How many of
us thought while sitting in freshman English class in high school that if I can
just pass this class I’ll never have write again in my life? Or did you say I won’t major in English I don’t
need to know how to write exceptionally? Well the truth is no matter what profession you choose in
life, writing will be something you interact with each and every day. It
just so happens that writing is a major aspect of the business world and how
you will conduct your everyday work in the future.
Purpose in Business Writing
When comparing academic and non-academic
writing in the business field you will notice that there are multiple
similarities and differences when it comes to the purpose of the piece of
writing. The purpose of writing in the
business field may be as simple as a memo, to explain an upcoming event the
business is having which is considered non-academic, or it could be very complex. A complex example of writing in this case
could involve more than one purpose. For
example, informing people of your new discovery in the field and persuading
companies to implement your findings into their business, would be a more academic
centered purpose in the business field.
Academic Writing
The reason for writing in an academic
way is because it tends to be more thought out and more complex than in non-academic
writing. Antonella Angelini, a
researcher at the University of Pisa, Italy and Martina Bianchi, a marketing
advisor, state their purpose in the abstract of the article (2015) “The purpose
of this study has been to measure the relationship between the level of
customers' satisfaction regarding the provision of advice and asset management
carried out by financial advisors…”(p. 7).
Even though that was the purpose of the study and not the writing, we
can assume from that quote that they will be sharing about their findings in
their study that they conducted. Later
in the article, Angelini and Bianchi expand on their purpose to inform the
reader by sharing how they conducted each part that they analyzed. By Angelini and Bianchi going into great
detail in these sections, it shows the credibility of their results which will
play a big role in the last paragraph of the article. In their last paragraph, Angelini and Bianchi
explain that their findings are significant (2015), “The results show how management
can acquire useful information for the improvement of service quality” (p. 15).
In academic
writing the purpose of writing may build on itself throughout the paper, as it
did in Angelini and Bianchi’s article.
The article started out with informing the reader of the research that
they performed, as well as showed the amount of depth they went into when researching. This all became very import in the last
paragraph when they began to persuade the reader to implement their research
into their business to see an improved quality of service.
Non-Academic Writing
Non-academic writing compared to academic
writing is far less complex because non-academic writing could be just and e-mail
sent to a co-worker, a memo or a report that you send to a customer, but that’s
not to say it doesn’t have a purpose. Peyton
Blake the analyst I interviewed from GE Finance, said “most of the writing she
did on a daily basis was through e-mail and spent around twenty minutes on a
normal e-mail when she writes one”(personal communication, September 6, 2015). Often times when writing emails in the
business field there are a list of things that you are being asked to be
completed. That being said the purpose
for non-academic writing in business field tends to be more question based or informational. An example of non-formal writing I receive every
month from TD Ameritrade is a four to five page report on how my account value
changed that month. Its complete purpose
is to inform the customer of how their investments have progressed.
Blake also shared “one piece of
non-academic writing that she writes is a monthly report which she presents to
the company each month.” She added that “the
purpose of her report is strictly information to the company and even though it
is non-academic it still requires time and attention to detail” (personal communication, September 6,
2015). With Blake’s monthly report being
a formal information piece of writing she said “it’s important to make sure
your purpose is what your audience is looking to gain from your report” (personal
communication, September 6, 2015).
Audience in Business Writing
The audience in a piece of business
writing may be a group of people you know or work with like in Blake’s case, or
it could be business owners or managers in an area that you researched for your
new academic writing. In either case it
is important that you adjust your writing to the intended audience.
Academic Writing
The audience
for an academic article in the business field tends to be people that are
highly educated or experts in the area you researched. The fact that the audience is an expert in the
field is very important to understand because they will be able to understand what
you are staying at a deeper level than someone from another field or of a lower
educational background. Luca Vincenzo
Ballestra a researcher at the University of Napoli in Italy and Graziella
Pacelli and Davide Radi
both researchers at the University Politecnica delle Marche in Italy academic articles
contain formulas (2015) “PBS=e-r/τ” (p. 668). This formula show that Ballestra, Pacelli and
Radi expect their audience to understand how the equation is calculated and relevant
to the field.
Another aspect
that is different about an audience in an academic article compared to a
non-academic article is that generally the audience will read the academic article
completely. Which is shown by the amount
of detail put into the article in the form formulas, detailed charts and an
abstract at the beginning. Academic
audiences differ a lot from non-academic because most non-academic writing is
used in the everyday business world where time is important and needs to be
spend being as productive as possible.
Non-Academic Writing
The audience
for a non-academic piece of writing may be your co-workers or clients, but either
way the writing needs to be written so they can understand it easily. In Blake’s writing she says “it is important
to know who your audience will be and to make your writing concise.” As your audience may not have time to read a
two page email compared to a half page email.
Media and Design in Business Writing
Media and design plays an important
role in business writing especially when catching the eye of the audience and
making them interested in reading your paper.
Media and design is how the paper looks to the eye such as headings,
length of paragraphs, bulleted points, and color of text as well as bolded
words.
Academic Writing
In academic writing media and design
is not as important as it is in non-academic because the audience is more
likely to read your report as opposed skimming it like readers might in
non-academic. Although it is used in academic
writing to separate the headings and highlight the authors main points of the
paper.
Non-Academic Writing
Non-academic writing uses media and
design a lot and it is a major aspect of grabbing the attention of your
audience. In an email Blake wrote she
highlighted the points she wanted her audience to take away and left the explanations
un-bolded as they were in depth details and not the main idea. Blake emphasized the importance of “presenting
your information so that it is easy for your audience to get your main points
quickly.” This is key in the business world because a lot of your non-academic
writing will be emails which do not get a lot of time and quality attention
from your co-workers.
Genre and Stance in Business Writing
There are
many genres in both academic and non-academic business writing some of the most
popular being reports, letters, memos, and instructions all of which play a key
role in the field of business. In
addition to genre, stance also is important when writing in business. Stance in writing is how you come across through
your writing are you thoughtful and friendly or are rude and arrogant.
Academic Writing
In most academic writing the genre in
a report is that you have found something new with your research and to report
your finds. In both cases academic and
non-academic it is important to understand your stance. In academic writing you may be an expert in
your field, but it is important not to push your ideas on the reader. Instead it is better to wait until the end
and share with the reader how your findings can help them. In Alma D Hales’s article Liquidity and price
discovery in Latin America: evidence from American depositary receipts she uses
phrases like (2015) “the findings in this paper suggest…” (p. 661). A phrase like Alma’s suggests that you do as
her report findings show, but she doesn’t tell you to do it. This is key in the success of Alma’s report
being implemented into the business field.
Non-Academic Writing
In
non-academic writing which is often between you and your co-workers in business
it is very important to respect the views of others as well as be respected
yourself. One way you can control that
is through the stance of your writing which is very important in non-academic
writing because a common genre of writing is an email. That email is generally shared between you a
co-worker, someone you will interact with every day. This makes the stance of your writing more
personal than the stance of an academic piece of writing which might be read by
people you will never talk to again.
Your stance will be very important when presenting information to new
clients or your bosses.
Works Cited
Angelini,
A., & Bianchi, M. (2015). Service quality and profitability. An empirical
study about clients and financial
advisors of the Allianz Bank F.A. International Journal Of Management Cases, 17(4), 7-18.
Ballestra,
L. V., Pacelli, G., & Radi, D. (2015). The impact of the interest rate
volatility on the valuation of
investment strategies. International Journal of Management Cases, 17(4), 35-44.
E-mail
interview. 6 Sept. 2015. Blake, Peyton.
Hales, A.
(2015). Liquidity and price discovery in Latin America: evidence from American depositary
receipts. Journal of Economics & Finance, 39(4), 661-678. doi:10.1007/s12197-013 ---9270-2
