Improvements of services

You asked me last week to look at ways in which we might be able to improve the quality of our service to customers.

I have examined our internal systems and found out that...

I have also looked at the service our provide, and compared it with ...

From the complaints we have received from customers it looks as though... In view of the feet that we are obviously losing customers because of the

I think that we ought to be changing.

There is no apparent reason why we cannot reorganise the warehouse

This would mean that...

Although changing

increase would not be very significant.

It would be worthwhile to...

I therefore suggest that we...

would increase our costs, the

2. Answer die following questions:

60. What is a memorandum?

61. How does a preprinted form look like?

62. ш what way would you arrange a house style memo for your company?

63. What kinds of memo formats do you know?

64. What are the elements of the memo?

65. Is it necessary to use a heading in a memo?

66. Why is it a good idea to use a heading?

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3. Look at the pattern of a memo given above and complete the sentences so that to make a story to correspond to the initial idea of the document you have been composing.

4. Choose the correct answer A memorandum is...

67. A first version of a document from which extra copies are made.

68. A short typed or written message sent from one person to another.

69. A printed form to be used by a customer requesting goods or a service.

The body of the memorandum consists of

70. The background to the memo.

71. The arguments and main points someone wants to make.

72. Recommendations and conclusions.

The last paragraph of the memorandum indicates:

73. What the main idea of die memo is.

74. What measures you want to be taken, recommendations and a summary of your arguments.

75. The department you are writing to.

5. Assignment you are the general manager of a pharmaceutical company producing syringes. Write a memo to a production manager about the poor quality of the needles used to produce syringes, state what action you want to be taken, your conclusions or recommendations or a summary of your arguments.

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6. Assignment you are the export department manager of the wholesale company. Write a memo to the stores department concerning the urgent order far computer tables from the customer wishing to buy from stock, state what action you want to be taken, your conclusions or recommendations or a summary of your arguments.

7. Assignment you are the sales manager of the tobacco company producing cigarettes. Write a memo to the production manager about shortcomings in packing, state what action you want to be taken, your conclusions or recommendations or a summary of your arguments.

8. Assignment you are the export department manager of the steel mill, Write a memo to the sales department manager and the transportation department manager regarding the delay in delivery of the last cargo of steel due to the customer abroad; state what action you want to be taken, your conclusions or recommendations or a summary of your arguments.

9. Assignment you are the personnel manager of the company. Write a memo to all departments managers regarding the absenteeism² in the company, suggest improvements in working conditions which would help to reduce the level of absenteeism.

10. Assignment you are the office manager of the company, write a memo to all departments managers concerning the recent fire on the premises of the company, state what action you want to be taken to prevent fires, give your conclusions or recommendations or a summary of your arguments.

Absenteeism = staying away from work, especially often and without good reason, absenteeism costs organisations and companies thousands of working days a year.

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PART П. REPORTS

11. Read die text paying special attention to new words and word-combinations.

eport is a written or spoken account of something. There are three main ategories of reports, each wim a slight variation of die basic pattern.

Recommendation reports. As dieir name suggests, these are written widi die aim of recommending some kind of action, They may include a conclusion or conclusions as well as recommendations, but need not always do so.

Conclusion reports. A feasibility study is an example of a conclusion report You might be asked to look into die feasibility of a certain course of action; you would reach a conclusion as to whedier it was a viable proposition or not. You would not, however, make any recommendations.

Information reports. These are reports which only present information. You might be briefing someone or providing background information, and you would probably present your main findings (or highlights), but because of die nature of die report, it would contain no conclusion or recommendations.

Reports can serve a wide variety of purposes, and so have a number of different formats. Most reports, however, follow die same basic pattern, regardless of die subject or aim. This pattern is:

76. the preliminary page,

77. the introduction,

78. the body of die report,

79. the conclusion, recommendations or main findings,

80. acknowledgements,

81. appendices.

(1) Preliminary pages. Before your report itself starts, you need to provide certain information, and this should be done in (he preliminary pages. These pages should be:

a) The title page. This should give (he title of the report, who it is by, the date it was written and the distribution.

A typical tide page might look like tiiis

\

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MANAGEMENT STRUCTURES

AT

A. C.C. Architects LTD

Kathleen Price

2 September 1996

To: AH Directors and Managers

82. A summary. If the report is a long one, it is a good idea to provide a brief summary (no more than ISO words), giving the gist of what the report contains, and the main conclusions, recommendations or findings. This helps busy executives, who may not want (or need) to work through the whole report to see at a glance what it is about This should be on a page itself, headed 'Summary'.

83. A table of contents. This is also only necessary if the report is a long one, and should also be on the page by itself In it you should list the major headings and the pages on which they appear.

(2) Writing an introduction to л report. In your introduction, give the background to the report itself - why it is written, hat it is about, who it is intended for, who asked for it, and the investigative and other methods used Take care that it is all in the past tense not to merge with the body of the report

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(3) Writing the body of the report. The body of the report is the largest part, and this is where you set out all die relevant information - what you have discovered during your investigation, the frets on which you base your argument, the details that you have been asked to provide. The particular pattern you adopt will depend on the nature of the report An analytical report should usually develop a logical argument, building up to a conclusion and/or recommendations. A briefing report would probably have die sections set out in order of priority. Reports can also be sectionalised, each section dealing witii a different department or field of activity.

One way of numbering paragraphs in a report