Contact: Maridith Geuder
When Mississippi State University business professor Carol M. Lehman returned a Jansport backpack to the manufacturer for repair, she didn't just get an improved product in return. She also got a good lesson in customer relations that she incorporated into a major business communication textbook.
Lehman is the co-author of "Business Communication," which recently marked its 40th anniversary with the release of a new edition. Published by South-Western Thomson Learning, it has been used by more than 1 million students since it first was printed, the publishers estimate.
Lehman and co-editor Debbie D. DuFrene of Stephen F. Austin State University in Nagadoches, Texas, became editors in 1990 of a text they both had taught in their own business communication courses.
Since then, both have been involved in the research that can help students around the United States adapt to a constantly changing business environment.
"With increasing demands in today's workplace, we realized the importance of incorporating contemporary themes while stressing traditional communication skills," Lehman said.
To provide actual business illustrations, the editors include a feature that highlights organizations and professionals who excel in communication.
Jansport, for instance, sends customers whose backpacks are under repair a postcard from the product's "camp counselor." The note shows the company's innovative approach to handling routine customer claims in a way that fosters customer satisfaction and brand loyalty, Lehman said.
Also included are communication stand-outs such as Fed Ex, GE Capital Southwest Airlines, Yahoo, Procter & Gamble, and The Container Store, among others. For in-depth information, students are directed to corporate web sites and business literature related to the issue being studied.
Lehman said the company analyses give students valuable communication insights. "What has made Yahoo a best-known web site? What strategies account for AFLAC's repeated recognition for producing one of the nation's 10 best annual reports and how has that affected investors' image of the company? What can organizations and employees learn from The Container Store's recognition as the best company in America to work for?"
To respond to another contemporary business need, the editors include detailed discussions about building high-performance teams. A separate handbook can be used with the textbook or as a stand-alone resource, Lehman said.
In a related web site, "template files for team documents and additional web sites for team-building projects keep the printed version up to date," she noted.
Also among major emphases of the book are providing a grounding in legal and ethical issues related to business communication and preparing students to communicate in a diverse workplace with different cultures, ages and genders. The professors also incorporate information about web publishing, effective meeting management and speaking techniques for videoconferences, among other topics.
Lehman is professor of management and information systems and has taught business communication at Mississippi State for 16 years. She received bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Southern Mississippi and her doctorate from the University of Arkansas.