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Faculty
Michael J. Capek, New York University

Course Coordinator
ISUP Secretariat

Prerequisite/progression of the course

While there are no course-specific prerequisites for Management Communication, students must be fluent in English, both speaking and writing.

Course content, structure and teaching

The objective of this course is to impart a way of thinking about language and communication, the understanding and embodying of which will enable students to develop practices on their own and give them tools that can be honed and sharpened under their own tutelage.

The course's development of personal competences

Students will develop competence in sorting, analyzing, and organizing conceptual content into clear, readily understandable and communicable models--as well as the ability to create distinctions toward creating alternate as well new ‘possibilities for forward movement of ideas’ in various business contexts.

Learning Objectives

This course is designed to provide both theoretical and practical fundamentals that underlie best communication practices in business contexts. The course focuses on developing and enhancing competencies in three (of the four) language areas: speaking, writing, and listening. It is expected that the skills thus developed will also enhance participants’ ability to read with increased accuracy and precision.

Both the theoretical material and the skill enhancement addressed rest on experientially verifiable concepts, typically involving a communication event--which is to say, a situation where communication is either necessary or desirable, to move an action forward, to resolve conflict, to share experience, to make an assertion, and so on. The emphasis is on strategies involving the purpose of the communication event, the audience and its needs, and the structure of the message itself, whether spoken or written. The course also emphasizes principles and applications of communication that address general rather than stakeholder specific needs; these principles and practices constitute the platform on which content specific courses (corporate advertising, media relations, investor relations, and so on) rest. Said differently, the focus in this course is on the process of communication and will stress those principles essential to all successful business communication.

The overwhelming percent of the communication issues in an organization take place at the micro level. That is, they have to do with the work unit (a diverse collection of co-workers) and a boss (who has tremendous influence over day to day events and day-to-day experience). Consequently, the majority of communication concerns addressed in this course will address matters at the micro level. By the end of the course, participants will be able to;

• Think creatively and analytically about the communication aspects of business situations
• Deal strategically with managerial communication issues
• Write and speak clearly and persuasively, and
• Assess realistically the impact of communication efforts on other people.

More specifically, the course will enable participants to;

• Make their case effectively
• Create a context where others can make their case to them
• Participate effectively as a member of a team
• Improve communication skills generally, and
• Learn how to structure and prepare communication interactions, including presentations, negotiation, and group problem solving activities.

Teaching methods

Lectures, exercises (both oral and written), case study discussions, and project work.

Examination

Written Assignments--General Description:

In most organizations, much of the business of doing business requires putting something into writing. The written work in this course is designed to develop and hone skills in the effective use of argument, structure, language, and tone. To be effective, written messages must proceed from a clearly defined purpose--which can only be determined by understanding your audience and anticipating its response. Writing for this course will require students to analyze, produce, and assess the outcomes of several kinds of written communication found in the business world.

Oral Assignments--General Description:

As with written communication, oral communication plays a key role in the day-to-day activities of organizations. Speaking assignments have been chosen to give students the opportunity to analyze, design, and deliver a variety of oral messages in terms of form (informal, formal), purpose (inform, persuade), intended audience (internal, external, upward, lateral, downward, knowledgeable, uninformed, friendly, hostile). As with written assignments, speaking assignments also require that students give attention to the effective use of structure, language, and tone.

In addition to presentation and writing assignments, opportunity will be provided for in-class extemporaneous speaking and writing--to consolidate and strengthen communication practices.

Final exam: Project/home assignment (written individually) 10 A4 pages--General Description (100%):

The term project will require students to select two companies from the same industry (retail, transportation, financial services, etc.), and using the company’s online presence as their source, to determine the company’s overall mission or vision and the various messages it is sending to its principal stakeholders. Students are to critically evaluate and compare the companies in terms of the qualify and effectiveness of their ability to communicate with both;

• Primary stakeholders--those who have a direct and necessary economic impacy on firm and include employees, suppliers, customers, and competitors, and capital providers or owners, and
• Secondary stakeholders--which include those that are not directly engaged in a firm's economic activities but that nonetheless can exercise considerable influence over it or can be seriously affected by its operations.

Re-take exam: Project/home assignment (written individually), 10 A4 pages.

Recommended literature

The textbook for this course is Business Communication (Harvard Business School Essential Series), Harvard Business Review Staff (Harvard Business School Press, 2003; ISBN-13:9781591391135).

Other reading assignments can be accessed via the Summer 2010 Managerial Communication Page--the URL for which is http://www.stern.nyu.edu/~mcapek . That home page contains four links--one to a document called Language, Thought, and Reality, a second to the Management Communication Reading Packet, the third to Management Communication Materials, and the fourth to Business Communication Materials. Other readings and cases will be handed out in class.

Sidst opdateret af ISUP Secretariat 29.01.2010