You work for Widget Corp., a mid-sized South Carolina manufacturing firm (c. $250 million annual revenue). You supervise some technical writers, but CEO Buddy Carlton has heard how well you’ve streamlined your operations and now has given you a special project. He wants you to help him buy a house. It’s not for him; he’s very happy with his estate in Beaufort County. He wants a house to use as the Widget Corporation Executive Retreat Center-- in other words, a place to entertain clients, hold private meetings, and with which to tempt or bribe managers. “If you’re a good girl or boy,” he can tell them, “we might let you stay at the fancy beach house for a weekend.”
OK, so, a beach house. On the beach? If at all possible. Which beach? Doesn’t matter, as long as it’s in South Carolina. And-- as long as the house is “close enough to the necessities.” You’re afraid to sound dumb and ask Mr. Carlton (you’re not allowed to call him “Buddy” yet) what he means by “necessities.” This list of necessities is something you and your team need to figure out, ASAP.
“I’m talking house, not condo!” Mr. Carlton warns you. Mentally, you’re calculating that it had also better have plenty of bedrooms and bathrooms and a kitchen and living area that can handle social gatherings. But what else?
Your budget? “Any dip**** can reel this fish in for four million,” Mr. Carlton said. You interpreted that to mean, “You have a maximum of four million dollars to spend but I don’t want you to spend the entire amount.”
“The money guys can worry about taxes, utilities, maintenance, all that crap. If we need to lay off a few people to cover it, fine.” Mr. Carlton doesn’t care about schools, either, or trash pickup or sewer lines. He’s used to paying people to take care of those details. He does want to see the specs for four or five possible houses with lists of “necessities” and, of course, the asking price.
Your Task
Research, write, and design a report with a user-friendly, unified appearance, not a bunch of copy/ pastes from Realtor websites. Think about arrangement: what is the most logical order for the information? What kind of information must be included in order to accurately present the available options without wasting Mr. Carlton’s time?
We will discuss sample reports in class. Your goal is a clear, consistent, accurate, user- friendly, professional-looking report.
Sample Solution