CHAPTER 1 SOLUTIONS Succeeding in the Social and Mobile Workplace Critical Thinking Discussion Guide Note: Solutions to Chapter Review questions 1-10 appear in the Annotated Instructor’s Edition. 11.
What could be the career fallout for someone who is unwilling or unable to train to become a better communicator? Can workers today be successful if their writing is and remains poor? (L.O. 1) Each of us probably knows at least one example of a highly successful dyslexic person or a poor writer who is admired and thrives in the world of work. However, such cases are the exception rather than the rule. Surveys of employers find over and over again that woefully unprepared young job applicants will fall behind in their careers and not be promoted if they are even hired in the first place.
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Why do executives and managers spend more time listening than do workers? (L.O. 2) Before they can make decisions, executives must listen to feedback from supervisors, specialists, and others. They must also listen to their bosses—boards of directors and owners—as well as to customers, especially when handling serious complaints. Minds are like parachutes; they work well only when open. All three levels of workers should have good listening skills; but because the decisions coming from executives may be more critical, their listening skills should perhaps be most highly developed.
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What arguments could you give for or against the idea that body language is a science with principles that can be interpreted accurately by specialists? (L.O. 3) Although few would argue that body language does send silent messages, no scientific principles have evolved explaining exactly what those messages mean. Most researchers agree that nonverbal cues contain much information, but specifically what those cues mean is unknown. In Nonverbal Communication, authors Hickson and Stacks wrote, “The nonverbal message by itself may be ambiguous; in almost every instance it needs the verbal message to complete the process of communication.” [Madison, WI: WCB Brown & Benchmark, 1993, p. 8.] Julius Fast, author of the precedent-setting Body Language, stated that “nonverbal language is partly instinctive, partly taught, and partly imitative.” [New York: Pocket Books, 1970, p. 14.] But it is not a science with principles that always hold true.
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Imagine that businesspeople from a high-context culture (e.g., Japan or China) meet their counterparts from a low-context culture (the United States) for the first time to negotiate and sign a manufacturing contract. What could go wrong? How about conflicting perceptions of time? (L.O. 4)
Guffey & Loewy, Essentials of Business Communication, 11. © 2019 Cengage Learning®. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part, except for use as permitted in a license distributed with a certain product or service or otherwise on a password-protected website or school approved learning management system for classroom use.
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