MGT 3453 Exam 2
Jerry, the owner of Blue Sky Inc., needs to inform employees that they will receive a twenty percent salary cut to help the company survive a recession. If Jerry communicates this bad message in an evasive and misleading manner, it will likely
negatively affect Jerry's credibility.
The first task of most persuasive messages is to
gain the attention of the readers.
Camila is an accountant who needs to request time off to deal with a family emergency. Her boss prefers email for this kind of communication. Which of the following is the best subject line for Camila's email?
Camila requests time off this month
A colleague asks you for advice on how to understand the audience of his persuasive message. Which of the following pieces of advice will you offer?
Consider the psychological principles that impact people's decisions.
Many routine business messages involve such things as teams coordinating their assignments, customers buying products, and colleagues asking if they can meet. Such messages are known as
requests.
In the context of developing persuasive messages, the process of understanding the needs and values of others
requires a strong listening orientation.
Which of the following statements is an example of disagreeing diplomatically?
I feel that I did not have a chance to explain my actions.
Which of the following is the best opening for a difficult conversation?
I really want to understand what went wrong and find a solution we both can accept.
Ovidu leads a team of workers at an advertising firm. Recently, one of his subordinates, Lorraine, suggested that the team celebrate a major milestone by taking the afternoon off to go to a baseball game together at the company's expense. Ovidu cannot approve this request, since the team's budget for entertainment is not enough to pay for everyone. Which of the following would be a good thing for Ovidu to say to Lorraine when he meets with her to discuss her proposal?
I would be happy to listen to any other ideas you have about how to celebrate our team's achievement.
Which statement accurately describes persuasion in the post-trust era?
In the post-trust era, persuasion is becoming increasingly difficult.
Which of the following best summarizes the differences between internal and external persuasive messages?
Internal persuasive messages focus on promoting ideas, whereas external persuasive messages focus on promoting products.
When Sherry sends task-oriented emails to colleagues, she always tells them the deadline for the tasks and details about when she is available to talk or meet. What conclusion are Sherry's colleagues likely to draw from this?
Sherry respects their time and other commitments.
Research on Uno Motor Corp. revealed that the company shows signs of the mum effect. As a result, Uno Motor is likely to
underperform year after year
Which of the following should communicators avoid when delivering bad-news messages?
viewing delivery of bad news opportunistically
Judging only by length, which of the following is the best subject line for an email?
Team meeting, Harper conference room, at 11:00
Janet's team is working on a group document, which they store in a FTP system on the company server. On Friday, Claire and Malik download the document at the same time, and each makes edits. Malik uploads his document first. When Claire uploads her copy of the document, she erases all of Malik's work. What went wrong?
The team did not have a system to handle version control.
What can you do to encourage employees to read announcements?
Use a specific, catchy subject line that creates interest.
Which statement accurately describes the use of you-voice in persuasive messages?
Using the you-voice forces you to personalize the message for your readers.
Recognizing others' needs, wants, ideas, and preferences as legitimate and reasonable is known as
Validation
Which question will help you to establish credibility with the readers of your routine messages?
What information does the audience need, and how do they want to receive it?
A message that makes a claim is most likely to close with
a call to action.
Which of the following is most likely to be placed in the subject line of an email?
an expected action
Many employees gloss over announcements because announcements
are broadcast to a large number of employees.
Which of the following is most likely to take place during the drafting stage?
creating a professional and helpful tone
While drafting a routine message, you should
ensure the tone of the message is reader-centered.
As a result of the mum effect, the message that reaches the top executives of an organization is usually
falsely positive.
Ann's team completed the first draft of a group document and asked her to edit it carefully for grammar, punctuation, and spelling. The next day, the group decided to delete part of the document. Ann felt like her efforts were wasted. What did the team do wrong?
It did not choose an appropriate purpose for each round of revision.
What is the advantage of front-loading a routine message?
It makes it easier to grab the reader's attention.
Read the following email, which Jim sent to his team. Then choose the answer below that best explains what is wrong with the email. SUBJECT: Proposal draft due Friday Just a reminder that the proposal draft is due Friday for all team's. Please finalize your work ahead of the deadline before Friday.
Jim has not reread the message
Which of the following is a good way to write directions?
Put the different steps in a numbered list.
What is the main challenge that authors of routine messages have to overcome?
Readers receive so many routine messages that it is hard to catch their attention
What should you do when you cannot respond to a request made in an email?
Reply immediately to explain how soon you can respond in full.
Which of the following is the most effective way of delivering a bad-news message to a long-term client?
Sandra meets with the client, provides a rationale, and discusses impacts.
Vera is the owner of Component Fabrication, Inc. After a major customer takes their business elsewhere, she has to cut back on the hours she can offer her 44 employees. She sends them an email with the subject "A change to our shift lengths" that says how they are not getting as many orders now that their best customer has left. As a result, she explains, the length of each shift will be reduced by 90 minutes. Vera closes by expressing the hope that hours can be expanded again after new customers are found in the next few months. What mistake did Vera make that could leave her message recipients feeling disrespected?
not delivering the message in person
Which of the following will damage the credibility of the author of routine messages?
overly general messages
Which of the following should you focus on during the reviewing step of writing a routine message?
proofreading
If your audience is emotionally resistant to your solution, a good practice is to
provide the rationale before making the request
A message is said to be indirect when it
provides the rationale for a request before making the request.
Which of the following will help you reduce skepticism once you have described your solution?
providing a strong rationale
When you describe your own role and responsibilities to supervisees, they are more likely to
realize that you and they are mutually accountable.
Which of the following is characteristic of a strong routine message?
short paragraphs
When making requests, ______ goes a long way in maintaining goodwill.
showing respect for the recipient's time
Which of the following are almost always more appropriate as attachments?
spreadsheets
Which of the following components is usually found in a set of directions but not in a set of expectations?
step-by-step instructions
Mena is worried about telling her boss that her team failed to meet one of its four deadlines last month. Instead, she says that the team is doing well and hitting most of its targets. This is an example of
the mum effect.
Lance has created three mock-ups for a product logo. He wants to send them to his company's executive team for feedback. The executives are in different cities, and the files are very large. What is the most efficient way for Lance to distribute the logos?
through a site such as Dropbox
