2020 Business Communication Solved Question Paper, Gauhati University B.Com 1st Sem CBCS Pattern

Gauhati University B. Com 1^st Sem Solved Question Papers
BUSINESS COMMUNICATION Solved Question Paper 2020 ((Held in 2021)
(Honours/Regular)
Paper: BCM – AE/MIL – 1014
Full Marks: 80
Time: 3 hours
The figures in the margin indicate full marks for the questions
Answer the questions from any one of the Options
OPTION – A
Paper: BCM-AE-1014
(Business Communication)

1. State whether the following statements are True or False: (any ten) 1×10=10

a) The word ‘communis’ means ‘to share’, ‘to impart’, ‘to participate’ or ‘to make common’.

Ans: False. The word communicare is derived from the word communis which means ‘to impart’, ‘to participate’ or ‘to make common’.

b) When we interact, the process of communication may change.

Ans: True

c) Listening is to take information while remaining judgemental and unempathetic.

Ans: True

d) Downward communication in an organisation is empowered by authority.

Ans: True

e) Cultural insensitivity may enhance communication barriers.

Ans: True

f) Noise is any hindrance or interference.

Ans: True

g) After a telephonic talk with your senior, your willingness to do a task entrusted on you would be considered ‘feedback’.

Ans: False

h) Circular letters create an impression of personal interest by using ‘you’ and never ‘all customers’.

Ans: True

i) A good resume should not consist of your special skills, but only of your past experience and your level of education.

Ans: True

j) In report writing, facts are not based on thorough study or investigation.

Ans: False

k) In a Group Discussion, one of the desirable actions is to over speak.

Ans: False

l) While writing an e-mail, it is imperative to keep caps lock off.

Ans: False

2. Answer any five of the following:        2×5=10

a) Discuss the advantages of formal communication.

Ans: Formal communication is required for any organization because it provides a list of below advantages:

1. Smooth Communication System: Formal communication moves through pre-determined channel and therefore everyone is aware for where and how to send the message. So, it does not face any problem to flow.

2. Increase in Efficiency: Such Communication increase overall efficiency of the management as organizational rules and procedures are required to be followed always.

3. Permanent Record: All formal communication like letters, report & memos are kept permanently. So it is helpful in future decision making.

4. Discipline: This communication creates the discipline in the mind of employees in any organization.

b) Discuss ‘empathy’ as a basic precondition to have effective interpersonal communication.

Ans: Interpersonal communication is the ability to relate to people in written as well as verbal communication. This is possible only when superiors are able to emotionally read the people in the organisation. Empathic skills are abilities that relate to the identification and use of emotions in the workplace. Empathetic people care about others. They show interest in them, and they should concern for them.

c) Social Media and rumour.

Ans: In the present world, social media is the best and quick method of communication. But all the messages shared on social media are not reliable. Sharing of fake or edited images and video clips can spread rumours. Many anti-social elements are using various social media such as Facebook, Twitter or Whatsapp to spread rumours.

d) The effectiveness of visual presentation.

Ans: Visual aids in significant in the process of communication because of the following reasons:

a) It saves time because visual aids effectively pass a message to the audience within a short time.

b) Visuals ensure that the messages are clear and unified.

C) Visuals helps the viewer retain the message clearer than if it were in written form.

d) Visuals helps in simplifying complex data.

e) It removes the language barrier.

f) It is effective and popular method of communication because audience love watching images, gif, graphic videos rather than listening to words or an advertisement.

e) Discuss the factors that guide us during ‘audience analysis’.

Ans: Factors guiding audience analysis:

1. Audience expectations 2. Knowledge of the audience about the topic 3. Size of audience 4. Demographic factors of the audience such as age, gender, religion etc. 5. Attitude of the audience towards the topic.

f) Haptic Communication.

Ans: Haptic communication is a branch of nonverbal communication in which people or animals communicate via touching. Touch is often intimate and can be used as an act of domination or friendship, depending on the context and who is touching who, how and when.

g) Minutes of Meeting.

Ans: Minute: Minute of a meeting contains a fair and correct summary of the proceedings of a meeting. Minutes must be prepared and signed within 30 days of the conclusion of the meeting. The minute books of meetings must be kept at the registered office of the company or at such other place as may be approved by the board.

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- Business Communiction Solved Question Paper 2019

- Business Communiction Solved Question Paper 2020 (Held in 2021)

- Business Communiction Solved Question Paper 2021 (Held in 2022)

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3. Answer the following:5×4=20

(a) Correct any five of the following:                   1×5=5

1) Myself I am Bitupan Medhi.

Ans: Myself Bitupan Medhi.

2) He did not wrote the test last week.

Ans: He did not write the test last week.

3) What is the time in your watch?

Ans: What is the time by your watch?

4) I prefer coffee than tea.

Ans: I prefer tea to coffee.

5) I cut my hair yesterday.

Ans: I had my hair cut yesterday

6) He can swim, can he?

Ans: He can swim. Can't he?

7) His lecture was fairly boring.

Ans: His lecture was very boring.

8) This flower is more lovelier than the other.

Ans: This flower is lovelier than the other.

(b) Correct any five of the words that have been underlined:                 1×5=5

1) My collaegue has left for better opportunities.

Ans: My colleague has left for better opportunities.

2) It is embarasing to be praised on the face.

Ans: It is embarrassing to be praised on the face.

3) The lump turned out to be benine.

Ans: The lump turned out to be benign.

4) I must conceed, I did not expect him to do well.

Ans: I must concede, I didn't expect him to do well.

5) The furniture’s are too ornate for this small office.

Ans: The furniture is too ornate for this small office.

6) The liason officer arranged for our stay.

Ans: The liaison officer arranged for our stay.

7) I have to vaccum my room tomorrow.

Ans: I have to vacuum my room tomorrow.

(c) Correct any five of the following:                   1×5=5

1) Magic tricks are a slight/sleight of hand.

Ans: Magic tricks are a sleight of hand.

2) She pulled long mouth/face when she was told she couldn’t go out for the outing.

Ans: She pulled long face when she was told she couldn’t go out for the outing.

3) Many areas in the city were merged/plunged into darkness for several hours.

Ans: Many areas in the city were plunged into darkness for several hours.

4) I wish I was/were a king.

Ans: I wish I were a king.

5) I like to talk to him. He is conducive/amenable to reason.

Ans: I like to talk to him. He is amenable to reason.

6) We cannot go on strike every year. Now that we have gone on strike we must culminate/clinch this issue.

Ans: We cannot go on strike every year. Now that we have gone on strike we must clinch this issue.

7) The Sun is stationary/stationery.

Ans: The Sun is stationary.

(d) Do as directed: (any five) 1×5=5

1) Write the synonyms of Insolvent and Rebate.

Ans: Insolvent = Bankrupt

Rebate = Discount

2) Write the antonyms of Common and Anonymous.

Ans: Common = Abnormal/Different

Anonymous = Known

3) A person living at the same time as another.  (Provide the single word)

Ans: Contemporaries

4) One who does not believe in God.  (Provide the single word)

Ans: Atheist

5) Promises should be kept.  (Change the voice)

Ans: You should keep promises

6) What a horrible experience!  (Change into assertive sentence)

Ans: It was a very horrible experience.

7) Every rose has a thorn.  (Change into negative, keeping meaning intact)

Ans: There is no rose without thorn.

8) The leather bag is mine.  (Make it a complex sentence)

Ans: The bag which is made of leather is mine.

4. (a)Answer any two of the following: 10×2=20

1) What do you mean by barriers of communication? Write briefly on Semantic barrier and Psychological barriers.

Ans: Communication is the process of passing information and understanding from one person to another, anything that obstructs the free flow of communication is referred to us Barrier of communication. E.g. Problem in encoding and decoding, wrong or defective communication channel, noise in the channel etc. Barrier may arise at any of the following level:

a)    Sender oriented,

b)    Receiver oriented

Sender-oriented barriers could be voluntary or involuntary. At any cost, efforts should be made on the part of the sender to identify and remove them. As the sender is the originator of communication, he should be extremely careful not to erect barriers. If his interaction gives rise to or indicates that there are barriers, the communication comes to a grinding halt. Some of the barriers that are sender-oriented are as follows:

Receiver can also have some barriers in the course of the interaction. Although his role in the initial phase is passive, he becomes active when he starts assimilating and absorbing the information. He is equally to blame if the situation goes awry and communication comes to a stop, or there is miscommunication. Some of the barriers emanating from the side of the receiver are as follows:

1. Semantic Barriers: Semantic means the relationships of signs of their reference. Semantic barrier arises from the disadvantages of the symbolic system. Symbols have got number of meaning and one has to choose any one of them according to the requirement of communication. Symbol or the language is the most important tool of communication which has to be used very carefully:

I. Words with different meaning: Some words convey more than one meaning. When the receiver assigns a different meaning to a word than what the sender intended, there occurs miscommunication.

II. Denotation and connotation: Words have two types of meaning = Denotation and connotation. Denotation is the literal meaning of the words connotation are the suggestive meaning of the words. Connotation is the suggestive meanings of the words. Connotation may be positive or negative.

III. Offensive style of communication: Badly expressed messages lose their impact. Offensive style of communication leads to communication breakdown causing loss of time and money.

IV. Wrong assumptions: Communication should not be based on assumption as it may lead to wrong interpretation. All possible efforts should be made to clarify assumptions.

V. Selective perception: many a time the message is decoded by the receiver in a way which may be selective. In other words, most of the receivers protect their own interest and expectations leading to a particular type of feedback which becomes a communication problem.

2. Socio-psychological or personal Barriers: There are certain socio psychological factors which restrict the free flow of communication. They are the attitude and opinions, status consciousness, one’s relations with fellow workers, seniors, and junior’s etc. family background. These restrict participative communication:

I. Motives, attitudes, judgments, emotions, and social values of people from the part of the personal barriers. Psychological distance is also developed with this.

II. Individual Differences: There are differences in the motives, attitudes and sentiments of the people. So this causes problems in encoding and decoding other’s sentiments, attitudes and motives.

III. Differences in interest: The interest of people also differs. A problem may be important for one person but may not carry weight for another. The ideas, question, attitudes, feelings etc of other party may represent an obstacle to one’s own personal goal.

IV. Division of People: Communication is ideas and viewpoint also gets affected by the division of people into classes, castes and communities.

V. Difference of viewpoints: Communication suffers when there are differences in view point of the different people.

VI. Lack of planning: Good communication never happens but has to be planned. When people take it lightly and communicate without planning it turns into miscommunication or mal communication.

VII. Cultural barriers: Due to difference in the cultural background the same word, phrases, symbols, actions etc. may mean different to different group of people. Mis understanding may take place due to this.

2) Discuss the process of communication.

Ans: Process of Communication

The process of communication is the inter relationship between several independent components. It consists of a chain of related actions and reaction which together result in exchange of information. In order to understand the process of communication, it is necessary to describe each of these components. A model of communication process is as follows:

1.    Sender: The sender is the first component of the process of c communication. The sender may be a speaker, a writer or any other person. He is the one who has a message and wants it to share it for some purpose.

2.    Ideation: Ideation is the preliminary step in communication where sender creates an idea to communicate. This idea is the content and basis of the message to be communicated. Several ideas may generate in the sender’s mind. The sender must identify, analyze and arrange the ideas sequentially before transmitting them to the receiver.

3.    Message: Message is the heart of communication. It is what the sender wants to convey to the receiver. It may be verbal i.e. written or spoken or non-verbal i.e. body language, space language, etc.

4.    Encoding: To encode is to put an idea into words. In this step the communicator organizes his ideas into a series of symbols or words which will be communicated to the intended receiver. Thus the ideas are converted into words or symbols. The words and the symbols should be selected carefully, it should be understandable and most of all it should be suitable for transmission and reception.

5.    Transmission: Next in the process of communication is transmission of the message as encoded messages are transmitted through various media and channels of communication connects the sender and the receiver. The channel and media should be selected keeping in mind the requirement of the receiver, the communication to be effective and efficient the channel should be appropriate.

6.    Receiver: Receiver is the person or group for whom the message is meant. He may be a listener, a reader or a viewer. Any neglect on the part of the receiver may make the communication ineffective. Receiver is thus the ultimate destination of the message. It the message does not reach the receiver the communication is said to be incomplete.

7.    Decoding: Decoding means translation of symbols encoded by the sender into ideas for understanding. Understanding the message by receiver is the key to the decoding process. The message should be accurately reproduced in the receiver’s mind. If the receiver is unable to understand the message correctly the communication is ineffective.

8.    Behaviour of the receiver: It refers to the response by the receiver of the communication received from the sender. He may like to ignore the message or to store the information received or to perform the task assigned by the sender. Thus communication is complete as soon as the receiver responses.

9.    Feedback: Feedback indicates the result of communication. It is the key element in the communication and is the only way of judging the effectiveness of communication. It enables the sender to know whether his message has been properly interpreted or not. Systematic use of feedback helps to improve future message. Feedback, like the message could be oral, written or non-verbal. It has to be collected from the receiver.

3) What is a Notice and an Agenda of a meeting? What are the key points to keep in mind while drafting them?

Ans: Notice of Meetings: A meeting in order to be valid must be convened by a proper notice issued by the proper authority. It means that the notice convening the meeting be properly drafted according to the Act and the rules, and must be served on all members who are entitled to attend and vote at the meeting. For general meeting of any kind at least 21 days’ notice must be given to members. A shorter notice for Annual General Meeting will be valid, if all members entitled to vote give their consent. The number of days in each case shall be clear days, i.e. the days must be calculated excluding the day on which the notice is issued, a day or so for postal transit, and the day on which the meeting is to be held. Every notice of meeting of a company must specify the place and the day and hour of the meeting, and shall contain a statement of the business to be transacted thereat.

Agenda of Meetings: The word ‘agenda’ literally means ‘things to be done’. It refers to the programme of business to be transacted at a meeting. Agenda is essential for the systematic transaction of the business of a meeting in the proper order of importance. It is customary for all organisations to send an agenda along with the notice of a meeting to all members. The business of the meeting must be conducted in the same order in which the items are placed in the agenda and the order can be varied only with the consent of the meeting. The agenda for meetings of the Board is prepared by the Secretary to the Board and must be approved in advance by the Executive Committee. 

4) Discuss the four pillars: self-image, self-talk, self-esteem and self-confidence of Intrapersonal Communication.

Ans: Answer only two questions

5) Why are reports written? Write a short report, written in letter form with subject line, introduction, conclusion and recommendation. You may provide an illustration of your own.

Ans: Answer only two questions

(b) Write on any two of the following:                    10×2=20

1) Write a request letter for quotation of La Opala Crockery. State clearly what you want in terms of discount, delivery, packaging and terms of payment.

2) Draft a letter to a first-time loan seeker from your bank. You have to turn down his request for credit. Pay attention to the tone of your refusal and tact in assuring him of another opportunity.

3) Assume that you are the Sales Manager of Indigo Prints & Blocks, Jaipur. Write an adjustment letter accepting the complain of the local dealer that the fabric he had received from you have not been “fast colour” as your label had claimed. Take care to specify what steps you will take to compensate for the fault.

4) Write a Memo to your Salesman who works in your Departmental Store “Farm-shelves”, asking for an explanation for his frequent unauthorized absence from duty.

5) Draft a circular letter announcing the change of premise of your office “Urban Rental Services” from Rukmininagar, Dispur to Bhangagarh, near Times of India Building.

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