Unit Profile Correction added on 21-10-24
The description of Assessment Three (Part Two) states that "The assessment covers weeks 4-6". This information should read "The assessment covers weeks 4 - 7".
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 3 - 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 Evaluation feedback
The inclusion of indigenous and Torres Strait Islander content into the curriculum.
The Unit Coordinator will include a Welcome to Country as a part of the week one orientation content. Further, indigenous and Torres Strait Islander content can be included in the module on Intercultural Communication within the Business Context.
Feedback from The data from CQU Success indicates that the students are not engaging in the week one activities prior to the beginning of the term. Also, emails sent to the Unit Coordinator indicates that the students are no using Moodle early in the term.
Remove the module on Written Business Communication and change the first week's content to focus on orienting the students more broadly to post-graduate study and the use of Moodle. The current content from Week One will be moved to Week Two.
It is recommended that the Unit Coordinator undertakes, but is not limited to the following new activities in Week One. 1. Include a Welcome to Country message 2. Include a Moodle Treasure Hunt Activity (H5P) to be undertaken during the Week One Workshop. 3. Include an AI Activity in the Workshop-Comparing Definitions of Communication (the students will be asked compare and contrast an AI sourced definition, a personal definition, and the definition used is the unit (this latter definition will be a part of the Treasure Hunt Activity). This activity will lead into the unit and university guidelines around AI. These activities will be integrating into the existing workshop leader led activity that provides an overview of the unit topics and assessments.
- Recognise 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 - Written Assessment - 25% | |||||
| 2 - Presentation - 55% | |||||
| 3 - On-campus Activity - 20% | |||||
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
Module One: Introduction to BUSN20017 Effective Business Communications
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
Module Two: Communication, Non-verbal Communication, Listening for the Business Context
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
Module Three: Interpersonal and Small Group and Team Business Communications
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
Module Four: Organisational 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
Module Five: Presentational 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.
Evidence Portfolio Due: Week 5 Friday (6 Dec 2024) 11:59 pm AEST
Module/Topic
Module Six: Mediated and Internal Messages
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
Module Seven: Intercultural 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.
Assessment Three - Part One -MCQ Quiz Due: During your allocated workshop
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Module Eight: Assessment/assessment support
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Modules Eight through Twelve are designed to support assessment tasks
Assessment Two- Part One - SLSO Due: Friday, January 10, 2025
Module/Topic
Module Nine: Assessment/assessment support
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Assessment Three - Part Two -MCQ Quiz Due: during your allocated workshop
Module/Topic
Module Ten: Assessment/assessment support
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Module Eleven: Assessment/assessment support
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Module Twelve: Assessment/assessment support
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Assessment Two - Part Two - Individual Video Presentation Due: Friday, 7, February, 2025
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
During Term 3, 2026 we will be running the unit differently from preceding terms. Weeks one through seven consists of weekly three hour unit content modules. Weeks eight through twelve will consist of one hour assessment/assessment support modules. You must attend all twelve weeks.
1 Written Assessment
Both Assessment One and Assessment Two are based upon the following case study. This document outlines the case study and the specific requirements for Assessment One.
The Case: This case study is based on an organisation that you have worked for either currently or in the past. Imagine that you are a communication consultant. You were asked by the CEO of the organisation to review the internal business communication processes within the organisation. Based on the knowledge you have acquired through this unit on internal business communication, you will need to think about and identify a specific problem that you have witnessed or experienced during your working life and provide a solution to this problem. 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 public relations or marketing communication is illogical given the focus of this unit on internal business communication. The solution must also be sophisticated and logical. A sophisticated solution will clearly draw upon accepted and credible communication principals, concepts and theories relating to internal business communication. The solution is logical in that it is relevant to the identified problem and supported by credible evidence.
Your Role and the Big Picture: Your first action is to review the literature relevant to the identified problem and develop and write up an evidence portfolio (Assessment One). You will then develop a sentence-level speaking outline (SLSO) that identifies the problem and provides a solution (Assessment Two). The sentence-level speaking outline serves as the basis for a short instructional video that will be recorded and shared with all the employees within your organization (Assessment Two). The following information discusses Assessment One in detail.
Assessment One: To accomplish this task, you first need to develop an evidence portfolio. Writing an evidence portfolio is an important first step because this document 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 submitted documents with a Turnitin overlap score of 20% or higher. In the case of proven academic misconduct, deductions will be made commensurate with the percentage of non-compliant submitted information. You must include a reference list (APA 7th Edition). You will include the following sections in your evidence portfolio.
1. You will first need to identify the problem. This section of the document should be no longer than 100 – 150 words in length (one paragraph).
2. For each article you will:
a. 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.
b. 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).
Available Resources: There are multiple resources available to help you with this assessment.
1. There is a template provided in Moodle (Assessment Tile). Please follow this template.
2. You will find the Required Journal List (RJL) in the Assessment Tile in Moodle. Make sure to only use articles from journal listed on the RJL.
3. Ask questions—the unit coordinator and workshop leader will be happy to answer your questions.
Other: While, practically speaking, you may never find yourself working as a communication consultant, this type of activity provides you with intellectual tools that you can use as a manager or team leader to respond to and address communication challenges in the workplace. No matter if you are an engineer, a HRM or marketing expert, or a small business owner, there will always be communication challenges within your place of work and having the knowledge and understanding to address these issues is a important skill to have.
Week 5 Friday (6 Dec 2024) 11:59 pm AEST
Week 7 Friday (20 Dec 2024)
Please use the feedback you have received to work on Assessment Two.
The Evidence Portfolio is evaluated based on the following assessment criteria:
1. The presenting problem - 5 marks
1. Three individual bibliographic entries - 5 marks each -15 marks in total.
2. Written presentation - 2 marks
3. References-3 marks
Assessment One is worth 25 marks.
- Recognise 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
Presentation (including a sentence-level speaking-outline)
Task Description: The following information describes part one and part two of Assessment Two.
Assessment Two--Part One: The SLSO (sentence-level speaking-outline) is an outline of the information (including referenced information and reference list) you will present in your 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 evidence portfolio. You will reference the information from these journal articles in-text and include the articles within a reference list on a separate last page of 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 (Friday, 10, January) at 11:59 PM (AEST) The individual video presentation is due Week 12 (Friday, 7 February) at 11:59 PM (AEST)
The SLSO marks will be released two weeks after the due date (subject to the completion of the marking moderation). The individual video presentation marks will be available on the grade certification date.
The SLSO is evaluated based on the following criteria:
1. The content - 15 marks
1. The format - 5 marks
2. The written presentation - 5 marks
3. The use of journals from the Required Journal List (RJL) and correct application of the APA (7th Edition) referencing style - 5 marks.
This part of Assessment Two is worth 30 marks.
The video presentation is evaluated based on the following criteria:
1. The introduction - 5 marks
2. The body - 10 marks
3. The conclusion - 3 marks
4. The delivery - 7 marks
This part of Assessment Two is worth 25 marks.
The combined parts of Assessment Two is worth 55 marks.
- Recognise 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
3 On-campus Activity
The following information outlines the specific requirements for Assessment Three – Part One and Part Two
Assessment Three Part One will be administered in Week 7 during your allocated workshop. This assessment covers weeks 1 - 3 and consists of 10 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. You will have 20 minutes to take this quiz. After 20 minutes, your responses will be automatically submitted. The quiz link will be available for a set time. This means that if the quiz link is open from 10:00 AM - 10:30 AM and you start your quiz at 10:20, you will only have ten minutes to complete your quiz because the quiz link closes 10:30 AM. This part of the quiz is worth 10 marks.
Assessment Three Part Two will be administered in Week 9 during your allocated workshop. This assessment covers weeks 4 - 6 and consists of 10 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. You will have 20 minutes to take this quiz. After 20 minutes, your responses will be automatically submitted. The quiz link will be available for a set time. This means that if the quiz link is open from 10:00 AM - 10:30 AM and you start your quiz at 10:20, you will only have ten minutes to complete your quiz because the quiz link closes 10:30 AM. This part of the quiz is worth 10 marks
Assessment Three is worth a total of 20 marks.
Assessment Three--Part One will be administered in the Week 7 workshop; Assessment Three--Part Two will be administered in the week 9 workshop
Assessment Three is evaluated based on the following criteria
1. The question is/is not answered correctly-- One point is awarded for a correct answer. No point is awarded for an incorrectly answered
2. Compliance with the instruction(s) (any part of), as set out in the Assessment Three Protocol--The mark of zero is awarded for Assessment Three (any of the parts) for failure to comply with these instructions. No marks will be deducted for compliance with the protocol. PLEASE READ THE ASSESSMENT PROTOCOL IN ORDER TO FULLY UNDERSTAND WHAT IS REQUIRED.
- 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?
