FUNDAMENTAL CONCEPTS OF

REPORT WRITING
Learning Outcomes:

At the end of the Chapter, you should be able to:

1.explain the fundamental concept of report writing;

2.use different concepts in writing technical report;
3.distinguish the categories of technical reports; and
4.write different technical reports.
Aside from writing business letters, another way to
communicate in business or in organization effectively is
writing a report.

Everyday, there is a tremendous number of reports written and

circulating in the corporate world.
There are two vital questions that every report writer should
consider:

1 Who is my audience? 2 What is my purpose?

Before writing any report, we should bear in mind the
destination of our report. In business, the audience might be
your boss, supervisor, manager, fellow employee, or client.

Furthermore, written reports may supply a record of work

accomplished, record and clarify complex information for future
reference, present information to a large number of people and record
problems encountered (Gerson, S.J. & Gerson, S.M., 2003).
Your purpose is your reason for writing a report. It may be for
the purpose of informing important details or progress about
the company…

…analyzing the costing or strengths and weaknesses of the company,

or recommending possible actions or solutions based on certain facts
and data.
FOUR FUNDAMENTALS OF REPORT
WRITING
THE KISS CONCEPT
1
Is an acronym for Keep It Short and Simple. This concept highlights
the use of simple but concise words rather than the use of jargons
and complex words. This concept also emphasizes expressing rather
than impressing.
QUOTING,
SUMMARIZING
PARAPHRASING, AND
2
Quoting is the exact copying of a portion of an original text. In doing
this, certain punctuations must be observed.
In paraphrasing, you will need to use your own words in
restating author’s ideas or words. In doing this, the same
number of words like the original is observed.

Summarizing is recapitulating author’s ideas or words. This is shorter

restatement of the original text in your own words.
USE OF GRAPHIC ORGANIZERS
3
It may be classified as tables or figures. Tables are compact summary
of data information which is systematically presented in columns.
Furthermore, figures may include graphs and charts in presenting the
data or information.
DOCUMENTATION & CITATION
4
These are ethical practices used in developing your report. These are
the proper acknowledgment of references or sources that you used. It
is composed of the author’s last name and the date of publication
placed within parentheses.
The most commonly used citation styles are American
Psychological Association (APA) style and Modern
Language Association (MLA) style.
 These are TEN STEPS in writing a Technical Report
1 Determine the problem.
2 Identify who your audience is.
3 Identify what you need to learn.
4 Gather necessary information and data.
5 Summarize your findings.
6 Design, organize, and write your report.
7 Draw possible conclusions and recommendations.
8 Cite your references if applicable.
9 Review and revise your report.
10 Present or submit your report.
Moreover, all reports follow particular generic format, development,
and style. Every report follows the four basic components:
heading, introduction, discussion, and
conclusion/recommendations.
To make a report come alive, link the various pieces of information
together to create a story or build a case. First understand the
information, then organize it by checking and revising outline that was
created earlier, and then write the report.
CATEGORIES OF REPORT
A Report should be well-planned and organized, logically
sequenced, and easy to read. There are two main categories of
report, according to Roberts (1999).
INFORMAL REPORT
1
It can range from a few paragraphs to several pages. Whether an
informal report is written as a letter, memo, or email message, it
generally includes an introduction, body, and conclusion
recommendations.
This report may function to inform, sell, direct, clarify, or
recommend.

The introduction elaborates the subjects and procedures of the

report while the body presents the findings from thorough researches.
All findings are arranged in order of priority. Lastly, the
conclusion/recommendation tells what the diagnosis is all about.
FORMAL REPORT
2
Is generally lengthy. It may include title page, executive summary,
table of contents, list of figures and tables, list of abbreviations and
symbols, body, conclusions or recommendations, appendices, index,
and more.
This report may function to inform, document, direct, clarify,
examine, analyze, propose, and recommend.

A report should be long enough to be through and short enough to be

concise. To ensure that your report is thorough, cover all the key
issues. To ensure that it’s concise, KISS.
THREE LEVELS OF REPORTS
INFORMATION ONLY
1
 Sales reports (sales figures for the week or month).
 Quarterly reports (figures showing a plan’s productivity and profits
for the quarter)
INFORMATION PLUS ANALYSIS
2
 Annual reports (financial data and an organization’s accomplishments
during the past year)
 Audit reports (interpretations of the facts revealed during an audit)
 Make-good or pay-back reports (calculations of the point at which a new
capital investment will pay for itself)
INFORMATION PLUS ANALYSIS PLUS A
RECOMMENDATION 3
 Feasibility reports (evaluate two or more alternatives and recommend which
alternative the organization should choose)
 Justification reports (justify the need for a purchase, an investment, a new
personnel line, or a change in procedure)
 Problem-solving reports (identify the causes of an organizational problem and
recommend a solution)
What is Feasibility Report/Study?

What you should include when putting together a feasibility

study/report:
A feasibility report is a testimony that attempts to create some
sort of action. Remember that your option is not the only one,
the decision makers will probably have many to choose from. 

A feasibility report also determines whether or not the investigated task can be done
with the amount of resources available OR how many resources will be necessary in
order to complete the task. A feasibility may be useful in a lot of different situations
such as event planning, finances, or even remodeling your home.
 What is a feasibility study?

A feasibility study is a way to evaluate the practicality and

desirability of a project. Before a company invests time and
money into a project, they need to know how successful the
project will be before investing. 
Sometimes companies want to understand input costs, the
amount of research that will need to be done, or even the
marketability of a project.

With input prices, it is essential that companies understand,

(even before they put time and research into the project),
how much it would cost to go through with their product. 
Companies also like to know if they put time into research
and go through with their change or promotion of a product,
how the public/people will react to the change. 
Will people be fighting over the new product, or will it fall
through?

The purpose of feasibility studies is to provide companies

information and analysis on whether or not you or your
company should pursue this course of action.
Questions to Consider for Your Report:
5
 1
What to consider in creating feasibility
studies/reports?

It remains important to consider alternatives when you are

creating a feasibility study. Decision makers in companies
want to understand why they have to make a choice, and
then why they should choose this certain option.
Is your argument important and appropriate?
2
When deciding on whether or not your feasibility study is important you
must first recognize the target audience or reader. For professional
organizations people want your argument or study to be based around
needs or aims of the organization and their future.
What to consider about your alternatives?
3
It is important to understand how your alternatives compare to the
criteria you set in place. In most cases your readers will want to
understand how your results compared to others. This allows them to
make an educated decision based simply around facts and results.
What have
alternatives?
you found against your
4
Based on experiments and finding results about possible alternatives
and how they fare, it is important to draw conclusions about the
alternatives. This is not made to bash other options or products but is
made to set your product or idea apart. 
What should you throw into a conclusion?
5
Include in your conclusion how you’re going to go implement your ideas for
the company and how it will enrich the company. Explain why the company
should choose your course of action. Compare statistics and data and help
the readers understand the logical choice and the course of action that would
aid in selecting one option over the other. 
Important Features of a Basic Feasibility
Report: 7
The following are the seven elements of a feasibility report:
 Introduction 
1
You need to persuade the decision maker to even consider
any sort of alternative. You need to convince them to even
read your report first. Tell them what they will gain personally
or as an organization by considering your work.
 Criteria/Constraints
2
You must specifically map out the criteria of what the ideal
outcomes are. This will allow you to make practical and
logical decisions.
You can present the criteria in your feasibility report in one of two ways.
First, you can separate the criteria into its own section. This is best when
you have an extensive report, and you need to go in-depth with the
explanation.

Second, you can incorporate the criteria throughout your

report as the criteria become relevant. However, it is
important to realize that whichever strategy you chose make
sure that the criteria is introduced early in the report. 
 Method 
3
It is very important to present facts that are accurate and relevant. You
should state the reliable sources you used and what method they came
from (internet, interview, book, etc.). Without a credible research
method or credible sources your document itself will lack credibility.
The question of what sources to use completely varies from study to
study. There are several different types of sources that you could use to
find your facts-it all just depends on what you are trying to find answers
to. Sources can include (but are not limited to):

•Academic journals or reports

•Library research
•Phone calls
•Face-to-face interviews
Overview of Alternative Options 
4
You must underline the key features of each possible option.
Make sure they are easy to understand and presented in a
friendly layout. Keep in mind that the goal is to allow your
audience to make the best decision.
 Evaluation 
5
This should be the bulk of your report, you must evaluate the options
using the criteria you created. Add graphs, charts, etc. to show that you
have studied your options, and have come up with statistics that back
up your reasons as to why your alternative beats the competition.
 Conclusions 
6
You need to state the conclusion you have came up with.
How did you evaluate the alternatives? And then from there,
which alternative best fit your organization.
 Recommendations 
7
You need to use your experience and knowledge in order to
state which option you think should be adopted.
 Important Note:

All seven elements outlined do not need to be included in the

feasibility report depending on audience, circumstance,
mission, etc. Also, the elements do not need to be in the
exact order outlined above.
Feasibility Report Sample Formats

A Feasibility Report is presented to the company that

requested recommendations to solve a particular
problem. This report gives a rationale of the feasibility of the
recommendations determined by the Problem Analysis.
Cover Page

Use an APA cover page.

Transmittal Letter

A transmittal letter is sent to the company who requested the

feasibility report. Although this letter is sent under separate
cover than the Feasibility Report, it is a courtesy to include a
copy of the transmittal letter in the Report.
This letter tells the need for the feasibility report and the date
of completion of the report.

The letter includes the background of the project, a reference

to the Problem Analysis, and outlines the procedure used to
determine the recommendations presented from the
feasibility report.
Table of Contents

Identify the sections and their corresponding pages.

Executive Summary

Briefly explain the problem, the three solutions, and

the recommendations.
For Example:

The purpose of this feasibility research report was to address the

problem of ________________. This report offered three
alternative solutions to this problem: _________________,
________________, _______________. In addition, the report
ranked the alternative solutions, according to its strengths and its
benefits. Solution #3, _______ was the first recommendation.
Solution # 1 ________________ was the second recommendation.
Solution #2, __________ was the third recommendation.   (Of
course this order depends on your rankings.)
The following format begins the body of the
feasibility report:
Introduction

Write a brief introduction: This section will be from the

Problem Analysis. Tell the why you conducted an
investigation.
Background

Explain the problem. This section explains how you know there is
a problem.  This section will explain why you did the investigation,
the findings and conclusion from the Problem Analysis.
Purpose

State the specific purpose of the Feasibility Report. For example: The
purpose of this report is to address the problem that (the requester is
experiencing with state the problem). This report will accomplish this by
investigating three alternative solutions to this problem.
Research

From the analyses of the articles (Summaries/Responses), copy and

paste the summarized sections here. Only paste the summarized
sections. You will attach the entire analyses to the end of the report, as
appendices.
Alternative Solutions

Explain each solution according to technical,

operational, and economic feasibilities.
The format will be as follows:

Solution #1 (same format with the rest of the solutions)

The first solution is __________________.  Further explain the solution.

Economic Feasibility
The economic feasibility is the cost of the solution. This includes all the costs involved: the amount for
materials, pay for extra staff, costs of contractors, operating cost, etc. Be sure to report the cost in
dollars.   For example: $5,000.

Structural Feasibility
The structural feasibility is how the solution will fit into the existing structure. Will the solution require
more space, such as adding other rooms, constructing partitions, putting in heating systems, etc.

Operational Feasibility
The operational feasibility addresses how the solution will fit into the existing operation. Will more staff
need to be hired; will the job descriptions of the existing staff need to be redefined; etc.
Recommendations

This section prioritizes the recommendations according to the

investigator’s interpretation of the most effective solutions.
Report your recommendations, beginning with your first choice
(however, use the number from the order it appeared in the
alternative solution section).

Explain why you prioritized each choice by elaborating on the

strength of each feasibility: economical, structural, and
operational. Also, emphasize the solutions benefits.
Remember you can suggest that you do not recommend a
particular alternative solution. However, you need to explain why
you do not recommend the solution,  according to the technical,
operational, and economic feasibilities.

For example, if you determined that the third solution was the
most effective, the first solution was the next best, and the second
solution was the least effective, the format would be as follows:
(Solution #3, Solution #1, Solution #2)
Conclusion

Write a brief conclusion.

Reference Page

Be sure to use the APA style of documentation.

Appendices

Attach Appendices to the back of the paper after the

reference page. These appendices should include at least
four separate appendices, which are labeled Appendix A,
Appendix B, Appendix C, and Appendix D. 
 Writing a Case Study Analysis

A case study analysis requires you to investigate a business

problem, examine the alternative solutions, and propose the
most effective solution using supporting evidence.
Preparing the Case

Before you begin writing, follow these guidelines to help you

prepare and understand the case study:
Read and Examine the Case Thoroughly 1
•Take notes, highlight relevant facts, underline key problems.
Focus Your Analysis 2
•Identify two to five key problems.
•Why do they exist?
•How do they impact the organization?
•Who is responsible for them?
Uncover Possible Solutions/Changes
Needed 3
•Review course readings, discussions, outside research, your
experience.
Select the Best Solution 4
•Consider strong supporting evidence, pros, and cons. Is this
solution realistic?
Drafting the Case

Once you have gathered the necessary information, a draft of

your analysis should include these general sections, but these
may differ depending on your assignment directions or your
specific case study:
Introduction 1
•Identify the key problems and issues in the case study.
•Formulate and include a thesis statement, summarizing the
outcome of your analysis in 1–2 sentences.
Background 2
•Set the scene: background information, relevant facts, and
the most important issues.
•Demonstrate that you have researched the problems in this
case study.
Evaluation of the Case 3
•Outline the various pieces of the case study that you are focusing on.
•Evaluate these pieces by discussing what is working and what is not
working.
•State why these parts of the case study are or are not working well.
Proposed Solution/Changes 4
•Provide specific and realistic solution(s) or changes needed.
•Explain why this solution was chosen.
Cont’d….

•Support this solution with solid evidence, such as:

• Concepts from class (text readings, discussions, lectures)
• Outside research
• Personal experience (anecdotes)
Recommendations 5
•Determine and discuss specific strategies for accomplishing the
proposed solution.
•If applicable, recommend further action to resolve some of the issues.
•What should be done and who should do it?
Finalizing the Case

•After you have composed the first draft of your case study
analysis, read through it to check for any gaps or
inconsistencies in content or structure:
Cont’d…

•Is your thesis statement clear and direct?

•Have you provided solid evidence?
•Is any component from the analysis missing?
ASSESSMENT TASK
 INSTRUCTION

Interview a company manager. List five best practices

being followed by the company manager in writing a
report.