Draft Letter: Negative Message with Positive Emphasis

http://bcq.sagepub.com

Quarterly Business Communication

DOI: 10.1177/108056999806100111 1998; 61; 120 Business Communication Quarterly

Peter M. Saunders statstar Communications: Profiling Miscommunication

http://bcq.sagepub.com The online version of this article can be found at:

Published by:

http://www.sagepublications.com

On behalf of:

Association for Business Communication

be found at: canBusiness Communication Quarterly Additional services and information for

http://bcq.sagepub.com/cgi/alerts Email Alerts:

http://bcq.sagepub.com/subscriptions Subscriptions:

http://www.sagepub.com/journalsReprints.navReprints:

http://www.sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.navPermissions:

12, 2010 at UNIV OF WESTERN ONTARIO on Aprilhttp://bcq.sagepub.comDownloaded from

120

CASE 9

statstar Communications: Profiling Miscommunication Peter M. Saunders Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania

Y U A RE A M E M B E R of the Sales and Marketing departmentO U A RE A M E M B E R of the Sales and Marketing department of Statstar Communications Network Incorporated. Statstar repre- sents a flagship service for communicating across North America and Europe. It is the largest privately owned satellite network service in the United States, providing two-way audio and digital data commu- nication between North American businesses and their branch offices, as well as between businesses and public broadcasting channels which carry commercials via radio and television. Statstar is a divi-

sion of Future Corporation, the nation’s leading supplier of entertain- ment, news, and information programming for cable television and satellite communications.

Potential Contract with Excel Tire Corporation Your immediate boss at Statstar Communications, Thomas Drew (the Sales and Marketing Coordinator), is away on vacation and has asked you to look after the Excel Tire Corporation portfolio in his absence. Until he returns, you are to report directly to Drew’s boss: Robert Medley, general manager of the Business Services Division under Vice President Peter Gandoff.

Medley is well known as the company’s best salesman, a very aggressive guy who has closed more million-dollar contracts than anyone else. In fact, Medley is so valuable to the firm as a &dquo;rainmaker&dquo; that most everyone seems in awe of him. Certainly, Medley is a whirl- wind of activity, contacting clients and landing contracts, but leaving most of the details to others while he rushes off to the next potential sale. In your own experience, you know that Medley is highly persua- sive with clients, but that he frequently ignores e-mail and telephone

12, 2010 at UNIV OF WESTERN ONTARIO on Aprilhttp://bcq.sagepub.comDownloaded from

121

calls from subordinates, leaving such messages to be handled by his secretary while he moves on to the next client.

Before departing on his vacation, Tom Drew filled you in on the current situation with Excel. Janet Beechum, Vice President of Plan- ning and Development at the tire firm, has apparently recommended that Excel sign a major contract with Statstar to establish satellite linkups with the firm’s various offices, as well as with radio stations which carry Excel’s commercials. The prospect of landing such a big contract is a happy one, but there may be problems. From what Drew had been able to gather, he suspects Beechum may have overstated what Statstar will be able to accomplish for Excel in her proposal to Excel’s Executive Committee. If, in fact, that is the case, it might put the whole sale to Excel into jeopardy. Drew warns you that you will likely be hearing more about Beechum and the Excel situation shortly, at least as soon as Medley gets concerned about nailing down the contract.

Currently, Medley is pursuing new clients, this time in Sete, France, and his first e-mail message to you soon arrives. Not surprisingly, the message concerns the Beechum problem at Excel that Tom Drew described. In the message, Medley makes available to you his file con- taining all written communications (both paper and electronic) _ between Statstar and Excel.

m

12, 2010 at UNIV OF WESTERN ONTARIO on Aprilhttp://bcq.sagepub.comDownloaded from

122

12, 2010 at UNIV OF WESTERN ONTARIO on Aprilhttp://bcq.sagepub.comDownloaded from

123

12, 2010 at UNIV OF WESTERN ONTARIO on Aprilhttp://bcq.sagepub.comDownloaded from

124

12, 2010 at UNIV OF WESTERN ONTARIO on Aprilhttp://bcq.sagepub.comDownloaded from

125

12, 2010 at UNIV OF WESTERN ONTARIO on Aprilhttp://bcq.sagepub.comDownloaded from

126

12, 2010 at UNIV OF WESTERN ONTARIO on Aprilhttp://bcq.sagepub.comDownloaded from

127

12, 2010 at UNIV OF WESTERN ONTARIO on Aprilhttp://bcq.sagepub.comDownloaded from

128

12, 2010 at UNIV OF WESTERN ONTARIO on Aprilhttp://bcq.sagepub.comDownloaded from

129

12, 2010 at UNIV OF WESTERN ONTARIO on Aprilhttp://bcq.sagepub.comDownloaded from

130

12, 2010 at UNIV OF WESTERN ONTARIO on Aprilhttp://bcq.sagepub.comDownloaded from

131

12, 2010 at UNIV OF WESTERN ONTARIO on Aprilhttp://bcq.sagepub.comDownloaded from

132

12, 2010 at UNIV OF WESTERN ONTARIO on Aprilhttp://bcq.sagepub.comDownloaded from

133

12, 2010 at UNIV OF WESTERN ONTARIO on Aprilhttp://bcq.sagepub.comDownloaded from

134

12, 2010 at UNIV OF WESTERN ONTARIO on Aprilhttp://bcq.sagepub.comDownloaded from

135

12, 2010 at UNIV OF WESTERN ONTARIO on Aprilhttp://bcq.sagepub.comDownloaded from

136

12, 2010 at UNIV OF WESTERN ONTARIO on Aprilhttp://bcq.sagepub.comDownloaded from

137

12, 2010 at UNIV OF WESTERN ONTARIO on Aprilhttp://bcq.sagepub.comDownloaded from