Letter Portfolios

Business Communication - BISI 3150
Letter Portfolios Due: March 5, 2015

Students are required to write six letters in scenarios below. All letters combine need to be in Spiral or Comb bound with cover sheet.

Submit the letters to the dropbox, one attachment. Type all of the letters in one Word document each on a separate page in Word with appropriate formatting.

Letter #1: Direct Claim
Activity: 8.20
Notes: Modified Block Format, Mixed Punctuation
Scenario: New Iron Gate Needs Work
You work for JPM, Johnson Property Management, in Portland, Oregon. Your employer specializes in commercial real estate. Yesterday one of your business tenants in the trendy NW 23rd neighborhood complained about problems with an iron gate you had installed by Chung Iron Works just six months earlier, on August 20. Apparently, the two doors of the gate have settled and don’t match in height. The gate gets stuck. It takes much force to open, close, and lock the gate. The iron gate was painted, and in some spots rust is bleeding onto the previously pristine white paint. The tenant at 921 NW 23rd Ave., Portland, OR 97210 is a petite shop owner, who complained to you about struggling with the gate at least twice a day when opening and closing her store.
You realize that you will have to contact the installer, Chung Iron Works, and request that the company inspect the gate and remedy the problem. Only six months have passed, and you recall that the warranty for the gate was for one year. To have a formal record of the claim, and because Chung Iron Works does not use e-mail, you decide to write a claim letter.
Your Task. Address your letter to Jin Ree at Chung Iron Works, 2255 NW Yeon Avenue in Portland, OR 97210. To jog his memory, you will enclose a copy of the company’s proposal/invoice. Your business address is 1960 NE Irving Street, Portland, OR | 97209, phone [phone] | and fax [phone] ------------------------------------------------------------------------

Letter #2: Instruction Message
Activity: 8.16
Notes: Memo
Scenario: How to Copy Pictures and Text from PDF Documents
As a summer intern in the Marketing Department at Jovanovic Laboratory Supply, Inc., in Bozeman, Montana, you have been working on the company’s annual catalog. You notice that staffers could save a lot of valuable time by copying and inserting images and text from the old edition into the new document. Your boss, Marketing Director Linda M. Trojner, has received numerous inquiries from staffers asking how to copy text and images from previous editions. You know that this can be done, and you show a fellow worker how to do it using a PDF feature called Snapshot Tool. Marketing Director Trojner decides that you are quite a tech-savvy student. Because she has so much confidence in you, she asks you to draft a memo detailing the steps for copying images and text passages from portable document format (PDF) files.
You start by viewing the Tools pull-down menu in an open PDF document. Depending on the Acrobat version, a feature called Snapshot Tool emerges either under Basic or under Select & Zoom. This feature is represented by a camera icon. To copy content, you need to select the part of the PDF document that you want to capture. The cursor will change its shape once the feature is activated. Check what shape it acquires. With the left mouse button, click the location where you want to insert the copied passage or image. At the same time, you need to drag the mouse over the page in the direction you want. A selected area appears that you can expand and reduce, but you can’t let go of the left mouse button. Once you release the left mouse button, a copy of the selected area will be made. You can then paste the selected area into a blank Microsoft Office document, whether Word, Excel, or PowerPoint. You can also take a picture of an entire page.
Your Task. Prepare a memo addressed to Marketing Department staff members for the signature of Linda M. Trojner. Practice the steps described here in abbreviated form, and arrange all necessary instructions in a logical sequence. You may need to add steps omitted here. Remember, too, that your audience may not be as computer literate as you are, so ensure that the steps are clear and easy to follow.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Letter #3: Thank- You
Activity: 8.27
Notes: Write an Email
Scenario: Glowing Letter of Recommendation
One of your instructors has complied with your urgent request for a letter of recommendation and has given you an enthusiastic endorsement. Regardless of the outcome of your application, you owe thanks to all your supporters. Respond promptly after receiving this favor. Also, you can assume that your instructor is interested in your progress. Let him or her know whether your application was successful.

Your Task Write an e-mail or, better yet, a letter thanking your instructor. Remember to make your thanks specific so that your words are meaningful. Once you know the outcome of your application, use the opportunity to build more goodwill by writing to your recommender again.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Letter #4: Writing Persuasive
Activity: 10.32
Notes: Post Tweet of 140 character
Scenario: Tweets and Posts
Being able to compose effective and concise micromessages and posts will positively contribute to your professional online persona.
Your Task. Brainstorm to identify a special skill you have, an event you want others to attend, a charitable cause dear to your heart, or a product you like. Applying what you have learned about short persuasive messages online, write your own 140-character persuasive tweets or posts. Use Figure 10.12 as a starting point and model.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Letter # 5: Request Refusal
Activity: 9.10
Notes: Block Format, Open punctuation
Scenario: Advocating for Abused Children
As a vice president of a financial services company, you serve many clients and they sometimes ask your company to contribute to their favorite charities. You recently received a letter from Paulina Ramirez asking for a substantial contribution to the National Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) Association. On visits to your office, she has told you about its programs to recruit, train, and support volunteers in their work with abused children. She herself is active in your town as a CASA volunteer, helping neglected children find safe, permanent homes. She told you that children with CASA volunteers are more likely to be adopted and are less likely to reenter the child welfare system. You have a soft spot in your heart for children and especially for those who are mistreated. You sincerely want to support CASA and its good work. But times are tough, and you can’t be as generous as you have been in the past. Ms. Ramirez wrote a special letter to you asking you to become a Key contributor, with a pledge of $1,000.
Your Task. Write a refusal letter that maintains good relations with your client. Address it to Ms. Paulina Ramirez, 4382 Congress Avenue, Austin, TX 78701.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Letter #6: Persuasive Organizational Message
Activity: 10.20
Notes: Write Email
Scenario: Flowing Upward: Hey, Boss, I Have an Idea
In your own work or organization experience, identify a problem for which you have a solution. Should a procedure be altered to improve performance? Would a new or different piece of equipment help you perform your work better? Could some tasks be scheduled more efficiently? Are employees being used most effectively? Could customers be better served by changing something? Do you want to work other hours or perform other tasks? Do you deserve a promotion? Do you have a suggestion to improve profitability?
Your Task. Once you have identified a situation requiring persuasion, write a memo or an e-mail to your boss or organization head. Use actual names and facts. Employ the concepts and techniques in this chapter to help you convince your boss that your idea should prevail. Include concrete examples, anticipate objections, emphasize reader benefits, and end with a specific action to be taken.
------------------------------------------------------------------------