Final Reflection
After taking this class I have learned many things about writing in general and specifically what technical writing means. When the semester began, I did not even know what technical writing was. Through the assignments I have learned how to create many different types of documents. Although the assignments have been very beneficial, they were also challenging at times. Before I began a document I had to determine who my audience was and what the purpose of the document was. I now understand that these two things are very important. I never really thought about who I was writing to before but it makes a huge difference in the way the reader interprets your document. I have learned something new from every assignment I have completed in this class. I am very glad I took this class, as I think it will be very beneficial to me in the future. The knowledge I have attained will be useful in the work place and other settings.
Our first assignment was to write a job letter and resume. I enjoyed writing these documents because they are something I will be using in the near future, as I graduate in May. We had to direct our job letter and resume to a specific company and person as if we were really applying for the job. Through this assignment I learned the purpose of these documents is to get an interview. I kept that in mind when writing these because word choice and the details you include are very important and can impact the reader. This was not my first time writing resumes and job letters. I have written several for other courses I have taken, but I don’t feel I actually learned the correct way to write these documents until I took this class. I never realized that it was necessary to change up the resume and job letter for the position and company you were applying to. Even when I have applied for part time jobs in the past I would normally use the exact same resume for each job. But now I know how important it is to direct these documents to a specific person and company. For example, I wrote my job letter and resume to the Human Resource Director for the organization CASA, in Dallas. I believe this assignment is one of the most relevant ones for me because I will be using everything I have learned when creating my own job letter and resume.
The next assignment I completed was the correspondence package. With this assignment I had to create a claim letter, bad news memo and a solicitation email. These assignments were useful because we will encounter these kinds of documents in the workplace. I had never created these documents before so this was all new to me. I feel like the claim letter is also a very useful document as it can be used often in the real world when you have problems with products or services. I am glad I now have the knowledge of how to write one because there have been times when I was not satisfied with a product or service but I didn’t know what to do to about it. Now I realize I can write a letter and explain the problem and how I need it fixed. It is important to establish good will and end with good will in order to let the company know they are appreciated. At the same time it must be communicated that I was not satisfied with their services. I had a more difficult time writing the bad news memo. I found this more challenging because we had to be indirect but also persuasive at the same time. It was hard for me to make sense of what I was trying to convey. The solicitation email was much easier for me to write. I enjoyed this assignment because this is very relevant to my life because I am involved in organizations and I think this kind of document will come in handy in the workplace. After doing the correspondence package I feel that I am better prepared as a writer and I feel more confident in creating these documents.
The next assignment was the multicultural assignment. This document was challenging to me because I had to rewrite my claim letter to someone who lives in India. From this assignment I realized that people in other cultures can interpret work very differently than Americans. It is very important to think about this because someone in another country may not understand the language you use therefore they may not understand the message you are trying to convey. I used Hofstede’s dimensions when rewriting this claim letter. These dimensions guided me as I learned how to communicate with someone in India.
The next assignment was the instruction set/process description. This assignment wasn’t as difficult as I was expecting it to be. I had never written an instructions set or process explanation before so I didn’t really know what to expect when I began this assignment. I decided to do a process description. The process description is very similar to the instructions set. In a process description you are describing a process of how to do something or explaining a specific procedure. Before I started this document I began thinking about many of the instruction sets I have seen. For example, almost always appliances and furniture will come with a set of instructions. However, I am the kind of person that doesn’t really refer to instruction sets unless I run into a problem while putting something together. When this happens I have often realized that the instruction sets are normally not very helpful because they are not labeled clearly and the language used is not easy to understand by the reader. These same rules apply to a process description. I kept this in mind when writing my description because I know how frustrating it can be when you don’t understand what to do. The first thing I did was to consider who my audience was just as in the other assignments. It is important to take into consideration if you are writing to children or to adults or the combination of both. If writing to children the instructions need to be very simple and easy to understand. Step by step instructions and using pictures might be an easier way to get the message across to children. While with adults you can be more detailed and explain things in a different way but you still need to be sure that the instructions flow in a way that makes sense.
The next assignment I prepared was the proposal. I believe this assignment to be the most challenging of the course. I had never written one before and I had no idea where to begin. I was nervous when I first realized we had to write a proposal, but I was thankful we were able to work in a group setting. My group consisted of Autumn, Cody, Vince and myself. I really enjoyed working with my group members. It made the assignment fun and we all got a lot very well. I think it was beneficial to do this assignment in groups because in the work place I will have to work in groups and collaborate ideas and it is something I need to get used to doing. My only problem with working in the group was that I wish Cody, Vince and I had more knowledge on our topic. The topic of our proposal was Autumn’s idea and although we all worked extremely hard and each brought different ideas and ways of doing things to the group, I felt Autumn knew more about the topic because she has first hand experience with it. But I have learned that when collaborating in a group, there is normally someone who is the decision maker and that person is able to help guide the group in what needs to be done. Autumn did a great job as our decision maker and I’m very grateful to her for all of her input on this project. The proposal is a long and detailed process. I think our proposal was very feasible and we were able to create an effective document.
We also had to do reader responses and reflections throughout the semester. The first reader response was related to genre. In this response we had to figure out what our preferred genre was how to relate it to a specific audience. I now understand how to recognize the different types of genres that I come across every day. The second reader response assigned was about ethics. In this assignment I learned that ethics play a big role in how you construct a document and the wording choice that is used. It also made me think about ethical situations that I have experienced and the responsibility I have to try and make sure everything is done ethically and fairly. The third reader response had to do with design elements. In this response we had to critique a bulletin according to Gestalt’s five design principles. The principles are balance, alignment, grouping, consistency and contrast. This response made me understand how important it is for a document to go together and be easy to follow. The fourth reader response allowed us to look at three different proposals that other students had written and critique the strengths and weaknesses of each proposed plan. This assignment helped prepare me for when we did our own proposal plan. It made it easier to understand how to create an effective plan. The last reader response we did was a reflection on the entire course.
While reflecting on this past semester and every assignment I have completed, I realize that I have accomplished many things and that my writing has improved a great deal. I believe I have accomplished every course goal throughout the class. In every assignment we have written I have learned how to understand audience, purpose and situation and why it is important to consider each of these things when creating a document. While writing the correspondence package I learned how to create technical documents that solve problems and improve situations through communication. I also think I learned how to create effective technical prose with each assignment. In the reader response on the five design principles I feel I learned how to design a convincing and useable document. In the reader response about ethics I now have a better understanding of how to analyze the different responsibilities in communication. In the multicultural assignment I was able to learn how to relate to different cultures and how to communicate with diverse audiences. I think this is a very valuable thing to remember when I am creating a document. With our group work in class and especially the proposal I think I accomplished the course goal of learning how to collaborate on communication projects. I found the job letter and resume assignment to be the most beneficial to me since I know I will be creating these documents in a few short months. This assignment is also the one I liked the best. I am very confident that I will be able to create an effective resume and job letter after taking this class. The most challenging document I created was the proposal. I am glad I have learned how to create one in case I have to prepare one in the future. My least favorite assignment was the multicultural assignment. While preparing this assignment, I found it difficult to relate to another culture. But I do understand how important it is and I am grateful that I know how to write to all different types of people and different cultures.
This class has been very challenging but also rewarding. I feel that I have accomplished many things and am now a much more confident writer. I was required to take this class in order to graduate, and to be honest I was dreading it. I waited until my last year to take it because the even course title was intimidating to me. After completing the course I am proud to say that it is one of the most beneficial courses I have taken at Tech. It has taught me many valuable skills that I will use in the workplace and in my daily life.
Add comment December 11, 2006
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Proposal Reflection
For this assignment I was placed in a group with Cody, Autumn and Vince. We named our group CAVA2311. When our group began the proposal process we each came up with different possible topics to choose from. As a group we evaluated each of our RFP’s by determining which one we thought would be the most available to research. We chose Autumn’s RFP which was to research the current training program at the Texas Tech Physical Plant. Our next step was to determine the main problems of the current training program. The major complexity with the current training program is that the Physical Plant is losing many man hours to trivial and costly training. The employees at the Physical Plant do not like the way the training is set up. After determining the problems, we began research on developing a new training program. First, we interviewed several employees, allowing them to express their opinions about the current program. Then we researched files that explained the training program held at the Physical Plant. The next step in conducting our research was to compare the training program at the Texas Tech Physical Plant to the training programs at other Big 12 schools. We also took into consideration the state mandated courses the employees are required to take annually to continue working at the Physical Plant. After our research was complete we were ready to begin our draft. We thought it would be best if we each split of the sections of the proposal evenly and worked on them individually. After we each finished our sections we met at the library two different times to collaborate our work and put our proposal together. We determined Autumn to be our decision maker. We chose her because the proposal topic was her idea and because she also works in the office of the Texas Tech Physical Plant. We found that the research for this proposal was not too difficult because Autumn was well organized and knew exactly what we needed to do in order to find the information we needed to implement the new training program. I am glad we got to do our proposal as a group project. I enjoyed working with Autumn, Vince and Cody. We all got along extremely well and had fun getting to know each other. I also think it was a good idea that we split the proposal into sections. That way we were not too overwhelmed when we got together at the library. We were able to use our time very wisely and finished our proposal much faster than we would have if it had been an individual project. I believe we were able to accomplish every course goal throughout our proposal process. We determined that our audience was the Director of the Texas Tech Physical Plant. We were also able to create an effective and convincing document. The purpose was clear and easy to understand. Our proposal is easy to read and user friendly because the style is consistent throughout the document. Upon the completion of this proposal we were able to develop an effective business document. Although the proposal was challenging, I thought it was a very relevant assignment and I learned a lot.
Add comment December 7, 2006
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Reader Response #5
My views on technical writing have changed a lot since the beginning of the semester. Before I began this class I was not sure what kinds of documents were considered technical writing. The word technical gave me a fear of the class. My thinking of the class was very limited – I thought only of instruction manuals or written procedures. It did not take long to realize that technical writing included much more than that.
After taking this class I now realize that technical writing is a part of many different types of documents that I encounter on a daily basis. Technical writing can be included in documents including memos, e-mails, letters, resumes, and instruction sets and many others. This semester we have been given the opportunity to write many different types of documents. On a personal note, following the recent death of my grandfather, my grandmother asked me to help her write the obituary. This class helped me in putting the information together in an orderly manner.
In my career I think I will be preparing many different types of documents such as memos and emails. One career I am very interested in is early childhood intervention specialist. An ECI specialist visits families and pre-school children who need special help before entering the public school system. In this career I would be writing observations, evaluations and many other types of reports in addition to letters and emails. These reports and evaluations will be presented to my supervisor who coordinates the care for each child and family I am assigned. My supervisor will use these documents in working alongside of physical therapists, occupational therapists and others who are working with the client family.
I expect to encounter many types of multicultural audiences in my career. The United States is truly a melting pot of many nationalities and cultures. Families from every part of the world can now be found living in Texas. The families will require care and intervention for their children with special needs. This course has given me the tools to effectively communicate in writing to people of different cultures, races and nationalities.
As I near graduation in May of 2007 I will be sending out many resumes and filling out job applications. I am grateful to this class for demonstrating how to write a good resume and how to sell yourself in your resume. I am certain I will use this particular type of technical writing throughout my working career.
With the knowledge I’ve learned in this class I will be able to write technical documents which will be clear, concise and understandable. I will always take into consideration the audience to whom I am writing and the multi-cultural aspect of the audience. I no longer fear technical writing and I appreciate very much the knowledge you have shared with me this semester.
Add comment December 5, 2006
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Reader Response #4
When writing a proposal it’s important to have an effective plan. The plan describes the problem and how it should be solved. The plan should first explain the proposed procedure and then certain steps which should be clearly labeled and easy to understand. There should also be a timeline chart that explains the plan. The chart should have effective labels and graphics to appeal to the audience. It is important for the plan to be consistent throughout the proposal. In the following paragraphs I will describe and critique the different research plans and focus on the strengths and weaknesses of each.
The first research plan is proposing for a renovation of the recreational intramural fields. In my opinion this is a good concept, but this plan did not explain the importance of the renovation or why it was needed. This plan was difficult to understand. I think it could be improved by using more everyday terms that the average person can understand. The time periods for this project seem unrealistic to me. I think it will take longer than the time shown. The strengths of this plan are that the six steps are labeled and in a consistent order with one another. The timeline chart for this plan is color coded and labeled according to the steps previously described. The timeline also keeps record of the dates in which the steps are to be completed.
The next plan is proposing changes to be made to the health code in all
Lubbock area restaurants. I found this plan to be very effective. The proposed procedure is clearly stated and easy to understand. Like the first proposal the steps are labeled and in a consistent order. Bullets are also used which makes information stand out. The time period for this proposal is realistic. Another strength in this plan is the timeline chart. It is clearly labeled and color coded. The only thing I would add to this plan is a budget section.
The last research plan is describing a proposed plan for an underground pedestrian tunnel. I thought this plan was effective and well written. The procedure is clearly stated. It explains the possible benefits of having a tunnel and why one is needed. This plan also included research from other universities with pedestrian tunnels. Another strength was the budget was included in the plan. The steps are clearly labeled and easy to identify and the timeline chart is color coded and labeled accordingly. Overall, this plan was very consistent throughout; the only thing I might change would be to add bullets so that important information can be viewed easily.
After doing this reader response, I now have a better understanding of what to include in a research plan, as well as what to leave out. This assignment will help when we are drafting our group proposal. I will be sure to include all of the correct information in order to have a good research plan.
Add comment November 14, 2006
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Reader Response #3
Gestalt’s five document design principles are balance, alignment, grouping, consistency and contrast. These principles are used to help grab the readers’ attention and to make the document easier to read and understand. The bulletin used for this assignment includes some of these principles but not all of them. The following will explain the design principles found in this bulletin and suggest areas where I think they can be improved.
Balance is important because it creates a stable feeling in the text. The bulletin has three columns so the text appears balanced. However, the green line at the bottom of the page is not equally balanced with the large graphic at the top. I think the balance would be more even if the size of the graphic was decreased because it would allow more attention to focus on the actual text of the document and not be so over powering. The “Message from the CIO” is lost in the clutter of the graphics. An important message such as this should have been placed more appropriately. To create more balance within the bulletin it might be helpful to add a sidebar or margin comments.
The next design principle is alignment. Images and text in a document should be alligned to show the document’s structure or hierarchy. The bulletin shows a hierarchy by using lists throughout the document. It has a horizontal alignment. To improve the alignment of the bulletin I would allign the graphics and the text that goes with it so it will be easier to read. Again, the top “Message from the CIO” is not aligned with the graphics. Neither complements the other.
The next design principle is grouping. Grouping seperates the text using headings, rules and borders to make words and images stand out and easier to read. The bulletin does have a few headings but I would also add sub-headings to separate the text. It does a good job on using white space, it is evenly distributed throughout the document. In the banner space at the top I would not have put the red “Special Edition” graphic or “IT Spring Cleaning”. Those two headlines would have been more appropriately grouped over the clothesline graphic.
Consistency is the next design principle. It makes documents more accessible. Inconsistent documents are more difficult to read and interpret. The bulletin is consistent in the font for the most part and it uses lists consistently within it. I would add explanations with the graphics to fully explain them and create more consistency. The font in the Message from the CIO is too small and hard to read. An important message such as this should have been placed in the body of the text set apart by a border. The text of this bulletin is fairly consistent, but I find the headline graphics and text inconsistent.
The last design principle is contrast. Contrast is used to make text and other features stand out. One should be careful when using contrast because when you have too much contrast it can make the elements compete with each other. The background color and border of the document show contrast and make the text easy to read. Using a green font for the headings and also bolding and italicizing the text creates contrast. Again, this is where the headline has a few problems. There is too much contrast. The text, font sizes, and graphics all compete with one another.
Add comment November 1, 2006
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Process Explanation Blog
For this assignment I chose the Process Explanation genre. I began this assignment by thinking about the position of an Early Childhood Intervention Specialist. This is a position I am very interested in pursuing after my graduation in May. At my present job I have had the opportunity to visit with an ECI Specialist who does home visits for one of the children I baby sit. I have had the opportunity to talk with her about the position. One of the aspects of this position is the large amount of travel they do each day. ECI Specialists are reimbursed for some of their expenses and that is how I chose this particular scenario. I felt that this scenario is one that I will encounter on the job.
I determined that a process explanation would be the best genre for this scenario. Even though this is a procedure, I wouldn’t exactly classify them as instructions. The Expense Report Process includes some instructions on how to complete the form, but that is only a part of the entire process. My procedure conformed more to process explanation than instructions for that reason. The process explanation genre fit my scenario best because I could describe each stage of how to get your expenses reimbursed, including filling out the expense report form.
As a part of the job, an ECI Supervisor would prepare written process explanations when training employees in new procedures. I determined my audience to be the Early Childhood Intervention Specialists that I supervise. Prompt reimbursement of expenses would be something important to ECI specialists. To receive reimbursement, employees are required to provide proper documentation promptly and that is why they need to know the details of this procedure.
Instructions and process explanations do have similarities in that each provide a systematic way of performing a task. Each genre has stages or steps which provide important information to their readers. Instructions are for a specific task where process explanation describes the stages of a procedure. In my scenario I determined the reader of my process explanation to be a supervisor of employees who would need to understand the entire process and not just how to complete the form correctly in order to properly train her employees.
I think I have mastered some of the course goals after completing this assignment. I have analyzed communication contexts by understanding my audience and the purpose and situation in which an expense report process would be used. When writing this process explanation I was writing specifically to ECI Supervisors who would train employees on how to use the new expense report procedure. I think I have also designed a convincing document that is easy to understand and a form that is user friendly.
This assignment was interesting in that it caused me to think about a specific procedure that I could actually encounter as an ECI specialist. Each time I read through my process, I put myself in the role of ECI Supervisor and asked myself if I could adequately train my employees to use this process correctly. PuettProcessExplanation.doc
Add comment October 31, 2006
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Multicultural Revision
This assignment was interesting, but a little more difficult than I expected. Revising the claim letter to an Indian audience was challenging but it made me realize how important it is think about who your audience is when writing letters, reports and other correspondence.
I wish I had done my original claim letter a little differently. As Mr. Boettger told me in his critique of my original letter, I followed the template he had given us too closely. This made revising this letter more difficult. My original letter was short, direct and to the point. I stated the facts of the purchase and then stated the problem I was having in clear, concise wording. The tone of the letter only addressed one person, the manager and did not take into consideration the company as a whole. The power distance relationship was not a factor as I wrote the claim the first time. My first claim letter was written to a male manager, but I did not write the letter in a gender-specific way. The letter could have just as easily been written to a female. I was given the country of
India for this assignment. In researching
India, I learned that the Indians are religious, family oriented and philosophical people. Indians traditionally value simple material comforts, physical purity and spiritual refinement. Indians view hardships as the will of God or fate. The Indians are a grateful people. Their expressions of gratitude are reserved for important things and are not given routinely. Most Indians have a deep respect for Gandhi and his ideals, which include humility, nonviolence, self-denial and religious harmony. The Indian culture places a high value on their families. Their family units hold much more importance than that of the individual. After reading and researching the Indian culture I rewrote my claim letter to an Indian manager using the four identifiers of culture by Geert Hofstede. The four dimensions as described by Hofstede are Power Distance, Individualist vs. Collectivist, Masculine vs. Feminine and Uncertainty Avoidance. Comparing the power distance of
India and the
United States,
India’s score is almost twice that of the
US. I took this into consideration in my rewrite by emphasizing the company and stating the good things about the company and the positive relationship I had with them over the last three years. I addressed Mr. Patel formally in the new letter and used the familiar Indian greeting to create good will. I used direct language throughout the body of my letter and used words that would hopefully be easily understood. The second dimension of individual vs. collectivism required some changes in my letter. The
United States score was in the 90’s while
India’s was just above 40. As I learned through my research,
India does not put emphasis upon the individual, but on their family. Extended families often live together or near each other. Elderly people are revered and cared by their family members. I changed the tone of my letter so as not to focus on my needs so much, but rather I tried to focus on the problem of the product and what Worlwide, Inc. could do to resolve the problem. I limited my use of the word “me” and “I” and tried to put the focus on the product rather than myself. The third dimension of masculine vs. feminine did not require any major change in my letter. The use of words which include the word man or men such as chairman or fireman should be addressed. Also the tone of the letter whether direct or neutral is included in this dimension. The third dimension score on the Hofstede scale showed the
U.S. score just slightly higher than the one for
India. In my revision, I tried to show respect to the manager by addressing him and Mr. and by using the word Sir. These two words show respect and convey good will to Mr. Patel. The fourth dimension of uncertainty-avoidance addresses whether a country puts emphasis on details that are uncertain or unknown. In my example the Hofstede scale showed that
India scored twice as high as
America in wanting to know details. In my revised letter I gave the specific dates pertaining to the transaction and my specific request for a resolution to this issue. The reader of my revised letter would have no question as to how I anticipated this issue to be resolved.
I also revised one of my paragraphs to use plain English. This is where I ran into a little trouble. My first letter was simple in format and therefore already used plain English. If I hadn’t followed the template as closely in the first letter, then the revised letter would have been significantly different. The paragraph I selected from the first letter is as follows: “I am disappointed because your MP3 player has not performed like it is supposed to. Every time I try to use it, the screen goes blank and I cannot see the songs I am trying to play. Because of this it is impossible to use. I have read through the user manual that came with the player but I am unable to solve this issue on my own.” I changed the paragraph as follows: “There is a malfunction with the MP3 player and I would be very grateful for your assistance in resolving this problem. The model 512 MP3 has not performed up to the standards of my previous purchases from Worldwide. The specific problem is that the screen on the MP3 goes blank when I try to use it. This prevents the menu of songs that I have downloaded from being viewed. I am certain you understand that this makes it very difficult to use the MP3 player.” In the revised version I tried to take the emphasis off of myself and put the emphasis on the defective product. I believe I stated the problem clearly and tried to create empathy with the manufacturer. The use of the word grateful was intentional for them to see my gratitude even before the problem has been resolved.
This exercise was one of the most challenging we have had to date. It made me stop and think about my audience and how diverse cultures hear the message. Anytime we read words printed on a page, we read the words with our culture as a backdrop. We must remember that readers of our messages are doing the same thing. To be effective we must always know and understand our audience to the best of our ability.
Works cited:
1. CultureGrams World Edition 2005. www.culturegrams.com
2. Geert Hofstede Cultural Dimensions. http://www.geerthofstede.com/hofstede_dimensions.php?culture
Add comment October 23, 2006
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Coorespondence Package Reflection
I found this assignment on correspondence to be more difficult than I was expecting. I didn’t realize how much thought and time had to be put into this type of communication. I have learned it is imperative to focus on the audience and situation to which you are writing as well as the purpose and tone you are trying to convey.
As I wrote the claim letter I focused on several things. First, I made sure to establish good will with the manager as that is very important. I wanted him to know that I appreciated the company’s services and their reputation for customer service, while at the same time expressing my displeasure with my purchase. I also wanted to be sure and maintain a professional tone while describing the product I purchased. I also made sure the action I wanted the manager to take was clear and easy to understand. I did this by being direct and to the point because I wanted to let them know my expectations concerning the product I bought and how I expected my problem to be solved.
I also wrote the bad news memo using the same criteria that I used in the claim letter. Along with establishing and maintaining good will and using a professional tone, I made sure to deliver the good news to the employees first and then follow with the bad news. I wanted to be sure to clearly describe the plan for reducing the number of personal copies made but also be indirect as to not blame anyone in particular for the problem. I also used easy to understand language so there would be no misunderstandings on the part of the employees. An email format would also be a good genre for this type of announcement. Many companies have an announcement folder where company-wide emails are posted for employees to read. This would be sort of like an email bulletin board.
For the solicitation email I included an attention grabber at the beginning praising the Mr. Jones for his outstanding community service. This positive beginning would give them a feeling of good will at the beginning of the solicitation. I told him about our organization and how we serve individuals and families in our community, including statistics to be more specific. By giving him our Mission Statement I provided him with the values that our organization has in our city and area. In the last paragraph, I gave Mr. Jones specific details on how he and his company can partner with our foundation. I extended him more good will at the end of the email by inviting him and Jones, Inc. to an event planned just for them.
While completing this correspondence assignment I have accomplished many of the course goals. I have learned how to communicate effectively with specific audiences. I have also put together convincing and usable documents and been able to solve problems and improve situations within these documents. These examples of business correspondence represent the types of correspondence I will encounter weekly if not daily in a business setting.
Add comment October 10, 2006
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Reader Response #2
Reader Response #2
Webster defines ethics as the study of standards of conduct and moral judgment. Morals and values are things that I have been taught since childhood. From the time I was old enough to have memories my parents placed a high value on teaching me right from wrong. I was taught these values not only in my home, but they were reinforced by the religious teachings I was taught in my local church. My parents’ values which they passed down to me are based on Biblical principles which they learned from their parents.
My moral foundation is and will continue to be the basis for my ethical principles as I complete my college education and move into the work force. As we have recently discussed in class, ethical verbal and written communication will be important as I begin searching for my first job. My moral foundation has given me a clear understanding of what is right and wrong. My personal code of ethics will not allow for any “gray areas” as I prepare resumes and cover letters. It seems the lines of ethical and unethical behavior have been blurred when it comes to embellishing ones education, qualifications and even prior work experience. All too often we read or hear of professors, executives or government officials who have been fired for lying on a resume or job application. Because of the competitive nature of business, people are tempted to embellish or outright lie to make their resumes more impressive. How many times have we heard our elementary school teachers say “keep your eyes on your own paper.” The temptation to cheat begins early for school children. It may seem innocent enough in elementary school, but once an unethical pattern of behavior starts, it’s like a snowball going downhill. The more one cheats the easier it gets until it becomes the standard for one’s behavior. As a college student, it is easy to be sucked in to unethical behavior and practices. There are entire web businesses devoted to unethical behavior. They make their profits off of students with no moral compass when it comes to their education. I have observed many students who have been tempted to use websites to purchase essays or research papers. Many of these web-based businesses “guarantee” the cheater will not be found guilty of plagiarism. This type of behavior is sure to translate itself when the person becomes an employee. Someone who practices unethical behavior consistently will rationalize this behavior as acceptable. These types of people make terrible employees and we have seen examples where they have actually destroyed companies, i.e. Enron. It seems pretty simple to me. A person with a high moral standard will not be enticed to lie or cheat by embellishment or lying when communicating either in writing or verbally. The lines of ethical and unethical behavior are clearly marked in my mind. It will serve all of us well to remember the teaching of our youth that honesty is the best policy.
Add comment October 4, 2006
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