the expansion of Netflix into global markets

Rizkallah 1/16/09 rev. Loewy 1/18/09

Business Document Design General guidelines: Is the page appealing? Does it show consistent, uncrowded spacing? Is there enough white space on the page? Did the student omit MS Word templates that are often inconsistent and show poor choices of font, spacing, and layout? • Is the font used appropriate and readable? Documents should be written in Serif-type fonts (Times New Roman, Palatino, etc.). Fonts should be no smaller than 11 pt. and no larger than 12 pt. (the possible exception being any titles or headings, which shouldn’t exceed 14 pts.). • Are the margins at least one inch all around? Is the right margin ragged (non-justified)? Some templates have considerably more massive margins: instructors must form their own policy regarding these formats. A ragged right margin is easier for the human eye to distinguish and makes for a more comfortable reading experience. • Is the document single-spaced? Are there spaces between paragraphs rather than

indentations? Business documents are traditionally single-spaced, with the exception of press releases. Students should not indent each paragraph: instead they should leave a space between paragraphs and begin each new line directly on the left margin, flush left. • Are bullets used correctly and effectively? Students tend to use bullets to lengthen documents or whenever they have a series of terms. Remind them that bullets should be used to highlight important distinctions or list key points. The highlighted items must be grammatically parallel. Pointless use of bullets (which often also includes filler text) should be discouraged and, in some cases, penalized. Bulleted and numbered lists must be introduced by a lead-in statement, a complete sentence. • Are headings/titles used to create a “scannable” document? A reader should be able to understand the progression of the data in a document by glancing at its headings and/or titles. Most students use generic titles like “Problem,” “Analysis,” “Course of Action.” Instead, they should be rewarded for using expressive and descriptive titles that direct the reader toward key points. • Are the paragraphs short and focused? Paragraphs in business documents should be no longer than one quarter page in length or seven lines. They should include transitions and a topic sentence, and should contain only one idea. Students should know that short or even one-sentence paragraphs are acceptable if they carry important information that should be emphasized. • Are the pages numbered? In multiple-page documents, each page should be numbered. In reports and memos, correct headers or footers should also be included. The font should match the rest of the text, although the font size may be smaller than the body text. If the document is only one page long, no page number is needed.