Case Study ‘Satellite Supplies’

You work for a small but rapidly growing firm called Satellite Supplies producing and distributing Satellite TV equipment. The firm started as a sole trader business, with the owner undertaking all of the various tasks needed to run the firm. The tasks varied from banking cash, to ordering supplies, sending out invoices, chasing late payers, taking new orders, and marketing and delivering the goods.

Now the firm has a turnover of £300,000 per annum and employs 5 people. However, it is still being run without any proper business systems, and all decision-making and paperwork still depend for action on the original owner. Recently, because of the heavy workload, it has been decided to look at the kinds of systems that other, more established firms use and then adopt the best of these for Satellite Supplies.

You have been asked to prepare a report explaining the administration system used in a firm (or firms) that you have chosen for investigation (this could be a work experience firm, your school/college administration system, or any firm known to you).

Your report should include the following discussion elements:

1. Why firms need administration systems.

2. The kinds of tasks requiring administrative systems at Satellite Supplies and the business functions that would undertake them.

3. The kinds of international quality standards which could be used by the firm to improve the quality of its administration.

4. How the suitability of any administrative systems introduced could be evaluated.

5. The use of a questionnaire to find out the opinions of users, employees, and customers, to help guide the design of an administrative system that could be employed by Satellite Supplies.

6. How the introduction of computers could help the operation of the administration system, in terms of work load, productivity and other improvements.

7. What software applications you would recommend to the firm to use in administration.

Use word processing or desktop publishing computer software to prepare your report, to cover Information Technology core skills. Present the main conclusions and recommendations of your report in an oral presentation to your class group, using slides and handouts if appropriate.

Unit 5. Communications Systems

Key words: communication, communication channel, open channels, restricted channels, verbal and non-verbal communication, face-to-face communication, agenda, cascading, videoconferencing, cellular phone, memorandum, minutes, reports, bulletins, modem, e-mail, Internet, facsimile (fax), telex, teletext, pager, voice messaging

5.1. Why Do Businesses Need Communications System?

What is communication?

Communication is a process which enables information to be passed from one person or organisation to another. To be effective, communication will require:

• a transmitter: a source or sender of information;

• a transmission: a message or content;

• a channel: a route through which information is passed, e.g. different employees and organisations;

• a medium: a method through which information is passed, e.g. a telephone;

• a receptor: a person or audience to whom the information is sent;

• feedback: to indicate whether not the receptor has understood the message.

Thus, for communication to be effective, information passed between two parties must be understood and acceptable to those sending it and to those receiving it. If both the person transmitting information and the person receiving it are within the same organisation, communication is said to be internal. If information is passed between one organisation and another, it involves external communication.

Success in business depends on being able to respond to changes in the market and to the actions of competitors quicker than other firms. One very important means of gaining a competitive advantage over rival firms is through fast and efficient communications. Fast and accurate communication means that a firm can find out quickly what is going on in the market and can communicate its response – whether in terms of price changes or the introduction of new or revised products – to its own staff and to customers as quickly as possible.

Channels of communication

We can define a communication channel as either a formal or informal route between people or organisations along which information passes. There are the following types of communication channels:

One-way channels exist to provide people and organisations with information which requires no direct feedback, for example, managers passing simple instructions or other information via a vertical channel to workers on the shop floor.

Two-way channels exist to provide reciprocal exchange of information, for example, managers asking employees for their opinions on some business matter.

Multi-track channels exist when information is passed on by one transmitter to a number of receptors, for example, wholesalers providing product information onto retailers.

If a channel of communication is open, it means that anyone can share in the information being transmitted. For example, a notice board at work is used to transmit information to anyone who reads it.

However, some information will be confidential, and access to it will be restricted. For example, if managers are planning to introduce new machinery which is likely to lead to redundancies, they will need information on which to base this decision, but will not wish their workforce to know until their plans are finalised. An organisation will also wish to keep new product developments secret, so that rival firms are unable to copy their ideas.

Communications technology

The way in which business organisations communicate has changed significantly in recent times. Information Technology has revolutionised our ability to store, retrieve, and send information to different users. For example, computers and satellites have improved the speed at which information can be passed over long distances. Both sound and vision can be transmitted around the world in just a few seconds. The large number of people who have such equipment as telephones, TVs, videos and computers means that business can communicate with a large audience. This is especially important to firms advertising their products to national and international markets.

However, information technology can be expensive to buy and staff may need a lot of training if they are to use the new equipment effectively. People and firms unable to afford new equipment might be excluded from some communications. The security of information is also threatened by telephone bugging and computer hacking (unlawful access to other peoples and organisations computer files).