MODULE 3

REPORT WRITING
INTRODUCTION:
Most of the managers rely on reports to provide information and analyses so that they can make decision and solve problems. As a business person you will be expected to write and read all kinds of reports. Written factual accounts that objectively communicate information about some aspects of the business.

Meaning:
Report is a logical presentation of facts and information. The information is needed for reviewing and evaluating progress for planning future course of action and for taking decisions. Reports provide feedback to the managers on various aspect of the organization. A report is a formal communication written for a specific purpose which includes terms of references, data collected, and analysis of the data. The conclusion and recommendations data. Reports serve two purposes. It provides comprehensive, permanent, systematic, clear and consistent account of study an investigation or research. It serves as a tool for decision making.

Significance:
The report is ultimate output of the investigation efforts. The report format varies depending upon its purpose and target audience. The presentation of the research report to the ultimate user is art of communication. Report writing makes the complex things simple. Suggestions given in the report form the action plan. New areas for investigation may also be identified through reports.

Essential of good report writing:

Issue in perspective:
The first essential of any good report is to bring out the issues in its proper perspective , duly emphasizing the pros and cons. The subject should be present in a unbiased and objective manner. Both the positive and negative aspects studied should be covered.

Authoritative facts and figures:

Report is sought as a fact finding measures. The report writer should ensure that the facts and figures quoted in the report are authentic and reliable. The data quoted in the report are likely to be made use of several other individuals and agencies. Who will gain access to the report.

Maintain a judicial approach:

The report writer should keep to measurable facts and verifiable details. Human errors , biases and any kind of selective reporting have no place in report writing. Good report are those where the report writer maintain a judicial and partisan attitude.

In- depth analysis:

It is expected that the reports provide an in depth study. Any report that does not go in to detail of the subject studied may turn out to be peripheral, necessitating one or more report, or additional information being sought.

Alternative view point:

The purpose of a report, as we have noted earlier, is to get the facts in proper perspective. When we refer to an enquiry report, an investigation report or a committee report, the intention is to get the inputs or views from different persons who are in position to thro light on the subject or incident under study.

Appropriate annexure:
Most report also contains relevant annexure, which cover additional information. Such annexure normally include chart, graphs, relevant statistics, questionnaires

Stages/ Steps of Report writing:

The actual process of writing business report can be divided into three stages. They are as follows:

1. Prewriting stage:
In this stage following steps should be taken: 1. Establish the purpose of your writing report. 2. Determine the intended readers of your report whether top or middle level management, general public, workers etc.

3. Narrow down the subject to a few listed topics in the light of the purpose of the report. 4. Collect the background research material from libraries, industrial and government data on the relevant subject. 5. Obtain information on the topic under study by: Making personal observations, Interviewing the concerned parties. Asking and helping various concerned parties, 6. Analyze and evaluate the collected data.

2. Writing Stage:
After gaining and gathering the relevant information to be presented, next step involves outlining and organizing the matter in logical sequence to write the first draft of the report. Business report may be short, written in letter or memo form, or long. The short report is written in informal way where as long report is prepared and presented in formal structure. Usually the short report is written in the following outlined structured: Subject and purpose of the report. Data and its sources. Methods of study. Finding and conclusion. Recommendation. The long report has the following contents. 1. Title page contains all the identifying information title of the report, name of the company recipient, date and name of the writer. 2. Letter of authorization form the person authorizing to prepare the report. 3. Table of contents contains the lists of all topics and tables , with their corresponding page no. in the report. 4. Introduction describes the purpose of writing report, methods and sources of collecting data, definition etc. 3

5. Body contains the major findings of the study written under suitable headings and subheadings, graphics and pictorial presentation to show the point. 6. Conclusion highlights the findings in summarized form for easy and quick understanding of the report, even by skipping its body. 7. Recommendations enumerate further action to be taken by concerned authorities to rectify the situation. 8. Bibliography lists all sources used in written report: list of persons interviewed or corresponded, and already written references like other reports, articles, documents etc, consulted. 9. Appendices contain the information that supports the data in the body like charts, questionnaires, photographs etc.

3. Rewriting stage:
The third stage of writing business report is rewriting stage that involves reviewing, revising and recopying the matter already written. For this, the following point must be kept in mind: 1. Is the report coherent with the overall purpose and selective objectives of its writing? 2. Is the information presented completely? Does the reader need more data to understand the situation? 3. Is the matter written concisely by elimination of unnecessary words and phrases? 4. Will the language of the report be clear to the intended reader? Are technical terms defined sufficiently and vague impression avoided? 5. Are the facts and figures recorded correctly? Are facts and opinions differentiated? Are they objective, unbiased and impartial? Not only are they accurate and true but also are they free from grammatical and spelling errors? 6. Is the report written in a courteous way/ is it free from personal attack and unparliamentary language? Before final draft is presented the report should be carefully proofread and ruthlessly edited in the light of above questions.

Types of Reports: Report may be Business report or Academic reports.

1. Routine Reports 2. Special Reports 3. Informational Reports 4. Analytical Reports

1. Routine Reports:
The reports which are prepared on a routine basis in an organization are called routine reports. These are prepared in the normal course of business, whether or not something extraordinary takes place. The different routine reports may be as follows:

Progress Report:
This is the report about the growth of an organization or any department of the organization. It may even relate to the progress of an individual in an organization.

Inspection Report:
In a case of a manufacturing concern, or even in the case of other organizations, regular inspection are held to check the compliance of the products and services with the specified norms. These inspections may be done by the superiors in the organization. The report prepared by these inspection terms is called an inspection report.

Performance Appraisal Report:

At regular intervals, performance appraisal of the employee is done by the personnel department. This is done to asses and evaluates the employee as per their performance. For this purpose, a performance appraisal report of each employee is made and sent to the management for evaluation.

Periodical Report:
A report prepared at regular time intervals is called a periodical report. A monthly report, annual report, biannual report etc. fall under this category.

2. Special Reports:
Special reports are those reports which are not prepared on a routine basis, but only in the event of special circumstances or exceptional happenings. These may have to be made once in a while. Various special reports as follows:

Investigation Report:
In case of an unusual happening, like a sudden downfall of sales or fall in production or any other event, investigation may have to be carried out to find the reasons behind the event.

Survey Report/ Feasibility Report:

A survey is sometimes carried out regarding the present working or an organization, its sales, etc.or feasibility of any new project to be undertaken by the organization. Survey or feasibility reports are prepared to record the findings.

First information report:

This is commonly known as FIR. Mostly we understand that FIRs are lodged in a police station in case of any mishappening, theft or loss. FIR may also be prepared for the record of an organization. This is prepared by the first witness to the event , to report to his superiors.

3. Information Report:
An information report, as the name suggests, provides all the details and facts pertaining to the topic selected for study. It may be a problem arising in an organization or any other subject of study as selected by the management. For instance, it could be a report of this kind, the presentation of all the details that led to the growth of company X to be listed in a chronological order. The sequential arrangement of issues or topics in an information report could observe any one of the following ways of presentation. It could be by: Chronology: on the basis of the time of happening of events. Importance: On the basis of the priority of the issues. Sequence/ Procedure: On the basis of the sequence of the events in a process. Alphabetization: On the basis of Alphabets (A to Z).

 Familiarity: Arrangement from know to unknown issues. In report of this kind, the various sections are simple and self explanatory. As the presentation of information is the basis purpose of the report, details are worked out in a systematic and coherent manner. The structural orientation in an organizational report should be clearly evident to the reader and its significance also grasped.

4. Analytical Report:
Analysis means the study of a problem or event, right from its identification to the discovery of its causes. It makes use of the facts and figures. The analytical report comprises stages in which there is a proper identification of the problem, analysis and subsequent interpretation.

Style & Tone: Style: in context of report writing, style refers to arrangement of meaningful worlds
into useful sentences to make the text logical as well as appealing the reader. It refers to the effectiveness of the words, sentences, paragraphs and overall tone of your message. You may know how to express yourself correctly in most business writing situations. I.e. you will know how to avoid major errors in grammar, spelling, punctuation and words usage. But a technically correct message may still not achieve its objective. By style, we mean the way in which an idea is expressed. Style consists of particular words the writer uses and the manner in which those words are combined into sentences, paragraphs and complete messages. It clarifies relationships among the sentences. It uses concise familiar language. It presents ideas in logical order. In short, it has style. Apply these principles of style as you write the letters, memos, e- mails and reports. They are:Words: 1. Write clearly. 2. Prefer short simple words. 3. Write with vigor(energy and enthusiasm). 4. Write concisely. 5. Prefer positive language.

Sentences: 6. Use a Varity of sentence types. 7. Use active and passive voice appropriately. 8. Keep paragraphs unified and coherent. 9. Use parallel structure. 10. Control paragraph length. Overall tone: 11. Write confidently. 12. Use a courteous and sincere tone. 13. Use appropriate emphasis and subordination. 14. Use non discriminatory language. 15. Stress the you attitude. 16. Design your documents for readability. Principle 1- 10 focus on the parts of the message and 11-16 focus on the tone of the whole message.

Tone:
Having chosen the right words to construct effective sentences and then having combined these sentences into logical paragraphs. Paragraphs: Tone in writing refers to the writers attitude towards both the reader and the subject of the message. The overall tone of your written message affects your reader just as your tone of voice and affects your listener in every day exchanges. The business writer should strive for an overall tone that is confident courteous and sincere: that uses emphasis and subordinatory language: that stresses the you attitude: and that is enhanced by effective design.

Five Ws and one H of report writing:

Prior to commencing work on report writing, a few queries should be raised by the report writer and satisfactorily answered. The queries that are central are the five Ws and the one H. what is the problem? What is it that needs to be ascertained? Clarity along these lines helps in eliminating any redundancies that might crop up. Identification of the genesis of the problem helps in streamlining the approach. The five Ws and the one H are:

Why, What, Who, When, Where and How:

Questions like the following pertaining to these Ws and one H are to be answered before writing the report: Why is it important to study the problem? Why (purpose) should the problem be analyzed? What its relevance and significance to the department in specific, and organization in general? What are the benefits that will accurate as a result of this particular report to the department, the organization, and oneself? Who is involved in the situation? This could take into account both the reader(s) and the writer. In case there is third party involved, it would also account for that. Who is going to be the reader of this report? With a change in the reader, a change is visible in the manner of approach in the report. When did the trouble start? In case it is an analytical report, one would also need to address oneself to the source and time of the problem before reaching any conclusion. When am I going to write the report? The time factor is very important. Where would the reader be at the time he receive the report? Would the reader read he report in a meeting or read it with in the confines of his room? There would definitely be differences in the manner of approach. Finally how the report would be written? What information is to be included and what is to be excluded and which graphs and charts would be used/ avoided?

All these queries need to be satisfied before beginning a report. They give the report particular direction and help the writer to concentrate on the acceptability of the report by the audience to which it is aimed.

Example: project report to be prepared by a financial institution. In a report such as this, queries of the following nature could be raised: Why: - why should project A be supported? What: - What is the justification of a loan for project A? Who: - Who would read the report? Would it act as a precedent for the further similar loans to be sanctioned? Or would it remain just one of the usual reports written with in a standard format. When: When would the loan be sanctioned? Is the report being written close to the time of sanctioning of loan or it is merely informative one, providing information on the various factor leading to the sanctioning of loan? Where: Where would the report be read?? The degree of formality or provision of details would vary in response to three queries. How: I the sanction of the loan is important, persuasive language can be used to get the idea and message across. All details should be provided and meticulous care should be taken to ensure that nothing unwarranted is concluded.

Report Planning:
Planning is the first stage of any organized activity. Even for drafting a formal report, planning is a must. The planning stage is the most crucial one. Spend as much time as possible in collecting material, synchronizing details, and ensuring that nothing has been left out. If the planning is done in a detailed manner, there are very few chances of errors at the final stage. In fact planning for a report is as important as the process of writing itself. The various steps involved in report planning are as follows:

1. Define the problem and the purpose:

The problem and purpose had already been identified at the stage when the answer to the question What and Why were attempted. It is essential at this stage to understand the nature of the report- whether it is informational or analytical. In an informational report, the writer would stress factors contributing to the collation of information at the time of stating the purpose. However in an analytical report writer would need to prepare a problem statement, the analysis of which becomes the trust area of the report. 10

2. Outline the issues for the investigation:

In a problem solving or analytical report the issues pertaining to the problem need to be highlighted in the initial stage. None of the alternatives or variables should be ignored or sidetracked. Once the issues have been clarified, delineation of the point becomes easier. Further the report is of informational nature; all issues to be exemplified have to be understood. There should be basic pattern that has to be observed and it should clearly emerge in the reading of the report.

3. Prepare a work plan:

What is the best procedure to collect the data? How should the writer proceed? What are the strategies that need to be observed? These are a few of the questions that need to be well answered before taking the final plunge into conducting research on the topic.

4. Conduct research, analysis and interpretation:

The module at the time of conducting research should be well examined. This should however, be taken care of at the stage of preparing a work- plan. The manner in which research is conducted is contingent upon the problem defined in the initial phase of report writing, once the research has been conducted, then begins the process of analysis and subsequent interpretation, which happen to be the toughest part sin report making. An attempt should be made to bring about accuracy in the analysis in order to make the interpretation objective and unbiased, as far as possible.

5. Draw conclusion:
Subsequent to the stage of the interpretation of data, certain conclusion need to be drawn and recommendations or suggestions made. This comprises the last stage of the report and the tone of it is determined by the position held by the report writer. For instance, if it is a report being written by a subordinate, he can only make suggestions. However, if it is one being written by superiors , it would definitely have in the terminal section a rather well developed part comprising, recommendations.

Report writing process:

After the planning stage and when the research has been conducted, the process for writing the report begins. The followings are the sequential steps in the report writing process: The subject matter should be analyzed logically. The final outcome is assessed. 11

 A rough draft for the final outcome is prepared. Rewriting and polishing the rough draft. Final bibliography is prepared.

Outline of a report: There is no set outline that can be used in preparing reports.
The most appropriate form and content of a particular report should be determined by the nature of the targeted audience. The following is the suggested broad outline of a report. 1. Preliminary pages: Title page is showing the heading. Content along with chapter headings and page numbers. Preface and acknowledgment. Foreword. List of tables. List of graphs and diagrams. Abbreviation. 2. Main Text: a) Summary Introduction. Main findings. Conclusion and recommendation. b) Introduction Introducing the theme. Review the related literature.

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 Methodology. c) Results Statistical analysis. Testing of hypothesis. Conclusion. Recommendation. 3. End matter Annexure. Bibliography. Questionnaire. Indexing. Mathematical derivations. Appendices.

Creativity in communication:
Creativity is a mental process involving the generation of new ideas or concepts, or new associations between existing ideas or concepts. From a scientific point of view, the products of creative thought are usually considered to have both originality and appropriateness. An alternative, more everyday conception of creativity is that it is simply the act of making something new. Creativity in written communication will thus relate to different and new and innovative forms of letters, reports presentation etc. With the use of these new and improved techniques the matter communicated will not only to be better received but it will also be better understand. An organization can only benefit from such a practice as matter better communicated will lead to better delegation and growth of the organization.

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Numbering and Visual Aids in Reports:

Preparation for presentation should involve design of any visual aids which help audience to understand what one is saying. Images and diagrams can convey messages and information which if spoken, would take longer to explain and be harder to digest. They need time and clear explanations to make sense of materials, visual is also a good way of maintaining audiences interest and attentions. Translating words and ideas in a visual form require a lot of ingenuity on the part of the writer. Visual aids by way of charts and graphs cannot be included at any juncture in an erratic manner. There should be systematic ordering by which the writer decides which part of the information he would like to incorporate in the form of words and what he would like to use in form of charts and tables. Visual aids are:

Tables:
Use tables to present a large amount of numerical data in a small space and to permit easy comparison of figures. Ensure that the table is understandable by itself without reference to accompanying narrative. Combine smaller, less important categories into a miscellaneous category and put it last. Use only as much detail as necessary. Use easily understood abbreviations and symbols as needed. Ensure that the units are identified clearly. e.g. Name of the student Arthi Shruthi Class I MBA 1 MBA Marks 483 453 Rank 2nd 3rd

Charts:
Use charts only when they will help the reader to interpret data better. Keep chart simple strive for a single, immediate, correct interpretation and keep the reader attention on the data in the chart batter than on the chart itself. Use the most appropriate type of chart to achieve your objectives. There of the most popular types of business chart are line, bar and pie charts.

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Line charts:
It uses to show changes in data over a period of time and to emphasize the movement of the data. Use the vertical axis to represent amount and the horizontal axis to represent time. Mark off both axis at equal intervals and clearly label them. Begin the vertical axis at zero if necessary, use slash (//) marks to show a break in the interval

Bar chart:

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Use bar chart to compare the magnitude or relative size of items either at specified time or over a period of time. Make all bars the same width: vary the length to reflect the value of each item. Arrange the bars in a logical and clearly label each item

Pie chart:

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Use pie charts to compare the relative parts that make up a whole. Begin slicing the pie at the 12 o clock position. Moving clockwise in a logical order. Label each wedge of the pie indicates its value and clearly differentiates the wedges.

25%
Annual reports:
Annual reports are another type of business reports regularly brought out by business organizations. As name suggests, these reports are brought out every year detailing the progress achieved during the report period. Annual report are brought out by a Varity of institutions- commercial, charitable, educational , supervisory etc. the idea in bringing out such reports is to reach out their members, clients, patrons and the public in general and shared the progress achieved. In accordance with the company law, every registered company is required to publish its balance sheet and profit and loss account with in a prescribed period.

4%

21%

A typical annual report of a organization would cover the following details:

Board of Directors Top management team

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Name of auditors Progress at a glance Performance highlights and working results Directors report Accounting policies adopted Balance sheet Profit and loss account Schedules to be annexed to the balance sheet Notes on accounts, wherever necessary Auditors report Commentary on the financial statement Ratios and statements Remunerations paid to the top management Change in the board Acknowledgement

There could be some additions and deletions to the list depending upon the nature of the organization and the regulatory requirement.

Essentials of annual report:

Clearly bring out the progress/ strengths relevant to the reporting year. Avoid repetition of the previous years sentences and paragraphs. Take a re- look at the headings and sub- headings and make appropriate changes. Good annual reports are distinctive in terms of language and expression used. Avoid using sentences and combining several developments. Make the sentence brief and specific.

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