Business Communications Syllabus

INFORMATION ABOUT BUSINESS COMMUNICATIONS - GBA 319

COURSE OBJECTIVES

To understand and be able to explain how communication affects business outcomes.
To understand the environment within which business messages are sent and the issues facing business communicators.
To understand the principles that contribute to effective communication.
To review the fundamentals of correct usage of the English language.
To improve written and oral communication skills needed in business.
To learn to effectively give and receive constructive criticism.
To practice and/or improve listening skills.
To practice being an effective team member.

"The skills required to be a good manager have changed since the 1980's......the ability to communicate has grown in importance......Today's managers must have a whole new set of skills that revolve around juggling multiple priorities, delegating and working with teams."

Jenny McCune, "Management's Brave New World," Management Review, pp. 11, 13-14, October 1997.

"Intellectual understanding may not translate directly into a high degree of skill. Skills take practice. Putting knowledge into action is a skill. It is this skill that brings success."

Lane, DiStefano & Maznevski, 1997, International Management Behavior, p. 59.

"Business executives say about 37% of their work forces lack fundamental math and writing skills, according to a poll by Olsten Staffing Services, Melville, N.Y."

Wall Street Journal, p. A1, October 1, 1996

"Team spirit takes on new meaning at business schools. Getting a job in the future 'will be very difficult' without team experience...says...dean of business college at Eastern Michigan University."

Wall Street Journal, March 25, 1995.

"Good writing skills and good public speaking skills are crucial to business success."

Paul A. Dillon, "What Business Expects from Higher Education,"
The College Board Review, No.164, Forum Issue 1992.

"Today's manager must listen as well as lead, collaborate as well as control, nurture as well as manipulate."

T. Petzinger, Wall Street Journal, March 15, 1996.

"Increasingly, says recruiting consultant Maury Hanigan, companies are looking beyond functional skills for people who are skilled communicators, quick learners, and adept at dealing with people."

"How You Can Make Your MBA Degree Even More Valuable"
Wall Street Journal, July 15,1997.

"In today's Information Age, every engineer, technician, foreman, supervisor and manager has to be a writer sometimes....if you can't write a decent report, you've limited your opportunities for recognition, success and advancement."

R.D. Ramsey in Supervision, July 1993, p. 3.

"‘When you are a good listener, you will be a better manager and a better businessperson,’" says Roger Flax, president of Morristown, New Jersey seminar company Motivational Systems Inc./Canterbury.

"Now Hear This," by R. McGarvey, page 89, Entrepreneur, June 1996.

"We now face the prospect of information obesity...information overload has replaced information scarcity as an important new emotional, social, and political problem."

Data Smog: Surviving the Information Glut, page 29, David Shenk, 1997.

"Executives must beware, for even a small error of grammar, spelling or punctuation can convey an image of a writer who is uneducated or sloppy."

P.H.Lewis, in New York Times, March 6, 1988, p. 12.