商務(wù)溝通-文字溝通

1、Part 4 Report Writing12Definition of Report:This document can be defined as “an organized presentation of information to a specific audience for the purpose of helping an organization achieve an objective” (Bowman & Branchaw, 1988, p. 12). 3Why do we need to write reports? p294A vice president asks

2、subordinates to gather and analyze information needed to make an operational decision.A human resources supervisor relies on the firms legal staff to interpret government requirements for completing a compliance report. 4Why do we need to write reports? p294A manager prepares a proposal for the comp

3、any to bid on a government project.An administrator informs all subordinates about a new company policy on hiring temporary personnel. 5Why do we need to write reports? p294Many of these situations call for information to be gathered, analyzed and recommendations to be made.Because constraints are i

4、mposed by geography, time, and technical expertise, managers often rely on others to provide the information, analysis and recommendations they need for making decisions and solving problems. 6Presents information/data/researchUses short, concise paragraphs and bullet-pointsA more standard format or

5、ganized into separate sections (executive summary/ recommendation)A greater number of headings (including subheadings) and Visual aids (tables, lines, bar chart, pie chart)Third person pronouns and no contractions or slangA length from five pages to several hundred Content designed for internal and/

6、or external audiences Characteristics of Report: p29578 How to write a business report?There are several major steps typically involved in writing a business report. These include: 1) planning (including determining the scope and target audience)2) researching, organizing, evaluating and analyzing y

7、our information sources 3) drafting the body section4) devising conclusions and recommendations based on the findings5) further drafting and editing/proofreading9 Audience analysisTherefore carefully consider your readers likely: prior knowledge and experience with the background information, techni

8、cal language, concepts and contexts covered in the report interest in and possible opinions regarding the reports topic Ask yourself the following questions: What do my readers know and think about the topic? What background, definitions and other information do they need? What questions or objectio

9、ns might they raise about the issue/s? Is my audience internal, external or both? Is it for readers up, across or down the hierarchy of the organization and/or people from outside? 10 Audience analysisIf you can identify and assess your audience well, then you can match your content, visuals and str

10、ucture to their level of expertise. Keep in mind for example that the higher up the chain of command a report it goes, the more condensed and formal it should be. A more general audience, in contrast, needs less technical vocabulary and more explanation. In addition, if writing the report as a group

11、, ensure consistency by agreeing about content, structure and presentation (including fonts and headings, line spacing and indenting) before drafting and also allocate each group member a specific role (including what area they need to research). 11Evaluating the quality of data already availablePri

12、mary datais collected by the researcher to solve the specific problem at hand.first-hand sources from your own research. (i.e. interviews, surveys and observations) Secondary data is collected by someone else for some other purpose; It involves existing information based on other peoples investigati

13、ons World wide web and other internet resourcesJournal, magazine, newspaperBooks/ Technical reportsBrochures and pamphlets12 Evaluating the quality of data already availableIt is very time-consuming and costly to gather primary data. Secondary data was used more conveniently than primary data. When

14、we are collecting secondary data, we should think about:What was the purpose of the study? Along with your key audience, you will also need to establish the key concepts and issues you are dealing with to generate keywords for your research. 13 Evaluating the quality of data already available2. How

15、was the data collected?For the primary data, we can collect it by conducting surveys, questionnaires, interviews, telephone inquiries and so forth.For the secondary data, it is usually good to search through variant channels such as searching engines, database, books, magazines, journals, and newspa

16、pers. 14 Evaluating the quality of data already available2. Allow time to read widely to locate the best resources remembering that your report should be supported by documented sources which are authoritative, current, reliable and relevant. In particular, to ensure objectivity, if you are doing a

17、report on a particular organization, dont solely rely on information from them. 15 Evaluating the quality of data already available2. We are writing business report and also academic report, therefore, dont use information from Wikipedia or Baidu because they are not authoritative. However, you can

18、use books, journal articles, official websites, videos, tapes, newspapers, news from TV, E-books. For the timeliness of information, you should use resources within 10 years according to the timing in the case. You do have to make in-text reference to each source that you are using. 16 Evaluating th

19、e quality of data already availableHow to become an effective communicator in business world?Searching the internet Jayproxy Google /學(xué)術(shù)搜索知網(wǎng) 校內(nèi)網(wǎng)用戶 圖書(shū)館/校內(nèi)網(wǎng)用戶/中文檢索數(shù)據(jù)庫(kù)/英文檢索數(shù)據(jù)庫(kù) 官方網(wǎng)站 Sony/Samsung/ Dell 市場(chǎng)營(yíng)銷學(xué) 4P SWOT 分析 17 Evaluating the quality of data already available18 Evaluating the quality of data al

20、ready available19 Evaluating the quality of data already available20 Evaluating the quality of data already available2. Use more than 5 academic resources Dictionary can be one of them21 1) Front matterCover Page Executive Summary Table of ContentsAppendices 2) Body of the Report Introduction Findin

21、gs and Discussion Conclusions Recommendations 3) Back Matter Appendices (List of Figures) References221) IntroductionThe introduction is where you give the reader of the task set and what you intend to cover.The introduction is a good time to include the statement of aims and objectives; this is whe

22、n you say what you are planning to do andhow you are going to do it.23Problem in introduction: no aim or objective bad example: This year we see our sales down 30% on last year. The market generally was flat.24useful sentences for introductione.g. This report aims to investigate the recent incident

23、involving.e.g. The aim/purpose of the report is to e.g. Following your request, I write this report to e.g. The report will explain/show252)FindingsFindings should contain the information that you found out as a result of your procedure. You will need to includethe facts and figures that have been c

24、ollected during your report. 26Problems in findings-Fail to make a distinction between facts and opinionsEg: Facts: A new Ikea store opened. We do not have Danish brochures.A new IKEA store opened, attracting business away from other shops.We do not have Danish brochures, so people can not better un

25、derstand and appreciate our products.27Problems in findings-To Misunderstand the instructionPoor example:since the company has frozen orders, our biggest customer wants more commission 25%. The mainly reasons are that a new Ikea store recently opened near Copenhagen, but we did not have Danish broch

26、ures28Problems in findings-To Misunderstand the instructionMarket generally flat (not the reason, but results)Has frozen orders (not an independent reason, related to the demand of commission increase) (pay attention to the punctuation)Ikea is not the company but its competitor. Across the board29Us

27、eful phrases for findings:This is due toThe reasons for this are as followsReasons for this includeSample: Studies have shown that two thirds of new small business ventures are not in business more than five years. The principal reasons for small business failure in Australia include:303) Conclusion

28、Problem: No summary of the findings Cause: Writers do not see the need to repeat information. Reason: Busy report readers may not read all of the report, especially the Findings. They may jump to the conclusion, and therefore miss important information. e.g. In conclusion, the findings show that sta

29、ff are not satisfied with the . 313) ConclusionProblems: misunderstand the instructionPossible contract with big hotel chain refurnishing twelve hotelsWe also have the prospect of a contract with a chain of hotels, which is about to refurnish twelve hotels here.32Useful sentences for recommendation:

30、Consequently, I would like to proposeOur recommendations are as follows:My advice for isI would like to make three recommendations33Recommendations could have an introductory sentence or paragraph linking them back to the Conclusion and outlining the areas; e.g. Due to the customer complaint and the

31、 lack of guidelines to prevent untrained sales staff from serving customers, the following recommendations are made concerning compensating the customer and revising the guidelines. 34SMART RecommendationsRecommendations, like Objectives, should be SMART - Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Result-or

32、iented and Time-bound: 35Specific:You should state the method for implementing your recommendation.Bad examples: We should increase sales. We should take appropriate measures to increase staff satisfaction so as to increase morale. Good examples: We should increase sales through a marketing campaign

33、. We should improve staff morale by setting up a suggestion scheme, then rewarding and implementing good suggestionsBad example from assignment:I suggest that we should do something36Measurable:Although some things in business are difficult to measure, such as reputation, goodwill, knowledge and qua

34、lity, your recommendations will be more persuasive if they are measurable.Bad examples: We should increase sales. We should take appropriate measures to increase staff satisfaction so as to increase morale. Good examples: We should increase sales by spending 10% more on advertising. According to our

35、 experience with our recent advertising campaigns, this will generate an extra 15% in sales. We should improve staff morale by increasing the pay increment for each additional year of service. This would discourage staff from leaving. 37Achievable: Recommendations should not involve too little time,

36、 or too much money, labour, facilities or risk. Bad examples: We should re-train all sales staff. We should offer the customer a 20% discount on all future orders. Good examples: We should re-train sales staff who consistently do not meet sales targets. We should offer the customer a single-use vouc

37、her worth 5% of the price of the faulty goods38Result-oriented:The recommendation should provide good results for stakeholders: Bad example from the scenario above: We should fire the salesperson. (This would not solve the underlying problem of allowing untrained staff to serve customers.) Good exam

38、ple: We should set up procedures so that new salespeople are not allowed to serve customers until they have finished their training, and new salespeople should always be accompanied by an experienced sales person for the first month of their service. 39Time-bound:The recommendation should set realis

39、tic deadlines for completion of suggestions. Bad example from the scenario above: The salesperson should not serve customers. Good example: Salespeople should not serve customers until they have finished their training.40Samsung in ChinaWhich market segment or product line that SCH should target?Sho

40、uld SCH cover all the segments or product lines in color TV market? Low end or High end, or medium end?How should SCH develop the segment? 4PS?Price, promotion, product, placeAction plan41DellDell has its own very effective execution which could be reflected by the direct model. Meanwhile, there are opportunities in servers, portfolio services, and international market. However, it was estimated that 25%-30% grow rates of the past may not be attainable in the future. For company like Dell, should it develop a strategy that could grasp the opportunity to keep its grow rate while maintaini