotra and Segars, 2001). Moreover, through oral format,
customers can do phone calls and discuss their queries with the staff members. Further, in face-
to-face communication, customers can visit office and discuss their issues. Now days, internet is
most widely used so that Inland Revenue is also provided the online services to the customers.
By using internet, people can pay taxes online and take help from people.
3.2 Ways to improve appropriateness
Recent communication process in HMRC is good but in order to match with the recent
changes which are prevailing in the market, organization should attempt to bring changes in its
communication process. There are some of the recommendations listed below so that company
can bring improvements in the process: Oral Communication: Along with the phone call facility, company can provide the
facility of video chat so that people can discuss their queries on the spot. This will help in
eliminating the chances of customer’s visit in office and consuming extra time there by
standing in queue. Internally, this format should be enhanced in order to clear issues and
save time (Ritter, 2014). Written Communication: Company can send mail to the people and list all the details in
it. That is tax liability, tax credits, payment schedule, modules, etc. Moreover, online
booklets and posters should also be distributed. In internal process, this format should be
removed as this form has no more existence in the present scenario. Face-to-face Communication: Major events should be organized in that all the
employees should also be motivated to communicate with each other and also customers
should be encouraged to communicate freely with the employees and taken knowledge
about the tax, other liabilities and credits. This would save time of both the employees
and customers (Beranek, 2006).
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 Online Communication: On the website, it should provide all the information and the
facility to pay tax liability there itself and receive the tax credits. Moreover, a mobile
application should be started and here, customers can discuss their queries and pay off all
their liabilities. Internally, communication through emails and online conferencing should
be enhanced.
3.3 Implementation of the improvements in the communication process
In an affirmative question, various improvements in the existing communication process
have been recommended. These improvements can be implemented by installing latest
technologies in the company in order to enhance the level of online communication between staff
members. Thus, HMRC can provide training to their employees about the solution of queries on
online customer care chats (Grosse, 2002). Moreover, e firm can do TV advertisement and print
advertisement about the mobile application so that customers could come to know about it and
pay the taxes and get other useful information by logging in with their user id and password
provided on their mails. Further, events should be organized on a regular interval so that queries
can be resolved through face-to-face conversation.
TASK 3
3.4 Personal communication and development plan
In order to communicate with people in an effective manner, one should possess excellent
communication skills and for this purpose, personal communication and development plan has to
be made (Grunig, 2013). But, before making any development plan, I should carry out personal
SWOT analysis so that own effectiveness can be assessed.
Table 2: Personal SWOT Analysis
Strengths Weaknesses
 I possess excellent vocabulary and have
good command over speaking skills.
 I have good command over 3 languages
that are English, Spanish and French.
 Excellent presentation skills.
 I have poor writing skills.
 Lack of self-confidence due to which I
get hesitated while speaking.
Opportunities Threats
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 Seminar and classes can be attended in
order to improve writing skills and
boost self-confidence.
Reading habit can be developed on the regular
basis and aping their writing style in order to
improve this skill.
 Lack of interest in attending seminars.
 Hesitation rate is high due to which I
am unable to gather strength for
attending seminar.
 Lack of time is also one of the major
threats for me.
(Source: SWOT ANALYSIS, 2016)
Table 3: Personal Communication and Development Plan
Objectives Success Criteria Strategies Time Scale Progress
Developing
interest for
learning
Enhancement of
career.
 Updating
regularly
about the
learning
opportunit
y.
5 weeks By developing
interest, I have
learned many
things and this
would have added
in CV which will
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Illustration 1: SWOT Analysis

 Regularly
reading
blogs on
internet
about self-
motivation
about
learning.
help me in getting
better job.
Effective listening Reduction in the
level of
misinterpretation.
 Attending
seminars
for
improving
listening
skills.
 Doing
meditation
in order to
learn the
skills of
listening
others.
 By
reading
articles
about the
benefits of
listening
skills.
3 weeks This skills have
got developed in
me though not
completely but
this has led to the
reduction of
confusion and due
to which I can
solve issues in a
quick manner.
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