1. Chapter 11 Reporting in the Digital-Age Workplace
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Chapter 11 Reporting in the Digital-Age Workplace
Business Communication:
Process and Product, 8e
Mary Ellen Guffey & Dana Loewy

2. Three Main Purposes of Business Reports
Convey information
Answer questions
Solve problems

3. Characteristics of Business Reports
Report Functions
Informational reports
Analytical reports
Organizational Strategies
Direct
Indirect

4. Characteristics of Business Reports
Writing Style
Formal
Informal

5. Characteristics of Business Reports
Report Formats
Letter (often as PDF document sent by )
Memo (often with cover note)
Manuscript
Preprinted forms
Digital (as a slide deck and other formats)

6. Report Functions and Types
Informational Reports
Present data without analysis or recommendations
Are routine and often periodic

7. Report Functions and Types
Analytical Reports
Provide data or findings, analyses, and conclusions
May also supply recommendations
Intend to persuade readers

8. Applying the 3-x-3 Writing Process to Reports
Step 1: Analyze the problem and purpose. Step 2: Anticipate the audience and issues. Step 3: Prepare a work plan. Step 4: Conduct research.

9. Applying the 3-x-3 Writing Process to Reports
Step 5: Organize, analyze, interpret, and illustrate the data. Step 6: Compose the first draft. Step 7: Edit, proofread, and evaluate.

10. Elements of a Work Plan for a Formal Report
Problem statement
Statement of the purpose, including scope, limitations, and significance
Research strategy, including a description of potential sources and methods of collecting data
Tentative outline that factors the problem into manageable chunks
Work schedule

11. Gathering Information From Secondary Sources
Research databases
ABI/INFORM Complete (ProQuest)
Factiva (Dow Jones)
JSTOR Business
Business Source Premier (EBSCO)
LexisNexis Academic

12. Gathering Information From Secondary Sources
Print resources:
Books – rarely accessed by print catalog (mostly online)
Periodicals – print indexes (now electronic indexes)

13. Evaluating Web Sources
Currency
What is the date of the Web article?
When was the website last updated?
Is anything out of date?

14. Evaluating Web Sources
Authority
Who publishes or sponsors the page?
What makes the author an authority?
Is contact information available?

15. Evaluating Web Sources
Content
Is the purpose of the site to entertain, inform, persuade, or sell?
Who is the intended audience?
How does the content compare with content elsewhere?

16. Evaluating Web Sources
Accuracy
Do the facts seem reliable?
Do you find errors in spelling, grammar, and usage?
Can you detect bias?

17. Conducting Primary Research
Surveys (e.g., low-cost Web survey software, such as SurveyMonkey and Zoomerang)
Interviews
Observation and experimentation

18. Documenting Information
To avoid plagiarism, you must give credit whenever you use the following:
Another person’s ideas, opinions, examples, or theory
Any facts, statistics, charts, and drawings that are not common knowledge
Another person’s exact spoken or written words
Paraphrases of another person’s spoken or written words
Visuals, images, and any kind of electronic media

19. Documenting Information
Practice the fine art of paraphrasing:
Read the original material intently to comprehend its full meaning.
Write your own version without looking at the original.
Avoid repeating the grammatical structure of the original and merely replacing words with synonyms.
Reread the original to be sure you covered the main points but did not borrow specific language.

20. Two Documentation Formats
Modern Language Association
Author’s name and page (Smith 100) placed in text
Complete list of sources in Works Cited
American Psychological Association
Author’s name, date of publication, and page number placed near the text reference (Jones, 2015, p. 99)
Complete list of sources in References

21. When and How to Quote Use direct quotations for three purposes only:
To provide objective background data and establish the severity of a problem as seen by experts
To repeat identical phrasing because of its precision, clarity, or aptness
To duplicate exact wording before criticizing

22. Copyright Information
Four factors for testing fair use rule:
Purpose and character of the use, particularly whether for profit
Nature of the copyrighted work
Amount and substantiality of portion used
Effect of the use on the potential market

23. Copyright Information
How to avoid copyright infringement:
Assume that all intellectual property is copyrighted.
Realize that Internet items and resources are NOT in the public domain.
Observe fair-use restrictions.
Ask for permission.
Don’t assume that a footnote is all that is needed.

24. Creating Effective Visual Aids
Graphics fulfill the following functions:
Clarify data
Create visual interest
Condense and simplify data
Make numerical data meaningful

25. Creating Effective Visual Aids
Match the graphic to the objective:
Table—to show exact figures and values
Bar chart—to compare related items

26. Creating Effective Visual Aids
Match the graphic to the objective:
Line chart—to demonstrate changes in quantitative data over time
Pie chart—to visualize a whole unit and the proportion of its components

27. Creating Effective Visual Aids
Match the graphic to the objective:
Flow—display a process or procedure
Organization chart—to define a hierarchy of elements

28. Creating Effective Visual Aids
Match the graphic to the objective:
Photograph, map, illustration – to create authenticity, to spotlight a location, and to show an item in use