Formal Proposal

Homework Wk 8

This week you will complete your Course Project, the Formal Proposal. The full details of what is due for your Formal Proposal this week can be found under the Course Project link in the Week 7 tab or the Course Home tab. Please view the Course Project content item for the details of this assignment.

The Week 8 portion of your Course Project will be graded using the Week 8 Formal Proposal rubric available in Doc Sharing.

For the week 8 assignment, you will submit a formal proposal to your division manager Anne Brown, recommending a strategy the company could adopt to go green.

Remember, the goal of the proposal is to recommend a sustainable green strategy the company can adopt to reduce the carbon footprint by 25%. The primary audience is your division manager, Anne Brown; however, your proposal will probably be read by anyone in upper management.

As part of the planning stage, you will research 3-4 green strategies and decide on a specific strategy (e.g., reducing printer waste such as paper and ink; phasing in an energy efficient fleet of vehicles; installing solar panels or wind turbines to power the office building, etc.). Or you can research a general area such as physical facilities, recycling, transportation, etc. Just make sure the solution is broad enough so that you’ll be able to talk in depth about the one recommended strategy.

For your research, you need to find a variety of sources (at least six). Some sources may be found through the University library, while others could be found through internet research. To use library resources, go to the Student Resources tab (under Course Home), click Library, and familiarize yourself with the menu in the upper left hand corner. Explore various sources, including the online librarian. A good place to become familiar with this topic is Green Business Practices for Dummies (2009) by Lisa Swallow, which is available through University online library, as well as additional online sources listed in the Webliography. Make all sources are credible. To avoid plagiarism, all borrowed material must be cited correctly using APA guidelines.

The recommended range for the proposal is 1250-1750 words, and it should include the following parts:

Front Matter

Title page

Transmittal Correspondence

Report Proper

Introduction (each of the four sections listed below will be second-level headings under Introduction)

Background of the Problem: Provide an overview of problem/situation and its importance. This is a critical section. It should describe the problem currently and reasons why the proposal is being written.

Statement of Purpose: The statement of purpose is essentially the same as a thesis statement for an essay or paper. It only needs to be a sentence or two long.

Sources and Methods: To establish credibility, discuss the types of research material selected to support the proposed solution and how the material will be used in the proposal. NOTE: You don’t make a list of sources like you would for a References page.

Report Organization: Provide an overview of the various sections of the report so the reader is aware of the direction and organization of the report to follow.

Discussion (each of the three sections listed below will be second-level headings under Discussion)

Solution and Benefits: Identify your solution and discuss its benefits. Include a visual.

Cost: This section should include individual costs to the organization, but may also include any cost savings that may be realized. Include a table to help readers visualize what is presented in this section.

Conclusion and Recommendation: Review the issues that led to the proposed solution and clearly state the recommendation you want the reader to implement.

Conclude the report with a brief statement that expresses a positive sentiment or statement.

End Matter

References (at least six credible sources in APA format)

Appendices (if applicable)

Grading Rubrics

Go to Doc Sharing to locate the grading rubrics for the formal proposal. Refer to the Week 6 formal report grading rubric for deliverables due for the first part of the formal proposal Course Project. Refer to the Week 8 formal report grading rubric for deliverables due at the end of Week 8. The proposal is due in its entirety no later than 11:59 p.m. (Mountain Time) on Friday of Week 8.

Week 8 grading rubrics to determine which parts are due in those weeks. Contact your professor for clarification of details.

APA will be used for in-text and end-of-text citations ONLY. Do not use APA as the layout format for your formal proposal. Review the sample formal report layout on pages 426-439 to get an idea of how to design the layout of your proposal.