Core Assessment - Problem- Solution Business Report with Research Due Date: By 11:59m., Sunday, CT. The final assignment in this course will bring together all the business communication skills you have learned throughout the term.  Your final writing project for this course is a 9-10 page formal business report in which you will: specify a real organization you have worked in/with identify a real problem or situation within that organization that needs addressing conduct research to help you analyze the problem and weigh possible solutions describe the problem and recommend a course of action in a formal report that targets a specific decision-making audience within the organization How do I choose an organization? You get to choose your problem and organizational context you wish to write in, but the important thing is that you choose an organization you actually are familiar with as a participant, as this tends to make better reports. You don’t want to just choose a random company like Nike if you have never worked for them, as you will not be able to really identify an actual problem within the company, or be able to suggest solutions that would actually work in that particular organization.  You also wouldn’t have any ideas about how to persuade your audience, as you likely would not know who your report would be directed to or what their needs, expectations, beliefs, or values are. You can choose organizations you currently work for or have worked for in the past, but you might also consider other organizations that you are involved with, for example, non-profit or religious organizations, military branches, student groups, parent groups, clubs, or hobbyist organizations.  Sometimes students have not had jobs before – that is ok, as you have certainly been part of some organization in your lifetime; in fact, you are part of an organization right now by participating in this class!  Park University does count as an organization you are part of and can propose solutions to. What makes a good problem? This is an important question to really think about as not every problem makes for a good report.  One thing to consider is whether a formal report would even be appropriate or necessary to solve the problem you have identified.  Some problems are fairly easily solved, have obvious solutions, or do not require research to find a solution.  You want to choose problem that is Researchable Not yes/no or too obviously solved A real problem that affects actual people, or that affect the organization’s productivity, effectiveness, morale, or profitability Can you give me some examples? Yes!  Here are some real examples of reports other Park students have written: Example 1: Bailey recently got a new job in a preschool as a classroom teacher.  When filling out her paperwork, she was asked to sign a Gossip Policy in which she was asked to agree that she could be terminated immediately without severance if she gossiped at work. ...

1. Core Assessment - Problem-
Solution
Business Report with Research
Due Date: By 11:59m., Sunday, CT.
The final assignment in this course will bring together all the
business communication skills you have learned throughout the
term. Your final writing project for this course is a 9-10 page
formal business report in which you will:
specify a real organization you have worked in/with
identify a real problem or situation within that organization that
needs addressing
conduct research to help you analyze the problem and weigh
possible solutions

2. describe the problem and recommend a course of action in a
formal report that
targets a specific decision-making audience within the
organization
How do I choose an organization?
You get to choose your problem and organizational context you
wish to write in, but the important thing is that you choose an
organization you actually are familiar with as a participant, as
this tends to make better reports. You don’t want to just choose
a random company like Nike if you have never worked for them,
as you will not be able to really identify an actual problem
within the company, or be able to suggest solutions that would
actually work in that particular organization. You also
wouldn’t have any ideas about how to persuade your audience,
as you likely would not know who your report would be
directed to or what their needs, expectations, beliefs, or values
are.
You can choose organizations you currently work for or have
worked for in the past, but you might also consider other
organizations that you are involved with, for example, non-

3. profit or religious organizations, military branches, student
groups, parent groups, clubs, or hobbyist organizations.
Sometimes students have not had jobs before – that is ok, as you
have certainly been part of some organization in your lifetime;
in fact, you are part of an organization right now by
participating in this class! Park University does count as an
organization you are part of and can propose solutions to.
What makes a good problem?
This is an important question to really think about as not every
problem makes for a good report. One thing to consider is
whether a formal report would even be appropriate or necessary
to solve the problem you have identified. Some problems are
fairly easily solved, have obvious solutions, or do not require
research to find a solution. You want to choose problem that is
Researchable
Not yes/no or too obviously solved
A real problem that affects actual people, or that affect the
organization’s productivity, effectiveness, morale, or
profitability

4. Can you give me some examples?
Yes! Here are some real examples of reports other Park
students have written:
Example 1:
Bailey recently got a new job in a preschool as a classroom
teacher. When filling out her paperwork, she was asked to sign
a Gossip Policy in which she was asked to agree that she could
be terminated immediately without severance if she gossiped at
work. The policy was fairly vague about what gossip actually is,
and Bailey has doubts about the legality or effectiveness of this
policy, so she decides to conduct research on gossip policies,
gossip in the workplace, and effective strategies for preventing
unproductive gossip in the workplace.
During her research, she discovers through industry magazines
for human resources personnel that gossip policies are a new
trend in HR and have spread like wildfire throughout many
companies in the last few years. She also finds out from news
sources that these policies have already have been challenged in
court and might be considered by the National Labor Relations

5. Board to be a constitutional violation of the 1st amendment. By
using the library databases, she finds lots of scholarly research
on gossip in the workplace, including articles that suggest that
gossip policies could be discriminatory (since published
research shows that women are more likely to be perceived as
gossiping). She discovers some organizational communication
research that shows that there is both positive and negative
workplace gossip, and she also finds sources that address how
to discourage workplace toxicity.
Bailey uses the information she gathered from her diverse
sources to write a formal report to the director of her pre-school
in which she shows how the current policy is problematic from
both a legal and morale perspective, and suggests a more
effective method of discouraging negative workplace gossip.
Example 2:
Ben is an international student at Park University, who
struggled during his first year to adapt to an American context
and educational system. Although Park University offers some
resources for international students to help them adjust and be
successful, Ben wonders if other schools have more effective
orientation programs for international students. Ben reviews
the websites for international student programs at other colleges

6. and universities, and he also discovers that there is a wealth of
academic research on international students, and innovative
programs for helping international students succeed. Ben uses
this research to propose a new orientation program for
international students to the Director of Park’s Office of
International Education.
Some shorter examples:
Julie works for a local retail store with several branches in the
area. Several of the branches have been robbed in recent
weeks. She researches how retail stores like hers can
discourage robberies, and she discovers that there are a number
of tactics that have been shown by research to reduce theft and
robbery. She writes a report to her district manager suggesting
changes to store layout, inventory management, installation of
cameras and mirrors, discounts and perks for law enforcement,
and use of greeters at the door.
Jim is a former Marine and is interested in helping veterans
with PTSD and sleep disorders. He does research on effective
sleep therapy tactics used with veterans, such as sleep journals,
and suggests a special program to a director at Veteran’s Affairs
as a supplement to their already existing programs for veterans
with PTSD.

7. Eddie works in a food-service industry characterized by toxic
workplace relationships including both verbal (and even
sometimes physical) confrontations between employees. He
researches conflict resolution and management training
programs to suggest a new training program to his district
manager to improve employee relationships, improve
management intervention, and to promote productive conflict
solutions in his workplace.
How will this project be completed?
To prepare for completion of the final draft of the report, you
will:
Discuss organizations, problems, and audiences in Unit 1
Propose a topic and audience and do some preliminary research
in Unit 4,
Prepare a first draft in Unit 6,
Receive peer and instructor feedback in Unit 7

8. Submit the final revised report in Unit 8
This is a term-long assignment, so you should be working on it
a little bit each unit, even if the assignments or discussions
during a particular unit may address other assignments. Feel
free to bounce ideas off your instructor or fellow students in the
discussion areas related to the assignment or ask questions
about your project in the instructor’s office area of the course.
What are the requirements for the assignment?
We will use the medium level of formality for the report, which
you can find in a table on pg. 597. For our purposes, we will
also add a bibliography page to cite your sources.
That means that your report must have each of these parts,
correctly formatted according to the guidelines found on the
sample report beginning on page 598.
Cover Page
Table of Contents

9. Executive summary
Introduction
Body (with headings/subheadings as you choose)
Conclusion and Recommendations
Bibliography
Visuals
Your report must use at least one visual you composed yourself,
though you may also use other images so long as you cite the
image source under the image. We will talk in more detail
about visuals in Unit 6, but keep in mind that visuals could
include photographs, diagram, charts, graphs, tables, etc.
To make data visualizations, you can use data from your
research which you can then turn into a graph or chart. Both
Word and Excel can make simple visualizations, and there are a
range of free data visualization and image manipulation
programs available. For example, say a research article gives
you some statistics in the form of percentages. You could turn

10. those numbers into a pie chart. Make sure to cite your data
source under the images you compose (differentiate between
image source and data source, please, so your instructor can tell
the difference between images you have borrowed and cited
from elsewhere, and images you made yourself).
A good report will:
Follow the guidelines and format on report writing
Use effective organization and document design
Use sources effectively to construct and support your position
Use effective and grammatically correct business style
Use you-attitude and positive emphasis
Use at least one visual you composed yourself, effectively
Be revised and edited, with the assistance of your peers and
instructor
Cite sources appropriately in the text and in the reference page

11. using a citation style appropriate to your field of study (MLA or
APA style; other styles as permitted by your instructor).