BCOM 214 University of Arizona Bad News Messages Essay

Fundamentals of Business CommunicationAssignment: Bad News Messages
Learning Objectives
By completing this assignment, you will be able to demonstrate mastery of:
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The Direct Bad News Structure
The Indirect Bad News Structure
Due Date
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Please complete the assignment by Thursday, April 13th at 11:59 PM (AZ time).
Assignment Overview
Ms. Westhead continues to be impressed with your writing. However, she is NOT impressed with some of the
other interns’ work. There are 10 interns under Ms. Westhead’s supervision. Five of these interns have
repeatedly handed in their work late, displayed terrible grammar in their writing, and have been disrespectful to
Ms. Westhead.
Ms. Westhead has asked you to draft a letter to these interns informing them that their internships have been
terminated and they need to leave FIFA headquarters by the end of the day. For purposes of this message, you
should use the DIRECT Bad News structure. Your letter should consist of three to four paragraphs.
Address the letter to INTERN 1-5, as the computer will provide the specific names and sign it on behalf of Ms.
Westhead.
Ms. Westhead ALSO wants you to draft a letter to another fellow intern. This intern has not been disrespectful
and has not been late handing in his assignments, but has had a lot of trouble with his grammar. This intern also
happens to be the son of Ms. Westhead’s close friend. She wants you to let this intern know that he is on
“probation” for the next five days. If his grammar does not improve, he will be asked to leave the internship
program. For this letter, use the INDIRECT Bad News structure. Your letter should be three to four paragraphs.
Address the letter to INTERN 6 and sign it on behalf of Ms. Westhead.
Evaluation Criteria and Grading Rubric
This assignment will be graded based on the Professional Writing Standards located in the Table of Contents ->
Learning Modules -> Week 5 area of D2L.
Assignment Submission Instructions
Save your assignment as a .docx or .pdf file.
Include your name in the title of the electronic file for identification purposes, for example “SmytheMaryBNM”
and do NOT use any spaces, punctuation, or special characters in the file name.
Please consider verifying the Turnitin similarity percentage following the instructions at
https://help.d2l.arizona.edu/content/students-assignments-turnitincheck-your-work so you can make any
adjustments before submitting your work.
When your file is ready, submit it for grading to the appropriate assignment drop box as indicated below.
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Navigate to the Table of Contents -> Learning Modules -> Week 5 area of D2L.
Click on the Bad News Messages assignment drop box title.
Click on the Add a File button.
Find the file you would like to upload. If you are using the most current version of your internet browser,
you can drag and drop the file into the target area of the Add a File window. You can also use the
Upload button to browse for and select the file you would like to add.
Once you have selected your file(s), click the Add button in the bottom, left corner of the window.
Click on the Submit button to complete the file submission.
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the Assignment tool won’t let you submit, then you must contact the instructor and describe what happened.
Assignment Feedback
When the instructor has graded the assignment, you will be able to view your grade and feedback comments by
clicking on Assignments (in the navigation bar toward the top of the screen). To view your grade and instructor
feedback on the assignment, please follow the instructions provided in the file Turnitin-AssignmentFeedback.pdf located in the Table of Contents -> Learning Modules -> Week 5 area of D2L.
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Bad News
BCOM 214
Bad
News.
Negative Messages
Direct
Indirect
Use a Direct Approach…
When it’s urgent
When it requires firmness or clarity
When audience may overlook the message
Direct
Indirect
Use an Indirect Approach…
When your audience is resistant
When your audience is not expecting it
When the news is personally upsetting
When the news can threaten the relationship
Direct
Indirect
An Indirect Strategy for Conveying Bad News
Buffer
Reasons
Bad
News
Closing
Buffer
Agreement
Appreciation
Cooperation
Fairness
Praise
Understanding
Reasons
Appropriately Detailed
(provides support for bad news),
Not overly detailed.
Tactful
Unapologetic, if no one is at fault
Positive
Bad News
Minimize devoted space
Couch in a complex or compound
sentence, and do not highlight
Emphasize what you can or have done,
rather than what you can’t do
Optional: you may include
a silver lining statement,
if appropriate
Respectful Closing
Reference silver-lining
Be sincere – recognize how the
bad news affects your audience
Manage future correspondence
Avoid an uncertain conclusion
Let’s See How Time Warner’s Ann Moore
Conveyed Some Bad News in 2010
Buffer
“As you all know, the past year has been a time of
transition at Time Inc. While we continue to invest in
our core magazines, we are also focused on transforming
our workforce and broadening our digital capabilities
in order to become a truly multi-platform publisher.
We’ve made a lot of progress. Many of our web sites
have matured into strong and popular brand vehicles,
while others are re-launching new designs with fresher content.”
Reason
“Progress brings change, and we need
to continue to evolve to meet the cost
pressures and challenges presented by
our rapidly-shifting industry.”
Bad News
“Today, I need to share with all of you
that we are announcing layoffs throughout
the organization. These layoffs, which are in
several business areas and on both the edit
and publishing sides of a number of titles,
are part of a restructuring necessary
to sustain our progress.”
Silver Lining & Goodwill Close
“You will continue to hear much speculation
about our company in the press, so I encourage
you to stay focused. I know this is a difficult time
for all of us, and it’s never easy to see talented
colleagues leave.
Difficult times also bring opportunity, and
I believe we have enormous potential for
innovation and growth. I speak for the entire
management team when I say we appreciate
your hard work and dedication.”
Direct
Bad News
Example