Chapter 4 Communicating Routine Messages and Building Goodwill

91) Alyssa shies away from using the direct organizational approach in her requests, as she feels it is rude and inconsiderate to blurt her request out at the start of a message. Do you agree?

92) Evaluate this request and suggest how, if it all, it could be improved.

93) You received a battery charger that doesn't work with your generation iPhone. Discuss how you should write to request an exchange.

Before you can roll out the new database system you have designed, you need employees in departments across the company to volunteer to test it. You are drafting an email that will be sent to all employees to persuade them to help with this testing.

94) Discuss what you should include in this message.

95) Discuss what kinds of informational messages are NOT considered routine and why.

96) Delphine is newly graduated from college and begins working at a company where instant messaging (IM) is a major form of communication. She is very familiar with instant messaging as a means of social communication, so she feels that she will be proficient in this aspect of the job without any training or guidelines. Delphine is also pleased that she will be able to joke and exchange personal messages with her new coworkers, while appearing to be hard at work. She signs on with her current username, DidiOfftheHook, and sends an IM to the funny guy she met at orientation yesterday. What advice would you offer Delphine regarding IM use in a business context?

97) Discuss the ethics of the blind carbon copy (bcc) feature in email.

98) Why is goodwill important in business?

99) Why might a thank-you note that is perfectly appropriate in America be inappropriate in an Asian culture?

100) What is the point of sending "for-your-information" messages, if they are not related to business information?