The document provides guidance on writing business reports. It discusses defining the problem and purpose, gathering and interpreting relevant information, and organizing the report. The key aspects covered include establishing a problem statement and purpose statement, determining relevant factors to investigate, collecting and analyzing data, and outlining the report structure in a logical manner using headings and subheadings. Proper interpretation of findings and an objective tone are also emphasized.

1. PREPARING INFROMATIVE AND
INFLUENTIAL BUSINESS
REPORTS
CHAPTER 11

2. WRITING REPORTS TO SOLVE WORKPLACE
PROBLEMS
 A report for each investigation of problems at a workplace
 Reports are permanent records
 Convenient and efficient means of transmitting information
 Internal reporting example: sales reports, reports on
technical problems by engineers etc.
 External reporting example: for a consultancy firm, report
writing for a client is a primary deliverable; financial report
by publicly traded companies
 Reports can be written individually or by collaboration with
others
 Frequency of report writing depends on size and nature of
an organization
 For a large and complex organization, report writing is a
key KPI to manage information

3. DEFINING REPORTS
 A business report is an orderly and objective
communication of factual information that serves a
business purpose.
 Orderly – Different from casual exchange of
information
 Objective – unbiased approach
 Factual – based on events, statistics and data
 Business purpose – to solve problems or meet
goals
 Information reports – presents facts only
 Analytical reports – facts, interpretations, and
conclusions (if needed)

4. 7 STEP CLASSICAL APPROACH TO PROBLEM
SOLVING REPORTS
1. Situational analysis
2. Define problem
3. Establish evaluation criteria
4. Generate options
5. Evaluate and choose the best options
6. Action plan
7. Contingency plan

5. PROBLEM STATEMENT AND PURPOSE
STATEMENT
 Problem: Information needed for a business
purpose
 Understand the problem
 Collect information from files and queries
 Problem Statement: Clear description of the
situation that created the need for a report
 E.g., sales are decreasing for company x
 Purpose Statement: Report’s objective, aim or
goal; often written in form of a question
 E.g., what are the causes of decreasing sales at
company x?
 Important note: consider carefully what approach
your report will take to the problem

6. DETERMINING THE FACTORS
 What factors need to be investigate?
 What subject areas you must look into?
 3 common types of factors:
 Use of subtopics in information reports – only
information, no analysis or conclusion
 Hypothesis for problems requiring a solution –
explanations or solutions for a problem (hypothesis) –
analysis
 Bases of comparison in evaluation studies – evaluating
something, either singularly or in comparison with other
things – look for bases for evaluation

7. GATHERING INFORMATION
 Investigation require knowledge of the work field
 May also require formal research, experiment,
survey or focus groups
 General guidelines:
 Gather more information that you will use
 Be resourceful – using judgment to understand where
the best information is available – cross check
 Keep accurate notes

8. INTERPRETING THE FINDINGS
 Report the facts as they are
 Don’t think that conclusions are always necessary
 Don’t interpret a lack of evidence as proof to contrary
 Don’t compare non-comparable data
 Don’t draw illogical cause-effect conclusions
 Some data may be correlated – but they don’t affect each
other
 Beware of unreliable and unrepresentative data
 Data from secondary sources are sometimes unreliable
 Try to find authentic and reliable source of data
 Don’t oversimplify – do justice to a complex problem
 Tailor your claims to your data –
 Don’t generalize too far with few data
 Make claims that are well supported by strong evidence
 If unsure, use ‘maybe’, ‘could be’ and ‘suggest’

9. APPROPRIATE ATTITUDES AND PRACTICES
 Maintain a judicial attitude – play the judge as you interpret
 Consult with others
 Test your interpretations – validate
 Test of experience – does this appear reasonable in the light of
all I know?
 Negative test – be skeptical – consider the opposing viewpoint
 Statistical tools for data analysis
 Report writing prefers numeric interpretations
 Business need accurate numbers in order to succeed
 Numbers must be simplified
 May use descriptive or inferential statistics for data analysis
 Unexplained statistical calculations must be explained explicitly
with words and visuals
 Explain the data carefully

10. ORGANIZING THE REPORT INFORMATION
- Outline is a tool
- It is based on reader’s needs
- Outline by creating division of contents into smaller
and smaller sections –
- This creates structural hierarchy

11. Conventional Outlining System
I. First level heading
A. Second level, first part
B. Second level, second part
1. Third level, first part
2. Third level, second part
a. Fourth level, first part
1) Fifth level, first part
a) Sixth level, first part
II. First level heading
A. Second level, first part
B. Second level, second part

12. Decimal Outlining System
1.0 First level heading
1.1 Second level, first part
1.2 Second level, second part
1.2.1 Third level, first part
1.2.2. Third level, second part
1.2.2.1 Fourth level, first part
1.2.2.1.1 Fifth level, first part
1.2.2.1.1.1 Sixth level, first part
2.0 First level heading
2.1 Second level, first part
2.2 Second level, second part

13. DIVISION BY CONVENTIONAL RELATIONSHIPS
Time division: when information that you have to
present has time aspect
E.g., for a project:
Orientation, May-July
Project Planning, August
Implementation, September-November
These divisions may require additional time based
subdivisions

14. Place Division: If the report you collected has some
relation to Geographic location.
E.g., for a report on sales in different divisions:
Dhaka
Chittagong
Sylhet
Khulna
Rongpur
Mymensingh
Rajshahi
Barisal

15. Quantity Division: If the report you collected has
some quantitative values.
E.g., for a report on buying habits of potential
customers:
Under $30,000
$30,000 to under $45,000
$45,000 to under $60,000
$60,000 to under $75,000
$75,000 to under $90,000
$90,000 to under $100,000
$100,000 and over

16. Division by Factors:
E.g., for a report that seeks to determine which of the
3 locations is the best for a new office for property
management, and to do so a few factors need to be
considered:
Location accessibility
Rent
Parking
Convenience to current and new customers
Facilities
E.g., for a report advising a manufacturer whether to
begin production of a new product – so a few factors
need to be considered:
Production feasibility
Financial considerations
Strengths of competition
Consumer demand
Marketing considerations

17. COMBINATION AND MULTIPLE DIVISION
POSSIBILITIES
Example 1
Areas of high sales activity
Areas of moderate sales activity
Areas of low sales activity
Example 2
Periods of low sales
Periods of moderate sales
Period of high sales

18. Example 3: Best of 3 locations for annual business
report
Site A
Airport facilities
Hotel accommodations
Meeting facilities
Favorable weather
Costs
Restaurant/entertainment options
Site B
Airport facilities
(and so on)
Site C
Airport facilities
(and so on)

19. Example 4: Best of 3 locations for annual business
report
Airport facilities
Site A
Site B
Site C
Hotel accommodations
Site A
Site B
Site C
Meeting facilities
Site A
Site B
Site C
(and so on)

20. FROM OUTLINE TO THE TABLE OF CONTENTS
Formatting Decisions:
 Choose an appropriate format that the reader
expects
 Some readers may prefer decimal systems (as in
1.2.1.1) in their table of contents
 Some may expect outlining systems (roman
numerals, letters, and Arabic numbers) in their table
of contents
 Some prefer neither the decimal nor the outlining
systems cluttering the table of contents
 Table of contents can be of two types:
 Topic headings
 Talking headings

21. Parallelism of Construction:
a. Grammatical form should be maintained in the
table of contents
b. This shows similarity
c. Ensure that headings on each level of each
section are parallel
Concise Wording:
a. Headings should be concise and clear and
informative
b. Don’t make them excessively lengthy
Variety of Expressions:
a. In the wording of headings, use some variety of
expressions
b. Don’t repeat words too frequently

22. Topic Headings: Short constructions; consisting of 1
or 2 words; don’t announce the point of the section;
better for readers who what to see the facts before
being told what to think about them:
Example:
Introduction
Authorization
Purpose
Sources
Preview
Community Attitudes
New Plant
Labor Policy
Labor Factors
Unskilled workers
Skilled workers
Wage rates
Available suppliers
Adequate areas
Inadequate areas

23. Utilities
Water
Natural Gas
Electricity
Waste Disposal
Transportation
Surface
Air
Conclusions
First Choice
Alternative Choice
Other possibilities

24. Talking Headings: identify the subject matter to be covered;
indicates what is said about the subject; better for readers who
are extremely busy and are likely to skim the supporting facts
Example:
Introduction to the problem
Authorization by board action
Selection of the potential sites
Reliance on government data
Factors to be discussed
Community Attitudes Toward a New Plant
Favorable reaction of all towns to a new employer
Mixed attitude of all towns toward our Labor Policies
Labor supply and prevailing wage rates
Prevalence of Unskilled labors in Khulna
Concentration of Skilled workers in Khulna
Mixed pattern of wage rates
Nearness to suppliers
Location of Khulna, Jessore and Bhola in farming areas
Relatively low production near Mongla and Pirojpur

25. Availability of Utilities
Unlimited Water supply for all towns
Inadequate Natural Gas for all towns but Bhola
Electric rate same for all towns
General adequacy of all towns for Waste Disposal
Adequacy of Existing Transportation Systems
Surface transportation advantages of All Towns
Airway connections strong for Khulna and Jessore
A final weighting of the factors
Selection of Khulna as First Choice
Recommendation of Jessore as second choice
Lack of advantages in Pabna, Bagherhat & Bhola