1. BUSINESS REPORTS

2. Business Reports:
A business report may be defined as “an orderly and objective presentation of information, that helps in decision making and problem solving.”

3. Business Reports
A report varies in purpose, length, format and complexity.
Inform
Analyze
Persuade
Length, format and complexity
Memo report
Letter report
Manuscript reports

4. Types Of Business Reports
Purpose
Informational
Analytical
persuasive reports
Frequency of preparation
annual, monthly, weekly and hourly reports
Length
short and long reports
Internal / External

5. Types Of Business Reports
Periodic reports
Routine management reports
Compliance reports
Progress reports
Proposals
Policies and Procedures
Situational reports

6. Parts of Report: Preliminary Parts Cover page Frontispiece Title Page
Letter of Transmittal/ forwarding letter
Preface
Acknowledgements
Table of Contents
List of illustration
The Executive Summary or abstract

7. Body of the Report Introduction Problem Statement Research Methodology
Analysis, Findings
Conclusions
Recommendations

8. Parts of Report
Appendix
Bibliography or References
Glossary
Index

9. A Letter of Transmittal accompanies a business report and may take the form of a simple memo with the following parts:
TO:               Dr. Rose Norman
FROM:         Heather Cross
DATE: June 24, 2008
SUBJECT:    EH 501 Final Report: An Analysis of Training Manuals for Peer Tutors in              Post-secondary Writing Centers
[Open with an overview.] Enclosed you will find my final report for EH 501 entitled "An Analysis of Training Manuals for Peer Tutors in Post-Secondary Writing Centers" due December 7, [Then state your main finding] From interviews with five writing center directors and four consultants, I found that each writing center has its own unique circumstances for training. The manuals from these same writing centers do contain some consistent areas of attention. The manual produced for the University of Alabama in Huntsville Writing Center should reflect these findings.
[Then comes the descriptive abstract.] The purpose of this report is to develop recommendations for a new training manual for peer tutors in a post-secondary writing center. Initially the report gives a brief description of the writing center environment, pedagogy, and theory. For the specific application of peer tutor training, the findings from interviews with Dr. Diana Calhoun Bell—director of the UAH Writing Center, directors of other writing centers, and consultants are presented. The report compares information from these practitioner inquiries with the content and form of the sample manuals obtained from three other university writing centers and with the existing UAH manual. The report concludes with recommendations for the UAH Writing Center’s Training Manual.
[Then add whatever else you need to say.] After an initial request to twenty-five writing centers, I was able to collect three peer tutor training manuals and receive answers to interview questions from two other directors. I interviewed four consultants in the UAH Writing Center using an abbreviated form of the questions. Dr. Bell has continued to express interest in this study and its continuation into an actual product. I hope to undertake the writing of the UAH Writing Center Consultant Training Manual as an independent study in the next semester.
Enclosure: Final Report (2 Copies)

10. Components in Formal and Informal Reports
Bibliography
Appendix
Recommendations
Conclusions
Body
Introduction
Executive summary
List of figures
Table of contents
Letter of transmittal
Title page
Cover
Generally appear in both
formal and informal reports:
Optional in informal reports:

11. Steps in Report Preparation:
Planning the report
type of report that is required – problem
audience analysis
Selecting a method to solve the problem
Primary/secondary
Gathering and organizing data
Arriving at a conclusion
Writing the report

12. Steps in Report Preparation:
Writing the report
Set a date for completion of the report & get started early
Start with an easy section
Write quickly, with the intention of rewriting
Set aside uninterrupted writing time
Review and rewrite where necessary
State facts in an objective manner
Provide expert opinions
Use documentation – “Footnotes”
Use “concrete” nouns
Avoid pronouns referring to the writer or reader
Use tenses correctly
Use “transition” sentences
Define key terms carefully