Deck 1: Communicating in a Changing Business World

Question 1

Indicate the semantic category, if any, for the following statement: "This page contains a True-False Question."

A)Observation
B)Inference
C)Judgment
D)Opinion

Answer 1

A

Question 2

Which of the following is an example of information overload?

A)You cannot understand a message because it is in Japanese.
B)You cannot read the handwriting on an invitation.
C)You cannot read all the messages you receive, because there are too many.
D)You cannot receive electronic mail because your computer is down.

Answer 2

C

Question 3

Indicate the semantic category if any, for the following statement: "Most students enjoy the winter carnival."

A)Observation
B)Inference
C)Judgment
D)Opinion

Answer 3

B

Question 4

Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of ineffective listeners?

A)They attend to nonverbal information.
B)They do not seek clarification.
C)They tune out spoken messages.
D)They focus on their own response.

Question 5

Which of the following is NOT a criterion for good business and administrative writing?

A)The message presents a positive image of the writer and his or her organization.
B)The message has a single purpose.
C)The reader can read, understand, and act on the message quickly.
D)All the reader's questions are answered.

Question 6

Which of the following BEST describes very effective workers, according to research?

A)They focus on understanding and carrying out assigned tasks.
B)They focus on implementing their superiors' goals.
C)They define their own goals based their clients' needs.
D)They adjust assigned tasks to meet their own personal needs.

Question 7

Which of the following BEST defines intrapreneurship?

A)It is self-employment.
B)It is an application of the spirit of entrepreneurship among related companies.
C)It is an encouragement of the spirit of entrepreneurship in one organization.
D)It is a growing sector in Canadian business, with a significant female presence.

Question 8

Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of strong business writing?

A)It makes your efforts more effective.
B)It communicates your points more clearly.
C)It usually takes longer to read.
D)It builds goodwill.

Question 9

Indicate the kind of semantic error that the following sentence commits or illustrates."If I don't win the lottery, I'll never pay off my credit cards."

A)Polarization
B)Bypassing
C)Generalization
D)Frozen Evaluation

Question 10

Brianna doesn't read the memo that Larry writes.Which of the following reasons would be an example of physical noise that led to this result?

A)Brianna is too busy to read her mail.
B)The memo was typed on erasable paper, and the ink has smudged.
C)Larry chooses words poorly.
D)Brianna never got a copy of the memo.

Question 11

Which semantic error does the following exchange commit or illustrate? "Write on only one side of the page." "You mean I should write on the left and leave the right blank?" "No, I mean write on the front and leave the back blank."

A)Bypassing
B)Stereotyping
C)Blindering
D)Frozen Evaluation

Question 12

Which semantic error does the following sentence commit or illustrate? "A customer whose payment is late will not pay at all unless we threaten legal action or turn the account over to a collections agency."

A)Bypassing
B)Stereotyping
C)Blindering
D)Frozen Evaluation

Question 13

Which of the following is the LEAST effective way of evaluating the ethical quality of a message?

A)Determine if the audience gets all the information it needs to make a decision.
B)Determine if the information is communicated in a timely way.
C)Determine whether the information is communicated in a scheme the audience can understand, or merely "dumped" without any context.
D)Determine whether the information fully supports the goals of the primary stakeholder.

Question 14

Which of the following is an example of an external document?

A)A memo of congratulations
B)A performance report
C)A request to deviate from a policy and procedure bulletin
D)An annual report

Question 15

Which of the following is NOT a strategy for dealing with information overload?

A)Process information in the order in which it arrives.
B)Ignore messages that seem unimportant.
C)Read summaries rather than original documents.
D)Upgrade your broadband internet speed.

Question 16

Which of the following is an example of an internal document?

A)A quotation
B)A job description
C)A claims adjustment
D)A policy bulletin

Question 17

Indicate the kind of semantic error that the following sentence commits or illustrates: "Company X had the highest prices five years ago, so we should avoid them."

A)Polarization
B)Stereotyping
C)Bypassing
D)Frozen Evaluation

Question 18

Which of the following is NOT true of feedback?

A)It may be direct and immediate.
B)It is the responsibility of the person receiving the message.
C)It may be indirect and delayed.
D)It can use either verbal or nonverbal channels.

Question 19

Which of the following is an example of channel overload?

A)An office has only one fax machine, so your message isn't sent for an hour.
B)You cannot find the fax number of a colleague in New Zealand to whom you want to send a message.
C)You don't know how to use your office's fax machine, so you cannot send a message on Sunday.
D)You fax a memo to a colleague in Japan who cannot read it because she doesn't understand English.

Question 20

Which of the following BEST describes the result of having "family friendly" policies in companies?

A)They are good recruiting tools, but often result in relocation failures.
B)They are one of the six leading reasons that new managers fail.
C)They have given employees with children higher overall compensation levels.
D)They produce clear gains in productivity and customer service.

Question 21

Most business messages have only a single purpose.

Question 22

Outsourcing makes it easier for problems to turn into major issues.

Question 23

In the workplace, the term "diversity" refers to race only.

Question 24

If two documents contain the same information, their purposes will obviously also be the same.

Question 25

If something you claim provokes a counterclaim by your reader or audience, you should respond by limiting your own claim or providing a rebuttal (in order to be convincing).

Question 26

Only upper management positions require high-level skills in reasoning and communicating.

Question 27

Most either-or classifications are legitimate.

Question 28

When the cost of miscommunication is high, effective managers will use only one channel to convey their message, to cut down on the chances of misunderstandings.

Question 29

Especially for new employees, silence can sometimes be the most tactful response.

Question 30

Readability depends entirely on your word choices.

Question 31

A judgment is synonymous with an inference.

Question 32

You should assume that your work email is being monitored.

Question 33

Graphic design has little or no influence on the ethics of written communication.

Question 34

Spell checkers are more effective at catching errors than traditional proofreading is.

Question 35

Studies show that up to 97% of our reading time involves trying to understand what we're reading.

Question 36

According to Henry Mintzberg, managers fill three basic roles: collecting and conveying information, making decisions, and promoting interpersonal unity.

Question 37

The higher you rise in an organization, the more you will be able to rely on form letters.

Question 38

Written channels are better for group decision-making, since they allow group members to study responses carefully, which results in fewer instances of miscommunication.

Question 39

The ability to communicate is one of the fundamental employability skills identified by the Conference Board of Canada.

Question 40

It is far more important for your message to be complete than for it to be concise.

Question 41

Putting similar people or events into a single category, even though significant differences exist, is called _____.

Question 42

It is impossible to tell someone everything.

Question 43

Words are deep connections to the objects they represent.

Question 44

A(n) _____ is a Web page just for employees that gives everyone in an organization access to information.

Question 45

When your message fails to present a positive image of you and your company, you are losing an opportunity to build _____.

Question 46

A survey conducted by the International Association of Business Communicators reveals that good communication has a modest return on investment.

Question 47

_____ is defined as the study of the way behaviour is influenced by words and other symbols.

Question 48

Understanding how conventional formats enable common codes allows you to achieve your communication purpose.

Question 49

Email often has a negative effect on productivity.

Question 50

Bypassing creates misunderstandings.

Question 51

The ______ is an informal source of company information that can be valuable in helping newcomers understand the organizational culture.

Question 52

Clear communication reduces lawsuits.

Question 53

If a new idea does not fit your worldview, that idea is likely wrong.

Question 54

A prewritten, fill-in-the-blank message designed to fit standard situations is called a(n) _____ letter.

Question 55

Customers, suppliers, potential employees, stockholders, and the press are all examples of _____ audiences.

Question 56

Effective listeners take extensive notes without evaluating or prioritizing, in order to record as much detail as possible for future reference.

Question 57

_____ means taking care of the triple bottom line: economic, environmental, and social performance.It is abbreviated CSR.

Question 58

_____ audiences are defined as other people in the same organization, including subordinates, superiors, and peers.

Question 59

Innovators who work within organizations are sometimes called _____.

Question 60

"Noise" refers only to physical problems with communication channels.

Question 61

Trying to force the reader into a position by arguing that there are only two possible positions, one of which is clearly unacceptable, is called _____.

Question 62

________ is the process of passing a document from the writer to his/her superior, then back to the writer again, then to another superior, then back to the writer, and so on.

Question 63

_________ means going outside the company for products and services that were once provided by the company's employees.

Question 64

___________________ is the ability to communicate sensitively with people from other cultures and countries, and is based on an understanding of cultural differences.

Question 65

A(n) _____ is a statement that you yourself have verified, while a(n) _____ is a statement that you have not personally verified, but whose truth or falsity could be established either now or in the future.

Question 66

________ accounting refers to assessing, auditing, or reporting on how responsible a company or organization is.

Question 67

_________ occurs when two people use the same symbol to mean different things.

Question 68

Unnecessarily limiting the available options is called _____.

Question 69

_____________ occurs when there is too much information for the available means of message transmission.

Question 70

A(n) ________ is a web page intended for customers and suppliers, as opposed to intranets.

Question 71

_____ occurs when a human receiver cannot process all the messages he or she receives.

Question 72

When Aaron decided to become an accounting major, he was stunned when he discovered that a business communication course was required."If I were interested in those things," he complained, "I'd become an English or communication major.Besides, nobody is going to care whether I can write or not once I get a job; all they'll care about is whether I'm good at accounting." Why are Aaron's assumptions incorrect?

Question 73

Explain the differences between observations, inferences and judgments.

Question 74

List the five criteria that all effective business and administrative messages should fulfill, and provide a brief explanation of what these criteria mean.

Question 75

List three ways that poor writing can cost organizations money, and explain how they lose this money.

Question 76

Explain what reputation management is and why it has become a concern for organizations.

Question 77

____________ is the process of sending a message through a channel.

Question 78

A(n) ________________ is an error that occurs when someone does not recognize that prices, situations, and people change with time.

Question 79

Interference with any aspect of the communication process is called _____.

Question 80

VoIP stands for _____________________.