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1. Report Writing

2. Report Writing
• Reports : Reports are written accounts that objectively
communicate information about some aspect of a
business.
• Informational Reports : offer data, facts, feedback –
without analysis or recommendations. These give only
information.
• Analytical reports : offer information and analysis, and
can include recommendations.
• Proposals : combine information delivery and
persuasive communication.

3. Report Writing
• Voluntary - some reports are voluntary. Ex : The
Economic Survey of India.
• Customised or Need based – In response to a
customer’s or a manager’s need. Ex : Writing a
confidential report –prevalent in public sector.
• Audience - May be internal or external
(customers, investors , community members and
media )

4. Process
a) Define your purpose :
Example : A report to verify company’s compliance with
government regulations.
Example : A report that summarises sales
Example : A report that monitors a process.
- All these reports will be expected to be made in a certain
format.
- All these will be information reports.

5. process
a) Define your purpose :
- Analytical reports and proposals – These are
written in response to a need – A perceived
problem or a perceived opportunity.
- A clear statement of purpose is needed.
- Start your SOP with ‘ to ….. .’

6. Examples of Problems and SOP
Problem Statement of Purpose
Our company’s market share is
steadily declining.
To explore new ways of promoting and selling our
products, and to recommend the approaches most likely to
stabilize our market share. ( information, analysis +
recommendation )
Our current computer network
lacks sufficient bandwidth and
cannot be upgraded to meet
our future needs.
To analyze various networking options and to recommend
the system that will best meet our company’s current and
future needs. ( information, analysis + recommendation )
We need 2 m. USD to launch
our new product.
To convince investors that our new business would be a
sound investment so that we can obtain desired funding.
(more like proposal + with high element of persuasive
communication.)
Our current options are too
decentralised and expensive.
To justify the closing of X plant and the transfer of East
operations to a single location , in order to save money.

7. Goal of a Report
• Generally a goal should be like
– To inform, to confirm, to analyze, to persuade , to
recommend.
– SOP needs to be more comprehensive for an analytical
report than for an information report.

8. Some examples of information reports.
To update clients on the progress of the research project Progress Report
To develop goals and objectives for the coming year Strategic Plan
To give customer wise plan as to how the company will serve
them
Marketing Plan
To submit monthly sales statistics to management Operating report
To summarize what occurred at the annual sales conference Conference report
To explain building access procedures Policy implementation
report
To submit required information to the SEBI Compliance report
All these reports only provide information, no analysis.

9. Prepare a work plan
- Identifying all the tasks that must be performed.
Contents :
- Statement of problem or opportunity
- Statement of purpose and scope of your investigation
- Discussion of tasks to be accomplished.
- Description of any additional products or activities
that will result from your investigation.
- Review of project assignments, schedules and
resource requirements.
- Plans for following up after delivering the report.
- Working outline ( the broad headings of a report )

10. Broadly , a report should have the
following format
• This format is for customised reports :
- A background of the need.
- body of the report
(may include recommendation )
- Conclusion

11. Approaches
• 2 + 2 Approach
– It convinces readers of your point of view by
demonstrating that everything adds up.
– You put the main points in the report.
– These are the reasons for your conclusions and
recommendations.
– You support each reason with evidence.
• Yardstick Approach
– Number of criteria are used to evaluate multiple
options.
– These criteria become the ‘yardstick’ to measure
various alternatives.

12. Caselet
As national sales manager of a New Hampshire sporting goods company,
Binh Phan was concerned about his company’s ability to sell to its largest
customers. His boss, the VP of marketing, shared these concerns and asked
Phan to analyse the situation and recommend a solution. As Phan says,
“We sell to retail chains across the country. Large nationwide chains of
superstores have been revolutionizing the industry, but we haven’t had as
much success with these big customers as we’ve had with smaller
companies that operate strictly on a local or regional basis. With more and
more of the industry in the hands of the large chains, we knew we had to
fix the situation.”
Phan’s troubleshooting report is there. The main ideas is that the company
should establish separate sales teams for these major accounts rather than
continue to service them through the company’s four regional divisions.
However, Phan knew his plan would be controversial because it requires a
big change in the company’s organisation and in the way sales reps are
paid . His thinking had to be clear and easy to follow, so he used the 2 + 2
approach to focus on his reasons.