Tips and Guidelines for Writing Business Papers

Paper Baseline Information

Paper Baseline Information

Papers in this class will be essay style to more closely mimic the corporate environment, will relate to the reading and/or class material, and are designed to test your ability to reflect and apply retained concepts from the course. Pull topics from the list below and Scholar relevant information to convey you understand the concepts of this course.

Do not cut and paste charts and figures unless they are of very high quality. Be sure to show the reference of any chart or figures copied and to label charts, tables and figures. Learn how to wrap text and make your document appealing. Do not copy tables and charts from Capsim. Your papers should cover the information discussed in class along with the topic subject. When discussing topics such as SWOT’s tables, do not simply place a SWOT, PESTEL or Porter’s 5 Forces table into your paper without discussing it in the body of the paper. You must also talk the language of business ($) in your paper and relate that to other companies (PEERs and competitors).

When writing for business avoid “I” and “we.” Keep your paper in third person. Do not use colloquial phases such as “that being said.” Do not repeat yourself unless the item or fact is very (very) important. Define all acronyms once when they are first used. See the grading rubrics and check list below. Have someone else read your paper proofing for spelling (Apple not apple when referencing the iPhone maker, for example), repeated information, poor grammar, voice and consistency. Microsoft Word has an extensive spelling and grammar check. Set up your file to allow MS Word to check your file.

Ask someone to read your paper and answer these questions:

1. Did the paper make sense? Did you have to explain something to the reader? Does your paper flow?
2. The language of business is money. Did you include any money figures and relate them to peers in the same industry?
3. Did you look at and discuss your competitors?
4. Did you repeat yourself?
5. Is your executive summary compelling?
6. Did you follow the correct submission requirements for font, page length, endnotes, spacing, file name and name on paper?
7. Can your graphs and charts be read on a printed copy?
8. Are your charts, graphs and figures labeled? Are your charts and graphs discussed in the paper?
9. If another professor in Luter were to read your paper, would it convince them that you learned and understand the basics about Strategic Management?
10. Did you review the grading rubric above?

Use endnotes (not footnotes) when referencing sources or notes. APA citation method is universally known and accepted. However, others are acceptable. You may also consider a referencing software program such as Mendeley (https://www.mendeley.com/). You are to use and apply standard reference procedures. Never copy and paste another's work without providing full citations; only do so where appropriate. Most of the work should be in your words not someone else's. References and citations can be single space and 8 point fonts to save space.

Below is a list of submission requirements to follow for this class. Submitting an assignment with a file name of “exam” (for example) will be considered a non submission. Submitting assignments without your name or team name and members is the same as not submitting the assignment. Consider this – if you submitted a PDF to an employer you want to work for and named your file “resume.pdf” - what separates your file (resume) from the thousands of other resumes that company receives?

Get in the habit of saving versions of files and using detailed file names. This will allow you togo back to older versions and pull information if you inadvertently deleted data or content. Use the following convention when submitting files (fall term 2020 used as an example):

While I suggest you always submit documents in a PDF format, you need to submit Worddocuments in this class. Google docs/sheet and Apple formats are not acceptable. Be sure your document prints to the PDF or Word the way you want it to be viewed. I print these out in black and white so look at graphs and charts in black and white before submitting. scholar.

As seniors in college, you should have a strong command on the use of Microsoft Word. Use headings, endnotes, split paragraphs, photo, table, graph insertion techniques to create a professional looking paper.

Excel (Windows based) is the spreadsheet of choice in corporate America, not Google Docs. You should be able to navigate the commands, write formulas and create charts and graphs. The library has computers that work well with this software.

Annual reports and presentations should follow the above guide lines with exceptions to fonts, font size and number of pages. You are encouraged to view other companies annual reports and use some of their better examples.

Keep in mind what your report looks like in black & white versus color. Also be aware of some colors that are not viewable by some audiences (color blind for example).

Book reports will have a submission heading in scholar.

Weekly reports and resumes are to be emailed to your instructor. Do not provide links to file locations – provide copies of the files. Consider the deadlines for these items. After the deadline, they will not be accepted.

LSOBL , “What’s New in Business” and other functions An even summary either in the body of an email or as an attachment is due within 48 hours of the event or discussion. Late papers are not excepted.