Bus 209 ch 10 - Preparing Business Reports PDF

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Preparing Business Reports ...

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Preparing Business Reports 334/364 ● Business reports are designed to share info and analysis w ppl who need to manage projs, make decisions, and solve probs ● How can ACE help you write a business report? ○ Analytical reports-report that analyzes info to solve a prob or support a business decision ■ Informational reports-goal’s to provide facts that readers can easily understand and refer to when necessary ■ Identifying info-business reports clearly identify the author, date, and topic or title. Some reports also indicate the intended audience ■ Report deck-report doc written in PP or other presentation software ■ Executive summary-separate, stand-alone mini docs, included at beginning of a longer proposal or report, that completely summarizes the document’s main ideas ● Almost all business reports use a direct org, beginning w 1+ preview elements that provide readers w a quick understanding of the purpose, structure, content, and main ideas of the report. ○ Composing ■ Identify info, preview, detailed discussion ○ Ask ?s ■ Does the audience expect just info or expect analysis and recommendations? ■ What’re their key ?s and concerns? ■ What info’s important to include? ■ How can you increase your credibility in the report to ensure the audience has confidence in the info and analysis you provide? ● What types of short, routine reports are typical in business? ○ Progress reports○ Meeting minutes○ Trip reports○ Feasibility reports● How should you structure longer, formal reports for print and online distribution? ● What guidelines should you follow for writing report decks? ● How do you integrate tables and graphs into reports? ○ Business reports often rely on #s, and data graphics--tables and graphs--for communicating #s. Well-designed tables and graphs provide a pic of data and allow you to see relationships and trends much more clearly than w text alone. Make sure simplified w good descriptions. ■ Tables-arrange data in columns and rows, allowing you to read down or across to see diff relationships. Graphs-illustrate the relationship among variables or sets of data as an image or shape drawn in relationship to two axes. ● If graph’s the best way to display data, choose type of graph that most effectively communicates message. Eliminate all distractions

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that don’t help audience understand data. ○ Pie chart ■ Show how one item (100%) divides into multiple parts ■ Best practices: ● Limit to 5 or less segs ● Label each segment and provide % values ● Put most significant segment at the 12:00 position. If segments are equally significant, arrange from smallest to largest ● Show emphasis w a darker color or by ‘exploding’ the most significant seg. ○ 100% Column chart ■ Compare parts of multiple items ■ Best practices: ● Use instead of multiple pie charts ● Put the most important item at bottom of column so that all its component parts share the same baseline ● Connect series w a line to emphasize relationships (optional) ○ Line chart ■ Show changes over time to emphasize a trend ■ Best practices: ● Limit # of lines if graph’s difficult to read ● Provide value labels wherever possible. If too cluttered, label only select data pts. ● Label lines instead of using a legend ● Use a bright or dark color to emphasize the most important line ● Use short labels on horizontal axis. Avoid diagonal labels ○ Paired bar (tornado) chart ■ Compare variables for a small data set ■ Best practices: ● Plot independent variable on the L, in a lowto-high or h-t-l sequence. (If variables correlate according to the expected pattern, the paired bars will be mirror images) ● Place labels on the inside base of bars, so they line up vertically In docs, text and data displays need to work together to communicate the full message. Text contextualizes and interprets data.

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How to integrate graphics w/in text ● Label and # figures and tables sequentially throughout the report ● Refer audience to graphic w/in the text using figure or table # ● Tell audience what to notice in graphic ● Place graphic as close as possible after first reference ● Design graph to be self-explanatory, even though you have provided explanatory text ● Provide source citations for data directly under graph or as part of the caption ■ Ethics ● Don’t mislead audience. Can manipulate scale, distort perspective, and show data out of content. ○ Begin axis scales at zero ○ Avoid pictograms and 3D graphs, which distorts sz. Make diffs in size of data objects proportional to diff in data. ○ Show in context ○ Provide absolute # (‘n’) when you graph %s How should you document your research? ○ Documenting--or citing sources--is key part of all writing in academia and most professional writing. Appropriate docs serves many functs: ■ Adds credibility to your writing ■ It strengthens your argument ■ It helps your audience locate info mentioned in your report ■ It helps demonstrate that you’re ethical ○ Plagiarism-un/intentionally failing to acknowledge others’ ideas in your work ○ Quotes-any phrases, sentences, paragraphs--even single, distinctive words--that you take from any of your sources ■ If long quote, indent and single space block of text w/out quote marks ■ Depending on doc style you choose, you can use footnotes, endnotes, or parenthetical citations--insderting in parentheses the author’s last name, year of publication (when usingg APA style), and pg # of quote in original source ○ Paraphrase-version of what sb else says, but in your own words and w your own emphasis ■ Good paraphrase will have a completely diff sentence structure than original, not just a few replaced words. Cite paraphrased content w author’s name and, when using APA style, the year of publication. Including a pg #’s required in some doc styles and just recommended in others ○ Summary-very brief version of sb else’s text, using your own words ■ Cite ■ Specific facts and data--cite every piece of info that’s not common knowledge or result of your own primary research. Includes opinions, arguments, and speculations as well as facts, details, figures, and

statistics Tables, graphs, pics, and other graphs. Cite-include in caption/directly under visual Preping the Doc ■ In formal report, you must acknowledge sources in 3 ways: in-text cits, textual references, and entries in a ref list or bib. ● Cits: every time you use materia from another source in your text, add cit. ● Text ref: don’t rely exclusively on citations to orient readers to your sources. Instead, introduce cited material by explicitly referring to source w/in text ● Ref list/bib: provide list of sources at end of every research report. Give enough info so readers can find. Each doc style follows diff rules about the kind of material to include in the list and how to format that material. ■

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