Running head: DISCUSSION 1 DISCUSSION 3 Discussion INITIAL POST Hi, class, it wasn’t easy to come up with a problem, but after thinking for a long night, it was easy to chose one. In my human resource career, I will consider cultural diversity in a professional working environment. I have a weakness in adapting to changes in working environment and the people I find there. The article that I found, and my introduction worked well. However, I still need to add more content to my first paragraph to sound more convincing. Here is my draft: To: Mary Jones, Chief Human Resources Officer, Johnson & James Health Care Company From: Desminique Rowell, Human Resource Manager, Johnson & James Health Care Company Date: September 27, 2018 Subject: Considering Cultural Diversity in Organizations How often does cultural diversity in organizations affect the way they operate? Globalization and increased customer goods and services demands, have encouraged many organization to venture into the international market to continue expanding their businesses. Organizations must expand their employee base by employing many skilled personnel from different cultural backgrounds. Negative outcomes of cultural integration in workplaces, affect their goods and service delivery. Johnson & James, a global health company cannot assume this fact, as its operation are also affected by cultural diversity. These challenges the companies’ operation in delivering its goods and services, creating a deficit in services and financial surges. The issue can be addressed by the company conducting motivational, leadership and behavioral workshops to enhance diversity training and development. According to Alhejji et al. (2016), diversity training programs enhances development of employee knowledge, skills, and attitude which enhances culture in a workplace. Many organizations utilize cultural diversity in their workplace to encourage innovation and development of new-problem solving ideas. In an organization setup, employees need to come up with innovative ways of improving service delivery and enhancing customer-employee relationship. Employing personnel from different cultural background provides an organizational frontier to achieve it. However, poor management of cultural diverse teams, can result in a company losing it credibility to the customer purchasing power. I know I can find a solution to this problem soon. Here is my question: what can I add to the first paragraph to make it more effective? Thanks! Desminique Rowell Hi, class, it wasn’t easy to come up with a problem, but after thinking for a long night, it was easy to chose one. In my human resource career, I will have to consider cultural diversity in professional environment working problem. I have a weakness in adapting to changes in working environment and the people I find there. The article that I found, and my introduction worked well. However, I still need to add more content to my first paragraph t.

1. Running head: DISCUSSION
1
DISCUSSION
3
Discussion
INITIAL POST
Hi, class, it wasn’t easy to come up with a problem, but after
thinking for a long night, it was easy to chose one. In my human
resource career, I will consider cultural diversity in a
professional working environment. I have a weakness in
adapting to changes in working environment and the people I
find there. The article that I found, and my introduction worked
well. However, I still need to add more content to my first
paragraph to sound more convincing. Here is my draft:
To: Mary Jones, Chief Human Resources Officer, Johnson &
James Health Care Company
From: Desminique Rowell, Human Resource Manager, Johnson
& James Health Care Company
Date: September 27, 2018
Subject: Considering Cultural Diversity in Organizations
How often does cultural diversity in organizations affect the
way they operate? Globalization and increased customer goods
and services demands, have encouraged many organization to
venture into the international market to continue expanding
their businesses. Organizations must expand their employee

2. base by employing many skilled personnel from different
cultural backgrounds. Negative outcomes of cultural integration
in workplaces, affect their goods and service delivery. Johnson
& James, a global health company cannot assume this fact, as
its operation are also affected by cultural diversity. These
challenges the companies’ operation in delivering its goods and
services, creating a deficit in services and financial surges. The
issue can be addressed by the company conducting motivational,
leadership and behavioral workshops to enhance diversity
training and development.
According to Alhejji et al. (2016), diversity training programs
enhances development of employee knowledge, skills, and
attitude which enhances culture in a workplace. Many
organizations utilize cultural diversity in their workplace to
encourage innovation and development of new-problem solving
ideas. In an organization setup, employees need to come up with
innovative ways of improving service delivery and enhancing
customer-employee relationship. Employing personnel from
different cultural background provides an organizational
frontier to achieve it. However, poor management of cultural
diverse teams, can result in a company losing it credibility to
the customer purchasing power.
I know I can find a solution to this problem soon.
Here is my question: what can I add to the first paragraph to
make it more effective?
Thanks!
Desminique Rowell
Hi, class, it wasn’t easy to come up with a problem, but after
thinking for a long night, it was easy to chose one. In my human
resource career, I will have to consider cultural diversity in
professional environment working problem. I have a weakness

3. in adapting to changes in working environment and the people I
find there. The article that I found, and my introduction worked
well. However, I still need to add more content to my first
paragraph to sound more convincing. Here is my draft:
Reference page citation for that source
According to Alhejji et al. (2016), diversity training programs
enhances development of employee knowledge, skills, and
attitude which enhances culture in a workplace
Many organizations utilize cultural diversity in their workplace
to encourage innovation and development of new-problem
solving ideas.
How to Respond to Shelby?
I have chosen my audience to be the Director because he/she
will be the one to overlook this issue and hopefully solution as
well. This solution could help these juveniles gain a educational
experience instead of a negative one.
Memo
Date: September 27,2018
To: John Doe, Director of Admissions, Juvenile Couch Center
From: Shelby Powell, Administrator
Subject: Offering Juveniles More Educational Programs
With the high rating reputation we have, we want to keep this
up. It has been discussed that there isn't enough educational
programs offered for the juveniles. We currently offer a g.e.d
program and bible study classes. The g.e.d classes are twice a
week, Tuesdays and Fridays. Bible study happens on
Wednesdays. They have there outside free time and time to play
cards, we would like to now present more educational programs,
such as the basic college courses and home EC classes. We
would like to add these classes so that they may have some
great experience and learning as well when they leave our
facility. We are hoping that adding these classes, that they can
take this information and learn from it. Being the administrator
I want the best that we can offer for these juveniles to give them
a positive outcome in life and to make sure they have a

4. education to support them to pursue farther in their life.
If you have any questions in regards to this memo or concerns
please contact me at [email protected]
less
How to Respond to Scott?
Hello Professor Vice and fellow classmates. After brainstorming
many issues in my field of study, I chose to write about
excessive patient wait times within the Veteran Affairs
Organization. The audience for this memo will be the
administrative manager who monitors scheduling. I have chosen
this audience because he has the authority to switch templates
to open up more appointments. I am looking forward to
everyone’s feedback. Here is my memo.
TO: Nicholas Jackson, Clinical Manager, Veterans Affairs
FROM: Scott Reid, Administrative Manager, Veterans Affairs
DATE: September 27, 2018
SUBJECT: Excessive patient wait times
As you are probably aware, lack of available appointments
within our organization have caused excessive patient wait
times for our veterans. Delays in care have been shown to
negatively affect patients by making routine acute appointments
more complicated which in turn exceeds appointment times,
limiting available appointments to other veterans. However, we
can address this problem by hiring more primary care
physicians and nurse practitioners to improve access to care for
our patients.
According to Daley (2018), several physicians reported to the
Inspector General that wait times within their facility where
extremely long and that patients died due to the lack of access
to an available appointment. This is especially true here at our
Clinic, as our first available access to an appointment with a
provider is 80 days out. Unless we increase patient’s access to
care, we will continue to see a rise in mortality rates that could
have been prevented.
With the current scheduling crisis that we are currently

5. experiencing, there is a solution in sight. By hiring more
providers, we will be able to open up more available
appointments for acute care which will drastically decrease the
need for future appointments for chronic care, increasing
patient’s access to care for appointments. Additionally, with
increased access to care, patients will be able to spend more
time with providers during their appointment and receive better
quality of care.
If you have any further questions or concerns in regards to this
recommendation, please contact me at[email protected]. Thank
you for your time and consideration.
Reference
Daley, J. (2018). Ensuring Timely Access to Quality Care for
US Veterans. Jama, 319(5), 439. doi:10.1001/jama.2017.20743
How to respond to Tiffany?
To, All Employees
From Tiffney Du Bose, Administrative assistant
Date September 27, 2018
Subject Foster Care
It has come to my attention that some of our staff has not
regularly been keeping up with updates of the children they
oversee in foster care, It has also been brought to my attention
that failer to doing so has lead to the misdiagnosis and
overmedicated of these children. This is a matter of great
concern and of the utmost importance, As a caseworker, it is
your duty to oversee and have knowledge of all changes
regarding the children in your supervised care, disregarding this
matter could result in lawsuits and the loss of employment. As
of September 27, 2018, effective immediately any staff member
that fails to take action of this matter will no longer be a
member of our organization. It is within your duty to keep in
close contact with the children, foster care providers, and the
physicians regarding all changes with each child to help ensure

6. that all needs are met promptly and correctly, failed to do so
will result in the termination of the job title you hold.
If any staff has any questions or concerns regarding this email
you can reach me via office or email at [email protected]
(Marlan Wrlght Edelman, 2015)
http://www.huffingtonpost.com
How to Respond to Shelby?
I have chosen my audience to be the Director because he/she
will be the one to overlook this issue and hopefully solution as
well. This solution could help these juveniles gain a educational
experience instead of a negative one.
Memo
Date: September 27,2018
To: John Doe, Director of Admissions, Juvenile Couch Center
From: Shelby Powell, Administrator
Subject: Offering Juveniles More Educational Programs
With the high rating reputation we have, we want to keep this
up. It has been discussed that there isn't enough educational
programs offered for the juveniles. We currently offer a g.e.d
program and bible study classes. The g.e.d classes are twice a
week, Tuesdays and Fridays. Bible study happens on
Wednesdays. They have there outside free time and time to play
cards, we would like to now present more educational programs,
such as the basic college courses and home EC classes. We
would like to add these classes so that they may have some
great experience and learning as well when they leave our
facility. We are hoping that adding these classes, that they can
take this information and learn from it. Being the administrator
I want the best that we can offer for these juveniles to give them
a positive outcome in life and to make sure they have a
education to support them to pursue farther in their life.
If you have any questions in regards to this memo or concerns
please contact me at [email protected]
less

7. How to Respond to Scott?
Hello Professor Vice and fellow classmates. After brainstorming
many issues in my field of study, I chose to write about
excessive patient wait times within the Veteran Affairs
Organization. The audience for this memo will be the
administrative manager who monitors scheduling. I have chosen
this audience because he has the authority to switch templates
to open up more appointments. I am looking forward to
everyone’s feedback. Here is my memo.
TO: Nicholas Jackson, Clinical Manager, Veterans Affairs
FROM: Scott Reid, Administrative Manager, Veterans Affairs
DATE: September 27, 2018
SUBJECT: Excessive patient wait times
As you are probably aware, lack of available appointments
within our organization have caused excessive patient wait
times for our veterans. Delays in care have been shown to
negatively affect patients by making routine acute appointments
more complicated which in turn exceeds appointment times,
limiting available appointments to other veterans. However, we
can address this problem by hiring more primary care
physicians and nurse practitioners to improve access to care for
our patients.
According to Daley (2018), several physicians reported to the
Inspector General that wait times within their facility where
extremely long and that patients died due to the lack of access
to an available appointment. This is especially true here at our
Clinic, as our first available access to an appointment with a
provider is 80 days out. Unless we increase patient’s access to
care, we will continue to see a rise in mortality rates that could
have been prevented.
With the current scheduling crisis that we are currently
experiencing, there is a solution in sight. By hiring more
providers, we will be able to open up more available
appointments for acute care which will drastically decrease the
need for future appointments for chronic care, increasing

8. patient’s access to care for appointments. Additionally, with
increased access to care, patients will be able to spend more
time with providers during their appointment and receive better
quality of care.
If you have any further questions or concerns in regards to this
recommendation, please contact me at[email protected]. Thank
you for your time and consideration.
Reference
Daley, J. (2018). Ensuring Timely Access to Quality Care for
US Veterans. Jama, 319(5), 439. doi:10.1001/jama.2017.20743
How to respond to Tiffany?
To, All Employees
From Tiffney Du Bose, Administrative assistant
Date September 27, 2018
Subject Foster Care
It has come to my attention that some of our staff has not
regularly been keeping up with updates of the children they
oversee in foster care, It has also been brought to my attention
that failer to doing so has lead to the misdiagnosis and
overmedicated of these children. This is a matter of great
concern and of the utmost importance, As a caseworker, it is
your duty to oversee and have knowledge of all changes
regarding the children in your supervised care, disregarding this
matter could result in lawsuits and the loss of employment. As
of September 27, 2018, effective immediately any staff member
that fails to take action of this matter will no longer be a
member of our organization. It is within your duty to keep in
close contact with the children, foster care providers, and the
physicians regarding all changes with each child to help ensure
that all needs are met promptly and correctly, failed to do so
will result in the termination of the job title you hold.
If any staff has any questions or concerns regarding this email
you can reach me via office or email at [email protected]

9. (Marlan Wrlght Edelman, 2015)
http://www.huffingtonpost.com
UNIT 9 DISCUSSION BOARD SAMPLE POSTS
INITIAL POST
Hi, class, I had a little trouble coming up with a problem, but
after brainstorming, it was easy to
choose one. I may have to deal with how staff shortages cause
problems when I get into nursing,
so it is important. I am happy with the article that I found, and
my introduction works well. I
think that I still need to add more to my second paragraph and
come up with a conclusion. Here
is my draft:
TO: Bessemer Hospital Staff
As you are aware, patient safety is vital when it comes to
quality healthcare service. Patient
errors at Bessemer Hospital have been on the rise, and this has
led to a worsening of serious
conditions, disability and even patient mortality., The
credibility of our infirmary has declined,
creating the potential of great financial losses. We can,

10. however, address this problem by hiring
temporary on-call nurses during peak patient hours.
According to a publication by the Institute of Medicine (2004),
98,000 hospitalized American
citizens die annually due to errors made by nurses. This serious
problem is usually the result of
either failure to follow management practices necessary for
safety, or an unsafe work and
workspace design.
I know you can find a solution to this problem and hopefully
soon.
Here is my question: What can I add to the second paragraph to
make it more effective?
Thanks!
Darianne
RESPONSE TO INITIAL POST
Hi, Darianne, this is a great topic. I agree that you have a
strong introduction because you
identify the problem and solution. The reading this week
explains that professional writing
should be audience centered, and you are clear about audience
from the start. For your second

11. paragraph, I think you need to explain the problem more. I
keep remembering PIE ever since we
learned that. Maybe you know or can find an example of a
specific situation that happened when
a hospital was understaffed? My cousin is a nurse, and he
always complains that he does not
have enough time to take care of his patients the way he should.
He mentioned patients falling,
and in one case the patient ended up with a broken arm! I also
think that rather than telling your
audience to find a solution, that you want to offer your own
recommendation. What do you think
this hospital should do to deal with this problem? Remember to
be the problem solver yourself!
Also, don’t forget to set up the memo format. I used the sample
assignment to help me with
mine. I hope that helps! Good luck.
Kate
Commented [JV1]: Notice that while Darianne’s draft still
needs work and Darianne also admits to some struggles
with the assignment, the student still posts a draft that
focuses on a problem in an organization.
It’s important to post your draft as soon as possible, even if
you know it needs work.
Commented [JV2]: Kate’s suggestions are specific,

12. helpful, and constructive. She does not identify weaknesses;
instead, she focuses on what Darianne can specifically do to
improve the draft.
1
Running header: PROMOTION OF PATIENT SAFETY
Bessemer Hospital: Promotion of Patient Safety
Student Name
Title of University
CM107
Professor Last Name
Assignment due date
2
PROMOTION OF PATIENT SAFETY

13. MEMORANDUM
To: Dorcas Floyd, RN BSN, MS, CENP
Vice President/Chief Nursing Officer, Bessemer Hospital
From: Student Name and title at job, RN
Date: June 19th, 2017
Subject: Promotion of Patient Safety
As you are aware, patient safety is vital when it comes to
quality healthcare service.
Unfortunately, patient errors at Bessemer Hospital have been on
the rise, and this has led to a
worsening of serious conditions, disability and even patient
mortality. As a result, the credibility
of our infirmary has declined, creating the potential of great
financial losses. We can, however,
address this problem by hiring temporary on-call nurses during
peak patient hours.
According to a publication by the Institute of Medicine (2004),
98,000 hospitalized American
citizens die annually due to errors made by nurses. This serious
problem is usually the result of
either failure to follow management practices necessary for

14. safety, or an unsafe work and
workspace design. This is certainly true here at Bessemer,
where recently one newly registered
nurse was hurried into catheterizing a patient in preparation for
an operation. This was done
without sufficient supplies or supervision and, because of this,
the patient suffered a severe
urinary-tract infection with serious complications and an
extended hospital stay. Thankfully the
patient recovered, but even the slightest mistake, caused simply
by rushing, can lead to a more
severe problem that must be addressed.
These problems clearly are the result of an increased workload
and stress for nurses, but they can
be reduced. Like many hospitals across the region, our nursing
staff is low in comparison to the
number of patients served daily, and this creates added stress
and increases errors. To address
this issue, we can hire a temporary staff on more difficult days
to alleviate this burden. With an
increase in our nurse to patient ratio, we can expect the number
of errors to decrease as our full-
time staff will be able to focus on a smaller number of patients
and will not have to rush through

15. procedures and risk errors.
Please contact me at [email protected] if you have any questions
about this
recommendation. By implementing this recommendation, you
will see a great return on
investment and allow our nurses to take better care of our
patients, who are the reason this
hospital exists.
Commented [1]: Notice that the writer provides all the
required memo format information. including the
receiver’s name and title, as well as a specific subject
line.
Commented [2]: Most memos are single spaced.
Commented [3]: By indicating how this problem is
affecting the organization, the student writer provides
the audience with motivation to make a change and
solve the issue
Commented [4]: The writer refers to a resource here
to establish the severity of the problem and then
identifies how the problem manifests itself in this
organization, to show the audience that the problem is
real.
Commented [5]: This paragraph focuses on the
recommendation. It not only identifies one specific

16. solution but indicates how it will accomplish the goal of
reducing the problem. Consider whether you need to
demonstrate how you know the solution will work. Is
there research evidence to show the solution works or
have other similar organizations tried this and it
worked? Give your audience reason to implement your
recommended solution.
Commented [6]: The writer sums up the memo’s main
point and offers to speak further with the audience.
This is a clear way of ending a memo effectively.
mailto:[email protected]
3
PROMOTION OF PATIENT SAFETY
References
Institute of Medicine. (2004). Keeping Patients Safe:
Transforming the Work Environment of
Nurses. The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10851.

17. CM107 UNIT 9 READING
Effective Professional Communication
Almost every job in any professional field will require you to
write, whether during the
hiring process itself, or as you perform your job duties. You
may write to potential and
current customers, to your supervisors, or people you supervise
on the job, and
communicating effectively to these various audiences can be
challenging. The following
Reading will familiarize you with some of the most important
skills needed for success in
your Unit 9 Assignment and for communicating effectively on
the job.
Purpose of Professional Writing
The main purpose of professional writing is to convince. For
example, as a professional
writer, you often find yourself explaining the value of a
complex idea in order to obtain
agreement among readers. Or, you find yourself crafting a
document intended to
persuade people and rouse them to action.
In other respects, professional writing is much like any other
form of writing that includes
pre-writing or brainstorming, writing and revising. The most
important aspects of
professional writing are clear and concise writing and getting

18. the message across in the
best way. As with all writing, it is important to keep the
audience in mind when coming
up with the best format to get the message across.
Audience
The most important concept to keep in mind when writing for
professional reasons is
who your target audience is. You need to tailor your writing to
fit different audiences in
different situations. If you address the document's specific
target audience in terms it
understands, your document will have a better chance of
achieving its goal.
Every professional document has a purpose. You could be trying
to persuade your boss
that you are due a raise in one instance, and trying to persuade
the HR Department that
the company picnic would have more participation if it were
held at a lake in another
instance. In both instances, the language and way you would
approach each is going to
differ.
Academic Writing vs. Professional Writing
Unlike academic writing, where ideas are explored and length is
encouraged,
professional writing needs to be clear and concise. Professional
writing takes place in
many forms, as categorized in internal and external
communications; the major

19. differences between academic writing and professional writing
are as follows:
1. Writing at work focuses on problem solving.
2. Work-related writing targets multiple audiences with
different perspectives.
3. Writing at work may be read by unknown readers.
4. Writing produced at work can be used indefinitely and can be
used in legal
proceedings.
CM107 UNIT 9 READING
5. The format for work documents varies greatly from the
format for academic
documents.
Memos and E-mails
Memos and emails are two of the most common forms of
communication used in
professional settings. Writing memos and e-mails in a
professional setting is slightly
different than writing to a friend or family member. The biggest
difference is that in a
workplace setting, the writing must be professional or semi-
formal. A big misconception
about e-mailing in professional settings is that formality is not
important. Grammar and

20. composition are both important aspects. However, should you
receive an email of memo
which contains compositional and grammatical flaws, it may be
rude or unwise to point
these out to the author. Memos and e-mails have a similar
approach. The purpose of
both is to get a certain message across. This section will cover
deciding when it is
appropriate to use either a memo or e-mail, content, pre-writing
techniques, and
effectiveness.
Memos
The memo or memorandum has a few types. The memos can be
short notes, reports,
plans or proposals. The standard memo is most effective when
attempting to inform
many people within the same organization of upcoming events,
changes, thoughts, or
ideas.
Most memos will have four basic elements:
● The "to" line
● The "from" line
● The date line
● The subject line
Note: When writing your subject line, make sure it is called
something accurate, unique
and specific. Name your memo something informative.

21. The first sentence of your memo you should clearly state your
purpose. Be concise and
direct.
Example Memo Header:
To: All Department Heads at Performance Property
Management
From: Joan Alexander, Human Resource Director
Date: May 10, 2017
Subject: Revisions to Vacation Policy
CM107 UNIT 9 READING
Use headings throughout your memo to help the reader decide
what they want to read
and understand the information they are being presented.
Headings can also help the
reader understand the purpose of the section (i.e. summary).
If your memo has a lot of information or if it is really long, you
may consider summarizing
the memo. This can help readers understand the body of the
memo, allow readers to
skip information that is not relevant to them or to remind the
reader of the memos main
points. A good memo will record the clear main ideas and every
important decision.
Keep in mind your audience when writing your memo. You may

22. need to provide
background information or explain the events that led to the
situation to which the memo
is regarding.
E-mails
Emails are fast, cheap, easy to use and digital. Because of its
widespread use, here are
some things to keep in mind when writing "professional"
emails.
● Use an appropriate level of formality.
● Keep messages brief. If you are replying to an email, don't
repeat information from
the email, instead establish a general context of the email. Also,
if sending the email
to more than one person, you may want to consider blocking the
original author's
name for privacy's sake (BCC = Blind Carbon-Copy).
● Be careful when writing. Because email is often informal, it is
easy for them to
become sloppy. Make sure you read your email before sending
it.
● In formal professional email, avoid the use of characters to
create emotion faces,
such as :), Orz, or > <.
● Use the subject line. All professional emails should have a
subject so the reader can
decide quickly whether or not they need to read the email.

23. ● Don't use all capital letters or use annoying backgrounds.
Keep your emails simple.
Try to stay away from using italics, bolds or underlining. Even
if your email supports
these options, others may not.
● Don't forward a message without the permission of the author.
● Above all, have something to say. Don't send emails just for
fun or just to reply
agreeing with the writer (unless this is requested or expected).
In other words, don't
send a message just to feel like you are part of the conversation.
● Remember, if you are writing a memo or email during
working hours or on a
company computer, the company OWNS this material (and has
the fully legal right to
inspect it). Avoid overtly personal and/or sensitive content in
your email while at
work. If you are concerned about this possibility, look into
message encryption.
CM107 UNIT 9 READING
Voice in English Writing
Languages have different levels of formality that vary with the
purpose, the audience,

24. and the situation. Generally, written English is more formal
than spoken English because
the person has more time to think about what to say. Formal
writing uses fewer personal
pronouns and less colloquial language, or slang. Another
important difference is the use
of grammatical voice.
"Voice" has two meanings in writing. "Voice" can be defined as
"how the writer's
personality and attitude toward the topic are revealed to the
audience." Voice, in this
definition, is what makes one writer sound different from
another. "Voice" is also a
grammatical term; for clarity, it may be referred to as
"grammatical voice." There are two
voices discussed in this section: the active voice and the passive
voice.
Active and Passive Voice Sentences
Most English sentences are written with active, passive, or
neuter verbs, such as "to be"
verbs. The active and passive voices are the two main voices in
English, but some
sentences may also be considered to be in the middle or
mediopassive voice. Voice is
the relationship between the subject and the verb in a clause or
the transfer of action.
● In the active voice, the subject performs the action. The
subject of an active-voice
construction is known as an agent. A clause with an active,
transitive verb will be in
the form of subject-verb-object.

25. Example: The student finished the exercise.
● In the passive voice, the subject receives the action. The
subject of a passive-voice
construction is known as a patient. An active voice clause can
be passivized, or
recast in the passive voice (for example, to increase formality),
by making the object
of the active clause the subject of the passive clause. "The
exercise" is the object in
the sentence above. The verb will be "was finished." For a
passive verb, the tense
and subject-verb agreement are always shown through the
auxiliary verb "to be."
The main verb is always the past participle. The subject of the
active voice sentence
can be included in a prepositional phrase with "by."
Example: The exercise was finished by the student.
Active Voice Passive Voice
The teacher referred to "voice" as a
grammatical term.
"Voice" was referred to as a grammatical
term by the teacher.
The man yelled at the waiter. The waiter was yelled at by the
man.
Millions of people lived in the houses.
The houses were lived in by millions of
people.

26. CM107 UNIT 9 READING
Intransitive verbs can be used in the passive voice when a
prepositional phrase is
included.
Intransitive verbs without prepositional phrases cannot be
passivized. There is no word
to become the subject of the sentence.
Active voice: Millions of people lived.
Passive voice: ? was lived.
Linking verbs (such as being verbs) are intransitive verbs that
can never be used in the
passive voice. They do not show action and are thus neither
active nor passive. They
are called neuter verbs.
Use of the Passive Voice
Converting an active-voice clause to a passive-voice clause may
not change technical
meaning, but can be done for altered formality or emphasis as
well as change the
connotation of the text. Linguistic studies have found high
percentages of passive verbs
in formal writing. The passive voice can emphasize an agent, a
patient, or an adverb. It
can be used for narrative flow and continuity in conversations.

27. Emphasizing the agent: Hamlet was written by Shakespeare.
The passive voice emphasizes Shakespeare by putting his name
at the end, the most
emphatic part of a sentence.
Emphasizing the patient: Jamey was fascinated by Language
Arts.
The passive-voice construction emphasizes Jamey more
effectively than the active-
voice equivalent "Language Arts fascinated Jamey."
Emphasizing the adverb: That is strictly prohibited.
Because a passive verb consists of two words, an adverb
becomes emphatic when
placed between "to be" and the past participle.
The passive voice can be used to eliminate first- and second-
pronouns in formal writing.
Active voice: I hope that....
Passive voice: It is hoped that....
In formal writing, the writer may want to alternate between
sentences in the first person
and passive sentences in which the pronoun is implied to
prevent the monotony caused
by starting too many sentences with "I."
Research studies are described in the passive voice. Research is
intended to be
objective, without the biases of the researchers conducting the
experiments. An

28. experiment should be the same no matter who performs it.
Active voice: I collected samples from the subjects.
Passive voice: Samples were collected from the subjects.
A sentence in the imperative mood can be rewritten in the
passive voice to make it more
formal or less harsh.
Active voice: Do not smoke.
Passive voice: Smoking is prohibited.
CM107 UNIT 9 READING
Active voice: Avoid contractions in formal writing.
Passive voice: Contractions should be avoided in formal
writing.
The examples above for first- and second-person pronouns make
use of the institutional
passive, which omits the agent. In writing and speech, almost
eighty-five percent of
passive sentences are in the institutional passive.
As you work on your Unit 9 Assignment, consider the
importance of voice and how to
best address your audience in a professional setting.
(Reading from Rhetoric and Composition,
https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/

29. Rhetoric_and_Composition/Writing_in_Business#Purpose_of_B
usiness_Writing)
CM107 UNIT 9 READING
Effective Professional Communication
Almost every job in any professional field will require you to
write, whether during the
hiring process itself, or as you perform your job duties. You
may write to potential and
current customers, to your supervisors, or people you supervise
on the job, and
communicating effectively to these various audiences can be
challenging. The following
Reading will familiarize you with some of the most important
skills needed for success in
your Unit 9 Assignment and for communicating effectively on
the job.
Purpose of Professional Writing
The main purpose of professional writing is to convince. For
example, as a professional
writer, you often find yourself explaining the value of a
complex idea in order to obtain
agreement among readers. Or, you find yourself crafting a
document intended to

30. persuade people and rouse them to action.
In other respects, professional writing is much like any other
form of writing that includes
pre-writing or brainstorming, writing and revising. The most
important aspects of
professional writing are clear and concise writing and getting
the message across in the
best way. As with all writing, it is important to keep the
audience in mind when coming
up with the best format to get the message across.
Audience
The most important concept to keep in mind when writing for
professional reasons is
who your target audience is. You need to tailor your writing to
fit different audiences in
different situations. If you address the document's specific
target audience in terms it
understands, your document will have a better chance of
achieving its goal.
Every professional document has a purpose. You could be trying
to persuade your boss
that you are due a raise in one instance, and trying to persuade
the HR Department that
the company picnic would have more participation if it were
held at a lake in another
instance. In both instances, the language and way you would
approach each is going to
differ.
Academic Writing vs. Professional Writing

31. Unlike academic writing, where ideas are explored and length is
encouraged,
professional writing needs to be clear and concise. Professional
writing takes place in
many forms, as categorized in internal and external
communications; the major
differences between academic writing and professional writing
are as follows:
1. Writing at work focuses on problem solving.
2. Work-related writing targets multiple audiences with
different perspectives.
3. Writing at work may be read by unknown readers.
4. Writing produced at work can be used indefinitely and can be
used in legal
proceedings.
CM107 UNIT 9 READING
5. The format for work documents varies greatly from the
format for academic
documents.
Memos and E-mails
Memos and emails are two of the most common forms of
communication used in
professional settings. Writing memos and e-mails in a

32. professional setting is slightly
different than writing to a friend or family member. The biggest
difference is that in a
workplace setting, the writing must be professional or semi-
formal. A big misconception
about e-mailing in professional settings is that formality is not
important. Grammar and
composition are both important aspects. However, should you
receive an email of memo
which contains compositional and grammatical flaws, it may be
rude or unwise to point
these out to the author. Memos and e-mails have a similar
approach. The purpose of
both is to get a certain message across. This section will cover
deciding when it is
appropriate to use either a memo or e-mail, content, pre-writing
techniques, and
effectiveness.
Memos
The memo or memorandum has a few types. The memos can be
short notes, reports,
plans or proposals. The standard memo is most effective when
attempting to inform
many people within the same organization of upcoming events,
changes, thoughts, or
ideas.
Most memos will have four basic elements:
● The "to" line
● The "from" line

33. ● The date line
● The subject line
Note: When writing your subject line, make sure it is called
something accurate, unique
and specific. Name your memo something informative.
The first sentence of your memo you should clearly state your
purpose. Be concise and
direct.
Example Memo Header:
To: All Department Heads at Performance Property
Management
From: Joan Alexander, Human Resource Director
Date: May 10, 2017
Subject: Revisions to Vacation Policy
CM107 UNIT 9 READING
Use headings throughout your memo to help the reader decide
what they want to read
and understand the information they are being presented.
Headings can also help the
reader understand the purpose of the section (i.e. summary).
If your memo has a lot of information or if it is really long, you
may consider summarizing
the memo. This can help readers understand the body of the

34. memo, allow readers to
skip information that is not relevant to them or to remind the
reader of the memos main
points. A good memo will record the clear main ideas and every
important decision.
Keep in mind your audience when writing your memo. You may
need to provide
background information or explain the events that led to the
situation to which the memo
is regarding.
E-mails
Emails are fast, cheap, easy to use and digital. Because of its
widespread use, here are
some things to keep in mind when writing "professional"
emails.
● Use an appropriate level of formality.
● Keep messages brief. If you are replying to an email, don't
repeat information from
the email, instead establish a general context of the email. Also,
if sending the email
to more than one person, you may want to consider blocking the
original author's
name for privacy's sake (BCC = Blind Carbon-Copy).
● Be careful when writing. Because email is often informal, it is
easy for them to
become sloppy. Make sure you read your email before sending
it.
● In formal professional email, avoid the use of characters to

35. create emotion faces,
such as :), Orz, or > <.
● Use the subject line. All professional emails should have a
subject so the reader can
decide quickly whether or not they need to read the email.
● Don't use all capital letters or use annoying backgrounds.
Keep your emails simple.
Try to stay away from using italics, bolds or underlining. Even
if your email supports
these options, others may not.
● Don't forward a message without the permission of the author.
● Above all, have something to say. Don't send emails just for
fun or just to reply
agreeing with the writer (unless this is requested or expected).
In other words, don't
send a message just to feel like you are part of the conversation.
● Remember, if you are writing a memo or email during
working hours or on a
company computer, the company OWNS this material (and has
the fully legal right to
inspect it). Avoid overtly personal and/or sensitive content in
your email while at
work. If you are concerned about this possibility, look into
message encryption.

36. CM107 UNIT 9 READING
Voice in English Writing
Languages have different levels of formality that vary with the
purpose, the audience,
and the situation. Generally, written English is more formal
than spoken English because
the person has more time to think about what to say. Formal
writing uses fewer personal
pronouns and less colloquial language, or slang. Another
important difference is the use
of grammatical voice.
"Voice" has two meanings in writing. "Voice" can be defined as
"how the writer's
personality and attitude toward the topic are revealed to the
audience." Voice, in this
definition, is what makes one writer sound different from
another. "Voice" is also a
grammatical term; for clarity, it may be referred to as
"grammatical voice." There are two
voices discussed in this section: the active voice and the passive
voice.
Active and Passive Voice Sentences
Most English sentences are written with active, passive, or
neuter verbs, such as "to be"
verbs. The active and passive voices are the two main voices in
English, but some
sentences may also be considered to be in the middle or
mediopassive voice. Voice is
the relationship between the subject and the verb in a clause or

37. the transfer of action.
● In the active voice, the subject performs the action. The
subject of an active-voice
construction is known as an agent. A clause with an active,
transitive verb will be in
the form of subject-verb-object.
Example: The student finished the exercise.
● In the passive voice, the subject receives the action. The
subject of a passive-voice
construction is known as a patient. An active voice clause can
be passivized, or
recast in the passive voice (for example, to increase formality),
by making the object
of the active clause the subject of the passive clause. "The
exercise" is the object in
the sentence above. The verb will be "was finished." For a
passive verb, the tense
and subject-verb agreement are always shown through the
auxiliary verb "to be."
The main verb is always the past participle. The subject of the
active voice sentence
can be included in a prepositional phrase with "by."
Example: The exercise was finished by the student.
Active Voice Passive Voice
The teacher referred to "voice" as a
grammatical term.
"Voice" was referred to as a grammatical
term by the teacher.

38. The man yelled at the waiter. The waiter was yelled at by the
man.
Millions of people lived in the houses.
The houses were lived in by millions of
people.
CM107 UNIT 9 READING
Intransitive verbs can be used in the passive voice when a
prepositional phrase is
included.
Intransitive verbs without prepositional phrases cannot be
passivized. There is no word
to become the subject of the sentence.
Active voice: Millions of people lived.
Passive voice: ? was lived.
Linking verbs (such as being verbs) are intransitive verbs that
can never be used in the
passive voice. They do not show action and are thus neither
active nor passive. They
are called neuter verbs.
Use of the Passive Voice
Converting an active-voice clause to a passive-voice clause may
not change technical
meaning, but can be done for altered formality or emphasis as

39. well as change the
connotation of the text. Linguistic studies have found high
percentages of passive verbs
in formal writing. The passive voice can emphasize an agent, a
patient, or an adverb. It
can be used for narrative flow and continuity in conversations.
Emphasizing the agent: Hamlet was written by Shakespeare.
The passive voice emphasizes Shakespeare by putting his name
at the end, the most
emphatic part of a sentence.
Emphasizing the patient: Jamey was fascinated by Language
Arts.
The passive-voice construction emphasizes Jamey more
effectively than the active-
voice equivalent "Language Arts fascinated Jamey."
Emphasizing the adverb: That is strictly prohibited.
Because a passive verb consists of two words, an adverb
becomes emphatic when
placed between "to be" and the past participle.
The passive voice can be used to eliminate first- and second-
pronouns in formal writing.
Active voice: I hope that....
Passive voice: It is hoped that....
In formal writing, the writer may want to alternate between
sentences in the first person
and passive sentences in which the pronoun is implied to

40. prevent the monotony caused
by starting too many sentences with "I."
Research studies are described in the passive voice. Research is
intended to be
objective, without the biases of the researchers conducting the
experiments. An
experiment should be the same no matter who performs it.
Active voice: I collected samples from the subjects.
Passive voice: Samples were collected from the subjects.
A sentence in the imperative mood can be rewritten in the
passive voice to make it more
formal or less harsh.
Active voice: Do not smoke.
Passive voice: Smoking is prohibited.
CM107 UNIT 9 READING
Active voice: Avoid contractions in formal writing.
Passive voice: Contractions should be avoided in formal
writing.
The examples above for first- and second-person pronouns make
use of the institutional
passive, which omits the agent. In writing and speech, almost
eighty-five percent of
passive sentences are in the institutional passive.

41. As you work on your Unit 9 Assignment, consider the
importance of voice and how to
best address your audience in a professional setting.
(Reading from Rhetoric and Composition,
https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/
Rhetoric_and_Composition/Writing_in_Business#Purpose_of_B
usiness_Writing)