business week 4

Directions: Please answer each of the following questions. Please ensure that your responses are at least 1 to 2 paragraphs in length. When using outside resources, please be sure to use proper APA format. Please visit the Academic Resource Center for concise APA guidelines.

1. Outline an effective strategy for writing routine business requests.

2. You need a letter of recommendation from a professor in college. Though you were a good student, you are not sure if the professor will remember you because more than five years have passed since you graduated. How will you go about drafting your request in this case? Draft a message, filling in the required details from your imagination.

3. What are the points to be kept in mind when developing a message asking for a recommendation?

4. You have not received a shipment of books that you had ordered from Serengeti, an online book store. The shipment tracker on the web site shows that the books have been returned to the company as the address provided was not found. However, the address you provided was correct and you have in the past received several shipments from Serengeti at the same address. Your account has already been debited for the value of the shipment. Draft a message to Serengeti, making a claim and requesting an adjustment.

5. Outline an effective strategy for writing routine replies and positive messages.

6. How should you respond to a customer's claim when your company is at fault?

7. You are Manager, Customer Services, at Famous Watches. You have received a complaint from a customer stating that his watch has stopped working ever since the time he wore it when he went diving. This particular model, though water resistant, cannot be worn when underwater. This information is clearly given—with graphics—on the reverse of the watch, in the user manual enclosed with the product and on the packaging. However, in order to build goodwill, the company decides to provide free service and parts to repair the watch. Draft an e-mail to the customer, communicating the company's decision, making up any details that you may need.

8. What are the guidelines for creating informative messages?

9. Describe the advantages social media releases have over traditional news releases.

10. Offer a few suggestions for writing condolence messages.

11. Describe the direct and indirect approaches to organizing negative news messages. Chandler, the Operations Manager at your company wishes to communicate to a vendor that the company will not be renewing his contract because it is not happy with his services. Since you handle all external corporate communications, Chandler requests you to draft a message conveying the news to the vendor. What additional information would you need from Chandler to decide if you should use the direct or the indirect approach in organizing your message?

12. Himani, a manager at a large hotel and convention center, has drafted the following message to inform a customer that the ballroom that he wanted to rent for a company party is not available for the dates he had requested, but that larger ballrooms are available.

We regret to inform you that Ballroom A , which you had requested for an office party on 6 June, 2011, is not available. However, other ballrooms are available, except that they are much larger. Please contact me at 456-123-7891 for more information or to make a booking.

Using the general guidelines for writing negative messages, rewrite this message so that it is more effective in taking the sting out of the bad news, ensuring its acceptance, and in maintaining goodwill.

13. Should you apologize when delivering bad news? Point out two types of negative messages where an apology should be considered and two types of negative messages where an apology need not be offered. What, would you say, is the rationale behind choosing either course of action in these examples?

14. In the context of using the indirect approach to negative messages, what is a buffer? Is it ethical to use a buffer in a negative message? What constitutes a poorly written buffer and a good buffer ? Explain with examples.

15. What are the guidelines for handling bad news about transactions?

16. What are the points to keep in mind when developing rejection letters for job applicants?

17. What are the guidelines for writing employment termination messages?

18. Should termination messages be written using the direct or the indirect approach. Justify your answer.

19. When developing messages conveying negative organizational news, one should match one's approach to the situation. As a public relations executive at a multinational food company, what approach would you use when sending a message communicating to the public a recall of a batch of canned food that is found to have been contaminated with e-coli virus? Would you use the same approach to inform the public that you are discontinuing a certain line of cereals due to low demand? Why/ why not?

20. What are the four steps an organization must take to respond effectively to rumors and negative information in a social media environment?

PART II: Reflection Paper

Directions: Please write a 2-3 page reflection paper on your textbook readings for the week. Use APA format and cite the text, as necessary.