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CMA Foundation · Fundamentals of Business Laws and Business Communication · Introduction to Business Communication

Ravi writes to a customer, Mrs Iyer: 'Your complaint is baseless and you must stop wasting our time.' Which principle of effective communication is most clearly violated?

The principle most clearly violated is courtesy. The sentence is rude and dismissive toward the customer, showing no respect for her viewpoint. Effective business communication should remain polite and tactful even when rejecting a complaint, so the tone, not the length or specificity, is the defect.

  1. AConciseness
  2. BCourtesyCorrect
  3. CCorrectness of grammar
  4. DConcreteness

Explanation

The message is short and specific, so conciseness and concreteness are not the issue. The language is discourteous and disrespectful to the receiver, which breaches the principle of courtesy. Courtesy requires tact, politeness and respect even when refusing or disagreeing.

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