BUS303 Case 1-4 and SLP 1-4

Required Reading

*) Denotes a required interactive presentation.

Boothby, K. (2012, Nov 17). Writing skills have declined in the era of email. Leader Post. Retrieved on Feb 10, 2015, fromhttp://www.canada.com/Business+communication+skills+have+declined+email/7392043/story.html

Campanizzi, Jane (2005). The Write Stuff for Quality. Retrieved on Feb 10, 2015, fromhttp://qpc.co.la.ca.us/cms1_035856.pdf.

Christensen, G. J. (2003). Professional Email Needs Attention. Retrieved on Feb 10, 2015, fromhttp://www.csun.edu/~vcecn006/email.html

Cottee, P. (2004, Sep 21). Reviving the art of conversation; workers today face a barrage of emails and texts and risk losing the vital skill of face-to-face communication. Evening Standard. Retrieved from ProQuest.

Dozier, K. & Yost, P. (2012, Nov 13). Petraeus shocked to hear of emails, associates say. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved from ProQuest.

Garbringer, R. S. (2008). Tame the email beast! A baker's dozen. Performance Improvement, 47(4), 5-6. Retrieved from ProQuest.

Hanson, L & Hammond, D. (2010). Business communication: Contexts and controversies (chap. 8). Retrieved on Feb 10, 2015, fromhttp://www.pearsoned.ca/highered/showcase/hanson/pdf/9780138002688_08.pdf

Independent News and Media (2012). Don't hide behind your emails. The Daily Post. Retrieved from ProQuest.

Jerz, D.G. (2000). Email: Ten Tips for Writing It Effectively. Retrieved on Feb 10, 2015, fromhttp://jerz.setonhill.edu/writing/e-text/email/

Manktelow, J. & Carlson, A. (2015). Writing Effective Emails: Making Sure Your Messages Get Read and Acted Upon. Retrieved on Feb 10, 2015, fromhttp://www.mindtools.com/CommSkll/EmailCommunication.htm

*Pearson (2015a).  Introduction to business communication.  Retrieved on August 8, 2015 fromhttp://www.pearsoncustom.com/mct-comprehensive/asset.php?isbn=1269879944&id=11572

*Pearson (2015b).  Intercultural communication.  Retrieved on August 8, 2015 from http://www.pearsoncustom.com/mct-comprehensive/asset.php?isbn=1269879944&id=11611

Peele, T. (2012, Jan 29). It's time to get tough on officials' texts, emails. Contra Costa Times. Retrieved from ProQuest.

The IStudio (2013).101 email etiquette tips. Retrieved on Feb 10, 2015, fromhttp://www.101emailetiquettetips.com/index.html

CASE 1

Case Assignment

Business and Intercultural Communication

The principle activity of this Case is to complete two interactive tutorials, and prepare short essays (one or two pages each) summarizing their key points. 

Essay 1:  Complete the Pearson interactive tutorial, “Introduction to Business Communication.” This is referenced on the Background page as Pearson 2015a.  Write a short essay summarizing the key features of business communication, as opposed to ordinary, everyday communication.  Feel free to use short lists.  Be sure to include a reference to the tutorial (you may copy the reference from the Background page to the bibliography of your own paper).  Additionally, be sure to include a citation in the body of your paper, showing your readers where you used the tutorial.  For information about references and citations, please refer to the Writing Style Guide, found under the “My Resources” tab on the TLC Portal.

Essay 2:  Identical to Essay 1 above, but summarizing the contents of the Pearson interactive tutorial “Intercultural Communication.”  This is listed on the Background page as Pearson 2015b.

Assignment Expectations

1. Well-organized, well-written essays covering all the topics outlined in the assignment.
2. No errors in spelling, grammar, or syntax, and an appropriate scholarly style.  Refer to the Writing Style Guide.
3. All sources cited and referenced in accordance with a standard citation style.  APA is preferred, but not required.  Refer to the Writing Style Guide.

SLP 1

nitiating the job search

In the SLPs for this course, you will assume the role of a currently employed professional wanting to change careers. Each of the SLPs will focus on different phases of the job search. In each SLP, you will apply the business communication principles covered in the module.

Search for companies you are interested in working for, or jobs you are keen on. You may begin your search at an employment website (such as Monster.com, usajobs.gov, etc.) and find a job opening that interests you. Save the existing job advertisement for a position you are interested in.

You will be completing the subsequent SLPs using this job opening you identified.

Write a generic email, using principles from routine and goodwill emails, to inquire about your desired position. You may ask questions related to application procedures, deadlines, references, or any other detail. The objective of this email is to build rapport with the company and notify them of your interest, and the possibility you may be submitting an application later on. Include the actual job advertisement in your submission. This could be a pdf document, or a link to the advertisement.

Following the email, write an essay explaining the principles and good practices you followed while creating it.

Submit your assignment by the module's due date.

SLP Assignment Expectations

Your email should be professionally formatted and effectively deliver the message, using concepts covered in the module. Please use proper English. Sentences must be properly constructed and free of grammatical and typographical errors. No citations are needed in the email.

In your summary, you are expected to discuss your strategies and approach, using the concepts covered in the module. Your discussion should be analytical and sufficiently rigorous to demonstrate synthesis of the concepts. Formal citations are required, along with a formal bibliography. The summary is to be prepared as an academic essay. Content should be clearly presented with a logical flow.

SLP General Expectations

For the SLPs, students are expected to play a role as themselves in the job market. You are to identify a job that interests you in Module 1. The SLPs will take you through the job search and application process, presenting you in different scenarios requiring you to demonstrate your ability to communicate effectively and professionally.

Formal citations and a bibliography are required unless otherwise stated.

Submit your assignments by the module's due date.

CASE 2

Case Assignment

Persuasive Communication

Case Assignment 2 pertains to the Purdue's OWL site on memos (2013), Bowman (2002), Beason (2001), and Reddy (2010).

As a manager at your company (the same one we used in Case 1), you think your company should be offering internships. With all the colleges in the Los Angeles area, you would have a large group of people who should be interested in an internship program. In addition, your company could use the extra help and creativity of about-to-graduate college students.

You recently read about Nickerson PME1, a 10-person Boston area marketing and public relations firm. Owner Lisa Nickerson offers a year-round internship program. She calls participants "associates" to make them feel less like "lowly interns" and more like members of the staff. Her interns receive course credit and work experience, but do not earn a paycheck. Instead, Nickerson teaches them to perform tasks like preparing press releases and promoting the company to clients. The arrangement results in valuable help around the office without draining the budget. Nickerson says, "If you take the time to put together a good program, you don't have to pay the student. An abundance of students want that type of hands-on client experience."

You believe that Los Angeles college students would be eager to gain experience at a real company, and fill in their résumés with solid work experience. The problem is that your boss resists internship programs because he has heard that interns are really employees who must be paid. He told you in a recent conversation that he is unsure of the fine line that separates employees from interns, and he doesn't want to violate any labor laws.

Write a persuasive memo message to Dick Elders, Senior General Manager of your company. Explain to him how interns are different from employees. Use the Internet to research the topic, and learn what six requirements help the government determine whether an intern is a paid employee. Use persuasive strategies you have studied, but stay focused on the conviction that interns do not have to be paid as employees. You are on a first-name basis with Dick.

1This is a fictitious case.

Assignment Expectations

In your memo, you are expected to apply the persuasion concepts to demonstrate your ability to craft an effective persuasive memo. Please use proper English. Sentences must be properly constructed and free of grammatical and typographical errors. No citations are needed in the memo.

Write a summary explaining why you used the principles you used in writing your memo. Your explanation should make use of at least two sources from the required readings. It should be analytical and sufficiently rigorous to demonstrate synthesis of the concepts. The summary is to be prepared as an academic essay. Content should be clearly presented with a logical flow. Formal citations are required, along with a formal bibliography.

Case General Expectations

In the Case Assignments, students will assume the role of a Manager in Employee Communications at a large service firm, such as a bank, or an advertising or consulting firm. Students will assume this role throughout the Case Assignments and be challenged with different scenarios, requiring written and verbal communication.

Formal citations and a bibliography are required unless otherwise stated.

SLP 2

Making a Persuasive Case for Employment

Persuasion can also be applied in the job search process. Essentially, we are presenting ourselves and our qualifications to prospective employers, and persuading them to give us a job. Some companies require applicants to submit supporting documents along with their applications. One such document is a personal statement. This is different from a cover letter, which is normally restricted to a single page. The personal statement may be longer; in it, you present your abilities and persuade your prospective employee that you are qualified for the job. (Note: We will write a cover letter in Module 4).

Refer to the job opening you identified in SLP 1. Using the job description, write a personal statement (about 2 pages long). Your statement should be professionally prepared and lay out your strengths for the job. Please ensure that the contents match the job description for the job you identified in SLP 1.

SLP Assignment Expectations

Your personal statement is a statement that promotes yourself. It should not contain any salutation, unlike a letter, as it will be an attachment. No citations are needed for the statement.

Following the statement, submit an essay discussing the approach you took. Please be sure to use references, which may include the assigned readings, to support your discussion. Formal citations are required, along with a formal bibliography. The summary is to be prepared as an academic essay. Content should be clearly presented with a logical flow.

SLP General Expectations

For the SLP, you are expected to assume the role of a job seeker. You are to identify a job that interests you in Module 1. The SLPs will take you through the job search and application process, presenting you in different scenarios requiring you to demonstrate your ability to communicate effectively and professionally.

Formal citations and a bibliography are required unless otherwise stated.

CASE 3

ase Assignment

Negative Communication

In Case 3, you are required to write two negative letters.

On the TV show "The Apprentice," Donald Trump seemed to relish announcing, "You're fired" to losing contestants. But most employers recoil from having to tell employees that they will be "downsized." To make a difficult job easier, managers sometimes use euphemisms and jargon to avoid bluntly announcing that someone has been laid off. In fact, cutbacks have generated new words like "rightsizing" and "re-engineering."

Regardless of the language, an economic tailspin forces organizations to explain to laid-off employees that what’s bad for them is best for the company. At eBay, 1,500 employees lost their jobs in a program of "employee simplification." At Yahoo the CEO explained layoffs as a way for the company to "become more fit."

No matter how you look at it, people are worried about losing their jobs, and those who remain are worried about whether the company will stay in business.

Experts differ on how to reveal possible workforce reductions. Should managers disclose the news indirectly and quietly? Or should they use the direct approach and announce loudly that they are taking forceful action to strengthen the organization in a dour economy? Some say that executives should use bland language to minimize the public relations fallout from mass firings. Vague explanations and even corporate jargon may be appropriate to reduce the negative effect on remaining employees and on recruiting new employees when the economy rebounds. Opaque language and euphemisms may lessen the impact of layoffs.

Part 1:

Your company has decided to lay off 10 percent of its workforce to maintain profitability. Although every department has participated in cost-cutting measures, expenses continue to mount, and sales are not where they should be. Your direct supervisor, Shirley Schmidt, has asked you to draft an email that goes to the staff whose jobs are untouched by the layoffs. The goal is to assure key employees that management is in control of the situation. You need to emphasize that your company maintains a strong strategic vision, and that management is convinced of the firm's rosy future in the tech industry. Still, layoffs are necessary to make the company more financially stable. Ever mindful of its people, your company is taking all possible measures to assist those who have lost their jobs. These reductions will help make the firm stronger, says Schmidt.

In addressing remaining employees, your message should explain the bad news and strive to preserve employee morale. Decide whether to use the direct or indirect approach. Apply as many concepts as possible from the readings. After you've written the letter, write an essay describing how you used the ideas from the readings.

Part 2:

One part of your company’s business (again, the same company in the Case Assignments 1 and 2) is website design and hosting services. Your company values its clients and understands that the recession has affected everyone. But lately you've realized that some clients are sapping your business's already stretched resources. One of your first patrons—Minnie MacElroy of Minnie's Miniscule Miniatures—has been a demanding client from the get-go. She asked for changes to the site design she had already approved, forcing you to put in more hours than your quote covered. Once the site went live, Minnie consistently badgered you to make other changes so often that you did them without charge just to get her off your back. When payment of her monthly hosting fee started becoming erratic, you agreed to let her slide until her business picked up. But now she's six months delinquent.

Despite repeated phone calls and several letters asking her to make a payment, you have received nothing. As a business owner, you understand how difficult it is to keep your doors open. You have had to lay off your best Web designer and are now doing your own bookkeeping instead of paying for that service. The contract MacElroy signed has a provision that if an account remains unpaid, your company may opt to render the site nonfunctional. The contract also states that your company retains the copyright on the design of any site it has created. While you are hesitant to lose any business in this economic climate, you have decided that some clients are more trouble than they are worth, and that if MacElroy doesn’t begin paying the money she owes you, you will exercise your option of closing her site.

Write a letter informing Minnie that you are closing down her site if she does not pay the money she owes you. Should you fully explain that she has been a difficult customer, or should you rely on her lack of payment as your reason for threatening to break the contract?

Address your letter to

Ms. Minnie MacElroy,

27694 Bay Point Lane,

Bonita Springs, FL 34134.

(Assignment derived from Dr. Guffey's Business Communication Newsletter)

In both letters, include a discussion to explain your approach in each case.

Submit your assignments by the module's due date.

Assignment Expectations

Case Expectations

In the email and letter from Part 1 and Part 2, you are expected to apply the concepts on negative communication to demonstrate your ability to communicate effectively in written forms. Please use proper English. Sentences must be properly constructed and free of grammatical and typographical errors. No citations are needed the written communication.

In your summary, you are expected to explain why and how you incorporated the principles you used in writing your email and letter. Your explanation should make use of at least two sources from the required readings. It should be analytical and sufficiently rigorous to demonstrate synthesis of the concepts. The summary is to be prepared as an academic essay. Content should be clearly presented with a logical flow. Formal citations are required, along with a formal bibliography.

Case General Expectations

In the Case Assignments, students will assume the role of a Manager in Employee Communications at a large service firm, such as a bank, or an advertising or consulting firm. Students will assume this role throughout the Case Assignments and be challenged with different scenarios, requiring written and verbal communication.

Formal citations and a bibliography are required unless otherwise stated.

SLP 3

Rejecting Opportunities Strategically

In this SLP, you are given two scenarios that require you to reject opportunities using written communication. These scenarios are a continuation of your job search, begun in SLP 1. In your submissions, you are expected to apply the concepts covered in this module.

(1) You have been approached by a head hunter who has a job for you. However, for various reasons (which you will invent for this exercise), you decided to decline the opportunity, and go for the job you really want (the one you identified in SLP 1). Write an email to the recruiter explaining your reasons for declining the opportunity. Be sure to apply the principles covered in this module.

(2) The company you are currently working for has decided to increase your responsibilities by adding you to a newly established committee for a new project. Your manager feels that your experience and skills are suited for the position on the committee. You are currently overwhelmed by work, and given the lack of incentives (neither added compensation nor a promotion), you have decided to politely decline. Write an email to your General Manager explaining the situation. (Note: this is not a letter of resignation. You are merely declining the added responsibility while still remaining at your current job).

In both cases, include a discussion explaining the concepts applied. Proper citations and a bibliography are necessary.

SLP Assignment Expectations

Both emails are expected to be formally and professionally written. Please use proper English. Proper salutations are required. Citations and a bibliography are not required for this part.

In your summary, discuss the approach you took. Explain why and how you incorporated the principles of negative communication. Please be sure to use references, which may include the assigned readings, to support your discussion. Formal citations are required, along with a formal bibliography. The summary is to be prepared as an academic essay. Content should be clearly presented with a logical flow.

SLP General Expectations

For the SLP, you are expected to assume the role of a job seeker. You are to identify a job that interests you in Module 1. The SLPs will take you through the job search and application process, presenting you in different scenarios requiring you to demonstrate your ability to communicate effectively and professionally.

Formal citations and a bibliography are required unless otherwise stated.

CASE 4

Presentation

Create a PowerPoint slideshow as described here. Add audio to your presentation by using the “Record Narration” option under the Slide Show tab in PowerPoint. You will need a microphone, which should be built in on most computers. (There is no need to have a real audience, unless you want to.)

If you have difficulty recording, submit a full script in the notes section of your PowerPoint slides that reads the way the narration would have, had it been presented. Your submission will be assessed based in part on this script. You may include colloquial expressions that you would use (if any) if speaking to a real audience.

The presentation must have at least 9 slides, including the opening and ending slides which should not be blank. Include the appropriate recorded narration for these slides.

You are acting as a nutrition consultant to the restaurant. Address your presentation to Mr. Adrian Hammersmith, owner, and his staff at Adrian's Steak House, 974 South Cobb Drive, Marietta, GA 30060. You will explain information about the Healthy Dining program which can be found at the Healthy Diet Finder (2015) home page (http://www.healthydiningfinder.com/home). The home page is primarily for diners. A link at the bottom of the page, labeled “Nutrition Services,” takes dietitians and restaurateurs to information about nutrition and other services. Your presentation should provide the audience with an overview of the program, including information about the services provided by and benefits of Healthy Dining. Additionally, you should have at least one slide that describes the impact on the staff that adopting the Healthy Dining practices will have.

Save your PowerPoint presentation with recorded narration as a slideshow. Submit it by the module's due date.

Assignment Expectations

The PowerPoint slideshow must be professionally prepared and include narration. (PowerPoint presentations should not be larger than 10MB.) Record the presentation as a slideshow and submit it.

Your slideshow will be graded according to the Trident Oral Communication Rubric (TUI, 2015).

No citations and formal bibliography are necessary for Case 4.

Case General Expectations

In the Case Assignments, students will assume the role of a Manager in Employee Communications at a large service firm, such as a bank, or an advertising or consulting firm. Students will assume this role throughout the Case Assignments and be challenged with different scenarios, requiring written and verbal communication.

SLP 4

Resume and Cover Letter

Using the job you identified in Module 1, following the guidelines from the above readings, write a resume and a cover letter applying for the job. Submit your resume and cover letter. Remember and apply what you've learned so far on persuasion and writing letters. Using materials from Module 1 on goodwill communication and from Module 2 on persuasion will be helpful. In addition, materials from Module 3 on negative communication may come in handy to prevent negative impressions. Please avoid re-stating your resumes on your cover letters. Focus on your strengths and make your case a compelling one.

Submit your assignments by the module's due date.

SLP Assignment Expectations

Your submission should include a well-written resume and cover letter. These documents should apply what you have learned in the course. Both are to be formally written in a professional way. Please use proper English. Your resume and letter will be graded on overall effectiveness and how much and how well you applied ideas from the readings. This includes their ability to generate goodwill and convince your prospective employer on your strengths, while preventing potential negative impressions. Achieving these would make a compelling case for your application and hence, give you an opportunity to be interviewed.

No citations and formal bibliography are necessary for SLP 4.

SLP General Expectations

For the SLPs, students are expected to play a role as themselves in the job market. You are to identify a job that interests you in Module 1. The SLPs will take you through the job search and application process, presenting you in different scenarios requiring you to demonstrate your ability to communicate effectively and professionally.