| Course | GB512 Business Communications |
|---|---|
| Unit | Unit 5 |
| Paper type | Persuasive message |
| Length | About 500 words, 4 pages double-spaced |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Purdue University Global |
| Program | MBA |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for GB512 Unit 5
Sixty-One Hours of Downtime and a Ninety-Day Pilot: A Unit 5 Persuasive Memo to a Skeptical Plant Manager
[Student Name]
Purdue University Global
GB512: Business Communications
Unit 5 Persuasive Message
[Instructor Name]
[Date]
The packaging plant, its staff and every figure are composite and illustrative; the sources cited are real.
The Memo
TO: Greg Lindqvist, Plant Manager FROM: Rosa Delgado, Maintenance Supervisor DATE: April 8 SUBJECT: Ninety-day sensor pilot on Lines 1 and 2 to cut unplanned downtime
Greg,
Lines 1 and 2, our two oldest corrugators, had 61 hours of unplanned downtime last quarter, almost all from bearing and motor failures that gave no warning.
Using the plant's own figures, each hour of downtime on those lines costs about $4,800 in lost contribution and overtime to catch up, so last quarter's 61 hours cost about $293,000. Over a year at that rate, the cost would be about $1.17 million.
I am proposing a ninety-day pilot that installs wireless vibration and temperature sensors on the 24 motors and bearings that caused most of last quarter's failures, all on Lines 1 and 2. The sensors report to a cloud dashboard that alerts our technicians when a reading trends toward failure, so we can schedule repairs during planned stops. The pilot's fixed cost is $38,000 for sensors, installation and the dashboard subscription for ninety days.
Two years ago, you turned down a plant-wide program at $410,000 because the cost was high and the benefits were uncertain. Both have changed. Wireless sensors now cost about a third of what wired systems did, so the pilot covers our two worst lines for less than a tenth of the earlier price. And the pilot is designed to test the benefit before we spend more: if it does not cut unplanned downtime on those lines, we stop.
The pilot asks for less than a tenth of the money you refused two years ago, and it answers the question you asked then: does it work here?
I am asking you to approve the $38,000 pilot by April 19, so installation can start in the May planned stop. At day 45, I will report three measures: unplanned downtime hours on Lines 1 and 2, the number of failures the sensors flagged in advance and the repair cost of those failures compared with the last two quarters.
Rosa
Notes on the Choices
Jay Conger argues that effective persuasion begins with credibility and common ground, frames the proposal in terms of the reader's own concerns and supports it with vivid evidence (Conger, 1998). The memo opens on a cost the plant manager already watches and uses his plant's numbers, not a vendor's. Robert Cialdini notes that a smaller initial request is easier to agree to than a large one (Cialdini, 2021), which is why the pilot is scaled down and reversible. The old objection is named and answered, because an unanswered objection is usually the reason a persuasive message fails.
References
Cialdini, R. B. (2021). Influence: The psychology of persuasion (New and expanded ed.). Harper Business.
Conger, J. A. (1998). The necessary art of persuasion. Harvard Business Review, 76(3), 84-95.
What the GB512 Unit 5 assignment asks for
In GB512 Unit 5 you write a message that persuades a reader with reasons to refuse. Open on a problem the reader already cares about, in terms they already track. Turn it into a cost using figures the reader trusts, preferably the organization's own. Propose a solution sized to lower the reader's risk, such as a pilot. Name the reader's likely or past objection and answer it directly. Make one precise request with a date, and say how and when results will be reported. Keep the message to one or two pages as a memo or email. Add notes explaining your choices with a source on persuasion if your section asks, citing it in APA 7.
Inside the GB512 Unit 5 example
The memo from Rosa Delgado to Greg Lindqvist opens with 61 hours of unplanned downtime on Lines 1 and 2, mostly bearing and motor failures with no warning. The plant's figure of $4,800 an hour turns that into about $293,000 a quarter and $1.17 million a year. The proposal places wireless sensors on 24 motors and bearings with a cloud dashboard for ninety days at $38,000. A paragraph answers the earlier refusal of a $410,000 plant-wide program: wireless sensors cost about a third of wired ones, and the pilot tests the benefit before more is spent. The highlighted sentence answers the old question. The ask is approval by April 19 for the May stop, with a day-45 report on downtime, failures flagged and repair costs. Notes cite Conger on persuasion and Cialdini on smaller requests.
GB512 Unit 5 rubric: what earns full points
GB512 rubric credit for this message depends on whether it starts from the reader's concerns and earns its request. Instructors look for an opening on a cost the reader already watches, evidence in the reader's own numbers and a proposal sized to reduce risk. Naming and answering the reader's objection carries significant weight, because unanswered objections are why persuasive messages fail. The request should be specific, with a date and a plan for reporting results. Notes that connect choices to research on persuasion show understanding. Conger in Harvard Business Review and Cialdini's Influence provide the citations in APA 7.
Common GB512 Unit 5 mistakes, and how to avoid them
Many GB512 Unit 5 messages open with the writer's enthusiasm for a solution rather than the reader's problem. Others present vendor figures the reader has no reason to trust. A common gap is the objection: ignoring why the reader said no before leaves the same reason standing. Some messages end with a vague request to consider the idea. Open on the reader's problem, cost it with their numbers, propose something small and reversible, answer the objection, ask for one decision by a date and say how results will be reported.
Get a GB512 Unit 5 example written to your instructions
Who has to be persuaded in your Unit 5 prompt, and what is being asked of them? Include that with the GB512 instructions and rubric, and a persuasive message ordered for that reader's resistance is written in 24 to 48 hours. The first sample is free, and the evidence follows your scenario's figures. The paper above is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Purdue University Global document.
More GB512 papers and MBA samples
- GB512 Unit 1: Diagnostic Business Message
- GB512 Unit 2: Audience Rewrite Exercise
- GB512 Unit 3: Routine Business Memo
- GB512 Unit 4: Bad-News Business Letter
- GB512 Unit 6: Report Proposal
- GB512 Unit 7: Annotated Report Outline
- GB512 Unit 8: Formal Business Report
- GB512 Unit 9: Business Presentation Deck
- GB512 Unit 10: Communication Course Reflection
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- GB500 Unit 5: Market Structure Case
GB512 Unit 5 questions, answered
Should a persuasive message use AIDA or a problem-solution structure?
Either can work; the reader decides. AIDA suits readers whose attention has to be captured, such as a customer, while problem-solution suits internal decision-makers who already know the problem exists. Many GB512 sections discuss both in the Unit 5 seminar. A finished example commits to one and lets the reader's resistance explain the choice.
How much evidence does a persuasive message need?
Enough to make the cost of doing nothing concrete, usually two or three specific figures and one credible source. More data can bury the ask in a short message. GB512 graders look for evidence that fits the reader, such as internal numbers for an insider or published market data for an external client.
What if my scenario reader has no prior objection on record?
A finished message anticipates the likeliest one based on the reader's role: cost for a finance reader, disruption for an operations lead, risk for a compliance officer. It still names and answers that objection. Readers without a stated objection usually hold an unstated one, and naming it first tends to strengthen the argument.
Where can I find a free GB512 Unit 5 sample paper?
This page carries a full GB512 Unit 5 persuasive memo proposing a $38,000 sensor pilot to a plant manager who refused a larger program, with notes on persuasion and APA 7 references.
Why propose a pilot instead of the full program?
The manager refused a $410,000 program as costly and uncertain. A $38,000 pilot on the two worst lines lowers the risk and answers his earlier question about whether it works, which makes agreement easier.