Report

Thanks so much for submitting your proposal. The comments below consider two purposes of the proposal and indicate ways the proposal could be improved. You’ll also find some suggestions related to the report to consider as you move forward.

One of the purposes of the proposal is to convince readers to grant you permission to research and write a report, which requires identifying your purpose and topic (the purpose section) and convincing the readers of the importance of the topic (the needs assessment section).

In the first section of the proposal, you do well by identifying that this document is a proposal and by referring to the report and what it will deliver to the readers. To improve this section, I’d recommend two revisions. First, I’d recommend clarifying that you’re requesting permission to conduct research and write a report (make the purpose explicit rather than implied).

Second, you may benefit from further audience analysis. Who are the readers? Most likely the audience is managers who will have the authority to implement any solutions you suggest. Such readers (who generally have at least one degree along with years of experience) don’t need a general definition of culture, so the first paragraph can probably be omitted.

The needs assessment section does well by incorporating research throughout the discussion. You may be able to shorten this discussion by eliminating repetition. Although APA is usually accurate, one additional citation is needed in the third paragraph for “a researcher once said.” Always provide a specific citation.

If the proposal is for a specific organization, I’d also recommend discussing problems specific to the organization as part of the needs assessment. While interviews and surveys can help pinpoint unique problems, the current organizational structure, mission, and vision can reveal a number of potential problem areas without ever talking to someone employed at an organization. (The first question to ask is, what countries does the company currently operate in?)

A second purpose for the proposal is to show your readers the plan for the future report, both to prove you have a workable plan and to ask for feedback on it. To achieve this goal, the report outline and research plan sections should work together to provide a picture of the future report while the schedule and resources sections show what you’ll need to finish the report in a timely manner.

The outline section describes a report that will primarily be structured as a problem-solution report, which should work well for this topic. John, I am a bit concerned about the final paragraph in this section: it would be difficult (and perhaps even impossible) to find a single solution. Managing cultural conflict and raising cultural intelligence usually involve several solutions working in concert.

The research plan section mentions both secondary and primary (interviews, observation, etc.) research. The secondary research listed is a mix of journal articles and books, which should work well for the topic. The primary research includes interviews and observations along with “measuring the percentage of reliability” by using a real conflict situation. It’s not quite clear what the latter will require, and what you will do should be more fully described.

As an aside, observations can be tricky as a research methodology, both because they can require permissions from the organization’s leadership, individual employees, and clients and because some training in conducting observations is useful. (It’s very easy for the observer to alter the dynamics of the situation.) Perhaps more practically, getting permission, setting up the observations, and interpreting the results can take a lot of time.   I’d recommend omitting the plan for observations and relying instead on interviews and/or surveys (the latter may also require permission from the company’s leadership). If you want to conduct observations, please request permission and attach the positive response to the report as an appendix. You may also benefit from developing a form or checklist to aid in the observations, if they are conducted. I do encourage you to interview an HR person at the organization; he or she should have a sense of common problems.

A schedule, resources, and qualifications section are missing from the proposal. A resources section would be particularly useful to your audience in this situation: how many employees do you want to question or interview? How much time will the interviews take? What other resources are needed?

In terms of grammar, please review for comma use and frequent typos. The latter, in particular, undermine the professionalism of the proposal.