1. Writing Business Reports and Proposals
Chapter 10
Writing Business Reports
and Proposals

2. Chapter 10 Objectives
Discuss why businesses need reports and how these documents can be classified.
Distinguish between informational and analytical reports.
Explain the difference between a problem statement and a statement of purpose, and then identify five other elements included in a formal work plan.
Describe six tasks necessary to investigating business reports.
Define business interviews, and list four types of interview questions.
Clarify what it means to adapt your report to your audience.

3. The Purpose of Reports
To make sound decisions and find effective solutions
To provide a formal, verifiable link between people, places, and times
To serve as permanent records
To solve immediate problems
To provide complete, accurate, objective information

4. Electronic Reports
The paperless office is coming true for many organizations:
People in the United States can now file their tax returns electronically.
The SEC requires corporations to file reports electronically.
Thousands of firms get electronic reports from employees, customers, and suppliers.
Electronic reports fall into two categories:
Those that essentially replace paper reports
Those that are unique to the electronic format

5. Electronic Reports Electronic reports offer advantages such as
Cost savings
Space savings
Faster distribution
Multimedia communication
Easier maintenance
Electronic reports offer disadvantages such as
Hardware and software costs
Computer system incompatibility
Training needs
Risks to data security and integrity

6. Classifying Reports Reports are commonly classified by these factors:
Source–who initiates it?
Frequency—how often is it generated?
Destination—where is it being sent?
Length – how long is it?
Formality – how formal is it?
A report’s medium, format, style, and organization are dictated by its classification.

7. Types of Business Reports
Informational reports focus on facts and are intended to educate readers
Analytical reports provide data analyses, interpretation, and conclusions. In analytical reports, information plays a supporting role.

8. Informational Reports
Monitor/control reports
Policy and procedures reports
Compliance reports
Progress reports
Summary reports

9. Monitor/Control Reports
Help managers find out what’s happening to the operations under their control
Focus on data
Require special attention to accuracy, thoroughness, and honesty
Balance accomplishments with bad news

10. Monitor/Control Reports
Plans: Guidelines for future action (strategic plans, business plans, marketing plans, communication plans, annual budgets, etc.)
Operating reports: Detailed information and statistics (usually computerized) from a management information system (MIS) (related to sales, production, inventory, shipments, backlogs, costs, personnel, etc.)
Periodic operating reports: Summary of what’s happened during a certain period
Personal activity reports: Summary of what occurred during a specific activity, such as a conference, convention, or trip (sales-call reports, expense reports, recruiting reports)

11. Policy/Procedure Reports
Help employees find the answers to questions about operational policies and procedures
Present information in a straightforward manner
Should keep the policies broad and the procedures simple

12. Policy/Procedure Reports
Examples include:
Lasting guidelines: Rules of an organization that define how to do things in a certain way (how to apply for company-sponsored leave of absence, what to include in an end-of-the-month accounting report, how to appeal a negative performance review, etc.)
Position papers: Rules regarding less permanent issues (increasing security after a rash of burglaries, parking accommodations during renovations, etc.)

13. Compliance Reports Are written in response to regulations
Are usually required by government agencies that issue instructions
Must be honest, thorough, and accurate
The most common compliance reports are annual reports such as tax returns, annual reports from corporations that have a pension plan, and annual shareholder reports.

14. Progress Reports Vary in importance and complexity
Must anticipate readers’ needs and then provide the required information both clearly and tactfully
Are usually submitted on a regular basis
Progress reports include:
Interim reports: Details that give others an idea of the work that has been accomplished, identify any problems, outline future steps, and summarize important findings
Final reports: The permanent record of what was accomplished, focusing on results rather than on progress

15. Analytical Reports Reports for solving problems
Reports for justifying a project
Proposals for obtaining new
business or funding

16. Problem-Solving Reports
Problem-solving reports, such as troubleshooting reports, often require research or internal information on topics such as product demand, growth projections, competitor profiles, company strengths and weaknesses, and so on.
Problem-solving reports
Usually start with background information
Analyze alternative solutions
Finally recommend the best approach

17. Justification Reports
Are used to persuade management to approve a project or course of action
Must be unbiased
Justification reports explain:
Why a project or course of action is needed
What the project or course of action will involve
How much it will cost
What the benefits will be

18. Proposals
A proposal is a special type of analytical report designed to get products, plans, or projects accepted by outside business or government clients.
Although similar to justification reports, proposals have important differences:
Proposals are legally binding.
Proposals often compete for a client’s business.

19. Proposals Proposals can be of two types:
Solicited proposals are prepared at the request of clients who need something done.
Unsolicited proposals are initiated by organizations attempting to obtain business or funding without a specific invitation from a potential client.

20. Proposals Solicited proposals
Are invited via a request for proposal (RFP)
Lay out the requirements of a project, the scope of work, the methods and procedures to be used, time requirements, personnel requirements, and costs
Follow the exact format required in the RFP and respond to every point the RFP raises

21. Proposals Unsolicited proposals
Must convince the audience of the benefits of buying the product or service being offered
Vary widely in form, length, and purpose
Are very much a sales pitch and much more difficult to write.

22. Planning Business Reports
Begin with a problem statement
Limit your scope
Outline issues to investigate
Develop a statement of purpose
Prepare work plan

23. Defining the Problem
Start with a problem statement, a definition of the problem you need to resolve (i.e., what you’re going to investigate)
Distinguish between a topic (campus parking) and a problem (the lack of campus parking)
Focus on your audience
Be ready to convince your readers that a problem exists

24. Limiting the Scope What needs to be determined?
Why is this issue important?
Who is involved in the situation?
Where is the trouble located?
When did it start?
How did the situation originate?
Also limit your scope by problem factoring—breaking the problem down into a series of logically connected questions that try to identify cause and effect .

25. Outlining Issues
Speculate on the causes of the problem and outline them so that you can collect information that will confirm or disprove each reason
Use the same grammatical form for outline headings of the same level
Choose between descriptive (topical) headings and informative (talking) headings
Remember that the outline of your investigation may differ quite a bit from your final report outline

26. Developing the Statement of Purpose
Define the objective of your report (why you are preparing the report)
Begin with an infinitive phrase (to plus a verb)
Make sure your statement reflects the complexity of your report
Make your statement as specific as possible
Double-check your statement with the person who authorized the report

27. Developing a Work Plan
Prepare a work plan by including the following elements:
Statement of problem
Statement of purpose
Tasks to be done
Products that will result
Project assignments
Working outline
Follow-up activities

28. Planning Business Reports - Investigation
Adopt an organized approach to research by completing six tasks:
Find and access secondary information.
Gather any necessary primary information.
Evaluate and finalize your sources.
Process your information.
Analyze your data.
Interpret your findings.

29. Secondary Information
To successfully find and access secondary information, you
Locate information that has already been collected (books, periodicals, reports, etc.)
Learn something about your subject before you begin your research in earnest

30. Secondary Information
As you begin your research for secondary information, you must know what to look for:
If you need information about a specific company, find out whether the company is public or private.
If you need information about a particular industry, find out the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) code or the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code.
If you need information on company and industry statistics, economic forecasts, business concerns, and so on, check sources online and in the library.

31. Secondary Information Resources in a Library
Business books
Almanacs
Newspapers
Periodicals
Directories
Electronic databases
Government publications

32. Secondary Information Resources On-line
The Internet Public Library provides a carefully selected collection of links to high-quality business resources.
Company Web sites provide detailed information (although probably not for smaller companies).
News release sites such as PRNewswire and Business Wire offer free databases of news releases from companies that subscribe to their service.

33. Searching a Database Select appropriate databases.
Use multiple search engines.
Use key words and phrases.
Use short phrases.
Don’t use stopwords.
Do not use words contained in the name of the database.
Use variations of your terms.

34. Searching a Database Specify a logical relationship between key words.
continued
Specify a logical relationship between key words.
Evaluate the precision and quality of your results.
Use Boolean operators such as AND, OR, and NOT.
Use proximity operators
Use wildcards

35. Primary Information Five methods of collecting primary information are
Examining documents
Making observations
Conducting experiments
Surveying people
Conducting interviews

36. Primary Information
The most useful primary references are often internal sources: company reports, memos, contracts, income statements, and other documents.
Informal observations
Help you study objects, physical activities, processes, the environment, and human behavior
Can be expensive and time consuming
Depend on the reliability of the observer for their success and effectiveness

37. Primary Information Conducting experiments
Is far more common in technical fields than in general business
Requires extensive, accurate, and measurable manipulation of the factors involved
Is often very expensive

38. Primary Information Surveys – just ask!
Surveys tell you what a cross section of people think about a given topic.
Surveys include everything from the one-time, one-on-one interview to the distribution of thousands of questionnaires.
Surveys are reliable if they produce identical results when repeated.
Surveys are valid if they measure what they are intended to measure.
The most crucial element of a survey is the questionnaire.

39. Preparing Effective Surveys
Provide clear instructions
Keep it short and easy to answer
Use questions that are easily tabulated
Avoid leading questions
Ask only one thing at a time
Pretest the questionnaire

40. Primary Information
Interviews are planned conversations (with a predetermined purpose) that involve asking and answering questions.
When planning an interview,
Determine whether an interview is really the quickest and most efficient way to get the information that you need
Analyze your purpose
Learn about the other person
Formulate your main idea
Decide on the length, style and organization of the interview

41. Preparing Interview Questions
Use the appropriate type of question to get the information you need.
Think about the sequence of questions.
Identify the questions you really need answers to.
Ask smart questions.
Use a mix of question types.
Limit the number of your questions.
Edit questions for neutrality and objectivity.

42. Processing Information You Have Gathered
Read the material and take notes.
Know when to quote and when to paraphrase.
Document your sources so you can avoid plagiarism.
Use a note card method to help in organizing material.

43. Processing Information You Have Gathered
Use direct quotation sparingly, only when
The original language will enhance your argument
Rewording the passage would lessen its impact
Plagiarism is quoting or paraphrasing someone else’s words or ideas without proper credit.

44. Analyzing Data
When analyzing your data, you search for relationships among the facts and the bits of evidence you’ve compiled.
Statistical information (raw numerical data) must be manipulated so that you and your readers can interpret its significance.

45. Analyzing Data
One useful way to look at numerical data is to find the average (the number that represents a group of numbers):
The mean is the sum of all the items in the group divided by the number of items in that group.
The median is the “middle of the road” average, or the midpoint of a series (with an equal number of items above and below).
The mode is the number that occurs more often than any other in your sample

46. Analyzing Data
Another useful way to look at numerical data is to look for a trend (a steady upward or downward movement in a pattern of events taking place over time).
Once you identify a trend, you look for a correlation—a statistical relationship between two or more variables (which causes the trend).

47. Drawing Conclusions
After your data is in a form that you and your readers can understand, you must draw conclusions; that is, you must make a logical interpretation of the facts in your report.
A sound conclusion
Fulfills the original statement of purpose
Is based strictly on the information included in the rest of the report
Is logical

48. Making Recommendations
A recommendation suggests what to do about the facts. A conclusion interprets the facts.
To be credible, recommendations must be
Based on logical analysis and sound conclusions
Practical and acceptable to your readers
Followed by the steps that come next

49. Planning Business Reports - Adaptation
To establish a good relationship with your audience in business reports,
Use the “you” attitude
Emphasize the positive
Establish your credibility
Be polite
Use bias-free language
Project the company’s image
Select the best format for conveying your report, such as a letter, a memo, an , a formal report, or an oral presentation.

50. Test Your Knowledge Let’s Discuss
What are the six classification of business reports?
How do informational reports differ from analytical reports?
What is a problem statement, and how does it differ from a statement of purpose?
What is included in a work plan for a report, and why is it important?
How does primary information differ from secondary information?

51. Test Your Knowledge Let’s Discuss
continued
What four types of questions can be posed during an interview?
What is paraphrasing, and what is its purpose?
What are the characteristics of a sound conclusion?
How does a conclusion differ from a recommendation?
Why do writers use the “you” attitude in their reports?