paper must also meet three specific criteria B u s i n e s s F i n a n c e

Internal Business Proposal – Develop a persuasive, professional, well-edited, evidence-based proposal aimed at a firm or organization in order to solve a problem or take advantage of an opportunity. It is recommended to develop this proposal for a current or former employer, or for a school, church, or volunteer organization with which you are personally familiar.

General Description: Research, develop, and carefully write, edit, and proof and interesting business paper, single-spaced, using tools and methods that we will discuss in class and which are explicitly demonstrated in Chapters 8-10 of the Baker & Baker textbook.

Regardless of your topic, your paper must also meet three specific criteria.

1.Research Based – Business reports and proposals must be evidence based. You must use a minimum of three refereed secondary sources to compile a reference list. Sources must be cited in the text, as well as in your references. Wikipedia and web sites are not refereed sources. The sources need to be current; they should have been written during the past five years. You will be provided with resources and guidance on how to use the university’s research resources.

2.Analysis – You need to go beyond compiling and reporting out information. You must select and interpret your research in order to make specific key findings and/or recommendations.

3.Findings and Recommendations – You must demonstrate that you understand your reader’s needs and interests by using your research and analysis to provide insightful findings and/or specific recommendations.

Please keep in mind that your problem and solution must be robust and nuanced enough to sustain a 1200-1500-word report. (Note: Charts and graphs may count towards your overall word count.)

The Work has to have the following:

Cover Page – Create a visually pleasing yet simple cover page.

Executive Summary – Summarize in one paragraph what the report will contain, namely the problem or opportunity as well as your solution or proposal.

o Problem Statement – State the problem and the decision that needs to be made

o Statement of Purpose – Summarize specifically how this report provides a solution to the problem.

o Research Methods – Briefly described how you gathered evidence for this paper, including both primary sources (interviews, direct observation, experience, testing) and secondary sources (a literature review of refereed published sources).

Introduction and Background Research – Include further detail of the problem or opportunity, including quantitative data. Use of graphs, tables, and/or charts in order to present data is required.

Recommendations – What specifically do you propose as solutions and why? You do not always need to address each of these questions explicitly, but it should be easily inferred from your paper that you have thought through each of the following issues:

oWho is your primary audience and what are their primary concerns and aspirations? How will your solutions match their needs?

o What are your specific recommendations and why?

o What are the cost/benefits of several different approaches?

o What specific steps must be taken and in what order?

o What will be the likely results from implementation? How will you know and measure that your proposals are working?

o Who would do the work?

oWhat is the proposed timetable? What is the likely budget?

oWhat might be the possible issues or difficulties in implementing your proposal and how will these difficulties be overcome?

Conclusion – Briefly summarize the problem or opportunity and the benefits of your proposal. Specify next steps and your readiness to lead them

Citation of Primary and Secondary Sources – You must include initial references in the text itself as well as at the end of your paper. Resources and guidance will be provided.