In Chapter 10, students learn how to prepare, organize, and write business proposals and reports. Writing Assignment 5 asks you to write a formal business report, more specifically a formal recommendation report. A recommendation report, broadly speaking, is when you are asked to research an issue (a technology, process, program, product, or topic), analyze several alternatives, and then recommend one alternative for action. The recommendation report is written to assist an executive in making a decision or choosing the solution to a problem. As the writer, you might be an employee or a consultant. The situation or problem should be in your field – either the field you are studying or a work field in which you have experience. Perhaps you want to explore the new software, the best textbook, internship opportunities, feasibility of graduate school, or the need for a new course in your field. Maybe you want to examine how to improve attendance, increase GPA, recruit minorities, or fund projects at your college. Possibly you want to analyze public relations, management styles, quality control, or conservation efforts at your work. In short, your job is to define reasonable alternatives, gather and evaluate information about those alternatives, and recommend one of the alternatives. Your primary audience (the person who requested the report) is an executive who needs to make a decision. Your secondary audience (other employees/technical people) will not make the decision but will use the report, for example, financial analysts, training officer, human resources employees. The report will have sections with headings so that all readers can find the information they need to do their jobs. Write a double-spaced, Times New Roman, 12 font recommendation report that extends 6-8 pages for the main body sections (introduction, analysis, conclusions, and recommendation). Note that front matter and back matter, though required for the report, are not considered in the page length requirements. You will be deciding on an issue of interest, figuring out a problem that needs a solution, researching the alternative solutions to the problem, and recommending one course of action. The following are additional requirements for the report: employs a minimum of five (5) sufficient, credible, and appropriate secondary sources as evidence and integrates a discussion of sources and data correctly into a business report (Note: only two sources may be general, yet credible, internet sources, meaning the remaining three must come from library electronic databases or books) documents sources internally using MLA format incorporates at least one table and/or one graph that are well designed, labeled appropriately, introduced and analyzed in text, and easy to read. extends to the required page length double-spaced for the main body sections (introduction, analysis in report body, conclusions, and recommendations) includes necessary front matter – a title page, letter or memo of transmittal, table of contents, list of figures and graphs, executive summary – and effectively employs headings, formatting, font, and white space. Concludes with back matter consisting of works cited in MLA format The first step should likely be to review the Steps for Writing Formal Business Reports on Page 305 of the text. Follow the steps and determine a work plan. Refer to Chapter 10, Figure 10.24, for all the required components of a formal business report. All parts should be included in your final report. In addition to the body components, all front matter and back matter components are required. Additionally, Figure 10.25 offers a model report using MLA citations. You, too, will be using MLA format, the citation model for the humanities, to cite and document sources. Be sure to review all class materials on avoiding accidental plagiarism. Any material borrowed from a source must be given attribution within your draft and again at the end of the document. Your report must also be properly formatted in block style. Additionally, it should be in Times New Roman, 12 font, with 1 inch margins. There is no practice space in MindTap for this assignment. However, we will be conducting peer reviews as a class. Additionally, students are welcome to get free online or face-to-face tutoring from MC3’s Tutorial Services. As always, the final draft should be uploaded as a Microsoft Word document in the appropriate assignment page in Blackboard. Some topics for analysis: Comparison of two or more brands of equipment The adequacy of veterans’ benefits The best computer to buy for a specific need The feasibility of opening a specific business The best location for a new business The causes of the high dropout rate at MC3 The causes of low-morale in the company where you work Measures for improving productivity in your place of employment The advisability of pursuing a graduate degree in your field, instead of entering the work force with a bachelor’s degree Methods for dealing with discarded computers and other “ewaste” Measures local schools can take to stem the obesity epidemic The safety of our food supply and what can be done to protect it The pros and cons of distance learning Comparison of homeopathy or acupuncture as feasible alternatives to traditional medicine Despite the selected topic, the final draft of the report should enable readers to follow the reasoning and interpretation that led to the specific recommendations made.