Course Outline

National University of Computer & Emerging Sciences

Lahore Campus

SS223: Business Communication I

Core Course, 3 credit hours
BS, FAST School of Management

Course Instructor:
Bilal Saeed
bilal.saeed@nu.edu.pk

Course Description

Clear, concise and understandable communication is critical to success in any business environment. This
course is designed to develop and intensify communication skills within a business environment through
understanding of the purpose of effective communication, its various processes and channels, and
techniques to help overcome the writer’s block to create concise, appropriate and grammatically correct
work.

In-class practice exercises, including grammar and punctuation correctness, case study and article analysis,
article summaries and multiple writing assignments will be used to help students achieve the course goals.

Goals and Objectives

On completion of the course, students should be able to demonstrate learning in the following topics:

 Write concise business documents and deliver professional oral presentations

 Create and apply successful communication strategy to inform, persuade and motivate
 Understand and analyze reading material for conciseness, accuracy and meaning
 Search and utilize data for report writing and presentations, and make references where necessary
 Develop effective materials for self-directed job search and placement
 Improve personality, and communication and social skills necessary for a professional workplace

Course Learning Outcomes

LO# Learning Outcome Statements Relevant Bloom

POs Taxonomy
LO1: Recognize their ethical responsibilities to their community, PO10.4 Remember,
society, discipline, and profession based on various Understand
perspectives and associated standards of ethical
communication. Demonstrate ability to consume
communication critically

LO2: Communicate appropriately and effectively within various PO1, PO3, Understand,
organizational contexts. PO5 Apply

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Course Outline
National University of Computer & Emerging Sciences
Lahore Campus

 Communicate appropriately and effectively within groups.

 Demonstrate the ability to analyze a problem and devise a
solution in a group

LO3: Capable of effectively monitoring, analyzing, and adjusting PO1, PO3, Understand,
their own communication behavior. PO4, Apply,
 Demonstrate appropriate and effective conflict management PO10.4
strategies.
 Capable of addressing perceptual differences in relational
communication for effective outcomes.

LO4: Demonstrate the ability to research, analyze, and reason PO1, PO8, Understand,
from evidence to reach an effective conclusion or outcome. PO10.4 Apply
Demonstrate the ability to effectively deliver formal
presentations before a variety of live audiences.

LO5 Demonstrate proficiency in the use of written English, PO1, PO4, Evaluate,
including proper spelling, grammar, and punctuation. PO6 Create
 Demonstrate proficiency in formal writing, including
correct use of a designated style of source citation, such as
Chicago Referencing Style.
 Construct appropriate messages for a variety of
contexts/situations.

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National University of Computer & Emerging Sciences
Lahore Campus

Outline
Week/Dates Topic(s) Assignment(s) Reminder(s)
Introduction
Week 1 Course and class introduction Reading: Guffey, pp. 2-
17-22 Aug Syllabus review 15
Introduction to Business
Communication and its
importance in the workplace
Module 1: Business Writing
LO 5 Week 2 Adapting to audience and Reading: Guffey, pp. 36-
24-29 Aug message 71
Composing messages
Grammatical correctness
LO 5 Week 3 Revising Reading: Guffey, pp. 82- Class 1: Quiz
LO2 31 Aug-5 Sep Summarizing 91 1

LO2 Week 4 Emails and memos Reading: Guffey, pp. Class 1:

LO3 7-12 Sep 106-115 Article
Writing Assignment 1: summary
Article summary due!
Lab 1 – Email/Memo
Writing
LO2 Week 5 Positive messages Reading: Guffey, pp. Mid Term
14-19 Sep Negative messages 142-197

Mid Term 1
LO 2 Week 6 Persuasive messages Reading: Guffey, pp.
21-26 Sep 212-218
LO 3 Week 7 Final Project Brief Reading: Guffey, pp. Class 1: Quiz
LO 4 28 Sep-3 Oct Formal Reports: Research 284-293 2
LO 5
LO 4 Week 8 Organizing, Outlining and Reading: Guffey, pp. Class 1:
5-10 Oct Presenting 293-314 Article
Writing Assignment 2: Summary
Article Summary due!
Lab 2: Formatting

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Course Outline
National University of Computer & Emerging Sciences
Lahore Campus
Module 2 – Business Context
LO 1 Week 9 Business Context: Reading: Guffey, pp. 16-
12-17 Oct Ethics, Culture, and Etiquette 22, 330-339
Module 3 – Business Presentations
LO 4 Week 10 Oral Presentations Reading: Guffey, pp. Class 1: Article
LO 3 19-24 Oct 365-374 Summary due
Writing Assignment 3: Class 2: 5-min
Article summary presentation due
5-min oral presentation
on final group project
LO 4 Week 11 Using visual aids and Reading: Guffey, pp. Class 2: Quiz 3
LO 3 26-31 Oct multimedia 374-390
Delivery and Follow-up

LO4 Week 12 Group discussion Mid Term 2 this

LO 3 2-7 Nov week!
Mid Term 2
Module 4 – Corporate Communication
LO 2 Week 13 Employment communication: Reading: Guffey, pp. Final project
LO 3 9-14 Nov Job search and resume 404-472 report and
building Lab 3: Resume Writing presentations
due next week!
LO 1 Week 14 Final project Class 1: Final
LO 3 and 15 presentations project reports
LO 4 16-28 Nov due

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National University of Computer & Emerging Sciences
Lahore Campus

Text

Required: Mary Ellen Guffey and Dana Loewy, Essentials of Business Communication, Cengage Learning, 9th
Edition, 2013

A few copies are available in Justice Gul Muhammad Library FAST-NU Library.

Supplementary: Courtland L Bovee, John V Thill and Abha Chatterjee, Business Communication Today,
Pearson Prentice Hall, 10th Edition, 2011.

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National University of Computer & Emerging Sciences
Lahore Campus

Grading and Assessment

Writing Assignments – 3 @ 3% each 9%

Quizzes – 3 @ 3% each 9%
Mid Term Exam 1 10%
Mid Term Exam 2 10%
Final Group Project 12%
Final Exam 50%

General Expectations

Attendance: Students are expected to maintain 100% attendance and ensure a professional demeanor in the
class. There is a margin of up to 20% absences from lectures only in case of serious exigencies. Attendance
will be marked in the beginning of the class. Attendance of late comers will not be marked. Attendance as
well as grades will be regularly uploaded on Neon. Students are expected to keep track of their Neon
records. In case of any discrepancy, let the instructor know at the earliest.

Class Etiquette: This is a rigorous course and writing assignments and weekly activities will be assigned
almost every week. I expect everyone in the class to maintain a cooperative and helpful spirit of learning
together. Constructive competition is healthy but support and collaboration will also be rewarded. A
commitment to mutual respect and dedication is expected of all students.

Readings: The material covered in the readings is just as important as what is discussed in class. Some
readings and exercises will be handed out in class; most are taken from the textbook. The exams/quizzes will
predominantly be from the assigned readings.

English Proficiency: Since this class focuses on improving speaking and writing business communication skills
which is mostly in English, English will remain the primary medium of class. A little time will be spent on
refining business vocabulary. Owning a dictionary and thesaurus will be a good investment for not only this
course but long term usage.

Assignments: All writing assignments must be typed on a computer unless specified otherwise. Each
assignment should have your name, roll-number and class title/section in the top right corner. Spelling,
punctuation and grammar count! Always proofread your work before turning it in to make sure it is the best
you can do. Details of writing assignments will be provided a week before they are due.

Late Work: Assignments/papers will be accepted only during class timings on the day they are due. No late
papers will be accepted. If you are not able to attend class, you should make arrangements to send your
work over by a friend. You can also email your work before the class it is due in begins.

Missed Quizzes/Exams: Quizzes will not be made up. If you miss a quiz, your grade will be marked as zero for
that quiz. Exams and projects, under truly extenuating circumstances and only within one week of the due
date, will be made up with permission of the instructor.

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National University of Computer & Emerging Sciences
Lahore Campus

Final Project: To apply and demonstrate the skills learnt in class, students will be expected to do a final
project towards the end of the semester. Topics and details will be handed over after the first midterm
exam.

Labs: The course includes three lab sessions to help develop and improve formatting and writing skills.
Instructions and details of lab sessions will be provided a week ahead of the session. Labs are as important as
regular class sessions and the attendance policy mentioned earlier will stand.

Plagiarism: If any writing assignment/project submitted in class is found to be copied from another source or
contains ideas from another source that a student presents as his/her own, that student will get a zero for
that particular assignment. Plagiarism will not be tolerated!

Note: This is a tentative outline and is subject to change at the discretion of the instructor.