Lecture 8: Business Proposals & Note Making PDF

## Lecture 8: Technical Writing ### Topics: 1. Business Proposals 2. Note Making ### Definition and Purpose of Business Proposal A business proposal is a written document sent to a prospective client in order to obtain a specific job. It differs from a business plan, which is primarily constr...

## Lecture 8: Technical Writing ### Topics: 1. Business Proposals 2. Note Making ### Definition and Purpose of Business Proposal A business proposal is a written document sent to a prospective client in order to obtain a specific job. It differs from a business plan, which is primarily constructed to obtain start-up capital by detailing the organization and operational aspects of the business to demonstrate its profit potential. A business proposal is also unique because it contains much more than figures and statistics represented by pie charts and graphs. In fact, the former involves proposal writing, which is designed to identify and target a specific market and solidly demonstrate how the bidder can deliver custom solutions to the needs of buyers within that market. ### Types of Business Proposal - A **solicited business proposal** is quite different and much more detailed. A company or government agency may publish a request for bid proposals on a certain project, also known as a Request for Proposal (RFP) or an Invitation for Bid (IFB). Since the project is usually offered to multiple candidates simultaneously, the business proposal submitted by the winning bidder will generally meet the specific requirements of the proposal. - An **unsolicited business proposal** can be thought of as collateral marketing material, such as a brochure. They are largely broad spectrum in that they don't address a particular company by name or attempt to close a sale. Instead, this kind of informal business proposal is created to introduce a product or service to potential customers through direct mail distribution, by leaving the material behind after a “cold” sale call, or making printed information available at trade shows. ### Difference Between Unsolicited and Solicited Proposals The difference between these two proposals can be identified through their names. Solicited proposals are presented as an answer to a need. Unsolicited proposals are used to initiate the sales process; they usually show the customers why they would need this product. Solicited proposals are often welcomed however due to the increasing number of unsolicited proposals today, customers don't pay attention to them. Solicited proposals are presented because they are wanted by the customer; but an unsolicited proposal is like telling the person how you can help even if they do not require you to help. Solicited proposals are submitted because they are needed, on the other hand, unsolicited proposals are submitted even if they are not needed. It is the proposal that usually tells the person that they should need the product they are proposing. ### Characteristics of a Business Proposal The key elements which are required to make the business proposal successful are given below: - **Solutions:** After you have written a lead paragraph on the company’s needs and problems, follow up with a solid presentation of how your business can provide solutions. The key here is to promise solutions you can deliver. - **Benefits:** All winning business proposals clearly outline for the company the benefits to be gained from doing business with you. If your small business can offer complete confidentiality and meet tight deadlines state it in your benefits section. - **Credibility:** This is often the overlooked portion of a business proposal but all winning proposals glow with credibility. If you have worked with clients in the same field or have an award-winning business, then third-party endorsements will build credibility. - **Samples:** A business proposal with samples and evidence of your ability to deliver is vital to gaining the winning bid. A small sample of your work can show your ability to do the job. - **Targeted:** A winning business proposal is all about communication. Speak in a language spoken by your intended audience. If the proposal evaluators are from an engineering background or financial department use the appropriate jargon. ### Sample Business Proposal **MEMORANDUM** To: Amit Jha, Senior Vice President, Human Resources From: Kiran Saha, Intern, Purchasing Department Subject: Proposal to Add a Wellness Program Date: April 24, XXXX Health care costs are rising. In the long run, implementing a wellness program in our corporate culture will decrease the company's health care costs. Research indicates that nearly 70% of health care costs are from common illnesses related to high blood pressure, overweight, and lack of exercise, high cholesterol, stress, poor nutrition, and other preventable health issues. Health care costs are a major expense for most businesses, and they do not reflect costs due to the loss of productivity or absenteeism. A wellness program would address most, if not all, of these health care issues and related costs. ### Benefits of Healthier Employees Not only would a wellness program substantially reduce costs associated with employee health care, but our company would prosper through many other benefits. Businesses that have wellness programs show a lower cost in production, fewer sick days, and healthier employees. Our healthier employees will help to cut not only our production and absenteeism costs but also potential costs such as higher turnover because of low employee morale. ### Implementing the Program Implementing a good wellness program means making small changes to the work environment, starting with a series of information sessions. Simple changes to our work environment should include healthier food selections in vending machines and in the employee cafeteria. A smoke-free environment, inside and outside the building, could be a new company policy. An important step is to educate our employees through information seminars and provide health care guides and pamphlets for work and home. In addition, the human resources department could expand the current employee assistance program by developing online materials that help employees and their families to assess their individual health goals. Each health program is different in its own way, and there are a variety of programs that can be designed to meet the needs of our individual employees. Some programs that are becoming increasingly popular in the workplace are the following: - Health promotion programs - Subsidized health club membership - Return-to-work programs - Health-risk appraisals and screenings ### Obstacles: Individual and Financial The largest barrier in a wellness program is changing the habits and behaviors of our employees. Various incentives such as monetary bonuses, vacation days, merchandise rewards, recognition, and appreciation help to instill new habits and attitudes. Providing a healthy environment and including family in certain programs also helps to encourage healthier choices and behaviors. The costs of incorporating a wellness program will be far less than rising costs associated with health care in the long run. An employee's sense of recognition, appreciation, or accomplishment is an incentive that has relatively low or no costs. The owner of Unique Ovens Bakery, James Mathur, has stated that his company gained financially after providing programs including free healthy lunches for employees. James said he believes that higher morale and keeping valuable employees have helped his business tremendously. It is important that our company be healthy in every way possible. Research shows that 41% of businesses already have some type of wellness program in progress and that 32% will incorporate programs within the next year. Our company should always be ahead of our competitors. I want to thank you for your time and I look forward to discussing this proposal with you further next week. ## Note Making ### Introduction Note-making is a useful learning aid. Good notes highlight and condense relevant information, helping you to pick out the key points on a particular subject. They can also help you translate other people's ideas into your own words, providing a sound platform for better understanding and recall. With such obvious benefits, it's important that you find a note- making technique that works for you. Some of the things notes can help with: - Notes can help you to understand and remember material you have read, seen or heard. - Notes can help you shape your own ideas, giving you somewhere to refine material for later development - You can use notes to plan and organize your content when preparing to write (e.g. draft, presentation, reports etc.). - You can use notes to condense, refine and organize material to help your recall ### Note Writing Technique Note making can be defined as a systematic method of writing down quickly, briefly and clearly the important points of reading a text. It is a productive skill which integrates both reading and writing skills. Note making is used to: - Keep a record of the main points of a reading text for future use and reference - Revise for an exam - Update information - To analyze a text ### Reading Strategy A careful reading plan is to identify the central idea, important points and supporting details. It would enable you to understand the text quickly and make appropriate notes. - Read the text quickly in order to identify its purpose, scope, central idea, logical organization and different writing techniques like narration, description, explanation and so on. - Recognize the key lexical items related to the topic - Identify the relationships among the units within the text - Read the key points and signal words - Ignore irrelevant matter and concentrate on the main parts - Deduce meanings of words and phrases from their context and infer relationships - Interpret graphic aids used in the text ### Indenting Do not write full sentences. Use abbreviations wherever necessary. Help with abbreviations. 1. **Use standard abbreviations and symbols** Capitalized first letters of words Example: U.P., USA, USSR, UK Common abbreviations Example: Sc (Science), Geog (Geography), Mr, Mrs, Dr, Govt 2. **Write the first few and last few letters of a word with an apostrophe in between** Example: can't (cannot), w'out (without) Use the first letters of the phrases Example: - Kilogram: Kg - Cubic Centimeter: cc - Atomic Mass Unit: AMU - Per annum: PA - Curriculum Vitae: CV 3. **Use the first few letters of words or phrases** Example: - Approximately: Approx - Difference: Diff - Different: Diffrt - Edition/edited: Ed - Professor: Prof - Assistant: Asst - Month: Mnth - Subject: Sub - Reference: Ref - Minute: Min - Temperature: Temp - Hour: Hr 4. **Generally used abbreviations** Example: - e.g: Example - viz: Namely - et al: and others - N.B: Take note that - i.e: That is - cf: compare with, refer to Do not get over enthusiastic with abbreviations. You should not abbreviate every word. As a general rule the heading should not be abbreviated. You may use abbreviations in subheadings. Your notes should look like this: **Heading** 1. **Sub heading** A. Point 1 B. Sub Sub heading a) Sub point 1 b) Sub point 2 C. Point 3 2. **Sub heading 2** A. Point 1 B. Sub - sub heading a) Sub point 1 ### Topicalising After reading the passage carefully and identifying the central idea, the main points or supporting details, these should be rephrased. The topic, the main point or the main supporting details should be written as they appear in the text. In the text, these ideas appear in full sentences but while making notes a word or phrase is used to represent an entire section of the text. While rephrasing a section of the text or a sentence, unnecessary or redundant words/phrases should be removed. ### Schematizing Scientific and technical texts may contain in information in the form of figures, classifications, contrasts, processes and so on. Hence, it is sometimes more convenient to schematize notes; organize notes in the form of tables and diagrams for accurate and easy read back. ### Organizing Technique The nature and organization of notes depends largely on the type and length of a text. When a text is small the notes may contain just a few phrases. However, when the text contains a lot of information the notes have to be organized in the terms of heading and subordinate points. As the notes have to be read and understood at a large stage, it is very important to organize them in such a manner that the essence of the text can be recalled whenever required. ### Sample Note Making About 2500 million years ago the earth on which we live was a ball of gas which on cooling, grew smaller and became liquid. The liquid continued to cool, giving of some of its heat by radiation and when liquid grew colder they solidified. The crust of the earth is the solid matter resulting from this cooling, but probably inside the earth there is still a mass of molten material which has not cooled as much as the outer crust. The crust on which we live and from which we obtain almost everything that we have is not quite rigid. Volcanoes such as Etna and Stromboli in the Italian island remind us from time to time of the force and heat below the ground. Various places on the earth are subject to earthquakes, the country that has suffered most all these is Japan. The study of the earthquakes, the science of seismology, has shown that the origin of many of them is under the bottom of the sea and near the coast of a continent or large island. In an earthquake, the surface of the land may move suddenly in any direction, bringing houses down, changing straight railway track into a useless zigzag, altering the courses of rivers, changing the shapes of hills and sometimes causing an immense sea wave to rush on the nearest sea shore and add to the destruction. This tidal wave, as it is called, is wrongly named because it has nothing to do with the tide. **Notes** 1. **Formation of the Earth** a. About 2500 million yrs. Ago b. gas cooled – became liquid c. Liquid cooled turned solid 2. **Volcanoes and Earthquakes** a. Volcanoes proves heat and force below the crust b. Earthquakes origin - under the bottom of the sea and near the coast of a continent 3. **Effect of Earthquake** a. Destruction - houses and hills b. Alteration - path of river and railway tracks c. Cause tidal wave