Digital Communication (OCR GCSE Business)

Forms of Digital Communication

• Digital tools are increasingly used to enable rapid communication within and outside of a business

Websites

• Businesses of all sizes commonly operate websites that can be used for a variety of communication purposes:

  • Informing customers of new products or business news

  • Allowing customers to place and track orders, as well as raise concerns or ask questions

  • Sharing corporate information, such as business location or job openings

• Many businesses also use social media websites such as Facebook and Instagram

  • Information can be updated swiftly and regularly

  • Advertising activity on social media can be very inexpensive

  • Messages can be shared and feedback can be gained quickly

An evaluation of communication using websites

Email

• Emails are a quick way to send formal and informal messages, both within and outside of a business

• Benefits of email include:

  • They can be used to send identical messages to multiple recipients at the same time

  • Senders can confirm that the receiver has interacted with an email by attaching a read receipt

  • Emails can be scheduled to arrive at a determined time and have the facility to add attachments such as images or documents

• Some users ignore email messages or, in some circumstances, messages can be classified as spam, meaning the message will not be received

Texts and instant messaging

• Texts are usually brief messages, sent from one mobile phone to another

• Instant messages are sent via apps such as Whatsapp or iMessage, usually with more functionality than texts

  • E.g. Whatsapp allows for the inclusion of attachments within messages

• Texts and instant messaging is often very low cost or free, as many mobile providers include unlimited data allowances within contracts

The Impact of Digital Communication

• Digital communication has had a range of positive impacts for each of the business functional areas

Marketing

• Digital communication has enabled even the smallest of businesses to sell products online, allowing them to reach many more customers

• Social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram are widely used to promote products and communicate with customers

• Some products, such as books, music and films, can be instantly delivered to customers digitally

Finance

• Invoices can be issued and received by email, speeding up the billing process

• Payments can be sent and received instantly using digital banking

• Financial management systems that process all sales and cost data can provide high-quality, up-to-date financial information that can be converted into suitable formats for presentation

• Payroll systems can process wages and salaries and automatically issue digital payslips to workers

Human Resources

• Recruitment tasks such as advertising vacancies, receiving applications and conducting online interviews using videoconferencing are increasingly common

• Improvements in digital communications, including access to wi-fi networks and advanced mobile devices, have enabled employees to work remotely or whilst mobile

• Staff location can be monitored using GPS

• Staff meetings use widely accessible apps, such as Teams, to allow the participation of remote participants

Operations

• Automated production processes allow machinery and robots to communicate with each other to improve the efficiency of production

• Detected quality problems can be automatically communicated to devices that make appropriate adjustments without the need for human intervention

• Repetitive or hazardous tasks are carried out by machinery or robots, requiring minimal supervision

  • This leaves more interesting or safe roles for humans to complete, making their jobs less mundane