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Business Communication problem in TEAM LTD.

Business Communication Problem

within an Apparel Buying House in

Bangladesh

A Research Paper presented to

Kashfah Khan Chowdhury

(Course Instructor, Business Communication)

By

August 14, 2014




Letter of transmittal

17th August, 2014

Kashfah Khan Chowdhury

Lecturer,

School of Business

North South University, Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Subject: Permission for submitting the Group Project Report

Dear Miss,

As part of our BUS 251 course, we are pleased to submit the report on the topic, as peryour guide line set fort in this report. We have prepared this report on the basis of study of the

business communication of “Team Sourcing Ltd”. We have tr ied to implement our learning from

this course. We would like to thank you for offering the opportunity to work on this topic.

Despite many limitations, we have tried our best to make this report accurate and reliable.

If you have any further enquiry concerning any additional information, we would be very

pleased to clarify that. This report also includes the key components and their brief discussion

related with this subject that you have mentioned earlier.

Yours sincerely,

ID




Executive Summary

In this report we have discussed about the communication process of one of the

leading Buying house of Bangladesh “Team Sourcing Company LTD.” It is mainly a trading

house containing 5 garments production factory, where about 24.5 million pieces of cloths

are made.

The goal of this report was to gather sufficient information on how their

communication system works. Team group gives more preference to formal communication

process over informal communication process. In our hypothesis we expect to find out the

underlying external communication problems that a buying house can face while dealing

with the buyers both foreign and within the country. So to justify this hypothesis we went

through interviews and surveys. At first we interviewed some of the top level managers and

merchandiser. We also conducted a survey among the employees to find out necessary

information. After gathering information from the interviews and surveys we analyzed the

replies of the employees regarding the communication system in Team group.

After analyzing the data we found that majority of the employees found this

communication process very convenient and it helped them to be more efficient in their

workplace. It seemed that a minority of the employees feel that this system is affecting their

privacy and causing problems in the working environment. Although it seems that internal

communication is working great for but we feel that it may cause problems in the future. The

external communication and the open door policy Team sourcing follows is highly

commendable but we suggest that they should give more emphasize on their external

communication process.




Table of contents

1. Introduction ………………………………………………………………. 05

1.1.

Oringin of the report…………………………………………………….05

1.2. Objective of the report ………………………………………………... 05

1.3.

Research Methodology………………………………………………... .06

1.4. Analysis and Interpretations ………………………............................... 06

1.5. Limitation ………………………….…………………………………...06

2.

Organizational Overview…………………………………………………..07

2.1.

Organizational Hierarchy………………………………………………..08

3. Communication Process of TEAM LTD…………………………………..09

3.1. Internal Communication……………….………………………………..04

3.2. External Communication………………………………………………..04

4.

Literature Review…………………………………………………………..10

5.

Hypothesis…………………………………………………………………..11

6. Questionnaire and Data Analysis……………………………..…………..12

7. Key Findings………………………………………………………………..25

8. Recommendation …………………………………………………………..27

9.

References…………………………………………………………………..29

10.

Appendix …………………………………………………….......................30




1. Introduction

1.1.Origin of the Report:

The report has been prepared to make a research on the “Business Communication

Practice‟ of TEAM Sourcing Ltd. Here we have discussed about the communication process

of one of the leading Buying house “Team Sourcing Company LTD.” In this report we tried

to find out the main aspects of its external communication process which in a very effective

way. To make this research fulfilled we along with group members went to visit the main

branch of Team sourcing ltd. To get an idea about its communication process.

We owe a debt to our faculty Miss. Kashfah Khan Chowdhury, who gave us the

opportunity to work on this project and to acquire knowledge about an organization business


1.2.Objective of the Report:

The objective of this report is to discuss the external communication system of Team

sourcing Limited and its different aspects. We will also discuss the various effects of this

communication system has in the company and its merits and demerits. We will cover how

they communicate internally and externally. We will also discuss what kinds of

communication tools they use in order to communicate.




1.3.Research Methodology:

As for primary source, we plan to survey employees in Team Sourcing Limited

through a questionnaire to find out the difficulties, challenges and barriers they face in their

workplace to communicate with suppliers and also their views concerning differentcommunication process and whether effective and traditional communication process are

able to solve their communication problems and make the communication effective within

the organization. We have a plan to interview an employer of the buying company.

As for our secondary source for the research paper, we wish to go through newspaper

articles, journals and browse the internet.

1.4.Analysis and Interpretations of Data:

We classification our data based on our survey question and collected those ansers

from the employees of Team Group. We included open ended, close ended, choices, evaluate

points in our survey question. After acquiring result we presented survey result into

diagrams, bar charts, pie charts, column charts and line charts

1.5.Limitation:

We were unable to collect as many information as we wanted due to company

restriction. Besides this problem we have faced the following problems in preparing this

report.

Lack of time

Lack of experience

Lack of communication facilities

Unfavorable Government holiday




2.

Organizational Overview

Team Sourcing Limited (TEAM), is a well-established reputed garments buying

house in Dhaka, Bangladesh which was established on 2009. Team Sourcing Company

Limited is a Turkish/ Bangladesh joint venture company with own manufacturing units. It is

mainly a trading house containing 5 garments production factory, where about 24.5 million

pieces of cloths are made.

Team has manufacturing unit with the following capacities - Circular Knit : 5

millions pieces per months Woven Denim and non Denim Trousers: 1 million pieces per

months. They have 5 Designers : For the design support to buyers. They have 81

Merchandisers: For costing, scouring and merchandising follow up . In their quality control

team they have 74 people: For doing all the daily follow up in the factory to assure the

quality and on time production is monitored properly.

On their ongoing project they are holding customers from Australia, Brazil, Chile,

Paris., Denmark, Germany, Mexico, Switzerland, Turkey , USA/Canada, Netherlands and

from many other country.

Team sourcing Ltd also conducts the surplus production function by the third party

garments factory. In this research, the external communication difficulties of “Team

Sourcing Company LTD.” will be scrutinized which is more of the communication gap

between the buying house and the foreign buyer.




2.1.Organizational Hierarchy:

(Team Sourcing Company LTD)

ManagingDirector

MarketingDirector

Marketing

Managers

FinanceDirector

FinanceManagers

OperationDirector

ProductionManagers

HRM Director

Merchandisers Personalmanager QualityControl Team Costing Team




3.

Communication Process of “TEAM LTD.”

3.1.Internal Communication:

Team Sourcing Ltd communicate with their buyers, suppliers and employees by a

certain communication flow that helped them to reach their strategic objectives and

organizations goals if each of their departments works with each other. Hence, they build a

strong relationship among their departments by using modern communication tools. They use

WIFI technology in their office so that every employee can communicate faster and better.

They practice four types of communication process: (Team Sourcing Company LTD)

Upward

Downward

Horizontal

Diagonal

3.2.External Communication:

Team Sourcing Company LTD has excellent external communication process to

communicate with their clients when they do any official works. They use many

communication tools to make the deal success or complete the order such as Cell Phone,

Office Telephone, Email, Website Advertisement, Personal face to face interaction, and so

on. Generally their clients contact them via phone, email or direct face to face conversation.

Almost in each department such as human resource management, accounts, client service,

media, events and activities department they have supervisors who provide all sort ofinformation to the clients. Their website is very informative and changes on a regular basic

with updated information. But they faces some problems regarding external communication.

(Team Sourcing Company LTD)




4.

Literature Review

In this report, we have discussed about the communication process of Team Sourcing

(Team Sourcing Company LTD). How their communication system works, we discussed

whether the employees are satisfied with the current process of communication. At first, in

the hypothesis we stated that external communication problems that a buying house can face

while dealing with the buyers both foreign and within the country. So to justify this

hypothesis we went through interviews and surveys. In the analysis section we will highlight

the data and different charts and graphs to show the findings of our surveys and interviews.

The report shows us the external communication systems in Team Sourcing Ltd. Then in the

findings we interpreted the data and came to a point of judgment. After the findings we have

given our recommendation regarding the matter. (HUSSAIN, 2012)

Our underlying research issue is center on identifying the communication process

adopted by the employees of „Team‟. Because communication is the heart of the organization

as it connects and collaborates different kinds of department of an organization (Board of

Investment Bangladesh, 2012). To do that we will focus on the external relationship between

managers and employees and how they communicate with each other when they do any

official works.




5. Hypothesis

To maintain effective communication between buyers and sellers can be both difficult

and time-consuming. From our research we expect to find out the underlying external

communication problems that a buying house can face while dealing with the buyers both

foreign and within the country. We assume that the survey questions will expose the real

problems of this sector. We also expect to find out some relevant suggestions and solutions

which will be effective to deal with the above mentioned problems of a buying house. The

research that will be conducted will help us understand whether the mixture of

communication methods has any advantages and disadvantages. There may be certain

advantages from the mixture of communication methods such as easier to communicate with

one another within the organization and might also build loyalty towards the company.

(HABIB & ALAM, 2011)

Since most of the companies remain closed during the religious festivals, the sellers

face difficulty to communicate with the buyers in case of any emergency. We think most of

the problems would be related to either miscommunication or lack of communication. That is

why we have chosen HYPOTHESIS “Holidays leads to miscommunication and

misunderstandings”




6.

Questionnaire and Data Analysis

1. Does Team Sourcing limited have an effective communication

system to communicate properly?

We have started our survey by asking a very simple and basic question to know about

their communication quality. We glad to know that about half of the employees are strongly

agreed with their effective communication system. We have asked employees from different

departments of Team Group such as human resource management, accounts, client service,

media, events and activities department. We have obtained the following data by the help of

their cooperation.

Ans

wers

Effective Communication System

Strongl

y Disagree

D

isagree

N

eutral

A

gree

Stron

gly Agree

Parti

cipants

1 1 2 6 10

Perc

entages

5% 5

%

1

0%

3

0%

50%

Table 1.1




Chart 1.1

2. What is the most effective communication system in Team

Sourcing Company Ltd.?

After doing some survey on 20 employees we have found that upward communication

system is the most effective one. Then informal, lateral and downward are the next effective

one in a row.

Most Effective Communication System

Upwar

d

Down

ward

Lateral Inform

al

Partici

pants

8 2 4 6

5%5%

10%

30%

50%

Effective Communication system

Strongly Disagree

Disagree

Neutral

Agree

Strongly agree




Perce

ntages

40% 10% 20% 30%

Table 1.2

Chart 1.2

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

Upward Downward Lateral Informal

N u m b e r o f P a r t i c i p a n t s

Types of Answers

Most Effective Communication System

Participants




3 Does your office members are cooperative during office time-

Team Sourcing is strategically innovative as they believe good and friendly

communication among all the employees will help their company to reach their goals and

objectives. Hence, they allow their employees to communicate with each other through

informal communication. We have taken face to face interviews of a merchandiser of Team.

And they told us that they are always co-operative towards other employees.

Ans

wers

Members availability during office hour

Always

ften

So

metimes

R

arely

Nev

er

Parti

cipants

10 1 2 6 1

Perc

entages

50% 5

%

10

%

3

0%

5%

Table 1.3




Chart 1.3

4. What do you prefer mostly to communicate with your office

members?

In this survey question we asked 20 employees to justify what they prefer mostly to

communicate with each others. From the survey we come to know that 10 of them think

informal way is more flexible for them to communicate with their colleague. 4 of them prefer

formal ways, 2 of them prefer both and the rest 4 prefer others.

Types

Communication Process

Forma Informal B Other

50%

5%10%

30%

5%

Effective Communication system




of effects l ways ways oth

formal

&

informal

Ways

s

Partici

pants

4 10 2 4

Table 1.4

Chart 1.4

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

Formal ways Informal ways both others


Types of Effects

Communication Process based on

Members preference

Participants




5. Have you ever faced any communication problem from your

suppliers where your work was delayed?

In this survey we see that due to external communication problem Team Sourcing

company often failed to meet their target which make their work delayed. Half of the

employees say that it happened often. As suppliers are directly or indirectly involved in

increasing or decreasing productivity, due to communication problem they cannot provide

the best effort in increasing the productivity. As a result Team Souring ltd productivity

reduces because of this issue.

Ans

wers

Communication gap with suppliers

Always

ften

So

metimes

R

arely

Nev

er

Parti

cipants

1 1

0

2 6 1

Perc

entages

5% 5

0%

10

%

3

0%

5%

Table 1.5




Chart 1.5

6. Company’s communication problem mostly occur due to …….

In the sixth survey question we have found that out of 20 employees 6 employees

answer that Government‟s Holidays leads to miscommunication, 4 employees think as

strikes, another 2 employees think as a personal conflict, 4 more employees think as Due to

Eid, Christmas or religious vacation and the rest 4 employees think Major political violence

causes significant communication problems.

Answers Participants

Government‟s Holidays 6

Strikes 4

5%

50%10%

30%

5%

Always

Often

Sometimes

Rarely

Never




During Eid, Christmas or religious

vacation

4

Major political violence 4

Personal Conflict 2

Table 1.6

Chart 1.6

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

Government’s

Holidays

Strikes During Eid,

Christmas or

religious

vacation

Major political

violence

Personal Conflict


Answers' Types

Productivity Reduction due to Miscommunication

Participants




7. Which conflict affects your communication most?

In the seventh survey question we have found that rumor, gossip, conversation and

anonymous are equally the same reason by which employees actually get involved in

grapevine.

Answe

rs

Communication conflict

Ego Leader

ship

person

ality

compet

ition

Partici

pants

5 5 5 5

Percen

tages

25% 25% 25% 25%

Table 1.7

Chart 1.7

25%

25%25%

25%

Communication conflict

Ego

Leadership

personality




8. Overall, how satisfied are you with communication system in

your organization?

Though there are few problems inside the Team sourcing ltd. Surprisingly, we have

found that employees are still enjoying their respective job. As a result, most of the

employees are very satisfied to do the job in Team with full of enthusiasm.

Types of Satisfactions Participants

Very Dissatisfied 1

Dissatisfied 3

Neutral 3

Satisfied 5

Very Satisfied 8

Table 1.8

Chart 1.8

0 2 4 6 8

Very Dissatisfied

Dissatisfied

Neutral

Satisfied

Very Satisfied

Number of Participants

T y p e s o f S a t i s f a c t i o n s

Satisfaction with communication process

Participants




9. Do You have good communication system with your suppliers

and buyers -?

As we have mentioned earlier the communication process of Team mostly follows

formal patterns and for this reason sometimes it leads to miscommunication. But we have

found out by taking personal interviews of their managers that the communication process is

in harmony with the organizational culture. As we have mentioned earlier that the employees

believe that working as a team bring success and hence they let their employee to

communicate with each other through formal communication. They let their employee to

think big and give them opportunity to bring new ideas.

Answ

ers

Communication process Efficiency

Strong

ly Disagree

D

isagree

N

eutral

A

gree

Stro

ngly Agree

Partic

ipants

2 4 2 6 6

Perce

ntages

10% 2

0%

1

0%

3

0%

30%

Table 1.9




Chart 1.9

10%

20%

10%

30%

30%

Communication process Efficiency

Strongly Disagree

Disagree

Neutral

Agree

Strongly Agree




7. Key Findings

Team group gives more preference to formal communication process over informal


Majority of the employees found this communication process very convenient and it helped

them to be more efficient in their workplace.

In the external communication process they use many communication tools to make the deal

success or complete the order such as cell Phone, office telephone, email, website for

advertisements, personal face to face interaction, and so on.

Generally their clients contact with them via phone, email or direct face to face conversation.

In each and every departments they have supervisors who provide all sort of information to

the clients through merchandisers.

During the religious festivals, as most of the companies remain closed and in that time the

sellers face difficulty to communicate with the buyers in case of any emergency.

As suppliers are directly or indirectly involved in increasing or decreasing productivity,

Team Sourcing company often failed to meet their target in time due to external

communication problems.

Government‟s Holidays leads to miscommunication,

Strikes, personal conflicts ,Eid, Christmas or religious vacation and major political violence

often causes significant external communication problems.




Rumor, gossip, conversation and anonymous are equally the same reason by which

employees actually get involved in grapevine.

About communication quality half of the employees are strongly agreed with their effective

communication system.

Upward communication system is the most effective one. Then informal, lateral and

downward are the next effective one in a row.

Most of the employees think that informal way is more flexible for them to communicate

with their colleague.

Employees of the Team group believe that working as a team bring success and hence they

let their employee to communicate with each other through both formal communication and

informal communication .




8.

Recommendation

During our survey, we found quite a few internal and external communication

problems in Team Sourcing Company. We‟ve mentioned it below.

1. As it‟s mentioned earlier, the most effective communication system is dominated by

Upward employees (About 40%). So somehow they‟re not providing the downward

employees much skill in communication. If the downward employees are provided good

communication tools, it may increase company‟s production.

2. We‟ve found they‟re not using the technology properly for better communication. The

modern technologies must be adopted for the downward employees as well.

3. They‟re providing a huge service in Garments Industries, but their website and web

information are not standard. If they improve their web information properly, they may

communicate better for outsourcing.

4. Team sourcing company often fails to meet their actual target, which make their

work delay. We found couple of reason based on communication problem as well. There‟s a

huge chain positions for such deals. And the communication is hampered somehow within

this chain. So we think, there should be manager, who should only focus on the

communication scenario inside and outside of the company.




5. Holid (HUSSAIN, 2012)ays, such as- Eid, Puja, Christmas, Pohela boishakh create

most occurred communication problems in this company, according to our interview. So we

think, during that period, employees should be given more bonus, if they want their

employees during holidays too. Sometimes, the orders are too heavy and the time is too short,

they may use the bonus policy and different work (Myers, Henslee, & Totten, 2014) (Get

Employee Buy-in With An External Communications Plan, 2013)shift policy during these

holidays.

5. Hartal (Strikes and Blockages) are the most effective reason of communication

problem in this company according to us. Yes, there‟s no proper solution for this, but it can

be prevented by taking some internal communication strategies. For example : The

communication related manager and his/her team may notify all the employees about the

situation via SMS and Email as well.

6. All the employees respect each other, but still there‟s a gap between the upward

and downward employees. We think, some regular seminars and meetings may create their

bond even better.

7. They should use official Twitter account and Facebook page to connect with the

buyers. That attracts more in any business now a day. The employees as well as the buyers

may also get important updates of the company just by visiting these social networking sites.




9. References

Board of Investment Bangladesh. (2012). Retrieved June 24, 2014, from Key Statistics ofRMG* Sector: http://www.boi.gov.bd/index.php/potential-sector/garments-and-

textitles

Get Employee Buy-in With An External Communications Plan. (2013, November 20).

Retrieved July 24, 2014, from Steamfeed: http://www.steamfeed.com/get-employee-

buy-internal-communications-plan/

HABIB, M. A., & ALAM, M. Z. (2011). Business Analysis of Pharmaceutical Firms in

Bangladesh: Problems and prospect. Journal 62 of Business and Technology (Dhaka) , VI,

61-75.

HUSSAIN, S. (2012, April). Garments Buying House Merchandising. Retrieved July 25,

2014, from Institutional Digital Repository: http://hdl.handle.net/123456789/826

Myers, G., Henslee, S., & Totten, L. (2014). Communication tools. Retrieved july 24,

2014, from My own Business: http://www.myownbusiness.org/s3/

Team Sourcing Company LTD. (n.d.). Retrieved June 24, 2014, from Manufacturing Unit:

http://www.team.com.bd/index.html




10.

Appendixo Research Proposal

o Survey Questions

bus 251 kdc project

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