IMT – 10: BUSINESS COMMUNICATION - MT2

PART – A

Q1. What is communication? List the various types of communication. Describe a communication model with examples.

Q2. Describe the stage in the negotiation process and detail the barriers to a successful negotiation. 

Q3. What is listening? What are the barriers to effective listening and what efforts need to put in by both the speaker and the listener to improve their listening ability?

Q4. Describe in detail the requirements for an effective meeting.

Q5. What are the requirements of a well-conducted presentation? List out the work that needs to be done by the presenter and the participants to make the presentation successful. 

PART – B

Q1. What is a group discussion? Describe, with examples the various types of group discussions that take place and also describe the skills that are evaluated during these group discussions? 

Q2. What are the various approaches to reading? Describe the essentials of effective reading?

Q3. Differentiate between written and oral/non-verbal communication. State both the advantages as well as disadvantages.

Q4. Describe the various steps in case analysis. List out in detail the various requirements and approaches in writing a case analysis 

Q5. What are the characterstics and purposes of technical writing? Describe in detail the technical writing process and the commonly used types of technical documents. 

PART – C

Q1. Write a letter to the manager of your bank asking for an account statement for the first quarter of 2011. Also request him to waive of the applicable charges (if any) 

Q2. Describe in detail the various types of basic official correspondence. List out in detail the various types of reports and their special features and uses.

Q3. Write an email to Amazon.com asking them about the status of your order as a part of it remains incomplete even after two weeks.

Q4. Prepare your CV for applying for the post of Team Leader, Business Development at Convergys, Gurgaon.

Q5. List out the merits and demerits of using Informational Technology in communication. Describe in details some of the electronic innovations that have revolutionized communication. 

CASE STUDY – I

“Ravi’s Interview”

Ravi was elated when he received the call from the Indian National Bank (INB) inviting him for an interview with the Zonal Manager (ZM) at 2.30 in the afternoon next Friday for the post of the Territory Manager for Delhi & NCR. Ravi was that he was not entirely happy with the way his organization (Lovely Consumer Bank - LCB) was treating him. He was performing well yet he was not having a comfortable relationship with his boss, who frequently threatened Ravi with dismissal. INB offered a best-in-class salary structure, good work environment, and provided job security as well. However, INB is a customer centric organization that employed well mannered people and has strict rules on compliance with internal policies and RBI rules and emphasised personal grooming and ethics, yet Ravi felt that his past performance would impress the ZM.

Ravi had thought that 40-45 minutes would be sufficient to reach the INB office and he left his house at about 1.50 pm. He reached INB at 2.35 pm and rushed straight to the 10th floor where he found a person dressed in the unofficial INB uniform of white shirt, navy blue trousers and a pale blue tie pacing about the room. He introduced himself as Amit Sharma, the ZM. Ravi apologised profusely for the delay caused by traffic and immediately sat down on the sofa next to the ZM. The ZM accepted his apologies and began. Ravi had dressed to impress and was wearing his favourite mauve shirt and black pant and dress shoes with silver buckles. It being a hot day, he had elected not to wear a tie. The ZM began by asking Ravi about his job at LCB. Ravi tried to make himself familiar to the ZM and spoke in a mixture of Hindi and English, using a lot of local slangs to show his familiarity with the market. He spoke about his achievements as a Sales Manager at LCB, how well he could manipulate his prospective customers, how that in 2 days, he and his team had sold 20 insurance policies even though some of the documents of the customers were modified by them since collecting the documents again would waste time. Ravi also said that he had a low incidence of customer complaints at about 20 per 100 customers he interacted with.

The ZM asked many questions which Ravi answered in his enthusiastic and booming voice, sometimes even anticipating the questions and cutting the ZM off in his enthusiasm to answer them. Ravi felt that the meeting was progressing well and he interrupted the ZM to ask him about the salary package and perks being offered and also asked him how much he could claim as expenses during the course of the month. The ZM answered all these questions and they parted as friends, with Ravi even putting his arm around the shoulders of the ZM in a burst of familiarity. Ravi left feeling “Mission Accomplished”. However, Ravi felt destroyed when he was not selected.

Questions:

1. Identify the mistakes made by Ravi that led to his rejection. (1.5 marks)

2. If you were Ami Sharma, what would your reaction have been towards an interviewee like Ravi. (1 Mark)

CASE STUDY - II 

“ACME Appliances Letter” 

Questions:

1. Identify the problems in this letter. (1 mark)

2. Re-write this letter in a proper manner to address the mistakes identified by you as above. (1.5 marks)