Selections from the 2024 Case Writing Competition: Business Communication Case and Student Example
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| Title: | Selections from the 2024 Case Writing Competition: Business Communication Case and Student Example |
|---|---|
| Language: | English |
| Authors: | Rachel Dolechek (ORCID |
| Source: | Business and Professional Communication Quarterly. 2025 88(1):186-190. |
| Availability: | SAGE Publications. 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320. Tel: 800-818-7243; Tel: 805-499-9774; Fax: 800-583-2665; e-mail: journals@sagepub.com; Web site: https://sagepub.com |
| Peer Reviewed: | Y |
| Page Count: | 5 |
| Publication Date: | 2025 |
| Document Type: | Journal Articles Reports - Research |
| Descriptors: | Business Communication, Competition, Case Studies, Writing Achievement, Student Participation, Writing Skills, Student Writing Models, Writing Ability |
| DOI: | 10.1177/23294906241302600 |
| ISSN: | 2329-4922 2329-4906 |
| Abstract: | As part of the Association for Business Communication Student Case Competition, this article features a case study written by ABC member Rachel Dolechek. The case was blind reviewed and selected by the ABC Student Competition Committee. ABC membership utilized the case in their classrooms throughout 2024 and submitted top student examples for the 2024 Case Writing Competition. A submission from Addie Hileman, sponsored by Kelley O'Brien, was selected as the top student case writer after evaluation by the ABC Student Competition Committee and a marketing business professional. The student's message serves as a teaching example within this article. |
| Abstractor: | As Provided |
| Entry Date: | 2025 |
| Accession Number: | EJ1465373 |
| Database: | ERIC |
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| FullText | Links: – Type: pdflink Url: https://content.ebscohost.com/cds/retrieve?content=AQICAHj0k_4E0hTGH8RJwT4gCJyBsGNe_WN95AvKlDbXJGqwxwFGB-ekZdKkKJR4tkOXaLToAAAA4zCB4AYJKoZIhvcNAQcGoIHSMIHPAgEAMIHJBgkqhkiG9w0BBwEwHgYJYIZIAWUDBAEuMBEEDKZB3wnqzFyHtqZ68gIBEICBm8QMI8et1nQLRu6pfMUNHzGNFQAgJIfKhJKmubUBdk6yBV77CT7gxP7dpyxMLet5hScEiiVs2JGl6qflKCNCljHiubDLKL87dHfjbcXotvPPzWTxVH-Qg3NGxvbgW2NS1LAYhOvgzxV4JrWh1OjkARnZn9wiDCHXxRSjFXolYOLCSxjVviia20VKS7jYQHOtJa8ygyeMWmaG6Lpn Text: Availability: 1 Value: <anid>AN0182608593;[h95b]01mar.25;2025Feb04.02:42;v2.2.500</anid> <title id="AN0182608593-1">Selections from the 2024 Case Writing Competition: Business Communication Case and Student Example </title> <p>As part of the Association for Business Communication Student Case Competition, this article features a case study written by ABC member Rachel Dolechek. The case was blind reviewed and selected by the ABC Student Competition Committee. ABC membership utilized the case in their classrooms throughout 2024 and submitted top student examples for the 2024 Case Writing Competition. A submission from Addie Hileman, sponsored by Kelley O'Brien, was selected as the top student case writer after evaluation by the ABC Student Competition Committee and a marketing business professional. The student's message serves as a teaching example within this article.</p> <p>Keywords: business communication case study; business communication teaching aid; case writing competition</p> <hd id="AN0182608593-2">Writing Prompt: From Microsoft to New Heights Tech: The Case of Wearable Technology in the Wo...</hd> <p>Recently, Microsoft made a commitment to improving employee health and well-being by using a holistic wellness approach—and it paid off. Microsoft employees reported a 47% increase in physical activity and a 5% reduction in body mass ([<reflink idref="bib2" id="ref1">2</reflink>]). Microsoft understands the importance of a holistic health and wellness approach that involves not only an employee's physical health but also their financial, mental, and emotional well-being ([<reflink idref="bib3" id="ref2">3</reflink>]). Employee health and wellness initiatives have also proved to be beneficial to the organization. Some organizations have reported a decrease in lost workdays and worker's compensation claims ([<reflink idref="bib1" id="ref3">1</reflink>]). Healthy employees can save an organization money. These impressive results have inspired other organizations, like New Heights Tech, to invest in health and wellness incentives for employees.</p> <hd id="AN0182608593-3">New Heights Tech</hd> <p>New Heights Tech (NHT) is a midsized organization with 250 employees located throughout the Midwest. NHT specializes in providing Internet, TV, phone, and home security services to residential and commercial customers. Recognizing that the majority of their employees are engaging in sedentary work, NHT chose to invest in their employees by way of a new health and well-being initiative. The initiative focused on physical, mental, emotion, and financial health by way of technology-driven software and wearable devices.</p> <hd id="AN0182608593-4">Implementation of New Initiative</hd> <p>At the beginning of the year, NHT employees were provided access to the new software platform and issued their own smartwatch to track their individual goals via the platform. NHT leveraged the technology to gamify the new wellness initiatives. The overwhelming majority of employees embraced the gamified approach and were motivated to actively participate in the initiative. What could go wrong?</p> <hd id="AN0182608593-5">Unexpected Consequences of Wearable Devices</hd> <p>NHT provided training for how to use the wellness software platform and how to actively participate in the wellness initiative. Most employees were wearing their smartwatch all day—including in meetings with coworkers or customers. A number of customers had complained about NHT employees being distracted. There was one instance of an NHT employee inadvertently taking a personal phone call from their smartwatch in front of a customer.</p> <hd id="AN0182608593-6">Your Assignment</hd> <p>NHT understands the benefits of their new health and well-being initiative. They have invested in their employees and want to see the program continue. However, NHT is considering ending the use of wearable devices if the devices continue to negatively impact the customer experience and office culture.</p> <p>The NHT Talent Development Department created a training on best practices for using wearable devices. This training includes adapting smartwatch settings, smartwatch etiquette, and NHT expectations for using the wearable device. As an employee within the Talent Development team, you have been asked to write an email to all employees. Persuade employees to complete the training within 1 week while reinforcing the benefits of the well-being initiative. Use an audience-centered approach. NHT does not want to discourage employees from participating in the well-being initiative.</p> <p>You are welcome to use evidence from this case or evidence you have found on your own to help support your message. Your message must follow email conventions, use professional tone and style, and persuade employees.</p> <hd id="AN0182608593-7">Case Competition: Winning Student Example</hd> <p>To: All NHT employees (firstname_lastname@newheightstech.com)</p> <p>From: XXXXXX (XXX_XXXXX@newheightstech.com)</p> <p>Date: 05/06/24</p> <p>Subject line: [Complete by 5/13] New Smart Watch Training</p> <p>Dear NHT team,</p> <p>I am excited to see high levels of engagement in the new health and wellness initiative that HR introduced last month. To continue participating in this program, please <bold>complete a virtual training</bold> explaining updated protocol on smart watch best practices by <bold>May 13th</bold>. Due to concerns about employee distraction, <bold>the program's continuation depends on your timely completion of this two-hour training.</bold> Please see below for more information on training rationale, accessing the training, training content, and personal importance.</p> <hd1 id="AN0182608593-8">Why should I complete additional training?</hd1> <p>Your initial training focused primarily on program offerings, incentives, and timelines, leaving out crucial guidelines on how employees should utilize wearable devices in the workplace. As a result, several customers complained about instances of distracted employees using their watches during meetings.</p> <p>New Heights Tech takes customer concerns seriously, and the board of directors will vote to remove the program if customer feedback does not improve by the end of May. I hope to avoid this outcome, as the HR department received over 20 messages from employees this past month expressing positive feedback towards managing personal health goals. I believe the HR team can solve this issue by implementing standardized guidelines for watch usage. The two-hour virtual training will communicate these new guidelines to employees.</p> <hd1 id="AN0182608593-9">How do I access the training?</hd1> <p>As mentioned previously, the training is virtual and will take approximately two hours. HR will offer the training through the same website as the initial training, and you can access it HERE. Like before, <emph>your username is your NHT email address and your password is your employee ID number.</emph></p> <p>What will the training consist of?</p> <p>The two-hour training primarily discusses guidelines for watch usage in professional settings. The training consists of three modules to complete at your own pace. Please refer to the following breakdown when budgeting time to spend on each section.</p> <p></p> <ulist> <item> <bold> • _B_Module 1</bold> (~one hour): Understanding expectations for wearable device usage.</item> <p></p> <item> <bold> • _B_Module 2</bold> (~30 minutes): Updating smart watch settings.</item> <p></p> <item> <bold> • _B_Module 3</bold> (~30 minutes): Practicing appropriate smart-watch etiquette.</item> </ulist> <hd1 id="AN0182608593-10">How will the training help me?</hd1> <p>Two employee volunteers already completed the training and provided feedback to HR. Both employees reported that the training provided helpful clarification on previously unclear expectations. They also found that the updated watch settings improved the user experience, making it easier to track personal health data and goal progress.</p> <p>I am excited to share this update to the program, as I believe the training will allow wearable devices to become a more practical component of the workplace. This development will also provide HR with greater flexibility and approval needed to continue offering you fun new programs. As mentioned before, please complete the two-hour virtual training by May 13th, and reach out to me if you have any questions.</p> <p>Best,</p> <p>XXXXXX</p> <p> <emph>NHT HR Manager</emph> </p> <p>XXXXX_XXXXX@newheightstech.com</p> <ref id="AN0182608593-11"> <title> References </title> <blist> <bibl id="bib1" idref="ref3" type="bt">1</bibl> <bibtext> Berry L. L., Mirabito A. M., Baun W. B. (2010). What's the hard return on employee wellness programs? Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2010/12/whats-the-hard-return-on-employee-wellness-programs</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibl id="bib2" idref="ref1" type="bt">2</bibl> <bibtext> Bihani V. (2023). Beyond water coolers: Empower employee wellness with smart technology. Forbes. https://<ulink href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2023/06/23/beyond-water-coolers-empower-employee-wellness-with-smart-technology">www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2023/06/23/beyond-water-coolers-empower-employee-wellness-with-smart-technology</ulink></bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibl id="bib3" idref="ref2" type="bt">3</bibl> <bibtext> Kawamoto D. (2023). 5 important takeaways from Microsoft's HR strategy. Human Resource Executive. https://hrexecutive.com/5-important-takeaways-from-microsofts-hr-strategy/</bibtext> </blist> </ref> <ref id="AN0182608593-12"> <title> Footnotes </title> <blist> <bibtext> The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Rachel Dolechek</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext>Graph https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6829-7902</bibtext> </blist> </ref> <aug> <p>By Rachel Dolechek; Addie Hileman and Kelley O'Brien</p> <p>Reported by Author; Author; Author</p> <p></p> <p>Rachel Dolechek is an assistant professor of business communication in the Robbins College of Business and Entrepreneurship at Fort Hays State University. She teaches courses in business, corporate, and managerial communication, as well as professional development. Her current research focuses on teaching and learning strategies in business communication and business education.</p> <p>Addie Hileman is an undergraduate student majoring in Business Administration and Economics and minoring in Spanish at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. She completed Kelley O'Brien's business communication course in 2024.</p> <p>Kelley O'Brien is a clinical assistant professor of management and corporate communication in the Kenan-Flagler Business School at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill where she teaches business communication. She holds an adjunct appointment at the School of Government at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill where she teaches courses in professional communication and grant writing.</p> </aug> |
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| RecordInfo | BibRecord: BibEntity: Identifiers: – Type: doi Value: 10.1177/23294906241302600 Languages: – Text: English PhysicalDescription: Pagination: PageCount: 5 StartPage: 186 Subjects: – SubjectFull: Business Communication Type: general – SubjectFull: Competition Type: general – SubjectFull: Case Studies Type: general – SubjectFull: Writing Achievement Type: general – SubjectFull: Student Participation Type: general – SubjectFull: Writing Skills Type: general – SubjectFull: Student Writing Models Type: general – SubjectFull: Writing Ability Type: general Titles: – TitleFull: Selections from the 2024 Case Writing Competition: Business Communication Case and Student Example Type: main BibRelationships: HasContributorRelationships: – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Rachel Dolechek – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Addie Hileman – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Kelley O'Brien IsPartOfRelationships: – BibEntity: Dates: – D: 01 M: 03 Type: published Y: 2025 Identifiers: – Type: issn-print Value: 2329-4922 – Type: issn-electronic Value: 2329-4906 Numbering: – Type: volume Value: 88 – Type: issue Value: 1 Titles: – TitleFull: Business and Professional Communication Quarterly Type: main |
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