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Contents
The three business messages include:
1. A purchase manager of BBB Company makes a telephone call placing an order for the supply of corrugated iron from a sales manager of CCCCompany.
In this kind of message, the sender is asking for information on the prices of goods so that he can place an order. The receiver expects to be asked such a type of question. Immediately he receives this message, it is normal for him to adopt a formal tone that typifies all business messages. Through the development of technology, there are many ways of enhancing the information-sharing process. The purchases manager may make a telephone call. Alternatively, he may write an email. He may even choose to send a formal letter that is to be delivered by ordinary mail.
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This type of message may be in the form of interruptions that make the information difficult for the recipient to decode. An example of noise in a telephone conversation is the inaudibility that often characterizes jammed telephone lines. If one of the callers is in a place where there is a lot of noise, then, it may be difficult for the message to be easily decoded. In the case of email, noise can be in the form of many spam messages that make it difficult for the recipient to spot the right message.
Both the speaker and receiver have to maintain a business-like environment for the intended message to be communicated easily. The choice of technology matters a lot in this type of massage. If there are many details that require to be documented, email or fax is the best technology to use. If this message is very confidential, it should be sent through a technology that makes it difficult for people to eavesdrop.
If the message is to be sent through email, the sender should confirm from the recipient that the message has been received, read and understood. The confirmation may best be through the telephone. The best thing with telephone conversations is that immediate feedback is often received. The immediacy of email is not as instant as that of the telephone. The main disadvantage of the telephone is that instances of interferences by noise in the literal sense of the word noise are very high compared to that of email.
In the case of email, it is good to ensure that the internet site that his hosting the email service has provided users with a secure internet zone where they can send messages. Once this has been guaranteed, one can be confident that the benefit of promptness has been achieved. On the question of whether the technology was appropriate or not, this depends on many factors, including immediacy of information, the existing working relations between the two companies, the existing working relations between the sender and recipient as well as the priority that has been attached to this transaction by the company. In case this communication exemplifies a rare business opportunity, confidentiality ought to be a top priority issue.
2. A formal letter sent by General Manager of company EEE rejecting a request by the chief policy analyst of company DDD who proposed a merger between his company and company EEE, sent by email
In this kind of message, a lot of sensitivity is called for since the General Manager is sending a message that is unfavorable to company EEE. He has to use the best language that he is capable of creating in order to give the impression that he did not mean to offend or demean the recipient. The message should contain polite language while at the same not appearing to be too apologetic. Precision is very important because wordiness may make the recipient feel so bored that he finds it difficult to complete reading the entire communication (Lucking-Reiley& Spulber, 2001).
In this kind of message, the sender is not interested in feedback since there is no way forward as far as the proposed business merger between these two companies is concerned. Internet technology serves an important purpose in this kind of message because the most accurate words can be chosen with ease. It is also easy to get online tips on how to send an unfavorable letter without damaging the prospects of future business relationships between company DDD and EEE.
The sender is in a better position to use technology in order to meet his ends. He may time the sending of the message at a time when there is no noise. He may also decide to delay sending the message until there is a favorable communication that needs to be made. Such a favorable message may be in the form of an acceptance reply to a request by company DDD to be using EEE’s borehole during the next dry season. Medjahed (2003) believes that when the unfavorable message is made to coincide with a favorable one, the damage that is done to the relationship between the two companies is reduced significantly. In some cases, no damage may occur at all, especially if the company EEE gives detailed, valid reasons for rejecting such a landmark proposal.
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The nature of this message also depends on the already existing relationship between company DDD and company EEE. If there is a long-standing history of mutual business ventures between them, the recipient of the message may have valid grounds to be very offended by such communication. No wonder, for many general managers who are often faced with this kind of situation, the only way to improve such a message is not to send it at all. Lack of information is also considered to be a form of communication. The fact that the company DDD fails to receive any reply means that the request has been turned down.
3. An invoice faxed by the accounts department of company FFF to the purchases department of company GGG requesting for payment for goods delivered within this month
The purpose of the message is to facilitate the completion of a business transaction between company FFF and company GGG. The sender values this message a lot and therefore expects immediate feedback. If no feedback is forthcoming, he may think that company GGG has become another bad debtor.
The message should be very accurate in terms of figures and descriptions of the items that were delivered to the company GGG. Inaccuracies in the content of the message may create the impression that employees at company FFF are negligent or unprofessional in their work. The environment for this kind of information, as usual, should be formal. The tone of the language used should be very serious and humor should never find its way into even a single phrase in the whole message.
Technology, for this type of message, in this case, fax, facilitates confidentiality, precision, and reduction of noise. Eavesdroppers have slim chances of gaining access to this information unless there is some carelessness on the part of the sender or the receiver. To improve this communication process, the message should be carefully prepared and sent at the right time. In addition, conformation should be sought by the sender and made by the receiver within the shortest possible time.
References
Lucking-Reiley, D. & Spulber, D. 2001. Business-to-Business Electronic Commerce, The Journal of Economic Perspectives,15(1), 55-68
Medjahed, B.2003. Business-to-business interactions: issues and enabling technologies, The VLDB Journal12 (1) 59-85