Interoffice Assignment Series
ENGL 3130: Business Writing
Instructor: Kathryn Harrison
25% of final grade
Purpose
The interoffice assignment series is geared toward teaching you to choose the proper
medium of communication for various messages and allowing you the opportunity to
create a message using each method. You should communicate sensitive situations
effectively in a business setting, choosing appropriate formatting and word phrasing.
Assignment
Email (5%; Due Thursday, February 2, no later than 4:30pm by email to
khuie1@gsu.edu)
Prepare an e-mail message to inform a group of international customers of the following:
Your company’s newsletter will now be delivered electronically, by e-mail, and will be
updated monthly instead of bimonthly. If customers wish to receive the print version of the
newsletter, they will be charged an annual handling fee of $30. If customers wish to cancel
their subscriptions to the print version, they need to notify the company to avoid the
handling fee. New items listed in the newsletter can be ordered at your company’s website
at a 10 percent discount.
The monetary aspect of this change is a little shaky, so be sure to present these changes
positively—with your customers’ point of view in mind. Organize the ideas within the
message, use bullet points if appropriate, and keep the email to a reasonable length – cover
the information clearly, but be direct. Refer to the following sections of Chapter 8: Sending Email and Instant Messages: Protocol and Strategies and Writing International
Correspondence.
Submit the email to khuie1@gsu.edu, a customer on your newsletter distribution list. Be sure
to title the email appropriately.
Interoffice Memo (10%; Due Thursday, February 9, no later than 4:30pm, as a hard
copy)
Imagine that you work for a company where many of the new hires have been using instant
messaging to pass on confidential material to each other or to relay emergency
information. This greatly concerns the chief executive officer (CEO), who especially has a
problem with employees using business IM names like “Sexyguy2010” and “Squirrelgirl42.”
Draft a company memo from the CEO to all company employees detailing proper IM
etiquette.
Business Letter (10%, Due Thursday, February 16, no later than 4:30pm, as a hard
copy)
You work for Smith Consultants, and your manager has asked you to draft a complaint
letter to the software-supply company that developed your new customer service
database—the level of service and technical support to date has not met your manager’s
expectations. Include the following points:
a. Telephone calls from your employees to the software help department are often
not returned in a timely fashion. Sometimes they are not returned at all.
b. Software-assistance personnel often blame your hardware for the problem;
however, when consulted, the hardware representative reports that the problem is
with the software.
c. Promised monthly four-hour in-service training sessions have not been scheduled
for the past three months.
You must also mention that your company is considering not paying the software provider
the remaining 30 percent of the purchase amount. However, this is a very delicate matter
because Smith Consultants has already invested thousands of dollars in the software
system and would like to resolve the problem without losing the investment. Follow the
principles of business correspondence offered in Chapter 8.
Format
Use the appropriate formats for each individual assignment, based on the lessons you
learned about formatting from Chapter 8 of Writing that Works.
Learning Outcomes and Objectives– Students should:
 Engage in writing as a process, including various writing heuristics (brainstorming,
for example), gathering evidence, considering audience, drafting, revising, editing,
and proofreading
 Use grammatical, stylistic, and mechanical formats and conventions appropriate for
a variety of rhetorical business situations.
 Choose the appropriate medium for sharing various types of information.
 Communicate sensitive information appropriately, showing a proper amount of
good will
 Learn to properly format important business messages, including formal emails,
written memos, instant messages, and business letters
Evaluation: Your work will be evaluated based on the attached rubric.
Format
ENGL 3130: Business Writing
Written Communication
Grading Rubric
Below
Excellent
Average
Average
5
4
3
2
Unaccaptable
1
Organization
5
4
3
2
1
Content
10
8
6
4
2
Error Free/Accurate
5
4
3
2
1
Consideration of Audience 5
4
3
2
1
A when an employer would be impressed with the professionalism and clear understanding
of purpose, audience, content, expression, organization, style, and mechanics.
B when a document is geared toward an audience and is well organized but content could
be more specific or when there are stylistic problems.
C when there is a deficiency in content, arrangement, concept of audience, mechanics, and
style, and the employer has to take time out of his or her schedule to correct the work and
send it back for revision.
D when the work is poor and the employer will be looking for someone to replace the
employee.
F when assignment is incomplete or work does not meet assignment requirements