Answered: 1. Identify and describe communication…

Understanding Business

12th Edition

ISBN:9781259929434

Author:William Nickels

Publisher:William Nickels

Chapter1: Taking Risks And Making Profits Within The Dynamic Business Environment

Section: Chapter Questions

Problem 1CE

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The following case studies show how poor business communications can have real-world costs and consequences.

Case Study 1: The promising chemist who buried his results

Bader, a research chemist for a major petroleum company, wrote a dense report about some new chemical compounds he had synthesized in the laboratory from oil refining by products. The bulk of the report consisted of tables listing their chemical and physical properties, diagrams and molecular structure, formulas, computer analysis and toxicity tests. Buried at the end of the report was a casual speculation that one of the compounds might be particularly effective insecticide. Bader left the company as he was frustrated for lack of support and recognition.

Seven years later, the oil company launched a major research program to find a effective and environmentally safe insecticide. After few months of research, someone accidentally uncovered Bader’s research report relating toxicity tests about insecticide. Few hours of further testing confirmed that Bader’s chemical compound of insecticide was the safe, economical and suitable insecticide they were looking for. Bader left the company already as his research was not given due importance at that point of time.

Case Study 2: The unaccepted electric regulator proposal

Lulu Electric Company worked day and night to develop a new Power Regulator to reduce power consumption in aluminum plants by 35%. They knew that although the competition was fierce, their Power Regulator could be produced more cheaply, was more reliable and worked more efficiently than the similar products of their competitors. The owner was eager to capture the market, personally but somewhat hastily put together 123page proposal to three major aluminum manufacturers recommending that their Power regulator be installed at all company plants.

She devoted first 87 pages of the proposal to the mathematical theory and engineering design behind the new Power Regulator and the next 36 pages to the descriptions of the new assembly line she planned to set up to produce the Power regulators quickly. Buried in an appendix were the test results that compared her Power regulator’s performance with the current models and poorly drawn graph showed the savings as a result of using the new Power Regulator.

Lulu Electric Company did not get the contracts for supply of Power Regulator from any organization despite having the best product. Six months later, Lulu Electric Company filed for bankruptcy.

Case Study 3: The instruction manual that scared customers away

As one of the first to enter the field of office automation, Sagatec Software, Inc., had built a reputation for designing high quality and user friendly database and accounting programs for business and industry. When they decided to enter the word processing market, their engineers designed an effective, versatile and powerful program that Sagatec felt sure would outperform any competitor in their business.

To be sure that their new word processing program was accurately documented, Sagatec asked the senior program designer to supervise writing the instruction manual. The result was a thorough, accurate and precise description of every detail of the program’s operation.

When Sagatec began marketing its new word processor, cries for help flooded in from office workers who were so confused by the massive manual that they could not even find out how to get it started. Then several business journals reviewed the program and judjed it “too complicated” and “difficult to learn.” After an impressive start, sales of the new word processing program plummeted.

Sagatec eventually put out a new, clearly written training guide that led the new users step by step through introductory exercises and told them how to find commands quickly. But the rewrite cost Sagatec $350,000, a year’s lead in the market and its reputation for producing easy to use business software.

Answer the following:

1. Identify and describe communication errors such as poor task or audience analysis, use of inappropriate language or style, poor organization or formatting of information or other issues relating to writing structured business report in each of the above case studies.

2. Discuss appropriate business communication concepts and theories in the context of the above case studies separately.

3. Evaluate the use of current and recent technologies for effective communication in the above case studies.

4. Present practical communication solutions in relation to the above case studies as they apply to the local as well as the global context.

consequences a phenomenon that follows and is caused by some previous phenomenon More (Definitions, Synonyms, Translation)

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