MANA 2302 1st Edition Final Exam Study Guide Chapter 8 1 To achieve the goals o bad news message you should Make your decision clear Help your audience accept the message Maintain a goodwill relationship Prevent further unnecessary discussion Preserve the company s image Protect the company against lawsuits 2 Plan to put your bad news message in writing when you need to do any of the following Allows the sender to determine precise wording Gives the reader time to absorb and understand the message before reacting Ensures a consistent message when sent to many people Controls the message time when sent to many people Provides a permanent record of what was communicated Ensures a more accurate and complete message 3 You should use the direct approach for bad news message if The bad news is about a small insignificant issue that will unlikely elicit an emotional reaction from the reader When the Internet browser Firefox fails users get an amusing direct message with clear solutions The reader prefers directness Managers typically prefer that all messages from employees be written using the direct plan The reader expects a no response Applicants for a popular reality TV show know that a letter instead of a phone call means bad news An indirect plan in these cases only delays the inevitable rejection and may anger the receiver The writer wants to emphasize the negative news A forceful no maybe in order if you re rejecting a proposal a second time or responding toan unreasonable request Although Mr Jackson the CEO admires your ambition it isn t appropriate for you as an intern to join his dinner with the Board of Directors on Wednesday Sometimes the news is too important for the reader to miss 4 Use the indirect plan when writing when you need to do any of the following Employees who report to you particularly when an employee is expecting a yes answer Customers particularly when delivering news that may be disappointing such as denying a request to return a high priced item Readers who prefer the indirect plan such as people in high context cultures People you don t know who may be turned off without some attempt at relationship building first 5 The purpose of a buffer is to Begin with a neutral and relevant statement one that establishes or strengthens the reader writer relationship 6 One way to justify your decision in a bad news message is to Most of your message should focus on the reasons rather than on the bad news itself For bad news messages communicated using the direct plan the reasons can be stated concisely and matter of factly Indirectly written messages however require more careful planning because the stakes are typically greater Provide a smooth transition from the opening buffer and present the reasons honestly and convincingly If possible explain how the reasons benefit the reader or at least benefit someone other than your organization 7 When rejecting an idea because it is not in your company s best interests Recognize Grace s hard work Educate Grace by explaining business realities she may not know Focus on business not personal reasons for the decision Use the indirect plan to gradually persuade Grace that her idea isn t in the best interests of the company 8 When using the indirect organizational plan you can communicate the bad news by doing all of the following The company suffered a bad fiscal quarter An executive is leaving Employees will be laid off A product is being discontinued Prices are increasing Stores will be closed or departments consolidated The company has been acquired The company is accused of wrongdoing The company lost a big lawsuit A product is being recalled Service cannot be fulfilled A fire caused damage 9 Of the Following are effective ways to end a bad news message is to offer Sound sincere and helpful make your ending original and positive If you provide a counterproposal or offer other sources of help provide all information the reader needs to follow through If you include a sales promotion make it subtle and reader oriented 10 Writing a message in which you reject someone s idea can be a challenge because Needs to explain his decision without discouraging Grace from submitting ideas in the future 11 One personal guideline for writing a message saying that you are not granting a routine favor is to Use the direct plan to give refusal in the first paragraph After denying the request give clear reasons for the decision and offers a possible alternative without making promises 12 When refusing a request for a significant favor you should An indirect plan for your response is most appropriate 13 When you use the direct organizational plan in a message refusing a small favor you should You should answer yes or no 14 Email is often used in business for conveying internal bad news and is affective in that it To ensure clear consistent messages to all internal and external constituencies 15 You may want to use the indirect plan to communicate bad news when writing to this audience Employees who report to you particularly when an employee is expecting a yes answer Customers particularly when delivering news that may be disappointing such as denying a request to return a high priced item Readers who prefer the indirect plan such as people in high context cultures People you don t know who may be turned off without some attempt at relationship building first 16 In explaining your reasons for refusing a claim Do not accuse or lecture the reader At the same time however don t appear to accept responsibility for the problem if the customer is at fault Use impersonal neutral language to explain why the request is being denied 17 If you want to offer a compromise rather than rejecting a customers claim outright you should help the customer save face Be careful however not to take responsibility 18 When you include resale in a letter refusing a customers claim you are doing all of the following Somewhere in your letter you might include a subtle pitch for resale Although the customer has had a negative experience with your product you might re mind him or her why he or she bought the product in the first place But use this technique carefully a strong pitch may simply annoy an already unhappy customer 19 To retain goodwill and help the reader accept the bad news you must state the bad news in positive or neutral language stressing what you can do rather than what you cannot do Avoid writing cannot are not able to impossible unfortunately sorry and