ICMIND INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT - IIM

SUBJECT: PROFESSIONAL BUSINESS COMMUNICATION MARKS: 100 Attempt Any Four Case Study with All Questions Compulsory | All questions equal marks. CASE I: A Reply Sent to an Erring Customer Dear Sir, Your letter of the 23rd, with a cheque for Rs. 25,000/- on account, is to hand. We note what you say as to the difficulty you experience in collecting your outstanding accounts, but we are compelled to remark that we do not think you are treating us with the consideration we have a right to expect. It is true that small remittances have been forwarded from time to time, but the debit balance against you has been steadily increasing during the past twelve months until it now stands at the considerable total of Rs. 85,000/Having regard to the many years during which you have been a customer of this house and the, generally speaking, satisfactory character of your account, we are reluctant to resort to harsh measures. We must, however, insist that the existing balance should be cleared off by regular installments of say Rs. 10,000/- per month, the first installment to reach us by the 7th. In the meantime you shall pay cash for all further goods; we are allowing you an extra 3% discount in lieu of credit. We shall be glad to hear from you about this arrangement, as otherwise we shall have no alternative but definitely to close your account and place the matter in other hands. Yours truly. Questions: 1. Comment on the appropriateness of the senders tone to a customer. 2. Point out the old fashioned phrases and expressions. 3. Rewrite the reply according to the principles of effective writing in business.

www.icmind.com | exam@icmind.com |Page 1 of 8

ICMIND INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT - IIM

SUBJECT: PROFESSIONAL BUSINESS COMMUNICATION MARKS: 100 CASE II: ADVERTISING RADIO FM BRAND A young, gorgeous woman is standing in front of her apartment window dancing to the 1970s tune, All Right Now by the one hit band free. Across the street a young man looks out of his apartment window and notices her. He moves closer to the window, taking interest. She cranks up the volume and continues dancing, looking out the window at the fellow, who smiles hopefully and waves meekly. He holds up a bottle of wine and waves it, apparently inviting her over for a drink. The lady waves back. He kisses the bottle and excitedly says, Yesss. Then, he gazes around his apartment and realizes that it is a mess. No! he exclaims in a worried tone of voice. Frantically, he does his best to quickly clean up the place, stuffing papers under the sofa and putting old food back in the refrigerator, He slips on a black shirt, slicks back his hair, sniffs his armpit, and lets out an excited , Yeahhh! in eager anticipation of entertaining the young lady. He goes back to the window and sees the woman still dancing away. He points to his watch, as if to say Come on. It is getting late. As she just continues dancing, he looks confused. Then a look of sudden insight appears on his face, Five, he says to himself. He turns on his radio, and it too is playing All Right Now. The man goes to his window and starts dancing as he watches his lady friend continue stepping. Five, yeah, he says as he makes the okay sign with his thumb and forefinger. He waves again. Everyone in the apartment building is dancing by their window to All Right Now. A super appears on the screen: Are you on the right wavelength? Questions: 1. What is non verbal communication? Why do you suppose that this commercial relies primarily on non-verbal communication between a young man and a gorgeous woman? What types of non verbal communication are being used in this case? 2. Would any of the non-verbal communications in this spot (ad) not work well in another culture? 3. What role does music play in this spot? Who is the target market? 4. Is the music at all distracting from the message? 5. How else are radio stations advertised on TV?

www.icmind.com | exam@icmind.com |Page 2 of 8

ICMIND INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT - IIM

SUBJECT: PROFESSIONAL BUSINESS COMMUNICATION MARKS: 100 CASE III: Arvind Pandey Caught in Business Web Arvind Pandey is a project manager at Al Saba Construction Company in Muscat. It s a flourishing company with several construction projects in Muscat and abroad. It is known for completing projects on time and with high quantity construction. The companys Chairman is a rich and a highly educated Omani. A German engineer is Arvinds Vice President for urban and foreign construction projects. Three months ago, Al Saba had submitted a tender for a major construction project in Kuwait. Its quotation was for $ 25 million. In Kuwait the project was sponsored and announced by a US based construction company called Fuma. According to Al Saba, their bid of $ 25 million was modest but had included a high margin of profit. On 25 April, Arvind was asked to go to Kuwait to find out from the Fuma project manager the status of their construction proposal. Arvind was delighted to know that Fuma had decided to give his company, (Al Saba) the construction project work. The project meant a lot of effort and money in planning the proposed construction in Kuwait. But before Arvind could tank the Fuma project manager, he was told that their bird should be raised to $ 28 million. Arvind was surprised. He tried to convince the Fuma project manager that his (Arvind company had the bast reputation for doing construction work in a cost effective way. However, he could always raise the bid by $ 3 million. But he wanted to know why he was required to do so. The Fuma managers reply was, Thats the way we do our business in this part of the world, $ 1 million will go to our Managing Director in the US, I shall get $ 1 million, you, Mr. Pandey, will get $ 1 million in a specified account in Swiss Bank. Arvind asked, But why me? So that you never talk about it to any one. The Fuma Project Manager said. Arvind promised never to leak it out to any one else. And he tried to bargain to raise the bid by $ 2 million. For Arvind was familiar with the practice of pay offs involved in any such thing. He thought it was against his loyalty to his company and his personal ethics. Arvind promised the Fuma project manager that the bid would be raised to $ 28 million and fresh papers would be put in. He did not want to lose the job. He came back to Muscat and kept trying to figure out how he should place the whole thing before his German Vice President. He obviously was at a loss. Questions: 1. Analyse the reasons for Arvind Pandeys dilemma. 2. Does Arvind Pandey really face a dilemma? 3. In your view what should Arvind Pandey do? Should he disclose it to his German Vice President?

www.icmind.com | exam@icmind.com |Page 3 of 8

ICMIND INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT - IIM

SUBJECT: PROFESSIONAL BUSINESS COMMUNICATION MARKS: 100 CASE IV: Company Accepting a Contract A computer company was negotiating a very large order with a large size corporation. They had a very good track record with this client. In this corporation, five different departments had pooled their requirements and budgets. A committee was formed which had representation from all the departments. The corporation wanted the equipment on a long lease and not outright purchase. Further, they wanted the entire hardware and software form one supplier. This meant that there should be bought out items from many suppliers since no one supplier could meet all the requirements of supply from its range of products. The corporation provided an exhaustive list of very difficult terms and conditions and pressurized the vendors to accept. The computer company who was finally awarded the contract had agreed to overall terms that were fine as far as their own products were concerned but had also accepted the same terms for the brought out items. In this case, the bought out items were to be imported through a letter of credit. The percentage of the bought out items versus their own manufacture was also very high. One of the terms accepted was that the system would be accepted over a period of 10 days after all the hardware had been linked up and software loaded. The computer company started facing trouble immediately on supply. There were over 100 computers over a distance connected with one another with software on it. For the acceptance tests, it had been agreed that the computer company would demonstrate as a pre-requisite the features they had claimed during technical discussions. Now, as you are aware, if a Hero Honda motorcycle claims 80 km to a litre of petrol, it is under ideal test conditions and if a motorcycle from the showroom were to be tried for this test before being accepted, it would never pass the test. In corporations case, due to internal politics, the corporation persons from one department who insisted on going exactly by the contract did not sign acceptance since the system could not meet the ideal test conditions. Further, in a classic case of, for want of a horse shoe, payment for the horse was held up, the computer company tried to get the system accepted and payment released. The system was so large that at any point of time over a period of 10 days something small or the other always gave problems. But the corporation took the stand that as far as they were concerned the contracts clearly were concerned the contract clearly mentioned that the system had to be tested as a whole and not module by module. Questions: 1. Comment on the terms and conditions placed by the corporation. 2. What factors influenced the computer companys decision to accept the contract? 3. Was it a win win agreement? Discuss?

www.icmind.com | exam@icmind.com |Page 4 of 8

ICMIND INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT - IIM

SUBJECT: PROFESSIONAL BUSINESS COMMUNICATION MARKS: 100 Case V: HAZARDS OF HILLS INTRODUCTION This case is based on an actual incident which took place in an Army Unit deployed in field area. A part of a Battery (about of an Artillery Regiment) was deployed in a snow bound high altitude area of Kashmir. This was the first time, an artillery unit was deployed in an area with roads and tracks still under development. Preparation of this area for such a development needed a lot of digging for guns, pits for ammunition storage, living place of the personnel, slit trenches and weapon pits for local defence against any possible enemy/terrorists attack on the position, place for storage of rations, cook-house and communication trenches, etc. The total strength of the party deployed there was a) Officer - 1 (Second Lieutenant with about one year service) b) Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO) - 1] c) Jawans 40 The Battery Commander (BC) remained with the Regiment Headquarters at Srinagar (with the remaining part of the Battery) as per the orders of the commanding Officer. There was a vehicle with the part of the Battery which was deployed at high altitude to assist in the daily administration of the troops like collection of ration, stores for preparation of defences, water, and ferrying of personnel from one place to another. The vehicle could go only upto a limited number of places due to bad road conditions and steep gradients. Only one driver was kept for this vehicle to reduce administrative problems due to more number of personnel. The vehicle completed about 35 to 40 kms. of running daily in its routine commitments. The part had just been inducted about two weeks back. The defences were being prepared which involved lot of effort in digging of hardened ground due to the cold winter months of November. The defence stores were to be collected, once the digging was complete, from another Engineering Unit located about 5 kms. to the rear. The roads were treacherous; with a number of stones and slides falling down occasionally during drizzle due to precipitation in atmosphere, there were steep gradients, narrow roads with sheer falls on one side due to the road having cut into the side of hills. The digging was complete by end November. In the month of December, snow fall at that location was expected any time, as it had already started snowing in the higher reaches and tops of mountains. The digging had been completed in a record time of two weeks. The party under the stewardship of the young officer had done a commendable job. In the first week of December, the only driver of the vehicle reported pain in the chest and problem in breathing. He was evacuated by helicopter the next day with instructions to inform the unit to send another driver for the vehicle. It took about three days for any one to reach this area, with staying of two nights enroute in order to acclimatise by stages. The detachment was to be without any driver for about three days. Another driver was detailed to proceed to this area, after having been medically examined and found fit. A day after the dispatch of the driver, the young officer with this party arrived in the unit and reported that the vehicle had fallen from a hill-side road and was completely damaged. The office was in a complete state of disarray and shock. What actually had happened goes something like this. After the first driver of the vehicle was evacuated, the weather started turning bad and it seemed that it was going to snow that day. The officer realised that in case of snow fall all the efforts put in by the troops would go waste, if the dug-ins were not covered. Realising this, he borrowed a driver of an ambulance from a local medical unit to direct his vehicle for collection of defence stores. After the
www.icmind.com | exam@icmind.com |Page 5 of 8

ICMIND INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT - IIM

SUBJECT: PROFESSIONAL BUSINESS COMMUNICATION MARKS: 100 stores had been collected and dumped at the site of defences, the vehicle was being driven back to the partys location. Before it could reach this location, it had to negotiate a dusty and steep track. At a steep climb the vehicle stalled and got switched off. All the men got down, prevented the vehicle from reversing by putting stones behind the wheels and started checking what had gone wrong. After the check on the engine had been carried out, the bonnet cover slipped off the hands of the driver while closing it and fell to closing it and fell to closing position with a bang. Because of the jerk thus created, the stones placed behind the vehicle slipped off. It was later discovered that there was a glassy smooth layer of ice under the thin layer of dirt which could not hold the stones firmly and stopped upside down because of the obstruction created by a big boulder. As there was no one in the vehicle, there were no injuries to personnel. On close inspection by the officers, it was found that the vehicle body, cabin, bonnet steering wheel and two of the four wheels were badly damaged. The office, being quite young and inexperienced, could not ascertain the real condition of the engine and chassis. He thought those too were damaged, whereas because of some providential chance, the chassis and engine remained intact. The BC was given the responsibility of getting the vehicle back to the unit. He was given a vehicle fitter and recovery vehicle with a driver. The BC took two more Non-Commissioned Officers (NCOs) and proceeded to the location to retrieve the vehicle. It took two days to reach with a few hours of the last leg of the journey in complete darkness in that snow bound area with treacherous slippery roads. On reaching the location, the Commanding Officer of the local unit, who happened to be the Station Commander of that sector, expressed his unhappiness on their taking such a great risk. With the assistance of all ranks of that unit, who came in willingly, it took two days to get the vehicle out of the boulder strewn area on to a track. It was a minor military operation in itself in that hostile terrain, and inclement weather of high altitude. The troops and officer had a very good rapport with those of the local unit and there was not much of a problem in getting the men of that unit to assist. While coming back, the hazards of night journey were very obvious. There was a thick layer of snow on the road with slope towards the khuds as layers after layers kept on accumulating, freezing before the water could roll down the complete slope. There were steep falls on one side. Both these phenomena, peculiar to hilly terrain, were not very discernible because of the darkness. The headlights of the vehicles exposed very little. There were frozen nalas where the vehicle would skid, aligning itself in the direction of the frozen nala, which tended to prove quite dangerous at times. At such places, the few troops and officer available would get down, push the vehicle to keep it aligned to the road and in turn slip down themselves on the frozen snow, most of the times face-down, in an attempt to push the vehicle. Though the situation was quite grave, it sometimes bordered on being humorous with everyone laughing spontaneously. At one place, the BC, pushing the vehicle to keep its tail and aligned to the direction of road, fell down, slipped a few feet down the frozen nala and landed up head down in a frozen khud about five feet deep. But for the direction of landing, the slip and fall could have proved quite dangerous. There was complete silence. The vehicle was gently stopped on the snow itself, secured with pegs along the wheels and rescue operation commenced for the ditch. There were several humorous remarks by the BC and the tension was relieved at once, with troops working on the vehicle with renewed vigour and strength once again. At another place, the recovery vehicle with the damaged vehicle behind it at suspension toe slipped, but because of the dexerity of the driver, it was saved from going down a nala by putting it on the left. The BC himself was in the recovery vehicle to give encouragement and moral support to the driver, sharing all the risks which his troops were facing. He did all that the troops did, while directing, controlling and executing. The party with the vehicle, reached the unit location on the evening of the second day after starting from a high altitude area. The problem of recovery of the vehicle being resolved, the question of enquiry into the caused embarrassment to all those in authority in the unit and also the officers and jawans of the sub-unit/battery. Meanwhile, the inspection of the vehicle was carried out to assess the extent of damage. It was found that the engine and chasis were intact and the
www.icmind.com | exam@icmind.com |Page 6 of 8

ICMIND INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT - IIM

SUBJECT: PROFESSIONAL BUSINESS COMMUNICATION MARKS: 100 rest of the items of the body or fitment were damaged, either lightly or severely. To avoid embarrassment to the unit and loss to the exchequer, as well as in view of the administrative difficulties, the BC decided to have the vehicle put on road with the units efforts and at the earliest. Meanwhile, the cabin-hood of the vehicle had been purchased for about Rs 650 and was paid for by the BC, from his own pocket, thus setting an example to others. The JCO and jawans were also keen to pay for other damages. The offer was appreciated but declined. The Officer-in-charge of the local Army Workshop happened to be an officer with commendable helping attitude, positive bent of mind and with an understanding of peculiarities and problems of the area where such accidents were quite frequent and possible. When approached to assist, he listened to the whole incident very sympathetically and promised to assist in whatever way he could. This officer was a contemporary of the unit in a previous station and had excellent relations and interaction with the unit. Some items were offered by the workshop officer and replaced accordingly. The vehicle was made roadworthy again within a fortnight and put on road for duty. All the enquiries were dispensed with and there was no loss of face by anyone at any level. It is pertinent to mention that it had snowed in that location as soon as the recovery party came out of the hills. QUESTIONS 1. What are the qualities of a good leader? In this case, how were they applied? 2. Which factors contributed to motivate the troops to go ahead for such a difficult task as recovering a damaged vehicle from such a difficult and treacherous terrain and getting it repaired in such a short time? 3. Which incidents indicate the importance of good interpersonal relationships with juniors, peers and superiors and what is the importance of good interpersonal relationships?

www.icmind.com | exam@icmind.com |Page 7 of 8

ICMIND INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT - IIM

SUBJECT: PROFESSIONAL BUSINESS COMMUNICATION MARKS: 100 Case VI: Checking Out a Guest A guest walked up to the front desk agent in an upscale hotel, ready to check out. As she would normally do when checking out a guest, the agent asked the guest what his room number was. The guest was in a hurry and showed his anxiety by responding, I stay in a hundred hotel rooms and you expect me to remember my room number? The agent then asked for the guests name, to which he responded, My name is Mr. Johnstein. After thanking him, the agent began to look for the guests last name, but the name was not listed in the computer. Because the man had a heavy accent and the agent assumed that she had misunderstood him, she politely asked the guest to spell his last name. He answered, What? Are you an idiot? The person who checked me in last night had no problem checking me in. Again, the agent looked on the computer to find the guest. The guest, becoming even more frustrated, said, I have a plane to catch and it is ridiculous that it has to take this long to check me out. I also need to fax these papers off, but I need to have them photocopied first. The agent responded, There is a business center at the end of the counter that will fax and photocopy what you for it. Havent you ever heard of customer service? Isnt this a five-star hotel? With your bad attitude, you should be working in a three-star hotel. I cant believe they let you work here at the front desk. Havent you found my name yet? The agent, who was beginning to get upset, asked the guest again to spell out his full name. The guest only replied, Here are my papers I want faxed if you are capable of faxing them. The agent reached to take the papers, and the guest shouted, Dont grab them from my hand! You have a bad attitude, and if I had more time, I would talk to someone about getting you removed from your position to a hotel where they dont require such a level of customer service. The agent was very upset, but kept herself calm in order to prevent the guest from getting angrier. The agent continued to provide service to the guest, sending the faxes and making the photocopies he had requested. Upon her return, the agent again asked the guest to repeat his last name, since he had failed to spell it out. The guest replied by spelling out his name, J-o-h-n-s-t-o-n-e. The agent was finally able to find his name on the computer and checked him out, while he continued to verbally attack her. The agent finished by telling the guest to have a nice flight. Questions 1. Is it appropriate to have the manager finish the check-out? Or, should the front desk agent just take the heat? 2. Would you have handled the situation in the same manner? 3. What would you have done differently? 4. Communication improvement is required for both of the parties involved or any one of them? Justify your opinion.

www.icmind.com | exam@icmind.com |Page 8 of 8