BADM 344 – D30-31 – Managerial Communication – 3 Credit Hours
Summer 2010 Online via the Desire2Learn (D2L) Course Management System
Instructor: Dr. Jack Walters
http:/homepages.dsu.edu/waltersj
JACK.WALTERS@DSU.EDU PLEASE USE ONLY THIS EMAIL TO CONTACT DR. WALTERS.
DO NOT USE D2L EMAIL. D2L is ineffective for managing the email from multiple online courses and
will not be checked.
PLEASE NOTE IN WHICH COURSE YOU ARE ENROLLED
IN THE SUBJECT LINE OF YOUR EMAIL
Required Texts:
 Business Communication Today, Courtland L. Boveé and John V. Thill, Pearson Prentice Hall, 2008.
ISBN: 978-0-13-199535-2
 Prentice Hall Reference Guide, Muriel Harris, ISBN: 0-53-606188-2. This is a DSU edition available only
through the DSU Bookstore. It is not necessary to purchase this text if you already own an English
grammar and composition handbook.
Course Description
Catalog
The theory and practice of effective communication through written words in various types of business letters and
reports. Correct English usage and clarity are emphasized. Prerequisite: CSC 105
(Source: DSU 2008-2009 Undergraduate Catalog)
Instructor’s Statement
Business School graduates and their employers frequently remind us that the ability to express oneself orally and in
writing is an important skill in the business world. The objective of this course is to survey essential skills and
approaches for writing appropriately in a wide variety of organizational situations. Effort is also focused on
developing presentation skills for persuasive situations and difficult topics.
Instructional Methods
The materials in this course will be delivered by video lectures, readings in the text, student preparation of writing
projects, and online discussion.
Course Goals
Reference to College of Business and Information Systems (BIS) Mission
This course is intended to support the BIS goals of improving logical thinking and building basic knowledge about
business processes and operation.
Student Learning Outcomes
Students who complete this course will:
 Demonstrate the ability to think logically.
 Demonstrate basic knowledge about business processes.
 Give examples of correct written and spoken business communication.
 Generate work products that contain effective written and spoken communication.
Policies
Participation
This course contains a large amount of material about a wide array of topics. Therefore, frequent viewing of online
content and staying current with assigned readings is critical to student success. Video lectures will contain
material that is not included in the textbook, and vice versa. Online discussion of issues related to Managerial
Communication is required.
Computer Access and Usage
 All students must maintain D2L access and check the course web site frequently. All email, handouts,
lectures, notices, and grades will be posted on D2L. Access to D2L will be needed to participate in online
discussions about managerial communication issues.
 Because of the extensive use of video, all students must maintain access to a computer with a high speed
internet connection.
 Regarding exams, it is the student’s responsibility to ensure that a computer capable of accessing D2L is
operational at the appointed proctor’s location.
 To use MP3 and iPod recordings of lectures, students must possess and operate software that allows
downloading and transfer of files to an appropriate player.
Academic Honesty
 Any act of academic dishonesty will result in a zero on the assignment and referral to the DSU Academic
Integrity Board.
 In this course, academic dishonesty regarding exams is defined as:
o Communicating with anyone other than your proctor.
o Using any type of materials, devices, or software other than that required for test/quiz
administration.
o Copying answers from another student’s paper or computer.
o Taking an online exam while not in the presence of a properly appointed proctor.
o Sending information to, or receiving information from, any person or entity during or related to an
online exam.
 Regarding written assignments, academic dishonesty is defined as:
o Using another person’s work and representing it as your own.
o Failing to provide appropriate citations of source for facts or opinions.
o Excessive use of direct quotations of others’ work.
PLEASE NOTE THAT ALL WRITTEN ASSIGNMENTS ARE SUBJECT
TO REVIEW BY A PLAGIARISM CHECKING SYSTEM
These policies are in compliance with Dakota State University’s academic integrity policy, which can be found at:
http://www.departments.dsu.edu/hr/newsite/policies/032200.htm.
Intellectual Property
Course materials cannot be sold to or otherwise shared with anyone.
Accommodations In Accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
If there is any student in this course who, due to a disability, has need for non-standard note-taking, test taking,
technology, or other accommodations, please contact Dakota State University's ADA coordinator, Keith Bundy, by
email at keith.bundy@dsu.edu, as soon as possible. Accommodations cannot be given until they have been applied
for and the need confirmed. Further information, along with the form to request accommodations, can be found at
http://www.departments.dsu.edu/disability_services/.
Appropriate Conduct
 Disruption of an academic process is an act or words of a student in a teaching environment which, in the
reasonable estimation of a faculty member (a) constitutes disrespectful or abusive disruptions, or (b)
presents danger to the health, safety, or well-being of the faculty member or students.
 The first disruption will result in sanctions ranging from a warning to ejection from the course and zeroes
on all remaining assignments (e.g., tests, written assignments, online discussions).
 A second disruption will result in ejection from the course and a zero on all remaining assignments.
Freedom in Learning
 Students are responsible for learning the content of any course of study in which they are enrolled.
 Under Board of Regents and University policy, student academic performance shall be evaluated solely on
an academic basis and students should be free to take reasoned exception to the data or views offered in any
course of study.
 Dakota State University allows students to appeal the decisions of faculty, administrative, and staff
members and the decisions of institutional committees. Students who believe that an academic evaluation is
unrelated to academic standards but is related instead to judgment of their non-academic conduct should
contact the dean of the college which offers the course to initiate a review (see DSU Policy 03-30-00 for
additional information on the academic appeal process).
Evaluation Procedures
Exams

There will be four exams covering material presented in the text, lectures, recordings, and other assignments.
Each exam will consist of 50 multiple choice and/or true-false questions and have a 2-hour time limit. Exams
are closed-book, meaning that they are taken without use of books, notes, other materials, or devices. All
programs on the student’s computer other than D2L must be closed during the exam. Cellular telephones may
not be used for any purpose during an exam.

All exams will be administered via D2L, meaning that the testing location must provide:
o a computer with access to the internet
or
o internet access for the student’s computer.
Passwords that allow access to exams will be provided to the proctor by Dr. Walters and revealed to the
student when the exam is accessed via D2L in the presence of the proctor.
Discussion Sessions

Twice during the course, information about a current issue in Managerial Communications will be posted on
D2L. Students will be asked to review that information and react to a set of questions about it in the
Discussion Forum section of our D2L site.
Full credit can be earned via:
o Serious, significant answers
o Polite behavior toward other students in the discussion
 Students responding after the first 10 answers have been posted must refer/respond to other students’ postings
 Discussions will open at 12:01 on the start date and close at 11:59 PM on the close date.
 Comments/responses cannot be posted after the topic is closed. The student will receive a zero if s/he does not
participate in the discussion of a topic during the period for which it is open in D2L.
Writing Assignments
 For each assignment, students will:
1. Create the item specified in the topic using rules/principles from Business Communication Today
and rules from the Prentice Hall Reference Guide (or comparable grammar resource).
2. Produce papers/presentations that are free of grammatical, spelling, and other English-usage errors.
Writing Assignment 1 -- A PowerPoint presentation and narrative text explaining the stock performance history of
Daktronics, Inc. during the period June 1, 2009 to May 31, 2010.
 Daktronics, Inc. is headquartered in Brookings, SD. It designs, builds, and installs large video displays in
sports venues and other locations.
 The student will produce a set of slides showing graphs of stock performance and value, and changes in these
measures. S/he will also write a narrative that can be read out loud as a speech that lasts five minutes and
explains the slides. The student must sort through a large amount of information about the company, then
present only that part which is relevant to understanding the performance of the stock over this period.
 The slides and narrative must state and briefly explain the price of Daktronics stock on June 1 of 2009, then
explain events that occurred during the following year and their relationship to changes in the stock price. The
assignment must conclude by stating and explaining the stock price at the end of May 2010 and offering a
projection of what the stock price might be expected to do between June 1, 2010 and November 30, 2010.
 The prediction of future stock prices will not be graded for correctness, but will be evaluated on how clearly
and persuasively it is argued.
 All information needed for this report can be found at http://investor.daktronics.com/stockquote.cfm. Students
are free to use other online and offline resources, but each must be fully cited and referenced in the narrative.
 All slides and text for this report must be created by the student. Use of wording or graphics from the
Daktronics site, other internet sites, or other sources is not allowed.
Writing Assignment 2-- A position paper about a controversial new law in Arizona.
 The Arizona State Legislature recently passed a law requiring police in Arizona to inquire about the
immigration status of persons with whom the police have official contact. It leaves it up to individual police
officers to decide which persons must show proof of citizenship. Some argue that this law will lead to racial
profiling of Hispanic heritage persons and perhaps other races/ethnicities as well. Others have said that
problems of drug and human smuggling on the border between Arizona and Mexico, in addition to the general
flow of illegal immigrants to the U.S., justifies stronger action by state law enforcement. There is also a
question about whether the law complies with the constitution of the United States.
 The student will collect information from online and offline sources about this law, then write a five to eight
page paper which:
o Part 1: Describes the law and its intended purpose
o Part 2: Presents arguments in favor of the law
o Part 3: Presents arguments against the law
o Part 4: States the student’s opinion of the law, supported by research and logical reasoning.
 The conclusion reached in Part 4, either in favor of or against the law, will not affect the student’s grade. The
grade for this assignment will be based on:
o How thoroughly the law and its purpose are explained in Part 1
o How thoroughly and clearly the arguments in Parts 2 and 3 are explained and how thoroughly they are
cited and referenced.
o How thoroughly, clearly, and logically the conclusions in Part 4 are argued.
 Only limited use of quotations is allowed in this paper. The explanation of the law, arguments pro and con, and
conclusions must be the student’s own work and not borrowed/quoted from elsewhere.
Grades (colors for each graded item are used in the schedule below)
 Each exam counts for 15% of the course grade.
 Each Writing Assignment counts for 15% of the course grade.
 Participation in online discussions counts for 10% of the course grade (5% each).
 Grade ranges: 90 to 100 = A; 80 to 89 = B; 70 to 79 = C; 60 to 69 = D; Below 60 = F
Course Schedule:
Date(
Topic
s)
5/17 –  Ch1 - Intro/Overview
5/26  Ch 2 - Teams/Listening
 Ch 3 - Intercultural / Diversity
 Ch 4 - Planning Messages
 Ch 5 - Writing Messages
5/27 – 
6/2
Exam 1 is open
Activities/Assignments






5/27 – 
6/2




6/3 – 
6/9
6/3 – 
6/9
6/3 – 
6/25






6/10 – 
6/16
6/10 – 
6/16 


6/17 – 
6/25
6/17 – 
6/25
6/3 –
6/9
Ch 6 - Completing Messages
Ch 7 - Electronic Media
Ch 8 - Routine and Positive Messages
Ch 9 - Negative Messages
Ch 10 - Persuasive Messages
Exam 2 is open



Online Discussion 1 is open

Dropbox for Writing Assignments 1
and 2 is open
All Writing Assignments due no later
than 6/25 at 11:59. No exceptions.
Ch 11 - Research
Ch 12 - Using Visual Information
Ch 13 - Planning Reports
Ch 14 - Writing Reports
Ch 15 - Completing Reports
Exam 3 is open

Ch 16 - Oral Presentations
Ch 17 - Career-Related Writing
Ch 18 - Gaining Employment
Ch 19 - Interviewing
Exam 4 is open



Online Discussion 2 is open


Read Business Communication Today by Boveé and
Thill (hereafter abbreviated as BT) Chapters 1, 2, 3, 4 &
5
Review PowerPoints for Chapters 1, 2, 3, 4 & 5
View/listen to recordings for Chapters 1, 2, 3, 4 & 5
View grammar videos
This exam covers Chapters 1 through 5 of the textbook
and all related materials
All exams open at 12:01 AM on the start date and
close at 11:59 PM on the end date.
Read BT Chapters 6, 7, 8, 9 & 10
Review PowerPoints for Chapters 6, 7, 8, 9 & 10
View/listen to recordings for Chapters 6, 7, 8, 9 & 10
This exam will cover Chapters 6 through 10 of the
textbook and all related materials
Instructions for completing and submitting these
assignments will be posted on D2L.
Instructions for completing and submitting these
assignments will be posted on D2L.



Read BT Chapters 11, 12, 13, 14 & 15
Review PowerPoints for Chapters 11, 12, 13, 14 & 15
View/listen to recordings for Chapters 11, 12, 13, 14 &
15

This exam will cover Chapters 11 through 15 of the
textbook and all related materials
Read BT Chapters 16, 17, 18 & 19
Review PowerPoints for Chapters 16, 17, 18 & 19
View/listen to recordings for Chapters 16, 17, 18 & 19

This exam will cover Chapters 16 through 19 of the
textbook and all related materials
Instructions for completing and submitting these
assignments will be posted on D2L.