This document outlines the process of preparing effective business reports, emphasizing the importance of clarity in defining purpose and problems. It covers methodologies for gathering information, interpreting data accurately, and structuring reports for better organization and readability. Key elements include maintaining objectivity, using statistical tools for analysis, and guidelines for collaborative report writing.

1. Preparing informative and influential report

2. Report writing
• A report is an objectives and factual presentation of information in
order to achieve some purpose. It is a basic management tool used in
decision-making
• According to Ramond V. A. Lesikar “A business report is an orderly,
objective communication of factual information that serves some
business purpose"
So we can say that, a business report is an organized statement,
which describes neutral statement, and independent or definite
inquiry for the purpose of the interested persons.

3. Determining the report purpose
• Begins with a business need/ problem
• To get the problem right is rather important and essential for
following steps
• Primary investigation
• You should begin by gathering all information you need to understand the problem
• Main purpose is to make the purpose clear
• Need for a clear statement of the problem
• Once find the problem express it clearly
• When the problem is written it can be reviewed approved or evaluated by other persons
• Putting it in writing will help you focus on it

4. Determining the factors
• Use of subtopics in information reports
• Purpose statements: to review operations of company x from January
1 through march31
• Subtopics
• Production
• Sales and promotion
• Financial status
• Computer systems
• Product development
• HR

5. • hypothesis for problems requiring solution
• Predetermined statement that likely and logical to happen
• Purpose statement: to find out why sales at the Springfield store have
declined
• Hypotheses
• Activities of the completion have cause the decline
• Changes in the economy of the area have caused the decline
• Changes in the economy of the area have caused the decline
• Merchandising deficiencies have caused the decline
• Changes in the environment have caused the decline

6. • Bases of comparison in evaluation studies
• Determine the Characteristics and criteria used in evaluation
• Purpose statement: whether the new location of company ‘only boy’
should be built in city A, city B or city C
• Base for comparison
• Availability of skilled workers
• Tax structure
• Community attitude
• Transportation facilities
• Nearness to market
• Each of the above factors may have factors of its own- transportation/ worker

7. • Gathering the information needed
• For many business problems you need to conduct the investigation of your
own
• For some other you can get data gathered earlier
• Sales problem may require collecting data from the customers and sales
personnel
• Production related information can be find from production records
• Some business problem require formal research like survey, experiment, focus
group discussion (FGD) etc.

8. General guideline for conducting a research
• Gather more information than you will use
• Your purpose is to solve the problem not to show that you spend some time on it
• Keep researching until you feel that you find the solution
• Be resource full
• Build knowledge regarding different approaches and philosophies of research
• Check the information in different places to make sure that you have the right information
• Keep accurate notes
• To make the research accurate keep the log of your research activities and developments
• If you are search on internet jot down the key word you have already used least you should
repeat them

9. • Interpreting the findings
• Explain the common error in interpreting data and develop attitudes and
practices conducting conducive to good interpreting
• Interpreting facts requires not only analytical skills and objective judgement
but consideration for ethical issues as well

10. Advice for avoiding human error
• Report the facts as they are
• Do not think that conclusions are always necessary
• Do not interpret a lack of evidence as proof to the contrary
• Do not compare noncomparable data
• Do not draw illogical cause-effect conclusions
• Beware of unreliable and unrepresentative data
• Do not oversimplify
• Tailor your claims to your data

11. Appropriate attitudes and practices
• Maintain a judicial attitude
• Look at each and every side of an issue without emotion and prejudice
• Your primary objective is to make the most reliable interpretations of the
situations
• Consult with others
• Try to proof read the interpretation by another one to have new idea
• Test your interpretation
• Test of experience- aske your self that does this appear reasonable in light of
all I know or have experienced?
• Negative test- critique your own conclution

12. Statistical tools for data analysis
• Descriptive statistics
• Central tendency
• Dispersion
• Ration
• Inferential statistics
• Generalize a whole population based on some sample

13. Organize the report information
• Nature and benefit of outline
• Conventional system
• Decimal system
• Organization by division
• Look over the information to get major parts
• Subdivide the parts when necessary
• Division by conventional relationship
• Find a way that will approximately produce equal parts
• Time, place, quantity, factors are the general base for this division
• Combination and multiple division possibilities
• Two or more bases are used together
• Periods of low sales
• Periods of moderate sales
• Periods of high sales

14. • From outline to table of content
• Turn the outline into table of content
• Words should be logical and meaningful
• Formatting decisions
• Topic or talking headings
• Topic headings mention the subject only- authorization
• Talking heading mention the subject matter to be covered- authorization by board action
• Parallelism of construction
• Avoiding the use of sentence and phrase
• Concise wording
• Personal appearance enhancement is the most desirable feature of contact lenses that
wearers report
• Most desirable feature: personal appearance
• Variety of expression
• Oil production in Texas, California, Louisiana
• Texas leads in oil production
• California holds the runner-up position

15. • Writing the report
• Report should be focused, objective, consistent in time viewpoint, smoothly connected and
interesting
• While drafting the first priority is to get the right thing said in the right order
• Beginning and ending
• Beginning should be regarding the subject, what kind of data it is based on and its likely
significance to the reader
• Ending should have concise statement of report’s main pay offs- facts, interpretation,
recommendation
• Being objective
• Objective as a base of believability
• Question of impersonal vs personal writing

16. • Being consistent with time
• Including transitions
• Sentence transition- structure of the sentences
• Transitional words- in addition, besides etc.
• Maintaining interest
• Collaborative report writing
• Determining the group makeup
• Creating the ground roles
• Choosing the means of collaboration
• Making a project plan

17. Researching and writing report
1. Determine the problem and purposes
2. Identify the factors
3. Gather the needed information
4. Interpret the information
5. Organize the material
6. Plan the components and style
7. Assign parts to be written
8. Write parts assigned
9. Revise collaboratively
10. Edit the final draft