Business communication exam

Question 1 of 402.5 PointsWhich of the following is true about the indirect organizational plan?A. It is appropriate when bad news is unexpected.B. It is used when the message is relevant to health and safety.C. It may confuse, upset, or anger your audience as it conveys bad news too abruptly.D. It is used when the audience is unlikely to be surprised by the news.Question 2 of 402.5 PointsIf you phrase bad news __________, your audience is more likely to understand your message.A. by sugarcoating itB. in clear termsC. through implicationD. using subtle hintsQuestion 3 of 402.5 PointsA large company has been experiencing a steady decline in business over the past year, and its employees have been informed that there is a freeze on salary increases for at least the next six months. The rumors of layoffs have been going around among employees, although the company has vowed to do whatever it can to avoid this. As the year draws to a close, Kat, an executive in the corporate headquarters, needs to inform the regional managers that there is no room in the budget for year-end bonuses. She schedules a conference call with them to discuss year-end issues. When Kat considers how to deliver this news, she will likely come to the conclusion that __________.A. she should not end this discussion with goodwill because she will be delivering bad news to the audience.B. the direct approach would be a good idea.C. the indirect approach is her only option because she has to deliver bad news.D. she should provide detailed explanations before putting forward the bad news.Question 4 of 402.5 PointsDuring lunch with a friend, she tells you that her office recently implemented flex-time hours. It has been a positive change at her workplace, and you think that it would be great to have flex-timing at your office as well. You decide to approach your boss about this possibility. Which of the following would be best to include in an email to your boss suggesting the idea?A. I think a flex-time schedule would be good for me.B. Flex-time would give me more free time.C. I bet everyone would love having a more flexible schedule instead of the typical 9-5 work schedule.D. In other offices, the flex-time schedule has increased productivity and decreased turnover.Question 5 of 402.5 PointsIn which of the following situations is the direct organizational method the preferred way to deliver bad news? ?A. if the news is likely to upset or anger the audienceB. if the news is irrelevant to health and safetyC. if the news is difficult to explain or understandD. if it is important that the audience hears the news immediatelyQuestion 6 of 402.5 PointsWhich of the following statements about buffers is true?A. A buffer is a closing statement that comes after bad news.B. A buffer tends to worsen the adverse impact of bad news.C. A buffer should obscure the fact that bad news may be coming later in the message.D. A buffer can provide positive information that builds goodwill.Question 7 of 402.5 PointsTrevor has considered his situation and has already decided what information he must include in the bad-news email he is about to draft. However, he is now stuck trying to decide whether he should jump right to the bad news or build up to it gradually. Which stage of the ACE process is Trevor engaged in?A. analyzingB. assessingC. composingD. contendingQuestion 8 of 402.5 PointsBeing persuasive __________.A. is rarely required in your daily lifeB. involves understanding why your audience may resist your ideasC. means tricking your audience into doing what you wantD. is very unethical, and in some situations may even be illegalQuestion 9 of 402.5 PointsYour boss is in a hurry to leave, so she quickly delegates an assignment to you. She needs you to communicate some bad news to a number of people at different geographic locations. Though she wants the message to spread instantaneously, she wants to give the audience time to carefully consider a response. It’s also a priority for her that the message doesn’t come across as impersonal or evasive. After she has left, you realize that she didn’t specify which medium she wants you to use for the message. Taking her considerations into account, you determine that a(n. __________ would be an appropriate medium to use. ?A. newsletterB. emailC. letterD. blog postQuestion 10 of 402.5 PointsYou need to email a co-worker to ask for her assistance on a project. In the context of this message, which of the following constitutes a refutation you could include in your request in anticipation of a possible objection?A. I really need your help right now, as my department is short-staffed.B. I won’t be able to complete my project if you don’t help me.C. While this may sound time-consuming, I will only need one hour of your time.D. If you decide to help me, then you will have to work overtime.Question 11 of 402.5 PointsWhile the __________ stage helps you make a persuasive plan, the __________ stage helps you put the plan into action and draft the message.A. analyzing; composingB. analyzing; evaluatingC. composing; analyzingD. composing; evaluatingQuestion 12 of 402.5 PointsBefore __________ a bad-news message, __________ the situation by asking yourself several questions that might help you develop content and choose the best medium. ?A. analyzing; evaluateB. analyzing; composeC. composing; encodeD. composing; analyzeQuestion 13 of 402.5 PointsWhich of the following medium options is recommended both for targeting a personal appeal to an individual and for communicating with large audiences?A. emailB. memoC. telephoneD. group meetingQuestion 14 of 402.5 PointsGalaxy Foods, a large manufacturer of snack products, learns that some of the items it labels as “nut-free” may actually have been contaminated by tree nuts. A press release expressing this news needs to be drafted, and the PR department decides to use the indirect organizational plan. This plan __________. ?A. is a good idea under the circumstances, as it will soften the impact of the bad newsB. is a strategic and forward-thinking move to preserve the positive image of the companyC. is inappropriate, as it runs the risk of obscuring the bad news that could endanger people’s healthD. is not the best decision, as it will immediately alert the audience to the seriousness of the bad newsQuestion 15 of 402.5 PointsIn persuasive situations, you will increase your chances of getting a positive response by __________ the analyzing phase of the ACE communication process.A. devoting less time toB. changing the order ofC. omittingD. spending more time onQuestion 16 of 402.5 PointsAngelina has to reject an employee’s request for time off, and is trying to determine the best medium in which to deliver this message. She is also thinking about what the employee’s reaction will be, and if there is anything she can say to soften the bad news. Angelina is engaged in which stage of the ACE process?A. analyzingB. addressingC. composingD. critiquingQuestion 17 of 402.5 PointsWhich of the following statements would be best to include in a letter turning down someone who applied for a job?A. We are sorry to inform you that your credentials were not as impressive as those of the other candidates who applied for the position.B. We think that you are talented, but feel the position would best be filled by a younger, more vibrant candidate.C. Unfortunately, we were more impressed by the other candidates.D. After much consideration, we have offered the position to another candidate.Question 18 of 402.5 PointsFor which of the following reasons would making a telephone call be preferable to sending an email?A. It allows you to reach large audiences.B. It allows you to include additional arguments that may help your persuasive appeal.C. It gives your audience time to consider your appeal before carefully responding.D. It allows for immediate feedback so you can alter your appeal instantly, if necessary.Question 19 of 402.5 PointsWhich of the following options is most likely to be used for reaching potential audiences you can’t yet identify?A. group meetingB. emailC. telephoneD. blogQuestion 20 of 402.5 PointsWhich of the following would likely require persuasion? ?A. exchanging a sweater for one in a smaller sizeB. getting an extension on a deadlineC. congratulating a co-worker on her promotionD. giving a colleague the link to a website you think he’ll find usefulQuestion 21 of 402.5 PointsSearching articles in online databases like LexisNexis and EBSCO Business Source Premier __________. ?A. bears little resemblance to searching the webB. is possible only if you personally purchase a subscriptionC. allows you to search more sources, though most are less reliable than general web pagesD. lets you specify that you only want articles that are peer-reviewedQuestion 22 of 402.5 PointsMandy is conducting a survey; her primary goal is to make sure that survey participants actually respond, but it is not possible for her to personally meet her participants as they are all geographically dispersed. Which survey medium would be best for Mandy to use?A. mail surveysB. web surveysC. telephone surveysD. email surveysQuestion 23 of 402.5 PointsAt your company, a number of routine office tasks are loosely shared among entry-level employees, who perform these duties in addition to their specific job descriptions. This often results in tasks being done late, poorly, or not at all. You suggest to your boss that outsourcing this work might be a good idea. He is interested, so he asks you to research and recommend a service provider. In this case, which of the following is the best example of a primary source?A. the website of an outsourcing service provider that you are consideringB. a Wikipedia article about the popularity of outsourcingC. a journal article about the impact of outsourcing on a company’s bottom lineD. a research report discussing the effects of outsourcing on the overall economyQuestion 24 of 402.5 PointsWhen doing background research on your topic, the question “What else exists that serves similar purposes?” is about the topic’s __________.A. categoryB. historyC. popularityD. contextQuestion 25 of 402.5 PointsWhich of the following questions is recommended for use in assessing the accuracy of a source?A. How current is the information?B. Do others frequently cite the source?C. If the source is a website, does it identify the author?D. Is the source protected by a copyright?Question 26 of 402.5 PointsUsing an online database like LexisNexis to search for articles on a topic __________.A. is not as effective as doing a Google searchB. allows you to search publications not available through a Google searchC. is less expensive but more time-consuming than a Google searchD. leads you to articles that are less reliable than web pagesQuestion 27 of 402.5 PointsIn your research you consult Thomson One Banker, IBIS World, and Yahoo Finance. This means that you are using __________ to conduct your search.A. an online bookstoreB. online business research toolsC. general search enginesD. an online publication indexQuestion 28 of 402.5 PointsWhich of the following do you need to avoid in order to be an efficient researcher?A. evaluating your sources for credibilityB. using a library or bookseller to find relevant booksC. using only Google searches to find informationD. following leads found in good sourcesQuestion 29 of 402.5 PointsConsidering whether any web links are broken is a part of evaluating the source’s __________.A. accuracyB. authorshipC. ageD. clarityQuestion 30 of 402.5 PointsA deep web portal __________.A. finds only that information which is aimed at the publicB. accesses free information exclusivelyC. performs federated searches.D. omits information in publications that require a subscription.Question 31 of 402.5 PointsAt your company, a number of routine office tasks are loosely shared among entry-level employees, who perform these duties in addition to their specific job descriptions. This often results in tasks being done late, poorly, or not at all. You suggest to your boss that outsourcing this work might be a good idea. He is interested, so he asks you to research and recommend a service provider. Which of the following best articulates the research question you have been asked to explore?A. Is it fair to make entry-level employees do this additional work?B. How can we train the entry-level employees so that they can perform these tasks in a more efficient manner?C. Which outsourcing service provider would be the best for us?D. Is outsourcing the best solution to our problem?Question 32 of 402.5 PointsWhich of the following terms best describes a process that is designed to ensure that articles in academic journals are accurate and honest?A. narrow castingB. peer-reviewingC. satisficingD. social referencingQuestion 33 of 402.5 PointsWhen it comes to research, __________.A. students should be discouraged from using books, as they are less credible than online sourcesB. students often shun online information sources in favor of booksC. the drawback with online content is that it cannot be updated regularlyD. books are valuable resources, as they are often professionally written, reviewed, and editedQuestion 34 of 402.5 PointsDoing background research on your topic __________.A. is not advised for business researchB. should not include information about your topic’s historyC. is vital, since you are required to include it in your final presentationD. can help you structure your researchQuestion 35 of 402.5 PointsYou work in a small office of fewer than 20 employees with no dedicated IT staff. As the resident technical expert, you are called on to deal with computer issues and technology-related decisions. Lately this has been taking up more and more of your time and you feel that it is no longer an efficient arrangement. You speak to your boss about contracting with an IT company to oversee these needs, and she tells you to research some options. You find a website with some interesting information about this topic, plus the author is a well-known expert in the field. There is some useful data, for which the author has taken care to provide citations. There also are some promising links, but when you try to click them, they are broken or unavailable. You find that the page was last updated over a year ago. How will you evaluate this source?A. This source should be cited in your report, as it amply meets all three “A”s.B. This source has some accuracy issues, so it should not be cited.C. This source is not very recent, but given the nature of your research it is acceptable.D. This source fares well regarding authorship and accuracy, but is not current enough to be cited.Question 36 of 402.5 PointsWhich of the following assignments would require you to conduct research and share the results?A. investigating why product sales are lowB. implementing a new code developed by your colleagueC. adding results you have just received to your reportD. organizing a marketing team meetingQuestion 37 of 402.5 PointsUsing the search string “cake recipe” – “egg” in a search engine would yield results __________.A. about either eggs or cake recipes, but not bothB. of cake recipes that mention eggsC. about both cake recipes and eggsD. of cake recipes that do not mention eggsQuestion 38 of 402.5 PointsWhen you type into a basic search engine like Google, Bing, or Yahoo, the sites that appear at the top or on the side of the results page are usually __________.A. those that are most frequently accessedB. those that have paid a fee to be featured in the resultsC. those that most closely match your search termsD. those that are least relevant to your searchQuestion 39 of 402.5 Points__________ sources are books and articles that synthesize material from __________ sources, framing them for general readers.A. Primary; secondaryB. Secondary; tertiaryC. Tertiary; secondaryD. Primary; tertiaryQuestion 40 of 402.5 PointsFor which of the following question types are the responses most likely to vary?A. yes/noB. open-endedC. Likert (agreement. scaleD. rating scaleE. open-ended