Suggested Topic List

1. Purchase A Photocopier For Their Office

• Current copier/printer needs to be replaced - office is growing, copier/printer is old
• What do you need it to do/ would like it to do?
• Lease vs. buy outright - pros and cons of each
• Costs - brands, functionalities
• Models
• Lifespan
• Warranties
• Supplies
• Budgets
• Upgrading their office's software
• Computer software needs to be upgraded
• How many workstations
• Available versions
• Features you need
• Support
• Licences
• Training
• Manuals
• Future upgrades

1. Planning CSR Event

• Customer complaints are up 25% in the last 12 month period
• Data collected from surveys, tickets tracked through Customer Support (email, letter and phone complaints)
• Issues from customer perspective include poor initial service, wrong orders sent out, poor follow-up on complaints
• Staff report issues as not enough staff, overloaded, improper training, no support, poor outlines of expectations of them and the customers
• Losing customers, and spending a lot of money on sending out credits, free gifts etc. to make customers happy, high staff turnover, low morale
• Corporate event for CSR and clients
• Specify who tasks this - who advocated there is a problem? Why? (customers are complaining, losing customers etc., complaints are up)
• This will be a training seminar for the reps
• Will have breakout sessions with reps from client companies to specify what issues are and to brainstorm resolutions
• Will need to bring in trainers, guests speakers - how much will they cost? Will need gifts for them.
• Will need to provide materials
• Will need to feed everyone - all day event? What will you order? From where? Cost analysis on different companies/costs
• Clean up after event - will you need to have someone come in or will it be covered in cost of facility rental?
• Will need to coordinate facility - on site? Off site?
• Any transportation expenses for trainer/speaker
• List your expense and justify each one, estimate of cost
• Goal: to improve the customer relationship between staff and customers
• A 25% decrease in complaints in a 3 month period and stability in the CSR Dept.
• How you will track the success of the training after training?
• What future goals do you want to see with reference to complaint reduction - such as on-going customer service rep training (e.g. every month/quarter/semi-annually/annually)
• Internal morale strategies - low/no cost - to keep morale up - such as certificates for best results over a week/month/quarter

1. Create A Policy And Procedure Manual

• Define the department you are creating this for (Marketing, HR, AP/AR)
• Define why you need this manual - high turnover? No specified procedures? Documents lost? No one person responsible for specific tasks? Department not working efficiently?
• Which roles exist? AA, Records Clerk, Supervisor, Manager, Receptionist
• Job description for each one
• Opening/closing procedures
• Dress code
• Hours of operation
• Privacy policy
• What functions need to be covered: filing, payment schedules etc.
• How many hours will you need to create this?
• What will be the end result of this?
• How will you measure this result?

1. Seasonal Interns

• Your department is overworked/under budgeted
• More work than you know what to do with due to seasonal demand
• Meeting to determine what the issue is (too much work, too few people, no budget, unexpected growth/orders)
• Determined that interns solution to problem
• Report will analyze: what caused the problem, what could be done by the intern, where interns can be found (high schools, colleges, etc.)
• Length of project
• Expectations for end of project
• Projections - estimate demand and what will be needed in future to avoid this - recommendations

1. Waste Reduction Program

• You have identified that your office is producing too much garbage - smelly, unsightly - customers are coming in and it looks awful
• Spending a lot of money on garbage removal
• Spending a lot of money on single use items/people take them home
• New 0 tolerance policy for single use items
• Describe 3 r's - reduce, reuse and recycle
• Reinforce the reduce and reuse
• Look at purchasing water bottles, cups, utensils, travel food containers - all with logos
• Install a dishwasher in staff area, as well as sink
• Evaluate how much is being thrown out, garbage collection etc.
• Breakdown the costs for purchasing reusable items
• Breakdown the costs over the next 3 months, 6 months, 9 months, 12 months in savings
• Breakdown the costs over the next 3 months, 6 months, 9 months, 12 months in what company would have spent on disposable items and garbage collection
• Compare what would have been spent vs savings
• Address eco-footprint benefits as well
• Address how this process can be expanded to other areas of the business: office supplies (buying refillable pens and mechanical pencils for staff), reduced printing etc.

Assignment Description

• Students will select a topic of their choice -from the sample topics/scenarios available at the end of this document, or a topic of their choice as approved by the instructor.
• The analytical report will either to solve a problem or analyze a situation, and recommend a course of action to solve that situation.
• This project requires students to complete internet research and analyze findings and facts.
  • Title/Cover Page:Include the title of the report, your name, who you are submitting it to, the date.

Sample Format

• Purpose: A statementthat identifies either that the issue is a new situation that has come to light and needs to be addressed/remedied, or an on-going issue that needs to be addressed; who and what has precipitated this report.: "This report examines/addresses "."which needs to be resolved because "". The recommendation(s) outlined at the end of this report addresses/corrects the identified issues." This report is intended for " " to authorize the implementation of the recommendations.". Use the SMART principle when creating the purpose: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time Sensitive.
• Key points: The paragraph of key points which follows your purpose, including the main points to be discussed regarding the problem/situation, identifying the sectionsinto which the materials are organised, and the proposed recommendation.: "Given "...", this report will address ", ..." and the recommendation "..." to resolve the issue. This report will review "...".
  • Discussion of findings:Review your key points in detail, including facts, figures, charts and analysis of the problem. Each key point is examined in detail - one key point per section/paragraph. The information flows in the order of their importance to your purpose and leads logically to your conclusion / recommendation(s). Use headings and subheadings to divide the report into the relevant sections. Use a chronological order: The current situation "this" exists because of "that"; this situation is costing us "this" or "that". Solution to this situation is "this"., measured by "this", with long term goals "these" measured by "this"
    • Conclusion: The conclusion summarizes the report, presents the recommendation, which includes a timeline, cost breakdown, and measurables. "In response to the information presented in this report, to solve "..." the recommendation is to "... Upon implementing this recommendation/solution, we will "save/reduce ..." as measured by "...." in the next "... months/weeks" by reviewing "...and/or . and/or...." to demonstrate the "savings". We will continue to review the "savings"/"reduction" over the next "... weeks/months" to determine on-going "savings/reduction", and determine if further action is required to achieve additional "savings/reduction".

Evaluation Breakdown
Criteria	Marks	To attain full marks	Comments
Statement of Purpose	/20	Purpose clearly defines a problem that needs to be solved Purpose is measurable Purpose is time sensitive Audience clearly defined, with detail. Writing is clear-minimum grammar, spelling or punctuation errors.
Key Points	/15	Key points clearly defined/ detailed and stand alone in own paragraph Key points define how research was conducted Key pointsclearly related to each other / to the problem Key points are related to the conclusion Writing is clear (grammar, spelling or punctuation acceptable)
Discussion of Findings	/35	Discussion of findings: Organized in order of importance Report divided into relevant sections Headings / subheadings clearly defined for categories Each section uses relevant facts/figures Sections flow well/connect well with each other Statements, ideas and assertions are concrete. Writing is clear, with few to no grammar/spelling/punctuation errors.
Conclusion & Recommendation	/25	Conclusion clearly defined - why report was necessary. Key points from report summarized accurately Recommendationties back to original purpose/problem and how it solves it Recommendation summarized accurately/connected tofacts/figures in the report. Recommendation value(cost savings/time savings) clearlydemonstrated, tangible, measurable Recommendation benefits are time-sensitive (will see results in X weeks, months etc.) tangible, measurable Recommendation results tangibly measured (On-the job reviews/ROI/ROA/surveys) Writing is clear (grammar, spelling or punctuation acceptable).