E312. Written Communications in Business
Spring 2005
Deborah C. Andrews
MEM 135
Phone: 302.831.8788
Email: dandrews@udel.edu
Web: www.english.udel.edu/dandrews
Office hours: Tuesday 9-10; Wednesday 11-12
E-mail questions and comments are always welcome
Learning Goals
1. Understand and apply the principles of effective communication in an increasingly global, technologically mediated, and complex business environment
2. Create effective, accessible, and well designed communication products that respond to the needs of specific situations, media, and audiences
3. Become familiar with the genres and conventions of professional communication and know how and when to adjust them for changing circumstances and technologies
4. Manage the development and presentation of communication products on a team, including virtual teamwork
Texts
Management Communication: A Guide(MC). Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2004.
Employment Communications / Reports and Reporting: Supplements (S)
Schedule
Please read the designated sections of the texts in advance of the due date so that you can discuss them when we meet. Assignments will be discussed in detail in class, in particular, the collaborative reporting project. In April, we will conduct a virtual team exercise with students in a similar class at the City University of Hong Kong (www.cityu.edu.hk); the specific schedule for that exercise will be set in late March.
M 7 F The management communication process. Course logistics
W 9 F Chinese New Year. How to use this guide. MC Chs.1,2. S pp.1-37. Employment communication
14 F The employment search. Resumes. Guest speaker: Marianne Green, Career Services
W 16 F Draft resume (3 copies). Workshop on resumes
M 21 F MC Ch. 1 scenario and pp. 91-94. S pp. 37-47. Interviews
W 23 F Employment interviews. MC Ch. 3, Appendix A, and pp. 120-122, 202-205. Persuading an audience. S pp. 54-58. Cover letters
M 28 F Draft cover letter (3 copies). Employment interviews. MC pp. 122-126. Email. Workshop on cover letters
W 02 M Employment interviews. MC Ch 10 and Ch. 2,3 scenarios. S pp. 60-65. Collaborative writing. The genre system of reporting
M 07 M Final resume and cover letter. MC Ch. 11. Virtual teamwork: Guest speaker: JoAnne Yates, MIT (http://ccs.mit.edu/yates.html)
W 09 M MC Ch. 4 and pp. 117-120, 201-202. S pp. 66-78. Memos. Business information. Developing a collaborative report on communication practices in a local organization
M 14 M Memo on interview with a professional in your field. MC Ch.5 and pp. 127-129. S pp. 89-98. Proposals. Designing the communication product
W 16 M MC Ch 6 and Ch 4,5 scenarios. Visuals and text
M 21 M Workshop: reporting project: draft proposal memo on reporting project due at end of workshop
W 23 M Memo proposing your team's reporting project. MC Ch 6 scenario
Spring Break
M 04 A MC Ch. 9 and scenario. Verification. Workshop: reporting project
W 06 A Project progress report. MC Ch 8 scenario
M 11 A S pp. 47-54, 79-88. Performance evaluations. Accountability reports
W 13 A Chinese connection videoconferences tba
M 18 A Ch 7 and scenario. Oral communication and presentations. Guest speaker: John Sawyer, Chair, Business Administration
W 20 A MC pp. 129-130, 206. S pp. 89-100 and model report. Final reports
M 25 A Chinese connection/virtual teamwork. Workshop: final reports.
W 27 A Workshop. Presentations
M 02 M Project briefings. Draft outline and introduction to final report
W 04 M Project briefings
M 09 M Final project report Appendix C. Ch 10, 11 scenarios. Crisis Communication
W 11 M More on crisis communication
M 16 M Scenario response. Briefings on the responses.
W 18 M Portfolio with cover memo
Grading
Employment communication (resume, cover letter, interview) 20 percent
Collaborative reporting project: proposal memo, final
report, briefing; progress report (individual) 35 percent
Memo on interview with a professional 10 percent
Reflection memo: Chinese connection 15 percent
Scenario response 10 percent
Class participation/ portfolio cover memo 10 percent
--You must complete all assignments by their due dates to pass the course
--Assignments are due at class time on the dates indicated on the schedule. I do not accept late papers. If you have an emergency please provide a rationale in writing before the deadline.
Professionalism
Since this course prepares you for your role as a professional in the workplace, each class period is considered a meeting to which you have committed by signing up for the course. As is common at such meetings, your participation is expected. The course can only be successful if participants share ideas, listening respectfully to others and inviting as well as responding to comments. Unprofessional participation, including being late, leaving early, holding side conversations, and using course technologies for unrelated purposes and unexcused absences will result in a reduction in your grade. If you have an emergency that prevents you from attending the class or from arriving on time, email me in advance with a strategy for catching up. If your email is persuasive, I'll accept your strategy.
Disability access
If you have a disability requiring specific arrangements in this class, please let me know as soon as possible. I'll keep this information confidential.
Academic integrity
The University of Delaware values academic integrity. Thus you must understand the meaning and consequences of plagiarism and other academic offences. Simply stated, "plagiarism" is presenting as your own original work something that is not. Any work that you submit must be your own. If you borrow any words, ideas, or information from other people and include those under your name, you must properly document the borrowed material. This requirement applies to visuals as well as text. Demonstrating the highest levels of ethical behavior concerning the use of sources is a significant element in both the content of this course and your behavior in it. The University of Delaware protects the rights of all students by insisting that individual students act with integrity. Accordingly, the University severely penalizes plagiarism and other forms of academic dishonesty. If you have any questions about why and how to document sources, please talk with me.