Ort stands for in email etiquette

Lesikar’s Business Communication C O N N E C T I N G I N A D I G I T A L W O R L D

T H I RT E E N T H E D I T I O N

Kathryn Rentz U N I V E R S I T Y O F C I N C I N N AT I

Paula Lentz U N I V E R S I T Y O F W I S C O N S I N – E A U C L A I R E

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LESIKAR’S BUSINESS COMMUNICATION: CONNECTING IN A DIGITAL WORLD, THIRTEENTH EDITION

Published by McGraw-Hill/Irwin, a business unit of Th e McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 1221 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY, 10020. Copyright © 2014 by Th e McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. Previous editions © 2011, 2008, and 2005. No part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written consent of Th e McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., including, but not limited to, in any network or other electronic storage or transmission, or broadcast for distance learning.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Rentz, Kathryn. Lesikar’s business communication : connecting in a digital world / Kathryn Rentz, UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI, Paula Lentz, UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN, EAU CLAIRE. — THIRTEENTH EDITION. pages cm Includes index. ISBN 978-0-07-340321-2 (alk. paper) — ISBN 0-07-340321-0 (alk. paper) 1. Commercial correspondence. 2. English language—Business English. 3. Business communication. I. Lentz, Paula. II. Title. HF5721.L37 2014 651.7—dc23 2012049183

Th e Internet addresses listed in the text were accurate at the time of publication. Th e inclusion of a website does not indicate an endorsement by the authors or McGraw-Hill, and McGraw-Hill does not guarantee the accuracy of the information presented at these sites.

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Dr. Kathryn Rentz Dr. Kathryn Rentz is a Professor of English at the University of Cincinnati. She taught her fi rst business writing class as a doctoral student at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in the early 1980s and has been teaching workplace writing ever since. She helped establish the University of Cincinnati’s professional writing program and has served as its coordinator. She has also won the English Department’s teaching award, directed the department’s graduate program, and helped direct the composition program.

Dr. Rentz’s affi liation with the Association for Business Communication goes back to her beginnings as a business writing teacher. She has performed many roles for the ABC, including serving on the board of directors and chairing the publications board. She served two terms as an Associate Editor of the Journal of Business Communication and was Interim Editor from 2000–2001, for which she won the Francis W. Weeks Award of Merit. In 2008 she won the ABC’s Meada Gibbs

Outstanding Teacher Award. In 2011 she was elected Second Vice President for the association, and she will serve as its president in 2013–2014.

Dr. Rentz has published articles on business communication pedagogy and research in such journals as Business Communication Quarterly, the Journal of Business Communication, Technical Communication Quarterly, and the Journal of Business and Technical Communication . She has participated in many professional meetings and seminars over the years and is always learning from her colleagues and her students.

Dr. Paula Lentz Dr. Paula Lentz is an Assistant Professor and Academic Program Director in the Department of Business Communication at the University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire. She teaches Business Writing, Business Writing II, and Advanced Business Writing. She is also a developer and coordinator of the department’s Business Writing Fun- damentals Program, which ensures that students have basic writing skills essential for success in their fi rst business writing course. In addition, she chaired the College of Business’s Writing Task Force, which developed a college-wide policy for assess- ing students’ writing skills as part of their grade on any writing assignment in any business class.

Dr. Lentz is particularly interested in qualitative research that explores narratives and organizational cultures, genre theory, and writing pedagogy in online environments. She has published in such journals as Academy of Educational Leadership Journal, Wisconsin Business Education Association Journal, Equal

Opportunities International, and Qualitative Research in Organizations and Management. She has also presented her research at several national and regional conferences, including those of the Association for Business Communication and the Academy of Management.

Prior to becoming a full-time academic, she worked as a technical writer and publications editor. She continues to do freelance editing and provides consulting and writing services for several organizations. She received a BA from Coe College, an MA from UW–Eau Claire, and a PhD in Rhetoric and Scientifi c and Technical Communication from the University of Minnesota.

A B O U T T H E A U T H O R S

iii

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A Debt of Gratitude Our deepest respect and appreciation go to Ray Lesikar , who wrote the fi rst edition of this book over 35 years ago and led it through 10 revisions. From the beginning, Ray emphasized currency and realism, adaptation to the reader, and straightforward, courteous, correct use of language. A particular strength of his was persuasive writing, to which he brought considerable professional experience. He was a beloved teacher as well as a busy consultant and prolifi c author, and it is fair to say that, in these roles and as a leader in the Association for Business Communication, he exerted as strong an infl uence on business communication as anyone else in the fi eld before or since.

In 1991 Ray invited an accomplished business communication and information systems professor at San Diego State University to join him as a coauthor. Th us, with the 6th edition, Marie Flatley came on board. Besides doing much of the revision work, Marie added a chapter on communication-related technologies and integrated technology throughout the book. Ever since then, technological currency has been a defi ning trait of Business Communication . An expert on information systems, Marie also put her special stamp on the graphics and research chapters, and she made Lesikar’s book one of the fi rst to provide PowerPoint slides, Web-based material, and online activities. Th ough she has retired from teaching and has offi cially stepped down as an author for this book, she continues to off er her expertise in other venues.

Ray and Marie made a great team, and they set positive examples for us in ways that are too numerous to list. We’re enormously grateful to them and honored to carry on their work.

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P R E F A C E

v

A lot has changed in the three years since the 12th edi- tion of Lesikar’s Business Communication: Connecting in a Digital World was published. Twitter and tablets have now become key players on the technology scene, along with Facebook, email marketing, smartphones, and cloud applications. Th e economies of the United States and many other countries have settled into a recession, creating a tougher job market and chang- ing business and consumer needs. Th e presence of Gen Yers in the workplace has increased, while Baby Boomers are prolonging their retirement. Th e bound- aries between cultures and countries have become more permeable, making the business world “fl atter” and workplaces more diverse. And there’s more in- formation overload, making incisive analysis, lucid presentation of data, and development of targeted per- suasive strategies more critical. Th ese changes have necessitated major revisions to the book. Yet its focus on fundamentals remains. Being able to assess a communication situation and audience, determine an appropriate strategy for meeting a busi- ness goal, and use words and visuals skillfully is the foundation for all the other skills. Th e balance between currency and timelessness—a distinguishing trait of this book throughout its 12 previous editions—is one we’ve worked hard to maintain.

THIS BOOK’S APPROACH AND FEATURES Each business communication textbook brings a some- what unique perspective to the subject. Th is section describes our approach.

Th e Nature of Business Communication Our primary assumption about business communica- tion is that it is a problem-solving activity . Lesikar’s was the fi rst book to take this approach, and it is still the only book with this approach at its core. From the fi rst page to the last, this book makes clear that successful business communication requires analysis, judgment, imagination, and eff ort. Rules of thumb and common patterns are helpful, but preparing an eff ective docu- ment or presentation takes a lot of planning and revi- sion. Students need to be told up front that business communication is not that easy . . . but undertaken with creativity, intelligence, and diligence, it can be ex- tremely rewarding and even fun.

Toward this end, this book includes the most problem-solving cases, by far, of any book on the market—over 150 of them. Th ese realistic scenarios make students consider specifi c contextual factors as they shape their messages, proposals, and reports. In addition, the cases acquaint students with goals they’re likely to encounter on the job, from resolving ethical issues, solving management problems, and craft ing company policies to reporting information, selling a product or idea, and managing customer relations. Th e realistic practice that these cases provide is the key payoff of this book’s approach.

Technology To plan and communicate well, students must know what kinds of communication technologies are avail- able, how their usage diff ers, and how to use them re- sponsibly. Th e medium carries its own message, and what medium one uses aff ects one’s communication choices. Plus, familiarity with a wide range of tools enables one to write better, work more effi ciently, and produce more professional-looking products. With- out overwhelming the students with technical details, we’ve incorporated dozens of useful communication- related technologies into this book, in every chapter and on almost every topic. Students must also understand that technology changes. At the foundation of good communication is the ability to do research, to think, to understand other people, to organize one’s thoughts logically and tactically, and to use well-chosen verbal and visual elements. We keep our primary emphasis on these skills.

Today’s Students Th ese days, students have a lower tolerance than ever for longwindedness, outdatedness, and irrel- evance. We believe that they have a right to expect their business communication book to practice what it preaches. Many of our edits were thus intended to make this edition more reader focused, effi cient, en- gaging, and real. On the other hand, today’s students tend to want clear-cut, quick answers to every question, and this is an unrealistic expectation to bring to business commu- nication. Th ey need to understand what an uncertain enterprise communication is and to be encouraged to solve problems with their own resourceful thinking. Odd as it may sound, they also need to be en- couraged to expand their technological literacy. Re- search shows that students are expert at using a few

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vi Preface

applications (e.g., phone apps, email clients, Facebook, and Twitter) but unaware of many other applications useful in business. Further, students tend to be familiar only with such basic soft ware features as “open,” “save,” “copy,” “paste,” “print,” and “save.” Th us, most students can even use some instruction on Word, PowerPoint, and Excel. Research shows as well that increased use of digi- tal written communication has reduced students’ skill with other media (e.g., body language and facial ex- pressions, oral communication). Businesses need em- ployees who can interview others, conduct an eff ective phone conference, and fi nd information. Many of the exercises and cases in this book require students to practice these skills. Another fact we’ve kept in mind is that business communication students’ needs and interests can vary greatly, even within the same class. Some students will want to work for major corporations, while others plan to work for small businesses, start their own, or seek work in the nonprofi t sector. Some have modest career goals, while others want the fast track to the executive suite. Some will bring strong skills and experience to their coursework, while others will need extra atten- tion to the basics. A comprehensive business commu- nication textbook should accommodate a wide range of student abilities and goals. Th is understanding of our students informs the text of the book as well as these special features:

• Learning Objectives at the start, at the end, and throughout each chapter that make the main goals of the chapter clear.

• Introductory Challenges (formerly “Introductory Situations”) that launch each chapter and each form of business communication with a business scenario to draw students quickly into the topic being discussed.

• Examples of good and bad solutions for the Intro- ductory Challenges.

• Full-page Case Illustrations (real business messages, proposals, and reports), with margin notes, to show how to apply the book’s advice.

• Outlines and checklists to help students grasp basic organizational patterns and editing guidelines.

• Communication Matters boxes that provide expert commentary, interesting facts, and helpful tips.

• Technology in Brief boxes illustrating numerous tools and techniques for making the most of tech- nological aids to business communication.

• Chapter summaries that distill each chapter’s con- tents into key points.

• Critical Th inking Questions , Skills Building Exer- cises , and Problem-Solving Cases at the end of the

chapters to promote comprehension, retention, and skillful use of concepts.

• An Online Learning Center (OLC) that provides online quizzing, PowerPoint slides, video cases, and Bizcom Tools & Tips, a collection of business com- munication Web resources.

• A QR code at the end of every chapter that takes students directly to the book’s online resources.

TODAY’S TEACHERS Business communication teachers face a daunting task: teaching a complex set of concepts and skills in an en- vironment of shrinking resources, increasing class size, and sometimes insuffi cient support from department administrators. Perhaps the main challenge of the job is that the workload tends to encourage an emphasis on surface features (e.g., correctness and formatting), while eff ective business communication depends as well on higher-order skills (e.g. critical thinking, adap- tation to the audience, and editing one’s work). How to do it all—and do it well? In working to make this edition appealing to students, we hope we’ve helped with a major part of the battle. Th e student features listed above also give teachers many excellent talking points and many resources for creating engaging activities and assignments. In addition, we include the following help for instructors:

• Annotated PowerPoint slides for each chapter that include summaries, examples, and interactive slides.

• A downloadable Instructor’s Resource Manual , which includes sample syllabi and rubrics, sample lectures and classroom activities keyed to the PowerPoint slides, answers to end-of-chapter Critical Th inking Questions and Skills Building Exercises, and sample solutions to selected Problem-Solving Cases.

• Appendices on formatting, grading symbols, and documentation of sources.

• A detailed chapter on correctness , ending with a diagnostic test for students (with the answers pro- vided in Appendix A).

• A downloadable Test Bank for each chapter, along with a computerized test generator for building custom tests.

• An Online Learning Center (OLC) that includes resources for every chapter along with video cases and an extensive collection of business communi- cation Web resources, Bizcom Tools & Tips.

• A link to Bcomm Teacher Xchange (bcommteacher- xchange.wordpress.com), our blog for business

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Preface vii

communication instructors. As of the end of 2012, we’d posted almost 100 articles, and we post a new one every other week. You can easily keep track of the latest news, tips, and resources in business communication by using the RSS feed or an email subscription.

ORGANIZATION OF THE BOOK Like the 12 editions before it, this book moves from the more foundational topics to the more specialized ones. The chapters certainly do not have to be taught in the sequence in which they’re presented (in fact, a few instructors we know swear by starting with the job-search chapter), but the building-blocks ap- proach represented by this plan tends to work well. Part I introduces students to the world of business communication. Chapter 1 describes the important role that communication plays in the workplace, cur- rent challenges for business communicators, main cat- egories of business communication, and the business communication process. Chapter 2, picking up on a major trend discussed in the previous chapter, dis- cusses the special challenges posed by cross-cultural communication. Part II reviews the basic techniques of clear, cor- rect, reader-adapted writing. Chapter 3 helps students choose the best wording for their readers, while Chap- ter 4 focuses on writing eff ective sentences and para- graphs. Chapter 5 ends this section with advice on managing tone and emphasis. Part III opens with a chapter on the writing pro- cess, the importance of readable formatting, and special considerations for each major medium of business writing, including social media. This sec- tion then provides patterns and advice for preparing the most common message types: good-news and neutral messages, bad-news messages, persuasive messages and proposals, and messages related to the job search. These chapters also discuss the choice of direct or indirect structure for the different types of messages. Part IV concentrates on report writing, begin- ning with such basics as determining the problem and purpose, gathering and analyzing data, creating a logical structure, writing and formatting the con- tents, and preparing reports collaboratively. It then discusses four types of short reports and the long, formal report; business research methods, including Internet research; and the use of visuals to enhance reader comprehension. Part V turns to oral communication, with a chapter on interpersonal communication and meetings and a chapter on oral reports and presentations. Th e topics range from the basics of speaking and listening to the

eff ective use of diff erent media, including presentation soft ware and Web-conferencing tools. Part VI provides two chapters—one on writing- related technologies and one on correctness—that can assist students with almost all the other chapters in the book. Appendices also provide grading checklists, addi- tional guidelines for formatting written documents, and advice and models for documenting sources.

WHAT’S NEW IN THE 13TH EDITION Th is edition of Lesikar’s Business Communication main- tains the book’s focus on the fundamentals of successful business communication while adapting to the current business and academic environments and incorporat- ing the advice of our helpful reviewers. Perhaps the most noticeable changes are that

• Th e cross-cultural communication and research chapters have been moved to earlier locations in the book to better refl ect their importance.

• Th e chapters on good-news and neutral, bad-news, and persuasive messages and proposals no longer have the words “Directness” and “Indirectness” in their titles. Th ese chapters still recommend the more common pattern of organization for each message type, but the change is meant to allow students more latitude in choosing the pattern that best suits the situation.

• Th e writing style is better adapted to today’s stu- dents. It is less stuff y, more effi cient, and easier to comprehend.

• Just as technology now plays a role in every facet of business, it is everywhere in this book—in the text, in the boxed material, in the examples, in the exercises and cases, and in the visual material. Eff ective use of communication technologies, which has been a special focus of Lesikar’s since the 6th edition, has acquired even greater prominence in this edition.

• A QR code at the end of each chapter now makes it easy for students to visit the book’s website, where they’ll fi nd many more resources.

• Th ree new executives are featured in the book’s six Part Openers: Stuart Crabb, head of learning and development at Facebook; Lynn Marmer, chief communications offi cer for Kroger Company; and Caroline Molina-Ray, Executive Director of Research and Publications at Apollo Research Institute. As with each previous new edition, the references,

examples, visuals, and exercises have been updated in

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every chapter. In addition, each chapter has undergone signifi cant revision, as follows:

Chapter 1: Understanding Workplace Communication • Now opens with an Introductory Challenge (a hy-

pothetical workplace scenario) to generate student interest in the chapter contents.

• Provides the latest statistics on the importance of communication skills in the workplace.

• Updates the “Current Challenges for Business Com- municators” section with research on workplace trends from the experts at the Institute for the Future, Apollo Research Institute, and the Aspen Institute.

• Incorporates new media and genres into the discussion of types of workplace communication. Chapter 2: Communicating Across Cultures

• Now follows Chapter 1 to refl ect the increasing importance of communicating well with those in or from other countries and cultures.

• Includes Hofstede’s “power distance” factor in the discussion of diff erent cultures’ attitudes toward social hierarchy.

• Includes research on the cultural infl uences on online communication.

• Updates the page of additional resources on cross- cultural communication. Chapter 3: Adapting Your Words to Your Readers

• Updates the Introductory Challenge as well as the boxed material on annoying business clichés, in- tergenerational communication, and grammar and style checkers.

• Includes a reference to and defi nition of plain language . • Uses a more logical, less redundant structure and

sharper headings, making the chapter’s points clearer and more distinct. (For example, connota- tion and denotation, oft en-confused words, and id- ioms were all discussed in one section. Now they’ve been separated for better emphasis.)

• Expands and updates the discussion of language referring to those with disabilities. Chapter 4: Constructing Clear Sentences and Paragraphs

• Opens with an updated Introductory Challenge. • Trims the prefatory sections to get more quickly to

the chapter’s advice. • Adds Communication Matters boxes on limiting

the use of “there is/there are” and on avoiding the use of vague “this.”

• Includes clearer advice about using short sentences for emphasis and varying sentence structure (e.g., use of coordination and subordination) to manage emphasis.

• Expands the discussion of faulty parallelism.

Chapter 5: Writing for a Positive Eff ect • Makes a better case up front for paying attention to

the human relations dimension of business writing. • Shortens the discussion of “the old language of

business” since today’s students rarely use this lan- guage. Th ey do overuse clichés, so the section on this stylistic problem has been expanded.

• Renames the section previously labeled “Resisting the Tendency to Be Formal” to “Choosing the Right Level of Formality” and does a better job of help- ing students manage the writer–reader relationship through appropriate word choice.

• Renames the section “Tailoring Your Message to Your Reader,” which covered points already made in the chapter, to “Avoid Blaming the Reader” and discusses techniques for being tactful. Th is new section also includes a brief discussion of avoiding anger, replacing the unnecessarily long section on this topic.

• Adds a Technology in Brief box on “Courtesy in the Age of Mobile Devices” based on the latest advice from Emily Post’s Etiquette .

• Better incorporates the concluding section on managing emphasis by focusing on techniques that contribute to a positive eff ect. Chapter 6: Choosing the Best Process and Form

• Updates the audience analysis checklist to ad- dress what the audience knows; what the audi- ence needs to know; and what the audience needs to think, feel, do, or believe as a result of the communication.

• Provides current advice on letter writing, particularly on avoiding the use of greetings such as “to whom it may concern” and other outdated expressions.

• Revises the discussion of email to treat it as the established form of business communication it has become rather than as an emerging technology. Th e sections on email content and structure have also been deleted to make the discussion of email more parallel with that of letters and memos.

• Replaces outdated content on pros and cons of email with advice on current email practices in the workplace and on the role of email in the context of newer communication technologies such as texting and instant messaging.

• Adds a Communication Matters box on the top 10 email mistakes.

• Updates the information on text and instant mes- saging and social media communication as forms of business messages.

• Adds the content from Chapter 17 regarding print versus online documents, updates this content to refl ect the primary diff erences between the two

viii Preface

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types, and off ers current advice for writing Web content. Chapter 7: Getting to the Point in Good-News and Neutral Messages