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Write the Report: Document Formatting Professionalism: Learning how…
Write the Report:
Document Formatting Professionalism:
Learning how to create professional-looking documents using the built-in features of Microsoft 365 will dramatically increase your productivity and reduce your stress throughout your academic and professional careers. Hence, I am going to be very tough on you if you do not follow these document formatting guidelines. In other words, “you may hate me now, but you’ll thank me later”. Key points include:
Start your report with a Microsoft Word template that is professional and tweak it as necessary to reflect your business branding. Find templates within Microsoft 365 or on-line
Use a logical file name the makes it easy for you to find among all your schoolwork, and easy for the professor to distinguish among all those received across the class
e.g., “BAM101 Research Report, by Jo Student for Prof. Forint, 2023-02-20.docx”
Create single-spaced document (i.e., like this one). To me, double spaced looks academic and single spaced more business-like, and this is a business report.
e.g., This document is based on one of the standard Microsoft Word templates, but I changed the spacing to single spaced.
Document Structure:
Your writing content for this report is to be three single spaced pages. Additionally, you will have a Title Page, Table of Contents Page, and a Works Cited page as described below.
Title:
This is the first page of your assignment and includes:
Assignment Title,
Your Name,
Your Student Number,
Course Code and Section,
Due Date,
Professor’s Name,
Table of Contents:
This starts on a new page.
Use your Microsoft Word’s built-in functionality for creating your Table of Contents. The first step is to use the Headings function. For example, notice the use of Heading 1, Heading 2, and Heading 3 to facilitate easy generation and updating of the TOC (Table of Contents) of this document to three levels.
Article:
The Summary, Analysis, and Business Term for your article will fit on one page. If you cannot fit each to a single page, you are writing too much.
Summary
Write summary of your article in your own words
The summary must be approximately one or two paragraphs (max one-half page)
Include the title and publication date of the article BAM101 Assignment 1 – Business Research Report p. 5
There should be no opinions expressed in a summary
Do not copy the abstract of the article
Tip: To more easily express the facts in your own writing style and words, read the article several times, jot down key facts and then write summary without looking at the article, only at your notes.
Business Topic Analysis:
For your article, identify the topic and chapter number to which it relates.
In two or three paragraphs, discuss how the article relates to the topic in the chapter.
This will demonstrate your understanding of the topic and the article.
Business Terms:
From the article, list one relevant business term.
Provide the course textbook’s definition for each business term and the page numbers for those definitions.
Personal Impact:
Write one quarter to one half page on the personal impact of this assignment. This personal impact statement must be on a new page.
Here are some considerations for writing this section:
What did you personally learn by completing this assignment?
What did you like about the research component of the assignment?
Why did you select your topics and/or articles?
Add any comments or opinions here.
Do not give details about the article.
Works Cite:
The Works Cited page lists your article and the textbook in mla Citation Style. This is the last section of your report and starts on a new page. The entry for your article will show that you found it through a library database. See Appendix: Quality Sources and Citations.
You must use Microsoft Word’s References feature to create your Works Cited. See Microsoft Support’s post called Create a bibliography, citations, and references to learn how.
The article:
The search for a solution to her struggle with acne led Oyéta Kokoroko down the path of natural skin care.
“I was using a lot of conventional products. And I was just curious to better understand what ingredients worked for specific problems,” Kokoroko says.
“I did a lot of research. And eventually my curiosity was piqued and I became interested to know how cosmetics are made.”
Kokoroko started taking classes at a local store near her then-home in Montreal that sold natural ingredients for personal products such as soaps and lotions.
Her initial curiosity transitioned into a full-on passion for making skin-care products of her own, so Kokoroko decided to further her training, seeking out professional formulation training as a cosmetic chemist in order to learn how to formulate “high-performance skin care.”
Armed with the know-how to properly create skin care, Kokoroko started creating a line of products in her kitchen at home.
“I just started sharing my creations with friends and family around me,” she recalls. “And people were just loving it.”
That encouragement prompted Kokoroko to start her own business, OKOKO Cosmétiques, in 2016.
Positioned as a “results-driven” skin care brand, the company uses natural ingredients such as vitamin C, cinnamon liposomes and shea butter alongside dermatologist-recommended ingredients such as glycolic acid and bakuchiol, a natural retinol alternative, to target specific skin concerns, according to Kokoroko.
“I noticed there was not much innovation when it comes to natural skin care,” Kokoroko recalls of when she started the line.
“And, being someone who was really passionate about R&D and learning about all the ingredients, I wanted to create and share cosmetics that would stand out.”
The start of Kokoroko’s business coincided with a move across the country from Montreal to Vancouver, following a visit to the city that found her falling in love with its connection to nature.
“I had this ‘wow’effect when I came here on vacation,” Kokoroko says with a laugh. “I love being outdoors. So, for me, it was a lifestyle that I was seeking.”
The connection to nature that the city and its surroundings provide has also influenced Kokoroko’s product formulations and ingredients. OKOKO Cosmétiques uses glacial marine clay sourced in Nanaimo for one of its face masks.
Since the start of the brand, which Kokoroko called a “one-woman show” that saw the local entrepreneur doing everything from product formulation to packaging shipments, the business has grown to include a small team and a comprehensive product range targeting concerns ranging from acne to pollution protection.
In 2021, Kokoroko celebrated the opening of her first brick-and-mortar shop, located in Gastown at 162 Powell St. OKOKO Cosmétiques are also sold globally through a distributor in Asia, along with retail partners such as Goop, Indigo and Allure Shop.
Kokoroko credits her early efforts partnering with influencers and connecting with media as two powerful forces that helped to build her company beyond just a word-of-mouth brand. The strength of customer recommendations was another key element to its growth.
“Customers just loving the products – buying our products and recommending them,” Kokoroko says. “That’s what has allowed us to grow as a small business.”
The learning curve of bringing her own beauty business from kitchen-table idea to growing company was steep. But the experience has inspired Kokoroko to want to help others who are interested in following a similar path.
“Other entrepreneurs were contacting me saying, ‘Oh, I’ve read about your brand here or there or from this person or from this press. Would you have a few minutes? I would love to ask you a few questions as I want to start a business as well,'” Kokoroko recalls.
The increasing interest prompted Kokoroko to start a mentorship offering of her own to help other entrepreneurs get their start in business.
“In a way, we’re paving the way by doing what we do,” Kokoroko says. “I have a lot of women of colour looking up to me, finding inspiration and instruction in this story. It just gives them the motivation and inspiration to launch businesses.”
Providing inspiration and insight for female entrepreneurs – especially women of colour – Kokoroko says, has given her business story an even greater “sense of purpose.”
“It’s very rewarding,” Kokoroko says of the impact. “I think it’s one of the best parts of my work. It’s paving the way for others and opening doors that has become a driving force for me.”
Her greatest piece of advice for prospective business owners is to find their purpose.
“I think you need to find the reason that you want to do this,” Kokoroko says. “And it shouldn’t be the money. It should be bigger and deeper than that. It has to be a reason that resonates with you, deeply.”
The idea of being a role model for others is a one Kokoroko doesn’t take lightly, as she recalls not having had that in the early days of OKOKO Cosmétiques.
“I thought to myself, ‘I don’t see anyone like me doing this. So, can I succeed?’I didn’t know other businesses owned by a woman of colour that were really being successful,” Kokoroko says.
“That’s why I was not sure I could do it. I didn’t have those role models to look up to. Or at least I didn’t know them then.”
When asked what the woman just starting out would think of what the brand has become today – from a home kitchen hobby to an internationally sold beauty business – Kokoroko summarized the sentiment in one word: “Unbelievable.”
“I’ve done things that I would have never believed I could do,” she says.
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