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Instructor’s Manual to Accompany

BUSINESS COMMUNICATION Developing Leaders for a Networked World (2e)

By Peter W. Cardon

Chapter 13:Completing Business Proposals and Business Reports

IM 13-1© 2016 by McGraw-Hill Education. This is proprietary material solely for authorized instructor use. Not authorized for sale or distribution in any manner. This document may not be copied, scanned, duplicated, forwarded, distributed, or posted on a website, in whole or part.

Teaching Note

Hello Fellow Instructor,

I often think we business communication instructors are among the most essential instructors in our students’ college experiences. We help them develop skills that will serve them well in all aspects of their careers. This is the case in many elements of our courses, and I think it is especially the case with report writing.

I think our efforts to help them focus on detail, show precision, present complex ideas in simple and elegant fashion, give credit to others for their ideas, and otherwise demonstrate excellence in thinking are some of the key outcomes of report writing. I think our courses help students develop these abilities more so than nearly all other courses they take.

Please contact me anytime – to share your experiences, your ideas, and your reactions.

Best of wishes,

Peter W. Cardon, MBA, Ph.D.Associate ProfessorCenter for Management CommunicationUniversity of Southern California

Email: [email protected]: @petercardonFacebook: facebook.com/cardonbcommWeb: cardonbcom.com


Chapter 13 Summary and PowerPoint Notes

SLIDE 13-1

SLIDE 13-2

This chapter covers the following topics: how completed reports affect your credibility; persuasive proposals; precision-oriented reports; objective reports; and effective and fair reports.

SLIDE 13-3

LO13.1 Explain how completed reports affect your credibility.LO13.2 Create specific and persuasive proposals.LO13.3 Demonstrate excellent thinking by applying a precision-oriented style to reports.LO13.4 Design your reports to aid in decision making.LO13.5 Project objectivity in reports.LO13.6 Review reports for effectiveness and fairness.


SLIDE 13-4

Your primary goal as you draft business reports is to improve decision making. More so than routine business correspondence, reports should be built on thorough, precise, and reliable information and analysis. They should offer advice to help decision makers—typically middle-level and upper-level managers—make informed choices. As a report writer, your personal credibility is tied to how well you provide facts, conclusions, and positions that help decision making (competence), involve decision makers and address their needs (caring), and report information honestly and transparently (character).

SLIDE 13-5

Some of the most common elements of proposals, especially for consulting, include an explanation of the current situation (usually addressing an unresolved problem), specific objectives, a deliverables overview, a timeline, results enhancers (why you or your organization is positioned to add value), and pricing or budget (if appropriate). Most successful proposal writers speak to decision makers (supervisors, clients, or others) before submitting an official proposal. By negotiating some of the details ahead of time, proposal writers have a better sense of what decision makers want and expect. This helps proposal writers make decisions about how to structure the proposal to persuade decision makers.


SLIDE 13-6

The most basic and critical component of any report is precision in thinking as reflected in style—meaning that it offers accurate, well-documented facts; good reasoning for conclusions; and a solid basis for recommendations (see Figure 13.2).

SLIDE 13-7

The foundation for these facts, conclusions, and recommendations must be a well-stated business problem or challenge. In short, a report that facilitates effective decision making must demonstrate excellence in thinking: Start with a clear statement of the business

problem or challenge. Use fact-based language. Document secondary research and avoid

plagiarism. Base recommendations on facts and

conclusions in the report. Provide specific and actionable

recommendations.

SLIDE 13-8

Problem statements are most effective when they provide the unique context of the problem for the organization and reflect an appropriate sense of urgency. Typically, such statements should be one to three paragraphs long. Notice how Jeff establishes the direction of his green meetings report in Table 13.1.


SLIDE 13-9

Precision in reports relies on facts. You can raise the credibility of your report by (a) supplying the facts with precision; (b) providing supporting details for your conclusions; (c) carefully dealing with predictions and cause-effect statements; and (d) responsibly citing your research sources (see the next section about documenting secondary research).

SLIDE 13-10

You can raise the credibility of your report by (a) supplying the facts with precision; (b) providing supporting details for your conclusions; (c) carefully dealing with predictions and cause-effect statements (see Table 13.2); and (d) responsibly citing your research sources (see the next section about documenting secondary research).

SLIDE 13-11

By documenting your sources, you allow decision makers to judge the quality of your data. Decision makers are also looking for signals that you have been methodical in collecting, analyzing, and reporting findings. By documenting your sources, you display your thorough, detail-oriented approach. Typically, you should provide a reference list at the end of the report that contains all your sources. Also, throughout your document, you should provide citations to indicate the information you have drawn from other sources.


SLIDE 13-12

To develop original reports, make sure that you avoid all forms of plagiarism. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, to plagiarize is to “steal and pass off (the ideas of another) as one’s own” and “to commit literary theft.” Thus, plagiarism is serious; it is literally stealing the ideas of others. To avoid plagiarism on a sentence and paragraph level, document all references to the ideas of others, including (1) direct quotations, (2) paraphrases, and (3) other instances in which you borrow or reference the ideas of others.

SLIDE 13-13

You can use a variety of documentation systems, including APA and MLA styles. You can see examples of these two styles in Table 13.3. You should, however, use an official style guide to document with precision. Style guides contain hundreds of rules for various types of sources. Additionally, many websites contain the most current documentation guidelines.

SLIDE 13-14

Direct quotations are verbatim restatements from another source. Use direction quotations only when the quotation contains a particularly compelling combination of words, flows effectively with your paper, and emphasizes the credibility of the original speaker or writer. In most situations, you should paraphrase rather than use direct quotations. Paraphrasing involves using your own words to express the meaning of the original speaker or writer. When you paraphrase, you significantly alter the original words and sentence structure, but you still need to give credit to the original speaker or writer for the idea.


SLIDE 13-15

One of the foremost goals of many reports is to give good advice, but business professionals often fail to sufficiently connect their recommendations to their facts and conclusions. If decision makers are to take your report seriously and feel comfortable acting on it, they must be able to see clear connections between the facts and conclusions you present and the related recommendations, as depicted in Figure 13.3.

SLIDE 13-16

In addition to being based on facts and conclusions in the report, recommendations must be specific and actionable. Many business professionals run out of steam by the end of the report or are reluctant to take a firm position, so they provide vague and sometimes superficial recommendations. Make sure you provide recommendations that are sufficiently detailed and realistic for decision makers (see Table 13.5). You can elaborate on your recommendations with a section on your rationale, the implications of your recommendations, and clear steps to take toward implementation.

SLIDE 13-17

Some decision makers will read your reports from start to end. Others will try to glean the key messages by first reading the summary and headings before reading the report completely. Other decision makers will skim the report due to time pressures. In any case, assume that decision makers may not read your report from start to end, and design it so they can navigate the information rapidly.


SLIDE 13-18

One way to make your report easy to navigate is to provide a structure that decision makers are familiar with. Figure 13.4 contains sample structures from common types of business reports. You can see examples of full, formal reports in the online learning materials.

SLIDE 13-19


SLIDE 13-20



SLIDE 13-21

Some formal reports contain many additional components, as illustrated in Figure 13.5. These additional components can be classified as front matter, text, and back matter. You can see examples of full, formal reports in the online learning materials.

SLIDE 13-22

Nearly all business reports, especially those that are more than a few pages long, contain an executive summary at the beginning. The purpose is to summarize the most important contents, including key findings, conclusions, and recommendations, so that busy executives and other decision makers can quickly understand and act on the report. A good executive summary “demonstrates that you can clearly focus on your goals and state, in no-nonsense fashion, who you are, what you want, and where you are going.” Generally, an executive summary should be about one page long for every 10 to 20 pages in the report.


SLIDE 13-23

Nearly all reports contain headings to help readers quickly navigate. At a minimum, you will include first-level headings. For reports over five pages, you will likely use second-level headings and perhaps even third-level headings (see Table 13.6). In addition to accurately showing what is contained in each section, headings should also demonstrate the basic logic of a report. Notice in the left-hand column in Table 13.6 how Jeff uses headings to develop the basic story line of the report: problem ➭ opportunities and risks ➭ best practices ➭ potential rewards ➭ advice/recommendations.

SLIDE 13-24

Where possible, opt for descriptive titles and headings that help your readers quickly recognize the value and contents of any given section. Notice in Table 13.7 how minor changes can make headings more efficient and engaging.

SLIDE 13-25

Reports are often lengthy and dense, so preview statements can help decision makers follow the direction of your text. Also, preview statements frame the message, allowing readers to create a mental map of your key takeaway messages (see Table 13.8).


SLIDE 13-26

Reports based on research data frequently include tables and figures (including charts) to supplement the text. You will apply principles for tables and charts that you learned in Chapter 12. Keep in mind that the purpose of tables and charts is first and foremost to fit into the story line you have established for your report. Also, tables and charts should simplify or clarify complicated numerical information that may bog down your reader in text (see Table 13.9).

SLIDE 13-27

Since reports often contain dense information, using bulleting and enumerated lists can help readers rapidly process and group information (see Table 13.10). On the other hand, when too much of the report is in bullet points, it can create a choppy staccato-like effect.

SLIDE 13-28

Reports of more than ten pages often include a cover page. Regardless of length, formal reports—especially those submitted to external decision makers (i.e., loan officers, venture capitalists, stockholders)—always include a cover page. At a minimum, the cover page should include a title, names of those who wrote and/or are submitting the report, and a date.


SLIDE 13-29

A table of contents is expected for nearly any report over ten pages long. The table of contents contains all first-level headings and sometimes all second-level headings. Providing a well-designed table of contents immediately creates an impression that you are organized. Reports also frequently include appendixes to provide reference materials. For example, common information in appendixes includes financial statements, marketing materials, detailed data tables, brochures, references, résumés, and biographies.

SLIDE 13-30

Achieving a positive, can-do tone in your communications is appropriate in nearly all business situations. In many business reports, projecting positivity is also important. However, more so than positivity, you should project objectivity—the sense that you are providing information, analysis, and advice that is sound, reliable, and unbiased. In other words, project objectivity first and positivity second. Ensure that your enthusiasm and strong positive emotion do not appear to cloud your judgment.

SLIDE 13-31

Although you will find that reports vary greatly in purpose and length, consider the key features to strive for in all your reports: value to decision makers, precision, documentation, easy navigation, and objectivity.


SLIDE 13-32

Since research-based reports are generally commissioned for high-stakes decisions, you have likely worked collaboratively with others. If you’ve developed the report by yourself, you should still try to get other perspectives before you officially submit it. When possible, discuss the report with the ultimate decision makers so that you can best tailor the final product to their needs. Review the entire document several times for accuracy and precision in logic. Review it at least once for typos or mechanical errors. Make sure you review the report over several sittings and several days if possible, since you are unlikely to catch all of the changes you would ideally make in just one sitting.

SLIDE 13-33

After studying this chapter, you should understand the following topics: how completed reports affect your credibility; persuasive proposals; precision-oriented reports; objective reports; and effective and fair reports.


Suggested Approaches and Solutions to Learning Exercises

In these suggested approaches and solutions, you’ll find key points to look for in students’ responses.

13.1 Chapter Review Questions (LO 13.1, LO 13.2, LO 13.3, LO 13.4)

A. Stating the business problem or challenge at the beginning of a report informs the readers about the purpose and value of the report. It frames the entire report and helps readers find the meaning rapidly. Generally, these statements should reflect an appropriate sense of urgency so that readers think the report is significant to them.

B. Reports should be precise in all ways, including providing only accurate facts, providing supporting details for conclusions, dealing carefully with predications and cause-effect statements, and citing sources responsibly. Student should be rewarded for elaborating on these principles and providing others as well. For example, students could explain the importance of avoiding various logical inconsistencies as described in Chapter 5.

C. Good documentation in your research reports accomplishes several purposes, including demonstrating the strength of the ideas in your report, providing an audit trail for your ideas, and showing that you are detailed oriented and logical in your approach to report writing.

D. Recommendations should be specific and actionable. Specific recommendations are clear and unambiguous. Actionable recommendations are those that can be realistically undertaken or accomplished.

E. Charts in reports should be used to highlight the storyline and key points. If they do not reinforce the central points, they accomplish little but clutter up pages. Charts should simplify or clarify complicated numerical information that may bog down your reader in text.

F. Students should be rewarded for their carefully constructed view of how to achieve positivity and especially objectivity.

G. There are several useful strategies for reviewing reports. First, reports should be reviewed several times for accuracy and logic. They should be reviewed with focus on how decision makers will respond. Finally, they should be reviewed carefully so that no typos or language mechanics errors exist. Since many reports are produced collaboratively, reviewing reports in teams ensures that the final product is precise and valuable.


13.2 Communications Q&A Discussion Questions (LO 13.1, LO 13.2, LO 13.3)

A. Harrill offers various pieces of advice for effective report writing. They must be comprehensive, accurate, precise, organized, and technically sound. At the same time, they must be visually appealing and attractive in writing style. He also discusses the importance of creating reports that are valuable to many audiences.

B. He generally gives various team members quite a bit of latitude and allows them to write in their own style. Sometimes he gives them some general guidelines for writing. He thinks it is the role of an editor and team leader to rework the document so that it has a consistent style and tone.

C. He emphasizes that in the past, excellent content was sufficient to make a good report. Now, reports must contain excellent content and excellent style. Reward students for carefully constructed responses about how they will incorporate this into their own writing styles.

D. Students should be rewarded for their carefully constructed, complete, and goal-directed responses.

13.3 Complete SBA Training for Business Plans (LO 13.1, LO 13.2, LO 13.3)

Students should be rewarded for carefully constructed, accurate, and original responses.

Consider doing this as a group exercise in class and following up with a class debrief.

13.4 Evaluating a Business Report (LO 13.1, LO 13.2, LO 13.3, LO 13.4)

Students should be rewarded for carefully constructed, accurate, and original responses.

Consider doing this as a group exercise in class and following up with a class debrief.

13.5 Writing a Survey Report and Marketing Plan for an Ice Cream Shop (LO 13.1, LO 13.2, LO 13.3)

Responses will vary widely. Reward students for carefully constructed, accurate, and valuable marketing plans. Also, reward them for making valuable use of the survey.

Consider doing this as a team assignment.


13.6 Writing a Proposal for a Student Club (LO 13.1, LO 13.2, LO 13.3)

Responses will vary widely. Reward students for carefully constructed, accurate, and valuable proposals.


13.7 Writing a Survey Report about Mobile Phone Use in the Workplace (LO 13.1, LO 13.2, LO 13.3)

Responses will vary widely. Reward students for carefully constructed, accurate, and valuable reports. Also, reward them for making valuable use of the survey.


13.8 Write a Business Plan for a Franchise (LO 13.1, LO 13.2, LO 13.3)

Responses will vary widely. Reward students for carefully constructed, accurate, and valuable business plans.


13.9 Conducting Survey Research (LO 13.1, LO 13.2, LO 13.3)

Responses will vary widely. Reward students for carefully constructed, accurate, and valuable survey reports.


13.10 Write a Report about a Business Trend (LO 13.1, LO 13.2, LO 13.3)

Responses will vary widely. Reward students for carefully constructed, accurate, and valuable reports. Also, reward them for correctly using either APA or MLA documentation style.


13.11 Review all rules in Appendix A about punctuation, number usage, and grammar. Then, rewrite each sentence to make all needed corrections.

A. Frequent-flyer programs have traditionally rewarded miles based on the number of miles in a flight, not on the price of air tickets.

B. Some airlines are now changing these loyalty programs to reward miles based on ticket prices, which makes many bargain hunters upset.

C. These airlines say that dollars spent are a better indicator of loyalty than miles traveled, but many long-time loyalty program members disagree.

D. Some airlines have already expanded the options for members to use their miles.E. In addition to using miles to purchase flights, they will now be able to pay for extra legroom,

check-in baggage, and even in-flight food and services.F. Overall, these policies are aimed at rewarding travelers who spend more money on flights

and in-flight services.G. Most travelers who purchase primarily based on ticket prices are disappointed with the new

changes because the changes reduce the benefits of getting the best deal.H. Many airlines now sell annual checked-baggage subscriptions for around $300 to $400.I. Airlines brought in about $40 billion last year in baggage fees. Most airlines are using these

fees to significantly improve profitability.J. Many budget airlines make more money from fees than they do from ticket prices.


Documents

neprisstore.blob.core.windows.net€¦ · Web viewSome of the most common elements of proposals, especially for consulting, include an explanation of the current situation (usually