UPPER BA374 All Weeks Discussions Latest 2020 March

BA374 Business communication

Week 1 Discussion

Issues and Resolutions

Applying your own thinking, experiences, and application and citation of information from at least one resource, respond to the following Discussion topic(s). Remember, the Discussions are a dialog (conversation) and an opportunity to build community. This is the second of two Discussions in Week 1. In this Issues and Resolutions Discussion, post your main response on or before Day 4 (Thursday night). Post at least three additional responses (one-two paragraphs each) during Monday through Sunday, all on different days.  It is a UIU requirement for Discussion participation to occur on at least four of the seven days in each Week. With the exception of Week 8, “Weeks” begin on Mondays and end on Sundays. It is assumed in this Business Communication class that all writing will have been thoroughly proofread, grammar and spell-checked and never represent the first draft. Writing is always a process, one which requires more than one draft prior to submitting a final, polished posting. Grading rubrics for the Issues and Resolutions Discussion are included below the Directions.

The Issues and Resolutions Discussion is the place for you to familiarize yourself with the Osborn-Parnes Creative Problem-Solving Process by applying a real-world situation and communicating the outcome from your critical thinking and decision-making. Below is a visual representation of the process.

One important point made in Chapter 1 of our Guffey and Loewy (2018) textbook is you first must be able to think critically and make decisions before you can clearly communicate those decisions (p. 7).  This also explains why our first Week’s Discussion is focused on this important reality.

Directions:

Write your response using paragraph format (include a topic sentence plus 3-4 additional sentences). Do not use the second-person perspective.  You may use the first and/or third-perspective perspective for this “Issues and Resolutions” Discussion response.

Following the Osborn-Parnes Creative Problem-Solving Process, begin with “Explore the Challenge”.  It is your choice what challenge you identify but it must relate to Business Communication.   You will need to think about what you need to know about the problem, perhaps gather information (e.g., from people, from research) and ultimately, clearly state what is the problem (e.g, “the business communication challenge I have chosen is…” .Understanding the problem is essential” (Guffey& Loewy, 2018, p. 7). This section of your main response is likely one paragraph in length.

Next is the second phase of the Osborn-Parnes Creative Problem-Solving Process, “Generate Ideas”.  Write in full sentences (not bullet-point sentence fragments) articulate ideas that could solve the problem.  From this information, (perhaps one or two paragraphs = appropriate for this phase) choose one or two of the most promising ideas.

The third and final phase is “Implement Solutions”. This phase transitions ideas to solutions, including action planning. This section of your main response is likely one or two paragraphs in length.

Write a paragraph (paragraphs require at least three if not four sentences to be considered a paragraph) reflecting upon your experience using the Osborn-Parnes Creative Problem-Solving Process.

Somewhere, within the entire main response include one quote from either our textbook or from a UIU library article.  Refer to the Overview section to 1) see how to correctly format references using APA formatting (a UIU requirement), and 2) see how to access information using the UIU library. 

Give yourself the gift of allocating an appropriate amount of time to think, research, and write. Follow the directions.  Run spell and grammar check and proofread your crafted response (reading aloud is highly recommended because it slows down the review, indicates where pauses are appropriate, and suggests where editing is beneficial).  Discussion settings allow you to edit an already posted response without any change in date or time.

As noted above, postings should be made on four of seven days during the week.  The main response plus three additional conversational responses to other postings is a requirement.  Main postings should be present on or before Day 4 (Thursday night).

Enjoy the learning adventure.  If you have questions or need clarification, send an email to petersonm@uiu.edu.

(note: this is the correct APA formatting so copy and paste it – see Overview section for additional information on using APA formatting to cite references)

 

BA374 Business communication

Week 2 Discussion

Diverse Workplace Audiences and Communications

Applying your own thinking, experiences, and application and citation of information from at least one resource (textbook and/or UIU library article), respond to the following Discussion topic(s). Remember, the Discussions are a dialog (conversation) and an opportunity to build community. This is the only Discussion in Week 2. In this Diverse Workplace Audiences and Communications Discussion, post your main response on or before Day 4 (Thursday night). Post at least three additional responses (one-two paragraphs each) during Monday through Sunday, all on different days.  It is a UIU requirement for Discussion participation to occur on at least four of the seven days in each Week. With the exception of Week 8, “Weeks” begin on Mondays and end on Sundays. It is assumed in this Business Communication class that all writing will have been thoroughly proofread, grammar and spell-checked and never represent the first draft. Writing is always a process, one which requires more than one draft prior to submitting a final, polished posting. Grading rubrics for the Diverse Workplace Audiences and Communications Discussion are included below the Directions.

The Diverse Workplace Audiences and Communications Discussion is the place for you to consider the relationship between diversity in the workplace and business communications.

One important point made in Chapter 3 of our Guffey and Loewy (2018) textbook is diversity can “enhance productivity and propel a company to success. Mismanaged, it can become a tremendous drain on a company’s time and resources” (p. 110).

Directions:

Write your response,  at least four paragraphs, using paragraph format (include a topic sentence plus 3-4 additional sentences). Do not use the second-person perspective.  You may use first and/or third-perspective perspective for this “Diverse Workplace Audiences and Communications” Discussion response.

In your response, explain the advantages and challenges of workforce diversity, and recommend approaches for improving communication among diverse workplace audiences.

Somewhere, within the entire main response include one quote from either our textbook and/or from a UIU library article.  Refer to the Overview section to 1) see how to correctly format references using APA formatting (a UIU requirement), and 2) see how to access information using the UIU library. 

Give yourself the gift of allocating an appropriate amount of time to think, research, and write. Follow the directions. Run spell and grammar check and proofread your crafted response (reading aloud is highly recommended because it slows down the review, indicates where pauses are appropriate, and suggests where editing is beneficial).  Discussion settings allow you to edit an already posted response without any change in date or time.

As noted above, postings should be made on four of seven days during the week.  A main response plus three additional conversational responses to other postings is a requirement.  Main postings should be present on or before Day 4 (Thursday night).

Enjoy the learning journey.  If you have questions or need clarification, send an email to gunzelmanr35@uiu.edu.

 

BA374 Business communication

Week 3 Discussion

Research: Business Communication

Applying your own thinking, experiences, and application and citation of information from at least three resources (textbook, mindtools.com website, and a UIU library article), respond to the following Discussion topic(s). Remember, the Discussions are a dialog (conversation) and an opportunity to build community. This is the only Discussion in Week 3. In this Research: Business Communication Discussion, post your main response on or before Day 4 (Thursday night). Post at least four additional responses (one-two paragraphs each) during Monday through Sunday, all on different days.  It is a UIU requirement for Discussion participation to occur on at least four of the seven days in each Week. With the exception of Week 8, “Weeks” begin on Mondays and end on Sundays. It is assumed in this Business Communication class that all writing will have been thoroughly proofread, grammar and spell-checked and never represent the first draft. Writing is always a process, one which requires more than one draft prior to submitting a final, polished posting. Grading rubrics for the Research: Business Communication Discussion are included below the Directions.

The Research: Business Communication Discussion is the place for you to delve into and learn about the myriad of aspects of business communications.

Directions:

1. Visit the website www.mindtools.com. You will be able to acquire the information you seek without needing to register and/or pay. This is a website accepted by business schools as a reliable website. It is not good practice in higher education for students to apply and cite information from dictionary or encyclopedia websites, Wikipedia, Investopedia, or blogs (for example). Students may use these resources for their own use, but only as starting points for further investigation, not as respected or reliable references. Refer to the APA Publication Manual and/or the Purdue OWL APA website to see how to accurately cite APA in-text and reference citations for online referenced material.

2. Next, in the Mindtools website, click on the icon which emulates a magnifying glass. In the “Search the site” box, type in “Business Communication”. A new page opens with a list of topics (all interesting).  You likely will see 2,666, or more than 2,600, results from your search.  Please note that not all of these resources are free; however, you will choose one (and only one) that is free. There are ample free resources (so no worries).  Your choice of a Business Communication topics is now your starting point (choose one that interests you perhaps more than others on the list and choose one that includes the full-text article).  Do not choose one for which you must pay money. Attempt to choose an article not chosen by someone else who has already posted their response. The intent is to learn from every research effort.  Typically, every person has a different interest and rarely if ever have I seen the same resource chosen for this Discussion.

3. Next, go to the UIU library and choose a full text, peer-reviewed journal article (refer to the Week 1 Overview section for a reminder) related to your chosen mindtools.com topic (related to Business Communication).

4. For the third resource, go to your textbook and look in the Index for the topic (the one you chose from the mindtools.com website and the topic your chosen journal article has focus).

5. Write a three-five paragraph summary review of what you learned from these three resources about your chosen topic. You may include your own opinions and experience about the topic within your response. Somewhere, within the entire main response include one quote from the textbook, from the mindtools.com website, and from the journal article you acquired from the UIU library.   

6. Use APA formatting for the three in-text citations and for the list of the three references at the end of the response. Refer to the APA Publication Manual for accurate formatting.  (You should not cite the APA Manual as a reference.)  Another resource to help in learning APA formatting is the Purdue OWL APA website. You already have experience with APA formatting of the textbook and journal articles in prior units. This is your opportunity to learn how to find APA-related resources by using how to use APA to format the mindtools.com website article (both in-text citation and reference list).

7. Give yourself the gift of allocating an appropriate amount of time to think, research, and write. Follow the directions. Run spell and grammar check and proofread your crafted response (reading aloud is highly recommended because it slows down the review, indicates where pauses are appropriate, and suggests where editing is beneficial).  Discussion settings allow you to edit an already posted response without any change in date or time.

8. As noted above, postings should be made on four of seven days during the week.  A main response plus three additional conversational responses to other postings is a requirement.  Main postings should be present on or before Day 4 (Thursday night).

9. Enjoy the learning journey.  If you have questions or need clarification, send an email to petersonm@uiu.edu

 

BA374 Business communication

Week 4 Discussion

Digital Methods and Content

Applying your own thinking, experiences, and application and citation of information from at least one resource (textbook and/or UIU library article), respond to the following Discussion topic(s). Remember, the Discussions are a dialog (conversation) and an opportunity to build community. This is the only Discussion in Week 4. In this Digital Methods and Content Discussion, post your main response on or before Day 4 (Thursday night). Post at least three additional responses (one-two paragraphs each) during Monday through Sunday, all on different days.  It is a UIU requirement for Discussion participation to occur on at least four of the seven days in each Week. With the exception of Week 8, “Weeks” begin on Mondays and end on Sundays. It is assumed in this Business Communication class that all writing will have been thoroughly proofread, grammar and spell-checked and never represent the first draft. Writing is always a process, one which requires more than one draft prior to submitting a final, polished posting. Grading rubrics for the Digital Methods and Content Discussion are included below the Directions.

The Digital Methods and Content Discussion is the place for you to understand, acquire knowledge, practice skills and ultimately consider the implications of using digital methods and content in business.

One important point made in Chapter 7 of our Guffey and Loewy (2018) textbook is how organizations are instituting “detailed digital-age e-policies, offering formal employee training. and using technology tools such as monitoring, filtering, and blocking” (p. 226).

Directions:

Write your response,  at least four paragraphs, using paragraph format (include a topic sentence plus 3-4 additional sentences). Do not use the second-person perspective.  You may use first and/or third-perspective perspective for this “Digital Methods and Content” Discussion response.

In your response, explain your familiarity and experiences with using digital forms of communication i.e. “channels” such as e-mail, texting, instant messaging, video meetings, podcasts, websites, wikis, blogs, social media, web broadcasts, etc. Share your experiences including pros/cons when using these various digital channels. Consider ethical implications. Highlight differences between personal usage and business usage of these communication tools.  Explain the advantages and challenges, best practices, appropriate applications, inappropriate usage and other considerations as related to using digital methods and content.

Somewhere, within the entire main response, include one quote from either our textbook and/or from a UIU library article and use APA formatting for the in-text citation and on a reference page list.

Give yourself the gift of allocating an appropriate amount of time to think, research, and write. Follow the directions. Run spell and grammar check and proofread your crafted response (reading aloud is highly recommended because it slows down the review, indicates where pauses are appropriate, and suggests where editing is beneficial).  Discussion settings allow you to edit an already posted response without any change in date or time.

As noted above, postings should be made on four of seven days during the week.  A main response plus three additional conversational responses to other postings is a requirement.  Main postings should be present on or before Day 4 (Thursday night).

Enjoy the learning journey.  If you have questions or need clarification, send an email to petersonm@uiu.edu.

 

BA374 Business communication

Week 5 Discussion

Influence and Persuasive Messages

Applying your own thinking, experiences, and application and citation of information from at least one resource (textbook and/or UIU library article), respond to the following Discussion topic(s). Remember, the Discussions are a dialog (conversation) and an opportunity to build community. This is the only Discussion in Week 5. In this Influence and Persuasive Messages Discussion, post your main response on or before Day 4 (Thursday night). Post at least three additional responses (one-two paragraphs each) during Monday through Sunday, all on different days.  It is a UIU requirement for Discussion participation to occur on at least four of the seven days in each Week. With the exception of Week 8, “Weeks” begin on Mondays and end on Sundays. It is assumed in this Business Communication class that all writing will have been thoroughly proofread, grammar and spell-checked and never represent the first draft. Writing is always a process, one which requires more than one draft prior to submitting a final, polished posting. Grading rubrics for the Influence and Persuasive Messages Discussion are included below the Directions.

The Influence and Persuasive Messages Discussion is a forum to review existing persuasive messages and analyze the strategy behind why and how they were created. For this assignment, we will focus on reviewing marketing-related messages (since marketing-related messages are always persuasive messages). Persuasive messages are created with the intent for the reader/audience to take an action.In order for the reader/audience to be compelled to take an action, there must be some sort of tangible or intangible benefit (or a mixture of both) and benefits may be intrinsic, extrinsic, or a mixture of both. Aristotle (no in-text citation needed, copyright expired) categorized persuasive appeals into three types: 1. those based on logic, 2. those based on emotion, and 3. those based upon the character of the message giver. 

One important point made in Chapter 10 of our Guffey and Loewy (2018) textbook is how “in addition to identifying the purpose of a persuasive message, you also need to concentrate on the receiver” (p. 343).

Directions:

1. Conduct research in the UIU library and from Chapter 10 of the textbook regarding what comprises, and when to use, persuasive messages.

2. Choose one marketing-related (persuasive message) example that includes both words and visuals.  The examples might be print ads, or television ads, or internet advertisements.  The example is your choice. Write at least three paragraphs analyzing the chosen persuasive message and discussion influence and persuasive messages.  Include the following in your analysis:

Persuasive message description (visual/words). Note: to insert a .jpg file, put the cursor where you want it to be, then click on the first box above that looks like an arrow “insert stuff”. Insert the file, select decorative and save and the image will appear.

 Intended audience (e.g. target market characteristics) and desired action (e.g., to purchase the product).

What techniques were applied?  What are the motivators?

3. Somewhere, within the entire main response, include one quote from either our textbook and/or from a UIU library article and use APA formatting for the in-text citation and on a reference page list.

4. Give yourself the gift of allocating an appropriate amount of time to think, research, and write. Follow the directions. Run spell and grammar check and proofread your crafted response (reading aloud is highly recommended because it slows down the review, indicates where pauses are appropriate, and suggests where editing is beneficial).  Discussion settings allow you to edit an already posted response without any change in date or time.

5. As noted above, postings should be made on four of seven days during the week.  A main response plus three additional conversational responses to other postings is a requirement.  Main postings should be present on or before Day 4 (Thursday night).

6. Enjoy the learning journey.  If you have questions or need clarification, send an email to petersonm@uiu.edu.

 

BA374 Business communication

Week 6 Discussion

Planning and Secondary Research

Applying your own thinking, experiences, and application and citation of information from at least three resources (your choice but need to be respected and reliable), respond to the following Discussion topic(s). Remember, the Discussions are a dialog (conversation) and an opportunity to build community. This is the only Discussion in Week 6. In this Planning and Secondary Research Discussion, post your main response on or before Day 4 (Thursday night). Post at least three additional responses (one-two paragraphs each) during Monday through Sunday, all on different days.  It is a UIU requirement for Discussion participation to occur on at least four of the seven days in each Week. With the exception of Week 8, “Weeks” begin on Mondays and end on Sundays. It is assumed in this Business Communication class that all writing will have been thoroughly proofread, grammar and spell-checked and never represent the first draft. Writing is always a process, one which requires more than one draft prior to submitting a final, polished posting. Grading rubrics for the Planning and Secondary Research Discussion are included below the Directions.

The Planning and Secondary Research Discussion is a forum to share, and 1) to learn about planning (in this case, as related to analyzing a problem in report / proposal writing but generally applicable to many types of written documents, and 2) to learn about reasons and ways for conducting secondary research (in this case, as related to supporting problem resolution, but generally applicable to almost all academic writing and the vast majority of business problem-solving.  Perhaps interestingly, we always (whether business or academic) first do secondary research before deciding if and what types of primary research are needed. See the second paragraph of page 403 of the textbook for a confirmation of this assertion.

Guffey and Loewy (2018) stated in Chapter 11, “As you analyze a report’s purpose and audience and prepare your research strategy, you will identify and assess the data you need to support your argument or explain your topic. As you do, you will answer questions about your objectives and audience” (p. 402).

Directions:

1. Think about, decide upon and describe a business-related problem you would like to resolve. If you wish, you may use this same problem-topic in your Week 6 “Write a Proposal” Assignment paper.  Both this Week 6 Discussion and the Week 6 Write a Proposal Assignment requires identification of a problem. The first step is to know and to clearly articulate a “Problem Statement” and a “Problem Question”. Page 398 of our textbook discusses this first step.  I will share with you (as a person who has been forced as an academic to conduct research, complete a dissertation, and write journal articles), this first step can be challenging. The problem needs to be narrowed down to the extent resolution is possible.  If problems are too general, you end up discovering all kinds of details and getting to a result, a solution, a resolution can be overwhelming. Keep it simple.  We do not need to be overwhelmed in our class.  For the Week 6 Discussion, you will define the problem, give consideration to analyzing the problem and the purpose and choose and conduct some secondary research.  The “Week 6 Write a Proposal” assignment includes identification of a problem and purpose, too and you can use information from this Week 6 Discussion in your Week 6 “Write a Proposal” Assignment paper.

Step one: Statement of the Problem

2. Describe in detail information about this problem, who cares about the problem, what people/roles are involved (see page 399 regarding “Anticipating the Audience and Issues”, why this problem needs to be resolved, what is the purpose of giving effort, time, and resources to address the problem.  In this section, also identify the scope and limitations (pages 397 – 402 in the textbook explain these requirements.  Sometimes this process is referred to as a “Work Plan” although we will add the considerations regarding Anticipating the Audience and Issues in Step 2.

Step two: Identification of the Purpose, Participants, Scope, Limitations

3. Describe what you need to know and how you can find out the answers. In this section, you can use a list or paragraph to identify all of the information needed.  Once you know what you need to know, then you decide to do secondary research to see if someone else has already answered your questions.  If the secondary research effort does not provide all of the information you need, then you do primary research (which we are not addressing in this Business Communication class). You should know the definition, the methods, and the reasons for primary research but we will not implement a primary research project (because we have no budget and depending on what type of primary research, specific approvals are necessary (e.g, IRB approval).

Step three: Describe the secondary research strategy including a description of potential sources and methods of collecting information (i.e., “data”).

4. Access two secondary research resources, see what you learned, decide if relevant to assist in resolving the identified problem and share your findings with the class.

Step four: test the secondary research waters.

5. Give yourself the gift of allocating an appropriate amount of time to think, research, and write. Follow the directions. Run spell and grammar check and proofread your crafted response (reading aloud is highly recommended because it slows down the review, indicates where pauses are appropriate, and suggests where editing is beneficial).  Discussion settings allow you to edit an already posted response without any change in date or time.

5. As noted above, postings should be made on four of seven days during the week.  A main response plus three additional conversational responses to other postings is a requirement.  Main postings should be present on or before Day 4 (Thursday night).

6. Enjoy the learning journey.  If you have questions or need clarification, send an email to gunzelmanr35@uiu.edu.

Reference

Guffey, M., & Loewy, D. (2018). Business communication: Process and product (9th ed.). Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.

Week 6 Planning and Secondary Research Discussion Grading Rubrics (possible 45 points)

 – The discussion topic was fully covered within the main response demonstrating critical thinking and application of knowledge, resources, and experience (defined and analyzed a problem and identified secondary research examples) =  possible 25 points

– The response included referenced information (at least two resources; your choice but need to be respected and reliable), and used APA formatting for in-text citation(s) and reference(s) listed at end of response = possible 5 points.

– All responses used accurate composition (grammar, punctuation, spelling) = possible 5 points.

– Posted one main response on or before Thursday plus three additional conversational responses to other postings. Responses were posted in the discussion forum on at least four of the seven days during the week = possible 10 points.

 

BA374 Business communication

Week 7 Discussion

Creating Effective Business Presentations

Applying your own thinking, experiences, and application and citation of information from at least two resources (your choice but need to be respected and reliable), respond to the following Discussion topic(s). Remember, the Discussions are a dialog (conversation) and an opportunity to build community. This is the only Discussion in Week 7. In this Creating Effective Busines Presentations Discussion, post your main response on or before Day 4 (Thursday night). Post at least three additional responses (one-two paragraphs each) during Monday through Sunday, all on different days.  It is a UIU requirement for Discussion participation to occur on at least four of the seven days in each Week. With the exception of Week 8, “Weeks” begin on Mondays and end on Sundays. It is assumed in this Business Communication class that all writing will have been thoroughly proofread, grammar and spell-checked and never represent the first draft. Writing is always a process, one which requires more than one draft prior to submitting a final, polished posting. Grading rubrics for the Creating Effective Busines Presentations Discussion are included below the Directions.

The Week 7 Discussion focuses on how to create and deliver interesting and effective presentations, specifically, an oral (or video) Informative Presentation (the focus of the Week 7 Assignment). The Creating Effective Busines Presentations Discussion is a forum for everyone to share their plans for creating the Week 7 Informative Presentation Assignment by first learning 1) what is an Informative Presentation, how to use sound or video when preparing a presentation, and do’s and don’ts of presentation creation.

You might consider this Week 7 Discussion as the place for everyone to assist one another in planning and preparing to complete the Week 7 Informative Presentation Assignment.

Informative presentation information ( https://courses.lumenlearning.com/businesscommunication/chapter/13-6-creating-an-informative-presentation/)   An informative presentation is a common request in business and industry. It’s the verbal and visual equivalent of a written report. Information sharing is part of any business or organization. Informative presentations serve to present specific information for specific audiences for specific goals or functions. The type of presentation is often identified by its primary purpose or function. Informative presentations are often analytical or involve the rational analysis of information. Sometimes they simply “report the facts” with no analysis at all, but still, need to communicate the information in a clear and concise format.

Here are the Week 7 Informative Presentation Direct