Examination Paper of Business Communication Essay

Examination Paper MM.100 Subject Code-B-109 Business Communication Section A: Objective Type & Short Questions (30 marks) ï‚ ·This section consists of multiple choices and Short Notes type questions. ï‚ ·Answer all the questions. ï‚ ·Part one questions carry 1 mark each & Part Two questions carry 4 marks each. Part one: Multiple choices: 1.__________is an essential function of Business Organizations: a. Information b. Communication c. Power d. None of the above 2. Physiological Barriers of listening are: a. Hearing impairment b. Physical conditions c. Prejudices d. All of the above 3.Which presentation tend to make you speak more quickly than usual: a. Electronic b. Oral c. Both „a‟ and „b‟ d. None of the above 4. What is the main function of Business Communication: a. Sincerity b. Positive language c. Persuasion d. Ethical standard 5. The responsibilities of the office manager in a firm that produces electronics spares is: a. Everything in the office runs efficiently b. Furniture and other equipment in the office is adequate c. Processing all the incoming official mail and responding to some d. All of the above 6.Labov‟s Storytelling Model based on: a. Communication through speech b. Language learning c. Group Discussions d. None of the above 7. Diagonal Communication is basically the: a.Communication across boundaries b.Communication between the CEO and the managers c.Communication through body language d.Communication within a department 8.How to make Oral Communication Effective? a.By Clarity b.By Brevity c.By Right words d.All of the above 9. Direct Eye contact of more than 10 seconds can create: a.Discomfort & Anxiety b.Emotional relationship between listeners and speakers c.Excitement d.None of the above 10. Encoding means: a.Transmission b.Perception c.Ideation d.None of the above Part Two: 1. Define 7C‟s of effective communication. The 7C’s of effective communication is the seven term starting with the letter C which makes communication more understanding, valuable and effective. They are:- Courtesy & Consideration – To improve relationship Completeness & Consistency- To introduce stability Clarity – To make comprehension better Concreteness – Reinforcing confidence Credibility- for building trust Conciseness – Saves time Correctness – for building confidence 2. Explain ‘Space Language’. Space language is how we communicate with the space around us. The space around its content and the people surrounding around the organisation differ to convey a definite meaning. For example, the personal space such as the office environment, defined for higher ranked workers differs from that of lower ranked workers in terms of comfort in seating and settings. 3. Differentiate between good listeners and bad listeners. Good listener Bad listener Finds opportunity and ask question Tunes out dry subject Does not judge until he understands fully and interrupts only to clarify Argumentative in approach Listens for central themes Listen for facts More flexible in its approach to taking notes Less flexible approach to taking notes Fights/avoids distraction and tolerates bad habit and knows how to concentrate Distracted easily Exercise the mind by working on heavier material Seeks light material Interprets emotional without getting hung up Reacts to emotional words 4. List the different types of business report. Business reports can be classified based on the purpose of preparation: a)Routine Reports:- Progress reports Inspection reports Performance Appraisals Periodical reports b) Special Reports Investigation Reports Survey/feasibility reports First information reports Business Reports can also be classified based on content of report such as: Informational reports Analytical reports 5. Define ‘Kinesics’. Kinesics is the interpretation of body language such as facial expressions and gestures or, more formally, non-verbal behaviour related to movement, either of any part of the body or the body as a whole. ‘Kinesics’ means body movements. Using these movements or body language, communication is possible. It can reflect thought, feelings and position. Examples of body language are blinking our eyes, nodding our head or waving our hand. Kinesics is important for communication since it is a form of communication the receiver of the communication can interpret and can act on. For example, the nodding of the head can be a response such as ‘yes’ and the waiving of a hand can mean ‘move’. However one of disadvantage of kinesics is that sometimes the body language can be wrongly interpreted to represent the wrong information received by the receiver from the sender. This barrier communication with kinesics is an issue can be synonymous as having a breakdo wn in communication and also since it is non-verbal, ‘kinesics’ can also be a hindrant to communication if overemphasised in its use. However Kinesics can be a facilitator to communication if it is used in an efficient and conformed way. A typical example is the use of giving signs such as  Ã¢â‚¬ËœHand signals’ on the road by traffic officers to facilitate traffic flow. In Organisations and communication, ‘Kinesics’ can help to direct communication when used in conjunction with verbal communication. END OF SECTION A Examination Paper of Business Communication Section B: Caselets (40 marks) ï‚ ·This section consists of Caselets. ï‚ ·Answer all the questions. ï‚ ·Each Caselet carries 20 marks. ï‚ ·Detailed information should form the part of your answer (Word limit 150 to 200 words). Caselet 1 Mr. and Mrs. Sharma went to Woodlands Apparel to buy a shirt. Mr. Sharma did not read the price tag on the piece selected by him. At the counter, while making the payment he asked for the price. Rs. 950 was the answer. Meanwhile, Mrs. Sharma, who was still shopping came back and joined her husband. She was glad that he had selected a nice black shirt for himself. She pointed out that there was a 25% discount on that item. The counter person nodded in agreement. Mr. Sharma was thrilled to hear that â€Å"It means the price of this shirt is just Rs. 712. That’s fantastic†, said Mr. Sharma. He decided to buy one more shirt in blue color. In no time, he returned with the second shirt and asked them to be packed. When he received the cash memo for payment, he was astonished to find that he had to pay Rs. 1,900 and Rs. 1,424. Mr. Sharma could hardly reconcile himself to the fact that the counter person had quoted the discounted price which was Rs. 950. The original price prin ted on the price tag was Rs. 1,266. Questions 1. What should Mr. Sharma have done to avoid the misunderstanding? It was apparent that Mr. Sharma did not read the price tag. By reading the price tag, he would have known about the actual price.Mr. Sharma should have also  asked the counter person about the actual price of the shirt instead of relying on Mrs Sharma’s interpretation of the price. The fact that the counter person nodded when Mrs Sharma pointed out about the discount meant that there was no verbal understanding when they received their cash memo. 2. Discuss the main features involved in this case. The main features involves in this case is that the right message was not conveyed to the user. In fact, the message was ineffective to Mr. Sharma since he failed to communicate using the linear model. This meant that the sender did not encode the message by not reading the price tag and hence failed to decode and receive the message properly. This meant a breakdown in communication. Also the two-way communication did not work since the feedback was not appropriate and lead to disastrous outcome when payment receipt was given. Also body language was wrongly interpreted hence leading to failure in effective and correct response. All these features meant that there were barriers to communication leading to undesired result. Caselet 2 I don’t want to speak to you. Connect me to your boss in the US,† hissed the American on the phone. The young girl at a Bangalore call centre tried to be as polite as she could. At another call centre, another day, another young girl had a Londoner unleashing himself on her, â€Å"Young lady, do you know that because of you Indians we are losing jobs?† The outsourcing backlash is getting ugly. Handling irate callers is the new brief for the young men and women taking calls at these outsourced job centres. Supervisors tell them to be „cool‟. Avinash Vashistha, managing partner of NEOIT, a leading US-based consultancy firm says, â€Å"Companies involved in outsourcing both in the US and India are already getting a lot of hate mail against outsourcing and it is hardly surprising that some people should behave like this on the telephone.† Vashistha says Indian call centres should train their operators how to handle such calls. Indeed, the furor rais ed by the Western media over job losses because of outsourcing has made ordinary citizens there sensitive to the fact that their calls are being taken not from their midst, but in countries such as India and the Philippines. The angry outbursts the  operators face border on the racist and sexist, says the manager of a call centre in Hyderabad. But operators and senior executives of call centres refuse to go on record for fear of kicking up a controversy that might result in their companies‟ losing clients overseas. â€Å"It’s happening often enough and so let’s face it,† says a senior executive of a Gurgaon call centre, adding, â€Å"This doesn’t have any impact on business.† Questions 1) Suppose you are working as an operator in a call centre in India and receiving calls from Americans and Londoners. How would you handle such calls? Handling such calls involves effective communication to limit the misunderstanding between callers and receivers. It is crucial that the caller is handled with the best practice of effective communication and this involves basic knowledge of elements of communication process. For example, the caller is basically the sender and must be interpreted properly by the receiver who in turns encodes the message for a desired outcome. Through this channel of communication, it is important that the receiver does not give feedback which influences the sender’s moods and attitude and is not in accordance with the sender’s expectation. For example, angry outburst can sometimes be remedied by controlled ideas of reinforcement or correct ideas in the mind of the receiver. Such can be seen in examples whereby proper questions as well as words are used to the sender is asked and proper as well as correct answers is provided to eliminate doubt in the senders mind. Handling such calls inv olved having the proper mindset in terms of communication in the operators mind as well as proper training. 2) Do you agree with the view such abusive happenings on the telephone do not have any Impact on business? When communication is effective such abusive happenings will be limited although there is what we call ‘difficult customers’. Impact on business can be positive if abusive calls are turned into ‘happy successful stories’. These customers will show appreciation if they are handled with care. Whilst of course, it is not always easy to please everyone; effective communication can help build bridges between the callers and the person handling these calls. Racist remarks can sometimes be ignored and maybe misunderstood due to cultural barriers at times. Callers must be diverted to stay on the course of achieving the goal of communication and hence limit the impact on business. END OF SECTION B Section C: Applied Theory (30 marks) ï‚ ·This section consists of Applied Theory Questions. ï‚ ·Answer all the questions. ï‚ ·Each question carries 15 marks. ï‚ ·Detailed information should form the part of your answer (Word limit 200 to 250 words). ` 1.What do you understand by Communication Barriers? How and why do they occur? What can be done to overcome the Barriers to Communication? Communication barriers happen when there are negative forces affecting effective communication. Since communication is a process of transfer of ideas and expressions, it is crucial that the basic elements of communication are achieved in terms of sender and receiver via proper channels of communication. Barriers can be semantic whereby meaning of message is wrongly receipted via sender to receiver. An organizational barrier occurs when there is negative communication influence within the organization limiting effective communication. An interpersonal barrier happens upon inter-relations, values held and attitudes of individuals also limiting the correct flow and effectiveness of communication. Individual barriers also limit effective communication and are also called psycho-sociological barriers. Most of the individual barriers is due to the incom petence to process the information properly and results in negative flow of information thus providing a communication barrier. Cross-cultural barrier occurs based on cultural perception by the individual thus also limiting communication effectiveness. Physical barrier are occurring whenever there is noise, distance or any physical-related barriers limiting  the proper flow of communication. Technological barriers also affect effective communication due to the technological advancement used in disseminating the communication. In order to overcome the barriers to communication, it is vital that meaning of messages is clear, precise and not ambiguous to convey the correct meaning to the receiver. Information sent and received must not be wrongly interpretation by proper contextualising and also properly defined to achieve 100 percent transmission efficiency from sender to receiver. Organizational barriers can be limited by implementing positive communication influence with example s uch as proximity of telephones to operators and effective communication procedures in place. Interpersonal barriers can be adjusted by overcoming superior and subordinate relationship in the organization. Individual barriers can be limited by working on effective communication in interpersonal communication. Cross-cultural communication can be overcome by understanding the customs of the communicator and responding appropriately to their cultural diversity. Physical barriers need to be resolved in terms of limiting loss of content and message when sending and delivering as well as in the process of the information for an effective communication. Technological assets need to be carefully selected before being implemented to limit communication effectiveness. To overcome the barriers, the sender should know who the message is for, Why should the message be communicated, what to communicate, When to communicate the message and How and Where the message should be communicated. The recei ver should be ready to accept the message by being attentive, listening actively, clarifying and repeating where necessary and check receipt of information with sender. 1. Define and explain the term Negotiation and also briefly explain the phases of Negotiation. Negotiation is a process by which a compromise or agreement is reached while avoiding argument. In order, to achieve negotiation, one must negotiate effectively and hence use effective communication to achieve a positive end result such as a positive agreement or compromise. In order for any negotiation to be effective, individuals must achieve the best possible outcome for their position or for the organisation they represent. The  principles of fairness, seeking mutual benefit and maintaining a relationship are the keys to a successful outcome. Negotiation is important to reduce conflict and disagreement that arise from misunderstanding and ineffective communication. The process of negotiation includes the following stages: Preparation, Discussion, Clarifying goal, Negotiate towards a positive outcome, Agreement, Implementation Preparation: In order for negotiation to take place, and to be effective a decision needs to be taken as to when and where a meeting will take place to discuss the problem and who will attend. Setting a time-scale is important to prevent the disagreement continuing. The Preparation stage will help to avoid further conflict and unnecessarily wasting time during the meeting. Discussion: In the discussion stage, individuals or members of each side submit and put forward their case as they see it, i.e. their understanding of the situation. Important key skills during the discussion stage are questioning, listening and clarifying. Sometimes, notes during the discussion stage are taken to record all points put forward in case as there is need for further clarification. Clarification of goals: Based on discussion, the goals, interests and viewpoints of both parties in the disagreement need to be clarified. Through this clarification it is often possible to identify or establish common groun d. Negotiate towards a Positive outcome: A positive outcome or Win-win situation is emphasized at this stage. If such is not possible, parties will try to compromise and try not to differ as much as possible for arguments and agreements sake. Agreement: Once both sides have understood the terms of the negotiation, agreements are reached by both sides with the objectives of being clear of what has been decided and agreed upon. Implementation of a course of action: Based on the agreement, a course of action is therefore implemented to carry through the decision. Failure to achieve negotiation might involve recalling or rescheduling another meeting to re-discuss. There are instances where negotiation can be informal and these can happen when there is different in opinion or how the matter at hand is settled. The three elements that affect negotiation outcomes are: 1. Attitudes 2. Knowledge 3. Interpersonal Skills Dismissal of the negotiatiated issue can also occur if there is no solution to the negotiation. END OF SECTION C