I have selected ‘Sainsbury’s’ as my organisation and I will explain the types of information used in my organisation. The following are: * Verbal * Written * On-Screen * Multi-Media * Web based
Verbal
Face-to-face verbal communication is the best way to communicate. There is less chance for misunderstanding and it allows for verbal and nonverbal messages. However with the restrictions of time and budgets in business it is not always possible to meet in person. Telephone conversations are also useful ways to communicate but it is important always to use a combination of methods. For example ‘Subway ‘can use verbal communication through telephones in order to update each other knowledge about finance such as Profit and loss figures, cash flow information and the costs of running the business. This is an internal source because ‘Subway’ would receive its information from within the company rather than receive information outside the company. An advantage of verbal is that staff and customers can communicate effectively. For example if a customer’s calls on a telephone to make an enquiry, the staff can use word of mouth to give out information which will help the customer to understand whatever is been discussed however verbal information is not formal and both staff and customer can forget what was discussed.
Written
Graphs and charts and all types of visual representation including all forms of numerical representation can be included under this heading. Written information may come from a wide variety of sources including newspapers, books, trade journals and government publications. Without this we could never reach the present state of technological development. For example ‘Subway’ can use graphs to display their financial standing in terms of whether their making more profit or less profit than their rival companies in 6 months. This is also an internal source because ‘Subway’ would receive its written type of information