Business Reports – Flashcards
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Academic Affairs Department
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Student Affairs Department
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proposal, business plan informational, analytical accident report, cash report memo, letter progress report, final report informal or formal short or long
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Content: Function: Printed form Format Time Formality Length
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at least 2 purposes Provide information (informational) -- Situation reports, compliance reports Analyze collected data and supply conclusion (analytical) --- Project feasibility reports
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What's the Purpose of Business Reports?
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neat, be accurate, and base your claims or conclusions on facts
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all business writing should look ....
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Different firms require employees to write reports in different ways
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Different formats
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Use headings and maybe subheadings -- Divide the report into easy to read and understandable sections Use topic sentences -- The first sentence of the paragraph should clearly display what the paragraph is about Transitions -- Moreover, in addition, besides, Therefore, because, consequently,
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Format
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Preprinted These are forms that you fill out, not really letters Letter Usually for external readers (people who aren't employees) Memo Internal readers Manuscript Very long and detailed formal reports, can be several pages long or several hundred pages long
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Different Letter Formats
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Defining the problem, the purpose of the report Conducting research for the report Analyze data collected for the report Draw conclusions and make recommendations based on what you've found
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Prior to Writing Business Reports
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What caused you to write the report? For example, you are tasked with writing a report that will show how to reduce expenses
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Defining Problems & Purposes
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Primary sources -- Information that you've collected yourself specifically for your report Secondary sources -- Information that you've collected from previous reports for other reports
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Conducting Research
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Examining documents, making observations, conducting surveys, carrying out experiments
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Ways to collect information
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*Analyze your data to interpret your findings *View your data from different angles *Goal is to understand the problem *Start thinking about ways to deal with the problem
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Analyze Data
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First make a conclusion -- Your conclusion should answer your original problem stated in the introduction -- Must be logical and fact-based -- An interpretation of what the facts mean Based on your conclusion, make recommendations -- Suggest ways to solve the problem
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Making Recommendations
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Use of formal language Special components
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What makes Formal Report different from informal?
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Prefatory?? Parts Text Supplementary Parts
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Special components include?
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Composed of: Cover page Title fly and title page Letter of authorization Letter of acceptance Letter of transmittal Executive summary Table of contents List of illustrations
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Prefatory Part
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Attractive cover with the company's information
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Cover
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Title fly just has the title of the report Title page should have: 1 The title of the report 2 The details of the person/organization that it's being prepared for 3 The details of the person/organization that prepared it 4 Date that the report is submitted
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Title fly and title page
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Summarizes the highlights of the report May contain headings for reading ease Allows managers to make a quick decision without reading the entire report Basically a 1-page summary of the entire report Example on Page 90
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Executive summary
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Self explanatory, see example on Page 91
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Table of contents
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Only used if you have a lot of tables and figures to show in your report If you don't have a substantial amount of tables, diagrams, etc., don't use this
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List of illustrations
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Introduction, body, conclusion with recommendation (with more details)
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Text contains 3 major parts, they are?
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Problem & purpose: why you're writing the report Scope: what the report will cover Background: what caused you to write the report Sources & materials: where you got your sources from, research methods Limitations: are there any for your report? Report organization: how your report is organized
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Text: Introduction
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Present your findings Analyze your findings Steer your arguments in a direction that will support your conclusion and recommendation
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Text: Body
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Conclusion ==Discuss what your findings mean ==You should answer the question(s) or the reason(s) that caused you to write the report Recommendation ==Give suggestions on how to prevent future problems or improve current events
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Text: Conclusion & Recommendation
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==An appendix (if very long) ==An index (if very long) ==Bibliography Should always list this Shows your sources: books, magazines, people, websites
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Text: Supplementary Parts
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What are the functions of business reports?
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How do we write effective business reports?
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What are the common business report formats?
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What are the components of a formal report?
