Managerial Communications
MANA 4397, Spring 2002
Teri Elkins, Ph.D., J.D.
315H Melcher Hall
1:00-2:30 Tuesday/Thursday
Phone: 713-743-4669
Fax 713-743-4652
elkins@uh.edu
Web Site: http://www.bauer.uh.edu/~elkins
Course WebBoard: http://mana.cba.uh.edu:80/~mana4397
Required Text
Locker, K.O. (2000). Business and Administrative Communication (5th ed.).
Boston: Irwin McGraw-Hill. http://www.mhhe.com/business/buscom/locker5/
Course Objectives
The business community has identified communication as a key deficiency
in college students’ skills. This course is designed to help students
develop and refine both written and oral communication skills through application
exercises, group presentations, and on-line interactions with the instructor
and classmates. Topics that are covered in this course include: building
goodwill; adapting messages to your audience; making your writing easy to
read; the writing process; designing documents; writing letters, memos, and
e-mails; using graphs and visuals, making oral presentations, and job hunting
tools.
Accommodations for Students with Disabilities
The University of Houston would like to help students with disabilities
achieve their highest potential at the College of Business Administration.
To this end, the Center for Students with Disabilities provides a wide variety
of academic support services to all currently-enrolled UH students who have
any type of mental or physical disability of either a temporary or permanent
nature. These services include assistance with course accommodations,
adaptive equipment, individualized exam administration, taped textbooks, wheelchair
repair, library needs, registration, parking, accessible housing and transportation,
as well as many other needs. If you feel that you may need assistance
of this nature, you may wish to call the Center at 3-5400. In addition,
you should let Dr. Elkins know about any special needs as soon as possible.
Instructor Evaluations
The Bauer College of Business has a policy that requires all of its instructors
to be evaluated by their students. The results of these evaluations
are important to provide feedback to instructors on how their performance
can be improved. In addition, these evaluations are carefully considered
in promotion, salary adjustment, and other important decisions. We openly
encourage students to provide feedback to the instructors and to the Bauer
College of Business through the evaluation process.
Course Information
(1) Dr. Elkins’ Website
The course syllabus, grades, and class roster with e-mail links
can be found on my web site at the following address: http://www.bauer.uh.edu/~elkins.
To access class information, click on the Undergraduate Courses box and you
will find MANA 4397: Managerial Communications listed among my other courses.
Your grades and roster information (name, e-mail address) will only be posted
if you have signed a permission form that will be distributed in class on
January 19th. Please note that the grades and roster are two separate
pages; your grades will be posted by the last four digits of your student
identification number.
(2) MANA 4397 WebBoard
WebBoard will be used in this class to answer questions, post
announcements, and host group information exchanges through the conferences
described below. To access WebBoard for this class, each student must
register as a New User and login on the following web site: http://mana.cba.uh.edu:80/~mana4397.
In this conference, please post all questions for me that
you do not wish to keep private. For example, you should ask questions
here regarding course requirements, exercises, group presentations, or any
other topics that may be of interest to other class members. I will
post answers to your questions in this conference as soon as I can.
Please post Exercise 1.6: Introducing Yourself to
Your Collaborative Work Group in this conference. Browse your classmates’
postings to learn more about your group members and your presentation audience.
Please check the contents of this conference
on a regular basis. I will post all course announcements here including any
necessary course or assignment modifications and important class issues that
may arise.
A conference will be created for the
use of each group after groups are formed on Saturday, January 19th.
Please use your group’s conference to post questions, announcements, group
assignments, or any other relevant information for your group members.
Student Evaluation
(1) Individual Exercises (24@ 10 points each)
To provide opportunities to apply
material presented in the text, exercises are assigned for most of the chapters
that will be covered this semester. Exercises can be found at the end
of each chapter and should be e-mailed to me as Word attachments unless otherwise
indicated on the course schedule. Exercises are due during the weeks
indicated on the course schedule and must be received no later than 5:00pm
on the last day of each week. For example, Exercises 1.5 and 1.6 may
be e-mailed to me anytime during Week 2 but will not be accepted if sent later
than 5:00pm on Saturday, January 26th. When e-mailing your assignments
please follow the following format/content instructions:
- Subject: MANA 4397 Ch. (chapter number)
- Text: Please include your name, student
identification number, and exercise numbers.
- Attachment: Attach one Word document
containing each of the week’s assigned exercises. Identify each exercise
by the exercise number.
(2) Group PowerPoint Presentation (60 points)
To help develop your oral communication
and technological skills, each student is required to participate in a 20-25
minute group oral presentation. Groups of 5 students each will be formed
in class on Saturday, January 19th. Presentations must be made using
PowerPoint software and must demonstrate effective use of graphs and/or other
visual communication aids discussed in Chapter 16. Your group role is
that of company representatives attempting to inform or persuade your audience
(class members). In selecting your topic, you may first wish to analyze
your class members. Chapter 3 and Exercise 1.6 postings in the Assignments
Conference may provide useful information for your audience analysis.
To prepare for the presentation, please read Chapters 13, 16, and 17, as
noted on the course schedule.
Assignment of Grades
Your grade in this course will be based upon the total number of points
you earn during the semester. The following distribution for the assignment
of grades will be strictly adhered to.
Grade
|
Points
|
Grade
|
Points
|
A
|
300-278
|
C+
|
238-230
|
A-
|
277-269
|
C
|
229-218
|
B+
|
268-260
|
C-
|
217-209
|
B
|
259-248
|
D
|
208-179
|
B-
|
247-239
|
F
|
178-0
|
Course Schedule
Week 1: S 1/19
- Class meeting 9:00am-12:00pm, MH 110
- Course overview, group assignments
Week 2: M 1/21-S 1/26
- Read Chapter 1
- Exercise 1.5 Introducing Yourself
to Your Instructor
- Exercise 1.6 Introducing Yourself
to Your Collaborative Writing Group (post in the Assignments Conference)
- Begin reading Chapters 13, 16, and
17 to prepare for group presentations
Week 3: M 1/28-S 2/02
- Read Chapter 2
- Exercise 2.7 Improving You Attitude
and Positive Emphasis
- Exercise 2.15 Revising a Form Letter
- Continue reading Chapters 13, 16,
and 17
Week 4: M 2/04-S 2/09
- Read Chapter 3
- Exercise 3.2 Choosing a Channel to
Reach a Specific Audience
- Exercise 3.5 Identifying/Developing
Reader Benefits for Different Audiences
- Finish reading Chapters 13, 16, and
17
Week 5: M 2/11-S 2/16
- Read Chapter 4
- Exercise 4.14 Editing Sentences to
Improve Style
- Exercise 4.16 Revising Paragraphs
- E-mail presentation topic to Dr. Elkins
for approval (one member of each presentation group)
Week 6: M 2/18-S 2/23
- Read Chapter 5
- Exercise 5.2(b) Analyzing Your Own
Writing Processes
- Analyze the process that you used
for writing Exercise 1.5 or 1.6.
Week 7: M 2/25-S 3/02
- Read Chapter 6
- Exercise 6.1 Evaluating Page Designs
- Exercise 6.2 Evaluating PowerPoint
Slides
Spring Break: M 3/04-S 3/09
Week 8: M 3/11-S 3/16
- Read Chapter 7
- Exercise 7.1 Introducing a Suggestion
System
- Exercise 7.22 Announcing a Premium
Holiday
Week 9: M 3/18-S 3/23
- Read Chapter 8
- Exercise 8.2 Saying No to a Colleague
- Exercise 8.7 Rejecting Employees’
Suggestions
- Exercise 8.20 Turning Down an Internship
Week 10: M 3/25-S 3/30
- Read Chapter 9
- Exercise 9.8 Asking for More Time
and/or Resources
- Exercise 9.29 Asking an Instructor
for a Letter of Recommendation
Week 11: M 4/01-S 4/06
- Read Chapters 18 and 19
- Exercise 18.7(a) Writing a Paper Resume
- Exercise 19.12 Writing a Prospecting
Letter (job description is not required)
Week 12: M 4/08-S 4/13
- Read Chapter 20
- Exercise 20.6(a) Preparing Answers
to Questions that May be Asked (answer 10 of the 16 questions on pages 573-575)
- Exercise 20.7 Writing a Follow-Up
Letter after an Office Visit or Plant Trip (use the same fictitious job/company
as in Exercises 18.7 and 19.12)
Week 13: M 4/15-S 4/20
- Class meeting: S 4/20, 9:00am-12:00pm,
MH 128
- Four PowerPoint Presentations
- Exercises 17.5(a) and 17.6(a) Evaluating
Presentations (create one form encompassing categories contained in 17.5 and
17.6, evaluate one group presentation on 4/20 or 4/27, e-mail evaluation to
Dr. Elkins by 5:00pm, Monday 4/29)
Week 14: M 4/22-S 4/27
- Class meeting S 4/27, 9:00am-12:00pm,
MH 128
- Four PowerPoint Presentations
- Exercise 13.20(c)