Assignment 5

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Assignment 5a and 5b: Recommendation report (RR)

5a: Writing and editing RR extracts and executive summaries (ES) (15%)
5 b:

Writing final recommendation report (30%)

15 October - 16 November
From now until the end of the course you will be writing your own recommendation report and giving other people feedback on what they've written. Assignments 5a and 5 b are related to the recommendation report, and you will find the instructions for the report below. The final deadline for submission of the completed report is 16 November. However, there are two important deadlines between now and then when you need to upload work into your group members' folders and give feedback on other participants' writing. You will be reviewing two Recommendation Report extracts and Executive Summaries. The deadlines for these exercises are as follows:

1. Recommendation report extract and executive summary (Assignment 5a): upload as one file to your group members' folders by 2 November 2. RR extract and ES edits (Assignment 5a): give your comments on your group members' RR extracts and executive summaries by 9 November 3. Final recommendation report (Assignment 5b): upload to your tutor's RR folder by 16 November

Recommendation report requirements This assignment requires you to write a 6-8 page recommendation report consisting of : 1. Preliminary elements a. letter of transmittal / email cover
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b. title page c. executive summary d. table of contents e. list of illustrations (if necessary) 2. Body (5-6 pages) - Introduction - Situation analysis - Recommendations - Conclusions 3. Supplementary parts Appendices, references

Recommendation report options There are 2 options for you to choose from: 1. A recommendation report related to your work (details) 2. A recommendation report related to your studies (details)

Consider carefully which of these topics you would feel most comfortable writing about. Make sure that you have enough material to meet the length requirement of the assignment. Please note that in either case, you have to upload a short report proposal to the 'RR proposal' file by 5 October. Report proposal

Your report proposal should include a description of the following: Primary audience Secondary audience Objective of the report
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Outline of content and structure

Option 1: A recommendation report related to your work This must, of course, be a piece of original writing. In other words, it must be something that you have chosen to write about for this course, not something that already exists. Naturally, you can base your report on research data and other material that you have gathered, but the report itself must be something you write from scratch. Make sure the topic you choose is sufficiently complex so that you'll have enough material to meet the length requirement of the assignment.

Situation Write a recommendation report to assist management in making a decision, or choosing a solution to a problem. Your secondary audience could consist of other company personnel such as financial analysts, HR personnel, technical people etc. As the writer, you are an employee of the company or an external consultant. Below are some general areas in which you might want to make a recommendation: personnel / management training increasing efficiency improving the image of the organisation creation of innovation / new ideas improving personnel motivation The situation can be a real or a hypothetical one. Your report should present reasonable alternatives, evaluate them, and recommend one of the options.

Option 2: A recommendation report related to your studies

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This second option allows you to choose a topic related to your studies.

Examples of possible topics Recommendations on: expanding cooperation with the corporate sector intensifying cooperation with organizations to make 'social responsibility' more visible at the Aalto University School of Economics or Aalto University in general developing the tutoring of the first-year students how to support and speed up the thesis ('gradu') writing process altering the term times how to create closer ties between Finnish and international students developing the Orientation Days for first-year students how to speed up/slow down studies Define your audience You should clearly define your audience: e.g. faculty in your major, the student union, the Office of Studies, top management of Aalto University / the Open University.

Gather supporting data You also need to decide on what data you will use to support your recommendations. There may be some existing data you can exploit but you might need to gather your own data by interviewing or sending a questionnaire to fellow students, Aalto faculty, Aalto administrative staff, or international exchange students. You need to ensure that the topic you choose would provide you with enough ideas and data to be able write a sufficiently comprehensive report. Make sure that you have enough material to meet the length requirement of the assignment.

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Assignment 5a: Writing and editing recommendation report extracts and executive summaries (15%)
15 October - 2 November: Write your recommendation report (RR) and upload an extract and executive summary (ES) for comments Before you start to write please read: - Input 6: Reader-friendly document design - Input 7: Writing recommendation reports - Input 8: Executive summaries

Write your recommendation report and executive summary. Your group members (see Groups-folder on the left hand side of the screen to see who you are working with) will give you feedback on your RR writing and ES. Please upload the following into their folders by 2 November at the latest: 1) The report's executive summary 2) The report's table of contents 3) A 3-4 page extract from the BODY (Introduction, Situation analysis, Recommendations, and Conclusions) of your report. In the introduction, you should specify the report's context, e.g. readership and objective. Label your document: A5: [Your name] report extract and ES for comments

2 - 9 November: Edit the RR extracts and ES 1. Go through the two 3/4-page report extracts and executive summaries that have been placed in your folder by your group members (see Groups-folder on the left hand side of the screen to see who you are working with). Use the feedback guidelines for RR and feedback guidelines for ES below to enable you to write detailed comments at the end of each extract and executive summary. To get a grade for this assignment you must cover all the categories in the
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feedback guidelines and give thorough feedback on both the executive summary and the report draft. You should also use the MS Word 'Reviewing tool' ('track changes' / 'comment') to make any in-text changes or comments you feel are necessary. Place the edited versions back in your group members' folders. Label your document: A6: [Your name] comments on [Writer] report extract and ES. Deadline: 9 November.

2. At the same time, continue writing your own recommendation report.

10 - 16 November: Respond to RR edits and finalize the report 1. Look at the comments that you have received from your group members and the course's discussion forum to respond to their comments, ask for clarification and get further feedback if you feel it's necessary. 2. Carry on writing your report and return the final version to your tutor's RR folder by 16 November.

Report extracts: Feedback guidelines Reader focus (see Input 1) Is the tone, style and content appropriate for the given readership and objective? Consider the reader's: 1. 2. 3. 4. Relationship with the writer Knowledge of subject Attitude to the topic Level of motivation

Reader-friendly document design (see Input 6)

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Does the report employ a reader-friendly layout? Are white space, line-spacing, boldface, lists and bulleting used to enhance readability? Is the report easy to read? Could it be improved? Comment on: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Use of white space (margins, paragraph and line-spacing ...) Descriptive headings Grammatical parallelism Listing and numbering Use of graphs, charts, tables to illustrate ideas

Argument (see Input 5) Is the argument clear and convincing? 1. Are conclusions and recommendations clear and relevant? 2. Is there sufficient evidence to support conclusions and recomendations? 3. Are warrants used when necessary to make the relationship between data & conclusions/recommendations consistently clear & obvious? Coherence (see Input 7) Is the report easy to read? 1. Are paragraphs of a suitable length? 2. Are headings exploited? Do they give a clear and accurate indication of what follows? 3. Do paragraphs deal with only one topic? 4. Is paragraph content suitable: topic sentence + support? 5. Are there appropriate transitions at sentence and paragraph levels? The use of linking words (therefore, moreover, however) is critical. They signal the type of relationship one sentence, or one concept, has to another. Language

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Does the writer use: 1. 2. 3. 4. appropriate level of formality (not too formal or informal) short, simple sentences precise, concrete words appropriate voice (active / passive)

Mechanics Comment on the overall mechanics? How does the writer manage grammar, spelling and punctuation. Are there any common errors?

ES feedback guidelines

Begin by making any necessary comments on grammar, spelling and punctuation using the MS Word Reviewing 'track changes' or 'comment' functions. 1. Does the introductory paragraph clearly define the purpose for writing and the scope of the report?

2. Is there a clear and concise statement of the conclusions that were reached after conducting the analysis and / or research.

3. Does the ES contain specific, audience-oriented recommendations?

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4. Is there an analysis of, and/or, a justification for the proposed action?

5. Are headings exploited? Do they give a clear and accurate indication of what each section contains? Do headings in the recommendation section use action verbs to highlight the recommendations presented there?

6. Do paragraphs deal with only one topic? Is this topic clearly and logically developed from one sentence to the next?

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