COURSE & SEMINAR 1

BUSINESS LETTER
Common Components and Formats
The following is concerned with the mechanical and physical details of business letters.
Heading. The heading contains the writer's address and the date of the letter. The writer's name is
not included and only a date is needed in headings on letterhead stationery.
Inside address. The inside address shows the name and address of the recipient of the letter. This
information helps prevent confusion. Also, if the recipient has moved, the inside address helps to
determine what to do with the letter. In the inside address, include the appropriate title of respect of
the recipient; and copy the name of the company exactly as that company writes it. When you do
have the names of individuals, remember to address them appropriately: Mrs., Ms., Mr., Dr., and so
on. If you are not sure what is correct for an individual, try to find out how that individual signs
letters or consult the forms-of-address section in a dictionary.
Salutation. The salutation, the "Dear Sir" of the letter, is followed by a colon (except when a
friendly, familiar, sociable tone is intended, in which case a comma is used). Notice that in the
simplified letter format, the salutation line is eliminated altogether. If you don't know whether the
recipient is a man or woman, traditionally you write "Dear Sir" or "Dear Sirs" and just not worry
about it. More recently, however, salutations such as "Dear Sir or Madame," "Dear Ladies and
Gentlemen," "Dear Friends," or "Dear People" have been recommended. Deleting the salutation line
altogether or inserting "To Whom It May Concern" in its place, however, is not always a good
solution; it's quite impersonal. Try to get a person's name within the organization; make a quick,
anonymous phone call to get a name. Or, address the salutation to a department name, committee
name, or a position name: "Dear Customer Relations Department," "Dear Recruitment Committee,"
"Dear Chairperson," "Dear Director of Financial Aid," for example.
Subject or reference line. As shown in the order letter, the subject line replaces the salutation or is
included with it. The subject line announces the main business of the letter.
Body of the letter. The actual message of course is contained in the body of the letter, the
paragraphs between the salutation and the complimentary close. Strategies for writing the body of
the letter are discussed in the section on business-correspondence style.
Complimentary close. The "Sincerely yours" element of the business letter is called the
complimentary close. Other common ones are "Sincerely yours," "Cordially," "Respectfully," or
"Respectfully yours." You can design your own, but be careful not to create florid or wordy ones.
Notice that only the first letter is capitalized, and it is always followed by a comma.
Signature block. Usually, you type your name four lines below the complimentary close, and sign
your name in between. If you are a woman and want to make your marital status clear, use Miss,
Ms., or Mrs. in parentheses before the typed version of your first name. Whenever possible, include
your title or the name of the position you hold just below your name. For example, "Technical
writing student," "Sophomore data processing major," or "Tarrant County Community College
Student" are perfectly acceptable.
End notations. Just below the signature block are often several abbreviations or phrases that have
important functions.

Initials. The initials in all capital letters are those of the writer of the letter, and the ones in lower
case letters just after the colon are those of the typist.
Enclosures. To make sure that the recipient knows that items accompany the letter in the same
envelope, use such indications as "Enclosure," "Encl.," "Enclosures (2)." For example, if you send a
resume and writing sample with your application letter, you'd do this: "Encl.: Resume and Writing
Sample." If the enclosure is lost, the recipient will know.
Copies. If you send copies of a letter to others, indicate this fact among the end notations also. If,
for example, you were upset by a local merchant's handling of your repair problems and were
sending a copy of your letter to the Better Business Bureau, you'd write this: "cc: Better Business
Bureau." If you plan to send a copy to your lawyer, write something like this: "cc: Mr Raymond
Mason, Attorney."
Following pages. If your letter is longer than one page, the heading at the top of subsequent pages
can be handled in one by numbering.
If you use letterhead stationery, remember not to use it for subsequent pages. However, you must
use blank paper of the same quality, weight, and texture as the letterhead paper (usually, letterhead
stationery comes with matching blank paper).

Figure 1-1. Standard components of a business letter

PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS
Task 1. Choose the right option:
1. On your official letter your name should appear
A. at the top, on the right; B. at the bottom; C. at the top and at the bottom
2. If you start your letter with Dear Sirs, you end it with
A. Yours sincerely; B. Best wishes; C. Yours faithfully
3. The abbreviation Enc. should appear:
A. at the bottom, on the left; B. at the bottom, on the right; C. below senders
address
4. Senders address should appear
A. at the top, on the right; B. at the top, on the left; C. at the bottom, on
the left
5. The complimentary close of an official letter reads:
A. I/We look forward about hearing from you; B. I/We look forward to hear from
you; C. I/We look forward to hearing from you
Tick the incorrect opening salutation
A. Dear Madam; B. Dear Anne Morrison; C. Dear Anne
Tick the incorrect date
A. 12 January 2001; B. January 12, 2001; C. Bratislava, 12 January 2001
8. The abbreviation for Missis is
A. Mrs; B. Ms; C. Mss

Task 2. Fill in the gaps in the following letter with words from the menu:
of, in, on, before, In, to, on, from, for, to, of
Dear Mr Smith
I am writing
_behalf
the Organising Committee
the 5th International
Conference
Information Technology. The conference will take place
25
28 June 2013.
Please find enclosed the programme and attendance request form.
order to
assure accommodation
conference participants
good time we would be very
grateful if you could return the attendance request form
1st June 2013.
We look forward
hearing from you.
Yours sincerely

Task 3. Fill in the gaps in this letter with words from the menu
arranged, pleased, faithfully, commitment, participate, regret, honouring,
series
Dear Sirs
I am
and honoured by the invitation to
in your conference. I
very much
to say that it will not be possible for me to participate this
time. Between 20th and 30th June 2013 I am giving a
of lectures at the
University of South Essex. It was
last January and I cannot change this
anymore.
Thank you once more for
me with your invitation.
With very good wish for the success of the conference,
Yours

Task 4. Fill in the gaps in this letter with words from the menu
send, together, forward, Project, Madam, based, attention, protecting, sell,
graphics, faithfully
Discpro SA
251, Rue des Ramonires F- 86256 POITIERS
CEDEX France
For the

(1) of the Sales Manager

Dear Sir or

(2)

We are a software company

(3) in London and are currently
developing a Windows-based scientific
_(4) package for use in
universities and research laboratories.
We are interested in
(5) the programs we
(6) from
unauthorised copying and duplication.
Could you please
(7) us more technical information about your RSP11 software protection system
(8) with your current brochure and
price list?
We look

(9) to hearing from you.

Yours

(10).

Jane Shillingford
Jane Shillingford
(11) Director

Task 5. Solve the jigsaw puzzle. Put the letter in the correct order.
We are pleased to hear of your companys interest in purchasing our Axer 550S
scanner.
22 May 2013
You asked about a quantity discount.
Thank you for your letter of 15 May enquiring about our new scanner models.
We will be happy to discuss this if you give us some idea of the quantity you
are ordering.
Sales Manager
Our terms of payment are 15 days after the receipt of invoice.
Yours sincerely
Mr J. Carmicle
Manager
JC Software
19 Market Street
Brighton BN4 6CD
We would also like to draw your attention to our Packard 305C model, which has
just been introduced to the market.
MB COMPUTERS
25 Bayswater Road, Putney PT7 9DS, tel/fax 0432-243 8719, e-mail:
Mary.Bates@mbcom.co.uk
I look forward to hearing from you in the near future.
Dear Mr. Carmicle:
Do not hesitate to contact us if you want to get any more information.
Mary Bates

Task 6. Match each section of the letter with the appropriate gap on the blank below:
1. We are currently using 15 Procom 211 Premier PCs in our mail-order
department. We have been pleased with their performance, but now require
machines that will run faster.

2. M H Jansen
Publicity Manager
3. I look forward to hearing from you
4. Could you please let me know whether it is possible to upgrade the PCs to
Pentium III and what the likely cost would be?
5. Dear Mr. Barnard:
6. Mr. J. Barnard
Corporate Sales Department
Procom Ltd
58 Edison Street
Robin's Lane Industrial Estate
Canterbury
Ken CT19 3TE
7. Yours sincerely
8. 12 May 2013
9. The Red Box
54 Streamside Road
Cardiff CF1 1JW
10. Our Ref: CUG/pl
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J

Task 7. In each of the following sentences, choose the correct word to fill the gap.
1. I would be
if you could send me details of your PS/2 range.
a. thankful, b. please, c. content, d. grateful
2. You were
to us by our associates.
a. advised, b. suggest, c. recommended, d. informed
3. We were given your
by the Chamber of Commerce.
a. identity, b. company, c. name, d. placing
4. Thank you for your letter
a. in, b. on, c. of, d. from

19 June.

5. Please
enclosed our current catalogue and price list.
a. find, b. look, c. receive, d. examine
6. We would appreciate
you could send us further information on
your range of non-impact printers.
a. it that, b. this, c. when, d. it if
7. I would be grateful if you could arrange for your Technical Director
me.
a. will call, b. is calling, c. to call, d. calls

on

8. We look forward

from you.
a. hear, b. to hear, c. hearing, d. to hearing
9. We would be grateful
a. to, b. of, c. for, d. with
10.

an early reply.

Should

you require anything further

to contact me.
a. void, b. hesitate, c. delay, d. prevent

at

this

time,

please

do

not

Task 8. Match the beginning and the end of these sentences. Based on some of them, write a
letter of complaint, following the pre-defined letter format.
1. I am writing to complain about the
late
2. I am writing with reference
3. We are returning the goods to you
because
4. Please arrange for the goods to be
5. Please send us a refund for
6. Please accept my apologies
7. The problem arose due to
8. We would like to apologize for the
error

a. collected from the factory.

b. on the invoice.
c.
a
fault
in
the
manufacturing
process.
d. we are not satisfied with them.
e. delivery of items I ordered last
week.
f. to order UH-879/94.
g. the full amount.
h. for the inconvenience.

Task 9. When writing formal letters, the questions are replaced with phrases like Could you
please let us know. and Kindly inform us Change the questions below to suit the content of
a letter:
1. How would you like us to pay?
Could you please let us know
2. How many items would you like to order?
Please let us know
3. Do you have the items in stock?
Could you please tell us
4. Are these items acceptable to you?
Please let us know
5. Do you anticipate any delays with delivery?
Please let us know
6. When would you be able to ship the order?
Kindly inform us
7. Where would you like us to send the order?
Please let us know
8. Would you be prepared to offer us a quantity discount?
Could you please tell us
9. When would you like to receive payment?
Please let us know
10. Would you like us to arrange a maintenance contract?
Kindly inform us

Glossary
durable long-lasting
decade 10 years
tangible assets buildings,
machi nery, etc.
BrE vs ArnE English
-ise / -ize
standardise (BrE)
standardize (ArnE)

Company Structure

A matter of choice
That reliable workhorse of capitalism - the joint-stock company looks
surprisingly durable. But pressure on it is increasing.
n 1967, John Kenneth Galbraith's The
IUSA
New Industrial State argued that the
was run by a handful of big com

panies who planned the economy in

the name of stability.
These were hierarchical
and bureau
cratic organizations making long runs
of standardised
products. They intro
duced "new and improved" varieties
with predictable regularity; they provid
ed their workers with lifetime employ
ment and they enjoyed fairly good
industrial relations with the giant trade
unions.
That world is now dead. The US's
giant corporations
have either disap
peared or been transformed
by global
competition.
Most have shifted their
production
systems from high-volume
to high-value, from standardised to cus
tomised. And they have flattened their
management
hierarchies. Few people
these days expect to spend their lives
moving up the ladder of a single organ
ization. Dramatic changes are taking
place. But where exactly are they taking

us? Where is the modern company

heading?
There are three standard answers to
this question. The first is that a handful
of giant companies are engaged in a
"silent takeover" of the world. The past
couple of decades have seen a record
number of mergers. The survivors, it is
maintained, are far more powerful than
nation states.
The second school of thought argues
almost the opposite: it says that big
companies are a thing of the past. For a
glimpse of the future, look at the
Monorail Corporation, which sells com
puters. Monorail
owns no factories,
warehouses or any other tangible assets.
It operates from a single floor that it
leases in an office building in Atlanta.
Freelance workers are designing
the
computers while demand is still low.
The third school of thought says that
companies
are being replaced by "net
works". Groups of entrepreneurs form
such a network to market an idea. They
then sell it to the highest bidder and

move on to produce another idea and

to create another firm, with the money
being supplied all the time by venture
capitalists.
Another way to look at the future of
the company is to focus on the environ
ment that will determine it. That envi
ronment is dominated by one thing:
choice. Technology and globalisation
open up ever more opportunities for
individuals and firms to collect infor
mation and conduct economic activity
outside traditional structures. While the
age of mass production lowered the
costs of products at the expense of limit
ing choices, modern "flexible" production
systems both lower costs and increase
choice. Consumers have more choice
over where they spend their money.
Producers have more choice over which
suppliers to use. Shareholders have more
choice over where to put their money.
With all that choice around, future com
panies will have to be very flexible in
order to quickly adapt to the changing
environments if they are to survive _

Unit 1.9