CBC1501 COMMUNICATION IN BUSINESS CONTEXTS

1. CBC1501COMMUNICATION IN BUSINESS CONTEXTS Presented by: Zainab Rehman & Tanja Botha

3. THE CBC1501 TEAM Mrs Zainab Rehman Module Coordinator 012-429-8053 erehmaz@unisa.ac.za Mrs Tanja Botha Lecturer 012-429-4168 ebothat@unisa.ac.za • All other enquiries: Refer to Tutorial Letters 101 and 102

4. STUDY MATERIAL • Prescribed textbook:Du Plessis, D, Dowling, F & Steinberg, S. 2009. Money talks: communication in business contexts. Johannesburg: Heinemann. • Study guide • Tutorial letters (101, 201, 301) • Two compulsory assignments • myUnisa(discussions, announcements and other resources) • E-tutors • Interactive presentation (these slides will be uploaded on myUnisa under additional resources)

5. This presentation will include: General background Key concepts Importance of this module Module overview, outcomes and limitations General feedback Assignment 01 and 02 MCQ guidelines Exam Guidelines

6. General Background:

7. KEY CONCEPTS DEFINED Communication: A two-way transmission of information and meaning from one person / group to another. Communication in business contexts: The creation and transmission of messages between people who work together to achieve organisational goals  This is then the focus of the CBC1501 module.

8. Importance of Communication in the workplace

9. Importance of CBC1501 SAICA: CBC1501 serves as a response to an initiative of the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA) wherein it was expressed that communication training should be compulsory for all prospective accountants. SAICA website: www.saica.co.za

10. Importance of CBC1501 (Cont…) One of an accountant’s main challenges is helping clients to understand and interpret financial information. Accountants interact with business colleagues and other stakeholders on a daily basis: they work in groups, attend meetings, analyse and present figures, write reports, conduct interviews, and need to manage people tactfully and sensitively in often trying conditions. Accountants need to be convincing and able to articulate themselves properly to do the tasks above: language proficiency is, therefore, of the utmost importance.

11. IMPORTANCE OF CBC1501 (Cont…) Accountants – and everyone else for that matter – cannot avoid communicating in their work environment. So, the better you are at communicating, the greater your chances for professional success, salary increases, promotions, status and overall better relationships.

12. SO WHAT WILL YOU LEARN IN THIS MODULE? You will be sensitised to the variables influencing communication situations in the accounting environment and know how to respond appropriately. You will know how communication influences interpersonal, group and public contexts. You will understand that English language proficiency is a critical factor in the accounting profession

13. SPECIFIC MODULE OUTCOMES You will be sensitive to the importance of communication in accounting practice. You will be able to analyse a communication situation in a business context in terms of target audience, purpose and content. You will be able to respond appropriately when considering specific characteristics of the target audience, purpose and content. You will be able to apply language appropriately in communication activities.

14. ADDITIONAL MODULE OUTCOMES Critical and creative thinking: You will be able to apply your communication and language insights, as gained in this module, to other modules in the degree that you are studying towards. Accountability and responsibility:The completion of the two compulsory assignments, as well as preparing yourself for the examination, will require self-management and the implementation of an organised time schedule.

15. ADDITIONAL MODULE OUTCOMES (cont...) Collect, analyse, organise and critically evaluate information:You will be able to analyse, systemise and report on information as required. This is of particular relevance to your assignments and the examination in this module. Communicate effectively: You will be able to communicate your understanding of, and insight into, this module effectively through the form of the written assignment (#01) and the examination.

16. LIMITATIONS OF THIS MODULE The successful completion of CBC1501 does NOT qualify you to be a communication professional or perfect English language user, but it will provide you with a basis for further self-development of communication competencies by creating an awareness of the need for it.

17. MODULE OVERVIEW

18. Business communication and business writing skills MODULE OVERVIEW:CBC1501

19. MODULE OVERVIEW:COMMUNICATION SECTIONS

20. MODULE OVERVIEW:LANGUAGE SECTIONS

21. ASSIGNMENT 01 • An in-depth assignment 1 and 2 feedback is available to you in your 201 (under additional resources). These are just generic guidelines.

22. ASSIGNMENT 01 EXAMINATION ADMISSION REQUIREMENT: If you submitted this compulsory assignment, you have qualified for examination admission. If you did not submit this compulsory assignment, you will need to re-register for this module.

23. ASSIGNMENT 01 (Cont…) Submission due date: 27th of August 2015 (an extension was granted by the University till the 11th of September): Consisted of 3 paragraph-/essay-type questions (various mark allocations). All 3 questions were based on the article provided: “its right to be wrong” and dealt with ‘student protests’ ‘cultural diversity and gender equality’ and ‘challenging the perceptions of Prof Jansen’ in the article. Refer to Tutorial Letter 201 for the answers and general feedback (only available AFTER the submission due date for Assignment 02). Incorporate the Tutorial Letter 201 feedback and guidelines into your examination preparation.

24. ASSIGNMENT 01 QUESTIONS Each question, as given in Tutorial Letter 101,consisted of the following: Actual question (made up of scenarios and instructions). Relevant sections in the study material (prescribed book and study guide), which would have guided you in your answers. Breakdown of the total mark allocation into its required individual components that would also have guided your answers’ focus (what information was required and how much).

25. Focus areas

26. Focus Areas (Cont…) There are three (3) broad aspects that you must focus on for each question in long essay type to earn your marks, namely: 1 FLUENT AND GRAMMATICALLY CORRECT WRITING: Your language, grammar, spelling andpunctuation are of utmost importance and also contribute to the marking criteria. 2 FORMAT: Each question requires you to produce a different piece of writing. Readthe instructions carefully to ascertain what type of document or writing piece isrequired of you and adhere to all the formatting structures (such as headings,numbering, alignment, and so on) applicable to that document or writing piece. This is an important aspect that contributes to the marking criteria as well.

27. Focus Areas (Cont…) 3 CONTENT: Each question is based on a given scenario in this section. You must know your theory (that is the content of this course) well and then you need tocontextualise your writing within the given scenario. This is called application oftheory. Read the instructions carefully to ascertain what is required of you. Thecontent of your writing is a vital aspect that contributes to the marking criteria.

28. Q1, REPORT WRITING: GENERIC TEMPLATE

29. Q2, ESSAY WRITING Academic essay writing, require writing in third person Your essay should have an introduction body and conclusion (no subsections): INTRODUCTION: You needed a thesis statement outlining your position, which must be maintained throughout your essay A brief explanation – description of the topic and/or your viewpoint

30. Q2, ESSAY WRITING (Cont..) BODY: This section would have contained the actual argument of your point of view. Your point of view needed to be substantiated adequately with reasons. Your argument needed to be systematic and logical in nature. Balance theory and application (write in the third person only) Information / ideas should have been chunked into paragraphs that flow logically, whilst linking together at the same time. CONCLUSION: This section needed to sum up your argument and highlight the main points mentioned. A conclusion acts as a summary, therefore, no new information / ideas should have been included herein.

31. Q2, ESSAY WRITING: GEENRIC TEMPLATE

32. Q3, BUISNESS LETTER: GENERIC TEMPLATE

33. Q3, BUISNESS LETTER:GENERIC TEMPLATE..CONT

34. SELF ASSESMENT AND SELF REFLCETION QUESTIONS Aim: To provide you with an opportunity to reflect on this module in a focused manner. These questions were not based on any module content (theory or the application thereof), so there are no right or wrong answers. If you answered these questions reflectively and in full sentences, you would have been awarded the marks.

35. TECHNICAL PRESENTATION (10 marks) Refer to Tutorial Letter 301 (CMNALLE) You would have received 2 marks for each of the following that is present AND correct in your assignment: 1 Personal declaration of own work 2 Table of contents 3 Overall assignment introduction 4 Overall assignment conclusion 5 List of sources consulted

36. ASSIGNMENT 02

37. ASSIGNMENT 02 Submission due date: 25 September 2015 Consists of 25 multiple-choice questions (also known as MCQs). Refer to Tutorial Letter 201 for the answers and general feedback (only available AFTER the submission due date for Assignment 02). Incorporate the Tutorial Letter 201 feedback and guidelines into your examination preparation

38. MCQ Guidelines MCQs consist of the following components: Item: The question as a whole, with all of its associated parts. Stem: The part in which the question is asked or the problem stated. Options: The possible answers. Distracters: The incorrect or less correct options. Key: The correct

39. MCQ Guidelines

40. MCQ Guidelines Guidelines for answering MCQs: Identify the key issue in the question’s stem by looking for content keywords or action words. Remember that distracters in the question options are not necessarily completely wrong – you must, therefore, choose the most correct answer.

41. MCQ Guidelines Steps to follow when answering MCQs: 1Read and analyse the question’s stem carefully. Identify the content keywords or action words. 2 Anticipate the answer. Try to find the correct answer (key) yourself and then look for it among the options given. 3 Consider all of the given options carefully. Ensure that you read all the possible answers, as often most of the options seem acceptable and / or correct. 4 Compare the options carefully with each other to discover their differences. Pay special attention to words that can alter the meaning of the question’s stem

42. MCQ Guidelines (Cont…) 5 Use a process of elimination by crossing out all the incorrect options (distracters). Keep up the process of comparison and elimination until you are left with the option that you think is the best or most correct answer (key). 6 Finally, check your choice. Once you have made your choice, put the question’s stem and the correct option (key) together to ensure that they form a logical and the most correct answer.

43. Exam guidelines

44. Exam guidelines NO AUTOMATIC ADMISSION – you had to have submitted ASSIGNMENT 01 Both assignments count towards the year mark contributing a total of 20% towards your final mark (that is assignment 1 = 50% and assignment 2 = 50% of year mark) Duration: 2 hours Total marks:80 2 sections–Section A and Section B (see next slide)

46. Exam Guidelines Paragraph-/essay-type questions section  To be answered in an examination answer script: You will be required to answer the paragraph-/essay-type questions in an examination answer script that will be provided to you. You need to answer these questions in PEN. You may NOT answer the paragraph-/essay-type questions in pencil. If you do, the examination answer script will NOT be marked, and, therefore, you will get 0% for this section of the examination.

47. Exam Guidelines (Cont…) MCQs section To be answered on a mark-reading sheet: You will be required to fill in the MCQ answers on a mark-reading sheet that will be provided to you. You need to fill in the MCQ answers in PENCIL. Failure to fill in the answers in pencil will result in the computer not being able to mark the mark-reading sheet, and, therefore, you will get 0% for this section of the examination.

48. What to bring in the exam Yourself ;) 2 black HB pencils 1 pencil sharpener 1 eraser 2 pens (black or blue)

49. What to study? PRIMARY STUDY RESOURCE  PRESCRIBED BOOK SECONDARY STUDY RESOURCE STUDY GUIDE All tutorial letters Feedback on assignment 1 and 2 Past exam papers Practical application of the study material (theory) will be the main objective of the examination.

50. Exam Guidelines (Cont…) Technical requirements: None needed as required in Assignment 01(no personal declaration of own work, table of contents, overall examination introduction and conclusion, or referencing / list of sources consulted). Supplementary examination: To be written in the next semester(April/ May 2016).