Center for Advance Studies in Engineering

Department of Engineering Management

MEM Class of spring 2011 at CASE

Course Name: Business Communication for Technical Managers

Instructor: Dr. M. Tahir Nawaz
Semester: Spring 2011
Credit Hours: Three (3)
Course Category: Elective/PhD Core
Pre Requisite: None
Class Timings: Monday 6pm to 9pm
Email tahirnawaz78692@yahoo.com

Yahoo Group: CASE_S11_BCTM

Teaching Associate: Tahir Mumtaz Awan
Phone Number: 0300-5283204
E-mail address: mumtaz.tahir@yahoo.com

Distance learning: Yes

Extra support hrs: By appointment

Academic Advisor: Shahid Iqbal

Email: shahid.iqbal@case.edu.pk
Course Outline
Business Communication for Technical Managers

Brief Description of the Course

Effective Business Communication plays a vital role in every Business operation.
However the management often overlooks its importance. The manner, by which an
enterprise communicates, creates an impression of its standard and the image it wishes
to convey. Therefore, the need to continuously enhance the communication skills should
be realized by the technical managers and employees for better understanding within
the organizations and effective relations with the customers.

This course is designed to enable the working graduate engineers and technical
managers to understand the principles of effective business communication. It would
help in applying the critical and creative thinking abilities that are necessary for
effectively communicating in todays hi-tech business world. By the end of this course
students would be able to demonstrate clarity, precision, conciseness and coherence in
their use of communication tools.

Objectives of this Course

Select appropriate communication channels (e.g., e-mail, memo, letter, report, fax,
voice-mail, etc.) for a particular situation and purpose.

Use a three-part writing process that incorporates pre-writing, writing and

revising.
Organize ideas effectively.
Write persuasively.
Work effectively in meetings and small groups.
Adapt your message to the requirements and formats of letters, memos and e-
mails.

This course should help you

Develop the knowledge and skills required for contemporary business
communications.
Sensitively respond to cultural diversity and issues of cross-cultural
communications.
Respond ethically to a broad range of communication needs and situations.
Learn to be a valuable team player
Course Contents

1. Understanding the foundations of business communication

a. Achieving success in todays competitive environment
b. Understanding why business communication is unique
c. Communicating more effectively in the job
d. Making ethical communication choices

2. Basis of Communication and interacting in teams

a. Components of communication
b. Concepts and problems of communication
c. Seven Cs of communication

3. The power of non-verbal communication

a. What is a non-verbal communication
b. Non-verbal signifiers are like words
c. Non-verbal communication sub-disciplines
d. Meaning attached to certain gesture clusters
e. Nero linguistic programming (NLP) and the power of the non-verbal
f. How to achieve rapport
g. The final word on body language

4. The importance of listening

a. What is listening
b. Misconceptions/myths about listening
c. Listening barriers.
d. How good a listener are you?
e. Types of listening
i. Marginal listening
ii. Evaluative listening
iii. Active/analytical listening.
iv. Different stages in listening
f. Overcoming listening barriers
g. How to increase listening efficiency
h. Benefits of effective listening
i. The body language of an active listeners
j. Feedback

5. Basic skill-sets of a manager

a. Inter personal skills
b. Dealing with criticism
c. Managing conflicts
d. Communicating assertively
e. Negotiating skills
f. Communication in a team
g. Managers telephone skills
 h. Gender communication
i. Improving your performance in teams
j. Making your teams more productive

6. Designing and delivering oral presentations

a. Pre-presentation getters
b. Misconceptions about presentation
c. Getting ready for a presentation (what is presentation all about)
d. Presentation and practices
e. Planning, writing and completing your presentations
f. Enhancing presentations with slides and transperencies

7. Written communication reports

a. Creating and applying the three step writing process to reports and
proposals
b. Short reports
c. Long formal reports
d. Proposals

8. Communication in Multicultural World

a. Background to intercultural communication
b. National cultural variables
c. Individual cultural variables
d. Enhancing your intercultural sensitivity
e. Improving intercultural communication skills

9. The process of preparing effective business messages

a. Five planing steps
b. Basic organizational plans
c. The appearance and design of business messages
i. business letters
ii. memorandoms
iii. special timesaving message media
d. Persuasive written messages
e. Persuasive requests
f. Persuasive sales letters

10. Strategies for oral communication

a. Strategies for successful speaking and successful listening
b. Strategies for successful informative and persuasive speaking
c. Strategies for successful interpersonal communication
d. Strategies for successful business and group meetings
 11. Writing employment messages and interviewing for jobs
a. Building a career with your communication skills
b. Preparing resumes
c. Understanding the interviewing process
d. Preparing for a job interview
e. Interviewing for success
f. Follow up after the interview

Attendance for On Campus Students 100 % attendance is required

Grade Distribution:

Quizzes 10%
Assignments 15%
Mid-Term Exam 25%
Research Paper / Final Project 20%
Final Exam 30%

DISTANCE LEARNERS NEED TO SEND THE LECTURE SUMMARIES BEFORE THE

NEXT CLASS TO THE TA WHICH NEEDS TO BE CONSIDERED AGAINST THE
QUIZZES AND ASSIGNMENTS.

Note:
Calling the instructor on cell phone is discouraged

Homework
Timely submission of Home Assignments is mandatory and if not turned in when due,
the student will be graded negatively. A maximum of 5 percent may be deducted.
Individual homework means individual effort.

Homework may be submitted via Email and Fax in case individual is out of
town/country. Please keep on reading your emails daily to find any new classroom
instructions.

Latecomers will be considered/marked as absent in the class.

Project & Research Paper Instruction.

The main thrust of this course is to learn the understanding human behavior in
organizational context specific to communication. Students need to focus on various
important issues, must deliberate a lot, and should have in depth discussion before they
finalize the project and team members.

Options:

First: Project must be related to communication skills, communication barriers,

communication ethics, listening skills, interviewing, with its relationship to
productivity, job performance, conflict, negotiation, absenteeism, etc. It
must address how the commnly found contemporary organizational
concerns directly related to human behavoir can be addressed, with focus
on imrpoved quality of human performance, job satisfaction and improved
organizational culture. It could be a comprehensive organizational audit of
an organization assessing and analyzing impact of i.e management
communication style, structure, style, mode of communication,
issues/barriers related to gender, and ethical practices. You may choose
organization in public or private sector (service or mufg). Project must be
from real life or may be from your own background/work environment /
parent dept but it should suggest some viable and workable solution. More
groups are encouraged to do applied project.

Second: It can also be an independent research on behavioral topics in a specific

area of industrial /commercial/national interest. This group research paper
may address any national /regional/local level behavior related issue with
strong relationship with communication and should have comprehensive
and systematic analysis and concrete findings. The topic should be
innovative and must present strong connections between improved
behavior and improved productivity. Only few group with real good ideas
will undertake research purely on topics of National Interest or which
can add real value to our ailing industry or Pakistani Society.

Each group will be required to deliver a formal professional presentation on

approved topic.

3 Hard Copies of Final Project Report and one electronic copy must reach course
instructor positively on the same day of presentation.

No late submissions will be entertained unless previously discussed with the professor

There will be Three project presentations in one session. Each group will be given 20
minutes with 10 minutes Q & A Session. It is believed that after undergoing this
academic exercise, you will be able to contribute more effectively in your parent
department /future assignments.

Business Communication Project Topic

Students, working in groups of three or four, will pick a topic of their own choice. The
course textbook also offers a good starting point in identifying topics of interest.

Students are to choose their topic by Week 5 of the course. Topics must gain clearance
of the instructor. The instructor will ensure the topic warrants investigation and does not
conflict with a topic investigated by another classmate. Topics will be approved on a
first-come, first-served basis and posted on Yahoo group for other classmates to see
what topics are already chosen. In the identification of your selected topic, ensure you
provide the following information to the instructor:

- Your name and student number;

- The topic to be investigated;

- A short description why the topic is important to study or is of

interest to you;

- A list of questions or concerns about the topic you plan to

investigate;

- A list of references or sources of information you will use to

investigate your topic.

Project Report

The written report is a formal write-up of your business communication topic. The report
is worth 20% of your final grade. The body of the written report should be 10 to 15 (one-
and-a-half OR single-spaced) pages in length. This is a ballpark page count emphasis
will be placed on the quality of the content of your report as opposed to the quantity of
pages delivered. Feel free to include tables and figures directly in the body of the report.
However, place bulky materials in some form of appendix. The appendix, table of
contents, title page etc. are not considered to be part of the body of the report.

The report should start with a cover page which clearly identifies the issue being
investigated and lists your name(s), student number(s) and email address(es). This
should be followed by an Executive

Summary or Abstract that functions as a prcis and not as an introduction to the report.
Next should be a Table of Contents followed by an Introduction section. The Introduction
section should clearly identify your topic of interest, why it is important to study, and the
purpose of the paper. There should be a Conclusion section at the end of the body of
the report which summarizes the contributions of the paper and provides a nice
circular argument to your paper (corresponds to what was said in the Introduction
section). The Conclusion should be followed by a References section which provides
an alphabetized list of references cited in the paper; these should follow a standard
bibliographic formatting style, such as APA. It is expected that quality sources be
referenced (e.g., academic journals, published case studies) and that these form a
majority of the cited works.

Grading of the report will be evaluated by the instructor alone and based on both style
and content.

In terms of style, evaluation will be based on

Grammar and spelling (coherent? Free of spelling mistakes?

Grammatically correct?)

Organization of material (logically developed? Flowing? Has a beginning

and an end?)

Formatting (properly cited and footnoted? References in the proper

format?, professional presentation?)

In terms of content, evaluation will be based on

Choice of the topic (interesting? Important?)

Overview of the project management literature pertaining to this topic

(comprehensive? Accurate?)

Analysis of the topic (in-depth? Correct?)

Conclusions drawn and/or recommendations made (appropriate?

Innovative?)

Academic Dishonesty

All forms of academic dishonesty may result in a F in the course or

notification of the Academic Committee. Academic dishonesty includes
(but is not limited to) plagiarism, copying answers or work done by another
student (either on an exam or on out-of-class assignments), allowing
another student to copy from you, and using unauthorized materials during
an exam.

Plagiarism in the report will not be tolerated and will result in an automatic mark of zero
for this assignment. Plagiarism includes copying text from Web sites without utilizing
proper citations and/or references. Refer to the section below on Academic
Dishonesty. Written reports are due in class in last week & will be announced by the
instructor. The purpose of the assignment is to facilitate an in-depth exploration of a
project management topic of interest and relevance to individual students.

Miscellaneous Instructions

All classes are smoke and mobile free.

Timely submission of Home Assignments is mandatory and if not turned in

when due, the student will be graded negatively.

Individual Homework means individual effort.

Homework may be submitted via e-mail incase an individual is out of city.

Emails are to be read daily so as to learn about new classroom

instructions.

Late comers will be considered/marked as absent from the class.

Class sanctity is top most in our agenda while a class is in session.

Presentation of new ideas by participants in the class is highly

encouraged.

It is expected that a student will check his/her email at least twice daily on
the weekdays
Instructors Profile

BRIEF PROFILE / EXPERIENCE OF DR. MUHAMMAD TAHIR

NAWAZ (Phd ENGINEERING MANAGEMENT)
Dr. Muhammad Tahir Nawaz is a graduate Electrical Engineer from UET Lahore.
He has done his Phd in Engineering Management.
Dr. Muhammad Tahir Nawaz has varying and vast experience of teaching at
different forums. He has the regular membership of Pakistan Engineering
Council. He has varying experience of handling and management of technical
organizations at National and International level. He also remained involved in
various professional trainings focused on organizational productivity
enhancement and management on and off sites. He has excellent work in
enhancement of productivity at organizational level through gender (Female)
empowerment.
His areas of interest are Productivity management, Conflict management, Good
Governance, Technology Management and application of total productivity
maintenance in industry, HRD, Leadership, Organizational Behaviour and
Businesses Management, Supply Chain Management, Marketing of Technology,
Services Marketing, TQM, Project Management and Conflict Resolution
Management.
Dr. Muhammad Tahir Nawaz has also worked in the areas of professional ethics,
Project Management, Solution Provider to Hazard Handling in Multi National
Companies. Performance Audit linked with goal oriented like Management by
objectives is also special area of interest of Dr. Muhammad Tahir Nawaz.
Dr. Muhammad Tahir Nawaz has good experience of teaching in prime Institutes
like CASE (Center for Advanced Studies in Engineering), NUST (National
University of Science and Technology) and other well reputed Universities.