|
|
JOHN CABOT UNIVERSITY
COURSE CODE: "BUS 220-1"
COURSE NAME: "Business Communications"
SEMESTER & YEAR:
Fall Semester 2012
|
SYLLABUS
INSTRUCTOR:
Favorite Michele
EMAIL: [email protected]
HOURS:
MW 10:00-11:15
TOTAL NO. OF CONTACT HOURS:
45
CREDITS:
3
PREREQUISITES:
Prerequisite: EN 110 with a grade of C or above
OFFICE HOURS:
after class & by appointment
|
|
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
This course helps students become proficient in written and oral business communication. The standards used in the American business world are used as benchmarks for standards for the course: no tardiness, no misspellings, etc.
|
SUMMARY OF COURSE CONTENT:
This course will help students enhance their understanding of the strategic role that communication plays in the business world. It will analyze how communication is used to inform, motivate, facilitate change and create value in today’s rapidly evolving organizations, and how the means of communication are changing constantly. It will evaluate what determines effective business communication, and how to achieve it.
|
LEARNING OUTCOMES:
Students will learn how to develop, support and organize arguments and how to strengthen their research skills. They will develop their written, oral and interpersonal communication skills in business settings and across a range of tasks including letters, memoranda, resumes, press releases, emails, reports and presentations. Students will learn how to effectively deliver negative and positive business news while maintaining a confident tone, how to communicate persuasively, how to present themselves to the business world through resumes and cover letters and how to create and present effective visual aids.
|
TEXTBOOK:
| Book Title | Author | Publisher | ISBN number | Library Call Number | Comments | Format | Local Bookstore | Online Purchase |
| Business Communication | Scot Ober | South Western Cengage Learning | 978-1 4390-3569-6 | | | | | |
|
REQUIRED RESERVED READING:
| Book Title | Author | Publisher | ISBN number | Library Call Number | Comments |
| Guide to Managerial Communication | Mary Munter | Prentice Hall | 978 0 13 713046 7 | | |
RECOMMENDED RESERVED READING:
|
GRADING POLICY
-ASSESSMENT METHODS:
| Assignment | Guidelines | Weight |
| Research report | The research report aims at testing the student's understanding of the techniques necessary to make business communication effective. | 15% |
| Short Assignments | Letters, memos, emails are written throughout the course. | 20% |
| Midterm | The midterm exam tests the student's understanding of all the material covered in the first part of the course. | 15% |
| Final Exam | The final exam is cumulative. | 20% |
| Participation | Students are expected to come to class prepared to discuss the topic of the day and to contribute to the discussion in an intelligent way. | 15% |
| Power point presentation | This is a group project that helps students practice and perfect their delivery skills and their visual aid writing/delivery skills. The presentation is on a topical business topic. | 15% |
-ASSESSMENT CRITERIA:
A:
The few students who earn an A in this course are those who have mastered the philosophy behind effective business communication and can apply the specific techniques learned in class. This requires that students not only have attended all classes and have contributed in a construtctive and original way to class discussion and that they fulfill all assignments in a timely way, but that their work shows a critical analysis of the theory of business communication and that this analysis optimizes the different techniques to various scenarios. Students must have an excellent mastery of written and oral English.
Students who earn an A must also produce a report that is based on thorough research and interesting/unusual results and that specifically addresses the topic. These students will also have mastered the principles and techniques of oral presentations.
B:
Students who earn a B in this course have contributed in an interesting way to most classes. They have understood what makes business communication effective and how to use the specific techniques covered in the course. Assignments have been turned in on time and show a good understanding of how to apply different techniques to different scenarios. These students will have a very good level of written and oral English.
The report will have addressed the topic and will be the result of a good level of research, producing interesting results. Students will be able to deliver an effective oral presentation.
C:
Students who earn a C in this course will have produced satisfactory work. They will have attended most classes and will have contributed some interesting thoughts to class discussion. Their understading of the principles of business communication will be fair and their use of the techniques to apply to various scenarios will be adequate. The effectiveness of their communication will be basic. Their written and oral English will be of a satisfactory level.
Thei report will not address the topic fully and will be based on sketchy research that yields commonplace results. Their oral presentation skills will be adequate.
D:
Students who earn a D will have barely done enough work to avoid failing. In most cases this is a results of poor effort. This means that they will have missed several classes and will have contributed little while in class. Their application of the techniques of business communication will be poor and the effectiveness of their communication almost non-existant. Usually these students will have a poor level of written and oral English.
The report will be very poorly researched and written, and the topic will probably be only indirectly addressed.
F:
A level of performace that shows inadequate ability to produce effective business communication. Usually these students miss many classes and contribute to class sporadically. Levels of English for these students is very poor and effort is almost non-existant.
The oral presentation results from poor preparation and poor effort.
-ATTENDANCE REQUIREMENTS:
Students who use a cell phone or laptop in class will be considered absent for the day. For further information on attendance reqiurements, please see Grade Requirements.
|
|
|
ACADEMIC HONESTY
As stated in the university catalog, any student who commits an act of academic
dishonesty will receive a failing grade on the work in which the dishonesty occurred.
In addition, acts of academic dishonesty, irrespective of the weight of the assignment,
may result in the student receiving a failing grade in the course. Instances of
academic dishonesty will be reported to the Dean of Academic Affairs. A student
who is reported twice for academic dishonesty is subject to summary dismissal from
the University. In such a case, the Academic Council will then make a recommendation
to the President, who will make the final decision.
|
STUDENTS WITH LEARNING OR OTHER DISABILITIES
John Cabot University does not discriminate on the basis of disability or handicap.
Students with approved accommodations must inform their professors at the beginning
of the term. Please see the website for the complete policy.
|
|
|
SCHEDULE
|
|
|
Weekly Schedule
Week 1: Introduction to the course and to Business Communication; Fundamentals of communication strategy.
Class discussion: Munter: chapter 1.
Week 2: How to prepare an effective resume
Class discussion: Ober: chapter 12. The class kicks off the resume-writing activity, which will last for most of the first part of the semester. Various resumes will be distributed and discussed during class. The draft of your first resume will be due on every Wednesday in the first half of the semester. Please staple all versions of your resume together, with the most recent on top. The final draft will be due a week before the Resume Workshop.
Week 3: Micro and macro writing
Class discussion: Munter: chapters 2, 4; Ober: chapter 5, pp. 136-151.
Class discussion: Munter: chapter 3; Ober: chapter 5, pp. 151-177
Week 4: Routine communication: letters, memos and emails
Class discussion : Ober, chapter 6; Munter: Appendix A; Harvard Management Communication Letter (HMCL): “The best memo you’ll ever write;” HMCL: “Don’t push that send button!”
Report topics will be assigned.
Week 5: Communicating Bad News
Class discussion: Ober, chapter 8.
Week 6: Communicating bad news (cont'd)
Class Discussion: Ober: chapter 8.
Week 7: Midterm week
Review for midterms and midterm exam
Week 8: Persuasive communication
Class discussion: Ober, chapter 7.
Assignment of presentation topics.
Week 9: Writing reports; how to create effective visual aids
Class Discussion: Ober: chapter 9.
Class Discussion: Ober: chapter 10; HMCL: “Picture it: the power of visual speaking;” Munter: chapter 6.
Week 10: Visual aid presentation practice/Delivering effective presentations
Class discussion: Munter: chapter 5, Ober, chapter 11.
Class discussion: Munter: chapters 6, 7; HMCL: “Why the best presentations are good conversations.”
Week 11: Presentation techniques (cont'd)/ Globalization and technology: effects on business communication
Discussion of Thomas Friedman's The World is Flat. Material on blogs to be distributed in class.
Week 12: Practice presentations
Week 13: Presentations
Class discussion: Friedman, chapters to be assigned.
Week 14: Review for Final and Resume Workshop
Week 15: Final Exams
Please note that class schedule may vary according to guest speaker availability.
|
|
|