Managing Communications, Knowledge and Information - Assignment Example

Managing Communications, Knowledge and Information Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 Task 3 Task 2 6 Reference List 10 Task This paper discusses about a new online retail business that is to be opened. The business will be an online one that is to be operated virtually. As this is not a physical business, there is no requirement of pre-purchasing stock. The virtual nature of the business eliminates requirement of purchasing stock before hand. This lessens capital investment of the company. This is essentially an e-tailer business, which eliminates rent and other overheads (Wight, 2014). It is for this reason a competitive pricing can be charged by the business. The range of products that will be sold by the company has to be listed as the cost incurred on these has to be pre-determined. The business wants to target a wide range of customers as the products that are to be sold will range from groceries to toilet supplies and home furnishings to apparels. Professional design of the website is also an integral part of the business as customers need to gain trust before they hand their credit card details. Professional help is required for providing the business with sound advice on legal and the regulatory issues. Finally, suppliers should be aptly identified and a good rapport should be maintained with them in order to have a clear idea about the cost of shipment for financial viability. Once these decisions are finalized, the last step remaining would be to incorporate the company. This can be done through the internet and is an inexpensive process. In order to start a business successfully, there is certain information that needs to be gathered beforehand. This knowledge is essential for ensuring that decisions that are taken to run the business are effective. Firstly, knowledge of the industry is essential to start the business. This involves knowing the suppliers and manufacturers. It is also important for establishing a good rapport with potential suppliers so as to gain a thorough knowledge about pricing, products and information. Secondly, knowledge and information about the target group of customers is also essential to start a business. Studying consumer behaviour to decipher current trends in the market is an essential part of setting up a business. An analysis of the retail industry has shown that nature of the business (whether online or offline) is a crucial determinant of information that retailers need to collect. As this business is essentially an online business, there is a huge scope of collecting data online, which helps to track behaviour of customers. Few of the methods by which data can be collected about consumers include tracking IP address of the customers, registration, combining credit card purchases and direct authorization. The internal sources of data collection for the firm have been described above. Tracking customer information through online channel is the best possible way to collect data. Apart from internal sources, various external sources can also be used by the firm to collect consumer data from market. The external sources inevitably include third party firms that specialize in collection of consumer data like, Axciom and DataLogix. Data collected from third party can be considered as reliable because they are widely employed by major retailers in order to comprehend market trend. Additionally, they also provide a holistic view of the market about consumers. This is because it has been observed that data collected from these firms are usually classified on the basis of demography and socioeconomic characteristics. The main parameters that are considered are age of customers, their social profile and income. The data collected from these companies are reliable because conducting wide market research is their core business. When such data is gathered and combined with that collected from internal sources, results appear to be robust and act as a solid guideline to start the business (Tengberg, 2013). As collection of data from the market is an important part for running a business, it can be recommended that using more specific sources of data like, owned car model or retail transactions, can help in enhancing quality of data collection (Bashir, 2011). Also, data collected will be useless if it is not analyzed properly. Hence, it is suggested that technologically advanced data interpretation tools must be used in order to analyze the data. Finally, it can be proposed that for proper start up of any business, including retail is extremely important so as to maintain a strategic business plan. Though this is not always documented, yet it is important to set long-term goals of the business, which can be financial objectives of the firm or the market share that is to be achieved in next few years. Without setting out these goals, it is unlikely that the business will thrive. While starting up the retail business, there are a wide variety of stakeholders that are involved. It has been well-documented in existing literature that establishing a good relationship with the stakeholders is an integral part in establishing a competitive edge over rivals. In this particular case, stakeholders can be broadly classified as customers, employees, government, investors and even suppliers (Bateman, Atkinson and Roddis, 2011). The existing literature suggests that corporate communication plays a major role in building reputation for the company. Listening to customers and communicating with them in a planned manner and subsequently developing strategic relationship is necessary for a company in order to outdo its rivals. In order to establish an effective communication with the stakeholders, it is important to identify their individual needs and cater to them by developing customized content (Balmer and Gray, 1999). In the current case, a particular approach can be taken by the management in order to communicate with each group of stakeholders. Employee Development Programs: This could be achieved by introducing employee training programs and educating employees for effective waste management. Coordination among the various departments in the store is also vital for achieving the goal of sustainability. The existing literature points out that management of internal stakeholders, like, employees and managers, are necessary for smooth operation of the organization. Dialogue with the customers: In case of retail industry, it has been observed that retailers are more interested in identifying trends in the market and acting promptly to these changes. However, it has been observed that adequate effort has not been undertaken by retailers to communicate with customers. One of the effective ways of communicating with customers is to create product labels with message of sustainability on it. The broader local community can also be treated as stakeholders. The company can opt for engaging the local community through programs of volunteering or sponsorship. The government engagement: It has been observed that government decisions pertaining to legal and regulatory changes can affect profitability of a business. Government legislations like, human rights issues in the supply chain and sourcing of raw materials, can also impact the business. This requires that good relationship with the government officials must be maintained during all times. Additionally, government agencies also support sustainable practices of the business. Investors: Investors are very important entities for any business because they provide required financial help. This retail business has two private equity firms as its primary investors. Engagement of the investors can be achieved through publishing company sustainability report, shareholder events and investor dialogues. The idea is to increase transparency of the business practices to investors. Investors have been found to establish a link between company’s sustainability performance and financial performance. Suppliers: In case of retail business, it has been observed that manufacturers maintain a relationship with the merchandising and sourcing managers. Engaging suppliers can be done through auditing for verifying social compliance, entering into a collaborative partnership with the suppliers and introducing scorecards. Engagement of stakeholders can be improved through virtual collaborative networks established with suppliers as well as customers. Use of internet and social media has become one of the most common methods for businesses to establish a virtual presence (Noland and Phillips, 2010). As this business operates on virtual basis, empowering personal networks with stakeholders over the web platform will improve the level of engagement. Adoption of advanced technologies like, business intelligence, in order to manage finance of the company and making the information available on a public domain can help in improving relationship with the investors. Task 2 The importance of improving communication with the employees is an integral part for an organization to deliver its function properly. The present business that has been chosen operates in manufacturing, which has multiple departments. It is a registered company, which follows regulatory framework of the government. The company is eligible to invest in the share market and issues share that can be purchased by public. The present business of the company encompasses manufacturing of Laser Trackers, Theodolite and Photogrammetry. The firm is not only involved in manufacturing, but also in distribution of the products. The mission of the company is to help in creation of accessories that support industrial survey systems. The company aims at delivering best products for industrial survey systems that already exist and also for systems that are yet to be discovered. The present system of communication within the organization can be classified as vertical communication. This is because there are multiple positions of hierarchy in this organization and communication takes places through both upward and downward flows. Though the system was originally implemented based on the idea that top managers would communicate to the immediate supervisors and the latter in turn would communicate with the staff. It was expected that increasing role of the supervisors can improve the level of satisfaction of employees. In existing literature, this system has been termed as the Pelz Effect, owing to name of its observer Donald Pelz. Pelz Effect predicts that upward influence of a leader in the organization will regulate his downward behaviour in regard to satisfaction of the employees (Anderson, et al., 2010). Over the passage of time, various types of loopholes have been observed in regard to communication. This is because activities of the organization have become more complex and the current level of communication is failing to meet requirements. The existing system of communication in the organization has delayed the process of communication, which is proving to be disadvantageous to the firm. Additionally, the system of downward communication was designed to improve efficiency of the communication process. However, it is witnessed that over time, downward communication has become very rigid, where employees are not given sufficient opportunities to express their views and become a part of the decision making process. It has also been noticed that certain information are lost in the transit, which is creating significant problem in running the organization. Sometimes information that is being shared is perverse and the original message contained in the information is no longer valid (Bartels, et al., 2010). A customized plan can be framed for improving personal skill of the manager. It has been pointed out in the existing literature that the manager plays an important role in influencing employees and motivating them. Effectively communicating with the employees is an additional quality that is required by managers to carry out their responsibility smoothly. One of the first steps to improve communication of the managers is to understand their role properly. When the managers are able to realize expectations that they need to fulfil, they can communicate effectively with the clients. In order to accomplish this, manager should prepare in advance about the questions that can be asked about explaining the future assignment of employees and so on. The second step for improving communication with employees is to know the audience perfectly as this helps to customize message that needs to be delivered. A commonly used method among managers is the PSCB method. This is an acronym for problems, solutions, cost of solutions and benefit of solutions. This has been recognized as one of the most useful processes, which can be applied to communicate with employees. In order to achieve these goals, it is also very important for managers to introduce proper training. These sessions would be particularly aimed for the manager to help in addressing “what” to say to employees and the “way” in which the message is to be presented. This can be termed as a personal training session for the manager of this organization (Jay, 2012). For the purpose of improving existing system of communication in the organization, adopting a diagonal system of communication can be helpful. The unique feature of diagonal communication system is that it allows flow of information in multiple organisational levels, even among employees who do not have direct reporting relationships. This type of communication cuts through the system of functions and levels in the organization. This is because a manager in the credit department can directly communicate with one in the marketing department. This facilitates speed in the system of communication. Moreover, bypassing the formality of vertical communication systems renders the process of information transmission speedy and prevents employees acting as conduits between ones sending the message and those who are receiving it. If this system of communication is adopted in the organization, then existing loopholes can be easily eradicated. This system will gain speed, formal tone of the communication can be reduced for improving attitude of the employees towards their superiors and finally, all necessary information can be retained as the level of reporting can be greatly reduced. Diagonal communication process can encompass both vertical and horizontal systems of communication, which is a better way to manage communication within this organization (Das, 2009). Presently, the company uses manual system of data collection. All data that are documented from different departments are handed over to the data entry department, which in turn formats the data using Microsoft Excel. The data is stored in computers in a manner, where information transfer to other departments is effortless, but the process is slow as mailing huge data takes up considerable time. Information sharing of the company is a relatively difficult task as data often needs to be transmitted to suppliers and other business partners. Transmission and editing of data becomes a difficult job as sometimes the data has to be accessed by multiple departments simultaneously. This hinders speedy transmission of data from one personnel to another on a real time basis, thereby slowing down business decisions. One of the best procedures that can be implemented in order to improve the current system of collection, storage and dissemination of data for the organization is application of the cloud computing system. This system is relatively new, but has been widely accepted in the industries for enhancing their system of information sharing. In this computing technology, the required data and information are stored in the form of a server. This server is a technologically advanced back-end system, which expedites that of sharing information, irrespective of users at the front end. The biggest advantage of using this type of a system is that data can be used from anywhere and anytime by the users (Sultan, 2011). This means that data can be edited anytime and anywhere by the system and be used simultaneously. The main rationale behind including cloud computing is that it is very difficult for small and medium sized companies, as this one, to establish a complex and expensive information technology platform. Adaptation of cloud computing can provide this organization to save costs and concentrate only on the core business. This is the added advantage as there is no additional expenditure while using this system. Adapting this system will help organization to better productivity of the organization in services like, accounting and improving communications. This will also contribute towards improvement of customer service and support. The current system that is maintained by the company has a problem that users need to avail the particular system wherein the data is being stored in order to use it. For using the stored data in another system, external storage medium has to be used by employees like, USB drives and DVDs, for which a cost has to be borne. This has the potential risk of destroying important data. On the other hand, incorporation of cloud computing technology will help organization to save both time and cost in the sense that data does not need to be stored physically (Dillon, Wu and Chang, 2010). Reference List Anderson, L. R., Tolson, J., Fields, M. W. and Thacker, J W., 2010. Extension of the Pelz Effect: The impact of leaders upward influence on group members control within the organization. Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 11(1), pp. 19-32. Balmer, J. M. T. and Gray, E. R., 1999. Corporate identity and corporate communications: creating a competitive advantage. Corporate Communications. An International Journal, 4(4), pp. 171-177. Bartels, J., Peters, O., De Jong, M., Pruyn, A. and Van der Molen, M., 2010. Horizontal and vertical communication as determinants of professional and organisational identification. Personnel Review, 39(2), pp. 210-226. Bashir, Y., 2011. Next Generation Business Intelligence Software, Areas for Growth & Opportunities for Innovation. [pdf] Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Available at: < http://dspace.mit.edu/bitstream/handle/1721.1/65795/750008108.pdf?...1> [Accessed 6 June 2014]. Bateman, R., Atkinson, P. and Roddis, J., 2011. From academy to industry to user: engaging stakeholders in sustainable material development. [pdf] International Conference On Sustainable Intelligent Manufacturing. Available at: < file:///C:/Users/HCL/Downloads/From%20Academy%20to%20Industry%20formatted%20and%20edited[1].pdf> [Accessed 6 June 2014]. Das, B., 2009. Business communication. New Delhi: PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd. Dillon, T., Wu, C. and Chang, E., 2010. Cloud computing: issues and challenges. In Advanced Information Networking and Applications, pp. 27-33. Jay, J. K., 2012. Communicate well: Five strategies to enhance your managerial communication skills. [online] Available at: < http://careers.pda.org/2012/08/communicate-well-five-strategies-to-enhance-your-managerial-communication-skills/> [Accessed 6 June 2014]. Noland, J. and Phillips, R., 2010. Stakeholder engagement, discourse ethics and strategic management. International Journal of Management Reviews, 12(1), pp. 39-49. Sultan, N. A., 2011. Reaching for the “cloud”: How SMEs can manage. International journal of information management, 31(3), pp. 272-278. Tengberg, J., 2013. Inter- Organizational information sharing of customer data in retail. [pdf] CISL. Available at: [Accessed 5 June 2014]. Wight, E., 2014. Meet the online retail businesses that have started up from home. [online] Available at: [Accessed 6 June 2014]. Read More