Communication, Knowledge And Information

Various decisions are required to be made while starting a retail business like location, availability of financial resources, technology etc. All such decisions have to be made by the entrepreneur before starting any new venture (Bambacas and Patrickson, 2009). So, that all these factors need to be considered for effective running of business. Thus, for making decisions in respect to all such issues businessman needs to have proper information and knowledge about following factors:

• The layout should be decided where the customer will be served.
• Availability of raw material at cheap transportation cost.
• Effective manpower to serve customer well and they feel satisfied.
• Proper technology should be used by business to have an edge over other competitors.
• Location of business need to be soothing so that consumers can reach easily.
• Various investors have to be identified to finance the project (Waldron and Kassing, 2009).

It is crucial for business to adopt and implement effective strategy in order to attain desired goals and objectives. Through this, it helps business in obtaining detailed information and knowledge in order to ensure effectual decision making. Top management of business is required to undertake best decisions so that required changes or alternation can be done in the business and thus execute the action plan so that results can be attained. All these decisions are required to make by business effectively and achieve objectives. Entrepreneur making decision to launch a new business must have knowledge about the possible challenges present in the industry. They need to think about the competition available in business and make suitable strategy to achieve target (Maier, 2008). Businesses have to make strong financial decision so that they can overcome the problems faced while running the business.

The businessman starting a new business is required to examine about the availability of the particular information and knowledge and then make effective decision to achieve success. It is required for businesses to be cost effective so that it can earn maximum revenues and fight from competition. They are required to have analytical skills and knowledge so that they can make strategic decision for business whenever necessary (Rizvi, 2012).

Various internal and external sources

Various internal and external sources of information and understanding required to start up a new venture are:

Internal sources of information and understanding- It means that these particular factors are managed and controlled internally. They exist within the organization like financial, sales and marketing, human resource, sales and manufacturing. These all departments are internal sources of information and understanding in any business (Blythe, 2010). They provide all necessary information internally to manage the operational requirement of company. It is compulsory for all these departments to have adequate knowledge and information about initial start up for any venture.

External sources of information and understanding- This type of sources is costly and gathered from outside business. It includes data collected from exterior like business magazines, newspaper, financial directories etc. Businesses can collect and rely on the data collected from online sources and make decision in the start up of a company. It is a time consuming process and involves manpower also to collect information. External sources also include print and media publication for collecting necessary information and understand it suitability and reliability in relation to starting a brand new business venture (Agnihotri and Troutt, 2009).

Different methods are required to use in selection and analysis of information needed to start a new business. It must have proper information and understanding of business so to attain efficiency and achieve objectives. Various techniques to understand people’s perception towards the new business can be done through questionnaire, focus group interview or direct interview method. It can be noticed that through preparing a questionnaire with appropriate questions that needs to simple and clear so that respondents understand it easily and give their decision towards starting up a new business (Ilonen and et.al., 2011). Also through focus group interview businesses can come to know about the decision made by consumers and understand their perception and view about the new venture. Thus, it can be found that questionnaire method is the best method through which respondents can give their clear idea towards the successful running of the proposed project.

Stakeholders

Different Stakeholders are required to involve in the decision making process so that they affect the business in one or other way-

Shareholders- They must be involved in the decision making process of new start up business because they invest their money in company and have voting rights. Thus, their decisions affect functioning of business (Jones, 2009).

Customers- They are the main part of business so they should be involved in the decision making process of company so that business can efficiently serve them and make them satisfy for longer period. They must be involved in making decision regarding product quality, location of business etc.

Employees- They must be treated well because they are the internal part of business and their decision can make organization achieve results (Fox and et.al., 2010).

Retail businesses

Retail businesses are required to effectively make contact with their stakeholders through following ways:

Meetings and Conferences- Business is required to conduct time to time meeting for their shareholders to know their views and provide information about the company.

Newspapers and Journals- Through this retail enterprise can contact with consumers collectively and can provide them information about the new product launch and current financial stability of company (Kent, 2008).

Emails- Business can send email to their regular customers and make contact with them. They can share the relevant information about product and services they are offering and attract them to visit the store.

In order to develop a positive relationship with stakeholders business is required to adopt different methods-

Newsletter: They provide detail information about the financial position of company to shareholders so that they come to know about the financial position of the company (Burns-Millyard, 2011). It will develop a good relationship among all the shareholders and they will be interested in buying more shares of company.

Advertisement- Many customers trust advertisement broadcasted by companies so that they should provide minute details of products and attract customers to purchase them. It helps retail business to advertise their new product launch and make it popular.

Direct mail- Business sends such type of mail directly to the regular customers and recognizes their feedback about certain products. It helps in building a positive relationship for long run (Murphy and Poist, 2007).

Stakeholders play a crucial role in decision making process for the new business to start up. Pricing strategy has a great influence on both consumers as well as stakeholders. Company has to make appropriate decision before adopting pricing strategy because it should be neither high nor low (Clarke, 2001). High prices will affect consumers buying decision and they will not prefer purchasing products and thus business will incur losses. High prices will make high profits and it will give benefits to shareholders as they will get high returns. Location strategy has to be adopted by company when it starts a new venture. It is important for business to have best suitable location so that all consumers can easily reach there and do purchases. As, being a retail business it need to have a soothing location with proper parking facility to satisfy customers (Robson and Tourish, 2003).

As being a retail industry business is required to adopt varying pricing strategy so that it can attract different segments of customers effectively. Business should plan different strategies to set the prices and offer it to their potential customers and attract them to buy the product (Bergen, 2000). They can offer high prices to attract their premium customers and satisfy them by delivering quality products. Future improvement could be planned by company through expanding its market share and promoting the products to capture more market share. Sometimes, firm keep its prices to be low so that it can attract more potential customers as per the competition. Therefore, company is required to change its pricing strategy to sustain in the market.

Types Communication Process

As per the given case the supervisor did not get much time to invest in communicating with other people. In this particular case one way communication is there between superior and subordinate. In this case it has been noticed that supervisor did not get proper time so it has been delegated to the volunteer (Martins, 2013). The organization involves in formal communication which have strict rules and regulations to follow. Other than this, company follows intrapersonal communication which means that there is less or probably no involvement of other people. The other various types of communication process for different small voluntary organization are as follow-

Horizontal process: It states about the approach n which communication is done in a straight way within the different departments of company. It is one way process where flow of communication is in a straight line from sender to receiver (Kahraman, Kaya and Çevikcan, 2010).

Circular process: This kind of process is an ongoing process in a circular form. In this the flow of message is never completed because it moves in a circular form. When the sender sends the message to receiver he again sends the message adjoining with any feedback to sender and the cycle goes on moving (Beranek, 2010).

Two way communication process: It is the most effective form of communication. In this the sender sends the message through proper media channel and then the receiver sends his response in the form of feedback.

There are numerous ways through which voluntary organization can improve its communication process. It has been cited that in this company task are delegated by superior to subordinate. So, they can use horizontal form of communication between each other which can prove to be effective (Miller, 2011). They can send emails, messages from top to bottom to direct them the work they have to do. It is time saving process through which superior can effectively communicate with subordinate. For improving communication in organization they can use different ways which are as follows:

Multiple channel of communication- Through this the communication can be effectively improved within the organization. In this the message is communicated to receiver through different mediums or channels such as emails, telephone, personal meetings etc (Huber and Pallas, 2005).

Handle communication problem- It means that business should effectively handle the communication problem derived and solve it effectively to achieve objectives. The problems can be related to inappropriate media selection, difficulty in understanding the message etc. All such issues should be effectively resolved by business so that communication can be efficiently done to achieve success (Coombs, 2010).

Proper listening- Communication can be effective when the listener focus on proper listening to the messages delivered to him verbally. Major problems can be solved effectively by listening to the superior when he is delivering the message.

Continuously repetition of messages- In this the superior continuously repeat the same message from time to time. So that subordinates do not forget it to complete it. It is an effective way of communication (Huysman and Wit, 2002).

The organization mentioned in case study can ensure integration of systems of communication effectively by implementing different contacting processes with the volunteers. Through joining all computers integrally superior can communicate the message to every individual in the company. They can make the communication system adequate by sending attentive mails that includes visuals and audio as it can attract volunteer in successful listening. Voice mail is another option through which the message is communicated in audio format to the receivers (Carayannis and Chanaron, 2007). They need to attentively listen to the message and work efficiently. Lastly, communication can be done to integrate the system of communication through video conferencing. It is an electronic form of communiqué through which sender can send the message to receiver at different locations and communicate with them easily. These all methods can be used effectively by small political activist’s organization to integrate communication system in them.

If I would be given the opportunity work as the volunteer supervisor in the organization I would improve my communication skills through-

Listening- I would like to improve my listening skills because it is very necessary to effectively listen to what the other person is speaking. Because without that you cannot interpret the message correctly and it results in wrong or miss-communication. While listening to the message the listener should pay proper attention so that the message could be understand well (Kramer, 2014).

Avoid interrupting- Through this I can effectively listen to what the other people want to say and then later suggest any views. Interrupting in between will create disturbance and I should avoid it in order to improve my communication skill.

Managing stress- I have to manage the stress by delegating the task to subordinates and make proper communication with them. Stress level has to be managed so that it do not show a bad impact on the communication process (Miller, 2011).

Showing interest- Through this way I can listen to others well and let them identify that I am interested in communicating with them. In this way person can be encouraged and seek attention of others.

Developing verbal communication skills- I have to develop my verbal communication skill so that I can effectively communicate with each other. I need to enhance this skill and make positive contact with other individuals in the organization (Ilonen and et.al., 2011).

According to the case given on small political activists the existing approaches which the organization chooses are collection, formatting, storage and dissemination to understand knowledge and information. In the particular case the volunteer supervisor is engaged in many other projects so she is not able to invest the time in delegating the projects to the subordinates. Thus, many volunteers work on updating the databases, solicitations and mailings. The organization follows external form of communication. There was a chain of communication among all of them through which they are connected (Fox and et.al., 2010). The supervisor is connected with the marketing head through which she collects the information. The other way is that the volunteer collects the information from their supervisors. They follow a horizontal top to down communication so that they could pay proper attention towards the delegated project. The organization does not have proper communication of information and knowledge because the supervisor is engaged with many other projects as well. So, she is not able to disseminate the time properly.

The organization can be recommended various solutions to improve their approaches like collection, formatting, storing and disseminating the information and knowledge. The political activist’s can collect the data from different online sources. Through using internet facility they can collect different information and knowledge and improve their communication skill. Formatting can be done by business using different tools and techniques easily (Robson and Tourish, 2003). Computer can prove helpful in formatting different data and saving it to other location. Storing of data by political activist in any manner electronic device where the information can be stored safely.

In order to improve the different storing, formatting, collecting and disseminating the information and knowledge proper management is required among different teams. Effectively managing the time in distribution of task by superior to subordinate should be done so to have valuable communication with all volunteers. Different time saving methods can be used like messages and emails etc. to distribute and collect the information effectively (Jones, 2009).

The organization can improve its access by using different methods of information and knowledge. The culture of the organization need to be improved so that the supervisor needs to manage its time properly in delegating the projects to volunteers so that it can manage in a proper manner. According to the case, the communication is not effective so appropriate strategy need to adopt by organization to improve the communication system in business. In order to improve the efficiency of volunteers they need to be given proper time to accomplish the task within the stipulated time frame (Martins, 2013). All the resources available in the business should be properly utilized so that they can have efficiency in their work. In order to implement the communication system effectively in business it helps business to adopt appropriate communication channel and enhance the communication process in order to obtain desired results. Further, through appropriate communication system helps firm to carry out the communication process among the sender and receiver effectively so that issues can be overcome.

Organization should adopt proper communication channel so that they can effectively work. They can adopt two way communication process so that the sender sends the message to the receiver and he again sends his response in the form of feedback. There need to proper coordination between both sender and receiver so that they can effectively and efficiently understand the information and knowledge (Beranek, 2010). There should be no frustration of work among the volunteers so that they can perform well with full enthusiasm and achieve objectives.

Conclusion

From this entire report, it can be concluded that effective communication plays a crucial role in success of the organization. The stakeholders have an active participation in the decision making process of new business venture. From the study it has been found that there are different sources or methods available like advertising, email etc. to have positive relationship between stakeholders and business. Further, it can be noticed that communication skill has to improve by individual to understand the flow of information and knowledge. Later, it was analyzed that communication process involved in the given case study was not appropriate so it requires proper coordination among the team members to make contact effective. Lastly, it was found that organization is supposed to improve its collection, storing, disseminating and formatting of information and knowledge.

References

• Bambacas, M., and Patrickson, M., 2009. Interpersonal communication skills that enhance organisational commitment. Journal of Communication Management.
• Beranek, M. P., 2010. Guidelines for managing dispersed teams: enhancing communication and productivity. Handbook of Business Strategy.
• Bergen, C., 2000. Libraries of the Future Project. Library Management.
• Blythe, J., 2010. Trade fairs as communication: a new model. Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing.
• Carayannis, G. E. and Chanaron, J. J., 2007. Leading and Managing Creators, Inventors, and Innovators: The Art, Science, and Craft of Fostering Creativity, Triggering Invention, and Catalyzing Innovation. Greenwood Publishing Group.

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