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Education Resources

Components and Purpose of a Memo from Business Communication Book of SMU MBA

Saturday, February 11, 2012

Components of Memo:

Header: This should appear at the top of a memo. This compact block of information contains.

a) Date: Remember to write the date in words (such as 12th February, 2012

b) Name of the receiver (s): In general, the title such as Professor or Mr. is omitted. However, it is left to your discretion to follow the style that your organization prefers. You should not use a salutation (such as Dear) or a closing (such as sincerely).

c) Name of the sender (s): Write your initials after your name on the “From” line.

d) Subject of the memo: Be specific when you write the subject. You should not be too vague (e. g. Purchase). This example is unclear because it could be a purchase of anything.

e) C. C.: It is the abbreviation for Carbon Copy. Though it is an obsolete term, it is still used to mean that a copy of the memo will go to the person mentioned.

f) B. C. C.: It means Blind Carbon Copy: This copy goes to a person, who may not be directly involved. But he knows what is going on. The people mentioned in the cc list will not see the names mentioned in the bcc list.

Purpose of Memo: This states the reason for writing the memo. If you answer the questions who, when, what, where and why, then your purpose is fulfilled. For example – The purpose of this memo is to request the purchase of Specimen Jars for our lab at M. G. Road for the month of January 2011.

The chapter of components and purpose of memo has been taken from Business Communication Book of SMU MBA (MB0023) in the sequel of memo and language of a memo and how to participate in meetings.

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