Communication - Resignation

2. Individual Assignment: PR Communication Memo

The company with which you are currently employed is experiencing a financial crisis. The Chief Financial Officer (CFO) has suddenly resigned and no one is discussing the reasons why. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is investigating your company's accounting practices and from the documents they have requested, the issue seems to concern revenue recognition. Rumors are beginning to circulate that suggest inappropriate behavior on the part of your company. The organization is a publicly traded company, and as such, the company is required to issue a public notice concerning the sudden vacancy of the CFO. As a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) on the team drafting the notice, you are involved in communicating the current situation to the general public.

Write a press release. You may conduct research to find examples of public notices of this same nature. Use these examples to determine how you will format your press release. Use appropriate letterhead and format to make it look like a genuine press release.

Then write an accompanying internal memo to your manager that includes the following:

o Outline what your company is legally required to do.
o Explain the value of the public communication in this situation.
o Examine the balance between calming external stakeholders and the ethical considerations of providing all the information that is required by the SEC.
o How the perception of the press release will affect public opinion
o Make sure you put both these Microsoft Word® formatted assignments in one document.

Internal Memo:
Outlines what the company is legally required to do
Explains the value of the public communication in this situation
Examines the balance between calming external stakeholders and the ethical considerations of providing all the information that is required by the SEC
Discusses how the perception of the press release will affect public opinion
Press Release:
Follows typical press release format
Presents positive but truthful summary of situtation that will calm fears of external stakeholders

· Paragraph transitions are present, logical, and maintain the flow throughout.
· The tone is appropriate to the content and assignment.
· Sentences are complete, clear, and concise.
· Sentences are well constructed, strong, and varied.
· Sentence transitions are present and maintain the flow of thought.
· The paper, including the title page, reference page, tables, and appendixes, follows APA formatting guidelines.
· Citations of original works within the body of the paper follow APA guidelines.
· The memo is laid out with effective use of headings, font styles, and white space, as appropriate.
· Rules of grammar, usage, and punctuation are followed.
· Spelling is correct.