Business Communications Chapter 1

Define stakeholder

All groups in society affected by your business.

Define and explain business ethics, corporate values, and the relationship between them.

Business ethics are the commonly accepted beliefs and principles in the business community for acceptable behavior. Business ethics involve adhering to lows, safeguarding confidential proprietary information, avoiding conflicts of interest and misuse of company assets and refraining from accepting and providing inappropriate gifts, gratuities and entertainment. Corporate values are stated and lived values of the company. Most organizations create a code of conduct or code of ethics to state their most important values and norms of conduct.

Define code of conduct

Code of conduct states a company's most important values and norms of conduct.

Explain the three components of credibility: competence, caring, and character. How do they interrelate?

Competence refers to the knowledge and skills needed to accomplish business tasks, approach business problems and get the job done. Caring implies understanding the interest of others, cultivating a sense of community, and giving to others and showing generosity. Character refers to a reputation for staying true to commitments made to stakeholders and adhering to high moral and ethical values. Research has show that these three factors almost entirely account for whether a person is considered credible in professional situations.

Explain the importance of establishing credibility in business communications.

Credibility is your reputation for being trustworthy. Your credibility is the degree to which others believe or trust in you.

Describe how credibility impacts communication efficiency and effectiveness.

Establishing credibility will help you build high-trust relationships and communicate more effectively. I high-trust relationships, since individuals willingly and freely give the benefit of the doubt, communication is simpler, easier, quicker and more effective.

Define post-trust era

In the post-trust era, the public overwhelmingly views businesses as operating against the public's best interests, and the majority of employees view their leaders and colleagues skeptically.

Explain the FAIR approach to evaluating ethical business communications.

The FAIR test helps you examine how well you have provided the facts, how well you have granted access to your motives, reasoning and information; how well you have examined impact on stakeholders; and how well you have shown respect.

Define transparency

Transparency involves sharing all relevant information and decision rational with stakeholders. Be accessible, acknowledge the concerns of others, follow through when you don't have immediate answers.