Week #3 - writing

Chapter 5 from Business Communication for Success was adapted by The Saylor Foundation under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 license without attribution, as requested by the work’s original creator or licensee. © 2014, The Saylor Foundation.

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Writing Preparation Before you write, think.

William Arthur Ward

Getting Started

I N T R O D U C T O R Y E X E R C I S E S

1. Identify a career you are interested in pursuing and do an online search for information about it,

taking note of the number of results returned and a couple of the top ten sources. Compare your

results with those of your classmates.

2. Visit your college or university library. Familiarize yourself with the resources available to

business writers and choose one resource that you find especially valuable. Write a short

summary of the resource to share with your classmates, explaining why you chose this resource.

3. In a business setting, describe some circumstances where it would it be appropriate to send a

message by instant messaging, or by e-mail, or in a printed memo. Ask some colleagues or

coworker what they consider the best option and why, and share the results with the class.

No matter who you are, you were not born speaking English (or any other language),

and were certainly not born writing. You learned to speak and to write and, like all

humans, your skill in speaking and writing can continue to improve and adapt across

your lifetime. The awareness of this simple fact should encourage you. If your writing

has been well received in the past, congratulations. It may be that your skill in

producing college-level essays has served you well. Still, the need for learning to produce

clear, concise business writing may be a new skill for you. Even seasoned professional

business communicators find it a challenge to present complex and dynamic

relationships in a way that the audience can grasp at a glance, on a first read, or with

minimal effort. If your writing has not been as well received in the past as you would

like, this chapter will help you see the process from a perspective where attention to

specific steps can lead to overall success.

In addition to your previous experiences, you will necessarily draw on the writing of

others as you prepare for your writing effort. If you have ever fallen asleep on your

Chapter 5

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textbook, you know that trying to absorb many pages of reading in a single session is not

the best strategy for studying. In the same way, as you prepare to write a business

document, you know that using the first search result listed on Google or Yahoo! is not

the best strategy for success. You may be tempted to gather only the information that is

most readily available, or that which confirms your viewpoint, but you will sell yourself

short and may produce an inferior piece of writing.

Instead, you need to determine the purpose of your writing project; search for

information, facts, and statistics to support your purpose; and remain aware of

information that contradicts the message you are aiming to convey. Think of it as an

exercise program. If you only do the easy exercises, and nothing else, you may develop a

single muscle group, but will never gain real strength. What kinds of skills, or strengths,

will you need in order to write well enough to succeed in your career? Solid research

skills combined with effective preparation for writing involve a range of skill sets that

require time and practice. The degree to which you make the extra effort will pay

dividends throughout your career.

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5.1 Think, Then Write: Writing Preparation L E A R N I N G O B J E C T I V E S

1. Explain why preparation is important in business writing.

2. Think critically and employ strategies to overcome common fears of writing.

“How do I prepare myself for writing?” is a common question and one that has no single

correct answer. When do you do your best work? Whatever your work or task may be, it

doesn’t have to be writing. Some people work best in the morning, others only after their

daily dose of coffee. Still others burn the midnight oil and work well late into the night

while their colleagues lose their productive edge as the sun sets. “To thine own self be

true,” is a great idea when you have the freedom to choose when you work, but

increasingly our lives are governed by schedules and deadlines that we do not control.

You may have a deadline that requires you to work late at night when you recognize that

you are far more productive early in the morning. If you can, consider one important

step to writing success: know when you are most productive. If you cannot choose your

timing, then dedication and perseverance are required. The job must be completed and

the show must go on. Your effort demonstrates self-control and forbearance (as opposed

to impatience and procrastination) and implies professionalism.

To be productive, you have to be alert, ready to work, and can accomplish tasks with

relative ease. You will no doubt recognize that sometimes tasks take a lot longer, the

solution is much harder to find, and you may find work more frustrating at other times.

If you have the option, try to adjust your schedule so the writing tasks before you can be

tackled at times when you are most productive, where you ability to concentrate is best,

and when you are your most productive. If you don’t have the option, focus clearly on

the task before you.

Every individual is different, and what works for one person may be ineffective for

someone else. One thing that professional writers agree on, however, is that you don’t

need to be in the “right mood” to write—and that, in fact, if you wait for the right mood

to strike, you will probably never get started at all. Ernest Hemingway, who wrote some

of the most famous novels of the twentieth century as well as hundreds of essays,

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articles, and short stories, advised writers to “work every day. No matter what has

happened the day or night before, get up and bite on the nail.” [1]

In order for your work to be productive, you will need to focus your attention on your

writing. The stereotype of the writer tucked away in an attic room or a cabin in the

woods, lost in the imaginary world created by the words as they flow onto the page, is

only a stereotype. Our busy lives involve constant interruption. In a distraction-prone

business environment, much of your writing will be done while colleagues are talking on

the phone, having face-to-face conversations as they walk by, and possibly stopping at

your desk to say hello or ask a question. Your phone may ring or you may have incoming

instant messages (IMs) that need to be answered quickly. These unavoidable

interruptions make it even more important to develop a habit of concentrating when you

write.

The mind has been likened to a brace of wild horses; if you have ever worked with

horses, you know they each have a mind of their own. Taken individually they can be

somewhat manageable, but together they can prove to be quite a challenge. Our minds

can multitask and perform several tasks simultaneously, but we can also get easily

distracted. We can get sidetracked and lose valuable time away from our designated

task. Our ability to concentrate is central to our ability to write effectively, whether we

work alone or as part of a team.

In many business situations, you may not be writing solo but instead collaborating on a

document with various coworkers, vendors, or customers. The ability to concentrate is

perhaps even more important in these group writing situations. [2] In this discussion,

we’ll consider the writing process from a singular perspective, where you are personally

responsible for planning, researching, and producing a product of writing. In other

areas of this text we also consider the collaborative process, its strengths and

weaknesses, and how to negotiate and navigate the group writing process.

Thinking Critically

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As you approach your writing project, it is important to practice the habit of thinking

critically. Critical thinking can be defined as “self-directed, self-disciplined, self-

monitored, and self-corrective thinking.” [3] It is the difference between watching

television in a daze versus analyzing a movie with attention to its use of lighting, camera

angles, and music to influence the audience. One activity requires very little mental

effort, while the other requires attention to detail, the ability to compare and contrast,

and sharp senses to receive all the stimuli.

As a habit of mind, critical thinking requires established standards and attention to their

use, effective communication, problem solving, and a willingness to acknowledge and

address our own tendency for confirmation bias, egocentrism, and sociocentrism. We’ll

use the phrase “habit of mind” because clear, critical thinking is a habit that requires

effort and persistence. People do not start an exercise program, a food and nutrition

program, or a stop-smoking program with 100 percent success the first time. In the

same way, it is easy to fall back into lazy mental short cuts, such as “If it costs a lot, it

must be good,” when in fact the statement may very well be false. You won’t know until

you gather information that supports (or contradicts) the assertion.

As we discuss getting into the right frame of mind for writing, keep in mind that the

same recommendations apply to reading and research. If you only pay attention to

information that reinforces your existing beliefs and ignore or discredit information that

contradicts your beliefs, you are guilty of confirmation bias. [4] As you read, research,

and prepare for writing, make an effort to gather information from a range of reliable

sources, whether or not this information leads to conclusions you didn’t expect.

Remember that those who read your writing will be aware of, or have access to, this

universe of data as well and will have their own confirmation bias. Reading and writing

from an audience-centered view means acknowledging your confirmation bias and

moving beyond it to consider multiple frames of references, points of view, and

perspectives as you read, research, and write.

Egocentrism and sociocentrism are related concepts to confirmation

bias. Egocentrism can be defined as the use of self-centered standards to determine

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what to believe and what to reject. Similarly, sociocentrism involves the use of society-

centered standards. [5] Both ways of thinking create an “us versus them” relationship

that can undermine your credibility and alienate readers who don’t share your

viewpoint.

This leads to confirmation bias and groupthink, resulting in false conclusions with little

or no factual support for a belief. If a person believes the earth is flat and never

questions that belief, it serves as an example of egocentric thinking. The person believes

it is true even though he has never questioned why he believes it. If the person decides

to look for information but only finds information that supports his pre-existing belief,

ignoring or discrediting information that contradicts that belief, he is guilty of

confirmation bias. If he believes the earth is flat because everyone in his group or

community believes it, even though he himself has never questioned or confirmed the

belief, he is guilty of sociocentrism.

In each case, the false thinking strategy leads to poor conclusions. Watch out for your

tendency to read, write, and believe that which reflects only what you think you know

without solid research and clear, critical thinking.

Overcoming Fear of Writing For many people, one of the most frightening things in life is public speaking. For

similar reasons, whether rational or irrational, writing often generates similar fears.

There is something about exposing one’s words to possible criticism that can be truly

terrifying. In this chapter, we are going to break down the writing process into small,

manageable steps that, in turn, will provide you with a platform for success. To take

advantage of these steps, you need to acknowledge any reluctance or fear that may be

holding you back, and bring your interests and enthusiasm to this discussion on writing.

Having a positive attitude about writing in general, and your effort, is also a key

ingredient to your success. If you approach a writing assignment with trepidation and

fear, you will spend your valuable time and attention in ways that do not contribute

positively to your writing. People often fear the writing process because of three main

reasons:

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1. Negative orientation

2. Risk of failure

3. Fear of the unknown

Let’s take each reason in turn. Negative orientation means the writer has a pre-existing

negative association or view of the task or activity. We tend to like people who like

us, [6]tend to pursue activities where we perceive rewards and appreciation for our

efforts, and are more likely to engage in activities where we perceive we are successful.

Conversely, we tend to not like people who we perceive as not like us, tend to ignore or

avoid activities where we perceive we are not appreciated or are not rewarded, and are

less likely to engage in activities where we perceive we are not successful. For some

writers, previous experiences have led to a pre-existing association with writing. That

association may be positive if they have been encouraged, affirmed, or rewarded as they

demonstrated measurable gain. That association may also be negative if efforts have

been met with discouraging feedback, a lack of affirmation, or negative reinforcement.

Effective business writing is a highly valued skill, and regardless of the degree to which

writing will be a significant aspect of your designated job duties, your ability to do it well

will be a boost to your career. If you have a negative orientation toward writing,

admitting this fact is an important first step. Next, we need to actively seek ways to

develop your skills in ways that will demonstrate measurable gain and lead to positive

affirmation. Not everyone develops in the same way on the same schedule, and

measurable gain means that from one writing assignment to the next you can

demonstrate positive progress. In an academic setting, measurable gain is one of your

clear goals as a writer. In a business or industry setting, you may lack the time to revise

and improve, meaning that you will need to get it right the first time. Take advantage of

the academic setting to set positive, realistic goals to improve your writing. Surround

yourself with resources, including people who will help you reach your goal. If your

college or university has a writing center, take advantage of it. If it does not, seek out

assistance from those whose writing has been effective and well received.

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It is a given that you do not want to fail. Risk of failure is a common fear across public

speaking and writing situations, producing predictable behavioral patterns we can

recognize, address, and resolve. In public speaking, our minds may go blank at the start

of a presentation as we confront our fear of failure. In writing, we may experience a form

of blankness often referred to as “writer’s block”—the overwhelming feeling of not

knowing what to write or where to start—and sit helplessly waiting for our situation to

change.

But we have the power to change our circumstances and to overcome our risk of failure.

You may be familiar with the concept of a rough draft, but it may compete in your mind

with a desire for perfection. Writing is a dynamic process, a reflection of the

communication process itself. It won’t be perfect the first time you attempt it.

Awareness that your rough draft serves a purpose, but doesn’t represent your final

product, should serve in the same way a rehearsal for a speech serves a speaker. You get

a second (or third) chance to get it right. Use this process to reduce your fear of failure

and let go of your perfectionist tendencies, if only for a moment. Your desire for

perfection will serve you well when it comes to polishing your finished document, but

everything has its time and place. Learning where and when to place your effort is part

of writing preparation.

Finally, we often fear the unknown. It is part of being human, and is reflected across all

contexts, including public speaking and writing. If you have never given a speech before,

your first time on stage can be quite an ordeal. If you have never written a formal

business report, your fear of the unknown is understandable. How can you address this

fear? Make the unknown known. If we take the mystery out of the process and product,

we can see it for its essential components, its organizational pattern, and start to see

how our product may look before we even start to produce it. In many organizations,

you can ask your supervisor or coworkers for copies of similar documents to the one you

have been assigned, even if the content is quite different. If this is not an option, simply

consider the way most documents in your company are written—even something as

basic as an interoffice e-mail will provide some clues. Your goal is to become familiar

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with the type of document and to examine several successful examples. Once you see a

couple of reports, you will have a better feel for what you have to produce and the

unknown will be far less mysterious. K E Y T A K E A W A Y

There are several reasons why people fear writing, but there are also several strategies

to reduce or eliminate those fears. E X E R C I S E S

1. How would you describe your orientation to writing? Where does this orientation come from?

Discuss your thoughts with a classmate.

2. If you could identify one aspect of your writing you would like to improve, what would it be and

why? Write a one- two-page essay on this subject.

3. What kinds of writing do you like? Dislike? Explain why and provide an example of each. Share

and compare with the class.

4. Who is your favorite author? What do you like about her or his writing? Discuss your opinion

with a classmate.

[1] Hemingway, E. (1999). Ernest Hemingway on writing (L. W. Phillips, Ed.). New York, NY:

Simon & Schuster Adult Publishing Group.

[2] Nickerson, R. S., Perkins, D. N., & Smith, E. E. (1985). The teaching of thinking. Hillsdale, NJ:

Lawrence Erbaum Associates.

[3] Paul, R., & Elder, L. (2007). The miniature guide to critical thinking: Concepts and tools. Dillon

Beach, CA: The Foundation for Critical Thinking Press.

[4] Gilovich, T. (1993). How we know what isn’t so: The fallibility of human reason in everyday

life. New York, NY: The Free Press.

[5] Paul, R., & Elder, L. (2007). The miniature guide to critical thinking: Concepts and tools. Dillon

Beach, CA: The Foundation for Critical Thinking Press.

[6] Gudykunst, W. B., & Kim, Y. Y. (1997). Communicating with strangers: An approach to

intercultural communication (3rd ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

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5.2 A Planning Checklist for Business Messages L E A R N I N G O B J E C T I V E S

1. Understand who, what, where, when, why, and how as features of writing purpose.

2. Describe the planning process and essential elements of a business document.

John Thill and Courtland Bovee, [1] two leading authors in the field of business

communication, have created a ch ecklist for planning business messages. The following

twelve-item checklist, adapted here, serves as a useful reminder of the importance of

preparation in the writing process:

1. Determine your general purpose: are you trying to inform, persuade, entertain, facilitate

interaction, or motivate a reader?

2. Determine your specific purpose (the desired outcome).

3. Make sure your purpose is realistic.

4. Make sure your timing is appropriate.

5. Make sure your sources are credible.

6. Make sure the message reflects positively on your business.

7. Determine audience size.

8. Determine audience composition.

9. Determine audience knowledge and awareness of topic.

10. Anticipate probable responses.

11. Select the correct channel.

12. Make sure the information provided is accurate, ethical, and pertinent.

Throughout this chapter we will examine these various steps in greater detail.

Determining Your Purpose Preparation for the writing process involves purpose, research and investigation,

reading and analyzing, and adaptation. In the first section we consider how to determine

the purpose of a document, and how that awareness guides the writer to effective

product.

While you may be free to create documents that represent yourself or your organization,

your employer will often have direct input into their purpose. All acts of communication

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have general and specific purposes, and the degree to which you can identify these

purposes will influence how effective your writing is. General purposes involve the

overall goal of the communication interaction: to inform, persuade, entertain, facilitate

interaction, or motivate a reader. The general purpose influences the presentation and

expectation for feedback. In an informative message—the most common type of writing

in business—you will need to cover several predictable elements:

• Who

• What

• When

• Where

• How

• Why (optional)

Some elements may receive more attention than others, and they do not necessarily

have to be addressed in the order you see here. Depending on the nature of your project,

as a writer you will have a degree of input over how you organize them.

Note that the last item, Why, is designated as optional. This is because business writing

sometimes needs to report facts and data objectively, without making any interpretation

or pointing to any cause-effect relationship. In other business situations, of course,

identifying why something happened or why a certain decision is advantageous will be

the essence of the communication.

In addition to its general purpose (e.g., to inform, persuade, entertain, or motivate),

every piece of writing also has at least one specific purpose, which is the intended

outcome; the result that will happen once your written communication has been read.

For example, imagine that you are an employee in a small city’s housing authority and

have been asked to draft a letter to city residents about radon. Radon is a naturally

occurring radioactive gas that has been classified by the United States Environmental

Protection Agency as a health hazard. In the course of a routine test, radon was detected

in minimal levels in an apartment building operated by the housing authority. It

presents a relatively low level of risk, but because the incident was reported in the local

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newspaper, the mayor has asked the housing authority director to be proactive in

informing all the city residents of the situation.

The general purpose of your letter is to inform, and the specific purpose is to have a

written record of informing all city residents about how much radon was found, when,

and where; where they can get more information on radon; and the date, time, and place

of the meeting. Residents may read the information and attend or they may not even

read the letter. But once the letter has been written, signed, and distributed, your

general and specific purposes have been accomplished.

Now imagine that you begin to plan your letter by applying the above list of elements.

Recall that the letter informs residents on three counts: (1) the radon finding, (2) where

to get information about radon, and (3) the upcoming meeting. For each of these pieces

of information, the elements may look like the following:

1. Radon Finding

o Who: The manager of the apartment building (give name)

o What: Discovered a radon concentration of 4.1 picocuries per liter (pCi/L) and reported it to the

housing authority director, who informed the city health inspector, environmental compliance

office, and mayor

o When: During the week of December 15

o Where: In the basement of the apartment building located at (give address)

o How: In the course of performing a routine annual test with a commercially available do-it-

yourself radon test kit

2. Information about radon

o Who: According to the city health inspector and environmental compliance officer

o What: Radon is a naturally occurring radioactive gas that results from the breakdown of

uranium in soil; a radon test level above 4.0 pCi/L may be cause for concern

o When: Radon levels fluctuate from time to time, so further testing will be done; in past years,

test results were below 4.0 pCi/L

o Where: More information is available from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency or the

state radon office

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o How: By phone, mail, or on the Internet (provide full contact information for both sources)

o Why: To become better informed and avoid misunderstandings about radon, its health risks,

and the meaning of radon test results

3. City meeting about radon

o Who: All city residents are welcome

o What: Attend an informational meeting where the mayor, director of the housing authority, city

health inspector, and city environmental compliance officer will speak and answer questions

o When: Monday, January 7, at 7 p.m.

o Where: City hall community room

o Why: To become better informed and avoid misunderstandings about radon, its health risks,

and the meaning of radon test results

Once you have laid out these elements of your informative letter, you have an outline

from which it will be easy to write the actual letter.

Your effort serves as a written record of correspondence informing them that radon was

detected, which may be one of the specific or primary purposes. A secondary purpose

may be to increase attendance at the town hall meeting, but you will need feedback from

that event to determine the effectiveness of your effort.

Now imagine that instead of being a housing authority employee, you are a city resident

who receives that informative letter, and you happen to operate a business as a certified

radon mitigation contractor. You may decide to build on this information and develop a

persuasive message. You may draft a letter to the homeowners and landlords in the

neighborhood near the building in question. To make your message persuasive, you may

focus on the perception that radiation is inherently dangerous and that no amount of

radon has been declared safe. You may cite external authorities that indicate radon is a

contributing factor to several health ailments, and even appeal to emotions with phrases

like “protect your children” and “peace of mind.” Your letter will probably encourage

readers to check with the state radon office to verify that you are a certified contractor,

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describe the services you provide, and indicate that friendly payment terms can be

arranged.

Credibility, Timing, and Audience At this point in the discussion, we need to visit the concept of credibility. Credibility, or

the perception of integrity of the message based on an association with the source, is

central to any communication act. If the audience perceives the letter as having

presented the information in an impartial and objective way, perceives the health

inspector’s and environmental compliance officer’s expertise in the field as relevant to

the topic, and generally regards the housing authority in a positive light, they will be

likely to accept your information as accurate. If, however, the audience does not

associate trust and reliability with your message in particular and the city government in

general, you may anticipate a lively discussion at the city hall meeting.

In the same way, if the reading audience perceives the radon mitigation contractor’s

letter as a poor sales pitch without their best interest or safety in mind, they may not

respond positively to its message and be unlikely to contact him about any possible

radon problems in their homes. If, however, the sales letter squarely addresses the

needs of the audience and effectively persuades them, the contractor may look forward

to a busy season.

Returning to the original housing authority scenario, did you consider how your letter

might be received, or the fear it may have generated in the audience? In real life you

don’t get a second chance, but in our academic setting, we can go back and take more

time on our assignment, using the twelve-item checklist we presented earlier. Imagine

that you are the mayor or the housing authority director. Before you assign an employee

to send a letter to inform residents about the radon finding, take a moment to consider

how realistic your purpose is. As a city official, you may want the letter to serve as a

record that residents were informed of the radon finding, but will that be the only

outcome? Will people be even more concerned in response to the letter than they were

when the item was published in the newspaper? Would a persuasive letter serve the

city’s purposes better than an informative one?

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Another consideration is the timing. On the one hand, it may be important to get the

letter sent as quickly as possible, as the newspaper report may have already aroused

concerns that the letter will help calm. On the other hand, given that the radon was

discovered in mid-December, many people are probably caught up in holiday

celebrations. If the letter is mailed during the week of Christmas, it may not get the

attention it deserves. After January 1, everyone will be paying more attention to their

mail as they anticipate the arrival of tax-related documents or even the dreaded credit

card statement. If the mayor has scheduled the city hall meeting for January 7, people

may be unhappy if they only learn about the meeting at the last minute. Also consider

your staff; if many of them will be gone over the holidays, there may not be enough staff

in place to respond to phone calls that will likely come in response to the letter, even

though the letter advises residents to contact the state radon office and the

Environmental Protection Agency.

Next, how credible are the sources cited in the letter? If you as a housing authority

employee have been asked to draft it, to whom should it go once you have it written?

The city health inspector and environmental compliance officer are mentioned as

sources; will they each read and approve the letter before it is sent? Is there someone at

the county, state, or even the federal level who can, or should, check the information

before it is sent?

The next item on the checklist is to make sure the message reflects positively on your

business. In our hypothetical case, the “business” is city government. The letter should

acknowledge that city officials and employees are servants of the taxpayers. “We are

here to serve you” should be expressed, if not in so many words, in the tone of the letter.

The next three items on the checklist are associated with the audience profile: audience

size, composition, knowledge, and awareness of the topic. Since your letter is being sent

to all city residents, you likely have a database from which you can easily tell how many

readers constitute your audience. What about audience composition? What else do you

know about the city’s residents? What percentage of households includes children?

What is the education level of most of the residents? Are there many residents whose

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first language is not English; if so, should your letter be translated into any other

languages? What is the range of income levels in the city? How well informed are city

residents about radon? Has radon been an issue in any other buildings in the city in

recent years? The answers to these questions will help determine how detailed the

information in your letter should be.

Finally, anticipate probable responses. Although the letter is intended to inform, could it

be misinterpreted as an attempt to “cover up” an unacceptable condition in city

housing? If the local newspaper were to reprint the letter, would the mayor be upset? Is

there someone in public relations who will be doing media interviews at the same time

the letter goes out? Will the release of information be coordinated, and if so by whom?

One additional point that deserves mention is the notion of decision makers. Even if

your overall goal is to inform or persuade, the basic mission is to simply communicate.

Establishing a connection is a fundamental aspect of the communication audience, and

if you can correctly target key decision makers you increase your odds for making the

connection with those you intend to inform or persuade. Who will open the mail, or e-

mail? Who will act upon it? The better you can answer those questions, the more precise

you can be in your writing efforts.

In some ways this is similar to asking your professor to write a letter of recommendation

for you, but to address it to “to whom it may concern.” If you can provide a primary

contact name for the letter of recommendation it will increase its probable impact on

the evaluation process. If your goal is to get a scholarship or a job offer, you want to take

the necessary steps to increase your positive impact on the audience.

Communication Channels Purpose is closely associated with channel. We need to consider the purpose when

choosing a channel. From source to receiver, message to channel, feedback to context,

environment, and interference, all eight components play a role in the dynamic process.

While writing often focuses on an understanding of the receiver (as we’ve discussed) and

defining the purpose of the message, the channel—or the “how” in the communication

process—deserves special mention.

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So far, we have discussed a simple and traditional channel of written communication:

the hardcopy letter mailed in a standard business envelope and sent by postal mail. But

in today’s business environment, this channel is becoming increasingly rare as

electronic channels become more widely available and accepted.

When is it appropriate to send an instant message (IM) or text message versus a

conventional e-mail or fax? What is the difference between a letter and a memo?

Between a report and a proposal? Writing itself is the communication medium, but each

of these specific channels has its own strengths, weaknesses, and understood

expectations that are summarized in Table 5.1 "Written Communication Channels".

Table 5.1 Written Communication Channels Channel Strengths Weaknesses Expectations When to Choose

IM or Text Message

Very fast

Good for rapid

exchanges of small

amounts of

information

Inexpensive

Informal

Not suitable for large

amounts of

information

Abbreviations lead to

misunderstandings Quick response

Informal use among

peers at similar levels

within an

organization

You need a fast,

inexpensive

connection with a

colleague over a

small issue and

limited amount of

information

Channel Strengths Weaknesses Expectations When to Choose

E-mail

Fast

Good for relatively

fast exchanges of

information

May hit “send”

prematurely

May be overlooked or

deleted without being

Normally a response is expected within 24 hours, although norms vary by situation and

You need to

communicate but

time is not the most

important

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Channel Strengths Weaknesses Expectations When to Choose

“Subject” line

allows compilation

of many messages

on one subject or

project

Easy to distribute

to multiple

recipients

Inexpensive

read

“Reply to all” error

“Forward” error

Large attachments

may cause the e-mail

to be caught in

recipient’s spam filter

organizational culture consideration

You need to send

attachments

(provided their file

size is not too big)

Fax

Fast

Provides

documentation

Receiving issues (e.g.,

the receiving machine

may be out of paper or

toner)

Long distance

telephone charges

apply

Transitional

telephone-based

technology losing

popularity to online

information exchange

Normally, a long (multiple page) fax is not expected

You want to send a

document whose

format must remain

intact as presented,

such as a medical

prescription or a

signed work order

Allows use of

letterhead to

represent your

company

Memo

Official but less

formal than a letter

Clearly shows who

sent it, when, and

to whom

Memos sent through

e-mails can get deleted

without review

Attachments can get

removed by spam

Normally used internally in an organization to communicate directives from management on policy and procedure,

You need to communicate a general message within an organization

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Channel Strengths Weaknesses Expectations When to Choose

filters or documentation

Letter

Formal

Letterhead

represents your

company and adds

credibility

May get filed or

thrown away unread

Cost and time involved

in printing, stuffing,

sealing, affixing

postage, and travel

through the postal

system

Specific formats associated with specific purposes

You need to inform, persuade, deliver bad news or negative message, and document the communication

Report

Significant time for preparation and production

Requires extensive research and documentation

Specific formats for specific purposes; generally reports are to inform

You need to document the relationship(s) between large amounts of data to inform an internal or external audience

Proposal

Significant time for preparation and production

Requires extensive research and documentation

Specific formats for specific purposes; generally proposals are to persuade

You need to persuade an audience with complex arguments and data

By choosing the correct channel for a message, you can save yourself many headaches

and increase the likelihood that your writing will be read, understood, and acted upon in

the manner you intended.

Our discussion of communication channels would not be complete without mentioning

the issues of privacy and security in electronic communications. The American

Management Association [2] estimates that about two thirds of employers monitor their

employees’ electronic communications or Internet use. When you call and leave a voice

message for a friend or colleague at work, do you know where your message is stored?

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There was a time when the message may have been stored on an analog cassette in an

answering machine, or even on a small pink handwritten note which a secretary

deposited in your friend’s in-box. Today the “where” is irrelevant, as the in-box is digital

and can be accessed from almost anywhere on the planet. That also means the message

you left, with the representation of your voice, can be forwarded via e-mail as an

attachment to anyone. Any time you send an IM, text, or e-mail or leave a voice

message, your message is stored on more than one server, and it can be intercepted or

forwarded to persons other than the intended receiver. Are you ready for your message

to be broadcast to the world? Do your words represent you and your business in a

positive light?

Newsweek columnist Jennifer Ordoñez raises this question when she writes, “For desk

jockeys everywhere, it has become as routine as a tour of the office-supply closet: the

consent form attesting that you understand and accept that any e-mails you write,

Internet sites you visit or business you conduct on your employer’s computer network

are subject to inspection.” [3] As you use MySpace, update your Facebook page, get

LinkedIn, Twitter, text, and IM, you leave an electronic trail of “bread crumbs” that

merge personal and professional spheres, opening up significant issues of privacy. In

our discussion we address research for specific business document production, and all

the electronic research conducted is subject to review. While the case law is evolving as

the technology we use to interface expands, it is wise to consider that anything you write

or record can and will be stored for later retrieval by people for whom your message was

not initially intended.

In terms of writing preparation, you should review any electronic communication before

you send it. Spelling and grammatical errors will negatively impact your credibility.

With written documents we often take time and care to get it right the first time, but the

speed of IM, text, or e-mail often deletes this important review cycle of written works.

Just because the document you prepare in IM is only one sentence long doesn’t mean it

can’t be misunderstood or expose you to liability. Take time when preparing your

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written messages, regardless of their intended presentation, and review your work

before you click “send.” K E Y T A K E A W A Y

Choose the most effective channel for your document and consider the possible

ramifications of what you have written before you send it. E X E R C I S E S

1. Write a one-page letter to a new customer introducing a new product or service. Compare your

result to the letters your classmates wrote. What do the letters have in common? How do they

differ from one another?

2. Write a memo that addresses a new norm or protocol, such as the need to register with a new

company that will be handling all the organization’s business-related travel, with specific

expectations including what information is needed, when, and to whom.

3. Make a list of the written communication that you read, skim, or produce in a one day. Please

share your results with the class.

[1] Thill, J. V., & Bovee, C. L. (2004). Business communication today (8th ed.). Upper Saddle

River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

[2] American Management Association. (2007). Electronic monitoring & surveillance survey:

Over half of all employers combined fire workers for e-mail & Internet abuse. Retrieved

fromhttp://press.amanet.org/press-releases/177/2007-electronic-monitoring-surveillance-

survey

[3] Ordoñez, J. (2008, July 14). The technologist: They can’t hide their pryin’ eyes. Retrieved

fromhttp://www.newsweek.com/id/143737

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5.3 Research and Investigation: Getting Started L E A R N I N G O B J E C T I V E S

1. Compare and contrast ways of knowing your reading audience.

2. Conduct research and investigation to gather information.

Clearly, not every piece of business writing requires research or investigation. If you receive an e-

mail asking for the correct spelling of your boss’s name and her official title, you will probably be able

to answer without having to look anything up. But what if the sender of the e-mail wants to know

who in your company is the decision maker for purchasing a certain supply item? Unless you work

for a very small company, you will likely have to look through the organizational chart, and possibly

make a phone call or two, before you are able to write an e-mail answering this question. There—you

have just done the research for a piece of business writing.

Even if you need to write something much more complex than an e-mail, such as a report or

proposal, research does not have to be all about long hours at a library. Instead, start by consulting

with business colleagues who have written similar documents and ask what worked, what didn’t

work, what was well received by management and the target audience. Your efforts will need to meet

similar needs. Your document will not stand alone but will exist within a larger agenda. How does

your proposed document fit within this agenda at your place of work, within the larger community,

or with the target audience? It’s worth noting that the word “investigation” contains the word

“invest.” You will need to invest your time and effort to understand the purpose and goal of your

proposed document.

Before you go to the library, look over the information sources you already have in hand. Do you

regularly read a magazine that relates to the topic? Was there an article in the newspaper you read

that might work? Is there a book, CD-ROM or mp3 that has information you can use? Think of what

you want the audience to know and how you could show it to them. Perhaps a famous quote or a line

from a poem may make an important contribution to your document. You might even know someone

that has experience in the area you want to research, someone who has been involved with skydiving

locally for his or her whole life. Consider how you are going to tell and show your audience what your

document is all about.

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Once you have an assignment or topic, know your general and specific purposes, and have good idea

of your reader’s expectations, it’s time to gather information. Your best sources may be all around

you, within your business or organization. Information may come from reports from the marketing

department or even from a trusted and well-versed colleague, but you will still need to do your

homework. After you have written several similar documents for your organization, you may have

your collection of sample documents, but don’t be tempted to take shortcuts and “repurpose”

existing documents to meet a tight deadline. Creating an original work specifically tailored to the

issue and audience at hand is the best approach to establish credibility, produce a more effective

document, and make sure no important aspect of your topic is left out.

Narrowing Your Topic By now you have developed an idea of your topic, but even with a general and specific

purpose, you may still have a broad subject that will be a challenge to cover within the

allotted time before the deadline. You might want to revisit your purpose and ask

yourself, how specific is my topic?

Imagine that you work for a local skydiving training facility. Your boss has assembled a

list of people who might be candidates for skydiving and asks you to write a letter to

them. Your general purpose is to persuade, and your specific purpose is to increase the

number of students enrolled in classes. You’ve decided that skydiving is your topic area

and you are going to tell your audience how exhilarating the experience is, discuss the

history and basic equipment, cover the basic requirements necessary to go on a first

jump, and provide reference information on where your audience could go to learn more

(links and Web sites, for example).

But at this point you might find that a one-page letter simply is not enough space for the

required content. Rather than expand the letter to two pages and risk losing the reader,

consider your audience and what they might want to learn. How can you narrow your

topic to better consider their needs? As you edit your topic, considering what the

essential information is and what can be cut, you’ll come to focus on the key points

naturally and reduce the pressure on yourself to cover too much information in a limited

space environment.

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Perhaps starting with a testimony about a client’s first jump, followed by basic

equipment and training needed, and finally a reference to your organization may help

you define your document. While the history may be fascinating, and may serve as a

topic in itself for another day, it may add too much information in this persuasive letter.

Your specific purpose may be to increase enrollment, but your general goal will be to

communicate goodwill and establish communication. If you can get your audience to

view skydiving in a positive light and consider the experience for themselves, or people

they know, you have accomplished your general purpose.

Focus on Key Points As a different example, let’s imagine that you are the office manager for a pet boarding

facility that cares for dogs and cats while their owners are away. The general manager

has asked you to draft a memo to remind employees about safety practices. Your general

purpose is twofold: to inform employees about safety concerns and to motivate them to

engage in safe work practices. Your specific purpose is also twofold: to prevent

employees from being injured or infected with diseases on the job, and to reduce the risk

of the animal patients being injured or becoming sick while in your care.

You are an office manager, not a veterinary or medical professional, and clearly there

are volumes written about animal injuries and illnesses, not to mention entire schools

devoted to teaching medicine to doctors who care for human patients. In a short memo

you cannot hope to cover all possible examples of injury or illness. Instead, focus on the

following behaviors and situations you observe:

• Do employees wash their hands thoroughly before and after contact with each animal?

• Are hand-washing facilities kept clean and supplied with soap and paper towels?

• When cleaning the animals’ cages, do employees wear appropriate protection such as gloves?

• What is the procedure for disposing of animal waste, and do all employees know and follow the

procedure?

• When an animal is being transferred from one cage to another, are there enough staff members

present to provide backup assistance in case the animal becomes unruly?

• What should an employee do if he or she is bitten or scratched?

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• What if an animal exhibits signs of being ill?

• Have there been any recent incidents that raised concerns about safety?

Once you have posed and answered questions like these, it should be easier to narrow

down the information so that the result is a reasonably brief, easy to read memo that

will get employees’ attention and persuade them to adopt safe work practices.

Planning Your Investigation for Information Now let’s imagine that you work for a small accounting firm whose president would like

to start sending a monthly newsletter to clients and prospective clients. He is aware of

newsletter production service vendors that provide newsletters to represent a particular

accounting firm. He has asked you to compile a list of such services, their prices and

practices, so that the firm can choose one to employ.

If you are alert, you will begin your planning immediately, while your conversation with

the president is still going on, as you will need more information before you can gauge

the scope of the assignment. Approximately how many newsletter vendors does your

president want to know about—is three or four enough? Would twenty be too many? Is

there a set budget figure that the newsletter cost must not exceed? How soon does your

report need to be done?

Once you have these details, you will be able to plan when and where to gather the

needed information. The smartest place to begin is right in your office. If the president

has any examples of newsletters he has seen from other businesses, you can examine

them and note the contact information of the companies that produced them. You may

also have an opportunity to ask coworkers if they know or even have copies of any such

newsletters.

Assuming that your president wants to consider more than just a couple of vendors, you

will need to expand your search. The next logical place to look is the Internet. In some

companies, employees have full Internet access from their office computers; other

companies provide only a few terminals with Internet access. Some workplaces allow no

Internet access; if this is the case, you can visit your nearest public library.

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As anyone who has spent an entire evening aimlessly Web surfing can attest, the

Internet is a great place to find loads and loads of interesting but irrelevant information.

Knowing what questions you are seeking to answer will help you stay focused on your

report’s topic, and knowing the scope of the report will help you to decide how much

research time to plan in your schedule.

Staying Organized Once you open up a Web browser such as Google and type in a search parameter like

“newsletter production,” you will have a wealth of information to look at. Much of it may

be irrelevant, but even the information that fits with your project will be so much that

you will be challenged to keep track of it.

Perhaps the most vital strategy for staying organized while doing online research is to

open a blank page in your word processor and title it “Sources.” Each time you find a

Web page that contains what you believe may be useful and relevant information, copy

the URL and paste it on this Sources page. Under the URL, copy and paste a paragraph

or two as an example of the information you found on this Web page. Err on the side of

listing too many sources; if in doubt about a source, list it for the time being—you can

always discard it later. Having these source URLs and snippets of information all in one

place will save you a great deal of time and many headaches later on.

As you explore various Web sites of companies that provide newsletter production

services, you will no doubt encounter new questions that your president did not answer

in the original conversation:

• Does the newsletter need to be printed on paper and mailed? Or would an e-mail newsletter be

acceptable, or even preferable?

• Does your firm want the newsletter vendor to write all of the content customized to your firm,

provide a menu of pre-existing articles for your firm to choose from, or let your firm provide

some—or even all—of the content?

• What are the advantages and disadvantages of these various options?

You also realize that in order to get any cost estimates, even when the above questions

are settled, you will need to know the desired length of the newsletter (in pages or in

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words), and how many recipients are on your firm’s mailing list. At this point in your

research and investigation, it may make sense to give your president an informal interim

report, summarizing what you have found out and what additional questions need to be

answered.

Having a well-organized list of the information you have assembled, the new questions

that have arisen, and the sources where you found your information will allow you to

continue researching effectively as soon as you have gotten answers and more specific

direction from your president. K E Y T A K E A W A Y

To make a writing project manageable, narrow your topic, focus on key points, plan your

investigation for information, and stay organized as you go along. E X E R C I S E S

1. Think of a time when someone asked you to gather information to make a decision, whether for

work, school, or in your personal life. How specific was the request? What did you need to know

before you could determine how much and what kind of information to gather? Discuss your

answer with those of your classmates.

2. Make a list of all the ways you procrastinate, noting how much time is associated with each

activity or distraction. Share and compare your results with a classmate.

3. You are the manager. Write an e-mail requesting an employee to gather specific information on

a topic. Give clear directions and due date(s). Please share your results with the class.

4. How do you prepare yourself for a writing project? How do others? What strategies work best

for you? Survey ten colleagues or coworkers and compare your results with your classmates.

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5.4 Ethics, Plagiarism, and Reliable Sources L E A R N I N G O B J E C T I V E

1. Understand how to be ethical, avoid plagiarism, and use reputable sources in your writing.

Unlike writing for personal or academic purposes, your business writing will help

determine how well your performance is evaluated in your job. Whether you are writing

for colleagues within your workplace or outside vendors or customers, you will want to

build a solid, well-earned favorable reputation for yourself with your writing. Your goal

is to maintain and enhance your credibility, and that of your organization, at all times.

Make sure as you start your investigation that you always question the credibility of the

information. Sources may have no reviews by peers or editor, and the information may

be misleading, biased, or even false. Be a wise information consumer.

Business Ethics Many employers have a corporate code of ethics; even if your employer does not, it goes

without saying that there are laws governing how the company can and cannot conduct

business. Some of these laws apply to business writing. As an example, it would be not

only unethical but also illegal to send out a promotional letter announcing a special sale

on an item that ordinarily costs $500, offering it for $100, if in fact you have only one of

this item in inventory. When a retailer does this, the unannounced purpose of the letter

is to draw customers into the store, apologize for running out of the sale item, and urge

them to buy a similar item for $400. Known as “bait and switch,” this is a form of fraud

and is punishable by law.

Let’s return to our previous newsletter scenario to examine some less clear-cut issues of

business ethics. Suppose that, as you confer with your president and continue your

research on newsletter vendors, you remember that you have a cousin who recently

graduated from college with a journalism degree. You decide to talk to her about your

project. In the course of the conversation, you learn that she now has a job working for a

newsletter vendor. She is very excited to hear about your firm’s plans and asks you to

make her company “look good” in your report.

You are now in a situation that involves at least two ethical questions:

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1. Did you breach your firm’s confidentiality by telling your cousin about the plan to start sending

a monthly newsletter?

2. Is there any ethical way you can comply with your cousin’s request to show her company in an

especially favorable light?

On the question of confidentiality, the answer may depend on whether you signed a

confidentiality agreement as a condition of your employment at the accounting firm, or

whether your president specifically told you to keep the newsletter plan confidential. If

neither of these safeguards existed, then your conversation with your cousin would be

an innocent, unintentional and coincidental sharing of information in which she turned

out to have a vested interest.

As for representing her company in an especially favorable light—you are ethically

obligated to describe all the candidate vendors according to whatever criteria your

president asked to see. The fact that your cousin works for a certain vendor may be an

asset or a liability in your firm’s view, but it would probably be best to inform them of it

and let them make that judgment.

As another example of ethics in presenting material, let’s return to the skydiving

scenario we mentioned earlier. Because you are writing a promotional letter whose goal

is to increase enrollment in your skydiving instruction, you may be tempted to avoid

mentioning information that could be perceived as negative. If issues of personal health

condition or accident rates in skydiving appear to discourage rather than encourage

your audience to consider skydiving, you may be tempted to omit them. But in so doing,

you are not presenting an accurate picture and may mislead your audience.

Even if your purpose is to persuade, deleting the opposing points presents a one-sided

presentation. The audience will naturally consider not only what you tell them but also

what you are not telling them, and will raise questions. Instead, consider your

responsibility as a writer to present information you understand to be complete, honest,

and ethical. Lying by omission can also expose your organization to liability. Instead of

making a claim that skydiving is completely safe, you may want to state that your school

complies with the safety guidelines of the United States Parachute Association. You

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might also state how many jumps your school has completed in the past year without an

accident.

Giving Credit to Your Sources You have photos of yourself jumping but they aren’t very exciting. Since you are wearing

goggles to protect your eyes and the image is at a distance, who can really tell if the

person in the picture is you or not? Why not find a more exciting photo on the Internet

and use it as an illustration for your letter? You can download it from a free site and the

“fine print” at the bottom of the Web page states that the photos can be copied for

personal use.

Not so fast—do you realize that a company’s promotional letter does not qualify as

personal use? The fact is that using the photo for a commercial purpose without

permission from the photographer constitutes an infringement of copyright law; your

employer could be sued because you decided to liven up your letter by taking a shortcut.

Furthermore, falsely representing the more exciting photo as being your parachute jump

will undermine your company’s credibility if your readers happen to find the photo on

the Internet and realize it is not yours.

Just as you wouldn’t want to include an image more exciting than yours and falsely state

that it is your jump, you wouldn’t want to take information from sources and fail to give

them credit. Whether the material is a photograph, text, a chart or graph, or any other

form of media, taking someone else’s work and representing it as your own

is plagiarism. Plagiarism is committed whether you copy material verbatim, paraphrase

its wording, or even merely take its ideas—if you do any of these things—without giving

credit to the source.

This does not mean you are forbidden to quote from your sources. It’s entirely likely that

in the course of research you may find a perfect turn of phrase or a way of

communicating ideas that fits your needs perfectly. Using it in your writing is fine,

provided that you credit the source fully enough that your readers can find it on their

own. If you fail to take careful notes, or the sentence is present in your writing but later

fails to get accurate attribution, it can have a negative impact on you and your

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organization. That is why it is important that when you find an element you would like

to incorporate in your document, in the same moment as you copy and paste or make a

note of it in your research file, you need to note the source in a complete enough form to

find it again.

Giving credit where credit is due will build your credibility and enhance your document.

Moreover, when your writing is authentically yours, your audience will catch your

enthusiasm, and you will feel more confident in the material you produce. Just as you

have a responsibility in business to be honest in selling your product of service and

avoid cheating your customers, so you have a responsibility in business writing to be

honest in presenting your idea, and the ideas of others, and to avoid cheating your

readers with plagiarized material.

Challenges of Online Research Earlier in the chapter we have touched on the fact that the Internet is an amazing source

of information, but for that very reason, it is a difficult place to get information you

actually need. In the early years of the Internet, there was a sharp distinction between a

search engine and a Web site. There were many search engines competing with one

another, and their home pages were generally fairly blank except for a search field where

the user would enter the desired search keywords or parameters. There are still many

search sites, but today, a few search engines have come to dominate the field, including

Google and Yahoo! Moreover, most search engines’ home pages offer a wide range of

options beyond an overall Web search; buttons for options such as news, maps, images,

and videos are typical. Another type of search engine performs a metasearch, returning

search results from several search engines at once.

When you are looking for a specific kind of information, these relatively general

searches can still lead you far away from your desired results. In that case, you may be

better served by an online dictionary, encyclopedia, business directory, or phone

directory. There are also specialized online databases for almost every industry,

profession, and area of scholarship; some are available to anyone, others are free but

require opening an account, and some require paying a subscription fee. For

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example, http://www.zillow.com allows for in-depth search and collation of information

concerning real estate and evaluation, including the integration of public databases that

feature tax assessments and ownership transfers. Table 5.2 "Some Examples of Internet

Search Sites" provides a few examples of different kinds of search sites.

Table 5.2 Some Examples of Internet Search Sites Description URL

General Web searches that can also be customized according to categories like news, maps, images, video

http://altavista.com

http://www.google.com

http://go.com

http://www.itools.com/research-it

http://www.live.com

http://www.yahoo.com

Metasearch engines

http://www.dogpile.com

http://www.info.com

http://www.metacrawler.com

http://www.search.com

http://www.webcrawler.com

Dictionaries and encyclopedias

http://www.britannica.com

http://dictionary.reference.com

http://encarta.msn.com

http://www.encyclopedia.com

http://www.merriam-webster.com

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page

Very basic information on a wide range of topics

http://www.about.com

http://www.answers.com

http://wiki.answers.com

To find people or businesses in white pages http://www.anywho.com

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Description URL

or yellow pages listings http://www.peoplelookup.com

http://www.switchboard.com

http://www.whitepages.com

http://www.yellowpages.com

Specialized databases—may be free, require registration, or require a paid subscription

http://www.apa.org/psycinfo

http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct/screen/AdvancedSearch

http://medline.cos.com

http://www.northernlight.com

http://www.zillow.com

At the end of this chapter, under “Additional Resources,” you will find a list of many

Web sites that may be useful for business research.

Evaluating Your Sources One aspect of Internet research that cannot be emphasized enough is the abundance of

online information that is incomplete, outdated, misleading, or downright false. Anyone

can put up a Web site; once it is up, the owner may or may not enter updates or

corrections on a regular basis. Anyone can write a blog on any subject, whether or not

that person actually has any expertise on that subject. Anyone who wishes to contribute

to a Wikipedia article can do so—although the postings are moderated by editors who

have to register and submit their qualifications. In the United States, the First

Amendment of the Constitution guarantees freedom of expression. This freedom is

restricted by laws prohibiting libel (false accusations against a person) and indecency,

especially child pornography, but those laws are limited in scope and sometimes

difficult to enforce. Therefore, it is always important to look beyond the surface of a site

to assess who sponsors it, where the information displayed came from, and whether the

site owner has a certain agenda.

When you write for business and industry you will want to draw on reputable, reliable

sources—printed as well as electronic ones—because they reflect on the credibility of the

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message and the messenger. Analyzing and assessing information is an important skill

in the preparation of writing, and here are six main points to consider when evaluating a

document, presentation, or similar source of information. [1] In general, documents that

represent quality reasoning have the following traits:

• A clearly articulated purpose and goal

• A question, problem, or issue to address

• Information, data, and evidence that is clearly relevant to the stated purpose and goals

• Inferences or interpretations that lead to conclusions based on the presented information, data,

and evidence

• A frame of reference or point of view that is clearly articulated

• Assumptions, concepts, and ideas that are clearly articulated

An additional question that is central to your assessment of your sources is how credible

the source is. This question is difficult to address even with years of training and

expertise. You may have heard of academic fields called “disciplines,” but may not have

heard of each field’s professors called “disciples.” Believers, keepers of wisdom, and

teachers of tomorrow’s teachers have long played a valuable role establishing,

maintaining, and perpetuating credibility. Academics have long cultivated an

understood acceptance of the role of objective, impartial use of the scientific method to

determine validity and reliability. But as research is increasingly dependent on funding,

and funding often brings specific points of view and agendas with it, pure research can

be—and has been—compromised. You can no longer simply assume that “studies show”

something without awareness of who conducted the study, how was it conducted, and

who funded the effort. This may sound like a lot of investigation and present quite a

challenge, but again it is worth the effort.

Information literacy is an essential skill set in the process of writing. As you learn to spot

key signs of information that will not serve to enhance your credibility and contribute to

your document, you can increase your effectiveness as you research and analyze your

resources. For example, if you were researching electronic monitoring in the workplace,

you might come upon a site owned by a company that sells workplace electronic

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monitoring systems. The site might give many statistics illustrating what percentage of

employers use electronic monitoring, what percentage of employees use the Internet for

nonwork purposes during work hours, what percentage of employees use company e-

mail for personal messages, and so on. But the sources of these percentage figures may

not be credited. As an intelligent researcher, you need to ask yourself, did the company

that owns the site perform its own research to get these numbers? Most likely it did

not—so why are the sources not cited? Moreover, such a site would be unlikely to

mention any court rulings about electronic monitoring being unnecessarily invasive of

employees’ privacy. Less biased sources of information would be the American

Management Association, the U.S. Department of Labor, and other not-for-profit

organizations that study workplace issues.

The Internet also encompasses thousands of interactive sites where readers can ask and

answer questions. Some sites, like Askville by Amazon.com, WikiAnswers, and Yahoo!

Answers, are open to almost any topic. Others, like ParentingQuestions and WebMD,

deal with specific topics. Chat rooms on bridal Web sites allow couples who are planning

a wedding to share advice and compare prices for gowns, florists, caterers, and so on.

Reader comment sites like Newsvine facilitate discussions about current events.

Customer reviews are available for just about everything imaginable, from hotels and

restaurants to personal care products, home improvement products, and sports

equipment. The writers of these customer reviews, the chat room participants, and the

people who ask and answer questions on many of these interactive sites are not experts,

nor do they pretend to be. Some may have extreme opinions that are not based in

reality. Then, too, it is always possible for a vendor to “plant” favorable customer

reviews on the Internet to make its product look good. Although the “terms of use”

which everyone registering for interactive sites must agree to usually forbid the posting

of advertisements, profanity, or personal attacks, some sites do a better job than others

in monitoring and deleting such material. Nevertheless, if your business writing project

involves finding out how the “average person” feels about an issue in the news, or

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whether a new type of home exercise device really works as advertised, these comment

and customer review sites can be very useful indeed.

It may seem like it’s hard work to assess your sources, to make sure your information is

accurate and truthful, but the effort is worth it. Business and industry rely on reputation

and trust (just as we individuals do) in order to maintain healthy relationships. Your

document, regardless of how small it may appear in the larger picture, is an important

part of that reputation and interaction. K E Y T A K E A W A Y

Evaluating your sources is a key element of the preparation process in business writing.

To avoid plagiarism, always record your sources so that you can credit them in your

writing. E X E R C I S E S

1. Before the Internet improved information access, how did people find information? Are the

strategies they used still valid and how might they serve you as a business writer? Interview

several people who are old enough to have done research in the “old days” and report your

findings.

2. Visit the Web site of the United States Copyright Office at http://www.copyright.gov. Find

something on the Web site that you did not know before reviewing it and share it with your

classmates.

3. On the United States Copyright Office Web site at http://www.copyright.gov view the

multimedia presentation for students and teachers, “Taking the Mystery out of Copyright.”

Download the “Copyright Basics” document and discuss it with your class.

4. Look over the syllabus for your business communication course and assess the writing

assignments you will be completing. Is all the information you are going to need for these

assignments available in electronic form? Why or why not?

5. Does the fact that Internet search results are often associated with advertising influence your

research and investigation? Why or why not? Discuss with a classmate.

6. Find an example of a bogus or less than credible Web site. Indicate why you perceive it to be

untrustworthy, and share it with your classmates.

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7. Visit the parody Web site The Onion at http://www.theonion.com and find one story that you

think has plausible or believable elements. Share your findings with the class.

[1] Adapted from Paul, R., & Elder, L. (2007). The miniature guide to critical thinking: Concepts

and tools. Dillon Beach, CA: The Foundation for Critical Thinking Press.

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5.5 Completing Your Research and Investigation L E A R N I N G O B J E C T I V E

1. Demonstrate your ability to manage your time and successfully conduct research and

investigation for a writing assignment.

Once you become immersed in your sources, it can be easy to get carried away in the

pursuit of information and lose sight of why you are doing all this research and

investigation. As a responsible writer, you will need to plan not only how you will begin

your information gathering, but also how you will bring it to a conclusion.

Managing Your Time Given the limited time for research involved in most business writing, how can you

make the most of your information-gathering efforts? Part of learning to write

effectively involves learning to read quickly and efficiently while conducting research.

You are not required to read each word, and if you did, you would slow yourself down

greatly. At the same time, if you routinely skip large sections of print and only focus on

the bullet lists, you may miss valuable examples that could inspire you in your writing.

How can you tell when to skim and when to pay attention to detail? One strategy is to

look for abstracts (or brief summaries of information) before you commit time to

reading an article all the way through. Look for indexes to identify key terms you might

want to cover before eliminating them as you narrow your topic.

As we mentioned earlier in this chapter, it is smart to make a list of your sources as you

search; you may also want to bookmark pages with you Web browser. Sometimes a

source that does not look very promising may turn out to offer key information that will

drive home an important point in your document. If you have done a good job of

recording your sources, it will be easy to go back to a site or source that at first you

passed over, but now think may make a relevant contribution.

Compiling Your Information Patricia Andrews, James Andrews, and Glen Williams [1] provide a useful outline of a

process to consider when compiling your information. Compiling involves composing

your document out of materials from other documents or sources. This process has

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seven major steps, adapted from the Andrews, Andrews, and Williams [2] model, which

we will consider: sensitivity, exposure, assimilation and accommodation, incubation,

incorporation, production and revision.

Let’s say your letter introducing skydiving to a new audience was relatively successful

and the regional association asks you to write a report on the status of skydiving services

in your region, with the hope that the comprehensive guide may serve to direct and

enhance class enrollment across the region. Your task has considerably expanded and

involves more research, but given the opportunity this assignment presents, you are

excited at the challenge. As you begin to research, plan, and design the document, you

will touch on the process of compiling information. If you are aware of each step, your

task can be accomplished effectively and efficiently.

Sensitivity refers to your capacity to respond to stimulation, being excited, responsive or

susceptible to new information. This starts with a self-inventory of your current or past

interests and activities. If you are intrigued by a topic or area of interest, your

enthusiasm will carry through to your document and make it more stimulating for your

reading audience. You may not have considered, or even noticed elements or ideas

associated with your topic, but now that you have begun the process of investigation,

you see them everywhere. For example, have you ever heard someone say a word or

phrase that you never heard before, but now that you are familiar with it, you hear it

everywhere? This same principle applies to your sensitivity to ideas related to your

topic. You’ll notice information and it will help you as you develop your awareness of

your topic and the many directions you could take the speech. Cognitive psychologist

use the term priming to refer to this excited state of awareness. [3]

Exposure involves your condition of being presented views, ideas, or experiences made

known to you through direct experience. If you are going to select a topic on flying but

have never flown before, your level of exposure may be low. Your level of awareness may

be high, however, in terms of the importance of security on airplanes after reading

about, watching on television, or hearing on the radio stories after the events of

September 11, 2001. You may decide to expose yourself to more information through a

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range of sources as you investigate the topic of airline security. And the more you

become exposed to the issues, processes, and goals of your topic, the more likely you are

to see areas of interest, new ideas that might fit in your speech, and form patterns of

awareness you did not perceive earlier. We have previously discussed at length the

importance of selection as a stage in the perceptual process, and selective exposure is

one way you gain awareness. You may want to revisit this chapter as you develop your

topic or choose where to look for information or decide what kinds of information to

expose yourself to as you research your topic.

Assimilation and accommodation refer to the processes by which you assimilate (or

integrate) new ideas into your thinking patterns and accommodate (or adopt, adapt, or

filter out) new sources of information as they relate to your goal. You may have had

preconceived notions or ideas about airline security before you began your investigation,

but new information has changed the way you view your topic. You might also find

issues (e.g., right to privacy) that may be points of conflict with your beliefs as you

review information. This stage is important to the overall process of developing your

topic, and it takes time. You need time to be able to contemplate, review, and reflect on

how the new information fits or fails to connect clearly to your chosen topic.

Incubation is the process by which you cause an idea or ideas to develop in your mind.

This might not happen all at once, and you might spend time thinking about the new

information, directions, or ways you might develop or focus your topic. Consider the

meaning of the word as it relates to chickens and eggs. An egg may be produced, but it

needs time and a warm environment to develop. You might have an idea, but you need

to create an environment for it to develop. This might involve further investigation and

exploration, or it may involve removing yourself from active research to “digest” or

“incubate” what you have already learned. You may feel stuck on an idea or perceive an

inability to move on in the development of your ideas or topic, and giving it a rest may

be the best course of action. You may also find that just when you least expect it, an idea,

fully formed, flashes in your mind and you think, “Why didn’t I see that before?” Before

the idea escapes you, write it down and make sure you can refer to it later.

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Incorporation refers to the process by which you bring the information into a whole or

complete topic. By now you have investigated, chosen some information over others,

and have started to see how the pieces will come together. Your perceptions of how the

elements come together will form the basis for your development of the organization of

your document. It will contribute to the logos, or logic, of your thought and its

representation in your document, and help you produce a coherent, organized message

that your audience can follow clearly.

Production involves the act of creating your document from the elements you have

gathered. You may start to consider what comes first, what goes last, and how you will

link your ideas and examples together. You may find that you need additional

information and need to go back to your notes that you have taken to find the source

quickly and easily. You may also start to communicate with friends, sharing some of the

elements or even practicing the first drafts of your document, learning where the

connections are clear and where they need work.

Revision is the process by which you look over again in order to correct or improve your

message. You will notice elements that need further investigation, development, or

additional examples and visual aids as you produce your document. This is an important

step to the overall production of your message, much like revising an essay for an

English course. The first time you said, thought, or wrote something it may have made

sense to you, but upon reflection and after trying an idea out, you need it to be revised in

order to work effectively as part of your document. You may revisit the place in which

you started (and start all speeches) by reconsidering the rhetorical situation and see if

what you have produces is in line with the expectations of the audience. Your awareness

of the content, audience, and purpose of the rhetorical situation will guide you through

the revision process and contribute to the production of a more effective document.

Once you have gathered what you think is enough material—or, perhaps, once your eyes

begin to glaze over—take a step back and return to the general and specific purpose of

the document you set out to write. Look again at the basic elements (i.e., who, what,

when, etc.) and fill in the “answers” based on what you have found. It is not unusual at

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this stage to have some “holes” in the information that require more research to fill. You

may also realize that your research findings have disproved part or even all of your

original agenda, making it necessary to change your message significantly.

Leave enough time before your deadline so that you can sketch out a detailed outline

and rough draft of your document and leave it alone for at least a day. When you look at

it again, it will probably be clear which additional details need more support, and you

can perform targeted research to fill in those gaps. K E Y T A K E A W A Y

Be mindful of your result and your time frame as you conduct your research and

investigation. Allow enough time to let the writing rest before you return to it and make

revisions. E X E R C I S E S

1. Choose a topic related to a career that interests you and think about how you would research

that topic on the Internet. Set a timer for fifteen minutes. Ready, set, go! At the end of fifteen

minutes, review the sources you have recorded in your list and think about the information you

have found. How well did you use your limited time? Could you do better next time? Try it again.

2. Complete an Internet search of your name and report your findings to the class.

3. Complete an Internet search of your favorite product or service and report your findings to the

class.

4. You’ve been assigned to a marketing team tasked to engage an audience just like you. Make a

list of what services or products your target audience would find attractive. Pick one and develop

a slogan that is sure to get attention. Share your results with the class.

[1] Andrews, P. H., Andrews, J., & Williams, G. (1999). Public speaking: Connecting you and your

audience. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company.

[2] Andrews, P. H., Andrews, J., & Williams, G. (1999). Public speaking: Connecting you and your

audience. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company.

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[3] Yaniv, I., & Meyer, D. (1987). Activation and metacognition of inaccessible stored

information: potential bases for incubation effects in problem loving. Journal of Experimental

Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 13, 187–205.

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5.6 Reading and Analyzing L E A R N I N G O B J E C T I V E S

1. Understand different types of reading and analyzing that business documents encounter.

2. Demonstrate how to write for skimming and for analytical reading in at least one written

document of each kind.

When you read, do you read each and every word? Do you skim over the document and

try to identify key terms and themes? Do you focus on numbers and statistics, or ignore

the text and go straight to the pictures or embedded video? Because people read in many

diverse ways, you as a writer will want to consider how your audience may read and

analyze your document.

Ever since Benjamin Franklin said that “time is money,” [1] business managers have

placed a high value on getting work done quickly. Many times, as a result, a document

will be skimmed rather than read in detail. This is true whether the communication is a

one-paragraph e-mail or a twenty-page proposal. If you anticipate that your document

will be skimmed, it behooves you to make your main points stand out for the reader.

In an e-mail, use a “subject” line that tells the reader the gist of your message before he

or she opens it. For example, the subject line “3 p.m. meeting postponed to 4 p.m.”

conveys the most important piece of information; in the body of the e-mail you may

explain that Wednesday’s status meeting for the XYZ project needs to be postponed to 4

p.m. because of a conflict with an offsite luncheon meeting involving several XYZ project

team members. If you used the subject line “Wednesday meeting” instead, recipients

might glance at their in-box, think, “Oh, I already know I’m supposed to attend that

meeting,” and not read the body of the message. As a result, they will not find out that

the meeting is postponed.

For a longer piece of writing such as a report or proposal, here are some techniques you

can use to help the reader grasp key points.

• Present a quick overview, or “executive summary,” at the beginning of the document.

• Use boldface headings as signposts for the main sections and their subsections.

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• Where possible, make your headings informative; for example, a heading like “Problem Began in

1992” is more informative than one that says “Background.”

• Within each section, begin each paragraph with a topic sentence that indicates what the

paragraph discusses.

• When you have a list of points, questions, or considerations, format them with bullets rather

than listing them in sentences.

• The “bottom line,” generally understood to mean the total cost of a given expenditure or project,

can also refer to the conclusions that the information in the report leads to. As the expression

indicates, these conclusions should be clearly presented at the end of the document, which is the

place where the time-pressed reader will often turn immediately after reading the first page.

Imagine how unhappy you would be if you submitted a report and your audience came

away with a message completely different from what you had intended. For example,

suppose your manager is considering adopting a specific new billing system in your

office and has asked you to report on the pros and cons of this system. You worked hard,

gathered plenty of information, and wrote a detailed report which, in your opinion, gave

strong support for adopting the new system.

However, the first few pages of your report described systems other than the one under

consideration. Next, you presented the reasons not to implement the new system.

Throughout the report, embedded in the body of several different paragraphs, you

mentioned the advantages offered by the new system; but they were not grouped

together so that you could emphasize them with a heading or other signpost for the

reader. At the end of the report, you reviewed the current billing system and stated that

few problems were encountered with it.

When you delivered your report, the manager and colleagues who received it missed

your most important information and decided not to consider the new system any

further. Worse, your manager later criticized you for spending too much time on the

report, saying it was not very informative. Situations like this can be avoided if you

provide a clear organizational framework to draw your reader’s attention to your main

points.

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Analyzing is distinct from reading. When you read, you attempt to grasp the author’s

meaning via words and symbols, and you may come away with a general emotional

feeling about what the writer has written instead of an arsenal of facts. When you

analyze a document, you pay more attention to how the author assembled the

information to present a coherent message. Business writing often involves

communication via words and symbols in ways that meet audience expectations; in

many cases, the audience needs to be able to analyze the content, and reading is

secondary. For this reason, a solid organizational pattern will greatly enhance your

document’s effectiveness. K E Y T A K E A W A Y

Logical organization is important to promote reader understanding and analysis. E X E R C I S E S

1. Take a news article and mark it up to reveal its organizational structure. Does it have an

informative opening paragraph? Does each additional paragraph begin with a topic sentence?

Does it use subheadings? Is there a conclusion that follows logically from the information

presented?

2. Find an article that you do not like and review it. State specific reasons why you dislike it and

share your opinion with your classmates.

3. Find an article that you do like and review it. State specific reasons why you like it and share your

opinion with your classmates.

4. You’ve been assigned to a sales team that has not been performing at optimal levels. Develop an

incentive program to improve the team’s performance. Present your idea to the class.

[1] Franklin, B. (1748). Advice to a young tradesman, written by an old one. Philadelphia, PA: B.

Franklin and D. Hall.

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5.7 Additional Resources The Library of Congress is the nation’s oldest federal cultural institution and serves as the research

arm of the U.S. Congress. It is also the largest library in the world, with millions of books, recordings,

photographs, maps, and manuscripts in its collections.http://www.loc.gov/index.html

The Copyright Office of the Library of Congress offers a wide variety of resources for understanding

copyright law and how to avoid plagiarism. http://www.copyright.gov

The Learning Center is designed to help educators and students develop a better sense of what

plagiarism means in the information age, and to teach the planning, organizational, and citation

skills essential for producing quality writing and

research.http://www.plagiarism.org/learning_center/home.html

The New York Public Library’s Science, Industry, and Business Library (SIBL) is the nation’s largest

public information center devoted solely to science and business.http://www.nypl.org/research/sibl

The Lippincott Library serves the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, one of the

world’s top business schools. http://www.library.upenn.edu/lippincott

Thunderbird School of Global Management operates Thunderbird Knowledge Network, an

interactive forum on contemporary business issues delivered in stories, columns, videos, podcasts,

and blogs. http://knowledgenetwork.thunderbird.edu/research

The Wall Street Journal is one of the most widely read sources of business

news.http://online.wsj.com/home-page

Personalize your business news and analysis with Business Week’s member service, Business

Exchange. http://bx.businessweek.com

INSEAD: The Business School for the World, one of the largest and most highly regarded schools for

MBA, Executive MBA, and PhD degrees in business, makes its library resources available

online. http://www.insead.edu/library/index.cfm

As an example of an industry trade association, the Association of Construction Project Managers

(ACPM) is a voluntary association of specialist project management professionals working in the

built environment. http://www.acpm.co.za

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The United States Government’s Small Business Administration has a mandate to aid, counsel, assist

and protect the interests of small business concerns, to preserve free competitive enterprise, and to

maintain and strengthen the overall economy of our nation.http://www.sba.gov

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) sets the

standards and conducts inspections to ensure safety and prevent accidents in the

workplace. http://www.osha.gov

The Society for Human Resource Management is a key source of news and information on HR

topics. http://www.shrm.org/Pages/default.aspx

The Chicago Board of Trade, the world’s oldest futures and options exchange, trades treasury bonds,

corn, soybean, wheat, gold, silver, and other commodities.http://www.cbot.com

Yahoo! Finance is a useful site for tracking the Dow, S&P 500, and other major stock indices in the

United States and abroad; it also has areas for financial news, investing, and personal

finance. http://finance.yahoo.com

The Occupational Outlook Handbook, published every two years by the U.S. Bureau of Labor

Statistics, describes hundreds of different types of jobs, the training and education each job requires,

the typical earnings in that job, and more. http://www.bls.gov/OCO

CareerBuilder.com, which describes itself as the largest online job search site, offers a vast online

and print network to help job seekers connect with employers.http://www.careerbuilder.com

According to its Web site, Fast Company “sets the agenda, charting the evolution of business

through a unique focus on the most creative individuals sparking change in the

marketplace.”http://www.fastcompany.com

LinkedIn, which has been described as the professional counterpart to social networking sites such

as Facebook and MySpace, is an interconnected network of experienced professionals from around

the world, representing 170 industries and 200 countries.http://www.linkedin.com

Intuit, maker of QuickBooks, Quicken, TurboTax, and other accounting software, provides a small

business information center on its Web site. What would you expect to find here that is different

from the resources a noncommercial source would offer?http://smallbusiness.intuit.com