10: Understanding and Planning Reports and Proposals
10-1
CHAPTER 10:
Understanding and Planning Reports and Proposals
CHAPTER SUMMARY
Chapter 10 introduces informational reports, analytical reports, and proposals. This chapter
focuses primarily on Step 1, the planning step, of the three-step writing process for business
reports. Writers are introduced to the analysis tasks involved in planning reports, including
analyzing the situation, gathering information, selecting the right medium, and organizing
information. A discussion of supporting messages with reliable information addresses how to
search libraries, the Internet, and databases. This chapter also addresses methods of conducting
primary research, including examining documents, making observations, conducting
experiments, surveying people, and conducting interviews. Students receive information about
documenting sources, interpreting findings, drawing conclusions, and developing
recommendations. Information on planning informational and analytical reports as well as
proposals is also offered.
CHAPTER OUTLINE
Applying the Three-Step Writing Process to Reports and Proposals
Analyzing the Situation
Gathering Information
Selecting the Right Combination of Media and Channels
Organizing Your Information
Supporting Your Messages with Reliable Information
Planning Your Research
Locating Data and Information
Evaluating Information Sources
Using Your Research Results
Quoting, Paraphrasing, and Summarizing Information
Drawing Conclusions
Making Recommendations
Conducting Secondary Research
Finding Information at a Library
Finding Information Online
Online Search Tools
Online Monitoring Tools
Search Tips
Documenting Your Sources
Conducting Primary Research
Conducting Surveys
Conducting Interviews
Planning Informational Reports
Organizing Informational Reports
Organizing Website Content
Planning Analytical Reports
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Focusing on Conclusions
Focusing on Recommendations
Focusing on Logical Arguments
Planning Proposals
The Future of Communication: Emotion Recognition Software
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Chapter Review and Activities
TEACHING NOTES
Applying the Three-Step Writing Process to Reports and Proposals
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 can also include
recommendations.
• Proposals offer persuasive recommendations to internal or external audiences.
Try to view every report as an opportunity to demonstrate your understanding of your audience’s
challenges and your ability to contribute to your organization’s success.
The three-step writing process applies to reports as well as to other business messages.
Planning business reports involves four tasks:
• Analyzing the situation
To make your purpose statement the most useful, begin it with an infinitive phrase (to plus a
verb).
The statement of purpose for an analytical report is often more comprehensive than one for an
informational report.
A carefully thought out work plan insures that you make the best use of your time. A work plan
for yourself may include a simple list of steps you plan to take. If you’re working on a more
detailed project with others, the work plan should be more detailed.
When gathering information, be sure to review your statement of purpose and your audience’s
needs so you collect only the information you need.
These four guidelines will assist you in selecting the right medium for your report:
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• Decide if people need to search through your document frequently or update it in the
future.
• Bear in mind that your choice of media also sends a message.
The direct approach:
• Should be used when your audience is likely to be receptive or open-minded to your
Use the indirect approach when:
The indirect approach lets you prove your points first, gradually overcoming audience
reservations.
Unsolicited proposals in particular often use the indirect approach.
Supporting Your Messages with Reliable Information
Good research requires a clear process:
• Plan your research.
• Locate the data and information you need.
Start by developing your problem statement, identify the decision you need to make or the
conclusion you need to reach at the end of the process. Next, identify the information you need
in order to make that decision or reach that conclusion. Prioritize your information needs since
you will have more questions than you have time or money to answer.
Be sure that you conduct your research appropriately. Keep the following points in mind to avoid
ethical lapses:
• Keep an open mind so you don’t skew the research toward answers you want.
• Do not collect data from people without their knowledge or consent.
• Take precautions to protect the identification of research participants and the security of
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In most cases, you’ll begin your research by looking for sources of secondary information.
Primary research is new research done specifically for your current project and includes surveys,
interviews, observations, and experiments.
Ask yourself the following questions to ensure your research results are valid:
• Does the source have a reputation for honesty and reliability?
• Is the source potentially biased?
• What is the purpose of the material?
• Is the author credible?
• Where did the source get its information?
• Can you verify the material independently?
• Is the material current and complete?
• Does the information make sense?
After you have collected your data, the next step is to transform this raw material into the
specific content you need.
You can use information from secondary sources in three ways:
• Quoting a source means you reproduce it exactly as you found it.
Whether you are quoting, paraphrasing, or summarizing your sources, you will still need to
document them.
Always avoid plagiarism (presenting someone else’s words as your own).
A conclusion is a logical interpretation of facts and other information.
In addition to being logically sound, a conclusion should be based only on the information
provided or referred to in the report.
Whereas a conclusion interprets information, a recommendation suggests what to do about the
information.
To be credible, recommendations must:
Conducting Secondary Research
The library is a primary source of secondary information. Reference librarians are always an
important resource.
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Newspapers and periodicals offer access to a wide variety of popular magazines, general
business magazines, trade journals, and academic journals.
Business books are less timely than journals, but they provide in-depth coverage.
Directories cover everything from accountants to zoos, and include helpful contact information.
There are three disadvantages to using search engines:
• No human editors are involved to evaluate the quality of the results.
• Various engines use different search techniques and find different sites.
• Search engines can’t reach content on restricted-access websites.
Web directories address the first major shortcoming of search engines by using human editors to
categorize and evaluate websites.
Metasearch engines help overcome the differences among search engines by formatting your
search request for multiple search engines, making it easier to find a broad range of results.
Online databases help address the challenge of the hidden Internet by offering access to the
newspapers, magazines, and journals that you’re likely to need for many research projects.
Online monitoring tools, such as tweetbeep.com, enable users to automatically monitor selected
sources for new information.
To make the best use of any search engine, keep the following points in mind:
• Think before you search.
• Read the instructions and pay attention to details.
Documenting sources serves three important functions:
• Properly and ethically credits the person who created the original material.
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• Shows your audience that you have sufficient support for your message.
• Helps your readers explore your topic in more detail if desired.
Appendix B discusses the common methods of documenting sources.
Conducting Primary Research
The two most common primary research methods are surveys and interviews.
Surveys can provide invaluable insights if they are reliable (that is, they would produce identical
results if repeated) and valid (that is, they measure what they are supposed to measure).
Tips for developing effective questionnaires:
• Provide clear instructions.
• Don’t ask for information that people can’t be expected to remember.
It is critical to get a representative sample of the population in question. The surveys you see on
many websites potentially suffer from sampling bias: they capture only the opinions of people
who visit the sites and who want to participate, which might not be a representative sample of the
population.
Getting in-depth information straight from an expert, customer, or other interested party can be a
great method for collecting primary information. Interviews can have a variety of formats, from
email exchanges to group discussions.
Ask open-ended questions to invite the expert to offer opinions, insights, and information. Ask
closed questions to elicit a specific answer, but try to limit closed questions in interviews so the
interview doesn’t seem like a survey and you can take full advantage of the interview situation.
When preparing for an interview, try to:
• Sequence your questions.
• Provide questions in advance if you’d like to quote your source.
Planning Informational Reports
Informational reports provide the feedback that employees, managers, and others need in order to
make decisions, take action, and respond to changes.
Reports to monitor and control operations:
• Plans establish expectations and guidelines to direct future action.
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Reports to implement policy and procedures:
Reports to demonstrate compliance:
• Compliance reports are annual reports such as tax returns to reports that describe the
proper handling of hazardous materials.
Reports to document progress:
• Progress reports range from simple updates in memo form to comprehensive status
reports.
In most cases, the direct approach is the best choice for informational reports; however, if the
information is disappointing, an indirect approach might be a better choice.
Most informational reports use a topical organization and arrange materials in one of the
following ways:
Websites are potentially much more flexible than static reports, which can be both a good thing
and a bad thing, depending on how carefully they are designed. Moreover, many visitors don’t
start at the home page and follow a linear path through a website. To be most effective, a website
needs to provide each type of visitor a clear path into the information he or she wants.
Website designers use the term information architecture to describe the structure and
navigational flow of all the parts of a website.
To organize your site effectively, keep the following advice in mind:
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• If you know a sizable percentage of your target audience will access your site with
mobile devices, take a mobile-first approach.
• Use simple, clear language for page title and links.
Planning Analytical Reports
The purpose of analytical reports is to analyze, understand, and explain.
There are three categories of analytical reports:
Reports to assess opportunities:
• Market analysis reports are used to judge the likelihood of success for new products or
sales.
• Due diligence reports examine the financial aspects of a proposed decisions, such as
acquiring another company.
Reports to solve problems:
Reports to support decisions:
• Feasibility reports are written to explore the potential ramifications of a decision that
managers are considering.
• Justification reports are written to explain decisions that have already been made.
Challenges of writing analytical reports:
When planning reports for audiences that are likely to accept your conclusions, use the direct
approach to focus immediately on your conclusions.
When planning a report that offers recommendations, follow these five steps to emphasize the
actions you want the readers to take:
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• Establish the need for action in the introduction by briefly describing the problem or
opportunity.
When readers are potentially skeptical or hostile, use an indirect approach that logically builds to
your conclusion.
• The 2+2=4 approach convinces readers by demonstrating that everything adds up to
Planning Proposals
Internal proposals request decisions from managers within the organization.
External proposals request decisions from parties outside the organization.
• Investment proposals request funding from outside investors.
• Grant proposals request funds from government or other sponsoring agencies.
• Sales proposal: present solutions for potential customers and request purchase decisions.
The most significant factor in planning a proposal is whether the recipient has asked you to
submit a proposal.
The next chapter discusses the second and third steps of the writing process: writing and
completing reports and proposals.
THE FUTURE OF COMMUNICATION: EMOTION RECOGNITION SOFTWARE
When you are not presenting your message in person, how can you judge your audience’s
reaction? This challenge has been taken up by a range of artificial intelligence software tools that
10: Understanding and Planning Reports and Proposals
10–10
OVERCOMING DIFFICULTIES STUDENTS OFTEN FACE
Students will have questions about when to use the direct approach and the indirect approach.
Conduct a class discussion in which you provide numerous examples of effective reports that use
both approaches. Point out that the direct approach saves time and makes the rest of the report
easier to follow, but that the indirect approach may be needed if the audience is skeptical or if the
writer is a junior member of the firm.
Students often have difficulty distinguishing between informational and analytical reports. Give
plenty of examples that relate to the school or student organizations. Expand the discussion to
give examples from other business environments. Likewise, include a discussion about the
differences between reports and proposals, making sure to distinguish between internal and
external proposals as well as solicited versus unsolicited proposals.
Post the three-step writing process in the room to emphasize that effective writers still use the
same basic three steps for reports as they use for letters and memos.
Students will question why they should create a work plan. Discuss the idea of providing this
information to a supervisor in the work environment. You will have a clear understanding of
where you are going, how long it will take you, and what information is irrelevant if you include
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Finding credible information on the Internet is always an issue when students are researching
reports. Discuss with the students what you perceive to be credible sites—such as the Internet
Public Library (www.ipl.org), company websites, Prnewswire (www.prnewswire.com), Business
Wire (www.businesswire.com), and websites of respected professional organizations. Let
students know what type of secondary sources you expect; if you don’t clarify, many will use
Internet sites only, and some of these will have questionable credibility.
Discuss the necessary planning steps for effective interviews. Remind students that they may
conduct informal interviews when gathering data for letters and memos. However, their research
for reports will be more successful with careful planning.
If students will be preparing reports that require secondary research, be sure to address how to
document sources. Many students will also benefit from a class discussion of the differences
between summarizing, paraphrasing, and plagiarizing. Discussing a very short article, provide
examples of an effective summary and effective paraphrasing. Also illustrate ineffective
paraphrasing that fails to present the materials in the words of the report writer. You may also
SUGGESTED CLASSROOM EXERCISES
1. Learning how businesses use reports and proposals. Invite a manager from a local
organization (or someone from your school’s administration) to discuss reports and report
2. Preparing report work plans. Select a topic that students can all relate to (perhaps something
related to the school or to a college freshman). As a class exercise, lead students through
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3. Finding secondary information. Assign a topic and ask students to find three businesses or
trade publication articles related to the topic. Instruct students to use one of the databases
4. Summarizing, paraphrasing, and citing sources. Distribute an article for students to read.
Ask students to write a 100- to 150-word summary of the entire article. Select a particular
5. Planning a report. Select one of the informational report cases at the end of the chapter. Let
TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE
10-1. The three basic categories of reports are informational, analytical, and proposals. (LO 10.1;
AACSB: Written and oral communication)
10-2. For simpler reports, the work plan can be an informal list of tasks and a simple schedule.
10-3. A conclusion is a logical interpretation of the facts that you presented in your report.
10-4. Paraphrasing is restating material in your own words with your own sentence structure. It
10-6. The three major ways to organize an analytical report are by focusing on conclusions,
