PROJECT 4

TITLE: I chose the company uber
OVERVIEW: Every industry has problems, many of which are still solved by humans. How does a

business define, understand, brainstorm, address, and solve problems?

TEXT TYPES: Work Plan, List of Terms, Report, Email, & Proposal

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. 1) Make a Work Plan for this project in its entirety. Your plan must include all steps, actions, anddeadlines in detail to successfully complete and submit each assignment listed herein on time.
2. 2) Choose 1 business entity (company) with a minimum 20 verifiable employees. You can continuewith your project 3 company or choose another one. You do not have to want to work for thiscompany. Note: all team members must choose different companies.
3. 3) Research your company’s assumptions, expectations, rules, and enforcement of employeebehavior. This is part of corporate culture.
4. 4) Research current company problems. When you find several of interest, see what’s being done, ifanything, about them.
5. 5) Choose 1 specific current company problem to work with for this project. “Current” is defined asstill extant now in 2020. You’ll need at least 3 sources verifying that the problem exists today.
6. 6) Research the co-factors involved in the problem: who, what, where, when, how, why, and $$$?
7. 7) Teamwork: Discuss problem types, such as supply chain, CEO personality, lack of staff diversity,poor business model, questionable reputation, impeding government regulations, corruption, low demand, fierce competition, and many more. Research for lists of business problems to get more ideas. What type is your business problem?
8. 8) Determine who in the company is involved with the problem. You must understand the company’s organizational structure to know this. Who are the people involved in terms of their locations, departments, positions/titles, job descriptions, power status, and other relevant facts? Who else is involved, external to the company?
9. 9) Draw or otherwise create a diagram, flowchart, or picture of how all these people are connected to each other in the problem.
10. 10) Consider why, when, and in which modes (email, text, Zoom, in person, etc) these people communicate with each other.

11) Teamwork: Together look at your company problem through the lens of the seven deadly sins: Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Sloth, Wrath, Envy, and Pride. Look up the words you don’t know in a dictionary. Which of these, if any, are operating in the problem? What kind of solution fits more with the sin/s in play? Have fun with this!

1

SFSU; BUS 300; Project 4; Fall 2020

Look at the people intimately involved in your problem through the lens of archetypes. These include the Emperor, King, Queen, Princess, Prince, Magician, Artist, Death, Sage/Teacher, Fool, Joker, Hunter, Warrior, General, Orphan, Innocent, Mother, Father, Healer, Oracle, Assistant, Seducer, Brother/Sister/Sibling, among others. Do you see any people who easily fit into an archetype? If so, how does this affect the behavior of the other people involved? What type of solutions befits the archetypes you see in play?

12) Draw or otherwise create a timeline of the problem. When did it start? When the media began reporting it, the situation was well under way. What is coming down the line in the near future? Farther out? Which people entered the problem when?

13) Teamwork: Help each other choose 1 piece or facet of your problem to focus on for the rest of this project. If the problem is a puzzle, you are choosing 1 piece. The P4 proposal will be about fixing, eliminating, reducing, or ameliorating that piece. You are NOT solving the whole puzzle! You need to focus narrowly.

1. 14) Create a List of Terms about your company and the facet of the problem you’re focusing on. Write the single words and phrases in your notebook organized into categories that make sense to you. Many of these terms will be in your P4 Final.
2. 15) Brainstorm and research how the piece of problem might be reduced, ameliorated, or eliminated. Keep in mind the who, what, where, when, how, and why. Consider what behavior needs to change to support the problem solving. Behavior modifications can be implemented via training, relocation, and hiring and firing practices, among other means. Consider which legal and technological issues, if any, are in play. What financial issues? What else is involved?

16) Teamwork: Brainstorm what steps do which employees need to do to take care of the piece of problem?

1. 17) Brainstorm and research how much these steps will cost. This information will provide the basis for the Budget in your Proposal.
2. 18) Interview someone who is working for this company or used to and ask how the company solves/d problems. If you cannot find anyone like this, someone who works or used to work for a large company is fine. The people can be relatives, partners, or friends. Notice in the student examples on iLearn how the interview content is embedded.
3. 19) Write a persuasive mock Proposal tasked with solving a facet of the problem. You are not solving the whole problem, only a piece of it.After logically showcasing relevant points, argue for 4 new recommendations the company can implement together to diminish or eliminate the problem. These recommendations must be your own.Devise a detailed Budget for these recommendations.This proposal is from one employee or on behalf of a company team to another company team or group of other employees and will be written in the appropriate professional tone and approach.Since the larger problem is in actuality not yet solved, the piece of the problem you are focusing on isn’t either. You are safe to assume that the company has had many barriers

2

SFSU; BUS 300; Project 4; Fall 2020

internally and possibly externally in dealing with the problem. Therefore to make headway, the proposal must be very skillfully argued. Do NOT include “I”, “me”, “my”, “we”, “our”, and “you” and “your”: the linguistic distance will evoke a more formal and serious tone.

Proposal sections are as follows and in this sequence (from p. 286 in our textbook. See the Proposal Contents document on iLearn for details): Letter of Transmittal; Executive Summary; Title page; Table of Contents; List of Illustrations (optional, only if you include supplementary non-text information); Introduction; Background; Problem; Purpose; Proposal; Plan; Schedule; Staffing; Budget; and Authorization. See student examples on iLearn for a general idea; please notice the frequent content repetitions throughout.

The Proposal must have in text citations.

In the Proposal you may include graphs, diagrams, photographs, illustrations, web links, and any other information types if suitable but they are not required. If you do, put the citation information immediately below them and in the References. If you created your own visual, then cite yourself.

1. 20) The Abstract in the P4 Final will consist of the purpose of this project; an overview of the company’s problem; fictional email author’s and recipient/s’ full name/s and company position titles and purpose of this email; and the key features of the Proposal.
2. 21) Create a Proposal Outline depicting the structure and flow of the entire document. This will be the skeleton from which you build it. See line items 19 & 23 for all components.
3. 22) Create a fictional intra-company Email that includes the Proposal as an attachment. The email author and recipient/s must be logically related to the Proposal. See student examples on iLearn for a general idea.
4. 23) The complete Project 4 Final document will consist of the following components in this sequence: Title Page for any reader, Abstract for any reader, Mock Email, Mock Proposal, and References (a total of 10 or more pages).

24) Teamwork: Peer review the Proposal Outline and Drafts 1- 3. Give honest and thorough feedback. In advance decide together the best way to do this. Everyone must agree.

1. 25) Write a Progress Report explaining what you’ve done for this project so far and what you still need to do. Include what challenges you are dealing with and/or anticipate. Write this document as yourself a student in this course to me your instructor. Use “I” and other first person pronouns. Use full sentences, but if you like, use bullets to showcase achieved and upcoming tasks and assignments in phrases.
2. 26) Write a Teamwork Report explaining your experience with your team for this project. Include your team members’ full names; how often and in which modes you communicated with each other; what challenges you faced and how you addressed these; which 1 team member was the most helpful and why; which 1 team member you had the least contact with; and the impact of the teamwork on the quality of your Project 3 work.

3

SFSU; BUS 300; Project 4; Fall 2020

REQUIREMENTS:

SOURCES:
Proposal Outline: minimum 5
1st Draft (include all document components set in full APA): minimum 6
2nd & 3rd Drafts (include all document components set in full APA): minimum 8
Final Proposal: 10 minimum & 1 interview minimum referenced in the proposal (as personal communication, not in Works Cited)

WORD COUNTS & DURATION:
Email: 20-100
Proposal Outline: 200 minimum
1st Draft Email & Proposal: 700 minimum
2nd Draft Email & Proposal: 1000 minimum (must have in text citations in the Proposal) 3rd Draft Email & Proposal: 1500 minimum (must have in text citations in the Proposal) Progress Report: 75-150 in multiple paragraphs

Final Email & Proposal: 1500-2000 (must have in text citations in the Proposal) Teamwork Report: 50-100 (if more than 60, must be in multiple paragraphs)

FORMATTING:
Email: Must look exactly like a real email
Outline: Basic APA outline (All sections of the entire document included, not just the Proposal) Drafts: Full APA (All sections of the entire document included, not just the Proposal)
Progress Report: basic APA
Final Proposal: Formal and persuasive; Full APA; can include corporate logo on proposal title page Teamwork Report: Basic APA

GRADING:

Work Plan: 1 Proposal Outline: 1 1st Draft: 1
2nd Draft: 1
3rd Draft: 1
Progress Report: 2 Final Proposal: 100 Teamwork Report: 2

4

SFSU; BUS 300; Project 4; Fall 2020 DEADLINES: (All written assignments uploaded to iLearn by 23:55 on the date)

NOVEMBER

Thurs 12 MON 16 Tue 17 Thur 19 DECEMBER Tue 1 Thur 3 MON 7 Thur 10 Fri 11 MON 14

Start P4

P4 Work Plan
P4 Outline. Team Brainstorms begin P4 Draft 1

P4 Draft 2
P4 Progress Report
P4 Draft 3
Team Brainstorms end
P4 Final. Last day of classes
P4 Teamwork Report. Exam week begins

SUGGESTIONS:

* Pursue what interests you deeply. * Choose a business in an industry that you might want to work in. * Engage with your team. * If your team members are not reliable, get a work partner for this project. This person does not have to be your friend but you both need to be conscientious and reliable. * If you have the textbook, read chapters 9 & 10. * Write a list of questions and update this list as you go along. * Get help from librarians. * Spend a lot of time researching. * Keep track of your sources. * Speak with people who work in large companies and other entities about their problem-solving approaches. * Brainstorm with people who think outside the box and/or have different opinions from you. This way you’ll get new ideas. Take what you like and leave the rest. * Spend a lot of time organizing and outlining your documents. * Check the prompt to make sure you have all required features. * Edit on paper. * Proofread on paper. * Read your document out loud to hear what your audience reads. * Tape the entire proposal document on a wall so you can see how it’s shaping up. Change out the pages as you go along. * Trust your instincts. * When in doubt, ask me. * Start everything earlier.

BUS 300: Project 4; PROPOSAL COMPONENTS; Fall 2020 1 The Proposal consists of the components below and should be organized in the sequence as

listed. Adapted from chapters 9 & 10 of our textbook and specifically for formal proposals.

Letter of Transmittal; Executive Summary; Title Page; Table of Contents; List of Illustrations or Figures (optional, only if you include supplementary non-text information); Introduction; Background; Problem; Purpose; Proposal; Plan; Schedule; Staffing; Budget; and Authorization.

Formal proposals are for complex or controversial reports. Objective and accurate research is included. The writing style usually uses the 3rd person (no “I” or “you”); doesn’t use contractions (no “can’t” and “didn’t”); and avoids slang. The tone is professional and respectful.

The purpose of all proposals is to cleverly and persuasively argue the points so the recommendations are accepted, agreed upon, and acted upon. Knowing the needs and biases of the proposal recipients- aka the readers- and other relevant parties is essential.

FRONT MATTERS (what comes before the actual body of the proposal. Gives an overview.)

LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL
- Announces the topic of the proposal and who authorized it.
- The authorization is by the person or department who instigated the research and writing of the proposal. In other words, who told the writer/s to spend her/his/their work time on this document.
- Briefly describes the project and highlights key findings, conclusions, and recommendations. - Closes with appreciation for the project OR instruction for next steps.
- If the proposal were going to several readers, they’d each receive their own Letter of Transmittal specifically for her/him/them. For BUS 300 the proposal is going to 1 person or 1 entity (such as the Board of Directors) so there will only be 1 Letter of Transmittal.
- The “Who said to do this and what is it about, tailored to the recipient”

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
- Gives an overview of the entire proposal. Very similar to an APA Abstract but includes more parts.
- Summarizes the proposal’s major sections.
- For people who won’t or can’t read the entire document in one sitting.
- The “Short & sweet version of everything”

BUS 300: Project 4; PROPOSAL COMPONENTS; Fall 2020 2

TITLE PAGE
- The official frontispiece of the proposal.
- Includes name of proposal; Presented to with full name/s, title/s, and company name; and Prepared by with author/s’ name/s, title/s, and company name.
- Date of submission with day, month, and year.
- Can include company logo. Not required for BUS 300.
- The “Cover of the actual proposal”

TABLE OF CONTENTS
- Includes all major sections of the proposal from the Table of Contents onwards. - Must include page numbers.
- May include subsections if you have them. If so, include page numbers.
- The “Where is what in the proposal?”

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS OR FIGURES
- For illustrations, photographs, diagrams, sketches, graphs, charts, maps, web links, and any other non-text information. Not required for BUS 300.
- List in order of placement in document by page number.
- Useful for readers to quickly find this type of information.
- The “Other ways to describe aspects of the problem and proposed solutions”

BODY COMPONENTS (The heart of the matter. The actual proposal.)

INTRODUCTION
- Very brief description of problem, what the proposal sets out to achieve, and briefly states how.
- Highlights writer’s qualifications. In other words, why the proposal writer is qualified to create this document.
- 2- 5 sentences maximum.
- The “Why does this document exist?”

BACKGROUND
- Events leading up to the problem. - The “How did we get here?”

BUS 300: Project 4; PROPOSAL COMPONENTS; Fall 2020 3

PROBLEM
- Explanation of the problem.
- The components or details of the problem.
- Problem analysis must be acceptable to the reader/s. In other words, the proposal recipients must be able to see the writer/s understand their issues.
- The problem’s “Who, what, where, when, how, why, and $$$”

PURPOSE
- Explanation of the need to fix, reduce, eliminate, or otherwise ameliorate the problem. - The why of the proposal
- Explains why the proposal is realistic and doable.
- The “Why are we writing this proposal?”

PROPOSAL
- The 4 recommendations.
- What is each recommendation and what will be its impact on the problem.
- Can explain each recommendation separately and/or how the combination of all recommendations will achieve desired goals.
- The “Four Fixes”

PLAN
- Includes methods, steps, and actions to roll out each recommendation. - The “How will all this get done?”

SCHEDULE
- Benchmarks of deliverables.
- Dates of action rollouts.
- The “Who will do what when to achieve the recommendations?”

STAFFING
- Who is/are the project leader/s who will oversee and execute the proposal once it’s agreed to. Includes her/his/their qualifications and expertise.
- Who will execute the recommendations and these people’s qualifications and expertise.
- The “Who’s going to take the proposal document and turn it into reality?”

BUS 300: Project 4; PROPOSAL COMPONENTS; Fall 2020 4

BUDGET
- List of all major costs associated with the recommendations.
- Technically this section constitutes a contract, so all costs cannot increase once the proposal is agreed to and signed.
- Costs may include but are not limited to hiring new staff and contractors; training; travel for meetings and conferences; mail; manufacturing; renovating and building new stores, restaurants, and factories; legal; public relations; marketing; web design, social media moderators; staff bonuses and perks; and research and development.
- The “How much is all this going to cost?”

AUTHORIZATION
- The name of whoever commissioned this proposal and whom it’s intended for. - Can include a reminder of key benefit from agreeing to proposal.
- Can include deadline to approve proposal.
- The “Who said ‘write this proposal’ and who’s going to read it?”

REFERENCES
- Formatted in full APA.
- At least 10 sources. You can have more. 3 sources must be from 2020 explicitly about the problem; these provide evidence that the problem is current.
- Only include sources that you use for in text citations.
- Your interview content will be a personal communication in text citation and won’t be listed in the References.
- The “What is the basis for your arguments?”

APPENDICES
- Not required for BUS 300.
- Additional information that is useful but is not required by the proposal.
- This information is relevant to some readers but not to all.
- If you have more than one Appendix, list consecutively as ‘Appendix A’, ‘Appendix B’, ‘Appendix C ‘ and so on.
- The “Not needed but useful anyway”