Letters to Clients and Suppliers: These are any sort of letters the company would send to a client/s and they have to be presentable and neat so as to uphold the company’s good name. First of all, using Microsoft Word, we can put in a header, showing the company’s name, etc., and a footer, showing the company’s P. O. Box Number, telephone number, and different branches, if any. I can do this by going to the ‘ View’ menu in MS Word, and simply selecting the option, ‘Header & Footer’, and straight on the screen appears a small, elongated, dashed – line box with the title ‘Header’ (at the top of the page), and ‘Footer’ at the foot of the page. The header and footer just have to be typed in now, and they will appear on all the pages of that document, in a shaded look to indicate their presence.
If multiple copies of the same document have to be made, with little to no changes to be made except to specific data, the document doesn’t have to be typed in again. All I have to do is to go to the ‘Tools’ menu, and select the ‘MailMerge’ option, an advanced feature in MS Word. A cast of sub options will then appear, and then, based on the application (in this case, letter writing), a specific sub option can be chosen, one pertaining to the task at hand. Since this task is letter writing, I would have to select the “Create” option, and choose sub division ‘Form Letters’. I would then have to create a data source, choosing specific fields, such as ‘First name’, ‘Last Name’, etc., and adding some other fields, and then I would have to fill in those fields with information. Now, anytime I would have to insert a merge field in, all I have to do is simply click on the ‘Insert Merge Field’ option on the document, and the certain merge field would appear on the document, appearing between ‘<< >>’ symbols.
Example: << First Name >>
<< Company Name >>
After the document is done, and the relevant fields are entered, I just have to click on the ‘<<ABC>>’ symbol on the screen, which converts all the data fields into the pre – filled in data.
Example: << First name >> is converted to Lisa Maines
<< Company Name >> is converted to PriceWater Stores
Another excellent option in MS Word which can be used is the ‘Print Preview’ option, which shows what the document typed would look like at different degrees through the ‘Zoom’ option there (eg.50%, 75%, 150%). I could then decide whether I want to change anything in the document before printing, and this saves time and also the money needed to buy extra paper.
A layout of the letter can be seen on the next page.
Invoices: These are very important documents both for the company and their clients, and usually state the quantity of items sold, the price at which they were sold, item description, total price, etc. The main option enabling me to create an invoice is the ‘Tables’ option, which comes under the ‘Table’ menu. First of all, I have to select the ‘Table’ menu, and choose the ‘Insert’ option, after which I will have to choose sub – option ‘Table’. Then, a box with options appear, where I can alter the number of columns and the number of rows as per my requirements. When all that is done, a table will appear on the screen with the desired number of rows and columns. I can write inside the columns by using the mouse pointer to direct me to where I want to start writing. From thereon, I can use the ‘Tab’ key to get to the next column. To get the insignia of the company as well as the company name, I can use the ‘Header and Footer’ option I had shown how to use earlier on.
If I wished to join 3 cells to make them 1 cell, all I would have to do would be to highlight the 3 cells using the mouse, and then, click on the ‘Table’ menu, and choose the option, ‘Merge Cells’. Doing this causes the 3 cells to join, or ‘merge’ into 1 cell. Simultaneously, I can also split 1 – 2 cells into many more cells if I wanted to. All I would have to do would be to highlight the cell(s) I want to split, and then, once again go to the ‘Tables’ menu, and choose the ‘Split Cells’ option into as many cells as I want to. Also, if I wanted a cell(s)’ gridlines not to show during printing, all I would have to do would be to choose the ‘Hide Gridlines’ option from the ‘Table’ menu, and the gridlines outlaying the cells would be gone. If I want to, I can also delete a whole table, columns, rows and cells by mostly highlighting them and choosing the ‘Delete’ option from the ‘Table’ menu again.
Example:
Brochures or leaflets: These are used by the company for advertising, and to make the other companies aware that they are there in the market and also to persuade them to do business with them. A brochure/leaflet has to be very eye – catching and colourful, and can be done on MS Word with the help of a scanner and the vast options on MS Word.
The major, important pictures can be scanned on to Microsoft word using a scanner, and the can be inserted into a document. As for the colourful writing and designs needed, this can be chosen from MS Word’s WordArt and ClipArt options. To access, these 2 options, first I have to go to the ‘Toolbars’ option in the ‘View’ menu, and select the Drawing option. A set of icons will appear below the screen, from where I will choose the WordArt option first, where I will be shown many different kinds of WordArt styles, wherein I will have to choose one style, and then type the text I want to appear in that style. I can toggle the font size and the ‘Bold’ and ‘Italic’ options to suit my purpose. After this, the WordArt style will appear on screen, with the text I have written in. I can move it around to anywhere I want to put it.
To activate the ClipArt option, I will go to the ‘Toolbars’ option in the ‘View’ menu, and choose the sub – option ‘ClipArt’, wherein I will be given different categories, ranging from business to medicine, and if I feel one clip is good enough, I will insert it into the document, which in this case, is a brochure. If I want to make the brochure more like a leaflet, I will have to select the ‘Columns’ icon, and I can split that one page into 2 or more columns.
A layout of the brochure can be seen on the next page.
Text (2) will come here.
Letterheads: These are mainly used by the company to make all their letters look very official and business – like. I will be doing a letterhead on MS Word using the Header and Footer option, which I had explained earlier on, ClipArt, and a bit of one of the drawing tools.
In a letterhead, the following are important:
- The company name
- The company logo
- The company address, and branches, if any.
To do the company name, I will use the ‘Header and Footer’ option coming under the ‘View’ menu, wherein I will type in the company name on top as the header. To do the company logo, since there are a lot of good business clips in ClipArt, I will choose the ClipArt sub – option from the ‘Toolbars’ option in the ‘View’ menu, or, I can scan a logo onto the document for a company logo. To do the company’s address and branches, using the footer from the ‘Header and Footer’ option, I can type in the company’s address, which includes the telephone number, P. O. Box number, and the different branches of the company. I will draw a line using the ‘Drawing’ option below the header, and above the footer. This will help the document (letterhead) look more neat, official, and business – like.
A layout of what the company’s letterhead will look like is on the next page.
Goods Issue/ Receipt/ Goods Return Vouchers: These are vouchers given to the company’s clients for issue of items/ receipt of goods/ return of goods, and are important to both the client as well as the company which has to keep records of the items that go out and come in, and are important in improving stock control. These can be designed on MS Word, using the ‘Insert Tables’ option, which comes under the ‘View’ menu.
Example:
Surveys or Questionnaires: The outputs from the surveys or questionnaires are essential to solve the problem of improving the current IT system of the company. Since I am buying new hardware and software for the company, I want to check whether the staff is aware of any good hardware and software. The results to this questionnaire/ survey are important, and if the staff do know of any good hardware or software, it will be irrelevant, as advice is taken from I.T. professionals. The purpose of this survey/ questionnaire is basically to see how many staff know about, or how to use, software.
The most important tool used for this output is the ‘Symbols’ function. Short, precise text is important, as it saves time and can be analysed a whole lot easier. The most important symbol when designing a questionnaire is the box (•) symbol, as it makes answering the questions in the questionnaire less tedious and boring. To use the function, I will go to the ‘Symbol’ option in the ‘Insert’ menu, choose the symbol I want, put the cursor where I want the symbol to be, insert the symbol, and format it if I want to. Also, there are many other symbols that can be used like ∂, ≡, ≈, ®, © and ™, each according to their application.
A layout of a questionnaire is shown on the next page.
Labels and Envelopes: These can be used by the company to send their letters, and will look great, as they put the company in a good light. It makes the company look professional, and very business – like. I can use MS Word to create envelopes and labels, simply by selecting the ‘Envelopes and Labels’ option from the ‘Tools’ menu, typing in the delivery/ recipient’s address, as well as the return address. Then I can print out the addresses on the letter, and the ‘Envelopes and Labels’ option guides the user on which way to put in the envelope for printing, so that time is not unnecessarily wasted.
The layout of what the envelope will look like is given below.
Employee of the month award: This is introduced by the company to improve employee – employer relationships, and to serve as a morale booster to employees. Since the award is more of a certificate, they can be designed on MS Word and are a total mix of WordArt, symbols, ClipArt, and a whole range of other options.
A layout of the Employee Of The Month award is shown below.
Passport Release Forms: These are basic data capture forms used when an employee is leaving the company for a specific reason. Such reasons include transfer of residence, leaving the country on vacation, leaving the country due to medical reasons, if the work contract has expired and cannot be renewed, or for any other justifiable reasons. Such forms can be created on MS Word using symbols, particularly box symbols, the Header and Footer option, and border lines. Border lines can easily be ‘inserted’ into a Word document by highlighting the text needed to be bordered, and then clicking on the border icon button.
A layout of a passport release form is shown on the next page.
Fig 1.8 A layout of a passport release form
Weekly Sales Reports: These are reports stating different fields, and are submitted every week for reviewing in the weekly conference meeting. These different fields include the number of customers found per week (if any), the total amount of money earned per week, the number of goods ordered per week, the cost of buying those goods and the number of goods sold per week. After this report has been filled in, it is passed on and reviewed in the weekly conference meeting by the sales manager, the purchase manager, the general manager and the finance manager. If everything is okay, they approve the report, sign it as a show of approval, and then pass it on to be filed. The form for the report can be created on MS Word, using normal options, which include the Header option, the symbols option, particularly the box (•) symbol, and the borderline facility, all of which I had explained how to attain and use beforehand.
A layout of the weekly sales report is shown on the next page.
Fig 1.9 This is a layout of the weekly sales report document.
Monthly Sales Report: These are forms where weekly reports are all added together, and combined to form one monthly report. The weekly reports, however, have to pertain to one month only. In the report, profitability, or loss, is outlined, and also, there is a comparison of monthly earnings between the previous month and the present. If the monthly earnings are less than that of the previous month there is a section for the sales manager to write out his thoughts on how to improve earnings. There is also an area where monthly costs are deducted from monthly earnings, and the profit is shown. The present month’s profit is then compared with the profit of the previous month. If the profit is less, then there is space for the sales manager to write out his thoughts on how to improve the profit. After the report is filled in, it is passed on and reviewed by the managers in the monthly report review meeting. If all the managers, especially the finance, purchase and general manager feel that the report is good, it is passed and approved, by the signature of the general manager.
In the monthly report review meeting, if the profit, or earning, is not as high as the last month’s, the suggestions (if any) of the sales manager are reviewed, and the board members, as well as the managers discuss the feasibility and the practicality of such suggestions. If the members of the board and the managers agree to the suggestion, it will be put into practice in the company.
For example, if the sales manager suggests to cut expenses by replacing employees with machines which are capable of doing the same job, as the machines do not complain, need no wages, do not ask for a pay rise, etc., the members of the board, and the managers will review and discuss it’s practicality, feasibility, and a host of other things, and if they all agree that it is the best thing to do, it will be put into effect – employees will be replaced by machines.
To create such documents takes no great skill, and is not hard at all. The MS Word options which will be used to create the document are the borders option, the box symbol option, and as usual, normal typing to finish it off.
A layout of the monthly sales report is shown on the next page.
Fig 2.0 This is the layout for the monthly sales report document.
Maps: Maps are usually designed either when the company is shifting one of it’s offices or stores to a different location, or when they are opening up a new office or supermarket branch altogether. Maps are drawn using the drawing tools, which can be accessed by just looking up the ‘View’ menu. There, an option called ‘Toolbars’ should appear. If you check the sub options within toolbars, you will come to a facility called ‘Drawing’. By just clicking on that facility, the drawing tools are activated, and the drawing tools are found below.
There are many drawing facilities, like line drawing, WordArt, ClipArt, circle drawing, arrow marking, text boxes, if needed, 3D effects, Autoshapes, line colour, text colour, background colour, line styles, arrow styles, and a whole host of other facilities.
Using the drawing tools, particularly boxes, text boxes, circles, arrows and lines, maps can be designed. All that needs to be done to insert one is to just choose the facility, and drag to suit the size and the need of the user. About text boxes, one has to just choose it, and then drag it to suit size and need, and if one does not want the outline of the text box to be seen, one just has to right – click the mouse, and options will appear, which include the ‘Format Text box’ option. By choosing that option, many other sub – options will appear, like ‘Fill’, ‘Line’ and ‘Arrow’. Under the ‘Line’ sub option, there are 2 categories – ‘Colour’ and ‘Dashed’. By choosing the ‘Colour’ facility, and clicking on the option, ‘No Line’, the text box will be now, without it’s borderlines. However, the text typed in will still be there.
For example, the size can vary by just pulling and dragging the options, as shown below. There are also boxes with 3D settings and different line styles shown below.
For Textboxes, an example of a text box with and without it’s borderline is shown.
