• Are there any school policies that address such a practice? If so, what
do they say?
VI. Final Writing Tips (13-6, PPT Slides 39–42, DISC: Rhetorical considerations; Purpose,
Patterns; Theory application)
a. Tips for writing formal reports include the following:
i. Allow sufficient time.
ii. Finish data collection.
iii. Work from a good outline.
b. Use these guidelines when working through the report process:
i. Analyze the report and purpose.
ii. Anticipate the audience and issues.
iii. Prepare a work plan.
c. Typical report components include the following:
i. Title page
ii. Letter of transmittal
x. Works cited or references
d. Knowledge Check Activity: 15 minutes total. Test Your Workplace Etiquette
IQ
Have students check their workplace etiquette IQ by deciding whether the
statements are true or false and then discuss the answers with the class.
• In your office you rarely drink the coffee or eat the pastries that are
often available. Although everyone is expected to contribute to these
office treats, you are justified in refusing because you seldom partake
of the goodies and you feel that it is not your obligation to support the
snacking habits of others.
o False — In an office environment, if everyone contributes and
• Office casual means you can be comfortable and wear your Saturday
clothes to work.
o False — Even office casual has its boundaries (e.g., no bare
• If a group of businesspeople is approaching a door, the first male
should hold the door for any woman in the group.
o False — The first person should hold the door for whomever
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Discussion Questions
You can assign these questions several ways: in a discussion forum in your LMS; as whole-
class discussions in person; or as a partner or group activity in class.
1. Discussion: The Importance of Grant Writers (Critical Thinking #1, 13-2,
PPT Slides 14 and 15) Duration 10 minutes.
a. Why are highly capable grant writers among the most sought-after
professionals today?
i. Answer: A grant writer is the vital connecting link between a funder
b. What activities does their work entail?
i. Answer: Large projects may require a team of writers to produce
2. Discussion: To Footnote or Not (Critical Thinking #2) Duration 5 minutes.
a. Is it true that business reports shouldn’t contain footnotes?
i. Answer: Although some people do assert that business reports
b. If you were writing your first business report and did considerable research,
what would you do about documenting your sources?
i. Answer: The best plan is to seek advice from a supervisor and see
how sources were documented in previous reports. It’s best to list all
3. Discussion: Is Streaming Bad for the Environment? (Critical Thinking #3) Duration 20
minutes.
a. If you were to read credible reports showing that streaming (think films and
gaming) is very bad for the environment because the growing electricity
needs of huge data centers are nearly exhausting power production, would
you change your behavior? Why or why not?
i. Answer: Answers will vary. It’s one thing to worry about the state of
the planet and another to change one’s ingrained behavior, especially
iii. Over the last eight years, data centers have skyrocketed from 500,000
worldwide to more than eight million now. With the coming of 5G and
with it the Internet of Things, i.e. Internet-connected smart devices
and appliances, the need for data centers will grow. More energy-
efficient servers offer only a partial answer. Other environmental
threats from data storage and hosting are battery waste, harmful
ozone-depleting coolants, and potential fire risks. [Dellinger, A. J.
4. Discussion: Approaching a Business Plan (Critical Thinking #4, 13-3, PPT Slide 19)
Duration 10 minutes.
a. If you were about to launch a new business, would you write your business
plan from scratch or use a software program?
b. What are the pros and cons of each method?
i. Answer: Business plan software could certainly be helpful in learning
the parts of a business plan and determining what goes in each
business ideas are worthy of financial support.
5. Discussion: Contract Cheating (Critical Thinking #5) Duration 30 minutes.
a. Plagiarism detection software such as Turnitin makes cheating by copying
easy to spot. This explains why ghostwritten assignments are booming
gray area” or being “on the edge, kind of.”
b. What is your take on this type of growing academic dishonesty? Is it really
common?
i. Answer: Academic dishonesty is a topic that could lead to long, heated
debates. Students’ answers will vary, if they are willing to discuss the
subject openly. Accidentally “lifting” passages from named or
ii. Cheating affects others. It’s a facile shortcut—one that distorts fair
competition in class among the students who hand in honest work.
Professors and administrators need to be able to assume that they
are evaluating authentic work completed by the student submitting it.
A degree obtained by cheating is fraudulent. Furthermore, it can be
assumed that a student who habitually resorts to an easy way out will
understand that by cheating on essays they only cheat themselves,
she says. Research into plagiarism has shown that universities
offering training and requiring honor pledges experience less
cheating. Most students feel bound by their word.
v. A few countries and more than a dozen U.S. states have proposed or
passed laws prohibiting paper mills, yet such measures are toothless
if the essay mills are located overseas, outside these states’
jurisdiction. Technological solutions are also being investigated. The
company that gave us Turnitin has created Authorship Investigate.
This sophisticated software program evaluates style and level of
writing; it looks for deviations from a person’s idiosyncratic writing
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Additional Activities and Assignments
1. Case Study: Zooming In—Bold Proposals Helped Propel SpaceX Ahead of the
Competition: In this case study, students will read a description of SpaceX’s efforts
to win valuable government contracts for space exploration. They are then asked to
answer a series of critical-thinking questions.
a. Why are proposals vitally important to a company such as SpaceX?
i. As is typical in the aerospace industry, SpaceX’s business is largely
program based. NASA’s and the Air Force’s awards to SpaceX are
iii. Proposals must often be submitted for follow-up on contracts and
related projects. In SpaceX’s case, the Commercial Resupply Services
came in stages (i.e., CRS 1 and CRS 2), and each stage involved a new
competition among contractors. When receiving an award from NASA,
b. How are proposals at SpaceX similar to and different from proposals or long
reports written by students?
i. Both student proposals and corporate proposals share the following
characteristics:
• Purpose-driven
ii. Not surprisingly, student proposals are generally shorter and simpler
than most corporate proposals. They also are more likely to be
written as an exercise by a single person. Corporate proposals, on the
other hand, especially the most important and largest ones, are
always for real and are likely to be critical to the survival of the
business, created in response to customers’ (in this case, NASA’s)
detailed requests for proposals, and written by teams of writers and
engineers.
c. How can team members maintain consistency and meet deadlines when
writing important, time-constrained, multivolume documents such as formal
proposals?
i. In developing large, multivolume, team-written documents on tight
The first challenge is to create a document development plan that
does the following:
• Includes everything that must be accomplished to complete
the document
• Schedules all necessary stages (e.g., storyboard and draft
reviews, executive reviews, document sign-offs)
• Provides management controls
ii. The next step is to set the document development plan in motion.
The process should involve the 3-x-3 writing process used by most
writers in developing almost any written document. This should result
in a successful, substantial multivolume business document.
2. Case Study: Zooming In—Your Turn: Applying Your Skills at SpaceX: In this case
study, students be asked to take on the role of a communications intern at SpaceX
and develop materials to fine-tune SpaceX reports and proposals. Select one of the
two tasks suggested within the activity. For Task 1, break class into groups of two or
a. For Task 1, teams should plan the report and have each team member
prepare an outline of their assigned section. As a team, students should
review and improve the outlines with written comments and annotations.
i. Task 1 requires a short (three- to five-page) business report
recommending a structured writing process to be used for team-
written company documents. The following is a suggested outline for
this report:
• Recommendation to management that the company
implement and use the process where appropriate and say
why it is a good idea
• List of references
b. For Task 2, students should work individually to research, plan, and write a
one- to two-page memo.
i. Task 2 requires a memo evaluating several (two to four) proposal
consulting companies that might be able to help SpaceX teams write
high-quality business proposals when the company’s proposal
3. Chat About It: At the end of each chapter, you will find additional open-ended
questions related to the chapter material. You may assign these topics for
discussion in class, in an online chat room, or on an online discussion board. You
may also ask students to read and respond to postings made by their classmates.
(Chat About It Topic #5 can be found in the chapter outline above as a PPT activity.)
Topic 1: Should companies take a stand on controversial topics of the day or
remain as neutral as possible? Do you make any buying decisions based on how
a company or brand is expressing support for causes that are dear to you?
Would an endorsement by Katy Perry, Avril Lavigne, or Sean “Diddy” Combs
make a difference in your purchases?
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Additional Resources
Cengage Video Resources
• MindTap Videos:
o Learn It: Chapter 13 Proposals, Business Plans, and Formal Business Reports
▪ Learn It: Video Lesson 13-1
▪ Learn It: Video Lesson 13-2
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Appendix
Generic Rubrics
Providing students with rubrics helps them understand expectations and components of
assignments. Rubrics help students become more aware of their learning process and
progress, and they improve students’ work through timely and detailed feedback.
Standard Writing Rubric
Criteria
Meets Requirements
Needs Improvement
Incomplete
Content
The assignment clearly
and comprehensively
addresses all questions
in the assignment.
15 points
The assignment partially
addresses some or all
questions in the
assignment.
8 points
The assignment does not
address the questions in
the assignment.
0 points
conclusions are logically
related and consistent.
10 points
arguments, and
conclusions are mostly
logically related and
consistent.
logically related and
consistent.
0 points
Research
The assignment is based
upon appropriate and
adequate academic
literature, including peer
reviewed journals and
other scholarly work.
5 points
The assignment is based
upon adequate
academic literature but
does not include peer
reviewed journals and
other scholarly work.
3 points
The assignment is not
based upon appropriate
and adequate academic
literature and does not
include peer reviewed
journals and other
scholarly work.
The assignment follows
the required citation
guidelines.
The assignment follows
some of the required
citation guidelines.
The assignment does not
follow the required
citation guidelines.
and spelling errors.
and spelling errors.
unintelligible.
Standard Discussion Rubric
Criteria
Meets Requirements
Needs Improvement
Incomplete
Participation
Participates in or
submits discussion by
the posted deadlines.
Follows instructions for
initial post and
responses.
5 points
Does not participate in
or submit discussion by
the posted deadlines.
Does not follow
instructions for initial
post and responses.
3 points
Does not participate in
discussion.
0 points
Comments add value to
discussion topic.
on task. Comments may
not add value to
discussion.
0 points
5 points
3 points