BUSINESS RESEARCH AND COMMUNICATIONS
Assignment 1
1. Imagine you are the Director of Internal Communications for a medium-sized software development firm. Your department head has instructed you to e-mail the entire staff about the upcoming increase in monthly health care costs. This news will not be welcome since the costs just went up six months ago. Craft a letter to e-mail the staff that adheres to all of the communication techniques covered in this module.
2. As the Director of Internal Communications, you must deal with a situation in which you find out several workers have a tendency to gossip about their co-workers using the company e-mail. Write up a brief memo that explains why such activity would be considered unethical communication. Also write one paragraph that explains how you will discuss the situation with the employees and what, if any, technology you will use.
3. Your boss just selected you to organize a quality assurance team made up of people from your branch office and the office in Mumbai, and she wants to know how you will go about forming the team and guaranteeing its success with regard to ensuring quality of the new software roll out. Draft a document that outlines your plan for creating the team; how you will use technology to foster communication; how you will overcome obstacles and conflict among team members; and how you will hold productive meetings.
4. Describe two situations: one in which you were on a high-performing team and one in which you were on a poorly performing team. Describe the characteristics of the teams, and of each team member, and how those characteristics contributed to overall team success or failure. Also explain what did - or could have - hindered the high-performing team and what could have helped the poorly performing team improve.
5. Business etiquette can make or break a career. Describe in detail a situation you experienced, or one that was highly publicized in the media, in which a person's lack of business etiquette cost them their job. Then explain what etiquette skills should have been used, and how, to lead to a better outcome.
Assignment 2
1. Research high-context and low-context countries. Select one of each (excluding the United States) and explain why each country is either high or low, citing several examples of behaviors and cues. Then define a situation that is common in each country and how it might be misinterpreted in the other, and why.
2. Take the high-context country you selected for Question 1. Imagine your boss is traveling there to give a presentation at a global conference. Using the Components of Successful Intercultural Communication found in Chapter 3, draft a document for your boss to use to tailor his presentation and guide his professional behavior while in that country.
3. If a distant relative from Russia was planning to come to the U.S. for the first time for some important business meetings but feared offending his counterparts due to his lack of understanding of the U.S. culture and business environment, what information would you give him about American business culture and behaviors to help ensure his success.
4. Imagine your company plans to change its personal expense policy in a way that could confuse everyone and result in a lot of wasted time and effort, and your boss plans to deliver the information and the new policy guidelines via a lengthy text memo. Write a document that either supports his decision to use written media or suggests he use another form of media to convey the information. Be sure to address the advantages and disadvantages of each media option for this type of communication.
5. Based on your answer for Question #4, make a recommendation to your boss on whether an Indirect or Direct Approach should be used to communicate the new personal expense policy. Support your recommendation with information.
Format your assignment according to the following formatting requirements:
1. The answer should be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides.
2. The response also includes a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student's name, the course title, and the date. The cover page is not included in the required page length.
3. Also include a reference page. The Citations and references should follow APA format. The reference page is not included in the required page length.