1) Susan Rojas is applying for a position in the marketing department of a local corporation. Although Greg Ellis is the director of this department, she has been instructed to send her resume and other documents to Jeff Cohen, manager of the human resources department. Jeff screens all applications before sending those of qualified candidates on to appropriate department heads. Jeff is:
A. a watchdog
B. an auxiliary audience
C. the primary audience
D. a gatekeeper
2) Tara Houser e-mails a colleague Dan Brothers to suggest that he be the lead writer in preparing a comprehensive business plan for the company. The task will be rather time-consuming. Tara tells Dan that “the president will certainly be impressed with whoever heads up this project”, which is persuasive because
A. Dan will gain key leadership experience that will work in his favor when he applies for his promotion.
B. Dan can help out his colleague so she does not have to take on this additional responsibility herself.
C. the company will be able to secure additional financing once it has a business plan.
D. the president will be able to use the document to communicate expansion plans to stockholders.
3) Which of the following is NOT a gatekeeper?
A. A program director at the National Science Foundation who screens all grant applications to ensure conformity to the application criteria before forwarding them to the review board.
B. The HR director of a large university who screens all internal applicants for eligibility before sending applications to the interviewers for a specific position.
C. A receptionist for a small business who opens the mail and then date-time stamps each piece before passing it on to its owner.
D. An account executive who approves a marketing plan before it is submitted to the client.
4) A written message is preferable to an oral one for all of the following EXCEPT
A. minimizing undesirable emotions.
B. getting an immediate response.
C. presenting extensive or complex financial data.
D. discussing many specific details of a law, policy, or procedure.
5) If a document will be a detailed guide or if it contains instructions, you must do all of the following EXCEPT
A. group steps into five to seven sub-processes if there are many individual steps.
B. present all the details in lengthy paragraphs so that the readers get all the information they need.
C. check to be sure that all steps are in chronological order.
D. number steps or provide check-off boxes so that readers can easily see which steps they have completed.
6) Trevor Collins works in the collections department, and he is very successful at writing professional, effective letters to customers whose accounts are overdue. The human resources department asks to use copies of some of his letters in a training course for new employees to show good practices for written documents. These trainees are:
A. a watchdog audience
B. a secondary audience
C. the primary audience
D. gatekeepers
7) Strong writing skills help you do all of the following EXCEPT
A. provoke disagreement.
B. save time.
C. communicate your points clearly.
D. make your communication efforts effective.
8) Good writing costs companies money, and those costs increase significantly if the communication is ineffective. Which of the following pairs would NOT be two additional costs to the company if written communication is poor?
A. Paper and wasted time
B. Lost goodwill and document cycling
C. Computers and software
D. Postage and legal problems
9) Which of the following is NOT a reason to use e-mail?
A. E-mail is faster than many other types of communication.
B. E-mail messages can include supplemental files that can also be viewed by recipients.
C. E-mail is completely secure so messages can only be viewed by the intended recipients.
D. E-mail is an easy way to communicate with many people simultaneously.
10) Which of the following is an ethically sound practice when communicating a business message?
A. Manipulating the audience to achieve the desired outcome
B. Including input from all parties interested in the development of the message
C. Designing documents to encourage readers to miss key points
D. Withholding information to reduce the likelihood of conflict
11) Which of the following audiences would receive an internal document?
A. Your best customers
B. The CPA who is auditing your company’s books
C. The job candidate you wish to hire
D. The human resources director
12) Which of the following groups would be considered an internal audience for a company?
A. Managers in the company’s Human Resources Department
B. Three large customers that represent 85% of the company’s annual sales
C. State and local agencies that conduct annual health and safety inspections at the company
D. Stockholders who have invested in the company
13) Which of the following statements does NOT show evidence of active listening in response to a co-worker who says “Dave has to be kidding if he thinks we can finish this project by Friday.”?
A. “It seems that you need a bit more time to really do a good job on this project.”
B. “Is there anything I could do to help?”
C. “It sounds like your department has been overwhelmed with all you have been asked to do.”
D. “Our next project is going to involve working collaboratively with the marketing department.”
14) Which is an effective response when a co-worker tells you about a problem she is experiencing?
A. “Consider yourself lucky; our department has just been handed a lawsuit to deal with.”
B. “When you say “non-responsive”, do you mean that they haven’t even answered your e-mails?”
C. “You should have thought about how Shelley would react before you made that commitment.”
D. “Just take care of it—that’s your job.”
15) Your subordinates tell you that a project will not be completed on time because they are behind schedule. Which of the following is the best response?
A. ”If it isn’t on my desk by Friday, I’ll fire every one of you.”
B. ”Could you finish it if you had some more help?”
C. ”What’s wrong with you people? Don’t you know what a deadline is?”
D. ”You should have told me sooner.”
16) Business communication practices in the United States place importance on the written word, and this indicates that our culture:
A. is polychronic.
B. is monochronic.
C. has high-context preferences.
D. has low-context preferences.
17) Which of the following would be the MOST useful strategy for learning to communicate effectively with international employees working in your overseas divisions?
A. Devote time to learning the rules for communicating with people from each of the countries you will be interacting with.
B. Be aware that both you and your international employees are influenced by your native culture. Awareness of the values, beliefs, and practices in other cultures will help you communicate more effectively.
C. Choose managers for overseas divisions who are white, middle-class males. That way you eliminate much of the problem of intercultural communication because the people you’ll deal with most often will still be from your own culture.
D. Arrange to meet in person with your international employees. Then you can rely on nonverbal signals to communicate effectively.
18) Which of the following is NOT related to global business?
A. Many companies depend on vendors or operations in other countries.
B. The last two decades have seen a growing emphasis on diversity, with more and more women and people of color joining the U.S. workforce.
C. Exports are essential both to the success of individual businesses and to a country’s economy as a whole.
D. Firms are increasing international management, and managers often find they need international experience if they want top-level jobs.
19) The interpersonal dimension of group interaction focuses on:
A. content.
B. people.
C. method.
D. process.
20) Positive roles and actions of individuals that help the group build loyalty, resolve conflicts, and function smoothly include:
A. demonstrating openness and acceptance.
B. comparing group processes and products to standards and goals.
C. taking every opportunity to be the first to speak and insisting on personally responding to everyone else’s comments.
D. asking questions and identifying gaps in the group’s knowledge.
21) The success of which phase determines how well the group’s decision will be implemented?
A. Aggregation
B. Coordination
C. Formalization
D. Formation
22) When would using technical jargon related to the computer industry NOT be appropriate?
A. In a job application letter to a computer manufacturing company
B. When brainstorming ideas with colleagues who understand the terminology
C. At a departmental meeting of software programmers
D. In a basic word processing training class
23) Which of the following is NOT a consideration when choosing words to communicate an idea?
A. the audience you are addressing
B. the amount of time you have to prepare the message
C. the context of the situation
D. the words you have already used
24) Which of the following sentences that begin a letter is appropriate for contemporary business communication?
A. “Here are the application forms you requested.”
B. “Your application forms have been enclosed herewith.”
C. “Pursuant to you request, we are forwarding you the application forms you requested.”
D. “Enclosed please find the application forms you requested.”
25) Halfway through the process of drafting a memo, Jacob stops to think about how to word his next paragraph. What part of the writing process does this activity represent?
A. Revising
B. Editing
C. Gathering
D. Planning
26) Which of the following would be an example of editing a written document?
A. Substituting more current information for facts that are somewhat dated
B. Reversing the order of two of the sections so that the document flows better
C. Deleting an entire section that seems redundant
D. Correcting grammar and spelling errors
27) Which of the following would be considered a planning activity when writing a report?
A. Checking for typographical errors
B. Making an outline
C. Getting feedback from someone else who has read the report
D. Evaluating your work
28) Which of the following would be the BEST place to put your most important visual in a newsletter?
A. In the center of the page to indicate that the image is central to the newsletter.
B. Parallel to two or more smaller visuals to create balance.
C. In the bottom left of the page to emphasize material that appears in the top half.
D. In the top left of the page because the top is a position of emphasis.
29) A sales brochure includes photos and clipart that is strategically placed within the marketing piece. This is an example of which of Communications Professor Charles Kostelnick’s levels of communication design?
A. Intra
B. Extra
C. Inter
D. Supra
30) Which of the following would NOT be considered a violation of a convention?
A. A business letter is hand written.
B. Clipart is included throughout a loan contract.
C. A resume is presented in an electronic format.
D. An attorney’s business card is printed in red font on a yellow background.
31) Crystal agreed to serve on a company’s advisory board and now has to contact them to say she cannot attend a scheduled meeting where she was to be one of several key speakers. What should she do?
A. Ask the company to cancel the meeting.
B. Offer to send a knowledgeable colleague in her place.
C. Resign from the advisory board before the meeting date.
D. Let the company know she cannot not attend and that they will have to make arrangements for another speaker.
32) Which of the following is NOT a strategy for conveying positive emphasis in a negative message?
A. Avoid negative words and words with negative connotations.
B. Avoid telling readers the reasons for refusing requests, since that will emphasize the bad news.
C. End the message positively.
D. Focus on the options readers have rather than the options you are taking away.
33) Is the following sentence an appropriate ending for a credit rejection? “If we can assist you in the future, please contact us.”
A. Yes, because it offers an alternative
B. No, because it is too wordy
C. No, because offering to help a reader whom you have just rejected is clearly insincere
D. Yes, because it ends on a positive note
34) When you are writing subject lines for negative messages to peers and subordinates,
A. put the topic, including your action on it, in the subject line.
B. do not include the topic in the subject line.
C. describe how the problem happened.
D. put the topic, but not your action on it, in the subject line.
35) In a bad-news memo to subordinates, you should open with:
A. a clear statement of the problem.
B. a request that the employees form teams to find a solution.
C. an alternative.
D. a buffer.
36) Is the subject line “Improving Customer Service” appropriate in a message to superiors?
A. Yes, because it makes it look like you “bought into” the goals of the organization
B. No, because the word “service” makes the subject line seem negative
C. Yes, because it focuses on solving the problem
D. No, because the boss is likely to think that you caused the problem
37) In a bad-news message to subordinates, why is it a good idea to ask readers to suggest solutions to the problem?
A. Because workers who help make a decision are more likely to accept the consequences
B. So your subordinates will not blame you for the problem
C. So you will have someone to share the blame with if you are unable to solve the problem
D. To stall for time, so you can think of a solution on your own
38) Which is an appropriate way for a subordinate to begin a message to her supervisor letting him know that the company has been fined due to safety violations in their department?
A. “I think we ought to start taking measures to make our department safer.”
B. “We received notice today that we are being fined $1,500 for being out of compliance with safety standards.”
C. “Something horrible has happened!”
D. “Our department has come so far this past year and there are only a few things left that we need to work on.”
39) In a bad-news message to a superior, you should describe what led to the problem:
A. to pad the message so it does not upset the superior too much.
B. to show that the problem is really your boss’s fault because you have not been given adequate resources.
C. so your superior can see that the problem is not your fault.
D. so he or she will have adequate information to determine if the solution you are going to propose is appropriate.
40) You must explain to a group of employees the different pension funds they can now choose. You expect the group to have many questions because many of them will be retiring within ten years and want to maximize their retirement income. You should probably:
A. give them written material to look at ahead of time and go over that material as part of your presentation.
B. give an oral presentation with lots of visuals.
C. send them each a written package of material and ask them to call if they have questions.
D. send them a package of self-explanatory written material and cover different material at the presentation.
41) A presentation designed to entertain and validate the audience is a(n):
A. goodwill presentation
B. informative presentation
C. persuasive presentation
D. oral presentation
42) Which of the following purposes of an oral presentation is specific in its purpose?
A. “This presentation will show that some departments are not managing their budgets properly.”
B. “This presentation will explain how to forecast materials needs, estimate costs, and prepare a comprehensive cost budget.”
C. “This presentation will cover budget issues.”
D. “This presentation will explain the budgeting process since it is so important to the success of the company.”
43) Which of the following patterns of organization is characterized by a movement from the problem as it affects the organization to a discussion of the parts of the problem and solutions to each of these parts?
A. General to particular
B. Eliminating alternatives
C. Particular to general
D. Problem-solving
44) You are writing a report that recommends renovation projects in several buildings on your campus. The most appropriate organizational pattern would be:
A. functional.
B. geographic or spatial.
C. pro and con.
D. chronological.
45) If after completing your research you cannot prove the claim you originally hoped to make, which of the following is NOT an acceptable way to deal with the results?
A. Summarize your negative findings in progress reports to let readers down gradually.
B. Remember that negative results are not always disappointing to the reader.
C. In the final report identify changes that might yield a different result.
D. Don’t mention the negative data in the report.
