Formal Report: Assignment Description Business Communications BRIEF DESCRIPTION: This is an individual assignment of which a complete, final draft is due on when you make your presentation [last class period or final exam slot] and will be submitted via Canvas and checked under TurnItIn. You will be required to complete the various steps of the business writing process (outlined below) to develop a single-spaced, 6-8 page final report. Your final report must include both primary and secondary research; the number of sources required will depend on the nature of the topic. Your objective is to produce a report that would be helpful to key decision makers within a specific company. The report may include three (3) graphics (images, charts, tables, graphs, etc.). Each graphic can be no larger than one-third page. Graphics will count toward the total page limit. Following completion of the final draft, you will give a formal presentation over your report topic using Microsoft PowerPoint. SCOPE AND TOPIC: Reports will be written on any topic that is analytic, but best results often come from one of the three general themes below: 1. How to improve a specific product. (e.g. Improvements to design of Nintendo Switch Console) 2. How to improve a specific process. (e.g. Improving bookkeeping and payroll process at Smith & Johnson, LLC) 3. How to solve a specific problem. (e.g. Small Miracle Daycare implementing a training handbook, restructuring new employee onboarding process, and regularly reviewing policies and procedures to solve the problem of ineffectual employees) Topics might include re-designing a process, upgrading a facility, implementing new equipment or software, enhancing a website, modifying an existing product, solving a problem such as customer retention or low employee morale, or any instructor-approved topic that involves significant analysis and will lead to meaningful recommendations. Audience: your topic should have a professional focus; your report should be aimed at the individual(s) who could implement your recommendations. (i.e. you may be writing to managers, owners, or other key decision-makers within the company). DELIVERABLES: Topic Proposal: October 6 (E-mailed) 50 pts Progress Report: November 1 (E-mailed) 30 pts Full Rough Draft: November 17 (submit via Canvas) 50 pts Peer Edit Due : November 20 (submit via Canvas) 30 pts Final Draft: December 10 (submit via Canvas) 150 pts Formal Report Topic Proposal (1-page memo format): DUE OCTOBER 6. Send via E-mail. 50 points. Each student will write a proposal to the instructor (in proper memo format) on the scope of the suggested topic for the formal report. The proposal should, at a minimum, describe the following: • The topic: fully describe the problem or process you are attempting to address • The need: describe the need driving the necessary change; the basic steps in implementing the change • Audience: an analysis of your intended audience for your topic; describe who would be able to implement your changes and/or suggestions This proposal will be used to determine if your selected topic is approved, if modification to your topic is required, or if a different topic will be needed. Each student will receive this feedback on the assignment via Canvas. PROGRESS REPORT: DUE NOVEMBER 1. SENT by E-Mail. 30 points. Please send an e-mail (proper business format) updating me on the progress on your report. Details of the expected content and structure are listed under the specific assignment. Formal Report Project FULL Draft DUE NOVEMBER 17 SUBMIT COPY VIA CANVAS. Draft is 50 points. [PEER EDITING ONLINE NOVEMBER 20. Peer review is 30 points.] Full credit for the draft will be earned simply by submitting a FULL draft with content attempted for each section (outline below) for comments. The relative quality of the document is not necessarily factored into this component. This draft will also be submitted to classmates for peer review activities. The FULL draft must include the following elements: 1. Introduction (5 points) 2. Background (5 points) 3. Discussion (20 points) 4. Conclusions (5 points) 5. Recommendations (10 points) 6. References (5 points) Formal Report Project Final version (6-8 pages): DUE on DECEMBER 10. 150 points. Each student will revise and refine the draft submitted earlier in the term. The finished product should adhere to the highest standards of business communication, successfully incorporating the feedback provided by the various editors and proofreaders. The quality of this deliverable will be scrutinized thoroughly, unlike the draft version. The final draft will be graded with the provided final draft formal report rubric (see Canvas). The final draft must include all required elements: • Front Matter (Cover page, Table of Contents, Letter of Transmittal, Executive Summary) • Body of report (Introduction, Background, Discussion, Conclusions, Recommendations, & References) • End Matter (Appendix) Formal Report Project Presentation (8 slides MAX): Due DECEMBER 10; PowerPoint presentation. 100 points. You are required to develop a professional PowerPoint slide presentation (of no more than 10 slides) to accompany a formal 5-6-minute oral presentation on your topic. Formal business dress is required for the presentation (dress as you would for an important interview). It is expected to be a highly professional demonstration of the student’s ability to apply key concepts from the course. The audience for the presentation is the same as the intended audience of the report. Presentations details are listed under the separate assignment on Canvas. CONTENTS OF FORMAL REPORT Your Formal Report FINAL draft must include the following sections: Front Matter: Prefatory sections (do NOT count towards page limit; number prefatory pages in lowercase roman numerals, but do not place a number on your cover sheet): • A cover sheet (no page number) • A letter of transmittal (ii) • A table of contents (including a list of figures) (iii) • An executive summary (iv) Body sections (6-8 pages single-spaced): these DO count towards page limit, except the references • Introduction • Background section • Discussion section • Conclusions section • Recommendations section • References page End Matter: Additionally, each student will prepare at least an appendix that does NOT count towards the final page range. Appendices should be labeled as Appendix A, Appendix B, and so forth [if needed]. You may number the appendix pages as you please. • Appendix: Primary research details o If using first-hand experience or observation ? Details on experience: How many months/years experience do you have? ? Details on observation: Who did you observe? What location? For how long? o If using survey, interview, or questionnaire ? List of questions ? If conducted an expert interview: name of interviewee, position ? Number of participants (if applicable) FORMATTING GUIDELINES FOR FORMAL REPORT Please review the Formatting Guidelines for the Formal Report • Spacing: your report will be single-spaced (1.0), as this is the expectation in the business environment. • Margins: 1 or 1.25 inch margins all the way around the document (except cover page) • Font: 12 point Times New Roman, or 12 point Calibri • Page numbers should be centered at the bottom of page; front matter should be numbered with roman numerals while the body should be numbered with Arabic numerals • Point of View & Voice: Use ‘I’ when referring to your primary research but otherwise use third person. Use active voice when possible/appropriate. Review guidelines here: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/15/ • • Section headings should be completed in APA style: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/16/ Parenthetical citations and References sheet should use APA format for citations TO: Mr. Gregory Morin FROM: Ahmed Alwaili DATE: October 4, 2021 SUBJECT: Retail Chain 1) The purpose of the topic is to talk about the large retail market in which they conquer the market through the media and artificial intelligence and how the retailors work with such tool to maximize revenue. 2) I am interested in the topic as the retail market is different here then back home, the other thing is that we have all seen how the retailors worked through the pandemic and increased sales even higher the expected. The tools that they have used are all through the media and artificial intelligence in which they aimed for a group of targets and their needs or wants. The other thing is how they have grown to become where they are today with the development they have used. 3) I researched and read about the retail market for a while and especially during the past year or two, the information that I have read have been about how the market targets certain customers and their preference. `along that how they search and find suitable products that go along with what they have already chose or bought in the past. `I have also read how they dealt with the current crises but also maximized profits and increased demand. `the other thing is how they have worked with their stocks for certain products during the seasons. 4) There is a lot that I need to know in this topic, many of which is considered in the management and business platforms perspective. `the other thing the I want to know is how each company is different cause I think they are all almost identical but different in other ways. Another thing is what each retailor plans for the future and the development they plan to launch that benefits the company and the consumer. 5) The intended goal is to inform the audience about retailors and their aim in the market along with what they intend to deploy to the market. The other thing purpose is to articulate the future retail industry. 6) My intended audience are people who have no background in the retail market or have information on how they operate and maximize their profit. 7) It is important because it is the daily lifestyle we live in today with the constant development and growth each retailor intends to deploy into the market. Purchase answer to see full attachment Tags: supply chain Gross domestic product customer Expectations User generated content is uploaded by users for the purposes of learning and should be used following Studypool’s honor code & terms of service.

MLA In-Text Citations: The Basics

Guidelines for referring to the works of others in your text using MLA style are covered throughout the MLA Handbook and in chapter 7 of the MLA Style Manual. Both books provide extensive examples, so it’s a good idea to consult them if you want to become even more familiar with MLA guidelines or if you have a particular reference question.

BASIC IN-TEXT CITATION RULES

In MLA Style, referring to the works of others in your text is done using parenthetical citations. This method involves providing relevant source information in parentheses whenever a sentence uses a quotation or paraphrase. Usually, the simplest way to do this is to put all of the source information in parentheses at the end of the sentence (i.e., just before the period). However, as the examples below will illustrate, there are situations where it makes sense to put the parenthetical elsewhere in the sentence, or even to leave information out.

General Guidelines

• The source information required in a parenthetical citation depends (1) upon the source medium (e.g. print, web, DVD) and (2) upon the source’s entry on the Works Cited page.
• Any source information that you provide in-text must correspond to the source information on the Works Cited page. More specifically, whatever signal word or phrase you provide to your readers in the text must be the first thing that appears on the left-hand margin of the corresponding entry on the Works Cited page.

IN-TEXT CITATIONS: AUTHOR-PAGE STYLE

MLA format follows the author-page method of in-text citation. This means that the author’s last name and the page number(s) from which the quotation or paraphrase is taken must appear in the text, and a complete reference should appear on your Works Cited page. The author’s name may appear either in the sentence itself or in parentheses following the quotation or paraphrase, but the page number(s) should always appear in the parentheses, not in the text of your sentence. For example:

Wordsworth stated that Romantic poetry was marked by a “spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings” (263).

Romantic poetry is characterized by the “spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings” (Wordsworth 263).

Wordsworth extensively explored the role of emotion in the creative process (263).

Both citations in the examples above, (263) and (Wordsworth 263), tell readers that the information in the sentence can be located on page 263 of a work by an author named Wordsworth. If readers want more information about this source, they can turn to the Works Cited page, where, under the name of Wordsworth, they would find the following information:

Wordsworth, William. Lyrical Ballads. Oxford UP, 1967.

IN-TEXT CITATIONS FOR PRINT SOURCES WITH KNOWN AUTHOR

For print sources like books, magazines, scholarly journal articles, and newspapers, provide a signal word or phrase (usually the author’s last name) and a page number. If you provide the signal word/phrase in the sentence, you do not need to include it in the parenthetical citation.

Human beings have been described by Kenneth Burke as “symbol-using animals” (3).

Human beings have been described as “symbol-using animals” (Burke 3).

These examples must correspond to an entry that begins with Burke, which will be the first thing that appears on the left-hand margin of an entry on the Works Cited page:

Burke, Kenneth. Language as Symbolic Action: Essays on Life, Literature, and Method. University of California Press, 1966.