ASSIGNMENT FOR JUNE 2020 EXAMINATION

Course Name: Business Communication

Session: Jan- June 2020 /Semester 2

Answer 1.
Bias refers to “inclination or prejudice for or against one person or group, especially in a way
considered to be unfair”. It is a tendency to lean in a certain direction, either in favour of or against a
particular thing Some biases are readily identifiable in direct statements. While sometimes writer’s choice of
words, selection of facts or tone reveals his or her biases. Biased language includes expressions that demean
or exclude people because of age, sex, race, ethnicity, class etc.

Gender Bias – Example – Unequal pay for equal work in an organisation.

It has been observed in many surveys in organisations that male and female counterparts/colleagues are
unequally paid. This is a classic example of gender bias. When two people irrespective of same work but
different gender are paid unequally it’s a gender bias. It has to be taken care by the leader of the organisation
that such gender bias does not exist and that everyone gets the compensation they deserve for the amount of
work they do irrespective of gender. It must be taken care that we must not associate strength and power
with males and emotions with females.

Racial Bias- Example – Behaviour of police towards Black people in America.

It has been all over news about George Floyd, the racial discrimination and the treatment given to the victim
was horrendous. If it was a white person, same treatment would not have been given to the person for such a
petty crime. It is a racial bias in minds of people that has infected the society. The feeling of superiority over
other race/religion is racial bias. It is also evident in organisations where people from different race and
ethnicity are less promoted as compared to their other counterparts. Bigger organisations have made a shift
and have strict policies to discard and racial bias behaviour, but it needs to be inculcated in children from
very young age that everyone is a human and race & ethnicity are not to be looked down upon.

Age Bias – Example- Not interviewing someone because they are too young to fit in.
Organisations like google, and other big tech giants do not follow bias practices among employees or
potential candidates. There have been past experiences where 16-17-year olds have been offered internships
and roles at google for their skill and not for their maturity or age to handle crisis. In some organisations
well, they discard candidates with lesser experience or if they are too young because it’s the age bias. No
matter how young a person is, if he/she is qualified enough then they deserve a chance to at least get
interviewed, just on the basis of age they cannot be denied a right to at least show their skills.

Disability Bias – Example – At a restaurant, family with a disabled child are not given the same
seating choices that other families have.
It has been seen in many high-end places or restaurants that if a disabled person accompanies family, they
are made to sir in a different area than a regular area. It is an example of disability bias. Making jokes or
harassing someone for their disability counts as disability bias. Trying to ask someone again and again if
they are ok and comfortable even if the person feels discomfort in answering it publicly accounts for
disability bias unintentionally.

Bias can be avoided by –

1) Using the command form off verbs allows to use the second person (you and your) instead of third
person (he and she).
2) They and Their can be used to avoid gender bias by making nouns and pronouns plural.
3) Generic nouns can be used in place of pronoun example – individual, user, participant, person etc.
4) Rephrasing of sentences can be done to avoid gender bias.
 Answer 2.

Amazin.in has put up large billboards in Mumbai with the main purpose of advertisement for Independence
Day mega sale.
Advertisement is the broad and direct communication that introduces our brand to the public, educates
about our product and services, prompts people with an interest to take action and provides urgency when
we convey special promotions. Advertisement shows the advantages, features, values of a certain product.
This action can be purchase or involvement. It changes the commercial behaviour of the people.
Whereas, Communication is a process through which people share ideas, information, feeling, facts and
views with the other member of the society. It has 8 steps as below:

Sender Encoding Message Channel Receiver Decoding Response

Feedback

1) Sender - The first step in the communication process is sender has an idea. Idea contains the information
to be conveyed or sent to the receiver. The message can be verbal, nonverbal, oral, written, or symbolic.
Message may come from a feeling, thought, inspiration etc. Once an idea strikes the mind, we want to
share it further. In the case of amazin.in, advertising for Mega Independence Day sale is the idea the sender
wants to convey to the public.
2) Encoding - The next step is the sender encodes the idea in message. Encoding refers to putting thoughts,
idea or information into a message that our receiver will understand. Therefore we need to choose suitable
colour ,symbols, phrase to convey our message as some colours ,symbols etc have definitive messages
attached with them .In the given case encoding would include inclusion of colours as in tricolour – saffron
, white , green with blue chakra so as to make it appear like independence day sale and catch the eyes of
public.
3) Message - the sender produces a message in a medium to produce the message to the intended audience.
Medium is the form in which the message will be conveyed i.e the advertisement in given case .Message
can take multiple forms or signs. Thus, message must be put into a communicable form that is suitable for
the channel of communication being used. In the message it should be clear the precise dates and times of
sale, offers available to make it precise and attractive.
4) Channel - Abundance of choices to act as channel for transmission of messages are available. We may
use print media, digital media or social media to transmit our message. After we chose medium and
channel, we need to transmit our message though chosen channel. In the given case advertisement may be
done by newspapers, TV, Radio channels, bill boards etc. Since we have chosen billboards as the channel
for advertisement, because its our belief that bill boards will be the most effective way to reach out to the
customers in most effective way as it increases the probability of consumer exposure and helps to target
large and diversified market segment. Bill boards are generally huge and eye catching with photographic
information thus creating strong visual effect. Billboards ensures quick rise in sales by targeting middle
and upper class.
5) Receiver – The audience receives the message. Thus, the message should be conveyed in a manner which
does not create misunderstanding and is easily understandable by people. We should ensure the message
is conveyed in easy language so as to make it easier for people to understand. In given case pictographic
presentation of sale and presenting discount and offers in bold will help the receivers to receive the
message conveyed by advertisement at a glance.
6) Decoding – Decoding involves understanding the contents of message. In given case use of tricolour
colours will help public to decode that sale is a independence sale.
7) Response- The receiver needs to say or do something in answer or reaction to something after message is
received. In response to advertisement, a greater number of people would be visiting and placing their
orders.
8) Feedback – The receivers give feedback to the sender once the message is received. Feedback is
information or comment about something that we have done. In a given case the higher turnover during
the sales will be feedback to the advertisement of sale. Products feedback and feedback on offers and
discount will measure the authenticity of information given in feedback.
Conclusion - Thus for communication to be effective we should ensure that message is coded in clear and
precise manner and transmitted through most effective channel so as to reach the target audience and readers
and decoded by customers effectively and the intended response and feedback is received by the sender.

Answer 3 (a)

Proofreading includes reviewing for grammar, spelling, syntax, punctuation, biases, correct use of
language and format. It gives the final touch to document ensuring that document is correct, consistent
and professional. It is final step of editorial cycle taken before publishing a document to ensure that
documents final draft adheres to chosen style guide. It helps to improve the readability and quality of
documents.
Proofreading techniques that I would use to ensure that the document is error free are as below-
1) Print a hard copy of document – Hard copy can be proofread easily and at different places thus
making it more effective.
2) Reading aloud- Reading aloud ensures that each word and punctuation mark is verified. It allows our
brain to fill in gaps and fix errors in our mind and skip them on the page.
3) Alignment with Company Style standards- Many organisations have style standards for external
documents thus we should have these on hand while proofreading.
4) Removal of excess words- Business communication should be concise and direct. Excessive words
can detract from the message thus we should review the text for superfluous words which do not add
any value to the text.
5) Explain or remove jargons- Specialized terminology or acronyms should be used sparingly. An
unfamiliar technical term should be explained in the text before being referenced.
6) Check Sentence Structure – Each sentence should be reviewed for proper structure i.e a sentence
having a subject, a verb and express a complete thought. Use of punctuations should be checked for
effective writing.
7) Review Coherence – Proof reading should review the organization of document to ensure it has proper
flow and sequencing referred as Coherence. There should be introduction, middle details and then
conclusion in order.
8) Verify – Verify numerical figures as it is the most often the easiest mistake. Check for all dates, time,
amount, decimals, zeros. Verification of all hyperlinks given by clicking on them, type in each web
address and dial each phone number mentioned to ensure they rightly direct the reader.
9) Perceptual tricks – I would read the document in a different style every time like starting to read from
a different paragraph and placing a finger and marking important words to highlight them.

These techniques would help to ensure that proofreading has generated an accurate, valuable and
professional document.
 Answer 3 (b)

Interview is a structured conversation where one or more participants ask questions to gather personal
information, to judge level of knowledge, awareness, skills, IQ, EQ to analyse if one would fit in job role for
which the candidate will be selected. I must be prepared to face following types of interview if called for –
1) Structured Vs Unstructured interview – Structured Interview is when all questions are prepared in
advance contrary to unstructured interview where interviewer is able to change the questions at any time
depending on the answers given by interviewee. Structured interviews make it easier for interviewer to
compare the answers given by interviewee and select the candidate with right knowledge and skills. But
the questions might be leaked which gives the other participants time to prepare and thus it may not be
fair with others. In general, Unstructured interviews are taken by the organisations now where the
questions come from the answers given by participant thus making it easy to analyse the level of
knowledge, clarity and confidence. It is a more personalized approach. Thus, I should be preferably facing
unstructured type of interview in given scenario. IIM entrance interviews are unstructured type.
2) Panel and Group Interviews- Panel interviews are conducted by group of two or more people and each
of them picks on different characteristics, strengths and weaknesses and together make a much fairer
judgement. It precludes any personal biases that might creep into the assessment process. On contrary in
group interview, one or more interviewers meet with several candidates at once and ask openly to the
whole group allowing candidates the chance to compete to impress. It is mainly used to assess
interpersonal skills and teamwork.
3) Behavioural, Situational, & Personality test- Behavioural interview is popularly used to assess job
candidate based on behaviour by asking situational questions like How would they react if they are given
a harder target to achieve or if they are under tremendous work pressure. Interviewer wants to gain insight
into how we behave in real world situation and how we cope with pressure.
Situational interview is designed to draw more out more of our analytical and problem-solving skills as
well as how we handle the problems with short notice and minimal preparation.
Conclusion - I must be prepared to face any of the interview techniques mentioned above. Pre planning
of probable questions as per job description and job role would help to present me with confidence creating
a positive impression in the minds of interviewer.