ENGL312 - Written Communications in Business

Welcome! This guide supports ENGL 312: Written Communications in Business and will help you find information to strengthen your writing and research. Whether you’re developing a business proposal, marketing plan, or industry report, the resources here will help you gather background information, data, and examples of professional business writing.

Writing Business Proposals and Business Plans

In this course, one of the goals is to understand key areas that shape effective business communication and decision-making:

• The Business - Industry analysis, size, risks, revenue projections, etc.
• The Competition - Overview of competitors: who they are, what they’re doing, and where they operate
• The Customers - Customer needs, demographics, and strategies for better service
• The Strategies - Business models, marketing approaches, and implementation plans

The overall goal is to use this information to create a strong business plan or other written communication that clearly presents your ideas to potential investors or stakeholders.

Use this guide to help you plan and research your written business communication project.

•       Start with background sources to understand your company, industry, and audience.     
  • A quick Google search or a visit to a company’s official website is perfect for getting basic background.    
  • Look for details like mission statements, products or services, leadership, target customers, and recent news releases.     
  • You can also check  industry association websites to get a sense of key terms and trends before you begin searching in databases.  
• Use library databases for business and communication information.        
  • Search by company name, industry, keyword, or NAICS code (the industry classification number often listed on company websites).  
  • Library databases provide access to published sources like journal articles, trade publications, and industry reports that you can cite in your writing.  
  • Try combining search terms, such as:   
    •  “Starbucks” AND marketing strategy  
    • coffee industry AND sustainability 
    • agriculture AND business communication
• Look for examples of professional writing in trade publications, company reports, and scholarly articles.  
  • Trade and professional publications show how people write for business audiences.
  • Try adding keywords that point to specific content types, such as:
    • “Starbucks” AND SWOT 
    • “coffee industry” AND trends 
    • “marketing communication” AND case study 
  • In many databases, you can filter by source type (ex. magazine, trade publication, SWOT analysis, or report) to focus on the kind of writing you want to analyze.

These databases are excellent starting points for general research and business communication research.