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Table of Contents

Introduction: A Guide to Writing in Business
Thinking like a business writer
Questions business writers ask
Kinds of evidence business writers use
Ethics in business writing
Distinguishing fact, opinion, and value

Researching business
Using databases to locate business publications
Researching specific companies
Strategies for optimizing your online searches
Evaluating online resources
Checklist for evaluating online sources

Reading the business literature
Active reading
How to read quantitative and qualitative data

Writing papers and projects in business
Considering your purpose
Understanding your audience in business
Checklist for assessing the writing situation
Planning and drafting
Organizing your document
Revising and editing

Writing conventions in business
Writing strong sentences
Choosing words carefully
Presenting data

Integrating, citing, and documenting sources
Avoiding plagiarism and recognizing intellectual property
Quoting, summarizing, and paraphrasing sources
In-text citations (APA style)
Reference list (APA style)

Genres of writing in business
Email
Memos and briefs
Critique of an article or case
Competitive analysis
Business proposal
Research report
Analysis and recommendation report
White paper
Presentations

Glossary of vocabulary in business
Practice activities
Practice activity: Learning about the field
Practice activity: Writing for multiple audiences
Practice activity: Using Google Scholar
Practice activity: Article summary and critique
Practice activity: Writing a memo to ask for reimbursement
Practice activity: Revision workshop
Practice activity: Planning a research study
Practice activity: Formulating a research question about a topic
Practice activity: Evaluating online information
Practice activity: Locating and evaluating sources
Practice activity: Understanding the difference between quantitative and qualitative data
Answers to selected activities

Sample student writing: Business

More help with documentation: APA style
APA-style reference list: Additional examples

Editing strategies
Subject-verb agreement
Pronoun agreement, reference, and case
Strong verbs
Sentence fragments
Run-on sentences
Distracting shifts
Parallel structure
Clear, uncluttered sentences
Sentence emphasis
Commas
Apostrophes
Quotation marks

Authors

Stephen A. Bernhardt

Stephen A. Bernhardt is Professor of English and the Andrew B. Kirkpatrick Chair in Writing at the University of Delaware, where he teaches composition, grammar, and technical writing. His professional interests include computers in composition/distance education, writing across the curriculum, professional and technical communication, and visual rhetoric. He has also taught at New Mexico State University and at Southern Illinois University. The author of many journal articles and technical reports, Bernhardt is also the author of Writing at Work (1997) and coeditor of Expanding Literacies: English Teaching and the New Workplace (1998). Bernhardt designed the research plan and reworked content for Writers Help.

Nancy Sommers

Nancy Sommers, who has taught composition and directed composition programs for thirty years, now teaches in Harvard's Graduate School of Education. She led Harvard's Expository Writing Program for twenty years, directing the first-year writing program and establishing Harvard's WAC program. A two-time Braddock Award winner, Sommers is well known for her research and publications on student writing. Her articles “Revision Strategies of Student and Experienced Writers” and “Responding to Student Writing” are two of the most widely read and anthologized articles in the field of composition. Recently she has been exploring different audiences through publishing in popular media. Sommers is the lead author on Hacker handbooks, all published by Bedford/St. Martin’s, and editor of Tiny Teaching Stories on Macmillan Learning's Bits Blog.

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