AY2019 Semester 1

Name G107 MSA

Student ID

Assessment Venue Seat Number

G107 Communication in the Global Workplace

AY2019 Semester 1 Mid-Semester Assessment (MSA)

Instructions to student:
This segment is to be used by
1) Do not turn over this question paper until you are staff grader(s) only.
instructed to do so by the invigilator. Question Marks Max
Number Awarded Marks
2) Write your name, student ID, assessment venue and 1 1
seat number in the table provided at the top of each 2 1
page. 1
3
3) For this question paper, there are 21 pages (including 4 1
this cover page). 5 1

6 1
4) For this assessment, you are allowed to:
7 1
• Refer to materials stored in your laptop. 1
8
• Have a blank piece of paper for rough working
9 1
purpose. (Note that the sheet of rough working
paper will not be accepted for submission at the 10 1
end of the assessment.) 11 1
5) For this assessment, you are NOT allowed to: 12 1

• Share any material, such as calculators, with 13 1

another student. 14 1
• Communicate with any person other than the 15 1
invigilator.
16 4
• Use any communication devices such as
handphone or smart watches while at the 17 4
assessment venue. 18 2

19 5
6) All rules and regulations pertaining to summative
assessments and academic integrity stated in the
Student Handbook shall also apply. Total 30

This segment is to be used by the invigilator only and for

‘online’ and ‘online and paper’ mode assessments only.
Please tick the box below if
Invigilator’s Invigilator’s
the student has done part
Name: Signature:
of the assessment online:
Partially done online

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Name: _________________________________ Student Number: _________

SECTION A (12 MARKS)

Answer all questions in this section.

Q1) Which one of the following BEST describes the importance of good
communication in the global workplace?

a) It improves employee work-life balance.

b) It improves profit margins of the organisation.

c) It increases conflict and tension in the workplace.

d) It cultivates better employees and clients’ relationships.

[1 mark]

Q2) Based on the Communication Model, when giving or receiving feedback, you
should ___________________________.

a) make any feedback brief and specific

b) ensure that every detail is written down

c) assume your feedback is clearly understood

d) pay attention only to the receivers’ verbal reaction

[1 mark]

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Name: _________________________________ Student Number: _________

Q3) Dave recently bought a one-year old used sports car from a car dealer, Max,
who told him that the car was in “mint condition” and had never been in an
accident. However, two weeks later, the car broke down and when Dave
confronted Max, he admitted that the car had previously been in a major
collision and suffered severe body damage.

Which one of the following ethical breaches did Max commit?

a) Plagiarism

b) Stereotype

c) Misrepresentation

d) Disclosure of private information

[1 mark]

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Name: _________________________________ Student Number: _________

Q4) Read the passage below and answer the following question:

“Dr. Soo Shuenn Chiang, a psychiatrist, gave information about a patient's

condition to the patient's brother when he phoned the clinic posing as her
husband in 2015. The man claimed that the patient was suicidal and needed
to go for an assessment at the Institute of Mental Health. Without verifying
his identity, Dr. Soo wrote a memo that included the patient’s medical
information for the caller to pick up from his clinic.”
- The Straits Times, 6 March 2019

Which one of the following ethical breaches did Dr. Soo commit?

a) Plagiarism

b) Stereotype

c) Misrepresentation

d) Disclosure of private information

[1 mark]

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Name: _________________________________ Student Number: _________

Q5) A local gym displays the following sign: ''Parents are not permitted to have
children here.'' One way to interpret the sentence is that parents are not
permitted to bring children into the gym. Another interpretation is that parents
are not allowed to give birth to children on the premises.

Which one of the following communication barriers is described above?

a) Semantic noise

b) Physical noise

c) Physiological noise

d) Psychological noise
[1 mark]

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Name: _________________________________ Student Number: _________

Q6) Mr. Lim shared his experience at his recent job interview:

‘I was so disheartened by the behaviour of the Chief Executive Officer (CEO)

who interviewed me. He told me that his company needed someone who
was more technology and media savvy. I'm only 52, but to employers, I might
as well be 82. Subsequently, I emailed the recruiter who seemed to see me
as a great fit but her reply was, "the CEO wants to do some more
comparison shopping”. Of course, I knew what she meant was, "the CEO
really wants to find someone exactly like you, but 20 years younger.”’

Which one of the communication barriers did Mr. Lim experience at his job
interview?

a) Semantic noise

b) Physical noise

c) Physiological noise

d) Psychological noise
[1 mark]

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Name: _________________________________ Student Number: _________

Q7) Mark Bouton, a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agent for 30 years, and
the author of “How to Spot Lies Like the FBI” wrote the following in his latest
book:

‘“Pay attention to the direction they look. When you ask a normal, right-
handed person about something he’s supposed to have seen, if he looks
upward and to his left, he’s truly accessing his memory of the incident,”
Bouton says. “However, if he looks upward and to his right, he’s accessing
his imagination, and he’s inventing an answer.”’

Which one of the following non-verbal behaviour has Mark Bouton described
above?

a) Paralanguage

b) Body language

c) Facial expression

d) Physical appearance
[1 mark]

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Name: _________________________________ Student Number: _________

Q8) Jennifer and Glenn are in a project discussion. Refer to Picture 1 and answer
the following question:

PICTURE 1

Approx. 80cm

(Source: https://twitter.com/JenniferEhlen/status/1042143235706109953)

Based on your understanding of proxemics, what is the zone of interaction

between Jennifer and Glenn?

a) Intimate zone

b) Personal zone

c) Social zone

d) Public zone
[1 mark]

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Name: _________________________________ Student Number: _________

Q9) Poster 1 was created for the i Light Singapore 2019: Straw Free campaign
for this year’s i Light Singapore Festival. The Festival is a light show
featuring artisanal markets, bazaars, carnivals and other lifestyle activities.
Refer to Poster 1 and answer the following question:

POSTER 1

(Source: https://blog.bescene.sg/i-light-2019/)

Based on your understanding of C.A.P.S., what is the purpose of Poster 1?

a) To attract tourists to the light installations at i Light

Singapore Festival.

b) To encourage patrons to go straw-free so as to reduce

environmental waste and impact.

c) To promote sustainable living through a range of eco-

friendly, artisanal goods and services.

d) To attract visitors to the Festival’s artisanal markets,

bazaars, carnivals and lifestyle activities.
[1 mark]

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Name: _________________________________ Student Number: _________

Q10) Minutes are important in business meetings because they ______________.

i) help drive a plan of action for the leadership team and the employees

ii) highlight all key information and minutes should always be as long as
possible

iii) act as an accountability tool because they make it clear whose duty it
was to perform which action

iv) represent the actions of the Board and company leadership, and are
considered legal documents by auditors

Which of the above statements are true?

a) i and ii only

b) iii and iv only

c) i, iii and iv only

d) i, ii, iii and iv

[1 mark]

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Name: _________________________________ Student Number: _________

Q11) The _________________ section of a business report presents specific,

action-oriented suggestions and solutions to solve the report problem.

a) introduction

b) discussion

c) conclusion

d) recommendation
[1 mark]

Q12) Susan needed to cite an ONLINE NEWSPAPER in the REFERENCE

SECTION for her business report. Which one of the following is an accurate
citation?

a) Faris Mokhtar (2019, March 5). Secondary school streaming

to be abolished in 2024, replaced with subject-based banding.
Todayonline, Retrieved from https://www.todayonline.com

b) Mokhtar, F. (2019, March 5). Secondary school streaming to

be abolished in 2024, replaced with subject-based banding.
Todayonline, Retrieved from https://www.todayonline.com

c) Mokhtar, F. (2019). Secondary school streaming to be

abolished in 2024, replaced with subject-based banding.
Todayonline, Retrieved from https://www.todayonline.com

d) Faris Mokhtar (2019, March 5). Secondary school streaming

to be abolished in 2024, replaced with subject-based banding.
Retrieved from https://www.todayonline.com

[1 mark]

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Name: _________________________________ Student Number: _________

SECTION B (3 MARKS)
FILL IN THE BLANKS

The paragraphs for Q13, Q14 and Q15 are part of a draft business report titled “The
Effects of Stress on Business Employees”. However, the paragraphs are not
arranged in order and the sub-headings are missing.

Based on your understanding of the business report format, fill in each blank (Q13,
Q14 and Q15) by choosing a suitable sub-heading from Table 1.

Table 1 (Each option can only be used once)

Conclusion Executive Summary Introduction
References Discussion Recommendation

Conclusion
Q13: ____________________________
The findings of this study indicated stress does negatively affect the work
performance of employees. Job satisfaction and productivity were indicated as two
areas most affected by work-related stress. Therefore, stress cannot be considered
just an individual issue because reduced job satisfaction and lower productivity has a
direct effect on the company as a whole.

Q14: ____________________________
Introduction
Today, many organizations and employees are experiencing the effects of stress on
work performance. The effects of stress can be either positive or negative. According
to Barden (2001), negative stress is becoming a major illness in the work
environment, and it can debilitate employees and be costly to employers. The
purpose of this study was to determine the negative effects of stress on employees
and the methods employers use to manage employees' stress.
References
Q15: ____________________________
Sixty questionnaires were distributed to business employees in the CBD area, and
the response rate was 78.3%. All returned responses from the sample were
considered full-time employees by their employers. The respondents were also asked
to indicate their age group; all age ranges were represented in the results, as shown
in Figure 1. The breakdown consisted of 2.1% under the age of 20, 33.7% between
20 and 29, 29.4% between the ages of 30 and 39, 26.1% between 40 and 49, 5.4%
between 50 and 59, and 3.3% were 60 and over.

[3 marks]

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Name: _________________________________ Student Number: _________

SECTION C (8 MARKS)

Poster 2 was created by Whitmania | LA | 2019, a community engaged in arts and

humanities events at the University of California, Los Angeles. The community marks
the 200th anniversary of Walt Whitman, a well-known American poet in the
nineteenth century.

Refer to Poster 2 and answer all the questions in this section.

POSTER 2

(Source: https://twitter.com/Whitmania2019)

Main text reads:

“This is not like anything else. This is WHITMANIA. Join us this spring at
multiple locations around Los Angeles | #Whitmania2019

Other visible text:

“I am mad for it to be… buzz whispers love…”
“The woods drake and wood click… my distant and ramble…”

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Name: _________________________________ Student Number: _________

Q16) Identify and explain TWO (2) types of noise present in Poster 2.

[4 marks]

You are required to label your answers clearly.

Physical noise the black ink blocking the other possible words on the poster and semantic noise
as the other visible text is ambiguous and the meaning from the words are hard to understand.

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Name: _________________________________ Student Number: _________

Q17) Timothy, the Head of Events of RP’s Literary IG has created a poster for
publicity purposes for its upcoming event, after coming across Poster 2.

Refer to Poster 3 and answer the following questions.

POSTER 3

a) Identify ONE (1) unethical action committed by Timothy and EXPLAIN

why the action was unethical. (2 marks)

b) State TWO (2) possible consequences of Timothy’s actions. (2 marks)

[4 marks]

You are required to label your answers clearly.

Plagiarism, he stole the original poster without giving credits to owner.

He might get in trouble with the actual owner and get sued or might lose his reputation as a credible
person since he plagiarized.

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Name: _________________________________ Student Number: _________

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Name: _________________________________ Student Number: _________

SECTION D (2 MARKS)

Hansel is the Marketing Director at Savills International, a global real estate services
provider. The following excerpt was extracted from Hansel’s personal blog.

Refer to the Excerpt 1, Picture 2 and Picture 3 below to answer all the questions in
this section.

EXCERPT 1

Hansel wrote:

“The meeting was very intense with people from my team and people from
other departments from our company. The meeting started off with many
different viewpoints, all thinking they were being messed with and wanting
the easiest path to resolve the issue. I had to bring order and the best
solution to this mess, juggling time, money and deliverable quality.”

PICTURE 2

(Source: https://premierfamilywellness.com/professional-services/meeting/)

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Name: _________________________________ Student Number: _________

PICTURE 3

(Source: https://smallbusiness.co.uk/how-to-have-a-good-business-meeting-1646683/)

Q18) Based on your understanding of non-verbal communication,

a) Identify the picture – either Picture 2 OR Picture 3 – that BEST FIT the
scene described in Excerpt 1. (1 mark)

b) Provide ONE (1) non-verbal cue to justify your answer in Part a). (1
mark)
[2 marks]

You are required to label your answers clearly.

Picture 3, the white man in grey has his forehead wrinkled up which shows he is taking the meeting
very seriously which shows the intensity of the meeting, the woman with slight blonde hair also has
her mouth closed and direct eye contact with the white man in blue which shows her upmost attention
to him

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Name: _________________________________ Student Number: _________

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Name: _________________________________ Student Number: _________

SECTION E (5 MARKS)

Calvin Koh is the President of RP’s Entrepreneurship IG and his Executive

Committee is organising Innovation & Entrepreneurship Forum for RP students to
interact with outstanding entrepreneurs and mentors. He has drafted an email to
RP’s Office of Estates (OES) to request for a suitable venue for the event. As the
secretary of the IG, you are to edit his email before he sends out to the recipient of
the email.

Refer to Email 1 and answer the following question.

EMAIL 1

-DRAFT-

To: joel_lim@rp.edu.sg
Cc: jennifer_wong@rp.edu.sg
Subject: Hello

Hi there!

I am the President of Entrepreneurship IG and I am organising an event.

The committee has spotted a place and we are wondering if we can book
Agora Hall 2 on 28 August 2019 from 1-9pm?

Please let me know soonest possible yeah? Thanks!

Bye!
Calvin Koh the President
hp:12345678

Q19) a) Based on your understanding of the structure of an email, rewrite the

email. (4 marks)

b) Explain ONE (1) reason why writing good emails is important in the
workplace context. (1 mark)

[5 marks]

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Name: _________________________________ Student Number: _________

You are required to label your answers clearly.

- End of paper -
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