Business Wrtiting Style Guide2020
It is the goal of this book to help students do the following:
• Apply basic concepts for effective and concise business writing.
• Compile a well written report acceptable within a business context.
• Follow a writing process designed for business students.
• Demonstrate critical thinking, reasoning, and persuasion.
• Communicate in writing using a business model.
• Apply resources for improving business writing skills.
In 2009, John Morris transitioned from a three decades long career in private industry to teach at OSU; his first course incorporated the university’s Writing Intensive Course (WIC) requirement, for the College of Business. As a stipulation of its accreditation process, AAC&U requires that each college have a WIC that teaches students how write in the profession. Having worked extensively with recent college graduates in private industry, John had some very specific ideas about what was needed to write for business, but he found little in existence in the way of universal business writing standards beyond academic writing guides. During the interim nine years of teaching WIC, a variety of undergraduate and graduate courses, and collaborating with other business instructors and professors, he developed a variety of job aids to help students write for business.
Julie Zwart is an instructor in INTO Oregon State University’s Graduate Pathway program. The Pathway program was established in 2008 to provide language, culture, and academic support for international students as they transition into their masters programs at OSU. Julie began teaching at INTO OSU in 2014, and shortly after worked on a project to redesign a foundational MBA pathway course, which is how she met John. Later she worked with him as co-instructor in the MBA Pathway teaching writing and analysis. Over the course of working together and assessing the needs of students in terms written communication for business purposes, the two undertook creating this writing textbook.
