Module-V

Chapter Objectives
 To get acquainted with the format of a
Proposal
 To know various sections of a proposal
and intricacies of writing these
sections
 To understand the writing style and
appearance of proposals
Purposes of proposals
 Persuasion lies at the heart of the
proposal.
 It communicates that the sender
can help solve the problems faced
by the receiver, and that the
receiver’s agreement and approval is
needed to do so.
 It may be written to someone within
the company or outside.
Purposes of proposals
 Some of the purposes are:
 To survey attitudes of the consumers
 To conduct a training program for the
employees
 To help implement ERP within an
organization
 To organize a stall at an exhibition for
sales promotion
 Any many more like this ………..
 types of proposals
 Proposals are sales presentations,
easily classified in to following:
 Research Proposals
 Business Proposals
 Like reports, they may be short or long
and formal, may be solicited or
unsolicited.
 types of proposals
 Research Proposals
 Research proposal is usually academic in
nature.
 Professors, or the Universities or the B-
schools for which they work, desire to
obtain a grant in response to a request or
an announcement from the government or
other agency.
 types of proposals
 Business Proposals
 In case of solicited business
proposals, competition is likely, as
others may also submit the same.
 In case of unsolicited proposal, the
sender needs to convince the reader
or review committee about his/her
understanding of the organization’s
needs or problems and that she/he
can help solve it.
 Parts of proposals
 The parts of a proposal, listed below, may
be used in major business proposals.
They may be adapted for a research
proposal, within or outside the company:
 Title Page
 Executive Summary, Abstract, Synopsis
 Draft Contract
 Table of Contents
 Introduction
 Background
Parts of proposals (contd.)

 Procedures
 Equipment and Facilities
 Personnel
 Budget
 Contribution of study
 Appendixes
Parts of proposals (contd.)

 The writing style of proposal parts

may be similar to those studied in
writing a short or long and formal
report.
 However, some specific points
have been presented in the slides
to follow.
 short proposals
 The sections of a short proposal are:
 Letter of transmittal
 Executive summary
 Body of proposal
Long formal proposals
 Long formal proposals contain
following sections:
 Request for Proposal (RFP)
 Chronology of Procedures for Solicited
Major Proposals
 Government Proposals
 Sample Sections of Long Proposals
 Writing style and appearance
 All rules of writing, including the
seven Cs of effective communication,
are useful in writing a proposal.
 First impression is very important
and critical.
 An initial appraisal of a proposal is
made on following points:
 General Appearance
 Neatness
 Writing style and appearance
 An initial appraisal of a proposal is
made on following points (contd.):
 Specific Appearance (prefatory section)
 Consistency of style
 Title – is it grandiose or does it properly
describe the project?
 Completeness
 Professionalism
 Successful negotiating
 Basic Preparation for Negotiating the
Job Offer
 Basic Issues in Negotiating the Job
Offer
Exercise
 Write a proposal to your boss for suggesting measures
of improving the effectiveness of sales force through
training.
 Chapter Objectives
 To learn how to write short reports
 To get acquainted with informational
and analytical memorandum reports
and letter reports
 Suggestions for short reports
 Developing the Main Sections
 Outlining the Major Sections
 Including Other Desirable Sections
 Suggestions for short reports
 Developing the Main Sections
 A short report contains an introduction,
body and terminal section.
 The introduction section provides a brief
idea about the report.
 The body includes the discussion and
text in detail.
 The terminal section provides summary,
conclusion and recommendations.
 Suggestions for short reports
 Outlining the Major Sections
 After deciding on major sections of
the report, send some time on
headings and subheadings.
 One must ensure the types of
headings, the degrees of headings,
and parallelism in the headings.
 Suggestions for short reports
 Outlining the Major Sections
 Topic – History, Background
 Complete Sentence – Preparation is
Essential
 Imperative sentence – Take Time to
Outline
 Variant - Taking Time to Outline
 Suggestions for short reports
 Outlining the Major Sections
 3 formats of outlines are generally
used
 Numeral-letter combination
 Decimal system
 Letter-numeral combination
 Suggestions for short reports
 Outlining the Major Sections
 Parallelism in Headings means – all
headings of the same degree within
any part of an outline should be
parallel to each other.
 It means that these headings should
have the same grammatical form: all
nouns, all phrases, or all clauses or
sentences.
 Suggestions for short reports
 Including Other Desirable
Sections
 Many short reports are in
memorandum format, the most-used
form in internal business
communication
 Some desirable sections could be
subject line, prefatory and
supplemental Parts, and Visuals.
 Suggestions for short reports
 Including Other Desirable
Sections
 Short, precise subject lines often
include a verb to give immediate
sense of direction to the reader.
 Including some visual elements of a
long report can improve the visual
persuasion of a short reort.
 Informational memorandum reports
 The main purpose of informational
report is to inform and to summarize
information, similar to the speech to
inform.
 3 often used reports are:
 Conference Reports
 Progress Reports
 Periodic Reports
Informational memorandum reports
 Conference Reports
 Topics of conference reports range
from summaries of personal sales
call conference to write-ups of
meetings attended by hundreds of
persons.
 The text of such reports is usually
organized by topics discussed or
presented simply in a chronological
progression.
Informational memorandum reports
 Progress Reports
 As the name implies, progress
reposts show “progress” of a project,
an assignment or a major task.
 The organizational plan is usually
inductive:
 Introduction (purpose, type of project)
 Description of accomplishment
 Unanticipated problems (if any)
 Plan for the remaining period
 Summary
Informational memorandum reports
 Periodic Reports
 Periodic reports are written weekly,
monthly, quarterly or yearly or in
other regular recurring periods.
 For internal periodic reports, an
introduction and terminal sections
are unnecessary.
 Most organizations write annual
reports to summarize activities and
financial affairs.
 analytical memorandum reports
 An analytical memorandum report
attempts to analyze a situation, or
problem and usually ends with or
without recommendation.
 Following reports are pertinent:
 Analytical Personnel Report
 Recommendation – Justification
Reports
 analytical memorandum reports
 Steps in Preparing an Analytical
Personnel Report
 Preparing introduction [includes
authorization, purpose, background, and
methodology sources]
 Body or Text
 Terminal (Closing ) Sectioon
 analytical memorandum reports
 Recommendation – Justification
Reports
 Persuasion is central to
recommendation reports.
 Four section are included:
 Introduction
 Body (Text, Discussion)
 Terminal Section (Conclusion,
Recommendation)
 Organizational Plans
 analytical memorandum reports
 Recommendation – Justification
Reports
 Introduction
 Be precise about the aim or purpose.
 Give the organization of the report.
 Remember that this section is in real sense
the foundation for the report.
 A good introductory text could give a good
start and can hold the attention of the
reader.
 analytical memorandum reports
 Recommendation – Justification
Reports
 Body (Text, Discussion)
 Do not move too quickly to a solution or
recommendation.
 Do not presume that everyone agrees
that the problem exists.
 Include evidence in support of the facts
and arguments.
 analytical memorandum reports
 Recommendation – Justification
Reports
 Body (Text, Discussion)
 Include following sections in the body of
the report.
 Current state of problem
 Effects and causes of the problems
 Possible options to remove the problem
 Criteria in evaluating a solution
 Recommended solution
 analytical memorandum reports
 Recommendation – Justification
Reports
 Terminal Section (Conclusion,
Recommendation)
 Be brief in this section
 Include short summary of major points
and the recommendation, usually
numbered consecutively.
 analytical memorandum reports
 Recommendation – Justification
Reports
 Organizational Plans
 Recommendation-Justification Reports
can be organized in one of the two
ways:
 Deductive Plan – in which recommendation
is presented first and then the other
sections.
 Inductive Plan – in which facts are presented
first and then the recommendations.
Letter reports – informational and
analytical
 A letter report is simply a report in letter
form.
 It is often used when sending information
to a reader outside the organization.
 It includes following sections:
 Date and Inside address
 Salutation
 Body (the heart of the report)
 Complimentary Close
 Signature
 Reference Section
Letter reports – informational and
analytical
 A letter report often has a subject line.
 The length of a letter report may range
from two to five pages.
 It may have two purposes: informational
or analytical.
 The general format of a letter report is
like that of a letter.
 However, body of letter report requires
some special qualities.
Letter reports – informational and
analytical
 The first paragraph includes pleasant greetings
and authorization, purpose of the report, problems
and issues involved, conclusions or statements of
results and road map or plan of presentation.
 The middle paragraphs presents the fact – both
favorable and unfavorable very objectively.
Sources and methods should be mentioned.
 The last paragraph brings the letter report to a
pleasant, friendly close.
 Chapter Objectives
 To get familiarized with the format of
formal reports
 To get acquainted with the writing
style for various sections of the formal
reports
Long (formal) reports
 A long report is simply an expansion of
a short report
 The major differences are: greater
length and depth of discussion of more
complex problems.
 A formal report does not mean more
formal language; it means the report is
more detailed, more complex in
structure.
Long (formal) reports
 Some long report extend from a
few pages to several hundred –
even into several volumes of
information.
 Let us look at the Prefatory and
Supplemental sections of a long
report.
 Prefatory sections
 The prefatory sections include the
following:
 Cover and External Title
 Title Fly and Internal Title
 Letter or Memorandum of
Transmittal
 Table of Contents
 Executive Summary, Abstract,
Synopsis
 Prefatory sections
 Cover and External Title
 The cover of the report should be printed.
 A report title should indicate briefly and
clearly what the report covers.
 Remember 5 Ws and use it properly to
compose the title of the report.
 Keep the title short.
 Consider subtitle and indicate with a
colon.
 Avoid vague titles and judgmental terms.
 Prefatory sections
 Title Fly and Internal Title
 Title fly is simply the sheet of paper
between the cover and the internal title
page. It is usually a butter paper or a
plastic transparent sheet.
 Immediately following this page is the
internal title page, which has four
parts: the title as stated on the external
cover, the recipient of the report, the
preparer, and the date.
 Prefatory sections
 Letter or Memorandum of Transmittal
 It is a cover letter or cover
memorandum.
 Most transmittal has five parts.
 Authorization
 Transmittal Details
 Background, Methodology
 Highlights
 Courteous Ending
 Prefatory sections
 Table of Contents
 This page is to be prepared at the last –
after having decided on all the headings
and subheadings.
 Place the table of contents just before
the report body.
 Make table of tables included in the
report.
 Prefatory sections
 Executive Summary, Abstract,
Synopsis
 Executive summaries, abstract, or
synopsis are often the most read
section of report.
 Executive summaries may be organized
inductively or deductively.
 A well-written executive summary
communicates essential information to
many people.
Supplemental sections
 Long reports have numerous
headings and sections.
 A long report may also include
various kinds of supplementary
information – which is for those
readers who need more details,
but not required to be included
within the report.
Supplemental sections
 Such supplementary material
may include the following:
 Bibliography
 Footnotes and Endnotes (Citation)
 Appendix
 Glossary
 Index
Supplemental sections
 Bibliography
 Bibliography is the list of sources of
information that are cited as
documentation for relevant content in the
report.
 These sources may be books, periodicals,
other published reports or websites.
 Many business reports omit full-citation
footnotes and bibliography.
 It is usually placed at the end of the
document.
Supplemental sections
 Bibliography
 There are two choices pertaining to
writing Bibliographic form:
 The Modern Language Association (MLA)
Format.
 The American Psychological Association
(APA) format. This is more frequently
used format.
Supplemental sections
 Footnotes and Endnotes (Citation)
 Footnotes may appear at the bottom of the
page (footer); endnotes may appear at the
end of the report.
 Citation is nothing but giving credit to the
original source of information from where
information was collected.
Supplemental sections
 Appendix
 Appendix includes all those bulky contains
that may needed to support the points
made in the report but not as an integral
part of the report.
 It helps avoid unnecessary clutter in the
report.
 It is place at the end of the report.
 It includes report, datasheet, data
collection instrument, illustrations,
blueprints, plans, etc.
Supplemental sections
 Glossary
 When the report uses several terms which
might be interpreted differently, include
definition used for the purpose of reading
the report.
 If the report includes several technical
terms, it is necessary to include meanings
of such technical words for the benefits of
the readers.
 Supplemental sections
 Index
 This section provides list of important
terms and topics included in the report.
 It helps easy retrieval of the page number
of the topic a reader may be particularly
interested.
 Usually very long reports have this
section.
 Presentation of the
long reports
 Presentation of the long report
involves three major steps as
given below:
 Writing the First Draft
 Editing and Revising the Rough
Drafts
 Typing the Final Document
 Presentation of the
long reports
 Writing the First Draft
 One may begin with the easiest section
of the report.
 Use the outline and get the ideas
entered in to the word processing
software without worrying about
spelling, punctuation or grammatical
mistakes.
 Make a longer initial draft by including
most details. Keep it aside for a day.
 Presentation of the
long reports
 Editing and Revising the Rough
Drafts
 Think revising the draft the next day.
 Editing requires objective self-criticism.
 Revise and rewrite more than just once.
 Evaluate every content of the draft in
the light of the purpose of the report.
 Presentation of the
long reports
 Typing the Final Document
 Maintain consistency in overall
appearance of the report in terms of
spacing, margin, pagination and also in
terms of font types, size boldfacing,
italicizing, and underlining.
 Chapter Objectives
 To understand the process of interview
and its intricacies
 To become familiar about the
preparation to be made prior to the
interview
 To learn the techniques of successful
negotiations related to job offer
 Successful preparation for the job
interview
 Prior to the Interview
 Chronology of the Interview
 Activity During the Interview
 Answering or Asking Questions During
the Interview
Successful follow-up messages after
the interview
 Candidates to Employer (Some Sample
Letters)
 Employers to Candidate (Some Sample
Letters)
 Chapter Objectives
 To learn how to carry out self-
assessment and market assessment as
a prelude to writing job application
 To get acquainted with the format of
resume
 To learn how to write an effective cover
letter to resume
 Self-assessment
 The answer to the question “who you
are?” is not very simple to answer.
 Beyond the one’s surface awareness
lies deeper qualities, which is put in
proper perspective prepare him / her
for landing a job.
 Self-assessment
 Know Your Skills
 Identify the areas you are good at or enjoy
doing or are very comfortable at. These
are the areas where you are probably
skillful.
 Think of certain action verbs to help you
create a list of skills you may possess.
 Self-assessment
 Know Your Accomplishments
 Record all accomplishment however
trivial they may be. Remember,
something that is trivial to you may
be important to others.
 Describe the accomplishments in
terms of results or outcome.
 Use again the action verbs to make
your accomplishment more
meaningful to the reader.
 Self-assessment
 Know Your Interests
 Know your interests, preferences and
attitudes.
 It can help you determine the type of job
you may be interested in or may fit in very
well.
 Self-assessment
 Know Your Personal Values
 One’s decisions are based on one’s value
judgments.
 Values an also be applied to jobs and
what one wants from the job.
 Use checklist 18. for more detail self-
assessment.
 Market assessment
 Sources of Career and Job
Information
 A large number of sources exists
that provide relevant information on
career planning, interviewing
strategies, international careers, etc.
 Many websites provide free
registration and keep the members
posted of what is happening where,
when and how.
 Market assessment
 Helpful People Regarding
Employers and Jobs
 Networking (remaining in touch with
individuals or groups) allows one to
be aware about openings and
opportunities.
 Some people such as alumni,
counselors, employment agencies,
business friends, former colleagues,
etc. could also be helpful persons.
 resume
 Resume is a summary of an
individual’s qualifications and
intended career path.
 Contents and layout of resume
may vary and there is best type.
 Information in a resume is
presented in phrases instead of
full sentence.
 resume
 Typically, a Resume has following
parts:
 Opening Section
 Education
 Work Experience
 Achievements, Awards, Service
Activities
 Personal Data (Optional)
 References
 Cover letter to Resume
 Opening – For Favorable Attention
 Middle Paragraph – For Data, Details
 Last Paragraph – For Easy Action