Formal Written Report Assignment

Instruction paper: Formal Written Report Assignment

Your Rhetorical Situation: Scenario, Audience, Purpose

Assignment Scenario: For this assignment, you are now in your new management/supervisory position at the CGC office in the country you selected previously in the course. You have just been asked to write a formal written report—an informative report—because this is what is often expected of people in your position. See the “Scenario and specific steps for completion” section for the details.

Audience: Your audience for this assignment is your new direct manager or supervisor at the CGC office in the country you previously selected. Because this is your first official report, you would really like to impress your new manager/supervisor.

Purpose and Goals for the Formal Written Report Assignment: The purpose for this assignment is to give you practice developing the skills and techniques which are considered standard for solving complex business problems and preparing specific types of business communications: in this assignment, you will learn how to research, shape, and format information appropriately into the informative formal written report format. In addition to following the directions in the Scenario and specific steps for completion section.

Scenario and specific steps for completion:

Ensure that you understand the basics of preparing formal written reports. Also, note that there are different styles and organizations in accordance to different purposes and report types.

Make sure you understand how to correctly incorporate parenthetical documentation into an informative formal written report format, which means including direct quotes into your report when needed and as appropriate. Document your sources with a References or Works Cited page that you include as the final page of your report. All intext citations and the bibliographic content must adhere consistently to either MLA or APA style. The rest of the report must be formatted exactly as indicated below. In-text citations are mandatory; any submission without them results in a failing grade for the assignment.

1. Choose one of the following topic options (A, B, or C) for your formal report. Let the topic description/questions for development guide you (you don’t have to answer all questions) to select the appropriate research/creation and placement of infographics/format for purpose/format for report type/methods of content organization, accordingly.

Option A: What should a U.S. manager know about dealing with workers from ____? (you fill in the country). What factors do and do not motivate people in this group (eg., the workers from another country)? How do they show respect and deference? Are they used to strong hierarchy or to an egalitarian setting? Do they normally do one thing at once or many things? How important is clock time and being on time? What factors lead them to respect someone—Age? Experience? Education? Technical knowledge? Wealth? Or what? What conflicts or miscommunications may arise between workers from this culture and other workers due to cultural differences? Are people from this culture similar in these beliefs and behaviors, or is there significant variation?

Option B: What benefits do companies offer? To get information, check the web pages of three companies in the same industry. Information about benefits is usually on the page about working for the company—or on a related HR link within the company

Option C: Describe an ethical dilemma encountered by workers in a specific organization (a real dilemma, not an imaginary one—requires research). What is the background of the situation? What competing loyalties exist? In the past, how have workers responded? Have whistle-blowers been rewarded or punished? What could the organization do to foster ethical behavior? Describe an ethical dilemma encountered by workers in a specific organization (a real dilemma, not an imaginary one—requires research). What is the background of the situation? What competing loyalties exist? In the past, how have workers responded? Have whistle-blowers been rewarded or punished? What could the organization do to foster ethical behavior?

2. Once you choose an option, you will then need to select between three-five (three min. for a C, four for a B, and five for an A in the sources section of the assignment assessment) relevant, credible, and reliable sources from which to gain the information you need to address the option you select.

· For Option A, this means you need sources that can answer the questions listed in the text: you can research the same country you did for Module Three if you want to, and even include some of the same sources if the sources are appropriate.

· For Option B, this means that three of your sources will have to be websites from three companies in the same industry. You choose the companies, and you decide upon the industry: CGC is curious about other corporate benefit offerings; they do not care what industry you select.

· For Option C, this means that you will need to locate credible sources which explain, discuss, and describe an actual ethical dilemma faced by workers in a specific organization. News articles and the organization’s website are both good places to start.

3. Once you understand your option and have gathered research, organize your report into the required sections listed here:

Required Front Matter Components:

· Title page

· Table of Contents

· List of Figures, and/or List of Illustrations (as needed only)

· There is no need to write an executive summary for this report, but please feel free to do so if you want the practice.

Required Body Components

· Background

· Problem or purpose

· Significance

· Scope

· Organization

· Sources and methods

· Key terms

Required Report Body: Findings and Analyses

· Content of the report goes here

· This section is organized into main categories, with clear headings that explain each major section. Headings may be functional or talking.

· Conclusions and recommendations. Summarizes main points of the report, explains what your findings mean/refer directly to problem or purpose of the report, and offers suggestions based on this information for actions CGC and perhaps even your manager/supervisor or your own team can take now that you have given this information. Your imagination will be needed here; if you chose Option C, for instance, you could now suggest ways for CGC to avoid similar issues with its own employees. This section can be presented in a numbered or bulleted list

Back Matter Components

• Works Cited or References page, formatted perfectly in MLA or APA style.

• One or more appendixes, as needed.

I have included some samples for you.

Noted!

Report manuscript formatting: Select MLA or APA style, and integrate along with the following specifications formatting your report document:

• 3+ pages, approximately (min. of 3; the max. number is up to you), for the report body, and note this page number requirement does not refer to the References or Works Cited page, or the title page, or the table of contents.

• Double-spaced writing throughout the entire document. This assignment requirement isn’t always or even often “standard” for formal reports in the business world, because not everything is written in MLA or APA style, but it’s much easier for me to read and grade.

• 1 inch margins on all four sides of each page

• Include page numbers and place them according to the style you use (MLA or APA)

• Include a running header in the upper left corner of each page in the report body if you use APA style

• Include sections, headings, and subheadings as explained