Business Letters

For this assignment, you are required to write three letters:

1. One good news letter
2. One negative news letter
3. One persuasive letter 

1. Good-News Letter

Now that you have learned about the characteristics of business letters, it’s time to practice writing a business letter that delivers positive news. You will write a positive business letter that follows the conventions of a business letter and addresses one of the following scenarios:

• Write a letter to a company that expresses your appreciation for consistent quality, either in service, product, or both. Be sure to provide specific information about your positive experiences.
• You are the dean of a college within a large university, and you have just learned that your budget has been raised by 20% for the next school year. This budget increase not only means that you can purchase some additional supplies, but that you can also give each staff member in the department a 2% raise. Write a letter that informs your staff of the budget increase, identifies the new supplies you will purchase, and explains the details of the pay raises.
• You are the CEO of a Fortune 500 company, and after interviewing a number of qualified candidates, you have decided to extend one of the applicants an offer of employment for the position of Vice President of Sales. Write the applicant a letter that delivers the good news and clearly details the offer of employment, including information about salary, benefits, expected start date, and the deadline for acceptance.

1. Bad-News Letter

After completing our course readings, you should be familiar with some common scenarios in which a negative news letter may be necessary. You will write a negative news letter that addresses one of the following scenarios:

• You are the manager of a company, and you have noticed that one of your employees has been arriving to work 20 minutes late every day for the past two weeks. You have made an appointment to speak with the employee, but it is also company policy that you write a letter to the employee that identifies the infraction, explains the action necessary to correct the problem, and explains the consequences for not addressing the issue.
• Identify a company with which you had an unsatisfying experience as a consumer. Write a letter to the company that expresses your dissatisfaction, provides a detailed account of your experience, and suggests a possible solution for the problem.
• As the human resources manager for a large company, you are tasked with informing 250 of the company’s 700 employees that they are being laid off. Write a letter that clearly explains the situation to the employees but that also maintains trust and respect for the company.

1. Persuasive Letter

There is only one option for this letter. Carefully review our materials on persuasive letters before completing this letter:

• Write a letter to PSU’s President, Adela de la Torre, suggesting a change to current practices or procedures at the University that are important to you as a student. These changes can range anywhere from lowering student fees and tuition to adding an additional gym facility or more parking. Be persuasive in your letter but remember that you are limited to one page. How can you make a clear, persuasive argument to President de la Torre using a business letter with a business style and format? Use evidence and support.