ASSIGNMENT

DRIVE

Summer 2015

PROGRAM

MBA

SEMESTER

SUBJECT CODE & NAME

MB0039 BUSINESS COMMUNICATION

BK ID

B1622

CREDIT & MARKS

Name

4 Credits, 60 marks
DHANIRAM SHARMA

Question 1 Irrespective of the settling in which communication takes place, there

are some key elements involved. What are the key elements of communication?
Answer: Communication is an important component for success in our personal and professional
lives. It is the key to building favourable relationships. It is a part of soft skills, as opposed to domain
or technical knowledge, which is a part of hard skills. A formal study of business communication is
important, since the average business executive today spends a good part of his time on the job
communicating in some form or the other.
Irrespective of the setting in which communication takes place or the number of people that are
involved, all communication consists of certain key elements. The communication model shown in
figure 1.1 illustrates each of these elements.

The elements involved in communication are:

Sender or encoder This is the person who transmits a message. For example, a manager
writing a letter to a consultant after a meeting or a sales manager making a presentation to the sales
team. Here the manager is the sender
Receiver or decoder The person who notices and decodes, or attaches some meaning to a
message. Decoding may not always be accurate and a wrong meaning may be attached to a
message. For example, a friendly joke might be taken as an offence, or feedback given to a
subordinate by a superior might be taken in the wrong sense.
Message This is any signal that triggers the response of a receiver. Messages may be
intentional (as in the example of the sales presentation by a manager to the sales team) or
unintentional (non-verbal signals such as yawns that convey the message of boredom).
Channel This refers to the medium or the method used to deliver the message. As a business
executive, you will often have a choice of channels. For example, you could communicate with a
customer through a letter, email or telephone.

 Feedback Most communication is two-way. Receivers generally respond to messages. For

example, students may ask questions during a lecture session and an employer may tell an employee
that he has to think about his proposal. This response to a senders message is called feedback. This
kind of feedback is oral. Sometimes feedback can also be given in a written form. For example, a
manager can send a written response to a customers letter of complaint. At other times, feedback
could be non-verbal, as in smiles and nods of appreciation during a talk or presentation. Even failure
to respond could be considered as feedback, since it may indicate a lack of interest or indifference to
the
senders message. Due to the element of feedback, people are simultaneously senders and receivers
of information in face-to-face communication.
Context This refers to the setting in which the communication takes place and could sometimes
determine the success or failure of the communication. Context can be classified as follows:

Physical context This refers to the physical surroundings. For example, a work or social
environment, in which the communication takes place. Asking your boss for a promotion might
be received differently, depending on whether the communication takes place in your office,
your boss office, at a company party or over lunch at a restaurant.

Social context This refers to the relationship between the sender and the receiver. Taking
the same example, asking for a promotion is likely to be received differently, depending on
how well you get along with your boss and whether you are personal friends or not.

Chronological context This refers to time related factors that could influence the
communication. For example, is your request made first thing in the morning or at the fag end
of the day? Is it made during or after work hours? Is it made at a time when the company is
going through problems such as a strike in the factory, or major losses?

Cultural context This refers to the similarity of backgrounds between the sender and the
receiver, such as age, language, nationality, religion and gender. These factors could
influence the communication favourably or unfavourably.

Each of these key elements contributes to the success of the communication. In other words,
communication can go wrong if any of the following elements go wrong:

The wrong person sends the message. For example, a junior accountant in a company writing
a letter to a bank, asking for a loan for a project worth several crore, is not likely to get the
banks approval.
The message is unclear or badly worded. There may also be too many messages, leading to
confusion and information overload.
The wrong channel of communication is chosen. Placing an ad for a liquor product in a
religious magazine for example, is not likely to be received favourably.
The message is wrongly interpreted, i.e., the receiver attaches the wrong meaning to the
message.
The feedback is not adequate to ensure understanding.
Physical, physiological or psychological noise distorts the message.
The communication takes place in the wrong physical, social, chronological or cultural
context.

Question 2 What is the importance of Kinesics and Proxemics in communication?

Explain with examples.

Answer: Non-verbal communication can employ audio and video signals to communicate messages.
The ringing of a telephone, blaring of a siren are examples of audio signals. A blaring siren in a
factory can indicate to workers that their shift has come to an end. By using audio signals, we can
communicate to a vast number of people scattered over a large area. Visual signals include posters,
charts, graphs and drawings. Visual signals grab the attention of the people. They can be used to
overcome linguistic barriers.
There is a common misconception that non-verbal communication is synonymous with body language
and includes only body language. The fact is that it is a vast area which has been widely researched
and includes several aspects. Below table lists the different types of non-verbal communication, with
the corresponding communication terminology.
Description

Communication Terminology

Body language

Kinesics

Touching

Haptics

Personal space and distance

Proxemics

Use of time

Chronemics

Tone of voice

Paralanguage

Physical environment

Physical context

Kinesics
Kinesics is the most often studied and important area of non-verbal communication and refers to body
movements of any kind. Different body movements can express inner states of emotion. The different
body movements are:

Facial expressions Facial expressions can convey feelings of surprise, happiness, anger
and sadness. If you meet a long lost friend and say I am very happy to meet you again, but
with a sad facial expression, it conveys the exact opposite meaning.

Eye movements The eye movements such as wide open pupils express feelings of
surprise, excitement or even fear. The importance of eye contact with ones audience was
pointed out earlier. Direct eye contact is an indication of intensity and interest, while lack of it
can convey feelings of nervousness and guilt. As prolonged eye contact can intimidate
people, it is not a good idea to stare at people. Different cultures perceive eye contact
differently. In Asia, Latin America and Africa people avoid direct eye contact to show respect.
Arabs use prolonged eye contact to measure trustworthiness.

Gestures The gestures such as movement of the hands while giving a lecture or
presentation indicates a high level of involvement in what you are saying. On the other hand,
shuffling of the feet is a sign of nervousness and speaking with ones hands in ones pockets
is considered to be casual or even rude.

Head movements The head movements like nodding the head can convey interest,
appreciation, agreement or understanding.
Posture Posture, refers to carriage or attitude. Our posture can indicate our feelings. In
formal settings such as job interviews or classroom settings, it is essential that you maintain
an erect posture to convey that you are attentive, since slouching or a relaxed posture

conveys a casual attitude. Similarly, crossing your arms and legs can convey that you are
defensive and rigid. Uncrossing your arms and legs can indicate that you are willing to listen.

Physical appearance Our outward appearance, including the way we dress and the
jewellery and make-up that we wear can convey an impression of formality or informality.
Going to a job interview dressed in blue jeans or not sticking to a stipulated dress code at the
workplace can convey that you are a rebel, non-conformist or a very casual person.

Therefore, it is important to take care of your appearance, so that you convey the right meaning to
others.

Proxemics
Proxemics is derived from the word proximity or closeness and is the communication term for
personal space and distance. The space and distance which we choose to keep from people is also
part of non-verbal communication. Each of us has our own inner and outer circles, which differ for
different people. The different types of spaces are as follows:

Intimate space Our inner most circle is an intimate space, into which we generally admit
only select people such as family and close friends.

Personal space A personal space might include other friends and colleagues or coworkers. The intimate and personal spaces involve communication of an informal nature.

Social and public space The social and public space includes official or workplace
relationships, where the communication is of a more formal nature.

In a business context, it is more relevant to understand the concept of the following spaces:

Fixed space Fixed space means that the physical features of the work environment such
as furniture, room size and seating arrangement are permanent. This conveys an impression
of formality.

Semi-fixed space Semi-fixed space means that certain elements of the environment can
be changed. For example, changing the seating arrangement conveys an impression of
informality.

Sometimes, use of space at the workplace can determine leadership positions. For example, seating
at the head of the table conveys leadership or authority. A round table meeting, however, conveys the
idea of equality, since no one can be seated at the head of the table. All points of a circle are the
same. That is why when heads of state meet (as in UN Security Council meetings), it is always a
round table discussion, since all heads are equal.
Space should therefore be used carefully in a work environment, so as to convey the right
impressions.

Question 3 What are the steps in making oral business presentation?

Answer: Oral business presentations are a powerful way of presenting your ideas to others and are
usually called for when a written memo or report is not sufficient to do the job. A written report tends
to be less persuasive and may also be set aside without being read, whereas an oral presentation
commands attention and fetches immediate feedback. Besides, approval for important ideas is rarely
given without a face-to-face explanation.

Let us now study each of these steps in detail.

1. Definition of the purpose of the presentation
Before preparing for the presentation, it is important to be clear on the goal of the presentation. A
statement of purpose, expressing what you want to achieve through the presentation must be
framed, so that it becomes easy to measure whether the goal has been accomplished or not. The
purpose of the presentation may be stated in broad or general terms or in more specific terms. A
general statement of purpose could be expressed in terms of one of the following:

To inform A presentation that seeks to inform would merely create awareness about
developments and progress on specific fronts or try to spread knowledge about something new.
In table 6.1, the first eight types of presentations are aimed at informing different audiences
about something or the other new procedures, new terminology, new software, findings of a
study, sales progress, company achievements, viewpoints and background.

To persuade A presentation that aims to persuade would try to change the attitude or
behaviour of the audience. It usually involves selling either a product or an idea. The
product presentation, project proposal and policy proposal, are all persuasive
presentations. The product presentation seeks to persuade consumers to try a new
product, the project proposal tries to persuade bankers to provide funds for a new project
and the policy proposal tries to persuade top management to adopt a new policy of
reimbursing mobile expenses.

To entertain A presentation with this purpose is meant to make the audience relax and
have a good time. Presentations marking special occasions such as the company
anniversary, may merely focus on making people feel good about themselves.

2. Development of the key idea

The key idea of a presentation is a statement that expresses the main message to be conveyed to
the audience. It is different from a statement of purpose, which is generally meant for the presenter.
The key idea is for the audience and it is stated at the beginning of the presentation.
For example, if the purpose is to persuade a prospective customer to try out your companys brand of
vacuum cleaner, the key idea or message may be to explain how your brand is superior to other
brands, feature for feature. Once the key idea is clearly stated, it becomes easy to develop the rest of
the presentation.

3. Audience analysis
Making a good presentation alone is not enough. It also has to be tailored to your listeners in such a
way that they understand and appreciate it. The following information must be gathered about your
audience, even before you begin preparing for the presentation:
Job designations and areas of expertise You need to find out whether the audience
comprises of specialists in a particular area such as information technology or generalists.
Preferred style of presentation It would also be relevant to know the personal preferences
of your audience, with regard to the style of presentation that they are most comfortable with.
Some people may prefer a more informal or conversational style with some humour than a more
formal style.

Demographic characteristics of the audience The gender, age, cultural background and
economic status of the audience also need to be studied in advance, so that the presentation may
be tailored to appeal to that particular audience.

Size of the audience The size of the audience would determine your presentation style, the
time set aside for questions and answers, the size of visuals, etc.

Level of knowledge on the subject You need to know how familiar your audience is with
the subject of the presentation. If the audience comprises of experts in that particular area,
basic explanations may not be needed.

Attitude of the audience The attitude of your listeners, both towards you as a speaker and
towards the topic of the presentation, needs to be studied in advance.

4. Analysis of yourself as a speaker

Apart from analysing your audience, you also need to do a self-analysis to determine your own
purpose of making the presentation, your level of knowledge on the subject and your feelings about
the subject. As explained earlier, a clear statement of the specific purpose of the presentation must be
developed. If you have a choice of subject, it is always better to speak on a subject on which you are
an authority. If the choice is not given to you and you are less knowledgeable, then it is important to
research the subject thoroughly, so that you are in a position to anticipate and answer any questions.
Finally, you need to assess your feelings about the subject and make sure that you are convinced
enough to be able to persuade others as well. This is similar to a salesperson being convinced about
a product to be sold.

5. Analysis of the circumstances

This includes taking into consideration any limitations of infrastructure, time and context that might
affect your presentation. For example, if you will be speaking in a small room where the lighting and
acoustics are insufficient, you may have to overcome the limitations by altering the seating
arrangement, using brighter visuals and speaking loudly. If the presentation is to be made after lunch,
you can include many attention grabbers in the presentation, to keep the audience alert. If you are
making a presentation as part of a team, your style of presentation has to be consistent with that of
your team members.

6. Preparation of outline
Once the initial groundwork is done, you must develop an outline of your presentation. Irrespective of
the nature and purpose of the presentation, a standard format is generally followed. This includes the
following:
Introduction This must include an attention getter to get the audience involved and
interested in the presentation. Several techniques may be used to command attention,
which will be discussed later. The key idea or main message must be conveyed to the
audience during the introduction.
Body or main section This is where the main points will be presented and elaborated
upon. It is best to limit the number of main points to five, so as not to overload the listeners
with too much information.
Conclusion A brief summary of the presentation, along with concluding remarks would be
included in this section. The conclusion must have as much punch as the attention getter in
the introduction.

7. Collection of information and material

Once the outline of the presentation is developed, you can start gathering the relevant material. This
is a time consuming process and requires a fair amount of research. The information can generally be
gathered from existing sources such as company resource or data, magazines, newspapers and the
Internet. Sometimes, you may need to do original research in the form of a survey to gather fresh
data. For example, if you are making a presentation on a new product, you may have to conduct a
survey to find out how consumers feel about that product concept and also about similar, competing
products.
8. Organisation of the body
The body of the presentation must always be prepared before the introduction. Organising the body
consists in identifying the key points that support your main idea and then selecting an organisational
plan to develop these key points.
Once the main points are determined, sub points can be developed to expand on each of these. The
next step is to choose an organisational plan to present these main and sub points. For example, in
the case of a sales presentation a problem-solution pattern or plan may be followed, where the
customer is confronted with a problem and the product is offered as a solution to the problem.

9. Planning the introduction

Since the introduction is where you make the first impression, it must be planned with care. It must
take up between 10 and 15 percent of your total speaking time. At the outset, you need to try and
establish your credibility, by showing that you are qualified to speak on the subject of the
presentation. An attention getting opener must be developed, using techniques such as humour,
dramatic questions, an interesting story, a quotation or a startling statement.
10. Planning the conclusion
The conclusion of a presentation must be shorter than the introduction and occupy only 5 percent of
the entire presentation. You must never introduce a new topic in the conclusion. Generally, every
conclusion must have a review and a closing statement.

Question 4 Imagine a new product from kids apparel industry. Write a persuasive
letter to customers, persuading them to buy your companys product?
Answer: A sales letter is similar to an advertisement and uses the same AIDA (Attention, Interest,
Desire and Action) format.
Below is a Sample Sales Letter for a Kids apparel Industry
Date: August 7th 2015
To
Mr. Amit Nagar,
AB Enterprises, Kanpur
Dear Mr. Nagar,
Here is an Offer too Good to Refuse! Before you roll your eyes thinking, 'Oh God! Not another one!',
and chuck this letter into a bin, just read a few of the lines below.
Introduction

Quality means customer needs is to be satisfied. Failure to maintain an adequate quality standard
can therefore be unsuccessful. But maintaining an adequate standard of quality also costs effort.
From the first investigation to find out what the potential customer for a new product really wants,
through the processes of design, specification, controlled manufacture and sale.
There are a number of factors on which quality fitness of garment industry is based such as performance, reliability, durability, visual and perceived quality of the garment. Quality needs to be
defined in terms of a particular framework of cost.
Quality Control
Quality is of prime importance in any aspect of business. Customers demand and expect value for
money. As producers of apparel there must be a constant endeavor to produce work of good quality.
"The systems required for programming and coordinating the efforts of the various groups in an
organization to maintain the requisite quality". As such Quality Control is seen as the agent of Quality
Assurance or Total Quality Control.
In the garment industry quality control is practiced right from the initial stage of sourcing raw materials
to the stage of final finished garment. For textile and apparel industry product quality is calculated in
terms of quality and standard of fibres, yarns, fabric construction, colour fastness, surface designs
and the final finished garment products. However quality expectations for export are related to the
type of customer segments and the retail outlets.
Quality control and standards are one of the most important aspects of the content of any job and
therefore a major factor in training.

Total Quality Control

"To ensure that the requisite quality of product is achieved". This ensures customer satisfaction, but it
leaves quality control as a necessary but expensive evil.
To ensure, at minimum practicable cost, that the requisite quality of product is being achieved
at every stage of manufacture from raw materials to boxed stock
Objectives

To maximize the production of goods within the specified tolerances correctly the first time.

To achieve a satisfactory design of the fabric or garment in relation to the level of choice in
design, styles, colors, suitability of components and fitness of product for the market.
Approach

 Itemize the variables that occur in fabric and garment production in order to provide a complete
specification.
Develop a specification in a number of parts or sections to ensure that all design and production
staff has a clear idea as to what is needed.
Establish acceptable working tolerances in relation to all values on the specification.
Establish fault rate recording systems.
Improve technical understanding of the product including,
Fabric geometry and the interrelationship of yarn count, loop length, pick count, relaxation and
fabric properties.
Sewing problems.
Causes and prevention of seam breakdown.
The effects of various factors on the apparent shade of goods affecting shade matching.
On account of our first anniversary, we're giving you a flat 65% discount on shirts & and 40% discount
on pants.
So hurry. Call 0165-112-5823 to know more.
Thanking You!
Sincerely,
Dhaniram Sharma
Customer Relations Manager
Amazing Kid Apparels

Question 5 You are going to face a job interview for the post of Manager-Operations.
Which aspects you will keep in mind while facing the interview?
Answer: As a job applicant, you will have to do some groundwork before the interview, prepare to do
well during the interview, assess your performance and do some follow up after the interview.
Pre-interview planning is similar to preparing for a sales presentation. You will have to sell yourself to
the prospective employer, by highlighting your unique strengths and by convincing the employer that
you are the right person for the job. It also involves doing a thorough study of the organisation for
which you are attending the interview. Employers expect applicants to gather information about the
organisation in advance and do not want to waste precious interview time providing such information.
Several sources are available for researching an organisation, including business publications,
financial newspapers, annual reports, company websites and interviews with company employees.
The information that a job applicant needs to gather about a company includes the following:

Name of the company

Its status in the industry, in terms of market share, ranking, sales, assets and number of
employees
Recent developments in the company
Scope of the company whether it is local, national or international
Names of the top management
Products and services offered
Plans for future growth, such as expansion and diversification

In addition, you will need to gather job related information, such as the following:
Job title
Required qualifications, knowledge and skills
Job content
The reporting structure to whom would you report and who would report to you
Opportunities for training and development, for acquiring new skills
Opportunities for career advancement
Preparation before the interview also involves doing a self-analysis, to assess your own abilities,
strengths, weaknesses, interests and preferences. Part of pre-interview preparation is to anticipate
the kinds of questions that might be asked by the interviewer and to prepare answers to these
questions. Last, but most important, is planning your personal appearance and attire. You need to find
out if the company has a dress code and try to look and dress as if you already work for that
company.

During the Job Interview

Once you have gone through the preparation stage, you are ready to face the actual interview.
This is the most important stage of the job application process, during which attention should be
paid to the following aspects:
Opening formalities
Non-verbal Communication
Group Interviews
Two-way Interview
Honesty and humility
Positive answers
Salary discussion
Closing the Interview
After the Job Interview
From the applicants point of view, it is important to do a self-assessment of performance during the
interview. Even if the applicant is not expecting a favourable outcome, it is important to send a thankyou letter to the interviewer immediately, expressing gratitude for having been given the opportunity of
a face-to-face meeting. This will retain the goodwill of the employer and increase any chances of
being considered for future openings. If the applicant has been given an indication of a favourable
outcome, the follow-up action should be even more prompt. Any documents or certificates to be
submitted should be sent without delay. If a second interview has to be attended, it is important to
start the preparation and groundwork for this immediately.

Question 6 Write short notes on: a) Skimming b) Notices

Answer:
Skimming
Let us say that you are a student of management and as suggested by your professor, you need to
buy a reference text book for writing a paper on Investment Management or Quality Management.
You go to a book store and see a rack full of books, with the same title, but different authors. You do
not have time to read the pages before deciding on buying the book. Therefore, you quickly go
through the contents, title page and the blurb. By now, you have decided to buy one book. This type
of reading that you do in the book store is known as skimming. Thus, skimming may be defined as
looking over a text/book quickly, in order to get a general or superficial idea of the content.
Skimming is usually done to grasp main ideas and to review the material by skipping the details.
An example of Skimming
A travel guide for businessmen.
One of the most popular hill stations in India, Munnar is situated at the confluence of three mountain
streams - Mudrapuzha, Nallathanni and Kundala. Located at 1600 mts. above sea level, it has an
area of 26.2 sq. km., with a temperature of 15.2-25 C in summer and 0 - 10 C during winter. The
best time to visit Munnar is from September to May.

Notices
Notice is written form of communication and addressed to a larger group of people. This is to be put up on
notice boards. Notices generally contain information or announcements that are meant for all the
employees of an organisation.
For example, a list of declared holidays for a calendar year is a notice, as the information is
relevant to all employees.
The common purposes of using a notice in business communication are to:

Invite for a meeting

Inform a new rule/regulation to be initiated or formulated
Inform about an event to be held
Inform the deadline for submitting any paperwork

A notice is therefore a legal document that has to be put up on an official notice or bulletin board.

A Notice Example

Above notice is meant for all students of the college. It has a reference number, date and a subject,
similar to a memo. The signature, name and designation of the issuer of the notice appear at the
bottom on the left hand side. The notice covers three different issues related to one subject. Students
are first informed that special dignitaries Mr. Roy and Dr. Arun Patil who will preside the fest.
Secondly, it informs the topics on which the dignitaries will talk during the fest. It also mentions that
lunch and evening snacks will be served to all. Another important difference between a notice and
circular is that notice is displayed at one place, whereas a circular is widely circulated among the
members concerned. In many occasions a signature of the reader is taken to ensure that the
information has been transmitted.
Sometimes, under special circumstances, notices may also be sent to an individual or employee of an
organisation. An example of this type of notice is the Show Cause Notice, which is sent when an
employee is found to be guilty of major misconduct. The notice mentions the allegations against the
employee and asks for a written explanation within a specified time, failing which the action that
would be taken against him/her for example, being suspended from the job is stated.
Notices are read by a large number of people and can also be used as evidence in court cases.
Therefore, care must be taken when writing them. They have to be worded very precisely and clearly,
to make sure that there is no ambiguity. They must also be brief and to the point. The tone must be
firm, but not offensive and arrogant. Depending on the type of notice, the duration of display of a
notice is specified under various legal provisions.

** THE END **