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BUSINESS REPORTS

grammar


BUSINESS REPORTS

I. What is Report Writing?



The purpose of a report is to inform someone about a particular subject. Reports are made up of facts and arguments on a specific subject. Reports allow information to be presented in an ordered way.

How reports are different form essays?

There are two major differences between writing a report and writing an essay.

Every essay argues a case that is unique. The effect they create can be anything from thrilling to enraging. Essays are as various as the people that write them.

Good essays persuade, or at least engage one's full attention and respect, whereas bad essays do none of those things and cause irritation or dep 414h71e ression. That means that amongst all else essays need to be well-informes and illuminating. Nevertheless, every essay is ultimately a personal testament.

The decisive difference between an essay and a report consists in priorities, of which the most pressing is that the chief purpose of nay report is to inform.

All essayists' primary duty is to themselves. They seek to entertain, stimulate and persuade.

The paramount aim of report writers is to inform and satisfy their readers. That is, the matter of audience and readership is crucial. Many essays are written with no real knowledge of who the reader(s) will be. In sharp contrast, the majority of reports are written for a defined and known audience - which means that there is a psychology of writing a report.

Reports present findings and make recommendations rather than a critique of a subject.

I. 1.Where and how to start

1a - Audience - You should know for whom you are writing and why

Are you writing for experts, for intelligent non-specialists, or beginners?

If you have the chance to find out when and where your report will be read and/or discussed, do so.

1b - Core material - You should know what information you are going to use and present.

You will need to do some preliminary thinking about what is essential, what is secondary and what is marginal. Your main goal is to achieve clarity of presentation and argument.

1c - Starting point - It is probably best to start with your new information (Richard Palmer): to start with new information gives your report immediate impact and personality.

I. 2. Make an overall plan

Non- planners waste more time than they save, through mental blockages and sudden crises of sequencing and structure.

A decent plan accomplishes two things:

- it dramatizes your decision about the ordering of the main sections and the individual points within them

- doing it refreshes your memory about all the details you are going to be concerned with.

I. 3. Make - and discuss - a synopsis

Invariably a report is a public document whose readership is going to be plural; it therefore makes sense to furnish and talk over your projected ideas with others. Ask some colleagues or friends to look over and comment on it. You must encourage absolute honesty in them.

One of the most subtle traps in writing is to confuse what you think you have said with what you actually ended up saying.

I. 4. Draft the text

You cannot write well unless you are clear about what you think and what you want to say. Don't forget:

Don't be too perfectionist too early!

Get as much down as you can, as fluently as you can. Once that is in place, the stylistic improvements and precise adjustments will follow much more easily.

I. 4.a Do you really need technical jargon? Will plain English do?

I. 4.b Try to avoid chattiness and trendiness. Do not use slang and conversational idioms.

I. 4.c Be especially diligent about accuracy and pleasing lay-out. Good reports are always dignified, and errors in spelling and presentations seriously undermine dignity. Arrange your sections, sub-sections and paragraphs with the reader's flow and convenience chiefly in mind.

I. 4.d There is no need to be wooden or anonymous. Like a successful essay or article, a good report will be a subtle blend of the soundly impersonal and the stimulatingly personal. It must be clear and logical, professional in its knowledge and dignified in its deployment of material; on the other hand it needs a discernable voice, some kind of individuality.

I. 5. Walk away

Reading the report some time after having finished it will ensure your reading it as another person, not the absorbed creator of the day before.

I. 6. The final edit

It implies following these stages:

. Look for errors; doubtful spelling; sloppy, imprecise or irritating punctuation (including its absence); facts and names that need checking.

. Read the report as critically as possible.

. Peruse it again, with two governing questions in mind:

Is the style accurate, readable and consistent?

Is the report structured to your liking?

I. 7. Compile a single-sheet summary of your major points and affix it to the front

This is   good public relations: it eases the reader into the task, providing a clear and welcome map for what may be a very substantial journey.

Conclusion

Writing reports need not be drudgery. Within the limits outlined, stay natural as well as properly alert .

Types of reports

There are three types of reports- extended formal reports, short formal reports and informal reports.

1. Extended Formal Reports

Companies and governments use extended formal reports when reports are going to be seen by the public.

The structure of an Extended Formal Report is as follows:

 Title Page

 Contents

 Synopsis

 Terms of reference

 Procedure

 Detailed findings

 Conclusions

 Recommendations

 Appendices

 Bibliography

2. Short Formal Report

A Short Formal Report is for internal use in companies.

2.1. The structure of a Short Formal Report is as follows:

 Standard headings (stating: who the report is for, who it is from; what subject it covers; the date)

 Introduction (This is where you give details to the reader of the report about what you intend to cover. The introduction is a good time to include the statement of aims and objectives; this is when you say what you are planning to do and how you are going to do it).

 Procedure (This is where you explain how the information was gathered. You also need to say exactly where you got your information from, and how you got the information. This is where you would also include your methodology, if relevant).

 Findings (This section of the report should contain the information that you found out as a result of your procedure. You will need to include the facts and figures that have been collected during your report. You can use tables, graphs and charts. If you do, you must remember to describe them e.g. Chart 8 or Appendix 3 shows that 28% of offices do not meet safety requirements).

 Conclusions (The conclusion is made up of the main findings. This is where you show what you think of the information you have found. Make sure that you clearly show how you came to your conclusions, and that they are based on your findings. Everything in this section is based on the findings and you should not introduce new points at this time).

 Recommendations (This is where you must say how the problem can be solved. This must be based on the findings of the report. You can have short-term and long-term recommendations; you need to be aware of the implication of your recommendations: financial etc).

 Appendices (An appendix is the additional information you refer to in the report and wish to conclude as evidence or demonstration of the full findings. Graphs, tables etc, should be within the findings section if they need to be looked at whilst reading the report. The appendices should only include information that may possibly be referred to out of interest or is needed as evidence).

2.2. In business you can write short reports to:

describe something that has happened → Incident Report

describe how someone was hurt or something was damaged → Accident Report

describe how many goods or services were sold, and the reasons for any differences from the plan → Sales Report

describe how close you are to completing something you planned →Progress Report

relate on how practical a proposal is → Feasibility Study/Report

to give recommnedations on what your organisation should do → Proposal/Recommendation Report

to relate on how or why something has changed over time → Case Study

Bibliography

Palmer R., 2001, Write in Style, Routledge Study Guide

II. Writing Practice

II. 1. Read the following reports and establish what type of reports they are? What is the objective of each of them?

Sample Report (A)

Sample report (B)

Sample report 3

II.2. Use the following report writing assessment grid to evaluate the reports above.

Writing Test Assessment Grid - Report Writing

Does the writer express his/her ideas clearly?

Are the writer's main points adequately supported?

Does the writer respect format and layout (headings, paragraphs, bullets, etc.)?

Is the piece of writing free of redundancy and repetition?

Are the sentences of an appropriate length?

Are linking words used clearly and naturally?

Is there an appropriate range of vocabulary, grammar and functional language?

Does the writer manage discourse adequately?

Does the writer use appropriate spelling?

Is the formality and tone employed relevant?

Does the report have the appropriate length ?

II.3. Writing Tasks

Situation: Your manager wants to introduce new practices into your company. He has asked you to write a report which includes details of two marketing practices from another company which you would suggest adopting in your own company.

Task: Write a 200-250 word report for your manager, including the following information:

what is special about the other company

which two of its practices you would adopt

why your company would benefit from them.

Situation Your company has decided to conduct an investigation into the possibility of increasing the number of ways in which all the staff of the bank could benefit from English language training courses.

Task Write a proposal concerning the training course. Include the following:

a brief outline of the current level of language competence throughout the company

a description of what benefits the bank could achieve

recommendations for the kind of training and planning that would be necessary.

Situations: The table below illustrates the Romanian -US Trade Balance between 2000 and 2004.

Task: Using the information in the table draw the adequate bar char. Then, write a short report of about 100-150 words, summarizing the changes that took place.

Romania - US Bilateral Trade Balance,

- '000 US dollars -

Export (FOB)

Import (CIF)

Trade Balance (FOB/CIF)

Source: National Customs Authority of Romania

II. 3.1. Report writing tips

While writing the report you should pay attention to:

all the points mentioned in the rubric

who the reader is and what information is needed

the planning of your writing in what concerns: purpose, content and order of paragraphs, main points and supporting ideas in each paragraph

typical written functional phrases

register discrimination

appropriate style (factual and objective)

proper vocabulary and structure (no slang)

correct spelling

discourse management and readability

report lay out (headings, paragraphs, bullet points).

II.3.2. Standard Report Writing Phrases

Introduction

This report examines .

This report aims/sets out to .

The objective/aim/purpose of this report is to .

The report is based on .

This report was requested by .

Findings

It was found that .

The major point of the meeting was that .

In general, the findings indicated that .

In addition, .

Due to differences highlighted above, it was decided to investigate .

The following points summarise our key findings.

The key findings are outlined below.

Conclusion (s)

The main conclusion that can be drawn is therefore that...

It was decided/agreed/felt that .

No conclusions were reached regarding .

Recommendations

In the light of these conclusions, I recommend that .

It is suggested/recommended/proposed that .

We (strongly) recommend that .

It is essential to .

It would be advisable to .

Signalling

The following areas of concern have been highlighted.

There are a number of reasons for .

There are several factors which affect .

A further factor is .

This raises a number of issues.

As might have been expected, .

Contrary to expectations, .

II.3.3. Useful vocabulary for describing trends

To go up

To go down

Noun

Verbs

Noun

Verbs

an increase

to increase

a decrease

to decrease

a rise

to rise

a fall

to fall

a growth

to grow

a drop

to drop

an improvement

to improvement

a decline

to decline

an upturn

a downturn

to go down

a surge

to surge

a plunge

to plunge

an upsurge

a slump

to plummet

a jump

to jump

a crash

to slump

a leap

to leap

a tumble

to crash

to take off

a downward trend

to slip

to shoot up

to sink

to soar

to tumble

to rocket

Change of direction

No change of direction

to peak

to remain stable

to reach a peak

to level off

to top up

to stay at the same level

to reach a low point

to remain constant

to bottom out

to stagnate

to recover

to stabilize

to rebound

to revive

To describe the degree of change

Adjectives

rise or fall

to rise or fall

Adverbs

a dramatic

dramatically

a considerable

considerably

a sharp

sharply

a significant

significantly

a substantial

substantially

a moderate

moderately

a slight

slightly

To describe the speed of change

Adjectives

rise or fall

to rise or fall

Adverbs

an abrupt

abruptly

a sudden

suddenly

a rapid

rapidly

a quick

quickly

a steady

steadily

a gradual

gradually

a slow

slowly

Prepositions

to rise from . to

to increase by 100%

a decrease of 50%

to fall from .to

to fall by 50%

Similarity

Difference

Both share prices rose sharply in .

X fell sharply whereas/while Y remained steady

Neither company has made a profit

X fell quickly compared to Y

Like X, Y fell in June

Unlike X, Y rose by 10%

X rose just as sharply as Y

X rose far more dramatically than Y

UNIT 5

Memos or Informal Reports

I. What is the purpose of memos?

Memos solve problems either by giving the reader new information, like policy changes, price increases, etc., or by persuading the reader to take an action, such as attend a meeting, use less paper, or change a current production procedure. Regardless of the specific goal, memos are most effective when they connect the purpose of the writer with the interests and needs of the reader.

Memos or informal reports are used for internal use, particularly within departments and for dealing with routine issues. They are useful in situations where e-mails or text messages are not suitable. For example, if you are sending an object, such as a book or a paper that needs to be signed, through internal office mail, you can use a memo as a covering note to explain what the receiver should do.

They do not need to be signed, but sometimes have the sender's name at the bottom to be more friendly, or the sender's full name to be more formal.

II. The structure of a memo

Memos should have the following sections and content:

  • A To section containing the name of the receiver. For informal memos, the receiver's given name; e.g. 'To: Andy' is enough. For more formal memos, use the receiver's full name and position e.g. "Rita Maxwell, President". If the receiver is in another department, use the full name and the department name.  It is usually not necessary to use Mr., Mrs., Miss or Ms unless the memo is very formal.
  • A From section containing the name of the sender. For informal memos, the sender's other name; e.g. 'From: Bill' is enough. For more formal memos, use the sender's full name. If the receiver is in another department, use the full name and the department name. It is usually not necessary to use Mr., Mrs., Miss or Ms unless the memo is very formal.
  • A Date section. To avoid confusion between the British and American date systems, write the month as a word or an abbreviation; e.g. 'January' or 'Jan'.

A Subject Heading. Troubleshooting hints:

  • Be specific and concise in your subject line. For example, "Rats" as a subject line could mean anything from a production problem to a personal frustration. Instead use something like, "Curtailing Rat Extremity Parts in our Product."
  • The Message.
    Unless the memo is a brief note, a well-organised memo message should contain the following sections:

a.          Situation - an Introduction or the purpose of the memo

b.         Problem (optional) - for example: "Since the move to the new office in Kowloon Bay, staff have difficulty in finding a nearby place to buy lunch."

c.          Solution (optional) - for example: "Providing a microwave oven in the pantry would enable staff to bring in their own lunchboxes and reheat their food."

d.      Action - this may be the same as the solution, or be the part of the solution that the receiver needs to carry out; e.g. "we would appreciate it if you could authorise up to $3,000"

e.       Politeness - to avoid the receiver refusing to take the action you want, it is important to end with a polite expression; e.g. "Once again, thank you for your support.", or more informally "Thanks".

Include only as much information as is needed in the context, but be convincing that a real problem exists. Do no ramble on with insignificant details.

For easy reading, put important points or details into lists rather than paragraphs when possible. Be careful to make lists parallel in grammatical form.

Example memos:

To Health & Safety Committee

From Joe Chan, Chairperson, H&S Ctte

Date 13 Apr '06 

Subject Room change for next meeting

The meeting on Saturday, 13 May has been changed to Room 101.

https://elc.polyu.edu.hk/CiLL/eiw/memos.htm

 


MEMO

MEMO

To:

Katherine Chu, Regional Manager

From:

Stephen Yu, Sales

Date:

28 March 2006

Subject:

Notification of My Resignation

I am writing to inform you of my intention to resign from G & S Holdings.

I have appreciated very much my four years working for the company. The training has been excellent and I have gained valuable experience working within an efficient and professional team environment. In particular, I have appreciated your personal guidance during these first years of my career.

I feel now that it is time to further develop my knowledge and skills base in a different environment.

I would like to leave, if possible, in a month's time on Saturday, 29 April. This will allow me to complete my current workload. I hope that this suggested arrangement is acceptable to the company.

Once again, thank you for your support.

https://elc.polyu.edu.hk/cill/eiw/memos.htm

 

CONTACT COMPUTER GRAPHICS
MEMORANDUM

 

To:
From:
Date:
Subject: 

S M Chan, General Manager
Samantha Ng, Office Manager
13 April 2006
Purchase of a Microwave Oven

1. Introduction
At the monthly staff meeting on Monday, 10 April 2006, you requested information about the possible purchase of a microwave oven. I would now like to present these details.

2. Background
Since the move to the new office in Kowloon Bay, staff have difficulty in finding a nearby place to buy lunch.

3. Advantages
Providing a microwave oven in the pantry would enable staff to bring in their own lunchboxes and reheat their food. Also, staff members are less likely to return to work late after lunch.

4. Staff Opinion
A survey found that staff would like to use the microwave oven.

5. Cost
Details of suitable models are given below:

Brand

Model

Price

Philip

Sharpe

Sonny

M903

R-3R29

6145 X

6. Request
If this meets with your approval, we would appreciate it if you could authorise up to $3,000 for the purchase of the microwave oven.

Samantha Ng

 

IV. Writing Tasks

Situation: For some time now your clients have been complaining about the bad communication skills of your accountants. As a result of this situation you have decided to put them on a training course.

Task: Write a 100-150 word memo in which you:

announce them about the course

give them some details about the course

ask them to inform you when they prefer to attend the course

A.     Use the report writing tips in the Report writing section.

B.      Use the Report Writing Test Assessment Grid in the Report writing section.


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