ICFAI - Business Communications and Soft Skills - Case studies

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AN INTRODUCTION TO DIFFERENTIATED LEARNING TOOLS
Participants in flexible learning programs have limitations on the nature of the
time they can spend on learning. Typically they are employed fully or partially,
pursuing higher studies or have other social and familial responsibilities.
Availability of time is a great constraint to these students.
To aidthe participants,we have developedfour unique learningtools as below:
 Bullet Notes : Helps in introducing the important concepts in each unit
of curriculum, equip the
student during preparation of
examinations and
 Case Studies : Illustrate the concepts through real life experiences

 Workbook : Helps absorption of learning through questions based on reallife nuggets
 PEP Notes :Sharing notes of practices and experiences in the Industry will help the student to
rightly perceive and get inspired to learn concepts at the cutting edge
application level.placementinterviews
Why are these needed?
 Adults learn differently from B. School or college going
students who spend long hours at campus.
 Enhancing analytical skills through application related learning
kits trigger experiential learning
 Availability of time is a challenge.
 Career success increasingly depends on continuous learning
and success
What makes it relevant?

How is it useful?


Where does this lead to?
As and when you get 5 to 10 minutes you can read one of these and absorb and comprehend.
Spending more time is your choice.
You can use the time in travel, waiting for meetings, lunch time, small breaks or at home
usefully.
Through these tools, the learning bytes are right sized for ease of learning for time challenged
participants.
The content starts from practice and connect to precept making it easy to connect to industry
and retain.
They can be connectedto continuous assessment process of the academic program.
Practitioners can use their real life knowledge and skill to enhance learning skills.
Immediate visualization of the practical dimension of the concept will offer a rich learning
experience.

 Easier to move ahead in the learning process.

 Will facilitate the student to complete the program earlier than
otherwise.Helpsstay motivated and connected.
When is it useful?


Case Studies:
Business Communication and
Soft Skills

© The ICFAI Foundation for Higher Education(IFHE), Hyderabad,
May, 2015.All rights reserved
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, used in a spread sheet, or
transmitted in any form or by any means – electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise – without
prior permission in writing from The ICFAI Foundation for Higher Education (IFHE), Hyderabad.
Ref. No. BC&SS, CS-IFHE – 052015
For any clarification regarding this book, the students may please write to The ICFAI Foundation for Higher
Education (IFHE), Hyderabad giving the above reference number of this book specifying chapter and page
number.
While every possible care has been taken in type-setting and printing this book, The ICFAI Foundation for
Higher Education (IFHE), Hyderabad welcomes suggestions from students for improvement in future
editions.
ii

CONTENTS
1. Open Communication Culture at Avery Dennison 5
2. IPad2 launch by Steve Jobs 7
3. Social Relationship Management through Listening 8
4. Alan Mulally – One Ford 9
5. Twitter acquires ZipDial 11
6. Interviewing at McKinsey 13
7. Kite Ventures, a company with no meetings 14
8. Transformation of Bill Gates‘ communication skills 15
9. Guy Kawasaki‘s 10/20/30 rule for presentation 17
10. P&G‘s CEOs‘ letters to the employees 18
11. Flipkart‘s apology letter to customers 20
12. Satya Nadella‘s email to Microsoft employees 22
13. McKinsey‘s expectation of a rėsumė 24
14. An application letter to an investment banking company 25
15. Jeff Bezos unique method to obtain business discipline 26
16. An open letter by Starbucks CEO 27
17. How stress is affecting America 29
18. Survey Report – ‗Global leadership Forecast – 2014/15‘ 31
19. Visually impressive Shopify‘s annual report 33
20. Good Grammar skills lead to good income 34
21. Alan Mulally turns around Ford with effective management 36
22. Well at Dell- Stress management practices adopted in Dell 37
23. Steve Job‘s time management as a leader at Apple 38
24. Apple‘s Innovations- reason for its success and growth 39
25. Emotional Intelligence leading to performance at Amadori 40
26. Mary Barra‘s recovery of GM 41
27. Leadership development at Goodyear 43
28. An American guest in China for a business dinner 45
iii

Introduction to the Case Study
Participants in ICFAI University Programs are eager to apply theory into practice. They realize that
application orientation can enhance their learning and subsequent usage of management precepts and
practices. Picking out the principle behind real world events is critical to this learning.
To fulfil this objective the institution has introduced the Case Study methodology as a learning tool. A one
page case is developed for learning a concept/topic from an illustration of a real world occurrence. The case
illustrates a situation pertinent to an individual/a company/an industry or an economy in relation to a concept
or issue covered in the curriculum. The illustration is specific to the point being discussed.
The case depicts the knowledge which can be applied as illustrated in the practice of the real world. These
experiences can be distilled to look at a core principle at play by the participant. While there could be
multiple principles at play, the illustration of each case helps in its better understanding of the concept at a
very fundamental level.
The learning outcomes expected are:
1. Real world is illustrated and connected back to one concept/topic for better theoretical understanding.
2. Application based approach, which significantly enhances absorption and retention.
3. Exposure to specific business situations and developments improves pers pective.
It may be used for Assessment.
iv

1 Open Communication Culture at Avery Dennison
Avery Dennison, a Fortune 500 company based in Glendale, California began its operations in 1935. The
company, a global leader in labelling and packaging materials and solutions registered sales worth $6.3
billion in 2014. The company‘s applications and solutions form an integral part of products in every
industry. The company‘s 30000 employees were based in 50 countries.
Heather Rim, Vice-President and Kristin Wong, Senior Specialist, Global Corporate Communications
initiated an innovative programfor ideas to originate internally. Rimand her Internal Communication (IC) team
had introduced a ‗Peer Ambassador‘ program to improve employee engagement wherein opportunities
were provided to employees to participate more during town hall meetings and convey ideas to their peer
ambassadors.An overwhelming response was observed with 85% of the employees speaking regularly to their
ambassadors. The IC team then brought forth ‗The Beat: A Reverse Ambassador Program‘ to exploit
power of the ambassadors (The Beats). The Beats would converge once in a month to take part in the
‗Mission‘ andgive feedback of one of the business units or functions to the Clients. The Clients wouldwork
on the feedback of the Beats, conduct polls one or two times (‗Quick Takes‘) of 60 seconds to further
develop the initiative.
Rim and Wong worked hard to ensure the Beat Members were involved in suggesting strategic initiatives.
The Clients were asked to fill a ‗Project Request Form‘ and work on the ‗Mission‘ which would impact
Avery Dennison‘s goals andobjectives. Wong sent out Missions on the 15th of every month and Members
were given 48 hours to 2-weeks to think of new initiatives and convey to their peer ambassadors. The peer
ambassadors submitted the new proposals to the Clients who worked on it and regularly updated their
decisions in the ‗Feedback Blog Post‘. In this way, the Beat Members knew how their ideas were
adding value to the organization. In Rim‘s words it ―is about shaping the future of the company,
challenging conventional wisdom,. And delivering business value.‖
The IC team took care to ensure that the programwas not forced on the employees and innovative value
propositions wereappreciated. The Beat helped in global networking among its employees, to assess new initiatives and
had the prospect to ‗Be Heard‘. The employee needed to invest only two hours per month and
the leaders would convert unique ideas into strategies, identify drawbacks and encourage employee
engagement. The IC team was extremely successful in its first three Missions: Validating the goals of Avery
Dennison Foundation, Sourcing content for Avery Dennison Employer brand, and Obtaining feedback on
key Financial Objectives.
The IC team also wanted the Beat to cover every employee. They teamed up with the HR department and
maintained a record of which business, function and location each Beat member belongs to. This also aided
the Clients to focus on the opinions of a specific segment of the employee base. The Beat was run digitally
through intranet and only 1/3rd of the employees were covered. It consulted the other 2/3rd of the employees
who were unwired like factory workers through live offline meetings. The Beat had covered employees from
the level of Administrative Assistants to Vice-presidents.
The Senior Leadership had appreciated the program and started a video blog to develop the relationship
between the outspoken employees and the management. The Beat had proved in more ways like the
management decisions were supported and accepted by the employees since they were involved in the idea-
generation, easier to course-correct if any pitfalls by the collaboration of influential leaders and highly
energetic participants. The initial cost of the program was $10000 which went in developing the web page in
the intranet and a video. The IC team spent 20% of their team to the program. The result was that 100% felt
that their voices were being heard and the Beat had created an open-communication platform and culture at
Avery Dennison office.
‘Effective communication’ within an organization helps in fulfilling the organizational needs, improves
employee engagement and contributes significantly to organization and the employee growth. Avery
Dennison has initiated the Beat program which has evolved further to meet the organization needs and
provide the best creative solutions.
5

DiscussionQuestions
1. Why should companies adopt an internal communication program?
(Hints: effective interaction among employees - employee engagement - management practices)
2. How did the Beat program improve employee engagement at Avery Dennis on?
(Hints: value propositions - communication culture and gap between leaders and employees)
Course Reference: Concept- Theimportance of communication /Unit 1-Fundamentals of Communication/Subject-
Business Communication and Soft Skills
Sources:
i. Heather Rim and Kristin Wong, “Connecting employees to leaders through brand ambassadors at Avery
Dennison”, www.melcrum.com, Nov/Dec 2012
ii. “The Big picture”, www.averydennison.com
iii. Kristin Wong, www.linkedin.com
OtherKeywords: Business Communication, External and Internal Communication, Marketing Communication, OB
6

2 IPad2 launch by Steve Jobs
Apple Inc, an American multinational located in Cupertino, California was involved in designing,
developing and marketing consumer electronics and computer software like iPhone, iPad, iCloud, and
iTunes. The company disclosed record quarterly revenue of $74.6 million for its fiscal 2015 first quarter on
December 27, 2014. As per Forbes list of most valuable brands, Apple stood first. Apple with 80000
employees was the first US Company to be valued at $700 billion in 2014
Apple recorded a sale of 15 million iPads in 9 months with a staggering 90% market share in 2010.
Meanwhile Steve Jobs took an indefinite medical leave in January 2011, after a relapse of cancer, which was
first diagnosed in 2004. It was a pleasant surprise when Steve Jobs rose on the stage to launch the second
generation of iPad: iPad2 in March 2011. The presence of a frail and thin Steve Jobs during the launch
instantly enhanced the stock price by 1%, i.e., by $3. He was given a standing ovation by the executives and
industry‘s prominent persons at the Yerba Buena Centre in San Francisco.
Steve Jobs, one of the greatest management gurus, was very well known for his exemplary presentation
skills, audience connect and the passion with which he launched Apple‘s products. But body language
experts observed that Steve Jobs was not his usual self during the launch of iPad2. Though the passion was
very much visible, his facial expressions showed the pain he was facing. Observations of Steve Jobs body
language during iPad2 launch:
1. During his 9-minute presentation,17 times Steve Jobs held his hands at the back - which
indicated that he was hiding something.
2. Hands in ball formation – denoted that he was still interested in developing new gadgets and
was unable to control his creativity impulses.
3. Frequently looking down and a serious facial expression – traditionally unobserved in his
earlier presentations, indicated the effort being made to speak and enthuse the public and
trying to withhold his discomfort and loss of energy.
Usually Steve Jobs used expansive hand gestures like outstretched hands, emblems and illustrators. His
minimal upper body gestures and hands tied at the back, stressful facial expressions and deep sad eyes
signaled that Jobs was trying to conceal his disease, felt uneasy and apprehensive. Steve Jobs expired on
October 5, 2011, barely six months after the launch of iPad2.
‘Nonverbal communication’ primarily conveys emotions and attitudes. They can contradict, substitute,
emphasize or regulate verbal messages. In this case, we observe that Steve Jobs, who is renowned for his
presentation skills, depicting his infrequent gestures during the launch of iPad2.
DiscussionQuestions
1. What are the characteristics of nonverbalcommunication?
(Hints: communicate emotions – attitudes – continuous – ambiguous – regulate - reliable)
2. Explain the change in kinesics in Steve Jobs during the launch of iPad2.
(Hints: hand movements - facial expressions – posture – gestures – regulators – illustrators - eyes)
Course Reference: Concept- Kinesics /Unit 2-Nonverbal Communication/Subject-Business Communication and Soft
Skills
Sources:
i. Carol Kinsey Goman, “The Gesture that gave away Steve Jobs”, www.forbes.com, March 2011
ii. Cory Bortnicker, “What Steve Jobs‟ body language means for Apple Stock”, www.minyanville.com, March 2011
iii. Penny Goldsbrough, “The Baseline in Body Language”, www.goldsbrough.biz, March 2011
iv. Charles Arthur, “iPad2 announcement: Steve Jobs launches updated tablet”, www.theguardian.com, March
2011
v. “Apple Info „, www.apple.com
vi. “Apple Market Cap, www.forbes.com, April 2014
vii. http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2011/mar/02/ipad-apple
OtherKeywords: Nonverbal communication, kinesics, Marketing Communication, HRM
7

3 Social Relationship Management through Listening
Oracle, an integrated and fully optimized hardware and software solutions company had more than 4 lakh
customers, which included 100 of the Fortune 100, and had its presence in more than 145 countries globally.
The company with 120000 employees declared revenue of US$38.3 billion in FY 2014. Oracle, dedicated to
innovation by simplifying IT, provided reliable and secure hardware and software products and applications
that helped to manage complex business processes through high performance at a low cost.
―Social marketing is rapidly evolving into a sophisticatedset of capabilities that enable real-time awareness
and responsiveness. Oracle SRM, which already lets companies listen to social buzz in a dozen languages,
will support even more languages and social platforms…‖—John Foley, Director, Strategic
Communications, Oracle.
Companies try to maintain strong customer relationships and design innovative marketing campaigns.
However, constant change in market trends and technology requires real-time marketing strategies and real-
time listening to customer feedback. Social Relationship Management helps to engage, respond, handle
queries and disseminate marketing messages to customers through Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and other
social platforms. Oracle has introduced the Oracle Social Marketing and Social Engagement and Monitoring
Products for companies to employ modern marketing techniques like cross -channel marketing automation,
content management, social engagement and analytics. It is observed that 90% of the customers discontinue
communication with the company because of irrelevant information and messages. Hence companies prefer
Oracle‘s Products for ―Social-listening.‖
Social listening provides seamless user-experience to customers as companies respond in real-time by
providing customized solutions, delivering information, developing the right content and promotions in the
existing customer‘s channel. Oracle SRM is a cloud-based platform that helps companies listen to social
buzz in 19 localized languages and advanced listening in 31 languages.It is evolving aggressively to
introduce more languages and many more social platforms. For example, Oracle is already tapping data from
China‘s Sina Weibo and Baido and Latin America‘s Reclameaqui and Vostu networks. In other words, this
application helpsto reach, listen, learn and engage customers irrespective of which channel they are into. This
application acts like a collaborative and connection strategy between people, processes and technology.
At any point in time, millions of messages keep flying across various social channels. Oracle SRM listens to
about 700 million messages every day at a high speed from paid, owned and earned media content from
social media platforms, blogs, message boards, video messages, chat rooms, consumer review sites, etc.
Oracle‘s ―Latent Semantic Analysis‖, a high technology tool then converts it into meaningful information
which provides insights to companies to take suitable action. Thus Oracle‘s SRMis the only solution for
industries to listen, publish, engage and create content through analytics and a single userinterface.
‘Listening’ can improve work quality and boost productivity. In this case, Oracle‟s products helps a company to
succeed globally by listening, engaging, learning customer expectations, developing better products through
valuable social insights, and designing innovative marketing campaigns irrespective of location and language
barriers.
DiscussionQuestions
1. Mention the different approaches to listening and how listening can improve customer engagement.
(Hints: discriminative- comprehensive - active – critical - betterrelationship with customers)
2. How has Oracle used Listening as a tool for Social Relationship Management in ‗Social
Marketing‘ and ‗Social Engagement & Monitoring‘?
(Hints: social listening - converting noisy data into meaningful messages - modern marketing
techniques)
Course Reference: Concept- Approaches to Listening/Unit3-Listening/Subject-Business Communication and Soft
Skills Sources:
i. John Foley, “How Social „Listening‟ enables real-time marketing”, www.forbes.com, May 2014
ii. “Oracle Social Cloud – Social Relationship Management”,www.oracle.com
iii. “Five Ideas: Social Strategies”, www.oracle.com
iv. “Welcome to Oracle”, www.oracle.com
OtherKeywords: Listening, Marketing
8

4 Alan Mulally – One Ford
Ford Motor Company, based in Dearborn, Michigan, were manufacturers and distributors of automobiles in
over six continents, with 63 plants worldwide, known for brands like Ford and Lincoln and 167,000
employees reported a pre-tax profit of $6.3 million for 2014.
Ford was undergoing the biggest loss of $12.7 billion in its 103-year history in 2006, loss of 25% in market
share since 1990, huge labor costs at $76/hour, and was on the brink of bankruptcy when Alan Mulally was
named the President and CEO. Ford rebounded to growth with increased profits and stock prices since 2009
under his transformational leadership and adoption of a new organization culture.
Alan Mulally, in 2006, as soon he became the CEO, borrowed $23 billion instead of declaring bankruptcy.
This wise decision helped Ford, because during the 2008 economic recession, other companies like General
Motors andChryslerfound it difficult to raise money.Alan could developnewproducts that customers wanted,by
leveraging Ford‘s automotive expertise and assets. Electric cars like Transit Connect Van, was
rolled out in 2010, Focus in 2011 and Energi (C-MAX MPV) in 2012. Ford shifted its focus from trucks to
cars with Tauras Sedan and Fusion.
Alan Mulally viewed the conflict brewing within the company and identified the challenges of diversity and
high employee turnover. He discussed the conflict openly and worked on developing the interpersonal
relationships among employees through ‗One Ford‘:
 ‗One Ford‘ strategy integrated the entire organization from product quality, fuel efficiency,
manufacturing plants, corporate culture and balance sheet – called ‗sponsor spine‘.

 Converted Ford to a ‗Mobility company‘ by taking control of the entire global operations and
working on one agenda – ‗The cars and trucks are two different visually but can be built on the
same assembly line‘. This led to manufacturing of 10 Ford different models but having 80%
common parts leading to huge economies ofscale.Ford also reducedfrom97 automotive products to 20
thus improving excellence in manufacturing, product development and customer service.

 In ‗Traffic Light Meetings‘, he shared his ideas, goals and reports every Thursday morning.
Employees were given specific direction and responsibility through color-coded cards and to update
progress. The cards contained expected behaviors on one side and the company‘s business
plan on the other. Red card indicated a problem, yellow meant caution and green signified good
progress. Alan wanted complete transparency and team collaboration. Interpersonal relationships
developed due to freedomof two-way communication, assertion and fewer conflicts.

 Alan was very supportive of his employees that resulted in renewed confidence, enthusiasmand
loyalty. He negotiated with the United Auto Workers on $55/hours; wages down by $20/hour.

 Business Plan Review Meetings were held every week to understand the external environment,
opportunities or risks, with global leadership team, business leaders, and functional leaders either
connected in person or remotely. A few such meetings led to MyFordTouch Entertainment panel
being introduced in Ford cars which was later copied by other automobile manufacturers.
Alan Mulally led One Ford to One team through strategic vision, improved financial health, workforce
competitiveness, new product development and sustained the momentum.
‘Interpersonal Skills’ emphasizes to be open and empathetic to build positiverelations in an organization, deal with
criticism and conflict. In this case, we observe that Alan Mulallycould grasp „Complexity‟ by framing difficult
concepts easily, analyze data to gain new insights, and build teams that can innovate to transform driver experience,
and realign theproduct portfolio for the 21st century.
DiscussionQuestions
1. What are the different approaches to handle conflict in an organization?
(Hints: avoiding – accommodating – competing - collaborating - compromising)
2. ‗Alan Mulally steeredthe company to the path of growth throughpositive relationships.‘Explain
(Hints: employee inclusion - open communication culture – empathy - team collaboration)
9

Course Reference: Concept- Building Positive Relationships/Unit 4-InterpersonalSkills /Subject-Business
Communication and Soft Skills
Sources:
i. Larah MillerCaldicott, “Why Ford‟s Alan Mulallyisan innovation CEO for the record books”,
www.forbes.com, June 2014
ii. Rik Kirkland, “Leading in the 21st Century: An interview with Ford‟s Alan Mulally,” www. mckinsey.com,
November 2013
iii. Theo Legget, “How Ford‟s Alan Mulallyturned around its fortunes,” www.bbc.com, June2014
iv. “The role of leadership and how it can impact organizational performance, based on Alan Mulally, CEO, Ford
Motor Company”, http://jananomba.blogspot.in, August 2011
v. “Our Company”, http://corporate.ford.com/company.html
OtherKeywords: Communication, HR, Operations
10

5 Twitter acquires ZipDial
Twitter Inc. acquired ZipDial on January 20, 2015. Twitter, incorporated in 2007, an online social
networking service where users could send and read 140 character messages called‗tweets‘ had 3600
employees globally, 50% of them being engineers. Twitter had 288 million active monthly users with 500
million tweets being sent every day. 80% of those were mobile users and 77% users outside of US. Tweets
could be sent in 35+ languages.
Zipdial, a mobile marketing company began its operations in 2010 at Bengaluru, was founded by Valerie
Wagoner,Amiya Pathakand Sanjay Swamy. It specialized in connecting people who do not own a smartphone
to the internet. It designedproducts using the behavior of ‗missedcalls‘ for brand engagement.
The company had achieved one billion connections with brands across 60 million users in South Asia, South
East Asia and Africa. Their 50 employees became a part of Twitter R & D team after the acquisition. It had
around 500 clients like Airtel, MakemyTrip, Ola cabs, Mattel, etc.
The negotiation deal was estimated to be between 30 - 40 million dollars. Twitter‘s VP of Products
Christian Oestlien and Market Director, India & South Asia, Rishi Jaitly along with Zip Dial‘s
Valorie Wagoner, CEO through their blogs informed on how the companies could complement each other in
making the negotiation a win-win.
# Twitter ZipDial
Accessibility of Twitter and content to more Easy to engage the mobile user with the brand
people who become smartphone users,mostly in through SMS, voice messages, missed calls,
Brazil, India and Indonesia.Reducing the cost of and apps.Useful to people who do not have
1
data for subscribers. Exclusive Twitter experience data connection or intermittently use data
to both mobile users and Indian publishers jointly through wifi networks. Bridges the gap
with ZipDial. between online and offline mobile users.
Tested the success of campaigns with ZipDial Indians use only 60MB of data/month against
which include Indian elections @BJP4India and 1.38GB/month in US with no difference in
@INCIndia, Bollywood Film promotions, speeds between 2G and 3G. It also means one
2
@MTV India‘s #RockTheVote ―Dial the billion or 25% of population do not have
Hashtag‘ @iamsrk, @SrBachchan, access to the internet and 68% only use feature
@SuperstarRajani, @SriSri and improve twitter phones,may be tapped to use ZipDial Services.
experience.
Twitter has 33 million users in India, Increase The founders to continue to evolve the ZipDial
investment as it is an emerging economy. Utillize products; work on specific integration and
the ZipDial engineering office. Later drive user product roadmaps.With Twitter, develop
3
acquisition in India and other emerging tailor-madesolutionsandutilizethe
economies where ZipDial has already made a opportunities mostly in the emerging markets
presence,decrease expenditure on advertisement and global level.
for clients.
4 Twitter can work out on a strategy of Zipdial‘s existing 500 clients to build more advertisements,
focus on advertisers and generate revenue from like-for-like advertisers.
The global companies were on the lookout for new opportunities in the Government‘s Digital India
programs. They were interested in companies that were incubated in India, providing India-centric
innovative solutions; but were relevant to the whole world.
11

‘Negotiation’ plays a vitalrole in businessand must result in providing solutions to the parties involved. It is a
delicate processandrequiresa lot ofthinking and analysis to adopt the best approach and gain a win-win. In
this case, Twitter is utillizing ZipDial to make content accessible to offline customers and reach developing
markets which have low internet penetration.
DiscussionQuestions
1. What are the different approaches to negotiations?
(Hints: bargaining orientation – loses –lose - compromise – win-win)
2. ‗Negotiations will come into effect only when both partices consider solid facts and human dimension‘.
Explain this statement taking into account the above case of Twitter acquiring ZipDial.
(Hints: complementing each other in specific areas and expertise – explore new opportunities)
Course Reference: Concept- Approaches to negotiations/Unit 5 - Negotiations /Subject-Business Communication and
Soft Skills
Sources:
i. Deepthi Choudhary, “Twitter acquires Indian mobile marketingfirm ZipDial‖, http://www.forbesindia.com,
January 2015
ii. Valorie Wagoner,‖ZipDial is joining Twitter‖, www.zipdial.com, January 2015
iii. YogendraKalavapalli,―Twitter tobuyZipDial in firstIndian start-up acquisition‖, www. livemint.com, January
2015
iv. Saptarishi Dutta, ―Twitterjust bought a Bangalore start-up to reach every Indian without smartphone,
www.qz.com, January 2015
OtherKeywords: Negotiations, HRM, Online Marketing
12

6 Interviewing at McKinsey
McKinsey, a global firm comprising of 17000 consultants employed ‗research and information‘
professionals across 60 countries. The company followed a consistent approach in recruiting and developing
people, irrespective of their origin, to provide the client the right team with the right experience and
expertise. The company invested in enormous resources to identify the right people, develop their skills and
train them to take leadership roles.
McKinsey was known to conduct the toughest interview process with a difficulty level of 3.9 out of 5. The
company conducts structured interviews to identify the skills and experience of the candidate for the most
suitable career.
Experience interview: Discover skills to survive in McKinsey through questions on
 accomplishments and challenges and key actions taken to handle crisis

Case interview: Assess problem-solving skills through a real McKinsey business problemin a
limited time. This helps the company to understand howthe candidate:
O structuresthe tough,ambiguous business problem O
decides on the issuesthatneedfocus
O deals with facts and dataand theirimplications O
formulates recommendations andconclusions

O articulates his thoughts in a speedy discussion
Problem-solvingtest:Verifyanalyticalskillsofthe candidate through 26 questions based on
McKinsey clients and require no business knowledge.
The candidates should be relaxed but not anxious, take time to answer questions, clarify if in doubt. The
interviewers can be asked questions about the company, work culture, people and values. Sample cases and
problem-solving tests are available on their websites.
62% of the candidates felt that they had a positive experience while 13% reported negative. The candidates
felt it was worthwhile to attend the stressful interview, since employee satisfaction is 4.1/5 at McKinsey.
According to Sumantha Zupan, a spokesperson of Glassdoor (a career website), ―This denotes the fact
that the company has a clear correlation on the candidate‘s fitness for the job, what can be expected
from him, his interests being leveraged for both the candidate‘s and company‘s growth.‖
McDonald, author of ‗The firm‘, a book on McKinsey wrote that McKinsey finds it easier to identify
the potential and mold a young mind than an old one. The company has perfected the art of personnel
management; hiring youngsters from top-tier B-Schools (like Harvard and Yale), after a rigourous selection
process, at a trifle, providing atrocious reviews that make them perfect to handle secure data and take
businessdecisions.The candidates,nowcalled consultants,are given wide exposure andaccess to a wide network
of clients andalumni, once the company realizes the candidates‘ potential andpossible options and
interests.
‘Interviewing’ requires planning like purpose, structure, physical setting, knowledge of the candidate,
possible interview rounds and questions. In this case, McKinsey has created a high business standard in
hiring culture by demonstrating that by hiring and training cost-effective capable youth into consultants
who outperform expensive experienced candidates.
DiscussionQuestions
1. What are differences between a structured,planned interview and an unstructured,random
interview process?
(Hints: large pool of candidates – specific parameters – factual info – candidate‘s views – opinions
on issues)
2. The job interview process tends to be nerve-racking and frustrating at McKinsey. Explain
(Hints: structured - experience – analytical – articulation – time management – problem-solving)
Course Reference: Concept-Planning an interview/Unit 6-Interviewing /Subject-Business Communication and Soft
Skills
Sources:
i. Jacquelyn Smith, “The companies that give the toughest job interviews”, www.forbes.com, July 2012
ii. Max Nisen, “How McKinsey turned the MBA into an elite degree”, www.businessinsider.in, September 2013
iii. “About Us – Who we are”, www.mckinsey.com
iv. “Careers – Interview Process”, www.mckinsey.com
v. “Careers – Interview prep”, www.mckinsey.com
OtherKeywords: Interviewing, HRM, T&D
13

7 Kite Ventures, a company with no meetings
Kite Ventures, a venture capital firm was founded in 2008 by Mr. Edward Shenderovich, in Moscow,
Russia. The company specialized in making investments in start-up companies in the field of technology and
internet like Delivery Hero, Tradeshift, Auctionata, Fyber and Made.com in Europe and Plated and
Merchantry in New York.
The uniqueness of the company was because: it was an investment company with no ‗committed
capital‘ and a dozen investment partners, who worked on a deal-to-deal basis and profit-sharing agreement.
The partners did not pay management fees on the investment capital, the company did not charge
management fees and the company was frugally managed with minimum number of employees and without
an expensive office or private jets. However, the company made $2.5 billion worth of investments in the
companies mentioned above (as of December 2014), had a strong investment base and a good growth curve;
obtained support from the investors and entrepreneurs (who were backed by the company and then later
turned investors). The company was expecting the coming five years (2015 – 2020) to be more productive
than the previous five years (2008 – 2014).
Mr. Edward Shenderovich, co-founder and MD, sixth among the top ten Russian venture capitalists, states
that the company had been highly productive due to:
1. „No-meeting‟ culture:
The company could not build a ‗meeting‘ culture though, the founders tried to bring in weekly
meetings; by sending invites to the participants a week in advance. It just became a routine and
participants started giving excuses from attending the meetings. The founders also found that the
meeting time was spent with presentation of reports and was hardly productive. Kite Ventures
consisted of a small team and hence communication could happen in real-time. The highly
motivated team of employees had an intense drive to perform. Hence the ‗no-meeting‘ culture
actually made the company more efficient.
2. „Transparency‟ in operations:
Kite Ventures aligned interests on returns by delivering products; treating investors and
entrepreneurs as partners in decision-making process; by maintaining transparency and thus became
successful. It empowered the investors and small teams of employees to focus on tasks and not
‗manage‘ them the customary way. The company followed Peter Drucker‘s principle,
―Management is doing things right; leadership is doing right things,‖ in not managing people
or asking reports, but on driving employees to do work and obtain results.
3. Better relationship with stakeholders:
The company did not believe in the traditional ‗limited-partner‘ and ‗general partner‘
relationships with its stakeholders; but a more open communication culture in real-time.
Entrepreneurs, employees and investors belonged to the same team, and their main aimwas to build
companies and help promising people to grow in their jobs.
‘Effective meetings’ improves communication between the group members in an organization. In recent
times, meetings are considered to be time wasters with nothing fruitful being achieved. Kite Ventures is
one such company which drifted towards a meeting-free world and successful in achieving better results
from all its stakeholders.
DiscussionQuestions
1. What are the steps to have effective meetings?
(Hints: planning – why -what type – who – where - when – notice-agenda-minutes - follow-up)
2. How did Kite Ventures remain productive even without conducting meetings?
(Hints: relationship with stakeholders – open communication in real time – empowering to
perform)
Course Reference: Concept- Effective Meetings /Unit 7-Group Communication/Subject-Business Communication and
Soft Skills
Sources:
i. Edward Shenderovich, “Managing a 250000000 company without meetings”, www.knote.com, December 2014
ii. Marie Ashley Kummerlowe, “Forbes identifiesRussia‟s top 10 venture capitalists”, www.ewdn.com, October
2013
iii. Edward Shenderovich, www.crunchbase.com
iv. Kite Ventures, www.kiteventures.com
OtherKeywords: Business Communication, External and Internal Communication, Group communication
14

8 Transformation of Bill Gates’ communication skills
Bill Gates, Co -founder of Microsoft, was known as a philanthropist, investor, computer programmer and an
inventor. The American business magnate was consistently considered in the Forbes list of the world‘s
wealthiest people. He stepped down as Chairman of Microsoft in February 2014 and took a new role as a
Technology Advisor to support the newly appointed CEO Satya Nadella.
People observed a radical transformation in the presentation skills of Bill Gates after he stepped down from
the post of CEO. Bill Gates had become a persuasive speaker who could handle complex subjects in a clear
and concise way. A lot of change was observed from 2006 when he left his day-to-day functions at
Microsoft to concentrate more on the Bill & Melinda Gates Charity Foundation. He wanted to connect to the
common people by simplifying subjects like poverty, healthcare and childhood mortality by communicating
in a comprehensible way. He also wanted to grab the attention and persuade the stakeholders to take action
or donate part of their wealth for the greater good.
An effective communication strategythat Bill Gates employed forcommunicating throughthe Foundationwas the
rule of 3:
 Writing skills – focus on the issues of poverty,foreign aid and philanthropy – Title: „3 myths that

block the progress for the poor‟: poor countries are doomed to stay poor, foreign aid is a big waste,
saving lives lead to overpopulation. Impact was the letter garnered millions of views on TV and
social media. In a 2-minute video on the website, Bill Gates described ‗How the world has
 improved since 1960‘ using simple circular drawings to illustrate complex issues.
Speaking skills – don‘t overload the listeners withtoo much information – 3 ideas are enough to

 support an argument, to remember, and feel overwhelmed.

Presentation skills – use live props to make the talk memorable, photographs on slides and context
from statistics – for a concrete, unexpected, humorous, interesting, engaging, passionate and
concise (20 minutes) message.
O He useda jar of live mosquitoes to drive home the point on ‗Mosquitoes, Malaria, and
Education‘. In another talk on energy crisis,Bill Gates brought fireflies as examples to
demonstrate the gimmicks that people offered as solutions.
O For a presentation on global warming, entitled ‗Innovating to zero‘, his slides contained
the right balance of words and pictures –for example he had used real photographs of poor
children from an African village.
O For a talk on percentage of kids completing high schoolin US, he linked the actual context to
the statistics.
Bill Gates developed the art of delivering memorable and engaging speeches in a limited time frame
uniquely and not by selling ideas through facts and figures. He built anticipation among the audience, made
it easy for everyone to see, explained the relevance, brought the attention of the audience to the real issues,
and used live demonstrations to drive home the point in an easy way. Bill Gates proved that a mediocre
presenter was now evolved into a persuasive presenter.
‘Speeches’ are given either to inform, persuade or to entertain in both public and private communication.
A specific speech concentrates on one central idea, is clear and concise and obtains the desired action
from the audience. Bill Gates knew that to inform, inspire and educate he should address the complex
problems in a simple, visual and compelling way.
DiscussionQuestions
1. What are the requirements that a specific speech should meet?
(Hints: central idea - clear and concise – desire action from the audience)
2. How did Bill Gates radically transform as a persuasive communicator for the Bill and Melinda
Gates Foundation?
(Hints: focus on issues – direct connect with audience – 3 ideas principle – live props – slide
management)
15

Course Reference: Concept- Speech purposes, Specific /Unit 8 –Making Presentations – Getting Started/Subject-
Sources:
i. Carmine Gallo, “How Bill Gates transformed hispublicspeaking and communication skills, www.forbes.com,
July 2014
ii. Andrew Dlugan, “How to choose and use speech props: A speaker‟s guide”, sixminutes.dlugan.com, August 2013
iii. “Is Bill Gates a great speaker”, www.confidentvoice.com, September 2014
OtherKeywords: Business Communication, Public Speaking, Presentation Skills
16

9 Guy Kawasaki’s 10/20/30 rule for presentation
Guy Kawasaki, an author, speaker, investor and business mogul, became the chief evangelist of a Sydney -
based company called Canva, an online graphic designs service company in 2014. He had also worked with
Apple and Google. He has authored more than 10 books, out of which ‗The Art of the Start‘ and
‗Enchantment – The art of changing hearts, minds, and actions‘ were quite popular.
Guy Kawasaki, a sought-after speaker, brought a combination of experience, great content and a fabulous engaging style
through his ‗zen approach‘ in presentations. The ‗Kawasaki rule of ten‘, a trademark to his speeches and the
‗10/20/30 rule‘ for PowerPoint presentations became a kind of standard. According to him,
this rule worked for any presentation; for raisingcapital, making a sale or forming a partnership.
 10 slides: A normal human being cannot understand more than 10 concepts in a presentation.For
example; a venture capitalist pitch contained topics like problem, your solution, business model,
technology,marketing, competition, team, projections and milestones, status and timeline and call

for action.
20 minutes: The explanation for the 10 slides was completed in 20 minutes. He stressed each idea
on the slide as required. Guy remained the focus, not the slides – which only complemented his
speech and aided in audience retention of the key points. He captivated the audience through his

charishma and sheerknowledge on the topic. He used the remaining time for discussion.
30-point font size: His slide contained only one concept and visuals. He argued that if more text is
put on the slide, the audience figures out the content and the speaker loses synchronization with the
audience. He also said if content is used more on the slides, the presenter is either unaware of the
content or they think more content convinces the audience; which is untrue.
The structure Guy Kawasaki followed not only enchanted his audience but gave something meaningful to
them. Apart from following the 10/20/30 rule he:
 Customized the introduction (when he had to give a talk to LG people, he had used the picture of

his LG washing machine and his sons in the introduction slide).
Personalized his talk by beginning with a genuine Duchenne smile (created a spark of confidence

and joy).
Dressed in formal attire (built a good first impression).
 Told a story and brought relevance to his products (emotionally engaged his audience on how these

products and services enable the world to be a better place)
Explained the salient points through context (instead of mentioning the gigabytes for storage,he
linked with the number of songs/documents/photos that can be stored).
Well-known presenters like Steve Jobs, Warren Buffet, Howard Schultz, and Chris Anderson always took
care to speak with enthusiasm, passion and interest; structure their presentation logically to make it
appropriate, memorable and influential but not to distract or confuse or lose rapport with the audience.
‘Organizing a presentation’ allows the speaker to combine his ideas to suit the audience and achieves the
purpose of speech. Visual ideas complement the speech and the right medium should be selected based
on the size of the audience. As per Guy Kawasaki, the influence of a presentation is 7% words, vocal
input 38% and visuals 55%.
DiscussionQuestions
1. Visual aids increase the audience‘s ability to absorb and remember information. Justify
(Hints: grasp data and complex info – road map to audience – right medium – variety – save time)
2. Explain how you would employ Guy Kawasaki‘s 10/20/30 rule of presentation on a topic
chosen by you.
(Hints: 10 slides information – 20 minutes speech preparation – 30-point font size and visuals)
Course Reference: Concept- Visual Aids /Unit 9 –Organizing and Presenting theSpeech/Subject-Business
Sources:
i. Guy Kawasaki, “The 10/20/30 rule of PowerPoint”, www.guykawasaki.com, December 2005
ii. “Guy Kawasaki – Presenter extraordinaire”, presentationzen.blogs.com, September 2005
iii. Claudio Sennhauser,“GuyKawasaki explains How to enchant an audience”, sennhauser.com, April 2011
iv. “Power point with no „power‟ and littlepoint”, www.businesstrainingdirect.co.uk
OtherKeywords: Business Communication, Public Speaking, Presentation Skills
17

10 P&G’s CEOs’ letters to the employees
Procter & Gamble, an 1837 company with headquarters in Ohio, Cincinnati, recorded $83.1 billion in sales
in 2014 and announced removing of 100 of its brands to concentrate on the remaining 80 brands that brought
95% of the company‘s profits.
Bob McDonald, the earlier CEO dissatisfied the investors and analysts due to declining profits. He was
asked by the investors to cut overhead expenditure and improve manufacturing productivity which resulted
in a $10 million cost-cutting campaign and elimination of 6250 office jobs. His over-aggressive plan
tightened the operations in emerging markets and concentrated on those 40 products that brought majority of
profits. The result was low sales in the first three quarters of 2013. Bill Ackman an activist investor with
$1.8 million stake in P&G, started to urge the company that Bob McDonald had been given a few quarters to prove
himself and a quarter of the CEO‘s time was wasted in serving various corporate boards. His argument
was to re-assign A G Lafley the post of CEO because during his reign as CEO from 2000 – 09, he was
instrumental in building the beauty business, acquiring Gillette for $53 billion in 2005, launching successful
products like Swiffer andFebreze and expanding business in emerging markets. Bill Ackman‘s campaign
was successfuland the Board appointed A.G Lafley as the new CEO replacing Bob McDonald in May 2013.
The contents of Bob McDonald‟s parting letter to his staff after having served P&G for 33 years by
addressing them as „P&G friends‟ included:
 His retirement from P&G which was a difficult decision but taken for the best interests of the

 Company.
His thankful gesture to A.G Lafley, with whom he had collectively worked to strengthen the
 company and its business.

He, facing distractiondue to high focus and attention from the management and investors; wanted a
 dynamic change.

Thanked the staff for all the accomplishments during the previous four years in expanding business
in new geographies, categories, and launching innovations which brought an excess of 40% in sales
 and 45% in volume.

The confidence he had in his staff and his availability if required in the future.

A. G Lafley after being appointed the new CEO of P&G inMay 2013 alsowrote a letter to the ‗P&Gers‘ –
The contents were
 He was looking forward to work with them again in what the company does best – to win
 customers.
Thanked Bob McDonald for his 33 years of service to the company, his leadership, his passion for
 doing what he thought was right in improving the lives of customers all over the world.

Thanked the staff for their work in winning customers and assured themon future growth strategies
to speedily strengthen the core market, maintain strong momentum, develop a strong innovation
 pipeline, save on costs and drive results.

He insisted that every P & Ger was an owner and a leader; with innovation as their lifeblood; who
worked as one team with one dream of collaborating internally and competing externally; which
 built brands that improved consumer lives.

He requested the cooperation from the P & Gers for the days ahead.
P&G‘s management believed that A.G Lesley would further improve the company‘s performance by
implementing productivity plans and facilitating further succession processes.
Businesses need to communicate with their customers,suppliers and business partners to conduct business;
more often in the written form like letters. The writer should have a good knowledge of the subject, clear
purpose, and target audience. A G Lesley, the new CEO wanted to convey in his letter on his plans to
streamline the organization into a much simpler, less complex company of leading brands which could be
better operated and managed.
18

DiscussionQuestions
1. What are the steps that a writer should follow before drafting business letters?
(Hints: understand the target audience – organize the type of message – ‗You‘ attitude - deductive
pattern)
2. Read Bob McDonald‘s and A G Lafley‘s letter points and compare on how they have
organized the message.
(Hints: central idea and minor ideas – sequencing – interpretation – reception and action)
Course Reference: Concept-Business Letters/Unit 10–Letter Writing: Writing about the Routine and the Pleasant /
Subject-Business Communication and Soft Skills
Sources:
i. Jeremy Bogalsky, “Congrats, Bill Ackman: Bob McDonald out of P&G, A.G.Lafley returning as CEO,”
www.forbes.com, May 2013
ii. Jim Edwards, “P&G CEO Bob McDonald Steps Down After Pressure From Bill-Ackman, Activist Investor”,
www.businessinsider.in, May 2013 for full text of the letters
iii. Ellen Byron and Joann.S. Lublin, Embattled P & G Chief replaced by old boss. www.wsj.com, May 2013
iv. P&G india, www.pg.com
OtherKeywords: Written Communication, Business letters
19

11 Flipkart’s apology letter to customers
Flip kart, a leading e-commerce website, launched in 2007, headquartered in Bangalore, started by Sachin
Bansal and Binny Bansal sold 20000 products in 70+ categories in 2014. With 20000 employees, 26 million
registered users and 8 million daily page visitors, the company with 13 state-of-the-art warehouses, and
technology that enabled 5 million shipments per month became the first billion dollar company in e-
commerce valued at $12 billion.
On 6th October 2014 after the ‗The Big Billion Day Sale‘, Flip kart claimed it created a history in e-commerce
by selling products worth Rs. 650 crore on a single day. Though the sale ledto the company‘s
cash registers ringing,it was a PR nightmare for the website as its servers crashed due to the pressure of heavy
customer traffic followed by random errors. The company‘s hard-won reputation on good customer service
sufferedas the customers facedtechnical problems in placing orders on the company‘s website.
Angry reactions and disappointment on pricing and availability of products, time taken to complete orders
after adding items on the cart were written on social media pages. The apology letter by the founders is
discussed below:
 The text of apology began with ‗Dear Customer‘, saying that the Big Billion Day was conductedto
be a pleasant day for both; the company and the customers but turned out to be unpleasant. The
 company could not live-up to its promises and was truly apologetic.

The second para consists of the preparation and pain-staking efforts made by the employees of
Flipkart over several months to work beyond their capabilities and systems to fulfil the dreams of
 millions of customers to offer the best deals,offers and discounts.

The third para highlights the unprecedented interest of the customers for which the company was
ineffectively prepared as they did not expect the event to happen in such a large scale. The
company failed to cater to the customer‘s requirements as it could not source enough products and
inform the deals in advance. The servers crashed and impacted the customers‘ shopping

experience.
The fourth para points out that 1.5 million people shopped on that day; and the company felt
astounded by the customer‘s faith but was unhappy to cater to the expectations of a few millions of

customers.
The fifth para informs the priority of the company since its inception was to delight and win the
trust of each and every custom er but failed the trust on the Big Billion Day. They conveyed that the
company learnt valuable lessons and would work doubly hard to address all the iss ues that occurred

during the sale.
In the next four paras, the letter focused on the major issues faced by the customers and the
company‘s promise to address each one of them, which were:
O Price changes – Undiscounted rates were observed for a few hours which made the
customers lose trust.
O Out-of-stockissues – Some products ran out-of-stockin a few seconds ofthe sale going
live. Though the company had made arrangements for a few lakh units for various
products – the demand was much higher than the supply.
O Cancellations – Large numberofpeople buying specific products simultaneously which
led to over-booking.
O Website issues – Unavailability and errors on the website. The companyhad installed
5000 servers and had prepared for 20 times the traffic growth; the volume of the traffic

was on a much higher scale.
The closing para emphasizes that Flipkart‘s achievements were only due to the customer‘s faith and
trust and would work incessantly to provide the best possible customer experience. The letter
closes with their failure to match up to their promises on the Big Billion Day and apologies to each
and every customer.
Flipkart, considered the destiny child of India‘s e-commerce industry attempted to create frenzy to attract
new customers and make the existing customers buy more; but poor strategic and operational incompetence
left the company red-faced and got battered in social networks, which prompted the company to issue an
open letter immediately on the next day.
20

A business may lead to unpleasant situations, wherein a skilful manager should handle well in
communicating through diplomacy and tact without evoking negative feelings but leading to their
cooperation. In the case mentioned above, flip kart‟s letter emphasizes the need to maintain a positive
tone, by presenting facts and reasons with realistic explanations.
DiscussionQuestions
1. What steps should a manager take while conveying unpleasant news?
(Hints: empathy – sequence ofideas – style of approach - buffer – inductive approach – persuade)
2. Flipkart‘s letter follows the inductive approach in conveying the inconvenience caused to the
customers. Explain.
(Hints: positive tone – buffer statement – facts,reasons – realistic explanations - persuasion)
Course Reference: Concept-Writingfor the Reader/Unit 11–Writing about theUnpleasant /Subject-Business
Sources:
i. RanjitBehera, “Does Flipkart‟s Big Billion DaySaledisaster mark the biggest tipping pointin Indian e-
commerce?” www.linkedin.com, October 2014
ii. Anupam Saxena, “Flipkart apologizes to customers for mega sale glitches”, timesofindia.indiatimes.com, October
2014 for full text of letter
iii. Ravijot Singh, “Open letter to the Flipkart Bansals, missionsharingknowledge.com, October 2014
iv. Ashish Magotra, “ Flipkart‟s heart-felt apology is too littletoo late”, tech.firstpost.com, October 2014
OtherKeywords: Written Communication, Business letters
21

12 Satya Nadella’s email to Microsoft employees
Satya Nadella was appointed as the third CEO of Microsoft in February 2014. On 8th October 2014, Satya
Nadella wrote an email to Microsoft employees (with the subject line: Empowering others) about his
imminent participation at the annual Grace Hopper Conference with hundreds of Microsoft employees and
8000 female engineers to learn, to listen and to inspire talented female engineers to continue to pursue their
careers in technology and try to make valuable connections with potential candidates for Microsoft. He also
informed about the interview that he would face with Marie Klawe, a member of Microsoft‘s Board of
Directors and President of Harvey Mudd College on the discussion ofwomen in technology.
During the interview, Marie Klawe posed a question to Satya Nadella on what would be his advice to
women who were interested in career advancement but were uncomfortable in asking promotions or pay
raises.Nadella answered that his thoughtson the matterwere based ona discussionhe had with former Microsoft
executive, Mike Maples that all HR systems were ―long-termefficient and short-term inefficient‖.
It was unnecessary to ask for the raise as the system took care of it and that women should embrace their
superpowers and expect a raise from good karma. A person who turned out to be trustworthy and efficient in
the long-term would definitely be given additional responsibility. Klawe disagreed and replied that she
always felt discomfort while asking things for herself, but was much better in rewarding people who worked
for her. She continued saying that he should do some homework on what a reasonable salary was if offered a
job and sit down with a trusted person and practice negotiating the salary he felt he deserved. This was
received with much applause from the audience.
Nadella‘s swift answer to Marie Klawe‘s question triggereda lot of storm in Twitter. Lauren Schaefer, an
IBM software engineerwho was at the Hopperconference tweeted that there were a lot of murmurs in the crowd
about Satya Nadella‘s statement -―If you don‘t ask for a raise, then you would get a fair pay.‖ Many
people cited the study by the American Association of University Women about how women earn 78% of
what equally qualified men are paid for. Anonymous employees of Microsoft reiterated that a senior
software development male engineer earned $137000 per year as compared to $129000 earned by a woman
in the same position at Microsoft.
Nadella immediately wrote in Twitter that he was inarticulate while answering the question and the industry
should try to minimize the gender gap with no bias. He then wrote in the Microsoft website that his answer
to Marie Klawe‘s question was completely wrong and he wholeheartedly supported programs at Microsoft
and the industry that brought more women into technology and closed the pay gap. He further elaborated
that he believed that men and women should get equal pay for equal work and if they feel deserved for a raise,
then they shouldfollow Marie Klawe‘s advice and just ask for the raise. Satya Nadella closedthe letter
by writing that he learned a valuable lesson at the Conference and was ready to answer any questions during
their monthly Q&A session with the Microsoft employees.
Marie Klawe, who later attended an interview with E-Commerce Times told that Nadella was concerned
about improving women in tech careers as evidenced with his answers for the remaining interview questions
but failed only on that question. It also proved Satya Nadella‘s good intentions through his apology
statements made after their speech.
Persuasive writing is used to gain support of colleagues favorably without using force. Persuasive letters
adopt an inductive approachand follow the AIDA model. In the case of Satya Nadella‟s letter,it was
shorter, written inductively with the aim to convince and get a favorable response from his employees.
DiscussionQuestions
1. What is the basis of writing persuasive messages?
(Hints: organizing the message –AIDA model – convince the readers with evidence)
2. Discuss how Satya Nadella responded persuasively after he realized that he was wrong while
answering an interview?
(Hints: purpose of writing – target audience – what results was expected – convince the readers)
22

Course Reference: Concept-TheBasis of Persuasive Sales Messages/Unit 12–Writing to persuade/Subject-Business
Sources:
i. Amit Chowdary, “Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella apologizesfor comments on women‟s pay”, www.forbes.com,
October 2014
ii. Chitra Nayak, “Don‟t ask for a raise, trust karma”, www.linkedin.com, October, 2014
iii. Microsoft News Center, “Satya Nadella email to employees: Re: Grace Hopper Conference”, news.microsoft.com,
October 2014 for full text of the letters
iv. Gregg Keizer, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella backs off „karma‟ advice to women about pay”,
www.computerworld.com, October 2014
v. MikeSnider and Elizabeth Weise, “Clamor continues over Microsoft CEO‟s women‟s pay comments,
www.usatoday.com, October 2014
OtherKeywords: Written Communication, Business letters, Persuasive Communication
23

13 McKinsey’s expectationof a résumé
McKinsey, became a successful global firm, because of its reputation, people, 17000 consultants and 50% of
MBA professionals. Talented freshers who possessed problem-solving skills, intellectual curiosity, business
knowledge and experience in a sector or a function were preferred for the positions of Associates,
Generalists or Practice Consultants in the fields of consulting, research & analytics, digital & data services
and internal services where their leadership skills and capabilities gets polished. Every year, the company
reviewed thousands of résumés fromthe top MBA colleges to maintainsufficient numbers in the company.
An objective and consistent,highly qualitative process was followed for the résumé reviews from time to time
which included the following steps:
Step1: Résumés‘got dropped – during the ‗fall‘ season(June to August)for full-time hires.It was
 observed that more than 50% of the class of top business schools in USA dropped résumés.
Step 2: Résumés‘ reached Reviewers – the résumés‘ were assigned in batches; usually to a pair of
 consultants who scoredtherésumés‘individually and then compared results and calibrated.
Step3: Résumés‘ read and scored - résumés‘ were scored based on a standardized framework on a
scale of 0 – 4. A rubric was used that clearly defined objective criteria and examples to provide a
 score on each dimension. (For example: the score for leadership experience could be 3)

Step4: Résumé scores compared -Every reviewercompared scores with hispartnerto confirmthat
they were well – calibrated. For any deviation, the rubric was again used as a guide and
 recalibration done.

Step5: Résumé reviewmeeting held – The scores were submitted to the recruiting teamto stack them
from the highest to the lowest score. A review meeting via a conference call was made to shortlist
candidates to be invited for the interview. Candidates with highest scores were ‗clear passes‘ for
whom the interview invitation was sent and candidates with lowest scores were ‗clear
turndowns‘ for whom the interview invitation was not considered. 80/20 rule was applied in
most of the cases to discuss candidates who stood in the middle of the stack.
A candidate was expected to have knowledge of how scores were awarded if he drops his résumé ta
McKinsey:
Listing down his significant achievements; For example: President of a consulting club, owner of a
start-up company, a summer internship at a brand-name firm, inventor of a new technology,or PhD
 in a new emerging field.
Not using the words ‗structure‘, ‗credibility‘, or ‗credentials‘ – reviewers‘ attention was received
when written about a real-life problem faced and the ‗structured‘ approach taken or best practices
adopted to solve it; a ‗credible‘ internship at a Fortune 500 company or having participated in a
non-profit volunteer program; ‗credentials‘ like MBA degree fromHarvard, a Fulbright scholarship
 winner, Olympic medal, merit awards and industry accolades were given points.

Highlighting adaptability and eagerness to work cross culturally, language skills and international
 experience

Structuring the entire résumé in black and white and restricting it to one page withcontext and
 impact with not too many bold, italics fonts or confusing formatting techniques.
Emphasizing his knowledge in specialization subjects and the general subjects.
A‟ résumé’is a summary of one‟s academic profile, work history that also reflects one‟s personality and
creates the first impression about the person. In the above case since résumé screening was usually
qualitative and was prone to subjectivity, McKinsey trained consultants to review résumés by applying
objective criteria, standardized scales, and scoring rubrics and thus minimize subjectivity.
DiscussionQuestions
1. What care should be taken while planning and structuring a résumé?
(Hints: Concise; easy to read; error free; formatting; visually appealing; chronological /functional/ skills based)
2. In McKinsey, therésumé review is done based on therésumé‘s content?What does the résumé content consist of?
(Hints: Heading–Career goals and objectives–Education–Work Experience–Achievements- Honours)
Course Reference: Concept- Content of the résumé /Unit 13– Communication for Employment - Résumé /Subject-
Sources:
i. Working with McKinsey, workingwithmckinsey.blogspot.in, March 2013
ii. “Careers MBA”, www.mckinsey.com
OtherKeywords: Résumé, Written communication
24

14 An application letter to an investment banking company
Moneywise, an investment banking company evolved the entire spectrumin the global banking and financial
services; introduced the concept of relationship banking and was known for doing business in a highly
efficient way. It turned out to be an industry leader with assets of worth more than $2 billion, 40000
employees, 45 offices worldwide and was one of the most admired companies in the world for some years.
The company‘s commitment to the employees‘ success and growth was based on development,
accomplishment, association, obligation and conviction; they preferred employees who can design their
careerby taking newopportunities,utilizing theirpotential,acceptingchallenges,innovating,showing dedication
and trustworthiness. Every year, the end of January was the deadline for candidates to ‗drop‘
their applications for both internship and full-time opportunities.
George, an American University student forwarded a cover letter to this investment bank which got noticed
by a dozen other investment banking companies. George was a triple major in Economics, Mathematics and
Computer Science which looked impressive but had applied with a terrible six- paragraph long application
letter. It contained sentences like:
 ―Once I realized I could achieve a perfect GPA while holding a part-time job at the university, I
decided to redouble my effort by placing out of two classes, taking two honors classes, and holding
two part-time jobs.That semester I achieved a 3.93, and in the same time I managed to bench
double my bodyweight and do 35 pull-ups.‖ – lacked focus,conciseness,displayed a casual
 approach and an arrogant tone.
―In fact, one of the supporting reasons I chose Investment Banking over any other division was
that I knowit is difficult. I hope to augment my character by diligently working for the professionals at
another company, and I feel I have much to offer in return.‖ –statedanother company, indicated cut
 and paste option, more of „I‟ attitude and not on what he can contribute to the firm.
―In fact, my most recentemployer has found me so useful that he promoted me to a Research

Assistant and an official CTED intern. This role is usually reserved for Masters Students,but my
employer gave the title to me so that he could give me more work.‖ – commented on another 
employer, awkward phrasing, unprofessionalletter writing, careless and sloppy.
―Please realize that I am not a braggart or conceited, I just want to outline my usefulness.Egos can
be a huge liability, and I try not to have one.‖ – bad closing where the candidate tried to justify
himself.
George‘s application was rejected by Moneywise and also did not disclose the reasons for the rejection.
An ‘application letter’ must arouse the employer‟s interest in the résumé and improve the chances of
being called for a personal interview. An application letter should be written from a reader‟s point of
view by following the „YOU‟ attitude and convincing the reader on being fit for the job. In this case,
Moneywise required an application letter to contain the candidates‟ interested business area and
reasons for choosing, right contact details, clarity and conciseness, the qualities that distinguish from
others, indication of teamwork, interpersonal skills, drive and creativity, no copy and paste and the
motivation for applying for the post.
DiscussionQuestions
1. What are the qualities of a well-written Application letter?
(Hints: The ‗You‘ attitude – length – addressed to person and not to title – knowledge of
employer and job needs)
2. What things should the candidate mention while writing an application letter for Moneywise?
(Hints: interested business area and why – correct contact details – clear and concise – exceptional
qualities – soft skills – motivation for applying for the company)
Course Reference: Concept- Qualities of well-written application letters /Unit 14–Writing for employment –
Application Letter/Subject-Business Communication and Soft Skills
OtherKeywords: Written Communication, Cover letters, HRM
25

15 Jeff Bezos unique method to obtain business discipline
Amazon Inc, an American e-commerce company, founded in 1994, headquartered in Seattle, USA became
the largest internet based retailer across 15 countries in 2014. It was started as a bookstore and later
diversified into music, video games, software, apparel, electronics, furniture, food, toys and jewellery. The
company, a major cloud-service provider manufactured Kindle e-book readers, Fire tablets, TV and phone.
The company‘s revenue stood at US$88.98 billion in 2014.
Jeff Bezos, founder, CEO and Chairman of Amazon ranked 17th in the Forbes Billionaires list - 2014, known
for his attention to details took an old approach to manage his company – ‗write it down‘. In
executive meetings at Amazon, even before any discussion or conversation began, everyone had to read 6-
page printed memos in complete silence for 30 minutes. Jeff Bezos believed that reading together in the
meeting helped in gaining undivided attention to each of the issues that required innovative thinking. The
preparation of the memo started with the author who was forced to think hard on what to write in the memo.
In the words of the CEO, ―There is no way to write a six-page narratively structured memo and not have
clear thinking.‖
The narrative memo consisted ofat least 4 elements:
 the context or question
 approaches to answer the question (by whom, which method, and their conclusions)
 the attempt of answering the question different or same from previous approaches
The authorwas thus forced to think of tough questions, devise the memo to get clear and persuasive answers
that would be interpreted through the structure and logic in the entire process. The end result expected would
be the resolution of conflicts, happy endings for the company through innovative solutions and satisfied
customers.
Andy Grove, CEO of Intel also approved of this management approach followed at Amazon, as he felt that
the author was compelled to write precisely and thus effectively communicated which would not have been
possible if he had verbally communicated. He considered the process of writing as a medium of business
discipline than just a way used to communicate information. His ultimate conviction was - writing the report
was important, reading it often was not.
Imposing employees ‗to write down‘ by these two CEOs turned self-discipline and personal reflection as
a distributive process. Reflection led to feedback which was rather scarce in the workplace but became an
integral component to improve quality and action. Reports that encouraged in bringing reflection helped
each individual autonomously to gain expertise in his job, share, collaborate and lead at work.
A memo is a written message to provide personnel in an organization with a quick and effective way of
communicating with each other. A persuasive memo has to be worded carefully to obtain desired action.
Memos can be written through both deductive and inductive approach depending on the purpose. In the
case mentioned above, Jeff Bezos has outlined 4 elements that brought focus and direction, and in
narratively writing a memo which normally consisted of 6 pages.
DiscussionQuestions
1. How should a persuasive memo be written?
(Hints: inductive approach – positive tone and language – clear and logical – tact – well worded)
2. What were the fundamentals of effective memos being followed at Amazon?
(Hints: formally written – well organized – clear – persuasive)
Course Reference: Concept- PersuasiveMemos /Unit 15– Writing effective memos/Subject-Business Communication
and Soft Skills
Sources:
i. Walter Chen, “Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos‟s peculiar management tool for business discipline, www.linkedin.com,
July 2014
ii. Adam Lashinsky, “Amazon‟s Jeff Bezos: The ultimatedisrupter”, www. Fortune.com, November 2012
iii. http://www.amazon.com/
OtherKeywords: Written Communication
26

16 An open letter by Starbucks CEO
Starbucks Coffee Company, an American global coffee company, with more than 21000 stores across 66
countries, started its operation in 1971 at Seattle‘s Pike Place Market. Starbucks product range included
more than 30 blends and single-premium coffees, hand crafted beverages like Frappuccino coffee,
merchandize like mugs and accessories, fresh foods like sandwiches and salads, and various consumer
products of coffee and tea under the branded names VIA, Teavanna, Tazo Starbucks Doubleshot and many
more. The company maintained highest standards of quality as it employed ethical standards while sourcing
coffee from farms in Latin America, Africa and Asia that brought out the rich flavor and balance of the
beans through their signature Starbucks Roast.
Howard D Schultz, the CEO of Starbucks, normally considered as a progress agent faced pressure when gun
controladvocateschose Starbucksas a meeting spot forpro-gunrallies on August 9th, 2013 which was known as
―Starbucks Appreciation Day‖. Gun activists, en-masse stormed the Starbucks nationwide stores
in US with theirweapons,postedhundredsof photos on social media accompanied by captions of thanking the
coffee chain to have supported the Second Amendment. This led to customers‘ expressing their ire on the
company‘s Facebook wall. To control the damage in reputation, the billionaire Head, Mr. Schultz, who did
not want these events to re-occur, wrote an open letter to Americans on September 17, 2013 asking
customers not to bring firearms to the stores, even in those states where they were legally permissible. By
writing this letter, he risked incurring the anger of a larger segment of the US population. The letter‘s
structural and content details are:


The letter began with the day and date – Tuesday, September 17, 2013
Salutation – Dear American Friends,
 Content contained in the 8 paragraphs -
O Informed that Starbucks was being dragged in the debate and requested the customers not
to bring firearms into the stores or outdoorseating areas.
O Explained the vision of the company and insisted that the values of the company was on
building community and not on dividing people; and the store was meant to provide a safe
and comfortable respite to the customers, away from the concerns of daily life.
O Expressed that the company had listened to the customers, partners, and community
leaders on the complicate issue of ―open carry‖ of guns.
O Confirmed that Starbucks allowed guns to be carried only in those states where it was
permissible and that approach was taken only to avoid discomfort to the customers by
being sent away. He stressed that the gun policy should be addressed by the Government
and law-enforcement agencies and not the company.
O Reiterated that Starbucks was being used by pro-gun activists as a political stage which
portrayed Starbucks as a champion of ―open carry‖ while in reality it was not.
O Underlined the 6th paragraph, requested the customers to no longer bring guns to the stores
and only law-enforcement personnel would be treated exceptional.
O Clarified two points – the letter was a request not a ‗ban‘ and that they could not
satisfy everyone. He re-emphasized that Starbucks was a place to relax and enjoy and the
presence of guns was creating tension among the customers.
O Stated that he was proud of his country and its culture of open debate where mutual respect
and being responsible was encouraged among citizens and neighbours.
 Complimentary Closing – Sincerely, Howard Schultz
The ‘structure of a letter’ creates a first impression on the reader. Good quality paper,
personalization, proper content placement and punctuation make the letter look professional. In this
case, StarBucks CEO follows the block format, closed punctuation, and the standard letter parts
like date, heading, salutation, body, complimentary close, signature block and reference initials.
27

DiscussionQuestions
1. What do you mean by punctuation styles and letter formats?
(Hints: open, closed and mixed – block – modified block – simplified block)
2. What are the standard letter parts observed in Starbucks CEO‘s open letter?
(Hints: date – heading – salutation – body – complimentary close – signature block – reference
initials)
Course Reference: Concept- Standard Letter Parts/Unit 16– Structure and Layout of letters/Subject-Business
Sources:
i. Clare O‟Connor, “Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz tells customers to leave guns at home.” www.forbes.com,
September 2013
ii. Joe Weisenthal, “Read the full letter from the CEO of Starbucks asking customers to stop bringing gunsinto
stores, “www.businessinsider.in, September 2013
iii. Howard Shultz, “An open letter from Howard Schultz, CEO of Starbucks company”, www.starbucks.com/blog/,
September 2013 for full text of the letter
iv. Starbucks Company Profile, globalassets.starbucks.com, January 2015
28

17 How stress is affecting America
NationalPublic Radio and Harvard SchoolofPublic Health sponsoredby Robert Wood JohnsonFoundation
conducted a survey on ―The Burden of Stress inAmerica‖and the report was releasedon July 4,2014. The
survey was conducted to examine how stress affects personaland professionallives, the perceived effects of
stress and its causes,and stress management techniques.
The methodology employed to conduct the survey was:
 The research team consisted of 5 professionals from Harvard School of Public Health, 3
 professionals from Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and 2 from National Public Radio.

Interviews were conducted by telephone (both landline and mobile) by SSRS of Media (PA)
 between March 5th and April 8, 2014 among a sample size of 2505 respondents ofage 18 and older.
 The interviews were conducted in English and Spanish.
The margin of error was +/ - 2.4% points at 95% confidence level. 633 revealed that they
experienced a lot of stress during the past one month where the margin of error was +/- 4.6% points
 at 95% confidence level.

Sample data was weighted by household size, cell phone/landline use and demographics (gender,
age, race/ ethnicity, education,marital status and census region) to compensate for unresponse bias.
Random digit dialing, replicate subsamples, and systematic respondent selection within households
were used to ensure that the sample was representative.
The key findings were tabled as below:
 Target audience felt high levels of stress in the one month prior to the survey had considerable
impact on their lives:
O 49%, reported ofthe respondents reportedthattheyexperienced majorstress,ofwhich 45% said
the stresswas caused byhealthproblems,54% on many overallresponsibilities,53% due to
financialproblems,38% because oftheirown health problems and 37% due to health problems
of family members.
O 63% felt bad effects on emotionalwell-being which was the most common health problem,
56% had sleep disorders, 50% had difficulty in thinking, concentrating and making
decisions,53% experienced chronic health issues andstress aggravated thosesymptoms
and 52% found it harder to manage their illness.
O 45% of them indicated that they found it harder to get along with family members while
44% told that stress prevented themto spend their time with family.
O 41% said stress made them avoid taking additional responsibilities that could have

advanced their career.
Stress management efforts taken by those who experienced high levels of stress in the past one
month:
O 9 out of 10 (94%) respondents said they spent most of their time outdoors, 93% on
hobbies, 71% spent more valuable time with their family and friends, 57% said they
managed stress through meditation and 55% ate healthy food. Only 49% followed stress
management techniques recommended by experts; exercising and 46% reduced stress
levels by getting a full night‘s sleep.
Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, RWJF president and CEO said that recognition of stress, its causes and effects could
help to create healthier environments at homes, workplaces and communities and build a culture of health in
America.
The ‘text of a report’ consists of the introduction, body which consists of sections that present, analyze
and interpret findings, recommendations and conclusions, and bibliography. In the above case, the report
concentrated more on the problem at hand, conduction of survey, methodology adopted and survey
findings .
DiscussionQuestions
1. What are the basic elements of a report?
(Hints: a letter of transmittal – title page and title fly – abstract/ executive summary – table of
contents – list of illustrations – glossary – list of symbols – appendix)
29

2. What does a report containing a survey or research concentrate on?
(Hints: objectives/ problem – scope - methodology - survey – limitations – key findings –
presentation through data analysis and interpretation – recommendations – conclusions)
Course Reference: Concept- TheText of a Report/Unit 17– Framework of a Report/Subject-Business Communication
and Soft Skills
Sources:
i. NPR/ Robert Wood Johnson Foundation/ Harvard School of Public Health, “The Burden of Stress in America”,
www.rwjf.org , July 2014 for full text of the survey report
ii. “NPR/RWJF?HSPH findshealth most common major stressful event in Americans‟lives last year”,
www.hsph.harvard.edu, July 2014
OtherKeywords: Written Communication, Report Writing
30

18 Survey Report – ‘Global leadership Forecast – 2014/15’
Development Dimensions International (DDI), was one of the top
innovative talent management
consultancies,with objectives to transformthe way the companies, hire, promote and develop their leaders and
workforce. DDI‘s ‗Center for Analytics andBehavioural Research‘ (CABER) in collaboration with The
Conference Board, a global, independent business membership and research association worked across three
main areas of Corporate Leadership, Economy and Business Environment and Human Capital, released the
„Global Leadership Forecast – 2014/15‟ in December 2014.
The report included survey responses from 13,214 leaders, 1528 global HR executives, and 2031
participating organizations. The leader demographics consisted of 4 leader levels, both gender, 48 countries,
32 major industries, and multinationals vs local corporations. The report also provided the insights for
Indian leaders which consisted of 836 leaders and 244 HR executives based on gender, generation and leader
levels. The report was divided into:
 Table of Contents - the chapters and sub topics along with page numbers.
 Introduction and Problem Discussion: Present state of the leaders and whether they are able
to deliver:
O Brought forth the top 4leadership challenges and explained howleadership skills was
critical in developing the human capital apart from retaining, improving performance
management processes and accountability, leading change and managing complexity.
‗Working with the VUCA Vortex‘ mentioned that leaders lacked competencies to handle
challenges like Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity.
O Discussed on why the leadership development efforts failed,howmillennial are moving up
the career ladder fast, the presence of high quality leaders in India with many more ready
to handle leadership roles, retail and energy sectors required good quality leaders and
critical leadership skills like risk taking, networking and generating new ideas were being

ignored.
Discussionon how the HR had evolved during recent times:
O The evolution ofHR froma partnerto an anticipator,howthe HRcan use big data to
provide big value and leader-focused talent-development programs helped in balancing

both global and local corporations.
Suggestions on how leaders can improve:
O Leaders learnt fromon-the job:learning fromothers:formal learning with Indian leaders
having the ratio of 54:26:20. Three skills that leaders developed as they grew were
building consensus and commitment, communicating and interacting, and developing
networks and partnerships.The report emphasized that 72% of Indian organizations had

programs that identified and developed high potential leaders.
Reasons for companies facing difficulties in enchasing leadership competencies
O The leaders‘time management inmanaging (33% inIndia) than interacting andthose
companies where leaders spent more time in interaction benefitted more. Leaders who
viewed on-the-job learning more like formal learning and formal learning like on-the-job
brought more leadership outcomes and value to business. The report mentioned that
companies who had women in 30 – 40% leadership roles benefitted and thus gender

diversity was also important.
Recommendations on the talent management practices that companies should employ
O Developing leaders internally provided leadership strength to thecompanyalongwith
three times improvement in financial performance. The report conveyed that reviewing
leadership development plans and facilitating smooth transitions among leadership roles

benefitted the companies in a huge manner.
Conclusion
O Organizations with highly developed leadership programs had 7.4times quality leaders

who were engaged.
Appendix
O Demographics considered for the survey.
31

‘Reports’ are business tools that assist managerial decision making and problemsolving. Writing a report
includes four steps which are defining the problem or purpose, identifying and organizing the issues for
investigation, conducting research, analyzing and interpreting data, drawing conclusions and developing
recommendations. In the case mentioned above, the report is a long formal analytical external report with
the structure following the four steps in writing a report.
DiscussionQuestions
1. What is the difference between an informational and analytical report?
(Hints: objective information – annual/personnel– attempts to solve problems –
feasibility/consumer behaviour)
2. Discuss how the four steps in writing the report has been used in the case mentioned above.
(Hints: defining the purpose – identifying the issues – conducting research – analyzing and
interpreting data – recommendations – conclusions)
Course Reference: Concept- Four steps in writing thereport/Unit 18– Writing the Report/Subject-Business
Sources:
i. “CEOs‟ Top Challenge, Leaders aren‟t ready”, www.ddiworld.com, December 2014 for full text of the report
ii. “Global Leadership forecast”, www.ddiworld.com/glf2014
OtherKeywords: Written Communication, HRM
32

19 Visually impressive Shopify’s annual report
Shopify, a Canadian ecommerce company, headquartered in Ottawa, began its online store in 2006 for
snowboarding equipment. Later the company developed computer software for online stores and retail point-
of-sale systems. The company had 150,000 active stores with sales turnover of $7 billion in 2014. The
company‘s CEO Tobias Lutke won ‗The Globe and Mail‘ CEO of the year award in 2014.
A company‘s annual report is used to highlight the milestones achieved during the previous financial
year and the projections for the coming year. Usually an annual report is a huge document with a lot of
tables and figures. But now-a-days with more emphasis on creative presentations, annual reports are being
uniquely designed usingthe right format to engage the stakeholders and win loyalcustomers.Shopify is one such
company which has presentedits annual report in an interactive way. Shopify‘s application of visual
aids in presenting the annualreport for2013 is discussedbelow:
 The heading of the annual report – 2013 Year in Review
 Brief letter by the CEO highlighting the –
O Achievements – over 80,000 ofthe world‘s best online stores which solda huge number of
products and generated record-breaking revenue.
O USP – became easierto create an online world,focused on including a physicalstore,and
launched Shopify payments, Shopify POS and Shopify mobile; distinct requirements to
run an ecommerce business in one amazing product where merchants sold their products

online, in-store and on the go.
Accomplishments – interactive with info-graphics, pictures, charts, geometrical figures throughout
the document
O Sold $1.7 million worth of products in 121 countries worldwide having 81939 stores
covering 62% of world domination
O 22.7 million Orders placed, 15 million published products,14.9 million customer accounts
with at least 1 adult in every 9 adults in US having shopped from a Shopify store.
O Brands added to Shopify store like The Chive, Black Milk Clothing, and Herschel
O 436, 494 million queries through Shopify reports, 4.7 million page views of their
Ecommerce university.
O Increase in the number of the experts‘ team to 620 people who received a 90.6%
average smiley rating and earning $18 million in contracts.
O 22083 phone support hours,3.6 times more than in 2012.
O 449000 support tickets, 90.6% satisfaction rating and 10,859 forum topics
O 271 new apps – 528 in total
O 84 new themes designed for the Theme Store, $2.14 billion paid to designers of these
themes
O Month-wise accomplishments listed in their blog posts
The annual report is so impressive that it compels a customer to shop – which he can actually do!
‘Visual aids’ clarify and simplify data and also is used to summarize, reinforce, attract, impress and unify
the content of a report. The most common visual aids are charts, tables, flowcharts and images. In the
case mentioned above, the entire report has minimalist format with a lot of easily comprehendible data,
key information being presented interactively by a combination of readable graphs, pictures, animations,
images, in a chronological pattern that keeps the audience engaged.
DiscussionQuestions
1. When are visual aids used in a presentation?
(Hints: strengthen the text – clarifying/simplifying – engage readers – reinforce/unify the content)
2. What are the multimedia applications used to present the annual report in the above case?
(Hints: charts - pictures – still/ moving images – animation – info graphics)
Course Reference: Concept- Selecting a suitable visual aid /Unit 19– Managing data and using graphics/Subject-
Sources:
i. Ross Crooks, “5 brands that nailed their annual reports”, www.forbes.com, September 2014
ii. Shopify 2013 year in review, www.shopify.com
iii. The first shopify storewas our own, www.shopify.com
OtherKeywords: Written Communication/ Report writing
33

20 Good Grammar skills lead to good income
Grammarly Inc,,a company whose main functions included proofreading, plagiarismchecks and verification of
the writer‘s adherence to 250 grammar rules, conducteda research study on 100 LinkedIn profiles of
native English speakers in the consumer packaged goods industry who had not worked for more than three
employers in their 10-year work history, found that only half of them were promoted to the director level.
The main reason why the other half could not move up their career ladder was that they made 2.5 times more
grammatical mistakes. It was also observed that professionals with 6 – 9 promotions made 45% fewer
grammatical mistakes as compared to those who had 1 – 4 promotions.
Kyle Wiens, CEO of iFixit, wrote in 2013 that he recruited candidates with good grammar skills as they led
to positive workplace traits. According to Brad Hoover, the CEO of Grammarly Inc., the positive traits
included attention to detail (credibility, professionalism and accuracy), critical thinking (analyzing complex
problems) and intellectual aptitude (like difference between its and it‘s/ there and their). For Chris
Aisenbrey, director of global university relations at Whirlpool Corp, it was highly challenging to find MBA
candidates with good writing skills. He found application letters were collections of incoherent thoughts,
with both typo and grammar errors. The informal tone of the application letters made them look like that the
candidates‘ were writing to a friend rather than a recruiter. However, there were no spelling errors seen
because of the availability of spell-check in almost all software programs.
The ten most common grammatical mistakes observed and the correct usage with the help of examples was
provided:
Who, which and that There, their, and they’re
Jairam was theone who wrote a good essay. There are many issues that need immediate
Brendon McCullum was the captain of the New Zealand team attention.
that moved to the World Cup 2015 finals. It was their mistake, let them solve it themselves.
This is the book which I choose to buy now. They‘re always complaining.
Loose vs lose Anyone and any one
The bolts on the tyres became loose and caused the accident. Please use any one of those tools to repair it.
I somehow lose my files stored on thedesktop. Did anyone complete theproject due next week?
Your and you’re Affect and effect
Your presentation was appreciated by the authorities. Swine flu has affected nearly 2000 people in
You‘re going to work on the automation project. India.
The effect of the new law banning drunken
driving is welcome.
Its and it’s Lay and lie
The bird built its nest on thetree in our garden. The children will lay their toys on the floor and
It‟s a great app that helps us to purchasebooks online. play.
Let‘s lie down for two hours. We have to drive
another 200Km.
Then and then Who’s and whose
I didn‘t take a loan then. Who‟s nominated to be the project coordinator?
The cost of petrolwas cheaper than Rs. 75 a liter. Whose assignments are these?
‘Writing skills’ are important for managers to communicate both internally and externally in an
organization. Effective writing skills include sentence structure, paragraphs, compositions, punctuation
and grammar skills. Effective grammar skills in writing persuasive emails, memos, letters, sales pitches
and business proposals help an employee to create an impact and grow in an organization.
DiscussionQuestions
1. What do you mean by punctuations? Name a few and explain their usage.
(Hints: extract meaning – apostrophe – comma – full stop – semicolon/colon)
2. How do good grammar skills help a professionallead to good income as per the above case?
(Hints: write effectively – communicate – complex issues in a easy way – attention to detail –
critical thinking – intellectual aptitude)
34

Course Reference: Concept- Sentence Structure/Unit 20 – Review of writing skills/Subject-Business Communication
and Soft Skills
Sources:
i. Cheryl Conner, “Report: How grammar influences your income”, www.forbes.com, March 2013
ii. Ronald, J. Aslop, “MBA Recruiters‟ No. 1 pet peeve: poor writing and speaking skills, www.wsj.com, January
2006
iii. “Study of LinkedIn profiles shows those with fewer grammar mistakes get promoted more often”,
www.transcriptionoutsourcing.net, May 2013
35

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