BUAD 302: Communication Strategy in Business



BUAD 302: Communication Strategy in Business

Spring, 2014 Syllabus

HOH, Room 306

(Sections- 14685,14689,14691)

Jerry Giaquinta, J.D.,Ph.D.

E-mail: giaquint@marshall.usc.edu

Phone: (213) 740–0627

Office: BRI- 303-B

Office Hours: Tues: 1:00-2:00pm; Thurs: 9:00am-12:00pm and by appointment

Course Introduction:

You are living in an increasingly complex world characterized by explosive growth in access to and quantity of information—and your professional life will likely revolve around how you generate, organize, evaluate, and manage the communication of this information. Almost without exception, today’s business professionals attribute their success largely to their ability to write well, to speak dynamically, and to cultivate business relationships through strong interpersonal communication skills. Armed with astute communication strategies, business professionals can effectively exercise influence—an essential management skill—and produce desired results.

No matter what your career goals, the levels of success you reach will depend on your ability to communicate in a host of ways. Organizations always look for skillful communicators. Facts indicate that the top leadership positions go to almost all men and women who are dynamic. People in top positions excel at good communication on all levels: public speaking, their ability to write well, to speak dynamically and to cultivate business relationships through strong interpersonal communication skills. This course is designed to help you develop and polish your communication skills and to help you identify the areas on which you should continue to improve upon on your pursuit of a professional career.

Course Objectives:

1. Identify and discuss communication theories, models, and principles that impact business communication across diverse industries and fields in a global landscape by analyzing specific communication behaviors, strategies, and goals through case studies and group discussions.

2. Apply communication theories and principles to achieve communication goals by evaluating the purpose of your message, conducting audience analysis, and selecting the appropriate communication channel to successfully construct and deliver presentations individually and as part of a team in various business contexts.

3. Utilize critical thinking skills to develop and implement communication strategies across diverse business environments by analyzing, comparing, and evaluating the effectiveness of these strategies via scenario-based simulations and exercises.

4. Develop an understanding and awareness of ethical principles and intercultural and diversity factors that impact the communication process as business leaders, managers, colleagues and employees by analyzing and explaining ethical challenges and incidents in their cultural and organizational contexts.

5. Acquire and apply an understanding of small group communication dynamics, including learning to evaluate and articulate obstacles that impact effective team communication and developing collaborative deliverables.

Course Requirements:

• Prepare and deliver 3 individual presentations

• Prepare and deliver your portion of 1 team presentation

• Complete 1 final exam

• Participate in 1 mock interview in the Experiential Learning Center (ELC) on the third floor of JKP (dates-see below) (Although this is ungraded, you must participate in order to fulfill the responsibilities of the course.)

• Participate in a number of brief, impromptu, individual class presentations

The BUAD 302/Writing 340 Connection:

As a Business major, you most likely will take both 302 and Writing 340 Advanced Writing for Business, and you will find logic in Marshall’s partnering of these two courses. A close nexus exists between carefully crafted written communication and well-presented oral communication. Together, these two courses lend you a skill set that will well prepare you for business leadership.

Naturally, perfectly polished oral and written communication cannot be accomplished in the course of a fifteen-week term. It requires lifelong practice, and all of us can continually become better at it. Our true objective in BUAD 302 is to lay a foundation for mastery of the skills you will perfect throughout your career. Properly learned, the techniques that you undertake now will serve you long after you leave this class.

Class Responsibilities:

I will hold you to the same standards of professionalism that you can expect in the workplace. In our case, that means being prepared and attending class on time. Of course, any one of us may be sick or beset with a personal or family emergency or transportation difficulties on occasion. Still, we are obliged to return to our academic or professional responsibilities as soon as we can. If you should miss a class, you are still obliged to complete assignments in a timely fashion.

Six of our class meetings will take place in the Experiential Learning Center (ELC). Because the ELC is in constant demand, it will be highly unlikely you will be able to reschedule a presentation date.

Please pay attention to your demeanor in class. Although I will never insist that you agree with my opinions or those of your classmates, when you do disagree please do so with tact and courtesy. I encourage genteel arguments on course matters because I believe it helps develop the habit of independent thinking, however, people of good will and intelligence often disagree about controversial themes. This acceptance will allow you to positively contribute to lively and engaging class meetings, something for which your classmates and I will be grateful.

Please turn off your computer, wireless phone, iPod, iPad, BlackBerry, and any other electronic device that beeps or plays music, and do not use class time to catch up on the DT, WSJ, or any other reading that we are not discussing that particular day.

Grading Weights:

3 Individual Informative/Persuasive Presentations (20% each) 60%

You will have three different topics upon which to present, each for five-seven minutes, and some of which will include research- no visuals.

1 Team Presentation

15%

In a team of five or six students, you will prepare and deliver a group presentation that will last 20 minutes. These presentations will incorporate graphics and multi-media. The Team Project presentations will be given in class in class(not taped).

1 Final Exam 15%

Impromptu Class Presentations 10%

A number of very short individual, impromptu presentations will occur in our classroom. The remainder of this score will consist of the extent to which you observe the General Responsibilities outlined immediately above.

Total 100%

Evaluation:

Grades in this class are an assessment of the overall quality of your work. This takes into account the critical thinking that went into the presentation’s creation, as well as the finished product including content, presentation mechanics, and their delivery. For the final exam, I will solicit your understanding of concepts, techniques, and applications of successfully presenting business information.

I promise to do my best to give you lucid assignments with explicitly stated expectations and then to evaluate your work as fairly and objectively as possible. Further, I will earnestly try to return grades to you within 10 days of the due date. If, however, you believe that I have made an error in grading your work, you may request that I re-evaluate it within one week of the grade’s return. In order to do so, write a brief memo to me in which you lay out the reasons why you think that you deserve a different grade and what that grade should be. I will consider such requests carefully and deliberately and then relay my decision to you.

Text:

Cardon, Peter W. Business Communication: Developing Leaders for a Networked World

(Mc Graw-Hill 2014). PAPERBACK

Special Activities:

Meetings in the Experiential Learning Center (ELC): Throughout the semester, we will meet in the ELC on the “Garden Level” of Bridge Hall. (See the dates noted below in the class schedule.) You will be videotaped during the majority of the presentations and exercises completed at these times. As we will often require all of our designated time in the ELC on those occasions, please ensure that you arrive on time so that none of it is squandered.

Career Planning Center (CPC) Information Session: We will meet in our normal classroom for a workshop conducted by a CPC staff member. This workshop will focus on interview process strategies for securing internships and jobs, networking, and utilizing all of the resources available to you at the CPC.

Mock Interviews: Mock job interviews have been scheduled for the following weekends: Sat. 2/22, Sun. 2/23 and Sun. 3/2 You will be assigned one 20-minute session during one of the three-day time periods selected. During your session, MBA students and Marshall faculty will interview as if you actually were seeking a job position. Please dress in business professional attire. This non-graded interview is a required exercise in which all 302 students must participate.

Tips for Successfully Completing BUAD 302:

• If you are prone to communication apprehension, know that you are in good company. The more one practices the art of public speaking, the better and more comfortable he/she becomes. Similarly, the first time that you are videotaped when presenting can induce some discomfort as you watch the replay. This, too, is natural, and most of us soon acclimate to the prospect of watching ourselves on screen (even if we never truly look forward to it). My task is to provide sufficient presentation time for all of you so that formal speaking becomes first manageable and then perfectible.

• Each of us develops oral proficiency at a different rate. Therefore, do not judge your progress in our class relative to that of your peers. While I cannot guarantee that everyone in class will develop the same level of polished presentation capability, I have never had a student who didn’t become a better speaker if he or she worked at that task and in consultation with me. Though it sounds like a pro-forma statement that you might expect from your instructor, I guarantee that the skills you develop in this course are far more important than the grade that you receive.

• I believe that using brief notes discreetly during a presentation is normal and unavoidable. (Even the most accomplished presenters use note cards.) Still, our goal in class is to reduce your usage of notes to a minimum – they should serve you without your becoming a slave to them.

• Be an attentive, active listener to others’ presentations. You genuinely learn as much from observing and critiquing the presentations of others as you do from making them. As each of us becomes an audience for one another, we will create a beneficial oral learning community.

• I intend that you develop an ability to connect with your audience and sustain your credibility through the explication of your ideas. This requires ample preparation and rehearsal on your part as well as confident and authoritative delivery. Although this may be easier to declare than to accomplish, it remains the goal we set for ourselves.

Academic Integrity:

The university mandates severe consequences for cheating and plagiarism, and I will not tolerate either. Cases of alleged plagiarism and external assistance during exams will be adjudicated by the Office of Student Judicial Affairs and Community Standards, and the penalties to which a plagiarist or exam-cheater may be subjected are well worth avoiding. If you have any questions at all about precisely what constitutes plagiarism or external assistance during exams, please see me so that you may never fall prey to them.

Please consult the prohibition of plagiarism and dishonest external assistance on exams that are outlined on pp. 132 ff. of SCampus 10/11 in section 11.00, “Behavior Violating University Standards and Appropriate Sanctions,” particularly 11.11, 11.12, and 11.13. In addition, pay close attention to the “Conduct Review System” and “Academic Integrity and Review Process,” sections 12.00 and 14.00, which follow on pp. 136-139 and 140.

Students with Disabilities:

Any student with a disability requesting academic accommodations is required to register with Disability Services and programs (DSP) each semester. A letter of verification for approved accommodations can be obtained from DSP; once you have it, please deliver it to me as early as possible in the semester. You can reach DSP in STU 301 and by email at ability@usc.edu and phone at (213) 740-0776. The office is open 8:30 a.m.-5:00 p.m., Monday-Friday.

A Personal Note:

I welcome you to BUAD 302 Communication Strategy in Business and look forward to the semester before us. You will find me to be very accessible during my regular office hours on Tuesday and Thursday. If my posted times will not work for you, I encourage you to call or e-mail me to make alternate arrangements to meet. Fulfilling the responsibilities of this class is something that we will take on together. If you need to deliver a hard copy of something to me, you may do so either at my office, BRI 303-B, or through my faculty mailbox in ACC 400.

The Lost and Found area for the Marshall School is located in BRI 204. If you leave anything behind after class, it will be taken there. Conversely, if you lose an item, you should report your loss to the Lost and Found and will be contacted upon its discovery.

CALENDAR for Spring, 2014

(Any changes to the course calendar will be announced in class and on Blackboard.)

*Classes denoted with asterisks will meet in BRI- ELC.

WEEK

1

1/14-16:

Introduction to class, syllabus, and text.

DVD: “Mastering Basic Communication Skills-

Homework: Read assignment given in class. Bring a job ad to class 1/21.

1/16- Career Placement Staff Presentation in class

2

1/21-23*:

1/21-

Distribute and discuss the first formal (i.e., graded) assignment to be presented in the BRI-ELC on 2/6.

(Impromptu exercises will begin and continue intermittently throughout the remainder of the term.)

Homework: Reading assignment given in class. Resume Read around. Cover Letter. Consultations.

1/23- ELC Exercise- Handling Difficult Questions- Class meets in BRI-ELC

3

1/28 -30 Discussion and Impromptu exercises - DVDs: “Looking Great at Work” and “Common Mistakes People make in Interviews.”

4

2/4 - 6*:

Impromptu exercises in preparation for first formal presentation.

2/6-Presentation#1 (First taped/graded individual presentation -Class meets in BRI-ELC).

De-brief Presentation#1

WEEK

5

2/11-13:

Discussion- 1)Body Language 2) Cultural communications. DVDs: History Channel-Body Language and “Global Communications Styles.” Impromptu exercises

6

2/18 and 2/20:

2/18- Part 1- In-class movie for Presentation# 2 on 3/6) Film will be shown only one time so please attend!)

2/20 Part 2: In-class movie, discussion, preparation and practice for the second graded presentation on 3/6. (Film will be shown only one time so please attend!)

7

2/25-27* Impromptu Exercise in class. How to prepare for the unexpected short speech. Class discussion.

2/27*- ELC Exercise -“ HiFli”-Class meets in the BRI-ELC)

8

3/4-6*:

Understanding and applying Critical Thinking Skills- The F.I.A.C formula

3/6 -Presentation 2 (Individual presentation based on film). Class meets in BRI- ELC.

9

3/11-13*:

DVD: “Killer Presentation Skills.”-

De-brief of Presenation#2

WEEK

10

3/18-20: SPRING BREAK- NO CLASSES!

11

3/25-27*

In-Class Impromptu: The Facebook Dilemma

3/27- ELC Exercise- Ethics. Class meets in BRI-ELC

12

4/1-3:

Distribute and discuss fourth and final presentation – The Team Project (Due :4/29)

Project Teams Assigned

Virtual Team Meeting#1

13

4/8-10*:

In-class exercise: Handling Difficult Questions

Reports from Virtual Team Meeting#1

*4/10-Graded Presentation#3-A Speech to Inform- Class meets in BRI-ELC

14

4/15-17: In-class meetings with project teams. DVD: “Death by PowerPoint.”

Impromptu practice exercises- Speech to Persuade.

4/17: Virtual Team Meeting#2

15

4/22-24*: In-class group project teamwork and coaching.

*4/24: ELC Exercise: “Good Neighbors” Class meets in BRI-ELC

16

4/29 and 5/1:

Team Presentations Graded Assignment#4- In-class

5/1-Last day of Class!

FINAL EXAM (TBD-Tentative- 5/8)

|APPENDIX |

|Alignment of Course Learning Objectives with Marshall’s Six Undergraduate Program Learning Goals |

|Goal # |Marshall Program Learning Goal Description Covered in this Course |Course Objectives|Relevant Course Assignments |

| |(Goals 3, 5, 6 and relevant selected sub-goals) | |(As examples only) |

|3 |Our graduates will demonstrate critical thinking skills so as to become future-oriented |Moderate |ELC: Ethics Exercise |

| |decision makers, problem solvers and innovators. |(Course learning |ELC: Hi-Fli Exercise |

| |Specifically, students will: |objectives 2, 3, |ELC: Good Neighbors Exercise |

| |3.1 Students will understand the concepts of critical thinking, |4) |Crisis Comm. Exercise (In-Class) |

| |3.2 Critically analyze concepts, theories and processes by stating them in their own | |Audience Analysis Exercise (In-Class) |

| |words, understanding key components, identifying assumptions, indicating how they are | |Emotional Intelligence Assessment |

| |similar to and different from others and translating them to the real world. | |Presentation #2: Sales/Product Pitch |

| |3.3 Be effective at gathering, storing, and using qualitative and quantitative data and | |(audience analysis/emotional |

| |at using analytical tools and frameworks to understand and solve business problems. | |triggers/telling the right story) |

| |3.4 Demonstrate the ability to anticipate, identify and solve business problems. They | |Presentation #4: Programming Pitch |

| |will be able to identify and assess central problems, identify and evaluate potential | |Final Written Exam |

| |solutions, and translate a chosen solution to an implementation plan that considers | |Assigned Readings (text) and Discussion |

| |future contingencies. | | |

| | | | |

| | | | |

|5 |Our graduates will demonstrate ethical reasoning skills, understand social, civic, and |Moderate |ELC: Ethics Exercise |

| |professional responsibilities and aspire to add value to society. |(Course learning |ELC: Good Neighbors Exercise |

| |Specifically, students will: |objectives 2, 3, |The Trap of Misperceptions Exercise: |

| |5.1 Understand professional codes of conduct. |4, 5 ) |In-Class |

| |5.2 Recognize ethical challenges in business situations and assess appropriate courses | |Assigned Readings (text) and Discussion |

| |of action. | | |

|6 |Our graduates will be effective communicators to facilitate information flow in |High |Presentation #1: Professional Assessment |

| |organizational, social, and intercultural contexts. Specifically, students will: |(Course learning |Presentation #2: Sales/Product Pitch |

| |6.1 Identify and assess diverse personal and organizational communication goals and |objectives 1-5) |Presentation #3: Business Book Review |

| |audience information needs. | |Presentation #4: Programming Pitch |

| |6.2 Understand individual and group communications patterns and dynamics in | |Networking Report (Written) |

| |organizations and other professional contexts. | |Resume/Cover Letter (Written) |

| |6.3 Demonstrate an ability to gather and disseminate information and communicate it | |YouSeeU Report (Video) |

| |clearly, logically, and persuasively in professional contexts. | |Emotional Intelligence Assessment |

| | | |Ted Talk content analysis |

| | | |ELC: Ethics Exercise |

| | | |ELC: Hi-Fli Exercise |

| | | |ELC: Good Neighbors Exercise |

| | | |Crisis Comm. Exercise (In-Class) |

| | | |Final Written Exam |

| | | |Assigned Readings (text) and Discussion |

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