Business Report: Managing Communications, Knowledge, Information

This report provides an in-depth analysis of managing communications, knowledge, and information within a business context, specifically using the example of 'Luiza's Boutique,' a newly opened clothing store. The report explores the advantages and disadvantages of brick-and-mortar busin...Read More

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Managing Communications,
Knowledge and Information
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Executive summary
The following report will expand on the topic of Managing Communications,
Knowledge and Information. As an example I will be using a recently opened
clothing store, ‘Luiza’s Boutique’. This project will highlight the main
advantages and disadvantages of using brick-and-mortar business. The
different decisions in relation to starting up a business which need to be
made will be covered, as well as a list of internal and external sources of
information and understanding and a discussion of stakeholders and
communication.
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Project number 1: Report
Introduction
Retail business it is a sales orientated business; i.e. sale of goods or services to the public for use
or resale. There are two ways to open a retail business: 1) as a bricks-and-mortar operation. 2)
Online medium e.g. websites.
Bricks-and-mortar is a business that have a physical presence, a store where you can go to,
enter, see, touch and purchase. For example clothes stores such as: Next, H&M, and Top Shop
etc.
ADVANTAGES DISAVANTAGES
the buyer can touch the
things that he or she wants
before buying
customer will have to travel to
the store and sometimes
searching a large store can be
stressful to many people –
especially if they find out that
the product they are looking
for is not available in store at
the time
the buyer can inspect the
merchandise for quality and
try the product
many people live busy life
styles and would rather surf
the net and shop from the
leisure of their own home
the brick-and-mortar
business creates a bond
between seller and buyer and
this can make the customer
feel good about a purchase
with fewer risks of the
customer returning the items
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Online retail is a business that sell the services on internet via a web browser or client program
and this needs to be installed on the user’s computer- e.g. E Bay, Amazon etc.
ADVANTAGES DISADVANTAGES
the businesses do not need to
pay for a shop or running costs
such as bills, sale staff etc.
there can be a lot of fraud, which
means that is a risk to lose money
on sales
the costs online businesses
incur are the wages paid to staff
which manage the website –
however this cost is
significantly lower than that of
e.g. rent
people can hack the website or
the website can go down and in
that case no one will be able to
purchase anything that mean the
company is making no money and
it may take days or weeks to get
the website up and running again
when selling products online
you are open to a bigger
audience i.e. customers can be
from all country
it is harder to get repeat on orders
if there is no contact with the
customers
It is easy for companies to keep
track of competitors and
change their prices to match or
be lower
more so, if people do not like
their purchase there may be
returns which is effectively
making no money for the
company and leave a lot of stock
left over
LO 1.1, 1.2
In retail there are many competitors which sell the similar products due to the niche they
occupy in the market. Due to this price is a major factor which differentiates different
businesses selling similar products. So having the same target market means that each company
needs to have a strong understanding of their customers in order to be better than their
competitors. Other shops which cause customers to spend are also competitors indirectly as
they cause customers to spend money meaning less money is left over to spend at other shops
(Chuang, Jackson and Jiang, 2016).
Due to my analysis above I have decided to go with brick-and-mortar business. I have decided to
choose a clothing retail shop named Luiza Boutique which will sell French fitted dresses with its
own tailoring available in store. The tailoring service will allow my boutique to cater to all sizes
as dresses can be adjusted for everyone affordably.
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LO 1.3
Internal information needs to be tightly regulated as this will give me an overall picture of how
the business has progressed from time to time e.g. balance sheet, profit loss account, total sales
etc.
The use of balance sheet in providing the internal source of information is that it summaries the
assets, liabilities and shareholders equity in the business. It provides a clear picture of the
financial position of the company at a particular time (Hajro, Gibson and Pudelko, 2017). As the
same to know the current position of the business internally profit and loss account also gives
the best information and is helpful in understanding the business performance.
External information has an effect on the business such as tax, laws & regulations of the
government. These factors are important as the business can incur further charges such as fine
if the business is not up to deliver accurate services.
Primary and secondary data are taken from outside the business. Primary data can be taken
from surveys and questionnaires- this information is taken from the population in question.
Secondary data is data taken from a different source e.g. data collected from a business which
can then be used by my business as a reference or a direct source.
Reliability of primary and secondary data is seen when in primary data the information collected
is from the original questionnaires and the respondent answers the survey questions and in the
secondary data it is collected from third party or are published already and collected. So both
the data are reliable and are true when taken from the sources (Grigoriou and Rothaermel,
2017).
LO 1.4
When it comes to primary and secondary data, a way to improve the method will be by making
sure the data taken is completely random and a higher range of the customer market is used.
The data must be taken in consideration and must be repeated yearly as the business is going to
be related to fashion and fashion is in constant change. The data collected from other
businesses, in other words secondary data, must be analyzed carefully as the business can get
an advantage of the positive actions the other business took and try to avoid the negative
actions they have made. This can bring the business to a better advantage and assure a good
start (Burt, 2016).
LO 2.1
Stakeholders are people who are interested in the business, or are people who influence or are
effected by the business itself. There are two types of stakeholders:
Internal stakeholders External stakeholders
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- Customer
- Suppliers
- Creditors
- Employees
- Community
- Public
- Media
Stakeholders which would affect my boutique are customers, suppliers, creditors which will be
the bank and employees as I would be opening a store and not an online business. Besides the
internal stakeholders and the external stakeholders which would affect my business are the
surrounding area where my shop would be located and the media (Hornsby, Ripa, Vassillo and
Ulgiati, 2017).
How I will contact the stakeholders that I need for my business:
Employees Customers Suppliers Creditors
Will be chosen
carefully and they
will be contacted by
the manager by
telephone when
needed.
Will be contacted
indirectly by media
and advertisement.
Will be contacted by
email and telephone
and after the indirect
communication there
will be face to face
meetings to arrange
the upcoming
actions.
An appointment with
the bank will be
arranged in order to
get the necessary
loan to get the
business up and
running.
LO 2.2
Stakeholders are needed within the business therefore the business has to be in a good
relationship with them at all the times. To have a good and strong relationship with the
stakeholders you need to build trust, stakeholders have to believe and trust in the business. The
business must be trust wordy, show them that you want to maintain a long-term relationship
with them and make them feel important. Every once in a while, arrange a meeting to talk
about the relationship between, if everything is up to date and also both parties get to express
any issues there might appear in the business
Employees Customers Suppliers Creditors
To keep a close
relationship with the
employees, there will
be bonuses for the
employees whom
succeed at their job
and bring profit to the
When consumers
purchase items from
the shop they will be
given the option to
leave their email
address, this way the
shop can send them
In order to keep the
suppliers happy and
interested there will be
constant feedback on
the sales and payments
will be done on time.
Repayments to the
bank will be the main
priority in order to
avoid fines and
misunderstanding with
the bank.
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business. emails when new offers
and seasons come out.
By using this method
the business can keep
in touch with the
customers bringing a
higher chance of
making them loyal.
LO 2.3
Employees would be chosen by myself as my company would not be big enough to have a HR
department as the business would be classed as a “sole trader.” The target market of the
business would be females in there mid 20’s and over and we would supply a service giving an
elegant French fitted look. It is important that the customer service is at a high standard as local
shop needs customers to return- unless the shop was located in a shopping mall where the
influx of customers is high on a day to day basis (de Vente, Reed, Stringer, Valente and Newig,
2016).
The community in which the shop is located needs to meet the expectation of the habitants. I.e.
a boutique is not required in a rural area. Media is an integral part for a business as this is what
attracts customer i.e. leaflets, posters etc.
Pricing of the products will be set after market research as this will inform me of what other
competitors are selling their lines at. Initially I will set the price a little lower in order to attract
customers as a new business this creates incentive for the customer to come to my boutique.
The price will be set so that it is higher than the break even point in order to make a profit.
LO 2.4
In order to get a good morale in the business- bonuses will be available if targets are met this
will ensure that customer service stays at a high level. If profit levels are high there can be
prospects of opening other shops. When it comes to opening another store, this will be done by
using the own business resources which is an organic strategy. In this way the growth of the
business is slower and there are risk as well, but using the organic strategy can improve the
customer retention, help to attract new customers and strengthening the relationship with the
existing customers (Leonidou, Aykol, Fotiadis and Christodoulides, 2017).
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Project number2: Case study
LO 3.1
In the case study, they use the method of horizontal communication. This method sends messages
between members working at the same level in the forward communication. Information is exchanged
between different functional units of an organization and this is used to coordinate their activities.
Another communication process available to a small voluntary organization is the method of vertical
communication. This is when messages are sent through a chain of command; be it upward or
downward. An example of a chain of command can be from a senior manager via the middle
management to the workforce. Messages sent through a chain of command ensure the continuation of
the messages and allow different levels to make certain decision for the organization. These decisions
will affect the company upward and downward in the chain of command.
Vertical communication has many advantages over horizontal communication as you are able to
communicate with the relevant people via the chain of command. Whereas, horizontal communication
only allows communication between people at the same level. This means that decisions made will not
affect the organization as a whole whereas vertical communication effects different levels in the chain of
command (La Rocca, Perna, Caruana and Snehota, 2016).
Vertical communication does have many disadvantages as you have to communicate between different
levels and this may mean communication with more than one person. In this case messages on certain
decisions can be changed from level to level and this can have a negative effect on the business.
Horizontal organization composes of direct communication between everyone at the same level
ensuring that the message everyone receives is the same.
Horizontal communication is advantageous as information can be transmitted quickly between different
members at the same level and it requires communication with a few people at the same level and this
keeps everyone up to date on the decisions made. Vertical communication has to pass through the chain
of command meaning there can be delays in the time it takes to get to the relevant person.
Horizontal communication has its disadvantages as information is not transmitted between different
levels or through the chain of command and this restricts how far the information/decisions made travel.
Vertical communication ensures that information progresses through organization.
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In small voluntary organisations the process used in communication is oral. The members of the
organisation voluntary participates in the working and they communicate orally to gather knowledge or
to provide information. There is no need of staff management function so that information goes from
top to bottom vertically or horizontally. All the members are same and compared equally. The decision
making process is also taken into account by providing information to every member equally.
Information is valid for every member and no need to keep it secret. They are most welcome to work
voluntarily (Chen, Weng, Corcoran and Fan, 2016).
LO 3.2,
Many measures could have been taken in order to improve communication processes within the
organization. The case study states, “Volunteer supervisor did not have projects ready during the
scheduled volunteer time slots.” If vertical communication was implemented then the person above the
volunteer supervisor would have been checking up on this employee to ensure that are prepared for
when there time slot comes.
In the organization, the supervisor was under pressure because of the need to complete so many tasks
at once, because of this the communication was very poor with the non-traditional volunteer. The best
way to avoid misunderstandings in a small organization would be by having a face to face conversation at
the beginning where both parties would meet and the supervisor could have set tasks to the volunteer.
This could have helped the supervisor as well, as the volunteer was better skilled and prepared as
others.
Another way of communication between the volunteer and supervisor is via email or text message. This
method of communication is very easy and time efficient which means the supervisor would not have to
spend more than five minutes to explain tasks and send them to the volunteer. This method of
communication will allow more than one conversation to take place which will make it easier for the
volunteer to get in contact with the supervisor when needed (Chen, Zhang, Xue, Chen, Xiang, Wan
and Huang, 2017).
LO 3.3
To improve the system of communication in the organization the management should take care of some
issues within the company. The major decisions taken by the management at each level should be taken
carefully and stated with the team. Long term policies of the organization framing must take place with
the consideration of the employees to improve the communication gap between them. Decisions
regarding promotion and advertisement should also be communicated and new ideas should be
generated.
Information and knowledge about the organization and related to the work must also be communicated
with the employees to ensure effective decision. It helps in making effective decision and the ability of
the employees to generate new ideas also increases. Building a better delivery system to communicate
the information to every employee in the organization (DiSanza and Legge, 2016). Understanding the
role of management to improve the performance of the members working in the company.
LO 4.1,
When preparing for collecting and storing the information a supervisor must always consider how to
distribute the tasks of collection and analysis among different volunteers and what is needed to avoid
misunderstanding. Also, it is important to make sure the volunteers are able to do the tasks given and if
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other individuals, such as the non-traditional volunteer who is better skilled, are given for filling tasks.
By doing this the volunteers will not lose motivation. The clarity of the language used is also a very
important factor. The clearer the tasks the better the performance.
The dissemination process needs a sender and a receiver to take place however in this process the
sender does not receive a reply. This method can be often hard to use in the organization stated in the
case study as sometimes questions might be asked and help might be needed. The supervisor needs to
understand there might always be questions therefore the supervisor must allow some time to receive
and answer the questions in order for tasks to be completed successfully.
LO 4.2
To improve the collection of knowledge and information the channel of communication must be taken
care of as the information collected should be stored wisely. The process of collecting, storing,
formatting and dissemination need to be improved. The use of technology should be improved as the old
process involved direct contact with each other. The sharing of information and knowledge must be
improved by connecting with all the members. Information should be collected from the direct medium
and true information should be given preference (Verčič, 2016).
The distribution of information must be placed accurately, it should be shared with the person who are
involved in the process. The secrecy of the information should be taken care of. For this the medium of
sharing should be valid or be informed to those who are required to be in the process.
The sender and receiver process must be chosen correctly. The intake and outsourcing should have a
path created in which leakage of information is not done.
LO 4.3
Upward communication is a process that all organizations can use. Only passing orders from the
supervisor to volunteer is not enough. There should always be more information passed from the
volunteer to the supervisor to ensure understanding and successful achieving of the tasks and any other
inquiries however time and availability is a major barrier in this type of communication. To improve this
method of communication the supervisor in this case study should make sure to ask for feedback of the
volunteers. Also, the supervisor should increase the ways of communication for volunteers. Volunteer
should be encouraged to express any misunderstandings or issues they might have. In order for the
volunteers to be open regarding their views the supervisor should invest some time into creating a
relation with them. This time will be well spent as volunteers will be more positive, motivated and will
bring a better performance when complementing tasks which can actually be time saving for the
supervisor (Cheong and Tsui, 2016).
There are many advantages of upward communication especially when it comes to volunteers.
Volunteers work for free and they will be always need within the organization. This type of
communication will keep the volunteers motivated and will boost their morale to improve productivity.
It is a goof method for the superior to gain more information and knowledge about the volunteers. The
supervisor will also know their skills and potential therefore it will be easier to give out tasks. This can be
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less stressful for both parties as both the supervisor will know what to expect from the volunteer and
the volunteer will know what is expected from him/her when it comes to complementing the tasks.
LO 3.4
Being a supervisor for many volunteers and also have many tasks of my own sent from other
departments can be quite difficult however my fist action would be to make a plan in which I would
divide my time accordingly to achieve my tasks and also deliver tasks to the volunteers. By making an
overall plan with the time you have got, makes it easier to see all the tasks that need to be completed
and also the time you have got to finish them. I would have spread some tasks to the volunteers capable
of completing them. Taking in consideration one of the volunteers was more skilled than the other ones,
I would have kept the communication with that certain volunteer ongoing as the volunteer could help
me with some tasks of my own. This would make the volunteer motivated as he is working closely with
the supervisor, completing more important tasks (Litzelman, Cottingham, Griffin, Inui and Ivy,
2016).
Impressing the managers is always hard, and sometimes employees do not mention the pressure it is
being put on them because they want to impress. As it has been mentioned in the case study the
supervisor was given tasks to do from different departments. In this case I would of have communicated
to the departments that the tasks are possible to be achieved however more time is needed. Working
under high amount of pressure can sometimes lead to bad performance and tasks being completed
unsuccessfully. Rather than having the managers believe I am unable to finish these tasks successfully it
is better to bring to their attention that more time is needed.
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