Business Communication

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Business Communication: Business communication is a vital element of the progress of any company including AT&T. THE communication channels that the company has developed in place play a major role in ensuring business success and the successful passage of information from one part of the organization to another. Understanding the communication channels that a company has aids in understanding the information used. The approaches the company employs in propelling the information and the nature of effects that it produces in the company. Different forms of communication exist and each serves specific functions. These include but are not limited to those listed in the table below: Type of information | Example | Description | Purpose | Source | Verbal | Speech at a company gathering, communication between employees | Passage of a message using verbal means to a group within the company | The purpose of this form of communication is to ensure that a message is communicated in form of a speech. These may occur during a gathering or an avenue through which the passage of a message occurs using verbal means | Top management | Written | Business weekly reports, letters to the management, and letters from external bodies such as an auditor’s reports or letter | Based on the departments and their job roles within the company | The written reports provide support to communicating the weekly progress of the operations of the company | Department heads | On-screen | Price announcements and new product communication, internal announcements on meetings | Use of screens within the organization to provided for passage of information for internal use. These may also provide information to customers on new products and changes in prices. | The purpose of this form of communication is to pass a message on a short notice and ensure the intended target groups obtain it. The on-screen message maybe accompanied with a voice message to ensure the message reaches its intended destination. | Any person intending to pass a message to the employees or the top management passing a message to the lower employees or company passing a message to the customer | Multimedia | Advertising on new products, business financial reports for publically traded companies | Using multimedia facilities such as Television, and radio to pass a message or communicate to different groups of people normally a market group that may include customers or shareholders. | To reach the message on the availability of products and services to the target group, communication with aim at passing the message to the target parties on different pieces of information | Company | Web-based | Advertising on the website, basic information on product usage online, and gathering of customer feedback using email and other online communication channels | Posting messages on web based systems to provide communication between customers, shareholders and other stakeholders from the company | Passage of information to different classes of people as a means of ensuring the online users are targeted and obtain the necessary information. | The Company |

Verbal
Verbal communication refers to the application of speech related form of communication between the company and its employees or other parties targeted (Butterfield, 2009). The information may originate from different sources such as the top management in a meeting or gathering to the employees, employees addressing the top management on challenges they meet during work in a meeting, a verbal encounter between a supplier and the company top management. Communication at an AGM also symbolizes verbal communication. The information passed in this manner is aimed at meeting the purpose of the organization for the gathering. The AGM is aimed at communicating to the shareholders on the performance of the company and other information needs that the company may have. The purpose is met by ensuring the meeting has the right information passed to shareholders.
Written
A written communication may originate from the top management to the line employees or from the line employees to the top management for internal purposes. These may also include business reports that communicate on the progress of the company (Krizan, Merrier & Logan, 2007). The reports originate from different departments communicating on their progress. These aim at passing documented information.
On-screen
On screen, communication is used by banks to provide information on exchange rate, the directions one needs to take within the facility or communication to employees in form of announcements. These accompanied by a voice communication eases passage of the message to the target group. They may also include use of computer monitors to pass a promotional message (Means, 2009).
Multimedia
Multimedia communication includes different items ranging from the television, radio and newspaper or print communication. These occur normally inform of adverts and are aimed for a large target group. They include advertising that the company makes to its customers majorly (Sigrid, 2011).
Web-based
Web based communication involves different systems through which a message is passed to the customers or from the customers to the organization in form of feedback (Carmody, 2004). The feedback from the customer is meant to improve the company’s approach or as a form of appreciation for the services that the company offers. The communication may occur on the company website, the use of emails, social media advertising campaigns or even the use of other online-related channels.
Relationship between the Information:
The management of information flow within a company may have all these channels of communication types combined and work together. They may support each other hence affirming the message they portray. They may all aim at ensuring a promotion message is reached to the customers. The management will communicate to the employees on the approach needed to ensure customer satisfaction. This may also occur through training followed by a report on the progress given in written form and then online adverts that will pass the message to online present customers or target groups. These all aim at ensuring the customer gets the message on the products.
Strategic Decisions Made By the Business and Information Used:
The company will choose to develop a communication plan that will cover a period of 3 years. The plan will entail the communication of goals and intentions to the team that will in turn develop products around this development. The strategic decision will include allocating a campaign to specific teams to handle for the time and the provision of a budget for the campaign. The information used to make these decisions includes the general strategic plan of the company, market analysis reports and staff appraisals that reveal the needs of the employees in executing the plan.
Task 1.2:
The company AT&T has majorly two segments that include the wireless and the wireline segments. The performance of each of these segments provides an advantage to the company and has an impact to its sales. According to the 2014 financial results, the selected products equipment sales drove sales that were registered by the end of the year with an over 4.9% growth for the year. The image below indicates to the performance of the product:

A look at the sales of the product indicates to the high impact it had on the company with a fourth quarter performance that pushed the product sales higher resulting into a growth in sales for the company. Throughout the year, the performance of the service field did not spur much growth in sales but rather indicate to stagnated sales that the company registered at 15.2% as an average for all the quarters under consideration (Sheffer, 2015). Major efforts into the marketing of the products and equipments have made a major impact on the sales of equipments and hence their successful sale.
The marketing of these products has taken a major twist with the Apple iPhone 6 considered one of the major triggers of the equipment sales. The company employed vast promotional approaches that resulted into an improved approach from the market on the products sold by the company. The timing of the promotions were much of effects considering their conduct during a festive season driving revenues for the fourth quarter higher than in the previous three quarters. The target groups were all reached through the use of different media such as the online platforms, the media adverts that were employed to parade the customers behind the demand for the equipments sold by AT&T.
The effectiveness of its marketing approaches is measured through the resulting sales effects that it creates. The efforts in marketing aim at ensuring the customers understand of the presence of the product on the market revealing the special features about it that makes it unique from those provided by the competitors. It is therefore vital for the company to consider evaluation of the sales made in relation to the marketing efforts it invested in during the financial year. As per this approach, the marketing approaches employed by AT&T during the year 2014 were successful in resulting to high sales in equipments that drive sales for the company.
Summary of Findings:
The following findings resulted from the research on performance of equipments: Item | Measure | Sales growth for the first quarter | 2.5% | Sales growth for the second quarter | 2.8% | Sales growth for the third quarter | 2.9% | Sales growth for the third quarter | 4.8% | Average sales growth for the year 2014 | 3.25% | Performance boosters | Approach through promotionsTiming of promotionsEffective teams in promotionsResource coordination during promotions | Smart phone sales growth over the years from 2012 to 2014 | Indicated in the graph below: |
Graph on sales on smart phones from 2012 to 2014:

The above summary will be employed in the meeting to discuss the performance of the equipment sales for the year.
Presentation to Support Summary: The presentation aims at discussing the performance in sales of the equipment and the progress made over the years from 2012. The company as indicated in the graph above has had its sales in equipments grow rapidly during the year 2014 compared to the slow growth registered during 2012 and 2013. The discussion aims at analyzing the effects produced on a quarterly basis throughout the year 2014 to reveal the most efficient approaches employed and the resulting performance.
The Performance in Quarters:
The performance of the company in the first quarter was regular in comparison to the actual performance produced in 2012 and 2013. The same occurred in the second quarter and the third quarter. The fourth quarter indicated to a dramatic change that is attributable to the promotional efforts that the company employed in its bid to improve the profits that the company made from the sales of equipments in the fourth quarter.
Efforts Employed In Boosting Sales:
The fourth quarter saw more efforts in promoting the equipments with promotions carried out during the festive seasons. The promotions in the festive provided a good timing for the campaigns hence leading to improved performance of the company sales in equipments.
Evaluation of the Corporate Communication:
The corporate communication media used to promote this product has majorly employed onscreen and web based approaches in marketing the products. The onscreen approaches included the application of television to pass a promotional message to the customers in bid to improve the absorption of the message by the customers hence influencing the sales of the company and promote the specific products. The web-based approaches included online adverts and promotions on different websites that promoted the products and hence influencing the purchase decisions of the customers towards the product.
Corporate Communication Document Used By the Company:
The corporate document below was used by AT&T to communicate to the customers on Samsung Galaxy S6 equipment improving its equipment sales for the year.

The findings in the summary in the presentation to the employees will be provided to the shareholders too. These will communicate on the efforts that the team has put into the performance registered for the year. They include different images that will indicate to the shareholders and stakeholders on the performance of the company in relation to its approach in marketing its products. The document combined with the annual performance report on the financial year will provide a positive effect on the performance of the company over the period under consideration 2014.
Task 1.3:
The use of information may have implications to the company. These may occur as legal, ethical or operational implications. They affect the company and its progress towards providing information to the different audience that it targets. These are discussed in detail below:
Legal Issues In Relation To the Use of Information:
The use of information may result into legal implications that may have the company sued or even losing trust from customers (Yull, 2009). The legal issues may arise from the form of information portrayed, failure to abide by standards developed by intermediaries through which the information is shared or the selection of a wrong message to pass in the communication. The use of other tools such as Twitter and Facebook may subject the company to comply with the standards of the companies. Failure to abide by the below may result into legal implication:
Conformity to the Advertising Regulations:
The approaches to advertising involve the need to conform to standards that the media used has put in place (Cheng, 2009). These may include respect to the developed principles that promote fair competition between the companies among other regulations. Inaccuracy, exaggeration or uncertainty may affect the message and hence result into legal implications that may affect the company.
Offensive Messages:
The use of offensive messages may result into legal implication for the company. making offensive comments on and avert placed in by another company or a competitor may result into breach of the terms that the advertising medium provides and hence risk of legal suits.
Intellectual Property Protection:
The adverts need to respect principles of intellectual property rights that work on adverts developed as that which Amazon owns in most of its adverts (Yang, 2012). Failure to respect these will result into legal implications that may affect the company.
Divulging information considered of a security threat to a nation or other parties may stir legal implication for the company. The above among other approaches may result into legal implications. The information provided in writing, verbal or though websites are also possible tools of evidence in a lawsuit and hence the need to ensure due diligence and care is employed in their development.
Ethical Issues In Relation To the Use of Information
The need to ensure the approach in using the information provided is considerate of the ethical needs of the business proves vital in establishing a good information use culture. The following ethical issues arise:
Existing Code of Practice:
The code of practice determines the ethical atmosphere of a company’s operational environment. The code is vital in ensuring that the profession or the message in the information provides the effect needed by the company (Weckert & Lucas, 2013). The code may involve the acceptable use of email and internet or their ban. Respect to these needs according to ensure ethical use of information.
Whistle Blowing:
The making of disclosures in respect to public interest may require an ethical approach (Menoni, 2010). The use of a message to provide for this requires respect for the organization’s information needs and those relating to customers among other stakeholders.
Use of Information With Respect To Other Organizational Policies:
Other policies may exist in the organization that relate to the use of information. Abiding by these ensures ethical application of information in the company that promotes organization success and the appropriate use of information.
Operational Issues In Relation To the Use of Information
The use of information in an organization may have both positive and negative effects on the operations of a company. The information may expedite and improve the operations of the company while the same information may slowdown the process in the organization hence affecting its operations. Using information especially grapevine in a wrong manner may result into industrial action such as strikes that will paralyze the operations of the company.
Motivation:
Information may work as a motivation for employee performance or a motivation killer. There is need to employ care in passing information around the organization to ensure continuity of the operations of the company. The use of negative words in communication to employees erodes their motivation.
Company Operations:
Information not well managed or falling in the wrong hands would have implications to the company that prove negative to its operations. The company operations may suffer from wrong information with regard to regulations or standards leaving room for errors that may affect the operations of the company.
Task 1.4:
Summary of Electronic and Non-Electronic Methods of Communication:
Electronic Methods:
Internet Communication
Internet communication normally through social media and advertising on different sites besides the company website work as a communication medium through which the company communicates to its customers as its audience.
Website:
The company website is one way the company is in position to reach a vast audience ranging from the shareholders, the customers and the government among others. These stakeholders form the audience for this type of communication while the company is the source. The form makes it possible for a reversal of the roles. These include communication from the customer (as the spruce) on feedback with regard to a product to the company (audience).
Telephone SMS Lines:
The communication between the company and its customers on different aspects ranging from product guidance and new products on the market occurs through SMS that involves the passage of the information from the company (source) to the customer (audience). Some use voice communication such as “the subscriber is on another line.”
Non-electronic Methods:
These include those that use traditional means of communication such as reports, letters, verbal communication and use of grapevine. Most of these are internal and few come as external.
Reports provide information to the management on the progress of the company and its projects. These may come from the line heads to the top managers as the audience. This is an internal communication medium. Letters may communicate employee-to-employee, employee to management, as internal, company to customer, company to government institution, company to other company as external. Verbal communication at AT&T occurs through work briefs provided from an employee to their supervisor, supervisor to the middle management, middle management to the top management. Lastly, Grapevine is more informal a means of communication normally between employees on company aspects.

References:
Butterfield, J. (2009). Illustrated Course Guides: Verbal Communication-Soft Skills for a Digital Workplace. Cengage Learning.
Carmody, B. (2004). Online Promotions: Winning Strategies and Tactics. Bill Carmody.
Cheng, H. (2009). Advertising and Chinese Society: Impacts and Issues. CBS Press.
Krizan, C. A., Merrier, P. & Logan, P. J. (2007). Business Communication. Cengage Learning.
Means, T. (2009). Business Communication. Cengage Learning.
Menoni, S. (2010). Risks Challenging Publics, Scientists and Governments. CRC Press.
Sheffer, R. (2015). AT&T's 4Q14 Revenues Beat Analyst Expectations. Market Realist. Viewed on December 13, 2015 from http://marketrealist.com/2015/02/atts-4q14-revenues-beat-analyst-expectations/
Sigrid, K. (2011). Computer-Mediated Communication: Issue and Approaches in Education: Issues and Approaches in Education. IGI Global.
Weckert, J. & Lucas, R. (2013). Professionalism in the Information and Communication Technology Industry. ANU E Press.
Yang, D. (2012). Understanding and Profiting from Intellectual Property: Strategies Across Borders. Palgrave Macmillan.
Yull, S. (2009). BTEC National for IT Practitioners: Core Units: Common Core and Specialist Units for all Pathways. Routledge.