This document is authorized for use only by Prof. Gang HAOs M

This document is authorized for use only by Prof. Gang HAO's
MS6722 Advanced Case Analysis of SCM course at City
University of Hong Kong, from January 2021 to July 2021.
Dr. Claudia H. L. Woo prepared this case under the supervision
of Prof. Zhigang Tao for class discussion. This case is not
intended to show effective or ineffective handling of decision or
business processes.
© 2015 by The Asia Case Research Centre, The University of
Hong Kong. No part of this publication may be reproduced or
transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise (including
the
internet)—without the permission of The University of Hong
Kong.
Ref. 14/550C
1

ZHIGANG TAO
MCDONALD’S CHINA: THE EXPIRED MEAT
SCANDAL
China is no stranger to food scares. Just when the 2012 scandal
involving Kentucky Fried
Chicken (KFC) “instant chicken” had begun to fade, two years
later another food safety scare
hit Chinese fast food chains. In July 2014, a Shanghai television
station revealed that
Shanghai Husi, a Chinese subsidiary of a reputable US-owned
food supplier, was producing
substandard meat products. McDonald’s was one of its biggest
fast-food clients and had been
sourcing from the supplier for more than two decades.
The scare affected not just a large number of McDonald’s
outlets in China but also in Hong
Kong and Japan, which had also sourced meat and other food
items from Shanghai Husi and
other Chinese-based Husi factories. As part of their
investigation, Chinese health authorities
forced Shanghai Husi to shut down. Having relied on this
supplier for over two decades,

McDonald’s suddenly faced a severe shortage as well as
declining stock prices and dropping
revenue in the Asia-Pacific region. What would McDonald’s do
to improve its product safety
and supply chain management in China, when it seemed that
even a large, foreign-owned
supplier no longer guarantees reliability?
Quality Control in Chinese Food Processing and the Fast-Food
Industry
Since China’s market reforms in 1978, its fast-growing
economy and rapid urbanization had
contributed to higher disposable income and increased demand
for high-quality food products,
boosting the country’s agribusiness and food processing sectors.
[See Exhibit 1.] The Asia-
Pacific region was the world’s biggest and fastest-growing with
respect to consumption of
processed meat, accounting for 63% by volume of the growth
generated from 2009 to 2014. 1
[See Exhibit 2.] China accounted for the largest share of sales
within the region, with retail
sales of six billion tons in 2014. It was expected to surpass the
US by 2015 to become the

biggest processed-meat market in the world. Despite being a
strongly growing and profitable
industry, there was little government supervision of the industry
and no regular inspections of
1 Hosafci, P (18 August 2014) “Processed Meat – What is the
New Euromonitor Data Telling Us?”, Euromonitor International,
http://www.globalmeatnews.com/Industry-Markets/Processed-
meat-what-is-the-new-Euromonitor-data-telling-us (accessed 23
September 2014).
meat-what-is-the-new-Euromonitor-data-telling-us
14/550C McDonald’s China: The Expired Meat Scandal
2
meat-processing plants. For example, using expired meat in
food-processing facilities,
according to industry insiders, was not uncommon in China.2

The industry usually relied on
the public and media for scrutiny.3 Although food producers in
China were encouraged by the
Chinese government to adopt international compliance
standards, this was not mandatory.
The nation’s food-safety regulations had improved since 2008,
after the melamine tainted-
milk scandal hit the country, at which time the Food Safety Law
was introduced to replace the
outdated Food Hygiene Act. In some respects, food safety
standards in China were arguably
stricter on paper than in many developed countries.4 However,
the country’s enforcement of
food safety standards was always questionable. One of the
problems was a shortage of food-
safety inspectors. According to market researchers the Mintel
Group, there were about
500,000 food-production and processing companies in China
and only one inspector for every
420 of them.5 Of these 500,000 companies, 70% had less than
10 employees. Given their size,
they tended to be less structured in terms of quality control and
lacked the capital and

technology for improvement. In contrast, most foreign-owned
companies in China had more
stringent in-house food-safety control measures. Nevertheless,
many of them were staffed by
local employees and run by local management, who, while
familiar with the Chinese market,
might have little concern about food quality and were willing to
cut corners to save costs.6
With respect to third-party inspections, industry insiders noted
that it was common for
Chinese food suppliers to know about audits in advance, making
inspection findings highly
biased, as plant operators could window-dress conditions on the
day of the audit. 7 Even
though heavier penalties for food-safety violations had been
introduced over the years in
China due to frequent food scandals, many expected still
tougher punishments to be instituted.
For instance, prior to July 2014, selling expired food would be
fined up to Rmb50,000
(equivalent to US$8000) if the food products’ value was less
than Rmb10,000. Otherwise, the
penalty would increase to 10 times the product value. The draft
of a new amendment to the

law suggested raising the penalty to 30 times the food’s value.8
Food scares implicating top foreign fast-food restaurants in
China were frequent in recent
years. In 2005, KFC China had taken its chicken products from
the menu after a cancer-
causing food dye, “Sudan Red,” was found in the seasoning.
The chain was accused in 2007
of re-using frying oil for up to ten days by adding magnesium
trisilicate to extend usage.9 In
2012, a McDonald’s outlet in Beijing had reportedly altered
expiration dates on some dessert
products and used meat patties that had been dropped on the
floor. At the end of the same
year, both KFC and McDonald’s were under fire as Chinese
national television found that
2 Sina Finance (26 July 2014) “The Expired Meat Scandal;
Losing Control Over Sourcing Management of Fast Food
Giants”,
http://finance.sina.com.cn/chanjing/gsnews/20140726/01311982
4489.shtml (accessed 5 October 2014).
3 Burkitt, L (27 July 2014) “McDonald’s Meat Supplier Pulls
Chinese Plant’s Products”,
http://online.wsj.com/articles/mcdonalds-meat-supplier-pulling-

all-products-made-by-shanghai-husi-unit-1406445545
(accessed 20 September 2014).
4 For example, nearly a decade earlier, China banned
clenbuterol and all beta-agonists in its class (i.e., growth-
enhancing
chemicals), which were used to make hog grow faster and
leaner. However, in the United States, certain types of beta-
agonists
used in animal feed claimed to be less threatening than
clenbuterol were still allowed. See Philpott, T (3 June 2013)
“China
Could Actually Improve US Pork. Here’s How”, Mother Jones,
http://www.motherjones.com/tom-philpott/2013/05/why-
chinas-smithfield-buy-could-slightly-clean-us-pork (accessed 23
September 2014).
5 Bloomberg News (25 July 2014) “China Meat Scare Add
Foreign Suppliers to Food Worried”,
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-07-24/china-meat-scare-
adds-foreign-suppliers-to-food-worries.html (accessed 22
September 2014).
6 Ibid.
7 Reuters (2 September 2014) “McDonald’s to Boost China
Audits After Food Safety Scandal”,
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/09/02/mcdonalds-china-
idUSL3N0R32HO20140902 (accessed 15 October 2014).
8 Global Times Published (22 July 2014) “Confidence in US
Fast Food Dented After Meat Scandal”

http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/871870.shtml (accessed 24
September 2014).
9 CRIENGLISH.com (13 march 2007) “KFC Reusing Oil Could
be Dangerous”,
http://english.cri.cn/4026/2007/03/13/[email protected]
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/officials-say-okay-to-processed-
chicken-from-china/ (accessed 16 September 2014).
http://finance.sina.com.cn/chanjing/gsnews/20140726/01311982
4489.shtml
http://online.wsj.com/articles/mcdonalds-meat-supplier-pulling-
all-products-made-by-shanghai-husi-unit-1406445545
http://www.motherjones.com/tom-philpott/2013/05/why-chinas-
smithfield-buy-could-slightly-clean-us-pork
http://www.motherjones.com/tom-philpott/2013/05/why-chinas-
smithfield-buy-could-slightly-clean-us-pork
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-07-24/china-meat-scare-
adds-foreign-suppliers-to-food-worries.html
idUSL3N0R32HO20140902
http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/871870.shtml
http://english.cri.cn/4026/2007/03/13/[email protected]
chicken-from-china/
chicken-from-china/

3
their local suppliers had used illegal amounts of antibiotics to
boost chicken growth. Less than
a year later, both fast food giants were accused of using
contaminated ice cubes that contained
considerably more bacteria than the water from local toilets. In
the past, products sold by
foreign chains were perceived to be safer than those from local
Chinese stores, and in many
food scandals, locally-owned suppliers were usually put on the
spot. With more cases
implicating foreign companies coming to light, Chinese food-
chain problems became more
alarming.
McDonald’s in China
McDonald’s, the famous American fast-food chain, entered
China in 1990, during a period
when “franchising” was still a very new concept in the country.
Instead of relying on the
franchise model to expand its outlets in China, McDonald’s

restaurants were initially run
either under wholly foreign-owned enterprises (“WFOEs”)
established in the country or joint
ventures with local firms.10 In 2004, as the nation’s regulatory
and investment environment
became more developed, McDonald’s China began franchising.
However, a rather slow and
cautious approach was still taken in order to maintain brand
quality and management control.
Even though McDonald’s restaurants outnumbered KFCs
globally, the latter was more open
to the franchising model and had many more outlets in the
Chinese market. Between 1990
and 2010, McDonald’s restaurants in China expanded at an
annual rate of 17% — much more
slowly than in certain other markets in the Asia-Pacific region,
such as Japan.11 . By 2013,
China had become McDonald’s third-largest market in the
world, although only 12% of its
restaurants in China were franchised. At the end of April 2014,
McDonald’s China had
launched 2000 restaurants in the country. It expected to increase
the ratio of its franchised
restaurants in China to about 25% by 2015. 12 [See Exhibit 3

for McDonald’s Consolidated
Revenues by Region and Operating Mode.]
By focusing on operating efficiency and standardization to
minimize operating costs,
McDonald’s global competitive strategy was oriented towards
cost leadership. However, in
China, McDonald’s was initially perceived as pursuing a
differentiation approach, as it
sourced most of its raw ingredients outside China at higher
costs to assure quality. Chinese
consumers also tended to regard foreign fast food as higher in
quality and were willing to pay
more to multinational companies than to local eateries.
McDonald’s Chinese supply chain had
a single meat-production plant in the country when it opened its
first outlet. The rest of the
ingredients were imported. It was not until 1999 that it managed
to serve french fries made
from Chinese-grown potatoes in all its restaurants in the
country—after 14 years of joint
investment between McDonald’s and its primary US-based
french-fry supplier pioneering the
development of industrial potato-farming in China.13

As market competition intensified in China, with the entry of
more foreign and local fast-food
companies, cost-reduction became a must for McDonald’s
China. To cut down operating
costs and leverage China’s abundant labor and agricultural
resources, McDonald’s invested
heavily in creating a large supply chain in the country to furnish
locally produced food to
10 Vedder, T. (19 August 2007) “Fast Food Domination”, China
International Business,
http://www.cibmagazine.com.cn/Features/Industry.asp?id=85&f
ast_food_domination.html (accessed 9 October 2008).
11 Worldcrunch (12 March 2014) “Supersize the Franchise:
McDonald’s New China Strategy”,
http://www.worldcrunch.com/business-finance/supersize-the-
franchise-mcdonald-039-s-new-china-strategy/kfc-fast-food-
rivalry-catering-restaurant-
franchisee/c2s15258/#.VGMl7jSUdX4 (accessed 11 November
2014).
12 ChinaRetailNews (21 April 2014) “Fast Growth Equals More
Fast Food For McDonald’s in China”,
http://www.chinaretailnews.com/2014/04/21/7055-fast-growth-
equals-more-fast-food-for-mcdonalds-in-china/ (accessed 21
September 2014).

13 Groom, N (10 November 2006) “McDonald’s Look to China
to Supply Restaurants”, Reuters,
http://www.reuters.com/article/2006/11/10/businesspro-leisure-
mcdonalds-china-dc-idUSN1047786220061110 (accessed 21
September 2014).
franchisee/c2s15258/#.VGMl7jSUdX4
franchisee/c2s15258/#.VGMl7jSUdX4
http://www.chinaretailnews.com/2014/04/21/7055-fast-growth-
equals-more-fast-food-for-mcdonalds-in-china/
http://www.reuters.com/article/2006/11/10/businesspro-leisure-
mcdonalds-china-dc-idUSN1047786220061110
4
more of its restaurants in China and other parts of the world.

Over the years, McDonald’s had
created a solid network of farmers, food processors, and other
direct and indirect suppliers in
China. By 2006, more than 95% of the ingredients used by
McDonald’s China (e.g., potatoes,
meat patties, vegetables, milk) originated from within the
country.14 Meanwhile, McDonald’s
suppliers in China also exported products such as chicken, beef,
lettuce and apple pies to the
chain’s other Asian markets. Much of the packaging used in
McDonald’s restaurants around
the world was also produced in the country’s factories.
Globally, McDonald’s claimed to approach its supply chain
through the three E’s—ethics,
environment, and economics—from raw material production
through processing and
distribution. According to the company, this meant “working
with suppliers to innovate and
implement best practices for sustainable ingredients, requiring
that McDonald’s suppliers
protect human rights in the workplace, and safeguarding food
quality and safety through best
practices in animal health and welfare.” 15 With respect to
food safety management,

McDonald’s applied the internationally recognised Hazard
Analysis and Critical Control
Point (HACCP) 16 program globally at its suppliers’ plants and
its own restaurants to track
food-production safety risks and put preventive measures in
place.
McDonald’s Long-Term Meat Supplier
McDonalds’s China tended to work with big-name suppliers. Its
largest meat supplier was the
OSI Group (“OSI”).
17
Founded in 1909, OSI was a global food processor
headquartered in
Aurora, Illinois, supplying top fast-food chains around the
world.
OSI first started supplying beef patties to McDonald’s in
Illinois in 1955. It entered the
Chinese market in 1991, beginning with processing chicken,
beef, fish and pork. With the
growing demand for western fast food in China, OSI expanded
into processing vegetables.
OSI’s decentralized business model allowed its Chinese
managers great decision-making

autonomy and this strategy had helped OSI to expand quickly in
China beginning in the early
1990s.18
OSI established a wholly-owned subsidiary, Shanghai Husi, in
China in 1996, which built
five production lines for pork, beef, chicken, vegetables and
noodles. There were other Husi
plants in China, in Hebei, Guangzhou, Kunming and Shandong.
It was one of the few Chinese
poultry suppliers with nationwide recognition. Some of
Shanghai Husi’s Chinese clients in
China included Burger King, Yum! Brands (owner of KFC and
Pizza Hut), Dicos, Papa
John’s, Subway, Starbucks, etc. By the end of 2013, OSI had
successfully established its tenth
facility in China and spent at least US$750 million on three
vertically integrated poultry
processing plants.19 All three vertically integrated operations
used entirely company-owned
14 Cheung, A. (11 December 2006) “An Exclusive Interview
with Gary Rosen, McDonald’s Chief Marketing Officer in
China”,
The China Perspective: Consumer and Retail,

http://thechinaperspective.com/articles/anexclusiveinterviewwit
hgaryrosenMcDonald’s039schiefmarketingofficerinchina1751/
index.html (accessed 29 August 2008).
15 McDonald’s (2013) “Our Journey Together For Good-
McDonald’s Corporate Social Responsibility & Sustainability
Report
2012-2014”, pg. 25,
http://www.aboutmcdonalds.com/content/dam/AboutMcDonalds/
2.0/pdfs/2012_2013_csr_report.pdf
(accessed 21 September 2014).
16 For more details of the HACCP Program, see the official
website of Standards.Org:
http://www.standards.org/standards/listing/haccp (accessed 3
October 2014) ,
17 Cendrowski, S (2 September 2014) “Why McDonald’s
Supplier Failed in China”, Fortune.com,
http://fortune.com/2014/09/02/why-mcdonalds-supplier-failed-
in-china/ (accessed5 October 2014).
18 Ibid.
19 Forbes (21 July 2014) “U.S. Firm at Center of Reported
China Meat Scandal Had Earlier Success”,
http://www.forbes.com/sites/russellflannery/2014/07/21/u-s-
firm-at-center-of-reported-china-meat-scandal-had-earlier-
success/ (accessed 13 October 2014).
http://topics.bloomberg.com/illinois/
http://www.aboutmcdonalds.com/content/dam/AboutMcDonalds/
2.0/pdfs/2012_2013_csr_report.pdf

http://www.standards.org/standards/listing/haccp
in-china/
success/
success/
5
farms, aiming to improve food-safety and traceability control
throughout its supply chain.
With this investment, OSI was able to process more than 300
million birds annually.20
Back in 2004 and 2010, the US Department of Agriculture
(USDA) had conducted on-site
audits of the Shanghai Husi plant in an effort to clear the way
for exporting Chinese poultry to

the US. The company was issued a clean bill of health.
21
However, some food-safety experts
criticized the effectiveness of the USDA’s Foreign
Establishment Audit Checklist form’s one-
page format.
In 2013, a former employee of the Shanghai quality-control
team brought a lawsuit against
Shanghai Husi for running an unsafe workplace and faking
food-production dates.
22
However,
a local court dismissed the case due to lack of evidence and
Shanghai Husi managed to
defend itself with records of health and safety procedures
implemented in the plant.
The Expired Meat Scandal
On July 20, 2014, a Chinese state-owned media outlet, Dragon
TV (東方衛視), broadcast an
undercover video of the Shanghai Husi operation. The video
showed workers in the plant
picking up meat dropped on the floor and taking it back to the

processing machine, repacking
old meat and extending expiration dates, and mixing expired
with fresh meat. A worker told
the undercover reporter that each division only did what it was
told to do from the top and did
not care about what upstream or downstream divisions did.
Workers would be informed by
the management in advance if external inspections or audits
were to be carried out so that
they would have enough time to cover up, for example, by
hiding piles of blue plastic bags
filled with expired meat that were stacked around the factory
floor on normal days. Such
instructions were written by the management in Chinese. In the
video, the staff of Shanghai
Husi said the company kept two set of records related to food
products, one of which was
doctored for auditors visiting the plant.
23
Immediately following this video broadcast, Shanghai Husi
became the subject of an
investigation by Chinese authorities, which later shut the plant
down. The Shanghai

Municipal Food and Drug Administration (SFDA) discovered
that expired chicken and beef
items had indeed been reprocessed and repackaged with new
expiration dates. Amongst the
substandard products, over 4,300 cases of smoked beef patties
were found to have forged
production dates, with more than 3,000 cases already sold. 24
The SFDA officials also
confirmed that Shanghai Husi kept different sets of records to
enable the resale of out-of-date
meat.25
On 23 July 2014, six executives of Shanghai Husi were arrested
by the Shanghai branch of
the Public Security Bureau on suspicion of producing and
selling fake and inferior products.
20 The National Provisioner (13 November 2013) “OSI’s
Vertically Integrated Poultry Investment in China Exceeds USD
$750
Million”, http://www.provisioneronline.com/articles/99810-
osis-vertically-integrated-poultry-investment-in-china-exceeds-
usd-750-million (accessed 6 November 2014).
21 China Daily (31 July 2014) “Food Inspectors Face
Challenges”, http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2014-

07/31/content_18220261.htm (accessed 6 October 2014).
22 Judicial Options of China (13 February 2014), “Wang
Donglai v. Shanghai Husi”, Jiading District People’s Court
Decision, Case Reference no. 1074, dated 6 January 2014,
http://www.court.gov.cn/zgcpwsw/sh/shsdezjrmfy/shsjdqrmfy/m
s/201402/t20140213_336719.htm (accessed 5 October 2014).
23 Takada, K. (24 July 2014) “Exclusive: China Meat Supplier
Faced Claims Over Unethical Work Practices”, Reuters,
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/07/25/us-china-food-
dispute-idUSKBN0FU05Y20140725 (accessed 13 October
2014).
24 Li, Z (30 July 2014) “China Tainted Meat Scandal
Explained”, CNN,
http://edition.cnn.com/2014/07/29/world/asia/explainer-
china-meat-scandal/ (accessed 7 October 2014).
25 Burkitt, L. and Bunge, J. (23 July 2014) “Meat Supplier’s
CEO Apologizes for China Unit”, The Wall Street Journal,
http://online.wsj.com/articles/chinese-authorities-say-shanghai-
husi-food-violations-company-led-1406081978 (accessed 8
October 2014).
http://www.shfda.gov.cn/gb/node2/node3/node253/node270/nod
e2765/userobject1ai41201.html
http://www.provisioneronline.com/articles/99810-osis-
vertically-integrated-poultry-investment-in-china-exceeds-usd-
750-million
http://www.provisioneronline.com/articles/99810-osis-
vertically-integrated-poultry-investment-in-china-exceeds-usd-
750-million

dispute-idUSKBN0FU05Y20140725
http://edition.cnn.com/2014/07/29/world/asia/explainer-china-
meat-scandal/
http://edition.cnn.com/2014/07/29/world/asia/explainer -china-
meat-scandal/
husi-food-violations-company-led-1406081978
6
The local authorities urged several leading global fast-food
companies to publish the names of
their suppliers on their Chinese websites in order to strengthen
oversight. By the end of
September 2014, 214 food producers and 22 fast-food
companies had been examined by local
food inspectors, who seized 18 tons of Chicken McNuggets,
78.1 tons of smoked beef patties
and 48 tons of beefsteak for investigation.26

Starbucks, Burger King and 7-Eleven convenience stores
immediately halted sales of
products from Shanghai Husi. McDonald’s key competitor,
Yum! Brands, also cut all ties
with Husi, which Yum! claimed was not a significant supplier.
The scandal further prompted
Yum to cease all purchases from Illinois-based OSI. Shanghai
Husi was licensed to export to
Japan. The Japanese government stopped all imports from its
plants after FamilyMart Co.
withdrew the supplier’s products from its Japanese outlets.
After the scandal erupted, OSI recalled all products
manufactured by Shanghai Husi. OSI
apologized to its customers worldwide and called the case an
isolated incident, claiming that
Chinese inspectors had found no issue with its other facilities in
the country.27 Media also
reported that while some former workers at Shanghai Husi
criticized lax quality control at the
plant, workers at another Husi plant in northern China defended
their management’s strict
safety rules.28 It was speculated that OSI had not conducted
enough audits to ensure all its

Chinese plants complied with the global standards devel oped by
OSI headquarters in the US.29
Further, documents used in the Chinese plants were reportedly
written in Chinese, making it
difficult for English-speaking staff to understand data or
operations.
Apart from conducting internal investigations into current and
former Chinese senior
management, OSI brought a new management team, under direct
US control, to lead its China
operation. It also planned to rotate global experts to examine
and audit its Chinese units.
However, in early September, news circulated that OSI might
withdraw from the China
market even though its executives had tried to rescue its
business there. 30 This was because
OSI’s partner found it risky to continue the partnership.
Impacts on McDonald’s
McDonald’s claimed itself a victim in the scandal and its Chief
Executive, Don Thompson,
said that the company felt “a bit deceived” by the Shanghai
Husi audit results it had received.

It was reported that McDonald's and many other restaurant
operators relied on third parties to
conduct audits of compliance with food safety rules and other
regulations at their suppliers’
facilities.31
The scandal impacted McDonald’s restaurants not just in
mainland China, but also in Hong
Kong, Japan and certain other Asian markets, with some outlets
forced to pull suspect items
from their menus. McDonald's shares on the New York Stock
Exchange dropped 4.7 percent
26 Yan, A. (23 September 2014) “Rotten-Food-Scandal-Hit
Factory Shanghai Husi Sacked 340 Workers”, China Morning
Post,
http://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1598010/rotten-food-
scandal-hit-factory-shanghai-husi-sacks-340-workers
(accessed7 October 2014).
27 Burkitt, L. and Bunge, J. (23 July 2014) “Meat Supplier’s
CEO Apologizes for China Unit”, The Wall Street Journal,
husi-food-violations-company-led-1406081978 (accessed 8
October 2014).
28 Takada, K. (24 July 2014) “Exclusive: China Meat Supplier
Faced Claims Over Unethical Work Practices”, Reuters,

dispute-idUSKBN0FU05Y20140725 (accessed 13 October
2014).
29 Cendrowski, S (2 September 2014) “Why McDonald’s
Supplier Failed in China”, Fortune.com,
in-china/ (accessed5 October 2014).
30 WantChinaTimes (4 September 2014) “McDonald’s Meat
Supplier Might Quit China After Scandal”,
http://www.wantchinatimes.com/news-subclass-
cnt.aspx?id=20140904000140&cid=1206 (accessed 14 October
2014).
31 Baertlein, L. (23 July 2014) “Corrected-McDonald's Feels
"Bit Deceived" by Audit Results from China Plant”, Reuters,
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/07/24/china-food-
mcdonalds-idUSL2N0PX13920140724 (accessed 16 October
2014).
http://www.bloomberg.com/quote/SBUX:US
http://www.bloomberg.com/quote/BKW:US
http://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1598010/rotten-food-
scandal-hit-factory-shanghai-husi-sacks-340-workers
husi-food-violations-company-led-1406081978
dispute-idUSKBN0FU05Y20140725
in-china/
http://www.wantchinatimes.com/news-subclass-
cnt.aspx?id=20140904000140&cid=1206
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/07/24/china-food-
mcdonalds-idUSL2N0PX13920140724

7
following the Shanghai Husi investigation. [See Exhibit 4.] Its
global sales growth
plummeted to a decade-worst low of 3.7 percent in August
2014. In the same month, sales in
its home market, the US, and in Europe had respectively dipped
by 2.8 and 0.7 percent.
32 [See
Exhibits 5 and 6.] While McDonald’s does not break Chinese
sales out publicly, the
company earned 23.6 percent of its revenue and 16.8 percent of
its operating profit from the
Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa (APMEA) region in the
first six months of 2014.33
McDonald’s believed the expired meat scandal had caused the
company’s same-store sales in

the APMEA region to tumble 9.9% in the quarter ending
September 2014.34
McDonald’s China: Standing by OSI?
McDonald’s pulled beef, pork and chicken products from its
Chinese outlets after the scandal
broke. In cities like Beijing and Shanghai, fish burgers were the
only sandwiches available.35
Instead of completely cutting ties with Shanghai Husi and its
parent company OSI, as its
competitors did, the Golden Arches initially told the media at
the end of July that it would
stand by its long-time supplier. Even though it would no longer
receive supplies from the
Shanghai facility, it would continue sourcing from Husi’s other
operations in China.
36
Reportedly, McDonald’s planned to shift its sourcing to OSI’s
new processing plant in Henan
province, which in August 2014 became the first LEED-
certified plant in China and among
the few meat-processing plants in the world to obtain a green
building certification.
37

After stopping sourcing from its main supplier, McDonald’s
China ran into severe shortages.
The chain had to turn to other existing suppliers, urging them to
increase capacity. Even so,
many food items could not be sold in restaurants due to lack of
ingredients.
There was a mix of responses from Chinese consumers to the
scandal. Some of them
criticized the lack of oversight by McDonald’s China or even
suspected that McDonald’s
China might have been aware of the situation but chose to keep
silent. McDonald’s China
low-cost strategy was also blamed for squeezing suppli er
profits, forcing them to provide
substandard products to cut costs. On the other hand, some
Chinese consumers believed that
McDonald’s was still better than local fast-food chains, which
might use gutter oil in its
products.
The scandal also gave rise to conspiracy theories from the
foreign media, which reported that
the Chinese government was trying to undermine foreign brands

and business in the country.
38
It was speculated that the Chinese government had lately been
putting the spotlight on
large multinationals like KFC, McDonald’s, Microsoft and
GSK, undercutting their
reputations to help Chinese companies compete with them. At
the same time, officials were
said to be trying to get public recognition for being serious in
addressing significant issues
such as food safety without harming the Chinese interests. Such
speculation was strongly
32 Sharma, B. (10 September 2014) “McDonald’s Sales
Continue Decline After Being Hit by China Meat Scandal”,
International
Business Times, http://www.ibtimes.co.in/mcdonalds-sales-
continue-decline-after-being-hit-by-china-meat-scandal-608777
(accessed 11 October 2014).
33 Wahba, P (4 August 2014) “China Meat Supplier Prove
Taking Big Bite Out of McDonald’s Sales”, Fortune,
http://fortune.com/2014/08/04/mcdonalds-china-meat-sales/
(accessed 14 November 2014).
34 Gu, W (6 November 2014) “China’s Economic Slowdown
Reflected by Multinationals”, The Wall Street Journal,

http://online.wsj.com/articles/chinas-economic-slowdown-
reflected-by-multinationals-1415304851 (accessed 14 November
2014).
35 Bloomberg News (29 July 2014) “McDonald’s Pulls Meat
From China Restaurants”,
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-
07-28/mcdonald-s-supplier-recalls-meat-in-expired-food-
scandal.html (accessed 12 October 2014).
36 Jargon, J. and Bunge, J. (24 July 2014) “McDonald’s Stands
By Meat Supplier in Crisis”, The Wall Street Journal,
http://online.wsj.com/articles/mcdonalds-stands-by-meat-
supplier-in-crisis-
1406244870?mod=WSJ_hpp_sections_business
37 Higgins, K. (2014) “One-Two Punch: Inspections and
Audits”, Food Processing.com,
http://www.foodprocessing.com/articles/2014/one-two-punch-
inspections-and-audits/ (accessed 8 October 2014).
38 Schuman, M. (23 July 2014) “The Factory in the China Food
Scandal Is Foreign-Owned. That Could Have Made It a Target”,
Time, http://time.com/3021854/china-mcdonalds-kfc-pizza-hut-
osi-yum-starbucks-food-safety-foreign-investment/ (accessed
11 November 2014).
http://www.ibtimes.co.in/mcdonalds-sales-continue-decline-
after-being-hit-by-china-meat-scandal-608777
http://fortune.com/2014/08/04/mcdonalds-china-meat-sales/
http://online.wsj.com/articles/chinas-economic-slowdown-
reflected-by-multinationals-1415304851

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-07-28/mcdonald-s-
supplier-recalls-meat-in-expired-food-scandal.html
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-07-28/mcdonald-s-
supplier-recalls-meat-in-expired-food-scandal.html
http://online.wsj.com/articles/mcdonalds-stands-by-meat-
supplier-in-crisis-
1406244870?mod=WSJ_hpp_sections_business
http://www.foodprocessing.com/articles/2014/one-two-punch-
inspections-and-audits/
http://time.com/3021854/china-mcdonalds-kfc-pizza-hut-osi-
yum-starbucks-food-safety-foreign-investment/
8
opposed by some Chinese netizens, who urged foreign
companies to be more responsible for
quality, rather than shying away from the issue.39
McDonald’s Hong Kong: Poor Crisis Management Practice
As soon as all imports from Shanghai Husi were suspended by
the Hong Kong food safety

regulator, McDonald's Hong Kong stopped selling products the
processor supplied. A range
of items was taken off the menu, including Chicken McNuggets,
McChicken sandwiches, Big
Macs and products such as green salads, fresh corn cups and
lemon tea, which were made
with items previously sourced from Husi units in Hebei and
Guangzhou. It was not until early
August 2014 that McDonald's outlets in Hong Kong resumed
serving burgers such as the Big
Mac and McChicken with vegetable ingredients such as onion
and lettuce sourced from the
US and Taiwan.
When the scandal first went public, McDonald’s Hong Kong
denied having imported any
food products from Shanghai Husi. However, the Hong Kong
SAR government’s
Environmental Hygiene Department blew the lid off the denial.
According to the authorities,
McDonald's Hong Kong had imported pork and chicken from
Shanghai Husi. It was revealed
that all of the chicken imported by McDonald’s Hong Kong
from Shanghai Husi two months

before the scandal broke had already been sold to customers. No
Shanghai Husi products
remained in stock. It was also discovered that from July to
December 2013, McDonald's
Hong Kong had imported 10 batches of frozen pork from
Shanghai Husi.
McDonald’s Hong Kong later apologized to its consumers for
releasing what it called
“confusing information” and explained the denial was made
because the chain held no more
stock supplied by Shanghai Husi in its warehouses or
restaurants.
40
It further posted
information on its website about ingredients that had been
imported from all Husi facilities in
China and products that would be temporarily suspended from
the menu. [See Exhibit 7].The
chain also reiterated that its products conformed to food and
safety standards. Despite the
apology, McDonald’s Hong Kong was criticized by local
legislators and media for attempting
to mislead the public over the scandal, given its initial denials.

A Hong Kong spokesperson
also refused to take questions regarding the scandal in a press
briefing. Considered a victim at
the beginning of the incident, McDonald’s mishandling of the
Hong Kong situation made the
public view the company in a different light.
McDonald’s Japan: Marking the Worst Monthly Same-Store
Sales Since 2002
In contrast to the controversial response of McDonald’s Hong
Kong, McDonald's Japan
admitted that the company had sourced about 20 percent of its
Chicken McNuggets from the
Shanghai plant and said it would stop selling product from Husi
facilities. It also announced
two days after the news hit that it had found alternative chicken
suppliers from Thailand to
replace Shanghai Husi.
McDonald’s shares traded in Japan fell by 2.8 percent by the
end of July as a result of the
scandal.
41
[See Exhibit 8]. Its same-store sales in July dropped by 17.4
percent compared to a

39LegalDaily (2014), “US Media Being Criticised for
Defending Husi Scandal”, Vol 2045-August. 法制文萃报(2014),
美媒为
福喜丑闻喊冤遭驳斥”
http://m.183read.com/magazine/article/article_id/262431
(accessed 6 November 2014).
40 Chan, K (25 July 2014) “McNuggets Taken Off McDonald’s
Menu”, China Daily Asia,
http://www.chinadailyasia.com/hknews/2014-
07/25/content_15151939.html (accessed 10 October 2014)
41 Yan, S (30 July 2014) “Meat Scandal Takes a Bites out of
McDonald’s Sales in Japan”, CNN,
money.cnn.com/2014/07/30/news/mcdonalds-japan-meat-
scandal/index.html?hpt=hp_t3 (accessed 12 October 2014)
http://m.183read.com/magazine/detail/item_id/497851
http://www.chinadailyasia.com/hknews/2014-
07/25/content_15151939.html
9

year earlier, making this the largest monthly fall-off since July
2002.42 Sales further plunged
25.1 percent in August, while the number of visitors to its
Japanese outlets fell 16.9% that
same month [See Exhibit 9].43
Rebuilding Brand and Reassessing McDonald’s Chinese
Suppliers
Amidst the scandal, McDonald’s launched an 18-month global
rebranding campaign at the
end of July 2014. The fast-food operator had in fact suffered
from various criticisms in recent
years regarding its service quality, dietary concerns about the
food it served and employee
pay issues. The campaign was aimed to transform McDonald’s
into a more trusted and
respected brand by focusing its efforts on reshaping its business
value, marketing and
operations excellence.44
In early September 2014, McDonald’s China officially
terminated its relationship with Husi
and confirmed a new list of five meat suppliers in China,
including foreign-owned McKey,

Cargill, Hormel and Trident, and a large local chicken supplier,
Sunner, which owned some
of the largest vertically integrated chicken farms, feed mills and
processing plants in China.
McDonald’s China sought new vegetable, as well as meat,
suppliers within China, including a
European-owned vegetable producer, The Creative Food Group.
It also assessed another US-
owned vegetable and fruit vendor in China, Golden State Food,
one of the world’s largest
diversified fast-food suppliers.
McDonald's announced it would strengthen its Chinese supplier -
assessment process by
increasing the number of its China-based supplier audits,
including ad-hoc plant visits by both
internal and external parties. 45 As part of its preventive
measures, the company would
enhance video monitoring of its Chinese supply facilities and
create a whistle-blower hotline
enabling its office and restaurant employees to report
misconduct. A new position of “food
safety governance head” would also be created, reporting

directly to the country’s chief
executive.46
The food scare had disrupted the general belief that food
produced by foreign brands was
better than Chinese counterparts’. When large, foreign-owned
suppliers in China, like OSI,
could not be trusted, would McDonald’s China’s new preventive
measures be adequate and
what more could McDonald’s China do to strengthen its supply-
chain management and
facilitate its rebranding campaign? In view of the ever -
increasing competition in the fast-food
industry, would it be better for McDonald’s China to run its
own food processing plants in
China and to change its positioning strategy to one of
differentiation?
42 The Japan Times (5 August 2014) “China Meat Supplier
Probe Hurting McDonald’s Sales”, Bloomberg,
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/08/05/business/china-
meat-supplier-probe-hurting-sales-mcdonalds/#.VDka2GeSxX4
43 Fujikawa, M. (10 September 2014) “McDonald’s Japan Gets

Burned by Chicken Scandal”, The Wall Street Journal, Japan,
http://blogs.wsj.com/japanrealtime/2014/09/10/mcdonalds-
japan-gets-burned-by-chicken-scandal/ (accessed 10 October
2014).
44 Lam, A. and Chan, J. (28 July 2014) “Will McDonald’s
Rebranding Plan be Good Enough?”, Marketing Interactive,
http://www.marketing-interactive.com/mcdonalds-rebranding-
plan-good-enough/ (accessed 10 October 2014).
45 Reuters (2 September 2014) “McDonald’s to Boost China
Supplier Audits After Food Safety Scandal,
idUSL3N0R32HO20140902 (accessed 13 October 2014).
46 BIDNESSETC (2 September 2014) “McDonald’s To Improve
Food-Safety Control in China”,
http://www.bidnessetc.com/24956-mcdonalds-to-improve-
foodsafety-controls-in-china/1/ (accessed 18 October 2014).
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/08/05/business/china-
meat-supplier-probe-hurting-sales-mcdonalds/#.VDka2GeSxX4
japan-gets-burned-by-chicken-scandal/
plan-good-enough/
idUSL3N0R32HO20140902
http://www.bidnessetc.com/24956-mcdonalds-to-improve-
foodsafety-controls-in-china/1/

10
EXHIBIT 1: ANNUAL PER CAPITA SPENDING OF
CHINESE URBAN HOUSEHOLDS ON
MEAT AND VEGETABLE PRODUCTS
Note: CNY1 equivalent to USD0.16, as at 12 November 2014
Source: Adapted from China City Statistical Yearbook 2013,
2011, and China Urban Life and
Price Yearbook 2012, China Statistics Press
EXHIBIT 2: PROCESSED MEAT RETAIL VOLUME SALES
BY REGION
Source: Hosafci, P (18 August 2014) “Processed Meat – What is
the New Euromonitor Data

Telling Us?”, Euromonitor International,
http://www.globalmeatnews.com/Industry-
Markets/Processed-meat-what-is-the-new-Euromonitor-data-
telling-us (accessed 23 September
2014)
meat-what-is-the-new-Euromonitor-data-telling-
us?utm_source=copyright&utm_medium=OnSite&utm_campaig
n=copyright
meat-what-is-the-new-Euromonitor-data-telling-
us?utm_source=copyright&utm_medium=OnSite&utm_campaig
n=copyright
11
EXHIBIT 3: MCDONALD’S CONSOLIDATED REVENUES
BY REGION AND OPERATING
MODE, 2005-2013

*APMEA= Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa region (Note:
McDonald’s did not break out China
revenue separately, but included it in total APMEA revenue)
Source: Adapted from McDonald’s Annual Reports, 2013, 2010,
2007
Franchised revenues (Dollars in millions)
Company-operated revenues (Dollars in millions)
Total revenue (Dollars in millions)
12
EXHIBIT 4: MCDONALD’S NEW YORK STOCK EXCHANGE
PERFORMANCE
BETWEEN JUNE 2014-NOVEMBER 2014

Source: Reuters Finance, as at 6 November 2014
http://www.reuters.com/finance/stocks/chart?symbol=MCD.N
(accessed 6 November 2014)
USD
Month, 2014
The expose of expired
meat scandal
http://www.reuters.com/finance/stocks/chart?symbol=MCD.N
13
EXHIBIT 5: MCDONALD’S GLOBAL COMPARABLE SALES
BY MONTH AND YEAR

ENDING JULY 31, 2013 AND 2014
Notes:
operated by McDonald’s or by
franchisees, in operation for at least 13 months, including those
temporarily closed.
Comparable sales exclude the impact of currency translation.
operated by McDonald’s or by
franchisees.
cy was calculated by
translating current year results at prior
year average exchange rates.
Source: McDonald’s Newsroom (8 August 2014) “McDonald's
Reports Global Comparable Sales
for July”
http://news.mcdonalds.com/Corporate/Press-Releases/Financial-
Release?xmlreleaseid=123054

14
EXHIBIT 6: MCDONALD’S GLOBAL COMPARABLE SALES
BY MONTH AND YEAR
ENDING AUGUST 31, 2014 AND 2013
Refer to notes in Exhibit 5.
Source: McDonald’s Newsroom (9 September 2014)
“McDonald's Reports Global Comparable
Sales for August”

15
EXHIBIT 7: MCDONALD’S HONG KONG WEBSITE
Source: Extracted from Lam, A. and Chan, J. (28 July 2014)
“Will McDonald’s Rebranding Plan
be Good Enough?”, Marketing Interactive,
http://www.marketing-interactive.com/mcdonalds-
rebranding-plan-good-enough/ (accessed10 October 2014)
plan-good-enough/
plan-good-enough/

16
EXHIBIT 8: MCDONALD’S TOKYO STOCK EXCHANGE
PERFORMANCE
BETWEEN JUNE 2014 AND NOVEMBER 2014
Source: Reuters Finance, as at 6 November 2014
http://www.reuters.com/finance/stocks/chart?symbol=2702.T
EXHIBIT 9: MCDONALD’S JAPAN SAME-STORE SALES
AND NUMBER OF VISITORS
BETWEEN AUGUST 2013 AND AUGUST 2014

Source: Extracted from Fujikawa, M. (10 September 2014)
“McDonald’s Japan Gets Burned by
Chicken Scandal”, The Wall Street Journal, Japan,
Japanese Yen
Month, 2014
The expose of expired
meat scandal
http://www.reuters.com/finance/stocks/chart?symbol=2702.T
How to write a business report
(This handbook has been written in collaboration with
the School of Marketing and International Business, and
Student Learning,
Victoria University of Wellington)

April 2017
i
Contents
Introduction
........................................................................................... 1
1 Planning your business report
.......................................................... 2
1.1 What is the purpose of this report?
................................................................... 2
1.2 Who are the readers of this report?
.................................................................. 2
1.3 What are the report’s main
messages?............................................................. 3
1.4 How will the messages be structured?
.............................................................. 3
2 Structuring your business report
..................................................... 4
2.1 Covering letter/memorandum
............................................................................ 4

2.2 Title Page
...............................................................................................
........... 5
2.3 Executive Summary
.......................................................................................... 5
2.4 Table of Contents
..............................................................................................
5
2.5 Introduction
...............................................................................................
........ 6
2.6 Conclusions/recommendations
......................................................................... 6
2.7 Findings and discussion
.................................................................................... 8
2.8 References
...............................................................................................
......... 8
2.9 Appendices
...............................................................................................
........ 8
3 Writing your business report
.......................................................... 10
3.1 Use effective headings and subheadings
........................................................ 10

3.2 Structure your paragraphs well
....................................................................... 11
3.3 Write clear sentences with plain language
...................................................... 12
3.4 Keep your writing professional
........................................................................ 13
3.5 Use white space and well-chosen fonts
.......................................................... 14
3.6 Number your
pages............................................................... .......................
... 15
3.7 Use footnotes, tables, figures, and appendices appropriately
......................... 15
ii
4 Concluding remarks
........................................................................ 17
References
...........................................................................................
18
Appendix A: Checklist of a business report
..................................... 19
Appendix B: Linking ideas within sentences and paragraphs
........ 20

Appendix C: Specific report requirements
....................................... 21
Appendix D: An example of a finished report
.................................. 23
1
Introduction
Writing an effective business report is a necessary skill for
communicating
ideas in the business environment. Reports usually address a
specific issue or
problem, and are often commissioned when a decision needs to
be made.
They present the author’s findings in relation to the issue or
problem and then
recommend a course of action for the organisation to take. The
key to a good
report is in-depth analysis. Good writers will show their reader
how they have
interpreted their findings. The reader will understand the basis
on which the
conclusions are drawn as well as the rationale for the
recommendations.

Report writing uses some of the writing skills you have already
acquired. You
will structure your paragraphs and reference your ideas just as
you have been
doing in your essays and other assignments within your
Commerce degree.
You might want to refer to the Victoria Business School Writing
Skills
Workbook you received in the first year. Report writing
sometimes differs in
structure and style. This handbook will help you plan, structure,
and write a
basic report. Remember, though, that reports will vary
according to their
purpose and the needs of their reader/s. Throughout your
university career,
different courses and/or different lecturers may have slightly
different
requirements for reports. Please always check the requirements
for each
assignment.
Acknowledgement

We acknowledge Write Limited, New Zealand’s plain English
specialists.
Many of their principles for good business writing are reflected
in this
handbook. A reference to their style guide is found in the
reference list on p
17.
2
1 Planning your business report
As in all writing, planning is vitally important. The key
questions to ask yourself
when planning a business report are:
port
1.1 What is the purpose of this report?
Keep in mind that the purpose of a business report is generally

to assist in
decision making. Be sure you are clear on what decision is to be
made and
the role the report plays in this decision. It might be useful to
consider the
purpose in this way: As a result of this report, my reader/s will
…
For example:
As a result of this report, my reader/s will know:
- how well our recycling programme is doing
- how to increase participation in it.
1.2 Who are the readers of this report?
Consider the main reader/s, but also secondary readers. The
main reader for
the recycling report alluded to above is the director of the
recycling
programme. Secondary readers might be the facilities
management team on
campus, the finance team, etc.
Try to understand what the readers already know, what they
need to know,

and how they will use this report. You will need to give enough
information to
satisfy all these potential readers. You will need to use headings
carefully so
that different readers can use the report in different ways.
3
1.3 What are the report’s main messages?
about the
main message/s you need to convey, and therefore what
information is
required. Ask yourself: What are the required pieces of
information I
need to include?
e the additional pieces of information I need to
include?
1.4 How will the messages be structured?
The modern business approach is direct (or deductive, to use a
more

sophisticated term). This approach presents the conclusions or
recommendations near the beginning of the report, and the
report provides
justification for these recommendations. This approach will be
used for the
remainder of this handbook and for report writing in general in
the Victoria
Business School (Commerce Faculty).
It should be noted, however, that there is sometimes a place for
the indirect
(inductive) approach. This approach leads the reader through
the discussion
first and reveals the conclusions and recommendations at the
end of the
report. This approach might be used if the recommendations are
likely to be
controversial or unpopular (Emerson, 1995).
The next step is to construct an outline, or structure, for your
report. Check
for a logical flow, and check your outline against your purpose,
your reader/s,
and the report’s relevant information requirements.

4
2 Structuring your business report
A business report may contain:
oduction
2.1 Covering letter/memorandum
Often a letter is attached to a report to officially introduce the
report to the
recipient. If the recipient is outside the organisation, a letter

format is
appropriate; if the recipient is inside the organisation, a
memorandum/memo
is appropriate.
The covering letter or memorandum should:
tate the purpose of the report
5
2.2 Title Page
The title page should be brief but descriptive of the project. It
should also
include the date of completion/submission of the report, the
author/s, and their
association/organisation.

2.3 Executive Summary
The executive summary follows the title page, and should make
sense on its
own. The executive summary helps the reader quickly grasp the
report’s
purpose, conclusions, and key recommendations. You may think
of this as
something the busy executive might read to get a feel for your
report and its
final conclusions. The executive summary should be no longer
than one page.
The executive summary differs from an abstract in that it
provides the key
recommendations and conclusions, rather than a summary of the
document.
2.4 Table of Contents
The table of contents follows the executive summary on a new
page. It states
the pages for various sections. The reader receives a clear
orientation to the
report as the table of contents lists all the headings and sub-
headings in the
report. These headings and sub-headings should be descriptive

of the content
they relate to (see section 3 of this handbook).
6
2.5 Introduction
The introduction sets the stage for the reader. It gives the
context for the
report and generates the reader’s interest. It orients the reader
to the purpose
of the report and gives them a clear indication of what they can
expect.
The introduction should:
investigation)

assumptions made.
(Adapted from Emerson, 1995, p. 35)
2.6 Conclusions/recommendations
A business report usually needs both conclusions and
recommendations. The
difference between conclusions and recommendations in a
report lies in the
orientation to time. Conclusions typically relate to the present
or past
situation.
When writing conclusions:
what they mean
new material
pulating the data.
(Guffey, Rhodes & Rogin, 2001, p. 391)

7
Recommendations are oriented to the future: what changes are
recommended, or what actions are recommended for the future?
They are
specific, action-oriented suggestions to solve the report
problem.
When writing recommendations:
problem
mendations
you were
requested to do this)
most
important to least important.
(Guffey, et al. 2001, p. 392)

Although the conclusions and recommendations are presented
before the
discussion, they need to logically flow from the discussion.
Taking a deductive
approach allows the reader insight into your
conclusions/recommendations
early on. When your reader reads the discussion afterwards,
they will follow it
more easily. Here are some examples of conclusions and
recommendations:
Conclusions Recommendations
Home and family responsibilities directly
affect job attendance and performance.
Provide managers with training in working
with personal and family matters.
Time is the crucial issue to balancing
work and family income.
Institute a flexitime policy that allows
employees to adapt their work schedule
to home responsibilities.

A manager supportive of family and
personal concerns is central to a good
work environment.
Publish a quarterly employee newsletter
devoted to family and child-care issues.
(Adapted from Guffey, et al. 2001, p. 391-392)
8
2.7 Findings and discussion
The discussion is the main part of your report and should
present and discuss
your findings. It should give enough information, analysis, and
evidence to
support your conclusions, and it should provide justification for
your
recommendations. Its organisation will depend on your purpose,
scope, and
requirements, but it should follow a logical and systematic
organisation. The
discussion should be subdivided into logical sections, each with
informative,

descriptive headings and a number.
Where your report’s purpose is to recommend the best solution
to a problem,
you should show clear analysis of all options. You should
explain any
analytical framework you used, such as SWOT or cost benefit
analysis. This
analysis of options can often be presented effectively in tables.
2.8 References
Whenever you use information from other sources, references
must be
provided in-text and in a list of references. The style of
referencing may be
dictated by your faculty or organisation. The Faculty of
Commerce at Victoria
uses APA. See the Victoria Business School Writing Skills
Workbook (that you
were given in first year in the FCOM 111 course) for
information on APA
referencing or see the APA manual (APA, 2010). You can
download a copy of
the Writing Skills Workbook from the VBS website.

2.9 Appendices
If material is important to your discussion and is directly
referred to, then it
should be included in your discussion proper. However, you
might want to use
appendices to include supplementar y material that enhances
understanding
for the reader. You might use appendices to provide details on
the process or
analysis you underwent (or which was required by your
supervisor or lecturer).
http://www.victoria.ac.nz/vbs/teaching/resources/VB SWritingB
ooklet.pdf
9
When you choose to include information in appendices, you
should refer to it
clearly in your text (refer Appendix A). A single appendix
should be titled
APPENDIX. Multiple appendices are titled APPENDIX A,
APPENDIX B, etc.
Appendices appear in the order that they are mentioned in the

text of the
report.
Appendices should:
specific readers
escriptive title
—not just ‘tacked on’.
(Adapted from Emerson, 1995, p. 41)
A checklist of elements of a good business report is provided in
Appendix A.
10
3 Writing your business report

Now that you have organised your thoughts, you need to put
them into writing.
Ensure your writing demonstrates clarity and logic. You should
think
constantly about your readers and make your report easy for
them to read. To
achieve good readability, you should:
-chosen fonts
3.1 Use effective headings and subheadings
Headings and subheadings are useful tools in business writing.
Ensure they
are descriptive of the content to follow. In other words, rather
than labelling a
section Section 2.5, it would be better to describe it as 2.5
Justification for

the high risk scenario. It is also essential that the hierarchy of
headings and
subheadings is clear. Use formatting (font size, bold, etc.) to
show headings
versus subheadings. Headings/subheadings at the same level
should use
parallel form (the same grammatical construction). The
following examples
illustrate this principle.
Ineffective headings with non-
parallel construction
Effective headings with parallel
construction
Establishing formal sales
organisation
Establish formal sales organisation
Production department
responsibilities
Define responsibilities within the
production department

Improve cost-accounting Improve cost accounting
(Adapted from Munter, 1997, p. 53)
11
Use sentence case for headings. This means that your first word
should
have a capital letter, but subsequent words have small letters,
unless, of
course, they are proper nouns (Write Limited, 2013). Remember
to
ensure that all material placed underneath a heading serves that
heading.
It is easy to go off on a tangent that does not relate to a
heading.
Remember also that all content must relate to your purpose.
Every time
you write a new section of your report, check that it fulfils the
purpose of
the report.
3.2 Structure your paragraphs well
Your headings will help create logical flow for your reader, but

under each
heading, you should create a series of paragraphs that are also
logically
ordered and structured. Paragraphs should be ordered in a
logical sequence
beginning with the most important material first. Within your
paragraphs you
should also use a structure that helps your reader. Each
paragraph should
begin with a topic sentence that states the main idea or topic of
the
paragraph. Typically a paragraph will have between 100 and
200 words and
will have the following structure.
sentence)
sentence
and include statistics, examples, and citations)
question

‘so what?’; this is your opportunity to show your critical
thinking ability)
Remember to link your paragraphs well. The first sentence
(usually the topic
sentence) is a good place to make a link between paragraphs.
One of the
most common ways to link paragraphs is to use the principle,
‘something old,
something new’. This means you will include a word or phrase
that contrasts
12
the topic of the previous paragraph with the topic of your new
paragraph. Take
a look at the topic sentence at the beginning of this section 3.2.
You will see
that this topic sentence links to the material before it. For an
example showing
how to link ideas in a paragraph using the ‘something old,
something new’
principle, see Appendix B.
3.3 Write clear sentences with plain language

Academic and business writing should be clear. You want to
clearly
communicate your understanding of the topic and the strength
of your
argument. In order to do this, keep your sentences short and use
plain
language where you can (Write Limited, 2013). Sentences that
are too long
and complicated are difficult to understand. A good average
length is 15–20
words (roughly 1.5 lines). Try not to go over 2 lines. Sometimes
students try to
use big words in order to sound academic. This is not always a
good idea. If
you need a big (sometimes technical) word, fine. However, if a
shorter one
does the job, use it. For example, use is better than utilise, and
change is
better than modification.
Look at the following example.
Phase one of the project included the collection of a range of
data and

research material completed during 2011, which was utilised in
the creation of
a range of soon to be finalised analyst ‘personas’, and input into
the planning
of a new enhanced information architecture for the business’s
online channel,
particularly resources for current analysts.
Now look at a plainer version.
In 2011, the team undertook phase one of the project. They
collected a range
of data and research material. Using this collected material,
they created
analyst ‘personas’. They also began to plan an enhanced
information
architecture for the business’s online channel. Current analysts
can use some
of the resources the team have created.
13
You will notice some of the sophisticated words have changed
to plainer ones.

You will also notice that the sentences are shorter and easier to
understand.
Another change relates to ‘active voice’. You will notice that
the first example
uses some ‘passive voice’: which was utilised. Passive voice
enables writers
to omit the people (or doers) from their sentences. However,
readers often
appreciate knowing ‘who’ does something. You will notice in
the second
example, the writer adds a doer: team. This means the writer
can now use the
active voice: In 2011, the team completed…All of these
techniques—short
sentences, plainer language, and active voice—will help your
reader
understand your message in one reading. This is especially
important in
business writing where readers have busy working days.
3.4 Keep your writing professional
Ensure you use an appropriate tone for your readers. Where
possible, use
personal pronouns we and you: We recommend you check the

building’s
foundations. Personal pronouns create a friendly tone that is
appropriate for
New Zealand business and government. They also help the
writer avoid the
passive voice. And, as stated above, readers like to know ‘who’
will do
something. However, sometimes you might want a more formal
tone where
personal pronouns are not appropriate. In these cases, you can
use words
like research or report as your sentence subject: This report
discusses…, This
research has found that… . Another way of ensuring
appropriate tone is to
avoid terms that may be interpreted as offensive to ethnic or
other groups. Be
careful to use gender-neutral terms. For example, use plural
pronouns (they
when referring to clients) rather than gender-specific pronouns
(he or he/she).
Another aspect of tone relates to the use of contractions.
Contractions are
words like we’ve or it’s. They are informal. For many business

reports and for
all academic reports, you will need to avoid them and write we
have or it is.
Other important characteristics of professional writing are
editing and
proofreading. You should leave 24 hours between writing your
draft and
editing it. You should also leave another 24 hours between
editing and
proofreading. Leaving time between these stages of the writing
process allows
14
you to detach yourself from your writing and put yourself in
your reader’s
shoes. When editing, check for:
redundant phrases or words.

When proofreading, check for:
Remember to leave enough time for these last two stages.
Thorough editing
and proofreading will make a big difference to the readability of
your report (as
well as to your marks!), and it is a courtesy to the reader.
3.5 Use white space and well-chosen fonts
White space refers to the empty space on the page. Business
reports which
have a more balanced use of white space and text are easier to
read and
more effectively communicate main points and subordinate
ideas. Create
white space by:

–3cm)
your page with tables, charts, and graphs where
possible
15
3.6 Number your pages
Your title page has no number. Use Roman numerals for the
executive
summary and table of contents (i, ii, iii), and Arabic numbers
for the remainder
of the report (1, 2, 3 …).
3.7 Use footnotes, tables, figures, and appendices appropriately
Footnotes should be used sparingly. Points that are important
can usually be
integrated into the text. Footnotes or endnotes should not be
used for
referencing (see References above).
In business reports, tables and figures are often used to
represent data,

processes, etc. Tables and figures should be inserted in the text
of the
document, close to the discussion of the table/figure. If the
information is
something which the reader could refer to rather than should
refer to, then it
may go in the appendices. Tables and figures have different
purposes. A table
contains an array of numbers or text (such as a SWOT table). A
figure is
something that contains graphical content, such as graphs
created in Excel,
organisational charts, or flow charts.
Insert each table/figure one-and-a-half or two lines below the
text. The
table/figure should be identified with a label and titl e which
describes the
content, for example, Table 1. GDP of New Zealand, 1988–
2002.
If a table, figure, or appendix is included in a document, then
there must be
text that refers to it! The text should refer to it by name (As
Table 1

shows ….). The text should explain the highlights of the table
or figure, not
every detail. Do not leave it to the reader to try to figure out
why you included
the table or figure in your document. At the same time, ensure
that your
tables/figures supplement and clarify the text but do not
completely duplicate
it. Also ensure that there is sufficient information in the table or
figure so that
the reader can understand it without having to consult the text.
16
Footnotes immediately underneath the table or figure should be
used to
explain all abbreviations and symbols used. Do not forget to add
the source of
your material.

17
4 Concluding remarks
Now that you have the tools to develop your report, your
communication
should be more efficient and effective. Individual schools may
have specific
requirements for your report, so check with your course
coordinators in case
they have specific requirements. For example, the School of
Marketing and
International Business provides the guide attached in Appendix
C. A sample
report for general business writing is provided in Appendix D.
Don’t forget to make use of the resources at Student Learning
should you
require more guidance. Happy writing!

18
References
APA. (2010). Publication manual of the American
Psychological Association
(6th ed.). Washington, DC: American Psychological
Association.
Emerson, L. (Ed.) (1995). Writing guidelines for business
students.
Palmerston North: The Dunmore Press.
Guffey, M. E., Rhodes, K., & Rogin, P. (2001). Business
communication:
Process and product (3rd Canadian ed.). Scarborough, Ontario:
Nelson
Thomson Learning.
Munter, M. (1997). Guide to managerial communication:
Effective business
writing and speaking (4th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ:
Prentice Hall.
Write Limited, (2013). The Write Style Guide for New
Zealanders: A manual
for business editing. Wellington, New Zealand: Write Limited.

19
Appendix A: Checklist of a business report
rt fulfils its purpose
summary, table
of contents …)
headings
and subheadings
as logical
flow
paragraph structure
spelling,

punctuation, and consistency
/
discussion
rces are
referenced
figures
which are essential to the discussion are included within the
text
20
Appendix B: Linking ideas within sentences and paragraphs
occur as closely

together as possible. For example, The PLC is important, not
The PLC,
which has been around a long time, and has seen wide use, in
many
contexts, continents, industries, product categories, and so
forth, is
important.
position in the
sentence. In a short sentence, the stress position is usually at
the end of
the sentence. You want to emphasize new material. For
example,
assuming you have already introduced the PLC, and the point
you want to
make next is that it is important, you would write, The PLC is
important,
rather than, An important concept is the PLC.
the sentence,
The PLC is important, you have accomplished two things. First,
you have
made the point that the purpose of the paragraph is to argue that

the PLC
is important. Second, the notion that it is important is no longer
new
information. Subsequent sentences should provide new
information that
supports that point.
It is important because it explains why firms must develop new
products;
or:
It is important for three reasons. The first reason is .....; or:
It is important for many reasons. One important reason is .....
Note that the stressed part of the previous sentence is no longer
new and
has been moved to the front of the current sentence. The new
information
in the current sentence is a reason why the PLC is important.
The reason
is placed in the stress position.
is
important. It is important because it explains why firms must

develop new
products. New products must be developed because competitors
enter the
firm’s markets, offerings become more homogeneous, prices
decrease,
and margins are reduced.
21
[Title of your report/project]
[Name/Code of your course]
Lecturer: [Lecturer’s Name]
Submitted by:
[Your name]
[Your student number]
Tutor: [Tutor’s Name]
Tutorial Number: [#]
Submitted: [Date of submission]

Word Count: [ ]
Appendix C: Specific report requirements
For all reports, be sure that you adhere to the requirements of
your particular
organisation. In New Zealand business and government, these
requirements
will usually be stated in your organisation’s style guide. A style
guide is a
handbook telling writers which conventions of grammar,
punctuation, and tone
to follow. It also tells writers how to format their documents. At
Victoria, you
should adhere to your particular course and/or school
requirements.
Specific requirements for most reports submitted in the School
for
Marketing & International Business (SMIB)
1. Answer the question
The most important requirement is to answer the question! Be
sure to read

your assignment question very carefully.
2. Structure your report effectively
Use this handbook to guide your structure.
The key parts of your reports will be:
.
22
3. Give careful consideration to your page layout and
presentation
Use:
-point font
throughout

the report, including in tables and figures
h) margins at the top, bottom, and
both sides of
the document
first line of
each paragraph.
4. Reference in APA
Ensure you reference consistently in APA style. You should use
in-text
referencing for each citation (material that you have taken from
other
sources). This material will be either quotes or paraphrases.
Include a
reference list at the end of your report, again paying careful
attention to APA
style for different types of references. Your reference list will
include the
sources that showed up in your in-text referencing. It is not a
list of everything

you read, just of the material you actually included in your
report.
23
Appendix D: An example of a finished report
This example report has been adapted from a model report in
Guffey, M.E.,
Rhodes, K., Rogin, P. (2001). Business communication: Process
and Product,
3rd Canadian Edition. Scarborough: Nelson Thomson Learning.
Pp. 461-473.
While the content follows Guffey et al (2001), the formatting
has been changed to
match the style described in the VBS report writing guide,
including APA
referencing rather than MLA. Formatting has also been updated
in line with
current usage, and section numbering added. The commentary
provided in side
annotations are in the main taken from Guffey et al (2001), and

further
annotations can be found in the original.
24
Memorandum
DATE: 19 January, 2010
TO: Cheryl Bryant, Director
Recycling Programme
Office of Associated Students
FROM: Alan Christopher, OAS Business Senator
SUBJECT: Increasing participation in West Coast College’s
recycling programme
Here is the report you requested on 11 December 2009. It
relates to the
status of West Coast College’s recycling programme. This
report gives
recommendations for increasing awareness and use of the
recycling
programme. It incorporates both primary and secondary
research. The
primary research focused on a survey of members of the West

Coast
College campus community.
Although the campus recycling programme is progressing well,
the
information gathered shows that with more effort we should be
able to
increase participation and achieve our goal of setting an
excellent example
for both students and the local community. Recommendations
for increasing
campus participation in the programme include educating
potential users
about the programme and making recycling on campus easy.
I am grateful to my business communication class for helping
me develop a
questionnaire, for pilot testing it, and for distributing it to the
campus
community. Their enthusiasm and support contributed greatly
to the success
of this OAS research project.
Please telephone me if you would like additional information. I
would be
happy to implement some of the recommendations in this report
by
developing promotional materials for the recycling campaign.

Give purpose of the
report
Indicate future
actions

Acknowledge any
assistance
25
Analysis of the West Coast College
Campus Recycling Program
Presented to
Cheryl Bryant
Recycling Director
West Coast College
Prepared by

Alan Christopher
Business Senator
19 January, 2010
Cover Page
Include all
relevant details.
Check
requirements.
No page
number
26
Executive summary
Purpose and method of this report

West Coast’s recycling programme was created to fulfil the
College’s social
responsibility as an educational institution as well as to meet
the demand of
legislation requiring individuals and organisations to recycle.
The purposes of this
report are to:
programme
We conducted a questionnaire survey to learn about the campus
community’s
recycling habits and to assess participation in the current
recycling programme. A
total of 220 individuals responded to the survey. Since West
Coast College’s
recycling programme includes only aluminium, glass, paper, and
plastic, these were
the only materials considered in this study.
Findings and conclusions
Most survey respondents recognised the importance of recycling
and stated that they
recycle aluminium, glass, paper, and plastic on a regular basis
either at home or
work. However, most respondents displayed a low level of
awareness of the on-
campus programme. Many of the respondents were unfamiliar
with the location of the
bins around campus and, therefore, had not participated in the

recycling programme.
Other responses indicated that the bins were not conveniently
located.
The results of this study show that more effort is needed to
increase participation in
the campus recycling programme.
Recommendations for increasing recycling participation
Recommendations for increasing participation in the programme
include:
individuals and on-campus student groups
ent volunteers to give on-campus presentations
explaining
the need for recycling and the benefits of using the recycling
programme
i

Tell purpose of the
report and briefly
describe the research
Give conclusion/s of
report
Give report

recommendations
27
Table of Contents
1 Introduction ................................................... 1
1.1 West Coast’s Recycling Programme ..................................
2
1.2 Purpose of study
................................................................. 2
1.3 Scope of the study
............................................................. 2
1.4 Sources and methods .........................................................
3
2 Conclusions ................................................. 4

3 Recommendations ........................................ 5
4 Findings and discussion .............................. 6
4.1 Recycling habits of respondents .......................................
6
4.2 Participation in recycling on campus ................................
7
4.2.1 Student awareness and the use of bins
........................................... 8
4.2.2 Reasons for not participating
................................................. 9
4.2.3 Location of recycling bins
...................................................... 9
References ................................................. ............... 10
Appendix
West Coast Recycling Programme Survey
............................................ 11
ii
Use leaders to

guide eye from
heading to page
number
28
1 Introduction
North American society is often criticised as being a “throw
away” society,
and perhaps that criticism is accurate (Cahan, 2008). We discard
11 to 14
billion tons of waste each year, according to the US
Environmental
Protection Agency. Of this sum, 180 million tons comes from
households
and businesses, areas where recycling efforts could make a
difference
(Hollusha, 2010). According to a survey conducted by Decima
Research, 73
percent of North American companies have waste reduction
programmes
(Schneider, 2008). Although some progress has been made,
there is still a
problem. For example, the annual volume of discarded plastic
packaging in
North America is eight billion tons—enough to produce 118
million plastic

park benches yearly (Joldine, 2009). Despite many recycling
programmes
and initiatives, most of our rubbish finds its way to landfill
sites. With an ever-
increasing volume of waste, estimates show that 80 percent of
North
America’s landfills will be full by the year 2015 (de Blanc,
2009).
To combat the growing waste disposal problem, some states and
provinces
are trying to pass legislation aimed at increasing recycling.
Many North
American communities have enacted regulations requiring
residents to
separate bottles, cans, and newspapers so that they may be
recycled
(Schneider, 1999). Other means considered to reduce waste
include tax
incentives, packaging mandates, and outright product bans
(Hollusha, 2010).
All levels of government are trying both voluntary and
mandatory means of
reducing rubbish sent to landfills.
1

Give context
and general
subject matter
Use APA
referencing style
29
1.1 West Coast Recycling Programme
In order to do its part in reducing rubbish and to meet the
requirements of
legislation, West Coast College began operating a recycling
programme one
year ago. Aluminium cans, glass, office and computer paper,
and plastic
containers are currently being recycled through the programme.
Recycling

bins are located at various sites around campus, outside
buildings, and in
department and administrative offices to facilitate the collection
of materials.
The Office of Associated Students (OAS) oversees the operation
of the
programme. The programme relies on promotions,
advertisements, and
word of mouth to encourage its use by the campus community.
1.2 Purpose of this study
The OAS had projected higher levels of participation in the
recycling programme
than those achieved to date. Experts say that recycling
programmes generally
must operate at least a year before results become apparent (de
Blanc, 2009).
The OAS programme has been in operation one year, yet gains
are disappointing.
Therefore, the OAS authorised this study to determine the
campus community’s
awareness and use of the programme. Recommendations for
increasing
participation in the campus recycling programme will be made
to the OAS based
on the results of this study.
1.3 Scope of this study
This study investigates:
titudes towards recycling in

general
programme
Only aluminium, glass, paper, and plastic are
considered in this study
as they are the only materials being recycled on
campus at this time.
The costs involved in the programme were not considered in
this study as we did
not consider them relevant. Steelman, Desmond, and Johnson
(2008) state that a
recycling programme generally does not begin to pay for itself
during the first year.
After the first year, the financial benefit is usually realised in
reduced disposal
costs (Steelman, Desmond, and Johnson 2008).
2

Give
background to
issue/ problem
Describe the
issue to be
reported on
State the
specific
questions the
report answers
Discuss the

scope (or
extent) of the
investigation
30
1.4 Sources and methods
We consulted current business periodicals and newspapers for
background
information and to learn how other organisations are
encouraging use of in-house
recycling programmes. We used these findings to formulate a
questionnaire on
recycling habits. This questionnaire (shown in the appendix)
was then used to
survey administrators, faculty, staff, and students at West
Coast College campus.
In all, a sample of 220 individuals responded to the self-
administered
questionnaire. The composition of the sample closely resembled
the makeup of
the campus population. Figure 1 shows the percentage of
students, faculty, staff,
and administrators who participated in the survey.
3

Discuss how the
study was
conducted
Note:
If you use figures or tables, be sure to introduce them in the
text. Although it is not always
possible, try to place them close to the spot where they are first
mentioned.
Faculty, 23%
Staff, 10%
Administrators, 7%
Students, 60%
Figure 1. Composition of survey sample

31
2 Conclusions
Based on the findings of the recycling survey of members of the
West Coast
College campus community, we draw the following conclusions.
1. Most members of the campus community are already
recycling at home or at work.
2. Over half of the respondents recycle aluminium and paper on
a regular basis; most recycle glass and plastic to some
degree.
3. Most of the surveyed individuals expressed a willingness to
participate in a recycling programme. Many, however, seem
unwilling to travel very far to participate; 42 percent would like
more recycling bins to be located inside the cafeteria.
4. Awareness and use of the current campus recycling
programme are low. Only a little over a third of the

respondents knew of any recycling bin locations on campus,
and only a fifth had actually used them.
5. Respondents considered the locations of the campus bins
inconvenient. This perceived inconvenience was given as the
principal reason for not participating in the campus recycling
programme.
4
32
3 Recommendations
After considering the findings and conclusions of this study, we
offer the
following recommendations in an effort to improve the
operations and
success of the West Coast recycling programme.
1. Increase on-campus awareness and visibility by designing an
eye-catching logo for use in promotions.

2. Enhance comprehension of recycling procedures by teaching
users how to recycle. Use posters to explain the recycling
programme and to inform users of recycling bin locations.
Label each bin clearly as to what materials may be deposited.
3. Add bins in several new locations, and particularly more in
the
food service and vending machine areas.
4. Recruit student leaders to promote participation in the
recycling programme. These students should give educational
talks to classes and other campus groups.
5. Develop an incentive programme for student organisations.
Offer incentives for meeting OAS recycling goals. On-campus
groups could compete in recycling drives designed to raise
money for the group, the college, or a charity. Money from the
proceeds of the recycling programme could be used to fund
the incentive programme.

5
Note:
Report recommendations are most helpful to readers when they
not only make
suggestions to solve the original research problem but also
describe specific
actions to be taken. Notice that this report goes beyond merely
listing ideas.
Instead, it makes practical suggestions for ways to implement
the
recommendations.
33
4 Findings and discussion

The findings of the study will be presented in two categories .
programme
4.1 Recycling habits of respondents
A major finding of the survey reveals that most respondents are
willing to recycle
even when not required to do so. Data tabulation shows that 72
percent of the
respondents live in an area where neither the city nor the region
requires
separation of rubbish. Yet 80 percent of these individuals
indicated that they
recycle aluminium on a regular basis. Although the percentages
are somewhat
smaller, many of the respondents also regularly recycle glass
(46 percent) and
plastic (45 percent). These results, summarised in Figure 2,
clearly show that
campus respondents are accustomed to recycling the four major
materials
targeted in the West Coast recycling programme.
Figure 2. Respondents who regularly recycle at home or at work
Material Percentages

Aluminium 80%
Paper 55%
Glass 46%
Plastic 45%
Respondents were asked to rank the importance of recycling the
materials
collected in the West Coast programme. Figure 3 shows that
respondents felt
aluminium was most important, although most also ranked the
other materials
(glass, paper, and plastic) as either “extremely important” or
“somewhat important”
to recycle. Respondents were also asked what materials they
actually recycled
most frequently, and aluminium again ranked first.
6
In this section
you will present,
interpret,
discuss, and

analyse
findings.
Use tables and
graphs where
possible to
present/
summarise
findings
34
Figure 3. Materials considered most important to recycle

0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
Aluminium Paper Glass Plastic
Extremely important
Somew hat important
Somew hat unimportant
Extremely unimportant
When asked how likely they would be to go out of their way to
deposit an
item in a recycling bin, 29 percent of the respondents said “very
likely”, and
55 percent said “somewhat likely”. Thus, respondents showed
willingness—
at least on paper—to recycle even if it means making a special

effort to
locate a recycling bin.
4.2 Participation in recycling on campus
De Blanc (2009) gives factors important to any recycling
programme. She
states that:
re of these locations
We incorporated de Blanc’s factors in our survey and included
questions
assessing awareness and use of the current bins. The survey also
investigated reasons for not participating in the programme as
well as
reasons for the perceived convenience of current bin locations.
7

Include theory in
discussion of
findings

35
4.2.1 Student awareness and the use of bins
Two of the most significant questions in the survey asked
whether
respondents were aware of the OAS recycling bins on campus
and
whether they had used the bins. Responses to both questions
were
disappointing, as Figure 4 illustrates.
Figure 4. Awareness and use of recycling bins on campus
Location
Awareness of
bins at this
location
Use of bins at

location
Cafeteria 38% 21%
Bookstore 29% 12%
Administration building 28% 12%
Computer Labs 16% 11%
Library 15% 7%
Student union 9% 5%
Classrooms 8% 6%
Department and
Administrative offices
6% 3%
Athletic centre 5% 3%
Unaware of any bins;
have not used any bins
20% 7%
Figure 4 shows that only 38 percent of the respondents were
aware of the
bins located outside the cafeteria. Even fewer were aware of the
bins
outside the bookstore (29 percent) and outside the
administration building
(28 percent). Equally dissatisfying, only 21 percent of the

respondents had
used the most visible recycling bins outside the cafeteria.
Other recycling bin locations were even less familiar to the
survey
respondents and, of course, were little used. These responses
plainly show
that the majority of the respondents in the West Coast campus
community
have a low awareness of the recycling programme and an even
lower
record of participation.
8

Clearly interpret your
findings so that your
reader can see the
basis for your
conclusions and
recommendations
36

4.2.2 Reasons for not participating
Respondents offered several reasons for not participating in the
campus
recycling programme. Forty-five percent said that the bins were
not
convenient to use. Thirty percent said that they did not know
where the bins
were located. Another 25 percent said that they were not in the
habit of
recycling. Although many reasons for not participating were
listed, the
primary reason appears to be inconvenience of bin locations.
4.2.3 Location of recycling bins
When asked specifically how they would rate the location of the
bins
currently in use, only 13 percent of the respondents felt that the
bins were
extremely convenient. Another 36 percent rated the bins as
somewhat
convenient. Over half the respondents felt that the locations of
the bins were
either somewhat inconvenient or extremely inconvenient.
Recycling bins are
currently located outside nearly all the major campus rooms or
buildings, but
respondents clearly considered these locations inconvenient or
inadequate.
In indicating where they would like recycling bins placed (see
Figure 5), 42
percent of the respondents felt that the most convenient

locations would be
inside the cafeteria. Placing more recycling bins near the
student union
seemed most convenient to another 33 percent of those
questioned, while
15 percent stated that they would like to see the bins placed
near the
vending machines. Ten percent of the individuals responding to
the survey
did not seem to think that the locations of bins would matter to
them.
Figure 5. Preference for placement of recycling bins
Inside the cafeteria 42%
More in the student union 33%
Near vending machines 15%
Does not matter 10%
9
37

5 References
Cahan, V. (2008, July 17). Waste not, want not? Not
necessarily.
Business Week, p.116.
de Blanc, S. (2009, December). Paper recycling: How to make it
effective. The Office, 32-33.
Hollusha, J. (2010, July 26). Mixed benefits from recycling.
The New
York Times, D2. Retrieved October 26, 2010 from
http://www.nytimes.com
Joldine, L. (2009). The environment and Canada’s future. In J.
Davis
(Ed.), Spirit of the world (pp.42-49). Waterloo, Ontario:
Turnaround
Decade Ecological Communications.
Schneider, K. (2008, January 20). As recycling becomes a
growth
industry, its paradoxes also multiply. The New York Times, p.
A5.
Steelman, J.W., Desmond, S., and Johnson, L. (2008). Facing
Global
Limitations. New York, NY: Rockford Press.

10
magazine
journal
online newspaper
author in an edited

book
printed newspaper
book
38
Appendix
West Coast College recycling programme survey
West Coast College recently implemented a recycling
programme on campus.
Please take a few minutes to answer the following questions so
that we can make
this programme as convenient as possible for you to use.
1. Please indicate which items you recycle on a regular basis at
home or
at work. (Tick all that apply.)

2. Do you live in an area where the city / municipality requires
separation
of waste?
3. How important is it to you to recycle each of the following:
4. How likely would it be for you to go out of your way to put
something in
a recycling bin?
Very Likely Somewhat Likely Somewhat
Unlikely
Very Unlikely
5. Which of the following items do you recycle most often?
(Choose one
item only.)

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