المملكة العربية السعوديةوزارة التعليم
الجامعة السعودية اإللكترونية
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Ministry of Education
Saudi Electronic University
College of Administrative and Financial Sciences
Assignment 1 &2
Communication Management (MGT 421)
Due Date: 12/03/2022
Course Name: Communication Management
Student’s Name:
Course Code: MGT421
Student’s ID Number:
Semester: Second
CRN: 23601
Academic Year:2021-22-2nd
For Instructor’s Use only
Instructor’s Name: Dr. Shahid Alam
Students’ Grade: / 10
Level of Marks: High/Middle/Low
General Instructions – PLEASE READ THEM CAREFULLY
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The Assignment must be submitted on Blackboard (WORD format only) via allocated
folder.
Assignments submitted through email will not be accepted.
Students are advised to make their work clear and well presented, marks may be reduced
for poor presentation. This includes filling your information on the cover page.
Students must mention question number clearly in their answer.
Late submission will NOT be accepted.
Avoid plagiarism, the work should be in your own words, copying from students or other
resources without proper referencing will result in ZERO marks. No exceptions.
All answered must be typed using Times New Roman (size 12, double-spaced) font. No
pictures containing text will be accepted and will be considered plagiarism).
Submissions without this cover page will NOT be accepted.
Assignment 1
Learning Outcomes:
1.1 Recognize and memorize concepts of communication theory as they affect business
organizations and the individuals in them.
1.2 Communicate better, knowing that good communicators make better managers and
that communication is a dynamic process basic to individuals and organizational life.
1.3 Analyse effective business letters, memorandums, and case studies.
Assignment Question(s):
Question 1: Critical Thinking
Two Phrases That Indicate Your Boss Is Not Listening To You
One of the biggest predictors of whether an employee will be engaged at work is the extent
to which they feel like their boss listens to them. But sadly, we’ve all had (or are having)
the experience of a boss who doesn’t listen to us. And I’m not talking about really blatant
situations (e.g. they literally turn away from us or roll their eyes), but rather those situations
in which the boss acts like they’re listening but hears nothing we say.
I recently witnessed just such a case. An executive, let’s call him “Pat,” was holding a town
hall meeting to discuss the company’s recent, and disappointing, employee engagement
survey results. About 40 employees showed up to the meeting. He kicked things off by
saying, “Welcome, everybody. As you know, I’m having this meeting today because I want
to hear your concerns directly. I’m here to listen about your issues with your supervisors,
so fire away.”
One employee raised his hand first and said, “With the recent cost-cutting, I think we’ve
all got concerns about whether we’re going to have jobs next year.” Pat quickly responded,
“Oh, I hear you. You think you’ve got problems? At least your wages are ones that other
companies will pay. But I’m the VP and I’m over 50, so when you combine my high salary
with my age, I’m going to have a really tough time finding a job. But hey, life’s not fair,
right?”
Then another employee raised their hand. “I actually have a different concern. My
supervisor tells me that I’m supposed to bring her any suggestions for improvement, but
when I do, it’s like she doesn’t listen to me.” Pat responded, “I know how that feels, but I
don’t want you to worry, because those feelings will pass and you will get over it.”
Source: Forbes Magazine
Think about how well this manager listened in high-pressure situation:
1. Explain how well he did at each of the following active listening skills: paying
attention, holding judgment, reflecting, clarifying, and sharing.
2. Suggest some strategies to turn this manager into an excellent listener.
Question 2: Writing Exercise
Things have been a little tight lately, and you need some money to get you through to the
end of the school term. Write two letters asking for a loan of $500 (1) to a friend, (2) to a
bank loan officer. How do your approaches to these audiences differ?
Answers
1. Answer2. Answer-
Assignment 2
Learning Outcomes:
1. Analyze effective business letters, memorandums, and case studies.
2. Perform all communication abilities, including thinking, writing, speaking, listening,
and assessing the technology.
Assignment Question(s):
Part 1: Case Analysis
Read the discussion forum below, which shows several employees’ posts about how to develop
a better performance review system. Then, answer the questions that follow.
Jackson: Hi team, this week we’ll use this forum to discuss our performance review system.
Specifically, we want to explore the benefits and drawbacks about the timing of our reviews.
Currently, our reviews are conducted annually. The HR team wants to know what we think about
quarterly reviews. The HR team wants us to share our views with them by September 10.
Cynthia: I’ve never experienced quarterly reviews before, so it’s hard for me to say if that’s better.
My hunch is quarterly reviews would be more fair and helpful. But, I also assume they take a lot
of extra time for our managers. @Erin I think your last company held quarterly reviews. What are
your experiences with more frequent reviews? Has anyone else worked at a company with more
frequent reviews? Tell us what it was like.
Erin: @Cynthia your assumptions match my experience. I enjoyed getting more frequent feedback.
But, when I was a manager, it was a crushing responsibility because the company expected me to
conduct the reviews without lightening my load elsewhere. @Nigel thanks for sharing your
experiences with monthly reviews. You mentioned the reviews are more like check-ins that don’t
require so much time by the managers. Totally makes sense to me. @Vilma also think your
comments about adding peer reviews makes a lot of sense and relieves managers.
Nigel: Hi all, there’s one discussion point I hope we can meet in person (or by online conference)
to discuss. I appreciate the HR team wants our input about the frequency of reviews, but I’m
worried that we’re not addressing one of the problems: perceived fairness of the reviews. I believe
in 15 minutes, we could work out a few common concerns to share with the HR group from our
whole team.
Jackson: Thanks for your comments, team. Overall, here are what I think are the key take-aways:
(a) we want more feedback, so quarterly reviews may be helpful; (b) we don’t want to create an
unreasonable burden on managers; and (c) we want more conversation around objectivity and
fairness of the reviews. At this point, I propose I draft our comments into a short report for your
review. I also suggest we set up a one-hour
Questions:
1. Identify five strategies used in this online forum.
2. What are the main differences and similarities between blogs and forums?
3. In your point of view, do you think this forum is an effective or ineffective forum?
Why?
Part 2: Writing Exercise
Anne Jenkins is a finance manager for J.L.N. Used Cars (JLN), a used-car business with about 30
dealerships. She is in charge of running the company’s financing program. She sets terms for loans
provided through the dealerships. She also manages a team that works directly with dealerships to
ensure that loans are promoted and granted appropriately. On Anne to-do list for the day, she has
several writing tasks.
Anne needs to be efficient with her writing thus she hires you to help her writing in
one of the following options:
Option 1: Recently, Anne was reimbursed for several trips she took, but the company did
not cover several of her expenses. She wants to write an email to the personnel director
requesting compensation for mileage in which she used her own auto for several recent
work trips. Help Anne to write a claim Message. OR
Option 2: Anne wants to send a memo to dealership managers about changes to financing
eligibility. Help Anne to write an announcement regarding these changes. OR
Option 3: Anne wants to better understand the customer profile of those who choose to
finance their car purchases through the dealerships. She wants the dealership managers to
ask three questions of these customers during the upcoming month and then provide her
with the responses. Help Anne to write a request message.