Comparing Two Written Assignments - Case Study Example

Comparison of two written assignments Name: Date: Institution: Introduction This work compares two written assignments. The first written work is an integrated business management that focuses on the management of Choc Deluxe limited. It analyses the situation and provides recommendations that can be used to solve the situation of the company. The second assignment is a discussion about hybrid cars and their appeal specifically; it answers the question that how can such cars become more desirable to the current consumers. This work will analyze the academic writing styles of both papers and give its view on the appropriateness of the text styles. It will also look at the organization of the assignments. This will dwell on the outline of the work and the arrangement of the points of discussion within each text. Additionally the analysis will cover aspects of content. In this case it looks at whether each piece answers the set question accurately or otherwise. Structure The first text is a report that fairly covers the basics of writing a report in terms of structure. It begins by outlining the contents of the report and proceeds to give an executive summary of the whole report. The opening of the report is given in the introduction that sets the background of the issues and context of the report. It then progresses to look at the basic problems and situation that led to the development of the report. The next section covers the recommendations and it ends in a conclusion. Each of the sections is given a distinct header and covers the appropriate discussion that is needed. However its structure does not exhaust the needs of a good business report. The beginning of a good report should be a cover page that details the report’s title and the date of completion or submission. It should also detail the authors and their respective organization of affiliation. After the cover page, the next section is usually the executive summary. It is important to note that executive summary comes before the list or table of contents in the report. In this first assignment, the executive summary is given after the table of contents that changes the requirements of writing a good report (Lembach, 2001, p. 120). The next section after the table of contents is the introduction. This section is supposed to provide a curtain raiser to the issues to be looked at within the report. It should be brief but cover all the aspects that the report will detail. In this assignment, the introduction is given properly as required in a good business report assignment. Analysis of the situation and deriving conclusions is the next item in the structure of a report. In this section, various issues are raised and conclusion is made on the same. This section tries to show whether the issues need changing or not. Finally, after arriving at conclusions, the recommendations for future developments are given. These should be based on the conclusions that are arrived at earlier. In this assignment, this aspect has been properly covered (Ruiz Garrido,Fortanet & Palmer, 2006, p. 138). The second assignment about hybrid cars fails to attain any form of structure. There is no clear beginning and outline of the major issues of discussion in the paper. While answering the question that how can hybrid car be more appealing to the current generation of customers, the paper needed to introduce the main concepts and set the stage for the proceeding discussion. Before this is done, a clear topic is suggested to make readers aware of the subject of discussion. The paper does not suggest any topic to the audience and they are left to make guesses on which issue or question the author is covering. Clarity of the outline is also not achieved in this assignment. Compared to the business report in the first assignment its paragraphs and where they begin is unknown. The first assignment which is the business report uses headings to show the structure of the piece. This feature is lacking in the second assignment that makes readers unable to identify the main points and arguments in the work. Writing style Following a proper writing style is essential in generating academic texts. It shows professionalism and maturity in writing. The first assignment tries to follow the basics of writing in APA style. However it falls short in some sections. First, the cover page needs to be different from the rest of the document while writing APA assignments. It will contain the name and date of submission and other issues such as the affiliate institution. It is also important to attribute facts to authors in any work. In APA writing, the authors name and date of the material used to gain the information is given in ordinary brackets. The author of the first assignment complies with this requirement and acknowledges the sources of the information that is submitted in the report (Andreatta, 2011, p.92). However, in the second assignment, there is no use of writing style that is applied. First, there is a title page that only gives the research question. This does not show any writing format that is used in the assignment. Secondly, the author gives many facts and claims which are not supported or attributed to any source. There are many claims within the text that are not attributed to any research or source of information through the use of in text citation. At the end of any writing if important facts are quoted within the essay, it is important to give a bibliography or list of references in the end. The first text complies with this need but fails in the formatting of the reference list. First, the references should be arranged in an alphabetical order with the names of the authors inverted; that is the last name first followed by initials (Andreatta, 2011, p.94). The initials should have a full stop at the end just before the publication date. All lines that follow the first line of the reference should then be indented. The author barely follows these requirements of writing style in the reference list for the business report. In the second assignment, there is no bibliography or reference list that makes it difficult to know which style of writing the author intended to use. Legibility is also an important aspect of writing styles. Most writing styles require that the words are double spaced and the font used is clear to the readers. The first assignment uses double spacing and appropriate choice of font. However in the second piece, the choice of font is good but the spacing makes it difficult to read. Content and vocabulary A good assignment is supposed to provide good and accurate response to the question that is at hand. The good answer is show that the student understands the content given in class and can apply the material in a variety of circumstances. In the first assignment, the author demonstrates a good grasp of the course by highlighting the major issues of management that is needed for an organization. The work derives the failure in management under various subheadings critically and supports the argument by relevant theory. The recommendations are also given as futuristic meaning they have not yet been done. As such the paper fully answers the question that it intends to deal with. The only failure is noted in the executive summary. The executive summary should cover all the aspects of the report including the recommendations given within the report briefly. This gives the readers the direction of the argument before venturing into finding out why such recommendations are made. In contrast, the second paper does not show “how” which is the major aspect of the question of the assignment. Instead, the paper gives details and advantages of hybrid cars over gasoline fueled vehicles. The main question of how it can be made more appealing to the current customers’ generation is not addressed. This makes the content of the assignment irrelevant to the question. There is no introduction that sets the stage and a conclusion to the discussion that leaves the readers only guessing the overall position of the assignment. Both the two assignments use a variety of simple easy to understand vocabulary. The choice of words is also in line and relevant to the fields of study in both assignments. This aspect demonstrates the authors understanding of the subject and professionalism in writing (PERRIN, 2011, p. 85-87). Conclusion The two assignments are very different in terms of the needs of a good academic writing. In the first assignment, the author tries to follow through the basics of writing by complying to the standards of APA writing style. Despite the ability to capture most of the requirements, the assignment still fails to meet the needs of structuring and format that is needed to deliver high quality academic assignment in APA. The author follows the structure of a good business report but fails to arrange the work appropriately. The second assignment fails in all aspects of a good written assignment. The guidelines for a good academic writing are not followed at all and the content fails to address the set question of the assignment. Bibliography ANDREATTA, B., 2011. Navigating the Research University: a guide for first-year students. Cengage Learning. LEMBACH, M. 2001. Revise HSC business studies in a month. Glebe, N.S.W., Pascal Press. PERRIN, R., 2011. Pocket guide to APA style. Cengage Learning. RUIZ GARRIDO, M. F., FORTANET GÓMEZ, I., & PALMER SILVEIRA, J. C. 2006. English communication for international business. Castelló de la Plana, Publicacions de la Universitat Jaume I. Read More