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4 Case Study: The Cost of Poor Communication – Technical Writing Essentials

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TECHNICAL WRITING ESSENTIALS

CONTENTS

1. WHAT IS TECHNICAL COMMUNICATION?

1.4 Case Study: The Cost of Poor

No one knows exactly how much poor communication costs business, industry and government
each year, but estimates suggest billions. In fact, a recent estimate claims that the cost in the U.S.
alone are close to $4 billion annually![1] Poorly-worded or inefficient emails, careless reading or
listening to instructions, documents that go unread due to poor design, hastily presenting inaccur-
ate information, sloppy proofreading — all of these examples result in inevitable costs. The prob-
Previous: 1.3 Understanding the Rhetorical Situation
lem is that these costs aren’t usually included on the corporate balance sheet at the end of each
Next: 1.5 Writing Processes
year; if they are not properly or clearly defined, the problems remain unsolved.
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You may have seen the Project Management Tree Cartoon before (Figure 1.4.1); it has been used
and adapted widely to illustrate the perils of poor communication during a project.

Figure 1.4.1 Project Management Tree Swing Cartoon. [2]

The waste caused by imprecisely worded regulations or instructions, confusing emails, long-win-
ded memos, ambiguously written contracts, and other examples of poor communication is not as
easily identified as the losses caused by a bridge collapse or a flood. But the losses are just as real
—in reduced productivity, inefficiency, and lost business. In more personal terms, the losses are
measured in wasted time, work, money, and ultimately, professional recognition. In extreme
cases, losses can be measured in property damage, injuries, and even deaths.

The following “case studies” show how poor communications can have real world costs and con-
sequences. For example, consider the “Comma Quirk” in the Rogers Contract that cost $2 mil-
lion.[3] A small error in spelling a company name cost £8.8 million.[4] Examine Edward Tufte’s
discussion of the failed PowerPoint presentation that attempted to prevent the Columbia Space
Shuttle disaster.[5] The failure of project managers and engineers to communicate effectively res-
Previous: 1.3 Understanding the Rhetorical Situation
ulted in the deadly Hyatt Regency walkway collapse.[6] The case studies below offer a few more
examples that might be less extreme, but much more common. Next: 1.5 Writing Processes

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In small groups, examine each “case” and determine the following:

1. Define the rhetorical situation: Who is communicating to whom about what, how, and why? What
was the goal of the communication in each case?
2. Identify the communication error (poor task or audience analysis? Use of inappropriate language
or style? Poor organization or formatting of information? Other?)
3. Explain what costs/losses were incurred by this problem.
4. Identify possible solutions or strategies that would have prevented the problem, and what benefits
would be derived from implementing solutions or preventing the problem.

Present your findings in a brief, informal presentation to the class.

Exercises adapted from T.M Georges’ Analytical Writing for Science and Technology.[7]

CASE 1: The promising chemist who buried his results

Bruce, a research chemist for a major petro-chemical company, wrote a dense report about
some new compounds he had synthesized in the laboratory from oil-refining by-products.
The bulk of the report consisted of tables listing their chemical and physical properties, dia-
grams of their molecular structure, chemical formulas and data from toxicity tests. Buried at
the end of the report was a casual speculation that one of the compounds might be a particu-
larly safe and effective insecticide.

Seven years later, the same oil company launched a major research program to find more ef-
fective but environmentally safe insecticides. After six months of research, someone un-
covered Bruce’s report and his toxicity tests. A few hours of further testing confirmed that
one of Bruce’s compounds was the safe, economical insecticide they had been looking for.

Bruce had since left the company, because he felt that the importance of his research was not
being appreciated.

CASE 2: The rejected current regulator proposal

The Acme Electric Company worked day and night to develop a new current regulator de-
Previous: 1.3 Understanding the Rhetorical Situation
signed to cut the electric power consumption in aluminum plants by 35%. They knew that,
Next: 1.5 Writing Processes

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although the competition was fierce, their regulator could be produced more affordably, was
more reliable, and worked more efficiently than the competitors’ products.

The owner, eager to capture the market, personally but somewhat hastily put together a 120-
page proposal to the three major aluminum manufacturers, recommending that the new
Acme regulators be installed at all company plants.

She devoted the first 87 pages of the proposal to the mathematical theory and engineering
design behind his new regulator, and the next 32 to descriptions of the new assembly line she
planned to set up to produce regulators quickly. Buried in an appendix were the test results
that compared her regulator’s performance with present models, and a poorly drawn graph
showed the potential cost savings over 3 years.

The proposals did not receive any response. Acme Electric didn’t get the contracts, despite
having the best product. Six months later, the company filed for bankruptcy.

CASE 3: The instruction manual the scared customers away

As one of the first to enter the field of office automation, Sagatec Software, Inc. had built a
reputation for designing high-quality and user-friendly database and accounting programs for
business and industry. When they decided to enter the word-processing market, their engin-
eers designed an effective, versatile, and powerful program that Sagatec felt sure would out-
perform any competitor.

To be sure that their new word-processing program was accurately documented, Sagatec
asked the senior program designer to supervise writing the instruction manual. The result
was a thorough, accurate and precise description of every detail of the program’s operation.

When Sagatec began marketing its new word processor, cries for help flooded in from office
workers who were so confused by the massive manual that they couldn’t even find out how
to get started. Then several business journals reviewed the program and judged it “too com-
plicated” and “difficult to learn.” After an impressive start, sales of the new word processing
program plummeted.
Previous: 1.3 Understanding the Rhetorical Situation
Sagatec eventually put out a new, clearly written training guide that led new users step by
step through introductory exercises and told them how to find commands Next: quickly.
1.5 WritingBut the re-
Processes

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write cost Sagatec $350,000, a year’s lead in the market, and its reputation for producing
easy-to-use business software.

CASE 4: One garbled memo – 26 baffled phone calls

Joanne supervised 36 professionals in 6 city libraries. To cut the costs of unnecessary over-
time, she issued this one-sentence memo to her staff:

When workloads increase to a level requiring hours in excess of an employee’s regular duty as-
signment, and when such work is estimated to require a full shift of eight (8) hours or more on
two (2) or more consecutive days, even though unscheduled days intervene, an employee’s tour of
duty shall be altered so as to include the hours when such work must be done, unless an adverse
impact would result from such employee’s absence from his previously scheduled assignment.

After the 36 copies were sent out, Joanne’s office received 26 phone calls asking what the
memo meant. What the 10 people who didn’t call about the memo thought is uncertain. It
took a week to clarify the new policy.

CASE 5: Big science — Little rhetoric

The following excerpt is from Carl Sagan’s book, The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a
Candle in the Dark,[8] itself both a plea for and an excellent example of clear scientific
communication:

The Superconducting Supercollider (SSC) would have been the preeminent instrument
on the planet for probing the fine structure of matter and the nature of the early
Universe. Its price tag was $10 to $15 billion. It was cancelled by Congress in 1993 after
about $2 billion had been spent — a worst of both worlds outcome. But this debate was
not, I think, mainly about declining interest in the support of science. Few in Congress
understood what modern high-energy accelerators are for. They are not for weapons.
Previous:
They have1.3 Understanding
no practical the Rhetorical Situation
applications. They are for something that is, worrisomely from
the point of view of many, called “the theory of everything.” Explanations that involve
Next: 1.5 Writing Processes

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entities called quarks, charm, flavor, color, etc., sound as if physicists are being cute. The
whole thing has an aura, in the view of at least some Congresspeople I’ve talked to, of
“nerds gone wild” — which I suppose is an uncharitable way of describing curiosity-
based science. No one asked to pay for this had the foggiest idea of what a Higgs boson
is. I’ve read some of the material intended to justify the SSC. At the very end, some of it
wasn’t too bad, but there was nothing that really addressed what the project was about
on a level accessible to bright but skeptical non-physicists. If physicists are asking for 10
or 15 billion dollars to build a machine that has no practical value, at the very least they
should make an extremely serious effort, with dazzling graphics, metaphors, and capable
use of the English language, to justify their proposal. More than financial mismanage-
ment, budgetary constraints, and political incompetence, I think this is the key to the
failure of the SSC.

CASE 6: The co-op student who mixed up genres

Chris was simultaneously enrolled in a university writing course and working as a co-op stu-
dent at the Widget Manufacturing plant. As part of his co-op work experience, Chris shad-
owed his supervisor/mentor on a safety inspection of the plant, and was asked to write up the
results of the inspection in a compliance memo. In the same week, Chris’s writing instructor
assigned the class to write a narrative essay based on some personal experience. Chris, trying
to be efficient, thought that the plant visit experience could provide the basis for his essay as-
signment as well.

He wrote the essay first, because he was used to writing essays and was pretty good at it. He
had never even seen a compliance memo, much less written one, so was not as confident
about that task. He began the essay like this:

On June 1, 2018, I conducted a safety audit of the Widget Manufacturing plant in New
City. The purpose of the audit was to ensure that all processes and activities in the plant
adhere to safety and handling rules and policies outlined in the Workplace Safety
Handbook and relevant government regulations. I was escorted on a 3-hour tour of the
facility by…
Previous: 1.3 Understanding the Rhetorical Situation
Chris finished the essay and submitted it to his writing instructor. He then revised the essay
slightly, keeping the introduction the same, and submitted it to his co-op
Next:supervisor. He
1.5 Writing Processes

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“aced” the essay, getting an A grade, but his supervisor told him that the report was unac-
ceptable and would have to be rewritten – especially the beginning, which should have
clearly indicated whether or not the plant was in compliance with safety regulations. Chris
was aghast! He had never heard of putting the “conclusion” at the beginning. He missed the
company softball game that Saturday so he could rewrite the report to the satisfaction of his
supervisor.

1. J. Bernoff, "Bad writing costs business billions," Daily Beast, Oct. 16, 2016 [Online].
Available: https://www.thedailybeast.com/bad-writing-costs-businesses-billions?ref=scroll ↵
2. J. Ward, "The project management tree swing cartoon, past and present," TamingData, July 8, 2019
[Online] Available: https://www.tamingdata.com/2010/07/08/the-project-management-tree-swing-
cartoon-past-and-present/. CC-BY-ND 4.0. ↵
3. G. Robertson, “Comma quirk irks Rogers,” Globe and Mail, Aug. 6, 2006 [Online]. Available:
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/comma-quirk-irks-rogers/article1101686/ ↵
4. “The £8.8m typo: How one mistake killed a family business,” (28 Jan. 2015). The Guardian [on-
line]. Available: https://www.theguardian.com/law/shortcuts/2015/jan/28/typo-how-one-mistake-
killed-a-family-business-taylor-and-sons ↵
5. E. Tufte, The Cognitive Style of PowerPoint, 2001 [Online]. Available:
https://www.inf.ed.ac.uk/teaching/courses/pi/2016_2017/phil/tufte-powerpoint.pdf ↵
6. C. McFadden, "Understanding the tragic Hyatt Regency walkway collapse," Interesting
Engineering, July 4, 2017 [Online]: https://interestingengineering.com/understanding-hyatt-re-
gency-walkway-collapse ↵
7. T.M. Goerges (1996), Analytical Writing for Science and Technology [Online], Available:
https://www.scribd.com/document/96822930/Analytical-Writing ↵
8. C. Sagan, The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark, New York, NY: Random
House, 1995. ↵

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