Bachelor of Business (Hons)-

Internal and External Communication

Business Report
On
‘Merchantrade Asia Sdn Bhd’

Name: Wong Hui Xin 0348649

Chan Wei Xiang 0343937

Iris Yeo Wan Ying 0349984

Wong Jia Zhen 0343565

Zidane Tang 0343569

Tutorial Section: Section 6 Group 2

Authority: Miss Kelly Tee Pei Ling

Module Name: COM61604 / Business Communication

Date of Submission: 27/10/2021

Table of Content

COVER SHEET ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1

TABLE OF CONTENT -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2

LIST OF FIGURES --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------5

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6

1.0 INTRODUCTION ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7

2.0 BACKGROUND OF THE COMPANY --------------------------------------------------------- 8

3.0 INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL COMMUNICATION METHODS ADOPTED BY

MERCHANTRADE ASIA SDN BHD --------------------------------------------------------------- 9

3.1 Internal Communication Methods -------------------------------------------------------- 9

3.1.1 WhatsApp --------------------------------------------------------------------------10

3.1.2 Email -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 10

3.1.3 Zoom -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 10

3.1.4 Google Forms ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 11

3.2 External Communication Methods ------------------------------------------------------ 12

3.2.1 WhatsApp -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 12

3.2.2 Email ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 12

3.2.3 Phone Calls ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 13

3.2.4 Website -----------------------------------------------------------------------------13

4.0 STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES OF INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL

COMMUNICATION METHODS ------------------------------------------------------------------ 14

4.1 WhatsApp ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 14

4.2 Email --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 14

4.3 Zoom --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 15

4.4 Google Forms ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 15

4.5 Phone Calls -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 15

4.6 Website -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

16

5.0 CHALLENGES FACED TO ---------------------------------------------------------------------17

5.1 WhatsApp ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

17

5.2 Email --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17

5.3 Zoom --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 18

5.4 Google Forms ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 18

5.5 Phone Calls -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 18

5.6 Website -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

19

6.0 RECOMMENDATION ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

20
 6.1 WhatsApp ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

20

6.2 Email --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 20

6.3 Phone Calls -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 21

6.4 Website -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

21

6.5 Zoom --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 22

6.6 Google Forms------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 22

7.0 CONCLUSION ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 23

8.0 REFERENCE LIST ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 24

9.0 APPENDIX -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------29

9.1 Transcript-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------29
List Of Figures:

Titles and Details Page

Figure 1 7

Figure 2 8

Figure 3 9
Executive Summary  

      Merchantrade Asia Sdn Bhd is a local company that provides Money Service Business as

its core business. 

       The purpose of this report is to study and evaluate the communication method adopted

by Merchantrade. Moreover, this report discusses the background of the company, internal

and external communication method, strengths and weaknesses of the adopted

communication method, problems faced by the company during communication, evaluation,

and recommendation on the communication methods used, and a conclusion.

    The major findings of the report are by primary research which is an interview with the

company’s Senior Vice President in Employee Relations, Mr. Neir Vignesh, and secondary

research is processed using a website. This report also studies the new communication

method adopted by the company during the Covid-19 lockdown.

   After researching, it was found that Merchantrade Asia uses 4 main communication

methods in internal communication, which include WhatsApp, Email, Zoom, and Google

Forms. While for external communication methods, Merchantrade Asia uses 4 main

communication methods which include WhatsApp, Email, Phone Calls, and Website.

    Through the interview with the Senior Vice President in Employee Relations Management,

Mr. Nair Vignesh, the company is using efficient communication throughout its daily

operations. However, there are some challenges faced while using these communication

methods, especially the changes caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. It is recommended that

the company should quickly adapt to the changes of the new working mode to minimize the

loss caused by the vast changes of communication methods throughout the pandemic. 
1.0 Introduction 

     Merchantrade Asia launched in 2018 and has since been nominated for Prominent

Enterprise of The Year and a runner-up for Florin Asia Innovation Awards. They focus on

creating multi-currency payment methods using the new age of technology and an intricate

understanding of the market and the evolving environment of the market that they are

operating, they have a goal of using digital platforms to make things convenient and making

connections easier, more efficient and more convenient, their 3 pillars include digital

payment services, money services business and mobile services. They have a deep

understanding of their customer’s needs and innovate their solutions for them. 

Figure 1: Merchantrade Asia’s slogan (Home - Merchantrade Asia Sdn Bhd, 2021)
2.0 Background of the company

        Merchantrade Asia Sdn Bhd is a Malaysian firm created in 1996 by Ramasamy K.

Veeran. The company began as a telecommunications equipment manufacturer and has

expanded into a mobile virtual network operator, money services provider, and internet

money issuer. Merchantrade has been transitioning its company to digital in the previous

three years. The firm creates a platform that can link other companies across the world and

create a global mechanism. Merchantrade Money e-wallet also has a partnership with VISA,

allowing the app to enable prepaid Visa, which has the maximum wallet capacity at

RM20,000. In 2018, Merchantrade was nominated in the Malaysia Fintech Awards 2018.

Every business has a goal for its future, and Merchantrade has a vision and a complete

strategy to carry its business to the next level.

Figure 2: Business environment of Merchantrade Asia

(Home - Merchantrade Asia Sdn Bhd, 2021)

 3.0 INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL COMMUNICATION METHODS ADOPTED BY

MERCHANTRADE ASIA SDN BHD 

Figure 3: Mind map of business communication method adopted by Merchantrade Asia Sdn Bhd

(Home - Merchantrade Asia Sdn Bhd, 2021)

3.1 Internal Communication

    Internal communication is a communication that shares information within the

organization that allows everyone to ensure their clarity. Merchantrade Asia Sdn Bhd

supposedly has been using internal communication as one of their ways to communicate with

their workers within the organization.

3.1.1 WhatsApp

     Merchantrade Asia used WhatsApp to share information within the organization. The

employees will create a group based on their prospective group and share the information

with their groupmate. Furthermore, the company uses WhatsApp to collect relevant feedback

from employees to help improve the overall work culture. Merchantrade Asia uses

WhatsApp's group or one-to-one chat feature to better collaborate with employees when

discussing work content and to allow employees to receive the information they need faster,

especially for those who are traveling.

3.1.2 Email

       Merchantrade also uses emails as a communication tool to announce its workers across

96 branches in Malaysia. They will put the announcements on the notice board that is called

“Often Change”. The organization also uses email communication to broadcast to each of the

respective teams scattered around Malaysia.

3.1.3 Zoom

        Merchantrade also uses zoom as a communication platform for meetings. They will call

out all the members within the organization and discuss the overall monthly income made by
the organization and give different types of ideas to marketing their company to attract more

customers using their platform.

3.1.4 Google Forms

      Merchantrade has been using Google Form as a communication tool that lets their

workers fill up the form with the information they research, which will help them clarify the

data in a more readable and understandable form where everyone in the organization can

read.
3.2 External Communication

       External communication is the way a business communicates with outside individuals

and organizations. A strong external communication approach assists Merchantrade Asia in

promoting their brand, increasing recognition, and favorably shaping the public's impression

of the company.

3.2.1 WhatsApp

      WhatsApp made Merchantrade Asia easier to communicate with their customers,

suppliers, and clients. Also, they will get instant responses and feedback from them.

Therefore, the messages and voice functions of WhatsApp are often used by Merchantrade

Asia to communicate information and even important texts to each other, both with suppliers

and customers. Since the company often works with dozens of employees or teams in a

particular department of the other company, they often run a WhatsApp group with their

partners to work. In case of emergency, the company also uses the WhatsApp call function to

make voice or video calls with foreign clients or suppliers to quickly solve the problem at

hand. The WhatsApp customer service team has been established to resolve the issues for

customers.

3.2.2 Email

         Merchantrade Asia uses E-mail to send formal letters or requests to suppliers or

partners, especially if it is the first time they have worked with Merchantrade Asia, to raise

the profile of the company. Also, an important announcement will be sent via email to

Merchantrade Asia’s suppliers and partners. On the other hand, Merchantrade Asia also

provides customer service via e-mail to those who need it. The company sends formal
responses or provides services to its customers via e-mail, especially when they are facing or

receiving a serious customer response.

3.2.3 Phone Calls

       Since some of the customers are still more accustomed to providing their feedback

by making phone calls, Merchantrade Asia still has a phone calls method from the customer

service perspective. At the same time, Merchantrade Asia's manager will also make phone

calls to inform suppliers or partners of urgent events in case of emergencies or unstable

network conditions.

3.2.4 Website

     Merchantrade Asia uses the website to further communicate their message to their

partners or customers and to announce important information. In addition, Merchantrade

Asia's website provides them with a new way of communicating with their clients. Customers

or partners can use the website to communicate with the company's managers or to give

feedback on the company's services. With a well-run website, they convey the corporate

image they want and attract many suitable partners or customers.

4.0 STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES OF INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL

COMMUNICATION METHODS

4.1 WhatsApp

                WhatsApp is a freeware application that can be easily downloaded by everyone and

the ad-free social networking allows the company to work more smoothly (Team, 2021).

Also, important documents in files can be sent to the relevant people via WhatsApp. In

addition, WhatsApp also lets us know if the receiver has received and read our message or

not. However, WhatsApp does not allow sharing of any file over 100MB under normal

circumstances (Sen, 2021). It is inconvenient especially when files need to be transferred

urgently. WhatsApp also requires an Internet connection to work. The company is difficult to

contact others if they do not have Internet access or are in a very poor network environment.

4.2 Email

         The speed of communication with email compared to the telephone is the possibility

to send attachments in emails containing important documents. Important correspondence

obtained or sent via e-mail is also easy to carry around without having to lug around bulky

folders. It can also reduce the cost of shipping and mailing of the company since email can be

sent without having to pay any fees (Home - Merchantrade Asia Sdn Bhd, 2021).

     However, email does not always work for emergency notifications since not

everyone is in front of their computers at the same time. Email also will easily be ignored or

treated as spam in the mass of emails (Vdovin, 2021).

4.3 Zoom

        The company used the platform for conference meetings, and it also provided a 1 GB

cloud for the recording of the meeting. However, using zoom as a communication tool is

inconvenient for communication because only the paid users will be able to create a larger

meeting with more than 100 participants. Besides, if the firm chooses a free Zoom account,

they will be able to hold an infinite number of meetings, but the meeting time will be

restricted to 40 minutes per session unless the company pays for it. (Zoom Limit, 2021)

4.4 Google Forms

        Google Forms is a Google platform that allows users to see the survey's layout, it also

allows users to submit the form by email and construct an infinite number of questions and

answers at no cost. However, the amount of information written in Google Forms is not clear

because the workers have their own opinion which is why Merchantrade uses Google Forms

to do surveys rather than a platform for sharing information.

4.5 Phone Calls

         Phone calls not only provide immediate feedback but also allows parties to respond

immediately. In addition, the conversation between the two parties is relatively private, as

only the caller and the receiver know the content. The caller can leave a message via

voicemail if the dialing is unsuccessful, and most importantly, the call can be made

completely without regard to the network. (Computer Science learning for school students,

2021).
     But, the amount of payment for overseas calls is bound to be very expensive. In

addition, there may be noise or interference by making calls, so the call quality may be poor,

and only spoken messages can be exchanged on traditional phone calls. (Computer Science

learning for school students, 2021)

4.6 Website

            The establishment of a corporate website can more richly show the overall image of

the company to increase the sense of trust of the company. At the same time, it can also

increase the exposure of the company because we will certainly first browse the company's

website before the collaboration. However, to keep customers or potential partners up-to-

date, companies must regularly update their websites with all the latest information. All these

procedures take a lot of thought and time to complete (Zhihu, 2021).

5.0 CHALLENGES FACED TO

5.1 WhatsApp

   One of the challenges is the loss of confidential corporate documents or data. If a

mobile device is lost while the company's employees or partners are working on WhatsApp,

Merchantrade Asia must face the challenge of compromised company secrets. Also, it is easy

to misunderstand the meaning while using texting because they are more familiar with face-

to-face meetings with nonverbal communication. Besides, the company had to ensure that the

network was stable and not affected by network problems during meetings with others,

especially meeting with foreign outsiders. Moreover, because of the time difference, not

everyone can match the time and it would indirectly affect the progress of Merchantrade

Asia's operation.

5.2 Email

   E-mail may be a useful communication tool, but it can also lead to misunderstandings

among its users. E-mail does not include nonverbal communication; recipients may

misinterpret the sender’s message since there is simply text and no tone of voice or body

language to offer context. This is particularly true of senders who fail to go through their

messages before they send them (Vdovin, A.,2021). Besides, with the widespread use of

email, it's easy for inboxes to become overloaded with messages that go unheeded, some

emails are even simply ignored by recipients as advertising or spam. For example, email

boxes received during a week's vacation away from work that is not processed in a timely

manner can be difficult to sort through once you return to work (indeed career guide, 2021).
5.3 Zoom

       Due to the pandemic, most businesses haven't launched yet, they rely on virtual

meetings like Zoom and Google Meet to do business. Merchantrade Asia Sdn Bhd, for

example, uses it as a communication tool. Because they generally meet in person, the rapid

shift from face-to-face to virtual meetings is difficult to adjust to.

5.4 Google Forms

       The challenge faced by using Google forms is the limitations regarding the

capabilities of the tool. It can only handle texts up to 500 Kb; photos up to 2 Mb; and

spreadsheets with up to 256 cells or 40 sheets (Data Scope, 2018). Sometimes the information

was not detailed enough and the other workers have to research before agreeing on the

information that is submitted by the sender.

5.5 Phone Calls

   One of the challenges of making phone calls is the lack of body language. The

company can only hear voice inflection and tone of voice to guess the mood of the person on

the phone. In addition, not all calls go through smoothly, especially when the other party is in

a busy phase.  If it is an emergency, it can affect the company's business progress. This is also

true from the customer's point of view. They may face complaints from customers if they do

not provide timely assistance to customers because the company is busy on the phone

(study.com, 2021).
5.6 Website

Website is easily causes misunderstanding between the two sides if the information

entered in the company's website is not clear and explicit, thus making the company miss the

opportunity to cooperate with others (Action Digital, 2021).

6.0 Recommendation

   There are mainly 6 communication methods adopted by Merchantrade Asia, which

are WhatsApp, Email, Phone Call, Website, Zoom, and Google Form. One of the biggest

challenges in the company’s communication method is the change caused by the Covid-19

pandemic. Communication methods have been changed vastly due to lockdown and the

requirement to stay away from crowds, companies are forced to change their communication

method to keep the operation of the company. The following recommendation will suggest

how the current problem could be overcome in the future.

WhatsApp

   The biggest problem of using WhatsApp is losing confidential documents or data if

the device is stolen, or damaged. Hence, all the important documents and data will be stored

in google drive to reduce the loss. Google Drive is a cloud-based storage solution that allows

the company to save files online and access them anywhere from any device (Business

Insider, 2020).  Furthermore, to reduce misunderstanding in communication, the company

could provide its supplier and customer several options in choosing a communication method

to find the best communication method that brings out both efficiency and clarity. For

example, phone calls can be used as a substitute to reduce misunderstandings in texting.

Email

   To reduce misunderstandings in using Email, it is necessary to reach a consensus

between users. For example, the company has to clarify the use of email and texting, text

messaging implies urgency, if the message is not urgent, either send through email or preface

the message with “not urgent” to attain better communication. Moreover, if the respective

subject is important, communication should be conducted using phone calls to reduce the
chance of miscommunication. It is important to acknowledge that emails and text should not

be the main medium of communication because they may bring unnecessary barriers to

communication. The overload of inboxes in the email could be a major problem of using

email, to avoid important emails being overlooked as advertising or spam, employees can

create a workplace email to reduce receiving advertisement and spam. Besides, important

emails with respective files can be prefaced with “urgent” in the title to reduce overlook.

Phone Calls

   The main problem of using phone calls is the lack of body language, which causes a

lot of nonverbal communication. The first recommendation of this problem is to take note of

the phone etiquette when using a phone call. The tone of voice plays a big factor in phone

call communications, users should speak in a clear, energetic tone without being too fast or

too loud, words should be spoken at an average speed while some important words should be

spoken slow enough that people can understand what is being said to them. It is also

important to use a formal speaking tone when conveying vital messages. Furthermore, the

beginning of the phone call should be started with a positive greeting such as “Hello” or

“Good Morning, and the person who started the call should introduce himself before the

conversation starts.

Website

  Here are a few recommendations to evaluate the company website. First and foremost,

the website should be simple and easy to use to assist a customer in attaining their purpose

efficiently, hence, the company website should use easily readable text and eliminate

unnecessary information. Moreover, the website should come with good visual appeal,

unattractive design could cause the company to lose customers, avoid using high contrast
colors and clashing colors. Furthermore, a useful website should contain an effective search

engine and navigation tool for users to locate the information needed quickly.

Zoom

      With most of Malaysia's population now fully vaccinated against COVID-19, businesses

are prepared to return to the office, however, the post-pandemic situation will not be the same

as before the pandemic, many companies chose to transition to a hybrid-work mode. The

Zoom app will remain a staple platform within most organizations and businesses. Zoom

CEO Eric Yuan stated that 80% of US respondents agreed to continue to have a virtual

element post-pandemic. The Senior Vice President of the HR department Nair Vignesh also

believed that zoom will continue to be used in the operations of Merchantrade Asia both

internal communication and external communication.

Google Form

  The biggest challenge in using google forms is its word limitation which can cause

insufficient data collecting. A way to overcome this question is to summarize the text in

question and provide more yes-no questions to avoid text limits in google forms. Moreover,

the company can use other substitutes such as Microsoft Forms and WPForms, these

platforms also provide an array of tools to create virtual forms.

7.0 Conclusion

The company that we chose, Merchantrade Asia has shown that success is possible as long as

they overcome the obstacles that they face and evolve along with their customer, which is

what we have displayed in this report and the interview with the company’s Vice President in

Employee Relations, Mr. Neir Vignesh. Merchantrade has found ways to communicate using

platforms like WhatsApp, Telegram, Email, Zoom, and Google Forms. This is why despite

the COVID 19 pandemic, they have been able to push through as a company as they were

able to adapt quickly to the vast changes to the world. 

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9.0 Appendix

9.1 Interview Transcript:

Alyssa : Good morning to Mr. Vignesh, we are students from Taylor’s University. I’m

Alyssa and these are my group members. We are working on a group

assignment, and we would like to ask you some questions about the business

communication methods adopted by your company.

Mr. Vignesh: Good Morning, Sure, go ahead.

Alyssa : The first question, could you tell us more about Merchantrade Asia and your

job content?

Mr. Vignesh: Sure, Merchantrade, we are a company dealing with remit and money

changing. If you google Merchantrade, you will find the information there. My

job content is that I’m a part of the HR team, predominantly looking at the

employees’ relations. I used to be an editor for a portfolio in HR but now I’m

focusing more on the employees’ relation role.

Alyssa : The next question is regarding your company's operation. Are the jobs more on

teamwork or individual work?

Mr. Vignesh: My answer will be the following right. It depends. It’s inevitable for us to

work as a team, at the end of the day, we need to look at the overall

organizational goals and the entire team needs to work towards those goals.

So, the answer is more towards teamwork. Certain things you need to work on

as an individual and report to the team and take it from there. So, if you ask

me, it’s mainly teamwork.

Alyssa : I have some questions about the internal communications adopted by your

company. Internal communication is communication within the company such

as communication between colleagues and bosses. The first question: what

internal communication is usually used in your company? For example email

and WhatsApp.

Mr. Vignesh: We use email, WhatsApp and Google Meet or using Zoom like how we are

right now. We also use normal phone calls or conference calls to make sure to

brief or gather the team together to communicate.

Alyssa : Alright, the next question is how are the conferences usually held? Is it either

virtual or face-to-face?

Mr. Vignesh: Due to the pandemic, the option of face-to-face is eliminated. Of course,

before the pandemic, it would be face-to-face but now it’s all virtual via Zoom.

Alyssa : Alright, the third question is how does the company usually give

announcements to its workers regarding changes in plans or upcoming events?

Mr. Vignesh: We have emails communication where we broadcast to the respective teams as

well. On top of that, we use Telegram as well because the application allows

more members to be added to the group rather than WhatsApp that has a limit.

We could have up to a thousand members in Telegram and this helps us a lot.

Alyssa : The next question is does your company uses an online workspace, for

example Google Workspace.

Mr. Vignesh: We don’t use Google Workspace.

Wan Ying : Now, I have some questions about your company’s external communications

and the first question is what external communications is used by your

 company to contact clients, suppliers, or even customers? For example,

websites, phone calls, financial reports, or emails.

Mr. Vignesh: Okay, it depends on is it clients, suppliers, or customers. It’s a combination of

websites, phone calls, emails. We also use Zoom call as well for clarification,

meetings, and stuff like that. So, it depends. It’s not one solution to fit all, it all

depends on who we talking to.

Wan Ying : Alright, the second question: what are the selected communication methods

used for? For example, emails are used for customers with complaints or

reviews on goods or services. Or the tools for communicating with the bank.

Mr. Vignesh: So, if we are talking about customers’ feedbacks, it is either through email or

nowadays, through Facebook, through whatever. Social media and all yeah,

since we are active on it. So, it all depends. We use several platforms. So, to

make it easy for customers to give their feedback and for us to reply quickly as

possible.

Wan Ying : Okay, does your company uses financial reports for the company shareholders

to skim through?

Mr. Vignesh: Yeah, if it’s to skim through then yes.

Wan Ying : Has there been any impact on the chosen communication methods especially

during this pandemic situation?

Mr. Vignesh: Of course, the answer is obviously yes. They say it’s endemic, but things are

still going through the process. Has there been an impact? Yes, definitely. Of

course, we are relying on face-to-face before but now it's more virtual because

of no choice.
Wan Ying : I have some questions about the challenges faced in your communication

methods. The first question is what is the biggest challenge in communication

between colleagues?

Mr. Vignesh: Okay, so the biggest challenge is some are not so text-savvy because they are

so used to face-to-face. At the end of the day, they are so used to talking face-

to-face during meetings and whatsoever but suddenly they need to talk in this

virtual platform whether they like it or not. One of the initial changes was the

work-from-home, it's something new to us. We had to adopt it no matter what

because we have to survive.

Wan Ying : The second question is when using the communication methods, which is

through the Internet and other external communication tools, are there any

issues or challenges that you must face? For example, sometimes emails might

lead to misunderstandings between the sender and receiver and they are not

able to meet in person.

Mr. Vignesh: The answer is definitely yes. So, sometimes the email does not tell you how

you want to read it, so this is where the danger is. So, what we usually do is, if

you have any issues, we talk to the person first and follow up with an email

because we can understand the situation a little better. Sometimes people will

get confused about why the person is talking like this or that but when there’s

a call that’s followed up with an email, they understand the intent and the other

element of it, rather than just email and that’s it.

Wan Ying : Okay, and the third question is does working from home affect a lot of change

your communication methods? If yes, how does it changes it?

Mr. Vignesh: Well, it’s definitely yes. Whereby they are so used to working at office and

suddenly there’s a change like how I mentioned earlier, they needed to adapt,

understand, utilize it and eventually become normality.

Alyssa : I have some extra questions. So which type of method do you prefer? Virtual

or face-to-face?

Mr. Vignesh: Okay, let me throw the question back to you. Would you prefer to talk to your

friend virtual or face-to-face?

Alyssa : Definitely face-to-face.

Mr. Vignesh: Yes, but we need to rethink things over yeah. I mean due to the pandemic, due

to the time and what not yeah. So, for us, we have quite a several people so the

virtual element makes it easier, faster, and can allow us to send information

much faster and accurately where people can understand. So, this is an

advantage of that and we have benefited from that as well. And, the

disadvantage is, the connection between people will take a longer time to

connect and you need to put more effort.

Alyssa : Okay, I have the next question. So, I know that Version Trade Asia is an

international currency exchange service so do you communicate with foreign

workers and how does the communication works?

Mr. Vignesh: Okay, so obviously I can’t speak foreign languages, but we have multilingual

workers, and they act as our spokesperson to reach the target market. So, they

will use WhatsApp, Facebook, LinkedIn and communicate with the target

market accordingly.
Alyssa : The third question is do you think your communication methods and

operations will be the same post-pandemic?

Mr. Vignesh: No. I think it will be a combination of both. I think the usage of Zoom and all

the platforms is a good thing so we can better manage the communication, but

it depends on the type of communication we want to deliver and the target

audience. So, I think it all depends on those two, but I think it will be a

combination of both virtual and face-to-face.

Alyssa : Do you think some content can be done from home? And after the pandemic,

do you think they have to go back to the company or can still work from

home? Since this pandemic started, maybe some companies found out that not

all work is needed to be done in the office and can be worked from home and

it could be more efficient.

Mr. Vignesh: So, this is all about mindset. At the end of the day, a lot of companies have this

Asian mentality whereby if their workers work from home, they won’t be

productive. But let me ask you this question. Does this company have a

choice? No, because they were forced to work even from home because of this

pandemic. So due to that, in a way, it didn’t give a choice to business owners

or senior managers, in a way it was a forced decision. Previously, they were

rejecting the idea of working from home but due to the pandemic, they had no

choice. But because they have gone through it, now they know people can be

productive from work from home. However, some people are not productive

but at the end of the day it is all down to individual mindset.

Alyssa : Okay, the next question is regarding the strengths and weaknesses of

communication applications. Like you have just mentioned, your company

 uses WhatsApp and Facebook. I wanted to ask what are the strengths and

weaknesses of these virtual applications?

Mr. Vignesh: Well, basically WhatsApp made it easier for people to communicate and you

get instant responses and feedbacks. So, you have two methods in WhatsApp

too, being text message and call. You can have a few people in a call for

meetings also. All those advances have benefited the clients or the

communication teams that use it, be it in a personal matter or company

corporate level. So, we use a lot of these WhatsApp groups to communicate, to

send information, it is much faster and we can get things across or even a

quick update. We also use Google Forms as well to gather data and

information. I think there’s a lot of pros and cons in that sense, you know for

us to use social media or this communication media in a sense.

Alyssa : Do you think the people in your company are too dependent on these social

media applications and if it crashed, do you think it affects the workers a lot?

Mr. Vignesh: So, I think it’s all about adjusting. I think it's because people are so used to

social media and all that and it feels like they lost an arm without it, but I think

without it things can still go on. But I think they all workaround, for us, the so-

called crash did not impact us as what explained. There are always alternatives

such as emails but I think Google Email was also down but I can’t remember.

So, this is my answer.

Wan Ying : Okay, I would like to ask the next question. Just now you have mentioned a

lot of the communication tools used by your company, does it include

traditional phone calls, and which area is it used in, for example, customer

service?
Mr. Vignesh: Okay, so the traditional phone calls are still done with the customer service

perspective. It is because customers want to reach, and they use the toll-free

number or the number that needs to be contacted, and customers feel like

that’s a quick way to give their feedback and resolutions to be obtained so we

still have that.

Alyssa : That is our last question and we have come to the end of our interview. We

thank you Mr. Vignesh for attending this interview.

Mr. Vignesh: No worries and I wish you guys all the best and stay safe! Glad that I can help

you guys.

Wan Ying : Thank you and have a nice day! Bye!

Mr. Vignesh: You too, bye!