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Overview
Regardless of where in the world you are working or who you are working with, developing a comprehensive understanding of the clients, organizations, manufactures, businesses, and industry leaders that you work with is key to your professional success.
In the “Self Assessment 1” assignment you completed, you considered how culture impacts your perspectives, expectations, interpretations, and world views. In this assignment, you will conduct research about your assigned client to develop a comprehensive understanding of your client, including their background, interests, goals, professional and corporate culture, and, as applicable, their philanthropy.
Businesses are often conceptualized as one-dimensional entities who operate based on the single goal of making as much money as possible. While ensuring that a business is profitable is obviously necessary, businesses, like the people who run them, have varied interests and perspectives, as well as different beliefs about what is valuable or what expenses are worthwhile. For example, through their Innovative Learning program, Verizon (Links to an external site.) has recently begun working with Title 1 schools to integrate technology throughout the schools and disseminate devices to the students. Additionally, they are building high tech STEM labs in middle schools (and are soon expanding to high schools), and have worked with ASU to help develop appropriate STEM curricula and implement teacher training.

In addition to accessibility and education, Verizon also has sustainability goals (Links to an external site.), goals for human prosperity (see their Reskilling and Upskilling (Links to an external site.) and Employee Volunteers (Links to an external site.) pages), and offers a variety of grants (Links to an external site.).
Similarly, your prospective clients understand themselves as fitting in with and being part of the communities they exist in in some way. As a professional, you must develop a comprehensive understanding of your clients’ values, perspectives, and needs in order to develop solutions that help them achieve their goals.
Purpose
To develop a comprehensive understanding of your client, including:
Your client’s history
Your client’s values
Your client’s goals
Your client’s needs
Your client’s goals and objectives
Your client’s cultural perspective
Your client’s identity, including:
how they describe their organizational identity
how they are perceived within the community
how their actions/policies/etc. support their projected and perceived identities
How your client is embedded in their community, including:
how they understand their role within the larger community
how community members understand their role within the larger community
how your client actually functions as part of the larger community, as evidenced by past, current, and future projects, etc.
As well as to develop audience centered communication competencies, including: