BTEC EDEXCEL HND DIPLOMA IN BUISNESS (MANAGEMENT & HUMAN RESOURCES)

OFFERED BY INTERNATIONAL COLLEGE OF BUISNESS AND TECHNOLOGY

UNIT 16: MANAGING COMMUNICATION KNOWLEDGE AND INFORMATION

RUWINI DISSANAYAKE

BATCH 08/N/21

ICBT CAMPUS

SUBMITTED TO: MS. THARANGA WIJESURIYA

15/08/2012

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Acknowledgement

I wish to express my sincere gratitude to Miss Tharanga Wijesuriya, the lecturer of the

“Managing Communication Knowledge and Information” subject of International College of

Business and Technology for making the subject interesting and giving a great support make this

assignment a success. And also my gratitude goes to the entire ICBT staff for providing us the

best of facilities which helped me to complete this assignment successfully.

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Executive summary

Managing information and knowledge in organizations explores the nature and place of

knowledge in contemporary organizations, paying particular attention to the management of

information and data and to the crucial enabling role played by information and communication

technology.

This report consists of managing information, communication and knowledge systems and how

these elements will help in the decision making process. The report as a whole is discussed about

the company Opeka which is a cleaning and Maintenance Company.

The first task is based on the current problem that Opeka has which is the unbearable pressure of

competition. Further task 01 is discussed information and knowledge such as competitors,

competitor business extension etc needed to make decisions for the above mentioned problem.

Report has identified all the internal sources such as information from employees, owners etc

and external sources of information such as suppliers, government etc. further report has

suggested autocratic leadership and to have a marketing department to minimize the risk of

competition.

The second task consists of improving the current system of the businesses collection,

formatting, storage and dissemination of information and knowledge gathered. Currently the

existing approach of collecting, formatting, storing and disseminating should be identified such

as, competitors, customers etc. to gather information, twice a year to format, manual documents

and data bases to store and annual report and website to disseminate. Further the new approaches

of collecting, formatting, storing and disseminating should be discussed. Finally the report is

discussed the strategy implementing the computerized data base to improve access to systems of

information and knowledge.

Task 03 is discussed about the stakeholders of Opeka such as competitors, customers,

employees’ etc. and personal networking will build a strong relationship with the company and

its stakeholders and how they contribute for the decision making process. The existing process

of communication in the business is also identified and the improvements to ensure greater

integration of systems of communication in that organization has further discussed in the report.

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Contents

Acknowledgement........................................................................................................................................ i

Executive summary………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..ii

1.0 Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………1

2.1 Decisions to be taken by different level s of employees…………………………………………………………………….2

2.1.1 Operational level employees……………………………………………………………………………………………………….3

2.1.2 Tactical level employees………………………………………………………………………………………………………………3

2.1.3 Strategic level employees…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….4

2.2 information needed to ensure decision making…………………………………………………………………………………4

2.3 sources of information………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………5

2.3.1 Internal sources of information………………………………………………………………………………………………….6

2.3.2 External sources of information………………………………………………………………………………………………….6

2.4 improvement of effective decision making process…………………………………………………………………………..6

3.1 existing approach………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………8

3.2 The recommended approach................................................................................................................9

3.3 Strategy to improve access to systems…………………………………………………………………………………………….11

4.1personal networking…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………12

4.1.1 Stakeholders of Opeka..................................................................................................................13

4.2.1 Employees....................................................................................................................................14

4.2.2 Customers.....................................................................................................................................14

4.2.3 Government..................................................................................................................................14

4.2.4 Competitors…………………………………………………………………………………………………………..……………….. 14

4.3 Involving stakeholders in the decision making process.......................................................................15

4.4 Strategy to improve client networking of Opeka.................................................................................16

4.5 Communication of the organization with internal external stakeholders...........................................17

4.6 Improving the communication process when dealing with external stakeholders..............................18

4.7 Improvements of the system integration............................................................................................19

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5.0 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….20

6.0 referencing………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….………… 21

7.0 Bibliography.........................................................................................................................................21

List of figures

2.1 managerial levels ……………………………………………………………………………..2

2.2 sources of information…………………………………….…………………………………..5

4.4 database which is linked with all the stakeholders………………………………………..…16

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Introduction

Managing communication, information and knowledge consists of many factors that will be

important to a business to operate effectively. Managing information and knowledge in

organizations explores the nature and place of knowledge in contemporary organizations.

Communication is the transferring of a message from a sender to a receiver who understands the

message, for communication to be productive it should be effective. Data is collected and turned

into information by processing it; information is a very important element for an organization

since this will make a business to operate more effectively. The whole process of communication

will be discussed in the report.

Opeka (pvt) Ltd is a maintenance company which has expanded their business not only in

Colombo, but also in outstation such as pallekale grounds, etc. for more than twelve years,

Opeka environmental services has set new standards within the field of cleaning and

maintenance services by providing efficient and effective service according to customer

preferences.

This report will highlight the current problems that the company faces and the effective decisions

that can be taken by using the information needed and by using sources of information. Further

report provides external and internal stakeholders in this organization. The existing approaches

of collection, format, storage and dissemination will discuss in this particular organization and

also the new approaches of collection, formatting, storage and disseminating will also discuss by

providing recommendations. Further the ways in which the communication should be improved

with the external and internal stakeholders will be discussed and the greater integration of

systems of communications will discuss in this report..

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2.0 Task 01

Opeka (pvt) Ltd is a maintenance company which has expanded their business not only in

Colombo, but also in outstation such as pallekale grounds, etc. for more than twelve years,

Opeka environmental services has set new standards within the field of cleaning and

maintenance services by providing efficient and effective service according to customer

preferences.

In every organization, there are different, unexpected internal and external problems that they

have to face while conducting their business activities. Thus Opeka is also having certain

problems when continuing its business activities and their main problem is unbearable pressure

of competition and difficulty to survive in the industry. At present, most of the new entrants can

be seen in the cleaning service and maintenance industry which will also increase the rivalry

within the industry. Plus their main competitors with high brand recognition such as Abans

cleaning service, Care clean etc have directly affected to the company “Opeka”.

Thus to avoid the competition or to minimize the competition, different levels of employees of

Opeka have to take effective decisions depending on the position they hold.

2.1 Decisions to be taken by different levels of employees

Figure 2.1 managerial levels

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strategic level

tactical level

operational level

Levels of management is a line of demarcation between various managerial positions in an

organization .The number of levels in management increases when the size of the business and

work-force increases and vice-versa.

(Management study guide, 2012)

These managerial levels determine a chain of command which are linked together and each level

of employees will responsible for certain tasks and decisions to be made to solve a company’s

problems and to maintain the existence in the industry.

2.1.1 Operational level employees

Operational level employees are the lower level employees of an organization, thus all the

cleaners and the supervisors of Opeka falls under this category. Thus by considering the orders

of tactical level employees, operational level employees should provide an efficient and effective

functioning of service in a distinguish way by considering customer expectations. Further to

minimize the risk of competition, they are also entrusted with the responsibility of maintaining a

good relationship with the organization.

2.1.2 Tactical level employees

Branch managers and the departmental managers constitute in the tactical level. They are

responsible for the top management for the functioning and activities of the department.

Therefore, tactical level managers should push the operational level supervisors to achieve the

objectives of the top management. Further being a strong-hold to supervisors for the proper

functioning of the company, they will be able to minimize the risk of competition.

Managers should provide continuous training and development for the lower level employees by

introducing new standards and how to use new technological equipments and maintain the

necessary standards of cleanliness. Further to compete within the industry, managers should

focus on market research, to evaluate the novel functions in the industry plus the strong points

and weak points of the competitors to react according to the market situation.

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2.1.3 Strategic level managers

As Opeka is a partnership, only the two partners considered as the strategic level employees who

are the ultimate source of authority and they manage goals and policies for the company.

Owners of the company should aim towards expanding the current market while fueling the

operational and tactical level employees to function properly. Further as Opeka has to compete

with large scale companies such as Abans, company should always come up with cost effective

pricing strategies and policies.

2.2 Information needed to ensure effective decision making

Competitors

Since Opeka has the current problem of unbearable pressure of competition and difficulty in

surviving in the maintenance industry, first of all Opeka should identify their key competitors.

Thus conducting a competitor analysis, company identified Abans cleaning service and care

clean service as their main competitors in the industry. Understanding competitors and their

behaviors will help the organization to minimize the risk and to be realistic about how successful

that the company be.

Competitor brand awareness

Abans and care clean companies are with high brand recognition and brand awareness among the

society which have been established more than twenty years ago. Therefore Opeka should clearly

identify the brand awareness of their company and the competitor companies, and Opeka has

focus on untouched areas of their competitors to further create the brand awareness.

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Expansion and diversification of the competitors

It is useful for the company to get to know the expansion of their competitors which will increase

their competitor’s brand awareness and brand image. Therefore Opeka can easily figure out the

capabilities of the competitors and how they should react in the industry.

Competitor strengths and weaknesses

Company strengths and weaknesses

2.3 Sources of information

Sources of information comes in different ways such as general surveys, articles, references,

search engines internal records etc that a business can use to guide its planning, operations and

evaluation of its activities. Further these sources of information gathering can be divided as

mentioned below.

Figure 2.2 sources of information

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sources of information

internal external

2.3.1 Internal sources of information (information sources within the organization)

Information from employees

Reports of the company such as annual report

Owners

2.3.2 External sources of information (information sourced outside the organization)

Customer feedback

Government

Pressure groups

Suppliers

Competitors

Also company can gather information through conducting market research, internet, journals,

research analyst etc which provides information about the macro environment of the company.

2.4 Improvement of effective decision making process

As decisions affect every employee in an organization, decisions will effect either in a positive or

a negative way to the business activities. Thus company should have an effective decision

making process which will lead to the success of the business.

Therefore company should consider following recommendation,

1. Democratic leadership

Company should allow all the employees to contribute to the decision making process

which will increase the collection of ideas. Employees will feel like they are also a part of

the organization and they will further work towards achieving company goals.

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2. Maintain a proper intranet

Company should maintain a proper intranet to increase the relationship between all the

employees and this will help employees to communicate among them plus this is an

effective way of get to know all the information which is necessary for the employees.

3. Conduct market researches

Opeka has to conduct market research to analyze the market and to identify the strengths and weaknesses of them and their competitors. This will lead to minimize the competition, since company can identify the gap between their resources and the competitors’.

4. Increase the level of service standards offer to clients

By taking consideration of the above factors, company enables to provide a quality

standard service to their clients according to their requirement. Thus company will be

able to maintain a long term relationship with them and increase the loyalty.

Further company should form a separate marketing department for the company “Opeka” which

will help to communicate with the external stakeholders and to help achieving the above

mentioned recommendations.

And also Opeka can introduce a common data base for all the level of employees in the decision

making process which will highlight the equality among the employees.

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3.0 Task 02

3.1 Existing approach

Collection

Opeka collects information mainly from employees, competitors and suppliers. Since Opeka

belongs to service industry, the employees of Opeka have to interact more with the customer

closely to provide customer requirements. Therefore it is easy for the employees to get the

feedback from customers to identify the improvements of Opeka’s cleaning service.

Further company gather information from competitor’s behaviors and standards such as new

quality control methods, latest technology based equipment etc to develop the business and to

minimize the competition risk.

Suppliers can also be contacted to collect information because suppliers enables to inform Opeka

about the new and the latest use of cleaning supplies, the lowest possible prices of cleaning

supplies with good quality, the new equipment with latest technology etc to further improve the

quality of the service by reducing the costs and maintaining necessary standards.

Formatting

Opeka updates there information twice a year, for the consideration of other stakeholders. The

updated information includes; industry analysis and the current market position of Opeka, the

external influences, competitors etc.

Storage

The information that is collected will be stored in a data base that that can only be accessed by

the authorized people such as the strategic level employees. Further some information is kept as

written documents, as Opeka is not a large scale business.

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Dissemination

The way in which Opeka disseminates the information to the market is mainly by suppliers and

by issuing the annual report. Therefore outsiders can access information and get the information

about Opeka by the above mentioned methods.

3.2 The recommended approach

Collection

Opeka’s collection of information is limited to suppliers competitors and employees, a new way

of collecting information from employees can be done by having employee surveys. Opeka can

also directly contact customers by giving questionnaires, conducting focus groups etc.

Further company should consider pressure groups such as media when gathering information. At

the same time Opeka should conduct a market research at least once a year to analyze the current

position in the industry to identify the areas to be improved.

Therefore, above mentioned will help the company to further improve the service they provide

and increase the standards of the company.

Formatting

Opeka should update the process monthly to know about the market, rapid changes in the

industry etc. Company should update information in a way that each employee can access and

know the current position of the company.

Therefore getting frequent updates will lead the employees to be more interested in doing the job

by acting towards the rapid changes in the market.

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Storage

Opeka can improve storage by entering information to a common data base that can be accessed

by every level of employee including the operational level employees. And also Opeka can

create an official website for the company and maintain it to get frequent customer feedback and

to keep in touch with them

Dissemination

The dissemination improvement can be done by publishing information about them by advertise

in business newspapers, business magazines etc.

Further they can update their website daily to provide information for the customers.

When advertising about the company, high amount of information about Opeka can be given and

a high number of customer bases can be captured. Through that they will be able to minimize the

risk of competition and increase customer loyalty.

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3.3 Strategy to improve access to systems

Since collection of data includes communicating effectively with the low level employees, new

approach of Collection, Formatting, Storage and Disseminating information is important to solve

the current company problem.

In order to overcome the current problem of unbearable pressure of competition, the three levels

of employees should be linked. The strategic decisions that are being taken should be passed on

to the tactical level of employees from a medium which will be safely received by them and

where they will be able to send feedback about the decision. Further since this is official, they

should use a communication method which they can prove later on if necessary.

From the tactical level of employees the decisions should be passed onto operational level

employees and they should get an opportunity to give feedback about the decision. Thus,

operational level employees will feel like they are also a part of the company and it will boost

employee’s motivation to achieve company targets.

Therefore this will ultimately create an link between strategic level, tactical level and operational

level employees where every employee can access the data base and contribute for the decision

making process by giving their personal opinions and feedback.

Further in order to increase the relationship between external stakeholders company can maintain

the website and update it to make strong the bond between clients and them. It will increase the

loyalty for Opeka will result favorably to the organization in the terms of competition.

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4.0 Task 03

4.1 Personal networking

Creating a group of acquaintances and associates and keeping it active through regular

communication for mutual benefits is known as networking.

(Business dictionary, 2012)

Further effective personal networking is communicating with individuals who will affect and

who will be affected by the organization’s activities.

Thereof following mentioned are the stakeholders of Opeka who will affect and who will be

affected for the business activities of Opeka.

4.1.1 Stakeholders of Opeka

Owners

Owners are the people who set up a business by investing capital and they bare risks in

order to earn and maximize profits. Opeka is a partnership and the owners are Mr. Kapila

Wanigasuriya and Mrs. Manel Wanigasuriya.

Employees

Employees are the most important stakeholder for a business. since Opeka is a cleaning

and maintenance company which is in the service industry, employees are very important

as they always have to communicate with customers when providing services. Currently

Opeka has nearly 400 employees including managers.

Customers

Customers are a main priority of a business as they generate profits to the business. At

present, company deals with customers such as excel world, Prasad textiles, pallekale

grounds etc.

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Suppliers

The suppliers supply the cleaning equipments and other necessary products in order to

provide the cleaning service for the customers. Company does have certain loyal

suppliers who provide quality products which will help the company easy to provide

cleaning service.

Government

Government passes laws that affect business activities, and by obeying those laws a

business can operate effectively. Since this is not a large scale business, Opeka doesn’t

have to follow most of the rules and regulations as large companies do. Further

government activities will sometimes affect the business activities of Opeka.

Competitors

At present, most of the new entrants can be seen in the cleaning service and maintenance

industry which will also increase the rivalry within the industry. Their main competitors

are Abans cleaning service and Care clean.

4.2 Making contacts and business relationships with stakeholders

4.2.1 Employees

The most appropriate way of contacting employees is by emails since a backup copy can be

saved in order to prove that a message is sent to the particular employee. Further the employees

of Opeka can be connected via emails, phone calls, intranet and meetings if necessary.

Opeka can maintain the relationship with the employees is by having an annual get together,

taking them on annual trips, provide promotions, fringe benefits etc. Thus this relationship

maintenance will lead the business towards success.

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4.2.2 Customers

Customers are the main concern of a business that purchase a good or a service out of many.

Opeka can contact its customers is through advertising in television, newspapers and other forms

of advertising. But the most effective way of maintaining relationship is creating a website to

communicate with customers which is a two way process where customers can inquire and

employees and provide feedback to them.

4.2.3 Government

Opeka can contact the government by documentary such as formal letters. further Opeka can

maintain the relationship between the government and the company by paying the taxes at the

right time and obeying country rules and regulations.

4.2.4 Competitors

Opeka can contact and maintain relationship with competitors by attending to the conferences of

the industry, award ceremonies such as SLIM brand excellence etc this will lead to have a cool

war of competition within the industry.

4.3 Involving stakeholders in the decision making process

Employees

Employees can be categorized as strategic, tactical and operational level employees. All those

levels of management should be given an opportunity in decision making. Effective Decision

making is done by the effective accurate, realistic information. Depending the position

employees hold, company should divide responsibilities for each employee. Therefore low level

management should be able to make decisions about the raw materials that should be used; the

quantity of raw materials etc. Middle level management should be able to make decisions about

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working hours; budgets etc and further they should be able to take correct actions on the work of

lower level employees. Top level employees should concentrate and take decisions to expand the

business and to face uncertainty in the industry and they should control the business as a whole.

Customers

Customers are the people who decide whether the organization’s products or service is good or

bad, thus indirectly they decide the success or the failure of the business. Therefore the

organization’s aim is to satisfy the customers’ needs and want to increase customer loyalty.

Therefore company can alter the services that they provide according to customer requirements

which can be identified through market research, questionnaires, customer feedback forms etc

therefore customers indirectly involve in the decision making process of the company.

Suppliers

Since the quality of the products is depends on the raw material they provide. Opeka could take

information from them about new cleaning supplies, changes in payments and time periods for

pay back, new technology based equipments or materials etc which will help the company for the

decision making process.

Competitors

Competitors will also involve in the decision making process by having competition in the

industry. For an example Opeka would consider the charges or the prices of their main

competitor Abans, when the set prices for their services. Thus competitors and changes in the

industry will also effect for the decision making process.

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4.4 Strategy to improve client networking of Opeka

Since Opeka currently uses phones, emails, letters and meetings in order to contact their

stakeholders and therefore it would be cost effective and also less time consuming if they could

introduce a system of social network which is common to all the stakeholders. Therefore with the

introduction of this computerized system, all the stake holders can update their opinions, changes

to be made, improvements to be done etc.

Thus this is the most appropriate method of communicating and maintaining relationship with

the stakeholders which connects each other where all the stakeholders can contribute for the

decision making process.

Figure 4.4 database which is linked with all the stakeholders

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Opeka social network

suppliers

employees

customers

shareholders

4.5 Communication of the organization with internal external stakeholders

Verbal communication with internal stakeholders

Verbal communication within the internal stakeholders is by phone calls and direct

meetings. Important and time consuming projects are discussed through formal meetings

such as monthly general meetings

Verbal communication with external stakeholders

The customers of Opeka are being contacted verbally by having customer interviews

when researching, and the customer’s views and opinions can be taken into consideration

when conducting face to face interviews.

The suppliers can be contacted through phone call by using non-verbal communication at

the same time such as e-mails. Further they can have discussions by having meetings for

further explanation.

Government can also be contacted by phone calls to arrange formal conferences and

meetings.

Non-verbal communication with internal stakeholders

Non-verbal communication within the internal stakeholders is mainly by intranet, emails

and memos. An important message is sent through e-mails and non-important messages

and non-confidential messages are posted through memos on the notice board.

Non-verbal communication with external stakeholders

The information of the company can be passed through magazines, company annual

report and websites. Therefore all the stakeholders can access the above mentioned

documents and get a clear idea about the company and its performances.

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4.6 Improving the communication process when dealing with external stakeholders

Communication is one of the most important parts of its infrastructure. When all the stakeholders

of a business are not communicating effectively, it will lead to misinterpretation. Therefore the

lines of communication should be open and the communication process of Opeka should be more

effective.

The current ways of communicating with the external stakeholders are mainly by having phone

calls and face to face meetings. Sometimes company uses non-verbal communication such as e-

mails.

Communication of Opeka can be improved when dealing with external stakeholders is by having

video conferences with suppliers, conferences with the government. Further it would be less time

consuming if the company communicates with the government through e-mails.

The customers can be contacted via the website and give answers for the problems, questions and

inquiries they have. Further creating a facebook fan page will create more awareness among the

society.

Company can also use media conferences to communicate face to face with their stakeholders

and communicate with everyone who have attended for the conference.

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4.7 Improvements of the system integration

Opeka must reconsider on their communication to be taken place in order to maintain

communication more effective. The current communication process within organization is by

only one method of verbal or non-verbal such as sending emails to the employees or by having

direct meeting or by posting notice boards. The low level employees are not able to give

feedback for the company decision making process.

In order to improve the communication process, all the levels of employees should communicate

with each other, and exchange their views, ideas and suggestions. Further company should

always use a non-verbal communication method along with the verbal communication method

which will provide a proof if needed.

Further introduction of VPN system will make communication effective within the organization.

The VPN system is a system where there is a username and a password for all the levels of

employees to access the system. All the employees will be able to suggest new ideas, opinions

about decisions and any other information about the company.

Example - when the operational level employees have a job in cleaning a place, and if some of

the appointed employees are absent, and therefore if they need excess employees, they could

send a message through their mobile phone’s via the VPN system. Thus tactical level employees

would act upon it and fill the resource gap accordingly.

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5.0 Conclusion

The company in this report is Opeka which is a cleaning and maintenance company. The

different types of communication processes were identified such as verbal and non-verbal.

Communication plays an important role in any business organizations which will lead to a

success organization.

Communication between employees within the organization is very important since this will lead

to making the right decisions which will determine the success or the failure of the company.

Further company should satisfy their customers to increase customer loyalty and to minimize the

competition by attracting more customers.

Decision making in company is very important in a business, this should be done by interacting

all the levels of employees, since this will make a decision more effective. Therefore company

has to create a separate data base to where every stakeholder can communicate and give their

opinions and ideas for the success of the business. Further company should focus on having a

separate marketing department to conduct research activities which will also increase the

customer feedbacks.

Further company should hire a person maintain their official website and company should use

their website as a source to communicate with their external stakeholders, especially with the

customers.

Therefore company must have the above mentioned changes, so the upcoming problems and

other drastic situations can be over come easily.

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6.0 Referencing

Management studyguide, 2012, levels of management, available at; http://www.management studyguide.com/management_levels.htm [accessed on 10th August 2012]

Business dictionary, 2012, definition of networking, available at; http://www.businessdictionary .com/definition/networking.html [accessed on 11th August 2012]

7.0 Bibliography

Stimpson P and FarquharsonA (2010), Business Studies(Second edition),Cambridge

university press.

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