#31499
Build More Effective International Media Analysis Programmes with Market Research Disciplines
Ask communication professionals why measurement is important, and their answers are likely to involve accountability, measures of effectiveness, ROI and planning support. Ask market researchers what makes for good measurement, and they are likely to respond that it involves reproducible results, adherence to rigorous standards and objective impartiality. Within the communication process, however—especially within PR and media relations—there is a tendency to look more closely at the output of their programmes than at the methodology yielding the data charts and reports. While market research has a well-established body of theory to support its claims of delivering objective and authoritative data, media analysis as a commercial discipline is only just beginning to grasp the importance of these standards.
Stoeckle, Thomas and Mike Daniels. Communication World Bulletin (2004). Articles>Business Communication>Marketing>Assessment
#25572
Want a professional writing secret? Build your writing inventory. Unless you have an inventory, you have nothing to sell.
Booth, Angela. Digital-E (2003). Careers>Writing>Business Communication>Blogs
#21561
Building a Community of Professional Communicators by Mapping Needs and Assets 
For an institution with a regional focus, part of program building involves identifying resources in the region the program serves. This effort can be complicated in regions that generally lack the kind of high-tech industry that draws technical communicators. One cannot easily find a ready-madecommunity of professional communicators in such places, leaving some to wonder whether a professional writing program would be able to thrive. Nevertheless, communicators are ubiquitous, even if most of them don’t identify themselves as such.
Blythe, Stuart. CPTSC Proceedings (2001). Articles>Business Communication>Community Building
#29223
Instructors in multi-major professional communication courses are asked to teach students a variety of workplace genres. However, teaching genres apart from their contexts may not result in transfer of knowledge from school to workplace settings. We propose teaching students to research genre use via activity theory as a way of encouraging transfer. We outline theory and research relevant to teaching genre and provide results from a study using activity theory to teach genre in two different professional communication courses.
Kain, Donna and Elizabeth Wardle. Technical Communication Quarterly (2005). Articles>Education>Business Communication>Genre
#31216
Building Your Personal Brand Online
It probably wouldn’t surprise you to know that we are operating in a distrustful world, and that both companies and individual executives are subject to suspicion. In 2005, a worldwide Gallup poll found that 40 percent of people believe that company leaders are “largely dishonest,” and a 2006 Watson Wyatt study says that only 56 percent of company employees believe their top management acts with honesty and integrity. These are worrisome figures, given that senior executives worry a great deal about their companies’ reputations but may spend little time on their own.
Fierman, Stephanie. Communication World Bulletin (2008). Articles>Business Communication>Ethics>Online
#27821
Bulletproof Your Business Case
No matter when or how you present your business case for review, there will be a sinister, uninvited stranger in the room. You can't bar him from the meeting. You can't prevent him from speaking to everyone present.
Solution Matrix (2006). Articles>Business Communication>Business Case
#27826
Business Case Critics: De-Clawing the Cat?
There are some things you don’t want to hear when your business case is under review.
Solution Matrix (2005). Articles>Business Communication>Business Case
#27817
The Business Case Primer explains how to prepare a business case to justify a proposed project. The process involves assessing needs, defining the business opportunity, planning the work effort, investigating alternatives to the opportunity and alternative ways to achieve the opportunity, evaluating each alternative, defining the project, preparing the report, and presenting the business case for approval. The primer shows how to conduct a financial analysis and includes a brief sample business case.
Kemp, Al. Impact Technical Publications (2006). Articles>Business Communication>Business Case
#29541
Business Communication Needs: A Multicultural Perspective 
How should we teach international business communication? What role can multiculturalism play in the business communication classroom? Can we identify a set of business communication requirements that are valid across different cultures? This article enters this discussion by presenting a small empirical study of the business communication needs expressed by postgraduate students in a North Cyprus university and comparing it to similar studies conducted in the United States and Singapore. The findings reveal some interesting correspondences between the needs expressed by students in these different countries. In addition, the multicultural environment of the North Cyprus university studied suggests that multicultural interaction increases students' sensitivity to the need for a nonethnocentric approach to international communication. The findings also indicate that respondents in multicultural settings may be more inclined to engage in groupthink because of their heightened awareness of cultural differences and their wish to avoid conflict.
Goby, Valerie Priscilla. Journal of Business and Technical Communication (2007). Articles>Business Communication>International
#19440
Business Communication Resources 
Institutional and private research on the rhetorical norms and communication practices of business.
American Communication Association (2001). Resources>Business Communication>Online
#18861
Business Communication: Managing Information and Relationships
In many ways, the history of human civilization chronicles the increasing centrality of communication. Communication establishes relationships and makes human organization and cooperation possible. Whether you recognize it or not, you have no choice but to communicate. If you try to avoid communicating by not replying to messages, you are nevertheless sending a message, but it may not be the one you want or intend. When you don’t say yes, you may be saying no by default—and vice versa. The only choice you can make about communication is whether you are going to attempt to communicate effectively.
Bowman, Joel P. Western Michigan University (2004). Articles>Business Communication>Collaboration
#20496
Business Correspondence and Resumes
This chapter focus on business correspondence-general format and style for business letters as well as specific types of business letters.
McMurrey, David A. Io.com. Careers>Resumes>Writing>Business Communication
#31471
Business Development Through Online Networking
Recently, business networking has been perceived negatively due to its widespread use in the network marketing industry and the proliferation of “lead generation clubs” that focus on impersonal lead referrals rather than on building relationships. The surge in popularity of social networking sites on the Internet, however, has sparked a renewed interest in meaningful discussion and research on the value and importance of “networking,” particularly to mainstream businesses.
Teten, David and Scott Allen. Communication World Bulletin (2004). Articles>Business Communication>Online
#31807
Business Etiquette: New Day, New Time
Business etiquette including communication, ethics, and teamwork has changed considerably over the years. Core values of companies are evolving. Companies now want to be the "place to work". Issues that were once taboo in the business world are no longer. This can be observed in an employee's appearance for example. The once standard business suit has been replaced with casual dress. The normal peer to peer communication has been replaced with upward and downward communication throughout the business organization.
Ashe, Carolyn and Chynette Nealy. Association for Business Communication (2008). Articles>Business Communication>Collaboration
#31016
Survey of business information services in corporate information services, based on in-depth interviews with leading business information managers. Key findings are: Business information budgets have been stable, with at least inflationary increases built in; Business conditions have been turbulent of late but this has had no real impact on the services to date; With more information rolled out to the clients' desktops, the services are all working to add value through a variety of approaches, including training, evaluation and analysis, business and client development, and generally undertaking more complex work; Some pressure on the staffing headcount in the services during the year; Recruiting suitable information professionals is a difficult process; Offshoring information and research work has not expanded significantly but more companies are considering this option; 'Techno-centric' knowledge management remains important in some companies, particularly law firms, but is fading as a practice in others; There is great interest and envisaged potential in social technology and Web 2.0 tools and techniques -- but not much serious deployment yet; Even in mature corporate information environments, marketing business information services is still seen as crucial by 90 per cent of respondents; Fifty-five percent of the services provide some kind of competitor information function, albeit not at a high level; A significant majority (75 per cent) of services support compliance functions such as 'Know your client' and anti-money laundering checks; Existing copyright provisions are seen as a barrier to effective information dissemination within companies by 80 per cent of respondents; LexisNexis takes over at the top of the expenditure league; The demand for information on Asian business markets is growing; Almost all services are committed to training users in the discovery and use of digital business information sources; The organization, management, and sometimes realignment of services is the highest strategic priority.
Foster, Allan. Business Information Review (2008). Articles>Business Communication>Information Design
#10690
Business Letters: Accentuating the Positives
Your letters will be more successful if you focus on positive wording rather than negative, simply because most people respond more favorably to positive ideas than negative ones. Words that affect your reader positively are likely to produce the response you desire in letter-writing situations. A positive emphasis will persuade the reader and create goodwill. In contrast, negative words may generate resistance and other unfavorable reactions. You should therefore be careful to avoid words with negative connotations. These words either deny--for example, NO, DO NOT, REFUSE, and STOP--or convey unhappy or unpleasant associations--for example, UNFORTUNATELY, UNABLE TO, CANNOT, MISTAKE, PROBLEM, ERROR, DAMAGE, LOSS, and FAILURE.
Purdue University (2000). Articles>Business Communication>Correspondence
#10356
Business Objectives: A Key Tool for Demonstrating the Value of Technical Communication Products
Little has been written for technical communicators on how to identify the business goals of the projects we work on, or how to write those goals in observable, measurable terms. When we prepare goals in observable, measurable terms, we call these goals objectives. This article is intended to fill that gap. It first describes the challenges of setting business objectives for a project, next describes the three ways that a performance improvement program can contribute to the business performance of an organization, and then explains how to write a business objective. Finally, this article describes the benefits of writing business objectives.
Carliner, Saul. Technical Communication Online (1998). Careers>Writing>Business Communication
#22041
A template to describe a company's business plan, in Microsoft Word and Adobe Acrobat formats.
Tech-Writer. Resources>Business Communication>Management>Writing
#24180
Business Plans Build Good Business
Developing a business plan—without it, your independent practice will flounder.
Frick, Elizabeth G. 'Bette'. Intercom (2004). Careers>Management>Planning>Business Communication
#13403
Business Writer's Free Library
This library is a free community resource to be shared and contributed to by users and readers across the world. The overall goal of the library is to provide leaders and managers (especially those with very limited resources) basic and practical information about business, management and organizations. Items in the library are relevant to both for-profit and nonprofit organizations unless otherwise marked at the top of the Web page containing the item.
McNamara, Carter. Management Assistance Program for Nonprofits (2002). Resources>Directories>Writing>Business Communication
#25313
This course is designed for students who expect to write in their future employment. Successful employees know how to communicate clearly and effectively, changing writing style and content for varying audiences and purposes. This class will focus on the difficult task of meeting readers' needs while simultaneously representing your best interests and those of your employer. To meet that end, the assignments will cover a variety of tasks produced under different circumstances, some done quickly during class and some polished and perfected over time. Students completing the semester's work should see a visible improvement in their writing, especially in terms of clarity and precision.
Roy, Debopriyo. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (2005). Academic>Courses>Writing>Business Communication
#23530
This course provides an introduction to business writing, which includes business reports, memos, and letters; this course is particularly appropriate for students in business and related areas, although it is open to students from any major. The course requires critical thinking, problem solving, attention to detail, ingenuity, and a significant commitment of time to complete the writing assignments.
Clark, Dave. University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (2003). Academic>Courses>Writing>Business Communication
#20558
ENGL 420 teaches students the rhetorical principles and writing practices necessary for producing effective business letters, memos, reports, and collaborative projects in professional contexts. The curriculum is informed by current research in rhetoric and professional writing and is guided by the needs of business, industry, and society at large, as well as by the needs of Purdue students and programs.
Clark, Tracy. Purdue University (2003). Academic>Courses>Writing>Business Communication
#24593
Buzzwords obscure, confuse, or evade. Benefits sell products and ideas. If you use too many buzzwords too often, most educated audiences will conclude you lack the ability to be clear, truthful, or direct. Never assume everyone understands your esoteric language. If you don't know what you're doing, stop doing it. If you do know, state it clearly and simply.
Streight, Steven. Blogger.com (2004). Articles>Communication>Business Communication>Language
#29576
The IABC Cafe2Go is the official monthly podcast of the International Association of Business Communicators. Hosted by IABC president Julie Freeman, ABC, APR and 2006-07 IABC chair Glenda Holmes, ABC, Cafe2Go features updates on the association's programs and initiatives as well as discussion of current issues and trends in communication.
