Contemporary Business Communication: Text with Urban Systems CD-ROM

Ober prepares students for business communication by employing a hands-on approach, connecting topics, examples, and exercises to the modern workplace. The text provides ample opportunity for students to practice their oral and written skills, and includes strategies for using email, voicemail, the Internet, and other innovations in communication technology. Continuing the emphasis on technology and work-team communication, the Sixth Edition integrates real-world perspective and the 3Ps (Problem, Process, Product) writing model in the introduction of the Eduspace online learning tool, featuring writing tutorials and expanded Web-based resources. New! Chapter-opening interviews with high-level business managers including Gilbert C. Morrell Jr., President and CEO, The Nucon Group; Scott Roller, Internet Marketing Director, Texas Instruments; and Gary Davis, Vice President, Corporate Communications, World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., among others. Continuing text examples and end-of-chapter exercises create consistency throughout the text. For example, in Chapter 7, students first assume the role of buyer and write a claim letter. Later, they assume the role of seller and answer the same claim letter by writing an adjustment letter. In Chapter 8, students write a persuasive request from a subordinate; and in Chapter 9 (about bad-news messages), they assume the role of superior and turn down the well-written persuasive request. New! "Communication Snapshots" combine colorful graphics with up-to-date factoids about issues directly relating to contemporary business communication. Urban Systems Case Study CD-ROM, an innovative simulation CD packaged free with every new textbook, is tied to the continuing case presented in the text. In 15 modules related to each chapter in the text, students have an opportunity to experience and solve the unique and complex communication challenges posed by workplace policies and organizational dynamics. Student Handouts (included in the Instructor's Resource Manual and highlighted in the Instructor's Annotated Edition) feature communication checklists, additional in-class or homework exercises to reinforce language arts skills, and answer keys to selected textbook exercises. End-of-Chapter Mini-Cases, culled from recent business periodicals, challenge students to solve real-world communication problems. Fully Coded Exercises at the end of each chapter include an icon key that indicates whether it is an individual, team, stand-alone, correlated, Web-based or real-world exercise. New! Eduspace powered by Blackboard is an online resource which features "BusCom Writer Tutorials," a set of interactive computer modules that guide students through the development of 15 basic business documents. Each module is based on the textbook's "3Ps" (Problem, Process, Product) model, such that students are presented with a unique business situation, guided through the process of analyzing the situation, developing communication goals, and preparing the document, and then prompted to proofread and revise the finished product to meet proper writing guidelines. The Instructor's Annotated Edition provides teaching aids right at the point where they are most helpful. Included in the margin notes are numerous brief anecdotes and quotations gathered from contemporary business publications that can be used to enrich lecture material. Teaching tips and references to other pieces of the Instructor's resource materials can also be found in the margins, as well as thumbnail PowerPoint slides and handouts with suggestions on when to incorporate these materials into the lecture.Scot Ober is the author of 'Contemporary Business Communication: Text with Urban Systems CD-ROM', published 2005 under ISBN 9780618659777 and ISBN 0618659773.