Mb0023 Business Communication Set 1

ASSIGNMENTS- MBA Semester I Subject code : MB0023 Set 1 Business Communication Q.1. Describe any situation in your experience where the communication was a failure. Analyze the barrier(s) which stood in the way of successful communication. Explain how you would overcome the barrier(s). Ans:I would like to project one of my recent incident occurred in my office because of communication failure. Few days back one of my colleague conveyed a message from his native place that “He is suffering from back pain due to a fall from stairs”. And he asked me to convey the message to his office as ”he would not be able to attend the office due to back pain”. Immediately I conveyed the message to officer concerned. The officer further conveyed the message to his senior officer telling him that the individual will not be coming to office as he has met with an accident at his native place. The two different messages about an individual created confusion in the mind of senior officer and made him angry. Immediately he ordered to find out the actual reason & then only leave will be granted and individual was issued a show cause notice to explain unauthorized absence. On analyzing the above problem I came to the conclusion that, if I would have conveyed the message of my colleague directly to the senior officer instead of to the immediate officer, the individual would have been saved from the fury of the senior officer and no memo would have been served to the individual. Q.2. Select an article of around 200 words from any business publication. Analyze the readability of the article using the “Fog Index”. Is the reading level appropriate for the reader of the publication? Ans:- Fog index In linguistics, the Gunning fog index is a test designed to measure the readability of a sample of English writing. The resulting number is an indication of the number of years of formal education that a person requires in order to easily understand the text on the first reading. That is, if a passage has a fog index of 12, it has the reading level of a U.S. high school senior. The test was developed by Robert Gunning, an American businessman, in 1952.

The fog index is generally used by people who want their writing to be read easily by a large segment of the population. Texts that are designed for a wide audience generally require a fog index of less than 12. Texts that require a close-to-universal understanding generally require an index of less than 8. Contents • Calculating the Gunning fog index • Example Calculating the Gunning fog index The Gunning fog index can be calculated with the following algorithm: Take a full passage that is around 100 words (do not omit any sentences). 1. Find the average sentence length (divide the number of words by the number of sentences). 2. Count words with three or more syllables (complex words), not including proper nouns (for example, Djibouti), familiar jargon or compound words, or common suffixes such as -es, -ed, or -ing as a syllable. 3. Add the average sentence length and the percentage of complex words (ex., +13.37%, not simply + 0.1337) 4. Multiply the result by 0.4 The complete formula is as follows:

While the index is a good indication of reading difficulty, it still has limitations. Not all multisyllabic words are difficult. For example, the word "asparagus" is generally not considered to be a difficult word, even though it has four syllables. Until the 1980s this index was calculated differently. The original formula demanded independent clauses to be counted as separate sentences in determining the total score. Since the purpose of the index was to measure the clarity of ideation within sentences, it recognized that readers perceive independent clauses as complete thoughts. This changes the sentence index for some writers more than others. In the 1980s, literature supporting the elimination of this step in computer calculations stated that this grammatical distinction was beyond the ability of automation and, by reviewing sample literature manually and also by automation, determined that the independent clause step was of little value In some works, such as Gibbon's The History of the Decline and fall of the Roman Empire, the difference between a score using the modern

algorithm shown above and a hand-done score using the original formula would vary greatly. A simple test took a random footnote from the text and used an automated Gunning Fog site first using their sentence count and then the count of sentences plus independent clauses. The site first calculated an index of 19.2 using automation and then calculated an index of 12.5 after manually counting independent clauses. This dropped the indexed reading difficulty from post-graduate to secondary school. Example The following paragraph has a Gunning Fog Index of 16.6. The word logorrhea is often used pejoratively to describe prose that is highly abstract and contains little concrete language. Since abstract writing is hard to visualize, it often seems as though it makes no sense and all the words are excessive. Writers in academic fields that concern themselves mostly with the abstract, such as philosophy and especially postmodernism, often fail to include extensive concrete examples of their ideas, and so a superficial examination of their work might lead one to believe that it is all nonsense. Q.3. Imagine that you are the Chairperson of the Board of Studies of the Department of Management & Commerce of Sikkim Manipal University Department of Distance Education. You have been asked to call a meeting of the members of the Board to discuss the launch of new management programs and new specializations in the existing management program. What kind of meeting would be required? Prepare a comprehensive agenda for the participants of the meeting. Ans:General body meeting for Board of Directors:Objectives of the Meeting To discuss the launch of new management programs and new specializations in the existing management program. Objectives: 1. Type of Programme: For launch of new specialization i.e Nano Technology 2. Scope of Programme: •

Nano Technology is course used for study of the control of matter on an atomic and molecular scale.

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Education and training support from Reputed Institutes.

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Approval from competent authority

3. Advance Coordination: •

Tie up with International Institutions

4. Improve Collaboration: When & Where this should be launched and suitable city for conducting this course. 5. Members All the Board members & Senior Professors of Sikkim Manipal University. 6. Agenda Points:• Viability of the course • Facilities required and available • Financial Implications • Requirement of faculty. • Availability of Infrastructure • Time frame for Implementation • City where course to be Introduce • Any other points from Board Members • Dates for next meeting • Vote of thanks Q.4 Select a corporate ad of your choice from any publication. Analyze the ad in terms of its specific objectives and type of corporate advertising. Is it effective? Why or why not? Zoozoos in Vodafone TV Ads Aren’t Animated On first look, these “zoozoos” in Vodafone TV ads for IPL may resemble animated cartoon characters with an alien look or simply a stupid egg-head character with disproportional white bodies and black dots for eyes and mouth. These Zoozoo characters, in case you haven’t seen them yet, have been created by O&M for Vodafone to convey different value added services offered by the mobile phone company including phone Backup, cricket alerts, etc. This was something which was created purely out of textbook and is totally an Indian idea. The characters are such that they lead simple lives, speak insane and incomprehensible language and move in a certain way with human emotions.

But the interesting part is that Zoozoos are not animated characters but are actually slim women actors from local Mumbai theatres, dressed in white costumes that are stuffed with foam to portray the characters. Prakash Varma, who directed the Vodafone ZooZoo commercials, told Afaqs that they only had women – and occasionally children – as their main cast to keep the hands and legs thin of the Zoozoo characters. This has been a very successful advertisement since there was a lot of appreciation given for it was first of its kind & all the message which Vodafone intended to give to its customers through this advertisement was conveyed effectively & successfully. Q.5 Write an unsolicited job application letter to a company that you would like to work for in a specific position. Include a one page profile about yourself. Ans: From Akhil S, #3808,Gayathri Nagar, Rajajinagar 2nd stage, Bangalore. To Ciber Pvt ltd, IBC knowledge park, Bangalore. SuB: Application for the post of Sr software Engineer Respected sir, I am holding Bachelors Degree In Electronics & communication Engg. Presently I’m working in Sterling Commerce as software Engineer II. I wish to apply for the post of Sr. software Engg in IT department in your esteemed company. The details of Experience and area of working given below. Career Profile 1. FMT(File Upload Tool) Java 1.5, JSP, Struts, JavaScript, SQL.

March 2008 - Till date

Accenture Services Pvt. Ltd. File Upload Tool(FMT) is a web based tool. The objective of this project is to upload the file to our application in order to automate the uploading process. The files included pdf's, images such as .gif, .jpg etc & .swf files etc. The tool stores the file as a blob in Database & then the same file is fetched n displayed in the application wherever it is needed. This tool fetches the file from the selected location & then uploads & puts it in the Database. This application is developed using Struts & is a very useful tool used in many applications. Role: Programmer(Team member) Responsibilities: • Review the Functional & Software Requirements, and Design documents. • Involved in Developing Business components using J2EE (JSP, Servlets & Struts). • Participated in technical discussions. • Involved in Preparing Unit Test cases for components developed. • Involved in training the junior associates in the team. 2. CCT(Clear Case Tool) Java 1.5, JSP, Struts, JavaScript, SQL, Rational ClearCase. Accenture Services Pvt. Ltd.

June 2007 – Feb 2008

Clear Case Tool(CCT) is a standalone application. The objective of this project is to automate the process of storing & retrieving the content from BEA Content repository & storing in Clear-Case for version control using Java. In order to store large amount of files into the BEA content repository, the file should be in a XML format. Like wise large amount of files retrieved from the BEA Content repository is in the xml format. Hence there was a need to automate the process, to store & retrieve the content from Clear Case. This tool is used across multiple applications. Role: Programmer(Team member) Responsibilities: • Review the Functional & Software Requirements, and Design documents.

• • • •

Involved in Developing Business components using J2EE (JSP, Servlets & Struts). Participated in technical discussions. Involved in Preparing Unit Test cases for components developed. Involved in training the junior associates in the team.

Bangalore Date: xx/xx/xxxx

Q.6

(Akhil S)

Case Study

The Power of Nonverbal Communication Soon after I graduated from engineering college, I accepted a position with the Sundaram Foundry, a medium-sized firm located in a small town in Tamil Nadu. It was a good position, since I was the assistant to Mr. Vishwanath, the General Manager and president of this family owned company, Although there were many technical problems, the work was extremely interesting and I soon learnt all about the foundry business. The foundry workers were mostly older men and were a closely knit team. Many of them were related and had been in the foundry for several years. Therefore, they felt that they knew the business in and out and that a technical education had no value. In fact, Mr. Vishwanath had mentioned to me even at the time of my joining, that I was the only engineer ever to be employed in the foundry. He also let me know that the foundry workers, although a good group, were very clannish, since they had been working together for several years. Therefore, it would probably take them some time to accept me. I introduced myself to the group of foundry workers, a few days after my joining. As I went around in turn, I felt them eyeing me coldly. As I went down the main aisle of the foundry, I heard them talking to each other in low voices and laughing. I found their behavior to be very childish and felt that it was best to ignore these signs of hostility. I thought that if I ignored them, they would automatically stop these antics.

A few weeks after this incident, I happened to visit the enamel shop. As I entered, I noticed a worker cleaning the floor with a hose, from which water flowed at high pressure. I was aware that it was the practice to clean the shop at least once a week. I turned my back on the worker and was busy near a dipping tank, when I suddenly felt the force of a stream of water hitting me. I was almost knocked down by the pressure and slipped on the wet floor. When I turned around, the worker looked away in the other direction, as if he had not noticed this happening. However, I was pretty sure that he had intentionally turned the hose on me.

Questions 1. How could the engineer, the foundry workers and Mr. Vishwanath be more effective, both verbally and nonverbally? Ans:Understanding from the Case:• Engineer is a new person and a young boy. • All foundry workers are well experienced and older persons. • They have strong opinion that they know everything about Foundry. Solution:• The young Engineer should go to workers and read their mind set and gradually know the work environment, not by order. Whatever he wants tell to the workers or foundry man, he should convey it politely and involve himself in their work also. Because they all are more experienced persons, we have to give respect for their long experience. • Theoretically the young Engg. Knows the foundry Engg. But not practically. Once you know the mind set of the workers we can easily extract the work from them. • The respect is given to the person who is capable of doing the job assigned to him and having good knowledge in his core subject.

1. What do you suggest that the engineer should do, after the hosing incident? Ans: The Engineer should not loose his temper, till he fully establishes him self by acquiring knowledge about the working environment and study the mind set of the people. Then he will be able to take appropriate action for any act of indiscipline. However it is advisable that before taking any strict action, person should be advised politely not to repeat such action in future.