Business Communication (MB121) : July 2004 : 1.1

Question Paper
Business Communication (MB121) : July 2004
• Answer all questions.
• Each question carries one mark.
1. The term _____ refers to factors that interfere with the exchange of messages.
(a) Deafness (b) Illness (c) Noise (d) Stasis
(e) None of the above.
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2. Which of the following is the phase in the communication process that allows you to evaluate the
effectiveness of your message?
(a) Transmittal (b) Feedback (c) Reception (d) Decoding (e)
Encoding.
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3. Which of the following is not true of the formal communication network?
(a) The formal flow of information follows the official chain of command
(b) Formal communication channels are prone to information distortion or misunderstanding
(c) One way to reduce the distortion of information is to increase the number of levels in the
organizational structure
(d) The formal communication network may cause information to become fragmented
(e) Formal communication is supported by authenticity.
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4. Which of the following is not a form of Non-verbal communication?
(a) Kinesics (b) Proxemics (c) Semantics (d) Paralanguage
(e) None of the above.
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5. Many people are poor listeners, because they are overly concerned with themselves. This concern, a
barrier to listening is termed as
(a) Casual attitude (b) Preoccupation (c)
Prejudice
(d) Discriminative listening (e) Egocentrism.
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6. Which of the following does not communicate nonverbal messages?
(a) Anger (b) Ideas (c)
Distrust
(d) Happiness (e) Skepticism.
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7. Prejudgment is a barrier to listening. It usually occurs when listeners
(a) Shift their attention from the speaker to themselves
(b) Jump to a conclusion and ignore additional information
(c) Listen selectively
(d) Reacts after evaluating the speaker’s message
(e) Are very indifferent to the message.
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8. The process of creating meaning from one’s experience is called
(a) Perception (b) Listening (c) Learning (d) Personality (e)
Empathy.
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9. Which of the following is not a recommended approach to manage a conflict?
(a) Collaborating (b) Compromising
(c) Articulating (d) Competing
(e) Accommodating.
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10. What does kinesics mean?
(a) A study of the tone of voice, the loudness, rate of speech, etc.
(b) A study of how people use the physical space around them
(c) A study of body moments and facial expressions
(d) A study of how particular words have an impact on the receivers
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(e) None of the above.
11. There are many ways to ensure better listening. Which of the following signifies understanding
speakers and imagining how your audience will respond to your speech?
(a) Adjust your delivery (b) Empathize
(c) Utilize feedback (d) Be clear (e) Be interesting.
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12. Which of the following can help organizations minimize the costs and maximize the benefits of their
communication activities?
(a) Increasing the number of written messages
(b) Training only inexperienced communicators
(c) Speeding up the preparation of messages
(d) Documenting all routine communication
(e) Reducing communication.
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13. To improve one’s listening skills, the person must _______ too quickly as this will hinder one’s ability
to be objective.
(a) Avoid forming all opinion (b) Avoid working at the speaker
(c) Avoid paying attention (d) Avoid being receptive
(e) Match the speaker’s dress.
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14. Which of the following statements are true regarding compromising approach to the conflict
resolution?
I. A compromise is best when the goals of both parties are important but not worth pushing
too hard to achieve
II. A compromise is best when you have to protect yourself against those who would take
advantage of a more cooperative approach
III. A compromise is best when a quick solution is the need of the hour
IV. A compromise is best when a long-term relationship between the parties is important.
(a) Both (I) and (II) above (b) Both (II) and (III) above
(c) Both (III) and (IV) above (d) Both (I) and (III) above
(e) All (I), (II), (III) and (IV) above.
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15. In a negotiation, argument over position leads to
(a) Policing (b) Polishing (c) Polarization
(d) Posthumous action (e) Pretension.
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16. Which of the following will not help an organization communicate effectively during a crisis?
(a) Being sure not to ignore the impact of a crisis on employees
(b) Handling the crisis with candor and honesty
(c) Assuming a defensive posture
(d) Letting the public relations department help management plan for and respond to crisis
(e) Hammer down the symptoms of the problem.
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17. In which of the following stages, in-group decision making, the group members get to know each
other?
(a) The conflict stage (b) The reinforcement stage
(c) The orientation stage (d) The emergence stage
(e) None of the above.
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18. ______ is a list of topics that will be covered at a meeting.
(a) A notice (b) An agenda (c) Minutes (d) A summary (e) A
note.
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19. Which of the following is not an advantage of oral communication?
(a) Speech is a tool for accomplishing business objectives
(b) People equate the message with the speaker
(c) It is spontaneous (d) It is an ingrained activity (e) None of the above.
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20. There are many obstructions to the free flow of the communication in an organization. These
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obstructions are termed as barriers to communication. What do semantic barriers mean?
(a) Obstructions occurring due to the channel used
(b) Obstructions occurring due to the physical environment
(c) Obstructions occurring due to the psychological makeup of the receiver
(d) Obstructions occurring due to the faulty perception of the receiver
(e) Obstructions occurring due to the language used.
21. To physically transmit a message, you select a communication channel. The channel is a means to
convey the message. When is it advisable to use an oral channel?
(a) When feedback is not immediately needed
(b) When it is necessary to convey a large amount of data
(c) When immediate feedback is necessary
(d) When the sender shares a comfortable relationship with the receiver
(e) When the sender does not want to leave a proof.
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22. When Managers depend on formal channels of communication, sometimes they risk encountering
“distortion”. One way to minimize distortion is
(a) Including all relevant information that is true in every sense and is not deceptive in any way
(b) Reducing the number of levels in the organization structure
(c) Keeping audience in mind at all times
(d) Exchanging messages with customers, vendors, distributors, competitors, investors, journalists,
and govt. representatives
(e) There are no ways to stop distortions.
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23. People often put an invisible boundary between themselves and others. This is called the personal
feature space. What is the zone, which is within the radius of 18 inches around a person and is reserved
for close relations and friends?
(a) Intimate zone (b) Personal zone (c) Social zone
(d) Public zone (e) Closed zone.
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24. The process of selecting and formulating information to be transmitted in an understandable form, both
to the sender and receiver is known as ______
(a) Message selection (b) Encoding (c) Decoding
(d) Channel selection (e) Feedback.
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25. Proxemics is the study of how people use the physical space around them and what this use says about
them. In which of the following zones most business is transacted?
(a) Intimate distance zone (b) Personal distance zone
(c) Public distance zone (d) Social distance zone (e) None of the above.
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26. Listening is the most frequent, perhaps the most important type of on-the-job communication. But,
there are many barriers to the effective listening. Which of the following is not an attitudinal barrier to
listening?
(a) Prejudices (b) Preoccupation with other matters
(c) Unclear, nonspecific message (d) A casual attitude
(e) Egocentrism.
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27. Which of these is not a strategy for defusing and redefining a conflict?
(a) Make sure everyone hears the same message
(b) Separate the main issue from personal feelings
(c) Settle for nothing less than 100%
(d) Allow for cool down time before resolution
(e) Refrain from making personal attacks.
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28. “To be well prepared you must know exactly how much you are willing to concede or compromise on
each factor”. Which of the following elements of negotiation does this come under?
(a) Conduct (b) Understand the people involved
(c) Know your objectives (d) Both (a) and (b) above
(e) None of the above.
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29. Which of these is not a question that the convener must consider when he is planning a meeting?
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(a) Why have a meeting? (b) What type of meeting is called for?
(c) Where should the meeting be held? (d) How should the participants be dressed?
(e) When should the meeting be held?
30. An organization chart illustrates which of the following?
I. Positions of an organization
II. Units of an organization
III. Functions of an organization.
(a) Only (I) above (b) Only (III) above
(c) Both (I) and (II) above (d) Both (II) and (III) above
(e) All (I), (II) and (III) above.
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31. Mr. Sreeram entered the boss’s room to submit his weekly report. As Sreeram sits in front of boss’s
table, boss sat back expansively, wraps his arm over the back of the chair and stretched out his legs in
front. The message boss is trying to convey to Sreeram in this situation is that, he is
(a) Disturbed (b) Confident (c) Happy
(d) Not happy (e) Attentive.
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32. Communication is defined as “a process of exchange of ideas/thoughts/feelings etc., from one person to
another”. This process starts with the sender, the person who intends to convey his ideas to another
person. Where does this process end?
(a) With the feed back (b) With the receiver (c) With the channel
(d) With the decoder (e) With the message.
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33. The study of paralanguage focuses on how you say what you say. Which of the following is not a
component of paralanguage?
(a) Verbal ability (b) Volume of voice (c) Rate of speech (d) Voice pitch
(e) Pattern of the voice.
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34. Which of the following includes “Listening”?
(a) Analyzing (b) Evaluating (c) Responding
(d) All of the above (e) Both (a) and (b) above.
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35. A person engaged in ________ listening tries to understand a speaker’s message in totality to interpret
the meaning as precisely as possible.
(a) Comprehensive (b) Composite (c) Complicated
(d) Convex (e) Compose.
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36. Which of the following is a hypothetical question?
(a) If I were to introduce five-day weeks, do you think the staff would be happy?
(b) If you knew you couldn’t do the work, why did you take up the responsibility?
(c) Are you satisfied with my leadership?
(d) Why are you always late to the office?
(e) Why don’t you ever listen to me?
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37. Which of the following are the four common gestures?
(a) Emblems, adaptors, regulators, illustrators
(b) Embellishments, adaptors, regulators, illustrators
(c) Emblems, adepts, regulators, illustrators
(d) Emblems, adaptors, regulations, illustrators
(e) Embargoes, adverbs, records, illustrators.
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38. Which of the following is not a part of the reflective thinking developed by John Dewey?
(a) Problem identification (b) Problem analysis
(c) Nominal group technique (d) Criteria selection
(e) Solution generation.
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39. Conducting a successful interview requires three important skills: questioning, listening, and the third
one is
(a) Mentoring (b) Criticizing (c) Summarizing (d) Predicting
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(e) Eliminating.
40. The minutes of a meeting should be
(a) Precise and unambiguous (b) Written in the future tense
(c) Personal and friendly (d) Rhetorical and sonorous
(e) Humorous and satirical.
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41. “I wouldn’t have let it happen if I was there”. Which of the following is correct?
(a) I wouldn’t let it happen if I was there
(b) I won’t let it happen if I was there
(c) I wouldn’t have let it happen if I were there
(d) I won’t have let it happen if I were there
(e) None of the above.
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42. “At the reunion they ate Chole Bature and cricket was played”. Which of the following is the correct
sentence?
(a) At the reunion they ate chole bature and played cricket
(b) At the reunion they played cricket and chole bature was eaten
(c) In the reunion they ate chole bature and played cricket
(d) In the reunion they played cricket and eat chole bature
(e) None of the above.
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43. She and her neighbors knew they were buying in a commercial area, and they didn't consider it a
problem. But five years later, when the factory decided to expand its facility and relocate the loading
dock from a non-residential spot to 26th Street, the nightmare began for Mona and her neighbors.
"Construction caused there to be mud everywhere. Our lawns were run over; the heavy trucks rumbling
down the street shook porches loose from the houses. Water lines were cut and people ended up with
mud in their washing machines," Mona said. Mona decided to take some action. She organized
residents of the 13 houses into a group called the 26ers Community Association Inc.
What do you think is the possible reason for the conflict?
(a) The residents were not informed about the relocation
(b) Trucks were creating noise
(c) Vehicles were running over laws, water line were cut and people ended up with mud in their
washing machines
(d) Both (b) and (c) above
(e) None of the above.
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44. Mr. Sharma, manager in a software firm had a terrible morale problem in the office. Mr. Sharma asked
his people what they wanted from him. They requested that he drop in their offices every once in a
while and that they schedule regular meetings with him. He was doing both things but the morale got
even worse. When he dropped in to people's offices, he would take up the whole doorway or walk right
in and up to their desk and look them in the eye--even if they were on the phone! At the meetings he
would sit with his hands behind his head, cross his legs, lean back and look at the ceiling.
What do you think the reason behind the situation getting worse?
(a) Sharma entered in when the employees are busy with their scheduled works
(b) Sharma has domineering attitude
(c) Employees have no intention to improve their morale
(d) Sharma is not effective with his verbal communication
(e) None of the above.
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45. The following is the first paragraph of “no” response to an adjustment request.
“Your request for an Rs.1,000 reimbursements has been received, and I am sorry to say it cannot be
made”. The opening paragraph is
(a) Correct, it is always advisable to convey the bad news in the first para it self
(b) Correct, the letter acknowledged the receipt of the request
(c) Wrong, first para of the “no” message should not contain the negative message
(d) Wrong, there is no need to acknowledge the receipt of the request
(e) Both (c) and (d) above.
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46. We live in a culturally diverse world. People will encounter individuals from different races, religions,
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and nationalities in their day to day encounters. There is often anxiety surrounding unfamiliar cultures.
What manners are acceptable? What will offend a person from a very different background? It can be
paralyzing to deal with other people if we do not know what to expect. At this juncture, which of the
following is helpful most?
(a) Develop genuine interest in the people
(b) Develop the desire to connect to people
(c) Develop the language of the particular country in which you are in
(d) Both (a) and (b) above
(e) (a), (b) and (c) above.
47. The following data pertaining to number of Baja Autos purchased previous year (comprising of 4
quarters) in different regions of India.
Southern region: 2,00,000 units in first quarter, 1,50,000 units in second quarter, 2,50,000 units in third
quarter and 3,00,000 units in fourth quarter.
Northern region: 2,50,000 units in first quarter, 2,00,000 units in second quarter, 3,00,000 units in third
quarter and 3,50,000 units in the fourth quarter.
Eastern region:1,50,000 units in first quarter, 2,50,000 units in second quarter, 1,00,000 units in third
quarter and 1,00,000 units in the fourth quarter
Western region: 2,00,000 units in first quarter, 2,00,000 units in second quarter, 1,50,000 units in third
quarter and 2,00,000 units in the fourth quarter.
Which of the following visual aid can best depict the given data
(a) Multi-range bar chart (b) Pie chart
(c) Line chart (d) Gantt chart (e) Flow chart.
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48. Visual aids help communicate the subject matter more vividly; these tools can attract and hold the
attention of the audience. Which type of visual aid is suggestible to present the data about the
percentage of people who possess Bajaj Eliminator bike out of the potential bike customers in
Hyderabad?
(a) Pie diagram (b) Gantt chart (c) Bar chart (d) Line graph
(e) None of the above.
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49. Meena sells computer systems. One client, Kiran specifically tells her that he knows little about
computers and that he needs a system for his office. Meena knows exactly the right computer for Kiran
that is currently on sale at a good price. She immediately steers Kiran to the system she has in mind,
saying “I think you will like this system, Kiran, it is very popular, and it has a 60mhz 486
microprocessor, 8 mb of RAM, all you will ever need. It comes loaded with software, even has a math
comprocessor. Of course, if you like, you could start with a 4 mb system that’s fully expandable…”
“Wow, Meena,” Kiran replied, “may be I need to think about this some more.” To himself, he thought,
“I think I will call Vijay and ask him where he bought his computer.”
In the given situation Meena failed to make the sale because
(a) Computer was not up to the expectations of Kiran
(b) May be price offered by Meena is not good
(c) Meena failed to understand Kiran’s needs and confused him with her sales pitch
(d) Kiran did not make up his mind to buy computer
(e) None of the above.
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50. An opening sentence can make or break your written communication. Suppose, you are sending a
potential customer a catalog he or she asked for. The best of the opening sentences for your message is
(a) ‘Enclosed is the catalog of our decorator lamps’
(b) ‘I am happy to be able to answer your inquiry’
(c) ‘In accordance with your instructions, we are happy to enclose our last catalog on decorator lamps’
(d) ‘I have received your letter asking for the catalog’
(e) ‘This will acknowledge receipt of your June 10th message.’