Business communications 2

Home Learning Week 5 (2 Points)

1.For each of the following problem situations, write a clear statement of the problem and list the factors probably need to investigate. When necessary, you may use your imagination logically to supply any additional information needed

a. Example: A manufacturer of breakfast cereals wants to attract a new demographic of customers. Problem Statement: What are the characteristics of the consumers of Breakfast Cereal Company X? Factors:

Age Race

Education Sex

Income Level Etc.

b. Carrefour wants to give its stockholders a summary of its operations for the past calendar year.

c. The supervisor of Department X must prepare a report evaluating the performance of an administrative assistant.

d. Baker, Inc., is experiencing higher than normal employee turnover.

2. You were recently hired as an intern at Mays, a distributor of high-end cosmetics and skin care products.

Ms Kori Roberts, sales manager and your supervisor, drops by your office to chat and brings up a subject she’s been wondering about: “Our sales staff have been communicating with each other and our retailers fairly effectively via phone and email, but I think it’s time to look into an online meeting application to supplement these methods. I’m thinking about recommending that all the sales staff subscribe to Skype or OpenMeetings. Then maybe they could talk to each other and the retailers more easily. I wonder which of these tools is better for us and if is there any downside to online meetings. Maybe security issues?”

Please identify the problem statement and the factors.

3) Review the following report situations and determine for each the makeup of the report you would recommend for it

a. Example: A professional research organization has completed a survey of consumer attitudes toward BankOne. The survey results will be presented to the bank president in a 28-page report, including seven charts and three tables.

Answer: The formality of the situation and length of the report dictate that the long, formal report makeup be used. Prefatory parts, the report proper (written impersonally with 2nd- and possibly 3rd-level headings), and perhaps appended elements would likely be the structure of the report.

b. Sarah was asked by her department head to inspect the work area and report on safety conditions. Her report is two pages long and written in personal style.

c. Fred has an idea for improving a work procedure in his department at McLaughlin Body Company. His department head suggested that Bill present his idea in a report to the production superintendent. The report is almost five pages long, including a full-page diagram. It is written in the personal style.

d. Karen, a worker in the corporate library of Accenture, was asked by Doug, its president, for current inventory information on a number of subscriptions. Her report is less than a full page and consists mostly of a list of items and numbers