Fundamentals of Business Communication distills the basic concepts and information from Ober's Contemporary Business Communication and places greater emphasis on grammar and mechanics. This brief text combines the traditional textbook format with a workbook and allows students to immediately test, apply, and reinforce the basics of business communication.

Each chapter opens with an interview profiling managers from multinational companies (such as 3M), small entrepreneurial companies (such as iVillage), and nonprofit organizations (such as The Wilderness Society). These discussions with industry insiders set the stage for key topics covered in the chapter.

Language Arts topics appear in every third chapter to introduce or review basic grammar & mechanics. Ongoing examples provide a consistent thread of instruction, illustrate business communication in context, and inforce the importance of audience analysis.

After each major topic, Checkpoints allow students to immediately review and test their understanding of the material just covered. Progressively increasing in degree of difficulty, these features ask students to recall, define, apply, and then critically analyze what they have learned.

Activities and end-of-chapter exercises that follow the 3Ps model guide students through the assessment of a problem or a typical business scenario involving effective communication, the process of determining how to respond to the situation, and the final product—such as an email or memo—created in response. Seven Portfolio Projects allow students to demonstrate their communication skills to prospective employers. Students prepare: a routine informational message; claim; bad-news message; persuasive request; situational business report; videotape of an oral business presentation; and a résumé, cover letter, and videotape of a practice interview. 446 pages. Listed up to One Hundred & Eighty Seven dollars.