Minutes 04/16/12

Prepared by: Remington Drake

Present: Carmen, Jacqueline, Brooke, Jordan, Leah, Casey, Remington, Robert

Robert presented minutes from last class.


Topic
Suzanne gave us background on what formal reports are, and how they should be used. They are typically written documents or verbal statements that are used in business situations. There are multiple uses for formal reports:

• Proposal
• Useful for offering a suggestion to solve a problem
• Two types:
• Internal
• Often a persuasive pitch
• Example: bringing in a speaker
• External
• Solicited proposal
• Someone asks for you to send them a proposal
• RFP: Request for Proposal
• Example: Boeing would like to buy airplane parts you make
• Unsolicited proposal
• You propose something the party did not ask for
• Example: sales pitch
• Feasibility report:
• It demonstrates how successful a project may be
• Usually more technical than other types of reports
• Can be a document, video or oral presentation
• Must present evidence for the practicality of a project within the organization
• Examples: manufacturing a new product, creating a new division
• Progress report:
• It provides a picture of the current state of a project or venture
• Example: how many units have been made out of a quota
• Travel report:
• It provides information about the activities of traveling employees
• Useful for monitoring productivity or disseminating information the traveler needs or has learned
• Example: business trip to convention in New York

Suzanne then provided the general format for a formal report:

• Intro
• Body
• It will often have headers for all major points
• Recommendations
• Consequences/Implications
• Conclusion

The formal report also contains elements called the front matter and the back matter:

• Front matter:
• Title page
• Abstract
• Table of contents
• List of figures
• Back matter:
• Bibliography
• Appendix
• Glossary

Remember, the report should state the intended purpose, the scope of the issue, the methods of finding information or conducting the plan, and the actual findings/recommendations. These are critical if you want to have an effective message.


Suzanne then introduced us to the concept of an executive summary, which is an encapsulated version of a formal report. It is typically no more than 10% of the actual report, and it does not have additional information.


Exercise
We listened to a podcast on the Note-taker, a device for legally blind students. The class took notes on an executive summary sheet provided by Suzanne. Afterwards, we watched a video on the product. Using the information we recorded on our worksheets, we came up in front of the class to construct a brief summary similar to what an executive summary would have.


The main points we noted:

• Introduction:
• We described the invention and its purpose
• Listed the core goals
• Mentioned it was invented by David Hayden, and we included his affiliations and accomplishments
• Body
• Described the current situation and possible alternatives to the product
• Made mention of all their downsides, showing the need for the proposed product
• Briefly described the unique benefits of the Note-taker
• Mentioned technicalities of the Note-taker
• Included terms that would need to be defined
• Conclusion
• Described future opportunities for the product and its potential to access the market

Suzanne posted this document to the blog for reference


Assignment
We will write executive summaries on one of two investment funds belonging to Goldman Sachs:

• 10,000 Women Fund
• Invests and gives seed money to women internationally to start businesses
• 10,000 Businesses Fund
• Provides seed money to start businesses in distressed areas in the United States

Everything we need to know will be on the respective websites. Suzanne told us to treat the websites as formal reports, and that our information should summarize them. This assignment is due Wednesday, April 18th.