BUSINESS REPORTS

1. BUSINESS REPORTS

2. Business Reports: A business report may be defined as “an orderly and objective presentation of information, that helps in decision making and problem solving.”

3. Business Reports • A report varies in purpose, length, format and complexity. • Inform • Analyze • Persuade • Length, format and complexity • Memo report • Letter report • Manuscript reports

4. Types Of Business Reports • Purpose • Informational • Analytical • persuasive reports • Frequency of preparation • annual, monthly, weekly and hourly reports • Length • short and long reports • Internal / External

5. Types Of Business Reports • Periodic reports • Routine management reports • Compliance reports • Progress reports • Proposals • Policies and Procedures • Situational reports

6. Parts of Report: • Preliminary Parts • Cover page • Frontispiece • Title Page • Letter of Transmittal/ forwarding letter • Preface • Acknowledgements • Table of Contents • List of illustration • The Executive Summary or abstract

7. Body of the Report • Introduction • Problem Statement • Research Methodology • Analysis, Findings • Conclusions • Recommendations

8. Parts of Report • Appendix • Bibliography or References • Glossary • Index

9. A Letter of Transmittal accompanies a business report and may take the form of a simple memo with the following parts: TO:               Dr. Rose Norman FROM:         Heather Cross DATE: June 24, 2008 SUBJECT:    EH 501 Final Report: An Analysis of Training Manuals for Peer Tutors in              Post-secondary Writing Centers [Open with an overview.]Enclosed you will find my final report for EH 501 entitled "An Analysis of Training Manuals for Peer Tutors in Post-Secondary Writing Centers" due December 7, 1999. [Then state your main finding] From interviews with five writing center directors and four consultants, I found that each writing center has its own unique circumstances for training. The manuals from these same writing centers do contain some consistent areas of attention. The manual produced for the University of Alabama in Huntsville Writing Center should reflect these findings. [Then comes the descriptive abstract.]The purpose of this report is to develop recommendations for a new training manual for peer tutors in a post-secondary writing center. Initially the report gives a brief description of the writing center environment, pedagogy, and theory. For the specific application of peer tutor training, the findings from interviews with Dr. Diana Calhoun Bell—director of the UAH Writing Center, directors of other writing centers, and consultants are presented. The report compares information from these practitioner inquiries with the content and form of the sample manuals obtained from three other university writing centers and with the existing UAH manual. The report concludes with recommendations for the UAH Writing Center’s Training Manual. [Then add whatever else you need to say.]After an initial email request to twenty-five writing centers, I was able to collect three peer tutor training manuals and receive answers to interview questions from two other directors. I interviewed four consultants in the UAH Writing Center using an abbreviated form of the questions. Dr. Bell has continued to express interest in this study and its continuation into an actual product. I hope to undertake the writing of the UAH Writing Center Consultant Training Manual as an independent study in the next semester. Enclosure: Final Report (2 Copies)

10. Components in Formal and Informal Reports Bibliography Appendix Recommendations Conclusions Body Introduction Executive summary List of figures Table of contents Letter of transmittal Title page Cover Generally appear in both formal and informal reports: Optional in informal reports:

11. Steps in Report Preparation: • Planning the report • type of report that is required – problem • audience analysis • Selecting a method to solve the problem • Primary/secondary • Gathering and organizing data • Arriving at a conclusion • Writing the report

12. Steps in Report Preparation: • Writing the report • Set a date for completion of the report & get started early • Start with an easy section • Write quickly, with the intention of rewriting • Set aside uninterrupted writing time • Review and rewrite where necessary • State facts in an objective manner • Provide expert opinions • Use documentation – “Footnotes” • Use “concrete” nouns • Avoid pronouns referring to the writer or reader • Use tenses correctly • Use “transition” sentences • Define key terms carefully