KRYTPONITE Locks
Memorandum
TO: All Kryptonite Employees
FROM: Crisis Management Team
DATE: February 1, 2010
SUBJECT: Kryptonite Lock Crisis
All employees should become aware of the recent crisis that has arisen regarding our locks. It has recently been discovered that our locks could be unlocked simply by using a Bic writing utensil. In the coming weeks, we as a company will be facing great challenges in overcoming this ordeal. The following paragraphs will explain our plan of action as of now.
Our main priority right now is to begin the operation of our lock exchange. We will need some of our employees to man the operation on the ground. We will have booths strategically located where customers can bring their lock to us and we will have locks on site to exchange. We will also need employees to work the phone lines in order to beef up our customer service department to ensure all customers are attended to in a timely fashion.
Our research and development team will begin assessment of these locks to determine what allows the ease of opening them. A report from R&D will be issued in the coming week to inform our consumers what made these locks faulty and how our new locks have been redesigned to address the previous issue.
The faulty locks that are already in circulation will need to be recalled and replaced with our new redesigned locks. Locks that have just rolled out of assembly need to be checked and made sure that not one more faulty lock is sent out to a customer or distributor.
We must remember that we are Kryptonite locks and that we have been producing quality locks for nearly 40 years. The next few weeks will present us as a company with many challenges. We will however overcome them and show our clientèle what makes Kryptonite the number one lock company in the world.
If you have any questions or comments, please call me at ext. xxx or email me at jdoe@kryptonitelocks.net.
American Apparel Group
Cara, Tyler, Samuel, Ashley
1. The formatting seems to be correct, with a complete header and message.
2. a. Subject: Kryptonite Lock Crisis
b. Purpose: to inform the employees of the crisis, say how they are going to fix it, exchanging locks
c. main point: addressing the problem, exchanging the locks, explaining how to deal with the customers
d. background information: the first paragraph explains the situation to the employees
e. importance of the subject: they stress the importance of maintaining the company's longstanding reputation
3. topics:
crisis
priority of operation and how to deal with customers
researching what caused the crisis
how to fix the issue
how to maintain their reputation
4. a. It does not thank the reader
b. It restates the point, that they are going to overcome the crisis
c. It looks to the future
5. It is a response to the crisis and how they will fix it
6. a. In the second paragraph they use "our" a lot instead of "you"
b. The tone seems appropriate
c. No bureaucratic phrases
Claw-Foot Response to Kryptonite
1. Is the memo’s formatting correct? Does it contain a complete header and message?
Yes. Yes.
2. Read the memo’s introduction and report its stated:
a. Subject
The crisis with the Kryptonite locks.
b. Purpose
To inform the employees of the problem with Kryptonite locks and how to proceed
c. Main Point
Employees will increase customer service with lock exchange, R&D will continue researching the problem.
d. Background Information
Kryptonite locks is the number one lock company in the world, producing quality locks for 40 years.
e. Importance of the Subject
none
3. The memo’s body is divided into what topics?
Lock exchange process and employee involvement.
Continue work by R&D determining the source of the problem.
New locks should be high quality
4. Read the memo’s conclusion and report how it:
a. Thanks the reader
none
b. Restates the main point
nope
c. Looks to the future
Overcoming current obstacles
5. What type of memo does this appear to be (Inquiry, Response, Transmittal, Claim, Adjustment, Refusal, other)?
Adjustment memo
6. Note any places where the memo does not:
a. Use the “you” style
Never. Uses only "we" style.
b. Create an appropriate tone
none
c. Avoid bureaucratic phrasing
none
Kyptonite comment
This memo seems solid overall. I think you could revise your introduction to be more in keeping with TCT's information on pages 457-60. Specifically, although your introduction does reveal its subject, it doesn't state its purpose nor the main point that readers should take away. You don't want your employees to think "how does this affect me? What do you want me to do?" As the book points out, most readers will only scan this document, so you want to put the crucial points right up front.