Business Communication Today, 14e (Bovee/Thill)
Chapter 1 Understanding the Foundations of Business Communications
1) Communication is the process of
A) transferring information and meaning.
B) listening actively.
C) writing messages.
D) none of the above.
2) Which of the following is the process of transferring information between senders and
receivers?
A) Communication
B) Negotiation
C) Productivity
D) Engagement
E) Impressionism
3) Improving your communication skills will enhance your career because
A) having great ideas won’t help you much, unless you can communicate them effectively.
B) the higher you rise in an organization, the more important your communication skills will be.
C) you’ll need to connect with decision makers outside of your area of expertise.
D) all of the above.
4) Which of the following is one of the essential goals of communication?
A) Successful negotiations
B) Sharing
C) Data development
D) Engagement
E) Career development
5) All of the following EXCEPT ________ will make your business messages more effective.
A) providing practical information
B) clarifying expectations and responsibilities
C) presenting information concisely and efficiently
D) discussing personal issues and complaining about problems
6) How can strong communication skills lead to lower employee turnover in an organization?
A) Employees will create stronger ties in the marketplace
B) There is more opportunity to influence perceptions and trends
C) Employees will feel more engaged with their work
D) There will be fewer critical safety issues
E) There will be higher returns on investments
7) What is the name of all the parties affected by the actions of an organization?
A) Employees
B) Managers
C) The community
D) Stakeholders
E) The government
8) What can communicators do to ensure facts, rather than vague impressions, are shared?
A) Provide practical information
B) Present information in a concise manner
C) Offer compelling arguments and recommendations
D) Identify areas of responsibility
E) Use concrete language with specific detail
9) If you start a company or become an executive in an established firm, you can expect to spend
the majority of your time
A) budgeting.
B) traveling.
C) communicating.
D) plying your trade.
10) What can you do to show an audience how they will benefit from your message?
A) Offer compelling arguments and recommendations
B) Clarify expectations and responsibilities
C) Present information in an efficient manner
D) Provide practical information
E) Give vague impressions
11) If you have difficult or complex information to share, how can you help the audience
understand and accept your message?
A) Use ethical information
B) Use simple terms to explain the subject
C) Clearly state your expectations of the audience
D) Offer compelling evidence
E) Show the audience how they will benefit
12) What is the key reason why strong communication skills are important for your career?
A) You might be asked to interact with customers
B) You might have to communicate with employees who work in technical areas
C) You must be able to express your thoughts clearly and persuasively
D) You might later want to start your own business
E) You must be able to respond to the changing nature of the work environment
13) Which of the following is an outcome of strong communication skills within an
organization?
A) Less trust between senior leadership
B) The ability to target important communities in the marketplace
C) A better understanding of perceptions and trends
D) Increased productivity and faster problem solving
E) The ability to develop marketing messages
14) To make communication efforts as effective as possible, communication should be
A) practical, timely, and personal.
B) concise, clear, and electronic.
C) electronic, ethical and practical.
D) positive, personal, and quick.
E) practical, factual, and clear.
15) Improving your communication skills may be the single most important step you can take in
your career.
16) Senior executives spend less and less of their workday communicating as they take on more
leadership responsibility.
17) Strong communication skills are important even for employees with technical skills, such as
engineers and accountants.
18) Describe five characteristics of effective business messages.
19) Why are strong communication skills important to your career, regardless of your major?
20) Discuss the five ways in which you can make your communication efforts as effective as
possible.
21) Which one of the following is NOT one of the traits possessed by professionals?
A) Meeting minimum qualifications
B) Demonstrating a sense of etiquette
C) Maintaining a positive outlook
D) Being dependable and accountable
22) The quality of performing at a high level and conducting oneself with pride and purpose is
known as
A) expediency.
B) professionalism.
C) entrepreneurialism.
D) impression management.
23) According to the concept of emotional intelligence, if you’ll be speaking to people you don’t
know and you can’t find out more about them
A) don’t worry because you can adjust to their needs on the fly.
B) always put your own needs before their needs.
C) rely on chance and circumstance to help you relate to their needs.
D) use common sense and imagination to relate to their needs.
24) The term digital information fluency encompasses all of the following elements EXCEPT
A) recognizing information needs.
B) searching efficiently to locate reliable sources of information.
C) using gathered information ethically.
D) using random methods to present ideas and information.
25) Which of the following is one of the six distinct traits that best defines professionalism?
A) Being a team player
B) Offering compelling and persuasive arguments
C) Clarifying expectations and responsibilities
D) Actively listening to others
E) Conveying decisions ad providing information to help employees do their job
26) Every organization has ________, which encompasses all communication that occurs outside
the lines of command in the company’s organization structure.
A) a lateral communication network
B) a peer-to-peer communication network
C) an informal communication network
D) an adjacent communication network
27) Which of the following is one of the six distinct traits that best defines professionalism?
A) Actively listening to others
B) Being dependable and accountable
C) Clarifying expectations and responsibilities
D) Offering compelling and persuasive arguments
E) Conveying decisions and providing information to help employees do their job
28) What is the ability to evaluate evidence completely and use that evidence to form a logical
conclusion?
A) Professionalism
B) Audience-centered approach
C) Critical thinking
D) Digital information fluency
E) Ethics
29) What communication network is being followed when ideas follow the lines of command in
an organization?
A) Horizontal
B) Grapevine
C) Critical
D) Formal
E) Ethical
30) An audience-centered approach to communication involves
A) saying whatever it takes to win over the members of your audience.
B) embedding a layer of technology between you and your audience members.
C) respecting, understanding, and meeting the needs of your audience members.
D) focusing on how the members of the audience can help you obtain your goals.
31) When solving complex organizational problems, how does information flow between
departments?
A) In the rumor mill
B) Through the grapevine
C) Informally
D) Vertically
E) Horizontally
32) Generally speaking, limitations of the formal communication network
A) discourage employees from taking advantage of social media.
B) have not affected the popularity of social media in the business environment.
C) have helped to spur the growth of social media in the business environment.
D) do none of the above.
33) What is the informal communication network used when employees interact in a social
setting?
A) The grapevine
B) Horizontal
C) Upward
D) Downward
E) Audience-centered
34) What is the ability to relate to the needs of others?
A) Etiquette
B) Emotional intelligence
C) Informal communications
D) Formal communications
E) Critical thinking
35) How can communicators ensure they are using an audience centered approach to their
communication?
A) Incorporate a strong sense of etiquette
B) Send the message through several communication channels
C) Develop the message in a way that is meaningful to the audience
D) Provide instructions to the audience on how to decode the message
E) Create communication barriers for all information other than that which you are conveying
36) In the formal communication network, what type of communication path is used when
information flows from leadership to employees?
A) Upward
B) Horizontal
C) Vertical
D) Downward
E) Multidirectional
37) Which of the following is one way employees can practice the “you” attitude in their
communication efforts?
A) Explain their educational background and expertise
B) Include a great detail of background information so the audience knows the communication
was thoughtful
C) Use easy to understand language
D) Assume the audience has a high degree of emotional intelligence
E) Learn as much as possible about the audience’s biases and style
38) Which of the following indicates the expected norms of behavior in a given situation?
A) Etiquette
B) Bias
C) Emotional intelligence
D) The “you” attitude
E) Ethics
39) Which of the following is an expected behavior on the job?
A) Using text messaging whenever possible
B) Communicating ethically
C) Saving time by limiting research sources
D) Ensuring others are listening to what you have to say
E) Using text language and shortened forms of grammar and spelling whenever possible
40) Which of these skills is used to evaluate evidence completely and objectively in order to
make sound recommendations?
A) Decoding skills
B) Professionalism
C) Critical thinking
D) Persuasive arguments
E) A formal communication network
41) How can upward communication help an executive solve problems and make intelligent
decisions?
A) By eliminating the rumor mill
B) By replacing written documents
C) By encouraging digital records
D) By identifying trends
E) By being audience centered
42) Adopting the “you” attitude is part of developing an audience-centered approach to
communication.
43) Critical thinking includes using time management skills and accepted standards of texting
and instant messaging language.
44) What is professionalism? Why is communication important to professionalism?
45) Discuss professionalism and explain the six distinct traits of a professional.
46) Identify six of the critical communication skills that employers expect you to have.
47) To adopt an audience-centered approach to communication, what do you need to learn about
your audience? List at least three specific attributes.