International Business Communication Analysis - Essay Example

International Business Communication Name: Tutor: Institution: Subject: Date: Table of Contents Introduction 3 Discussion 4 Organizational Structure 4 Influence of Organizational Behavior 6 Features of International Organizational Strategy 8 Method of International Strategy 9 Observe Competition 10 Address Customers’ Needs 10 Vision and Goal Setting 11 Opportunity Assessment 11 Strategic Review 12 Analysis of Global E-commerce 12 Global E-commerce and E-business 13 Recommendation 13 Conclusion 14 References 15 Introduction International business communication involves sharing of information among the managers of a multinational company that is performed for a commercial benefit to that company. In simple terms, International business communication can be define as relaying of information within an international company by its people (Eisenberg,et al, 2015). This report will focus on the effectiveness of the communication within a Commonwealth Bank of Australia by its people. It will also analyze the structure of the Commonwealth Bank and its strategies. The Commonwealth Bank has been in a position to operate internationally because of its effective communication system. The company operates globally, providing various financial services including investments, funds management, broking services, retail, insurance, superannuation, business and institutional banking among many other services. The plans for the company are to gain more customers from the world. This is essential because the banking industry is faced with high competition. The company. Therefore, needs to ensure that they adopt a communication system that will ensure efficient within the subsidiaries. It is essential to communicate the plans, decisions made by the head office of the branches for implementation to be carried out. Communication will also help in communicating the products that are adopted by the company. This is vital because it will inform the customers about the existence of the product in the market. Discussion Organizational Structure Commonwealth Bank is one of the biggest banks in Australia and it among the big four. The company’s organizational structure is very effective since it facilitate the efficient flow of information within the company. The information is sent from a different department in different countries in so efficiently. In fact, the communication system of the bank is seen from a three-fold perspective: choice, action, and relationship. To achieve it desired goal, the organization normally take takes the action of whatever it was communicated. This is an essential strategy that ensure that the company is working towards its mission (Westmyer & Warren, 2015). The effective communication channels and flexible structures have facilitated the company in achieving its goals. Being an international company, Commonwealth focus so much on the quality of the services being offered to the customers. This can only be possible if the flow of information is efficient. Flexible organizational structure and effective communication system enable the departments to handle their day to day responsibilities on time. For example, customer care department is able to respond to the customers complaints in time if the communication system is efficient. For the commonwealth bank, the departments can communicate with the head office directly. This is very vital because many issues such as creating new ads or changing the system of marketing are implemented without wasting time. The organizational structure of the Commonwealth Bank has also facilitated the coordination of various activities in different branches. Departments in different countries have being able to communicate efficiently and this has led to built-in system of “checks and balances” so that the progress towards attainment of banks goals are evaluated along the way so that any new decision or adjustments can be made. This is a very good strategy that is being used in Commonwealth Bank to ensure that the objectives of the bank are met on time. The organizational structure of the Commonwealth Bank has also reduced the conflicts between departments or individuals over jurisdictions because every department are assigned the particular job to perform. This has been possible even in departments in different countries because of good communication system that was established in the bank. Every department in every branch is assigned to a particular task to complete within the given time limit. This has resulted to traceability of outcomes in the bank, and the work interdependency of that particular task is reduced to a minimum (Westmyer & Warren, 2015). The structure and the communication system in the Commonwealth Bank have enabler the bank to facilitate the promotions of employees in different departments regardless of the country. The organizational chart has enabled the banks’ management to identify the position of employees relative to one another. It is, therefore, easier to pick employees to promoted without discriminating anyone. This is possible because of the communication system in the banks that connects all the branches in different countries. Commonwealth Bank has been able to maintain its position in the market because creativity in the bank is encouraged. It is encouraging because, in the Commonwealth, there is a high sense of belonging and high morale among the employees in the different department. The bank also has a clear-cut accountability, recognition of skills and appreciation of the hard work of employees. Every hard work is rewarded in different manners, and this is communicated to all branches. The flow of information is very clear in that everyone regardless of the country gets the information. This is one of the biggest achievement of the banks. It has not only boost the creativity of the employees, but it has greatly reduced the number of the employees who are quitting the job for other companies. Influence of Organizational Behavior Organizational behavior is the behavior of the employees of the bank. Employees and other parties tend to behave differently depending on the country there are situated in. However, international communication enables the head office of Commonwealth to understand the behavior of the employees in various bank branches. This cannot to be achieved in a situation where the communication is poor. According to Malic, (2015) organization behavior is closely related to the communication. This is because people within the bank will get to understand what the objective of the bank, predict the future through receiving information on what the company is planning. When the head office communicates in time on what to be done, how to be done, it improves the effectiveness and efficient of the bank. The perfect communication system in the company has enabled the bank to offer better quality services and products. Serving international employees is a challenge of different cultures. However, Commonwealth Bank has manage to handle this because of good qualities of services that are tailored to the customer needs. This means that the bank values customers and is striving on delivering services that are up to date. In addition to this, Commonwealth Bank is constantly empowering employees. They do this by encouraging them to express their opinion on the bank issues. This is a strategy that will enable workers to feel proud working for the bank. The success of an organization depends on how the employees are handle, treated and rewarded. Employees are the most important assets of any organization. This is because they are in contact with customers on daily basis, they are the one handling customers complaints, they serve customers and they portray banks’ image. It is, therefore, essential to ensure that employees are satisfied with the management. The gap between the management and employees should be minimal, and this is done through communication. Many factors in the Commonwealth Bank have come into play because of continuous interaction between the management and the employees. Employees have been included in many functions of the company, and this has let high improvement in the bank. It has motivated the employees to work towards delivering the best they can to the customers (Judge & Robbins, 2015).  Features of International Organizational Strategy Objectives, initiatives, and goals are the final elements of Commonwealth Bank strategy. This illustrates what the bank can articulate, what it want to achieve, how they will do it and the deadline for achieving them. To achieve their goals, the bank has to have a vital direction. They need to identify key strategic objectives. This is essential because it will act as a guideline of achieving these objectives. Furthermore, identifying the objectives help in ensuring that the resources in the bank are appropriately used. There will be minimal wastage of the resources because everyone in the company will know the priorities of the company. It is also essential to ensure that the management of the bank has priorities all the actions items by their importance to strategic intent. This will ensure the efficient allocation of the resources among the many branches that are located in different cities and different countries. The Banks Head office need to communicate this to all other branches that are located in different count countries (Worley & Doolen, 2015). All the mangers of this subsidiary should make reports that explain whether the resources are quantifiable and measurable depending on their location. With this, the bank will be able to meet its objective in a timely manner. It also to have all the managers in the planning process so that they implement effectively knowing exactly what is needed. An employee in such process is very essential because their goals reflect accountabilities and timeliness in the company. For monitoring purposes, it is essential to ensure that the tools that are used in measuring key financial indicators are utilized so that the bank can measure and report the performance of the head office. In summary, the features of the international organizational strategy involve clear identification of the strategies that are being used to attain the goals of the company within the estimated time. Estimation of time of completion and the resources to be used need to be accurate to guarantee the attainment of such goals. It is also essential to have key financial indicators so that the company can predict the future market and whether the plan strategies are going to take the company to the next stage. According to Hollensen, (2015) organizational accountability is also another essential feature because it ensure that the employees understand how their roles and responsibilities relate to strategic objectives. This also helps the management in holding individuals accountable for their work in the company. Method of International Strategy Commonwealth Bank have benefited from global business because of it established and well-maintained communication system. The system for communication is awesome making it possible for the top managers in head office to supervise and advise managers who are managing various branches in different countries. Commonwealth Bank was able to succeed in going global because the managers had understood the nature of global industries and the dynamics of global competition. That was very useful because it help the managers to know barriers that are there in different countries and how to overcome such barriers. Having a well design global strategy is great step for companies that are operating the international market. It enables to improve their services they provide to the international market. Furthermore, needs and preferences of the international market vary and, therefore, the company needs to communicate their services in a more efficient way to attract customers. Observe Competition It is also known as competitive intelligence. Commonwealth Bank needs to analyzes competition in the market in different countries. The managers who are heading such braches should utilize international business communication to communicate the nature of the market and how the customers are behaving i.e. purchasing power to the head office. The managers in such braches should also try to analyzes the weaknesses of their main competitors in the market. Analyzing such weaknesses is a method to spark the creation of strategies to exploit the weaknesses. When the weaknesses are identified, the company should implement such, and this will act as a strategy to differentiate the products offered from those of competitors (Laroche & Teng, 2015). Address Customers’ Needs As an international strategy, the head office of the bank normally communicates to its branch managers to ensure that they align their strategies with the needs of their customers so as to satisfy them effectively. Customer satisfaction is very essential in the international market. If the customers are not satisfied, they will leave the company to other competitors. To ensure that the customers need to be met effectively, it is essential to carryout market research to identify what the customers are looking for and what they expect from the products offered by the bank. The result of the research needs to communicate to the relevant departments for immediate implementations. Vision and Goal Setting The Commonwealth Bank has manage to shape their strategic direction by having a long-range vision for the bank and also performing their goals in time. Besides, the bank manages to enter the international market by formulating strategies that were very effective. Opportunity Assessment The management team of the bank should make an ongoing step of gathering data concerning the current and predicting business environment for different countries, including the estimated growth of the industry. The managers of the banks seek to uncover the best opportunities to build the banks revenues (Kim et al. 2014). These could cover or take the market segment that is not covered by the competitors in the market, segments that are likely to grow, or the market segments that the bank might have previously ignored. They should roll out a product development strategy to create a product that would completely serve and satisfy the customers need in the market. Strategic Review On a quarterly basis, the banks management team review the strategies that are in use and evaluate their effectiveness. Some strategies might be in fine tune to the banks goals such as incorporating internet ads into overall advertising strategy of the bank. The managers in various branches should advise the head office concerning ineffective strategies so that they can discontinue strategies that are not working and reallocate financial resources to strategies with more upside potential. Analysis of Global E-commerce The Commonwealth Bank utilizes E-commerce in managing online transaction by its branches that are all over the world. The banks business communication system is designed to a complex and simple to use so as to increase efficiency when sending information from one branch to another. The main transactions that are taking place in Commonwealth Bank is mostly from one branch to another in different countries. Because of the international business communication system and e-commerce it is possible for the branches of Commonwealth Bank to share information electronically without any complexity. The advantages of E-commerce to the bank is that the bank can share information between customers and the company, a bank with the government and so on. Bank can share all types of financial document and information through the use of e-commerce. Some of the documents that can be shared through e-commerce within the bank include credit card transactions, e-cheques, documentary letter of credits, electronic invoices, purchase order and financial statements. Global E-commerce and E-business The bank utilizes both the global e-commerce and e-business to efficiently carryout business in an efficient manner. The two system involves Internet and electronic data interchange (EDI). The bank uses these systems so to improve and change business processes with the aim of maintaining banks competitive advantage in the market. However, global e-commerce is simple to implement in the banking system because it involve only few types of integration: integration of technology with modestly redesign process of customer care, vertical integration of front-end web site application to the existing bank system and the cross-business integration of a company with Web sites of customers (Lin & Atkin, 2014).  While e-business is more complex, and it focused on the internal process and aimed at cost savings and improvements in efficiency, productivity and cost savings in the bank. The bank has manage to market its products through the utilization of social network and the internet media. This strategy is efficient because it reach large number of people in the market. Social media one of the best medium in which a bank can advertise it products. Social sites such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and MySpace are also the best in advertising banks products. In addition, using social sites to advertise a product is cost effective because they are very cheap and be access by anybody at any time. Recommendation The banks should recommend the use of various promotional means when advertising their products. Some of the most effective methods to use includes direct marketing, advertising, sale promotions and using social networks. These methods are very essential because it will attract high number of people within a short time.  Furthermore, the methods are cheap, and this is essential because, in most companies, expenses of advertising and promotions are transferred to the customers making the products a bit expensive. Conclusion In conclusion, international business communication has facilitated various process within the banking halls and within different banks. The banks in different regions can share financial documents, make clarifications, inquire and make decisions. 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