Академический Документы
Профессиональный Документы
Культура Документы
10 Reports
LEARNING OUTCOMES
By the end of this topic, you should be able to:
1. Describe the format and layout of short and long reports;
2. Organise information so as to write good reports;
3. Differentiate between different types of short reports;
4. Explain the need for good presentation in long reports;
5. Use prepositions in context; and
6. Use adjectives, adjectival phrases, adverbs and adverbials
appropriately in reports.
INTRODUCTION
This topic introduces you to several activities related to business report writing.
It outlines the salient features of both short and long reports including the layout,
format and content. In addition, the topic also presents exercises on the use of
prepositions, adjectives and adverbs which will assist you in writing effective
reports.
The format for short reports varies, depending on the kind of information being
conveyed. This topic, however, focuses on three short report formats commonly
adopted at the workplace ă the formal report, letter and memo.
The letter and memo formats have been discussed in Topics 6 and 8 respectively,
so the discussion here will focus only on the formal report.
ACTIVITY 10.1
Study this sample of a title page in a formal report and use the checklist
to note the information found on the title page.
Prepared for
Henry Tan, Director
Speed Construction
25000 Kuantan
By
25300 Kuantan
4 October 2010
Checklist:
Title page Details (“ )
Title of report
RecipientÊs name
position
organisation
WriterÊs name
position
Date
Sometimes, descriptive headings are used to guide the reader through these
reports.
ACTIVITY 10.2
2. Now, read the sample justification report below and answer the
questions that follow.
Furthermore, she impressed us during the interview with her communication skills
and understanding of her colleagues. In her annual appraisal for the last three
years, she scored higher than any other applicant in communication skills,
interpersonal relationships and leadership.
From the above, it can be seen that Ms NorlailaÊs promotion was not based on any
discrimination against her male counterparts. If she had simply been as good as the
other applicants, her promotion would have been justified in terms of the
companyÊs affirmative action policy. But in this case, Ms Norlaila was promoted on
the grounds of superior abilities.
10.4 PREPOSITIONS
Prepositions may be defined as any word or group of words that relate a noun or
pronoun to another word in the sentence.
How many ways can you connect the two nouns to express ideas?
The words in bold relate two nouns to each other. These relationship words are
called prepositions. However, it can sometimes be difficult to know what
preposition comes after a noun or a verb so it is good to familiarise yourself with
some of them.
Look at the following examples. Note how the prepositions connect the two
nouns. The prepositions are underlined.
ACTIVITY 10.3
Read the sample justification report given in Activity 10.2. Identify the
prepositions used in paragraphs 2 and 3. Use these prepositions in
sentences of your own.
The following are exercises to help you further understand the topic.
ACTIVITY 10.4
Read the following periodic report and answer the questions below.
At this stage, it would appear that many staff are letting their supervisors know
when they are unable to work. Occasional reminders from supervisors may be
necessary to make this an ingrained habit for all staff.
BH
(b) Which part of the report contains the purpose of the report?
(d) Which of the following can be found in the body of the report?
Ć Statistics of current situation
Ć Statistics of previous period
Ć Positive features of recommendation
Ć Problems incurred
Ć Measures taken to solve problem
Ć Report on the day-to-day implementation
Ć Summary report on the results of implementation
Ć Costs involved
ACTIVITY 10.5
Fill the gaps in these sentences with a suitable verb or noun + preposition
from the list given in the box. You may need to change the verb form so
that the sentence is grammatically correct. The first one has been done for
you.
(a) In the middle of the meeting, our client brought up the subject of
compensation.
(b) All reports need to be carefully written and above all facts.
(i) The clerks had to work long after five to deal with the orders.
ACTIVITY 10.6
The following report was written by a student who had a work stint with
a large accounting firm during the holidays. The student has been asked
to write a progress report on his studies because his employment during
the next holiday depends on the successful completion of his
coursework. His studies have also been interrupted due to illness.
2. Complete the body of the report by correctly filling the spaces (a)
to (i) with the words provided in the box.
during in at periods of of
available for in from in
20 December 2012
Mr Kenneth Au
Student Coordinator
Human Resources Department
DÊLloyds Accounting Consultants
53050 Kuala Lumpur
Dear Mr Au,
(1) ___________
(2)_________
(3)_________
(4)_________
With only another four subjects to complete the course, I expect to gain the Bachelor of
Business by June 2011. These subjects are Strategic Financial Accounting, International
Trade, Strategic Management and Strategic Information Systems.
My health is excellent and I will be (g)_________work from 3 January 2013. Please call
me (h)_________63505021 to let me know if holiday work is available this year. I look
forward to hearing (i)_________you.
Yours sincerely,
Calvin Lim
At the writing stage of preparing a long report, your first task is to produce the
main text ă the part which contains an introduction to the findings, the body of
your findings, your conclusions and recommendations. You will later need to
prepare additional parts which can appear either before or after the main text.
Details about each of these additional parts and a suggested writing sequence are
given below.
10.5.2 Presentation
Presentation is the arrangement of information on a page. It gives the reader an
initial impression of your organisation, so it is important that sufficient attention
be paid to the layout if you wish to project a professional image.
The presentation of information in letters, memos, faxes and reports follows set
conventional rules. However, there is some degree of flexibility allowed,
depending on the formality of the communication. What is most important is the
content, which has to be set out clearly and well spaced. The following are
techniques you can use to make the presentation of information in your
document more impactful.
Headings
Underlining
Indentation
Shading
Numbered lists or sections, as in reports
Space between paragraphs, left and right margins
Headers and footers
You have already studied about the layout for specific types of letters under
Business Writing 1 and 2.
Long reports are similar to short reports as they both comprise three main parts:
A numbering system helps if the body of the report contains many ideas.
The conclusion section summarises and evaluates the reportÊs main facts. It
is short. Do not present new information in the conclusion section.
You will note that although they share common features, they are either
organised differently, convey different kinds of information, or order their
information differently, based on instructions received to write the report.
EXTRACT A:
(B) Procedure
To identify specific sources of complaint, the investigation adopted the
following procedures:
1. Interviews were held with both supervisory and operations personnel.
2. A questionnaire was designed, focusing on current:
Attitudes to safety;
Working conditions; and
Labour problems.
3. A cross-section of accident reports covering 2011 and 2012 was studied.
4. On-the-job attitudes to safety regulations were observed on five
separate occasions, twice on each shift.
5. A study of current theory and practice in safety attitudes and
standards was made.
EXTRACT B
Introduction of Flexitime System
EXTRACT C
Methods of Clearing Oil Spills at Sea
1. Overview
This report presents the findings of research into three methods of
clearing oil spills at sea as alternatives to the companyÊs current use of
sinking agents. These were: burning, booms and chemical dispersants.
Controlled tests of the alternative methods were held. Burning was
rejected as being unsuitable for deep water conditions. It was therefore
decided to recommend the use of chemical dispersants. Several types of
dispersants were considered and YN 1100X was finally selected.
2. Problem
After a series of accidents involving company tankers at sea, the
company came under severe public criticism for its use of sinking agents
to disperse oil spills. The sinking agents used, although the most
effective available, were found to have contaminated fishing gear and
greatly damaged the flora and fauna. It was therefore decided that this
department should research alternative methods of clearing oil spills,
with the aim of finding an alternative method which, while equally
effective, and within a similar cost range, would be less detrimental in its
side effects.
3. Scope
Three alternative methods were considered: burning, booms and
chemical dispersants. These were discussed in sections 4, 5 and 6
respectively.
ACTIVITY 10.7
ACTIVITY 10.8
C From the findings of the research, it would seem that the use of
chemical dispersants is the only one of the three methods
considered which is:
(a) Completely effective;
(b) Within a satisfactory price range; and
(c) Not harmful to marine life.
10.6 ADJECTIVES
An adjective is a word that describes a noun or pronoun. It adds information
such as number, colour, type and other qualities to your sentence. Most of the
time, you will find adjectives in front of a noun or pronoun but that may not
always be the case.
Adjectives can be used in two positions: before nouns and after verbs such as be,
become, seem, appear and feel.
Examples:
The following sentences are taken from the introductory sections of reports given
earlier. Study the underlined phrases and note the position of the adjectives.
(a) In response to many complaints and the formation of a Safety and Security
Committee, the Operations Manager requested the Committee to
investigate the current problems regarding safety at work.
(b) Interviews were held with both supervisory and operations personnel.
(d) A cross-section of accident reports covering 2008 and 2009 was studied.
(f) A study of current theory and practice in safety attitudes and standards
was made.
In the examples above, the position of the adjectives is before a noun. It is not
often that we come across link verbs such as seem, feel and appear in business
documents because they suggest uncertainty.
On the other hand, adjectives after link verbs such as be and become are more
common.
ACTIVITY 10.9
ACTIVITY 10.10
Over the past year, short-term absenteeism (i.e. absenteeism for two
days or less) has risen by an average of 20% throughout the company,
with the highest increase (24.3%) occurring in the Production
Department. At the last managerial meeting, the Human Resources
Department was asked to investigate this problem and to determine
the reason(s) for the increase. This report details the findings of the
investigation and suggests ways in which absenteeism may be
reduced. The reasons for the absenteeism were determined in the
following ways:
Ć EmployeesÊ records were checked and interviews were held with
all staff members who showed persistent patterns of short-term
absenteeism;
Ć All departmental and section heads were interviewed; and
Ć Union representatives were consulted.
ACTIVITY 10.11
Complete the following job reference with the correct form of the
word in brackets. Use your dictionary if you are not sure.
ACTIVITY 10.12
From these examples we can see that the adverb may appear:
1. Before the main verb;
2. Between a modal (e.g. could, will) and the main verb;
3. Between the two auxiliaries for frequency adverbs; and
4. After the direct object (NOT *She speaks very well French).
Uses of adverbs
Adverbs give information about verbs saying how, where, when, how often
something happens or is done.
ACTIVITY 10.13
Ć Two forms of reports ă long and short ă may be used at different times and
may be presented using different formats.
These exercises hone your skills so that you may be better able to write whole
sentences and paragraphs in your reports.