Writing a Business

Report at Bond

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STUDENT LEARNING SUPPORT

English · Academic Skills · Maths

Level 4 HSS · learningsupport@bond.edu.au

What is a Business

Report?

In business reports you analyse a situation (either a real situation or a case study) and apply business theories to produce a range of suggestions for improvement.

What should a business report do?

•Examine available and potential solutions to a problem, situation, or issue.

•Apply business and management theory to a practical situation.

•Demonstrate analytical reasoning, and evaluation skills in identifying and assessing possible solutions and outcomes.

•Reach conclusions about a problem or issue.

•Provide recommendations for future action.

•Show concise and clear communication skills.

Business report structure

Assignment questions may specify appropriate sections, otherwise these are typical:

•Executive Summary

•Introduction

•Discussion

Identify the problems, causes, symptoms, solutions (these are usually individual subheadings)

•Recommendations & suggest solutions

•Conclusion

• Appendices

Executive

Summary

The Executive Summary should highlight:

•The purpose of the report

•The scope of the investigation

•The methods used

•The major findings

•The main conclusions

•The major recommendations.

Introduction

•State the purpose or aim of the report

•Provide relevant background details such as an overview of historical developments

•Definitions of terms

•Summarize the problems and recommend solutions

•Clarify any limitations or restrictions (e.g. time, money, access to people )

•Identify any assumptions made about the organization (lack of information)

Discussion

•Support your analysis with reasoning

•Use theoretical ideas, concepts, models

•Draw on evidence from the literature, as well as your own observations from the actual case or organization

•Identify the problems & consider possible solutions

•Provide evidence to back up your conclusions and recommendations

Discussion

Example

• Identify the problem

Lack of leadership at top-level management.

• Identify the cause

Lack of managerial skills & poor support of staff

• Identify the symptoms

The organization is constantly in flux, with no knowledge of where it should be heading.

• Identify possible solutions

Explain advantages and disadvantages of a number of options, and describe short-term & long-term benefits.

Recommendations

•Can be arranged as a numbered, bulleted-list

•May appear in sequence as an order of points

•Provide a response to each problem identified

•Should be action-oriented, concise, and clear

•Need to be realistic and feasible within the social, economic, and political climate

Each recommendation should be written in the future tense, as appropriate.

Conclusion

•Can be arranged as a numbered, bulleted-list

•Arrange each point in order of importance, rather than in the order found in your discussion

•Match each point with the recommendation

•Each point provides a brief summary of one of the problems outlined in detail in the report

•Link points with the report's objectives

•Each point needs to be specific and clear

•Write each of the conclusions in present tense