...Assignment 2.1: Bad News Message ENG 315 – Professional Communications To: Jane Doe From: joe doe Subject: Request for Refund Date: 4/20/2014 Dear Jane, Thank you for taking the time to contact the Super-Fast Printing Company. We like hearing from our loyal customers and appreciate your business over the years. As CEO, I would like to personally thank you for your purchase of the Super-Fast Printer 2000 and for being a devoted customer for so many years. Over the years Super-Fast Printing Company has had to formulate various company policies. One of these policies is that our customers have a one year warranty on parts and repairs. We feel that this allows sufficient time for any manufacture defects to become apparent and to prove our superior quality products. After the one year warranty, it is the responsibility of the customer to pay for maintenance and repairs. Our records indicate that you did not schedule any of the suggested maintenance and there is no repair history on this machine. Unfortunately, we are unable to accommodate your refund or replacement request, and do hope you understand why we must make this decision. However, we would like to offer you a free estimate for repairs and a discount on parts and labor for your customer loyalty. I have contacted our repair department and they are awaiting your call to schedule the free estimate. I have also contacted our sales department and they are prepared to offer you a loyal customer...
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...Donna Shirley Johnston Elementary School Woodstock, GA 55555 404-555-1234 February 11, 2012 Ms. Deborah Roebuck 1594 Hendon Road Woodstock, GA 55555 Ms. Roebuck: Thank you for your letter regarding Hillary’s detention warning. Let me begin by stating how much I admire Hillary as a student. She consistently gets good grades, and has a positive and enthusiastic attitude during class. It is for these reasons that I was surprised when Hillary did not submit her paper on time, which led to the detention warning. Typically, when a student fails to hand in homework such as a paper by the required due date, the consequence is a detention warning as a first offense. The excuse that the student may give for not having the homework completed is irrelevant because it may or may not be truthful, and the result is simply a warning for the mistake of not having the completed homework available for grading. It would be unfair to the students who completed the paper on time to see Hillary go without a warning of punishment. Otherwise it could potentially lead to more students failing to submit homework assignments by their due dates in the future, and it would be perceived that late submittals are acceptable. Please understand that the detention warning was not a personal attack on Hillary, but simply an enforcement of standard rules within the classroom. The expectation is that the completed paper is to be submitted for grading as soon as possible, and the consequence of detention...
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...Dear Tommy, At Cengage, the health of our employees is very important to us. We want every employee to have access to the best benefits and health care opportunities that are available. To ensure that all employees continue to receive the best health benefits, we will continue to use HealthOne Systems to provide our health care insurance. In order to continue using HealthOne Systems, effective January 1st 2013, the health insurance premiums will go up 30%. How will this affect you? Currently, you only have to pay monthly premiums and a co-pay of $25. Under the new plan the co-pay will remain the same but your monthly rate will increase and you will have to pay a deductible. Please see the chart below for the new health insurance premiums and deductible costs for 2013: Membership Types | 2012 Rate | New 2013 Rate | 2012 Deductible | 2013 Deductible | Employee Only | $82 | $106 | 0 | $250/year | Employee + Spouse | $164 | $234 | 0 | $500/year | Family | $200 | $285 | 0 | $1,000/year | Cengage understands that this change will have an impact on our employees. We spent many months negotiating with HealthOne Systems to provide our employees with excellent benefits at the best cost possible. To offset the increase in our insurance we are excited to announce that we have made a great deal with LifeWorks gym. LifeWorks is a 24 hour gym that offers many classes such as Yoga, Zumba, Pilates, Spinning, Boot Camp classes and many more. Using your employee ID you can get a...
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...the company to compete with other corporations. It needs to set up a new production system and satisfy environmental protection standards. Due to the cost-cutting effort, the company has closed some factories and cut unnecessary expenses. It plans to lay-off some employees. In addition, the company needs to increase salaries and improve benefits for some of the remaining employees. Therefore, the company is figuring out how to convey this good news and bad news to its workers. Analysis and Evaluation While Weymouth has to lay-off thousands of employees, it plans to increase salaries and improve benefits for others. On one hand, it’s necessary for the company to downsize to save the company in this tough time. On the other hand, offering a better policy for remaining workers may conflict with the cost-cutting effort, but satisfying workers can benefit company’s long-run business. Conveying these messages plays an important role in company’s success. If the company has a good solution, it can soften the anger of those who get fired, and make the remaining workers work effectively. However, an ineffective solution can depress people who are fired and worry the remaining employees, so it may create an ineffective working environment. Alternatives The company has at least two alternatives to deal with this problem. First, it should have face-to-face group meetings to convey the bad news, and email the good news to those whose salary and benefits are going to improve. The advantages...
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...Rashid (ID: 57) How to Write Negative Messages in a Positive Way? PREPARED FOR: Mr. Zahid Hassan Khan Course Faculty C501: Managerial Communication PREPARED BY: Chowdhury Rashdi Al Rashid ID: ZR57 MBA 45 D Section- A INSTITUTE OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION UNIVERSITY OF DHAKA 20 June, 2011 Introduction: Communication in today’s business place has become more complex. And negative message make thing even more complex. A negative message is any message to which the reader will have an unpleasant emotional reaction. Readers find negative messages disappointing or threatening in some way. Such messages require special care to avoid damaging the quality of the relationship because the negative message – “the bad news” will hurt the reader’s feelings or cause him or her to lose face. (C. Bovee 2010) Not all messages saying no are negative. For a message to be negative, the reader’s ego must be involved in the outcome. If a reader requests information you and others in your organization are not equipped to provide, for example, the reader’s feelings will not be hurt when you direct him or her elsewhere. Treat messages of this variety as you would a message conveying positive information: state the most important information first, and use it to help establish rapport with the reader. (Limaye 1997) Also, be aware that saying no is more serious in some cultures than it is in others. The Japanese, for example, will avoid saying no directly, and if they...
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...Bad News Letters Ashley Allard Culture Free Memo TO: Irene O’Connell New Product Manager Ireland International Landscape Tools, Ltd. FROM: Ashley Allard New Product Specialist Chalmers Industries ABOUT: Not Interested at this Time This is to advise you that Chalmers Industries will not be manufacturing mid range blades. We regret to inform you that although the mid range blades are of decent quality they are not a good fit for Chalmers Industries. Please keep Chalmers Industries in mind for any future products. If you wish to contact us for any more details, please contact Eileen Dawson, our business manager at 212-986-4343 ext. 1234. Japan Sample September 14, 2012 Mr. Akira Yamoto, New Product Development Coordinator Tokyo Business Blades 15-17 Ginza 9 chrome Chuo-ku Tokyo 104 Ms. Ashley Allard New Product Specialist Chalmers Industries 3 East 43rd Street New York, NY 10017 Dear Mr. Yamoto: Allow us to extend Our sincere salutations, Here at Chalmers Industries our motto is “ChipRite or don’t chip at all”. It has been a motto that has been true throughout the 20 years that we have been in business. As such we are reevaluating the products that are being sold at Chalmers Industries. We do hold a standard with our chippers and we want to be sure that our customers are getting high quality products. We regret to inform you that we will not be using your mid range blades. Your services have been greatly appreciated...
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...Ryan Anthony Albino S28, SPBUSCOM Good News Communication Beginning • I am delighted • It’s a pleasure • You’ll be thrilled • I’m very pleased • I have good news Middle • I am delighted to inform you that you’ve won the first prize. • It’s a pleasure to announce that UCPB will be our new partner • You’ll be trilled to hear that your work buddy is returning next week. • I’m pleased to let you know that our company has grown substantially. • I have good news. Citbank has accepted our proposal! Closing • Keep up the good work • I look forward to having more with your company • I look forward to meeting you. • We sincerely appreciate your care and concern during this time of transition. • We look forward to serving you again Bad News Communication Beginning • Our companies have enjoyed a mutually beneficial relationship for many years. • I appreciated learning about your organization… however, • I admire your organization and I am honored that you invited me to speak • Thank you for submitting an application for the Managerial position opening. • Your company has offered a quality product to the running community for the past 25 years. Middle • You have very good credentials. • My schedule for the month is already full. • The company’s budget is tight for the last quarter of the year. • You’re product is no longer covered...
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...National H.O.G Office P.O. Box 453 Milwaukee, WI 53201 Phone: (800) 258-2464 Fax: (414) 343-4515 Web: www.harley-davidson.com March 30, 2014 Mr. Pete Dix 30 Estes Court Waterford, MI 48327 Dear Mr. Dix, My name is Nikki Hancock; I am the Corporate Communications Director at Harley-Davidson’s corporate headquarters. Harley-Davison takes their customer’s satisfaction very seriously and it is our responsibility to make sure we provide the legendary brand with the signature engine roar and laid-back riding style to each and every one that owns and is part of the Harley family. I understand when you purchase your motorcycle you have certain standards you are looking for and expect. I understand you had some concerns when it came to your 2013 CVO Road King. The paint was rusted underneath the clear coat, the chrome parts were defective, and had poor gas mileage. I apologize the Road King was not up to par with your expectations. I have had another dealer inspect or motorcycle free of charge. Upon the inspection the dealer was able to find the motorcycle was performing up to par and was in good driving condition. They were unable to locate any rust under the clear coat. However within the inspection the chrome parts were found defective and were replaced free of charge under warranty. I understand that you are requesting a full price refund for the motorcycle due to the Michigan’s Lemon Law. After further research and legal advise it is understood that...
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...ACME Super Duper Stereo Systems * 123 First Street * Phoenix, AZ 85040 * 520-777-1212 November 3, 2013 John Smith 123 Main Street New York, NY 10001-0000 Dear Mr. Smith: Refund Request of October 29, 2013 First let me begin by expressing our appreciation for your loyal business over the past 3 years. It is a pleasure to serve you. I have personally looked into the situation surrounding your request for refund. I found that you purchased the ACME Super Duper Stereo System from our company on October 25, 2010 for the amount of $1,000.00. I further reviewed with our warranty department head the guidelines of refund or replacement. I found that at the time of purchase, each stereo system that we sold automatically came with a 14 day money back guarantee as well as a 2 year warrantee. Because our company understands the importance of protecting your investment, we offered extended warrantee coverage to you both at the time of purchase and 10 days before the manufacturer warrantee expired. Both of these offers were declined. I regret that we are unable to offer a refund or free replacement at this time. The reasons for this are as follows: * The stereo is currently over 1 year past the warranty expiration date. * Extended warranty has not been purchased for the unit. * The manufacturer no longer makes your model of stereo system. Because of the situation, and our desire to continue our relationship with you, I have been authorized...
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...News Nowadays, news plays a vital role in human affairs. News is the communication of selected information on current events by reporters. It is presented by print, broadcast, internet or word of mouth to a third-party or mass audience. The most important function of news is to bring us the latest information on local, national and international events. Specifically, it mentions to any fields of our lives such as political, religion, economic, job, health, disaster, crime status, entertainment as well as celebrities. There is a quote about news that states "For most people, no news is good news; for the press, good news is not news." by Gloria Berger. In my opinion, this quote has two parts. The first part means: if you have not heard anything, then the chances are nothing bad has happened, the situation isn't worse, there's nothing to worry about. So the lack of any problems is good. The second part means: for viewers, bad stories catch their attention easily. It is more interesting than good news. So the media always gives priority bad news to viewers rather than good news. For them, bad news is newsworthy. I completely agree with the above quote. On one hand, if you are working and no one complains, that is good news. You can rest assured that everything is progressing well. In this case, no news is good news. In addition, the news media is a business. So the bottom line is that news-media needs viewers to keep their existence. They must look for...
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...DIRECT AND INDIRECT APPROACHES In writing letters, memos, and e-mail messages (the focus of Chapters 2 and 3), one issue that you'll need to consider is whether your message is one that is likely to be well-received or one that may encounter resistance or ill-will--a "bad news" message of some type. Searle’s spends a good bit of time in Chapter 1 discussing tone and making sure to use a reader-centered perspective that utilizes a "you" approach and positive wording. In addition to a reader-centered perspective, however, you also should consider the difference between what is called a direct and an indirect approach when organizing letters, memos, and e-mail messages, especially ones that convey bad news. DIRECT APPROACH The direct approach anticipates no resistance to its message--for instance, "you've been hired," "your order is being shipped today," or even "the project will be done in one week." In this case, organizing your message is simple. Searle’s mentions that memos and letters should have some kind of brief introduction, sometimes as its own paragraph. If you're using the direct approach, this introduction is simply a straightforward statement of the main point of the message. For instance, if you are writing a letter to confirm an order, simply begin by stating, "We have received your order for part #23-B-4439 and are shipping it today." Then the rest of the letter can provide details like shipping time, cost, etc. Whenever possible, use the direct approach...
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...ENGL510 Foundations of Professional Communication Writing Assignment 3 -- Bad News Message Instructions In this assignment you will complete a collaborative project designed to solve the problem of delivering bad news. Communicating bad news is one example of a complex workplace problem. Incorporate strategies for analyzing group dynamics, resolving conflict, and communicating in a multicultural environment to complete the project. Each group has a dedicated discussion area to work on the assignment which begins with an individual effort. Situation: Giving Bad News to a Customer ------------------------------------------------- You are the sales manager at Easy to Be Green. One of the company’s services is to design and install energy-efficient heating, cooling, and insulation systems in both new and existing buildings. Because these systems are custom-designed and involve a variety of sub-contractors, no changes can be made to the design after a date specified in the contract. ------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- This morning one of your sales people, Chris, comes to you with a problem. The construction manager at Greenfield Community College, a new client with a huge campus and many ongoing construction and renovation projects, has written to Chris requesting a change in the location of a venting apparatus to accommodate a change in the campus’s overall design plan. The request was made...
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...ENGL510 Foundations of Professional Communication Writing Assignment 3 -- Bad News Message Instructions In this assignment you will complete a collaborative project designed to solve the problem of delivering bad news. Communicating bad news is one example of a complex workplace problem. Incorporate strategies for analyzing group dynamics, resolving conflict, and communicating in a multicultural environment to complete the project. Each group has a dedicated discussion area to work on the assignment which begins with an individual effort. Situation: Giving Bad News to a Customer ------------------------------------------------- You are the sales manager at Easy to Be Green. One of the company’s services is to design and install energy-efficient heating, cooling, and insulation systems in both new and existing buildings. Because these systems are custom-designed and involve a variety of sub-contractors, no changes can be made to the design after a date specified in the contract. ------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- This morning one of your sales people, Chris, comes to you with a problem. The construction manager at Greenfield Community College, a new client with a huge campus and many ongoing construction and renovation projects, has written to Chris requesting a change in the location of a venting apparatus to accommodate a change in the campus’s overall design plan. The request was made...
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...memos 4 business letters 1 report 5 grammar quizzes in class 1 grammar exam 2 textbook exams 1 business presentation (speech) Tonight Memos direct pattern frontloading (when why how) Listen (When why) Parallelism plain language business text format Subject good Memo- internal communication Letter- External Subject line- Important to be extensively informative. Direct- Main idea first details later (good news, neural news)- Audience will be happy to neutral Indirect- Details first, main idea later (bad news, persuasion)- Audience is hostile to uninterested Frontloading- getting to the purpose in the first sentence. The body: organize information and explanations logically. use numbered and bulleted list consider headings Parallelism-Items in the list need the same grammatical structure. Goodwill- what you put in the message to maintain the relationship. In hard copy memos: No opening or closing. Sign your initials at the end of the FROM line. Thursday May 16th Qualities if Bus waiting -Main English -Audience centered -positive Quiz 1 -Active vs. passive voice -subject verb agreement Memo 2 -tables -APA documentation First person sing I, me, my, mine, myself We, us our, ours, ourselves Second person you, your, yours, yourselves 1. Use the you attitude 2. Reader benefits (affordable, meets your needs) You attitude exercise on Blackboard 1. Good news, you can now enjoy a new… 2. You will get...
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...look into a new or unknown culture. The traditions, values, beliefs, and lifestyle are revealed through the story, and the reader realizes why certain actions or decisions are made. In the various stories throughout this course there are common themes represented in many. Modern ideas and traditional beliefs often disagree and this is shown in Chinua Achebe’s “Dead Men’s Path,” Chitra Divakaruni’s “Mrs Dutta Writes a Letter,” and Subhadra Sen Gupta’s “Good Girls Are Bad News.” These stories illustrate the conflict between modern ways of thinking versus traditional beliefs and if the ability to change is present. Every culture has their traditions and practices that make them who they are. These traditions are learned from past generations and continually passed on. It takes many years to change common customs as well as open minds. When something is practiced decade after decade it makes it harder to accept change, especially for the older generations who are very much set in their ways. This is demonstrated in all three stories. In “Dead Men’s Path” it is the young headmaster, Obi who wants to move forward and eliminate the path from the school as he thinks it is not necessary. Obi believes the school’s appearance is more important than years and years of tradition. In “Mrs Dutta Writes a Letter” it is the mother who moves from India to America with her son that cannot accept the modern westernized ways of living. Finally, in “Good Girls Are Bad News” it is the whole...
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