final

Exam A

3 pages

Please read carefully and respond to all three cases presented below. You have two hours to complete the three documents. All three cases count equally toward your grade on the exam. You may invent needed information, such as addresses or compensation for lost services, but ensure that it is pertinent and realistic. You will be evaluated on your writing style and tone, as well as the formatting for each type of correspondence.

Case 1: Negative Correspondence

You are a program coordinator for the South Texas Business Project (STBP), a training and development firm for business leaders. STBP hires internationally-known speakers and authors to conduct training for business professionals throughout the southern United States.

You generally schedule one- and two-day sessions in large cities, charging participants between $100 and $500 per session, depending on the topic and speaker. Sessions have a participation minimum of 100 and a maximum of 500. Participants usually find out about sessions through brochures or email invites.

Your latest seminar, Managing Employees who “Know it All,” didn’t have enough participants to offer the seminar at the Houston, Texas, site. Only fifty-eight people signed up for the seminar. The participation for the seminar at other sites (e.g. Savannah, Georgia, and Mobile, Alabama) is also low. While you think it’s a great seminar, you can’t seem to convince the business community, so it’s unlikely that you’ll offer the seminar again.

Participants have several options: they can get a refund, transfer their registration to one of the other sites, or transfer their registration to another seminar. They need to let you know which option they want pretty quickly.

You won’t refund any other expenses (e.g. cancellation charges for hotels, rental cars, etc.).

Write an email to the people who signed up for the seminar and tell them it has been cancelled and convey their other options.

Case 2: Positive/Informative Correspondence

You are the office manager of the Eat-za! Cafeteria at the local community college. Generally, the cafeteria sells breakfast from 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. (including breakfast tacos, biscuit sandwiches, and a variety of pastries) and lunch from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. (including sandwiches, salads, hamburgers, pizza, and a daily hot lunch special). It also sells coffee, soft drinks, and a large variety of snacks all day. The cafeteria provides excellent service, and your students, staff, and faculty like to eat in the friendly environment. Indeed, it’s not unusual to see impromptu meetings between faculty members or students hosting small study groups.

However, the cafeteria is in desperate need of some updates and improvements, and you need to shut it down for about three weeks during the renovation. While the renovation is ongoing, you plan to open up a temporary facility close to the original cafeteria, but you won’t be able to serve hot items for either breakfast or lunch for three weeks and the space you do have will be much smaller.

When the renovation is complete, your students, faculty, and staff will have access to a newly designed cafeteria—designed by students in the engineering department and decorated with art from students in the art department. It will also feature wireless Internet access and a wide selection of specialty coffees.

Write a letter to students, faculty, and staff informing them of the renovation and providing them with information they need to act.

Case 3: Persuasive Correspondence

You are the office manager in Wyatt Office Solutions, a small technology company. The owner of the company is fed up with how much the company is spending on office supplies and is tired of employees ordering reams of expensive paper and photo paper for their personal use. You have noticed personal photographs in the recycling bins on company-bought photo paper.

After sending out a memo requesting that employees reuse paper and keep personal copies to a minimum, costs for supplies have continued to rise in the past three months.

To fix the problem, you want to implement a new supply ordering system that requires employees to fill out order forms that will be approved by the president. When special supplies are needed, you want employees to fill out a special request form that can be fast-tracked to the president. All supplies will be under lock and key. You also want to remind employees that the company will no longer give free personal copies. Employees will have to pay 5 cents for personal copies and 10 cents for photo paper copies. Personal accounts for copies can be set up with their department’s administrative assistant. These prices are still well below the cost at local copy stores.

Write a memo to the president explaining your idea and requesting permission to implement these new supply ordering policies.