Week 5 - Tuesday

We’re almost done, but we still have plenty to do before the end of the week.
Your final Job Projects and Final Reports and PAMs are due Friday night by 11:59 pm. And
that's it. The whirlwind will finally be over.

I want to take this moment to thank all of you for working as hard as you have. I know that it's
easy to get testy with each other at this point, but maintain low tones and all will work out.

Tips for finishing the final recommendation reports

Here are some general comments and observations about the reports:

• Remember that a recommendation report has A LOT of repetition. You should present the most important information throughout the report. For example, your recommendations (the most important part of the report) should appear in the letter of transmittal, the overview, the recommendations section, and the conclusion.
  
• Also, it’s important to keep in mind that you did all of this research so that they don’t have to do all of this research. In other words, Bellcom will do some of their own research, but the goal of this report is to tell them what is the most important information that their employees need. That is your job in a nutshell: to make recommendations about the most important information that the employees need. You don’t need to necessarily give them that information; you just need to tell them what it is.
  
• You MUST use proper format as outlined in the Final Report Style Sheet.
  
• The letter of transmittal needs to briefly overview the report and highlight your recommendations.
  
• An executive summary needs to actually summarize the entire report so that the reader can know EXACTLY what is in the report without actually reading it. The executive summary should be primarily a narrative with the strategic use of bulleted lists to emphasize the most important information in the report. One strategy for creating an executive summary is to use the same headings as those in the report, along with the topic sentences for each paragraph. (If you do this, please use small, restrained headings, not the full-size level 1 headings you've been using.) If you're good at doing summaries or synopses, you can do the Executive Summary in more of a narrative form without subheadings. Your executive summary content should be in the same order as your report, but the main focus of the summary should be your recommendations. However you approach it, your executive summary should not be very much longer than 1 page. (Use the managerial organization pattern --recommendations come before the methods and findings section -- for both the executive summary and your final report.)
  
• The recommendation section needs to be near the beginning. This is the most important feature of the report, so don’t bury it at the end. No reader wants to sift through your entire report to get to your recommendations.
  
• Each recommendation should be discussed separately. Remember, the point is to make arecommendation on what kinds of information they should provide for their employees. You have done the research and can tell them the most important things that their employees need to know when traveling to this city. In this respect, you need to make the recommendation and argue WHY the recommendation is important, but you should not include all of the information that you found. You are not providing the information for inclusion in their travel guide, you are only recommending the kinds of information and how much information THEY should include.
  
• Remember, all extra information that you found interesting or of value should be provided in your Findings section.
  
• The background section should explain the purpose for the research so that everyone understands the problem in the same way. The client’s needs and the objective of the researchare the important factors in this section. These are very important discussions and should be very specific, describing— exactly—what the client needs/wants to know and what your objectives for this research are.
  
• For many of you, the methods section also needs to describe your sources in more detail, summarizing each source, explaining what you used from the source, what you did not use from the source, and why this source was both important and appropriate to your research. There is an approved method for citing or references web pages. This method does not -- in any citation system under the sun -- involved pasting the url for the web page into your document and calling it a day.
  
• The findings must always be discussed in terms of your research. Do not just offer raw data for the reader. And do not add a bunch of information to pad your report and make it longer. It doesn’t need to be longer. Most importantly, DO NOT CUT AND PASTE information from a source directly into your report. This could be construed as plagiarism and earn you an “F” for the project. The Recommendations section is the most important part of your report, not the Findings. There should be no information in your Findings section that doesn’t relate to one of your recommendations.
  
• Condense and summarize the information as much as possible and then place your findings in the context of this situation. It’s also a good idea to refer information in the findings section to your recommendations whenever possible. While the information may be an example of information that they might use relative to a particular recommendation, your job in this project is to analyze the information for the company and provide them with what you deem as the most important information. They hired you to do this sifting, so don’t just give them a big crap-load of data. Be selective and show your critical thinking skills.
  
• You do not necessarily need appendices. You only have to use an appendix if you have graphics that disrupt the flow of the report. But if you have graphics that disrupt the flow of the report, think critically about whether you need that graphic or not. Graphics should provide support for your arguments, so you should put all of your important graphics directly into the report.
  
• In general, when constructing a paragraph (or a section) make your point first, then provide evidence. Always tell the reader the important stuff first. Don’t make them sift through a bunch of text in order to get to your point.
  
• You must use a legitimate reference style (MLA, APA, or etc.). You must cite your sources. As previously mentioned, having a big crap-load of randomly organized information in your Findings section is not going to enhance your grade. Having the same disorganized crap-load without any attribution or citation will have a serious negative impact on your grade.
  
• Be sure to edit your report closely. In order to return your reports in a timely manner, I did not spend time editing. That is your job, so edit closely. Many of you have A LOT of grammar/punctuation errors throughout your report.

PAMs

Finally, don’t forget that your PAMs are also due on the last day of the semester, but they are a separate document. They should not be an email as the book and the reading materials state or imply. I want a memo using the 407A Memo Template.

If you create a group PAM, then just submit it as a separate attachment with the Final Report (remember, only one person submits the materials). If you do individual PAMs, then one person submits the Final Report (along with her/his PAM) and everyone else can submit their PAM in the Final Report space, but only submit the PAM if you are not designated to submit the Final Report.


For the PAM, just follow the prompts. That’s really the only information that I want. Be as succinct as possible, but I’m not going to worry too much if you go over 500 words. Remember that the PAM is designed for you to show me what you know about the project and how you contributed. That’s the key to a good PAM.

Faux Pas Case

I’m still evaluating the Faux Pas Projects and hope to return those to everyone by tomorrow. It
was more important to get you feedback on the Job Project and Final Report drafts than it was
to grade these. Now that my decks are clear, I'll be grading these in clusters over the next day
or two. (I'm trying to save some wear and tear on my "mouse shoulder" so I have something left
for the big grading binge this weekend....)

This may be your final content-rich daily message. I’ll check in on Thursday and Friday to see
how things are going and to respond to any last minute questions or problems. But overall, you
all know what needs to be done.

Keep up the good work.

Have a great day!
Dr. S.