A recommendation memo is a routinely used document in leading firms, and you may be writing such memos as part of an internship. Therefore, it is essential that you gain some practice at writing them. The purpose of a recommendation memo is to concisely recommend a course of action and provide rationale supporting the recommendation. This note describes how your team should approach writing a recommendation memo for the case assignments. The second part of this note gives you a sample memo that you should use to write your own memos for these assignments. Note that the format of the memos may vary from company to company. Therefore, while following the memo format as given in this note, bear in mind that the goal here is to expose you to memo writing rather than force a memo format on you.

WHAT IS A RECOMMENDATION MEMO?

The recommendation memo is a one-page document (not including exhibits) that recommends your course of action and rationale. This format promotes a concise and clear strategic thought process. Equally importantly, it mimics managerial practice. If your memo exceeds 1 1/4 pages, it is TOO long!

ELEMENTS OF A RECOMMENDATION MEMO

1. FIRST PARAGRAPH

This paragraph expresses your intent or action (This recommends……).

· Topic overview (the “what”, not “when” or “how”): costs, funding, etc.

· Ends with the hook: selling idea, the “why” or payoff: this part reveals the author’s point of view.

Checklist

· Is there a clear purpose, objective?

2. BACKGROUND

This paragraph explains why we are talking about this today. It lays out the story.

· Historical: not “new” news (i.e., none of your case analysis will appear here).

· Highlights what brought us to this moment, why we are in this position, what brought about the need to make this decision.

· Dimensionalize the importance to the organization (e.g., important profit goal).

· Constraints – such as budget, capacity, technology, people, etc.

· This section is both brief and factual.

Checklist

· Is the background clear, concise, and easy to follow?

· Does it explain why action is needed now?

· Does the appropriate sense of urgency come across?

3. RECOMMENDATION

Here, you detail what to do, when to do it and how to do it.

· The details of “what”, “when”, and “how”. NO “why”.

· This section should be very specific (100% clear). It must be actionable (How much will it cost, when, how, who). The reader should be able to read this and know how to carry out this recommendation.

· Some cases will require more than one recommendation.

Checklist

· Is the recommendation clear and actionable? Could someone else implement it?

4. BASIS FOR RECOMMENDATION

Here the reader learns WHY each recommendation is the UNIQUE right thing to do.

· 2-3 solid reasons are typical. Any other action should seem less appealing.

· This section flows from the opening “hook”; links to the original recommendation.

· Support includes impact on profit, share, AND anything else affecting long-term business goals.

· Analysis should address applicable quantitative issues such as NPV, break even analysis, pro forma statement of project budget, sensitivity analysis; as well as qualitative issues, such as, technology consistency, architectural conformance, innovation potential, etc.

· Appeals to precedent and anecdotal evidence in absence of data, but only in limited, carefully constrained manner.

· Shows how the recommendation will put the firm at a competitive advantage or is simply a competitive necessity.

· The goal is to read the basis and conclude the recommendation.

Checklist

· Is the recommendation an inescapable conclusion of the basis?

· Does the basis for recommendation appropriately consider:

1. Core competencies and consistency with mission?

2. External customers and internal clients?

3. Competitors?

4. Attractiveness – quantitative measures if applicable (e.g., NPV, ROI, break-even, payback)?

· Are all assumptions explicitly stated (e.g., needs, technology trends)?

5. DISCUSSION

· Outline other alternatives not selected.

· Discuss risks and key assumptions (use full disclosure, reference Options Grid) of your recommendation.

· When you give a precise number or range, you must support the basis as well.

Checklist

· Is the analysis thorough with key alternatives fairly considered (see the attachment Options Grid)?

· Risks associated with recommendation are properly addressed?

6. NEXT STEPS

· Orient to the reader

· Specify date and action needed (what will be done, by whom, and by when)

Checklist

· Clear follow-up/next steps?

· If appropriate, lay out timeline with key milestones to implement recommendation.

7. EXHIBITS

· An Exhibit can be a graph, grid, or simple table (more than four lines).

· List assumptions used in calculations. Do not assume that the reader can read between the lines. So, make every assumption explicit.

· Exhibits should have Title, sources, footnotes to calculation. The point of the Exhibit should be instantly clear to the reader.

· Exhibits should be cited in the proper order (i.e., do not cite Exhibit 4 first in your Memo and then Exhibit 2).

Checklist

· Is the analysis precise, accurate, and data-based?

· Are the exhibits clearly laid out, titled, and referenced in the memo?

· Is every assumption explicitly listed?

NOTE: Every memo may not include every element described above. The specific case will dictate what must be included. An example is attached.

SAMPLE MEMO FORMAT

To: (Name of supervisor goes here)

From: Your team designation/title/cohort and number

Date:

SUBJECT: NAME OF CASE AND RECO TOPIC

This recommends

Implementation will take place within ____ days of approval. Improved sales, reliability, profitability, productivity, and/or reduced costs will result from these actions (state specifics). Sales (Name), Finance (Name), and Manufacturing (Name) concur (If applicable).

Background

· These key facts help explain why we are thinking about this situation today.

· At times, the background paragraph is a good place in a recommendation memo to document the gap between the “real” and the “ideal”. When you use it this way, be sure it sets up each of the reasons in the “Basis for Recommendation” section of the memo.

· Do not include obvious or unnecessary facts. Do not include information found while looking into the situation. This is for information that caused us to look into the situation.

· It is best to simply tell a simple and concise story.

Recommendation

· This describes what we are going to do and how we intend to do it. Limit this section to major points. Implementation details and caveats are discussed in the “Discussion” section following the “Basis for Recommendation” section.

· Our objective is to

Basis for Recommendation

· We state our most important reason here. It is numbered, underlined, and stated in a full sentence. We present data here to prove the claim made in point 1, making sure that the first sentence of this section clearly extends from the data. The claim must be the inescapable conclusion of the data. If there are more than four rows of data, use an exhibit (i.e. refer to Exhibit 1). Exhibits must be clearly labeled and numbered.

· We state our second most important reason here. We present data to prove the claim made in point 2. (3 points are typical)

Discussion

· Here we discuss a) implementation details, and b) qualifiers, such as risks and rejected alternative solutions.

Next Steps: Here we tell the readers exactly what we want them to do and when we want them to do it. We also lay out a timetable of key milestones to implement the recommendation. A throw-away schedule should be prepared if high stakes are involved

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