Business Communications Test 2

List at least three general categories of nonverbal communication

(1) facial expression, (2) gesture and posture (3) vocal characteristics (4) personal appearance (5) touch (6) use of time and space.

What are three potential disadvantages of working in teams?

-Groupthink occurs when team members value team harmony more than effective decision making. -Some team members may have hidden agendas that can impede the team's progress. -the cost of coordinating group activities can be unreasonably high.

Once you have decided that a meeting is necessary, what four strategies can help you plan it effectively?

-decide whether the meeting will serve mostly informational or decision-making purposes, or whether it will be geared toward both. -meeting participants should be chosen carefully, limiting selections to those whose presence is essential. - the venue and time must be selected and reserved. -the meeting planner should develop a suitable agenda and distribute it among the participants several days before the meeting.

List at least three strategies to keep your mind from wandering while listening to a speaker.

-lowering barriers to physical reception/keeping an open mind. -focusing on the speaker -analyzing what you hear

List at least three benefits of effective listening in business

-strengthens organizational relationships - alerts an organization to opportunities for innovation -allows the organization to manage growing diversity both in the workforce and in the customers it serves.

Cultural differences appear in a number of important areas, including

1) nonverbal differences. 2) legal and ethical differences. 3) religious differences. 4) attitudes toward work and success.

Within 48 hours, people tend to forget approximately ________ percent of what was said in a 10-minute conversation.

50

How can one learn to show respect for others and to communicate effectively in business?

Adapt your communication style to that of the new cultures you encounter.

How can you adapt your communication style to that of a new culture you are encountering?

Avoid assumptions. Don't assume that others will act the same way you do, use language and symbols the same way you do, or even operate from the same values and beliefs. For instance, in a comparison of the 10 most important values in three cultures, people from the United States had no values in common with people from Japanese or Arab cultures. Avoid judgments. When people act differently, don't conclude that they are in error or that their way is invalid or inferior. Acknowledge distinctions. Don't ignore the differences between another person's culture and your own.

Whenever you're representing your company online, all of the following except ________ will help you maintain a high standard of business etiquette. A) differentiating facts from opinions B) assuming that people are available to discuss work-related issues around the clock C) following basic expectations of spelling, punctuation, and capitalization D) watching your language and keeping your emotions under control E) supporting facts with evidence

B-- assuming that people are available to discuss work-related issues around the clock

How can one adapt to a new business culture?

Become aware of your own biases. Successful intercultural communication requires more than just an understanding of the other party's culture; you need to understand your own culture and the way it shapes your communication habits. Be careful about applying the "Golden Rule." The problem with the Golden Rule is that other people don't always want to be treated the same way you want to be treated, particularly across cultural boundaries. The best approach: Treat people the way they want to be treated. Exercise tolerance, flexibility, and respect. Practice patience and maintain a sense of humor. A sense of humor is a helpful asset as well, allowing people to move past awkward and embarrassing moments. When you make a mistake, simply apologize and, if appropriate, ask the other person to explain the accepted way; then move

Which of the following sentences contains an idiomatic expression? A) Our monthly sales quota is unrealistic. B) We don't expect to meet our monthly sales quota. C) Making our monthly sales quota will be a piece of cake. D) The sales quota is very reasonable. E) These products are all quite popular.

C-- Making our monthly sales quota will be a piece of cake.

________ refers to working together to meet complex challenges.

Collaboration

Briefly explain why the ability to work effectively in teams is so important in business.

Companies look for employees who work well in teams for a number of reasons, but primarily because successful teams improve productivity, creativity, employee involvement, and even job security. Teams also involve employees in company decision making through participative management.

The primary difference between constructive feedback and destructive feedback is

Constructive feedback sometimes called constructive criticism focuses on the process and outcomes of communication, not on the people involved. Destructive feedback delivers criticism with no guidance to stimulate improvement. The other answers are the opposite of what constructive and destructive feedback are about.

________ focuses on the process and outcomes of communication, whereas ________ delivers criticism with no guidance to stimulate improvement.

Constructive feedback; destructive feedback

________ is a shared system of symbols, beliefs, attitudes, values, expectations, and norms for behavior.

Culture

Which of the following statements about nonverbal communication is false? A) Facial expressions are a primary means of conveying emotions. B) A person's voice carries both intended and unintended nonverbal cues. C) Nonverbal signals can be used to assert both authority and intimacy. D) Mastering nonverbal signals will allow you to "read someone like a book." E) Nonverbal communication can supplement spoken communication.

D- Mastering nonverbal signals will allow you to "read someone like a book."

Which of the following is not an important consideration related to etiquette in the workplace? A) the clothing you wear to work B) your grooming habits C) your telephone skills D) your height and weight E) your behavior

D-- your height and weight

an indication of a dysfunctional team role?

Diverting

Today's workplace includes the members of four generations: the Radio Generation, Baby Boomers, Generation X, and Generation Y. What challenges does the composition of the contemporary workforce pose for on-the-job communication?

Dramatically different world events, social trends, and technological advances have shaped the four generations. Therefore, each generation brings its own perspective into the workplace. Since people tend to resist change, they often assume that the way they're doing something must be the best way to do it. Moreover, diverse generations sometimes feel competitive pressures for resources, influence, control, and jobs. The result can be tension, mistrust, conflict, and communication breakdowns. The multiple generations in the workplace present another dimension of diversity—different communication habits. For instance, Generation Y workers often prefer to communicate via short electronic messages; however, Baby Boomers and Generation Xers may find these brief messages abrupt and impersonal.

What is ethnocentrism, and how can it be overcome?

Ethnocentrism is the tendency to judge all other groups according to one's own group's standards, behaviors, and customs and to see all other groups as inferior by comparison. You can overcome ethnocentrism by acknowledging distinctions, avoiding assumptions and avoiding judgments.

TRUE/FALSE -- As a rule, your colleagues and customers around the world will use the same communication tools that you us

False

TRUE/FALSE -- Cross-functional teams perform several roles, even though they contain employees from the same department or division.

False

TRUE/FALSE-- As it applies to the contemporary workplace, the idea of diversity is limited to issues of race and ethnicity.

False

TRUE/FALSE-- Unlike with verbal language, the meanings of nonverbal signals are consistent across cultures.

False

TRUE/FALSE-- Your ability to listen effectively will have little effect on your long-term career prospects.

False

TRUE/FALSE--- The outcome of collaborative writing is usually inferior to what a single individual can produce.

False

The social media and technological skills of ________ are helping to change business communication practices.

Generation Y

Explain the difference between a high-context culture and a low-context culture, and provide at least one example of each difference.

In high-context cultures, people rely less on verbal communication and more on the context of nonverbal actions and environmental setting to convey meaning. In low-context cultures, people rely more on verbal communication and less on circumstances and cues to convey meaning.

List at least three types of nonverbal differences might you encounter when working with businesspeople from other cultures. Provide at least one example of how these differences might cause misunderstandings in communication.

Nonverbal differences among cultures are particularly evident in terms of how people greet one another, the amount of personal space people expect when conversing, and attitudes toward touching (for example, do people touch each other on the arm to emphasize a point or refrain from touching altogether?). Notable differences can also appear in how facial expressions are interpreted and attitudes toward eye contact, posture, and formality.

________ are informal standards of conduct that members share and that guide member behavior.

Norms

When doing business in other cultures, what are some strategies you can use to promote effective intercultural communication?

One strategy is to understand social customs regarding issues such as common ways of greeting others: Should you bow or shake hands? It is also helpful to learn about clothing and food preferences that characterize the culture in which you'll work. Doing so requires finding out (among other things) which occasions require special clothing, how many times a day people eat, and so forth. Other strategies include assessing political patterns, understanding religious and folk beliefs, learning about business institutions, and appraising the nature of ethics, values, and laws.

The first step in the basic listening process is

Recieving the message

________ is the practice of assigning a wide range of generalized attributes to an individual based on his or her membership in a particular culture or social group.

Stereotyping

Briefly describe at least three strategies for writing effective multicultural messages.

Strategies for writing multicultural messages include using simple, clear English; being brief; using transitional elements; addressing international correspondence properly; and citing numbers and dates carefully. It is also important to avoid slang, idioms, and humor

While working in a country with a high-context culture, you schedule a meeting with a vendor who lives there. When he shows up 20 minutes after the meeting was supposed to begin, should you take it as a sign of incompetence or disrespect? Explain.

This behavior should not be regarded as a sign of incompetence or disrespect. It simply reflects cultural differences in the treatment of time. Executives in low-context cultures view time as a limited resource and tend to focus on one task during each scheduled period of the day. In high-context cultures, however, time is treated with more flexibility. Building business relationships is more important than meeting deadlines and being punctual. The workday is not expected to follow a rigid, preset schedule. If you respond with frustration or anger to the vendor's late arrival, it could unnecessarily erode your relationship.

How does increased diversity present challenges for the workplace?

Today's increasingly diverse workforce encompasses a wide range of skills, traditions, backgrounds, experiences, outlooks, and attitudes toward work-all of which can affect communication in the workplace. Supervisors face the challenge of connecting with these diverse employees, motivating them, and fostering cooperation and harmony among them. Teams face the challenge of working together closely, and companies are challenged to coexist peacefully with business partners and with the community as a whole. Elements of human diversity can affect communication at every stage of the communication process.

TRUE/FALSE -- Cultural context refers to the pattern of physical cues, environmental stimuli, and implicit understanding that conveys meaning between members of the same culture.

True

TRUE/FALSE -- Group members who play team-maintenance roles help everyone to work better together.

True

TRUE/FALSE -- In the phenomenon of groupthink, the team may arrive at poor-quality decisions and even act unethically.

True

TRUE/FALSE -- When communicating with people from other cultures, it is best to apologize when you make a mistake.

True

TRUE/FALSE-- Culture influences how messages are sent and received in the workplace.

True

TRUE/FALSE-- Members of a well-established culture tend to view their culture as complete, which can dull or even suppress curiosity about other cultures.

True

TRUE/FALSE-- Mobile devices can help you learn another language or communicate with someone who doesn't speak your language.

True

TRUE/FALSE-- Studies have shown that people often have cultural biases of which they're not even consciously aware.

True

TRUE/FALSE-- When it comes to personal appearance in the workplace, it's best to match your style to the expectations of your organization.

True

A new coworker from Russia asks you about North American greeting customs. You explain that in most business contexts

a firm handshake is expected when two people meet

An effective listener tries to practice ________ in an effort to hear and understand what the other party is saying.

active listening

When planning a meeting, the group leader prepares a(n) ________ of items to discuss, topics to present, or decisions to make.

agenda

Openness and inclusiveness

are not characteristics of many cultures, whose members display a general unwillingness to accommodate outsiders.

In today's global business world, communication and culture

are so closely related that separating the two is virtually impossible.

disabled employees can use ________ to pursue a greater range of career paths, thereby giving employers access to a broader base of talent.

assistive technologies

When you react ethnocentrically, you

assume that your culture is superior to others.

Many difficulties in intercultural communication occur because people in different cultures have different

assumptions about how people should think, behave, and communicate.

Ethnocentrism can be overcome in part by

avoiding assumptions.

Business communicators can improve their cultural competency by

becoming aware of their own biases.

The best time to distribute an agenda for a meeting is

before the meeting.

The competitive advantage of a diverse workforce includes

better identify with diverse markets.

Compared to younger employees, older workers

can offer broader experience and high degrees of "practical intelligence."

If you will be living in another country where English is not the official language and you will be doing business in English, you

can show respect by making an effort to learn the language.

In part, poor listening occurs because listeners

can think faster than speakers can speak.

A ________ usually has a long life span and typically deals with regularly recurring tasks.

committee

Associating youth with strength, and age with declining powers, is

common in the United States, but not in many Asian societies.

If you are listening mainly to understand the speaker's message, you are engaging in

content listening.

Intercultural communication is the process of sending and receiving messages between people whose cultural backgrounds

could lead them to interpret verbal and nonverbal signs differently.

The term ________ includes an appreciation for cultural differences that affect communication and the ability to adjust one's style when communicating across cultures.

cultural competency

Every attempt at communication between two people occurs within a

cultural context.

The practice of accepting multiple cultures on their own terms is known as

cultural pluralism.

Some people use ________ to tune out anything that doesn't conform to their beliefs or their self-images.

defensive listening

As businesses become more global, the workforce increasingly consists of employees with ________ national, religious, and ethnic backgrounds.

diverse

"All the characteristics and experiences that define each of us as individuals" is the definition of

diversity

The key to cross-cultural and global business is

effective communication.

During the group development process, the ________ phase is reached when a consensus is reached and the team finds a solution that all members are willing to support.

emergence

A reliable employee you supervise has come to speak with you about a leave of absence related to personal issues. To understand her feelings and needs, you should engage in

empathic listening.

In a given culture, prevailing customs and attitudes that pertain to roles and status will influence the

expectations for who communicates with whom, what they communicate, and in what way.

To convey meaning in a low-context culture such as the one existing in Germany, people rely more on

explicit verbal communication.

Especially effective in establishing dominance, ________ can also regulate interaction and indicate attention or interest.

eyes

The primary vehicle for expressing emotions is

facial expression.

One of the main advantages of collaboration via mobile devices is

flexibility

In the United States, the communication style tends to be

focused on content and transaction

Xenophobia is the fear of

foreigners

Meeting a deadline is generally less important than building a relationship for businesspeople in

high-context cultures.

To ensure participants know what is expected of them, the meeting leader should

include all assignments for each participant in the meeting minutes.

In the United States, companies most often reward and promote an employee based on

individualism

Nearly 90 percent of executives claim profit and revenue would increase with improvements in

international communication skills.

Learning about an unfamiliar culture

is a worthy undertaking, even if you learn only a small amount.

According to the theory of nonverbal communication, touch

is governed by cultural customs that establish who can touch whom and when.

When adapting to other cultures, the "Golden Rule" is

less effective than treating others the way they want to be treated.

Selective listening refers to

letting one's mind wander until something personally relevant is said.

Social networking technologies can help a company create virtual communities of practice that

link employees to others with similar professional interests throughout the organization.

Women executives who travel abroad

may not be taken seriously as businesspeople, depending on the culture.

In general, business correspondence in other countries is often ________ than that written used by U.S. businesspeople.

more formal

Conducting successful virtual meetings requires ________ before the meeting and ________ during the meeting.

more planning; more diligence

Successful teamwork, productive meetings, effective listening, and nonverbal communication depend on ________ among all participants.

mutual respect and consideration

To be a better speaker and a better listener, pay attention to

nonverbal cues.

Differences in ________, including hand gestures or eye contact, are a major source of misunderstanding during intercultural communications.

nonverbal signals

Nonverbal communication can be a reliable guide to determining the meaning of a message

only if the sender and receiver assign the same meaning to nonverbal signals.

In high-context cultures,

people rely more on nonverbal circumstances and cues to convey meaning.

In conversations with a nonnative English speaker with whom you have a longstanding business relationship, you notice that he consistently makes language mistakes that could hurt his credibility. In response, you should

politely offer advice on the appropriate words and phrases to use.

Much of your workplace communication will occur during in-person or online meetings. If you're leading a meeting, you can help to make sure it's productive by

preparing carefully.

For a formal meeting, appoint one person to record a ________ to summarize the important highlights of the meeting.

set of meeting minutes

"Virtual offices" that give everyone on a team access to the same set of resources and information are called

shared workspaces

When speaking in English to people who use English as a second language, the best approach is to

speak slowly and clearly.

When the nonverbal signals match the spoken words, nonverbal signals can ________ a verbal message.

strengthen

One member of a task force on which you serve is particularly good at helping other members get along and work through their differences. This individual plays a(n)

team-maintenance role.

The limited ability to convey nonverbal subtleties such as facial expressions and hand gestures makes ________ particularly good for negotiations, collaborative problem solving, and other complex discussions.

telepresence

Because of the low context culture, when it comes to decision-making customs, North American executives

tend to focus on the results of the decisions they face.

Groupthink refers to

the willingness of individual group members to withhold contrary or unpopular opinions, even when those objections are legitimate, and to favor majority opinion.

One way to show respect for others is being on time for a meeting. This is an example of ________ as a nonverbal cue.

time and space

Local markets and national borders are no longer impassable barriers to business, thanks in part to

transportation technologies.

Successful intercultural communication requires an ability to understand the other party's culture in addition to

understanding how your own culture shapes the way you communicate.

One advantage of virtual meetings is

wider access to expertise.

As an approach to resolving conflict during team activities, a ________ proposes that both sides can satisfy their goals (at least to some extent) and seeks to minimize losses for everyone involved.

win-win strategy