Reference no: EM133526496

Assignment: Business & Finance- Business Communications

Part I

A. Why is workplace e-mail unlikely to go away anytime soon?

B. Why do many workers complain about e-mail?

C. Name at least five reasons some organizations forbid employees to use instant and text messaging.

D. Explain why companies use blogs.

E. Why do you need to critically evaluate all information that engulfs you daily?

F. Why should businesses welcome customer comments online?

G. What is a claim? When should it be straightforward?

H. What are a writer's three goals in composing an adjustment message?

I. What are five characteristics of goodwill messages?

J. Name four groups of people to whom business communicators might write letters of appreciation.

Part II

Message Openers and Subject Lines

Your Task:Compare the following sets of message openers. Circle the letter of the opener that illustrates a direct opening. Write an appropriate subject line for each opening paragraph.

A. An e-mail announcing a study:

1. We have noticed recently a gradual but steady decline in the number of customer checking accounts. We are disturbed by this trend, and for this reason I am asking our Customer Relations Department to conduct a study and make recommendations regarding this important problem.

2. Our Customer Relations Department will study the gradual but steady decline of customer checking accounts and recommend potential solutions.

B. An e-mail announcing a new procedure:

1. It has come to our attention that increasing numbers of staff members are using IM to send business messages. We realize that IM saves time and gets you fast responses, and we are prepared to continue to allow its use, but we have developed some specific procedures that we want you to use to make sure it is safe as well as efficient.

2. The following new procedures for using instant messaging at work will enable staff members to continue to use it safely and efficiently.

C. An e-mail inquiring about software:

1. Please answer the following questions about your voice-recognition software. We would like to know how reliable the machine transcription is and whether the software can be trained to recognize various voices.

2. We are interested in your voice-recognition software that we understand allows users to dictate and copy text without touching a keyboard. We are interested in answers to a number of questions, such as the reliability of the machine transcription. We also want to know whether the software can be trained to recognize various voices.

D. An e-mail announcing introducing a new manager:

1. Welcome our new HR manager, Kristi Bostock, who comes from our Chicago office. Kristi is a 17-year management veteran with a strong focus on diversity and inclusion. Please join us in warmly welcoming our new HR manager.

2. This is a message to bring you good news. You will be pleased to learn that our long wait is over. After going without an HR chief for many weeks, we are finally able to welcome our new manager, Kristi Bostock, who comes from our Chicago office.

Critical Thinking

In this chapter you learned that badmouthing businesses online can have costly consequences. Some companies have used so-called SLAPP laws to sue consumers for writing negative reviews on the Internet. The acronym stands for Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation. Opponents consider such lawsuits frivolous and believe they threaten the public's free speech rights under the First Amendment. Therefore, 30 states and the District of Columbia currently have anti-SLAPP laws allowing early dismissal of meritless lawsuits brought to intimidate and silence reviewers and other public critics. Is trying to silence reviewers on social media fair, or are businesses within their rights to protect from illegitimate damaging complaints?