2

MODUL PERKULIAHAN

Business
Communication

Planning Reports and Proposal

Abstract Competence

Explain the meaning The process of developing

indispensable information, in business
reports and proposals, making good
business reports and proposals

Fakultas Program Studi Tatap Muka Kode MK Disusun Oleh

09
Ekonomi dan Bisnis Manajemen F032100011 Fadhila Dhia Malihah, B.Com, MIB
Reports and Proposal Writing Process
Reports fall into three basic categories:

 Informational reports offer data, facts, feedback, and other types of information,
without analysis or recommendations.
 Analytical reports offer both information and analysis and can also include
recommendations.
 Proposals present persuasive recommendations to internal or external audiences,
often involving investments or purchases.

Information Analytical
Proposals
Reports Reports.
Reports to
Monitor and Reports to Asses Internal
control Opportunities Proposals
operations

Reports to
Implement Reports to solve External
Policies and problems Proposals
Procedures

Reports to Reports to
Demonstrate Support
Compliance Decisions

Reports to
Document
Progress

Picture 1. Common Business Reports and Proposals

View every business report as an opportunity to demonstrate your understanding of your

audience's challenges and your ability to contribute to your organization's success. The
three-step process you need to follow is to Analyze the situation, gather information, and
organizing your information.

ANALYZING THE SITUATION

Reports can be complex, time consuming projects, so be sure to analyze the situation
carefully before you begin to write. Pay special attention to your statement of purpose, which
explains why you are preparing the report and what you plan to deliver.

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The most useful way to phrase your purpose statement is to begin with an infinitive can be
as simple as one of these:

 To identify potential markets for our new language learning games.

 To update the board of directors on the progress of the research project
 To submit required information to the Securities and Exchange Commission

The statement of purpose for an analytical report often needs to be more comprehensive.
For example, if you were asked to find ways of reducing employee travel and entertainment
(T&E) costs, you might phrase your statement of purpose like this:

 To analyze the T&E budget, evaluate the impact of recent changes in airfares and
hotel costs, and suggest ways to tighten management's control over T&E expenses

A proposal must also be guided by a clear statement of purpose to help you focus on
crafting a persuasive message. Here are several examples:

 To secure funding for robotic material handling systems in next year's budget
 To get management approval to reorganize the North American salesforce
 To secure $2 million from outside investors to start production of the new titanium
mountain bike

In addition to considering your purpose carefully, you will want to prepare a work plan for
most reports and proposals in order to make the best use of your time. For simpler reports,
the work plan can be an informal list of tasks and a simple schedule. However, if you're
preparing a lengthy report, particularly when you're collaborating with others, you'll want to
develop a more detailed work plan (Picture 2)

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 Picture 2. Work Plan for a report Example

GATHERING INFORMATION

Obtaining the information needed for many reports and proposals requires careful planning,
and you may even need to do a separate research project just to acquire the data and
information you need. To stay on schedule and on budget, be sure to review both your
statement of purpose and your audience's needs so that you can prioritize your information
needs and focus on the most important questions.

ORGANIZING YOUR INFORMATION

 The direct approach is often used for reports because it is efficient and easy to
follow, so use it whenever your audience is likely to be receptive or at least open-
minded to what you have to say (see Picture 3). Lead with a summary of your key
findings, conclusions, recommendations, or proposal, whichever is relevant. This "up-
front" arrangement saves time and makes the rest of the report easier to follow. For

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 those readers who have questions or want more information, later parts of the report
provide complete findings and supporting details.
 However, if the audience is unsure about your credibility or is not ready to accept
your main idea without seeing some reasoning or evidence, consider the indirect
approach, as it gives you the chance to prove your points once at a time and build
acceptance for the main idea. Unsolicited proposals in particular often use the
indirect approach.

Picture 2. Direct and Indirect approach in the Introduction

Supporting Your messages with reliable

information
Effective research involves a lot more than simply typing a few terms into a search engine.
Save time and get better results by using a clear process:

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  Plan your research.
Planning is the most important step of any research project.
 Locate the data and information you need.
Your next step is to figure out where the data and information are and how to access
them.
 Process the data and information you located.
The data and information you find probably won't be in a form you can use
immediately and may require statistical analysis of other processing.
 Apply your findings.
You can apply your research findings in three ways: summarizing information,
drawing conclusions, and developing, recommendations.
 Manage information efficiently.
Many companies try to maximize the return on the time and money invested in
business research by collecting and sharing research results in a variety of systems,
known generally as knowledge management systems.

PLANNING YOUR RESEARCH

Start by developing a problem statement that defines the purpose of your research-the
decision you need to make or the conclusion you need to reach at the end of the process.
Next, identify the information you need in order to make that decision or reach that
conclusion. You can then begin to generate the questions that will constitute your research.
Chances are you will have more questions than you have time or money to answer, so
prioritize your information needs.

Before beginning any research project, remember that research carries some significant
ethical responsibilities. Your research tactics affect the people you gather data and
information from, the people who read your results, and the people who are affected by the
way you present those results. To avoid ethical lapses, follow these guidelines:

 Keep an open mind so that you don't skew the research toward the answers you
want or expect to see.
 Do not collect data from people without their knowledge or consent.
 Take every reasonable caution to protect the identity of research participants and the
security of the information they give you.
 Don't mislead people about the purposes of your research, such as asking them to
participate in a survey that is really a sales pitch in disguise.
 Document sources and give appropriate credit.

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  Respect your sources' intellectual property rights (the ownership of creative and
intellectual works
 Don't distort information from your sources.
 Don't misrepresent who you are or what you intend to do with the research results.

In addition to ethics, research etiquette deserves careful attention. For example, respect the
time of anyone who agrees to be interviewed or to be a research participant, and maintain
courtesy throughout the interview or research process.

LOCATING DATA AND INFORMATION

The range of sources available to business researchers today can be overwhelming. The
good news is that if you have a question about an industry, a company, a market, a
technology, or a financial topic, somebody else has probably already researched the subject.

Research done previously for another purpose is considered secondary research; sources
for such research information include magazines, newspapers, websites, books, and other
reports. Don't let the name secondary mislead you, though. You want to start with secondary
research because it can save you considerable time and money for many projects. In
contrast, primary research involves the collection of new data through surveys, interviews,
and other techniques.

EVALUATING INFORMATION SOURCES

No matter where you're searching, it is your responsibility to separate quality information

from unreliable junk to avoid tainting your results or damaging your reputation. Social media
tools have complicated this challenge by making many new sources of information available.
On the positive side, independent sources communicating through blogs, Twitter, wikis,
user-generated content sites, and podcasting channels can provide valuable and unique
insights, often from experts whose voices might never be heard otherwise. On the negative
side, these nontraditional information sources often lack the editorial boards and fact-
checkers commonly used in traditional publishing. You cannot assume that the information
you find in blogs and other sources is accurate, objective, and current. Answer the following
questions about each piece of material:

 Does the source have a reputation for honesty and reliability? For example, try to find
out how the source accepts articles and whether it has an editorial board, conducts
peer reviews, or follows fact-checking procedures.
 Is the source potentially biased? To interpret an organization's information, you need
to know its point of view. In general, there is nothing wrong with having a point of
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 view, bur as a user of information, you need to know whether that perspective might
have skewed that information.
 What is the purpose of the material For instance, was the material designed to inform
others of new research, to advance a political position, or to promote a product?
 Is the author credible? ls the author a professional journalist, an informed amateur of
merely someone with an opinion?
 Where did the source get its information Try to find out who collected the data and
the methods they used
 Can you verify the material independently? Verification is particularly important when
the information goes beyond simple facts to include projections, interpretations, and
estimates
 Is the material current and complete? Make sure you are using the most current
information available. Have you accessed the entire document or only a selection
from it?
 Does the information mako sense? Step back and determine whether the information
stands up to logical scrutiny.

You probably won't have time to conduct a thorough background check on all your
sources, so focus your efforts on the most important or most suspicious pieces of
information, and if you can't verify critical facts or figures, be sure to let your readers
know that.

USING YOUR RESEARCH RESULTS

After you've collected data and information, the next step is to transform this raw material
into the specific content you need. This step can involve quoting, paraphrasing, or
summarizing textual material; drawing conclusions; and making recommendations.

1. Quoting, Paraphrasing, and Summarizing Information

You can use textual information from secondary sources in three ways.
 Quoting a source means you reproduce the material exactly as you found
it (giving full credit to the source, of course). Use direct quotations when
the original language will enhance your argument or when rewording the
passage would reduce its impact. However, be careful with direct quotes:
Using too many creates a choppy patchwork of varying styles and gives
the impression that all you've done is piece together the work of other
people. When quoting sources, set off shorter passages with quotation
marks and set off longer passages (generally five lines of more) as
separate, indented paragraphs.
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  You can often maximize the impact of secondary material in your own
writing by paraphrasing it: restating it in your own words and with your
own sentence structures.' Paraphrasing helps you maintain a consistent
tone while using vocabulary that's familiar to your audience. Of course,
you still need to credit the originator of the information, but you don't need
quotation marks or indented paragraphs.
 Summarizing is similar to paraphrasing, but presents the gist of the
material in fewer words than the original by leaving out details, examples,
and less important information (Picture 3). Summarizing is not always a
simple task, and your audience will judge your ability to separate
significant issues from less significant details, Like quotations and
paraphrases, summaries also require complete documentation of
sources.
Of course, all three approaches require careful attention to ethics. When quoting
directly, take care not to distort the original intent of the material by quoting
selectively or out of context. And never resort to plagiarism-presenting someone
else's words as your own, such as copying material from an online source and
dropping it into a report without giving proper credit.

Picture 3. Summarizing Effectively

2. Drawing Conclusions
A conclusion is a logical interpretation of facts and other information. In addition
to being logically sound, a conclusion should be based only on the information
provided or referred to w the report. Reaching good conclusions is one of the
most important skills you can develop in your business career. In fact, the ability
to see patterns and possibilities that others can't is one of the hallmarks of
innovative business leaders.
3. Making Recommendations

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 Whereas a conclusion interprets information, a recommendation suggests what
to do about the information. The following example shows the difference between
a conclusion and a recommendation:
a) Conclusion
On the basis of its track record and current price, I believe that this
company is an attractive buy.
b) Recommendation
I recommend that we offer to buy the company at a 10 percent premium
over the current market value of its stock.
To be credible, recommendations must be practical and based on sound logical
analysis. Also, when making a recommendation, be certain you have adequately
described the recommended course of action so that readers aren't left
wondering what happens next.

Conducting Secondary Research

Even if you intend to eventually conduct primary research, start with a review of any
available secondary research. Inside your company, you might be able to find a variety of
helpful reports and other documents. Outside the company, you can choose from a wide
range of print and online resources, both in libraries and online.

FINDING INFORMATION AT A LIBRARY

Public, corporate, and university libraries offer printed sources with information that is not
available online, as well as online sources that are available only by subscription. For
entrepreneurs and small-business owners in particular, local libraries can provide access to
expensive databases and other information sources that would be beyond their reach
otherwise.

Libraries are also where you'll find one of your most important resources: librarians.
Reference librarians are trained in research techniques and can often help you find obscure
information you can't find on your own. They can also direct you to the typical library's many
sources of business information:

a) Newspapers and periodicals. Libraries offer access (in print and online) to
a wide variety of popular magazines, general business magazines, trade
journals (which provide information about specific professions and

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 industries), and academic journals (which provide research-oriented
articles from researchers and educators),
b) Business books. Although less timely than newspapers, periodicals, and
online sources, business books provide in-depth coverage and analysis
that often can't be found anywhere else.
c) Directories, Thousands of directories are published in print and digital
formats in the United States, and many include information for all kinds of
professions, industries, and special-interest groups.
d) Almanacs and statistical resources. Almanacs are handy guides to factual
and statistical information about countries, politics, the labor force, and so
on.
e) Government publications. Information on laws, court decisions, tax
questions, regulatory issues, and other governmental concerns can often
be found in collections of government documents.
f) Databases. Databases offer vast collections of computer-searchable
information, often in specific areas such as business, law, science,
technology, and education. Some of these are available only by
institutional subscription, so the library may be your only way to gain
access to them. Some libraries offer remote online access to some or all
databases; for others, you'll need to visit in person.

FINDING INFORMATION ONLINE

The Internet can be a tremendous source of business information, provided you know where
to look and how to use the tools available. Roughly speaking, the tools fall into two
categories: those you can use to actively search for existing information and those you can
use to monitor selected sources for new information. (Some tools can perform both
functions.)

1. Online Search Tools

The most familiar search tools are general-purpose search engines, such as
Google, which scan millions of websites to identify individual webpages that
contain a specific word or phrase and then attempt to rank the results from most
useful to least useful. Website owners use search engine optimization techniques
to help boost their rankings in the results, but the ranking algorithms are kept
secret to prevent unfair manipulation of the results.
For all their ease and power, conventional search engines have three primary
short comings:

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 o No human editors are involved to evaluate the quality or ranking of the search
results;
o Various engines use different search techniques, so they often find different
material; and
o Search engines can't reach all the content on some websites (this part of the
Internet is sometimes called the hidden Internet or the deep Internet).
Online databases help address the challenge of the hidden Internet by offering
access to newspapers, magazines, journals, digital copies of books, and other
resources often not available with standard search engines, Some of these
databases offer free access to the public, but others requite a subscription (check
with your library).
2. Online Monitoring Tools
One of the most powerful aspects of online research is the ability to automatically
monitor selected sources for new information. The possibilities include
subscribing to newsfeeds from blogs, following people on Twitter and other
microblogs, setting up alerts on search engines and online databases, and using
specialized monitors such as Tweet Deck and Hoot suite to track tweets that
mention specific companies or other terms.

Conducting Primary Research

If secondary research can't provide the information and insights you need, you may have to
gather the information yourself with primary research. The two most common primary
research methods for report writing are surveys and interviews. Other primary techniques
are observations (including tracking the behavior of website visitors) and experiments (in
special situations such as test marketing), but they're less commonly used for day-to-day
business research.

CONDUCTING SURVEYS

Surveys can provide invaluable insights, but only if they are reliable (would produce identical
results if repeated under similar conditions) and valid (measure what they're supposed to
measure). To conduct a survey that generates reliable and valid results, you need to choose
research participants carefully and develop an effective set of questions. To develop an
effective survey questionnaire, follow these tips:

 Provide clear instructions to make sure people can answer every question correctly
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  Don't ask for information that people can't be expected to remember, such as how
many times they went grocery shopping in the past year.
 Keep the questionnaire short and easy to complete; don't expect people to give you
more than 10 or 15 minutes of their time.
 Whenever possible, formulate questions to provide answers that are easy to analyze.
Numbers and facts are easier to summarize than opinions, for instance.
 Avoid leading questions that could bias your survey. If you ask, “Do you prefer that
we stay open in the evenings for customer convenience?” you'll no doubt get a “yes.”
Instead, ask, “What time of day do you normally do your shopping?”
 Avoid vague descriptors such as often or frequently. Such terms mean different
things to different people.
 Make each question about a single idea. Instead of asking “Do you read newspapers
on your PC and on your smartphone?” ask about each device separately

When selecting people to participate in a survey, the most critical task is getting a
representative sample of the entire population in question. Doing so involves identifying
enough of the right kinds of respondents and persuading them to participate. Every method
of contacting people for research has limitations that need to be addressed to avoid
sampling bias, which can skew a survey by under- or over-representing certain segments of
the population. For example, the surveys you see on many websites capture only the
opinions of people who visit the sites and who want to participate, which might not be a
representative sample of the population of interest.

For major business decisions that rely on accurate survey data, the best course is to hire
research professionals who know how to design surveys, select representative samples, and
assess the statistical accuracy of the results. For many business writing projects, however,
you can get useful results using less formal methods. To survey employees within your
company for instance, posting a questionnaire on your internal messaging or social
networking system will probably yield adequate information as long as a reasonable portion
of the workforce responds.

CONDUCTING INTERVIEWS

Getting in-depth information straight from an expert, customer, or other interested party can
be a great method for collecting primary information. Interviews can have a variety of
formats, from email exchanges to group discussions. (Note that interviews can be done as
part of formal survey research as well.)

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Ask open-ended questions (such as “Why do you believe that South America represents a
better opportunity than Europe for this product line?”) to solicit opinions, insights, and
information. Ask closed questions to elicit a specific answer, such as yes or no. However,
don't use too many closed questions in an interview, or the experience will feel more like a
simple survey and won't take full advantage of the interactive interview setting.

Think carefully about the sequence of your questions and the potential answers so you can
arrange them in an order that helps uncover layers of information. Also consider providing
each subject with a list of questions at least a day or two before the interview, especially if
you'd like to quote your subjects in writing or if your questions might require people to
conduct research or think extensively about the answers. If you want to record interviews,
ask ahead of time; never record without permission.

Planning Informational Reports

Informational reports provide the feedback that employees, managers, and others need in
order to make decisions, take action, and respond to changes. Informational reports can be
grouped into four general categories:

 Reports to monitor and control operations.

Managers rely on a wide range of reports to see how well their companies are
functioning. Plans establish expectations and guidelines to direct future action.
Among the most important of these are business plans, which summarize a proposed
business venture and describe the company's goals and plans for each major
functional area. Operating reports provide feedback on a variety of an organization's
functions, including sales, inventories, expenses, shipments, and so on. Personal
activity reports provide information regarding an individual's experiences during sales
calls, industry conferences, and other activities.
 Reports to implement policies and procedures.
Policy reports range from brief descriptions of business procedures to manuals that
run dozens or hundreds of pages. Position papers, sometimes called white papers or
backgrounders, outline an organization's official position on issues that affect the
company's success.
 Reports to demonstrate compliance.
Businesses are required to submit a variety of compliance reports, from tax returns to
reports describing the proper handling of hazardous materials.
 Reports to document progress.
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 Supervisors, investors, and customers frequently expect to be informed of the
progress of projects and other activities. Progress reports range from simple updates
in memo form to comprehensive status reports.

ORGANIZING INFORMATIONAL REPORTS

In most cases, the direct approach is the best choice for informational reports because you
are simply conveying information. However, if the information is disappointing, such as a
project being behind schedule or over budget, you might consider using the indirect
approach to build up to the bad news.

Most informational reports use a topical organization, arranging material in one of the
following ways:

 Comparison. Showing similarities and differences (or advantages and

disadvantages) between two or more entities
 Importance. Building up from the least important item to the most important (or going
from most important to the least, if you don't think your audience will read the entire
report)
 Sequence. Organizing the steps or stages in a process or procedure
 Chronology. Organizing a chain of events in order from oldest to newest or vice versa
 Geography. Organizing by region, city, state, country, or other geographic unit
 Category. Grouping by topical category, such as sales, profit, cost, or investment

Planning Analytical Reports

The purpose of analytical reports is to analyze, to understand, or to explain-to think through
a problem or an opportunity and explain how it affects an organization and how the
organization should respond. In many cases, you'll also be expected to make a
recommendation based on your analysis. As you saw in Picture 1, analytical reports fall into
three basic categories:

 Reports to assess opportunities. Every business opportunity carries some degree of

risk and requires a variety of decisions and actions to capitalize on the opportunity.
You can use analytical reports to assess both risk and required decisions and
actions. For instance, market analysis reports are used to judge the likelihood of
success for new products or sales. Due diligence reports examine the financial
aspects of a pro-posed decision, such as acquiring another company.

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  Reports to solve problems. Managers often assign troubleshooting reports when they
need to understand why something isn't working properly and how to fix it. A
variation, the failure analysis report, studies events that happened in the past, with
the hope of learning how to avoid similar failures in the future.
 Reports to support decisions. Feasibility reports explore the potential ramifications of
a decision that managers are considering, and justification reports explain a decision
that has already been made.

Writing analytical reports presents a greater challenge than writing informational reports, for
three reasons:

1. First, you're doing more than simply delivering information-you're also analyzing a
situation and presenting your conclusions.
2. Second, when your analysis is complete, you need to present your thinking in a
compelling and persuasive manner.
3. Third, analytical reports often convince other people to make significant financial and
personnel decisions, and these reports carry the added responsibility of the
consequences of such decisions.

FOCUSING ON CONCLUSIONS

When planning reports for readers who are likely to accept your conclusions-either because
they've asked you to perform an analysis or they trust your judgment-consider using the
direct approach and opening with your conclusions. This structure communicates the main
idea quickly, but it does present some risks. Even if audiences trust your judgment, they may
have questions about your data or the methods you used. Moreover, starting with a
conclusion may create the impression that you have oversimplified the situation. To give
readers the opportunity to explore the thinking behind your conclusion, support that
conclusion with solid reasoning and evidence.

FOCUSING ON RECOMMENDATIONS

A slightly different approach is useful when your readers want to know what they ought to do
in a given situation (as opposed to what they ought to conclude). The actions you want your
readers to take become the main subdivisions of your report.

When structuring a report around recommendations, use the direct approach, as you would
for a report that focuses on conclusions. Then present your recommendations using a series
of five steps:

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 1. Establish the need for action by briefly describing the problem or opportunity in the
introduction.
2. Introduce the benefit(s) that can be achieved if the recommendation is adopted,
along with any potential risks.
3. List the steps (recommendations) required to achieve the benefit, using action verbs
for emphasis.
4. Explain each step more fully, giving details on procedures, costs, and benefits; if
necessary, also explain how risks can be minimized.
5. Summarize your recommendations.

FOCUSING ON LOGICAL ARGUMENTS

When readers are potentially skeptical or hostile, consider using the indirect approach to
build logically toward your conclusion or recommendation. If you guide readers along a
rational path toward the answer, they are more likely to accept it when they encounter it. The
two most common logical approaches are known as the 2 + 2 = 4 approach, in which you
convince readers by demonstrating that everything adds up to your conclusion, and the
yardstick approach, in which you use a number of criteria to decide which option to select
from two or more possibilities (see Picture 4).

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 Picture 4. Analytical Report Focusing on Logical Arguments

Planning Proposals
Proposals can be grouped into two general categories.

1. Internal proposals request decisions from managers within the organization.

2. External proposals request decisions from parties outside the organization. For
example, investment proposals request funding from outside investors, grant
proposals request funds from government agencies and other sponsoring
organizations, and sales proposals present solutions for potential customers and
request purchase decisions.

The most significant factor in planning a proposal is whether the recipient has asked you to
submit a proposal.

 Solicited proposals are generally prepared at the request of external parties that
require a product or a service, but they may also be requested by such internal
sources as management or the board of directors. Some organizations prepare a

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 formal invitation to bid on their contracts, called a request for proposals (RFP), which
includes instructions that specify the type of work to be performed or products to be
delivered, along with budgets, deadlines, and other requirements. Other companies
then respond by preparing proposals that show how they would meet those needs. In
most cases, organizations that issue RFPs also provide strict guidelines on what the
proposals should include; and you need to follow these guidelines carefully in order
to be considered.
 Unsolicited proposals offer more flexibility but a completely different sort of challenge
because recipients aren't expecting to receive them. In fact, your audience may not
be aware of the problem or opportunity you are addressing, so before you can
propose a solution, you might first need to convince your readers that a problem or
an opportunity exists. Consequently, the indirect approach is often the wise choice
for unsolicited proposals.

Regardless of its format and structure, a good proposal explains what a project or course of
action will involve, how much it will cost, and how the recipient and his or her organization
will benefit.

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References
Bovee Courtlan L – Thill John V. (2010) : Business Communication,Six Edition, Pearson
Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall International Inc..

Bovee Courtland L, Thill Jhon V, (2008) : Komunikasi Bisnis, Edisi Kedelapan, PT. Indeks,
Jakarta.

Guffey, Mary Ellen, (2006) : Business Communication, Edisi 4, Salemba Empat, Jakarta.

Joko Purwanto (2010) : Komunikasi Bisnis, Edisi .Erlangga, Jakarta

Lehman and Du Frene (2012) : Business Communications 3E, 3rd Edition, Cangage
Learning.

Mary Ellen Guffey (2006) : Komunikasi Bisnis (Proses dan Produk), Salemba Empat, Jakarta

Purwanto Djoko, (2006) : Komunikasi Bisnis, Edisi Ketiga, Erlangga Jakarta.

2021 Nama Mata Kuliah dari Modul

21 Fadhila Dhia Malihah, B.Com, MIB
Biro Bahan Ajar eLearning dan MKCU
http://pbael.mercubuana.ac.id/