Business Communication and Ethics in Organizations

This course is specially designed for Business and Engineering Students.

Communication Skills (Oral)

• Definitions and Conditions, Modes; verbal, non-verbal, vocal, non-vocal, sender, receiver, encoding, decoding, noise, context, emotional, relationships, etc.
• Language and perception, Distortion of thought, interference.
• Non-verbal, body language, physical appearance, cultural differences, etc.
• Barriers to Comm: ambiguity, context, closure, prediction, pseudo listening.
• Listening: effective listening, benefits, and ethics for the listener.
• Personal and interpersonal skills/perceptions.
• Communication dilemmas and problems.
• Public Speaking – speaking situations/ interviews

Written Communication

• Types of messages and various approaches
• Formal/ Business letters various types
• Memos (brief revision).
• Notices and minutes of meetings, agenda, layout, language, Leadership styles.
• Contracts and agreements (basic theoretical knowledge and comprehension).
• Tenders (basic theoretical knowledge and comprehension).
• Business reports (Short and Long) Research / Scientific reports.

Engineering / Business Ethics

• Course objective.
• Need for code of ethics, importance
• Type of ethics, involvement in daily life, professional ethics
• Problems/conflicts/dilemmas in application.

RECOMMENDED BOOKS FOR THIS COURSE

(01) Report Writing for Business by Lesikar and Pettit

(02) Business & Professional Communication by Roach, Gant, Allyn Perigo & Bacon

(03) Engineering Ethics by Flederman

Course Outline For The Course in Detail

Introduction to Business Communication in Organizations

Why Business Communication?

Introduction to Communication

Definition of Communication

1. Types of Communication
2. Verbal Communication
3. Nonverbal Communication

Technological Communication

1. Levels of Communication
2. Intrapersonal Communication
3. Interpersonal Communication
4. Small-Group Communication
5. Organizational Communication
6. Public Communication
7. Mass Communication

Non-Verbal Communication

Reinforcement, Modification, Substitution, Regulations of Non-Verbal Communication

Codes of Nonverbal Communication

1. Temporal Codes
2. Chronemics
3. Time Orientations
4. Psychological Time
5. Person-Oriented Codes
6. Physical Appearance & Dress
7. Gestures & Body Movements
8. Facial Expressions
9. Eye Contact
10. Personal Space & Touching Behavior
11. Vocal Characteristics
12. Environmental Codes

Principles of Communication

1. Be Mindful of the Setting
2. Use Approachable Body Language
3. Adjust Your Tone
4. Ask Questions
5. Listen to Understand
6. Cultivate Respect
7. Be Precise Be Attentive while you present
8. Provide Feedback
9. Plan & Practice

Channels of Communication

Process of Communication

Feedback

1. Situations that require giving Constructive Feedback
2. Some clues where Constructive Feedback is needed
3. Importance of Feedback
4. Why Feedback?
5. Types of Feedback

Communication with respect to Culture

1. Multicultural Communication
2. Cross-Cultural Communication
3. Intercultural Communication
4. Role of Intercultural Communication
5. Flexibility in Intercultural Communication
6. Importance of Intercultural Communication
7. Cultural Differences
8. Power Distance
9. Individualism versus Collectivism
10. Femininity versus Masculinity
11. Uncertainty Avoidance
12. Long Term Orientation
13. High Context Cultures
14. Low Context Cultures

Barriers to Intercultural Communication

1. Ethnocentrism
2. Stereotyping
3. Prejudice
4. Discrimination

7Cs of Communication

1. Completeness with Bad and Good Example
2. Conciseness with Bad and Good Example
3. Consideration with Bad and Good Example
4. Concreteness with Bad and Good Example
5. Clarity with Bad and Good Example
6. Courtesy with Bad and Good Example
7. Correctness with Bad and Good Example

Barriers of Communication

1. Linguistic BarriersCauses of Linguistic BarriersOvercoming the Linguistic Barriers
2. Psychological/Emotional BarriersCommon Examples of Emotional BarriersOvercoming Emotional Barriers
3. Physical BarriersExamplesOvercoming Physical Barriers
4. Physiological BarriersCauses of Physiological Barriers
5. Cultural BarriersExamplesOvercoming Cultural Barriers
6. Perception BarriersExamplesOvercoming Perceptual Barriers
7. Interpersonal BarriersExamplesOvercoming Interpersonal Barriers
8. Gender BarriersExamplesOvercoming Gender Barriers
9. Organizational Structure Barriers
10. Attitude Barriers
11. Technological Barriers

Reasons for Communication Breakdown

Listening Process and Improve Your Listening Skills

Listening

• Objectives of Listening
• Importance of Listening
• Mechanics of Listening
• Process of Listening

Types of Listening

1. Participatory Listening
2. Passive Listening
3. Surface Listening
4. Deep Listening
5. Judgmental Listening
6. Non-judgmental Listening
7. Empathic Listening
8. Objective Listening
9. Discriminative Listening
10. Content Listening
11. Biased Listening
12. Appreciative Listening
13. Selective Listening
14. False Listening
15. Group Task

Barriers of Listening

1. Low Concentration
2. Lack of Prioritization
3. Poor Judgment
4. Focusing on style rather than Substance
5. Cultural Barriers
6. Gender Barriers
7. Technology Barriers
8. Physiological Barriers
9. Physical Barriers
10. Attitudinal Barriers
11. Wrong Assumptions
12. Lack of Training
13. Bad Listening Habits

Benefits of Effective Listening Skills

Common Listening Mistakes

Ways to Improve Listening Skill

Understand Ethics and Code of Conduct for working in Organization

Why Study Ethics?

Professional Ethics

What is Engineering?

Who is an Engineer?

Engineering Ethics

Personal vs Professional Ethics

Ethics and Law

Code of Ethics

• Objections to Codes
• Codes of the Engineering Societies
• Two Codes of Ethics

1. IEEE
2. NSPE

• Ethical Problems
• Resolving Internal Conflicts in Codes
• Can Codes and Professional Societies Protect Employees?
• Other Types of Codes of Ethics
• Code of Conduct
• Articles (1-15)

Ethical Principles

• Beneficence
• Least Harm
• Respect for Autonomy
• Justice

Ethical Theories in Engineering

• UtilitarianismBasic Tenets of UtilitarianismAdvantages & Disadvantages

  Characteristics of Utilitarianism

  Variations among Forms of Utilitarianism

  Different Accounts of How Facts about Well-Being Determine the Rightness and Wrongness of Acts

  Different Accounts of Well-Being

  The Scope of Moral Concern

  The Aggregate Utility to Be Maximized

• Duty Ethics
• Rights Ethics
• Virtue Ethics

Personal vs Corporate Morality

Which Theory to Use?

No-Western Ethical Thinking

Ethical Problem Solving Techniques

1. Conflict Problems
2. Line Drawing Technique
3. Flow Charting

Analysis of Issues in Ethical Problems

• Factual
• Conceptual
• Moral

How can Controversies be Resolved in Ethical Problems?

Relevance vs Conflict Problem

Methods for Relevance Problem

Resolving the Conflict Problems

Line Drawing Technique

• Fundamentals of Line Drawing
• Case Study

Flow Charting

• Flow Charting Advantages

Key Ethical Concerns and Concepts

1. Confidentiality
2. Risk and Safety
3. Computer Ethics
4. Whistleblowing
5. Bribes vs Gifts
6. Sexual Harassment

Organizational Messages and Business Letters

Writing Business Messages

Planning Audience Centered Business Messages

Using Audience Analysis to Plan a Message

Understanding the Writing Process for Business Messages

• Stage I: Planning Business Message
• Stage II: Writing Business Message
• Stage III: Completing Business Messages

Scheduling the Writing Process

Three-step writing process

• Identifying Your Audience
• Identifying & analyzing purpose for Business message
• Developing an Audience Profile
• Using Audience Analysis to Plan a Message
• Predicting the Effects of Audience Composition
• Uncovering Audience Needs
• Providing Required Information
• Adopting a “You” Attitude
• Maintaining standards of etiquette
• Emphasizing the positive
• Using bias-free language
• Establishing your credibility
• Creating a conversational tone
• Creating a conversational tone
• Selective active or passive voice
• Choosing Powerful Words
• Balancing Abstract and Concrete Words
• Finding Words that Communicate Well
• Finding Words that Communicate Well
• Powerful Words
• Choosing from Four Types of Sentences
• Using Sentence Style to Emphasize Key Thoughts
• Creating the Elements of a Paragraph
• Developing Paragraphs

Completing Business Messages

• Revising Different Message Types
• Evaluating your Message
• Question’s for evaluating someone’s message
• Proofreading Carefully

Business Letters

Strategies for Effective Letters

Four Considerations of a Business Letter

The seven C’s Style

Format of Business Letter

Elements of Business Letters

Types of Letters/Messages

Writing Plan for Request for Information or Action

Writing Plan for a Direct Claim

Writing Plan for Adjustments

Goodwill Messages

• The Five S’s
• Expressing thanks for a gift.
• Sending thanks for a Favor

Responding to goodwill Messages

• Answering Congratulatory Messages
• Extending Sympathy

• Negative Messages
• Communicating Bad News: Goals
• Avoiding legal liability in conveying negative messages
• When to Use the Direct Strategy
• When to Use the Indirect Strategy
• Possible Buffers for Opening Bad-News Messages
• Evaluating Buffer Statements
• Presenting the Reasons
• Cushioning the Bad News
• Closing Bad-News Messages

Sample Negative Messages

1. Refusing Donations
2. Declining an Invitation
3. Saying No to Job Candidate
4. Email Announcing Price Hike (Rate Increase)

Presenting Bad News in Other Cultures

What is Persuasion?

• Persuasive and Sales Messages
• Effective Persuasion Techniques
• The Importance of Tone
• Writing Plan for Persuasive Requests
• Persuasive Claims and Complaints
• Persuading Within Organizations

AIDA Strategy: Sales and Marketing

AIDA Writing Strategy for Sales and Marketing Messages

Ineffective Sales Message

Improved Sales Message

Organizing Business Email and Memos

Organizing E-Mails and Memos

• Knowing When to Send E-Mails and Memo
• Defining Memos
• Preparing to write a memo
• Formatting Memos
• Writing Informative Memos
• Writing Persuasive Memos
• Revising Persuasive Memos
• Analysis of a Poorly Phrased Persuasive Memo with an improved version
• Writing Negative Memos
• Revising Negative Memos
• Analysis of a Poorly Worded Negative Memo with an improved version
• Characteristics of Effective Memos

Understand about Meetings and Tender Processes in Business

Meeting

• What is a Meeting?
• Purpose of Meeting
• Establishing Aims & Objectives
• The Need for Agendas
• Minutes of Meeting

Tender Process

• Classification of Tender
• The procedure of Inviting Tender
• Samples of Tender
• Short Tender Notice

Business Reports in Organizations

• Understanding Report Basics
  1. Report Functions
  2. Report Formats
  3. Report Patterns
  4. Report Delivery
• Developing Informal Reports
• Gathering Data for Reports
• Typical Informal Reports
• Information Reports
• Writing Plan for Information Reports
• Describe six kinds of informal reports.
• Adopting an appropriate writing style
• Understanding Business Proposals
• Informal Proposals and Informal Proposals
• Parts of Formal and Informal Proposals
• Understanding Business Reports
• Report writing process

Prepare to write.

• Research secondary data (web, social media, blog, and microblog).
• Generate primary data.
• Documenting data.
• Organize, outline, and discuss data.
• Illustrate report data.
• Matching Visuals with Objectives
• Incorporating Graphics in Report
• Present final report.
• Understand about Formal Reports
• Parts of Formal Reports

How to search for your desired job and make a resume accordingly

Job Search

• Preparation for the Job Search
• Evaluating Your Qualification
• Recognizing Employment Trend in today’s workplace

Curriculum Vitae (CV) & Resume

• Writing the Customized Resume
• Choosing the resume Style
• Improving the Career Objectives
• Summary of Qualifications
• How to write Education in Resume
• How to Write Work Experience in Resume
• How to Write Reference List in Resume
• Polishing your Resume

1. CHRONOLOGICAL RÉSUMÉ: Current College Student with Limited Experience
2. CHRONOLOGICAL RÉSUMÉ: Current College Student with Limited Relevance Experience
3. FUNCTIONAL RESUME: College Student with unrelated part-time Experience

Cover Letter

• Purpose of Cover Letter
• Three Primary Parts of Cover Letter
• Solicited and Unsolicited
• Highlighting your Strength in the Body of Cover Letter
• Motivating Actions in the Closing
• Final Tips for Successful Cover Letter

Prepare yourself for your First Job Interview

Job Interview

• Purpose of Employment Interviews
• Types of Employment Interviews
• Interview Success
• Professional Phone Techniques
• An Impressive First Conversation
• Researching the Company
• Prepare and Practice
• Cleaning Up “Digital Dirt’
• Traveling to your Interview
• Arriving at your Interview
• The Basic of Good Handshake
• Fighting Fear
• Answering the Question Effectively During the Interview

10 Important Qualities for any type of Job

1. Kinds of Interview Questions
2. Gauging your Interest
3. Your Experience and Accomplishments
4. The Future
5. Challenges
6. Money
7. Situational
8. Behavioral
9. Illegal and Inappropriate
10. Tell me about yourself

After the Interview

• Contacting References
• Interview Follow up Message
• Other Employment Letters and Documents
• Application Form
• Application or Resume Follow Up
• Rejection Follow up Message
• Job Acceptable Message

Resignation Letter

Interviews- The Dirty Dozens