M1 Analysing different types of business information and their sources Essay

Verbal information: It is important that Detica uses verbal communication, mainly because they are a big technology based organisation. Detica uses a hierarchy structure that is like a chain of communication. This is the way a business communicates through different departments. This means that if the client doesn’t communicate with each other the chain will be broken, this can cause problems and result in tasks not getting completed. The advantage of verbal information is that it is easier than written and on-screen information, this is because when you use verbal you are able to understand every detail that is being said by the speaker. In Detica they use verbal information in meeting with staff and customers, this is an advantage for customers as they get to ask staff questions just in case they want to clarify something or if they didn’t understand the instructions clearly. With verbal information you get to communicate more effectively when in meeting and conferences. Verbal information does have its disadvantages, such as language barriers. Language barriers can effect verbal information because the other person may not speak English or they might have an accent. This type of language barrier can cause poor communication between the staff in Detica and the customer. Written information: Written information has its advantages that are used in a technology organisation like Detica. This type of information may be used in memos, contracts, instructions or when writing notes, by doing this they are able to refer back to it and verify the information so that they understand it clearly. This can help Detica when they are helping a client who may not understand English properly, because they will be able to give them written feedback that is clear and easy to read. However there are disadvantages such as typos and unclear instructions. Written information can sometimes be misleading if a word is spelt the wrong way, this can also be misunderstood if the instructions are in the wrong order or not sent out in a clear way. This can be a problem for the staff in Detica because if they receive a set of an instruction that is not clear or doesn’t have enough information they will not be able to follow the steps properly. Multimedia information: There are advantages to multimedia information as it can be very user friendly, it’s easy to use as all the you have to do is watch the video or listen to the audio. Multimedia information is suitable for everyone ranging from a large audience to an individual. There are also disadvantages that can affect the way multimedia is shown, for example if there is too much information it can make it harder to get the important message across to the viewer. On screen information: On screen information such as presentations can give the talker some assistance when presenting to staff and clients. Presentations are easy to use because they can be projected or played with media player when it being viewed in person, this means it’s easier for staff and clients to understand information when figures and statistics are being explained. PowerPoint’s allow a large amount of people to view it and can be sent through email. The disadvantages of on-screen information is that if the presentation is too long people may get bored and is likely to not be interested. Also the creator has to make sure that the information that is being presented makes sense. Web based information: Web based information is good for sending presentations via the internet to help people connect. This is a visual element that can consist of images and examples that the viewer can read through at their own pace. However some people may find that they are not able to access this type of web based information because they might need to install a copy of Microsoft PowerPoint in order for them to see it. Also if the online presentation is too long the viewer may not look through the rest of the information. External sources: The advantages of this are that the information has been already published. For example the government are able to publish statistics that is supplied from the office of national statistics. When collecting research externally it is an advantage because it can allow the researcher to gain advanced knowledge as well as facts. However there are disadvantages to external sources because it can take a long time to find out information if it’s coming from outside the business, also some of the information that’s published may not be reliable enough and could be false. Internal sources: This is good because there are a variety of sources within Detica, for example finance, sales and human resources department. Collecting internal information on Detica’s marketing can show their results that have been undertaken by the organisation, to see if they have had a success in any marketing activities. The disadvantages of this are that it requires a lot of administration work to be done in a short amount of time.