Institute of Management Technology

PGDM,PGDM(Finance)& PGDM(Marketing)
Term-I, AY-2019-20

Course Code: GEM19101

Course Title: Business Communication
No. of sessions: 12 Sessions (1.5 credits)
Duration of session: 75 minutes
Instructor-in-Charge: Prof. Tulika Sharma
Email id. tulikas@imthyderabad.edu.in

Course Description: Whatever may be the chosen career field, communication skills are the ‘must have’
requirements both as a job applicant and as an employee. This course thus deals in various aspects of workplace
communication with specific focus on written communication like business letters, business reports, Agenda
and minutes of the meeting, besides giving overview on nuances of oral communication and presentation skills.
Learning Objectives:
The specific learning objectives of the course are to help the students develop proficiency in:
1. Organizing and expressing ideas effectively
2. Effective usage of various tools of business communication at work place (e.g. memos, agenda, e-mail etc.)
3. Persuasive communication to influence the audience
4. Allied communication skills like, non-verbal communication etc.
5. Ability to perform and work well in teams
6. Ability to make ethical communication choices
Learning Outcomes:
The course will enable the students to equip themselves with verbal, non-verbal and written communication
skills to meet the business communication needs in the global business environment. Through action learning
students would review and improve the effectiveness of their communication. They would be able to
communicate with diverse audiences in multiple contexts to meet the goals of the intended communication.
At the completion of the course the students would be able to:
LO 1. Communicate clearly and concisely, in both written and spoken form
LO 2. Demonstrate proficiency in message construction and persuasive message delivery
LO 3. Practice appropriate non-verbal communication
LO 4. Effectively communicate via electronic mail, internet, and other electronic media
LO 5. Compose different types of business documents in a clear, complete and correct way, with attention to
language, presentation and neatness
LO 6. Make presentations that are interesting, concise, enthusiastic and logical
LO 7. Work effectively and efficiently in teams
Learning Goals Learning Outcomes Learning Assessment Method
1.Communication  Communicate clearly and concisely, in both  Individual Exercises
Skills written and spoken form (LO1)  Group Exercises
 Presentation
 Practice appropriate non-verbal  Comprehensive
communication (LO3) Examination
 Assignments
 Effectively communicate via electronic mail,
internet, and other electronic media(LO4)

 Make presentations that are interesting,

concise, enthusiastic and logical (LO6)

2. Functional  Demonstrate proficiency in message  Individual Exercises

Proficiency& construction and persuasive message  Group Exercises
Integration delivery (LO2)  Assignments
 Compose different types of business  Comprehensive
documents in a clear, complete and correct Examination
way, with attention to language,
presentation and neatness (LO5)
3. Leadership and  Work effectively and efficiently in teams  Group Exercises
Interpersonal Skills (LO7)

Recommended Text Book:

Business Communication-Connecting at Work, 2nd ed.-Hory Shankar Mukerjee-Oxford University Press-2016
Suggested Reference books:
1. Monippally. M.M, “Business Communication Strategies”, 2001, Tata McGraw-Hill.
2. Bovee, C. and Thill,J.V., “Business Communication Today”,11th edition, 2011, Prentice Hall.
3. Chaney, L., “Intercultural Business Communication”, 4th edition, 2008, Pearson Education.
4. Chaturvedi, P.D. and Chaturvedi, M., “Business Communication: Concepts, Cases, and Applications”,
2nd edition, 2011, Pearson Education.
5. Young, D.J., “Foundations of Business Communication: An Integrative Approach”, 2007, Tata McGraw
Hill.
6. Arthur H.Bell., Dayle M. Smith, “Management Communications”.3rd edition. 2010, Wiley India
7. Lehman,Carol M., Dufrene,Debbie D and Sinha,Mala. BCOM: A south Asian Perspective.2
ed.2016,Cengage Learning.
Course Prerequisites: Basic understanding of English grammar is required.

Course Pedagogy : Discussions, class exercises, role play, presentations, audio-video based interactions.

Course Outline

Session.N Date Chapter

o Topic\Area Covered Activities
Reading

1 1July 2019 Introduction to Business Communication

and Soft Skills Discussion

2-3 8&12*Jul
Principles of Business Writing Discussion/practice 2,6
y 2019

4-5 15&22 Business Letters-Claims & Responses,

7,8
July 2019 Negative messages & Memo/email Discussion/Practice

6-7 26*
Discussion/practice/Grou
&29July Report writing 9
p Exercise
2019

8-9 12& 19 Note Making, Agenda & Minutes of

Discussion/Practice 10
Aug 2019 Meeting

10-11 26 Aug&2 Discussion/mock

Presentation Skills (Class Exercise) 12,13
Sep 2019 presentations

12 9 Sept
Recap/Doubt clearing
2019
*Recheduled classes: 12 July 3.00-4.15 pm & 26 July 3.00-4.15 pm
Assessment Scheme
S.No. Assessment Learning Marks/Weightage Date/Time
Component goals
assessed
1 Midterm assessment 1,2,4,5,7 20 Marks/20 percent 5, 6 or7
on Principles of August
Business Writing and 2018
Business letters
2 Group Assignment on 1,2,4,5,7 10 Marks/10 percent 16 August
 Report Writing 2019
3 Comprehensive 1,2,4,5 20 Marks/ 20 TBD
Examination percentage

Group Assignment on Report Writing- Groups of 5-6 students will have to submit an assignment on Report
Writing in the 8th week of the course. The assignment is guided by the following rules-
 Each group will choose a current business topic for the report( No repetition of topic is allowed)
 The length of the report should be between 10-12 pages
 The report should be drafted as per the inputs given in the class
 The report will be evaluated for content (non-plagiarized), inclusion of various appropriate components,
style, formatting, and referencing

Plagiarism Policy
Copying of the language, structure, ideas, or thoughts of another and representing the same as one's own
original work amounts to plagiarism. Examples of plagiarism include: failing to use quotation marks when
directly quoting from a source; failing to document distinctive ideas from a source; fabricating or inventing
sources; and copying information from books and the internet.
Students found guilty of plagiarism will not be evaluated. Instructor shall decide to give warning or grade
cut or refer such students to the disciplinary committee for further action.

Consultation Hours: Wednesday & Thursday, 4:00 PM -5:30 PM

Important Note Regarding Group/Individual Exercise:

If a student misses an individual/group exercise component due to his/ her absence, they would NOT get
another chance to appear for the individual/group exercise component. The only exception to this rule is
when the student has been granted prior permission on genuine ground by the concerned faculty
member.