Etextbook 978 1305957961 business communication process product 9th edition

eTextbook 978-1305957961 Business Communication: Process & Product 9th Edition Visit to download the full and correct content document: https://ebookmass.com/product/etextbook-978-1305957961-business-communication -process-product-9th-edition/

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BUSINESS COMMUNICATION: PROCESS & PRODUCT, 9E • New digital model documents throughout illustrate how social media

networks are shaping today’s communication and will help you understand professional social media applications.

• New activities, identified with the Social Media and Communication Technology icon, reflect the preeminence of writing in the digital workplace and prompt you to develop your professional social networking skills.

SOCIAL NETWORKS VS. OTHER U.S. WORKERS: COMPARING ATTITUDES TOWARDS QUESTIONABLE BEHAVIOR Do you feel it is acceptable to…?

“Friend” a client/customer on a social network

Active Social Networkers

Other U.S. Workers

59%

28%

Blog or tweet negatively about your company or colleagues

42%

6%

Buy personal items with your company credit card as long as you pay it back

42%

8%

Do a little less work to compensate for cuts in benefits or pay

51%

10%

Keep a copy of confidential work documents in case you need them in your next job

50%

15%

Take a copy of work software home and use it on your personal computer

46%

7%

Upload vacation pictures to the company network or server so you can share them with co-workers

50%

Use social networking to find out what my company’s competitors are doing

54%

17% 30%

Source: National Business Ethics Survey, Social Media Week.105

1.11 Ethical Dilemmas: Applying Tools for Doing the Right Thing (L.O. 5) Ethics

Team

As a business communicator, you may face various ethical dilemmas in your career. Many factors can determine your choice of an action to take.

YOUR TASK Study the seven dilemmas appearing on page 28. Select four of them and apply the tools for doing the right thing in Figure 1.15 on page 31 choosing an appropriate action. In a memo to your instructor or in a team discussion, explain the action you would take for each dilemma. Analyze your response to each question (Is the action you are considering legal? How would you see the problem if you were on the opposite side? and so forth).

Test Your Etiquette IQ New communication platforms and casual workplace environments have blurred the lines of appropriateness, leaving workers wondering how to navigate uncharted waters.

Indicate whether the following statements are true or false. Then see if you agree with the Copyright 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. WCN 02-200-203 responses on p. R-1.

BUSINESS COMMUNICATION: PROCESS & PRODUCT, 9E

Nordstrom: A Fabulous Shopping Experience Goes Social

Yeamake/Shutterstock.com

Opening scenarios in each chapter illustrate social media and technology use, teamwork, meetings, persuasion, and more by companies that you know and interact with, such as Starbucks, Lyft, Walmart, Taco Bell, Sony, Royal Caribbean, olloclip, Pew Research, and JetBlue.

Zooming In

Nordstrom’s customer service is legendary. Like no other, the upscale fashion retailer empowers its employees to make their own decisions to best serve customers. Consider the Anchorage location once accepting returned tires that the retailer doesn’t even sell. Another true story relates that an employee raced to deliver a scatterbrained customer’s forgotten baggage to the airport prior to her departure. Both anecdotes exemplify the century-old company’s motto: to provide a fabulous customer experience by empowering customers and the employees who serve them.

But Nordstrom’s fabled devotion to customer service extends strategically into the virtual world to meet customers where they are. The retailer has invested heavily in technology; for example, to integrate its inventory management system with its website and the Nordstrom app—always with the clear purpose to enhance the customer experience. As a result, the company’s online and offline worlds are seamlessly linked, and customers can find what they want in one place. Salespeople can track customer requests and needs online. This persistent effort to integrate digital capabilities has paid off. Nordstrom’s revenue has grown by more than 50 percent in the last five years.1 Its shares have jumped 120 percent.2 A strong social media engagement is key to Nordstrom’s strategy to provide superb service and to drive traffic to its e-commerce site. As one of America’s most connected companies,3 it relies on crowdsourcing to learn which items to stock, and it responds rapidly to queries, in Spanish when needed. At currently 3.2 million likes, Nordstrom is a strong presence on Facebook. Pinterest, the popular online bulletin board, is a particular success story for early-adopter Nordstrom, which currently has some 4.4 million followers.4 With such public engagement, it’s not surprising that Nordstrom has clearly defined social media use guidelines. Approved employees may connect with customers during working hours and even after hours, if allowed. They are admonished to use good judgment and abide by all corporate policies. They are told to be respectful, responsible, and ethical. Furthermore, Nordstrom’s social media policy forbids the sharing of confidential corporate information as well as employees’ and customers’ private and personal information. Conflicts of interest are to be avoided, and compensated endorsements must be disclosed. The policy ends with this cheerful invitation: “Above all, remember to have fun and be yourself!”5 Nordstrom’s digital strategy is making the company highly competitive. You will learn more about Nordstrom and be asked to complete a relevant task at the end of this chapter.

Communicating in the Digital World What kind of workplace will you enter when you graduate, and which skills will you need to be successful in it? Expect a fast-paced, competitive, and highly connected digital environment.

Communication technology provides unmatched mobility and connects individuals anytime and anywhere in the world. Today’s communicators interact using multiple electronic devices and access information stored in remote locations, in the cloud.

This mobility and instant access explain why increasing numbers of workers must be available practically around the clock and respond quickly. Nordstrom and other technology-savvy businesses have recognized the power of social media networks and seek to engage their customers and other stakeholders where they meet online. Communication no longer flows one way; rather, electronic media have empowered the public to participate and be heard.

In this increasingly complex, networked, and mobile environment, communication skills matter more than ever.6 Such skills are particularly significant when competition is keen. Job candidates with exceptional communication skills immediately stand out. In this chapter you will learn about communication skills in the digital era and about the contemporary world of work. Later you will study tools to help you negotiate ethical minefields and do the right thing. Each section covers the latest information about communicating in business while also providing tips to help you function effectively and ethically in today’s fast-paced, information-driven workplace.

Chapter 1 Business Communication in the Digital Age

Critical Thinking

• After reading this

case study, can you put into perspective the suggestion “have fun and be yourself”?

What exactly does this invitation mean?

• Why does Nordstrom

allow only certain employees to connect online with customers and other members of the public?

• Why do social media

guidelines emphasize ethical behavior and ethical communication?

LEARNING OUTCOME 1

Explain how communication skills fuel career success, and understand why writing skills are vital in a digital, mobile, and social-mediadriven workplace.

3

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10/12/16 5:07 PM

Brief Contents Unit 1 Communication Foundations 1 1 Business Communication in the Digital Age 2 2 Professionalism: Team, Meeting, Listening, Nonverbal, and Etiquette Skills 42 3 Intercultural Communication 84

Unit 2 The Writing Process in the Digital Era 125 4 Planning Business Messages 126 5 Organizing and Drafting Business Messages 158 6 Revising Business Messages 186

Unit 3 Workplace Communication 213 7 8 9 10

Short Workplace Messages and Digital Media 214 Positive Messages 252 Negative Messages 294 Persuasive and Sales Messages 338

Unit 4 Reports, Proposals, and Presentations 387 11 Reporting in the Digital Age Workplace 388 12 Informal Business Reports 436 13 Proposals, Business Plans, and Formal Business Reports 482 14 Business Presentations 520

Unit 5 Employment Communication 563 15 The Job Search, Résumés, and Cover Letters in the Digital Age 564 16 Interviewing and Following Up 612

Appendixes A Document Format Guide A-1 B Documentation Formats B-1 C Correction Symbols and Proofreading Marks C-1 D Grammar and Mechanics Guide D-1

End Matter Key to Grammar and Mechanics Key-1 Etiquette IQ Responses R-1 Glossary (Available online only at www.cengagebrain.com) Index I-1

Brief Contents

Copyright 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. WCN 02-200-203

ix

Copyright 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. WCN 02-200-203

Contents UNIT

1 Communication Foundations Chapter 1

Business Communication in the Digital Age 2

Zooming In: Nordstrom: A Fabulous Shopping Experience Goes Social 3 Communicating in the Digital World 3 The Digital Revolution and You: Tools for Success in the 21st-Century Workplace 6 How Your Education Drives Your Income 10 Trends and Challenges in the Information Age Workplace 10 Information Flow and Media Choices in Today’s Workplace 19 Ethics in the Workplace Needed More Than Ever 26 Zooming In: Your Turn: Applying Your Skills at Nordstrom 31

AjFile/Shutterstock.com

Summary of Learning Outcomes Critical Thinking 33 Activities 33 Test Your Etiquette IQ 37 Chat About It 38 Grammar and Mechanics 38 References 39

Chapter 2

Charlotte Purdy/Shutterstock.com

Professionalism: Team, Meeting, Listening, Nonverbal, and Etiquette Skills 42

32

Zooming In: Lyft Epitomizes the Sharing Economy and Teamwork 43 Adding Value to Professional Teams 43 Checklist: Developing Team Effectiveness 50 Planning and Participating in Face-to-Face and Virtual Meetings 51 Checklist: Planning and Participating in Productive Meetings 58 Listening in the Workplace 59 Checklist: Improving Listening 64 Communicating Nonverbally 64 Checklist: Building Strong Nonverbal Communication Skills in the Workplace 68 Developing Professionalism and Business Etiquette Skills at the Office and Online 69 Zooming In: Your Turn: Applying Your Skills at Lyft 72 Summary of Learning Outcomes Critical Thinking 74 Activities 74 Test Your Etiquette IQ 79

72

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Chat About It 79 Grammar and Mechanics References 80

Chapter 3

Intercultural Communication 84

79

Zooming In: Intercultural and Ethics Challenges for the World’s Largest Retailer 85 The Growing Importance of Intercultural Communication 85 Culture and Communication 90 Becoming Interculturally Proficient 96 Checklist: Achieving Intercultural Proficiency 104 Culture and Ethical Business Practices 104 Workforce Diversity: Benefits and Challenges 108 Zooming In: Your Turn: Applying Your Skills at Walmart 111

Dan Baciu/Shutterstock.com

Summary of Learning Outcomes 112 Critical Thinking 113 Activities 114 Test Your Etiquette IQ 119 Chat About It 119 Grammar and Mechanics 120 References 120

UNIT

Writing 2 The Process in the Digital Era Chapter 4

racorn/Shutterstock.com

Planning Business Messages 126

Zooming In: TOMS Shoes Integrates For-Profit Entrepreneurship With Bleeding-Heart Philanthropy 127 Understanding the Communication Process 127 Using the 3-x-3 Writing Process as a Guide 132 Analyzing and Anticipating the Audience 135 Using Expert Writing Techniques to Adapt to Your Audience 138 Checklist: Adapting a Message to Its Audience 146 Sharing the Writing in Teams 146 Zooming In: Your Turn: Applying Your Skills at TOMS 150 Summary of Learning Outcomes 150 Critical Thinking 151 Activities 152 Test Your Etiquette IQ 155 Chat About It 156 Grammar and Mechanics 156 References 157

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Chapter 5

Darren Baker/Shutterstock.com

Organizing and Drafting Business Messages 158

Summary of Learning Outcomes 178 Critical Thinking 179 Writing Improvement Exercises 180 Activities 183 Test Your Etiquette IQ 184 Chat About It 184 Grammar and Mechanics 185 References 185

Chapter 6

Revising Business Messages 186 Monkey Business Images/Shutterstock.com

Zooming In: MyEvent.com Moves From Weddings to Fundraising and Crowdsourcing 159 Beginning With Research 159 Generating Ideas and Organizing Information 161 Composing the First Draft With Effective Sentences 166 Developing Business Writing Techniques 169 Checklist: Drafting Effective Sentences 173 Building Well-Organized Paragraphs 174 Checklist: Preparing Meaningful Paragraphs 177 Zooming In: Your Turn: Applying Your Skills at MyEvent.com 177

Zooming In: Taco Bell Seeks to Shatter Sea of Sameness 187 Stopping to Revise: Applying Phase 3 of the Writing Process 187 Polishing Your Messages by Revising for Conciseness 188 Improving Message Clarity 193 Applying Document Design to Enhance Readability 196 Proofreading to Catch Errors 199 Evaluating the Effectiveness of Your Message 202 Checklist: Editing, Proofreading, and Evaluating 203 Zooming In: Your Turn: Applying Your Skills at Taco Bell 203 Summary of Learning Outcomes 205 Critical Thinking 206 Writing Improvement Exercises 206 Activities 208 Test Your Etiquette IQ 211 Chat About It 211 Grammar and Mechanics 211 References 212 xiii

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UNIT

3 Workplace Communication Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Zooming In: JetBlue: Speedy Customer Service with Humor 253 Neutral and Positive Messages: The Writing Process 253 Routine Request, Response, and Instruction Messages 257 Checklist: Writing Direct Requests and Responses 260 Direct Claims and Complaints 264 Adjustment Messages 268 Checklist: Direct Claim, Complaint, and Adjustment Messages 273 Goodwill Messages 274 Checklist: Goodwill Messages 277 Zooming In: Your Turn: Applying Your Skills at JetBlue 278

Bolyuk Rostyslav/Shutterstock.com

Short Workplace Messages and Digital Media 214

Summary of Learning Outcomes 240 Critical Thinking 241 Activities 242 Test Your Etiquette IQ 248 Chat About It 248 Grammar and Mechanics 248 References 249

Positive Messages 252

Stuart Jenner/Shutterstock.com

Zooming In: Sony Hack Signals the End of Privacy 215 Writing Digital Age E-Mail Messages and Memos 215 Checklist: Professional E-Mail and Memos 222 Workplace Messaging and Texting 222 Making Podcasts and Wikis Work for Business 228 Blogging for Business 231 Social Networking for Business 236 Checklist: Using Digital Media Like a Pro 239 Zooming In: Your Turn: Applying Your Skills at Sony 239

Summary of Learning Outcomes 279 Critical Thinking 280 Writing Improvement Exercises 281 xiv

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Activities 282 Test Your Etiquette IQ 290 Chat About It 290 Grammar and Mechanics 290 References 291

Chapter 9

goodluz/Shutterstock.com

Negative Messages 294

Zooming In: Crises Rock the Cruise Industry and Rattle Cruise Passengers 295 Communicating Negative News Effectively 295 Analyzing Negative-News Strategies 299 Composing Effective Negative Messages 303 Refusing Typical Requests and Claims 309 Managing Bad News Within Organizations 319 Checklist: Conveying Negative News 324 Zooming In: Your Turn: Applying Your Skills at Royal Caribbean 324 Summary of Learning Outcomes 325 Critical Thinking 326 Writing Improvement Exercises 327 Activities 328 Test Your Etiquette IQ 334 Chat About It 335 Grammar and Mechanics 335 References 336

Chapter 10

Phovoir/Shutterstock.com

Persuasive and Sales Messages 338

Zooming In: ōlloclip: Smartphone Lenses That Sell Themselves 339 Persuading Effectively and Ethically in the Contemporary Workplace 340 Blending Four Major Elements in Successful Persuasive Messages 346 Writing Persuasive Requests, Making Claims, and Delivering Complaints 350 Checklist: Using the AIDA Strategy to Request Actions, Make Claims, and Deliver Complaints 353 Writing Persuasive Messages in Digital Age Organizations 353 Creating Effective Sales Messages in Print and Online 357 Developing Persuasive Press Releases 366 Checklist: Preparing Persuasive Direct-Mail and E-Mail Sales Messages 367 Zooming In: Your Turn: Applying Your Skills at ōlloclip 369 xv

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Summary of Learning Outcomes 369 Critical Thinking 371 Activities 372 Test Your Etiquette IQ 382 Chat About It 382 Grammar and Mechanics 382 References 383

UNIT

4 Reports, Proposals, and Presentations Chapter 11

Minerva Studio/Shutterstock.com

Reporting in the Digital Age Workplace 388

Chapter 12

leungchopan/Shutterstock.com

Informal Business Reports 436

Zooming In: Research for the Public Good at Pew 389 Reporting in the Digital Age Workplace 389 Applying the 3-x-3 Writing Process to Contemporary Reports 397 Identifying Secondary Sources and Conducting Primary Research 402 Documenting Information 412 Creating Effective Graphics 418 Zooming In: Your Turn: Applying Your Skills at Pew 424 Summary of Learning Outcomes 425 Critical Thinking 426 Activities 427 Test Your Etiquette IQ 432 Chat About It 433 Grammar and Mechanics 433 References 434

Zooming In: Starbucks: Innovate or Die! The Global Chain That Wants to Remain Local 437 Analyzing Digital Age Data 437 Drawing Conclusions and Making Recommendations 443 Organizing Data 446 Writing Short Informational Reports 452 Checklist: Writing Informational Reports 458 Preparing Short Analytical Reports 459 Checklist: Writing Direct Requests and Responses 467 Zooming In: Your Turn: Applying Your Skills at Starbucks 468 Summary of Learning Outcomes Critical Thinking 470 Activities 470

468

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Self-Contained Report Activities Test Your Etiquette IQ 480 Grammar and Mechanics 480 References 481

Chapter 13

Milles Studio/Shutterstock.com

Proposals, Business Plans, and Formal Business Reports 482

475

Zooming In: SpaceX Soars on the Wings of its Proposals 483 Writing Informal Proposals 483 Preparing Formal Proposals 488 Checklist: Writing Proposals 490 Creating Effective Business Plans 490 Writing Formal Business Reports 493 Body and Back Matter Components of Formal Business Reports 496 Final Writing Tips 497 Checklist: Preparing Formal Business Reports 508 Zooming In: Your Turn: Applying Your Skills at SpaceX 509 Summary of Learning Outcomes 510 Critical Thinking 511 Activities 512 Test Your Etiquette IQ 517 Chat About It 517 Grammar and Mechanics 518 References 518

Chapter 14

Rawpixel.com/Shutterstock.com

Business Presentations 520

Zooming In: Jean-luc Doumont: Engineering Effective Presenting Skills Worldwide 521 Creating Effective Business Presentations 521 Connecting With Audiences by Organizing Content and Using Visual Aids 525 Preparing Engaging Multimedia Presentations 534 Polishing Your Delivery and Following Up 539 Checklist: Preparing and Organizing Oral Presentations 544 Developing Intercultural and Team Presentations 545 Improving Speaking Skills for Effective Phone Calls 549 Zooming In: Your Turn: Applying Your Skills 552 Summary of Learning Outcomes 553 Critical Thinking 555 Activities 555 Test Your Etiquette IQ 560 Chat About It 560 Grammar and Mechanics 560 References 561 xvii

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UNIT

5 Employment Communication Chapter 15 The Job Search, Résumés, and Cover Letters in the Digital Age 564

Zooming In: Graduating From Classroom to Career 565 Job Searching in the Digital Age 565 Developing a Job-Search Strategy Focused on the Open Job Market 569 Unlocking the Hidden Job Market With Networking 572 Customizing Your Résumé 576 Enhancing Your Job Search With Today’s Digital Tools 590 Checklist: Creating and Submitting a Customized Résumé 593 Cover Messages–Do They Still Matter? 594 Creating a Customized Cover Message 595 Zooming In: Your Turn: Applying Your Skills With Heather Huhman 601

Nicotombo/Shutterstock.com

Summary of Learning Outcomes 602 Critical Thinking 604 Activities 604 Test Your Etiquette IQ 607 Chat About It 608 Grammar and Mechanics 608 References 609

Chapter 16

Interviewing and Following Up 612

Zooming In: Achieving Interview Success in Today’s Competitive Job Market 613 Interviewing Effectively in Today’s Competitive Job Market 613 Before the Interview 617 During the Interview 622 After the Interview 633 Preparing Additional Employment Documents 636 Zooming In: Your Turn: Applying Your Skills 639

goodluz/Shutterstock.com

Summary of Learning Outcomes 639 Critical Thinking 641 Activities 641 Test Your Etiquette IQ 647 Chat About It 647 Grammar and Mechanics 647 References 648

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Appendixes A Document Format Guide A-1 B Documentation Formats B-1 C Correction Symbols and Proofreading Marks C-1 D Grammar and Mechanics Guide D-1

End Matter Key to Grammar and Mechanics Key-1 Etiquette IQ Responses R-1 Glossary (Available online only at www.cengagebrain.com) Index I-1

xix

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Appreciation for Support No successful textbook reaches a No. 1 position without a great deal of help. We are exceedingly grateful to the reviewers and other experts who contributed their pedagogic and academic expertise in shaping Business Communication: Process & Product.

We extend sincere thanks to many professionals at Cengage Learning; Erin Joyner, Vice President, General Manager for Social Sciences, Humanities & Business; Michael Schenk, Executive Product Director for Business & Economics; John Rich, Content Development Manager; Megan Guiliani, Content Project Manager; Bethany Casey, Senior Art Director, and Diane Garrity, Intellectual Property Analyst.

Our heartfelt appreciation also goes to the following for their expertise in creating exceptional instructor and student support materials: Janet Mizrahi, University of California, Santa Barbara; Carolyn M. Seefer, Diablo Valley College; Thanakorn Kooptaporn, California State University, Fullerton; Michele Granger, Missouri State University; and Nicole Adams, University of Dayton.

Mary Ellen Guffey Dana Loewy

Grateful Thanks to Reviewers Janet G. Adams, Minnesota State University, Mankato

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About the Authors Dr. Mary Ellen Guffey A dedicated professional, Mary Ellen Guffey has taught business communication and business English topics for over thirty-five years. She received a bachelor’s degree, summa cum laude, from Bowling Green State University; a master’s degree from the University of Illinois, and a doctorate in business and economic education from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

She has taught at the University of Illinois, Santa Monica College, and Los Angeles Pierce College.

Now recognized as the world’s leading business communication author, Dr. Guffey corresponds with instructors around the globe who are using her books. She is the founding author of the award-winning Business Communication: Process & Product, the leading business communication textbook in this country. She also wrote Business English, which serves more students than any other book in its field; Essentials of College English; and Essentials of Business Communication, the leading text/workbook in its market. Dr. Guffey is active professionally, serving on the review boards of the Business and Professional Communication Quarterly and the Journal of Business Communication, publications of the Association for Business Communication. She participates in national meetings, sponsors business communication awards, and is committed to promoting excellence in business communication pedagogy and the development of student writing skills.

Dr. Dana Loewy Dana Loewy has been teaching business communication at California State University, Fullerton since 1996. She enjoys introducing undergraduates to business writing and honing the skills of graduate students in managerial communication. Most recently, she has also taught various German courses and is a regular guest lecturer at Fach-hochschule Nürtingen, Germany. In addition to completing numerous brand-name consulting assignments, she is a certified business etiquette consultant. Dr. Loewy has collaborated with Dr. Guffey on recent editions of Business Communication: Process & Product as well as on Essentials of Business Communication.

Dr. Loewy holds a master’s degree from Bonn University, Germany, and earned a PhD in English from the University of Southern California. Fluent in several languages, among them German and Czech, her two native languages, Dr. Loewy has authored critical articles in many areas of interest—literary criticism, translation, business communication, and business ethics.

Before teaming up with Dr. Guffey, Dr. Loewy published various poetry and prose translations, most notably The Early Poetry of Jaroslav Seifert and On the Waves of TSF. Active in the Association for Business Communication, Dr. Loewy focuses on creating effective teaching/ learning materials for undergraduate and graduate business communication students.

About the Authors

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xxiii

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UNIT

1

Communication Foundations

AjFile/Shutterstock.com

Chapter 1 Business Communication in the Digital Age Chapter 2 Professionalism: Team, Meeting, Listening, Nonverbal, and Etiquette Skills Chapter 3 Intercultural Communication

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Chapter Business Communication in the Digital Age

1

LEARNING OUTCOMES

After studying this chapter, you should be able to 1 Explain how communication skills fuel career success, and understand why writing skills are vital in a digital, mobile, and social-media-driven workplace.

2 Identify the tools for success in the hyperconnected 21stcentury workplace; appreciate the importance of criticalthinking skills and personal credibility in the competitive job market of the digital age; and discuss how your education may determine your income.

4 Examine critically the internal and external flow of communication in organizations through formal and informal channels, explain the importance of effective media choices, and understand how to overcome typical barriers to organizational communication.

5 Analyze ethics in the workplace, understand the goals of ethical business communicators, and choose the tools for doing the right thing.

Copyright 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. WCN 02-200-203

AjFile/Shutterstock.com

3 Describe significant trends in today’s dynamic, networked work environment, and recognize that social media and other communication technologies require excellent communication skills, in any economic climate.

Yeamake/Shutterstock.com

Nordstrom: A Fabulous Shopping Experience Goes Social

Zooming In

Nordstrom’s customer service is legendary. Like no other, the upscale fashion retailer empowers its employees to make their own decisions to best serve customers. Consider the Anchorage location once accepting returned tires that the retailer doesn’t even sell. Another true story relates that an employee raced to deliver a scatterbrained customer’s forgotten baggage to the airport prior to her departure. Both anecdotes exemplify the century-old company’s motto: to provide a fabulous customer experience by empowering customers and the employees who serve them.

But Nordstrom’s fabled devotion to customer service extends strategically into the virtual world to meet customers where they are. The retailer has invested heavily in technology; for example, to integrate its inventory management system with its website and the Nordstrom app—always with the clear purpose to enhance the customer experience. As a result, the company’s online and offline worlds are seamlessly linked, and customers can find what they want in one place. Salespeople can track customer requests and needs online. This persistent effort to integrate digital capabilities has paid off. Nordstrom’s revenue has grown by more than 50 percent in the last five years.1 Its shares have jumped 120 percent.2 A strong social media engagement is key to Nordstrom’s strategy to provide superb service and to drive traffic to its e-commerce site. As one of America’s most connected companies,3 it relies on crowdsourcing to learn which items to stock, and it responds rapidly to queries, in Spanish when needed. At currently 3.2 million likes, Nordstrom is a strong presence on Facebook. Pinterest, the popular online bulletin board, is a particular success story for early-adopter Nordstrom, which currently has some 4.4 million followers.4 With such public engagement, it’s not surprising that Nordstrom has clearly defined social media use guidelines. Approved employees may connect with customers during working hours and even after hours, if allowed. They are admonished to use good judgment and abide by all corporate policies. They are told to be respectful, responsible, and ethical. Furthermore, Nordstrom’s social media policy forbids the sharing of confidential corporate information as well as employees’ and customers’ private and personal information. Conflicts of interest are to be avoided, and compensated endorsements must be disclosed. The policy ends with this cheerful invitation: “Above all, remember to have fun and be yourself!”5 Nordstrom’s digital strategy is making the company highly competitive. You will learn more about Nordstrom and be asked to complete a relevant task at the end of this chapter.

Communicating in the Digital World What kind of workplace will you enter when you graduate, and which skills will you need to be successful in it? Expect a fast-paced, competitive, and highly connected digital environment.

Communication technology provides unmatched mobility and connects individuals anytime and anywhere in the world. Today’s communicators interact using multiple electronic devices and access information stored in remote locations, in the cloud.

This mobility and instant access explain why increasing numbers of workers must be available practically around the clock and respond quickly. Nordstrom and other technology-savvy businesses have recognized the power of social media networks and seek to engage their customers and other stakeholders where they meet online. Communication no longer flows one way; rather, electronic media have empowered the public to participate and be heard.

In this increasingly complex, networked, and mobile environment, communication skills matter more than ever.6 Such skills are particularly significant when competition is keen. Job candidates with exceptional communication skills immediately stand out. In this chapter you will learn about communication skills in the digital era and about the contemporary world of work. Later you will study tools to help you negotiate ethical minefields and do the right thing. Each section covers the latest information about communicating in business while also providing tips to help you function effectively and ethically in today’s fast-paced, information-driven workplace.

Critical Thinking

• After reading this

case study, can you put into perspective the suggestion “have fun and be yourself”?

What exactly does this invitation mean?

• Why does Nordstrom

allow only certain employees to connect online with customers and other members of the public?

• Why do social media

guidelines emphasize ethical behavior and ethical communication?

LEARNING OUTCOME 1

Explain how communication skills fuel career success, and understand why writing skills are vital in a digital, mobile, and social-mediadriven workplace.

Chapter 1 Business Communication in the Digital Age

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3

Communication Skills: Your Pass to Success Over the last decade, employer surveys have consistently shown that strong communication skills are critical to effective job placement, work performance, career advancement, and organizational success.7 In making hiring decisions, employers often rank communication skills among the most desirable competencies.8 Interviewers for defense contractor BAE Systems may request a writing sample to “literally see if the candidate can write,” but also to find out whether the applicant can organize and share ideas, explains Curt Gray, senior vice president of human resources and administration.

UPS requires its workers to write clear and concise messages and “to investigate, analyze and report their findings in a professional manner,” says Matt Lavery, managing director of corporate talent acquisition.9 In a poll, Fortune 1000 executives cited writing, critical-thinking, and problem-solving skills along with self-motivation and team skills as their top choices in new-hires.10 Writing skills can be your ticket to work—or your ticket out the door, according to a business executive responding to a significant survey. This much-quoted study of 120 American corporations by the National Commission on Writing found that two thirds of salaried employees have some writing responsibility. However, about one third of them do not meet the writing requirements for their positions.11 “Businesses are crying out—they need to have people who write better,” said Gaston Caperton, executive and College Board president.

Writing has been variously called a “career sifter,” a “threshold skill,” and “the price of admission,”12 indicating that effective writing skills can be a stepping-stone to great job opportunities. Poorly developed writing skills, however, may derail a career. Writing is a marker of high-skill, high-wage, professional work, according to Bob Kerrey, former university president and chair of the National Commission on Writing. If you can’t express yourself clearly, he says, you limit your opportunities for many positions.13 When we discuss communication skills, we generally mean reading, listening, nonverbal, speaking, and writing skills. In addition, workers today must be media savvy and exercise good judgment when posting messages on the Internet and writing e-mails.

To be successful, they must guard their online image and protect the reputation of their employers. In this book we focus on the listening, nonverbal, speaking, and writing skills necessary in a digital workplace. Chapters are devoted to each of these skills. Special attention is given to writing skills because they are difficult to develop and increasingly significant in e-communication.

Writing in the Digital Age Note: Because this is a well-researched textbook, you will find small superscript numbers in the text. These announce information sources. Full citations are located in the Notes section beginning on page 40 near the end of the book. This edition uses a modified American Psychological Association (APA) reference citation format.

4

If you are like many young adults, you may think that your daily texts, instant messages, Facebook posts, blog entries, and e-mails are not real writing. A Pew Internet & American Life study found that teens and young adults consider their frequent e-communication to be very different from the traditional writing they learn in school.14 Perhaps young people understand that their digital writing is largely casual, but that employers expect more formal, thoughtful, informative, and error-free messages. In any case, the respondents in the study rightly believe that solid writing skills are a necessity in today’s networked digital world.

Long gone are the days when business was mostly conducted face-to-face and when administrative assistants corrected spelling and grammar for their bosses. Although interpersonal skills still matter greatly, writing effectively is critical. Ever since the digital revolution swept the workplace, most workers write their own messages. New communication channels appeared, including the Web and e-mail, followed by instant messaging, blogs, and social media networks.

The mobile revolution is stimulating huge economic growth and has profoundly changed how we communicate; it has become the fastest-adopted technology of all time.15 Figure 1.1 displays the emergence of new communication technology and the rapid growth of Internet users over the last two decades. So far, the number of Internet users has roughly doubled every five years.

Chapter 1 Business Communication in the Digital Age

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Figure 1.1 Time Line: Communication Technology and Social Media

2000 |

2005

| 2010 |

2015 |

Napster StumbleUpon Skype iPad iPhone IPTV Cloud computing YouTube Blogger Wikipedia Second Life Smartphones Technology Convergence Netbooks Vimeo RSS 2.0 iTunes Pinterest Kindle MySpace iPod Instagram GPS III Wearable devices Hulu LinkedIn Geocaching Facebook Tumbler Blackberry The Mobile Revolution ThumbDrive World of Warcraft Android Dropbox Palm OS Apps Digg WiMax networks Treo Blu-ray Flickr USB 3.0

R E SP

O N SE

T IM E :

We e k s >

NUMBER OF IN

D ay s > H o u r s

TERNE T USERS:

> M i nu t e s > S e c o n ds

361 Million

n > 500 Millio

> 1.15

> Billion

2020

The Internet of Things Artificial intelligence Self-driving automobiles

3 lion > 2.3 Bil

lion .0 Bil

Writing matters more than ever because the online media require more of it, not less.16 An important poll by Hart Research Associates supports this view. The participating employers admitted that their expectations of employees have increased because the challenges on the job are more complex than in the past. The executives also said that employees today need a broader range of skills as well as higher levels of knowledge in their field.17 “Communicating clearly and effectively has NEVER been more important than it is today. Whether it’s fair or not, life-changing critical judgments about you are being made based solely on your writing ability,” says management consultant Victor Urbach.

“Having excellent command of your online digital persona will enable you to quickly surpass those who present themselves weakly in the new competitive arena. Since you probably won’t get a second chance, what kind of digital first impression will you choose to make?”18 Developing these skills in this course will build your credibility and help you stand out.

It’s Up to You: Communication Skills Can Be Learned By enrolling in a business writing class, you have already taken the first step toward improving or polishing your communication skills. The goals of this course and this book include teaching you basic business communication skills, such as how to write an effective e-mail, a short message on a mobile device, or a clear business letter, and how to make a memorable presentation with various digital media.

Thriving in the challenging interconnected work world depends on many factors, some of which you cannot control. However, one factor that you do control is how well you communicate. You are not born with the abilities to read, listen, speak, and write effectively. These skills must be learned. This book and this course may well be the most important in your entire college curriculum because they will equip you with the skills most needed in today’s fast-paced information- and data-driven workplace.

Chapter 1 Business Communication in the Digital Age

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5

Reality Check photopixel/Shutterstock.com

Digital Workplace Survival Skills

LEARNING OUTCOME 2

“To succeed in today’s workplace, young people need more than basic reading and math skills. They need substantial content knowledge and information technology skills; advanced thinking skills, flexibility to adapt to change; and interpersonal skills to succeed in multi-cultural, cross-functional teams.”19 —J. Willard Marriott, Jr., chairman and CEO, Marriott International, Inc.

Rachael Arnott/Shutterstock.com

Identify the tools for success in the hyperconnected 21stcentury workplace; appreciate the importance of critical-thinking skills and personal credibility in the competitive job market of the digital age; and discuss how your education may determine your income.

6

The Digital Revolution and You: Tools for Success in the 21st-Century Workplace If you are a young adult, chances are that you check Facebook, smartphone texts, Instagram, Twitter, or Tumblr first thing in the morning and repeatedly throughout the day to stay connected with your friends and family. Most likely you write and create digital documents with a notebook, tablet, or smartphone without thinking much about the technology enabling you to do all this. Information technology has changed how we work, play, and communicate.

It has never been easier to access and share information via various digital media from a vast network of sources and to distribute it nearly instantly and to widespread audiences.20 What hasn’t changed is that communication skills need time and effort to develop.

To achieve literacy in the digital age means not only using multimedia applications and snazzy late-model gadgets but also thinking critically about new media. It means using technology thoughtfully and in a professional manner to achieve success in a hyperconnected world.

The 21st-century economy depends mainly on information and knowledge. Previously, in the Industrial Age, raw materials and physical labor were the key ingredients in the creation of wealth. Today, however, individuals in the workforce offer their knowledge, not their muscles.

Knowledge workers (a term first coined by management guru Peter Drucker) get paid for their education and their ability to learn.21 More recently, we are hearing the term information worker to describe those who produce and consume information in the workplace.22 Regardless of the terminology, knowledge and information workers engage in mind work. They must make sense of words, figures, and data. At the same time, the knowledge available in the “digital universe” is more than doubling every year, according to computing pioneer George Dyson.23 In this light it may not surprise you that jobs in the information technology sector are likely to jump 24 percent by 2020.24 Mobile technology generated almost $3.3 trillion in revenue globally in one year alone and is responsible for 11 million jobs, according to Boston Consulting.25 However, in a recovering but demanding U.S. labor market, hundreds of thousands of jobs in science, technology, engineering, and math remain unfilled.26 Experts also worry about domestic talent shortages in skilled manufacturing.27 In such a challenging environment, continuous, lifelong learning will make you more competitive and valuable to future Chapter 1 Business Communication in the Digital Age

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employers. An adaptable, highly skilled workforce is well equipped to weather any economic climate as well as global competition.

Why Should You Care?

As a knowledge worker in the skills economy, you can expect to be generating, processing, and exchanging information. You will need to be able to transmit it effectively across various communication channels and multiple media. You might be called on to use e-mail, multimedia slide presentations, wikis, podcasts, or Facebook and other social media in a professional setting. With added job responsibilities, you will be expected to make sound decisions and solve complex problems. Interviewers at global giant Siemens probe job applicants for the ability “to quickly distill the key issues and relationships in complex situations,” says Mike Panigel, senior vice president of human resources.28 In a recent PayScale study, writing proficiency is considered a hard skill; 44 percent of managers stated that it’s the skill most lacking among recent college graduates. The respondents also criticized a lack of communication skills (46 percent) as well as critical thinking and problem solving skills (60 percent).29 You are learning to think, read, and ask questions in a networked world, accessed with computers, tablets, smartphones, e-readers, wearable devices, and more. The avalanche of information that engulfs you daily requires you to evaluate all sources critically because information flows at a great speed, across various media, and in many directions. With potentially a global audience watching, you can choose to project a positive, professional image, or you can publish misinformation and embarrassing falsehoods.30

Courtesy of Karen Bruett

Reality Check Wanted! 21st-Century Skills In the media-driven world of the 21st century, workers must process vast amounts of information fast and judge accurately whether the information is reliable. “It’s important that students know how to manage it, interpret it, validate it, and how to act on it.”31 —Karen Bruett, higher education expert, former Dell executive

Thinking Critically in the Digital Age Jobs that require thinking, brainpower, and decision-making skills are likely to remain plentiful. Whether you work in m-commerce (mobile technology businesses), e-commerce (Internetbased businesses), or brick-and-mortar commerce, nearly three out of four jobs involve some form of mind work. To be successful in these jobs, you will need to be able to think critically, make decisions, and communicate those decisions.

Management and employees work together in such areas as product development, quality control, and customer satisfaction. All workers, from executives to subordinates, need to think creatively and critically. Even in factory production lines, workers are part of the knowledge culture.

Toyota’s management philosophy of continuous improvement (kaizen) by engaged and empowered workers is much admired and emulated around the world.32 When your boss or team leader says, “What do you think we ought to do?” you want to be able to supply good ideas and demonstrate that you can think critically. This means having opinions that are backed by reasons and evidence.

Faced with a problem or an issue, most of us do a lot of worrying before separating the issues or making a decision. Figure 1.2 provides a three-point plan to help you think critically and solve problems competently. As you can see, understanding the problem is essential and must come first. Generating and selecting the most feasible ideas is the intermediate step.

Finally, the problem-solving model prompts you to refine, justify, and implement the solution.

At the end of each chapter in this text, you will find activities and problems that will help you develop and apply your critical-thinking skills.

Chapter 1 Business Communication in the Digital Age

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7

Figure 1.2 Osborn-Parnes Creative Problem-Solving Process 1

Explore the Challenge

2

Generate Ideas

3

Implement Solutions

Identify the challenge

Come up with many ideas to solve the problem

Select and strengthen solutions

Gather information and clarify the problem

Pick the most promising ideas

Plan how to bring your solution to life and implement it

Managing Your Career Well: Guarding Your Credibility In a dynamic, highly competitive world of work, not even the most talented college graduate can afford to post or e-mail a résumé, kick back, and wait to be discovered. You will need to be proactive and exercise greater control over your career than college graduates before you did. Like most workers today, you will not find nine-to-five jobs, predictable pay increases, lifetime security, and even conventional workplaces.33 Quite likely, your future employer may first observe your use of social networking tools before deciding to invite you for an interview.34 Don’t presume that companies will provide you with a clearly defined career path or planned developmental experiences. In the private sector, you can expect to work for multiple employers, moving back and forth between work and education and between work and family responsibilities.35 Increasingly, the workplace and your career will resemble not a vertical corporate ladder, but a more intricate, open, fluid, and interconnected framework—a corporate lattice.36 To keep up with evolving technologies and procedures, you can look forward to constant training and lifelong learning. Businesses are investing heavily in virtual training and social mobile learning. Such “everywhere” professional development is highly customized. It allows chief learning officers to track their employees’ continued education needs as well as their progress while workers earn digital badges, similar to the Boy Scouts’ tokens of achievement.37 Whether you are currently employed or about to enter today’s demanding workplace, you must be willing to continually learn new skills that supplement the strong foundation of basic skills you are acquiring in college.

retrorocket/ Shutterstock.com

Reality Check Constant Career Readiness “As work moves from climbing a career ladder to navigating a career lattice, people have to be in a mode of constant career readiness.”38 —Jason Swanson, futurist and director of strategic foresight at learning organization KnowledgeWorks

8

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In addition, in a hyperconnected professional environment, you must manage and guard your reputation—at the office and online. How you present yourself in the virtual world, meaning how well you communicate and protect your brand, may very well determine how successful your career will be. Your credibility is a precious asset. Thoughtful blog posts, well-crafted tweets, astute comments on LinkedIn and Facebook, as well as competent e-mails will help you continually make a positive impression. As one career advisor explains: “Every interaction—from how you greet your coworkers in the morning to how you summarize a status update in an email—contributes to how people view you.”39 In short, you will need to nurture and safeguard your professionalism online and off. You will learn more about soft skills and professionalism in Chapter 2.

Succeeding in an Improving but Competitive Job Market Recent graduates will enter what economists say is the best job market for fresh-minted degree holders in nearly a decade. Still, about 1.5 unemployed workers will compete for each job opening.40 What skills will make a difference for you? In one of its Job Outlook studies, the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) recently asked employers what attributes they seek in new college graduates.

First, a prospective employee must meet the employer’s fundamental criteria, including having the required major, course work, and GPA. By the way, many employers reported that they screened candidates by grade point average, with 3.0 (a B average) or higher favored strongly. If a candidate passes these hurdles, then employers look for leadership skills, the ability to work in a team, and written communication skills, as shown in Figure 1.3.41 Although employers seek these skills, they are not always pleased with what they find. The Association of American Colleges and Universities (AACU) asked groups of employers and college students a series of similar questions about career preparation. The results revealed a remarkable lack of agreement; students consistently ranked themselves as prepared in areas in which employers did not. In the key areas of written and oral communication and critical thinking, students were more than twice as likely as employers to think that they were well prepared.42 To make sure you don’t disappoint future employers, take advantage now of opportunities to strengthen your writing, presentation, and critical-thinking skills.

Figure 1.3 Skills Jobs Seekers Should Offer

Skills Jobs Seekers Should Offer: Leadership 78% Ability to work in a team 78% Communication skills (written) 73% Problem-solving skills 71% Strong work ethic 70% Analytical/quantitative skills 68% Technical skills 68% Communication skills (verbal) 67%

Source: Job Outlook 2015, National Association of Colleges and Employers.

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9

Figure 1.4 T he Education Bonus: Higher Income, Lower Unemployment Education

Median Weekly Earnings Unemployment Rate

High school dropout

$ 471

12.4%

High school diploma

652

8.3%

Some college, no degree

727

7.7%

Associate’s degree

785

6.2%

Bachelor’s degree or higher

1,367

4.5%

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2013, February 5). Labor force statistics from the current population survey; and U.S. B ­ ureau of Labor Statistics (2013, May 22). Employment Projections: Earnings and unemployment rates by educational attachment.

How Your Education Drives Your Income As college tuition rises steeply and student debt mounts, you may wonder whether going to college is worthwhile. Yet the effort and money you invest in earning your college degree will most likely pay off. College graduates earn more, suffer less unemployment, and can choose from a wider variety of career options than workers without a college education. Moreover, college graduates have access to the highest-paying and fastest-growing careers, many of which require a degree.43 As Figure 1.4 shows, graduates with bachelor’s degrees earn nearly three times as much as high school dropouts and are almost three times less likely to be unemployed.44 Writing is one aspect of education that is particularly well rewarded. One corporate president explained that many job seekers present well. When he faced a hard choice between candidates, he used writing ability as the deciding factor. He said that sometimes writing is the only skill that separates a candidate from the competition. A survey of employers confirms that soft skills such as communication ability can tip the scales in favor of one job applicant over another.45 Your ticket to winning in a competitive job market and launching a successful career is good communication skills.

LEARNING OUTCOME 3

Describe significant trends in today’s dynamic, networked work environment, and recognize that social media and other communication technologies require excellent communication skills, in any economic climate.

10

Trends and Challenges in the Information Age Workplace The workplace is changing profoundly and rapidly. As a businessperson and especially as a business communicator, you will undoubtedly be affected by many trends. Some of those trends include communication technologies such as social media, expectations of around-the-clock availability, and global competition. Other trends include flattened management hierarchies, team-based projects, a diverse workforce, and the mobile or virtual office. The following overview reveals how communication skills are closely tied to your success in a constantly evolving networked workplace.

Social Media and Changing Communication Technologies Although interacting with others on Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, WhatsApp, FaceTime, or Twitter may seem a daily necessity to you, social media are still relatively new and untried communication channels for some small businesses. Most larger organizations, however, are completely plugged in and have created a positive presence with the help of both traditional and social media.

Quite logically, social media networks first attracted industries built on communication and technology, such as mainstream media outlets and information technology firms. New communication technologies also quickly took hold among marketers, in public relations, and Chapter 1 Business Communication in the Digital Age

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DANCE ON STILTS AT THE GIRLS’ UNYAGO, NIUCHI

Newala, too, suffers from the distance of its water-supply—at least the Newala of to-day does; there was once another Newala in a lovely valley at the foot of the plateau. I visited it and found scarcely a trace of houses, only a Christian cemetery, with the graves of several missionaries and their converts, remaining as a monument of its former glories. But the surroundings are wonderfully beautiful. A thick grove of splendid mango-trees closes in the weather-worn crosses and headstones; behind them, combining the useful and the agreeable, is a whole plantation of lemon-trees covered with ripe fruit; not the small African kind, but a much larger and also juicier imported variety, which drops into the hands of the passing traveller, without calling for any exertion on his part. Old Newala is now under the jurisdiction of the native pastor, Daudi, at Chingulungulu, who, as I am on very friendly terms with him, allows me, as a matter of course, the use of this lemon-grove during my stay at Newala.

FEET MUTILATED BY THE RAVAGES OF THE “JIGGER” (Sarcopsylla penetrans)

The water-supply of New Newala is in the bottom of the valley, some 1,600 feet lower down. The way is not only long and fatiguing, but the water, when we get it, is thoroughly bad. We are suffering not only from this, but from the fact that the arrangements at Newala are nothing short of luxurious. We have a separate kitchen—a hut built against the boma palisade on the right of the baraza, the interior of which is not visible from our usual position. Our two cooks were not long in finding this out, and they consequently do—or rather neglect to do—what they please. In any case they do not seem to be very particular about the boiling of our drinking-water—at least I can attribute to no other cause certain attacks of a dysenteric nature, from which both Knudsen and I have suffered for some time. If a man like Omari has to be left unwatched for a moment, he is capable of anything. Besides this complaint, we are inconvenienced by the state of our nails, which have become as hard as glass, and crack on the slightest provocation, and I have the additional infliction of pimples all over me. As if all this were not enough, we have also, for the last week been waging war against the jigger, who has found his Eldorado in the hot sand of the Makonde plateau. Our men are seen all day long—whenever their chronic colds and the dysentery likewise raging among them permit—occupied in removing this scourge of Africa from their feet and trying to prevent the disastrous consequences of its presence. It is quite common to see natives of this place with one or two toes missing; many have lost all their toes,

or even the whole front part of the foot, so that a well-formed leg ends in a shapeless stump. These ravages are caused by the female of Sarcopsylla penetrans, which bores its way under the skin and there develops an egg-sac the size of a pea. In all books on the subject, it is stated that one’s attention is called to the presence of this parasite by an intolerable itching. This agrees very well with my experience, so far as the softer parts of the sole, the spaces between and under the toes, and the side of the foot are concerned, but if the creature penetrates through the harder parts of the heel or ball of the foot, it may escape even the most careful search till it has reached maturity.

Then there is no time to be lost, if the horrible ulceration, of which we see cases by the dozen every day, is to be prevented. It is much easier, by the way, to discover the insect on the white skin of a European than on that of a native, on which the dark speck scarcely shows. The four or five jiggers which, in spite of the fact that I constantly wore high laced boots, chose my feet to settle in, were taken out for me by the all-accomplished Knudsen, after which I thought it advisable to wash out the cavities with corrosive sublimate. The natives have a different sort of disinfectant—they fill the hole with scraped roots. In a tiny Makua village on the slope of the plateau south of Newala, we saw an old woman who had filled all the spaces under her toe-nails with powdered roots by way of prophylactic treatment. What will be the result, if any, who can say?

The rest of the many trifling ills which trouble our existence are really more comic than serious. In the absence of anything else to smoke, Knudsen and I at last opened a box of cigars procured from the Indian store-keeper at Lindi, and tried them, with the most distressing results. Whether they contain opium or some other narcotic, neither of us can say, but after the tenth puff we were both “off,” three-quarters stupefied and unspeakably wretched. Slowly we recovered—and what happened next? Half-an-hour later we were once more smoking these poisonous concoctions—so insatiable is the craving for tobacco in the tropics.

Even my present attacks of fever scarcely deserve to be taken seriously. I have had no less than three here at Newala, all of which have run their course in an incredibly short time. In the early afternoon, I am busy with my old natives, asking questions and making notes. The strong midday coffee has stimulated my spirits to

an extraordinary degree, the brain is active and vigorous, and work progresses rapidly, while a pleasant warmth pervades the whole body. Suddenly this gives place to a violent chill, forcing me to put on my overcoat, though it is only half-past three and the afternoon sun is at its hottest. Now the brain no longer works with such acuteness and logical precision; more especially does it fail me in trying to establish the syntax of the difficult Makua language on which I have ventured, as if I had not enough to do without it. Under the circumstances it seems advisable to take my temperature, and I do so, to save trouble, without leaving my seat, and while going on with my work. On examination, I find it to be 101·48°. My tutors are abruptly dismissed and my bed set up in the baraza; a few minutes later I am in it and treating myself internally with hot water and lemon-juice.

Three hours later, the thermometer marks nearly 104°, and I make them carry me back into the tent, bed and all, as I am now perspiring heavily, and exposure to the cold wind just beginning to blow might mean a fatal chill. I lie still for a little while, and then find, to my great relief, that the temperature is not rising, but rather falling. This is about 7.30 p.m. At 8 p.m. I find, to my unbounded astonishment, that it has fallen below 98·6°, and I feel perfectly well. I read for an hour or two, and could very well enjoy a smoke, if I had the wherewithal—Indian cigars being out of the question.

Having no medical training, I am at a loss to account for this state of things. It is impossible that these transitory attacks of high fever should be malarial; it seems more probable that they are due to a kind of sunstroke. On consulting my note-book, I become more and more inclined to think this is the case, for these attacks regularly follow extreme fatigue and long exposure to strong sunshine. They at least have the advantage of being only short interruptions to my work, as on the following morning I am always quite fresh and fit.

My treasure of a cook is suffering from an enormous hydrocele which makes it difficult for him to get up, and Moritz is obliged to keep in the dark on account of his inflamed eyes. Knudsen’s cook, a raw boy from somewhere in the bush, knows still less of cooking than Omari; consequently Nils Knudsen himself has been promoted to the vacant post. Finding that we had come to the end of our supplies, he began by sending to Chingulungulu for the four sucking-pigs which we had

bought from Matola and temporarily left in his charge; and when they came up, neatly packed in a large crate, he callously slaughtered the biggest of them. The first joint we were thoughtless enough to entrust for roasting to Knudsen’s mshenzi cook, and it was consequently uneatable; but we made the rest of the animal into a jelly which we ate with great relish after weeks of underfeeding, consuming incredible helpings of it at both midday and evening meals. The only drawback is a certain want of variety in the tinned vegetables. Dr. Jäger, to whom the Geographical Commission entrusted the provisioning of the expeditions—mine as well as his own—because he had more time on his hands than the rest of us, seems to have laid in a huge stock of Teltow turnips,[46] an article of food which is all very well for occasional use, but which quickly palls when set before one every day; and we seem to have no other tins left. There is no help for it—we must put up with the turnips; but I am certain that, once I am home again, I shall not touch them for ten years to come.

Amid all these minor evils, which, after all, go to make up the genuine flavour of Africa, there is at least one cheering touch: Knudsen has, with the dexterity of a skilled mechanic, repaired my 9 × 12 cm. camera, at least so far that I can use it with a little care.

How, in the absence of finger-nails, he was able to accomplish such a ticklish piece of work, having no tool but a clumsy screw-driver for taking to pieces and putting together again the complicated mechanism of the instantaneous shutter, is still a mystery to me; but he did it successfully. The loss of his finger-nails shows him in a light contrasting curiously enough with the intelligence evinced by the above operation; though, after all, it is scarcely surprising after his ten years’ residence in the bush. One day, at Lindi, he had occasion to wash a dog, which must have been in need of very thorough cleansing, for the bottle handed to our friend for the purpose had an extremely strong smell. Having performed his task in the most conscientious manner, he perceived with some surprise that the dog did not appear much the better for it, and was further surprised by finding his own nails ulcerating away in the course of the next few days. “How was I to know that carbolic acid has to be diluted?” he mutters indignantly, from time to time, with a troubled gaze at his mutilated finger-tips.

Since we came to Newala we have been making excursions in all directions through the surrounding country, in accordance with old habit, and also because the akida Sefu did not get together the tribal elders from whom I wanted information so speedily as he had promised. There is, however, no harm done, as, even if seen only from the outside, the country and people are interesting enough.

The Makonde plateau is like a large rectangular table rounded off at the corners. Measured from the Indian Ocean to Newala, it is about seventy-five miles long, and between the Rovuma and the Lukuledi it averages fifty miles in breadth, so that its superficial area is about two-thirds of that of the kingdom of Saxony. The surface, however, is not level, but uniformly inclined from its south-western edge to the ocean. From the upper edge, on which Newala lies, the eye ranges for many miles east and north-east, without encountering any obstacle, over the Makonde bush. It is a green sea, from which here and there thick clouds of smoke rise, to show that it, too, is inhabited by men who carry on their tillage like so many other primitive peoples, by cutting down and burning the bush, and manuring with the ashes. Even in the radiant light of a tropical day such a fire is a grand sight.

Much less effective is the impression produced just now by the great western plain as seen from the edge of the plateau. As often as time permits, I stroll along this edge, sometimes in one direction, sometimes in another, in the hope of finding the air clear enough to let me enjoy the view; but I have always been disappointed.

Wherever one looks, clouds of smoke rise from the burning bush, and the air is full of smoke and vapour. It is a pity, for under more favourable circumstances the panorama of the whole country up to the distant Majeje hills must be truly magnificent. It is of little use taking photographs now, and an outline sketch gives a very poor idea of the scenery. In one of these excursions I went out of my way to make a personal attempt on the Makonde bush. The present edge of the plateau is the result of a far-reaching process of destruction through erosion and denudation. The Makonde strata are everywhere cut into by ravines, which, though short, are hundreds of yards in depth. In consequence of the loose stratification of these beds, not only are the walls of these ravines nearly vertical, but their upper end is closed by an equally steep escarpment, so that the

western edge of the Makonde plateau is hemmed in by a series of deep, basin-like valleys. In order to get from one side of such a ravine to the other, I cut my way through the bush with a dozen of my men.

It was a very open part, with more grass than scrub, but even so the short stretch of less than two hundred yards was very hard work; at the end of it the men’s calicoes were in rags and they themselves bleeding from hundreds of scratches, while even our strong khaki suits had not escaped scatheless.

NATIVE PATH THROUGH THE MAKONDE BUSH, NEAR MAHUTA

I see increasing reason to believe that the view formed some time back as to the origin of the Makonde bush is the correct one. I have no doubt that it is not a natural product, but the result of human occupation. Those parts of the high country where man—as a very slight amount of practice enables the eye to perceive at once—has not yet penetrated with axe and hoe, are still occupied by a splendid timber forest quite able to sustain a comparison with our mixed forests in Germany. But wherever man has once built his hut or tilled his field, this horrible bush springs up. Every phase of this process

may be seen in the course of a couple of hours’ walk along the main road. From the bush to right or left, one hears the sound of the axe— not from one spot only, but from several directions at once. A few steps further on, we can see what is taking place. The brush has been cut down and piled up in heaps to the height of a yard or more, between which the trunks of the large trees stand up like the last pillars of a magnificent ruined building. These, too, present a melancholy spectacle: the destructive Makonde have ringed them— cut a broad strip of bark all round to ensure their dying off—and also piled up pyramids of brush round them. Father and son, mother and son-in-law, are chopping away perseveringly in the background—too busy, almost, to look round at the white stranger, who usually excites so much interest. If you pass by the same place a week later, the piles of brushwood have disappeared and a thick layer of ashes has taken the place of the green forest. The large trees stretch their smouldering trunks and branches in dumb accusation to heaven—if they have not already fallen and been more or less reduced to ashes, perhaps only showing as a white stripe on the dark ground.

This work of destruction is carried out by the Makonde alike on the virgin forest and on the bush which has sprung up on sites already cultivated and deserted. In the second case they are saved the trouble of burning the large trees, these being entirely absent in the secondary bush.

After burning this piece of forest ground and loosening it with the hoe, the native sows his corn and plants his vegetables. All over the country, he goes in for bed-culture, which requires, and, in fact, receives, the most careful attention. Weeds are nowhere tolerated in the south of German East Africa. The crops may fail on the plains, where droughts are frequent, but never on the plateau with its abundant rains and heavy dews. Its fortunate inhabitants even have the satisfaction of seeing the proud Wayao and Wamakua working for them as labourers, driven by hunger to serve where they were accustomed to rule.

But the light, sandy soil is soon exhausted, and would yield no harvest the second year if cultivated twice running. This fact has been familiar to the native for ages; consequently he provides in time, and, while his crop is growing, prepares the next plot with axe and firebrand. Next year he plants this with his various crops and

lets the first piece lie fallow. For a short time it remains waste and desolate; then nature steps in to repair the destruction wrought by man; a thousand new growths spring out of the exhausted soil, and even the old stumps put forth fresh shoots. Next year the new growth is up to one’s knees, and in a few years more it is that terrible, impenetrable bush, which maintains its position till the black occupier of the land has made the round of all the available sites and come back to his starting point.

The Makonde are, body and soul, so to speak, one with this bush.

According to my Yao informants, indeed, their name means nothing else but “bush people.” Their own tradition says that they have been settled up here for a very long time, but to my surprise they laid great stress on an original immigration. Their old homes were in the south-east, near Mikindani and the mouth of the Rovuma, whence their peaceful forefathers were driven by the continual raids of the Sakalavas from Madagascar and the warlike Shirazis[47] of the coast, to take refuge on the almost inaccessible plateau. I have studied African ethnology for twenty years, but the fact that changes of population in this apparently quiet and peaceable corner of the earth could have been occasioned by outside enterprises taking place on the high seas, was completely new to me. It is, no doubt, however, correct.

The charming tribal legend of the Makonde—besides informing us of other interesting matters—explains why they have to live in the thickest of the bush and a long way from the edge of the plateau, instead of making their permanent homes beside the purling brooks and springs of the low country.

“The place where the tribe originated is Mahuta, on the southern side of the plateau towards the Rovuma, where of old time there was nothing but thick bush. Out of this bush came a man who never washed himself or shaved his head, and who ate and drank but little.

He went out and made a human figure from the wood of a tree growing in the open country, which he took home to his abode in the bush and there set it upright. In the night this image came to life and was a woman. The man and woman went down together to the Rovuma to wash themselves. Here the woman gave birth to a stillborn child. They left that place and passed over the high land into the valley of the Mbemkuru, where the woman had another child, which

was also born dead. Then they returned to the high bush country of Mahuta, where the third child was born, which lived and grew up. In course of time, the couple had many more children, and called themselves Wamatanda. These were the ancestral stock of the Makonde, also called Wamakonde,[48] i.e., aborigines. Their forefather, the man from the bush, gave his children the command to bury their dead upright, in memory of the mother of their race who was cut out of wood and awoke to life when standing upright. He also warned them against settling in the valleys and near large streams, for sickness and death dwelt there. They were to make it a rule to have their huts at least an hour’s walk from the nearest wateringplace; then their children would thrive and escape illness.”

The explanation of the name Makonde given by my informants is somewhat different from that contained in the above legend, which I extract from a little book (small, but packed with information), by Pater Adams, entitled Lindi und sein Hinterland. Otherwise, my results agree exactly with the statements of the legend. Washing?

Hapana—there is no such thing. Why should they do so? As it is, the supply of water scarcely suffices for cooking and drinking; other people do not wash, so why should the Makonde distinguish himself by such needless eccentricity? As for shaving the head, the short, woolly crop scarcely needs it,[49] so the second ancestral precept is likewise easy enough to follow. Beyond this, however, there is nothing ridiculous in the ancestor’s advice. I have obtained from various local artists a fairly large number of figures carved in wood, ranging from fifteen to twenty-three inches in height, and representing women belonging to the great group of the Mavia, Makonde, and Matambwe tribes. The carving is remarkably well done and renders the female type with great accuracy, especially the keloid ornamentation, to be described later on. As to the object and meaning of their works the sculptors either could or (more probably) would tell me nothing, and I was forced to content myself with the scanty information vouchsafed by one man, who said that the figures were merely intended to represent the nembo—the artificial deformations of pelele, ear-discs, and keloids. The legend recorded

by Pater Adams places these figures in a new light. They must surely be more than mere dolls; and we may even venture to assume that they are—though the majority of present-day Makonde are probably unaware of the fact—representations of the tribal ancestress.

The references in the legend to the descent from Mahuta to the Rovuma, and to a journey across the highlands into the Mbekuru valley, undoubtedly indicate the previous history of the tribe, the travels of the ancestral pair typifying the migrations of their descendants. The descent to the neighbouring Rovuma valley, with its extraordinary fertility and great abundance of game, is intelligible at a glance—but the crossing of the Lukuledi depression, the ascent to the Rondo Plateau and the descent to the Mbemkuru, also lie within the bounds of probability, for all these districts have exactly the same character as the extreme south. Now, however, comes a point of especial interest for our bacteriological age. The primitive Makonde did not enjoy their lives in the marshy river-valleys.

Disease raged among them, and many died. It was only after they had returned to their original home near Mahuta, that the health conditions of these people improved. We are very apt to think of the African as a stupid person whose ignorance of nature is only equalled by his fear of it, and who looks on all mishaps as caused by evil spirits and malignant natural powers. It is much more correct to assume in this case that the people very early learnt to distinguish districts infested with malaria from those where it is absent.

This knowledge is crystallized in the ancestral warning against settling in the valleys and near the great waters, the dwelling-places of disease and death. At the same time, for security against the hostile Mavia south of the Rovuma, it was enacted that every settlement must be not less than a certain distance from the southern edge of the plateau. Such in fact is their mode of life at the present day. It is not such a bad one, and certainly they are both safer and more comfortable than the Makua, the recent intruders from the south, who have made USUAL METHOD OF good their footing on the western edge of the CLOSING HUT-DOOR plateau, extending over a fairly wide belt of country. Neither Makua nor Makonde show in their dwellings anything of the size and comeliness of the Yao houses in the plain, especially at Masasi, Chingulungulu and Zuza’s. Jumbe Chauro, a Makonde hamlet not far from Newala, on the road to Mahuta, is the

most important settlement of the tribe I have yet seen, and has fairly spacious huts. But how slovenly is their construction compared with the palatial residences of the elephant-hunters living in the plain.

The roofs are still more untidy than in the general run of huts during the dry season, the walls show here and there the scanty beginnings or the lamentable remains of the mud plastering, and the interior is a veritable dog-kennel; dirt, dust and disorder everywhere. A few huts only show any attempt at division into rooms, and this consists merely of very roughly-made bamboo partitions. In one point alone have I noticed any indication of progress—in the method of fastening the door. Houses all over the south are secured in a simple but ingenious manner. The door consists of a set of stout pieces of wood or bamboo, tied with bark-string to two cross-pieces, and moving in two grooves round one of the door-posts, so as to open inwards. If the owner wishes to leave home, he takes two logs as thick as a man’s upper arm and about a yard long. One of these is placed obliquely against the middle of the door from the inside, so as to form an angle of from 60° to 75° with the ground. He then places the second piece horizontally across the first, pressing it downward with all his might.

It is kept in place by two strong posts planted in the ground a few inches inside the door. This fastening is absolutely safe, but of course cannot be applied to both doors at once, otherwise how could the owner leave or enter his house? I have not yet succeeded in finding out how the back door is fastened.

MAKONDE LOCK AND KEY AT JUMBE CHAURO

This is the general way of closing a house. The Makonde at Jumbe Chauro, however, have a much more complicated, solid and original one. Here, too, the door is as already described, except that there is only one post on the inside, standing by itself about six inches from one side of the doorway. Opposite this post is a hole in the wall just large enough to admit a man’s arm. The door is closed inside by a large wooden bolt passing through a hole in this post and pressing with its free end against the door. The other end has three holes into which fit three pegs running in vertical grooves inside the post. The door is opened with a wooden key about a foot long, somewhat curved and sloped off at the butt; the other end has three pegs corresponding to the holes, in the bolt, so that, when it is thrust through the hole in the wall and inserted into the rectangular opening in the post, the pegs can be lifted and the bolt drawn out.[50]

MODE OF INSERTING THE KEY

With no small pride first one householder and then a second showed me on the spot the action of this greatest invention of the Makonde Highlands. To both with an admiring exclamation of “Vizuri sana!” (“Very fine!”). I expressed the wish to take back these marvels with me to Ulaya, to show the Wazungu what clever fellows the Makonde are. Scarcely five minutes after my return to camp at Newala, the two men came up sweating under the weight of two heavy logs which they laid down at my feet, handing over at the same time the keys of the fallen fortress. Arguing, logically enough, that if the key was wanted, the lock would be wanted with it, they had taken their axes and chopped down the posts—as it never occurred to them to dig them out of the ground and so bring them intact. Thus I have

two badly damaged specimens, and the owners, instead of praise, come in for a blowing-up.

The Makua huts in the environs of Newala are especially miserable; their more than slovenly construction reminds one of the temporary erections of the Makua at Hatia’s, though the people here have not been concerned in a war. It must therefore be due to congenital idleness, or else to the absence of a powerful chief. Even the baraza at Mlipa’s, a short hour’s walk south-east of Newala, shares in this general neglect. While public buildings in this country are usually looked after more or less carefully, this is in evident danger of being blown over by the first strong easterly gale. The only attractive object in this whole district is the grave of the late chief Mlipa. I visited it in the morning, while the sun was still trying with partial success to break through the rolling mists, and the circular grove of tall euphorbias, which, with a broken pot, is all that marks the old king’s resting-place, impressed one with a touch of pathos.

Even my very materially-minded carriers seemed to feel something of the sort, for instead of their usual ribald songs, they chanted solemnly, as we marched on through the dense green of the Makonde bush:—