hello I'm Pete Cardon I'm a professor at
the University of Southern California
it's a pleasure to give you a quick
overview of my business communication
textbook this textbook builds on a
strong tradition of other leading books
but I believe better position students
to develop the skills and the attitudes
to succeed and lead in an increasingly
networked world the textbook starts with
an entire chapter on personal
credibility my experiences with business
professionals and research backs this up
well suggest that personal credibility
is the core of successful communication
in fact credibility is one of the
essential characteristics of leaders and
is even in higher demand in a networked
world this concept of personal
credibility is then carried forward in
each chapter in the textbook the book
contains three chapters on interpersonal
communication I believe the coverage is
deeper than most business communication
textbooks it includes topics such as
emotional intelligence civility teamwork
and meetings listening and an entire
chapter on intercultural communication
in addition to the depth of these
chapters I think one of the strengths is
that I carry these ideas throughout the
remainder of the book including the
writing chapters given how rapidly
technology is changing how professionals
communicate in a networked world I
devote an entire chapter to electronic
communications such as emails and social
networking I also feature the latest
technology into each chapter as
appropriate I think there are several
unique aspects about how I handle the
technology I focus on principles for
digital communications online
reputations boundaries privacy issues
that outlast the technologies themselves
also I focus on positioning students to
communicate via social media most
business communication textbooks focus
simply on public social networking
networks Facebook LinkedIn Twitter
I do include these public social
networks but I adopt a bigger view of
social media that best serves the
interests of our business students I
emphasize social media for communication
between business professionals whereas
what you see in most business
communication textbooks in terms of
social media is essentially limited to
marketing communications like most
business communication textbooks I
include chapters about routine messages
persuasive messages and bad news
messages I consider these useful types
of messages for students to master and
the business communication tradition I
believe is quite good here but in each
chapter I've adopted what I can consider
slightly more contemporary and more
nuanced advice than you'll see in most
current textbooks I also include
examples of not only written
communications but also oral
communications for these types of
messages one of the things that I keep
hearing thats of growing importance is
covering public relations messages and
crisis communications I'm really hearing
this from two sources one is from
business communication instructors
across the country and the other is from
business school alumni on curriculum
advisory boards as a result I've added
one chapter about public relations and
crisis communications I'm not aware of
any other major business communication
text books that contain a chapter in
these areas and I think this chapter is
particularly critical for leaders in a
networked world where enhancing and
safeguarding a company's reputation is
increasingly challenging with the many
channels including social media where
stakeholders receive information and
also where they make their views public
I've included two chapters on report
writing I view these chapters as
particularly effective in providing
thorough precise and most importantly
useful reports for decision-makers there
are examples of primary research reports
secondary research reports there's also
examples of business proposals and
business plans
in each case I think this textbook is
better at helping students connect
research to real business problems I've
also included two chapters for
presentations one about preparation one
about delivery I believe these chapters
are unique in terms of understanding and
connecting with audiences most textbooks
tend to provide these chapters almost
entirely an abstract discussion the
chapters in my textbook provides
specific examples about how to connect
deeply and build trust with audiences
the book concludes with a chapter on
employment communication which I think
contains more complete and strategic
coverage than the major business
communication textbooks it provides
tools for students to think
strategically about their professional
reputations it also provides specific
examples about how to respond to job
interview questions overall this
textbook is designed with a vision of
developing leaders who will navigate the
many emerging cultural and technological
forces of a networked world