Department of Business Administration SPRING 2016-17 Chapter 7 Writing the Final Report by Prof. Dr. Sami Fethi

Writing the Final Report Purpose and importance of a written presentation Guidelines Structure of the report Oral presentation Writing for publication

Purpose and importance of a written presentation Consider its purpose and to whom it is addressed. Start with executive summary: explains important points of study A preface: explains the course of study and than individual or institutions. e.g. Writing a master thesis may look different from a report that is presented to a company or manager on a specific issue. e.g. Writing a report such as an academic paper aims at getting it published. Bottom line is that a report needs to be argumentative and convincing, whether it is to be submitted to a company or as an academic thesis. Final exam subject

Guidelines Audience Final exam subject Good communication Language and flow Using diffucult language and terminology does not really impress the reader. Form and style Telegraphic style long and complicated senteces Usage of terminology and differences between spoken and written language. Shortage of tables, figures etc... e.g. Before submitting the report, have someone else read it through. Headings e.g. They serve as an outline of a report and should be clear, meanningful and consistent Final exam subject

Structure of the report Title page Table of contents Executive summary Introduction and problem statement Theoretical background Methodology Findings of empirical study Conclusions and recommendations Footnotes Bibliography or references Appendix Final exam subject

An Example of a Table of Contents Figure 1 An example of a table of contents

Bibliography or references Final exam subject The format and structure of the report, also check the rules of your institution e.g. Footnote: (1) Berry (1989) said that The implication of his study about the subject matter... e.g. Quotation ‘The implication of his study about....’ e.g. References: Osterwald-Lenum, M. (1992), `A note with quantiles of the asymptotic distribution of the ML cointegration rank tests statistics`, Oxford Bulletin of Economic and Statistics, 54, 461-472. Odedokun, M. (1996b), Financial Indicators: Developing Countries, in Hermes, N. and Lensink, R. (ed.) (1996), Financial Development and Economic Growth: Theory and Experiences from Developing Countries. London: Routledge, 115-137.

Oral presentation Final exam subject The presentation has to be organized in the same manner as the written report e.g. Style: main objective and specific research questions e.g. Speak slowly and clearly e.g. Explain the concept in a required time e.g. Should not be too technical or academic in nature

Writing for publication Final exam subject Writing for assignment, project, working paper, article etc.... Introduction Literature Review The Case :Economy Theory Methodology, Data and Model Interpretation or discussion on results Conclusion and recommendation

Thanks