11: Writing and Completing Reports and Proposals
11–13
11-4. Help your readers understand the significance of the visuals by referring to them before the
readers encounter them. (LO 11.3; AACSB Tag: Written and oral communication)
11-5. Answers to starred discussion items not provided.
11-6. Answers to starred discussion items not provided.
APPLY YOUR KNOWLEDGE
11–7. Answers to starred discussion items not provided.
11-8. You might use an illustration that shows changes in each department over a period of 12
months. The best choice for depicting changes over time is a line chart (using a separate
11-9. If the company adopts the firm’s recommendations without hiring them, then they are
11-10. Answers to starred discussion items not provided.
PRACTICE YOUR SKILLS
Activities
11-11. If the Electrovision report is for information only, it will contain no recommendations
and so will need a new title, such as “Electrovision’s Travel and Entertainment Costs.”
11-12. This exercise offers a hands-on example of how headings, transitions, previews, and
reviews guide readers through a lengthy report. Discussion might center on articles that
did not accomplish this effectively. Why didn’t they? What could their authors have done
differently? In more successful articles, did students find any techniques that were used
11-13. Students’ evaluations and revisions will vary, but they should specifically reference and
11: Writing and Completing Reports and Proposals
11–14
reflect the guidelines from Chapter 5 on evaluating, editing, and revising the work of
others, along with details from “Collaborating on Wikis” in Chapter 11. (LO 11.2;
AACSB Tag: Written and oral communication)
11-14. Students’ evaluations and revisions will vary, but they should specifically reference and
11.3; AACSB Tag: Written and oral communication)
11-16. This exercise provides an opportunity for students to consider and discuss the power and
responsibility involved with using images as a tool for persuasion. Their assessments of the
11-17. When you are writing the report, the ethical move would be to mention your recent
discovery about the faulty survey in the introduction (as you explain “limitations”—
factors beyond your control that affect your report’s quality). Since the report is due in
11-18. Student versions of this letter will vary. In general, the letter should be upbeat, stressing the
group’s gratitude for the County Arts Council grant, and should mention that the grant
allowed the Friends of the Library to support literacy and boost library usage through a
diverse set of activities and acquisitions. The letter should touch on highlights of the report
and build goodwill because the writer hopes the recipient will continue providing grants in
future years. (LO 11.4; AACSB Tag: Written and oral communication)
EXPAND YOUR KNOWLEDGE
Critique the Professionals: Students are likely to notice several methods used in the report to
highlight key points and help readers find their way. For example, a brief overview of the report
contents appears just below the title, a “This Issue” sidebar on page one lists major sections of
the report, and a number of headings appear throughout the text. (LO 11.1; AACSB Tag: Written
and oral communication)
Sharpen Your Career Skills Online: This exercise calls upon students to use Bovée and Thill’s
Business Communication Web Search to research information about creating visuals for business
11: Writing and Completing Reports and Proposals
11–15
reports. Students will summarize the content of this source in an email to the instructor, or as a
post for the class blog. In either case, the conventions for communicating in the particular
medium should be observed, and the summary should clearly and effectively convey the
information that was learned. (LO 11.3: AACSB Tag: Written and oral communication)
CASE SOLUTIONS
Planning task solutions for this chapter’s cases appear on the following pages.
11-19. Message Strategies: Informational Reports
Student responses should present a comprehensive look at the wellness programs they selected,
11-20. Message Strategies: Informational Reports
Student responses should present a well-organized view of their most recent quarter or semester
at school. The introduction should present the overall goal of that time period, as pertains to the
11.4; AACSB Tag: Written and oral communication)
11-21. Message Strategies: Informational Reports
Tempers are no doubt flaring across the company and people are surely demanding answers, so
both timeliness (to proceed toward a resolution as quickly as possible) and accuracy (to avoid
fueling the fire with misinformation) are paramount in this report. Here are a number of
suggestions for students, based on the three-step writing process:
11: Writing and Completing Reports and Proposals
11–18
Students proposals will vary based on the company selected and the services offered. Well-
crafted responses will describe the service offered, how the company would benefit from this
service, why you’re the right people for the job, and the price you will charge for your services.
11-27. Message Strategies: Proposals
The proposal for a presentation workshop involves two key challenges: communicating the value
of an intangible product, and tailoring the pitch to make it relevant to the specific target buyer.
Thorough research is the first step to meeting both challenges. Students should focus on how the
presentation will yield meaningful results for the target customer, and various businesses can
have dramatically different needs for presentation skills.
For instance, if the focus is on making sales presentations, a company that sells a large number
of relatively simple and low-cost products or services has different presentation needs than a
company that sells a small number of complex, expensive products or services every year. The
Since the case didn’t indicate that a company had requested the proposal, students should proceed
on the assumption that the proposal is unsolicited. Consequently, the proposal should include a
section that highlights the importance and value of effective presentation skills (thereby
clarifying the need for the workshop).
Students can gain insight into the necessary content and structure for this proposal by following
the chain of questions that a typical target customer is likely to ask upon receiving a proposal
such as this:
1. Do we really need help with our presentation skills? (If the prospect doesn’t already sense the
2. Assuming we have a need, is a workshop the right solution? (The prospect might believe that
3. If a workshop is the right solution, how do we know that this particular trainer is the right
person to teach us? (Assuming the prospect senses the need and agrees that a workshop is the
11: Writing and Completing Reports and Proposals
11–19
way to go, now it’s time for the presentation coach to explain why he or she is the right
trainer for the job.)
By following this chain, students can quickly see that it’s futile to sell the trainer’s qualifications
before the potential client is aware of the need or is in agreement that a workshop is the right
11-28. Message Strategies: Proposals
This scenario is an effective reminder that finding good ideas usually isn’t the problem in today’s
business world—it’s turning these good ideas into reality amidst the many competing demands
for time, energy, and money. Mentoring is a wonderful idea, but it takes time and energy away
from other important activities.
Some points for students to keep in mind:
• This is a solicited proposal (although not being written in response to a formal RFP), so it
doesn’t need the same justifications that an unsolicited proposal requires.
• Although the proposal is solicited, it should clarify exactly what is being proposed, since
any two people could have dramatically different ideas of what constitutes a mentoring
• Measuring the benefits of a mentoring program can be difficult, since many of the
benefits are not directly quantifiable (for example, it’s difficult to point to improved
executive etiquette and say how much it has increased sales). By studying the identified
problems (for example, employees who make social gaffes in front of customers), the
program leaders will need to devise ways to judge improvements in this behavior.
else off every mentor’s plate in order to free up enough time to mentor effectively. The
proposal needs to address this as well, perhaps by hiring another person at the executive
level and distributing the executive team’s responsibilities over this larger group to give
each person more free time.
11: Writing and Completing Reports and Proposals
11–20
• Some sort of “matchmaking service” is needed to pair employees with the right
mentors—and to judge when a match isn’t working. (LO 11.1; AACSB Tag: Written and
oral communication)
11-29. Message Strategies: Proposals
Proposals will vary based on the product selected and its key features and benefits. Well-crafted
responses will make a compelling case for why the item would be a strong seller for the store. As
this is an unsolicited report, the first goal is to convince the reader that a problem or opportunity
IMPROVE YOUR GRAMMAR, MECHANICS, AND USAGE
Level 1: Self-Assessment—Quotation Marks, Parentheses, Ellipses, Underscores,
and Italics
11-30. Be sure to read “How to Sell by Listening” in this month’s issue of Fortune. (AACSB
11-34. “The SBP’s next conference,” the bulletin noted, “will be held in Minneapolis.” (AACSB
11-36. I don’t care why you didn’t fill my order; I want to know when you’ll fill it. (AACSB
11-38. Her assistant (the one who just had the baby) won’t be back for four weeks. (AACSB
11-39. “Ask not what your country can do for you . . .” is the beginning of a famous quotation
Copyright © 2019 Pearson Education, Inc.
11-40. Whom do you think Time magazine will select as its Person of the Year? (AACSB Tag:
11-41. Do you remember who said “And away we go”? (AACSB Tag: Written and oral
11-43. The resignation letter begins, “Since I’ll never regain your respect . . .” and goes on to
11-44. You must help her distinguish between i.e. (which means “that is”) and e.g. (which
Level 2: Workplace Applications
11-46. The premise for broadband, sometimes called the “high speed Internet,” is that consumers
11-47. After moving into their own factory, the Andersons found themselves in the market for
11-49. Designs in the Rough sends out some 7 million catalogs a year, yet until recently didn’t
11-50. Chisel estimates that 70 percent of the U.S. population lives within a 10-minute drive of a
11-51. Nestle Waters North America is the exclusive importer of globally recognized brands
11-52. The U.S. Hispanic community, the largest minority group in the country, commands an
11-53. To ensure the effectiveness of the program, we conducted a six-month pilot in Chicago.
Copyright © 2019 Pearson Education, Inc.
11-55. The ad agency’s accounts include such consumer brands as Walmart, Southwest Airlines,
11-56. PetSmart, the number-one specialty retailer of pet supplies, allows pets and their humans
11-59. It would be a good idea for you to contract with an Internet service provider—an ISP—to
Level 3: Document Critique—Well-Written Solution
MEMORANDUM
DATE: April 19, 2020
TO: Ken Estes, Northern Illinois Concrete
FROM: Kris Beiersdorf kb
RE: Contract No. 79371 DuPage County
Memco Construction is pleased to submit the following road construction proposal for the above
project. Our company has been providing quality materials and subcontracting services for
Our proposal assumes that the following items will be furnished by other contractors (at no cost
to Memco):
• All forms, earthwork, and clearing
• All prep work
Copyright © 2019 Pearson Education, Inc.