BUSI 300 Homework 6 Aplia Data, Graphics, Reports, and Proposals Assignment solutions answers

BUSI 300 Homework 6 Aplia Data, Graphics, Reports, and Proposals Assignment solutions complete answers 

 

1. Using graphics

Graphics are a key tool for communicating business information effectively. Imagine attempting to write out the description of balance sheets, decision matrices, or other complex data. Good graphics are important for quick comprehension in reports.

 

The key to using graphics well is to .

 

Graphics can be very helpful in conveying information, but not all of them are useful or necessary. A good graphic should be easily understood and .

 

Chartjunk can reduce the impact of your graphics. Which of the following could be considered chartjunk? Check all that apply.

 Complicated symbols

 Extreme use of color

 Unusual font combinations

 Line charts

 

Read the scenario, consider the graphic, and then answer the question.

You work at a travel agency, and your boss wants to know whether Hawaii is a more or less popular destination this spring than it was last spring.

 

What would be the best title for a graphic showing the number of bookings to Hawaii for this spring compared with last spring?

 Hawaii Bookings Up Nearly 10 Percent Over Last Year

 Do People Want to Vacation in Hawaii?

 Hawaii

 

A good graphic can .

 

Graphics can be very helpful in conveying information, but not all of them are useful or necessary. In order to   , save graphics for data that are difficult to communicate in words alone.

 

Consistent graphics help comprehension. Which of the following graphic elements should stay consistent within your report? Check all that apply.

Types of charts

Three-dimensional or flat designs

Colors

Typefaces or fonts

 

You are a sales manager at a garden supply company and want to alert your boss that sales of fertilizer are lower first quarter this year than they were last year.

 

What would be the best title for a graphic showing first quarter sales?

First Quarter Fertilizer Sales Drop in 2011

Fertilizer Sales

Selling Fertilizer from January through March

 

Data presented in a table, graph, or picture will   .

 

Graphics can be very helpful in conveying information, but not all of them are useful or necessary. To determine whether a graphic is appropriate and effective for your report,    .

 

The ability to determine whether or not a graphic is effective is an important professional skill. What questions should you consider when evaluating whether a graphic is useful? Check all that apply.

Can you make it quickly and easily?

Does it present the data honestly?

If it’s for a presentation, can it be seen by the entire audience?

Does the title reinforce the point you are making?

 

You are an IT manager at an insurance company, and your boss has asked you for a report on the volume of email for the past two weeks. You analyze the data and notice a drop in the company’s email volume.

 

What would be the best title for a graphic that shows this trend?

How Much Email Are We Sending?

Email Volume Has Recently Dropped

Email Volume

 

2. Chapter 10 Review

Business professionals are responsible for communicating quantitative data efficiently and effectively in reports. Using data effectively is key to writing a persuasive report. How the data are represented affects the readers’ comprehension of your message.

 

Read the scenario about using quantitative data, and then answer the question.

Your boss has asked you to prepare a report on the pros and cons of several paid, time-off plans for your company. Based on their responses, you sent a second survey.

 

Which of the following is not an effective method of tabulating the data?

Using only the responses from the first questionnaire received

Putting the survey online, so the results are automatically tabulated

Manually inputting the responses or scanning the responses into a computer

 

Business reports use graphics to help readers understand material quickly. Which of the following are types of graphics? Check all that apply.

Executive summaries

Bar charts

Pictograms

Introductions

 

The      in producing a graphic is choosing a graphic type.

 

When you’re designing a graphic, make sure to avoid common pitfalls. When you’re making a pie chart, use the 12 o’clock position for the slice that is     .

 

A graphic should always be preceded by     .

 

Your boss has asked you to prepare a report on the pros and cons of several locations for your company’s holiday party. As part of your research, you take a survey of employees, asking them which option they prefer and how far they are willing to travel to the party. Your next step is to analyze and tabulate the data.

 

Why is tabulating and analyzing important?

It will make your report take longer, so your boss thinks you’re working hard.

It will make the employees happy to know their responses were combined with the responses of others.

It helps you answer the research questions.

 

Business reports use graphics to help readers understand material quickly. Which of the following are types of graphics used in a business report? Check all that apply.

Maps

Pie charts

Titles

Tables

 

When designing a graphic, make sure you follow     .

 

When you’re designing a graphic, make sure to avoid common pitfalls. When creating a bar chart, make the labels     .

 

A graphic that comes after an introduction and brief explanation will      the contents of the report.

 

Your boss has asked you to prepare a report on the pros and cons of several health insurance options for your company. As part of your research, you take a survey of employees, asking them which option they prefer and how much they are willing to pay for their top choice.

 

What do you need to do to use the employees’ answers to help make your case?

Give your boss all the original questionnaires.

Include 10 pages of graphics illustrating the results.

Tabulate and analyze the data.

 

Creating effective graphics requires thought and consideration. The first step in producing a graphic is to     .

 

When you’re designing a graphic, make sure to avoid common pitfalls. When making a line chart, use the horizontal axis for     .

 

Text and graphics are      in the communication process.

 

3. Organization of Formal Reports

Organizing a report is crucial to making sure the reader understands the information presented. Many companies have their own styles and formats for organizing reports; however, there are general organizational guidelines that apply in most situations.

 

Begin organizing your report by creating an outline. To develop an outline, you should list the major and minor points you want     .

 

Read the scenario and outline, and then answer the question.

Yvette has been asked to evaluate three possible locations for her company’s next sales conference: San Diego, Miami, and Dallas. Her boss is interested in the cost of airfare for the sales team, the quality of the hotels, and entertainment possibilities for each location. He also wants to know the total cost. After researching each location, Yvette creates the following outline for her report:

I.
Introduction

A.
Overview of conference
B.
Method used to evaluate locations
II.
Dallas
III.
Miami
IV.
San Diego
V.
Recommendations and conclusion
 

How could Yvette improve this outline? Check all that apply.

Compare the cities in one section with subsections showing how the cities compare on airfare, hotels, and entertainment.

Add several more sections.

Make each heading two or three sentences long to add detail.

Create signpost headings, such as “Airfare to Dallas is least expensive,” to signal the report’s conclusions.

 

Using deductive organization makes your reader’s job easier. If you use deductive organization for your report, you put your conclusions at the     .

 

Read the scenario about using effective headings, and then answer the question.

You are writing a report about regional, new-product sales for your company’s management team. Your first two report headings are “Northeast: Sales Are Slow” and “Southeast: Sales Are Picking Up.”

 

What would be the best third heading to use?

Midwest

Midwest: Sales Are the Best in the Country

Sales Are Taking Off in the Midwest

 

Begin organizing your report by creating an outline. Because the outline is     , it may change as you develop the report.

 

Most reports place conclusions at the beginning to make the reader’s job easier. However, when a report’s conclusions are not given until the end of the report, this is called      organization.

 

Which heading does not fit with the others for your report?

Northeast: Slow Sales

Southeast: Accelerating Sales

West: Worst Sales in the U.S.

Midwest: Strong Sales

 

Begin organizing your report by creating an outline. When developing an outline, you should     .

 

By placing conclusions at the beginning, you make a reader’s job easier. When a report’s conclusions are stated at the beginning instead of at the end, this is called      organization.

 

You are writing a report about regional, new-product sales for your company’s management team. Your first two report headings are “Sales Are Slow in the Northeast” and “Sales Are Picking Up in the South.”

 

What would be the best approach for the third heading?

Start with the region; then use a complete sentence after a colon to describe the sales.

Use the name of the region followed by the sales trend.

Use a phrase that describes the sales trend and then names the region.

 

4. Chapter 11 Review

Reports are used for many business functions. Different report types are used to serve different purposes in an organization. These questions review the basics of organizing and preparing reports and proposals.

Preliminary parts of a report add formality, emphasize the report’s content, and help the reader find and understand information in the report more quickly.

 

Which of these are preliminary parts of a formal report? Check all that apply.

Title page

Body

Table of contents

Index

 

Formal and informal reports use headings. How do headings and subheadings help readers of a report? Check all that apply.

They show the relative importance of different ideas.

They make the report appear more succinct.

They give clues about the text ahead.

They allow readers to skim the report.

 

The writing style of a formal report needs to be professional. To make your writing style both clear and appropriate for a formal report, what should you do? Check all that apply.

Use the active voice.

Use the pronoun I to include opinions.

Use transitions to link parts of the report.

Make sure verb tenses are consistent.

 

Short reports differ from formal reports. The     not part of the body of a short report.

 

Read the scenario, and then answer the question about types of proposals.

Anne is a self-employed computer consultant who helps retail stores set up computer systems to manage billing. Twice in the past six months, she has received an incorrect bill from a store that delivers fresh produce to her home weekly. She decides to make a proposal to the company that they hire her to revamp their billing system.

 

What type of proposal will Anne submit?

An internal proposal

A solicited proposal

An unsolicited proposal

An RFP

 

Preliminary parts of a formal report can include a title page, table of contents, table of figures, and executive summary.

 

What purposes do these preliminary parts serve? Check all that apply.

They explain report details.

They add formality to the report.

They present materials used in the research that do not fit in the report.

They emphasize report content.

 

Formal and informal reports use headings. How do headings help readers of a business report? Check all that apply.

They can help readers decide which sections to read.

They show the relative importance of different ideas.

They give clues about the text ahead.

They make the report appear longer.

 

Short reports differ from formal reports. Short reports include     .

 

Jacob works for a publishing company that is making the transition from print to electronic publishing. His job has traditionally been to manage the editing process for print books. Now the books he is in charge of will be published as e-books as well as in paperback. The editing process that worked well for print seems slow and cumbersome for e-books, and it does not include some steps that are necessary for electronic publishing. Jacob has some ideas about how to change the process to include both types of books.

 

What type of proposal should Jacob write?

An RFP

A solicited proposal

An internal proposal

An external proposal

 

Preliminary parts of a formal report can include a title page, table of contents, table of figures, and an executive summary.

 

Preparing outlines for formal and informal reports is a good idea. In a Roman numeral outline for a report, “I” is a first-level heading. Which of these are also true? Check all that apply.

 “A” is a second-level heading, or subheading.

 “A” and “1” are both second-level headings, or subheadings.

You should not use any other headings underneath “I.”

 “1” is a second-level heading, or subheading.

 

Short reports differ from formal reports. The      is not part of the body of a short report.

 

Sumitha works for a computer consulting firm that does work for government agencies and private companies. The Department of Education is inviting potential contractors to submit bids for an upcoming project upgrading its computer systems. Sumitha’s boss asks her to try to secure this contract.

 

What type of proposal should Sumitha submit?

A solicited proposal

An unsolicited proposal

An RFP

An internal proposal