145-210 Business and Management Writing

100 points at any level

In this subject, students are introduced to written communication that is very different from academic writing. They learn about the theoretical basis of workplace written communication; and about the importance of audience analysis, conveying goodwill and various kinds of persuasion. Key aspects of workplace communication, such as collaborative work, 'authorless' writing and recurrent revision of documents will be discussed and demonstrated. Students will learn to analyse the requirements for different kinds of written documents (eg. memos, letters, leaflets, reports), develop awareness of ethical and legal issues, and understand cross-cultural aspects of business writing. Students will apply subject content in practical written assignments, and in preparing documents for business meetings. Through a report assignment students will become familiar with the written communication that characterises a particular business or management workplace.

Written work totalling 4000 words, comprising an analytical report (individual work, 2000 words), a group project to organise and run a business/management meeting (group work, equivalent of 2000 words), and classwork and homework portfolio (individual work, hurdle requirement to be eligible for assessment).

• K O Locker, Business and Administrative Communication. 6th edn, Mc Graw Hill, 2003.