The Difference Between A Report and an Essay

To: MIB students

From: John Small, Learning Skills Adviser
Date: Friday, 16 September 2016

I recommend that you carefully read Chapter 7 of your Q Manual. It deals with the writing of a report. Students
often have difficulty in distinguishing a report from an essay, and this chapter of the Q Manual will help you to
clearly understand this point.

The purpose of your report. If your organisation needs to make a decision that will impact some aspect of its
business or operations, your manager may task you to investigate the matter and prepare a report for his or
her attention. This report has a specific purpose and objective, namely to assist the management in decision-
making. (It is of the utmost importance that you know the purpose of the report you are to prepare. Not
knowing your purpose will certainly lead you to drawing conclusions and making recommendations that are
not relevant.)

If your organisation needs to solve a problem that is hampering its progress (impeding growth, causing
customer dissatisfaction, or something similar), your manager may ask you to investigate the problem and
prepare a report.

What does such a task require of you?

1. To collect information relevant to the situation;

2. To analyse the situation;
3. To identify the problem(s) clearly;
4. To outline the ways in which the problem(s) are affecting the organisation;
5. To provide insight into the causes of the problem(s);
6. To make recommendations on actions to be taken to solve the problem(s).

What is the purpose of an Executive Summary? Your manager is undoubtedly a very busy person. He or she
may not have either the time or the inclination to read your full, detailed report. Therefore, a one-page
summary of the essential elements the gist of your report will help greatly. Please follow the direction
given at the bottom of page 53 of your Q Manual. (Generally a manager wants to know, as briefly and
succinctly as possible, What is the problem? What must we do to solve it? How long will it take? What
will it cost?).

What must you concentrate on? The Q Manual outlines the steps that you need to follow to produce an
acceptable report (incidentally, it also distinguishes between a business report and a research report, but I will
talk about that in a later contribution). It emphasises the need for you to allow sufficient time, not to take
short-cuts, and to give attention to each of the following steps:

Get to know your purpose, your readers, their needs, and what is expected;
Research the topic thoroughly and make good notes;
Plan your report with care;
Write a draft (use your own words, and present your own explanations not those of others);
Edit your draft (make sure it is correct and complete);
Prepare your final report.