Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Business Communications
Business Communications
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INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS SKILLS COURSEWARE
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FIRST EDITION
First Print 2010
BOOK NUMBER
BC10-01
Copyright © 2010 by British Business Professional Skills Development (BBPSD) Ltd, UK. All rights reserved. This publication is protected by Copyright, and
permission should be obtained from the publisher prior to any prohibited reproduction.
Business Communications
ABP Intermediate Award
vii
Section 3 – Overcoming Barriers to Communication 53
The Importance of Non-Verbal Communications 55
Political Barriers to Communication within Organisations 62
Business Design Barriers to Communication 64
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viii
Business Communications
Introduction
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individuals and groups, in order to reach a common understanding. In most organisations,
messages are sent to (and often between) a wide variety of people, both internally and
externally. Employees, customers, shareholders and suppliers are all examples of these, each
with their own interests in the business’s operations. In every business, small or large, there
are actually two communication systems, namely, the formal and the informal (grapevine).
Although businesses have many different ways of communicating, both internally and externally,
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or transmitted in a manner that creates confusion. Therefore, it is important to understand
the most appropriate techniques for a range of circumstances.
1 Business Communications
Whether intentional or otherwise, communication barriers are part of day-to-day life in
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of those engaged in employment relationships. A successful business needs to understand
how these obstacles arise and attempt to minimise the chances of them occurring.
Studying this module will provide you the skills and competence in business communication. It
also introduces you to some of the underlying concepts of communication such as, meetings,
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progress in the business world. On completion of this module, you will be able to understand
the process and modes of business communication and appreciate how they contribute to
individual and business success.
3 Business Communications
Section 2: Be able to determine which communication
Effective and Ineffective style is best suited to a particular task
Communication Appreciate the importance of being concise,
clear and polite in communications
Understand that sending a message does not
imply that you have communicated
Be aware of techniques that can aid
communication
5 Business Communications
Assessment Type & Weighting: The module will be assessed by a formal
examination of 1 hour duration.
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end of each section. This module contains 5 sections and you should look back at
the learning outcomes for each section as you complete the section and ensure that
you are comfortable with each learning outcome. If you are not sure about one of
the learning outcomes, or any aspect of that section then look back at the associated
tutorial notes and exercises you have done in class.
Also don’t forget that this is YOUR booklet, so make notes in it as you go along
that will help your understanding as you are learning. Remember that learning is an
active exercise and you need to engage fully with the text, it is not the same as casual
reading.
Finally, we hope you enjoy this booklet and get as much pleasure in studying aspects
of business as we do!
Learning Outcomes
7 Business Communications
Introduction
The importance to a business of good communication has been recognised for many
years. In fact without good communication processes a business would struggle to
survive in today’s highly competitive and interconnected world. Businesses now
have a variety of almost instantaneous communication techniques at their disposal
but the technology will not help if the message sent is not understood. In this
section we will look at how a business communicates with its customers and the
various business communication styles and techniques that may be used. We will
also consider the importance to a business of effectively communicating with both
its customers (external communication) and communicating within the business
(internal communication).
Within the last 50 year timeframe most organisations have moved from pencil and
typewriter dominated environments, to computer oriented environments with the
increasing predominance of voice mail, electronic mail, fax, Facebook and Twitter.
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through e-mails and text messages, it is now possible to contact others in almost
any part of the world, without delays in feedback. This has always been the primary
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occur during the time taken to send and receive post. Organisations have taken
advantage of this quicker written communication, using e-mail to handle invoices and
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The extent to which a business relies upon written information very much depends
upon their corporate culture, or the nature of the industry they operate within.
9 Business Communications
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accompanied by detailed reports, usually to the dismay of employees. Frequently, the
reasoning behind this is that documents provide evidence of work being carried out
and can be referred to in the future.
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word.A Root Cause Analysis (RCA) is a prime example of this,whereby a supplier
writes a document to its client, detailing how a faulty product came to be damaged.
The supplier could explain that the damage was the result of poor handling during
transport, for instance, rather than down to its own negligence. This form of blame
prevention is particularly common in technical industries, where small mistakes can
result in costly setbacks.
11 Business Communications
Activity
Give examples of businesses that are successfully using ‘Facebook’ and ‘Twitter’ to
gain a competitive advantage over others. Why are they using social networking
websites? How does this affect sales, marketing and customer services?
Businesses may wish to communicate with their customers for many reasons, including
gaining feedback on satisfaction (See Module 1, Customer Service), answering queries
and providing updates on new products or events. In order to do so, a number of
interaction techniques can be employed, ranging from the highly sophisticated to the
fairly conventional.
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to the customer’s address. Although there is a possibility of the person discarding the
mail without reading it (in the belief that it is unimportant), this is a straightforward way
of informing the customer of new developments. Price discounts, product launches
and ‘customers only’ events can all be advertised, increasing the likely success of the
initiatives.
13 Business Communications
Lately, there has been a growth in the popularity of e-mail messages to customers,
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well as decreasing environmental damage caused by using paper. In fact environmental
concerns are becoming more prominent for businesses as consumers learn more
about environmental changes.
Make a short video of your self, pretend it is a verbal CV telling an employer why they
should employ you, and then up load it onto YouTube.
15 Business Communications
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money on their design – as another way of ‘talking’ to customers. Similarly to e-mails,
websites can involve video demonstrations, hyperlinks to different departments and news on
recent developments, all providing clients (both current and prospective) with an interactive
experience.
As well as being an excellent advertisement tool, a website can be used to track customers’
buying habits. The popularity of certain products can be assessed by the number of times
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relative ease, changes in trade performance can be measured over time, giving an idea of
when a sales promotion is most required.
Examples
17 Business Communications
© BBPSD 2010. All Rights Reserved. 18
To provide a more personal means of communication, most businesses operate
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reaching customers or other organisations.
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call clients to gain opinions or promote events, and customers can call businesses
to ask questions or express interest. The only downfall is that such services can be
extremely expensive to maintain, when the costs of equipment, staff and facilities are
taken into account.
19 Business Communications
Activity
Group Exercise (Take ten minutes to think about the following questions and then present
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a large supermarket chain)
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Because it is customers that provide businesses with their revenue, their satisfaction
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make the mistake of devaluing these individuals once they have made their purchases,
believing that they are no longer of any use. Successful businesses, however, continue
to tend to their needs and encourage them to make future transactions.
Example
21 Business Communications
© BBPSD 2010. All Rights Reserved. 22
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their customers choose to do business with them, over the many other alternatives.
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accentuate these values in their marketing.
Example
Marks & Spencer, a large UK based retail store, often stresses the high quality of their
produce over price competitiveness, for instance. It is hoped that having a strong
brand identity will persuade buyers away from rivals with less clear values.
Word-of-mouth has the potential to either catapult a business into great success,
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prove to be pleasant and helpful; otherwise these customers may refer negatively to
the organisation when talking to other consumers.
23 Business Communications
© BBPSD 2010. All Rights Reserved. 24
Example
When the Spanish banking group Santander took over the UK based bank Abbey and
Alliance & Leicester, many criticised its use of electronic answering machines, saying
that they preferred a more personal approach to service.As a result of this annoyance
spreading, Santander lost a great deal of custom. Only by listening to the opinions of
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have failed to realise, resulting in their ultimate collapse.
25 Business Communications
Activity
27 Business Communications
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It is therefore in the interests of all employees to prevent this occurring.
Most businesses do not appreciate surprises, especially when they involve documents
being hidden by staff, or altered slightly to suit personal interests, or to meet
production targets.
Example
When the former Eastern Germany joined together with Western Germany, one
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they presented were incorrect, they had been altered to ensure that they would not
appear to be a failing organisation. Because of the old communist regime they had
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Grapevines are damaging in that they spread rumours among employees that are
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As an example, a member of staff hearing that a colleague is on a higher salary may
resent the matter, even though the claim is not supported with any evidence. When
rumours such as this spread throughout the business, they can severely impact on
employee relationships – undesirable for any organisation.
29 Business Communications
Activity
Does the grapevine have a positive or negative impact on Business? How does the
grapevine affect employees in your business or organisation?
31 Business Communications
Notes...
Business
Communication Awards Time
Management
ABP Intermediate
Diploma
in
International
Business Skills
Professional Curriculum
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