FIRST MID-TRIMESTER ASSESSMENT– A CASE STUDY

TRIMESTER 2 2020

1476575 1476575 Thanh Tung Dinh

Student ID Number Student Name

SUBJECT NAME: Advanced Business Communication

SUBJECT CODE: BAS22 A

TIME ALLOWED: 1 Hour plus 5 minutes reading time

TOTAL MARK: 10 WEIGHT: 10%

PERMITTED MATERIALS:

 This is an OPEN Book Individual test

INSTRUCTIONS FOR STUDENTS:

 Write your full name and ID on the top of this page.

 This test consists a case study and five compulsory written questions.
 Please read the case study carefully then write your answers in this document
 If you use anyone else data you must include references

REMINDERS:

 Students are reminded about UBSS policy on examinations. Any breach of this
policy will be considered cheating and appropriate action will be taken.
 Any communication between students by any means whatsoever is strictly
prohibited from the time students commence the test until they exit the test

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 CASE Study: The Acme Electric Company

The Acme Electric Company worked day and night to develop a new current regulator
designed to cut the electric power consumption in aluminum plants by 35%. They knew
that, although the competition was fierce, their regulator could be produced more
cheaply, was more reliable, and worked more efficiently than the competitors’ products.

The owner, eager to capture the market, personally but somewhat hastily put together a
120-page proposal to the three major aluminum manufacturers, recommending that
their regulators be installed at all company plants.

He devoted the first 87 pages of the proposal to the mathematical theory and
engineering design behind his new regulator, and the next 32 to descriptions of the new
assembly line he planned to set up to produce regulators quickly. Buried in an appendix
were the test results that compared his regulator’s performance with present models,
and a poorly drawn graph showed how much the dollar savings would be.

Acme Electric did not get the contracts, despite having the best product. Six months
later, the company filed for bankruptcy.

Five (5) Questions: (worth two marks each)

1. Define the rhetorical situation: Who is communicating to whom about what, how, and
why? What was the goal of the communication in this case?

The case study is trying to explain the situation of Acme Electric, how the owner
struggled to save the business because it hasn’t been successful. The company has
tried to discuss what the situation why they are failing. The company has tried to
design a new plant to save the company, however, competition was very hard at the
market. Even a new proposal made by the owner wasn’t enough to save the
company. This case is trying to show that the company has poor communincation
within the management, with its target market and how the proposal was made.

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 The "rhetorical situation" is a term used to describe the components of any situation in
which you may want to communicate, whether in written or oral form. To define a
"rhetorical situation," ask yourself this question:  "who is talking to whom about what,
how, and why?" There are five main components:
 Purpose
 Writer
 Audience
 Message
 Context/Culture
PURPOSE refers to the why you are writing. Determining your purpose requires that
you engage in Task Analysis — that is, determine what you hope to accomplish by
writing this document. Ask yourself what you hope the reader(s) will do/think/decide/ or
how they will behave as a result of reading the text. There are three general purposes
for communication in the workplace: 1) to create a record, 2) to give or request
information, and 3) to persuade.
Within those general purposes, you will find a myriad of specific purposes. For example,
your purpose may be to propose an innovative solution to a specific problem. In this
case, you want the reader to agree to explore the idea further, or approve funding for
further research and development, which would fall under the general purpose of writing
to persuade.
WRITER refers to you, the writer/creator/designer of the communication. It is important
to examine your own motivation for writing and any biases, past experiences, and
knowledge you bring to the writing situation. These elements will influence how you craft
the message, whether positively or negatively. This examination should also include
your role within the organization, as well as your position relative to your target
audience.
AUDIENCE refers to your readers/listeners/viewers/users. Audience Analysis is
possibly the most critical part of understanding the rhetorical situation. Is your audience
internal (within your company) or external (such as clients, suppliers, customers, other
stakeholders)? Are they lateral to you (at the same position or level), upstream from you
(management), or downstream from you (employees, subordinates)? Who is the
primary audience? Who are the secondary audiences? These questions, and others,
help you to create an understanding of your audience that will help you craft a message
that is designed to effectively communicate specifically to them.
Keep in mind that your different audiences will also have a specific purpose in reading
your document. Consider what their various purposes might be, and how you can best
help them achieve their purpose. Considering what they are expected to do with the
information you provide will help you craft your message effectively. Consider also that
technical writing often has a long "life-span" - a document you write today could be filed
away and reviewed months or even years down the road. Consider the needs of that
audience as well. MESSAGE refers to what information you want to communicate. This
is the content of your document. It should be aligned to your purpose and targeted to
your audience. While it is important to carefully choose what content your audience
needs, it is equally critical to cut out content that your audience does not need or want.
"Time is money" may be a tired old cliché, but it is important to avoid wasting your
audience's time with information that is unnecessary or irrelevant to them. Your
message should be professional, and expressed in an appropriate tone for the
audience, purpose, and context. We will discuss aspects of using a professional style
and tone in crafting your message more.

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CONTEXT refers to the situation that creates the need for the writing. In other words,
what has happened or needs to happen that creates the need for communication? The
context is influenced by timing, location, current events, and culture, which can be
organizational or social. Ignoring the context for your communication could result in
awkward situations, or possibly offensive ones. It will almost certainly impact your ability
to clearly convey your message to your audience.

2. Identify the communication error (poor task or audience analysis? Use of inappropriate

language or style? Poor organisation or formatting of information? Other?)

No one knows exactly how much poor communication costs business, industry and
government each year, but estimates suggest billions. In fact, a recent estimate claims
that the cost in the U.S. alone are close to $4 billion annually![1] Poorly-worded or
inefficient emails, careless reading or listening to instructions, documents that go
unread due to poor design, hastily presenting inaccurate information, sloppy
proofreading — all of these examples result in inevitable costs. The problem is that
these costs aren't usually included on the corporate balance sheet at the end of each
year, so often the problem remains unsolved.
The waste caused by imprecisely worded regulations or instructions, confusing emails,
long-winded memos, ambiguously written contracts, and other examples of poor
communication is not as easily identified as the losses caused by a bridge collapse or a
flood. But the losses are just as real—in reduced productivity, inefficiency, and lost
business. In more personal terms, the losses are measured in wasted time, work,
money, and ultimately, professional recognition. In extreme cases, losses can be
measured in property damage, injuries, and even deaths.

Communications error are below:

- They did not use the right techniques of reaching to their customers
- Poor communication within staff and the management

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 - Formatting of the proposal or the language used in the proposal must have been
not effective and caused vagueness to its reader
- There may be confusing emails within the organisation, long complicated memos
- ambiguous contracts must also be one of the reasons
- instructions and regulations were not clearly coordinated

3. Explain what costs/losses were incurred by this problem.

+ Costs : first off this hey knew that, although the competition was fierce, their regulator
could be produced more cheaply, was more reliable, and worked more efficiently than
the competitors’ products.

The owner, eager to capture the market, personally but somewhat hastily put together a
120-page proposal to the three major aluminum manufacturers, recommending that
their regulators be installed at all company plants.

He devoted the first 87 pages of the proposal to the mathematical theory and
engineering design behind his new regulator, and the next 32 to descriptions of the new
assembly line he planned to set up to produce regulators quickly. Buried in an appendix
were the test results that compared his regulator’s performance with present models,

First Mid-Trimester Test 20T2: Advanced Business Communication BAS22 A Page 5 of 9

and a poorly drawn graph showed how much the dollar savings would be. They also
spend more and more time develop their product and spend money for research and
develop it . But if its becoming successfully its is good for them, however its is fail down
so they can loss all of them.

+ Losses : Acme Electric did not get the contracts, despite having the best product. Six
months later, the company filed for bankruptcy.

So we can see in this case , the company filed for bankruptcy. They losses time and
money for fail project. Even they have a good idea and high quality of product but the
owner make it terrible.

The losses are wasted money, effort and time within the management, staff and
customers. The ineffective communication is one of the major problems the company
closed down. In worse cases, poor communication can cause injuries, or work related
accidents, misunderstandings and damage to properties.

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 4. Identify possible solutions or strategies that would have prevented the problem, and what
benefits would be derived from implementing solutions or preventing the problem.

The company should keep the communication simple and it has to be measured
continuously, they should have been asking for feedbacks and take action as soon as
possible. They should have highlighted the critical issues and areas for proper action
and check employees on a regular basis

They should be check they product or their project really carefully before they sell it to
market. Its can make more time, but its is good for their goal. Because when they
product stay in the market they can not fix or repair it. Its make losses a lot money. So
they must be double check everything really clear before sell it. Its can prevented the
problem in the future and bring more benefits or money back to them.

5. What are the lesions learnt from this case study?

Give the speaker your undivided attention and acknowledge the message. Recognize that
what is not said also speaks loudly

Use your own body language and gestures to convey your attention.

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 – Nod occasionally

– Smile and use other facial expressions.

– Note your posture and make sure it is open and inviting

– Encourage the speaker to continue with small verbal comments like yes and uh
huh.

Our personal filters, assumptions, judgments, and beliefs can distort what we hear

• As a listener, your role is to understand what is being said

• This may require you to reflect what is being said and ask questions

• Reflect what has been said by paraphrasing. “What I’m hearing is…” and
“Sounds like you are saying…” are great ways to reflect back

• Ask questions to clarify certain points. “What do you mean when you say…” “Is
this what you mean?”

• Summarize (paraphrase) the speaker’s comments periodically

We need a listening every people in our team , think carefully before they make a decision. If we
are a small business , we can lead the market . So we need do step by step. Make sure its is
incorrect and bring benefit for our company.

Effective communication is one of the key aspects for the success of the business, without
this, organisation will have a very weak foundation that will cause them to fail.

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 References: (if applicable)

END OF TEST PAPER

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