Description Complete the Chapter Review exercise at the end of Chapter 7 and at the end of Chapter ...
Description Complete the Chapter Review exercise at the end of Chapter 7 and at the end of Chapter 8. 2 attachments Slide 1 of 2 attachment_1 attachment_1 attachment_2 attachment_2 UNFORMATTED ATTACHMENT PREVIEW End of Chapter Activities: Guffey/Loewy, Essentials of Business Communication, 12e End of Chapter Activities GUFFEY/LOEWY, ESSENTIALS OF BUSINESS COMMUNICATION, 12E CHAPTER 07: BAD-NEWS MESSAGES TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Review .................................................................................................................................1 Critical Thinking .................................................................................................................................1 Writing Improvement Exercises ..........................................................................................................2 Radical Rewrites ................................................................................................................................3 Activities and Cases............................................................................................................................5 Grammar/Mechanics Checkup - 7 ..................................................................................................... 12 Editing Challenge - 7......................................................................................................................... 13 Communication Workshop ............................................................................................................... 15 CHAPTER REVIEW 1. Name the goals of business communicators in conveying negative news, and explain how they can achieve these goals. (L.O. 1) 2. When delivering bad news, how can a communicator reduce the bad feelings of the receiver? (L.O. 1) 3. What are the major differences between the direct and indirect strategies in delivering bad news? (L.O. 2) 4. When is the direct strategy more effective than the indirect strategy in delivering bad news? (L.O. 2) 5. What does expressing empathy mean in delivering apologies? (L.O. 3) 6. What are some tips for business writers wishing to apologize effectively? (L.O. 3) 7. Describe the writing plan for refusing typical requests and claims. (L.O. 4) 8. What are some strategies to manage unfavorable news on social media effectively? (L.O. 4) 9. Explain how a subordinate can tactfully, professionally, and safely deliver upsetting news in person to a superior. (L.O. 5) 10. Name some of the channels that large organizations may use to deliver bad news to employees. (L.O. 5) CRITICAL THINKING 11. Mike Michalowicz, author of Profit First and CEO of Provendus Group, quotes a famous American poet to illustrate how he refuses unpleasant potential clients: “Emily Dickinson said speak the truth but with slant. You don’t have to say something so coldly it starts an argument. We usually tell the client we don’t have © 2022 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part. 1 End of Chapter Activities: Chapter 07: Bad-News Messages resources to support your specific needs,” he says.i Discuss this strategy, its advantages, and disadvantages. (L.O. 3) 12. Consider this view voiced by Robert Bies, professor of management at Georgetown University: “Bad news should never come as a surprise. Failure to warn senior leadership of impending bad news, such as poor sales or a loss of a major client, is a cardinal sin. So is failure to warn subordinates about mistakes in their performance and provide an opportunity for them to make corrections and improve.”ii Do you agree or disagree? Give reasons for your position. (L.O. 1–3) 13. Recall a situation during which you chose to remain silent instead of revealing what would have been unfavorable news or negative feedback to the recipient. Why did you keep the negative news or feedback to yourself, and what may be the consequences of such reticence? (L.O. 1–5) 14. Consider times when you have been aware that others were using the indirect strategy in writing or speaking to you. How did you react? (L.O. 2) 15. At a sustainability conference, Levi Strauss CEO Chip Bergh caused a viral sensation by revealing he had never laundered his two-year-old Levi’s in a washing machine. Instead, he hand-washed and line-dried his jeans every few months. His point was that jeans shouldn’t be washed all the time, but people thought it meant Bergh never washed them. The fallout from this one quip continues even years later: “Today, if you type ‘CEO Levi’s’ into Google, ‘don’t wash jeans’ comes up,” Bergh says. “I expect that my supposed antilaundry stance will be mentioned in my obituary.”iii Can you think of other, more negative examples of executives’ offhand public comments causing consternation and worse? (L.O. 4) WRITING IMPROVEMENT EXERCISES Passive-Voice Verbs (L.O. 3) Passive-voice verbs may be preferable in breaking bad news because they enable you to emphasize actions rather than personalities. Compare these two refusals: Example Active voice: We cannot send any executives to the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland, this year. Passive voice: No executives can be sent to the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland, this year. Your Task. Revise the following refusals so that they use passive-voice instead of active-voice verbs. If possible, present the bad news positively. 16. Because we are retooling our production line, we are postponing requests for company tours until the fall. 17. We cannot examine new patients until we have verified their insurance coverage. 18. Company policy prevents us from offering health and dental benefits until employees have been on the job for 12 months. 19. The manager and I have arranged for the investors to have lunch after the tour. 20. Unfortunately, we cannot offer free shipping after January 1. Act now! © 2022 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part. 2 End of Chapter Activities: Chapter 07: Bad-News Messages Subordinate Clauses (L.O. 3) You can further soften the effect of bad news by placing it in an introductory subordinate clause that begins with although, since, or because. The emphasis in a sentence is on the independent clause. Instead of saying Unfortunately, we no longer print and mail a catalog, but we offer all catalog selections on our website, try Although a print catalog is no longer available, you will find all catalog selections on our website. Your Task. Revise the following so that the bad news is de-emphasized in a dependent clause that precedes an independent clause. 21. We are sorry to disappoint you, but our nine-day boat excursion to the Galápagos Islands has filled up quickly and is now fully booked. We can place you on a wait list that would make you only the second in line. 22. Your frequent flyer miles expire on December 31 because you have earned no qualifying segments during this calendar year. However, you could keep your miles if you apply for our Northeastern credit card and spend $2,000 in the next three months. 23. We are pleased by your interest in our firm, but we are unable to extend an employment offer to you at this time. 24. Regretfully, we cannot supply you with the cabinet hinge you requested. The manufacturer no longer offers it. A new hinge should work for you, and we are sending it to you. Implying Bad News (L.O. 3) Bad news can be de-emphasized by implying a refusal instead of stating it directly. Compare these refusals: Example Direct refusal: We cannot send you a price list, nor can we sell our spas directly to consumers. We sell exclusively through distributors, and your local distributor is SpaWorld. Implied refusal: Our spas are sold exclusively through local distributors, and your distributor is SpaWorld. Your Task. Revise the following refusals so that the bad news is implied. If possible, use passive-voice verbs and subordinate clauses to further de-emphasize the bad news. 25. We cannot ship our fine steaks and hamburgers c.o.d. Your order was not accompanied by payment, so we are not shipping it. We have it ready, though, and will rush it to your home if you call us with your credit card number. 26. Unfortunately, we cannot contribute to your worthy charitable cause this year. At present we need all the funds of our organization to lease new equipment and offices for our new branch in Clearwater. We hope to be able to support this endeavor in the future. 27. Because our government contract has run out, we must disband the task force managing the project. Some of you will be reassigned; unfortunately, we will also have to let a few team members go. RADICAL REWRITES 7.1 Radical Rewrite: Request Refusal—No to Taste of the Beach (L.O. 1, 2, 4) The following blunt refusal from a restaurant owner rejects a previously agreed-to favor. To avoid endangering a friendship and losing community goodwill, the writer needs to revise this message. © 2022 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part. 3 End of Chapter Activities: Chapter 07: Bad-News Messages Your Task. Analyze the message. List at least five weaknesses and suggest ways to improve this message. If your instructor directs, revise the letter. Current date Ms. Sally Segovia Taste of the Beach 310 Ocean Avenue, Suite 304 Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA 93521 Dear Ms. Segovia: Unfortunately, we cannot participate in this summer’s Taste of the Beach event. This may be particularly disappointing to you because, merely as a friendly gesture, I had earlier agreed to provide a selection of tasty hors d’oeuvres from my restaurant, The Zodiac. I’m sorry to let you down like this. We have participated in the past, but we just can’t do it this year because our aging kitchen facilities require major and extensive remodeling. I heard that this year’s Taste of the Beach is really going to be a blast with new and old food, wine, music, and artistic offerings. How did you get so many prized vintners and all those wellknown chefs, artists, and music groups to participate and perform? This is probably quite disappointing to you (and to me) because the event supports Big Brothers Big Sisters of America. I know that BBBSA is simply the very best as a youth mentoring organization. Let me repeat—I’m sorry we can’t participate. Don’t bother to beg me. But for your silent raffle we can offer you a coupon for a dinner for two. Of course, this could not be used until October when our renovations are completed. Sincerely, 7.2 Radical Rewrite: Bad News to Customers—Guard Payment Systems Was Hacked (L.O. 1, 2, 4) The following poorly written e-mail tells customers that their e-mail addresses have been hacked. However, the message is clumsy and fails to include essential information in revealing security breaches to customers. Your Task. Analyze the message and list at least five weaknesses. If your instructor directs, revise it using the suggestions you learned in this chapter about security breach messages. To: Detlev Max From: Fanny Bettino Subject: Security Incident at Guard Payment Systems Companies and individuals across the country are experiencing more and more security breaches. This is just to let you know that you are receiving this e-mail because of a recent unfortunate © 2022 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part. 4 End of Chapter Activities: Chapter 07: Bad-News Messages security breach at Guard Payment Systems. Rest assured, however, that as a customer of Guard Payment, your privacy was never at risk. We promise to guard your privacy around the clock. Hackers last week were able to maliciously exploit a new function that we were trying to use to make the customer log-in process faster for you and our other customers. The hackers were ingenious and malicious, going to extreme lengths to gain access to some customer addresses at Guard Payment. You should now beware of scams that may result from your address being used in phishing scams. To learn more, go to https://www.fdic.gov/consumers/consumer/alerts/phishing.html. To provide even more information about this incident, the U.S. Postal Service will bring you a letter with more information. Taking your privacy very seriously, e-mail addresses are heavily protected here at Guard Payment. Within hours of the hacker break-in, the log-in mechanism was disabled, and a new procedure was established. The user is now required to enter their e-mail address and their password before they can log in successfully. E-mail addresses were the only information the hackers got. Other information such as account information and other personal information were never risked. We appreciate you being a Guard Payment customer. Sincerely, ACTIVITIES AND CASES 7.3 Request Refusal: Walk With Love Stopped in Its Tracks (L.O. 1-4) E-Mail Web Having enjoyed a meteoric rise, CompuBotics Incorporated prides itself on its commitment to employees who receive generous benefits and are steeped in a supportive corporate culture. This core value may have contributed to the company’s high ranking among Fortune magazine’s 50 Best Startups. The software company wants to be known for its community involvement and corporate social responsibility. This is why, like most successful companies, CompuBotics receives many requests for sponsorships of charity events and community projects. True to its innovative spirit, the software company has streamlined the application process by providing an online sponsorship request form on its website. You work in Corporate Affairs/Community Relations at CompuBotics and periodically help decide which nonprofits obtain support. Just yesterday you received an e-mail from Walk With Love, the largest fundraising vehicle of the Dr. Susan Love Foundation. Since 2008, Walk With Love has raised millions of dollars to support groundbreaking breast cancer research. Both Charity Navigator and Medical News Today ranked the Dr. Susan Love Foundation the top breast cancer research organization in the United States for its stewardship of © 2022 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part. 5 End of Chapter Activities: Chapter 07: Bad-News Messages resources and impact. The organization hosts annual fundraising walks in Pacific Palisades, Palm Springs, and Santa Barbara, California. The walk organizers would like CompuBotics to sponsor its fundraising walks in California taking place in less than a month, three events potentially drawing at least 6,000 participants. Your company is already funding several cancer charities and has a policy of sponsoring many causes. Naturally, no corporate giving program has infinite funds, nor can it green-light every request. The team judging the sponsorship entries wants to ensure that each proposal reaches audiences affiliated with CompuBotics. Most important, applicants must submit their requests at least six weeks before the event. Your Task. As a junior staff member in Corporate Affairs/Community Relations, write an e-mail to Walk With Love event director Michelle Chang (mchang@wwl.org) refusing her initial request and explaining the CompuBotics sponsorship philosophy and submission rules. 7.4 Request Refusal: No Support for Kaboom! This Time (L.O. 1, 2, 4) As a vice president of a financial services company, you serve many clients, and they sometimes ask your company to contribute to their favorite charities. You recently received a letter from Mia Takeshi asking for a substantial contribution to Kaboom!, a charity devoted to making playgrounds safe for everyone, including children with disabilities. On visits to your office, Ms. Takeshi has told you about her organization’s efforts to update existing playgrounds as well as install new play areas around the nation to make playground equipment completely safe and accessible to all kids. She herself is active in your town as a Kaboom! volunteer, helping identify outdated playgrounds, finding sites for new playgrounds, and allocate construction funds. You have a soft spot in your heart for children and especially for those with disabilities. You sincerely want to support Kaboom! and its good work. But times are tough, and you can’t be as generous as you have been in the past. Ms. Takeshi wrote a special letter to you asking you to become a Key Contributor, with a pledge of $2,000. Your Task. Write a refusal letter that maintains good relations with your client. Address it to Ms. Mia Takeshi, 47 Beach Street, Lynchburg, VA 24502. 7.5 Request Refusal: No Disclosure of Sensitive Data (L.O. 1, 2, 4) E-Mail A well-known financial blogger, Dora Wieland, is doing research for her industry blog In the Know. Specifically, she seeks information about salary and commission information of the star salespeople at PharmaCore, a large pharmaceutical firm, for an article comparing compensation levels and diversity across several large pharmaceutical companies. She also wants to know the star salespeople’s demographic information, such as ages, ethnicities, and genders. Allan Gottschalk, director of public affairs and communication, must deny Dora’s request because of privacy concerns and fear of litigation. Each salesperson works under an individual contract as a result of salary negotiations conducted several years ago. At the time, agreement was reached that both the sales staff and management would keep the terms of the individual contracts confidential. The communication director remembers that three of the top salespeople are currently under the age of thirty-five. Allan acknowledges that an article juxtaposing salaries and commissions with age, gender, and ethnicity of the salesforce could be interesting to industry insiders. PharmaCore boasts many diverse salespeople of various ages, several rising starts among them, who command top salaries. Your Task. Draft a tactful reply for an e-mail to be signed and sent by Allan Gottschalk denying Dora’s request; the message should maintain the goodwill of this influential writer. PharmaCore cannot disclose salaries and © 2022 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part. 6 End of Chapter Activities: Chapter 07: Bad-News Messages commission rates. However, the company is willing to share a list with the names of the top salespeople for a period of the past five years and a few short bios of current stars. 7.6 Request Refusal: Thank You, But I Can’t Give a Talk (L.O. 1–4) As an assistant to body language expert and author Tonya Reiman, you must help her politely decline an invitation to speak at the University of South Carolina in Columbia. The business associations on campus pooled their resources and decided to invite Ms. Reiman to give a talk about nonverbal communication. A sought-after TV commentator and consultant, Ms. Reiman is the author of three books, The Power of Body Language, The YES Factor, and The Body Language of Dating. In their invitation, the students demonstrated they had done their homework. They knew Ms. Reiman’s books and were fascinated by her focus on proxemics, power gestures, projecting the best image, building rapport, and reading microexpressions. Ms. Reiman likes to speak to young students, mostly pro bono or for a nominal fee, but during the spring semester she is too busy writing a new book and providing training to several domestic and international companies. She could, however, send her deputy director and senior trainer, Tinashe Efe. Your Task. In Ms. Reiman’s name, refuse the invitation but suggest an alternative. Send your letter to Celeste Gunvaldsen, Associated Students, University of South Carolina, 1244 Blossom Street, Suite 206, Columbia, SC 29208. Note that Celeste is a gender-unspecific name. How will you handle the honorific (Ms., Mr., etc.) in your letter? 7.7 Request Refusal: No Eviction for Noise (L.O. 1–4) Web As the owner of the Corporate Center in Springfield, Illinois, you must respond to the request of Troy E. Washko, one of the tenants in your two-story office building. Mr. Washko, a CPA, demands that you immediately evict a neighboring tenant who plays loud music throughout the day, interfering with Mr. Washko’s conversations with clients and with his concentration. The noisy tenant, Robert Murphy, seems to operate an entertainment booking agency and spends long hours in his office. You know you can’t evict Mr. Murphy because, as a legal commercial tenant, he is entitled to conduct his business. However, you might consider adding soundproofing, an expense that you would prefer to share with Mr. Murphy and Mr. Washko. You might also discuss limiting the time of day that Mr. Murphy could make noise. Your Task. Before responding to Mr. Washko, you decide to find out more about commercial tenancy. Use the Web to search the keywords commercial eviction. Then develop a course of action. In a letter to Mr. Washko, deny his request but retain his goodwill. Tell him how you plan to resolve the problem. Write to Troy Washko, CPA, Suite 300, Corporate Center, 3631 South 6th Street, Springfield, IL 62703. Your instructor may also ask you to write an appropriate message to Robert Murphy occupying Suite 350. 7.8 Claim Denial: Expensive Glasses Lost on the Plane (L.O. 1–4) Atlantic Southern Airlines (ASA) had an unhappy customer. Casey Segal-Jain flew from Baltimore, Maryland, to Seattle, Washington. The flight stopped briefly at Detroit Metropolitan Airport, where Ms. Segal-Jain got off the plane for half an hour. When she returned to her seat, her $400 prescription reading glasses were gone. She asked the flight attendant where the glasses were, and the attendant said they probably were thrown away since the cleaning crew had come in with big bags and tossed everything in them. Ms. Segal-Jain tried to locate the glasses through the airline’s lost-and-found service, but she failed. © 2022 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part. 7 End of Chapter Activities: Chapter 07: Bad-News Messages Then she wrote a strong letter to the airline demanding reimbursement for the loss. She felt that it was obvious that she was returning to her seat. The airline, however, knows that an overwhelming number of passengers arriving at hubs switch planes for their connecting flights. The airline does not know who is returning. What’s more, flight attendants usually announce that the plane is continuing to another city and that passengers who are returning should take their belongings. Cabin cleaning crews speed through planes removing newspapers, magazines, leftover food, and trash. Airlines feel no responsibility for personal items left in cabins. Your Task. As a staff member of the Customer Relations Department of Atlantic Southern Airlines, deny the customer’s claim but retain her goodwill using techniques learned in this chapter. The airline never refunds cash, but it might consider travel vouchers for the value of the glasses. Remember that apologies cost nothing. Write a claim denial to Casey Segal-Jain, 999 3rd Avenue, Apt. 45, Seattle, WA 98104. 7.9 Claim Denial: Consumers Empowered by Social Media (L.O. 1–4) E-Mail Social Media Web The growth of social media has spawned many platforms dedicated to customer reviews and complaints—for example, Angie’s List, which profiles local service companies, contractors, and professionals—or Yelp, a site with user reviews of eateries, bars, doctors, dentists, and hair salons. For travelers, Tripadvisor has become a force to be reckoned with, featuring reviews, price comparisons, and booking options. More specifically, sites such as Cruise Critic focus solely on vacations by ship or CarComplaints takes aim at automobiles. Alternatively, visit Sitejabber, Ripoff Report, or another complaint site. Study ten or more complaints about products or companies (e.g., iPhone, Starbucks, Delta Air Lines). Of course, examples of official complaint sites include the Better Business Bureau and government agencies such as Consumer Complaint Database, Federal Trade Commission, state attorneys general, USAGov, Federal Communications Commission, and more. Your Task. Select one complaint and, as a company representative, respond to it employing some of the techniques presented in this chapter. Submit a copy of the complaint along with your response to your instructor. Your instructor may request that you write an e-mail or a letter. 7.10 Customer Bad News: Announcing a Price Increase (L.O. 1–4) E-Mail Web Select a product or service that you now use (e.g., Internet or cable service, water or electricity, propane or natural gas, smartphone or landline, or car insurance). Assume that the provider must raise its rates and that you are the employee who must notify customers. Should you use an e-mail, a letter, company website, or blog? Decide whether you should use the direct or indirect strategy. Gather as much information as you can about the product or service. What, if anything, justifies the increase? What benefits can be cited? For inspiration study the example below. Netflix announced the most recent increase in its subscription price to existing customers via e-mail. © 2022 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part. 8 End of Chapter Activities: Chapter 07: Bad-News Messages Hi Gabby, We hope you have been enjoying your Netflix membership. We are writing to let you know about an upcoming change. Your monthly price is increasing to $12.99 on Tuesday, May 21. Why? We’re hard at work improving Netflix so that you can have even more great TV shows and movies to enjoy. Here’s to watching what you want, when you want, where you want. You can change your plan, or if you do not wish to continue your membership, as always you can cancel any time at netflix.com/cancel. We’re here to help if you need it. Visit the Help Center for more info or contact us. —The Netflix Team [Comp: Underscores represent links.] Your Task. Analyze the Netflix e-mail announcing the price hike. Does the message follow the practices recommended in this chapter? Prepare your own rate increase announcement. Submit it along with a memo explaining your rationale for the strategy you chose and include your analysis of the Netflix example. 7.11 Bad News to Applicants: “Human Error” Admits Rejected Students (L.O. 1–4) E-Mail The University of South Florida St. Petersburg recently made a big mistake. It inadvertently welcomed 430 rejected applicants. The e-mail said, “Once again congratulations on your admission to USFSP! We are excited to welcome you to the university and are very proud of all that you have accomplished so far! I also wanted to provide you with your next steps.” The message then provided instructions for students to obtain their university IDs, pay a tuition deposit, apply for housing, and more. iv That message was intended to be sent to the 250 students who had been accepted. Instead, it went to a subset of students whose applications were still under review or denied. Chancellor Martin Tadlock blamed human error in the admissions office for the mistake. “We regret it,” Tadlock said in an interview. “We pride ourselves on our relationship with the community, and this doesn’t represent that. It was an error and a mistake.”v One applicant who had received the acceptance e-mail in error, Alexandria Rizzotto, was very disappointed: “I was very, very let down because I’ve been waiting for a final decision from them since November now.” vi What could the university do to correct this massive slip-up? Your Task. For Chancellor Martin Tadlock, write an appropriate bad-news message to the students who received the message in error. Many applicants will be wondering what their real admission status is. 7.12 Customer Bad News: Which Elliptical for 24-Hour Fitness? (L.O. 1–4) You are happy to receive a large order from Finn Valentino at 24-Hour Fitness gym. This order includes two Olympic Benches (at $349 each), three Stamina Power Towers (at $249 each), three sets of Premier Dumbbells (at $105 each), and two Titanic 20 Ellipticals (at $1,099 each). You could ship immediately except for one problem. The Titanic 20 Elliptical, as rated by Consumer Reports, is intended for home use, not for gym or club use. More and more fitness lovers are purchasing ellipticals because they have better track records than treadmills and stair climbers for aerobic exercise. The Titanic 20 is effective for personal use. However, this is not the model you would recommend for club use. The Titanic 90 is larger, sturdier, and safer for commercial gyms. It also has extras such as a built-in cooling fan, water bottle holder, and speakers that allow users to hook up to any smartphone or MP3 player for easy listening. You believe that Mr. Valentino should order the Titanic 90 Elliptical. It’s solidly built, comes with a chest-strap heart-rate monitor, has 20 © 2022 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part. 9 End of Chapter Activities: Chapter 07: Bad-News Messages resistance levels, and features a lifetime warranty on its frame. For gym use, the Titanic 90 is clearly better. The bad news is that it is considerably more expensive at $3,100 per machine. You get no response when you try to telephone Mr. Valentino to discuss the problem. Should you ship what you can, or hold the entire order until you learn whether he wants the Titanic 20 or the Titanic 90 Elliptical? Another option is to substitute the Titanic 90 and send only one of them. Another possibility is sending one of the home models and one of the gym models. Your Task. Decide what to do and then send an e-mail to Finn Valentino (fvalentino@24hourfitness.com). 7.13 Customer Bad News: Pay Day Delayed (L.O. 1?4) Team Carlos Felix, a printing company sales manager, must tell one of his clients that the payroll checks her company ordered are not going to be ready by the date Carlos had promised. The printing company’s job scheduler overlooked the job and didn’t get the checks into production in time to meet the deadline. As a result, Carlos’s client, a major insurance company, is going to miss its pay run. Carlos meets with internal department heads. They decide on the following plan to remedy the situation: (a) move the check order to the front of the production line; (b) make up for the late production date by shipping some of the checks—enough to meet their client’s immediate payroll needs—by air freight; (c) deliver the remaining checks by truck. Your Task. Form groups of three or four students. Discuss the following issues about how to present the bad news to Jeanine Pradip, Carlos’s contact person at the insurance company. a. Should Carlos call Jeanine directly or delegate the task to his assistant? b. When should Jeanine be informed of the problem? c. What is the best procedure for delivering the bad news? d. What follow-up would you recommend to Carlos? Be prepared to share your group’s responses during a class discussion. Your instructor may ask two students to role-play the presentation of the bad news, and request that you write a follow-up message to Jeanine. 7.14 Employee Bad News: No to Tuition Assistance (L.O. 1–5) E-Mail Naomi Emery, a hardworking auto damage adjuster, has sent an e-mail request asking that her employer create a program to reimburse the tuition and book expenses for employees taking college courses. Naomi knows that some companies have such a program, for example, GEICO, but Ensurit Mutual Insurance has not felt that it could indulge in such an expensive employee perk. Moreover, the CEO is not convinced that companies see any direct benefit from such programs. Employees improve their educational credentials and skills, but what is to keep them from moving that education and those skill sets to other employers? Ensurit Mutual has over 200 employees. If even a fraction of them started classes, the company could see a huge bill for the cost of tuition and books. Because the insurance is facing stiff competition and its profits are sinking, the expense of such a program makes it out of the question. In addition, it would involve administration—applications,
