COMM 2200 CSCC The Challenges Facing Jewelry Stores Memorandum

Professor Nelson Rolon
COMM2200 Business Communications
Project Proposal Grading Rubric
❑ Ensure that your proposal is in memo form
❑ Ensure your format and styling are neat and correct
For your Subject and Purpose:
❑ Clearly define the subject you wish to study and the reasons why studying it will be valuable to a
particular audience.
❑ State specifically what you will be doing and what audience (primary and, if appropriate, secondary)
is the target for the project.
For your Scope:
❑ Provide a list (bullets are great!) of potential sub-topics you hope to cover in the final project.
❑ In addition to telling me what you will cover in your project, you should also address the limitations
of your study.
For your Research Methods:
❑ Be sure to make it clear what primary research you’ll complete yourself.
❑ Share initial thoughts on what secondary research you may hope to find.
For your Timeline
❑ Develop a schedule for completing the project by the deadline (use the syllabus as a guide for
deadlines). The schedule should be broken down weekly with a section for every single
week (from now until the end of the term). List the unique activities you anticipate
completing each week to work bit by bit on the project throughout the semester.
Student: Ahmed Ali
Grade: 13.33 out of 30
Notes: Thank you for your proposal, Ahmed.
I think you have a bold proposal here. That said, I have a few concerns about how you plan to
implement these plans. I feel that this proposal contains good ideas, but contains few details on how
they can be implemented or even researched.
Try answering these questions before moving forward:
1. What is the challenge your jewelry store is facing? Why do you feel it is facing this challenge? What
feedback or information do you currently have that tells you this is an issue?
2. Who is your primary audience for this proposal? Who is your secondary audience? What stake do
they have in your business?
3. Who are these “industry leaders” you refer to for primary research? What publications or secondary
sources can provide insight on this challenge?
4. Why does your Timeline end on October 14th? Does your shop truly have a plan to implement its
customer loyalty probram by the end of this week? What research have you found to suggest this is a
good idea?
Overall, while this proposal has the stylings and vocabulary of someone who may be trained in
business communications, it doesn’t have a lot of concrete detail to work with. I’d love to see updates to
this proposal.
Research Project Proposal Memo Requirements
First, see the Research Project Paper Guidelines document available in “Our Classroom” for details
about the type of topics that would be approved! This must be a business/company-focused project from
an internal employee perspective.
The proposal memo this week is to propose your research project to me. It should be at least 1.5 pages
long and should be developed using standard business memo format. The body of the memo must
contain four headings: Subject and Purpose, Scope, Research Methods, and Timeline. Under these
headings develop a paragraph or two that includes the following:
Subject and Purpose – Clearly define the subject you wish to study and the reasons why studying it will
be valuable to a particular audience. State specifically what you will be doing and what audience
(primary and, if appropriate, secondary) is the target for the project.
For example, say something like this: “I am going to write a report about the benefits of titanium
widgets and propose that our company switch from stainless steel widgets to titanium widgets in all our
company’s products. The primary audience for this project is the administration at our company.
However, there is a secondary audience of consumers of widgets who could benefit from this
knowledge.”
Your primary audience should always be the decision-makers at the company who would be able to
implement your suggestions.
Scope – This section should explain what your study will include. Provide a list (bullets are great!) of
potential sub-topics you hope to cover in the final project. In addition to telling me what you will cover
in your project, you should also address the limitations of your study.
For example, what issues will you be unable to address? You might say something like this: “The report
will compare the features of titanium widgets, the costs of titanium widgets, and the availability of
titanium widgets. The report will not cover the cost of retraining our employees to use titanium
technology.”
Research Methods – Discuss how you intend to research and gather data about your topic. Be sure to
make it clear what primary research you’ll complete yourself and some initial thoughts on what
secondary research you may hope to find.
Are you going to read trade publications and journal articles? Which ones? Do library research? If so,
which subtopics or key terms will you use to find information? Will you conduct interviews? How
many? With whom? Where? When? Will you design and administer questionnaires? If so, to whom will
you administer the questionnaires? What do you hope to find out? Will you send e-mails? Conduct
interviews? Observe people on the job and record the results? Review company records? Conduct
Internet searches?
In other words, do some preliminary research so you can demonstrate that you have a clear idea about
what you intend to do and how you intend to do it.
Timeline – Develop a schedule for completing the project by the deadline (use the syllabus as a guide
for deadlines). The schedule should be broken down weekly with a section for every single week (from
now until the end of the term). List the unique activities you anticipate completing each week to work
bit by bit on the project throughout the semester. The timeline should look similar to the one that
follows, although yours will have many more weeks:
Timeline example:
Week
April 5 – 10
April 12 – 17
April 19 – 24
Activity
Conduct preliminary research. Select project topic.
Write and submit project memo
Continue secondary research. Review journal and news articles.
Request management permission to administer a questionnaire to
customers
Design and produce questionnaire
Continue reviewing journal articles
The last entry in your timeline should be ‘Submit Project’ on the date the completed project is due.
When developing a schedule, make sure you allow adequate time for researching, drafting, revising,
editing, proofreading, and assembling the project. You can also use the syllabus for weekly dates
throughout the term.
Make Your Own
Letterhead
Memo
To:
[Click here and type name]
From: [Click here and type name]
Date:
10/7/2023
Re:
[Click here and type subject]
Welcome to memo templates. This will be where your introduction is placed.
Parts of a Memo
There are several parts to remember. These are: To, From, Subject (or Re), and Date. Do not
use a complimentary close or sign your name.
How to Create a Memo
Select text you would like to replace, and type your memo. To save changes to this template for
future use, choose Save As from the File menu. In the Save As Type box, choose Document
Template. Next time you want to use it, choose New from the File menu, and then double-click
your template.
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