Business and Administrative Communication 10th Edition by Kitty Locker,Donna Kienzler

Exercise 10

Dumping Your Trash
With the economic downturn, organizations are looking for any possible cost-cutting measures. Today, your supervisors tell you about a new program they are starting next week to reduce costs. From now on, employees will be responsible for dumping their own trash into a common bin. Employees who work for the state of Texas, the University of Washington, and Dartmouth College already participate in this project and have saved their organizations thousands of dollars. Your supervisors believe the same savings will happen at your company.
All employees in your organization will have two cans at their desks: a large one for recyclables and smaller one for trash. In addition to the estimated money that the organization will save from custodial needs, they also hope to gain more revenue from the recycling bins.
As your instructor directs,
a. Write to everyone in your company and explain the new trash policy.
b. Write a complaint memo to your supervisors as an employee concerned about the new trash policy.
c. After the two messages are drafted, write a memo to your instructor that discusses which message was easier to create and why. You should also discuss which message you believe makes a stronger argument.
Hints:
Pick a business, government, or nonprofit organization you know something about.
What benefits can you stress to employees about the new policy
How can you complain to your supervisor so that he/she takes you seriously
What are the disadvantages of reducing work for the lowest-paid employees
Based on Sudeep Reddy, "Memo to All Staff: Dump Your Trash," Wall Street Journal, November 1, 2010, A3.