Strategic communication course
ASSIGNMENT 1:1 Business Etiquette(2 pages no response)
Submit a two page report on the following:
1. Potential customers frequently visit your production facility before making purchase decisions. You and the people who report to you in the sales department have received extensive training in etiquette issues because you deal with high-profile clients so often. However, the rest of the workforce has not received such training, and you worry that someone might inadvertently say or do something that would offend one of these potential customers. Provide at least a 1-page report explaining to the general manager why you think anyone who might come in contact with customers should receive basic etiquette training.
2. Choose a specific country, such as India, Portugal, Bolivia, Thailand, or Nigeria, with which you are not familiar. Research the culture and provide at least a 1-page report explaining what a U.S. manager would need to know about concepts of personal space and rules of social behavior in order to conduct business successfully in that country.
Assignment 1.2 Harley -Davidson Case study (one page (no response)
Read the Harley-Davidson Cruises Toward Team-Based Management case study. Then, submit a one page report answering the following questions:
1. Why are companies such as Harley-Davidson switching to team-based management?
2. How can smaller operating units be helpful in responding to competition?
3. What kinds of problems would you expect work groups or teams to experience when they form to make decisions?
Assignment 2.1 Claim letter( one page letter no responses)
Choose an incident from your own experience and write a claim letter, asking for a refund, repair, replacement, or other adjustment. You will need to include all the details of the transaction, plus include your contact address and phone number (this can be fabricated). If you cannot think of such an experience, make up details for an imaginary situation. Please note that claim-writing skills are important in business transactions; therefore, choose your words carefully.
• Using the Three-Step Writing Process outlined in this week's lecture content, formulate a one page claim letter. You may include graphics to explain and support your conclusions
Assignment 2.2 Trends in tuition coast( two pages no responses)
Are tuition costs going up, going down, or remaining the same? Your college's administration has asked you to compare your college's tuition costs with those of a nearby college and determine which has risen more quickly. Research the trend by checking your college's annual tuition costs for each of the most recent four years. Then research the four-year tuition trends for a neighboring college. For both colleges, calculate the percentage change in tuition costs from year to year and between the first and fourth years.
• Using the Three-Step Writing Process outlined in this week's lecture content, prepare an informal one to two-page report (in letter format) as if you were presenting your findings and conclusions to the president of your college. You may include graphics to explain and support your conclusions.
ASSIGNMET 3.1 Strategic Planning( ONE PAGES NO RESPONSE)
Identify a company in any industry that interests you. Imagine you are doing strategic planning for this firm, and identify one of your company's key competitors. Search through social media sources (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc) to find three (3) strategically relevant pieces of information about this competitor, such as the hiring of a new executive, the launch of a major new product, or a significant problem of some kind.
1. State the three pieces of information you found and the sources.
2. Re-state each of the three pieces of information in a positive way in 140 characters or less.
3. Re-state each of the three pieces of information in a negative way in 140 characters or less.
For more information on writing in 140 characters or less (in the style of Twitter or SMS messages), refer to: How to Write in 140 Characters or Less
ASSIGNMENT 3; 2 WRITING MESSAGE( ONE PAGE)
Your company sells flower arrangements and gift baskets. Holidays are always a rush, and the overworked staff makes occasional mistakes. Last week, somebody made a big one. As a furious email from a customer named Anders Ellison explains, he ordered a Valentine's Day bouquet for his wife, but the company sent a bereavement arrangement instead.
• Day 1: Issue occurs.
• Day 2: Your Social Media Director informs you that this issue has blown up all over Twitter, The Consumerist, and YELP.
You need to do damage control quickly as this issue is now beyond a simple email.
1. Formulate a personal e-mail directly with the initial customer, Mr. Ellison, apologizing for the error, promising to refund all costs that he has incurred, informing him that the correct arrangement will arrive tomorrow (without charge), and offering him the choice of any floral arrangement or gift basket for free on his wife's birthday.
2. Formulate a one page press release addressing the World Wide Web audience for the mishap.
3. Formulate a 140 character message as your company statement related to the mishap
Assignment 4.1Cycling case study (two pages no response)
Read the Specialized Bicycles Wonders Whether Cycling Is a Men-Only Sport case study. Then, submit a one (2) page report answering the following questions:
1. In your present work or organization experience, what kinds of reports are you familiar with? What is their purpose and how are they presented?
2. Do you think an employee like Ariadne Scott, who wants her company to fund a special project, should make her request orally or in writing?
3. Before funding an expensive project, what would most companies require?
Submission requirements:
1. 12-point Times New Roman font.
2. Single space.
3. Put your name on the document.
4. Present report in a professional manner, as if submitting to a supervisor (writing that is not only thoughtful and accurate, but also organized, clear, and consistent with the rules of a Standard English). For assistance with your writing, consider visiting the Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) website
Assignment 5.1 (one pages no responses)
Read the Walt Disney Imagineering Sells Tokyo Disneyland on Winnie the Pooh case study. Then, submit a one (1) page report answering the following questions:
1. What kind of oral presentations might you have to make in your chosen career field?
2. Why are most people fearful of making presentations?
3. How do you think people become effective speakers?
ASIIGNMET 5:2 (POWER POINTS SLIDES)
Identify five business communication skills that you have either learned for the first time or developed during this course, then:
1. Create a six-slide presentation (using PowerPoint or another software solution), with a title slide and five slides that describe each of the five skills you have identified. Be sure to explain how each skill could help you in your career. Use any visual style that you feel is appropriate for this assignment; however you will not be assessed on artistic merit. This can be used as your outline for the video presentation.
2. Record an 8 to 10-minute video describing five skills you have learned or developed in this course (referencing assignments you have completed during the course) and how each skill could help you in your career. Use professional public speaking techniques, such as having proper attire, maintaining eye contact, speak eloquently, use voice inflection, etc.
3. Post the link to the presentation video (and include your full name) into the Discussion 5.1: Presentation Feedback discussion thread in Week Five Discussion Board forum.
Journals: you can get some info as well.
Business Communication Quarterly
The Journal of Business Communication
The Journal of Business and Technical Communication
Journal of Strategic Business Communication
Journal of Communication
Howard Journal of Communication
Communication Theory
Communication, Culture & Critique
Critical Studies in Media Studies
Discussion 1.1: Diversity in the Workplace( ONE PAGE)
Please use the class discussion forum titled "Week One Discussion" to answer the questions:
1. What advantages has diversity brought to your workplace?
2. What kind of challenges has diversity brought to your workplace?
3. Have you ever worked in a corporate situation where workplace diversity was an issue (such as having lunch with a vegetarian, a member of the opposite gender, or a person whose primary language was foreign)?
Discussion 1.2: Idiomatic Expressions(ONE PAGE)
Please use the class discussion forum titled "Week One Discussion" to answer the questions:
1. Share your favorite idioms and idiomatic expressions that you use commonly.
Research the following link for more information:
o https://www.usingenglish.com/reference/idioms/
2. In the Filipino culture, people purse their lips together toward an object to point instead of using their fingers. Share a nonverbal element (related to greeting, touching, personal space, facial expressions, eye contact, posture, and formality) from your culture.
Discussion 1.3: Ethical Choices (ONE PAGE)
Please use the class discussion forum titled "Week One Discussion" to answer the questions:
Because of your excellent communication skills, your boss always asks you to write his reports for him. When you overhear the CEO complimenting him on his logical organization and clear writing style, your boss responds as if he had written all those reports himself.
1. What kind of ethical choice does your boss's response represent?
2. What can you do in this situation? Explain your solution and your reasoning.
Discussion 1.4: Teamwork Dilemma(ONE PAGE)
Please use the class discussion forum titled "Week One Discussion" to answer the questions:
You head up the interdepartmental design review team for a manufacturer of high-performance motorcycles, and things are not going well at the moment. The design engineers and marketing strategists keep arguing about which should be a high priority, performance or aesthetics, and the accountants say both groups are driving the cost of the new model "through the roof" by adding too many new features. Everyone has valid points to make, but the team is bogging down in conflict. Based on your understanding of teamwork, how could you go about resolving the stalemate?
Journals: you can get some info as well.
Business Communication Quarterly
The Journal of Business Communication
The Journal of Business and Technical Communication
Journal of Strategic Business Communication
Journal of Communication
Howard Journal of Communication
Communication Theory
Communication, Culture & Critique
Critical Studies in Media Studies
Discussion 2.1: Planning Messages (one page)
Please use the class discussion forum titled "Week Two Discussion" to answer the following question:
Some writers argue that planning messages wastes time because they inevitably change their plans as they go along. Based on your understanding of planning, writing, and completing business messages, how would you respond to this argument? Explain and substantiate your points with relevant examples or illustrations.
Discussion 4.1: Ethical Issues( one page)
Please use the class discussion forum titled "Week Four Discussion" to answer the questions:
1. If you were writing a troubleshooting report to help management decide how to reduce quality problems at a manufacturing plant, what ethical issues might you face?
2. How might these ethical issues conflict with your need to report all the relevant facts and to offer evidence for your conclusions? Explain your position.
Discussion 4.2: More Ethical Issues( one page)
Please use the class discussion forum titled "Week Four Discussion" to answer the following questions:
If a company receives a solicited proposal from a management consulting firm, is it ethical for the company to adopt the recommendations discussed in the proposal even though the company does not hire the submitting firm? Why or why not?
Journals: you can get some info as well.
Business Communication Quarterly
The Journal of Business Communication
The Journal of Business and Technical Communication
Journal of Strategic Business Communication
Journal of Communication
Howard Journal of Communication
Communication Theory
Communication, Culture & Critique
Critical Studies in Media Studies.