Business Communication: In Person, In Print, Online

580 Pages·2012·109.32 MB·English

by  Amy Newman, Scot Ober, Allen Light,

This is an electronic version of the print textbook. Due to electronic rights restrictions,
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Ober / Newman Business Communication: In Person, In Print, Online 8e
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Business Communication: In Person,
In Print, Online
• Refl ects how people communicate in
business today.
• Illustrates principles with current,
real-world examples.
• Engages readers with creative visuals
and an accessible writing style.
• Reinforces learning and promotes
skill-building with a variety of online
resources.
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Refl ects How People
Communicate in Business Today
Business Communication: In Person, In Print, Online prepares you for
challenging situations you will face in the digital workplace. Effective, accurate
written and oral communication skills are still paramount. But in today’s
competitive business environment, you need to be more than a successful
communicator; you need to use communication to differentiate yourself.
Prepares You for Today’s
Digital Workplace
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• Sending important information in a meeting
• Providing instant reminders24
Social Media After introducing a few examples
here, we’ll discuss social media—
Perhaps the more interesting technologies for communication are social
media. Web 2.0, which encourages online interaction, has opened the door and other technologies—where
Get more familiar with communicating for people to participate on the web. This is quite different from the one- relevant throughout the book.
way communication of the early Internet, when companies would post For example, we’ll explore wikis
through social media. brochure-like websites for people to consume. for team communication; social
The real value of social media for companies is the opportunity to con- networking for interpersonal
nect with people online. Social media is about the conversation. To promote communication; email, blogs,
interaction, companies use 2.0 technologies, for example, blogs, wikis, and instant messaging for
video, and social networking sites. These tools are used on the Internet (for written communication; user-
the public), on a company’s intranet (for employee access only), and on generated content for customer
extranets (private networks for people outside the company, e.g., custom- communication; and video for
ers or franchisees). Examples of social media are shown in Figure 6. oral presentations.
For many companies, social media focuses on user-generated content
(UGC), also called consumer-generated media (CGM). This content can be
blog entries, product reviews, videos, or other messages posted about a
company. As we discussed earlier in the Glassdoor example, this content isn’t Companies use
always positive. In Chapter 7, we’ll explore how to respond to negative online social media to have
comments. a conversation with
The Fortune Global 100 companies are using social media actively. Seventy- internal and external
nine percent are using at least one of four main social platforms—Twitter, videos, audiences.
Facebook, and blogs—to communicate with customers.25 Of these tools, Twitter is
the most frequently used.26 As a student, you may not be excited about Twitter (the
average Twitter user is 39 years old),27 but this has proved useful for c ompanies,
as we’ll discuss later. The Fortune Global 100’s frequency of social media activity
is shown in Figure 7.28
Visit the author’s blog at Blogs Companies use blogs to connect with employees and customers. Successful
www.bizcominthenews blogs are updated regularly with news or commentary, and many encourage inter-
.com for current activity through comments, email subscriptions, and RSS (Really Simple Syndica-
communication tion) feeds to share news and other content.
examples. Wegmans, a regional supermarket, has an active blog called “Fresh Stories” to
educate and engage customers—and keep them coming back. The blog includes
videos, photos, and posts by CEO Danny Wegman. In one recent post, the CEO wrote,
With the spring season upon us (we hope! It’s been a cold April in the Roches-
ter area), I wanted to kick off the season with a fresh story from the farm. I’m
hoping you’ll start sharing your growing stories and questions as we experi-
ence this new season together!29
With a blog, a CEO can build direct relationships with customers and personal-
ize the company, particularly with a conversational style such as Danny Wegman’s.
The Wegmans blog also allows open comments, which are not always positive.
Following the earthquake and tsunami disasters in Japan, one customer wroteL, earn how to listen to and engage online
audiences.
Figure 7
How Fortune
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new content
New Content Helps You:
• Move from diversity to inclusion.
• Adapt communication to multicultural
and international audiences.
• Participate in online (web) meetings
and videoconferences. .
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• Create PowerPoint® “decks” and t
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represent ideas using creative graphics. s
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• Manage your online reputation.
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front of a jury about the content of this email I am about to send?’ If the answer is e
anything other than an unqualifi ed ‘yes,’ it is not an email that should be sent.”40 k
You might ask yourself the same question for all communications related to your i
company. l
Communicate t
ethically. s
ETHICS AND COMMUNICATION u
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about the company on YouTube.41 His fi rst cartoon video, which received oovveerrr
3.3 million views within two weeks, mocked a customer of “Phone Mart,” desperaatteee g
for the latest version of the iPhone (Figure 12). n
Before Maupin was invited back after being suspended, he created another
video poking fun at the company’s policies. This interaction, between the store i
employee and the woman who “run[s] the ethics department” at the corporate t
offi ce, illustrates gray areas in communication ethics—and the importance of s
social media policies. e
Was Maupin’s behavior ethical? Most corporate executives would consider the
videos disparaging to the company. Although Maupin didn’t expect the videos to r
be such a huge success, he still publicly disagreed with sales policies, questioned e
loyalty to a top Best Buy supplier (Apple), and insulted customers. Things worked t
Understand how to communicate n
You Figure 12 i
ethically and avoid legal consequences itiPnyhwoantceh4pr ovdsu cHtioTnCs Evo BPoesstts B au yV iEdmeoployee &
of communication. MMaarut’psi nw:hHaot wI d ios iitn amnyy bspuasrinee tsims eo?f Phone
Head of Corporate Ethics Department: ,
If it hurts us or one of our Phone Mart d
partners, like Apple, then it hurts all the
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New Content Helps You:
• Use email, instant messaging, and
texting effectively at work.
• Respond to customer comments
and complaints online.
• Answer behavioral interview questions
and prepare for a case interview.
Figure 12 Well-Written Email
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Uses a greeting that
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The Plymouth manager’s response (at the bottom of Figure 12) could be more © CENGAGE LEARNING 2013
substantive, but her response is brief and funny. For informal social media interac-
tions, this works just fi ne to connect with the writer and other prospective custom-
ers. Considering the reviewer’s casual post, it might look odd for the manager to
respond with something longer and more formal.
Yelp offers the example in Figure 13 with good advice for responding to posi-
tive feedback online. For an authentic approach, personalize the response: provide
a photo and your own name (not just the company’s name), mention the writer’s
name, thank the writer for the post, address specifi c comments from the post, and
offer solutions or other ways to stay in touch.
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Business Communication: In Person, In Print, Online is interesting to read.

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Principles and skills come alive with many examples of communication at work.
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Explains the Chapter 11
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from the company’s leader. high-context cultures, for example, might include subtle guidance and new pages
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Highlights customers’ most and new pages will open within the current window, to allow the user to go back
prevalent concerns. and forth easily.23
We all interpret events through
our own mental fi lter, and that fi lter
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• Examples are integrated right into tthhee ppaarraaggrraapphh
text, such as Best Buy’s suspension off an emplloyee
for a video posted on YouTube, Toyota’s response
to safety recalls, McDonald’s adaptation to interna-
tional markets, Google’s strategy for hiring, and
more.
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Illustrates Principles with
Current, Real-World Examples
• A companion blog, BizCom in the News
(www.bizcominthenews.com), spotlights
communication issues that make headlines.
Browse stories by chapter or by topic, and
access stories on the book’s Facebook page
(www.facebook.com/bizcominthenews).
Scan This!
• Expanded end-of-chapter exercises CHAPTER 1 Understanding Business Communication 33
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prepares you to respond to a customer
Aggresshop
complaint on the company’s blog and Imagine you work for Aggresshop, an upscale women’s clothing boutique with 16 stores
throughout the United States. At www.cengagebrain.com, you’ll fi nd Aggresshop’s
select the appropriate channel to comApsa nyoy ub’llol gre faodr cinu stthoem secresn aanrdio ,e mAgpgloreyessehs.op is experiencing many customer com-
plaints about its sales associates’ overly aggressive techniques (two posts are shown
communicate organizational change. below). The CEO decides to change the sales compensation structure to address this
issue.
On the blog, you’ll see examples of several communication concepts discussed in
Chapter 1: directions of communication, communication media, barriers to communica-
tion, and ethics in communication. This scenario will also help you learn to do the following:
• Respond to customer complaints on a company blog.
• Communicate a change internally.
• Tailor message content and tone for different audiences and communication channels.
Tohelpyoupracticeyourbusinesscommunicationyourinstructormayassignthe
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© CENGAGE LEARNING
Current, fast-paced, & interesting – Just like business itself.
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Reinforces Learning & Promotes
Skill-Building with a Variety of
Innovative Digital Resources
The eighth edition of Business Communication: In Person, In Print, Online
integrates the most advanced new technology for effi cient and effective study
opportunities.
CengageNOW™ is an integrated, online learning system that gives you
more control over your success. This innovative, intuitive tool combines
the best of current technology to help you plan and study more effectively.
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