A Fontane Company Limited: Communication and Knowledge Report

This report examines the management of communication, knowledge, and information within A Fontane Company Limited, a bedding brand. It begins by identifying an improvement objective: adapting to changing customer needs. The report then explores strategic, tactical, and operational decisions, emphasizing the importance of understanding customer requirements, employee capabilities, and competitor analysis through internal and external sources. Stakeholders, including employees and customers, are identified, with communication methods like mails and phone calls detailed. Strategic recommendations are provided to enhance communication, including employee training and market evaluations. The report analyzes A Fontane's existing communication processes and proposes improvements, such as integrating social media. Finally, it includes a personal plan for developing communication skills and a diagram illustrating information management within a specific department. The report provides a detailed analysis of the company's current standing and offers strategies for improvement.

Managing
Communication,
Knowledge and
Information

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
a. Identify one objective for improvement within organisation and discuss range of decisions
to be taken for achieving it..........................................................................................................1
b. Examine information and knowledge needed to ensure effective decision making and give
strategic recommendation...........................................................................................................2
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................4
a. Identify stakeholders in order to achieve objective and explain in detail how you make
contact with them and involve them within the decisions making process................................4
b. Justify and design strategic recommendations for improvement that will ensure the
objective......................................................................................................................................5
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................5
a. Report existing communications process in organisation, design one improvement that
could be made to communications process and outline how this improvement is to
implemented................................................................................................................................5
b. Create a personal plan to develop communication skills........................................................6
TASK 4............................................................................................................................................7
a. Using a diagram report on existing approach to the collection, formatting, storage and
disseminating of information within one specific department / area..........................................7
b. Carry out and implement strategy to improve access, collection, formatting, storage and
dissemination of information and knowledge.............................................................................8
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................9
REFRENCES.................................................................................................................................10
.......................................................................................................................................................10

INTRODUCTION
Effective communication is necessary for every organization because through it they able
to interact with customers as well as staffs properly which help them in attaining goal and
objective. Through proper communication a firm also able to understand need and requirement
of customers by which they able to develop strategies and plans in order to attain their objective
(Alhawari and et. al., 2012). Along with this it will also help in developing positive relationship
with employees as well as with customers. Organization taken for this assignment is A Fontane
Company Limited which is established in year 1973 and it is one of the renowned bedding brand.
It is operating its business in Hong Kong, Japan, South East Asia, USA, Taiwan, Canada,
Australia and China region. Topics covered in this report are method through which need of
information and knowledge can be assess and strategies to enhance personal networking for
decision making. Along with this it will include communication process as well as system which
is used for improving information and knowledge.
TASK 1
a. Identify one objective for improvement within organisation and discuss range of decisions to
be taken for achieving it
A Fontane Company Limited is facing issues that they are not able to matching with
changing customer's needs, taste and methods of shopping. Due to which they are facing decline
situation at its potential marketplace. So in order to overcome from this situation respective
company able is developing objective that they need to communicate with this their customers
that help them in collecting more information and developing proper decision. Along with this it
will also help in designing proper products and services according to customer's requirement and
taste (Becerra- Fernandez, 2014). In order to achieve this objective A Fontane Company Limited
develop various type of strategies or decision which help them in developing effective
communication with customers for understanding their need and requirement. Some major
strategies which respective company may adopt are mentioned below:-
 Strategic decision: According to this decision making strategy top management of A
Fontane Company Limited will evaluate whole environment at which they are operating.
Along with this they will also evaluate resources and peoples which are connected with

company. Through this respective company able to develop or design product and
shopping methods according to customers.
 Tactic decisions: According to this strategy when a company develop long term
objective then there is changes occur in between so it is essential for managers to conduct
evaluation on regular basis so that they can identify their issues and improve it on time.
In this manager of A Fontane Company Limited will conduct evaluation of current
practices. In order to conduct effective communication and improve shopping method is
to be consider as long term objective.
 Operational decisions: This type of decision making process is consider to day to day
activities and responsibilities which are conducted by a person. In respect of respective
decision making method A Fontane Company Limited manager can improve their daily
activities of employees (Davison, 2013). They can develop policy that employees need to
communicate with customers effectively so that they understand their need and
requirement which will help in developing products.
b. Examine information and knowledge needed to ensure effective decision making and give
strategic recommendation
For developing effective decision every organization need to evaluate knowledge and
information related to it so that they can create strategies in effective manner that leads to
attainment of objective properly. In respect of A Fontane Company Limited information as well
as knowledge which they must be consider for developing decision are mentioned below:-
 Customers Requirement: It is essential for A Fontane Company Limited to analysis
customers need and requirement because by it they able to develop products and services
in effective manner. By this customer's requirement also get fulfil and they get connected
towards company.
 Employees Capabilities: According to this it is necessary for respective company to
know about their employees capabilities because through it they able to develop
strategies and plans which staffs conducting work ineffective manner (Dawson, 2012).
By knowing about employees capabilities respective company able to adopt changes
accordingly and develop training program for improving it. This will also help them in
adopting strategies related to effective communication.

 Competitors: For A Fontane Company Limited it is necessary that they know about
their competitors so that they can update or improve their methods in accordingly this
will help them in attracting customers. Through this they also able to know about new
method of shopping which attracting customers by which respective company able to
develop strategies and plans accordingly.
It is also necessary for a firm to evaluate internal as well as external source in order to
attain objective in effective manner. Analysis of both sources in respect of A Fontane Company
Limited are given below:-
 Internal Source: It refers to internal sources which are available within a company and it
will help them in developing decision accordingly (Galliers, 2014). Internal sources in
order to evaluate about situation of A Fontane Company Limited and why they are not
able to cooping up with trends are customers feedback, balance sheet, overall sales during
a period of time, customers behaviours and many more. Through this respective company
able to understand about respective company situation and reason behind issues.
 External Source: It refers to source that help a company in gaining information about
issues or particular topic form outside sources such as websites, newspaper, journals and
many more (Holsapple, 2013). In respect of respective company they know about their
issues through social media and newspaper that they are facing decline in their sales. So
in order to overcome this they adopt method like taking feedbacks from customers,
evaluating new technology which attract customers and many more.
Recommendation- By analysing situation of A Fontane Company Limited it can be
recommended to them that they must train their employees so that they effectively understand
their service users requirement and need. Along with this they must also take feedback as well as
suggestion from their customers in order to know about latest trends. They must also need to
conduct evaluating about current trends related to shopping method so that they can adopt it in
order to attract customers on huge ratio.

TASK 2
a. Identify stakeholders in order to achieve objective and explain in detail how you make contact
with them and involve them within the decisions making process
In a company there are various stakeholders which help them in decision making process
such as government, employees, customers, shareholders, suppliers and many more. Some major
stakeholders for A Fontane Company Limited are mentioned below:-
 Employees: It refers to those stakeholders which conduct work of a company in order to
attain goal or objective in effective manner. These stakeholders also help in developing
new idea and adopting changes properly (Hu and et. al., 2012). In respect of A Fontane
Company Limited company must motivate and train their employees so that they conduct
their work in effective manner as well as communicate with service user properly in order
to understand their requirement.
 Customers: It refers to those stakeholders according to which company develop their
products and services in order to satisfy them. In respect of A Fontane Company Limited
their manager must conduct proper communication with their customers in order to know
their requirement and expectations. Through them company also able to know
effectiveness of their products and services.
It is also necessary for a company to contact with these stakeholders so that they they
contribute their suggestion and idea in decision making procedure as well as development of
products and services. In respect of A Fontane Company Limited method which they can use to
communicate with there stakeholders are mentioned below:-
 Mails: It is consider as one of the formal mode of communication which is adopted by a
firm in order to communicate with stakeholders in effective manner. It is beneficial for a
company because it is cost effective as well as save time (Jones, 2013). Through this
respective company able to communicate with there customers and inform them about
new products and services. By it they can also ask for suggestions from employees and
customers on specific products.
 Phone Calls: It refers to a method through which company directly contact with their
stakeholders in order to ask for suggestion and feedback. It will also help company in
attracting potential customers by wishing them on their special dated like birthday,

anniversary and so on through phone call. Through this they able to develop effective
relationship with customers as well as employees.
There are various ways which are adopted by a company in order to involve stakeholders
in decision making process such as ask to attain meeting, ask suggestion on mail, discuss
decision and many more. In respect of A Fontane Company Limited their manager adopt several
effective strategies in order to involve diverse stakeholders in decision making process such as
for involving employees respective company may conduct meeting within office premises
(Pearlson, 2016). Along with this in respect of involving customers company may take
suggestion and feedbacks through mail, phone call, personally etc. which help in understanding
about their requirements.
b. Justify and design strategic recommendations for improvement that will ensure the objective
A Fontane Company Limited can adopt various strategies in order to improve their
communication and method of shopping so that customer's need as well as demand get fulfilled
in effective manner. For this there are several recommendation which respective company may
adopt in order to attain their objective such as they can train their employees in effective manner
so that communicate with customers properly which also help in developing products and
services in effective manner. Along with this they must also conduct market evaluation on
regular basis which help in knowing about new trends through which company may improve
shopping experience of customers by advance technology application.
TASK 3
a. Report existing communications process in organisation, design one improvement that could
be made to communications process and outline how this improvement is to implemented
Communication is necessary for a company as well as individual because through it they
able to interact with another person in effective manner. In respect of A Fontane Company
Limited current communication method which is used by them for interacting with internal and
external peoples are different. For conducting internal communication respective company use
methods like they conduct meeting when they want to convey any information, they also print
and put it on notice board so that all staffs read it and know about it (Peltier 2016). Along with
this respective company also use mail and phone call in order to communicate with any
employee personally. On the other hand for conducting external communication A Fontane

Company Limited use methods like social media, mail, phone call, messages and so on. Along
with this in order to communicate about new products respective company also use print media
in which they advertise about respective products.
But through this communication process respective company is facing issues that their
employees not able to understand requirement and need of customers effectively so in order to
improve this they can adopt new strategies. Such as they must train their employees so that they
can communicate with customers in effective manner as well as also able to understand their
requirement properly (Rai and et. al., 2012). They may also teach their employees local language
of Hong Kong so that they communicate with local service users effectively. Along with this
they must also ask for suggestions and feedbacks which help company in gaining new ideas
about products and service. Through training employees also feel motivated and able interact
with service users properly.
In order to implement these strategies for communication management of A Fontane
Company Limited must hire or assign effective trainer who are experienced in particular
language so that they teach employees in effective manner. Along with this they must also adopt
some advance technology software for developing effective relationship among customers as
well as they must also conduct meeting on continuous basis so that they can understand their
need and requirement in effective manner.
b. Create a personal plan to develop communication skills
Personal development plan is developed by an individual in order to know skills and
abilities which need need to develop for attaining their goal in effective manner. Through this
plan an individual able to improve its work quality and effectiveness (Schwalbe, 2015). In
respect of A Fontane Company Limited I am playing role of senior manage and I need to
improve my communication skills for which I develop personal development plan that is
mentioned below:-
Personal Development Plan
Serial
no.
Learning objective Target proficiency Development opportunities Time scale
1 Chinese language 10 By improving respective
language I am able to
6 months

communicate with local
customers in effective manner
through which I
understanding their need and
requirement properly. That
will help me in developing
strategies and products in
effective manner.
2 English language 10 By improving this I am able
to communicate with my
colleges and foreign
customers in effective
manner. Along with this I
also able to contact with other
member of company who are
working at diverse location.
4 months
TASK 4
a. Using a diagram report on existing approach to the collection, formatting, storage and
disseminating of information within one specific department / area
There are various tools and method are available which are used by a firm in order to
collect, formate, store and disseminate data as well as information in effective manner. Through
this they able to develop as well maintain informations properly which are easy to found in
future. In respect of A Fontane Company Limited they adopt unstructured and structured process
in order to collect data and information related to customers as well as employees requirement.
Data are store with formatting approach because it can be acceptable by all data base application
which are used by respective company (Serenko, 2013.). Along with this in respective company
data are formatted by discussing with employees, top manager and developer so that every one
know about data and information in effective manner. In order to store data and information A
Fontane Company Limited use isolated server which is secure and through it no one can access

information without permission. Along with this cloud computing is used by respective company
in order to store as well as share their information with employees in effective manner. Moreover
for disseminate data respective company also use mail, social post and many other methods
through which they able to spread information in effective manner. Such as in respect of HR
department of A Fontane Company Limited they use HRMS (human resource management
system) as well as employees engagement tool in order to collect, formatting, storage and
disseminating data and information in effective manner.
In order to improve its effectiveness manager of A Fontane Company Limited may train
their employees so that can also use these system to collect, formatting, storage and
disseminating data and information in proper manner (Venkitachalam, 2012). Along with this
respective company may also provide online training of these software which increase ability of
employees.
b. Carry out and implement strategy to improve access, collection, formatting, storage and
dissemination of information and knowledge
Tool and techniques which are used by A Fontane Company Limited are effective and
appropriate for collecting and managing data as well as information. For improvement respective
company may adopt new as well as advance technology which improve security and
management system of data at respective company. Along with this for formatting they may
adopt appropriate software which are effective enough to identify consistency as well as integrity
during the formatting of data and information (Vrandečić, 2014). They must also use high
storage technology which store data properly and in secure form as well as it must also block
virus so that information must be secured. It is also necessary for a company to adopt software
which must be managed properly with every employees of A Fontane Company Limited. For
which respective company must provide training session to employees so that they use software
in effective manner. Moreover in order to implement these technology or software at A Fontane
Company Limited manager must identify employees requirement and develop training
programmes accordingly. Along with this they also adopt new technology which make work of
employees simple as well as effective. They must also adopt software which is user friendly so
that each and every employees able to use it in effective manner. They must also adopt software
which reduce efforts of staff in order to manager and maintain data as well as information
properly of A Fontane Company Limited.

CONCLUSION
By evaluating above discussed topics it can be analysis as well as summarised that
communication is necessary for each and every individual because through it they able
understand each other in effective manner. Along with this through effective communication a
company also able to understand their employees as well as customers which help in developing
products and services in effective manner. Through effective communication employer also able
to understand their employees in appropriately which help them in developing decision in order
to attain objective. When a company face issues in their communication process then they may
adopt specific strategy by evaluation its objective which they want to attain. Moreover, there are
also various method which can be used by a firm in order to increase personal networking which
impact on decision making procedure. A company also develop communication processes so that
they improve their communication with service users and employees as well as according to
which they create improvement system related to information and knowledge.

REFRENCES
Books and journals
Alhawari, S., and et. al., 2012. Knowledge-based risk management framework for information
technology project. International Journal of Information Management. 32(1). pp.50-65.
Becerra-Fernandez, I. and Sabherwal, R., 2014. Knowledge management: Systems and processes.
Routledge.
Davison, R. M., Ou, C. X. and Martinsons, M. G., 2013. Information technology to support
informal knowledge sharing. Information Systems Journal. 23(1). pp.89-109.
Dawson, R., 2012. Developing knowledge-based client relationships. Routledge.
Galliers, R. D. and Leidner, D. E., 2014. Strategic information management: challenges and
strategies in managing information systems. Routledge.
Holsapple, C. ed., 2013. Handbook on knowledge management 1: Knowledge matters. (Vol. 1).
Springer Science & Business Media.
Hu, Q., and et. al., 2012. Managing employee compliance with information security policies: The
critical role of top management and organizational culture. Decision Sciences. 43(4).
pp.615-660.
Jones, G. and Sallis, E., 2013. Knowledge management in education: Enhancing learning &
education. Routledge.
Pearlson, K. E., Saunders, C. S. and Galletta, D. F., 2016. Managing and using information
systems, binder ready version: a strategic approach. John Wiley & Sons.
Peltier, T.R., 2016. Information Security Policies, Procedures, and Standards: guidelines for
effective information security management. Auerbach Publications.
Rai, A., and et. al., 2012. Interfirm IT capability profiles and communications for cocreating
relational value: evidence from the logistics industry.n MIS quarterly. 36(1). pp.233-
262.
Schwalbe, K., 2015. Information technology project management. Cengage Learning.
Serenko, A. and Bontis, N., 2013. Global ranking of knowledge management and intellectual
capital academic journals: 2013 update. Journal of Knowledge Management. 17(2).
pp.307-326.
Venkitachalam, K. and Busch, P., 2012. Tacit knowledge: review and possible research
directions. Journal of Knowledge Management. 16(2). pp.357-372.
Vrandečić, D. and Krötzsch, M., 2014. Wikidata: a free collaborative knowledge base.