Background Power and Conflict Across Cultures
Required Material
To introduce yourself to the topic of this module, take a look at the following video and short article by a leading expert in the area of persuasion Dr. Robert Cialdini:
Cialdini, R. B., & Martin, S. (2012). Science of persuasion. Influence at Work. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFdCzN7RYbw
Cialdini, R. B. (2001). Harnessing the science of persuasion. Harvard Business Review, 79(9), 72-79. [EbscoHost]
Now that a look at this more detailed reading to expand your knowledge of persuasion:
McIntosh, P., Davis, J. H., & Luecke, R.,(2008). Chapter 9: When you aim to persuade. Interpersonal communication skills in the workplace. New York: AMA Self-Study. [EBSCO eBook Business Collection]
Finally, read these very practical guides to persuasive writing and these two interactive tutorials. These guides will be of great assistance to you in preparing for your Case Assignment:
Gorman, T. (2007). Chapter 9: Writing to persuade. Persuasion: Command Attention - Hold Their Interest - Get What You Want. Avon, Mass: F+W Media. [EBSCO eBook Business Collection].
Developing persuasive business messages. (2014). Pearson Learning Solutions. New York, NY.
Three-step process for writing persuasive messages. (2014). Pearson Learning Solutions. New York
For this assignment take a close look at the four required articles from the background materials these include Mortenson (2014), Cialdini (2001), Conger (1998), and Fracaro (2002). Pay close attention to what you perceive as the usefulness of the articles and how convincing you think each of the authors are. When you have finished carefully reading these articles, write a 4- to 5-page paper addressing the following issues:
- Which of these four authors was the most convincing or presented the most useful information? Explain your reasoning as to why you found this author more convincing that the others.
- Based on the ideas about persuasion that you read about in the background readings, write a memo at least one page in length to your employees trying to persuade them to cancel their weekend plans and volunteer to work next weekend. This memo shouldn't be an "order" that they need to work on the weekend, but rather an attempt to persuade them to do so. In addition to the background readings, use concepts from at least one of the two Pearson tutorials from the background materials to guide you in the writing of this memo.
- Explain how your memo applied the concepts from the readings and how you used one of the Pearson tutorials.
Assignment Expectations
- Follow the assignment instructions closely and follow all steps listed in the instructions.
- Stay focused on the precise assignment questions; don't go off on tangents or devote a lot of space to summarizing general background materials.
- Make sure to cite readings from the background materials page. Rely primarily on the required background readings as your sources of information.
- Include both a bibliography and in-text citations. See the Student Guide to Writing a High-Quality Academic Paper, including pages 13 and 14 on in-text citations.