The description:
2.3 Pre-Writing Assignment Overview
For this pre-writing assignment, students will demonstrate an understanding of the problem and develop key elements of the writing assignment. Follow the instructions for organizing your document; Standardizing the assignment in this way will make it easier to complete peer reviews on each others’ work.
Step 1: Developing Document Layout and Memorandum Header Elements
Using the business memorandum guide provide in the second reading assignment, develop a document header and titles for the required sections. (Note: this is a different Memorandum Guide and format than you used on the first assignment.) Complete the header content by reading the problem described below.
Step 2: Problem Definition
Answer the questions below. Put the answers in your document as a second appendix.
What problem you have been asked to address? This is not a statistics question, therefore the answer is not about performing a certain calculation.
What is the objective or outcome this work should produce? Again, this is not a statistics question, and will not be answered with a statistical approach. (Refer to the answer to question 1 and 2 when writing your thesis statement.)
What statistical approach will you use to address this problem? AND Why does this approach provide you insight into addressing the problem? What does it let you know about the problem that can inform a decision?
Who you have been asked to address this memorandum to?
What are each of the addressees is likely to need from reading the memorandum? (This is a critical thinking exercise, ask yourself what the addressees’ responsibilities are and use that to think about what they need to know from you. If you are not familiar with these corporate roles look up descriptions of each. There are links to a description for each in the problem description below. )
Step 3: Developing Document Content
1. Determine the Statistical Approach and Complete Statistical Analysis – To have the information necessary to complete the thesis statement you will need to complete the analysis and determine what your answer to the question posed will be. Include the calculations as the first appendix.
2. Thesis Statement. Now that you understand the scope of the assignment and what your audience needs when reading your memorandum, you will now develop the thesis statement (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. for your document. You should write your thesis statement and revise it as many times are necessary to make it clear and concise. Complete the thesis statement BEFORE you write the summary. Remember to review the answers to questions 1 and 2 when doing this. Identify the thesis statement by putting the words “thesis statement” in bold before the thesis statement, which should be located in your document where it will be in the final memorandum.
2. Summary. Develop the summary to go before your thesis that will provide the reader with the foundational information that they need to understand the situation, you are addressing in the memorandum. Remember the Summary should provide enough information for a busy reader to be able to understand the key elements of the memorandum without reading the entire document. For this type of document that should include a brief statement of the problem, how you will approach addressing it and why that is a valid approach and the recommendation you are planning making. Include this in your submittal where it will be located in the final document.
3. Graphics
Graphics should be used in this assignment to support or make more clear ideas you are presenting in the document. Determine what type of graphic you will use in your document and state in writing below the graphic why it is the best approach for enhancing your message. Review Quick Reference for Figures section the Figures and Charts (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. handout from UNC writing center to assist you in thinking through this.
Develop the graphic you will use in the final document. Include identifiers on your graphic that are necessary to make the graphic clear for an outside reader. Provide a title using the formatting discussed in the Figures and Charts (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.handout. Include all of this under the analysis section of your pre-writing.
Problem Description
In this section, you will find a description of the problem, requested recommendation and audience for the final memorandum for this assignment.
Problem description: You are the plant manager of a manufacturing facility that produces an automotive part (steel shaft for the gearbox). The acceptable dimension of the shaft is 2.5±0.05 inches in diameter with the most desirable product having a diameter of exactly 2.5 inches. Two vendors are trying to sell your company, Automotive Parts Incorporated, their machines for the shaft-machining task. You have been asked to assess the machines from each vendor, and to make a recommendation for a machine vendor supported by a justification for your decision.
You asked both vendors to supply data on the machining accuracy of their machines for the given task. Both vendors machined 100 shafts, collected data, plotted histograms, fitted the histograms with normal distributions and supplied you with their findings.
Let X= diameter in inches of the gearbox shaftAutomotive Machines: X has a normal distribution with mean 2.48 and variance 0.001Engine Machinery: X has a normal distribution with mean 2.51 and variance 0.002
When you are completing your memorandum be sure to address the following:
Recommend a vendor using the given information, develop and discuss your approach (give all details including quantitative justification). Your response to this question must be directed to the audience described below.
Examine the scenario as described and discuss what additional information would be helpful to make this recommendation a stronger selection, and why that information would be useful. Be careful not to negate your recommendation as you explain this.
Audience:
You are creating this document for the company’s Chief Operating Officer, (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. Lynn Girard, and copying the Chief Financial Officer, (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. Anna Katts. Documents involved in major financial decisions like this may also be distributed by the addressees to other executives and the corporate board members.
Document: Complete this assignment as a memorandum. Utilize clear, professional language, including setting your Word preferences to check for a more professional level of writing. Examples of professional language constraints would include:
Utilize plain language (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.. Develop the document around a direct, (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.coherent message (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site., and clear (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.analysis (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. to support it.
Do not use contractions, slang or colloquialisms, clichés (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site., abbreviations, or text message shortcuts.
Rubric
GEA 2.3 Pre-Writing 2019 Summer
GEA 2.3 Pre-Writing 2019 Summer
Criteria
Ratings
Pts
This criterion is linked to a Learning OutcomeThe memorandum header is included, correctly formatted and including the correct contentTo receive points for this section students must complete the memorandum per the requirements of “How to Write a Military Memorandum” (see reading assignment). They must then fill in the content required per the assignment
2.0 pts
