COM 285 Week 4 Individual Assignment Business Writing Portfolio

COM 285 Week 4 Business Writing Portfolio

Individual Assignment: Business Writing Portfolio

Assume you are part of the following scenario:

You are a public relations manager who must present information regarding changes in retail store operations of a retail clothing chain to store managers, employees, retail customers, and the public. You must explain adjustments that allow employees to come to work on fewer days a week in an effort to combat rising gas prices and to save money on store operations. The message must be professional and positive in tone.

Stores will close on Sundays. On Monday through Saturday, stores will open an hour later and close an hour earlier. Full-time employees, including managers, will work four 10-hour days a week. Part-time employees will consolidate their hours in 1, 2, or 3-day workweeks, depending on how many hours they are scheduled to work. No stores are closing, but no new stores are opening.

While constructing your messages, determine the characteristics of your audience and consider the appropriate communication type and style for each audience. This is a three-part assignment to be submitted as one document: Writing Steps, Portfolio of Messages, and Reflections. Submit all in one document.

Part I: Business Writing Steps. Outline the steps you must take in drafting the three business communications. This document can take the form of a list, a flowchart, or a Web diagram.

Part II: Portfolio. Write three messages using the assigned message format for each audience. Explain the changes in the retail store operations. The three messages contain potentially negative information; address the information presented in the scenario so your audience might perceive it in a positive way. See the table below for the message format to be used for each different audience.

Part III: Reflection. Write a 200- to 300-word reflection on your writing, and compare and contrast the business writings in this assignment with academic papers you have completed.

Audiences

Assigned Message Format

Store managers

A business letter

Store employees

A business memo

Retail customers

and the public

An e-mail message

1. Submit your paper containing all parts as one Word document with page breaks between each format to the assignment section. Each part should be correctly formatted for the assigned type of message. Turn in just one document, including all assignment parts, with cover page and reference page.

Format your paper according to APA standards. (For information on formatting, writing, and APA, please see:.)

All papers must include an APA formatted cover page and APA formatted reference page.

Your paper must contain at least two sources that are properly cited, and must be in a Microsoft Word Document.