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TUTOR MARKED ASSIGNMENT

COURSE CODE : BCOA- 01
COURSE TITLE : Business Communication and Entrepreneurship
ASSIGNMENT CODE : BCOA- 01/TMA/2020-2021
COVERAGE : ALL BLOCKS
Maximum Marks: 100

Attempt all the questions:

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1. Discuss the various forms of a business letter and explain the structure (20)
or layout of business letter. Write a letter to XYZ enterprise,

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introducing one of your new product or services.

2. “Preparing the business plan involves lot of effort in collecting (20)

information on the product, the process, the market, costs, prices and
other financial variables.” Elucidate. What is the need for business

3.
plan?
a.
a) What do you perceive as the essential requirement to be an (10X2)
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entrepreneur?

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b) “The best way to identify the business choice is to go for a SWOT
analysis.” Elucidate.
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4. a) Elucidate the essentials of a good business letter. (10X2)
b

b) Write a memo to your fellow employees, asking them to participate

in the development of proposal.
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5. Write short notes on the following: (5X2)

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a) Formal reports
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b) Sources of finance
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6. Differentiate between the following: (5X2)

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a) Solicited proposal and Unsolicited proposal

b) Entrepreneur and Administrator

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ASSIGNMENT REFERENCE MATERIALS (2020-21)

BCOA-01
Business Communication and Entrepreneurship

Q1. Discuss the various forms of a business letter and explain the structure or layout of
business letter. Write a letter to XYZ enterprise, introducing one of your new product

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or services.

Ans. The different parts of business letter are as follows:

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(1) Date: The date indicates the date the letter was written. However, if the letter is
completed over a number of days, use the date it was finished in the date line. Write out the
month, day, and year 5 centimetres from the top of the page.

(2) Sender’s address: It is optional to include the sender's address in the letter. It is

a.
written one line below the date. Do not write the sender’s name or title, as it is included in the
letter’s closing. Include only the street address, city, and postal code. Another option is to
include the sender’s address directly after the closing signature.
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(3) Inside address: It is the name and address of the receiver. It is typed two spaces

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below the date line at the left margin. It is always typed in the block form. It is always best to
write to a specific individual at the firm to which we are writing. If we do not have the
person’s name do some research by calling the company or speaking with employees from
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the company. Include a personal title such as Ms., Mrs., Mr., or Dr.
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(4) Salutation: Salutation is the greeting to the addressee. Use the same name as the
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inside address, including the personal title. If we know the person and are on a first-name
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basis, it is acceptable to use only the first name in the salutation (for example, Dear Lucy). In
all other cases, use the personal title and last name followed by a colon. Leave one line blank
after the salutation. If we don’t know a reader’s gender, use a non-sexist salutation, such as
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“To Whom It May Concern”. It is also acceptable to use the full name in a salutation if we
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cannot determine the person’s gender. For example, we might write Dear Chris Harmon if we
were unsure of Chris’s gender.
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(5) Body: The body of the letter is the main section of the letter and contains the
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message. For block format, single space and left-justify each paragraph within the body of the
letter. Leave a blank line between paragraphs. Always use conciseness for writing a business
letter. In the first paragraph, consider a friendly opening and then a statement of the main
point. The next paragraph should begin justifying the importance of the main point. In the
next few paragraphs, continue justification with background information and supporting
details. The closing paragraph should re-state the purpose of the letter and, in some cases,
request some type of action.

(6) Closing: There should be atleast one blank line between the body of the letter and the
closing. Only the first word of the letter is capitalised (for example, Thank you).

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Common complimentary closing of business letters today are Sincerely, Sincerely

yours, Very truly yours, Yours very truly, Cordially, cordially yours.

Q2. “Preparing the business plan involves lot of effort in collecting information on the
product, the process, the market, costs, prices and other financial variables.” Elucidate.
What is the need for business plan?

Ans. Preparing the business plan involves lot of efforts in collecting information on the
product, the process, the market, cost, prices, and other financial variables. All this has to be
done by the entrepreneur before the business plan is prepared. The data collected by the
entrepreneur needs to be realistic. Also it should account for the anticipated or suspected

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variations in sensitive inputs like market demand, cost of inputs, behaviour of competitors,
market prices, government policies, unforeseen interruptions, etc. The appraisal part of the
business plan revolves around certain critical issues.

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The appraisals of the business plans are as follows:

(1) Technical Appraisal: Technical appraisal of a project is primarily concerned with the
selection of the best available technology, design and other infrastructure facilities. The
entrepreneur should ask himself as to whether he has understood the process and technology

a.
involved in finer details. The technology should confirm to the availability of infrastructure,
working environment and all the available inputs. It must be cost effective so that the ultimate
product is priced reasonably. The enterprise has to arrange the trained manpower as per the
requirement of selected technology and that too at the desired wage level. Based on all these
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a plan of production has to be prepared for a certain period. It must state the likely scale of

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capacity utilisation.

If the entrepreneur has understood all the relevant points and has realistically planned
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the production/other operations, the conclusion can be drawn about the technical feasibility of
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the project.

The questions to be asked by each entrepreneur are as follows:

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(i) Whether the chosen technology is the most appropriate one; if it has been already
tested commercially; it should not have become obsolete.
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(ii) Whether the entrepreneur has understood the total process and its critical inputs.
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(iii) Whether the necessary infrastructure and linkages are available to adopt/adapt the
technology.
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(iv) The cost of the chosen technology vis-a-vis its benefits should be comparable with the
other available processes.

(v) Whether our installed capacity will be matched by the technology/process selected.

(vi) Whether the manpower planned is skilled as well as adequate according to the
presumed capacity level and at the same time it will not remain idle.

(vii) Whether the product/project chosen is confirming to the laws of the land.

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(viii) In case of need do we have the consultancy/servicing facilities available nearby.

(ix) The raw materials, consumable and critical components as per the requirements of
technology and hardware are readily available.

(2) Marketing Appraisal: The small entrepreneurs start their businesses without taking
into account the likely customer base. If at all they think of the customer, they do not
consider the requirements or choice of the target group. It is for the entrepreneurs to
understand from the beginning itself that the process of marketing starts as early as they get a
business idea. In fact, the starting point of a business opportunity should be in terms of the
customer needs that thus business would fulfil. The entrepreneurs should observe the market

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in terms of demand and supply, study the strengths and weaknesses of present suppliers
(competitors), and understand the system of sales and based on all these should device a
marketing strategy. They should infer as to what and how much should be produced/arranged
and what should be the channels for its sale.

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At the same time, sticking to one market and only a single product might be risky.
The entrepreneur must keep on trying for diverse markets, customers, product and channels.

So, the following questions should be addressed in case of marketing appraisal of any
business idea:

(i)
a.
Who can be the customers or users of my product/service?
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(ii) What and how much exactly is required by each of these potential customers. Which

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features they value most?

(iii) What is the price they can afford to pay?

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b

(iv) Who are my present competitors and what are their strengths/weaknesses?

(v) What is the likely future scenario of demand and supply of the chosen project?
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(vi) How the sales are made and what are the norms for collecting the proceeds?
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(vii) What selling channels shall be adopted to push the products?

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(viii) If there is any USP (Unique Selling Proposition) in my product?

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(ix) How do I manage to get the market feedback while selling the existing products?
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Q3. a) What do you perceive as the essential requirement to be an entrepreneur?

Ans:- The qualities of a successful entrepreneur are as follows:

(1) Courage: An entrepreneur must have courage. In the early stages of every business,
he runs into a bad patch. It may last a long time. For example, the projected sales are not
being met; overheads are running ahead of budget, the spare cash is running out, etc.
Therefore, courage is described as grace under pressure.

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(2) Judgement: An entrepreneur needs brain but not as much as people think. More
important than conventional brain is 'judgement'. Judgement about what people want, what
they will pay for it, how many will want it, how to reach them to tell them about it, etc.

(3) Determination: Determination is sometimes described as 'fixedness of purpose'.

Determination is for the optimist, not for the pessimist.

(4) Man of action: An entrepreneur must be a 'man of action' who gets his hands dirty,
know how to delegate, but when necessary, himself does what needs to be done.

(5) Goal oriented: An entrepreneur must be goal oriented and respond to corporate

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rewards and recognition.

(6) Highly motivated: An entrepreneur must be highly self-motivated individual who take
risks to achieve goals.

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(7) Highly creative: An entrepreneur must have high degree of creativity, innovation,
imagination and integration.

(8) Result oriented: An entrepreneur must be result oriented. S/he must work hard in turn

a.
for personal and financial rewards.

b) “The best way to identify the business choice is to go for a SWOT analysis.”
Elucidate.
ab
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Ans. SWOT analysis is an analysis undertaken by business firms to understand their external
and internal environment. The term SWOT consists of four words:
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(1) S- Strengths
b

(2) W- Weaknesses
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(3) O- Opportunities

(4) T- Threats
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SWOT analysis is applied to formulate effective organisational strategies. The business firms
can match through SWOT analysis, the strengths (S) and weaknesses (W) existing within an
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organisation with the opportunities (O) and threats (T) operating in the environment. An
effective organisational strategy according to SWOT analysis is that strategy which
capitalises on the opportunities through the use of its strengths and neutralises the threats by
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minimising the impact of weaknesses. Thus, SWOT analysis enables a business firm to use
its strengths to exploit the opportunities provided by the environment. On the other hand,
threats of environment are neutralised by reducing its weaknesses to the minimum level.

(1) Strengths

(i) What are our advantages?

(ii) What job can we do well?

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(iii) What relevant resources do we have?

(iv) What do the other people see as our strengths?

Make real evaluation of the above elements from our point of view and from the point
of view of these people with them we deal.

(2) Weaknesses

(i) How could we improve ourselves?

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(ii) What job we do badly?

(iii) What should we avoid?

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(iv) Are we competitors better than others?

Q4. a) Elucidate the essentials of a good business letter.

Ans. Essentials of a business letter are as follows:

(1) a.
Clarity of thought: Every business letter should depict clarity of thought from each of
its sentence. It should clearly express the meaning, which the writer wishes to convey. The
writer should have a good command over the language.
ab
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(2) Unity of subject matter: Each business letter is written with some definite purpose in
mind. Therefore, before writing a letter, the writer must know the purpose or the subject
matter of the letter. A letter should explain only one subject matter. If more than one
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messages are to be conveyed, separate letters should be written. However, where one
b

message is supplementary to the other, the same letter may be used. In large organisations,
different business matters are handled by respective sections. Thus, the principle of unity of
subject matter is taken care of to a large extent.
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(3) Exactness and brevity: Businessman, both as a writer or a receiver of a letter, has
little time for unnecessary details. Hence, long sentences of flowery language expressing no
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meaning should be avoided. Each sentence should be brief and must tell exact information
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only. Repetition of words and messages make the letter boring, monotonous and unattractive.
It results in delayed or even negative response. Therefore, the letter should exactly convey
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what is asked for, it should be brief and to the point.

(4) Politeness and courtesy: The letter should be courteous and polite. It pays to be polite
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and courteous in all situations. In commercial correspondence, it has a special importance as

the written letter not only conveys a message but it is also an instrument of image building.
Even in cases of disagreement and difference of opinion, expression of courtesy should be
maintained. It shows the upbringing and educational background of the writer and leaves a
good impression on the mind of the reader.

b) Write a memo to your fellow employees, asking them to participate in the

development of proposal.

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Ans. A well-written memo is a no-nonsense professional document meant to be read

quickly and passed along rapidly. The e-mail message is probably the most common form of
memo today. The following process describes how to write an effective memo:

Parts of a Memo

Header

The header contains the following information:

Date: September 14, 2004

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To: A. Sargent

From: D. Southward

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Cc: M. Brummi

S. Taylor

report.
Subject:
a.
Cost estimate for revisions to the annual

When filling out the header, be specific. Include all the people we think need to be informed
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and use the office protocol when typing names. If titles are used in our office then include

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each person's title. When stating the subject, be precise. "Annual report" alone would not
convey the message of the memo.
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Purpose
b

Immediately state why we are writing. Answer the questions: who, what, where, why, and
when.
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Example: The purpose of this memo is to request authorisation to purchase RAM for the
computer in the front office.
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Discussion
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Quickly outline the problem at hand and a potential solution.

• Start with the old information and work carefully towards the new.
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• Give our reader a sense of the big picture before we zero in on the individual parts.

• Use active verbs.

• Use the pronoun I when we are talking about our work.

• Simplify our language. Instead of "somewhere in the proximity of," write "near."

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Instead of "at this point in time," write "now." Avoid puffing up our writing to make
ourselves appear more important.

Q5. Write short notes on the following:

a) Formal reports

Ans:- Formal reports delve much deeper into a topic than an informal report. The label
“formal” may intimidate some writers, but the formal report is an extension of business
writing. You’ll use the same skills in all of your business communications—from the short,
limited data email, to the informal report, to the formal report. While you may not need to

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write a formal report in your career, you will most likely see one and need to understand its
components in order to effectively make decisions.

Types of Formal Reports

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There are many different kinds of formal reports that you may encounter throughout your
career. Here are a few of the more common kinds:

• Research reports gather and explain data; these reports are informational. Module 4:

• a.
Research discusses research methods to obtain the data you’ll use in these reports.
Proposals may be internal to a company in addressing a business situation, or they
may come from a solicited or unsolicited sales situation. Formal proposals will
include details of the proposed solutions and costs.
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• Feasibility reports are a specific type of analytical report. When an entrepreneur or

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business manager has a new idea, it is prudent to fully explore the idea before making
major investments. Some think of this report as a precursor to developing a full
business plan. While a business plan may take many months to develop, a feasibility
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report can be developed in much less time, and it still provides excellent direction for
b

decision makers.
• Business plans are typically informational reports about what a new or existing
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company plans to do over the next period of time. A business plan may take on a bit
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more of an analytical tone rather than a strictly informational tone when it is shared
with potential investors. In some cases, the business plan may be presented with a
request for funds; in those cases, the writing is gently more persuasive.
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b) Sources of finance
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Ans. Business required finance for mainly following two purposes:

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(1) To start a business

(2) To maintain a business

Small businesses need short-term, medium-term, and long-term loans for their operations.
Small business required short-term loan in order to operate our economy smoothly. Without
short-term financing, small businesses literally cannot operate. They can't buy their
inventory, cover working capital shortages, expand their customer base or operations, or
grow. Long-term loan is required for investment or acquisition in the business. Various
sources of short-term and long-term loans are as follows:

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• Trade Credit from Suppliers;

• Advances from Customers;

• Discounting Bills of Exchange with the Banks;

• Bank Overdraft;

• Cash Credit;

• Loans Friends and Relatives;

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• Factoring; and

• Loans from Commercial Banks.

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Q6. Differentiate between the following:

a) Solicited proposal and Unsolicited proposal

a.
Ans:- Solicited Proposal: A solicited proposal is that proposal which is written in response to
a formal request or the request for proposal (RFP).

Larger organisations (and often smaller ones) will usually initiate solicited proposals by
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issuing a request for proposal (RFP). An RFP asks for bids from contractors for each project

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or each phase of a large project. Contracts obtained by successfully responding to such
requests for proposals are usually highly competitive. Therefore, the proposal we prepare
must show how we can satisfy their needs better than any competitor economically.
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b

The most important concern in writing a proposal is to study and understand and then follow
all guidelines and regulations set out in the RFP. Worthwhile proposals are likely to be turned
down if instructions are not followed to the letter.
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Most RFPs will request the following information in this order:

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• Cover sheet: This can be a prepared page of information to be filled in with

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information about the project title, contact names and information, and project goals. In
today's work world, it is important to include email addresses as an alternative form of
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contact.

• Summary budget page: This is an overview of the planned budget for the project.
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• Budget explanations – This section must provide a brief but convincing justification
for all the direct costs listed on the budget summary page. Items should appear in the same
order as the entries in the budget summary. Only the essential costs should be included.

• Abstract: This is a one-page summary of the problem(s) to be investigated and the

proposed approaches or study plan(s).

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• Narrative: We should provide information on our organisation, experience, and any

background related to this proposal. Briefly describe the problem and the methods we will
use to provide a solution. Additional supporting documents can be included to lend credibility
to our proposal, including client lists and previous project funding received.

• Appendices: There may be a separate appendix for such things as detailed curricula
vitae of the principal participants in the project and a bibliography of sources consulted in
background research during the proposal preparation. Inclusion of key references can assure
reviewers of the thoroughness of the preliminary study.

Unsolicited Proposal: Unsolicited proposals are prepared by individuals who perceive

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problems that need to be solved. The problem may be internal (within the writer’s own
company) or external (in another organisation). Although unsolicited proposals rarely
involved issues of the complexity of those delineated by RFPs, they are often more difficult
to write because the target audience—the reader/s who will make the decision—may not be

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aware of the problem, and in fact, the audience may be at least partially responsible for
having created the situation the writer is viewing as a “problem”. For this reason, unsolicited
proposals typically need to be more persuasive than solicited proposals, beginning by
convincing the reader that a problem does exist and overcoming any initial resistance to
changing current practices and procedures.

b) Entrepreneur and Administratora.

Ans. The terms entrepreneur and administrators are many times used interchangeable,
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however, they are unlike. An entrepreneur starts a venture then an administrator takes over to

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systematise and synchronise. An entrepreneur is being enterprising as long as s/he starts
something innovative then the routine day-to-day management of the business is passed on
the administrators. There is an enormous dissimilarity between entrepreneur and
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administrative, despite of certain similarities. The main differences between entrepreneur and
b

administrative are as follows:

Table
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Entrepreneur Administrator
(1) Entrepreneur is always in (1) Administrator seems
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search of opportunity. opportunity to file the resources

and control.
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(2) They emphasise on (2) They concentrate on

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optimum way to organise. monitoring.

(3) An entrepreneur initiates (3) An administrator takes into
change. consideration rules and
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(4) An entrepreneur is his
own boss, i.e., flat with
multiple informal networks.
(5) Commitment process is at
multistage.
(6) An entrepreneur gets
uncertain and unlimited
rewards. His assets are
procedures.
(4) An administrator is a hired
employee, i.e., formalised
hierarchy.
(5) Single stage with complete
commitment upon decision.
(6) An administrator is confined
and designated far the particular
job, as well as drawing fixed

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flourishing day by day. If the rewards and salary.

organisation grows he will
also flourish in totality.
(7) Entrepreneur assumes (7) Administrator does not to bear
financial material and risk; s/he is merely an organiser.
psychological risk.
(8) Value based & team based (8) Resource based individual and
and take into consideration the promotion oriented
performance appraisal system.

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a.
ab
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b
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