Miss Professor

Discussion Board #1 - Memo Assignment For this discussion board assignment, you’re asked to compose a properly- formatted, professional memo to your VP of Customer Relations (Ms. Candice Sommers) that summarizes the results of your investigation into a recent customer complaint. Your memo must include: A restatement of the situation that gave rise to the complaint Your investigative findings an determinations Your recommended actions relating to resolution, course adjustment, et al.  To complete this assignment, you must: Post your completed memo as an attachment in MS Word, Open Office, .PDF, or .rtf format (please review the “Memo Formatting Guide” attachment, which can be found under the ENG 208 - Week 1” tab)       Scenario: You are the Manager of Customer Relations for the TechNil Corporation, and you have received a letter of complaint from Ms. Coleen Schaefer of DataTel Industries—a $425,000 annual client, who identified herself as  is a “displeased customer”.  Ms. Schaefer indicated that she had recently purchased 50,000 of Aster, TechNil’s newest and most popular automation sensor. Ms. Schaefer stated that she and her company were frustrated with the directions provided by the TechNil Corporation for the following reasons: The directions and illustrations provided were of poor quality and hindered both the setup and the operation of the sensors. The directions were not adequate for programing the sensors to receive data from their consumer product and initiate responses based upon the data. Ms. Schaefer is the Vice President of Purchasing at DataTel Industries. She has requested that her complaints be addressed and remedied. If not, she’s hinted at taking DataTel’s business elsewhere, which would result in $425,000 annual account loss. As the Manager of Customer Relations, you have the task of researching the customer complaint and then writing a memo to Ms. Sommers, your VP of Customer Relations. You need to explain the situation, give your recommendations, and tell her how you plan to deal with Ms. Schaefer and the complaint. You will await his comments before contacting the customer or implementing your recommendations. During your research, you determine the following: Many customers have recently complained about TechNil’s installation directions and instructions. The product development team is currently rewriting and improving TechNil’s directions and instructions. TechNil is targeted to the automation market, and the sensor that Ms. Schaefer’s complaints reference is quite a sophisticated sensor. Customers’ technical personnel need training to effectively install an use the sensor: All of TechNil’s sales personnel can provide this training. Although TechNil’s training is not required, it is highly recommended to all customers when a sale is closed. Ms. Schaefer agreed to attend an TechNil training session with three of her technical employees. Unfortunately, neither Ms. Schaefer or anyone else from DataTel attended this training session. Ms. Schaefer purchased the TechNil sensors more than 60 days ago. Several other customers have returned the product, but none have been outside our 45-day return policy. Since the updated directions are projected to be available within the next two weeks, you anticipate the number of customer complaints to decrease back to a more normal trend. Some of the options available to you are listed below, though you are not limited to these. Remember to provide reasonable justification for your recommendation and keep in mind that TechNil has a budget and you must protect revenues while addressing customer complaints. Some possible response options/recommendations include:  Do nothing. You anticipate the situation will resolve itself within two weeks and you do not feel this incident warrants additional budget expense.  Suggest that Ms. Schaefer keep the sensors, and state that TechNil will provide the new directions along with a free, on-site technical personnel training. Allow Ms. Schaefer to return the sensors for a percentage credit (to be determined by you) that may be applied toward DataTel’s next purchase. Allow Ms. Schaefer to return the sensors for a percentage refund (to be determined by you). ********************************************* Discussion Board #2: Considering Purpose and Audience-influencing Factors in Technical Writing For DB #2, find an article related to one or more aspects of your major course of study and/or intended professional area of employment.  For instance, I am a college-level English instructor, so if I were completing this assignment, I’d be looking for an article related to certain pedagogical approaches (teaching approaches) for English, writing, composition, et al. Perhaps, I might choose the following:  Joseph Harris - “Negotiating the Contact Zone” http://wac.colostate.edu/jbw/v14n1/harris.pdf

Joseph Harris NEGOTIATING THE CONTACT ZONE wac.colostate.edu Joseph Harris NEGOTIATING THE CONTACT ZONE1 ABSTRACT: The author begins this article by charting a brief history of the teaching of basic writing, suggesting that ...

After you’ve read and considered the article, compose a short memo to me, which details the major notions contained and communicated within the article. Look specifically to reference the following:     - What was the purpose of the article?     - Why might the author have been concerned with writing this specific article?      - Who is the article’s audience, as you see it?      - How did the composition and presentation of the article affect its meaning?      - How did the article inform you, as a key audience member?      - Was the article informative and successful, in your opinion, relative to its purpose?      - What suggestions, if any, would you make to the author concerning potentially                 strengthening the appeal and scope of the article?  Please follow a standard memo format (see Week 1’s lecture notes).  ************************************************ Discussion Board #3:  For this discussion board exercise, we’ll do a bit of role playing. We’ll pretend that MATC has made a significant investment to strengthening it resources relating to assisting students transfer to four-year universities, particularly the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and University of Wisconsin-Madison.  First, determine whether or not MATC has a web resource (a web page or series of pages) dedicated to guiding students through the transfer process.  If you find the MATC does have a web resource, then compose a Google Doc that briefly describes and evaluates the information and effectiveness/strength of the resource.  Consider if the information is accurate, compressive, clear, and/or useful. What kind of information could be added to make the resource more informative/effective?  If you find the MATC does not have a web resource, then compose a Google Doc that briefly describes what information such a resource should include.  Be sure to share the Google Doc ************************************************** Discussion Board #4  Revise the following sentence list so that the lead-in is clear, easy to understand, and punctuated correctly. In addition, be sure that the bullet items are grammatically parallel with one another.  Example Sentence List:  There are several goals being pursued by the National Institute of Health and Safety’s Research Office;  the development of a cost-effective prescription drug program to seniors and the under-insured, an increased utilization of cost-management remediation relative in in-network and out-of-network health care claims; identifying societal issues associated with confronting health care cost expenditures, research concerns, and the communication of findings to key stakeholders. 

Discussion Board #5 Creating Descriptions

Write a 300-500 words description of one of the following

1. An item or piece of equipment that relates to completing tasks in your intended or current occupation field.

2. A process that occurs or is essential to your intended or current occupation field.

Be sure review the essentials concerning composing an effective description in Chapter 20 of the textbook.