Guidelines for Business Report Format

Follow the guidelines for a business report given in the Style Sheet on Moodle

ormat:

· Follow the guidelines for a business report given in the Style Sheet on Moodle (please note that this sample business report that follows the style sheet is based on a first year communications assignment. You should not base your content on this model, only the formatting).

· Include a running header that includes student name, course, and section number (do not use design templates, no headers on title page).

· Running footer should have page number centered at bottom of page (small Roman Numerals for intro pages, and regular Arabic numbers for balance of document – the title page is the first page, but there is no page number on it).

· No title fly or letter of transmittal is necessary on this report.

Outline:

· Title Page 

· Table of Contents: use the Word TOC functionality, do not type out manually

· Executive Summary (no more than 1 page in length): provides a quick but persuasive, at-a-glance summary of the entire contents of the report. Highlights or gives an overview of the main points that you make in each section. This is the most important page of your research document, since this is what goes to senior executives for a decision on the report. The Executive Summary must be impeccable; typos or grammatical mistakes can mean that this report will “crash and burn.” The Executive Summary is written after the rest of the report has been completed, and is in past tense, never future, since it presents the results of your research.

· Introduction (no more than 1 page in length): if through your analysis, you have been able to demonstrate that one of the camps of thought under discussion has a stronger argument (as defined by Lewis), you can make this your thesis statement. However, you are not to take sides when it comes to the topic itself. Write in third person and be as objective and inclusive as possible. The literature review must be structured so that it is not just an annotated bibliography – remember that the main purpose here is not only to talk about different viewpoints on a topic but, more importantly, to discuss how these different viewpoints are presented in different ways. If your analysis points to the strength of the argumentation employed by a particular camp of thought, you will introduce this idea in your introduction and give an overview of the main ideas in each of your sections. As you write your sections, remember to relate your information back to the main idea. Additionally, use the introduction to introduce the scope and types of sources you are analyzing.

· Background (no more than 1 page in length): in this section, you will summarize some basic facts/background information about your issue using a variety of sources. Describe what the issue is and why it is important. Use subheadings where appropriate. You will probably wish to organize this section like a mini-essay, with a short introductory paragraph to introduce your main idea and main points, and a conclusion that wraps up your ideas in a satisfying manner and relates them back to your overall idea.

· Viewpoints (no more than 3 pages in length): in this section, you will group the different viewpoints that your authors have about this issue into several different categories or camps of thought, with a separate subheading for each category. Discuss each viewpoint and analyze/explain why the authors approach the topic in the way they do. You will also want to set the viewpoints in context by discussing how they relate, respond, or appear to be influenced by each other. You will probably wish to organize this section like a mini-essay, similar to the section above.

Language, Evidence, and Techniques (usually around 10 pages in length): this is the main section of your review where you will discuss the different types of rhetorical approaches that authors take. Remember that Kent Lewis’s introductions to Chapter 3 on “Questions” and to Chapter 8 on “Argument” will provide you with the rhetorical and analytical tools (inductive and deductive reasoning processes, measureable and testable evidence, as well as logical and emotional fallacies) that will help give your discussion the level of complexity and professionalism that it deserves. Do not review sources in isolation – compare and contrast their approaches within the same paragraphs instead. You should not group the sources here by their viewpoints – the subheadings should refer to language features, evidence types, and rhetorical techniques employed instead. Again, you may organize this section as a mini-essay.