Addressed to a propane company's general manager, GB532's Unit 2 memo names one decision, sets three research objectives and two hypotheses beneath it, and fences off what stays out. Searches like "gb 532 unit 2 assignment example", "gb532 unit 2 sample" and "gb532 unit 2 example" land here.
What a finished GB532 Unit 2 problem definition memo looks like
A two-page memo to the general manager, headed with date, sender and a subject line naming the decision. The opening paragraph states that decision and the date by which it must be made, before the next heating season's contracts go out in August. Background follows in five sentences, carrying forward the season's numbers from the discussion board. A two-row box separates the management decision problem from the marketing research problem. Three research objectives sit under it: estimate the share of automatic customers with a heat pump, measure how far propane use falls in those homes, and gauge interest in a backup-heat plan. Two hypotheses follow, each written so the data could reject it. A scope paragraph excludes commercial and farm accounts, and a list of information needs closes the memo.
How a GB532 Unit 2 example is structured
The memo runs from decision to detail, so a manager who reads only the opening paragraph still knows what the study is for. Background is kept deliberately short and factual, since its job is to show why the question is worth money, not to retell the season. The two-row box is the center of the page: one row says what the manager must choose, the other what the study will find out, and every objective below it traces to the second row. Objectives are written with verbs that can be checked afterward, estimate, measure, gauge. Hypotheses are stated as predictions with a direction, for instance that heat pump households are concentrated in towns with the most rebates. Scope is written as exclusions, each with a reason. Information needs close the memo because they become the questionnaire's source list later.
The decision and its deadline
A backup-heat plan must be priced before August, when automatic-delivery contracts renew. The memo names that date in its first paragraph, which tells the reader how much research the timeline can hold.
Two rows that keep manager and researcher apart
Management decision problem: whether to offer a hybrid-home plan. Marketing research problem: how common heat pumps are among retained automatic customers, how much propane those homes still use, and whether owners would sign up.
Objectives written with checkable verbs
Estimate a share, measure a change in use, gauge interest on a stated scale. Each objective can be judged complete or incomplete when the study ends, which a verb like explore would never allow.
Hypotheses that could fail
One predicts heat pumps cluster in towns with the highest rebate counts. The other predicts hybrid households keep propane for the coldest weeks rather than dropping it. Either could be rejected by the survey data.
What the study leaves out
Commercial accounts, farm accounts and households the firm lost last season are excluded, each with a sentence explaining why. Lost customers matter, the memo concedes, but they need a different frame and a different budget.
Where marks go in GB532 Unit 2
Problem definition memos are graded less on polish than on whether a decision is actually named. Where the memo states a topic, heat pumps and propane demand, rather than a choice with options, the rest of the page has nothing to serve, and the objectives row usually suffers with it. The next check is whether the management problem and the research problem stay distinct; merging them into one sentence is a common reason for partial credit. Objectives written as explore or understand cannot be evaluated later. Hypotheses without direction, or ones no data could refute, weaken the analysis row. A memo that sprawls across every possible cause of lost sales signals weak scoping. Missing memo conventions, no subject line or no recipient, cost presentation points in many sections.
Get a GB532 Unit 2 example written to your instructions
What decision is the manager in your GB532 case facing? Put that in a sentence, attach the Unit 2 instructions and the rubric, and the memo is drafted around it: decision first, research problem beside it, objectives and hypotheses beneath. Turnaround is 24-48h, and a first custom sample carries no charge.
GB532 Unit 2 questions, answered
How long should a problem definition memo be?
Usually one to two pages, since the memo format rewards compression. If your section sets a length, follow it. The decision, the research problem, three or four objectives and a scope statement fit comfortably in that space. A memo that runs long is often carrying background the manager already knows, and cutting it tends to sharpen the rest.
Are hypotheses required in a marketing research memo?
Not always. Exploratory studies often have none, because the point is to learn what to hypothesize. Where the prompt asks for them, write each as a prediction the data could contradict, with a direction. A hypothesis that says customers' attitudes affect purchases cannot be tested and earns little credit even when it is technically present.
Can the memo change the problem my instructor supplied?
It can refine it, and graduate sections often reward that when the refinement is argued. Keep the original situation intact, then show why the decision is narrower or different than it first appears. What tends to lose points is replacing the case with a different one; the memo should read as a sharper version of the problem given.