Chapter 1 Business Comm
Chapter 1 Business Comm
Chapter 1 Business Comm
Learning Objectives
AFTER STUDYING THIS CHAPTER, YOU WILL BE ABLE TO
1 Explain what effective communication is and highlight five characteristics of
effective business messages
2 Discuss three developments in the workplace that are intensifying the need to
communicate effectively
3 Describe how organizations share information internally and externally
4 List eight ways the Internet facilitates business communication
5 Define the six phases of the communication process
6 Identify and briefly discuss five types of communication barriers
7 Discuss four guidelines for overcoming communication barriers
8 Explain the attributes of ethical communication, and differentiate between an
ethical dilemma and an ethical lapse
Excellence in Business Communication, Sixth Edition, by John V. Thill and Courtland L. Bove. Copyright 2005,
2001 by Bove & Thill LLC. Published by Prentice Hall, Inc., an imprint of Pearson Education.
On the Job:
COMMUNICATING AT GE INDUSTRIAL SYSTEMS
Part I
As Lloyd Trotter suggests, your career success depends largely on you. One of the
best ways to care for your most valuable asset is to improve your ability to communicate effectively. Communication is the process of sending and receiving messages.
However, communication is effective only when the message is understood and when
it stimulates action or encourages a receiver to think in new ways.
When you communicate effectively, you increase productivity, both yours and
your organizations (see Figure 11). Only through effective communication can you
anticipate problems, make decisions, coordinate work flow, supervise others, develop
relationships, and promote products and services. Effective communication helps
you shape the impressions you and your company make on colleagues, employees,
supervisors, investors, and customers, and it helps you perceive and respond to the
needs of these stakeholders (the various groups you interact with).2
Conversely, ineffective communication can interfere with sound business solutions and can often make problems worse.3 Without effective communication, people
misunderstand each other and misinterpret information. Ideas misfire or fail to gain
attention, and people and companies flounder.
FIGURE 11
The Benefits of Effective
Communication
Quicker
problem
solving
Improved
stakeholder
response
Enhanced
professional
image
Stronger
decision
making
EFFECTIVE
COMMUNICATION
Clearer
promotional
materials
Increased
productivity
Steadier
work
flow
Stronger
business
relationships
Chapter 1
Advances in Technology The Internet, e-mail, voice mail, faxes, pagers, and
other wireless devices have revolutionized the way people communicate. Such technological advances not only bring new and better tools to
the workplace but also increase the speed, frequency, and
reach of communication. People from opposite ends of the
world can work together seamlessly, 24 hours a day.
Moreover, advances in technology make it possible for
more and more people to work away from the officein
cars, airports, hotels, and at home.
This increased use of new technology requires employees to communicate more effectively and efficiently. (See
the photo essay on Powerful Tools for Communicating
NOT AVAILABLE FOR
Efficiently on page 8.) Technology showcases your comELECTRONIC VIEWING
munication skillsyour writing skills are revealed in every
e-mail message, and your verbal skills are revealed in audio
and video teleconferences.5 Furthermore, intranets (private
corporate networks based on Internet technology), and
extranets (the extension of private networks to certain
outsiders such as suppliers) facilitate communication
among employees, managers, customers, suppliers, and
investors. More businesses are installing such networks
and are increasingly engaging in electronic commerce
(e-commerce), the buying and selling of goods and services
over the Internet.
FIGURE 12
Effective Communication by Memo
FROM: Tom Ristoff
t
af I have found three website designers who can help us improve our company
Dr
website. As you know, there are many problems with our website. We have
received numerous complaints from customers concerning the length of time it
takes for our website to load. Customers also complain about overuse of banner
advertising, it fails to provide adequate company and product information, difficulty in navigating the site, registration forms take too long to fill out, and out-ofdate articles posted on the website.
On Tuesday, July 14, I met with Josh Allen, the owner of WebDezine, a marketing
firm that specializes in developing, designing, updating, and managing websites. Josh showed me several samples of his companys work. His current client
list and letters of reference are impressive. Josh has several recommendations
for improving our website.
Fails to capture
readers interest with
a specific subject
Complicates sentence
structure by ignoring
parallelism, thus
making a simple list
difficult to read
On Wednesday, July 15, I met with Steven Sanchez, manager of Your Web Design,
and Betsy Delany, owner of Delany Websites. Both companies perform the same
type of work as WebDezine. Both have an impressive list of clients and good credentials. However, I did not think Delanys Web ideas were as innovative as the
other two companies.
I have invited all three companies to make a presentation to management at a
special meeting scheduled on Wednesday, July 22 at 9:00 a.m. Each company will
make a short presentation showing us specific samples of their work, outline
suggestions for our company website, and discuss their fees and timeline. At
that meeting, they will also address any questions and concerns you may have.
I strongly suggest you attend this meeting so that we can select the best candidate and get the revision project underway. Minimally, it will take a designer at
least three months to complete this project. The longer we delay in the selection
process, the longer it will take us to develop a website that matches our competitors.
on
i
is
v
Re
DATE:
Josh Allen, owner of WebDezine (Del Mar, CA), specializes in developing, designing, updating, and managing websites. Hes been designing web pages for eight
years. His current client list, letters of reference, and sample sites are impressive, and he has several exciting recommendations for improving our website.
All three candidates specialize in designing, developing, and managing websites. The candidates include the following:
Withholds early
impressions and sticks
to the facts
Gives impressions
rather than fact,
making the message
less effective
MEMO
TO:
Provides important
information up front
without wasting time
on preliminaries
Steven Sanchez, manager of Your Web Design (Orange, CA), specializes in developing and updating website designs. His company has been designing websites
for five years and has an impressive list of clients. However, his company does
not manage websites on a continuing basis.
Persuades managers to
attend, using italics to
emphasize urgency
Betsy Delany, owner of Delany Websites (Laguna Beach, CA), develops, designs,
updates, and manages websites. Her credentials are excellent, but her list of
clients is short since shes been in business for less than a year.
I have reviewed samples from all three candidates, and youll have an opportunity to see them and learn more about each company at the meeting. In addition,
each candidate will present recommendations for improving our website, a projected timeline, and estimated costs.
Please check your calendar and let me know by e-mail before Monday, July 20,
whether youll be able to attend this meeting. If you cant attend and have specific questions or concerns that you would like addressed, please send them
along in your response.
Chapter 1
Team-Based Organizations
Flexible Workstations
Many professionals have
abandoned desktop PCs
for laptops they can carry
home, on travel, and to meetings. Back at their desks, a docking
station transforms the laptop into a full-featured PC with network connection. Workers without permanent desks sometimes
share PCs that automatically reconfigure themselves to access
each users e-mail and files.
Wireless Networks
Laptop PCs with wireless access cards let
workers stay connected
to the network from
practically anywhere
within the officeany
desk, any conference
room. This technology offers high-speed
Internet access within range of a wireless
access point.
Electronic Presentations
Combining a color projector with a
laptop or personal digital assistant
(PDA) running the right software
lets people give informative business presentations that are
enhanced with sound, animation,
and even website hyperlinks.
Having everything in electronic
form also makes it easy to customize a presentation or to make
last-minute changes.
Web-based Meetings
Wall Displays
Teams commonly
solve problems by
brainstorming at a
whiteboard. Wall displays take this concept one step further, letting participants transmit words
and diagrams to distant colleagues via the corporate
intranet. Users can even share the virtual pen to make
changes and additions from more than one location.
Collaborating
Internet Videophone
Person-to-person video calling has long
been possible through popular instant
messaging programs. Internet videophone
services do even more, letting multiple
users participate in a videoconference
without the expense and complexity of a
full-fledged videoconferencing system.
Some services are flexible enough to
include telecommuters who have broadband Internet connections.
Shared Workspace
Online workspaces such as eRoom and
Groove make it easy for far-flung team
members to access shared files anywhere,
any time. Accessible through a browser,
the workspace contains a collection of
folders and has built-in intelligence to
control which team members can read,
edit, and save specific files.
COMMUNICATING REMOTELY
Extranet
Warehouse RFID
In an effort to reduce the
costs and delays associated
with manual inventory
reports, Wal-Mart asked its
top suppliers to put radiofrequency identification (RFID) tags on all their shipping cases
and pallets by 2005. These tags automatically provide information that was previously collected by hand via barcode scanners.
Wireless
Warehouse
Communication technology is a key source of
competitive advantage for shipping companies
such as FedEx and UPS. Hand-worn scanners
use wireless links to help warehouse personnel access instant information that lets them
process more packages in less time at transit
hubs. Currently, 300 package loaders at four
UPS hub facilities are testing the new wireless
application called UPScan. A pager-size cordless scanner worn on the loaders hand captures data from a package bar code and transmits the data via Bluetooth wireless technology to a Symbol Technologies wireless terminal worn on the loaders waist.
Companies use a variety of communication technologies to create products and services and deliver them to
customers. The ability to easily
access and share the latest information improves the flow and timing of
supplies, lowers operating costs, and
boosts financial performance. Easy
information access also helps companies respond to customer needs by
providing them timely, accurate
information and service and by delivering the right products to them at
the right time.
Package Tracking
Senders and receivers often want
frequent updates when packages are
in transit. Handheld devices such as
the FedEx PowerPad enhance customer service by letting delivery
personnel instantly upload package
data to the FedEx network. The
wireless PowerPad also aids drivers
by automatically receiving weather
advisories.
Help Lines
Some people prefer the
personal touch of contact
by phone. Moreover,
some companies assign
preferred customers special ID numbers that let
them jump to the front of
the calling queue. Many
companies are addressing
the needs of foreign-language speakers by connecting them with external service
providers who offer multilingual support.
O v e r- t h e - s h o u l d e r
Support
For online shoppers who
need instant help, many
retail websites make it easy
to connect with a live sales
rep via phone or instant
messaging. The rep can
provide quick answers to
questions and, with permission, can even control a shoppers browser to help locate
particular items.
Interacting
Corporate Blogs
Web-based journals let companies offer
advice, answer questions, and promote the
benefits of their products and services.
Elements of a successful blog include frequent updates and the participation of
knowledgeable contributors. Adding a subtle mix of useful commentary and marketing messages helps get customers to read or
listen to them.
Retail RFID
Customers
can't buy
what they
cant find, and
manual
reporting is often too slow for fast-paced
retailing. To keep enough goods on the
shelves, some retailers use RFID tags to
monitor products on display. Clerks use
wireless readers to scan tagged products
and report stock data to a computerized
inventory system that responds with an
up-to-the-minute restocking order.
12
Part I
When you join a company, you become a link in its information chain. Whether
youre a top manager or an entry-level employee, you have information that others
need, and others have information that is crucial to you. Whether your organization
is large, small, or virtual, sharing information among its parts and with the outside
world is the glue that binds it together.
Communicating Internally
You are a contact point in both the
external and internal communication
networks.
FIGURE 14
Effective Internal Communication by E-Mail
Uses an informal
salutation for e-mail
to peers
Hi Brad:
I am developing a summer marketing program for our Holland America, Seabourn, and Windstar lines.
Could you please provide me with a breakout of current passenger capacity by cruise brand for all
company ships.
I need this information by Thursday, June 12, at the latest. Please send it to me in an e-mail attachment.
If you have any questions, or if you will not be able to produce the data by June 12, please let me
know right away.
Includes a brief
complimentary close
and a typed name
Includes contact
information in case
e-mail is forwarded
to someone else
Always provides
information on To,
From, and Subject
Thanks,
Lauren Eastman
Assistant Director of Sales
Carnival Corporation
[email protected]
1-305-599-2600 ext. 10839
Writing at 11:29 a.m.
On Wednesday, June 4, 2003
Communicates one
clear and concise
objective, in the
body, and clearly
states what is
expected of Brad
Closes cordially,
making a statement
about the specific
action requested
Chapter 1
Formal Communication Network The formal communication network is typically shown as an organization chart like the one in Figure 15. Such charts summarize the lines of authority; each box represents a link in the chain of command, and
each line represents a formal channel for the transmission of official messages.
Information may travel down, up, and across an organizations formal hierarchy.
Downward flow. Organizational decisions are usually made at the top and then
flow down to the people who will carry them out. Most of what filters downward
is geared toward helping employees do their jobs. From top to bottom, each person must understand each message, apply it, and pass it along.
13
Upward flow. To solve problems and make intelligent decisions, managers must
learn whats going on in the organization. Because they cant be everywhere at
once, executives depend on lower-level employees to furnish them with accurate,
timely reports on problems, emerging trends, opportunities for improvement,
grievances, and performance.
Horizontal flow. Communication also flows from one department to another,
either laterally or diagonally. This horizontal communication helps employees
share information and coordinate tasks, and it is especially useful for solving complex and difficult problems.9
Formal organization charts illustrate how information is supposed to flow.
However, such charts may not be accurate models for every business. Moreover, in
actual practice, lines and boxes on a piece of paper cannot prevent people from talking with one another.
Informal Communication Network Every organization has an informal communication networka grapevinethat supplements official channels. As people go
about their work, they have casual conversations with their friends in the office. They
joke and share and discuss many things: their apartments, their families, restaurants,
movies, sports, and other people in the company. Although many of these conversations deal with personal matters, about 80 percent of the information that travels
along the grapevine pertains to business, and 75 to 95 percent of it is accurate.10
FIGURE 15
Formal Communication Network
President
Vice President
of Finance
Vice President
of Marketing
Head
Accountant
Sales
Manager
Director of
Advertising and
Promotion
Industrial
Sales
Director
Retail
Sales
Director
Special
Projects
Supervisor
Downward
Upward
Horizontal
Vice President
of Research and
Development
Vice President
of Production
Plant
Manager
Advertising
Production
Chief
Line A
Supervisor
Line B
Supervisor
Line C
Supervisor
14
Part I
Communicating Externally
The external communication
network links the organization with
the outside world of customers,
suppliers, competitors, and
investors.
Just as internal communication carries information up, down, and across the organization, external communication carries it into and out of the organization.
Companies constantly exchange messages with customers, vendors, distributors,
competitors, investors, journalists, and community representatives. Sometimes this
external communication is carefully orchestratedespecially during a crisis. At other
times it occurs informally as part of routine business operations.
Informal External Communication Although companies usually communicate with outsiders in a formal manner, informal contacts with outsiders are important for learning about customer needs. As a member of an organization, you are an
important informal conduit for communicating with the outside world. In the
course of your daily activities, you unconsciously absorb bits and pieces of information that add to the collective knowledge of your company. Moreover, every
time you speak for or about your company, you send a message. Outsiders may
form an impression of your organization on the basis of the subtle, unconscious
clues you transmit through your tone of voice, facial expression, and general
appearance.
Top managers rely heavily on informal contacts with outsiders to gather information that might be useful to their companies. Much of their networking involves
Chapter 1
15
Uses letterhead
stationery
Uses a typical
inside address
In the wilderness areas where they will be relocated, wolves help keep the
population of caribou, moose, and deer under control, and they cull injured or
sick animals from the herd. However, wolves fear human beings and will avoid
people whenever possible. Our North American wolves do not attack humans.
In addition, your readers will be interested to know a little more about wolves in
general. Wolves have strong family ties and often mate for life. Female wolves
give birth to about four to six pups, and both parents supply food and help train
the pups. In fact, the wolf pack is usually a family group. And just as families
call to their children, wolves sometimes howl to keep their pack together.
We invite those of your readers who would like to join our efforts to call
1-800-544-8333 to receive more information.
Includes a
complimentary close
Sincerely,
Carroll Paulding
President
sg
FIGURE 16
Effective External Communication by Letter
Provides specific
relocation-program
details in the body,
reassures readers
about their personal
safety, and anticipates
the needs of the
second audience by
providing information
that was not
requested
Closes cordially,
clearly stating the
invitation where the
reader will notice it
16
Part I
Table 11
WHAT TO DO IN A CRISIS
When a Crisis Hits:
Do
Dont
Businesses are using the Internet to make closer connections with organizations and customers all over the planet. The Internet is changing the way customers, suppliers, companies, and other stakeholders interact. Its also changing the way companies operate
internally, by allowing speedy, convenient exchanges of ideas and informationanytime,
anywhere, across thousands of miles or across the street. Companies use the Internet to
Share text, photos, slides, videos, and other data within the organization
Permit employees to telecommute, or work away from a conventional office,
whether at home, on the road, or across the country14
Recruit employees cost-effectively
Locate information from external sources
Find new business partners and attract new customers
Locate and buy parts and materials from domestic and international suppliers
Promote and sell goods and services to customers in any location
Chapter 1
FIGURE 17
Increase revenues
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
17
18
Part I
FIGURE 18
The Successful
Communication Process
Phase 6
Receiver sends
feedback
Phase 1
Sender has an
idea
Phase 2
Sender encodes
idea
Phase 3
Sender transmits
message
CHANNEL
AND
MEDIUM
Phase 5
Receiver decodes
message
Phase 4
Receiver gets
message
Chapter 1
19
form (word, facial expression, gesture), length, organization, tone, and styleall
of which depend on your idea, your audience, and your personal style or mood.
3. The sender transmits the message. To physically transmit your message to
your receiver, you select a communication channel (spoken or written) and a
medium (telephone, letter, memo, e-mail, report, face-to-face exchange). This
choice depends on your message, your audiences location, your need for speed,
and the formality required.
4. The receiver gets the message. For communication to occur, your receiver
must first get the message. If you send a letter, your receiver has to read it before
understanding it. If youre giving a speech, your listeners have to be able to hear
you, and they have to be paying attention.
5. The receiver decodes the message. Your receiver must decode (absorb and
understand) your message. The decoded message must then be stored in the
receivers mind. If all goes well, the receiver interprets your message correctly,
assigning the same meaning to your words as you intended.
6. The receiver sends feedback. After decoding your message, the receiver may
respond in some way and signal that response to you. This feedback enables
you to evaluate the effectiveness of your message: If your audience doesnt
understand what you mean, you can tell by the response and refine your
message.
As Figure 18 illustrates, the communication process is repeated until both parties have finished expressing themselves.19 Moreover, effective business communicators try not to cram too much information into one message. Instead, they limit the
content of a message to a specific subject and use this back-and-forth exchange to
provide additional information or details in subsequent messages.
However, Figure 18 does not illustrate how complicated the communication
process actually is. Both sender and receiver may be trying to communicate at the
same time, or their cultures or backgrounds may be so different that they wont
understand one another without some allowance for these differences. Also, the
receiver may not always respond to the message, so the sender may need to evaluate
whether to send the message again. In fact, the communication process can fail in any
number of ways.
COMMUNICATION BARRIERS
Communication is successful only when the receiver understands the message
intended by the sender. Any step in the communication process can be blocked
by some sort of interference, or noise. Such noise can be caused by a variety of
communication barriers, including perceptual and language differences, restrictive environments, distractions, deceptive communication tactics, and information overload.
20
Part I
fit, you are inclined to distort the information rather than rearrange your patterna
process known as selective perception.
Similarly, language is an arbitrary code that depends on shared definitions.
However, theres a limit to how completely any two people can share the same meaning for a given word. Take the simple word cookie, for example. You might think of
oatmeal, chocolate chip, and sugar. However, others might think of cookie in its computer contextthat is, a text file stored on a visitors computer to identify each time
the user visits a website.
The more experiences you share with another person, the more likely you are to
share perception and thus share meaning. Both perception and language are heavily
influenced by culture, which is discussed in detail in Chapter 3.
Restrictive Environments
The communication climate suffers
when information is distorted,
fragmented, or blocked by an
authoritarian style of management.
Every link in the communication chain is open to error. By the time a message travels
all the way up or down the chain, it may bear little resemblance to the original idea.
Moreover, if a companys formal communication network limits the flow of information in any direction (upward, downward, or horizontal), communication becomes
fragmented. Lower-level employees may obtain only enough information to perform
their own isolated tasks, leaving only the people at the very top of the organization to
see the big picture.
When managers use a directive and authoritarian leadership style, information
moves down the chain of command, but not up. In a recent poll of 638 employees,
90 percent said they had good ideas on how their companies could run more successfully. Yet more than 50 percent said they were prevented from communicating
these thoughts because of a lack of management interest and a lack of effective means
for sharing their ideas.20
Deceptive Tactics
Using deceptive tactics to manipulate
receivers blocks communication and
ultimately leads to failure.
Since language itself is made up of words that carry values, you need only say things
a certain way to influence how others perceive your message, to shape expectations
and behaviors.21 Given such power, your responsibility to communicate honestly
and honorably is a grave one. No organization can create illegal or unethical messages
and still be credible or successful in the long run. Still, some business communicators
try to manipulate their receivers by using deceptive tactics.
For example, deceptive communicators may exaggerate benefits, quote inaccurate statistics, or hide negative information behind an optimistic attitude. They may
state opinions as facts, leave out crucial information, or portray graphic data unfairly.
Unscrupulous communicators may seek personal gain by making others look better
or worse than they are. And they may allow personal preferences to influence their
own perception and the perception of others.
Distractions
Business messages can be interrupted or distorted by uncountable types of distractions, including physical distractions, emotional distractions, information overload,
and round-the-clock accessibility:
Physical distractions. Bad connections, poor acoustics, or illegible copy may
seem trivial, but they can block an otherwise effective message. Your receiver
might be distracted by an uncomfortable chair, poor lighting, health problems, or
some other irritating condition.
Chapter 1
21
Emotional distractions. When you are upset, hostile, or fearful, you have a hard
time shaping a message objectively. If your receivers are emotional, they may
ignore or distort your message. Its practically impossible to avoid all communication in which emotions are involved, but try to remember that emotional messages
have a greater potential for misunderstanding.
Information overload. Every day, the number of documents on the Internet
increases by 7.5 million. On top of that, people receive more and more messages
by e-mail, overnight service, fax, voice mail, website, regular mail, pager, and
cell phone.22 On a typical day, the average office worker sends and receives over
200 messages.23 The sheer number of messages can be distracting, making it difficult to discriminate between useful and useless information.
Round-the-clock accessibility. Technologys demand for instant answers means
that professionals find themselves constantly tied to work.24 They make business
calls on cell phones as they commute. They check pagers and voice mail at business meetings, at home, and at the grocery store. They plug into their companys
intranet in the evening. And even on vacation, some find it easier to check e-mail
daily and quickly respond than to return to work and tackle over 1,000 e-mail
messages.25
Using an audience-centered
approach means keeping your
audience in mind at all times when
communicating.
22
Part I
contributions by making sure that communication flows freely down, up, and across the organization chart. They encourage candor and honesty, and their employees feel free to confess their
mistakes, disagree with the boss, and express
their opinions. These companies create an open
climate in two ways: by modifying the number of
organizational levels and by facilitating feedback.
Table 12
mate, companies today are reducing the number of levels in their organizations structure. A
flat structure has fewer levels with more people
reporting to each supervisor. Thus, the organizations communication chain has fewer links and is less likely to introduce distortion. Flatter organizations enable managers to share information with colleagues
and employees and to include employees in decision making, goal setting, and
problem solving.26 However, designing too few formal channels and having too
many people report to a single individual can block effective communication by
overburdening that key individual.
Facilitate Feedback Giving your audience a chance to provide feedback is crucial to maintaining an open communication climate. What employees want the most
from employers is personal feedback (even more than money).27 Knowing how to
give constructive criticism or feedback is an important communication skill, as highlighted in Table 12. To encourage feedback, companies use employee surveys, opendoor policies, company newsletters, memos, e-mail, task forces, and even real-time
two-way chat. Still, feedback isnt always easy to get. You may have to draw out the
other person by asking specific questions. You can also gain useful information by
encouraging your audience to express general reactions.
Chapter 1
23
Plagiarism. Stealing someone elses words or work and claiming it as your own
Selective misquoting. Deliberately omitting damaging or unflattering comments
to paint a better (but untruthful) picture of you or your company
Misrepresenting numbers. Increasing or decreasing numbers, exaggerating,
altering statistics, or omitting numerical data
Distorting visuals. Making a product look bigger or changing the scale of graphs
and charts to exaggerate or conceal differences
An ethical message is accurate and sincere. It avoids language that manipulates,
discriminates, or exaggerates. When communicating ethically, you do not hide
negative information behind an optimistic attitude, you dont state opinions as
facts, and you portray graphic data fairly. You are honest with employers, coworkers, and clients, and you never seek personal gain by making others look better or worse than they are. You dont allow personal preferences to influence your
perception or the perception of others, and you act in good faith. On the surface,
such ethical practices appear fairly easy to recognize. But deciding what is ethical
can be quite complex (see Promoting Workplace Ethics: Ethical Boundaries:
Where Would You Draw the Line?).
24
Part I
At the very least, you owe your employer an honest days work
for an honest days pay: your best efforts, obedience to the
rules, a good attitude, respect for your employers property,
and a professional appearance. Such duties and considerations
seem clear-cut, but where does your obligation to your
employer end? For instance, where would you draw the line in
communication situations such as the following?
Calling in sick because youre taking a few days off and you
want to use up some of the sick leave youve accumulated
The ethics involved in these situations may seem perfectly
clear . . . until you think about them. But wherever you are,
whatever the circumstances, you owe your employer your best
efforts. And time and again, it will be up to you to decide
whether those efforts are ethical.
CAREER APPLICATIONS
1. List ethical behaviors you would expect from your employees, and compare your list with those of your classmates.
2. As the supervisor of the records department, you must deal
with several clerks who have a tendency to gossip about
their co-workers. List five things you might do to resolve the
situation.
Preserving your position by presenting yourself to supervisors as the only person capable of achieving an objective
impressed enough with you to offer you a position on the spot. Not only is the new
position a step up from your current job, but the pay is double what youre getting
now. You accept the job and agree to start next month. Then as youre shaking hands
with the interviewer, she asks you to bring along profiles of your current companys
10 largest customers when you report for work. Do you comply with her request?
How do you decide between whats ethical and what is not?
Laws provide ethical guidelines for
certain types of messages.
Make Ethical Choices One place to look for guidance is the law. Ask your boss
1. Is this message balanced? Does it do the most good and the least harm? Is it fair
to all concerned in the short term as well as the long term? Does it promote positive winwin relationships? Did you weigh all sides before drawing a conclusion?
or your companys attorney, and if saying or writing something is clearly illegal, you
have no dilemma: You obey the law. However, even though legal considerations will
resolve some ethical questions, youll often have to rely on your own judgment and
principles. If your intent is honest, the statement is ethical, even though it may be
factually incorrect; if your intent is to mislead or manipulate the audience, the message is unethical, regardless of whether it is true. If a message does not violate civil
law or company policy, you might ask yourself three questions:31
2. Is it a message you can live with? Does it make you feel good about yourself?
Does it make you proud? Would you feel good about your message if a newspaper published it? If your family knew about it?
Chapter 1
25
3. Is this message feasible? Can it work in the real world? Have you considered
your position in the company? Your companys competition? Its financial and
political strength? The likely costs or risks of your message? The time available?
Motivate Ethical Choices Some companies lay out an explicit ethical policy by
using a written code of ethics to help employees determine what is acceptable. In
addition, many managers use ethics audits to monitor ethical progress and to point
out any weaknesses that need to be addressed. They know that being ethical is simply the right thing to do. Plus, its contagious. Others will follow your example when
they observe you being ethical and see the success you experience both in your interpersonal relationships and in your career.32
power over every eventuality, do your best to overcome physical barriers by exercising as much control as possible over the physical transmission link: If youre Organizations save time and money
by sending only necessary messages.
preparing a written document, make sure its appearance doesnt detract from your
message. If youre delivering an oral presentation,
choose a setting that permits the audience to see and
hear you without straining. Help listeners by connecting your subject to their needs, using language
that is clear and vivid, and relating your subject to
familiar ideas.
When youre the audience, learn to concentrate
on the message rather than on any distractions. As
discussed in Chapter 2, you can overcome listening
barriers by paraphrasing what youve heard. Try to
view the situation through the speakers eyes, and
resist jumping to conclusions. Listen without interrupting, and clarify meaning by asking nonthreatenNOT AVAILABLE FOR
ing questions.
ELECTRONIC VIEWING
Overcome emotional barriers by recognizing the
feelings that arise in yourself and in others as you communicate, and try to avoid causing these emotions. For
example, choose neutral words to avoid arousing
strong feelings unduly. Avoid placing blame and try not
to react subjectively. Most important, be aware of the
greater potential for misunderstanding that accompanies emotional messages.
26
Part I
Document Makeover
IMPROVE THIS MEMO
To practice correcting drafts of actual documents, visit
www.prenhall.com/onekey on the web. Click Document
Makeovers, then click Chapter 1. You will find a memo that
contains problems and errors relating to what youve learned in
this chapter about overcoming communication barriers in business messages. Use the Final Draft decision tool to create an
improved version of this memo. Check the memo for an
audience-centered approach, ethical communication, communicating efficiently, and facilitating feedback.
a written message merely adds to the information overload, its probably better left unsent or
handled some other waysuch as by a quick
telephone call or a face-to-face chat. Holding
down the number of messages reduces the
chance of information overload.
Chapter 1
27
titled On the Job: Communicating at . . . begins every chapter. As you read through
each chapter, think about the person and the company highlighted in the vignette.
Become familiar with the various concepts presented in the chapter, and imagine
how they might apply to the featured scenario.
At the end of each chapter, youll take part in an innovative simulation called On
the Job: Solving Communication Dilemmas. Youll play the role of a person working
in the highlighted organization, and youll face a situation youd encounter there. You
will be presented with several communication scenarios, each with several possible
courses of action. Its up to you to recommend one course of action from each scenario as homework, as teamwork, as material for in-class discussion, or in a host of
other ways. These scenarios let you explore various communication ideas and apply
the concepts and techniques from the chapter.
Now youre ready for the first simulation. As you tackle each problem, think
about the material you covered in this chapter and consider your own experience as
a communicator. Youll probably be surprised to discover how much you already
know about business communication.
On the Job:
SOLVING COMMUNICATION DILEMMAS AT GE INDUSTRIAL SYSTEMS
At GE Industrial Systems, Lloyd Trotter keeps communication flowing and makes sure that everyone receives
necessary information by helping employees overcome
all the potential barriers to effective communication.
You are Trotters administrative assistant, and he has
put you in charge of several communication decisions
both internal and external. Use your knowledge of
communication to choose the best response for each
of the following situations. Be prepared to explain why
your choice is best.
1. An employee from the companys commercial division has an idea for changing the production
process so that it is more efficient and less expensive.
She wants to send an e-mail message to her production manager, and she comes to you for advice
on how to focus her message on the audience.
Which of the following message openings would
you recommend?
a. I have thought long and hard about how to make
the production process more efficient.
b. You told us to come to you with new ideas.
c. Here is an idea for saving money on the production process.
d. A small change in the production process could
save us both time and money.
2. A highly placed manager is uncomfortable with GEs
reverse-mentoring program. In business, mentoring is nothing new: Older, experienced managers act
as mentors to teach young, up-and-coming employees new skills. But GEs program is reversed
because veteran managers must seek out young,
Internet-savvy employees to help them improve their
own Internet skills. In this case, the veteran wants no
28
Part I
ment position. Even so, Trotter would like this brilliant engineer to stay with the company. Which of the
following choices would be both ethical and good for
the company?
a. The only way to be ethical is for Trotter to tell the
engineer the whole truththat he has failed as a
manager but could be successful in a different
role.
b. It is perfectly ethical for Trotter to reassign the
engineer to another department in which he has
no managerial responsibilities. Trotter is the boss
and owes the engineer no explanation for the
transfer.
c. The most ethical way for Trotter to resolve the situation is to find a pressing engineering problem
(that requires no managerial responsibilities) and
offer that challenge to the engineer.
d. To be completely above board and ethical, Trotter
must fire the engineer for not fulfilling his mission.
Its too bad he has to lose such a brilliant engineer,
but the price of being ethical can sometimes be
very high.33
Chapter 1
Objective 1.4: List eight ways the Internet facilitates business communication.
9. Online groups that deliver posted messages to you via
e-mail are called
a. Telnet
b. Discussion mailing lists
c. Newsgroups
d. Instant messaging and chat
10. When users converse vocally over the web, they are using
a. Instant messaging and chat
b. Telnet
c. Internet telephony
d. File transfer protocol
11. To replace in-person face-to-face meetings with online
meetings, you would use
a. Discussion mailing lists
b. Internet telephony
c. Videoconferencing
d. E-mail
12. Users who wish to conduct real-time conversations over
the computer would use
a. Instant messaging and chat
b. Telnet
c. Internet telephony
d. File transfer protocol
Objective 1.5: Define the six phases of the communication
process.
13. The first phase of the communication process occurs when
a. The sender transmits the message
b. The receiver sends feedback
c. The sender has an idea
d. The receiver gets the message
14. The last phase of the communication process occurs when
a. The sender transmits the message
b. The receiver sends feedback
c. The sender has an idea
d. The receiver gets the message
Objective 1.6: Identify and briefly discuss five types of
communication barriers.
15. The more experiences people share, the more likely they
are to share meaning; however, each experience is
strongly influenced by
29
5. Ethical Choices 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, he
responds as if hed written all those reports himself. What
kind of ethical choice does this response represent? What
can you do in this situation? Briefly explain your solution
and your reasoning.
Part I
30
Exercises
For live links to all websites discussed in this chapter, visit
this texts website at www.prenhall.com/thill. Just log on,
select Chapter 1, and click on Student Resources. Locate the
page or the URL related to the material in the text. For the
Learning More on the Web exercises, youll also find navigational directions. Click on the live link to the site.
1.1
1.2
1.3
1.4
1.5
1.6
Chapter 1
31
ACTIVITIES
It takes plenty of practice and hard work to become an effective communicator. Start now by logging on to the Business
Writers Free Library and expand your knowledge of the topics
discussed in this chapter.
1. How do the objectives of professional writing differ from
the objectives of composition and literature?
2. What is the purpose of feedback?
3. What are some basic guidelines for giving feedback?
32
Part I
and follow the links. Review the tips, tools, articles, ideas,
and other helpful resources to improve your productivity
as a telecommuter (a mobile or home-based worker).
3. Internet Help, www.city.grande-prairie.ab.ca/h_email.
htm. Learn the ins and outs of e-mail at this comprehensive site so that your e-mail will stand out from the
crowd.
Learn Interactively
INTERACTIVE STUDY GUIDE
Visit the Companion Website at www.prenhall.com/thill. For
Chapter 1, take advantage of the interactive Study Guide to
test your chapter knowledge. Get instant feedback on whether
you need additional studying. Read the Current Events articles to get the latest on chapter topics, and complete the exercises as specified by your instructor.
This sites Study Hall helps you succeed in this course.
Talk in the Hall lets you leave messages and meet new
friends online. If you have a question, you can Ask the
Tutor. And to get a better grade in this course, you can find
more help at Writing Skills, Study Skills, and Study Tips.