Answers to Chapter Review Questions
1. How have social media sites such as Twitter changed communication? (Obj. 5)
Social media sites have transformed communication from one-on-one conversations to
2. What is cloud computing, and how is it changing business? (Obj. 1)
Cloud computing describes the storing and accessing of data and software applications in
remote network clusters called clouds. Information and software programs are not stored
3. List and concisely describe at least six electronic communication channels used most
commonly by businesspeople today. (Objs. 1-5)
1. E-mail: The channel of choice in business today, gradually replacing paper memos and
2. Instant messaging: More interactive and immediate than e-mail; users chat in real time
6. Wikis: Public or private websites enabling users to collaboratively create, post, edit, and
4. List and briefly describe the four parts of typical e-mails. (Obj. 1)
Typical e-mails have four parts: (a) an informative subject line that summarizes the
5. Suggest at least ten pointers that you could give to a first-time e-mail user. (Obj. 1)
Students should list at least four of the following:
1. Get the address right.
2. Avoid misleading subject lines.
3. Be concise.
6. How can you use instant messaging and texting safely on the job? (Obj. 2)
Before using instant messaging on the job, check with your supervisor. Follow any
7. Name at least five reasons some organizations forbid employees to use instant and text
messaging. (Obj. 2)
1. IM and texting can be distractions in addition to the telephone, e-mail, and Web
browsing.
2. Privileged information and sensitive company records may be revealed through public
8. How can you show professionalism and respect for your receivers in writing business IM
messages and texts? (Obj. 2)
Beware of jargon, slang, and abbreviations, which, although they may reduce keystrokes,
9. How do organizations use podcasts, and how are they accessed? (Obj. 3)
Businesses have embraced podcasting for audio and video messages that do not require a live
presence yet offer a friendly human face. A bank may demonstrate transparency by
addressing topics customers care about. A tech firm may train its sales force by employing
10. What is a wiki, and what are its advantages to businesses? (Obj. 3)
A wiki is a website that employs easy-to-use collaborative software to allow users to create
11. Explain why companies use blogs. (Obj. 4)
Companies use blogs to keep customers, suppliers, and employees informed and to interact
12. List the eight best practices for master bloggers. (Obj. 4)
a. Craft a catchy but concise title.
b. Ace the opening paragraph.
13. How do businesses try to tap the vast potential of social networking? (Obj. 5)
Large businesses are using the social Web as well as internal networks behind corporate
firewalls. About 60 percent of Fortune 500 companies are now on Facebook, and roughly
14. Name a few of the potential risks that social networking sites may pose to business.
(Obj. 5)
Managers fear productivity losses, compromised trade secrets, the wrath of large Internet
15. What is really simple syndication (RSS), and why is it helpful? (Obj. 5)
Really simple syndication, or RSS, is a fast and easy way to search and manage
Answers to Critical Thinking Questions
1. Journalist Bob Garfield, author of The Chaos Scenario, is concerned that privacy is
increasingly a rare commodity in our hyperconnected world. He argues: “Google
searches, Foursquare check-ins and even basic browsing leave a practically neon trail.
And on Facebook, we trade privacy for a sense of community; we fear Big Brother, but
we tell lots of ‘little brothers’ everything.” Discuss what seem to be contradictory
sentiments. Are you concerned about disclosing personal matters online?
Like many contemporaries, Garfield seems ambivalent about social media and concerned
about waning privacy. He draws an analogy to George Orwell’s famous novel 1984 about
tyranny and totalitarian ideologies. Big Brother is a reference to the revered party leader in
the novel who exercises nearly absolute control of citizens, and has become synonymous
2. In her book Alone Together, MIT professor Sherry Turkle argues that increasing
dependence on technology leads to a consequent diminution in personal connections.
“Technology is seductive when what it offers meets our human vulnerabilities. And as it
turns out, we are very vulnerable indeed. We are lonely but fearful of intimacy. Digital
connections . . . may offer the illusion of companionship without the demands of
friendship.” Do you agree that technology diminishes personal relationships rather than
bringing us closer together? Do social media fool us into thinking that we are connected
when in reality we bear none of the commitments and burdens of true friendship?
Sherry Turkle, professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, seems to argue that
technology estranges us from each other instead of connecting us and bringing us closer
together. In fact, she states, technology may make us FEEL connected with others, but the
companionship is merely illusory or very superficial. It remains to be seen whether students
3. How could IM be useful in your career field? Does IM produce a permanent record? Do
you think that common abbreviations such as lol and imho and all-lowercase writing are
acceptable in text messages for business? Will the use of shorthand abbreviations as well
as creative spelling negatively affect writing skills? (Obj. 2)
Students should be able to generate ideas on how instant messaging will be useful in their
career fields. Yes, IM does produce a permanent record. Any IM conversation transmitted
electronically establishes a digital record. Many IM users also regularly save their messages.
4. Tweeting, texting, and quickie e-mailing all may foster sloppy messages. Author Mark
Garvey argued, “In business, in education, in the arts, in any writing that takes place
outside the linguistic cul-de-sac of our close friends and relatives, writers are expected to
reach for certain standards of clarity, concision and care.” What did Garvey mean? Do
you agree? (Objs. 1, 2)
Garvey is talking about the difference between messages to friends and serious writing. Do you
5. Ethical Issue: Aside from actually paying people to act as fans on social networks and
entice their friends to do so as well, some marketers employ machines to inflate the
number of their fans and followers online. Writing for PC World, Dan Tynan describes
how he discovered the activities of a so-called Facebook bot network that operates a
large number of zombie accounts created in Bangladesh. Tynan had noticed that many
obscure companies were suddenly experiencing wild surges in “likes.” He cites Rent My
Vacation Home, a rental agency based in Washington, DC, that went from two fans to
almost 15,000 within a few days. Tynan counted about 70 other businesses and fan pages
across the globe that were also flooded with suspicious “likes” from the same source.
Tynan himself was able to create such a bot master with fake accounts in 10 minutes
using minimal software and for under $70. Cheap software allows users to use proxies,
trick Captcha programs that normally thwart bots, and add bogus friends and
subscribers, Tynan writes. Why do some businesses resort to such measures? What
might be the consequences of faking fans? How do you feel about companies and their
brands pretending they have actual traffic on their sites?
Answers from students indicating their attitudes toward such questionable practices may vary.
However, social networking from a marketing standpoint is about establishing relationships
between brands and customers. Relationships are based on trust. Fans of a brand want to feel
that they are insiders who know more than those who do not follow the brand or company.
ZOOMING IN Part 1: Twitter: From Fad to New Communication
Channel for Business
In what ways have social media and “real-time Web” changed how Internet users
communicate? Have services like Twitter improved the way we exchange information?
Social media and “real-time Web” are about immediacy in an always-on, fast, and simple
manner if not strictly in real time. Twitter and related services have drawn lots of “eyeballs”
to their sites and that in itself represents a value to investors and businesses. How exactly the
What trends have facilitated the emergence of social media, specifically Twitter?
Increasingly ubiquitous Wi-Fi networks, smartphones, and other hardware along with online
software applications have enabled the explosive growth of social media including Twitter.
What could be advantages and drawbacks of using Twitter for business?
Some of the advantages are low cost; ease of monitoring the image of one’s company;
The following may be some of the disadvantages: The 140-character limit does not allow for
clarification, nuance, or detail. The new medium is still untried and may not work for certain
ZOOMING IN
Your Turn: Applying Your Skills at Twitter
Ask students to obtain a Twitter account if they don’t already have one. They may not because
the latest user statistics by Business Insider indicate that only one in ten teenagers and young
adults use Twitter daily, presumably because they are not interested in news, a Twitter staple; 72
percent never use Twitter [Carlson, N. (2012, July 13). The secret life of teenagers online.
Businessinsider.com]. Twitter use rises to a third of Internet users ages eighteen to twenty-four,
Ethics Check Solutions
Ethics Check, Page 206
Hiding Blind Copies
Some workers use Bcc (blind carbon copy) to copy their friends and colleagues on e-mail
when they do not want the recipient to know that a third party will also read the message.
Based on the “netiquette” discussed in this chapter, do you believe that hiding copies from
the recipient is harmless and acceptable?
Today’s writers should use Cc to reveal openly all recipients of a message. Violating this practice
Ethics Check, Page 223
Fired for Blogging
Former flight attendant Ellen Simonetti was fired by Delta Air Lines for posting on her
blog “Queen of Sky” photos showing her in uniform. Simonetti claims that her dismissal
violated her free-speech rights and was an act of sexual discrimination. She has been
fighting her firing since 2004, parlaying her fame into a book and even a few talk show
appearances. Whose rights take precedence, the employee’s or the employer’s?
In 2003 Simonetti began to document her life and work experiences in her blog without
mentioning her airline by name. Her case was widely publicized as a now-classic example of
http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/15329], Erica Palan writes about Simonetti and six
other bloggers who were fired by their employers for material deemed inappropriate, even
though the content was created on the bloggers’ own time and coworkers or the employers were
Ethics Check, Page 229
Pricing Blunder Broadcast Far and Wide via Social Media
Because of a software glitch, Tesco, the world’s third-largest retailer based in the United
Kingdom, offered a new iPad worth £659 ($1,021) for £49.99 ($77) on its website. Within
hours the news exploded on Facebook and Twitter. Some customers ordered as many as 20
iPads and insisted that Tesco honor the advertised price. The company quickly corrected
the online pricing error and would not accept orders at the incorrect price. Was Tesco
obligated to honor the offer?
A company does not have to honor an innocent mistake, such as an obvious typo or misprint
resulting in a glaring error in pricing, for example. Businesses make mistakes and they generally
shouldn’t have to bankrupt themselves to take responsibility for posted errors. Legally,
advertisements and other promotional materials are generally considered invitations to bargain,
Photo Essay Solutions
Photo Essay, Page 222
As a blogger for Pei Wei, and more recently as a copywriter for advertising firm SapientNitro,
Alice Shin has learned many secrets of successful blogging. Not only is Shin credited with
helping expand Pei Wei’s menu, but the young writer also executed a Twitter campaign to turn