INNOVATIVE ASSIGNMENTS

“PIGGYBACKING” ON BUSINESS
COMMUNICATION THROUGH
INTERDISCIPLINARITY: DEVELOPING
STUDENT COMMUNICATION SKILLS
IN LEGAL ENVIRONMENT OF
BUSINESS COURSES
Amanda Harmon Cooley
Nor th Carolina A&T State University

THE NEED FOR business professionals to have effective communi-

cation skills in order to be successful has become conventional wis-
dom within both the academy (Gibson, 2002; Graduate Management
Admission Council, 2007; Schultz, 2006; Thill & Bovée, 2005) and
wider public discourse (Florida, 2003; Friedman, 2007). With global-
ization, this crucial competency is becoming an ever more important
imperative to succeed in the world market (Casady & Wasson, 1994).
The primary training that business professionals receive to develop
communication skills occurs during college and university study.
Unfortunately, already-packed undergraduate curricula have limited
space, and the ideal of having numerous business communication
courses usually goes unrealized (see Athavale, Davis, & Myring,
2008). An answer to this dilemma is a call for increased interdisci-
plinarity of coursework to stress the connections among business
fields—especially business communication—and to develop students
into well-rounded business professionals with the interpersonal skills
that they need in order to be successful.
Dyrud (2008) makes a similar point on the vital and linking qual-
ity that business communication brings to the table:

Business Communication Quarterly, Volume 72, Number 4, December 2009 431-438

DOI: 10.1177/1080569909349525
© 2009 by the Association for Business Communication

431
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BUSINESS COMMUNICATION QUARTERLY INNOVATIVE ASSIGNMENT
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Academic departments may embody a useful institutional organiza-

tional structure, but knowledge cannot be so restrained: It leaks out
across departments. If anything, communication functions as a glue
that cements the disciplines to each other. The big question is, How
do we coax our students into making that discovery and thus having
a more holistic educational experience? (p. 339)

It seems that Dyrud would agree that students’ communication skills

should be cultivated in as many courses and outlets that their curri-
cula allow. Legal environment of business courses and business law
courses seems particularly well-suited to refine and nurture students’
communication skills due to the pedagogical focus of these courses.
In particular, these specific courses emphasize how to understand the
complexities of language, how to comprehend and interpret subtle
differences in the meaning of texts, and how to write documents
(such as policy manuals, press releases, and letters) that minimize
exposure to potential legal liability.
There have long been connections between the fields of business
law and business communication. In the 1980s, Golen and Lynch
(1986) and Varner and Varner (1983), among others, discussed the
ways in which business communication can be incorporated into the
study of related legal issues. In more recent years, Arn, Gatlin, and
Kordsmeier (1998) and Patel and Reinsch (2003) examined, through
the lens of business communication, issues such as copyright infrin-
gement and what to do when corporations have to express regret for
actions. Yet, there has been less work that seeks to demonstrate direc-
tly the potential for building strong business communication skills in
related core business courses, such as legal environment of business
courses and business law courses. Making this link can be very ben-
eficial to students because it gives them additional opportunities to
practice, refine, and improve both their oral communication and pro-
fessional writing in multiple contexts. Further, these additional oppor-
tunities give students a chance to demonstrate what they have learned
in their previous business communication courses and to apply it to a
related field. The desired outcome of this interdisciplinary perspec-
tive is a better prepared student who will be ready to tackle writing
projects on diverse subject matters when he or she enters the profes-
sional world.
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BUSINESS COMMUNICATION QUARTERLY INNOVATIVE ASSIGNMENT
2009 433

BRIDGING BUSINESS LAW AND BUSINESS

COMMUNICATION
The purpose of this article is to describe an assignment for a
legal environment of business course that builds upon and rein-
forces strong business communication practices. The assignment
discusses “piggybacking,” which is the unauthorized use of another
person’s wireless Internet connection (Griffith, 2008; Marriott,
2006). In this assignment, the students are required (1) to evaluate
timely business issues in a critical way and (2) to produce a short
report (Bell, 2004), based on a selected position, that demonstrates
both skill in professional writing and an understanding of the under-
lying business law implications of their perspective. Further, the
students must discuss and defend their positions in a persuasive,
analytical, and logical manner.

Short Report Assignment

For this writing assignment, students in the course are asked to con-
sider, analyze, and address the ethical, public policy, and legal impli-
cations of piggybacking. This topic provides a relevant illustration
of the intersection of law, technology, and business. Additionally,
this subject is typically of great interest to the students as the practice
is common across the country and many students have never consid-
ered its legal consequences. Also, tech-savvy students usually find any
discussion of Internet-related business practices to be of relevance to
their future career plans (Merrier & Dirks, 1997; Quible & Ray, 1995).
As an initial step for this assignment, students are instructed to
locate and read at least one reliable news source regarding tapping into
others’ wireless Internet networks. Students are encouraged to seek
assistance through use of the reference department of the university
library, through access to research databases of the university library,
or through the Internet (though, hopefully, not by piggybacking). This
first step reinforces students’ basic information-gathering skills for
locating and evaluating sources to inform their opinions; it also pro-
vides the students with an initial understanding of the issues at hand.
Next, the stage is set for the development of the short report.
Students are told that they have the opportunity to write a report for
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BUSINESS COMMUNICATION QUARTERLY INNOVATIVE ASSIGNMENT
2009 434

one of two hypothetical companies at which they are hypothetically

employed. The first company is a major wireless Internet provider
known as Really Expensive Wireless Online (REWO). REWO is
seeking ways to have the activity of piggybacking stopped by any
means (either via technical cessation or legislation), as it is cutting
into potential profits and future market opportunities. The alternative
company is ePiggyback.com, which seeks to promote and sell a
device, the ePiggybacker, that will catch a wireless signal at a much
greater distance than a standard wireless card. After the one-time
$99.99 purchase of the device, the owner will have the capability to
surf the Internet, via others’ unsecured wireless networks, from vir-
tually anywhere for life and “for free.”
Once the students select their companies, they are informed that
their managing supervisor has asked them to draft a report for the
company’s senior management team that meets with the standards
and conventions of a short report of six double-spaced pages. As
such, the short report should contain a title page; a body subdivided
by headings that correspond to an introduction or overview, the key
questions that the senior management team wants to be addressed,
and a conclusion with recommendations; and a bibliography. During
this instructional time, the discussion focuses on the Bell approach to
report writing (Bell, 1996, 2004) and the nature of the questions that
will form the basis for the main headings of the report. Additionally,
students are reminded of the importance of audience in drafting this
report, as the report will be reviewed by senior management at their
respective companies for policy and planning purposes.
Within this short report, the students should present a succinct
overview of the topic of piggybacking, briefly answer the questions
posed by the management team, provide support for their answers,
and conclude with an overall recommendation that is reflective of
the issue of legislation on piggybacking. The relevant questions that
must be addressed within the short report, as dictated by the manage-
ment team, include the following:

1. How does piggybacking implicate the intersection of privacy and

technology?
2. What ethical considerations, if any, exist for our company in the area
of piggybacking?
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BUSINESS COMMUNICATION QUARTERLY INNOVATIVE ASSIGNMENT
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3. If legislation were to be passed concerning this activity, what level of

government would be the most appropriate level to pass such legisla-
tion? Why?
4. Should our company support legislation that would address this
activity? Why or why not?
5. If legislation is needed for this activity, what type of legislation
would our company want to be adopted?

For the report, students are required to use at least five electronic
or hard-copy resources as references to support their discussion and
recommendations. These sources must be listed in the bibliography,
which is the final requirement of the assignment. Incorporating this
element into the report reinforces good research and writing skills.
It also guides students to become professionals who make decisions
based on reliable information, rather than information which may
be easy to find—yet inaccurate. Further, it is important to use this
assignment as an opportunity to reiterate the problems associated
with plagiarism and to explore how students can avoid represent-
ing the words and ideas of others as their own. This discussion of
plagiarism also reinforces the ethical considerations that underlie
many aspects of the course.
The short report assignment is assessed based on the student’s
ability to effectively follow the standard guidelines for writing a
short report; particular attention is paid to students’ framing of the
issues for the respective audience (his or her supervising manager
and other senior management team members) that will read the
document. Further, all standards of professional writing, such as
word choice, sentence structure, and coherent flow of the overall
document, are assessed based on the writing rubric for the course.
After this formal assessment, the short reports are returned to each
student with marked feedback. Students are encouraged to set up a
one-on-one meeting with the instructor to discuss the results of their
written assignments.

Class Activity
The next step in this teaching sequence is to inform the students that,
because they produced such high-quality written reports, the senior
management teams of their respective companies would like them to
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BUSINESS COMMUNICATION QUARTERLY INNOVATIVE ASSIGNMENT
2009 436

take a leadership role on representing the companies on this issue.

This leadership role will manifest itself in a presentation of the com-
pany’s positions about piggybacking at a local public forum, where
members of the other company will also be speaking and where
several representatives of the state and federal legislatures will be
present. To prepare for this meeting, the students are instructed to
use their written reports to produce a brief outline for a public state-
ment on this matter. This discussion and debate exercise is an effec-
tive way to enhance the overall impact of the writing assignment. It
also allows the students to incorporate the feedback from their for-
mal, short reports into an outline structured for oral presentation.
Additionally, this class activity gives students the opportunity to
learn from each other through group preparation and planning for
the discussion.
After the students outline their positions into cohesive public state-
ments, I set up the discussion. I explain that I will act as the modera-
tor of the forum. Then, I remind the class that we are at a public
meeting, where issues related to piggybacking will be addressed. I
relay that there are several state and federal representatives who are
also in attendance; these governmental officials will not be speaking
as they are present only to listen to the views of the business com-
munity on the impact of potential legislation regarding piggybacking.
The class is then informed of the structure of the public forum meet-
ing (which is specifically outlined in the next paragraph). Each com-
pany, REWO and ePiggyback.com, is given 15 minutes to discuss
what they have come up with individually and to plan their public
presentations as a group.
At the conclusion of the 15-minute planning period, I flip a coin,
and the prevailing company in the coin toss has the opportunity to
give 5 minutes of introductory remarks. Subsequently, the other
company gets equal time to present its introductory statements.
Each side then has an additional 5 minutes to address any questions
or concerns raised within the initial comment period. Then, as
moderator, I draw out any topics that either side has failed to con-
front by asking questions and probing asserted positions. This part
of the activity is designed to give students the opportunity to refine
their abilities to respond to questions that could seem contentious
while maintaining a professional manner and composure. After this
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BUSINESS COMMUNICATION QUARTERLY INNOVATIVE ASSIGNMENT
2009 437

question and response time, each company is given 5 minutes to

communicate a summary statement about their company’s position
on the issue of piggybacking, on whether legislation should be
adopted in this area, and if so, on what type of legislation should
be adopted.
The class activity portion of this teaching sequence is assessed as
part of the student’s overall class participation grade. All elements and
styles of leadership are taken into consideration for assessment pur-
poses. These various approaches to leadership are given equal treat-
ment, as some students will contribute more to the planning stages
and some will be more vocal during the discussion and debate. If
students demonstrate engaged participation throughout the duration
of the public forum meeting, then they receive full credit for this
component of the teaching sequence.

CONCLUSION
This assignment and activity aim to guide students to more effective
forms of business communication through substantive short report
writing and a simulated public meeting that emphasizes oral presen-
tation skills. Business students benefit from as much exposure to best
communication practices as possible; as such, reinforcing these prac-
tices across undergraduate and graduate business curricula is essential.
Courses in the legal environment of business are well-matched to this
interdisciplinarity, and the reinforcement of best practices in these
courses provides opportunities to assist all of our students to
become the most effective communicators (and, therefore, the most
effective business professionals) that they can be.

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Amanda Harmon Cooley is an assistant professor of business law in the Depar tment
of Management at Nor th Carolina A&T State University. Address correspondence to
Amanda Harmon Cooley, School of Business & Economics, Nor th Carolina A&T State
University, 1601 E. Market Street, Greensboro, NC 27411; email: abcooley@ncat.edu.
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