Introduction
Over the next few weeks we will take three different types of business reports through drafting cycles. There are a multitude of short report scenarios that you will probably encounter in the workplace. For this assignment, we will investigate three of the more “standard’ short report topics: Progress, Proposal, and Comparison. As we’ve done with past assignments, we will take each of these reports through a drafting /feedback cycle.
Instructions
Below you will find options for each of the three report types. You must select one of the options below. You will first turn in drafts of each of the reports on Google Drive, where your peers will review them. After peer review has ended, you will submit final versions of your reports as posts on your WordPress site. My preference is that they be formatted as typed posts rather than uploaded as files. However, if you do upload the reports as files, please format them as a PDF.
Of the three reports you draft, you will turn in to me a Comparison report (in short report format) AND either a Progress report, or a short Proposal – choose (whichever one you think best represents your business-writing abilities). That means, although you will go through the drafting process for all three reports, there are a total of two reports you will turn in to me. One of them must be a Comparison report.
Formatting your documents
Your reports must be properly formatted for your specific audience and purpose. For these scenarios, your Progress and short Proposal reports should be around 1-2 pages. A Comparison report format should be less than 9 pages (probably closer to 3 — 5 pgs — including title page).
You should utilize Times New Roman font, (size 12) and your margins should be no greater than 1.25’ top / bottom, and 1’ either side. Use MLA style for page numbers, etc. Remember to visit sample documents in our textbook before you begin drafting. Also . . . . do not use a letter or memo template from MS Word or Wizard. Create your own documents!
Make sure you name is on each document — either as the sender, or the receiver, or put it in a header.
Progress Report Scenarios
Please select one of the following scenarios to use for your draft.
1) School hiring committee
What do you already know?
You are serving on a school hiring committee. The committee is planning to interview three candidates who are interesting in teaching at your school. As part of the interview process, the candidates have been asked to teach a section of the business communication class. The topic to be taught is writing business reports.
One of the candidates has asked for a report on what the class has already covered during the semester so he knows what has been covered previously. As the only student on the committee who is currently taking the class, you have been asked to prepare a short progress report of what has been covered, and what will be covered, in the class during the semester. Write a one to two-page memo report summarizing the material covered in this class thus far this semester, and previewing the future coursework. Send the report to your committee chair, Dr. Haig. Upon approval, she will forward it to the applicant.
2) Market Analysis (External, Solicited)
Your market research firm, National Collegiate Solutions, Inc. (NCSI), was recently hired by Archway Publications, a publisher of teen magazines. Edgar Martin, Archway’s vice-president of marketing, wants you to analyze the market for a proposed monthly magazine geared toward college students. As director of research for NCSI, you agreed to submit a progress report at the end of each month. It’s April 30 (you started the project on April 5), so it’s time to tell Martin what your firm has accomplished so far.
First, you developed an interview form to gather data on what college students like and dislike about the magazines currently available. After testing this interview form on 35 students to be sure the questions were clearly phrased, you made appropriate revisions and obtained Archway’s approval of the final instrument. Then you began the lengthy process of conducting face-to-face interviews on each of 12 campuses across the country. By April 29, you had scheduled and completed the 50 interviews on 3 campuses; you expect to schedule and complete the remainder of the interviews by June 1. All interviews are going according to schedule. You plan to submit a brief synopsis of your findings by June 6, and by June 20 you will submit a full report including – conclusions and recommendations.
Using a letter format, write a 1 to 2 page progress report to Martin, whose company is located at 1097 Dana Ave., Cincinnati, OH 45207
Short Proposal Scenarios
Please select one of the following scenarios to use for your draft.
1) RFP and Responding Proposal (External, Solicited Proposal)
Write an RFP and responding solicited proposal for one of the items below. Be sure to read and carefully review the sample documents for this particular assignment (posted to our course site).
Choose one of these scenarios:
- A new computer for the secretary-bookkeeper of a hardware store.
- Bathroom floor tiles (you may substitute front door locks, kitchen cabinets, carpeting, or some other item) for a new ten-unit apartment building.
- Two tennis courts (you may substitute basketball courts, a walking path, twelve benches, or some other enhancement/s) for a town park.
2) On the job (Internal, Unsolicited Proposal)
On your job, you may discover a better way of doing something or a more efficient way to correct a problem. If you believe that your proposed change will save your employer time, money, or further trouble, you should present an internal proposal for change.
Write a short internal proposal (to your boss or supervisor) recommending that the company make a specific change in procedure, technology, training, safety, personnel, or policy. Make sure to correctly identify and analyze your audience, as well as any possible secondary audiences. Usually, the person to whom you submit your proposal is in a position to order the implementation of the change.
Here are some possible topics:
- -forming a Usernet or listserv group
- -purchasing new office or laboratory equipment or software
- -hiring more office help
- -reorganizing or redesigning the company sales catalog or website, etc.
- -changing the décor /furniture in a company lounge
- -adding more health-conscious offerings to the company cafeteria menu
- -altering the programming on a campus (or any) radio station
- -improving a work-related process
Generally speaking, your proposal will be a slightly informal, in-house message. A brief (usually 1 to 3 page) memo report should be appropriate.
Comparison (with recommendation) Report Scenarios
Please select one of the following scenarios to use for your draft.
1) Office Equipment (Internal, Solicited)
Your office has outgrown one of these items: filing cabinets, L-shaped secretarial desks, desktop computers used for word processing and database management, or an item of your own selection. Your boss, Len Zuberkoski, has asked you to do the necessary research on this piece of office equipment and present him with a product comparison report and recommendation for purchase.
What to do
Using the short report format, write a report that compares three brands by eight important characteristics, including price. Use catalogs, visit stores, talk to office workers, search the internet — whatever you have to do — to obtain your data. For this short report, create (and insert into your report) one or two relevant tables and refer to it /them early in the document.
Invent practical information as needed.
2) Evaluating Web-Based Survey Tools (Internal, Unsolicited)
You work for a small start-up company with about 25 employees selling major medical insurance for pets. It’s a new market niche, but one you believe in because you know that others must care for their pets as much as you care for your ten year old golden retriever.
You’ve only been in business 3 years, and your business has been growing steadily until recently, when growth began to level off. You wonder if the market is saturated, or whether you are missing any cross-selling opportunities. So, you decide to survey your current customers to get more insight so you can get the growth rate back on track.
You don’t know much about online survey instruments; however, you do know there are many web-based applications that might help you. These applications would email the survey or a link to it to your customers; you’d have data back pretty quickly — especially since you plan to offer a prize to one lucky respondent to encourage participation. But you have not used any of the web-based tools before, although you know some small business people who have. One person recommended Zoomerang, while another mentioned Surveymonkey.
You decide to review the websites of three of these applications to find one that might fit your needs. Then you’ll write up a comparison and recommend one tool for the company to use. You’ll present the short report to the directors at the next board meeting.
What to do
Using the short report format (see example in our text), write a report that compares three web-based survey programs by eight important characteristics, including price. For this short report, create (and insert into your report) one or two relevant tables and refer to it /them early in the document.
Invent practical information as needed.
Submission
You will submit this assignment in two parts:
Draft— Drafts of each document will be submitted to our class Google Drive folder. Please be sure you have submitted your documents in the correct folder. You will then receive feedback from members of our cohort.
Final— Please submit the final versions of each of the three letters together as a single blog post on your WordPress site.
Grading Criteria
This assignment will be graded according to the following criteria:
- How well the requirements for each document are followed
- How effective each document is in accomplishing the task involved
- How well the audience is considered
- Correct document format
- The mechanical and grammatical correctness of each letter
- Originality and creativity applied in completing the assignment
Rubric