AN ANALYSIS OF BUSINESS EXECUTIVES' PERCEPTIONS ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF BUSINESS WRITING TOPICS EMPHASIZED IN THE MOST COMMONLY ADOPTED BUSINESS COMMUNICATION TEXTBOOK

Scope and Method of Study. The purpose of this study was to collect and analyze the perceptions of business people concerning the importance of certain written business communication topics and compare these perceptions with the approximate percentage of space devoted to those topics in the six most widely adopted business communication textbooks, as researched and identified by Ober and Wunsch in 1983. The study sought to: (1) identify the areas of business communication considered most essential to business people; (2) ascertain the percentage of space devoted to selected topics in the six textbooks most often adopted in 1982 for postsecondary use in business communication courses; and (3) compare the space given in the six textbooks with the perceptions of selected business executives concerning the areas of written communication considered most important for business.;The population of the study consisted of 122 companies and organizations which sent representatives to conduct employment interviews at Oklahoma State University during the Fall, 1984. The questionnaire was designed to elicit information from business people concerning their perceptions of the importance of major topics included in most business communication textbooks.;Findings and Conclusions. The written communication topics perceived by the surveyed business people to be the most important were: (1) Communication Theory; (2) Memorandums; (3) Routine/Good News Letters. The topics to which the most space was devoted in textbooks were: (1) Communication Theory; (2) Formal Reports; and (3) Routine/Good News Letters.