Business information and their sources Essay

This report aims to show the different forms of information used in H&M. It will tell us if we need to improve on any of our methods of communication, or if we need to enhance any methods we use. Internal information is when it can be found from inside the business, such as previous sales records. External information is when the information needs to be found from outside the company, for example in books or customer feedback forms. Primary information is when you have received the information fist hand, either through a report or through surveys. We need internal information for evidence so nothing is mis interpreted within the business. Internal information can be previous records, we need these to write reports and to make sure the business isn’t at a loss. H&M need external information to monitor new trends so we can stay ahead of fashion. We do this by getting our internal and external customers to complete questionnaires. It is important that we do this so our customers always stay interested in the clothes that we have on offer so we do not lose any business. Combining internal and external information is very effective because your ideas can be expanded by using existing ideas but with our own unique twist. So we can take an existing idea on a clothing range, but then add something to it based on the feedback and ideas we get from our customers. Internal information can be more important for H&M than external information because it includes private details and information of the company that cannot be found anywhere else. This would be needed if we were to start a sale because we’d have to know what products are not selling well to put them in the sale. However, external information can be seen as more important that internal information because it includes new information from customer feedback. This is much needed because it would help our business form fresh ideas and to help us move forward. Internal information cannot help us do this. H&M need primary information to help the business run smoother and gain new  ideas. We can do this by getting surveys from the public to get more ideas on things we can sell or do in store. Primary information is very useful because it can be used for a lot of different things, for example customer service or new clothing ranges. Also it is usually very reliable because you have created it. Secondary information can also be used to gain new ideas. We can use secondary information to do this because the information has already been created so we could just expand on the information to make it unique and our own. A combination of primary and secondary information is important because it means that we can monitor our own records and also monitor our competitor’s records so that we can always try to stay on top. Primary can be more important than secondary information because we are actually creating the informatio9n so it is 100% reliable whereas secondary information is not always be reliable because it was created by an unknown source. Verbal information is when it can be spoken, for example a phone call. In our company, we give verbal information to our staff and customers. We verbally give information to our staff because it is quick and easy. Written information is written down to pass information, for example a letter or email. We use written information to communicate because it can be used as confirmation and it is harder to be forgotten if you have it written down. We also give written confirmation to our customers all the time, for example receipts. We do this so there is proof of purchase and there is no mis understanding between the business and the customers. Multimedia can be shown through moving adverts or audio. It is a very effective way to present information because it engages the reader a lot more than a bit of writing on a piece of paper. We use multimedia in different ways, for example, on our website there are videos of our products being modelled and shown on the catwalk. We use multimedia in this way so our customers will stay engaged and will be more interested in our products if they see them on top models. Using a combination of verbal and written information is more effective than just using either one of them. Having a staff meeting is quick, easy and usually there isn’t any miscommunication. To guarantee that there has been no mis communication, you can send an email after the meeting has taken place just too highlight was said in the meeting. Verbal information is  sometimes better than written information because if we needed to pass information on to our team, having a meeting where we could easily speak to them all at once is more appropriate than using written information by sending an e-mail or letter where there could be mis-communication. Written information can be better than verbal information when for example we needed to confirm a purchase with a customer. We would need to give them a type of written confirmation because if the sale was done verbally, information could easily be forgotten or mis-communication could occur. To conclude I am going to summarise this report. The way we use internal and external information is very successful because H&M uses original ideas combined with ideas from customer feedback to improve the way the company functions. How primary and secondary information is used in the company is also successful. This is due to us using our own reliable information (primary) and comparing it to our competitor’s information (secondary) to monitor whether we are currently popular or not. Verbal and written information is the most effective way of transferring information within H&M. This is because there is a very small chance of mis-communication if verbal and written information is given properly. To fully conclude, H&M are transferring information successfully in all different ways.