Overview
The unit aims to develop your skills and abilities to communicate effectively in business environments. The unit recognises employer and graduate needs to improve communication in different contexts. You will be introduced to different communication concepts including, but not limited to, models, competence, culture, media choice, channels and climate. You will also be introduced to the elements of effective communication for participation in business meetings, presentations, interpersonal and group interaction.
Details
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites
There are no requisites for this unit.
Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework).
Offerings For Term 1 - 2024
Attendance Requirements
All on-campus students are expected to attend scheduled classes - in some units, these classes are identified as a mandatory (pass/fail) component and attendance is compulsory. International students, on a student visa, must maintain a full time study load and meet both attendance and academic progress requirements in each study period (satisfactory attendance for International students is defined as maintaining at least an 80% attendance record).
Recommended Student Time Commitment
Each 6-credit Postgraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 12.5 hours of study per week, making a total of 150 hours for the unit.
Class Timetable
Assessment Overview
Assessment Grading
This is a graded unit: your overall grade will be calculated from the marks or grades for each assessment task, based on the relative weightings shown in the table above. You must obtain an overall mark for the unit of at least 50%, or an overall grade of 'pass' in order to pass the unit. If any 'pass/fail' tasks are shown in the table above they must also be completed successfully ('pass' grade). You must also meet any minimum mark requirements specified for a particular assessment task, as detailed in the 'assessment task' section (note that in some instances, the minimum mark for a task may be greater than 50%). Consult the University's Grades and Results Policy for more details of interim results and final grades.
All University policies are available on the CQUniversity Policy site.
You may wish to view these policies:
- Grades and Results Policy
- Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework)
- Review of Grade Procedure
- Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure
- Monitoring Academic Progress (MAP) Policy and Procedure - Domestic Students
- Monitoring Academic Progress (MAP) Policy and Procedure - International Students
- Student Refund and Credit Balance Policy and Procedure
- Student Feedback - Compliments and Complaints Policy and Procedure
- Information and Communications Technology Acceptable Use Policy and Procedure
This list is not an exhaustive list of all University policies. The full list of University policies are available on the CQUniversity Policy site.
Feedback, Recommendations and Responses
Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.
Feedback from This concern arises from the student evaluations.
The quality of the feedback and the timely provision of this feedback.
This issue has been raised at a school level and the unit coordinator will endeavour to follow the guidance provided. The unit coordinator will continue to speak with the teaching team and provide examples of good feedback. All assessment will be scheduled in a manner that maximises the usefulness of the assessment for student learning.
Feedback from This is a schoolwide requirement.
The teaching and learning activities and resources need to be reviewed for relevancy and recency.
The unit coordinator will undertake a review of the teaching and learning activities and resources for Term Three, 2023.
- Recognize advanced knowledge and skills required in written, oral, and interpersonal communication to address complex business problems
- Apply professional business writing and oral communication skills to effectively inform or persuade a target audience
- Deliver effective presentations to transmit knowledge, skills and ideas to both specialist and non-specialist audiences and achieve business objectives
- Critically analyse communication challenges faced by organisations by applying established theories to develop innovative strategies to address them
- Apply autonomous thinking to reflect on good practices in workplace communication in different organizational contexts
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
| Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| 1 - Annotated bibliography - 23% | |||||
| 2 - Presentation - 32% | |||||
| 3 - On-campus Activity - 45% | |||||
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
| Graduate Attributes | Learning Outcomes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| 1 - Knowledge | |||||
| 2 - Communication | |||||
| 3 - Cognitive, technical and creative skills | |||||
| 4 - Research | |||||
| 5 - Self-management | |||||
| 6 - Ethical and Professional Responsibility | |||||
| 7 - Leadership | |||||
| 8 - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultures | |||||
Textbooks
There are no required textbooks.
IT Resources
- CQUniversity Student Email
- Internet
- Unit Website (Moodle)
All submissions for this unit must use the referencing style: American Psychological Association 7th Edition (APA 7th edition)
For further information, see the Assessment Tasks.
c.j.white@cqu.edu.au
Module/Topic
Introduction to BUSN20017 Effective Business Communications and the Communication Process
Chapter
Required textbook chapter, excerpted textbook Chapter (eReading List), and recommended journal articles (see Moodle).
Events and Submissions/Topic
The unit content is presented in a series of short videos. Please watch these videos in advance of the workshop. The workshop contains a range of interactive activities, which are aimed at enhancing your competence as an effective business communicator.
Module/Topic
Effective Non-verbal and Listening for the Business Context
Chapter
Required excerpted textbook chapter (eReading List) and recommended journal articles (see Moodle).
Events and Submissions/Topic
The unit content is presented in a series of short videos. Please watch these videos in advance of the workshop. The workshop contains a range of interactive activities, which are aimed at enhancing your competence as an effective business communicator.
Module/Topic
Effective use of Communication Media within Business
Chapter
Required textbook chapters and excerpted textbook Chapter (eReading List), and recommended journal articles (see Moodle).
Events and Submissions/Topic
The unit content is presented in a series of short videos. Please watch these videos in advance of the workshop. The workshop contains a range of interactive activities, which are aimed at enhancing your competence as an effective business communicator.
Module/Topic
Effective Professional Genres of Written Communication
Assessment Three - Part One
Chapter
Required textbook chapter (eReading List) and recommended journal articles (see moodle).
Events and Submissions/Topic
Assessment Three Part One will be administered in Week 4 during your allocated workshop. This assessment covers weeks 1 - 3 and consists of 15 multiple-choice questions. You must take this Assessment in person ON CAMPUS during your workshop. Failure to undertake the assessment in person during your workshop will result in a failing grade for this assessment. If you are undertaking this assessment Offshore or Distance, online invigilation protocol strictly applies (this will be discussed during your workshop). Failure to adhere to the online invigilation protocol will result in a failing grade for this assessment.
This assessment is administered on-line. After 30 minutes, your responses will be automatically submitted. This means that if your workshop runs from 12.00 PM-2.00 PM and you start the assessment at 1.45 PM, you only have fifteen minutes to complete the assessment because the link closes at 2.00 PM.
NO OUTSIDE SOURCES ARE TO BE ACCESSED DURING THIS ASSESSMENT. THIS IS A CLOSED BOOK ASSESSMENT. THE ASSESSMENT PROTOCOL MUST BE FOLLOWED (SEE MOODLE)
The unit content is presented in a series of short videos. Please watch these videos in advance of the workshop. The workshop contains a range of interactive activities, which are aimed at enhancing your competence as an effective business communicator.
Module/Topic
Effective Business Presentations
Chapter
Required textbook chapter excepts, (eReading List) and recommended journal articles (see Moodle).
Events and Submissions/Topic
The unit content is presented in a series of short videos. Please watch these videos in advance of the workshop. The workshop contains a range of interactive activities, which are aimed at enhancing your competence as an effective business communicator.
Assessment One Due: Week 5 Friday (5 Apr 2024) 11:45 pm AEST
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Effective Interpersonal Business Communication
Chapter
Required textbook chapter (eReading List) and recommended journal articles (see moodle).
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Effective Team and Group Business Communication
Chapter
Required textbook chapter, excerpted textbook chapter (eReading List), and recommended journal articles (see Moodle).
Events and Submissions/Topic
The unit content is presented in a series of short videos. Please watch these videos in advance of the workshop. The workshop contains a range of interactive activities, which are aimed at enhancing your competence as an effective business communicator.
Module/Topic
Effective Organisational Communication
Chapter
Required textbook chapters and excerpts (eReading List), and recommended journal articles (see Moodle).
Events and Submissions/Topic
The unit content is presented in a series of short videos. Please watch these videos in advance of the workshop. The workshop contains a range of interactive activities, which are aimed at enhancing your competence as an effective business communicator.
Assessment Two Part One Due: Week 8 Friday
(29 Apr 2024) 11:45 pm AEST
Module/Topic
Effective Intercultural Business Communication
Chapter
Required excerpted textbook chapters (eReading List) and recommended journal articles (see Moodle).
Events and Submissions/Topic
The unit content is presented in a series of short videos. Please watch these videos in advance of the workshop. The workshop contains a range of interactive activities, which are aimed at enhancing your competence as an effective business communicator.
Module/Topic
Effective Internal Messages and Critical Thinking
Chapter
Required excerpted textbook chapters (eReading List) and recommended journal articles (see Moodle).
Events and Submissions/Topic
The unit content is presented in a series of short videos. Please watch these videos in advance of the workshop. The workshop contains a range of interactive activities, which are aimed at enhancing your competence as an effective business communicator.
Module/Topic
Effective Business Communications Unit in Review
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
This week your workshop leader will present a review lecture.
Assessment Two Part Two Due: Week 11 Friday
(24 May 2024) 11:45 pm AEST
Module/Topic
Assessment Three - Part Two
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Assessment Three Part Two will be administered in Week 12 during your allocated workshop. This assessment covers weeks 4 - 10 and consists of 30 multiple-choice questions. You must take this Assessment in person ON CAMPUS during your workshop. Failure to undertake the assessment in person during your workshop will result in a failing grade for this assessment. If you are undertaking this assessment Offshore or Distance, online invigilation protocol strictly applies (this will be discussed during your workshop). Failure to adhere to the online invigilation protocol will result in a failing grade for this assessment.
This assessment is administered on-line. After 60 minutes, your responses will be automatically submitted. This means that if your workshop runs from 12.00 PM-2.00 PM and you start the assessment at 1.30 PM, you only have thirty minutes to complete the assessment because the link closes at 2.00 PM.
NO OUTSIDE SOURCES ARE TO BE ACCESSED DURING THIS ASSESSMENT. THIS IS A CLOSED BOOK ASSESSMENT. THE ASSESSMENT PROTOCOL MUST BE FOLLOWED (SEE MOODLE)
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
This unit encourages critical and reflective thinking. As such the use of AI for the assessment is discouraged.
1 Annotated bibliography
Requirements: Both Assessment One and Assessment Two are based upon the following case study. The following information outlines the case study and the specific requirements for Assessment One and Assessment Two.
The Case: You are a communication consultant. You were asked by Mr. Alex Rex, the CEO of Peterson and Sons, PTY, to review the internal MEDIATED communication processes within the business. Peterson and Sons, PTY, is a small manufacturing business producing widgets for ebikes. When Mr. Rex briefed you, he stated that there were no problems within the manufacturing plant. However, he felt that the internal MEDIATED communication within the head office was problematic. The head office consists of the executive team, a marketing department, a sales department, and a small HRM group. Having conducted a communication audit, you have identified that there are two main problems or challenges with the internal MEDIATED business communication within the head office.
Your Role: In your capacity as a communication consultant hired by Mr. Alex Rex, your responsibility is to identify two specific problems or challenges and propose considered and actioned recommendations/solutions to these challenges. Based upon the identified problems or challenges and recommendations you will prepare and record a video. This video will be shared with all employees within the head office.
Other: For this assessment, you will need to think about two potential problems or challenges that small nationally based organisations face in terms of internal MEDIATED communication. Please reflect on what you have learned about MEDIATED communication in this unit. As a further note, please remember that MEDIATED interaction takes place on many levels from interpersonal (person to person), to small group (meetings), to organisational (inter-departmental). You will not be able to focus on all levels, so make sure you keep your focus narrowed. The problem that you address must show sophistication of knowledge and logic of thought. Simply identifying that organisational members do not speak to one another or use poorly written email is not a sophisticated approach to this assessment. Similarly, focusing upon intercultural interaction is not logical given the focus of the case study on MEDIATED communication.
The recommendations must be sophisticated and logical. Sophisticated recommendations will clearly draw upon accepted and credible communication principals, concepts and theories relating to MEDIATED internal business communication. The recommendations are logical in that they are relevant to the identified problems or challenges and supported by credible evidence.
Assessment One: To accomplish this task, you first need to write up an annotated bibliography. Writing an annotated bibliography is an important first step because the annotated bibliography will help you find the evidence for your presentation. You must pick THREE articles from journals listed on the Required Journal List (RJL--you will find this document in the Assessment Tile in Moodle). You must ONLY use articles from journals listed on the RJL. Using articles from the RJL will ensure that you are using credible and relevant information to support your response to the case. Failure to do so will impact your mark for this part of the assessment. Please make sure you paraphrase. Do not directly copy information from the journal article abstract. Points will be deducted for Annotated Bibliographies with a Turnitin overlap score of 20% or higher. You must include a reference list (APA 7th Edition). Each entry should be between 500 words in length (1500 max. length).
For each article in your annotated bibliography, you will
1. provide an overview of the topical focus of this article, and discuss how the topical focus of the article relates to the specific case study?
2. provide a SPECIFIC and LOGICAL explanation of how you will use the information from this article into your presentation (This article will be used in this presentation to . . . .[e.g., define, illustrate, demonstrate, support).
Ask yourself: Are you going to cite a definition or a finding? Are you going to quote or paraphrase to illustrate a concept or principal or support an argument? Please include your quotation or paraphrased information.
3. You must include a reference list (separate page) at the end of your bibliography (APA 7th edition).
Other: It is recommended that each entry consists of two paragraphs—the overview of the topical focus of the article and the explanation of how the article will fit in to your presentation.
Week 5 Friday (5 Apr 2024) 11:45 pm AEST
The annotated bibliography is due Week Five (5th April, Friday) 11:59 PM (AEST). You must upload your file as a word document.
Week 7 Monday (22 Apr 2024)
The marks will be released two weeks after the due date (subject to the completion of the marking moderation).
The Annotated Bibliography is evaluated based on the following assessment criteria:
1. Three individual bibliographic entries - 6 marks each -18 marks in total.
2. Written presentation - 2 marks
3. References-3 marks
Assessment One is worth 23 marks.
- Recognize advanced knowledge and skills required in written, oral, and interpersonal communication to address complex business problems
- Apply professional business writing and oral communication skills to effectively inform or persuade a target audience
- Deliver effective presentations to transmit knowledge, skills and ideas to both specialist and non-specialist audiences and achieve business objectives
- Critically analyse communication challenges faced by organisations by applying established theories to develop innovative strategies to address them
2 Presentation
The following information describes part one and part two of Assessment Two.
Assessment Two--Part One: The SLSO is an outline of the information (including referenced information and reference list) contained within the presentation. Having developed this document, you can then use it to develop your speaking notes. There are some examples of SLSOs on Moodle (please see the Assessment Tile).
References: The SLSO must include the 5 academic journal references from journals listed on the required journal list (RJL). You may choose to include the three articles that you wrote about in your annotated bibliography. You will reference the information from these journal articles in-text and include the articles within a reference list in the SLSO (APA 7th Edition).
Length: As a general guide, the SLSO should be around 500-700 words in length. Please remember this document is not a verbatim transcript of what you are going to say in your presentation. It is a sketch or an outline of what you plan to say.
Assessment Two--Part Two: Having developed your SLSO you can then start on your video presentation. The video presentation must include no more than five PowerPoint slides (excluding the presentation title slide and the reference slide(s)) and an image of the person who is speaking.
References: The presentation must include the five (5) academic references you included in your SLSO (Within your presentation you must orally cite your references and include a reference list at the end of you PowerPoint Slides (APA 7th Edition).
Length: The Video Presentation should be nine to ten (9-10) minutes in length. The introduction should be two (2) minutes in length. The body of the presentation should be around six to seven (6-7) minutes while the conclusion should be around one (1) minute. It is important that you keep to time—do not go over. Information presented after the 10-minute limit will not be evaluated for marking purposes. Please practice your presentation in advance so that you know it is the correct length. You can use Zoom to record your video presentation (please see Moodle for more instructions about recording and uploading your presentation).
Presentation: You must deliver your presentation and not read your presentation from you SLSO and/or PowerPoint Slides—think of your delivery as a conversation with the audience. Delivery is important but an excellent delivery will not ‘save’ a poor presentation content. Excellent delivery complements exceptional content resulting in a memorable presentation.
The SLSO is due in Week 8 (29th April, Monday) at 11:59 PM (AEST) The individual video presentation is due Week 11 (24th May, Friday) at 11:59 PM (AEST)
The SLSO marks will be released two weeks after the individual due date (subject to the completion of the marking moderation). The individual video presentation marks will be available on the certification date.
- Recognize advanced knowledge and skills required in written, oral, and interpersonal communication to address complex business problems
- Apply professional business writing and oral communication skills to effectively inform or persuade a target audience
- Deliver effective presentations to transmit knowledge, skills and ideas to both specialist and non-specialist audiences and achieve business objectives
- Apply autonomous thinking to reflect on good practices in workplace communication in different organizational contexts
3 On-campus Activity
The following information outlines the specific requirements for Assessment Three – Part One and Part Two
Part One
Assessment Three Part One will be administered in Week 4 during your allocated workshop. This assessment covers weeks 1 - 3 and consists of 15 multiple-choice questions. You must take this Assessment in person ON CAMPUS during your workshop. Failure to undertake the assessment in person during your workshop will result in a failing grade for this assessment. If you are undertaking this assessment Offshore or Distance, online invigilation protocol strictly applies (this will be discussed during your workshop). Failure to adhere to the online invigilation protocol will result in a failing grade for this assessment.
This assessment is administered on-line. After 30 minutes, your responses will be automatically submitted. This means that if your workshop runs from 12.00 PM-2.00 PM and you start the assessment at 1.45 PM, you only have fifteen minutes to complete the assessment because the link closes at 2.00 PM.
NO OUTSIDE SOURCES ARE TO BE ACCESSED DURING THIS ASSESSMENT. THIS IS A CLOSED BOOK ASSESSMENT. ALL ASSESSMENT PROTOCOL MUST BE FOLLOWED (SEE MOODLE).
This part of the assessment is worth 15 marks.
Part Two
Assessment Three Part Two will be administered in Week 12 during your allocated workshop. This assessment covers weeks 4 - 10 and consists of 30 multiple-choice questions. You must take this Assessment in person ON CAMPUS during your workshop. Failure to undertake the assessment in person during your workshop will result in a failing grade for this assessment. If you are undertaking this assessment Offshore or Distance, online invigilation protocol strictly applies (this will be discussed during your workshop). Failure to adhere to the online invigilation protocol will result in a failing grade for this assessment.
This assessment is administered on-line. After 60 minutes, your responses will be automatically submitted. This means that if your workshop runs from 12.00 PM-2.00 PM and you start the assessment at 1.30 PM, you only have thirty minutes to complete the assessment because the link closes at 2.00 PM.
NO OUTSIDE SOURCES ARE TO BE ACCESSED DURING THIS ASSESSMENT. THIS IS A CLOSED BOOK ASSESSMENT. ALL ASSESSMENT PROTOCOL MUST BE FOLLOWED (SEE MOODLE)
This part of the assessment is worth 30 marks.
Assessment Three is worth a total of 45 marks.
Asssement Three--Part One will be administered in the Week 4 workshop; while Assessment Three--Part Two will be administered in the week 12 workshop.
The assessment is subject to moderation. If the moderation has not been completed before the end of Week 12 the marks will be available on certification date.
No Assessment Criteria
- Critically analyse communication challenges faced by organisations by applying established theories to develop innovative strategies to address them
- Apply autonomous thinking to reflect on good practices in workplace communication in different organizational contexts
As a CQUniversity student you are expected to act honestly in all aspects of your academic work.
Any assessable work undertaken or submitted for review or assessment must be your own work. Assessable work is any type of work you do to meet the assessment requirements in the unit, including draft work submitted for review and feedback and final work to be assessed.
When you use the ideas, words or data of others in your assessment, you must thoroughly and clearly acknowledge the source of this information by using the correct referencing style for your unit. Using others’ work without proper acknowledgement may be considered a form of intellectual dishonesty.
Participating honestly, respectfully, responsibly, and fairly in your university study ensures the CQUniversity qualification you earn will be valued as a true indication of your individual academic achievement and will continue to receive the respect and recognition it deserves.
As a student, you are responsible for reading and following CQUniversity’s policies, including the Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure. This policy sets out CQUniversity’s expectations of you to act with integrity, examples of academic integrity breaches to avoid, the processes used to address alleged breaches of academic integrity, and potential penalties.
What is a breach of academic integrity?
A breach of academic integrity includes but is not limited to plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion, cheating, contract cheating, and academic misconduct. The Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure defines what these terms mean and gives examples.
Why is academic integrity important?
A breach of academic integrity may result in one or more penalties, including suspension or even expulsion from the University. It can also have negative implications for student visas and future enrolment at CQUniversity or elsewhere. Students who engage in contract cheating also risk being blackmailed by contract cheating services.
Where can I get assistance?
For academic advice and guidance, the Academic Learning Centre (ALC) can support you in becoming confident in completing assessments with integrity and of high standard.
What can you do to act with integrity?
