Management Communication

Finally business professionals will be able to learn how to communicate effectively. This book builds the essential writing, speaking, and listening skills needed to succeed. An entire section is devoted to helping non-native speakers of English in their efforts to produce readable, well-edited work. It includes Communication Dilemmas boxes that pose interesting, real-life communication choices and challenges. Six brief interviews with real communication experts are presented that explore a variety of different corporate environments. New sections are also included on social networking communications and the electronic career search. Business professionals will discover how to apply newly acquired communication skills throughout their careers.

Preface iii

Acknowledgements v

Introduction vii

Part One Pillars of Management Communication 1

Chapter 1 Communication Architecture for Professional Success 5

Chapter 2 A Process for Management Writing 46

Chapter 3 Individual and Collaborative Styles for Management Writing 72

Chapter 4 Oral Presentations 103

Chapter 5 Listening 145

Part Two Letters, Memos, and Email 159

Chapter 6 Formats and Techniques for Business Letters 163

Chapter 7 Saying “Yes” and “No” in Correspondence 191

Chapter 8 Persuasive Messages 226

Chapter 9 Effective Memos and E-mail 251

Part Three Reports and Proposals 271

Chapter 10 Short and Long Reports 275

Chapter 11 Proposals and Business Plans 340

Chapter 12 Graphic Aids for Documents and Presentations 362

Part Four Career Communication 389

Chapter 13 The Career Search, Resumes, and Follow-up Communications 393

Chapter 14 Guidelines for Interviewees and Interviewers 433

Part Five Communication Issues for Management Success 447

Chapter 15 Managing Meetings and Telephone Work 451

Chapter 16 Ethics and Law for Management Communication 467

Chapter 17 Gender Communication 488

Chapter 18 Crisis Communication and Media Relations 500

Chapter 19 Communication for Intercultural Management 509

Appendix A Management Communication Cases 533

Appendix B Grammar, Punctuation, and Usage 565

Appendix C Documentation 574

Index 583

Arthur H. Bell is Executive Director of MBA Programs at the Masagung Graduate School of Management, University of San Francisco, where he is also Professor of Management Communication. He holds his PhD in English from Harvard University and is the author of 49 books on a variety of management, communication, language, and literature topics. Among his most recent books are Winning with Trust in Business, with R. Cohn (Pelican, 2008), Butterflies Be Gone! Banishing Speaker's Nerves (McGraw-Hill, 2008), and You Can't Talk to Me That Way! Stopping Toxic Language in the Workplace (Career Press, 2006).

Dayle M. Smith is Professor of Management and Director of the Honors Program in the School of Business and Professional Studies, University of San Francisco. She holds her PhD in Organizational communication from the University of Southern California. She teaches undergraduate, MBA, and Executive MBA classes in Leadership, organizational behavior, teambuilding, and human resource management. She is the author of many books in her field, including Women at Work: Leadership for a New Century (Prentice Hall, 1999) and Learning Team Skills 2e (Prentice Hall, forthcoming 2009).