BUSINESS REPORT (STAGE 2)Reports describe, analyse and investigate the situation for a particularaudience and usually have a formal structure with common subsections.For any organisation, reports are crucial to the well-functioning of theorganisation and its relevant departments.Business Reports are aimed at informing managers in order to helpthem make better decisions. They collect data from variousdepartments of the company tracking Key Performance Indicators(KPIs) and present them in an understandable way. Business Reportsprovide information on how the organisation is doing, allowing decisionmakers to find the right path to increase efficiency and make decisionsto remain competitive. The Business Report allows managers to look atthe business situation more accurately and helps make informeddecisions on any actions required.PURPOSE OF A BUSINESS REPORTBusiness Reports have many differing purposes resulting invarying formats. General purposes of Business Reportsinclude: Information sharing Interpreting and explaining events Decision making Communication with key stakeholders Collection of dataBusiness Reports are crucial for a well-functioning organisation. Thereporting of information within management is essential due to thecross disciplinary functions within the organisation. Business Reportsare important to management for various reasons including: themeasurement of strategic metrics to assess and monitor theperformance, setting benchmarks for performance, improvingcollaboration, enabling the business to learn from its activity andenhancing communication.BUSINESS REPORT STRUCTUREThere is no official structure to a Business Report and each organisationwill have different requirements depending on their circumstances andinformation required. However, for the purposes of this assessment, wewill use the most common structural elements.The following headings are recommended: Report TitleExecutive Summary: a brief summary of the report including its findings. ContentsIntroduction: This should state the purpose of the report and itsobjectives, providing background details including historicaldevelopments, summarise the problems, clarify any limitations/restrictions/assumptions made in undertaking thereport including time, money, limited access to information andpeople. Discussion: This section should contextualise the circumstances ofthe organisation, provide background to these circumstances andthen explain the findings/results of the actions taken. Conclusion: this section should provide your findings based onthe information presented throughout the document. Recommendations: these can be organised in a bullet point list andshould provide a response to each problem identified in the conclusionand should be action-oriented, concise and clear. Recommendationsshould be written in the future tense. Appendices: appropriate supporting data and informationreferred to within the main document body should be placedhere.HELPFUL TIPS Make sure the data presented is explained to the audience. Choose the appropriate Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for your audience. Establish a point of comparison when you are evaluating data and/orinformation. Make sure the report is visually pleasing and that data, includinggraphs and tables, do not overly burden the page and distractfrom the message the report is endeavouring to provide. Ensure the report is written appropriate to the audience it is presented to. Make sure the report is clear. Tell a story to engage readers.ADDITIONAL INFORMATIONWord Count:2,000 words 10% (excluding appendix).Style: this is a Business Report and should be written in thethird person eg. It has been verified that……, it could beargued that……., the results appear to show that…Content:the following areas are expected to be covered in theASSESSMENT 2 Business Report: Organisational Strategy Marketing Human Resource Management Finance Environmental Effects & InfluencesReferencing: Harvard Referencing format.ReportAudience:This Business Report is for presentation tothe company’s Board of Directors.ASSESSMENT GRADINGThis assessment forms 50% of the module marks and is to becompleted as an individual piece of coursework.ASSESSMENT GRADING SHEETPlease refer to appendix.SUBMISSIONIndividual Submission: each teammembershould completetheir Business Report and upload by the deadline.Individual Deadline: 05 July 2021 @ 1100 (UK Time)
