Essentials of Business Communication 10th Edition by Dana Loewy,Mary Ellen Guffey

Exercise 30

Robert Bies, professor of management at Georgetown University, believes that an important ethical guideline in dealing with bad news is never to shock the recipient: "Bad news should never come as a surprise. Failure to warn senior leadership of impending bad news, such as poor sales or a loss of a major client, is a cardinal sin. So is failure to warn subordinates about mistakes in their performance and provide an opportunity for them to make corrections and improve." Discuss the motivation of people who keep quiet and struggle with dispensing bad news.