Manging Communication Knowledge and Information - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 18 Words: 5297 Downloads: 6 Date added: 2017/09/13 Category Advertising Essay Did you like this example? INTRODUCTION Information or processed data is essential for any action we take. For example when we are travelling in the road somebody can be gifted with knowing the data such as names of the roads and the direction, but to use it he or she should use this to make the map which can be considered as the information gathered. The knowledge he or she has on using the map correctly to take the decision of choosing the correct road to travel in. which will be stored the person’s mind as wisdom. Whenever he or she wants to repeat the procedure without starting from the first with the gathered wisdom he or she can work out. The same theory applies when carrying out a business. The presence of correct information and the use of correct knowledge in effective decision making. [pic] (Sunday, September 05, 2010 https://www. systems-thinking. org/dikw/dikw. htm. ) 1. INFORMATION AND KNOWLEDGE 2. 1 USEFUL INFORMATION NEEDED As in all other organisations the mobile manufacturing organisation too has divided the organisation into separate departments. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Manging Communication Knowledge and Information" essay for you Create order Important data from all departments add up to produce important information needed for effective decision making. 2. 1. 1 PAST INFORMATION †¢ The amount of mobiles manufactured within the last five years- by taking and analysing the amount of mobiles manufactured per year in past the five years, information of whether the number of mobiles manufactured has reduced or increased can be gathered. If reduced by what percentage, if increased by what percentage can also be found. The specific years with a drastic increase or a reduction can also be gathered. The variation done for the quality of the mobiles in past five years- any records of increments in the mobiles during the past years will give the information of the intensity the attention the company has given to the quality of the products. †¢ Sales within past five years- the separate figures of the sales of past years together displayed will give the information whether the sales has declined or not. The percentage or th e depth of the angle of decline or increase with the consecutive years is presented. The profits and losses report of the past five years performance- the information of the amounts of profits gained is gathered. That is the decrease or the increased amount of profit with the year. And also is the company has faced any losses and the percentage amount of increased profits and losses can also be found. †¢ The success of the marketing plans implemented in the past- important information about one of the company’s strategies laid within past years is reviled for analysing purpose. Information such as the mistakes, new ideas and so on can be gathered by analysing information produced marketing plans. †¢ Customer feedbacks recorded in the past five years- this will give the most important part for the decision making statements, because all the plans to lay should be based to satisfy the customers. The past records of ant customer feedback will indirectly give information of customer satisfaction over the years. †¢ The most sold model through out existence- the most sold model information will give the model sold and the details of that model. Therefore when choosing the features to be added the decisions makers can make a successful decision. 2. 1. 2 PRESENT INFORMATION †¢ Present manufacturing model with the highest demand- the product details the contribution towards the total revenue the model alone are information that will be important on deciding the features to be added, the quality increments. †¢ Current raw material used details and supplier details- the data provided will act as a test for the suppliers and the raw materials they offer. The need for changes of the raw materials or suppliers can be taken form this. In stock excess amount of mobiles present- the information about the amount of unsold mobiles phones in the organisation can be used by the decision makers to decide on the whether the manufacturing targets should be reduced. Whether there are specific models that need to be eliminated from the manufacturing process. †¢ Technology and machines used at present- this information will great ly help a decision that should be made in differentiation of the mobile quality. Because if the technology and machines used are old then obliviously the quality of the mobiles are low. Do we have enough cash in hand for further production- since the organisation has faced a dramatic sales decline the decisions made to be implemented as a remedy for the cause should be worth trying to make it a success. Laying new strategies will definitely mean more marketing and distribution. And also money should be there to carry out a research on the progress of the strategy laid. Therefore Prior notice of giving information about the how much the organisation can implement will help the organisation to make effective decisions. The number of competitors in the market- information produced from a study about the competitors in the market is the most important when making a decision. Competitors with the largest threat, the competitors products, the new entries are some important information a s trategic level can use when laying term plans. †¢ The most famous ten models in the market at present- information about the company standard in the outer world (market) the level of the mobiles manufactured in the Market can be determined. Comparison between mobile models in the market with the organisation products is also a good method of gathering information on competitor products. †¢ The customer feedback method used at present- if the customer feedback method used is not reliable the organisation will get false information and will not be able to create the mobiles to carter the expected market. The customers will not be bothered to buy the product they produced for them. Therefore an inquiry about the system and methods used for assessing customer feedback is necessary. 2. 1. 3 FUTURE INFORMATION The future information lies with the decision made by the strategic level of the organisation. Therefore basically the future information will include the following- †¢ The new marketing plan- all information about the seven Ps will have to distribute among all departments. This will provide important information to all departments to carry on with the future performance. (Seven Ps include details of product, promotions, place, pricing, people, physical evidence, and process) †¢ Whether the quality of the phones are going be increased- specifically information of whether he quality is to be increased or not, how to increased to contain what should be provided to relative departments. Ex- without having this information the production department will not be able manufacture the expected product, the finance department will not be able to allocate the exact expected amount. †¢ The new technology to be used- this information is related to the previously mentioned informat ion the producers of the mobile phone should know what technology is be used. Whether it’s new or same as used. If new how to use and combine with manufacturing process. The forecasted amount of sales for the coming years- the expected sales is important information that should be produced to all departments. Since all departments should set it as the goal and should work towards it. 2. 2 KNOWLEDGE NEEDED The understanding one gets from the information read or analysed can be considered as the explicit knowledge gained. Members of the strategic and tactical level will get explicit knowledge about the organisation performance over the years and the performance of the competitors by analysing the above mentioned information. For example- when the members go through information like the sales of the past five years, the percentage of customer satisfaction, the most sold model over the past years, the number of each model most demanding models, the present sales and present most demanded model and so on information will give the members the explicit knowledge of whether the sales have increased or decreased over the past years, the amount it has decreased and so on. The information like the competitors in the market before five years and at present, the customer satisfaction, and most famous ten mobile models sold in the market will give the members a clear explicit knowledge of the customer preferences and the competition in the market. With gained explicit knowledge the ability to use the gained knowledge effectively will be aided by the tacit knowledge the members will have. The addition of both will produce very effective decision. When the competition is high the knowledge of having to do something to get the sales increased is tacit knowledge. The members usually get these through experience. That is if the sale are down by a small percentage the members should know what to do exactly. Implementing strategies diversification will be a in vain waste of resources. The choosing of correct method to be applied at the correct time is decided by the tacit knowledge. No body can write a book about what strategy is best for what situation. The situations coming are not exactly the same but may be similar. So past implementation failures and achievements will help the members to decide on an effective strategy/method to be implemented. A good balance of explicit knowledge and tacit knowledge together with the information gathered will create innovative and effective decisions. (* appendix 01 definitions of past, present and future information) (* appendix 02 definitions of explicit and tacit knowledge) 3. 0 DECISIONS TO BE TAKEN [pic] (* appendix 03- description of diagram) Decisions are usually taken in this manner but sometimes the strategic has to go for all three decisions so is the tactical level and sometimes the authority for small matters to take all three decisions types is given. But the probability is high as shown in taking decisions. STATEGIC LEVEL DECISIONS †¢ Financial strength- taking into account the information gathered on financial aspects the decision of whether the finance in store is enough to introduce increased quality products or more featured products or any other plan should be decided by the strategic level. The determination of financial strength has a particular pattern therefore it’s a structured decision. †¢ Increasing product quality or not-on information gathered about product of organisation and other competitor’s mobiles, the level the organisation present mobiles, variation of quality a decision of whether the product quality should be increased or not should be taken. This the exact way of analysing and increasing quality of a product is not recorded; therefore it’s an unstructured decision. Adding new features or not similar to the above decision. On information gathered about organisational mobiles and other mobiles, customer feedbacks a decision of whether the features should be increased or not, whether it should be increased together with the quality are decisions to make. The procedure of such decision making is not specified anywhere therefore it’s an unstructured decision. Technology to upgraded or not-with the need to increase the sale s of the mobiles manufactured strategic level should take decisions about whether technology should be upgraded whether it will help increase sales should be taken. The decision of whether the technology is worth or not has a procedure but how upgrade is not specified therefore it’s a semi structured decision. †¢ Sales target of the coming five years (profit expected)– how many products should be sold and the expected revenue for the coming five years should be decided by the strategic level. This decision is made by the strategic level for all years of existence of the organisation therefore even though the procedure is not recorded there will be a created procedure, it’s a structured decision. TACTICAL DECISIONS †¢ How to increase quality if the strategic level takes the decision to increase the quality should be decided by the tactical level managers. Is it best to increase the picture quality, camera quality, sound or games, should all the models be upgraded or is it best to choose some models are decisions associated. The information about best sold models can aid this decision. Decision is semi-structured. †¢ What features to add- similar to the above decision, with the strategic level decision the tactical level should decide on what are the features to be added, dual sim support, spying camera or any other feature. This decision is a semi-structured decision. †¢ Colour, style and name of the products to enter with increased quality or features- the package, the appearance and the outer designing of the mobiles should be decided before manufacturing. Whether the mobiles will have several colours for the same model, or one colour for one model, which is the most attractive appearance will be decided. This decision is structured because it has a specific procedure. This decision has been made for all the mobiles created in the organisation. †¢ Is the labour skills efficient to move on- after deciding on the above decision the tactical level should be evaluate the employee power to carry on. Since the tactical level is the losest to the operational level so they should decide whether the existing work force and the talent is enough to implement the strategies. OPERATIONAL DECISIONS †¢ The standard of the present technology and machines- the operational level decisions are all connected with the operations done by them. So if a decision of increasing the quality and features is passed by the strategic and tactical level with specific features and quality increments the operational level should analysis the ability of the cu rrent technology and machines. If it’s not enough if they can do a better job they have to take the decision to upgrade the technology used and machines. †¢ Are the raw materials enough for the production with increased quality and changes and to match the set targets- sometimes the raw materials may not be enough to produce mobiles with increased quality, ordering for new raw materials may be needed to enter the new features to the mobile phones. So decision of the amount to re order and from which supplier to reorder is taken by the operational level employees. The daily tasks are usually decided by the operational level employees- when the monthly target is assigned by the tactical level the daily targets are decided by the operational level employees. Since they do not work all days of the month there own decisions of daily targets are set (mostly by employees of the production department) The operational level employees take decisions on daily done tasks. Operational level employees have a smaller percentage of power and authority when compared to tactical level and strategic level therefore they are given with a specific procedure to follow when taking the possible decisions. All most decisions are structured. 4. 0 INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL SOURCES OF INFORMATION AND UNDERSTANDING 4. 1 INTERNAL SOURCES AND INFORMATION Internal information is the information generated from within the organisation itself. The sources of internal information can be usually categorized as follows- †¢ Account ledgers- these usually include all details of the finance transaction taken place within and with the involvement of the organisation during the years of existence. This nformation also includes things like the budgets, the financial growth over the years, the financial stability at present is also provided. The account ledgers are generated by the accounts/finance department of the organisation. †¢ Production department- the information passed through this section involves with the information about the product produced, the raw materials needed, the supplier details, the in stock number of mobiles, technologies used and so on. The sales information is some to some extent passed by this section. Marketing department- the reports from this section usually include information such as the current promotions, record of customer feedbacks collected over the past years, the past marketing plans implemented and success and failures, the annual cost spent of marketing purposes per year by the organisation are internal information produced by the marketing department records. †¢ Human resources department- the information gathered from this section mainly in connected with the human resources in the organisation. The amount of new recruits taken, the network or technology analysts taken, the turnover amount over the years of existence, the number of employee in each department, the cost allocated for the maintaining and training the staff are information that will provided this internal source. †¢ Research and development department- the number of researches done during the past years, the cost allocated and invested amounts, the developments done for the mobile phones in the past years are some internal information produced by this department records. Information produced and collected through internal sources are ninety percent reliable. Most of the information is formal information. That is they are gathered from reports, official documents recorded statements and so on. So the information gathered via internal sources has a higher accuracy and reliability than information from external sources. 4. 2 EXTERNAL SOURCES AND INFORMATION External information is collected from outside the organisation sources. Some of the external sources are mentioned below- †¢ Annual reports of competitors-competitor details, the progress of the competitors, there stakeholders and other details of competitors can be taken from the annual reports produced. Word of mouth- these are rumours. Rumours about the organisation product, the competitor products are sometimes taken form rumours. The faults of products and organisations almost all time fly around in rumours. †¢ Government and central bank reports produced- another important external source of information. Form central bank reports produced the organisation can check the s tatus if the business environment. How the telecommunication industry has survived in certain countries. As an international mobile manufacturer the ability to enter into countries can be foreseen by these reports. Newspapers/magazines- sometimes the magazines and newspapers carry out quiz and questionnaires about customer preferences. This information can be used to determine the performance of the mobiles of the organisation plus sometimes prediction about the customer taste can be determined which will help in future productions. †¢ Websites of competitors- similar to the annual reports, but this will give more needed information such the services provided, the product details, the countries they have entered, the prices and many other comparable information can be gathered. . 0 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR IMPROVEMENT As a mobile manufacturing organisation information has a vital part not only on decision making about product but information can be used for the growth of the organis ation. So as a recommendation for improvement the organisation can implement a transaction processing system(TPS),management information system, Executive information system(EIS)and a knowledge work system(KWS). By implementing a management information system (MIS) all internal information mentioned under the above topics can be viewed by less than an hour. All internal information systems are integrated and produces long periodic reports for managers including past and present information by management information systems. This system is usually used by the tactical level managers. The entry point of the information is from the Transaction process system (TPS) which is another information system used to enter data into the MIS. The operational level is usually entering the data. The reports such as monthly sales reports are produced. A sale report will show the The KWS and EIS are most important for the strategic level to make decisions for the future. The EIS integrates all internal information plus external information. By entering the information gathered from EIS to KWS new knowledge and possibilities will be shown. By taking the knowledge given by KWS new decisions to be made can be entered into EIS and view the results by the simulation facility provided by the EIS. Mobile manufacturing is connected with the technology. The technology is changing minute by minute so to match the dynamic changes in the environment the mobile manufacturing company should come up with innovative products therefore presence and use of knowledge providing database will be very helpful in decision making and the growth of the organisation. (Testing) Another service that can be provided by the organisation to customers to ensure better sales is by providing a personalized product manufacturing process via the internet. The organisation can start a webpage or an email address for customers to place orders. The features possible to be combined, the colours possible, designs along with the price for each can be displayed to the customers. The customer can be given the privilege to design the wanted phone plus the quantity need and the place the order. After which the products are delivered to any place of the world. Providing of this service also is helped if information systems are added to the working system of the organisation. Since the mobile manufacturing is connected with the technology they can enter into producing other technological products such as laptops, data transfers and so on. This can be considered as product development strategy. The number of products the customers can reach the organisation will increase. As are result the organisation revenue will increase. So even if the sale of one product is done the revenue from the others will be enough to manage the organisation until the problem is settled and hence will not disturb the company growth. These are the recommendations for improvement for the international mobile manufacturing company. 6. 0 MAINTAINING RELATIONSHIPS WITH KEY STAKEHOLDERS Strong relationships can be compared to a chemical bond, when together very strong if alone very weak. Therefore stakeholders and organisations hold the same picture. The stakeholders are the better half of any business organisation. 6. 0. 1 STAKEHOLDERS Stakeholders are all who are influenced and are influencing a business are called as stakeholders. The many stakeholders an organisation has can be categorized as shown. [pic] Out of the many stakeholders an organisation has the key stakeholders are the most important stakeholder group for an organisation. The key stakeholders identified are customers, suppliers, Board of director/chairman, Shareholders/investors, and Partners. 6. 0. 2 RELATIONSHIPS Stakeholder relationships are very important to all organisations. The relationships can be building and maintained with networking, networking is staying in touch with every one. For networks to exist the relationships should be healthy. For any relationship to be healthy and least survive the parties involved in the relationship should be satisfied. For example- if the customers are not satisfied with the organisation product the customers will not respond for any interaction made by the company. Special since the organisation is producing a good, mobiles, that customers purchase for daily usage for along period of time. If the organisation fails to fulfil their expectations and make the customers satisfied the customer-organisation relationship will not last long and to satisfy the organisation should understand them. The same is true for all other key stakeholders. If the stakeholders are dissatisfied at heart so will be the relationship. Another very important aspect in relationship maintaining is the respect each party gives and gets from the each other. Therefore organisation should respect the key stakeholders in all matters to keep and maintain a good relationship. For example-suppose a supplier doesn’t deliver goods at the given time from a time of few months. But the suppliers supplies high in quality raw materials always. If the organisation calls the supplier and blames him/her in an unrespectable way without even asking the reason for the delay, the respect of the supplier towards the organisation will vanish. Maybe the delay was because of a hospitalization or a funeral in the family. Instead if the organisation has inspected about the matter, and if the case was due to a funeral or hospitalization a get ell soon card a sympathy card sent would have increased the respect the organisation will get form that supplier. The relationship which was built will remain strongly if respect is given. Response can piece of puzzle to maintain corporate relationships with key stakeholders. The response is an expectation in a relationship. For example- if we take a partner (software developing companies and vendors are examples of partners of a m obile manufacturing company), due to the relationship created may call or visit and ask help on a certain matter. Just because the matter isn’t affecting the organisation the bodies of the organisation should turn him/her down. Whether connected or not save some time to help the partner off the matter by answering the question. When a response expected is given, the stakeholders will feel that they are important to the organisation and hence will think that the organisation is important to them too. Always try to involve as many key stakeholders as possible for important events. For example- a major supplier or two, a major partner or two can be invited to attend the annual meeting of the organisation. A major customer can be invited too, and even asked to do a presentation about his/her perception of the organisation mobile phones. Making the key stakeholders involve in important events of the organisation will enhance the relationships. To maintain a relationship with all the above mentioned points the organisation should firstly establish a method for continuous interaction between stakeholders. With continuous interaction between the stakeholders and organisation can fulfil all point to maintain a healthy relationship. With continuous interaction a lot of information can be communicated to the stakeholders and from the stakeholders. This is most important in the relationship with the shareholders/investors and for the board of directors. The shareholders and investors can be given the information and benefits of investing, by the information flow to and from the board of directors the other members will be given the correction intention of what is expected. Relationships between stakeholders and organisations are very important. By maintaining relationships the organisation can become a key stakeholder of them. 7. 0 RELATIONSHIP BENEFITS FOR ORGANISATION AND DECISION MAKING Customers- customer-organisation can provide with great tips when the strategic level s making decisions. When the organisation is maintaining a good relationship with the customers they have trust in the organisation. Due to this trust customers may tend to give suggestions for the future. Since the customers are the ones that use the mobiles manufactured their suggestion will help the organisation in taking strategic decision of introducing a new mobile or entering into another market. Sometimes the customers can give more precise information about what the market appreciates about the competitor products which too helps the strategic decisions. Suppliers- the suppliers are important to the organisation. f the organisation is able to make themselves a stakeholder of the suppliers, sometimes if the organisation is need of some extra raw material just mentioning it to some of the major suppliers, one of them might agree to supply that raw material too since both have trust on each other. Sometimes they cam suggest on better raw materials which can be used in the place instead for a cheaper price. Indirectly helping the organisation for the strategic decision of investing methods. Board of directors/chairman- are usually involved the strategic level decision making. Beside them there are senior managers included in the decision making. Sometimes the manager’s doesn’t understand the directors much due the lack of interaction. They hold grudges and tend not to take part in decision making much. But with a good relationship suggestions will flow both ways and effective strategic decision can be made/ Shareholders/investors- shareholders and investors, these stakeholders may sometimes be stakeholders of other organisations too. During informal conversations sometimes information about the benefits they get from other organisations when investing can be mentioned. These may act as tips when strategic level is laying plans to please their investors and stakeholders. Partners- there can be many partners for an international mobile manufacturing organisation. Like the customers the partners can give suggestion for market development (entering a new market) and product development (introducing new products) decisions. For example- mobiles nowadays are more technology and software based. A software developing organisation (who is partner) can suggest on new software possible to be integrated into a mobile phone. BENEFITS FOR THE ORGANISATION Not only will the stakeholder relationships help strategic level to make decisions but the benefits of the relationships will be reflected on the organisation too. Firstly by maintaining relationships both organisation and stakeholders benefit. For example consider the supplier-organisation relationship explained above. There the supplier will benefit by getting another order, the organisation will benefit by having a new raw materials at cheaper price. Maintaining relationships will have mutual benefits. Due to the relationships as shown above several suggestions can be made by several stakeholders. By this the organisation can make more practical and sure to success decisions, hence helping the business organisation to make effective decisions. By taking effective decisions organisation can reduce the wastage of finance. For instance consider the customer-organisation relationship and helping the decision making example, suggestion are so more correct matching decisions are made, the cost spent for implementing the decision will not be wasted. Therefore maintaining relationships will be cost effective to the organisation. With all the information flowing from customers, investors and others about the competitor the organisation can be competitive by making by creating innovative mobiles. Differentiations will keep the organisation as a competitor for other and will help it to survive in the market. By effective decisions made, and with the cost effective the organisation will gain, the organisation will have increased profits; the return on investment will be higher. Most of all the organisations need stakeholders for the on going of the organisation, during good tome and bad times. The relationships will ensure that the stakeholders will remain with the organisation during the bad days too. Specially will be important for the organisation in time as mentioned, where the sales declining and needs to take an important decision to ruse up. 8. 0 STRATEGIES FOR IMPROVEMENT The following are some strategies the organisation can implement to create and maintain corporate relationships- †¢ Web page- the organisation can introduce a web page for the organisation. Where the customers can visit and learn about all the products and facilities they provide with their mobiles phones. So the customers will not be cheated by any shops or agents world wide who are selling the mobiles. The customers visiting can be asked to enter the email address. So questionnaires, quizzes offers and many more information can be exchanged to and fro. Hence creating respect ad loyalty in customers, building up a relationship. †¢ Special offers for suppliers- a once a years or once a two years bonus scheme for the amount of raw materials supplied can be arranged by the organisation. This will create and enhance the relationships. The organisation can send greeting for seasons for major suppliers enhancing relationships. Get together- organisation can introduce the get together at least once years for the partners and organisation strategic managers. Here the partners and strategic managers will be a chance to interact freely out of business talks. Getting to know the non business personnel within the organisation will create respect in the hearts of partners and hence will make the relationships healthily. †¢ Official meetings. Official meeting or conferences can be arranged once a six month, so the tactical and operational level will get to meet the board of directors. The interaction created will and information flowed both ways will make the board of directors to understand the employees of all levels and they will get to understand the board of director and hence enhancing the relationship of board of directors towards the organisation. †¢ Customer member card- the organisation can present customer membership cards for all customers who are purchase straight from the agents. Where they can be given the service of producing the member card and get discounts of repairs, next purchase (from the same organisation) and so on. The discount amount can be increased with age of their customer membership card. Hence creating a relationship with the customers. 9. 0 CONCLUSION 10. 0 RECCOMENDATION 11. 0 REFFERENCE 12. 0 APPENDIX KNOWLEGDE EXPLICIT TACIT SEMI-STRUCTURED STRUCTURED OPERATIONAL UNSTRUCTURED SEMI-STRUCTURED STRUCTRURED ORGANISATIONAL OPERATIONAL TACTICAL STRATEGIC i i FIGURE 03- DECISIONS DECISIONS UNSTRUCTURED FIGURE 05- DECISION MAKING KEY STAKEHOLDERS Customers Suppliers Board of Directors Shareholder/investors Partners Government Employees Pressure groups Media HIGH POWER LOW LOW HIGH INTEREST FIGURE 05 –STAKEHOLDER MAPPING