PAMANTASAN NG CABUYAO

COLLEGE OF EDUCATION ARTS AND SCIENCES

COM 101
Lecture Notes Compilation

LEARNING
MATERIAL FOR
9
WEEK NUMBER:

I. TITLE: CORPORATE CULTURE AND COMMUNICATION

II. OBJECTIVES: At the end of the topic, students are expected to:

1. know the principles of communication in the corporate workplace and the importance of appropriate language in
maintaining professionalism
2. learn about work trends and corporate culture, as they relate to intercultural communication, in the Philippines and the
world
3. gain critical thinking and writing skills to adapt their communication style and language to different professional
contexts
4. practice writing professional correspondence and basic workplace documents in activities that simulate what happens in
the real world

III.INTRODUCTION:

This topic introduces the principles of professional communication by increasing your awareness on the
importance of social context in language use. Just as linguistic researcher Carol Tenny (2013) does in her introduction to
Linguistic course, this lesson reinforces what you already know: “ that people use language differently depending on
social situation that they are in.” It then zooms in on professional context, discussing the basic principles that guide
corporate and workplace communication, whether in the Philippines or in the world. As you learn about the principles,
you will apply these in short exercises which require you to revise sample workplace documents.

IV. CONTENT:

Basics of Professional Writing

Writing is an essential skill. All jobs call for writing, from application letters to memos, emails, tweets, blogs,
websites, proposal, and reports. Through writing, communication is possible among or between employees, managers,
stakeholders, clients, and agencies. Employees should be able to write clearly to be able to do the other requisites of the
job. Writing keeps business moving (Searles, 2014; Kolin, 2015). Workplace writing occurs for a definite purpose, and it
is intended for a particular audience. It is therefore, important that purpose and audience be seriously considered to make
sure that the tone you adopt is appropriate for the context and the kind of writing expected of you.

A. Purpose. On-the job writings are usually done for at least one of three reasons: (a) to create/ build a record,
(b) to request or provide information, (c) to persuade. As writer, once you have determined your purpose, the next
question to ask yourself is, “What am I going to say?” Now, think of the message (or facts and ideas) you want to
impart to the reader to achieve your purpose. You may adopt the five W’ that journalists use in structuring the
opening sentence of new stories: Who, What, Where, When and Why. This will be a fitting start of your on-the-
job

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writing. An additional purpose is to build an individual or company’s positive image to establish rapport-
essentially to build goodwill.

1. Audience/ Reader. Ask yourself these questions:

a. Who am I writing to? An individual or a group of persons?

b. What do they know about this topic?
c. What are their job titles and areas of responsibility?

In identifying your audience, remember that the workplace has a

communication- network pattern of contact created by the flow of messages
among communicators:
a. Upward communication. The written materials are sent by subordinates to their superiors. It
can convey varied types of messages like what the subordinates are doing, unsolved work
problems, suggestions for improvement, how subordinates feel about each other and the job,
reply to an inquiry from a supervisor. These messages can benefit both the subordinates and the
superiors because the most satisfied
b. Lateral (Horizontal) communication. The materials are sent to people who are of equal level
or status; that is between members of the same division or dependent of an organization. This
communication serves for purposes like task coordination, problem solving, sharing information
and building rapport.
c. Downward Communication. This is the kind of communication sent by superiors to their
subordinates. Downward communication is very important because giving instructions is
inevitable. Examples are giving job instructions, job rationale and sending feedback.
d. Outward Communication. This is intended for workers outside the workplace. An example is a
letter to the comptroller of a company regarding financial matters.

B. Tone/ The Style of Professional Writing

Tone expresses your attitude toward a person or thing ( whether you agree or disagree, like or dislikes, bias or
accept). It is how you regard or consider the person. Some of these professional styles are:

a.“You- attitude”/ “Reader-Oriented” – as Locker and Kienzler ( 2013) defined as a style of writing which
looks at things from the reader’s point of view, emphasizing what the reader wants to know, respecting the
reader’s intelligence, and protecting the reader’s ego.

Examples:

Poor: If I can answer any of your queries, I am perfectly willing to do so.

Better: If you have any question, please ask. (You- attitude)

Poor: We now have a Walk-up Window, open to serve you from 9 am to 4pm every Wednesday.
Better: You can now take care of your banking needs at our new Wake-up window, open to serve you
from 9 am to 4pm every Wednesday.

Poor: I am happy to tell you that you will be promoted.

Better: You will be happy to hear that you will be promoted.

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b. Emphasis on the positive in order to build a positive image and goodwill. All information should be stated
positively, which means that there is a focus on what the reader can do rather than on what the writer will not
or cannot let the reader do. The examples below show how positive wording appeals to the reader’s sense of
cooperation and fairness because sentences are phrased in a nonthreatening way

Negative: We cannot process your reimbursement request because your documents are not
complete.
Positive: Your reimbursement request will be processed as soon as you submit all the required
documents.

Negative: We do not reply to emails on weekends.

Positive: You may contact us via email at any time from Monday to Friday.

Negative: It is impossible to open an account for you today.

Positive: As soon as your signature card reaches us today, we can gladly open an account for you.

Exercise: Rephrase the negatively worded sentences that follow so that they emphasize the positive. For some items, you
may need to add information to revise sentences effectively.

Negative Wording: You are not qualified to join the University Cooperative because you
haven’t fulfilled the tenure requirements.

Positive Wording: _______________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

Negative Wording: We put your case on hold because you never sent us the information we
we requested in our email sent on June 24.

Positive Wording: _________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

Negative Wording: Until your miscellaneous fees are paid, we will consider you in eligible
for enrollment.

Positive Wording: _________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

PROFESSIONAL LANGUAGE

Professional documents require language that is appropriate to the workplace setting: polite, professional rather
than overly personal, and grammatically accurate.
Firstly, polite language is essential in a context wherein there are power asymmetries. There are ranks and
hierarchies in any workplace setting and workers must ensure that there is minimal conflict and disharmony in the
organization. Courtesy is a mental attitude and it implies respect and helpfulness. Courtesy in letter writing consists in
using words and phrases that indicate willingness to serve. It is likewise avoidance of negative statements and those that
may offend, humiliate or belittle the reader. Be considerate of the reader’s interests and feelings always. Expressions like
“thank you”, “appreciate”, “pleasure”, “please”, “glad”, “considerate”, “promptly”, “benefit”, “generous”, and “delighted”
soften impositions of power, create a positive writer image, and create gratitude.

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Secondly, both personal matters and overly friendly language should not appear in workplace correspondence.

Thirdly, professional writing should exhibit grammatical accuracy in the use of Standard English. Grammatical and even
typographical errors reflect poorly on the writer or speaker in the professional context. Fourthly, professional writing can
be made clear and direct by the avoidance of” business jargon”. These are overly technical and overused expressions that
both obscure the writer’s meaning. Avoid using old fashioned expressions like” as per your request”, and enclosed please
find”. They suggest shortening these to “as you requested” and “here is”. Similarly, “hereto”, ”herewith” and
“whereupon” are old-fashioned expressions that should be omitted while the pompous “pursuant to” can be simplified to
“according to”. A common error in the Philippines is the overused sentence fragment used to close letters: Hoping for
your kind consideration. This may be corrected by writing a full sentence: “I hope you will consider this request ”. Lastly,
local and culture bound expressions, especially if these have to do with religious beliefs, should be avoided in professional
correspondence. Examples are “More power to you” which is not often understood or appreciated by non-Filipino readers,
and “God bless!” which is inappropriate for those of other faiths or religions.

Genres of Professional Writing

As mentioned in the section ”Professional Purpose” there different types of genres of professional documents.
Each type of document follows specific generic conventions which are simply put, conventions for formatting, layout, and
content of the document.

Common Forms of Professional Correspondence:

Business Letter- a document that conveys information to a member of one organization from someone outside of that
organization

Parts of a Business Letter

The Heading
 Most organization use a letterhead
 Helps the reader recognize the company:
 Company name
 Address
 Telephone number
 E-mail address
 Slogan or logo
 Date line follows the letterhead:
 Month should be spelled out in full
 Followed by the day in digits
 Followed by a comma, then the year (i.e. August 28, 2020 )

If you are sending a personal business letter:

 Type your heading

 Single space
 11/2 to 2 inches from the top of the paper
 Do not include your name in the heading

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The Opening

 Inside Address
 Name of person to whom you are writing
 Person’s job title
 Complete address of the recipient
 The space between the dateline and the inside address varies from two to six spaces, depending
on the length of the letter

 Salutation
 It is the greeting
 Followed by a colon (:) e.g. Dear Mr. Montreal:
 This is typed four spaces (press enter four times in your keyboard) after the inside address

The Body

 The most important part of the letter

 Contains the message
 Single spacing within the paragraph
 Double spacing in between paragraphs
 It should begin two spaces after the salutation

The Closing

 It is the “good-bye" of the letter

 Followed by a comma
 Only the first word of the complimentary close is capitalized
i.e. Respectfully yours,
Yours truly,
Sincerely,

The reference initial includes:

 Enclosure Notation
 Something is enclosed in the envelope along with the letter
 May include:
Contracts, checks, fliers, forms
It is typed four spaces after the last line in the name and signature entry

 Copy notation
 A copy of the letter is sent to another person
 cc means “carbon copy”
 bcc means “blind carbon copy”
 file copy
 a copy is kept for filing
 encoder’s initial

Below is an example of a business letter using Full-block style

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November 17,2020

Mrs. Melinda Y. Ramos

Proprietor
Smart Shop
540 Masaya Street
Baguio City

Dear Mrs. Ramos:

We are truly sorry for the inconvenience caused by the missing dark-colored men’s polo. The truth of the matter is that we
are out of stock of the said merchandise. The error was due to the numerous orders we have been receiving lately and to
the rush of customers to our boutique this Christmas season which makes our place bedlam.

I assure you that we will do our very best so that the unfortunate incident can be avoided in the future. Enclosed in this
letter is the correct statement of account based on the goods we sent you last October 15, 2020.

We hope that you will continue to allow us supply your needs despite what had happened.

Sincerely yours,

Teresa F. Ancheta
Manager

Encl: statement of account

Cc: Miss Jona C. Buendia

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Memorandum

It is a document written by a member of an organization to one or more members of the same organization.
It is intended to inform a group of people about a specific issue such as an event, policy or resource, and
encourages them to take an action.

The common reasons for writing memo:

 making announcements
 giving instructions
 clarifying a policy, procedure or issue
 alerting staff to a problem
 sending recommendations
 providing legal records
 calling meeting
 to send enclosure
 to promote goodwill

Advantages of writing a memorandum

 it saves time because it is easier to compose

 it is convenient since a memo can be sent to many people at the same time
 it serves as a written record which helps clarify and confirm spoken message within the office

Simple steps in writing a memo:

 jot down all items of information that are needed/related to your message
 determine the readers reaction
 arrange the information in logical sequence
 draft the message
 edit your message

Below is an example of Memorandum in a standard format. There is no need for a salutation, complimentary close and
signature block.

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MEMORANDUM

TO: General Education Faculty

FROM: Romeo R. Javines, Dean, CAS

DATE: November 23, 2020

SUBJECT: Budget Allotment Meeting

I have several requests to purchase supplies and equipment from department members. Although our supply and
equipment budget has been increased by 25% above last year’s, we still do not have enough discretionary money to
accommodate all the requests. As a result, the budget committee will meet to rank the needs of the entire department.

You are invited to attend the meeting and address the committee regarding any proposal before it. The meeting will
be held in the CAS Conference Room on November 26, 2020.

Encl: Proposal List

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VI. ASSESSMENT TASK

Graded recitation

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