REPORT WRITING

A business report should be ...

ACCURATE

CONCISECLEAR

OBJECTIVE

A report should be ...ACCURATE true facts, precise wording, supporting data, reference to

sourcesCONCISE all the important ideas in as few words as possible avoid repetitions (KISS)CLEAR easy to read clear organisation of the text: sections, subsections,

headings, subheadings, paragraphing, numbering…. not too long sentencesOBJECTIVE content: include all the relevant information (do not be

biased) impersonal style (e.g. absence of emotional words, use of

passive?,...)

PROPOSED STRUCTUREOF A SHORT REPORT

TITLE

INTRODUCTION (TERMS OF REFERENCE)

PROCEDURE (or METHOD)

FINDINGS

CONCLUSIONS

RECOMMENDATIONS (if required)

PROPOSED STRUCTUREOF A SHORT REPORT

TITLE

INTRODUCTION (TERMS OF REFERENCE)What? Purpose? Upon whose request? Deadline?

PROCEDURE (or METHOD)How were the data collected and processed?

FINDINGS Data?

CONCLUSIONSWhat do the data show (interpretation)?

RECOMMENDATIONS (if required)What can be recommended based on the data?

Which sections of the report do the following belong to? 1. The purpose of this report is to ...2. The report was requested by Mr Jasons, Sales Manager.3. It was concluded that ...4. The recommendations are that ... should be ...5. This report has been written because ....6. The objectives of this report are to ....7. The main findings were that ...8. It was to be submitted to the Sales Manager by 02

November 2006.9. This report examines (presents) .... . 10. 200 respondents, chosen by the random sample method,

were surveyed. Of these, 167 were invited for interview.11. The findings indicated that...12. Report on the Croatian National Bank’s Monetary Policy13. The major finding of the investigation was that ...14. I recommend that ... should be ...15. This report was requested on 14 October 2006.

Rewrite the following sentences to improve objectivity and to incorporate a more appropriate style (e.g. impersonal).

The enormous increase of 32 percent proves the sales department has done a superb job.

The proposed procedure is bad because it would require 15% more employees.

The enormous increase of 33 percent was a result of the amazing growth in city population of 10,000 during the past year.

The horrible effect on employees from the change in parking regulations will be one of creating massive traffic problems.

You can hardly imagine the effect of incentive pay on employee morale.

I feel certain that the new plan is better than the old method.

Most of us agree that a monthly status meeting will be helpful.

Blue words out, red sentences in

The enormous increase of 32 percent proves the sales department has done a superb job. The sales department has increased sales by 32 percent during the past quarter.

The proposed procedure is bad because it would require 15% more employees. The proposed procedure would require 15 percent more employee time.

The enormous increase of 33 percent was a result of the amazing growth in city population of 10,000 during the past year. The city population increase of 10,000 during the past year represents a 33 percent growth rate

The horrible effect on employees from the change in parking regulations will be one of creating massive traffic problems. The change in parking regulations will create additional traffic congestion.

You can hardly imagine the effect of incentive pay on employee morale. Incentive pay improved employee morale in the following ways:...

I feel certain that the new plan is better than the old method. The new plan is more effective than the old method for the following reasons:...

Most of us agree that a monthly status meeting will be helpful. In the quarterly staff meeting 15 out of 18 members of staff supported having a monthly meeting.

PROPOSED STRUCTUREOF A LONG REPORT

TITLE CONTENTS PAGE SUMMARY (EXECUTIVE SUMMARY, ABSTRACT) INTRODUCTION (TERMS OF REFERENCE) PROCEDURE (or METHOD) FINDINGS CONCLUSIONS RECOMMENDATIONS (if required) REFERENCES (SOURCES) - special section APPENDIX (APPENDICES)

LONGER REPORTS AS A COURSE REQUIREMENT

based on small research follows a presentation? rules for summary writing applicable sample of students’ assessed reports

(teacher’s office) if necessary, consultations during the

writing process (topic, data collection, structure, ...)

LONGER REPORTS AS A COURSE REQUIREMENT

Technicalities referencing (in-text and end-of-text) footnotes if necessary paragraphing Times New Roman, 12, spacing: 1.5

Typical mistakes spelling and grammar (spellchecker) abstract (summary) vs. introduction unclear structure in the abstract lack of objectivity (advertising or report?, writer

emotionally attached → biased) insufficiently researched:e.g. out-of-date facts and

figures referencing: unclear sources (in the text and in the

references/bibliography) unreliable sources (Wiki?) plagiarism

PLAGIARISM

“Passing off someone else’s work, whether intentionally or unintentionally, as your own for your own benefit” (cited by Carroll, 2002, p.9)

Source: http://www.murdoch. edu.au/teach/plagiarism (accessed 28 Sept, 2009)

REFERENCINGReferences defined as

“a set of data describing a document or part of a document, sufficiently precise and detailed to identify it and enable it to be located.” (British Standards Institute, 1990, p.3)

Source: Study Skills, University of Southampton, 2003 http://www.studyskills.soton.ac.uk/develop.htm

When should you use references?

When quoting directly from someone else’s work.

When paraphrasing the work of another author

When using something as background reading, but where it still has influenced over your thinking towards your piece of work ...

(*In your future research: When referring to previously published

work of your own.)

TIPS

“Plagiarism often begins unwittingly at the note-making stage”*

Distinguish in your notes between direct quotes and own paraphrases.

Three or more authors – cite the first author and use ‘et al.’ in place of the others.

*Source: Study Skills, University of Southampton, 2003, http://www.studyskills.soton.ac.uk/develop.htm

What information to include in references?

Author’s surname and initials Title, with any sub-titles Year of publication Edition if other than the first Publisher:location and name journals: name, volume number, part

number, pages (e.g. p.5, pp.45-60) Web or e-mail address, date of access

Read the handout on referencing and do the following ex.:

You are using a book called ‘Developing essential study skills’, published in 2000 and written by Elaine Payne. It was published by Pearson Education Limited, who are based in Harlow and it is a first edition.

You have an article from the journal ‘Sociology’. It is written by Claire Wallace and is entitled ‘Household strategies: their conceptual relevance and analytical scope in social research’. It is to be found in volume 36, number 2 and pages 275 - 292. The date of the publication is May 2002.

PAYNE, E. (2000) Developing essential study skills Harlow: Pearson Education Limited

WALLACE, C. (2002) Household strategies:their conceptual relevance and analytical scope in social research. Sociology, vol. 36, 2, pp. 275-292

Or in a different way...

C, Wallace Household strategies: their conceptual relevance and analytical scope in social research, Article, 2002, Sociology, 36, 2, pp279 - 292, ISSN/ISBN: 0038-0385, DOI: 10.1177/0038038502036002003

Acronyms used

Pages (pp.) Digital Object Identifier (DOI) International Standard Serial Number

(ISSN) International Standard Book Number

(ISBN)

Home assignment

Write a short report on the following topic:

Doing Business in Croatia:  2010 vs 2011