800–1,000 words not including the Gantt chart and list of sources of information
W + V Components
12% of final grade
Use Chapters 8, 16, and 17, but keep in mind content from Chapters 1, 3, 6, 9, 19, and 11
All topics must involve a real-life business or organization with management who would be interested in the research you do
and who would want to read your recommendation report.
IMPORTANT FOR THIS ASSIGNMENT: You should only observe and take notes. You should notaudio or video record as you observe
customer service. You should not interact with employees to test them on their customer service.
You will collaborate with your team to write this topic proposal in memo format to your instructor. The memo proposes that
your instructor should allow your team to investigate customer service at either (1) a particular small business or (2) a
specific branch or franchise of business chain such as Panera Bread, O’Reilly Auto Parts, Sports Authority, or Hobby Lobby.
Note: Teams enrolled in the online version of English 302 and separated geographically can investigate customer service at
(3) different branches or franchises of a business chain.
Your proposal memo will describe the topic, the primary audience, other audiences, subtopics to investigate, a timeline, your
team’s division of labor, your study’s methods, the qualifications of your teams’ members, and other points identified in
Chapter 17.
To create a successful proposal, you need to do the following:
In your first paragraph, summarize in a sentence or two the opportunity (that is, the chance to improve the customer
service of the business by analyzing the customer service and recommending changes based on research to improve it).
Discuss the reasons that you should explore this opportunity.
Identify specific people in the business who have the power to implement your recommendations. Note: in the case of
option (3), you might have to look further up the organizational ladder to find the person responsible for the different
branches or franchises of the business chain.
List subtopics that you need to explore (for example, findings from secondary research on the effects of greeting
customers at the door).
List questions that you will answer in your report, as well as that concepts you will explain.
Describe the methods that you will use to get the answers to your questions. Describe how you will conduct your primary
research (your observations) and your secondary (library) research. Again, you should only observe and take notes. You should
not audio or video record as you observe customer service. You should not interact with employees to test them on their
customer service.
Explain the knowledge and skills that you have to conduct this study.
Explain the extent of your access to the business. Is it adequate?
Identify sources of information (for example, specific articles from trade magazines) that you will use as data.
For each task involved in carrying out your study, show the total time that you plan to spend on it and the date that you
expect to finish it in a detailed Gantt chart (see below).
In your final section, indicate that you would welcome any suggestions your instructor may have for improving the
research plan.
Include a Plan B idea (a back-up plan) in case your original business (your Plan A) does not work out for some reason.
Note about the Gantt chart: You should include a detailed Gantt chart (see page 532 and online examples) that delineates
specific tasks, for example, observing, conducting secondary research, drafting results, and creating graphs. That is, you
should break down broad tasks such as “research” and “writing” to list specific tasks. The Gantt chart should also indicate
the time you will spend on each task and division of labor among your group members. You can use the example in Figure 17.2
as a model, but you should modify that model according to your needs.
Note about group participation: At the end of this team project (assignments 5, 6, 7, and 8) you will submit a confidential
evaluation of the comembers of your group.