Recommendation
Your next project is to write a recommendation to an audience willing to allow you to solve a problem. This recommendation is a prelude to the formal report, which will be the last written project in this class.
First of all, review the issues from your proposal and select one or two that you feel you can solve-these issues will be the "problems." You need to have researched the issues adequately so that you are informed and feel competent discussing them at an executive level.
The lack of access to quality healthcare services for Veterans in rural communities vs a big city impact patients in the following manner.
After you have identified the problem(s), identify the audience to whom you will pitch your recommendation and the action you want them to take. Your choice of audience will determine the type of recommendation you will write:
An internal recommendation proposes an internal solution to the problem. You would use this recommendation if you are an employee of the organization and wish to solve a problem within the organization. This recommendation might propose a plan of action, a purchase, or a combination of both.
Whether you decide on an internal or sales recommendation, you will make certain assumptions about your audience: what they already know, their relationships to other members of the organization, and their preconceptions about the problem.
1. This sample outlines an internal recommendation:
Purpose--Define the problem and what you recommend be done. For example, if you are a bank employee and want to suggest that the decision-makers initiate online banking, you could describe your purpose as such: "We (I) propose that First National Bank move to develop an online banking system because we are losing business to our competition who are now using online services."
Description--Describe the problem in as much detail as necessary. Divide the problem into its relevant sections: financial, sales, personnel, etc. For your bank report, you could explain how much revenue your bank has lost over the past two years by not adopting online banking.
Solution--Describe the solution to the problem in the order as presented in the "description" section.
Costs--Itemize the costs. Also, interpret the costs for the reader. That is, explain what may not be immediately evident.
Conclusion--Make your final pitch for your solution.
Let's assume that you are still interested in the online banking problem. Instead of writing an internal recommendation as a bank employee, you could write a sales recommendation as an outside technical consultant interested in developing (selling) online services for the bank. For example, you sales recommendation could begin as such: "Dear Mr. Banker: Your bank is losing significant revenues because you have not developed a series of online services." With this type of recommendation, you are trying to convince the decision-makers that they should use your services.
Description of product or service
Describe your product or service and explain why it is the best solution.
Describe the product or process.
Describe special features, warranties, or other advantages.
Timetable
Explain all stages of implementing the product or service.
Describe any follow-up activity.
Costs
Break down costs into material, labor, travel time, and anything else the customer needs to know.
Your company's reputation
Convince the reader that your company is best suited for the job. Give references and other necessary background.
Conclusion
Make your final sales pitch here.
This recommendation should be a minimum of three, single-spaced pages. As will all your other work, this recommendation should be clearly and skillfully written, with no grammatical, usage, or punctuation errors. You might consider devising a letterhead for your company to lend a professional air. As with your "State of the Profession" essay, you will mostly likely need to use and cite your outside sources.