Faculty of Business Studies

LB160 Professional communication skills for business studies

COVER FORM

Part (I): STUDENT INFORMATION (to be completed by student)

1. Name: 2. Registration No:

3. Section No: 4. E-mail:

Part (II): TUTOR'S REMARKS (to be completed by tutor)

Tutor's Name: Date returned:

Date MA held:

TUTOR'S REMARKS:

Allocated Marks STUDENT MARK

Contents: Language & Earned Mark Tutor’s Signature

communication:
Total of 10 8 marks (Out of 10)
Marks 2 marks
PART - 1 (7.5 marks)

(Business in Theory)

- Each question is 2.5 marks

1. Briefly explain three elements of text-type features cited below:-

1. Content.
2. Organization.
3. Language.
4. Writer.
5. Reader.
6. Purpose.

2. What is analysis?

3. What are the six skills of business analysis?

4. Briefly define three skills needed for business analysis.

PART - 2

(Business in Practice) (2.5 marks)

5. Summarize the following case in two sentences: -

Many are now complaining that airlines, fighting for survival in the midst of one of the industry's worst-ever downturns,
are harassing them with measures designed to squeeze additional revenues out of passengers or cut back on perks and
benefits. For example, many airlines have tightened up existing cabin baggage regulations and have begun to strictly
enforce excess baggage charges– moves designed to acquire additional revenues but which run the risk of alienating
many business and other passengers.

- Write your summary here:

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6. Read the following texts; select the cause and effect words/clauses and insert them in the appropriate place in the
table below: -

Text Cause Effect

A) There can be little doubt that

the plethora of publicity
surrounding the nation's
private debt levels has helped
to ease a greater number of
people into some sort of
comfort zone based on the fact
that they are not as unusual as
they might first have thought.
However, the prospect of a
cooling in the house price
market (and the removal of
that particular safety blanket)
may well cause the nation to
begin to think differently.

B) Another fact fuelling the

need for credit references has
been the growth of e-
commerce where sales are
projected to carry on growing
robustly. During 2006, British
retailers have made larger
investments than ever before
in their online services, in
response to their customers'
enthusiasm for them. The
common availability of
broadband has allowed
retailers to present much
higher quality product
photographs and images –
which are now often scalable
– and even explanatory
videos.
Q.7. Read Text 4.1 below. Choose and insert in Table 2 the correct sequence of the Steps from Table 1 and match
each with its corresponding paragraph no. from Text 4.1. Then cite examples that support your choice. (4 points)
(Total: 4 points)

Text 4.1
From competition to collaboration

(1) But in a striking turnaround, a number of competitors have embarked on an unprecedented degree of
cooperation on training over the past two years. (2) Competition in the Scottish electronics industry for
skilled technicians is famously intense and in the early 1990s recruitment problems were getting out of
hand.
(3) ‘We were basically poaching from each other and pushing salaries up. It was becoming a vicious
circle,’ says Morag McKelvie, a personnel manager at NEC semiconductors. (4)Yesterday, their innovative
approach was recognized when … they received a special training award from the Institute of Personnel
and Development at the National Training Awards, organized by the Department for Education and
Employment.

Table 1: Steps

Problem Solution Evaluation Situation

Table 2
Steps Para. No. Examples
Q.8. Define the terminologies or phrases provided below. (4 points)

1. Levels of debt (1 pt.)

2. Creditor (1 pt.)

3. Lender (1 pt.)

4. Personal insolvencies (1 pt.)

Write your answer here.

Q.9. The sentences below are from student’s STEP analysis. Underline the factor in each sentence. Then circle the
main verb which says how the factor influences the industry. (2 points: 0.5 point each)

1. A significant rise in oil prices would further add to the economic pressure on the industry.
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2. The use of the internet by both business and leisure passengers has enabled travelers to compare prices between
airlines and select the most cost-effective route and itinerary.
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3. The terrorist attacks of September 11th 2001 and the threat of similar attacks in the future have made passengers
more reluctant to travel.
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4. The use of internet booking systems has also enabled airlines to reduce their overheads.
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Q.10. Match sentences in Proposed Solutions (right column) with sentences in Justifications (left column) by inserting
the appropriate alphabetic letter from the left column to the blank provided in the right column. (2 points: 0.5 point
each)

Justifications Proposed Solutions

________ 1. Explaining that a desired outcome a. The introduction of a loyalty card would increase the
depends on the proposed action. number of customers.

________ 2. Explaining what the purpose of the b. As Bryan Jackson, director of Toyota Motor
proposed action is. Manufacturing UK, points out ‘It’s rather difficult to
have a relationship with 1,000 suppliers’.

________ 3. Describing the benefits of the proposed c. Gap might be able to avoid major controversy with its
solution. current vendor selection system but negative publicity
is much less likely with a partnership sourcing process.

________ 4. Quoting an authority figure. d. The government has changed its policy on out of town
shopping centres, so Asda should find a way to move
into the town centres.
Q.11. Match the Concept (left column) with its Characteristics (right column), by inserting the appropriate alphabetic
letter from right column into the blank provided in the left column. (2 points)

Concepts Characteristics
(0.5 point each)

________ 1. The concepts of power and interest a. Are generally based on the concepts of power and
interest.

________ 2. Stakeholders with high interest b. Are those who can do most to affect the organization.

________ 3. Stakeholder frameworks in business c. Can be used to organize individuals and groups into
studies stakeholder categories.

________ 4. Stakeholders with high power d. Are those who will be most affected by the actions
that the organization takes.