1. Responding to Good Wishes: Saying Thank You
Your Task. Write a short note thanking a friend who sent you good wishes when you recently completed your degree.
2. Extending Sympathy: To a Spouse
Your Task. Imagine that the spouse of a coworker recently died of cancer. Write the coworker a letter of sympathy.
3. International Message: Negotiating a Cool Deal With a Chinese Supplier
Your company, Pioneer Cable, seeks a cable assembly supplier in China. A few representatives of Pioneer just had a videoconference with AmRep China, a company specializing in finding Chinese manufactur- ers for American companies. Terrance Shaw, CEO and son of the owner, has been corresponding with Michael Zhu, who represents AmRep. The videoconference went well, but Mr. Shaw, the owner, wants Terrance
to confirm in writing what was discussed. Terrance, better known as Terry around the office, is an upbeat, gadget-loving young executive who would rather be using IM than writing e-mail. He manages to put together a rough draft, but he asks you to help him improve it.
Your Task. Revise the following e-mail to make it more formal, readable, and interculturally acceptable.
To: Michael Zhu <>[email protected]>
From: Terrance Shaw <>[email protected]>
Subject: Videoconference Info
Cc:
Hey, Michael, it was great seeing and talking with you and your crew in the September 14 videoconference. Everyone here at Pioneer Cable is totally stoked about having AmRep China hook us up with a Chinese cable assembly supplier. We're sure you'll turn over every stone to find us a terrific supplier!
Because of all the heavy accents, it was a little hard to understand some speakers in our videoconference, so let me go over some things we agreed on. AmRep China is going to look for a cable assembly supplier for Pioneer. Right? You'll make no bones about getting us
the best price/quality ratio you can possibly manage. This is obviously easier for you to do than for us because you'll be communicating in Chinese.
Unless I misunderstood, I heard one of your staff say that there would be continuous data feedback on quality control and that your com- pany would provide technical conformance to the specifications that we submit. Is that right? There was also quite a discussion on ISO 9001:2000 standards and procedures, and you said that AmRep would definitely find a supplier that adheres to those standards. This is super important to us. I believe I also heard that AmRep would help us manage production and delivery schedules with our Chinese supplier.
The owner says that we must have confirmation of these points before we can continue our negotiations. Hope to hear from you soon!
Terry
CEO, Pioneer Cable
E-Mail: [email protected] Phone: (814) 739-2901
FAX: (814) 739-3445