1. Chapter 11 Business Report Basics
Business Communication: Process and Product, 6e
Mary Ellen Guffey Copyright © 2008

2. Preparing to Write Business Reports
Report functions
Writing style
Informational reports
Formal
Analytical reports
Informal
Report patterns
Direct pattern
Indirect pattern
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business Communication: Process and Product, 6e

3. Preparing to Write Business Reports
Report formats
Letter
Memo
Manuscript
Printed forms
Digital
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business Communication: Process and Product, 6e

4. Audience Analysis and Report Organization
The Direct Pattern
If readers
are informed
If readers
are supportive
If readers are
eager to have
results first
Direct Pattern
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business Communication: Process and Product, 6e 8

5. Direct Pattern Informational Report Analytical Report
Introduction/Background
__________________________________
Facts/Findings _________________ __________________________________
__________________________________ __________________________________ __________________________________ __________________________________ __________________________________
Summary ______________________ __________________________________ __________________________________ __________________________________ __________________________________ __________________________________ __________________________________
Analytical Report
Introduction/Problem
__________________________________
CONCLUSIONS/
RECOMMENDATIONS
__________________________________ __________________________________ __________________________________
Facts/Findings
Discussion/Analysis____________
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business Communication: Process and Product, 6e 8

6. Audience Analysis and Report Organization
The Indirect Pattern
If readers
need to be
educated
If readers need
to be persuaded
If readers may
be disappointed
or hostile
Indirect Pattern
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business Communication: Process and Product, 6e

7. Indirect Pattern Analytical Report Introduction/Problem
__________________________________
Facts/Findings_________________
Discussion/Analysis
CONCLUSIONS/
RECOMMENDATIONS____________
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business Communication: Process and Product, 6e

8. Applying the Writing Process to Reports1 2 3 4
Analyze the problem and purpose.
Anticipate the audience and issues.
Prepare a work plan.
Implement your research strategy.
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business Communication: Process and Product, 6e

9. Applying the Writing Process to Reports5 6 7
Organize, analyze, interpret, and illustrate the data.
Compose the first draft.
Revise, proofread, and evaluate.
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business Communication: Process and Product, 6e

10. Researching Report Data
Secondary Print Data
Books – card catalog, online catalog
Periodicals – print indexes, electronic indexes
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business Communication: Process and Product, 6e

11. Researching Report Data
Secondary Electronic Data
Electronic databases
ABI/INFORM LexisNexis Academic
Factiva EBSCO
Web search tools
Google Yahoo Search
MSN Search AOL
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business Communication: Process and Product, 6e

12. Tips for Searching the Web
Use two or three search tools.
Know your search tool.
Understand case sensitivity.
Use nouns as search terms and up to eight words in a query.
Combine keywords into phrases.
Omit articles and prepositions.
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business Communication: Process and Product, 6e

13. Tips for Searching the Web
Use wild cards.
Learn basic Boolean search strategies.
Bookmark the best sources.
Repeat your search a week later.
Keep trying.
Evaluate your Web sources for currency, authority, content, and accuracy.
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business Communication: Process and Product, 6e

14. Researching Primary Data
Surveys
Interviews
Observation
Experimentation
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business Communication: Process and Product, 6e

15. Documenting Data Reasons for crediting sources
Strengthens your argument
Protects you from charges of plagiarism
Instructs readers
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business Communication: Process and Product, 6e

16. Documenting Data Two documentation formats Modern Language Association
Author’s name and page (Smith 100) placed in text; complete references in "Works Cited."
American Psychological Association
Author’s name, date of publication, and page number placed near the text reference (Jones, 2006, p. 99). Complete references listed at the end of the report in "References.”
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business Communication: Process and Product, 6e

17. Documenting Data Learn what to document
Another person's ideas, opinions, examples, or theory
Any facts, statistics, graphs, and drawings that are not common knowledge
Quotations of another person's actual spoken or written words
Paraphrases of another person's spoken or written words
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business Communication: Process and Product, 6e

18. Documenting Data Learn to paraphrase
Read the original material carefully so that you can comprehend its full meaning.
Write your own version without looking at the original.
Do not repeat the grammatical structure of the original, and do not merely replace words of the original with synonyms.
Reread the original to be sure you covered the main points but did not borrow specific language.
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business Communication: Process and Product, 6e

19. Illustrating Report Data
Functions of graphics
To clarify data
To create visual interest
To condense and simplify data
To make numerical data meaningful
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business Communication: Process and Product, 6e

20. Vertical Bar Chart
Use bar charts to make visual comparisons. Compare related items, illustrate changes in data over time, or show segments as parts of wholes.
Make bar charts in vertical, horizontal, grouped, or segmented forms. Avoid showing too much information, thus producing clutter and confusion.
Make the length of each bar and segment proportional.
Start dollar or percentage amounts at zero.
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business Communication: Process and Product, 6e

21. Pie Chart
Use pie charts to show a whole and the proportion of its components.
Generally begin at the 12 o’clock position, drawing the largest wedge first.
Include, if possible, the actual percentage or absolute value for each wedge.
Use four to eight segments for best results; if necessary, group small portions into one wedge called “Other.”
Distinguish wedges with color, shading, or crosshatching.
Keep all labels horizontal.
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business Communication: Process and Product, 6e

22. End
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business Communication: Process and Product, 6e