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ChapterSixWritingBasicBusinessReportsWhatisabusinessreport?•Businessreportisanorderly,objectivemessageusedtoconveyinformationtoassistindecision-makingorproblemsolving.Afour-stepwritingapproach•Collectallthenecessaryinformation.•Planyourreport:makenotesandorganizethemintologicalorderunderrelevantheadings.•Draftthereport:writetheintroduction,body,conclusionsandrecommendations.•Editandproofreadyourdraft:checkthatitsayswhatyoumeantosayandcheckforspelling,grammarandpunctuation.Lengthofabusinessreport•Thelengthofareportdependsmuchonitspurposeandthenatureofinformationitwillcontain,rangingfrominformalone-pagetripreporttoformal200-pagefinancialforecasts.Classificationofbusinessreports•Intermsoffunction,businessreportsmaybeeitherinformationaloranalytical.–Aninformationalreportcontainsfacts.–Ananalyticalreportcontainsnotonlyfactsbutalsoanalysisofthefactsandconclusionsandrecommendations.Classificationofbusinessreports•Intermsofformatandstyle,businessreportsmaybeeitherformalorinformal.–Aninformalreportmaytaketheformofaletterormemo.–Aformalreport,however,isoftenorganizedaccordingtoastandardformatandisimpersonalandrestrainedintone.Toneinbusinessreports•Formal–Useofpassivevoice,complexvocabulary,complexsentences,precisefiguresandimpersonalsubjects.•Informal–Useofactivevoice,colloquialexpressions,shortsentences,phrasalverbs,approximatefigures,contractionsandabbreviations,andpersonalsubjects.Formalreport•Aformalreportcanbeshortorlong,informationaloranalytical,directorindirect.Itsdistinctivefeatureistheuseofformallanguage.Task1•ReadthesampleonP.46andpayattentiontotheorganizationoftheinformation.Task2•ReadTask2•Understandtheimportanceofapplyingheadingsandsubheadingstomakethereportreader-friendly•Dotheexercise(P.47)Task3•DoTask3andtrytotellthefeaturesthathelpidentifythedifferentpartsofareport.Decidewhichpartofareportthefollowingsentencesbelongto:findings,conclusionsorrecommendations.1.Thesurfaceoftheinternalfloorcoveringisstillsmooth,whiletheexternalfloorcoveringappearstohavebeenbadlyscratched.2.Allsystemcomponentshavetobeconnectedandathoroughsystemcheckperformed.3.Wefeelthatthemostlikelycauseofthisincidentwaselectricalfailure.4.Themarketisextremelysensitivetopricefluctuations.5.Intermsofpersonnel,wefeelthatadditionalstaffshouldberecruitedbeforetheendofthefinancialyear.6.Inlinewithourfindings,webelievethatthefuturelookshopefulforthecompanyifthefollowingrecommendationsaretakenup.WritingPractice•ThefollowingisasummaryofthequestionnairesthatwerefilledinbystaffatABCCompany.Thequestionnairesaskedstaffwhattheythoughtabouta)thelayoutoftheiroffices;b)themostimportantfeaturesoffurniture;c)thetypeofimagethecompanyshouldproject.Skimthroughthedataandtrytoworkoutthegeneralideaaboutwhatthestaffthinkasthefindingsofyourreportinthreesentences.•Presentlayout–Verygood0%–Good7%–Adequate13%–Poor62%–Verypoor18%•Furnitureshould–Becomfortable20%–Bedurable36%–Beattractive25%–Functionefficiently19%•Companyimageshouldbe–Verymodern42%–Traditional26%–Simpleandfunctional18%–Extravagant14%•Presentlayout:Itwasfoundthatthemajorityofthestaff(80%)thoughtthepresentlayoutwaspoororverypoor,only7%weresatisfiedwithit.•Furniture:Astothefeatureofthefurniture,thestaff’sviewsvaried,thepercentageofeachgroupdidnotshowdistinctivedifference.•CompanyimageAccordingtothesummary,42%ofthestaffthoughtthecompanyimageshouldbeverymodern,while26%statedapreferencefortraditionalone.Task5A.ConclusionThesalariesofbothseniorandjuniormanagershaveincreasedinthelasttwoyears,withtheformerincreasingfasterthanthelatterbecausetheworkofseniormanagersismorevalued.RecommendationItissuggestedthatthepresentevaluationsystemshouldbemodifiedtobringeverypositivefactorintoplay.B.ConclusionItcanbeconcludedthattheriverisseriouslypollutedbecausefactoriesfoundtobepollutingtheriverhavenotbeenprosecuted.RecommendationsToprotecttheenvironment,/Toreducethepollutionintheriver,Isuggestthegovernmentshouldtakeeffectivemeasurestoforbidfactoriestodumpindustrialwasteintotheriver.Necessarylawsshouldbeenforced.Thefactoriesfoundtobepollutingtherivershouldbeseriouslyprosecuted.RearrangetheorderofthesentencestoformaparagraphoftheeconomicreportoftheUSPresident.1.Wewillincreasetheuseofhealthinformationtechnologythatwillmakehealthcaremoreefficient.2.Wehavecreatedhealthsavingsaccounts,whichgiveworkersandfamiliesmorecontrolovertheirhealthcaredecisions.3.WeareworkingtomakehealthcaremoreaffordableandaccessibleforAmericanfamilies.4.ThemedicaremodernizationbillIsignedgivesseniorsmorechoicesandhelpsthemgetthebenefitsofmodernmedicineandprescriptiondrugcoverage.5.Tohelpcontrolhealthcostsandmakehealthcaremoreaccessible,wemustletsmallbusinesspoolrisksacrossstatessotheycangetthesamediscountsforhealthinsurancethatbigcompaniesget.6.Wewillopenorexpandmorecommunityhealthcentersforthoseinneed.(324561)Componentsofformalreports•Formalbusinessreports,despitetheirtypes,canbedividedintothreeparts:–preliminaryinformation–mainbodyofreport–supplementaryinformation1.Preliminaryinformation•Itismadeupof:–Cover–Titlefly–Titlepage–Letterofauthorization–Lette