Week 3 Research Paper Proposal Assignment
Due Date: Sunday 5:00 p.m. - Week 3
Assignment Instructions:
Complete this assignment using the following memo format:
MEMORANDUM
To: John Smith, Joseph Stevens, and Robert Morris, Partners
From: Xxxxxxx Xxxxxxxxx
Date:
Subject:
· Write no more than two pages of words but include relevant illustrations.
· The illustrations are in addition to the no more than two pages of content.
· Single space within the paragraph and skip a space in between paragraphs.
· Use a Size 12 Times New Roman or Calibri font.
Description:
Scenario:You are the intern coordinator for an IT consulting company that specializes in working with entrepreneurial global clients. Although the partners have been impressed with the internship program you set up this year, an international incident in one country cost the firm substantial money and generated negative publicity. Upon your return from that country, the partners informed you that your intern program may be eliminated, and they don’t have another position to offer because you are not an IT consultant. The company needs to have more insights about conducting business in a particular country before they proceed any further. The challenge is to provide details that will let them see how much risk is involved in doing business in this country. There is a mix of opinions on this topic. Some in the audience believe doing business could be profitable. Some are against the idea because of negative stories they have heard about the country and customs.
Your task is to convince the partners that you can train the employees and interns before they travel to a particular foreign country. The audience expects a factual report that sheds light on the economic, political, and social environment in that country to help them make an informed decision about doing business or sending employees or interns there. John Smith is enthusiastic about your proposal to write an informative report about customs in the country and subsequently set up a cultural training program for interns and employees, but Joseph Stevens is not. Of course, John is retiring, so his vote counts less. However, Robert Morris recommends that you write a proposal to describe the audiences for the report and the content that would subsequently be taught. He is asking for a research paper on one nation with respect to how its culture differs from ours to help the executives decide whether to do business in the country.
Top level executives who are responsible for devising strategies and formulating policies to ensure that all goals and objectives are met include John Smith, Chief Executive Officer; Joseph Stevens, Chief Operating Officer; and Robert Morris, Chief Information Officer. This group consists of motivated readers who are in need of the report to make important business decisions. The company contains 500 employees, 20 of which would be slated to go overseas. Ten employees would c.
Week 3 Research Paper Proposal AssignmentDue Date Sunday 500 .docx
1. Week 3 Research Paper Proposal Assignment
Due Date: Sunday 5:00 p.m. - Week 3
Assignment Instructions:
Complete this assignment using the following memo format:
MEMORANDUM
To: John Smith, Joseph Stevens, and Robert Morris,
Partners
From: Xxxxxxx Xxxxxxxxx
Date:
Subject:
· Write no more than two pages of words but include relevant
illustrations.
· The illustrations are in addition to the no more than two pages
of content.
· Single space within the paragraph and skip a space in between
paragraphs.
· Use a Size 12 Times New Roman or Calibri font.
Description:
Scenario:You are the intern coordinator for an IT consulting
company that specializes in working with entrepreneurial global
clients. Although the partners have been impressed with the
internship program you set up this year, an international
incident in one country cost the firm substantial money and
generated negative publicity. Upon your return from that
country, the partners informed you that your intern program
may be eliminated, and they don’t have another position to offer
because you are not an IT consultant. The company needs to
have more insights about conducting business in a particular
country before they proceed any further. The challenge is to
provide details that will let them see how much risk is involved
2. in doing business in this country. There is a mix of opinions on
this topic. Some in the audience believe doing business could be
profitable. Some are against the idea because of negative stories
they have heard about the country and customs.
Your task is to convince the partners that you can train the
employees and interns before they travel to a particular foreign
country. The audience expects a factual report that sheds light
on the economic, political, and social environment in that
country to help them make an informed decision about doing
business or sending employees or interns there. John Smith is
enthusiastic about your proposal to write an informative report
about customs in the country and subsequently set up a cultural
training program for interns and employees, but Joseph Stevens
is not. Of course, John is retiring, so his vote counts less.
However, Robert Morris recommends that you write a proposal
to describe the audiences for the report and the content that
would subsequently be taught. He is asking for a research paper
on one nation with respect to how its culture differs from ours
to help the executives decide whether to do business in the
country.
Top level executives who are responsible for devising strategies
and formulating policies to ensure that all goals and objectives
are met include John Smith, Chief Executive Officer; Joseph
Stevens, Chief Operating Officer; and Robert Morris, Chief
Information Officer. This group consists of motivated readers
who are in need of the report to make important business
decisions. The company contains 500 employees, 20 of which
would be slated to go overseas. Ten employees would conduct
business development (sales) and 10 would conduct project
implementation which would require working closely with top
and mid-level managers in the corporate headquarters and inside
a factory in that country. In addition, once project
implementation is underway, at least 100 of the employees
would be interacting with the employees in the other country
3. via email, skype, and the internet.
The executives describe very specifically what they want to see
in this sample report.
The partners require that you cover at leastthree of the
following sections in this sample Global Business Report:
· Climate
· Nonverbal communication/Language/attire
· Politics
· Religion (can branch into attire, etc.)
· Food/social etiquette/dining
· Security, crime, and/or attitudes and norms concerning women
· Attitudes toward foreigners, particularly U.S. citizens.
· (However, other information/topics may be included if you
clear them with me).
· With regard to those topics, the report should describe
· the cultural customs in one nation you select and show how
they are the same or different from our own customs,
· what happens when our employees/interns do not understand
the customs and commit faux pas and the impact that can have
on business interactions,
· what adaptations company employees must make when they
interact with the individuals they do business with in the
foreign country in order to carry out business successfully.
You have persuaded them that this information can be used to
train the employees and interns to act appropriately in public
and in business meetings. In the report the partners will require
sections on at least three of the following topics: nonverbal
communication/language/attire, politics, religion, food, security
issues, and/or attitudes toward foreigners, particularly U.S.
citizens. However, other information may be included. You
must decide which topics are the most relevant and important to
cover in your report to help the firm make the best decision on
conducting business in that country.
4. Robert reminds you privately that he has just enrolled in the
MBA program at Casement University and must write a research
paper using the APA documentation system. He asks you to
write your business report using this system as a research paper
so that he can use it as a model.
Illustrations:
In addition to the one-two pages of words in the memo, include
an appropriate chart or table. It may be inserted in the
appropriate paragraphs and/or at the end of the memo.
Structure of the Memo:
The memo should request permission to conduct research and
write a paper which would be used as the basis for training the
employees and interns in order to conduct business successfully
in the country (you select the country). The proposal should
have four sections with these headings in this order:
Purpose:
Audience Analysis (primary and secondary audiences and their
expectations):
Summary of Key Topics:
Schedule of Tasks in developing a research paper:
In the memo, you should include graphic illustrations to make
the report more interesting and attractive.
· The purpose refers to why this report has been requested by
the executives.
· The audience.
· Summary of (at least) 3 Key Topics in the proposed report
and why they are important in relation to this country (bullets)
and your firm doing business there.
· The schedule of tasks you will undertake to write the report
should be included as a chart or table (basically the steps you
will undertake as you write your research report--the type of
research you will conduct (interviews with any knowledgeable
5. people? library research, etc.); how much time it will take you
to conduct research; and the steps you will follow in conducting
research; steps in outlining, etc.).
You won’t write about tasks involving the training sessions
because the partners have not approved those sessions. They
want to see the quality of the information in a report and how
you organize it before they decide to finance the sessions.
Therefore, you will start with the beginning and end date and
then develop the tasks needed to write the report (ex. brainstorm
to choose nation, research sources, analyze audience (the
interns), etc.
You have three weeks to research and write the report. The
schedule should start on Day 1 of Week 3 and end on Day 7 of
Week 5 when the business report is due.
Start your research so that you have a grasp of which topics you
are likely to include in the report and why.
(Don’t use multiple attachments. Only one attachment will be
opened and returned to you.)
GRADING CRITERIA FOR PROPOSAL MEMO
100 Points: 10% of Final Grade
Maximum
Score
Purpose of the proposed writing project
5%
Analysis of the audience and their expectations
20%
Summary of key points to be researched
25%
Schedule of tasks (chart or table)