SIES SCHOOL OF BUSINESS STUDIES, NERUL, NAVI MUMBAI – 400 706

PGDM- B Trimester II General/Core 2022-24

Business & Interpersonal Communication

End Term Examination

Maximum Marks: 50 Date: 16.01.2023 Duration: 2 hours’ Time:2.00 – 4.00 pm

Part A: (3 * 5 = 15 marks)

Answer any THREE questions from this section.

Write in brief exemplifying your answers:

1. What are some behaviors and skills required of someone who conducts an effective
meeting? (CO 1& 2)
2. Make a list of ten things people say that reflect cultural stereotypes in an international
context. (CO 1,3 & 4)
3. Why should managers be concerned with communicating ethically? (CO 2,3 & 4)
4. Elucidate four principles of Interpersonal Communication. (CO 1& 2)
5. Distinguish between Business Reports and Proposals. (CO 2 & 4)

Part B: (2 * 10 = 20 marks)

Answer any TWO Questions

Q.6)

During their lunch hour, Deepa and Saurabh are waiting in a line with the hope of getting tickets to a
popular concert. As they near the ticket window, two young men crowd in line in front of them. Deepa
looks them in the eye and speaks to them in a calm, firm voice. She says, “Excuse me. We’ve been line
for a half for a half hour, and now you’ve crowded in front of us. Please go to the back of the line and
wait your turn.” The two intruders exchange glances, turn and go to the end of the line. Saurabh is
impressed with Deepa’s communication skills, as are the people behind them in the line.

Q. Why was Deepa successful in getting the two men to go to the back of the line? What might have
happened if she had been more confrontational?

(CO 1,2 & 4)

Q.7) Following are Four aggressive style messages. Rewrite each using words an assertive
communicator would us:

a) This financial report us totally inaccurate. Rewrite it-now!

b) Give me my money bac! This sweater shrank even though I followed the label directions for
washing! Is the quality of all your merchandise this poor?
c) Guys, I’ve about had it with your loud chatter. While you are reliving all the plays of the
football game, I can’t focus on my work. So, keep quiet or go someplace else!
d) The dress doesn’t look good on you. The colour isn’t right. Can you return it?

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(CO 1 &4)

Q.8) Write the minutes of 2nd half-yearly meeting of Students’ Union from the following
agenda:

a) Reading of minutes
b) Approval of accounts’
c) Appointment of solicitors
d) Participation in Health Camp
e) Steps to improve quality of English Language
f) Holding a personality development programme
g) Any other matters with the Chairperson’s permission
h) The minutes should record the condoling of the death of the Vice Chancellor.

(CO 1 & 2)

Part C: (15 marks)

Q.9) CASE STUDY - (CO 1,2,3 &4)

A Roche case study

Introduction

Sponsoring the Body Zone within the ‘Millennium Dome’ has enabled Roche to build on its reputation
as a major player in the British healthcare market, increase brand awareness, and move towards
becoming a household name.

Roche is a large multi-national Swiss pharmaceutical and healthcare company which produces a wide
range of healthcare products. It has been operating in the UK for the past 90 years and now employs
around 3,000 people in the UK (55,000 worldwide).

Roche has a multi-divisional organisational structure, with four separate business divisions based at
various locations throughout the UK.

1. The Diagnostics Division

2. The Pharmaceuticals Division
3. The Consumer Health Division
4. The Vitamins Division

Roche is the market leader in three of these four business areas. It is the second largest foreign investor
in UK healthcare, and ploughs back more than 20% of its turnover into research and development.

Developing a corporate publicity programme

Until recently, even though Roche was a major player in the UK healthcare market, it was not a

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household name. It’s somewhat conservative approach to publicity affected its attitude towards the
media.

The company decided to take a more proactive approach. At the same time, it was invited to become a
sponsor of the Body Zone in the Millennium Dome. This would give the company a chance to
demonstrate its integrated healthcare capabilities to many million visitors. Also, Roche could highlight
the importance of research and the advances that will enhance health and well-being as we begin the
new century.

Sponsoring the Body Zone

Boots the Chemists, L’Oreal and Roche put together a package worth £12 million to design and build
the Body Zone. The Body Zone consists of 2 elements; the body itself and a large plaza area filled
with interesting interactive exhibits.

The body, a piece of modern architecture, 27 metres high, represents both the male and female figures
in one reclining form. Visitors enter through the elbow, travel up an escalator in the arm and take a
journey through the body. Passing through state-of-the-art special effects, they arrive at a gigantic
beating heart.

The journey is designed to induce a whole range of different emotions including relief, apprehension,
fear, humour and sadness. The plaza area contains a range of thought-provoking exhibits which explore
the opportunities that science, genetics and medicine will bring in the new millennium.

Planning the project

Roche UK had corporate communications objectives as below:

 To raise the profile of Roche

 To build the company’s reputation
 To create a positive environment for growth of the business.

Roche also laid out some clearly defined communication objectives for the Dome Project itself. These
were to:

Generate and build employee interest in, and enthusiasm for, Roche’s sponsorship of the Body Zone

 Use its Dome sponsorship to develop new business opportunities

 Actively involve Roche staff in the Dome Project
 Ensure that the content of the Body Zone reflects Roche’s integrated healthcare capabilities

A strategy for communication

The first step was to involve and generate enthusiasm among all its employees. There is limited
integration between the various sites, so the company established project teams that encouraged cross-
divisional co-operation.

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Representatives on the project teams contributed different types of expertise, such as research and
development, production, and marketing. They were responsible for involving all the staff from their
division, collecting ideas and input, and representing these at the project team meetings. Progress was
then reported back to the various sites.

The Dome project encouraged staff to work together and helped to build a sense of corporate, rather
than divisional or site, identity. As a result of this input, Roche has provided equipment, advice and
expertise on many of the topics included in the Body Zone to supplement its financial sponsorship.
Site briefings, videos, competitions, team challenge events, balloon races and coach trips to the Dome
raised awareness of the project internally. Project members also produced a countdown 2000
newsletters, wrote articles for the Roche Leader (the in-house magazine) and used the company intranet
and notice boards to inform all employees about its progress.

The benefits of the Dome project

Roche’s involvement in the Millennium Dome project has had numerous, and sometimes unexpected,
benefits. Co-operation across divisions opened lines of informal communication, which will prove
useful in the future. For example, a visit to the Dome by all senior secretaries in the company enabled
many of them to meet face-to-face for the first time. The workforce gained much better knowledge
about the activities of the different divisions. Employees have become more focused on corporate
objectives and how their own divisions fit into the overall picture. This has proved to be a tremendous
motivator. Roche has recognized the need to continue this level of interaction in the future.

Roche’s involvement in the Dome has also brought several business benefits. Working in close
partnership with Boots the Chemists and other suppliers in the development of the Body Zone created a
network of valuable contacts.

As a direct result of meetings about the development of the project, the company has developed new
communication routes into Boots the Chemists for its diagnostic products and vitamins. Roche has
made important contacts with key customers and opinion leaders. Although such benefits may not be
immediately obvious, they will become more apparent in the long term.

Question:

Q.9) a). Examine and elaborate as to how this multi-product, multi-national company has
developed an integrated Corporate Publicity Program to improve communications both
externally and internally. ( 10 )
b). What lessons can be learned from their strategy? (5)

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