Work Sample & Commentary: Contour Casuals

Work Sample & Commentary: Contour Casuals

The task
Students were asked to create a business plan for a company they would like to start up. This student work is an excerpt from an extensive business plan.

Circumstances of performance This sample of student work was produced under the following conditions:
alone	in a group
in class	as homework
with teacher feedback	with peer feedback
timed	opportunity for revision

What the work shows
b Functional Documents: The student produces functional documents appropriate to audience and purpose, in which the student:
• reports, organizes, and conveys information and ideas accurately;
• includes relevant narrative details, such as scenarios, definitions, and examples;
• anticipates readers’ problems, mistakes, and misunderstandings;
• uses a variety of formatting techniques, such as headings, subordinate terms, foregrounding of main ideas, hierarchical structures, graphics, and color;
• establishes a persona that is consistent with the document’s purpose;
• employs word choices that are consistent with the persona and appropriate for the intended audience.

The student generated an extensive business plan identifying the market niche for the intended product, presenting a marketing analysis, explaining the backgrounds of the projected management team, describing advertising approaches, providing an analysis of start-up and operating costs, and projecting revenue. The document is both a rehearsal of an actual business plan and a public-relations vehicle for soliciting school-business partnerships.

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In addition to the text included here, the student used spreadsheets, survey forms, tables, charts and graphics in a sequential, organized document that clearly demonstrates a coherent and detailed approach to entrepreneurial necessities.

The student identified the marketing niche using other, well-known apparel companies as successful examples for the market need that the plan addresses.

The complete business plan comprehensively addresses readers’ concerns by providing careful descriptions of managerial personnel, store location, and customer traffic patterns, advertising strategy, product descriptions, and detailed, line-by-line cost analysis.
The student made use of an attractive, bold font on the cover page to highlight the company’s name. The work includes a useful “Table of Contents,” and clearly delineates sections in the text with bold, large size, capitalized typefaces. The complete work includes data charts, spreadsheets, and graphics to organize information in a clear, businesslike and accessible fashion.
The student incorporated marketing phrases appropriate to the apparel industry (e.g., “we at CONTOUR CASUALS, INC.…” and “The decline in popularity of the twill….”).
The student made an appropriate shift in language and tone when addressing the distributing aspects of the plan (e.g., “We have selected these stores…”). The work demonstrates appreciation of the various audiences for the document, each with different concerns. Also apparent is an awareness of the need to adopt appropriate language in each section to address those differing concerns.

This work sample illustrates a standard-setting performance for the following part of the standards:

b	Functional Documents: Produce a functional document.

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