Laurie Prange-Martin

BADM460 -- Unit 4 Class Meeting

TOPIC = Business Writing

Formulate a topic of inquiry related to a societal problem and synthesize relevant research materials through a business perspective
Evaluate, synthesize, and interpret research findings as well supported quantitative and qualitative analysis and recommendations
Clearly and effectively communicate research, analysis, and findings

WATCH = Films Media Group. (2017). Non-Experimental research methods. Available from the library database Films On Demand

Using the interactive board from Pear Deck, Stress Check
Students go to: <B>joinpd.com</B>

Report Writing. (2016). Video Arts (Firm). [19 minutes]
https://ezproxy.capilanou.ca/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=cat02755a&AN=cul.b1038600&site=eds-live&scope=site
What are the key takeaways from this training video?
Let's take a look at what the end result, the Research Report, can and should look like.

Writing Strong Research Questions https://www.scribbr.com/research-process/research-questions/
Quinlan, C. (2023, April 30). The research proposal [Video file]. In The Business & Management Collection, Henry Stewart Talks. Retrieved from https://hstalks.com/bm/5277/.
Chapter 4: Exploring beliefs and topics
Chapter 5: Initiating the search
Chapter 6: Storing and organizing information

Number one high priority of any Employer is problem-solving skills. When you know this, it makes sense why almost all business writing is shaped by problem-based learning.
Simple set-up is to 1) identify the problem; 2) describe the issue causing the problem; 3) consider several solutions to the problem; 4) explain to the reader which of the potential solutions is the best and why; 5) and give your reader a plan of action to solve the identified problem.
Who is your reader? Usually your work supervisor, aka your boss.
Stuck on how to get writing? One strategy is to start off with sentence formulae from the Academic Phrasebank: http://www.phrasebank.manchester.ac.uk/
My teaching goal here is to show you that writing is simply making your thinking visible to your reader across time and space.
Activity: Probe Questions
Developed from the publication by Walsh Marr and Martin (2021).
1. Why are you recommending this solution?
2. In whose view is this the right solution?
3. Who proves your point this is the right solution?
4. Where have you seen this solution work elsewhere? For whom? How were these circumstances similar or different?
5. What will we need to make this solution work?
6. So, from these examples, what is the timeline and deliverables (and any other Project Management considerations) to make your solution work?

Activity: Write to Learn
After an introduction to the philosophy of writing to learn first introduced by William Zinsser (1988), students will write for a short amount of time to begin imagining what they want to learn through their White Paper assignm
Source for activity:
Goodwon, P. (2013). Becoming an academic writer: 50 exercises for paced, productive, and powerful writing. Sage. pg. 39-44.
"Writing organizes and clarifies our thoughts. Writing is how we think our way into a subject and make it our own. Writing enables us to find out what we know -- and what we don't know -- about whatever we're trying to learn." (Zinsser, 1988, pg. 16)
Pomodoro -- Write for 10 minutes non-stop!
Write what you know about the topic. Write what you don't know.
Write about your feelings, about the topic, assignment, maybe even how your day has been going.
Write about what you plan to write about.
Write to figure out what you hope to use this assignment for in the future, such as to secure a specific job.

Recalling that activity from the first class, when in the next 7 days do you have writing pomodoros booked in your calendar?
If you don't have any writing pomodoros planned, make a commitment right now to do that. Enter that commitment into your calendar!