Understanding and

Planning Reports
and Proposals
Learning Objectives
1. Adapt the three-step writing process to reports and proposals.
2. Describe an effective process for conducting business research.
3. Explain the role of secondary and primary research
4. Explain how to plan informational reports and website content.
5. Identify the three most common ways to organize analytical
reports.
6. Explain how to plan proposals.
Categories of Typical Reports
• Reports are written documents which share information
with people who need to make decisions or solve
problems.
• Typical reports fall into three basic categories:
Informational reports offer data, facts, feedback, and other
types of information, without analysis or recommendations.
Analytical reports offer both information and analysis, and they
can also include recommendations.
Proposals present persuasive request for decisions or action.
Recommendations to internal or external audiences, often
involving investments or purchases.

• The three-step writing process applies to reports as well as

to other business messages.
Analyzing the Situation
• Report requires a careful analysis of the situation by
paying special attention to the following;
• Compose a Statement of Purpose: Explains;
– why you are preparing the report and
– what you plan to deliver in the report
• Prepare a Work Plan for the Project
– Identify Project-Related Tasks
– Establish a Timeline for the Project
Gathering Information
• Requires careful Planning of Your Research
• To stay on schedule and on budget, be sure to review
your;
– Statement of Purpose
– Audience Needs
• So that you can prioritize your information needs and
focus on the most important questions.
Selecting the Right Combination
of Media and Channels
• Consider the following guidelines;
– Media Requirements of your audience or readers
– Document Uses
– Feedback Preferences of the reader, printed
documents or on software
– Bear in mind that your choice of media also sends a
message. Eg. Sales report in expensive multimedia is
waste of resources
Supporting Your Messages with
Reliable Information
• For a reliable information, Conduct Effective research.
• This will help save time and get better results.
• Effective research follows the following process:
1.Plan your research.
2.Locate the data and information you need.
3.Process the data and information you located.
4.Apply your findings.
5.Manage information efficiently.
Planning Your Research

1. Develop a Problem Statement- helps define the purpose

of your research
2. Identify Essential Information you need to make
conclusion
3. Generate Research Questions
Avoiding Ethical Lapses
• Keep an Open Mind
• Respect Privacy and Identity of Participants
• Document and give appropriate Credit to Sources
• Respect Intellectual Property Rights
• Don’t Distort Information from Sources
• Don’t Misrepresent Your Intentions
Locating Data and Information
Secondary Research Primary Research
• Books • Surveys
• Magazines • Interviews
• Newspapers • Observations
• Public Websites • Experiments
Evaluating Information Sources
• You have the responsibility to verify the quality of your
sources
– Reputation
– Potential Bias
– Purpose
– Credibility
– Methodology-who collected data, methods or quali.
– Verification
– Currency and Completeness( use the current info.)
– Logical Scrutiny – does the info. Makes sense?
Drawing Conclusions and Making
Recommendations
• After all your planning, research, and processing, you’re
finally ready to apply your findings.
• You may be drawing conclusions based on your results, or
making recommendations.
• Conclusions
– Interpretation of the Facts in the Report
• Recommendations
– Suggestions for What to Do About the Facts
Conducting Secondary Research
• Secondary research refers to research materials
previously created for another purpose.
• Even if you intend to conduct primary research, start
with a review of any available secondary research.
• Reviewing already existing reports about the subject
– Inside your company
– Outside the company
Finding Information at a Library
• The library is a primary source of secondary information
– Newspapers or Periodicals( magazines, Bus. & trade journals etc.
– Business Books
– Membership Directories
– Almanacs and Statistics (handy guides to factual and statistical
information about countries, politics, labour )
– Government Publications
– Databases
Finding Information Online
• The Internet can be a tremendous source of business
information, provided you know where to look and how to
use the tools available
• This tools fall into two categories. Those you can use to ;
• Actively Search for Existing Information
• Monitor Selected Sources for New Information
Online Search Tools (1 of 2)
• General-Purpose Search Engines (Eg. Google,Yahoo
and Bing)
Opportunities
– Scan Millions of Websites
– Search by Keyword
– Rank the Results from most useful to least useful
Challenges
– No Human Editors to evaluate the quality of results
– Wide Variety of Results from different engines
– Can’t Reach Deep Internet (cant reach all content on
websites-the hidden internet)
Online Search Tools (2 of 2)
(Improve on General Search Engines)
• A variety of tools overcome the weaknesses of general-
purpose search engines
– Web Directories (addresses first challenge)
 Human Editors Evaluate and Classify Websites
– Metasearch Engines (second challenge)
 Format Searches for Web Directories
 Multiple Search Engines
– Online Databases (third challenge)
 Offer Journals, Magazines, and Newspapers
Online Monitoring Tools
Automatically Monitoring Information Sources
• One of the most powerful aspects of online research is the
ability to automatically monitor selected sources for new
information
– Subscribing to Newsfeeds blogs and websites
– Following People on Twitter
– Setting Up Online Alerts
– Using Specialized Monitors. Eg. TweetBeep to track
tweets that mention specific companies.
Search Tips
• Optimize Searches
– Keyword Searches (the engine or database attempts to find
items that include all the words you enter)
– Boolean Searches (Allows a definition of query with precision, eg.
AND, OR,NOT)
– Natural Language Searches (allows you ask questions in
normal, everyday English)
– Forms-Based Searches – allow powerful queries without the
need to learn special techniques.
Using Search Tools Effectively
• Think Before You Search
• Read Instructions; Pay Attention to Details
• Review Search/Display Options Carefully
• Try a Variety of Search Terms
• Vary the Number of Search Terms
• Look Beyond the First Page of Results
Documenting Your Sources
• Documenting your sources serves three important
functions:
– Properly and ethically credits the person who created the original
material
– Shows your audience that you have sufficient support for your
message
– Helps readers explore your topic in more detail, if desired
Conducting Primary Research
• If secondary research can’t provide the information and
insights you need, your next choice is to gather the
information yourself with primary research.
• The two tools most commonly used for business
research are surveys and interviews.
Conducting Surveys (1 of 2)
• Surveys a comprehensive way of providing insights.
• Questionnaires are used
• To develop an effective survey questionnaire, follow these
tips
– Provide Clear Instructions –how to fill in info.
– Ask for Information People Can Remember
– Keep Questionnaires Short and Easy to Use
– Formulate Easy-to-Analyze Questions
Conducting Surveys (2 of 2)
• Avoid Asking Leading Questions
• Avoid Using Ambiguous Descriptors
• Avoid Asking Compound Questions
• Obtain a Representative Sample
Conducting Interviews
• Like surveys, interviews require careful planning to get the
best results
• The types of questions you ask and the way you ask them
influence the answers you receive.
• The Questions You Ask
– Open-Ended Style for expert opinions and insights
– Closed-Ended Style to elicit specific answers
– Think carefully about Question Sequence and Potential
Answers so you can arrange them to layers of information
Planning Informational Reports
• Informational reports provide the feedback, info., or data
that employees, managers, and others need in order to
make decisions
• Classifying Informational Reports
– Reports to Monitor and Control Operations
– Reports to Demonstrate Compliance
– Reports to Implement Policies and Procedures
– Reports to Document Progress
Organizing Informational Reports
• Use Topical Organization, arranging material in one of the
following ways
– Comparison (to show similarities and differences)
– Importance (build from least to most important)
– Sequence (steps or stages in the order in which they occur)
– Chronology (a chain of events in January, February etc.
– Geography – organize study by regions districts etc.
Planning Analytical Reports (1 of 2)
• The purpose of analytical reports is to analyze, to
understand, or to explain.
• In other words, to think through a problem or opportunity,
explain how it will affect an organization, and recommend
how the organization should respond.
• In many cases, you’ll be expected to make a
recommendation based on your analysis.
Planning Analytical Reports (2 of 2)
• Typical analytical reports fall into three basic categories
– Reports to Assessing Opportunities
– Reports to Solving Business Problems
– Reports to Supporting Decision Making eg. Feasibility
and justification reports
Understanding the Challenges
of Writing Analytical Reports
• Writing analytical reports presents a greater challenge than
writing informational reports, for three reasons
– More than Delivering Information to analyze for conclusions
– Compelling, Persuasive Message
– Added Responsibility of consequences for Outcomes
Focusing on Recommendations
1. Establish the Need for Action
2. Introduce Benefits and Potential Risks
3. List the Steps (Recommendations) to required to achieve
the benefit
4. Explain Each Step More Fully
5. Summarize Your Recommendations
Planning and Structuring Proposals
Proposals can be grouped into two general categories.
• The most significant factor in planning a proposal is
whether the recipient has asked you to submit a proposal
Solicited Proposal (internal and external sources)
– Expected
– Strict Instructions
Unsolicited Proposal
– Unexpected
– More Flexibility
– Need to convince the audience whether or not a
problem or opportunity exist.
General Categories of Proposals
• Internal Proposals
– Request Decisions from Managers in the Organization
• External Proposals
– Request Decisions from Parties Outside the
Organization
• For example,
– Investment proposals request funding from outside investors,
– Grant proposals request funds government agencies.
– Sales proposals present solutions for potential customers and
request purchase decisions.