Business Communication, 3ed (An Indian Adaptation)

Part One Pillars of Business Communication

Chapter 1 Communication Architecture for Professional Success

• Writing for Your Present and Future
• Speaking for Your Present and Future
• Listening for Your Present and Future
• Communication Technologies
• Specific Challenges of the Communication Revolution
• Thriving in an Era of More Words, More Information, and More Stored Documents
• Preparing for Ceaseless Change
• Planning for Effective Communication
• What is Communication?
• What Do We Know about Communication?
• Communication Patterns within an Organization
• Upward, Downward, and Lateral Communication
• Ten Barriers to Communication
• Communication Architecture
• Seven C’s of Communication
• Biases in Communication
• Nonverbal Communication

Chapter 2 A Process for Management Writing

• Purpose: What Are You Trying to Communicate?
• Audience: To Whom Are You Writing?
• Exploration: What Ideas Should You Consider?
• Patterns and Outlines: How Can You Best Arrange Your Ideas?
• Details and Examples: How Can You Support Your Points?
• Critical Thinking Skills: Claim, Reasons, and Evidence
• Writing the First Draft
• Rewriting, Revising, and Editing

Chapter 3 Individual and Collaborative Styles for Management Writing

• Words within the Sentence
• Sentences within the Paragraph
• Leading and Participating in Collaborative Writing Teams
• A Business Language Guide for Non-Native Speakers of English
• What’s Going Wrong in Your Writing
• Pros and Cons of Writing as a Duo

Chapter 4 Oral Presentations

• Learning the Ten Tips for Effective Business Speaking
• Understanding the Fear of Public Speaking
• Three Situations for Business-Related Speaking
• Overcoming the Terror of Speaker’s Nerves
• Storytelling in Presentations
• Small Talk

Chapter 5 Listening

• The Need for Listening in Business
• Why Managers Often Fail to Listen
• Improving Your Ability to Listen
• Aspects of Intercultural Listening
• Final Considerations

Part Two Letters, Memos, And E-Mail

Chapter 6 Formats and Techniques for Business Writing

• Show You Care about Your Readers
• Preparing to Write a Business Letter

Chapter 7 Drafting Good News, Bad News, and Neutral Messages

• Format for Yes Letters
• Writing Yes When You’re under Stress
• Humanizing the Company
• Saying “No” Directly and Politely
• Using a Buffer Statement
• Negative Responses
• Follow-Up Letters of Explanation
• Final Considerations in Saying “No”
• Writing Neutral Messages

Chapter 8 Persuasive Communication

• Nature and Purpose of Persuasive Letters
• Four Types of Persuasive Letters
• The Sales and Promotion Letter
• Direct-Mail Letters
• Persuasion by Electronic Mail Internet Sites
• Claim Letters
• Collection Letters
• The Firm Collection Letter
• Ethos, Pathos, and Logos in Persuasion
• Final Considerations When Writing Persuasive Letters

Chapter 9 Effective Memos and E-mail

• In-House Communication Principles
• Five Guidelines for E-mail Messages
• Final Considerations

Part Three Reports and Proposals

Chapter 10 Short and Long Reports

• Overview of Short Reports
• Ten Steps to Writing a Short Report
• Common Types of Reports
• Report Inventories
• Building Strong Report-Writing Skills in the Organization
• Overview of Long Reports
• Keeping Long Reports Clear and Readable
• Elements of the Long Report
• Format: Pages and Pagination

Chapter 11 Proposals and Business Plans

• Overview of Proposals

• Three Keys to Persuasive Proposals
• Proposal-Writing Strategies: A “How-To” Guide

Chapter 12 Graphic Aids for Documents and Presentations

• New Tools for Nonartists
• Reasons for Using Visual Aids
• Where to Begin: The Audience’s Needs
• Distortion and Deception in Visual Aids
• Visual Aids for Business Documents and Presentations
• Visual Aids for Oral Presentations

Part Four Career Communication

Chapter 13 The Career Search, Résumés, and Follow-Up Communications

• Finding the Job
• Writing Your Application Letter and Résumé
• Follow-Up Communications: Before an Interview
• The Job Interview
• Follow-Up Communications: After an Interview
• Other Career-Related Letters
• Using the Internet to Find Career Opportunities

Chapter 14 Succeeding at Interviews as Interviewees and Interviewers

• Problems with Traditional Interviewing Techniques
• The Legal Basis for Structured Interviewing
• Where Structured Interview Questions Come From
• Developing the Job Analysis and Description
• Turning the Job Analysis into Interview Questions
• Training Good Interviewers
• Scoring the Structured Interview
• Documenting the Structured Interview
• Examples of Behavior-Based Interview Questions
• Conducting Interviews
• Useful Probes for Interviewing
• Future Directions for Interviewing

Chapter 15 Communicating at Workplace

• Interpersonal and Group Communication
• Communicating in Teams
• Giving and Receiving Feedback

Part Five Communication Issues for Management Success

Chapter 16 Managing Meetings and Telephone Work

• The High Cost of Meetings
• Communicating Via the Telephone

Chapter 17 Ethics and Law for Business Communication

• Personal Ethics: Tough Decisions
• Conflicting Values
• Typical Moral Dilemmas Confronting Business Communicators
• Ethics: Moral versus Legal Issues
• The Legal Consequences of Giving Your Word

Chapter 18 Gender Communication

• How Women Tend to Communicate in Business

Chapter 19 Crisis Communication and Media Relations

• Learning to Predict the Unpredictable
• How to Prepare Your Company for Crisis
• Dividing Responsibilities for Crisis Preparation
• Sample Outline for a Crisis Communication Plan
• Media Relations
• Guidelines for Successful Media Relations

Chapter 20 Communicating across Cultures

• An Ever-More-Global Business World
• The Meeting of Cultures
• Recognizing Cultural Misconceptions
• Examine Your Own Language and Cultural Habits
• Where to Learn about Other Cultures
• Writing for Intercultural Business
• China: An Extended Case in Business Communication
• Making Presentations in Intercultural Settings
• Your Future as an Intercultural Businessperson
• Five Dimensions of Culture
• Cultural Filters in Communication

Part Six Communicating in The Digital Age

Chapter 21 Computer-Mediated Communication

• Skills and Knowledge for CMC
• The Media and the Message in CMC

Chapter 22 Communicating on the Web: Social Media Communication

• Social Media as a Communication Tool
• Challenges of Social Media
• Social Media Tools and Platforms
• Basic Rules for the Social Media
• Building Your Brand on Social Media
• Blogs: Design Thinking for Communication

Summary

Questions for Discussion

Exercises

Web Assignments

A Practical Communication Dilemma

Showcase

Appendix A Business Communication Cases

Case 1: Words, Words, Words

Case 2: No One Can Write Around Here!

Case 3: Can’t Get Started

Case 4: Raytex Computers, Inc.

Case 5: Short and Not So Sweet

Case 6: Chips

Case 7: For All the Right Reasons

Case 8: Visit for a Day, Stay for a Lifetime

Case 9: Convening the Convention

Case 10: Food, Glorious Food

Case 11: You’re Sitting on My Profit

Case 12: Insert Tab A into Slot B

Case 13: Seven Hundred Toddlers for Sale

Case 14: I Know Someone Looking for Work

Case 15: Take Me, I’m Yours

Case 16: Oh My Gosh, They Want to Interview Me

Case 17: Take Me Away from All This!

Case 18: Communicating with Your Colleagues

Case 19: Writing on the Wall

Case 20: Lies, Lies, Lies

Case 21: Mirror, Mirror

Case 22: Get Ready, Get Set, Get Educated

Case 23: Would You Buy a Used Car from This Person?

Case 24: But That’s What You Said

Case 25: Gaps in the Career

Appendix B Grammar, Punctuation, and Usage

Appendix C Documentation

References and Central Acts (India) for Further Reading

Index