Writing Assignment #5
White Paper for an External Audience
Summary of the Assignment
Task: In this paper, you will write a document that provides information that an external
audience can use to inform a decision.
• Length: 1300-1600 words
• Graphics: at least three graphics, one of which has to be original
• Format in Citing and Listing Sources: APA
• Number and Sources: at least five sources, at least one of which has to be
obtained through OneSearch
Brief Description of the White Paper
Scenario: You are an employee of a company (real or fictitious). You will be writing a
white paper to an external audience using either of the approaches below:
● a general white paper to an external audience – written by you (as an employee of
your company) to other companies/professionals in this same industry. The white
paper will address a problem in this industry and inform an external audience about a
new trend that could solve it.
● a white paper promoting a new product or service to potential customers—
written by you (as an employee of your company) to customers of your company.
This scenario requires a large company who sells products/services to other
businesses (such as Amazon Web Services).
NOTE: You will not be writing a white paper to your boss or to superiors in the company
for which you work. That type of paper would be an internal white paper.
Strategies to Consider for the White Paper
Please follow these guidelines:
1. Have a focused topic. Please see the sample white papers from previous students
for examples of how previous topics have been developed for this paper.
2. Write to a reasonably focused and identified audience
• A white paper to an external audience can have a fairly broad audience,
but thepaper should focus on a particular problem that the audience is
experiencing.
For example, you could write a white paper on better ways of training
employees to detect phishing scams. The audience would be a broad range of
managers and IT professionals. However, the problem they all share would be
clear: Phishing emails have become a problem for cybersecurity in many
companies.
• A white paper that promotes a product or service to potential customers
could have a fairly broad audience.
▪ For example, you work for a cybersecurity company, and your white
paper will promote a new security product or service to the company’s
customers. This type of white paper is usually written by a large
company (such as Amazon Web Services) to other companies. Normal
retail customers generally won’t read a white paper about a product.
3. Integrate thorough research.
4. Do not make a “hard sell” to the audience about what action it should take. Your
white paper is designed to inform an audience of a possible solution to a problem. The
Purdue OWL video mentions this principle. This is one reason the video refers to the
white paper as a backgrounder report.
How to Organize the White Paper
Please include the following sections in your white paper:
● Executive Summary
● Introduction
● Previous Approaches
● New Findings
● Conclusion
● References
Executive Summary: Summarize your research and your purpose. The executive summary
should be a stand-alone document of one page. It should be written in such a way that a busy
executive could read the executive summary and know exactly what the paper is about
without reading the rest of the paper. It should contain the same subtitles as the white
paper: introduction, previous approaches, new findings and conclusion.
Introduction: Lay the groundwork for your readers for the details that will be introduced in the
white paper. If you need to define any terms, you will do so here. You might share an anecdote
or illustration to describe why this topic is important.
Previous Approaches: Describe the approaches or strategies that have been previously used or
are currently used on the topic. For example, if you are writing a white paper about a new way
to train employees on how to detect and ward off phishing scams, you would review what
training procedures are being conducted now by most companies to help them detect and ward
off phishing scams. You could show the challenges or problems that the current training
features. You might show that employees are still falling prey tophishing scams despite this
training, or that employees find the training uninspiring, boring, and routine.
In this section of the white paper, your use of sources will be very important. You should
integrate research to show that the problems you have identified exist. For example, in the
situation described above, you would need sources to give evidence that employees find
training ineffective.
New Findings: Present a NEW TREND (or trends) that could solve this problem. In this
section, you will describe the findings of your research about new trends. You will not only
provide data and research, but you will also explain the data and research and how it can solve
the problem. In this section of the white paper, your use of sources will be very important as
well. You should integrate research to show that the problems you have identified will be
solved by your new trend.
For example, if you are writing a white paper about a new way to train employees on howto
detect and ward off phishing scams, you would show why a new approach to training
employees on phishing scams would be more effective than the current approaches. Perhaps the
current approaches are boring online tutorials, and you are proposing excitingonsite training
sessions complete with scenarios, role-playing, and group work.
You would want to integrate research to show that your new approaches might be
superior. For example, you might cite a study that indicates that online tutorials are
boring and that employees want more interaction. The more research, the more
persuasive your argument will be.
Conclusion: Review what the problem is, how the researchshows that is a problem, and
what the potential new approach is. You will not tell the audience what steps to take
next. However, you will summarize the results of your finding.
References: List all sources that you cited in the paper. You will list them in APA format.
(Please note that the lectures on white papers that you have viewed and examples of white
papers you may have read may not have used APA format. You will be using APA format in
this assignment.)
Sources: You are required to have at least five sources for your paper. In addition, at least one
of them has to be acquired through UMGC Library OneSearch.
Length of the Paper
Your white paper should be 1300-1600 words in length. Again, you are required to use at
least five sources, with at least one of them being acquired through UMGC’s Library
OneSearch.
Graphics
Your white paper should incorporate at least three graphics. Graphics can include tables,
charts, or graphs showing some research findings. They can also be images that are relevant
to the topic of the white paper.
At least one of the graphics must be original. Original graphics can include photos taken
by you or tables, charts, or graphs developed by you.
For example, using the situation described previously, you could integrate the following:
• a table that illustrates what percentage of companies use online tutorials to train
theiremployees on phishing attacks
• a graph that features how training on phishing has increased while successful
phishingattacks have also increased, thus demonstrating the ineffectiveness of the
training.
• an image of employees clicking routinely through an online tutorial on phishing.
To see examples of graphics used in white papers, see the Purdue OWL video, “White
Papers: An Introduction to the Genre and Its Expectations,” at the 3:27 mark, at the 5:29
mark, at the 6:58 mark, at the 7:01 mark, at the 7:11 mark, at the 7:43 mark, and at the 7:58
mark.
Due Date
Your instructor will notify you of the due date.
