ENGL1208 MCBS How to Communicate with Empathy During Coronavirus Crisis Case Discussion ahlam alsalm – Business studies see file attached ………

ENGL1208 MCBS How to Communicate with Empathy During Coronavirus Crisis Case Discussion ahlam alsalm – Business studies

see file attached

…………….

………………………

.. HIGHER COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY
DEPARTMENT: BUSINESS STUDIES
Final Examination:
Assignment Based Assessment
Semester: II
A.Y.: 2019 / 2020
Diploma I
Start Date: Monday, 01/06/2020
Time: 9:00 AM
Due Date: Wednesday, 03/06/2020
Time: 9:00 AM
Student Name
Student ID
Specialization
Section
Business studies
Level
Diploma I
Course Name
Business Communication
Course Code
ENGL1208
For official Use Only
Question No.
CSI: 1 Short Answer
CSI:2 Short Answer
CSI:3 Short Answer
CSI:4 Short Answer
CSI:5 Short Answer
CSI:6 Short Answer
CSI:7 Short Answer
CSI:8 Short Answer
CSI:9 Long answer
CSI:10 Long answer
Grand Total Marks
Max. Marks
4
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
6
50
Obtained
Marks
Question No.
CSI: 1 Short Answer
CSI:2 Short Answer
CSI:3 Short Answer
CSI:4 Short Answer
CSI:5 Short Answer
CSI:6 Short Answer
CSI:7 Short Answer
CSI:8 Short Answer
CSI:9 Long answer
CSI:10 Long answer
Grand Total Marks
First Marker:
Second Marker:
Date:
Date:
Max.
Marks
4
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
6
50
Obtained
Marks
Guidelines for Students to Submit the Assignment:
1)
The final assessment for semester 2, 2019-20 will be done through a comprehensive
assignment for a maximum of 50 marks. The schedule of the final assessment is available on
the
college
website.
https://www.hct.edu.om/about/the-college/announcements/final-
assessment-timetable-041620
2)
All the students are expected to have only one assignment at one time. In case, if the
students have more than one assignment on the same day, please report to the exam
committee through the following mail id. exam.bus@hct.edu.om as soon as possible.
3)
All students are given 48 hours to complete and submit each assignment from the day,
date and time the assignment is uploaded. Students are advised not to wait until the last
moment of the deadline to submit the assignment.
4)
The students can check the assignment anytime and any number of times from the
opening of the assignment. The answer to the assignment needs to be uploaded in elearning within 48 hours.
5)
The answer to the assignment can be uploaded only one time. No requests for
resubmission of the assignment will be entertained.
6)
The students may contact the following mail Ids if they face any difficulties while
related to the final assignment.
For
Academic
related
support:
anand.kalimani@hct.edu.om
Business Courses
karri.krishna@hct.edu.om
For issues related to e-mail
office365support@hct.edu.om
accounts and Microsoft Teams
Any issues
related to E-
support.elearning@hct.edu.om
Learning Moodle
Any other IT Troubleshooting
7)
helpdesk2@hct.edu.om
Students may contact their respective lecturer through college email (within the 48
hours given) if they have any doubts and clarifications on the assignments.
8)
Students should be aware that this assignment is an independent assessment. Students
are not allowed to get help from any other person during the assessment period.
9)
Students assignment will be checked for plagiarism through Turnitin software. This
assignment will be assessed as per the College Assessment Policy. The student will be
investigated in case of plagiarism as per the College policy and procedures. The
maximum acceptable similarity index is 25%.
10) In case the students face any technical issues regarding the submission of assignment,
the answer to the assignment can be mailed to the concerned lecturer within the 48
hours using college email.
11) Any assignment submitted after the 48 hours will not be considered for evaluation.
12) The assignment should be submitted only with the file in MS Word document. No other
format is acceptable at all (e.g. pictures, JPEG, PDF, etc).
13) The students need to answer the assignment in the prescribed number of words as
mentioned in the assignment.
14) The students need to follow the following format while preparing the assignment:
Font Style: Times New Roman
Font Size: 12 points for body and 14 points for Headings
Line Spacing: 1.5
Margin: 2.54cm (One inch) on all the sides
Page Number: At the bottom right-hand corner of each page
Colour: All words should be in black colour
15) Students who will fail to submit their assignment as per the deadline given are required
to make an online appeal along with the valid excuses as the guidelines which will be
announced through the college website or e-learning portal within three days from the
date of the submission deadline.
Business Communication Assignment
Group 3
(50MARKS)
How to communicate with empathy during the coronavirus crisis
21/04/2020
By Alex McPeak
Recent weeks have been tough for, well, the world as we navigate a new normal amid the
coronavirus pandemic. From a personal standpoint, many of us are practicing social distancing
by staying inside, canceling plans, and avoiding crowded spaces.
Professionally, most of us are working from home with an indefinite timeline of when we will
be returning to our offices. If you’re working in ecommerce, you’re likely experiencing
interruptions to your day-to-day operations due to supply chain issues, changes in demand, and
retail closures, to name just a few of the many challenges businesses are currently facing.
During this time, there are many questions that arise around how you should move forward do
you continue marketing as normal? Should you address the situation at hand? Do you
communicate the measures you are taking as a brand or make yourself scarce in the inbox?
Should you push off that large announcement or new product release? How much
communication is enough and how much are too much?
Communicating company updates
There are many reasons you might have to send customers critical information. But it is also
important that you remain considerate in how often you are relaying these announcements,
what information you choose to share, and the manner in which you communicate certain
messages.
Keeping customers informed
While it’s important to keep customers in the loop about measures of cleanliness, sanitization,
and the precautions you’re taking to prevent the spread of the virus, especially if you’re
considered an essential business and continue to have a physical presence, think critically about
how much is necessary to share. Everyone is being flooded with a vast amount of information
and people are probably receiving more emails than usual from brands that they may not hear
from on a regular basis.
The goal of your communication should be to provide helpful information to customers. If you
are simply saying that staff are being extra diligent in hand-washing, for example, perhaps it is
something you can skip.
On the other hand, if there are questions arising around your company’s processes and
procedures relating directly to your products, or if you have important company updates such
as shipping delays, unavailable or out of stock products, or policy changes, it’s probably a good
idea to share those updates with your customers.
Employment concerns
In terms of taking a more human approach to the situation, consider addressing the status of
employment during store closings and including information on how you are supporting your
staff.
For example, in response to the imminent closing of over 80 stores due to the coronavirus,
apparel a brand called Aritzia created the “Aritzia Community Relief Fund” where 100 percent
of proceeds during this time will go to staff affected by the crisis.
As consumers extremely invested in the well-being of retail staff during this time. they want to
shop with brands they know treat their people well. And this is not unique to the coronavirus
crisis—a company’s treatment of its employees can make or break its reputation. Mark Cuban
has said that how companies treat their employees during the pandemic could define their brand
for decades.
Messaging to avoid
Whether stores are closed or remain open, many brands are encouraging their customers to
shop online. While this is a great way to encourage shoppers to support businesses while
practicing social distancing, there are certain messages that you may want to avoid.
For example, while you may want to give customers free shipping, making your discount code
“COVID19” or “coronavirus” is not how you want to represent your brand when it comes to
conveying sensitive subject matter.
Additionally, be sensitive to the current situation in all possible ways—not just about healthrelated issues and the coronavirus itself. Blasting emails and texts to all your customers and
encouraging them to use their stimulus checks on your flash sale is entirely out-of-touch when
many are depending on the money to help them outlast financial hardships because of the
economic downturn.
Sharing content unrelated to the impact of COVID-19
Just because you are communicating critical company updates or announcements does not
mean you have to suspend all other activities completely. As mentioned, it is important to
think about how you will convey these messages, but brands have already made an example of
how to do this in a way that resonates with their customers.
Planned initiatives
Before the coronavirus became so dominant in our everyday lives, you were likely strategizing
which marketing campaigns to pursue or deciding what efforts would best help you to meet
your 2020 goals.
You don’t have to put a pause on all of the progress you’ve made in the last few months, but
consider how you can position your product launch or new collection in a way that feels more
appropriate for the moment and acknowledges some of the challenges consumers are currently
facing.
Spreading some joy
When it comes to building deep, long-lasting relationships with your customers, even in the
best of times but especially in the worst of times, it is important to show empathy for what your
customers may be dealing with personally, professionally, and as a global citizen.
But when so much of the content we are consuming is heavy and dark, people are also
welcoming distractions to get their minds off thinking about the news cycles.
Navigating a fluid situation
Just because everyone else does things a certain way does not mean you have to do the same.
The best advice we can share as you adjust your marketing strategies in the face of such
unprecedented uncertainty is to stay true to who you are as a brand.
Be as authentic, empathetic, and transparent as possible with your customers to continue
fostering the relationships you have already built and to nurture the new ones that will grow
because of how you operate your business and respond during this time.
Reference:
McPeak, A. (2020) How to communicate with empathy during the coronavirus crisis; klaviyo.
Available online https://www.klaviyo.com/blog/communication-empathy-coronaviruscustomer-marketing (Access Date: 28-04-2020)
Case study- Short Answers
(4 Marks X 1Q +5 Marks X 7Q = 39 Marks)
1. What is the term used during the Covid-19 Pandemic which is equivalent to the
studied “personal features space”? What is the acceptable space that you
need to put when communicating with people and what is the best medium
to be used? (4 Marks- 30-60 words).
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
2. According to the case study, what are the common barriers countries have
to communication during the Covide-19 pandemic with the population?
Describe these barriers by taking the Omani context and explain how these
barriers hindered the communication (30-100 Words).
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
3. According to the case study, what is the strategy that businesses should use
to communicate with their customers? Why? (30-100 Words).
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
4. Ali is a student at Higher College of Technology (HCT) and due to the
suspending of study during the Covid-19 Pandemic. HCT has started to
conduct classes and exams online, Ali failed to attend the online classes
because he lives in a remote area, what do you think is the barrier to
communication he is facing? What other barriers students might have
during this period? (30-100 Words).
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
5. Based on the above case study, companies should communicate with their
customers and employees to update them about their activities and
precautious measures due to the Covid-19 crisis, do you agree? (30-100
Words).
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
6. In your opinion, what is the best medium of communication companies
should use to continuously communicate with their customers? Why? Relate
your answer with what you have studies in Business Communication course. (30100 Words).
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
7. Studying the example of “Aritzia” Brand Company in the case study, what do you
think of their commination strategy? Why it is important for the Company to
communicate empathy toward its employees during the pandemic? Relate
that with the Emotional Intelligence competences studied. (30-100 Words).
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
8. You own a small Delivery company, as part of your corporate social
responsibilities to support the Countries efforts to handle the crisis of Covid19. You decided to establish a daily awareness posts through your Instagram
and Twitter account. This is a good opportunity for your business to be
known and grow. Write a short post encouraging people to “stay home” and
promoting your business at the same time (communicate the precautions
you are taking to prevent the spread of the virus). relate to the social media
topic and the use of 5Cs for effective writing.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
Long answer question
(5+6=11 Marks)
9. Write a memo to your employees to update them about the status of the business
during the Covid-19 crisis and the measures you are taking to prevent the spread
of the virus and providing healthy and secure environment for those who still
report to the company. Also, update the employees about their employment status
and communicate the timeline of when you expect them to return to their offices
following the guidelines of the Covid-19 Supreme Committee. (5 Marksmaximum 80 words)
10. Write a letter to your customers, (which will be sent through email later), to
update them about you about the measures of cleanliness, sanitization, and the
precautions you are taking to prevent the spread of the virus. Also update them
about the initiative you are taking to support your employees during this difficult
time. And finally encourage them to use your online services and appreciate their
loyalty. (6 Marks- maximum 150 words))
• Include all the necessary parts and components of the letter/memo
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Purchase answer to see full
attachment