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Business Communication
Q:
Which of the following is true in the case of business meetings?
A) The more participants there are, the more likely it is that a meeting will see effective results.
B) Decision-making meetings should include only those people likely to help the meeting reach its objective.
C) Informational meetings involve analysis, problem solving, and in many cases, persuasive communication.
D) Decision-making meetings should include all the people likely to be affected by the decisions.
E) The purpose of the agenda is to help the leader guide the progress of the meeting; participants need not know the agenda.
Q:
Which of the following is an example of a decision-making meeting?
A) A manager has to tell his team about the new leave policy.
B) The chairman of the board holds a meeting to announce his retirement.
C) The department meets to review the progress of a project.
D) A team meets to determine a strategy to counter a competitor.
E) The team gathers to celebrate the completion of a project.
Q:
Ruth is the editor of Bliss, a lifestyle magazine. Rachel has written a substandard article for the magazine and Ruth has to give feedback to help her improve the piece. Which of the following is the most effective way to offer feedback?
A) Ruth should mark out the faults in the article and send it back to Rachel.
B) Ruth should ask Rachel to explain her mistakes.
C) Ruth should tell Rachel the shortcomings of her method and approach to writing.
D) Ruth should point out weak areas in the article and suggest alternative approaches.
E) Ruth should compare Rachel's methods to the standards of the magazine to bring out the flaws in the article.
Q:
Which of the following is true for feedback about writing efforts?
A) Destructive feedback focuses on the process and outcomes of communication.
B) Feedback is constructive and always results in improvement.
C) Constructive criticism makes no effort to stimulate improvement.
D) Constructive criticism focuses on personal shortcomings.
E) Destructive feedback delivers criticism with no effort to stimulate improvement.
Q:
Which of the following software features lets one or more writers propose changes to the text while keeping everyone's edits separate and reversible?
A) formatting
B) commenting
C) change tracking
D) highlighting
E) translating
Q:
________ organize and control website content and can include features that help team members work together on webpages and other documents.
A) Content management systems
B) Telepresence systems
C) Virtual whiteboards
D) Instant messaging systems
E) Assistive technologies
Q:
________ are online virtual offices that give everyone on a team access to the same set of resources and information.
A) Shared workspaces
B) Social media platforms
C) Shared hosting
D) Firmware
E) E-commerce systems
Q:
________ lets people communicate, share files, review previous message threads, work on documents simultaneously, and connect using social networking tools.
A) Groupware
B) Firmware
C) Virtualizations
D) Operating systems
E) E-commerce systems
Q:
Essential Solutions has employees in branches across the United States. The company wants to create a common site for information about all the projects its employees tackle, the solutions they offer, and the outcomes of these solutions over time. Most of its employees are not well-versed with creating web content, but will be required to update the site frequently by themselves, adding their observations and experiences. Which of the following technologies is the best option for both Essential and its employees?
A) a wiki
B) cloud computing
C) a social networking site
D) telepresence technologies
E) a virtual whiteboard
Q:
________ refers to a website that allows anyone with access to add new material and edit existing material.
A) Java
B) Wiki
C) Blog
D) Microblog
E) Browser
Q:
Nicholas and his team need to write and design a small brochure for an insurance plan. Which of the following methods is the ideal way to go about this?
A) Agree on a central idea for the brochure and then begin writing together.
B) Allocate every task, from planning to writing, equally among all members of the team.
C) Assign parts of the project to certain members and allow them to decide the concept and write in their own styles.
D) Outline the brochure together but assign the task of the final writing to one person.
E) Divide the writing equally among all team members and have each person review another person's work.
Q:
When undertaking a collaborative writing project, which of the following steps is best undertaken by individual team members rather than by the team working as a group?
A) writing
B) determining project goals
C) planning
D) outlining the project
E) research
Q:
Which of the following is true for teamwork?
A) It entails higher costs for a company, in terms of time as well as money.
B) The diversity of perspectives offered by a team improves decisions.
C) Those who participate in team decision-making often become jaded and discourage others from supporting it.
D) Groupthink is an advantage of teamwork as it encourages rapid consensus.
E) Conflict is a sign of ineffective teamwork and should be discouraged.
Q:
________ occurs when peer pressure causes team members to withhold contrary or unpopular opinions.
A) Free riding
B) Social loafing
C) Collaboration
D) Groupthink
E) Feedback
Q:
Simon has just launched a startup and has big ideas for the company. He assembles a large team of people from different backgrounds who have the skills he needs to get the job done. Simon's brother criticizes this, saying that such a large team will result in too much conflict, because the different team members will all have individual approaches to a problem. Which of the following should Simon say to effectively counter this argument?
A) A diverse group will encourage groupthink.
B) The larger the team, the fewer the chances of conflict.
C) The variety of perspectives will improve decision making.
D) Working as a team will encourage members to eventually think alike.
E) A larger team is more efficient in its use of resources.
Q:
Explain the different types of nonverbal communication, and how they may be interpreted differently in different cultures.
Q:
Describe the major types of nonverbal communication. Discuss how a speaker's nonverbal communication can affect listeners and what listeners' nonverbal communication may convey to a speaker. Describe possible ways in which a speaker can aid listening through the use of nonverbal methods of communication.
Q:
List and explain the phases of the listening process.
Q:
List and briefly describe three important forms of meeting technologies in use today.
Q:
Andrew is the manager of the Human Resources department in his firm. He needs to create an employee manual for new employees in the firm. The manual should cover topics like organization goals, dress code, leave policy, organization rules, etc. He can choose to work on the manual alone, or form a team to do the work instead. Which method should Andrew pick, and how should he go about it? Explain your choice giving the advantages and disadvantages of each approach.
Q:
Prejudgment, selective perception, and selective listening are barriers to being a good listener.
Q:
Informal meetings use parliamentary procedure, a time-tested method to stimulate participation and summarize information.
Q:
The productivity of meetings is independent of its timings.
Q:
Productivity and quality of collaborative efforts depend heavily on communication skills.
Q:
Ellen is the moderator of her company's complaints forum. Customers post their queries or complaints on the forum, and Ellen provides them answers or solutions. Which of the following guidelines must Ellen follow?
A) Avoid long words; wherever possible, use shortened spellings and acronyms.
B) Always start new topics on the original thread; don't change threads.
C) Use acronyms to save time and make it easier for readers to skim through.
D) Focus on the subject at hand, not on personal characteristics of respondents.
E) In order to save time for readers, avoid providing supporting statements.
Q:
Which of the following is true for the use of mobile phones in the workplace?
A) Mobile phones have the potential to boost productivity if used mindfully.
B) Texting during meetings is now an accepted practice in offices.
C) Mobile phone etiquette demands that all incoming calls are answered immediately.
D) Restrictions on mobile phone use during meetings drains productivity.
E) It is permissible to make unlimited personal calls during work hours if you use a mobile phone.
Q:
Which of the following is true for nonverbal communication?
A) Vocal characteristics are both intentional and unintentional means of nonverbal communication.
B) The meaning of gestures remains constant, though facial expressions may differ.
C) Eye contact has a universal meaning across cultures and languages.
D) Intentional postures or gestures are not means of nonverbal communication.
E) All nonverbal communication is unintentional, while all vocal communication is intentional.
Q:
________ is/are the primary means of expressing emotions nonverbally.
A) Gestures
B) The face
C) Personal appearance
D) Touch
E) The use of time and space
Q:
Cosmetics company LeDeux needs to salvage its reputation after a safety scare and product recall. The CEO holds a press conference to reassure consumers that their concerns have been addressed and the products are now safe, explaining the measures taken to address the problem. Though his speech is worded perfectly and he answers questions from reporters well, the following day's newspapers are skeptical about his claims, saying he seemed nervous and ill-at-ease during the conference. Which of the following is an accurate explanation for this?
A) The reporters were determined to disbelieve the CEO's message.
B) The CEO's nonverbal communication did not match the spoken words.
C) Press conferences are not an effective way of conveying a message.
D) Product safety messages are best conveyed through demonstration, not explanation.
E) The CEO's nonverbal communication strengthened his message.
Q:
________ communication is the process of sending and receiving information, both intentionally and unintentionally, without using written or spoken language.
A) Nonverbal
B) Qualitative
C) Selective
D) Basic
E) Visual
Q:
Which of the following is NOT a part of effective listening?
A) content listening
B) critical listening
C) summarizing
D) questioning
E) selective listening
Q:
Which of the following is a barrier to effective listening?
A) content listening
B) selective listening
C) empathic listening
D) critical listening
E) active listening
Q:
________ leads listeners to filter incoming messages to fit what they already believe about a given subject.
A) Selective perception
B) Critical listening
C) Empathic listening
D) Active listening
E) Misdirection
Q:
In the listening process, the step that involves storing the received information for future processing is ________.
A) encoding
B) remembering
C) stocking
D) decoding
E) computing
Q:
Which of the following is the accurate sequence of steps in the listening process?
A) receiving, evaluating, responding, decoding, remembering
B) remembering, evaluating, responding, receiving, decoding
C) receiving, decoding, remembering, evaluating, responding
D) receiving, responding, remembering, evaluating, decoding
E) receiving, remembering, evaluating, decoding, responding
Q:
________ listening aims to understand the speaker's feelings, needs, and wants so that the listener can appreciate his or her point of view, regardless of whether the listener shares that perspective.
A) Empathic
B) Content
C) Selective
D) Critical
E) Creative
Q:
The goal of content listening is to ________.
A) understand the speaker's feelings, needs, and wants
B) analyze the speaker's intentions and motives
C) understand and retain the information in the speaker's message
D) critique the speaker's style and any limitations in the presentation
E) evaluate the logic of the argument
Q:
In which of the following methods of holding business meetings is nonverbal communication absent?
A) telephone conferences
B) video conferences
C) instant messaging
D) telepresence technologies
E) in-person meetings
Q:
PR firm Psylent wanted to generate new techniques and ideas for promotions. The company decided to conduct a "Best promotional idea challenge" to source ideas from all its employees, located in branches across the country. It invited employees to share and discuss ideas on the company intranet. At the end of the campaign, Psylent Hill had generated many viable promotional strategies. This method of generating ideas is known as ________.
A) groupthink
B) online brainstorming
C) outsourcing
D) social networking
E) teleconferencing
Q:
________ can convey nonverbal subtleties such as facial expressions and hand gestures and enable realistic conferences in which participants thousands of miles apart almost seem to be in the same room.
A) Telepresence
B) Microblogging
C) Instant messaging
D) Intranet
E) Extranet
Q:
During meetings, it's good practice to appoint a person to record the ________, a summary of the important information presented and the decisions made during the meeting.
A) agenda
B) inventory
C) bulletin
D) minutes
E) timetable
Q:
The best-known guide to parliamentary procedure is ________.
A) the SEC Standards of Ethics
B) Robert's Rules of Order
C) Business Communication 2.0
D) the basic communication model
E) the Code of Professional Conduct
Q:
Jim is the manager at a product development facility. His team has just been given a new assignment and he needs to hold a meeting to tell the team about it and discuss possible approaches to the assignment. To achieve this, Jim needs to hold a(n) ________ .
A) informational meeting, because he is conveying information about the assignment
B) feedback meeting, to discuss the individual performances of the employees
C) one-on-one meeting with every team member to tell them their responsibilities
D) decision-making meeting, because the meeting will cover all possible actions
E) review meeting, because the team will need to review its previous performance
Q:
Which of the following is an example of an informational meeting?
A) a meeting to announce the scope of a new PR campaign for a company
B) a meeting to decide and allot responsibilities for individual employees for the coming week
C) a meeting to analyze the status of an ongoing project and obtain feedback about performance
D) a meeting to find a solution to control rising overheads
E) a meeting to persuade participants to make a donation to a charity
Q:
Which of the following statements is an example of constructive criticism?
A) Your argument will be stronger if you rewrite the introduction to include more details about the event.
B) There were three factual errors in the document you sent. You have been very careless of late.
C) Your meaning is unclear, you should rework the document for more clarity.
D) Your method of organizing information is inappropriate for the subject.
E) You need to improve your style of writing, it is not suited to the topic.
Q:
________ organize and control website content and can include features that help team members work together on webpages and other documents.
A) Content management systems
B) Telepresence systems
C) Virtual whiteboards
D) Instant messaging systems
E) Assistive technologies
Q:
Trinkets began as a small family business in Boston, but has since spread throughout the country and now employs more than a thousand people. Though each branch operates almost independently, the owners want to develop a feeling of community among Trinkets employees. Which is the most convenient way for all the employees across the country to get to know each other?
A) conducting regular teleconferences among employees
B) developing a community for the company on a social networking site
C) organizing virtual meetings regularly
D) developing a content management system for the company
E) videoconferencing at every opportunity
Q:
Distinguish between ethical dilemmas and ethical lapses, giving appropriate examples for both.
Q:
Explain the concepts of transparency in business communications and stealth marketing, giving examples for both.
Q:
What are the disadvantages of the social communication model?
Q:
Why is decoding a message such a complex process?
Q:
How can businesses adopt an audience-centric approach to their communications?
Q:
List at least five benefits that effective communication delivers to businesses.
Q:
Effective use of communication technologies require expertise in the use of tools, information overload to make better decisions, and self-serving messages to ensure communication.
Q:
Information overload develops the ability to think deeply about complex situations, reduces employee stress, and increases productivity.
Q:
Cultural competency is an appreciation for cultural differences that affect communication and the ability to adjust one's communication style to ensure that efforts to send and receive messages across cultural boundaries are successful.
Q:
In high-context cultures the rules of everyday life are stated explicitly.
Q:
Ensuring ethical business communication requires three elements: ethical individuals, ethical company leadership, and the appropriate policies and structures to support ethical decision making.
Q:
An ethical dilemma can involve choosing between two conflicting alternatives that are both ethical and valid.
Q:
An ethical lapse involves choosing among alternatives that aren't clear-cut.
Q:
The social communication model includes information overload, information security risks, and the need to monitor and respond to numerous conversational threads.
Q:
Business Communication 2.0 is bidirectional and tends to have high message frequency.
Q:
The social communication model is primarily defined by a broadcasting or publishing mindset.
Q:
The medium of a message refers to the form a message takes and the channel is the system used to deliver the message.
Q:
According to the basic eight-step model of communication, the communication process starts with the sender producing a message in a transmittable medium.
Q:
An audience-centered approach to communication means that professionals focus on giving vague impressions to meet the needs of the audience.
Q:
Companies that communicate well significantly outperform those that communicate poorly.
Q:
Communication becomes less important as you take on leadership and management roles.
Q:
In order to use communication technology effectively, you should NOT ________.
A) use the powerful filtering and tagging capabilities of your system
B) limit your presence on online social networks
C) connect with people face-to-face frequently
D) routinely activate visual alerts for incoming messages
E) try to control the number and types of messages you receive
Q:
In order to communicate effectively using technology, you should ________.
A) guard against information overload
B) always activate visual alerts for incoming messages
C) use technology to completely do away with face-to-face communication
D) use blog feeds and Twitter follows to the maximum extent possible
E) expand your social networks online to the maximum extent possible
Q:
In order to communicate effectively using technology, you should ________.
A) become an expert in most technologies
B) try to isolate high-priority messages that need your attention
C) use technology to completely do away with face-to-face communication
D) use blog feeds and Twitter follows to the maximum extent possible
E) expand your social networks online to the maximum extent possible
Q:
Advanced systems for videoconferencing can feature telepresence, a technology that allows you to ________.
A) view video images that are life-sized and extremely realistic
B) convert email and IM into voice messages
C) automatically forward incoming calls
D) contribute to and edit the same document from remote locations
E) hold meetings in virtual worlds like Second Life
Q:
________which involves inviting input from groups of people inside or outside the organizationgives companies access to a much wider range of ideas, solutions to problems, and insights into market trends.
A) Ethnocentrism
B) Crowdsourcing
C) Applicant Tracking systems
D) Speech synthesis
E) Scaffolding
Q:
Which of the following is a tip for speaking with multilingual audiences?
A) Ask questions like "Is this too difficult for you?" to ensure understanding.
B) Don't repeat your points.
C) Make multiple points at a time.
D) Do not assume the audience's smiles and nods to be a sign that they understood your point.
E) Avoid checking frequently for comprehension.
Q:
Which of the following is an effective tip for speaking with multilingual audiences?
A) Ask questions like "Is this too difficult for you?" to ensure understanding.
B) Look for nods and smiles to know if your audience is understanding your message.
C) Make multiple points at a time.
D) Don't repeat your points.
E) Learn important phrases in your audiences language.
Q:
Jeremy is a manager at the telecommunication customer care branch of a leading router manufacturing company based in the U.S. He argues that hiring native speakers of English will ensure higher customer satisfaction and better customer care service. Which of the following, if true, weakens his argument?
A) Workers are more productive when managers communicate in their native language.
B) English fluency and accent modification are an integral part of training for customer care executives.
C) Global firms promote talented executives who can work in a multicultural diverse environment.
D) In the U.S., minorities are the fastest growing consumer group holding $3 trillion buying power.
E) Non-native speakers of English bring diversity to the workplace.
Q:
When writing for multilingual audiences, you should ________.
A) use slang and jargon
B) spell numbers out instead of using figures
C) use transitions sparingly
D) use abbreviations generously
E) rely on specific terms and concrete examples to explain your points
Q:
Which of the following is a guideline for improving intercultural communication?
A) Consider aspects like personal appearance when trying to judge a person.
B) Be flexible and be prepared to change your habits and attitudes.
C) Avoid using sources like travel guidebooks to learn about a culture.
D) Always assume that others will think, believe, and behave as you do.
E) Do not tolerate ambiguity of any kind.
Q:
________ is the tendency to judge all other groups according to the standards, behaviors, and customs of one's own group.
A) Cultural context
B) Stereotyping
C) Ethnocentrism
D) Ethical lapse
E) Ethical dilemma
Q:
One aspect that is common across cultures is that ________.
A) the percentage of management roles held by men and women are roughly equal
B) age earns respect and increasing power and freedom
C) nonverbal signs like gestures or facial expressions are interpreted the same way
D) men and women tend to have slightly different communication styles
E) age is often associated with declining powers and a loss of respect and authority