REPORTS

CHAPTER
AND
PROPOSAL 3
FEASIBILIT S
Y

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
In this chapter, you are expected to achieve the following:
1. define feasibility reports and identify their purpose;
2. identify the format in writing a feasibility report and a proposal; and 3.
create sample feasibility reports and proposals.

Feasibility Report: An Introduction

According to Gerson and Gerson (2012), a feasibility/recommendation
report accomplishes two goals. First, it studies the practicality of a proposed
plan. Then, it recommends action. Occasionally, your company plan a project
but is uncertain whether the project is feasible. Will the plan work, does the
company have the correct technology, will the idea solve the problem, or is
there enough money? One way a company determines the viability of a
project is to perform a feasibility study, document the findings, and then
recommend the next course of action:
Manufacturing. Your company is considering the purchase of new
equipment but is concerned that the machinery will be too expensive, the
wrong size for your facilities, or incapable of performing the desired tasks.
You need to research and analyze the options, determining which equipment
best suits your company’s needs. Then, you will recommend purchase.
Accounting. Your company wants to expand and is considering new
locations. The decision makers, however, are uncertain whether the market is
right for expansion. Are interest rates good? Are local property taxes and
sales taxes too high? Will the city provide tax rebate incentives for your
company’s growth? You need to study the feasibility of expansion and report
your recommendations.
Web design. Your company wants to create a website to market your
products and services globally. The CEO wants to be sure that online
checkout is easy, pricing is cost effective, products are depicted in a visually
appealing way, and the site loads quickly. How will you make your website
stand out from the competition? You must write a feasibility report to present
the options as well as to offer your recommendations.
 Health management. It is time to update your health information system.
With increasingly complex insurance and regulatory challenges, your current
system is outdated. What are your options? You could install software to help
code and classify patient records. You could hire consultants to help comply
with in-patient and outpatient regulations. A feasibility report will study the
options before you recommend changes.

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Feasibility Report: Its Format
A good way for a company to find out whether a project is viable or not is
through the conduct of a feasibility report. Writing a feasibility report allows
documentation of the findings. Gerson and Gerson (2012) suggest the
following components of an effective feasibility report:

Introduction (overview, background)

Under this subheading, answer any of the following questions:
• What is the purpose of this feasibility report?
One of your responsibilities is to provide background data. To
answer the question regarding the report’s purpose, provide a clear
and concise statement of intent.
• What problems motivated this study?
To clarify for your readers the purposes behind the study, explain
what problems cause doubt about the feasibility of the project (is there
a market, is there a piece of equipment available that would meet the
company’s needs, is land available for expansion?). You can also
explain what problems led to the proposed project (current equipment
is too costly or time consuming, current facilities are too limited for
expansion, current net income is limited by insufficient market).
• Who initiated the feasibility study?
List the name(s) of the manager(s) or supervisor(s)who requested
this report?
Personnel. Document the names of your project team members,
your liaison between your company and other companies involved,
and your contacts at these other companies.
1. Discussion (body, findings)
Under this subheading, provide accessible and objective
documentation: Criteria. State the criteria upon which your
recommendation will be based. Criteria are established so you have a
logical foundation for comparison of personnel, products, vendors, costs,
options, schedules, and so on.
Analysis. In this section, compare your findings against the criteria.
In objectively written paragraphs, develop the points being considered.
You might want to use a visual aid such as a table to organize the criteria
and provide easy access.
2. Conclusion/Recommendations
 Conclusion. In this section, state the significance of your findings.
Draw a conclusion from what you have found in your study.
Recommendations. Once you have drawn your conclusions, the next
step is to recommend a course of action. What do you suggest that your
company do next? Which piece of equipment should be purchased? Where
should the company locate its expansion? Is there a sufficient market for
the product?

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Presented is the sample of a feasibility report lifted from Gerson and
Gerson (2012).
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 Source: Gerson, S. & Gerson, S. (2012). Technical communication: Process
and product. United States: Pearson Education.

Proposal: Purpose and Format

Gerson and Gerson (2012) maintain that your goal in writing a proposal is
to sell an idea persuasively. Generally, proposals could be classified into two:
(1) internal proposals and (2) external proposals.

Internal Proposal
This is used to convey management ideas to upper-level management. The
topic is large and will require extensive financial obligations, time for
planning, and a commitment to new staff. A brief, informal report will not
suffice. In contrast, you need to write a type of longer, formal report- an
internal proposal for your company’s management.

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External Proposal
This is written to sell a new service or product to an audience outside
your company. Your responsibility is to write an external proposal selling the
benefits of the new corporate offering to a prospective client.

Format
To guide your readers through a proposal, Gerson and Gerson (2012)
suggest the following contents of a proposal:
• Title page- This portion includes the corporate or organizational logo,
the name and position of the one who prepared the proposal, the
name(s) of the person or the company for whom the proposal is
prepared, and the date of proposal submission.
• Cover letter- This letter serves as the introduction to the proposal itself.
In this letter, the one who made the proposal must give an overview on
the details of the paper. This also serves as a persuasive letter wherein
the proposal maker convinces the recipient to consider the proposal.
• Table of contents- This portion enlists the contents of the proposal with
their corresponding page numbers.
• List of illustrations- This is where all non-prose materials indicated in
the proposal are enlisted. These illustrations may include graphs, charts,
images and other illustrations used to portray information. • Abstract
• Introduction
• Discussion (the body of the proposal)
• Conclusion/recommendations
• Glossary- This part contains the list of all the jargons or technical terms
used in the proposal. Definitions and specific page numbers may be
indicated for easy reference. This could also include a summary of
acronyms or abbreviations used in the proposal.
• Works cited (or references) page- In this portion, the writer stipulates
all the references used in the proposal.
• Appendix- This section contains the important attachments to the
proposal. This may include lengthy reports, plans, or copies of
relevant documents.

Abstract
Readers do not have all the luxury of time to read everything in your
proposal. They need information quickly, and they need it presented in low
tech terminology. This can be achieved through an abstract or an executive
summary. The abstract, limited to approximately 3 to 10 sentences, presents
the problems that lead to your proposal, the proposed solutions, and the
benefits your audience will derive.

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Introduction
Introduction includes two primary sections: (1) purpose, in one to three
sentences, tells your readers the purpose of your proposal, and (2) problem,
your purpose statement clarifies the proposal’s context. For the problem
(needs analysis), it is a must to have the importance of the proposal clarified.

Discussion
When writing the text for your proposal, sell your persuasive ideas,
develop your ideas thoroughly through research, observe ethical
communication standards, organize your content for the audience can follow
your thoughts easily, and use graphics.

Conclusion/Recommendations
Sum up your proposal, providing closure to your readers. The conclusion
can restate the problem, your solutions, and the benefits to be derived. Your
recommendation/s suggest/s the next course of action. Determine when this
action will or should occur and why that date is important.
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Presented is a sample of an external proposal (from Gerson & Gerson,
2012).
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 Source: Gerson, S. & Gerson, S. (2012). Technical communication:
Process and product. United States: Pearson Education.

CHAPTER VOCABULARY
• Feasibility report is a document that assesses potential solutions to a
business problem or opportunity and determines which of these are
viable for further analysis (Public Services and Procurement-Canada,
2019).
• Internal Proposal. This type of proposal is used to convey ideas to
upper-level management.
• External Proposal. This type of proposal is written to sell a new service
or product to an audience outside a company.
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