ELSAC Workout: Business Proposals 1: Internal Proposal

ELSAC Workout: Business Proposals 1: Internal Proposal

Get Writing Fit!

Tips for writing Internal Business Proposal
Understand the basic structure of an Internal Business Proposal
2 practice activities included

Level: Advanced
Time: approx. 1 hour
Suggested next workout: Proposals For Buyers/Clients

Extra support:

Work through the practice activities by clicking on the tabs at the top of the next page. After completing all practice activities, the Result tab will summarize your workout. Record your results as proof of independent learning and as motivation to repeat the workout and beat your score. A sample Internal Proposal is included as example to facilitate your understanding. Practice makes you fitter!

Material developed by Hebe Wong, Charlotte T H Chiu.

*** All ELSAC Workouts ***

Overview General Structure Task 1 Writing up the Subsections Task 2 Result Sample

Overview

Introduction
General Structure
Writing up the Sub-sections

Introduction

Business proposals are the most common form of writing in the business world. Two examples of business proposals are:

1) Internal Proposals; and

2) Business Proposals to Potential Buyers or Clients.

A polished Internal Proposal allows the effective conveyance of business ideas. In an Internal Proposal, the writer aims to pitch an idea within the company which would eventually be put into action by relevant departments. A few questions to have in mind while writing the Internal Proposal are:

who will be reading the proposal?
What do you want to gain?
Is there a problem you would like to tackle?
How are you planning to tackle that problem?

After these questions are answered, an outline of the Internal Proposal could be created.

An actual Internal Proposal would be more detailed than the sample in this Worksheet. It should include multiple diagrams that are analyzed, graphs to indicate the projected numbers in sales or numbers pertaining to the area of focus in the proposal, and a detailed budget for executing the proposal.

General Structure

The Internal Proposal is separated into subsections with subtitles indicating the content of each subsection.

1. Title

Start the Internal Proposal with a title.

The title of the Internal Proposal, which is the shortest summary of the proposal, should indicate the nature of the project, and intrigue the readers. For example, "A Training Programme for Employees to Ensure Due Diligence Duties Are Met" will be better than "A Training Programme for Staff"

2. Executive Summary

The executive summary is like an overview of your proposal showing your readers the coverage of your proposal immediately. The executive summary could be written in point form, highlighting the main points in the Internal Proposal.

3. The objectives

The first point should be the objective of your Internal Proposal. For example, the objective for a staff training program could be, "the objective of this Internal Proposal is to suggest an employee training program to enhance our employee's compliance with due diligence procedures".

4. The Problem

Identify the problem addressed in the Internal Proposal. An example for the subtitle is, "The Lack of Employee Participation in Due Diligent worksheets". Utilize numerical data to show that the problem is significant and requires immediate attention. Use graphs and pictures to show your findings.

5. The Solution

After the problem is identified, provide a solution. An example of the subtitle is, "The Solution"

6. How We'll Work (Implementation Plan)

The Implementation Plan is an action plan which should outline the proposed actions that would be taken to execute the solution, the technology, or the number of people and days needed to accomplish the plan. Use diagrams to depict the details of the action plan for easy understanding.

7. The outcomes What We'll Accomplish

Exhibit numerical data, if possible, to explain the projected improvements the company would expect after the proposed solution is put in place. The benefits which the solution could possibly bring to the client should be highlighted. Use graphs to show your findings.

8. Fees

Finally, all Internal Proposals should contain an estimated budget to evaluate the feasibility of the project. This subjection could be simply titled as "Fees" or "Budget". Fees are straightforward, so the items could be listed out in a chart or a spreadsheet similar to a financial statement.

Task 1

Drag and drop the appropriate title to the respective contents in the following list:

Subtitle Titles?

Content

⁽¹⁾

According to our market research on the Red Lipstick in quarter 2 of 2019, 55% of the reasons for returning the product is due to bad packaging. Sales figures have dropped by 15% in the lipstick department due to the difficulty of screwing open the lipstick cover. A solution must be proposed and executed to prevent overstock of lipstick ingredient supplies.

⁽²⁾

New Packaging for The Red Lipstick

⁽³⁾

It is projected that there would be a recovery in sales after the new packaging is launched. In our market research, 87% of customers expressed that the formula of The Red Lipstick is consistent. 53% out of the 87% stated that they would repurchase the lipstick, while 34% said that they would only repurchase if the packaging were changed. Extrapolating from previous sales trends, an estimated 10% increase in sales would be achieved after the release of the new packaging.

⁽⁴⁾

To address the problem of bad packaging of The Red Lipstick, we propose to discount current stocks in the retailer booths, cease new production, and design a new packaging to improve the ergonomic of our The Red Lipstick. Repackaging the product would increase sales by eliminating the ergonomic problem that exists in the older packaging.

⁽⁵⁾

Item	Cost
Number of repackaged lipsticks	2,000
Packaging Components	$4.8/lipstick
Assembly costs	$3.2/lipstick
Shipping	$15/kg
Total Shipping weight	Around 20 kg
Marketing Campaigns	Proposed Budget: $50k
Lost in Discounts	$8/lipstick
Amount of leftover lipsticks in old packaging	160
Total Estimated costs	$57,991.8

⁽⁶⁾

The objective of this Internal Proposal is to present our business strategy department's idea on improving the decreasing sales figures in Quarter 3 of 2019.
New packaging for The Red Lipstick.
The decrease of The Red Lipstick sales is due to packaging problem.
We would address this problem by proposing the manufacturing of a new packaging for The Red Lipstick.
Sales figures will be presented and analyze.

⁽⁷⁾

We would engage the product design department, procurement department, marketing department, and finance department on this project. Firstly, we would alert the finance department about this proposal. Then, the marketing department would roll out a series of marketing campaigns at retailer booths promote the discounts on the current faulty stocks. The marketing department would communicate with the finance department to minimize our loss. Concurrently, the design department would design a new packaging for The Red Lipstick. The design blueprint should be approved by next week as our suppliers and manufacturer has already produced the lipstick formulas for the next shipment.

Title

Executive Summary

The Problem

The Solution

How We'll Work Implementation Plan

What We'll Achieve Benefits

Fees

2) Writing up the Subsections

Ideas are presented and reinforced when the structure of the writing is clear and well-organized. Except for the executive summary which is written in point form, each subsection of the Business Proposal should begin with a topic sentence, followed by an elaboration of the idea, the data to support the idea, and the justification of how the data relates to the idea. A diagram is presented to assist your understanding of the basic structure for each subsection in an Internal Proposal:

Topic:	Repackaging The Red Lipstick
Subsection	The Problem
Topic sentence	According to our market research on The Red Lipstick in quarter 2 of 2019, 55% of the reason for returning the product is due to the packaging.
The idea	A solution must be proposed and executed to prevent overstock of lipstick ingredient supplies.
The data	Sales figures have dropped by 15% in the lipstick department due to the declining sales of The Red Lipstick as compared to quarter 1. The difficulty of screwing open the lipstick cover have deterred customers from buyer the product.
Justification	Changing the packaging of The Red Lipstick will solve the problem of the current packaging and restore the sales rates. We will focus on tackling this problem in quarter 4 since repackaging current shipments does not require additional budget. Changing the packaging is low in cost and may increase sales figures and recover previous losses.

Task 2

By clicking on the circle, choose the answer with the correct structure:

Title:	Upgrading The Attendance System By Contracting A Different Provider	^a
Subsection:	The Problem
The Idea	We would propose to contract a different provider because the current provider's products do not comply with our upgraded hardware.
Topic Sentence	In our "IT Department Quarter 2 Employee Survey", we found that 40% of late attendance is due to a lagging problem of the attendance system.
The Data	We have obtained a report from our current provider which shows that they do not have plans to upgrade their software to match our hardware. Therefore, our hardware and the provider's system are incompatible.
Justification	Employees are rewarded based on their performances. The attendance record has a direct impact on the employee appraisal. An inaccurate record of attendance information would affect the human resources department's evaluation of the employee's performance. We urge immediate action to be taken and a new provider be contracted by next month. We wish to implement the new system by the first day of quarter 2, which is April 1st, 2019.

Title:	Upgrading The Attendance System By Contracting Different Company	^b
Subsection:	The Problem
Topic Sentence	In our "IT Department Quarter 2 Employee Survey", we found that 40% of late attendance is due to a lagging problem of the attendance system.
The Idea	We would propose to contract a different provider because the current provider's products do not comply with our upgraded hardware.
The Data	We have obtained a report from our current provider which shows that they do not have plans to upgrade their software to match our hardware. Therefore, our hardware and the provider's system are incompatible.
Justification	Employees are rewarded based on their performances. The attendance record has a direct impact on the employee's appraisal. A false record of late attendance would affect the human resource department's evaluation of the employee's etiquette. We urge immediate action to be taken and a new provider be contracted by next month. We wish to implement the new system by the first day of quarter 2, which is April 1st, 2019.

Title:	Upgrading The Attendance System By Contracting Different Company	^c
Subsection:	The Problem
Topic Sentence	In our "IT Department Quarter 2 Employee Survey", we found that 40% of late attendance is due to a lagging problem of the attendance system.
Justification	Employees are rewarded based on their performances. The attendance record has a direct impact on the employee's appraisal. A false record of late attendance would affect the human resource department's evaluation of the employee's etiquette. We urge immediate action to be taken and a new provider be contracted by next month. We wish to implement the new system by the first day of quarter 2, which is April 1st, 2019.
The Data	We have obtained a report from our current provider which shows that they do not have plans to upgrade their software to match our hardware. Therefore, our hardware and the provider's system are incompatible.
The Idea	We would propose to contract a different provider because the current provider's products do not comply with our upgraded hardware.

The order of ideas in this answer is the most appropriate. The order is: Topic sentence

The Idea

The Data

Justification

CONGRATULATIONS! You have completed this workout and improved your Business Proposals. Your results are below. Record your results as proof of independent learning. Take a rest, then repeat this workout to beat your personal best, or try a different one.

Suggested next workout: Proposals For Buyers/Clients

Student's Name (Type in):

Final Result of Business Proposals 1: Internal Proposal

Date:

Activity	Correct	Maximum	Percentage
Task 1	0		0%
Task 2	0		0%
Total Score	0		0%

Time Taken:

Sample Internal Proposal

New Packaging for The Red Lipstick

Executive Summary

The objective of this Internal Proposal is to present our business strategy department's idea on improving the decreasing sales figures in Quarter 3 of 2019.
New packaging for The Red Lipstick.
The decrease of The Red Lipstick sales is due to packaging problem.
We would address this problem by proposing the manufacturing of a new packaging for The Red Lipstick.
Sales figures will be presented and analyze.

The Problem

Fig 1.1: Sales Figures for Q1, Q2, and Q3 of 2019

Fig 1.2: Reasons for Return of the Red Lipstick

The Solution

How We'll Work

Alert Finance Department

Finance Department communicates with Marketing department

Marketing department rolls out a series of marketing campaigns

Design Department Submits blueprint of new packaging

New packaging blueprint approved and sent to manufacturer

By Quarter 4 (October 01 - December 31): launch of new shipment of lipsticks with new packaging

Fig 1.3: Implementation Plan

What We'll Achieve

Fees

Item	Cost
Number of repackaged lipsticks	2,000
Ingredients	$7/gram
Packaging Components	$4.8/lipstick
Assembly costs	$3.2/lipstick
Shipping	$15/kg
Total Shipping weight	Around 20 kg
Marketing Campaigns	Proposed Budget: $50k
Lost in Discounts	$8/lipstick
Amount of leftover lipsticks in old packaging	160
Total Estimated costs	$57,991.8