Business Communications Midterm
Which of the following is a method of making answers stand out in a response to more than two questions?
placing the answers in different paragraphs or numbering them
When using back translation, the translations are good if
the second translation matches the original message.
Which of the following is true of order acknowledgements?
Order acknowledgments are mostly routine and can also help build goodwill.
Luis's coffee company has to make a negative announcement to let customers know about an increase in the price of their drinks. Which of the following should Luis include in the announcement to help people feel better about the price increase?
a statement reminding readers that they will still get to enjoy exceptional service and quality coffee drinks made to order
Courtesy can be enhanced in business messages by
adding a statement tailored to make the recipient feel appreciated.
When you present the justification and bad news in a negative announcement, it is important that you ______, which is not something you typically need to do in other negative message situations.
anticipate and cover potential reader questions
_____ refers to a list of topics to be covered that is developed when planning a meeting.
Agenda
If a businessperson from Portugal is negotiating with a businessperson from Poland to purchase the services of the Polish company, and they do not share a common language, what language will they most likely use to conduct their business?
English
Which of the following should you do when making your case for refusal?
Explain your company's relevant policy.
Florian, a customer relations specialist at a clothing company, is writing a letter refusing a customer request to replace, free of charge, a box of shirts that the customer spilled ink on. Which of the following is the best way for Florian to begin his letter?
He should begin his letter with a buffer that sets up the discussion.
Which of the following sentences is most likely to compromise the chance of a speedy claim adjustment?
I am disappointed with the service provided by your company.
Which of the following strategies should be used to improve your voice when speaking on the phone?
Talk naturally as if in a face-to-face conversation.
Which of the following should you do to adapt your English to a nonnative English speaking audience?
Talk simply, slowly, and clearly.
Which of the following sentences best meets the requirements for good sales writing?
When was the last time you had a truly delicious piece of candy?
Which of the following sentences will be most effective in attracting attention in a routine inquiry?
Where can I locate the budgets and profit and loss statements from three years ago?
Which of the following exemplifies the most appropriate way to ask a question in a routine inquiry message?
Would you please tell me how I can access email on my cell phone?
Which of the following exemplifies paralanguage?
Yasin speaks louder when stating his main point.
Which of the following statements about closing an adjustment refusal is true?
You may reinforce the message that you care about the reader's business.
Madison is writing an adjustment refusal to a customer whose blender broke after he put it in the dishwasher. Which of the following sentences would be appropriate for her closing?
You might be interested in our immersion blender, which has a detachable head that can be safely run through the dishwasher.
What is the main difference between adjustment refusals and other refusals?
Your company most likely has clear, reasonable guidelines regarding what is a legitimate reason for adjustment.
Good cross-cultural communication skills are most likely to result in which of the following?
an increase in your effectiveness as an employee
When you have to leave a voice mail message, you must first identify yourself and then give
an overview of the message.
Raina is making a routine inquiry and has only one question to ask. She should
ask the question immediately and then move to a goodwill ending.
Which product would most likely to be sold to consumers using a rational appeal?
automobile tires
Which process involves translating a message into a new language and then back into the original language so that the original message and the second translation can be compared?
back translating
When Sasha is working, she always wears a tailored suit and twists her hair into a bun. What type of nonverbal communication does Sasha's clothing and hairstyle represent?
body language
Shawnell writes a cover letter in response to a job posting and ends it with the sentence "Thank you for your time." This sentence is an example of
a rubber stamp.
A moderately formal internal-operational message typically begins with
a statement of its objective.
When determining your message's basic plan, a good beginning is to
assess your readers' probable reaction to what you have to say.
An outright falsehood is referred to as a lie of
commission.
Which of the following is an example of a colloquialism?
head for the hills
When making a negative announcement, you should use the indirect arrangement when you expect readers to be
surprised or angered.
Which of the following is a powerful strategy for maintaining goodwill while presenting bad news?
taking the time to provide an alternative solution to the reader
Positive information can best be emphasized by including it in
the last statement of the last paragraph.
A good-news or neutral message ought to begin with
the main objective of the message.
Which of the following combines a verb with a second element to create a meaning that the verb does not have alone?
two-word verbs
Claim messages primarily involve
unfulfilled customer expectations.
When researching another culture, you should
use a variety of sources, including books, other people, and cultural festivals, to learn all you can.
The likelihood that negative news will be received positively is highest when
you precede the bad news with an explanation.
Which of the following examples avoids gender bias?
sales associate
In the context of writing bad-news messages, which of the following is true of a buffer?
A buffer refers to an opening that does not indicate that negative news is coming.
Which of the following best illustrates a favorable response message?
As you requested in your July 1 message, the following is a summary of our experience with Rajasthani Imports.
Which of the following is true of back-channeling?
Back-channeling involves repeating what you think you heard.
Which of the following is true about emotional appeals?
Emotional appeals are those based on our feelings and senses.
Which of the following guidelines should be followed when writing an order acknowledgement message?
End the message on a goodwill note.
Which of the following sentences best meets the requirements for good sales writing?
Here, you can browse the widest range of shoes in the city and find the pair that fits your style.
Lillian Steingruber works as an assistant for Devontae Booker, the CEO of Booker Investment Management. Which of the following lines should she use when answering phone calls?
Mr. Booker's office. This is Lillian Steingruber. May I help you?
Which of the following is true of the process of listening?
Remembering what we hear is the third activity involved in listening.
Which of the following is true of taking minutes at a meeting?
The format of meeting minutes depends on the nature of the meeting, group preferences, and company requirements.
Which of the following guidelines should be followed when writing a thank-you message?
The message should be written directly and be kept brief.
Which of the following guidelines should be followed when writing a good-news or a neutral message?
The message should end with an appropriate, friendly comment.
When refusing requests, which of the following statements about the opening of the message is true?
The writer should begin the message with a buffer that sets up the discussion.
Why do sales messages sent by email often create hostility among intended customers?
They are mostly unsolicited emails.
Which of the following statements about casual operational messages is true?
They are typically used to give quick responses to work needs.
Which of the following statements about stereotypes is true?
They can blind us to people's true natures.
Which of the following statements about formal internal-operational messages is true?
They frequently involve a sequence of steps or topics.
Which of the following is the first step you should take in drafting an adjustment refusal?
Use a neutral buffer that sets up your strategy.
Benedito considers the customs of his culture to be normal and the customs of other cultures to be weird. Benedito is displaying
ethnocentrism
The two goals of the opening of a persuasive request are to lead into the central strategy and
gain the attention of the reader.
When your response includes bad news along with good news, you should
give less space to the bad news.
Katashi comes from a culture with stable, coherent traditions. As a result, when he is talking with co-workers, he relies on shared assumptions rather than explicitly stating all information. Katashi most likely belongs to a(n) ______ culture.
high-context
The most appropriate beginning to a proposal, in general, is a statement that
identifies the writer's purpose and the reader's needs.
When you initiate a call, you should
identify yourself and ask for the person with whom you wish to speak.
Negative announcements generally follow the
indirect plan for structuring a message.
The company Sandra works for manufactures computers, and her boss has asked her to lie at a meeting with investors about the cost of a new security feature being added to one of the computer lines. His reasoning is that the cost is minimal and the computers are not sufficiently secure without the new addition. Sandra, however, refuses to lie because it goes against her ethical principles, and says she will instead explain why the cost is necessary in a way the investors will accept. Sandra is displaying
integrity.
The process of discussion that leads to an agreement is
negotiation.
The CAN-SPAM Act requires businesses that send emails sales messages to
offer recipients the opportunity to opt out of further emails.
Certain business situations will require you to engage in ______, a conversation on neutral topics, often with people you have just met or do not know well.
small talk
Which product would most likely be sold to consumers using a primarily emotional appeal?
sports cars
People from a culture who view personal space as a right are more likely to
stand in line and wait their turn.
Taking meeting minutes is important because they
will remind the participants of what was discussed, long after the meeting.
With email, the effort to capture the reader's attention begins
with the From and Subject information.
Which of the following is not one of the four common types of nonverbal communication?
written language
What are the three most useful ways to manage emphasis for positive effect?
position, sentence structure, and space
The benefits that readers will automatically get by complying with your request are ______ benefits.
product
Which type of proposal is written in response to an explicit invitation?
solicited proposals
Which strategy for conflict resolution requires that both sides of the conflict make concessions so that each side believes the resolution is fair?
the compromising strategy
According to Geert Hofstede, ______ is "the collective programming of the mind which distinguishes the members of one category of people from another."
Culture
If you are trying to determine if a particular action is ethical, and you do so by considering what would happen if everyone in society engaged in that action, you are applying
Kantian ethics.
Which of the following statements sounds discriminatory?
Our team consists of 12 crew members and a Haitian foreman.
Which of the following statements about content marketing is true?
It avoids overt selling.
Which of the following statements about nonverbal communication is true?
It is used to supplement verbal communication as well as to convey meaning on its own.
Which of the following statements about reports and proposals is true?
Proposals are intentionally persuasive while reports can be neutral in their approach.
Which of the following is a characteristic of a report?
Reports often use the same direct pattern as proposals.
Which of the following statements about receiving feedback is true?
Thank the deliverer for his or her input, no matter what the feedback is.
Which of the following statements about handling difficult conversations is true?
They should be delivered using facts, logic, and objectivity.
Which of the following statements about negotiating is true?
You should point out the benefits to your audience to keep them interested in the negotiation.
Which of the following is a guideline for small talk that business etiquette expert Patricia Napier-Fitzpatrick recommends following?
You should prepare by being up to date on current events.
Which of the following is an example of an external proposal?
a vendor's email proposing to redo a company's website
Which strategy for managing conflict is used by people who prioritize relationships and other people's feelings over their own wishes?
accommodative strategy
Which of the following is an example of an internal proposal?
an email from a subordinate to a superior requesting to add another member to a project team
Strong sales messages are characterized by
an emphasis on the you-viewpoint.
The writer of a proposal should urge or suggest action in the
concluding comments of the proposal.
Objective, helpful comments that build goodwill, improve others' work, and help both parties reach their business and communication goals are known as
constructive feedback.
The first step in resolving a conflict is to
define the conflict.
Information such as a person's age, gender, income, and geographic location is called _____ information.
demographic
A government agency is looking for someone to rehab a government-owned building. Warren has to write a proposal to do that project. He is aware that the agency is expecting a number of responses to its request. In this case, it is best to use the
direct order.
Which product would most likely be sold to consumers using a rational appeal?
dishwashers
Appeals that focus on projecting the appealing traits of the writer are ______ based.
ethos
Which product would most likely be sold to consumers primarily using an emotional appeal?
jewelry
Unwanted mail that is usually discarded even before it is read is called _____ mail.
junk
The beliefs, values, norms, and priorities that govern all aspects of your workplace make up your workplace's
organizational culture.
The meetings of formal committees and professional organizations usually follow the rules of conduct known as
parliamentary procedure.
A company's ______ indicates the core values of the organization and identifies what behaviors are and are not considered ethical.
code of conduct
At Sadie's work, employees usually have a say in office-related decisions. Sadie most likely belongs to a
culture with low power distance.
When delivering a refusal to a request, the first step is to
develop the strategy to be used in the message.
Gabby comes from a culture where life traditionally revolved around the sea and what could be harvested from it. Although her culture has changed with the rise of the Internet and other technologies, a large percentage of families still own boats and work in industries such as fishing, canning, or shipping. There are also yearly festivals celebrating the start of various fishing seasons. Gabby's culture best exemplifies how ______ often affects culture.
geography
When presenting negative news, you should
help the reader see the news objectively.
A co-worker has sent an email to Mahan asking him if he will take her on-call shift next Friday so she can go to a concert. Mahan has already made plans to take his wife out of town for her birthday, so he needs to refuse his co-worker's request. In addition to presenting this bad news, which goal should Mahan focus on accomplishing?
maintaining goodwill
Thomas thinks it is important to be as efficient as possible and hates to be late to appointments. Thomas most likely belongs to a ______ culture.
monochronic
If the reaction of your target audience is likely to be _____, you should use the direct order of organizing information in your message.
neutral
One of the personal qualities you should cultivate as an ethical communicator is ______, which is the personal trait that inclines people to trust you.
credibility
Alessia and Maarten have scheduled a lunch meeting to discuss doing business together. Maarten arrives at the restaurant precisely on time, but Alessia doesn't arrive until after Maarten has finished his first glass of iced tea. She does not apologize for her lateness, and she launches into a cheerful discussion of the restaurant's history. Maarten nods along, but he is impatient to get down to business so that they can eat. Which of the following statements is most likely true?
Alessia belongs to a polychronic culture, and Maarten belongs to a monochronic culture.
Which of the following statements about American workplace values is true?
American workers expect to be able to change jobs whenever it suits them.
In which of the following scenarios will the style of communication be least formal?
An email from one co-worker to another discussing holiday plans.
Which of the following is an example of an internal-operational message?
An employee sends an email to a co-worker about a project.
In the context of routine inquiries, which of the following is an effective method of structuring questions?
Place each question in its own sentence or paragraph.
Which of the following would be a good way to present a refusal to a customer's request for reimbursement?
Refunds are available only when the defective product has been returned
Which of the following statements about body movements is true?
Some body movements have clear meanings in a culture while others have no definite meaning.
Which of the following statements about the expression of emotion in different cultures is true?
Some cultures expect communication to be subdued, while others communicate loudly and with emotion.
Which of the following guidelines should be followed when writing a routine inquiry?
Use the opening of the message to focus on the main objective.
Which of the following statements about you-viewpoints is true?
Using the you-viewpoint means considering a communication situation from the recipient's perspective.
Which of the following statements best illustrates communicating from the you-viewpoint?
We will do our best to assist you with your problem.
Which of the following statements about creating a buffer for a negative announcement is true?
You should choose whichever option will most likely prepare your readers to accept the coming bad news
An expression that a person uses out of habit each time a particular situation occurs is referred to as?
a rubber stamp
If you must refuse a request, you can make the refusal positive by
clearly stating what you can do.
Alyssa is a graphic designer who knows that her clients will be upset when they learn that their project is behind schedule. During her next conference call with them, she tells them details about the project, but decides not to mention that there is no way it will be finished on time. This is an example of a
lie of omission.
To leave your reader with a feeling of goodwill, you should
make a comment that is positive and relevant to your topic
When preparing to conduct business with people from another culture, you should
make sure that you know yourself and understand the business you represent.
When Felipa meets with a client, she likes to spend the first half hour or so of the meeting chatting about the client's life and current events. Felipa is most likely a member of a ______ culture.
polychronic
Dorian believes that if he puts all of his energy into working rather than having fun, he will be successful. Based on this information, is can be said that Dorian adheres to
the Protestant work ethic.
Aristotelian ethics propose that
the purpose of life is to achieve happiness by acting in the right, virtuous way.
The use of a buffer in a negative message indicates
the writer's consideration for the feelings of the reader.
Sometimes the task of acknowledging an order is complicated by your inability to send the goods requested right away. In such cases, you should
use positive language.
A direct claim should end with
A simple expression of goodwill
When someone has asked you two or more questions in a message and you want to send them a favorable response, which of the following is a good strategy?
Begin your response by letting the reader know that you are complying with his or her request, then answer the questions.
Which of the following statements about language is true?
Even words that seem the same in two languages may have different meanings.
Which of the following about using positive words is true?
Positive words can put the reader in a receptive frame of mind, even if the news is negative.
Which one of the following statements about conversational language is true?
It engages the reader and is easily understood.
You have received an email from a customer who claims that the cleaning team your company sent to his house did not fold and put away his laundry. Your records show that this is not a service he requested. Which of the following sentences can you use in a response without blaming the reader?
Please use the attached form to indicate any changes in your cleaning requirements and return it so that we can update your file.
Octavia is an executive overseeing the operations of a large office, and she writes a memo to employees that says, "You will be overjoyed to learn that we will getting a new phone system next week." What mistake is Octavia making?
She is talking down to her readers.
What is the advantage of providing background information or explanations in a routine inquiry?
They help your reader better understand how to answer your questions.
M Tech, a maker of cell phones, promised to release a brand new line of phones in January 2017. However, due to delays in research and development, in December 2016, M Tech is at least six months away from production. Which of the following closing statements should M Tech use in its negative announcement?
We are confident that our valued customers will enjoy our brand new line of phones.
Which of the following is true regarding setting up one's strategy to write an adjustment refusal?
You might begin at a point of common agreement and then explain how the case at hand is an exception.
Jamal has a tendency to blurt out the first thing that enters his head when he hears something upsetting or when he feels like a co-worker is attacking him. This is holding him back from being promoted because his boss doesn't feel like he can trust Jamal to respond correctly in a critical client situation. In order to become a more ethical communicator and advance at work, Jamal needs to learn to ______, meaning he needs to think before he acts.
exercise restraint
When writing negative news, you should
keep the negative message brief, but spend as much space as needed on explanatory, cushioning words.
When explaining a proposal to business associates, Adelaide makes sure to explicitly state all relevant background information. Adelaide most likely belongs to a ______ culture.
low-context
Luis and Veronica both work for a company that sells security systems to small businesses. They each earn a commission based on how much they sell each month, so even though they are co-workers, they are constantly competing with each other for contracts. Sometimes, even if Veronica has been talking to a potential client, Luis will call them up and casually mention that Veronica has less experience than he does, and that he can better tailor a solution to fit their needs. This is an example of what unethical practice?
playing political games
When refusing requests, the reasons for the refusal should have which qualities?
positive wording, sound logic, and convincing details
Chewy is a computer program developer, and he has two deadlines approaching. He knows that he will not be able to finish both projects on time, so he considers which project will affect the greatest number of people and decides to finish it first. This is an example of applying ______ ethics.
utilitarian