Developing Study and Communication Skills for Business

Developing Study and Communication Skills for

Business

Developing Study and Communication Skills for Business

Table of Contents
1.

Introduction..............................................................................................................................3

2.

Evaluation of Business Sources and Material..........................................................................3

3.

Listening Critically to Business focused Material...................................................................5

4.

Analysis of case study..............................................................................................................7

4.1 Introduction................................................................................................................................7
4.2 Marketing Mix Strategies..........................................................................................................7
4.3 Balancing Mix...........................................................................................................................8
4.4 Above line promotion................................................................................................................8
4.5 Below line Promotion................................................................................................................9
4.6 Conclusion...............................................................................................................................10
5.

Effective Communication in Presentation..............................................................................10

6.

Conclusion..............................................................................................................................11

References......................................................................................................................................13
Appendices....................................................................................................................................15

Developing Study and Communication Skills for Business

1. Introduction

The commercial benefit of the organization is found in the information sharing between the
people of the organization is known as business communication. Another definition of business
communication is information relaying process between the employees of organizations.
Effective communication is a process on which whole society, business, and technology are
dependent. When there is no effective communication in any organization, then there exists
confusion, dissatisfaction and misunderstanding among the employees of the organization.
Business could only be operated effectively when one management truly understands the
importance of business communication which its plays in the success of the organization.
Business communication is done in many forms, but most important of all are verbal and
nonverbal communication. However, every form of business communication is determined for
the promotion of products and services and information sharing. An important aspect of business
communication is a business to business communication. This type of communication is an
information sharing with other business organizations because it helps in the formulation of
healthy and strong relationship with competitors. However on the other hand business to
employee communication is the type of communication in which information is shared with
employees for the motivation and encouragement. However, Human Resource department of
every organization handles business to employee communication (Thill and Bovee, 2005). This
report is aimed at analysis of different business writings to develop a deep understanding of
communication skills in business.
2. Evaluation of Business Sources and Material

The research study in the BBC news published is about the decline in the revenue generated by
the news Media companies and many other organizations which make money by selling their ads
online. According to Weldy and Icenogle, (1997) the most important step in the business
communication is effective reading. The article under discussion is about the research study
conducted at Oxford University. According to research, there has been seen a decline in the sale

Developing Study and Communication Skills for Business

of newspapers in UK because of growing use of the social media website for being updated with
the news. Another point that has been highlighted by the decline of the newspaper sales in UK is
the use of a smartphone. The Customers prefer to access the newspapers through smartphones by
installing different newspaper app. According to Gil de Ziga, Jung and Valenzuela, (2012)
tough, the desktop visits are still paying enough revenue for the newspapers and other
organizations. According to the reports, there are still so many newspapers and other sites which
are visited by the user % more than the mobile users who visit any site. Another important aspect
that has been discussed in the article is that users belonging to countries like UK, US, Australia,
Japan and Brazil are more prone to visit the newspapers through a smartphone. However, they
have install Ad-block on their smartphones to avoid the adds that are present of the websites (Gil
de Ziga, Jung and Valenzuela, 2012).
According to Kaplan and Haenlein, (2010) the adds blocking websites are prepared to increase
the convenience level of Smartphone users because it creates frustration among them when they
are using their Smartphones for reading newspapers and if the ads on the website are presented
and being screen size small they are not able to read newspaper conveniently. According to
reports from Reuters which are present in the article, the social media mostly used for accessing
the newspapers is Facebook and YouTube. According to Lee and Ma, (2012) the Smartphones
has brought a revolution for the customers because now they can access any website and remain
updated anywhere they go. According to Chan and Fang, (2007) the use of social media and
smartphone where have made the lives of customers easy on the other hand they have made the
lives of online add publishing websites difficult because there has been seen great reduction in
the money of such organizations. As it is stated in the article report that it has become very
difficult for the newspapers to generate money even through online because people are less
willing to pay for the newspapers unless the organization that is publishing the news online is a
massive brand. According to Kaplan and Haenlein, (2010) the use of social media and
smartphones has made it compulsory for the newspapers to publish it online, but there is also a
challenge in generating money through online news publishing. According to Lee and Ma,
(2012) there is also a great challenge for the new organizations that are entering in the
newspapers and online ad publishing industry from those companies that are publishing their
content directly on their platforms. However according to reports the users who have installed
newspaper apps on their Smartphones do not use its and such users are almost 70%. However,

Developing Study and Communication Skills for Business

51% users in UK use the BBC news app on their Smartphones regularly. On the other hand, 45%
users are seen as to use the newspapers through Smartphones as well as on their laptops.
According to Chan and Fang, (2007) there has been seen a tremendous increase in the online
video consumption. The people are seen to use the online news more than accessing the news
through their websites. The online access to the news and advertisement is considered as the ray
of the sunshine for the news companies as it is helpful in the generation of the revenue for the
news companies. According to Scott, (2007) it has been common attitude of the people that they
do not want to pay for the news they read that is why they prefer to read the online newspapers
and having great variety with them in newspapers they turn to other newspapers if they are
charged with reading newspaper online. Same thing was discussed in the article that people not
only even to pay for the newspapers they read but also they do not want to see the advertisement
in the newspapers, so they prefer to install the ad-blocking software. According to Scott, (2007)
the technology has its advantages and disadvantages. On one hand if they provide benefits to
someone on the other hand it also has disadvantages. Same has happened with the news and
advertisement companies. The use of social media and the internet where has provided the
organizations to reach to people, however, it has made difficult for them to generate revenue.
Customers now are having great variety in their hands they can access their required news on
their favorite news company on its website through any medium like laptop and smartphone.
According to Hermida, (2015) people now a days are seen to spend their more time on the social
media so the access to the news and advertisement through the social media platform is huge so
it has become compulsory for the news companies and advertisement agencies to reach to
maximum people through social media if they want to generate some money.
3. Listening Critically to Business focused Material

According to Paul Mason if the world leaders look worried then economy would be the reason
Japan is in deep recession Brazil is stagnant and key economies in Euro Zone struggling to grow
in fact in financial sectors concern is real but till last six months something big and potentially
positive has happened the prices of oil has fallen by 40% if that carries out the whole dynamic of
world economy could change. This man is one of the world most sophisticated computer models
predicting what comes next. According to Gabriel Sterne from Oxford Economics says that oils

Developing Study and Communication Skills for Business

has fallen to $60 per barrel and stays there I think you can imagine rate of growth in Euro Zone
rising 0.2 % next year maybe the year after that so not huge but quite significant for the
individual who is consumer especially those who have big cars. Have to fill up their pumps.
According to Paul Mason, Oil is falling not just because growth is slow. Saudi Arabia and other
oil producer decided to keep supply high even if its demand fell. Many see it a bold move in the
global game of risk. Since 2008 USA has managed to boost massive oil production from 5
million barrels a day to almost 9 million barrels a day till 2014.
America is said to biggest oil producer overtook Saudi Arabia by 2016 but US oil is expensive so
OPEC countries made decision to go on pumping and clamp the oil price is seemed as retaliation
and in the process it punches Russia and Iran which the Arab state seem responsible for pumping
up President Al-Assad in Syria. If oil prices stay low in the next years, the impact on growth
should be positive but Falling prices come with downsize. Any economy with a huge pile of debt
deflation is bad news. The analyst said Oxford Economics calculated that if oil prices stay $80
per barrel then only Spain would face deflation. On $60 per in 2015 the whole Europe would
face the inflation go negative including the UK. On the $ 40 per whole barrel Eurozone and a
large part of Eastern Europe going to deflation. Megan Green Chief Economist, Manulife Asset
Management says for any country that is over-indebted I am more concerned about the
deflationary impact of lower oil price and then there are benefits of lower oil prices for the
business and consumers.
Amid these long-term worries about low growth and deflation financial market now has
something short term to worry about and once again it is Greece. In Greece turmoil this week
over a hunger strike over by addicts prisoner thats enough for the presidential election due
before Christmas could see the government fall. If so the fall if so far left series of parties stand
poised to win any election. Megan Green Chief Economist, Manulife Asset Management says if
series are win then I think that would be huge capital out force from Greece the people would
pull their deposits from banks and that could have significance contingent effect on rest of Euro
Zone political if have anti-Euro peon party in government in Greece that can have contingent
effect on rest of Europe as well. Six years on from the collapse of Leaman Brothers the shape of
world economy and lives of millions of people are still not settled.

Developing Study and Communication Skills for Business

4. Analysis of case study

The case study of Aldi under discussion is marketing case study. In this case study the marketing
mix strategies of Aldi are discussed.
4.1 Introduction

The retail market is increasingly competitive, and every organization in this competitive market
wants to address the needs of their customers and promote their products. Same is the case with
Aldi. Since the very start of Aldi Stores, it has been considered as the most reputed stores. The
basic purpose of Aldi is to ensure high quality along with economical affordable prices of their
products. According to the case study it has been reported that almost 80% of their customers use
the products of their rival that is why they want to establish such marketing strategies that would
ensure the customers loyalty to them. To realize this dream they surveyed to know about the taste
and quality of their products with other famous brands like Heinz and Fairy Liquid. The results
were very outstanding that taste of Aldi products has same taste and quality as the other brands.
The need is to increase the market share to promote their brands, and this case study is based on
an evaluation of the marketing mix strategies adopted by Aldi to increase its market share.
4.2 Marketing Mix Strategies

According to Naik, Raman and Winer, (2005) marketing mix is controllable and tactical
marketing tools that are used by the organization to produce the desired response. The marketing
mix strategies involve four Ps (Product, price, Place and Promotion). The basic aim of the
marketing mix strategies of Aldi is the provision of the high-quality products at lower prices to
get the competitive advantage over the rival brands. The focus of Aldi is to provide high-quality
same as the other brands provide and offer at low prices without providing low quality of their
products and raw material used for the production of their products. Another important strategy
which is in focus, expansion of the outlet globally. The promotion strategies adopted by the Aldi

Developing Study and Communication Skills for Business

are focusing on the above the line and below the line strategies to promote their products.
According to Gronroos, (1994) the AIDA model is one of the most effect ways of demonstrating
the promotional activities adopted by the organizations. It includes awareness, interest, desire
and actions of the company that wants to promote their products. However, the promotional
activities used by Aldi are variety, and the basic aim of every effort is to meet the aims of AIDA
model.
4.3 Balancing Mix

According to Yoo, Donthu and Lee, (2000) balancing mix is another most important step to meet
the demand of the customers of the organization and to create their loyalty for the organization.
The products of Aldi are purchased from the experts to ensure their quality, and this is the main
reason that their products have finest raw material. However according to Ailawadi, Lehmann
and Neslin, (2001) price determination of the products and is one of the most crucial tasks which
any organization has to go through because price is the second most important thing after quality
that ensures the success of not only product but organization. According to Yoo, Donthu and Lee,
(2000) there are different pricing strategies depending on the needs of the organization. Like if
organization sis aimed at market penetration then low pricing strategy would work for it. If the
organization is aimed at getting a competitive advantage over its rivals, then it could turn to
competitive pricing strategy moreover for the strategic pricing organization have to emphasize
on the quality of products being offered. According to the case study, the Aldi is aimed at getting
the competitive advantage over its rivals that is why it is offering its products at low price. The
Aldi buys the raw material in bulk to get some discount on the prices and the same way they pass
this low prices to their customers. The location where the products are being sold is also very
important to help the organization to keep its prices low said by Gronroos, (1994). Aldi keeps in
mind certain thing while establishing it stores anywhere For example most important thing is the
identification of a population of the area before setting store and second most important thing is
the identification of location store in the areas. Availability of transport to store and the whether
the parking space is available in the area or not.
4.4 Above line promotion

Developing Study and Communication Skills for Business

The key elements of above the line promotion strategies of Aldi is to maintain the balance of the
marketing strategies. According to Wolf, (1986) the above line promotion strategies are aimed at
ensuring the balance in the marketing mix strategies. The customers loyalty could only be
assured if the quality is ensured to the customers at low prices. The strategies adopted by Aldi in
the above line promotion strategy is increasing and improving the brand awareness that is aimed
at increasing the demand for products. Another important point of focus is to improve brand
image along with highlighting the product and services superiority. According to Kotabe and
Helsen, (1998) the above line promotion strategies are to promote the brand by paying for its
advertisement to be conveyed to customers through different print and electronic mediums.
However, sometimes this type of promotion is costly but still it is an effective mean of
promotion. Aldi is using some of the above the line promotion methods like they are presenting
their products on TV. The TV advertisement would help them to get the attention of the majority
of customers. This method would be most effective if the advertisement goes on-air on prime
time because most of the people are at home and watch TV to relax. The humor content could be
added to get more viewership, and this would also help to tell customers that products offered by
Aldi are cheaper, and they can trust on Aldi. Another important strategy adopted by Aldi is the
distribution of printed leaflets to let the customers know about the new promotions and products
offered by the Aldi. The Newspapers is one of the most effective means of advertisement because
it is read by almost everyone that is why Aldi is using Newspaper advertisement too for its
product promotion. They also paste posters in their store to convey their message.
4.5 Below line Promotion

According to Palmer, (2000) below line promotion is another important mean of promotion of
products. It is rather the cheapest method of conveying the message of the product, and it is not
very time consuming too. Nowadays along with above line promotion methods below line
promotion method is another important method of promoting the products. That is Aldi is using
this method too. The below line promotion method of Aldi includes the use of social media,
emails to the customers, endorsements and awards by third party and public relations, etc.
According to Wenderoth, (2009) the use of social media has made very easy for the organizations
to advertise their products and tell the customers about their promotions through their official

Developing Study and Communication Skills for Business

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pages. Aldi is using the same techniques by making its Facebook and Twitter pages it is trying to
increase its customer base and promoting its products. The Aldi is offering different campaigns
like sending Aldi Valentine cards to their friends and win the discount vouchers of worth 10.
Another important strategy adopted by Aldi is sending direct emails to the customers to inform
them about new promotions of Aldi and convey the Swap and save the message. The most
important part of below line promotion is the website of Aldi. It encourages the customers to
provide them feedback about their products and give them ideas to promote their products. They
also encourage them to give them ideas about their new TV campaign. According to Baines, Fill
and Page, (2013) one of the important step for the promotion of the product in the below line
promotion strategy is third party endorsement. Aldi is adopting the same techniques by going
into different awards competitions and winning the awards for the Aldi to ensure its customers
that Aldi not less than any renowned brand.
4.6 Conclusion
Aldi has competitive advantage over its rival because of its retailing approach and the balanced
marketing mix strategies adopted by the brand. The campaigns like Like Brands and Swap
and save are helping it to improve its quality and gaining the more customer base and ensuring
the loyalty of customers.
5. Effective Communication in Presentation

There are some important skills required to participate effectively in working groups. According
to Viswanathan, (2010) for the effective participation there is a need for the clear communication
on the intellectual and emotional level. The effective communicators can explain their ideas
more effectively, they are more open to expressing their feelings, they listen carefully to others,
questions are asked to clarify the ideas being presented by the group members, they have the
ability to evaluate the feelings of the participants based on their nonverbal communication, they
have the ability to evade the tension, and most importantly they encourage the group members to
participate in discussion.
According to Dinic, (2014) one of the important task of group discussion is being a facilitator.
Not to interrupt the person when he is presenting the ideas and listen to their opinion carefully. In

Developing Study and Communication Skills for Business

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the group discussion, every member was given enough time and opportunity to give their ideas
and oppose the ideas presented by other group members. The Giving time and opportunity to
every group member are very healthy activity because everyone has a different opinion on the
matter, and this gives enough time to evaluate the matter from different perspectives.
In the group discussion, the most important thing that is revealed is that everyone has their ideas
and opinion about everything, and group discussion provides an opportunity to analyze the
situation from different perspectives. It develops the good listening ability and increases the
attention span of the people. It encourages the group members to communicate with each to
resolve the important matters.
To make the presentation effective there are many nonverbal presentation skills that could be
used said by Eisenberg and Smith, (2009) the most important nonverbal communication skills
used in the presentation were the use of body posture, facial expressions to respond to the
criticism of the ideas presented and the eye contact marinated to convey the idea presented by
me. These were the important nonverbal communication skills used by me. I participated in a
group discussion as moderator. I encouraged every participant to participate in the group
discussion and provided them enough opportunity to present their ideas moreover everyone was
also given the opportunity to criticize the ideas of others and give suggestions to improve it
logically. I presented my ideas about the topic too and identified my mistakes to by analyzing the
presentations of other group members. I would like to improve my presentation in the future by
presenting the more logical facts and figures in the future performances and would try to
maintain the more eye contact with the audience. I would also like do more research on the topic
before presentation from different perspectives and would like to explain the topic more logically
and help to improve others opinions on topic more logically.
6. Conclusion

The report is aimed at the analysis of the communication skills used in the business. At the start
of the report, a business article was analyzed to develop the effective reading ability in the
business communication. In the second step, a business video was analyzed to develop the
effective listening ability in the business communication process. Moreover, a business case

Developing Study and Communication Skills for Business

12

study of Aldi was evaluated for effective evaluation of business strategies and at the end of a
report group discussion was conducted to analyze the presentation skills required in the business
group discussions. In the nutshell the overall purpose of the report was to develop the business
communication skills in the professionals.

Developing Study and Communication Skills for Business

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References

Ailawadi, K., Lehmann, D. and Neslin, S. (2001). Market Response to a Major Policy Change in
the Marketing Mix: Learning from Procter & Gambles Value Pricing Strategy. Journal of
Marketing, 65(1), pp.44-61.
Baines, P., Fill, C. and Page, K. (2013). Essentials of marketing. Oxford: Oxford University
Press.
Chan, K. and Fang, W. (2007). Use of the internet and traditional media among young people.
Young Consumers, 8(4), pp.244-256.
Dinic, R. (2014). Non-verbal Communication - Indispensable Complement of Oral and Written
Communication. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 137, pp.105-111.
Eisenberg, A. and Smith, R. (2009). Non verbal communication. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill.
Gil de Ziga, H., Jung, N. and Valenzuela, S. (2012). Social Media Use for News and
Individuals' Social Capital, Civic Engagement and Political Participation. Journal of ComputerMediated Communication, 17(3), pp.319-336.
Gronroos, C. (1994). From Marketing Mix to Relationship Marketing: Towards a Paradigm Shift
in Marketing. Asia-Australia Marketing Journal, 2(1), pp.9-29.
Hermida, A. (2015). Power Plays on Social Media. Social Media + Society, 1(1).
Kaplan, A. and Haenlein, M. (2010). Users of the world, unite! The challenges and opportunities
of Social Media. Business Horizons, 53(1), pp.59-68.
Kotabe, M. and Helsen, K. (1998). Global marketing management. New York: J. Wiley.
Lee, C. and Ma, L. (2012). News sharing in social media: The effect of gratifications and prior
experience. Computers in Human Behavior, 28(2), pp.331-339.

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Naik, P., Raman, K. and Winer, R. (2005). Planning Marketing-Mix Strategies in the Presence of
Interaction Effects. Marketing Science, 24(1), pp.25-34.
Palmer, A. (2000). Principles of marketing. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Scott, D. (2007). The new rules of marketing and PR. Hoboken, N.J.: John Wiley & Sons.
Thill, J. and Bovee, C. (2005). Excellence in business communication. Upper Saddle River, N.J.:
Pearson Prentice Hall, pp.155-165.
Viswanathan, R. (2010). Business communication. Mumbai [India]: Himalaya Pub. House.
Weldy, T. and Icenogle, M. (1997). A Managerial Perspective: Oral Communi cation
Competency Is Most Important for Business Students in the Workplace Jeanne D. Maes. Journal
of Business Communication, 34(1), pp.67-80.
Wenderoth, M. (2009). Particularities in the Marketing Mix for Service Operations. Munchen:
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Wolf, S. (1986). Above and Below the Line of Duty. Philosophical Topics, 14(2), pp.131-148.
Yoo, B., Donthu, N. and Lee, S. (2000). An Examination of Selected Marketing Mix Elements
and Brand Equity. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 28(2), pp.195-211.

Developing Study and Communication Skills for Business

Appendices

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-33106992
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hddujHLG98Y
www.ward-howell.com/assets/.../Case-Studies/Cases/Aldi-Case-1.pdf

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