Investigate the case study on pages 3-4, as well as the theory from lectures and the reading list. Write a 2000-word report for the Board of Directors of Glenmore that applies the theory from your
Business Communication module to the case study in order to analyse the communication of the
project team and make recommendations to the Board.
The report should have the correct format.
The analysis part of the report should have 3 sections
Analysis Section 1: Identify and explain the communication skills already present among the
team
Analysis Section 2: Identify and explain the cultural and communication factors that may have
caused the communication breakdown
Analysis Section 3: Identify and justify actions that managers can take to improve the team’s
communication
Your research should begin by focusing on the Business Communications textbook edited by Mike
Raith, and the reading list in the module guide.
Report Format
The report must include the following:
Title page
Executive Summary (short summary of key points of report.)
Contents page
Background (short
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Case Study
Case Study Part 1: Your Role in Glenmore Hotel
Glenmore Hotel is an industry leader in the field of hospitality and events. They believe the primary
reason for their success is their policy of diverse recruitment of expert staff who come from many
different cultures.
The Board of Directors know from experience that managing a team with a mix of different cultures
can present challenges that companies without diversity might not face.
You work in the head office of Glenmore. Your role is to monitor the communication of different
teams and report back.
You have been assigned to investigate the communication of a project team running a yearly
business conference at their London hotel. There is no question that the members of the team
are highly trained experts and respect each other. Their feedback from clients has been
consistently positive, and the Board of Directors is impressed with their work and results.
However, like most groups made up of diverse staff, there are some issues among the group that
have recently led to tensions and frustrations. These issues recently resulted in a communication
breakdown that almost led to the team missing an important deadline.
Case Study Part 2: A summary of the testimonials gathered from the project team
Jed (Events Staff)
“I don’t really have time for this because I need to prioritise the five-year business plan. Also, I
don’t see the problem as we have met all our targets. In my opinion, just because we have
conflict, doesn’t mean there’s a problem. Things change all the time. It’s normal among
professionals. We all respect each other.
But, if you must know, my dispute with Max was about the menu for the conference lunches. I
asked him and Helen to meet to discuss different options. Helen had no problem, but Max
refused. He told me to make the decisions. I don’t see how I make the decisions about food
without talking to the Chef?”
Max (Chef)
“Look. I like working with the team. It’s a simple case that Vivien always likes changing things and
told the client they could have a specialised menu, and then Jed wanted me to discuss it. I don’t
really want to know what the client wants. I just want to know what I’m expected to cook.
During induction, Head office give all managers details on all the options for menus and all food
we stock. All Jed needs to do is make the choice and tell me what he wants me to cook. It’s not
my fault if he never takes notes. I keep a pen and paper with me at all times to take notes.”
Helen (Restaurant Staff)
“I just feel like some staff just don’t have the skills that are expected of them. I don’t like to
complain about it, but Jasmine’s reports just don’t make any sense. She fills the executive
summary with unnecessary definitions and descriptions, and I can never work out what her main
points are. When I was trained to write a report, I learned that the first rule is to make sure that
each point is made very clear at the beginning of a paragraph. And she’s always focused on the
past. I have never once seen a recommendation in one of her reports. For me, the
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recommendations are the best bit. Vivien’s emails are just the same. She never writes ‘Hi’,
doesn’t write in paragraphs, and I can never work out the exact point.
You could say that it’s not Vivien’s fault that no one taught her this, but I don’t care. I can’t
understand anything she writes. It’s not up to me to help her. I made it very clear in my job
interview the things that I’m interested in focusing on. I focus on my personal strengths and
responsibilities and nothing else.
Jasmine (facilities staff)
“Jed is a typical rude American, and Helen is just like him. They are always in my face making
demands. It upsets me. We all have our role to play in the organising of the event. In order for me
to fulfil my role, communication is very important, and communication has rules that must be
observed. You can’t just walk up to someone and tell them what you want and then walk off. It is
especially difficult with Helen. When we talk, and I give her an instruction, I expect her to ask
questions to make sure that she understands. But she just walks off and starts work, and
sometimes, she does the wrong thing because of it.”
Vivien (Sales staff)
“Sometimes, I feel that the sales staff aren’t understood by the rest of the hotel. We do a very
important job. We identify the needs of the customer, and demonstrate that our hotel can meet
those needs. This means that we must be flexible. Some people just want to do things in a rigid
way. I can’t guarantee that I’ll be able to arrive to a meeting on time because I need to prioritise
the clients. But Jed and Max always get angry at me for showing up late. I understand how they
feel, but they just can’t see it from my point of view.
Also, I can’t understand anything that Chinese people say, so I don’t see the point in trying to talk
to Jasmine. Everyone knows that Chinese people don’t like black people anyway. There’s a lot
about it in the news. I don’t think that I’m better than Jasmine; she’s good at her job. I just don’t
see the point in trying.”
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ASSESSMENT CRITERIA
Knowledge and understanding of theory related to Communication within Organisations.
Ability to manage the module resources (including guidance on report format, paragraph structure, as
well as lecture notes and reading material on effective communication and culture) to create a
professionally formatted report that addresses a problem in a professional context.
POINTS TO CONSIDER
Before you start, make sure that you avoid these common mistakes
Avoid relying on general definitions. Instead, use the theory from the module to directly
answering the question.
Avoid simply describing the staff members. Instead, the topic of each paragraph should be a
cultural or communication factor. The staff can be examples.
Avoid adding general information to your report to meet the word count. A 2000-word report
will have around 15 to 20 main points. It is better to have 1500 words of focused explanation
than 2000 words of general information.
Points to consider for ‘Section 1: Analysis of Good Practice’
Focus on explaining the theory with the case study as an example
You should read the scenario and identify communication skills from the module that are
present in the scenario.
Avoid just describing the people in the case study. The focus should be on the theory behind
the actions in the scenario
Communication factors include: empathy, the different types of effective listening, the
listening process, the direct approach, and the indirect approach. There are lecture slides on
communication theory on the VLE.
Points to consider for analysis section 2: Causes of the Communication Breakdown
Focus on identifying and explaining the cultural and/ or communication factors that are
causing issues
The cultural and communication factors are not mentioned directly in the scenario. You are
expected to interpret them yourself.
Cultural factors include: power distance, time orientation, space, time focus, context
sensitivity, attitudes toward gender, formality, stereotyping, prejudice and racism. There are
lecture slides on Culture on the VLE.
Communication factors include: empathy, the different types of effective listening, the
listening process, the direct approach, and the indirect approach. There are lecture slides on
communication theory on the VLE.
Avoid simply describing the people in the brief and criticising them. The staff are to be used
as examples, but the main focus should be the theory.
Points to consider for analysis section 3: Managing Improvements
These should be based on the issues you explained in your analysis sections
The recommendations should be actions that the board of directors or a manager can
carry out, for example, training, team activities or policy changes. Avoid writing general tips
or criticism of staff members.
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Points to consider on research
You are being examined on your ability to engage with the learning resources on the
module.
As a result, you should make sure that you start your research with
o The Business Communication textbook edited by Mike Raith
o The Lecture Slides, and your lecture notes
o The Reading List in your module guide
You must avoid sources that are not academic
o General searches on google
o Wikipedia
o Books that have not been peer reviewed
o Sources with an unreliable author
Reward will be given for students that have made additional academic research beyond the
reading list. But don’t ignore the reading list or the theory from the module
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