Memo's

Decide upon a course of action, one that you all agree on and one for which you feel confident you can provide substantive analysis and rationale. Then, write two memos:

1. The first memo should be brief and written to your instructor. In it you must create an audience profile for both your primary and secondary audiences. Whom do you believe should make the decisions for your case (who are they, what are their roles, and why them specifically?)? Also consider those whom may have occasion to read your document but are not included in the addressee line. For example, are there possible litigious issues here? Might attorneys or government agencies have cause to review your memo? What about corporate executives or HR managers? Prospective employers or clients?

2. Then write a second memo with your recommendation(s) addressed to the principal individual(s) whom you believe will make the final decision regarding your business situation. This memo should be 2 pages in length and in addition to answering the questions listed at the end of your case, it must include the following in its discussion:

· Clearly define the objectives of your message

· Relevant facts (briefly)

· Primary stakeholders (who are they and why?)

· Possible alternatives & the ethics concerned with those alternatives (Explore the ethical implications of your message; how will those implications affect what you write and how you write the memo? recall your audience and the implications of your message)

· What actions should be taken & why?

Select one option below… they are links so you can click on them to read about them.

Copyright Concerns   A computer startup company risks violating copyright laws if it reuses a code that is the intellectual property of another company.

Off the Clock   A recently promoted manager at an industrial engineering company discovers that factory workers are asked to work more than eight hours a day without getting paid overtime.

Time-Sharing Space   An intern at a power electronics startup faces unkind comments from a fellow engineer. She suspects that her colleague is prejudice toward female engineers.

A Marshland's Fleeting Flourishing?   An engineer for an environmental consulting firm must decide whether or not he should encourage his client to go with a more environmentally sustainable construction plan.

Giving in or Giving up   An engineering manager gets pressured to bribe a foreign official in order to secure a business venture in East Africa.

Insurmountable Differences   An African-American electronics design lead wonders whether his colleague's contentious behavior is motivated by racism.

Family Loyalty vs. Meritocracy   The president of a newly acquired Philippine subsidiary of an American company considers what to do about the practice of hiring family members.

Looking toward a Medical Future   A researcher of regenerative medicine meets a man who is eager to sign up for potentially dangerous human testing.