Applied Management Communication - SV

Jaipuria Institute of Management Indore
Post Graduate Diploma In Management – 2019-21

Applied Management Communication
Reading Material from Harvard Management Communication Course
Jaipuria logo
Instructor: Prof. Devika Trehan

Post Graduate Diploma In Management 2019-21
Course Title Applied Management Communication Credits: 3

Area: Communication
Course Instructor:
Devika Trehan Email:
devika.trehan@jaipuria.ac.in
Course Overview
The course recognizes that challenges exist for creating and implementing effective
communication both inside organizations (between individuals and groups) and outside
organizations (with markets, partners, and influential third parties). Individuals within
organizations continue to experience change in their relationships with their own colleagues
and with people in other organizations. Technology has an increasingly significant impact on
the content and methods of organizational communications, particularly at the managerial
levels.
Managers' roles are evolving into emphasizing negotiation, coaching, collaboration, and
consensus building. Managerial communicators have to rely on situational analysis and
planning in order to achieve ongoing effectiveness in communication. This course would
introduce key concepts of communication theory, strategy, and implementation within
organizational settings helping the learners develop required skills to apply those in realistic
situations.
S. No. Topics Pg. no.
1 Planning Communication 4-5
2 Case Study: Planning Communication
3 Analysing a Communication Situation
4 Organize A Message
5 Business Writing
6 The Writing Process
7 Four Qualities of Business Writing
8 Using Visual Cues
9 Writing Style
10 Informative writing
11 Persuasive writing
12 Writing Action Plans
Planning In Communication
According to a long line of research, leaders and managers spend most of their time at work
communicating. They communicate up, down, and laterally inside the organization and
outside to audiences such as vendors, regulators, customers, and shareholders. They talk one
on one, run meetings, and give and listen to presentations. They write emails, reports, texts,
Tweets, blog posts, wiki entries, and a variety of other work-related documents. But it is not
just frequency that makes business communication skills so important.
The old model of business leaders and managers emphasized their power and authority: They
told employees what, when, and how to do their jobs. This stereotype was probably never
entirely accurate; in any case, however, this style of management doesn't fit the needs of
modern organizations.
Leaders still need to get things done, but they have to trust others to do the work. In a fast-
paced, complex world, employees must know how to think and act on their own, not wait for
the boss's orders. Now, according to Henry Mintzberg, a well-known business professor,
“managing is about influencing action.” 3 Communication, written or oral, is the primary
means for leaders and managers to influence action.
Leaders Say that They Lack Skills

A 2004 study provided evidence that leaders in business organizations think they aren't
prepared to communicate well. Eighty-six percent of the respondents rated communication
skills as a critical leadership competency but only thirty-five percent rated their
communication ability as a strength, a ten percent decline from a similar survey four years
earlier. 4 By studying and practicing communication skills now, you will be better prepared to
lead.
Business Leaders Value Communication

Given the critical functions of communication, it's not surprising that, for a number of years,
employers responding to the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) survey
have named communication as their most sought-after skill in MBA hires.
Similar surveys have had similar results for a long time. The graph called What Recruiters
Want in MBAs shows results from a recent GMAC survey. 5
What You Will Learn in This Course
This online management communication course teaches concepts and tools that can help you
be a better business communicator. It covers three broad areas:
Planning Communication
The module called “Planning Communication" introduces you to concepts for understanding
situations in which communication is needed. Knowing how to use these concepts will help
you create a successful message.
The end result of planning is an understanding of how to achieve your specific purpose
through a particular audience. (Some textbooks refer to this result as a communication
strategy.)
“Planning Communication” applies to both writing and presenting.
Writing in Business
Some years ago, Robert Eccles, Nitin Nohria (now dean of Harvard Business School), and
James Berkley said this:
In a nutshell, managers live in . . . a universe where language is constantly used not only to
communicate but also to persuade, and even to create. 6
The module called “Writing in Business” teaches concepts for creating written messages,
with emphasis on persuasion. Topics range from the writing process to sentence style. The
course has many examples and exercises to aid you in grasping and applying the concepts.
"Writing in Business" uses different forms of written messages, such as memos, emails, texts,
and reports.
Introduction
In the work world, everyone feels short of time. Managers fire off emails and texts, take calls
one after another, see people in their offices, and rush off to meetings. Often daily
communication does not require a lot of thought. But sometimes it does, even though
managers find it hard to resist plunging into a written or spoken communication. Taking the
time to properly compose thoughts before communicating helps send the message more
effectively.
Business is about results. Planning your communication—by analysing the situation and
organizing your message—often delivers better results than operating on instinct.
What Good Are Models?

In this course, you will learn about a few models consisting of concepts applicable to
communication. Many areas of business education employ models and frameworks, from
Michael Porter's Five Forces to marketing's 4Ps.
In the short term, you memorize the models and learn how to apply them in the business
situations they were designed for, such as industry analysis or marketing plan development.
For this type of learning, you can find the situations in cases, textbooks, simulations, and
similar educational materials.
You may feel that the meticulous, step-by-step application of models isn't practical in the real
world. However, learning how to apply models can embed them in your memory. It's no
different from learning a dance. You are shown the steps and practice until you don't have to
think about them—you know what to do almost automatically.
This course teaches concepts that, through practice, you can incorporate into your work as a
real-world business communicator.
Case Study: Planning Communication
A case study will be used in Planning Communication as a vehicle for showing you how to
use concepts. Let's consider two communication tasks facing Tasha, an associate vice
president of marketing, sales, and customer service. She has responsibility for several
departments, including the call center.
Tasha works for AppsGo, a medium-size company that develops software applications for
mobile devices, including cellphones and tablets. It has a profitable niche in the industry and
distinguishes itself from many of its competitors with first-class customer service. Tasha is
working on two issues requiring communication, one with call center representatives and one
with her boss, Dmitri.
Meet Tasha
Tasha works as an associate vice president at a medium-size company that specializes in

mobile device software.
Informing the Call Center Representatives

The company's information technology (IT) department will soon roll out a new version of
the customer relationship management (CRM) software used in the call center. Many of the
changes are minor. On the other hand, a few new features will allow a smoother, easier
workflow—something the representatives will welcome.
IT has given Tasha a ten-page report describing all the changes in minute detail. Normally the
supervisor of the call center would handle the transition to a new version, but he has his
hands full and Tasha has volunteered to take care of it.
From past experience, Tasha knows the team does not like to read long documents, whatever
the content. Requiring team members to read the report isn't likely to work because they'll
skim it and not take in much detail or not read it at all. In addition, before the last software
upgrade, the IT communication contained some inaccuracies that led to confusion, wasted
time, and grumbling among the representatives. Tasha does not want her team members to be
in a negative frame of mind before the rollout actually happens. They're already under a lot of
stress from overwork.
Tasha decides that, before the rollout, she'll give the representatives a short summary of the
new features most relevant to their jobs. The brevity and attention to changes that are
meaningful to the representatives should make them more willing to read the document.
Persuading Dmitri
Like most managers, Tasha juggles multiple projects. One that concerns her is a proposal
she's been working on with the call center supervisor. The proposal recommends hiring two
new customer representatives fluent in English and Spanish. The company launched Spanish-
language versions of its apps nearly two years ago and ramped up the marketing of them a
year ago.
The number of call center customers who prefer Spanish or speak only Spanish has been
increasing. Ricardo, the only Spanish-speaking representative, has been swamped with callers
and has become resentful about his workload. Overall the center is receiving more customer
contacts from multiple channels (phone, fax, email, live chat) than ever before. As the
pressure on employees has mounted, experienced representatives have been quitting or
retiring in alarming numbers.
A hiring request will be a tough sell. Business is still recovering from a down economy and
Tasha's boss, Dmitri, vice president of marketing, sales, and customer service, runs his
departments as leanly as possible. The CEO wants department budgets to be at or below
industry benchmarks. However, Tasha worries that the call center will soon be unable to
fulfill the company's heavily marketed claims of great customer service.
Analysing a Communication Situation
This diagram tells you two basic facts about communication. First, senders need to know the
precise purpose or intention of their message. Second, because senders need the audience to
accomplish the purpose, they must have information about their audience in order to fulfil the
purpose of the message.
An effective communicator is a good learner. The knowledge gained from thinking about the
purpose and audience can enhance the message, giving it a greater chance of succeeding.
Effective communicators know that they can always learn more about the audience, even if
they work with audience members every day. The next section shows how you can learn what
you need to know when creating an important message.
Three Questions for Analysing a Situation
A few simple questions will organize your thinking about a situation and result in a useful
understanding of it:
Question Explanation of the Question

Why? Purpose:
What I want to accomplish by communicating
Who? Audience:
The people with whom I will be communicating
How? Message:
The content I communicate to the audience
These three questions will be explained further and will also be applied to examples.
Why? Knowing Your Purpose

Why do you need to communicate in a particular situation? You ask yourself the question
“Why?” to identify your purpose—the outcome you want to achieve through communication.
On February 11, 2009, John J. Mack, chair and CEO of Morgan Stanley, appeared before a
committee of the U.S. Congress. He had a communication need: He needed to tell his bank's
side of the story after it accepted a large amount of taxpayer money from the Troubled Assets
Recovery Program (TARP).
Mack's purpose was specific. His message was intended to show Congress and other
audiences, such as the media and taxpayers, that the bank was using government money
productively. His purpose was to restore the reputation of the bank as a responsible and
trustworthy organization after the financial crisis.
In business, managers frequently communicate for one of two reasons: to transfer information
(to inform) or to motivate the audience members to change their opinion or to take an action
(to persuade).
The Purpose of Informing

Informative communication describes or explains some aspect of reality. Informative
communication may include a description, for example, of an order entry process or an
explanation of how a chemical process creates an input for manufacturing a product.
Informative communication can both describe and explain. For example, a manager might
want to describe the statistical methods the company uses for quality control by naming them
and telling the audience what they can do. He might also explain how to use them, taking the
audience step by step through each method and showing what data are necessary, how to
make calculations, and what the resulting values mean.
The Purpose of Persuading

Persuasion is the use of language to motivate an audience to think, feel, or act in the way the
communicator intends. See the table for examples.
Persuasive Communication Purpose

Conference call with stock market Think: Motivate investors to think the company is a
analysts sound investment.
CEO at an annual shareholders meeting Feel: Motivate shareholders to feel confidence in a
new CEO.
Video presentation to employees Act: Motivate employees to act in a specific way,
such as to sign up for a fitness program.
Presentation to CEO Think, feel, and act: Convince the CEO to think that
the company's strategy is flawed, to feel doubt about
it, and to authorize a team to propose changes.
Getting Things Done with Persuasion
Management writer Jay Conger has called persuasion “the language of business leadership.”
Persuasion is a catalyst for getting work done and for achieving outcomes that leaders can't
realize on their own.
Who? Knowing Your Audience

Communication is not about the person communicating; it's about the audience.
Once you've clarified the purpose of your message, think about the audience. Understanding
your audience will help you achieve the purpose you have defined.
You don't need or want to know everything about the people who will receive the message.
You want only information that will be helpful in fulfilling your purpose.
Professors, textbooks, and popular books on communication all exhort communicators to

understand their audience, but the advice often isn't followed. The writer or speaker may
think she knows the audience members well enough already or believe that knowing more
about them wouldn't make a difference. However, even an email to someone the writer
knows well benefits from forethought when something important is at stake.
Primary and Secondary Audiences

In some situations, you may have more than one audience, which is an important factor when
the communication needs to address different audiences.
Let's say that you're the chair of a cross-functional team charged with making a decision. You
favour a moderately aggressive option and know that a majority of the team agrees. But an
adamant minority opposes that option and advocates a more conservative decision. You are
writing a memo to the committee to recommend a decision that will be discussed at the next
meeting.
In this situation, the majority of the committee is the secondary audience. The majority
already agrees with you. The opponents are the primary audience and need to be convinced.
“Preaching to the choir” feels good but won't achieve your purpose in this situation.
Let's return to the example of John Mack, chair and CEO of Morgan Stanley. Mack's primary
audience was the committee members. He had multiple secondary audiences: other members
of Congress, shareholders, voters, the media, regulators, and Wall Street. In fact, it's
debatable whether the committee was his primary audience at all, because his bank had much
at stake with some of the secondary audiences, such as regulators and shareholders.
Exercise: Getting to Know Her Audience
Shonda wants to convince her boss that he should replace some members of a project team
that he assembled. As a member of the team, she thinks it has a good mix of personalities but
not the skills needed to complete the project. Given these circumstances, which of the
following characteristics of the boss should Shonda consider in her communication to
improve her chances of convincing him?
1. The boss has close ties to some of the team members.
A. Shonda should definitely take note of the relationships. One way to avoid
antagonizing the boss is to emphasize that Shonda isn’t critical of team members’
performance but is simply pointing out a skills gap.
2. The boss is a leader who likes to let others sort their problems on their
own.
A. Yes, she should be cognizant of his leadership style. His hands-off style might make
the boss reluctant to act. Shonda should make it clear that the team members can’t
take care of this problem on their own.
3. The boss values quantitative evidence more than qualitative evidence.

A. Shonda probably doesn’t have to be concerned with this characteristic. In this case,
the boss’s preference for evidence shouldn’t have much of an impact, unless Shonda
has quantitative information, such as missed deadlines, to help her persuade the boss.
4. The boss isn’t sure if Shonda is an astute observer of team dynamics.

A. This is critical for Shonda to understand. She needs to demonstrate, with convincing
specific evidence, that she has grounds for concluding that the team needs a different
combination of skills.
5. The boss has worked for the company for many years.
A. Shonda probably should remember this detail about her boss. With his experience, the
boss is probably confident in his ability to choose team members. Shonda should
avoid anything in her communication that her boss could interpret as questioning his
judgment.
Barriers to Communication
As you think about the audience, be alert for obstacles to communication. These obstacles are
factors that can make achieving a purpose more difficult or, in extreme cases, impossible.
The goal of identifying barriers is to remove them or lessen their impact.
In business, there are many potential barriers to communication:
 Hostility to the conclusion, the communicator, or both.

 Audience belief that the writer or speaker isn't trustworthy.
 Lack of background knowledge in the writer-speaker or the audience.
 Bias in the speaker-writer or in the audience.
 Ethical and legal issues related to the topic.
 Power and other organizational issues, such as a speaker addressing an audience over
whom he or she has no power but nevertheless seeks action from.
 Cultural factors such as different attitudes toward conflict in the presenter and the
audience.
 Language issues, such as the inability of audience members to follow someone
speaking too fast in their second language.
Example: Recognizing Barriers to Communication

Imagine that you are an entrepreneur who will present to a group of potential investors.
Consider how they will perceive you. The investors have far more business experience than
you do and have heard many pitches for funding.
You are convinced you have a good business plan that takes advantage of a large
opportunity.
Making sure your audience sees you as credible that will strengthen your pitch.
Here are some ideas for building credibility:
 Give realistic numbers, anticipate questions, and be ready to respond.

 Don't pretend to know something.
 Know everything there is to know about your business and the market in which you
want to compete.
Exercise: Evaluating Barriers to Communication

Business is more and more global, and business communication is more and more digital.
Decide which of the following are most likely to be barriers to communication between
members of different national cultures who are primarily using short-message media (email,
text, Tweets, Facebook, MySpace, Google +) to communicate with each other.
Drag those items into the middle column with the heading “Potential Major Barrier.”
S. Personal/Cultura Potential Major Response

No. l Norms Barrier
1 Business Some cultures place a high value on

relationship developing personal relationships as well
should be as business relationships; others don’t. If
personal not acknowledged, the difference can
relationship cause problems.
2 Punctuality Cultures often have conflicting norms for

punctuality. Even digital communication
can be affected by the differences
3 Gender Gender roles can be influential,

regardless of the communication
medium. But digital media may make it
less of an issue.
4 Age Age shouldn’t have a large impact on any
type of digital communication.
5 Entertainment Likes and dislikes in entertainment can

preferences cement relationships in any medium, but
they shouldn’t be a major barrier in email
and other digital media.
6 Desire for This can be a high barrier if, for cultural

efficient reasons, one party expects concise
communication messages and the other party writes
longer messages with more context and
some content not strictly related to
business.
Cognitive Bias
Over the past forty years, researchers in psychology have firmly established that humans are
profoundly biased in their thinking. The biases they refer to are neither conscious nor
deliberate; they're inherent in people's thought processes. The implications of bias for
communication are profound.
As a communicator, you face bias in two ways: your own biases that influence your message
and the biases with which the audience receives your communication. In either sense, coping
with bias is difficult. People generally aren't aware of it and often deny that it has any
influence. Bias has relevance for communication because it can lead to distorted views of a
situation, tension between the communicator and the audience, and misunderstandings.
The science of bias is extensive and growing. Here, you'll find explanations of the
following four biases, which have significant potential impact on communication:
 False generalization (the law of small numbers)

 Anchoring bias
 Availability bias
 Representativeness bias
False Generalization
False generalization, also called the law of small numbers, means drawing a conclusion from
a small set of data; the resulting conclusion is often wrong. The Nobel Prize–winning
psychologist Daniel Kahneman says that the tendency arises from our need to believe that the
world is orderly and consistent—more so than it actually is.
Example: A Bad Selling Year

A sales manager is having doubts about the ability or commitment of one of his salespeople,
Mireille, because she's not making her numbers in the current year. However, from a broader
perspective over the past seven years, she has been a top performer.
Dealing with False Generalization
As a communicator, you can avoid the bias of false generalization by taking into account a
larger set of data. To address false generalization in audience members, you can show them
an expanded data set and what you regard as a more accurate conclusion.
Example: Providing More Data

Mireille has been demoralized about her sales performance. Her manager has become
increasingly impatient, and several times she has told him that she will work harder.
A friend mentions that she's had a string of good years and was named salesperson of the year
not long ago. Mireille gathers the sales numbers for the last seven years and calculates her
average year-over-year increase. She compares that number to the average for the entire sales
staff; hers is larger by several percentage points. In a short memo, she shares the information
with her boss.
Anchoring Bias
Anchoring bias (or simply anchoring) is excessive reliance on one or a few values,
particularly when judging, deciding, or acting. In other words, one or a few values have
unjustified influence over judgment, decision making, or action. Anchoring occurs in
financial markets when a stock price falls precipitously and investors buy at the new, lower
price, believing that the stock is now undervalued. However, the stock price may fall because
the company is worth less due to poor decision-making or a failure of some kind.
Example: The Domineering Sales Goal

The sales manager set an aggressive sales goal for Mireille for the current year, well before
her region encountered economic stresses and her territory was reconfigured, which
eliminated several of her largest customers. Nevertheless, the sales goal is the reference point,
or anchor, for discussions about Mireille's performance.
Dealing with Anchoring Bias

To fend off anchoring bias, you have to be alert to your own reference points. When you try
to convince an audience with an argument, examine its content for reference points or
benchmarks that you assume are accurate. Are they truly accurate?
Likewise, assess the anchors that your audience may have. Presenting a conclusion that is
rooted in an assumption that contradicts an audience anchor can be problematic if you aren't
aware of the anchor. You should first deal with a fallacious anchor by demonstrating how it's
fallacious.
Example: Pulling the Anchor Up

Mireille prepares a brief presentation for the sales manager and assistant manager about her
selling efforts. She plans to show them how the loss of her largest customers accounts for
nearly seventy-five percent of the gap between her current sales and the goal. She will also
estimate the sales losses due to local economic problems in her territory, which account for
another fifteen percent of the gap. She will propose a lower goal coupled with a promise to
work harder to develop new accounts.
Availability Bias
This bias is the tendency to base a judgment or decision on the ease with which a relevant
fact or event can be recalled. Often recency plays a major role; it's easier to recall an event
that just happened than one that happened at an earlier time. A common example of
availability bias is the fear people have of flying after a commercial airliner crashes versus
the comfort they have with driving to the airport. Driving is many times more dangerous than
flying at all times.
Example: The Risk of Success

The company has had several years of brisk growth. Mireille sees economic shifts that may
reverse this growth trend if the company doesn't adjust its offerings and pricing. However,
the sales manager and other staff members have great confidence in the status quo because of
the recent track record.
Dealing with Availability Bias

Researchers often contrast conclusions influenced by availability bias with those guided
by base rates, a term that means the probability of something being determined by rational
means, such as statistics. An example is the fatality rates for flying in commercial airlines
versus those for driving a car.
You can avoid availability bias by building your arguments on base rates. For audience
members who have availability bias, you need to prove to them that their view isn't derived
from the base rate and then argue for a more accurate view.
Example: Broadening the View

Mireille assembles the sales records for the past ten years. Although the overall trend is
positive, she uncovers a fairly regular oscillation. She tracks the records against some internal
benchmarks and a few macroeconomic measurements. She finds a few correlations, which
she explains in a memo to her colleagues. In this way, she moves the discussion from the
simple assumption that the good times will continue to a data-driven evaluation.
Representativeness Bias
Representativeness bias allows people to judge whether something belongs in a specific
category according to characteristics that they believe represent members of the category. A
familiar example of representativeness bias is stereotyping, such as thinking that a young man
who is very tall must be a basketball player.
Example: Cherry-Picking Good News

The sales manager counters Mireille's position that the company should be prepared to make
serious changes. He cites several factors related to the company that have been consistent
throughout the upswing in sales and that remain so. Given their representativeness bias, the
salespeople don't think Mireille's warning has merit.
Dealing with Representativeness Bias

To spur your awareness of representativeness bias, ask yourself whether a classification you
have made reflects all the relevant factors. In persuasive forms of communication,
concentrate on classifications vital to your argument.
As far as audiences are concerned, addressing representativeness bias is similar to countering
false generalization: Expand the number of factors the audience is using to classify
something.
Example: Creating a Better Picture

Mireille tries to change how her manager and peers perceive the present. She realizes she has
her own representativeness bias; she regards the negative factors as being more salient than
the positive ones.
Instead of arguing against the optimistic view of her audience, she prepares a set of criteria
for evaluating the sustainability of sales growth. The criteria include the factors the sales
manager relied on and the additional factors she thinks are important. She then prepares a
sustainability scorecard that's neither as optimistic as her colleagues’ view nor as pessimistic
as hers.
Exercise: Detecting Bias

The following scenarios involve one bias. Read each scenario and then decide which term
best describes the bias in play.
Scenario-1
The senior management of a company in the medical devices industry has decided to make a
bid to acquire another company with a different product line. The target company has
captured the lion's share of a market forecast to expand quickly over at least the next five to
ten years. For the last few years, the financial track record of this business has been
accelerating growth.
A young analyst in the Finance Department of the acquirer has tried to draw the attention of
senior management to the quality problems the target company has been having lately, the
litigation they have triggered, and what those problems say about the target's managers. He is
convinced that underneath the surface, there is more bad news about the target. Senior
management is unperturbed by the analyst's misgivings.
1. False Generalization Bias: The acquirer has a great deal of data on the target; a false
generalization bias means drawing a conclusion from a small amount of data. Please try
again.
2. Anchoring Bias: No, an anchoring bias means being influenced by one or a few values.
Please try again.
3. Availability Bias: Yes, the audience's strongest memory seems to be the financial track
record of the company in recent years.
4. Representative Bias: No, this bias involves making a judgment based on a few qualities or
characteristics. Please try again.
Scenario-2
The pension fund of a non-profit has unfunded liabilities for a large group of older employees
approaching retirement and ongoing obligations for the already retired. The board has been
looking for investments that could yield high returns right away. The financial committee of
the board has gone over numbers for the last three years of a hedge fund, and they like what
they see. The returns have been better than other investments in the board’s portfolio, but not
so spectacular that they are unlikely to be repeated.
The board may be susceptible to...
5. False Generalization Bias: Yes, you’re right. They are looking at data for only three years of
a fund. In absolute terms, they have a lot of information. However, three years’ worth of data
isn’t an adequate sample for investing in a fund
6. Anchoring Bias: The financial committee has more than a few data points. Anchoring
involves just one value or a small number. Please try again.
7. Availability Bias: There is an element of availability bias in this situation. The financial
committee seems to be impressed by the fund’s performance in the previous three years. But
they also seem to be influenced by the data they have collected during those years. Try again.
8. Representative Bias: The financial committee isn’t making a conclusion based on a few
characteristics of the fund. Please try again.
Scenario-3
Four people have interviewed a candidate for an electrical engineering job. Her résumé
generally fits the required experience, including successful leadership of large-scale projects.
Three of the interviewers noted that the candidate seemed quiet and sometimes timid and
took unusually long to formulate her thoughts, which caused them to question her leadership
skills.
1. False Generalization Bias: The interviewers aren’t basing their opinion on a relatively few
data points. The information they are using isn’t that concrete. Please try again.
2. Anchoring Bias: This situation doesn’t involve a single specific value. Please try again.
3. Availability Bias: This bias involves what is more recent in people’s memories. This is the
interviewers’ first experience with the job candidate. Please try again.
4. Representative Bias: Yes, you have chosen correctly. The interviewers are giving weight to a
few characteristics that they think are not compatible with a leader, ignoring the job
candidate’s track record and the fact that leaders have a wide range of personal
characteristics.
Taking Note of What You Learn

An analysis of a communication situation has a product: valuable learning about the content
of the communication. Trying to remember all of the learning via memory introduces the risk
that you will lose some of it. Taking notes in some form reduces the risk.
Everyone has his or her own way of recording thoughts. Some people like to take detailed
handwritten notes; others prefer visual representations using computer mind-mapping
applications or just drawings on a sheet of paper. Regardless of the means, the objective is the
same: to preserve what you learn about a situation so that you can create communication
efficiently.
CHANNEL
How? Choosing a Channel
Never before have businesspeople had so many ways to communicate. The proliferation of
options is an asset for linking everyone in an organization across long distances and for
creating opportunities for fast transmission of information and activities such as
collaboration, innovation, and mentoring.
You probably rarely think about channel choice because it's given. Someone emails you, and
you email a reply. Someone calls you, and you talk on the phone.
But even in these commonplace instances, channel choice can crop up. For instance, have
you ever asked someone you were speaking with on the phone to send you an email with
more details? That means you prefer a different mode or channel for the content of a
particular communication, such as the caller's full contact information or the details of a
person's request.
For high-value communication where you have a choice, it pays to pause and think about the
channel
Questions About Channels
Here are questions that can assist you in selecting a channel:
 Which channel is best for my purpose?

 Which channel is best for my audience?
 Which channel is best for conveying information or making an argument?
 Which channel is best for making an emotional impact on my audience?
 Which channel is best for me?
For a list of communication channels and factors that can influence choices of them, see the
Channel Characteristics table.
Exercise:
1. Message: Product descriptions for salespeople. They should be easy for salespeople to
review on the road.
Best Channel: Video, Podcast, Written Report
2. Message: Expert explains a few essential technical concepts. Employees should be

able to review multiple times.

3. Managers provide feedback to individual employees on how to improve their
performance.
How? Using Reasoning in the Message

People in business have an incentive to rely on reasoning. Business acting on the basis of
irrational thinking will suffer sooner or later. Many of the players in the financial crisis of
2008, for example, believed that real estate prices would continue to rise indefinitely, despite
ample evidence to the contrary. In the long run, their thinking was irrational and an entire
industry, many economies, and millions of people suffered for it.
On the flip side, businesspeople wield reason to great effect. Facing imminent collapse, the
U.S. auto industry used reason to reconstruct itself and develop high-quality, innovative, and
fuel-efficient vehicles. Biotechnology and drug companies use reason to create and
commercialize therapies for formerly intractable diseases.
Reason is the most fundamental tool for creating business communication. Workplace
audiences expect the content of presentations, memos, emails, and other forms of
communication to be well reasoned and logical.
Exercise: Using Communication Tools Spontaneously

Let's say that you're in a meeting at work and someone asks you this question:
Why do you think activity-based accounting is such a good idea? Is it worth the expense
of setting it up?
Your purpose in that moment is to persuade and your audience is the person who asked the
question. You don't have time to sort through the reasoning, feelings, and character issues,
but your response will include elements of each.
Read the list of suggestions below and put a check mark next to those you think might be the
most effectively persuasive. If you change your mind, click the check mark to remove it.
Name and explain the benefits of activity-based accounting.
A good idea: This system of accounting has a number of possible advantages over more
traditional systems.
Go over the failings of the current method of accounting.

Another good idea: The proposal for activity-based accounting presumably solves some kind
of problem. Reviewing it is also a good use of reasoning.
Provoke fear about the consequences of keeping the current accounting system.
Emotion is always part of persuasion. Worry can be a good motivator, but fear has to be
handled carefully. In this situation, the other options are probably better.
Informative Communication
Reason pays a significant role in informative communication. First, it is used to select the
information of greatest value to the audience. Usually the hardest part of selecting the
information is deciding what to omit.
We live in the information age. Collecting, storing, and transmitting data is so advanced that
vast amounts of it are being warehoused because we don't have the capacity to assess its
value, much less use it.
As receivers, human brains haven't had time to adapt to the information age. It is easy for us
to enter a state of cognitive overload. Too frequently communicators don't recognize our
cognitive limits. They believe that the more information they push at audiences, the better
informed the audiences will be.
That belief is true up to a point, but beyond that audiences become confused, tired, and
unreceptive. Especially in business, communicators owe it to their audiences to select
information on the principle of need to know, not nice to know.
In addition, reason is used in informative communication to build a logical organization that

helps the audience understand the content. Unstructured information can be communicated,
and audience members may even be able to understand it, but they won’t remember it.
Communicating information that the audience won't remember is pointless.
Persuasive Communication
Business audiences expect persuasion to be rational. They typically don't respond well to
persuasion that's primarily emotional. Rational persuasion consists of arguments. The ability
to argue skilfully is valued in business (and in business school).
Using Arguments
In practical terms, argument is reaching a conclusion by using evidence. Evidence comprises
qualitative and quantitative facts, calculations, inferences, theoretical knowledge, personal
experience, and expert opinion.
A concise evidence statement, combined with the conclusion, can be an excellent opening for
a presentation or a written communication. The example illustrates how to construct a strong
argument. Business arguments can be more complicated, but the process followed in the
example applies to them, too.
Exercise:
Arrange the statements of the argument in logical order by dragging them to the correct
position in the right-hand column. Read the statements carefully; they have clues to the most
logical order. The first statement of the argument and the conclusion are provided.
The Radiohead album was sold exclusively

from the band’s website.
Most people perceive $.90 as equivalent to
paying nothing.
The authorized version had high sound
quality; the pirated version had poor sound
quality.
The only other source for the album was a
pirated version available online.
However, $0.90 service fee was charged for
every online order for the album.
You could buy Radiohead album on the
groups’ website for whatever price you
wanted, including nothing.
Conclusion: Therefore, the volume of piracy
for the Radiohead album was likely to be
lower than that for conventionally marketed
albums.
Using Assumptions
You have probably heard of inductive and deductive reasoning. Induction is the process of
concluding that something is probably true based on relevant observations. Deduction is the
process of concluding that something is probably true by reference to a principle that is
generally accepted as true.
Notice the use of the word probably in the definitions. Real world reasoning usually doesn't
give you a result that is true beyond any doubt. Even the strongest conclusions are “probably
true.”
Neither induction nor deduction is directly useful for creating practical, real-world
arguments. More useful is the evidence–conclusion form of argument explained in the
previous section. Deductive logic, however, is based on a concept of great value for real-
world reasoning. Deduction works because a generally accepted principle justifies related
statements. In deduction, the generally accepted principle is called a major premise or
an assumption.
The Function of Assumptions
Let's start with a simple example of an argument:
Tad is a human being.
Therefore, Tad has a brain.
We know that Tad is a human being. That's a statement of evidence—it is a fact. From that
fact we conclude he has a brain. But the conclusion depends on an assumption.
The Function of Assumptions

To understand the relationships in the Tad argument, let's put the statements into a "logic
box." The box shows how the three main ideas in the argument are connected.
Logic Box
(A) Tad (B) is a human being.
(A) Tad (C) has a brain.

The two sentences express these relationships:
Idea A = Idea B
Idea A = Idea C
Given these relationships, it follows that Idea B = Idea C. The assumption is the statement
that links ideas B and C.
The Function of Assumptions Exercise

For the argument about Tad, what is the assumption?
Tad can think
is a human being has a brain
Logic Box
Evidence Tad is a human being
Assumption
Conclusion Therefore, Tad has a brain
The assumption makes the conclusion possible by connecting the evidence and the
conclusion. Of course, the argument in the Tad example is so obvious that the assumption
does not seem important.
But when the argument is not so obvious, knowing the assumption can help a writer or
speaker decide whether the argument will be acceptable to the audience.
Checking Your Assumptions
To check the assumption of an argument, follow these steps.
What to do. How to do it.

Define the assumption. Determine the logical link between the
evidence and conclusion.
Evaluate the assumption's acceptability Decide whether the intended audience will
to the audience. believe the assumption.
Use the argument If the assumption is acceptable, use the
argument.
If the assumption is not acceptable, change

the argument.
Checking Your Assumptions: Defining Them

You can define your assumptions precisely by stating your evidence and conclusions so that
they have three unique ideas. We will use the Logic Box to define the assumption of a
business argument.
This is the argument we will use:
Filia Foods has spent millions of dollars on the Knox Point plant. Therefore, Filia Foods
should finish the plant.
Here is the argument in a logic box:
Logic Box
(A) Filia Foods (B) has spent millions of dollars on

the Knox Point plant.
(A) Therefore, Filia Foods (C) should finish the plant.

The assumption must link ideas (B) and (C). Can you state the assumption?
Checking Your Assumptions: Defining Them

You can define your assumptions precisely by stating your evidence and conclusions so that
they have three unique ideas. We will use the Logic Box to define the assumption of a
business argument.
This is the argument we will use:
Filia Foods has spent millions of dollars on the Knox Point plant. Therefore, Filia Foods
should finish the plant.
Here is the argument in a logic box:
Logic Box
(A) Filia Foods (B) has spent millions of dollars on
the Knox Point plant.
(B) A company that has spent (C) should finish it.

millions of dollars on a plant
(A) Therefore, Filia Foods (C) should finish the plant.

Do you think that most business audiences would agree with the assumption, "A company
that has spent millions of dollars on a plant should finish it"?
Checking Your Assumptions: Evaluating Acceptability

Judging the acceptability of assumptions depends on the audience and all the variables that
affect it, such as culture, values, history, bias, and knowledge. Knowing your audience well
allows you to accurately evaluate an assumption's acceptability to that audience.
Example: Evaluating an Assumption's Acceptability

In the last section, we defined the assumption of an argument about finishing a plant:
A company that has spent millions of dollars on a plant should finish it.
The assumption is a version of the sunk cost fallacy in which people think that money already
spent justifies more spending. Most audiences that are aware of the fallacy would not find the
argument convincing.
Exercise: Evaluating the Acceptability of an Assumption

Imagine you are writing a performance evaluation for two individuals, Aoki and Jacob.
Whether your audience accepts the assumption of your evaluation would be of great interest
to you. Your argument consists of the following:
Aoki and Jacob violated minor regulations regarding securities transactions. They will
receive no promotion or bonus.
What is the assumption underlying this argument? Choose the correct assumption from the
three choices.
1. No one can get away with minor violations of securities laws.
2. The human resources policy of this company covers violations of minor securities
transactions.
3. Anyone who violates minor regulations regarding securities transactions will not receive
a bonus.
Evidence (A) Aoki and Jacob (B) violated minor regulations regarding
securities transactions.
Assumption
Conclusion (A) Aoki and Jacob (C) will receive no promotion or bonus.
Exercise: Strengthening Arguments
The argument for completing the Filia Foods plant was strengthened when the evidence
statement was changed. In the real world, however, audiences usually expect more than one
argument for a decision. To be persuasive, a communicator creates compatible arguments —
arguments that have the same conclusion.
To convince decision makers to build the Filia Foods plant, another argument is needed that
leads to the conclusion, "Therefore, Filia Foods should finish the plant."
Which, if any, of the statements will augment the argument that a new plant is necessary to
meet demand?
1. Filia Foods can arrange additional financing for completing the new plant.
The argument's assumption is, "A company that can arrange financing for completing the
new plant should finish it." By itself, the assumption is probably not acceptable. But
combined with the argument about demand, this argument will help persuade decision
makers.
2. Filia Foods will keep its costs competitive with the new plant.
A business audience likely will favourably view this argument's assumption, "A company
that can keep its costs competitive with a new plant should finish it." It makes a good
companion to the argument about demand.
3. Filia Foods will gain a short-term bump in its stock price by completing the new
plant.
This argument's assumption is, "A company that can gain a short-term bump in its stock price
from completing a new plant should finish it." Most audiences probably would not regard it
as a sound basis for the decision.
Three Questions for Creating Arguments

The following questions are useful for constructing an argument:
 What arguments can I make to achieve my purpose?

 What evidence do I have or need to support the arguments?
 What assumptions am I making? Are they acceptable to the audience?
Example: Persuading Dmitri

We know that Tasha wants to change Dmitri's thinking about staffing the call center and get
him to take an action—to hire two more Spanish-speaking representatives. She has built an
understanding of her audience, although it is in some ways contradictory. Human beings are
complicated!
She can use her understanding of the audience to create a persuasive argument.

We know that Tasha wants to change Dmitri's thinking about staffing the call center and get
him to take an action—to hire two more Spanish-speaking representatives. She has built an
understanding of her audience, although it is in some ways contradictory. Human beings are
complicated!
She can use her understanding of the audience to create a persuasive argument.
Example: Persuading Dmitri (Continued)
What arguments can I make to achieve my purpose?

My main argument is that the call center is understaffed. There are not enough
representatives to handle the call volume. The biggest need is for Spanish speakers because
most of the increased volume is coming from Spanish-speaking callers. Another argument is
that turnover has skyrocketed, mostly due to the heavy workload, and is inflating our costs. I
will also gather information about service quality.
I should think about the alternatives to not hiring new full-time representatives. I've heard
that addressing arguments for other possibilities makes people more likely to accept your
option.
What evidence do I have or need to support the arguments?

I already have numbers on call volume and turnover. I need to ask Human Resources to tell
me how much the turnover costs. I could just say the cost is high, but a number is more
convincing to Dmitri and the director than a general statement about rising expenses.
What assumptions am I making? Are they acceptable to the audience?

The main arguments are understaffing and turnover. Both arguments have this form:
Evidence
The call center suffers from several related problems such as understaffing, turnover, and
service quality.
Conclusion
The call center needs more representatives.
The Assumption
Whenever the call center suffers from these problems, it needs more representatives.
The assumption will be acceptable to Dmitri and other executives only if, in their view, the
problems are significant.
Example: Persuading Dmitri (Continued)
Dmitri's current position is not to hire any call center employees except to fill open positions
caused by people quitting or retiring. If Tasha can furnish a fact-based argument, she might
persuade him and give him confidence that hiring is the right choice.
On the other hand, Tasha fears he may want to duck the issue and leave it for his successor.
She has heard rumours that corporate executives want to promote him. She speculates Dmitri
will make a judgment about how soon the problem will become unavoidable.
Tasha will need a factual argument with quantitative evidence. Numbers have a particular
appeal to Dmitri and senior executives. Writing only about unhappy customers and low
employee morale will not persuade them.
Tasha's conclusion is:
We should hire two customer service representatives who are fluent in English and Spanish.
Before Tasha identifies evidence, she thinks about the criteria relevant to the decision she is
recommending and settles on three:
 Turnover
 Costs
 Quality of customer service
In a document, she gathers some of the evidence the criteria helped her find and questions
that she has to answer. Finally, in light of the assumption of the arguments, she thinks about
how to prove the problems are harmful to the company.
Here are Tasha’s notes about evidence for a persuasive memo to Dmitri.
Turnover
 Turnover is 100 percent higher than last year. This number should convince Dmitri
that the problem is serious.
 We’ve lost some of our most experienced and productive representatives, and more
may quit.
 Experienced representatives are quitting or retiring due to overwork and stress.
What are the causes of high turnover?
 The number of calls into the center exceeds capacity by an average of 15 percent.
 Sixty percent of the increased call volume is from customers who request a Spanish-
speaking representative.
Why are we experiencing a higher call volume?
 Overall sales have increased.
 We’ve seen a big jump in sales to Spanish speakers. It related to our marketing
campaign? We need to research this.
Costs
 Human Resources estimates the net cost of turnover this year at $200,000.
 That's about a 17 percent increase in our total budget.
 The increase is detrimental to the company.
Service quality
Standard indicators show a decline in quality. The numbers prove the problem is harmful.
 The number of callers put on hold is up 15 percent.
 The number of abandoned calls is up 13 percent.
 The average call length is up 2 minutes.
 Customer complaints about service are up 27 percent.
Memo: Use of Argument
To: Dmitri
From: Tasha
Re: Hiring Reps for the Call Center
Currently, we are experiencing multiple problems in the call center that require a decision.
The center is losing experienced representatives at an unprecedented rate, and human
resource costs are exceeding budget targets.
We are in a situation in which hiring is the right solution. I am recommending that we hire
two customer reps fluent in English and Spanish.
There are several compelling reasons why we need to hire new bilingual reps: turnover, costs,
and the quality of customer service.
Turnover
First, turnover has surged in the last year. It is 100 percent higher. This sudden spike
wouldn’t be so alarming if it were short term or if we were losing only new and
inexperienced reps. But the rate of turnover has been abnormally high for a year, and we’ve
lost some of our most experienced and productive reps: Hiroko, Jack, Agata, Rosa, and
Ursula. I’m told that more are considering quitting.
According to exit interviews and my observations, the experienced reps are leaving due to
overwork and stress Eighteen months ago, we had the small percentage of unused capacity
we always budget for. It gave us a buffer for temporary surges in call volume, absences of
reps, meetings, and other reasons. We’re now in a very different place: Service calls (phone,
e-mail, and live chat) currently exceed our daily capacity by an average of 15 percent. The
biggest call bottleneck is lack of capacity for Spanish speakers.
Two factors explain why call volume has risen. Customers who request a Spanish-speaking
rep account for more than half of the increased volume. Two years ago, the company decided
to market more aggressively to Spanish speakers. The campaign has been successful. Also,
sales to other segments have increased, although at a slower rate.
By hiring bilingual reps, we will match our capacity to call volume and the changed mix of
customers. That will reduce stress on reps and bring turnover down to a normal level.
Cost
Second, from a cost standpoint, the current level of turnover is unsustainable. Human
resources estimates that $200,000, or about a 17 percent increase in our total budget, is
attributable to overtime, temporary help (new reps are less productive than experienced reps),
and hiring and training expenses associated with replacements.
Hiring two new bilingual reps will add to payroll and may cause a temporary increase in our
cost per call. However, if it stops experienced reps from quitting, costs will decrease. No one
likes to see our cost per call exceed the industry benchmark, but let’s remember that the
benchmark is misleading.
Quality of Customer Service

Third, the quality of our customer service is declining. Here are a few indicators of quality
problems:

We have been one of the highest rated call center operations in the industry. Because the
center was recognized as a strategic asset, not a cost center, the department has improved on
most measures of quality. The reversal isn’t compatible with the company strategy.
More reps should get us back to the level of quality we want. It won’t happen overnight, so
the sooner we act the better. I am especially concerned about halting the exodus of
experienced reps.
Thanks for giving me the opportunity to present my recommendation. I would like to meet
with you to discuss the issue and answer any questions you have.
How? Using Emotion in the Message

Scholars in psychology, neuroscience, economics, and other fields say that emotion
influences everything we do, including our thoughts and actions.
Dan Ariely, a behavioural economist, tells of an experiment in which a day-care operator

decided to impose a fine on parents who picked their children up late. The goal was to
increase the number of parents who came on time, but the change had an unintended
consequence: Late pickups increased after the fine was imposed.
Rationally, the situation hadn't changed. The day-care center was not trying to make more
money; it was trying to deter late pickups as it had when it asked parents to comply
voluntarily.
What changed were the parents' feelings. After the imposition of a late fee, they looked at late
pickup as a transaction rather than as part of a relationship with their children’s caregivers—
people who wanted to be able to leave work on time.
Emotion is generally not an essential factor in informative communication, but it matters a

great deal in persuasion. Emotion influences how an audience reacts to a communication. It
also influences how writers and speakers express themselves in their messages.
Consider these three questions:
 How do audience members feel about my topic?

 What audience feelings can help me achieve my purpose?
 How can I elicit these feelings?

Tasha knows she has to deal with audience emotions. She's already aware that Dmitri's
emotional response to her hiring request will likely be discomfort and even slight hostility.
The danger is that his feelings may cause him to reject her argument without seriously
considering it.
How do audience members feel about my topic?
Dmitri and the director will dislike a proposal for new hires.
What audience feelings can help me achieve my purpose?
Ideally, I’d like Dmitri and the director to have a positive feeling about my proposal. Failing
that, I want Dmitri to be as worried about the situation as I am and to see the urgency. I want
the director to be troubled enough to accept my recommendation even if he doesn’t like it.
How can I elicit these feelings?
Tasha will present her argument with facts as Dmitri prefers. She could rely on the argument
alone to motivate him, but she wants to maximize the odds of success. She knows that
emotions are in play anyway, regardless of whether she wants to deal with them.
She tries to establish the urgency of the hiring issue. The sooner Dmitri thinks the call center
will have a major problem, the more likely he will be to act. Dmitri’s rumoured promotion
could be helpful since he will not want his last act overseeing the call center to be a debacle.
Exercise: What Audience Emotion Will Help You Persuade?

Pretend you are in Tasha’s position and considering how to elicit feelings in your boss. Select
the feelings you could encourage in your manager to have that would move him or her toward
your purpose.
Confidence: Telling the boss hiring in this case consistent with company policy.
Anger: Bluntly state that if the boss does not act soon, his career might be in danger.
Anxiety: Include graphs showing the rapid fall in service quality metrics.
Distress: Have the boss watch exit interview video of two long-time reps who were upset
about leaving.
To: Dmitri (Use of Emotion)

From: Tasha
Re: Hiring Reps for the Call Center
Currently, we are experiencing multiple problems in the call center that require a decision.
The center is losing experienced representatives at an unprecedented rate, and human
resources costs are exceeding budget targets.
two customer reps fluent in English and Spanish. By hiring, you not only protect our high-
quality customer service, you also reduce costs.
But action needs to be taken quickly or the underlying problems will become far worse.
Turnover
First, turnover has surged in the last year: It is 100 percent higher. This sudden spike
wouldn’t be so alarming if it were short term or we were losing only new and inexperienced
reps. But the rate of turnover has been abnormally high for a year, and we’ve lost some of our
most experienced and productive reps: Hiroko, Jack, Agata, Rosa, and Ursula. I’m told that
more are considering quitting.
overwork and stress. Eighteen months ago, we had the small percentage of unused capacity
we always budget for. It gave us a buffer for temporary surges in call volume, absences of
reps, meetings, and other reasons. We’re now in a very different place: service calls (phone,
e-mail, and live chat) currently exceed our daily capacity by an average of 15 percent. The
biggest call bottleneck is lack of capacity for Spanish speakers.
Two factors explain why call volume has risen. Customers who request a Spanish-speaking
rep account for more than half of the increased volume. Two years ago, the company decided
to market more aggressively to Spanish speakers. The campaign has been successful. Sales to
other segments have also increased, although at a slower rate.
Cost
and hiring and training expenses associated with replacements. In other words, each week
that goes by, we add another $4,000 in cost.
Hiring two new bilingual reps will add to payroll and may cause a temporary increase in our
cost per call. However, if it stops experienced reps from quitting, costs will decrease. No one
likes to see our cost per call exceed the industry benchmark, but let’s remember that the
benchmark is misleading.

problems:
experienced reps.
Thanks for giving me the opportunity to present my recommendation. I would like to meet
with you to discuss the issue and answer any questions you have.
How? Using Character in the Message

Character is the audience's attitude toward a speaker or writer. Audiences form attitudes of
the person communicating not only from the content of the message but also from other
sources such as body language and facial expression (speakers), tone and vocabulary
(writers), and the audience's previous impressions of the person (both writers and speakers).
Audiences are especially reactive to the knowledge and credibility of a speaker or writer:
Knowledge
An audience wants to be sure the communicator knows what he or she is talking about. To be
receptive to a message, an audience must have some respect for the intellectual authority of
the communicator.
Credibility
An audience wants to be sure that communicators can be trusted, that they tell the truth as
they see it, and that they are transparent with their evidence and about their motives.
Read the following excerpt from a recent letter to shareholders. Imagine you have invested in
Buffett's company, Berkshire Hathaway. How would you feel about the message in this
excerpt?
To the Shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., 2009

And now a painful confession: Last year your chairman closed the book on a very expensive
business fiasco entirely of his own making.
For many years I had struggled to think of side products that we could offer our millions of
loyal GEICO customers. Unfortunately, I finally succeeded, coming up with a brilliant
insight that we should market our own credit card. I reasoned that GEICO policyholders were
likely to be good credit risks and, assuming we offered an attractive card, would likely favor
us with their business. We got business all right—but of the wrong type.
Our pre-tax losses from credit-card operations came to about $6.3 million before I finally
woke up. We then sold our $98 million portfolio of troubled receivables for 55¢ on the dollar,
losing an additional $44 million.
Buffett's honesty elicits trust, an invaluable asset for an executive and leader. His self-
deprecating humour and his humility offset the bad news. We are usually willing to forgive
people who take responsibility for failures. The character Buffett projects in his shareholders
letter is stable from year to year. Consistency is another key to a persuasive ethos.
On-Demand Character?
In communication should you present yourself as you really are or should you present
yourself in whatever way you think furthers your purpose, even if that means disguising or
misrepresenting your character?
In a way, the question does not matter much, because constructing a fallacious character is
very difficult. Skilled actors can lose themselves in a role, but for the rest of us, our
characters tend to be stubbornly fixed. The risk of trying to express false character is that the
audience will detect it, at which point the persuader's credibility evaporates.
However, we can stress different aspects of our character to suit our purpose. In his highly
effective marketing presentations, Steve Jobs came across as the proud and excited parent of
his new devices. In internal meetings at Apple, he revealed other sides of his character:
demanding, impatient, and sometimes denigrating.
When you are considering what ethos you want to convey, ask these questions:
 What is the audience's attitude toward my character?

 What do I want the audience members' attitude to be?
 How can I move the audience to adopt the desired attitude?
The Ethics of Persuasion

To convince an audience, an individual can fudge data, manipulate feelings, and project a
false character. Unfortunately, these misuses of persuasion are all too common, including in
business.
Many people are suspicious of persuasion, regarding it as a way to win over an audience
through deception or pure emotion. Nonetheless, businesspeople engage in persuasion every
day because it’s the art of the practical: the use of language to get things done. Humans have
engaged in it since we acquired language.
Persuasion is sensitive to the ethics of both sides of a communication. Tasha could use false
or misleading evidence to persuade. On the other hand, Dmitri could claim that the reason for
the backlog of calls is not understaffing but the poor performance of call center reps and use
that as an excuse to fire a rep he has never liked. The point is that both communicators and
audiences have ethical responsibilities.
Whenever persuasion is used, ethics are in play. Speakers can change data to support their
opinion. Writers can use inflammatory or exaggerated language. Both can manipulate an
audience by exploiting a bias. Yet, audiences aren't helpless. They can listen or read
critically.
Everyone has opportunities to exploit communication for the sake of some kind of perceived
advantage. When in doubt, ask yourself what outcome is best for you and the common good
in the long as well as the short run.
Organizing a Message
An analysis of a communication situation tells you a great deal about the message you are
planning. That knowledge informs what you do next in creating and organizing content.
Informative Communication
To create an informative message, gather the information necessary to accomplish your
purpose. You also need to understand the information. If you do not understand some or all of
the information, take whatever action you need to master it.
The guiding principle for informative communication is to include everything the audience
needs to know and no more. Limiting information to the essentials sounds straightforward,
but there is a strong tendency to think that more information is better than less.
For example, analyst reports on stocks often contain an astonishing amount of information,
such as eighteen pages on a single bank stock, with fifteen exhibits, some of which fill a
page. But distilling a mass of information into a compact package is possible.
A leading financial firm requires that internal analyst reports written for portfolio managers
be no longer than two pages. Analysts identify and include only the information of greatest
value to the audience of portfolio managers; such information could include expected
earnings per share growth, the strength of a company's core products or services, and long-
term potential for growth.
Example: Informing the Reps

The IT report Tasha has received covers software changes associated with the update. Her
first step is to extract the content relevant to call center representatives. She finds a couple of
changes to the software that she does not understand completely, so she sends an email to
request clarification from the person who wrote the report.
Tasha leaves out far more of the IT report than she uses in her memo. But even with the
reduction in content, Tasha has more filtering to do. Some of the changes to the software are
minor and have little effect on the representatives' work. She decides not to include such
changes. They could distract the audience or, worse, signal that the content has minimal
worth. The minor changes can be covered quickly in a meeting.
As Tasha assembles the core content for her memo, she faces the critical decision of
informative communication: how to organize it to achieve her purpose.
Information Organizers
An effective writer or speaker puts information in an order that best facilitates audience
comprehension.
Many communications fail because of poor organization. By putting down their thoughts in
an illogical order, writers leave the task of organizing to readers. No doubt you have received
writing that is disorganized. Do you remember your response? Most readers make an effort to
understand, but eventually they reach a threshold of frustration and stop reading.
Every body of information is unique, yet there are two broad categories of organizers that
can help:
 Organic organizers
 Analytic organizers
Information Organizers: Organic

Organic organizers are those that derive from the nature of the topic. As a communicator, you
reproduce the organization for the audience. Here are some of the most common types of
organic logic:
Organic Organizer Definition Example

Physical Arrangement of Describe the organization of a production
arrangement physical details. line and explain why it is organized that
way.
Chronology Time sequence Describe the history of a product line and
explain decisions that shaped its history.
Process Series of steps that Describe the steps for entering
lead to a specific outcome. information into a computer database and
explain the rationale for the order of the
steps.
Hierarchy Structure of Describe an organization chart and
authority, power, explain the reporting relationships.
responsibility, or similar
characteristics of an
organization.
Information Organizers: Analytic

Sometimes information you have to communicate does not have an obvious structure. In
these situations, use analytic organizers, in which you organize information using concepts
appropriate to the content and audience.
A frequently used analytic organizer is order of importance. A to-do list arranged from the
most important task to the least important is an example. So is a set of recommendations for
improving an employee's performance arranged in priority order. Another common type of
analytic organizer is level of difficulty (basic to advanced) and frequency (high frequency to
low frequency).
Business concepts often serve as analytic organizers. Let's say that you have new employees
on your marketing team and want to describe the current marketing plan for a product. There
is a well-defined way of communicating a marketing plan that every MBA candidate learns:
the 4Ps (product, price, promotion, and place). The 4Ps framework is an instance of an
organizer tailor-made for a particular type of information.
Here are some examples of analytic organization:
Analytic Organizer Definition Example

Importance Arrange by value, worth, and List of critical safety practices
urgency. (most important to least important).
Difficulty Arrange by level of Training manual for operation of
difficulty. machine (basic to advanced).
Frequency Arrange by the number Number of mentions of company in
of occurrences over a period of various social media (high to low
time. frequency).
Business concepts Arrange by order of A marketing plan organized around
concepts in a business model. the 4Ps.
Exercise
For each of the following informative messages select the most appropriate way to organize
it.
1. Report on best-selling travel packages.
 Order of importance
 Level of difficulty (example: basic to advanced)
 Business concepts (example: accounting metrics)
 Frequency or quantity: Yes, you’re correct. The logical organization is from most
purchased to least purchased.
 Process
For each of the following informative messages, click the box next to the choice you think is
the most appropriate way to organize it.
2. User manual for flat-screen television.
 Frequency or quantity
 Process
3. Evaluating a business loan.

 Process
4. Instructions on how to fill in and file an expense report.
 Process
5. Job description.
 Process
Example: Informing the Reps

Tasha has already given some thought to organizing the message about the new software
features. She could follow an organic order: the sequence of steps the reps take when they use
the software for a typical customer call.
She rejects that order. First, the reps know the process extremely well and don't have to be
told which feature applies to which step. Second, they have a strict standard for their highest
level of attention: Does it make my life easier? If it does not, they tend to ignore the
information.
Tasha thinks her best bet is an analytic organizer: the order of importance to the
representatives.
Read Tasha's informative memo and analyse the organization. Then move the cursor over the
text of the memo for explanations.
To: Call Center Team
From: Tasha
Re: High Value Changes to the CSR
Drum roll, please! The update of our CSR software will be loaded soon and I want to tell you
about the added or extended capabilities that affect you most. The update has features that
will make your life easier.
Besides the Top 5, the update includes other changes that have little or no impact on our
workflow. You can browse the changes on the intranet. Please take a quick look at them
before the update is loaded.
Call Center's Top 5 System Enhancements
1. Change: New Call Scripts
Over the last six months, we asked you to suggest revisions to our call scripts. Some of the
most frequently used scripts were inaccurate and too complicated. You had to improvise calls
more and more, which defeats the whole purpose of having scripts. You contributed many
changes and have been asking when they will be implemented. The answer: on the first of the
month!
Benefit
The scripts are overall more useable: more accurate, better organized, and easier to follow.
2. Change: Automated Live Chat Lookups
When customers request live chat on our website, a pop-up form asks customers for their
names, email addresses, and the subject of their chat request. This information will prompt an
automatic lookup of customer records and set the right knowledge resources—all before you
start the chat session.
Benefit
Live chat has been a success for us and our customers. Now you won’t have to do lookups
and set resources on the fly, which frees you to concentrate on the customer.
3. Change: Floating Notes Window
No more switching back and forth to take notes! You can open a new window for making
notes about a call that floats on top of the interface. It stays open when you go to another
screen.
Benefit
You’ve been asking for this feature and IT has delivered. This change is a timesaver with
other benefits. I think it will improve note quality and, as a result, make it easier to
understand what another rep has done on an account when you speak to the customer.
4. Change: System Response Indicator
The interface now includes a system response indicator in the upper right-hand corner: green
for fast response time, yellow for moderate, and red for slow.
Benefit
A small change? Yes. A benefit? Yes, absolutely. You won’t be surprised again when you
perform an action with the customer on the phone and the system responds slowly. You can
alert the customer in advance and cover the dead time while the system responds with the
filler scripts we’ve developed.
5. Change: Simplified Tools for Editing Call Scripts
Senior reps, you will welcome this change: The call script editing tools have been simplified.
Instead of the long lists of functions, the tools are organized into five palettes. Rarely used
tools have been moved into a separate dropdown menu.
Benefit
The script editing tools aren’t used often so senior reps don’t commit them all to memory.
The palettes make tools easier to identify and select. Reducing the clutter of mostly unused
functions enhances ease of use, too.
Do you have questions? Give me a call or send me an email.
The heading attracts attention. It’s also important as information, particularly for a segment
of the audience—inexperienced reps. Recall that Tasha was concerned about writing the
memo for the two different audiences. Experienced reps will probably know the benefit as
soon as they read the description of the change and skip the benefit. The inexperienced reps
may not and need an explanation. Everyone, especially inexperienced reps, will benefit.
Tasha provides a concise explanation of the benefit to the reader.
Persuasive Arguments
Like informative communication, persuasive communication rests on the foundation of a
well-defined purpose and an understanding of the audience. But persuasion is more
complicated. The goal of informative communication is to obtain audience comprehension of
the content. In contrast, persuasive communication seeks to motivate an audience to think,
feel, or do something specific.
To inform an audience, the communicator just provides the necessary facts. To persuade an
audience, she not only has to provide the facts but also tell them why the facts should prompt
them to think, feel, or act in a certain way.
A simple example of the difference involves beauty products. Informing an audience what
products a drugstore or department store sells and where to find them in the store is not
difficult. On the other hand, persuading members of an audience to buy specific products
challenges the most skilful marketers. Consumer product companies spend billions of dollars
each year to convince shoppers to buy their products.
Persuasive business communication uses different combinations of rational arguments and

emotional and character-based appeals. Reports by financial analysts use only rational
arguments to persuade clients, although both emotional and character-based appeals are
implicit. For example, a report by a well-regarded analyst will likely carry more weight with
an audience of investors because of the analyst's perceived character as an expert. On the
other hand, a television commercial for a perfume may have no rational argument at all and
depend entirely on emotional and character-based appeals.
Management communication depends heavily on rational arguments for a variety of reasons,

the most important of which is audience expectations. Therefore, as future managers and
leaders, you need to know how to build arguments.
Every real-world situation that calls for persuasive arguments has unique circumstances.
However, three types of arguments are extremely common in business.
The three types of arguments are:
 Decision
 Evaluation
 Diagnosis
You will be learning templates for each type of argument. You do not need to view every
argument as one of a kind with few or no similarities to any other argument. The templates
take advantage of elements common to each type of argument.
These templates are not intended to reduce the complexity of real-world business but rather to
help you to manage it. The templates do not address every business situation for which an
argument is required, but they are useful in many situations.
Example: You Need an Argument

Imagine that you work for a software development company based in Singapore. One of your
teams programs software for a robotics company in Canada. That team has come up with a
programming approach for a robotic machine that makes the operator's job more
straightforward, thus reducing both training time and operator errors.
There’s a catch, though. The client’s engineers in Canada will have to adapt their
programming to the new approach your team has developed. Because they are employees of
the client company, they have more power than you do. The manager of the Canadian
engineers says you must persuade his engineers to accept the new approach.
You have a clear picture in your mind of the benefits and the data that substantiates them. But
how can you organize this material into a logical argument? The prospect of writing down
your ideas, trying to find the best organization for them, and positioning the data in the best
way possible does not appeal to you. After all, you’re an engineer, not a debater.
In this situation, a template or model for the argument would be helpful. It could guide your
thinking about the content and structure of a persuasive argument.
Decision Arguments
In your career, how likely is it that you will advocate a decision? The answer is very likely.
Managers find themselves in this position all the time. Because business is about action,
decisions are essential in any organization.
What did you consider when selecting your last job? You might have considered the
company, salary, job duties, boss, and chances of promotion. If you accepted the job, you
made a convincing argument to yourself that it was the right decision.
In the film The Dark Knight, Batman must decide whether to kill the Joker. To make the
decision, he could use these criteria:
 Benefits to Gotham
 Ethics
 The law
 His career as a superhero
Criteria are pivotal when you argue a decision. If you aren’t sure of the criteria, the reasoning
for your recommendation will be unfocused and confused. The other crucial component of a
decision argument is evidence. When you apply the criteria, you have to show the audience
strong evidence that clearly supports your recommended decision.
Exercise: Kill The Joker?
In the movie The Dark Knight, Batman has to make a decision: Does he kill The Joker or
not? He has to weigh The Joker's ravaging of Gotham and the city authorities' failure to stop
him against his promise to himself never to take the law into his own hands and thus become
a vigilante.
Below you will find evidence developed through the use of four criteria.
Criteria
Ethics
Benefits to Gotham
Batman's Career as a Superhero
The Law
Yes, kill the joker Criteria No, don’t kill the joker
Saves innocent people from death.
Restores normal life in the city.
The killing would be an exception Killing is always wrong.
to the rule. Killing makes Batman just like The
Joker.
Even if The Joker is arrested and Gotham will have to try Batman for
convicted, he will escape from murder.
prison. Could spend his life in jail.
Batman will lose his credibility as a Batman will remain a superhero.
superhero and his chance to make a
sequel movie.
Decision Argument Template

Although there are many ways to structure an argument about a decision, a template can help
you get started. This approach is similar to learning how to cook. Novices start with a recipe.
They learn the ingredients and follow the recipe step by step as it is written. As they become
more skilled, cooks can vary the recipe or devise their own. This template and the two others
that follow are like recipes for arguments.
Template Section Description

State Decision The decision that needs to be made
State Decision Options The different options for the decision
State Recommendation The option you believe is best
State Criteria The criteria you use to make the decision
Prove Decision The evidence supporting the decision
Criterion 1 Support the proposed decision with evidence
based on the first criterion
Example: Planning a Message About a Decision

An analyst is preparing a report about a stock she follows, GrowthWare. The current rating is
a Hold and she wants to convince investors to buy. Here is the template she uses to plan her
report.
State Decision Best use of investors’ capital
State Decision Options Buy, Hold, Sell
State Recommendation Buy GrowthWare
State Criteria Earnings per share (EPS)
Strength of current business
Long-term growth potential
Prove Decision
Earnings per share (EPS) EPS low in historical terms
Strength of current Unique value proposition
business
Weak competitors
Long-term growth potential Base business growing with new product
releases

New business has great potential
Rebut Other Options
Hold You will miss additional gain by doing
nothing
Sell You will miss value to be realized in next two
to three years
Exercise: Invest in a Wind Farm?
Imagine you have funds to invest in energy and a company that builds wind farms has
approached you. They propose several new farms in Mexico. To support your decision
making, which of the following criteria would you use?
Drag your selections to the right-hand column labelled “Most Valuable Criteria.” You should
select only essential criteria—those you think will yield information most valuable to the
decision.
Sr. No Possible criteria Most valuable criteria Why?

1 Cultural
information
2 Climate data
3 Government
energy programs
4 Historical energy
costs in Mexico
5 Cost of other types
of energy
6 Construction costs
7 Macroeconomic
data and forecasts
8 Pros and cons of
different types of
turbines

Tasha uses the Decision Argument Template to organize her persuasive memo.
State Decision Improve call center
State Decision Options Status quo
Hire part-time reps
Hire full-time reps
State Recommendation Hire full-time reps
State Criteria Turnover
Costs
Service quality
Prove Decision
Turnover 100% higher this year
Experienced reps leaving
Cause is overwork
More Spanish-language customers
Cost 17% increase in our total budget
Turnover accounts for most of the increase
Service quality Four metrics indicate decline: callers put on hold,
abandoned calls, average call length, and customer
complaints.
Rebut Other Options
Status quo Current problems will become worse
Hire part-time reps for call center Part-time reps take a long time to train, will end up
costing more than full-time reps
Read Tasha's decision memo and analyse the organization of the argument. Then move the
cursor over the text of the memo for explanations. One paragraph has been added to the basic
organization of a decision argument. What is its persuasive function?
To: Dmitri
From: Tasha
Subject: Crisis in the Call Center
Our company prides itself on running a lean operation. Managers are trained to regard hiring
as the wrong solution to most problems. We’ve followed that philosophy successfully in the
call center.
As you know, we’ve implemented quite a few measures that have cut our operational costs by
5 to 10 percent in each of the last few years. Two years ago, our department was given the
Golden Scissors Award for the most innovative cost-reduction ideas.
Currently, we are experiencing multiple problems in the call center that require a
decision. The center is losing experienced representatives at an unprecedented rate and
human resources costs are exceeding budget targets.
Our decision options are to try to ride out the storm without hiring; hire part-time people who
are bilingual; or hire permanent, full-time, bilingual reps.
Why Hiring Is The Right Decision
two customer reps fluent in English and Spanish. By hiring, you not only protect our high-
quality customer service, you also reduce costs. So, the hiring proposal isn’t an exception to
our management philosophy—it’s completely consistent with it.
But action needs to be taken quickly or the underlying problems will become far worse.
Turnover
First, turnover has surged in the last year: It is 100% higher. This sudden spike wouldn’t be
so alarming if it were short term or we were losing only new and inexperienced reps. But the
rate of turnover has been abnormally high for a year, and we’ve lost some of our most
experienced and productive reps: Hiroko, Jack, Agata, Rosa, and Ursula. I’m told that more
are considering quitting.
overwork and stress. We were at or below the internal benchmarks for good service. We’re
now in a very different place. Our numbers are at or above our benchmarks. (The Quality of
Customer Service section furnishes specific data.)
Customers who request a Spanish-speaking rep account for more than half of the increased
volume. The biggest call bottleneck is lack of capacity for Spanish speakers.
Two years ago, the company decided to market more aggressively to Spanish speakers. The
campaign has been successful. Sales to other segments have also increased, although at a
slower rate. These two factors explain why call volume has risen.
Cost

and hiring and training expenses associated with replacements. In other words, each week
that goes by, we add another $4,000 in cost.
Hiring two new bilingual reps will add to payroll. However, if it stops experienced reps from
quitting, the net result will be a decrease in costs.
problems:

experienced reps.
The other options
Not hiring isn’t an option because the status quo is not sustainable. Inaction will lead to more
turnover, higher costs, and worse customer service.
We could hire part-timers, but that wouldn’t solve the long-term issue of serving more
Spanish-speaking customers. In addition, our experience with part-time reps has not been
good. They take much longer to train than full-time employees and their turnover rate is
always high. Taking this option would make our turnover problem even worse.
Conclusion
Hiring is rarely the right solution, but this is one of those rare situations. Hiring will cut our
current costs and restore the level of customer service our customers expect. Thanks for
giving me the opportunity to present my recommendation. I would like to meet with you to
discuss the issue and answer any questions you have.
Evaluation Arguments
A second type of persuasive argument is assessment or evaluation. The example you may be
most familiar with is the performance evaluation. Other examples include the evaluation of a
potential investment by a private equity firm and a bank report rating a loan application.
You make evaluations in your personal life. You have probably spent time evaluating
different brands and models of cell phones. You may not have thought of characteristics like
price, appearance, screen size, and touch screen versus a physical keyboard as criteria, but
that is precisely the role they served for you.
Exercise: How to Choose an Idol
American Idol is a talent contest on television that has local versions in many countries.
Singing is the focus of the show but other factors also play a role in how judges and viewers
pick winners. The producers of the show give contest winners contracts for American
Idol concert tours and for records.
Even if you have never seen the show, you can consider which criteria would be best to
evaluate contestants. In the list below click the check boxes next to the best criteria. When
you click "I'm finished," you will see a response to each criterion.
Parameters Justification
Appearance Studies show that attractive people have an advantage in
many situations.
Voice training Judges are interested in singing that appeals to audiences,
regardless of the singers' technical abilities.
Costume Not by itself.
Connection with audience This is essential for performers.
Singing ability
Educational background There are no educational criteria for winners.
Commercial potential The producers of the show have a vested interest in
successful performers.
Evaluation Argument Template

The keys to an evaluation are using an appropriate set of criteria, fully applying them to the
subject of the evaluation, and making a reasonable evaluation based on the results.
In the real world, evaluations rarely are all positive or all negative. Applying criteria means
recognizing both the good and the bad. For instance, when a banker evaluates a potential
loan, criteria reveal both strengths and weaknesses.
The overall evaluation requires judgment. For a loan application, is the balance sheet or credit
history more important? Criteria can help, but judgment is still required.

State Subject of Evaluation What or who is being evaluated and on
what terms
State Criteria The criteria you use for the evaluation
State Overall Evaluation Your bottom-line evaluation of the subject
Prove the Evaluation The evidence supporting the decision
Example: Planning an Evaluation

A Hong Kong venture capital firm has evaluated putting money into a technology start-up.
See the results below.
State Subject of Evaluation Technology start-up in robotics.

State Criteria Market, Product, Competition, Management
team, Financials, Intangibles
State Overall Evaluation Investment is not recommended. Market,
product, and competition are positive, but the
management team is weak and the investment
is too large for the risk.
Prove the Evaluation
Market + Will grow rapidly in the next few years
Product + Good potential to meet need
− Unanswered design questions
Competition + None now
− Will develop quickly
Management team − No operating experience to speak of
− Don’t appreciate what they don’t know
Financials − Unrealistic projections
− Large investment required
Intangibles + Savvy engineers
− Naïve managers
Exercise: Sizing up Tablet Computers

You work for a competitor of Apple's and are starting a study of tablets. You want to
compare the major products against the same set of criteria and rate them on a 100-point
scale. From the choices below, decide which are essential criteria.
S. No. Possible Criteria Most Valuable Criteria

1 Processor speed
2 Price
3 Wi-fi Connection
4 Ease of use
5 Sound quality
6 Screen resolution
7 Accessories available
8 Apps available
Example: Evaluating the Call Center

Assume that Tasha’s task has changed. Dmitri has asked her to give him an update on the
performance of the call center. So instead of advocating a decision, she writes an evaluation
argument.
The fact base for the evaluation is the same as the one for the decision argument. But it is
used as evidence for evaluating the performance of the call center.
Tasha uses the Evaluation Argument Template to organize her argument:
Template Section My Memo

Subject of Evaluation Performance of call center
State Criteria Service quality
Financials
Human resources
Prove the Evaluation
Service quality + Current level is high
-Quality is declining
Financials + New cost reductions
-Over budget by $300K
Human resources + Core of experienced reps
-Turnover unsustainable
To: Dmitri
From: Tasha
Subject: Serious Decline in Call Center Performance

You asked me to give you a snapshot evaluation of the call center performance. As you
know, the center has had some problems recently, and both of us have had concerns about
their effect on performance.
I broke down call center performance into three categories: service quality, financials, and
human resources. We have used these in past evaluations and have been satisfied with them.
As we feared, performance this year has been slipping; more worrisome is the possibility that
it will worsen.
The quality of service is still high but eroding. Although there are some bright spots in
managing costs, the department is significantly over budget. The human resources situation is
dire because of unsustainable turnover, which is driving most of the cost increases.
Understaffing of bilingual reps seems to be the main factor in a chain reaction that leads to
turnover.
Service Quality
The quality of our customer service is still high but declining.
Positives
We have one of the highest rated call center operations in the industry. Because the center
was recognized as a strategic asset, not a cost center, the department has improved on most
measures of quality. A core of experienced reps continues to provide excellent service, and
these reps are leaders and mentors to new reps.
Negatives
Nevertheless, quality is on the decline. Here are a few indicators of quality problems:
 The number of hang-ups is up 13 percent.
Service calls (phone, email, and live chat) currently exceed our daily capacity an average of
15 percent. Eighteen months ago, we had the small percentage of unused capacity we always
budget for. It gave us a buffer for temporary surges in call volume, absences of reps,
meetings, and other reasons.
call volume. This explains the worst call bottleneck: lack of capacity for Spanish speakers.
Two years ago, the company decided to market more aggressively to Spanish speakers. The
campaign has been successful. Sales to other segments have also increased, although at a
slower rate. We are seeing the results in the call center.
Financials
While the call center has reduced expenses, it is now running over the budget.
Positives
On the positive side, the department has found ways to cut costs in other areas, continuing a
grassroots effort that began in the center about four years ago. Without the savings, the
budget picture would be much worse.
Negatives
The call center is running over budget. Final numbers for the year aren’t available, but the
best estimate is that the department will exceed our cost target by about $303,000. Most of
the increase, $200,000, is attributable to overtime and hiring and training expenses far in
excess of what was budgeted.
Human Resources
We retain quite a few well-regarded reps—for now. But we are losing experienced reps in
unprecedented numbers.
Positives
We retain a core of experienced reps who rate highly each year on internal performance
reports and receive positive customer comments. The long-service employees exert
leadership and mentor new hires. Training takes new hires only so far; on-the-job learning
has to do the rest. The senior reps fill this need every day.
Negatives
Nevertheless, turnover has surged in the last year: It is 100 percent higher. This sudden spike
wouldn’t be so alarming if we were losing only new and inexperienced reps. But some of our
most experienced and productive reps have quit: Hiroko, Jack, Agata, Rosa, and Ursula. I’m
told that more are considering leaving.
According to exit interviews and my observations, our most valued reps are leaving due to
overwork, stress, and the belief that no steps will be taken to make the situation better.
Conclusion
The evidence tells me that we have a serious problem that needs attention. I’d like to go over
the review with you and answer any questions you have. I can email some possible meeting
times.
Diagnosis Arguments
To understand diagnosis, think of a doctor. When you are sick, you go to a doctor, who asks
for the symptoms you are experiencing, examines you, and possibly orders tests. The doctor
seeks a diagnosis that best accounts for his or her observations and prescribes a course of
action to improve the condition.
There are many occasions in business when a problem needs to be diagnosed. In 2009, an
abnormally high number of incidents of unintended acceleration involving Toyota vehicles
were reported. Toyota investigated and found that besides driver error, two other causes were
responsible: sticky pedals and incorrectly installed floor mats. The findings led them to recall
affected cars and repair them.
Less dramatic diagnoses occur in businesses every day, from understanding why your office
printer isn't working to why a project is stalled.
A diagnostic argument is explanatory. It is needed when a situation or outcome needs a

causal explanation, like the examples just cited.
Diagnosis Argument Template

Define the Problem Description of the major symptoms of the problem
to be diagnosed
Summarize the Causes Brief description of each of the major causes of
the problem
Prove the Causes The evidence supporting the diagnosis
Cause 1 Use evidence to show how the first cause
contributes to the problem
Cause 2 Use evidence to show how the second cause
contributes to the problem
Cause 3 Continue proof of the remaining causes
To make an accurate diagnosis, use concepts and knowledge relevant to the problem, along
with experience and common sense. To explain the financial crisis of 2008, analysts used an
array of concepts such as micro- and macroeconomics, the operation of specific markets, and
psychology.
Example: Planning a Diagnosis

The operations manager of a multinational company in Europe has been vexed by customer
complaints about late deliveries. To diagnose the problem, he and his team broke it down into
production, inventory, warehouse operations, and delivery to the customer. An investigation
found three major causes, one of which surprised everyone.
He plans to meet with top executives about the findings and organizes his talk using a
diagnostic template:

Define the Problem High number of customer complaints about late product
deliveries
Summarize the Causes Delays in replenishing inventory
Use of warehouse for training
Unusual number of weather events delaying deliveries
Prove the Causes
Delays in replenishing Manufacturing delays resulted in slower replenishment of
inventory inventory of a few high-volume products
Use of warehouse for Unusual turnover and retirements among forklift operators
training Use of warehouse to train new operators interfered with
fulfilment
Unusual number of Severe winter and spring weather slowed down truck and air
weather deliveries
events delaying
deliveries
Exercise: Diagnosing the Success of a Zoo

You are a consultant with an assignment to understand why a particular zoo is substantially
more popular than others in similar locations. You want to start with a set of potential causes
to start the diagnosis.
For this exercise, discard the causes that have the least diagnostic potential by mentioning
them in the right-hand column.
S. No. High Potential Causes Discarded Causes
1 Zoo amenities
2 Hours of operation
3 Indoor and outdoor habitat
4 Quality of animal collection
5 Admission prices
6 Visitor assistance
7 On-site shopping
8 Near-by attractions
Example: Diagnosing the Call Center

Assume that Tasha's task has changed again. This time, Dmitri has asked her to diagnose why
call center costs have increased. Instead of advocating a decision or evaluating the call
center's performance, she writes a diagnostic argument.
The fact base for the diagnosis is the same as the one for the decision and evaluation
arguments. But Tasha will use it as evidence of causes for the increase in costs.
Read Tasha's "Diagnosis Memo” and notice how the argument has changed. Analyse how the
memo is organized and then move the cursor over the text of the memo for explanations.
To: Dmitri
From: Tasha
Subject: Reasons for Rise in Call Center Costs
Two weeks ago, you and I looked at the year-to-date call center numbers and found that
hiring and training expenditures are significantly over budget. We both know that we’ve had
more turnover recently, but neither one of us expected such a large jump in related costs. You
asked me to investigate why this is happening.
I’ve come to the conclusion that there are three main causes behind the problem: turnover,
understaffing, and a shift in marketing.
Turnover
We have had a turnover rate well below the industry average. It is one of the reasons our
operation is recognized as the best in the industry. However, turnover has surged: It is 100
percent higher. The sudden spike wouldn’t be so alarming if it was a short-term problem, but
it has continued for the entire year.
Periodically attrition goes up. For example, at the end of the summer, we sometimes have a
number of reps who quit to go back to college. But some of our most experienced and
productive reps have quit: Hiroko, Jack, Agata, Rosa, and Ursula. I’m told that more are
considering leaving. Skilled and seasoned employees are harder and more expensive
to replace.
It looks like the overall department budget will exceed this year’s cost target by about
$303,000. Most of the increase, $200,000, is attributable to overtime, temporary help (new
reps are less productive than experienced reps), and hiring and training expenses associated
with replacements. As you can see, turnover is the main driver of higher costs.
Understaffing
Our company prides itself on running a lean operation. Managers are trained to regard hiring
as the wrong solution to most problems. We have followed that philosophy successfully in
the call center. However, the budget problem is different—it’s directly connected to
understaffing.
Eighteen months ago, we had the small percentage of unused capacity we always budget for.
It gave us a buffer for temporary surges in service requests from all sources, absences of reps,
meetings, and other reasons. We’re now in a very different place: Daily customer volume
currently exceeds capacity an average of 15 percent.
Here are a few numbers that show the effect of this change and confirm a decline in customer
service quality:
call volume. This explains the worst call bottleneck: lack of capacity for Spanish speakers.
overwork and stress. As senior reps leave, inexperienced people take their places; however,
inexperience employees can’t maintain the call volume of experienced people and look for
help from more knowledgeable team members, which in turn increases stress on them. This is
a classic vicious cycle. The exodus is reflected in our budget numbers.
Shift in Marketing
Two years ago, the company decided to market more aggressively to Spanish speakers. At the
time, we talked about the potential impact on customer service and you requested
authorization to hire more bilingual reps. The request was tabled until there was hard
evidence that the campaign was working. I talked to someone I know in marketing and was
told that the sales numbers for the Spanish-language segment look great.
More customers translate into more calls, emails, and live chat requests. More Spanish-
speaking customers puts particular pressure on our bilingual reps. As I’ve shown, service call
volume from all sources has exceeded our capacity, leading to turnover and the costs we are
seeing in the budget reports.
Conclusion
The call center problem can only be solved by hiring additional full-time reps who are
bilingual in English and Spanish. That solution will save us money over time and prevent a
drop in customer service quality that could drive customers away
Writing In Communication
Introduction
This module addresses effective business writing. Why should you be concerned about your
writing skills? Aren't presentations and other face-to-face communication more important
than writing?
According to a survey of large U.S. companies, the jobs of two-thirds of management-level

employees include significant writing such as emails, presentations, technical reports, formal
reports, and memos.
Eighty percent or more of companies in the financial sector (including insurance and real
estate) and a slightly smaller percentage in the rest of the service industry consider writing in
their hiring decisions.
Consider these quotes from corporate recruiters:
“Poorly written application materials would be extremely prejudicial. Such applicants would
not be considered for any position.”
“In most cases, writing ability could be your ticket in . . . or it could be your ticket out.”
Think about your own work experience. How much time did you spend reading and writing
emails and attachments, texts, wiki entries, memos, and reports? Did you use Internet
communication like Twitter for business? Did you use texts and Instant Messaging for work?
Chances are that you spent more time writing than you realized.
Writing Is Becoming More Important
Ironically, modern digital media tend to rely on a very old means of communicating—
writing.
In 2011, 1.88 billion people were using email worldwide, sending 32 billion legitimate emails
(not spam) per day. In that year, 25 billion Tweets were sent on Twitter, and Facebook had
600 million users.
In 2011, business users handled an average of 110 email messages a day. They sent about 36
messages a day or 180 per week. Many messages are short, but email alone accounts for
significant writing time each day. When we add in memos, reports, texts, and tweets, the
volume of writing becomes a major part of a manager's workload.
Globalization has added to the demand for business writing. Work teams are often scattered
throughout the world. Members may rarely or never meet face to face. Due to time
differences and other obstacles, much of their communication is written. Writing skills now
play a central role in how well people work together.
Writing Clarifies and Preserves Thinking

The transcript of a spontaneous conversation typically contains many verbal stumbles,
pauses, false starts, gaps in logic, unfinished thoughts, and unexplained references.
People manage to understand each other, but oral speech isn't well suited for communicating
large quantities of information or extended thinking on a complicated topic, such as a report
on future market opportunities. Also, once something is spoken, it's gone—unless we write it
down. Our memory of oral content simply isn't reliable.
Writing enables people to preserve their thinking, which is an important function in business.
Much of a company’s institutional memory resides in written documents such as an employee
handbook or field guides for troubleshooting equipment. New employees are often handed a
stack of documents and referred to written resources on the corporate intranet.
The Writing Process

We may have an innate capacity for language and speaking, but we don’t seem to have the
same capacity for writing. Nearly everyone learns to speak with ease, but writing is different.
Putting our thoughts into writing that is readily understood by others takes more effort than
speaking.
Some research on workplace writing indicates that experienced writers use a conscious
process for writing while inexperienced writers don't. The difference is apparent in the
finished products. For example, the writing of experienced writers is often more logically
organized than the writing of novices.
One study sought to learn whether a group of engineering graduates used the writing process
that they had been taught in their workplace writing. They did. In fact, they found it
indispensable for written communication.
This evidence confirms that studying the writing process isn’t an academic exercise. The
process can be a practical tool for managers.
Every writer has a personal writing process. Reflecting on how you write as opposed to what
you write can make your process more reliable and efficient.
How do you write? Describe the process to yourself. Do you have trouble getting started? Are
you aware of points in the process at which you struggle? The following explanation of the
writing process includes a discussion of process problems that make writing harder than it
should be.
Preparing
Preparing consists of doing research (if necessary), defining your purpose, understanding the
audience, and organizing your thinking in a writing plan. You follow the writing plan to
create the first draft.
The product of preparing is a writing plan you can follow for the first draft.
Some writers dispense with the preparing stage. They compose their thoughts and arrange
them as they go. The approach can work well for writers who know their subject extremely
well and have written about it before. They already have logical templates in their memories
that they can apply.
The downside of this approach is that it asks your brain to do two difficult tasks at once: Put
your thoughts into writing and arrange them in a logical order. You may have experienced the
stress caused by asking too much of your brain. To free more working memory when you
write, first plan what you are going to say.
Research and Notes

Preparing frequently begins with research and note taking. Physical documents, the company
intranet, online databases, and the web can furnish vast quantities of information.
Paradoxically, the accessibility of so much information both facilitates communication and
hampers it. The information can provide compelling evidence for an argument, but it can also
lead to information overload that paralyzes thought.
Everyone in business experiences some degree of information overload. To limit it when

writing, use purpose and audience to set boundaries on the information you need for a
message. For example, if you are writing a report on why phone calls are declining in
importance, you would restrict your research to information that documents the decline and
helps identify the causes.
Notes can be used for more than recording information. They can be a dialog with your
material. You can write down questions you need to answer with research or in the message
you will write. You can capture points to include in the writing and begin to map out an
organization.
Because most writing is done on computers, you can take advantage of software for web
research such as Evernote, Ubernote, Zoho Notebook and Memonic
Plagiarism
According to the Council of Writing Program Administrators, plagiarism occurs when “a
writer deliberately uses someone else's language, ideas, or other original (not common-
knowledge) material without acknowledging its source.”
Plagiarism violates trust with the audience. Unless informed by a source citation, readers
assume everything in a document is the product of the author. As you know, the perceived
character of the writer or speaker is one of the cornerstones of persuasion. Character has two
elements: knowledge and credibility. Any hint that a writer is misrepresenting the source of
his or her thinking can lead to the destruction of both. In a business setting, plagiarism can do
real damage to an individual’s reputation—and an organization’s reputation if the document
is for external audiences.
Given the ease of accessing information online, writers can find and use content far more
easily than they could when most sources were printed. Text from a web page can be quickly
copied and pasted into a long document and the source can be forgotten. But that same
abundance of information makes plagiarism detection easier through online searches and sites
designed for that purpose.
It is never acceptable to use word-for-word content from another source without using
quotation marks and a source note. Paraphrasing content or using specific information or data
from another source requires a source note.
Generating Ideas
Two of the best ways to think of ideas for the writing plan are asking questions and talking to
people. Planning Communication introduced you to questions about purpose, audience, and
three resources for creating a message—reason, emotion, and character. The Checklist:
Analysing a Communication Situation provides all of these questions to help you generate
ideas.
Checklist: Analysing a Communication Situation

To develop ideas for an argument, use the templates from Planning Communication. They
define the parts of decision, evaluation, and diagnosis arguments. You can use blank
templates to plan arguments for a written message or a presentation.
Content can come from people who have knowledge you can use, who have communicated
on the same topic, and who have received similar information in the past. They can be inside
the organization (e.g., co-workers and internal experts) or outside (e.g., clients, customers,
and external experts).
Be opportunistic in your search for content relevant to your writing. A reference in an online
article, a tweet, or a colleague's casual remark could lead to high-value content.
Organizing Ideas in a Writing Plan

Once you have sufficient information and ideas, you have to organize them in a logical
structure for writing the first draft. You need to do two things to prepare a plan:
 Group similar points together.

 Arrange them in a suitable order.
Grouping makes the leap from discrete ideas to organized thought. As material is sorted by
similarity, relationships among the groups emerge. These relationships help you define a
logical order.
The format of the plan can be a simple outline or the many variations on an outline, from a
list of phrases with bullet points underneath to a list of complete sentences. The format
doesn't matter; what does matter is that the format works for you.
A mind map is a writing plan that is more visual than an outline or a list. You can draw mind
maps by hand or make them on a computer with special software applications. The popular
mind-mapping technique yields a graphical representation of your thoughts. It uses shapes
and lines to represent ideas and their connections.
In the center of a mind map, write the idea you want to develop. Around that idea, write the
most important related ideas. Connect them with lines to the main idea and, as appropriate, to
each other. You can add subordinate ideas and connect them to the existing points. Delete
and rearrange ideas as their logic becomes clearer.
Exercise: Making an Outline from a Mind map
Below are a series of points generated in a mind map. Now create an outline of the same
points by placing each item to its best position in the outline form.
Sr. No. Why are phone calls Issues Causes

becoming obsolete
1 Text-based apps: texting,
Twitter
2 Number of mobile phone
calls dropping in almost
every age group
3 Web-based apps (Skype,
Google) substitute for
phone calls
4 More smartphones
5 In 2008, number of mobile
texts surpassed number of
mobile calls
Drafting
In the drafting stage, you compose your thoughts in words, sentences, and paragraphs. The
goal of drafting is to write a message that expresses your thinking but isn't necessarily
audience-ready, meaning that the draft can have faults and mistakes such gaps in logic or
evidence.
Need for Speed

Unless you dictate everything, writing has a mechanical speed limit: You can only write or
type as fast as your hands will let you, but the brain thinks far faster. As a result, you are
always at risk of losing some of your thoughts because you can't capture them quickly
enough.
You can make the mismatch between writing and thinking worse by being too concerned
about correctness. Are you a perfectionist who can't stand to write more than two sentences
without stopping and correcting mistakes or improving the style?
If you are, think about a distance runner who takes one stride back for every two strides
forward. Eventually the runner will finish but far more slowly than if she had been running
forward all the time.
Why Revising Helps Drafting

It helps to understand a little about the revising stage before you write a draft. During the
revision stage, you take a step back and work with the draft to improve its organization,
content, and anything that compromises readability such as sentence fragments or ambiguous
statements.
Don't be concerned that your first draft isn't perfect. It shouldn't be if you've freed yourself
from the constraints that get in the way of capturing your thinking.
Writing the Draft

Here are practices that can make drafting more productive and efficient.
You don't have to begin at the beginning.

You don't have to write each section in the order in which it appears in your writing plan.
Write what you know, wherever it belongs in the plan.
Don't worry about the small stuff.

Correctness and sentence style come later. Turn off the grammar checker. It gets in the way
of thinking. Also, most grammar checkers are wrong more often than not. Turn off the spell
checker. It's also a distraction that interrupts thought.
Grab thoughts in any form.

Capture your thoughts even if they don’t present themselves in complete sentences. When
you need a piece of information but know what you want to say about it, don’t interrupt
yourself to look for it. You can insert it later.
Don't stick with a bad plan.

If your writing plan isn't working, stop and rework the plan. Don't try to write yourself out of
a poor plan.
Revising
In the revising stage, carefully review the draft, focusing on the content and organization. To
keep that focus, you shouldn't be too concerned with writing style, tone, and mistakes such as
faulty grammar; you can deal with those issues later, in the last stage of the process.
The goal of revising is to make the substantive changes that are necessary to achieve your
purpose. There are two keys to this stage:
 Reading the draft from the audience's point of view

 Making necessary changes even if they are major
Reading as the Audience Would

Once you have a first draft, shift to the audience's point of view. Your writing is designed to
achieve a purpose through the intended audience. It's also a demand on audience members'
time. Your writing should therefore be reader-friendly. It should have the qualities of good
writing discussed in this module.
The following revision questions ask you to think about the draft from the audience's point of
view.
 Have I included all of the content necessary for my purpose?

 Is the length and amount of detail appropriate for the purpose and the audience?
 Are there any gaps or redundancies in the content?
 Can my readers easily follow the logic of the writing?
 Are the sentences of each paragraph in a logical order?
 Is my tone appropriate to the audience and occasion?
To make sure you have focused on your key points, ask yourself this question: What would I
say if I had only 60 seconds to get my point across to the audience? The answer to this
question tells you what has to be included and what may not be necessary.
What If the Draft Doesn't Work?

Every writer has experienced it: You finish a draft, start revising, and realize something is
wrong. The plan doesn’t say what you think. It could be that you changed your mind in the
process of writing the draft.
Say, for instance, that you're evaluating the value of sports-themed restaurants in a hotel
chain. Initially you didn't think the proposal made sense, but as you were writing, you began
to see the evidence in a new light and think the restaurants could generate enough revenue to
be feasible.
You change the writing plan to reflect the new purpose. You will be able to use some of the
evidence you already have, but you will probably have to add more. Then you'll be ready to
revise the draft or go back and write a new one.
Feedback from Others

You can never be completely objective about your own writing. You need discipline—and
courage—to commit the time for major revisions. To compensate for your lack of objectivity,
request feedback from others.
A reader can serve as a representative of your audience. He or she can confirm whether your
writing works and isolate sections where revisions might be needed.
Editing and Correcting
In the editing and correcting stage, review the draft for tone; sentence style; and correct
grammar, spelling, and other mechanical issues such as consistent treatment of numbers.
Editing consists of making your sentences as easy to read as possible and adjusting the tone
without losing any essential meaning. The goal of correcting is to fix mistakes in grammar,
spelling, punctuation, and other writing mechanics.
Editing
The target of editing is the sentence. You'll learn more about well-written sentences in
Writing Style later in the course.
At this stage in the process, ask yourself these questions:
 Can my reader easily understand my sentences?

 Is the writing style considerate of the reader? (Is it clear and economical?)
 Is the tone suitable for the purpose, audience, and topic?
Correcting
The goal of correcting is to take the final step in making your writing ready for the reader.
Errors in a written message force readers to perform a fix-up, the process of mentally
stopping to correct a mistake and thus understanding the meaning of words or sentences.
Each fix-up diverts the reader from the process of building meaning from the message. A
large number of fix-ups destroys the coherence of a message.
Correctness also gives you credibility. How do you react as you read a document with many
grammatical and spelling mistakes? The mistakes probably slow you down and cause you to
question the writer’s qualifications.
What Is Good Business Writing?

The writing process describes how thoughts become written communication. But what about
the writing itself? What qualities or characteristics set good writing apart from bad?
Good and bad writing produce different results:
Qualities Good Writing Bad Writing

Time Best use of readers’ time Takes more time than
necessary
Effect on audience Informs, structures, and stimulates Confuses, frustrates, or
members their thinking antagonizes them
Action Facilitates action Blocks or leads to
misguided action
Four Qualities of Business Writing

In this course, good writing is defined in relation to audiences using American English, in
part because it serves as the common language of international business. When using English,
however, you may have to adapt it to local audiences.
Audiences from different cultures have basic needs that aren’t all the same. The contrasts
between low-context and high-context cultures have special significance for written
communication. Low-context cultures, like those in North America and Europe, tend to value
individualism, logic, and action. High-context cultures, like those in Asia, tend to value group
membership, personal relationships, and the preservation of consensus.
These characteristics affect audience expectations for communication. In low-context

cultures, readers want authors to state explicitly what they think, to prove it, and to contribute
to getting things done. Low-context writing tends to be direct, assertive, and concise.
In high-context cultures, readers expect authors to imply much of their meaning, to defer to
the group, and to foster consensus. High-context writing tends to be oblique, deferential, and
circuitous. One style isn’t superior to the other because each serves the norms and needs of
distinct audiences.
Direct Writing
State what you think early in a written communication. The audience wants to know; that’s
why they’re reading.
Direct writing tells the audience the answers to these two questions:
What is this about?
Why should I read it?
The elevator pitch is an exercise in directness. An individual has 60 seconds to convince

someone, for example, the CEO. With little time to speak, she can’t afford to delay the main
point. If she does, the CEO will cut her off. A good question to ask when planning a written
communication is:
What would I say if I had only a minute to get my point across?
Exercise: Getting to the Point

Read the paragraph below. It’s the first draft of a letter to the editor from a local businessman
attempting to persuade the community to support a new business. (It is based on a real letter
submitted to a newspaper.)
See if you can tell what the rest of the letter is about. What purpose does the first paragraph
serve?
Dear Editor:
My family opened a business in Lewisville thirty years ago. Through all those years, we have
established other businesses, which flourished and added to the town’s financial and social
value. My family has valued our time in Lewisville and all the friendships we’ve made here.
We haven’t done just business here but have made many charitable contributions. In those
thirty years, I believe we have built a strong basis for saying that we are good citizens of the
town and are trustworthy. I hope you would agree; if you don’t know us, just ask some of
your neighbours.
The author has written the first paragraph to build audience members’ trust in him. But why?
What reason motivates him? The paragraph could be improved with a statement of the
writers’ purpose.
Exercise: Getting to the Point

Read the paragraph below. It’s the first draft of a letter to the editor from a local businessman
attempting to persuade the community to support a new business. (It is based on a real letter
submitted to a newspaper.)
Here is a second version of the paragraph, with the purpose added.
Dear Editor:
For over thirty years, my family has operated businesses in Lewisville. These businesses have
been a cornerstone of the tax base, contributed to Lewisville’s wonderful character, and given
us the means to donate to many town charities. We have made many friends here and, I
believe, have earned the trust of the community. Now, we have an opportunity to open
another business and would like you to support it.
Would this first paragraph work in another culture?

A writer and audience belonging to a high-context culture that encourages writers to confirm
their ties to and esteem for a community might find the paragraph an appropriate way to
begin the letter. In a low-context culture, readers grow impatient if they aren’t quickly told
the purpose of the message.
Concise Writing
Concise writing makes economical use of words. Think of words as the price the audience
has to pay to understand what the writer has to say. In American business English, readers
want to pay the lowest price.
Conciseness flows from respect for readers and from the knowledge that the aim of writing is
to provide them with something valuable. Writing shouldn't aim for anything else such as
proving that the writer is intelligent, can write complicated sentences, or is an expert on the
topic.
Avoiding Verbosity and Grandiosity

A misconception about writing goes something like this:
Long and wordy sentences show the audience that the writer is well educated and knows
what she's talking about.
You can find many examples of verbose writing in business and elsewhere; they seem to
confirm the equation:
Verbosity = intelligence + expertise

The prevalence of verbose writing shows how widespread the misconception is. Wordy
writing comes from a writer’s self-indulgence. The audience pays by having to read more
words and spending more time to understand the writing.
Good writers choose simple language when it expresses the meaning they want, using less
common words and technical terms only when the meaning of those words is essential to the
message.
Clear Writing
The difference between clear and unclear writing is like the difference between a clean
window and a dirty one. A clean window allows you to see what is beyond it; clear writing
allows you to see the meaning of the words. A dirty window hides whatever is beyond it;
unclear writing obscures the intended meaning.
You can achieve clear writing by expressing your ideas in carefully constructed sentences
that show specific connections between ideas. Plain language not only supports concise
expression but also bolsters the clarity of writing.
Like other occupations and professions, business has a voluminous vocabulary of technical
terms like net present value and SWOT analysis. Technical terms are useful for understanding
specific business situations. The terms just mentioned are indispensable when writing about
company valuation.
Nonetheless, business buzzwords, clichés, and other misuses of language disrupt clear
expression because they deliver little meaning and often make sentences ambiguous.
Logical Writing
Reading is linear, moving from one sentence to the next. Readers depend upon the logic of
sentences to construct meaning in their brains. When sentences are not in an order that makes
sense to readers, they stop and try to repair the logic. But they may not have the patience to
do it and instead stop reading.
Example: The Fragility of Logic

For the reader, the coherence of a written message can dissolve quickly when sentences aren't
arranged logically. Read the following paragraph.
First, customers who request a Spanish-speaking rep account for more than half of the
increased volume. Second, two years ago the company decided to market more aggressively
to Spanish speakers, and the campaign has been successful. For the last five years, the
proportion of our customers who speak Spanish has been growing. Three factors explain why
call volume has risen. Third, sales to other segments have increased as well, although at a
slower rate.
Using Visual Cues

Good document design reinforces the logical organization of a message for the reader. The
visual style of your message should be the same as the writing style: simple. One of the
biggest mistakes business writers make is to decorate a message with too many visual
devices. Their intention, to aid the reader, is good. Unfortunately, the result is a visually busy
message that distracts the reader.
Here are methods of providing visual cues to readers.
Visual Cues Functions

Paragraphs Makes visible major chunks of the content.
White space Separates and sets off words.
Headings Signal the logical divisions of a message.
Lists Make multiple items easier to see and understand.
Type Makes text easier to read.
Paragraphs
Paragraphs and sentences are the two fundamental units of content. A paragraph is a visual
element of a message set apart through an indented first line or white space above and below
it.
When readers see a paragraph, they expect it to contain related sentences about a single topic.
If it doesn’t, its visual distinctness deceives the reader.
Long paragraphs are difficult for readers to process. The meaning of a message becomes
easier to discern when it is broken into smaller units of meaning. A topic sentence, which
summarizes the meaning common to the group of sentences making up the paragraph, also
facilitates reading comprehension.
Exercise: Writing Meaningful Paragraphs Identify the three topic sentences.
The following paragraph is long and crammed with information about the performance of an
individual. The three main topics aren't obvious.
Erin seems unable to overcome internal obstacles. To overcome them, she has to be aware of
them. However, the demanding nature of her consulting engagements has made it harder for
her to see the understaffing, conflict between teams, and lack of strategic direction. She is
frequently absent on client visits, seldom has conversations with subordinates, and doesn’t
appreciate the divisions among members of the group. Erin does not cost the company money
by losing clients but by her inability to clear internal obstacles through leadership and
management skills.
But she has the capacity to improve. Erin’s current deficiency is a departure from her
performance a few years ago. Erin does resolve many serious problems for her clients, which
suggests that her weakness can be resolved with some assistance.
On the other hand, the nature of the consulting industry and the strains on our firm make it
difficult for Erin to succeed without additional resources. She needs a senior consultant as a
full-time assistant to help organize associates and address their concerns. For the longer term,
I suggest that you encourage Erin and Henri to negotiate a more equitable split in managing
the vice presidents and working with clients. This will create the cohesiveness that the group
needs.
White Space
White space in a message has a function; it isn't merely the unused areas of a page. Imagine a
message with no white space. It would be nearly impossible to read.
White space is the most common and effective method of grouping words into distinct units.
White space is used between and around paragraphs, before and after headings, and around
exhibits and other visuals such as charts.
In your written messages, be generous with white space. A cramped, claustrophobic

document design makes reading harder.
Example: Importance of White Space
White space is critical to the readability of a document. Compare the two documents. One has
no extra space; the other has space between paragraphs and around headings. Which version
of the memo would you prefer to read?
The absence of white space in the first document makes the text look impenetrable. The white
space in the second document opens up the text for readers.
Headings
Headings signal the logical divisions of a written message. They allow readers to skim a
document before reading it and form an impression of its structure and meaning. They also
serve as navigational signals as the readers work through the message. In the end, headings
enhance the readers’ retention.
Keep your heading structure simple. A message with many levels and styles of headings
looks complex. Generally, as text becomes more visually complex, readers become more
reluctant and struggle more to comprehend it. Two or three levels of headings should be all
you need.
Headings should specifically describe the content below them, but they should be very
concise.
Typographically, the distinctions among levels of headings should be simple. Use fonts,
boldface, italics, and capitalization to distinguish heading levels. Headings should have extra
white space above and below.
Example: Levels of Headings

Three levels of headings should suffice for business documents. Here is an example of three
levels of headings distinguished by different fonts and spacing above and below.
FIRST TYPE OF HEADING
Second Type of Heading

Third Type of Heading
Lists
Lists serve readers by displaying a series of related items vertically instead of horizontally in
a normal line of text. The technique simplifies reading and improves comprehension.
Bulleted lists suit most content. Use numbered lists when the sequence of items is important,
such as steps in a process.
The guidelines for using lists are as follows:
 Don't overuse them.

 Keep the lists short.
 Keep the list items short.
 Don't use multiple levels (except in an outline).
 Use simple bullets to mark each item.
A numbered list tells readers that the order of items is an integral part of their meaning.
Here's a numbered list explaining how to tie a shoe:
1. Cross the laces.

2. Wrap one string around the other and tighten.
3. Form a loop in a lace in one hand. Wrap the other lace around the loop once and pull
that string through the loop, creating two loops. Tighten both loops.
4. Create a double knot by criss-crossing the two loops and bringing one loop through
the "hole" and tighten.
Type
Typeface is often overlooked as a visual resource. Many writers accept the default fonts of
their word-processing programs or make a casual choice based on their preferences.
Serif fonts are distinguished by fine details projecting from the ends of strokes that make up
the characters, like the details at the bottom and top of these characters:
Sans serif fonts lack these end-of-stroke details as these characters do:
There is some evidence that serif fonts are easier to read on printed pages, especially when
the document is long. Sans serif type is used extensively on web pages because it tends to be
bigger and have more space between letters than serif type.
Fonts
Contemporary typography has a huge range of font choices, from the traditional (Times New
Roman) to the new (Verdana), and from formal (Constantia) too informal (Comic Sans MS).
Your freedom to choose fonts might depend on organizational culture, but there are some
safe choices.
Fonts like Chalkboard that imitate handwriting may seem like a good change of pace from
standard fonts, but when used for long messages, they are hard to read. Here are some font
recommendations for business writing.
Printed or On-Screen Documents Web Documents

Times New Roman Verdana
Garamond Arial
Size
In business documents, the size of the font used for text is often too small. A factor you may
not think of, particularly if you're young with good eyesight, is that older readers often have
trouble reading small type. A good choice for business documents is an 11- or 12-point font
size.
Example: Font Size

Imagine that you are choosing a font size for a 2,000-word report. Which of the sizes would
be more readable for a long document?
In business documents, the size of the font used for text is often too small.
9 point
In business documents, the size of the font used for text is often too small.
10 point
In business documents, a larger size of font is easier on the eyes.

12 point
Emphasis
With the help of computers, writers can create typographic emphasis. Emphasis includes the
use of faces, fonts, colour, special effects such as shadows, and a long list of other
techniques.
Emphasis in document elements such as headings and exhibits is useful as a meaningful

signal to readers. But repeated use of emphasis (for example, bold or italic) in the text of a
business document is not a good idea for two reasons. It pulls the eye around the text,
disrupting concentration, and it implies that readers won't realize the significance of words or
phrases without visual help.
Example: Use of Typographic Emphasis

Notice how the frequent use of bold and italic attract your eyes and cause small breaks in
your reading.
Considering her work ethic, Erin is committed to results, but she can improve her

performance in other ways. She relies too heavily on subordinates to prep her for client
meetings. Her relentless focus on the short term blinds her to the importance of long-term
planning and development that CCG and its clients need. For example, for six months she
has delayed fulfilling Chase Morris's request for an update of the group's long-term
strategy, despite rapid changes in the industry that the group covers.
Example: Use of Typographic Emphasis (Continued)
This version of the paragraph uses typographic emphasis once to highlight the topic.
Considering her work ethic, Erin is committed to results, but she can improve her
performance in other ways. She relies too heavily on subordinates to prep her for client
meetings. Her relentless focus on the short term blinds her to the importance of long-term
planning and development that CCG and its clients need. For six months she has delayed
fulfilling Chase Morris's request for an update of the group's long-term strategy, despite rapid
changes in the industry that the group covers.
Writing Style
Writing style refers to how a writer builds sentences. Every writer has developed a writing
style of some kind.
Style can be defined by answers to questions like these:
 Does your writing tend to include short sentences and action verbs, or are you more
comfortable with longer sentences and frequent use of passive voice?
 Do you like to use words that show you have a large vocabulary?
 Do you write fairly simple sentences or complicated ones?
 If you are writing English as a second language, does your writing style in your first
language have any effect, negative or positive, on your writing style in English?
A Writing Style for Business
The four qualities of good communication—directness, conciseness, clarity, and logic—
define a writing style for business. Remember that you have a restless, easily distracted, and
often interrupted reader to satisfy. To achieve the qualities of good communication, use the
Writing for Action Style.
The Writing for Action Style has five building blocks:
1. The sentence structure clearly links ideas.

2. Subjects perform actions.
3. Verbs express action.
4. Objects finish the action.
5. Each sentence uses plain language.
Example: Writing for Action Style

These two sentences use the Writing for Action Style.
1. Our product dominates the market.

Subject Verb Object
product dominates market
2. The non-profit provides essential services to the community.

Subject Verb Object
Non-profit provides essential services
Using the Writing for Action Style

Reminding yourself to use a specific style while writing a draft can interfere with self-
expression. Checking the style of each sentence after you write puts thinking on hold.
Use the editing stage to streamline sentences in the Writing for Action Style. Over time, your
default writing style will improve, reducing the amount of editing you need to do.
To edit sentences using the Writing for Action Style, use the following five-step process.
Step Editing Action Example

1. Find the action. What is the action in Quite a few services, most
the sentence? Find the main critical, were provided to
subject and verb. almost the entire community
by the non-profit.
2. Find the main idea. Identify the “kernel” Quite a few services, most
sentence—all the words critical, were provided to
expressing the main action: the almost the entire community
subject performing the action, by the non-profit.
the verb that expresses the
action, and the object that
receives the action.
3. Express the action. When possible, use an The non-profit provided
action verb to express the action services to the community.
in the kernel sentence.
4. Assess the rest. Inspect the sentence for Quite a few services, most of
words that add essential them critical, were provided
meaning. to almost
the entire community by the
non-profit.
5. Add to the kernel. Integrate the additional The non-profit provided
essential meaning into the critical services to the entire
sentence. community.
Passive Voice
The conventional writing advice on using the passive voice is simple: don't. The advice is
sound most of the time.
Passive voice has two characteristics that aren't conducive to good business writing:
 It removes the subject performing the action.

 It invites wordiness.
Example: Negative Effects of Passive Voice

The following sentence shows the downsides of passive voice:
Quite a few services, most critical, were provided to almost the entire community by the non-
profit.
The reader can’t understand the action of the sentence until the end, where the sentence
reveals the subject. The action-subject order and the words between the verb and the subject
are reasons why passive voice sentences are harder to read than active voice sentences.
The sentence can be edited into the active voice:
The non-profit provided critical services to the entire community.
Note that the active voice sentence is nearly 50 percent shorter than the passive voice version.
Sometimes, a writer has good reasons for using passive voice to remove the subject of the
action from a sentence. One such situation is the desire to communicate the consequences of
an action without drawing attention to the agent of the action.
Example: Shifting Emphasis with Passive Voice

You are writing an email about a meeting you had with a group of middle managers to
discuss proposed changes to their incentive package. The managers didn’t like the changes
and were vocal in their opposition to them.
You need to tell human resources how the meeting went, but you want to stress the
opposition to the changes, not the managers who opposed them. The passive voice gives you
a way to do that:
The changes to the incentive package were not well received.
Example: Using the Writing for Action Style

A press release from a large company included the following sentence:
While the acquisition could potentially have provided significant benefits, the company has
concluded that it is more important at the present time to focus on its immediate liquidity
challenges and, accordingly, considerations of such a transaction as a near-term priority have
been set aside.
The sentence clouds meaning. It can be revised using the five-step method.
1. Find the action.
been set aside.
2. Find the main idea.
been set aside.
What is the kernel sentence?
The company has concluded that it is setting aside a transaction because of cash flow
problems.
3. Express the action.
The company has concluded that it is setting aside a transaction because of cash flow
problems.
4. Assess the rest.
concluded that it is more important at
the present time to focus on its immediate liquidity challenges and, accordingly,
considerations of such a transaction as a near-term priority have been set aside.
5. Add to the kernel.
The company is cancelling the acquisition because of cash flow problems.

Plain Language
Earlier in this module, plain language was discussed as an aspect of conciseness and clarity.
It's also essential to a good writing style.
In the earlier discussion, a distinction was made between legitimate technical terms that
bolster clarity and buzzwords that weaken it. Clichés, euphemisms, and hedge words can also
reduce clarity. Here are definitions:
business buzzword
A business term that might once have had meaning but is now overused or misused.
cliché
A trite, overused word or phrase that isn't necessarily specific to business.
euphemism
A word or term that obscures or understates a negative or sensitive meaning.
hedge word
A word that enables a writer to avoid taking a position.
Business Buzzwords
Business has a large and ever-changing vocabulary of buzzwords. Here are some examples:
best of breed results-oriented

deep dive seamless
deliverable solution provider
digital native synergy solution provider
granularity synergy
incentivize thought leadership
in this space time to market
leverage value added
not enough bandwidth value chain
outside the box value proposition
Some of these terms, like value proposition, can be meaningful. But when used loosely, they
are bled of meaning. Other terms, like synergy, outside the box, and best of breed, are used
indiscriminately and retain little meaning.
Buzzwords often substitute vagueness for clarity. They can be the product of lazy writing—
the writer finds it easier to use buzzwords instead of more precise expressions.
Example: Beating the Buzzword Habit

Here's a sentence in an email from a team leader:
Team, we need to think outside the box on the Connor account!

Although concise, the sentence says nothing because it relies on the buzzwords outside the
box. Specifics relevant to the situation are much more meaningful to the audience.
Team, we know the Connor account theme has gotten stale. Before the client comes to the
same conclusion, let’s come up with some new ideas. Do you remember Jing’s idea about
using customer stories? Let's start there.
Clichés
Writers are fond of clichés because they're shortcuts to meaning. Clichés are pre-packaged
expressions that can be plugged into a sentence. Besides being tiresome to readers, clichés
can substitute for words that have more meaning for the intended audience.
Here are some clichés that often crop up in business writing:
at the end of the day pick the low-hanging fruit

drill down put the cart before the horse
get our arms around it the whole nine yards
on your plate win-win situation
Example: Clearing out Clichés

See if you can spot the clichés in the following sentence.
Let's look at this problem from 30,000 feet and see if we're putting the cart before the horse.
The sentence can be edited to rid it of the clichés, but editing should replace them with words
that mean something to the reader. Here's an edited version:
Let's take a broader look at the problem and ask ourselves whether we have the right
priorities.
Euphemisms and Hedge Words

When writers have to express a negative of some kind, they can be tempted to blunt or soften
it with euphemisms. Hedge words serve writers by avoiding commitment to a point of view.
The techniques can comfort a writer afraid of the audience’s reaction to candour. But they
can also lead to the bad habits of blurring the truth and evading responsibility. And your
audience may not take you seriously.
Example: Exchanging Euphemisms for Honesty

The following sentence has euphemisms and a hedge word that obstruct meaning.
The rightsizing seems to have impacted company morale.

Rewritten, the sentence has more meaning—and bite.
The layoffs hurt company morale.
Of course, in the real world, writers may choose indirect expression for a reason.
Example: Prudent Use of Euphemisms and Hedge Words
You are writing a memo to top executives about employee attitudes. Many employees are
upset and fearful after several rounds of forced retirements and layoffs. The executives need
to be informed of that, but you know they will probably bristle if you are blunt.
You could be justified in using a euphemism for workforce cuts. The justification is that the
audience still receives the critical information but with less likelihood that they will direct
anger at you.
The downsizing has hurt employee morale.

Hedge words, too, can be legitimate when the content of a sentence involves real uncertainty:
Although we have only partial data, they seem to indicate customers are more sensitive to
price than they have been in the past. To be completely confident in this conclusion, I need
more data.
Exercise: Using Plain Language

In each of the sentences below, click on the word you think is a buzzword, cliché,
euphemism, or hedge word. Some sentences have more than one. Once you have identified
the words, you’ll be given choices for replacing them. Pick the plain-language alternative.
We believe the nontrivial diminution of sales is perhaps best understood as a short-term

phenomenon.
Words Selection Responses
We believe the nontrivial Large decrease in sales

diminution of sales is
perhaps best understood as a Dropping of sales
short-term phenomenon.
We believe the nontrivial Can be considered

diminution of sales is perhaps
best understood as a short- Will be
term phenomenon.
We believe the nontrivial Short lived

diminution of sales is perhaps
best understood as a short- Temporary
term phenomenon.
Tone
Tone is the writer's attitude toward the audience and the subject as conveyed through the
message. Any speech, whether written or spoken, conveys some kind of tone. You should
calibrate your tone according to the purpose, audience, and topic.
Attitude has a large emotional component. Descriptions of tone use words
like friendly, hostile, courteous, detached, humble, confidence, and enthusiastic. We don't
choose our feelings; we have them. But we can control how we express feelings in writing.
You want to be able to modulate your tone to help the communication. Also, tone itself is an
important communication. Tone can tell the audience that you like them or are disappointed
in them.
Exercise: Interpreting Tone
Let's say you write the following sentence in an email:
Please be on time to the meeting.
How would you describe the tone the first time the speaker says the sentence?
Tone Tick
Humorous
Confident
Imploring
Angry
Calm
Your audience reads tone into written statements. To avoid misunderstandings, give the
reader enough information to read the words with your intended tone. Using the sentence you
just listened to, you could give additional cues so that the audience reads a positive tone:
Thanks in advance for being on time to the meeting — I need your support and expertise!
Tone Tick
Humorous
Confident
Imploring
Angry
Calm
Tone in Writing
Oral communication gives the audience rich information to gauge tone: words, voice, and
appearance of the speaker such as facial expression and body posture. In writing, the
information is much more limited. Even so, tone can be affected by almost any aspect of
writing, from word choice and sentence structure to grammar and punctuation.
Variables in a communication situation such as your relationship with the audience, status
and power differences, age, organizational culture, and national culture can shape tone.
In the message, the subject, point of view, writing style, and word choice can affect tone.
Example: Building Tone

The culture of an organization can influence the tone of communication. Employees of a
biotech start-up will probably communicate with a more personal and informal tone than
employees in a government agency or an insurance company.
Sample:
I have a fantastic double opportunity: to be CEO of the best company in the world and lead
you. Joining this company was the best decision I ever made (with the exception of asking
my wife to marry me). It's been an honour to work for this company and its founder.
I'm incredibly optimistic about our future and want to assure you that we're going to keep
doing what we've been doing and we're going to do it in the same way we've been doing it. I
have no desire to put my stamp on the company. In fact, it's the other way around: the
company has put its stamp on me and I'm proud of that.
In this organization, personal communication is welcome. The CEO uses the first person (I)
and feels comfortable expressing feelings (like “fantastic”). Furthermore, the company
culture seems to value spirit and enthusiasm ("best company in the world").
In business, a calm, respectful tone safely fits most occasions. But given the variables, there
are no rules. Consider tone in your writing with these questions:
 What tone best suits my purpose and audience?

 What other factors about tone, such as status difference, do I need to take into
account?
 Does my writing reflect the tone I intend?
You may have trouble gauging the tone of your messages. You may have the impression that
your writing always has the same tone—which is unlikely. Reading all or part of the message
out loud can be very revealing. Or ask someone to read your writing and give you feedback.
Exercise: Name that Tone

The paragraphs below say roughly the same thing. After reading each, decide whether the
tone will help the reader accept the meaning.
Looking at it from their point of view, they cannot be happy!! They did the contracts
themselves—for years!!—and all they herd was good for you. Now, someone (you) want to
look over their shoulders . . . . Loss of freedom = distrusting, resenting.
Yes or No
I personally would be offended if I were in the same position as the branch managers. I pride
myself on my ability to work independently, make good decisions, and ask questions and
receive guidance when necessary. This company has been a great place for people like me. I
am sure the branch managers think the same way.
Yes or No
The branch managers have always made these decisions on their own and have a good track
record. To them, the request unintentionally implies they've done something wrong. To them,
it seems to say you now have the power to approve or disapprove their contract decisions.
Yes or No
Case Study: Writing in Business

The Planning Communication module explains how to plan for informative and persuasive
communication. This module covers writing for both of these purposes: to inform and to
persuade.
It reviews informing and persuading and illustrates how to carry them out in writing with a
real-world example: a short case called “This Whole System Seems Wrong: Felipe Montez
and Concerns About the Global Supply Chain.” In the case, Felipe is Purchasing Director and
Product Designer at a Spanish electronics company (Tech Musica) that makes “fashion-
forward personal electronics” such as MP3 players. Felipe has encountered a serious problem
and told his boss Humberto about it, but the boss has rebuffed him.
Informative Writing
The module called “Planning Communication” defined the purpose of informative writing as
describing or explaining an object, location, process, and many other similar subjects.
Description communicates the details, characteristics, parts, and qualities of a person, object,
or other subject. Explanation complements description by stating how or why something
happens, is created, is performed, is valued, and so forth. In the business world, informative
writing often combines description and explanation.
Example: Informative Writing in Business

Here are examples of informative communication that describe and explain.
Subject of Description Explanation

Communication
Cell-phone The phone How to make calls, text, check the weather,
and features and so on.
Inventory management Features How to enter data, create reports, interpret

software and functions the reports, distribute information, etc.
Example: Felipe's Informative Memo
To begin his work on the informative memo, Felipe thinks about his purpose and audience.
Felipe's purpose is to describe the labour practices and working conditions at Tech Musica's
principal vendor in China, a factory in Guangdong.
Purpose of My Informative Memo
Subject of Communication Description
Factory Working conditions in the factory, the workers, workplace

health issues
Example: Felipe's Informative Memo (Continued)

Felipe is writing for his boss Humberto and asks some audience-related questions about him.
Audience of My Informative Memo

Question My Audience
Who is my audience? Humberto, my boss
What do audience That the factory conditions are bad but not the details.
members know about the
topic?
What is the attitude toward Wants to know about the conditions, but uncomfortable with
the topic? Do they have the problem. No bias to prevent him from accepting the facts
any biases related to the in the memo.
topic?
What is their attitude Humberto respects me. But does he trust me?
toward me?
What is my attitude Hopeful that Humberto has an open mind.

toward the audience?

Felipe needs to think about possible barriers to communication. He knows he has a secondary
audience, Estela, senior vice president of manufacturing. She is Humberto's boss.
Barriers and Secondary Audience of My Informative Memo
Question Felipe’s Audience
Who is my audience? Estela, Humberto’s boss

What do audience members know about Estela knows nothing about the conditions unless
the topic? she’s heard rumours about them.
What is their attitude toward the topic? Do Humberto wants to know about the conditions,
they have any biases related to the topic? but Humberto is uncomfortable with the factory
problem. I don't know if Estela has any biases. I
can talk to people I know well to see if they have
any information about this. Possible barrier to
communication: Like Humberto, Estela may be
uncomfortable with the topic and minimize the
seriousness of the facts.
What is their attitude toward me? I don’t know Estela well and I doubt she knows
much about me.
What is my attitude toward the audience? She has a reputation for being fair so I am
optimistic she will be receptive.

Felipe needs to think about possible barriers to communication. He knows he has a secondary
audience, Estela, senior vice president of manufacturing. She is Humberto's boss.
Barriers and Secondary Audience of My Informative Memo
Question Felipe’s Audience
Who is my audience? Estela, Humberto’s boss
What do audience members know about Estela knows nothing about the conditions unless
the topic? she’s heard rumours about them.
What is their attitude toward the topic? Do Humberto wants to know about the conditions,
they have any biases related to the topic? but Humberto is uncomfortable with the factory
problem. I don't know if Estela has any biases. I
can talk to people I know well to see if they have
any information about this. Possible barrier to
communication: Like Humberto, Estela may be
uncomfortable with the topic and minimize the
seriousness of the facts.
What is their attitude toward me? I don’t know Estela well and I doubt she knows
much about me.
What is my attitude toward the audience? She has a reputation for being fair so I am
optimistic she will be receptive.
Felipe then makes notes about the implications of the audience analysis for the memo.
Audience Analysis Notes for Felipe’s Informative Memo
Question Implications for Memo
Who is my audience? I am writing to people with more power and status than I have. I
want Humberto and Estela to understand that my primary
purpose is to help Tech Musica.
What do audience members I should describe all the important details and related facts like
know about the topic? the legal issues.
What is their attitude I don’t think Humberto or Estela will deny the facts. But they
toward the topic? Do they still may not want to do anything about them. I need to be
have any biases related to absolutely sure of my facts. I’ll need to research information like
the topic? any Chinese laws that apply to workplace conditions.
What is their attitude I have credibility with Humberto. I don’t have to go to great
toward me? lengths to prove I’m truthful. Humberto can back up my
credibility when talking to Estela.
What is my attitude The tone of the memo can be serious but friendly because of my
toward the audience? working relationship with Humberto. I might want to convey
empathy for Humberto because this is a tough issue for him. I
should avoid any hint that I felt let down by his initial
reaction. The tone I'll take with Humberto works for Estela, too.
Composing the Informative Memo

Use your purpose to direct and guide your collection of information. To start, put down
anything you think might be relevant and useful.
If you have source documents (often the case when writing an informative message), dig into
them and extract whatever seems connected and important to your purpose. Err on the side of
including rather than excluding. You may need to look for source documents inside and
outside the organization. The web provides unparalleled access to traditional sources of
information (newspapers, magazines, journals, reference works, government records) and
web-only sources such as blogs and websites.
Talk to people who may have pertinent information wherever they are—in your workgroup
or department, elsewhere in the organization, or outside it.

Felipe took notes during his trip to China. He also emailed representatives of other companies
who have visited the Guangdong factory. Their impressions generally confirmed his.
He is ready to create a writing plan based on his notes. If he finds he needs more content, he
will do research. He groups similar facts together into a rough plan.
My Initial Writing Plan: My factory tour at Guangdong

Factory Manager
 Factory manager didn't answer my question about the age of the workers.
 He said girls were slower than machines, but easier to “run” and “maintain.” He was
not joking.
 Girls are valued for small hands, vision.
Circuit Assembly
 Many workers are young girls, 12 to 16 years old.
 Rooms they work in are not air-conditioned and temperatures in the factory often
exceed 100 degrees.
 Girls are not allowed to look up for eight hours. No breaks.
 No magnifying glasses to ease the strain on their eyes.
 Only rooms with air conditioning are for machines that need a constant temperature.
Dormitories
Employees live in dormitories next to the factory that have no windows or running water.
Molding and Painting
 Villagers say that the people who work in dangerous areas of the plant—molding
and painting—are paid more because the exposure has caused serious illness, and
possibly deaths.
 Some employees work around melted lead or apply lead paint.
 They have only paper masks.
Felipe now considers whether he should add or subtract anything. He finds that several items
could benefit from more detail. He writes questions under the items to guide his research.
My tour of the factory at Guangdong

Circuit Assembly
 Many workers are young girls, 12 to 16 years old.
Are there any Chinese laws against young children working in a factory? Do they matter?
 Rooms they work in are not air-conditioned; temperatures in the factory often
exceed 100 degrees.
 Girls are not allowed to look up for eight hours. No breaks.
 No magnifying glasses to ease the strain on their eyes.
 Only rooms with air-conditioning are for machines that need a constant
temperature.
Are there any laws in China against poor factory conditions for workers? Are they enforced?
I know other companies faced situations like this one. What are some examples?
What did they do?
 Villagers say that the people who work in dangerous areas of the plant—molding
and painting—are paid more because the exposure has caused serious illness and,
possibly deaths.
 Some employees work around melted lead or apply lead paint.
 They have only paper masks.
How dangerous is working around melted lead or lead paint?

Felipe researches answers to his questions. He uses a variety of sources, including Chenfei
Guo, the company’s sales representative in East Asia. He will add what he has learned to his
writing plan.
Answers to My Research Questions

Are there any Chinese laws against young children working in a factory? Do they matter?
 By law, children younger than 16 years old are not allowed to work in factories.
 The law is not enforced very often. However, there is always the possibility that it
will be, or that a company will have bad publicity for tolerating vendors who treat
their workers poorly.
Are there any laws in China against poor factory conditions for workers? Are they enforced?
 China has laws that prohibit sweatshops. The government does not enforce the
regulations consistently for many reasons, including bribery and corruption. The
laws are sometimes enforced, however, and bad publicity usually follows.
I know other companies faced situations like this one. What are some examples?
 Nike, Mattel, and many other companies have received bad publicity for doing
business with sweatshops.
Did they suffer any consequences?
 Nike faced consumer boycotts in the 1990s and experienced large sales losses in the
year after its use of sweatshops was publicized.
 People still remember Nike's association with sweatshops many years after it first
came to light.
 Quote from a Nike executive: "[Our] initial attitude was, ‘Hey, we don't own the
factories. We don't control what goes on there.' Quite frankly, that was a sort of
irresponsible way to approach this."2
What did they do?
 Most of the companies accused of using sweatshops stopped using the vendors or
instituted vendor codes of conduct and factory audits.
 These new efforts often cost millions of dollars.
How dangerous is working around melted lead or lead paint?
 Melted lead produces vapor. If it is inhaled, it enters the body. Short-term exposure
can cause slight changes in nervous system function and muscle and joint pain.
Long-term exposure can cause memory and concentration problems, extreme
fatigue, reproductive problems, kidney failure, and even death.
 Lead paint also produces vapor and has the same dangers as exposure to melted
lead.
Organizing the Memo

Business writers face a trade-off: How much content is enough? How much is too much?
One benchmark is the average length of memos in your organization that have content
comparable to yours. Writing a memo that is much longer or shorter than the norm can
violate the audience's expectations and trigger negative reactions. Get to know your
organization's norms about the length of documents—they may be unstated. You can please
audiences by writing messages more concisely than others, but you shouldn't sacrifice critical
points or nuances. At the same time, some topics need more words to do them justice than
others. In those cases, let the audience know why extra length is necessary.

Felipe's writing plan has about 600 words, and he will need more to convert the plan into
paragraphs. He estimates the memo will exceed 1,000 words—longer than comparable
memos. But the topic is so vital to Tech Musica's interests that he believes the extra length
will be acceptable to Humberto.
Organic and Analytical Organizers

In the module called "Planning Communication," you learned two methods of ordering
informative content: organic and analytical.
To review the two types of organizers, their definitions, and examples, click here:
Briefcase: Organic Organizers of Information
Briefcase: Analytic Organizers of Information
Informative writing in business often describes a process. A key step in creating a writing
plan for a process is arranging the steps in the correct order.
Exercise: Mapping the Steps of a Process

Look at Felipe's outline and refer to the Organic Organizers of Information. Which one do
you think is best for Felipe's memo?
Felipe is telling a kind of story, a narrative of his visit, to put the reader in his shoes.
Narrative order seems best. He thought about using order of importance, but several facts
have nearly equal importance. And in this situation, it isn't the individual points that matter,
but the cumulative effect.
Exercise: Mapping the Steps of a Process
Informative writing in business often describes a process. A key step in creating a writing
plan for a process is arranging the steps in the correct order.
The items below describe a process for reporting sexual harassment in an organization. Drag
each item to the place in the process. If you drag an item to the wrong place, it will return to
its original position.
Steps Steps (In right order)
Investigators submit a report of the subject's

interview to HR.
Interview of the subject covers details of the

incident, any witnesses, and any previous
incidents, and desired outcome.
Investigators privately interview he subject

within 5 days.
Anyone else receiving a sexual harassment

complaint must report it to an HR in 24
hours.
HR appoints individuals to investigate the

complaint.
Within 15 days of interview with the

accused, investigators write a final report,
including interview statements, other
evidence, and recommended action.
Investigators privately interview the person

accused of harassment within 5 days of the
interview the subject. They describe the
subject’s complaint and ask for a response.
The subject of the alleged harassment

reports incident as soon as possible to the
supervisor, any manager, or human
resources (HR).
Example: Felipe's Final Writing Plan

Felipe has made changes to his writing plan. He has included the points from his research and
eliminated the “Factory Manager” section, moving the two items in it to other sections. He
moved the "Dormitories" section to the end because it seemed less important than the other
sections.
Felipe has put the plan into outline form to make the plan's logical relationships clear.
My Tour of the Factory at Guangdong

1. Circuit Assembly
a. The factory employs underage workers.
1. Many workers in the factory are young girls, 12 to 16 years old.
2. Factory manager didn't answer my question about the age of the girls
working on circuit boards.
3. Girls are valued for their small hands and good vision.
4. Factory manager said that, although the girls were slower than machines,
they were easier to "run" and "maintain." He was not joking.
b. By law, children younger than 16 years old are not allowed to work in
factories.
i. The law is not enforced very often. However, there is always the
possibility that it will be, or that a company will have bad publicity for
tolerating vendors who treat their workers poorly.
c. The factory subjects workers to unhealthy conditions.

i. Rooms the girls work in are not air-conditioned and temperatures in the
factory often exceed 100 degrees.
ii. Only rooms with air conditioning are those with machines that need a
constant temperature.
iii. Girls not allowed to look up for eight hours, and they have no breaks.
iv. No magnifying glasses are available to ease strain on their eyes.
d. China has laws that prohibit sweatshops.

i. The government does not enforce the regulations consistently for many
reasons, including bribery and corruption. The laws are sometimes
enforced, however, and bad publicity usually follows.
e. Nike, Mattel, and many other companies have received bad publicity for
doing business with sweatshops.
i. Nike faced consumer boycotts in the 1990s and experienced large sales
losses in the year after its use of sweatshops was publicized. People still
remember Nike's association with sweatshops many years after it first
came to light.
ii. Quote from a Nike executive: "[Our] initial attitude was, ‘Hey, we don't
own the factories. We don't control what goes on there.' Quite frankly, that
was a sort of irresponsible way to approach this." [Nike director Todd
McKean, 2001]
iii. Most of the companies accused of using sweatshops stopped using the
vendors or instituted vendor codes of conduct and factory audits. These
new efforts often cost millions of dollars.
ii. Molding and Painting
a. In areas of the plant employees work with dangerous materials.
i. Villagers say that the people who work in dangerous areas of the plant—
molding and painting are the two that I saw—are paid more because the
exposure has caused serious illness and, it is rumored, deaths.
ii. Some employees work around melted lead or apply lead paint to plastic
cases.
iii. They have only paper masks as protection.
b. Melted lead produces harmful vapours.

i. Short-term exposure can cause slight changes in nervous system function
and muscle and joint pain. Long-term exposure can cause memory and
concentration problems, extreme fatigue, reproductive problems, kidney
failure, and even death.
ii. Lead paint also produces vapor and has the same dangers as exposure to
melted lead.
3. Dormitories
a. Employees live in dormitories with bad conditions.
i. They have no windows.
ii. No running water.
Drafting
Felipe has taken considerable trouble to define and refine a writing plan. A reasonably settled
outline or writing plan expedites writing a draft. You don't have to keep all your points in
your head or worry about what point will follow the one you're writing.

Felipe usually starts a draft at the beginning. The drawback is that it’s sometimes hard to
write the introduction before writing the body of the memo. Instead, he will start with the
body. Because he has a detailed writing plan, the writing doesn’t take long.
Opening and Conclusion
With a draft in hand, you know what your message is and can write the opening and the
conclusion.
Openings are the most important part of business writing in this sense: You want to seize
readers’ attention so they are motivated to continue.
In informative writing, conclusions usher the reader out of the document. Conclusions let
readers go with a final thought or worthwhile piece of information.
Opening an Informative Message

You don't have to grab readers with verbal pyrotechnics—colorful language and daring or
provocative claims. In business, you give the audience a reason for reading.
Informative writing describes and explains. So an opening should tell the reader what
information will be delivered. The opening should address a fundamental audience need: why
audience members need the information.
Openings should also connect the new information with information the reader already
knows. This isn’t always possible because you may not know what the audience already
knows about the topic. But whenever the new information can be linked to audience
members’ prior knowledge, you should do it because it improves reader comprehension and
retention.
Remember that good business writing speaks to the reader directly, concisely, clearly, and
logically. Your openings should have those qualities or you risk losing readers.

Felipe's opening will define the topic of the memo: information about the employment
practices and working conditions of their main Chinese vendor.
Telling Humberto why the topic should interest him requires a little more thought.
Does Humberto want to read the memo only because he promised Felipe he would? Does he
want to learn the facts and decide for himself how bad they are?
Certainly, Humberto feels obligated to read the memo because of his promise.
But he may be experiencing some genuine doubt about his initial response of dismissing
Felipe's concerns. If the situation at the plant is bad, it could become a problem that
blindsides the company—and he would be the one manager who knew about it. To be fair,
Humberto may also have concerns about the plight of the workers.
Concluding an Informative Message

The conclusion can serve purposes such as these:
 Reinforcing an especially important piece of information

 Pointing the reader to other sources of similar information
 Telling the reader how to get questions answered
Sometimes you don't need a conclusion. In a description-explanation of a process, the process
has a last step that should be obvious to the reader. A conclusion should always have a value
for the audience. It should not be a contrived summation in flowery language.

The memo could end with a dramatic summation of the more egregious facts. If Humberto
were ready to march at Felipe's side, that type of ending might be a good motivator. But
Felipe has to assume his boss feels skittish and is looking for as many supporting facts as
possible to take to his own boss—if Humberto takes the problem to her.
Felipe writes a conclusion that is modest and brief. It serves a purpose—more information
from respected sources—but doesn't belabor the point.
To: Humberto
From: Felipe
Subject: Chinese Factory Report
Overall, most of our Chinese vendors are fine, but our main plant in Guangdong has bad
conditions that need our careful attention. Thanks for giving me the chance to tell you about
them.
Circuit Assembly
The first stop on my factory tour was the circuit assembly area, the largest in the plant,
located on the southwest part of the building, which is exposed to sun all day. The workers
sat on long benches that run the width of the room. I’m not sure how many workers there are,
but I estimated several hundred.
 Many of the workers in the factory are young girls, 12 to 16

years old.
 I asked the ages of the girls, but the factory manager didn’t answer. He obviously
knew the answer because he did not look pleased that I asked the question. Instead, he
told me that, although the girls are slower than machines, they are easier to “run” and
“maintain.” He was not joking. I did not laugh.
By law, children younger than 16 years old are not allowed to
work in factories. The law is not enforced very often. However, there is always the possibility
that it will be, or that
I was shocked and angered by the conditions in which these girls work. I’m sure you would
be too.
 Rooms the girls work in are not air-conditioned and temperatures in the factory often
exceed 100 degrees.
 They are not allowed to look up for eight hours, and they have no breaks.
 No magnifying glasses are available to ease strain on their eyes.
China has laws that protect workers; however, they are often not enforced.
Apple, Nike, and other companies have received bad publicity for doing business with
sweatshops. Nike faced consumer boycotts in the 1990s and experienced large sales losses in
the year after its use of sweatshops was publicized. People still remember Nike’s association
with sweatshops many years after it first came to light.
Todd McKean, a Nike executive, described how the company first responded to the use of
sweatshops: “[Our] initial attitude was, ‘Hey, we don’t own the factories. We don’t control
what goes on there.’ Quite frankly, that was a sort of irresponsible way to approach this.”
Apple has been criticized too for the working conditions in its supply chain. As the Nike
executive recommends, the company responded quickly and hasn’t experienced any drop in
sales.
 Some employees work around melted lead or apply lead paint to plastic cases.
 They have only paper masks as protection.
Short-term exposure to lead fumes can cause some changes in nervous system function and
muscle and joint pain. Long-term exposure can cause memory and concentration problems,
exhaustion, reproductive problems, kidney failure, and even death.
Led paint also produces vapor and has the same dangers as exposure to melted lead.
Ethically, these conditions are not ones with which we want to be associated. The company
would also look bad in the eyes of our customers if they knew of this situation.
Dormitories
 Employees live next door to the factory in dormitories that have no windows or
running water.
However, we should remember that factory jobs help many Chinese escape poverty and
improve their standard of living, and the factories stimulate local economies. We should be
careful not to force the owner into taking actions that result in a sudden loss of jobs. We
accomplish nothing in that case. The workers trade one set of hardships (working conditions)
for another (unemployment).
Revising the Draft

The goal of revising a draft is to improve the expression of your ideas for maximum effect on
readers. In the draft stage, you engage your ideas and give them a voice with as little filtering
as possible. In the revising stage, you read from the audience's point of view. The revising
stage is the pivotal moment in shifting from a private message (one that means something to
you) to a public message (one that means something to others).
Revision concentrates on the content, organization, and tone of the draft. Seeing your
thinking on a computer screen or piece of paper greatly improves your ability to work with it.
Set aside the first draft for a day or more if possible. Our brains need sleep to consolidate
memories, and the break helps us look at the draft with more energy and objectivity.
To guide revising, use the Revision Questions checklist.
To: Humberto
From: Felipe
Subject: Chinese Factory Report
Overall, most of our Chinese vendors are fine, but our main plant in Guangdong has bad
conditions that need our careful attention. Thanks for giving me the chance to tell you about
them.
Circuit Assembly
located on the southwest part of the building, which is exposed to sun all day. The workers
sat on long benches that run the width of the room. I’m not sure how many workers there are,
but I estimated several hundred.
 Many of the workers in the factory are young girls, 12 to 16 years old.
 I asked the ages of the girls, but the factory manager didn’t answer. He obviously
knew the answer because he did not look pleased that I asked the question. Instead, he
told me that, although the girls are slower than machines, they are easier to “run” and
“maintain.” He was not joking. I did not laugh.
By law, children younger than 16 years old are not allowed to work in factories. The law is
not enforced very often. However, there is always the possibility that it will be, or that a
company will have bad publicity for tolerating vendors who treat their workers poorly.
I was shocked and angered by the conditions in which these girls work. I’m sure you would
be too.
exceed 100 degrees.
China has laws that protect workers; however, they are often not enforced.
Todd McKean, a Nike executive, described how the company first responded to the use of
sales.
exhaustion, problem pregnancies, kidney failure, and even death.
Dormitories
running water.
accomplish nothing in that case. The workers trade one of set of hardships (working
conditions) for another (unemployment).
Conclusion
Thank you for taking the time to read this memo. I’m not in a position to say how dangerous
the risks are that I’ve laid out, but I do think they justify further discussion.
If you have any questions, please let me know.
Editing and Correcting

With time pressing, a writer can feel she must finish a message as quickly as possible, and
editing sentences and hunting mistakes can seem like an unnecessary delay. Nevertheless,
something is at stake: Poorly written sentences and mistakes in grammar, punctuation, and
mechanics cause readers to question the writer’s competence and credibility.
So don't skip this step or cut it short. Have a friend or colleague with good editorial skills
assist you, or take another break. With just an hour or two doing something else, you can
come back to your writing and see style problems and mistakes that you were oblivious to
before you stopped work.
Editing
The goal of editing is to make the writing as readable as possible. The Writing Style section
of this module explains the qualities of well-written sentences. The section includes a process
for editing sentences. It can be the main tool for your editing work.
Correcting
Some readers tolerate a few grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors and are generous to
writers working in a language other than their first. Writing well in a non-native language is
very difficult, and most audiences recognize that.
However, don't assume your audience will overlook a small number of mistakes—if you
don't know, ask people you work with how strict your readers are about grammar, spelling,
punctuation, and mechanics.
In any case, numerous mistakes slow readers down and can reduce their comprehension of
the overall message. When a reader encounters a mistake, she performs what reading experts
call a fix-up. She determines what the word or sentence is supposed to mean. Of course, each
fix-up interrupts the process of building meaning from the message. Many fix-ups fragment
the message for the reader and raise questions about the author's competence.

While working on his memo, Felipe noticed awkward-sounding sentences and mistakes—you
may have spotted some of them when reading drafts. Although Felipe stopped to work on
some, he left most of them to concentrate on content and organization. Now he edits
sentences and corrects mistakes.
Subject: Conditions and Risks at Our Main Chinese Factory
Overall, our Chinese vendars balance low costs, good quality, and decent working
conditions and without them we couldn’t be competitive with companies much bigger than
us. However, as I’ve discussed with you, I found worrisome employment practices and
working conditions at our principal vendars. I detail both in this memo and provide facts
about the risks they pose for our company. based only on the facts, I believe the risks warrant
our careful consideration.
Circuit Assembly
located on the southwest part of the building, which is exposed to sun all day . The
workers sat on long benches that run the width of the room. I’m not sure how many workers
there are, but I estimated several hundred.
exceed 100 degrees.
Risks of Child Labor and Poor Working Conditions
China has laws that protect workers however they are often not enforced.
Todd McKean, a Nike executive, described how the company first responsed to the use of
sales.
The second large area I visited includes painting and molding. At this plant, both involve the
use of lead.
Risks of Using Lead
exhaustion, reproductive problems, kidney failure, and even death.
Dormitories
Factory workers must live in company dormitories. In theory they could live in one of the
surrounding villages, but they have no acommodations.
 Employees live next to the factory in dormitories that have no windows or running
water.
Risks of Dormitories
In the company dorms, many workers are crowded into rooms with no windows, and diseases
spread rapidly. The absence of running water contributes to unsanitary living conditions,
which also are conducive to disease.
These conditions reduce productivity, and they also put our company in an ethically
questionable light. Our acceptance of the situation would also look bad to our customers.
We Should Do No Harm
accomplish nothing in that case the workers trade one set of hardships (working conditions)
for another (unemployment).
Conclusion
Thank you for taking the time to read this memo. I’m not in a position to say how dangerous
the risks are that I’ve laid out, but I do think they justify further discussion.
If you have any questions, please let me know.
Persuasive Writing
The “Planning Communication” module states that persuasive writing motivates an audience
to think, feel, or act in the way the communicator intends. Persuasion has power: It can
change people’s thinking and cause them to have strong emotions and do things they might
not otherwise do.
But it is up to the audience to decide whether to ally themselves with the communicator’s
purpose. Persuasion often fails, but one unsuccessful attempt doesn’t mean the communicator
won’t have more opportunities to try—or eventually realize her purpose.
Example: Persuasive Writing in Business
Businesspeople employ written persuasion for many different purposes. The examples in the
diagram illustrate the primary effects of a particular use of persuasion in business.
Example: Persuasive Writing in Business (Continued)

Subject Audience Think Feel Act
Where to go to Peers Go to a specific

lunch. restaurant.
Sell a new product. Sales staff Feel enthusiasm Sell

for the product. to customers.
Devise a solution to Technical Agree with Feel confidence. Implement the

a difficult problem. staff solution. solution.
Brand our Entire Think about the Feel excitement

organization. organization organization in and satisfaction.
a new way.
Persuading Versus Informing

Using writing to persuade an audience is a more difficult and complex task than using it to
inform. People will usually accept information once they understand its significance to them.
On the other hand, persuasion addresses subjects about which people disagree. As you know,
when adults think or feel a certain way about a subject, it can be hard to change their minds.
Change entails risk and risk often makes people uncomfortable or afraid. One persuasive
communication often won’t overcome audience resistance, particularly when the stakes are
high. So persuasion becomes a process consisting of multiple communications.
Frequently, persuasion requires persistence. The same message—or variations of it—may

have to be sent time after time. (In fact, research indicates that persistence is an essential
means for minorities to influence majorities.)
Exercise: How Much Persuasion?

This exercise asks you to decide whether a persuasive purpose requires a small number of
messages or a process involving many.
Below are several persuasive purposes. For each purpose decide whether “A Few Messages”
or “Process of Many” will be required to achieve the purpose.
Persuasive Purpose Number of Messages Responses
Change the incentive system Few / Process of Many
of an organization.
Recommend the promotion Few / Many
of an employee.
Persuade shareholders not to Few / Many
sell stock when the company
announces it will skip a
dividend payment.
Sell shareholders on the Few / Many
merits of an acquisition.
Convince a government Few / Many
agency to provide a subsidy
for the production of solar
panels.
Example: Felipe's Next Assignment

Felipe's boss, Humberto, read his informative memo and it has led to a new assignment.
Felipe’s informative memo created a basis for persuasion because it alerted Humberto to a
potentially serious problem. Felipe’s persuasive memo is a move toward solving it. By itself,
the memo isn’t likely to reach the objective.
Ultimately, the CEO will have to be convinced, and it’s reasonable to assume that more
communication, thought, and discussion will have to occur to reach that goal—if it can be
reached.
Example: Felipe's Next Assignment (Continued)

Felipe starts the new project by defining his purpose and revisiting his audience. Felipe has a
bold goal in mind. He wants the company to improve conditions in the Guangdong factory.
He has a longer-term goal too: to put an internal process in place so that the situation doesn’t
recur.
He can't make either purpose happen directly or immediately. He has to work through others
in the company chain of command: from Humberto to Estela, and from Estela to the CEO.
Purpose of the Persuasive Memo
Subject Audience What I want What I want What I want

the audience to the audience to the audience
think feel to do
Labour practices Humberto, my Understand the Troubled by the Take the

and working boss, and serious risks to situation and issue to the
conditions at the Humberto's boss, the company anxious to CEO and
Chinese factory Estela address it advocate
action

When planning the informative memo, Felipe gave a lot of thought to his audience, but he
revisits the questions he used because his purpose has changed and Estela is now part of his
primary audience. This time, he has to segment the audience because Humberto and Estela
have different positions in the company and different relationships with Felipe.
Humberto thinks that the facts justify considering some kind of action, which means he is
leaning toward Felipe’s desired outcome. Estela needs to know the facts, too; therefore, he
will include some of the factual content of the informative memo in his persuasive memo.
Because she, as a senior executive, has a broad perspective about the company, Felipe should
consider an argument that takes her perspective into account.
Felipe’s audience is heterogeneous in terms of their knowledge and feelings. Heterogeneous

audiences can be advantageous when you want to persuade them. Among audience members
with different points of view, you are more likely to find someone who agrees with you than
you would among audience members who are homogeneous in their thinking. Allies in the
audience can amplify your message and persuade other audience members.
Audience of My Persuasive Memo
Question Audience
Who is my audience? Humberto, and his boss, Estela
What do audience members Humberto knows the facts of the factory problem, but Estela
know about the topic? doesn't.
What is their attitude toward Humberto's awareness of the real risks for the company has
the topic? Do they have any made him uneasy. Humberto is supporting my opinion now
biases related to the topic? and that may cause Estela to be more open than Humberto
was initially. She has two girls and may feel strongly about
underage labour.
Possible barrier to communication: Representative bias
Both Humberto and Estela might believe that suggestions for

improvements at the factory must be expensive because
upgrades in a factory often are.
What is their attitude toward Humberto believes I am credible—I have concrete facts to
me? support my concern.
Possible barrier to communication: Estela's attitude

toward me.
She may feel I'm trying to save the world at company

expense.
What is I respected Humberto before and more so now. I don’t have
my attitude toward the strong feelings about Estela, but she has a good reputation as
audience? a manager who listens.

As he did before, Felipe considers whether there are any barriers to communication or
secondary audiences?
Barriers and Secondary Audience of My Persuasive Memo
Question Audience
Who is my audience? No secondary audience.
What is their attitude toward the Possible barrier to communication.

topic? Do they have any biases
related to the topic? Both Humberto and Estela could have an anchoring bias.
They may think that our cost numbers after we cut out the
middleman define success, forgetting that we were making a
good profit with somewhat higher costs.
What is their attitude toward Possible barrier to communication.

me?
Estela knows me largely by reputation and is very pleased by
the money I have saved the company recently.
What is my attitude toward the I respected Humberto before and more so now. I don’t have
audience? strong feelings about Estela, but she has a good reputation as
a manager who listens.

As he did before, Felipe considers whether there are any barriers to communication or
secondary audiences?
Question Audience
Who is my audience? No secondary audience.
What is their attitude toward the Possible barrier to communication.

topic? Do they have any biases Both Humberto and Estela could have an anchoring bias.
related to the topic? They may think that our cost numbers after we cut out the
middleman define success, forgetting that we were making a
good profit with somewhat higher costs.
What is their attitude toward Possible barrier to communication.

me? Estela knows me largely by reputation and is very pleased by
the money I have saved the company recently.

Here's Felipe's thinking that takes into account his analysis of the audience.
Question Implications for Memo
Who is my audience? The tone of the memo should be a little more formal
because I don’t know Estela well, she’s a senior manager,
and the topic is serious.
What do audience members I should include facts to show Estela what the problem is.
know about the topic?
What is their attitude toward the I have to show that Humberto's concern for the issue is well
topic? Do they have any biases founded. The best way to do that is present an evidence-
related to the topic? backed argument.
I don’t want to play on their emotions in an obvious way,
but I do want to include evidence with emotional content
such as child labour and the grave marketing problems we
could have.
To answer any anchoring bias, I will remind them that very

recently we saved up to 30% on our costs and let them
know that factory improvements do not require large
outlays.
What is their attitude toward me? Estela knows the savings I’ve made possible, which means I
already have some goodwill and credibility with her. On
this issue, I’ll have to build on the trust “capital” I’ve
earned and show that I know the facts.
What is my attitude toward the I want to give Humberto a memo that puts him on solid
audience? ground with Estela, and I want her to think I’ve made a
strong case.
Composing the Persuasive Memo
Creating persuasion involves appeals to reason, emotion, and character. The goal is to take
the best possible advantage of these three resources in a message.
Reason is the primary tool of persuasion in business because businesspeople prefer rational
choices grounded in factual evidence. Emotions play a strong role, too—a role that business
audiences very often underestimate. Much work in different disciples, from psychology and
neuroscience to economics, has come to the same conclusion: Our rationality isn't as rational
as it is commonly assumed to be. Nevertheless, to be skilled at persuasion in business, you
have to be particularly skilled in reasoning.
Using Argument to Persuade

Arguments use reason to prove that a conclusion is likely to be true. Why "likely to be true"
instead of "true"? Even in science, proof of unequivocal truth is hard to come by. In business,
data are never perfect or complete, and many contingencies are in play.
A decision, for example, is a kind of prediction about the future. Because the future is always
uncertain, we can’t say that the decision will without doubt have the desired result. The
history of business is littered with choices that seemed to be well reasoned and turned out to
be completely, and often expensively, wrong.
But we don’t have a better tool than rational argument, and, if used carefully and critically, it
can have results that are better than rolling the dice or going only with gut feelings.
Planning Communication explained three types of arguments common in business:
 Diagnosis
 Evaluation
 Decision
Each type of argument has a characteristic organization that can be used for writing. The
templates define the parts of decision, evaluation, and diagnosis arguments. You can use
blank templates to plan arguments for a written message or a presentation.
Example: Felipe's Persuasive Memo

Felipe developed a significant amount of factual content for his informative memo that is
potential evidence. First, however, he has to have an argument that can use the evidence.
Felipe uses the questions introduced in "Planning Communication" to start developing an

argument. His notes are underneath the questions.
What arguments can I make to achieve my purpose?

 I want the audience, Humberto and Estela, to advocate a decision to improve
conditions in the Guangdong factory. So I’ll be writing a decision argument.
The heart of a decision argument is criteria—that’s what you build the argument around.
I’ll take a stab at criteria for the memo:

 Ethics: This criterion means the most to me but may not to members of the
audience. It’s a powerful argument but not enough to persuade an executive
audience.
 Legal liability: I learned about this writing the first memo.
 Marketing: I know that other companies have suffered from disclosures about their
supply chain. I will ask our marketing department what they think the impact would
be on us.
 Costs: Production costs may not be at the top of my list as a criterion, but they are
for senior managers. They have to take it very seriously to protect employees and
shareholders—I respect that. Of special concern is our reliance on Chinese
companies for a high-quality, low-cost supply chain. Without it we can’t compete in
the hypercompetitive consumer electronics industry.
What evidence do I have or need to support my arguments?
I have evidence for most of the criteria but need more on marketing and costs.
 Ethics: Underage workers and toxic exposure—I have enough evidence for this
criterion.
 Legal liability: I can use the facts in my informative memo about underage labor
and working conditions.
 Marketing: If it can happen to Nike, it can happen to us. I have evidence to make
that analogy work. But I need evidence from the marketing department because I’m
not an expert.
 Costs: What I need here is an estimate of costs for making relatively small changes
to conditions in the short term and larger changes down the road. I need to talk to
our manufacturing group or possibly someone outside who has the right expertise.
In addition, I need to show that I’m not suggesting anything that will undermine our
competitiveness.
Using a Template for a Writing Plan
One advantage of knowing the type of argument is that you can use the template early in the
writing process as the basis for a writing plan. Felipe uses "Template: Decision Argument" to
think about the factory issue as a subject of persuasion.
Template Defined: Decision Argument

Researching and Developing a Writing Plan
Business arguments need to be backed by evidence. An argument is no better than the
evidence that grounds it in reality. By providing facts and connecting them to the argument,
you invite the audience to verify it for themselves.
First, though, you need to find the evidence. Never before has the individual had such easy
access to information, thanks to technology. But remember that evidence is more than
information: It is information or data that can be clearly linked to an argument that backs a
conclusion.

Felipe did research to strengthen the weak spots he found when making notes on his decision
criteria.
He talked to two marketing managers and then the senior vice president for marketing. The
VP was alarmed by Felipe’s account of the factory. He noted that demographics and
psychographics don’t predict socially conscious buying very well, but their customers were
heavy users of the Internet and social media. It was hard to say whether news organizations
or advocacy groups would show any interest in a single Chinese factory. But if the news
made it to the Internet, it would spread quickly on the web.
The vice president also noted that bad news about a company’s values and behavior was
more influential on buying decisions than good news. Complicity in bad labor practices,
especially ignoring the use of child labor and disregarding worker safety, could be
devastating to the reputation of the company.
Example: Felipe's Persuasive Memo (Continued)

Felipe also had conversations with a member of the manufacturing group. She was very
helpful. She found some Chinese suppliers on the web and got estimates for items that could
improve the working conditions at the factory: magnifying glasses, masks and clothing for
working around lead, and air conditioning. The cost of these items was modest.
With the additional evidence gained from research, Felipe creates an initial writing plan.
My Persuasive Memo: Initial Writing Plan

1. State the Decision
We need to respond to the discovery of underage workers and poor working conditions at
the Guangdong factory of our principal Chinese vendor.
2. State the Decision Options
 Take corrective action.
 Do nothing.
3. State My Recommendation
Our company needs to improve labor practices and working conditions at the factory of our
main Chinese vendor.
4. State the Criteria
 Ethics
 Legal liability
 Marketing
 Costs
5. Prove the Recommended Decision
 Ethics
o Description of factory labour practices and poor and dangerous working
conditions
o Vendor violating our ethical values
 Legal liability
o Laws against child labour, sweatshop conditions
o Risk of enforcement and bad publicity
o Lawsuits
 Marketing
o Loss of sales
 Bad publicity spreads on Internet
 Customers sensitive to abuses
 If customers abandon us, brand is damaged
 Analogy: Nike
 Mention that marketing department supports argument
 In the long run, use ethics to enhance our brand?
 Costs
 Have saved up to 30 percent on outsourced manufacturing
 Use some of savings from eliminating middleman
 Can keep cost of improving conditions low
 Better working conditions should result in better efficiency
6. Rebut the Other Option
 Do nothing.
7. Conclusion

After reviewing the writing plan, Felipe doesn't think he needs more factual information
because he compiled so much for the first memo. This may not be the case for many
persuasive memos you write. You'll ask questions similar to those Felipe asked for the
writing plan of the informative memo.
Felipe did make some changes to the plan during his review, including an idea for the
conclusion, and he made a few notes about writing the draft. Here are the changes he made to
the plan.
My Persuasive Memo: Writing Plan Revisions

 Take corrective action
 Do nothing
 Change vendors
 Legal liability
 Marketing
 Costs
 Ethics
 Marketing
o Loss of sales
 Bad publicity -> spreads on Internet
 Customers knowledgeable, sensitive to abuses
 Buy from competitors
 Ethics
o Underage workers
o Poor and dangerous working conditions
6. Rebut the Other Options
 Change vendors.
 Do nothing.
7. Conclusion
Exercise: Building an Evaluation Argument
The owner of an upscale hair salon, HairPower, wants to approach the owner of another
business, Natural Nails, which offers manicures, pedicures, and foot massage, about a
partnership.
The owner is writing an evaluation of the deal to sort out her thinking. She's using three
criteria: balanced business benefits, complementary services, and a fair partnership
agreement. Drag each evidence sentence to the evaluation criterion it applies to. If the
placement is incorrect, the sentence will return to its original position.
Statements Evidence sentences relevant to Balanced Business

Benefits
Our stores have similar
"personalities": warm, fun,
welcoming.
We have a common problem: intense
local competition.
As partners, we will set ourselves Evidence sentences relevant to Complementary
apart from competitors more than we Services
can separately.
After the pilot period, we decide
whether to extend the partnership for
a year.
Start with a three-month pilot test of
the partnership.
Our services don't overlap. Evidence sentences relevant to Fair Partnership
Agreement
Statements Evidence sentences relevant to Responses

Balanced Business Benefits
Our stores have similar As partners, we will set ourselves The partnership could
"personalities": warm, fun, apart from competitors more than benefit both businesses.
welcoming. we can separately.
We have a common problem: The partnership could benefit both Both businesses contend
intense local competition. businesses. with the same level of
competition.
As partners, we will set Evidence sentences relevant to Responses

ourselves apart from Complementary Services
competitors more than we can
separately.
After the pilot period, we Our stores have similar The businesses have
decide whether to extend the "personalities": warm, fun, compatible identities.
partnership for a year. welcoming.
Start with a three-month pilot The businesses have compatible The partners have
test of the partnership. identities. complementary service
offerings.
Our services don't overlap. Evidence sentences relevant to Responses

Fair Partnership Agreement
Evidence sentences relevant Start with a three-month pilot test Both parties can see
to Balanced Business of the partnership. whether they benefit
Benefits without making a long-
term commitment.
Both parties can see whether they Both decide to make a
benefit without making a long- longer commitment.
term commitment.
Building Arguments
An argument's essential elements are a conclusion and the evidence that backs it up.
The work of building an argument largely consists of developing the evidence that will
convince your audience to accept your conclusion. The templates for decision, evaluation,
and diagnosis arguments guide the search for evidence. For instance, a decision criterion for a
proposed project—its Net Present Value—tells you the kind of evidence you need. You have
to collect information relevant to the NPV formula and make the calculation.
The evidence used to build arguments comes in several forms:
 Facts
 Inferences
 Opinions
 Assumptions
Using Facts
Business arguments rest on facts, the gold standard of business persuasion. For an argument
to be persuasive, however, the audience must believe the facts can be trusted.

On Felipe’s outline, ethics is the first criterion. Felipe could use a generalization, saying that
his company could be ethically compromised because its vendor uses underage workers and
maintains bad working conditions. However, the facts, such as ages of workers in the plant
and the details of the conditions they work under, are more convincing than a summary
statement.
Using Inferences
Another form of reasoning is inference, a conclusion drawn from facts or reasoning.

One of Felipe's criteria is marketing, and his major argument is that labor abuses in the
supply chain can lead to a loss of sales for the company. Logically, though, it's a long way
from labor problems to loss of sales. To convince his audience, he needs to show how they
connect.
He links them as follows:
Criterion: Marketing
 Labor abuses around the world are frequently exposed; information is distributed
via the Internet and social media like Twitter, Facebook, and Tumblr.
 Our customers are heavy users of the Internet, and social media.
 They learn of abuses in our vendor's factory. They may be sensitive enough to labor
practice issues to change their buying behavior.
 They buy from another company.
 We lose sales.
Using Opinions
A common form of evidence in business is opinions, usually of experts. Another term for this
is argument from authority. Depending on the stature of the experts, their opinion can be
compelling. (Of course, experts can be wrong.)

In his persuasive memo, Felipe will state that the senior vice president for marketing agrees
that a disclosure about poor treatment of workers could hurt sales. The senior vice president’s
statement strengthens the argument. So, too, will the Nike executive's quotation. The
executive has authority because of his experience dealing with a comparable crisis.
Using Assumptions
Every argument ultimately rests on assumptions, as the “Planning Communication” module
shows. When used in persuasion, arguments must have assumptions acceptable to the
audience. Otherwise, the argument will very likely fail to convince. It's wise, then, for writers
to evaluate the assumptions of their major arguments.

Because people have different values, Felipe realizes that he should understand the
assumptions of his ethical arguments. His ethics arguments are:
Ethics Argument 1
 Our vendor uses child labor.
 Our vendor is violating our ethical values.
Assumption
 Any vendor using child labor violates our ethical values.
Ethics Argument 2
 Our vendor exposes unprotected workers to toxic materials.
 Our vendor is violating our ethical values.
 Assumption
 Any vendor exposing unprotected workers to toxic materials violates our ethical
values.
 Will Felipe’s audience accept these assumptions? He thinks so.
But he also knows that people may agree that the vendor is violating their ethical values but
disagree over whether to do anything about it. For some people, the ethical argument could
be persuasive on its own. For others, however, additional arguments will be needed.
Fortunately, Felipe has them: legal liability, marketing, and cost.
Using Emotions to Persuade

Skilled writers stimulate feelings that assist in persuading the audience and, sometimes,
inhibit feelings that work against persuasion.
Because persuasion in business relies on rational argument, the writer attempts to align
audience emotion with the argument.
How does a writer evoke emotion in a business audience? Facts can create feelings such as
when someone yells "Fire!" (see the graphic). The same type of reaction can happen in a
business meeting.
Everyone in a meeting is likely to have an emotional reaction to the fact statement about
losing customers (see the graphic). The words aren’t a direct emotional appeal like, "We
should all be terrified that our customers are leaving." The individual stated a fact—a fact
that registers both rationally and emotionally.
Emotional Proof
Sometimes written language does have a primarily emotional function. Say that a manager
sends a memo to an underperforming team. At the end, she writes, “You can do it!” The
primary function is to make team members feel more confident.
People have scientifically proven emotional levers, and communicators can employ them for
persuasion.
In his article, “Harnessing the Science of Persuasion” Robert B. Cialdini has identified six
levers:
Cialdini's Six Levers of Emotional Influence
Emotional Influence Definition Example

Liking Liking someone
You ask a friend to give a job interview
who likes us to someone you know.
Reciprocity Repaying what we have
As an inducement, you say that your
received or giving what we organization will provide needed services
hope to receive back to a potential business partner.
Social proof Influence of others perceivedYour hotel tells guests that 80% of guests
to be similar to ourselves do not ask for new towels during their
stay.
Consistency Tendency to honor our You cite the long-time company mission
commitments statement as support for your positive
evaluation of a new line of business.
Authority Deference You use government safety research to
(often excessive) we give to help sell an automobile.
experts
Scarcity Value we give to something You tell loyal customers that they have
that is scarce only one week to take advantage of
special pricing.
Communicators can use every one of the six emotional influences effectively in the
appropriate situation. Social proof and authority have particular power for written persuasion.
Social proof may be the engine that powered social media to the heights of popularity they
now enjoy—and, in the case of Facebook, with some assistance from liking. An entire
generation of young people flocked to social sites in part because their friends did.
Businesses liberally use social proof. Amazon's "Customers Who Bought This Item Also
Bought" section of product pages and customer reviews both seek to take advantage of peer
influence.
People’s deference to authority is used in countless ways. In television commercials, doctors

recommend health-related products and athletes endorse sports products, for example.
Sometimes lowering the temperature of feelings constitutes an emotional proof. Say that a
CEO has invested many millions in a project that has produced nothing the company can sell.
He can invest several more millions in this project or in a new project that has a far better
chance of being profitable.
If you were recommending a decision to invest in the new project, you might say that the old
project taught the company worthwhile lessons that it can apply to the new one. By finding
value in the old project and avoiding any criticism of it, you steer feelings in a positive
direction that is favorable to your recommendation.
Exercise: Eliciting Feelings in Writing

Felipe writes several statements connecting parenting to the factory issue. Which one should
he include in the persuasive memo and which should he not include?
Statements About Parenting Selection & Response
Every parent in the company has to feel a
special responsibility to end the use of child
labor in our vendor's factory.
I am hoping that you will care about the
child laborers in the factory as if they were
your own children.
Whether a parent or not, no one in our
company wants to be associated with child
labor.
Imagine that your children were working in
the factory. How would you feel? Would
you want to do everything you could to get
them out of the factory and into school?
Statements About Parenting Selection & Response
Every parent in the company has to feel a No: Telling an audience what they should
special responsibility to end the use of child feel is a high-risk move. Most adults resent
labor in our vendor's factory. it.
I am hoping that you will care about the Yes: This sentence says essentially the same
child laborers in the factory as if they were thing as (a), but indirectly. The audience
your own children. might well think that behind "I am hoping
that you will" is "you should care about the
child laborers in the factory as if they were
your own children."
Whether a parent or not, no one in our Yes: This statement is likely an accurate one
company wants to be associated with child about the feelings of the audience. It
labor. includes everyone, but by mentioning
"parent," it suggests that parents might have
stronger feelings about the issue.
Imagine that your children were working in No: Well-intentioned parents can't save
the factory. How would you feel? Would every child in the world. The audience
you want to do everything you could to get might not register the unfairness of the
them out of the factory and into school? claim consciously, but the statement would
likely arouse negative feelings toward the
writer.

Felipe has several sources of emotional proof that he can use in his persuasive message:
1. The description of child labor and the workers exposed to dangerous materials and the
analogy to Nike have great potential to evoke distress, anger, and anxiety—feelings favorable
to Felipe's purpose. Felipe has other arguments with emotional potential. Arguing the
possibility of legal liability and the erosion of customers, sales, and brand integrity should
have emotional repercussions, possibly quite strong ones, for audience members. Again, the
likely emotions should cause Felipe's audience to be more responsive to his recommendation.
2. Felipe has authority no one else in Tech Musica possesses: He spent time in the
Guangdong factory.
3. Citing Nike and Apple invokes social proof. Tech Musica is a far smaller company, but it
competes with Apple and, like both Nike and Apple, is a western company taking advantage
of low manufacturing costs in China. Their actions to protect worker welfare are "proof" that
other companies should do the same.
Exercise: Using Cialdini's Emotional Levers

Felipe may be able to employ some of Cialdini's emotional levers. Read the choices below
and decide which ones Felipe can use to persuade his audience and which he shouldn't use.
Lever How Felipe Might Use It
Authority Give his own opinions on the marketing consequences of the factory
problem.
Authority Provide an eyewitness account of the Guangdong factory.
Consistency Make clear to the audience that his opinion about the factory is
consistent with company values.
Scarcity Say that the company needs to act soon.
Reciprocity Promise to relieve his audience of the work to implement a solution to
the factory problem by doing it himself.
Lever How Felipe Might Use It Selection & Response
Authority Give his own opinions on the No, Felipe isn’t recognized as a
marketing consequences of the marketing expert. He can,
factory problem. however, support his argument
with expert opinion from the
company’s marketing group.
Authority Provide an eyewitness account of Yes, the only person from Tech
the Guangdong factory. Musica who has seen the factory
is Felipe. He is the authority on
the subject.
Consistency Make clear to the audience that his Felipe should show that the
opinion about the factory is audience is being consistent with
consistent with company values. their own values by accepting his
recommendation.
Scarcity Say that the company needs to act Instilling a sense of urgency in
soon. the audience can aid persuasion.
Reciprocity Promise to relieve his audience of Using this lever could remove a
the work to implement a solution potential source of audience
to the factory problem by doing it resistance to Felipe's purpose:
himself. that by accepting his decision
they will add to their workload.
Using Character to Persuade

Character in persuasion means the audience's attitude toward the communicator.
Persuasion can depend on character to “prove” a conclusion. A television public service

announcement used a series of celebrities—movie actresses, musicians, famous chefs, and
athletes—to persuade viewers to join an environmental campaign. The announcement said
very little about the purpose or benefits of the campaign, banking instead on the audience's
favorable attitudes toward the celebrities to win recruits.
When putting forward a business-related opinion, communicators have been known to
depend primarily on character to persuade an audience. In February 2008, Ben S. Bernanke,
chair of the Federal Reserve System, provided a somewhat grim picture of the U.S. economy,
but came to the following conclusion: “the baseline outlook envisions an improving picture . .
.”2 The audience was reassured by the conclusion not because of the argument laid out in the
written statement, but because of their confidence in the communicator and his authority.
The module called “Planning Communication” identifies two components of character in

business communication: knowledge and credibility.
Knowledge
The audience's conviction that the writer is knowledgeable about the topic is mandatory for
persuasion. It helps to have a halo—a pre-existing audience belief that the writer has the
required knowledge. But the halo can be perishable. Each message must confirm that the
communicator can address the topic with authority.
Writers reinforce their authority through the following:
High-quality argument
A sound argument and transparent evidence give an audience confidence in the writer.
Relevant knowledge
As a sign of competence, audiences pay attention to the writer's command of relevant
knowledge. If you want to be taken seriously, you must have the knowledge that the audience
considers necessary to draw conclusions about the subject.
High-quality writing
Well-written persuasion has multiple effects, and one effect is the favourable response it
elicits from audiences. Audiences may not be conscious of it, but as they read, they evaluate
the writer behind the message. A writer doesn't need brilliant insight to impress readers. A
message that is direct, concise, clear, and logical reflects well on the writer.
Credibility
A writer substantiates credibility in numerous ways. Here are just a few of them:
Transparent evidence
Transparency of evidence means that readers know where your evidence comes from and can
confirm or, in the case of calculations, duplicate it.
Use of trusted sources

Your evidence comes from or is based on sources the audience trusts, such as company
documents or external sources such as well-known business databases.
Endorsement by a trusted individual or group

Someone the audience respects supports your point of view or the usefulness of
communicating it.
Objectivity
You don't betray a bias toward a particular point of view. You earn it with a convincing
argument.

Felipe has a crucial character asset: He has saved Tech Musica a great deal of money.
Everyone knows that and has esteem for him.
He can build on that strong base with a strong argument, knowledge relevant to the situation
the company finds itself in, and skilled writing.
Felipe isn't an expert on marketing or dealing with troubles in the supply chain. To
compensate, he can "borrow" the expertise of the senior vice president of marketing and the
Nike executive.
Organizing the Memo

The templates for organizing persuasive arguments help plan the content and organization of
a message.
As a planning tool, the templates tell the writer the types of content needed for an argument.
As an organizing tool, templates guide the writer in arranging the argument in a logical order.
Readers like predictability in the organization of a written message and dislike

unpredictability. Structure helps readers make predictions about what will come next in the
text, to locate key ideas, and to remember what they have read as they progress through a
message.
Felipe takes a final look at the writing plan and makes choices about the criteria and the
conclusion.
My Persuasive Memo: Criteria

State the Criteria
Now I have to make a final decision on the order of the criteria. I'm wondering whether to put
costs first because it's going to be the first thing on Estela's mind—and the CEO's if this issue
gets that far. But I can't make a strong argument about cost without first showing the
marketing consequences of the problem—we will pay a high financial cost for lost customers
and brand integrity.
The marketing argument has to come before the costs argument. The argument about legal
liability can come after marketing because it's less likely to occur and would probably have
less financial impact on the company than the marketing problem.
I have ethics as the first criterion and I'm going to keep it there. First, it provides the platform
for describing the factory labor practices and working conditions, which have to be
established to make the other arguments work. Second, it may be the easiest argument to
make. I'm nearly certain that Humberto and Estela will both agree with the assumptions about
ethics I teased out earlier.

Here's his complete writing plan. At this point, it has a lot of detail, which should allow
Felipe to write the draft quickly.
My Persuasive Memo: Final Writing Plan

1. State the Decision
 We need to respond to the discovery of underage workers and poor working
conditions at the Guangdong factory of our principal Chinese vendor.
 Do nothing.
 Change vendors.
3. State My Recommendation
Our company needs to improve labor practices and working conditions at the factory of our
main Chinese vendor.

 Ethics
 Marketing
 Legal liability
 Costs
 Ethics
o Description of factory labor practices and poor and dangerous working
conditions
o Vendor violating our ethical values
 Marketing
o Loss of sales
 Labour abuses around the world are frequently exposed;
information is distributed on the Internet and social media like
Twitter, Facebook, and Tumblr.
 Our customers are heavy users of the Internet, and social media.
 They learn of abuses in our vendor's factory. They may be
sensitive enough to labour practice issues to change their buying
behaviour.
 If they buy from competitors, our brand is damaged.
 We lose sales.
 Analogy: Nike
 Marketing department supports argument
 In long run, use ethics to enhance our brand?
 Legal liability
o Laws against child labour, sweatshop conditions
o Risk of enforcement and bad publicity
o Lawsuits
 Costs
o Have saved up to 30 percent on outsourced manufacturing
o Use some of savings from eliminating middleman
 Can keep cost of improving conditions low
 Better working conditions should result in better efficiency
6. Rebut the Other Options
 Change vendors.
 Do nothing.
7. Conclusion
 Quote of the Nike executive: Not responding to poor working conditions in supply
chain is irresponsible.
Drafting
When you write a draft of a persuasive message, attending to logical argument, audience
feelings, and the representation of your character is too much to do at the same time. The
solution is to separate these tasks.
First, write the argument. Let it be the focus in the first draft. Second, as you revise, look for
opportunities to embed in the message emotion and positive impressions of you.

Read the first draft of Felipe's persuasive memo.
Memo:
Our supply chain in China is a strategic asset, without it we could not hope to compete
against the larger companies in the industry. On my recent trip to the country, I toured our
suppliers and found that most provide good value and quality and have acceptable conditions
for their workers. There was one exception: our principal supplier in Guangdong. There I
discovered underage workers and poor working conditions. As a result, we have a decision to
make about how to respond.
As I see them, we have three options: Take corrective action, change vendors, do nothing.
I strongly believe we need to take action regarding the plant and have come to this conclusion
for several reasons.
Because no one else from our company has ever visited the Guangdong plant, I will describe
the most serious conditions I found:
exceed 100 degrees.
 Girls are not allowed to look up for eight hours, and they have no breaks.
 No magnifying glasses are available to ease the strain on their eyes.
 Some employees work around toxic materials: melted lead and lead paint.
 They have only inadequate paper masks as protection against lead fumes.
running water.
I’m certain we can all agree that our association with these conditions violates our ethical
values.
The factory uses child labour extensively. The children do not go to school and work in
conditions that may ruin their health. Underage workers are paid less and are more docile
than adults, making them less likely to object to how they are treated.
In the factory, employees work with lead without protection against toxic vapors from lead.
Short-term exposure can cause some changes in nervous system function and muscle and
joint pain. Long-term exposure can cause memory and concentration problems, exhaustion,
reproductive problems, kidney failure, and even death. Lead paint also produces vapor and
has the same dangers as exposure to melted lead.
In the company dorms, many workers are crowded into rooms with no windows. Diseases
spread rapidly, and the absence of running water contributes to unsanitary living conditions,
which also are conducive to disease. Finally, because of the crowding and coming and going
of shift workers, dorm residents have trouble getting enough sleep. Fatigue results in
workplace accidents and lower productivity.
(Add paragraph: We are part of the problem?)

Labor abuses all over the world are frequently exposed in the media, and the information is
available worldwide on the Internet, often overnight. We sell primarily to young people, and
many of them feel strongly about social issues such as treating workers fairly and humanely.
If the conditions at our vendor’s factory are publicized, many of our customers will learn
about them on the Internet. As we know, in the consumer electronics industry, consumers
don’t lack choices. Overnight we could lose customers to our competitors; eventually, the
losses could be crippling.
We could hope that few of our customers learn about the factory and those who do will not
stop buying from us. Do we want to make this bet with our reputation? Nike did and lost.
Apple has encountered the same problem, and we don’t know how the story will end.
Obviously they are much larger companies with financial resources many times ours, giving
them greater resiliency.
By taking action, we can turn a liability into an asset. We can make our concern for overseas
workers part of our marketing, differentiating us from companies that care only for profits.
not enforced very often. However, there is always the possibility that it will be or that a
China has laws that prohibit sweatshops. Although the laws are sporadically enforced, there
may be the potential for lawsuits against us by workers who are harmed while working at the
factory.
Let’s remember, too, that our entanglement in legal problems over sweatshop work will result
in bad publicity, which in turn can lead to the marketing disaster described earlier.
In our company, the most crucial obstacle to improving the work environment at our vendor’s
plant is the fear of running up our costs. We compete against giant organizations that have
economies of scale as well as the leverage to squeeze vendors for the last few euros of
margin. We can’t afford to be sentimental about costs.
We don’t have to fund expensive construction or purchase costly equipment. Small,

inexpensive steps now will quickly benefit workers, such as providing respiratory protection
for workers exposed to lead and plastic fumes and magnifying glasses for the girls
assembling circuit boards.
With one bold step, cutting out the middleman, we have saved up to 30 percent of our
manufacturing costs. Suddenly we have a little more flexibility, which is all that is needed to
make a difference at the factory.
Our main vendor runs a factory with built-in inefficiencies. The working conditions in the
factory and the living conditions in the dorms cause fatigue, stress, resentment, and fear.
Chinese workers are no different from anyone else. Under these pressures, they are less
efficient than they could be and more prone to error and injury. They are likely to quit if they
can find work in a better-run plant. When the factory hires, the best workers shun it.
Difficult negotiations will remain over the use of child labor, but we will be headed in the
right direction. As changes are made, the factory will become more efficient, attract higher-
skilled workers, and experience less turnover.
We do have other options.
We could take our business elsewhere. We have many factories to choose from, including
those with which we already do business. I recommend this option as a last resort.
We can do nothing, accepting the status quo, and essentially take the attitude that we aren’t
responsible for working conditions in vendor factories. We might claim that the factory
provides important benefits. A representative working for another western company said that
the factory provided much needed work for poor families and that the jobs probably saved
12-year-old girls from being forced into prostitution.
Ethically I believe we would be complicit using a factory in which we know the conditions
are inhumane. Whether we like it or not, we do have a share of responsibility. We would also
be exposing our business to marketing risks and possible prosecution by Chinese authorities.
The Nike example maps the path from inaction to infamy.
Conclusion
(Ideas for the conclusion: Use the quote from the Nike executive?
Add a last comment about our responsibility for the problem?)
Opening of a Persuasive Message

Like an informative message, a persuasive message should open with a brief description of
the issue and why it's important. In addition, at or near the beginning, the writer's conclusion
about the issue should be stated. The type of conclusion depends on the argument template
used:
 Diagnosis: a definition of the problem and summary of the major causes

 Evaluation: a statement of the overall evaluation
 Decision: a statement of the recommended decision
Business audiences in low-context cultures want to know what the writer thinks as soon as
possible. An audience that doesn’t know the point of a persuasive message can’t begin
building a mental picture for understanding it.
Nevertheless, cultural factors can trump stating the conclusion first. A given culture might
not follow the norms of U.S. business English.
The culture might favor gradually leading the reader to the conclusion or not want the writer
to state it explicitly anywhere in the message, leaving the reader to infer it. You must work
with the norms of the audience, not try to impose norms on them.
Felipe thinks that the opening paragraph he wrote for the draft introduces the issue clearly
and concisely. He mulls over adding a second paragraph to the opening about the Nike
situation.
A principle of reading is that explicit connections to readers' prior knowledge aid their
comprehension and retention. Relating your message to what readers already know enhances
the ease with which they understand it and helps them to remember it for longer periods of
time.
A principle of reading is that explicit connections to readers’ prior knowledge aid their
comprehension and retention. Relating your message to what readers already know enhances
the ease with which they understand it and helps them to remember it for longer periods of
time. Estela and Humberto should both remember the Nike situation and similar recent
experiences such as Apple’s.
Read the draft of the memo’s opening.
To: Humberto
From: Felipe
Subject: Serious Problems at Our Main Chinese Factory
Tech Musica is not the first company to confront this type of situation; you may remember
the Nike situation in the 1990s. Nike received bad publicity for doing business with
sweatshops. It faced consumer boycotts and experienced large sales losses in the year after its
use of sweatshops was publicized. People still remember Nike’s association with sweatshops
many years after it first came to light. More recently Apple, the most esteemed brand in
consumer electronics, has been on the receiving end of bad publicity for working conditions
in its supply chain.
Conclusion of a Persuasive Message

The question to ask about the conclusion of a persuasive message is this:
What is the final thought you want to leave with the reader?
The reader isn’t going to remember many of the details of your message, which is why a
written message can be so useful. Writing was the first portable memory device, a permanent
record that the audience can consult whenever necessary. Even so, the end of a message is a
chance to “bookmark” it in the audience's memory.
A vivid restatement of the conclusion can come in the form of a quotation, a positive
comment about the future, an analogy or metaphor—these are a few ideas for ending a
persuasive message on a memorable note.
A conclusion can be used to summarize the message. The traditional advice about business
communication is:
Tell them what you're going to do, do it, and tell them what you just did.
This formula can yield boring messages, but the final part of it is useful when a persuasive
message is long or complicated. Concisely summarizing an argument helps the reader retain a
memory of it.

For the conclusion, Felipe has saved a quotation from a Nike executive that he used in the
informative memo. The quotation says what Felipe can't: that disavowing any connection to
the problem is irresponsible. Saying it would make Felipe look arrogant and presumptuous.
The words of a manager who dealt with a similar situation have immediate authority and
credibility.
Felipe’s Persuasive Memo: Conclusion
Conclusion
I think we should heed the advice of someone who has been where we are now. Todd
McKean, a Nike executive, said: “[Our] initial attitude was, ‘Hey, we don’t own the factories.
We don’t control what goes on there.’ Quite frankly, that was a sort of irresponsible way to
approach this.”
I also think that we should examine whether our demands for cost cutting at vendors may
create incentives for behaviour that is detrimental to our mutual interests.
As Felipe was preparing to finish the second draft, he receives two more communications.
An assistant to the factory owner who speaks English sends Felipe an email on behalf of the
owner. The owner has heard that Felipe had concerns about his factory. He insists that Felipe
does not understand China or Chinese workers. The workers don't mind the factory
conditions or need to be coddled like western workers. The owner is contacting the CEO of
Tech Musica to demand that someone more experienced than Felipe manage the relationship
with the factory.
Felipe hasn't talked about his concerns with anyone at the vendor and had no idea how the
owner had learned about them. If the owner contacts the CEO, Felipe is afraid the CEO will
think that he is pursuing the issue on his own, without authorization from Tech Musica
management. To avoid a hit to his credibility, he will have to say something in the memo to
make clear that he hasn't taken matters into his own hands.

An agent for another Chinese factory owner schedules a Skype conference. Felipe has visited
this factory, which makes parts for some of their MP3 players. The agent says the owner is
building a new plant and wants all of Tech Musica’s manufacturing business. He can
guarantee a lower price than any of their other Chinese vendors—and “a nice factory with
many worker comforts.” Felipe remembers that the conditions at this plant were somewhat
better than those at Guangdong.
The owner’s email message discourages Felipe. The owner’s complaints might make the
CEO harder to convince. The Skype presentation suggests to Felipe that others also know his
worries about the vendor in China. That could lead to more attempts to contact Tech
Musica’s senior executives before Felipe finishes the memo.
And soon he hears from another individual, a friend of his in Tech Musica’s manufacturing
group. He texts the following message to Felipe:
Better to start with new vendor. Easier, maybe cheaper than trying to change Guangdong
factory.
Felipe wonders about his friend’s motivation. Is he worried that wrangling with the current
vendor will disrupt production schedules and cause delays? Felipe realizes he no longer
controls the issue and needs to finish his memo soon to avoid being drowned out or pre-
empted.

Felipe's revision notes call for many changes in the draft—far more than he anticipated. The
process of sifting through potential revisions and using some of them to guide the rewriting
entailed a lot of work; nevertheless, he believes the memo is better for it.
Read the second draft of Felipe's persuasive memo. When you finish, explore the changes
that have been made. The most noteworthy revisions are highlighted.
To: Humberto
From: Felipe
Tech Musica is not the first company to confront this type of situation, you may remember
As I see them, we have three options:

 Take corrective action
 Change vendors
 Do nothing
based on several criteria:
 Ethics
 Marketing
 Legal liability
 Cost
Because no one else from our company has ever visited the plant, I will describe the most
serious conditions I found:
exceed 100 degrees.
 They are not allowed to look up for eight hours, and they have no breaks. No magnify
glasses are available to ease the strain on their eyes.
 Some employees work around toxic materials: melted lead and lead paint. They have
only inadequate paper masks as protection against lead fumes.
running water.
Ethics
values.
The factory uses child labor extensively. The children do not go to school and work in
than adults, making them less likely to object to how they are treated. Whether a parent or
not, no one in our company wants to be associated with child labor.
In the factory, employees have no effective protection against toxic vapors from lead. Long-
term exposure can cause memory and concentration problems, exhaustion, reproductive
problems, kidney failure, and even death.
spread rapidly, and the absence of running water contributes to unsanitary living conditions
conducive to disease.
However, we must look at our behaviour and acknowledge our share of responsibility for this
situation. We have leaned on our suppliers to cut their costs to the bone without asking
ourselves how they were going to do that. Our main Chinese vendor has responded with cost-
cutting measures that jeopardize the welfare of workers. We can’t expect to solve the
problem unless we understand our role in it.
Marketing
available on the Internet, often overnight. We sell primarily to young people, and many of
them feel strongly about social issues such as treating workers fairly and humanely. If the
conditions at our vendor’s factory are publicized, many of our customers will learn about
them on the Internet. As we know, in the consumer electronics industry, consumers don’t
lack choices. Overnight we could lose customers to our competitors; eventually, the losses
could be crippling. The senior vice president for marketing agrees with this scenario.
Legal Liability
China has laws that prohibit sweatshops. Although the laws are sporadically enforced,
workers harmed while working at the factory might bring lawsuits against us.
Cost
plant probably is the fear of running up our costs. We compete against giant organizations
that have economies of scale as well as the leverage to squeeze vendors for the last few euros
of margin. We can’t afford to be sentimental about costs.

Difficult negotiations will remain, such as those over the issue of child labor, but we will be
headed in the right direction. As changes are made, the factory will become more efficient,
attract higher-skilled workers, and experience less turnover.
Other Options
those with which we already do business. I recommend this option as a last resort. Changing
vendors requires a huge effort, has high transition costs, and will inevitably disrupt
production for some time no matter how well we plan. We will probably end up paying
higher manufacturing costs.
responsible for working conditions in vendor factories. As I have shown, this option makes us
vulnerable to risks that are much harder to fix than poor working conditions in a single plant.
Conclusion
I think we should heed the advice of someone who has been where we are now. Todd
McKean, a Nike executive, said: “[Our] initial attitude was, ‘Hey, we don’t own the factories.
We don’t control what goes on there.’ Quite frankly, that was a sort of irresponsible way to
approach this.”
create incentives for behaviour that are detrimental to our mutual interests.
Revising the Draft

Here are key points about revising presented previously in the course:
 Read the draft from the audience's point of view.

 Concentrate on the content, organization, and tone of the draft.
 Be willing to make major changes if necessary.
 Set aside the first draft for a day or more if possible.

Felipe's memo is very important to him and to the future of Tech Musica. Feedback from
others can be very instructive input for revising. It can be frustrating if the feedback is
cursory, unconstructive, or requires a major reworking of the draft.

Felipe sends his draft to a friend in the company, Chenfei Guo, the Tech Musica sales
representative who covers East Asia. Even though she isn't part of the intended audience,
Felipe thinks she can provide knowledgeable feedback. She replies in an email.
To: Felipe
From: Chenfei
Subject: Feedback on your memo
A tough issue—I think you make a pretty good case. I do not like to see 12-year-old girls
working in a factory or workers' health endangered.
We should do something—agreed. But take a look at the issue from the other side. We tell
the factory owners that we want low costs—we say cut, cut, cut. What do the owners do? Cut
corners. I do not like the corners they cut, but I understand why they do it.
Suppliers in China compete hard to keep customers. Companies outsourcing to China walk
away from vendors when they get slightly lower costs somewhere else. No such thing as
loyalty! So again, owners believe they have to lower costs any way they can.
Hope this helps. Send me questions any time.
Chenfei

When Felipe sent the draft to Chenfei, he didn’t expect her to change his view of the issue.
Now, in addition to her feedback, he has an angry factory owner, an agent possibly trying to
take advantage of the situation, and a friend with a different opinion about what to do.
Read Felipe’s notes for revising his first draft.
Memo:
As I see them, we have three options: Take corrective action, change vendors, do nothing.
for several reasons.
Because no one else from our company has ever visited the Guangdong plant, I will describe
the most serious conditions I found:
exceed 100 degrees.
 Girls are not allowed to look up for 8 hours, and they have no breaks.
 No magnifying glasses are available to ease the strain on their eyes.
 Some employees work around toxic materials: melted lead and lead paint.
 They have only inadequate paper masks as protection against lead fumes.
running water.
values.
than adults, making them less likely to object to how they are treated.
In the factory, employees work with lead without protection against toxic vapors from lead.
Short-term exposure can cause some changes in nervous system function and muscle and
joint pain. Long-term exposure can cause memory and concentration problems, exhaustion,
reproductive problems, kidney failure, and even death. Lead paint also produces vapor and
has the same dangers as exposure to melted lead.
spread rapidly, and the absence of running water contributes to unsanitary living conditions,
which also are conducive to disease. Finally, because of the crowding and coming and going
of shift workers, dorm residents have trouble getting enough sleep. Fatigue results in
workplace accidents and lower productivity.
Add paragraph: We are part of the problem?
available worldwide on the Internet, often overnight. We sell primarily to young people, and
many of them feel strongly about social issues such as treating workers fairly and humanely.
If the conditions at our vendor’s factory are publicized, many of our customers will learn
about them on the Internet. As we know, in the consumer electronics industry, consumers
don’t lack choices. Overnight we could lose customers to our competitors; eventually, the
losses could be crippling.
China has laws that prohibit sweatshops. Although the laws are sporadically enforced, there
may be the potential for lawsuits against us by workers who are harmed while working at the
factory.
plant is the fear of running up our costs. We compete against giant organizations that have
economies of scale as well as the leverage to squeeze vendors for the last few euros of
margin. We can’t afford to be sentimental about costs.

Our main vendor runs a factory with built-in inefficiencies. The working conditions in the
factory and the living conditions in the dorms cause fatigue, stress, resentment, and fear.
Chinese workers are no different from anyone else. Under these pressures, they are less
efficient than they could be and more prone to error and injury. They are likely to quit if they
can find work in a better-run plant. When the factory hires, the best workers shun it.
those with which we already do business. I recommend this option as a last resort.
responsible for working conditions in vendor factories. We might claim that the factory
provides important benefits. A representative working for another western company said that
the factory provided much needed work for poor families and that the jobs probably saved
12-year-old girls from being forced into prostitution.
Ethically I believe we would be complicit using a factory in which we know the conditions
are inhumane. Whether we like it or not, we do have a share of responsibility. We would also
be exposing our business to marketing risks and possible prosecution by Chinese authorities.
The Nike example maps the path from inaction to infamy.
Conclusion
Ideas for the conclusion: Use the quote from the Nike executive?
Add a last comment about our responsibility for the problem?

To: Humberto
From: Felipe
Our supply chain in China is a strategic asset without it we cannot compete against the larger
companies in the industry. On my recent trip to the country, I toured our suppliers and found
that most provide good value and quality and have acceptable conditions for their workers.
There was one exception: our principal supplier. There I discovered underage workers and
poor working conditions. As a result, we have a decision to make about how to respond.
In a recent email, a representative of the factory owner said that he had heard of my
reservations about the plant and was upset about them. I do not know how the owner received
this information. I have not said anything about this matter to anyone outside our company.
In any event, I think this development gives added urgency to the decision.
Tech Musica is not the first company to confront this type of situation, you may remember
sweatshops. It faced consumer boycotts in the 1990s and experienced large sales losses in the
year after its use of sweatshops was publicized. People still remember Nike’s association with
sweatshops many years after it first came to light. More recently Apple, the most esteemed
brand in consumer electronics, has been on the receiving end of bad publicity for working
conditions in its supply chain.

 Change vendors.
 Do nothing.
based on several criteria:
 Ethics
 Marketing
 Legal liability
 Cost
Because no one else from our company has ever visited the plant, I will describe the most
serious conditions I found:
 Rooms the girls work in are not air-conditioned and temperatures often exceed 100
degrees.
 They are not allowed to look up for eight hours, and they have no breaks. Although
the parts they work with are very small, they do not have magnifying glasses to ease the
strain on their eyes.
 Employees live next door to the factory in dormatories that have no windows or
running water.
Ethics
values.
In the company dorms, many workers are crowded into rooms with no windows, and diseases
spread rapidly while the absence of running water contributes to unsanitary living conditions
conducive to disease.
However, we must look in the mirror and acknowledge our share of responsibility for this
Marketing
available on the Internet, often overnight. We sell primarily to young people, and many of
them feel strongly about social issues such as treating workers fairly and humanely. If the
conditions at our vendor’s factory are publicized, many of our customers will learn about
them on the Internet. As we know, in the consumer electronics industry, consumers don’t
lack choices. Overnight we could lose customers to our competitors; eventually, the losses
could be crippling. The senior vice president for marketing agrees with this scenario.
Legal Liability
Cost
plant probably is the fear of running up our costs. We compete against giant global
organizations that have economies of scale as well as the leverage to squeeze vendors for the
last few euros of margin. We can’t afford to be sentimental about costs.

Other Options
Conclusion
I believe we should head the advice of someone who has been where we are now. Todd
McKean, a Nike executive, once said: “[Our] initial attitude was, 'Hey, we don’t own the
factories. We don’t control what goes on there.’ Quite frankly, that was a sort of irresponsible
way to approach this.”
create incentives for behavior that are detrimental to our mutual interests.
Looking back, Felipe is amazed at the amount of work he's put into the memo. He anticipated
making a quick outline and largely recycling the content of the informative memo. The facts
accumulated for the first memo were crucial to the second memo, too, but outlining the
argument, filling it in, and making the many adjustments to it took far more time than he
expected.
His changing sense of the topic and audience drove most of the unanticipated work. His
colleague Chenfei opened the door to another dimension of the problem—the long-term
effects of relentless cost cutting—that he was unaware of. The factory owner, agent, and his
colleague from manufacturing had less impact than Chenfei, but they made Felipe realize that
the situation he was writing about was changing even as he wrote about it. That spurred him
to finish the memo quickly.
Felipe’s Persuasive Memo: Final Draft
To: Humberto
From: Felipe
Our supply chain in China is a strategic asset. Without it we cannot compete against the
larger companies in the industry. On my recent trip to the country, I toured our suppliers and
found that most provide good value and quality and have acceptable working conditions.
There was one exception: our principal supplier in Guangdong. There I discovered underage
workers and poor working conditions. As a result, we have a decision to make about how to
respond.
In a recent email, a representative of the factory owner said that he had heard of my
reservations about the plant and was upset about them. I do not know how the owner received
this information. I have not said anything about this matter to anyone outside our company.
In any event, I think this development gives added urgency to the decision.
Tech Musica is not the first company to confront this type of situation. You may remember

 Change vendors.
 Do nothing.
I strongly believe we should take corrective action regarding the plant based on several
criteria:
 Ethics
 Marketing
 Legal liability
 Cost
Because no one from our company has visited the plant, I will describe the most serious
conditions I found:
exceed 100 degrees.
 They are not allowed to look up for eight hours, and they have no breaks. No
magnifying glasses are available to ease the strain on their eyes.
running water.
Ethics
values.
In the company dorms, diseases spread rapidly because of the crowded, windowless rooms
and the absence of running water.
However, we must look at our behavior and acknowledge our share of responsibility for this
Marketing
available on the Internet, often overnight. As an electronics company marketing fashion-
forward products, we sell primarily to young people. As music lovers and cell phone and
Internet users, many of them feel strongly about social issues such as treating workers fairly
and humanely. If the conditions at our vendor’s factory are publicized, many of our
customers will learn about them on the Internet. As we know, in the consumer electronics
industry, consumers don’t lack choices. Quickly, we could lose customers to our competitors;
eventually, the losses could be crippling. The senior vice president for marketing agrees with
this scenario.
Legal Liability
By law, children younger than 16 years old are not allowed to work in Chinese factories. The
law is not enforced very often. However, there is always the possibility that it will be or that a
in bad publicity that can lead to the marketing disaster described earlier.
Cost
In our company the most crucial obstacle to improving the work environment at our vendor’s
plant probably is the fear of running up our costs. We compete against giant global
organizations. We can’t afford to be sentimental about costs.

Other Options
Conclusion
I believe we should heed the advice of someone who has been where we are now. Todd
McKean, a Nike executive, once said: “[Our] initial attitude was, ‘Hey, we don’t own the
factories. We don’t control what goes on there.’ Quite frankly, that was a sort of irresponsible
way to approach this.”
create incentives for behavior that are detrimental to our mutual interests.
Writing Action Plans

An action plan translates thought into action. It is a coordinated set of actions designed to
achieve a desired end state. An argument for a decision, an evaluation, or a diagnosis usually
requires some kind of follow-up action.
A simple action plan involving only a few steps might not be written down, but for a longer
plan, writing is necessary so that the audience can vet it and people can follow it accurately.
Informative Communication as Action Plans

Two types of informative communication can be action plans: information organized as a
chronology or as a process. Here are examples of chronological and process communication
that deliver action plans.
Organization Definition Example
Chronology Time sequence A report that describes each step of a project

schedule
Process Order of steps Training software that describes and explains the
leading to an outcome steps of an audit process
Argument-Driven Action Plans

Business arguments have consequences for action. The three types of argument—diagnosis,
decision, and evaluation—provide the basis for different types of actions.
Type of Argument Action Plan Goal Action Plan Example

Diagnosis Correct a problem. Fix chronic outages in the company
computer network.
Evaluation Capitalize on Improve an individual’s capabilities
positives; eliminate or reduce based on a performance evaluation.
negatives.
Decision Implement decision. Detail how a company will install
the new machinery it has decided to
buy.
Example: From Diagnosis to Action

Traffic engineers monitor the accident rates of roads and intersections, and perform safety
analyses of intersections where an unusual number of accidents occur. If they find that the
increase in accidents isn’t random, they write a diagnosis of the causes.
When the engineers understand the causes, they can correct them. Their action will improve
safety. The priority work is aimed at the causes most responsible for the elevated accident
rate, for example, removing obstructions that block the view of a traffic sign. A longer-term
action is a redesign of the intersection requiring significant construction work.
Example: Felipe's Action Plan

Felipe’s persuasive memo convinced Humberto and Estela. Neither Felipe nor Humberto
knew that Estela had started to worry two years earlier about the factory. She had asked the
company’s former middleman questions about factory conditions and received only vague
assurances that there were no problems.
Before she turns the memo over to the CEO, Miguel, and meets with him, Estela asks Felipe
to write an action plan that implements the decision.
In the absence of a formal plan, the company would be less likely to improve the situation
because actions wouldn't be targeted at specific goals or might duplicate or interfere with
each other. In a worst-case scenario, the company might not act at all without a blueprint to
follow.
Basic Elements of an Action Plan

An action plan has these four elements:
 Goals
 Relevant content
 Specific actions
 Chronological order
Goals
An action plan is like any other communication: It needs a purpose. Action plan goals
summarize its purpose. A way to think about the goals is to imagine the major features of the
outcome or end state you want to achieve.
Action plan goals should address all of the important issues in the argument. A few broader
goals are better than a large number of narrower ones. Many small goals make an action plan
harder to write and cause the plan to become unfocused.

Felipe writes down the characteristics of the end state he wants:
 Stop child labor as soon as possible.

 Look for other vendors.
 Stop exposure to toxic chemicals.
 Improve other working conditions.
 Protect our company from bad publicity.
 Keep costs to our company low.
 Create a vendor code of conduct.
Example: Felipe's Action Plan (Continued)

The list includes actions as well as goals, and Felipe crosses off the actions, leaving these
goals:
 Stop child labor as soon as possible.

 Stop exposure to toxic chemicals.
 Improve other working conditions.
 Keep costs to our company low.
 Create a vendor code of conduct.
Stopping exposure to toxic materials and stopping the use of child labor are the most urgent
goals. Improving other working conditions can take place gradually, and creating a vendor
code of conduct requires time to write, receive approval from senior management, and
implement.
Felipe then writes his goals:
1. Stop exposure to toxic chemicals and the use of child labor.

2. Improve the plant working conditions at reasonable cost.
3. Establish a vendor code of conduct and audit process.
Relevant Content
Each step of an action plan consists of relevant content. Relevance is determined by the
content of the argument.
Example: Relevance in an Action Plan

Let’s return to the example of the traffic safety engineers. As mentioned previously, one of
their jobs is monitoring accident rates at intersections and diagnosing causes when they find
an abnormally high number of accidents.
An action plan provides the path to fixing the causes of a dangerous intersection. The plan
should correct the causes, such as the hedge that blocks the view of northbound drivers
turning left. On the other hand, it should not include actions that have nothing to do with the
causes, such as replacing cement curbs with granite.

Felipe’s decision argument has four criteria: ethics, marketing, legal liability, and cost. The
content of his argument provides a foundation for action:
Ethics
Allowing a vendor to use child labor and expose workers to potentially fatal materials is
ethically repellent to Felipe and his audience. Therefore, the action plan should have steps to
eliminate both practices as soon as possible.
Marketing
Association with child labor and dangerous working conditions adds up to a potential
marketing disaster in the Internet age. This reinforces the need to eliminate or improve the
conditions.
Legal Liability
Using child labor is against the law in China. Even if the local authorities choose not to
enforce the law, the company can be seen as complicit in legal violations. Tech Musica needs
to tell the factory owner that he must replace underage employees.
Cost
Despite the power of the arguments developed with the other criteria, the company can't
spend huge sums. Felipe's action plan has to be realistic about the costs the company can bear
and propose low-cost, high-impact changes.
Specific Actions
The action plan steps describe actions. Each step answers these three questions:
1. What needs to be accomplished?
The end result of the step.
2. Who will do it?
The individuals who will do the work.
3. What are the necessary tasks?
The work the individuals have to do to complete the step.
An action plan isn't helpful if the steps are vaguely written. A step should tell an audience
what they need to know in order to carry it out.

Felipe could write an action plan step like this:
1. Eliminate workers' exposure to toxic materials.
2. But this statement doesn't say how the hazard will be eliminated. To make the
statement more meaningful, he should provide details like these:
3. We need to tell the factory owner that certain practices have to be changed as soon as
possible to keep our business. Estela and I should meet with him to deliver that
message and explain that our ethical values are being violated and we are risking a
marketing disaster that could do great damage to our business.
4. We also need to tell him that our most urgent priority is providing the proper
protection to everyone who works around molten lead and lead paint. We can provide
financial assistance to buy the necessary equipment.
Specific Actions: Writing Process

Writing a draft of an action plan involves two distinct dimensions:
 Creating a comprehensive set of actions that achieves the goals

 Arranging the actions in a logical order
 To ease the drafting of a plan, don't try to do both at the same time. Break the work
into a series of steps:
1. List action steps in the order you think of them.
2. Review the list and add missing steps and delete superfluous ones.
3. Arrange them in a logical sequence.
4. Edit the descriptions of the actions, clarifying them, expanding vague ones, and
pruning overly detailed ones.
Here are some steps that Felipe writes down related to the first goal: Stop exposure to toxic
chemicals and the use of child labor.
Note: when Felipe writes his final draft, he will use the third person ("Felipe") instead of the
first person ("I") because the plan is written for all of the participants included in the plan.
For example, the members of the team writing a vendor code of conduct might be confused
about who "I" is.
Estela notifies the plant owner that we urgently need to meet with him about factory working
conditions.
I will make a list of factory problems that can be corrected quickly without major expense. I
will ask manufacturing to help estimate costs to be sure they are reasonable.
I will travel to Guangdong and meet with the owner at his office. Estela can't take the time to
travel to China, so she can participate through Skype.
Tell the owner that certain practices must be changed as soon as possible to keep our
business. Our ethical values are being violated, and we risk a marketing disaster. Also, we
can't be complicit in breaking Chinese laws.
Our most urgent priority is providing the proper protection to everyone who works around
molten lead and lead paint. We are willing to subsidize protective gear for endangered
workers. (I need cost estimates from manufacturing or a vendor of protective equipment.)
Our next priority is to phase out underage labor.
Chronological Order
Action plans are called plans instead of lists for a reason: They provide step-by-step
directions that people can follow. That means argument-based action plans must be in
chronological order.
Splitting the plan into short-term and long-term steps assists in coordinating the steps in time,
prompting the writer to decide which steps should be completed soon and which should be
completed later.
Short-term steps are
 urgent;
 easy; and
 necessary for long-term steps.
Long-term steps are
 hard to achieve and/or complex;

 time-consuming to complete; and
 dependent on prior steps.
Recognizing Short-Term and Long-Term Steps

The list below includes short-term and long-term steps for Felipe’s action plan. He has now
written the steps in the third person so no one is confused about the steps he is responsible
for. Click to select whether each step is short term or long term.
Action Plan Steps Short Term or Long Term?
Replaces underage employees with legal
workers. The charitable fund helps children
return to school.
Identify the factory problems that have to be
corrected, possible solutions, and potential
costs.
Felipe travels to China and meets with the
factory owner at his office. Estela
participates through Skype.
Tech Musica joins other companies of
similar size to police working conditions
and share costs.
Agrees on a plan and timetable to protect
workers endangered by toxic materials.
Estela notifies the plant owner of a need to
meet with him about working conditions.
She states priorities regarding toxic
materials, underage labor, and substandard
working conditions.
Felipe and Estela explain the priorities to
the factory owner and that they have to be
met to keep Tech Musica’s business
because of ethical values, possible
violations of Chinese laws, and the risk of a
marketing disaster.

Felipe sees that his goals should indicate when they can be achieved. Here are his
thoughts on timing.
1. Stop exposure to toxic chemicals and the use of child labor.

Eliminating toxic exposure has to happen quickly. Making sure the plant uses workers
of legal age will take significant time. We don’t want to throw the children out of
work suddenly. Planning will be required to make the transition go smoothly. This is a
long-term goal.
2. Improve the plant working conditions at reasonable cost.
We can make the improvements over several months, so this is a short-term step.
3. Establish a vendor code of conduct and implement an audit process.
This is definitely a long-term step. The code of conduct will take some time to write and
implementing it will take longer.
Now Felipe arranges the steps in his action plan draft in chronological order. He starts with
the most urgent actions and ends with those that will take the most time to accomplish.
Action Plan
I propose an action plan that will address the worst conditions at our major vendor’s plant and
set up a process to ensure decent conditions there and wherever we make our products.
Short-Term Action Steps
 Felipe identifies the factory problems that have to be corrected, possible solutions to
them, and potential costs for our company. Humberto and Estela approve his proposal
and pass it to the CEO.
 Estela notifies the plant owner that we urgently need to meet with him about factory
working conditions. She states our priorities: Stop exposure to toxic materials, stop the
use of underage labor, and correct substandard working conditions. But she also stresses
that we want to work with factory ownership.
 Felipe travels to China to meet with the factory owner at his office. Estela participates
through Skype.
 In the meeting, Estela leads the discussion of our priorities and states that they have to
be met to keep our business. She explains why: Our ethical values are being
compromised, we cannot condone violations of Chinese laws, and we risk a marketing
disaster.
 Offer incentives for the factory owner to cooperate: cost sharing and a long-term
commitment to use the factory.
 Discuss a plan and timetable to protect workers endangered by toxic materials.
 Discuss how to correct other working conditions. We want to ensure that workers
have breaks, lunch breaks, and a limit on total working hours per week. Investigate the
cost of air-conditioning the plant. As a gesture of good faith, offer to furnish magnifying
glasses for circuit assembly workers.
 Finally, take up the most difficult topic: how to phase out underage labor.
 If the owner and management refuse to cooperate or stall, start the process of looking
for a new manufacturing partner.
Long-Term Action Steps
 The CEO appoints a team to draft a code of conduct for vendors. He also authorizes
human
resources to establish a charitable fund for the families of children currently employed
at the factory. The fund will replace some of the children's lost earnings and help
them go to school.
 The factory starts replacing underage employees with legal workers.
 Felipe circulates the code of conduct to vendors, asks for their feedback, and notifies
them when Tech Musica will implement it. Felipe then starts the ongoing audit
process in our supply chain.
 The vendor code of conduct team explores an umbrella organization of companies
similar in size to Tech Musica to monitor working conditions and share costs.
Templates and Checklists
 Checklist: Analysing a Communication Situation
 Checklist: Communication Channel Characteristics
 Template Defined: Decision Argument
 Template Defined: Evaluation Argument
 Template Defined: Diagnosis Argument
Blank Templates for Planning
 Template: Planning a Decision Argument
 Template: Planning an Evaluation Argument
 Template: Planning a Diagnosis Argument
Planning Communication: Memos

 Tasha's Persuasive Memo, Version 1
 Tasha's Informative Memo
 Tasha's Decision Memo
 Tasha's Evaluation Memo
 Tasha's Diagnosis Memo

Writing in Business: Memos
 Felipe’s Informative Memo: First Draft
 Felipe’s Informative Memo: Revision Notes
 Felipe’s Informative Memo: Draft 2
 Felipe’s Informative Memo: Final Draft
 Felipe’s Persuasive Memo: Opening
 Felipe’s Persuasive Memo: Conclusion
 Felipe’s Persuasive Memo: Notes for Editing and Correcting
 Felipe’s Persuasive Memo: Final Draft
 Felipe’s Action Plan
Templates and Checklists

 The Writing Process: Questions for Planning an Argument
 The Writing Process: Questions for Planning a Message
 Guide: How to Organize a Written Argument
 Template: Organic Organizers of Information
 Template: Analytic Organizers of Information
 Checklist: Revision Questions
 Guide: Writing Process for Teams

References
PLANNING COMMUNICATION
1. Buffett, Warren. "2009 Shareholder Letter." Letter to Shareholders of Berkshire

Hathaway Inc. 26 Feb. 2010. Berkshire Hathaway Inc. N.p., n.d. Web.
<http://www.berkshirehathaway.com/letters/2009ltr.pdf>.
WRITING IN BUSINESS
1. “Amazing Facts and Figures about Instant Messaging (infographic).” Pingdom, 23

Apr. 2010. Web. <http://royal.pingdom.com/2010/04/23/amazing-facts-and-
figuresabout-instant-messaging-infographic/>.
2. “Americans and Text Messaging.” How Americans Use Text Messaging. Pew
Research Center, 19 Sept. 2011. Web. <http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2011/Cell-
Phone-Texting-2011/Main-Report/How-Americans-Use-Text- Messaging.aspx>.
3. “Ford Motor Company Business Plan.” Letter submitted to the United States Senate
Banking Committee. 2 Dec. 2008. MS. N.p.
4. “Writing: A Ticket to Work... Or a Ticket Out - A Survey of Business Leaders.”

Report of the National Commission on Writing for America’s Families. College
Entrance Examination Board, Sept. 2004. Web. Sept.
2012.<http://www.collegeboard.com/prod_downloads/writingcom/writing-ticketto-
work.pdf>.
5. Bernanke, Ben. “Testimony.” The Economy and Financial Markets. Federal Reserve,
14 Feb. 2008. Web. 27 July 2012.
<http://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/testimony/bernanke20080214a.htm>.
6. Digital communication, recent estimates

“The Radicati Group, Inc.” The Radicati Group, Inc. N.p., n.d. Web.
<http://www.radicati.com/>.
7. Ken, Burbary. “Facebook Demographics Revisited - 2011 Statistics.”
Web Business by Ken Burbary. WordPress, 7 Mar. 2011. Web.
<http://www.kenburbary.com/2011/03/facebook-demographicsrevisited-2011-
statistics-2/>.
8. Mckean, Todd. “Nike Sweatshops.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 21 July2012.

Web. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nike_sweatshops>.
9. Online Courses. (2019, January 10). Retrieved December 25, 2019, from
https://hbr.org/store/landing/courses.
10. Warren, Buffett E. “To the Shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway Inc.” Letter. 25 Feb.
2012. MS. N.p. Pg. 2.

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Jaipuria Institute of Management Indore

Post Graduate Diploma In Management – 2019-21

Reading Material from Harvard Management Communication Course

Instructor: Prof. Devika Trehan

Course Title Applied Management Communication Credits: 3

Leaders Say that They Lack Skills

Business Leaders Value Communication

“Planning Communication” applies to both writing and presenting.

What Good Are Models?

Tasha works as an associate vice president at a medium-size company that specializes in

Informing the Call Center Representatives

Analysing a Communication Situation

Question Explanation of the Question

Why? Knowing Your Purpose

The Purpose of Informing

The Purpose of Persuading

Persuasive Communication Purpose

Who? Knowing Your Audience

Professors, textbooks, and popular books on communication all exhort communicators to

Primary and Secondary Audiences

3. The boss values quantitative evidence more than qualitative evidence.

4. The boss isn’t sure if Shonda is an astute observer of team dynamics.

In business, there are many potential barriers to communication:

 Hostility to the conclusion, the communicator, or both.

Example: Recognizing Barriers to Communication

Here are some ideas for building credibility:

 Give realistic numbers, anticipate questions, and be ready to respond.

Exercise: Evaluating Barriers to Communication

S. Personal/Cultura Potential Major Response

1 Business Some cultures place a high value on

2 Punctuality Cultures often have conflicting norms for

3 Gender Gender roles can be influential,

5 Entertainment Likes and dislikes in entertainment can

6 Desire for This can be a high barrier if, for cultural

 False generalization (the law of small numbers)

Example: A Bad Selling Year

Example: Providing More Data

Example: The Domineering Sales Goal

Dealing with Anchoring Bias

Example: Pulling the Anchor Up

Example: The Risk of Success

Dealing with Availability Bias

Example: Broadening the View

Example: Cherry-Picking Good News

Dealing with Representativeness Bias

Example: Creating a Better Picture

Exercise: Detecting Bias

Taking Note of What You Learn

 Which channel is best for my purpose?

Best Channel: Video, Podcast, Written Report

2. Message: Expert explains a few essential technical concepts. Employees should be

Best Channel: Video, Podcast, Written Report

Best Channel: Video, Podcast, Written Report

How? Using Reasoning in the Message

Exercise: Using Communication Tools Spontaneously

Go over the failings of the current method of accounting.

In addition, reason is used in informative communication to build a logical organization that

The Radiohead album was sold exclusively

Tad is a human being.

Therefore, Tad has a brain.

The Function of Assumptions

(A) Tad (B) is a human being.