• INFORMATIONAL
REPORTS
1. TO EDUCATE THE READER
2.INFORMATION ALONE IS THE FOCUS
ANALYTICAL REPORTS
1.TO PERSUADE READERS TO ACCEPT
SOME CONCLUSION OR
RECOMMENDATION
2.END IS EITHER A DECISION OR AN
ACTION
3.ANALY TICAL REPORTS ARE WRITTEN
TO RESPOND TO SPECIAL
CIRCUMSTANCES
EXAMPLES O INFORMATIONAL REPORTS
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Reports for monitoring and controlling operations
Reports on statements of policies and procedures
Most Compliance reports
Most Personal Activity Reports
Some Justification Reports
Some Reports on Client work
Some Proposals
READER COMPREHENSION IN
INFORMATIONAL REPORT
In Informational Reports main focus is
 Reader Comprehension
not the Reader Reaction because to simple informational
reports readers will normally respond unemotionally
So the information can be presented in direct fashion
But the information should be provided logically and accurately
 to make the reader understand
 to make the reader use the information in practical way
STRUCTURING IDEAS IN A REPORT
Topical Organization Can be Based on
 Order of Importance
 Chronological order
 Location
 Spatial Relationship
 Categories etc.
Logical Organization Can be Based on
Arrangement around the Logic you developed
DETAILED EXAMPLES OF SUBDIVIDING
THE INFORMATIONAL REPORTS
 For monthly Status Reports of an organization the
Organizational Structure can serve as dividing framework
For Example Mr Milton VP of an agricultural company
 Summarizes results for his group as a whole
 And then for each of the six departments under his
supervision
For reports describing working of a Machine
 Each machine component can correspond to a part of the
report
DETAILED EXAMPLES OF SUBDIVIDING
THE INFORMATIONAL REPORTS
For reports describing an event
 The report can be organized chronologically
For reports describing how to do something
 The report can be organized by steps in procedure
For Some Informational Reports specially the Compliance
Reports
 The report can be organized by the instructions supplied by
the person who requested the Information
T WO EXAMPLES OF INFORMATIONAL
REPORTS(PERIODIC REPORTS ,PERSONAL ACTIVIT Y
REPORTS )
Periodic Report
A monitor/control report that describes what has happened in a
department or division during a particular period.
These are floated after a regular interval of time.
Purpose
 To Keep the corporate mangers up -to-date
So that
 A corrective action can be taken if required
FORMAT OF PERIODIC REPORTS
 Usually written in memo format
 Do not need much introduction ; subject line on memo is
enough
 Should follow the sane general format and organization from
time to time
SEQUENCE OF THE PERIODIC REPORT
MOST OF THE TIME
 Overview of the routine responsibilities and discussion of
special projects
i) Brief discussion of writers routine responsibilities
ii) In some the overview focuses on statistical or
financial results
iii)Otherwise is written in paragraph form.
iv)Brief description of any new projects , activities during
the said period can also be given
 Plan for Coming Period
Schedule of the activities planned in nest reporting period
SEQUENCE OF THE PERIODIC REPORT
MOST OF THE TIME
 Analysis of the Problem
Discusses the possible causes and solutions of any problem
If the problem requires high -level attention
This analysis can be set of f as a separate section
IMPORTANT THING TO REMEMBER IN
PERIODIC REPORTS
 In Periodic Reports
 Be honest about problems as well as accomplishments
 Bad news more important than a good news
Because an immediate action and corrective measure is
required in case of a problem whereas good news often does
not.
EXAMPLE OF A PERIODIC REPORT
 Prepared by:
Liz Rockwell, Director of campus recruiting for the Minneapolis
of fice of an accounting firm . Rockwell has this to say about her
report
“Campus recruiting is a big deal for our firm because we hire
most of our staff right out of college. Between January and April
we visit eight or ten campuses and screen about 500
candidates in an ef fort to hire roughly 20 people. During the
recruiting season I prepare a memo twice a month to let my
boss know where we stand. The rest of the year I submit my
report on monthly basis.”
PERSONAL ACTIVIT Y REPORT
 An Example of Informational Monitor and Control report that
gives a persons description of some activity , event, trip
convention or conference etc.
PURPOSE
 To Inform the Management of any important information or
event that emerged during the activity.
FORMAT
 Normally in Memo Format
 Require more of an introduction because they are non
recurring documents
 Organized chronologically or around the topics that reflect
audience’s interest
EXAMPLE OF A PERSONAL ACTIVIT Y
REPORT
A personal Activity Report organized by topic.
A Conference Report
By
Chris Bowers (staf f of a large Housing Development Country)
Bowers says about the report
“My boss sent me to the Manufactured Housing Convention to
find out whether we might be able to use factory - built houses
to reduce our development costs . Because I knew my boss was
mainly interested in learning about various kinds of factory built housing , I went to the seminars that covered the four
main types . When I wrote my conference report , I devoted a
section to each one”
ANALY TICAL REPORTS
 Subdividing analytical reports
by
 Conclusions or Recommendations
When writing the analytical Report for people from your own
organization
You are writing for your most receptive readers
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ORGANIZING ANALY TICAL REPORTS
Some Drawbacks of Direct approach
 If your reader has some reservations against you or your
material ,
then
Strong statement in the beginning can intensify the
resistance
 Every thing may appear to be so simply o your reader
 Readers can call it Superficial
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Use the Direct Approach
 When your credibility is high
 When your readers trust you and are ready to accept your
Conclusions and recommendations.
EXAMPLE OF SUBDIVIDING THE
ANALY TICAL REPORT ALONG THE
CONCLUSION
 Ellen Miller Works on Planning Staf f of forest -products
company in ,North Carolina
 Task
 To investigate opportunities for getting into mushroom growing business.
EXAMPLE OF SUBDIVIDING THE
ANALY TICAL REPORT ALONG THE
CONCLUSION
 Miller says this about her analytical report
 “I have worked for my boss for five years ,and our function in
the company is to look for new business investment banker
had sent us a prospectus on a little company that specializes
in growing mushrooms, but we did not want to acquire the
company without taking a good hard look at the mushroom
industry as whole . I spent about six weeks checking out the
industry , and I had to conclude that growing mushroom is a
lot like eating hot-fudge sundaes: sounds good but has some
serious drawbacks. I didn’t feel that it was my place to say
flat out that we shouldn’t invest in the industry , but I did feel
justified in warning my boss of the risks.”
EXAMPLE OF SUBDIVIDING THE
ANALY TICAL REPORT ALONG THE
CONCLUSION
 Miller divided the report into two main sections knitted
around her dual conclusion
 “Growing Mushroom is a good business but not for our
company.”
EXAMPLE OF SUBDIVIDING THE
ANALY TICAL REPORT ON
RECOMMENDATIONS
Readers want to know
 What they ought to do
Rather than what they ought to Conclude
 How to Solve the Problem than just study it
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EXAMPLE OF SUBDIVIDING THE ANALY TICAL
REPORT ON RECOMMENDATIONS
 Five Steps for Organizing the Report around recommendations
1 .Establish the need for action in the introduction, generally by
briefly describing the problem or opportunity.
2.Introduce the benefit that can be achieved without providing
any details
3.List the steps (recommendations)required to achieve the
benefit , using action verbs for emphasis
4.Explain each step more fully giving details on procedures
,costs ,and benefits
5.Summarize the recommendations
EXAMPLE OF SUBDIVIDING THE ANALY TICAL
REPORT ON RECOMMENDATIONS
 Raymond Vergando, Director of Manufacturing Engineering at
a paper-products company in New Jersey, says about his
report(on increasing the company’s production of facial
tissues without any heavy investment)
 “I must have looked at a dozen ways we could increase our
output. When I wrote up the results, I thought about
discussing all the options I’d evaluated, but then it occurred
to me that management wasn’t really interested in the ideas
that wouldn’t work . So I just talked about the two things we
could do to increase capacity”
SUBDIVIDING THE ANALY TICAL REPORT
BY LOGICAL ARGUMENT
 When the audience is not receptive
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 When better results are expected by encouraging the reader to
weigh all the facts before you present your conclusions or
recommendations.
 Why you want your audience to concentrate on why your ideas
make sense
 When you want your report to show the thinking process that
lead to conclusion
T H RE E M E T H ODS OF SUBDI VI DING T H E A N ALY TI CAL RE P ORT
BY LOG I CA L A RG UM E NT
2+2=4 approach
Scientific Method
Yardstick Approach
S U BDI VI DING T H E A N A LY TI CAL RE P ORT BY LOG I CA L
A RG UM ENT A P P ROACH
 Choice depends on the nature of Facts
 Reasoning process to reach the conclusion
 NOT Mutually exclusive
 Often you have to pursue several lines of Thought to arrive a
solution
 In long report specially you may want dif fering organizational
plans for various sections.
2+2=4 APPROACH
 Reports developed around a list of reasons that collectively
add up to the main point you are trying to prove.
 The main reasons behind your conclusion or recommendation
make the main points in your outline and report
 Each reason is supported by the evidence collected during the
analysis
 Most ef ficient and persuasive way to develop an analytical
report for a skeptical reader.
EXAMPLE OF 2+2=4 APPROACH
Gray Johanson Executive assistant to the president of a
diversified company had
 To prepare a memo
 To Analyze the performance of the Restaurant Division
also
 To recommend what to do out of four options
1 .Continue the current course
2.Sell of f the chain
3.Remodel the existing facilities
4.Build new restaurants
EXAMPLE OF 2+2=4 APPROACH
Johansen says
 “I knew that whatever I recommend would alienate somebody
. My dif ficulties were compounded by the nature of the
problem. I could have made a good case for any of the three
options. But as an objective ,neutral and unbiased observer, I
gradually came to the conclusion of my own : that we should
sell some of the restaurants and use the proceeds to offset
the cost of remodeling the remaining locations and the cost
of adding new outlets. I decided that my strategy would be to
build a case for this course of action by gradually presenting
the various reasons that had emerged from my analysis of the
options”
EXAMPLE OF 2+2=4 APPROACH
The Main Idea
 The company should strengthen the restaurant division by
selling some facilities, upgrading others and adding new sites.
 The main divisions of the outline are the reasons that support
this recommendation.
EXAMPLE OF 2+2=4 APPROACH
 The table of contents showed five main sections
corresponding to five roman numerals in the outline:
I. Introduction
II. Recent Performance of the restaurant division
III. Trends in the Restaurant Industry
IV. Analysis of the Alternatives
V. Summary
EXAMPLE OF 2+2=4 APPROACH
NOTE:
Introduction does not reveal his position
Recommendations are not opened up in the beginning
Beginning is with the discussion on report’s purpose and scope
Background of study , methodology of research
Recommendation is saved for the fourth section where finally
all the reasons are added up(2+2=4)
THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD
When we are to discover
 Whether an explanation is true
 Whether an option will solve the problem
 Which of the several solutions will be the best
Then,
Scientific method is useful
THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD
 These begin with
 Statement of the Problem
 Brief Description of the hypothetical solution or list of possible
solutions(hypotheses)
 The body discusses each alternative in detail in turn and offers
evidence that will either confirm the alternative or rule it out.
 There can be multiple alternatives relevant solutions
 The final section of the report summarizes the findings and
indicates which solution or solutions are valid.
 The report then concludes with the recommendations for solving
the problem and eliminating the causes .
AN EXAMPLE OF A PROPOSAL WITH
SCIENTIFIC METHOD
 By: John Mac Gregor( an account executive with an advertising
agency)
 Purpose: to win the advertising account for Cambridge ,a soap
introduced five years ago as a family ‘soap’
 ‘ Mom loves it because its gentle ; Dad loves its deodorant
power ; suzie Teenager swears that it cures acne; and the
little twins like the way it floats. By the end of the day, there’s
hardly any left for Grandma, who says it kills germs and costs
less than other brands.”
AN EXAMPLE OF A PROPOSAL WITH
SCIENTIFIC METHOD
 Problem: the public did not flock to the soap. The
manufacturer , wanted to boost sales.
Mac Gregor agency was requested to submit a proposal for
developing a new advertising campaign.
Mac Gregor explains
‘We did some preliminary research ,which revealed that the
public buys soap for special qualities, not for versatility , so we
decided to propose that the company market the product as a
special interest soap. The trouble was ,everybody in the
company had a dif ferent idea of which special to promote”
AN EXAMPLE OF A PROPOSAL WITH
SCIENTIFIC METHOD
 “However I knew what I wanted the client to do” “I wanted
them to promote Cambridge as the premium -priced soap b for
people who care about their bodies , people who drink Perrier,
wear Reebok running shoes , jog three times a week , and
drive a Mercedes-Benz. My theory was that if you can charge
twice as much for your soap, you can af ford to sell only half
as many bars as your competitors.”
 “I decide to use a very balance strategy in my proposal,I
started with a complete review of the problem. Then I went
through five competing advertising concepts ,explained each
one in detail, and examined whether each did or did not solve
the problem. Ultimately ,of course I conculded that my
approach was the beat solution.”
BENEFITS OF SCIENTIFIC METHOD
 Best to unify the divided audience
 Better chances of consensus when you show the strengths and
weaknesses of all the ideas
DRAWBACKS O SCIENTIFIC METHOD
 Many alternatives many turn out to be irrelevant or
unproductive
 But
 you have to discuss them all
 More ideas discussed more confused the readers may get
 And more trouble they may have comparing the pros and
cons.