Communication is always a problem with large businesses.

COMMUNICATIONS

Communication is always a problem with large businesses because information needs to be accessed by the receiver as soon as possible and put across to them in a clear, engaging and impacting way so that it has the effect it should have. Because of the size of Scott Bader and its international locations, the task of communicating with them all is a doubtful one.

There is also a problem with the continuing growth of Scott Bader as some forms of communications can become outdated.

Communications at Scott Bader is normally sent down through the hierarchy and chain of command although the employees have a lot of say in how the business is ran because of the democratic culture, management obviously have to know and make main decisions as using the employees for every decision would take too much time, they are used if they are important and will change the way in which everybody works as a company. The information can be sent and received both in the form of verbal communication and non-verbal communication.

The main objectives of communication are to provide information, give people instructions and to confirm arrangements, but this has to be achieved at the right time, place and sent to the right person. To be successful this all needs to be done at value for money. All these restrictions make this an almost impossible task to manage, but to manage this task Scott Bader could use the following channels of communication:

One Way Channel

This provides people with information or instructions however it requires no reply from the recipients. Examples of the use of a one-way-channel of communication at Scott Bader are:

Tannoy – where information is read out to the factory floor informing both staff and customers of a situation but it doesn’t require any feedback.
E-mail – this can require a response but it doesn’t always you could be sending someone instructions, or informing people of some information.
Bulletins – are used to let people know of information or to praise employees for reaching there intended objectives etc.
Minutes – to inform people the basic outcomes, and issues discussed at a meeting.
Memos – to inform people of meetings or situations.
Newsletters – they are published to let employees know about current events happening for Scott Bader these could be community events or within the company, it could also inform them of recent developments and other information that is available to the staff.
Television/Videos and Videoconferencing – video’s used to train staff (on fire procedures etc.) and inform them of information. Video conferencing s useful in Scott Bader because being a multi-national company not everybody can be in the same room but they can still all have a meeting.

Two-Way Channels

This is where information or instructions are passed back and forth between individuals or groups of people. Examples of this are:

Telephones
Mobile Telephones
Interviews
Face to Face
Videophones
Memorandums
E-mail
Pagers

Multi-Track Channels

This is where information is passed between several individuals, useful for international locations examples of the use of Multi-Track channels of communication at Scott Bader are:

Meetings
Reports
Face to Face
Telephones with hands free/loudspeakers
E-mail
Videoconferencing
Videophones

Scott Bader use videoconference equipment to communicate between their three European manufacturing sites. Emails are ...

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Two-Way Channels

This is where information or instructions are passed back and forth between individuals or groups of people. Examples of this are:

Telephones
Mobile Telephones
Interviews
Face to Face
Videophones
Memorandums
E-mail
Pagers

Multi-Track Channels

This is where information is passed between several individuals, useful for international locations examples of the use of Multi-Track channels of communication at Scott Bader are:

Meetings
Reports
Face to Face
Telephones with hands free/loudspeakers
E-mail
Videoconferencing
Videophones

Scott Bader use videoconference equipment to communicate between their three European manufacturing sites. Emails are Lotus Notes. Their LAN covers all buildings at Wollaston. All these channels and types of communication can be used to express both confidential and open communication; Scott Bader will have to make sure they use the right form of communication to keep information confidential.

Scott Bader also has quality circles. Monthly meetings with senior managers within the technical division, where social responsible sourcing is a formal agenda item.

In Scott Bader the most often used forms of non-verbal communication are reports, memorandums, minutes and newsletters these will be used to get messages from one department to another. The advantage of using mainly written communication is that there is always a record of the message and normally a back up copy.

Verbal communication is normally used to let people know of instructions and developments, such as telephones and face-to-face communication.

External Communication

E-mail and the Internet are used a lot as well as the postal service occasionally. Telephones and mobile telephones are also used a lot but these have their restrictions as no copy is made of the conversation and it relies on the recipient to understand all the information and to remember.

There are problems with Communication Breakdown:

There are a number of factors, which can cause communication breakdown:

Too much technical language (‘jargon’) being used
Poor presentation and use of grammar and spelling
Too much information being sent (information overload)
Geographical and time problems (e.g. communications between different countries in different time-zones) This is a big problem for Scott Bader although France is only one hour different, Spain hasn’t got much of a difference but countries like Scandinavia and South Africa and a few other European countries are not in similar times zones.
Length of the communication channel, for example post writing a letter would take along time to
Employees already being overworked and ignoring messages
Technology breakdown (e.g. computers crashing)

This last point has become a growing problem over the last 10 years and is likely to continue to grow, as an increasing number of businesses rely on computers and information technology systems for their communications (as well as for their financial, production and personnel records). Added to this is the increasing amount of business being conducted using e-mail and the Internet (it is estimated that by 2005, any businesses which are not using the Internet to trade and interact with customers are likely to lose any competitive edge that they may have) Scott Bader has a website where you can search all about its composites I think Scott Bader could improve their sales if you could buy them online this is an advantage to companies which do use the internet as means of selling their products.

So it is clear to see that the ‘information-age’ and the ‘digital-age’ are going to be a major influence on how business is conducted in the future. Any business, which does not employ computer-literate staff and does not use Internet-trading, is likely to suffer falling levels of sales and profits as a result.

However, there are many problems with using ‘the electronic office’ – that is, a work environment that is very computerised and relies on software and communications equipment. The main problems are listed below:

Much time is often required to train staff in the use of the new equipment and software
Computer fraud (e.g. ‘hacking’ into the computer-held information and changing the data or embezzling the business funds)
Huge initial capital outlay required in order to purchase the equipment and software
Equipment and software may become obsolete within a few years
Resistance from employees and from trade unions to the new working practices

ROLE OF ICT

Information technology is a key factor in the success of any business it is used for accounting purposes; ICT is used for databases, staff profiles, and communication purposes like e-mail. At Scott Bader ICT is a tool to make services and transactions as fast as possible. ICT is used within the business internally they use email, phones and fax. Externally to customers and suppliers they use e-mail, phone fax and mail as well as their website.

Scott Bader even use IT in the workplace, they have just invested about £6million in a new speciality polymers plant, which is now more efficient, modern bigger and better capacity with a very new computer system this computer system is used to follow the product in the stages of making and also gives time intervals on when the staff should test the products, the computer system is linked to the internet and the software house 24/7 so that maintenance and help is always at arms length when needed.

ICT is used in all areas of businesses see above in the communications section. Scott Bader use videoconference equipment to communicate to their three European manufacturers. They use e-mail though Lotus Notes. Their Local Area Network LAN covers all the buildings at Wollaston and is based on a fibre optic cabling switches. Their Wider Area Network WAN connects to France, Croatia, South Africa, Sweden and the USA which means that they can communicate fast and easily without having to rely on post and waiting for weeks for replies. The cost of the ICT used in Scott Bader must be vast as it is used in the new plant for production, communication and in all aspects of the business but I think that the benefit to the business of efficiency, time saving and easy out ways the cost of it all. A drawback to a business heavily reliant on ICT is that if there is a power cut, a computer crashes or catches a virus then production and the business could be at a standstill for maybe days to recover all the information. The only other drawback of this new ICT is that people expect the service to be available 24/7 when staffs are not available to work every hour of the day.

Remote Sales Executives use ADSL (a.k.a broadband) links to their network. Scott Bader does not use EDI (Electronics Commerce Implementations/bar coding). The main purpose is to share market/commercial information via Lotus Notes databases they say that their ICT does serve its purpose well.