2.

MEMORANDUMS
- Memorandum or Memo is the most commonly used means of inter-office correspondence
or intra-organization communication. (p. 214)
- This is directed to an individual or a group of people within the company for
announcements on the following:
1. Incoming or outgoing officer or member of the company
2. New company policy, rules, or directives
3. New activities or instructions
4. Proper company behavior, attitudes, and practices
- How long should a memo be? There is no standard length of a memo.
o Depending on SAP (subject, author, purpose) and the policy of the company, you
can write a one-page memo, an economical email or the formatted memo with the
usual TO, FROM, and DATE.
o A one-page memo to convey a message is not the standard practice in the business
world.
▪ This is effective only in the following cases:
1. Giving summaries
2. Expressing short messages
3. Asking for information
4. Ordering a person to act on a certain subject
5. Disseminating minutes or written records of meetings
▪ Example of a one-page memo:

OFFICE OF THE VICE PRESIDENT FOR

ACADEMIC AFFAIRS
University of Santo Tomas, España Avenue, Manila

July 8, 2007

Memorandum for the Dean of the

College of Architecture

Subject: Steps we must take to maintain the COE (Center of Excellence)

status of the College of Architecture

1. Sixty percent of those who took the 2006 Architectural Board Exams failed to
comply with the one-year practicum prior to the exams. This resulted in the poor
performance of the UST students in the exams. There is need, therefore, to
impose strictly the one-year rule to the next batch of examinees.

2. Every year, the College of Architecture always lands in the top three places of the
board exams. It is believed that this is due to the highly competent faculty
members of the college. To maintain this, the school suggests that you adopt
more strict and thorough policies or standards in the screening of teacher
applicants.

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 3. There is a need to update the facilities and other learning materials in your
college, especially, those for design courses. Please, submit a proposal report on
this matter as soon as possible.

4. Sufficient funding is available for research studies, seminar-workshops, and

training sessions on topics related to a faculty member’s area of specialization.
All teachers in your college are encouraged to involve themselves actively in
these faculty development activities.

5. A reduced number of students per class: say, twenty to twenty-five in a section,

will ensure a production of graduates who have the capacity to pass the board
exams easily much more to top the test.

6. Invoking God’s help through the intercessions of the Blessed Virgin Mary and St.
Thomas Aquinas is paramount to all steps towards the continuance of the COE
status of the College of Architecture.

Carlos Bernabe

- The memo format serves as a medium of various kinds of messages.

o Because of its routinary use, some do not give particular attention to the format or
layout of the basic parts of their memo.

- The principal parts of a memo are:

1. DATE
2. TO
3. FROM
4. SUBJECT
- Each part is written in big letters and it is followed by a colon.
o The order may not necessarily or always be like this.
o You may put two parts opposite each other, like:

MEMO

TO: FROM:

SUBJECT: DATE:

Note: Letting TO precede FROM suggests courtesy.

- The principles in writing memorandums and in writing business letters are the same,
because they are based on the same reasons for writing.
o Nevertheless, the two differ from each other in format and content organization.

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 o Memorandums always use direct order while business letters use both direct order
and indirect order.
▪ Direct order states the purpose or the most important information or
message in the beginning of the memo.
▪ Indirect order, towards the end of the memo
▪ Direct order emphasizes good news; indirect order tempers bad news.
- In conclusion, these are the four special considerations that you have to keep in mind in
writing memorandums:
1. It contains no inside address.
2. It has no personal opening or closing.
3. Its subject matter is announced or posted at the outset.
4. It usually requires no introduction or conclusion.

- With the advent of innovative communication technologies, emails have apparently

superseded memos.
o Kevin (2003) says that email has strong controlling effects on businesses so much so
that the absence of this electronic mailing of messages is enough to discontinue any
business operations.
o Further, he points out that though “emails are indispensable form of ultra-fast
global communication, they are abused or misused.”
o Because they are speedier and easier to use, some students and employees love to
use these for writing trivial messages which are sometimes reflective of the sender’s
unlearned use of the email as well as of his incorrect use of the English language.
o The previous chapter gave you more detailed explanations about emails which,
according to Ryan Kevin, are “the most used and the most reliable workhorses in
business communication.”

VOCABULARY (p. 212)

Study these words that may make your memorandum ineffective. Give particular attention to the short
and effective words that should replace them.
Long and Ineffective Short and Effective
made a decision decided
came to the conclusion concluded
place an order for ordered
showed an increase increased
be of service serve
converse with spoke to
are cognizant of we know
summarization summary
inadvertency error
remuneration pay
utilization use
encounter meet
assistance help
substantiation proof
your communication your letter
institution bank
expedite speed up

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MODEL PRESENTATION (p. 212)
What is a memorandum?
How does it differ from a business letter?
How should you write an effective memorandum?

Study these examples of memorandums.

1. An Inter-Office Memorandum

Date: November 20, 2006

To: All English 7 Professors
From: The English Coordinator
Subject: The Teaching of English 7

Please be reminded that English 7 Business English is a skill subject, not a content subject.
Hence, you should teach this by using manipulative activities, not by abstract thinking.
Moreover, English 7 textbooks should reflect this teaching technique. Therefore, I suggest
that you examine a Business English book thoroughly first before you require your students
to buy the book.

Thank you for whatever concern you have in improving your way of teaching this subject.

M. Divino
English Coordinator

2. A Modified Memorandum Arrangement

22 November 2006
Doreen Rivera
Vacation Time Changed

Yes, Doreen, you are welcome to change the period of your vacation to May 2-10. In
fact, this change is better for us, too. The early part of May is usually a passive time that can
easily be taken care of by the temporary and part-time employees.

You are always thoughtful of your associates as well as of your company’s objectives.
Thank you for being such a fine employee.

Gloria Rosales

fl

LANGUAGE FOCUS (p. 217)

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Review those things you learned about consistency of tense.

Study the following examples:

main clause noun clause

1. Mr. Perez said, / “Hong Kong, a famous business center is no longer a British colony.”

main clause adverbial clause

2. It rained / when they conducted their first business meeting.

main clause adjectival clause

3. She wrote a memo / that will surprise many part-time workers.

main clause noun clause

4. He forgot / what he stated emphatically in his memo.

REMEMBER THESE (p. 218)

1. The tense of the noun clause follows the tense of the main clause, except if the noun clause
expresses a universal truth or a relatively permanent condition.
2. The verbs in the adjectival clause and in the main clause need not agree in tense.
3. There should be an agreement in tense between the verb in the main clause and the verb in the
adverbial clause. The adverbial clause always follows the tense of the verb in the main clause.

Reference

Baraceros, E. L. (2013). Business correspondence (2nd ed.). Manila: Rex Bookstore.

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