Summary, Conclusions and Recommendation

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS The summary is a brief restatement of the main findings presented under each factor. Findings answer WHAT. They are based on the facts.Findings answer WHAT. They are based on the facts. The conclusion is an interpretation of the facts you gathered and discussed. It is not a repetition of the facts. It is not an action that the company must take. Conclusions answer SO WHAT.Conclusions answer SO WHAT. You should develop a conclusion for the facts gathered for each factor.

Example of CONCLUSIONS Assume you are researching alternative sites for a new plant and have gathered the following data: –Site A: $50,000 cost, 5 acres, and 5 miles from the interstate –Site B: $75,000 cost, 7 acres, and 1 mile from the interstate The conclusions would be that Site A is least expensive and that Site B has more acreage and is closer to the interstate.

Example of CONCLUSIONS Assume that you found data from three companies who utilized an open office layout of some sort. They experienced increases in productivity of 5%, 6%, and 15%, respectively. In your factors section, after discussing these companies’ productivity figures, your analysis stated, “There was an average increase in productivity of 8.6%, with individual company productivity increases ranging from a low of 5% to a high of 15%.” What would your conclusion be?

CONCLUSION Statement “As was previously discussed, several companies experienced increases in productivity ranging from 5% to 15%, with an average increase of 8.6% by using an open office layout. These increases would seem to indicate that there is potential for Crocker Insurance Company to also realize an increase in productivity in the neighborhood of 9% if some type of open office layout were employed.”

Constructing the SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS Combine summary and conclusions into a single level-five heading. New information is not presented in this section; no sources are cited. You will probably write a paragraph for each factor considered in your report. Write your summary for each factor you analyzed, followed immediately by your conclusions (regarding those findings).

RECOMMENDATIONS A recommendation is a suggested action the company should take based on the conclusions (conclusions were based on the findings) and answers the problem statement. Recommendations answer WHAT NOW.Recommendations answer WHAT NOW. The suggested action should be explicit (use action verbs such as purchase, implement, explore, etc.) and detailed. Included a brief “how” to implement or the next step the company should take.

Recommendation statement example It is recommended that Crocker Insurance should implement an open office layout for its employees. In order to successfully implement an open office layout, all department managers should be interviewed about … active verb implementation statement

“In a Nutshell” The summary is developed from the data you discussed. The conclusions are drawn from the main facts repeated in the summary. The recommendations are developed from the conclusions. The recommendations answer the problem statement.

Problem Statement Scope Data Summary Conclusions Recommendations

Pagination Numbers are aligned center at the bottom of the page in the footer box. Prefatory pages numbered in small Roman numerals. E.g., i, ii, iii, iv, etc. Body pages (beginning at OVERVIEW) numbered in Arabic numerals. E.g., 1, 2, 3. Prefatory pages that are COUNTED but do not show numbers include: –memo of transmittal (i) –Title page (ii)