Report writing

What is a Business Report

A business report is any factual objective document that serves a business purpose

Business reports help companies to make decisions and solve business problems

Informational Reports

• Informational reports present data and facts without analyses or recommendations

Eg reports on• Monitoring and controlling operations• Statements of policies and procedures• Compliance reports• Progress reports

Reports for monitoring and controlling operations

• Helps managers to find out what is happening in the operations under their control.

• Eg. Plans, operating reports, Personal activity report

Informational reports

Reports for implementing policies and procedures

Managers are unable to talk to everyone firsthand. Therefore reports are available to be read and re-read by any one who has a question.

Some policy reports are preserved as• lasting guidelines • One time position papers

Info report (contd.)

• Reports for complying with government policies

• Eg income tax returns• Annual share holder reports

Analytical Reports

• Analytical reports analyses the data and gives recommendations on the bases of which informed decisions are made

• An analytical reports ends by presenting a solution to a problem or by recommending a number of actions.

• Eg. Of analytical reports• Problem solving, proposals

Report Writing

There are five basic steps to follow while writing any kind of report

•Define the problem and the purpose•Gather necessary information•Interpret and analyze the information•Organize the information•Write the report

Define the problem and the purpose

• The purpose may be to determine, to decide, to develop, or to recommend

• Ask yourself the following questions• Why am I writing this report• What is the problem• What needs to be solved or answered in the report• What goal, function or objective you need to achieve

eg students smoking

How to write a report problem and purpose

• Problem: The possibility of setting up Bahria University campus at Lahore

• Purpose:The purpose of this study is to recommend if it is feasible to open a new campus at Lahore

Problem & purpose

Problem: • Skilled women workers

leaving their jobs after marriage due to child care

Problem:Low productivity of office

workers

Purpose• To determine whether the

company should open on-site day care center

Purpose:To investigate the causes of

low productivity and recommend ways of improving it

Problem & purpose

Problem:• Our current computer

network system is inefficient and cannot be upgraded to meet our future needs

Purpose:• To analyze various

computer network systems and to recommend the system that will best meet our company’s current and future needs

Gathering information

Information can be gathered by two ways• Secondary Sources: derived from books,

magazine, CD , internet etc

Ask the following questions to check the appropriateness of available data

• Does the information relate to the problem• Is the information up-to-date• Is the source reliable and un-biased

Gathering information (contd.)

• Primary Sources: Company records, such as memos, letters, financial records, production reports

• Observation, the researcher can observe the facts himself or use mechanical devices

Gathering information

• Experiments, gathering information through systematic investigation of two groups, experimental group and control group

• Survey, pay special attention to the structure of the question and the procedure to fill out the questions

Gathering Information1. Find out how many students took admission in

BBA12. How many students took admission in MBA3. What are the various MBA programs being

conducted by Bahria University4. Find out the ratio of girls and boys at Bahria

University5. How many faculty members are working at

Psychology Dept Give their names and qualification6. How many people are working at Bahria University

as Peons, who is their supervisor

Rules

• Two groups will have the same topic. Each competing with each other

• The group that submits the report first will get 5 marks extra if the report is correct

• The last date of submission is 5th October• Not more than 6 in each group, but not less

than three in each group.• The report should be in MS word document

Writing method

• Title of the report• Methods of gathering information• Report Text what information did you gather • Analyze the Data

Interpret and analyze data

The three steps of interpreting data1. Interpreting findings by non-statistical

evaluation and statistical evaluations2. After interpreting Draw Conclusions, ensure

that the reader understands how these conclusions were derived by presenting adequate evidence

3. After drawing conclusions develop recommendations

Organizing the Report

The data is organized according to the following report section

• Introduction, which includes problem and purpose statements, scope, research methodology

• Findings• Conclusion • Recommendations

Report Writing Approach

• Indirect Approach: introduction, research findings, conclusions and recommendation

• Direct approach: recommendations and conclusions, introduction, facts, analysis

TYPES Of REPORT

• Two main Types:

• Informal• Formal

Informal

MEMOREPORT

LETTER REPORT

SURVAYREPORT

TYPES CONTD

• FORMAL REPORT:

• More than 10 pages• Written in a formal format

Parts of a formal report• Cover• Title page• Letter of transmittal• Acknowledgement• Table of contents• Executive summary• Introduction• Report body• Appendix • bibliography

Classification of business reports

• Voluntary or authorized• Routine or periodic• Internal or external• Short or long• Informational or analytical