Communications Question

IT 520 Module Six Short Paper Guidelines and RubricThis course includes five short writing activities that will require you to create different types of technical communications. These are designed to actively test
your understanding and to apply your knowledge to potential real-world situations. These writing activities also provide practice in communicating your
reasoning in a professional manner.
The Importance of Clarity and Conciseness (Module Six)
As the new corporate communications manager, you have come across many examples of ineffective communications, including some older directives that were
never carried out, mostly because of their unclear nature.
One example included an email stating that the recipient (within the research and development team) was to “create a presentation discussing the new product
and send it to interested departments.” Others included a request from sales to technical support for “a list of the biggest problems with our hot products” and
a memo from finance to all departments to “reduce the number of suppliers being used to better control costs.”
Develop step-by-step instructions that the international gadgets (IG) departments can use to help craft clear and concise directives. Your instructions must
include the following critical elements:
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Introduction: Explain the issues with unclear directives and how these instructions will help alleviate those issues.
Audience Analysis: What steps should an IG department employee take to analyze their audience for communication?
Message Determination: What steps should an IG department employee take to determine the message for a communication?
Clear and Concise Writing: What steps should an IG department employee take to ensure that a communication is written clearly and concisely?
Company Background
International Gadgets (IG) is a multinational company of 1,300+ employees and over $4 billion in revenue. Headquartered in Manchester, New Hampshire, the
company designs, manufactures, sells, and supports a variety of low- and high-tech business productivity tools.
IG has manufacturing facilities in Detroit, Michigan, and Shanghai, China, and sources component parts from suppliers in Vietnam, China, Brazil, and the United
States. While IG maintains sales offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, London, Munich, Paris, Moscow, and Brussels, its products are sold throughout the
United States and all of Europe and in China through a partner firm. IG employs a direct sales force targeting its top 1,000 customers, and it also sells via its
website. Sales offices also include service and support operations, managed separately from the sales teams. The company is considering expanding more
directly into China and exploring the possibility of opening a sales office in Beijing.
IG’s current top-selling product is the OfficeDrone, which was designed for workplace monitoring. The OfficeDrone is a small, unstaffed aerial vehicle for indoor
use that includes real-time video monitoring and a targetable built-in water pistol and reservoir. The OfficeDrone is marketed to management and security
teams to break up water cooler conversations and other nonproductive behaviors among groups of workers.
IG has introduced several new products and experienced rapid growth during the past year, with many new employees in all departments. The management
team has greatly expanded as well. It includes several first-time managers, and the team is experiencing difficulties functioning as effectively as it has in the past.
Communications within and between all parts of the organization, external partners, and suppliers and customers are at serious risk of completely breaking
down.
In a recent example, Detroit Manufacturing was unable to meet a product delivery deadline because of parts shortages from supplies. (The component parts
originated in Brazil and had been seriously delayed due to a dockworkers’ strike at U.S. West Coast ports.) The manufacturing team believed they had informed
the sales team of the delay, but the sales team indicated they had never received that information and ended up losing the customer to a competitor. In another
example, European sales were impacted when Switzerland unexpectedly devalued its currency, impacting IG’s profitability. Revised profitability forecasts were
provided by several of the European sales offices, but others did not understand the request from the corporate office because of how it was worded, and the
delay in response led to unnecessary costs.
Rubric
Guidelines for Submission: This instruction must be 2 to 3 pages in length (plus a cover page and references) and must be written in APA style. Use double
spacing, 12-point Times New Roman font, and one-inch margins. Integrate at least one resource cited in APA format. Review the Reading: Writing Instructions
website for suggestions and formatting guidelines for instructions.
Critical Elements
Introduction
Exemplary (100%)
Meets “Proficient” criteria, and
ideas are substantiated with
specific and relevant details
Audience Analysis
Meets “Proficient” criteria
with substantial detail for the
rationale
Meets “Proficient” criteria, and
conclusions are substantiated
with specific and relevant
research
Meets “Proficient” criteria, and
conclusions are substantiated
with specific and relevant
research
Message
Determination
Clear and Concise
Writing
Proficient (90%)
Accurately describes areas of
the directive that lack clarity
and conciseness and uses
specific detail in explanation
Explains the steps for a udience
analysis with sufficient detail
for rationale
Describes the steps for
determining the message with
specific detail in explanation
and examples
Describes the steps for
ensuring clear a nd concise
communication with specific
detail in explanation and
examples
Needs Improvement (70%)
Accurately describes areas of
the directive that lack clarity
and conciseness, but lacks
specific details in explanation
Explains the steps for a udience
analysis, but lacks sufficient
detail for rationale
Describes the steps for
determining the message, but
lacks specific detail in
explanation and examples
Describes the steps for
ensuring clear a nd concise
communication, but lacks
specific detail in explanation
and examples
Not Evident (0%)
Does not describe the directive
Value
20
Does not explain the steps for
audience analysis
25
Does not describe the steps for
determining the message
25
Does not describe the steps for
ensuring clear a nd concise
communication
20
Critical Elements
Articulation of
Response
Exemplary (100%)
Submission is free of errors
related to citations, grammar,
spelling, syntax, and
organization and is presented
in a professional and easy-toread format
Proficient (90%)
Submission has no major errors
related to citations, grammar,
spelling, syntax, or
organization
Needs Improvement (70%)
Submission has major errors
related to citations, grammar,
spelling, syntax, or
organization that negatively
impact readability and
articulation of main ideas
Not Evident (0%)
Submission has critical errors
related to citations, grammar,
spelling, syntax, or
organization that prevent
understanding of ideas
Value
10
Earned Total
100%