Management Communication
MCOM-GB.2100 (1.5 credits)
Professor Ronni Burns
In a September 2007 feature, The Wall Street Journal reported that corporate MBA recruiters ranked Communication Skills as the most important attribute they considered when evaluating applicants. Being able to communicate effectively is a vital component to many aspects of business life. This course emphasizes both a strategic and practical approach to provide you with a set of frameworks that will help you construct effective e-mail correspondence, documents and presentations which inform, persuade and influence your audience. The Management Communication course offers you the opportunity to speak and write in a managerial context while receiving personalized feedback and coaching to help develop and sharpen these critical skills.

Consultants today must be as strategic in their communication as they are in their thinking. Clients expect the consultant to listen well to their perceived needs, engage collaboratively with their staff and ultimately communicate their insights in a manner that leads to some form of change. Managing the communication touchpoints in this process will frequently be the deciding factor for success. In this course, students will take on client engagements coordinated by Stern's NY Initiatives office. Each project will be based in NYC and have an impact on the City. The assignments will require participation from the initial client meeting, through data collection and finally presenting to the client. While the course experience will entail considerable field work, students will be supported by class work that focuses on the communication tools in a typical consulting contract. We'll examine and apply techniques such as brainstorming, conducting interviews, facilitating meetings, building consensus and presenting recommendations. In this way, the course will address communication challenges for consultants and provide a forum for discussing and resolving them.

Communication for the Global Economy
MCOM-GB.2120 (1.5 credits)
Professor Diane Lennard
This course examines the relationship between communication and culture, and the ways in which diverse cultural perspectives affect individuals, groups, and organizations. The course is designed to increase your cross-cultural awareness and knowledge, as well as your ability to adapt your communication behavior and respond appropriately to cultural differences. Class sessions will consist of discussion, case analysis, experiential learning activities and presentations. This interactive course will help you become a more effective presenter and be more prepared to assume a leadership role in a diverse and global context.

Professor Irv Schenkler
What triggers a crisis and how can an organization respond as it is subjected to the white heat glare of media scrutiny? Firms constantly face risks to reputation and profits as a result of unforeseen events, situations, employee conduct and ethical entanglements. Today, anticipating and reacting to crises is a fundamental duty of senior management.

This course examines the relationship between business and the media with special attention to the variables involved in organizational crises. Students develop a perspective for communication with various constituencies, especially employees, shareholders, and the media. Selected topics include issue response and the Internet; managing outside pressure, and communicating and managing during crises. The course features guest speakers from the fields of journalism, corporate communication, and communication consulting. Course work includes readings, case analyses, and oral and written reports.

The Performing Manager
MCOM-GB.2122 (1.5 credits)
Professor Patricia Bower
Effective managers must motivate and inspire others to follow their “lead.” This course will explore the seemingly elusive quality often referred to as personal charisma – that hard to pinpoint ability to not only set a clear direction, but communicate the energy and passion to forcefully engage others in a process.

A variety of performance techniques, borrowed from theater, sports, music, and even stand-up comedy, will be explored to project enthusiasm, manage performance anxiety in presentations and interviews, enhance personal interactions, and facilitate, in Aristotle’s words, “the dynamic unfolding” of the self within you. Specifically, students will participate in improvisations, vocal development exercises, motivational presentation, narratives and visual communication activities. Exercises will focus on the personal vitality necessary to translate vision and concept into action. Examples from film, literature, and business publications will also be discussed.

This course provides an overview of the theory and practice of business coaching within organizational settings. You will gain a basic knowledge of the coaching process, including how to create the coaching relationship, engage in coaching conversations, and clarify action commitments. You will learn specific strategies and techniques to increase effectiveness when communicating with others, and develop an awareness of your own and others’ communication patterns. In addition, you will have first-hand experience coaching and being coached. We will examine the conceptual foundations and ethical issues of coaching through readings and class discussions. Coaching case studies will be drawn from corporate and business school settings, and from the perspectives of manager and consultant.