See attached file for guidelines for the memo. There are example memos attached too. We can use any data as long as I can apply it to the assignment. This memo needs to incorporate the following:
Practical Application Memo
You will prepare memos demonstrating your ability to practically apply quantitative methods. Your memos should be based on real-world problems you or your company are facing. Each memo should be directly and clearly tied to concepts covered in class as assigned in the syllabus.
I’ve provide an example of a well- and poorly-written memo. Can you tell the difference? Do not merely cut and paste from the well-written example when writing your memo. The example is just to give you a sense of how a memo should be written; your memo should be uniquely yours.
I strongly encourage you and your teammates to read and critique each other’s memos. If your teammates do not understand your memo, see how it ties to course concepts, find it interesting, etc., neither will I! You should not read and critique each other’s Deacon Food Cooperative memo; I will provide the managerial problem and data for that assignment.
When preparing your memos:
Write with a level of detail appropriate for a reader/decision-maker who is generally knowledgeable of general business concepts.
Write from a managerial perspective using managerial terms.
Use simple sentences and plain words. Write in first person using active voice. Be concise. Make every word count. Follow these guidelines for good business writing.
Most American adults read at the level of a 9th grader. They prefer to read at the level of a 7th grader. Write your memos accordingly. Less really is more.
Reading level calculators (based on word and sentence length)
Flesch-Kincaid
The Coleman-Liau Index
The SMOG Index
Use headers, bullets, bolding, and white space to improve readability.
Make sure you clearly show the link between your managerial problem, your data, your analysis, and your recommendations.
Your memo should be:
No more than one page of text (300 words max, single-spaced, 12-point font, one-inch margins).
On a separate page, no more than one graph, table, chart, or other exhibit (if needed).
Stapled in the upper left corner if you have an exhibit page.
Memo Parts
Your memo should have the following parts:
Heading
Subject line
Body
Introduction
Background information
Analysis
Recommendations
Ancillary information (if needed)
Exhibit (if needed, on separate page)
Detailed information on each memo part is provided below.
Heading
The heading should include:
The name of the person(s) you’re sending the memo to.
The name of person(s) receiving a copy of the memo, if appropriate.
The name of the sender.
The date.
The subject of the memo.
Subject Line
The subject line should stand alone. It should be concise yet still convey the essence of the memo. If a decision-maker read nothing but the subject line would he or she know what to do?
Increase Advertising Spending by $20K to Improve Sales
Institute Mentor Program to Reduce Employee Turnover
Hire Three Additional Calling Officers to Meet Fundraising Goal
Body
The introduction (first paragraph) should capture the reader’s attention and entice him or her to read further. If it is boring, too technical, or uninteresting, rewrite it.
The introduction should contain exactly four clear and succinct sentences:
Define and state the managerial problem.
Sales are down.
Employee turnover is too high.
Our fundraising is below our goal.
Sentences such as “Sales are $5.1M.” are statements, not problems, because they do not convey if a problem exists (sales should $15.1M) or not (sales should be$1.1M).
Explain why it is a problem for you or your company.
We will not meet revenue projections.
We’re spending more than we need to in order to recruit talent.
We will not be able to fund new programs.
State your brief, but specific, recommendation. Start with I recommend:
. . . we increase advertising spending by $20K.
. . . we institute a mentor program for new hires.
. . . we hire three additional calling officers.
State the benefit, monetary impact, etc. of your recommendation. What’s in it for me (WIIFM), the reader?
We will increase profit by $100K and meet our revenue projection.
We will reduce turnover by 15 percent.
We will be able to fund two new projects in financial literacy.
Provide background information in the second paragraph. Briefly:
Describe the company’s product/service and its competitive environment.
Explain how all relevant functional areas (finance, marketing, operations, accounting, HR, etc.) may be impacted.
Do not simply paraphrase the problem. You must demonstrate you understand the managerial situation.
In the third paragraph, provide an overview of your analysis. Briefly:
State, define, and describe the methodology.
Give an outline of the methodological process.
Describe and support any accompanying exhibits.
Do not merely list steps (e.g., I examined the data for outliers. I then used software to run a regression. . . .) unless it helps the decision-maker ascertain the quality of your research. “How” you did something is less important than “what” you found out and recommend.
In the fourth paragraph give your recommendations. Briefly:
Provide the details of your recommendations based on the results of your analysis.
Give a plan of action/implementation.
Include a sensitivity analysis of what factors significantly impact your recommendations, how these factors should be managed, and any limitations of your analyses.
Your evidence-based recommendations should be specific, feasible, and actionable. Don’t provide generic recommendations such as “target women.” Instead, your recommendations could be “target women by running an ad in Cosmopolitan Magazine,” “target women by setting up a Facebook page that emphasizes active lifestyles,” etc.
In the fifth paragraph provide any ancillary information, if needed:
Additional, supporting information.
Rebuttal.
Limitations.
Must be relevant and important.
Not all background information, analyses, ancillary information, etc. will make it into your memo; there isn’t enough room to capture everything (projections, calculations, simplifying assumptions). Decide which aspects are most relevant and useful to the decision-maker and include those.
Memo Exhibits
Exhibits (tables, charts, figures, etc.) should convey, in a clear and concise manner, important aspects of your analysis that are best presented graphically. If needed, you may include one exhibit:
Make sure your exhibit is simple and easy to understand.
Do not include a superfluous exhibit that can more appropriately be handled as text or left out completely.
Make sure your exhibit is appropriately sized and readable.
Do not include unnecessary information (Excel junk) that does not help the decision-maker.
A decision-maker should be able to look at your exhibit and understand and extract all information from it within 30 seconds!
Memo Submission
Turn in a hardcopy of your memo at the beginning of class on the date indicated in the syllabus. If you are unable to attend class, please have a teammate submit your hardcopy for you. I do not accept emailed or late submissions.
Upload an electronic copy of your memo (.docx) and supporting Excel (.xlsx) spreadsheet using Assignments in Sakai. Electronic copies are due no later than the date and time indicated in the syllabus. I do not accept emailed or late submissions.
Use the following naming convention for your files:
Memo number 02, 03, or 04.
A hyphen (-).
Your last name.
Your first name.
For example, Derrick Boone, submitting Memo 02, would name my files:
02-Boone Derrick.docx
02-Boone Derrick.xlsx
Please note:
There are no spaces before or after the hyphen.
Last name is listed first, followed by a single space, then first name.
Use a single file extension (e.g., NOT xlsx.xlsx).
All electronic files must be .docx or .xlsx.
Memo 01 is a group assignment. One person from each team should upload the team files. When naming the file, replace last and first name with your team number. For example, Derrick Boone, on team nine, would name the files:
01-Team 09.docx
01-Team 09.xlsx
I will consult your electronic files should I have any questions when grading your hardcopy memos. If your electronic files are missing or incomplete, you did not following the file naming conventions, etc., you will lose points.
Grading Rubric
Grading always has some degree of subjectivity. I will holistically grade your memos on a 10-point scale using the following general guidelines:
| 10 – 9 | 8 – 7 | 6 or below | |
| Managerial relevance | Highly interesting problem directly related to current position or company. | Moderately interesting problem and/or somewhat related to current position, company, or non-profit organization. | Uninteresting problem and/or unrelated to current position, company, or non-profit organization. |
| Overall readability | Clear, concise, easy to understand text written at 7th grade reading level:
| Moderately clear and concise. Requires more effort to read and understand. Text written significantly above 7th grade reading level:
| Obtuse and wordy. Very difficult to read. More than 350 words. |
| Heading | Exactly follows format. | Follows format with minor deviations. | Major deviations from format. |
| Subject line | Stands alone. Clearly and concisely conveys purpose of memo. | Moderate clarity. Less concisely conveys purpose of memo. | Neither clearly nor concisely conveys purpose of memo. |
| Introduction | Exactly four concise, highly readable sentences. Exactly follows format. | More than four sentences. Less concise with moderate readability. Moderate deviations from format. | Obtuse and wordy. Low readability. |
| Background | No more than five short sentences. Concise and informative. Highly readable. | No more than six short sentences. Moderately concise and/or less informative. Moderately readable. | More than six sentences. Obtuse and wordy. Low readability. |
| Analysis and application to course concepts | No more than five short sentences. Highly relevant; methodology ties directly to course concepts and is properly executed with no mistakes. Highly appropriate data set and large sample size. | No more than six short sentences. Moderately relevant; methodology tangentially ties to course concepts and/or is executed with minor mistakes. Adequate data/sample. | More than six sentences. Marginally relevant; methodology does not tie to course concepts and/or is improperly executed. Inappropriate data/sample. |
| Recommendations | No more than five short sentences. Significant managerial impact; recommendations are quantifiable, specific, feasible, actionable, and have major impact on critical organizational component. | No more than six short sentences. Moderate managerial impact; recommendations are somewhat quantifiable, specific, feasible, actionable, and/or have tangible impact on important organizational component. | More than six sentences. Marginal managerial impact; recommendations are not quantifiable, specific, feasible, actionable, and/or have little to no impact on organization. |
| Ancillary information | No more than three short sentences. Concise and informative. Relevant and thoughtful. Highly readable. | No more than four short sentences. Moderately concise and/or informative. Moderately relevant, thoughtful, and readable. | More than five sentences. Obtuse and wordy. Not relevant or thoughtful. Low readability. |
| Exhibits | No more than one simple, clean, and easily understood exhibit. Properly labeled and titled. | No more than one exhibit. More complex but understandable with effort. Minor errors in labeling and tilting. | Multiple exhibits. Not understandable. Major errors in titling and labeling. |
| Electronic files | Files properly named and submitted. Excel spreadsheet well organized and easy to follow. Used appropriate functions and commands. | Files properly named and submitted. Excel spreadsheet well organized and easy to follow. Used less appropriate functions and commands. | Files improperly named or not submitted. Excel spreadsheet not well organized and difficult to follow. Used inappropriate functions and commands. |
Memo
To: Robert Dalton, VP of Marketing
Cc: Ruth Ip, EasyOrg Brand Manager
From: Michael Tukey, Director of Consumer Insights
Date: July 15, 20xx
Subject: Redesign EasyOrg and Target Women to Increase Sales
EasyOrg sales are flat. We will not meet our profit goals. I recommend we redesign EasyOrg and promote it to women. We will increase profit by $2.2M.
EasyOrg is a plastic tray with compartments and lid. Most users are men who use it to store small objects (nuts, screws, etc.). FastFind, Inc. is the industry leader. They recently introduced a similar product geared towards women (e.g., organize jewelry).
My team surveyed 592 US women. We asked them to rate hypothetical EasyOrgs based on different combinations of color, compartment size, and handle placement. The results of our dummy variable regression are provided in Figure 1. The part-worths represent the additive impact of each feature on overall preference. Higher values indicate higher preference.
The most preferred EasyOrg has:
Light blue tray
2 × 2 inch compartments
Top handles
I recommend we spend:
$100K on new pigments to manufacture light blue trays.
$1.2M to buy ads in O, The Oprah Magazine, to reach our target demographic
We expect to achieve 10 percent market penetration from this messaging spend
The unit cost to manufacture the most preferred EasyOrg is $3.18. If priced at $4.99 and we achieve 10 percent market penetration from our messaging spend, we will increase our profit by $2.2M.
MT
Figure 1. EasyOrg Feature Preferences
Memo
To: Robert Dalton, VP of Marketing
Cc: Ruth Ip, EasyOrg Brand Manager
From: Michael Tukey, Director of Consumer Insights
Date: July 15, 20xx
Subject: Redesign EasyOrg and Target Women to Increase Sales
EasyOrg sales are flat. We will not meet our profit goals. I recommend we redesign EasyOrg and promote it to women. We will increase profit by $2.2M.
EasyOrg is a plastic tray with compartments and lid. Most users are men who use it to store small objects (nuts, screws, etc.). FastFind, Inc. is the industry leader. They recently introduced a similar product geared towards women (e.g., organize jewelry).
My team surveyed 592 US women. We asked them to rate hypothetical EasyOrgs based on different combinations of color, compartment size, and handle placement. The results of our dummy variable regression are provided in Table 1. The coefficients represent the additive impact of each feature on overall preference. Higher values indicate higher preference.
The most preferred EasyOrg has:
Light blue tray
2 × 2 inch compartments
Top handles
I recommend we spend:
$100K on new pigments to manufacture light blue trays
$1.2M to buy ads in O, The Oprah Magazine, to reach our target demographic
We expect to achieve 10 percent market penetration from this messaging spend
The unit cost to manufacture the most preferred EasyOrg is $3.18. If priced at $4.99 we will increase our profit by $2.2M.
MT
Table 1. EasyOrg Feature Preferences
| Feature | Coefficient |
| Color | |
| Light Blue | 1.11 |
| Fuchsia | 0.29 |
| Sea Foam Green | -0.57 |
| Compartment Size (l × w in inches) | |
| 2 × 2 | 0.83 |
| 3 × 3 | -0.04 |
| 2 × 3 | -0.69 |
| Handle Location | |
| Top handle | 0.70 |
| Side handle | -0.70 |
MEMO
To: Marvin Blake, Director of Business Development
CC: Barbara Bullock, Group Sales Coordinator
From: Anna Marcum, Sales
Date: September 12, 20xx
Subject: Optimize Sales and Revenue by Designating Equal Importance to Events Regardless of the Number of People Attending
Emphasis of importance towards events with more people creates missed sales opportunity. When events with fewer people are given less time and effort than events with more people, they are less likely to have a great experience and therefore less likely to return as often or at all.
Since groups with fewer people are more likely to return multiple times annually and there is no correlation between the number of people in an event and the amount spent per person, we need to emphasize equal time and effort towards every event regardless of their number of guests. By doing this we can optimize sales and revenue for all private events.
Private events at the Anderson Center can range anywhere from 5 people to 500 people. The sales and events department has always been told to focus more time and energy on events with more people because they bring in higher revenue. Managers need to reevaluate this direction after further analysis of private events and revenue.
I took a random sample of 15 private events in 20xx. In Figure 1. I created a scatterplot graph using the number of people per event and the amount spent per person in each event and found there was essentially no correlation (-0.26) between the two. Upon analysis of these results, l realized that emphasis on time and energy towards private events should not be based on the number of people per event.
I believe the immediate solution to this problem is designating equal importance to each event despite the number of people attending. This can be tracked by keeping a schedule and log each day to ensure equal time and energy is being contributed. I believe the long-term solution is a deeper analysis to determine which companies/types of event bring in the most revenue annually and therefore which should receive more time and energy.
While it can be beneficial to determine which events should be given a “higher touch” it is important to remember all events should receive an exceptional experience.
AM
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