Topic for Project

As a topic for the next project I have thought about writing to my step father who recently bought a bar and is re-opened it with a new island theme. He has never done something like this before and if I were running a new bar I may do things a little differently. Hopefully with my the things I have learned in my business class I could help him maximize profits and get off to a quick start.

Case pg 150

Maria Tonti
President
Life Support Inc.

Dear Ms. Tonti:

After receiving your memo about the idea of the random drug testing of employees I would like you to know you have my full support. This new plan will give us an overview of the ethical values of our company while also making sure we have healthy employees. This company relies on the quality of work our employees put into our products as Life Support Inc. saves lives around the world with our machines. These drug tests will show our reliability to consumers and how dedicated Life Support Inc. is to our business. Overall I think this will expand our growth, productivity, and quality of our product and our business.

These drug test however may stir up some controversy among our employees. People may oppose this decision of drug testing as an invasion of privacy, however we must insure our employees that we make machines that peoples lives rely on. Staying sober is not only and important ethical part of our company but also our employees individual lives and the lives of the patients using Life Support Inc. products and machines. I believe the controversy will not hinder our productivity because if our employees have nothing to hide they will cooperate with the testing and realize it is for the better of the company and their personal health.

As a recommendation I believe this random drug test policy should occur given the reasons stated above. You have my full support and I hope I could be of some assistance as you make a decision.

Sincerely,
Zack McGuire

Case pg. 150

Maria,

First of all, I would like to start by saying I am in complete agreement with the drug testing policy. In our line of work it is imperative that our employees be at the top of their games when they come to work. Patients and doctors literally put their lives in our hands when they go in to a hospital. Every person who relies on our machines deserves to have the machine working at full capacity without any possibility of a life-threatening error occurring.

Doctors are expected to be at their best when practicing medicine, and so should our workers. If someone is under the influence of any type of drug, a wide range of skills may be affected including motor skills, cognitive skills, and reasoning. These are all essential to build a machine necessary to keep someone alive during a heart transplant. Morally, we cannot allow our technicians to manufacture substandard equipment.

So long as the testing is done truly randomly and fairly, I do not have any issue with requiring our employees to submit to a random urinalysis. However, some people may have an issue with the testing. In the entire history of our company there has never been any sort of issue over the use of drugs, or quality of our equipment. Some people may see this as too intrusive. The law does provide some level of protection against illegal searches and seizures. There may be a legal battle on our hands if this is not done delicately.

Another issue is requiring people to submit. Submitting to random drug testing was not part of their original employment agreement. Since it is an intrusive act, you may have to gain complete support from the company in order to go through with it. Perhaps making it a condition of hire would help ease the program in.

Sincerely,
Sean Smith

Case on drug testing

Life Systems, Inc.
Interoffice memorandum

To Maria Tonti
From Nitara Condon

Subject Opinion on office drug testing

I’ve read the email concerning your new drug testing policy for employees at Life Systems Inc. I feel that this policy should not become a part of our corporation for certain reasons.

Opinions
Manufacturing specialized medical machinery is extensive work and needs immense attention and concentration from our employees to build these products at Life Systems. Being under the influence of any kind of drug on corporate grounds would obviously hinder our employees, making them less efficient and less focused. This would lead to a detriment in our products. I use the word would for a specific reason because I have received information that our company has not had any issues concerning drugs on corporate grounds so far. Since there has not been a problem I feel that there is no reason for drug testing. I believe that if drug testing is added to our corporate policy, it will create more problems for something that was not a problem in the beginning. It will increase expenses for ourselves and make it harder to find new people to hire.

Life Systems Inc. has an unsurpassed reputation because of its advanced technology and reliable machinery which we want to uphold. Customers would like the idea of a drug-free working environment because it gives the customers that much more assurance that the products they are buying are assembled well. This would boost our reputation even more. But in the same affect it may also affect our reputation negatively. If drug testing is introduced to our policy at Life Systems we may find hidden secrets which may hinder our reputation. We also might have to fire some of our most reliable and efficient employees, including managers. Our reputation is how Life Systems gains and keeps their customers. If they knew that people they have worked with for years got fired because they were using drugs, our reputation will slip and we might lose customers which would in turn affect our income.

If the drug policy is implemented our company is portraying the idea that our employees are health and law abiding. This may help people quit drugs. But most of the time addicts do drugs for the rest of their lives no matter what the consequences are. Drug testing policy does affect the business but it also affects the lives of employees. If we enforce the drug testing policy we are digging into people’s lives, telling them what they cannot do on their own time. It is going against the bill of rights and the natural rights of people and our employees could have harsh reactions to that. If our employees are angry with their situation at work, their performance will be affected in a negative manner. This in turn will affect the product which affects the customers since the product is not produced in the same manner. Clearly this will affect our production rate, lessening our company’s income.

Recommendation
I believe that enforcing a drug policy in our company, with the standards that we have the testing set up now, will affect the company in a negative manner. Everything that I have state ends up in affecting our income and without income there will be no money to run the company resulting in losing the company. I recommend that employees take a drug test knowingly before they get the job and after that do not receive another drug test. The present employees should have to do the same, take a drug test once. This way, future employees know what they are getting into before they apply for the job and present employees lives will not be affected causing the corporation to be affect negatively.



My project choice is to write to academic affairs and talk about how they should evaluate teachers more often, especially is they have tenure. The reason for me writing this is because i feel like we have incompetant teachers and they are just being held on because its easier for the college to do that. But as college students who pay a lot of money, we are the ones who are getting the crappy end of the stick. As student we should care who are teachers are and if they are doing their jobs to the best of their ability and if that ability is good enough for the students.

Dear Maria

Dear Maria,
I think that the idea of drug-testing employees is a very important one. Although it might be costly at first it will benefit everyone at the office in the future. I think that those who do test positive should be provided information on where and how they can get better and be put on probation for the discrepancy.

I know that there will be some who are against this testing. Let them know that it is to their benefit first and foremost. If they have nothing to be afraid of then there should be no problem. Hope all goes well in the future. Sincerely,
Heather

I was going to write a letter to my boss at the tanning salon I work at. I was going to make suggestions about how to make more of a profit selling items. Also on how to promote the business better through advertising. I was also was going to suggest that employees get better benefits in accordance to how well they are working with customers and other employees. That was my only idea but I think that I can get enough suggestions for this one topic.

Maria Maria

--Maria
We have recently received your email concerning random drug testing. We have talked it over and give you our full support. This is an excellent decision since we work in such a specialized field. Any steps that we take to prohibit the use of drugs are huge and we will back you fully.
We are sure to receive some complaints regarding this program as every change faces some uncertainty. Random drug testing could be considered an invasion of privacy but these test are administrated in all varieties of fields and are just a benefit for production in any business. With the employment of an independent party administering the tests there will be no information disclosed to the company aside from failed tests.
With our full support we hope that this will help your decision.
--Drew and Tom

Unsolicited Recommendation Ideas

One idea I have is to write a letter to the president of Westfield State proposing that there should be a bar on-campus. It promotes socializing, promotes students not to drink-and-drive, it would serve as income to the college, and it could be student run, providing jobs for people of all majors. It's inevitable that college kids are going to drink, so why not make it safer and profitable?

I only had two ideas, but one of them was writing to residential life to make to apartments co-ed, but I saw that ali already has that. I was pretty sure I was going to go with my first idea anyways.

Response to Maria Tonti

Maria,

I just received you email about the random drug testing and I give you my full support. I think it's a great idea. Having these tests will greatly less the chance that employees are taking recreational drugs. Since we work in such a specialized field, I think we should take any steps we can to keep employees from using drugs.

I'm sure there will be plenty of people against this program. One argument that will arise is that having random drug testing is an invasion of their privacy. But unless you have something to hide, there really is no invasion of privacy. There will be an independent party administering the tests that won't disclose any information other than a failed test. So again, unless there is something to hide, there really is no invasion of privacy.

I hope that this makes your decision easier make.

Sincerely, Jeremy

Idea for Unsolicited Recommendation

My ideas for my unsolicited recommendation letter are either going to a letter to the President of the college stating why i think the apartments on campus should be coed. My other idea, is to write a letter either to Opra or the Gates Foundation stating why I think my high school should recieve some funding. We are $1 million in debt and last year our town of 8000 people just spent a ton of money on a K9 unit that hasn't even been used.

response to Maria Tonti

Maria,
I think the idea of randomly drug testing employees is a great idea. It will not only make the environment of the company a better place to work, it will also increase our revenue. By banishing the employees who use drugs, the remaining employees will be more reliable in not only their job but also in the future of the company’s improvements, which in turn will add more revenue. I also feel the health of our employees would be improved with this decision because the people who are using drugs will loose their job, thus making the company a safer place to work.
There may be many arguments against this decision saying that your employee’s privacy is being invaded, thus you may lose employment. However, I think the environment in which you work and the health of your employees is far more important than their privacy. Our company manufactures highly specialized, very expansive medical machines and if your employees are using drugs their minds may not be in the right state to construct these machines. This could lead to more serious problems involving patients. Therefore, you have my full support on starting this program. Good Luck!

Idea for Unsolicited Recommendation

I haven't come up with 3 ideas yet, but I'm pretty sure I've got my topic. I'm going to write to Isiah Thomas, former basketball player for the Detroit Pistons and current GM and head coach of the New York Knicks. The Knicks have become the laughingstock of all sports franchises. For the past few years they have had the NBA's highest payroll and consistently one of the worst records. Once a proud franchise and a fixture in the playoffs every year, they now struggle to turn a profit in one of the league's biggest markets. I'm going to advise Isiah as to how to fix the Knicks. I'm a Celtics fan so poking fun at New York is kind of fun for me. I'd write some recommendations for Boston, but we have the best record in the league and have sold out every home game so far this year, so there's not much to write about!

Justin

Response to Maria Tonti's email

Re: Drug Testing in the Workplace

Maria, I think your suggestion that LifeSystems inc. should implement a random drug testing policy is long overdue. Obviously, the long term success and profitability of the company are very important, but the lives of the patients who depend on our products is paramount. Because of the type of business that we are in, we are morally obligated to do everything we can to ensure the reliability of the medical equipment we produce. In turn, any improvements we can make in this regard will only add to our profitability and long term success. Studies have shown that those who habitually use drugs have diminished motor skills. By weeding out such employees, we'll be able to increase productivity throughout the company, hence increasing profits. We would also decrease our liability in the event something goes wrong with one of our machines because we'll be able to demonstrate the extensive steps we've taken to ensure the effectiveness of our equipment. Furthermore, the overall health of employees in the workplace would be improved not only because those who are found to be using drugs would lose their jobs, but also because a mandatory drug testing policy would deter employees from using drugs for fear of losing their jobs. You may receive responses to your email expressing concerns over employee privacy. However, I cannot stress enough how serious the business is that we are in. The lives of the people our products save far outweigh any privacy concerns. Critics of the drug testing policy will likely argue that such a policy would decrease employee morale, but I don't believe this to be the case. Everyone at Lifesytems benefits from a healthy and safe working environment. These are goals that should be shared by all. Additionally, increases in Lifesystem's profitability trickles down to the employees in the form of raoses, increased benefits and bonuses. You have my full support!

Justin Wales

The things that I found most useful were the checklists and the many examples the book gave. The examples helped becasue they gave many different options to choose from; however, they were kind of confusing at times if you didn't know which type to use.

The most useful things are all the examples and the checklists.

So I guess we were supposed to write what we find most helpful. The things i find most helpful throughout the book are the checklists and the actual examples, the only thing confusing is that there are so many different types of examples for the cover letter and the resumes that you're not sure which one would be best suited for yours.

Hello everyone..stopping in to see if this works!!