The Future of Business Writing

When I was examining the Writer’s Web Writing in the Disciplines page before beginning my final project, I took at look at the Business WID page with great expectations. Because all business majors are required to take Business Communications before the end of their sophomore year, I expected the Business WID page to be an extensive collection of tips for writing reports, memos, proposals, and business plans. I was surprised, however, that the only subject area within business represented on the WID page was economics. While most concentrations and majors in the Robins School of Business do not require an overwhelming amount of writing, there are certain kinds of business writing that all business majors will have to complete at some point in their career, regardless of their specialization.

As a business major, I believe that it is extremely important for my classmates to have a good understanding of what business writing entails. For many, a knowledge how to write clearly and how to get ideas across effectively could be the difference between getting an interview, or being overlooked by an employer. If one is lucky enough to get a job, the level of writing that is expected of you will not decrease. In the business world, the words that you put in an email, a memo, or a formal report could affect yourself, your department, or your company to a great extent.

I think that having this knowledge of the amount of writing emphasized in the business world is the reason that I was so surprised at the lack of detail on the Business Writing in the Disciplines page on our Writer’s Web. Business Administration and Accounting are the two most popular majors on campus, which just further increases the need for greater writing emphasis on Writer’s Web, as well as in the Business School.

For my website, I decided to focus on the piece of writing that had given me the most trouble when I took Business Communications last semester: the business proposal. To me, I could not quite understand the balance between factual information and persuasion that had to be included in the document. However, while conducting my research and an interview with Dr. Jeff Pollack of the management department, I began to understand why such a balance is necessary in such an important document.

I began with my interview with Dr. Pollack. Dr. Pollack and I became close this year in my Living and Learning class, in which he was one of the two professors. Our class, which was focused on the subject of Social Entrepreneurship, opened my eyes to the non-profit facet of the business world, which, unfortunately, is not always emphasized in the Robins School of Business. Dr. Pollack requires his management students to write business proposals as their final project, which means that he is relatively experienced with this form of business writing. His answers to my questions were extremely helpful in guiding my research into different kinds of literature regarding business proposals and the kind of writing that is required to write an effective one. 

I used the library databases and came across many articles that, basically, agreed with my contention that writing needs to have a greater emphasis put on it in undergraduate business schools. Bill Rainey reported surprising statistics in his article “Proposal Writing – A Neglected Area of Instruction”. He surveyed the CEOs of fifty manufacturing firms in an attempt to determine the importance of executives to write technical proposals. Rainey found that “the number of executives officers reporting ‘great’ or ‘crucial’ exceeded 50 per cent” (32). Rainey also surveyed 116 undergraduate business professors to determine their views on the importance of writing in undergraduate business. Surprisingly, only 32.7% of the professors surveyed believed that “a course in writing business and technical proposals…is important enough for business majors to be offered as a distinct course” (32). The clear disconnect between the needs of executives in the business world and those instructing the business leaders of tomorrow is enough to cause a concern among any undergraduate currently enrolled in a business program.

I made the decision to tailor my Business Proposal WID page first on the literature specific to the kind of writing I was focusing on and then refer to our readings from class. I originally though that making connections between a page on writing business proposals and the different readings that we had done in class would be difficult, but I was surprised at how many similarities there actually were between the two disciplines. For example, Eubanks and Schaeffer’s argument surrounding the problem of academic jargon is completely applicable to business writing. The authors’ assertion that specialized vocabulary used often and incorrectly can make a piece of writing appear insincere is an important point that all business majors should take note of. If one utilized a word that “sounded” right without knowing the correct meaning in a piece of business writing, not only could one lose their job, but their reputation could be irrevocably tarnished.

During finals week, I met with Dr. Essid to discuss my final project. We began discussing the topic of writing in the Robins School of Business here at UR. He said something that particularly stuck in my mind and has inspired me as a future Writing Consultant. More or less, Dr. Essid said this (please excuse my paraphrasing!):

“We have a good business school, there are better ones out there. I do not believe that the business schools at state schools focus on writing. I wonder if we could set ourselves apart as a business school by placing a greater emphasis on writing.”

I agree with him to the greatest extent possible. I am happy to be a part of the Robins School of Business and am always proud to see where we are ranked when Business Week releases their list of top business schools. I would love for us to differentiate ourselves by putting a greater emphasis on business writing. I want all of my peers to graduate with a job in hand, and I sincerely believe that a larger writing program in the business school will help us to get there.