Writing for Business Success/Assessment

(: Simonne

PROBLEMS with assessment:

• Don't need Part 2 as currently drafted, because oral communication no longer part of CCOM101 (in CCOM102 instead, which is all about presentations)
• Part 1 combines a report and analysis/explanation of the report in one document. This will make it difficult for the learner to write a realistic report. The two aspects need to be split.
• Doesn't include anything about legal aspects of writing, which is in LO.
• There is too much of research component to this (need to find and read 5 articles minimum and use APA) - research isn't a learning outcome.
• Wide diversity of possible topics for business trend report, as well as diverse audiences and contexts, may make it difficult and time-consuming for the marker to assess the quality of the written work
• It is only one type of written communication with one audience - not much scope to do extensive/varied analysis

SUGGESTIONS 3 parts:

• Part 1 (50 per cent): Write a business trends report, based on some aspect of https://opentextbc.ca/introtourism/chapter/chapter-14-back-to-the-big-picture-globalization-and-trends/. 30% on report itself (450-500 words) and 20% on a separate analysis/justification of choices (200 words). Learner must choose context, purpose and audience (to help reduce risk of plagiarism).

Maybe give option for the learner to present any piece of business communication of their own (of a minimum length) and explain/analyse it - this would enable them to use something that they have created in their own workplace if they are already at work. (But difficult to prove it is their own work. Also problem with revealing company info - would need to make sure it was totally anonymised and company couldn't be identified.)

• New part 2 (30 per cent) - draft an email to colleagues about some situation (to be specified in the instructions) which involves some legal implications (to be specified) - 250-300 words. (15 per cent) Analysis/explanation 150 words.(15 per cent)
• New part 3 (20 per cent)- analyse a given piece of business communication - 300 words. We would need to draft the communication - with good points and problems in it. Could put this into a scenario: a colleague has asked you to critique this - please send her your comments in an email.)

Level 5 / 1st year University course assessment

Summary:	Demonstrate your understanding of how business communications need to be adapted depending on the audience.
	3 hours

Learning outcome: Analyse how communications are shaped by their cultural, experiential, belief and value contexts and apply this knowledge to communication that displays awareness of the legal implications of business writing.  

(If you are completing this course for formal credit, you must complete and submit this assessment.)

Part A: Tailoring writing to a specific audience (80%)

This assignment requires you to write a trend report for a selected business and specific target audience.

To complete this assessment, you can:

1. reuse the trend report from the business trend report challenge,
2. focus on a different trend, or
3. focus on several interlocking trends.

For example, you might want to look at the impact of online shopping on physical stores, or how that trend is now reversing as online retailers open physical stores.

Audience: For the purpose of this exercise, you should choose your own audience.

Your report should contain the following:

1. Introduction
2. Report planning section:
   • Select a business for the trend report and provide reasons why you selected this business
   • Specify the purpose of the report
   • Analyse and identify the target audience i.e. demographics including how they are likely to perceive the trend(s) and implications / decisions for writing up the report with justifications from understanding your audience and other online resources
3. Several paragraphs explaining what the trend(s) are
4. A clear explanation of the potential impact of the trend(s) on the target audience
5. Conclusion and recommendations: you should wrap up with some suggestions about how the target audience could use this trend to their advantage
6. Finally, please include a "reflection section" where you justify the style of your writing, the decisions you made in selecting your points of emphasis and other

Your report should be 1500 words maximum.

When preparing the report, students must consult and cite five (5) articles (at a minimum) to support the existence of the trend and their arguments. These articles can be retrieved from credible online sources but should also be tailored to the target audience. You must use the APA reference system.

Part B: Executive summary speech (20%)

In Part B, you task is to write a four to five minute speech on the same key trend you identified in Part A above. While the audience for this speech is also up to you, it must be different from Part A. Your goal is to:

1. Provide a summary of the trend report.
2. Tailor the writing of the speech to this different audience, keeping in mind the following questions and tips:
   • Ensure your speech identifies the audience. Perhaps this could be in the introduction.
   • Should you use more complicated vocabulary?
   • Ensure you include all the same key points.
3. The speech should be approximately four to five minutes in length.

Submission: Attach your submissions to an email with the subject line CCOM 101 Assessment Submission and addressed to Be Filled In To Be Filled