INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY – VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY – HCMC

FINAL EXAMINATION

Date: June 14, 2021

STUDENT NAME: Hoàng Vũ Anh Thư STUDENT ID: BABAWE18289

SUBJECT: BUSINESS COMMUNICATION

Approved by: Lecturers:

Phung Phuong Linh

Nguyen Tran Phi Yen
Pham Thanh Huyen
Dr. Trinh Viet Dung Nguyen Vu Anh Tram

EXAM INSTRUCTION – READ THIS FIRST

A. This is an open-book examination.

B. Insert your full name and your student ID in the space provided above.
C. Replace the part “Your Full Name” in the file’s name with your full name, for example:
BA006IU_G05_Final Exam_Nguyen Vu Anh Tram.
D. The final exam paper must be submitted directly to the lecturer’s email at nvatram@hcmiu.edu.vn
before 10.30AM, Tuesday, June 15, 2021.
The email subject is your file’s name, for example: BA006IU_G05_Final Exam_Nguyen Vu Anh
Tram.
5 points will be subtracted from your total score if you fail to follow the instructions above.
You don’t have to write in the body of the email. Just an attachment of your submission is enough.
E. There are two (02) sections in the exam. Carefully read and follow the instructions provided in each
section. Type your answer under each question.
F. You must complete the exam directly on the provided exam paper and submit the whole document
(including this instruction page) to the lecturer.
Your answers must be typed – handwritten notes and/or pictures is not accepted.
G. Make sure that the submission is your own work. If the Turnitin similarity index for your submission
exceeds 20%, you will immediately get a zero. If two or more submissions are found to be similar to
each other, all of them will get 50% of the total score taken out, regardless of who copies from whom.
GOOD LUCK!

BA006IU_G05 – Final Examination Lecturer: Nguyen Vu Anh Tram

SECTION 1: SHORT ESSAY (40 points)

From your observation and experience, how has the job recruitment process changed in the
digital age and especially through the Covid-19 pandemic? Have the changes created opportunities, or
challenges to students?

In the fluctuating labor market seriously affected by Covid 19, job-seekers’ attitudes toward
recruitment have shifted dramatically over the recent years, from passively seeking for job opportunities
that appeared in the news to actively searching for recruiting positions online. And, as a result of the
increasingly competitive business context, recruiters are becoming more demanding in terms of employee
skills as well as their outstanding capacity to perform the assigned tasks.

In the past, companies applied recruitment approaches such as referrals, headhunting, written
media, ads,…to catch the employees’ attention. Owing to the frequency of hiring and selecting is higher in
larger firms, they tend to exert a more structured form of recruitment. Traditional hiring process usually
includes examining personalities, carrying out talent tests, verifying technical competency, doing one-by-
one or panel interviews, and even checking references, which is, needless to say, a costly process. Besides
that, the time spent by the employers throughout the selection process might range from a few weeks up to
two or three months. The greater interval of time is understandable in general because there are many
progressive phases in the selection process, and because the recruiters often need to carefully evaluate
whether the applicants' characteristics are compatible with the criteria of the offered job.

In recent years, technological advancements have played an increasingly important role in the
recruitment and selection of employees. E-recruitment methods have grown in popularity among HR
experts, allowing them to target a huge number of candidates at a low cost (Faliagka, Tsakalidis, &
Tzimas, 2012). Applicants may now complete an online application, take online specialized-exams, have
an online interview, and receive instant feedback on their qualifications. Organizations have effectively
utilized online platforms such as job-boards (Indeed, Glassdoor,...), organization recruiting sites, and
social networking sites (LinkedIn, Facebook,...) due to their cost effectiveness and flexibility (Capelli,
2001) when it comes to the recruitment process (Allen, Mahto, and Otondo, 2007).

These modifications in the recruiting process provide students more work possibilities and ensure
that potential applicants are treated fairly in the recruiting process. Applicants do not have to pay any fee
for the application process and they can easily access the source of information such as job descriptions
and requirements of the vacant positions. However, if the number of received applications is excessive,
the number of individuals approved for a face-to-face interview will be extremely low. Furthermore,

BA006IU_G05 – Final Examination Lecturer: Nguyen Vu Anh Tram

instead of looking for internet employment, individuals pursuing upper-hierarchical roles will have to rely
on the support from friends, consultants, or even private recruiting firms.

References

Allen, D. G., Mahto, R. V., & Otondo, R. F. (2007). Web-based recruitment: Effects of information,
organizational brand, and attitudes toward a Web site on applicant attraction. The Journal of Applied
Psychology, 92(6), 1696–1708. doi:10.1037/0021-9010.92.6.1696 PMID:18020806

Capelli, P. (2001). Making the most of on-line recruiting. Harvard Business Review, 79, 139–146.
PMID:11246921

Faliagka, E., Tsakalidis, A., & Tzimas, G. (2012). An integrated e-recruitment system for automated
personality mining and applicant ranking. Internet Research, 22(5), 551–568.
doi:10.1108/10662241211271545

SECTION 2: WRITING A BUSINESS MESSAGE (60 points)

TOPIC 2:

Imagine that you are an employee at ForeverKoi, a local retail company. Last year, your company released
a new policy that prohibited the use of all social networks during working hours. The only accepted
channel for instant communication at the moment is Zalo. The reason is that the management worried
about some employees’ abusive behaviors, such as sharing photos of them partying, drinking excessively,
and even complaining about the workplace on their personal accounts. They also thought that employees
were spending too much time on unproductive activities on social networks at the office.

You, however, think that social networks can indeed enhance productivity and make employees less
stressful at work, if used appropriately. You also have encountered some communication troubles with the
customers, as many of them are not familiar with Zalo. The company is limiting its opportunity to attract
young customers and young talents by viewing social networks as an obstacle to productivity.

Your task: Write an email to the Human Resources Manager to explain your point of view, and propose
an idea of implementing suitable guidelines for social media use, instead of completely banning social
networks at work.

BA006IU_G05 – Final Examination Lecturer: Nguyen Vu Anh Tram

 To: Sabrina Carpenter <scarpenter@foreverkoi.com>

From: Thu Hoang <thoang@foreverkoi.com>

Subject: Request To Adjust The Policy Of Banning Social Network

Cc:

Bcc:

Dear Sabrina,

On behalf of my colleagues, I truly hope that you and the executive team at ForeverKoi will
reconsider the banning of social media during the working hour.

We understand that our company has encountered social network related issues in the last few
years. We acknowledge that spending too much time on the social network could reduce productivity as
well as the quality of work. The restriction of media use may also eliminate the possibility of online
harassment or discrimination and help to avoid the risk of leaking company’s confidential information.
Moreover, via insecure links from social networks, the employee’s computer may be infected by the
viruses which would lead to a cyber attack that damages the whole system. On the other hand, has the
company witnessed any significant improvement in the performance of the employees since prohibiting
the use of social networks last year? I guess we all knew the answer and thus, the situation has not yet
been enhanced.

Firstly, I would like to clarify some limitations of this policy. Employees may be unable to access
social media by working computer but their smartphones can do the trick. If the workplace seems to be
restrictive, the workers may feel depressed and lose their motivation to work, they may even think that the
managers do not trust the employee’s ability to control his/her personal time. Moreover, the majority of
our customers are still familiar with other social platforms excluding Zalo. Nevertheless, we believe that
social media plays an essential role in establishing effective communication channels for every business.
Hence, rejecting social networks may take away the opportunities for the employees to promote their
corporations, limit their ability to network with potential clients, and that also impede the possibility to
reach and attract the future applicants.

Secondly, I want to propose some of the below solutions to minimize the risk of unexpected
problems which may caused by abusing social media in the workplace:

 Installing monitoring systems like cameras and informing the employees that they are being
observed so they are not allowed to do the inappropriate acts.

BA006IU_G05 – Final Examination Lecturer: Nguyen Vu Anh Tram

  Establishing a list of rules of using social media during the working hours to sort out which
activities employees are allowed to do and which are not.
 Establishing punishment for every breach of rules, serious violation may lead to heavy
compensation and expulsion from the job.
 Training and guiding the employees about strategies to level up and utilize the use of social media
that would support their tasks.

We really appreciate your time for reconsidering our suggestion. We believe that these
implementations would make a huge impact in the development of ForeverKoi. We are looking forward to
receiving the decision from you soon. Thank you and have a great day.

Best regards,

Thu Hoang

Marketing Intern, ForeverKoi

----------THIS IS THE END OF THE FINAL EXAM----------

BA006IU_G05 – Final Examination Lecturer: Nguyen Vu Anh Tram