BUSINESS COMMUNICATION – case study

Section B & C – All questions should be attempted                           30 marks

Case Study – The Concierge:

Damien Watson works as the Concierge at Sheraton Hotel. Each day he greets guests, answers their queries, and arranges tours, transport, and other activities for the guests while they are staying at the hotel.

Today Damien has come to work with a splitting headache. He knows that he should have stayed at home, but he has used up all of his sick leave days. He was hoping that today would be a quiet day because he was not in the mood to deal with too many queries.

As he was resting his head on the front desk while sitting down, Lisa, a guest at the hotel came to his desk. She had heard about a flower show and wanted to know how to get there and was asking Damien for his assistance. Damien was not very attentive to Lisa’s request for assistance. His head was pounding away, and he wished she would go away. His face showed annoyance and he gave her a brochure for the flower show and a map of the city without uttering a single word.

When Lisa asked him what train to catch, he pointed at the train timetable. Lisa was very annoyed by Damien’s lack of assistance and told him so. During Lisa’s outburst Damien picked up the ringing phone and turned his back on her, which further upset Lisa. Lisa could not believe Damien’s attitude and told him she would take this matter up further with management.

Case Analysis Questions

Section B

1. Describe Damien’s non- verbal communication. (300 words) – 10 marks
2. What parts of the case study shows us examples of poor communication? (300 words) – 10 marks

Section C

1. Discuss how this situation could be rectified. (300 words) – 10 marks

Each answer should be written in essay format with introduction, body and conclusion. Answers should be analytical in nature. You should follow the word length given at the end of each question!