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Spring 2014 Professor Jerry D. Estenson
CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, SACRAMENTO
College of Business Administration
MGMT 102 Effective Business Communications
Brighton Hall 114 Sections 1 and 2
Tahoe Hall 1025 Sections 11 and 12
INSTRUCTOR Jerry D. Estenson
OFFICE Tahoe 2048
OFFICE TELEPHONE 916-278-6781 (Fax & Phone)
Personal voice mail 916-557-5738
Personal fax 916-967-6410
EMAIL Personal jestenso@earthlink.net
CSUS estenson@csus.edu
WEB SITE www.csus.edu/indiv/e/estenson
OFFICE HOURS M/W 3:00 – 4:15 p.m. and by appointment
SacCT: For access to Power Point decks, course outline and Digital Key Concepts
(Subject to Change)
TEXTBOOKS
Required:
Hamilton, Cheryl. (2011). Communicating for Results: A Guide for Business and the Professions. 9th Ed
Clark, James and Clark, Lyn. (2013) How 13: A Handbook for Office Workers . Cincinnati:
South-Western College Publishing.
SacCT: For access to Power Point decks, course outline and Digital Key Concepts
.
Managers, struggling to meet the challenges of global economy, are inundated with information. This information is stored, manipulated, and presented as symbols on paper or in speech, as images on video, phones, and on television. It can also be presented as data on hard disks, memory chips, CD ROMs or as images on the Internet, television, and movie screens. In business the most common form of symbolic exchange remains dialogue between humans. How effective you are at translating and transferring these symbols into a form understood by those you work for (and with) will be a major determinate in your business success.
To assist you in the effective use of symbols in business, this course will provide communication tools and skills needed to perform as a manager in the complex world of work. To meet this goal, the course will be conducted in a manner similar to courses provided newly hired management trainees. This means a metric for minimum competency in several areas is established and used to determine retention and promotion. In this course, failure to demonstrate competency will adversely affect your grade, not your career.
Specifically by the end of the course you will:
Understand international and inter-cultural barriers to business communication.
Write and edit in a manner consistent with future employer expectations.
Understand the need to relate to other individuals in organizations in a human and ethical manner.
Present information orally in a manner consistent with future employer expectations.
Research, organize and present critical business information both orally and in writing; in a manner consistent with the nature of the material and the needs of the audience.
Improve your inter-personal managerial skills.
Be able to analyze and understand the effects of social, political, legal and regulatory issues on business organizations.
Utilize communication technology to enhance your individual communication skills.
This class is designed as a hybrid course. This means that the instructor will use various methods to instruct and communicate with you. To assist with your learning, the instructor selected a text that includes web support. In addition, power point slides have been constructed. These slides extract concepts that may help you better understand the challenges facing business leaders. Also, key concept lectures have been made available on SacCT.
With the significant amount of support material being provided prior to class time, after week one the class sessions will be divided between experiential exercises and a colloquial where the instructor will have a casual conversation with you about questions you have related to the material. You will also be given the choice to join one of two tracks; the Blue or Crimson Track. Whichever track you select you are welcome to join in the classroom activities; however, many classes will be dedicated to assignments the Crimson Track will be doing to meet their requirements. Since this course is designed to provide a broad exposure to many dimensions of communications, the pace of information presented to you will be fast and the content global.
The expectation is that you come to this class academically prepared, possessing upper division collegiate analytic and reading skills, and are motivated to develop your business writing and speaking skills. Only by being prepared and participating can you fully experience the learning opportunities you will be offered.
At the start of the semester the course will be taught in a traditional stand and deliver format (Week One). This means that you need to plan to physically attend all classes during this week. After we have established basic knowledge, the course will be divided between lectures and then smaller cohort activities. At the end of week one you will choose one of two tracks to complete the course. The Blue track focuses on mastery of the concepts discussed in the text. You should sign up for this track if you want to work on understanding theory. The track requires that you take four content tests and one writing mechanics exam. The Crimson Track focuses on understanding content and in developing personal communication skills. This track spreads possible points over several metrics. Three content tests, a writing mechanics exam, business written communication, business oral presentations, research and formal report writing, and cross cultural communication.
Assigned Readings:
The chapter assignments are set forth in the class schedule. Read and reflect on each the material contained in each chapter. You will be called upon in class to share your views on the topics. You will also be provided supplemental readings as the class progresses. The additional readings will become part of the material you will master in order to successfully complete course examinations.
Blue Track Assignments:
Crimson Track Assignments:
The instructor reserves the right to modify this course outline.
Description |
Points |
Exams (four at 230 each) |
920 |
Writing mechanics skill checks (70% or greater equals 100% of possible points [80 pts max]. A score below 70% generates no points) Two attempts allowed. |
80 |
Total |
1,000 |
Description |
Points |
Exams (three at 150 each) |
450 |
Writing mechanics skill checks (70% or greater equal 100% of possible points. |
50 |
Writing portfolio (includes demonstration of skills used to edit classmate documents) |
150 |
Oral Presentation (A score of 75% or greater equals 100% of possible points. A score below 75% generates no points) |
100 |
Cross Cultural Communication Field Work |
100 |
Business Report |
150 |
Total |
1,000 |
Grade Break Down
A = 1,000-940 C+ = 799-780
A- = 939-900 C = 779-740
B+ = 899-880 C- = 739-700
B = 879-840 D+ = 699-680
B- = 839-800 D = 679-640
Week | Chapter | Activity | Assignment | |
Week 1 27 & 28 Janurary |
Basics of Managerial CommunicationChapter One |
Lecture and explanation of class construction. Students make decision on which track they wish to pursue |
Slide Deck for Ch 1 Slide Deck for Course Introduction |
|
Week 2 3 & 5 February |
Basic Managerial Communication and Writing StrategiesChapter Two The managerial communication in organization |
Monday first 15 minutes of class confirm track selection and establish clarity of deliverables Wednesday: Colloquial and collaborative learning activity one (1). |
Read Hamilton Appendix Read Chapter 2 |
|
Week 3 10 & 12 February |
AppendixManagerial Writing Style Routine Documents |
Monday – Writing mechanics exam. Wednesday: Colloquial on writing mechanics and portfolio construction. |
Read Hamilton Appendix Writing Exam writing mechanics exam - Monday (Both Tracks come to class to take exam) |
|
Week 4 17 & 19 February |
Present portfolios to edit partners (Crimson track) | Monday- Crimson Track work on portfolio’s Wednesday- Crimson Track bring portfolios to class and present to edit partner. |
Re-read Hamilton Appendix and How 13 Edit partner’s portfolio |
|
Week 5 24 & 26 February |
Strategies for Oral Managerial Communication Chapter Eleven |
Monday- Colloquial on Presentations |
Read Chapter 11, 13 and 14 Review Slide Decks for Chapters 11, 13, and 14 Review SacCT Key Concepts Videos for Chapters 11, 13 and 14 |
|
Week 6 4 & 6 March |
Wrap up oral reports and PowerPoint presentation discussions | Monday- Workshop on presentations Wednesday- Presentation to triad members |
Wednesday – Present to partners | |
Week 7 11 & 13 March |
Chapter Three |
Monday- Colloquial on relationship creation and maintenance. Monday – Learning activity read or watch the “hasty resignation” case (if you have Premium Website access watch it) if you do not access to Premium Website read case which is located in Chapter Six (^) |
Read Chapter 3 |
|
Week 8 18 & 20 March |
Chapter Twelve Strategies for Writing Reports |
Monday- Colloquial on reports |
Read Chapter 12 Review slide decks for Chapter 12 Watch Digital Key Concepts Video for Chapter 12 Break class into teams. Connect with teammates |
|
24 – 30 March | Spring Break |
|||
March 31 | Cesar Chavez Day – Campus Closed | Monday no class |
||
Week 9 2 April |
Interpersonal Communication Chapter Four Effective Listening |
Wednesday- Colloquial on listening skills. Learning Activities 1 and 3. |
Read Chapter 4 Review slides Chapter 4 Watch SacCt Video on Key Concepts for Chapter 4 |
|
Week 10 8 & 10 April |
Field work on research project | Meet with team and implement strategy for writing an effective team research report |
Review Chapter 12 and notes taken during review of slide decks and video. | |
Week 11 14 & 16 April |
Chapter Five Nonverbal Communication |
Monday- Colloquial on non-verbal communication Wednesday - Crimson track work on research project Wednesday - Blue Track Test Two. |
Read Chapter 5 Review slide decks for Chapter 5 Watch SacCt video on Key Concepts for Chapter 5 Blue Track Test Number Two (Chapters 12, 4 and 5) |
|
Week 12 22 & 23 April |
Chapter Seven and Eight Interviewing for Effective Decisions, Interviewing skills |
Monday- Colloquial on chapter seven. Wednesday- Colloquial on Chapter Eight Employment interview |
Read Chapters 7 and 8 Review slide decks for chapters 7 and 8 Watch SacCt video on Key Concepts Chapters 7 and 8 |
|
Week 13 29 April & 1 May |
Chapters Nine |
Monday – Colloquial on teams and team dynamics Wednesday Crimson-Exam Two Blue - Exam Three |
Read Chapter 9 Crimson Track - TEST TWO Wednesday Blue Track – TEST THREE |
|
Week 14 5 & 7 May |
Lecture Notes Strategies for Success in Intercultural Communication |
Monday – Colloquial on cross cultural communication Wednesday- team turn in research project Field work done on cross-cultural communication |
Review slide deck provided on intercultural communication |
|
Week 15 12 & 14 May |
Chapter Six Obstacles in communication within organizations |
Monday- Colloquial on obstacles in communication |
Read Chapter 6 |
|
Finals Week Final As Scheduled by University. Tentative May 17, 2013 |
You can come to any of my sessions to take the exam. You must make certain that you have written your section numbers on the test to make certain you receive proper credit. |
|
TESTS Blue Track – TEST FOUR Chapters 6, 10 and cross-culture communication. |