Business Finance Homework Help

Proposal Topic: Overworked Employees leading to Low Productivity at Walmart

The Proposal

Proposals come in many varieties, but readers will expect all persuasive messages to have several sections, components or “movements.” Although your group may vary the organization of your appeal, the proposal must address these areas:

1. The writer’s purpose and the reader’s need in an introduction
2. The background or context of the problem
3. The need or problem to be solved
4. A description of your group’s plan to solve the problem
5. The benefits of the proposal to the proposal’s readers
6. The costs associated with your solution (in the form of a fiscal impact section or a budget section)
7. A conclusion that suggests a desired action

Proposal Specifications

• Length: 8-10 pages of body text (2000-2500 words)
• Margins: 1 inch all around
• Line Space: Single
• Paragraph Breaks: Line space; no indent
• Font Size: No smaller than 11pt for serif, 12 for sans serif
• Executive Summary: Yes, not counted in page count
• Headings: Descriptive, No more than 2pts larger than text type
• Page Numbers: Bottom, flush right margin, text size
• Title Page: Yes, with course name, instructor name, proposal title, group members’ names
• Visuals: At least two visuals, with captions/titles placed following standard convention
• Citations: Footnote format; font size 9pt. Apply at least three peer reviewed sources. 

Importance of Research

Your group’s proposal must rely on research to inform and persuade your reader.  The reader is expecting you to provide a range of in-depth, high-quality facts and/or observations, and will be making a decision based on the information you provide. The proposal is a persuasive document, which means you must use at least two of the three rhetorical appeals we have discussed in class (primarily logos and ethos). Plan on conducting comprehensive research: your proposal must cite at least three peer reviewed sources.

Proposal Topic

Choosing a topic for this proposal is the most important decision your group will make, and the topic or issue you choose to write about could determine the project’s success. You have tremendous flexibility regarding proposal topics, but this topic must be related to a social and ethical issue in business.

Your group should write about a topic within your field of business, and one that you’re interested in. You should be passionate about the topic as a group, and each member must buy into the topic. Perhaps more importantly, you need to choose a topic that will yield enough content for these key parts of the proposal:

• A business topic or problem relevant to the reader. Your goal is to propose a beneficial solution to a defined problem. Your group must choose a problem that the reader will find important.
• A problem with a workable, realistic solution. The description of your plan, your group’s recommendations for a solution, serves as the proposal’s core.
• A solution with tangible benefits to the audience. Your proposal must articulate those benefits to its readers. 

Here are some examples of potential topics to choose from:

• Your team works for a major tech company. Each of you have different roles within this company—marketing, product development, engineering, finance, HR, etc. But you all agree on one thing—your company should offer employees the option to work from home on a permanent basis. Write an internal, unsolicited proposal that outlines your argument for this change, acknowledges any potential obstacles, provides support to prove that this is a good option for the company, and develops a plan and budget for implementation. Consider this source as a starting point for your research: Workers Want to Stay Home. (Links to an external site.) Also review New Research About Remote Work. (Links to an external site.)
• Your team works at a local San Diego restaurant. As you are aware, many restaurants nationwide have been hit hard by the effects of COVID-19, often enduring closures, changes to dine-in regulations, safety standards, and ebbing and flowing of take-out business. Ultimately this has changed the nature of the restaurant and hospitality industry for good.

  Your team works as a group of “front of the house” (FOH) employees, like servers, bartenders, hosts, etc. Propose a “pivot” for your restaurant. What new strategy, plan, or approach to business can your restaurant take to be successful now given the current climate in this industry? What changes can you make to your advertising, business model, menu offerings, or rewards programs that will help drive business to your restaurant? Be specific here. Propose only one new strategy and fully develop your argument—your plan, support/evidence, and budget. Check out these articles to get started:

  • How to Build Your 2021 Business Strategy in the Face of Uncertainty, (Links to an external site.)
  • Some San Diego Restaurants Pivot to Casual Take-Out & Delivery-Only Concepts (Links to an external site.)
  • Perfecting the Pivot: Pandemic ‘Survivors’ (Links to an external site.)
• Your team works as entry-level employees for a small college-area coffee shop in San Diego, California. As an employee, you have noticed very little reaction or response from your company to major social issues like BLM, global warming, systemic racism, police brutality, LGBTQ+ discrimination, and COVID-19. As a college student working for a business that also serves college students, your group feels that your company needs to do better acknowledging and addressing one of these issues.

  Write a proposal that argues for this change, acknowledges any potential obstacles, provides support (research) to prove that this is a good option for the company, and develops a plan and budget for implementation. Consider starting this project by reading some companies’ statements of support after the murder of George Floyd: Companies like Netflix, McDonald’s and Target are Speaking Out amid the George Floyd Protests—and Some are Actually Taking Action. (Links to an external site.) Also, check out what Lego is doing: Lego “Everyone is Awesome.” (Links to an external site.)

• Are dress codes at work necessary? Author Carmen Rios (Links to an external site.) has argued that “Dress codes make room to turn a lot of ‘isms’ into policies – especially since typical standards of professional dress are, at the core, racist, sexist, classist, and xenophobic.” Write an internal, unsolicited proposal to your workplace arguing that the dress code should either be removed entirely from company policy or should be revised to reflect a more modern understanding of inclusivity, anti-racism, anti-discrimination, and equity. Use research to support your argument. Be sure to clearly explain your argument, acknowledge any obstacles to implement this change, provide clear and reliable support, and develops a plan and budget for implementation of this new policy.
• Develop your own topic. Write an internal, unsolicited proposal for a new product or service that you believe would add value to an existing company or investor group. Your proposal should outline your argument for this change, acknowledge any potential obstacles, provide support to prove that this is a good option for the company, and develops a plan and budget for implementation. Here are a few resources to help you brainstorm some ideas.
  • You Think Your Job is Tough Ford’s Futurist Predicts 7 Trends for 2021 (Links to an external site.)
  • Institute for Human Rights and Business: Top 10 Business & Human Rights Issues (Links to an external site.)
  • Business Titans Pull Back from GOP After Capitol Insurrection (Links to an external site.)

Grading Criteria for the Proposal:

• Adherence to all assignment instructions
• Clear and accurate application of course materials to the proposal
• Understanding the purpose and scope of each section
• Understanding the interdependence of each section in the proposal
• Clear and accurate application of lectures to the proposal
• Persuasion in the proposal (ethos, pathos, logos)
• Clear and accurate Incorporation of visuals
• Application of HATS and DOCS
• Clear concise language and short paragraphs (no more than 6 lines)
• Strong use of evidence and logical information
• Clear understanding of the problem
• Understanding and application of the rhetorical situation (Audience awareness, clear purpose, acknowledgement of the context—current events, economic conditions, business/company conditions, etc.
• Feasibility of the proposed solution
• Coherence and consistency in tone, style, design, and editorial choices throughout the proposal
• Accurate use of footnotes in APA or MLA to cite your sources

The Presentation 

In most professional settings, you will often be called upon to present your work to a group of stakeholders—people who have some role in the decision making within the company. This could be managers, executives, board members, etc.

Your team will create a formal presentation using a visual aid like Google Slides, PowerPoint, or Spark Video to persuade your audience to consider (and hopefully accept) your proposal. Remember that presentations like this should be dynamic and engaging. They should not be a monotonous recitation of information from your proposal.

Please practice your presentation several times before recording. Remember that since these are recorded, you have an opportunity to create a very polished and well-rehearsed presentation. Feel free to re-record your presentation as many times as needed before submitting.

Presentation Specifications

• Length: 8-10 minutes
• Visuals: At least 8 slides, no reference slide necessary
• Presentation Style: Extemporaneous (no reading and no memorization)
• Font Size: No smaller than 18-point font
• Slide Items: No more than 6 items per slide (bullets, titles, images are one item each, for example. A heading with five bulleted items would be six items total.)
• Headings: Descriptive, No more than 2pts larger slide content
• Title Slide: Yes, with course name, instructor name, proposal title, group members’ names
• Participation: All group members must equally participate in the slide creation and in delivering the presentation