Eapm4000 Professional Business Communications- Current Assessment Answers

Case Discussion

Answer

Introduction

Based on the case study, it could be understood that Thredbo is one of the best-known ski resorts in Australia. The ski resort possesses all the necessary attributes to attract tourists not only in the peak season but also during the low season as well. But currently, the ski resort had been facing issues like high vacancy and lower levels of profit in the low season, which was not expected because it had great potential to attract customers both in peak and low seasons. A letter has been presented as a direct mail campaign to influence customers and make them avail the services of the ski resort in low season too. A letter will be prepared as a direct mail campaign for influencing people’s behaviors to visit the resort. The section B will consider an accounting firm and issues related to communication experienced there (Adler, Elmhorst and Lucas 2012). Lastly, the horizontal approaches and use of boundary less structure will help in improving the communication largely.

Scenario 

Letter

Dear customers

As you all know that our services have been exceptional and it is all because of you who have made our business successful in Australia. Our services’ quality do not differ in the low and peak seasons, so it is out earnest request to all of you that you can visit the ski resort and enjoy relaxing here for few days whenever u will feel like. Bookings are now available online and we hope to spread our messages directly to the customers. As an effective business, we are fully committed to the quality of services delivered and ensure that none of our customers are unsatisfied with the services. As the ski resort is located in beautiful hills, it will provide scenic beauty and moments that all of you will cherish and various community programs are also managed such as cultural events and organic produce. We offer a terrain of 1186 acres and  have also arranged big events such as Rekorderlig’s poolside parties, live performances by DJs at Lounge Bar, Keller and Schuss Bar facilities and also parties at the Smirnoff Snow Dome. Our ticket price is quite low compared to other ski resorts and it ranges around $110. We expect your presence earnestly and looking forward to improve out quality of services furthermore. You can even contact us and manage the bookings by looking into our website and feel free to get engaged with us anytime.

Regards

Manager of Thredbo,

Australia

Section- Case study

Analyse the current situation with respect to the firm’s organisational communication

I have been appointed as the communications officer at an accounting organization in Australia. The company though previously used to hold a strong brand name and image, still it had been facing certain issues that resulted in losing its reputation and deterioration of brand image. The organization has 5000 employees and manages its operations at various managerial levels. The organization supports partnership working, though it has a functional organizational structure (Dainton and Zelley 2014).

The functional structure allows for grouping the various portions based on its purposes such as the marketing, sales and production departments are grouped according to the purpose. Though it enables relying on the skills and knowledge of workers itself, still lack of communication is a major issue and this has been restricted by boundaries of letting the various departments working in as separate manner. Here also, the communication between the middle managers and the lower level staffs was quite low, which not only resulted in creating issues to clarify certain situations but also hindered the successful accomplishment of organizational goals and objectives with ease and effectiveness (DesJardins and McCall  2014). The various factors that can create an impact on the communication procedures within the accounting firm are organizational activities, individuals working within the organization and culture maintained within the workplace. This can promote good communication and enhance the efficiency of workforce effectively as well. Due to the poor culture, management becomes more centralized and the management levels are grouped, furthermore creating a complex structure of the organization. It not only results in conflicts between the management and staffs, but also can create complexities to understand responsibilities properly, because of the lack of information provided to the middle managers by the top management. Thus, communication could hinder success of business operations and even decrease the organizational productivity and generated profit level at the accounting company in Australia (DiSanza and Legge 2016).  

Plan prepared to solve the firm’s communication problems

Internal communication plan

The communication problems must be overcome to ensure smooth flow of work and management of human resources properly to enhance the organizational productivity and profit level. To overcome the communication issues, a proper plan is prepared by ensuring use of tools to identify issues and develop both external and internal communication plans. The internal communication plan is managed to motivate and keep the workers of the organization feel interested to work at the accounting firm. It is done by preparing acknowledgements through verbal praise, memos and letters to make the staffs know about the importance of communication and ensure maintaining balance between the employer and employees with ease. The internal communication plan is developed by changing the organizational structure and ensure proper flow of information and make people gain the accessibility of major individuals who can be part of the process of decision making. The accounting firm has facilitated the informal communication network development within the formal organizational structure to increase flow of data and information and furthermore make decisions to allow the organization respond to changes (Fischhoff 2012). According to Taylor’s theory, organizations use the communication system to mange authority, coordination of work and increase organizational effectiveness. The internal communication plan supports the formal communication because it enables downward communication, where the messages and information flow from top to bottom. The vertical communication is followed where all the messages and information flow from top to bottom and thus it can allow the managers of the organization to share their views and opinions and organizational information to the lower level staffs. Based on the case study, the middle managers and top level management were not communicating with the staffs, so the formal communication channels would be essential for usage. The grapevine is not controlled by management and has been managed by the employees, which has helped in maintaining stable and highly structured working environment. For the internal communication plan, network structure could be beneficial, because it involve the senior management and members of the network to take part during the decision where communication would be needed consistently (Grunig 2013).

External communication plan

Lack of interaction between the middle managers and staffs has led to poor communication between staffs at the accounting firm and even made the employees demoralized and less interested to work, furthermore resulted in decreased production level too. The external communication, on the other hand allows the company to interact with the external stakeholders such as suppliers, customers and shareholders to exchange information and knowledge with ease and effectiveness. Informal communication networks facilitate the external communication plan and it helps in better decision making while maintaining contacts with the external stakeholders. Social media helps in improved communication by allowing accessibility to mobile phones and portable technologies for managing two way communication and foster the development of strategic alliances and partnerships with other organizations too (Guffey and Loewy 2012). Social media involvement as part of the external communication plan could also help in spreading brand messages to the customers and enhance the brand image and identity, furthermore influencing the buying behaviors of consumers too (Smart, Witt and Scott 2012).

The boundary-less structure of organization could be maintained as well for replacing the existing structures and create more flexibility, speed, furthermore managing the integration of business operations to generate, connect and control the knowledge, information, human resources properly.  The informal communication part of the plan, because it not only creates trust and good relationship between the employees and higher management, but also can lead to higher production level, job satisfaction and obtaining feedbacks regarding transfer and exchange of knowledge and information effectively. Development of effective horizontal channels of communication and creating an autonomous group would be beneficial too for gaining control over work by communicating with each other (Martin and Nakayama 2013). While using social media for communication, it would be necessary to maintain certain standards like not mixing the professional and personal issues, ensure that confidential information is not leaked and conduct meetings where certain matters should be discussed for enhancing the efficiency of communication process within the accounting firm (Schullery 2013).

Conclusion

From the case study, there had been lack of communication between the middle level managers and low ranking staffs. Due to this, they are not aware of the situations and even the memos prepared by top management level have not been circulated to the middle managers. The first portion of the report consisted of a direct mail campaign letter to overcome the issues of low vacancy rate and profit generation. The lack of communication, inappropriate culture hindered communication process efficiency and it had been resolved with the creation of effective external and internal communication plans by the accounting firm in Australia.

References

Adler, R., Elmhorst, J.M. and Lucas, K., 2012. Communicating at work: Principles and practices for business and the professions. McGraw-Hill Higher Education.

Dainton, M. and Zelley, E.D., 2014. Applying communication theory for professional life: A practical introduction. Sage publications.

DesJardins, J.R. and McCall, J.J., 2014. Contemporary issues in business ethics. Cengage Learning.

DiSanza, J.R. and Legge, N.J., 2016. Business and professional communication: Plans, processes, and performance. Pearson.

Fischhoff, B., 2012. Communicating risks and benefits: An evidence based user's guide. Government Printing Office.

Grunig, J.E. ed., 2013. Excellence in public relations and communication management.

Guffey, M.E. and Loewy, D., 2012. Essentials of business communication. Cengage Learning.

Martin, J.N. and Nakayama, T.K., 2013. Experiencing intercultural communication. McGraw-Hill Higher Education.

Schullery, N.M., 2013. Workplace engagement and generational differences in values. Business Communication Quarterly, 76(2), pp.252-265.

Smart, K.L., Witt, C. and Scott, J.P., 2012. Toward learner-centered teaching: An inductive approach. Business Communication Quarterly, 75(4), pp.392-403.