Basics Of Report Writing

 Defining Reports
 Determining the Purpose
 Determining the Factors
 Gathering the Information Needed
 Interpreting the Findings
Report Writing
• Reports are vital to organizations
• You look into the question of excessive time spent by office workers
web surfing
• The cause of unrest in one of the local branches
• You write report on each of your investigations
• The nature of the business also determines how many and what kinds
of reports are needed
Defining Reports
A business report is an ORDERLY and OBJECTIVE
COMMUNICATION of FACTUAL INFORMATION
that serves a business report.
Prepared carefully
Unbiased approach/No likes or dislikes
Speaking , writing, drawing
Information based on events, records, data
Determining The Report Purpose
Work on a report begins with a business need-problem
Your first task is to get the problem clearly in mind
The preliminary investigation: to do this, you should begin by gathering
all the information you need to understand the problem
Then you should express the problem clearly, preferably in
writing(forces you to think it thoroughly)
The problem statement normally takes one of three forms
Infinitive Phrase:
To determine the causes of decreasing sales at Metro
Question:
What are the causes of decreasing sales at Metro?
Declarative statement:
Metro sales are decreasing, and management wants to know why.
One form is not superior to the others
State the problem in several forms. The meaning should be the same
Determining The Factors
After stating the problem, you determine what needs to be done to
solve it
You look for the factors of the problem
Problem factors may be of three types:
1. Subtopics
2. Hypotheses
3. Comparison
Use Subtopics In Information Reports
Subtopics of the overall topic are the factors in information reports
Problem Statement: To review operations of Samsung from January 1
through March 31
Subtopics
Production
Sales and Promotion
Financial status
Computer system
Product development
Human resources
Hypotheses For Problems Requiring Solution
Hypotheses may be the factors in problems requiring solution
Problem statement: Sales at Metro have declined, and management
wants to know why
Hypotheses:
Activities of the competition 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( population shifts, political elections
etc.) have caused the decline
Bases Of Comparison In Evaluation Studies
Problem Statement: To determine whether Metro’s new store should
be built in City A, City B, City C.
Comparison bases:
Availability of Skilled workers
Tax structure
Community attitudes
Transportation facilities
Nearness to the market
Gathering The Information Needed
• The next step is to conduct the research needed. A personal
investigation is usually appropriate.
• A production problem might require gathering and reviewing the
company’s production
• A sales problem- collecting information through discussions with
customers and sales personnel
• Some business problems require a more formal type of research such
as an experiment or a survey
• Library research is also used
• The internet gives you access to many information sources.