Please read the instructions for that assignment.  Then answer the following questions:

1. You have just been hired as Manager for Customer Service at Forrest Lawn.  Please write a one-sentence summary of the problems you see in the company, according to the scenario. NO MORE THAN ONE SENTENCE. This is good practice in summarizing and in writing concisely and specifically.
2. In UMGC’s OneSearch interface, find one article on the concept of job rotation policies for employees in an organization.  Provide the author(s), date, title of article, name of journal, and DOI (USE PROPER APA REFERENCE FORMAT except for hanging indent)
3. Next you will search for articles on the concept of separation of duties. Select Scholarly (Peer-Reviewed) Journals.  Select one article in your search list. Provide the author(s), date, title of article, name of journal, and DOI (USE PROPER APA REFERENCE FORMAT except for hanging indent)  If you do not see any hits, reword your search terms in order to find a scholarly article on separation of duties.
    
4. Select one of the other concepts mentioned in the writing assignment instructions (mandatory vacations, IT confidentiality agreements, or agreements with vendors on login and password information).  Then, in UMGC’s OneSearch interface, find one article on this concept. Provide the author(s), date, title of article, name of journal, and DOI (USE PROPER APA REFERENCE FORMAT except for hanging indent)
5. This question links the assignment to your personal experience: Describe a time you have had to write a report or document at work for which you had to understand your audience and consider your wording in order to persuade your audience.  Describe the situation in one paragraph (without revealing the name of the organization or any names of individuals). Write concisely with specific examples and no more than 7 sentences.

   6. Please write a paragraph describing how your wording and your tone in WA4 need to accommodate Richard Smith, the founder and owner of Forrest Lawn, to persuade him.

Audience is a key concept in this assignment.  Question #5 in this discussion topic asks you to consider audience, whether in your personal experience or for this specific assignment.

Reply:

Ben response –

1. Forrest Lawn Services has grown rapidly over its 12 years in business, but its policies and procedures have not kept pace with the changes.
2. PURWITO, L., RASYAD, A., Zulkamain, ISHAQ, M., & Sucipto. (2021). Informal Learning: Approaches to Competencies Development for Construction Service Interns. Eurasian Journal of Educational Research (EJER), 96, pp. 182–200. https://doi-org.ezproxy.umgc.edu/10.14689/ejer.2021.96.12
3. Davis, M. V., & Harris III, D. (2020). Strategies to Prevent and Detect Occupational Fraud in Small Retail Businesses. International Journal of Applied Management & Technology, 19(1), pp. 40–61. https://doi-org.ezproxy.umgc.edu/10.5590/IJAMT.2020.19.1.04
4. IT Confidentiality Agreements: Wang, R. (2021). Information asymmetry and the inefficiency of informal ip strategies within employment relationships. Technological Forecasting & Social Change, 162. https://doi-org.ezproxy.umgc.edu/10.1016/j.techfore.2020.120335
5. Last year, I was assigned to lead the IT workstream of a major project proposal in partnership with two internal customers and one related external organization. The information technology workstream proposal needed to be approved at the subcommittee, organizational committee, and investment committee levels. The proposal was a combination of documents, spreadsheets, and a presentation that needed to be relevant for both technical and non-technical executives. The business audience needed to be convinced of the necessity of the information technology investment. IT leadership required the scope to be large enough to ensure a return on investment. The committees needed all materials to be written in business language and to avoid technical terminology and jargon. Balancing the needs of the different stakeholders was achieved by committing to short-term, phased deliverables with a fixed minimum cost.
6. As the founder and owner of a successful business, Richard Smith needs to be addressed with respect. The first way to show respect in the report is to avoid a lecturing tone. The tone needs to positive and encouraging rather than focusing on fear and uncertainty. Another way to accommodate the owner is to connect the recommendations to future success in addition to addressing current risks. The purpose of the report is to make recommendations to the owner that are necessary due to the success of the business. Associating the recommendations with positive outcomes helps to avoid creating a report that will be taken as criticism