Strategic Management Communication For Leaders 3rd Edition Walker Solutions Manual
Strategic Management Communication For Leaders 3rd Edition Walker Solutions Manual
CHAPTER SYNOPSIS
How would you judge the writing skills of your colleagues, peers, or employees? How would
you judge your own writing skills? What steps might you take to improve the quality of your
written communication? If you are a leader or manager, what might you do to improve the
writing in your organization?
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
I. Plan and develop content for routine and persuasive messages as well as longer
documents and proposals.
II. Consider and incorporate the elements of visual impression into a written message, as
appropriate.
LECTURE OUTLINE
I. Introduction
PowerPoint slide 2
Content:
Tactical Elements for Written Communication
• Planning and developing the message
• Selecting and incorporating visual elements
• Revising for coherence and flow
• Revising for style and tone
Notes:
Good writing skills are critical to success in the workplace
1
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• According to the Wall Street Journal, 80% of businesses believe that their
employees’ biggest weakness is written communication
• NOTE: Depending on the audience, purpose, and context of the message, some of
these steps may be eliminated (e.g., if you’re sending a text message response to a
question from a colleague that you received just a few seconds ago, no planning,
little development, no visual aids, and little concern for coherence and flow may
be needed)
PowerPoint slide 3
Content:
Parts of a Message
• Introduction
o Direct approach
o Indirect approach
• Body
o Direct approach
o Indirect approach
• Close
o Goodwill conclusions
o Summary conclusions
o Sales conclusions
Notes:
A. Good organization in written messages is important for two key reasons
1. It helps your reader understand your message
• Indirect: Used for bad news messages and some persuasive messages when
it’s expected that the audience may be resistant to a proposal
o Indirect: Purpose may not be stated immediately but will instead open
with a neutral buffer, which may not state the bad news explicitly but
prepared the reader for the bad news coming in the body of the
message
• Body
o Direct: Provides the necessary supporting details for the purpose of the
message. This might include: the reason for the decision, procedures
for the reader to follow, background information, a description of the
situation, or evidence to support the claims that are made in the case of
a persuasive message).
• Close – Like the intro, the close is very memorable, so be sure your close is
something you want your audience to take away
o Goodwill: A few simple sentences or statements aimed at maintaining
your relationship with your reader - provides you an opportunity to
distinguish yourself as a person who truly recognizes and appreciates
others
o Sales: Restates the benefits your reader will receive from adopting
your proposal – may include a call to action if you are the person who
will be following through
PowerPoint slide 4
Content:
Persuasive Messages
1. How will my audience initially react to my proposal
2. How does my audience feel about me, my company, or my product or
service?
3. What are your audience’s needs? In what ways does your idea or proposal
fulfill those needs?
4. What benefits does your proposal provide to your audience?
5. What obstacles or objections must you overcome?
6. Is this a sales proposal or a competitive message? If so, what do my
competitors offer? How might I distinguish my ideas or myself favorably
from my competitors?
Notes:
Questions to answer to determine strategy and info required for a persuasive message
1. How will my audience initially react to my proposal?
• To determine the strategy and information you will need to provide
in a persuasive message
3. What are your audience’s needs? In what ways does your idea or proposal
fulfill those needs?
• To determine how you might be able to tailor the content of your
message to explain how your proposed idea meets those needs
PowerPoint slide 5
Content:
Persuasive Messages
• Components
o Claim
o Evidence
▪ Quality of the evidence
• Types of Appeals
o Logos
o Pathos
o Ethos
Notes:
Components of Persuasive Messages
• Claim: More general or more abstract statement
Types of Appeals
• Logos: Logical appeal that consists of such information as facts and statistics
PowerPoint slide 6
Content:
Persuasive Messages
• The AIDA Approach
o Attention
o Interest
o Desire
o Action
Notes:
The AIDA approach for organizing persuasive messages
1. Attention: Gain the audience’s attention and interest with a brief statement that is
personalized, audience-centered, and relevant to the situation
3. Desire: Provide evidence to prove the claims made previously in your message
4. Action: Suggest a specific step the audience can take and make that action easy
PowerPoint slide 7
Content:
How Do I Deal with a Resistant Audience?
1. Open with statement of common ground
2. Explain need for change
3. Eliminate objections
4. Provide specific solution or recommendations
5. Explain implementation of plan if appropriate
Notes:
Using the Step-by-Step Indirect Approach for Resistant Audiences
1. Open with statement of common ground to defuse any differences between you
and your audience. Then follow with an indirect statement of purpose explaining
your idea.
3. Eliminate objections by showing that your proposed solution is clearly best of all
the alternatives. You must do this in an objective tactful way to reduce the
potential for judgments of bias.
PowerPoint slide 8
Content:
Reports and Proposals
• Reports
o Define a problem
o Gather data
o Develop recommendations
o Can be formal or informal
• Proposals
o Serve as sales documents recommending changes or purchases internally
or offering services externally
o Can be formal or informal
Notes:
Reports and proposals are common forms of longer written messages in business. They
come in many different forms and styles
• Reports can be:
o On feasibility
o On research
o On progress
o On incidents
o Formal or informal in style
• Proposals are:
o Sales documents intended to recommend changes or purchases within a
company—or show how your organization can meet the needs of another
if the proposal is intended for an external audience
o Sometimes formal and sometimes informal in style
Notes:
A. Visual elements of messages are critically important in business writing.
Formatting is important for all written messages, including e-mails and other
digital messages.
• Headings
o Tells audience what to expect
o Indicates relationship between ideas
• Graphics
o Improves understanding and makes information more memorable
o Can enhance speaker credibility if used correctly
o Might include:
▪ Graphs
▪ Tables
▪ Diagrams and drawings
• Lists
o Increase white space
o Often used as forecasting devices
Notes:
A. Revising for logical flow and coherence
o Check for accurate topic sentences
▪ Ideally in business messages, each paragraph should begin with an
accurate topic sentence or transitional phrase that mentions one of
the subtopics referred to in the introduction if the direct approach
was used
PowerPoint slide 13
Content:
Tips for Submitting a Message
• Avoid using BCC, which may look sneaky
• Proofread for mechanical correctness
• Only send copies to those who need to info
• SEND!
Notes:
The process of submitting a message wasn’t as important in the past when you just put a
stamp on a letter and dropped it in the mailroom, but e-mail is different. There are many
things to consider after you’ve written the message but before you send it.
• Consider the formality of the salutation
Student responses will vary but should include a discussion related to the causes of these
differences in reading practices between the two groups.
• These differences are based upon context, purpose, and type of job being
performed.
• Businesspeople are often very busy, so they appreciate short, concise writing
visually designed to be “skimmable.” Academics have more time available to
read lengthy pieces, since research is part of their job, so they tend to appreciate
beautiful language and detailed explanations at any length.
Tags:
BUSPROG: Communication
DISC: Audience | Patterns
LO: 6-1
Bloom’s: Application
Difficulty: Moderate
Topic: A-Head: Visual Impression in Written Messages | Revising for Style and Tone |
Proofreading for Mechanical Correctness
2. What tactics have you used to ensure that your messages are logically organized?
What new tactics might you incorporate into your message-creation process to
ensure well-organized messages?
Student responses will vary but should include a discussion of the following points:
While knowing the purpose of your message can help you distinguish the type of
message you should write, identifying the type of message (e.g., persuasive vs.
informational) helps you determine the organizational approach to the message.
o Action: Suggest a specific step the audience can take and make that action
easy. You might want to connect the dots by explaining how this action
will result in the benefits you discussed earlier.
• The indirect approach is a good way to organize persuasive messages for resistant
audiences.
o Open your message with a statement of common ground to defuse any
differences that may exist between you and your audience. Then, an
indirect statement of purpose should follow. Provide an overview of the
contents of the body of your message but should not include your specific
recommendations.
o The body of the message should begin by explaining the need for your
proposed idea. Your goal is to show in a persuasive manner that there is a
need for change of the type you are proposing.
Tags:
BUSPROG: Analytic | Communication
DISC: Audience | Rhetorical Considerations
LO: 6-1
Bloom’s: Comprehension
Difficulty: Easy
Topic: A-Head: Planning and Developing Persuasive Messages | Organizing Persuasive
Messages | Using the AIDA Approach
• The sender is just trying to use certain persuasive strategies to overcome audience
resistance.
o The body of the message should begin by explaining the need for your
proposed idea. Your goal is to show in a persuasive manner that there is a
need for change of the type you are proposing.
Tags:
BUSPROG: Communication | Ethics
DISC: Consequences | Ethics and Morals
LO: 6-1
Bloom’s: Evaluation
Difficulty: Challenging
Topic: A-Head: Planning and Developing Persuasive Messages | Using the Indirect
Approach for Resistant Audiences
4. What are some of the challenges you have encountered while attempting to
persuade? How might the AIDA approach be used to better deal with these
situations?
The AIDA Approach is useful when trying to persuade someone to do something because
it clearly organizes the message into the following consecutive sections:
• Attention
• Interest
• Desire
• Action
NOTE: See question #2 (above) for more details on each step of the AIDA approach
Tags:
BUSPROG: Communication | Reflective Thinking
DISC: Audience | Patterns
LO: 6-1
Bloom’s: Application
Difficulty: Moderate
Topic: A-Head: Planning and Developing Persuasive Messages | Organizing Persuasive
Messages | Using the AIDA Approach
o Is the sample from which the statistics are drawn a representative one?
• Testimony:
o Was the person giving the testimonial close enough to witness the event?
Tags:
BUSPROG: Analytic | Communication
DISC: Audience | Patterns
LO: 6-1
Bloom’s: Knowledge
Difficulty: Easy
Topic: A-Head: Planning and Developing Persuasive Messages | Quality of Evidence
APPLICATIONS
1. Revise the following message so that it is more logically ordered. You may also
discover that some of the content is irrelevant and thus can be eliminated and that
the message also is missing some critical information needed to fulfill the customer's
request. Be sure to check the subject line of the message for clarity
Regards,
Stan Liu
902 Oak Street Portland, OR 90042
My name is Stan Liu, and I am a small business owner. I recently purchased your new
accounting software at Professional Office Products. I think that your software will be
very helpful to me in improving my productivity and potentially my company’s profits.
Unfortunately when I got the product home, I was unable to install it on my Apple brand
computer. Would you please assist me in installing this software? I can be reached at
(XXX) XXX-XXXX or at [email protected]. Thank you in advance for your assistance.
Regards,
Stan Liu
902 Oak Street Portland, OR 90042
Tags:
BUSPROG: Analytic | Communication
DISC: Audience | Rhetorical Considerations
LO: 6-1
Bloom’s: Synthesis
Difficulty: Challenging
Topic: A-Head: Planning and Developing Persuasive Messages
Dear Customer:
Thank you very much for your order of the two-volume DVD set, placed on March 15th,
2010. Because of the wonderful success this DVD set has enjoyed, the demand for this
product has clearly exceeded its supply. While we are working extremely hard to produce
a high volume of the DVD set to respond to the demand effectively, several factors have
emerged that have prevented us from reaching this goal.
Please accept our apologies for the inconvenience that this situation may have caused
you. I can assure you that we value each customer and are working very hard to ensure
that customer satisfaction remains very high.
As soon as the product becomes available, we will ship it to you. If you need to reach us,
please do so at (XXX) XXX-XXXX or [email protected]. We would like to thank you for
your understanding and patronage.
Sincerely,
Joe Smith
Manager
Tags:
BUSPROG: Analytic | Communication
DISC: Audience | Rhetorical Considerations
LO: 6-1
Bloom’s: Synthesis
Difficulty: Challenging
Topic: A-Head: Planning and Developing Persuasive Messages
3. Using the AIDA Approach, create a message to persuade your boss to approve your
plan to hire two new people. You must show that the benefits will outweigh the costs
of hiring and additional salaries and benefits.
Student responses will vary but must utilize the AIDA Approach (see question #2 for
more detailed info on the AIDA approach):
• Attention
We are unable to keep up with demand....we are behind in our orders...
• Interest
• Desire
These two employees will allows us to respond to the demand and make more
money than what we would pay in salaries and benefits to them.
• Action
Tags:
BUSPROG: Analytic | Communication
DISC: Audience | Patterns
LO: 6-1
Bloom’s: Application
Difficulty: Moderate
Topic: A-Head: Planning and Developing Persuasive Messages | Organizing Persuasive
Messages | Using the AIDA Approach
Student responses will vary but they should generally follow the steps outlined in the
indirect approach:
1. Open your message with a statement of common ground to defuse any differences
that may exist between you and your audience. Then, an indirect statement of
purpose should follow. Provide an overview of the contents of the body of your
message but should not include your specific recommendations.
2. The body of the message should begin by explaining the need for your proposed
idea. Your goal is to show in a persuasive manner that there is a need for change
of the type you are proposing.
3. Eliminate your audience’s objections to your proposal. Show that your proposed
solution is clearly best of all the alternatives.
Tags:
BUSPROG: Analytic | Communication
DISC: Audience | Patterns
LO: 6-1
Bloom’s: Application
Difficulty: Challenging
Topic: Planning and Developing Persuasive Messages | Organizing Persuasive Messages
| Using the Indirect Approach for Resistant Audiences
Student responses will vary but should include the elements of persuasion found below:
• To be successful, you must pay attention to the fact that you must establish and
maintain goodwill and credibility.
o What are your audience’s needs? In what ways does your idea or proposal
fulfill those needs?
Tags:
BUSPROG: Analytic | Communication
DISC: Audience | Patterns
LO: 6-1
Bloom’s: Application
Difficulty: Challenging
Topic: A-Head: Planning and Developing Persuasive Messages
CASE ANALYSIS
A. DHL: Closing Operations in the United States
1. What are the critical issues in this case? What issues are most critical?
o Economic trouble for the city of Wilmington, Ohio and for Clinton
County, Ohio where the large DHL hub that closed was located
2. Who are the stakeholders? Which stakeholders have been most affected and
have the potential to be the most affected? What are the critical issues to the
different stakeholders? What do the different stakeholders have at stake?
o Executives from ABX Air Inc. that have to lay off their employees
as a result of the Wilmington hub closure
▪ Critical issues: Closures and employee layoffs
o Employees from ABX Air Inc. that were laid off as a result of the
Wilmington hub closure
▪ Critical issues: Reason for hub closure, timing of hub
closure, future employment
3. Was the sequence of events and time span that DHL utilized to announce the
end of domestic-only operations in the United States and the subsequent
shutdown appropriate? Should DHL have made the announcement earlier?
Should they have waited longer after the announcement to shut down all
operations?
Student responses will vary but might include something about the chronological
element of context from chapter 5.
• Chronological – The ways time influences interactions
o The time of year (busy and stressful vs. a break between projects –
depends on the business cycle) and time of day (morning when
your supervisor is available to talk vs. end of the day when
supervisor is about to leave to go home)
4. Is there any way that CHL could have postponed or avoided a shutdown of
U.S. Express operations? Should a company leave the market during poor
economic times?
Student responses will vary but should include something about the overall
stability of the company. DHL does not want its global audience to question the
company’s stability or its ability to deliver excellent service as a result of the U.S.
closures.
2. How does the closure affect DHL’s image in the United States? What does
DHL need to do in order to convince American customers to continue using
DHL for international shipping needs?
Student responses will vary. The closure could obviously negatively affect
DHL’s image in the U.S., but if the company does an excellent job of
communicating strategically with American consumers, they might be able to
convince people that the company’s infrastructure is now streamlined and better
suited than ever before for customer’s international shipping needs.
3. Is there a need for DHL to take further action in the United States in general
and in Wilmington, Ohio, in particular? If so, what actions should DHL
take?
Student responses will vary but the general answer is, “yes, absolutely.”
Responses might include something about the nature of global communication in
a digital world. DHL won’t be able to isolate a PR problem in the Wilmington or
across the U.S. from the rest of the world when their company does business.
They most definitely need to take further action to ensure that the community of
Wilmington doesn’t implode as a result of their hub closure and to ensure that
they are mitigating the impact of other closures across the country. Perhaps most
importantly, they need to ensure that their lines of communication with key
stakeholders are open for as long as is necessary.
4. Is there a need for Deutsche Post to send a message to its stakeholders? If so,
what message should Deutsche Post send?
Student responses will vary but the general answer is, “yes.” It might appear
sneaky if Deutsche Post tries to distance itself from (or ignore) the U.S. closures
approved by the upper echelons of the company.
Student responses will vary but there should be some mention of determining the
right person/office to deliver the message for each stakeholder. For example, a
standard message from the CEO at Deutsche Post would seem impersonal if it
was the only or the most critical communication with laid off employees from the
Wilmington hub.
6. What responsibility does DHL have to its employees and the communities in
which it is a significant source of employment and revenue?
7. Should DHL be concerned about its future prospects in the United States?
Should they be concerned about the effect this will have on its international
operations? Should they be concerned about the possibility of reentry into
the U.S. domestic shipping market?