Business assignment
Business Report Part 1: Planning Your Business Report (5%) Business Report Part 1 – Planning your Business Report {Individual Assignment} Overview: Creating an outline for your business report will help you succinctly structure your report. You will clearly define the main objective and the supporting content needed to write a cohesive report. Additionally, this focuses your writing so that you don’t add more information than is necessary (concise, concrete and complete). Deliverable: Complete the Business Report Part 1 template by outlining the content for your findings and recommendation sections and the business report figure. Submit in the appropriate D2L Dropbox. References: · No academic journals can be cited/referenced unless prior approval was received by the instructor. · In-text citations can include direct and/or paraphrased quotes. No quote will be over 40 words. · Do not paraphrase or make assumptions on an entire paragraph or abstract. · You are required to include the page or paragraph number with your citation in the Business Report Part 2. Instructions: 1. Open the Word template, Business Report Part 1 Template and use this document for your submission. 2. Complete the template as follows: a. Type in your company name b. Type in your role for your company (this is the same role used in the presentation assignment). c. Findings Research (see example below): i. Questions (Objectives): Based on your role within your company, type the questions from the findings section of the assignment in this box. The scenarios provided are general and you have an opportunity to develop the scenario further (make something up) as it relates to your product/service and company. ii. Supporting Points: Using bullet points, try to think of a list of ideas (key words-not full sentences) that would be important to answer the question as it relates to YOUR company. Try to come up with this list first before looking on the Internet for ideas. In brackets beside each point, come up with information that substantiates these points. This can be “made up” information, just keep it realistic. iii. Research: Look for business articles and other sources that pertain to your objective and supporting points to help build credibility to the statements that you will write. List the article title, the sentence that you would like to use, the page/paragraph number, and the link to the page. Findings Research Example Question (Objective): How has the increased competition affected your company? Supporting Points: · Drop in sales each month ($25,000/month = $150,000 in 6 months) · Unable to pay monthly expenses (haven’t paid the rent in 3 months and risk losing our location) · Food going bad/thrown out (produce not being used = $500/month in wasted food) · Less hours for part-time employees (from 20 hours to 10 hours = 2 employees quit) Research: Title: Good and Bad Effects of Competition for Large and Small Businesses Sentence: “Business competition can drastically harm small businesses through various labor costs, production, and price factors.” Page or Paragraph: Para #1 Link: https://toughnickel.com/business/Business-Competition-The-Good-and-Bad-Effects-for-Businesses-Large-and-Small d. Recommendation Research (see example below): (see example below): i. Questions (Objectives): Based on your role within your company, type the questions from the recommendation section of the assignment in this box (1 question per box). You can add more ii. Supporting Points: Using bullet points, try to think of a list of ideas (key words-not full sentences) that would be important to answer the question as it relates to YOUR company. Try to come up with this list first before looking on the Internet for ideas. In brackets beside each point, come up with information that substantiates these points. This can be “made up” information, just keep it realistic. iii. Research: Look for business articles and other sources that pertain to your objective and supporting points to help build credibility to the statements that you will write. List the article title, the sentence that you would like to use, the page/paragraph number, and the link to the page. Recommendation Research Example: Question: What actions should the company take? Supporting Points: · Come up with a new product line (different than competitors as our products are locally sourced) · Create a customer loyalty program (purchase 9 items= 1 free item) · Drop prices (current $10 to $8.99 to undercut the competition at $9.50) · Reduce hours of operation (close at 8:00 p.m. instead of 10:00 p.m.) · Look for cost efficiencies (lower priced items in packaging and negotiate with local producers) Title: Why Competition Matters Sentence: “Competition encourages firms to innovate and invest in new products and processes to gain a competitive edge on their rivals.” Page or Paragraph: para. 7 Link: https://www.competitionbureau.gc.ca/eic/site/cb-bc.nsf/eng/04568.html e. Complete the Business Report Figure as follows: i. Create an effective visual that conveys information to the reader to help them better understand your findings or recommendations. Your figure will not be a direct copy from the Internet, but something you create that is related to your company. ii. Your data could include dates, numbers, locations, years, etc. Think creatively as you don’t necessarily need numbers; you can use words to create a figure. iii. Choose the right visual to display the data. You will construct the visual (table, line chart, bar chart, pie chart, flowchart, infographic, or other SmartArt graphic) using Word, Excel, Canva or any other software. a. For help on what a good visual looks like in a report, check out https://venngage.com/blog/report-design/. b. For help using Excel to create visuals, refer to the following: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/create-a-chart-from-start-to-finish-0baf399e-dd61-4e18-8a73-b3fd5d5680c2 or https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xg0Z5qPteGw. c. Article on the different charts available in Word: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/add-a-chart-to-your-document-in-word-ff48e3eb-5e04-4368-a39e-20df7c798932 iv. Design, colour palettes, font, layouts, and other choices, should complement the report design. v. Write effective titles, captions, and legends. A title provides a short description that identifies the content and purpose of the visual. A legend helps readers “decode” the visual by explaining what various colours, symbols, or other design choices mean. vi. Save the figure (jpeg, png. or other type file) so that it can be added to your Business Report –Part 2 and include the image in the Template under section e. 3. Submit the completed document in the D2L Dropbox, Business Report Part 1. Your assignment will be evaluated in accordance with the Rubric attached. Rubric Findings Research: · Supporting points are relevant to the company, individual’s role and customer/supplier for this type of business as part of the problem the company is facing. · Points are substantiated with concrete and complete information. · Business articles (referenced material) pertains to the points and builds credibility on the issue. · All supporting reference information is included (title, sentence, page or paragraph number, and link. / 10 Recommendations Research: · Supporting points are relevant to the company, individual’s role and customer/supplier for this type of business as part of the recommendation (solution) to the problem. · Points are substantiated with concrete and complete information. · Business articles (referenced material) pertains to the points and builds credibility on the issue. · All supporting reference information is included (title, sentence, page or paragraph number, and link. / 10 Business Report Figure: · Data used to create the figure would effectively help the reader better understand the information. · All data is included (titles, captions, legends, symbols, numbers, dates, etc.) as it relates to the figure. · The figure is an original (not copied from the Internet). · Any sourced information has been cited and referenced (APA 7). / 10 Total points / 30 V1 © Bow Valley College 2022pg. 2 Business Report Part 1: Planning Your Business Report (5%) Business Report Part 1 – Planning your Business Report {Individual Assignment} Overview: Creating an outline for your business report will help you succinctly structure your report. You will clearly define the main objective and the supporting content needed to write a cohesive report. Additionally, this focuses your writing so that you don’t add more information than is necessary (concise, concrete and complete). Deliverable: Complete the Business Report Part 1 template by outlining the content for your findings and recommendation sections and the business report figure. Submit in the appropriate D2L Dropbox. References: · No academic journals can be cited/referenced unless prior approval was received by the instructor. · In-text citations can include direct and/or paraphrased quotes. No quote will be over 40 words. · Do not paraphrase or make assumptions on an entire paragraph or abstract. · You are required to include the page or paragraph number with your citation in the Business Report Part 2. Instructions: 1. Open the Word template, Business Report Part 1 Template and use this document for your submission. 2. Complete the template as follows: a. Type in your company name b. Type in your role for your company (this is the same role used in the presentation assignment). c. Findings Research (see example below): i. Questions (Objectives): Based on your role within your company, type the questions from the findings section of the assignment in this box. The scenarios provided are general and you have an opportunity to develop the scenario further (make something up) as it relates to your product/service and company. ii. Supporting Points: Using bullet points, try to think of a list of ideas (key words-not full sentences) that would be important to answer the question as it relates to YOUR company. Try to come up with this list first before looking on the Internet for ideas. In brackets beside each point, come up with information that substantiates these points. This can be “made up” information, just keep it realistic. iii. Research: Look for business articles and other sources that pertain to your objective and supporting points to help build credibility to the statements that you will write. List the article title, the sentence that you would like to use, the page/paragraph number, and the link to the page. Findings Research Example Question (Objective): How has the increased competition affected your company? Supporting Points: · Drop in sales each month ($25,000/month = $150,000 in 6 months) · Unable to pay monthly expenses (haven’t paid the rent in 3 months and risk losing our location) · Food going bad/thrown out (produce not being used = $500/month in wasted food) · Less hours for part-time employees (from 20 hours to 10 hours = 2 employees quit) Research: Title: Good and Bad Effects of Competition for Large and Small Businesses Sentence: “Business competition can drastically harm small businesses through various labor costs, production, and price factors.” Page or Paragraph: Para #1 Link: https://toughnickel.com/business/Business-Competition-The-Good-and-Bad-Effects-for-Businesses-Large-and-Small d. Recommendation Research (see example below): (see example below): i. Questions (Objectives): Based on your role within your company, type the questions from the recommendation section of the assignment in this box (1 question per box). You can add more ii. Supporting Points: Using bullet points, try to think of a list of ideas (key words-not full sentences) that would be important to answer the question as it relates to YOUR company. Try to come up with this list first before looking on the Internet for ideas. In brackets beside each point, come up with information that substantiates these points. This can be “made up” information, just keep it realistic. iii. Research: Look for business articles and other sources that pertain to your objective and supporting points to help build credibility to the statements that you will write. List the article title, the sentence that you would like to use, the page/paragraph number, and the link to the page. Recommendation Research Example: Question: What actions should the company take? Supporting Points: · Come up with a new product line (different than competitors as our products are locally sourced) · Create a customer loyalty program (purchase 9 items= 1 free item) · Drop prices (current $10 to $8.99 to undercut the competition at $9.50) · Reduce hours of operation (close at 8:00 p.m. instead of 10:00 p.m.) · Look for cost efficiencies (lower priced items in packaging and negotiate with local producers) Title: Why Competition Matters Sentence: “Competition encourages firms to innovate and invest in new products and processes to gain a competitive edge on their rivals.” Page or Paragraph: para. 7 Link: https://www.competitionbureau.gc.ca/eic/site/cb-bc.nsf/eng/04568.html e. Complete the Business Report Figure as follows: i. Create an effective visual that conveys information to the reader to help them better understand your findings or recommendations. Your figure will not be a direct copy from the Internet, but something you create that is related to your company. ii. Your data could include dates, numbers, locations, years, etc. Think creatively as you don’t necessarily need numbers; you can use words to create a figure. iii. Choose the right visual to display the data. You will construct the visual (table, line chart, bar chart, pie chart, flowchart, infographic, or other SmartArt graphic) using Word, Excel, Canva or any other software. a. For help on what a good visual looks like in a report, check out https://venngage.com/blog/report-design/. b. For help using Excel to create visuals, refer to the following: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/create-a-chart-from-start-to-finish-0baf399e-dd61-4e18-8a73-b3fd5d5680c2 or https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xg0Z5qPteGw. c