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This article was first posted on my old blog at http://www.bloglines.com/blog/wsodeman?id=265

I enjoyed reading this article in today’s Honolulu Advertiser. There are several examples of worst and best practices in business writing.

It’s good to see that a few leading business schools, including Notre Dame, are including writing and communication courses in their programs. Students at my university, which has a large international enrollment, would benefit from a similar program.

Tom Clark, an entrepreneurship professor at Xavier University, summed it up well:

“Young people are wrapped up in the speed with which they communicate rather than seeing writing as a reflection of their best selves.”

Clear writing is important for any business student, no matter their age. I’ve always believed that learning how to become a lifelong learner is an important part of graduate school. E-mail, blogging, and text messaging make writing well a daily challenge.

If employees don’t understand the message, what’s the point?

If supervisors and managers must struggle to understand a subordinate’s report or memo, something is wrong. Here’s an poor example from American Savings Bank. The company and its parent, HEI, are now involved in multiple investigations and two lawsuits regarding a bank officer’s misappropriation of over US$600,000 in customer funds. I doubt that senior vice president Abel Malczon, Connie Lau or Bert Cormiel ever believed that poor writing could land them in civil court.