Report: Analysis of a Book Issue in Effective Writing Skills Course

This report investigates a critical textbook issue faced by Conestoga College's Communications Department and its bookstore. The core problem revolves around the transition between the 3rd and 4th editions of the 'Writing Effectively' textbook used in the COMM1234 course. The bookstore is pressured to return the unsold 3rd edition copies within a short timeframe, while the department is hesitant to adopt the 4th edition due to significant content restructuring, which would cause confusion for students. The report analyzes the perspectives of the bookstore manager, the course instructor, and the administrative assistant, highlighting the financial and pedagogical challenges. The bookstore's dilemma is compounded by the publisher's strict return policy, and the department's concerns about the 4th edition's suitability for the current semester. The report concludes by emphasizing the urgent need for a collaborative decision to mitigate financial losses and ensure a smooth learning experience for students. The report also provides details on sales, inventory, enrolment and registration reports to justify the findings.

Running Head: INVESTIGATION OF A BOOK ISSUE
Investigation of a Book Issue
Name of Student
Name of University
Author Note

1INVESTIGATION OF A BOOK ISSUE
Introduction
Kelly Book, Dean of the Communications Department at Conestoga College has asked to
investigate about a textbook that is used in the course titled, ‘Writing Effectively’, which is
published by the Oxford publishing house. The 3rd edition of the book was so far used by the
department of Communication but the publisher has recently introduced the 4th edition of the
book. Generally the bookstores are provided a time before they replace the old edition with the
new one. However, this time the publishing house has sent a message to the bookstores that they
had already stopped selling the 3rd edition. The 3rd edition is still required for the effective writing
course and the 4th edition has added many new things and that cannot be taught now to the
students. The problem is here is that I order for the bookstore to credit their money, they need to
send the books in the new 4 weeks before the start of the semester. After the time of 4 weeks is
over the publisher will not accept the book. The copies that are not sold will be charged to the
communications department. The college needs to make a decision about the 3rd edition
otherwise huge loss will be incurred by the book stores.
Discussion
Problem Faced by the Communications Department
According to Matt Hoan who is the instructor of the courtse department, will also face a
lot of problems if they replace the 3rd edition of the book by the 4th edition. Mr. Hoan has
reviewed the 4th edition of the book, and according to him this edition has a lot of new chapters
that has being added to the beginning of the book and this new chapters do not match with the
chapters of the 3rd edition. Hence the switch cannot be made a both the books together also

2INVESTIGATION OF A BOOK ISSUE
cannot be used as this would lead to confusion for the students. There are changes that have to be
made by Mr. Hoan so that they can introduce the 4th edition of the book. The semester that starts
after four weeks will continue with the 3rd edition as the transition would require a lot of time and
that is not possible now. The students also have already purchased the new edition and at least
for this semester the switch is not possible. This is where the department of Commination stands.
Problems Faced by the Bookstore
The bookstore has to sell the books of the 3rd edition or return them in the next four
weeks otherwise the publishing house will stop selling the books and the loss will be incurred by
the store owners. Generally the publishers at Oxford provide some time before clearing the stock
but this time it is different and there is no time hence the store either has to return the books or
sell it. The bookstore needs a confirmation from the university about which edition of the book
they will use otherwise the remaining books will be charged to the department.
Conclusion
Both the bookstore and the department of Communication is at problem here and both of
them need to decide as fast as possible about the fate of the 3rd edition of the book otherwise both
the department and the bookstore will incur a loss.