PREPARING INFROMATIVE

AND INFLUENTIAL
BUSINESS REPORTS
CHAPTER 11
 WRITING REPORTS TO SOLVE
WORKPLACE PROBLEMS

 A report for each investigation of problems at a

workplace
 Reports are permanent records

 Convenient and efficient means of transmitting

information
 Internal reporting example: sales reports, reports on
technical problems by engineers etc.
 External reporting example: for a consultancy firm,
report writing for a client is a primary deliverable;
financial report by publicly traded companies
 Reports can be written individually or by collaboration
with others
 Frequency of report writing depends on size and nature
of an organization
 For a large and complex organization, report writing is a
key KPI to manage information
DEFINING REPORTS
 A business report is an orderly and objective
communication of factual information that
serves a business purpose.

 Orderly – Different from casual exchange of

information
 Objective – unbiased approach

 Factual – based on events, statistics and data

 Business purpose – to solve problems or meet

goals

 Information reports – presents facts only

 Analytical reports – facts, interpretations, and
conclusions (if needed)
7 STEP CLASSICAL APPROACH TO PROBLEM
SOLVING REPORTS

1. Situational analysis
2. Define problem
3. Establish evaluation criteria
4. Generate options
5. Evaluate and choose the best options
6. Action plan
7. Contingency plan
PROBLEM STATEMENT AND PURPOSE
STATEMENT
 Problem: Information needed for a business
purpose
 Understand the problem
 Collect information from files and queries

 Problem Statement: Clear description of the

situation that created the need for a report
 E.g., sales are decreasing for company x
 Purpose Statement: Report’s objective, aim or
goal; often written in form of a question
 E.g., what are the causes of decreasing sales at
company x?
 Important note: consider carefully what approach
your report will take to the problem
DETERMINING THE FACTORS
 What factors need to be investigate?
 What subject areas you must look into?

 3 common types of factors:

 Use of subtopics in information reports – only
information, no analysis or conclusion

 Hypothesis for problems requiring a solution –

explanations or solutions for a problem (hypothesis) –
analysis

 Bases of comparison in evaluation studies –

evaluating something, either singularly or in
comparison with other things – look for bases for
evaluation
GATHERING INFORMATION
 Investigation require knowledge of the work field
 May also require formal research, experiment,
survey or focus groups
 General guidelines:
 Gather more information that you will use
 Be resourceful – using judgment to understand
where the best information is available – cross check
 Keep accurate notes
INTERPRETING THE FINDINGS
 Report the facts as they are
 Don’t think that conclusions are always necessary

 Don’t interpret a lack of evidence as proof to contrary

 Don’t compare non-comparable data

 Don’t draw illogical cause-effect conclusions

 Some data may be correlated – but they don’t affect each
other
 Beware of unreliable and unrepresentative data
 Data from secondary sources are sometimes unreliable
 Try to find authentic and reliable source of data

 Don’t oversimplify – do justice to a complex problem

 Tailor your claims to your data –
 Don’t generalize too far with few data
 Make claims that are well supported by strong evidence
 If unsure, use ‘maybe’, ‘could be’ and ‘suggest’
 APPROPRIATE ATTITUDES AND PRACTICES
 Maintain a judicial attitude – play the judge as you
interpret
 Consult with others

 Test your interpretations – validate

 Test of experience – does this appear reasonable in the light
of all I know?
 Negative test – be skeptical – consider the opposing
viewpoint

 Statistical tools for data analysis

 Report writing prefers numeric interpretations
 Business need accurate numbers in order to succeed
 Numbers must be simplified
 May use descriptive or inferential statistics for data analysis
 Unexplained statistical calculations must be explained
explicitly with words and visuals
 Explain the data carefully
ORGANIZING THE REPORT INFORMATION
- Outline is a tool
- It is based on reader’s needs
- Outline by creating division of contents into
smaller and smaller sections –
- This creates structural hierarchy
Conventional Outlining System

I. First level heading

A. Second level, first part
B. Second level, second part
1. Third level, first part
2. Third level, second part
a. Fourth level, first part
1) Fifth level, first part
a) Sixth level, first part
II. First level heading
A. Second level, first part
B. Second level, second part
Decimal Outlining System

1.0 First level heading

1.1 Second level, first part
1.2 Second level, second part
1.2.1 Third level, first part
1.2.2. Third level, second part
1.2.2.1 Fourth level, first part
1.2.2.1.1 Fifth level, first part
1.2.2.1.1.1 Sixth level, first part
2.0 First level heading
2.1 Second level, first part
2.2 Second level, second part
DIVISION BY CONVENTIONAL
RELATIONSHIPS

Time division: when information that you have to

present has time aspect

E.g., for a project:

Orientation, May-July
Project Planning, August
Implementation, September-November

These divisions may require additional time

based subdivisions
 Place Division: If the report you collected has
some relation to Geographic location.

E.g., for a report on sales in different divisions:

Dhaka
Chittagong
Sylhet
Khulna
Rongpur
Mymensingh
Rajshahi
Barisal
 Quantity Division: If the report you collected has
some quantitative values.

E.g., for a report on buying habits of potential

customers:
Under $30,000
$30,000 to under $45,000
$45,000 to under $60,000
$60,000 to under $75,000
$75,000 to under $90,000
$90,000 to under $100,000
$100,000 and over
 Division by Factors:
E.g., for a report that seeks to determine which of
the 3 locations is the best for a new office for
property management, and to do so a few factors
need to be considered:
Location accessibility
Rent
Parking
Convenience to current and new customers
Facilities

E.g., for a report advising a manufacturer whether

to begin production of a new product – so a few
factors need to be considered:
Production feasibility
Financial considerations
Strengths of competition
Consumer demand
Marketing considerations
COMBINATION AND MULTIPLE DIVISION
POSSIBILITIES

Example 1
Areas of high sales activity
Areas of moderate sales activity
Areas of low sales activity

Example 2
Periods of low sales
Periods of moderate sales
Period of high sales
Example 3: Best of 3 locations for annual business
report
Site A
Airport facilities
Hotel accommodations
Meeting facilities
Favorable weather
Costs
Restaurant/entertainment options
Site B
Airport facilities
(and so on)
Site C
Airport facilities
(and so on)
Example 4: Best of 3 locations for annual business
report
Airport facilities
Site A
Site B
Site C
Hotel accommodations
Site A
Site B
Site C
Meeting facilities
Site A
Site B
Site C

(and so on)
FROM OUTLINE TO THE TABLE OF CONTENTS

Formatting Decisions:
▪ Choose an appropriate format that the reader
expects
▪ Some readers may prefer decimal systems (as in
1.2.1.1) in their table of contents
▪ Some may expect outlining systems (roman
numerals, letters, and Arabic numbers) in their
table of contents
▪ Some prefer neither the decimal nor the outlining
systems cluttering the table of contents
▪ Table of contents can be of two types:
▪ Topic headings
▪ Talking headings
Parallelism of Construction:
a. Grammatical form should be maintained in the
table of contents
b. This shows similarity

c. Ensure that headings on each level of each

section are parallel

Concise Wording:
a. Headings should be concise and clear and
informative
b. Don’t make them excessively lengthy

Variety of Expressions:
a. In the wording of headings, use some variety of
expressions
b. Don’t repeat words too frequently
Topic Headings: Short constructions; consisting
of 1 or 2 words; don’t announce the point of the
section; better for readers who what to see the facts
before being told what to think about them:
Example:
Introduction
Authorization
Purpose
Sources
Preview
Community Attitudes
New Plant
Labor Policy
Labor Factors
Unskilled workers
Skilled workers
Wage rates
Available suppliers
Adequate areas
Inadequate areas
Utilities
Water
Natural Gas
Electricity
Waste Disposal
Transportation
Surface
Air
Conclusions
First Choice
Alternative Choice
Other possibilities
Talking Headings: identify the subject matter to be
covered; indicates what is said about the subject; better for
readers who are extremely busy and are likely to skim the
supporting facts
Example:
Introduction to the problem
Authorization by board action
Selection of the potential sites
Reliance on government data
Factors to be discussed
Community Attitudes Toward a New Plant
Favorable reaction of all towns to a new employer
Mixed attitude of all towns toward our Labor Policies
Labor supply and prevailing wage rates
Prevalence of Unskilled labors in Khulna
Concentration of Skilled workers in Khulna
Mixed pattern of wage rates
Nearness to suppliers
Location of Khulna, Jessore and Bhola in farming
areas
Relatively low production near Mongla and Pirojpur
Availability of Utilities
Unlimited Water supply for all towns
Inadequate Natural Gas for all towns but Bhola
Electric rate same for all towns
General adequacy of all towns for Waste Disposal
Adequacy of Existing Transportation Systems
Surface transportation advantages of All Towns
Airway connections strong for Khulna and Jessore
A final weighting of the factors
Selection of Khulna as First Choice
Recommendation of Jessore as second choice
Lack of advantages in Pabna, Bagherhat & Bhola
WRITING THE REPORT
Beginning and Ending:
▪ The most critical parts of the report

▪ Most frequently read parts

▪ Opening – problem that you studied, how you

studied it, what you found out;
▪ Opening contains:
▪ Facts about the authorization of study
▪ Title page, letter of transmittal, table of contents,
executive summary
▪ Purpose statement
▪ Clear subject and data basis
▪ Ending – concise statement of report’s payoff
▪ Ending contains:
▪ Facts, interpretations, recommendations
▪ Summary in case of a short report
▪ Should clearly state ‘what did I find out’ and ‘why
should I care’
Being Objective:
▪ Objectivity as a basis for believability

▪ Impersonal Writing:
▪ Writing in third person
▪ Might result in overuse of passive tone, and dull writing
▪ Example: The study supports the conclusion that the
company should not adopt the practice of using coupons
▪ Personal writing:
▪ Writing in first or second person
▪ More conversational
▪ Example: Having studied thoroughly, I recommend that
your company should not adopt the practice of using
coupons

Being Consistent with time:

▪ Maintain consistent time viewpoint
▪ Past-time Viewpoint – research, findings and writing
the report as past
▪ Present-time Viewpoint – all information assumed to
be current at the time of writing
Including Transitions:
▪ A well written report reads as a continuous story

▪ All parts smoothly connected

▪ Sentence Transitions: Connecting network of thought by

using sentence transitions
▪ E.g., These data show clearly that alternative fuel cars are
the most economical. Before a definite conclusion about their
merit is reached, however, one important comparison needs to
be made.
▪ Transitional words: used for lesser parts
Relationship Word Examples
Listing or enumeration In addition Besides
of subjects First, second….
Contrast Moreover On the other hand
On the contrary In contrast
In spite of However
Likeness Also Similarly
Likewise
Cause-effect Thus Consequently
Because of For this reason
Therefore
Explanation or For example Also, Too
elaboration To illustrate For instance
Maintaining Interest:
▪ Report writing should be interesting

▪ Communication unlikely without it

▪ Avoid business clichés and unnecessarily abstract

language
▪ Keep wording efficient

▪ Clear, concise, interesting

COLLABORATIVE REPORT WRITING
 Determine the group makeup –
 Who will be in the group
 Highest ranked serves as leader
 For equally ranked group a leader is elected
 Maximum 5 members to maintain efficiency

 Create ground rules

 Choose means of collaboration
 Through e-mails, discussion boards, watsapp, skype
etc.
 Meeting at start and at specified intervals

 Making project plan:

 Tasks should be structured
 Gantt Chart is useful
 Responsibility clearly assigned
 SEQUENCE OF GROUP WORK
1. Determine the problem and purpose
2. Identify the factors
3. Gather the needed information
4. Interpret the information
5. Organize the material
6. Plan the report’s components and style
7. Assign parts to be written
8. Write parts assigned
9. Revise collaboratively
10. Edit the final draft