Business Report Writing Guidelines (By Craig Parker, Marie Gaspar, Luba Torlina & Marie van der Klooster)
Determining the business report requirements
The business reports you will be asked to write will often varying based on the following questions:
What type of organisation will be the subject of your report?
What is the major purpose of the report?
Who is the audience for the report?
You should be able to determine the answer to each of these questions from your assignment
requirements. The following sections provide examples for each of these questions to help you.
Type of organisation
Table 1 summarises the major types of organisations on which you might be asked to write your report.
Organisation type Description
Hypothetical
organisation
The assignment description might include information about a fictitious organisation
which may be based on one or more real companies. The information might range from
being limited (e.g. an overview of basic product/services and organisational structure)
through to being highly detailed (e.g. a complete case study of the organisation). Often
the information provided with will not be enough to write the report and you will be
expected to conduct further research and/or ask questions of staff.
Assigned real
organisation
The assignment might specify a real organisation on which you must write the report. It
might be a very well known organisation, or possibly one you have not encountered
before. You will usually not be permitted to contact the organisation directly. Instead
you may be expected to conduct research on the organisation and its industry using
public information available online and from the library.
Organisation of
your choice
The assignment requirements might ask you to write a business report on an
organisation of your choice. Depending on the assignment requirements this could be
your workplace or a company you contact yourself. You may be expected to interview
senior management and obtain company forms and non‐commercial‐in‐confidence
documents. You will then normally write the report based on this information.
Table 1: Organisation types which are the subject of a business report
Your assignment could also be a combination of these types of organisations. For example, there might be
occasions when you are asked to choose your own organisation but cannot find one. In this instance you
might be permitted by your unit coordinator to write the business report on a hypothetical organisation of
your choice. This can be quite challenging because you will need to “invent” the history and circumstances
of the organisation based on research, experience and other sources.
It is important to determine the type of organisation for your business report prior to starting the
assignment. This is because some aspects of planning and writing your report will be different for each type
(e.g. the sources of information which will be accessible to you). These guidelines will give examples of how
the report might differ when preparing and writing the report.
Assignment Example:
For the purposes of these guidelines we will assume the example assignment requires us to select an
organisation of our choice. We contact our local hairdresser called Glamour Looks. The proprietors of Glamour
Looks (Vincent and Amy Nguyen) agree that we can write our business report on their organisation.
Note: The example assignments in these business report writing guidelines are only intended to give you an
example of business report planning and writing techniques. Your assignment requirements will be different,
but you should be able to apply these techniques to your own assignment. You should always check with your
unit coordinator which aspects of these guidelines apply to your assignment.
Business Report Writing Guidelines (By Craig Parker, Marie Gaspar, Luba Torlina & Marie van der Klooster)
Purpose of the business report
Table 2 summarises the major purposes of a business report which you might be asked to write.
Report purpose The aim(s) of the report Examples
Observational report Provide factual observations about a company, department,
or business process, possibly over a specific period of time.
Observations will usually be your interpretations of written
information, but could also include visual observations if you
are writing a report on a real organisation.
Annual report
Financial report
Analytical report Observational report plus a critique to identify and explain
problems. The aim may also be to describe the implications
of the problems on the organisation, its processes,
products/services, performance and other aspects.
Case study
Recommendation report Analytical report plus an evaluation of potential solutions and
recommendations. The aim may include presenting a cost‐
benefit analysis associated with multiple proposed solutions
in order to justify any recommendations made.
Business case
Table 2: Business report purposes
Table 2 shows that the three business report purposes can build upon each other. For example:
You can only write an analytical report after you have observed facts and evidence from the
organisation. Once you have collected relevant facts/evidence you can critique the organisation.
You can only write a recommendation report after you have critically analysed the organisation’s
current situation. It is this critique which will enable you to identify opportunities for improvement,
and then to explore possible solutions.
It is important to understand the purpose of your report before you start planning and writing. This is
because the report purpose will have an impact on, for example, the types of information you need to
collect and the style of writing you will use.
Assignment Example:
We will assume the example assignment requires us to write a recommendation report. The purpose of the
report will be to present facts and evidence relating to Glamour Looks (observational) which support our
critique of one or more aspects of their business (analytical). The report will make one or more suggestions on
improvements they can make (recommendation) to address the problem(s) identified in the critique.
Audience for the report
A marker normally grades you on, among other things, whether the business report meets the needs of the
audience stated in the assignment requirements. You must therefore understand the expectations of your
audience (and hence your marker) so that you write a business report which satisfies their needs.
Types of audience
Broadly speaking there will be two types of audience for your report – either:
1. The marker. In this case you write the report about the organisation; or
2. A person(s) or role(s) in the organisation. In this case you write the report for the organisation and
the marker pretends to be that person (or in that role) and interprets the report accordingly.
This distinction will become especially important when it comes to the writing style you should use in the
report.
There could also be different types of people within an organisation for which you might be asked to write
the report including (but not limited to) the following:
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and/or other senior managers of the organisation.
One or more middle managers or operational managers.
A small business owner. Business Report Writing Guidelines (By Craig Parker, Marie Gaspar, Luba Torlina & Marie van der Klooster)
Audience expectations
An important reason for identifying the audience for your report is that they might have different
expectations of the report. It will also enable you to think about the key concerns they might have with
your report so that you can ensure the report addresses these concerns.
To some extent the audience expectations will be determined by the type of report. For example, if you are
being asked to write a recommendation report then you can be certain that the audience wants you to
make a recommendation of some kind. However, understanding the audience expectations in greater
detail will enable you to determine, for instance, the types of issues and challenges you could face in
convincing the audience to accept your recommendation.
More specifically, you will need to consider the following to understand your audience and, therefore, what
to include in the report and how it should be written (Forsyth, 2010):
Why do they want the report?
For example, do they already recognise there are problems in their organisation and want your
report to offer solutions, or do they believe their organisation is okay and they do not want your
report (that is, you must convince them they have a problem)?
What do they want in the report?
For example, do they want a fully costed single solution to the problem(s) identified, or do they
want high‐level strategy analysis with non‐costed but well justified benefits of the solution? Do
they want a comparison of multiple solutions to the problem(s)? Do they want you to make a
recommendation on the solution to use or do they want to make this decision themselves based on
the information you have provided?
What is their knowledge of the topic on which the report is to be written?
For example, a CEO will may have high‐level strategic knowledge and little specialist knowledge on
the particular topic of the assignment. An operations manager, by contrast, might have a lot of
technical knowledge on the topic but little strategic knowledge.
What effect will the topic have on them?
What will convince them to change?
Assignment Example:
We will assume the example assignment requires us to write a recommendation report for Glamour Looks to
present solution options to one or two major information management (IM) practice problems. The marker
will pretend they are Vincent or Amy Nguyen. Your initial discussions with the real Vincent and Amy suggest
that the following audience expectations will govern the effectiveness of your report:
Vincent and Amy want the report to show that you understand their business intimately. You will
achieve this by doing a lot of background research (see the next section of the guidelines). The report
will need to include factual information about Glamour Looks specifically (not hairdressing businesses
generally) otherwise Vincent and Amy will not see the relevance of the report to their business.
The report will need to convince the Nguyen’s that the IM problems identified need to be addressed.
Indeed, they may not believe they have any problems!
The report will need to present solutions which are affordable and also consistent with their values
and preferred mode of business. Alternatively, the report must convince them that changing their
business practices will be relatively easy to reduce their resistance to change. For example, it will be
difficult to convince the Nguyens in the report to use computer software if they are fearful of
computers, even if such a change will solve all their problems. The report must be realistic.
The marker, pretending to be Vincent or Amy, will expect you to be sensitive to and understand your report’s
audience and grade your report accordingly. Even if the marker does not know Vincent or Amy, they will know
how small business owners think and the challenges they face. Your business report must address these issues. Business Report Writing Guidelines (By Craig Parker, Marie Gaspar, Luba Torlina & Marie van der Klooster)
Collecting and analysing background information
Now that you understand the type of organisation and the report’s purpose and audience, the next step is
to collect and analyse background information about the organisation and its environment (e.g. industry or
market structure). This applies to all three types of business report.
What sources of information should I use?
You can collect background information using external sources regardless of whether the organisation is
hypothetical, real or chosen by you. Do not ask staff of real organisations for background information
because they are busy. They should only be asked for organisation‐specific information and will expect you
to have general knowledge about their organisation and/or industry using external sources such as:
The organisation’s website if the organisation is real and they have one.
The websites of their competitors (global, national, state, local) – even for hypothetical firms!
Websites relating to the industry (e.g. industry associations, industry online forums).
Industry research reports (e.g. from Forrester Research and Gartner Group).
Textbooks
Books written on large organisations (e.g. Microsoft) and their founders (e.g. Bill Gates).
Industry or trade magazines.
Academic, peer‐reviewed journal articles where research (e.g. surveys, case studies) has been
carried out on organisations in the same or related industry, or even on the organisation itself.
Newspaper articles relating to the industry or the organisation itself.
Internet sources – but focus on those providing credible, high quality information rather than those
providing unreliable, low quality information like Wikipedia!
It is beyond the scope of these guidelines to provide details on how to access these external sources. The
best source of advice and help will be your University librarian.
What background information should I collect?
All report types require you to collect observational features (facts and evidence) about the organisation
and its environment which are categorised in Table 3.
OBSERVATIONAL FEATURE EXAMPLES OF EACH FEATURE
Organisational context
Ownership type Sole trader, partnership, private company, trust, not‐for‐profit, public
Business strategy Vision, mission, strategic plans, operational plans, future outlook
Products and/or services Major types, how manufactured, how consumed/purchased, benefits
Inventory Quantities, turnover, how warehoused and transported, whether perishable
Internal structure Geographical spread/locations, business unit structure
Internal business processes Value chain, information flows, paper/electronic forms, transaction processing
Human resources Structure, roles, number of staff, relationships (e.g. family business)
Decision making Management structure and style, lines of reporting
Knowledge management Knowledge sharing, organisational culture, explicit versus tacit knowledge
Finance Profitability/turnover, cash flow, past/present performance
Technology Equipment such as computers, manufacturing machines, etc
Software Software products used, extent of integration or linking of software, features
Environmental context
Market structure Market share, regulations, substitute products/services
Supply chain structure Trading partner types, location (e.g. overseas), bargaining power, alliances
External business processes Information inputs to and outputs from the organisation, outsourcing
Marketing Segmentation, niche, acquisition/retention strategies, advertising
Customers Touch points, spending habits, loyalty, demographics, bargaining power
Suppliers (and their suppliers?) Capabilities, processes, weaknesses, country of origin, degree of importance
Table 3: Observational information (facts and evidence) you could collect about the organisation Business Report Writing Guidelines (By Craig Parker, Marie Gaspar, Luba Torlina & Marie van der Klooster)
You will need to collect some observational features in Table 3 regardless of the report purpose and type of
organisation (e.g. ownership structure, products/services and market structure). However, the relevance of
many observational features and the amount of information you collect will vary depending on:
The discipline: e.g. accounting will focus on the financial aspects of the organisation while
information systems will emphasise how the organisation uses information and software to
support manager decision‐making, business and marketing strategy, supply chain efficiency, etc.
The report scope and purpose: the assignment requirements will specify these, but if you are
unsure which observational features are relevant please contact your unit coordinator.
How do I analyse the background information?
Analytical and recommendation reports require you to assess critically one or more observational features;
especially from the environmental context. You could use one or more analytical tools for this analysis
which will also guide you in how much background information to collect on each observational feature:
Porter’s five forces
Market segmentation analysis
Product segmentation analysis
Market trend analysis
Industry best practice analysis
Competitor analysis
Note that your assignment requirements and/or your unit coordinator might tell you which tool(s) you are
required to use. You should seek clarification from your unit coordinator if you are unsure.
It is beyond the scope of these guidelines to go through these analytical tools. You can find guidelines on
these tools in most management textbooks. Talk to your University librarian for help.
The objective of this analysis is to understand how the case organisation compares to its competitors and
within its industry and, in the case of recommendation reports, to gain initial ideas on problems and
solutions which are relevant to the organisation.
Assignment example:
We will assume the example assignment requires us to write a recommendation report for Glamour Looks to present
solution options to one or two major information management (IM) practice problems. We will focus at this point on
obtaining background information. Glamour Looks is a small business without a website so we cannot analyse their
organisation using external sources. Our analysis of external sources will focus instead on their industry.
We analyse the industry based on Porter’s five forces using external sources (e.g. industry report “Hairdressing and
Beauty Salons in Australia” from IBISWorld1
and academic journals2
). We do a competitor analysis using the Yellow
Pages to find hairdressers near Glamour Looks and check out their websites (if any).
We now understand the major industry and market challenges and success factors applicable to Glamour Looks. Our
competitor analysis reveals there are many hairdressers close to Glamour Looks. We now understand various market
segments (e.g. demographics and customer behaviour) which might apply to Glamour Looks. We assume that the
Nguyens, being small business owners, may not know how to differentiate themselves from competitors (e.g. price,
quality or innovative cuts/styles, personalised service, convenience using mobile services, etc). These external
sources also help us to identify the current market trends in the hairdressing industry.
1
Sallmann, N. (2011) ‘Hairdressing and beauty salons in Australia’, IBISWorld Industry Report Q9526, 19 December
IBISWorld, Melbourne, Australia.
2
Examples:
Wang, C.H. (2010) ‘The influences of the financial crisis on the consumption of hairdressing in Taiwan’, International
Journal of Organizational Innovation, vol. 2, no. 4., pp. 104‐125.
Picot‐Lemasson, A., Decocq, G., Aghassian, F. and Leveque, J.L. (2001) ‘Influence of hairdressing on the psychological
mood of women’, International Journal of Cosmetic Science, vol. 23, no. 3, pp. 161‐164. Business Report Writing Guidelines (By Craig Parker, Marie Gaspar, Luba Torlina & Marie van der Klooster)
Collecting and analysing organisation-specific information
The background information from section will enable you to determine more precisely what organisation‐
specific information to collect for more in‐depth analysis in this step.
What sources of information should I use?
The sources you can use to collect information on organisation‐specific observational features (see Table 3)
depend on the extent of access you have to the organisation as summarised in Table 4.
Information source Hypothetical firm Assigned real firm Firm of your choice
Firm’s manager(s) Not available/teacher role‐play Often disallowed Ask if you can interview them
Firm’s employees Not available/teacher role‐play Often disallowed Ask if you can interview them
Internal reports May be provided if relevant Not accessible Ask if you can access them
Internal forms/documents May be provided if relevant Not accessible Ask if you can access them
Staff/organisational chart May be provided if relevant Check website Ask if you can access it
Public reports May be provided if relevant Check website Accessible
Firm’s brochures May be provided if relevant Check website Accessible
Firm’s website Most likely non‐existent Accessible Accessible
Your observation Not possible Public areas only Ask if you can observe
Table 4: Sources of organisation‐specific information depending on the type of organisation
Table 4 shows that your access to information for hypothetical organisations will be restricted to what is
provided by teaching staff. The background research from above will also enable you to make educated
assumptions. This is also true for assigned real organisations because you will not be permitted to contact
them, but you might have the additional benefit of collecting information about them using their website.
How should I collect the organisation-specific information?
With reports you write on organisations you choose yourself you may be permitted to collect information
directly from staff using interviews and surveys (check with the organisation and your unit coordinator).
The type of questions you ask will often depend on the type of report as summarised in Table 5.
Report purpose Types of questions to ask
Observational Ask what happens in the organisation and perhaps how things happen.
Analytical Ask why things happen in the organisation to understand their rationale, culture, etc.
Recommendation Ask how things could be done better in the organisation to identify recommendation options.
Table 5: Types of questions to ask depending on the type of business report
Table 6 summarises other considerations when determining questions to ask staff regardless of report type.
What to consider
beforehand
Read background material provided in the assignment overview.
Determine the knowledge you may already have about the organisation.
Undertake thorough background research on the organisation and its industry using
external sources (see the previous section of these guidelines).
Consider who you will/could interview (the role of the person you are interviewing).
Question types Closed questions – respondent is given a limited choice of alternative answers.
Open‐ended questions – respondent is asked to provide an answer in his/her own words
(more general answers are expected) usually in many sentences.
Order of the
questions
Arranging questions as a pyramid: start with specific, and end with general questions.
Arranging questions as a funnel: start with general, end with specific questions.
Arranging questions as a diamond: start with specific, move to general, end with specific.
Prepare
questions
Decide what you need to know for your analysis and report, in particular considering the
audience expectations considered at the start of these guidelines.
Formulate relevant questions and decide on question type and order.
Plan for time The planned interview should be no more than one hour long per organisational staff
member. So ensure that you only ask relevant questions.
Table 6: Considerations to take into account when determining appropriate interview questions Business Report Writing Guidelines (By Craig Parker, Marie Gaspar, Luba Torlina & Marie van der Klooster)
There are library resources to help you determine and design interview questions based on Table 6. We will
focus here on the basis on which to choose closed versus open‐ended questions.
Use closed questions (do not do an interview but instead a survey) if you are only after factual information
(e.g. for an observational report) where most answers are pre‐determined; it will save time for staff also.
Analytical or recommendation reports require you to gather candid “how” and “why” information (see
Table 5) about the organisation. You will only gather this information if you develop rapport with staff and
engage them in a conversation. Open‐ended questions in an interview are best for this for a few reasons:
Staff can provide information in their own words rather than being biased by our closed questions
listing only pre‐defined or simple answers.
New/unexpected problems or issues likely to influence the effectiveness of solutions may emerge.
Answers to open questions will either contradict or confirm any assumptions we reached in our
analysis of background information. Closed questions rarely achieve this even with “Other” options.
You can still ask closed questions in an interview. However, they should come where appropriate later in
(even at the end of) an interview so as not to disrupt the conversation (and hence rapport). The closed
questions will focus on seeking confirmation of any facts and assumptions you might have made.
Table 7 provides some ideas and suggestions on how to organise and conduct the interview. There are
many resources available in the library to assist you in how to conduct interviews.
Starting the
interview
Greet the respondent and introduce yourself, including stating that you are a Deakin
student.
Briefly explain the purpose of the interview.
Establish rapport with the respondent, be focused and friendly.
If appropriate, ask for permission to do audio recording.
Conduct during
the interview
Try to stay close your list of interview questions. However, the actual interview always
varies from this list of questions once you hear their answers. You need to be flexible!
Stay focused, observe, listen and take notes.
If appropriate, ask for additional materials which they are happy to be made public such as
brochures, company documents (e.g. forms they use), etc.
How to ask
appropriate
questions
(What to do if…)
What to do if answer is insufficient?
Ask a more specific question, or probe for more details.
What to do if the answer is inappropriate or does not answer my question?
This might mean that the question was misunderstood, so paraphrase the question.
What if the respondent does not understand the question and asks for clarification?
Paraphrase the question or provide clarification. Do not give your own answer instead!
What to do if they are taking too long to answer the question?
Often respondents provide information relevant to several questions from your interview.
Record the answers against the relevant questions. If needed, ask for more details when you
come to the appropriate spot in your list of interview questions. The value of collected
information is not clear till used. Therefore, be prepared to collect information even if it does
appear to be remotely relevant. You might find these details useful later on.
Completing the
interview
Time management. The actual interview should be no more than one hour long.
Conclude that you have gathered all necessary information and ask the respondent if there
is anything else he/she wants to add.
Ask if the respondent has any final questions for you.
Don’t forget to thank the respondent for his/her time, and say good‐bye.
Take your leave.
Table 7: Suggestions on organising and conducting an interview Business Report Writing Guidelines (By Craig Parker, Marie Gaspar, Luba Torlina & Marie van der Klooster)
How should I analyse the organisation-specific information?
You can analyse the organisation‐specific information using the analytical tools from the previous section.
In addition, there are various analytical tools which are more suited to analysing information on and from
an organisation such as:
Information and process modelling
SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) analysis
Gap analysis
Porter’s value chain analysis
Financial analysis
Note that your assignment requirements and/or your unit coordinator might tell you which tool(s) you are
required to use. You should seek clarification from your unit coordinator if you are unsure.
It is beyond the scope of these guidelines to go through these analytical tools. If your unit coordinator
leaves it up to you to select the analytical tool(s), you should be able to find guidelines on the tools in most
management textbooks. Talk to your University librarian for help if you cannot find what you need.
The main goal of your analysis is to identify patterns and contradictions associated with the information
you have collected. In the context of organisational problems, patterns could include:
The same problem occurring in multiple departments of the organisation.
A list of many disparate problems being categorised based on similar characteristics.
The same issue causing different problems in the organisation.
Contradictions might include disagreements among staff on the underlying causes of a problem.
The conclusions you reach based on this analysis will form the basis of your report’s objective(s). The
objective(s) may be specified tightly in the assignment requirements so that you need to match your
interpretation and conclusions against the objective(s). Alternatively the assignment requirements may be
broad and give you the flexibility to focus your report on your own objective(s) based on your analysis.
Table 8 assumes that you have a degree of flexibility about your report’s objective(s) and gives examples of
report objectives which may correspond to the conclusions you reach from your analysis. The objectives
will likely depend on the type of report.
Report purpose Example report objectives
Analytical 1. A report convincing the organisation of and/or interpreting and discussing:
one or more problems across the entire organisation
one or more problems within a specific department or (related) processes
a specific problem or set of related problems
2. A report on the successes of and problems being faced by the organisation
successes and problems across the entire organisation
successes and problems within a specific department or (related) processes
3. A report on the successes
across the entire organisation
within a specific department or (related) processes
Recommendation 1. Recommend that the business maintain the status quo.
2. Recommend that the business focus on solving one major problem (out of a range which
could be identified) and either:
modify/refine its existing processes, technologies, etc to solve the problem
invest in one or more new solutions to solve the problem
3. Recommend that the business invest in a major solution which will solve a wide range of
problems which have been identified.
The report may recommend one option, present multiple options and recommend one, or
present multiple options and leave it to the audience to select their preferred option.
Table 8: Example report objectives depending on the type of report Business Report Writing Guidelines (By Craig Parker, Marie Gaspar, Luba Torlina & Marie van der Klooster)
Table 8 emphasises that your analysis, conclusions and report objective(s) need not focus on problems but
could, instead or in addition, report on the organisation’s successes.
Assignment Example:
We will assume the example assignment requires us to write a recommendation report for Glamour Looks to present
solution options to one or two major information management (IM) practice problems. Our background analysis led
us to assume that Glamour Looks may not know how to differentiate themselves from competitors.
The Nguyens agree to provide some background information such as:
copies of reports which they send to government departments (e.g. the Australian Taxation Office)
examples of the brochures they receive from hair care product suppliers
They also agree to an interview in which we apply the principles outlined in these business report guidelines:
Most questions will be open‐ended and focus on how the Nguyens manage information and why.
We want to build rapport with the Nguyens. We know little about Glamour Looks. So we will start with
general questions and then specific questions on the areas which are problematic (i.e. funnel approach).
We might therefore structure the interview as follows:
o Introduce ourselves and our assignment. We may offer them a copy of the report but to avoid liability
the report will present options from which the Nguyens select (or not), not make a recommendation.
o We will start with a broad question such as: “Can you tell me how and why you started Glamour Looks?”
The owners may tell us, for example, the year they started, give a brief history, etc. It will start the
conversation, and help us understand what is important to the Nguyens to write a better report.
o Our next question would not be “What information management practices are you having the most
difficulty with?” because the Nguyens are unlikely to know what IM practices are. Also we would not
ask “What are the major problems you are having when running Glamour Looks?” because: 1) they may
not believe they have any problems; 2) they may not wish to tell us about the problems; and 3) they
may interpret such a question as negative and this will reduce our rapport with them.
o Instead, small business owners find it easier to talk about how they run the business. We can determine
for ourselves any problems from their answers, or they may raise the problems themselves.
o We will phrase the questions in layperson terms rather than using our “theoretical” terms which they
are less likely to understand (e.g. substitute products from Porter’s five forces).
o Our next questions will therefore be broad and ask about their decision‐making, clients, bookkeeping,
suppliers, etc. We will not know which area(s) are difficult for them, so initially we want to know about
many aspects of their business. We can drill‐down on possible problem areas we identify. Examples:
How would you categorise [or describe] the types of customers which come to Glamour Looks?
What is it about Glamour Looks which customers like compared to the other salons around you?
What computer software, if any, do you use? Can you describe what you use this software for?
o During the interview we find the Nguyens do not want to increase the number of customers and that
they are clearly differentiated from their competitors. Instead, we find their main IM problems relate to
tracking customer appointments, keeping information about their loyal customer base up‐to‐date, and
maintaining receipts and payment information. Further drilling‐down with more specific interview
questions reveals that this is because of their paper‐based diary, client notebook and receipt book.
We will therefore find that it is not necessary to conduct a SWOT analysis because, while the Nguyens have never
heard of such an analysis, it is clear they understand their threats and weaknesses. Instead, we use our more
detailed questioning about their IM problems to develop an information process model. Business Report Writing Guidelines (By Craig Parker, Marie Gaspar, Luba Torlina & Marie van der Klooster)
References
Eunson, B. (2007) Business writing, Wiley & Sons, Milton, Australia.
Forsyth, P. (2010) How to write reports and proposals, revised 2nd edition, Kogan Page, London.
How To Books (2012) ‘Rules for report writing’, www.howtobooks.co.uk, Oxford, last accessed 9 March
2012, URL: http://www.howtobooks.co.uk/business/reports/report‐writing.asp
Lindsell‐Roberts, S. (2006) 135 tips for writing successful business documents, Houghton Mifflin, Boston.
Lozovsky, V. (2008) Table vs. Graph, Information Builders, New York, last access 22 March 2012, URL:
http://www.informationbuilders.com/new/newsletter/9‐2/05_lozovsky