Persuasion Essay

This assignment was a memo for your “team leader”, Lisa, to the director of international affairs. It was rumored in the company they are eliminating the global expansion team (my team, Weyerhaeuser). Our assignment was to compose a memo persuading the director to reconsider his decision.

February 18th, 2014

To: Mark A. Emmert

From: lisa.lorenson@weyerhaeuser.com

Dear Director:

The demand for cellulosic fiber ethanol, CFE, is expected to grow to 100 billion gallons within the next decade. Capitalizing international markets for CFE by using our existing SBU’s will maximize our profitability with low costs in this quickly emerging industry.

It is vital for Weyerhaeuser to expand production of CFE to Canada. Without international growth we will not gain a competitive advantage in the relatively un-established industry and thus lose a massive opportunity for profits. Currently, Weyerhaeuser’s production sites in America have the capacity to produce 27 billion gallons. We have undergone multiple domestic mergers with experienced companies in the industry to test our abilities in the market, and have found a massive potential for growth. CFE production in Alberta using existing timber sites can fill the consumer-producer gap with few new machinery expenses. With demand for CFE rapidly increasing, it would be detrimental not to continue industry expansion into Canada. Weyerhaeuser boasts a competitive advantage in our ability to self-supply the initial fiber for CFE with our millions of acres of timberland, which will transfer into competitive pricing. The current members of the expansion team have crucial skills learned from past projects that ensure profitability for the expansion. These members will facilitate proper training to existing Canadian Weyerhaeuser employees to perform revised tasks that focus on CFE production, which will reduce turnover and recruiting expenses.

Renewable energy hasn’t been the most consistently reliable market. Asia, however, has...